As the sun began to set, Jens and the other members of the Nova Star were all getting ready for the ball. The captain was shaving his beard off, Fang was cleaning his teeth while mentally boosting himself up to ask Lyra to be his plus one.
"I tell you, Jens," Fang smiled picking the last bit of meat from his teeth. "When Lyra sees me tonight, she'll be all over me. Hell, I'll have to beat her off with a stick."
The captain could care less about Fang's desire for Lyra, he was only interested in spending a little quality time with his old friend Bail Organna. It had been over ten years since they last saw each other, and Jens felt it was time to reconnect with his old childhood friend. Fang went on about how he would not only finally get Lyra to dance with him, but also get her in bed with him.
Well, Jens looked up at his first mate. "She's not going to sleep with you Fang," he mused sliding his razor across his cheek, removing the last bit of his thick beard. The captain looked at himself in the mirror. "Lyra is not into scoundrels like you or I, but she does fancies gentlemen and men of high class."
In the next room, Lyra, Aleah, Kenna and Feline were all getting into sleek, elegant ballroom gowns that were provided to them by Bail's wife, Breha. The Chiss female looked at herself in the mirror. "I'm am truly a goddess among mortals," she boasted, adjusting her dress to show off more cleavage that would most definitely be considered inappropriate. Feline scoffed.
"Oh, please," she said applying some eye-shadow. "These high class people aren't looking for women to have sex with, they're looking for anyone who has connections to boost their image."
Lyra was about to protest when Feline turned to Aleah, who was glittering her cheeks.
"What about you, Aleah?" the Zygerrian asked. "What's your plans for tonight?"
The Nelvaanian smiled and looked at her fellow female. "I'm just going to spend the night with Siv."
"Ok, but make sure it's continental," Kenna teased giving Aleah a playful bump.
There however was only one who was not attending the ball, and that was Dray Saron. The Bothan had once again dawned his Jedi robes and headed for the Wuitho River, there he would meditate and wait for something… Something from his past.
When Jens and the others all arrived at ballroom entrance, the doormen opened the doors to the party hall to see many different races of aliens and people socializing and dancing to music playing with a band. There were even acrobats and entertainers entertaining the guests as perform amazing tricks. But there was something the Nova Star wasn't happy to see. Standing among the crowds was two high ranking Imperial officers.
The first was Wilhuff Tarkin. He looked on with a forced smile, acting like he was enjoying the party, but he really wasn't. No, he was more of the Emperor's lap dog, worming his way to the top of the ladder. Yes, Tarkin was bad news.
The other was Kendal Ozzel. He was nothing more then a man who clearly got his position as Admiral by being born into a wealthy family. He seemed to be enjoying himself, so the chances of him being a threat were minimum.
As the currant song came to a close, one performer blew fire into the air as the guests applauded for the performance. The music resumes as the guests prepare to dance as a female human started vocalizing.
Jens spotted Bail Organna talking to a member of the Imperial Senate, it was probably something boring like trade routing or something, so the captain hurried over to see his friend.
Danny and Faolahd were sitting together and enjoying some food from the buffet, but when the Wookie rubbed his head against the Mirialan's head in an affectionate way, some of the other guest looked disgusted by the two Star crew members. Tarkin walked up to the couple.
"Help you?" Danny asked Tarkin.
The Imperial officer frowned. "Yes," he began, his voice ice cold. "You and your friend can leave. This is a royal ball, not a gathering of Pride supporters."
Faolahd was no stranger to people coming after him because of his relationship with Danny, but the hate coming from Tarkin infuriated him. With a frown, the Wookie stood up. The human had to take a cautionary step back as Faolahd stood a good three feet taller than him.
"We're not bothering you," he growled. "My boyfriend and I are just enjoying the ball, so do yourself a favor and go away."
Tarkin responded back with no fear in his voice. "I warn you, sir. I am Admiral Tarkin of the Imperial Navy. And I will not be bullied by the likes of you."
Faolahd was about to speak again when he felt a tug on his arm. He looked down at Danny who was shaking his head. The Wookie realized that the Mirialan wanted to stop him from drawing attention to the others. So, with a sigh, he left with Danny.
"Filthy beast," Tarkin said under his breath as he went back to join some of the other guests.
On the second floor of the ballroom, Aleah, Keena and Feline were so insecure about dancing with high class people, but not Lyra. The Chiss had an idea on how to charm certain men to dance with her. Turning to her friends, she said with a smile, "Watch and learn."
She walked up a male green Twi'lek and began flirting with him, "Hey, handsome, nice uniform," she giggled offering her hand to him. "I'm Lyra."
The Twi'lek smiled, his eyes practically glued to Lyra's massive cleavage. "I'm Alask Chee. Please to meet you, Lyra," he said kissing her hand. "Please, may I have this dance?"
Lyra took his hand and walked onto the dance floor, where they started dancing together. Aleah, Keena and Feline noticed the two as they were amazed with Lyra's charming and dancing. But as they danced, other men started to take notice of the beautiful Chiss. Slowly, the men began to ditch their dates or other acquaintances to try to ask Lyra to dance. Soon, she had a Mirialan banker, a Rodian stock trader, a Defel warrior, an Iktotchi, a Dathomirian senator, a Lasat captain, and a Togorian governor all around her.
Fang, who had been trying to scam some rich windbag out of some credits noticed this and he couldn't help but feel jealous about Lyra dancing with other men and not him. The Togorian pulled Lyra into him, she turned and began use her rear to grind against him. The male Shistavanen growled, his eyes burning with rage since Lyra was letting these men get their hands all over her.
"Are you gonna let them steal your girl, Fang?" Kenna teased as she could tell how jealous Fang was. Her brother hurried over to Lyra, giving Kenna a good idea of what was about to go down.
Lyra was about to kiss the Togorian when Fang grabbed her hand. He smiled and asked, "May I have this dance, Lyra?" he then kissed her hand, but since his race was more animal like, he ended up drooling on her hand.
"You're disgusting," she frowned wiping his drool off with a napkin offered to her by the Rodian. The Chiss then took her leave with the other men. Fang however wasn't going to let her off that easy.
Keena and Feline laughed before they started dancing with an Anomid and Halaisi. While they danced, Aleah looked around for Siv, but couldn't spot him in the crowd, so she thought that maybe he went out to the Royal garden. When she exited the ballroom, the cool air nipped at her, but the Nelvaanian care not. The man she loved was standing alone, looking at the stars in the sky.
Aleah went and joined him. She stood next to and stared up at the stars. "There beautiful, Siv," she smiled placing her hand on his.
The Mandalorian turned to face his beloved. "Not as beautiful as you," he replied. Then he asked, "Can I have this dance?"
Aleah nodded and she and Siv began to dance. They felt nothing but the love they shared. Everything around them mattered little to none, all that mattered was their love. But little did they know, the Mandalorians who had attacked them in Dark Space were spying on them from the rooftops.
Commander Zane watched with a dark smile as Siv and Aleah danced. Suddenly his communicator beeped. His hand shot up to his helmet. "Commander Zane here," he answered. The other Mandalorians looked at their leader as he started talking to whoever was on the other end of the call. Zane nodded when he got his orders.
"Prepare to attack Siv and Jedi," he said coldly. "The master wants them dead so we can get the armor."
Back in the ballroom, Fang saw Lyra being offered a seat by a very snobbish Lepi. "Madam Lyra," he said to the Chiss. "Please have a seat." The Lapi pulled back the chair as the other men gathered around her to tend to Lyra's needs. As she sat down, the Mirialan banker tried to get in the seat next to her, but Defel warrior pushed him aside.
The Chiss smiled as the other men began to ague over who was sitting next to her, but that was when Fang seized his chance to sit besides her.
"Listen Lyra…" he began before the Dathomirian, Lasat, and Togorian grabbed him. The Shistavanen let out a startled yelp as he was pulled out of the seat. The other three males began dragging him away, leaving only the Lapi, Mirialan, Rodian, Defel, and the Iktotchi. They looked at one another, each ready to fight when Lyra spoke up.
"Boys, there's no reason to fight over me," she teased pulling up her dress to reveal her legs some more to them. "After all, diamonds are a girls best friend." Well, that got three of the four running off into the heart of the city to buy the best thing diamonds there was. Only the Mirialan stayed behind.
Lyra looked at him, confused as to why he stayed. It was when he pulled out a small box from his pocket that it dawned on her; he had some diamonds on him. The Chiss smiled as the Mirialan banker opened it to reveal a golden, diamond studded bracelet. Crawling into his lap, Lyra held out her hand as the Mirialan slipped the bracelet on her wrist.
"Awe, my beauty. Nothing will get in our way now," he said sounding very romantic. Lyra blushed. He got ready to put his arm around her, but Fang who had manged to get away from the other love struck men came up and used a serving tray to bash the Mirialan over the head.
Lyra looked at the Mirialan lying on the floor with a goofy look on his face. Fang quickly took the empty seat. "Lyra, I want you to be my date!" he shouted. The other guests all looked at the pathetic display of manners by the Shistavanen.
Lyra was starting to lose her temper with Fang. "You got some never butting in on my fun with these fine gentlemen!" she declared firmly, but suddenly Fang went flying out over the balcony and into the fountain outside. The Defel warrior had returned and used his strength to throw Fang out. But he was quickly stunned by the Rodian, who took Lyra to the dance floor.
Back in the royal garden, Siv and Aleah were sitting on a bench next to a memorial for a powerful Alderannian. Just as the Mandalorain was about to kiss Aleah, the Nelvaanian felt the force calling to her. She turned and looked at the memorial, a very faint carving was seen and upon a closer look, discovered it to be the symbol of the Jedi. They had most likely found the fourth temple holding the final piece of the armor.
Then, it would be on to Tatooine for the third piece of armor.
Meanwhile on Tatooine, David Creed was starting to make a name for himself. The Hutts, Pikes and Nex Slars pirates were hearing about legendary Phantom of the Dunes. Much of their operations were being halted. Survivors who had been lucky enough to see this phantom told their bosses about his skills. David however chose not to use his lightsaber because that might bring unwanted attention to the innocent people, so the Jedi knight stuck to using weapons he scavenged from the dead. He learned much more from the Tusken Raiders on how to track, hunt and even use the dessert to his advantage.
Soon, word spread to many settlements. Hope was being restored to the people who couldn't defend themselves. It was all they could talk about.
As David rode his speeder across the Dune Sea, he stumbled upon an abandoned Tusken Raider village.
"Hello?" David called but no one answered. It wasn't normal to be so quite, so the Jedi Knight moved into the village to find out what happened. As he looked into an empty hut, he noticed several dead bodies of Tusken Raiders that have long since turned into skeletons. Taking a closer look at one of the skeletons, David was shocked to see that their heads had been cut off. It wasn't done by a sword or axe, but it did had scorch marks on the bone. To his thoughts it was definitely a lightsaber. But who would do something like this?
David started finding more remains of the dead Tuskens. It was heartbreaking to see that not even the children had been spared. But all the evidence proved that a lightsaber had been used to slaughter them all.
He thought it was a Sith, but then he felt a Force echo in a tent and he reached and felt and heard what he saw.
"Mother," Anakin said.
"Ani, my boy. Look how much you grow. I love you," Shmi said as she died in her son's arms.
David also felt Anakin's presence as he first felt sorrow and then anger. Which led him to kill every Tusken Raider in the village.
"Anakin, I didn't know how much pain you felt when your mother died. I'm so sorry for what happened to her," David said as he made the Sign of the Cross. After that, he gathered all the remains into a hut before burning it.
Later David stopped by the Lars homestead to see Owen attending one of the moisture condensers as Beru held a sleeping Luke Skywalker in her arms. David approached the young woman, his hands raised to show that there was no threat.
"Can I help you, sir?" Beru asked finally noticing him.
"Are you Beru Lars, wife of Owen Lars?" David asked after putting his arms down.
"Yes," Beru said.
"Who are you?" Owen asked.
"I'm David Creed, I'm an old friend of Anakin Skywalker," David said. "I just found a village of Tusken Raiders that were massacred by him."
Owen and Beru were troubled by this as they brought him inside to their humble home. "Shmi Skywalker-Lars was my stepmother my father freed and married. One day when he and several other men attended the moisture condensers, my stepmother was taken by them. They tried to bring her back, but most of the men were seriously wounded if not dead and my father made it out with his life that left him disabled," Owen said.
"Is that why Anakin left to find his mother?" David asked.
"Yes, he was so troubled that he left out on his own. He returned with her body after a day. We buried her on our property," Beru said.
David Creed then went outside to see Shmi's grave as he knelt and made the Sign of the Cross. "May you find peace, Mrs. Skywalker," David said.
"Are you going to be okay, David?" Owen asked as he and Beru went to talk to David.
David noticed baby Luke Skywalker as he saw a vision of the same young man fighting the same black cloaked figure fighting him in the city in the clouds and on a battle station in front of the master of the Sith as he laughed. "Yes, I'll be okay, Owen and Beru. Thank you," David said as he got up and went to his speeder.
"Goodbye," Owen and Beru said.
"Goodbye," David said as he drove off.
Back on Coruscant, Darth Vader stood before his master, the Emperor. The old Sith master looked at his enforcer with an unreadable expression. Vader couldn't tell if his master was angry or not. Finally, the Emperor spoke, his voice cold and eyes narrowed at his enforcer.
"This is most troubling, Vader," he said turning to look out at the bustling activity of Coruscant. "A warrior calling himself the Phantom of the Dunes is bringing the people of Tatooine hope. Our spices believe him to be a Jedi. This is unacceptable."
Vader nodded. "Yes, my master," he said. "I will leave immediately to deal with this one."
"No!" the Emperor snapped. "You will not. You failed me twice already when dealing with the Voyagers."
"I won't fail you again." Vader protested.
The Emperor smiled at hearing this. "I know you won't, my friend," he replied softly. Turning, he reached out his hands to Vader. Without any warning, the Sith lord unleashed a powerful blast of force lighting, totally catching his enforcer off guard.
Vader was thrown backwards as the Emperor walked up to him, laughing. "If you were an Inquisitor, I would have killed you for failing me, but I still have use of your abilities." Then with a raise of his hand, Vader was lifted off the ground and placed back on his feet.
"I understand now, my master," the Sith enforcer said bowing his head.
"Good," the Emperor said. "However, I am sending someone else to find this Phantom of the Dunes."
The sound of the doors sliding open caused Vader to turn to see a very powerful, but aggressive Cathar male come in. In his hands was the severed head of one of an Imperial Guard who had been foolish enough to try and stop him. Behind the Cathar warrior was a member of the Emperor's newly formed Shadow Guard.
The Emperor smiled as two of the most deadliest warriors bowed to him. "Go to Tatooine, find and eliminate the Phantom of the Dunes," he said with a wave of his hand, then turned to Vader.
"You my friend will go to Alderaan. I need you to convince Bail Organna to sign over a number of his best scientists to help build the Death Star."
"Yes master," Vader bowed.
Back on Tatooine, David was finishing up dealing with an illegal spice trade. Both the buyer and dealer were taken down, the money was taken and the spice was dumped. The Jedi smiled as he handed a poor moisture farmer the money. The old man was more than happy that he now had the means to pay off his debt he owed the Hutts. David of course told him to spread the word before heading into Mos Eisley space port for a drink.
The streets were crowed, making it very difficult for him to navigate the winding streets. When David finally reached his location which was the best cantina in Mos Eisley, he pulled his hood over his head to hide his face as he removed his mask. Once inside, he scanned the area for any threats, there was none that he could see so he took a seat at the bar and ordered a Tatooine Sunset.
As David took a sip of his drink, a 14-year old Chadra-Fan boy walked up to the bar and sat down next to him. Wuhen, a gruff man in his late twenties looked at the boy.
"A little young to be in here. Aren't you kid?" he asked with a smug look.
The Chadra-Fan shook his head. "I'm old enough," he said. "Just give me some Blue Milk." Wuhen just shrugged and handed the young alien his drink. David smiled as he looked at the Chadra-Fan finish it quickly.
"Here," he said handing Wuhen some credits. Turning to leave, he ended up bumping into a Weequay, who in response turned to star down at the small Chadra-Fan. The young alien began to back up when an older Rodian grabbed him.
"You bumped into my friend," the Rodian said sternly.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"Sorry won't cut it, kid. You just watch yourself. I have the biggest bounty on my head in five star systems."
"I'll be careful then," the Chadra-Fan boy said turning to the exit. Suddenly a Nikto grabbed him and hoisted him up.
"You'll give my friend all your credits for the trouble you caused him!" He said with a threatening smile.
"This boy isn't worth your time, sir. Let the boy go and leave," David said as he stepped in with his Phantom of the Dunes persona. The three aliens looked unfazed by his sudden intervention.
"Who the hell are you?" The Rodian asked.
"Just an ordinary stranger who happens to stumble upon this scene."
The Rodian threw the boy at a table as he tried to draw his blaster, but David was quicker as drew the Beskar sword. The Rodian let out a loud scream as his arm was cut off. The Nikto and the Weequay didn't even have time to even reach their blasters when struck them both down. The Chadra-Fan boy was amazed at this as the other patrons went on with their business.
David sheathed his sword and walked over to him and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. Thank you," he said.
"Next time, be mindful of your surroundings and watch out for people you don't know."
"Will do," the boy said as he went outside.
David of course went back to the bar to finish his drink, breathing a sigh of relief when the other patrons gave him his space. But seated in the back of the cantina was three of the most deadliest bounty hunters. Cad Bane a Duros, Aurra Sing a female Palliduvan, and Bossk, a very skilled but dangerous Trandoshan. Cad smiled as he looked at his fellow bounty hunters.
"I think the Hutts will pay us greatly for him," he said pulling out a bounty puck. An image of David projected itself in the Duros's hand. "The only question now is, who gets the first shot?"
Bossk hissed, his scaly hand reached for the bounty puck. "Me," he growled, but Aurra had other plans. She shot her hand out and snatched the puck away before the Trandoshan could grab it. "What the hell?!" Bossk snarled staring dagers at the Palliduvan.
"I say we watch him for awhile," she suggested handing the puck back to Cad Bane. The other two bounty hunters seemed to agree with her on that. "After all, taking on three thugs like that could be easy for anyone. I say we let the other bounty hunters in the area go after him first."
"I second that," Cad Bane said, then turned to Bossk. "What about you?"
Bossk picked up his glass and downed his drink. "A hunter always studies his pray before attacking. I will forgo this hunt for now."