Onimi - Well, Han is in the list of main characters...
Sioux - I liked depressed drunk Jaina. She was funny. I think you'll see a few things about her that will likely fall in line with what someone going through a case of depression would...short of cutting herself.
Not much action, but a very important chapter. Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 8 – Re-education
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Jaina woke to an upside down furry face growling inches from her own face and shoved it back with the Force by reflex. Prepared for it, Lowie blocked her attack and crooned a question.
"What happened?" Jaina demanded and sat up. The office spun around her and she leaned against the wall to catch her balance. With the amount of alcohol in her system she was barely able to see straight, much less stand. She surveyed the office around her as quickly as she could. The door had been blown off the hinges, there were blaster bolt marks on the walls, and on the desk...
[I was hoping you could tell me], Lowie growled. Karrde's dead.
Jaina pulled herself to her feet with Lowie's assistance and numbly stumbled over to the desk where Karrde's lifeless body laid sprawled across it. Trying to ignore the lightsaber burns through his chest, she gently reached over and closed his still-open eyes, her hands shaking from the seemingly simple effort.
"I-I was knocked out," Jaina said. "I saw lightsabers. They knocked the door in...and I think I was flying...the wall..."
Her voice trailed off as her lower lip trembled from the grisly room and she could no longer contain the emotions. Between the concussion, the alcohol, and the pain of failure with Karrde, she collapsed against her friend's chest and cried, hugging him tight. She squeezed handfuls of his fur into her fists and pulled herself against him as if to prevent him from leaving her, too.
[Here], Lowie eventually attached her lightsaber to her belt and eased her out of the hug which had resulted in more than a few painfully removed strands of fur. [We need to get back to the Falcon.]
Jaina nodded and wiped her eyes, looking back at Karrde as Lowie half carried her out of the room. She could not help but think, Another friend I've failed.
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The first escape pod slammed into the ground not far from the base of the Jedi Temple, just slightly into the exotic Zonoma jungle where the trees were not thick enough to cause damage to the pod. By the time Mara had pushed the door open, the other pod slammed into the ground about a kilometre away, slightly closer to the Temple. She noticed several figures running toward their location, so she waved at them before turning back and pulling Luke out of the pod. Even before she had climbed into the pod back on the ship, Luke had put himself into a healing trance that he had not come out of yet. She used the Force to extract him from the pod and laid him on the ground just as Tionne, Kam Solusar and Jysella Horn arrived with their lightsabers in hand, but unlit.
"What happened?" Tionne asked. Mara looked up to see identical looks of horror on all three faces above her. She looked back at Luke, noticing for the first time how extensively Luke had been beaten. His clothes were torn in a dozen places, each one showing patches of bloodied or slashed skin, his face was severely bruised, and a large area of his sandy blond hair was mottled with dried blood from a cut on his scalp.
"Krayt knew we were coming," Mara said, unable to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. "He infected Luke with some Vong poison. Jacen's in the other pod. We have to get Luke to him."
"I'll carry him," Kam said and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. Mara helped him hoist Luke onto his shoulder, and the four of them set off at a run toward the second pod.
As they got closer, Mara's heart sunk further into her chest as a painful realization was coming upon her. Eriana was sitting on the edge of the escape pod entrance with her head in her hands, flanked by Cilghal and Tiu Zax. Jacen was not in sight. She reached out with the Force trying to find him, maybe still in the pod, but all she sensed was Eriana's grief.
"Where is he?" Mara demanded as they finally reached her. "Where's Jacen?"
Eriana pulled her head out of her hands, looking at Mara with eyes ringed with red skin and tears. Mara felt her heart freeze inside her chest as she processed the fact that Eriana – one of the most emotionally controlled people she had ever known – was crying.
"It was seven against one," Eriana said. "He distracted them so I could get away. They took him prisoner."
Mara looked away from Eriana out into the jungle as if she might find some sort of inspiration there, but her mind felt like a block of ice.
"Mara, we should get Luke inside," Cilghal said. "I may be able to help."
She nodded absently and continued staring out into the jungle, barely noticing as everyone walked away from her and Eriana.
"Could you have helped him?"
"I don't know," Eriana admitted and held out her left arm, showing off a blaster bolt burn that seemed to have almost obliterated half her bicep muscle. "My arm took a pretty nasty shot and he was badly out numbered. They had a couple dozen blasters pointed at him and he was still recovering from the poison. It takes a while to fully recover from a poison that strong."
Mara turned around and walked toward the Jedi Temple without a word, not entirely sure if she believed the former Jensaarai Defender.
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A slow repeating clacking noise brought Jacen out of his slumber and alerted him to the presence of someone in his room. He slowly rose from the hard metal slab he called a bed and came face to face with the grey skull-like helmet of Darth Krayt. Aside from the ice blue left eye and fire red right eye, the only other thing Jacen noticed was that the door to his cell was open, allowing him the first light that he had seen in hours. Or possibly days. Time appeared to have no meaning in the dark little prison cell.
"I must congratulate you," Krayt said. His deep voice echoed in the small room, but Jacen rolled his eyes when he realized it was a Force trick. "It would have taken a considerable amount of skill for you to bypass my security with so many Jedi. Sacrificing yourself to let your friends escape was also quite admirable. I must say, as I underestimated Zonoma Sekot, I also underestimated you."
Feeling both unthreatened and unquestioned, Jacen merely sat back down on the metal bed and waited in silence.
"Your skills in combat and neutralizing the poison are quite impressive as well," Krayt continued. "I could make use of someone with your skills."
"Interesting Yuuzhan Vong armour you're wearing," Jacen finally broke his silence. "I've never seen that breed. Is it infused into your skin?"
"We are kindred spirits, young Solo," Krayt said, ignoring Jacen's question as easily as the Jedi had ignored him. "Trained by the same master. You, and you alone among the Jedi, understand the real truth."
Despite wanting to ignore Krayt's rhetoric, curiosity got the better of Jacen. "And what truth is that?"
"Vergere's truth, of course." Krayt smiled under his spiky grey helmet. "She taught you as she once taught me."
"She didn't teach me to build a fleet and massacre innocent lives," Jacen argued. "She taught me to help people."
"You and I both know that help is defined by the one giving it," Krayt said with a sly grin. "Helping is exactly what I am doing. I am liberating people from the insanity of the Jedi who claim to protect them. Come with me."
Krayt disappeared through the door, leaving Jacen little choice but to follow him. While Krayt's minions had taken his lightsabers, they had not threatened him in any way since he surrendered. He followed the armour clad Sith Lord until they entered an otherwise empty enclosed tram. The tram accelerated to its cruising speed before Krayt spoke.
"What do you know of galactic economics?"
"Only the basics I learned in school," Jacen said. "Supply and demand dictates price, invisible hands providing direction for flow of goods and services to markets that need them. That sort of thing."
"Allow me to fill in your education," Krayt said. "True economic prosperity can only be reached during a state of socio-political stability. While war is great for spending, it is not so great for consumer confidence. When the populations of planets feel it is safe to trade between them, they waste fewer resources on destroying each other and focus on social and economic growth. Credits travel, bringing prosperity to places where military regimes would only leave them with stockpiled tools of destruction, empty factories and desolate fields."
The tram slowed to a stop and Jacen followed Krayt out of it through a series of brightly lit grey corridors until they came to a black door, using those moments of silence to ponder Krayt's words. Krayt pressed his human thumb onto the panel beside the door and a red light turned green. The door disappeared into the right side of the door frame and the unlikely pair entered the room. Two paces in, the door silently slid shut behind them.
The room was painted entirely black and the only light filtering in was from the planet below. Jacen followed Krayt's lead and walked up to the large transparisteel windows where they gazed down at the planet Jacen recognized as Duros as it slowly spun beneath them. A trio of ships with the now-familiar Bogan Empire logo on the hull performed a strafing run on the planet below, creating tufts of dirt kilometres wide where the turbolaser blasts had disappeared milliseconds before.
"The dispute between the Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance is as futile as it is pointlessly destructive," Krayt finally continued his lecture. "The Jedi claim to be guardians of peace in the galaxy, but their lack of vision has left more people suffering in poverty than ever while they live in the spoiled luxury of their great tower. Tell me, young Solo, how can the people of the galaxy ever persevere if they are too busy fighting wars with the Jedi Order?"
"It takes two sides to start a war," Jacen said evenly. "The Jedi uphold peace. Usually it is the Sith that have a problem with that."
"If the Jedi aren't strong enough to keep challengers to their rule at bay, the laws of evolution require them to make way for someone who is."
"Evolution?" Jacen mocked. "Is that what you call wiping out innocent people, like the entire Hapes cluster? You think that is going to fix the problem of widespread galactic poverty? I hate to break it to you, but Hapes was a pretty wealthy cluster until you massacred it. I may not know much about economics, but I do know you need credits to come from somewhere, and Hapes had plenty of that to contribute. By destroying it, you set your goals back."
"Eliminating opposition to a unified galactic economy is my goal," Krayt barked back. "Do not even try to protest the innocence of Hapes to me, young Solo. Hapes would never conform nor contribute to anything outside their borders unless it brought them more wealth. A message had to be sent to the clusters that exclusion will not be tolerated in my new economy. The Imperial Remnant and Republic both caved to our might and will see the greatest era of prosperity the galaxy has ever known. Hapes and any other sectors supporting the destructive efforts of the Jedi have to be eliminated for the greater good of prosperity. The Jedi are fighting a lost cause that will drag more and more delusional idealists into a war that will only result in their own undoing. It is to everyone's long term benefit to join me!"
"You think that by getting the entire galaxy under your umbrella of control, you can save it by creating an economic powerhouse to lift everyone out of poverty? A totalitarian government where everyone contributes and benefits as you dictate? You're no better than Palpatine."
"Palpatine's Empire brought an age of unity the likes of which the galaxy had never seen before."
"That wasn't unity," Jacen spat. "That was slavery disguised as patriotism and xenophobia. That is no way for people to live in a free and just society, and mark my words; they will want freedom from your regime no matter how much you try to convince them they don't."
"The nerfs must be herded, my young Jedi," Krayt said with a forced trace of humility. "Like you, I, too, was a Jedi Knight. I do not want to see people suffer. I want them to thrive, and I will bring them what they need to achieve greatness! Do you think the impoverished people want freedom? They want to know they will have their next meal, they want a roof over their heads, and they want to be free of war. That is what I will bring them. That is what the Jedi are incapable of bringing them because they are too weak. Would you rather bring about prosperity with a fire to cleanse the galaxy, or rip it apart in another war five years from now? How much more suffering are the Jedi willing to put everyone through before they realize they've always had it wrong?"
Jacen looked away from Krayt's determined face and focused on the planet below. What bothered him most about Krayt's words was not that the Sith Lord seemed utterly convinced about the end result of his crusade; it was that he had no solid argument against it. It did hold a measure of sense to it, as insane as Krayt's methodology sounded. Even though Krayt had started it, war was ripping the galaxy apart for yet another time in Jacen's short life, and it was true: Everyone was suffering because of it. But were the Jedi being weak really what drove the Sith to take over through some invisible economic force or law of evolution? In standing up for what they believed was right, were the Jedi making things worse? Unable to come to any answers, something Krayt said came back and started nagging at Jacen's mind, so he turned back to the Sith Lord.
"You said that I would understand because we were both trained by Vergere," Jacen said. "Why do you think anything she said would justify...this?" He pointed at the bombardment of the planet below and scowled at Krayt.
"I thought it would be obvious," Krayt said, folding his arms across his chest. The Yuuzhan Vong created arm hung a bit longer than the human arm, sticking out an extra hand length past his elbow. "Long before the Yuuzhan Vong invaded this galaxy, I was captured and experimented on by their shapers. As she had come to you in an hour of need, she came to impart her wisdom on me. She taught us to believe in ourselves and do what needs to be done. She taught us that by releasing ourselves to our will we can seek the true power within. She taught us the way of the Sith."
"Sith?" Jacen laughed and took a few steps away. He shook his head and turned back to face Krayt. "Are we talking about the same Fosh? Vergere was a Jedi. Her heart was as pure as any Jedi I've known. I don't know what you think she taught, but what she taught me was how to trust myself to know what the right thing to do was, not to commit genocide for the sake of a socio-economic theory. I trust in my heart, my friends and my family to guide me on the right path, not some egotistical need to dominate the galaxy through brute force under the guise of eliminating poverty."
It was Krayt's turn to chuckle at Jacen's description of Vergere's teachings. "I can sense the greatness and power her wisdom released within you, but something tells me we could stand here and debate philosophy all day and get nowhere. I'd like to suggest a different topic of conversation."
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were having a conversation," Jacen said sarcastically. "Since when did casual conversation topics include embracing moral ambiguity to justify genocide? Maybe we should have some tea and biscuits to go with our chat on the merits of mass torture and disembowelment!"
Krayt chuckled again and retreated to the wall by the door. He pressed a button and issued a command that Jacen did not hear.
"Ordering my execution?" Jacen asked coldly when Krayt returned to the window.
"Ordering tea," Krayt said. "And biscuits. We may as well enjoy social conventions when the opportunity arises."
The door opened and two soldiers came through first carrying a metre-square table followed by two more with a chair each. By the time the table and chairs were in position, a man with a white cook's outfit on entered with a tray including a pot of steaming water, some cups, biscuits, and tea bags. He disappeared without a word and, when the door closed, the Jedi and Sith were again cast in near darkness.
"Please have a seat," Krayt gestured for Jacen to sit opposite of him as he took his own chair. His oversized armoured frame dwarfed the normal-sized chair and made the tea set in front of him look absolutely miniscule. If they were in any other situation, Jacen may have felt inclined to laugh at the disproportionally large man. "I expected a very different conversation. I thought you had already learned the truth that I had, not that you would remain stubbornly blind to it."
"If you mean you're not going to convince me to join sides with the guy who wiped out my home and the Hapan people," Jacen said as he took the seat. "You're frakking right."
"You are already more Sith than you know," Krayt said sadly, pouring the hot water into a cup as if Jacen had not spoken. "Perhaps time will help you see this. But we digress. I instead want to discuss a mutual problem we share. There is a power in the galaxy that will undermine either of our efforts. Regardless if either the Jedi Coalition or the Bogan Empire is successful in the long run, this power will be a cancer threatening to destroy our successes from within our respective empires. Corruption does not bode well for either of our visions, and I would like to eliminate it. This will be your task."
Jacen rolled his eyes as he picked a tea bag at random and poured his own cup. "And who might this mysterious entity be that will inspire me to do this gruesome task for you?"
Krayt took a sip from his cup and smirked, pausing for dramatic effect as Jacen raised his cup to his lips. "The Black Sun."
Jacen stopped and put the cup back down. He placed his right elbow on the table and lowered his forehead onto his palm. After massaging his forehead and temple with his fingers for a few moments he finally looked back up at Krayt.
"This is a joke, right?" Jacen asked, spreading his arms wide. "If I didn't witness your troops slaughtering innocent people in the Hapes Cluster and your ships trying to blow up Zonoma Sekot, I'd swear someone was pulling the galaxy's biggest prank on me right now."
"This is no joke," Krayt said defensively. "The Black Sun has returned to power and is spreading its seeds of corruption. We must stop them."
"Black Sun was resurrected by Czethros, what, fifteen years ago?" Jacen asked. "It was wiped out. Again. I should know. I was on the front lines moppingup the sleeper cells that were waiting to take over key locations around the galaxy. My brother came up with the plan to route them out. Czethros was locked up tight in a chunk of carbonite and chucked into a sun. There is no more Black Sun."
"So well informed, yet so clueless," Krayt muttered. He stood up and returned to the window, tea cup still in hand. He took a sip of tea and collected his thoughts for a minute before speaking. "Czethros lacked vision. He knew nothing of the true nature of what the Black Sun was supposed to be. He sought power where there was none in a way that was destined to fail. His ambitions to seek political power were nothing short of greedy. Do you know what made Prince Xizor so powerful?"
"Falleen pheromones and a fancy droid to screw?"
"Xizor's greatest success came from not seeking political power," Krayt continued, ignoring his guest's flippant remark. "His influence came from corrupting the politicians and officials through blackmail, extortion, and other means. Whoever this new underlord is understands this and is doing it right. I have found ample evidence of even my own Bogan Warriors being extorted by this new underlord and I have had little success counteracting it. I should tell you, the corruption I learned about in the Jedi Coalition is considerable as well. I came across some particularly juicy information about a particular Jedi Master when I captured and tortured one of their vigos."
"Yeah, I'm sure you did."
"Did you know the Prince of Hapes committed adultery?" Krayt asked as innocently as he could manage with his gruff voice.
"I'm sure you knew that since you planned the whole thing," Jacen screamed, jumping up from his chair and knocking it over. "She was an innocent girl that did not deserve the hell you put her through! I can't believe the lengths you went to bend Carys to your will. It was bad enough that you manipulated her, but did you have to send assassins after her, too? She was as much a victim as I was!"
A flicker of genuine confusion emanated from Krayt that Jacen did not expect. When he finally spoke to the seething young man before him, his voice lacked any of the confidence and superioristic tones he had been using.
"What are you talking about, Solo?"
"The whole ploy to take over the Hapes Consortium," Jacen said, his anger withering slightly. "Using the clone of Tenel Ka. I understand using her to get the throne out from under Tenel Ka, but I'm surprised you didn't train her in the Force better. I'm just glad that she took your assassin out with her."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Krayt said slowly, his confusion both evident and genuine. "None of my assassins have set foot on Hapes, and I have made no political effort to take over Hapes. I wanted the cluster destroyed from the start."
Krayt's genuineness diffused Jacen's anger further. "Then...then who arranged the whole thing with Carys?"
Krayt merely lifted an eyebrow and stared at Jacen. The Force lent him insight to answer his own question: The Black Sun.
"If you want to find the ones truly responsible for the death of this apparently innocent Carys you hold so dear," Krayt said, his voice regaining confidence. "You know what you have to do. I ask you, young Solo, what motivates you the most? Do you want to reduce the corruption that brought an end to your friend and help build an empire – Jedi or Bogan – that will bring peace and prosperity for generations to come, or do you want to seek true revenge for the dead of Hapes by attacking me? Or, justice, if that's what your conscience demands you call it."
Jacen turned away from Krayt and walked about two paces before he realized he was about to walk into the black wall. He leaned against the wall for a moment collecting his thoughts and seeking guidance in the Force. He could attack Krayt now, avenging the deaths of the Hapans and all the others who had fallen in his quest. Or he could use Krayt's resources to pursue Black Sun and find the truth behind Carys's death. Maybe it was Krayt that orchestrated everything. Maybe it was Black Sun behind Carys. But in his heart, he knew vengeance was wrong, even in the name of justice. He closed his eyes and tried to piece together his possible futures.
Carys and the Hapes cluster were already dead. Nothing could change that. There was no way he could stop Krayt and his entire army alone, even if he somehow overpowered Krayt in the next five minutes. Someone would still pick up Krayt's mantle. There was only one path left for him, one path that he could make a difference on. Everything pushed him in one direction and he reluctantly accepted the will of the Force. He finally turned to face Krayt.
"Where do I start looking for the leader of Black Sun?"
Krayt extracted a data card from a crevice in his armour and tossed it across the room. Jacen caught it deftly and looked it over. He used the Force to extract some insight into the contents and closed his eyes as the rush of data flashed into his mind.
"There is a regional governor on Tepasi that has been performing actions unbefitting of our cause," Krayt said. "He..."
"Has been suspected of smuggling weaponry into the black market and has been seen by your spies consorting with some shady figures," Jacen finished from the knowledge he gleamed from the data card. "You suspect he's being manipulated by the Black Sun and can provide information about his contacts."
"Remarkable," Krayt smirked. "I've never seen that particular skill before."
"Thank you for remarking," Jacen said coldly. "I'll need a fast ship, false credentials, credits, my lightsabers, access to your intelligence database, and lots of latitude."
"A ship, credentials, and your lightsabers will be no problem," Krayt agreed. "But I will provide the rest in the form of your greatest need: a partner."
"I'm working alone on this one," Jacen said. "Or I'm walking."
"Quite the statement for a lone unarmed being in the middle of a Bogan ship," Krayt said smugly. "Without oversight, you will simply return to your Jedi friends as soon as you leave. No, you will take one of my best assassins with you to ensure you carry out your side of this deal."
"I don't need your bloodthirsty dog to keep me in line," Jacen said. "I know the stakes here, and if I'm doing this, I'm doing it the Jedi way. I'm not going on a mission to leave a trail of bodies behind me with a loose cannon assassin at my side."
"I see," Krayt said. "Then I will be the bigger man and offer the first compromise: You will remain in command of the mission, and my assassin will follow your orders so long as you stay focused on the mission goals as I lay them out for you."
Jacen looked Krayt in the eye and knew this compromise was about as good as he could get.
"So long as I agree with the mission goals and am allowed to find the best means to achieve the same ends, I'm willing to accept this compromise."
"Deal," Krayt said with a grin. "Allow me to introduce your new best friend."
He gestured to the door and it opened on cue, allowing an angry Twi'lek with red and black tattoos entirely covering her scantily-clad and well-toned body.
"Her name is Zara."
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