[Fic] Star Wars:The Beginning.

[machievelli]

Holani

 

The night life in the capital was nothing much to speak of. Holani wore her red sheath, slinking down the street. On Coruscant or Corellia it would have drawn wolf whistles and propositions. At home it would have drawn shocked stares. here it only drew appreciative looks.

 

She had decided on a restaurant near her hotel, passed what was euphemistically called Embassy row. Yeah, right. The factors of a dozen business conglomerates that traded with Echana. Not an ambassador among them. She walked slowly past them. The man who had been trailing her since dark was much better than the one that had picked her up when she had arrived. She could lose him, no problem. Just a quick tint of her hair, dress like a local, and that was it. But she couldn’t do that without alerting the locals that she knew she was under surveillance.

 

The waiter at the restaurant brought a steaming bowl of the local chowder as the first course, and she moaned her appreciation. That was followed by flaky fish fillets then strips of broiled Nerf in the local sauce, hot enough to scald the uninitiated.

 

A Twi-lek passed her table, staggering from too much drink. He jostled the table, and went on. Holani looked sourly after him, palming the earplug he had dropped as he past, sliding it into her ear.

 

“Talk.” The voice said.

 

She leaned over her meal, speaking softly in Hutt in case someone was trying to lip read. “The target is a blind woman. No way to gain the secret without kidnapping.”

 

The speaker paused. “Either kidnap or kill.”

 

“No other options?” Her heart froze at the callous order.

 

“If second option, entire family must die.” The voice said. “No chance of anyone keeping secret must remain.”

 

Great. Either tear a blind woman from her home or kill the gods alone knew how many. Holani bit her lip. Which was worse? She remembered the sweet face of the girl The gruff but friendly man. Father, brother, husband? Who knew?

 

“Choose.”

 

“Kidnap.” Holani sighed. “Need support vehicle.”

 

“Ship at space port. air car will be where you direct.”

 

She nodded. “Done. Tomorrow one block west of the hotel.” She ran her hand through her hair, the earplug not back in her hand. She dropped it into her water glass, where custom designed nanobots reduced it to it’s constituent molecules in seconds.

 

All right Holani. You ran away from your family, your home, became not only a criminal but a master criminal. All so you could destroy someone’s life. Great resume.[/]

 

She stood, dropped her payment and a tip on the table, and went back to her room.

 

*****

The next evening, she looked at what she had gathered. A locally made knife in a slim jeweled sheath. Wide trousers with a russet bloused shirt below a green vest. The dye she had carried in her make up case had changed her hair from red to brown, and the second dye had darkened her skin to match the sun bronzed local look.

Contact lenses had turned her an equal brown.

 

The watcher assigned to her was down stairs, and she knew that. No one was watching her window, and there were no listening devices. This was the time.

 

As the night deepened, she took the can of climbing thread. Based on the silk of a spider of the planet Hapes, it was strong enough to hold three times her weight. She pulled on the special climbing gloves that would stop the silk from slicing her hands to ribbons, and attached the hardener tip. She sprayed an attachment on the wall beside her balcony, kicked her feet over the edge, and began abseiling down the wall. When her feet touched the ground she popped the tip, slicing the thread off cleanly, slipped the can into her pouch, and strolled nonchalantly down the street.

 

The car, driven by the same Twi-lek that had pretended to be drunk was waiting, and it lifted into the air. The pair rode silently until they settled in the small park near Breia’s home.

 

“Give me twenty minutes. If I am not back, go for option two.” She ordered. In her mind she considered the knife on her hip. If she couldn’t be back, she’d warn the family, kill this little Hutt slime, and turn herself in.

 

The shop was closed, but she could hear the rhythmic hammering from the forge. Softly she padded around, looking in through a crack in the door. Breia was at the forge as if she had never left.

 

“Come in.” She said. Holani stiffened, then shrugged resignedly, stepping into the room. Breia had not moved from the forge. Now she thrust the blade into the cooling vat, and turned. “I knew you would be back. There is darkness in you, and it would harm my entire family. Why?”

 

Holani stared at her in shock. “I was hired by Sogor to discover the secret of your super sharp blades. When I discovered that you were...”

 

“Blind?” She took off the mask. “Since I was Revana’s age. My father had an accident, the forge blew back.” She waved toward her face negligently. “The plasma seared my eyes and optic nerves. But why would that stop such a cold person?”

 

Holani was hurt by the comment. “I had considered kidnapping you, but I didn’t want to do that. I contacted the ones that work here for Sogor they only gave me one other option.”

 

“To kill me.”

 

“No, if it were that I might have been willing. I was to kill not only you but your entire family.” Holani closed her eyes, picturing Revana. To kill her...

 

“So your choice is what?” Breia asked as if it were a choice as to which dessert at a meal.

 

“To take you.”

 

“Speaking to the constable was not an option?”

 

“I may work alone but Sogor has others here. If I had told the constables your family would have still died. Even my death would not have stopped it.”

 

Breia nodded. “I sense you speak the truth. Knowing what I do of Sogor the murder of one extended family would be an exercise of little thought to him.” She turned, removing the robe and choosing a darker one. Without the bulky robes she was slim, and Holani‘s estimate of her age dropped from mid thirties to early 20s. She swirled a red traveling cloak over the, putting up the hood again. “We must go then.”

 

“What? You’re-”

 

“As you said. I could kill you or call the constables. Doing so would lead to the deaths of many. My life is not worth that.” Breia chose a staff that matched her new robe. ”Having me will not give Sogor what he wants. It is an equitable trade.”

 

Breia picked up her hammer, and laid it on the forge reverently. Then walked out.

 

Holani followed, walking beside her. “The hammer, a signal?”

 

“No, the robe. My brother worries about me, so he had a tracker with a life detector sewn into it. Right now an alarm is going out, and the local police will be moving in minutes.” Breia looked at her. “More than enough time for you to get away with me.”

 

They reached the car, and it rocketed into the sky. Breia sat face turned as if looking at the scenery.

 

“Why didn’t you get ocular implants?”

 

“When I was first blinded, I despaired. The stars were above me, and I can still remember their call. Without sight I felt worthless. But then I discovered the wonder of a world you cannot see.

 

“I found that I can hear the rhythm of the heart, the flow of what people say and what they really mean. That is how I knew you would harm me and my family.

 

“Then I learned that I could hear the song of metal as it cools. Portions of heated metal cool slower than others, and by striking them when the song reaches the right note, I can form it in the manner that astounds you all.

 

“I returned to the forge less than a year later, and began my first blade. When others saw what I had done they tried to learn, but no one I have met can hear the song, and that is necessary to form the metal.

 

“That is why having me will not give Sogor what he wants. It will earn your coin and little else.”

 

“All of this for nothing.“ Holani whispered.

 

Breia cocked her head, the empty sockets turning toward Holani. “You regret your choices. While your father has forgiven you, it will not return you home. Another must do that.”

 

“Just shut up.” Holani snarled.

[Renegade Puma]

Great job Mach. I am really, really into this story. I can't wait to see how it all ends. I loved these lines by the way.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe Hawk or falcon. Something fast! Or maybe Millennium since I‘m going to spend that long for you guys to finish all of the telemetry adjustments.”

 

“Telemetry is set and rolling.”

 

“About time!” Darshan took the control wheel in his hands. He snorted to himself. Han! It sounds like someone who can’t spell hand. You’ll never see a Solo with that name.

 

 

Very funny, I like your sense of humor there.

 

Can't wait for the next chapter!

[machievelli]

Voyage

 

Darshan stared at the swirling of hyper-space and vented the one Hutt curse he knew, which could be literally translated as ‘your father was your mother as well’ then turned toward the cabinet to his left below the console. He opened the door, looking at the droid with distaste. He’d never liked the housekeeping and construction robots that had come into vogue, and the idea that he might need assistance if the ship was damaged had offended him greatly. But this damn thing was his only chance to get home, so he flicked the switch.

 

The droid powered up, and a small red lens turned to focus on his face. It beeped at him. On the screen beside him, words scrolled.

 

-greetings, user. I am designated A1A7, Astromech robot designed by Droids incorporated, the premier-

 

“Can it, tin man. Find out what is wrong with the damn Nav-computer.”

 

The droid beeped another reply. -Interrogative: The nav computer has no control of water flow or-

 

Darshan clenched his fist. “Damn as in ‘to be damned’ as in cursing. Check out that collection of circuits and see what is wrong with it.”

 

The droid deployed a set of wheels, and rolled over to the console. An arm popped out, and inserted itself in the interface port. -Searching. No detectable anomalies in circuitry or programming.-

 

“Then why the hell are we going the wrong direction?” Darshan snapped.

 

-Searching: Anomaly detected. Course destination and fuel mix was altered 10 hours fifteen minutes ago using onboard navigational update interface. User not identified. However, anomaly was caused by a highly innovative slicing program of Coruscanti design-

 

“Coruscant! So we’re going there?”

 

-Negative. Course is down Corellian Trade Spine out galaxy rather than inward. Assuming fuel and course is correct, the ship will end it’s flight in the system controlled by the Lortuai-

 

“Lortuai? I’ve never heard of it.”

 

-Them. Data on planet Lortu in navigational database. Data on native race is in encyclopedic data base-

 

There was a clattering aft, and Darshan’s head snapped around. “Put all of the data on both onto a pad. I will be back in a moment.” He pulled out the multitool, popping out the blade. Razor sharp, it was only about 100 centimeters long, but he felt better armed. Surprising, because he’d never held a weapon in his life.

 

He padded aft, looking into the bunk area. No one there. The next compartment was the mess deck, and there was muttering from the compartment.

 

“-never put where easy to reach it is.” The gruff little voice complained. There was another clatter, and curses in an unknown language. Darshan peeked around the entry hatch.

 

The little alien that had grilled him at the press conference a week before was headfirst in a cabinet. A fry pan flew out as he watched. “Make tea all the time, they do, but pot they did not bring? Only humans so foolish.”

 

Darshan crept across, slamming the cabinet door shut with his foot. There was a squalling from inside, and he pinned the door with all of his weight. “A stowaway!”

“Observant you are.” The voice said from inside the cabinet. “To make tea I was, but pot I cannot find.”

 

“That’s because we only heat the water and use tea bags.”

 

There was silence. “Bags? Why bags for tea you have?”

 

“Maybe because I was supposed to be alone.”

 

“Point you have made. Release can you so I may prepare?”

 

“Why did you reset my navigation?”

 

“Destination where go I must is set. Where go you must as well.”

 

“That ship won’t fly. All I have to do is drop out, reset-”

 

The droid came down the passageway, squealing frantically. “What the- crap.” Darshan grabbed the chair, slid it tight against the cabinet door, setting the traction clamps so it would need to be released from outside, and ran forward. The screen flashed

 

-Danger detected. navigational system has been reprogrammed to cause fuel tank detonation if the ship does not reach set destination! Program will delete itself if this happens-

 

Darshan stared at the screen. “Anyway to circumvent it?”

 

-Negative-

 

Darshan stormed back to the mess hall. The chair was back where it had been before. Suddenly something hit him from behind, slamming him face first to the floor.

 

“Listen will you?” He spun. Dor was crouched on the frame of the hatch, looking down.

 

Darshan leaped up, charging at him. The little being seemed to levitate, and the stick in his hand caught Darshan across the shoulders, throwing him into the bulkhead with bruising force.

 

“Can all day do this. Listen will you first?”

 

Darshan turned, staggering. “All right you little Hutt slime! Talk!”

 

“Conversation tea would be better with.” Dor replied. “Show me you will?”

 

Darshan huffed, stormed over, pulling two cups down. Then he opened the food storage, dropped bags in each cup, then tapped the stud for the water filling them. “All right, shortie, talk.”

 

Dor leaped down, cradling the cup. “Interesting this is. Monk of Monastery of Jedi am I member. Know you of it anything?

 

“No.”

 

“Explanation give I must. Monks the mind study. Thought nature of. Potentials untapped they are.”

 

“Go on.”

 

“Millennia we studied have. Wonders find. Without as well within as. Discovered it was that Galaxy help us.”

 

“Wait, the Galaxy is helping your research? That’s impossible!”

 

“Possible or not, happening it is.” Dor replied. “Millennia ago, abilities discovered were. Things magic and mystical humans see as, possible was it to do.”

 

“So you’re people can do magic?”

 

“Science and knowledge magic to untrained seems. This we call Force for lack of name better. Flows from life it does.”

 

“So life somehow creates energy, and your training makes it something you can use?”

 

“Best explanation is.” Dor sipped his tea, sighing appreciatively. “Soon discovered it was that guided by force we are. Monks traveled at urge spirit of. Problems find they, answer they have. Peace brought in wars where warriors see not way. People science of given guidance they see not. Spread have we to worlds by commerce touched.”

 

“So let me get this straight. This Force as you call it makes you go places and do things because they feel right.”

 

“Explanation good is.” Dor drained the cup. “Please more?”

 

Darshan handed him his cup, and Dor sipped it. “Monk to Lortu go. Find conqueror would be, and... Other.”

 

“A conqueror. What other?”

 

“Force used many ways. As can I with skill of fight, others things touch and shape. Metal can this one form. Danger to her is it. Lortuai covet, take they would. But skill pass cannot. Must the person take.”

 

“So this woman who can use the force to form metal is going to be kidnapped. Why?”

 

“Blade you have. Valuable more is if it anything cut?”

 

“What?” Darshan ran the words through his mind again. “She can make a blade sharp enough to cut anything?”

 

“Truth is it.”

 

Darshan pictured a man with a sword cutting through armored soldiers as if they wore nothing. “So this conqueror wants these, these super swords for himself. So what? Corellia has weapons beyond something so archaic.”

 

“Understand do you not. Sign from god taken would if possess evil one does. Many waver, faith not strong. Failure or death temple from within can destroy.”

 

“But how does she forge metal that sharp?”

 

“Knew we how important is she not beyond life her own.” Dor replied. “Weapons with such fool try to conqueror others will. Many die stopped he is not.”

 

“So you stole my ship to rescue her?”

 

“True it is.” Dor waved at the ship. “Depends it not upon hyper-cannon controlled enemy by. Able slip in and out it is.”

 

“So why me?” Darshan snarled. “Why steal the first one?”

 

“Life of yours changed must it be. For you new path at Lortu begins.”

 

“I don’t believe you.”

 

“Dice you have? Tongo play you?”

 

“Yes. How did you know?”

 

“Much know I of Darshan Solo you. Get please for me.”

 

Darshan walked forward, scooped up the box holding his dice, and returned. He set it down on the table.

 

“As if playing roll.” Darshan opened the cap, spilling out the dice. They fell with each numbering one. Dor dropped to the floor, leaped into the chair facing Darshan. “Number to beat easy, yes? But more paid for match, correct is?”

 

“Yes. But the odds are astronomical!”

 

“Luck with what I do has nothing.” Dor pushed the dice back into the cup, flipped it and lifted it.

 

Every die had a single dot.

 

“Many time how must I do to prove to you this?” He repeated it, and again the numbers were all one. Then again.

 

“Force my actions direct. Woman save I must Force directs does. Woman taking her prisoner has, Force directs does. Person that rescue must do,” He pointed at Darshan. “Force directs does. Lie to you do I not.”

 

“So I had to go on this little jaunt.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I think smoking something you have been.”

 

“My way of talking not make fun of.” Dor warned. “Read you what books say to learn. Prepare for rescue you must.”

[machievelli]

Jedi

Religion:

 

Jedi, Monastery of: One of the religions considered odd by the peoples of the Galaxy is the order that started 2200 years ago at the Monastery of Jedi.

 

Named after the founder of the order, Jedi Horoni, the Monks of the order study the workings of the mind. They believe that the mind is capable of wonders that defy the imagination.

 

History: 2200 years ago, Jedi Horoni claimed to have discovered that there is an energy field within the galaxy that can be directed by the mind. He moved into a rude shack on the edge of what is now the city of Knossa (SEE OSSUS, Cities of) and began studying this phenomenon he claimed to have witnessed. Like a lot of founders of contemplative orders, he was at first ridiculed, but since he wasn’t considered a danger, he was allowed to live at peace. People came to witness these wonders, and while most left when miracles did not occur on demand, a small core remained, entranced by his vision. By the time of his death 2130 years ago, the order had grown to fifty members.

 

The order is odd whereas most such orders limit their members to one race, the Order allows members of any race willing to learn what they teach. By the second century after it’s founding, members of seven races on the planet were members.

 

There is a ranking system within the order of apprentice Padawan and master.

 

Like most contemplative orders, the members of the order learn martial arts for self defense, and watching a monk wielding a sword as if it were a natural extension of his body has become a spectator sport on some worlds. However while fully capable of defending themselves, the members see violence as the most distasteful option in any situation.

 

The largest growth occurred when Ossus was first visited by travelers from Belderone extending from the Permelian Trade route 57 years ago. At that time, the Order had approximately hundred fifty members, but as of this date they have grown to over four hundred members in five Monasteries located on Ossus Belderone Ralltiir Coruscant and Alderaan.

 

Fifty years ago, rival governments discovered that the Jedi as they are sometimes called were excellent arbiters of disputes. The trade war between Brentaal and Tepasi ended when the Jedi negotiator revealed duplicity by the little known Czerka Corporation of Coruscant in the conflict. The Corporation was almost driven into receivership when the weapons they had been supplying to both sides were itemized.

 

Footnote: While an interesting faith, few if any understand the precepts behind it, and it is not considered important enough to update the journal entries more often than every decade...

 

Padawan: Noun: Ossuia language native to planet Ossus.

 

Translation, ‘Traveler’. Member of the middle tier of the order formed 2200 years ago in the Monastery of Jedi. The word is linked to their duty within the order. Padawan are expected to spend several years of their lives traveling at the behest of the order and act as arbiters of disputes. To become a Padawan is an arduous process requiring study of what the order calls the Force, then training in several martial forms before a sword is gifted to them as sign of their position. It has been suggested that the prospective Padawan must make his own sword, but such is not proven, since no one is allowed contact with an apprentice of the order.

 

Lortu: Planet located around star named Sondiraco. Galactic Reference GSFD-774/CTS/ER/11.

 

Class: DA class 5, similar to Ossus. Native animals and planets graded at level 3, since the native species called the Lortuai have systematically over hunted the native animals into near extinction. Within acceptable standards for human colonization under Coruscant Exploration Guidelines, however off worlders are not welcome.

 

Economic rating: 1.

 

Technology level, in weapons, grade 8. In all other commerce grade 1 and lower.

 

Population: Last census 5.78 billion.

 

Demographics: 99% Lortuai. Trade is accepted, but only merchant factors have actually been allowed residence. All emigration banned unless the person has a skill deemed necessary by the Theocratic Knowledge Authority.

 

Government: Theocracy. The present ruler Sogor is titled ‘the Ever living' and his word is law to his subjects. Title is hereditary though those considered worthy can be suggested when a new ‘ever living’ is chosen.

 

Exports: Darson wood, Pipalli (A spice used and valued highly in preparations of highly spiced meals), Fulgathi oil.

 

Imports: Imports include primarily technological transfers, though the main ones to date have been licensing the CZ 1 assault rifle design from Czerka Corporation of Coruscant. Recently they had a now defunct treaty with Echana that supplied the Lortuai with swords and the first production of other hand weapons in return for Darson wood from the Lortuai forests of Haanmelo. Pipalli was also shipped until the Echani obtained seeds for the planet which flourishes there.

 

Social conventions: Place in society is rigidly controlled, and there is little or no social mobility. A person of the lowest cast (Goridai, or ‘excrement hauler’) can only aspire to Morgoshidai or ‘garbage remover‘. The Lortuai are a fiercely independent and argumentative people. Comments that would be taken as mildly insulting on other worlds would be considered insults worth a blood feud among the Lortuai.

 

Within their society someone of an upper cast may speak to anyone, where of a lower cast you may only speak to someone one step above you in social standing unless addressed. Any interaction not begun by someone of a socially acceptable level is ignored unless the very act is considered a blatant disregard of convention, which is punished swiftly and severely. The Lortuai feel that their race is superior to all other life forms, and even a Goridai is of a higher station than an off worlder. However knowing that the planet is dependant of technology transfers from these ‘lesser beings, rules had to be instituted to avoid problems. Social interaction with off worlders is only allowed between priests and administrators.

 

History: The planet known as Lortu by it’s inhabitant was first discovered when the development of the folded hyper cannon Matrix allowed rapid expansion along what is now called the Corellian Trade Spine.

 

Lortu was the eighth planet discovered along that route by a combined Coruscanti-Corellian team. That first contact almost led to war when the army of the then ruling Ever living charged the ship. The Coruscanti commander thought little of the attack. The stone, sharpened wood, and tooth encrusted weapons could not penetrate the ship, and the team merely stayed inside the ship until the attacks finally stopped. When communication was finally established, the Ever-living demanded that the ship surrender. instead the ship emplaced a Hyper cannon matrix and departed out-galaxy.

 

Trade was finally opened fifty years ago with the assistance of a Monk of the Monastery of Jedi. The Lortu promised to trade Darson wood and Pipalli for technology transfers from such corporations as Czerka of Coruscant the chartered Tokara Company of Coruscant and Merr-Sohn Munitions of Corellia, though they only purchased licensing rights for local manufacture.

 

Fifteen years ago it was discovered that Borogor the then seated Ever-living was not using all of this technology to bring his society up to the standards of other planets. Rather he was using it to develop weapons for conquest. A monk of the Monastery of Jedi asked to mediate a trade dispute with the neighboring system Duloc and Lortu revealed this. The horror of the civilized Galaxy did nothing to stop that conquest.

 

The Corellian Navy was ceded control of the hyper-cannon network within the Lortu system to forestall further attempts using the existing hyper space cannon when it was discovered that the Coruscanti corporate operators of the local matrix had been bought by the Lortu with bribes of vouchers used to purchase Darson wood and Pipalli at government regulated prices, a tenth of their sale price to corporations, and one hundredth of their value upon resale. It was the biggest scandal in Coruscanti history, causing the collapse of the government. The embargo did not stop the attempts by Lortu to expand. They had already bought the technology of the Hyper-cannon, and built a second competing system inside the Sondiraco system which allows them to bypass restrictions on the original Hyper-cannon system. They emplaced mines which were under their control forcing ships to either risk damage or use their own system and pay duties on cargos shipped through their system. They have conquered the Berodilo system nearby, but there are no other systems close enough to attack from either Lortu or their conquests where they will not face superior firepower except for the Shirrazu system, holding the planet of Echana.

 

Nine years ago, on the rise of Sogor to Ever-living, the Lortuai attempted to annex Echana, but the invasion was easily defeated, even though at the time Echana was considered a nonexistent military power. Sogor has concentrated on Echana as a system he must have, and a low intensity conflict is ongoing...

 

From: Encyclopedia Galactica: Second edition

[Char Ell]

I have to agree with everyone else and say that I find your story quite interesting, machievelli. I anxiously await further installments.

 

I'm not sure that the Yoda-speak is working for me though. Sometimes it seems OK and then at other times it doesn't. E.g.

“Force my actions direct. Woman save I must Force directs does. Woman taking her prisoner has, Force directs does. Person that rescue must do,” He pointed at Darshan. “Force directs does. Lie to you do I not.”

This whole section was very confusing for me and difficult to read. I'm not real sure of the method by which Yoda formulates his sentences but to me these phrases seem more like something he would say:

Direct my actions the Force does.

Save the woman the Force tells me.

Lie to you I do not.

 

Anyway, I'm sure trying to write a Yoda-like dialogue is very difficult and surpasses my ability. Keep up the great work as you've done an amazing job at providing history and details of your version of the early SW galaxy.

Did you guys know this one thread has been viewed more than anything else I posted to date?

For the life of me I don't know why. I found "Acceptance" to be a well written and compelling story too. Do you plan to continue that one?

[Renegade Puma]

I really liked your last chapter Mach. There was a lot of Yoda-like dialogue, and of course he is my favorite SW character. Can't wait for your next update!

[machievelli]

What Dor was trying to say was that everyone involved is being directed by the force. Breia allowing herself to be taken to save her family, Holani choosing kidnapping over mass murder. Darshan flying the ship because of his faith in Koori. Dor to correct what he has done wrong (You'll find that out)

 

Writng like yoda talks hard is. A little experience with the old celtic languages especially Welsh helps a lot.

 

Glad you're enjoying it, people.

 

As for the fact that I've had more hits, I stopp posting to my KOTOR Fic because i was getting maybe 10 people looking at it, and out of them only one or two responding. The difference between a professional writer and a fan writing is a pro shouldn't need people saying 'hey great'.

 

But it still bothers me. Like throwing a rock to skip on a pond and it just sinks with no ripples. That is part of the reason I started as the critic.

[machievelli]

Bondage

 

The transfer of the prisoner was easy. At the same time that Holani was paying for her room, and buying a ticket to travel to Berogol, the next planet beyond Lortu, Breia was sedated packaged and immersed into a tank of live Tanif bound for the same destination. A Hutt transport which arrived took the consignment and passenger aboard, and when they arrived in Lortu, they were removed.

 

You regret your choices. While your father has forgiven you, it will not return you home. Another must do that.

 

Holani remembered the angry look on her father’s face, the shocked look on her mother’s. The money and jewelry she had been accused of stealing. Above all the sanctimonious smirk of that damned Jedi Monk. She’d run away, stolen some money, stowed away. Vowed that if she was thought a thief, she might as well be one. The name she had once cherished, Organa, heir apparent to the throne, was cast away with her old life. Now her last name changed as often as her employers and her missions. She was called a lot of things now. Every nickname attributed to her was of something sleek fast and in most cases deadly. Her skill were great enough that she could command top credit if she was called, and she had never failed to complete a mission.

 

But that wasn’t without price. Five years of espionage murder and crime had marked the child she had been in ways her father would never understand and even if he had accepted her innocence of that initial charge she was not the hurt and angry girl she had been.

 

Holani felt even worse when she saw how her prisoner had been transported. She stood there as the capsule Biare had been stuffed in was cranked out of the tank, and deposited on the deck by grinning Lortuai. One of them opened the casket, and roughly injected the unconscious woman. Holani wanted to object, but the rank tabs on the little monster were of a Su-tai, equivalent to a Corellian Commander. Her own rank as a spy was just above a Merchant.

 

“Wake up.” The Su-tai leaned forward, and slapped the slowly rousing woman sharply. Holani pictured killing the little creep. It wouldn’t save Breia any pain, but it would be a pleasant sight to take into death with her.

 

Breia rolled onto her hands and knees, then vomited all over the Su-tai’s leggings and boots. As much as it looked like an accident, Holani caught the savage grin the woman hid when wiping her mouth.

 

Guards dragged the woman to her feet, and one of them pointed. “Both of you, go!”

 

Holani steadied the woman as they walked. “You have a way of getting even that is sublime.”

 

“Isn’t it just?” Breia whispered. “Think of what I have in store for you.”

 

“I will accept it when it comes. I owe you more than that. Anything you do to me is richly deserved.”

 

They were chivvied along to a car, and driven toward the massive pyramid shape of Sogor’s palace. A couple of new structures were going up, and Holani stared at them. “What are those?”

 

Breia seemed to listen. “The workers speak of forges of massive size.” She snorted. “Obviously he seems to think that I can be coerced.” Breia looked at the other woman in her uncanny way. “Why are you still here? I know you have already been paid. Why are you not off ruining someone else’s life?”

 

“I don’t know.” Holani whispered back. “I can’t just leave you here. It’s my fault that you will be tormented, and I... I can‘t live with that. If there is a way to free you someone must be outside to plan it.”

 

“Now she gets remorseful.” Breia snorted. “Maybe next time you ask me how to do it?”

 

The car arrived at the palace, and the women walked up the steps. Guards stood every few meters, eyes watching them balefully as they went on. The massive doors of the throne room opened, and before them across an expanse of crimson tile was the throne. Sogor was bouncing up and down on it like a demented jack in the box.

 

Holani stepped back, allowing Breia to walk alone as they approached the throne. “She must show proper respect!” Sogor roared. A guard stepped out, clipping the blind woman across the back of her knees, dropping her to the floor. Sogor snorted in satisfaction, then looked at Holani. “As you have promised. Go with my blessing.”

 

“Please.” Holani raised a hand. “I have come to learn of this woman, and my offices can be used to aid in her redemption.”

 

“I think not.” Sogor motioned, and her own voice rang from the air.

 

“...I can’t just leave you here. It’s my fault that you will be tormented, and I... I can‘t live with that. If there is a way to free you someone must be outside to plan it...”

 

Before she could move Holani was thrown to the ground, her arms bound. Sogor stood walking down to stand over her. “My blessing is always saved for the dying. You will join them at my pleasure.” He kicked her in the face, then turned away as Holani was dragged out.

 

“As for you, master smith. You will teach my smiths your secret or you will suffer.”

 

“I think not.” Breia started to rise, and Sogor put his foot in her back, slamming her back to the tile.

 

“I will have your skin ripped a centimeter strip at a time if you speak to me again!”

 

“And what if doing so destroys my abilities, you moron?” Breia asked in a conversational tone. “Do you even know what magic i work with steel? Is it something that my mood will affect? Or my physical well being? Which is more important to you, the weapons you demand or the pleasure of my screams?”

 

Sogor stepped back. “Put this filth in my cells. If she does not relent, I will use that condemned one to convince her of how serious I am.”

 

*****

“Now, come, and briefing I will give.”

 

He led the pilot back into the mess deck, where he started a hologram. A flat topped pyramid rotated before them. “Palace of the Ever-living this is. Weapons many, but here is way in secret.” A small red dot flashed, and the hologram zoomed. There was a tunnel running deep into the pyramid, with a flashing area near the center. “This prison area is. Prisoners here will be held. The one we seek is in this room.” A clawed finger marked one of the small compartments.

 

Darshan looked at the hologram. “How wide is this way?”

 

“Fifty meters wide and tall.”

 

“How could something this big be a secret?”

 

“Lortu mind makes it so.”

 

“Wait a minute, that doesn’t answer the question. fifty meters square, half a kilometer long. How the hell can that be invisible?”

 

“Lortu only what is important sees. This path waste from Sogor’s palace is used for. Toilets and trash do go here.”

 

“Wait a minute. It’s the sewer chute?” At Dor’s nod, Darshan laughed helplessly. “Well, if I have to end up where it’s brown and smelly, at least I have a ship to sail that creek in!”

 

Dor looked at him. “Humor humans have none. Now...”

 

The Han Calrissian came out of hyperspace. Ahead at ten AU was a bleak planet. Darshan looked at the globe, snorting. “Why can’t the bad guys live on a beautiful planet instead of some slimeball?”

 

Dor shrugged. In the last week he and Darshan had come to a truce. Dor would stop telling him about his destiny, if Darshan would supply tea and stop asking questions he could not answer.

 

“When find on pleasure world an enemy, you I will contact.” Dor promised.

 

The ship drifted silently as the sensors scanned all frequencies. What people didn’t know was that since a space ship required communication and detection of possible dangers, even the simplest adjustment of the operational parameters could turn that around and use it as an undetectable scanning device. The radar frequencies and ranges were mapped. Communications between the ground bases and the fighters that swept their skies were recorded, analyzed and plotted. For once Darshan was happy to have a droid around because only A1A7 had the patience to do it all.

 

Finally Darshan had it all down. His insertion orbit was laid in, and he sat in the command chair, ready.

 

“So tell me.” Darshan asked, nudging the controls so the ship began to drift forward. “Why is this mission so important to you?”

 

Dor sat looking toward the planet. For a long moment, Darshan thought he wouldn’t answer. “Lortu traded because convinced them I did. Saw within them darkness, but thought it was minor. Something grow out of they would. But wrong was I.” He looked down. “Foolish I was. Fifteen years ago mistake was dark with fruit. Lortuai evil spread. Duloc conquered. Millions died. Berodilo then was taken. Millions more. All deaths, all pain my fault.”

 

Dor stared up at the young man. “Think young one. To be millions of deaths, hundreds of millions of suffering the one to blame. Save these women limit the workings of Sogor I must.”

 

“So you’re powers don’t make you perfect?”

 

Dor snorted. “Power responsibility begets but beings still are they as before. Evil in all, restraint of evil best goal. Use wrong causes pain. Those of us that learn sometimes darkness have. Those that do, we must follow and stop. Balance maintain I must. My acts unbalance, restore my acts must.” He looked back at the planet. “Sogor student was. Evil has he done. Came home before father war began. Pushed to make this empire. Killed father when failed he did.”

 

“Wait. This Sogor was a student of your order?”

 

“Surprised you are? Think you what value this be if evil you are.” He waved at the ship. “Superior it is to all. Until drive created again, raid you could. Take millions. Escape no one follow can.”

 

“But this isn’t my ship! I’m just a pilot.”

 

“Difference is between you and Sogor. He pilot of Force, but see it as his to use as he will. Stop him I must.”

 

“Great. So we have to save these two women, stop this guy, and by that I think you mean kill him.“ Dor nodded sadly. “It’s hopeless. Are we going to live through this?”

 

“Ambiguous question is. Remember always, life permanent is not. No one in long run survives.”

 

“Just peachy.”

 

*****

The planet had systems for detecting approaches by ships, but it had a blind spot as most did. Anything unpowered object traveling below ten kilometers a second was labeled as an asteroid, and ignored. Weighing less than 50 tons, the ship was scanned and catalogued as such as it plummeted into the atmosphere. The ship raced across the sky until it was beyond the range of the ground based sensors of the Palace complex. At that point, Darshan brought up the lift and drives, coming out of the dive and rocketing along the surface of the ocean at low speed. He was flying at zero altitude, faster than anyone would have imagined on this little planet, and this part at least he loved. Nothing pleased him more than seat of the pants flying. He grumbled as they approached the palace, having to drop to the same speed as an air car on his home world.

 

The pyramid bulked ahead of him, and he inched lower as he approached. “There.” Dor said. Darshan could see the passageway, barely ten meters larger that the wingspan of the ship. The ship slid into the hole. Darshan was in his element. He’d always wanted to try flying something this tight, and disconnecting the collision and proximity alarms had been a big help.

 

The ship slowed, and settled, the skids sinking into something he’d rather not think about. Dor had told him that the palace had 20,000 residents. He mentally figured how much waste that was of every type, and wrinkled his nose at the thought. No Solo is every going to have to do something this disgusting ever again!

 

“Now, your tool we have need of.”

 

Darshan figured it out, and sighed. His multitool had been a gift from his mother when he’d gone to college. It could slice cable, strip it for connections, weld them firmly, and allow him to work on micro-circuitry. He wasn’t sure if removing the screws from the grate was on the list but as it dropped to squelch in the muck, he knew he’d have to add that to the list.

[Renegade Puma]

Great job once again Machievelli. I really, really, and I mean really hate Sogor. He is detestable in every sense of the word. I hope Dor kicks his hinder parts in to next week. Keep up the great work!

[machievelli]

Escape

 

Holani stared at the wall. Her back was a mass of pain as the torturers began flaying her slowly in strips. Her teeth bit, and she tasted blood. She steeled herself not to scream. Yet when something burned into the wound she couldn’t help herself.

 

*****

Breia moved slowly, the rhythm of the dance of death, even without a sword in hand was unhurried, casual to those that only watched. But every move she knew would bring death or salvation if she ever held a sword again. Forgive me Echana. My worst fears are realized, death will be mine soon enough, and I do not even have the means to properly pray, She thought. Is my life worth the pain of the woman in the next cell?[/]

 

She had been trying to sleep when the screams began a short time ago. With her extraordinary hearing she could see the knives cutting flesh, feel it ripping free. There were taunting demands, telling her that the pain would stop if only briefly if she begged Breia to surrender.

 

Yet while she screamed, cried out in her anguish, the words they demanded never came.

 

So strong of will she is Breia thought. I know he will never let her go. Will kill her by centimeters if I do not submit. My death is ordained as is hers. Only the manner now remains. Do I have the strength of will to die so she might die a merciful death?

She had not told the woman of the coins she had in her pocket. Soo-ti taught how to throw any object with deadly accuracy. She could kill the first guard through the door, then charge them. No one would expect a blind woman to fight back. If she could lay her hand on a sword she would teach them master lessons in Mah-rehal, the ‘dance with eyes closed’ before they killed her.

 

But that would only be an option if she could send Holani on her way first.

 

*****

 

The grating slid aside, and Darshan stuck his head up. “I never pictured me breaking into jail. Breaking out is more my style.”

 

“Not good at it were you.”

 

Darshan looked back into the hole, then climbed out. “So you know about that?”

 

“Behave your self than you should.” Dor stuck his head up. That way they are.”

 

“Right-o.” Darshan walked down the hall, freezing as he looked into one of the cells.

 

The Lortu were hominids with tightly curled fur standing about as tall as Darshan’s 1.75 meters. He knew without any closer examination that this being would never stand again. That was the least of his injuries. “What kind of monster does this to people?” He whispered in horror.

 

“Kind that his own superiority assumes.” Dor said. “Help him we cannot. Hurry we must .”

 

“I can open the cell, put him out of his misery at least.” Darshan protested.

 

“And what of hundreds more here?” Dor asked gently. “Every door behind is more horror. Days we do not have.”

 

Darshan shook his head, and followed. He refused every desire to look.

 

*****

 

Sogor paced angrily. Something didn’t feel right. Something was out there, something that would end his reign if he wasn’t careful.

 

The pacing slowed. Some-

 

He spun, calling for his Ever Living Guard. The best warriors of his world. They charged toward the cells ten floors below.

 

*****

The halls seemed endless. The design used every available space, halls formed it into separate boxes with dozens of cells on each stretch left and right, other halls every fifty meters. Pain and suffering cubed and neatly organized. Darshan considered what would happen if he flared the engines on the way out, vented half a ton of fuel as plasma. Would it reach up high enough to put all of these poor people out of their pain? or merely make it worse?

 

He heard something, and stopped. “What was that?”

 

“Torture done is. One we seek to save they do this to.”

 

Darshan felt something give inside him. He was moving fast, suddenly he was running. One cell ahead of him was open, and he heard a gruff laugh from within, a whine of someone in unspeakable pain.

 

He rounded the door, and even as he plunged forward his eyes recorded it all. The woman held against the wall with manacles, her back a bloody ruin. A face he saw only in profile tugging at his heart, two Lortu turning stupidly as he charged forward.

 

He slammed one against the wall, feeling bones snap, not caring if they were his or the enemies. The multitool snapped out, the other Lortu falling, blood geysering from his throat.

 

Then it arched back, the Lortu in front of him spasming as the multitool punched into his head so that the handle stuck out.

 

Darshan followed the body down, suddenly wanting to scream as he felt his dislocated shoulder. He knelt, wanting to vomit, wanting to scream in joy that he was still alive, and the others were dead. He gagged fighting the natural reaction.

 

“At least miss my legs if you can.” The woman gasped.

 

“We’re here to rescue you.” Darshan gritted out, standing. Her eye looked at him.

 

“Dislocated your shoulder?”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“I’ve had it done. My luck I have a klutz for a knight in shining armor. Next time maybe you should plan the operation better. If I‘m still alive I can give you a few pointers.” She winced as she laughed, gasping in pain. “I think maybe you should hurry. But that’s just me talking.”

 

Darshan reached down, and the multitool came out of the corpse’s head. He wiped it off on the dead man’s clothes, adjusted the tool option, then leaned up, wincing as overstressed tendons stretched to unlock the right manacle. The woman flinched as her arm dropped. He moved past her and started on the opposite manacle. The left arm dropped as well. He dropped to his knees, attacking the ankle cuffs.

 

She tried to laugh, wincing in pain, but humor was in her voice. “My fondest dream, to have a man at my feet on his knees.” She shook her head as the cuffs fell away. “Not as good as the fantasy.”

 

“Give me time, I grow on you.”

 

“I am not a tree, and you’re not moss.” She turned around, then caught his hanging arm. Before he could do anything She whipped it out, set her foot in his armpit, and pulled.

 

Darshan started to scream. then he stopped. He swung the arm experimenting. “You reset it!”

 

“Said it had been done to me.” She looked toward the door where Dor stood. “Whose the little friend?”

 

“Dor of Monastery of Jedi am.”

 

“Jedi?” She shook her head. “As if the situation isn’t bad enough!”

 

“Why do you say that?” Darshan asked.

 

“I left home because of one of them.” Holani said in her fury. “One minute my father loves me, the next every little thing they thought I did is laid out like a trial.”

 

“Holani name yours is?” Dor nodded. “Young one did arbitrate. Learned lies and accepted truth they were. Others followed and proved innocent you were.”

 

“So one of you condemns me another exonerates me!” She winced as she felt a laugh bubble up. “My luck runneth over.”

 

“Hey, you were on my list to be rescued, so give us some thanks, okay?” Darshan said. “Where’s the other one?”

 

Both Holani and Dor pointed to the wall. “In there. Go first this time I must.”

 

*****

The door slid open, and Breia felt with that sense she had discovered. The half credit coin lay in her hand, 20 grams of metal, enough to crack a skull at this range. But the figure merely stood there. “You to rescue have we come.”

 

She laughed. “Right.”

 

Trust us you do not. Understand I do. Listen to Holani will you?”

 

Breia stood slowly. Holani came rushing in, and Breia hugged her. She felt the woman wince, and her hands could feel ragged tears in her skin.

 

“Oh Holani...”

 

“No time for that. Let’s get the hell out of here then we’ll both cry until our eyes dry up.”

 

They hurried down the hall. Suddenly Breia whirled, a coin flashing from her hand, and they stared at the soldier that staggered into the wall, blood pumping from the wound in his head as he collapsed. Before anyone could stop her, Breia ran back, snatching a sword and a pistol from his belt. She was grinning when she rejoined them, handing the gun to Holani.

 

Darshan reached the grate, and lowered Dor first. Then he handed down Breia, then Holani before following.

 

*****

Dor motioned, stopping the others, and moved down to the grating they had merely jammed back in place. There was grumbling, and his eyes tightened. He moved back up to them.

 

“Guards there are below.” He whispered.

 

“I knew that might happen.” Darshan sighed. “People will forget their prejudice when someone screams loud enough at them.”

 

“Considered this I did not.”

 

“Good thing I did.” Darshan lifted his com link. “A1, emergency start. vent plasma.” He ducked, and everyone else did the same as there was a blast of light and heat from below, followed by screams. When the sound died, Dor moved carefully to the grate. The blast of heat had been sufficient to melt the weapons of the guards around the ship into puddles, and Dor leaped down past them. The mass of fecal matter had been turned into a crackling dust, and they coughed as they staggered across it. The ship, still sealed, sat in the middle of a lot of carbonized people. The ramp came down at Darshan’s command, and they ran aboard.

 

Breia spun on the ramp just as shots rang out, and Dor staggered. Three bullets whined into the darkness as she deflected them away. The firing stopped as the Guard stood stunned. Holani spun, her gun tracking, and she returned fire at the group that had been far enough back to escape immolation. “Get us out of here!” she screamed.

 

Darshan caught the little being, lugging him aboard. He dropped him in the mess hall, threw a med kit to Holani, and ran forward. He could hear bullets like a lethal hail slamming into the hull, and he slapped the controls, lifting the ship. He started to spin it, stopping when he realized that it was too long to fit. He jacked up the nose, dropping the tail, and the ship spun in place with centimeters to spare. Then he goosed the engine, the ship leaping forward as those behind them died in a massive fireball.

 

If someone had told Darshan that he would fly at high speed down a corridor this small, he would have told them they were insane. Yet flight was their only option, and the faster the better. They bulleted out of the tunnel as all of the waste dust in the air ignited. As the ship rose toward the heavens they missed the explosion that first lifted the building as if it were a toy, then leveled the pyramid.

 

They screamed out of atmosphere, the nose aimed at the Corellian hyper cannon. Alarms screamed at Darshan as he saw fighters, old L7 Tomcats that were obsolete on Coruscant, but deadly enough to kill an unarmed ship. One of them fired, and the ship staggered as the Nav-computer blew up.

 

*****

Aft Breia despaired for the little being that had led her rescue. She couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. Dor’s eyes opened, and he looked around wildly. “Forward I must go.”

 

“We can’t move you, you’ll die!”

 

“Dead am I already. All will die if forward I do not go.”

 

Holani caught him up, staggering forward as the ship seemed to try to fly up it’s own butt. She collapsed into the copilot’s seat, bringing a grunt from the injured monk.

 

“Trust me you must, Darshan. Turn over to me navigation.”

 

“Are you out of your mind?”

 

“Unless pain you enjoy, do this.”

 

Darshan hissed, flicking the switches. “All yours!”

 

“Fly toward farthest cannon. Vector to home is there.”

 

Darshan shrugged. The com panel flashed and he slapped it. “Not now I’m kind of busy.”

 

“Dor, my old friend. We meet again.” A voice answered.

 

Darshan rolled the ship, a fighter coming up from behind dodged to avoid ramming. “Who ever you are this is a really bad time.”

 

“Sogor it is.” Dor husked. “Redemption you want my student?” His fingers flickered across the keyboard, eyes tightly shut.

 

“Don’t be naive. If only you knew the power I have gained since I left.”

 

“Since thrown out you were.” Dor snapped. He paused, then his fingers again began their desperate tapping.

 

“I will spare your lives if you return. That ship is worth more than the Echani slut and that failed spy.”

 

“This ship you will not have.” Dor said. “If my death is needed to stop you.”

 

“And theirs?” Sogor was amused. Darshan caught a motion, and saw one of the fighters paralleling him. “To fly without the stricture of the cannon. Will Echana be able to stop my next invasion?”

 

“Tell you a secret I will.” Dor answered. “Invasion, happen will not.” He hit a last button, then his fist came down on the red initiate button.

 

Sogor screamed as the ship leaped into hyper and away. He vented his spleen for a few seconds too long. As he spun to return, the mines around him detonated, turning his ship into shards that continued into deep space.

[Char Ell]

A chapter a day makes one's readers say "YAY!"

 

Another enthralling chapter. I am very much enjoying this story.

 

One question though. What does "vented his spleen" mean? I thought a spleen was just a reservoir for blood.

[machievelli]

Sorry, it's an old term meaning 'screaming and shouting'.

[Renegade Puma]

Lol, vented his spleen! I got it as soon as I read it. Great vocabulary Mach. Also another great chapter. I can't wait to see more, and more and more and more. Keep up the great work!

[machievelli]

Victory

 

“Dor, come on, you can’t die!” Darshan screamed as he carried the being back to the mess deck. While they had been busy forward, Breia had gathered every scrap of medical equipment aboard. The body was set gently on the table, his cloak ripped open, and Darshan worked to save his life.

 

“Stop my son.” Dor whispered. He motioned to Breia. “Tell you all things I must. Blind one, see with your ears and heart you do. Will for me do something?”

 

“My people believe that a debt must outweigh all wants. Ask.”

 

“Travel to Ossus. Speak with masters of the order you must. Your skill great. Your heart pure. Aid them in learning, for those you meet will hear metal’s song.”

 

“How did you know...”

 

“Matters not, explanation no time for. Young girl. Listen to me will you?”

 

Holani leaned forward. “Choice you have. Home you can return.”

 

“I can’t. I have become worse than my father thought I was. I can never forgive myself.”

 

“Forget. Father redeems you if you ask. If home you will not go, speak with Darshan. Corellia use some one like you can. Knowledge of dark paths necessary in coming years. Accept you they will at his word.”

 

“I will think about it.”

 

“Honorable your last name is on Alderaan. Return to it you must. Evil you have done fades with time” The woman bit her lip, and nodded.

 

“Darshan, for your ears alone last is.” Darshan knelt, and Dor whispered.

 

Darshan leaned back. “You’re joking.”

 

“Teach you humor not my place. Humor is self evident. May the force be...” Dor leaned back. The table felt soft for some reason. He saw a lambent thread leading back to his home world, felt it touch another of his race. The monastery was not yet strong enough to stand without their aid. He wanted to go home, and felt that he would. He pushed himself to his feet, shrugged off the hands that held him down, and began to walk.

 

Darshan closed the sightless eyes. Holani was holding Breia, both women weeping. Darshan lifted the limp form, placing it in one of the bunks, then walked forward.

 

*****

Koori tore his hair. He had sent messages down every trade route he knew, worked feverishly to try to figure where Darshan might have been taken. If only he had gone with him-

 

The communicator bleeped and he slapped it, “Don’t bother me!”

 

“Student Deralo, Han Calrissian has returned to the system, Darshan reports that there was a malfunction. The ship traveled from here to Lortu and back in seventeen days.”

 

“Seventeen days! Thats- wait a minute. Where the hell is Lortu?”

 

*****

The press was there to greet them as the good ship Han Calrissian settled down on the tarmac. The hatch came down, and every voice died as two women came down the ramp, followed by Darshan. He cradled a body gently in his arms, walking slowly as the women spread out to show a united front.

 

Koori ran forward, then stopped as he saw the figure. “That’s the monk, Der or Dir-”

 

“Dor.” Darshan said. He looked down at the peaceful face. “He had a mission for the monastery, and hijacked the ship to complete it. We rescued these women from Lortu.”

 

“Where the hell is Lortu!” Koori almost screamed.

 

“Down past Kinyen on the Trade Spine.”

 

“But that’s-” Koori stared. “Half way across the galaxy! In just over two weeks?”

 

“Both ways.” Darshan pushed through the silent crowd. An ambulance was parked there just in case, and Darshan lay the body on the gurney. “Notify the Monastery of his death. Ask what they want to do with his remains.”

 

“No.” Breia walked forward, hand resting on the gurney. “I need transport. I will take his body home as he asked me to.”

 

“This is a citizen of Echana, kidnapped by the Lortuai.” Darshan told Koori. “and this-”

 

“I am Holani Organa.” Holani said. “My father is the younger brother of the Alderaan king.”

 

Darshan’s eyebrow crooked. “She had been captured too.” He looked at the waiting press beings. “Ladies and gentleman, I am hot, tired, and need about eight hours sleep before they debrief me. Will you allow me that before you start asking questions?” He held out a hand to each woman, leading them to a car. Koori followed, a terrier after a mastiff, jumping into the jump seat as the car roared off.

 

“Don’t you ever do that to me again!” He said.

 

“Oh, here.” Darshan pulled out the box of cookies. Koori held it to his chest as if it were a sacred icon, then opened it.

 

“Wait! My cookies!” He reached in taking the last cookie from the box.

 

“Friend, the next time you send me off to the back of beyond, make sure they put enough food for four in it, okay? We were down to cookies and tea by the time we landed.”

 

Darshan leaned back, looking at Holani. He remembered Dor’s last words.

Home she will go only if you with her go. Support she will need, and loving attention, for belongs there she does not. Take care of her you should. Depends the future on you. Wife she will become. Descendants of you both shall free the Galaxy some day.[/]

[machievelli]

Afterward

 

The woman stood on the stone of the courtyard, her face turned up as if to gaze at the stars. Now she knew her destiny. The people of the temple needed one such as her. Dor had been correct, for a dozen in the Monasteries had already proven to be adept.

 

But there was so much more they needed to learn. More that she was uniquely qualified to teach. To teach them to use senses other than their eyes in a fight. To teach them to forge the weapons she could make. To teach them all the intricacies of the dance of death, and when to invoke it.

 

The stars were still there. Now, using some of what she had learned in her brief time here, she could feel the life of them. So many worlds, so many peoples. Good and bad. But now she knew she did not have to reach them herself to know satisfaction. Her students would.

 

Solo, Darshan: Corellian citizen. Pilot of the first ship using an integral hyper drive. His first flight is still shrouded in secrecy. The ship was supposed to travel to Brentaal, but instead traveled to Lortu, proving the capability of the system more thoroughly.

 

Solo took a sabbatical from his school work to escort Holani Organa to Alderaan. The woman’s parents, in line for the throne, were happy to see her, however the life of a court dilettante did not suit her. She asked Solo to escort her back to his home world.

 

On Corellia she first renounced all claim to the throne for herself and any children, then returned to work for the Corellian Navy in classified operations. All work she has done for them are still under seal and will remain there for a minimum of 100 standard years after her death. A year after they arrived, she married Darshan. As of this printing they have a boy named Koori and are expecting their second, a girl in the next year. They have already announced that this one will be named Breia.

 

Solo completed his college work, and talked his long time friend Koori Deralo into going into business together. They founded Corellian Engineering Corporation with Darshan as chief test pilot and Koori as the head of research and development. The first of their designs, the YT01 was a light freighter with a unique flat disc design allowing it maximum maneuverability. the YT01 was purchased by many planets needing small cargo vessels, and has been purchased by the navies of fifteen systems to date for use as customs patrol vessels. The design is easily converted to military use with the addition of blaster cannon on the dorsal and ventral faces, and there are hard points in the existing design to hold heavier cannon when they become available.

 

From: Encyclopedia Galactica: Second edition.

 

Sookor Bai Echana, Breia: Human female, Native of Echana.

 

Called the “Master Smith’ by the Echani, Breia Sookor Bai Echana is credited with the very rare ‘mother blades’ that were manufactured briefly on that planet.

 

Blinded at the age of five, she spent her life learning how to form steel, and the ‘mother blades’ she made for the Echana-Lortu war which have a monomolecular hand formed edge are highly prized to this day.

 

She is also the creator of the sword fighting style known as Mah-rehal, the ‘dance with eyes closed’ where the student is taught how to wield a blade, yet must do it with eyes covered. Few master this art, and until a few years ago she was the most efficient practitioner of the art.

 

This has changed due to circumstance. During the last year of the Echana-Lortu war, Breia was kidnapped by the Lortuai who hoped to gain the knowledge of the forming of mother blade. She was rescued by Darshan Solo, Holani Organa, and Padawan-teacher Dor of the Monastery of the Jedi. In their escape Padawan teacher Dor was killed. Sogor the conqueror attempted to bring down the hyper-drive ship Han Calrissian but died in the minefield surrounding the Corellian Hyper-cannon which was emplaced near his planet. His death and the accidental destruction of the Palace complex by what is now believed to be a dust explosion devastated the theocracy that had existed up until that time. The occupied planets of Duloc and Berodilo immediately revolted, and the insurgency goes on to this day.

 

In repayment of her debt to her rescuers, Breia traveled to the Monastery of the Jedi mother monastery on Ossus, where she joined the order. Her swords are now made only for members of the order, and other Jedi smiths have discovered her secret which is kept jealously guarded. They have also incorporated the training of Mah-rehal into their training regimen making them feared foes in combat.

 

Monastery, Jedi Of: While the editors assumed that nothing of consequence would he discovered abut the Jedi within a decade, the incorporation of Jedi blades as they have come to be called, and learning the skills of Mah-rehal , the ‘dance with eyes closed’ has made them a force to be reckoned with. The opening of a new monastery on Corellia last year was witnessed by Darshan and Holani Solo this last year along with their two children Koori aged two, and Breia, five months old.

 

Padawan Teacher Breia Sookor Bai Echana was on hand to commemorate the Monastery, and it is believed that she will become Master of this newest Monastery.

 

At that time, she gifted the planet of Corellia with an Echani ritual brand named Freedom from Tyranny which was donated to the Galactic Museum that is being built. Her gifting speech thanked both Darshan and Holani Solo for their efforts in her rescue. A small mishap occurred when Breia tripped at the opening ceremony, causing the glass she held full of Corellian Summer wine to spill down the dress of Holani Solo ruining it. While known for her temper, Holani began to laugh, and went the entire day with her stained dress as if it were a badge of honor.

 

In return, Darshan Solo gifted the order with a brand new YT07 class light freighter which he named after the fastest native bird of Echana, the newly verified Millennium Falcon...

 

From: Encyclopedia Galactica: Third edition

 

 

Falcon, Millennium: Bird native to planet Echana.

 

Size: Seven meters in length, wingspan fifteen meters. Mass, 60 kilos full grown.

 

Population: Assumed to be less than 10,000 planet wide.

 

The name was given to this rare bird because of it’s long maturation cycle. The Millennium Falcon has a lifespan which is over a thousand years. They are not often seen except for at a distance and for a long time have been considered only the fantasy of those that have reported seeing them. For ninety odd years they have been considered an omen of good luck. Seeing one is considered a blessing of Echana herself. Viewing one more than once, which happens so rarely that only fifty of the inhabitants can truthfully claim it, is proof of true favor and the person is considered lucky from that point on

 

They are the fastest known bird in the galaxy achieving 600 kilometers per hour in level flight, and capable of Mach two in a hunting dive. They have easily outrun or avoid civilian air cars, and because of this capability, only long distance photos which had been assumed to be fakes have been taken until two years ago when an adult millennium falcon was accidentally killed in a mid air collision with a military fighter near the village of Brahival on the newly settled second continent. They were later found to live in the tallest mountain range on the planet, the Spinar Range which reaches to 11 kilometers in altitude.

 

Most knowledge of their life cycle is conjecture, however examination of the bones of the dead animal was able to ascertain the length of their lifespan.

 

Their diet consists of other much smaller birds, fish, and animals massing less than ten kilos since their unique honeycomb structured bones while strong will not carry much additional weight. They can store food for several weeks if need be and because of their slow metabolism are believed to eat only once a week.

 

Their size would be an impediment in the lowlands, because a millennium falcon can only gain enough speed for take off by either dropping from a height, or a run of several hundred meters. It has been postulated that if a millennium falcon were fenced in it would be unable to gain enough speed for launch.

 

Upon discovery, the government in a rare move passed a law forbidding any attempts to capture or kill the animals, and attempts to take eggs either for study, breeding or off planet for sale have been dealt with severely.

 

Last year a geosynchronous satellite was emplaced, and thousand unsuspected nests have been discovered. Ornithologists who study the birds are restricted from approaching within one kilometer of a known nest and have been forcibly evicted from blinds that approach or are found to be within that limit of any new nest discovered. Autopsies are allowed only on birds that have died of natural causes, and except for the initial victim of the collision, there are no displays of the animal anywhere in the galaxy.

 

They live exclusively in the recently surveyed Spinar mountains of the planet Echana, and nest high in these forbidding massifs. Little is known about their mating and life cycles because they are shy creatures and shun contact.

 

From: Encyclopedia Galactica: Third edition

[Jae Onasi]

Nice job. Blowing up a castle with the dust of burned excreta was not something that I ever considered. That was too funny.

[Char Ell]

Wow! Is this really the end of this story? I find myself wanting more.

 

A nice touch adding the Enyclopedia Galactica entries, especially the one about the Millenium Falcon. You've done a great job with the details with this story. Where do I obtain my copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica?

[Renegade Puma]

This can't be the end Machievelli! I will strangle you if this is the end. I want more!!!! Well, if it is the end, then you did a wonderful, superb job on this story. I hope it's not the end, or I hope you write a sequel. None the less, great work man.

[machievelli]

Jae, if you study explosives, you'd be surprised what will and will not explode. One thing that causes a lot of problems every year are dust explosions in grain silos. A spark ignites the dust and it goes boom. That is all I did.

 

Hai Wan, This is a vignette from that anthology I am trying to create. This is part one of 3. The next segment will be ready in a few weeks unless the muse decides to show up and drag it out.

 

As for the encyclopedia Galactia: as Douglas Adams would say;

Send your request to Encyclopedia Galactia, 1000 StarFarer Way, Number 17A. Please enclose $150 for the five disc set, and 1.79 Quadrillion dollars for postage and handling.

 

Thank you all for your kind comments. After doing some polishing and editing, will start on part 2.

[Jae Onasi]

Heh, I lived in Kansas for awhile, so I knew about the grain dust explosions, but hadn't thought about using sewage dust as the explosive.

Looking forward to part 2.

[machievelli]

Working on the next part.How about first contact with the Ithorians and a little fun with the Mandalore?

[Renegade Puma]

Sounds like a blast. Can't wait to read it.

[machievelli]

The Company

 

Exploration, Galactic: The development of hyper-drive capable ships has had no direct impact on the Hyper-cannon network as yet. Even as CEC and Kuat shipyards began turning out such ships, the process of slowly expansion using hyper-cannon has still continued. All five of the great trade routes were well established long before the Hyper-drive ships made a serious impact.

 

Fully 400 planets and over a hundred races have been discovered, and commerce has bound us together. The companies and Corporations have carried the brunt of the cost of such ventures. Frankly no government could afford the expense except in the long term and most planets that have Corporations have given them wide latitude in dealings with the systems they have discovered.

 

They faced terrible dangers out there. Hostile alien species, deadly animals, planets where nothing lived. They also faced the rare race which had achieved local space travel and had a bent for piracy.

 

In reaction, the Coruscanti Trade Authority was the first to authorize defensive armament of ships registered on Coruscant. This was followed by a dozen other planetary governments deciding to follow suit.

 

However this posed a problem for the planets that either did not have their own ships, or feared invasion. How could they know that the ship that arrived as actually a merchant with a slight amount of Paranoia and not an invader?

 

Five years ago, the major planets of the trade routes met on Corellia, and that year, the Galactic Trade Authority was created. A combining of the older planetary bodies, it sent listings of corporations and companies that had armed vessels, the numbers, types, and armaments. It reached the point that the largest armed navy in known space belonged to the Tokara Company of Coruscant. The first actual hyper-drive ’war’ occurred when ships from two rival companies met in the Naboo system. The armed merchant vessel Frisia of the Twi-Leki Sulorio Corporation laid claim to the planet at the same time that the Hutt Trade Alliance vessel Chaamagki did.

 

The battle lasted seconds. According to the flight recorders, Frisia opened fire with concussion missiles, Chaamagki returned fire. Neither ship survived. Over 400 beings were killed. The trade vessel Coruscanti Sheen of the Tokara Company discovered the wreckage a week later when they arrived to claim the planet. The ongoing trade war between the two corporations has driven both into bankruptcy.

 

Such things were not merely left to lie. Struggling to make the most profit is understandable, but fighting over it was considered a bit much. Those planets with defensive navies began to build up their forces and extended patrols into nearby systems. Then the planets agreed on simple rules of engagement. They would patrol systems they considered of vital interest, and warship captains were ordered to refrain from conflict unless attacked, or going to the assistance of ships that had been.

 

The first Frigates, two hundred meter long engines of destruction were designed. Unlike the earlier vessels, these were built from the keel out with hyper-drive capability.

 

What the hyper-drive ships did affect however, was the speed with which troubles could begin. When a military force had to push it’s way through junctions, and hyper-cannon could be readily destroyed, even the attempts of those such as Sogor of Lortu were doomed to failure in time. With ships that no longer needed cannon, an invasion force could leap straight to the throat of a rival planet. It had been hoped that such would never occur. That the sheer distance would deter hostile entities but this has not occurred.

 

Last year a brief war between the Corellia and Coruscant in the Sullust system ended. It was believed that the Catharia Corporation of Corellia had attempted a Corporate takeover of the planet. The Tokara company of Coruscant had been trading with the native Sullust and resisted. The unarmed ship Tokara Star was destroyed by the Catharia corporation fleet though they later denied it. Both Corella and Coruscant sent warships in, and fighting broke out when the Tokara Company freighter Tokara Venture reported that they were under attack by Corellian fighters. Both fleets raced to the scene.

 

No one is sure who fired the first shot. The Corellian escort Shantil reported missiles coming from the region of the Coruscanti fleet at the same time that the Coruscanti escort Surprise did. The fleets opened fire for ten fateful minutes before order could be restored. Five escort and frigate class ships, two Coruscanti, three Corellian were destroyed. However the war ended when Admiral Bono Antilles of Coruscant met with Admiral Freido Dodonna of Corella face to face. The navies retreated away from each other, and the Sullust system was declared a protectorate with both navies patrolling separate sections of the system. This status would last until the Sullust develop or purchase enough ships to protect themselves. Tokara Company has offered to supply snub fighters to the Sullust, and with the permission of their government, offered escort class warships as well. Catharia Corporation has protested, claiming the entire incident had been caused by an attack by Tokara, but since the only ship lost belonged to Tokara, and was not on the armed vessel list, they have been ignored...

 

From: Encyclopedia Galactica: Fifth edition

[machievelli]

The planet

 

The jungles stank, there was no other way to describe it. The managing officer of the Tokara Company Caral Santee hissed as the stench raced into his opening shuttle. Meera was not turning out to be a plum assignment. He stormed through the deadfall, passing the stumps of trees that had been harvested to clear the site of the new super hotel that had been planned. Off in the distance, the tallest waterfall so far in the galaxy thundered.

 

Closer was his target, the huddle of earth movers and excavators that should have been clearing the second hundred hectare area where the landing fields would be placed. The crew were around their huge machines, and too many of the side panels were open for the MO to feel comfortable. The planted saplings that surrounded the machines was a dead give away to what had happened.

 

Cor Faslan, Construction boss saw his superior coming, and wiped his hands on a rag. This was the fifth time in as many days that the damn natives had disabled the equipment. The building schedule was shot, probably for good this time.

 

“Report.” Santee demanded.

 

“They ripped out the molycircs along with the initiator plugs this time.” Cor reported. Santee glared into the opened panel before him.

 

The machines were idiot simple. After all with the labor they hired it had to be. Faslan was an architect, and smart, but the quality of his crew plummeted when you got below the shift foremen. He could see where the precious molecular circuitry runs had been ripped out, the entire runs missing. Even with the replacement of the initiator plugs the damn things were still disabled. Without molycircs the things were lumps of metal that had to be hand controlled rather than run by the sophisticated computer interfaces.

 

“How long to get back in operation?”

 

Faslan stared at him as if he’d just heard a dog talk. “Boss, we don’t have enough molycircs in stock to repair this! We have enough to get one and only one machine in operation. And that is still enroute.” He waved toward the coastal base they had set up three years before. “Figure another hour before it gets here, two more to install and test. We’re talking tomorrow. Assuming the bastards don’t do it again tonight.”

 

Santee wanted to scream, but the Construction boss was right. Molycircs didn’t break down, at least not in less than a century or more of constant use. In the construction equipment it should outlive every member of the crew, this job, and maybe thirty more.

 

“What did they do with the molycircs? Eat them?”

 

The construction boss walked around the machine, and as he walked pointed at the ground. The precious filigree of circuitry, all thirty meters of it had been shredded into ten centimeter lengths. Similar trails ran from the other vehicles, headed for the forest. Santee wanted to scream again. A molycirc bundle was built on the nanotech level, and there was no way to replace them except contact the company. Hell, even if he had the factory here it would be quicker to order it from home.

 

“All right, the gloves come off.” He snarled. “Clear these trees out of the construction area. By hand if necessary. Second, pick the smartest guys you have and arm them. I want around the clock security on this site until the hotel is completed. Get more men from the base if you have to.

 

“I’m contacting the company. We need replacement molycircs and a full scale security/combat team to get this back on the road.”

 

He sighed. “Knowing the company, my successor will handle it from there.”

 

He trudged back to the shuttle. All in all it wasn't really that bad a planet. He would have liked to have been here. To see the hotel open, to welcome the first of millions of guests. It was not to be.

 

The workman shifted his shovel, digging at the roots of the tree. It shifted, trying to move away from him, but after a few weeks of dealing with these damn trees, that didn’t bother you anymore. He finished uprooting it, then looked around. No one was watching him so he lifted it out of the ground, setting it on it’s roots. For a moment it sat there apprising itself of situation, then the roots began a rippling motion, moving the tree into the edge of the forest.

 

When the shift ended, the workman boarded the shuttle back to the base. He wasn't considered very bright, and the shovel he had wielded all day was about the most complex tool he was expected to operate. He picked up his meal chit, and went to dinner.

 

One of the supply ships was in, and the crew was at a group of tables. He looked, and spotted the contact. She was a pretty little thing 1.5 meters tall, long hair dyed green, which was the current thing on Coruscant, and her fingers were drumming on the table in tune to the music she was listening to on her headset.

 

Of course, if you knew the old tapper code, what she was beating out was;

TO ME...TO ME...TO ME...

 

He walked over, setting his tray down. “Mind if I join you?” He asked.

 

“Jet off, Mig!” One of the men at the table said. Mig. Migrant/indigent. The people who worked shovels while others flew the stars. He looked away, flushing.

 

He started to stand, but a gentle hand on his wrist stopped him. The girl was looking up, smiling. “No, stay. The planet is beautiful, but it’s so, untamed. It‘s nice to see something that isn‘t covered with moss, you know?” The password was so smooth. He upped her chances of being a professional by several percent.

 

“Cali you want to slum, why not pick up one of the shuttle jockeys?” The first man snarled. “Why pick up someone with a size three head and a size 20 neck?”

 

The workman slowly settled down. “Untamed is right. But that’s what the company is here for, right?” Her eyebrow, unnoticed by her associates, lifted a trifle. She nodded. Sign and counter sign.

 

“So tell me, what do you do?” She asked with a winded eyed innocence that was as well faked as his stupidity. He spun a tale of clearing brush away, and hand grading the sites as the machines did all the real work. He had learned to spin such boring tales for hours from those he worked with. After all, there are only so many ways to describe operating an idiot stick regardless of where.

 

Her eyes glazed after about ten minutes, and he knew her friends had tuned him out after the first five. But he scanned around anyway. The security camera for the mess hall was directly at his back, and no one was watching him. He reached under the table, and her hand took the offered cylinder. He pulled back, then as the table mates began to leave in disgust, he stopped talking.

 

“Sorry, ma’am. I have early shift tomorrow. Hope to see you again.”

 

“No such luck. We’re inbound for home.”

 

“Well maybe you can get me something?”

 

“I can try to have something sent for you if I can contact the next supply ship bound here.”

 

“Some Pipalli. The Echana kind if possible.”

 

Her eyes stayed wide but the tip of her mouth flinched. The code meant some serious trouble coming down, and the need for an urgent response. “I will find a way if at all possible.”

 

“Thanks, ma’am.” He stood, and walked to the refuse slot, dropping tray and scraps into it.

 

Professor Harlan Coor, Professor of Ecology at the University of Coruscant stretched his arms, thanking the body builder father that had taught him that big arms didn’t mean a small head, and went to the barracks.

[Jae Onasi]

Sigh, I love spy stories....

Nice job.