Star Wars Infinities: The Warrior

By Christopher W. Blaine (darth_yoshi@yahoo.com)

DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by George Lucas and are used herein without permission for fan-related, non-profit entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express permission of the author.

CHAPTER 24

"This doesn't look good," Boba said as he adjusted the feed on the incoming signal. The Imperial spokesman fluttered into crisper view as the wrinkles of static caused by solar radiation were filtered out. Though Slave I was equipped with the best in communications gear that could be purchased in the Corporate Sector, their distance from any signal relays made getting a usable transmission a mission worthy of a Mandalorian warrior.

The spokesman, clad in the black uniform of a military functionary, read from a prepared statement. The transmission was several days old and was repeated every few minutes along with the declarations of both Tarkin and the Emperor.

Jango turned the volume up and sat back, his arms folded over his chest. Boba stood behind him as they watched the news in the cargo hold. "This is an official Imperial communication. At fourteen hundreds hours, Imperial Center time, on this date, Emperor Palpatine, supreme ruler of the galaxy, master of the New Order, liberator of the oppressed peoples of the universe, died today while administering to the needs of his people during this time of military crisis. While the official cause of his demise has not been determined, local Imperial Intelligence officers are seeking out several persons related to the current insurrection being caused by the former Moff Tarkin.

"Rule of the Empire has been passed onto the Emperor's son, Lord Ravage, Dark Lord of the Sith. Lord Ravage has been kept in hiding for several decades now to prevent his assassination by those who would see chaos reign over the galaxy. Lord Ravage intends to address the Empire in due course but is currently engaged in the investigation into his father's death.

"Lord Ravage calls upon all officers of command rank who would remain loyal to the tenets of the New Order to come to Imperial Center to swear an oath of fealty. Order will be restored. Lord Ravage urges calm and promises that those responsible for this tragedy will pay for their crimes."

There was a brief flicker and the face of Tarkin appeared, reading his statement. "Citizens of the Empire, I am Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Imperial battle station Death Star now in orbit over the planet of Corellia. For years I have served with distinction and honor under our Emperor Palpatine. Before that, I was a young senator of the Old Republic who became disgusted at the bureaucracy that was mired with corruption and deceit. As such, I am an expert on forms of government that do not work.

"Recently, I was placed in the position of using the weapons of the Death Star to destroy the planet of Chandrilla. This was done because the highest levels of their government had been found to be complicit with the Rebel Alliance. Representatives of that world refused all efforts for a peaceful resolution to the crisis and in fact threatened civil war."

A look of grave concern washed over the hologram's face and Jango frowned behind his helmet. He knew Tarkin to be a man with no sympathies. "I informed the Emperor of the situation and he ordered me to remove the Death Star from the system. If I had obeyed this order then our government would have collapsed. Peace and security would have been sacrificed so that the wealthy contributors to the government coffers would be allowed to continue operating as rogue agents. In good conscience, I could not allow this and so, under the guidelines of the Tarkin Doctrine, signed into law two years ago, I assumed military authority over the Chandrilla system and executed the rebels.

"It would have drained the resources of many worlds to finance the trials and investigations necessary to clear those few Chandrillan citizens who had nothing to do with the rebellion. For their loss, I am saddened and they will be remembered us unnamed Heroes of the Empire for the sacrifice for the New Order. Understand this, in order to keep the peace, extreme measures must sometimes be taken."

The hologram zoomed out a bit to reveal a large star map behind Tarkin. "Behind me is a representation of the Empire in relation to the other great interstellar governments. These hundreds of worlds rely on the strength of the Empire to keep them safe. Many of us are not so old that we have not forgotten the corruption of the Old Republic and the Jedi. Your Emperor, I am sorry to say, seems to have fallen prey to the very cancer he sought to cut out of the galaxy when he established the New Order. The wealthy control the galaxy while the common citizens works to support a system of castes designed to allow power to reside in the hands of those with the credits to purchase it.

"Many of you know the wealth that Chandrilla possessed and how the Emperor tolerated the liberal stance that world took towards Imperial policy. How many worlds have suffered over the decades because of favorable treatment given to some worlds, while other worlds, such as Corellia, have suffered?"

Jango paused the transmission and looked to his son. "It's a load of bantha poodoo. I know for a fact that Tarkin negotiated several contracts with Kuat Drive Yards in order to take shipbuilding business away from Corellia. Thing is, I'm pretty sure I remember the Emperor always taking credit for it."

"Do you think the people will fall for it?" Boba asked. Jango had tried to keep his son insulated from the complexities of Imperial politics. Matters like this clouded a warrior's judgment as he tried to decide which side he belonged on. A warrior was meant to perform his duty, his mission, and his job. When they had worked in the Corporate Sector that had been the way of it. Here, back in the snake pit that was the Empire, it was hard to keep focused.

"The people are not who he's preaching to. He is speaking to the commanders of the fleets and garrisons. It's no secret that many worlds have suffered under Palpatine, while others have prospered. Tarkin has probably arranged for many officers from devastated worlds such as Corellia to be placed in important positions. The power of the Empire resides in the military. Palpatine couldn't have assumed control of the Republic and destroyed the Jedi without it." Jango stretched and then stood up, leaving the transmission paused. They had both watched it several times and would view it a few more over the next few days. "It doesn't change our original contract."

"What do you mean? Palpatine is dead; this Lord Ravage is under no obligation to pay us for this Mothma woman. It's a bad deal all around; no profit," Boba pointed out.

Jango countered. "We've been paid half up front. We complete our missions no matter what. If you give your word, then you keep it, regardless of the cost." They both headed up the ladder into the cockpit. "Besides, if this Ravage is Palpatine's son, then he may honor the contract to keep us happy. Leaders always need good hunters."

"Sounds like Lord Ravage isn't going to have an Empire to run," Boba said as he strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat. They were in orbit over Yavin 4, awaiting a meteorite that was streaking in-system towards the planet. Their passive sensors had picked up the Rebel's communications and they had no desire to alert them to their presence. Instead, they would follow the meteorite down onto the far side of the moon and then fly towards the Rebel base at treetop level.

"We don't even know if Mara Mothma is here," Boba whined.

Jango wanted to rebuke him, but he knew his son was having difficulty sleeping. Ever since they had entered orbit, at a point that the Rebel sensors couldn't detect them unless they moved, Boba had been plagued with nightmares. A cold, dark voice called to him from shadowy mists, telling him that his body was no longer his own.

Jango could not even imagine what could have triggered the dreams in his son, as he had never suffered from any. Boba was a perfect clone of Jango, a man who had never married and never had the desire to. He had wanted an heir but did not want the responsibility of caring for a spouse as well. When he had allowed Darth Sideous to use him as the blueprint for the clone army of the Republic, he had requested a clone for himself, unaltered.

"She's here, and judging by the amount of comms we're picking up, something is going on." He checked the sensors and saw they still had a few minutes before the meteorite arrived. "The whole galaxy is in an uproar. First Chandrilla, then Tarkin declares himself military governor of the Empire and then Palpatine is assassinated."

"If he was assassinated…"

Jango shook his head. "Sith Lords don't just die, believe me. Someone has to kill them." Jango remembered when he had been contracted to kill Darth Tyrannus, who was once Palpatine's apprentice. He had made it look like Tyrannus, who was known to the Republic as Count Dooku, had been murdered by the Jedi for his support of the Chancellor Palpatine's investigation into the affairs of the Jedi. "Regardless, if Ravage doesn't pay for her, then Tarkin will."

"Tarkin would pay more to know where the Rebel base is," Boba explained.

"This is only one of many bases and it's out in the middle of nowhere," Jango told him as he warmed up the maneuvering thrusters. "He won't leave Corellia until he pacifies it."

"It's his rallying point," Boba said off-hand.

Jango nodded and started to follow the meteorite as it flashed by, heading to the distant surface. "From there he will be able to spread his influence. He'll bring the shipyards back up, provide jobs, that sort of thing. After that, his fleets will start to come in and they will spread out."

"With the Death Star, he will be unstoppable."

"Maybe…"

Two days later, Boba had nailed Mara's exact location. Using equipment developed in the Corporate Sector for use in industrial espionage, he tapped into her personal communicator. Jango was happy to see that Boba was focused on their mission again. Hopefully they would be able to find Mara, capture her, and burn for Imperial Center within the week.

Jango had to confess a certain amount of curiosity when it came to this Lord Ravage, who still had not appeared before the Imperial peoples. The news nets were full of stories about individual encounters between loyalist and Tarkinist forces, occasionally a Rebel fleet getting involved as well.

The big news was that Admiral Harkov had disappeared with his fleet, pledging neither support for Lord Ravage or for Tarkin. Jango suspected that the Admiral had quickly mad a beeline for the Rebellion after looking up the historical information on the officer. He was a career officer who had come from a wealthy family but had very little personal combat experience. He was an administrator who probably did not relish the idea of trying to figure out who was friend or foe. Better to join the enemy and know what was what.

Jango suspected that Harkov's fleet was on its way here. The amount of activity going on with the Rebels indicated that they were preparing to move out. Supply ships were not coming in as often and many transports were leaving fully loaded. Jango wondered where they were going. The only indication was something called "Site 2".

"She communicates with only four individuals, Boba said as they ate their noon meal. "The first is Talon Karde, just as you thought. They seem to be in charge of the entire supply situation, coordinating between different smugglers. The second is a protocol droid designated as C-3PO." Boba smiled. "He's annoying even for a droid."

"That's why I had you learn languages on your own. Better that way, less irritation." Part of Boba's education had been on the many languages he might encounter in his travels once he started working on his own. He could understand several alien tongues, but could speak very few. It wasn't a lack of intelligence; it was simply that human vocal cords could not approximate many of the languages of the galaxy.

The Mandalorian armor also came with a small translation package in the helmet but Jango had tried to teach Boba to rely on nothing but him. It was the warrior that was the weapon; the armaments and equipment were simply commentary. "She has a Wookie bodyguard," Boba commented. "Not your average one either; this is someone with a real hand on physical security and tactics. His name is Chewbacca."

Jango searched his memory but the name meant nothing to him. "You said there were four?"

The younger hunter pushed back his plate. "An archeologist named Malakie. He and Mothma spend a lot of time on a private channel."

"Lovers?"

"They are still in the flirting stages right now I suppose. They discuss many things but if you learn to read between the lines you can tell there is something there." Boba tapped a few keys on a nearby datapad and a small hologram of a young man with stark white hair and strange alien eyes appeared. "I pulled this from the security records the Rebels are keeping. They are as efficient as the Imperials at keeping records."

Jango leaned in close and recognized immediately who it was. There were no tattoos, no horns on the head, but there was no mistaking the eyes and facial features. "I'll be damned," Jango swore.

Boba regarded his father for a moment. "You know this man?"

"I think he's related to Darth Maul."

"The Sith Lord? I thought he was dead," Boba replied, staring at the hologram. He pulled the picture of Darth Maul up from memory and tried comparing the two. It was much easier for his father to make the comparison because he had known Maul. Often times during his childhood in the Corporate Sector Boba had heard his father speak of Lord Maul with great respect.

Maul had been throwback to the golden age of the Sith, a true dark Jedi warrior. He had been the master of Darth Vader until Vader decided it was time to break tradition and take his wife on as an apprentice. Darth Maul had believed in the "one master, one apprentice" creed of the Sith and it had brought him into conflict with the Emperor.

Of all of the people of his past, Jango Fett felt that the passing of Darth Maul had been the greatest tragedy. Like a Mandalorian warrior, Maul was direct and upfront, hating the subtlety of political games that the Emperor had become so proficient at.

"Maul is dead, but it appears he might have spawned a child," Jango remarked as he rubbed his chin. "We'll have to be careful; I might have admired Maul, but I didn't want to deal with him. If this is his son, then we would be wise to avoid him if we can."

"Are you scared?" Boba asked, his voice trembling. Never in his life had he heard his father warn him in such a way.

"I'm not afraid of anyone, but it doesn't do any good to pick a fight that doesn't need to be fought." He looked at his son and he saw that the reply had not made him feel any better. Boba had an idealized version of warfare and the galaxy; their life in the Corporate Sector had simply been too soft. A warrior has to live a life of hardship to temper them; Boba had not done that. He had the skill, but not the experience of tragedy to hone his edge.

Jango Fett had succumbed to love of a father towards his son and now he was afraid his son would pay the price. Had they stayed in the Corporate Sector, Boba would have lived his days well enough doing security work. Here in the real galaxy, he wasn't sure if being a bounty hunter was the life Boba should be pursuing.

All of those mental debates would have to wait as Boba pointed out that with the Rebels bugging out, it was only a matter of time before they lost the trail of Mara. "We need to grab her," he said.

Jango agreed. "If she and this son of Maul really are starting a romance, she won't leave without saying good-bye."

"More than likely, someplace private," Boba added. "This man, this Malakie, he works at the ruins some two kilometers from the Rebel base with his mother."

"His mother?"

"An old woman named Gethzerion."

Jango recognized that name, as it was one that Count Dooku had used in passing, something about the "young Gethzerion has displayed great ability in the Force". It added to the mystery of Malakie and Jango wondered of they would solve it before they left Yavin 4?

Finishing their meal, the two bounty hunters left the safety of their ship and headed into the jungle, seeing where to set up their ambush.