Authors note: As far as Owens new haircut goes just picture Lieutenant Reibens hair from the movie Saving Private Ryan, obviously substituting it with Owens blond roots.
The Story of forgotten Jedi Owen Sun
Chapter 25: The Slave Camp
Owen Sun and Milla Talarus' Jedi Starfighters sprang out of hyperspace, almost immediately they noticed the gray/green planet of Colla IV, Owen took his ship in closer with Milla just behind.
Colla IV was a hostile world with swamps, jungles, and forests covering the planet, it was inhabited by the insectoid like Colicoid race. The Colicoids themselves were a carnivorous species known for cannibalism, in the struggle with the Galactic Republic they clearly sided with the Trade Federation. In fact their own 'Colicoid Creation Nest' was contacted by the Trade Federation to design the droideka which they created in their own insectoid image, they also manufactured their droid tri-fighters. It was far off from the galactic core thereby very few knew of the planet, but those who did didn't dare set foot on the world fearing the murderous and cannibalistic race.
Owen and Milla hovered right above Colla IV scanning the planet for the missing shuttle. "I'm not getting any reading Owen, what do you want us to do now?" asked Milla.
"We'll have to search the planet, turn your sensor disrupters on and follow me in" ordered Owen.
"Thank you Master Windu" thought Owen referring to the disrupters.
Owen entered the atmosphere with Milla right behind him. "Stay close, we don't know what's down there" said Owen over the comm.
Milla was a bit nervous. "Have you ever been to this planet before Owen?" she asked.
There was a short pause. "No, but I've heard some terrible stories about this place" he replied.
Suddenly Milla noticed her scanner flashing. "Owen I'm picking up some high energy readings to the east of us"
"Sounds like a good enough place to start, we'll set down in that jungle below" said Owen.
Owen and Milla took their Starfighters toward the surface landing in the thick jungle to hide their ships.
They got out of their cockpits and jumped down to the jungle surface. "Mark this point on your datapad, the ships will be safe here, let's go" said Owen.
With that Owen and Milla headed east following the energy readings they picked up.
After an hour of making their way through the jungle they came to a large gray swamp. "Ughh, what's that smell?" wondered Milla.
"I think were looking at it" replied Owen referring to the huge swamp before them.
"The energy readings are getting stronger, that way" pointed Milla glancing at her sensor.
"Across the swamp" stated Owen.
"That's where it's coming from and it looks like this is the only way across" informed Milla.
"Alright, follow me" said Owen.
Owen force jumped across almost half the swamp, Milla followed in turn. The wet gray mud from the swamp started to seep into their boots. "Yuck" she cried.
"Ignore it Milla, follow my lead" said Owen.
Owen leaped across another large portion of the swamp and she followed his lead. "Ah, Sith's blood!" cried Milla as half her left leg got swallowed up in the swamp.
"You okay?" wondered Owen looking back.
"Yeah, but I'm going to have a heck of a time getting this stuff out of my boot" replied Milla.
"Were almost acr…" Owen was interrupted by a sudden burp from the swamp below.
"What was that?" asked Milla.
Owen put his finger to his lips. "Shhhh"
Owen panned around the swamp not moving an inch, suddenly he heard another loud burp but this time a large gray bubble came to the surface and popped. He saw a large hump surface and then instantly return into the muddy gray waters. "Milla, stay absolutely still and do exactly as I tell you" Owen whispered quietly.
"What is it?" whispered Milla.
"Just listen to me…on the count of three I want you to jump to the end of the swamp" whispered Owen.
Something then brushed between their feet. "One…Two…THREE!" yelled Owen.
Milla burst into the air and the mysterious swamp creature jumped up to grab her but Owen was prepared as he drew his lightsaber and killed the creature as it surfaced.
Milla then got out of the swamp. "You coming" she yelled.
"Yeah" he responded.
Owen struggled to pull his left boot out of the mud but then he heard another burp accompanied by a bubble coming to the surface close by behind him, that was all the motivation Owen needed as he leapt out of the swamp. He then reunited with Milla. "(Whew), that was close" he said.
As they walked forward Owen got his boot stuck in the swampy ground again, Milla then put out her hand. "Need some help?" she asked.
Owen smiled and grabbed her hand, it was a struggle but with a jolt Milla got him out of the mud. The two were now face to face starring into each other's eyes as their hearts began to stir, after a moment he responded. "Thanks" Owen said.
Milla just kept starring into Owens blond eyes, finally he spoke up. "I'm going to need that hand back" he said.
"Oh…of course" she replied.
After a moment of awkwardness Milla spoke up. "Shall we"
Owen smirked looking intensely at her. "Yeah, let's go"
The two continued on venturing through the dangerous and unknown surface of Colla IV until Milla finally found the energy reading. "It's just up ahead" she motioned as they continued forward.
As they ventured forward towards the found energy reading Owen began to hear large clanging noises and sounds of mechanical type work and machines in the distance. A high fence then became visible far off in the distance, they could barely make it out. "What is it that?" asked Milla.
"I'm not sure, I can't get a good look" replied Owen.
"Well then lets get a better look" said Milla as she stepped forward.
Owen grabbed her arm stopping her. "Wait a second, let me scan the area"
He then whipped out his optic binoculars that had saved his life countless times. He peered through the optics still not able to make anything out, Owen increased the distance on them. Now he could see several structures behind the steel fence, some were very high, he increased the distance again this time making out several moving figures inside, also Owen could now tell it was a camp of some sort. "It's a camp and there appears to be plenty of people inside" informed Owen.
Figuring this was beginning to be a waste of time he increased his optics to maximum range, Owen peered through them and was horrified at the site before him. "Oh my God" stated Owen.
Owen saw thousands working themselves to death, moving heavy objects, making different things, and may other slave type duties, and all the while they were being whipped from behind by the cruel Colicoid guards, through the optics Owen even saw a slave ripped to shreds by several Colicoid beasts. Owen panned around the grand scaled camp seeing hundreds of thousands of dead people of different species littered across the surface of the camp. "In the name of the force what is this place?" he thought.
Milla saw the horrified look on Owens face. "What is it?" she asked.
Owen handed the optics to Milla. "You have to see it for yourself" he replied.
Milla nearly fainted as she saw the inhuman camp before her. "My God, there's so many" she said continuing to look on at the camp.
"Looks like we can call off our search for the missing shuttle" stated Milla.
"What do we do?" she asked handing the optics back to Owen.
Owen looking through the optics again. "We have our orders from the council, we're going to help these people"
With that Owen and Milla made their way closer to the camp being careful not to alert the guards, they came to the fence and Owen stopped them. "What are we waiting for?" questioned Milla.
Owen felt an irregularity in the fence. "The fence, it's electrified" he informed.
"How do we get around it?" Milla wondered.
"We don't have to go around it" stated Owen.
Owen extended his hand and a portion of the fence was blown right off sending sparks everywhere, he panned around making sure no one saw it. "Alright it's clear, lets go" said Owen.
Milla grabbed his arm. "Wait a second, how did you do that?" she asked.
"A little trick Master Windu taught me" he explained.
They made their way through the portion of torn fence, Owen stopped them again pulling out his optics to scan the area.
He noticed several guard towers across the large camp and what appeared to be the Colicoid guard barracks. "Alright this is what where going to do" began Owen.
"Your going to take the guard towers and I'll take the barracks, I brought some thermal detonators from the ship just incase, once you see me hit the barracks that will be the signal for you to attack, after there taken out we'll meet back up in the center, you got it?" informed Owen.
There was a short pause. "Yeah, I got it" she responded.
Owen put his hand on Milla's arm. "You can do this" he assured her.
"Remember, wait for the signal" Owen stated.
He then started to make his way forward toward the camp when Milla ran up behind Owen, she turned him around and kissed him on the cheek. "For luck" she stated.
Owen hugged her and continued on making his way into position, he managed to sneak his way past a few guards and hide behind a giant metal block. It was hard for him to watch as the murderous Colicoid guards whipped the helpless children. "Move it slave we're behind schedule!" ordered the Colicoid in his insectoid language.
Suddenly as he was picking up the piece of steel one of the children noticed Owen behind the metal block, the child's eyes went as wide as saucers as new hope crept up into his mind. Owen put his finger to his lips. "Shhhh" he motioned.
The small child knew what that meant and continued on with his duties, Owen got himself passed the last few guards and was now perched just behind the barracks.
Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in the Droid Compound.
The three Colicoid leaders argued back and forth in their insectoid tongue.
Suddenly the doors to the far wall opened revealing the head figure of the operation, he walked to the table where the three were arguing. "Is there a problem gentlemen?" he asked.
"No, of coarse not, production is progressing nicely" informed the first Colicoid leader.
"Then why do you argue?" he asked.
"Well it's the slave camps, many are dying due to their weak and spineless nature, it has put us behind by a small margin" informed the third Colicoid leader.
"It's not just that however, where running out of the proper food and water the weak fools require" added the second Colicoid leader.
"I care not for your excuses but for the production of my forces" the commanding figure stated.
"Speaking of which, how are things progressing?" he wondered.
"Very well despite the setback, the fighters are almost complete" informed the first Colicoid leader.
"And the droidekas?" he asked.
The three Colicoid leaders looked at each other concerned. "The special type of metal that is manufactured for them is being produced at one of our larger camps, their progress has been slow" informed the second Colicoid leader.
"More than 40 percent of the slave death toll is from that camp" informed the first Colicoid leader.
There was silence, then the imposing figure spoke up. "I want to make this clear, we are going to attack soon and if those droids are not ready I don't have to tell you what I will do to your planet" he threatened.
"O…off course" responded the third Colicoid leader nervously.
"They will be ready for you on time" the first Colicoid leader stated.
The imposing figure then left the chamber.
"Are you sure it's wise to continue to deal with him?" asked the second Colicoid leader.
"You heard what he said, he'll kill us all if we don't" responded the third Colicoid leader.
"Besides, once the war starts we'll have the joy of seeing the Republic die" stated the first Colicoid leader.
The three then laughed in their insectoid tongue picturing the day the Republic falls.
Meanwhile back inside the camp.
The small child slave that saw Owen went to tell their leader, he made sure that no guards were around as he approached their Twi'lek leader. He tugged on the dirty pant leg of Torvac. "What is it young one?" he asked.
"I saw someone Torvac, someone that wasn't a slave" informed the small child.
"What do you mean?" he questioned.
"Over there by the metal blocks" pointed the child.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes, I saw him" stated the child.
"Alright, run along now" commanded Torvac.
Torvac then started to make his way over to where the child pointed towards but was stopped by a guard. "Heh, where do you think your go…" the guard was cut off in mid-speech as suddenly the guards barracks went up in flames.
The large explosion caught the attention of all the guards as they made their way towards the barracks. "Who did this?" barked the Colicoid guard Captain.
All of the guards then looked up as a figure came twisting and turning out of the flames at the top of the destroyed barracks. He landed feet first in front of the Captain and cut down the two guards beside him. "It's a Jedi, kill him!" ordered the guard Captain.
All the guards opened fire on Owen with their powerful repeating blasters attached to their wrists, much like the droideka except the plasma was green and so were they. "Guard towers open fire on the Jedi intruder!" screamed the guard Captain in his insect like language.
Owen continued to block the heavy fire being rained upon him, but then he noticed the turrets from the guard towers turn in his direction. "Come on Milla, I need you" he thought.
Meanwhile on the other side of the camp.
Milla had begun her attack on the towers after striking down a few stubborn guards, Milla cut the legs out from one of the towers causing it to fall and explode. She continued to hit the guard towers one by one until only two remained, Milla threw her blue lightsaber with precise accuracy and killed the unsuspecting guard. Then on the last one she force jumped up to the tower and sliced the Colicoid in half, she then noticed Owen becoming overwhelmed by all the heavy fire so she took the helm of the turret and blasted every guard she saw avoiding the frantic slaves running about all over the camp.
Back to the other side of the camp.
With Milla raining heavy fire onto the guards killing several of them things were beginning to go bad for the Colicoid guard Captain. "Order all the camp guards to our position!" yelled the guard Captain into his communicator.
But it was too late, the barracks had been destroyed and almost all of the guards had already been slain as their insectoid corpses littered the surface of the camp with their green blood staining the ground, another Colicoid guard shrieked in agony as Owen cut him down.
He was getting closer to the guard Captain as Milla covered his advance with the heavy turret, the guard Captain noticed the Jedi getting closer and ordered his last remaining guards to attack. As Owen fought the deployed guards the Captain was trying to get a hold of the Colicoid leaders in the 'Droid Compound' on the other side of the planet but for some reason it wasn't working. "I have to warn the compound why won't this thing work!" screamed the guard Captain in anger.
"Good work Torvac" congratulated his fellow slave.
"That should keep them from contacting anyone" stated Torvac as he had just cut the communication lines.
Back to the other side of the camp.
Owen had just cut down the last guard in his way, he made his way over to the Colicoid guard Captain putting his saber to the creature's throat. "Please don't kill me" pleaded the guard Captain with his insect like cries.
Milla then approached from behind Owen. "Sounds like he's ready to comply"
"I'll tell you whatever you want, just don't kill me" he continued to plead.
Owen fought the temptation to kill him for what he did to these people, but eventually he lowered his saber. "Get me the translator" ordered Owen to Milla.
But as Milla pulled it out the green brains of the Colicoid flew everywhere.
Owen turned his head to find a Twi'lek with one of the guard's repeating blasters smoking in his hand. The light blue skinned Twi'lek then approached and spit on the remains of the guard Captain. "He deserved to die" stated the Twi'lek in basic.
"Who are you?" asked Owen taking notice of the tired Twi'lek.
"My name is Torvac and this is my camp" he stated.
"Your camp, I don't understand?" replied Owen.
"I am the leader of these people" he informed.
"What is this place, some sort of prisoner camp?" wondered Owen.
"No, not prisoners, but slaves" stated Torvac almost too drained to speak.
"This is a slave camp" Torvac informed.
"Are you alright?" asked Owen noticing Torvac was almost ready to faint.
"Forgive me, I and the others haven't ate or drank in some time" he informed.
Owen turned to Milla. "I want you to get back to the ships and bring the synthesizers and the water dispensers, also I want you to contact the council and tell them what's happening here"
"What, but that will take hours" questioned Milla.
"I don't have time to argue with you, just do it!" commanded Owen sensing that more could die at any moment.
"Take one of the guards speeders, it will get you there and back in no time" suggested Torvac.
Milla took off back towards their ships as Owen ordered. "So what type of slave camp is this?" asked Owen.
Torvac went on to describe the camp, what they did, why they were there, different stuff like that.
"So why have you come here?" wondered Torvac.
"I am a Jedi sent by the council to find a lost Republic transport that was shot down over the planet, the other Jedi you saw is with me as well" informed Owen.
"One of many Jedi, hundreds of ships have crashed here" stated Torvac.
"Wait a minute your telling me there's others?" asked Owen.
"Yes, there are other slave camps all over the planet, I've been to a few others but I've been here the longest" informed Torvac.
"Just how long have you been here?" asked Owen.
Torvac shook his head. "I've lost track, here everyday seems like a lifetime, I'm surprised I've lasted this long"
Torvac then fell to one knee from dehydration. "I'm sorry Jedi, I…I don't think I can talk anymore"
Owen reached down and put his hand on Torvacs chest. "I'll try to help"
He went on to use his force heal power on the nearly dead camp leader.
"There, that should sustain you for now" said Owen finishing his healing technique.
"Now you said there were other camps, do you know where they are?" asked Owen.
"Your wasting your time Jedi there are hundreds of them, all I know about the camps of this planet is this is the largest of them" informed Torvac.
"I'm not just going to let them die, there must be a way to save them" stated Owen.
"If you want to help them then your best idea would be to strike at the heart of the planet, the 'Droid Compound', if you take out the compound everything else will collapse" informed Torvac.
"Where is it?" asked Owen.
"To the north of here through the forests, be warned however it is well guarded and houses the Colicoid Creation Nest" informed Torvac.
"How do you know all this?" wondered Owen.
"I have been here a long time Jedi, too long" he stated.
Owen put his hand on Torvacs shoulder taking in the unbelievable news. "Well you just take it easy, you're free now and were going to get you and your people some help"
An hour passed and Milla returned with the synthesizers and water dispensers tied to the back of the speeder, she and Owen set them up as thousands lined up to get their portion. Owen then informed Milla of the situation and what Torvac had told him.
"That's amazing, what are we going to do?" she replied.
"One thing at a time Milla, did you contact the council about this place?" he asked.
"Yes, their sending several supply ships and an armored escort" she replied.
"Good" said Owen.
Milla then noticed several liberated slaves crying as they got their food and water. "Why are they crying?" asked Milla.
Torvac then came from behind surprising them. "They are tears of joy, you must understand that some have been here for so long that they have forgotten everything about their own lives, you are like angels to us Jedi"
"Walk through the crowd, I know the others would love to meet and thank you" suggested Torvac.
Owen and Milla looked to each other worried. "Don't worry, they just want to thank you" assured Torvac.
Owen and Milla started to walk through the dirty crowd of people, everyone from Humans, Twi'leks, Bothans, Rodians, Bith, Sullustans, and the list went on and on of numerous species Owen and Milla encountered. Some tugged at their Jedi robes to make sure they were real, they were all overjoyed as they hugged and thanked the Jedi for saving them from their horrifying reality. Some cried, some thanked, and others just stood their in disbelief that they were free and were no longer slaves of the murderous Colicoid race.