CHAPTER 5
Be Her Quarry
"It is a far greater victory to make one see through your eyes than to close theirs forever."
Nur, 14 BBY
Fortress Inquisitorious
Xur sat in the empty training dojo, his back against the wall and hilt in hand, while his mind wandered elsewhere. Never before had he been so infuriated with another person, so much as to strike them with such anger that it nearly killed them. He had seen Trilla's mask-less face after he had snapped, the look of a woman who had found what she was looking for; a chink in his armor that she could exploit.
He'd have to protect all of his men from now on…or Trilla might receive the death she is goading him to give her.
"I wonder how Cal Kestis will scream once we have him," the Third Sister mused, her helmet still covering her face as she sat across from him. "I've never heard-,"
"Hey, hey you better not start having one of your sadist lunatic moments," Xur pointed, looking up. "Otherwise the Grand Inquisitor is going to wonder why he spent so much time training you just to find out you died after I chucked you into that fucking lava pit."
The Seventh Sister laughed, who was sitting beside her. "That was a good one."
"Do I sound like I'm joking?" Xur snapped. "I didn't ask either of you to sit here, so either shut the fuck up or get lost."
The both chuckled like schoolgirls this time.
Xur blinked behind his helmet, frozen for a moment. "Did either of you hear what I just said?"
The Third Sister was covering the area where her mouth would be. "It's just funny. Second Sister knows how to break her partners down, and it looks like you're no different."
"You know," Seventh Sister leaned in, brining her voice down. "They say she killed the Seventh Brother…who died in an 'accident' during one of their hunts a year back."
"Yeah, killed in a trash compactor. It was reported that he fell on his own, but everyone knows she pushed him in," Third Sister recounted.
"If you're trying to make me want to kill her more than I already do, you're wasting your time," Xur said, exaggerating just to try to get them to leave him alone. "She tries killing one of my men again, and I'll dice her up so bad you won't be able to find the body."
Third Sister clapped and bounced with excitement. "Oooooo ooooo! Please take a holovid! I want to see!"
This was all part of the real him coming out. The men under his command were always his foremost concern, and each dead was his responsibility. He took it upon himself to be sure as many got home alive as possible, especially since he had such a tendency growing close to those he commanded.
It only made Order 66 for him that much worse.
"You're different than before," Seventh Sister noticed. "She must've done a number on you all this time."
Xur scoffed. "You could say that."
It was mostly the emotional demand of it all. He hadn't expelled his rage in six months, and it was beginning to tear down his inhibitions. While his natural ability kept it from transforming him entirely, it was still having adverse effects on his behavior. Dark thoughts still found their way into his consciousness, which was partly why he had reacted in such a violent way on Bracca. He could've never imagined striking Trilla before now, and it just showed how much his restraint had eroded.
He wondered, did it really matter if corruption could affect him or not, or did evil find a way regardless? In honesty, he'd bet big credits on the latter.
Then how was he different from any other sorry bastard in this place?
If he was beginning to lose it, then time was running out for his mission, and truthfully, Trilla wasn't getting any better with him at her side. If anything, he was feeding the Dark Side within her.
He needed to get out. He needed to be Xur Eon again.
But first, he needed to find Cal Kestis…and Trilla was his ticket to him. For the sake of his mission, and his own, he'd need to put up with her for a little longer.
Xur rose to his feet. "Thanks for the chat, ladies. It's been enlightening."
"Don't forget my holovid!" Third Sister reminded him as he walked to the dojo exit.
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
Bracca, 19 BBY
Designated War Zone
"Cal look out!"
The droid gunship screamed across the sky as it unloaded its payload atop the outlook, and Cal dove off the side before he was vaporized. Wind rushed past his ears as he had nowhere to land, his eyes blinded by the smoke that surrounded him. He screamed; lungs being filled with the fumes of the detonated charges. In this moment, the Force felt as if it had finally abandoned him.
He was going to die.
Cal stopped falling, his body suspended in the air by an unknown force, and he felt as if he was being dragged upwards. A hand grabbed his arm, and his feet hit rocky land. He coughed, and as he rubbed his eyes clear, he heard the tested breathing of another sitting beside him.
"You alright, kid?" he asked, and he recognized the voice of Jedi Knight Xur Eon, the famed hero of the Clone Wars and the Jedi.
Cal looked up, his sight returning to him in a blur, and he saw the red-skinned zabrak, dirt covering his face and clothing. "That was a close one," he said.
The ginger-haired padawan smiled. "That was you wasn't it? Y-you pulled me back up."
"Yeah, well, Master Tapal'd murder me if I didn't," he huffed, gripping the young Jedi's shoulder. "Remember what I told you: if you're working with me, I always got your back. No matter what. Us Jedi, young ones especially, we got to stick together."
Stinger Mantis, 14 BBY
Aft Compartment
No matter what.
Cal's eyes fluttered open; his ears greeted to the whirr of the Mantis engine as it traveled through hyperspace. His eyes felt as if they had been glued shut, and he had just pried them apart.
He hadn't had a full night's rest in weeks.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get himself to relax. Images of his time as a Jedi always returned, whether it be when he first constructed his lightsaber, or when the clones turned on him during Order 66. It didn't matter. Everything was like a plague on his focus, and he had never felt helpless against it.
Then there was that woman. Cere had called her the Second Sister, an Imperial inquisitor specifically trained to hunt Jedi survivors. Her augmented voice was like sandpaper against his spine, telling him that no matter how far he ran, she'd be right there waiting for him in the end.
And the power she wielded. It was far beyond what he was now; a broken shell of a failed padawan, barely clinging to life on a scrapper's planet like Bracca. He'd survived once, but if he was a betting man, he'd bet against himself if he ran into her again.
But then there were the reveries of Xur Eon, the Jedi Knight who had saved him mere months before the Clone Wars ended. Those didn't add up. He had looked up to him, yes, but the man had nothing to do with the current situation. Besides, everyone in the Empire knew he was dead.
The other inquisitor…that man…the gestures he used were the only few Xur had taught him in their short stint together. Dumbass particularly was one he knew out of comedy, but how would the inquisitor know that?
Why try to help him at all?
Something was out of place here, and he knew the Force was trying to tell him that. There were things happening out of his line of sight, and he could sense it, but he didn't know what.
He needed advice.
Cere Junda, former Jedi Master, and now his fellow crewmate along with Greez Dritus, the little lateron pilot, was seated in the central area of the ship, not far from the holotable.
"Cal, you're awake," she noticed him approach. "Any luck this time?"
Cal shook his head and rubbed his eye. "Still more memories," he said, and then felt the little droid BD-1 hop onto his back, letting out a trill in binary. "Ha don't worry about me, buddy. I'll be fine."
The droid beeped with reluctance and hopped off his back once Cal took a seat next to Cere, standing between them on its two legs.
"Something bothering you?" she asked.
Cal wondered if he should even bring it up but felt the need for closure. "Did you know Xur Eon?"
Cere paused for a moment, looking somewhat baffled at his question. "Somewhat. Mostly stories. Why?"
"Well…I don't know how to explain it but…he keeps appearing in my memories. I only knew him for a short time, and I was hoping maybe you could tell me a bit more."
She leaned back and sighed. Cal could sense conflict within her as she delved into her past, which was not expected. "You remember my padawan Trilla? The one I told you about?"
Cal nodded.
"I guess, before she became my apprentice, they had a close relationship. They were friends as younglings, and…I could tell, especially early in our partnership that being apart from him was…difficult for her. She was always asking for information on him; whether he was still alive or not, and sometimes brought him up from time to time."
Cere then looked like she carried some regret and looked away. "Eventually I told her that…she had to let him go. Attachment was forbidden anyway, but she was becoming…distracted."
"How did she take that?" Cal asked.
Cere snorted. "About as well as you can imagine…but eventually she did come around and focus on her training. We didn't participate in many battles, mostly we were running scouting missions and escorts, sometimes training younglings…but I could still feel it eating at her deep down.
"I felt helpless against it. Even if I wanted to tell her something, I honestly couldn't. Xur Eon and Anakin Skywalker were spearheading the war effort, so most of their missions were classified anyway. All I knew was that he was in a constant state of battle, and that he had this uncommon ability to resist the corruptive energies of the Dark Side, so the Republic was utilizing that to its fullest."
"But you didn't agree with that," Cal deducted, and Cere nodded.
"No, but what I thought didn't matter. Master Mace Windu was an adamant proponent towards his use, and from what I heard, he was a brilliant warrior and commander, as if his troops almost idolized him."
Cal nodded in agreement. "I didn't notice it then, but when I look back at it, you could tell that his soldiers looked up to him; like they enjoyed being under his command."
"He certainly had a way with his troops," Cere admitted. "Towards the end of the war, Trilla and I had come under attack while we oversaw some younglings during a training mission. Separatist forces were advancing upon us, and Mace Windu and his troops rushed to the rescue, since he was the closest force in the sector…and, Eon was with him.
"Just before the droids advanced upon us, Xur discovered our hiding place, and while Master Windu lead a distraction, he helped us get away. I admired his daring…but he was impulsive and didn't shy away from needlessly involving the younglings. Truthfully, he was unlike any Jedi I'd ever met…probably because he wasn't really a Jedi."
She scoffed in reverie. "Trilla was elated to see him, but he didn't return it with the same enthusiasm. He was so focused on making sure we got out, as well as staying in contact with his troops above, that he didn't pay her much mind. I could sense there was something he was hiding, as well…something he was embarrassed about," she faced Cal, sighing again. "All I know was that I didn't feel he was trustworthy."
"Sounds like Trilla did," Cal surmised, doing his best to also defend a man who saved his life.
"She was blinded by her emotions, I think," Cere figured, and then Cal watched her eyes gloss over, lost in a past event of some kind. "As maybe I was. Why do you ask about him?"
Now it was Cal's turn to reveal something. "Back on Bracca, the other inquisitor, the man. He tried to signal me through hand gestures. They were the same ones Xur had taught me when we met."
Cere's eyes widened. "Cal, that was the Second Brother. He killed Xur Eon."
Cal was baffled. Now nothing made sense. "But why would he try to help me? That doesn't make any sense."
"Inquisitors are competing with each other all the time, Cal. He could've been trying to lead you away just so he could take you out himself. These people study their prey. He probably learned those gestures during his hunt for Eon."
Cal sighed, and wanted to argue more, but Greez called from the cockpit. "We're coming up on Zeffo. You two better grab some seat up here!"
Cere nodded and rose to her feet. "We'll discuss this more later. Just watch yourself Cal."
He tipped his head in acknowledgement. It'd have to be for later. Right now, he had a wookie and a tomb to find.
Nur, 14 BBY
Fortress Inquisitorious
"Going somewhere?"
Xur had his hand over his shoulder and fingers wrapped around his hilt halfway through the stranger's statement, only to see it was just another inquisitor stalking in the shadows of the hall.
"What do you want? I got shit to do," Xur grumbled.
"I'd say shovel would be the more operative word," the masked woman said, walking out of the shadows with her arms crossed. "I've been watching you. You're perhaps the most interesting mindless drone in this place."
Xur shivered but transferred it into a mental reaction. "Come again?"
She was slightly taller than him, which was rare, and also somewhat intimidating, but he didn't let that bother him as she paced around him, as if observing livestock for sale. "There's something different about you. I see it in the way you walk, your stance, how you hold yourself compared to others. You leave your mark on every planet you touch," she then stopped in front of him. "Every person you touch."
The zabrak was beginning to feel insecure about himself, and it only worsened the longer this woman looked his way. "Usually in a common conversation, two people exchange names first."
"You already know who I am," she replied. "And I already know who you are."
Xur tensed.
She backed away. "But we're both shrouded in our own veils of secrecy, and I believe, when the time is right, the truth will be revealed to us both."
He groaned in a defensive manner. "Can you please spare me the cryptic talk?"
"If you insist," she conceded. "I am the First Sister, and I see much potential in you, Brother. I could teach you what I know; perhaps more than what you expected on this journey."
Xur shrugged. "Maybe some other time, lady. There's a Jedi on the loose."
She tipped her head. "The offer still stands. As a taste, I'll offer one piece of advice," she said, stepping forward and looking towards the door Xur was headed to. "You are the gravity around which all her actions rotate. You exert a stronger influence than you know."
"Who? The Second Sister?" he asked.
She didn't react, just merely continued as her head angled back in his direction. "Be her foil, her challenge, and eventually she will see things your way."
Xur couldn't explain it, but he felt drawn to this woman, like he was irreversibly locked in her orbit…and he had only just met her. Not to mention the fact that Xur was feeling more and more wary that she was aware he wasn't who he was portraying himself to be. It could be a trap, but he prided himself in having a knack for smelling those before they got him.
"I'll take it under consideration," Xur said.
She almost bowed on her way back into the shadows. "Don't keep me waiting."
The zabrak let the shivers run through him, and then quickly advanced to the door, trying to get somewhere that was out of the First Sister's sight. Last thing he needed was another murderous woman watching him.
Trilla was in the room, studying the holotable before her, projecting hundreds of planets around the room, some highlighted red, some blue. Xur was already walking through some projections as the door slid closed behind him. Her hand massaged her chin as she thought, her eyes darting to him for only a second before returning elsewhere.
It was a little awkward, to say the least.
"Find anything?" Xur asked, hoping professionalism would get her to spill.
She said nothing, and while he waited for the ice to thaw out, he removed his helmet. "I'd say I'm sorry, but uh…I'd be lying, so…," he began, pacing around the room. "Blaze said he doesn't take it personal-,"
"If any more words come out of your cunt mouth, I'm going to have to break every one of your fucking fingers," she seethed, looking directly at him, waiting for him to speak again.
Be her foil, her challenge, and eventually she will see things your way.
Xur waved his hand is dismissal. "You're one fucked up piece of shit, you know that? You know, here I am thinking maybe we got a little understanding going; maybe we can actually get some work done…and then you go and lose your fucking sanity again," he said, and Trilla looked as if she wanted to rip him in half, but he pressed it, stepping towards her. "I think you're just insecure…and deep-down part of you is still filled with avarice at my killing of Xur Eon."
She roared and wrapped both her hands around his neck, pressing his back against the holotable. Her grip was plenty tight enough to cut off air from his lungs, and Xur grappled onto her forearms.
"I…hate you!" she neigh-screamed, fully intent on ending his life then and there. Xur grunted and kicked at her knee, knocking her off balance just long enough for him to push off of her, freeing himself from her grip.
He coughed. "…come on Sister," he said, raising his fists. "Let's see what you got."
She grit her teeth and reached for her hilt, but Xur gestured and flung it across the room. "No, no," he huffed, throwing his own hilt away. "We're doing this old-fashioned."
He was greeted to a force push that knocked him off his feet, his back sliding along the ground, and before he could see clearly again, she was atop him, fists flying towards his head. Barely dodging her strikes, Xur grabbed ahold of her outstretched arm and used it as leverage to throw her off him.
"Is this how you react to the truth?" he asked, holding his fists out in front after scrambling back to his feet. "Your restraint is pathetic."
"Restraint is weakness," she retorted, swinging at his defense. "Restraint is death."
"Yeah? Who taught you that?"
She growled, frustrated that she couldn't land any solid blows. "No one. I learned it through pain…the only way to learn!"
Xur stepped back to avoid a powerful hook. "So you failed, because you held yourself back?"
"No," she said, taking a step back to circle and wait for her moment. "I failed because I wasn't strong enough. After that, I vowed never to be weak again…to never put my trust in those who have not shared my pain."
"This was because that someone who betrayed you," Xur deducted from earlier. "I noticed you bristle in the Force when Cal escaped, and not because of that fact…something there triggered a reverie," he picked, and he could feel her anger rising again. "Something from your past."
Xur himself already knew what it was, but he couldn't let her know that. He had to make her say it; to get it off her chest, and maybe she'd start listening to him.
"There was nothing…," she began.
"Liar!" Xur challenged, attacking while her guard was down momentarily, only to swipe air against her lightning-fast reflexes. "That someone who betrayed you was there, weren't they?"
She screamed and swung, faster than he could react, and her fist decked him square in the cheek, spit and blood flying from his mouth as it impacted. The Force granted him danger sense to block her second attack, but he stumbled to the ground, his senses blurred.
"The bitch was there!" she shouted, wailing atop him with balled fists. "The schemer, my betrayer…my…,"
"Your master!" Xur answered, grabbing ahold of both her arms, looking her straight in the eye despite his throbbing pain in his jaw. "Cere Junda."
She paused, no longer struggling in his grip. "How do you know that?" she said in almost a whisper.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Trilla Suduri," he revealed. "I didn't join the Inquisitorious on a dare. I was betrayed, just like you were. My closest friend, my most trusted ally, murdered my mentor and left me to die. I was helpless, just as you were."
Trilla looked shaken, for the moment at least. "Cere…she told them where I was hiding…and they found me."
Xur's hands clenched around her wrists.
Master Junda surrendered her location…and the Empire tortured Trilla. Not for information, not for any value…but because they could.
Metal creaked and groaned around him, and Trilla's eyes darted around as the noises only grew louder. Xur's emotions were exploding within him, but he had to keep them contained.
The Empire tortured Trilla.
Loose dust began to float around the room, and the creaking grew even louder.
Vader tortured Trilla.
Anakin tortured Trilla.
"Brother-," Trilla said, and the creaking stopped, the dust dropping back to its resting place. Xur breathed and released her arms, allowing them to both rise to their feet.
"When you find anything, let me know," he said, before leaving her alone in the room.
Trilla watched him go, and in that moment, she knew the Second Brother was not who he portrayed himself to be.
Short chapter, I know, but the next one is shaping up to be a LONG one, as well as perhaps one of the most exciting.
Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!
