An Enemy Within
A Story by LCM Mitth'raw'eana
Chapter Four
Thelea is standing next to her Modified Z-95 Head Hunter in one of the hangars of the Imperial Palace. Her wing mate Wellen Carlan is on his way to meet her.
She is beginning to become irritated, for she hates to wait. Arkanians are usually patient, but she's not a typical Arkanian. Not even close...
Finally her friend arrives. For her surprize, he's wearing his flight suit.
"You're not coming with me, are you?" she asks.
"I am coming with you, and there's no way you can prevent me..." he laughs.
She smiles. "Guess not... Well, company is always welcome."
After seven hours in hyperspace they arrive close to the Lost Planet of the Jedi. Thelea studies her HUD to figure out can they walk and breath there without spacesuits.
It's safe and she lands her fighter near the canyon she believes to lead them to the Valley of the Jedi itself.
Wellen lands his A-wing next to Thelea's Z-95. He approaches her fighter as soon as he gets out from his cockpit. He sees Thelea snapping her lightsaber to its place on her belt. "You think blasters wouldn't work here?"
She turns around and he sees her blaster with her in its holster. "They'll work. Otherwise I would leave my blaster in here. Besides, according to what I have red, the Valley is well guarded. And those guards may not be willing to let us in..."
Wellen looks around the canyon they're in. "Where now?"
Thelea closes her eyes and uses her Jedi Abilities. She's not a Jedi Knight, not yet, but she's strong enough to survive in here. Suddenly she opens her eyes and nods towards the wider path from the two leading away from the small platform they landed on.
She begins to walk down that path. He follows her without hesitation. She tells him that this path is longer but much safer.
They walk along the path for a long time before encountering any trouble. Unfortunately, when they meet some opposition, it's not just 'little' trouble...
Suddenly Thelea stops, making Wellen stop too. "What's wrong?"
She looks around them. "I don't know..." Suddenly she throws herself to ground. This is quite impressive, when remembering the fact that she was standing on a small edge above a 'river' full of (possibly) hostile creatures.
What happens next shows Wellen why she did it.
An energy blast hits to the canyon wall on the place her head was just a while ago.
"Wow! You sensed it coming?" Wellen asks her while rushing to his friend.
Thelea gets to her feet. "Yes, I did. And before you ask, I'm all right."
Wellen looks at the black mark left by the blast on the rock. "It wasn't a rifle. It was something bigger. Anti-Artillery Cannon?" He looks at her. She looks frightened. "What's wrong?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing's wrong. I just... Well, it doesn't matter. Not anymore. Come on, we'd better hurry."
They encounter several traps, but manage to avoid them all. But then they arrive to a small platform.
They look around on the platform. All they see is rocky walls and the path they used. Even the 'river' is gone.
When they reach the middle point of the platform, it slides open under their feet, and before they have any time to think about what just happened, they land in to a pool of water.
They swim to the pool's side and get up. Wellen grumbles. "Why they had to put water everywhere? They could've shown us a safe -and dry- way down here. But no, they had to put us to the wet way down..."
Thelea grins. "Oh, come on, we're not that wet..." Then she looks at their clothes. "Okay, we are that wet." She notices a door-way. "Let's go. We've got a job to do."
On the other side of the door-way they find a dark room. Thelea activates her lightsaber to give them some light. With the blade's purple light she manages to find them the route to the Center of the Valley.
In the Center of the Valley there are statues carved in stone. Thelea walks from statue to statue. "Wellen, these are the Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters who have died long time ago."
Wellen follows her and recognizes some of the Jedi. "Cay Qel-Droma, his brother Ulic, Twi'lek Tott Doneeta, Master Thon..." Then he stops in front of statue of a tall and quite good-looking man with long hair and scars from a Cathar's claws on his other cheek. "This is Exar Kun! He was a Dark Lord of the Sith..."
Thelea turns to him. "Guardian of the Valley made that. Maybe he had his reasons."
She walks to a statue of a robed man. He has got long hair - and four-fingered, clawed hands. Wellen looks at his friend, then the statue. There's no doubt of it. The man carved in stone is definitely Arkanian.
She seems to sense his thoughts. "This is my ancestor, Jedi Master Arca Jeth of Arkania..." Her voice is quiet and Wellen notices a tone of respect.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" A demanding voice says behind them.
Both turn around quickly to face a tall man who happens to be an Arkanian.
"I'm Thelea from the House of Jeth and this is Corellian Wellen Carlan. I'm a descendant of Master Arca. We're here to find the Arkanian Holocron."
He smiles faintly. "Arkanian Holocron? It's just a myth. A legend. Nothing more."
"No it's not. It can't be. I need it. I have to find out what happened to my parents!"
He looks at her for a while. She senses him trying to read her mind. Then he nods. "It seems that you're worth it." He pulls out a blue cube from a pocket inside his robe. The cube is the Arkanian Holocron.
He gives it to her. "Remember, it belongs here. So return it to me after using it."
She nods and takes the Holocron. Suddenly she notices that she's not in the Valley anymore. This place looks like a some kind of temple. To tell the truth, it is a temple.
There are people from several different species praying, standing, walking, reading, or doing something what you usually do in a temple.
Suddenly she notices an Arkanian couple. There's a baby on the woman's arms. Both adults look frightened.
She hears them talking.
"What if they find us?" the woman says.
"Hopefully they don't..." the man tries to comfort her.
"What about our little daughter? We can't let them get her!"
"You know we have no alternative. We may not be in safe here, but she will be."
Then Thelea sees a man approaching the couple. He's a tall human with long, black hair and black eyes. Se recognizes him. Then she realizes that the Arkanians are her parents. And she is lying in her mother's arms.
Her parents hand over their daughter, her, to the man. He takes her, and speaks to her parents with low voice. He can't hear his words, but she understand his point. Then he leaves the temple and Thelea decides to follow her parents to find out what happened to them.
She follows them out from the temple to the city she's very familiar with. Coruscant.
Suddenly she sees some people surrounding them. She can only watch. She tries to get their attention, but with no luck. She understands that to them she doesn't exist...
She sees how a hooded man rushes to her parents' assist, and how he leads them somewhere. She follows them to a small hangar with a craft she recognizes. It belongs to a Jedi.
The ship is an Arkanian courier craft, and she can read the text on its side. It says "SunGem". She frowns. Arca Jeth had a ship named SunGem - four millennia ago...
She tries to get into the ship, but she hesitated for too long. It just left the hangar.
She rushes back to the temple and shouts out loud her frustration. It was so close!
Suddenly she finds herself being in another place again. She's back in the Valley of the Jedi.
"Thelea, you're okay?" Wellen's voice.
"I'm okay." Then she looks at the Guardian and returns the Arkanian Holocron to him. "Some of my questions were answered, but not all."
He takes the Holocron. "Your parents are alive and in safe. Don't look for them before you have arranged your own thoughts."
She nods. "I know."
Wellen looks at her. "We should go back to Coruscant."
Hours later they're back in Coruscant. Thelea is sitting on the Palace's rooftop. She looks around the Imperial City and remembers what happened in the Valley. "Mom, dad, I'll find you, but not yet." She remembers the Guardian's words. "He meant that I should decide where my loyalties lie. I don't know. I'm an Imperial. But then I met Wellen. I've been taught that rebels are barbarian. But they're not. They might not have the similar military discipline we do, but they are less competitive. I don't know what to do... I just don't! Maybe... Yinchor. I have to visit Yinchor... Yes, after that, I'll know."
To be continued
A Story by LCM Mitth'raw'eana
Chapter Four
Thelea is standing next to her Modified Z-95 Head Hunter in one of the hangars of the Imperial Palace. Her wing mate Wellen Carlan is on his way to meet her.
She is beginning to become irritated, for she hates to wait. Arkanians are usually patient, but she's not a typical Arkanian. Not even close...
Finally her friend arrives. For her surprize, he's wearing his flight suit.
"You're not coming with me, are you?" she asks.
"I am coming with you, and there's no way you can prevent me..." he laughs.
She smiles. "Guess not... Well, company is always welcome."
After seven hours in hyperspace they arrive close to the Lost Planet of the Jedi. Thelea studies her HUD to figure out can they walk and breath there without spacesuits.
It's safe and she lands her fighter near the canyon she believes to lead them to the Valley of the Jedi itself.
Wellen lands his A-wing next to Thelea's Z-95. He approaches her fighter as soon as he gets out from his cockpit. He sees Thelea snapping her lightsaber to its place on her belt. "You think blasters wouldn't work here?"
She turns around and he sees her blaster with her in its holster. "They'll work. Otherwise I would leave my blaster in here. Besides, according to what I have red, the Valley is well guarded. And those guards may not be willing to let us in..."
Wellen looks around the canyon they're in. "Where now?"
Thelea closes her eyes and uses her Jedi Abilities. She's not a Jedi Knight, not yet, but she's strong enough to survive in here. Suddenly she opens her eyes and nods towards the wider path from the two leading away from the small platform they landed on.
She begins to walk down that path. He follows her without hesitation. She tells him that this path is longer but much safer.
They walk along the path for a long time before encountering any trouble. Unfortunately, when they meet some opposition, it's not just 'little' trouble...
Suddenly Thelea stops, making Wellen stop too. "What's wrong?"
She looks around them. "I don't know..." Suddenly she throws herself to ground. This is quite impressive, when remembering the fact that she was standing on a small edge above a 'river' full of (possibly) hostile creatures.
What happens next shows Wellen why she did it.
An energy blast hits to the canyon wall on the place her head was just a while ago.
"Wow! You sensed it coming?" Wellen asks her while rushing to his friend.
Thelea gets to her feet. "Yes, I did. And before you ask, I'm all right."
Wellen looks at the black mark left by the blast on the rock. "It wasn't a rifle. It was something bigger. Anti-Artillery Cannon?" He looks at her. She looks frightened. "What's wrong?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing's wrong. I just... Well, it doesn't matter. Not anymore. Come on, we'd better hurry."
They encounter several traps, but manage to avoid them all. But then they arrive to a small platform.
They look around on the platform. All they see is rocky walls and the path they used. Even the 'river' is gone.
When they reach the middle point of the platform, it slides open under their feet, and before they have any time to think about what just happened, they land in to a pool of water.
They swim to the pool's side and get up. Wellen grumbles. "Why they had to put water everywhere? They could've shown us a safe -and dry- way down here. But no, they had to put us to the wet way down..."
Thelea grins. "Oh, come on, we're not that wet..." Then she looks at their clothes. "Okay, we are that wet." She notices a door-way. "Let's go. We've got a job to do."
On the other side of the door-way they find a dark room. Thelea activates her lightsaber to give them some light. With the blade's purple light she manages to find them the route to the Center of the Valley.
In the Center of the Valley there are statues carved in stone. Thelea walks from statue to statue. "Wellen, these are the Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters who have died long time ago."
Wellen follows her and recognizes some of the Jedi. "Cay Qel-Droma, his brother Ulic, Twi'lek Tott Doneeta, Master Thon..." Then he stops in front of statue of a tall and quite good-looking man with long hair and scars from a Cathar's claws on his other cheek. "This is Exar Kun! He was a Dark Lord of the Sith..."
Thelea turns to him. "Guardian of the Valley made that. Maybe he had his reasons."
She walks to a statue of a robed man. He has got long hair - and four-fingered, clawed hands. Wellen looks at his friend, then the statue. There's no doubt of it. The man carved in stone is definitely Arkanian.
She seems to sense his thoughts. "This is my ancestor, Jedi Master Arca Jeth of Arkania..." Her voice is quiet and Wellen notices a tone of respect.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" A demanding voice says behind them.
Both turn around quickly to face a tall man who happens to be an Arkanian.
"I'm Thelea from the House of Jeth and this is Corellian Wellen Carlan. I'm a descendant of Master Arca. We're here to find the Arkanian Holocron."
He smiles faintly. "Arkanian Holocron? It's just a myth. A legend. Nothing more."
"No it's not. It can't be. I need it. I have to find out what happened to my parents!"
He looks at her for a while. She senses him trying to read her mind. Then he nods. "It seems that you're worth it." He pulls out a blue cube from a pocket inside his robe. The cube is the Arkanian Holocron.
He gives it to her. "Remember, it belongs here. So return it to me after using it."
She nods and takes the Holocron. Suddenly she notices that she's not in the Valley anymore. This place looks like a some kind of temple. To tell the truth, it is a temple.
There are people from several different species praying, standing, walking, reading, or doing something what you usually do in a temple.
Suddenly she notices an Arkanian couple. There's a baby on the woman's arms. Both adults look frightened.
She hears them talking.
"What if they find us?" the woman says.
"Hopefully they don't..." the man tries to comfort her.
"What about our little daughter? We can't let them get her!"
"You know we have no alternative. We may not be in safe here, but she will be."
Then Thelea sees a man approaching the couple. He's a tall human with long, black hair and black eyes. Se recognizes him. Then she realizes that the Arkanians are her parents. And she is lying in her mother's arms.
Her parents hand over their daughter, her, to the man. He takes her, and speaks to her parents with low voice. He can't hear his words, but she understand his point. Then he leaves the temple and Thelea decides to follow her parents to find out what happened to them.
She follows them out from the temple to the city she's very familiar with. Coruscant.
Suddenly she sees some people surrounding them. She can only watch. She tries to get their attention, but with no luck. She understands that to them she doesn't exist...
She sees how a hooded man rushes to her parents' assist, and how he leads them somewhere. She follows them to a small hangar with a craft she recognizes. It belongs to a Jedi.
The ship is an Arkanian courier craft, and she can read the text on its side. It says "SunGem". She frowns. Arca Jeth had a ship named SunGem - four millennia ago...
She tries to get into the ship, but she hesitated for too long. It just left the hangar.
She rushes back to the temple and shouts out loud her frustration. It was so close!
Suddenly she finds herself being in another place again. She's back in the Valley of the Jedi.
"Thelea, you're okay?" Wellen's voice.
"I'm okay." Then she looks at the Guardian and returns the Arkanian Holocron to him. "Some of my questions were answered, but not all."
He takes the Holocron. "Your parents are alive and in safe. Don't look for them before you have arranged your own thoughts."
She nods. "I know."
Wellen looks at her. "We should go back to Coruscant."
Hours later they're back in Coruscant. Thelea is sitting on the Palace's rooftop. She looks around the Imperial City and remembers what happened in the Valley. "Mom, dad, I'll find you, but not yet." She remembers the Guardian's words. "He meant that I should decide where my loyalties lie. I don't know. I'm an Imperial. But then I met Wellen. I've been taught that rebels are barbarian. But they're not. They might not have the similar military discipline we do, but they are less competitive. I don't know what to do... I just don't! Maybe... Yinchor. I have to visit Yinchor... Yes, after that, I'll know."
To be continued