A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away . . .
Shadows in the Force
Episode I: Unforseen Future
The galaxy is finally at peace! More than a decade has passed since the Seven Moon War which lasted more than 20 years. The government, however, was destroyed by the horrific war but at the end of the battles, a single unifying government, called The United Galactic Republic, was formed with its capital on the planet of Dantooine. Central to the government are the Jedi who with hundreds of Jedi Knights, Masters, and Padawans have become, once again, the keepers of peace.
Recently, the Republic Senate has become concerned over the disappearance of two of its survey teams on the planet of Denon. In both instances the teams failed to make contact and disappeared without any trace. The leaders on Denon have no explanation and are as baffled by the disappearances as the Senate. In response to these turn of events, the Senate has requested the assistance of the Jedi Council where two Jedi Knights have been summoned to be briefed on their assignment . . . .
*****
Plasmafire blossomed across the front viewport of Masimo Hoceto's EJ2-Wing starfighter. He was only mildly concerned. It would take more than that to bring down his shields. Nowadays Jedi, and many other branches of the government, were supplied with far superior weaponary and shielding compared to a bunch of smugglers. They zipped in towards him, their old New Republic X-Wings spitting laser fire as they came head on, turning at the last moment to regroup for another attack run. However the attack was useless. Already Masimo had taken down 5 of the smuggler ships on route to the main frigate. And if they didn't surrender now none would remain. Masimo flicked a switch within the cockpit, opening a channel to the smugglers radio band.
"This is Masimo Hoceto of the United Galactic Republic."
He was hoping that this would be enough to have them stand down. Apparently not judging by the angry swarm that had now reformed to his port.
"Look, I am not looking for a fight. But this route is a restricted area and we know full well that the glitterstim you carry aboard your frigate is illegal. Now cease fire and slave your navigation console to mine and I will be happy to escort you to the nearest..."
Alarm claxons sounded out before he could finish. An old proton torpedo had locked on to his craft and was veering in at high speed. Masimo grabbed at the control stick and yanked to starboard. The spin managed to throw some of his green tendrils into his face, obscuring his view of where the torpedo had gone. No matter. His tracking console had a direct sight on it and was linking to the rear missiles.
"Got ya!" Masimo hissed with delight, and he let loose one of the rear missels.
It ripped free of the ship and closed in on the smugglers torpedo. There was no chance for it to get away and the light of the collision bled out from behind. Masimo knew that it had been destroyed.
"Enough talk," Masimo said to no one but himself. "Now we finish this."
The 7 remaining X-Wings had lost any sense of formation and were now just floating about doing their own thing. This only made Masimo's job easier. He cruised in and ripped one of the X-Wings open with some standard laser fire and danced in behind another. Showing his Jedi side Masimo decided not to toy with the fighter and instead sheered its port wing, allowing it to sink to the planet below. At least there the pilot would live and could find some way to get home, if indeed this smuggler had a home. The EJ2-Wing ship cruised over the smugglers frigate hotly pursued by 3 more X-Wings. However Masimo had a plan, and hopefully these guys hadn't heard about it. He dropped one of his fighters compliment of "shadow bombs". They were regulation proton torpedoes, similar to the ones his enemy were letting loose at him. The only difference was that the electronic guidance system at the rear of the torpedoe had been replaced with additional explosive. When in combat a Jedi simply needed to nudge and place the "bomb" where need be and detonate it with a flick of the Force. It was a highly effective tactic as enemy craft were unable to detect its prescence, as was the case here.
The X-Wings came blasting over the back of the frigate without any precautions, leading them directly into a 3-way vortex of explosives and exploding ship parts.
Satisfied that they had all been destroyed Masimo whipped around and back over the smuggler frigate to engage the remaining fighters. But to Masimo's surprise they were turning away and fleeing.
He opened an open channel and managed to pick up their conversation.
"Sithspawn to all of you. I dont get paid enough to sit here and be whipped out by a Jedi pilot."
Now that was interesting. They knew from his tactics that they had been fighting a Jedi pilot.
"Blast you!" Came the frigate captains response. The channel flicked suddenly but Masimo was still connected to the frigate captains voice.
"Very well done... Jedi. You have won the day. Our technicians are slaving the nav-console to yours."
"Thankyou very much." Masimo closed down the radio channel and sat back in the pilots chair.
"Another one of them days."
Just then an encrypted message washed over his main screen.
[PRIORITY 001: ENCRYPTED MESSAGE.
Please report to the Jedi Council Chamber for briefing and new assignement. END TRANSMISSION/09891]
It was a cool, brisk morning in the town of Narmle. The town, which had historically been one of the main cities on the moon world of Rori, looked completely different this day than it had during the days of the Republic or even the Empire. The Seven Moon War had devastated many cities, but Narmle was hit the hardest being completely and utterly destroyed. All that was left of the once majestic city was a small portion of wall that had once been part of the cities starport. This lone wall was the last remaining erect object in the city after the wall and, has thus, been memorialized.
Although this was not the first time that Trilan Si had been back to the city where his adoptive father had found him, the sensation never changed. Despite the Jedi calming techniques he employed, Trilan couldn't help but feel a bit anxious whenever he had entered this city. All he remembers is feeling lost and hurt before he was found by Olen Si. His life prior to that still remains a mystery to him. "Oh well, it doesn't much matter. My life began the day my father found me" he said to himself and continued walking down the streets as dawn began to break.
He entered the newly rebuilt starport and made his way over to his W-wing style fighter where his R2 unit was warbling off a message. "I know R7 I got your message and came as fast as I could . . ." Trilan said as the little droid continued to bleep and buzz. "Well put it through" the Zabrak said with a smile when the hologram of Olen Si, the Twi'lek who had saved his life and raised him as his son, appeared before him, "Jedi Knight Trilan Si, the Jedi Council requests your presence at the Temple." The hologram paused and then the face of Olen Si, which had been stone cold during his presentation was softened by a smile, "And do be careful, my son, I know how hard being in that city can be for you."
With that the hologram disappeared and Trilan looked at his R2 unit and was about to speak when he heard a whisper, "he's not your father!" Instinctively Trilan reached for his lightsaber and scanned the hangar bay. He could neither see nor feel anyone around in the force. Clipping his lightsaber back to his belt and shaking his head, he looked at R7 and said, "Prepare for take off R7, the sooner I get out of here the better."
Masimo had had a lot of time to think about his time as a Jedi on route to the Jedi Council from the Outer Rim Territories. His smuggling mission had gone well, with a shipment of spice sitting safely at a Republic storage post.
But this didn't necessarily mean it was a complete success, what with the death of a few pirates who wouldn't obey the law.
Suddenly Masimo didn't feel much like a Jedi. The Jedi were supposed to preserve life at all costs. He had taken lives for the sake of a few tons of spice.
And the mission itself, one of many similar missions Masimo had taken on since becoming a Knight of the Jedi Order, was lacking in the ambitions he had supplanted on himself from a young age.
He just wished that something would come along that could change his perspective on where he thought his future as a Jedi lay.
Masimo suddenly remembered the encrypted message he had been sent. It had been a very mysterious message, even for a Jedi to send.
It held no inkling as to what the mission might be, and the manner in which it was deployed, under Republic enryption, sent rise that it may be of some importance.
He snapped out of his thoughts and reviewed his surroundings.
His EJ2-Wing was being slowly directed in to the Jedi Council hangar bay by the compounds navigation computer.
As the ships view ducked under the hangar bays roof a new scene played itself out.
The hangar bay was a bustle of activity, with droids, security personell and repair crews going about their routines.
As well as that were the Jedi preparing to leave or returning from their respective missions, running power up or power down sequences respectively.
A few of the faces he noticed, and Masimo nodded in their direction. Many of the others he did not, but he showed his respects nonetheless.
He clambered down the wing of his fighter and was greeted by an R5 droid.
"Just run the normal procedures, but dont tamper with the moisture sensors."
The droid tootled an affirmative and scooted off to its task.
If there was one thing Masimo did not like it was the heat.
Being a Nautolon had its drawbacks, especially being a Nautolon with Force sensitivity.
They were very sensitive to changes in the atmosphere, even to the point where a change in someones attitude could be sensed by the pheromones in the air.
A Nautolons tendrils were almost an extension of their normal bodily senses.
He made his way out of the hangar bay and into the main auditorium, heading in the direction of the Council chambers.
Masimo would be hearing of his new mission very soon.
As Trilan took his ship out of hyperspace he couldn't help but remember the voice he heard in his head prior to lift off. "Olen is my father, blood relation or not" he said to himself. And not only did he say it but he meant it with his whole heart. "So why did I have those thoughts" he said to himself but shook it off.
He began his descent to the Jedi Temple and landed in the hangar bay. It was especially busy that day with several knights and padawans making their way to or from their ships. After sharing a few greetings with his fellow Jedi and friends Trilan began to make his way to the Jedi Council chambers.
As Trilan entered the chambers he was shocked by what he had seen. Normally, every member of the Jedi Council was present when a session like this was called but all that were present were his father, Olen Si, and one of his fellow Jedi Council members a Falleen by the name of Trulner. Also standing in the center of the room was a Nautolon he was unfamiliar with. As he walked further into the chambers, he bowed to each of the Jedi Masters and shared a nod of respect with his fellow Jedi Knight.
Trulner began, "Trilan Si this is Masimo Hoceto."
"Pleased to meet you" Trilan said with yet another nod.
"The reason we have brought both of you here" Trulner continued, "and why this is not an official meeting of the council is because we have a mission of the utmost importance for the both of you. This mission is strictly off the records and we are counting on your discretion with this mission."
Both of the Jedi Knights nodded but said nothing. The Jedi Masters went on to explain the information the government had sent to them. After a few minutes of silence Trilan spoke up, "These events are most interesting. Do we have any idea what the source of the trouble may be?"
"Negative and that is what distresses us. We have been at peace for some time now and do not want to return to any major conflict. Trilan, Masimo the council authorizes you to do whatever you need to do to find out what the source of this distress is and contain it. That will be all" the Falleen said with a nod and exited the chambers.
Trilan and Masimo both looked at the datapads that they were handed which contained all known facts about their mission. "I have a bad feeling about this" Trilan said under his breath.
Masimo, half excited to have a real mission, made arrangements with Trilan to meet in the hangar bay in one standard hour and then departed the chambers as well leaving Olen and Trilan alone. "You will do fine my son, just let the force guide you" Olen offered and then looked at his son, "Something is troubling you. What is it?"
Trilan was half tempted to tell his father about the voice he had heard but instead chalked it up to bad memories, "Its just Narmle I think. That place still creeps me out."
"I know that was a traumatic experience for you, my son, but you must learn to control your feelings better" Olen said stiffly but then smiled and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "I am very proud of you and was happy when the council selected you without my influence for this mission. You are becoming one of the more respected Knights and I couldn't be more proud."
The two then walked out of the chambers.
* * * *
Throughout the history of the universe, one thing had remained constant. One tiny dot on the galactic map had always shown brighter and more clearly than any other in the history of galaxy. Wheither under the rule of an oppressive Empire, a rightous Republic, or terraforming Outsiders...Coruscant was the hub of all universal powers.
Jaxyon Bual had spent majority of his life on the planet, although it looked a lot different now than what the holo-vids showed it looked like 50 years ago. Gone were the grand towers and skyscrappers, obriting skyhooks, and never-ending traffic of hover-cars. The Yuuzhan Vong had made sure that Coruscant would at the least carry their scare with them as long as the planet remained inhabbitale.
These days, Coruscant looked more like a picture of Yavin 4, though with a lot more buildings. A few bigger buildings had been built over the years, but not without the presence of Vong-life clinging to it. The jungle/city that was now Coruscant, while half alien to most, did have an exotic beauty to it.
For Jaxyon, it was just simply home.
At least it use to be before his whole ordeal with the Jedi Order.
These days, Coruscant always seemed more of a pit-stop than it ever did his home, and all because of one fateful decision to send him to Dantooine.
Training hadnt come easy for Jaxyon, his force sensitive was small and obsoleat compared to any other Jedi's in the galaxy. He had struggled in every form of training the Masters of Dantooine had put him through minus one, and the one area of his that he did have a slight better attunment just caused people to distance themselves from him even more.
Mind control. Mental domination...that was Jaxyon's strongest talent. What he lacked in everything else Jedi can do he made up with sheer mental power. But this made people afraid of him, afraid to be around him, because Jaxyon could influence even the most powerful of the Jedi Masters one way or another. He knew this because of the tests they had put him through to learn the reaches of his power.
Now Jaxyon did everything in his power to push down his small bit of Force connection to the point of non-exsistance. He had studied the teachings of old Masters like Jacen Solo who talked about shrinking yourself down in the Force...to be a void. Jaxyon knew how to shrink himself in the Force, and that seem to make life a whole lot simplier.
The only thing that could identify him as a Jedi anymore was the lightsaber he constantly carried, and he kept that only because of the trials and difficulties he had building it. His lightsaber was more a symbol of why not to be a Jedi; he could never part with it.
Life for Jaxyon was easier now. Working as a inter-planetary diplomat, he went around the galaxy trying to keep peace the ultimate solution to all problems. His connection with the Jedi all but cut. It was hard to be the diplomat he was and not use his gift of mind control to convince people to see his way. Every time an agruement started there was always that voice inside him that told him that just one time would be fine, one display of your powers.
But he kept it in check.
Jaxyon brought himself back into the now, and remembered he was standing in front of his superior with new orders being given.
"And so can you be on your way as soon as possible?"
"What? I'm sorry, didnt catch that last part," Jaxyon said shaking his thoughts from his head.
"The Rebellion on Denon. We need someone to go there and see what is going on, and perhaps to make contact with these Rebels."
"Right sure, the rebels on Denon," Jaxyon said nodding. "Sounds fine. I havnt been to Denon in a few years now."
"This isnt a pleasure cruz Jaxyon. These rebels seem serious. Supposedly to the point they have kidnapped a few of the local leaders and demanded they be listened to."
"Alright, serious it is then," Jaxyon said, his face turning to stone. "I will be on my way there within the week. Contact Denon and let them know I am coming."
With a sharp bow, Jaxyon departed the office and walked out into the crisp and fresh air that was Coruscant.
"Time to go talk to some Rebels," Jaxyon said as he made his way to his quaters.
* * * *
The hour was going slowly, maybe due to Masimo’s excitement at being sent on a real mission.
Having checked over his ship, and made several changes that the hangar bay droids neglected, Masimo decided to get in some quiet time for himself.
It was important for a Jedi to spend time to themselves, to silence all thoughts and emotions and focus their minds on the body.
But during this 20 minute session or so he felt the excitement he had previously turning into a small knot of fear. This mission had been “strictly off the record” which gave rise to a number of possibilities.
The Masters present had not given specific details as to what they would encounter, another reason to be mindful of his surroundings and not let his brashness take over.
He shook all dangerous thoughts from his head, deciding to go at it one step at a time.
“And that would be the right thing to do young one.” The voice broke through his thoughts and awakened Masimo from his trance.
Looking up from his crouched position on the floor of the room Masimo stared into a face he knew all too well.
Quickly standing, and providing a small bow he greeted his former master. “Master Herotio, I am glad to see you once more.”
Master Herotio had taken on Masimo at a very young age, younger than most Jedi would normally. His human face had aged only slightly, but his warm grin was still the same.
“You are troubled young one,” Herotio said as he walked around Masimo in a circular fashion, sizing up his former apprentice. “This mission is important, very important it would seem. Your greatest mission to date.”
Masimo looked him gravely in the eyes. “It is my master, although the details are thin.”
Herotio put a finger to his chin, stroking his slight stubble. “Then your thinking would be correct. Lose those young thoughts of yours and take this one step at a time. You will be fine.”
Masimo bowed. “As ever Master your words are comforting.”
Herotio embraced his former padawan. “Now, do you have time for some caf?”
“I do Master. I am meeting a Jedi by the name of Trilan within the hour.”
Herotio stopped short of the door making Masimo to turn and ponder what was wrong.
“Master?”
“Watch out for that Trilan!” Herotio spoke.
Masimo’s puzzled face replied. “Why?”
“Because he is wiser than you!”
The pair broke into laughter and headed for the refreshments room.
After parting with his father, Trilan made his way to the meditation room where he proceeded to clear his thoughts. Trilan knew that he needed to focus completely on the mission and hand and decided to take this opportunity to meditate.
He hadn't been more than a few minutes into his meditation when he heard the voice that came to his mind earlier that day on Rori. It continued to remind him that Olen was not his father. "Why am I having these thoughts?" Trilan thought to himself and tried to delve deeper into the force . As he did so, the voice became stronger and louder. It was saying, "You don't belong there. You don't belong with them. You need to take your rightful place."
The phrases kept repeating themselves and then suddenly he had a vision. It was a vision of himself, dressed completely in black holding a red lightsaber. The only other thing different about himself was his facial tattoe. In his vision he had a deep black tattoe that covered his eyes, nose, and face which was different than the one he had now.
As he awoke from his meditation he was drenched with sweat that soaked through his shirt. Trilan then realized that he was late in meeting Masimo to start their mission.
* * * *
In the beginning there was the Force, and only the Force. The Force gave way to the universe and all its vastness, spreading out its "arms" to engulf all that would be. Then there was life, and life was the embodiment of the Force, and the Force was life. Life weathers and dies, however the Force continues on, greater than death...for death is the Force as well. Anything through the Force is possible, for life and death are part of the same thing.
And so it was through this understanding that Dizum came to be.
The creature known as Dizum and spent years contemplating these very thoughts on the very essence of the Force, though he felt no real connection to the mystical aura that was the Force.
But one need not to feel the Force to know its there. Dizum knew, for Dizum would not be alive if the Force had not been real.
And while the existence of the creature known as Dizum seemed complex and twisted in itself, there was nothing more simple in the universe. The Force was with him. What Dizum choose to do with this existence was the only choice he had been given in life, and that decision was made by his primal instincts.
Survival in a universe that didnt understand him, and feared him.
Fear was his weapon, fear was what he thrived on. It was beings' fear that allowed Dizum to live on, to live throughout the ages.
Dizum was evil.
Tossing the now useless body to the floor, Dizum observed the carnage that he had created.
He had just killed an entire household of humans, some adults some children...and he felt no pity...no remorse.
He never did.
He placed the hood to his cloak over his head and took the mask that was in his cloak pocket and placed it over his face. His appearence drew too much unwanted stares and questions.
The particular family he had just butchered had been merely a means to an end. Their deaths would serve enough purpose to bring about what he wanted; as would the small Rebellion that had started on the world of Denon...the world he stood upon right now.
Instincts drove him ever onward, the will to survive and feed himself over weighing everything else.
Vanishing out the front door of the family's house, Dizum disappeared into the night.
* * * *
"Jedi! You have got to be kidding me! Jedi are going to be there as well!?" shouted Jaxyon, his fist slamming down onto the desk. "It is not necessary for the Jedi to meddle in this affair, it is a diplomatic dispute only, their presence there will only thicken the tension."
"Your animosity towards the Jedi is duly noted Jaxyon," said the man in front of him, the most powerful man in the universe no less...the one and only Chancellor Verie Fith. "But it was my belief that they will be needed there if things dont go as smoothly as they could."
"No doubt Chancellor, your support of the Jedi has been duly noted as well...as if you even needed to let it be known," Jaxyon said, trying to keep his tone civil with the Chancellor.
"My family's history with the Jedi is of no concern here. I feel that Jedi would be needed on this mission weather i liked them or not."
"You know my history with them Verie," Jaxyon said in a low tone, not in anger, but more of sadness. "You know what happened while I was there."
"I know Jaxyon. How long have we been friends? Since birth perhaps?" Verie said with a smile. "But as Chancellor I make this decision on behalf of the worlds that are under this government, I can not let my friendship with you force me into sending less people than I feel necessary to complete this mission. Hopefully you wont even run into the Jedi while on Denon, I informed the Jedi Council on Dantooine that I was sending a Government Official, but I did not give them your name. Just do what you do, and let the Jedi do what it is they do, and you probably wont even see them. Do that 'shrinking' thing you have told me about."
"There isnt a time Im awake that Im not," Jaxyon sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. This was his gift...his curse.
"Go my friend, go do what you do best," Verie said hugging his childhood friend.
The two said bye and parted, Jaxyon heading to his ship
* * * *
Masimo left Master Herotio at the refreshments room and made his way back to the hangar.
He was greeted by the technician/ mechanic who was working on getting Masimo’s EJ2-Wing into the hold of the freighter they would be using on this mission.
Masimo didn’t want to part with the ship, and his new-found judgement about the mission gave him more reason to take it along.
“All ready to go Master Masimo.” The technician gave Masimo a small salute.
Masimo bowed in return. “That’s done, now where is that Trilan?”
On cue Trilan entered the hangar bay.
“Sorry for my late arrival.” Trilan said, bowing.
Once again Masimo returned the gesture with a bow of his own. “No need to worry, we are ready to leave.”
The two made their way to the bridge of the freighter, Masimo taking up the copilots chair, Trilan the pilots seat.
Trilan starpped himself and started the pre-flight check.
Masimo also scanned the controls and made sure all was good on his side of things.
"We are ready to go." Trilan said.
Masimo smiled in his direction. "Then lets do it."
The ship launched out the hangar bay of the temple, hurtling into space, and within minutes they were cruising into hyperspace.
The tunnel of Hyperspace dissipated as they flew into Denons gravity field.
Trilan immediatley took the controls and began a smooth course to the planet.
The planet Denon was a world not so disimilar to Coruscant prior to its fall and reshaping at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong. Its surface was littered with cities, clearly visible from out of space.
Within minutes an approach vector was punched through to the Jedi's freighter and Trilan guided it in.
As they neared they could see that the city they were being led to. It's towering skyscrapers were almost intimidating and the surface looked like a bustle of activity.
The space port was soon in view and the ship was piloted into dock 3217.
"Well, at least they let us land." Masimo jokingly said.
Trilan gave a small grin, the Zabrak half concentrating on his post flight shutdown and half taking in his surroundings.
"Well then, lets meet the locals."
Trilan hit the switch to lower the ramp of the ship and he and Masimo proceeded to exit. As they did so a group of officials came to greet them, a human and 2 Ithorians. "Welcome to Denon Master Jedi" the taller of the two Ithorians, a male, said. "I am Mayor Krizzloughi of the first district of Denon" the male Ithorian continued.
"I am Trilan Si and this is Masimo" Trilan said as he and his fellow Jedi bowed out of respect to the trio. "We are anxious to hear about the two survey teams that seem to have disappeared" Masimo stated as he bowed.
"Survey teams?" the human male said quizically? "We have not had survey teams on this planet in years. There is no need to survey this planet, we are quite well aware of its resources."
Masimo looked at Trilan with a wrinkled brow and began to say something back to the human when Trilan interrupted, "I apologize sir, it has been a long flight but we are anxious to for your briefing but would you mind if we took an opportunity to freshen up from our journey first?"
"Not at all" the man responded, "And I apologize for my rudeness as I have failed to introduce myself. I am Senator Bar Salus. The Chancellor himself told me that he was sending you on his behalf in addition to his official." The senator paused and gently pointed to the Ithorian female who accompanied him and the the Mayor. "This is Dutchess Philorgen, she will escort you to the suite we have prepared for you. I trust that you will find it comfortable."
"Thank you Senator, one question though. Has the official the Chancellor sent arrived yet? We would be interested in meeting with him when he arrives" Trilan said as he began following the Dutchess and the Senator.
"Yes, he actually arrived an hour before the two of you came. However, I'm not sure where he has gone as of now. He declined our offer for a suite similiar to the one we have for you instead saying he already had arrangements. He also said that he would contact me when he was ready to breif me on what he has discovered" the Senator answered.
"Senator, which official did the Chancellor send?" Masimo asked. In response the Senator stopped and looked at the two Jedi puzzedly, "You know, I can't remember his name or for that matter what he looked like. All I remember is that I greeted him the same way I did the two of you and that we spoke about the recent turn of events on the planet and he was gone."
"Its been that kind of day, Senator" Trilan said with a polite smile. "We shall reconvene in an hour with you in your office if that is alright and we shall talk about those recent turn of events."
"Yes, of course" the slightly overweight senator said still looking puzzeled about not remembering his earlier interaction with the official.
Trilan and Masimo followed the Dutchess to their suite and after bowing politely to their host she took her leave. "Something doesn't feel right about this Trilan" Masimo said as he began looking around the suite looking for listening devices. "Why was the senator acting all weird and why is he denying that there were survey teams that disappeared here? The briefing from the Senate distinctly said that two survey teams were sent to this planet by the Senate and that they disappeared without a trace. Now he says they don't need survey teams on this planet! Doesn't that seem like a rehearsed answer?"
"Actually it does seem like an answer that was rehearsed or one that he was told to say" Trilan said looking around quietly.
"What do you mean?" Masimo said, "Do you think the Senator is part of the disturbance?"
"Not sure, its too early to tell but did you get that sensation when we first landed on the planet?" Trilan answered.
"I'm not sure what you are talking about" Masimo said looking at his fellow Jedi with a wrinkled brow.
"It might be nothing, but when we landed a sensed something in the force. Its unlike anything I've sensed before and the strange part was that as soon as I began sensing it, it disappeared. Almost as if it was hiding from me. I'm not sure, but I will agree with you in that something doesn't feel right here. Not all is as it seems" Trilan said as he knelt down on the floor.
Masimo looked up from the datapad he was reviewing, "There is nothing in the briefing from the council that talked about a government official accompanying us or any other activity on the planet."
With his eyes closed, kneeling on the floor Trilan responded, "The senator spoke of a 'recent turn of events' and I do wonder what he meant by that."
"Well let's go find out!" Masimo said anxiously.
"We said we would meet him in an hour. I plan on using this time to meditate and see if I can sense anything through the force" Trilan said as he began opening himself up to the force.
Masimo frowned a bit for he yearned for action, but he knew Trilan was right so he too began meditating on the conversation with the senator.
As he opened himself up to the force, Trilan began hearing voices and having visions. "He's not your father!" echoed in his mind. This time louder and more dominant than any of the other voices he had heard before. It repeated itself over and over again. He then saw that same image of himself that he had seen back on Dantooine. It was his face, albeit with a different facial tattoe and he looked a few years older, but it was otherwise the spitting image of himself. As the visions and voices grew stronger he could see the vision of his facing as being the one who was uttering, "he is not your father!" Trilan began sweating and was half tempted to end his meditation but he knew that this was something he had to experiences.
After a few minutes, the voices died down and the image of his altered self also disappeared. They were instead replaced with the images of humans, all dead. The images were of adults and children alike and it looked like they had been brutally murdered. And there in the room stood a lone figure. One he could not see for it was masked and covered with a cloak but it was obviously the murderer. That was all he could see when the images vanished.
Now all Trilan was left with was the vision of a vast darkness in his meditation. Instead of abandoning it, Trilan stayed with it for a while. He searched this vastness for something, anything. For several minutes, what seemed like hours, he came up with nothing. But . . . Just when he felt like there was nothing to sense he caught a glimpse of something. Something so faint that most would not notice it but there it was. He sensed a presence--a presence in the force. As he approached this presence it disappeared completely as if hiding. And then the nothingness returned.
Trilan opened his eyes, "There is at least one other Jedi on this planet and whoever it is, he doesn't want us to know he's here and I bet he knows more about what is going on than we do."
The Jedi were here!
That much Jaxyon could already tell, having to withdraw every part of himself from the Force, his presence a void of nothingness. He would not let himself slip again on his Force masking, they would not sense him again.
Night had come to Denon now and with it brought rain clouds from the south. Jaxyon's first night on Denon, and already dark clouds hung overhead...not a good sign for things to come. While Jaxyon was no Jedi, he knew when the Force was speaking to him, even without his connection open.
He was just glad he had beaten the Jedi here, now he wouldnt have to worry about them recognizing him. Jaxyon had quickly bought domestic clothes and slipped amoung the populas to judge their morale. This was always Jaxyon's first step in identifying possible rebellion rings, distrust amoung the locals.
Lightning clashed overhead and a loud clap of thunder announced that the storm had indeed arrived. No later than that did a heavy layer of rain start to come down. Pulling out his emergency cloak, Jaxyon threw the dark blue cloak around him and walked through the rain like any normal citizen of Denon might. Walking past a shop that seemed to be displaying and selling holovid players, Jaxyon took a chance and went inside.
Quickly telling a service droid that approached he just wanted to look around, Jaxyon walked through the store...looking but not looking at the same time. Judging people, their demeanor, their moods, their attitudes...anything that might be of intrest.
Then sound caught Jaxyon's ears and he turned to face a holovid player.
"Denon meteorologists are saying that this could be the worst set of storms to have formed in over 10 years. The storm cells keep mass reproducing to the south and pushing north on the summer currents. They are predicting that this storm cell could last as long as a week and a half, so the beings of this district of Denon better keep their rain gear handy."
'Perfect,' Jaxyon thought to himself with heavy sarcasm. 'That will make things easier now wont it.'
Jaxyon left the store and wondered a small area of the city for another hour before he finally headed back to the small room he had rented for his time here. He didnt want to be around the capital when the Jedi started snooping around with their big noses, so he used a false idenity and rented a small place.
Besides, his mission was to find out more about these possible rebels and deal with them, let the Jedi take came of the bureaucrats; Jaxyon had plenty of experience with that anyways. It had been a while since he had a good mission where he could really get his hands dirty like this.
He didnt need his Force connection though for this mission to give him a bad feeling though. There was something on Denon that much was clear to him, he just didnt know what. It felt to large and dark to be a simple rebellion, but again he couldnt possibly know what.
He would get to the bottom of it though...Jaxyon always did.
To say that Dizum didnt have a Force connection wouldnt be telling the whole truth.
All life has a connection to the Force, some beings are just in touch with that connection while others are not. Dizum would be the medium ground to this. Almost like the vornskrs native to Myrkr, Dizum uses the Force by not using it, his semi-intelligent concious driving him ever forward.
And so Dizum found itself standing in the rain that night on Denon, its face and body hidden from the public by heavy cloaks and an odd looking mask
Dizum had scanned the crowded streets for hours that night trying to lock down what could of possibly brought it here, but it could never fully get a read. For a moment Dizum thought it had a lead, but it soon lost the human in front of some local store.
A silent hiss rattled Dizum's throat. Anger flooded its senses.
Dizum hated losing his prey.
But things were beginning to take shap as Dizum was told it would. This sign was just the beginning of the turn of events that would errupt here on Denon.
And Dizum was the key that turned all the locks.
Vanishing from his high perch on the rooftops, Dizum want back to the welcome embrace is his friend...the shadows. As long as Dizum remained in the shadows, he would be unstoppable!
Masimo was becoming increasingly concerned about Trilan. He seemed to be distracted by something not associated by the mission, which for a Jedi is not a good thing.
He would have to watch out for any more of that kind of thing, but for now his main concern was this rebellion.
There didn’t seem to be too much trouble when they arrived and were greeted by the planets officials. For a rebellion it seemed pretty quite. But that didn’t explain the missing survey teams.
“I’m gonna go snoop about the local area, see what comes up.” Masimo told Trilan.
“Sure, just give me your com encryption so I can get hold of you.” Trilan handed over his own com and let Masimo insert his code.
“Okay, will see you later.” Masimo threw a little wave behind him as he left the suite.
The street was crowded, with a huge mix of beings on all sides walking to and from various places. Masimo moved into the crowd and just let its flow take him along, to wherever that that may be.
There was a smell about the place, not something that came to Masimo straight away but his tendrils picked up the hint of what seemed like blaster fire.
It might be worth checking out later, but for now he wanted to get an idea of the place.
He took a right turn down a side street that an Iridonian and a Twi’Lek shuffled along quickly. He sensed their alertness to him and so he backed up a bit, letting them get some distance on him.
Masimo opened to the Force and let it take in the surroundings. There was a mass gathering of people somewhere up ahead, maybe his first find of the day.
He peered around the corner, but had to duck back real quick as the Iridonian looked over his shoulder before darting into a door.
Masimo peered round once more. They had gone. But the big Trandoshan standing guard at the door had not. But if Masimo had learned anything it was “brain over brawn.”
He approached the door at a steady pace, making sure there was no ambush. He was confident there wasn’t and so focused his attention on the doorman.
As Trandoshans go he was big, big enough to put a hole through Masimo.
The Trandoshan snarled at him.
“Erm… okay if I go in?”
The Trandoshan snarled even louder. “You have the password?” The Trandoshan clenched his fist.
Masimo sighed. “You don’t need the password.” He said waving his hand past the beings face.
The Trandoshan looked extremely angry now. “To get in here you do.”
The mind trick had failed. Maybe the doorman was more brain than brawn.
“Oh well,” Masimo replied, before pulling out his sabre and bashing him around the head with the handle.
The Trandoshan collapsed to the floor with a mighty thud. Masimo stepped over and through the door.
Masimo wasn’t too surprised to find himself in a bar full of various beings. It was a smoky, dimly lit place, with one main room and a curtained off area to the back.
Masimo scanned the area quickly, with the residents also staring back, whispering over their drinks obviously about him.
He moved to the bar and ordered a drink and proceeded to sit at an empty table near the exit.
It didn’t take long for a Rodian male to wander over and plonk himself down next to Masimo.
“Hello there,” the Rodian said in his native tongue. “You’re a new face round here. How long have you been a rebel?”
Masimo hid his surprise, and indulged the Rodian. “Not long, this is my first time here.”
The Rodian seemed unfazed and continued his enquiry. “Well it takes a while for some of the lower ranks to get here, but once your in here your most certainly a Rebel.”
“Thanks, its been a long journey.” Masimo took a sip of his ale. “What news from the frontlines?”
The Rodian sighed. “The usual stuff. Some bombing runs on government targets and the sort.”
“Forgive me, for I am new to this and didn’t really sign up as so much as be thrown into the mix. What are we rebelling against?”
The Rodian shook his head a little and then nodded. “That seems to be the way these days. The newer recruits are simply here as canon fodder. Its simple. The government is corrupted. We know you see that there is something going on behind the scenes. The various governors are but pawns in a game meant to bring the galaxy to war.”
Masimo frowned. “War? Why would they go to war with the UGR? They would be crushed!”
The Rodian took a sip of his own drink and continued on. “Who knows such things, but if you walk among the city you will see they are stockpiling resources for a push. They claim of course that its all to fight us Rebels, but we know. More importantly Gushu knows.”
The name didn’t ring a bell with Masimo so he pushed further, tempted to see how far he could get. “Who is Gushu?”
“It is good you have never heard of or seen him, for only those that enter this bar can know this. He is the leader of our great Rebellion, one who is trying to restore this planet to its former glory and to aid the UGR.”
“Then why doesn’t he just tell the UGR this?”
The Rodian laughed. “You think the Supreme Chancellor will listen to us? Whoever is pulling the strings here is also pulling the strings in the capital.”
This was becoming very alarming now. “Surely the Jedi would know this. They would have to know.”
“There is a rumour…” The Rodian leaned in closer. “That whoever is behind all this IS a Jedi.”
Interesting, Masimo thought. That could explain a lot. But then how could he trust such figures who lurked in the dark. He hadn’t heard the other side of the argument yet, so all doors were open at the moment. But something in the Force suggested that it wouldn’t be as simple as listening to both sides. And what of the survey teams they had sent here? Scientists and engineers missing during this simple rebellion.
These were questions Masimo pondered on his way back to his suite.
It was a dark, musky evening on the planet Ryloth where a single figure could be observed making his way through the streets to a remote section of town. He was wearing a black cloak which covered his head and face. After taking a detour through an ally, the cloaked figure came to an abandoned wearhouse which he entered. In the corner of the dark abandoned room sat a blue-skinned Twi'lek male who was wearing tattered clothing.
The cloaked man man approached and made his way over to the Twi'lek. "You can tell the boss that the rebellion has begun" the cloaked one said softly. "And do these fools really believe that the government is stockpiling resources against them?" the Twi'lek answered without making eye contact with the cloaked figure.
"We wiped out two survey teams that the government had sent to the planet and stole the resources they surveyed. We then planted these resources in key locations to make the illusion seem more real" the cloaked one replied.
"And the government has not become suspicious?" the Twi'lek asked.
"Well I personally wiped the minds of those weak-minded officials on Denon. The government on Dantooine, however, has become curious and it seems that foolish Fith has dispatched two Jedi to investigate the disappearance of the surveyors and some unknown official to investigate the rumors of our rebellion" the man said through his cloaked hood.
"Excellent, I shall pass on your report. The appearance of Jedi on the planet will make him most pleased. Things are proceeding as planned" the Twi'lek said with a crooked smile.
The cloaked man began to walk away but stopped and turned around slowly. "You have something else to report?" the Twi'lek asked. "Indeed" the cloaked man said softly, "Its not just any Jedi that were sent. He is one of them" the cloaked on said.
"All the better. We couldn't have asked for anything more. The force is certainly with us" the Twi'lek responded. "Until we meet again, continue the faith my Brother."
Without saying anything further, the cloaked man bowed and took his leave of the abandoned wearhouse.
* * * *
Jaxyon sat in the back of the same cantina that the Nautolan Jedi now sat in as well. And Jaxyon knew the moment he had seen the Nautolan that it was indeed one of the Jedi.
Having trained with the Academy on Dantooine, Jaxyon was all too familiar with the Jedi's more popular and displayed Jedi Knights. He had seen this Nautolan on many holonew vids before.
'Typical pick for this mission,' Jaxyon thought to himself. 'The Nautolan seems to be a show-boat and a high enough profile to really speak enough of the Jedis' presence here. They are wanting to make a statement here no doubt.'
Jaxyon sipped at his drink as he watched the Jedi and Rodian talk, though knowing nothing they said to each other. But Jaxyon didnt have to know, he knew the line of questions the Jedi was asking the Rodian. The same Jaxyon had asked the Rodian when he had entered as well.
It had taken several drinks and bribes to loosen the Rodian's tongue, but Jaxyon had gotten what he had wanted.
"Excuse me," came a harsh voice behind Jaxyon, so Jaxyon carefully turned around to face the voice. "but I dont know if you belong here," said a large brutely built Ishi Tib.
"I assure you that I belong here just as much as you do," Jaxyon said keeping his voice steady.
"I need the password." demanded the Ishi Tib.
"Why should I give it to you?" Jaxyon asked. "I already gave it to the Trandoshan outside the door."
"And it was just discovered that he was layed out unconscious in the alleyway," the Ishi Tib said drawing closer.
'Damn Jedi,' Jaxyon silently thought. 'Why must they always go around drawing unwanted attention.'
And as tempted as Jaxyon was to use his mental powers of the Force right now, he knew that using them now would be a double defeat. Not only would that be giving into that side of him he tried hard to hide, the Jedi in the room with him would no doubt detect his Force usage. Smooth talking only would work here.
Jaxyon went to speak something, but he saw the Ishi Tib already reaching for his blaster pistol. Jaxyon's hesitance was enough of an answer to give him away, a rookie mistake he knew better than to make.
'Blast, this could turn out bad.' Jaxyon thought before he sprung into action.
Jaxyon was on his feet and in action before the enforcing Tib could completely draw his blaster. Jaxyon spun with a low leg-sweep that caught the Tib by surprise and dropped it to its back. A loud crash sounded through the cantina and most every eye turned Jaxyon's direction. Jaxyon knew he had to get out of here quick, this cantina was full of nothing but rebellion supporters, and all of them would side against him.
As if reading his mind, patrons all over the bar began to stand with intense eyes glairing at him.
The Rodian setting next to the Jedi was one of the first to stand up, recognizing Jaxyon from earlier.
"That one iz no good!" The Rodian said pointing at Jaxyon. "He tried to pry information out of me!"
Now things were going to get crazy.
Three cantina patrons stood up behind Jaxyon and was already reaching out to grasp him, but Jaxyon was too quick. Ducking and spinning to his right, he stood upright with his back to the cantina's bar. Now half the cantina had blaster pistols in hand and starting to aim at him.
'Sith spawn,' Jaxyon thought. 'I dont want to do this, but not having much luck these past two days.'
As the first of the fingers began to squeeze off shots off, a deep red blade of light sprung to life in Jaxyon's hands and started deflecting shots back at their sources. Most shots simply disarmed the gunners, hitting their gun hands, but Jaxyon noticed two wild shots hit their marks in the gunner's chests, dropping them dead.
'Not good,' Jaxyon thought.
Throwing caution to the wind now, Jaxyon opened his small Force connection and let it help guide his hands. And while his connection was small compaired to most, it was enough to block blaster bolts.
Then suddenly a blazing pain errupted from Jaxyon's back, and it caused him to jerk around to see the human bartender holding a stun baton, fully activated pointed at him.
With a quick jerk of his wrist, the stun baton was cut in half and the bartender was weaponless. But the brief attention he had paid the bartender suddenly registered as his own possible death, because now his back was open to the steam of blaster fire he had a moment ago been deflecting.
However death did not come, instead the snap-hiss and humming of another lightsaber could be heard.
Turning, Jaxyon was not surprised to see that Nautolan he figured a Jedi holding a green blade of light, deflecting shots that had been aimed at him a moment ago.
Through the Force Jaxyon could feel the Jedi sending him a question, but Jaxyon didnt take enough care to concentrate on the message to figure it out.
Running in leaps and bounds, Jaxyon sped to the front of the cantina towards the door where he was greeted by the Rodian from before and the Trandoshan front guard.
"Freeze Jedi," said the Rodian. "I knew something was funny about you!"
"I want the Nautolan, you can have the human," said the Trando with a snarl and the Trando pushed past Jaxyon towards the Jedi still dogding blasters.
"I cant let you leave here with that information I gave you," the Rodian said. "It was a mistake and could cost me my life."
Jaxyon had to get out of there, the entire cantina was in an all out brawl now. He didnt have time to be messing around with this Rodian.
So with a quick mental image that Jaxyon was already on the ground dead, the Rodian lowered his twin blaster pistols and curled his snount into a smile. And then with a simple twirl of his saber, Jaxyon's red blade took both hands of the Rodian off. The shock broke the mind hold Jaxyon held on the Rodian but not that it mattered now, the Rodian fell to the floor in panick.
'Its now or never,' Jaxyon thought, fully letting the Force flow into his mind. 'Powers dont fail me now!'
And as Jaxyon watched the Nautolan neatly put a hole through the Trando's chest with his lightsaber, Jaxyon's built up Force mind burst let loose with a wave of power.
Jaxyon was suddenly inside the mind of everyone inside the cantina, including the Jedi's. Normally a Jedi's mind was more difficult, but the Nautolan was so open to the Force at this moment he didnt have much trouble at all. The Force guided Jaxyon through the mind of every cantina patron as he searched their brains for the past 10 minutes of their memory. And when he found it he, like any other computer document, erased all memory of it; each and every patron of the bar went blank for their past 10 minutes. Jaxyon wiped the Jedi last, taking special care and thoroughness to erase all remembrance of this moment.
By the time Jaxyon's own conscious was back in his own body, he found himself a block away from the cantina walking at a fast pace away.
And as he withdrew from everyone's mind, he shrank himself once again in the Force, making himself so small that not even the greatest master of the Force could detect him.
Trilan was still in the quarters that he and Masimo were assigned by their hosts from the Denon government when he felt a disturbance in the force. One that was very close.
Instinctively, he jumped up and reached for his lightsaber as he made his way out the door of the suite. The sensation he felt were coming from down town Denon. "Wait!" he said to himself, "That's not just Masimo I feel, there is another Jedi here."
Trilan was racing down the streets of Denon as he continued to leave himself open to the force and he had no doubt in his mind that there were, in fact, two people who were calling upon the force in the same vicinity. Using the force to aide his speed, Trilan ran through the streets causing many of the locals to stare.
"Almost there" he said to himself when he felt an dramatic ripple through the force. It was so strong that it caused him to slow down to the point where he stopped cold. And for a brief second he wasn't even sure where he was. It took him a few seconds of looking around the streets to remember that he was on Denon. He shook his head to knock the cobwebs out and he then remembered what he was doing. He remembered that he was to where he felt Masimo and another's presence in the force.
As he started again in the direction of where he felt Masimo and the other person calling on the force he realized that he now only felt Masimo. Slightly startled, he called upon the force with even more concentration and began searching for the second presence he felt. And there was . . . nothing. It was as if this person all of a sudden disappeared.
"Could he have died?" Trilan asked of himself but was able to answer his own question. "If this person's presence in the force was strong enough for me to feel him using the force, I certainly would have felt his presence leave the force if he had died."
Still wracking his brain trying to figure out what had happened, Trilan continued to follow Masimo's presence in the force. He followed the presence down a series of allies and he stopped when he saw Masimo standing beside a Trandoshan who was lying dead on the pavement. Trilan looked down and saw a burn mark on the Trandoshan's chest that was characteristic of a lightsaber strike.
The Zabrak then looked to the left and saw a Rodian crouched over staring at where his hands used to be. There was no bleeding showing that the wounds were cauterized which, again, is characteristic of a lightsaber attack.
"Masimo, what is going on?" Trilan said looking to his partner.
"I . . . I . . . don't know" Masimo said looking up at Trilan. Up until that point he was staring at the Trandoshan. "The last thing I remember was that I clubbed this Trandoshan over the head with the hilt of my lightsaber so that I could gain entrance into this bar. When I was inside I sat next to that Rodian who told me of this rebellion and its leaders. The next thing I know I was standing here. . . I don't even know how I got here."
"Wait, you remember being in the bar and the next second you are standing here with a dead Trandoshan and a dismembered Rodian?" Trilan asked of his fellow Jedi Knight.
"Trilan, I know that sounds bad especially since its obvious that their wounds were caused by a lightsaber but I have no idea how I got here or how that happened. One second I'm sitting at the bar and the next second I'm here" Masimo explained.
Trilan walked over to the Rodian, "Are you alright?"
"Yez, I think zo but I don't know how thiz happened" the Rodian hissed at Trilan.
The Zabrak looked down at the green skinned alien, "Do you remember who did this or how it happened?"
"No, the lazt thing I remember waz I talking to zome Nautalon in the bar and the nexzt thing I waz here without my handz" the Rodian hissed still in shock that his hands were missing.
"We better get out of here" Trilan said to Masimo, "before you get blamed for this."
"But Trilan, I had to have done this. I'm the only other Jedi on planet besides you" Masimo said grimly.
"I don't think so" Trilan explained as the two of them began running down allies trying to avoid the main streets. "I sensed another person calling on the force near you when I was in the suite. I sensed danger and then you and another calling on the force. That is what caused me to run and find you."
"I haven't sensed anyone else in the force besides you" Masimo replied.
"I know, except for a minute trace I felt when we first arrived you are the only other force sensitive I have felt but suddenly another person disappeared and then there was this massive wave of force and then the person disappeared. I'd be willing to bet it was that force wave that caused your and the Rodian's memory to be wiped" Trilan responded as they made their way back to the hangar bay where the ship was.
"We need to make contact with the council and tell them what has happened. Perhaps they can advise us" Trilan said as they entered their ship.
Trilan called to the astromech they had on the ship, "R5, open a channel to Dantooine in care of the old folk's home."
The astromech bleeped and whistled and suddenly the holographic visions of Trulner and Olen appeared. Masimo and Trilan bowed.
"Masters, are there any other Jedi that are here on Denon?" Trilan asked.
"No, why would you ask?" Trulner asked with a quizzical look on his face.
Masimo and Trilan went on to explain what had happened at the bar. Masimo continued, "What's interesting masters is that the Senator and the other officials spoke nothing of survey teams but only spoke of this rebellion. And from what I learned at the bar, this rebellion is very real."
"Investigate this we will and get back to you" Trulner responded.
"In the meantime, visit with the Senator and let him brief you on the situation. See what he has to say for it may help unravel this mystery. Report back with what you have learned" Olen said.
The holograms then disappeared and back at the Jedi Temple, Olen looked at Trulner, "Most distressing this is. I wonder why the Chancellor did not inform us of this rebellion."
Trulner nodded, "I suggest we go speak with Chancellor Fith and get some more information."
The two Jedi Masters began walking out of the council chambers when Olen stopped, "That level of memory wipe does remind you of someone doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does" Trulner said, "Perhaps the Chancellor might be able to let us know what our former padawan has been up to lately as well."
In the confines of his rented room, Jaxyon punched the wall hard, a slight twinge of pain shooting up his arm. Another worthless lead on this rebellion case. Thing just hadnt been working as they had the night he had gained entrance to that cantina.
And as usual a Jedi had been there to show off and mess things up.
To top that off, Jaxyon was pretty sure that the Natuloan Jedi wasnt the only Jedi that was sent on this mission, there was probably another Jedi somewhere with him. And if that was the case, Jaxyon's little Force usage display had probably been sensed by that other Jedi.
One thing was for sure, at the minimum Jaxyon's presence here had been announced.
That had been two days ago the scene at the cantina and still so far nothing. This rebellion had packed up and moved on from the cantina and moved somewhere else, and so far the new location had escaped Jaxyon.
Glancing out the small window of his room, he saw that while the chrono said it was mid-day, dark clouds, pouring rain, and gailing winds prevailed right now. The weather service had been right about one thing, the storm that started the other night was just growing worse by the day.
Slipping his heavy cloak on that was already wetted down with rain from yesterday, Jaxyon walked back out into the storm to look for more leads.
In the course of Dizum's long life, it had never served another being minus itself. The concept of servitude or partnership was beyond its limited mind capisity, however things had changed since in the recent years. Dizum felt the uncontrolable urge to serve his current master in all ways possible, not knowing why he felt so much a connection to this being. Any being that approached Dizum like this one did normally ended up dead in Dizum's hands, however Dizum found himself unable to kill his master and instead served him now to this day.
Dizum and his master both had felt the large powerful display of energy the other night at a local cantina, and Dizum had been there, waiting outside in the pouring rain for the powerful figure to appear.
And while the figure that Dizum followed didnt come across all that powerful, Dizum knew looks could be deciving. So while Dizum's master dealt with the other powerful Jedi beings, it was Dizum's job to stalk and take care of this one...the one his master told him to be the more powerful of the 3.
So now here Dizum was, standing in the rain again, wearing his cloak and mask, following the human male that had just walked from his room out into the streets of Denon to search again for something he would never find...Dizum's master!
Perhaps it was just sheer luck, or maybe the will of the Force itself that found Trilan out that very same "day" on the streets of Denon. Wrapped in his traditional Jedi robe with the hood up, Trilan walked among the people probing from signs of anything at all that might help his mission. While the weather was offal, the rain coming down hard and heavy, there were still plenty of beings out walking the city.
And while Trilan didnt expect to really find anything this night, he trusted the Force had a reason for him to be out here like he was.
A small tingle of danger raced up Trilan's spine as he came to a sudden hault. There was something bad about to happen, and was gonna happen very near him he could feel it.
Letting the Force take control of his feet, Trilan found himself running through the crowd heading towards a small gathering of people in front of him...the crowd seemed to gathered in a small circle looking inward at something that Trilan could not see yet. The sudden flood of emotions that flooded into Trilan through the Force were almost staggering, fear, anger, and depression, Trilan had to force the emotions from his mind and body; there were no room for them.
Elbowing his way into the gathering, Trilan looked to the ground to see a young human woman laying on the duracrete, obviously dead, blood splattered around her body in a morbid and offal fashion. This woman had been sliced and cut open right here on the street in front of everyone.
But who would do this?
"It was a beast!" shouted a woman, fear dripping from her voice. "A moster of the likes I have never seen before!"
"Looked like a kryat dragon on two legs!" shouted another.
"No, more like a smaller rancor, with massive claws!" yet another shouted.
"It killed this poor woman and would have killed more had that man not come along and drew it away!" shouted a woman behind Trilan.
"What man?" Trilan turned around asking.
"Never seen him before, he simply appeared as the monster was killing the woman and drew the beast away...they took off that direction towards that condemed building over there. No one has the courage to go check it out though to see if the man killed the beast or if..."
The woman trailed off and tears flooded her eyes.
A flash of lightning and a loud crack of thunder brought Trilan's attention back, he was turned to the building the woman had pointed at.
It was Trilan's obligation as a Jedi to help these people.
Drawing his lightsaber and igniting it, he walked in front of the crowd and shouted...
"People of Denon I am a Jedi, and I will protect you as best as the Force allows. Everyone stay clear of this building, go home if possible and stay there. I will help take care of this and help justice be served."
The mood eased a bit, but the fear was still there.
As Trilan eased into the worn down building, his ears picked up the very familiar sound of a lightsaber somewhere in the distance, humming as it swung back and forth.
Picking up his pace, Trilan ran through the building in the direction of the fight and rounded a corner into what was the strangest creature he had ever seen facing off against a human male holding a red lightsaber.
The creature was dark blue in color, with glowing yellow eyes that pulsed with power. The creature had a short snout that ended with a vicious set of fangs which dripped saliva, the creature had long arms which were held out in front of him now and claws that were was long as Trilan's own fingers. The creature stood in a somewhat odd position, while standing on two legs, Trilan could see that what was its "knees" bent the "other" way than his own, so it gave the creature a somewhat odd stance while standing; Trilan surmised that this creature could run just as easily on all fours as it could on its two legs.
Upon entering the room, both the creature and the human holding the lightsaber turned to gaze at Trilan.
It was the creature that then struck first, its quick reflexes bringing it back to Jaxyon and delivering a solid kick to the stomach. Doubling over, the creature took hold of Jaxyon and flung him with great strength into the far wall. A loud crack echoed in the abondened building and Jaxyon crumbled to the floor.
Trilan attempted to use this moment to his advantage, but the creature was just too fast for that, it was already dodging the lightsaber swing that Trilan was doing before evening turning fully to face the Jedi. The creature bent its body in all possible shapes and ways that shouldn't have been possible to avoid the slash of the lightsaber.
Then in a flash of blue, the creature dove down low and did a tuck-and-roll move that took it behind Trilan before the Jedi could bring his blade down to intercept the opening he had given the creature. A slight sting errupted from his side, but Trilan ignored it.
Turning Trilan saw the creature standing several feet away with claws extended and one of them with a slight hint of blood. Chancing a quick glance, Trilan saw that the beast had indeed connect with its claws, a noticable set of claw slashed had ripped through his Jedi robe and cloths and had drew blood.
Cursing, Trilan's eyes were back up in an instant only to find the beast was no where to be seen. His glace at his wound had allowed the beast to slip away it seemed.
Cursing again, Trilan shut down his lightsaber and ran over to the downed body of the human. Reaching with the Force, he tried to probe the man, but found only emptyness inside him.
Strange.
Picking the injuried man up, Trilan took him out of the building and back to his place. He had to see if perhaps Masimo or the Council knew anything about this man or that thing that had attacked him!
Trilan walked through the door to the suite he and Masimo were sharing. "Trilan, is that you? Where did you go off to? I went into the fresher to get ready to go down and meet the government agents and when I came out you were gone" Masimo's voice came from the main room. Trilan walked into the living room, with the downed man he had found still in his arms, "Well I thought I would take that spare time to look around the city. After all, you got to see the city yesterday, now it was my turn to see what I could find."
Trilan walked over to the couch and layed the man down. Masimo looked from the man back to Trilan, "And found something it seems you did. Who is he and what did you do to him?"
"I can't take credit for this one, but we seem to have a few more pieces to this puzzle" Trilan said as he continued to tell his fellow Jedi about the events of the morning.
"Well I guess the first thing we should do is talk to the council again" Masimo said as he shrugged his shoulders a bit.
"You read my mind" Trilan said as he walked over and activated the comm unit.
As the connection was established, Trilan and Masimo were greeted by three holographic images this time: Olen, Trulner, and Chancellor Fith. Both Jedi Knights offered a bow, "Masters, Chancellor Fith we have had new developments here on Denon."
"Excellent timing" Trulner commented, "We were just meeting with the Chancellor so that we could all get on the proverbial 'same page'."
Olen spoke up, "What did you find out from your meeting with the officials on Denon?"
"I'm sorry Master, that meeting has yet to take place" Masimo answered.
Trulner spoke up, "Why not? We ended our last transmission with the understanding that you were to meet with the Senator and Mayor."
"That's my fault, master" Trilan answered. "Since it was late we decided to meet with the official this morning but while Masimo was getting ready I ventured out into the city."
"Go on" Olen said somewhat sternly.
"I'm somewhat glad I did, for when I entered the streets I saw commotion. The locals were gathered around a woman who had been visciously slain. The crowd gave an account of a large creature who killed the woman in cold blood and who was about to kill more when it was distracted by a cloaked man. The crowd pointed me in the direction of where the creature and the cloaked person had gone so I investigated. There I found this creature, who looked unlike anything I had ever seen before engaged with this man" Trilan explained and included the image of the downed man on the sofa to the hologram. "This man was engaging the beast utilizing a lightsaber. Seeing that he was in trouble I intervened. After taking a wound myself, the creature escaped into thin air but I was able to bring the man back to our suite although he has yet to regain consciousness. Anyone have any idea who he is?"
The holographic images of Olen and Trulner turned to look directly at the image of the Chancellor. "Yes, gentlemen that is Jaxyon. You were right when you had asked if I sent him to Denon" the Chancellor paused, "And now you can get up Jaxyon."
With that the man on the couch regained consciousness and stood next to the Jedi Knights. Olen spoke next, "Chancellor, why dispatch two teams each with separate missions with each party not knowing what the other was doing?"
Chancellor Fith answered, "To be honest, I'm not sure what is happening on Denon. The Senator contacted me shortly after we dispatched the first survey team to the planet and reported them missing. We then dispatched a second team who was to find the missing team and continue the survey team. We lost communication with them as well but when I contacted the senator about the disappearance of now two survey teams he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. He said he was unaware of any survey teams and questioned why we would survey Denon since most of its resources were already known. The strange part of this was that he was the one who requested the survey teams."
After pausing a few minutes, the Chancellor continued, "After denying any knowledge of the survey teams, the senator informed me of the break out of a rebellion. It was then that I began to doubt whether I could trust the senator. I decided that two independent investigations were warranted and that I could collect the data from both investigations and compare their findings to discover completely what is happening on the planet."
"As of yet Chancellor, Trilan and I have not discovered any information about any survey teams. What we have found out is that this rebellion is quite real and that they are upset about a great many things including the fact that they seem to think the government is stockpiling resources and keeping them from the people" Masimo answered.
"But then again I might have discovered more had my memory not been wiped" Masimo said turning to face Jaxyon. "Perhaps your agent here has more to add."
"Gentleman, before we start going on about each other's methodologies, I think that one thing is for certain now and that is there is more going on there on Denon that I first had anticipated and since you are all together now I suggest that you all start working together despite any past differences you may have with one another or the techniques each has utilized. I trust you can do that as well Jaxyon?" Fith retorted.
"Chancellor" was all Jaxyon said with a stone cold face and a curt nod.
"Under the circumstances I would have to agree" Olen said. "And I think our next course of action would be to meet with the government officials and see what they do know."
"Agreed" Trilan said as the communication ended.
"So who has to share a room with the new guy" Masimo said with a half grin.
It was a joke that did not go over well with Jaxyon, "Listen Jedi, I don't want to be here. I want to be here as much as you want me to be here with you but I have my orders. I don't have to like it but I will do as I am asked. So let's not pretend to be friends or anything like that and let's just get this mission over with so we can get away from one another."
With that Jaxyon began leading the way out of the suite. "Hostile isn't he?" Masimo said looking at Trilan who shrugged in return.
Jaxyon turned back curtly, "Are you two coming or do I have to see the officials by myself?"
"One thing" Trilan said, "I don't know how you did what you did, but I trust we won't be seeing you use any more of your mind tricks on us."
"Listen Jedi, let's get one other thing straight, I will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this mystery and that's all I will say" Jaxyon said as he began walking to the turbo lift.
Trilan and Masimo slowly walked to catch up with Jaxyon as they took the turbo lift to the Senator's office, both unsure if they could trust Jaxyon or even the Senator himself.
As they entered the office, Senator Bar Salus stood and greeted them, "My friends I had grown worried about you when you hadn't shown up at our agreed upon time. And after hearing about the commotions that have been going on in town I feared the worst." The Senator then looked over at Jaxyon, "Who is your friend?"
"Oh he's not our friend" Masimo said with a sideways glance to Jaxyon, "He's just along to help us with the mission."
Sensing the uneasiness in the room, the Senator, simply replied, "Good enough, what may I do for you?"
"Senator, what can you tell us of this rebellion?" Trilan asked.
"Not much unfortunately. We began hearing rumors of discontent among our citizens a few weeks ago. We didn't think much of it, but then there began to be raids on government offices that seemed to be well planned. They weren't your run of the mill robberies, they used sophisticated weaponry and their plans were flawless. Its like the showed up, took what they needed, and were gone in seconds. It was as if they knew what they wanted and where to find it. After several of these robberies took place we knew that it had to be an organized movement" the Senator explained.
"You said there were robberies, what did they take?" Masimo asked.
"Mostly resources" Salus answered. "Ore, steel, and copper were the most common resources they went after."
"Anything more?" Trilan asked. "No, that is all that was missing. And their robberies, as I said, were quite efficient" Senator Salus answered.
"So what made you think that this was a rebellion and not just an organized crime movement?" Masimo answered. "To the outsider, robberies of minerals and resources seems like a black market operation."
"Well, we thought that as well at first but then came the propoganda that followed the robberies" the Senator answered. "Appearing on the holonets were statements from a group that began referring to themselves simply as the Freedom for Denon Fighters. Not a very original name."
"What was said?" Trilan asked with a bit of impatience setting in as the Senator seemed to be fumbling with his words and not volunteering all of the information forthright."
"They basically accused the government here on Denon of stockpiling resources that local artisans and merchants were in desperate need of to make their living. They claimed that we were hiding these resources from the people in order to make weapons which is utterly insane as why would we need vast quantities of weapons at a time of peace" the Senator answered.
"And what was the government doing with the stockpiles of resources the rebels stole?" Masimo asked.
"Oh those resources were being stored until we could use them for the renevations. You see there are many run-down areas of the city which have turned into slums. Many condemned buildings that people have sought refuge in. The ore and metals were being stockpiled to construct new structures for the city" the Senator replied. "So I'm not sure why these rebels have made it a point of conflict when there is a reasonable explanation for the resources we have."
"Has the government met with any members of this rebellion to discuss this if, indeed, it is just a misunderstanding?" Masimo asked.
"We have had no way of finding out where they are or who their leader is. They have covered their tracks perfectly" the Salus replied.
"Thank you Senator Salus. One last thing. Do you know of a man named Gushu?" Masimo asked.
"Oh yes I do indeed" the Senator said with a smile. "Philorus Gushu is the Mayor of District Five. He is a well respected mayor and a great friend.”
“Thank you for your time Senator Salus. We will report back anything more that we uncover” Trilan said.
With slight bows, the two Jedi Knights and Jaxyon left the Senator’s office and began making their way back to the suite. “Sounds fishy to me” Masimo said.
Jaxyon winced and looked at the Jedi Knight, “That’s all you have to say after all that?”
Masimo wrinkled his brow, “That’s not all I have to say, I’m just saying that the situation has become even more interesting.”
“Alright guys, let’s not forget we are on the same side here. But I agree, things have become even more complicated. What we now know is that the government was stockpiling resources for what they say is a renovation of the city. The rebels think they are using these same resources for mass production of weapons for some unknown reason. The thing of it is, the resources he mentioned can be utilized both in manufacturing of weapons or for structures. So who do we believe? On top of that, we know now that this Gushu, who we are told by the rebels in the cantina that is the leader of the rebellion, is also a government official himself” Trilan said as they entered the suite.
“So what do we do next?” Masimo asked when he was interrupted by a loud crash from inside the suite.
“Someone’s here” Jaxyon said reaching for his lightsaber instinctively. “There’s several of them whoever they are” Trilan said, now with his lightsaber in hand ready to ignite.
Suddenly blaster fire began reigning down on Trilan, Masimo, and Jaxyon causing them to duck and take cover. All three lightsaber blades were now ignited and had begun deflecting blaster fire.
*****
Dizum had entered an abandoned warehouse that was not far from where he had encountered the two Jedi. In the shadows stood a cloaked man who was facing the sole, cracked window in the warehouse. Dizum approached the cloaked figure and extended his blood stained claw. The cloaked man slowly turned around and touched the creature’s claw. “You engaged him, I see” the cloaked one said. “And in doing so, confirmed that he is indeed one of the Jedi who was dispatched to investigate the matters. Our master will be most pleased to hear that he is here on Denon. Not only has our revolution begun but soon he will take his rightful place among us.”
A shot sizzled past Masimo’s head, striking the wall behind him. He deflected the next six shots with his lightsabre into the ceiling above, pieces of duracrete falling over his shoulders. Masimo sensed that he had time to scan the rest of the room before the attacker let loose his next volley.
Across the room to the right was Trilan, blazing away with his own lightsabre. Masimo sensed an urge to get the attackers weapon away from him and somehow find the cause of this attack.
Jaxyon was somewhere behind ushering another attacker into a separate room. What his intentions Masimo could not tell, he was so closed off from the Force, even during combat. That spoke volumes of his skills with a weapon.
Masimo felt the next shot burn towards his leg, and with speed that surprised even himself he sent it spiralling into the mans chest. He flew through the air and went crashing into the table in the centre of the room.
Satisfied he was dead he started to make his way to Trilan. It didn’t look like the Zabrak needed a hand but working in numbers was always a preference.
But suddenly an explosion rocked the building and knocked all three to the ground.
Smoke poured into the room and a small fire had begun on the curtains. The two Jedi go to their feet quickly enough, but the attacker was too slow and Masimo delivered a kick to the head rendering him unconscious.
“That’s two down.” Masimo quipped.
Trilan shook his head. “Think again.”
Masimo turned around to see a hole in the wall, the source of the explosion. Through the cloud of smoke came even more black figures, all waving their weapons in an aggressive manner. They stepped over the rubble and stood with their weapons pointed straight at the two Jedi.
Masimo grinned. “Let me guess. You’re the cavalry?”
The lead assailant cocked his head a little, and with a slight disfiguration in his voice due to the mask replied. “Something like that.”
Trilan waded in. “We don’t need to do this. We can talk. Who are you?”
A long pause followed in which neither side showed signs of moving.
“I don’t think they wanna talk.” Masimo said to Trilan. He turned to the men. “Do you guys?”
They raised their weapons threateningly. “We represent the people of this world. And you are threatening their safety.”
Trilan said “We have come here to see for ourselves the troubles on this world. We are not here to start a war. The Jedi only want to help.”
One of the other men in black towards the back of the group spoke out. “Then why do you collaborate with the enemy?”
“If you mean the government then we do not collaborate with them.” Masimo ventured a step forward. “We are simply asking for their help in uncovering the whereabouts of two missing survey teams. We had no idea of the troubles here until we arrived.”
A shuffling noise off to the left sent the group of attackers into defensive stances, swinging their blasters around at the disturbance.
Jaxyon stepped through the cloud of dust, coughing a little. “How much do you think that paint job will cost?” He stepped over the body of the man Masimo had killed and joined his “companions.”
“Well you guys going to introduce me to your friends?” Jaxyon commented sarcastically.
Masimo laughed. “Sure. Jaxyon meet the rebels. Rebels, meet Jaxyon.”
Jaxyon dusted himself off. “Rebels huh? Well now we are getting somewhere.”
“Who sent you to kill us?” Trilan seemed almost annoyed now.
The lead attacker spoke up. “That is for us to know, and for you to find out. Hand over your weapons and drop to your knees.”
Masimo and Jaxyon looked at each other, whilst Trilan did as he was told. With a shrug his friends followed suit and dropped to the floor.
One of the rebels took their sabres whilst another three took out black bags and put them over their heads.
Masimo didn’t like this one bit but Trilan seemed ok with following along. At least it might take them to where they wanted to be. Take them to the top of the food chain and meet with this Gushu. It seemed he had his hands in everything on this strange world, and it seemed that he might have some answers about the survey teams.
Masimo sensed that he was being loaded onto a speeder of some kind. He could hear the lead rebel tell the driver to move quick, the police forces would be here soon.
And then they were off, hurtling down the streets.
For what Jaxyon figured the better part of an hour they were in the speeder. He could hear no real sounds other than the hum of the speeder's repulsors and the flow of traffic, so Jaxyon simply set back and calmed himself. With every day this mission had taken new twists and turns, this was merely one of those and all he had to do was take it in stride.
Finally the speeder came to a sudden halt and the three were forcefully pushed from the car. They were outside for a few minutes, long enough at least to get their clothes soaked from the rainstorm outside. Then they were indoors, and inside a dark building at that.
Jaxyon's senses tingled as the group marched the three forward. Jaxyon's nose picked up a fowl smell that seemed to be getting stronger as the further they went inside...
'Smells like a wet Hutt in here,' Jaxyon said to himself.
Their captors finally brought them to a halt and their blinds were removed from their heads. Jaxyon's eyes had to take a few moments to adjust to the darkness of the room, but when it finally did he saw a large center dias in front of him and upon it was...
A Hutt no less.
'Well, explains the smell,' Jaxyon thought with mild humor.
The Hutt wasted no time once their blinds were off to begin speaking, in Huttesse no less. Luckily Jaxyon had picked up some of the language over his years of diplomatic work.
"Well, at last I am face-to-face with the Jedi that have popped up all over my city in the past week," said the Hutt in its gluttinous voice. "I had no idea the third one was here until a short while ago, but then again I am not surprised. The Jedi Council is becoming quite good at the shady aspects of their missions."
"I am not a Jedi," Jaxyon said in Basic. "I am here on behalf of the Supreme Chancellor as a diplomatic representive."
"HO HO HO HO, HA HA HA HA," came the thunderous and infamous laugh typical of Hutts. "Dont play me a fool young Jedi! Your little display with that beast showed me otherwise."
"We can skip all these pleasantries," said Masimo stepping forward. "Why have you captured us and brought us here before you...and for that matter who in the Force are you? Please tell me you aren’t Gushu!?"
"HO HO HO HO!" laughed the Hutt. "Hardly am I that buffoon Gushu, Jedi. Believe it or not Jedi, I am the closest thing you have to a friend on this planet right now. Nobody wants you here my Jedi friends, not Gushu, not the Rebels, and not the government. The web of lies that infest this planet grow thicker by the day and the last thing that is wanted here is Jedi trying to wake the spider."
The three looked at each other, all clearly showing doubt in the Hutt's story.
"I have brought you here to share information with you that might help persuade you how much on your side I am," said the Hutt. "Obviously you are aware by now that Gushu is the 'leader' of this supposed Rebel group everyone is going on about. What you wont hear is that how Gushu and the government are still heavily friendly and in on this together."
Again the three looked unimpressed.
"Senator Salus himself probably told you that he and Gushu were good friends did he not?" asked the Hutt.
The smallest of cracks appeared on the three, each knowing that Salus had indeed said that very thing.
"And didnt you find it just the slightest bit too easy to gain access to some secret rebellion's hideout cantina? That one lonely Trandoshan would be the only guard they have on duty?" asked the Hutt again.
Now all three of their attention was fully grabbed.
"The government dont care that the rebellion is going on, in fact they finance it under the table and through second-hand sharing," said the Hutt with a huge smile on his face.
"But why would the government fund and support a rebellion against themselves?" Masimo was the first to ask.
"Isnt it simple enough?" asked the Hutt. "Gushu and this Senator Salus are wanting to play both sides and take the pieces left over for themselves. They are playing both sides so well that no one can put the pieces together...except for someone like me."
"Yeah, little you in the middle of a big power play huh?" Trilan asked, his sarcasm evident.
"This rebellion is hurting my off-planet smuggling," said the Hutt.
"Ahhh, greed is always the back-bone to Hutts...beings they dont have one of their own," Jaxyon commented.
The Hutt seemed to ignore the insult, "It is my belief that Gushu and Salus are planning a cu that would shatter the Denon economy to the point of total collapse…and that my Jedi friends doesn’t set well with me.”
The questioning went on for about another hour before the three were excused from the Hutt’s presence.
“So….” Masimo purposely not finishing the sentence.
“Well obviously we can not trust a word the Hutt says,” Trilan said without hesitation.
“Never underestimate the usefulness of the seemingly un-useful,” Jaxyon said.
“Do what?” Masimo said confused.
“Obviously the Hutt was lying to us, for what purpose I do not know yet, but he is wanting dirty work done and trying to talk us into doing it for him,” Jaxyon said thoughtfully. “The only question is, how much of it could be true.”
“I doubt any of it,” Trilan said. “He is a Hutt remember.”
“True, but I also know that Hutts are extremely self-centered beings. I think there is truth enough that his business is being threatened that he needs help. And, his views on Gushu and Senator Salus, while somewhat suspicious, I think does grant we look at these two a little closer.”
“This is all getting too complicated,” Masimo said, his hands waving in the air. “This all started over some missing teams, and now we have too many leads to follow up on.”
“One things for certain by now, all these things are inter-connected,” Trilan said. “I think it wise we stop hiding from one another and work together to solve this problem.”
Jaxyon noticeably flinched at this, but gave no other sign of dislike.
“Things would merit our…aiding one another I would agree,” Jaxyon said with minor hesitation.
“Good,” said Trilan. “So first thing I feel we should do is keep an eye on this Hutt that seems so interested in us and then let us do some checks on Gushu and Salus. If anything shady about these two comes up, who knows, the Hutt might have actually been telling the truth.”
The other two nodded in agreement.
“And did you meet with the Jedi as we discussed?” asked the shadowy figure.
“I did as you told me,” said the Hutt.
“Very well Borgo, my master will not forget this act of loyalty you have displayed for him today,” the shadow said.
“I’m sure,” said Borgo the Hutt. “The same amount of appreciation he is showing Gushu and Salus right now by having me turn the Jedi’s attention to them?”
“As I told you before,” the shadow said darkly, “those two were just small pawns in the bigger game going on here at Denon. They are serving their last bit of usefulness right now, though they do not know it.”
“By having Jedi investigate their little rebellion game?” asked Borgo.
“By distracting the Jedi of course. We know the Jedi will not believe all of your story you gave them, but so long as you casted the slightest bit of doubt in them is all that is required. When the Jedi find just how shady those two are, they will be too focused on them to see the bigger picture forming.”
“You and your master play a dangerous game with these Jedi,” said Borgo. “A game I wished I had never gotten involved in.”
“Denon is merely the stepping stone of this game,” the shadow said, taking a step towards the door to leave. “And it is a game my master is very convinced we will win
“You don’t think this is going to really work do you?” Jaxyon said to the Zabrak Jedi who was walking beside him toward the capital.
“Well there are so many lies and stories that are being told that I don’t know which way is up” Masimo added.
“I don’t like it one bit” Jaxyon said. “I think it’s dangerous.”
“Come now Jaxyon, I thought you liked danger” Trilan added as he patted Jaxyon on the shoulder which caused the government official to scowl.
The three continued on their way to the capital without saying anything more. After entering the capital building, they made their way to Senator Salus’ office. Upon seeing the two Jedi and the government official, Salus stood and greeted the trio, “My friends, your unexpected visit must mean that you have some news to report.”
“Indeed we do, Senator” Trilan said with a straight face. “We are very close to untangling this web of deceipt.”
“Oh this does sound interesting” Senator Salus said ushering them into his private chambers. “Have a seat and let me hear what you have uncovered.”
“Senator, by this evening we will definitively know who the leader of this rebellion is” Masimo added.
The Senator sat up stiffly, “Oh?” and then after a long pause, “How will you gain this information.”
Trilan began to speak but then paused. Jaxyon then looked at Trilan, “Its ok, we can trust the Senator. Tell him our plan.”
“My apologies, Senator” Trilan began to say. “It’s just that if our plans get out, it will set our investigation back to square one.”
“I understand your discretion and I commend it but perhaps if I knew your plan I would be able to help or offer advice” the Senator said moving toward the edge of his chair.
“Very well Senator” Trilan continued. “Our journeys took us to the fifth district and there we stumbled upon a small gathering of various species in a small abandoned warehouse.”
“We attempted to blend in and we were quite successful” Jaxyon added to the story.
“After the gathering we began speaking with a Givin, who despite the fact that they can not show facial expressions, seemed very nervous” the Zabrak explained.
“We struck up an idle conversation with him and after some idle chit chat asked what he was so nervous about” Jaxyon, the UGR official continued.
Masimo then spoke up, “He said that he felt that he was in over his head and that he wanted out.”
“He promised us that if we provided him with a way off planet, a false identity, and enough credits to start his life over with that he would tell us all he knew including the identity of the leader of this cause” Trilan answered.
Bar Salus chuckled, “Gentlemen, I applaud your efforts but doesn’t this seem too easy? I think you are about to be conned out of credits personally.”
“Perhaps you are right, but there’s a chance that this guy does know a great deal” Jaxyon replied.
“Well good luck gentlemen, but I think you are wasting your time quite frankly” Senator Salus said as he stood up and began making his way toward the door.
Neither of the Jedi or Jaxyon moved as the Senator stood up. Rather they remained very still as Trilan replied, “He is an accountant for the largest ore mining company on the planet.”
The Senator’s face turned slightly gray, “Oh, go on then” he said as he resumed his seat.
“Well we’ve arranged for safe passage to the capital this evening where we will interrogate him and if we find that his information is valid, will hold up our end of the bargain” Jaxyon added.
“How . . . how do you plan on bringing him to the capital?” Salus asked.
“Well we figured that taking registered transport would be dangerous, so we went simple” Masimo interjected.
“There is a laundering service based out of district five that makes deliveries to the capital every evening. We bribed the driver of the transport a significant amount of credits to allow the Givin to stow away on the transport which will make a stop at the apartment complex across the way at dusk” Trilan explained.
“We’ve instructed the driver to get out of the transport and make his delivery to the apartment complex as normal which will allow the Givin to sneak out the back of the transport, hopefully unnoticed” Masimo continued.
Trilan followed up, “And we’ve instructed the Givin to hide in the ally between the complex and the night club. We will then meet him there after it becomes dark and bring him to our suite.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan, my friends” Salus said looking somewhat nervous. “I don’t see any flaws in it whatsoever.” The Senator then made his way to the door to his office, “I’m sorry but if you’ll excuse me I have a committee briefing with some of the other senators in a few minutes I need to prepare for.”
“Certainly” Trilan said with a nod. “We will report back what we have found Senator.”
“Oh . . . yes . . . very well” Bar Salus said with a bit of a stutter.
“And I can guarantee you Senator, that the leaders of this rebellion as well as those who have supported them will be brought to justice” Jaxyon said in a stone cold voice as they exited the Senatorial office.
Silently the three made their way back to the suite that was assigned to them. They approached the door and Masimo said, “Ummm I don’t think we have a wall any more.”
“Ahh yes, I forgot our suite was left in ruins” Trilan said.
“Back to our ship?” Masimo suggested.
“No, I had rented a place not far from here, we can crash there but is anyone going to say anything about how the Senator reacted to our story?” Jaxyon said, somewhat annoyed.
“He did seem unnerved” Trilan said, “But there is only one way to find out for sure and that’s to see what happens this evening.”
“Speaking of that, where are we going to find a Givin?” Jaxyon said, still somewhat annoyed.
“Hmm thin you could pull off the role there Jaxyon?” Trilan said with a grin.
Jaxyon was far from impressed. He waddled about a little in the disguise, attempting to get used to being a Givin.
Masimo let out a howl of laughter when Jaxyon entered the room behind Trilan. "Thats brilliant. I suggest we take holos and send em off to Intelligence."
Jaxyon gave a low growl from behind his mask, and then slumped himself down on the chair within his room.
"This will work." Trilan seemed happy with the current situation, and Masimo had to agree.
"Are we ready to go?" Masimo said.
The trio left the apartment complex with little difficulty, only a night porter seeing them, Jaxyon immediatley removing that 10 second chunk from his mind.
They wandered the streets for a few miles, eventually reaching the pre-arranged meeting place for the pick up.
Jaxyon started to become disgruntled. "This mask is itching my face."
Masimo stepped up and rubbed at his cheeks. "You know there is a good Force technique for situations such as this."
Jaxyon, who was now far more comfortable tilted his head, a sign of inquiry. "Really? I mean we were taught to be stealth, but nothing specific on becoming a whole new..."
Masimo cut him short. "No, no, no. I meant for scratching your face."
Jaxyon started towards him, obviously unimpressed by Masimo's words.
Trilan butted in. "Stop it you two. I can get better patience out of a Bantha."
Jaxyon glaired at Masimo for another half second and returned to scratching at his face, the itching having returned.
Masimo leaned up against the wall of the alleyway they had hidden away in, making sure his cloak was fixed firmly over his head. There were tiny droplets of rain beginning to fall, only light rain, but any water would do for Masimo now.
Being on a city world normally meant days of humid air, and dry breezes. Not like a Nautolon was used to. Sometimes Masimo longed to be back on Glee Anselm, wallowing in a small pond or lake.
His thoughts vanished suddenly as he detected a familiar prescence.
He turned to Trilan, who had been peering around the corner. Trilan nodded to confirm Masimo's thoughts. There ride was here.
They bundled Jaxyon into the back as quick as possible, with Masimo keeping guard to see if anyone was watching.
Trilan spoke with the driver, giving him clear instructions.
"Yeah yeah. I will do exactly what you say. Just tell your friend back there to make sure he keeps his head down, a few of these drops need people to help."
Trilan handed over a small bag of credits, enough for this man to do his job, and then Trilan spoke one more time with Jaxyon as the driver headed up front.
There was no movement on the street, with it being late evening, but something didn't feel right.
Masimo could sense a prescence in the background, a prescence that almost said "I know".
Trilan ran back into the alleyway and the vehicle set off.
Masimo and Trilan paced it down the streets to its various drop offs, using anything they could to make sure that they were well hidden. If everything went right tonight they would finally solve this mystery and find the missing survey teams.
But Masimo could still feel it. That prescence in his head. It was becoming more gleeful now, almost as if the closer they got to the apartment for the final drop, the happier it was.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Masimo exclaimed.
"Its probably nothing." Trilan was concentrating too much on the transport to engage in a debate.
Masimo grabbed hold of Trilan and threw him against the wall, pinning his shoulders.
"Listen to me Trilan. Open yourself, can't you feel it?"
Trilan, taken aback by Masimo's actions looked deep into Masimo's dark black eyes.
It took him a few seconds to realise that Masimo was deadly serious, and so closed his eyes and delved deep into the Force.
"Oh no!" Trilans eyes shot open. "We've been set up."
As quickly as the words had left his mouth the sound of exploding came rushing from around the corner.
The transport had been decimated, its hull a flaming wreck.
Masimo let go of Trilan and ignited his lightsabre.
Trilan did the same and the two went running into the street.
How could Jaxyon have survived this? He was dead for sure.
From behind the wreckage came scores of soldiers, all of whom bared the Denon Defence Force badge.
Masimo cocked his head towards Trilan. "Three guesses as to who set this up."
Trilan scowled. "And I wont take any."
Red blaster bolts came lashing out in a torrent of fire. The soldiers were rushing in, more and more of them now.
Masimo was keen to put them all down, what with the death of Jaxyon.
He whipped his blade left and right, up and down, slashing furiously at the blaster shots, deflecting them anyway he could.
Trilan was taking up a position on his right, doing the same.
The Nautolon Jedi pushed further, every step bringing him closer to the soldiers who had caused this. And every step took him closer to avenging Jaxyons death.
Eventually, after a few burns to his arms and legs where various shots had stung him, Masimo was upon them, and with little thought he was chopping them down.
They were a threat to him and his mission, and he did not want to lose another friend.
He took another glance over his shoulder and saw Trilan a little way back, still working his way forward, but not having the same level of succes.
A thermal detonator came whipping over the top of the firery transport. Masimo rolled, and with the Force launched it back over as he came back onto his knees and gutted a soldier, this one a Twi'Lek, in the stomach.
He held it there for a second longer than he normally would, his anger apparent.
He surveyed the area, and satisfied everything was ok on his end, went dashing over to help Trilan.
But a second explosion rocked the street, sending the remaining few citizens that were dumb enough to stay and watch sprawling for a doorway to hide in.
Masimo reluctantly turned around to see a new horde of soldiers come rushing forward at him guns blazing. But that was the least of his concerns.
From behind them came the source of that gleeful prescence he had felt before the trap had been closed.
And now it was here in front of him all he could sense was a predators instinct to hunt and kill.
This... creature was huge, and was baring down on Masimo at great speed. Trilan and himself were now officially Bantha Poodoo.
Jaxyon was alive...but he still wasnt quite sure how. He had been in the midst of that explosion and had only taken minor wounds. The blast had knocked him away from the wreckage and into a far wall, but other than that, no real damage. Strange.
Right now he wouldnt question his luck though, he would us it...
Until he felt a familiar presence in the air. One that sent chills up and down him.
Instantly he was Force shrinking himself, making himself small in the Force so that no one could sense him...most espically the new-comer in the fight.
That creature, the one he and Trilian had fought in the abandoned warehouse was back and somewhere close. But the smoke from the explosion was too thick in the alley now and Jaxyon couldnt see too well, and he wasnt risking his Force sense right now.
Wits and skill would have to get him through this.
"What have you done?!" said Gushu as he marched into the private room of Senator Salus. "My men leading the attack just recieved word that that creature was sited at the ambush. Are you just trying to give us and our allies away?"
Salus's face turned pale and confused.
"What do you mean the creature was sited at the ambush?" Salus asked. "I haven't talked to our...friend...in quite some time now.
"My men has just confirmed it. They report the Givin is dead, decentagrated in an explosion thank goodness, but that afterwards that blue beast thing showed up," Gushu said, his voice near panic.
"I just dont..." Salus trailed off. "Why would this thing show up now? This will for sure make the Jedi think that thing works for us...well...at least you," Salus said.
"You dont think Im aware of that," Gushu said. "I think its time to contact our friend."
Salus gulped hard but nodded his agreement.
Taking a special holo-vid transciever from his desk, Salus acivated it and only waited a few seconds before the other end picked up. And before them was their shadey "partner" in this Rebellion.
"It seems you have taken steps without us," Salus said. "I have recieved word that your pet is at the ambush site. You never told us that would happen."
"It is because I had nothing to do with is," said the shadow frankly. "For some reason I have....lost my persuasion with him."
"Lost control of it?!" Gushu said aloud. "That thing is evil, if your not controliing it, there is no telling what it will do."
"I fear my friends that another has managed to sway my dear pet Dizum to their side," said the shadowy figure.
"Who?" Salus asked.
"You wouldnt believe me if I told you," the shadow retorted.
"Try us," Salus said. "We have grown accustomed to expecting the unexpected."
"It is my belief that Borgo the Hutt has manged to sway Dizum's thoughts," the shadow said in a low hiss.
"Borgo? You have got to be joking," Gushu said in disbelief. "He is a crime lord, and I dont think he would be very anxious to involve himself in killing Jedi. Too much attention that would put on him."
"But how would the Jedi ever know?" said the shadow. "Who would ever suspect a Hutt controlling such a creature as Dizum. Besides, do the Jedi even know who Borgo is?"
"This is turning into a huge mess," Gushu said. "He is your pet, you need to control him. You know that we cant."
"I think that if Borgo was eliminated, that my control over him would be complete once again," the shadow said. "We need to discuss the possibility of ridding ourselves of this pesky Hutt."
"That is fine," Salus said with a wave on his hand. "I care nothing for that worthless slug and would love to aid in his downfall. However Im more worried about the Jedi than Borgo, too many unexpected things have happened since they arrived."
"I have an idea that might rid us of the both," said the shadow.
Both Salus and Gushu gave him glairs.
"You dont have to listen of believe me gentlemen, but Im only thinking of our general safty and life."
The beast squared off against Masimo, the long claws on his hands fully extended and his mouth snarling with primal rage. Masimo raised his saber in defense.
The creature charged at full speed, Masimo preparing himself for the assult...
An assult that never came.
The creature jumped completely over Masimo and headed straight into the crowd of attackers that had been headed towards Masimo.
The creature's claws were slashing among the group like wild fury, blood splattering everywhere the creature was. None of the ambushers had a chance to prepare for the attack, they had fully expected the creature to be on their side. In a matter of a minute, the creature stood tall among 15 or so bodies now littering the alley floor.
Masimo could only stare in disbelief, that creature just killed all of those beings in seconds, and the outragous thing was it seemed to draw upon the Force to aid in its slaughter. The hunger and primal instincts Masimo sensed from it was staggering.
Jaxyon stood and took off the Givin suit had still had on. The blast and the smash against the wall had taken its toll on the suit itself and it surely had seen better days.
Tossing it in the fire of the exploded landspeeder, didnt want any loss ends to the Givin story, Jaxyon walked up the alley and found Masimo standing there staring at empty space.
"Masimo?" Jaxyon said.
The Nautlaon turned and seemed relieved to see Jaxyon standing there.
"What happened to you!" Masimo asked.
"To be honest I dont know," Jaxyon admitted. "I was in the middle of that explosion and somehow it didnt hurt me. I Force shrank myself when the blast went off cause I felt a familiar presence near, I think that creature me and Trilian took on was here."
"Oh it was here alright," Masimo said. "Standing right over there before you walked up. It rushed off."
"Did it hurt you?"
"Far from," Masimo said. "It tore all of our attackers apart...seemingly saving my life."
"Yet another weird turn of events," Jaxyon said with a heavy sigh.
"Hey, where is Trilian by the way?" Masimo asked.
"I dont really know," Jaxyon admitted. "He was near me right before the blast. After that I didnt see him."
Trilian stirred as he awoke from his blackout. The blast of the explosion had threw him hard into the wall behind him, and Trilian was out the moment he had hit it. He hoped the Force protective bubble he had placed around Jaxyon had held up long enough to protect him from the blast...that had been Trilian's last act before going black.
Now he was in an unfamiliar setting, and had strong cables binding him. And standing before him, was the blue creature he had fought earlier this week.
"What in the name of the Force is going on," Trilian said aloud.
The creature growled and then was gone, running through a door and not looking back.
For the moment, Trilian was alone.
But it wasnt long before he heard two voices outside the room. Then the voices were entering the room and two humans stood before Trilian, who was still tried up heavily and hanging from the ceiling.
One of the faces Trilian recognized instantly, as the they recognize Trilian. The other Trilian had yet to ever meet, but he had a fair idea who it was anyways.
All three had surprised looks on their face.
Quickly and quietly, Salus closed the door to his and Gushu's private meeting room.
“Traitor!” Trilan said sternly while giving a tug on his restraint when he saw Salus and Gushu approaching. “No, my friend, we are not the traitors here” Salus said in a flat tone. “You see it is the government who is corrupt, we are simply attempting to bring justice back to the galaxy.”
“Do you really believe that staging a rebellion against the United Galactic Republic, the government you have sworn to serve, is the way to bring about justice? Not to mention that you let that beast loose on the streets of your own planet where it has killed the people you were elected to represent. So tell me Senator, how is that bringing about justice” Trilan said in an equally flat tone.
“My poor misguided Jedi” came the voice of the heavier man who had yet to have been introduced. “Do you really believe that the government that you are charged with protecting is without corruption?”
“Philorus Gushu, I presume” Trilan said now looking to the obese man who was dressed all in blue. The large man stroked his goatee and chuckled, “At last we meet in person Trilan Si. But you haven’t answered my question. Do you really believe that your government and that boob of a chancellor we have, are without fault?”
“No government is perfect, but the UGR stands for peace and prosperity, not this underhanded dealings that the two of you have orchestrated” Trilan responded with a blank stare.
Gushu simply chuckled in response, “If you really believe that then why did Fith dispatch his agent to investigate our rebellion while at the same time asking the Jedi to look into the disappearance of some supposed survey teams. Why send two investigations to the same planet without sharing information between the two teams? Doesn’t that seem odd?”
Trilan looked on but said nothing. The Zabrak knew that these two men were attempting to trick him into believing that their actions were noble when they were, in fact, rooted in greed. But while he had heard Chancellor Fith’s explanation of his actions, a part of Trilan had wondered why the leader of the UGR had decided to conduct the investigation in that manner…
“Young Zabrak,” Senator Salus chimed in, “There is more at work here than you can see even with your Jedi powers.”
Suddenly a blaster bolt shot through the room striking the Senator in the middle of the back. As Salus slumped to the floor dead, Trilan looked directly at the doorway to the conference room. The blaster bolt not only surprised Gushu but Trilan was taken aback by the turn of events as well for he had not sensed any danger or an additional presence through the force.
After a few minutes a figure appeared in the doorway sporting a pitch black cloak that covered his head. “What is going on?” Gushu said looking directly at the new arrival. The cloaked man said no words. He simply raised the blaster and set off a shot that hit the portly Philorus Gushu in the chest.
With now Salus and Gushu dead the cloaked man slowly walked over to Trilan and just stared for a few minutes. Trilan attempted to get a look at the face the man was hiding but the figure remained in the shadows. On top of that, Trilan was not able to sense this person in the force. It was as if they weren’t even alive. There as nothing, no sensation at all.
For several minutes, which seemed like hours to Trilan, the cloaked man just stood and stared at the Jedi Knight without saying a word but did appear to be examining the young Zabrak.
Slowly the cloaked man reached up and slowly pulled his hood back to reveal a sight that made the young Jedi Knight gasp. Trilan was now facing a Zabrak, but not just any Zabrak. This Zabrak looked just like Trilan. The only difference, aside from appearing a few years older, was that this Zabrak had a deep black tattoe that covered his eyes, nose, and face. “It was you in the vision” Trilan said in astonishment.
*****
“What is that?” Masimo said pointing to one of the holonet consoles that was in the center square of town aside from the capital building. “I don’t know,” Jaxyon answered as he saw the crowd that was assembling around the console growing exponentially.
Masimo and Jaxyon walked over to see what the commotion was about to see that a holonet news update was being broadcast. “Breaking news this evening at the capital building this evening.” came the voice of the reporter. “It now appears that Philorus Gushu, Mayor of District Five, was indeed the leader of the band of rebels who have been raiding resources from local government storehouses. After his crimes were discovered, Mayor Gushu was confronted by Senator Bar Salus. It appears that a struggle ensued during which Gushu shot and killed Senator Salus. Police attempted to arrest Mayor Gushu but the mayor put up a struggle which resulted in Mayor Gushu’s death as well. We will keep you up to date as more information becomes available.”
Massimo and Jaxyon looked and one another and immediately began running toward the capital building.
*****
“Who are you?” Trilan said but the Zabrak said nothing. This dark clad man reached down to his belt and unclipped the hilt of a lightsaber. With a snap-hiss he ignited a red-bladed lightsaber. Upon seeing the red blade, Trilan knew for sure this was the man from his vision. Half expecting to be taken out by the blade, the Jedi Knight closed his eyes.
The lightsaber wielding Zabrak, however, used his saber to free Trilan from his restraints and helped him to his feet. In a voice very similar to his own, Trilan heard the Zabrak say, “We need to get you to safety. The rebels will soon learn that their beloved leader has died. Once that happens, they will come and storm the capital thereby taking this rebellion to the next level.”
“What is going on?” Trilan asked. A slight smile came across the face of the Zabrak, “I’m here to take you home, so that you can lead the life you were always supposed to. But first, you won’t be needing the force.” The older of the two touched Trilan’s shoulder and immediately the Jedi Knight felt the force drain from his body. It was as if he had just been placed in the presence of a ysalamiri.”
“What did you do to me?” Trilan said with some confusion now that he was no longer able to call upon or feel through the force. “Don’t worry” the black tattoed Zabrak said. “I’d never do anything to hurt my own brother.”
Masimo Hoceto and Jaxyon ran as fast as their legs would take them. But even calling on the Force to aid their sprint it still didn’t seem like they were moving quick enough.
The Senator and Mayor Gushu had been killed, and that could only lead to a whole lot of trouble.
And even more, they didn’t know where Trilan was. Masimo scanned the Force for his presence , but couldn’t get a fix on his position. It was almost like he had disappeared completely. But Trilan was a Jedi, he could hold his own.
Right now Masimo and Jaxyon needed to see what evil would be unleashed by the resulting deaths of Gushu and Bar Salus.
But a feeling in the Force told the two Jedi they were already late to the party.
They headed down the main street that lead to the capital building. The air smelled thick with explosives and carbon scoring, and everywhere they looked they could see devastation.
Masimo gave Jaxyon a look, they knew it had begun. War had come to the planet.
The capital building was surrounded by smoke and scores of troopers from the planetary defence forces. They were letting rip into a group of hostiles with venom. The hostile group was obviously the rebel faction, and they were fighting back with all their spirit.
Tanks rolled into the square, followed by an assortment of heavily armed troopers. It looked for a moment that the Rebels would be overwhelmed by superior numbers and fire-power.
But the Rebels had a trick or two up their sleeves.
One tank, having taken position on the southeast corner rolled along and positioned itself to fire its massive laser canon on a corner building that the Rebels were using for cover.
Masimo heard it charging, ready to let loose that evil power contained within, and took a step back, hands going to his head to block out the noise.
Then he caught sight of a rebel trooper leaning from a fourth floor viewport. It was a Rodian male, and in his arms he lofted an anti-tank plasma launcher.
It let rip, leaving a silver streak behind it, and thundered into the tank, inflaming it instantly and blowing a burning hole right in the middle, crippling it and evening up the fight.
“What do we do?” Masimo was looking to Jaxyon, but it was obvious he had no idea.
“Its not like we can take sides.” Jaxyon replied.
Jaxyon was right Masimo mused. They had never come here to get involved in the politics of the planet, only to find the members of the two missing survey teams. They had failed that mission, with not so much as a Bantha hair to show for it.
And on top of that Trilan was missing. Things looked bleak.
Jaxyon batted a rogue blaster shot away with his lightsabre and the pair took cover behind a tumbled over airspeeder.
“We have to get word to the Council, they will know what to do.” Jaxyon shouted over the din of another explosion.
Masimo nodded, and pointed from his squatted position to one of the main streets leading away from the battle zone.
The pair leaped over the airspeeder and ran through a hail of blaster fire and stun grenades.
A bunch of rebels gave a cheer as they neared, apparently thinking that they had gained an ally to their cause.
Jaxyon glaired in their direction. “Don’t be so stupid. We take no side in this petty conflict.”
Masimo looked over his shoulder and saw their faces drop, knowing they had lost a weapon that would have levelled the playing field in their favour.
Within minutes they had managed to reach a Holo booth capable of off world messages.
It took a while to patch through to the Jedi temple, and they were quickly routed through on a priority line to the Council Chambers.
Masimo took the lead and stood in view of the Holo’s camera. He could see all the masters arranged in a circle within the chamber. It was Trilans father who spoke first.
“Hello Jedi Hoceto. What news did you bring to us?”
Masimo sucked in a deep breath. “Masters, the war has started.”
Masimo could see the entire councils shock at his words. “Go on.” one of the senior members said.
“Mayor Gushu was the one in charge of the rebel faction here, yet he was killed along with Senator Bar Salus. This has led to both factions engaging in warfare in retaliation for the killings.”
The young Jedi Knight gave the council members a moment to intake his words. He turned and looked over his shoulder at Jaxyon. He seemed to be thinking over something so Masimo returned to the image.
The council members looked as though they had finished up discussing the previous information.
“What do you wish of us now my masters?”
“Have you located the missing survey teams?”
Jaxyon stepped into view. “No masters, we have been unable to find any trace of the missing teams.”
This brought a new round of murmurs from the Holo image, Masimo was getting a little tired.
A Bith Jedi Master made herself clear. "Return home, the situation is too frail for you to continue your search."
Jaxyon went to blurt out a reply, but he was not a member of the Jedi Order, so Masimo felt it best he take the lead on this one.
"Masters, Jedi Trilan is missing. We have lost contact with him. The Force shows no evidence of his being here."
Trilans father stared away from the Holo display and was obviously searching the Force for his adopted son.
Masimo continued on. "We wish to stay on planet to continue the search for our comrade." Masimo bowed into the booth.
It seemed to him that the council were going to agree to the request, but surprisngly it was Trilans father who spoke up first.
"Denied Masimo Hoceto. Return to the temple, we shall discuss matters further."
Jaxyon jumped in front of Masimo. "Didn't you hear us? Trilan is missing. We must be allowed to continue the search."
The Bith Master spoke up again. "Denied. Return to the temple ASAP."
Masimo bowed and the transmission ceased.
Masimo left the planet via local transport, hoping that if Trilan was still out there he may be able to make use of the ship the two had arrived on.
As the freighter flew over the capital city Masimo looked out the viewport. Smoke rose from nearly every sector, and explosions could be seen rising from building tops and roads.
The fighting had expanded to consume the whole city, and the planet was truly at war now.
As soon as Masimo got back to the temple he would request permission to return at the head of some kind of peace commity. And at least be allowed to continue the search for Trilan.
The loud speaker chimed in. "Please fastne your crash webbing," the electronic voice said. "We are about to go into Hyperspace."
Masimo ignored the speech, and looked out the viewport once more. "So long Trilan. I will be back, and I will find you."
The ship lurched, and soon the burning planet below vanished into lines of stars.