Chapter 3: The Scourging of Prakith
39:3:18 GrS
Prakith, Sector 5, Deep Core
My TIE Interceptor shuddered slightly as it breached the atmosphere, the ion engines roaring at maximum output. Orange, dust colored clouds parted as I zipped through Prakith's stratosphere, finally getting a good look at what had been a home for nine years. Prakith was a very mountainous planet, with high jagged ranges that dropped into steep ravines. At the poles were a series of volcanoes that were rich in valuable metals, giving rise to a significant Miner's Guild presence back in the Old Republic that continued under the Empire. It also resided on the only Deep Core hyperspace route that had been consistently stable for millenia, connecting Prakith to planets like Empress Teta and, although the exact location was unknown, Byss. Prakith had never boasted a large population in the past and the present was no different with about 1 billion people concentrated in cities doting the equators. The largest city being Prak City, which was also the world's capital planet.
The planet had a little in the way of stationed military might on it, the closest probably being the local planetary defense force and the assault gunboats they boasted. The four star destroyers appearing in their atmosphere was probably a major surprise. The Deep Core Reserve Fleets rarely came to visit Prakith, since literally nothing valuable to the military resided on this world and the Deep Core Security Zone maintained by the ISB kept out any adventurous types. My ships had been able to pass because the Adamant was my ship and as such had the necessary codes in its databases to pass through unimpeded. The codes have simply been shared with the Victories to get them through.
My ships had parked almost directly over Prak City, which allowed me a nice straight flight path to the southern hemisphere, where the Citadel Inquisitorius was located. Two wingmen accompanied me.
Now I could feel the second most notable part of Prakith besides the ugly terrain: the Force presence. Prakith had been the training grounds of the Inquisitorius for two decades now and that kind of concentrated Force power had seeped into the aura of the planet. That presence, which felt metallic and the imagined smell of iron, was also contrasted with a second, very faint, presence. The second presence was only relegated to whispers of occasional strength but it felt like old parchment to my senses. In my apprentice days, back when my training partners and I hadn't been fully aware of what we would have to do to each to climb the latter, my cadre had come up with the theory that Prakith had been home to its own Force wielding group at some point in its ancient history. It made sense to me but our theory had never come up in our education and no one was foolish enough to deviate from the chosen curriculum.
I eased up on the throttle as we breached the Citadel's airspace, and the imposing tower came into full view. It had been built, or carved maybe, on the steep slope of a mountain, giving the impression of it being the horn of a slumbering leviathan. The base of the tower was the main abode of the apprentices and regular Inquisitors, with the tower itself being assigned to those higher ranked than myself. Various landing pads and turbolaser towers spiraled out from the tower's base.
It was those very turbolaser towers that became active and started to track us as I and my wingmen neared the Citadel.
"Approaching vessels you are entering a restricted area. Transmit identification codes or be destroyed." The foreboding tone of one of the Citadel's KX security droids. The use of droids as the main security group at the Citadel made sense if you considered that their main purpose was to keep the occupants inside rather than keep people out. The utterly beastly design of the KX series made them very proficient at preventing apprentices, the only group who attempted on the regular, from escaping. The droids also handled the inbound traffic comms.
"This is Isk-Besh-Cresh-Isk-Isk onbroad Trill-Isk-Esk-One-Niner. Requesting landing clearance." I slowly enunciated over the comms. A longstanding rumor at the Citadel had been that the KX's who worked this function had a faulty bit of code that made it very trigger happy. Never found out if it was true myself but something had happened to the first Third Brother. And it had been on the return to the Citadel.
"Identification codes accepted Ninth Brother. Welcome back to the Citadel. Wave off your escorts before landing on Pad 2." The KX told me and I was able to see the turbolaser towers stop tracking my ship. No accident for me today it would seem.
"You're clear to return to the Adamant Cresh 5 and 7. Follow the same flightpath out and don't stray." I dismissed my wingmen, who executed a nice pinwheel turn as they split off from me. My Interceptor landed on Pad 2 with a soft thud. I powered down the fighter before popping the hatch and climbing out.
It was a windy and hot day at the Citadel, the hot volcanic winds from the southern pole moving north no doubt. The wind tugged at my cortosis weave cloak, causing it to whip around behind me as I walked toward the base of the Citadel. It was a requirement of us numbered Inquisitors that we wear our full regalia at all times when residing at the Citadel. We wouldn't even be let into rooms without it. Of course our superiors didn't have such requirements.
After repeating my identification codes at the door, I finally came back. Every force user had a place like this; a place where they become something greater than what they had been before their training began. For Darth Vader, it had been Mustafar. For Luke Skywalker, it had been Dagobah. For me, it was the Citadel Inquisitorius.
The darkness that lived in the tower came rushing to greet me, bringing with it memories of screams, tears and blood. Much had happened to me in this place. Great pain and great suffering. Here I was put through the crucible as a terrified child to emerge forged into the Ninth Brother, the third to hold that title.
Now it would be my crucible for the second time, where the Ninth Brother would be melted back down to slag and be reforged into Andorak Lokar. Through victory my chains are broken.
A black protocol droid met me inside. I gave it a look over with the Force to make sure it wasn't an assassin model. It didn't feel like one, so I didn't turn it into scrap metal.
"Greetings Inquisitor." The droid introduced himself. "I am I7-EPO, human-cyborg relations and current custodian of the Citadel base. How may I help you?"
Based on the way it sounded, this droid hadn't been active long to develop any distinct identifiers of its own. Guess its predecessor got hacked up recently.
"I'm looking for the other Inquisitors currently residing here. Where are they and what are their designations?" I asked the droids, flexing my senses out to their maximum to make sure this wasn't an ambush of some kind. You only got promoted from apprentice to Inquisitor if there was an opening in the ranks, and what better way to make sure you noticed for the position than being the one to create said opening? I'd known it to work for some in the past.
"Certainly master. The Fifth Sister and Fourth Brother are conducting a training session of the current apprentices at Training Hall Aurek. Would you like me to escort you to them?" The droid informed me, its gold colored optics showing the reflection of my helmet in them, that was how dark they liked to keep the Citadel.
"No need. I know the location. You may return to your duties." I waved away the droid as I went past it. Wonder what those two are using the ceremonial training hall for.
"Oh okay. I'll just go back to standing in the dark. Alone. There's no one here besides me anyway, why bother with a greeter at all then?"
Thanks to my rank, I had access to what turned out to be a very extensive system of hidden passageways that ran the length of the tower's base. Come to think about it, this was probably how my cadre's trainers would appear randomly and seemingly from nowhere to put us through another grueling spar. Using the narrow paths, I navigated my way to the northern part of the tower, where Training Hall Aurek was.
Reaching the final door, which would lead me to the observation deck above the main arena, I paused. With my hand still hovering over the control panel, I closed my eyes and extended my senses out in front of me. Two spots of light were in front of me, and four, dimmer, lights were below me.
The Fifth and Fourth no doubt and I guess the ones down below are the apprentices. I boosted my hearing, allowing the lights to disappear from my mind's eyes and the voices of the two Inquisitors to replace them. It wasn't a particularly powerful trait or even a useful one. Those who had more training than me could do this exact same feat with their eyes open and minimal mental concentration. I had to really focus to make things work the way I wanted them to. Another weaknessI would soon have the knowledge to correct.
A female voice was the first one I picked up. "Today, is a day of victory for you apprentices. You have proven to be the best in your cadre and have survived and thrived. All your efforts have been leading to this moment. Today, the strongest among you will prove your strength by overcoming the Trial of the Last. Be honored, for two Inquisitors will be here to oversee your trial."
Footsteps moving away from my location. The male voice started speaking, his exact vocal patterns distorted by his helmet, the same as the female voice. "The Trial will be a free for all to the death, no rules except win. Your weapon? That which lay around you. The one who passes the trial will become the formal apprentice to us, and we will train you in the ways of the Inquisitorius."
Well I'll be damned, they really were holding a Trial of the Last, in which the most senior cadre at the Citadel was put in a death cage match, supplied with a wild variety of vibroweapons, and told to kill until you were the last one standing. The winner would be elevated to a spot in either the Brotherhood or the Sisterhood depending on sex of the victor.
Brief flashes of my own ascension trial. It had been a brutal and terrifying affair, all twelve of us pushing aside the bonds we had formed over the years and giving our all as the most base of survival instincts asserted themselves. I didn't remember much, but in the end I was coming off the greatest Dark Side high I had ever been on and everyone else had been dead. Two months later I was the Ninth Brother and being sent off with a ship and a regiment to crush rebel strongholds in the Western Reaches.
Another neat thing about the Trial of the Last: it could only be ordered by the Grand Inquisitor himself and he currently wanted all Inquisitors to be on Coruscant.
The Dark Side whispered her strength in my ears, and I decided that fortune favored the bold. Tapping into the current of power inside me that I kept to a smolder at all times, anything else risked becoming a dark side addict and brought on corruption, I stoked it and felt my power flow. The door opened with a swish and I strode out.
"Well well well. It appears I haven't missed the festivities just yet. How lucky on my part." I summoned the female inquisitor's lightsaber into my hand. With a touch of force speed, I was at the back of both the Inquisitors, lightsabers held up against the base of their spines. What a poor day for them to forgo the cape.
The pair of them tensed as they felt the hilts.
"Ah ah ah, no sudden movements. Else we'll find out what a partial human split looks like." I warned them. "Begin the trial."
"And who are you to tell us what to do?" The male Inquisitor hissed at me. I could feel the emotions of the female echo the outrage of the male.
"I'm the Ninth Brother, fresh meat." I replied in the same low tone. "And I know that no trial has been announced. But I'll admit that I'm intrigued by what exactly you're reasoning for this is, so start the trial and convince me not to kill you."
I sensed a brief spike of panic at the mention of my title/name. Guess the two newbies didn't account for a veteran intervening with their plans. Amateurish of them.
"Apprentices, rejoice." The female saw reason and carried on the trial. "Another of our esteemed order has come to witness your trial and partake in your training. This gives you all the more reason to be the last one standing. Now, let your trial begin: Fight!" Battlecries as the four apprentices lept/scrambled into action.
"Now I suggest you release me Brother." The sister told me, using the sounds from below to return to her normal volume. "Else I doubt you'll be able to fully comprehend our plan only looking at the back of our heads."
The Force gave me pinpricks of danger/deceit. As if I would fall for such a juvenile tactic.
"No need. You are obviously attempting to get yourselves a joint apprentice who will exclusively follow your orders under the guise of training and the two of you are aiming to strike out on your own." I explained. "Probably heading off to the Rim to carve out a slice of land for yourselves. A laudable goal, given the current state of affairs in the wider galaxy."
"Then why do you obstruct us." The male forced out through clenched teeth. "The Emperor is dead, we all felt it. Now it is time to take back our lives. No, now it's time to improve them. To live like kings. Who are you to stand in our way, some kind of true believer? Well newsflash: the Empire is dead and the Inquisitorius can't stop us anymore."
I chuckled in response. "Am I a true believer? No, far from it."
And I meant it. What Palpatine had created was a corrupt waste of potential that existed to enforce his power and who cares what those underlings do as long as they remember who ran the game. What a waste. Not like the Republic had been better than the Empire, far from it. The galaxy had been Palpatines' and he just let it get tossed into chaos. My belief on the matter was that if you owned something, it was yours. How that object looked and acted reflected back on you. Palpatine had let what belonged to him turn into a full on civil war with his underlings running around sullying worlds and people.
Disgraceful. It's yours, so make it better. That's what I had done with the 666th and the Adamant, turned them into crack regiment and a ship. Because they were mine and I would command the best.
Luckily the Empire was up for the taking and I would make it better.
"But I do know an opportunity when I see it, and this-" My thumb rested on the ignition stud of the sister's lightsaber. "-will get me plenty of favor with the Grand Inquisitor."
Snap-hiss. A shout of 'NO!' from the male, and he manages to get a wild force push in that sends me sliding backwards before I can impale him as well. I hear another saber ignite and sense danger.
I ignite my saber and bring it up to defend just in time, as the brother attacks with a powerful downwards chop. Once, twice, thrice I weather his two handed blows before on the fourth chop I met his attack and forced our sabers into a lock.
The two red blades of plasma hissed as they ground against each other, the close light reflecting on two black helmets with red ravines in them. The brother put more force into his saber, causing the saber lock to turn in his favor. I could feel that he had fallen, the dark side now ran wild through him with no direction from himself. His rage had empowered him, but it was to his detriment. I reached deeper into my own power well to strengthen my legs and prevent myself from being driven back.
I grasped my saber with both hands and yanked my saber to the right and down, the interlocked blades now dangerously close to my right leg but the brother's left leg was a bit farther away. Strike now! My left hand slipped down the handle and thumbed a second ignition thud. Snap-hiss!
A half formed word from the brother, no doubt some inane declaration of hate or revenge, was cut off as my saber's second blade punctured through the left side of his jaw and exited out of the top of his skull at a high angle; frying his brain and melting the plastoid helmet.
The brother slumped downward and the blade piercing his head carved a trench as gravity took effect. I pulled the brother's still ignited into my free hand and turned it off.
Victory, but not total. I remained on guard, bringing my saber into a slanting guard, both blades humming a merry tune of death.
*Danger!*
A twirling lightsaber flew at me. I yanked my blade in a downward sweeping motion and met the tossed blade, negating its momentum. It turned off and fell to the floor.
I turned my head and saw the paralyzed and wounded sister with her arm outstretched.
"Well I guess you were made of tougher stuff than I thought." I darkly stated. "Doubt you'll survive this."
I turned off the rear blade and let go of my saber, pushing the force into it. The propelled blade struck true, giving the sister the same plasma lobotomy as her brother-in-arms. Always aim for the head and confirm the kill. Words to live by.
That's two of six down, now to deal with whoever is still alive in the pit. I summoned by saber back to me, clipping my new trophy to my belt, and looked down at the pit. And...they had all killed each other? Was one of them faking it?
A quick force check revealed that yes, they had killed each other and no one was faking it. Well that made this easier.
True Victory raced through me. I had done it. The Citadel Inquisitorius had a new master and I was reforged for the last time into my final form. Now I just had to sell my takeover to my 'boss' and get those interfighting morons on Imperial Center to give me a command.
Absolutely nothing could go wrong with that, I'm sure.