Episode Three
With Sharlon ever at my side, we travelled across the growing Darkness of the Empire itself, discovering several of the Old Order along the way, many little more than Children during the time of the Purge, hiding amidst the ruins of the Temple from the darkness which had overtaken Anakin Skywalker as his true crimes had become known to us all, the cold-blooded murder of Children, before killing any Adult Jedi and Temple Guards he had found along the way while assisted by a legion of Clone Troopers under his direct Command. Travelling by rumours to worlds far away from Imperial Space itself, while under the guise of Mother and Daughter once again, Sharlon had taken on the name of Alana as I continued to use the name of Ryder with pride, creating an entirely new personality to match our new names along with forged documents, we had travelled across known space many times until rumours of a powerful Jedi in isolation on a dark and hideous world had finally reached us through an underground network of contacts.
Utilising an old VCX-100 Light Freighter as our personal transport vessel, designed and built by the Corellian Engineering Corporation, our vessel was a small and underpowered ship which could barely travel through Hyperspace, or at least that was how we had made the vessel to appear as not to arouse any suspicion from anyone watching as passed through Imperial Space once again towards our final destination and possible Jedi in hiding. Attached to the rear of the vessel was a small and overpowered auxiliary transport vessel, capable of short range Hyperspace travel. Although un-armed as was our plans, the vessel was fast enough to outrun most vessels which had often challenged the smaller craft, yet highly agile to avoid weapons fire as Privateers and Pirates would often attempt to capture the vessel and any possible cargo onboard.
Passing through the thick cloud cover of the planet itself towards the location of what had been believed to be another of our kind, we finally touched down on a world of which I had dreaded to return, my former home world of Perdition itself. I had once considered the world to hell itself, half frozen and half baking in the light from the star itself with only a thin band of habitable zone on the entire planet, however as I had stepped out onto the land itself, I saw a large city which had seemingly expanded into the frozen wastelands of eternal night. I have to admit, I felt the cold pull of fear ripping through my body as I slowly walked towards the city with Alana ever at my side, sensing my trepidation of returning to the world I had refused to speak of for many years. Far from the home of scavengers as was my former home, far away from the City in which we had walked, it had appeared as if everyone had been well fed and healthy, a far cry from the poverty and squalor in which I had once lived, if living was what I had done at the time.
Many wore thick clothing to protect themselves from the biting cold while others wore what had appeared to environmental suits for the same reason and only a few had been brave enough to walk around the almost frozen city without clothing due to a thick layer of fur on their bodies, a species I had instantly recognised from my former life and stories of what people had called the vicious subterranean species known as 'The Feared', a species which had seemingly lived in harmony with those around them.
I felt my hand resting on the weapon hidden beneath my long black cloak, not the Lightsaber I had used as my own personal weapon, but the blaster I had once taken from a Clone Trooper when I had rescued Sharlon from her own Clone Troopers, a weapon I had kept at my side and modified into a smaller and easily concealable weapon itself, now my primary means of defence. Entering what had appeared to be a small cantina on the outskirts of the City, I felt all eyes turn onto myself and my companion instantly as we walked towards the bar to order two drinks before seating ourselves away from the patrons of the Cantina itself. Observing those around us for some time as we sipped on our drinks, it had become instantly clear why this specific City had lived in harmony for so long as it had been policed by a private security force which had been controlled by a man known only as Artemis, a man whom had rarely left his command center as all business within the city had to be approved by himself. Having spoken with several of the patrons of the Cantina, including the owner herself, Sharlon had acquired a meeting with the man himself as five minutes later, the Private Security Force had arrived to take us directly to the man under the claim that we where traders looking to open up a new line of trade with the City in precious minerals.
Led into the large and lavish office of the man, my heart sank instantly as a tall dark haired man stood with a weapon in his hand and while he walked towards me, I felt something that I had not felt in my entire life as he stopped before me and slowly removed my hood, before stepping backwards in shock as he looked into my eyes before examining my face carefully.
"Who are you?" He said with a half whisper of shock.
"My name is Ryder, and this is my mother Alana. We are hoping to open up a market here, everyone we have spoken with says that all trade, must be approved by you first Mister Artemis" I replied slowly while pushing aside the feeling which had torn through me.
"And what do you trade in Miss Ryder?"
"A rare variety of Quadanium Alloys" I replied slowly.
"Is that not controlled by the Empire?" He said instantly.
"Only in it's purest form sir, our Alloy is different and as such is not bound by Imperial Laws. We have discovered a way to liquefy the Alloy itself, and as such can be safely controlled, under the right circumstances, it can even be moulded into a crystalline structure and forced to grow as a natural Crystal-like structure. The benefits are a stronger structure than the usual alloys, it also helps to trap heat as a natural insulator. If you coat your structures with this new Alloy, there will be little need for heating apparatus and energy which can placed back into the system of this world of other needs and thus, increasing your fuel efficiency by over 300% above normal levels"
"An impressive achievement Miss Alana…"
"I noticed that you have begun construction of a Dome structure in the frozen half of this planet? Fresh water must be something of a problem on this world. What if I told you that by using our minerals, you will be able to construct a similar dome structure on the opposite side of this city. Imagine using the natural light and heat from this system's star… as a natural and endless source of power, possibly even being able to colonise the light-side of this world itself"
"An interesting prospect Miss Ryder" He said as he once again studied my face slowly. "How much will this cost myself and this city?"
"If we are to open up a new market here, we would like to have your permission to speak with some of your people first?"
Negotiating with the man known as Artemis was easy as he quickly saw the potential of what we had appeared to have been selling him after having claimed that our mineral and alloys had been used on many frozen and inhospitable worlds on the outer reaches of the galaxy itself. We both saw the greed which had echoed in his eyes as he agreed to allow us to speak with several people across his city, the exact opening that we had needed to search for the suspected former member of the Old Order. Leaving his office in silence after a polite bow, the feeling which had radiated through me upon first seeing the man had remained with me to such an extent that Alana at my side had felt my discomfort, although remaining silent as we exited the large building in the perpetual dawn of the City, she instantly stopped me with the question which I knew had been plaguing her mind.
"Who is he Ryder, more importantly, who is he to you?"
"I can't be sure Alana, but I know that man. Not from… not from my visions…" I whispered. "But from my own memories of my Childhood. Alana, I think that man… is my Father"
"I thought that you said your parents died when you where young?" She said with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"No, I've been lying about that part of my life for years and I begged Carlin not to say anything. I was abandoned when I was little more than four years old by my parents as I was a drain on their little resources, such as food and water. The moment I saw him, I knew who he was… and I think, that he knows who I am also. I should leave… I'll meet you back at the launch, find the one that we are looking for, but be careful here my old friend. This planet is dangerous and so are the people here"
Returning to the vessel while leaving Alana alone in the city was not what I had intended to do, my heart and mind was set on confronting the man I had believed to be my father, the bastard male whom had abandoned me to death in the hellish city I had once called home. Living in my own filth while scrounging for scraps of food and what few precious drops of drinkable water I could find, stealing what I had needed to survive and often beaten by those around me for either stealing their food or for what little food and water I had on me at the time, if I was unfortunate enough to be discovered by the gangs which had prayed on the young and weak. I had waited until Alana had disappeared into the city before I returned into the building itself and even though I had once struggled to overcome the darkness which had lived within me for so long, I could feel that darkness about to return to the surface as I walked back towards the office itself.
Standing before the doors to the internal office after quietly slipping past the numerous guards, often using my abilities and training to order them to leave their posts and to forget that they had even seen me, I felt a powerful mind behind the door itself, a mind of the purest of darkness and evil which sent a cold rippling through my body as I opened the door slowly and stepped inside. My eyes opened wide as I came face-to-face with the one man in the universe I had been ordered to avoid, Darth Vader himself.
Turning slowly towards me as I stepped into the office, I instantly bowed with respect as not to create suspicion of who and what I was, but somehow, he was ready for me as he activated his Lightsaber with the powerful hum of the crimson blade as he walked towards me instantly in recognition of who and what I was.
"Jedi!" His Deep and dark mechanical voice called out.
"It's been a long time… I wish I could say that you haven't changed much… but you look like hell. And on this world, that is not uncommon, but you look worse" I said with a mocking tone.
"By Order of the Emperor… Saris, you are…"
"Yeah, under arrest, go with you or die. I got that part… I've heard it a few times from some of your little Hunter friends. They didn't return, did they? I know who you are… and by order of the True Republic and the Jedi Order, Darth Vader I am placing you under arrest for the cold-blooded murder of thousands, millions including Children… you Psychotic Bastard!"
His taunting of me continued with slices of his Lightsaber around and before me, hoping for some sign of retaliation or defence as I knew that he wanted me to reach for my weapon, but Vader was not my concern, it was the one man that I returned to speak with, the man half cowering beneath his own desk, the man who had what I needed, closure on my own life. Slicing once again through the air, the tip of his crimson energy blade held beneath my chin as I looked up into the eyes of the mask before me with a soft and gentle smile on my face as I spoke, challenging the dark lord of the Sith himself to kill me where I stood, defenceless and in cold blood, as I knew that word would spread of my death.
"Do not tempt me JEDI!"
"Why? You could never defeat me when we sparred during training, what makes you think that Darth Vader can? I know all of your moves my old friend, I even taught you a few myself. I'm not saying that I am better than you, actually? I am… put down your weapon, or I will take it from you as I have in the past, only this time, it will not be a training blade, I will kill you!"
"You underestimate my Power…" He called out with the dark and twisted voice.
"I get that a lot. Tell me, why are you in that Protective Suit? What are you hiding or hiding from?"
I saw it before it had happened, his arm moved back holding the blade to slice through the air, however my reactions where faster as I utilised my own abilities to hold his hand before me and deactivated his personal weapon of choice. Looking towards his own hand as I held it with my own knowledge of the force, I knew instantly that he would counter with a thrust into my chest with his own control of the force, and it was at that moment that I shocked the man I had known for many years as I held his free hand and pulled as his arms stretched out at either side, the gears and mechanical equipment which had made his limbs grinding against my own abilities as I held him.
"You're not Organic, you're Cybernetic? So much more the better for me, you see my old friend, unlike many, I immersed myself in the Synthetic, studied it for a reason that I had no idea of why, until now. You Lord Vader, are a fraud!"
I pulled at his arms until I heard creaking and grinding gaining in volume as he screamed in agony at my grasp of his mechanical components and at that point, I knew at that point that I could rip the man apart by tearing his mechanical limbs from his organic body, but it was at that point that I hesitated for a moment and the doors behind me, exploded with the energy of his personal Strom Trooper Guards. I had mere moments to act as I saw each moment play out in my mind, a mere heartbeat before it had happened. His personal Lightsaber leapt into my hand as I used my own abilities to push him away, sending the Cybernetic Sith Lord crashing into the wall behind himself as his weapon leapt activated upon contact with my hand, turning instantly I defected the blaster bolts which flew towards me as I leapt backwards towards the glass behind me which shattered upon contact with the bolts of energy I had deflected before I passed through the glass itself and fell onto the building's curves surface beneath me.
I slid down the curve of the lower levels with the red blade in my hand before reaching the end of my slide and falling towards the ground hundreds of feet beneath me, I would have surely died at that moment if not for my own understanding of the Force itself as I pulled myself towards the building itself with the force as I could sense the metallic structure which had made up the building. I could not have used the Lightsaber to slow my decent by using it to carve into the building as it could have possibly have sliced through a vital support and brought down the building itself, but as I fell uncontrollably, my mind raced through the options of how to save myself from a certain death. Having been in similar situations in the past, I would have often slowed my decent with a powerful downwards thrust from the force itself before my impact on the ground, however being inside of a vast city, the shockwave would have surely injured the innocent lives in proximity. Rapidly approaching the ground, I saw a smaller building within reach of my fall and having pushed myself away from the building which I could swear I had felt shake slightly from my thrust away from the structure, I landed on the roof of the nearby building before collapsing to my knees and rolling until I came to a stop with the now deactivated Lightsaber I had taken from a feared Sith Lord in my hand.
Looking up towards the tip of the tall of tall building before me, I could not belief how lucky I was to have survived the fall from such a great height, although I could still feel the eyes of Darth Vader looking down onto the city streets below himself, perhaps I had shaken him slightly with my defence of myself? Having defeated him yet, left him alive, but I knew that I would face Darth Vader once again as now, he was coming for me and those around me, those I had sworn myself to protect.
Moving slowly and cautiously through the building which had saved my life, I felt the approach of Storm Troopers along with the Private Security Force of the planet, as they had begun to search nearby buildings for me under the orders of Vader. I had little time to act once again since a single Trooper had begun to approach my location. As many around the galaxy knew, the Storm Troopers where a pale imitation of the Clone Troopers, and even though I had warned the Old Order of what I knew to be true, I knew that the Clone Troopers where a powerful and united Army while the Storm Trooper replacements where nothing more than Conscripts, drafted to swell the ranks of the growing Army of the Emperor, with inferior training. I had hidden inside of a darkened room before the open door, upon hearing of the Trooper approach, I reacted the instant he passed through the door as I dragged him inside of the room with my abilities before throwing the terrified man inside of the armour into each wall in the room multiple times until he blacked out from the attack. I had perhaps made one error during my choice of armour in which to hide inside of, as his armour could barely fit around my chest as I squeezed into his white and black armour and having once worn the armour of a Clone Trooper, I instantly knew the difference as I could barely see through the Helmet's slim polarizing optical filters, although now I could hear the reports of the search itself.
Hiding the unconscious man inside of the dark room after binding his arms, legs and covering his mouth so that he could not speak, I stepped into the corridor and walked past the numerous search parties as I had taken the armour of the Ranking Trooper on the scene. Although my voice was not the same as that of a male, I had continued to use a Vocal Modulator I had created many years ago and had always kept on my person at all times and having pre-programmed the unit which I had previously placed on my throat to mask my female voice, I was able to issue orders to those around me in an effort to send them into the next building and assigning another as Commander as I had stated that my own transmitted had failed.
Moving through the City while still wearing the Armour of the Trooper, I had seen first hand the fear which the white and black uniform had instilled in those around me as the moved away from my path. Seeing a terrified child frozen to the spot at my approach, the young boy reminded me of myself at the same age, looking around instantly I saw a package of food on a table which had belonged to another, reaching towards the package of food, a man stood instantly from behind the table and walked towards me as I stood before the child while his eyes searched what had appeared to be my own before he reached inside of his robes slowly and nodded as I saw the unmistakable sign of a Lightsaber hanging on his belt-line. Holding out his free hand, the young boy ran towards the man and wrapped his arms around him in fear as I felt the presence of two Force Sensitive beings before me, turning instantly to look around the streets to see if I was being followed, I stepped into the darkness of the structure before me and with the Optical Filters in the helmet instantly adjusting to the darkness, I saw that no one was around before I removed my helmet as he stood before me and nodded.
"My name is Ryder, do not fear me little one, I am not what you think I am… I can sense your connection, a connection that I share as do many. If you come with me, I will take you both to the others"
"There are no others…" The Man replied to me, slowly and cautiously.
"You are wrong sir, I was given this challenge many years ago by the last member of the old Council, to reform the order far away from the Empire… and order given to me by Master Obi-Wan himself"
"Then he… is alive?"
"Yes sir, and as stubborn as always. I was once named Saris, Padawan of Carlin and later Sharlon. There are more of our kind awaiting your arrival…"
"Saris? I remember you, but you…" He said slowly.
"I left the order, I objected to the use of the Clone Army. It turns out that I was correct about them, they where dangerous. We have a vessel in orbit and a launch ready to take you both onboard… but we have to act quickly…"
"Yes I know, Vader is here" He said with a deep sense of exhaustion. "He has been chasing the both of us for years"
Before I left the building and the many Troopers behind, I thrown a bag containing my own clothing and equipment into a darkened ally which I had later recovered before walking the streets which had brought me to this location. Reaching into the back over my left shoulder, I pulled out the black and silver Lightsaber I had taken from Vader himself as the man before me looked down with shock echoing over his face at the sight of the Sith Weapon in my hand.
"He won't pose a challenge without his weapon, he was injured when I faced him, but I have little doubt that he will find me now, I embarrassed him deeply before his own Troopers. Head for the clearing to the south, you will find a small launch, I will distract the Troopers long enough for you to make it to the launch. Sharlon should be there by now, tell her that I sent you and that if I am not back in one fifteen minutes, to leave without me, go now!"
Handing him the bag minus the Lightsaber I had taken from Vader along with my own personal Lightsaber which I had hidden inside of the chest plate on the armour I wore, I pulled back on the helmet before standing tall as I turned to leave. Leading the Troopers away from the launch under the disguise of their own Commander with false intelligence of discovering the female Jedi they had been searching for, I saw an Imperial Officer now directing the search from what had appeared to be a makeshift command post which had been quickly assembled. Holding the Sith Weapon in my hand as I stood in a darkened room, I focused on the weapon itself and watched as it began to warp and twist in my hand under the grip of my abilities as sparks flew from the powerful weapon itself, rendering the weapon useless. Taking a deep breath, I entered the street and walked towards the Officer as he turned towards me.
"Admiral, the Jedi has yet to emerge from this place, however I did find this…" I said as I presented the damaged weapon before him.
His eyes opened wide with fear at the sight of twisted metallic tube-shaped weapon in my hand, a weapon he had instantly recognised as belonging to the powerful and deadly Sith Lord himself.
"Where did you discover the weapon?"
"On the opposite side of this City, near the ice fields. It appears to have been rendered useless, although I know little of this weapon type… I should present this to Lord Vader himself" I replied confidently.
"No, I will take this to him Personally. Continue with your search Trooper, return to the Ice Fields and when you find the Jedi, bring her to Lord Vader, personally"
"Yes Admiral"
I was torn by what to do next, I wanted to speak with the man which I had believed to be my father but in doing so, I knew that I would have to pass through the entire ranks of the Imperial Army within the City and the Rank on my armour of Lieutenant may not allow such an act, especially as I knew that Darth Vader now stood between myself the man I had returned to speak with, but upon hearing that a small vessel had been launched from the surface with four people onboard and several Tie-Fighters in pursuit, my answer had been given for me as now I had to defend my ship and the precious cargo onboard that vessel, Alana and the others I had come to recover.