Post 5
Ryloth: Diversity Alliance Headquarters
He was not one of them.
They were stupid.
Lugging around their weapons wrapped in layers of swarthy immeasurable fat. Drooling without manners, following as was their nature. They accepted him without questions--after all he was just like them.
He was not one of them.
Their internal politics made no sense whatsoever. Posturing as guards, beating up prisoners without conscience. Always worried about who had to do more work, as if it was keeping them from doing something more important. He would call them sentient--but barely so.
He was not one of them. But yet he pretended to be so…
To others he was a guard for Nolaa Tarkona's Diversity Alliance--but he was something else entirely.
If asked, he was a being that was an aberration to nature; a genetic freak who had been accepted by those most likely to shun him. An experiment that failed--correction, an IMPERIAL experiment that failed, it often made him laugh to know that he was spending his life pretending to be the very being the Empire had wanted him not to be.
He was not one of them.
But yet, there were moments when he felt alone, where he yearned to not be who he was--to belong.
And then he remembered. He did belong--he was, after all, a Wraith.
~~~~~~~~~
Like all the other times, he marched with his fellow Gamorrean with the prisoner between them. They had done this so many times, taking a human prisoner to his death as the Shistavan, Havorak's meal, or for something equally as painful. Unlike his partner, he was curious--this man was no ordinary human. A royal guard, in full crimson, blood red regalia, along with the characteristic clipped crisp Imperial march. Except, this time, it seemed to falter.
This was where the similarities ended. For once, Havorak was waiting outside one of the side entrance of the Diversity Alliance grotto. He ordered them to wait for the signal and then disappeared inside, leaving the gateway open for the Gamorreans to come in when called--with the prisoner.
Piggy smiled, knowing that once again, the stereotypical viewpoint of the galaxy towards his species was working to his advantage. His ears, long since attuned to Nolaa Tarkona's speech pattern, leaned in to listen, while pretending to examine the blade of his scythe.
"…destructive power than the Death Star--than even the Sun Crusher. Selective destruction. You see the Emperor did more than create weapons of mass destruction. He had an entire cadre of his finest scientists--humans, but talented nonetheless--working on more insidious schemes. The great biological engineer Evir Derricote created numerous diseases that spread like wildfire through some species, particular species. Recall how non-human people suffered during the unleashing of the Krytos plague on Coruscant during the Rebel takeover. I have learned that Derricote also developed and organism more deadly than Krytos, perhaps even as bad as the Death Seed plague. A virus so horrible that Emperor Palpatine himself feared to use it. This contains a sample of that plague."
Piggy grunted to himself, I have a bad feeling about this. He jumped nervously as he heard Havorak's growl, and dragged his human prisoner into the grotto. He scanned the scene before him taking note that Havorak and Tarkona were not the only two individuals in the arena. With them were a large Trandoshan that he recognized as being a particular brutal being named Corrsk, and a Devaronian and a Quarren that he had never seen before.
The Quarren growled "An Imperial guard! I thought they had all been destroyed."
Nolaa Tarkona replied graciously, "This one had schemes of his own, he and several partners concocted a fake Emperor in hopes they could rule a Second Imperium in his name, like a gang of thugs--but their plans fell apart when the new Jedi Knights defeated the Shadow Academy. He was the only one to escape." The next words that were spoken were drowned out as the captive began to struggle, as he had suddenly realized that his life was in danger. Piggy was forced to shift his attention to maintain the guise of stupidity. When he focused again to the conversation, he had to run a mathematical equation through his head so as to calm his nerves
"…What about the plague? When will we see the demonstration you promised?" It was the Quarren again.
Tarkona appeared to be thinking, wrinkling her brow--"Though the Emperor had no intention of ever unleashing it, he could not bring himself to destroy such an efficient, useful tool. So he ordered it stored in a hidden weapons depot on a small asteroid station. Then he erased the depot's coordinates from Imperial archives, so that no one knew where the stockpile of his terrible virus lay hidden…" Nolaa went on to describe how she had asked the Red Guard for the location, but had been refused.
She held up a tiny crystalline vial in front of the Read Guard's eye slit. "Tell me where the rest is stored. This is your final chance."
Piggy yelled at the guard within his head, Do not tell her, Do not tell her. For once do something good with your life! As if he had heard him the guard shook his head defiantly, and Piggy watched with self-contained horror, all masked with the unconcerned features of a species devoid of emotion, as the Diversity Alliance leader dropped the vial to the floor and crushed it with her booted foot, thus exposing the viral solution to the open air. It took all of Piggy's will power to act stupid while the other three aliens ran for their lives; he knew if he was not the ignorant idiot that Tarkona and Havorak expected him to be, his first instinct would have been to run. Luckily the intelligence long implanted in his brain by the Empire had taught him deductive reasoning, helping him to realize that if Tarkona was not running, there was nothing to fear. The numbers of survival flew through his head, calculating the time it would take for the molecules to reach his air supply.
He grew sick with pity as the Guard heaved, and seized, struggling to fight against the disease that now ravaged his body. He watched, all the while running equations through his head, as the human tried to remove his helmet, but to no avail--the guard died and grew still a few moments later. Piggy listened mutely as Tarkona spoke with an impressed tone at the success of the virus, and how the Emperor had realized quickly the peril of using this on even the Rebels that would be his victims. She gestured for the Gamorreans to take the body away.
Knowing he wanted to hear more, Piggy accidentally kicked the helmet of the Guard loose and took a while to pick it up, grunting to the other guard to continue disposal of the body as he retrieved the helmet from under the arena seating area. He listened as Tarkona narrated the tale of Fonterrat, a smuggler who accidentally stumbled across the depot, and then demanded that an emissary complete the deal between the Diversity Alliance and himself.
"…it amused me to choose a human emissary to do my dirty work. Such delicious irony. I chose Bornan Thul, an arrogant merchant, who seemed to think he owned the galaxy. Thul met with Fonterrat and the ancient world of Kuar. They presumably made the exchange and went their separate ways--but Bornan Thul never delivered the navicomputer to me. He must have figured out what he had been given…"
Piggy decided the information he had heard was enough, and quietly exited the arena with the helmet. He grunted, now he had a new problem, one that was going to be harder then expected. He had to somehow send this information to base command, quickly without getting caught. Protocol had been established, but security here was tight, all messages monitored. The answer was always in the numbers, if there was a way to accomplish this task, he would do it.
~~~~
Hawk-bat Station
"AAAAArGH! That hurt!"
"Stop yelling, Janson, you're such a baby!"
"I'll have you know Shalla--I'm nearly really close to being twice your age!"
"Oh!, Really-well that explains why you move like a feeble old man!"
"Shh, you two-pipe down, you're going to get us caught!"
"No we won't get caught Dia, I purposely wore my--shhh!--" the fourth voice stopped, then released an audible sigh. "Never mind, just the air filter system. What was I saying, don't worry I have the luck end covered."
Mara slid quietly out of her doorway, which luckily faced away from the group of conspirators at the end of the hall. She nonchalantly made her way up toward them, taking care not to draw their attention from the spectacle they were creating. Wes Janson was sitting in front of a door, directly across from Myn Donos' new quarters surrounded by lock picking tools. Shalla was standing awkwardly in the middle of the hall holding a giant rubber band. Her dimpled features looked fairly frustrated with the situation. Standing just off to the side, keeping 'watch', were Elassar and Dia whose skeptical frowns watched Jansons progress.
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Shalla, that kind of negative attitude just won't do." Wes snorted, "And you call yourself a Wraith."
"Well at least I can pick a lock."
"Shavit." Janson made a rude gesture and refocused on the striped mechanism before him.
"Come-on let me do it."
"I told you, I've got it--now had me a hydrospanner."
"For what---its not going to.."
"To kill you with! There, I've nearly got it….well, the hydrospanner--hello? " Wes realized suddenly that Dia's questioning voice had ended mid-phrase, and that all three of his companions had grown suddenly still.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
He knew that voice, and gulped. Slowly turning he found himself looking up at some volatile emerald eyes. "Mara--I was testing out one of Kell's latest innovations. The umm..human…catapult."
Elassar piped up, "Yea, catapult, but now that you have caught us testing it, you will be required to take part--that or kill me, I've been trying to get my other squad mates to do that ever since I insulted your brother in law a few years ago."
Shalla reached over and smacked him, "Yea, I took insult to that too--you're the one who said I had General Solo running scared. I ought to have killed you then--but I didn't want to know why?"
"Why?"
"Because, it would have been a waste of my abilities."
"Ha! You have never truly fought Elassar Targon, Master of the Universe."
"Yes I did--last week, in training and I beat you, remember?"
Mara turned and looked at them as if to say something, but changing her mind she turned back to Janson muttering "I'm going to get him for this" before turning back to Wes. "No I meant what are you doing with the lock."
"I'm fixing it?"
She shook her head in disappointment, " Move Lieutenant, Shalla, hand me the hydrospanner and the twelve gauge please."
Thirty seconds later the door-clicked open.
Shalla grinned, her dimples accentuating her face, "Excellent."
Mara put on her best, Jedi Master look and faced the four individuals--"Ok, I helped, now tell me what's going on."
Janson threw up his hands. "You explain"
Dia draped her Leku's over her shoulders, signifying relaxation. "Well, the guys in Rogue Squadron think Myn has a friend he's been seeing."
"But he won't tell us anything."
"In fact-they think he may be moving to Correlia to make it…permanent."
"But he won't tell us anything."
Dia gave Janson a murderous look. "Yes, that's quite clear. Anyway, So as some of his old squadron mates, we thought we'd make sure this girl was not made up."
"By breaking into his room"--Mara finished.
"Because he won't tell us anything."
"WES!"
"What!" He put on his most affected expression. "All I want is a picture. We know that she's an independent shipper from Correlia that he met on his last visit home. "
"All right, well-I think I might want to warn you that next time you may want to check room assignments."
Elassar raised his hand--"That was Wes' job, We three scrounged for tools."
"You mean took them from Tainer." Mara smiled lightly.
"Yup."
"Right, well--you just wasted forty minutes of your time--Donos doesn't live there."
"Yes he does--"
"No, he does not," Mara interrupted with a touch of amusement, gesturing to the door behind them. "He moved, he lives over there now."
Shalla groaned, "great Wes, I think you're losing your edge on the pranks--bad intel, and you can't pick a lock, geez!"
Elassar shoved past them, "well, if Donos is over there, then whose room did we just break into?" He paused, turned around again and pointed to Wes, "Um, I think it's for you."
"Huh--" Janson opened the door and slumped against the wall holding his head in his hands. "NOOOOOOOOO!" The inside of the room had been emptied of all furniture, except for one small box, upon which was a well-worn stuffed Ewok with a familiar cape at his feat.
Mara leaned over and patted Janson on the head. "Did I mention I have a message from the General--"
"Let me guess--Yub Yub Lieutenant."
~~~~~~~~~~
Dia Passik was still laughing two hours later when she made her way to the pilot lounge to do some prep work for the next part of the mission. Slamming the door on the way in she made her way toward the corner lockers while simultaneously talking to Shalla on the comm.
"So Mara Jade was definitely sent by Antilles to kick Wes' rear."
"It is a nice rear." Shalla's voice was tinged with humor. "Although, I know you prefer a certain holostar's rear to any others."
"Shush, Shalla--you know as well as I do that we're through. Its probably for the best…as for you and Wes..don't kid yourself--you just enjoy distributing that video of him--besides I get the feeling that Inyri Forge has made him a more mature person, as much as he tries hide it."
"I could never lie to you…the man of my dreams is out there somewhere."
"So dramatic, anyway. I have got to go, see you in the mess later? Shavit!" Dia took a half step back in an effort to prevent walking into Myn Donos, who was holding a open sniper case filled with some loose paper. In her effort to stop herself one of her leku's swooshed by, blowing some of the items in the interior of the case to the floor. "Where in all sithly hells did you come from!"
"I've been here for a while…cleaning the locker and the ship of some paperwork I let sit." Myn casually glanced at the floor to see what fell out, bending down to gather it all together.
"Here, let me help." Dia dropped the commlink to the floor and leaned down to help Myn gather some of the papers--then grinned as the commlink gave a unhealthy squack.
"Whoops. Shalla-you still there? "
"Yea--what happened? "
"I walked into Myn, created a mess." With her free hand, Dia picked up a loose photo sized paper that had slid under a bench. She flipped the photograph over and for just a second her breath caught in her throat. "Lara."
Her blue eyes raised and met Myn's slightly pained and anguished features. Beat. He opened his mouth and instead of an explanation all that came out was a string of Old Corellian that Dia knew were definitely curses.
"Dia? Did you just say Lara? What's going on?" Shalla sounded worried.
"Shalla, Let me get back to you." Without waiting for an answer, Dia shut off her comm, and pulled Myn towards the bench. "Sit down Myn."
He sat down, muttering under his breath. "She's going to kill me."
Ignoring him for a moment, Dia studied the image in front of her. It was Lara Notsil all right--except her eyes were a different color, and her hair was red--and long. Red and long. She was smiling, more relaxed…and was that a…Dia looked up with more questions than she had had five seconds earlier.
Her mouth opened, then closed. Then silently examined his expectant face for a few moments. He looks as if he was just handed his death sentence. So Dia made a decision.
"Myn. I'm not going to say I don't have questions. But I'm not going to ask them, and you don't have to give me answers. But if you need help, promise me you'll talk to someone ok? " Dia handed him the pictures, and walked over to her locker, quickly yanking out her datapad.
As she turned to walk away, she lay a comforting hand on his shoulder and then turned to leave.
His voice was low. "You won't tell anyone?"
"I can't promise that, there may come a time when I have no choice. But I can promise you I won't betray her. She was a Wraith for a little while, she wasn't my enemy."
She met his eyes briefly, and walked away.
The Solo Apartment: Coruscant
Threepio tottered into the Solo's living quarters wailing in anguish--
"Captain Solo! Captain Solo!"
"What is it now Goldenrod?" Han's disembodied voice answered and after a moment with no response he emerged from the kitchen to find a very stiff droid staring at the balcony. For a mere second Han thought that something had malfunctioned--that the droid who had been around for a long time had finally shut down. A look of worry passed over his face, but quickly turned into the famous Solo grin. If only we could be that lucky.
Threepio must have modulated his voice for dramatic effect, because his next words were very hard to hear. "Oh dear…"
Han's grin faded, and was followed by a string of Corellian curses. "Why! Why me? Why today!"
In the last ten minutes the Coruscant cityscape had turned from a pleasant 'dusk' to a violent eggplant black rolling over the portion of the Imperial palace and its nearby residences. Every five seconds a bolt of lightening shot from the clouds to hit one of the hundreds of lightening rods that were on every building on the city planet.
The golden droid brought his voice back to normal volume and admonished "I'm sure Master Han, that the odds of that thundercloud forming to spite you is--"
Han stuck his finger in the droids face and growled--"NEVER tell me the odds. Now help me move dinner inside before Leia gets home."
~~
Leia arrived at the door just as the first bolts of lightening lit up the sky above their apartment building. After a hard day of endless messages and bureaucratic meetings all she wanted to do was collapse on the couch with Han beside her.
The door slid open and she nodded to her Noghri bodyguards. "Thank you--" She stopped mid sentence as the most amazing aromas wafted from the kitchen. Her lips slowly turned itself up to a smile. "Han Solo--you scoundrel!"
"Happy Anniversary, Princess."
"But it's not our Anniversary."
"Yes it is--the anniversary of some moment in time where I realized just how much I love you."
"Nerfherder…" it was spoken softly without the infuriated tension that the name had been bestowed with on Hoth, but with all the undercurrents of a life filled with the riches and warmth of love.
Dinner went well with an unspoken agreement to stay away from politics and Leia's job. Eventually, as their conversations often would, talk turned to their children.
"They're growing Han…"
"I know Princess--last time I was visiting Yavin, Jaina spent more time in the Falcon that with me."
Leia laughed lightly. "Sounds like someone I know, " she grew thoughtful--"and Jacen--I know a certain red-head has caught his eye…"
"Us Solo men have a thing for royalty."
"And strong women," his wife mused--"then there's our Anakin, and….Tahiri Veilla."
Her husband reached for her hand, "those two fight nearly as much as we did--I don't think I've heard them refer to each other by name--no, no, its either stupid…"
"…or dummy, but there's time yet, for all of them." Leia rose to clean off the table, but was stopped by Threepio.
"Mistress Leia, allow me--"
Han nodded his thanks and ushered his wife to the living room. Tired as she was she stretched out on the couch with her head pillowed in his lap. He ran his fingers through her long hair. Force how I love her hair.
"Han"
"Hmm-mm"
"What would you say if I told you I wasn't going to run for election in two years."
He grunted in surprise.
"I'm tired; the New Republic is strong, it doesn't need me, just someone who is capable--"
"They did all right last year with Puffers."
"Han"
"What, Chewie is not here. "
A roll of thunder halted their conversation for a moment--
"You know they're not going to just let you leave--"
"I know, I'll probably still be a high councilor, but maybe I can be just Leia for a while, no labels no expectations."
"Sweetheart, you know there'll always be expectations, " he paused. " When do you expect to make the announcement."
"Next year at the latest, a month at the earliest. I want to talk to Luke and Mara first."
Conversation lapsed into silence as a bolt of lightening flashed in front of them and just for a moment the brilliancy reflected off the orange glow of the city, illuminating Leia's face. A breathtaking, composed figure whose forehead scrunched, all to often together with her tense thoughts.
Han tensed, for a mere second he saw her as he had thirty-five years earlier, in the underworld of Cloud City. He remembered the icy horror, the pinch of pain as the cuffs were adjusted and the look on her face as she whispered, 'I love you,' for the first time. "What would I do without you? Your Highnesness, I love you."
Nearly asleep, but hearing his whisper, and sensing his thoughts she replied, "I know, love, I know."
~~~~
Political change occurs in two ways. Gradually, over a period of long years of negotiation, lobbying, and jockeying for high positions or immediate, in one swift hammer stroke rearranging the climate and ideals upon which society works. Foundations are weak that way--a hammer stroke can make you realize what is important, because through the ensuing character you meet the real individual. Stripping away the layers of makeup, and disguise, one comes face to face with the real enemy.
Its always those you trusted the most.
Valdet
Citizen Representative Koi Esperenza hesitated at the door before entering the cavernous room before her. During the month since the arrival of the mysterious letter, she had watched her fellow Representatives carefully, trying to sense who the writer is, but to no avail. Now as she ducked through one of the many half-size doors in this ancient chamber, she could not help but gasp as she recognized many of the people in the room, all one of her suspects at one time or the other. It pleased her to know that they were wearing the same contained confused look on their faces. Taking a seat high and to the right of the podium that stood in the center of the room, she observed that it faced the center of the room, although the loyalist senators, all of whom were from Danshitie, only occupied the rightmost tiers.
She watched as a figure in flowing black robes, standing upright walked to the center of the room and addressed his captive audience.
Iker Rafagr, smiled beneath the hood, and chuckled quietly. These infidels did not know the true nature of his task, that they would become his first test subjects, that would begin the breaking of this galaxy. Today was the day he could reveal himself, still as Iker Rafagr, but closer to his true form and begin the destruction that he had been sent to sow. He stood at the podium and began one of many similar speeches that he would present on planets just like this one.
"Citizen Representatives, " he gestured to those in front of him. "Welcome to the breaking point. We, as true believers in the separation of Danshitie and Valdet are here today to complete our goal so that we can live in mutual accord as we had before the wretched revolution. First we must work to stop the involvement of the New Republic, and then disband the monarchy, removing the oppression of the old families and become a true democracy."
Koi glanced around with a frown on her face, listening to the speaker. Odd mannerisms, he keeps glancing to his left as if there are people sitting there.
" There is only one way to accomplish this, and it is through mutual cooperation with friends who want the same things we do, friends we may consider enemies. If you vow right now to keep focused on our mutual needs, we will succeed!" A low rumbling rolled through the crowd, as the representatives nodded in agreement.
"Then listen as together, as I outline our plan." Iker touched the disruption field, wincing underneath his hood for touching yet another abomination. As he continued to speak he clasped his hands together in calm amusement at the growing electricity in the room.
To those on the right side of the chamber, the left side, which had appeared to be empty, suddenly dissolved to show an even bodied group of individuals. Despite the distance CR Esperenza recognized Sian Arran of Valdet. Her smile twisted up in anger then slowly to manic glee as their mysterious leader outlined his plan.
"I know that this can be accomplished, but in order to maintain security, I cannot reveal myself to you, but all shall be revealed in due course. Trust in our common needs, and our common goals, and await the first step."
A shuffle in front of him caught his eye, a young aide near the front was trying to slip away, unnoticed. With lightening reflexes Rafagr sent the dagger in a lazy arc hitting the human between the shoulder blades, splattering his crimson blood on the walls to the entry. The crowd gasped, and he slammed his hands on the podium in anger. "Secrecy is vital. I told everyone to come alone, without aids--whoever brought theirs has just caused a death. The next infraction will be met with harsher judgement. Swear on the blood of that aide, that you can keep secrets. "
"We Swear"
"Q'al Dina"
"Danshitie' sira me!"
"Adio de Valdet!"
Iker walked toward the body, removed his dagger and mixed his blood in with what was left on the blade. "I shall not rest until Valdet and Danshitie are as they should be." Hesitating slightly, as if a decision had been made, he reached up and lowered his hood.
The next morning, the committee on agriculture slipped an amendment into the South Danshitie agricultural appropriation bill, a companion to the bill that saved the monarch's valued Nature Preserve. A rider, it assured that the New Republic would never set foot on Valdet or Danshitie.
End Post 5
Credit: In the sections concerning Piggy, where Nolaa is talking about the plague is a Point of View change from YJK. What I have done here is inserted Piggy as one of the Gammorean guards b/c KJA and RM often made the point in the books to describe them as stupid…so I thought, What IF it was actually Piggy, who would be the perfect undercover agent for spying on the DA for the NRI...So the dialogue is from the YJK (including the italicized dialouge..i kept their formatting)
Consequently, his thoughts during this thing are all mind (incidentally, the kicking of the helmet was narrated in Delusions of Grandeur, I just used it to my advantage so that Piggy could hear more..)
Everything else was me :)