Midnight
Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars or any related objects, characters, so-on so-forth. I do not intend to plagerize anything from anyone. Data has been gathered from many sources and ideas formatted to fit my twisted mind. ~WAVES HAND~ You will not sue me. I have no money, no life, and a horrible action figure fetish.
Author's Note: Yeah yeah, it took me FOREVER to write this chapter. Got blocked BIG time and had to spend a week trying to work out the rest of the fic. Hurt me not. I'm an endangered Pop Weasel.
Qui-Gon pivoted back towards the med-bay doors, preparing for the worse and hoping that Peire had gotten that message off to the Temple, but the frantic scuffles of those in the hallway was all that greeted him.
No vengeful darksider.
No monster from his worst nightmare.
Not yet.
"Lights on, lights off! Fascinating isn't it!" Dram shouted at this new development. In response, teasing almost, the broad panel lighting on the ceiling began to glow dimmly (is that a word?), giving them all enough light to see by.
"It understands Basic." Jayce whispered, still clinging to Mace, who tried in vain to dislodge her from his arm without having to remove the limb entirely.
"Do not call it It." Qui-Gon warned. His eyes searched for every possible way that they could be attacked. They were vunerable in the open, communication now would be hampered now that.....whatever this thing was...could understand them. And worst of all, it
~Do not call it IT~
was on the Wake Angel with them. Ready and willing to repeat the Kiss over and over again.
"Remote." Jinn mouthed to Dram hesitantly. Who knew what sort of lifeform Penja could have assumed and was using to listen to their every word, breath, heartbeat.....
Janny gave him a thumbs up, universal in all languages. "My room." he spoke without sound. "Not far."
"Idiots." Mace muttered. "It already knows....."
"DO NOT CALL IT IT!" His fellow Knights rounded on him, two pairs of azure eyes burning. Jayce flinched.
"IT is not a IT," Dram snarled, advancing on Windu. "IT is Fles-I've-got- control-of-the-freaking-lights-off-on-Penja!"
And the lights went off completely.
"I don't think he likes you." the dark-skinned Knight pointed out, dragging Jayce along with him while Dram and Qui-Gon flanked him with their sabers drawn but not activated.
"He can kiss my....."
"And here we are." Qui-Gon said hurridly, having gotten to the quarters of the blond Knight hastily without incident, other than that nerve wracking twang that had the hairs on the back of this neck standing on end and that.....wrongness on the Force, covering it like a oil slick on a crystal clear ocean.
Jinn moved to key the door open, but Dram waved his hand away and inserted himself in front of the control panel. His good hand flashed over the buttons. "There is a code. There is always a code. How long have you known me?"
"Entirely too long." Mace intoned, plucking one of Jayce's fingers out of his skin. The lights above them began to hum and blinked back on with a harsh snap. "Hurry up, I want get back with the others."
"Sissy." Jani taunted. Qui-Gon shared a frown with Mace. Dram wasn't usually so annoying and snappish, but the moment he stepped on the Kiss, he had turned ten times as hostile.. Laid-back Janny was stomping on darker grounds. Maybe they all were.
There was a soft click and a hiss, and the door slid a few inches open before halting with a grinding noise, like someone of something had wedged an object in the door grooves.
The lights, it appeared, were only on in the halls because inside the Illian's room, there was rich, black darkness.
"Fantastic." Mace commented dryly. Qui-Gon jabbed a few buttons on the panel without sucess. "Cut it open?"
Dram sighed and shook his head. "It should be on a desk by the door." He flexed the fingers on his good hand. "I might be able to reach it....."
"You're NOT sticking your hand in there." Jinn objected. "You only got one left and we might need the saber back-up."
"Gee mom, you're concern is touching." He was already up to his shoulder in the frame, a deep look of stubborn concentration on his handsome face. The Force, tainted as it was with the proximity of the foul evil among them, (I love my thesaurus) was still a ally.
"You're explaining to Hart as to why he comes home with one hand." Mace told Qui-Gon flatly.
A triumphant grin on the Illian's face told them they might just get to forgo a particularly disasterous meeting with the over-protective Hart del'Jordea. Mace closed his eyes and mouthed a word of praise for small miracles. Dram withdrew.
Then jerked to a halt halfway out, his eyes fixed unerringly on the opening and the darkness beyond, the grin dying into a tight look of dread.
"Dram?" Jinn asked softly, daring to meet those every-shade of blue orbs. The eyes of his closest friend scared him more than anything he had yet to witness.
Jani was terrified.
"There is a hand on my arm." the Illian whispered.
"Damn." Mace said through bared teeth.
The Jedi shared a glance at one another, right before Dram threw himself backwards and just as the hand in the darkness yanked him forward. He slammed against the door with a bone-wrenching thump and swung sideways as whatever had him tried to pull him through the small crack.
"GET IT OFF!" he howled as Mace and Qui-Gon leapt at him, seizing their blond friend and endevoring to drag him back out without ripping his entire arm off. Jayce, releasing Mace in favor of a hold on the trapped Jedi, wrapped her arms around his waist and hauled backwards.
"There is PAIN!" Dram snarled, using his feet to brace him from going further in.
"You're the moron who stuck his hand in there." Mace snapped back. The lights flickreed madly.
"You're the ones whose supposed to stop me!"
"SHUT UP!" Jayce screamed and heaved. From within the room, something shrieked in inhuman glee.
"BITING ME! IT'S BITING ME!"
"Bite this." Jinn retorted and ignited his lighsaber. Moving on instict alone, the tall Jedi drove it though the crack. There was a long, screaming howl that left the ears ringing painfully, and Dram suddenly fell backwards, taking the others with him. They landed in a heap on the floor, scrambling backwards till they hit the wall on the other side of the hall.
But through it all, when Dram pried his fingers apart, there was the remote, a little battered but still intact.
Qui-Gon surged to his feet, brandishing the lightsaber in all directions to ward off a counterattack if one came....
but nothing.
Breathing. Crying. Boots scuffling on metal. A sharp hiss and intake of breath.
That was all.
"It bit me." Dram murmmered, examining his bloody arm. Then, to no one in particular. "I hate this place."
Jayce eyed him critically. "Those are not bite marks."
"Yeah yeah yeah." Mace dissmissed, snatching the remote away. "How do you work this?"
Qui-Gon circled them, eyes never leaving the door, attuned to the Force so that it was nearly buzzing in his ears. Something not quite right....
Jayce L'ttle gently took Dram's arm. "Fingernails....." she said to herself. Dram reached for the remote but Mace pulled it away. "It should be set fo this type of system. It pulls a pulse feed from the electrical currents. I already set it up, I was going to test it later.....it already has the systems down. No need to plug it in, it knows. Switchs in order: upper right-lights, lower right-doors, upper left-electrical systems, lower left-.....the holo-units....so-on. The rest isn't important except for the silver switch behind the cover plate, it overides the ship completely. Start, stop.....full control."
"Would it be wrong to tell you I love you?" Mace inquired.
"Set the date later." Qui-Gon informed them. "Let's....."
The lights flickered. (Boy, I don't know about you, but I'M getting tired of that.) There was a soft scratching at the door to Dram's room, something seeking a way out.
"Take over. Hit the switch." Qui-Gon ordered. Mace wagged his finger over the remote hesitantly before his fingers brushed the upper right switch--
--Dram lunged at him, realizing one horrible thing right as his friend flicked it. "NO! It's upside down!"--
--and this time, the lights stayed on, but all the doors in the Wake Angel opened.
Jayce screamed, falling backwards in her haste to retreat. Qui-Gon swung around to the door that suddenly finished opening, bringing a green glowing blade up in defense against.......and froze in horror, his face a mirror of his fellow Jedi.
It didn't move, just stood in the doorway, swaying slightly, limp arms hanging uselessly to the sides, one hand curled into the claw that had trapped Dram only moments ago, dribbling the Jedi's blood to the threshold where it dripped form torn fingers. Clothing was ripped, ragged, stained and frayed.
"....Mar....." Dram breathed, a heatbeat in time, long enough to remember the girl this wretched puppet was now, the quick smile and flash of laughter, before in fell forward....no....lunged forward, a body with no direction, seeking only the living to destroy.
It met with the hissing blades of three lightsabers, each dead center at differing angles. No resistance to the death strokes, no grace in the fall to the floor. Just the stink of burned meat.
Mace helped Jayce to her feet, leading her away from the body, Qui-Gon queitly pulling a reluctant Dram away, towards the cock-pit, away from the fallen Padawan. The Illian stumbled only once, and when Jinn stooped to help him up, the tanned face was wet with tears that had been waiting just for that moment.
"She never....." Janny tried to say. Qui-Gon nodded, a lump in his throat rising to cut off his words.
It wasn't till they turned the corner and were well away from the med- bay, that he spoke.
"We'll set them free." It was a promise to the air, a challenge to the enemy. "I swear."
I know I know I know. Bad Weasel, BAD. Such horrible things, such unorganized Jedi. Keep in mind that their still young and learning. And this isn't normal Jedi-typs missions. And I'm not a normal person.
I like butterflies.
~cricket chirps~
But not crickets.
~cricket does not chirp~
Smart cricket.
Chaos and disorder......my work is done. Did I mention I HATE writing serious fics.
I must now go terrorize Ferret (my brother) and feed Lloyd and perhaps scar some readers for life with this fic.
Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars or any related objects, characters, so-on so-forth. I do not intend to plagerize anything from anyone. Data has been gathered from many sources and ideas formatted to fit my twisted mind. ~WAVES HAND~ You will not sue me. I have no money, no life, and a horrible action figure fetish.
Author's Note: Yeah yeah, it took me FOREVER to write this chapter. Got blocked BIG time and had to spend a week trying to work out the rest of the fic. Hurt me not. I'm an endangered Pop Weasel.
Qui-Gon pivoted back towards the med-bay doors, preparing for the worse and hoping that Peire had gotten that message off to the Temple, but the frantic scuffles of those in the hallway was all that greeted him.
No vengeful darksider.
No monster from his worst nightmare.
Not yet.
"Lights on, lights off! Fascinating isn't it!" Dram shouted at this new development. In response, teasing almost, the broad panel lighting on the ceiling began to glow dimmly (is that a word?), giving them all enough light to see by.
"It understands Basic." Jayce whispered, still clinging to Mace, who tried in vain to dislodge her from his arm without having to remove the limb entirely.
"Do not call it It." Qui-Gon warned. His eyes searched for every possible way that they could be attacked. They were vunerable in the open, communication now would be hampered now that.....whatever this thing was...could understand them. And worst of all, it
~Do not call it IT~
was on the Wake Angel with them. Ready and willing to repeat the Kiss over and over again.
"Remote." Jinn mouthed to Dram hesitantly. Who knew what sort of lifeform Penja could have assumed and was using to listen to their every word, breath, heartbeat.....
Janny gave him a thumbs up, universal in all languages. "My room." he spoke without sound. "Not far."
"Idiots." Mace muttered. "It already knows....."
"DO NOT CALL IT IT!" His fellow Knights rounded on him, two pairs of azure eyes burning. Jayce flinched.
"IT is not a IT," Dram snarled, advancing on Windu. "IT is Fles-I've-got- control-of-the-freaking-lights-off-on-Penja!"
And the lights went off completely.
"I don't think he likes you." the dark-skinned Knight pointed out, dragging Jayce along with him while Dram and Qui-Gon flanked him with their sabers drawn but not activated.
"He can kiss my....."
"And here we are." Qui-Gon said hurridly, having gotten to the quarters of the blond Knight hastily without incident, other than that nerve wracking twang that had the hairs on the back of this neck standing on end and that.....wrongness on the Force, covering it like a oil slick on a crystal clear ocean.
Jinn moved to key the door open, but Dram waved his hand away and inserted himself in front of the control panel. His good hand flashed over the buttons. "There is a code. There is always a code. How long have you known me?"
"Entirely too long." Mace intoned, plucking one of Jayce's fingers out of his skin. The lights above them began to hum and blinked back on with a harsh snap. "Hurry up, I want get back with the others."
"Sissy." Jani taunted. Qui-Gon shared a frown with Mace. Dram wasn't usually so annoying and snappish, but the moment he stepped on the Kiss, he had turned ten times as hostile.. Laid-back Janny was stomping on darker grounds. Maybe they all were.
There was a soft click and a hiss, and the door slid a few inches open before halting with a grinding noise, like someone of something had wedged an object in the door grooves.
The lights, it appeared, were only on in the halls because inside the Illian's room, there was rich, black darkness.
"Fantastic." Mace commented dryly. Qui-Gon jabbed a few buttons on the panel without sucess. "Cut it open?"
Dram sighed and shook his head. "It should be on a desk by the door." He flexed the fingers on his good hand. "I might be able to reach it....."
"You're NOT sticking your hand in there." Jinn objected. "You only got one left and we might need the saber back-up."
"Gee mom, you're concern is touching." He was already up to his shoulder in the frame, a deep look of stubborn concentration on his handsome face. The Force, tainted as it was with the proximity of the foul evil among them, (I love my thesaurus) was still a ally.
"You're explaining to Hart as to why he comes home with one hand." Mace told Qui-Gon flatly.
A triumphant grin on the Illian's face told them they might just get to forgo a particularly disasterous meeting with the over-protective Hart del'Jordea. Mace closed his eyes and mouthed a word of praise for small miracles. Dram withdrew.
Then jerked to a halt halfway out, his eyes fixed unerringly on the opening and the darkness beyond, the grin dying into a tight look of dread.
"Dram?" Jinn asked softly, daring to meet those every-shade of blue orbs. The eyes of his closest friend scared him more than anything he had yet to witness.
Jani was terrified.
"There is a hand on my arm." the Illian whispered.
"Damn." Mace said through bared teeth.
The Jedi shared a glance at one another, right before Dram threw himself backwards and just as the hand in the darkness yanked him forward. He slammed against the door with a bone-wrenching thump and swung sideways as whatever had him tried to pull him through the small crack.
"GET IT OFF!" he howled as Mace and Qui-Gon leapt at him, seizing their blond friend and endevoring to drag him back out without ripping his entire arm off. Jayce, releasing Mace in favor of a hold on the trapped Jedi, wrapped her arms around his waist and hauled backwards.
"There is PAIN!" Dram snarled, using his feet to brace him from going further in.
"You're the moron who stuck his hand in there." Mace snapped back. The lights flickreed madly.
"You're the ones whose supposed to stop me!"
"SHUT UP!" Jayce screamed and heaved. From within the room, something shrieked in inhuman glee.
"BITING ME! IT'S BITING ME!"
"Bite this." Jinn retorted and ignited his lighsaber. Moving on instict alone, the tall Jedi drove it though the crack. There was a long, screaming howl that left the ears ringing painfully, and Dram suddenly fell backwards, taking the others with him. They landed in a heap on the floor, scrambling backwards till they hit the wall on the other side of the hall.
But through it all, when Dram pried his fingers apart, there was the remote, a little battered but still intact.
Qui-Gon surged to his feet, brandishing the lightsaber in all directions to ward off a counterattack if one came....
but nothing.
Breathing. Crying. Boots scuffling on metal. A sharp hiss and intake of breath.
That was all.
"It bit me." Dram murmmered, examining his bloody arm. Then, to no one in particular. "I hate this place."
Jayce eyed him critically. "Those are not bite marks."
"Yeah yeah yeah." Mace dissmissed, snatching the remote away. "How do you work this?"
Qui-Gon circled them, eyes never leaving the door, attuned to the Force so that it was nearly buzzing in his ears. Something not quite right....
Jayce L'ttle gently took Dram's arm. "Fingernails....." she said to herself. Dram reached for the remote but Mace pulled it away. "It should be set fo this type of system. It pulls a pulse feed from the electrical currents. I already set it up, I was going to test it later.....it already has the systems down. No need to plug it in, it knows. Switchs in order: upper right-lights, lower right-doors, upper left-electrical systems, lower left-.....the holo-units....so-on. The rest isn't important except for the silver switch behind the cover plate, it overides the ship completely. Start, stop.....full control."
"Would it be wrong to tell you I love you?" Mace inquired.
"Set the date later." Qui-Gon informed them. "Let's....."
The lights flickered. (Boy, I don't know about you, but I'M getting tired of that.) There was a soft scratching at the door to Dram's room, something seeking a way out.
"Take over. Hit the switch." Qui-Gon ordered. Mace wagged his finger over the remote hesitantly before his fingers brushed the upper right switch--
--Dram lunged at him, realizing one horrible thing right as his friend flicked it. "NO! It's upside down!"--
--and this time, the lights stayed on, but all the doors in the Wake Angel opened.
Jayce screamed, falling backwards in her haste to retreat. Qui-Gon swung around to the door that suddenly finished opening, bringing a green glowing blade up in defense against.......and froze in horror, his face a mirror of his fellow Jedi.
It didn't move, just stood in the doorway, swaying slightly, limp arms hanging uselessly to the sides, one hand curled into the claw that had trapped Dram only moments ago, dribbling the Jedi's blood to the threshold where it dripped form torn fingers. Clothing was ripped, ragged, stained and frayed.
"....Mar....." Dram breathed, a heatbeat in time, long enough to remember the girl this wretched puppet was now, the quick smile and flash of laughter, before in fell forward....no....lunged forward, a body with no direction, seeking only the living to destroy.
It met with the hissing blades of three lightsabers, each dead center at differing angles. No resistance to the death strokes, no grace in the fall to the floor. Just the stink of burned meat.
Mace helped Jayce to her feet, leading her away from the body, Qui-Gon queitly pulling a reluctant Dram away, towards the cock-pit, away from the fallen Padawan. The Illian stumbled only once, and when Jinn stooped to help him up, the tanned face was wet with tears that had been waiting just for that moment.
"She never....." Janny tried to say. Qui-Gon nodded, a lump in his throat rising to cut off his words.
It wasn't till they turned the corner and were well away from the med- bay, that he spoke.
"We'll set them free." It was a promise to the air, a challenge to the enemy. "I swear."
I know I know I know. Bad Weasel, BAD. Such horrible things, such unorganized Jedi. Keep in mind that their still young and learning. And this isn't normal Jedi-typs missions. And I'm not a normal person.
I like butterflies.
~cricket chirps~
But not crickets.
~cricket does not chirp~
Smart cricket.
Chaos and disorder......my work is done. Did I mention I HATE writing serious fics.
I must now go terrorize Ferret (my brother) and feed Lloyd and perhaps scar some readers for life with this fic.