Disclaimer: I own the characters. I own the plot. Lucas owns the universe.
Summary: One thousand years before the Empire was even imagined, the Sith were running rampant, trying to take over the entire galaxy. They might have succeeded, if it weren't for one hot-headed Padawan.
/bla/= italics
~*~*~
Del Myriad, episode I: The Sith wars.
Chapter 5 : Getting away
Nash Solo didn't get the chance to argue. The girl, who couldn't have been more than half his age, was already gone. He was slightly taken aback, but who wouldn't be if someone literally dropped out of thin air in front of you and began ordering you around.
The gun turret sprang to life, turning a Coruscant Planetary Security Cruiser into a spectacular fireball.
"Anyway, she can shoot." Solo grudgingly admitted.
The remaining CPS cruisers opened fire and Solo's survival instincts kicked in. Dodge left, dodge right, weave over and under enemy fire, but always with your nose to the sky, heading for open space. The cruisers were fast, but the Eagle was faster and she soon outdistanced them. As soon as the ship reached open space, Solo engaged the hyperdrive and switched on the autopilot. He met Del coming down from the gun turret.
"So, Myriad, was it? Are you going to tell me what this is about?"
Del ignored him and headed down the corridor, retracing the first steps she had made on the Centennial Eagle.
"Answer me! You've commandeered my ship and would appreciated if you told me why."
Del paused to give him a baleful look, then reached out with the force to summon her rucksack, which had become lodged between two pipes that rose vertically against the corridor wall, probably thrown there by Solo's evasive maneuvers in their flight from Coruscant. Del swung the rucksack over her shoulders and turned into the living quarters. Solo followed her in.
"You're one of those Jedi, aren't you? This has something to do with that Republic thing they're trying to found, right?"
Solo's demeanor had changed somewhat with Del's last action. Though he was still miffed about his ship being commandeered, the was an element of awe added, then suddenly fear and nervousness.
"Listen, umm. Those weapons that I'm smuggling, their for some, ah, bounty hunters, yeah, that's right, bounty hunters. They're not for the Sith-run resistance." Del had reached a counter that was set in the wall opposite the door. She dumped the contents of her rucksack out onto it.
"So you /are/ smuggling contraband weapons."
She began checking over her things, seeing if anything had been damaged in their flight from Coruscant. Solo, on the other hand, was getting confused.
"Wha-?"
"Back there, in the cockpit? Well, that was a wild guess. I had heard that some Corellians were smuggling weapons, so I took the chance that you were one of them."
Satisfied that nothing was broken, she began re-packing, starting with the blankets.
"Can you help me with these?" Del had her arms full with a wad of blankets.
"If you tell me what you've gotten me into."
Del nodded, so he began helping her straighten the blankets out, spreading them on the floor, thickest on the bottom, thinnest on the top.
"I need to go somewhere where neither the Sith nor the Jedi can find me. The only place I can think of is in the Stellar-Rani quadrant."
"But aren't you a Jedi?"
"Padawan, at least until a few minutes ago. I've left the Order."
Edges to middle, edges to middle, roll.
"Well that explains why the Jedi are after you. I thought they never let anyone leave the Order. But what would the Sith want with a Padawan?"
"According to my /former/ master, they would want to recruit me. Personally, I don't buy that. After what I've done, they'd rather kill me."
Solo was about to ask why the Sith would want to kill her, but then he noticed the pendant that had slipped out from under her tunic and was now hanging freely from her neck.
"Oh my word! You're /that/ Del Myriad!"
"So, you've heard of me."
Del was tying the now neatly rolled blankets with the spare utility belt.
"Yeah, well, I overheard two of the Sith talking about how your killing Darth Tricon was a major setback and how they had to find a way to take you out."
Solo abruptly stopped talking, a look of horror coming over his face. He had said too much.
"And how, may I ask, did you come to overhear a conversation between two Sith?" Del asked slyly as she put the blanket roll back in the rucksack.
He hesitated to answer, then let it all out in a rush. "I... was... deliveringacargoofweaponstotheresistance."
"I didn't hear you" she said in a sing song voice while folding her spare tunic, trousers and cloak.
"I was delivering a cargo of weapons to the resistance." He repeated with his head hung like a schoolboy in trouble, which was kind of strange, seeing that he was the adult in the situation.
Solo raised his eyes apprehensively, not sure how Del would react to the news. After all, according to the Sith, she was a bloodthirsty killer, but he had also hears stories about how she had saved entire villages from being destroyed by the Sith. The look on Del's face was unreadable, so he launched into a plea to cover his back.
"Listen, I won't complete the transaction if you don't want me to. I'll even dump the weapons, just don't hurt me!"
Del had been trying very hard to keep a straight face ever since Solo had figured out who she was, but seeing a grown man cowering in fear before her was too much. She burst out laughing, letting the rucksack that she had just finished putting the now folded cloak, tunic and trousers into, along with her spare boots, slip to the floor.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I need you to pilot." Solo looked relieved. "And judging from what you just said, those weapons aren't for bounty hunters. I'd wager they're for really for the Sith-run resistance."
Del had said this in a playful, but neutral tone. Solo, on the other hand, was quickly learning that it was impossible to predict how she would react in a given situation, so he just nodded in reply.
"Were you serious about not completing the transaction? You know this means you'll be on the Sith's hit list."
"It's long enough as it is. What's another name going to change?" He said, feigning indifference.
Del nodded her agreement, then continued: "Listen, don't dump them. Go to Corellia and give the weapons to the Republicans there. The Sith are planning an attack on the planet, and it will be a battle the Republicans must not lose."
"How do you know where the Sith are going to strike?"
"I'm a Sith hunter, or at least I was. It's my business to know what they're up to. Corellia, and the whole Corellian sector will be much better off as a member of the Republic, and that won't happen if the Sith win."
The man and the girl lapsed into silence. Solo leaned back in one of the lounge chairs and nodded off to sleep. Del put the last of her things into her rucksack, then quietly went and sat at the table, where she began to write a note.
~* Meanwhile, back on Coruscant *~
Kor-Ben Tai was in an open topped cruiser a quarter of a mile down from a shattered window in the south-wet face of the Jedi temple. With him was the Jedi that had traced Del to Reldan 57. Kor-Ben was watching anxiously as the female Jedi concentrated on the surrounding air molecules.
Her eyes snapped open. "There!"
She closed them again and then reached out with the force and her hands and began parting the air. A black horizontal tear appeared in the air below them, at exactly the same place Del had opened a wormhole a few hours earlier.
Kor-Ben eased the cruiser down through the wormhole. They came into a space port covered with the wreckage of several CPS cruisers. Medics were bustling to and fro, trying to save as many pilots as they could. They weren't succeeding.
"What happened?" Kor-Ben asked no one in particular. A passing medic answered.
"A Corellian freighter took off without authorization, the when the port authorities told him to land or be fired upon, he opened fire."
"I take it he got away." The female Jedi said. The medic nodded wearily, the turned to get back to work.
"One last thing." Kor-Ben called out after him. "Where was this freighter docked?"
"Right where you are."
~*~*~
Outside the port, Kor-Ben opened his communicator, and a holographic figure of the Jedi Council's second in command appeared. Kor-Ben gave his report.
"My Padawan's wormhole led to a spaceport on the other side of the planet. I believe she is on her way to Corellia."
"You think she plans on continuing her fight against the Sith on her own?
"That is one thing she said in her outburst before she left."
"Very well. I will alert our contingent on Corellia to keep an eye out for her. Do you know what kind of ship she is on?"
"A Corellian freighter called The Centennial Eagle."
~*~*~
And they're off!
No reviews AGAIN!!! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to abandon my other story and re-post it as a new story. Anyway, I'm now caught up to where I was with Island, so I hope I'll have more people reading next time.
Next chapter: Corellia
Summary: One thousand years before the Empire was even imagined, the Sith were running rampant, trying to take over the entire galaxy. They might have succeeded, if it weren't for one hot-headed Padawan.
/bla/= italics
~*~*~
Del Myriad, episode I: The Sith wars.
Chapter 5 : Getting away
Nash Solo didn't get the chance to argue. The girl, who couldn't have been more than half his age, was already gone. He was slightly taken aback, but who wouldn't be if someone literally dropped out of thin air in front of you and began ordering you around.
The gun turret sprang to life, turning a Coruscant Planetary Security Cruiser into a spectacular fireball.
"Anyway, she can shoot." Solo grudgingly admitted.
The remaining CPS cruisers opened fire and Solo's survival instincts kicked in. Dodge left, dodge right, weave over and under enemy fire, but always with your nose to the sky, heading for open space. The cruisers were fast, but the Eagle was faster and she soon outdistanced them. As soon as the ship reached open space, Solo engaged the hyperdrive and switched on the autopilot. He met Del coming down from the gun turret.
"So, Myriad, was it? Are you going to tell me what this is about?"
Del ignored him and headed down the corridor, retracing the first steps she had made on the Centennial Eagle.
"Answer me! You've commandeered my ship and would appreciated if you told me why."
Del paused to give him a baleful look, then reached out with the force to summon her rucksack, which had become lodged between two pipes that rose vertically against the corridor wall, probably thrown there by Solo's evasive maneuvers in their flight from Coruscant. Del swung the rucksack over her shoulders and turned into the living quarters. Solo followed her in.
"You're one of those Jedi, aren't you? This has something to do with that Republic thing they're trying to found, right?"
Solo's demeanor had changed somewhat with Del's last action. Though he was still miffed about his ship being commandeered, the was an element of awe added, then suddenly fear and nervousness.
"Listen, umm. Those weapons that I'm smuggling, their for some, ah, bounty hunters, yeah, that's right, bounty hunters. They're not for the Sith-run resistance." Del had reached a counter that was set in the wall opposite the door. She dumped the contents of her rucksack out onto it.
"So you /are/ smuggling contraband weapons."
She began checking over her things, seeing if anything had been damaged in their flight from Coruscant. Solo, on the other hand, was getting confused.
"Wha-?"
"Back there, in the cockpit? Well, that was a wild guess. I had heard that some Corellians were smuggling weapons, so I took the chance that you were one of them."
Satisfied that nothing was broken, she began re-packing, starting with the blankets.
"Can you help me with these?" Del had her arms full with a wad of blankets.
"If you tell me what you've gotten me into."
Del nodded, so he began helping her straighten the blankets out, spreading them on the floor, thickest on the bottom, thinnest on the top.
"I need to go somewhere where neither the Sith nor the Jedi can find me. The only place I can think of is in the Stellar-Rani quadrant."
"But aren't you a Jedi?"
"Padawan, at least until a few minutes ago. I've left the Order."
Edges to middle, edges to middle, roll.
"Well that explains why the Jedi are after you. I thought they never let anyone leave the Order. But what would the Sith want with a Padawan?"
"According to my /former/ master, they would want to recruit me. Personally, I don't buy that. After what I've done, they'd rather kill me."
Solo was about to ask why the Sith would want to kill her, but then he noticed the pendant that had slipped out from under her tunic and was now hanging freely from her neck.
"Oh my word! You're /that/ Del Myriad!"
"So, you've heard of me."
Del was tying the now neatly rolled blankets with the spare utility belt.
"Yeah, well, I overheard two of the Sith talking about how your killing Darth Tricon was a major setback and how they had to find a way to take you out."
Solo abruptly stopped talking, a look of horror coming over his face. He had said too much.
"And how, may I ask, did you come to overhear a conversation between two Sith?" Del asked slyly as she put the blanket roll back in the rucksack.
He hesitated to answer, then let it all out in a rush. "I... was... deliveringacargoofweaponstotheresistance."
"I didn't hear you" she said in a sing song voice while folding her spare tunic, trousers and cloak.
"I was delivering a cargo of weapons to the resistance." He repeated with his head hung like a schoolboy in trouble, which was kind of strange, seeing that he was the adult in the situation.
Solo raised his eyes apprehensively, not sure how Del would react to the news. After all, according to the Sith, she was a bloodthirsty killer, but he had also hears stories about how she had saved entire villages from being destroyed by the Sith. The look on Del's face was unreadable, so he launched into a plea to cover his back.
"Listen, I won't complete the transaction if you don't want me to. I'll even dump the weapons, just don't hurt me!"
Del had been trying very hard to keep a straight face ever since Solo had figured out who she was, but seeing a grown man cowering in fear before her was too much. She burst out laughing, letting the rucksack that she had just finished putting the now folded cloak, tunic and trousers into, along with her spare boots, slip to the floor.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I need you to pilot." Solo looked relieved. "And judging from what you just said, those weapons aren't for bounty hunters. I'd wager they're for really for the Sith-run resistance."
Del had said this in a playful, but neutral tone. Solo, on the other hand, was quickly learning that it was impossible to predict how she would react in a given situation, so he just nodded in reply.
"Were you serious about not completing the transaction? You know this means you'll be on the Sith's hit list."
"It's long enough as it is. What's another name going to change?" He said, feigning indifference.
Del nodded her agreement, then continued: "Listen, don't dump them. Go to Corellia and give the weapons to the Republicans there. The Sith are planning an attack on the planet, and it will be a battle the Republicans must not lose."
"How do you know where the Sith are going to strike?"
"I'm a Sith hunter, or at least I was. It's my business to know what they're up to. Corellia, and the whole Corellian sector will be much better off as a member of the Republic, and that won't happen if the Sith win."
The man and the girl lapsed into silence. Solo leaned back in one of the lounge chairs and nodded off to sleep. Del put the last of her things into her rucksack, then quietly went and sat at the table, where she began to write a note.
~* Meanwhile, back on Coruscant *~
Kor-Ben Tai was in an open topped cruiser a quarter of a mile down from a shattered window in the south-wet face of the Jedi temple. With him was the Jedi that had traced Del to Reldan 57. Kor-Ben was watching anxiously as the female Jedi concentrated on the surrounding air molecules.
Her eyes snapped open. "There!"
She closed them again and then reached out with the force and her hands and began parting the air. A black horizontal tear appeared in the air below them, at exactly the same place Del had opened a wormhole a few hours earlier.
Kor-Ben eased the cruiser down through the wormhole. They came into a space port covered with the wreckage of several CPS cruisers. Medics were bustling to and fro, trying to save as many pilots as they could. They weren't succeeding.
"What happened?" Kor-Ben asked no one in particular. A passing medic answered.
"A Corellian freighter took off without authorization, the when the port authorities told him to land or be fired upon, he opened fire."
"I take it he got away." The female Jedi said. The medic nodded wearily, the turned to get back to work.
"One last thing." Kor-Ben called out after him. "Where was this freighter docked?"
"Right where you are."
~*~*~
Outside the port, Kor-Ben opened his communicator, and a holographic figure of the Jedi Council's second in command appeared. Kor-Ben gave his report.
"My Padawan's wormhole led to a spaceport on the other side of the planet. I believe she is on her way to Corellia."
"You think she plans on continuing her fight against the Sith on her own?
"That is one thing she said in her outburst before she left."
"Very well. I will alert our contingent on Corellia to keep an eye out for her. Do you know what kind of ship she is on?"
"A Corellian freighter called The Centennial Eagle."
~*~*~
And they're off!
No reviews AGAIN!!! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to abandon my other story and re-post it as a new story. Anyway, I'm now caught up to where I was with Island, so I hope I'll have more people reading next time.
Next chapter: Corellia
