Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your patience and ongoing support of this story. I would also like to express my apologies for any oddly coincidental relations between last week's chapter and the terrible overturning of Roe v. Wade. If I triggered anyone, I am sincerely sorry. I literally posted that chapter in the morning and then the news happened. This being said, I wish you all well during these trying times. I wish you peace and hope you enjoy today's chapter.
Long Live Imagination,
~ Michael
Chapter: 110 Only the Thirteenth Son
"Self-hatred is the most destructive, blinding, and manipulative form of corruption."
Aren abandoned! Chancellor Palpatine and the rest of the Galactic Senate have chosen not to interfere with another planetary conflict. Leaving Aren to its fate and Chieftain Ryder to choose asylum, the Republic returns its focus to the ongoing Clone War. With insurrections and invasions on the rise, one cannot help but wonder if Aren is already part of the Republic's conflict...
Hans Westgard found wide, vacuous spaces to be intimidating. It was the foreign concept of such emptiness that tugged at his fears. He's spent so much time surrounded by city lights and bustling airspeeders, that walking through a field felt more concerning. He kept his pace slow and ran his fingers along each tall blade of grass. A gentle breeze came upon him, yet offered very little comfort. Something echoed beyond the vast hills and left Hans raising a brow. Perplexed, he pressed towards the persistent sound. As he continued through the lush field, Hans listened intently for the ongoing noise. It was brash and guttural, like a raven's incessant caw. He could picture the black and pudgy bird in his mind's eye, squawking from some unseen tree branch.
With each passing step, Hans felt an increasing chill in the air. The vibrant field around him collapsed and each blade of grass withered away from behind. Concerned, Hans glanced back and observed the bizarre phenomenon. Decay plagued the field, but only along the path where he had had stepped. Testing his theory, Hans reached for one of the taller grasses and caressed it. As he did so, the green foliage turned to ash at the tips of his fingers. He barely had time to process the sensation as a figure emerged in front of him. Turning back, Hans spotted a woman standing among the grassy knolls. Her intricately woven bun drew him closer, and yet he couldn't fully make out your face.
"Hey," Hans uttered, yet the woman didn't budge. She averted her gaze and shamefully hunched her shoulders. There was a hint of familiarity in the way she carried herself. It transcended beyond appearance and reached Hans through a connection within the Force. Furrowing his brows, he dared to ask, "Mother?" She shuddered when he called her such and started to weep. "Hey," Hans reiterated. "Look at me," he demanded. "Look at me, Mom!" Hans reached for her arm and tugged. As he did, he briefly glimpsed the various sores massing across her forearm. Thick, discolored splotches ravaged her skin, just as every deathstick she'd ever injected had poisoned her veins. Before Hans could look up and see her face, his mother proved to be no different than a grassy blade. Her skin darkened until she too withered to ash. "No!" Hans gasped and stepped forward into nothingness. His mother faded away, her remnants scattering to the winds as Hans was left glaring at his empty palms. The cawing intensified around him. So much so, that the avian shrieks formed a different sound. A series of unsettling cackles filled the void, leaving Hans to swivel in search of it. "Who's there?" he barked. "Show yourself!"
"Poor little Hans," a man gurgled between laughs. "All alone. No mommy. No daddy. And whose fault is that?"
With each passing word, the voice became more familiar to Hans. His heart pounded and eyes widened as a rickety figure emerged from the decaying field. Demented and rotting, the reanimated corpse of Welm Westgard limped over. Shredded flesh gave way to protruding bones as the undead being advanced. His tattered clothes swayed with each frigid gust as he glared at Hans. Despite his horrid attributes, none was more disturbing than his broken neck. His fractured spine breached what was left of his skin and dangled with his lopsided head. The faulty structure clacked with each gruesome step as Welm smirked. While his dark lips raised against one corner of his mouth, his exposed jawbone snapped on the opposite end. "You did this to me. Did this to all of us."
Hans' eyes narrowed as multiple corpses rose from the darkening field. Thunder rumbled overhead as the bodies of his undead siblings prowled closer. Tormented and decimated children, all denied their futures, hobbled their way towards Hans. "No," the Jedi persisted. "I didn't do this to them. I killed you because you made them suffer! Made me suffer!"
"And who's suffering now, boy?" Welm growled and lurched closer. Dirt oozed beneath his pale eyes and fell against stains of dried blood.
"Don't call me boy," Hans threatened.
"But you are a boy," Welm hissed. "And that's all you'll ever be. A scared...little boy. Only the thirteenth son and othing more."
Hans' breaths shortened as he stood his ground. "Get away from me," he snarled.
His undead father grinned until ash leaked from his jaw. "You'll never be rid of me," he jeered. "You took my life...now I'll always be with you. The last thought before you sleep...and the first before you awaken. You will never be free."
"Stop!" Hans roared and activated his lightsaber. He impulsively rushed Welm and angrily cut him down. His saber didn't slice all the way at first, forcing Hans to exert himself further. Welm's body endured repeated strike after strike as Hans screamed with fury. "I am not your son! You're not my father! Get out!" Sweat soaked Hans' face as he sliced Welm to pieces. With each passing blow, one of his deceased siblings bursted into a cloud of ash. Yet no matter how much violence Hans inflicted, Welm lived on. His cackles echoed beyond his body and seemed to drill their way into Hans' head. "Get out of my life!" He roared while rigorously impaling the corpse. "Get out! Get out! GET OUT!"
Hans awakened with a violent gasp. The fury of such an upright bolt was enough to send him tumbling out of his bed. As soon as he hit the ground, he immediately rolled towards the nearest wall and clutched the sheets. Taking in his surroundings, Hans caught his breath and realized he was back in the temple. But while his experience might've been limited to a nightmare, its effects were very real. His sweat-drenched shirt clung to his chest like a soggy towel. The ominous silence of his bedroom delivered an eerie sense of comfort. The likes of which grounded Hans as he pressed against his wall. "Kriff," he whispered while bringing his hands to his twitching temples. He cursed once more after realizing that he'd barely gotten any sleep. And after a nightmare of such heinous proportions, Hans would be damned if he tried sleeping again. Rising from the floor, he scrambled for his communicator and dialed Anna.
"Come on," he groaned when she didn't pick up after four consecutive attempts. His eyes shot open once his groggy lover answered on the fifth. "There you are," he snapped.
"Hans," Anna yawned groggily. "What's going on? Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"I'm well aware," Hans intoned. "I can read a clock, thanks. Listen, I can't sleep."
Anna could be heard readjusting in her own bed before answering. "What's going on?"
"Wanna grab a drink?" Hans asked. "I know a spot where we could talk about it over something strong."
"That bad, huh?"
"Something like that," Hans mumbled. "So are you in or out? Come on. Do it for me," he added before even getting an initial response.
Anna huffed. "Yeah. Just me give me about twenty minutes to-"
"Ten," Hans insisted and twitched his eye through the prompted silence.
"Fine," she relented as Hans smirked. "Just...no deathsticks."
"Sure thing," Hans insisted. "Love you," he added and she hung up on him. Hans dropped his smile and glared at his exhausted appearance in the mirror. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Hans focused on his reddened, emerald gaze. Even if it had been just a nightmare, his father's words haunted him from beyond.
"And that's all you'll ever be," Welm's voice echoed. "A scared...little boy. Only the thirteenth son. Nothing more."
The mere sound of uncapping a fresh bottle sent serotonin pulsing through Hans. And a few chugs of the Junipera inside would have him forgetting what serotonin even was. Knowing that he and Anna would finish the bottle, he confidently threw the cap down to Coruscant's street below. "I hope that hits a pedestrian," he grumbled while passing the bottle to Anna.
"Hans," she scolded before taking a swig of her own.
"What? It'll teach them a lesson." Hans peered over the rooftop's ledge. They sat atop an abandoned shopping complex overlooking the upper districts. Shadowed by neglected cranes and broken-down bulldozers, Hans felt safely tucked away with Anna. "Anyone who gets hit with that cap will learn the truth about life," he insisted as Anna listened. "That it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter how well-behaved you believe yourself to be or how much redemption people think you deserve...everyone gets kriffed either way. There's no rhyme or reason to it."
Anna gulped down more Junipera and handed it back to Hans. "What happened to you tonight?"
"Please," he scoffed while gazing out towards the cityscape. "This has been brewing for a long time. When we're young, we get told to stay the course in life. That if you do everything right, work hard, and stay a good person...everything works out. And then the bad people just get punished I guess. Then you open your eyes and realize how many people really don't give a damn about you. Especially when the bad stuff happens. And that crap doesn't discriminate because you're a good citizen. But here's the most kriffed up part-" Hans continued and shook the bottle towards Anna. "There are people our age and even older who actually still believe that garbage. That we've all got a set destiny based on our actions. Like we get to pick and choose anything."
"But Hans," Anna protested and snagged the bottle from him. "We do. To a certain extent anyway." He rolled his eyes as she continued. "I had every reason to give up after Dooku captured me. He nearly broke me, but I made the choice to get back up."
"Back to talking about you, I see." Hans grumbled. "I'm over here opening up about my feelings, and you still gotta make it 'Anna Time'."
Anna grimaced at his remark. "I was just trying to relate."
"Well don't bother," he scorned. "Because we're not the same. You couldn't possibly understand what it was like to have a father like mine."
"You're right," Anna professed. "And at least you can say you met yours."
Hans snorted. "I've been putting more thought into that whole 'Aren Agenda' thing of yours. Being descended from royalty and joining the Jedi? Seems pretty coincidental."
"What are you getting at?" Anna asked, furrowing her brows.
Hans finished the bottle and set it down with a proud thud. "I'm saying, that maybe your masters spun that whole 'royal lineage' story to make you and Elsa feel better. Maybe your parents were just as much lowlives as mine were. Most Jedi probably have the same situation."
"I think this is the alcohol talking now," Anna groaned.
"But think about it," Hans snapped. "How messed up of a parent do you have to be to give up your child and send them here? To an Order that blankets them with lies of doctrine and turns them into soldiers. Open your eyes."
"My eyes are wide enough right now," Anna retorted. "Hans, I understand that you're going through something right now...but we all are. I appreciate you inviting me, but I think it's time we head home."
"Of course," Hans groused. "Back to the Jedi Order, who will never see us as anything more than numbers. Never appreciate all of the accomplishments we've done for them. Never make us...masters."
Anna reeled her anger in when she noticed Hans' slurred speech. "We don't fight for the Order," she intoned. "We fight for the Republic."
"Like they appreciate us any better," Hans whispered.
As if on cue, Anna received a call on her holocomm. Hans ducked back as Anna stood up to answer it. A bearded clone's face projected and prompted Anna to smile softly. "Sergeant Blazer," she greeted.
"General," Blazer answered with a raised brow. "I'd feel guilty for calling you so late, but you look like you've been up."
"I...couldn't sleep," Anna assured. "What's going on?"
"Watcher has a new assignment for us and the Deathchasers are needed back on the battlefront."
"I'll be spacebound within the hour," Anna answered. "Rendezvous for a briefing aboard the Legacy. You can fill me in on the rest there."
Blazer saluted as Anna ended the transmission. With the call concluded, Hans sighed and said, "Duty calls, eh?"
"Duty calls," Anna affirmed. "Sorry I couldn't stay longer. But I don't mind saying goodbye back at the temple. I'll even race you back and-"
"No no no," Hans grumbled. "Don't worry about it. Your squad needs you. Just go and...I'll get back to the temple on my own time."
Anna cautiously bit her lip. "You sure?" she asked.
"Positive," Hans asserted while watching skylane traffic. "I just want to be alone with my thoughts for a little longer."
"Are you sure?" Anna asked again. "If there's something else on your mind, I'm down to listen real quick."
Hans shook his head and said, "Nah. Go do your job. I'll just...be here I suppose." Even when Anna thought Hans was being sincere, he still had a way of making it sound like he was disappointed in her choices.
Focusing on her call to join the others, Anna slowly nodded and leaned towards Hans. She planted a gentle kiss on his forehead and whispered, "Love you."
"Love you too," Hans mumbled back as Anna departed.
"Please be safe!" she hollered to him while descending from the roof. "Make good choices!" she teased.
Hans snickered at her remark. "When don't I?" he hollered back, even if she was out of earshot.
No amount of darkness could shroud the silhouettes shifting in a Coruscant bar's back room. A nearby table rattled as a Zeltron woman propped her leg atop it. She threw her head back against the shadowy wall, moaning with delight as Hans buried his face in her raven hair. Her pink fingers clawed at the back of his head as he pulled her into a sweaty kiss. Their fit of passion was muffled by the sounds of bar festivities booming from the other room. While the Zeltron gasped and giggled, Hans was animalistic. His kisses were hungry and ferocious, sinking every emotion into the moment.
As time came to pass, one finished Junipera bottle became three. And yet all of the alcohol in the galaxy wasn't enough to keep Hans' thoughts at bay. By the end of his 'romp'...he was left feeling just as incomplete as before he'd followed through. Stumbling about in a drunken and fatigued stupor, Hans lazily redressed. His utility belt fell twice before he mustered the coordination to properly fasten it. Straightening his robes and running a hand through his hair, he could hear the Zeltron still catching her breath.
"Wow," she panted and brushed the tresses from her grinning face. "I've never been with a Jedi before," the Zeltron lauded, biting her lip. She recovered her scattered clothes and was alarmed to see Hans departing. "W-wait," she blurted. "Where are you going, baby?"
"Well we're done here, aren't we?" Hans grumbled before trudging back into the main bar. Trueping's was known for its heavy tunes and boisterous crowds. For a lower city bar, it was a good place for strangers to culminate and 'try their luck at a good time' as the locals would say. Hans shuffled through the bar's shady crowd and glanced over towards the nearby counter. A slithering Anacondan was busy tending drinks to a new wave of huddled patrons. Hans considered getting another drink, but he'd already spent enough time away from the Jedi Temple. His tired mind constantly teetered between returning and doing everything possible to forget about his nightmare. Either way, Hans opted to leave Trueping's before the Zeltron came looking for him. Tucking his lightsaber beneath his bulky cloak, Hans proceeded out towards the street. While exiting the bar, he noticed a sneering Zabrak glaring at him from the doorframe. "What the kriff are you looking at, sleemo?" Hans growled and furiously stomped his foot. The gesture was enough to startle the Zabrak into averting his gaze.
Given the amount of Junipera circulating through Hans' system, his entire equilibrium was thrown off. The bar's exterior music seemed to alternate between waves of pulsing beats and monotone acoustics. Hans occasionally stumbled and felt like the duracrete had turned to sludge beneath him. The incoming chime from his communicator was as irritating as it was startling. "Kriff," Hans whispered while fumbling for the device. "Kriff kriff kriff."
He staggered into a nearby streetlight and clutched the pole for stability. As Hans rummaged through his belt, energy pellets and spare grappling hooks plummeted around him. Once he'd managed to fish out his comlink, Hans cleared his throat and answered the call. "Yeah?" he groaned.
"Hans," a familiar voice answered in relief. "Thank the Force."
He furrowed his brows and leaned into the comlink. "R-...Rapunzel?" he asked. "What are you doing up this late?"
"I could be asking you the very same thing," Rapunzel replied as Hans rolled his eyes. Even doing such a simple gesture still hurt his head in the process. "Are you in the temple still?"
"Um..." Hans began. "Not necessarily. I'm...looking more into Senator Mon Mothma's shooter by asking nearby civilians. But I doubt you called to catch up."
A daunting pause ensued until Rapunzel relented, "Unfortunately not. But I need your help with something."
"Oh?" Hans inquired and tried to keep a cool head.
"Meet me at the Circle of Jedi Healers," she said. "I'll explain everything in person. It's...extensive. But I have to believe that our history as Padawans together counts for something."
Hans smirked. "I always knew you'd need my help someday," he jested.
"Just get over here," she sighed. "This is serious, Hans."
As the transmission ended, Hans was left pondering the severity of Rapunzel's call. It wasn't like they'd really spoken since they'd become Jedi Knights. For her to call him, especially so late at night...things must've been more urgent than he first presumed.
Hans felt like he'd swallowed a can of deodorant with how many breath neutralizers he'd consumed. While the stench of alcohol had fled his mouth, the Junipera's disorientating effects were still working through his system. The Circle of Jedi Healers became an occasional blur to him. He felt as though he was dreaming about setting foot in the sanctuary and had to remind himself that he was actually there. It was a miracle that he'd been able to pilot an airspeeder back to the hangar in one piece.
"H-?" a muffled voice spoke amid his inebriation. "H-s?"
"Whuh?" he blathered and spun about the room.
"Hans," a slender figure beckoned. As Hans focused on her tightly braided, golden locks. Raising a brow, he noticed how her lengthy hair was almost nearing the ground.
"Are you...ever gonna get that cut?" Hans asked.
"Are you drunk?" Rapunzel Crin spoke over him, seeing right through his facade.
"No," he retorted.
"Yeah okay," Rapunzel scoffed while ushering him into one of the sanctuary's recovery rooms. She briefly checked if anyone was watching and then sealed the door behind them. Hans stumbled around until Rapunzel forced him into a cushioned seat.
"Hey!" he blathered. "What's the-"
"Don't talk," Rapunzel cut him off. "Just listen." She rummaged through the nearby cabinet and unwrapped a bacta patch. "This will at least help sober you up quicker. You'll still feel like crap afterwards, but that's your fault."
"I didn't realize that I came here to be lectured," Hans griped as Rapunzel fastened the patch to his wrist.
"What part of 'just listen' don't you get?" Rapunzel huffed. Hans frustratedly pursed his lips as Rapunzel paced about. "I'm sorry," she professed. "I'm just...stressed. It's been harder to control these days. Hans...when's the last time you were in contact with Master Gaston?"
Just hearing his former mentor's name was enough to have Hans clenching his fists. "Oh what? Can I talk now?" he snarked until Rapunzel glared at him. "I haven't spoken to that kriffbag in months, nor do I have any desire to." He knitted his brows as Rapunzel hung her head. "Why?" Hans' anger only built with her delayed answer. "I swear, if this is one of your preachy healer endeavors to get me to have closure with him-"
"It's not that," Rapunzel answered. "He's gone missing."
"Good," Hans was quick to respond. "I hope he's dead. What's it to you?"
"Hans," Rapunzel intoned. "I know you don't mean that. And the reason I care is because my old master's missing as well."
Hans tilted his head with intrigue. "Master Gothel?"
"They had both been spending a considerable amount of time with each other," Rapunzel explained. "Master Gothel was always boasting about their ventures with me. But then last week, I lost all contact with her entirely. It was unlike her to not at least call me to brag some more."
"So you waited a week to do anything about it?" Hans grumbled.
"Is that all you're focusing on?" Rapunzel snapped. "And for your information, it only took me a few days to realize something had to be wrong. After a plethora of missed calls, I brought my concerns before the Jedi Council. Once they couldn't reach her either, they informed me of her last known location...and that they'd be 'looking into it'."
"Which basically means they don't give a damn," Hans corrected. Another one of Rapunzel's glares had him shrugging. "What? Tell me I'm wrong."
Rapunzel sighed. "According the council, our masters had taken great interest in better serving the Republic." Hans snorted as she continued. "Especially with the Separatists launching more offensives against us. With the Core and Mid Rim worlds fearing the worst, our masters offered to engage in diplomatic missions. The likes of which would help cast a better light on the Jedi and the Republic."
"But most importantly-" Hans corrected. "-turn Gothel and Gaston into celebrities. We've known them since we were younglings and people like that don't suddenly have a change of heart. The only reason they'd suggest such a crusade is to appear as saviors and make it all about them."
Rapunzel took a deep breath and fought to ignore Hans' remarks. Sticking to the facts, she carried on. "According to the council, their last assignment took them to the capital of Naboo. That's where contact ceases entirely."
"Oh how I hope they've been eaten by something," Hans aspired. "Are Gungans cannibalistic?"
Flustered, Rapunzel swatted his shoulder. "What's it going to take for you to take this seriously?"
"You're asking me why I should care?" Hans fired back. "Why should you care? I don't know if you've taken a second to notice, but our masters were garbage excuses for human beings."
"Speak for yourself," Rapunzel countered.
"Gladly. And if you want to live in denial, poor you."
"We have to be better than them, okay?" Rapunzel asserted. "Neither of our masters were perfect mentors, but they were still our masters. If they're in trouble and we know the council won't help in time, how can we sit back and still call ourselves Jedi?" Hans shook his head as his scowl deepened. "You can shake your head and give me the stink-eye all you want, but it doesn't change what I've asked. Hans, what kind of Jedi are you?"
"The best," he answered without question. "It's not a hard concept to grasp."
"Oh enough with the lies," Rapunzel said and leaned closer. "I've known you longer than most and can see right through you. You've never believed that you were the best Jedi in our Order for even a split second."
"Now come on-"
"I'm still speaking," Rapunzel intoned. "And I know why you make jabs at people, curse this Order, and get drunk when you think no one's watching even when we can smell it." Rapunzel's unblinking stare met Hans' as she continued. "Because you still don't know yourself. You have no idea who you are nor what you want. And that lack of direction becomes this ball of...hate." Rapunzel swirled her hands together as if literally holding such a ball. "So all you want to do is fight with everyone and everything within your reach. But what does that solve, Hans? Who wins?" His lip quivered with festering anger as Rapunzel sighed. "Look...I've known you long enough to tell it to you like it is. You could be so much more, but you don't apply yourself. Who do you really want to be?"
There was Welm's voice again, haunting from within. "Only the thirteenth son. Nothing more."
"Well?" Rapunzel persisted.
"I don't know, damn it!" Hans growled.
"Then you need to make a choice," she said. "Wallow until you've run out of people who want to hear it, or do something about it. I know you didn't have the most stable relationship with your master, but now is your chance to rise above. Hans-" Rapunzel extended her hand to him. "-take that chance."
With a deep breath, Hans walked alongside Rapunzel without taking her hand. "Fine," he scoffed. "But if this is all just a wild bantha chase, I'm making fun of you for a month." A thought dawned on him as they exited the Circle of Jedi Healers. "Hold on. If the council said they'd look into this, how do you expect to get clearance to just disappear to Naboo?"
"As a Jedi Healer, I can embark on relief missions if I'm not actively treating people in the temple. As far as anyone's concerned, I'm inspecting and studying medical practices on Naboo. You are tagging along as my understudy, who's suddenly taken an interest in the healing arts."
"Trust me," Hans assured. "You won't even need an alibi for me. The council couldn't care less about where I am or what becomes of me." Although Rapunzel found his words discomforting, she proceeded to the hangar with him.
An Eta-class, Jedi Ambassador shuttle glided through hyperspace. Its compact cockpit had Rapunzel eager to reach Naboo. Feeling cramped, she rose from the pilot's seat to stretch her legs. As lightspeed's vortex cast blue pulses across her braid, she noticed Hans staring at her from the co-pilot's seat. "Yes?" she inquired as he awkwardly looked away.
Trapped in his own thoughts, Hans started to speak them into being. "Did you ever learn who your parents were?"
Caught off guard by his question, Rapunzel sat back down and ran her fingers through her hair. "No," she lamented. "Though I'd be lying if I said I hadn't wondered. Why?"
"Do you think...they could reach you? Especially if they were...dead?"
"Hans?" Rapunzel wondered. "Is this about something else?" He averted his gaze again as she inched closer. "You can tell me anything."
"Am I your patient now?" Hans mocked until she leered at him. Sighing heavily, Hans weaved his own version of reality. "I think I see my father. I can't explain how, but I think the Force shows him to me in my dreams. He deems me worthless."
"I see," Rapunzel murmured. "Hans, no person can speak beyond the netherworld of the Force. Once we pass from this life, it's like an entirely new level of existence. Or...so I've read." She raised his chin before he could hang his head further. "No matter how they choose to materialize, I believe the thoughts that haunt us are our own. Whatever these specters are saying to you, is actually what you think of yourself. I know we grew apart after apprenticeship, but I know you aren't this worthless man you make yourself out to be. You can be so much more and you already are."
Rapunzel carried on, seeking to motivate Hans as his mind wandered. His deep green gaze departed from hers and dropped towards her lips. She could've been cursing him out for all he cared, as all of her words became a blur to his beating heart. Slowly closing his eyes, he leaned over to bring his lips to hers.
"Hans!" Rapunzel gasped, pressing her hands against his chest to hold him in place. "What are you doing?"
When Hans opened his eyes, he found an entirely different companion. Gone was Rapunzel's reassuring smile. Wide-eyed and frantic, she was forced to push him back when he tried advancing for a kiss again. "Hey!" Hans growled.
"Sit in the back," Rapunzel intoned.
"There is no backseat."
"Then stand but don't sit next to me," she doubled down. "Please."
Rapunzel's intense grip on the ship's controls was enough to make him stand. He trudged to the back of the cockpit just as they came out of hyperspace. Naboo's lush surface would've been a beautiful and welcoming sight...had Hans not just shattered the moment.
"So," he persisted. "Are we...gonna talk about that?"
"We have a job to do, Hans." Rapunzel stiffened. Her voice had deepened with authority. "I suggest we focus on it."
The shuttle's descent was as eerie as it was awkward. Rapunzel kept glancing over her shoulder, more so out of her own protection instead of any concern for Hans. She piloted their ship over Naboo's Great Grass Plains and towards the illustrious capital of Theed. Intricate edifices withstood the test of time, lighting up the waterside terraces. Tremendous cascades sent whitewater mists spritzing along the nighttime breeze. Several droplets sprayed against the shuttle's viewport as they approached the Royal Starport. The cliffside hangar served as a haven for political transports as well as several Republic gunships. Clones and Naboo congregated to go about their nightly schedules as Rapunzel initiated her landing.
Rapunzel powered down the engines and stepped past Hans to disembark. "You're really just gonna ignore me now?" he snarked.
"Enough, Hans." Rapunzel sighed as Hans trailed behind.
"So that's it? You lead me on and now I get shafted. You're just like everyone else."
His jeer stopped Rapunzel dead in her tracks. Controlling her anger with clenched fists, Rapunzel stormed back up to him. "It's just as I said before, Hans. You don't know who you are nor what you want. You can't even distinguish the difference between someone just trying to help you and someone trying to get in your pants." Rapunzel grimaced in disgust. "I thought better of you, Hans. Truly I did. Let me ask you this..." Rapunzel angrily pursed her lips. "You blame me...but what about you? If I'd let you kiss me, would you have actually professed any feelings?" Hans' silence was deafening as Rapunzel stood tall. "Or would I have just been an outlet? No different than a bottle of Junipera when you don't want to face yourself in the mirror." Hans wanted to come down on Rapunzel with a barrage of comebacks, and yet he found himself at a loss for words entirely. "That's what I thought," Rapunzel said and proceeded to disembark.
As the Jedi stepped out into the hangar, they were immediately greeted by two clone technicians. "Welcome to Naboo," one of them said. "We'll get your ship refueled."
"Thank you," Rapunzel replied while observing a gathering across the hangar. While clone troopers stood guard over a departing family, several Naboo dignitaries joined to bid farewell to them. A uniformed man beamed with pride while helping to get his wife and daughter situated aboard a shuttle. "What's going on over there?" Rapunzel asked.
"Ah," the technician realized. "Colonel Semaj Roze is being reassigned to Coruscant. Having been born and raised here on Naboo, he'll be missed. Always a man of the people."
Before joining his family, Semaj came face to face with the captain of Naboo's security forces. His grin widened as the two shared a joyous embrace. "Panaka, old friend." Semaj greeted.
"You didn't think I'd let you fly off without saying goodbye, did you?" the captain teased. "Safe travels, colonel. Coruscant will be lucky to have you."
"Daddy?" Semaj's daughter called from the ship's ramp. "Are you coming?"
"I'm right behind you, Tiana." Semaj jested. He saluted Panaka and nodded respectfully. "I'll be seeing you, sir."
"Daddy?" Tiana worried.
Semaj flashed an endearing smile. "I'm coming babycakes." He scooped her into his arms and offered a final wave towards the people of Naboo.
As Panaka watched the colonel's ship depart, he glimpsed the Jedi shuttle stationed across the hangar. Its passengers were already approaching as he straightened his cap. "What do we have here?" Panaka inquired. "More Jedi?"
"Greetings," Rapunzel said and observed the cap to signify his rank. "Captain...Panaka I believe I heard?" He nodded while she gestured to herself and Hans. "I am Jedi Knight Rapunzel Crin. This is my partner, Hans Westgard."
"I can introduce myself," he mumbled while she forced a smile to ignore him.
"What brings you to Naboo?" Panaka asked.
"We're in search of our former masters," Rapunzel explained. "You mentioned that we were more Jedi. Perhaps our old mentors had come here before."
"You'd recognize their egos in a heartbeat," Hans added until Rapunzel nudged him.
"Masters Gothel and Gaston," she continued. "Have you seen them?"
Captain Panaka hummed deeply in thought. "They were here," he answered. "About a week ago." Rapunzel and Hans exchanged pensive glances. "With Separatist sieges on the rise, they'd come to inspect our defenses and leadership skills."
"For a whole week?" Hans groused.
"What my friend here is trying to say-" Rapunzel interrupted. "Is that we're familiar with these types of inspections. Only, they're usually wrapped up in about two days."
"That's precisely how long your masters took," Panaka assured, leaving the Jedi all the more bewildered.
"Then they should've returned to Coruscant following their inspection," Hans muttered.
"Did they mention any potential destinations?" Rapunzel asked. "Please, captain. They've been missing for quite some time now and any information would really help us."
Panaka scratched his chin and recounted the masters' arrival. "During their inspection, the other Jedi expressed great interest in Colonel Roze's base. Given Naboo's lack of combat, the colonel had been stockpiling rhydonium fuel for emergency reserves. Masters Gothel and Gaston asked if they could transport some to a battlefield in need."
"So their mission didn't end here," Rapunzel realized. "The colonel just left, but do you happen to know where that rhydonium was transported to?"
Panaka nodded. "It's part of the reason Colonel Roze received an accolade for his heroic contribution. The Jedi took his reserved fuel to Mygeeto." Rapunzel's body grew rigid at the planet's mention. "May it help Republic forces in any way that it can. Stars know they need the assistance."
"Thank you for your help, captain." Rapunzel said and bowed respectfully. She hurried back to the shuttle as Hans rushed to catch up.
"Slow down, will ya?" he huffed. "What's with the all the panic?"
"You don't watch much of the HoloNews, do you?" Rapunzel scolded while boarding their ship.
"Not unless I'm potentially on it no."
"By the Force, you can be so insufferable." Rapunzel groaned and powered up their shuttle.
"Hey," Hans quipped and reclined in the co-pilot's seat. "You wanted me to tag along. So enlighten me, oh enlightened one. Unless of course you want me to stand in the back again."
Rapunzel grouchily wrinkled her nose, but channeled her frustration into a powerful takeoff. The launch sent Hans sinking into his seat as Rapunzel smirked at his dishevelment. Her payback was short-lived as she focused on their next destination. "When General Grievous launched the Outer Rim Sieges, Mygeeto was one of the first planets to be hit." Rapunzel sighed. Her hopes darkened like the atmosphere around them as their ship left Naboo. "Droid forces have been relentless against the populace and many cities have been razed to the ground. Republic troops were sent in months ago, but the fighting's only intensified. I've read over the casualty reports. Mygeeto has become a frozen world of death. Every week, fresh clone troopers emerge from Star Destroyers just to depart in body bags. And now-" Rapunzel bit back an impulsive gasp, but it was enough to catch Hans off guard. "I know you had your quarrels with Master Gaston. Master Gothel was far from perfect. But I would never wish harm on them, no matter what. They're still our masters, and if they went to Mygeeto...well then-"
"Hey," Hans huffed. "I-" He sucked his teeth while trying find the right response. "I try not to remember a lot about my master let alone yours. But there's no denying how stubborn they both are. I mean, remember that time they insisted we take holopics of them beneath those statues on Ryloth? Divas, I tell you!" Hans relished in the fact that he'd coaxed a laugh out of Rapunzel. "I'm sure that wherever they are, those two are fine."
"Yeah," Rapunzel sighed and peered over at Hans. She smiled gently and said, "Thanks."
"For what?"
"Being supportive for once. You actually do have a heart."
"Oh now I wanna take it back," Hans chuckled. Rapunzel swatted his arm before launching their ship into hyperspace.
Hans had grown accustomed to hearing the thunderous boom out of lightspeed. Only this time, their entry into Mygeeto's atmosphere was accompanied by several dozen booms. Many of these explosions weren't even in space. As Hans leaned forward in his seat, he observed countless smoke clouds climbing high into the atmosphere. For the planet's surface battles had become so intense, that its carnage could be seen in space. Distant artillery flashes flickered across Mygeeto's snowy landscape. Far into the northern hemisphere, the Jedi could see Republic vessels engaging Separatist dreadnoughts. Missiles streaked across the stars as entire carriers plummeted to Mygeeto's surface. Ships from both sides descended like sporadic, metallic meteors.
The chaos almost distracted Rapunzel enough to miss a blip on the shuttle's dashboard. "We're being hailed," she realized. "Republic coding."
"Well answer it!" Hans barked. "Before we get vaporized."
Rapunzel tapped on the ship's communicator as a clone's gruff voice came through. "Republic shuttle," he said. "What is your business here?"
"I am Knight Crin of the Jedi Order here with Knight Hans. We're are looking to make contact with our masters on the ground. They were supposed to make a supply run."
"Copy that," the clone's voice crackled. "I'm sending you coordinates for a safe landing zone. Follow them directly. Do not stray."
A series of coordinates digitized into the shuttle's dashboard. Accelerating the thrusters, Rapunzel began a rapid yet steady descent into Mygeeto. Upon piercing the planet's atmosphere, their shuttle was immediately bombarded with a thick layer of snowfall. "He said not to stray," Hans griped.
"I can't see!" Rapunzel snapped while aggressively weaving through the snowstorm.
"I knew I should've flown."
In a brief moment of clarity through the clouds, the Jedi observed open warfare across the mountains. High-powered rockets bombarded alternate positions while heavy laserfire sprayed from opposing sides. Diving back into the snowstorm, Rapunzel guided their shuttle down to a series of frosted landing pads. Blanketed Republic gunships were a refreshing sight as she set the ship down next to them. A brief wave of panic cascaded against Hans as he observed several approaching silhouettes. Thick, dark red garbs swayed atop the troopers and made them nearly indistinguishable.
"Are we sure this isn't a trap?" Hans considered. "Those don't look like clones."
Rapunzel took a deep breath and slowly slid out of her seat. Keeping their lightsabers at the ready, the duo grabbed a pair of bulky cloaks from the shuttle's storage unit. Mygeeto's icy winds only worsened as the ramp dropped. The obscured, wine red figures stood in formation as Hans and Rapunzel disembarked. One of them tried closing in until Hans ignited his lightsaber.
"That's close enough!" he yelled and raised his green blade betwixt the snowfall. "Who are you folks, really?"
A blue lightsaber sparked up from behind the troopers and a Cerean Jedi stepped into view. The winds chilled the pale beard and elongated cranium of Ki-Adi-Mundi. "You look upon Galactic Marines," the elder declared. "Now lower your weapon, child."
"Child?" Hans grumbled until Rapunzel forced his hand down.
"Apologies, Master Mundi." she placated, yet still raised her voice against the howling winds. "We didn't know who to fully trust in this war zone!"
Mundi's piercing stare focused on the youth before him. He dipped his lightsaber towards a compound's shrouded silhouette. "Inside," he directed. "Hurry."
The juxtaposition between Mygeeto's freezing conditions and the Republic base's artificial heat was surreal. Enhanced warmth generators had Hans and Rapunzel almost instantly shedding their coats. They followed Master Mundi down several winding halls, all while observing the oddly armored clone troopers. Instead of a basic helmet, it was as if each soldier had a thick layer of fabric blanketed over their faces. Combined with their narrow visors, the clones looked like ghostly apparitions.
"I've never seen this gear on clones before," Rapunzel professed. "I was unaware that the Kaminoans were proceeding with a Phase III for armor development."
"There is no third phase," Mundi intoned. Rapunzel slouched her shoulders in response while Hans rolled his eyes. "The Galactic Marines of the 21st Nova Corps are known for this unique equipment."
"Did he really have to say the whole kriffing title?" Hans whispered to Rapunzel. "He couldn't just say 'my unit' could he?"
"What was that, Knight Westgard?" Mundi asked and swiftly turned around.
"I said..." Hans huffed. "That's so wizard. You...must be very proud."
Mundi furrowed his bushy brows before turning back and entering the war room. Any relief Hans felt was short-lived as he and Rapunzel observed multiple datascreens. Clone officers manned their stations and monitored several ongoing battles across Mygeeto. Images of blasted gunships, scorched tanks, and fallen troopers flashed across each screen. "Here it is," Rapunzel uttered as she fixated on one monitor in particular. "The Republic Dream."
Hans inched up to her and overheard the officer overseeing the screen. "Dispatch to pickup," the clone called in. "Estimated two hundred inbound."
"Will have to wait until next trip," another clone responded. "Can't squeeze. This load's full."
"Load?" Hans uttered. "Officer...what are you transporting?" Hans had seen his share of clones throughout the war, but none had ever looked at him as the officer had. The older clone's eyes were as sunken in as they were soulless. Each dark pool remained as cold and unfeeling as Mygeeto's landscape. "O-officer?" Hans beckoned. Instead of answering him, the unfeeling clone simply returned to his monitor and kept putting in pickup requests.
"Bodies," Rapunzel answered in the officer's stead. Hans' lips parted in astonishment as his partner's eyes reddened. "So many clones are losing their lives, that they can't even transport them all out of here." She scrubbed her rising tears away and observed Mundi conversing with a clone commander. "We tell ourselves it's worth it," she sniffled. "But is it? Who-...what are they dying for?"
Master Mundi returned with his right hand clone beside him. "Knight Crin...Knight Westgard-" he began. "This is Commander Bacara. He's the one who sent you the coordinates."
"Thank you, commander." Rapunzel said. Her ensuing sniffle caught Mundi and his commander off guard.
"Why have you come here?" Master Mundi asked. "The council did not inform me of more Jedi reinforcements. I am to oversee the rest of this campaign now that Master Billaba and her Padawan have been sent to Kaller. Unless you two are to replace them."
"No," Rapunzel assured. "Master Mundi, I know that you and the rest of the council told me that the situation regarding Master Gothel would be addressed but-"
Mundi's glare intensified. "Knight Crin-"
"But I couldn't sit back any longer! We couldn't!" she blurted and gestured to Hans. "Reprimand us if you must, but we know that Masters Gothel and Gaston came here to bring supplies. It's been nearly a week. Please just help us find out what happened to-"
"I do not know," Mundi responded. The elder managed to counter Rapunzel's boldness without necessarily raising his voice. "I do not...know," he lamented.
"But they were here," Hans queried."
The Cerean sighed. "Gaston and Gothel brought a fresh shipment of rhydonium. It was meant to restock all of our outposts along the Ruinto Gap." Bacara pulled up a landscape projection. "It's a stretch between the mountains that borders between our territory and the Separatists. Halfway through their supply run, we lost all contact with them."
"Did you send aid?" Rapunzel asked. The desperation escalated in her rising tone. "A scouting party? Anything?"
"Shortly after we lost contact-" Mundi explained. "-the Ruinto Gap became flooded with droids. We couldn't get through."
"So...you just gave up?"
"Knight Crin," Mundi intoned. "No one has given up, but we cannot compromise this entire operation."
"Just two Jedi," Rapunzel scoffed.
"If they are alive, the Force will guide them back to base." Mundi persisted.
"So you're leaving everything up to the Force?" Rapunzel gasped. "That's what the council is deeming 'under investigation'? We'll find them ourselves."
"We-" Hans choked. "We will?"
"The way I see it-" Rapunzel stomped across the room as Mundi's eyes widened. "The council has abandoned Masters Gothel and Gaston to their fate. A fate that we can influence. If they truly are gone, at least let us discover the truth."
"Rapunzel," Hans beckoned in a hushed, growling tone. "I'm all for calling out the council, but I didn't sign up for getting ourselves killed."
"Remember when I said you didn't know who you were?" Rapunzel whispered sharply and stopped Hans in his tracks. "This is the moment to find out. And your choice is everything. If I'm right, you'll have found a piece of yourself. And if I'm wrong...you'll live with that regret."
Scowling at the bitter truth in Rapunzel's words, Hans angrily stomped towards the exit. "Well come on then," he growled. "Where's this stupid gap?"
Rapunzel analyzed the projected coordinates while Ki-Adi-Mundi scolded. "On behalf of the council, I forbid you from-"
"-being sent into the same death trap?" Rapunzel concluded. "At this pace, the council will still have to find our old masters if we go missing too."
"Also," Hans murmured. "Don't you have five wives or something?"
Hans' remark caught Mundi flat-footed. "Our bonds were made as an exception to preserve the Cerean birthrate."
Hans smacked his lips in disdain. "Consider our actions to be another exception."
As he and Rapunzel departed, Commander Bacara raised a datapad with daunting alerts. "The Seps will shoot your ship down before you even reach the Ruinto Gap!"
"Then we'll see you in hell!" Hans fired back before exiting the compound.
The flight across Mygeeto's perilous terrain was eerily silent. When he wasn't focused on the heavy snowfall, Hans would glance over to check on Rapunzel. "What?" she ultimately sighed.
"I've just never seen you so...serious," Hans remarked. "It's cute." His second comment had Rapunzel scoffing. "I mean it!" Hans jested. "You're like this feisty little sundrop when you're mad."
"At least I'm not a perpetual mope," Rapunzel countered before sulking. "I can't believe the council," she lamented. "What's happening to the Jedi Order?"
"Let's see," Hans considered. "Corruption, hypocrisy, an unprecedented amount of unattractive people getting promoted to master while the gorgeous ones suffer..."
"You know, Hans..." Rapunzel groaned. "If you want to achieve the rank of master so badly, you don't have to sit around waiting for achievements. You could just take on a Padawan. Elsa's doing it."
"Big Dellian?" Hans blurted. "That stuck-up wannabe can't even hold a lightsaber properly. I don't know who she thinks she's fooling with a double-bladed one now."
"I'm sorry," Rapunzel snarked. "How many duels have you actually won?" She raised her brows amid Hans' silence. "Case in point. Now don't avoid my words. Why won't you take a Padawan?"
"Oh come on," Hans murmured. "Me? Teach?"
"Did you ever think that maybe Master Gaston wasn't always the way he was?" Rapunzel inquired and Hans tilted his head. "That maybe he let someone make him like that?" She leveled the ship out and briefly locked eyes with him. "Just because your master was cruel to you doesn't mean you have to perpetuate that cycle. You don't get to pick what happens to you. But what you do about it is always your choice."
Hans knitted his brows as he sunk into his seat. "I think he...and plenty of others kriffed me up, Rapunzel." Hans professed. "I'm overflowing with that kriffing garbage."
"But you don't have to be."
"Tell that to every kriffing thing that keeps happening to me," Hans snapped. "It might be a choice, but it's also my choice to know how messed up all of this is. I'm carrying enough of it, so why would I ever want to pass that on to a damn kid?" Hans crossed his arms and huffed. "I'm a big enough sleemo for this galaxy."
"I pity you," Rapunzel whispered. "Really I do, Hans." A heavy silence filled the cockpit as they soared along a series of cliffs. Amid the pause, Rapunzel shook her head...and snickered. "We'll see you in hell...I can't believe you told the commander that."
"He was talking out of his exhaust port," Hans groused. "He had it coming." A series of alerts buzzed across the dashboard. "Tell me that's an incoming missile."
"Proximity notice," Rapunzel corrected. "We're coming up on the Ruinta Gap."
"Hah," Hans chuckled. "We made it. In your face, Commander Bacara."
Rapunzel flew low and set the shuttle's scanners to pick up any traces of Republic vehicles. The gap's icy expanse stretched for miles. And over time, the terrain began to play tricks on the Jedi's minds. Every jagged, protruding stone looked like the wing of a fallen ship buried beneath the snow. The silent flight had a hypnotic, trancelike effect on Hans and Rapunzel. The likes of which could only be broken by a sudden blip on the scanners. "Wait," Rapunzel murmured. "We might actually have something." She set the ship into an eased descent, accounting for Mygeeto's blustering winds. Landing before a broad, metallic slab, the Jedi bundled up and disembarked.
While Rapunzel had sought to be more delicate with their find, Hans immediately Force-pushed the layer of snow coating it. As the frosted residue cleared, it revealed a Republic emblem printed into the durasteel. Although Hans smirked at his rapid maneuver, Rapunzel just stared at him. "What?" he grumbled as they proceeded onward. Running their hands along the slab, they felt for a handle and pulled together. A dark, cramped, and disheveled compartment awaited them once they'd peeled back the hatch.
"Come on," Rapunzel urged and slid into the buried vehicle. As Hans followed her in, they immediately ignited their lightsabers to illuminate the cabin.
"Kriff!" Hans cursed as his lightsaber glowed against a clone trooper's frozen corpse. While he recovered from his sudden fright, Rapunzel observed the transport's front.
"The entire pilot's component is crushed," she said. "They must've been hit by an air raid to bury them this far at this angle." Rapunzel made Hans jump again when she started rummaging through plasteel cabinets. "Look for a datalog. Any kind of clue as to what happened."
Hans overcompensated with the Force, knocking down entire cabinets and then shuffling through the heap with his feet. While he lazily searched, Rapunzel salvaged several datapads. Some had cracked and malfunctioned while others were still running on reserve power. "Strange," Rapunzel uttered. "They've been wiped clean. No entries even regarding rhydonium." She let the emptied devices clatter to the floor and sighed. "Just another dead end."
"Dead..." Hans muttered to himself and glanced at the frozen clone.
Rapunzel raised a brow while her partner scrambled over to the corpse. "What?"
"Shh," Hans snapped, much to her discontent. "I'm being smart." He held his saber to the clone's body and helped it thaw. As one of the arms loosened, a datapad fell directly into Hans' hand. "What were you hiding?" he jested before tossing the pad to Rapunzel.
Relief fell over her as the datapad powered up. She had to squint, but could still make out the entry on its faded and staticky screen. "Good soldiers follow orders," Rapunzel read aloud. "Obey. I did my duty, because why wouldn't I? That's what I was made for...and now I'll-" Rapunzel paused and looked up at Hans. "-die for it." She pulled the datapad close and kept reading. "The generals told us to keep going. That we had to get this supplies to the others. When we were ordered to dump the rhydonium, I didn't even question it. What does that make me? No different than the mindless clankers?"
"Dump the rhydonium?" Hans asked. "Why the hell would they do that?"
Rapunzel continued. "We came under attack by droid bombers shortly after the dump. I keep replaying the scenario over and over again in my head. They were so quick to find us. As if our scramblers were disabled, giving them the perfect window to strike. All of these words could be found by the ignorant. Or perhaps they'll be buried in the snow as I freeze in this entrapment. But I owe it to my fallen brothers to speak the truth." Hans leaned in as Rapunzel read on. "Everything happened so quickly, and as I fought alongside my brothers to prepare anti-air defense...the generals were nowhere to be found. When it all settled and I lay crawling in my own blood, I listened as the Jedi returned. Their words were hushed whispers amid my silent agony. They thought us all to be dead...yet still I listened. They spoke of Aren...why Aren? Why did they do this? Why did-"
"Well?" Hans grumbled. "Why did they what?"
Rapunzel scowled at his impatience and shoved the datapad in his face. "That's it, Hans. The message stops there." Still not believing her own words, Hans ripped the datapad out of Rapunzel's hands and read it himself. Flustered with the truth, he angrily threw the datapad across the room. "What are you doing, you idiot?" Rapunzel snapped. "That's evidence."
Ignoring her words, Hans paced across the frozen interior. "As if anyone outside of us would believe a clone's words. They barely believe a Jedi's." Hans shook his head in disbelief. "So our old masters just sabotaged a supply run...to go to Aren? It doesn't add up. Why would-" Hans focused on Rapunzel. His blood chilled at the sight of her pensive stare. "What?"
"They covered their tracks," Rapunzel uttered. "They meticulously did so from the very beginning of this ordeal. Search your feelings, Hans. It all adds up. They used the council's clearance for a mission to Naboo. Once there, they took advantage of their authority over the populace to transport rhydonium to a war zone."
"And in Mygeeto's chaos-" Hans deduced. "-they could easily fake their disappearances. Even deaths."
"All while the council took ages to get a grasp on the situation."
"But why?" Hans uttered. "All this work just to go off grid? For what?"
"We're about to find out," Rapunzel intoned and started climbing out of the ship. "Grab that datapad, will you?"
Hans recovered the clone's journal and followed her out of the cabin. "Wait, you can't seriously want to go to Aren? That place is even worse than Mygeeto and it's not even involved in the war!"
"I don't know what to believe anymore, Hans. But I-...we didn't come this far to turn back now. We've taken every chance together so far. What's one more?" With a heavy sigh, Hans angrily followed her back to their shuttle. As they went spacebound, the sounds of Mygeeto's ongoing conflict echoed throughout the blizzard.
The Unknown Regions were only named such to spare traumatized spacers from saying more. For those dwelling within the mess of supernovae, gravity wells, and monstrous black holes...the void was known as the 'Chaos.' Unless travelers had direct destinations, it was common for many a spacer to get lost altogether. It'd become a dutiful precaution for pilots to check their hyperdrives before venturing so deep into the unknown. For any failure during lightspeed travel could leave a ship stranded in an endless sea of blackness. In fact, the Unknown Regions were so perilous...that space travel was almost exclusively limited to hyperspace jumping. And while most travelers knew of Aren's coordinates, few dared to journey so far into peril.
Hans and Rapunzel's shuttle boomed out of hyperspace. It spiraled towards the snowy, windswept orb that was Aren. "This better be our last stop," Rapunzel lamented while running a diagnostic. "Our hyperdrive's motivator can't take this many jumps. We're good for one more."
"Well hopefully it's back to Coruscant with two sleemos in tow," Hans griped. Sighing at the remark, he lightened up and added, "Maybe they're...you know."
"What?" Rapunzel inquired.
"A-" Hans stammered when she didn't immediately understand. "Well-" Hans flourished his hands as if caressing someone's face.
"Hans," Rapunzel asserted. "Don't even talk like that. It's bad enough that you actually tried to kiss me. Are you sure you aren't just projecting?"
"Okay first of all, this isn't about me."
"Everything's about you," Rapunzel snarked.
"Eh, you're right," Hans admitted. "But that's beside the point. Our master's have always been...close. Think about it like this. If they wanted to disappear and start a life together, faking their deaths would be an easy way to do it."
"But then why Aren?" Rapunzel murmured. "Sure, it's in the middle of nowhere. But the planet's engulfed in civil war. They'd never know peace. Why not go to Ilum...or Ahch-To?"
"I don't know," Hans huffed. "But you'd better fly low once we near the atmosphere. Because the second we show up on the wrong scanners, we and the Republic are finished."
Rapunzel held her breath while taking the gravitational plunge. Their shuttle's sharp wings pierced the upper atmosphere and descended into a thick, cloudy veil. It wasn't long before they were gliding along a stretch of alpines and snowy plateaus. "The nearest city isn't for miles," Rapunzel read from her scanners while adjusting their scopes.
"What are you doing?" Hans murmured.
"Taking a shot in the dark," Rapunzel answered. "If I can code this to trace any Republic vehicles like on Mygeeto, we could pick up a unique signature."
"After everything they've done-" Hans grumbled. "-you think they'd be stupid enough to keep a traceable Republic ship?"
"Just because they played a smart move, doesn't mean they wouldn't be-" Hans' eyes widened as a sudden blip emerged on the scanners. "-overconfident," Rapunzel concluded.
"You're kriffing kidding me," Hans answered, dropping his tone as they narrowed in on the scan. The readouts tracked a Republic vessel beyond the forests and towards one of Aren's vast mountain ranges. After all they'd endured during their journey, Hans was left surprisingly speechless. Gone was any speculation behind their old master's endeavors. He merely clung to his seat as they soared deeper into uncertainty. Each pulse-pounding moment coincided with the dashboard's intermittent beeps. The scanners ultimately traced the signal to a frosted cliffside. Rapunzel landed along a level surface overlooking a gaping ice cave. "Maybe it's someone else's Republic ship," Hans mumbled.
Ignoring his jest, Rapunzel took a deep breath and unbuckled her seatbelt. "This is it," she sighed and prepared to disembark.
"I don't like this," Hans uttered as they stepped onto Aren's chilled terrain.
"You don't like anything," Rapunzel fired back until a bizarre, mechanical echo filled the air. It drew them away from the cave and towards an oblong-shaped complex beneath the cliff. Its chromium roof was hardly visible amid the snowy trees. "What is that thing?" she pondered.
"Rapunzel..." Hans warned.
"As far as we know, the signal stops here," she answered. "So either the ship is in that cave, or down in that base. Now I don't know about you, but I think we'd both like to spend the least amount of time on this planet as possible. She continued with Hans' reluctant nod. "So we split up. Sketchy compound or spooky cave?"
Hans huffed while analyzing his horrendous options. "Well, I wouldn't want you crying out for me to hold your hand in the dark. So I'll check the cave."
Rapunzel glared at him and playfully swatted his arm. "Stay on comms. Anything goes wrong, we both pull out and meet back here. Deal?"
"Yes, mother." Hans scoffed and jogged into the cave. He kept up his pompous bravado while Rapunzel began her descent. Once she was out of view, Hans' true feelings emerged. His boastful grin faltered beneath waves of concern. As he delved deeper, the outside world became faded white noise. Blustery winds were nothing more than faint whistles to play tricks on him at every corner. By the third ominous shadow, Hans was fed up with being jump-scared. "Kriff this," he groaned and activated his lightsaber. The blade's green plasma illuminated his path as the cave kept stretching on.
Hans stiffened as his boot crunched on a sheet of ice. Water trickled from lingering icicles as he cautiously avoided them. And yet as Hans did so, he couldn't shake a peculiar feeling. Nausea continued to rise within him. A dull headache plagued his senses, and he loathed how familiar it all felt. In fact, the familiarity was insidiously unsettling. He'd felt it in his lowest moments. The kind that always reminded him of how inferior he was. And by the time he could comprehend such a sense, someone spoke up.
"Now this is a surprise." That voice...That horrid, deep voice was enough to snatch the breath from Hans' throat. He gasped and staggered forward, trying to recompose himself. No amount of telling himself that he'd moved on. No reassurance to the contrary could prevent Hans from tensing up at the sound of Master Gaston's voice. "What are you doing here...boy?"
Hans swished his lightsaber through the darkness. "I-" he swallowed hard and straighten this posture. "I could ask you the same thing, Gaston. Show yourself."
Gaston's chuckle seemed to echo throughout the entire cave system. "You're shaking," he mocked. "You think yourself brave when I can sense your fear?"
"I said show yourself!" Hans roared and angrily swung his saber at nothing. "You killed those clones. Lied to the Order. Why?" Hans gritted his teeth betwixt the silence. "Answer me!"
As he lunged forward, a hand stretched from the darkness and siezed his wrist. It forced Hans' weapon down, even as he tried to retaliate. As he turned to face his assailant, the green blade briefly illuminated Gaston's furious glower. Inky, sharp facial hair coated his once clean-shaven face. "Look at you," Gaston taunted while holding the knight in place. "Self-righteous Hans. Acting as if you obey a single moral to an Order whom you continuously fail. You may wield a lightsaber, but you're just a scared little boy."
"Scared little boy," Welm Westgard's voice haunted Hans again.
Acting on his rage, Hans angrily kneed Gaston in the gut. While he managed to break free, the master was merely toying with him. Gaston's lightsaber ignited to meet Hans'. Flashes of green and yellow flared across the cave walls as they briefly dueled. Despite his rage, Hans was immediately forced on the defensive. Gaston swung hard, pushing Hans' saber away before kicking ice fragments in his face. The frigid powder disoriented him as Gaston unleashed a powerful Force push.
The attack hurled Hans against the adjacent cave wall, and still Gaston didn't let up. Deactivating his lightsaber, he stomped over to Hans and pulled him up by the sleeve. When his former student tried swinging his blade, Gaston merely snatched his wrist and squeezed. He dug his fingers into Hans' flesh until the pain was so excruciating...that disarmament was inevitable. As Hans' lightsaber clattered to the ground, Gaston pinned him against the wall and delivered blow after blow. Still dazed from the Force push, all Hans could do was endure a furious barrage of punches to his face and abdomen. With a firm hand on his collar, Gaston concluded with a right hook to Hans' chin.
Bloodied and bruised, Hans collapsed as Gaston caught his breath. "No one fights like Gaston," the master whispered to himself while cracking his knuckles. Hans' wheezes interrupted his boasting.
"I'll-" Hans uttered while struggling to sit up. "I'll kill you!" He sprung forward, only to have Gaston easily kick him into the wall. The final impact caused several icicles to plummet near Hans. While they all missed him, each showed a distorted reflection of his bruised and broken self. And as Hans glimpsed his own beaten image, a great sadness came over his anger.
Before he could fully feel any of it, a pair of lightsabers sparked up. Wielding both his own weapon and Hans', Gaston dipped the sabers to his student's neck. Like a pair of scorching scissors, he slowly brought them closer to slicing as he asked, "Are you done acting like a child?"
"I'll...kill you," Hans panted.
"Are you done acting like a child?" Gaston intoned and brought the sabers closer. "I knew you were going to be a challenge when I took you as a Padawan, but I never imagined such a consistent...wallowing failure."
"Whose fault is that?" Hans croaked as blood trickled from his lips.
"That's the problem," Gaston sighed. "You want to blame me for your own shame. You always envied my looks and prowess, trying to pass it as your own." Hans shook his head as Gaston persisted. "Even now you live in denial of it. By being my successful self, I gave you something to strive towards being as my Padawan. A perfect...pure paragon. Still, you bit the hand that fed you. And I was forced to dwell with your inferiority. But believe it or not. I pity you. It's not too late to still become a man."
Gaston deactivated his lightsabers as Hans found relief in the cave's chill. The master knelt before his beaten counterpart and spoke softly. "A mentor never stops being his student's teacher. I can still show you the way. You can be the powerful man you've always wanted to be."
"Why would you give a damn about me?" Hans coughed. "Because I know what you did? Because you need me to stay silent?"
Gaston shook his head. "Don't be a fool, Hans. The Jedi Order and the Republic are falling apart. The entire sphere of influence as we know it is going to crumble. And you need to ask yourself where you want to be when anarchy ensues. Who do you want on your side? A corrupt system that's given you nothing? Or survivors just like you?" Hans' dizzied gaze steadied on Gaston. "Search your feelings. You know my words to be true. You've been witnessing the collapse firsthand. Some of us have even foreseen it. If the late Master Krell hadn't opened my eyes, I would've still been as blind as you are."
"He betrayed the Republic too," Hans answered.
"You have to trust a system to betray it," Gaston said. "If they aren't helping you, why help them? Hans, none of what you're doing will ever matter. You will never become a Jedi Master. The council will never see you as the powerful man you could be. Wake up!"
"Then why are you here?" Hans coughed as his face continued to swell. "Why Aren?"
Gaston's nostrils flared. "Because when the Republic does tear itself to pieces, we will need a place to thrive. A place beyond the politics where Jedi are already being persecuted. Aren is in a constant struggle for power, Hans. This is fertile ground for people like us to seize control."
"Us?" Hans inquired.
"Master Gothel's here too," Gaston assured. "I tell you this because I trust you. Because I know that you'll look at her with me the same way you view your relations with that Dellian girl." Hans tensed up as Gaston scoffed. "Honestly, boy. Did you think your relationship was a secret to anyone willing to look? She's welcome to join us too."
"What are you saying?" Hans murmured.
"I'm saying that this is sink or swim," Gaston intoned. "And it's no longer about winning a doomed war for a pitiful Republic. This is about surviving and flourishing in our own world. The Force is ours to control out here on Aren. Its populace bends to our will. It's time to stop being a Jedi, Hans. Join me...and become a god." Hans and Gaston's reflections swirled into one other as the fallen icicles began to melt.
Rapunzel tumbled into the snow below the summit. Brushing the frost from her violet robes, she inched her way closer to the peculiar edifice. Rapunzel was forced into cover as a pair of uniformed gunmen patrolled past the main door. Their rifles swayed with each bold stride. "Did you hear?" one of the Aren soldiers asked. "Another caravan was hit."
The second soldier sighed. "I thought we were done with the Northuldra."
"Not until their leaders' corpses hang for all to see. It doesn't matter how many times we strike them if they hold on to those ideals."
"Pathetic," the first soldier grumbled. As they stood on patrol, Rapunzel discreetly used the Force to rattle several branches by the treeline. "What was that?" the soldier uttered as he and his partner moved to investigate.
Rapunzel siezed the opportunity to dash towards the facility door and slip inside. Poor ventilation left the hall feeling cramped and musty. Keeping to the walls, Rapunzel cautiously peaked over a series of wide windows. Similar to the war room on Mygeeto, the chamber was filled with monitored datascreens. Each projected several images of Aren's terrain. "What are you up to?" Rapunzel whispered to herself until a sinking feeling gripped her. She barely had time to process as the chamber's rear doors opened. Her senses were thrown out of flux as a short, and rather frail man marched forward. His bushy mustache bounced with each stern step. Yet all of his epaulets hardly caught Rapunzel's eye as she observed the company he kept.
Her brain was still processing the dark red robes and familiar, black tresses of her former master. Rapunzel bit back a gasp as Master Donma Gothel walked alongside the old man. "These strikes were supposed to help," he blathered. "Help put an end to the Northuldra problem! Not intensify the conflict!"
"It appears-" Gothel huffed. "-their hope is harder to crush than anticipated, my duke."
"You aren't being paid to make excuses," the duke scolded. "What good are Jedi if they can't even get the job done? And haven't you seen the HoloNews? One of the Northuldra leaders escaped. You told me that you'd kill them all!"
"My partner and I left them with a miserable fighting force that they can hardly sustain," Gothel assured. "We'll hunt down the survivors in no time."
"And what of the chieftain on Coruscant?" the duke fretted. "What's to stop him from getting the Republic involved?"
"The Republic wouldn't dare. They have their own concerns to worry about. Plus, no one knows Jedi are-" Gothel paused and knitted her brows. Sensing a familiar presence, she glanced up at the nearby windows and concluded, "-involved." Curious about her odd sense, she stepped out of the chamber. Gothel was left to squint suspiciously at an eerily vacant hall.
Rapunzel was already scurrying down the opposite corridor. The soldiers had returned to their post, forcing her to find an alternative escape route. "Hans," she whispered into her comlink. Her heart raced over his crackling silence. "Hans, please. Do you read? It's them. Our masters are here and they're behind the Northuldra massacres. We need to get back to Coruscant now. Hans!" she strained her exasperated voice. "Where are-" As she rounded the next corner, Rapunzel had to clench up to avoid screaming. She found herself face to face with her bruised and bloodied companion. "Hans," she gasped. "I-...What? How did you?"
"There isn't much time," Hans panted. "You were right about everything and we need to go now. I fought my way through an escape hatch," he grunted. Noticing his limp, Rapunzel helped guide him forward.
Putting an arm around each other, the Jedi hurried to an open hatch. "This leads to the back of the compound," Hans said. "And up through the forest." His grip on her back suddenly tightened. By the time Rapunzel noticed that the chamber was a dead end, Hans had already shoved her in.
Rapunzel struck the metallic flooring with a clamorous thud. Still reeling from Gothel's betrayal, she quickly spun her head in disbelief. "H-...Hans?" she uttered brokenly. "What are you-...No!" she yelled as he slammed the hatch shut and machinery whirred. Overhead nozzles suddenly spewed frigid gasses into the room. Her first instinct was to reach for her lightsaber, but peering through the hatch's glass revealed a horrific sight. Hans had unclipped her weapon while they were carrying each other. By the time Rapunzel tried to Force push the reinforced hatch, the gasses were already engulfing her body. Still she reached out to Hans amidst the plethora of smoke clouds. And while her body weakened, her devastated stare focused on him. Tears swelled in her eyes as Hans remained stone-faced. Her heart broke further as Gaston stepped next to him.
The gas clouds persisted until all fell to silence. Hans held his breath as Gaston opened the chamber and said, "I knew you weren't useless, boy. And that you'd finally choose to be a man someday."
As the hatch opened and tibanna gas parted, a single slab clanged and slid out to Hans' feet. Mechanical claws released the slab and revealed Rapunzel...completely frozen in carbonite. While her hands were frozen during her attempt to Force-push the door, now they just looked like they were reaching out for help. Hans stared down at Rapunzel's pained, desperate, and betrayed expression. And for a moment, her innocent laugh plagued his mind. As he looked down at her entrapped body and helpless hands, Gaston said, "She was never going to join us. Well done, Hans." His stern gaze intensified when Hans didn't answer. "Hans?" Gaston intoned. "Is there a problem?"
Hans hung his head and looked directly into Rapunzel's sad, frozen eyes. "No," he whispered as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "Everything's fine."
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading this week's intense chapter of "The Frozen Force." I appreciate all of your love and patience with this season, as I want to keep delivering quality. Your ongoing support and understanding is appreciated, especially as I balance between my hectic life and this story. We will be switching to every two weeks for the time being, because I really had to push getting this chapter done on time. When we reach the last chapters of this season, I want to reach a point where all chapters are weekly. See you on Friday July 15th for Chapter: 111!
Long Live Imagination and May the Force be with you,
~ Michael