Knight-Errantly Chapter Ten


Armitage Hux remembers the first time he was hit by the lasers. He had been wearing Kob's electromesh armor and a helmet. The armor absorbed the stinging cauterization that would've given him second-degree burns, possibly third-degree for his delicate face if not for the helmet. Instead, it was like a jellyfish stinging him a dozen times. Well, more like a dozen jellyfishes stinging him. He cried a bit, but he was fine by the end of the standard week.

This time, his only piece of armor was the cape, which did absorb the first barrage of lasers. Unfortunately, the second barrage came soon afterwards. Fortunately, the second barrage is a fraction of the first's power. Unfortunately, his clothes were not made of electromesh, so he relived the sensation of dozens of jellyfishes stinging him.

He fainted, but he did wake up. Dark Lady Lumiya's medbay has a dark paintjob with eye-watering neon lights. Armitage wonders if Waste will ever tire of the garish colors.

"Waste?" The rust-colored 2-1B meddroid comes into his view.

"You've been unconscious for sixteen hours and thirty minutes."

"So we've reached Nagi?" Armitage says weakly. The pain finally manifests in a burning soreness like he was sunburnt from three suns. His nose wrinkles at the fishy yet citrusy scent of Baji's burn salve. Since bacta has no effect upon him, the Commandant and his uncle had to find other healing agents. Baji's medicines typically heal him almost as quickly as bacta would for regular people, but they tend to have strange scents to them.

"The first ships shall disembark in one hour and fifteen minutes." Waste answers precisely.

"Will I be cleared to join?" Armitage asks hopefully. Waste's yellow sensors land on him and stare coldly at him.

"No. You shall rest another twenty-four hours and then we'll see from there."

"Figures, I'd make a stupid mistake and end up in medbay." I saw something. Um, a Force Ghost. Oh shit, it was Anakin Skywalker.

"You have lost more color in your pale face. Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?"

"No! I was just thinking about how close I was to death." Armitage lies quickly.

"Yes, death is always a possibility for you. Your clothing absorbed some of the damage, but the lasers have ruined the clothing and the scraps have been incinerated. Your cape is completely fine."

"Then, where is it?"

"Your friend has it. Speaking of whom, I have to notify him of your awakening after I inform the Captain."

"So I'm well enough for visits?"

"Neither of them, nor you, will take no for an answer."


Dead-Star was going to burn the Nagai captain, but Ben wouldn't let him. Nor would he let him cuss aloud. His parents became very clingy after the human's accident, so Dead-Star had to stay put in Ben's mind until they got the comm from the medic. It felt like centuries before the droid hailed them. He sprinted out of the room before Ben's parents could stop him.

Unfortunately, no one told him how far the room was from the medbay. He's wheezing by the time he's outside the bay's door.

You really need to learn how to pace yourself.

And you need better lungs!

"Prince!" He hears Armitage call out. Dead-Star feels Ben's body perk up with newfound strength.

Where was this five minutes ago!?

Quit bellyaching and go to him!

Dead-Star stalks inside and nearly bumps into the uppity droid that wouldn't let them into the medbay when Armitage was brought in.

"Your eyes are yellow." The droid monotones.

"Get your sensors checked, Bub!" He snarls. Bub? I got it from that wolf guy with knives.

"I will throw you out if you make Armitage too excited."

"I can melt you, metal man!"

"Dead-Star, he's the only medic we have, please don't do that." The human sighs through his nose and then looks at the droid. "Waste, the Prince has a split personality."

"I see. I am not programmed for mental health services; I recommend you go seek one out." Waste finally leaves the pair alone. Dead-Star draws closer to the bed. Armitage is propped up by a pillow. A bandage wraps around his entire chest and smells like lemons and burnt fish.

"Why did you freeze up, human?" Dead-Star demands, and hears Ben's face-palm.

"I saw…a real dummy." Armitage replies sheepishly.

"HA! Suck it, Anakin!" Bruck crows victoriously at the viewscreen, while Desolous throttles Anakin. Dooku and Xanatos are restraining Qui-Gon from rescuing the Chosen One, while Obi-Wan shakes his snowy head.

"That's a real dumb reason to get hurt." Dead-Star then softens. "Are you in pain?"

"I'm tingly and bruised, but whole." Armitage flashes a goofy grin.

"Will you be coming planetside with us?"

"No. Waste wants to hold me overnight and make sure I'm okay. I may go tomorrow." Armitage pouts. "But I won't get to take the tour with you!"

"Unless there's something on fire, I doubt it'll be interesting for me." What if the Great Dragon is there? That'd do it.

"What if you meet Warlord Nihl?" Dead-Star decides to let Ben have control; he doesn't really care for politics.

"From my personal experience, I'll get a brief glimpse from him and maybe a greeting, but he invited my mother, so she's the one who'll get to converse with him. Or his ambassador. That happens too." Ben explains.

"I was really hoping to play translator and find out why the Warlord decided to contact the New Republic."

"I doubt it's because he wishes to bring his satellite galaxy into the fold."

"Same here. Maybe this has to do with the Far-Outsiders."

"What are the Far-Outsiders?"

"It's a term that the Chiss gave to the aliens that've been trying to invade the Unknown Regions for centuries."

"Centuries? Either they're bad invaders or they're waiting for something."

"Let's hope we won't have to save the universe!" Armitage laughs for a second and then coughs. "I forgot how bruised my ribs are!"

"You just rest. Everything will go smoothly." Ben promises, but Dead-Star would roll his eyes if it were him.


The port, like all cities on Nagi, resides in the shadows of the mountains. Once the sun miraculously breaks through the high peaks, it illuminates the crystals studding the metal in the buildings. Most of the buildings are sharp in angles and slightly curved much like the Tehk'la blades that Den Siva used. It further confirms to Leia the deep obsession that the Knives have for their weapons.

"Before the Nagai-Tof War, most of the buildings were made of Nutorium wires and crystals. After it, Warlord Nihl decided to marry ancient tradition with modern sensibilities. Port Ozrei is an example of such a marriage, and I do have to warn you all that everyone carries a weapon. So don't do anything stupid." Spiker, the Nagai with face-paint and scary hair, says dryly. He's acting as the tour guide, and their babysitter as Han commented earlier, until the Ambassador arrives.

"How long did the war last?" Ben asks with his eyes searching the crowd for a Nagai that looked like the ambassador. Unfortunately, most of the Nagai are dressed in the same fanciful robes, while some are dressed as ruggedly as their tour guide. Almost all of them are visibly carrying knives, blasters, or both.

"From your galaxy's dating, it started in 296 BBY with the Tof invasion and ended in 0 BBY/ABY."

"Nearly three centuries of war!"

"In the Unknown Regions, war is ever-present."

"I can see that." Han comments dryly as he stares down a Nagai woman who looks ready to gut him. Leia places a hand on his arm and shakes her head.

"I can also see that the Nagai won, but what happened to the Tof?"

"They got what they deserved." Spiker finishes darkly and then changes his tune. "Looks like the Ambassador has arrived, so I'm going drinking."

The Ambassador in question shoots a disapproving look at the fleeing Nagai, but Spiker returns the gesture with making a circle with his hands. When the balding Ambassador shakes his head, his braid thumps against his thin chest.

"I'm Ambassador Harmon Sho, and you must be Senator Organa and her family." The Ambassador offers not a handshake, but a polite bow.

"We are. This is my husband, Captain Han Solo. And our son, Ben. Then, there's Chewbacca." Chewie lets out a polite yet loud greeting. Sho smiles and manages not to jump out of his skin from the Wookie's greeting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." He looks at the group and then frowns. "Where is Armitage?"

"He got hurt while training. He should be better by tomorrow." Ben replies. She remembers him wringing the smoking cape in his hands while waiting to see his friend. When he finally did and came back to their room, the anxiety was gone and replaced with an eagerness to see Nagi.

"Ah, his friends will be disappointed."

"Friends?" Ben tilts his head.

"Yes, twins, actually. The girl will be disappointed that Armie won't be with you."

"Armie?" Ben covers his mouth with both of his hands to muffle his laughter.

"Yes, you'll meet them when we arrive at the Keep. They are taking a tour with some of the Gray children."

"And how far is this Keep?" Han drawls.

"It's at the foot of the N'takkilomandrife Mountains, which is the mountain range surrounding the port. It'll take about an hour and a half by hover car."

"And what are Armie's friends like?" Ben asks.

"They are human just like you."


Author's Comments- Here are the links:

Waste is a 2-1B surgical droid who first appears in Joe Schreiber's Death Troopers aka the SW zombie action-horror book that was like a prototype for Maul: Lockdown written by the same author: a href=" . /revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20061207163818"Link/a

Here is an image of Harmon Sho. In the original Marvel run of SW comics, he was an underling to Lieutenant Den Siva during the Nagai-Tof War: a href=" . /revision/latest?cb=20070913053258"Link/a

We finally made it onto Nagi! Thanks for sticking around this long. The next chapter will be about Armie's friends, Luke and Bren having another chat, and Threepio trying to keep Armitage from having a panic attack.