Hey Everyone! Chapter 2 is here!
As always, sit back, relax, grab your beverage of choice, and enjoy! :)
Soundtrack for this chapter:
Welcome To The Suck - Thomas Newman
Chapter Two: The Mission
By the time the ship reached Coruscant, the sun was starting to disappear over the city filled horizon.
Lev knew Coruscant all too well.
It was his home planet.
The place where he was brought into the world twenty-four years ago.
It had been fifteen years since he had taken a glance at the planet's surface.
Small knots started to fill his stomach as he looked around from the cockpit of his ship.
Weak.
Frail.
Feeble.
That was how he felt.
Weak by being back on this planet.
Frail by seeing the large buildings which sprawled in front of him, making him feel small and insignificant.
Feeble by seeing people that resembled those who were around when he was a child.
Thoughts and emotions of his past started to reappear, causing him to move uneasily in the pilot's seat.
The last thing he wanted was to feel fragile during this dire mission.
Weakness.
Something he had not felt in fifteen years.
Fifteen years ago was when he hit his lowest point.
It was in that moment the darkness called out to him for the first time.
He allowed the darkness to flood his entire being.
Soon, he found warmth within the black void.
A warmth he did not have up until that point in his life.
In the darkness, the young boy found a new home which promised to protect him.
To be by his side no matter what.
Since filling his life with that warm and snug darkness, his weaknesses had become his strengths.
But now, being back on the planet of his birth, he felt the weakness creep back into his pores, starting to engulf his entire being.
Tiny bits of perspiration started to line his forehead underneath the helmet.
Feeling slightly panicked, Lev took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down.
When this seemed to fail, he had to resort to other measures.
Slowly, Lev began to seek out the darkness within the environment around him.
He pulled at it.
Scratch that.
He beckoned for it to wrap around his body.
He found the darkness within the minds and souls of all the things around him.
Thankfully, Coruscant was filled with darkness.
Soon, it started to weave a new blanket around his body, and he felt each worry fade away one by one.
Eventually, he felt the full weight lift off of his shoulders.
The weakness was replaced with a new feeling.
Strength.
Absolute and utter strength.
A hint of relief spread across his face underneath the mask before Lev snapped back to reality.
The mission.
He had to focus on the mission and not screw it up. Lev did not want to even begin thinking about what the consequences would be if he failed.
His face went back into its usual relaxed position as he descended down the ramp of the ship, with ZT-967 right on his tail. Lev mentioned for the droid to halt.
"I want you to stay with the ship. This should not take long. Wait for my signal over the communication system."
The droid let out several beeps before heading back into the ship and closing the hatch.
Lev stood there surrounded by several Death Troopers which he had selected to accompany him on the mission. Each of them stood several inches over Lev, which was quite impressive since Lev was six feet four inches tall.
The six troopers' black armour nearly camouflaged them in the disappearing sunlight.
While enroute to Coruscant, Lev briefed the troopers about the mission which was at hand.
They were to use any force necessary to extract the girl without killing her.
All of these were direct orders which came from the Archduke himself.
Death Troopers had a reputation, just like Lev. The special operation troopers were ones that no one in their right mind would ever mess with, and that is exactly why Lev chose them to accompany him on the mission.
When formulating the plan, Lev noted it would be a wise decision to wait until late at night to begin their assault.
He wanted to make sure the girl they were hunting was sound asleep when they entered her living space.
He wanted to catch her by complete and utter surprise.
Once it reached midnight, the pose started to move.
The group went into an elevator which was to take them from the landing platform, and down to the bustling streets below.
As he watched the number count down in the elevator, Lev's anticipation grew.
Soon he would finally have her in his grip. Soon all of this would be over once and for all.
Once they reached the appropriate level, the group walked out from the elevator and into the crowds of people dotting the streets.
Coruscant was the planet that never slept, and it was most certainly living up to its name, even this late at night.
However, as soon as the civilians caught a glimpse of Lev and the troopers, all of them hurried into the high-rises and businesses which dotted the streets. Although the Third Dynasty had occupied the planet for several generations, the civilians were always apprehensive when troopers in uniform came around, especially when it came to Death troopers.
Whispers started to fill the space around them as people noticed Lev's presence. This was the first time Count Soumrak had graced Coruscant with his presence, and the citizens were taking mental notes.
He was able to read into the minds of those around him with ease: Why is he here? What does he want? Who's his next victim?
After taking several strides down the street, the pose found its way to the bar which had been displayed in the hologram.
Lev looked up at the sign to verify its authenticity, and then headed into the establishment.
At first, no one seemed to notice his larger than life figure wandering into the dreary bar, until one man looked up from his drink. Then what seemed like all at once, everyone looked over at the masked figure and the Death Troopers which accompanied him. Lev glanced around the room until he found one of the bartenders.
The tall man made his way to the counter, got out a miniature hologram of the girl, clicked the device to life, and showed it to the bartender.
"I know she works here, where does she live?" Lev demanded, as the mask contorted his voice to sound more menacing.
The bartender's heart rate started to increase at a breathtaking pace. Lev could sense the fear which began to cripple the man's small frame. The moment he sensed it, Lev lunged at the fear and carefully weaved it into the protective blanket of darkness which surrounded his bulky figure. The bartender looked at the hologram with wide eyes and then up at the masked man.
"I don't know Sir… Trust me. I don't-"
The bartenders voice was stopped by a sudden pressure within his throat, which was causing him to choke on his words.
"I know you're not telling me the truth. You honestly believe you can fool me? Trust me when I say, this will be a lot less painful for you and everyone here if you just tell me the truth. Now, I'm going to let you go, and you better tell me where the girl is," Lev insisted as he released the hold on the man, causing the figure to fall down onto the counter.
It took several moments for him to recuperate himself and stand up as straight as possible in an attempt to look more truthful.
At least that's what Lev was picking up from the stubby individual.
Lev's patience started to wear thin.
"She… she lives about three blocks down from here in a high rise on the left side of the street, the gray one with large oval windows. You can't miss it," the bartender exclaimed while beads of sweat slowly started to rain down his forehead and onto his flushed cheeks.
He was scared.
He most definitely was scared, and that's exactly what Lev wanted.
In response to the intense fear, from not only the bartender but from everyone else within the establishment, Lev harnessed the energy and weaved it into his protective coating fiber by fiber at breathtaking speed.
Weakness.
Pfft.
Now he felt stronger than ever.
"See… that wasn't so hard was it?" Lev grumbled under his breath sarcastically while turning around to head out of the bar. On his way out, he motioned to the Captain, and as soon as he stepped outside, blaster shots went off throughout the entire building.
Lev stood outside waiting.
One step closer.
One step closer to finally getting the woman.
After a minute or two, the Death Troopers exited the building while the Captain made his way over to Lev. By this time, smoke was bustling out of the building, and civilians were cowering in horror while looking at the carnage which had just taken place.
"Count Soumrak, we are ready when you are," the Captain said through the encrypted speech apparatus on his helmet.
Lev nodded and started to trudge down the street towards the infamous building.
People peeked out from the businesses dotting the streets, trying to get a gander at what was going on outside.
Lev kept his eyes focused on what was in front of him, not letting anything distract him from the mission.
He was determined to find the girl, and to deal with her once and for all.
He needed to show his master how far he had come over the last two years, and he would not let anything stand in his way of failing.
Within a few minutes of walking, the group made it to the building with the distinctive windows.
Upon entering the tall high rise, Lev walked up to the front counter and before the Twi'lek woman could say anything, he was inside of her mind, searching for the room number.
Lev's patience had already started to wear thin while at the bar.
He was tired of having to deal with people for the day, so he decided to go the more unethical route when it came to information extraction. Her face contorted into the usual unnatural positions as he searched for the information he needed.
If there was one thing he was good at, it was looking into people's minds. It was one of the reasons why he had advanced so quickly through his training. He was able to get into the minds of others with very little effort, and he used that to his advantage. After some time, he was able to find what he needed and let the woman go. She collapsed to the floor with a considerable thud, while unconsciousness surrounded her.
Lev signaled towards the elevator and the group of men walked into it as Lev pressed the correct floor.
He was rather surprised, it was one of the highest floors within the complex.
The higher floors usually indicated someone of higher status.
How would she be able to afford such accommodations if she was just a barmaid?
There were so many questions he wanted answers to.
Why was she murdering members of the Third Dynasty?
Was she being paid to do so? Is that why she was able to afford the apartment?
Slowly, a headache began to form.
For kriffing sake.
The last thing he needed was for his head to become foggy.
As the doors to the elevator opened, the troopers and Lev walked out into the corridor outside of the girl's room. One of the troopers kneeled down next to the door, grabbed a device from his belt, and placed it onto the control panel. From there, he proceeded to press several buttons. One by one, green lights appeared on the device signaling that the security system was disarmed and that the door had been unlocked.
This was it.
Time to get the girl.
Soon the two year journey would end.
Soon he would be able to have a quality night's sleep.
Soon he would once and for all not be an apprentice any longer.
One by one, the men entered the apartment. Upon entering the threshold, Lev felt a slight pull from the force.
Even though it was faint, he felt a sudden rush.
Jackpot.
She was in the apartment.
Yay! Chapter two is finally over. Cliffhangers are always fun.
Please leave a comment about what you think and if you enjoyed it :) Thanks!