Knight-Errantly Chapter Eight
Main Theme- After All by David Bowie
Home was once a rose-tinted manor on a rainy world. He had two fathers and a step-mother. He was a baby, a toddler, and a child. His best friend was a skeleton named Sir Ludo. He was the only child there.
Home was once a frigate that housed several ships. He had an uncle, his uncle's crew, and his sire. He was a cabin boy. His best friend was a ginger cat named Millicent. He was the only child there.
Home was once a backwater academy. He had his sire. He was a student. He had no friends. There were too many children there.
Home is…..
Armitage isn't quite sure anymore. He's returning to a home. His sire isn't here, but there are three parental figures aboard the ship. He's a teenager. He has two friends sharing one body. He's not alone.
Not even when he's changing his clothes.
"Dead-Star, I'm not going to get suffocated by my cowl!" Armitage sighs melodramatically.
"That's not why I'm here! I don't understand why you're changing your clothes again." Dead-Star crosses his arms.
"I want to look my best."
"I'm pretty certain that's why Ben bought a Chandrila collection for you."
"I will wear those clothes, but my cape doesn't match with any of them!" Dead-Star rolls his golden eyes. "Hey, my uncle wears a cape too!"
"Speaking of your uncle, is there anything you should warn me about him?"
"My, you're being cautious!" But I fear rightfully so since my uncle will probably notice Dead-Star before his parents ever will at this rate! "My uncle founded the largest, and really only, privateering empire in the Unknown Regions. He's pretty much a pirate for whatever government he's working for at the time. Though it's mostly for Nagi now."
"Okay, what's he like?"
"I think it's better for you to meet him."
"No, I would really like to know what I'm getting myself into."
Armitage raises a finger to his lips and winks.
Leia looks out the viewport and sees her first Nagai ship, and it reminds her of a Nebulon-b frigate if it was made of broken seashells and painted a night's indigo. She sees a few ammonite-shaped and conch-shaped starships pass them by without firing upon them. She wonders if this Captain Den Siva has already alerted his crew about the Millennium Falcon.
"This is Lieutenant Hol B'shaki. What is your business?" A male voice as cold as a night on Hoth erupts through the ship's comm unit.
"This is Captain Han Solo escorting Senator Organa and our family to rendezvous with the Warlord of Firefist." Han recites dryly like whenever he has to interact with other New Republic officers. He was once offered the rank of general, but he turned it down because then he'd be required to attend more boring political functions.
"Is Armitage Hux aboard the ship? If not, then you will not be allowed to land until Armitage is aboard your ship."
"He's about as fun as a Triton funeral." Han whispers to her, and Leia muffles a snort.
"HOOL!" Armitage charges right into the room with Ben trailing after him. He has on his superhero outfit with the cape included. Leia looks to Ben who simply shrugs his shoulders.
Armitage spends the next few minutes chatting amicably with the lieutenant in a language that Leia presumes is Nagai. The sounds are high-pitched and sharp, reminding her of when her ears ring.
"He said to dock in Bay 50." Armitage turns to tell them, and the transmission ends.
"That's a lot of words for one simple answer." Han comments.
"Well, he asked how I was doing, and I gave him a rough rundown of this past month. Don't worry, I left out how the Commandant broke his hip." He grins at Chewie.
"[It's not my fault some tea-colored idiot was skulking about in an abandoned temple!]" Chewie growls back, but Armitage blinks.
"I have no idea what you just said."
"Chewie said that he can't wait to meet Hol." Ben lies easily, and Chewie lets out a low groan of disapproval of his small white lie.
"I don't think he'll be part of the welcoming party. Hool takes his duties very seriously."
"Why do you keep calling him Hool?"
"He was the one that tutored me in Nagaian. I couldn't pronounce his name properly at first, and it just stuck. Though I don't recommend any of you calling him Hool, he may through a knife at you."
"I thought the Commandant taught you."
"He did. He speaks it fairly well, but his reading and writing skills are shaky. My uncle wanted me to have the fluency that the Commandant couldn't have."
The ship finally docks.
When Leia takes her first step aboard Dark Lady Lumiya, she truly finds herself in an alien place. Crystals—some diamond in shape, others shine like rubies—decorate the durasteel walls, while cursive-like symbols engrave the unnaturally smooth floor in a series of tree rings. She knows it's not Aurebesh or Outer Rim Basic; it reminds her of ocean waves alternating between choppiness and calm. It's almost hypnotic in its peculiar sense of balance.
"ARMITAGE!" Four Zeltron males scream at the top of their lungs and rush over to the ginger boy, holding him up like they're about to give him a parade.
"Jahn, Marruc, Rahul, Bahb put me down!" Armitage half-heartedly struggles in their hold, beaming ear to ear at the attention.
"When did you get a cape?" One Zeltron asks while wearing a green tunic that shows off his magenta navel.
"What's it made of?" Another in a white crop top and choker inquires as he pulls at the cape, testing its elasticity.
"Not electromesh that's for sure." One in a fishnet shirt and goggles over his head comments.
"Is no one going to talk about how he looks like Phantom Girl?" The final one laughs heartily in his black corset.
"See, Bahb gets it!" Armitage grins up at them.
"Oh, I almost forgot about the princess." Bahb comments. The Zeltrons decide to put Armitage down and attempt at a more restrained greeting with the rest of the humans.
"Queen, actually." Armitage corrects in a hushed whisper, but she decides to move on.
"I'm Senator Leia Organa of New Alderaan. This is my husband, Captain Han Solo, and our son, Ben. The Wookie is Chewbacca and the protocol droid is See-Threepio." Chewie lets out a polite bellow. Threepio is about to launch into his standard human-cyborg relations greeting, but the Zeltrons interject.
"I'm Jahn!" The one in the green tunic flashes a dazzling smile in her direction.
"I'm Marruc!" The one in white winks at Chewie who responds with a confused sound.
"I'm Rahul!" The one in the fishnet shirt smiles a little too hard at Han who refuses to acknowledge his flirtation.
"And you already know me as Bahb." Bahb rubs the back of his head sheepishly before returning to business. "It will take about two days for the ship to arrive at Nagi."
"I didn't know it was so close." Han comments.
"It really isn't, and if you travelled by your ship, then it would take a standard week. Possibly longer if the Chiss catch you in their territory without the proper codes! The Nagai designed their ships with speed and efficiency in mind."
"[I would really like to know their shipbuilding secrets.]" Chewie comments.
"Unfortunately, it's a well-kept secret!" Marruc replies first in Basic and then repeats it in Shyriiwook, much to Chewie's surprise.
"Rooms have been prepared for those that want them." Rahul pipes up.
"What about my room?" Armitage asks.
"It's still there. You're the only cabin boy worth keeping." Bahb teases. Armitage grins so proudly that she half-expects him to puff up his birdy chest.
"Prince, wanna see my room?" He asks Ben. Ben looks at her for permission like he's five again and about to embark on his first trip on the Millennium Falcon.
"It's fine, but keep your comlink on." Ben nods and lets himself be pulled down the hall.
Bruck Chun wonders if his Master was messing with him about the existence of this non-existent third Barsen'thor. He has spent what feels like a standard month hold up in the library, consuming datapads, flimsi-files, scrolls, and holo-journals on the Cold War. He has a list of notable Jedi during this stretch of time, where they were, what they did, and when they died, but none of them are the karking Warden of the Order!
I should just give up. There's no mention of this guy anywhere! Not even in The Complete History of Old Republic Chandrila. I should just go and give Skywalker the list of notable Jedi, have that jackass figure out if the Barsen'thor is one of them or even real!
Bruck slams the flimsi-book against the long table. He receives some questionable looks from two of them, looking as ancient and wrinkled as Yoda, while an Arkanian woman in a mud-colored poncho looks curiously at the book.
"What about Chandrila offends you, O Mighty One?" She remarks sarcastically. He raises an eyebrow at her. He's used to seeing Jedi older than him, and not of his Line, being calm in the face of his tantrums, but she's radiating annoyance.
I know pure-blooded Arkanians are naturally arrogant and quite spiteful when offended, but those in the Order try to bury their less-admirable traits. Unless she washed out like me and was allowed to be here through the Force's mercy.
"It didn't have the answers I seek."
"Look to the Force for it holds all the answers," She grins toothily before dropping, "and absolutely nothing at the same time!"
"I'm guessing death wasn't kind to you."
"I was nuked and so was Serroco. It got better. Well, not really, but there's still people there."
"I fell on some rocks and broke my neck."
"At least it was instant, and you weren't shambling around like a half-melted zombie until a second nuke mercifully killed what's left of you." Her mezzo trill turns into a halfhearted rasp by the end of it.
"….What war was that?"
"The Mandalorian Wars."
That's about twenty-something years before the Cold War. Maybe she would've heard of the Barsen'thor or his predecessor who can lead me right to him!
"Does Barsen'thor ring a bell?"
"That's Cerean for Warden of the Order I believe."
"Do you know any of them?"
"No. I wasn't exactly trained in all minutiae of Jedi titles. I was barely even acknowledged as one."
"Damnit!"
"What do you need him for?"
"To solve a mystery!"
"On what?"
"It has something to do with some amulet in his tomb."
"Then, why not just look up the amulet?"
"…Poodoo."
"Yeah, I've gotta go." She rolls up the scroll she was reading and gets up to leave.
"Wait, what's your name?"
"Aurora Adasca. You won't find me in the annals of Cold War history. I wasn't even worth a footnote."
Dead-Star feels his chest tighten as he steps into Armitage's room. The four steel-colored walls close in on him. The jagged strip of black and white carpet threatens to come alive and eat him. The red door's paint peels strips of itself, much like the flesh he imagines hanging behind the door.
Have you gone insane?
This place is smaller than your body!
I don't think claustrophobia elicits such violent delusions.
Your closet isn't this small!
That's sadly true.
"The top bunk is where I store all my treasure!" Armitage gestures at the rectangular notches in the metal wall. Dead-Star feels his stomach do a flip, but he frowns and gets on with it. He climbs swiftly and comes face-to-face with the human's horde.
First, he sees a hardcover book. The cover contains a dark-haired girl with impossibly large, silver eyes and dressed all in white; she holds a sword, Armitage's sword, aloft and smiles heroically. A flat, silver disc resides by it; Ben tells him it's used to play still-holos. Right in the middle where the light barely reaches, a broken piece of white marble resides there. In the bed's darkest corners, his golden eyes hone on a collar with a golden circle.
Millicent.
His eyes drift away to the pink glow. Body-wood is the color of pink flesh with streaks of scarlet; it was said that when the wood was harvested, it would bleed and cry. Dead-Star hears no cries or sees drops of dark blood staining the white bedding. The body-wood has a face though. The face of child in eternal repose.
"Whose face is that?"
"A friend of mine. Got the wood from him and had the Commandant carve his face."
"Where's this friend now?"
"With Millicent."
Luke Skywalker likes to meditate before bed; typically, it clears his mind and makes sleeping easier. Tonight, he's restless like he's a boy about to race in Beggar's Canyon. He hopes that walking would rid his excess energy. Ten, twenty, thirty minutes pass before he finds himself once more listening on another father-son conversation.
"The Prince is with his parents. The smallness of my room bothered him."
"He's used to space. Did you ever get to explore the Temple? It's like wandering through a Star Destroyer for the first time."
"All of that space for just a handful of Jedi. Do you think that the Senate will use them to fight a war?"
"They don't and won't have the numbers they did before the Clone Wars. Luke was the only Jedi in the Rebellion, and from what I can tell, the Senate haven't used him for war. Also, I don't think he would let them use him or his New Jedi Order for war."
"Not even against us?"
"That won't be necessary, so long as Snoke doesn't lose his mind."
"But he's power-hungry like Palpatine."
"He wants to be like Palpatine, but he can't be him. It would've required decades of work and risk-taking for him to make an empire just like Palpatine."
"He's lazy."
"Well, I would describe him as chary. He's reluctant to take any action himself, which is why the council has been running FO without much interference. He's the only alien with any substantial power in FO, and he wasn't elected by the council or the people to rule. He just had the credits and connections to protect the fledgling FO from the unknown, and he rewarded himself with a fancy title to remind everyone who kept their human-only society from collapse. He didn't seduce the Imperial Remnant and turned them into the FO; he just offered protection and got his due like any business transaction. He doesn't have his own Vader, but he probably wouldn't mind having someone like Vader."
"He should find a Thrawn."
"I don't think we'll ever see another Thrawn again. Not unless he's got a clone stashed away somewhere."
They both laugh.
"I better get going. Maybe I can catch a training session with uncle before he terrifies the Organa-Solos! Love you, Commandant!"
"Love you too, Dragonling."
Luke thinks about going in and having a talk, but then he hears snoring. The Commandant is asleep, and Luke decides that it can wait.
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
Here is an image of an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate that the Dark Lady Lumiya frigate is based upon: a href=" . /revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20061215024715"Link/a
Here is an image of the Zeltron males in question. In the original Marvel run, Leia disliked them, but, to be fair, they were kind of annoying: a href=" . "Link/a
Aurora Adasca was an Arkanian Jedi scout on Serroco for the Revanchist movement during the Mandalorian Wars. She only directly exists as a mention in Knights of the Old Republic 19: Daze of Hate, Part 1 comic. I plan a few more appearances of her and certain people connected to her.
Next chapter: Armitage trains with his uncle, while the Organa-Solos watch.
