Star Wars: The Sith Resurrection Part VII: A Glimmer of Hope

[Alkonium]

As if on command, Darth Pestilus sent Force Lighting coursing through the blade of his lightsaber, and struck the blade of Tonatius' sword, completely electrifying it, and sending Tonatius to the floor. Kalla was taken aback. Her gambit had backfired horrifically, and she now had to fight the Sith Lord on her own. "You'll pay for that!" She shouted at him, but still holding her ground. This was no time to be reckless.

 

******************

 

"I get it, R4, but we still need to do something about the gas that's still spreading out from this base." Lenatha pointed out, starting to get very annoyed with R4.

[JediMaster12]

R4 continued his beeping while maneuvering to access the terminal. As soon as he made the connection, he popped up the schematics of the virus. It was showing something about it being adaptive but also what looked like to be a complicated protein structure. R4 also pulled up schematics of the ventilation system and showed how vulnerable the room was. He beeped hoping that they would understand.

 

**********

 

Tonatius felt the shock and crumpled to the ground. His senses felt like they had been fried by the twin suns of Tatooine and he grimaced in pain. He saw Kalla start to fight the Sith Lord on her own and began to struggle to his feet, tottering over as he tried to get up. He couldn't leave her alone. I won't leave you Kalla.

 

**********

 

Tavaryn nodded at Alriana. He said, "We're gooing to have to use it in order to get in to the main doors." He then asked the Geonosian, "How far is it to this entrance?"

[CommanderQ]

"The remaing crew are all now in safe locations and my men and I are in auxillary control. Open fire on the power generators when ready."

 

 

Well, that was quick...putting his faith so much in the weapons of our Empire so soon after we were about to destroy him.....he'll be a great admiral yet, thought Velerc.

 

He nodded, and ended the transmission, giving his signal to the Gunnery Commander.

 

"Open fire...I want exact shots only, no collateral damage. We can't afford to miss."

 

"Yes, Grand Admiral, we will not miss."

 

A few seconds later, the booms of the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer's cannons rocked the bridge. Velerc watched silently, his hands forming tight fists as he awaited the result of his plan.

[Alkonium]

"He's right, Lenatha. One wrong move and we're dead." Andorra pointed out.

 

"We have to do something, though. R4, can you procure a pure sample of the virus? We can analyse it and devise a countermeasure later. We'll just have to destroy this place, and make sure that every trace of the virus is incinerated." Lenatha suggested.

 

****************************

 

"You can't win. Even if you kill me, the Jedi will hunt you down, and the Sith will be finished." Kalla pointed out, trying to weaken Pestilus's resolve. She continued to block his savage strikes, but she didn't know how much longer she could last against him.

 

"You think I am alone? We are many, and soon, our Empire shall rise and we shall rule the galaxy once more." Pestilus retorted, relentlessly striking at Kalla.

[JediMaster12]

R4 beeped an affirmation and began scrolling through the directory to pull up the protein maps and downloaded them into his circuitry. He then proceeded to ask the terminal to procure a sample of the virus. It was tricky work trying to convince the computer that he had authorized access. He beeped his concentration while working.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"How far is it to this entrance?"

 

The insectoid alien chittered rapidly. "Not far, Not far at all. We will leave now."

 

The Geonosian turned toward the area of the entrance and quickly took off followed by a large majority of the geonosians leaving a few behind to guard Alriana, Tavaryn and Haruka.

 

ISD Glory

 

Beroc and his men tumbled to the floor as the turbolasers of Velerc's star destroyer cut through what little shields remained and slammed directly into the power generators.

 

The lights on the star destroyer immediatly flickered and went out. In the auxillary control room, consoles began to smoke and fires started all around. Beroc got back to his feet as a few of the remaining auxillary generators through the ship started up and the lights came back on at half-strength.

 

"Damage report!" Beroc shouted. One of his men got to his feet and checked one of the few remaining consoles. "Direct hit to the power generators, weapons and shields are gone and we won't be getting them back anytime soon. Engines are barely online but it looks like the hyperdrive didn't take too much damage. Most of the damage was caused by feedback from the destruction of the power generators. Life support is still online and is being maintained by auxillary generators. Communications are still online."

 

"Open a communications line to Velerc's ship and inform him that it appears that the self-destruct sequence has been disabled."

 

"Yes sir." The stormtrooper said as he opened up the comline. "Admiral Velerc, The strike to our power generators was a success. There was a large amount of feedback damage caused by the strike though. The self-destruct has been disabled and life support is being maintained by auxillary generators."

[JediMaster12]

Tavaryn nodded and watched the eonosian take off. He grinned as if he were going on a particularly good adventure. He bent slightly as if to sprint and then shot off, following the Geonosian.

 

Haruka was amazed and remarked, "I've known Shinigami to be fast but man that beats fast. Makes you wonder if there is Jedi in the blood." He then took off, much slower but still fast enough to keep up with the Geonosians. He called back, "You coming Jedi?"

[Alkonium]

Darth Pestilus' attacks continued to break down Kalla's defenses, and she knew that if she didn't come up with something soon, he'd kill her. Seeing an opportunity, she dodged his attack and managed to regain her footing. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer if she didn't come up with something, so she charged at him, managing to catch him off balance and gain the upper hand. It didn't last long however, as Darth Pestilus was able to exploit her reckless charge, and cut her right arm off at the elbow. As she screamed in pain, he Force Pushed her across the room, then moving in to finish her off. Not one to admit defeat, not even when all seemed lost, she pulled her ligthsaber back to her, and threw it at him, managing to wound him very badly.

 

"Impressive. Even in unendurable agony, you manage to best me. Enjoy your little victory while you can, Jedi." Darth Pestilus told Kalla, limping back to his ship. "Pursue me and you leave her to die." He added, directing that comment at Tonatius.

 

Still weak, Kalla attempted to pull herself closer to Tonatius. "Tonatius, I need you. Now more than ever."

[JediMaster12]

Tonatius was trying to get up but he was still reeling from the effects of the lightning. It was Lady Jun-la who managed to stop Pestilus by sending a Force wave that felt more like a shockwave and sent everyone nearby to the ground. She appeared and said, "Pestilus, leaving so soon?" She using the Neiman form as she formed a defense with her lightsaber in one hand and the family blade in the other.

 

Tonatius managed to slump towards Kalla and tried to help her up. He looked sorry at what happened to her but managed to say, "I thought we were supposed to take him together." He managed a smiled to indicate that it was a joke.

[Alkonium]

"We won, and we survived. That's all that matters right now." Kalla replied, trying to take hold of Tonatius with her remaining hand.

 

As far as they knew, Pestilus was completely and utterly defeated, but he was still confident enough to say, "This isn't over, Jedi. Remember what I told you: the Sith are many, hiding and preparing in the dark places of the Galaxy, where few dare to tread."

 

"We'll be ready for them. You, on the other hand, are going to answer for your crimes." Kalla pointed out to the Sith Lord.

 

At that point, Andorra and Lenatha entered the room. Lenatha, seeing the injuries to Kalla and Tonatius, immediately rushed to their aid. "We managed to extract a pure sample of the virus, but Doctor Pradhes and I agree that this facility needs to be destroyed." Andorra explained.

[CommanderQ]

"Admiral Velerc, The strike to our power generators was a success. There was a large amount of feedback damage caused by the strike though. The self-destruct has been disabled and life support is being maintained by auxillary generators."

 

Velerc gave a sigh of relief, nodding his head in satisfaction. He remained quiet for a few moments, then spoke up.

 

"Admiral, we'll tow your ship into port to begin repairs immediately. For now, get the remainder of your crew and come aboard 'The Death's Head.' We have things to discuss...and after your trial an Empire to rebuild. Can't waste any time."

 

Velerc tipped his cap, "Grand Admiral Velerc, out."

[Chevron 7 locke]

"You coming Jedi?"

 

Alriana looked down at the ground and smiled before starting to run and then began using the force to speed herself up. She passed by Haruka and waved at him before catching up with Tavaryn.

 

"It looks like the Geonosians are already begining their attack." She commented as she began hearing the sounds of Geonosian weapons being fired. "I'm going to go on ahead to see if I can help them with anything."

 

Alriana passed by Tavaryn and soon after arrived at the site of the battle. She looked over and saw something that made her stop. A Geonosian was laying on the ground in bad condition. He was surrounded by dead geonosians who had been killed by blasters.

 

She knelt down next to the badly wounded geonosian. "What happened here? I thought this entrance was hidden!"

 

"Our main force was creating a diversion near the main entrance. All was going to plan when we dispatched a small group to the hidden entrance. The second we got to the hidden entrance they cut us down. They came from above."

 

Alriana slowly looked up and saw what had killed the geonosians. There were three jet troopers with their backs turned to her as they dealt with a few of the remaing geonosians.

 

"Go..." The Geonosian said quietly. "If you can get inside the base and help drive the the destroyers away your name will no longer be one associated with fear and disgust, instead it will be one that will be spoken with honor and trust."

 

Alriana nodded once and quietly entered in the base. The moment she entered she could hear faint sounds of footsteps moving though the tunnels. She reached out through the force and found that the things moving were stormtroopers and that they were heading for a small group of people who were deep in the tunnels.

 

Alriana turned down the tunnel that the footsteps were coming from and ran off in pursuit of them.

 

 

ISD Glory

 

"Admiral, we'll tow your ship into port to begin repairs immediately. For now, get the remainder of your crew and come aboard 'The Death's Head.' We have things to discuss...and after your trial an Empire to rebuild. Can't waste any time."

 

Beroc nodded once and turned to the bridge crew. "You heard the Grand Admiral. Inform all remaining crew that they are to get to the shuttles and head for the Death's Head. As soon as everyone is evacuated we will be heading over there ourselves."

 

"Yes Admiral."

[JediMaster12]

"And because you hide Pestilus, you are nothing but a coward," Jun-la retorted as she inched forward, swinging her blades temptingly.

 

***********

 

Tavaryn managed to keep an easy distance behind Alriana. When they got to the entrance, he saw the wounded Geonosian and his heart became heavy. He saw the jet troopers and in quick retaliation he sent his hat flying towards them, disabling their packs and sent them flying in all directions, to their deaths. He caught his hat in time to see Alriana move into the caves. He caught up with her and said, "Wait, listen."

 

Having been trained to use his senses fully, he could hear the movements of the combatants...and something else. Someone or somethign was inching their way forward to sneak up on their companions. He looked around and saw a tunnel above them. He pointed and said, "There. We must get him before he reaches the others," and with enough energy, leaped up. "Come on Alriana," and he held his hand out.

[Alkonium]

"The coward survives. You've already defeated me, there's no need for insults." Pestilus replied. "Where you're going, insults are going to be the least of your problems." Lenatha spat at him, before turning to Jun-la. "We need to contact the RSS Endeavour as soon as possible. I don't have the cybernetic equipment Kalla's going to need." She pointed out.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Come on Alriana,"

 

Alriana grabbed the hand that was offered to her and then pulled herself up and then stood next to Tavaryn while reaching out through the force to try and locate the source of the thing that was sneaking up on the others.

 

"I'm not going to lie Tavaryn, I can't seem to focus in on the enemy. It's almost as if they are jamming my force senses.

 

"Maybe you'll have better luck with them."

[JediMaster12]

Jun-la looked at Pestilus and spared a glance to Kalla. She retorted, "Cowardice does not equate survival." It was not safe to disengage especially around a dangerous Force user like Pestilus.

 

Tonatius heard Lenatha and replied, "On it." After a few tries and static he said, "Can't hail them. We're in too deep."

 

**********

 

"Then don't use the Force. Use your other senses," Tavaryn replied as he started forward, reaching out with his other senses. It sounded like he was insensitive when he said it but having spent his entire life learning about the other things of his people, his take on the Force was of casual interest.

 

"Listen. I can hear voices," he said.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Listen. I can hear voices,"

 

Alriana turned toward the direction where Tavaryn was looking and took a deep breath before attempting to listen.

 

The voices...I can hear them as well. Barely

 

"Are all squads in position?" We need to make sure that all squads are ready for the ambush."

 

"All squads are in position. Awaitng further orders."

 

Alriana turned to Tavaryn and grabbed her lightsaber. "I think now would be a good time to strike. if they have something that can disrupt the force around them then that makes them dangerous foes indeed."

[JediMaster12]

Tavaryn put his hand on her hand, the one that held the lightsaber indicating that she should not have it out yet. "Patience." He then began to move forward while motioning that Alriana should stay put. His pace was steady and soundless as he crept forward until the tunnel opened into a cavern.

 

He looked down and saw the owners of the voices. They were soldiers of some kind but he wasn't sure. He kneeled to be more secure in the shadows while he listened to what he supposed was the commander give out the assignments. They are planning to ambush someone but who?

 

To Tavaryn, they looked like Imperials and a brief flash of childhood fear entered his mind. He remembered those days of running and hiding and feeling scared. He felt the old fear pulse through him as he continued to listen unaware that his fear was traveling through the Force and could be felt by Alriana.

[Alkonium]

Thinking quickly, Lenatha suggested, "I have an idea, but I need you to get her arm in stasis, and keep the wound from becoming infected. The Imperials might have what I need in their medbay." She then made her way back through the facility, searching for the medbay. Finding it, she went to the main computer and brought up the inventory. Narrowing her search down to cybernetics, she soon found exactly what she needed. Perfect! She thought to herself, retrieving the device.

[JediMaster12]

Tonatius nodded and held Kalla gently. Using the few force powers he knew, he put the injured limb in stasis while trying to put the paraphenalia Lenatha required on. He leaned close and spoke soothing words in Avalonian thinking that Kalla wouldn't hear them.

 

Meanwhile Jun-la was circling Pestilus waiting for him to attack. She said, "You say you are defeated yet you remain. Bear you some grudge against someone?"

[Alkonium]

"I am badly wounded and surrounded. If I were to flee, I wouldn't get ten metres before you caught me again. I willingly submit myself to you as your prisoner." Pestilus explained.

 

Lenatha quickly made it back, carrying with her a ring about the diameter of Kalla's arm at the wound. Seeing that Kalla had lost consciousness, she gestured for Tonatius to let her work. She placed the device at the wound, and then she took Kalla's severed arm and placed it at the other end of the device. She then activated it, causing it to latch the severed arm back on. "It's called a regenerative clamp. I'll explain more when she wakes up." She told Tonatius.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Alriana could feel Tavaryn's fear through the force and she turned to look at him.

 

"It's alright." She said so the solders below couldn't hear. "It's not like they have lightsabers or anything. They shouldn't pose much of a challenge." She said as she continued listening to the solders below.

 

"Have the explosives been planted? We need to make sure none of them escape alive."

 

"Yes sir. The explosives should distract them long enough so that we can gun them down when they come out. Jedi aren't that difficult to kill, you just need to select the right equipment."

 

Jedi?

 

Alriana reached out through the force, past the solders and further into the base. In one of the rooms she could feel a few people and in the same room she could feel...darkness. Something with a strong darkside aura was in there."

 

She turned to Tavaryn and motioned toward the troopers. "He said something about Jedi. I can sense that there are lifeforms deeper in the base along with something that has a strong darkside aura. I can't sense any combat going on though. it may be a good idea to warn whoever is in that room that there are solders waiting for them."

[JediMaster12]

It was startling to hear Alriana but comforting, yet Tavaryn still felt the trembles of fear. "Soldiers kill."

 

He listened to the discussion. His eyes widened when he heard about them gunning down Jedi. The memories came back when he and his mother had been close to being killed by the white masked men. He remembered the cruel voice of the commander giving the order to fire.

 

He shut his eyes and then opened them and tried to focus. When Alriana mentioned the trap in the room, he reached out and immediately sensed who was in the room. It was like a bad memory coming to life now. He nodded and replied, "We have to find another way in and out. I cannot let it happen again."

 

**********

 

Tonatius nodded and cleared the way for Pradhes to work. R4 managed to come along and warbled something. It sounded like a line of Avalonian poetry. It didn't mean much to him for he was cradling Kalla's head and was whispering the soothing anecdotes his mother used to say.

 

Jun-la heard the warble of the droid and responded with a line of her own. It was R4's cue to place the charges that she had given him earlier. They were special detonators designed to wipe out viruses. They were also linked to the charges Matton set in the main facility before they met up with the others. She looked at Pestilus and relied, "You offer yourself freely as a prisoner yet it is the way of the Sith to fight until they are dead. Are you not a Sith?"

[Alkonium]

"I'm of no use to your Republic, or the Undying Sith Empire dead. Or do you want to kill me, but can't bring yourself execute a prisoner? How unbecoming of a Jedi." Pestilus replied. "How soon until the charges are ready?" Andorra inquired.

[JediMaster12]

"I don't kill my prisoners either," Jun-la replied, "Yet when I meet someone whose ways are of lies, deceit and creating mistrust, I am wary. Surely one such as you can understand that."

 

R4 meanwhile was executing the order that his mistress had given him. He beeped something at Andorra to tell her about the charges.