Execution
The Empress sat in her throne, awaiting for Giles to arrive for their scheduled meeting, it was uncommon for the Doctor to be late. Then the double doors opened to admit the dishevelled man into the throne room as he stumbled towards the planning table that had been placed in front of the platform which the throne sat upon. Giles put all the material he had been carrying on the table and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the Empress.
"You're late Giles," Jaira scowled at the man's incompetence to tell the time.
"I am sorry Empress. There is no good excuse for my tardiness," Giles apologised as he bowed low and stayed still until he was allowed to stand back up straight.
"How is the Hyperspace tracker going?" the Empress inquired as she approached the table which was covered in blueprints, schematics and discs.
"Not very well my lord," Giles revealed as he unrolled one of the blueprints, "This is the design I have come up with but all attempts to build it so far has failed," he added nervously.
"Have you built a completed prototype?" Jaira asked in a serious tone.
"No my lord we haven't," Giles responded as his voice began to shake nervously.
Jaira began to walk back to her throne, "Tell me Doctor, what were you supposed to bring to this meeting?" she asked with her back still facing the Scientist.
Giles's whole body shook with fear now as he stumbled over his words and struggled to produce coherent speech, "...A...pro-to-to-type...my...l-lord."
Jaira turned back around quickly with a ferocious expression on her face, "Then don't come back into this throne room until you have one!" she yelled.
The Scientist scrambled to collect all the materials as he bowed and left quickly with a mumbled, "Yes Empress."
"Imbeciles!" the Empress yelled as she paced around the throne room as anger boiled up inside her. Then the holoterminal started to beep and she approached it swiftly, answering it to find Agent Brightvale on the other end of the call.
"Empress, the Jedi have discovered the storehouses," Lazarn reported.
"Execute the Senator," Jaira ordered simply as anger boiled up in her again for the failure of her team on Ryloth.
"It will be done my lord," Lazarn confirmed confidently as the communication ended.
The Sith Empress continued to pace around the throne room as her personal guards watched on silently, never breaking their stand to attention with their lightsaber pikes held firmly at the right side. There were currently only four guards in the throne room as was expected whilst two others stood on either side of the double doors outside. Altogether there were twenty guards in the Illuminati Guard or the Kyuhada Serjek as they were known as in the language of the Sith. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Sith Empire, these guards were descendants of the guards who vowed to protect the Solak family for the rest of their days which included future generations. In return, the Naile family were promised a safe place to live on Dromuund Kaas where they would be protected from those who sought to harm them.
Suddenly the silence was broken as Jaira approached one of the guards, "Zibeti?"
The guards all wore the exact same robes and masks, except the Captain of the guard's mask had two red streaks that started underneath the eyes and stopped at the jaw. All of them were much taller than Jaira but she was not intimidated by their battle-hardened personalities. They wore long black and red robes that brushed the floor and Sith runes were embroidered into their tabards. The hood that was pulled over their heads at all times completed the look and achieved it's goal in intimidating everyone except the Empress. The Captain acknowledged Jaira by removing the hood and mask so that they could look at each other face to face. Zibeti, like the other guards, was a woman who was more than twice Jaira's age, with scars adorning her face which had been caused by fighting the wildlife of Dromuund Kaas for her entire life. Her faded red hair was curled up into a tight bun and one of her eyes was white and cloudy while the other was brown. Although the Captain was half blind, it did not inhibit her ability to serve as a guard and if anything, it had made her more efficient in her duties.
"Empress?" Zibeti responded as she bowed her head slightly in respect and waited patiently for the young Sith to continue.
"How goes your son's guard training?" Jaira asked curiously.
"It is going well, you will be impressed to know that he will make a fine Captain of the Guard when he is ready," Zibeti answered.
Jaira paced back and forth in front of the Captain in deep thought, "I have no doubt in his ability."
After a few more moments of silence, she spoke again, "You are all dismissed, leave me," Jaira ordered.
"As you wish Empress," Zibeti said as she placed her hood and mask back on before vacating the throne room with the other guards as the Empress retired to her private quarters.
Meanwhile back on Ryloth, Raven was following closely behind Mia as they walked through the Embassy to the Banquet Hall. They had just received news from the others which revealed that the Empire had invaded the planet and that the Senator had struck a deal with them. They needed to arrest Senator Orn Free Taa and take him back to Coruscant to go on trial for treason. The doors opened to admit them into the room where the Twi'lek was still eating.
"My friends, welcome! Please take a seat and join us," the Senator invited as he tried to mask the nervous tremor in his voice.
Mia ignored his invitation as she approached him and put binders on his wrists.
"Senator Orn Free Taa, you are under arrest for treason," Raven announced.
"Treason?" the Senator asked in shock as Mia prompted him to start walking.
"We don't know want to hear it, but I am sure the Republic courts would love to hear about your dealings with the Sith Empire," Mia stated firmly. They began walking through the city towards the Spaceport where the Wolf Star-Runner was awaiting their arrival to take them up to the Scoundrels Constellation. As they entered the open Spaceport area Raven got an unsettling feeling that something was about to happen.
Lazarn stood crouched atop of one of the pillars which surrounded the Spaceport, directly below him was the entrance to the expansive area. He waited patiently with his sniper rifle nocked on his right shoulder, ready to fire when his target came into view. The sooner he got this done the sooner he could get off this desolate rock and move onto his next mission. At that moment, a group of people walked into view and he focused his mind solely on the task at hand. Lazarn aimed at the Twi'lek Senator and after a few seconds he pulled his finger on the trigger, letting loose a few bolts.
"Mia!" Raven yelled as he spun around, activated his lightsaber and deflected two of the bolts. The Senator flopped to ground dead and Lazarn ran along the wall to get to his ship as fast as he could. The Agent didn't break from his run as he knew that they were following him and as he approached the landing platform which his ship sat upon, he turned his head slightly. There behind him was the Republic SIS Agent from Lola Sayu and she was quickly catching up to him. Once he was on the platform Lazarn stopped and turned around fully. Mia stopped on the bridge and pulled out her blaster, pointing it at the assassin.
"Surrender or I'll shoot," Mia ordered as she hoped that Raven would finish off the enemies that had ambushed them so that she had backup.
"What? You need your Jedi friend to help you arrest me?" Lazarn asked in a mocking tone as he tried to drawer her closer. He saw realisation dawn on Mia's face as she recognised his voice and connected all the dots.
"You're the Agent from Lola Sayu," Mia said, "Brightvale."
"Yes, I have you to thank for my new look," Lazarn scowled as he took a few steps forward.
"Don't come any closer," Mia ordered as she gripped her blaster harder, "Put your hands on your head."
Lazarn followed the order, feigning surrender so that the Agent would come closer. He placed his hands on his head and got on his knees, waiting for the moment he was looking for. Mia approached slowly and cautiously but as she reached the Agent the computer terminal to her right exploded. The Agent's reflexes kicked in as she turned her back towards the explosion and made eye contact with Raven.
"MIA!" Raven yelled as she felt sharp pain in her back and she fell to the ground, unconscious. The Jedi Knight watched in shock as the Agent fell to the ground and then without warning he let off a massive burst of Force power, pushing the enemies over. Raven ran towards Mia and turned her over gently as he held her upper body off the ground to prevent more damage being done. He didn't even look up to watch the ship take off and he didn't care if the assassin was escaping.
"Mia?" Raven asked desperately as he picked her up and ran back towards the Wolf Star-Runner, he hoped that she would be okay.
"What happened?" Stones asked as he came down the loading ramp.
"Mia's injured, get us back to the fleet now," Raven ordered swiftly as he rushed Mia to the Medbay on the Republic Starship to try and stabilise her. Stones didn't ask any more questions as he ran into the cockpit and took off, sending a quick message to Eric to let him know that they were returning.
Meanwhile, on the dusty plains of Ryloth Ventress paused in the fight with the two Jedi Masters as she spotted smoke off in the distance.
"Well, well...looks like the boys succeeded," Ventress said, drawing Anakin and Obi-wan's attention to the black smoke that was off in the distance.
"Succeeded with what Ventress?" Anakin growled.
"I think you'll find the storehouses are destroyed along your precious former Padawans," Ventress taunted mercilessly.
Anakin leapt at her as he came down on top of her with an overhead slash which Ventress blocked smoothly.
"And here is my ride," Ventress announced in amusement as a ship hovered low above the ground.
"Leaving us so soon?" Obi-wan asked flirtatiously as he tried to push his concern for his former Padawan aside for now.
"I hate to leave you both so soon my dear Obi-wan, but I am needed elsewhere," Ventress said as she blocked another couple of strikes from the Jedi Masters and then jumped high into the air as the open loading ramp came over her head. Anakin went to leap up after her but Obi-wan stopped him from going through with it.
"No Anakin. We need to make sure they're safe," Obi-wan said sternly.
Anakin sighed in frustration, "Of course Master."
The pair of them set back out in the direction of the smoke, hoping that their former students had not been caught in the destruction of the storehouses.
"I wish Master Yoda hadn't cut our bonds with them otherwise we would be able to easily see if they are safe," Anakin groaned.
"Not this again Anakin. You know why the bonds needed to be cut," Obi-wan berated seriously.
After an hour of walking across the plains they finally reached the top of a hill where they found a sight that sent shivers down their spines. In front of the two Jedi Masters was a collection of storehouses which were collapsing in on themselves into a pit of smoke and fire. Anakin wasted no time in running down the hill and up the next one, he could sense Obi-wan not too far behind him. As they got closer, four figures came into view.
"Ashlyn!" Anakin called out and when the sound reached his former Padawan's ears she released Daly's hand and ran towards him.
"Master!" Ashlyn called back to him as she drew nearer and then flung herself into his protective embrace, "I'm so sorry, I should have waited," she mumbled repeatedly as her body shook from the adrenaline that was rushing through her.
"I am just relieved that you're safe, Tiger," Anakin stated as he stepped back from her but kept his hands on her shoulders securely. Ashlyn laughed weakly at the childhood nickname as her former Master released her so that she could return to Daly who was now talking with Obi-wan.
Anakin took out his comlink as he joined the small group, "Skywalker here, we need an evac at our coordinates," he ordered.
"Very well Master Skywalker, I am dispatching a shuttle to you now," Admiral Yularen responded swiftly.
"Are there any new updates on the mission?" Anakin inquired in a serious tone.
"Unfortunately, Senator Taa was assassinated, Ancor and Agent Highrock have been gravely injured and just returned to Coruscant on the Scoundrels Constellation. Both are in critical but stable condition and should arrive back at the capital in a few days," the Admiral gave him a brief update on the mission status.
The Jedi Master sighed heavily, "Call for everyone to return to the fleet and contact Cham Syndulla. Offer him an invitation to return to Coruscant with our fleet," Anakin ordered.
"Affirmative Master Skywalker, I will do so straight away."
"What happened?" Kai asked worriedly as Anakin reached the group.
"Mia and Ancor have been injured; they are on the way back to Coruscant now. The Senator has also been assassinated," Anakin revealed briefly.
After a few minutes of waiting in relative silence, a shuttle landed at the bottom of the slope and proceeded to take off again upon the two Jedi Masters and four Jedi Knights climbing into the troop transport.
A/N: Almost at the end of another book in the series.
Ashlyn_Dubreas
Fight for Life
Ancor and Mia both lay unconscious on beds in the medical bay on the Republic Starship as medics and medical droids moved quickly around the room. Sabine and Raven stood next to the doorway to stay out of the way as they waited anxiously for them to be stabilised. After about an hour one of the medics approached the pair with a datapad.
"How are they?" Raven asked in concern, holding his breath.
"Agent Highrock sustained extensive damage from the impaled metal shaft. However, it appears to have just missed her spine, but we will be placing her in a bactatank now that she is relatively stable to get the healing process underway immediately," the medic stated. As he was explaining this the droids were starting to prepare Mia for the bactatank by putting up a privacy screen to get her undressed and into the bacta support suit.
"And what about Ancor?" Raven asked.
"Mr Samorr has suffered extensive damage, none of which we can treat on this starship. For the moment, we have stabilised him for the journey back to Coruscant," the medic answered.
"That doesn't answer the question," Sabine growled in frustration.
"Sabine, calm down," Raven ordered, "What are his injuries exactly?" he asked, trying to remain calm.
"You may want to sit down for this," the medic suggested, and Raven nodded slightly as he gestured for Sabine to follow the suggestion as well as he took a seat against the wall. The medic sighed heavily as he also took a seat and then glanced quickly at the datapad in his hand.
"Mr Samorr has sustained severe damage to his right eye that will likely result in a loss of vision in that eye, the bones in his right hand have been crushed which has caused some nerve damage and his left knee was also shattered of which we are unsure about any nerve damage. Those are the more minor injuries he has sustained but it gets worse than that I am afraid," the medic began to list off Ancor's injuries when he paused momentarily, "Are you sure you don't want to wait for the others to return before hearing the rest?" he asked.
"Please, keep going," Sabine requested desperately.
"Both his left arm and right leg have received so much nerve damage that they will likely need to be amputated at the shoulder and knee," the medic said, "We have a team at Coruscant ready and waiting for our arrival to do the surgery on Mr Samorr to replace them with cybernetic limbs as well as fix the other injuries. I am terribly sorry, I wish I had better news to give," the medic apologised for being the bearer of bad news. Sabine was silent from the shock of learning this information and wasn't reacting so Raven took it upon himself.
"Thank you for being honest with us," Raven said and then the medic stood up to go back to work. Sabine stood up and walked over to Ancor's bed which still had a few droids at it to monitor his condition. She placed a hand on his shoulder and just stood there in silence until a medic offered her a chair to sit in which she accepted gratefully. Raven, meanwhile, followed Mia into the next smaller room which had bactatanks inside and watched silently from the corner as she was lowered into the bactatank and then when the room cleared except for two droids he pulled a chair up to sit next to the tank.
"You will make it through this Mia," Raven promised, "It could have been so much worse."
Then he felt the hyperdrive come to life as the starship's floor shook slightly which told him that they were entering Hyperspace to return to Coruscant.
Meanwhile, back in the capital city of Ryloth, the rest of the group gathered in the Senatorial chambers that once belonged to Senator Orn Free Tar to finalise Cham Syndulla's ascension to the position of Republic Senatorial Representative of Ryloth. Hera and Cham sat at the dinner table with Anakin and Obi-wan while the younger Jedi could not stop pacing around the room impatiently. Eric and Stones were on board the Constellation awaiting the completion of the mission while Gilgaro had returned to Coruscant as escort for the Republic Starship that was transporting Mia and Ancor back to Coruscant, and Inoma was waiting with her ship on the platform for the meetings to be finished.
"You all need to relax, Ancor and Mia are going to be okay and are in the best hands on their way back to Coruscant," Obi-wan said.
"How can you expect us to sit here talking politics and diplomacy while sipping on wine while our friends are injured?" Jania demanded in frustration as Obi-wan took a sip of his wine glass.
"Master Kenobi is right, your friends are in the best of hands and there is no use fretting over something that is out of your control," Cham stated matter of factly.
"Father," Hera stopped him disapprovingly.
Fortunately, at that moment, the holoterminal in the middle of the table started to beep and the call was answered to find the holo image of Chancellor Bail Organa.
"Chancellor" Cham greeted.
"Cham, I hope the meeting is proceeding to your liking," Bail responded.
"It is and we have almost finished the required business," Cham answered promptly.
"Excellent, well I would like to formally invite you myself to the next Senate meeting which takes place within the next week," Bail said.
"Thank you, Chancellor, I will be in attendance at the meeting," Cham responded gratefully and then the call ended.
After another hour of discussions, the group were back on the Constellation and in hyperspace enroute back to Coruscant. Hyperspace travel had never felt like an eternity to everyone before now as everyone was desperate to know of their friends' conditions. Anakin could sense something was wrong through the remnants of the bond he shared with his former Padawan and once his duties in the cockpit were fulfilled, he went looking for Ashlyn. However, despite the relatively small size of the Constellation in comparison with the Republic Starships the Jedi Master could not find the elusive Jedi Knight. The last door he came to was for entry to the guns that are positioned above and below the main cargo hold. Anakin was about to dismiss it as a possible hiding place when he suddenly felt a strong urge from the Force to enter. Upon entering and looking up the ladder he saw a brown outer robe hooked over one the rails of the ladder. The Jedi Master proceeded to climb up the ladder and stand in the entry way to the turret. His former Padawan lounged in the seat staring up at the telltale streaks outside the viewport.
"You don't have to check up on me, Master," Ashlyn stated confidently, breaking the silence. Anakin could tell it wasn't true confidence though and saw right through Ashlyn's façade.
"You and I both know you well enough to know that is far from the truth Tiger," Anakin pointed out simply, "Something is troubling you-," he started but was quickly interrupted.
"Are two of my friends in critical condition or possibly worse? Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to have nervous breakdown?" Ashlyn snapped back at him aggressively.
This reaction shocked Anakin, "You are allowed to be concerned about your friends Ash, it is not a weakness."
"Who says I'm not concerned about them?" Ashlyn bit back, "Maybe I just have other problems on my mind."
Anakin frowned slightly in suspicion, "Is there something else going on that I need to know about?"
Ashlyn realising her slipup, quickly denied that there was something going on which made Anakin more suspicious.
Anakin sighed and softened his tone, "Ash, keeping secrets may seem like the best in many situations on the short-term but long-term it does no one including yourself any benefit."
"Secrets? Who said anything about secrets?" Ashlyn asked.
Anakin quirked an eyebrow but admitted defeat, "It's fine if you don't tell me but at least confide in someone so that you are not carrying the burden alone," Anakin said and as he turned to leave he added in a saddened tone, "You used to trust me with your problems. I hope you know that just because you aren't my Padawan anymore you can still trust me."
Ashlyn sat there in silence for a few seconds, feeling bad for how she had made her former Master feel but then the fear of what could happen if he were to find out about the secret life she carried inside her flared to life once again. She looked out at the endless streaks of hyperspace and whispered solemnly, "I'm sorry Master."
Upon returning to Coruscant which had felt like the longest trip the group had ever made they all rushed to the Medical Centre where Mia and Ancor were being cared for. As they reached the door to the room that occupied their friends they were all about to rush in at once when a doctor suddenly came out and stopped the large group dead in their tracks.
"The patients are in critical condition and are being monitored closely as a result of this, therefore I am putting a limit on only two visitors in the room at one time," he informed them in an authoritative tone. A few in the group were about to argue with him but he stopped them with a raised hand, "Alternatively, I can limit it further to no visitors."
At that proposal, the group admitted defeat and decided to go into the room in groups of twos. Jania and Kai were the first to enter the room. Upon doing so the two found Ancor and Mia lying on beds unconscious. Mia had a back brace strapped to her and bandages wrapping her entire torso, she also showed signs of being freshly bathed which the medical staff would have done after she had been removed from the bactatank. Ancor was in far worse shape with two cybernetic limbs, bandages holding an eye patch over his right eye and a marae of cuts and bruises littering his body.
A/N: I decided to post the last two chapters of Book 9 for those who have been following along, as it is going to take a while for me to catch up on A03 to this book and I don't want to leave everyone hanging. There is a Book 10 but it will be posted on A03, when I have caught up to it.
Ashlyn_Dubreas