Chapter 1
"If we cut through the back of the convoy, we could get straight to the merchant ship without being spotted." Caelum Lurtthane suggested. His fingers tingled with excitement and anticipation at the sheer potential of this score, "We can use our cloaking device to enshroud the ship and breach."
His captain – a human man- Ichard Reign shook his head immediately, dashing Caelum's hopes. "The convoy is being guarded by the Free Frontier's best shield braziers. The moment we get close our cloak will come undone, and even if we could breach we'd be shot down before ever entering hyperspace."
The girl beside the captain scoffed. Caelum scarcely remembered her as Litania, a twi-lek from the core world Coruscant. "Please, with my piloting skill there's no way they'll ever touch me."
A hmm of amusement came from the final member of their crew. "That doesn't matter if we lose the fight once we get in." Aether Lee, a droid. But Caelum didn't remember what type specifically. One of the newest models, nearly flesh looking.
"That's why we have him." Ichard looked directly at Caelum, who smirked and waved slightly. "His kind are rare, and a good surprise to have in a fight."
"What a human?" Caelum grinned. His youthful exuberance usually gave the crew amusement, but today not so much. Internally he frowned but kept up the facade.
"You know exactly what I mean."
"Particulars on the new guy aside." Litania interrupted, steering the conversation back on track. While Caelum rolled his eyes, he Hadn't been the 'new guy' for half a year now. "How are we going to get too the convoy and how are we going to spend that money?"
Caelum looked around the ship while they talked. It was a mix between a starfighter and a freighter. Called affectionately by Ichard the 'Goldmine". It was perfect for pirates, fast. Mobile, good storage and shields. Caelum wondered how a space pirate managed to get one of the most expensive inventions on the market.
Especially when normally the Free Frontier had exclusive access to them. The new government that formed four hundred years ago to help bring the galaxy back to peace after the old Empire's remnants finally died out and the Republic disbanded and faded into obscurity. Caelum didn't know much about it though, he wasn't four hundred years old. He was twenty-two.
"Caelum, were you even listening?" Ichard asked, sighing before Caelum could even respond. "No, no you weren't."
"My bad, lost in my head." Caelum grinned. A more genuine one this time. "What were you saying?"
"We just finished the plan." Aether said. "If we wait until the back fleet jumps into hyperspace we can breach without being spotted."
"It won't be too late?"
"No, I'll get us there fast enough. Since the frontier jumps from back to front there will be about a five second window to hit the merchant before he jumps as well." Litania said.
"I wonder what exactly is on board anyway." Caelum looked out the window into open space, the fleet consisted of twenty ships, seven frontier star-fighters, six assault ships, the newest invention of the frontier with their brazier ships. And the target; the freighter right in the middle. "I've been a pirate for two years, but I've never seen a fleet this large for one ship."
"Whatever it is, it's going to end up in our pockets by the end of today." Ichard said with such confidence that Caelum almost believed him. In truth, he almost cut and ran when he heard that Ichard wanted to do something so insane.
Attacking a stray ship or something was different, that was enough to get by for a week or two. Maybe more if it was another pirate starfighter. But recently the captain had begun to grow tired of this life, and had started talking about a big score to help him retire and live in riches on Coruscant. But to attack the Free Frontier? Madness.
Caelum fumbled with the blaster on his hip, scowling at the thing. He was never the best shot, proficient sure but outgunned a lot of the time. But Ichard wanted him to fight anyway… there was only one reason for that.
At the thought of it, Caelum reached out almost instinctively and was instantly cradled in what felt like love and warmth in return. He basked in it, the phenomenon known as The Force his steadfast ally. Protected since birth, it had always seemed to guide him.
Caelum knew he wasn't unique in this, he'd never met another force sensitive but he knew they existed. He wasn't sure if the force presented itself in such a way to just him or if it was the same for everyone, sometimes it felt like the Force was more than what it was. Sometimes it felt alive, like it possessed a mind of its own, whispering to Caelum to calm him in distressing moments or guide him in ones of confusion. Like a mentor, or a great love.
He opened his eyes, Caelum hadn't realized he'd closed them. The others were staring, likely at his eyes. Which were probably glowing a viridian green right now. That was the one thing he was sure of, whenever he reached out or used the force, his eyes glowed brighter, somehow he knew he was unique in this.
"I'm ready. Let's do this." Caelum said. The group smiled in unison.
"After this, we can all retire for good." Ichard grinned haughtily, raising his blaster. "Let's go collect our payday!"
Caelum nearly passed out from fear but it worked. Him and the captain were inside the freighter within seconds, breaching directly through into the main cargo hold. Unfortunately, Aether's jammer didn't work. The alarm was blaring so loud it was making Caelum's ears ring in protest. Not that it mattered, everyone on the ship no doubt heard that crash. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Litania stumble through the breach, muttering a curse In her language.
"Shit, that cuts our time in half! DAMMIT!" Ichard cursed as he picked up some rubble and threw it away from him, it clanged off the wall harmlessly. "Okay, get ready! We have to grab what we can!"
Just as he said that the doors whirled open and in came ten frontier soldiers with blasters and rifles, without even speaking they started to fire. Caelum leapt into cover as a plasma bolt nearly took his head off. Ichard immediately got hit in the side and collapsed behind cover.
"Agh! Caelum! Handle this now!" He barked at the force sensitive adult through his pained gasps. Blind firing his plasma rifle, and missing terribly.
"Guys! The front of the fleet is beginning to circle back!" Litania said. Looking out the cargo holds window.
"They were more prepared than we anticipated." Aether said. "I recommend we pull back swiftly."
"Hell no, we just got here. We're getting out of here with this money!" Ichard barked back. "Caelum, I gave you a damn order!"
"Push forward, don't let them steal the cargo!" The frontier captain commanded.
Caelum took a deep breath, stood up and reached out. The force came to him with reverence and he pushed his hands out, the sound of a sonic boom resounded through the room as the frontier soldiers were violently pushed back. But Caelum wasn't done, he clenched his hands during the push and suspended the soldiers into the air. Holding them still.
"Gragh! C-command. W-we have a f-force wielder attacking th-the ship! We need backup!" the captain managed to get out, Caelum threw him violently into the wall. Knocking him out cold, then wrenched his hands down, slamming the soldiers into the floor and knocking them unconscious as well.
Other than the alarm, all was silent and Caelum looked no worse for wear, he'd been using the force so casually all his life that something like this wasn't so exhausting as it was cumbersome.
"That… that was amazing! I've never seen the force before." Litania, who had come into the ship stared in awe at Caelum, who shrugged in response.
"Grab the cargo, quickly. We've got about twenty minutes before we're entirely flanked by the fleet." Ichard commanded.
The crew began searching the boxes, finding various amounts of ship parts and scrap. But no credits, one crate contained a box of blaster rifles that Aether grabbed. The more they searched and came up with nothing, the more anxious Caelum noticed Ichard was getting. The fleet had nearly completely flanked them.
Then, Caelum opened the last box. Ichard nearly shoving him aside. "Let me see! Is it credits!? Something we can sell!? ANY DAMN THING!?"
inside the box, filled to the brim in neat stackings, were strange hilts. Mechanical hilts, not vibroblade ones. They rested in cloth, most rusted and looking unusable. Ichard reached out and picked one up, all the frustration melted away completely and was replaced by awe. Suddenly, the hilt sprang to life and a brilliantly red-colored laser shot from it. Caelum's eyes widened as he placed it. He'd heard about these things, they were ancient weapons and thought to be long gone.
Ichard was holding a lightsaber. A relic from an age one thousand years ago. Caelum could feel the heat coming from the blade, the warmth ever so familiar. Just like the force when it wrapped around him. He looked into the box of lightsabers, and reached for one that looked to be pure white and pristine.
The second he touched it, he felt the force almost attack him as his mind was thrown into a universe of its own, lines streaked across his eyes and wind blew around his body. His vision cleared and his jaw dropped as he was in a grassy clearing.
"What the… what the heck is this?" He gasped.
"I can't believe we crash-landed… our ship was one of the newer models too." A voice spoke, Caelum whirled around and saw two people in brown and Grey robes conversing. A human man, and a woman with hair like fire. It was the man who spoke.
"Well, at least we're in familiar territory." The girl spoke and reached forward, curling her fingers in the mans hands, Caelum could see a boundless love in their eyes when they looked at each other, so heavy it made Caelum a little… wistful.
The dark haired man smiled. "The council won't be happy to learn about our relationship, but hopefully they take it better than our ship."
A bright laugh escaped the girl. "That doesn't even make any sense my love."
Suddenly the vision changed and Caelum was thrown into a dark abyss… no… not an abyss, he was in the vacuum of space! Looking down on a grassy planet.
"Find it." Caelum turned, and the man from a moment ago was looking directly at him speaking to him, Caelum realized.
"W-what's happening?" He asked, the man floated beside him. Looking down at the planet below.
"A threat greater than anything anyone has ever faced is beginning to rise. A wound in the force is calling… you have to find it."
"Find the wound?" Caelum echoed. "What the hell are you talking about?"
The man looked at Caelum again. "Not the wound. The planet. Find the birthplace of the Jedi. Find Tython, it has been lost but it is not gone. And it is the key."
Tython? This man wanted Caelum to find a planet? Is he insane?
"Who...who are you?" Caelum asked, he wasn't entirely expecting an answer but this man looked thoughtful.
"I can't remember my name… only what the Jedi called me."
"And what was that?"
The man smiled, and stood up straighter. "The Hero of Tython."
Caelum tried to place it, he honestly did. But he'd never heard of a planet called Tython, and he'd read most of the Tatooine's archives when he was bored. Alderaan, Naboo, Jedha, Dathomir, he'd even read of the dead planet Urrtha, but not Tython.
Even more so… he'd never heard that word before. Jedi. What was that? Some kind of alien species? Curiosity made him want to ask, but despite this Hero of Tython speaking to him now Caelum got the sense that he wasn't… actually there, his responses sounded almost automatized… like the oldest of the droids he'd met.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what a Jedi is." Caelum decided to test the waters anyway, perhaps he was wrong.
"Find it… Find Tython." The so called Hero repeated, confirming Caelum's suspicion. Then to his surprise he started fading away.
"Wait hold on!" Caelum called, he wasn't quite done with him yet. "I don't even know where to start!"
The hero opened his mouth, and a whisper came out that was nearly lost to the eternity but Caelum caught it. A single word. A declaration. "Coruscant…"
There was a single moment of nothingness before Caelum was ripped back to the present, to someone screaming in his face… no, not someone. Ichard. "CAELUM! CAELUM! GET UP! WE'VE GOTTA GO NO-"
The bolt of a blaster shot through his face, ending his words prematurely and his life forevermore. Caelum ducked down, and felt bile rise in his throat as he heard Litana scream and saw as she was shot down. He didn't know where Aether was… probably dead as well.
"Is that all of them?" A frontier officer asked.
"No, there's one more. The force wielder, three filthy pirates couldn't have knocked out our men that easily." Caelum peaked from his hiding spot, the commander scanning the room. "Fan out, check if the captain of the ship is still alive."
Caelum needed to get out of here, but to do that he'd need to steal a ship or reclaim the Goldmine which… definitely wasn't going to happen… unless… he angled himself to where he was facing a soldier that was getting a little too close for comfort, the force whispered in his mind and Caelum realized he was still holding the lightsaber he got from the crate. It called to him, directed him.
Suddenly onset by a will that seemed not entirely his he stood up. "Wha-! Commander he's right here!" to his credit, the frontier grunt acted quickly, firing his blaster at near point blank range.
Unfortunately for him, he somehow missed and Caelum wasn't letting him get a second chance, he pressed the red button on his lightsaber and a gorgeous blade of viridian green burst forth, the soldier let out a scream as Caelum struck. The lightsaber struck flesh, and Caelum only felt the most minuscule of resistance before the blade went straight through the arms and upper torso, dismembering both appendages and instantly killing the soldier, the remains of his body dropping to the floor as an acrid smell filled Caelum's nostrils.
"Surrender Pirate! You may be a force wielder but you can't take on the full might of the Free Frontier!" The commander shouted, his twelve other soldier had their weapons trained up with him at the back. "Drop that light-saber and come into our custody, do not make this worse for yourself."
Caelum considered his options, he was confident he could win against the thirteen in the room… but there were hundreds of soldiers ready to fill the gap, he couldn't kill them all and was more likely to just get blown up before. Surrender was the most reasonable option… but for some reason he really didn't want to let go of the light-saber.
A plan formulated in the force wielder's mind, and he dropped the light-saber and raised his hands in surrender. "I yield to the Frontier." He said, watching as the commander approached him warily with cuffs in hand. Flanked by two of his men, he reached out to Caelum.
The moment he touched Caelum, the light-saber on the floor ignited and flew into the air. Caelum reached out and gripped the commander with the force and backed up pulling him into a choke hold, the light-saber flew into his right hand and he held it up to the commanders neck, ignoring his shaking gasps at the proximity of the laser sword.
"BACK! GET BACK!" Caelum roared. The soldiers stumbled back, hesitant to fire on their commander. "I'm taking your leader and getting out! If any of you try to call for backup on my way out he dies! If any of you pull a fast one you and him die!"
"I-it's not too late still. Don't do this young man." The commander tried to reason with Caelum. "Th-this farce is pointless, you can't escape even if you take me. They won't let that light-saber go."
"Are you saying they'll kill both of us?" Caelum whispered, keeping a wary eye on the soldiers as he shuffled towards the freighters escape pod. "Rather cruel of a so called 'benevolent' government."
"Benevolent to it's people, ruthless to it's enemies. They'll kill me and you and justify it by saying I was helping you, the only way out of this for both of us now is you surrendering. If you do they will show you mercy, I give you my word."
Caelum considered this, and sighed in frustration. "What is your name?" He asked. "So I may collect on that word in the event that I need too."
"Tarith Othar."
"Good man." Caelum said. He let go and dropped the light-saber, a sudden onset feeling of loss as it clattered to the floor. "I surrender… I was promised mercy…"
The soldiers converged on him and forced him to the ground, binding him. Panic rose in his throat as his connection to the force was violently severed by the snapping of the cuffs, it felt cold and painful and he cried out right as he was shot by a stun blaster. Knocking him clean out.
"What do we do with him sir." One of the soldiers asked, staring warily at the unconscious force wielder.
Tarith cleared his throat. "Bind him. Our fleet will take him to Coruscant, the empress and council will want to see him." He eyed the light-saber on the floor and picked it up, putting it back in the box.
"Is that really wise sir? He's a force wielder after all, they're dangerous and he seemed more powerful than the last two."
"It is my command, and what they'll want." Tarith gestured too three of his soldiers who came over and began moving the box to their ship. "And whether it's wise or not, a force wielder is a boon to the Frontier."
"Understood sir."
A/N: I have never written anything involving starwars. But I really enjoy the material, cannon and legends. (Except the most recent movies, I didn't feel like those were really coherent in plot and a lot of the characters felt underutilized).
This is also my first time writing in nearly a year plus so this is good to shake off the rust, I'm not sure how often I'll update but I'll try to do it at least once every three months or so.
Anyway, if you got to this point then thanks for reading. If you like good, if you don't… welp sorry.