So, you guys have heard about Star Wars Visions, right? It's a similar idea to what Microsoft did with Halo Legends, but now it's Star Wars. Honestly excited as hell for it since I'm a huge fucking weeb.
Also, got hit with a nasty ear infection this month. Not fun.
Read and review.
Sawei was helping handle the cleanup of Wargate, near one of the lower levels, when a familiar voice entered her mind. "...Sawei, can you hear me?" Master Ar'ai spoke through the Force, sounding particularly alert. "Dantinian knows what's going on. He's ordered a counter-attack on Wargate, I'll delay as long as I can, but you need to get prepared, fast."
"He what?!" Sawei answered, shocked at Dantinian's seeming omniscience. "How does he know? We were jamming the local comm net, there's no way a message could have gotten out!"
"It didn't. Dantinian was coming for a personal inspection of Wargate, and he was shot down by one of the Thundercats. It seems like he made it back to one of their forward posts outside of the range of the jammers, and reported the attack before calling for a pickup."
Sawei thought for a second. "Then he must still be there." she realized, and then the thought hit her – this war could end today, no need for a costly, drawn out conflict. "Do what you can to delay them, Master. We'll go after Dantinian and end this before nightfall."
"Sawei, wait-!" Ar'ai started to protest, but he was already too late. Sawei had mentally blocked him out, solely focused on taking out Dantinian.
Moving through the level, Sawei found one of the command droids in a cell, surrounded by five Rakatan volunteers, who were pelting the droid with incessant questioning. "Droid, I need a message sent through to the Dropstorm. Priority Code Aurek." she ordered, a sense of extreme urgency in her voice, before looking to the Rakata. "That means scat." she said, and the Rakata shuffled elsewhere.
"Roger roger." the droid replied. It held out its arms to the side, pointed its manipulators inwards and spread its feet wide, while its head retreated inside its body. There was a blue flickering inside of the strange pose, and then Blackwall appeared before her. "Report, Sawei." he barked, arms crossed behind his back.
"We've taken Wargate, but Master Ar'ai has sent me another message." Sawei revealed after saluting Blackwall. "Dantinian was to arrive for an inspection of Wargate before our attack. One of our fighters shot him down, but he managed to retreat to a Rakatan FOB and call for both a counterattack and his retrieval." Sawei explained, trying to keep from getting too hasty. "...Sir, permission to track and engage Dantinian?"
Blackwall was silent for a long while, clearly weighing his options. Sawei and Kyra were both very valuable assets, but Dantinian was in a vulnerable position. They may never get another chance like this again, but were the engagement to fail, it could spell disaster for the entire war, and would basically be no different from just handing Kyra over to Dantinian. "...I'm sending you reinforcements to fortify Wargate and replenish your numbers, Sawei." Blackwall eventually answered, before breathing deep. "...As for Dantinian..." Blackwall trailed, still conflicted about what to say. "...Permission granted, Sawei, but don't get in over your head. If he's too powerful, I want you to pull back – we can't afford losing you, or, stars forbid, have him getting his hands on Kyra."
It was then that Foreman stepped in, his hologram appearing next to Blackwall, receptor bouncing back and forth. "For the record, Klorr, I think this is a very bad idea. The outcome of three Force wielders engaging in combat is completely unpredictable to me, and any plan with an unpredictable outcome is not a sound plan at all." he chided, giving Blackwall a somewhat annoyed glance for his authorization of the attack, while the control equipment attached to his body was going wild from a mixture of incoming reports from the command droids at Wargate and production lines from the Odynaro.
"May the Force be with us, Commander." Sawei said with a salute, before terminating the connection, and the droid returned to normal. "Call for Moryne and her group to meet me at the lobby. I'll also need an MPLV for transport."
"Roger roger." the droid replied, locking up as it issued the orders, while Sawei departed for the lobby.
Even as far away as the crash site for Dantinian's transport, they could still hear the sounds of LAATs coming and going, with defenses quickly being set up to prepare for the impending counterattack. A squad of B1As had secured the crash site, watching over the dead bodies of some of the live troops who tried to do the same – a handful of clones, regular humans, a Twi'lek, and a Zabrak. The clones had their necks snapped, while the others looked like they had fallen to their deaths – thrown into the air by Dantinian, perhaps?
Regardless, the B1As cleared the area and let the group dismount from the MPLV – Nax and Lexi went to check out the bodies, while Kyra and Sawei went to investigate the transport, with Knockout holding position near the droids.
"Thundercats did a number on this thing, huh?" Kyra commented, pulling off one of the side doors and entering the transport's troop bay. Tiny bits of Rakatan script were automatically translated by the helmet - 'Emergency Door Release', 'Cabin Depressurization Light' and other such safety features. The sides of the bay were lined with seats that had large safety harnesses, obviously built for Rakata, and two parallel rails went from the side doors all the way to the back of the bay, likely for paradrops, given the presence of two deactivated lights on the sides of both doors, one red, and one green.
There was a door leading to the cockpit of the transport, hanging ajar. First trying to move it with her own strength, Kyra made little headway, and simply chose to jam it back into position with the Force. Entering the cockpit, they saw the dead pilot, impaled by a support strut that had torn his flight suit to shreds. There was a kind of dopey, blissful look on his face. "...That must have been a painful death, why was he smiling?" Sawei questioned as Kyra touched the body.
"Know peace in the embrace of the Nexus, child." a deep, commanding voice that was undoubtedly Dantinian's said.
Kyra yanked her hand back out of surprise. "...Dantinian mercy killed him by crushing his heart. There was no saving him." she answered, looking off into the brush. "He ran off that way." Kyra continued, pointing directly at the mess of flora ahead of the transport. Kyra glanced back to the dead pilot and noticed a small patch hanging off of the right sleeve of his flight suit. It was similar in design to the emblem the entity had shown her when she was still out cold, but the egg in the middle of the emblem was scarred, like someone had taken a knife across its surface.
Leaving the transport and mounting back up in the MPLV, they took off in Dantinian's general direction. Kyra, who was riding shotgun, kept track of Dantinian's long strides, something she wouldn't have been able to do just weeks ago. Her hand was hanging over the side of the vehicle while she navigated for Sawei, and she accidentally brushed her hand for barely a second against a corpse that had been hidden inside of a bush.
There was a loud scream with little warning, and then the sound of a BARC speeder darting off to her right. "He hijacked one of our scouts and stole his speeder." Kyra alerted, navigating Sawei towards the right, veering past some trees that had obviously been burnt by a speeder's engines, and out into a clearing they would have otherwise missed.
A dirt road of all things cut through the clearing, and there was a very obvious indent in the road from the force of the speeder's hover systems, an indent that would lead them straight to Dantinian. While they were trailing him, there was a loud series of explosions overhead – sonic booms. Nax looked up and spotted contrails heading straight for Wargate. "Looks like their attack is starting." he noted, disappointed that he didn't get a look at whatever the Rakata were bringing to bear against them.
"Think we're too late?" Lexi questioned, sitting up to look over the roll cage and ahead at the road.
"Might be. These 'hogs are pretty quick, but I don't know how fast his transport is."
The trip down the road continued for several more uneventful minutes, passing by mostly ineffective static defenses, until Sawei slammed the brake and swung the MPLV to the side. "What's going on?" Lexi demanded to know, standing up fully to see the problem.
They were approaching a minefield, and had they continued, would probably have struck a mine.
Nax surveyed the area, looking for some way to avoid the mines. "Any chance we can go around, Sawei?" he questioned, leery of a nearby anti-vehicle mine that was just barely sticking above the ground.
"Not a chance. We've wasted too much time, and the only way to him is through." Sawei replied, fully prepared to run the gauntlet of mines and put the MPLV to the test.
Kyra had remained silent up until now. "We-" she started, catching herself. "-I could create a pressure wave with the Force in front of us." she suggested, leaning over the side to try and gauge how far the minefield went on for. "We should be safe from the shrapnel."
Nobody offered any other solution, so that was the plan they were going with. To start, Kyra threw a pressure wave out with the Force, and it detonated about five or six mines. While Kyra kept the wall in place, Sawei spun the vehicle back around and started heading down the trail. Kyra then kept the wall moving at the same speed as the vehicle, detonating a mine every couple of seconds or so. Shrapnel occasionally bounced off the lightly armored plating or scratched up the windshield, but they were overall protected from harm.
The trail eventually straightened out and turned to something resembling a developed piece of infrastructure. "Coming up on the outpost now!" Sawei shouted, and Knockout immediately stood up, readying himself to fire at anything even remotely hostile. The guard tower had some slight movement, and Knockout immediately fired a concussion rocket into the vision port. Rakatan soldiers lined up at the entrance barricade and started firing at them, bolts and slugs impotently ricocheting off the MPLV and hitting the dirt.
Right before the MPLV hit the barricade, they hit a bump, sending the MPLV soaring over the barricade. Time seemed to slow as Knockout, Lexi, and Nax turned around in the bed, opening fire on the exposed infantry. When the MPLV returned to the ground, those guarding the barricade had all been shot, leaving the outpost virtually undefended.
Hidden off to the right side of the outpost was an intact version of the same transport that had been shot down at Wargate, its engines were obviously VTOL, and they were quietly humming away, blowing away bits of dirt and debris from the landing site.
Standing directly in the door to the troop bay was none other than Dantinian, fixated directly on Kyra. His clothing was surprisingly humble considering his position – a simple black robe, tied up with a cloth wrap around the waist. Some official-looking pauldrons were sewn to the shoulders, bearing the same emblem as the pilot's patch. Dantinian himself had an almost albino complexion to his skin, which didn't even look aged in the slightest.
"...I expected pursuers, but to have the Dreamer herself chase after me?" he gloated, his voice even darker and more commanding than in the memory Kyra had seen. He was showing no sign of fear in the face of his adversaries, completely confident in his abilities. "You really are dull, hm? Not quite the tactical mastermind I was led to believe would arrive."
Nax raised his blaster to shoot, but couldn't pull the trigger. Not wouldn't – couldn't. His finger was stuck hovering over the trigger, completely still. Lexi, Kyra, and Knockout found themselves unable to do the same. "I see the little kalduh are trying to usurp their betters." he continued to mock, grabbing their weapons with the Force and throwing them to the ground. The group tried to step away, but their legs wouldn't respond. They had been rendered helpless, and hadn't even noticed it. Sawei, however, was the only one who was free. Dantinian reached out to Kyra, and quickly pulled her to him with the Force, tossing her inside of the transport with ease. Nax tried to shout, but his jaw was locked, and he could only helplessly stare as Kyra was stolen from him. "So easy, a child could have done this." Dantinian continued to taunt, walking around the outside of his transport, unafraid of Sawei, even with the snap-hiss of her sabers and the start of her dash for him. Again, Dantinian reached out with his arm to Sawei and flicked his wrist to the side.
Sawei stumbled forward slightly – he didn't freeze her like he did the others. Seconds later, it was immediately evident what Dantinian had done – he had compelled her to fall asleep. Sawei fell face first, her sabers pitifully falling next to her. Dantinian grabbed her with the Force and promptly threw her into the transport. "Perhaps I should thank you for this boon, kalduh." Dantinian commented with his back turned to the remaining trio. "None of you are worth the effort of killing, so I'll let you live, but I doubt your commanders will be as merciful for this blunder."
With that, Dantinian boarded his transport and started to take off. While that was happening, Nax, Knockout, and Lexi were all freed of their invisible restraints, and furious that they had been so easily nullified. Knockout in particular was about to unleash his full payload, every hidden weapon coming out of his body, targeted directly at the transport. "Don't." Nax ordered, positively seething. "Knockout, I want you to throw me at them."
Knockout, surprisingly, was not one to protest – that would have been Lexi. "Nax, you can't just-" she tried to fight, but Knockout had already picked Nax up and was aiming him at the transport, like a spear.
"He's not getting away with her." Nax interjected, not willing to fight her on this. "Not on my watch. Throw me."
Knockout did as directed, and launched Nax with such incredible force that he may as well have been a bullet tearing through the air. Using his suit's systems to guide his whipcord, Nax targeted the transport just as it started to accelerate away, and successfully latched onto the rear tail. Reeling himself in, Nax grabbed the tail and pulled himself over, managing to gain just enough grip to keep from falling off. Detaching the whipcord, Nax crawled towards the front of the transport, fighting the wind and his own body.
What kept Nax going was a single minded desire to save Kyra and Sawei, nothing more, nothing less. He was fully aware that he very well might not make it – Dantinian could probably crush his brain with barely a thought, but that didn't deter him – in fact, it encouraged Nax to keep pressing forward. If he didn't take the chance that maybe, just maybe, he could salvage this disaster, then he would be nothing more than a coward who doomed everyone by doing nothing.
The transport turned to the right, and Nax slid to the left, nearly falling off had he not grabbed hold of the flare launcher on the side. Nax looked around for a way to either keep moving to the troop bay, or for him to get back on top of the transport. It seemed like his luck had run out, however – neither was an option. "Sithspit, sithspit, sithspit!" Nax swore, trying to keep focused. Barely managing to keep his feet from hitting the trees, Nax pulled himself up enough that he could press his legs against the hull.
Now in a much more stable position, Nax could see that the handle for the transport's door was jutting out slightly. Taking a risk, Nax let go with his left hand and leaned outwards, aimed the whipcord at the handle, and he fired. It was a perfect shot – the grapple went clean through the handle, before reeling back and catching. He had a way over now, but if he tried to use it now, he'd be lucky to keep his arms and legs, let alone his life.
Biding his time, Nax waited for the perfect window where he could safely let go, reel himself in, and rescue Kyra and Sawei – a window that was fast approaching, with the trees beginning to give way to an open field. Seeing his chance, Nax yanked the whipcord back, pulling the door open, and let go of the flare launcher. Swinging himself over, Nax reeled himself in, before cutting the whipcord loose right as he was about to swing into the troop bay.
As it so happened, the first thing Nax hit upon entry was the back of Dantinian's head, his boot landing square into the Rakata's nape. Nax knew that he was dazed, and that he didn't have much time. Quickly getting up, he ran over to Kyra and Sawei, who were restrained with some kind of stuncuff analogue. Sawei was out, but Kyra was very much aware of what was going on. "Nax, you came back for us?!" Kyra yelled in surprise as Nax threw her over his shoulder.
"I'm not letting him take you, Ky." Nax remarked as he grabbed Sawei, putting her under his shoulder. Running to the open door, he glanced over to Kyra briefly. "Sorry about this, but this is probably going to hurt." Nax said, rather apologetically.
"Sorry for-wait, what are you-" Kyra tried to get out, before Nax threw both her and Sawei out of the transport into the clearing below. Nax went for a running start, and jumped out after them.
Except, he didn't fall. He was stuck in the air, hovering just off to the side of the transport. He was turned around, and faced with a very, very angry Dantinian. He wasn't saying anything, but Nax could tell there was nothing but pure, unrestrained hatred in his eyes, and Nax was, for all intents and purposes, already dead.
Dantinian made a motion with his free hand towards the cockpit door. "The prisoners have escaped. Take us back, pilot." he ordered, his words chilling Nax to the bone.
"Not possible, sire." the pilot responded, and Dantinian's rage only grew. "There are incoming fighters, and I don't intend to take chances on your life with those missiles."
Dantinian continued scowling at Nax, who, while very much aware that he was about to die in the next few seconds, wasn't afraid. In fact, he was smug. He had denied Dantinian his prize, leaving him with something basically worthless to his plans, and there was no way Dantinian would have a second chance at Kyra or Sawei. Rage boiling over, Dantinian slammed the cockpit door shut, and pulled Nax into the transport, before sealing them both inside.
"Killing you would be a mercy, kalduh." Dantinian spat, venom dripping from his words. "For what you've done, you'll wish I'd have killed you." he threatened, before starting to choke Nax out with the Force.
Struggling to breathe, Nax grabbed at his throat, trying to relieve a pressure that he couldn't even touch. "...Shove it… up your…" was all Nax managed to get out in defiance, before he passed out.
Kyra stared at the transport as it disappeared behind the trees. She saw Nax floating in the air, and she saw him get pulled inside. Initially believing that Dantinian had killed him in the transport, she reached out with the Force, and sensed three living entities inside – the pilot, Dantinian, and Nax.
The situation was out of her hands for the time being, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. She just sat there in the middle of the field, staring emptily in the direction Dantinian had taken off in. Sawei was laying face down next to her, still out. Kyra was basically unresponsive when Knockout and Lexi showed up, having followed the transport.
She didn't answer any of Lexi's questions. Not when they were escorting her and Sawei back to the MPLV. Not on the ride back to Wargate, and not on the flight to the Dropstorm after the counter attack had been defeated. Not a single word.
A scant few hours later, and the four of them were going through debrief with Blackwall and Foreman, and Kyra still had not spoken since Nax thwarted Dantinian and sacrificed himself not only for her, but for Sawei as well. "Moryne, you have not said a single word this entire debrief." Foreman commented, giving her a sideways glance, or at least, as much as he could with his limited expressions. "Is something the matter?" he questioned. Kyra remained unresponsive, completely ignoring the question. "Moryne?"
Lexi stepped forward. "...Nax sacrificed himself to rescue the both of them from being captured by Dantinian when the mission went sour." she reported. Blackwall showed no outward emotion, but Foreman was intrigued. "She's… not taking it well." she hesitantly added, giving Kyra a worried look.
"Strag is not a Force sensitive, yet he handled Dantinian long enough to rescue both Kyra and Sawei? That does not seem statistically likely." Foreman replied, his mostly monotone voice giving a slight hint of disbelief.
"He didn't exactly handle him." Kyra finally spoke, her voice lacking much emotion, if any. "Nax kicked him in the back of the head when he broke into the transport. That stunned him long enough for Nax to throw Sawei and I out of the transport, but when he tried to jump out after us, Dantinian had gotten back up and grabbed him."
Foreman's photoreceptor lit up a dark orange color. "Why did Strag not kill Dantinian when he had the chance?"
It was Knockout's turn to speak up. "Master Strag saw saving Master Moryne and Master Klorr as top priority, higher than killing Dantinian." he boomed, looking down at Foreman. "Recall that our entire war effort hinges upon Master Moryne remaining out of Dantinian's possession, and Master Klorr preferably doing the same despite her overall lack of relevance to his plans."
Foreman's receptor gained a slight tinge of red. "That does not answer my query."
Knockout remained resolute, staring down Foreman. "Clarification: Master Strag likely realized that he would not be able to actually kill Dantinian, even in his stunned state, simply due to the vast difference in capability between the two. The stun was likely all that he could reasonably manage, so he prioritized the rescue over the kill."
While the two droids went back and forth, Blackwall leaned forward, putting his hands on the command table. "We've established pretty clearly that Strag got aboard the transport, but not how he did. Anyone care to clue us in?" he questioned, looking around at the four.
"I threw him." Knockout confidently declared, earning a look of disbelief from Blackwall. Foreman, however, was less surprised. "I am capable of lifting up to three tons and have torn open heavily reinforced security doors with my manipulators on multiple occasions. Throwing an armored human, even one of Master Strag's build, is an easy task for me." the droid boasted. Foreman's photoreceptor flickered teal momentarily, before switching back to a light green. "Regardless, I threw Master Strag at the transport, and he got aboard with his whipcord by latching it onto the tail section."
Blackwall paused, and then acknowledged the droid's statement. The debrief went on for several more minutes, mostly Foreman and Blackwall discussing the effectiveness of the Rakatan fighters sent for the counter attack, as well as several other strategic gains that would be crucial in establishing a frontline. Blackwall eventually realized that the four were still there, and dismissed them, while Foreman requested Knockout to stay.
Kyra quickly left, and Sawei followed after, leaving Lexi to herself. "Kyra, wait-" Sawei called out in vain as Kyra got into a turbolift and went down several levels. Sawei got into the lift parallel and followed after her. She entered out into the corridor and continued chasing Kyra, who was storming off towards… somewhere. She wasn't quite sure – Kyra had gotten hard to read ever since the mission. "Kyra!" she shouted again, breaking into a dead run to catch up with her padawan, grabbing her shoulder and finally forcing her to stop moving. "Kyra, I know you're upset right now, but this is exactly what I've been talking about with breaking off the attachments." Sawei said, her convictions about Kyra's relationship vindicated by the way Kyra was acting.
Sawei attempted to feel Kyra through the Force, but she got nothing back, basically just static. It wasn't quite like Kyra had cut herself off from the Force, more like she had built up a wall that she was actively maintaining and keeping out anything trying to reach her through the Force. Kyra looked over her shoulder at Sawei, parting her bangs slightly so that she could get a good look at the Jedi, one that could easily be confused for a death glare. "Tell me, Sawei." Kyra started, an almost uncharacteristic seriousness in her voice. "What kind of person turns their back on someone close to them and cuts ties in their time of need?"
Sawei looked into Kyra's eyes, and for the first time in a long while, had trouble reading her. There wasn't hate or malice in her gaze, but it still unsettled Sawei. It was like Kyra had completely changed – her normally cheery demeanor was just… gone, replaced with stone cold determination. Ultimately, Sawei failed to produce an answer for Kyra.
"Someone that's going to get a blaster bolt in their back down the line, that's who." Kyra coldly finished, still unnerving Sawei. "Having Nax gone hurts like you wouldn't believe, Sawei, but I'd sooner space myself than leave him to die in captivity. I will never, ever, abandon Nax or anyone close to me, for any reason." Kyra insisted, maintaining absolute eye contact with Sawei.
Sawei didn't back down. "Kyra, you're not thinking straight. This is-"
"I am thinking straight." Kyra countered, turning around fully. She was managing to restrain her frustration with Klorr, but only just. "My mind has never been clearer for what I need to do." Kyra continued, barely taking a breath. "We were so thoroughly outmatched today, and yet, Nax sacrificed himself to get us out of there." she continued to muse. "I need to push myself beyond my limits to put a stop to Dantinian and return the favor to Nax, Sawei, and doing anything less would be a disservice to him. You can either do the same, or you can stay out of my way." she confidently declared, waiting on an answer.
"Kyra." Sawei simply said, standing firm. "I'm trying to tell you that this is a dangerous path you're treading, one that can lead to the dark side." she cautioned, finally able to get what she was saying out.
Kyra crossed her arms, unconvinced. "You've mentioned the dark side multiple times now, and I've certainly felt it here, but you've yet to actually explain how it manifests." she said, leaning to her left, awaiting Sawei's explanation.
Sawei paused, trying to figure out how to say it. "The dark side is the opposite of what I've been teaching you. Feelings of greed, lust for power, unrestrained passion, all lead to dark side corruption." she started, trying to avoid the pain of thinking about the Jedi who turned to the dark side in the wake of the fall of the Order. "It eats away at you, like a cancer. It'll fester, destroying all that you are, and it will replace you with a bitter, angry husk of what once was." Sawei elaborated.
Kyra, however, showed no outward change in emotion. "I see." was what she said, and there was a long, almost awkward silence. "I can understand where you're coming from, but you're wrong. I care about none of what creates dark side corruption." she pointed out, and Sawei's lekku tilted in response. "I want nothing to do with being the Dreamer. Quite literally all I've wanted up to this point was to just hunt bounties with Nax and maybe find out who I was before I lost my memory. I didn't ask to be roped into some sort of prophecy where the fate of an entire species is in my hands, or to be worshipped like a god." she finished, confident that she was fine with where she was. "Back to my original question, though – are you joining me, or are you staying behind?"
Sawei gave some thought to her answer, before eventually nodding, determining that it would be the best way to monitor any dark side slippage, and the pair departed for the training room in earnest.
"Vitals are clear, sir." the 2-1B said to Blackwall, reading off of the datapad he had out. "Brain activity is, uh, abnormal in all subjects compared to the baseline, but between the nine of them, it's consistent." it added, tapping to clear some notifications.
Blackwall observed the eleven Rakata swimming in their bacta tanks. According to the intelligence the Rebels had provided them with, these were the HVTs that were critical to understanding the functions of the technology caches – Virgilius's advisors and heads of research. "Abnormal in what way?" he questioned, arms firmly behind his back.
The droid glanced back down at its datapad. "Stronger fluctuations in activity levels – higher peaks and lows, essentially. Never goes below standard activity levels for a human brain." the droid answered, looking back to the commander. "It's likely just Rakatan physiology. Most of the Rakata brought back from Wargate the other day are displaying similar effects at a less pronounced level."
Blackwall approached the Rakata in the central tank and hesitantly reached for the release lever. He glanced up at the alien, and noticed that, as far as Rakata went, he was fairly young looking. In fact, they all looked rather young, despite their supposed age in relation to their accomplishments. "Wake them up and let them out." Blackwall ordered, stepping back from the tanks.
"Yessir." the 2-1B replied, tapping the command into its datapad. A thin, clear liquid came down from the top of the tanks and entered their breathing masks, and the Rakata started to twitch as they returned to consciousness. The bacta was then drained from the tanks in short order for filtration, and by the time that had finished, the Rakata were on their feet, peeling their masks from their faces. The tank seals opened, exposing them to the filtered air of the medbay.
The one that had been in the central tank coughed, evidently disgusted by the sickly-sweet smell of bacta. Once he acclimated, however, he looked up at Blackwall. "...Who are you?" he questioned, speaking perfect Basic. "Where are we?" he questioned again, looking at his comrades. "Wait. This is not Wargate." the Rakata eventually reasoned.
"That's correct." Blackwall responded, glancing around at the other Rakata who were adjusting to being back in their bodies for the first time in years. "I am Commander Blackwall, designation CC-1832, of the Grand Army of the Republic's 52nd Helljumper Legion, and you are aboard my flagship, the Dropstorm."
The Rakata struggled to his feet, and then looked at Blackwall. "...Ah, humans." he muttered. "...I am Guu, Virgilius's head of marine biology and aquaculture. My colleagues and I were imprisoned by Dantinian for refusing to bow to him and his vision to recreate the Infinite Empire that doomed our species." Guu revealed, looking particularly grim. "You are obviously no friend of his, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered with Wargate. Enlighten me – what is your stake in this?" the alien questioned out of a desire to understand Blackwall's intentions.
Blackwall took his helmet off, setting it aside so that Guu could see his face and determine for himself if he was telling the truth. "I was created to defend the Republic and her people, alongside my brothers. Each and every one of us took an oath, swearing to give our lives for the Republic." he started, seeming stoic. "In the time that we've been stranded on these rings, that Republic has been dissolved into the Empire, but we still intend on upholding our oath to those living under its rule." he continued, and Guu seemed to smile at this. "Dantinian is an active threat to both my men and the people we swore to protect. He will not get off these rings."
Guu nodded, offering his hand. "In that case, I'm pleased that you're so committed to that oath that you'd attack Wargate to rescue us." he said as Blackwall shook his hand. "I'm aware of the resistance movement against Dantinian, but with how long we've all been in Wargate, we'll need an update on them." he requested. One of the other Rakata, one with a thunderbolt going across her face, whispered something to Guu. "Yes, Mailo, thank you." he said to the woman, before he turned back to Blackwall. "I have one very important question – what is the status of the Dreamer?"
"Alive and well. She's in our care." Blackwall answered plainly, and the Rakata suddenly animated, excitement barely contained by their normally professional attitudes. "I'll have some clothes brought up, and then you can meet her." he added, checking a datapad.
"The Dreamer is a woman?" Guu questioned, looking back to his colleagues. Mailo was snickering at Satio, who, in turn, seemed disappointed.
"Will that be a problem?" Blackwall inquired, pausing whatever was on his datapad.
Guu's focus returned to Blackwall. "Not to us, it won't. I doubt those rescued from Wargate will care much either." he answered with a slight look of concern on his face. "However, I can't say the same for those still living under Dantinian's rule, considering he exalts the worst of the Infinite Empire, including the old social customs."
Blackwall pursed his lips, setting the datapad aside. "I see. No point worrying about that right now, we'll cross that bridge when we get there." he said in a somewhat dismissive tone. A handful of medical droids entered the room at that moment, and proceeded to run some tests on the Rakata, while Blackwall filled them in on the current situation. When the tests were done, the group was handed some basic fatigues as a temporary measure, and they proceeded to the training room where Kyra and Sawei were.
The medbay was heavily crowded by Rakatan patients that needed urgent care, and for Guu and the others, it was surreal to see so much pain and suffering in their fellow kin. To them, it felt like being stuck inside of a mind prison with their bodies being in suspended animation was a light punishment compared to what those of lesser importance had to deal with – lost limbs and appendages that would scar them for life, friends and family murdered for no reason – it was a perfect repeat of what was happening in the rest of the Empire during the collapse, just on a smaller scale.
The Helljumpers, to their credit, were keeping up with the sudden influx of injured Rakata quite well. There weren't enough Vitor tanks to handle all of them, but enough that those who would receive regular surgical care were in manageable numbers. The group glanced out of the viewport they were passing and onto the settlement outside, and spotted a group of construction droids building new shelters for those who had already been discharged. It was a strange feeling, seeing more kindness from aliens than their own species, but the help wasn't unappreciated.
Passing through more corridors, Rakatan patients kept staring at them in awe, knowing full well who they were in the presence of. The group had maintained a fairly public figure before the coup, and those old enough to remember would never forget their striking appearances, and for those commoners, seeing the group was one of just a handful of hope spots in an otherwise dire situation.
Time flew by on the rest of the way to the training room, and the group observed the goings on from the observation room at the top of the chamber. Blackwall said nothing, and the group was confused – they could hear the sounds of a duel through the opened side doors, but couldn't actually see anything. "There." Mailo said in her usual fluffy, almost dreamy tone of voice, pointing towards one of the walls. Her eyes kept constantly chasing something around the room, and the others only saw what she was tracking when they stopped moving fast enough to see.
It was Kyra and Sawei, both exhausted, but their sabers were pointed at each other, still raring to go for another round of combat. Kyra's hair had matted against her head, and was falling in front of her face, obscuring her vision slightly. Sawei, meanwhile, looked like she had bathed in oil, giving her skin a strange sheen. This duel had clearly been prolonged, and the Rakata had shown up to see the conclusion.
Sawei and Kyra moved at nearly the same time, with Kyra being slightly faster. Kyra twirled around before their blades connected, hiding her lightsaber from view for a fraction of a second. In that timeframe, she had completely changed her angle of attack when she was facing Sawei again, and used the surprise that afforded her to disarm Sawei of her main lightsaber, and snatch the other right out from under her. Pointing the tip of the blade to Sawei's chin, Kyra forced her to the ground, and unceremoniously shut the weapon off, offering her a helping hand up, which Sawei took.
The pair promptly let go of their concentration and started gasping for breath like they had just collapsed both lungs. Both reached for their canteens and downed them in one go. Once they had recovered further, Kyra glanced at the observation window, made a motion to Sawei, and they made for the side doors. A few moments later, and they had both used the Force to jump up to the observation room, surprising the Rakata somewhat. "Commander?" Sawei questioned, looking at the aged clone.
"Moryne has some visitors, Sawei." Blackwall replied, finally looking to her. "We'd best let them speak in private." he added, motioning to the door with his head, and they both walked out, leaving Kyra with the rather large group of Rakata, staring at her with mixed expressions, mostly leaning to the positive side, but there were some outliers.
Kyra looked over the crowd, and decided to cut the uneasy silence before it got too unbearable. "You're the HVTs rescued from Wargate, aren't you?" she questioned, realistically already knowing the answer from simply going by their appearances and even body language, which seemed to vastly differ from those of the regular Rakata.
Guu nodded. "That is correct, and we thank you for rescuing us." he said gratefully, before looking back up at her. "I am Guu, Virgilius's head of marine biology and aquaculture." Guu continued, introducing himself, and the others followed suit.
One Rakata with an orange, fiery glow to his eyes stepped forward. He was huge, taller than even Nax, and despite his intimidating size and features, radiated nothing but warmth. "I am Regok, the head of thermodynamics. It's an honor to meet you, Dreamer." he said in a big brotherly voice.
Another Rakata, taller than Regok, stood straight up. He clearly had muscles at some point, but they had mostly atrophied away from years of disuse, and there was a giant scar running around the top of his head. He clapped his hands together, and bowed. "My name is Gyojima. I created the tectonic systems on these rings, and engineered most of the facilities." he explained, his voice like a gentle giant's – powerful, but ultimately kind. "To have you here, Dreamer..." he started, tears beginning to form at his eyestalks, which Kyra only just noticed were glassy and vacant. "Truly, this is a change of our fortunes!" he boomed, overflowing with emotion.
The next Rakata seemed… unhinged, for lack of a better word. His pupils were miniscule, and he had a big X-shaped scar on the center of his head. "I'm Sanezugawa." he said in a coarse, carefree tone. Sanezugawa didn't bother elaborating on what he did, let alone acknowledge Kyra's position.
Following Sanezugawa was a rather young looking Rakata, probably a teenager. "I'm Muchito." he said, with his head seemingly in the clouds. He was giving Kyra a listless, empty look with his mint-colored eyes, like he wasn't entirely there. "I'm the chief meteorologist, alongside Sanezugawa. We made the weather systems here." he continued quietly.
Of the remaining six, three stepped forward – two females and a male. One of the women had green pupils with pink sclera, and was on the curvier side, as far as Rakata went, while the other woman had deep purple eyes, and was a good bit slimmer than the other. The man, however, had heterochromia, much like Nax, only his left eye was turquoise, and the right was yellow, and he had sustained some damage around his mouth, like someone tried to cut his lips off or something. "Hi!" the curvy one greeted, seeming rather cheery in comparison to her comrades. "I'm Miroj, that's Siho, and that's my husband, Iganai!" she introduced, pointing to the other woman and the man, respectively, and she got a bit closer to Kyra. "The three of us are ecosystem engineers – every plant and animal here is our handiwork!" she revealed. For her suspected age, Miroj seemed to be about as excitable as a small child.
Iganai let out an annoyed sigh. "Almost every plant and animal." he corrected, revealing his scratchy, rough voice. "Remember that research ship that showed up a few years before Dantinian's coup?" he asked his wife, and she paused momentarily, before furiously nodding. "We never got rid of all the invasive species from that." he noted, and Miroj stepped back with the other two.
The final three Rakata were one with a belt of flames going across his face, another with a thunderbolt going across hers, and one with some kind of cell pattern on his eyestalks, and the latter one was the one to step up. "The name's Tenzu. I actually haven't done much aside from make the cooling systems here so that the rings don't go 'nova." he introduced, before quietly stepping back.
That left the one with the flames and the one with the thunderbolt. "Satio and Mailo – a pleasure to meet you, Dreamer." the pair greeted, speaking as one. "We're the resident temporal and spatial displacement specialists." they said, still speaking perfectly together, before bowing.
Guu stepped forward again, a confident look on his face. "I'm certain you have many questions for us, Dreamer, so ask away." he offered.
Kyra set up against one of the consoles in the observation room and thought for a moment. "Apprentice told me these rings are thousands of years old, yet you all claim to have had a hand in its construction." she started, and some in the group expressed surprise at the mention of Apprentice. "Rakata don't strike me as very long lived, so, how have you lived so long?"
The group universally looked to Regok, who was momentarily surprised by the attention. "We've used modified mind prisons to transfer our consciousnesses to our proteges." Regok answered, fully aware that it made them all sound like hypocrites, considering their state of imprisonment. "Virgilius designed them eons ago for us to preserve ourselves."
Kyra blinked twice, trying to understand what Regok was saying. "You… steal the bodies of your students?" she questioned in surprise.
"We don't steal their bodies, and we never forced them to give us their bodies." Guu corrected, disapproving of Kyra jumping to conclusions. "The process has always been voluntary. Students are rigorously tested, and, should they pass, are given the choice to begin the process of preparing their body for transfer, or to return as they were and naturally live out their days."
Kyra narrowed her gaze at Guu and pursed her lips. "What made him decide to do that instead of just dying naturally and letting the next generation handle it?"
The group scoffed at such an idea – not because they were disgusted by the suggestion, but recognized that Kyra was misguided to some degree. "Put simply, corruption." Muchito answered, gaining everyone's attention. "It has been some twenty five thousand cycles since the collapse of the Infinite Empire. Most polities wouldn't last even a tenth of that timespan. Were we to die naturally, the generations of survivors we've helped guide and protect would fall victim to incompetence and corruption, ultimately ending in our final extinction, which is regrettably something we're facing now. Regardless, the eleven of us have known each other long enough to fully trust that we won't abuse the power our positions afforded us, and while some would consider that tyranny, it's a comparatively small price to pay for survival." Muchito summarized, and the others nodded in agreement.
Kyra decided to move on. "How did you all learn Basic? Blackwall says there's never been any contact with your people until recently." she asked.
"Your Commander was not here when we were still free." Guu answered in a stoic tone. "He did not have contact with Dantinian's faction, and those loyal to us were likely too stretched thin to reach out." he continued. "It is thankful we learned most of the subject languages before the collapse – a group of Twi'leks crashed here a few centuries ago and established communications with us, and from there, they taught us your Galactic Basic."
Kyra straightened up, determining that she needed to stop dodging the rancor in the room and get to the point. "I was thrown into this Dreamer thing head first, and Apprentice only told me so much, and, admittedly didn't seem all too reliable. If any of you know the full breadth of what this is all about and what my role is here, I'd prefer to hear it now." she requested, fully intent on getting as much info about the Dreamer as she could.
All eyes fell on Gyojima, who was seemingly the eldest of the group, and, apparently, the most knowledgeable about the Dreamer, if the reactions of the others was any indication. "...The Dreamer 'prophecy' is old by your standards." Gyojima started, putting a certain distasteful emphasis on the word prophecy. "Several hundred cycles older than you, in fact. It came from one of my students, Soa, who had been developing Nexus sensitivity, something that had not been seen in any Rakata since the collapse." he said, not showing any emotion except for a slight tremble in his voice at the mention of Soa. "The Nexus had shown Soa visions of Virgilius being betrayed, our exile and imprisonment, the arrival of your Helljumpers, and you, Dreamer. Not you as an individual, but as a concept."
"A concept?" Kyra repeated.
"We didn't know who or what the Dreamer would look like, or when they would appear. The Dreamer could have been anyone, anything to us, and all that we knew about the Dreamer was that they would be a powerful Nexus user." Gyojima elaborated, once again letting a flow of emotions pour out. "Regardless, Soa had a final vision of the Dreamer battling with Dantinian, but he died before he told us of the outcome. Virgilius had the visions committed to writing so as not to be forgotten, and since then we'd been biding our time, waiting for them to manifest."
Sanezugawa scoffed. "Fat lot of good that did us. Knew Virgilius was going to be betrayed, didn't see by who until it was too late, then we all get stuffed inside of white hell while waiting for someone that we weren't even sure existed." he hissed, clearly unhappy with the whole ordeal. "Funny thing about Nexus visions – they aren't always accurate, and they're just as likely to harm you as they are to help." he bitterly continued. "Should've just destroyed the whole thing when we could." Sanezugawa went on, bordering on starting a ran, but a death glare from Iganai shut him up.
"That's… interesting," Kyra said, straightening up. "but that still hasn't answered my question of what Dantinian wants to do with me. I do know he wants to use me to restore the Force to the Rakata, but how?"
Once again, Gyojima was the one to answer. "I may have an answer to that. Several cycles prior to the collapse, Virgilius and I were experimenting with alloys and their potential reactions if exposed to the Nexus during the bonding process. This is a gross oversimplification of the process, but what we discovered was that when kalgra – the material you would likely know as beskar – is melted together with volonium, and then exposed to the Nexus for the entire duration of the cooling process, it creates a metal with rather… anomalous properties, one that we called shtelt."
"What do you mean by 'anomalous'?" Kyra asked, intrigued by what properties exposure to the Force could induce in a metal.
"For starters, once the metal had properly formed, Virgilius and I noticed a sort of 'singing' coming from it. Those who aren't sensitive to the Nexus don't hear it, but to those of us who do, it's rather pleasant, and seems to change depending on the intent of whoever is forging it. For example, one of the first things we forged shtelt into was a dagger, and the singing became more of a rumble. Armor plating made it sound more boisterous, and so on." Gyojima went on, taking much pride in his discovery.
"Oh?"
A deep look of concern then appeared on Gyojima's face. "That, however, was nothing compared to what it was truly capable of. We experimented with the dagger and discovered that it can literally cut into your very being, leaving the Nexus energies contained within to spill out, much like a regular wound. To speak plainly, it can literally bleed you of your spirit." he elaborated grimly, despite his pride moments before.
A thoughtful look crossed Regok's face. "I wasn't involved with shtelt, but that energy would just go back to the Nexus without a way to capture it." he chimed in, and there was a mumble of agreement from Gyojima. "Dantinian, assuming he's using a shtelt weapon as part of his plan to restore the Nexus to the majority of the population, would need something to store the energy inside, and to redistribute it to the population."
Gyojima nodded. "Yes. Virgilius and I abandoned the use of shtelt as a weapon for the very reason Dantinian seeks to use it. We cannot force the Nexus to embrace us by stripping its gifts from others – abuses like that are what caused the collapse in the first place." he grimly noted, and that was the end of that topic.
Kyra tried to think of any other questions she may have had, drew blanks, and then let the advisors return to Blackwall. Before they left, the group unanimously bowed. "May the Nexus be with us all in these dark times, Dreamer." they said, before leaving the room.
Kyra's brief isolation, however, was immediately ended by Lexi decloaking right next to her. "Kyra..." she quietly said, placing her hand on Kyra's shoulder. "I know you're worried about Nax, but don't you think you're pushing yourself too hard?" she questioned, gesturing to Kyra's rather poor state. Her legs were practically about to buckle now that she didn't have to remain strong looking for Virgilius's advisors, she was shivering and clearly anxious, and was sweating bullets, all while she was still recovering from the adrenaline rush of the duel.
"My body can always heal, Lexi." Kyra dimly replied, still seemingly hellbent on her goal of saving Nax. "The pain might be excruciating, my entire body may feel like it's being shot to pieces, but it'll all be worth it if I can rescue him."
"Not if your damn heart gives out from all the stress, Kyra." Lexi pointed out, making it a point to actually feel for Kyra's heartbeat, which wasn't hard considering just how fast it was beating. "I know we're young, but that doesn't make us invincible. You need to pace yourself – torn tendons are one thing, a stroke and heart failure are another." Lexi cautioned out of a sense of genuine concern for Kyra.
Kyra slowly relaxed, realizing that Lexi had a point to some degree, but she was ultimately still resistant to the idea. "Lexi, if I don't constantly push myself beyond what I'm-"
"Stop right there." Lexi interrupted, shaking Kyra slightly to emphasize what she was about to say. "You're no good to him dead. If you want to save Nax so badly, you need to pace yourself. You can't keep forcing yourself to go beyond a hundred percent all the time." she pointed out, before giving Kyra a hug. "Please, Kyra." she whispered, now on the verge of tears. "I don't want to lose you, too."
Touched, Kyra turned and embraced Lexi. "I'm sorry, I just want to-"
Lexi shushed her. "I know, Ky, I want him back too." she warmly responded, holding her friend tighter. "But we can't get him back if you ruin yourself trying to save him." she continued to caution her. "Please, just try to keep yourself in check, okay?"
Kyra nodded, struggling to keep herself together now that the weight of the situation was really starting to crash down on her. Then, she suddenly yelped in pain, lurching forward into Lexi, but otherwise complaining very little. "Legs just-" she hissed, fighting to even stand up straight. "-gave out."
Lexi acknowledged the problem, and promptly lifted Kyra over her shoulder, intent on taking her back to the Knight to treat her injuries, which were hopefully not too severe so as to require submersion in a vitor or bacta tank.
Dantinian stared blankly at the prisoner through the window, betraying the rage and malice he held for such an impudent whelp. For such an insignificant, worthless little creature to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and rob him of his prize, there was no greater humiliation. "Has it given anything useful?" he coldly asked the operator, who administered another electric shock. The creature's screams only barely scratched Dantinian's desire for it to suffer.
"No." the operator replied, amping up the intensity, before letting back. "He is remarkably resilient to torture, especially considering how much he has already endured."
"Wrong." Dantinian simply said, before looking down at the operator. "Every two hours, there are fluctuations within the Nexus centered on it." he explained, his seething rage just barely making itself known. "Originating from the Interloper settlement. Would you like to take a guess as to who is causing these fluctuations?"
The operator paused, his hand on the dial, ready to administer another electric shock. "...The Dreamer, sire?" he eventually asked after a short time.
"Exactly." Dantinian said, turning and opening the door to the chamber. "I intend on finding out why." he remarked, shutting the door behind him, with the automatic lock engaging.
The prisoner looked Dantinian dead in the eyes, a smug, defiant look on his face. "Back for more, you piece of-" he started, and that defiance was almost immediately wiped out when Dantinian reached out through the Nexus to his mind, reading him like an open book. In an instant, Dantinian understood why the whelp chose to pursue him in spite of the overwhelming power difference between them.
"It seems you have rather poor taste in mates." Dantinian taunted, speaking in the disgusting tongue the Interlopers used. "How naive of me to think that you were simply stupid – you pursued me because you're a lovestruck fool for the Dreamer!"
A horrified look dawned on Nax's face, and he started struggling against his restraints. "Suns help me, if you as much as hurt her, I'll-" he started, only to be interrupted by Dantinian's laughter.
"You'll do what?" he mocked, punching Nax in the gut. "You're entirely at my mercy. I could have you minced to pieces, your remains ground to a soup, and when your 'dearly beloved' Kyra shows up to rescue you, all she'll find is a barrel of rotting flesh!" Dantinian threatened, before throwing his hand around Nax's neck. "Yet, as satisfying as it would be to break her like that, even that would not be a suitable punishment for your arrogance" he ominously said, squeezing tighter, before letting go, leaving Nax fighting to breathe. "You will be nailed against a wall, left exposed to the elements, for all under my domain to see. You will see all that you hold dear burn before you, and beg for death, and I will deny you, for your anguished cries will serve as testament to my unbridled power." he threatened, using the Force to put pressure on several parts of Nax's body, before deciding that he had enough, leaving Nax to be shocked by the operator.
There was much to be done, and in spite of being robbed of his prize, it seemed that the Nexus had provided him with some useful bait in exchange for his time.
That's that chapter done!
Sorry about the delay, I wasn't really sure how I wanted this chapter to go for a couple days, and by the time I decided, I had to work three consecutive shifts one week, and then with little downtime between my next day of work. Also had three birthdays within the span of a week in July, meaning I was stuck with family without access to my stuff. That, and I write slow.
So, I was originally going to write up the counterattack, but I ended up cutting it for time. As a result, I didn't get to show off the Ankre and Fulcur fighters mentioned last chapter, but I'll give the basic rundown now. If you know anything about post-WW2 military aviation, you probably know that the US and USSR accidentally kinda copied each other with the way the F-16, F-15, Su-27, and MiG-29 were utilized within their respective air doctrines. Basically, the F-16 and MiG-29 were light fighters that could be produced for relatively cheap, while the F-15 and Su-27 were heavy, expensive BVR missile slingers. It's a gross oversimplification of their actual roles, especially since the Russians believe in the dogfight, while the Air Force Chiefs of Staff are a bunch of pussies and used energy-maneuverability theory to move away from the dogfight, but that's more or less what I've gone and done. The Thundercat, while not based off of the F-15, is still based off of the Tomcat and A-10, the former of which fits the BVR slinger role (see: the AIM-54 Phoenix), while the Star Reaver is the light fighter for close range dogfighting. Ankres and Fulcurs are literally just the NATO reporting names for the 29 and 27 with some letters changed around.
In case you didn't notice, Virgilius's advisors are all named after the Hashira from Demon Slayer, with the exception of Satio and Mailo, who are Sabito and Makomo. It was originally going to be just the nine, but then I remembered Satio and Mailo were a thing.
Anyways, until next time!
-Tweak