A/N: I know you've been waiting a long time for this, but I'm finally at the point where I feel I can start posting it. It's a form of motivation to complete it, too. I have 5 sections to finish writing, 4 under one point of view, 1 under another. After that I'll read the whole thing over and see how well it flows, edit it, etc...and then see if my beta can take a look at it. It might take a while before I post again...but I want you all to know that this story isn't dead and give you a hint as to what is coming. I came up with the name yesterday, and I think it fits perfectly. We'll be looking at about...20 chapters or so. I've already started planning what to do with the story after this one, and that one has me really excited.
I've decided to post two chapters to start. Together they provide a lot of meaning for the backbone of this whole story, so I felt it was important to put both forward. Besides, the first on its own is not enough to set the scene properly. I hope you enjoy them. The story really starts after these two, and I think they're as polished as they'll ever be anyway. You'll see by the DP that there is a lot coming...
DP
Primary
Jacen Solo, Human male Jedi Master, King of the Hapes Consortium
Jaina Solo, Human female Jedi Master
Tahiri Velia, Human female Jedi Knight
Eriana Fostenon, Human female Jedi Knight, Black Vornskr Leader
Sekava, Human male Sith Lord wannabe
Masakra, Bothan male Apprentice to Sekava
Womprat/HK-47, The galaxy's most freaken awesome assassin droid
Soora Bulq/Marvis Cree, Weequay male Sith Lord/Leader of Galactic Alliance
Secondary
Jedi
Tenel Ka, Human Female Jedi Knight, Queen of the Hapes Consortium
Lowbacca/Lowie, Wookiee male Jedi Master
Nelani Dinn, Human female Jedi
Mandalorians
Lanos, Mandalorian warrior, gold armour (leader)
Parmis, Mandalorian warrior, blue armour (secondary leader)
Blade, Mandalorian warrior, red armour (melee combat specialist)
Trigger, Mandalorian warrior, black armour (heavy weapons/demolitions)
Squeak, Mandalorian technician, blue armour (Tech specialist)
Black Vornskrs
Stragoron, Black Vornskr human male, General (Platinum)
Rjon, Black Vornskr human male, 5th Raider Squad leader (Silver)
Raggy, Black Vornskr human male, 5th Raider Squad (Copper)
Lana, Black Vornskr human female, 5th Raider Squad (Copper)
Mala, Black Vornskr human female, 5th Raider Squad (Copper)
Survivors
Erinn, female human survivor
Cora, female human survivor
Marlene Gosular, female Bothan survivor
Renato Gosular, male bothan survivor
Nivix, Gand male survivor
Annor Amadis, Human male survivor
The abandoned town hall of Orshan boasted the tallest structure of the small Bimmisaari island city, a radio tower that offered a perfect vantage point to observe just about anything on the island. Not that there was much to see. Orshan was best known for its ties to the dregs of society, and those dregs often operated in secrecy. At top of that tower there stood a person who might see events of little significance, like drunken idiots stumbling from bars to the space port, peddlers selling their wares, or even the odd brawl if he looked hard enough.
But for once something truly interesting could be seen. If that person had good vision, he would see that on the far eastern side of the island there were two Mandalorians, one in gold and the other in blue, crouching on rooftops while firing a steady stream of blaster bolts at a target below. That person may also notice their target: a dark-haired man with a red lightsaber deflecting those blaster bolts while sparring against a blond woman who was wielding a blue lightsaber.
If the one standing on that tower had very sharp vision, three others in Mandalorian armour would be seen sprawled out on the old stone road, unconscious, injured or dead.
And if that person had exceptional vision and a keen understanding of combat dynamics, he would see the blond woman was struggling to keep up in the fierce battle while the man with the red lightsaber clearly had the upper hand despite being outnumbered.
Finally, from that vantage point, if that person had sniper rifle, he could see a great many of those details and probably do a lot of damage.
Especially if that person happened, at one point in their life, to be a Mandalorian sniper or Jedi.
Or both.
! #$%^&*()
Tahiri Velia deflected Sekava's lightsaber as two blaster bolts came from either side of her, but the deranged Sith dodged one and absorbed the other on his bare palm. After over a year of hunting down Sekava, Tahiri and "Team Awesome," the Mandalorians that Jacen had once joined a couple years ago, had finally caught up to him. Plagued with a combination of insanity and surprising cunningness, Sekava had wandered from spaceport to spaceport searching for a way to best kill Jacen Solo in a desperate and random quest for revenge. Nobody really knew what Jacen had done to fracture the young Sith student's delicate psyche or if he was merely a scapegoat, but Tahiri and her team knew he was dangerous and must be stopped. While difficult to predict, Sekava's path had been easy to follow – merely follow the reports of a man with a red lightsaber slaughtering people. Spaceport authorities had neither the weapons nor skills to apprehend a berserk Sith, and never had the opportunity to lay a trap, so Sekava got away every time, sometimes scarce minutes before Tahiri and her team arrived.
"The traitor," Sekava sneered at Tahiri, finally recognizing his opponent. He carefully kept her between him and one of the Mandalorian gunners while keeping his lightsaber ready to deflect blaster bolts from the other. "Didn't I kill you?"
Tahiri had no desire to speak to the man who once strapped her to a slab of rock, blasted her with lightning, shoved a lightsaber into her rib cage and then tore it out through her side, leaving her for dead. The damage had taken over a month to heal with the help of the Mandalorians' basic med skills, but the deep scar left a lasting reminder of her humiliation at his hands. Her response was much more direct than words.
She lunged at him in concert with another blaster bolt salvo, trying to spear him through his gut, but Sekava caught her blade on his, stepped towards her past the blaster bolts, and slammed his left palm against her jaw. The blow sent her tumbling to the ground, barely holding onto her lightsaber with the presence of mind to keep the blade away from her body. Before she could recover from the staggering blow, her lightsaber was gone and she distantly heard two clattering impacts against the ground mirrored with a couple of grunts over her ear-comm that told her Lanos and Parmis were the source of those impacts. Tahiri wrenched her eyes open and saw a red blade pointed at her nose.
"Let me see if I can do this right this time," Sekava said in a thoughtful tone that Tahiri did not like. His humming blade hovered just above her face, buzzing like a swarm of angry insects. "Shall I chop through your eyes to blind you to what will follow, or shall I do it bit..."
He flicked his blade toward her calf and severed the leg. Her scream echoed down the empty street.
"by..."
Another flick, another scream, and she lost her other leg just below the knee.
"bit?"
Sekava's head snapped up and he flicked his blade across his chest to catch a pair of blaster bolts before he could harm her further. Three other blaster bolts impacted him; two in the abdomen, one on the left arm. A second set of blaster bolts burned through the air as he quickly side stepped the salvo despite his injuries.
Tahiri called her lightsaber to her hand and ignited it to defend herself despite the sheer agony she was in, but Sekava was already running from the sniper attack.
This was not a good day.
~! #$%^&*()
Tahiri forced herself to sit up to look at her severed legs. It was weird looking at them as if they were no longer a part of her, but as offending objects that had been thrown aside and no longer deserved to be part of the whole. But they were still as much hers as the pain that flared through her.
"Tahiri!" Someone called, a voice distinctively deepened by a Mandalorian helmet, but not one of the team she had joined a year ago. The armour was unrecognizable – black, save a green trim that looked vaguely like a Corellian Jedi robe with various coloured bands on the arms artfully painted to look like ribbons. Unsure of what to do, she awkwardly held her lightsaber between herself and the oncoming enigma, but did not ignite it. Whoever this person was, his blaster rifle was slung across his shoulder by the strap and his pistol was holstered. He dropped to his knees beside her and held her under the neck with his right hand.
"Lie down; your injuries are pretty bad," He said. He reached up with his left hand to pull the helmet off, revealing the face of Jacen Solo. "Womprat is bringing the ship around and I have a bacta tank on board. I'll get you back to Hapes for treatment."
"You..."
"I know," Jacen smiled the lopsided Solo grin. "I've known that you and Jysella were alive for a few months now. Long story, not willing to share. Sorry. The important thing is you're alive and we can heal you up. And I already picked Jysella up from Korriban. Corran was quite happy to see her back, as bad of shape as she was in."
"The others?"
"They're starting to come around," Jacen said. "Everyone got pretty banged up, but you're the worst off."
"Roshi, you rotting piece of bantha dung!"
Trigger's distinctive voice boomed across the street, barely drowning out the metallic clattering of his Mandalorian armour as he ran toward Jacen. He barely got to his feet when the larger man pulled him into the air with a bear hug and dropped him to his feet, ruffling Jacen's hair with his armoured hand.
"We thought you were a stinkin' traitor!"
Blade finally caught up to them and slapped Jacen hard across the face. After a second of looking at the shock on his face, she pulled him into as tight a hug as their armoured bodies would allow and kissed him hard on the cheek.
"You crazy gundark! You have a lot of nerve showing your face around us!"
"I could put the helmet back on?"
Before the others could say anything more, the Solo Quest swooped in above them and hovered loudly. The ramp dropped and a hover gurney lowered itself to the ground. Jacen and Trigger eased Tahiri onto the gurney and Blade placed her severed legs on it.
"Contact me in two days," Jacen called over the noise of the hovering YT-2300. He tossed Trigger a data card and pressed a button to raise the gurney back up to the ship. He held onto the frame of it, riding it up. "Until then, keep after Sekava but don't engage him. We'll get that bastard yet!"
