Star Wars Infinities: The Master
Chapter 16
By: Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by LucasFilm Ltd. They are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original story is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.
Empire. He got out of the pilot's chair and took a glance down at the chronometer; he had several hours before they would come out of hyperspace to make a course adjustment. Ippy would remain on station the entire time.
He really didn't need the droid because he had mated Vong biotechnology with the Millennium Falcon years before and it could fly the course all on its own. It was something useful but also a constant reminder of what had killed his friends and mother. Still, he had often argued to his father, it proved that the weapons that the Vong had employed were not evil, only their masters.
He made his way back to the cargo area and the small medical bed he had put in several years before. Like the ship, it incorporated Vong living technology to supplement the medical devices installed. Kyp had considered putting in a medical droid, but the ship had protested. Kyp actually spoke to the vessel through a mental bond that had nothing to do with the Force. Essentially, the ship was his third partner.
He almost called out for Leia to come and help him; Jedi healing was an important part of the training. Kyp had learned to use it at a very early age, before he could fight. Then he remembered that Leia was back on Bespin, possibly facing down Luke Skywalker. He had to trust that with Corran, Lando and Dash, she could get away. The time was coming that they would have to learn to get along without him, though he wasn't so much worried about Corran. He was a former CorSec officer, after all.
Chewbacca was there, applying a cold compress to the Jango's forehead. Kyp didn't need to tell the Wookie that the man was dying and that there was nothing that could be done. The small creature that Kyp had used to diagnose the exact damage had transmitted its report to the ship, which in turn passed it on to Kyp.
That communication had revealed so much more and Kyp found himself, suddenly, wanting to know more about the man in Mandalorian armor. "Chewbacca, there's some food in the galley, why don't you go eat?" Kyp asked as he approached. The Wookie looked at him with tired blue eyes and slowly nodded. "If anything happens, I'll yell," Kyp said. Chewbacca needed to eat; it was his only limitation Kyp guessed.
He pulled up a stool and sat down next to Jango. The man had appeared to age twenty years in the past hour since they had managed to get away from the Imperial forces. It had been far too easy and it appeared to Kyp that maybe the small fleet they had seen was more interested in Bespin than in them. A few fighters had taken some shots at them, but the majority had headed straight towards a Corporate Sector Victory-class star destroyer.
"I'm thirsty," Jango said from behind parched lips. His color was deathly pale and his bare chest was covered with cold sweat. Kyp reached for a small flask of water and held the bounty hunter's head up so he could drink. Barely a sip passed by Jango's lips before he started coughing.
Kyp tried to use the Force to provide some relief, but despite his weakened physical condition, Jango was still a willful man and he resisted the aid. "Never thought this would be how I'd end up," Jango remarked with a weak smile.
"Then you know?" Kyp asked. Jedi normally knew when they were about to die; it was said the Force called to them at that moment, sang a sweet song that helped them to accept the inevitable.
Jango nodded weakly. "I just hoped I'd get that son of a bitch that killed my son," he said in a raspy voice. Kyp felt the sadness come off of the man; any time he mentioned his son his defenses fell. Kyp understood his feelings; his father got that way whenever they spoke about his mother. "Where are we headed?"
"Korriban," Kyp answered. "I'm hoping that the spirits of the ancient Dark Lords will answer my questions."
Jango laughed and it threw him into a coughing fit. "A Jedi going to ask the Sith for help?"
"The tradition is one master, one apprentice, but now there are at least two of each. That will draw power from the Dark Side," Kyp explained. Jango listened intently, his keen mind working out some sort of last, desperate plan. "If the Dark Side is too weak, then the ancients will be absorbed back into the Force. They won't like that idea at all."
"So, they'll turn on one of their own? How do you know it won't be Ravage they want to get rid of?"
Kyp shrugged. "I'll tell them its either Kunn or nobody." He sat back a little. "I'm glad I ran into you. Your story has filled in many of the holes in my own."
"You said that Kunn has raised a Dark Side army? An army of clones?" Jango asked. He coughed and Kyp grabbed a towel to wipe the blood that had come up. "Thanks, kid; you remind me a little of Boba. You try to hide it, but I can see the spirit in you."
"You loved your son very much," Kyp said.
Jango nodded. "I never had time for a wife, it was easier to just clone myself. That's what I'm trying to tell you. If Kunn has a clone army, then he could have gotten it from Kamino."
Kyp nodded and searched his memory for what he knew of the planet. The original clone army of the Old Republic had come from Kamino, allegedly requested by the Jedi Council. Ferrin Durron had deduced that it had actually been either Palpatine or Count Dooku that had arranged the deal. The clones had been a great army, soldiers of the highest caliber. Now the young Jedi understood why; they had all been clones of Jango Fett.
"The Jedi never had a chance," he whispered.
Jango coughed again. "Damn right they didn't; neither did anyone else. But I should have known better than to get involved with a snake like Palpatine." Kyp offered him some more water, but the old bounty hunter refused. Kyp tried to comfort him again through the Force, but it was no use. Jango was going to hold onto his attitude until it had to be pried from his cold, dead hands.
"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Kyp asked, hoping that the answer to everything was locked within the brain of Jango.
"You know as much as I do. Kunn has been quiet for over five years now, planning his next move. He's been watching the galaxy tear itself apart, waiting for the time to spring his trap."
Kyp furrowed his brow. "Trap?"
"When he comes, it will be like an ocean wave in the darkness," Jango said weakly. Kyp could see him through the Force and knew he was slipping away quickly. "Go to Kamino and speak with Taun We. She was my friend," he said and then a small smile crossed his lips. "Or at least as close as someone gets to being my friend."
"I don't know what to say," Kyp said. He had seen so many people die over the years, had witnessed the final moments of life that it was becoming commonplace. That bothered him more than anything else.
"Take the ship…take it all…so long as you get my revenge for me," Jango said as he closed his eyes. The effort to keep them open was draining him. "Tell Chewie I said thanks for everything; his life debt to me is paid."
Kyp nodded and turned to call for Chewbacca as he had promised when he felt Jango's spirit star to move. Spirit was the best word to describe what it was. Most ancient Jedi texts referred to the basic component of the Force, the bioelectric field that provided animation to the flesh and made it sentient.
His head snapped back and he saw that it was too late; even the biological creatures that had been working to keep the bounty hunter alive slowed their activities and accepted the fact their duty was done. Kyp found himself staring at the body and thinking a thousand thoughts. What had this man's life been like? How many Jedi had he hunted down? Why had he hated Kyp's kind so much?
Chewbacca was next to him and gave a low rumble. Kyp assumed it was his way of saying good-bye. Kyp turned and told the Wookie everything that Jango had said, including the part about the life debt being repaid. Chewbacca was silent for a few moments and then he laid his furry hand upon the brow of the dead bounty hunter.
Kyp waited a few moments, unsure of how to proceed. Technically, Chewbacca was a bounty hunter, one that hung out with a Mandalorian warrior. That sort of made them enemies, but when he looked into the cool blue eyes of the Wookie, he saw no malice. He didn't need the Force to figure out that Chewbacca was in this for the long haul.
"I suppose you have a problem with Malakie as well?"
Chewbacca nodded and rumbled something that Kyp could not understand. He remembered that the Vong had kept small animals that when placed in the ear allowed the wearer to translate other languages, but he didn't have one of those. "Look, I don't speak Wookie and you can't speak Basic…but maybe we can reach an agreement. I'm not out for revenge so much as I want to stop something worse than the New Order from taking over the galaxy. I know enough about your kind that revenge is something you take seriously, and I assume Malakie has hurt you greatly in some way."
Chewbacca nodded and put his arms up over his burly chest. Kyp took it as a good sign. "I need help; my padawan's are now returning to the heart of the Republic, I hope, and I'm all alone. My father believes I'm ready and maybe I am, but I have to admit that I feel a bit more secure with you here. Jedi and Mandalorians are not supposed to be friends and in another time and place, Jango and I would have fought to the death. Regardless, I know he loved his son and that is just one more reason to go after Kunn."
Kyp took a moment to look down at Jango's body, trying to draw strength from his memory. He straightened up, realizing that Wookies respected strength and a kind word as opposed to just a kind word. "I'm asking you to come with me, to stop Kunn and Malakie, and maybe even rescue my sister, Mara."
At the mention of her name, Chewbacca let loose with a long barking dialogue where he tried to explain how he had been her bodyguard at one time and how he was convinced she was under Malakie's influence. Kyp held up a hand to get him to stop. "I don't understand!" he said with a smile. "I've spoken with Talon Karrde about her and I guess you're the same Chewbacca from Yavin 4." Chewbacca nodded and slapped a big paw onto Kyp's shoulder.
"I'll take that as a yes?" he asked, wincing in pain.
Chewbacca nodded one final time and then moved towards the cockpit. Kyp wondered what he was doing when he heard Ippy starting to complain. "Listen here you throwback to the mammalian dark ages, I'm the damn co-pilot! You want a droid to push around, go play with the prissy in your own ship!"
There was the sound of metal tearing and Ippy's right arm came flying out of the cockpit. "So what?" the droid barked back. Five minutes later, Kyp was smiling as he pulled the parts of his droid companion together and put them into a storage locker. Ippy's vocal programming had bitten off more than he could handle this time. He'd put him back together later.
Climbing into the pilot's seat, Kyp watched in amazement as Chewbacca's nimble hands moved over all of the controls, adjusting the sensors and whatnot as the Falcon moved through hyperspace. "Do you want to bury Jango on Korriban?" Kyp asked. He was unsure of what the proper disposal of a Mandalorian was. Chewbacca nodded and pointed to the chronometer.
"How'd you get the speed up so much so fast?" Kyp asked. In response he felt a sort of warmth emanate from the ship. He guessed that it was responding more to Chewbacca's warm touch than to Ippy's sarcasm. "Never mind," Kyp said as he got back up. He had to prepare Jango's body and he knew Chewbacca would keep an eye on things.
Dengar sat back in his chair, preferring to keep himself in the shadows offered by the awning of the café he was currently sipping dark caf from. The drink was strong, but he had worse when he was in the military and he liked this particular café anyway. The women here were pretty but resigned to their life of menial labor and therefore did a good job at providing service.
The café also offered Dengar the opportunity to observe the entrance to the Tarkinist spaceport that currently was being used as a ground base. In the weeks since the Death Star had left orbit (returning Corellia's sky to normal), several hundred ships had been landing. Dengar had seen several flights of TIE fighters, all models and types, but he had also seen some of the old CorSec X-Wings that had been conscripted into guarding the political prison on the other side of the planet.
There was no way he could gain entrance onto the Death Star now. It was gone and he was glad for it. He had accepted the mission, of course, but that was because he never turned down a job. He needed money to eat on and for the drugs that kept him from going insane with pain.
There was a secondary mission, though, and he had been waiting for the chance just to get a look at the mysterious Admiral Rose that was now the military governor of Corellia. His benefactor wanted the leader of Corellia eliminated as long as they were not part of the New Republic and Dengar could guess why. With the Death Star gone, the Republic would most likely make their move. Corellia was the perfect base from which to launch a strike at Imperial Center.
"Control Coruscant," Dengar whispered, referring to the original name of the world that was the capital of the New Order, "and you control the galaxy." It was a statement as old as the Old Republic and it was for the most part true. The New Order had suffered greatly over the past few years, but they were still a force to be reckoned with. Dengar was actually finding himself, in rare moments, thinking about who would come out on top in a two-front war between the Republic and the New Order.
A staff vehicle pulled up and Dengar glanced at his chronometer. His contact had been absolutely correct; Rose showed up every other day at the spaceport, most likely to confer with the ground squadron commanders. By all accounts, Rose was an admirable leader if not a young one. He did not possess the spineless ways of most of Tarkin's cronies, such as Kirten Loor, the head of Corellian Security, or CorSec.
In fact he was sure that Loor was in the vehicle that pulled up and Dengar wondered if there was an extra bonus for taking out the thin Tarkinist officer. Loor could have been Tarkin's older, taller brother so much did they look alike. The door closest to Dengar opened and Loor stepped out, dressed in a black uniform with a bright red protective vest. He thought it provided extra protection. Dengar knew it just made a bigger target.
On the other side of the vehicle, where several stormtroopers in white armor were gathering, Admiral Rose stepped out. He was much younger looking in person than Dengar would have guessed, but he had killed younger. He did wonder how someone with so little age was able to garner so much experience as to be promoted to such high rank. Perhaps he was a closet-Jedi, using mind tricks to influence his career. It didn't really matter to the hunter, his mission was clear.
Now was not the time, however, because even if he killed the young admiral this moment, someone else would take his place. If, however, he were killed in a more public arena, perhaps while giving a speech, it would cause disarray and confusion within the government. Assassinations done in secret only led to a smooth transfer of power; those done in the open cause mayhem.
And it was that sort of uncivilized terror that Dengar guessed his benefactor wanted. He had not expected to ever hear from Xizor ever again, not after he had turned in his Black Sun robes for the uniform of a New Republic general, but he supposed that even generals had problems that even a galaxy of troops could not handle.
Dengar noted the time and reached for his caf, picking up the conversation between two spacers at the next table. One of them was speaking in a hushed whisper while the other nursed a warm brew. "I tell ya, I saw it myself, a fleet of a hundred, maybe two hundred ships, all kinds…out beyond the rim."
The other pirate waved the story away and took a swig of his drink. "Bah! Old wive's tales! How'd you get out there from here?"
"I was running spice for Tarkin," the other man said. It was a secret, but not unknown to Dengar, that Tarkin had supplemented his government's income with illegal spice smuggling. Smugglers were the only people who could, outside the military, travel freely out of the sector. "It was near a planet not even marked on the charts and I ain't talkin' 'bout no Cloner's world. I 'twas another one. All those ships were in orbit…, dreadnoughts, Old Republic battle wagons, even a star destroyer or two."
"You've been smoking your own supply…"
The other man grabbed his companion's wrist. "I saw it I tell ya…all of the ships painted black as night, the sun reflecting their darkness like something…evil. I felt evil out there."
"Right," the man said, pulling his wrist away. "A black fleet just hovering around an unknown planet outside the galaxy, radiating evil." The man started to laugh and then he passed wind before getting up to relieve himself. Dengar cast an eye at the man left sitting and saw what he knew to be fear in the man's eyes.
The man kept mumbling to himself and Dengar reached up under his head wrappings and carefully adjusted the pickup on his hearing aid. The man just kept shaking his head and saying over and over the same thing.
"A dark force is rising…. a dark force is rising…"