"Wake up, wake up mommy!"
Calon's dream was horribly vivid. The small, Kiffar girl was screaming and crying as loudly as she was when he saw her for the first time. She kept shaking her non-moving body. The mother was pretty, as he remembered, a sickly pale tattooed face and striking brown eyes that were lifeless. She clutched at her smelly, burnt, black wound. A cooling blaster laying still besides her, still smoking from overheating.
The window in front of the two was destroyed by blaster bolts, charred pieces of archaic glass lying near them. Calon remembers that they were ambushed, and then General Haron-
"-The plastic droids are here mom! Wake up!"
Calon was hurt as his mind made him remember that comment that the little girl uttered. Never has Calon felt so evil, so heartless, so...inhuman, since that phrase escaped the girl's thin, tear and mucus covered lips. Calon stood there, helmet emotionless, staring as she tried to shake her mother from eternal slumber.
"You did this! You killed my mommy!" She yelled, Calon expressionless mask never moving from the sight. Calon decided he had enough of the scene, and continued to pour the smelly liquid all over the floor, he doesn't want to remember what horrid liquid is though.
As he turned back to the room, the girl was staring at him, finger pointing in accusation. "Wake up Calon! You need to see what's actually the truth, wake up!"
"Wake up!"
"Wake up Calon!"
"Wake up Calon, we're here." Calon jolted awake as Lana gently shook his shoulder in an attempt to wake him up. "Looked like a bad dream love, are you okay?" Lana worried, Calon took a deep breath and replied nonchalantly.
"It was nothing, I'm fine." He lied. He sat upright and stretched, twisted his back until it cracked, and rubbed his eyes soon after. "So, we're at Felucia?"
"Yup, right in front of ya, pretty looking planet."
Calon viewed the colorfully matte planet, covered in spots of gray and white. He remembered visiting there for a short while during a deployment. Lots of animals, lots of terrain, and lots of dangers.
"Where exactly is this safe house?" Calon asked, before he stood up to stretch. "Safe house is a few dozen kilometers from the capital, little town called Nyondo. The planet is already not as protected as the rest of the Empire, as you know, so it'll be a good place to hide."
"Don't I know it." Calon sat back and stared at the pretty planet, the ship hovering nearer and nearer. Eventually, they entered the atmosphere no problem, and a bit of ease washed over Lana and Calon. "Thought something bad was gonna happen like always." Lana chuckled.
"Don't jinx it dear, we already have enough trouble." Calon commented. After a minute or two of flying over the colorful and bright surface, the locator beeped excitedly.
"We must be near, but I don't see a village in sight." Lana added. Calon leaned near the port and viewed the landscape, seeing nothing out the ordinary. He did notice, however, a small orange glow, near the portside. "I see the place. What's wrong?" Lana asked.
He didn't listen to her, too distracted by the light, examining it more closely, noticing the small gray trail following as it got closer and closer. Calon's eyes opened in fear as he screamed over the ship's intercom. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
Almost immediately, the ship was hit hard, knocking down Calon and Lana. Both had manage to regain their posture, and began preparing whatever emergency systems they needed. "Engines still intact, but we lost power to them, must've be some disruptor missile or something!" Lana said, as she glided the ship towards the small village.
She quickly opened the intercom and warned everyone onboard. "Everyone brace yourselves! We're gonna have a rough landing!"
Serpion, Amon, and Vrega waited on Dantooine, having a holoconference with the stressed General Haron. Her semi-blue colored figure appeared in her usual stance of hands behind her back, looking serious and dreaded.
"They're heading where?" General Haron sighed, rubbing her temples.
Serpion replied with a respectful, easy tone, hoping she wouldn't upset the general too much. "To Felucia, General, they were most likely told by some informant that we would be here on Dantooine. I suspect it was a friend of the Zeltron woman we interrogated the other day, maybe they saw us."
"Good work Serpion, this will be noted. I will send a team of Commandos from Arthet to intercept them at Felucia, meet with them to secure the fate of these rebel scum."
"Without question, General," Amon finished, "We'll do our best to catch these traitors. Tell them to shoot down the ship if spotted." Haron nodded and discontinued the holocall.
Vrega, standing along the wall in the back, spoke up. "Ever been to Felucia?" He asked, staring off the viewport of the building.
"No." They both answered.
"I was sent a couple of times, for various marks. All of them always hide on that planet because it's dense, has almost no security, and anything there will kill you before you find them. It's a great hunt, if you like a challenge." He said nonchalantly as he checked his nails in boredom.
"What a riveting tale, Mr. Tugruu. But we must leave." Serpion flicked away her hand to signal to follow. Amon followed, Vrega not far behind. They gathered in their personal ships and as soon as they left the planet's orbit, they shot off into the stars.
Raidek stood silently as he stared at Jerriko, eating a plate of what looked like waffles a bit hungrily. Jerriko never really returned the stare but was completely aware of of his stare. Jerriko decided to end it.
"What is it?"
"So you're actually a Jedi?"
Jerriko stopped eating and placed down his fork. "As that wasn't already obvious." He stood up and brought out his lightsaber. Raidek stared at the silvery handle with peaked interest. "This is a lightsaber, the ancient weapon of the Jedi. This was formally Jedi Master Shaak Ti's before her untimely death, it holds great power and honor."
"When do I get one?!" Raidek asked
"When you had the proper training. I've seen inexperienced thieves, like you, cut off their own arms by being stupid. You'll get one if you're committed to be a Jedi.
Raidek rubbed his neck. "How am I supposed to be a Jedi if they're wiped out?"
"I'll teach you." Jerriko crossed his arms. "Only if you accept my invitation. If not, we'll drop you off in the next port we land at."
Raidek pondered before speaking again, creating an awkward and cold silence. "I... guess I dint have no other choice. If I'm force-sensitive like you said, then I'll accept your offer."
"Then I, Jerriko Thane, take you as my padawan. But heed this Raidek." Jerrriko pulled the other close and into a secure grab of his shoulders. "This will not be easy. Challenges and the such will be hard to accomplish. And the Dark Side is something that you must never, never go to. Ever. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
Jerriko pushed him back a bit before staring him in the eyes. "Then it will be done, my apprentice." Jerriko beamed.
'EVERYONE GET DOWN!'
The ship abruptly quaked violently, causing the two to lose their balance and crash towards the floor. Jerriko sprung back up and helped Raidek get back on his feet.
'Everyone brace yourselves! We're gonna have a rough landing!'
Without stop, the two grabbed onto something steady and prepared for landing. The ship crashed against the dense and fluorescent jungle with no grace, scrapping hard and fast. Inside, everyone one was trying to hold onto the things they grabbed onto.
After an intense and quick landing, they freighter finally landed in the bush of the forest a few hundred meters outside the town. The villagers, Twi'leks and Humans, began pouring out of their houses towards the crash site, wanting to view the new and sudden visitors that have crashed.
The hanger opened and out stepped Calon first, walking a bit slowly and wobbly , disoriented from the landing. "Oh god…" Calon muttered as he stumbled onto his hands and knees. Jerriko and the rest stumbled out one by one each heavily disoriented and shaken. Lana was the last, mumbling something or other about her ship. The villagers immediately helped them up and took them to the village, ready to do whatever they can to help.
"Miss Sion, we've downed the ship, ready to move in." The hologram of a storm commando reported to Serpion, who was inside her private ship. "Don't move in until we land, Sergeant. Keep an eye on them until we come and see. Only then we will finish them off."
The commando nodded and ended the holocall. Serpion quickly went to her comms and began informing Amon and Vrega of the situation.
"Boys, we have confirmed intel that the ship is shot down on Felucia, get your things ready." Vrega chuckled into his speaker, a laugh that definitely gave off the hunter inside him. "*ibic Kelir cuyir jate"
*this'll be too good.
Calon's mind finally mustered together to be somewhat conscious, as his eyes were closed, but he was able to hear what was happening around. He blacked out they crashed, after he saw a lithe and short woman run up to him, assuming she was gonna take care of him.
"Do you think they're alright?" A feminine voice asked, her smooth voice sounding very close.
"I've seen worse, child. No doubt they'll be fine once they wake up. Now Alia, let him rest, tend to the others." The voice gently said, before he heard the shuffle of feet go left. Calon finally manage to gain full awareness and took a lot of strength to open his eyes. He saw that he was in a lit room, surrounded by various beds and equipment.
He immediately began rising from the bed, trying to see if the others were okay. "Where...where's Lana? I need to know where she is." Alia made her way over to Calon in a fast pace and lowered him back gently down to the bed. "You're still recovering from that landing, sir. Please rest." She said.
Calon got a look of her before he rubbed his eyes in discomfort. She had pale, white skin that had a small hue of tan, her brown eyes and long brown hair, done into a ponytail, quickly stood out from her skin. She was lithe and thin, not as fully figured as Danaki or Lana, but she was quaint. She wore a simple gray shirt and black pants, she had on her arms old Clone armor gauntlets painted green with fingerless gloves.
"What's your name sir?" She said, applying a bacta patch to a small cut in his arm. "My name is Calon. You're Alia?"
"Yes, name's Alia Carriss. Who's Lana?" Calon startled at the name and tried to get up again before Alia reassuringly placed him down. "Where is she? Is Lana okay?" He frantically asked.
"Who's Lana?" Alia repeated.
"She's the Mirialan girl, green skin, short hair. Where is she?" Alia pointed towards a bed further down
"She's over there sleeping. I suggest you rest to before you hurt yourself again." Calon respectfully obliged and laid in the bed. "The others are fine too."
"Thanks for taking us in. That was a very rough landing."
"Thank Gies, he was the one who said he'll take you in." Alia smiled, she went across the room and brought back another bacta patch for Calon. Calon must've figured he cut himself when they crashed.
"You should sleep as well, Calon. You need to gain your strength for when the others wake." Alia advised.
Calon gave a simple nod in return and went back to bed, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Calon woke again, feeling much better and more aware. He got out the bed and saw Lana, Jerriko, Alia and some old man sitting at a table drinking caf. "Ah, love, you finally woke up. Come here." Lana said, patting an empty chair next to her. Calon pulled out the chair and sat next to Lana, and the old man handed another cup to Calon. "My name is Gies," the man said, "you've already met Alia, so I don't need to introduce her. I understand that y'all were sent here by some Rebel sympathizer, a Zeltron."
Calon grabbed the cup and took a small sip. "Yes, how did you know?"
"Well, because Alia here is devoted to the rebel cause. She's been part of many meetings and strongly despises the Empire." Gies smiled, rubbing her back affectionately.
"Yes, I know Danaki as well. She informed me that you'd come here, but i didn't expect in such a, ahem, exciting fashion." Alia chuckled. "Your ship is fine by the way, Lana. Just some scratches here and there."
"That's fine, another story to tell." Lana said, drinking her caf. "Someone shot us down, that's why we crashed."
"It was obviously Imperials, what I wonder is why haven't they come here and finish us off." Jerriko added. "Yeah, it is pretty strange." Lana said.
"Until Dantooine's clear, we're staying here." Calon announced.
"Good, because I want to discuss the Jedi you have among your band of Rebels." Calon spat back his caf into his cup in surprise, as well as Jerriko. "W-what Jedi?!" Calon horribly tried to lie, "We got no Jedi here!" It was obvious that lying wasn't Calon's best strong suit.
Lana gave Calon her usual are-you-serious look. "I'm not blind Calon, when I picked up Jerriko his lightsaber fell."
Calon turned to Jerriko and tried to give the same stare he got from Lana, but alas to no effect. "I was unconscious Calon, I would've thought your pretty head would notice." He smirked. Calon replied with a facepalm.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Alia continued. "Because it's the same secret as mine." At first, the trio thought nothing of it, until it came they to realization.
"Oh." They all muttered. Alia just smiled and leaned on her chair. "Tell you what. How's about I keep your secret if I can come along with you guys? It's been forever since I beated up Imperials. Does that sound like fair trade?"
"Sure, you can come," Calon said, "but you have to watch this guy and his new trainee." Calon pointed his thumb towards Jerriko. "Padawan." Both Alia and Jerriko said corrected. Calon gave a simple eye roll.
"I'm running out of space on my ship, so you'll probably have to bunk with me." Lana added. "That's fine," Alia responded, "I can handle it. So, how's it been being Rebels?"
Ked was sitting inside the room by himself, everyone else had woken up and met the villagers, mostly spice farmers who came from all over trying to make a living. Ked was reluctant to go outside, he feared of what the townspeople would think of such a creature like him. He had been semi-conscious when the had crash, and he had heard gasps and shocked murmurs from the crowd.
Khan stepped inside the room, she dressed much more casually than usual today. She noticed Keds feelings and decided to talk to him. "Hiya Ked."
"Hello Khan." Ked replied, his translator a bit distorted from the crash. Kha walked slowly over and sat next to him, not saying anything for a while. Ked was the one who finally had spoken up.
"I've always wondered Khan, why do you insist on staying with me anywhere?" He said, looking at the floor. "I'm just a giant lobster, why do you stay?"
"Because Ked," Khan replied. "You're one of the best people I know of. In a galaxy so big, there's so much hate and ignorance, no one bothers to change that and I think it's sad. No one is as giving or as friendly as you in thousands of systems."
"You really thinks so?" Ked tugged at his antennae.
"Yes I do Ked. Now come on, there's no reason to mope around in this room, you should meet the villagers, Everyone has been getting along pretty well! I'm sure they'd be the same as you." She said, hugging his big, shelled back.
"Thank you Khan, you truly are a great friend." Khan winced at the word 'friend', but she thought none of it after. She smiled and dragged Ked outside. The reaction the Tarc expected was vastly different. Everyone was benevolent and kind, and the children were playful.
Ked supposed that this wasn't so bad.
Calon watched from afar as children began asking Ked to climb on him and ride him. He leaned against a wall as he watched the kids step all over their Tarc friend. Lana walked over to him and joined him in the wall.
"The ship is ready to depart, just waiting now." She said, getting closer. Calon grabbed her and gave her a shoulder hug, to which she responded by resting her head on his shoulder. "That's good news, for once." Calon commented.
"What are we gonna do after we deliver the weapons, dear? Where are we gonna go?" Lana asked, staring at the group of kids that was playing with Ked. "We're gonna do whatever we can to help the Rebellion, this means any type of missions and assignments they give us." Calon replied.
"What about Arthet? Didn't you want to help there as well?"
"Yes, but right now we need to get these weapons out of here, that's our top priority at the moment." The two stood there, enjoying their time for some long moments together before Lana had to depart to the ship. "Gotta go Calon, love you." She said, before reaching and giving him a small kiss. After that Calon watched her walk away, her figure going towards the dwindling sun.
Heavy black boots stomped on the floor all the while Serpion looked at it with disgust on the bright and undeveloped world. Not far behind was Amon and Vrega, the latter being a bit too giddy about the whole situation, which was strange considering his usually solemn spirit.
"This planet is filthy." Ser pion said aloud, kicking a small creature that came near her. "It shouldn't stop you, Mistress." Amon said, a hint of patronizing in his voice.
"I don't like your tone Inquisitor, and I suggest that you should silence your voice, or I'll do it myself!" Serpion fumed. Amon looked down on her, helmet void of any motion before a Storm Commando came up to the three.
"Hello Miss Sion, the rebel ship crashed 20 clicks away from this point. Waiting on your approval to move in."
"Give the order to move, Sergeant. Me and my associates will meet you shortly." And with a flick of her wrist, the Commando went away. Serpion steered towards a parked speeder for four at the edge of the garrison's gates. "Hurry up you two!" She yelled over the sound of two roaring troop transports. "Time to move!"
Amon briskly walked to the passenger's seat, while Vrega hopped into the back seat. Once everyone was aboard, Serpion hit the throttle and zoomed off towards the rebels.
A/N: new chapter! I was gonna make this longer but I've decided to split it between two parts, the next chapter will begin where we exactly left off. I introduce stormrunner74's OC Alia Carris. I'll update my OC list whenever I can.
I hope you're all excited for the Star Wars TFA movie! Unfortunately, I have to wait because movies tend to take a while to reach my theaters, so I won't be able to see it right away, and I'm very disappointed about it.
As for SYOC about The Walking Dead, I haven't started the first chapter, nor will I because I'm going to Mexico for vacation. I'll do my best on my phone since I use google docs, but I won't expect it to come soon.
Anyways, leave a comment or review, follow or fav, do whatever. Big Bravo signing off, and may the force be with you, always! (12/17/18)