The room was quiet and contemplative as Zack sat at a table across from Finn and Poe, whilst Luke was piloting the ship towards the coordinates they'd obtained. Everyone was intent on ending things once and for all by breaking into Darth Plagueis's secret headquarters, to get back their hostages no matter what it took. Leia stood by Chewbacca, who'd brought along a small platoon of wookie warriors. Leia was nervously fingering her wedding ring all the while, as Omarosa looked up from the datapad she was analyzing. She'd been going over the coordinates and the thing was…the secret location of Darth Plagueis's headquarters was somewhere in a particular solar system…
And one OF those planets was Logos. Zack's home. He was not exactly looking forward to investigating whether or not a Sith lord had set up shop on his home planet. But the alternative…was staying on the ship and having to keep facing Poe and Finn.
"Were you EVER going to tell us the truth-" Finn began to ask.
"Absolutely!" Zack insisted. "Once the Dyad had been beaten, I intended to tell you who I was. The same way I intend to hand myself over to the New Republic's government. I've done things that are clearly against the law, and I should be in jail over them. And, I mean…" He hesitated. "To be FAIR the last time you guys saw the real me, you DID try to kill me, remember?"
"You know…you're right." Finn deeply sighed. "I can understand why you'd want to keep your real identity a secret, but…but it still feels like I've been betrayed. I don't know how much of how I feel is…real anymore."
"That's alright." Zack sighed. "I'll do what I can to earn your trust back."
"If you really DO want that…then come down with me to Logos."
"Oh, FUCK, no, not that!" Zack moaned as he covered his face, shaking it back and forth. "You have NO idea what I went through down there in my hometown! It was awful!" He groaned as he tugged at the blue, baggy jacket he was wearing and showed off his neck, and the now QUITE on-display scarring. He'd taken the hiding his injuries like that when disguised as Darth Mendax, but it was quite a lot of effort to change both your hair color and voice AND disguise all the scarring you had…it was a near-constant mental battle. So now he was "relaxing" and showing his true self…including the VERY horrific, obvious sign of a noose injury around his neck.
"…did…did someone…" Poe trailed off as Finn immediately looked right into his eyes. That look told him all he needed to know. Finn knew EXACTLY what that was. The young man had, at one point, been lynched.
"…why did they do it?" Finn quietly inquired.
"…I'm from Logos. Why do YOU think they did it?"
"…I assume it had something to do with…" Finn took in a breath. "A high school bully deciding he was going to "teach that faggot a little lesson about undressing me with his eyes"?" He inquired.
"Something like that." Zack grumbled darkly. "His name was Calvin Throschil Winchester the Fourth. He could be verrrry charming when the teachers were looking, but when the attention was off him, it was "let's have us a FAG DRAG". Or "let's go stick the redheaded little queer's head in the toilet". Or "Let's teach that flaming little fairy a thing or two after gym"." He dug his fingers into his knees. He was trying VERY hard not to let the old memories swell up in his mind…or rather, the old pain that came with them…but it was difficult. Very difficult. "I didn't think I'd survive high school. I almost didn't. He and his friends FINALLY got enough people to get a little mob and decide to really punish me when they figured out I was an atheist and didn't believe in their God. I mean…I was the perfect package. No father around anymore, so I was on my own. A nonbeliever. And I was gay."
He darkly chuckled. "Must have thought I was a gift from God. A perfect target. I can't believe I survived it. It was…almost a miracle, you could say. A freak storm came in and lightning struck the very tree I was on, and it burned so brightly and so quickly! I was able to break free, and entire big, flaming chunks of tree were just lying all around, half of my tormenters were buried under flaming wood, so…I just ran and ran."
"What happened the next day? Did that bully come back with more?"
"They figured it was some kind of divine sign, from what I gathered." Zack mumbled. "That it was not my time or some such shit. So they all left me alone long enough for ME to get the flying fuck off-planet. Now…now it's been decades and I'm going back?" He held his head in his hands as Poe motioned for everyone BUT Finn to leave the two alone. He headed to the main bridge, and sat alongside Luke.
"That was some damn good piloting." Luke told Poe as Poe looked back at him, surprised.
"You think so? Thanks." He chuckled. "Told you I was good."
"But…it could be better." Luke admitted. "You were a little too rapid fire in your shots. For that particular type of speeder, if you liiiightly pace out your shots, you do more damage because the carbines have more energy built up between the shots if you wait."
"How do you know THAT?" Poe asked, raising an eyebrow up.
"I used to shoot womp rats back home on a speeder just like that." Luke admitted. "They can have VERY thick hides, I'd wonder why they kept on coming even when I blasted quick and fast. Once I tried spacing the shots out more, it worked like a charm."
Poe looked intrigued as he leaned closer to Luke. "…really? Tell me more." He asked. "Anything else you flew?"
"I've got an X-Wing, it's my favorite ship."
"Ohhh, the X-Wings. Yes, yes, I've seen those, they're BEAUTIFUL designs." Poe said wistfully. "Not as fast as the A-Wing, but far more reliable in dealing damage…and the way their wings unfold!"
"Very elegant, right?"
"I know! Exactly! It's like a-"
"Bird of prey?"
The two finished on the same phrase, chuckling whilst Finn moved over to sit next to Zack, who was looking down at a datapad that showed Logos. There was a VERY small amount of information on it…the New Republic hadn't really stopped by Logos much at all. Not for years.
"…I've no idea how much things have changed and part of me doesn't want to know." Zack muttered. "But it would be darkly ironic, wouldn't it, if Darth Plagueis IS there…I mean…nobody on the planet could stop him. Our technology's decades behind the stuff on NAR SHADAA alone…"
"I think it might be good for you to get some closure. Say goodbye to that planet properly." Finn said. "I was able to get a bit myself back on Mandalore, returning to it…and to my father. And if they try to lynch you again, well…you're not the weak teen you were."
"…I was NEVER weak." Zack ground his teeth slightly. "You're right. You're RIGHT. I'm…I'm being a fucking PUSSY about this. I'm not gonna be scared away from my home planet by a bunch of grown up high school bullies. Fuck them. We're going to Logos. I can handle ANYTHING they throw at me!"
…
…
…
… "…you've got to be fucking shitting me."
The landing pad for the main capitol of Logos had a…most unusual welcoming committee. Zack and Finn stared, looking around with Leia, Luke, Chewie, Poe and Omarosa as they couldn't believe their eyes. The overall structure of the landing pad for ships in the capitol of Logos was fairly normal, steely and circular, nothing big or fancy. But…the thing was, the entire capitol had clearly changed since Zack had last seen it.
In the past, there'd been nothing but the tall and steely buildings, shooting up as if trying to reach God himself. There'd been no paint jobs, no robots, no fancy skylights on the buildings or floodlights on the towers. Now all of it was different. Very…peppy sort of music was playing on loudspeakers set up all through the airport of Logos's capitol city of "Vox Populi", with big posters on the now-brightly-painted walls. Everything had a kind of pastelish pastoral theme to the paint jobs, and there were overly cheery-looking little silver robots with big, goofy blue eyes, small and stubby hands and a singular antennae atop their heads as they held up GIFT BASKETS.
By their side were an enormous amount of various aliens. Other aliens! Not just the Logosians! These aliens had green skin, faintly insectoid in appearance, with big, fancy white robes that made them look like monks, with necklaces that had various gems in the center of different colors. They had black antennae, some curled, some ending in triangular shapes, others in big balls or squares as they looked excitedly at their logosian compatriots and then at the newcomers, chittering and chattering with eagerness etched on their faces!
And such…SMILES! It was…it was like a SEA of overly friendly SMILES. A logosian woman and a logosian man were there, the man having a white jacket and pants with a big circlet over his head and the familiar powerful, light eyes of a logosian though his were pink, and his female compatriot's were blue, while she wore a nun's habit…BOTH strumming on guitars.
"Uh…h…hello?" Leia spoke up. "I'm very glad to see our clearance to land was cleared so quickly, I…didn't expect so many, uh…visitors…we're not staying too long, we're dropping off a few of our friends here for a slightly longer stay is all…"
"Oh, it's not an issue at all! We're happy to welcome ALL people here. Ethos welcomes you, one and all! And a one…"
"And a two!"
"And a one, two, three four!"
"Oh please, no." Zack moaned.
"Howdy neighbors! Pleased to meetcha! Sister Jane, Brother Roger, here to greet yaaaa! And don't forget our neighbor abooooove! Who'll wrap you in a blanket of looooove!"
"I may be violently ill." Finn muttered as Poe was now laughing SO hard he was crying, covering his mouth and shaking, bent half-over as Zack was covering his face with one hand…a now-very-deep-red-with-embarrassment face.
"A big, floppy blanket of looooooove!"
"Uh…thank you, thank you very much…" Luke said, trying to be polite and friendly as he took one of the gift baskets from one of the little robots.
"Please, follow us. We'll give you the grand tour!" Said Brother Roger as Sister Jane walked alongside him, and the assembled party of greeters cheerily waved goodbye as some of the robots walked alongside the group as well. Chewie gave a growl as he held up one of the gift baskets…and spat out POTPOURRI. Yecccchhh.
"Yeah, you're not supposed to eat that…" Poe giggled as he wiped his eye free of some tears as some of the wookies Chewie had brought with him murmured and muttered, giving the robots dark looks.
"Potpourri is what you give people when you HATE them." Leia said quietly. "I don't know who came up with that idea for a gift basket, but frankly, whoever did had a very stupid sense of gratitude. I don't know anyone who likes that sort of thing."
There were a variety of posters on the walls of the space port, advertising plays, movies, many of them having a very distinct…GODLY tone to them. Lots of "Have You Accepted Ethos As Your Personal Lord and Savior" vibes. The music on the loudspeakers continued to play as Zack tilted his head a bit, noticing a slight change in the tune. It had been peppy at first, but now the music got darker as distinct guitar strumming filled the air.
"Rain, rain on my face…hasn't stopped…raining for days! My world is a flood! Slowly I become…one with the mud!"
"Well, that's…interesting…" Zack murmured as he looked at one of the loudspeakers, finding himself bouncing his head to the beat.
"But if I can't swim after 40 days And my mind is crushed By the crashing waves, lift me up so high that I cannot fall, lift me uuuuup!"
"…hmm. Doesn't actually sound so bad now." Finn confessed. "The instrumentation's nice."
"Yeah, I like the guitar they've got going. I think they're in a C minor at the moment…" Zack said, listening intently.
"I have to say, the New Republic had no idea things had changed so very much here on Logos." Leia informed Sister Jane and Father Roger. "We were under the impression that, in general, non-Logosians didn't COME to your planet, for one…and you seem to have made considerable advancements in technology."
"Oh, everything will be explained when you come meet the new heads of our Alien Outreach program. They've been helping to run things very smoothly." Sister Jane insisted as Father Roger nodded.
"Yes, we had drastic changes instituted 15 years ago. Our people have come leaps and bounds in such a short time!" He remarked as they were led out of the space port, past people who were walking around with guitars and balloons, passing out the latter to passersby.
"La la la la la la la, we hope you get well soon! La la la la la la la, have a heart-shaped balloon!"
"…I'm almost wishing we had the open bigotry back." Zack whispered to the others. "At least there, you KNEW where folks stood, this sort of behavior's more…insidious…" He muttered. "It's like trying to swallow down poison that's had lots of sugar mixed in to disguise the taste!" He remarked as another group on the street corner was passing out what looked like CDs while singing an oddly…intriguing tune. Something about…glory?
As they reached a very large, circular, sun-shaped building with a delightful country tune full of twang filling the air, Sister Jane and Brother Roger waved cheerily as the doors opened and Zack gasped in shock, as did everyone else. It…it couldn't be! It was…it was FREQUENCY! And EMBER! Both of them were dressed very nicely, in white vests and pants and everything, and Ember even had on some small glasses that made her look positively adorable but…it was still definitely them! The two mercenaries waved cheerily at them, motioning for the group to come inside the building.
"We can take it from here." Frequency said cheerily as the others all gave him a VERY dark look, Brother Roger and Sister Jane walking off as Luke was about to draw his lightsaber when Ember spoke up.
"We've wired the city to blow if you even so much as THINK about attacking us." She remarked. "We have to enter a password into a specific computer system that keeps the bombs from going off, and no, you're not gonna pull THAT our of our heads, because it also requires our voice print to deactivate too." The faintly rabbit-like, white-furred alien cheerily intoned.
"Darth Plagueis had us invest quite a lot of time here in Logos…and we did a CRAZY good job." Frequency beamed as the blue-furred alien put a paw on his chest. He was STILL wearing that red cap over his head, it rather clashed with the otherwise almost "Preppy" outfit he wore. "We had friends from our world come here, bringing Logos the greatest gifts they could ask for."
"Why didn't they see you for what you are? Not angels bringing good news on high, but devils in disguise?" Zack demanded to know.
"Because of this..." Frequency motioned for them to follow him and Ember into the building and he gestured at what laid in the middle…
A GIGANTIC portal. Far larger and bigger than all the others, showing a beautiful beach beyond, with swaying palm trees, a luxurious ocean town, the soft waves crashing against the sands. Ember, in turn, beamed. "We offered paradise. And the nice thing about Logosians is because of their…very unique physiology…none of THEM were affected by this. This one…perfect…portal. They could pass in and out without any trouble, and best of all, they pass EASILY for Earthlings! Nobody really notices the eyes there unless they're really looking, and…"
Frequency took out something from his vest and POP. He put it over his eyes. "A pair of sunglasses fixes that right up. They went MONDO crazy when they had a taste of Earth culture and tech. It was everything they coulda wanted!"
"Especially with us curating some things to make sure they didn't go TOO wild. Frequency and I started them off with some nice country music, worked my way up to "Christian Rock" and now we're going towards more New Age, spiritual tunes from people like Loreena Mckennitt, Enya, Yanni…" Ember cheerily intoned as she took out a little fiddle and began to play a very jaunty little tune. "I mean, their old music sucked ass."
"Yeah, it's all SO damn boring. Oh Lord Ethos, I'm depressed and I got boils. Please save my soul and do something about my boils. Ameeeeeeen!" Frequency said, wagging a paw digit in the air, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses as he stuck his tongue out. "BLEH! Major uncool."
"And what does Darth Plagueis get out of Logos?" Luke quietly inquired.
"He's got, like, a HUGE base of operations here. Not the main one, of course. We ain't telling you where THAT is." Frequency gave them all a big grin. "You're gonna have to keep looking for that. But he uses Logos's beautiful wilderness to train his Plague Doctors, the best troops our main man has…and they're growing in number DESPITE him using so many of them up to close portals he ain't got no more use for."
"Why are you telling us all this?" Zack found himself asking. "Are you intending to kill us?"
"Dude, no." Frequency shook his head as he took the sunglasses off and Ember put the fiddle away. "Look, we work for Plagueis because we need him. Desperately. He can do what none of YOU Jedi could. He can bring back the dead. We saw it with our own eyes. So we stay with him for that. But it's not like we like what the dude does."
"But we'll do it anyway for her." Ember said softly. "For the one we love. Our daughter….Izzy. Wouldn't you do anything if it meant bringing back your son or daughter? Or your mother or father?"
"…maybe…" Zack said quietly, as he hung his head. "…maybe I would…" He murmured.
They were all unsure of what to do. The fact was…Frequency and Ember had gone easy on them quite a lot. They'd done them solids before. Luke could tell they weren't bad people. But even so…
"Tell you what." Frequency grinned. "Why don't we convince you just how incredible Darth Plagueis really is, dudes?" He told Zack and Finn. "You, Zack. We know about your dad. You want him back, don't you?"
"…Finn and I will be staying here." Zack admitted. "Isn't that right, Finn? To…take advantage of your considerate hospitality and…consider what you've said."
"That's all we ask." Ember said cheerily. "Believe us, when you see what we've done here AND what Darth Plagueis did for us, you'll never look at him the same way again." She remarked. "So why don't we show you to your rooms?"
THREE HOURS LATER…
Zack had found a guitar had been left inside his room, along with what was clearly a CD player. It had been put inside of a big, handwoven gift basket along with some chocolates and a cute little card that read "For The Music In You!" with a cheery smiley face on the front playing a guitar. At first, he'd been confused at how…odd the CD album looked. It featured what seemed to be a human, trying to reach out from what appeared to be a net made of clouds, with a few white birds soaring around. The human appeared to get closer and closer in some of the black spots in between the net, and then, on the other side of the album, at last…a break through! A hand not merely punching through the dark abyss like it was tissue paper, but pointing straight ahead, as if demanding the person holding the album pay attention. Even the band was strange. "The Who"…
So he put the CD player in. The technology of Logos might have been quite a bit behind the rest of the galaxy but though it'd been years since he was home, playing a CD was like riding a bike to Zack. He remembered when he would smuggle a portable CD player inside his pants, sneaking the headphones up the inside of his shirt so he could relax in privacy…and as he put the new headphones on, and turned that CD player's volume up a bit to listen…
There was a tune rising up in the middle of the overture, and he knew, he KNEW it was the main theme of the album. And it felt rising…triumphant…and spiritual. He felt his heart soaring as he heard it play, but then…then the music shifted, to a more military march, and those words rang in his ear…
"Captain Walker didn't come home, his unborn child will never know him!
Believe him missing with a number of men, don't expect to see him again…"
And then the birth of the character…a boy. A son. A son! A…sun?
But then, just when it seemed as though the album was going to be a fairly relaxed thing, albeit with some sweeping moments, it got dark. A clear picture of death was painted. A child made blind, deaf, and dumb, and then, those words…
"Dressed in a silver-sparked glittering gown, and his golden beard flows nearly down to the ground…"
Now he understood why this CD was so popular. The saintly, guiding figure Tommy was seeing sounded just like Ethos, when he was meant to return to the planet, to bring about paradise. Ethos was meant to be even more beautiful than before, with a face to match the sun in his heart, and hair flowing down not just his back, but his face! An amazing journey indeed.
Now he was trying to imitate the tuneage! Because that particular theme…it remained inside his head. A "D" chord that he was taking great pains to try and play on the guitar. "See me…feel me…no, no. FEEEEL me…" He held the string to make the note play out longer, gritting his teeth a bit, taking in a few deep breaths. "That's it, yes. Feel me! Touch me…heal me! See me! Feel me! Touch me! Heal me!"
"Liking your gift?"
Zack quickly leaped off the bed as he instinctively drew his lightsaber with such speed and quickness the red blade hovered RIGHT in front of the person before him. She appeared to be a green-furred, large, round-ear-hanging-low mammalian alien, who had a rather large nose of a deeper shade of greenish/grey fur than the rest of her body. She had dark eyes that didn't really have pupils, so much as a white sort of flickering reflection that flitted to the side, giving them a more glassy sort of look. She wore a white labcoat, fancy scientific goggles atop her head, and pants that had at LEAST four pockets on each side, with thick army boots to boot! Holding her rather large hands up, she shook her head a bit. "Woah, relax. I'm Izzy. I'm here to bring you to dinner." She offered in a slightly high-pitched voice.
Zack looked her up and down, realizing that the voice she had was familiar…and he realized why. Her tone and pitch was VERY similar to Ember's. Even the hue of the greenish/grey fur she had was less grey and more…no, more…a kind of dark ocean blue. Ahhh. She must have been Frequency and Ember's daughter. Especially that smile…there was no mistaking the large grin she had. He'd seen it on Frequency's face before.
"Sorry." He quickly put the lightsaber away. "You understand if I'm not comfy being around the place I was once lynched."
"Oh, hey, I get it. I came back from the dead too." Izzy smiled as she pulled down her jacket a bit and Zack almost vomited. Holy fucking SHIT. There, embedded squarely where her heart would have been were distinct, horrifying, terrifying black scar tissue patches and lines. They encircled around the left hand side of her chest as he stared in shock and amazement, Izzy tugging the jacket back up. The appearance alone was bad, but…he could FEEL it, bathing off of her. Pure, absolute Dark Side of the Force Energy. It was as if she was wearing a neon sign that read "I've Got A Chunk of the Dark Side Stuffed into My Chest Cavity!"
"It was actually pretty peaceful…" Izzy's face looked as though she was distant for a second, and for a few moments, it seemed like a sense of infinite sadness briefly passed over her face. "Dunno what your type's like, but if it WAS my afterlife, it was pretty relaxing. Nice, long, rolling hills and this beautiful house by an ocean not far away…and the smell of my mom's cooking lilting into my nostrils. The most delicious grilled cheeses you've ever tasted."
"Grilled cheese?" Zack was a little surprised at this. "Really?"
"Trust me. You've not lived until you've tried my mom's grilled cheeses." Izzy insisted as she led Zack out of his room and into a main dining room, where Finn was sitting down across from Frequency and Ember as…well, sure enough, they were indeed a few nice stacks OF grilled cheeses on plates in the center, along with a few beautiful bottles of wine, a large rack of ham, a little platter of shrimp cocktail and the big centerpiece, a DELICIOUSLY-cooked duck that had been laid in a fine selection of vegetables on a silver platter. But before Zack could try to get one of those grilled cheese sandwiches, that was when he heard-
"Mind if we say grace?"
Zack looked up, Ember smiling expectantly at him as quite a few white-robed folks were watching from hallways nearby. Boy, there sure were a LOT of guards, Zack inwardly cringed. He then nodded and stayed quiet as Ember and Izzy and Frequency held hands and Zack used this chance to hold FINN's hand. Finn, in turn, squeezed it, though PROBABLY because he was irritated by the prayer, and not out of a loving desire for-
Then IZZY was allowed to say some words.
"Dear Lord, I've been asked to bless this duck you've bestowed on us for this dinner. A duck which was, probably, a very stupid bird. A no doubt social being, capable of great affection, who nevertheless are very careless. Ducks don't comprehend basic terrain, they'll use the stairs or even fly off a building or a cliff and the babies will LITERALLY die trying to follow. This bird is so lacking in situational awareness it is actually STUNNING how anyone can think they're good mamas. Anyway, it's dead, and we're gonna eat it in a nice orange sauce. Amen."
Finn was now squeezing Zack's hand tight so as to keep from laughing. He was holding in his breath, and he was turning rather red in the face. Frequency however was NOT as successful at holding it in, because once his daughter got to the "anyway, it's dead and we're gonna eat it" part, he'd laughed so hard he fell out of his chair.
"I have to say, my school meals would have been far better if YOU'D been leading the graces." Zack finally said with a big grin spreading across his face as Izzy smiled and cheerily tapped a watch-like contraption on her wrist, as PING! The side opened up and some salt and little herbs began to be sprinkled over the slice of duck she cut for herself. "Oooh! Fancy. Where'd you get that from?"
"I made it! It's an Izzy Original." Izzy offered. "I got the brains, my brother Judah got the brawn." She chuckled. "At least, for the most part. Can't wait to see him again when this is all done."
"Judah?" Zack tilted his head as Frequency finally helped himself up and began to serve himself a nice bit of duck and some shrimp cocktail too, as Finn munched away on some of the duck as well and Zack FINALLY tried one of the grilled cheeses. Sure enough, it was indeed delectable, just as Izzy had said.
"Yeah, my mom and dad had a ton of kids, and they decided to name me Israel, and my brother Judah. But everyone calls us Izzy and Jude." Izzy remarked. "My real name's so formal. Kind of like YOUR real name, right? Don't you have four names in your full title?"
"Yeah, Logosian traditions are weird. Always such pompous names!" Zack admitted as he shook his head. "I don't know why my dad came here."
"Probably for the same reason OUR master came here. Logos is actually beautifully tapped into the Force. The Natural Force freely flows through every nook and cranny of the planet…it's amazing, really!" Ember said as she sipped lightly on her wine. "And it proved VERY useful to him…especially in his…unique…life-giving skills."
"Yes, I…noticed the…very unique surgery done on your daughter to return her to the land of the living!" Zack admitted quietly. "It appears he used the Dark Side in a way I didn't think was possible. You're not…worried about the consequences?"
"Dude. We do NOT care if it's slightly uncomfortable to hug her." Frequency said quickly, as his eyes flashed. "She was dead. Now she's back. What else do ya think we wanted?"
"…and…like…" Zack nervously glanced from him to Izzy. "…I mean…he can't just, like…blow her up at any time if you don't do what he wants, can he?" He quietly inquired.
"No, of course not." Ember said as she shook her head. But…there was a very, VERY faint, just barely audible quickness in her voice. As if she wasn't being entirely truthful. No doubt the real problem was that what Darth Plagueis could give…he could take away…and if he was dead and gone, then…no doubt…Izzy would be too.
Small wonder Ember and Frequency didn't want them to really STOP Darth Plagueis. It'd mean losing their daughter again.
"Well, I admit, that's a very good benefit to being in his camp." Finn remarked. "Pretty impressive, really. But I wanted to ask…did he teach you two how to be a Dyad as well?" He inquired as the two looked at one another and then at Finn and Zack.
"Ohhh, you want to know how YOU can become a Dyad?" Ember inquired as Frequency laughed.
"NOW you're talking our language. Oh, yeah, no problem! We can TOTALLY teach you that. Not a problem at all." He insisted. "It's all good."
"Wow. You don't mind?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, we don't mind." Ember insisted. "But the thing is, we want you to do us a favor. You can leave, everyone. It's quite alright, really." She waved her paw in the air as the white-robed guards left the room and Zack and Finn looked her squarely in the face. "You see, there's a problem Darth Plagueis wants us to take care of, but…well, we kinda can't." She admitted. "…see…he…"
Now she wasn't happy. Now she wasn't smiling. She looked really, genuinely upset, as if on the verge of crying. "The thing is, um...he doesn't like real competition, and…well, the two Sith ladies are already accounted for, so they're not a threat. But there's this one Sith who's been hiding out here, on the planet that he wants us to get rid of. But we can't…" She covered her face with one paw. "The thing is…he…I mean…"
"…Ember and I don't kill kids." Frequency said bluntly. His expression was quiet and stony as he held his paws on the table, looking down at them, staring unblinkingly. "…we don't wanna. Not ever. And…and this Sith used to be an apprentice, and…and he's REAL powerful even now but…but he's still a kid, and…and we don't do that. So…"
Zack blinked a bit. "An apprentice Sith? And he's a KID? Why the hell would Darth Plagueis think he's such hot stuff? I mean, how powerful is he?"
"His name's Calvin Throschil Winchester the Fifth." Izzy added. "He's only 9 and yet he could do Force Lightning as easily as breathing, and his lightsaber fighting style's astounding. Darth Plagueis sent SEVERAL platoons to get rid of him and they all lost. It was a massacre. And when my mom and dad tried to scout him out, they almost died too. He expects the guy's head on his desk by the end of the week."
"…Calvin Throschil Winchester the Fifth?" Zack muttered quietly as Izzy reached into one of her many pockets, pulling out a small little holo-vid screen as it displayed a pitched battle, and he heard a taunting voice that sounded SO familiar…with a face so familiar, and yet…so much younger. The hair may have been a bit messier but…other than that…
Still, it was just a kid, he wasn't about to SERIOUSLY kill a-
"Come on, is that the best ya got?! Buncha slackjawed faggots! HA HA!"
He felt himself flinch. That fucking laugh.
That FUCKING. LAUGH. That laugh that was so much like his dad's, that…that SHIT-EATING PIECE OF…OF…
"…is…is his FATHER…still alive, by chance?"
"He's evidently living with his son in hiding. The mother died in childbirth. So we can't get to the kid through any other family members, and he's got no FRIENDS so-"
Zack felt his grip on the holo-vid screen tightening. It actually slightly bent as his body shook and quaked.
"…wh…where's…he living?" He found himself quietly inquiring, as a truly horrible, sick, ugly part of him began to scream inside…a mantra he'd repeated to himself for years and years regarding people like CHUCK there.
Don't get mad.
Get even.
Get EVEN.
GET. EVEN.
