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 25

At over 200 years old, Chewbacca considered himself a pretty good judge of character and he finally decided that Malakie was not an honest person. His feelings for Mara were true enough, though they were not as extensive as Talon Karde feared. There was something else about Malakie that Chewbacca could feel and now he was determined to find out exactly what it was.

The Wookie sniffed the air and caught Malakie's scent amid the smells of the jungle. This moon was hotter than Chewbacca's world, but it was relatively safer. As a hunter, Chewbacca did not fear predators, but he knew to respect them. He tried to follow Malakie's path but was unable and that bothered Chewbacca. Wookies, though large, were extremely agile, yet Malakie was maneuvering a path that Chewbacca could not. The added detours through the trees were slowing him down, but he was confident that his tracking skills would allow him to keep up.

As he moved through the jungle, Chewbacca's mind wandered from the here and now to the past. Like so many other Wookies, Chewbacca had left him while still young to seek adventure in the stars. He had seen the Old Republic and had felt great sadness at the loss of the Jedi Knights. Palpatine's rise to power and the anti-alien sentiment of the New Order did not sit well with him, yet he was powerless to do anything about it. Instead, he had sought out odd jobs with various employers, hoping to one day earn enough credits to purchase his own ship.

With a vessel of his own, Chewbacca had dreams of becoming a trader and possibly going back home to collect his son. When Mon Mothma had approached him about being Mara's bodyguard, he had jumped at the chance.

It was too bad that he had been paid in Chandrillan script, for now he had nothing. With the destruction of Chandrilla and the demonizing of its people by the Empire, the money he had received had plummeted in value. He stayed on because he had nothing else to do. There was no life debt involved in his agreement and he was under no obligation by Wookie code to remain, but he had become somewhat fond of the human Rebels and their cause. The Empire had taken many Wookies into bondage and Chewbacca was willing to put his life on the line to save his brothers.

He was two kilometers out when he came upon the start of the ruins. According to Mara, Malakie and Gethzerion were spending their time at the temples in what was referred to as Grid Sector 7. Long ago, this moon had been inhabited by a race of semi-intelligent creatures, but their history and demise eluded Chewbacca. As a hunter, he had a great appreciation of history but these long-lost people seemed to foreign for him to relate to. Instead, he marveled at their creations, temples and cities made of stone and wondered about what consumed them to create such works.

Some of the Rebel officers, the older ones, would whisper that this was a place strong in the Dark Side of the Force, part of the ancient religion of the Jedi. They said this had once been a base of operations of the Sith, but Chewbacca really didn't know. Jedi were very rare among the Wookies and so while they were well regarded, they were something of a mystery. Chewbacca did think it was odd that Malakie would choose such a place to perform his work, especially in the middle of a galactic civil war.

The Rebel interrogators were sure that the strange-looking human was not an Imperial agent and the defecting pilot and stormtroopers vouched for him (though Chewbacca had to question the wisdom of trusting ex-stormtroopers). Mara was convinced, but Chewbacca was sure she was letting her more feminine emotions cloud her judgment.

"He has done absolutely nothing to bring suspicion upon him except claim to want to explore this moon," Mara had said during a heated discussion between herself and Talon Karde. Chewbacca had stood in the background, listening and eating his lunch. Human quarrels were amusing in that the participants generally tried to reach down for their primal instincts and often fell short. In Wookie society, any true argument resulted in blows being traded, biting and snarling.

"He is of a species we cannot identify, there is no official record of him anywhere in the Imperial census," Talon had countered.

"The Imperial census is tainted and you know it! They pad the numbers to increase conscription on the weaker planets!" Mara had screamed back.

The fight then degraded into threats and hissing and it was then that Chewbacca started to realize that Talon was truly hurt by what he perceived as Mara's defection. Chewbacca understood love well enough and he saw that while Talon was not head-over-heels for Mara, he was at least entertaining the idea of possibly pursuing her in the near future.

It appeared that another male had scented on Talon's territory and Chewbacca knew that the situation had to be resolved. Talon kept bringing up the fact that Malakie was a security risk and Chewbacca should "talk" with him, but the big Wookie had been avoiding the confrontation. He did not dislike Malakie, he just didn't trust him. He was confident he could protect Mara from him, but Talon had been insistent.

To keep the smuggler happy, Chewbacca had finally relented and agreed to follow Malakie just to see if he was actually doing any research. If he were, then his risk as a potential threat to Mara would be downgraded severely. If not, then Chewbacca would warn him off.

Wookie style.

Chewbacca entered a clearing created by several smaller temples that ringed a black pool of water. There were no animals here and Chewbacca noticed that his inner fur lining was standing up. His predatory senses were suddenly alert and an inner voice was telling him to run away. It reminded him of the stories of his childhood on Kashyyyk where the elders would talk about the creatures that lived on the planet surface. The Wookies lived in great cities built at the tops of the massive trees that covered the planet.

He unslung his bowcaster and patted the bandolier wrapped across his chest. A small growl came from his throat as he peered into the dark mist that seemed to hang on everything in the immediate area. He was out in the open and could see the sun burning brightly in the afternoon sky, but there was darkness all around him.

The temples here were not like the ones the Rebels made their bases in. These were not as well cared-for and there were thousands of strange symbols carved into them. Chewbacca guessed it was some sort of picture language but the translation was lost on him. An intelligent creature, he had never bothered to learn any other language beyond Galactic Basic.

"Well, well, it seems I have a visitor," Malakie said as he stepped out from behind a temple. His form seemed to shimmer with a purple haze and Chewbacca gripped his weapon a little tighter. Malakie stepped into the clearing and Chewbacca noted that he was clad only in a loincloth and gun belt. There was no blaster, however, only a long cylinder.

There were fresh tattoos on Malakie's body, made up of the symbols on the temples and small rivers of blood wash down the man's chest. "Ah, my artwork. I did it myself; a test of concentration and pain control."

Chewbacca started to say something, but then remembered that Malakie didn't speak Wookie. "Ah, but I can sense your thoughts, beast. I know the questions that are forming in your little mind. What is this place? Who am I really? Do I pose a threat to Mara?" Malakie moved over and sat down on a rock, pulling the cylinder off of the belt and laying it across his lap. "In answer to your third question, I mean absolutely no harm to Mara. I find her to be a companion in the Force."

Chewbacca's eyes narrowed and Malakie laughed. "You do know what the Force is, right? It is that which holds the universe together and with it, men of great vision can achieve wondrous things."

Chewbacca roared. Malakie got the meaning. "Dark Side…Light Side…two sides of the same decacredit; catch phrases and spacers terms. There is only the Force and those who have mastered it."

The Wookie did not like what he was hearing; it reminded him of the holodramas that the Empire put out on the Jedi and he knew that was all propaganda. The Jedi had represented the good side of existence; Malakie was speaking like something else entirely.

"Had you stayed with your mistress, you would have lived," Malakie said with a sigh as he stood up. "The truth be told I have found you to be interesting, an oddity I would have put in my private zoo." Chewbacca growled at the insult and brought up the bowcaster to remind Malakie who was armed here. A death in the jungle was not uncommon on Yavin 4.

"Be a good pet and pull the trigger," Malakie demanded, his eyes twinkling. Chewbacca then felt the presence enter his mind. It was foreign and depraved, human thoughts and emotions, all dark and twisted, intermingled with his own even as he started to pull the trigger against his will.

The bowcaster fired and there was a whoosh as Malakie ignited the double-bladed lightsaber. It was a design originally created by Exar Kunn and used only by the greatest of Sith warriors over the centuries. The orange blades whirled several times before deflecting the bolt into the woods. There was a howl as some creature's life suddenly ended.

Malakie released his mental control over the Wookie, betraying none of the exhaustion he felt from the act. Alien minds were extremely difficult to control and Chewbacca had been far from weak-willed. "I am the Dark Apprentice, a Sith warrior sworn to my master, Exar Kunn. Together, he and I will raise the Sith Empire again and I will take my place as heir to the title of my father, Darth Maul."

Chewbacca knew that name as well as any other creature did in the galaxy. Darth Maul, the dreaded Dark Lord of the Sith who had killed many of the most powerful Jedi. It had been Darth Maul who had trained Darth Vader, who had in turn trained Darth Deceptra. Darth Maul was as much the father of evil in the galaxy as the Emperor had been.

Chewbacca went for a headshot, but Malakie, his body full of the Force, moved to quickly. He dodged away, but hesitated making a direct attack until he could fully recover from his mental excursion. Chewbacca noticed the hesitation in his prey and tried to exploit it, firing a series of shots that burned away plants and blackened stone, but none of them came close to striking the intended target.

The Wookie, however, was a seasoned hunter and he started to see a pattern to Malakie's moves and when he fired the next barrage, he anticipated the young Sith's moves and the last one burned deep into Malakie's thigh. He cried out and fell onto his back, suffering more shame than pain. In his head, Exar Kunn cursed him and berated him for being so foolish.

The Dark Apprentice struggles to get up but the shot had been meant to numb the leg and had done so with great efficiency. Malakie's anger grew stronger and he yanked the Force from the living things in the area, even Chewbacca, who stumbled slightly as he approached his fallen opponent. The Dark Side enabled Malakie to push away the pain and force feeling back into his leg. He didn't understand the consequences of that action, that the power of the Dark Side poisoned the muscle. He was young and strong, though, and would eventually recover, though not fully.

The blades came up and pushed the Wookie back. Chewbacca snarled as he tried to gain some sort of advantage, but his weapon was meant for ranged attacks, not the close quarters fighting that this battle was becoming. He tossed the bowcaster to the side and gave a small smile.

Chewbacca's soft blue eyes were seductive, pulling opponents in as they came to believe he was nothing more than a big stuffed toy. Normally, it was a fatal mistake as Malakie nearly found out. Feeling that Chewbacca was now unarmed, the arrogant Sith stepped forward and tried to impale the Wookie. Malakie's greatest weakness, however, was that he simply had not been given enough training in the use of his weapon. Darth Maul would never have stepped in so close.

Massive claws, normally sheathed on the Wookie, came free and dug deep into Malakie's arm. He screamed out as Chewbacca's natural weapons tore muscle and sinew and the lightsaber went flying away. Fear slowly began to creep into Malakie's mind as the Wookie growled and pulled, tearing Malakie's left arm free. Blood the color of hot lava spewed everywhere as the young man let loose with a curse that shook the very Force.

Chewbacca stepped back, still holding the arm. Malakie fell, but managed to stop the bleeding momentarily with the Force. He stretched out his good hand and called his lightsaber to him. He ignited one part of it and through tears of pain and blood, he addressed Chewbacca. "You fight well, monster, but I am a Sith. I will not be denied!"

Malakie touched the saber to his wound and there was the smell of roasted meat in the air. Chewbacca wrinkled his nose, but continued to stare in fascination as Malakie coldly cauterized the wound. "A…true…Sith…welcomes the…pain of vic…victory!"

Chewbacca realized that it was time to leave. His duty was to warn Talon Karde and Mara of what was really happening, that the Sith were here. If Malakie was the son of Darth Maul, then he was real trouble for the Rebel Alliance.

"My son!" Gethzerion cackled as she emerged from one of the temples. She started mumbling under her breath and Chewbacca felt the air fill with electricity. The Dathomir witch was summoning the Force-storm, one of the most destructive powers wielded by the dark Jedi. Chewbacca roared an insult and then threw the arm, striking Gethzerion in the head.

She went down, but the Force storm had already started. A foul wind roared through the clearing, blowing leaves and dust and the occasional animal into the air. Small tornados of darkness and lightning started to form and Chewbacca took a small strike in the back. His fur was singed but he was otherwise unharmed.

Malakie was starting to get up, but the fight was out of him. He was pale, a shade of white that usually proceeded death and Chewbacca was confident that despite the amazing abilities that Malakie had demonstrated, he was done for. The Wookie had spent enough time on enough hunts to know when an animal was done for. It was time for him to leave and he started to turn when Malakie called out to him.

"I am not finished with you, pet," he said, his voice carrying on the wicked wind his mother had conjured. "You are my test; the only warrior capable of meeting me in combat on this moon. One of us must die."

Chewbacca realized that he was not going to get to leave that easily. Even if he got back to the Rebel base quickly, there was no way of knowing the full extent of Malakie's or Gethzerion's powers. The witch was getting back up and there was murder in her eyes. Malakie waved the lightsaber. "Come, let us finish this!"

Chewbacca ran, putting all of the skills he had learned in his two centuries of life into his stride. In his mind, a thousand scenarios played out, each one with the same outcome: Malakie was about to die. The Wookies were the masters of the fast attack and he adjusted his attack so that he would pass just close enough to take off the other arm.

At the last instant, Chewbacca saw the look of knowing in Malakie's eyes and the Wookie knew that he had fallen into a trap. Malakie dodged the claws this time and ignited the other blade of his lightsaber. Whirling it with one hand, he cut deep into Chewbacca's back, sending the Wookie crashing into the side of a temple.

Malakie was on him in an instant. With two quick slashes, he severed both the Wookie's limbs. Chewbacca roared in pain and tried to avoid the final strike into his chest, but the Sith was simply too fast. Malakie plunged the blade deep and Chewbacca screamed over the noise of the Force-storm. Malakie lacked the strength to follow through with the blow and fell flat on his face next to the unmoving Wookie.

Gethzerion continued to chant, using the familiar words as a focal point for her tap into the Force and gradually the storm died away. As the last vestiges of it attacked the local fauna, the witch called out the Exar Kunn. "He has passed, my lord! Save my son! Save my son!"

Quit your whining, witch! Your son yet lives! Bring him into the temple.

And bring the arm as well!