Chapter 10
"So how do I know we can trust you?" Viran asked Anson. Despite trusting his team, Viran had doubts with picking up bounty hunter-like strangers along the way. Jo had told him of what happened in the casino, about Anson's curiosity of what the crate held within, and that sparked some unsettlement inside. Viran just had to know.
"Well, Master Jedi, I'm not a bad guy."
"Not convincing enough."
"You heard what my friend Juntah said? We were against the First Order, we hated it and its tyranny. Any enemy of theirs is surely good."
"I'm understanding your point, but it doesn't completely answer the question. I was informed of your curiosity of the artifact in the crate, and all I need to know is that you won't turn on us and take the crate for yourself. You see what I mean?"
"Yeah sure. I doubt we'd do any good against four Jedi."
"You do seem well-equipped." Viran paused for a moment, then had to ask, "How do you pilot this ship with that bandanna over your face?"
"Oh I almost forgot I had it on!" Anson then pulled it down and adjusted his eyes to the light setting. He looked fairly young, but showed signs of nearing adulthood. He had thick sideburns on the side of his face, but had neither a moustache nor a beard. He had thin eyebrows and fixated eyes which told everyone that he meant business; his cheekbones were slightly rounded, which helped his cowboy-like appearence. " The bandanna doesn't blind me. So what is it, about whatever is in that crate, that is so secret anyway?"
"Let's just say if it got into the wrong hands, the galaxy would soon be gone."
"Ah. That important I see."
"Pretty much."
Jo and Juntah were busy catching up on their adventures of the past few years. "How did you survive the explosion?" Juntah asked Jo, as Jo recalled the end of his first adventure.
"Oh, the force was with me, and all that."
"And what did you do afterwards?"
"Well, I met some Jedi masters, as well as the team I'm currently with, and things have pretty much been the same ever since. Actually-"
"What kind of missions have you been on?"
"Well, things were pretty normal, neutralizing threats, remnants of the First Order and stuff. A couple years later, we heard rumors that sith might be returning to the galaxy, people started getting paranoid over it; we set out to diminish the rumors once and for all."
"I see the rumors were true."
"What do you mean?"
"If 'the Empire' is back, a sith has to be in charge, right?" Juntah pointed out.
"Worse. Two."
"There's always two. With this many Jedi on your side, success should be yours."
Jo's face dropped.
"I have a feeling I'm completely wrong."
"Days ago, maybe a week, I lost track; anyway, sometime within the past month, we faced one of the sith, and... and we lost. Basically, the only thing we won was our keeping our lives."
"Is that why you have new armor? What kind of sith could best three Jedi like that?"
"A kind that was kept secret."
"What?"
"My friend Exar, knew of his existence, and kept it from us this whole time."
"That sounds stupid."
"It was stupid. He did it because he didn't want a demotion."
"Let me guess, he got one anyway?"
"Yeah."
"Well, we all have our flaws. I'm sure you guys get along well."
"Eh, kinda."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, these past few years have been exciting, but something feels out of place."
"Go on."
"Like I feel left out. I talk to these guys often, but I don't say very much. I get left out of conversation, and don't get acknowledged often. They don't pay as much attention to everyone equally, than they do to a mission."
"You're lonely."
"Most of the time, but the missions are exciting and are just the thing I need to get set straight."
"Well you shouldn't have to worry about that anymore."
"As in?" Jo pressed on, smiling.
"You know what I mean." Juntah said as they fist bumped.
"We could always use new recruits. Things are getting more dangerous around this time."
Exar and Aang, seeing Jo and Viran talking to two of the new guys, decided to do the same for Sim. Sim was sitting down, seemingly meditating in the back of the ship, above the cargo bay. Exar and Aang sat down ahead of him and took notice of his meditative position.
"Yes?" Sim inquired silently.
"Are you a Jedi?" Exar asked.
"No. But I am force-sensitive. I'm not too big on that kind of Jedi stuff; my speciality is with guns and blasters, not so much the force."
"You are pretty strong with the force, though." Aang said.
"I let the force flow within me, let it fuel me, but I don't use it. I've heard stories of people who use this power for evil; I am not going to let myself fall down that path. My life is alright the way it is."
"Ever considered joining the Republic?" Exar asked.
"Only once. It wouldn't help with my stealth feature."
"The force could. I know of a power of which, that allows you to cloak your presence so not even sith can sense where you are."
"What about that strange mind trick?"
"No, that doesn't work on other force-sensetives. It takes quite a bit of training to master." Aang answered.
"Especially if you have a robotic arm. Things get really hard then." Exar said.
"Oh don't I know it."
"You have a metallic limb?" Aang asked, curiously.
"No, I was joking."
"A sense of humor. Wow! You could be good friends with Jo." Aang said.
"Does he have metallic limbs?"
...
"I'm joking."
Aang and Exar shook their heads, smiling.
"I sensed distress within you two. Nothing a little humor can't fix."
Jayko took his helmet off to meditate in his room of his star destroyer. Keeping the wraith in mind, he focused on it, wondering how to dispose of it so it won't get in the way of any of his plans. Suddenly, he fell into a trance.
Jayko found himself to be inside a void of swirling and spinning clouds. He figured some kind of hint would be dropped here. And his wish was granted. He saw a dark, dark cloud forming a human shape. Then it started expanding and growing, Jayko becoming more afraid as he saw cold, evil, blood-red glowing eyes peer straight into his. As it continued to grow, it launched forward at Jayko and surrounded him until he woke. Jayko had fallen to the ground, somewhat shaken by what he just experienced, and still sensed it wasn't over yet.
The room started to crumble and tear apart, and started to swirl around; Jayko then saw a hooded figure on his knees in front of a huge pile of debris, and saw fire in the sky. Then a blizzard came and overtook the scene, then also faded as he saw a smoke-infested field of gray, rocky terrain, and a building crumbling down in flames.
Then it all went to black...
Jayko was confused with the indistinct clues, and with where he was. He looked ahead and saw a red star in the distance. He kept his eyes on it as it approached him; as it got closer, he saw it shape itself into a pyramind, with gold outlines.
"A holocron?" Jayko quietly asked.
'Find me.' Jayko heard, startling him. He looked around for a source of the voice. He saw nothing, just blackness. He looked back at the holocron and reached out to take it. But his hand phased through it, and he returned to reality.
He awoke in his original meditative position, unsettled. He picked up his helmet and placed it on his head. "Contact Erk." He said into his helmet. After hearing some beeping sounds, Erk's face appeared on the screen.
"I finished the Kamino mission; no Republic forces occupy that Imperial gold-mine now. I am headed to you now."
"Erk, I have a new mission for you."
"Another one huh?"
"I need you to find a holocron. A sith holocron." Jayko saw Erk's eyes widen slightly, then continued. "But first, get back to base. I'll brief you after the attack."
"Got it."
Transmission, ended.
Jayko went deep into thought as he pondered his vision. He didn't know who was the cause of the wraith, nor did he know why it seemed like it had to get involved with what they did. He didn't have the knowledge to complete his thoughts, but he did know who did. He sauntered off to resolve his predicament.
In hyperspace, on road to the set coordinates of where the Republic thought the base was, Rye contacted Erickson and Ephraim, having taken a different ship than they did, to fill them in. Once he could clearly see them both, he began, "Now first off: I'm sure I'm the only one familiar with this type of battle. Erickson, brother, you've been somewhat aloof from the knowledge of war. Ephraim, you've been a mechanic your whole life."
"Oh wow, really?" Ephraim asked.
"Yeah. I really don't know that much. A recent trip to Kamino was actually where I participated in my first lethal battle. With stormtroopers."
"So." Rye brought the focus back. "We're dealing with Imperial ships. One would think that they're easy to take care of; but, this faction is being led by two sith, one of which almost tore my team apart, so we're going to have to be very careful."
"Brother?" Erickson then said, worry all over his tone. "Are we going to face the sith?"
"My brother, we are."
"Rye, Rye, are you sure about this?"
"Yes. Two masters against one sith. What could go-"
"We could die. Sure our team isn't as poweful as the sith, or us, but who's to say not even we can beat him?"
"Well if he is more powerful, then let's hope he isn't there." Rye said.
"Guys! Guys!" Aang shouted from the cargo bay. Exar and Jo were down in an instant.
"What is it?" Exar asked.
"I've established a connection to Master Rye."
"While in hyperspace? That's impressive."
"I thought the only way for that to happen is for us to be getting closer to them."
"Well luckily, we are." Aang said, activating the hologram. Soon, Rye appeared.
"Aang! Are you and everyone else alright?"
"We are, master. We have Master Viran and a couple new recruits."
"Oh do you? Well, we're on our way to ambush the Imperials-"
"Yeah, about that, you're flying right into a trap."
"Pardon?"
"It was set up to look like they were coming from another direction so you would later follow that trail and fall into a trap. Before anything happens, I'll send the information to you." Aang pressed a button and the information was sent. "Also, we're nearing your position so we'll be in the fight shortly."
"Good to hear. I just got the informa- oh! We better stop. I'll contact the other ships and tell them to pull out of hyperspace."
"Got it." Then the transmission ended.
"We're coming out of hyperspace!" Anson shouted from above.
The trio were in the cockpit, looking out the window shortly after they emerged. And shortly after that, they saw the fleet of Republic ships emerge as well.
"Well well, what are the odds?" Juntah asked.
"On our side is what they are. Let's hope it stays that way."