Chapter 64

Soresu

"Thank you for your assistance in this matter, bounty hunter." The flickering blue hologram of Imperial Captain Argent said. "Provided that the spaceport's sensor readings agree with your statement that your ship was not the one firing in the middle of downtown, you will be rewarded for your efforts."

"All in a day's work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've still got a Jedi to catch. You can leave my payment with the nearest Guild office as soon as you're done here." Ahsoka tilted her durasteel-covered face down to try to look somewhat menacing. Since she didn't know how big or small her own hologram on the other end was, it was hard to tell whether the captain of the Vindicator was looking at a tiny hologram on a console, or a full sized projector. She could only hope that she was adequately projecting the persona of a no-nonsense bounty hunter tough enough to take on Jedi prey. "Our sensor readings had trouble picking up his trajectory, since he was in the outer edge of the gravity field. Any assistance you could render will help me neutralize a dangerous threat."

"According to our sensors, it appears that the freighter was heading back towards Sluis Van. The rest of the fleet has, accordingly, come out of hyperspace and headed back that way to catch the Jedi. The Vindicator will be staying here to help with the recovery efforts in the spaceport. It appears our other bounty hunter friend has left in that direction as well."

Ahsoka tilted her head in a mild nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you, Captain Argent. I appreciate your assistance. If you find any more Jedi hiding in your sector of space, I'd be more than willing to offer my services again... for the right price, of course."

"You've done a great service to the Empire, Madame Masso."

The hologram flickered out of existence, and Ahsoka pulled off her armored mask. "You know, I think I'm getting the hang of this bounty hunter act. I gotta admit, that last bit made me feel a little... ech."

"Is that a technical description?" Master It'kla asked from the cockpit doorway, well out of sight of the hologram pickup on the communications board.

"Well, my skin felt a little crawly and I felt like I kinda wanted to throw up in my mouth a little. Help the Empire... that's not even the last thing on my list. I purposely left it off my list entirely!"

"We did what we did to help the innocent. It may help the Empire keep its hold here, but in the meantime, we saved countless lives." The older Jedi stepped into the cockpit and sat down in the navigator's seat. "I feel something a bit off as well, though. Something doesn't quite feel right."

"So it's not just me. Or the Empire. There's no reason for the clone to make a suicide run on Sluis Van. It's way too heavily fortified. That thing fought its way back to the spaceport and pulled every crazy trick in the book to survive until it got to hyperspace." Ahsoka gently rubbed the sides of her lekku below her montrals where the straps holding the mask in place had been the tightest. "What do you think?"

"I would tend to agree. The clone was crazy, clearly disconnected from reality, and in some ways his own mind... but not stupid or suicidal." The Caamasi Jedi pressed a few buttons on the navigation console. "It looks like there are two uninhabited systems with planets listed as being able to support life within a few degrees of the hyperspace path required to reach Sluis Van. The Kalab system, and the Dagobah system."

"What does the navicomp say about them?"

"I'm familiar with the Kalab system. A common stopping point for smugglers in the region. Not as populated as Bpfassh, Denab or Sluis. Fewer patrols for smugglers to deal with. The other... there's not much here." Master It'kla pressed a button. "I transferred the information to your console."

Ahsoka pulled up the two planets. Shimmering blue holograms of the two rose up above the console. "The readings on Dagobah are pretty low res. Looks like somebody just did a basic scan, then left. No listed settlements, looks like most of the planet is covered with clouds. Keeps the heat in, lots of moisture. Why does that name seem familiar?"

Ylenic closed his eyes and breathed in. "Because it is familiar. It's been so long, I can barely recall the details... but several hundred years ago the several Jedi from the Praxeum on Bpfassh fell to the dark side. A Padawan followed the ringleader to Dagobah, and emerged victorious."

Ahsoka leaned forward and pushed against the arms of her chair, stretching her back. "Ah... I needed that. Do you think this is some weird kind of... repetition in history? Or in the Force?"

The furry Jedi Master shook his head. "I do not know. All I know is that of the three possible planets he could have been heading towards, only one leaps out at me."

"I suppose it's worth a shot," Ahsoka said.

"I don't know what you want here, the planet is uninhabited." Jorj Car'das pulled the sensor readings of Dagobah up onto the large hologram projector on the bridge of the Talus Twin.

"This is where I need to be. Set us down."

"Where? There's a whole planet, and most of it is swampland." Car'das wanted to shout at the madman holding him hostage, but one look at the co-pilot's chair reminded him of the power this man wielded. His copilot, Laren, had fallen from her seat during the flight, and she remained curled up in a ball, drooling onto the deck. Whatever the mad Jedi had done with the Force, he had broken her mind as easily as he had broken the body of the Talus Twin's gunner, Stortch.

Car'das didn't know if any of his crew were still technically alive. Ven was nowhere to be seen, Stortch had spent the entire trip unconscious, possibly bleeding internally from his wounds, and Laren was... no longer home.

"The Force will guide us. Land."

The heavy Barloz-class freighter changed course, and headed into the upper atmosphere of Dagobah. The heavy cloud layer covered the windshield, and it grew steadily darker as the Talus Twin fell lower and lower through the atmosphere.

Beside him, the dark Jedi closed his eyes. "I can feel him. He is here."

This was it. The only chance Jorj Car'das would have to stop the monster that had murdered his crew. He pushed down on the yoke in his hands, and the Talus Twin's momentum shifted from a gentle glide to a steep descent. The clouds parted, and the ground was coming up fast. He held the yoke forward, and reached out for the throttle. This madman was probably going to kill him anyway, the best option was to hit the ground as hard as possible.

The throttle twitched in his hand, and suddenly the throttle and the yoke were pulled back to their farthest. The engines sputtered to a near-silence, running on ionically charged fumes and providing no more downward thrust. With the yoke pulled back, the ship began to level out.

But it was already close to the ground. Even a Jedi couldn't bend the laws of physics. The ship hit the brackish muddy water of an endless swamp and bounced, skittering like a gigantic stone off the surface. A gnarled tree came into Jorj's view, just in time to hit the edge of the ship, sending the ship spinning across the swamp.

He hit his head on the console, but he hung on for dear life. The straps on his chair held him in place, kept him from being flung around the cockpit. Even the Jedi had limits. A high speed starship crash had to be able to kill him.

The ship caught on something else out of sight as it spun, now adding a roll to the spin. Dizzy from the blow, and from the motion, his stomach rebelled. But he continued to hold on.

Finally, the ship came to rest on a muddy plain. The bottom heavy build of the ship caused its last roll to end on its belly, and it half stood, half floated in the mud.

This was it. Crashed on a deserted planet, alone. Jorj Car'das unbuckled his safety belt and rose to his feet, unsteadily. He started to turn, only to find a hand around his throat.

He gasped for breath, but the hand wasn't the physical flesh and blood hand of the dark Jedi. He found himself being turned around in midair to face his antagonist. The Jedi's yellow eyes bored into his. "Did you really think that you could stop me now, when I'm so close?"

Car'das wanted to answer, but the grip around his throat was too tight. The Jedi made a gesture, and Jorj found himself flying away at high speed. He crashed through the cracked transparisteel canopy that had protected the cockpit from space debris for years, hard enough to break bones. Which ones, he didn't know.

Time seemed to be moving in slow motion. This was it. This was the end. After all of his smuggling, spying, and adventures in space, this was how Jorj Car'das was going to die.

The ground came up at him, and he knew that his battered body couldn't withstand the impact.

But it didn't have to. An invisible Force held him aloft. A tiny, wrinkled, green alien stood in front of him, one hand holding a crude wooden cane, the other reaching out to keep Jorj aloft. The hand lowered gently, setting Car'das down. He whimpered as he tried to support his weight, only to discover that his shoulder or collarbone seemed to be broken, along with several ribs on his right side.

"For your own safety, stay out of sight you should." The small green alien said in a pinched, funny sounding voice.