Author's Note: Welcome back to the adventure! Whether you've been a longtime reader or you're just getting started, I'm happy to have you here. As we level out, it's time to bring back review shoutouts!
This week, we raise our lightsabers to: Darth Dracul, CJG98, 0x15, and codywhite162! Thank you for your support!
~ Sparks
ADVISORY: The following chapter contains sensitive material relating to: Violence, drug usage, and major death. Remember to practice self care before, during, and after reading.
Chapter: 125 Fallen Order (Part II)
- ACCESSING IMPERIAL NETWORK -
Yularen: This is Colonel Yularen of the Imperial Security Bureau. With whom am I speaking?
Agent Drigo: Transmission for you, sir. Direct from Imperial High Command. Top clearance.
Yularen: I see. Clear the lower offices and leave my primary team. I'll put it through.
...
Yularen: Go ahead, High Command.
IHC: Colonel, we have confirmation on high priority targets fleeing the Dantooine sector. Multiple Jedi fugitives. Requesting ISB assistance.
Yularen: What do we know?
IHC: Fugitives are Jedi traitors Anna Dellian and Destin Mattias. Confirmed to be traveling with at least two others that should be considered armed and dangerous. Departed from Dantooine in an unmarked ship after raiding several Imperial units over the past months.
Yularen: That may be our key to finding them. Survivors need supplies. Get me the names of Imperial convoys that traveled to Dantooine."
IHC: Sending datafiles of every unit that passed through Outpost Epsilon.
...
Yularen: If the renegades stole any Imperial technology, there is a chance we may be able to track them. According to these files, the first unit to reach Dantooine was sent to establish communications. The second unit filed a report saying that most of their equipment had been picked clean when they arrived to investigate. Agent Drigo, see if any long range trackers are working in those scanners.
...
Agent Drigo: We have a hit, sir! Outer Rim...Obtrexta Sector and slowing down. Looks like target is inbound for Muunilinst.
Yularen: Excellent work. High Command, I can have ISB agents dispatched to Muunilinst within the hour. They'll be briefed to-
IHC: That won't be necessary.
Yularen: I don't understand. Is it not our goal to catch these fugitives?
IHC: Your goal was to find them. And you did. Send the tracked scanner coordinates and this will conclude our conversation. The Jedi will be dealt with from here.
The Jedi corvette rumbled through hyperspace. With each passing moment, its rattling was all the more concerning. As if the ship's hull was falling apart. Its mainframe was as fragile and faltering as the crew onboard. Kristoff knew he had to stay strong, especially with the rest of his companions in disarray. Still, he couldn't deny what he'd seen. Hans Westgard was alive...and he was an agent of the Empire.
Mattias was still recuperating from their duel on Dantooine. His back ached, but he was able to bring himself to stand. Elsa remained silent, barely peeking out from the main hold to only account for the others. Sven performed a brief check on her before returning to the co-pilot's seat. As for Anna, she remained frozen by their painful encounter. Pressing a bacta bandage to her swollen face, she watched its azure packaging dampen with blood. Every droplet took her back to the nighttime rain and what she'd just faced. "Because of you," crackled within her mind. Hans' words were as icy as they were venomous, and left a pulsing sting.
"Hans," Anna whispered between shallow breaths. Her utterance prompted Mattias to approach her. "H-...Hans."
"Anna?" her old master beckoned. He knelt beside her, keeping his voice low. Anna's eyes were wild and unblinking, looking as though she was reliving a thousand lifetimes in moments. "Anna," Mattias called while gently touching her knee.
Anna shuddered, instantly hugging herself and backing against the wall. "He fell," she blurted. "He dropped-...I dropped-. He's...alive and-"
"Anna," Mattias reiterated, this time with a hint of assertion. Gripping her forearms, he softened his gaze where he could. "You're in shock. Focus on me."
"He dropped," Anna croaked as her lips began to tremble. "I couldn't hold him, Mattias. I couldn't hold him and they shot him and I-" Even as Mattias pulled Anna into an embrace, she continued to retrace her steps. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she recalled every detail to cover herself. "I-...We jumped. I caught him. I held him. He was shot and I-..." Anna's grimace deepened and her arms shriveled beneath Mattias'. "I dropped him. I left him."
"Shhh," Mattias assured and tried to gently pat her back. "It's alright-"
"I left him!" Anna brayed through her wails. "He suffered because of me!"
"Anna," Mattias asserted. "No. You did not-"
"It's all my fault," she wept.
"NO!" Mattias snapped, giving in to his temper. He gave Anna's arms a firm shake and instantly regretted his frustration. As his brows relaxed, he hung his head in shame. "Anna, whatever happened to Hans isn't your fault." She shook her head in denial as he continued. "It isn't. The Order's principles stay true even beyond all we've lost. And remember all that I've taught you, Anna-" he continued even as she persisted to deny. "That we have taught each other. Those who fall to the Dark Side of the Force can return to the Light-"
"There is no Order," Anna cried and slithered out of Mattias' grasp. She hardly found it in herself to stand and sniffled. Her reddened face was a mixture of tears and dried blood as she uttered, "There is no Force."
"What are you-"
"No all-powerful Force would allow this to happen. Years of this." In spite of her best efforts to stand, she fell back against the wall and slid down again. "It's all just a bad dream. It's not real. All of these years are just-...just a cold lie." Anna let her head clunk against the ship's unforgiving surface as she whispered, "I just want to sleep. Let me just...sleep. It will be over when I sleep."
Mattias rose with a sigh and ran exasperated fingers through his hair. Glancing back at Kristoff, he searched for any glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Where did you set a course for?" he asked.
"We're coming up on Muunilinst," Kristoff said as Sven turned the monitor his way.
Mattias' eyes widened. "Muunilinst? That's an Imperial-controlled world-"
Tired and in no mood for a scolding, Kristoff fired back. "We're out of options," he huffed. "And nearly out of fuel. We needed a quick escape and it was the closest planet I could target. Would you rather try whatever luck we have on an actual planet? Or risk everything floating in dead space?"
Mattias sighed and came to terms with their painful reality. "We need to spend the least amount of time on Muunilinst as possible," he said. "How much fuel do we need?"
"We might as well fill the entire canister," Kristoff answered. "Otherwise we'll just run into the same predicament at the next stop." Sven grunted with dread. "Good point," Kristoff said and looked to Mattias. "If there's a military checkpoint, I don't know if we'll be able to get through. Especially if they conduct a physical search."
"Let's hope they don't," Mattias replied. "I understand that our situation is dire, but we cannot break our composures. Not now. We've survived this long." An eerie silence followed his words as the hyperspace vortex slowed. "Right?" Mattias murmured under his breath.
The corvette thundered out of lightspeed and glided towards a temperate, terrestrial world. Though visible from space, Muunilinst's expansive grasslands were overshadowed by its growing cities scattered across its hemispheres. In the coming decades and with a substantial amount of help from the Empire, Muunilinst strived to build a unified city big enough to rival Coruscant's systems. Perhaps such a technological feat would seem applause worthy in any other setting. But the sight of Imperial Star Destroyers soaring over the planet's northernmost hemisphere put pain to any thought.
Mattias leaned over Kristoff's seat and gestured to the planet. "Target the outskirts. If we can reach a fuel depot, we might be able to find someone to take pity. We'll say we're travelers down on our luck. A half truth."
"They might not be so courteous," Kristoff considered. "As much as we don't want to, Mattias...we might need to steal from civilians. We've never cut it this close before. Neither of us wants this but-" Sven's frightful grunts had the other men turning their attention to the viewport. One of the orbiting Star Destroyers had changed course entirely, and its sharp tip was heading straight for them. "Kriff," Kristoff cursed under his breath and hovered a hand over the comm button.
"We're just...traveling," Mattias whispered, trying to keep himself calm and in turn the group.
Kristoff held his breath, waiting for the Imperial vessel to transmit some form of call to them. But the signal never came. Instead, a sharp hiss echoed from beyond. This ominous sound heralded the familiar shriek of TIE fighters dropping from the hangar. A whole squadron descended and glided into attack formation.
Thinking quickly, Kristoff's hands darted back to the controls. "Everyone hang on!" he shouted. "Maximize thrusters, Sven!" The Cevrian obliged as the corvette took a violent nosedive towards Muunilinst. Even if their ship had a frontal laser cannon, it would be easily swarmed by a TIE squadron and overpowered by the approaching Star Destroyer. Kristoff knew that their only chance of survival was to get planetside.
Clouds rippled across the viewport as green lasers beamed in from behind. Alerts flashed and chimed along the dashboard, but Kristoff was focused on their escape. The corvette was low on fuel as it was, and maximizing the thrusters meant supplying less energy to the shields. The TIE pilots were skilled shooters, and had landed several hits against the corvette's hull. The ship already felt like it was falling apart, but Kristoff knew it wouldn't be long before they were truly blasted to pieces. He weaved through the clouds as his eyes desperately scoured for hiding spots in the terrain. Getting anywhere near a city meant certain death, as there would likely be anti-air defenses in place.
The TIEs were relentless, staying directly behind the corvette and firing in sequence. Realizing he'd have to sacrifice defense for speed, Kristoff made the call. "Divert all power to shields," he lamented to Sven. The corvette took on an indigo hue as its faltering shields struggled to hold. The ship slowed down with the lowered thrusters, making it an easier target.
Mattias and the girls were buckled into the hold, swaying and swishing with each evasive turn. "We're not going to get very far with this many on our tail," Kristoff professed. Sven nodded as they formed the same crazy idea. Together, they pulled up on the controls to make the corvette flip over entirely. This aerial spin caught the TIEs off guard, as they were expecting to keep chasing them in a straight line. As the ship flipped over, Kristoff lined up a shot and fired into one of the TIEs. Its lasers blasted the spherical cockpit to pieces and sent debris swiveling through the evening air. A flurry of green lasers zipped through the smoke, proving the boys' maneuver to be fruitless. While they'd managed to destroy one TIE, the rest of the squadron bombarded their ship. So much so, that the shields breached and several lasers struck the engines.
A monumental explosion erupted, sending the corvette spiraling out of control. The hold flashed with red alerts as Kristoff yanked on the trembling controls. "Brace!" he grunted and tried pulling up.
And in those moments, the corvette that they'd called home for eighteen years...the very salvation they'd had since the temple attack...came crashing down into Muunilinst's terrain. Rock and flame clashed in vibrant, vicious hues. The corvette fell to pieces under the grand collision and skidded deeper into the soil. The ship carried enough momentum with its crash to leave a flaming trail through several crops and ultimately concluded at an industrial mill. A cluster of workers comprised of a various species emerged to investigate. Their Muun overseer towered over all. Despite his stained overalls and toiled complexion, he maintained a sense of nobility...as all Muuns did. His elongated, bald head was set ablaze with the reflection of flames from the wreckage. "Stand back," he nasally warned his workers while calling the authorities. The rest of the TIE squadron performed a flyby, prompting workers to shout and point up.
Kristoff's ears were ringing as he felt fur press against him. Sven desperately heaved him off of the dashboard, only to realize that he was still buckled in. Deeming the ship unsalvageable anyway, he ripped the seatbelt and helped pull Kristoff out. As his friend woke from his daze, he observed the destroyed corvette. The collision had decimated their cockpit, smashing the viewport in its entirety.
They hobbled into the hold to check on the others. "Anna?" Kristoff called out. "Mattias!"
"Here," Mattias coughed. Kristoff could see the Jedi hunched over through a cloud of smoke. The hold's ceiling had collapsed, exposing those inside to Muunilinst dwindling daylight. Elsa could be heard vomiting in the corner, having been unable to overcome the maneuvers. The echo of TIE fighters screeched through the corvette's holes, making Mattias' eyes widen. "We need to move. Now! Leave everything. Just go!"
While Kristoff was acting on adrenaline and instinct, it pained him to leave everything behind...again. This was the most established that they'd ever been in years. The thought of losing all they'd salvaged, especially the Imperial comm scanner...saddened him. Elsa clutched her satchel and hurriedly felt inside. Just touching the holocron of Obi-wan Kenobi was enough to reassure her.
"Out this way," Mattias urged. "Hurry!" They stumbled out of the wreckage and found themselves the subject of several onlookers.
"Not good," Kristoff whispered while factory workers entrenched the crash site.
"Just keep moving," Mattias insisted. He eyed a shadowy path between the mill and a storage unit. "That way." Before pressing on, he checked that they were all accounted for. Holding Elsa's hand to guide her, he knew she was secure. But Mattias' heart skipped a beat when her sister was nowhere to be found. "Where's...Anna?"
"She was just here." Kristoff uttered.
Their pondering came to a halt as flashes of white sifted through the grey-toned crowd. Plastoid-armored men and women shoved past awestruck workers to reach the factory. "Move it!" one of them yelled as they all came into view. Having responded to the Muun's call, a local detachment of stormtroopers emerged with their blasters drawn. Much like the clone troopers of the Republic, the unit's leader donned a colored pauldron over her shoulder. This orange marking brought all attention to her as she jabbed a finger at the group. "Hands on your heads!" the stormtrooper commander shouted. "On the ground now!"
Anna hobbled through the corvette's wreckage. "Come on," she mumbled under her breath. "Where is-...where is it?" Her eyes were frantic as her thoughts ran amok. Her heart leapt for joy as she found the pack she'd purchased from Tizu. Unraveling it even as flames closed in, she ferociously uncapped several death stick vials at the same time. Desperate to flee the anguish she was suffering, Anna watched with delight as the multi-colored granules formed a mound at the center of her pouch. She exasperatedly got on all fours and buried her face in the fabric. With a heavy snort, she consumed a higher dosage than she'd ever taken, letting it scorch her nostrils and warp her mind.
It felt like the ship's fire had spread up her nose and into her brain as she twitched and staggered about. Smiles and grimaces shifted as Anna found her new high. Colors melted and spiraled, leaving no room for her grief nor shock over Hans.
"On the ground now!" the commander shouted.
They were outnumbered and in no position for a quick getaway. Mattias counted seven stormtroopers. By the time Kristoff or Sven raised their blasters, one of them would be shot. And Mattias knew he couldn't block all of those blasts. Although he knew surrender meant certain death, he did so slowly to buy time. Kristoff's stomach dropped while Mattias cautiously raised his hands in surrender. He was about to follow as well when a sudden yelp echoed across the zone.
Heads turned as the commander was pulled up and towards the corvette. The other troopers staggered back in horror as a mysterious power snatched her into the shadows. This pull was followed by a furious green flash as Anna emerged with her lightsaber ignited. Terror gripped the troopers as their commander's helmeted, decapitated head came rolling down the ashy hill.
There was unmatched ferociousness in Anna's intense stare. Her pupils were so enlarged, that they were practically cartoonish. Ironically to her, the world had become one of vibrant and euphoric colors. "Let's do this," she jeered and lunged into battle.
As Anna leapt, a trail of fiery sparks emerged from her boots. Stormtroopers scurried across the ground, making each footstep puddle and wiggle. The stormtroopers themselves were constantly morphing. The black dots on their eyes kept changing expressions as Anna cut them down. When her saber sliced through her foes, they exploded into splotchy particles. The likes of which painted the surrounding areas like a flowery canvas.
Anna grinned from ear to ear, enjoying how she could turn her kills into fanciful colors. One of the troopers opened fire. His red lasers were like comets soaring at her. Anna backflipped, launching herself beyond the clouds and briefly gliding along the stars. She dodged each comet before rolling towards her enemy. As she did so, the ground beneath her formed a grassy tidal wave. The trooper took aim, only Anna had gotten close enough to cut off his arm.
His agonizing shout was muffled as his arm exploded into stardust. That powdery residue formed a single crystal which rocketed into the sky. With another jab, she turned her enemy into glistening strands of confetti that were consumed by the grassy wave. As they collided together, the ground settled. The stormtrooper's body reformed as a garden teeming with lush flowers sprouting from his remaining limbs.
"Anna!" Mattias yelled to her from what seemed like miles away.
"I'll be right there!" Anna called back while fighting the other troopers.
"Anna!" Kristoff joined.
"Just go! I'll catch up!"
"Anna," Iduna wept.
"Mother?" Anna paused as a lightning bolt struck the ground. For a brief moment, her multi-colored world flashed to stormtrooper corpses before switching to a rainbow spiral. Shaking off the sight, Anna continued her noble battle. "Bring it on!" she challenged and dashed into battle. Many people ahead of her looked like fleeing, wobbly blobs. Their color palettes shifted as another wave of troopers came in. Adjusting her Republic Jedi armor, she charged in. "Deathchasers!" she commanded. "On me!" Enemy lasers sparked like fireworks fizzing towards her. Anna leapt up, this time swiping her saber across the sky to bring stars crashing down on her foes. Stormtroopers exploded into glass shards beneath her as Anna flew above. And once she landed, she stood atop an expansive...pale field.
Anna couldn't stop smiling and laughing triumphantly. She was reinvigorated by the sense of saving her friends and defeating so many foes. And yet, she couldn't comprehend the dark figure across the field. It was closing in, picking up speed as a fiery blade ignited at its side. The dark being was a series of jagged scrapes and inky splotches meshed together to create a deformed frame. The faceless foe attacked, but Anna was excited to face it. She parried its surprisingly heavy attack and was surprised to see Mattias sliding to her side.
"Get back!" her panicking elder yelled. She couldn't understand why he was so worried. Together they dueled the dark entity. Anna found it difficult to keep up the pace, so she focused her attention elsewhere. Peering up, she observed the variety of colors shifting about. Some even looked like targets for her to practice on. "Anna!" Mattias shouted. "ANNA!"
She leapt up to the sky once more, swinging her blade and watching the green swirl with it. Each sparkle fizzled into a new range of colors. It was as if Anna was creating new galaxies, each more mesmerizing than the last. And the various stars among them created paths she could run across. Anna couldn't stop laughing, wondering how far she could really run. She wanted to chase every bit of stardust puffing around her as flowers sprouted up from beneath. It was all as blissful as it was liberating. Soon Mattias...or anyone for that matter...wasn't even yelling for her anymore. She was truly alone in her special world again.
A sharp splash struck Anna as Sven poured a bucket of water over her. The ensuing chill was followed by a sting as Kristoff injected her arm with bacta from a salvaged medpac. She slapped his hands away, prompting him to back up. "Wh-...wha?" Anna groaned through slurred speech.
"I think she's back," he answered before Sven grabbed more water from the ship's reservoir. Anna's head felt as though someone had smashed it over with a hammer. Intense levels of nausea had her clutching her stomach and leaning back. "Try not to move. I have no idea what you took or how much but you're still coming down from it."
Anna's head clunked back against a transport ship's wall, the likes of which was entirely unfamiliar. Anna glanced at its blue coating...and green blood stains splattered across it. A limp, blue hand could be seen in the adjacent doorway until Sven moved the rest of the body away.
"What-" Anna croaked. "Who's body is that? Where are we?"
"Offworld," Kristoff assured. "We're safe. We're on Nar Shaddaa." Anna glanced down and noticed blue bloodstains on his sleeve. Kristoff tried to hide them as much as he could. "It's a smuggler's moon."
"I know," Anna mumbled. "I've been here." After observing Elsa seated in the far back of the hold, her brows furrowed further. "Where's...Mattias?" He hung his blonde head as Anna forced herself to sit up. "Kristoff?"
"Anna," he whispered. "H-...How much do you remember?"
"We crashed," Anna recalled. "And then I-...blacked out-"
"You don't have to lie," Kristoff sighed and gestured to her nose. It was swollen and raw. "Do you remember anything...after getting high?"
Anna squinted while Kristoff tried to hold her hand. "I-...there was a fight. We escaped?"
Kristoff took a deep breath as he recounted every detail. "They must've tracked us from Dantooine somehow. The Empire was ready and the troopers had an ambush. You fought them off and insisted that we run away. But Mattias wouldn't leave you. So while we tried to find a ship, he went after you. And that's when...Hans showed up." Anna's eyes widened as images of the faceless, jagged warrior lurked in her mind. "Anna I'm sorry." Kristoff's tone was cold and broken.
"What?" Anna inquired as he pursed his lips. "No," she leaned back as he slowly nodded.
Seeking to not shy away from the truth, Kristoff spoke as clearly as he could beyond his own tears. "Mattias...was killed." A tear rolled down his cheek and he hurriedly scrubbed it.
"No," Anna denied again, fighting her own emotions. "H-how? I was there. I was cutting down troopers and-" She grew frustrated with Kristoff's emotional state and slapped his arm. Then slapped his shoulder through the silence. "Tell me! Tell me how he died!"
Kristoff winced, inferring how his words would harm her. "We were in th process of acquiring a ship," he confessed. "I kept glancing back at the battle, checking on you both from afar. Mattias suddenly got overwhelmed by Hans' strikes and you just-"
"I what!" Anna blurted.
"Ran," Kristoff despaired, dreading her response.
"No!"
Snapping on impulse, Kristoff fired back. "You left!" he shouted through his own tears. "He called out to you and you were in whatever daze you were in and just ran off! You didn't even look back! Mattias couldn't take him alone!" With each passing word, Kristoff's own pent up frustrations over the situation took hold. "He couldn't take him alone because you were...kriffing high!"
The light left Kristoff's eyes as he realized he'd never yelled in such a way. Tears streamed down Anna's cheeks as she covered her mouth. Yet in spite of her pain, fury filled her mind. "Why didn't you shoot?" she sobbed. "Why didn't you shoot and help?"
"I was getting a ship to-"
"He needed you!" Anna wept. "And you all let him down!" She swayed her finger to Elsa as well. "Where were you? Hiding? Coward!" Tears silently dripped from Elsa's chin. "Mattias," Anna mourned while stumbling against the walls. Shutting her eyes, she found herself in a new hell as grief came to plague her. Mattias' face and those of the Deathchasers' appeared like ghosts to make her heart race. Turning her pain into anger, she furiously slammed the ship's ventral hatch open and limped down the ramp.
"Where are you going?" Kristoff worried.
"Anywhere you all aren't," Anna scoffed. "This is over. We're finished."
"Anna," Kristoff urged. "Please. We need to stick together now more than-" With a wild jab of her hand, Anna Force-pushed Kristoff back into their ship. He would've crashed into several cabinets had Sven not caught him. "Anna!" he called out and dashed out onto the platform. By the time he descended, she had disappeared into the Nar Shaddaa crowd. As anxiety took hold, Kristoff heard Sven beckoning him inside.
Rushing aboard, he followed the Cevrian into the storage room. His antlered head tilted upward, where several shelves had been pilfered for supplies and the dorsal hatch had been popped open. As Kristoff peeked up top, he realized Elsa had also climbed outside and departed. He wanted to call out to her, but she too was gone. Dropping to his knees, Kristoff ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. Whatever unity they'd formed to survive in the years following the purge had all come crashing down.
Back on Muunilinst, repulsorlifts carried a body out under heavy Imperial guard. Despite the destruction caused and the cleanup crews involved, Master Destin Mattias was calm in death...one with the Living Force. His body rested atop the hovercasket as Hans glared down at it. Removing his helmet, he observed Mattias' eternal slumber. He recalled what seemed like a different lifetime entirely, and how Mattias had tried to keep him involved. How Mattias had tried to be a father to him in many ways. The thoughts were enough to spark Hans' anger once more as his sneer twitched. He directed attention to his datapad and scoured the Muun's surveillance records. Although initially surprised to see Kristoff, Sven, and Elsa still alive...Hans scoffed. While Anna would be the true prize in his hunt, he wouldn't rest until they all suffered with him.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading this week's chapter of "The Frozen Force!" This season will be told through different segments split into acts. Each with their own theme. So I'll see you next week for the last chapter in Act 1. Chapter:126 - City of Dreams.
Long Live Imagination and May the Force be with You!
~ Sparks