Hello to all you people out there! First off I would like to thank all the people who edited, found errors, and reviewed my story so far. Secondly I want to apologize for taking so long to post. But enough babble here is the third installment of the Tales from the Titan's Hammer.
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"Sir, we are entering the Sidus system now Sir," the Mandalorian navigator commented, watching his computer council carefully. "We should reach our destination in twenty-four hours."
"Excellent Captain, alert the other gunboats and cruisers and tell them to ready their troops for an atmospheric drop. Contact me when we are thirty minutes from our destination," The Mandalorian leader ordered, walking smartly off the command deck.
Inside his quarters the Mandalorian removed his helmet that covered his entire face. He gazed at it for a moment with a slight frown. This helmet was the sign that was known throughout the galaxy that represented the terror of the Mandalorian clans. His helmet matched his battle armor, and the battle armor of the rest of his crew, shimmering the platinum silver color of his clan.
The clan Bellare. His was one of the smaller clans, but no less lethal than the clan of their great leader Mandalore, the one man who united all the clans who were once at war with each other. Now under his rule they were at war with the galaxy it self.
Nothing could stop them. If they did not absorb a world, they destroyed it entirely. Not even the Republic could stop them; even the Jedi would not help the Republic because of their great fear of the clans. Instead, they cowered in their temples and enclaves away from the rest of the galaxy, knowing that without them the Republic stood no chance. Even with the Jedi, the Mandalorians would still destroy the Republic in the end. In fact several of the Jedi had gone against their so-called great Jedi Council and joined the Republic military to fight against Mandalore warriors.
It was his job to search out and kill all of these puny rebellious Jedi that seemed to think they could make some sort of significant difference. This he would do. He, Cardin of the Mandalore Clan Bellare, would destroy anything and anyone who stood in his way.
Cardin looked back up from his helmet to the view port in his quarters. Sighing as he looked at his reflection in the glass, he ran a hand down his rough cheek. He was older now, his face scarred from the many battles he had fought in, and his dark eyes glinted like the stars that he now viewed.
Yes, he would live through this war. He alone would rise through the ranks and become leader. But this would take time; time he didn't have. Running a hand through his dark charcoal hair, he continued to gaze at the stars.
· · ·
The Ranath looked up from his desk in the hotel's main lobby and wrinkled his nose, or at least seemed to, at the smell that now emanated from Corr who was walking up to the desk.
"We'd like a room please," Corr stated, looking rather embarrassed at the state he was in.
"I suppose you would like a shower in your room?" the creature asked with obvious disgust.
"Heh heh, yeah. I guess we need that too," Corr replied, his cheeks reddening.
"Room 100, walk up the stairs on your right," said the creature.
"Thank you," Corr smiled as he hurried up the stairs, dragging Aria behind him.
"Ah finally, a shower!" Corr exclaimed, running into the room and starting to peel off his festering clothes.
"I'm surprised the guy at the reception booth didn't pass out from your stench," Aria laughed as she gazed at Corr who was now taking off his jump suit.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't you go stripping in front of me!"
"Oh, sorry," Corr apologized, blushing a deeper shade of red, "I'm just not used to traveling with others. I guess it was just a habit I've gotten into."
"Well, you'd better get used to traveling with others when we get back to the fleet," Aria declared. She sat on the edge of the bed as Corr headed into the bathroom, and started the water.
"Hey, where has Specs gotten to anyway? I noticed that he.....well...isn't here," Corr said over the noise of the shower.
"Oh he's fine," replied Aria, "I left him with a friend."
"We have friends on this planet now?" Corr asked sarcastically, "first they almost shoot us down, then they almost crush us in an insane mob, and now you're saying they are our friends?"
"Yes, yes friends. Now shut up and have your shower," Aria sighed.
Half an hour later Corr emerged from the washroom with a hotel towel wrapped around his waist. "Now for some clothes...,"he commented, looking around the room. He stopped abruptly at the sight of Aria crying on the bed. Rushing to her side and trying to keep the towel on at the same time, Corr placed a gentle hand on her back. "Aria what's wrong?"
"I...I just can't believe they're all gone!" she sobbed, turning and burying her face in his chest, "one minute we were just going along, minding our own business and then wham! They attack us. They killed everyone. Slaughtered them.....like animals...."
Corr sat down beside her trembling form and stroked her Lekku, the sensitive brain tails that came out of the back of her head. Twi'leks use these to communicate similar to the way humans use their hands wile they talk.
"It's terrible that we lost the whole crew," Corr sighed, "but they will be remembered." He couldn't help but look at her as she calmed down, still in his arms. Twi'leks looked so different than humans, and yet, so very similar. With her blue skin, and no hair growing on her smooth head, her kind was treated horribly throughout the galaxy.
A large majority of them were slaves used as play things for evil crime lords. This ravaged their race, but Corr and his master had saved Aria from a slaver who was about to kill her because she would not obey his commands. The Jedi had then taken her in, even though she was not force sensitive, and they found other jobs for her to do so she could earn her keep.
Through the years that had passed, Corr and Aria had become close friends. Corr had been taken into Jedi training later than most, so he had not made many friends. It was nice that Aria was always there. They always counted on each other for almost everything, but how could he help her now? He was so accustomed to the lost of comrades that he didn't know what to say to her.
Without warning the door was kicked in violently with a loud smash, shattering Corr out of his thoughts. Out of reflex Corr reached to where his lightsaber should have been, but quickly realized that he was still wearing his towel.
Aria sat up looking startled, tears still running down her face, as five Ranath marched into the room wearing what looked like official uniforms and holding blasters.
"Get dressed and come with us, NOW," ordered the one seemed to be the leader.
"Why? We did nothing wrong," Corr stated calmly, inwardly worrying about what trouble there was now.
"You were seen at the riot in the east section of town a few hours ago. We have been ordered to detain you," replied the leader mechanically.
"What? We didn't do anything!" Aria yelled in anger as she jumped off the bed and tried to push past Corr. Seeing her expression, Corr had already put out his arm to block her oncoming attack on the Ranath. She stopped fighting him and stood seething mad, using her hand to wipe away remaining tears from her cheeks.
Corr knew they didn't have a choice, but to go with the Ranath, "We will come with you. I would like to get dressed first though, if that's alright with everyone?" Corr asked half-jokingly as he walked over to the washroom. He paused suddenly, seeing his dirty clothes still on the hotel room floor. "Oh....um, I just realized I don't have any clean clothes to wear."
"Wear what you have or we will take you the way you are," the Ranath warned, taking a step forward and motioning towards the stun cuffs that were attached to his belt.
"Okay, okay I'll do it, I'll do it!" Corr sighed reluctantly, walking into the washroom and shutting the door behind him. Moments later Corr walked out in his combat jumpsuit, without his cloak, looking rather dejected and followed by that horrid stench that he had just rid him self of.
"Good, now come with us. And if you would please give us your lightsaber, we don't want another commotion like the one you started earlier."
Corr reluctantly pulled off his lightsaber from his belt and handed it to the Ranath. "The Aquo-Sidus government appreciates your respect for the law," the Ranath smirked as he pushed them out the door.
· · ·
"Commander, we will be at the drop zone in exactly 30 minutes," said the officer who stood before Cardin, head bowed.
"Good, now go back to your post," Cardin said flatly. The officer stood there for a minute, looking like he wanted to say more. "Why do you stand there sniveling, officer?" Cardin growled, "go back to the bridge!"
"Y-yes sir," The Mandalorian officer quickly spun around and retreated out of the room.
Cardin walked over to a tall storage cabinet that sat neatly in the corner of his quarters. Fiddling with the lock for a minute, the door at last swung open. He reached in and lifted out his jetpack, several different firearms and a large blaster rifle. He started to strap the weapons onto his utility belt when he glanced back into the cabinet, taking notice of a polished box. Walking back over to the cupboard, Cardin lifted the box from its place. Opening it and smiling, he peered inside. There were seven polished cylinders...lightsabers, lying there, gleaming in the low light of the room.
He chuckled softly as he gazed upon his treasures. "Soon I will have another to add to my collection of little trinkets," he laughed. Closing the box he grabbed his rifle and helmet and exited his quarters into the corridor of his cruiser. Heading in the direction of the bridge, he smiled evilly. Today looked promising.
"Sir. Glad to see you here. We are about to come into drop range now," the officer reported as he greeted him at the entrance to the command deck.
"Excellent, captain. I want group one to land at the main docking port. I don't want anyone else to get in there. Group two will land in the industrial area and my group will land in the center of the city. I want your gunboats to give us cover in the atmosphere while we drop. Also, I want the cruisers to blockade the planet. Nothing gets off this rock alive," Cardin continued. "I want everyone to search the whole of the main city. Kill what you must, but I want the Jedi's lightsaber or his head. If he is not found, burn the city to the ground and we will move to the next inhabited island. From our last sensor reading their pod landed on the main island. I hope for your sake commanders that they are still there"
"Yes, Sir," replied all the commanders on the deck.
"Now captain, sound the alarm!" Cardin walked over to the ship-wide com system and began barking orders into it. "All Troops to the drop tubes on the double!"
The battle ships roared to life with turbo-laser batteries coming on line and launch tubes opening up. All the ships soared into position at the edge of the atmosphere.
· · ·
Corr awoke to the sound of feet approaching. The Ranath had put Aria and himself in a dark, dank holding cell, with nothing but a metal cot and some rotting sheets which both of them refused to use. Corr was still in his stinking jumpsuit because the Ranath, again, had offered little hospitality. Corr looked down at the sleeping form of Aria who was propped up on his shoulder, he would have offered her the bed but there was a strange substance that covered the floor and it was too dark to identify what it was. So there they sat and slept, for there was nothing else that could be done. Corr's stomach growled as the door of the cell started to creak open. He realized that they had not eaten since they arrived on this planet two days ago. The door opened all the way letting the bright light poor into the room. Corr felt a twitch of Aria's lekku and he looked down, noticing she was awakening. Four Ranath entered the room and one stepped forward with a sour expression on its face. "You are to see the governor now."
"Oh good, that's what we have wanted to do ever since we got here," Aria sighed in relief, now fully awake.
The guard laughed in the melodious tone that all the Ranath seemed to have. "You're not going to like the reason you're going to see him. Now come with us."
The Ranath pushed them from the cell rather abruptly and forced them down the hall.
"Man, do you have to push us so much? We are going where you want us to go," Aria complained, snarling when the guards continued the shove them.
"Stop Grumbling Aria, remember peace over anger," Corr urged, hoping she wouldn't start anything, "Anyway, look we're here."
In truth, they had been walking for about ten minutes and were now standing in front of a pair of black doors made out of a bizarre metal that Corr couldn't identify. The doors were covered in strange runes that, again, Corr had never seen. The blackness of the doors was such a contrast to the white of the rest of the city that it seemed a bit out of place, but it was still nicer to look at than the prison cell that they had just spent the night in. Two guards opened the doors and Corr and Aria were forced into the room.
The office that they entered was like the rest of the architecture they had seen throughout the city, white with no arches or curves but all blocky and straight. The room had only a small amount of furniture and nothing on the walls. There were two white chairs in the middle of the room but beyond these two chairs was a huge desk that was so cluttered with data cards that one couldn't see that the desktop itself was white. Just behind the desk sat an extremely short and scrawny creature. His scales unlike the rest of the Ranath were red and he had a very small dorsal fin on his back, dissimilar from the very large one that the rest of the species had. He wore a grey short sleeve shirt that matched the uniform of the guards that surrounded Corr and Aria; he also wore a black cape. His bare arms were covered with golden tattoos and he had on a strange golden headpiece with a red jewel in the center.
The creature stirred, then belched in a gruff voice that was so different from the rest of the Ranath Corr had heard, it surprised him. "Guard, what is that horrible smell?"
"I apologize my lord, but it is the prisoners, one of them is covered in some strange perfume that must be popular in their culture," one of the guards said, wrinkling his flat nose.
"It's not..." Corr tried to protested.
"Shut up!" the guard yelled, trying to hit Corr with the butt end of his blaster pistol. With a quick movement Corr had spun around grabbing the guard's arm and sending the gun across to the other side of the room.
The other guards moved in, but just as they were starting to circle in around Corr there was a loud yell.
"Peace!" Everyone looked at the governor as he stood and started to walk around the colossal desk. "Release my guardsman," he demanded and Corr complied. "So you are the Jedi that started the riot the other day?"
"We didn't start the riot," Aria yelled, fed up with the way they were being treated.
"Silence! I am not speaking to you Twi'lek scum," the governor screamed. "You are the whores of the universe, you deserve no respect!"
Aria seemed to snap and dashed towards the small Ranath. Before she could get anywhere near him three guards had tackled her.
"Damn you! You freaking bastard!" she screamed. There was a scuffle as the three guards fought to keep her down.
The whine of a blaster was heard, quickly followed by the smell of burnt plaster. Everyone looked over to where Corr was standing in the other corner of the room with the blaster he had thrown earlier pointed at the roof.
"Thank you," he said, expertly tossing the blaster onto one of the few empty spots on the desk. "Now let me start my points for the day. Point one, governors like you sir, should show ladies some respect. Especially when they are my friends. Two, Aria please try to be reasonable. We don't even know why they have taken us here. And lastly, why have you taken us prisoner?"
The guards had now gotten out of the tangled dog pile and were standing at the ready. "You are in no position to question me, Jedi. I will conduct myself as I please and how I regard others is none of your business. You interest me greatly Jedi," the Governor said as he started to pace the room. "You showed up from no where and have caused such a fuss that several of our citizens were killed. We do not like outsiders, as you may have noticed, and we especially dislike them when they cause a ruckus like the one you two started. This cannot go unpunished, for we must maintain strict rules to live by on this planet. You both will spend five years in our prison and at the end of those five years you shall be released from this planet, never to return again."
"We didn't kill any one," Corr said coldly, "why would we have?"
"Silence!" demanded the red creature, "you have no right to talk prisoner. I want to know where you came from and where you were going. Tell me now or I will make your sentence longer."
"We came from Coruscant," Corr started, "the Jedi temple to be exact. We were on our way to meet a republic military group. While on route, we were pulled out of hyperspace by a Mandalorian raiding party. They proceeded to destroy our ship and we are the only survivors. All we wanted to do was to get off this planet and meet up with our group."
"Ah-ha! So you are one of those rebels. You are no Jedi. You abandoned your order to run off because you want to appease your warmongering appetite. All you Jedi are the same, hiding behind the false pretence of trying to protect the galaxy when in fact you just want to push it into war. When you do finally get your war you just sit and watch wile others die, until there are very few of your Republic soldiers left. Then you will fly in and save the day in all your so called glory so that you will look good in the eyes of the people..." Corr shifted uncomfortably in his place.
The governor continued, "you see Jedi, you know it is true. I see you standing there squirming. You want to kill me; you would do it in a second if you could. But no, you stand by your code like a good Jedi."
Corr just stood there, thoughts racing through his mind. He could kill the scrawny thing right there and then with the flick of his hand, he would watch him squirm. But no, he couldn't. It wouldn't be right; to use the force in such a way would lead to the dark side. He wouldn't follow that path. Not the path of his master. Corr cleared his throat and pushed his hair out of his eyes and spoke, "Sir, I stand here 'squirming' because I want to correct you but it would be rude to interrupt such a knowledgeable man, I mean fish, as your self." The governor glared at Corr but he continued anyway. "The Jedi do not want war. We do try to keep the peace and, yes, this more times then not ends in violence, but that is not our intention..."
"Yet your started the riot here," the Governor cut in.
Corr cleared his throat, keeping careful control of his anger, "we did not start the riot. We, in fact, tried to stop it. Your citizens were, as one Ranath put it, practicing their rights. Trying to beat up a fellow because he took his lunch to eat outside isn't the greatest right I have ever seen. I thought that I would stop them, so apparently I started it all."
"I still don't believe that. Though that does happen occasionally we rarely have riots," stated the governor.
"You can think what you want," replied Corr, "and as to me leaving the Jedi order. I did that because I saw that the galaxy needed me. I did not stand with the council on this decision to stay out of the war. They may have been right to stay out of this issue, but I had to help."
Aria yawned, "Are you two done yakking yet? I would like to find out if we can get out of here some time soon."
"Oh yes. You can leave any time you wish," the governor laughed cruelly. "Just ask the guards and they will take you to a nice cell where you can get a nice long five year rest."
"You can't be serious!" she yelled in disbelief.
"Oh I am. I thought I told you all this before," the governor cackled in his unnatural voice. "Guards, I grow tired of this, take them away.
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suspense! woo! Next chapter will be out some time in the near future so go read something else for now! if you see any horrible errors or somthing just contact me or put it in your review.