The Superlaser Conspiracy

[Sabretooth]

This is the KoToR "what if" I had promised last time. It, however, is not set 4000 years before the saga, but instead, after the saga! Here's a Star Wars-esque intro to fill you in -

 

STAR WARS

 

The Superlaser Conspiracy

 

It is now 200 years after the formation of the NEW REPUBLIC and the end of the dreaded GALACTIC EMPIRE. With the Republic flourishing throughout the galaxy and the IMPERIAL REMNANTS almost squashed, the JEDI ORDER is sending recruits throughout the galaxy to restore law and order just as before.

 

However, unknown to the REPUBLIC and the JEDI, a new, powerful force is building up to strike the galaxy once more and take what they believe is rightfully theirs.

 

While the JEDI COUNCIL senses the threat in advance, the REPUBLIC agrees to give full support to the JEDI should the time come. In a covert operation, the JEDI COUNCIL decides to send a JEDI to investigate the situation…

[Sabretooth]

Andon Knaire turned his Jedi Starfighter towards Dagobah as he exited hyperspace. “Map.” He said and a holographic map immediately popped out behind the window. Using his finger, he set the co-ordinates for auto-land on the hologram and turned it off. He leaned back, checking his holocron for his objectives again. With his objectives confirmed, he brought his attention back to the landing and cut off the auto-land. He peeked outside the cockpit window, to see and endless land of swamplands. It was past midnight, but in Dagobah, the sunrise was only a few hours away. He lowered his starfighter, skimming above the tree cover below. A clearing came and he lowered his ship down to a clearing he had spotted earlier. He had hoped to get a chance to see late Master Yoda’s hut, but it was on the other side of the planet and duty called.

 

He landed and got out, stepping ahead. The swamp was home to one of the worst stinks in history and probably the reason it was devoid of most life. Andon chuckled and proceeded, going under a creeper or a bush now and then. “There is nothing here.” He whispered to himself. He continued down the rough swamp path and jumped down into a circular depression. In the middle lay a quicksand that was apparently open for new victims. Andon looked away and closed his eyes, trying to sense any presence of those he was sent out to seek. After a good amount to seconds, he opened his eyes and jumped all the way to the other side of the depression, clearing the quicksand. He continued down the smelly swamp for some thirty metres and ignited his lightsabre. He knelt down, digging and scooping the mud first with the Force, then with his hands. He turned off his lightsabre and began digging more and more frantically. After a few minutes, he had uncovered a dark, greenish rock. Although it seemed nothing worth notice, Andon kicked it hard, cracking it slightly. He kicked it more and more until it was a heap of crumbled green stone. With the Force, he cleared the clutter and jumped into the four feet hole he had made. He pointed his lightsabre to the ground and ignited it, making a full circle around himself. He then kicked that too, to fall into an underground tunnel.

 

Water dripped from the ceiling of this mud-covered tunnel. Andon crouched and made a few steps, already covered with Swamp filth. The passage often divided and it was difficult for the Padawan to sense which way to go. He simply pointed his saber to the ground and cut up a good amount of mud. He continued the process, till he fell again, this time against hard durasteel. It was a ventilation shaft and a large one, too. Andon crawled through it, not knowing what it may unearth. After a long hundred metres, the shaft stopped, giving an opening to the right. He opened it and jumped out, his lightsabre ready. He was in a hallway, well illuminated against the bright lights set across it. The sound of him dropping down had alerted someone. “What was that?” a semi-metallic, muffled voice came from somewhere. “Intruder?” another asked. “Let’s go have some fun!” the first voice repeated and Andon could hear thumps coming from the northern end of the hallway. He quickly leaped his way to another ground-level shaft and heard the people who heard him come up next to the shaft. Andon crawled ahead and heard the voices again, lowering as he crawled further.

“Where was it?”

“Scanners and sensors detected it here.”

“Hey! That sounded like someone in the ventilation shaft.”

“Scanners point… there!”

 

Twenty metres from the entrance of the shaft, now, Andon heard an explosion behind him. He paused for a moment to look back and scurried along faster. The shaft now took a sudden turn upwards. He leaped up to find a rocket crash into the bottom of the sudden rise, where he had been half a second before. Thanking the Force, Andon climbed lightning-fast to get back onto a horizontal shaft and a final crawl led him to a tiny ledge. He got onto the ledge, closing the shaft. Looking back, he saw an enormous cavern, dome-shaped and bathed in bright, bluish-white light. What he saw in the dome was enough to tell Andon that what the Order had suspected was true.

[Sabretooth]

Andor gasped as he saw before him, hundreds of troops of unknown armour design. Each had a number on his armour, and the armour was futuristic. It was whitish-blue in colour and approximately over six feet in height. It seemed to have to separate components, but one non-detachable body. On the helmet was a Y-shaped visor, it’s curves much smoother than any clone or stormtrooper design. On it’s temples were sleek winglets, fashioned like flat horns. For it’s mouth, the Y-visor separated into two, leaving a chin below the separation. Curves and other features seemed to be all over the helmet.

Below the helmet, which merged with the body, was a strong, large chestplate. It had a strange design of several lines emerging from the left and right, converging below, to form a Y-shape again. Two pop-out wings were nestled at the back, with a jet thruster. The legs had strong armour, and yet it was separated to make the wearer much more maneuverable.

In the very middle of the circular formation was the Commander in a similar armour, but with more radios, larger wings and a reddish armour. “It shall once more be ours!” he announced, starting a great uproar of joy. “In the name of Mandalore!” he cried. Once again the army cheered, chanting loudly “Mandalore, Mandalore!” this time. Andor stumbled on the ledge, using the Force to stick back to the wall. One rather curious Mandalorian looked back, and spotted the Jedi, apparently with his sensors. “There!” He said, pointing towards the chestnut-haired Jedi. “Intruder!” shouted another and chaos spread. It wasn’t long before rockets and lasers flew towards Andor. With his operation complete, Andor scurried back into the ventilation pipe, avoiding the rockets in time.

Alarms started ringing. Andor knew that his mission was no longer secret. They’ll poison the vents anytime now!, he thought hastily crouching his way. Unidentifiable radio chatter seemed to be all over the facility. Andor jumped out of the vent just after a ‘hiss’ erupted from the vents. The Mandalorians were waiting for him. Six Mandalorian troops stood, with the same armour, only this time, they were equipped with a strange, 3-foot long, 2-foot tall gun mounted on their right arms. The guns was instantly pointed towards Andor, who raised his hands and stood up.

“Jedi.” One reported, as the others ran their sensors over the Jedi. “Exterminate.” A radio replied.

Andor was out with his viridian-bladed saber and jumped right over the Mandalorians, making for the secret tunnel. The Mandalorians began shooting white lasers at Andor. The lasers were fast, maybe thrice as fast as any blaster rifle. Their rate itself was unbelievable. Andor deflected some with his lightsabre and jumped up to his tunnel in time. As he scurried up, he could already feel the heat of rockets just inches off his neck. He finally reached horizontal surface and bought some time. Within a few minutes, he was on the surface, running a blitz-speed across to his starfighter. But already, blaster fire erupted from trees and bushes. Andor ignited his lightsabre and tried to deflect some of these, but they were too fast than those on which he was trained.

He finally reached his starfighter, which was already victim to several rockets. He hopped in and made the fastest take-off he had made in years. Blaster fire was being bombarded at him from below and in almost no time, Anti-Aircraft missiles were launched. Andor initiated Ion Drive as the missiles chased him down. Andor’s heart was beating like never before. The missiles spiraled towards him, slowly going further away. In a sudden move, he took a sharp right and then other, flying in squares. The missiles, however, seemed to think for themselves. They intercepted the square midway, crashing into him. Although his wing and hull was damaged considerably, he used the Force to fly away. Unfortunately for him, a disruptor field had been set up on the planet and Andor’s controls died. He punched frantically at the controls, hoping to get them working. Unfortunately, the Force was not with him this time. His craft plummeted towards the swamp planet, smoke engulfing the ship. When he ‘landed’, he couldn’t remember a thing, save fire and swamp-water.

[Sabretooth]

When Andor opened his eyes, his temples were aching and his body burning. He tried to get on something, but he was in muddy water and it was hard to get hold of anything. The debris of the crash lay to his right as he waded across the mud water and reached some hard surface. He got up and lay down on his haunches. He was breathing heavily. He looked at the crashed ship, unable to comprehend the entire situation. He was stuck and stuck rather badly. He dived back into the water and waded to his ship, attempting to scavenge what he could. He found his holo-communicator and tried to get it working, but it was damaged and he couldn’t get any frequency. He tossed it away and found his lightsabre. The hilt was a little damaged, but the saber worked flawlessly. He made a mental note never to keep his lightsabre in his ship’s compartment and continued the search. When he was sure he couldn’t get anything more than a few parts, he went back on solid ground.

 

Dawn was near and red streaks and rays began to emerge. Andor leaned against a tree and began to consider his next move. He had no contact with the outside world and he was stranded on a Mandalorian-inhabited planet. They’ll come now, they’ll save me. The Jedi must have sensed it. Master must already be on his way, he thought, to comfort himself. But he knew better than that. Feeling better, he explored away from the crash site, keeping an ear open for blaster fire or radio chatter. But there seemed to be nothing other than natural chirps and sounds. Was it all a dream? A vision of the Force that caught me off guard and crashed me? Thoughts clouded his mind.

 

Then he heard the very sound he was waiting for. It was a command and replies of approval. Radios. Andor crept closer, but slowly and found a clearing, with Mandalorians on swoops. “You know the new arrival?” Andor heard one soldier whisper.

 

“The Jedi?” another replied. Their conversation, however, was cut short by the leader, who whacked both with his large gun. The hulking Mandalorians turned away in different directions and went away, exploring to find the crash site. They left their swoops in the clearing. Andor jumped onto one of the swoops, but their controls were confusing and of Mandalorian design. Andor pressed a button which he sensed would start the swoop, but ended up showing Mandalorian text on the viewscreen. The second Andor touched the screen, a loud alarm blared from the swoop. Andor jumped and landed on a tree making the least sound possible.

 

The Mandalorians arrived, and fired at the very tree Andor was sitting. He jumped and sped tree to tree as the shots followed him accurately. Andor landed in mud water again, this time going fully underwater. He firing stopped and he could sense the Mandalorians at the shore. As the pondered on Andor’s whereabouts, Andor slowly rose out of the water, the Mandalorian’s backs facing him. He jumped out swinging his saber with careful precision to hit the leader’s neck. Surprisingly, the saber bounced back and the leader was unharmed. He turned back and chuckled, “Cortosis.” He then hit Andor sharply on the head with his gun.

[Sabretooth]

Traivor walked through the narrow, muddy path, surrounded by dense foliage. The sun was getting up and he was relieved to see even the faintest of lights. He thought that ironic, since he was a follower of dark and hoped for light. The surrounding odour hung in the hair like some ugly, invisible aura. He hated it, but the job had to be done. He pulled out his holocron and checked the co-ordinates. Confirming them, he grunted and jogged through the trail. The foliage was increasing, but nothing would stop this Dark Jedi. The task he had to perform would be greater than any in his life, if the information is correct. Finally, his frustration reached the peak and ignited his lightsabre, cutting through the foliage like hot butter. His expert, skilled blows were aided with his power to predict. Unfortunately, his slashing and cutting had drawn the attention of more than just scared animals. A Mandalorian materialized out of nowhere and tried to punch Traivor, who backed out just in time.

“What is this? Jedi-fest?” asked one and chuckled. “Maybe they’re Jedi suicidals!” the other joked. Traivor drew an evil smile on his face and turned off his saber. “I’m no Jedi, if that’s what you mean. In fact, I’d be happy to get rid of another Jedi on this planet,” he offered, “that is, if he is still alive against your epic power.”

“We don’t take kindly to flattery, Dark Jedi.” The first one warned. His humorous companion couldn’t help but joke even more: “Yeah, we don’t take kindly to anything.”

Traivor took a step back, but not one bit intimidated. “What if I help you? You could use the brains of a Dark Jedi like me. I can sense that you are weakings, not following your leader’s orders, have failed miserably in your past missions and are some of the best examples of classic Mandalorian stupidity. And the Jedi is alive.”

Now it was Mandalorians’ turn to step back. After some nervous negotiations, they led Traivor to their group leader, who was furious at the duo, just as Traivor had predicted. Although they received the usual scolding, they were still amazed by the Dark Jedi. Traivor had a very influential personality, especially over those with weak minds. He could use his Mind Tricks, but he prefers raw fear over anything. He has modified his entire attire to match his personality. His head is bald, and two spine-chilling, silver tattoos extend from the back of his neck all the way to between his eyebrows. They look like mere silver spikes, but yet strike fear. His cold face is suitable and so is his dark brown goatee. He was approximately between his twenties and thirties, though his real age was unknown. His wore Dark Jedi armour inspired from the earliest designs, including those of Darth Bandon.

“So, you want to join the Army of the Mandalore?” asked the group leader, referred to as B-60L or just, Six-o-ell.

“Not join, but merely assist. I think you will want me. No-one in your army, or maybe even your entire army cannot stand a chance against me.”

Six-o-ell burst out laughing, and his comrades laughed with him. Traivor smiled, his chilling gaze targeted at Six-o-ell’s eyes, which he saw through the visor. The leader came to an abrupt stop and after a few seconds agreed. “Maybe a couple of us, or maybe our weakest group, but never the Army! But maybe we can use your help. Here.” He took out a little device that looked like a homing beacon. “Latest Mandalorian tech. This’ll keep a watch on you. You try something, this bursts and none of your godforsaken deities are gonna come down on Dagobah to save your butt. You can’t take it off, either. It separates from your skin, boom!”

Traivor let the leader set the device on his wrist. “Now, this is no temple, or ritual planet, as our scans have shown. You must be here for something, or you would have attacked us.” The leader analysed.

“You’re smart, Six-o! I’m indeed looking for something. A little something known as Revan’s Holocron, that I’m sure you’ve never heard of.”

[Sabretooth]

“You mean ‘The’ Darth Revan?” Six-o-ell asked with a surprised tone.

“Indeed. The one who broke down your people thousands of years ago.” Traivor answered, his face transfixed in a half-smile.

The Mandalorian seemed confused. “Revan was alive ages ago. Besides, he never would have thought of visiting this slime-pit.”

“I am asking for his holocron, not his corpse. I take it you have no idea, then.”

Six-o was apparently used to his pride and weaklings serving under him. A stranger asking him things he didn’t know would certainly degrade his reputation.

“Uh, yeah. I think it’s over there.”, he said pointing to his right. He was just happy his nervousness was hidden inside his armour.

Traivor didn’t buy it. He knew the man inside the sleek armour was shivering. He ignited his red lightsabre, holding it casually. “Really?” he asked, taking his time to savour the moment. The weak troopers were already backing away. The Mandalorian brought up his gun. “Ha! You can’t do a thing! We aren’t afraid of your useless lightsabres! We have Cortosis Armour!”

Traivor shook his head. “You are such a pathetic disgrace to the Mandalorians.”

With that, he choked the leader. His gun slipped from his hand-mount. Six-o fiddled for his detonator for the bomb on Traivor’s wrist. Within four seconds, he found it, only to realize that his body had begun failing and he had ceased to exist. The next millisecond, he was just a corpse in armour. The other two were out of sight.

 

Traivor sighed and pulled out his holocron. He tapped it a few times and set it back into his pocket. He then ignited his lightsabre and tested it on the cortosis armour. The leader was right, the lightsabre only scarred the armour. It was impossible to cut the armour.

 

Ten minutes later, he was cutting through another line of bush, trees and swamp foliage. He was already hundreds of metres away and he proceeded in a steady line, cutting through everything in his path, like some sort of a juggernaut. Before long, he reached a clearing. It was large and had the cover from a vegetation canopy. He jumped in to find a little, hidden place. Snakes and other animals inhabited the place. His dark side aura seemed to keep everyone clear, though. He could sense swoops nearby, but they were at some distance. Before he knew it, he had stepped in quicksand. He pulled his leg, only to have it sucked in further. The quicksand pulled his leg further. He placed his hand in, ready to use the Force as he saw fit. Soon, bubbles erupted in the quicksand. A hole was formed in the middle and the rest of the sand formed a whirlpool. Sparks flew from the sand as it raged round and round in dark side energies. After some time, the little storm subsided and the quicksand was gone. Under was revealed a little depression that gave way to a cave, covered with dense vegetation. He dropped in and crawled into the cave. Traivor slashed through the thick foliage door. It was actually a tunnel, as Traivor found out. After a long time of crawling, it ended up in a small room. It was bare and water dripped from the ‘ceiling’. Traivor cursed his luck. It was then that he heard a grunt. A grunt that he knew. It was a terentatek. The heavy-skinned monster stood a good six feet. He had a foot long claws on either hand and his heavy head was shaped like a rudimentary arrowhead. The arrowhead was pointing to the ground and that meant the terentatek was in a very, very bad mood. He rushed for Traivor, his heavy feet thumping on the damp ground.

 

Travor himself was amazed as to how he had not sensed the Terentatek earlier, but he saw the monster had seemingly come from a mud-covered secret tunnel. The Terentatek made a few jabs at Traivor, which were expertly defended by the latter. Traivor knew better than to use the Force on this monster. It was said he merely absorbed the Force. Traivor parried the Terentatek, who would get more and more angry at this elusive foe. Traivor then jumped over the monster, to the other side and attacked the monster from behind. The monster turned, but Travor had a new strategy. He stabbed the monster from behind, never letting the monster see him. The Monster gave up and fell down. It’s body was badly scarred. It lay down, writhing in pain. Traivor killed it with a final blow, releasing the monsters poison gas. Traivor put on his gas mask within milliseconds and waited till the room was clear. He was then surprised to see that the monster died as his stomach was cut open and inside, was a holocron. It was Revan’s holocron.

[Sabretooth]

When he came to, Andor was in a cell. Completely bare, with red translucent laser blocking him from the outside world. It was pure grey metal and the sight outside wasn’t much different either. His head throbbed hard. He got up and felt around. He was in the same robes, but all his utilities and weapons were missing. Obviously taken by the Mandalorians, he thought. After a few seconds, the barrier was turned off. Andor knew this was the chance. Perpendicular to the cell’s door was a hallway. Andor leaped out into the hallway. From behind him a harsh voice spoke, “I knew you would come out. You are so naïve.”

“The Republic knows. You are finished.” Andor shot back. Behind him were four soldiers of the Mandalorian army, one having his helmet in his hand. All four of them laughed hard. The one without his helmet now put it on and scanned Andor from head to toe. “The Republic must have flipped it, to send mere Padawans to face the Mandalorian wrath.” He spoke.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Andor was on a slab, his hands and legs clamped down. The interrogator was a different man. He was tall and strong, wearing dull grey armour. He had neon-glows for his Y-marking on his his body armour. His helmet too had the Y-mark glowing in red neon. He was examining some things on his desk that Andor cannot see. Andor had been weakened, constantly battered by sticks and heavy guns. He feared that using the Force may drain his life, although that was not possible. His senses jumped when the fearsome interrogator turned back and stepped towards Andor with a interrogator droid in his hand. “You like to mess in other people’s business, don’t you?” he said. He flung the droid in Andor’s face, blowing up straight in his eyes. He was blinded and deafened.

Pain shot up his legs as his vision became clearer. The droid was electrocuting him. “Now, why were you here?” the Interrogator asked. Andor didn’t reply, only to feel even more painful surges through his body. “We can do this all day…” he could hear the interrogator say.

 

Traivor was astounded. In his hand he held an artifact that would allow him domination of the entire galaxy. And this artifact’s screen had nothing but a plain red dot blinking against a map. Traivor knew that this was what he was looking for. The one dot that would decide the galaxy’s fate.

He bored a hole in the roof and jumped out onto Dagobah’s surface. The dot was blinking to a location half a mile north from he stood. He sighed and started the walk to his destination. Things had settled considerably since the night. The sun shone, happy to there in the sky as Traivor trudged along the muddy ground. No Mandalorian patrols were visible, though Traivor would have been happy to see some. He glanced at his little treasure now and then, to find the way. When the blinking dot came right in the middle, he knew he had come to the place.

He kept the holocron back into his pocket and found trees surrounding him. Before him was a large, deep hole. It looked like a well, but was obviously natural. Traivor could not see the bottom, for it was blocked by a thick veil of mist. Without delay, he jumped in. He fell for several seconds before landing against thick metal. He got up and looked around. He was in some sort of a docking bay and was definitely not alone. Mandalorians were on all sides and were glad to find someone and point a gun at.

[Sabretooth]

Traivor was being escorted down a hallway, with Mandalorians on all sides. He had managed to show them that he was on their side by showing them his detonator on the wrist. The Mandalorians bought it, but they wouldn’t be satisfied till he met with their so-called Commander. He was grinning throughout, his intentions to kill everyone on Dagobah, if he had the time. The Mandalorians were puzzled, and decided that the evil grin must probably be a permanent feature on a Dark Jedi’s face.

The door slid open and Traivor was led into a wide room, with computers on the left and right. Unarmoured Mandalorian scientists or others tapped away at those computers, exchanging messages regarding the current status of something. Perpendicular to the door was a giant window overlooking this great object the scientists were so excited about. The “Commander” was without his helmet and stood behind the window, his arms at his back and a smile upon his face. Traivor couldn’t clearly see the window, as he was at the door and the window was about a hundred feet away. The Mandalorians escorting him separated, taking up their positions at several points in the room and carrying about their business. Traivor stepped ahead, and began walking with long strides towards the Commander. The latter turned back and greeted Traivor. “Isn’t she a beauty?” he asked, his eyes never wanting to leave the sight the window presented. “What is?” Traivor replied. The Commander stepped aside, and turned back to the window. Traivor can now see through the window, and he was left speechless. The grin faded and he stepped closer to the window. “I felt the same when I saw it.” The Commander said, not looking away.

 

Andor was back in the cell, after hours of torture. His body hurt so bad, he thought he would release his anger, but the Jedi Code was deep rooted within him. “Nothing would change me to the dark, Master”, he had once sworn to his Master. He knew that his Master may have passed protecting justice, but Andor would not break his vow. With a much clearer head, he opened his eyes to the glaring red laser blocking him. He used the Force to sense some way out, but the controls were apparently controlled by some high-security computer in the detention lobby. He ceased his efforts and sat up, ignoring the pain. The lasers deactivated and a lone Mandalorian appeared in the doorway. “Get up and come here.” He spoke, fiddling around in his equipment pack. Andor tried and managed to get to his feet, pain ripping away his life on all edges. The Manalorian took out a capsule and gave it to Andor. He then forced Andor to eat it, at gunpoint. Within seconds, Andor felt vitalized, as if almost the Force wanted him to life. Every muscle in his body teemed with excitement. His pain had disappeared and he felt ready to do anything.

 

The Mandalorian eyed Andor and a few more Mandalorians came up beside him. “Use your Force Tricks and not even the strongest of your Masters will save you.” He threatened. He motioned Andor to follow him and led Andor to a the overlook. A Dark Jedi and the Commander, whom Andor had seen earlier in the great gathering of Mandalorians stood at the window, looking at something magnificent. Andor leaned and tried to get a better look, but only got his equipment flung back at him. It was complete, the lightsabre and even his holocron, communicator and other utilities hidden within his extra robes. Putting on the robes, Andor turned his attention to the window and noticing the several eyes trained at his lightsabre, he thought it most wise to not ignite it. He stepped towards the window and gasped at what he saw. Although his face clearly said he was stunned the sight, he secretly turned on his communicator, transmitting the entire situation right to the other end which belonged to a Jedi whom he trusted the most – a fellow Padawan named Brotain Vel, whom he believed would be wise enough to send the feed to the Council.

Millions of Kilometres away, Brotain sat in his room. He hadn’t had much action in some time and was rather bored at it all. His communicator suddenly beeped, and the frequency came from Dagobah. Brotain was puzzled. He knew Andor had been sent to Dagobah, but why was he contacting Brotain? Surely, he would send the news to the Council first. Regardless, he answered. A hologram showed Andor looking at something, his jaw drooping and his eyes wide open. Andor shut his jaw and fiddled in his pocket, the hologram expanded, showing a hazy view of the room. The sound was clear, though a little scrambled at times.

“Amazed, Jedi?” the man in armour upto his neck spoke.

“He’s obviously never dreamt of this in his lifetime.” The other, dark-clothed man said.

“Who would? An entire planet – not a planet, but merely a disguise, for a superlaser so powerful, it could devastate an entire planet and it’s moons. This thing is so powerful, the Death Star would look like a baby in front of it. Truly, getting hands on this, this ingeniously hidden weapon is like, getting hands on the galaxy.”

Brotain couldn’t believe what was happening there, in his little room.

[Sabretooth]

The Commander was now serious. He turned back to Andor. “Listen, both of you. We Mandalorians do not believe in keeping useless prisoners. We are built of honour and we will not watch one die in a helpless state. You, Jedi, will die fighting.” He then turned to the Dark Jedi. “Traivor, right? Your first objective will be to eliminate this pathetic Jedi in an execution match.” He turned to the monstrous muzzle of the superlaser, an enormous cylinder, a seventy feet in diameter, with a fifty feet hole in the middle. A malicious smile spread on his face. “We Mandalorians always had a knack for the locations where we fought for honour.”

 

The Jedi Council on Coruscant was now watching the holo-feed on Brotain’s communicator. No one could believe that they were just watching. Puzzled glances became common and the Jedi were already considering the dangers of such a weapon – a third Death Star. Even more amazing was the fact that it lay under the unsusceptible climate of Dagobah. One hit from that superlaser, and Coruscant would be non-existent in the galaxy. The renowned Iktotchi Master Qarwuch Hyen was watching with deep interest. He was one of the wisest Jedi in the order and known for his piloting, strategic and lightsabre skills. His mind was already working.

The Commander now seemed to want Andor overwhelmed, but Andor was indifferent. Andor had learnt long ago that fear and intimidation are the front-line fighters of the Dark Side. If you can counter them, the Dark’s defenses will melt away. He found the idea applicable in an incident, where a mission to bust a smuggling operation ended up becoming a duel against a crazed Dark Jedi.

Mandalorian troopers entered and took both Traivor and Andor away. Andor’s holocom was still active. He was hoping that Master Hyen would be listening. He was led down elevators and hallways, and eventually found himself standing on a grate walkway. The walkway was surrounded by a dimly-lit yellow light, but at the end of the tunnel, light made anything else invisible. Andor was led down the walkway and the troopers left him at the end of the walkway. Andor stepped ahead and half-shielded his eyes from the light, till he got used to it. He was on the same grate walkway, which led to the muzzle of the superlaser. Three more walkways reached the muzzle, one in each direction. Below the walkway was a deep chasm, whose exact depth Andor didn’t want to know.

Traivor was walking towards him on the walkway exactly opposite to him. Andor ignited his lightsaber, holding it upwards casually. Traivor ignited his saber as he walked down the walkway. Andor began advancing slowly. He was thinking hard on what to do next. The superlaser before him was mammoth and had to be stopped at all costs. Without much lip movement, he spoke into his holocom, “Send help. Assault laser. FAST.” Traivor made a quick leap and began a flurry of attacks against Andor. The later parried and evaded, avoiding the attacks the best he could. With the opportunity, he jumped high right past Traivor and inches close to the ominous hole. Traivor was already running at a high speed, his lightsaber held like a lance.

Andor dodged the charge and attacked Traivor. Both ended up in a lock. “Fool. You can never beat me. Even if you did, the Mandalorians would never leave you alive. The honour can go to hell.”

“And what are you proposing? Murder these guys while they sleep?”

With that, Andor broke the lock and both dueled again, their sabers furiously striking each other, hungry for flesh. Traivor was an expert in the field and Andor’s saber never got three inches close to him. Soon he began using Push and Pull to confuse Andor. Traivor knew he could just push Andor into the gaping hole, but how much fun would that be?

Both competitors battled in a frenzy and often came dangerously close to the Superlaser’s muzzle. Andor parried the blows and attacked almost subconsciously, his mind hoping that the Jedi Order knows of the situation.

[Sabretooth]

Preparations were already started as a large Jedi strike team was assembled and dispatched to Dagobah. The team included up to fifty Jedi Knights including several revered Jedi Masters. The Transport Ship was already into hyperspace and all Jedi within a two-hundred light year proximity of Dagobah were called under emergency assistance.

 

Meanwhile, back on Dagobah, Andor was fending off attacks from Traivor. Another drop of sweat broke off from his scalp, as he dueled his adversary. Traivor was a master in dexterity. He almost always knew where the next swing would go and could calculate it within a nanosecond. Andor on the other hand, had suffered a few cuts on his arms and abdomen. Above on the balcony and in several other windows, Mandalorians watched with great interest, supporting neither, waiting for one, or both to fall into the dreadful hole.

The ‘Commander’ was apparently not satisfied with the blazing lightsaber duel. He wanted them eliminated, and although the Mandalorian tradition supported it, he felt guilty for not killing both immediately. He knew he had the power, the command, but was strictly Mandalorian in blood and although his heart was in the Mandalorian conquest of the galaxy, he didn’t feel it fair to kill intruders without giving them a second chance. He knew he wouldn’t have this opportunity when his senior, General Namphes found out.

Andor’s hope had finally failed. He had been dueling this swordsman for almost half and hour now and his body was weakening. He was feeling fatigued, but one mistake and he would be cut into two. He could Traivor feeling triumphant already. Andor finally gave up, leaping back, precariously crossing the hole, onto the other side and slumping down. The Mandalorians cheered and Traivor was hailed as the victor, until Andor got up, if only kneeling. The crowd’s cheers stopped abruptly. Traivor’s look hadn’t faded. Extending his arm, he initiated Pull, pulling Andor right into the great hole that awaited him. Andor fell and disappeared into the blackness, giving rise to a new wave of cheers.

The Commander himself walked down the grated walkway and congratulated Traivor. “You have done well, Dark Jedi. Better than I had expected. You will serve us Mandalorians if you wish, or leave. You will be respected by us Mandalorians.”

Traivor accepted the credits handed to him and spoke to the entire host watching, “It was a great duel, though I feel that I am not worthy of the honour I am getting. That Jedi was weak, fatigued, as you saw. There is no honour in killing an honourless, tired enemy.”

A great bustle rose amongst the crowd as many pondered his words. “So what will you do now? Serve the Mandalorian cause, and we will be honoured. Leave, and your name will never be forgotten… er…”

“Traivor.”

“Yes! Traivor!”

“I choose not to serve you, and not to leave.”

“What?” the Commander asked, his hand quivering to blast Traivor. Once again the crowd erupted in murmurs and controversy.

“I choose to take over this facility and this superlaser for myself. Hand it over, I have much to do.”

The Commander stood dumbfounded for a few seconds and began laughing the hardest he had in his life. The Mandalorians too began laughing, but not one hand stirred. Traivor looked around, the smirk still on his face. Traivor had enough, extending his arm, he pushed the Commander right over the walkway and into the hole. The crowd’s laughing stopped, giving way to anger. Blasters fired, but Traivor had vanished.

 

Andor was at the floor of the enormous superlaser chamber. He was glad that the facility owners had shut down the laser and had sent in cleaner droids to clean the inside of the ominous tube. Andor had slid down a smaller tube, from which droids were being inserted. The two aliens outside stood dumbfounded at a Jedi, crawling out of a cleaning hole. They begged for mercy – with their hands at their comlinks, which were destroyed by Andor before any communication. They were then bound up.

Huddled in a security closet, Andor brought out his holocomm and initiated communication directly to the Council. Master Hyen’s hologram popped up in the communicator.

“Andor! A relief! We have send Jedi teams to Dagobah and they should be arriving shortly. We heard the news, Andor.”

Andor gave a sigh of relief. “Alright, Master. I’m in a security closet. I have suffered injuries and am in no state to fight. Request ETA.”

“Unavailable, sorry. I’ve given powers to Master Naijen. He is spearheading the attack. Expecting him to come any moment now…”

An explosion hit overhead, and a great uproar arose. Andor opened the closet. The Jedi had arrived. Andor’s jaw dropped. There were only two fighters blazing through the open chamber, and a small transport ship landing below.

“Is this all the Order can spare…?”

[DarthTDe]

Awesome,keep it up.

[Sabretooth]

No, well I forgot to mention it, but I've discontinued the story. I reached a writer's block much later in the storyline. It would make a great game, though.

 

Mini-synopsis:

Andor is rescued and taken to Coruscant, but a freak accident in the superlaser destroys it and shaves off a good portion of Dagobah. Andor is assigned the task of finding the other four superlasers, which were on the same planets where the Star Maps were found. He is paired with a blue Twi'Lek Jedi for the quest.

He first goes to Korriban, then to Tatooine and the rest. Anyone wishing to continue this story must PM/E-mail me.