CH 39: Return of the Jedi
-Song suggestion: Pendulum-Different-
On Cato Neimoidia…
Anakin had managed to spirit her Nelo away, but she still worried for him. Everything ran amok in the last couple of days, despite all the planning. So many twists and turns that made her want to bury herself under a rock and stay there, forget about the Galaxy.
The two Jedi had seen her unveiled, which could be a major problem. Pausing in her effort for a second, she Force pulled a cloak that was still okayish and wrapped it around her, pulling the hood over her head. With another motion, she used one of the rags for a makeshift mask.
So much power… so much electricity lightning, energy…
Her body was tired, so, so tired. Her eyelids were steadily lowering, her breathing was slowing down, and sleep was seconds away. Yet the sounds of the alarm woke her from the daze, helping her keep the currents steady.
So concentrated on her task was the dark acolyte, that she didn't register the Neimoidian team joining her on the command platform. Words were said, but her mind was busy channeling the electricity into the receptor. Only when a firm hand was laid upon her shoulder did she stop the power, immediately falling into the arms of whoever was foolish enough to touch her.
The Neimoidian nuclear brigade quickly went on to connect the two reserve generators, while their tech-team began the repairs on the control panel and cables.
"Sir, we have her. She stopped the meltdown and the situation is stable."
"Good, captain! Have her brought to us, not to Count Dooku." the voice said.
Onboard the Twilight…
Once they hit hyperspace, Anakin left the ship in Artoo's care. He himself had two patients to take care of.
The ship only had one medical room and two beds opposite of each other. Ahsoka was still afraid of Nelo, so he had to put a curtain between them, for even the sight of her fellow Padawan scared her.
The seasoned Jedi checked on her first. No permanent wounds were left on her body, but she looked spaced out, even with her eyes open and her breathing steady.
"Snips… are you with me?" he snapped his fingers.
The Padawan didn't react at first, yet eventually turned her head to face him.
"I'll live. I cannot sleep in the same room as him after what he did." She mumbled with a tinge of fear in her voice. "Now check on him."
Anakin nodded, and then went to the other bed to find Nelo taking in shallow breaths, still out for good.
"His preliminary analysis?" he asked the medical droid standing at the foot of the bed.
After glancing at the patient and his notepad, the droid stated:
"Patient Hivaarr's body has multiple fractures, contusions and laser wounds that have yet to heal. I have administered Bacta patches, bandaged what I could, but I didn't give him any injections. I detected that his nervous system has suffered damage from several neuroactive substances, as well as unknown sources of stress."
Anakin then decided to try something. He told the droid to keep monitoring all his vital signals. With both of his hands, he decided to send some healing energy into a wound on his left arm.
The machine next to them beeped faster for a few seconds, then returned to normal. Meanwhile, an almost unnoticeable red mist seemed to absorb all the bluish energy. He repeated the process, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, save for his powers being useless. Very puzzling, indeed.
"What the… this is very strange. Only the masters can give us an answer and boy, do I fear for Nelo now!"
It will take them some hours to reach the Core Worlds and Coruscant specifically.
On Naboo, during the whole debacle…
Senator Amidala had to shut her eyes to spare her heart any more suffering. Her planet had barely recovered from the fighting 10 years prior and now it was worse than after Gunray's cowardly attack. So many bodies, so many husks, so much rubble… almost no building was left unscathed and the nature itself was scarred, with crushed hills, landslides, oil spillage, burned grass and crops. Her queen and confidante, queen Jamilla, was safe. She had collapsed into her arms upon their reunion and muttered words of regret that she hadn't done more for Naboo, that she put the good of the Republic and the wounded of the Medical Station above that of her own planet, to which her friend just smiled among her tears, offering her a handkerchief.
"You couldn't have prevented this, Padme! Do not beat yourself over it; we'll get to the bottom of things. As commander Craig mentioned, this was an organized assault, though the motive has escaped us so far." When she saw that Padme was still captured by the chaos around her, the queen grabbed her by the wrist and guided her to one of the still standing hotels, where she was residing. "You need to lie down for a few minutes Padme, then we can discuss reconstruction efforts. I'll contact the Jedi Council and the Army.
The queen, accompanied by ten gungan guards, paid her respects to the fallen heroes, as many funerary pyres had been set up for them at the outskirts of the city.
"In dark times, when peace had been sacrificed for profits and selfish interests, it is up for us, the citizens of each world to show dignity and courage, friendship and empathy. Look before you and around you: clones, so alike, yet each of them unique, humans, gungans and other species of Naboo joined arms and shielded the weak and innocent from the fires of suffering, death and the throes of slavery. Let this be an example to the Republic and our allies of what it truly means to love another, of what sacrifice really means." the queen proceeded to take her ceremonial headdress off, then ripping the sleeves of her dress, before dipping them into oil and setting them ablaze. "In the name of the people of Naboo, I pledge never to forget these heroes and to honor their memory to the end of my days, so help me the Force!" she raised her voice, then let the silence settle over the crowd. With one gesture, she threw the blazing garments onto the first pyre, setting it alight. The others soon followed.
Loathe it as she may, she felt it necessary to allow the press access to this ceremony, in order to show the Galaxy that selflessness she mentioned, as well as the full extent of the destruction caused by the cursed Separatists. She did wonder, however, what would happen to the 321st division, now that all of its spacecraft, vehicles and most of its men were wiped out. What happened to that jedi boy and his master? Vice-Admiral Steffano, the sole surviving officer from the orbital fleet, was in intensive care, one arm missing and his body beaten. What's more, Knight Skywalker and his padawan have failed to return so far from their investigation. They just dropped the officer and boarded their ship for who knows where.
She shook her head. That was Padme's job to figure all out, as she knew the Knight better than anyone else around here.
On Coruscant…
"We are witnessing a very tragic story unfolding itself in the Midrim, dear viewers. The planet of Naboo has been the victim of a vicious surprise attack by the Separatist Alliance" the footage showed the derelict space craft, the debris, the bodies, before switching to the surface. "As our armed forces were busy with neutralizing the threat posed by the dreaded battlecruiser, the Malevolence, the 321st Clone Division, headed by jedi knight general Krav Erladin and padawan commander Nelo Hivaarr, was faced with enemy forces many times its size. Our valiant heroes held the line, while Naboo managed to muster its local militias and the Gungan armies to the frontlines. Queen Jamilla has survived an assassination attempt thanks to the prompt intervention of her clone- and Gungan bodyguards. In her inspiring speech, the monarch urges us to continue to safeguard our fellow citizens from the horrors of war and injustice." The camera showed the entire ceremony, occasionally switching to the other solemn-faced survivors." A complete report of the casualties and survivors is still on its way. As the night settles over Naboo, we must be ever vigilant in the face of adversity.
Daaikaia Twisasa, Corellia News!" the golden skin twi'lek ended her reportage.
"… The Grand Army of the Republic and the Jedi Order are still looking for the padawan commander Nelo Hivaarr, who'd gone missing during the space battle of the Naboo system. If anyone has any information on his whearabouts, please contact the following hotlines…" a picture with the human boy was showed on the news. "Padawan Hivaarr is a veteran of many battles and is fairly known amongst the soldiers. It isn't excluded that he might have been kidnapped by the enemy. We will keep you posted as more information finds its way to us!
Jack Spicer, Alderaan Report." The human male ended his show.
Grandmaster Yoda frowned at the similar reports shown on Galaxynet and GalaTele by all these news stations. There wasn't much to talk about, and with Queen Jamilla allowing them on her planet, they could not censor too much. This was bad publicity for an Order that both held in high regard, and distrusted by much of the population, given the secrecy and the mystic allure of the Force. Far from being vain, they did not want to advertise their weaknesses.
Master Windu, on the other hand, was more worried about Skywalker and his Padawan's disappearance. Knowing him and his knack for trouble, he most likely followed some Separatists, trying to get them to talk. Anticipating this, they had explicitly ordered the pair, especially him, to refrain from solo actions, and yet that still happened. The Jedi master closed his eyes to calm himself. Their fellow knight had a problem with discipline, to put it mildly, and that would backfire sometime, big time!
His musings were interrupted by Master Adi Gallia:
"I find it peculiar that they did not report Knight Erladin's passing. Master Plo Koon felt it on the Medical Station, and so did Master Kenobi, alongside other brothers and sisters."
"They were reportedly no survivors from aboard the command vessel, save for the vice-admiral, and he is in a coma, lacking an arm. Skywalker's preliminary report has not been leaked so far, thankfully, but we await further info. What I'd really like to know is: how did they manage to outflank us that way? And what did they want to achieve? Naboo is no high priority target; it's more of a symbol." Master Ki Adi Mundi asked, perplexed.
"The Queen did say that there were Sith Assassins infiltrating the palace. Her guards sacrificed themselves to neutralize them, which means those were probably not past apprentice level." Shaak Ti intervened, slowly stroking one of her lekku in thought. "This could have been a testing ground for Count Dooku's new line of leaders, some of which were present at Bespin and other locations in the past.
"It's possible, yet if this were a testing ground for his apprentices, it failed. Save for the one killed planet side, the others must have left or been killed. Seems too pathetic for Dooku's liking, if you ask me!" Saesee Tiin sneered.
"We need to bring Skywalker in to clear this mess for us. Whatever it is, it mustn't leak to the media!" he added.
It was Master Adi Gallia who interrupted their debate with a reminder of their other military fronts. From what the other fleets reported, it seems that Separatist forces were redirected for this endeavor, meaning that the pressure was lifted for the moment. That gave Master Luminara the window of opportunity to encircle the Separatist fleet near the Kaliida Nebula and annihilate it, which in turn would allow the G.R.A. to move more forces to the Midrim. They had solid information that the enemy might try to push back on Bothawui or Mimban, so they had to keep reserves at the ready.
What's more, an increasing number of weapons smuggling was taking place on the capital world of Coruscant. While one could never hope to stop it, stemming it was possible, not least through Padawan Hivaarr and CorSec's efforts, but even they did not reach the lower levels. The prisons were filling up, with the worst offenders being taken to penal colonies to help with the war effort, while others were isolated in cramped up rooms. And yet, it seemed as if they weren't making any big difference, which in turn was hurting the morale of the middle and lower classes; not a good sign!
After hours of debates, occasionally interrupted by council members returning to their command duties, they received a transmission from Knight Skywalker that he would join them.
Indeed, the Twilight, after gaining the necessary approvals, landed directly in the main hangar of the Temple. Mechanics of all races and sizes went to work on the battered ship that saw not one, but multiple battle recently.
As they did that, the ramp lowered, revealing Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.
Cin Drallig, the Order's main battlemaster, was there to greet him.
"Hello Anakin! It's good to see you again. Nice work on that shortcut and that neat sabotage of the Malevolence. That nightmare's finally over." The two shook hands as Anakin invited him onboard.
"Thank you, master! As you may know, there has been an attack on Naboo, which I have been investigating."
Cin's was crestfallen for a few moments, visibly affected by the viciousness of the recent events.
"You are correct. We mourn Knight Erladin's passing and the disappearance of his Padawan…" he said as the Knight led him to the medical room.
"Herein lays the problem, master. We found Nelo Hivaarr, but the story is much more complicated than that. Suffice to say: it's way over my league!" he exclaimed, as they both entered the room and pulled the curtains away.
One bed held a tired Ahsoka, who nonetheless was happy to see a familiar face, especially the one that trained her for so many years. She smiled weakly, but still looked at the other patient in the room with visible distress.
Cin saw that and furrowed his eyebrows. Weren't the two somewhat friends? Fear of one another is highly unusual. On the other bed, he noticed a battered Nelo that looked like he'd been to all Corellian Hells plus Korriban.
"Mind telling me what's going on here?" the duelist said.
"Help me bring him to the Council Chamber and I will. This story is far too long and complicated for me to tell it twice, I swear. Also, the added secrecy helps" he whispered to his superior.
"Alright. I'll have a team look after Padawan Tano, so let's get him out of here."
And so they did. With the help of the medical droid and careful lifting, they got him on a stretcher and brought him before the Council.
To say they were surprised would be an understatement.
Grandmaster Yoda clenched his heart at the sight, while Masters Windu and Shaak Ti gripped their armchairs. The other Council Members did not seem to notice anything amiss, other than the obvious.
"Is something wrong, Masters?" the Knight inquired.
Windu immediately turned his gaze to him, looking for any sign of deceit or mockery. When his piercing eyes found none, he rose from his chair and approached the unconscious Padawan in the middle of the room.
"I am detecting latent Sith energies. This is no coincidence, Skywalker, so tell us then, how did you all get here?"
Anakin breathed in and started his story.
The Masters were told about the disaster and the death onboard the main ship of the Knight Erladin's fleet above Naboo. The female Sith that was killed and drained of all life was a particularly gruesome find and Anakin thus confirmed the death of Saato the Dathomirian. He also confirmed the suspicion of more Sith Assassins, four to be exact, when they included the one killed on Naboo. But what really caught their attention was the Separatist occupation of Cato Neimoidia. While they knew that many Neimoidians worked with or for the Separatist Alliance and Nute Gunray, others, including those in that system were neutral and had not reported any illegal occupation. According to Skywalker, they look pretty established there, which would raise serious questions in the Senate with regards to that world's status. A galactic process might be necessary to clear that up. From what their fellow Jedi had gathered, Nelo had most likely been captured or snuck onboard one of these ships. When they reached C.N. may have intended to do as much damage as possible; that meant causing the main floating city and its entire population and military assets to crash through the clouds down to its doom. Anakin told them that he and Ahsoka had managed to calm him down and talk him out of it. The enraged Padawan had suffered a Force Burnout the likes of which were never taught of. The medical droid also gave its report as to the physical damage suffered by commander Hivaarr. The chemical cocktail of stimulants, healing serums and other things did not seem to explain the reactions of some of the Council Members, however.
"What's outright freaky, if you ask me, is the face that Force Healing doesn't work on him. Maybe one of you would have more success or some answers." He ended his report, bowing his head in respect.
Mace Windu held his hand above Hivaarr's body. Concentrating his own energy, he used Force Heal to close some of the wounds, yet, to the surprise of those present, it failed. Repeated action brought the same results, much to their frustration.
Grandmaster Yoda signaled him to stop. His trained eyes and his centuries-old knowledge and experience showed him what the others were missing. In order to test his theory, he rose from his chair and approached the boy. He used Force Push on the boy, which didn't do anything, followed by a stream of Force Heal. It happened for a split second, but it was there for all to see: a severe bout of Force Drain, used subconsciously to feed an addiction.
"How much energy we pour, it don't matter. Addiction, he has, and Force Drain he uses. Worrying, this is!" he told his fellow Council Members, as he returned to his seat to meditate on the problem.
"If it's an addiction affecting him, will he get over it or will it kill him?" Anakin asked, being worried sick for his brother-by-oath.
"There have been such cases in the past, but the gravity of this one raises more questions than answers" said Shaak Ti. "Nobody reported anything out of the ordinary before the battle and while we know that the Force suppressing collar was hurting him, any jedi would be affected by it…"
"… Which means that he used a lot of power, even by our standards, in less than 24 hours. Our bodies act like conductors for the Force and we each have our limit as to how much we can channel, absorb, redirect. Should one exaggerate, he or she might die or reach a fate worse than death, such as… Darth Nihilus!" Master Windu added.
Everyone shuddered at that thought. The legends of the Old Republic haven't lost their influence upon the galaxy. That tear in the fabric of the Force was able to destroy whole planets and nearly led to the annihilation of the Jedi Order. Did this child before them possess the potential to go that far?
They started debating as to how to approach this risk, while Anakin looked at the teen in question. Flashes from their fight not that long ago returned, with him being possessed by that entity. He had to tell the masters what happened, but he was bound to help Nelo as much as he could. If he told them everything he saw and heard on Cato Neimoidia, execution wouldn't be that far away. The eyes of his elders spoke volumes of the fear that gripped them when it came to the teen. He himself was a very young Jedi Knight by comparison, but they were old and tried in many ways by the Force. Was Hivaarr posing them such a threat? It was now that the sith acolyte's warning made sense:
"Just wait and see what they'll do to him. Both of you will then know what you really stand for!"
"Masters, what are we going to do? He may die from the withdrawal. Shouldn't we be helping him with our own energy?" he tried. "If Nelo dies, we will never know what happened or what he did."
That did give some of them pause for thought. They were really contemplating this choice for agonizingly long minutes, exchanging knowing looks with each other, which seemed unthinkable to him. A Jedi should try to help a fellow Jedi in need and Nelo was harmless, fully vulnerable to them now.
"This is risky. We cannot know how he would react if more energy gets poured into him. Look at what happened here!" Agen Kolar said, his eyes trained on the unconscious one.
"Maybe Vokara can shed some light onto this case" Adi Gallia proposed. "We should send her some help, just in case this gets out of hand."
They voted on it and, to his surprise, enough Council Members agreed.
However, they were not out of the fire yet.
"In the meantime, Knight Skywalker, would you mind telling us what you've uncovered. The detailed version, if you may!" Shaak Ti had her serious tone on.
So he did.
They found out that Nelo had been possessed by a sith spirit, whose reappearance was confirmed by Grandmaster Yoda based on that nightmare experienced by the Padawan on Christophsis. Some were outraged that they were not informed of this, but the centuries-old Jedi silenced them with a raised hand. Visions and possession were two, radically different situations.
Darth Zannah, the terrifying Sith Lord of old, was making a return. Why or how she chose Nelo Hivaarr as her medium of manifest, they didn't know. That did explain how the youngling, then the teen, developed such powers at a time when most struggled to even start handling the Force. Force Absorb and its evil mirror-power, Force Drain, were trademark techniques of the said evil woman, alongside Force Rage or Lightning. The second was used by Hivaarr, but the latter seemed out of his reach, according to Anakin.
In order to lessen the blow for him, Nelo left out the part about the illicit love interest, or the fact that Nelo knowingly sought to commit genocide. He said that Darth Zannah had taken him over due to his grief over the death of his master, Erladin and him being threatened by the many Sith warriors and so on.
He prayed to the Force that his account would hold some water in any process that may follow.
It took him a while, but the details were out and he was excused.
"Look after your own Padawan, you must. Call you, if he wakes up, we will!"
On Cato Neimoidia, hours after the meltdown was avoided…
In a secluded medical facility on the capital city, Inanna shook a few times, before waking up. Her eyes darted open and her body jumped upright, head snapping to the left and right to check for any immediate dangers. Having seen or sensed none, she laid back down.
"So that wasn't a dream. What irony, what tragedy…" she whispered to herself.
Author's note:
Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its films, books, games etc. are the intellectual property of George Lucas (and Lucasarts), God bless his soul. A demon called Disney has acquired the rights for them, so we must also name them.
No profit was or is being made, so that demon will not get tributes!
*Sorry for the long wait!*
I've finally managed to piece this chapter together, as well as the scripts of the next ones.
Beginning with the next chapter, I shall hand each demo-version to Glas Blaidd (of fanfiction) for Beta-reading. Additional help is welcome!
If you want any new characters or certain events portrayed, send those suggestions (or critique) to me via PM or leave a review.
As always, thanks for reading and see you next time!