Star Wars: The Twelve Knights Chronicles Book II
Eight weeks have passed since the events on Juuntall. Jedi Knight Kyle Raeger continues his search for any leads to the location of Abeloth, The Ones, or the Mortis Monolith. Charged with this duty by Grand Master Luke Skywalker, Jedi Raeger continues in his quest. However, doubts have begun to creep into his mind.
Halfway across the galaxy, other events are slowly beginning to turn into motion. The discoveries made by Talon Karrde have borne fruit. Jaina, the newest Master of the Jedi Council, receives an unexpected communication from Boba Fett. The contents of the message are so explosive, they could shake the Galactic Alliance Government to its knees.
However, the death of Darth Naito has not gone unnoticed. A malevolent group, hidden for years, is being forced to the surface. Their plans interrupted, their only recourse is to accelerate their objectives. Their next step is to secure the weapon needed to subjugate the rest of the galaxy, and kill everyone who resists…
Chapter One
Jedi Knight Kyle Raeger's eyes snapped open. A sense of disorientation and panic caused him to look around. Outside the canopy of his X-Wing was the solitude of deep space. Taking a deep breath to center himself, he realized it has happened again.
A trilling sound emitting from a speaker on the control panel of his starfighter, along with text appearing on the monitor next to it. Kyle looked behind him, to see his R2 Unit, Switch, secured in the astromech socket. The droid had been with him for over a decade, from his first mission as a Jedi Apprentice, to his most recent expedition. Both, ironically, had occurred in the same place, on the same planet.
"No, Switch, I'm fine," Kyle said, after reading the text on the monitor. "I just had that same dream again."
Switch's trilling changed from an interrogative to a more concerned tone.
"Yeah," Kyle replied, "I'm kind of worried, too."
A day or two after leaving the Errant Venture behind, Kyle had jumped awake in his X-Wing's cockpit. He hadn't remembered falling asleep, which in and of itself didn't worry him at the time. The dream had been about his encounter with Collette Kurashi, whom he had recently learned was a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Naito. In the dream, he had been standing over Darth Naito, right after the Dark Side black hole created by the destruction of her jewel had sucked away all of her life essence, leaving her an empty husk.
The first time the dream occurred, Kyle wrote it off as stress and tried to put it behind him. The second time the dream came, almost a week later, the imagery and sensations were even more intense. After he had awoken from the dream, he had meditated for over an hour, to try to cleanse himself of the negative emotions he had felt soaked in. Now, after having lost count of how many times the dream had come, no amount of meditation seemed to help.
"I don't know," Kyle said, rubbing his face repeatedly. "The mission Grand Master Skywalker gave me is very important. Plus, there are plenty of other Jedi Knights out there searching right now, too. Maybe I should head back to GA Territory, to get checked out."
Switch replied with a short series of trills, as a number of systems appeared on the monitor. Kyle immediately discounted Coruscant, since it would take him back to the center of the galaxy. Even though it had the best medical facilities, including Jedi healers, the amount of time it would take him to get back to the Outer Rim would essentially negate the advantage. Commenor was a possible choice, but there were reports of emerging Anti-Jedi sentiment resulting from the Second Galactic Civil War that might make the rest he needed hard to come by. Finally, near the bottom of the list, an unexpected entry caught his eye.
"Switch," Kyle said, tapping his monitor, "tell me more about Thyferra."
Switch replied with a confident trill, as biographical and topographical data began to replace the list of star systems. While Kyle knew that Thyferra was the planet where bacta was made, like most beings in the galaxy, that's where his knowledge stopped. He also knew a little about the planet's history, when it had been temporarily ruled by a high ranking Imperial after the death of Emperor Palpatine. It was the final piece of information that felt like the Force was drawing him to it.
"Hold on, Switch," Kyle said quickly. "Back it up a bit."
Switch scrolled backwards a little, and Kyle tapped his gloved finger on the monitor again.
"Bring up all the data you have on the Bacta War," Kyle requested.
He read through the data quickly, knowing the usual speed Switch used would leave him enough time to read the pertinent parts. Approximately three years after the destruction of the Second Death Star and the death of Emperor Palpatine, Rogue Squadron had participated in the conquest of Coruscant. The New Republic discovered, just in time, that the former head of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard, had enlisted an Imperial Officer, General Evir Derricote, to create a bioweapon that would kill off almost all the non-human species residing on the planet. Ysanne Isard then orchestrated a coup d'etat on Thyferra, in an attempt to bankrupt the New Republic as they purchased more and more bacta to cure the Krytos Virus.
While the New Republic had secretly begun experimenting themselves with an alternative, progress had been slow. A Vratix, a member of the insectoid species that created bacta, was smuggled onto the recently conquered planet of Borleias to prevent Isard from discovering the New Republic's plans. As a verachan, or master blender, the Vratix, Qlaern Hirf, had created the alternative cure, rylca. While it had been able to slow the progression of the bioweapon, bacta was needed to stamp it out for good.
Wedge Antilles, along with the rest of the celebrated X-Wing starfighter group Rogue Squadron, had pushed for the New Republic to take the fight directly to Isard. Kyle tapped on the names of the squadron members, and got a quick summary of their actions and involvement at the time. He was unsurprised that the bulk of the material was dedicated to Wedge Antilles, since he had been the leader of the temporary splinter group. He was surprised to see Tycho Celchu, Iella Wessiri, and a few others listed.
Near the end, he saw the names of his former Master and his Master's wife. Corran Horn, along with Mirax Terrik, had participated in several battles during the short-lived Bacta War. It also listed Booster Terrik's contribution, along with Talon Karrde's, and mentioned how Booster had tricked an Imperial Captain into surrendering the Imperial Star Destroyer Virulence over to him, which he had renamed the Errant Venture. Talon Karrde, for his part, had been a minor player in the conflict, but had been essential in resolving the dispute between the New Republic and Booster Terrik over the ownership of the Virulence.
After the expulsion of the Imperial leaning Xucphra corporation, the Vratix, along with their allies in the Zaltin corporation, had petitioned to join the New Republic. They had remained a member state throughout the Yuuzhan Vong war, and the Second Galactic Civil War. The native species' culture was deeply rooted in healing, and the family that still ran the Zaltin corporation had maintained good relations with them. Master Horn had even once told him that once you got past the oppressive humidity, it wasn't really that bad a place for some downtime.
"Not bad, Switch," Kyle finally said. "Sounds like we've got a winner."
Switch, clearly satisfied with himself, issued a series of celebratory trills. Kyle pulled up the astronavigation charts maintained by the Jedi Order, started plotting his course, and jumped to lightspeed. His position relative to the planet placed him on the good side of Yag'Dhul, which, due to its several large moons that rotated in a retrograde orbit to the planet, made navigation near it somewhat difficult. If he had been approaching Thyferra from the other direction, it would have required several extra hyperspace jumps.
While he technically wasn't on any time table, the extra distance traveled would have only allowed more chances for the dream to happen again. The Jedi Order had warned him to be mindful of his emotions. Kyle wasn't afraid of the dreams, but they were obviously happening for a reason. If he had been touched; or worse, tainted, by the Dark Side in his most recent battle with Darth Naito, he needed to know, before it started to possibly affect him.
"Switch," Kyle said, turning his head to look directly at his astromech partner, "I'm going to use the Jedi hibernation technique. You know how to wake me when it's time."
Switch issued a slightly nervous sounding trill, then watched from his position as Kyle settled down to enter the coma-like state that allowed him to minimize the amount of life support used. Over the next several days, as his human counterpart calculated time, Switch observed the elegant blue-white corona of hyperspace rotate around them. He constantly monitored Kyle's life form readings through his consumption of oxygen and other gases, as well as a sensor cluster built into the pilot's seat. Switch kept his own attention occupied by counting down the time remaining until he needed to send the rhythmic pulse through the cockpit speakers that would alert Kyle to come back out of his self-induced coma.
Finally, on their fifth day in hyperspace, Switch sent the signal to awaken Kyle. The Jedi Knight's life signs started to fluctuate, as they always did when he began pulling himself out of his comatose state. The sudden surge in the consumption of oxygen caused the air scrubbers to increase production. Switch waited as Kyle coughed and then opened his eyes. He then greeted the Jedi Knight with a cheerful trill as he regained his bearings.
"Thanks, buddy," Kyle said, reaching for the hyperspace controls. "I'll take it from here."
While Kyle knew about Grand Master Skywalker's knack for knowing his position in hyperspace relative to real space, it was a skill he had yet to master. Consequently, he relied on Switch to notify him when to disengage the hyperspace engines. A tone from the speakers alerted him, and Kyle pulled back the throttle. The X-Wing reappeared in real space within visible distance of the planet of Thyferra, but safely outside its gravity well.
"There it is, Switch," Kyle said, facing backwards again. "Looks pretty from here. Here's hoping the healing abilities of the Vratix wasn't exaggerated."
Switch put up a message on the monitor about a second before the cockpit speaker growled to life.
"Unidentified X-Wing Starfighter," the male voice said with just the right combination of professionalism and aggression, "this is Thyferra ATC. Identify yourself and the nature of your business."
"Here goes nothing," Kyle said, activating his general communications frequency. "This is Jedi Knight Kyle Raeger, on special assignment from the Jedi Order. I'm here for some down time, and to seek medical evaluation and treatment."
"We don't have you on file, Jedi Raeger," Thyferra ATC responded. "Anyone that can vouch for you?"
"I was apprenticed under Jedi Master Corran Horn," Kyle replied. "Is that good enough?"
"Sorry," Thyferra ATC said. "That's not going to be-"
"Give him a berth and landing coordinates," a well cultured male voice said suddenly. "I will vouch for him."
"Yes, sir," Thyferra ATC replied, with a nearly audible gulp. "Jedi Raeger, please stand by for landing instructions."
Kyle received a data package on his monitor. Glancing at it, the coordinates he saw put it in the middle of what appeared to be a large private estate. Taking a closer look, he realized it was probably a government facility, possibly even the regional governor's offices. Whoever had interrupted his conversation with Thyferra ATC was obviously someone important.
"What do you think that was all about," Kyle asked.
Switch replied with an uncertain trill, but indicated that the landing coordinates were valid.
"Keep our sensors scanning, Switch," Kyle said with a soft sigh. "I know what Grand Master Skywalker says about luck. Even though it's been a few decades, Master Horn was instrumental in helping the Vratix gain their freedom. While that means he's probably venerated as a hero here, he's just as likely to have some pretty bitter enemies, too."
Switch, through his trills, did his best imitation of a frustrated sigh, and even Kyle had to admit his assessment of their situation was pretty spot on.
Immediately after popping the seal on the canopy of his X-Wing Starfighter, Kyle knew that Master Horn hadn't been exaggerating. The cool, controlled atmosphere his cockpit maintained was instantly replaced by the hot, humid air of the spaceport facilities. Growing up on the planet of Chandrila, Kyle was no stranger rain and humidity, but the winds coming off the Silver Sea kept it to a tolerable level. There was so much moisture in the air, he was honestly worried about Switch rusting or shorting out.
Not needing the ladder used by most pilots, Kyle instead used his Force-enhanced reflexes to jump down from his cockpit. Upon landing on the compacted permacrete of the tarmac, he looked around for the immigration agent that would usually be present to both greet him and politely interrogate him. After waiting for nearly five minutes, Kyle shrugged, used the Force to levitate Switch out of the astromech slot of his X-Wing, and then gently lowered him to the ground. Glancing at a map with instructions printed in several languages, Kyle made his way to the nearest exit, followed closely by Switch.
He made it nearly three meters down the hallway before he was intercepted by a protocol droid.
"Excuse me," the droid said in an electronic but otherwise pleasant female voice, "would you happen to be the esteemed Jedi Knight, Kyle Raeger?"
"Well, I don't know about the 'esteemed' part," Kyle replied, "but the rest is accurate."
"Excellent," the droid said eagerly. "My master will be most pleased that I arrived in time to properly greet you. I am C-7PO, but you can call me Cathy."
"Cathy," Kyle replied. "Why Cathy?"
"Your confusion is understandable," Cathy responded amusingly. "It also happens quite frequently. It seems the voiceprint used for my vocal modulator was taken from a famous musical artist, who was popular during the waning days of the Old Republic. If you'll follow me, please."
"You don't find that a little creepy," Kyle asked as he walked beside the protocol droid. "I mean, you're talking to me with the voice of a dead woman."
"Some people have expressed that sentiment before," Cathy admitted, tilting her head to the side. "Perhaps I should not have said anything in the first place."
"You didn't choose to have that voice, Cathy." Kyle said. "The only choice you have now is how well you use it. You might as well put it to good use."
"Thank you, Jedi Raeger," Cathy replied gently, "for expressing faith in me and my abilities."
"I've experienced similar circumstances," Kyle said, smiling. "I didn't choose to be born as a Force Sensitive, but I do have a responsibility in how I use it."
"I must admit," Cathy, said, "it's refreshing to find a being who doesn't recoil at the thought of associating with me after finding out the details of my programming."
"Force users such as Jedi tend to have a different perspective," Kyle replied. "We often interact with Jedi who have become one with the Force, sometimes even centuries after they've died."
"You're referring to the phenomenon known as Force Ghosts," Cathy said. "While I have heard of them, I have never experienced it for myself."
"It's nowhere near as common as most beings think," Kyle said with an amused smile. "For someone to have an interaction with a Force Ghost, not only does the departed Jedi need to have a reason to speak with the Jedi they're trying to contact, but the will of the Force itself has to allow it to occur."
"So desire has nothing to do with it," Cathy asked plainly.
"It depends on the kind of desire you're talking about," Kyle replied. "If the Jedi's desire is to follow the will of the Force, such as protecting the innocent and defending the weak against tyranny, then it would probably be allowed to occur. But if the Jedi desires it out of personal need to only help themselves, that kind of longing can begin to manifest itself as greed, which can easily corrupt a Jedi to the Dark Side of the Force."
"Thank you for enlightening me, Jedi Raeger," Cathy said pleasantly. "I feel I've come a little closer to understanding the Force a little better, thanks to you."
"Glad to be of help, Cathy," Kyle said, as they approached a door near the end of the hallway. "Just keep in mind, Grand Master Skywalker is in his sixties, and he's still learning new things about the Force. Be patient. If the Force has a destiny in mind for you, it'll find you, whether you like it or not."
"Thank you again, Jedi Raeger," Cathy replied, then assumed a more professional tone. "My master is waiting for you inside."
"Thank you, Cathy," Kyle said with a smile. "Maybe I'll see you again when I head out."
Cathy placed her hand on a droid socket built into the wall next to the door, and Kyle heard the sound of an electronic lock disengaging. The door to the office opened smoothly, as Kyle and Switch made their way in. Switch issued a pleasant series of trills, which was his way of thanking Cathy for her effort. As the outer door closed, the inner door to the main office opened. A man in his middle years was sitting at the desk. While he had an aristocratic bearing, Kyle didn't sense any of the arrogance or self-importance that often came with it.
"Jedi Knight Kyle Raeger, reporting as requested," Kyle said, extending his hand.
"Glad to make your acquaintance, Jedi Raeger," he said, shaking the offered hand. "So, I'm lead to understand that you were Jedi Master Corran Horn's apprentice, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir," Kyle replied openly.
"Corran and I had quite the rivalry when we were younger," the man behind the desk replied. "I knew he would go far, but not even I thought he would become an accomplished Jedi Master."
"He was a great teacher, too," Kyle said.
"Ah yes," the man said. "Corran often taught best by leading; a skill I'm sure the Jedi made excellent use of. But I'm neglecting my manners, as I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Bror Jace. I'm the current head of the Zaltin Corporate group, and defacto leader of the human populace of Thyferra."
Kyle suppressed the urge to react impolitely. While not as famous or instrumental as Wedge Antilles or Corran Horn in the liberation of Thyferra during the Bacta War a few years after the destruction of the Second Death Star, Bror Jace was still an important person in the sphere of influence surrounding Thyferra. While Master Horn had always spoken highly of him, Kyle was getting his own opportunity to see for himself why. Any help he could secure from him would likely prove invaluable.
"Thank you for smoothing things over for me with Thyferra ATC," Kyle said graciously. "I assume you get a lot of odd traffic and passersby."
"Think nothing of it," Bror said, waving his hand dismissively. "In truth, you may prove of more help to me than you probably realize."
"How's that," Kyle asked, guarded.
"I saw on your temporary visa application that you're here for rest, medical evaluation, and possible medical treatment," Bror stated. "Is that correct?"
"Yes," Kyle replied.
"Excellent," Bror said. "We should be able to assist each other, then. We've been having some issues with our bacta storage and treatment facilities."
"What kind of issues," Kyle asked, suspiciously.
"Several large containers of bacta have been found," Bror replied, "after seemingly being misplaced for several days. Given the size of our operations, that sort of thing isn't all that unusual. However, one of our Verachen mentioned that something about the taste of one of the bacta containers seemed off. So, I had it tested."
"What did you find," Kyle asked, his danger sense in the Force suddenly on edge.
"The bacta in the container had been exposed to a mutagen," Bror said in hushed tones. "While it would have still been useful as a healing solution, long term use of it would have resulted in wild mutations, particularly in the areas of cognitive abilities. Our analysis indicated that while a small percentage of beings would have possibly gained enhanced abilities, most would have been reduced to unthinking beasts."
"I can see why you're so interested in finding out what happened," Kyle replied. "Without a safe supply of bacta, millions, possibly billions of beings could die."
"That, Jedi Raeger," Bror said, "is the least of our concerns right now."
"How is that not your primary concern," Kyle asked incredulously.
"Someone created this mutagen," Bror said with barely restrained fury. "That means they plan on using it. The least it would do is ruin our business. But what if their true end goal is to reduce millions of beings into mindless slaves?"
"I think I'm beginning to see the scope of the problem," Kyle said, as the Force turned deathly cold around him.