Chapter Nineteen
Walkway, Middle City, Taris
Kara had reported that they had chosen to grab food at Krio's Deli. It was quite a walk to get there, but Bao never liked using airspeeders.
There weren't any working holocams within this district, Bao wasn't worried about being spotted. If anything, most people gave him some berth. He wasn't too worried about potentially being found.
He needed some time to think, as had Thalia.
Bao's best friend...was a traitor. Tau Skywalker had allied with the Consortium and planned to take over the Jedi Council.
How long had this been the case? How deeply were Tau and Libre's movement intertwined with the Consortium? And by extension, Asharr? What were Asharr's plans for Tau? And what trumped all of these questions was "Why were they working with the Consortium?"
What had driven Tau to this point? That question had concerned Bao the most...and eluded him with frustrating ease.
"Hey Lizard!" a jeer dispelled Bao from his reverie. A young man, a Zeltron boy, had shouted at Bao from an ally that overlooked the deserted plaza which Bao walked through.
"Yeerrrrr not welcome herrreee, lizard," he responded, slurring his words.
Clearly this boy was drunk. He certainly smelled the part.
For one moment, Bao wanted to tear into the Zeltron and rid himself of his anger in his screams.
Bao restrained himself. He simply ignored the kid.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
Even intoxicated, he wasn't dumb enough to attack a Trandoshan on his own.
This distraction had reminded Bao to focus on his surroundings. He decided that he wouldn't solve anything wandering around on his own. This time was better spent going over technical details, attempting to form an extraction plan.
Val thought that it would be best to wait on Taris until the blockade broke. Bao was still considering his decision. If Taris was actually a staging area, the use of alliance ships was strong evidence of the case, where would they attack?
There was nothing in the transcriptions that specified how exactly the assassination would be carried out, nor explained how Asharr had acquired Alliance warships.
What would the point even be of amassing an assault force? Asharr wouldn't risk open warfare with the Triumvirate, unless she intended to use the…
That was it! She wanted to stage an attack with the Alliance warships. Would it have something to do with the assassination?
Bao examined the situation with a tactical eye; assassinating a council of Jedi would be no easy feat, covering up the truth from a temple full of Jedi would be difficult.
Alarm filled Bao as he finally figured it out. The fleet was going to attack the Jedi themselves! That was why they had colluded with Asharr! Tau and Libre must have concluded that in order to convert the entire order to their new ways, they had to eliminate any opposition.
Tau and Libre kill the Council, they control the Order, Bao realized, A coup. And the fleet, the fleet would be an excellent cover-up.
Bao started running; he had to find Riko and the others, they had to leave at once.
Outdoor table, Krio's Deli
Despite the fact that she had only been Bao's apprentice for little more than a week, Jade was able to tell that Bao was hiding something, which worried her.
Riko didn't want to believe Bao was doing so. He wanted to believe that Tau was innocent, that anyone else was the mole.
If Tau Skywalker was a traitor, Jade would be devastated.
This did lead to an internal conflict: Riko's inquisitiveness to find out the truth conflicting with his desire to prevent his best friend from suffering.
"Riko?" Jade's voice stirred him out of his train of thought. He and Jade were waiting outside at a table at Krio's Deli, which served "the finest Corellian cooking in the Outer Rim." Or so the sign over the restaurant claimed, anyway.
Kara Ryn was inside, ordering their food. Due to the restaurant's No droids inside the building policy, Niner had to wait outside, with Riko and Jade staying with him at a table. Well, only one person had to wait with Niner. But Jade didn't mind staying at the table with Riko.
Riko, on the other hand, was getting bored. This restaurant was popular, a long line lay between Bao, Kara, and the stand where everyone ordered their food. Luckily, it no longer extended outside of the door.
In addition, most people tended to favor the indoor tables. Riko, Jade, and Niner were all alone.
"You wonder why they sent us out of the apartment so quickly that day?" Jade asked, "I think it has something to do with who's spying for Asharr."
"Maybe Val found something else here," Riko decided to try avoiding the topic of the traitor and his suspicions about it, "Maybe Asharr's working on some top-secret project, and Bao and the others don't think that we should know, since we're just apprentices."
You sure? Jade doubted what he was saying.
I don't know, Riko projected, Just an idea.
Riko could sense that Jade still doubted him to a degree. He didn't blame her.
"Why do they think it's Dad?" Jade asked, "I know him, he'd never do this."
Riko wasn't really sure what he should say.
Jade remained quiet. On the surface, she did a good job of concealing her emotions. But to a Force-User, it was a lot easier to see what she felt.
Is this what being a Jedi is? No empathy...no trust?
Riko responded by moving his seat closer to Jade, and hugging her. She stiffened for a moment, before she hugged him back.
"We're here," Niner also hugged Jade.
That was the old way. Riko wasn't sure what he was, but he wasn't an Adherent, he wasn't like K'Kruhk.
"We have to go!" Bao's voice drew Riko's attention towards the street, where his mentor was frantically running towards him. A few people in the streets did look Bao's way, but otherwise, no one paid any attention.
"What happened?" Riko asked, speaking the question that both of the apprentices were wondering. Both he and Jade stood up from their seats.
Bao gestured with his hand to move close to him.
Jade ran to Bao's side, with Riko following suit. Kara moved to his right.
"I figured out where the fleet is going," Bao whispered.
"Where?" Riko asked. Jade's emotions were just as mixed.
"The Temple. Asharr's attempting a coup."
They would have to warn the council.
"Let's go," Jade said as she got up out of her seat.
Middle City Streets
Throughout the run back to Val's apartment, Riko had a suspicion that he was being watched.
He hoped that it was just paranoia, that the fact that Asharr's troops were searching for him had an effect on his imagination. If he was lucky, this was the truth.
Knowing his luck, this would likely not turn out to be the case.
Hey Jade, Riko projected, You feel…
Like we're being watched. Yes.
Riko looked around. This walkway, jutting out from the side of one skyscraper, was all but deserted. It also overlooked a vast, multilevel gap clearly meant for airspeeders to traverse through. There was little sound here, though. It didn't seem too implausible that they were being followed.
"Bao?" Riko asked, "Do you feel like we're being watched?"
Bao looked in Riko's direction, turning around for a moment.
"Yes," Bao laid his right manus on his lightsaber, "Be ready."
Riko kept his hand close to his lightsaber. Fear began to spread throughout his system.
Let's just hope they don't have Ysalamiri this time, Riko projected.
We're talking like this, Jade replied, so I wouldn't worry.
Says the girl who was crushed beneath a bisected droid because the bounty hunters had Ysalamiri.
Jade glared at him for a moment, but Riko knew her well enough to see the hint of a smile, indicating that, although slightly annoyed at his statement, she still found it amusing.
As the group slowed their pace, Riko decided to see if he could find their would-be assailants. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to reach out with the Force, gazing into the surrounding area.
His efforts were met with frustration, he only felt the faintest hint of a trickle from the Force within him. Everyone felt like a vague light, unreadable. He only clearly sensed Jade, who appeared to be attempting the same thing as him. Her aura suddenly spiked with what Riko assumed was a sense of alarm.
"Show yourselves!" Bao commanded as Riko opened his eyes.
The snap-hiss of igniting lightsabers caught Riko's attention. He turned around.
Three figures in dark robes stood behind them in the street, all brandishing lightsabers.
After a closer look, Riko recognized one as a member of the three-eyed Gran species. Wearing robes, he carried a yellow-bladed lightsaber.
The second was a near-human of the Zeltron species. She carried a white blade and wore some form of light armor. She looked young, roughly Kara's age, with black hair framing a red-skinned face. Both she and Kara felt...wrong, off.
"I recognize the Gran," Bao stated, "That's Ekar Tym. He vanished a few months ago."
"Friend of yours?" Kara asked, eyeing the Zelton with a worried face. Riko was sure that the Zeltron had probably known Kara, judging by the Twi'lek's expression and the Zeltron's white lightsaber.
"Colleague," Bao answered, then he looked at the Zeltron, "You know her?"
"Yani Arquin," Kara said nervously, "And she was a friend. Maybe we can talk our way out of this." Riko could tell that Kara was just attempting to avoid a fight. He didn't blame her, even though her idea was vac-headed.
"Not a chance, Kara," Yani dismissed her idea.
They feel wrong, Jade said, Like they've been altered.
"Listen," Yani began, "I have no desire to inflict harm upon any of you."
"The feeling isn't mutual," Kara grumbled, raising her saber.
"Why not surrender?" Yani asked, "We can clearly take you in if you choose to fight. But Asharr would prefer you come to me willingly."
Bao ignited his lightsaber, "What is it about us that makes us special?"
Yani turned her gaze towards Riko and Jade.
"I just want you out of the way."
"So it's true, then," Riko ignited his lightsaber, "You're attacking the Temple."
Yani said nothing.
The sound of feet upon permacrete led Riko to turn around. A squad of soldiers, dressed in Mandalorian armor, blocked the other end of the alley, all of them pointing blasters at the four.
Those are stun rifles, Riko reassured Jade, They're not going for lethal force.
Maybe attacking first is the best option, Jade suggested.
Maybe, Riko replied.
A plan started to come to mind. Yet another crazy plan, but a plan nonetheless.
The team members seemed to have a knack for insane plans.
Okay, here's my plan. Riko told Jade his idea on how to escape this ambush. She listened carefully, but when he finished she protested.
You do realize this plan is nerf-headed, right?
Obviously.
Riko turned back and took a step towards Asharr.
"I promise you, I won't hurt any of you," Asharr said in a tone clearly meant to be reassuring.
"I don't believe his promises," Riko said. Then he sprung his trap.
He threw his lightsaber at Asharr, Jade manipulating it with telekinesis, extending one hand towards the saber. With the other, Jade unleashed a massive Force blast that, from what Riko could hear, sent the Mandalorians flying.
Yani, in a split second, deflected the saber and threw it back, the blade deactivated as the saber fell to the ground.
Riko reached out to grab it before he was suddenly caught and tackled. He was already on the ground with a pressure on his throat before he knew what had happened. Then he saw the armor plates and T-visor and everything became clear.
One of the supercommandos had recovered from Jade's blast and was tackling him, no, strangling him.
Gloved hands around his neck, Riko already felt a little weak, and was genuinely afraid he would die.
Then both he and the Mandalorian were lifted up and thrown into the building's wall, the commando taking the full impact, letting go of Riko, the Padawan falling to the floor, coughing.
In his panic, Riko attempted to call his saber to him. And as soon as the saber came into his hands, he, without a second thought, moved it to defeat his enemy. It wasn't until he fell back to the floor that he realized that he had pushed his hilt into in the lower gap of said enemy's helmet before igniting the saber, the blade, burning through the Mando's chin and definitely going into the brain, blocked by the Beskar outer layer and pushing Riko and the hilt back to allow the full blade to protrude. The helmet itself was pushed up to her forehead, revealing her face, her expression one of pain and horror.
Riko deactivated his saber in shock as the commando's corpse fell to the floor.
Bao quickly turned to engage the altered Force-users.
"Take Yani, I'll hold Ekar. Padawans, go! We'll be right behind!" Bao yelled as he charged Ekar.
Ekar moved his blade into a defensive position, his blade parallel to his body. He wasn't prepared to deal with Bao's curved hilt or his strength.
Ekar was a skilled duelist before he was brainwashed, but he had never been Bao's equal, or one to counter surprises with ease.
Bao was both strong and precise, and confident that he could overwhelm and defeat Ekar.
Then he heard Kara's yell.
Bao's gaze turned for a fraction of a second, and he saw the Imperial Apprentice impaled in the abdomen on Yani's blade.
He frantically switched styles as Yani and Ekar banded together against him, striking with uncanny precision.
Riko did not seem calm. He had just killed for the first time, and an experience like that wasn't something to forget.
He made no effort to move the armor-clad body off of him, or to help Jade do the same as she, with difficulty, succeeded in pushing the corpse off her best friend.
Riko! As the dead commando came off of Riko's frame, Jade frantically kept trying to get him to come back, to focus. It was incredibly scary that he had even tuned her out. He would die if someone didn't snap him back.
Jade understood Riko's guilt, she didn't enjoy the idea of death any more than he did. But he had to focus now, or else he could die.
"Come on!" Jade pulled him up and slapped him. That did seem to work, Riko did seem to have a panic-fueled rush of adrenaline.
Jade, I can't…
"We'll talk later, come on, grab your saber!"
"Acquire your blade!" Niner yelled.
Moving to his feet, Riko reluctantly turned back to the commando. Riko's saber had deactivated and had fallen on the ground. But just as he reached for it, it suddenly lifted off into the air, ignited, and spun towards Bao.
"Bao! Behind you!" Niner yelled frantically. Jade, with just as much panic, reached out with the Force and tried to wrench it back. The blade did slow its momentum, but was still moving towards Bao. Ekar, while dueling Bao, was still without any visible effort, was pulling it towards himself.
Bao got the warning and backflipped over the saber. Jade let go of Riko's saber, and it moved straight into Ekar's empty hand.
They couldn't win. They had to get away, they had to escape. Jade didn't care if she was thinking this because she was scared; in this case, fear was keeping her alive.
"We have to go!" Jade yelled. She knew they couldn't stay here, they'd have to leave.
"Jade, my lightsaber," Riko said quietly.
"Ok," Jade said, "Catch!" Jade knew she couldn't wrestle it from Ekar's grasp, so instead she pulled Kara's forgotten saber towards Riko's hand.
"That's not it," Riko said.
"That'll have to do!" Jade said, deactivating her sabers and grabbing Riko's arm, pulling him away, "Come on!"
"Come on!" Niner tugged at Riko's clothing.
"OKAY!" Riko yelled, scaring Jade for a moment. Now that Riko was moving away, she turned back towards Bao and Ekar. She stretched out her left hand and prepared to pull it back while pushing her right forward.
With the greatest feat of telekinesis she had ever pulled, she pulled Bao back towards her, while pushing Ekar and Yani away. Surprisingly, it worked, Ekar and Yani fell.
Bao himself seemed a little awed for a second, almost as much as Jade was.
"Come on, LET'S GO!" Riko yelled.
Jade, after taking one last glance at Kara's body, ran and didn't look back.
Apartment Complex Trill-Jenth-Nine-Eight
The door closed behind them as Riko and the others made their way into the lobby, Riko panting, Jade and Bao very much alert.
"Pull up the elevator!" Bao ordered.
"I'll be with you in a minute," the building's droid doorman, LSSC-15, responded.
"Hurry, speed up, speed up, speed up!" Niner rolled straight to the front desk and banged his fist on it.
"I'll be with you in a minute…" LSSC responded as he deactivated. Flipping a circuit breaker telekinetically was easy, but Riko wasn't the one who sabotaged the droid this time. He glanced at Jade, she nodded.
"Take the stairs, I'll take the droid and use the elevator," Bao ordered.
Riko wouldn't do this, he didn't want to leave his master and his little brother behind.
"I'll be fine, Riko," Bao assured him.
"I should go with you," Riko said, "Make sure the elevator isn't sabotaged or something."
"Let's all go," Jade agreed.
"Okay," Riko, breathing heavily, ran to the elevator and pressed the button. Jade and Bao took up defensive positions, and Niner hid behind the two, directly in front of the elevator.
Riko ignited Kara's lightsaber, knowing that a fight was coming. Sure enough, the door opened and troopers dressed in Asharr's colors charged through, firing a spray of plasma.
Jade and Bao deflected them back. Riko was afraid, blocking blaster bolts was not his expertise.
Then the elevator doors opened, the car thankfully empty.
"Come on!" Riko and Niner both ran in, Jade following. Bao gradually retreated, continuing to block blasterfire. Riko kept hitting the button marked close door. To his relief, the doors began closing, only for the troopers to charge, triggering the motion sensors and almost reopening the door.
Riko couldn't disable it, the elevator doors wouldn't close if the sensor was nonfunctional.
Then Jade pushed all of the troopers back, Riko hit the close door button again, and they slammed shut.
For the next minute, there was no interruption, nothing to suggest something was wrong with the elevator, aside from the awful choice of music.
Riko was relieved when they reached Val's floor. He quickly ran to Val's room, ringing the doorbell multiple times.
"Val! Val." Riko yelled, "We gotta go!"
"They're here!" Jade warned. Riko looked and saw troopers enter the hall via the stairwell.
Then the door opened.
"You'll break the kriffing bell…" Val said as he stepped through the apartment door. Then he looked out and saw the troopers that had just broken through the stairwell, "Fierfek! We need to leave!"
Riko could tell that Val wasn't speaking Mando'a when he said that word.
Val drew his blaster from his back, a bulky rifle with a lengthy scope, and fired a spray at the troopers.
"Inside!" Bao yelled. Riko ran into the apartment. Niner and Jade followed, with Bao covering them from behind before entering himself. Val closed the door and locked it.
"I never liked this room, anyway," Val commented.
"We need your ship, Val," Bao said.
"Alright," Val said. He was already dressed in his armor. In fact, Riko had yet to see him without the helmet, chestplate, gauntlets, and other adornments.
A lightsaber blade suddenly sprouted through the door, beginning to cut through the metal.
"Alright," Val opened the doors to the balcony, gesturing to a fire escape.
"Kara?" Thalia asked as she and Harkaq entered the room.
"She didn't make it," Riko said, "I'm sorry, Harkaq."
"We should leave, then," Harkaq said grimly, "She would want us to complete our mission."
"The blockade's still in orbit," Jade warned.
"Your little entrance blew up a bunch of their support ships. We might be able to slip through," Val responded.
Fire Escape
The fire escape, as it turned out, led to a walkway that led straight to a landing pad.
"The thing about this apartment, why I chose it," Val said as he led the group through, "Is that it comes with direct access to a landing pad. Each room has an emergency escape. Most people use the pads in Upper City, easier to leave without navigating between buildings and speeders, so I get the pad to myself."
After some minutes of running, they were just one flight of stairs, the platform was in view. Panting, Jade stared at the vessel resting upon it.
With a height that was at least a third of its length, the bulky vessel had an ovoid shape, with scattered landing gear and a descending landing ramp in the center of its underside. Her hull was predominantly a brown hue, with green and grey highlights. Scattered around the otherwise uniform––if fading––paint scheme were individual hull panels, painted in a hue that contrasted just enough with the main scheme just enough to make them noticeable, reminding Jade of battle scars. Her cockpit was situated in the bow, surrounded by a pair of massive floodlights. Beneath them lay a pair of circular housings that mounted two long, thin cannons. A light turbolaser, currently located just above the cockpit, was mounted on a track that spanned the length of the vessel's apex. This vessel looked like an insect, hunkered down.
The most interesting thing about the ship, however, was the auxiliary craft. Located opposite the starboard-facing docking ring in a docking nook, the pod looked like it belonged to another ship. Most of it was covered by the transport's shell, but Jade could tell that it was sleek, painted silver with red and black trim, with a domed viewport that poked out of the heavy shell. As Jade moved closer, she could see retracted wings on her dorsal hull and a pair of lines grouped together that must have been a dual-repeating blaster on her underside.
Samsa class, Riko commented. Hearing this, Jade decided the class was aptly named; with its twin mandibles, carapace-esque upper hull plating, elliptical shape, brown color scheme, and long, thin landing gear, the ship did evoke the image of the massive beetles sometimes found in the lower levels of Coruscant.
"The Wild Nomad," Val presented.
Wild Nomad Corridors
Riko ran up the landing ramp and into the armored vessel. He had spent a decent amount of his spare time reading about the various versions of the Gallofree-Rendili Samsa class transport. The Samsa class was designed to ferry supplies and medical personnel to small remote facilities, being equipped with seizable armament and armor as a result. Over the years, the ships were seized by a number of crime syndicates and became a relatively common sight in Hutt Space and neutral systems before it was also incorporated into the Consortium's supply chains. These twenty-two meters long vessel required two crewmen to operate, though it could provide quarters for up to six. It had one long hallway connecting all areas, starting from the cockpit located in the bow and terminating in the engine room, which powered an asymmetric engine assembly. Between those rooms lay two cargo bays, two ventral cargo hatches, a dining space, crew quarters, the landing ramp, the docking ring, and the docking bay designed to carry a small auxiliary craft. Samsas usually had stronger plating on their dorsal side while the ventral side resembled a landspeeder's underside. This one, which looked like a mark 2, was modified with even heavier hull-plating and more powerful weapons, as well as a new engine assembly.
Riko ran towards the cockpit.
"Wrong way, kid," Val pointed to his left.
"That leads to the auxiliary craft!" Riko said.
"Not on this ship. Seemed easier to stay on the bridge if I had to escape."
"You modified the auxiliary pod to be the cockpit?" Riko asked.
"Exactly," Val said.
"That's kind of crazy," Riko commented. A deep curiosity filled his consciousness. He wondered what other secrets this vessel was carrying aboard.
"Maybe," Val admitted.
"Where'd you find an H-47? That's Surronian, they aren't cheap," Riko inquired.
"Four years ago, I was tracking an assassin. I'll tell you about it later."
"Where'd you get this ship?"
"Belonged to my parents."
"Kind of big for just one person."
"I've got Emdee. Any other questions?"
"How do you support all these weapons and armor? The weight-to-mass ratio must make the ship really hard to fly..."
"Bao had a Corellian reactor installed when he helped me turn the Nomad into a gunship."
"Guys, they're almost here, can we focus?" Jade asked.
"Alright," Riko ran to the cockpit, attempting to avoid looking at Val's Mandalorian T-visor, a T-visor like the one worn by the commando he had just killed...
As Thalia was running towards the ship's primary cockpit, which contained the controls for the ship's axial turbolaser, Something within the cargo hold caught her sight. They hadn't left quite yet, Val was still starting up the engines. She could take a moment.
Inside, a number of objects awaited her. Spare parts for the Nomad's systems, a couple of speeder bikes, and for an unknown reason, she saw crystals in one box.
Closing her eyes, Thalia decided to take a moment to examine them with the Force.
These crystals were all Force-attuned, capable of being used for a lightsaber. She couldn't identify them specifically, but they didn't resemble the synthetic crystals used in the lightsabers of most Imperial Knights nor the Kaiburr shard that powered her own.
"Thalia, we need you at the weapons station!" Val's voice blared over the ship's comms.
Thalia continued running toward weapons control. Later on, she would have a talk with Val and Bao.
Vagrant Cockpit
The cockpit was narrow, but well-maintained. Painted a dark silver, with blue highlights, the vessel featured benches on the port and starboard side, with a control panel with seats for a pilot and copilot, all on a small pedestal rotated to the left. Jade sat down in what she guessed was the co-pilot's seat.
"Hey," Val sat down next to Jade, "You sure you can handle co-piloting?"
"She flew a shuttle through a debris field," Riko said, standing a few meters away with Niner.
Jade crossed her arms, "It was my first time flying, too."
Jade couldn't see Val's expression, but she suspected he was smiling.
"Alright, Ms. 'I flew through a debris field.' Let's go."
Val flicked on the ship's systems, lights and displays providing the only non-natural illumination.
"It's a little dark," Jade noted.
"My ship, my rules, kid."
Hearing the sound of footsteps in the cockpit, Val turned around and saw Bao entering the cockpit, his eyes wide.
"Jade, what are you…"
"I think she can handle it," Val interrupted.
"She's only flown once! And we're going to try to break through a blockade!"
"I think she can handle it," he repeated, smiling.
"I warned him," the patchwork droid that Riko had called 'Niner' said to Bao.
Val ignored Bao's following comments and activated the engines. Through the viewport, he could see the troopers open fire on the bulky vessel. Again, when would they learn?
Val activated the ship's comms, "Thalia, where are you?"
"I'm entering the weapons hatch,' Thalia replied, "Hang on."
Val was rewarded a few seconds later when blaster bolts from the Nomad's antipersonnel cannon started tearing through the shock trooper ranks. Still the troopers continued firing, with their Dark Jedi commanders following. The Nomad continued firing, Thalia even activating the ship's dorsal turbolaser, tearing into the landing pad and balcony.
"Now!" Val pulled up the starship and flew into Taris' upper atmosphere, quickly brushing past any civilian traffic. Val wasn't sorry to leave the city-planet behind.
"Incoming!" Jade yelled. One of the Inquisitor class Destroyers–jet-black, sturdy, yet menacing–rushed to intercept the transport, deploying multiple squadrons of TieXs and T-Wings.
"You guys punched a hole in that blockade! We'll slip through!" Val explained, activating the comms, "Let's light that destroyer up!"
Val moved his starship closer to the incoming destroyer, maneuvering to avoid the TieX fighters. Blasterfire rocked the shields. Even the inertial dampeners were having trouble compensating for the amount of force the Nomad was taking.
"Look out!" Jade yelled, "Head to the right!"
Sensors detected no blasterfire from their forward angle that the Nomad wasn't already evading, but Val decided to trust Jade's judgement. She was a Jedi, after all.
Val moved the Nomad to the right, and sure enough, a storm of blaster fire hit the spot where the Nomad was located a moment ago.
The Nomad skimmed the destroyer's sleek black hull, either withstanding or taking down its point-defense cannons.
"Move towards her bridge and fire. Loop around and target her engines," Bao suggested.
"Got it," Val responded, "You get that, Thalia?"
"Yes, loading torpedoes now."
The Inquisitor class Destroyer had a flat, yet bulky, frame, with a flat dorsal hull and a tapered ventral hull, with a well-designed point-defense system. The problem was, it was primarily engineered for fighters, rather than larger armored transports, especially ones with the Nomad's shields and armor.
Skimming the dorsal hull, the Nomad quickly approached the ship's one structural weakness: a small gap behind the observation tower that exposed the engines. Most weapons fired there wouldn't cause too much damage.
A gunboat like the Nomad could wreak havoc.
"How often do you do this?" Niner asked.
"All the time!" Val yelled.
Within a minute, the Nomad circled around the tall, narrow observation tower, Val could see the ship's engines.
"Thalia, now!"
As the Nomad circled around the bridge, a score of proton torpedoes streaked from the transport, creating a conflagration that weakened the shields and structural integrity in that section. Right before she flew away, the Nomad concluded by firing her deadliest projectile: a seismic charge. The device soared into the hole made by the proton torpedoes and detonated, crippling the destroyer's engines, fin, and rear tower, practically ripping them from the rest of the ship. The Nomad flew right past its dorsal array of cannons, safe in the knowledge that no one would be gunning for them now.
"We're clear!" Jade said.
"Alright!"
"The Atarashi'kei system! We need to go there!" Bao shouted.
"He's right," Riko added, "We think we know where the fleet is going."
"These agents might try to assassinate the high council, and an attack would be an excellent means of covering their tracks," Bao explained.
This strategy made sense to Val. The Dar'manda proceeded to type in the coordinates, while the computer made the calculations for a jump to Atarashi'ie.
Val summarily looked at Jade, asking, "Care to do the honors?"
Jade smiled. She grabbed the lever and pushed it. The TieXs, the stars, the blackness, all of it disappeared in the tunnel of blue light that was hyperspace.
Cargo Bay, Hours Later
Riko was feeling intense guilt over the death of the supercommando by his hand. He sat down in the Wild Nomad's cargo bay, thinking over what he had done.
"Hello, Riko," Thalia entered the room.
"Hey," Riko said. He wanted to be alone right now.
"I know about the supercommando," Thalia said. Riko felt a sense of curiosity with a hint of panic. What did she think about what had happened?
"Jade told me. Your guilt only speaks to your empathy," Thalia sat down next to Riko, "I feel guilty about killing too, which is why I limit it."
"What do you mean?" Riko asked.
"I have a personal code," Thalia explained, "I avoid killing except in extreme circumstances, when it is highly likely that I or someone I care about would die. You would have died, Riko."
"I like that," Riko said before he asked,"Will I ever...?"
"Not entirely," Thalia responded, "All you can do is learn from it, and forgive yourself."
Thalia was right. This had been a kill-or-be-killed scenario. Riko thought back to the commando he had force-choked on Orîlla, and realized that that might have also been one of those times. Riko had acted to save himself and others. Now that he understood, he could hopefully prevent this from happening again. At least, he could find ways to restrain himself in the future.
Riko and Thalia hadn't spent a lot of time together, but she had seen that he was in pain and given him something useful: advice on how to learn from his mistake and prevent it in the future.
That made him think of Bao. Despite his role as Riko's teacher, Bao hadn't formally given him any lessons. There had been plenty of time over the last few days, yet Bao frequently neglected his new duty.
Riko was a little irritated by this realization, he would certainly talk to Bao...
"I understand you lost your lightsaber," Thalia declared.
"Yeah," Riko said as he held up Kara's weapon,"I guess I could use Kara's…."
"I don't know," the weapon moved out of Riko's hand and into Thalia's, "Here lies a better opportunity."
Riko didn't know what Thalia meant. A better opportunity for a lightsaber?
"Riko Nai-Jal, I think that you should construct your own lightsaber."
Riko didn't believe it. Most apprentices didn't construct their lightsabers until the end of their training, where they had more knowledge of how the weapons worked.
"I just got paired to a master," Riko said. A week ago, he wouldn't even consider the possibility that he could do this.
"Ah yes, I know about your new tradition of building lightsabers later. But I was your age when I built mine"
"I'm an underdog student, I even have trouble using the Force..."
"You're a gifted mechanic, Riko. Jade told me you love machines. We all have hidden talents, perhaps the secret lies in your passion."
Riko considered for a moment. It wouldn't be a bad idea, Riko already knew how a lightsaber worked. There was just one problem.
"The Jedi don't think I'm ready, they won't let me get a crystal or anything else I need." Riko explained.
Thalia smiled, "Val keeps spare parts for all of his ship's systems right here, you could find enough." She sat up and grabbed a crate, "Start with these," Thalia grabbed a crate and held it out for Riko. Riko peered in and beheld a rainbow of gems.
"These are Stygium crystals," Thalia explained, "Cloaking devices use them as an energy matrix. Since this ship is too small for a cloak, I think they'll suit you well."
"Wow," Riko said. One last thing did occur to him, "Won't Val be mad?"
"Val agreed to let you use whatever you needed, in exchange for a fee."
"What about Bao?" Riko asked, "Is he okay with me doing this?"
"He encouraged me to suggest it," Thalia said, smiling.
One Hour later
Riko's raid through the cargo bay had been surprisingly fruitful. Lightsabers, although they needed to be constructed intricately and delicately, were not that complex. The energy cyclers, the flux aperture, the power cell, switches...Everything he needed to build a lightsaber was aboard this ship, all laid it all out on the floor in front of him, salvaged from everything ranging from spare parts to circuitry to even tools.
He closed his eyes and attempted to meditate, to call to mind the design of the weapon. The specter of his old weapon killing the supercommando went through his mind. Assuring himself it wouldn't happen again did nothing to quell the image. He thought of how he had panicked and grew still…
Niner, Riko thought, isn't he alive? For a few minutes, Riko contemplated the age-old debate over the sentience of droids. While many people did not believe that was the case, Riko believed that the beloved droid was more than a collection of circuits and programming. Like a person, Niner's behavior wasn't static. There weren't any formal limitations on his growth, save for a basic ethics program Riko had installed.
You created him. You created life, just as you create a means to defend it now, Riko realized. He wasn't building a mere device that produced a shaft of plasma. To a Jedi, the weapon was a means to stamp one's own identity into their tool, a creation that was the product of their connection to the Force, just like Niner. This was another machine full of life, another means to create, another puzzle to solve.
Riko's mind immediately drifted to technical details; which crystals he would use, how to wire the circuitry into the power cell, the exact placement of the negative flux aperture…
Suddenly, the sorted components seemed to glow before spectral images of each part flew into the air and assembled themselves into new designs. Riko had no doubt as to what he was seeing. These were all the potential sabers he could build with the parts in the bay.
Riko had a difficult time choosing. They didn't appear that different, but Riko could somehow sense that each one was unique in some subtle way. Yet, that subtle way may be the key to saving his life someday.
Riko's eyes suddenly came onto a lightsaber that really stood out from the others. Its standard length-hilt was a ghost, the parts glowing in various colors. Two crystals floated within its chamber. It had multiple switches. Riko looked more closely to see its properties.
The handgrip, charging port and much of the circuitry came from one of the torquedrivers he had gathered, a tool which he was very familiar with, and did make him consider. Then he saw the saber's most unique feature.
This lightsaber had two blades, one protruding from each end of the hilt, with two activators placed next to each other on the hilt. But both blades could be activated separately. This weapon would provide innumerable options. The design of the torquedriver hilt allowed the power cell and recharging port to be placed in a grove on the side of the hilt, clearing space for a second emitter matrix.
Riko had found his lightsaber. He placed his hand on the ghost, which was surprisingly solid. Riko could even feel the firmness of the plastalloy-rubber handgrip pressed into his palm as he wrapped his fingers around it. The other sabers faded, and the glow around most of the scattered components faded. Only those he needed were still present.
Riko went straight to work, picking out what he needed, brushing aside what he didn't, and immersed himself in his task. He remained razor-focused on every aspect of the process, ensuring everything was aligned perfectly.
He channeled everything into his creation, following the diagram his own mind created. He made tweaks and adjustments here and there, but generally followed a logical progression as he built around the cloaking housing that he had converted into the crystal chamber, screwing on the flux aperture, and only really came to realize how hungry he was and how long he had been working on the weapon after he had spent several minutes charging up the power cell.
Riko's hand was cramped, and his legs felt sore. He felt a pressure in his bladder, but he could hold it.
When the power indicator flashed green, he disconnected the charging cord and clearly examined the weapon in his hand for the first time.
At first glance, it didn't look like much; it was a dissimilitude of components, colors, age, and wear. From the smooth rubber of the blue-and-black hilt to the aged silver of the flux aperture to the tarnished bronze of the switch casing to the baje plastalloy of the rectangular primary switch, salvaged from a lightswitch, to the bright circular red of the secondary activator, it was all contrast. It didn't look anything like his first lightsaber.
And yet, there was something unique in that jumble that Riko couldn't describe. A bunch of pieces, all from radically different sources, merged into one, somehow working together in harmony. Just like Niner. A reflection of that same determination and creativity.
Riko loved it. It just felt…right.
Riko took his weapon in both hands. The torquedriver's design gave him some difficultly holding the weapon with both hands, he had to keep his hands close together. Perhaps he would have to rely more on parries than blocks.
Riko held his saber parallel to his body, flicking off the weapon's safety feature. He then took a deep breath, and activated it.
A fiery orange blade sprouted from the hilt, casting the room in a brilliant ember glow. Riko's mouth gaped, he almost couldn't believe it.
He swung a few times, getting the feel of the weapon. It worked even better in his hand than his old one had, it was clearly meant for hadn't felt this exhilarated in a long time. He had done something incredible, something most students waited years further to accomplish.
"Nice design," Riko turned around to find Jade standing in the entrance, a smile on her face.
"Thanks," Riko returned Jade's smile, "But you haven't seen half of it!"
Riko moved his upper thumb and pressed the second activation button. A second, skinnier blade ignited from the lightsaber's "pommel." Riko proudly held it, reveling in his accomplishment.
You might want to look down, Jade suggested. Riko did, surprised to see his lower blade grazing the floor.
Riko quickly deactivated his second blade, once again, he had received another lesson on control. Riko wasn't used to the exhilaration of a triumph like this, or the excitement of a mission, it was twice now that he had gotten lost in his emotions and made a mistake.
"No one's going to believe this," Jade said, clearly in awe.
"I hope so," Riko responded, knowing he had to work on working with his emotions instead of getting lost in them.