Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
T W I N S A B E R S
Chapter Three
Composed by, The Nova Scribes
Aln-Mai jumped out of the speeder and waited while Master Skywalker returned it to the small chubby Rodian who had rented it to them. They caught a return tram to the spaceport in which their shuttle was docked. They both climbed aboard the shuttle silently, neither saying a word to the other as they completed the pre-flight checks.
"Malastare 571, this is Luke Skywalker, requesting planetary departure clearance," the Jedi Master said, having activated communications.
"Luke Skywalker, your position locked-in. Clearance granted. Maintain vector 86.2 for departure," a toneless voice replied.
"Roger, vector 86.2," Master Skywalker said, keying in the numbers and lifting off gently. They soared away from the spaceport, away from Aln-Mai's home, his father, and his childhood. The view receded as the planet dwindled into a monstrous orb hanging in space.
"Hyperspace coordinates locked in," Master Skywalker's words intruded on Aln-Mai's thoughts. "Engaging hyperdrive." The Jedi Master's hands pulled down a lever.
Nothing happened.
Master Skywalker frowned, and pulled at the lever again. Still nothing happened.
"Check the hyperdrive, Aln-Mai," Master Skywalker said, still working the controls.
Aln-Mai undid his crash webbing and dashed to the back of the shuttle. After a brief moment of struggle against the slightly rusty hinges, he pried open the access hatch to reveal...
Nothing.
"The hyperdrive's gone, Master Skywalker! Somebody stole it!" Aln-Mai reported.
"Stole it? But who would do that?" the Jedi Master wondered. The answer came two seconds later in a hail of laser fire.
"I've got you now, you little Tekmi brat!" Huldon's voice sounded over the comm system. Aln-Mai groaned inwardly.
"I take it that's one of your 'friends'?" Master Skywalker asked, going into evasive maneuvers.
"How did you ever guess, Master? I'll find another place for us to land, as it seems we've worn out our welcome here."
Aln-Mai pulled up navigation charts, scanning them quickly for a nearby planet where they could make repairs. A small industrial planet caught his eye, less than two parsecs away. He glanced at the readout--Dibon.
"Here, Master. A small, out-of-the-way planet called Dibon," Aln-Mai quoted the coordinates as Master Skywalker fed them into the navigation computer, still dodging laser fire.
"What do you plan to do about Huldon?" Aln-Mai asked.
"There's a small lever in a box to you left. Near the top bulkhead," Master Skywalker said. Aln-Mai looked up, and spotted a small box with a encryption pad.
"What's the code?" Aln-Mai asked.
"5-8-9-3-2-3-4."
Aln-Mai punched it in quickly, and the lock released. Aln-Mai yanked the door open to find a red lever labeled, 'IPW.'
"On my signal, pull the lever," Master Skywalker said, jockeying for a position directly ahead of Huldon's pursuing craft.
"Now," he said calmly, and Aln-Mai yanked the lever. The deck rolled slightly, and a brief second later, the laser fire ceased. Aln-Mai peered out the porthole in the back. A small freighter that had been following them drifted away, spinning off-axis.
"What was that?" Aln-Mai asked.
"Ion Pulse Warhead," Master Skywalker said tonelessly. "It doesn't cause any hull damage, but it knocks out all electrical systems. Tionne installed as a means of defense."
Aln-Mai laughed. "A Jedi should always be prepared, correct, Master?"
"Precisely."
"Kir!"
At the sound of her name, the young Rinaim's right ear twitched, but her eyes did not open. She was reluctant to return to the world of the waking, since she was having a very nice dream about her home planet, and being among all her friends again.
"Kirnatyila of the Ver tribe, get your sorry tail out of bed this instant!"
Kir grumbled in her state of semi-consciousness. "So we're going to dig out the tribal titles, are we?" she mumbled incoherently. She yawned widely, long tongue lolling out of her mouth past a shiny set of ferocious teeth. Then Kir slunk down from her small nest, stretching each of her supple muscles individually. She despaired of putting her sandy-colored coat in order by herself, and so sauntered to her refreshing unit.
"Kir, are you out of your nest yet?" her mother demanded, sticking her head into her daughter's room. "You know we have a meeting with the Xorinian emissaries in a few hours. I don't want us to be late!"
Kir rolled her green eyes as the blowers took care of her mussed fur. She bounded out of unit bright-eyed and awake, before landing on all fours. "Yes, I'm up and about."
Amai of the Ver tribe let out a huffing breath at her daughter. Her glossy brown coat had already been preened to perfection.
"Stand up and walk properly, you are no longer a child. You're going to make your father and I very late with your shenanigans."
Kir straightened to two feet as she was ordered, but her eyes narrowed in an angered frown. "I don't see why I must attend this meeting with you. It will be a long time before I am of any age to be an emissary to these people."
Her mother shook her head impatiently. Her eldest daughter said this every time. "You must learn now, so that your footsteps will fall in with our traditions. Besides, their trade is valuable to our planet. Think of what you are doing for our people by insuring that they have this ore."
"Our people?" Kir's voice was incredulous. "They had not the courage to even attempt to go off-world! Why I had to be born into a tribe of adventurers and starwanderers is beyond me!" She fumed to herself, tail thrashing.
Amai sighed and hung her head. "If that is how you truly see matters, Kir, you are no daughter of mine. Why can't you be more like Cai? She would leap for a chance to attend this meeting. She knows her place in this family, she knows her duty."
Kir turned to lick her shoulder, a gesture of disdain. "So take her. Leave me be. No good will come of this council today, I can tell you that! I have a dark feeling about it. The Xorinians have always given me chills, but today I cannot bear to even look at them."
Amai stamped her foot; it was her telltale sign that she had reached the end of her patience. "You say that about everyone, Kir. You make this kind of protest every time we meet with other ambassadors or representatives. Every time things turn out all right, and this one will turn out right too."
Her daughter looked away from her dark eyes. "I know you are wrong about this time, Mother. It...feels wrong." The first hint of fear that Kir would admit to slipped into her tone. "You and Father shouldn't go, we all shouldn't go."
"Kir, Rinai VII needs this ore to continue work in the factories. Without it, the planet will eventually collapse in economic chaos. It is imperative that we fix relations with these people." Amai implored her daughter, but the young Rinaim wouldn't look at her. At last she shook her head. "Get your bag and be ready to leave in half an hour." She turned on her heel and stalked out, her stiff posture betraying her concealed anger.
Kir shut her eyes for a moment, but the image she had first seen so many nights ago flashed in her mind's eye: her mother and sister, Cai, lying dead in the council hall. And a Xorinian turning towards her, a still-smoking blaster clenched in his hand. The Rinaim shook the vision off, turning and searching her luxurious room for the small bag she always carried with her. She spied it in resting on a chair and quickly slipped the strap over her head, checking to make sure all her knickknacks were inside. Kir was a firm believer in being prepared for everything, from a power outage to an earthquake.
At last she turned to leave her chamber, giving it one final glance. She strongly suspected it would be the last time she saw it.
Rusk, her father, was waiting in the large front hall for the remainder of his family. Cai stood at his side, her ginger-banded fur neatly groomed, her high voice chattering excitedly about something she had learned yesterday. Apparently she had been allowed, at the last moment, to accompany her sibling and her parents to the meeting. Kir felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. She glanced quickly at the floor to keep her dismay from showing on her face.
Amai finally joined them, composed and ready. She nodded silently to her husband, whose golden eyes seemed to ask an unspoken question. Rusk gestured to their service droid, who chirped his acknowledgement and opened the front door, revealing a waiting speeder that would take them all to the council chambers.
As the four Rinaim settled in and got situated, Kir found herself unconsciously trying to detect any signs of danger. Her senses were on full alert, but there was nothing. She felt unsure whether to believe her dream or not, but it had seemed so real...and why did it still haunt her? She was still trying to justify her fear when the transport slowed to a halt with a brief touch of thrusters.
The place where the meeting of the Rinaim and the Xorinians was located in was a bustling hub of one of the largest cities. It was nestled right between gaudy shopfronts, nearly inconspicuous to those who passed by, the door inside a small alcove. As such, it was commonly overlooked, but the position ensured that not many people would find it. Also, guards for both sides could take up surveillance in the busy crowd without attracting any attention.
Kir was distracted by a lone vender hawking some curiously-shaped fruits as her family entered the small alcove. Something tingled along her spine, and Kir shuddered, hurrying to rejoin them, slipping in right behind her father. His black body hid much from her view, but something about the atmosphere of the room seemed wrong as the Rinaim mounted the steps that opened into a large area dominated by a long table with many chairs.
The Xorinians were already seated and waiting, their usually expressionless faces blank as always. Their moods were conveyed through the smells they gave off, and right now Kir could tell that they were smugly satisfied with themselves. There was something else, but it was muted. Hatred? Deception? She did not know.
"Greetings, honored representatives of the Xorinians," Rusk began grandly, performing the complicated hand gesture that was a symbol of greeting among the other race. "We are pleased that we could meet with you."
Grorrl, the leader, stood and raised both hands, all seven fingers extended outward as he presented his 'claws' in the Rinaim gesture of respect. "We are even more delighted that we could accommodate you," he said. Kir's nose wrinkled slightly as his odor became one of triumph. "You see," the Xorinian went on, "we have a little proposition for you."
Kir's ears swiveled, then laid back against her skull. Her claws instinctually came unsheathed, and her hackles began to rise. This wasn't right. Never had she been so sure.
Rusk was wary, but he was not on guard yet. "I'm sure we can reach some sort of agreement..." he hedged.
Grorrl continued, "We know that your planet relies on our ore to survive. You won't find prices as low as ours anywhere else. What we want is simple: we want you to contact your government and tell them that in exchange for all the ore they could ever want, we wish to take over." He sat back, exuding smugness.
Whatever Rusk and Amai had been prepared for, it had not been that. "We're sorry, Grorrl, but we can't do that," Kir's mother said. "Not only are we not authorized--"
It happened even as Kir was in motion. The blaster bolt struck Amai of the Ver tribe squarely in the center of her chest, and she fell in an instant, murdered.
Then everything fell into chaos.