Star Wars 0027 - Part III - The New Empire
Randall J. Morrison
A long time ago, in a galaxy
far,
far away . . .
Star Wars 0027
Part III
The New Empire
Citizens under Imperial control
have noticed little improvement under the dictatorship of Militiades, the
Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side. While many have grown weary of this,
few have the courage to fight it; but from out the typical populace
comes one man, who strives to become a symbol of progression for
the Galactic Empire. Exquisitely trained in the dark side of the Force,
this warrior has plans to end this lethargic Empire and replace it with a
stronger, ongoing totality.
Meanwhile, in an effort to become a more widespread administration of
peace, the New Republic begins to research and explore the Outer Rim
Territories. Their esteemed aid, master historian Arhul Hextrophon, has
traveled to the desert world of Tatooine collecting data on the abandoned
spaceport of Mos Espa.
Life as a Jedi Knight has restricted Ilyssis Pico from carrying out his
plans to travel back to Habassa II for a number of years. Now, with the
possibility that interplanetary conflict will slow down, his hopes of
reuniting with Hana Logan are again a reality. With this reunion comes
the chance for him to finally begin training Antioch Fi, a boy worthy of
Pico’s apprenticeship….
Demolished
tech domes and deserted streets were all that was left of the city of Mos
Espa. Once a highly populated city before the Empire destroyed it to get
the attention of the Hutts and take the planet of Tatooine to themselves.
Dominic Artemius walked alongside his apprentice as they roamed the
streets of the empty city. “Are you sure this is the place, Master?”
Ilyssis Pico.
“Hextrophon
was here to study the city and how it has changed over time. It was his
first project as a historian in a long time,” Artemius replied. Pico
still wasn’t sure why they were sent here. He didn’t like the sun beating
down on him too much. They were offered a small mission at Habassa that
Pico wanted to have ever so much. For some reason, his master would’ve
rather taken this barren wasteland of a planet.
“Who was
he, Master?” Pico asked. “Who was Arhul Hextrophon?”
“He was
once a great historian, an observer. His efforts helped the Republic on
numerous accounts.” Artemius said.
“And we
have to find him?”
“Yes,”
Dominic replied. “He was supposed to report in with information on Mos
Espa a few weeks ago. He hasn’t returned. I honestly believe that he
didn’t survive this heat.” Artemius wiped the sweat from his brow and
Pico nodded in agreement.
“Why did
we take this mission over the Habassa inquiry, Master?” Pico said. “I
don’t understand. I would’ve gladly gone to Habassa again.”
“I’m
afraid no planet’s monarchy can give you a medallion for asking them
questions, Ilyssis,” Dominic said with a laugh. Pico smiled.
“I’m not
wanting to go back for a medallion. I made a promise to someone that I
would return one day,” Pico said.
“Well,
Ilyssis. It appears that the day will not be today will it.”
“No,
Master,” Pico said. “But it disappoints me nonetheless.”
“Who is
this person, Ilyssis? It must have been someone of some importance to
make you even think that way. Putting that person before your quest as a
Jedi Knight is not something you would normally do,” Artemius said.
“She is,
Master.”
“She?”
“Yes,
she,” Pico said. “I guess I never did tell you about the girl I rescued
from the slave camp, right?”
“No you
didn’t. It’s a story that I would“ The sight of a body laying in the sand
at the end of the street cut him off. Both Pico and Artemius raced down
the street, finding a blue-cloaked old man lying face down in the hot
sand. Pico put his ear to the man’s chest, hearing nothing.
“Is this
him?”
“That’s
him, Ilyssis.”
“He’s not
alive. But I suspect that the New Republic will honor him greatly,” Pico
said.
“We will
bring him for a proper funeral then,” Artemius replied. “He was a good
man and a wise one, too. I hope that he is honored well.”
* * * *
“Reeo, you
have served quite well in the quarters of the Empire in the past few
years, but I’m afraid your work will be needed elsewhere, my friend,”
Militiades said, looking down at the man who would’ve become a Jedi if he
hadn’t refused the Prophet’s overture. Reeo looked back up at the
hovering cloaked figure.
“Where
will I be sent?” he asked very innocently, as if he didn’t want to leave
the core of the Empire.
“You will
return to your former work as my aid on the Outer Rim,” Militiades
replied. “Your efforts were far more valuable to me in the previous years
when you reported rumor from the Outer Rim Territories, Reeo. You must
understand that.” Militiades almost sounded like he was giving an order
now.
“Specifically,
though,” Reeo said, “I would like to know where you are going to send me
first.” Militiades looked as if he had to think it over for a moment.
“There is
an Imperial outpost out near Habassa on a planet called Yaga Minor. I
will send you there and then a refueling project will allow you to take
your craft to Ninn.” Militiades stated his mission clearly and no more
questioning was required.
Reeo
Kcranuvelle was back to being a smuggling pirate that secretly worked for
the leader of the Galactic Empire. It wasn’t exactly a fun life and he
couldn’t brag about his important title to anyone or his cover would be
blown. He had much more activity working in the core of the Empire, and
he didn’t quite understand why Militiades would find his skill more
useful outside of the operation.
For the
first time in his career, Reeo experienced a bit of hatred for
Militiades. A bit of anger.
* * * *
A cloaked
figure, dubbed potently as Phadrax Monovial, moved at top speed through
the collection of trees on the small planet of Yaga Minor. Reaching the
end of the line of vegetation, he removed his hood and looked up at the
small outpost set up near the small forest. Various ships flew in and
just as many exited the hangar.
Quietly,
he slipped behind the first layer of the trees and neared the structure’s
support beam. This would be his calling. Beginning here, after many years
of training, Monovial would finally get the power he wanted. The Supreme
Prophet of the Dark Side would be of no concern. He knew that the
mystical group of Prophets had no real power with the dark side of the
Force.
But
Monovial did. And with that power, the Empire would be his. He had hated
the Jedi for almost all of his life. And the Jedi were all under the
voluntary service of the New Republic. In order to wipe out the Jedi
populace that he wanted to, he needed to defeat the New Republic. And the
only way to defeat the New Republic in his mind, was to take the only
fleet large enough to stand a chance and expand upon it.
However,
there was the treaty. The sacrosanct contract that permitted no fighting
between the groups. Unfortunately for Monovial, a treaty could not be
easily broken by even the person who signed it if it involved armies of
officers. There would be an overwhelmingly large rebellion to that sort
of thing.
But
killing Jedi isn’t all that Monovial wanted. His research and his dreams
from many years ago were slaughtered when the very last of the Sith race
died. Had he been given the chance, Monovial would’ve been trained under
the ways of the Sith. He would’ve lived his life as a member of the Sith.
But they were extinct and his hopes and expectations were no longer. It
was also a major part of his plan, though. He knew that he couldn’t bring
the Sith back. So he had to create a new breed of Sith starting with him.
He was tired of being just another dark Jedi. He was worth more than
that.
Now he
needed a transport. This single Imperial outpost would be his in short
time and whatever he wanted, he would get. Especially a shuttle to the
House of Lords. He had only read about the ship, never seen it.
But he knew that he would have to go there in order to make his prophecy
come true. Plus, he would need supporters from this outpost. His main
quest now was to get inside without making too much noise.
Monovial
climbed up the support beam and peaked over onto the surface of the
outdoor hangar. It was surprisingly empty. All he could see were three
Imperial officers walking by. Silently, Monovial crept up to the top and
threw the Force upon all three officers, so fast that they never got the
chance to scream as they fell down into the forest below.
His black
cloak rippled in the wind until he found his way into the hangar and the
air was blocked by the durasteel walls. Monovial kept hidden in the
corner and observed the area. Various ship repair crews and refueling
stations were arranged around the hangar. Many staircases moved to the
upper levels of the outpost, and an elevator was right to Monovial’s
left. He debated whether to take the stairs or the elevator to the upper
level. Either way, he would have this outpost under his control.
* * * *
Yaga Minor
was unlike many of the planets Reeo had been on before. Or at least this
part of it was. There was a small patch of trees laid out near the
Imperial outpost and it seemed everywhere else was a parched land with
nothing but dirt and a very thin stream running under a very small
bridge.
Reeo
piloted his freighter into the hangar after getting consent from a few of
the officers on deck. The hangar had a very large fabrication when
measured vertically. However its area in width was not so impressive when
compared to most other hangars. Reeo opened the exit ramp in the back of
the freighter and left to meet up with some of the repair crew.
“Good
morning, welcome to Imperial outpost VB-255,” said one of the repair
officers. “State your difficulty and destination.” Reeo looked up at him
as he came off the ramp.
“I’m here
for a refueling. Plus, I have some damages on the back side,” Reeo said.
“I have been on course to Ninn from the House of Lords. I’m
stopping here for a routine repair and then I’m off.” He could tell that
some of the officers didn’t believe that he came from the House of
Lords, but it wasn’t there job to accuse him of anything.
“Alright,
sir,” the officer said. “We’ll get to work on it and you should be out of
here in a few hours. Feel free to rest easy in the cafeteria or in one of
our free meeting rooms.”
Reeo
nodded and left. He wasn’t sure where to go. The elevator or the stairs
were his options, and he had no idea which one went which way. It seemed
that nobody was taking the elevator, so he thought he would jump in. He
was tired anyway. He began walking towards it when a black figure seemed
to dash into the open elevator door. He wasn’t sure that he even saw it
because it happened so fast, and he brushed it off.
Reaching
the elevator, he looked around and saw nothing. But he felt something
strange. Something he had never felt before. It was very cold in the
elevator.
* * * *
Monovial
could barely focus. He looked down at the dark, bald man in the elevator
and struggled to maintain his balance with his feet against the walls
near the roof of the enclosed room. He couldn’t hold it any longer. As
soon as the elevator doors closed, he let go and landed behind the man,
igniting his lightsabre and holding it to the man’s neck. “Don’t move,”
he said.
“I’m not
moving,” the man said rather confidently for his life being in danger.
“What do you want from me? I’m just going upstairs and not looking to get
in any trouble while I’m here.” Monovial stopped the elevator with an
emergency stop button underneath a panel by the controls. He withdrew his
lightsabre and leaned back on the elevator’s walls.
“Who are
you and what kind of authority do you possess in this building?” he
asked.
“Hey, I’m
just another pilot coming in here for a routine refueling. I don’t have
any authority around here.” Monovial knew that there was something
strange about this person.
“I know
that you mean more than that,” Monovial said. “Maybe not around here, but
you mean something. Who are you?”
“Well if
you don’t believe me, it’s not my fault,” the man said. “My name’s Reeo.
I work in the Outer Rim Territories for the leader of the Empire.”
Monovial raised an eyebrow. Now he knew that this man could be of some
value.
“Militiades?”
Monovial asked for confirmation.
“That’s
the one,” Reeo replied. “He picked me because I am a Force-sensitive. I
can communicate with him from long distances. Anything more you want to
know? I’ll be glad to spill the beans about any of his secrets if you
want. He’s been angering me lately.”
“Force-sensitive?”
Monovial said. “That shouldn’t matter. Militiades is a Prophet of the
Dark Side, am I right?” Reeo nodded.
“Or so he
says. As far as I know, when Scardia was destroyed, the Prophets were all
but wiped out. I really don’t know much about them myself. But he is
powerful.” Monovial looked confused.
“But the
Prophets of the Dark Side had nothing to do with the Force according to
all records,” Monovial said. Reeo was starting to get curious. “They once
held much power in the Empire and posed as mystics, but were actually
nothing but some cheap investigation bureau. Are you sure he’s not just a
fraud?”
“Oh, I’m
definitely sure,” Reeo said. “I wouldn’t doubt his power if I were you.
Ever since he had his feet cut off, he hovers with the Force to get
around. He’s no lunatic who fakes his power.” Monovial seemed interested
in what was going on. Could his research have been inaccurate? He hoped
not. “So why are you holding me in this elevator then?”
“Well,
Reeo,” said Monovial. “I need a supporter. I am not a good person, and I
want you to know that for sure. But I possess characteristics that would
make for a better leader of this pathetic Empire that you work under.”
“Whoa,
wait a minute!” Reeo said. “You want me to help you take over the Empire.
I’m afraid that’s just not possible.”
“I have it
all worked out, Reeo. It will work. All I need is a person like you who
can bring me to the House of Lords. You have authority and
clearance to board that Super Star Destroyer do you not?” Monovial
asked.
“I do, but
I’m not looking to get killed in this escapade.”
“You
won’t. I promise. I have analyzed this plan of mine over and over for
years. This peace treaty only makes it easier,” Monovial said.
“You’re
going to break the peace treaty?!” Reeo shouted. “That’s definitely
impossible. Everyone will rebel against you. You wouldn’t be able to win
even if you killed them all. Then you would have no army left to break
the treaty with!”
“Shut up!”
Monovial bellowed. “I am not breaking the treaty! I am making it so the
treaty isn’t valid any longer.”
Reeo
wasn’t sure what he meant but with his recent hate for the ways of
Militiades, he agreed to what Monovial requested. “Alright, you’ve got a
deal. My ship will be ready in about two hours I think. Until then, what
are we going to do?”
Monovial
smiled. “If I’m going to take the Empire for myself, we might as well
start here.” He pulled a long lightsabre hilt from a strap on his back
and hit the switch to start up the elevator again. The floor indicator
above the door said they had reached the top floor and Monovial ignited
the red blade of his weapon. Reeo pulled the blaster from his belt and
waited for the door to open. Then the cloaked man ripped through those
who stood at the door and Reeo followed, firing at all he could before
they were torn in two by the blade of Monovial’s weapon.
They both
headed for the main operation deck and commenced to take this outpost
through the use of brute force. Phadrax Monovial was one step further to
his rule over the Galactic Empire. The same Empire in which he would
inaugurate the rebirth of the Sith.
* * * *
A
peculiar, but peaceful wind instrument played in the background as many
of the New Republic’s high ranks gathered to honor the death of Arhul
Hextrophon. Ilyssis Pico and Dominic Artemius stood side-by-side at the
front of the room, beside the likes of Mon Mothma and Admiral Crix
Madine. Pico counted about sixteen very important members of the New
Republic and about six other Jedi.
All had
their heads bowed down as the music commenced. This was the first
Republican funeral that Pico had attended, and supposedly one of the
biggest in quite some time. Pico didn’t quite understand the celebration.
Dominic had never told him enough about Hextrophon for him to play a big
role in Pico’s life.
Hextrophon
seemed important enough to everyone else, though. Pico wouldn’t argue
with that. As a Jedi, he had to honor the death of those whom he didn’t
know personally, as well. He was still curious as to who this man was,
though. The details of his life.
A moment
of silence commenced as they buried the body of the master historian in a
cement casing and set it into the ground of the funeral hall. The silence
ended and the session was over. People began quietly exiting the hall and
Artemius escorted Pico back to a small restaurant. They had been sitting
there before the procession took place.
“Master,
what exactly did the man do?” Pico uttered. He finally had the chance to
ask that question. He had been far too busy ever since they retrieved
Hextrophon’s body.
“I
honestly don’t know, Ilyssis,” Dominic replied. “All I know is that he
was the executive secretary for the Alliance High Command for quite some
time. And a master historian, as I have mentioned before.”
“Could he
have had some part in the Jedi Holocron?”
“I don’t
think so. As knowledgeable as he might have been, the Holocron was much
more than the mere history of things. Plus, it could only be accessed by
true Jedi Knights. I doubt Arhul Hextrophon could interact with the
images on the Holocron,” he replied. “Where do you wish to go now,
Ilyssis? We could stay at this restaurant or go elsewhere. We haven’t
much activity right now. It’s still days before we have to return to
0027.”
“Actually,
Master,” Pico said. “I do have something that I wished to talk to you
about.”
“About
what?”
“Going to
Habassa. I need to tell you what happened on Alzoc III.”
* * * *
Reeo’s
ship blasted out of the hangar, leaving the Imperial outpost under the
influence of Phadrax Monovial. Everyone who was left behind was either in
total shock or dead. Reeo was scared by the menacing approach that
Monovial gave to all of the officers at the outpost. As soon as that
elevator door opened, people were dying. He killed them all for no
apparent reason. Most likely because he wanted to get his mini-mission
there over with. Entering the main deck of the outpost was not nearly as
much of a bloodbath as it was outside of the room. Monovial merely held
them as his personal hostages and clubbed one of the officers on the side
of the head with his lightsabre hilt.
Just like
that, he left them behind with a pile of bodies, saying that he would be
back. He hoped that it would be all cleaned up when he returned. Reeo
confirmed to Monovial that the House of Lords was most likely
still near the planet Kir in the Corporate Sector. Militiades had been
collecting crystalline vertex from the planet to use as currency when
purchasing parts from a shipyard to build further Imperial armada.
“Do you
wish to become a Jedi, Reeo?” Monovial asked as the freighter exited Yaga
Minor’s atmosphere. Reeo looked over at him from the pilot’s seat.
Something about Monovial’s face just looked dangerous to him. He looked
very powerful and obviously was.
“I tried
it once. Then the dark side helped make it easier,” Reeo said. “But I’m
afraid Militiades is not a very good instructor of the arts and I gave it
up.”
“Well, I
do seek an apprentice, Reeo. If you are willing to try the dexterity once
more, I will train you,” Monovial said. Reeo wasn’t sure. It wasn’t his
place to become a dark Jedi. Plus, if Monovial succeeded in taking over
the Galactic Empire, he would no longer have time to train Reeo anyway.
“Enter hyperspace and then come to the back with me. I want to see how
you fair with a remote.”
It was
only moments later that Reeo came to the back and Monovial already had a
remote droid set up. “I no longer have a lightsabre, Phadrax. I lost it
quite some time ago. Not that I used it often anyway,” Reeo said.
Monovial almost looked disgusted.
“Fine
then,” he said. “Use mine if you wish.” He unstrapped the long-hilted
lightsabre from his back and handed it to Reeo. It was the first time
that he had a chance to examine the weapon. It did virtually appear to be
two lightsabres joined together at the centre. Its mere length seemed
uncomfortable to Reeo. When he noticed that there was two buttons as
well, he finally asked about the sabre’s obscurity.
“This
isn’t a normal lightsabre is it?” Reeo said.
“It has
two blades, Reeo,” Monovial replied. “You need only use one.” Reeo
shrugged it off and ignited one end of the lightsabre. Holding it
awkwardly, Reeo guided the blade to follow the path of the remote. The
bulbous automaton swerved back and forth, finally shooting a low-powered
blaster bolt from its single small turret. More of the same came and he
still appeared to have to struggle with it.
Monovial
increased the speed of the seeker and the bolts came faster and faster.
Already, Reeo was faltering, but Monovial kept increasing the speed until
it was at its peak. Reeo looked shocked, getting hit with many of the
nonlethal bolts. He turned off the lightsabre, deactivating the remote.
“What was that all about? You should know that I can’t defend that,” Reeo
said, staring at the lever that was pulled to the maximum remote
difficulty level. Monovial was smiling shrewdly. Reeo left, rather
disappointed at the sudden actions of Monovial. He dropped the
lightsabre, and Monovial kept it from hitting the ground with the Force
and then pulled it towards him.
He stepped
up from the chair he sat in and activated the weapon. The red blade
easily followed the remote as it spun around at high speeds. The Force
guided Monovial’s blade and easily absorbed an array of low charge bolts.
Reeo could not be the start of his followers in the new Sith race. He
would have to find a new prospect.
* * * *
Dominic
Artemius put his hand on his chin and looked over at Pico. “You
neutralized the dark Jedi and then what?” he asked his apprentice.
“Well,
then me and Hana tried leaving the house. By then, unfortunately, the
guards up at the landing platform found out what had been going on. I
managed to conjure up a way to get out of there safely, but it all
changed when we found this little kid. His name is Antioch Fi, or so he
says. He should still be under the care of Hana on Habassa. I would like
the kid to be trained. He is a Force-sensitive and it is getting too
late,” Pico told him.
“Is it
possible that the girl took it upon herself to find a person to train
him?”
“It’s
possible but I somehow doubt it. There isn’t much reason for her to do
so. He’s probably stuck in an orphanage. She doesn’t have many people who
could take care of him as far as I know,” Pico said. “Mind you, I was
only there for a day or so. Maybe she does.” Dominic’s eyes
widened.
“You were
only there for a day and you want to go back just to see her
again?!”
“Time
doesn’t determine how much one could long for the presence of another,
Master,” Pico said wryly. Artemius smiled.
“You have
learned a great deal, Ilyssis, and I am impressed,” he said, standing
from the chair in the restaurant. “We will leave for Habassa tomorrow. I
would like to meet her anyway.” Pico smiled at the thought that he would
finally get to see Hana again. Hopefully, she hadn’t forgot about
him.
* * * *
Two
Imperial Generals were escorting Reeo and Monovial to Militiades’
chambers. It was a well-conceived deception that the two had worked out.
Militiades would hopefully comply to Monovial’s requests. He didn’t want
to lead this into some sort of violent carnage. The General opened the
door to the chamber and Monovial and Reeo walked in.
Sitting
upon the chair, not facing the door, was Militiades, still in the full
body cloak very similar to Monovial’s own, except for the obscure glitter
that the Prophet’s fabric exuded. The chair spun around and Militiades
looked down at Reeo. “You weren’t to come back, Reeo,” the Prophet said.
“What could be so urgent as to return?”
“Militiades,
I have brought before you Phadrax Monovial, a powerful dark Jedi who
wishes to speak with you,” Reeo said. Militiades looked over at the
cloaked man beside him.
“I wish
not to speak with anyone,” Militiades said. Monovial still couldn’t see
the face of Militiades under the sparkling cloak. Reeo stepped off to the
side to allow the dark Jedi to make his speech.
“I don’t
want any trouble, Prophet,” Monovial said, rather harshly. “All I am
asking for is your Empire.” Phadrax smiled at the Supreme Prophet of the
Dark Side. Reeo was shocked. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not this
prompt.
Militiades
stood up from his chair and floated forward, only a metre away from
Monovial, and then he removed his hood. “And exactly who are you to
address me in that way with such a impracticable request?” Militiades was
staring him down with the pernicious expression Reeo had ever seen…until
he looked at Monovial. It was horrifying.
Reeo
stepped further back. “You are not a Prophet, Militiades,” Monovial said
discordantly. Militiades was getting angry with him now. “The Prophets of
the Dark Side were nothing but a bunch of frauds. A cheap bureau of
spies. How you proclaim yourself to be one obviously limits your
knowledge of the actual group. It also insults you. The Prophets have no
skill in the Force. What have you? The same?” Militiades was red. He
thrust himself backwards and shot his hands forward, sending frantic
bolts of blue lightning flying from his fingertips. Reeo moved further
back into the shadows where he could not be seen.
Monovial
bolted to the left at speeds that Militiades could not even achieve. The
Force lightning stopped and they stared each other down once again.
Monovial removed his black cloak, revealing a tighter black uniform which
displayed his belt and the strap that slung over his shoulder. He reached
back behind the strap and drew his lightsabre from it. Igniting the
blade, he half-expected Militiades to do the same. But he didn’t, proving
that his power was truly genuine after all.
Monovial
flipped forward, onto the stairs that led up to where Militiades stood.
His blind landing made him lose track of the Prophet, and when he landed,
he could no longer see him. He looked up, and hovering high above him,
was Militiades sending Force lightning through Monovial’s body.
The pain
was unlike anything he had ever experienced before; he dropped his
lightsabre and it turned off upon hitting the ground. Monovial fell to
his knees and Militiades returned to ground level. “You see, Phadrax
Monovial, I am not a member of the spy network you speak of. The true
Prophets of the Dark Side existed long before the investigation bureau on
the space station Scardia.” The Force lightning stopped and Monovial
looked up at the Prophet, very angry.
“Who are
you?!” he said, trying to rejuvenate his energy.
“I am a
true Prophet of the Dark Side. The true Prophets of the Dark Side were
indeed powerful. You should be able to tell that by now. I am but the
last of the kind, but the Prophets will continue to live on in the form
of my body, for this will not be my last day.” Just as Monovial was about
to say something, Militiades shot his hands forward, blasting Monovial
off of the stairs with the Force. Miraculously, Monovial flipped over and
landed on his feet. He reached out and pulled his lightsabre toward him,
igniting a blade in mid-air.
Monovial
charged forward and Militiades tried the same trick again, blasting the
Force at Monovial, but only ripples of the energy field barely affected
the dark Jedi. Militiades began to hover upwards once again, but Monovial
was quick to the task of getting him back down. He jumped high in the air
to the level that the Prophet was at and swung at him. He missed the
swing with the lightsabre, but effectively delivered a sharp kick to
Militiades’ chin, sending both of them hurdling to the ground. Militiades
hit the ground hard, and Monovial swiftly landed on his feet once
again.
As the
Prophet got back up, Monovial had time to charge at him. He flipped over
the Prophet and onto the stairs, giving him the advantage. He sliced
downwards with his sabre, but something stopped it. It was Militiades,
holding the blade back with the Force and then pushing his other hand
forward, blasting Monovial back again. But he didn’t give up. Standing
right back up again, Monovial was faced with dozens of bolts of Force
lightning. He struggled for awhile but then turned off his lightsabre and
threw it down, creating a barrier of the Force to protect him. He kept
walking toward the distraught Prophet bringing the barrier closer and
closer. Suddenly, he ducked, sending the Force lightning over top of him.
He thrusted forward tackling Militiades backwards. Monovial jumped over
the Prophet, grabbed his neck and twisted. A loud crunch of bone echoed
throughout the chamber and Reeo emerged from the shadows, astounded at
what he just saw.
Monovial
took his hands off Militiades’ neck and let his body fall to the ground.
He was breathing hard when Reeo finally approached him. “I don’t believe
this!” Reeo shouted. “I didn’t expect anyone to die here.”
“The only
way to steal something as big as the Empire is to kill its controller,
correct?” Monovial said. Reeo nodded. Or at least that was the simplest
solution to taking an Empire.
“I didn’t
realize that you were so skilled, I thought that“ A blast of the ignition
of a lightsabre reverberated off the walls and Reeo’s speech was cut off
by the energy beam jammed in through his stomach.
“Shut up,
Reeo,” Monovial said. “I don’t need you anymore.” Reeo looked down at the
blade, feeling it come through his back. Monovial removed the blade from
his stomach and Reeo fell to the ground. He would live for awhile longer,
but die slowly and painfully. Just the way Monovial wanted it.
* * * *
“Wake up,
Ilyssis,” spoke the voice of Dominic Artemius. “We have a schedule to
keep.” Pico thought for a moment that Artemius was invading his dream. He
was in ultimate comfort. The room he was given had more blankets than
they should’ve, or else he would have been awake earlier. It was later
than he expected it to be and he felt guilty that he was less punctual
than he should have been. More often than not, Pico would be the one who
awakened his master, not the other way around, which was strange in
itself.
He got out
of the cot and opened up a small satchel that he carried to hold his Jedi
cloak when he went somewhere. After putting it on, he scrambled through
some other things in his satchel and couldn’t find his lightsabre. He
couldn’t afford to lose it. It was very important to him. “Master, have
you seen my lightsabre?” he called to Dominic who had stayed in the room
next to him. There was no reply. He must have gone downstairs to get
breakfast, Pico thought.
He looked
under the cot, in drawers and all over the belt around his uniform. It
was nowhere to be found. He left the room and went down to the
restaurant, assuming that Dominic had chosen the same place to sit for
the morning meal. But he wasn’t there. Something strange was going on.
The entire place was empty.
There
wasn’t any noise throughout the entire area. Pico ran to the back of the
restaurant and opened the door to the room where Pico had peacefully sat
down and just talked to his master a few days ago. There were no lights
on in the room. He went to turn on the switch and as the lights came out,
thirty voices shouted at him: “Surprise! Happy Birthday, Ilyssis!” Pico
was in awe as many of his friends from 0027 had come just to pull this
little surprise gig. Dominic stood at the front of everyone, smiling as
he tossed Pico’s lightsabre back to him. He wasn’t sure how they had
figured out that it was his birthday today. The surprise calmed down and
people started talking amongst themselves as Pico closed the door behind
him, hooking his lightsabre back to his belt.
“I thought
stealing your weapon there would eventually draw you down here,” Artemius
said with a laugh. Pico was surprised and naturally happy that everyone
appreciated him this much.
“So what
do we do now? I came for this little party and we can’t just leave for
Habassa. But we are late as it is,” said Pico. Artemius laughed
again.
“Don’t
worry, Ilyssis,” he said. “It’s not as late as I led you to believe
either. We’ll leave in a few hours and have plenty of time. In the
meantime, enjoy the party. It’s for you after all.”
* * * *
It was
difficult, but Monovial managed to lure the Empire’s top officers and
many of the lower ones on board the House of Lords into the
auditorium to announce his new rule over the Empire. People were just
getting settled down at their tables. It was a large room, larger than
Monovial had imagined, with a small stage and a podium set up in the
centre. Looking over the crowd, he could see the surprise in their faces
as a person they had never seen before directed this assembly.
“Welcome,
Imperial officers,” Monovial began. “I have not prepared a formal speech
for what I am here to tell you, because I believe in direct information.
Nothing will be hidden under a series of useless words. I am getting
straight to the point. The reason I am here today, is because I need to
inform you of a new leader of this so-called Empire. Your beloved Supreme
Prophet of the Dark Side, Militiades has resided from the throne. In his
place, I, Phadrax Monovial, will run this confederation.” There was
already big controversy in the crowd. A lot of talk commenced among
themselves and then one of the officers stood up.
“Monovial,
I am Vice Admiral Aerre. On behalf of the Galactic Empire, your statement
here means nothing to us. Lord Militiades is not one to reside from the
throne of the Empire. He would not leave under any circumstances,” the
officer said. Many of the other men in the room clapped to the
statement.
“Ah, but
that is where you are wrong, Admiral,” Monovial replied with a crafty
smile. “I possess the truth that indeed Militiades would leave the
Empire’s throne, should he be forced to.”
Aerre
stood up once more. “I have been under the control of the Supreme Prophet
for more than five years now and I know better than you, Monovial, the
power of Militiades! No one could take him off the throne so easily
without destroying this ship itself! And as you can see, Monovial, we are
perfectly intact!” More claps began, and Monovial almost expected to have
food thrown at him. Infidels!
Monovial
slammed his hands onto the podium, almost breaking the wood as he heard
catcalls coming from the crowd. “Enough!,” he yelled. “I was hoping that
it would not come to this, Admiral! But what you object to is the truth!”
Monovial stepped away from the podium and off stage for just a moment
when he returned with the body of Militiades hoisted high above his head.
“THIS IS YOUR LORD!! YOUR MASTER OF REGULATIONS!! NOT TOO POWERFUL NOW IS
HE!!” The entire crowd fell into a state of shock. Gasps could be heard
from every corner of the room as Monovial threw the carcass of Militiades
onto the ground beside the podium. “Listen to me!” he shouted into the
microphone. “I am here to end this useless unjust rule and replace it
with a stricter, but more effective authority! If you will not take a man
of my power as your leader, then I suggest you kill me first!” Almost as
if it was on cue, two doors from the back opened up and a squad of about
ten stormtroopers besieged towards Monovial down the centre of the
passage that led to the podium.
Monovial
jumped up onto the podium and executed an aerial off of the stage and
into the passage, igniting his lightsabre in mid-air. Stormtroopers fired
numerous shots, all of which were fired right back at them. In short
time, only two stormtroopers remained. They fled for their lives, which
was uncharacteristic of the stormtrooper breed of officers. But Monovial
was too fast for them. He twisted as he jumped in the air, landing in a
spiral that effectively decapitated both stormtroopers with the blade of
his lightsabre.
The entire
crowd gathered in the room were speechless. Monovial walked back up to
the podium casually. “Vice Admiral Aerre, I suggest that you never
underestimate a person that is angry enough to kill someone for doing
so.” With that, Monovial pointed fiercely at the officer and his throat
instantly collapsed. Aerre lay dead at his table, which the other
officers began to back away from. “We will begin with a bigger expansion
of this organization. We will continue colonizing the galaxy in a much
more efficient method than the pathetic Prophet of the Dark Side could
accomplish.” Monovial was about to step off the podium when he remembered
one more thing. “In conclusion, I know that deep down, some of you were
disappointed with the treaty that made the Empire and the New Republic
best friends. In my opinion, a little piece of paper doesn’t end a
conflict that is decades old! We are not the Empire anymore, gentlemen.
We will go under a new name. A new name that will make the treaty
invalid. I am welcoming you all to the Interstellar Sith Allegiance,
where I plan to rebuild this organization from scratch, and eventually
re-create the race of the Sith Lords of the past! The Empire may be at
peace with the New Republic, but the ISA is most definitely not!”
Stepping
off the podium, Monovial received the last thing that he expected out of
anyone. An clap of someone’s hands. An officer was applauding him. That
officer soon expanded into two officers, which became ten officers. It
kept expanding until he was receiving a virtual standing ovation from the
crowd of Imperials.
He had
control and people were pleased with it. A step up from what he had
originally intended. Now he needed to talk to the commander of this ship.
He was going back to Yaga Minor, which was still under Republican
control. It was time to begin colonization the effective way.
* * * *
“How
exactly did you know it was my birthday, Master?” Pico asked as their
shuttle blasted out of the hangar, headed for Habassa. Artemius
smiled.
“It took a
long time. About a year ago I went back to Seanne to ask the locals at
Kit Kade City if they knew. But only one of them knew,” Artemius replied.
Pico grinned.
“Niles
Verra,” he said.
“That’s
the one,” Artemius replied. “I didn’t mean to head back to your home
planet without you, Ilyssis. But you were busy elsewhere at the time.
Coordinates are ready, you might as well pull that hyperdrive lever.”
Pico looked over at the panel in front of him and pulled the lever
backwards.
“Habassa
is quite a ways away, Master,” Pico said. “It’s going to be quite a big
jump isn’t it?” Pico looked at the starmap laid out on the panel in front
of him. It showed about a two-hour hyperspace jump was commencing.
“You’re
right. If you like we can go in the back and watch a holodrama or
something. It kills time,” Artemius said. Pico nodded and got up from the
co-pilot’s seat.
The back
of the shuttle was similar to most of the personal transport shuttles
that Pico had been on before. A two-seated chair was set up around a
table that had the functions of a holodrama viewer and a simple link to
the HoloNet. Pico sat down and turned on the holodrama viewer, bringing
up a list of categories: drama, humor, history, technical or music. He
selected history, without asking for Dominic’s opinion.
“Why
history?” Artemius asked, curious as to why he picked it. Pico scrolled
through the long list of historical holodramas, and finally came across
the one he was looking for: Arhul Hextrophon: Life Story. “Oh, I
see.”
The
holodrama ended almost completely accurate to the time of the hyperspace
jump’s conclusion. Pico moved up to the cockpit after it ended, just to
meet up with Artemius, who was just pulling out of hyperspace. “Uh-oh,”
Pico said, seeing the error. “You pulled out too early, Master.”
“Yes, I
did. Now what. I’ve never made that kind of error before. Where are we?”
he said. Looking down at the holographic starmap, he saw that they fell
in close coordinates with the small Republican world of Yaga Minor.
“Check up on this planet, Ilyssis. Tell me something about it.” Pico
looked to his left at a planet reference screen that he had opened up. It
brought up the general profile on Yaga Minor.
“Well, it
supports life. Gravity level is about 0.6 below normal. About fifty years
ago, this is where they launched the Outbound Flight Project. It is
Republican, I’m sure if we need to land, there will be some friendly
settlements.”
“We don’t
need to land though, Ilyssis. We need to get to Habassa,” Artemius said.
“Good
point. But what’s that?” Pico asked pointing to a set of about sixty red
ships on the starmap.
Artemius
looked at it curiously. “Those are Imperial ships,” he said with a
strange tone of voice that confused Pico as much as the ships confused
Artemius. “What are they doing in Republican territory? Judging by the
flight pattern, they’re moving in on Yaga Minor to run it over and place
it under Imperial power.”
“But the
treaty forbids that.”
“I know.
That’s why it’s strange. Militiades must be going nuts. He may be one
baneful figure, but nobody breaks a treaty. Nobody. It just doesn’t
happen.”
“It never
has before,” Pico said. “And even if he did, we would’ve heard it by now
and the Empire would be punished by every other fighter in the galaxy.”
Artemius was going to say something when a cold shiver ran down his
back.
“Did you
feel that?” he asked Pico, who definitely reacted to something.
“Yes. It
must have been Militiades, breaking that treaty without telling
anybody.”
“No it’s
not,” Dominic said. “I know Militiades, and this is not him. It’s
something else.”
“Or
someone else?”
“Possible.
But I don’t think someone else would’ve been able to create such a
tremor. It seems larger than that to me.”
“Master,
there is no way we can get by that fleet of capital ships. We’re passing
over Yaga Minor now, we shouldn’t go any further or we will be in the
line of fire. Treaty or not, the Empire is still dangerous,” Pico
said.
“You’re
right,” Artemius said. “I want you to take one of the escape pods down to
Yaga Minor and find the head government building. Get there as quick as
you can and warn them of the incoming Imperial ships. I’m letting the
tractor beam pull me into one of these Star Destroyers. I’m going to find
out what’s going on.” Pico instantly obeyed Artemius and headed for the
pods in the back.
“Good
luck,” he said as he left. Artemius gave him a thumbs up and turned back
to the cockpit’s control screen.
Pico found
the escape pods in the back of the shuttle. There were only two, which
seemed strange to him, but he only needed one so it didn’t matter. He
climbed in, making sure he had everything he needed with him. Activating
a set of buttons on the wall of the pod, a disk on the ship pressed it
into space, with the force of gravity pulling it into Yaga Minor.
* * * *
The
tractor beams of the Star Destroyers didn’t seem to be activated. There
were a dozen Imperial Star Destroyers that escorted what Artemius assumed
was the House of Lords, and neither of them had even made the
effort to pull the stray shuttle in. Until he came close enough, he
realized that the Super Star Destroyer’s tractor beam was all that was
activated at the time, and it began to haul the shuttle in.
Artemius
let the control go and went to the back of the ship. Lying under some old
luggage from past trips, was some large black textiles. He pulled them
out from underneath and measured them up against his body. Drawing up his
lightsabre, he ignited the blade and started trimming pieces off of the
fabric, creating a sloppy, but believable black cloak. He draped it over
his head, making sure it covered all but his boots. One of the shaved
pieces he took and attached to the cloak to make for a hood.
Over his
head, he heard the sounds of the tractor beam’s final stages bringing in
the shuttle. He had to hurry. He ran up to the cockpit of the shuttle and
turned on his lightsabre once more and wildly hacked away at the
controls. Damaged targeting systems and wrecked maneuverability short
circuited just about everything on the ship. The power was out and the
last of the escape pods accidentally jettisoned.
A tube
from the House of Lords attached to the exit ramp of the shuttle
and a sawing sound echoed throughout the room. Artemius moved to the back
where the small hallway to the exit ramp was being cut through. Emerging
from the open space was a squad of stormtroopers, who began firing when
they saw Artemius. He jumped to the side behind a wall and yelled to
them, “Wait! Don’t shoot!”
The firing
stopped and Artemius emerged from the corner. The stormtroopers stood
aside as an Imperial flight officer came into the shuttle. “Who are you?”
the officer asked, holding a small pistol pointing at Artemius.
“You
needn’t fire at me, officer,” Artemius said. “I am dark Jedi Knight,
Artemus Domm. I’m here to oversee the project relating to the invasion of
Yaga Minor. I once ran a major Imperial station on the planet and I have
been sent here to aid in the operation.”
The
officer raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you not just request a landing
permit and then be brought into a hangar instead?” he questioned.
“My ship
was severely damaged during an attack by an unknown allied convoy. As you
can see, my power is out and the only way for this ship to even move is
to either be taken in by a tractor beam, or just moving straight on it’s
own fuel. Fortunately I was headed in your direction when my control
systems were damaged,” Artemius replied with a false accent.
The
officer lowered his weapon. “Alright,” he said. He signaled for the
squadron of stormtroopers to leave the area. “I trust that you’ve bee
informed on the details of Yaga Minor’s invasion then.”
“Not
actually,” Artemius replied. “I was sent here to help invade Republican
territory and I don’t know why. It doesn’t make much sense to me why this
would even be permitted by the officers of the Empire.”
“Well, you
are very uninformed, Jedi,” the officer said, escorting him aboard the
Super Star Destroyer. “Just a few days ago, an extremely well-trained
dark Jedi named Phadrax Monovial, boarded this ship and assassinated
Militiades, taking the Empire for himself. Which, by the way, is no
longer the Empire anymore. Its name has been changed to make the peace
treaty invalid.” Artemius was amazed. Anyone with skill enough to kill
Militiades probably had great authority over the Empire now.
“What was
the name changed to?”
“The
Interstellar Sith Allegiance. More commonly referred to as the ISA now,”
the officer said.
“Sith?
What do the Sith have to do with anything?”
“He
explained it all to us earlier. The reason he wanted the Empire, was so
he could have the power to kill Jedi Knights. I’m not sure why he hates
them so much, but he does. Most Jedi operations are under the service of
the New Republic. Seeing as the Empire was at a never-ending conflict
with the New Republic, he figured that having the Empire at his command
was the easiest way to gain access to the Jedi. He plans later on to
proclaim himself as the first of a new Sith race. He plans to expand upon
the Sith and make them alive again.” Artemius was almost frightened by
this notion, despite its near impossibility.
“Making it
so the Empire isn’t at war with the New Republic, but the Sith are,
making the treaty invalid. That’s very clever,” Artemius said. “So where
is he now?”
“Well,”
the officer said. “I believe he is going down to Yaga Minor’s surface
with the invasion crew now. He fights his own battles. He’s just showing
everyone that he has the courage to do so.”
“Very
admirable of him.” Artemius was stuck for things to do now. He was on the
House of Lords with nowhere to go but observe the takeover of Yaga
Minor. And this story about a new Sith race was mind-boggling. If his
plans were successful the Jedi would have no choice but to defend
everyone. Their normally voluntary missions would turn into yet another
Sith war.
* * * *
The
Gunboats and TIEs all swept the surface of Yaga Minor, blasting at small
settlements, letting them know that there was something going on. Phadrax
Monovial’s shuttle touched down at the city centre of Mon Yaga. He
emerged from the exit ramp with a large squadron of stormtroopers
following him. The citizens of Mon Yaga were all frightened by the sudden
appearance of the Imperial craft.
“Come with
me,” Monovial ordered to the stormtroopers. He led the group down the
main street in the city that led to the Yaga Minor main senatorial
government building. The Mon Yaga Senate was the political leader group
of the entire planet. But Monovial would change that, indeed. The Mon
Yaga Senate would soon be under Imperial power and the ISA would
effectively build upon Monovial’s planned enterprise.
Reaching
the entrance gate to the large building, two guards at the gate began to
fire at Monovial and the stormtroopers but they were quickly taken care
of by the squad. The stormtroopers easily melted through the weak iron
gates and the group walked in. It wasn’t long before the Mon Yaga
government had dispatched defense units to surround the group.
Arriving
at the door to the building, Monovial found that a group of six guards
stopped them at the entrance and four dozen more surrounded them from the
back and both sides. He was still confident in taking this planet’s
control. Monovial whistled loudly to signal a larger group of
stormtroopers from outside the gate who came in and surrounded the Yaga
officers. Frantically, some of the groups began shooting at each other.
It turned into a full scale battle of the blasters and Monovial easily
disarmed the six guards at the doors of the building and opened them.
Inside was
a well-constructed interior with various columns. He shut the doors
behind him and the faint sound of blaster fire continued. It appeared as
though he would have to do most of this on his own. Footsteps coming from
somewhere indoors kept getting louder and Monovial saw a group of Yaga
soldiers coming down the stairwell. He quickly slid into the corner of
the room behind a statue.
The planet
had a tighter security than Monovial had expected. The squadron of Yaga
soldiers opened up the doors just to find more blaster fire coming
indoors. The battle was expanding to the inside. Stormtroopers entered
the building and stray shots from outside came through the doors,
exploding on the columns.
Monovial
had to get out of this room fast. He slid along the walls and came
underneath a staircase. More Yaga soldiers were coming down the stairs
and Monovial waited for the traffic to clear up. But it didn’t. There was
always either people coming down or going up. Several of the Yaga
officers had set up an area to shoot from on the stairs and there was no
hope of Monovial climbing up them normally.
Instead he
jumped up and grabbed onto one of the bars underneath each of the stairs.
With much difficulty, he climbed up each one of the bars and got to the
top of the stairs using his arms the whole time. He swung himself onto
the top of the staircase and threw one of the Yaga officers over the
balcony and his head smacked a cement column as he fell. Monovial ran
through to an empty hallway that ended with a large gold door. It was
locked on the outside, but he could hear people talking about the
situation inside. This must have been the room to the Mon Yaga Senate.
Monovial
unstrapped his lightsabre from his back and ignited one of the blades. He
jammed the beam into the lock on the door, causing it to melt open.
Turning off the blade, he kicked the door open and ran to the centre of
the room, extending the blade of his lightsabre once more. He was
surrounded by the entire Senate of about thirty people in the room. None
of which were of any danger to him. He held at a ready position just in
case one of the senators was armed.
“Who are
you?! And why have you invaded our planet?!” shouted one of the senators,
that appeared to be the leader. Monovial jumped to stand only centimetres
away from the senator and held the energy beam to his neck.
“My name
is Phadrax Monovial, leader of the ISA. Formerly known as the Galactic
Empire, we are here to take this planet under Imperial control,” Monovial
said. Another senator across from him stood up.
“That’s
absurd! No member of the Empire can attack Republican territory! It’s
written in the treaty!” Monovial swiftly turned around and stared angrily
at the senator. Walking up to the old man, he gripped his weapon and
swung upwards at the man’s chest, driving a fatal wound to his stomach.
The senator fell back into his chair, dead.
“Is there
anyone else that doesn’t understand that we are not the Empire any
more?!” Monovial said. None of the senators complained. “Now, you will
hand all control of the planet of Yaga Minor, or only further destruction
will commence of your city.”
The
patriotic senators eventually complied to the ISA’s wishes and he sent
them out with some stormtroopers to be imprisoned for treason, which, in
truth, he didn’t have the authority to charge someone with as of yet.
Phadrax Monovial stood alone in the Senate room now. He had shut off all
the backlights and only the daylight coming in from the window brightened
the senate’s table. It was much emptier now. From here he could witness
the battle taking place below him in the courtyard of the senate
building. He planned to stay here until the invasion was over and the ISA
had official control over everything.
Proud of
his work, Monovial stood looking out the window at the piles of bodies
that started to be more and more visible. So much destruction, yet he was
proud of it.
* * * *
Pico could
hear screaming. He was just outside the stone wall that bordered the
plains from the senate building on Yaga Minor. Pico had come from the
back. Far in the back of the senate’s courtyard there was an elegant
hangar built that housed the custom airspeeders and personal freighters
of members of the Mon Yaga Senate. The hangar was virtually invisible
from anywhere near the courtyard compound.
Pico
managed to balance himself on the bottom layer of the stone wall and he
then worked his way upwards. The stones at the top had steel spears
pointing towards the sky protruding from the top. Pico had no trouble
climbing over those. He jumped the spears and landed in the grassy
courtyard, surrounded by bushes so that no one could see him.
Looking
through the many twigs and branches, Pico saw what was happening outside
the senate building. It was bigger than he expected and he knew that he
was far too late to warn the government of the Empire’s coming. Now he
would have to offer as much help as he could to the Yaga Minor soldiers
who were experiencing difficulty against the stormtroopers.
The issue
of the treaty was something Pico would have to learn about later, but for
now he unhooked the lightsabre from underneath his cloak and ignited as
he jumped out of the bushes. Immediately, stormtroopers fired at him. He
didn’t have too much trouble deflecting the shots until he had to move at
the same time. He ran through a group of the stormtroopers, hitting some
of them with his lightsabre blade, knocking them over.
A lineup
of stormtroopers was escorting about thirty men from the building in
handcuff bindings. Pico guessed that those were the senators. One of them
caught a glimpse of Pico as they were being hauled away from the
building. “Jedi, help us!” he shouted, eyes widened. “Inside the senate
room, there’s a man! Help“ His speech was cut off as one of the
stormtroopers shot and killed the senator, then turning to shoot at Pico.
He got the message clear enough and he jumped inside. The building also
had a battle going on. Everywhere he went, Pico couldn’t escape blaster
fire.
He went
behind one of the columns in the entranceway and met up with one of the
Yaga soldiers who was using the pole as cover, firing around it at the
Imperial troops. “A Jedi! Thank goodness, we could use your help,” the
officer said.
“Tell me,
sir. Where is the senate room?” Pico asked. The officer fired more shots
around the columns, hitting one of the stormtroopers helmets, but still
not quite killing him.
“Upstairs.
End of the hallway to the right,” the officer replied. Pico nodded with a
thank you and then started to look for a way to make it up the stairs. He
began to go up against the wall, the safest way to get to the stairs
without getting shot at as much. As he was leaving, he heard the officer
say, “Bless you, Jedi. You will always be welcome here.”
That vote
of confidence gave Pico the ambition to charge through to the stairwell.
He ignited his lightsabre again and ran along side the wall, protecting
himself from any stray shots. He made it to the bottom of the stairs,
noticing a stormtrooper from the balcony above taking aim at Pico. The
shot came but Pico deflected the bolt right back at him, knocking the
stormtrooper over the balcony and on to the hard marble floor.
Getting up
the stairs was the difficulty now. It would be difficult even for a Jedi
to get through the gunners along the staircase. For now he was just
defending himself, trying to think of a way to get up to the senate room.
To find out whatever the senator was so concerned about.
* * * *
“It looks
to me like the operation was a success, Captain,” said Dominic Artemius.
“Thank you for allowing me to observe the ISA’s first success.” The
Imperial officer turned to Artemius with a smile.
“My
pleasure, Jedi Domm,” he said. “So you will be leaving now then?”
“Yes, I
have to re-group with a facility under the Academy for training Imperial
officers,” Artemius said. “Provided you can give me a temporary
transport, that is.”
“Of
course,” said the officer. “Since that demonstration a couple of days
ago, we’ve all grown to respect the dark Jedi a lot more.”
“I can
imagine,” Artemius said, leaving the room for the hangar. The officer
followed.
“You can
take one of our Lambda-class shuttles to wherever you may be
headed. It has a powerful hyperdrive, so it shouldn’t take you too long,”
said the officer.
“Thank you
for your generosity, Captain,” Artemius said, hurriedly boarding the
shuttle. As soon as the exit ramp shut, he took off the sloppy black
cloak and tossed it aside. He took off almost instantly, needing to
report the situation to the fleet. He left the House of Lords and
entered hyperspace the instant the coordinates confirmed it. Yavin Eight
wasn’t too far away, and he planned to be back to bring Pico a transport
for when the battle on Yaga Minor was over.
Pulling
out of hyperspace, Artemius thought for a moment that he would mess it up
again, but he didn’t. The gas giant of Yavin was not far away, meaning
that Yavin Eight was even closer. He pulled to his left, and there it
was. The mountains were visible from space as well, and looked
captivating when the shuttle first entered the atmosphere.
A voice
came through the communications speaker on the shuttle’s transmitter:
“State your identity, destination and cargo, please.” Dominic put the
speaker on the forward communications setting.
“Dominic
Artemius, Fleet 0027, no cargo.”
“Alright,
go on ahead to land in the outer hangar #5.”
“Thanks,”
Artemius replied. They had five hangars built now. A lot of
progress for the little time that he hadn’t been with the fleet. Artemius
maneuvered the shuttle into an opening in the mountains where the entire
base complex was visible. And sure enough, five hangars were built
surrounding the structure. Entering the hangar, he could see that General
Sienar was coming to meet him.
The
shuttle touched down and Artemius opened the exit ramp. “Good to see you,
Dominic,” Sienar said as Artemius ambled down the ramp. “Where’s Pico,
might I ask?”
He didn’t
look happy through the eyes of Sienar and something was definitely wrong.
“Pico,” he said, “is helping defend the citizens of Yaga Minor from the
new Empire.” Sienar looked confused as he escorted Dominic into the
base.
“What?”
“We have
great problem to deal with, General,” Artemius said. “On our way to
Habassa, Ilyssis and I were sidetracked by an Imperial fleet that was
moving in on Yaga Minor for an invasion. Pico took an escape pod and
jettisoned to the planet’s surface, while I boarded the House of
Lords, posing as a dark Jedi.”
“The
House of Lords?” Sienar said. “Of all Imperial fleets, the
House of Lords should not be the one to attack. Everyone on that
ship knows all the details of the treaty.”
“The
treaty is no longer valid, General,” Artemius said, stopping in the hall
that led to Sienar’s quarters. “A dark Jedi Knight named Phadrax Monovial
boarded the House of Lords just a few days ago and
assassinated Militiades,” Sienar’s eyes widened in surprise. “Monovial
has taken the Imperial fleet for himself, renaming the Galactic Empire to
the Interstellar Sith Allegiance, or the ISA, making the treaty
worthless. Supposedly, he plans to create a new Sith race during his
reign.” Sienar was confused.
“I’ve got
to inform the High Council on Coruscant,” Sienar said. “I’ll tell Admiral
Torgon of the situation and then we will have all officers gathered to
inform them of the invalid treaty. I’m sure word will get around
eventually, anyhow, but we can’t let it be too much of a surprise.”
Artemius nodded.
“I can’t
stay long, General,” he said. “I have to get back there and give Pico a
way of getting back here. I wouldn’t want to leave him behind like that
again. The battle on the surface should be over by the time I get there.
And the planet will be under Imperial control.”
Artemius
left back for the hangar and Sienar ran to inform Admiral Torgon the Hutt
of the situation. Another galactic civil war was beginning again.
* * * *
Pico was
wasting too much time just sitting under the stairs like this. He had to
do something fast, the Yaga soldier populace was getting smaller. He
looked up at the top of the stairwell; it was seemingly free of people.
It was a small area, but Pico took that risk. He cleared his mind until
he could barely hear the blaster fire in the background noise and then
jumped. The Force made his body sail up and over the stair railing.
At the
top, many stormtroopers took fire at him, but Pico ignited his lightsabre
and spun swiftly through a line of four Imperial troops, cutting all of
them down. He ran down the corridor and saw a large golden door. It
looked like a heavy door, and in place of a lock, it seemed to be melted
shut. Whoever, or whatever, was in there was trying to hide itself from
someone.
Pico
pressed the palm of his hand on the bottom of his lightsabre hilt and
drove the end of the blade into the door. Pushing the weapon upwards,
Pico created a line sliced through both of the doors. It still wouldn’t
open, so he kept making a larger and larger cut.
Inside,
Monovial saw that the door was being opened and he slipped into the back
of the room where no light had shone since he turned off the electrical
backlights. A final swerve was made on the cut in the door and Pico
watched as a large circular piece of the metal fell through to the other
side.
Pico
climbed through the hole in the door and into the senate room. The entire
place was a long room that led up to the huge bay window, surrounded by
numerous columns on a marble floor, most of which couldn’t be seen. There
was no light but the daylight casting through the glass and only the long
table of the senate was visible, along with thirty comfortable-looking
chairs.
Pico ran
up to the window and looked outside at the battle that took place. It had
now extended to the streets and Pico had a strange feeling about what was
happening. As if he had just heard a loud noise, Pico shifted to look
around to the dark area of the room. He could see nothing but simple
outlines of some monuments.
He started
walking into the shadowy area, gripping his lightsabre firmly in hand.
The stand-by indicator disk at the bottom of the hilt was spinning
silently, waiting to be activated. Slowly, he crept forward, listening
for any indication of life. He passed by a series of columns, checking
behind each of them, hoping he wouldn’t find any hidden surprises.
Instantly,
Monovial jumped out from a column in the back and quickly charged at Pico
with the blade of his lightsabre. Pico was astonished at his sudden
appearance. He ignited his blade as Monovial further drew him back into
the daylight of the senate table. Monovial was fast, and Pico could tell,
just from defending himself. When his back hit the senate table, Pico
rolled to the left, sending Monovial’s blade dicing through the marble
surface. Monovial swung to the right and Pico back flipped on to the
table. His weight sent it splitting in two at the break point that the
red blade had given it.
Pico slid
into the centre of the table and decided that it wouldn’t be wise to be
so flashy when dealing with a enemy of this stature. Pico jumped up to
the bay window, avoiding the hard swings that Monovial gave at him. He
struck diagonally on the window and broke it into pieces. Monovial
flipped on to the table to follow him as Pico slid down a pole that began
at the window’s peak. Looking down, Monovial saw Pico enter the bottom
floor of the building by destroying the door.
Monovial
jumped from the tall building, but the Force permitted him to land
safely. The demolished door led into what was nothing more than a long
metal hallway. It was very dark since the power had been cut, and Pico
was nowhere to be seen. Monovial extended the blade of his lightsabre
again and stepped into the corridor. He slowly moved in and saw nothing.
The corridor was long and Monovial assumed that it led to the hangar in
the back of the senate building. Pico dropped from the ceiling and
ignited the blue blade of his weapon, striking down at Monovial’s back,
but the shot was counterattacked and Monovial turned to fight back. But
Pico struck very fast, and very hard, moving Monovial further into the
hallway.
Pico
expected that this confrontation be over by now. He attacked faster than
he had ever done so before. He literally ran at his opponent, striking so
very fast. Every one of his attacks were defended and Pico was in shock
as he drew back. The small amount of light emitted from Monovial’s red
blade was enough to see his face smile at Pico with an insidious
expression.
Pico
charged forward, and began to swipe at Monovial even faster. It tired him
out quickly, and he had not conserved any energy, assuming that the fight
would be over by now. But Monovial was still alive and Pico could barely
defend himself as the dark Jedi started coming down hard on him. The two
pressed their blades close together, staring at each other not ten
centimetres away from being able to bite the energy beams. Monovial
pushed him backwards, but Pico got right back up again.
Instead of
defending the strike Monovial gave, Pico evasively flipped and twisted
over him, landing to face his back. Monovial saw that to be a weakness
and he struck upwards, but Pico went to high. Just as he turned around,
Pico flipped and twisted again as to confuse Monovial further. He landed
in combat, again pushing Monovial backwards into the further reaches of
the hall.
Monovial
employed an equivocal manipulation of the Force that boosted his speed to
a supernatural level. Instantly, Monovial disappeared down the hall. Pico
found the technique difficult, so manually he ran down the passage.
Monovial
had found the end of the hall and it was much longer than he had
anticipated. He could hear Pico’s footsteps, so quickly he left the
hallway and a small repulsor carried him to the surface of the empty
hangar of the Mon Yaga.
* * * *
Dominic
Artemius pulled out of hyperspace too late. Or rather, he put the wrong
coordinates into the system and accidentally pulled into Habassa. When he
wanted to go to Habassa, he went to Yaga Minor, and now that he wanted to
go to Yaga Minor, he went to Habassa. He was most disappointed. He turned
the ship around and made sure his coordinates were accurate to Yaga Minor
this time. He was late already to picking up Pico.
The ship
entered hyperspace, and it would be a short enough trip that Artemius
barely had to leave the cockpit. Exiting hyperspace, he felt something
unorthodox about the planet of Yaga Minor. Upon entering the atmosphere,
nothing seemed different through the physical appearance. Stormtroopers
lined the streets of Mon Yaga and a smaller battle took place in the
senate courtyard now.
It was
then that a stream of TIE Fighters swooped from above him. Artemius
quickly estimated nearly thirty of them, all firing at his craft. He
increased the throttle, confused as to what to do. He had never been in
starfighter combat before. His only option was to leave back into space
and off of Yaga Minor, hoping that the TIEs wouldn’t follow him.
Unfortunately,
they did. Artemius expected that they would continue to pursue him until
the craft was destroyed. Dominic closed his eyes and began to try and
generate Pico’s situation, but could only feel his distant presence. With
difficulty, Artemius managed to get a message through to Pico.
Ilyssis, I cannot pick you up now, he thought, I have gone to
Habassa to meet up with the girl you spoke of. I will return, though. I
promise.
Dominic
had hoped that Pico received the message as he again entered the
coordinates for Habassa. Only this time, he did so intentionally. The TIE
Fighters outside fired cannons that exploded onto the hull of Dominic’s
ship.
But then
in a flash, it was gone and the TIEs were no longer a threat.
* * * *
Pico
looked around the empty hangar, trying to feel the local presence of
Phadrax Monovial. Holding his lightsabre hilt firmly in hand, he extended
the blade once again. He assumed that Monovial was hidden behind one of
the ships or in one of the dark corners. Most of the ships looked like
they were used for only atmospheric transport. They were very crafty
designs, but the single-engine made them nothing more than fancy
airspeeders.
At the
centre of the tall hangar, Pico turned off his lightsabre blade again and
hooked it to his belt. It didn’t draw Monovial out as he had hoped, after
practicing very quick draws. Monovial kept hidden, knowing of Pico’s
surprisingly advanced skill. He had been perched in the rafters of the
hangar for awhile now and was looking almost straight down at the alert
Jedi. It would be a long jump, but he didn’t expect to have too much
trouble landing it safely.
Monovial
swung underneath the bar of the rafters and twisted his body backwards
until he was forced to let go. He sailed downwards and touched on the
ground, absorbing most of the fall in his feet. From the strap on his
back, he drew out his lightsabre and held it horizontally in front of
him. Spinning the handle over his wrists, Monovial ignited both blades to
his lightsabre, standing a few metres back from his opponent.
Pico’s
eyes widened. He had never encountered anyone who wielded a double-bladed
lightsabre before, but since the burst of the Jedi Academy, they had
apparently become more popular. He had been told about how difficult they
were to operate, and how much skill its holder would be to do so.
Monovial put his weight on his back foot and held the lightsabre well
away from his body, as if he was challenging Pico to come after him. Pico
decided on trying to make Monovial’s own mistake cause a fault. It was a
suicidally dangerous weapon and Pico could take advantage of that.
Monovial
took a small step forward, and Pico did the same, but suddenly thrusted
at the dark Jedi. One of the blades defended the attack and the other
came out on offense with one swift swipe. Pico parried the attack, diving
out of combat while simultaneously kicking Monovial in the face. Both of
them emerged back from the ground and Monovial darted forward, rapidly
thrusting both blades at Pico.
Pico found
the weapon very difficult to defend against. He barely had time for any
offensive strikes until he moved under the long hilt of his opponent’s
weapon and spun himself around. Pico’s blade met with Monovial’s arm with
little force, and not nearly enough to make up for a lethal wound.
Monovial quickly turned around and swung one of the blades upwards. The
strike came very close to cutting Pico’s throat, and would have if he
didn’t jump backwards sloppily. He landed on his back and his sabre was
deactivated as it hit the ground beside him.
Pico
rolled sideways, evading a downwards strike from one of Monovial’s
blades. Pico got up to his knees and called his lightsabre to him with
the Force. It ignited in mid-air and just in time to defend from a
sideways strike that Monovial was performing. Pico flipped back on to his
hands and then to his feet again, getting some distance on Monovial. He
turned and ran to one of the airspeeders, jumping up on to it’s wing.
Turning back around, Monovial was gone. He looked over the edge of the
wing, which was about four metres up from the ground and there was no
sign of him.
There was
no sound but the hum of Pico’s blade until Pico heard Monovial’s
lightsabre ignite. Behind him, Monovial had come up on the wing and was
charging at Pico. It wasn’t a very big surface, but big enough to give
more than enough area for two people with lightsabres to go at it.
Monovial was coming in faster this time, and Pico had trouble defending
the attacks. He pulled a side aerial and Monovial’s stray blade slammed
into the wing of the airspeeder, sending sparks off to the side.
Pico
struck low and hit the other end of Monovial’s lightsabre with a lot of
force, sending the entire weapon sailing over the edge of the
airspeeder’s wing. Monovial was at bay and Pico held the blue blade right
at his chest. In an effort to get out of his situation, Monovial kicked
his right foot upwards, knocking Pico’s sabre over the edge as well. With
his other foot, he kicked Pico in the stomach knocking him down.
While
trying to catch his breath, Pico stood up and met up with a backhanded
hit across the face. He was bleeding from the nose as he got up once
more. He tried to return a punch but Monovial grabbed his arm, twisted it
backwards and threw Pico over the edge of the airspeeder’s wing. He
landed hard on his back, but conveniently right near his lightsabre. He
grabbed the hilt and rolled underneath the airspeeder’s hull.
Monovial
jumped off of the wing and picked up his lightsabre, just in time to
defend against Pico who moved in quickly, drawing Monovial backwards. He
kept on going with continuous strikes but Monovial parried each and every
one of them. But he kept on going, drawing him back even further, not
giving Monovial a little chance to get any attacks in.
He finally
withdrew when they came dangerously close to the edge of the hangar exit.
It was a very wide exit, like all hangar doors and the fall was a fairly
long one to the dusty plains. Pico tried to remain near the edge, so as
not to lose Monovial again. But keeping close to the edge wasn’t the
wisest thing that he could’ve thought of.
Monovial
struck his sabre hard, sending Pico off balance and tossing him over the
edge. He grabbed onto the ledge below the hangar door, but his lightsabre
fell into the dirt plains. Looking up, he could see Monovial raising his
lightsabre to strike Pico down. He had no choice. He put his feet up to
the ledge where his hands were and sprung off the wall. He executed a
sloppy back flip, but safely absorbed the landing on the dirt at the
bottom.
Monovial
jumped down from the hangar as Pico extended the blade of his lightsabre.
It was now Monovial who was drawing Pico backwards and away from the
hangar into the open, dusty plains of Yaga Minor. Pico kept his guard up,
and he was glad that he was feeling a bit better due to the actions of
the Force. His back didn’t hurt very much anymore and he was no longer
bleeding.
He
wondered, as he warded off the dangerous double-bladed lightsabre of
Phadrax Monovial, if Artemius had gotten to Habassa yet. He hoped so.
Hana was probably anxious to see him again as well. Soon, they would meet
again.
* * * *
“Permission
to land in the Main Hangar,” the voice said through the communications
speaker of Dominic’s ship. He gave the deck operators a ‘thank you’ and
proceeded to the large hangar at the top of the palace. His shuttle
touched down very smoothly on the hangar’s surface and a group of people
were coming from a hallway to meet up with him.
Opening
the narrow exit ramp at the back of the transport, Artemius turned the
engines off and left reserve power on to keep the system warm. He didn’t
plan to be here for very long. A man of about fifty-five approached
Dominic as he made his way down the exit ramp. “Hello, sir. My name is
Schadd Logan, I am the chief executive officer of this palace. Who are
you might I ask, and how can we help you?” Beside him were two other
officers dressed in a similar uniform, a girl who Artemius assumed to be
Hana Logan, a little boy and a toddler in front of her.
“My name
is Dominic Artemius, I am the Jedi Knight who instructed Ilyssis Pico,
who visited here three years ago,” he said. The girl smiled excitedly and
then Artemius was sure. The man’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Oh, well
make yourself at home, sir,” Schadd said. “We are honored that you have
come back. We didn’t think that we would hear anything more of Pico after
my daughter here was rescued.” Artemius nodded.
“Actually
I don’t intend to stay for very long,” he said. “But may I ask that I
speak to your daughter alone for a moment, please. I do have some good
news that she may wish to hear.” Hana kept on smiling. It seemed that her
day had been getting better since she got up that morning. Schadd left
with the officers, but the two kids stayed with Hana.
“Okay,
what’s the news?” she asked, obviously excited.
“Well,
Hana, Ilyssis sent me back here for various reasons. Originally, he was
to come with me to meet with you again. However, we were sidetracked by
an Imperial fleet that was moving in to take control of the planet Yaga
Minor,” Artemius said. “One of those reasons, however, I can still
accomplish without him. He wanted to take on an apprentice of his own.
When he told me the story of when he was first here, he spoke of a young
Antioch Fi. Since that time, Pico’s skill has increased a great
deal.”
“Is that
possible?” she said, smiling as she thought of the incident with the dark
Jedi, Bin-Sho Rfflasaan. “Antioch is right here, actually. Shortly after
Pico left, I sought out a Jedi Knight to begin his training. Not too much
progress was made apparently.” Artemius looked down at the taller boy
that she pointed at.
“So who’s
the other boy?” Artemius asked curiously.
Hana bit
her lip. “That,” she said reluctantly, “is my son.” Dominic was surprised
at this. He did his best not to show much of a reaction.
“Oh,” he
said. “I’m afraid Ilyssis isn’t going to be too excited to hear
that.”
“I think
he’ll take it fine,” she said. “At least until he found out that it’s his
kid, too.” Dominic’s eyes widened a considerably large amount.
“His?!” he
shouted. “Well he never told me that part of the story.” Hana laughed.
Artemius thought for a moment and came up with an idea. “Hana, if you can
find the independence in yourself, will you come with me? On the way back
to the fleet of 0027, I am stopping at Yaga Minor to pick him up. I think
you should come with me and Antioch. You might as well bring your child
as well.” Hana looked up at him, unsure of what to say.
“IIf it
was my choice, I would go in a second,” she said. “But I would have to
pass it by the entire high council of the palace. I think I can do it,
but it will take a little longer than you might have intended to stay.”
“That’s
fine, Hana,” he said. “If I am meant to make myself at home, it shouldn’t
be a problem.” Hana smiled and ran back to the hallway that her father
had left to. Artemius went back up to his ship and started up a remote as
he drew his lightsabre. Always time for practice, he thought to
himself as a set of low-charged blaster bolts were absorbed in the green
beam of his weapon.
* * * *
Two blades
was just too difficult. Phadrax Monovial was moving way too fast and Pico
couldn’t possibly get any farther away from the hangar. There was nowhere
to hide. He flipped and twisted over Monovial, nearly getting cut from an
upwards strike. The dirt ground was more difficult to land on than the
smooth metal floor in the hangar. The fact that he had to defend himself
in mid-flip made the process even more difficult.
He had
hoped that his maneuver would drive Monovial to start drawing him back
towards the hangar, but it didn’t. Monovial merely jumped off to the side
and reversed the direction again. He struck high with one of his blades,
and Pico defended it with ease, but when the other blade came up in a
swiping motion; he barely survived.
Pico knew
that he would never get back to the hangar, but instead of being the
person on constant motion to defend himself, Pico performed that same
flip-twist combination and landed closer to Monovial. Landing closer
provided a near-end to the duel as Pico took control of the bout, drawing
Monovial back away from the hangar. He could see that the dark Jedi was
struggling with the attack run, so Pico increased the speed even further.
The two
Jedi were moving in on the first structure that they had seen since the
hangar. It was a wide, but little, bridge that extended about half a
metre over a dried up creek. The creek was nothing more than a very thin
stream of dirty water, surrounded by the same dusty surface they had been
fighting on since they left the hangar.
Pico
jumped back on to the small concrete railing that extended knee-high from
the bridge. From the railing he back-flipped to the centre of the small
bridge. Monovial thrusted one of his blades forward, Pico turned left to
avoid the stab and quickly stepped forward, tripping Monovial who landed
hard on his back. Pico chopped downwards to where Monovial was down.
Somehow, his attack was blocked and Monovial pushed Pico away, kicking
back up to his feet.
Monovial
flipped and twisted over Pico, landing on the railing of the bridge. For
a moment they just stared each other down. Monovial side-stepped along
the railing and Pico kept moving forward, ever so slowly. Monovial
executed a side aerial from the railing and on to the bridge. Pico struck
downward, but Monovial had jumped the attack and begun to flip over Pico.
In mid-jump, Monovial turned off one end of his lightsabre and kept
moving through the air. The twist in the flip spun the direction of his
remaining energy beam.
Pico tried
swinging upwards as Monovial flipped over, but his attack was countered
and the red lightsabre blade of Phadrax Monovial drove through his chest,
instantly dissipating his heart. Monovial let go of the weapon and turned
the blade off, letting the hilt drop to the ground.
He landed
softly on the wooden bridge and watched as Pico’s lightsabre fell from
his hand and hit the ground. Pico dropped to his knees and fell forward,
not even knowing what had happened. It was almost instantaneous, and he
would breathe no more.
Monovial
called his lightsabre to him through the Force and then walked around the
body of Ilyssis Pico. He bent down and picked up the lightsabre hilt,
examining its strangely hypnotic exterior. He was breathing hard from the
fight and didn’t appreciate being made tired by such an enemy. He stole
the hilt and clipped it onto his belt, strapping his double-bladed
lightsabre to his back.
Turning to
walk away from the bridge, Monovial looked back down at the corpse of his
victim. With one easy motion, he ran his hand back over his hair and spat
on the body. Then he walked away.
* * * *
Dominic
Artemius fainted. He had never fainted before or even come close to it in
his entire life. Even before he was a Jedi, he had never felt something
so disturbing that he would lose consciousness just to forget about it.
He knew what just happened. The planet of Yaga Minor was visible through
the cockpit of the freighter, but as close as he might have been, he was
too late.
Hana
emerged into the cockpit, hearing the noise of Artemius hit the ground.
For a brief moment, she thought that Dominic had been killed by heart
failure or something of the sort, but he was still breathing. “Antioch,
come help me!” she shouted to the back of the ship. The boy came into the
cockpit and helped Hana drag Dominic into the back where there was a cot.
“What
happened?” the boy said.
“I don’t
know, he just lost consciousness,” Hana said. “I just heard a noise from
the cockpit, and he was like this when I came in.” Hana took a wet cloth
and draped it over Artemius’ forehead. In a few moments, he awakened with
tears welled up in his eyes. “Dominic, what’s wrong? What
happened?”
Artemius
looked over at her and sat up in the cot. He couldn’t speak and she
didn’t know why. He put his hand on his forehead. “Ilyssis,” he said,
quietly. He stood up and went back to the cockpit. “Ilyssis.”
“What?”
Hana said. “What about him?” Hana got up and ran towards the cockpit.
“Dominic, what’s wrong?” She went into the cockpit and sat beside Dominic
in the co-pilot’s seat. Artemius pulled a lever and speed increased as
they came very close to the layer of air that blanketed Yaga Minor.
Upon
entering the planet, he immediately saw the city of Mon Yaga. A lot of
the Imperial ships were departing, and the formerly peaceful planet
centre was transforming into yet another Imperial officer training
ground. Artemius flew low over the city, watching as the remaining
Imperial commandos held some rebellious citizens at bay. The gun battle
in the senate courtyard was over, but none of what he saw was what he
expected to see.
That was
the situation until the ship moved up and over the palace, spreading on
to a dirt plain that was the backyard of Mon Yaga. Tumbleweeds drifted
past a thin stream of water and stopped to collect against a small
bridge. Although he wasn’t aware of it, Artemius was crying. Tears were
rapidly flowing down his cheeks and Hana was confused as to why. She
never expected him to be like this at all.
But as the
ship lowered closer and closer to that bridge, she was doing her best not
to believe what she might have been seeing. She left to the back of the
freighter and Artemius unconsciously started the landing cycle.
They
touched down moments later, and only metres away from the bridge. Dominic
opened an exit ramp in the back. As it opened, the harsh sunlight on Yaga
Minor opened into the darker ship. The sun was just setting, however, and
the temperature was getting cooler. Hana stood up from the table in the
back as Artemius stepped toward the exit ramp.
He slowly
walked down the path and Hana hesitantly followed him. Artemius stepped
off of the metal ramp and on to the dusty ground. He could clearly see
the bridge from where he was and he knew exactly what was before him. He
walked over to the bridge as Hana emerged from the exit ramp, looking
over at the miniature causeway. Artemius was bent on his knees and
touching the forehead of a young, motionless Jedi Knight that she once
knew.
Chills
spread through her entire body when she truly realized what it was she
saw. She put her hands over her mouth and soon her vision was blurred by
tears. Hana could no longer see what lay in the path of her vision, but
the knowledge that it was there forced her to run back into the ship and
cry uncontrollably.
Artemius
was holding Ilyssis Pico’s lifeless hand as a tear dripped from his face
and onto Pico’s belt. Dominic looked over at the belt, seeing a bright,
silver hook that was meant to hold a lightsabre. Looking all over the
bridge, the weapon was nowhere in sight. The last material memory of the
best apprentice he thought he could ever have was stolen. Stolen by a
savage, relentless murderer.
And
Dominic would find him.
* * * *
It was a
smaller clearing in the forest of Seanne in which only a fire that burn
the warriors called Jedi Knights lit the area. The mourning was for only
those who were close to Pico. The traditional burning of the Jedi was
almost too much to witness through the eyes of Hana Logan. She tried
looking at Pico, who lay surrounded in flames in the centre of small
temple, but couldn’t.
Dominic
Artemius wore his cloak in full with the hood draped over his head and
his hands invisible under the long arm sleeves in front of him. Antioch
Fi stared blankly at the burning ceremony, wearing a small cloak made for
a child of his age. His desire to become a Jedi wasn’t within him as he
watched what could very well happen.
No music,
no dialogue, but only the crackling of flames. Several other Jedi were at
the procession, as was Niles Verra and a few of Pico’s other childhood
friends joined beside him, some in tears, and some who wanted vengeance
to be placed upon whoever it was who murdered Ilyssis Pico. Dominic
Artemius had never craved revenge until this day. Days would pass now and
Dominic would disappear. He couldn’t offer help any longer. As a Jedi
Knight he knew.
The new Empire had won.
