Fateful Beginnings

Posted on Thu Oct 25th, 2012 @ 1:41am by Bomoor Thort & Thane & Berry & Kip Hoddai & Sev Rezer

2,676 words; about a 13 minute read

Chapter: Chapter I: Web of Fate
Location: Red Raptor
Timeline: Some hours after "Path Ahead"

Kip lay in his bunk, having a chat with Ef who was also in hyperspace not too 'far' away. He appeared asleep but his neural-transceiver was quite active.

:Aen says this is a worthy pursuit but she warns you to remain cautious of your ahem, 'peers': Ef advised him distantly.

:I have more in common with the Aquar half-breed than the others: he paused :The Mandalorian knows what I am but he doesn't seem to understand what we do, only what little the Outsiders have figured out from our sightings:

:Will you kill him?: Ef asked, a note of concern.

:Unlikely I will need to: Kip responded drily :His attacks against Axion and his group are highly personal and he tends to go at them in straight lines:

:Predictable:

:Yes:

:Jedi?:

:The Ithorian is restless with the Order and Thane got the holocron first: Kip responded.

:There is weakness in both of them:

:Indeed: Kip agreed :Its hard not to exploit. There's a tremendous amount of negative emotion on this ship: he added thoughtfully :I feel there's Dark-Force gathering in the fabric of the ship:

:You feel?: Ef asked.

:Yes: Kip replied.

Sev Rezer made no effort to make sure no one was allowed in the captain's cabin. He had chosen the place for himself, since he was the one doing the flying. Just beside his cabin, he taken the cargo hold as his weaponsmith and armory. In there, he put himself a little more at ease.

He took his armor off and stashed it carefully at the far side of the cargo hold, and slowly he started checking his cybernetic arm. The Dark Jedi had hit him there with the lightsaber, and as much that arm was made of cortosis, it still needed some repairs. It had charred the synthetic skin and exposed the metallic and some innards of the arm. The bounty hunter opened his bag and spread his tools over an improvised table he had set up. He fixed a diagnostic device in near his wrist and checked for any leakage of energy.

As he worked silently, his mind started to wonder about the situation he was in. First of all, he had allied himself with two Jedi to get to his target. Tactically speaking, it had been a sound choice, but he had personal problems dealing with those two, especially the Jedi Thane. There was something in him that simply bothered Sev.

As for Bomoor, Sev thought the Ithorian was very much an image of a Jedi without direction. And that girl... She was odd and yet, she had something that reminded him of his mother. Maybe more naive than his mother, but yet there was that wild attachment to life.

You need to focus. Your objective is clear. Your client and yourself want Axion dead. Axion must pay for making you leave the Mandalorian Way. I chose that, but he made it easy and I now have a lot of deaths on my hands that were not earned honorably. For that only, Axion will die, Sev thought to himself as he repaired his arm.

As soon as he finished, he started repairing his armor, refueling the flamethrower, the dart-thrower in the wrists, the jetpacks and the plastic explosives. Nothing of that came easily and need to be refueled and repaired.People usually think bounty hunters lead a charmed life, but it's routine after routine until you get ready to hunt again.

Finally, Sev Rezer checked his assault rifles, pistols, eletric whip and the cortosis blade. Everything seemed in perfect order. He sharpened his blade again. Next time I meet Nala, this blade will go through her black heart, he promised himself.

With that, he left the cargo hold, switching off the lights behind him, returning to the cockpit.

Berry walked along the corridor of the Raptor, her bright green tunic fluttering slightly with her pace. Her brown eyes were wide as she gazed in awe at the place. Everything was metal or some kind of harder plasteel thing. She’d never seen something like this before! Well, except in that one prison with Asidra…

The Near Human paused, her sandaled heels lifting slightly as she reached up to the ceiling to tap it. Way…too…high…! She frowned determinedly and brushed her hair out of her face, then began hopping up and down. A victorious grin lit her face as she finally hit the ceiling with a satisfying PANG. “Yeah!” she shouted in victory. Then she nodded and strutted down the rest of the hall with a bit of a swagger, smiling stupidly at no one.

She was proud of more than that right now, though, because she was actually going to Coruscant!! Her crew at home would be SO proud of her for actually not getting lost…like that one time on that one island they were at. She could see it now, with Suppos and Pacho on the edge of their seats. What would Berry do when she got there?

Berry shrugged to herself as she made the second lap around the main corridor of the Raptor. Who knows! Since it was a huge capital city planet world, they probably had food from ALL over the galaxy. How exciting! (Oh, and maybe something that would help her get stronger, like some galactic training program…)

Speaking of food, that stuff Mister Kipster made was soooo good. And he said it wasn’t even his best! Berry swallowed her extra saliva. She didn’t even know what was in it, but it tasted goooood. He could even do stuff with greens, like with Bombom’s. So talented. And he looked so cool, too!! Did he have a tail? She’d have to pay attention next time. He was supposed to know a lot, so he probably knew if he had a tail. Bombom didn’t have a tail, but he had a looong neck. He made such cool sounds, all that humming. It sounded nice, and very cute. He was such a nice tree alien…

She stopped walking as she realized she stood in the galley again. Wait, so where were the rooms? She scampered down the door she had not entered yet and almost ran into the fresher wall. She quickly exited and walked through the second unknown door to be met by a small hall of so many doors. Rooms? She tried to open each door, finding some locked. So she placed a hand on her hip, frowning in thought. Three rooms remained unlocked…and there was only ONE left next to the kitchen. There can be only one! She bolted to that room and dove inside, smiling triumphantly.

But she shouldn’t get too used to this room, since she didn’t plan on staying here so long. That crystal was bad news, and according to her maybe-true dream, it wouldn’t do to be by one. Thrane had told her a lot at the market about Jedis, but she didn’t really know what that had to do with her. She kind of felt bad for him…he didn’t look too much older than her but he was so unhappy. Berry sighed and sat on the bed, her skin briefly shimmering silver from that bout of high emotion. Well, she vowed to herself not to leave until she saw some lasers from Mr. Razor. She grinned. Even if he was shooting them at her! That’d be soooo coooool, and fun to dodge.

She lay down and curled up on the bed, eyelids drooping slowly. Yeah…but she wouldn’t have to dodge if she had those glowy sticks…her nose wrinkled in slight distaste. That was cheating…but cool, especially with Thane flying around and spinning like a jelly fish, stinging…was he crunchy like one? Hmm…

The part-Aquar fell asleep with a small, amused smile on her face, hands folded under her golden cheek.

Bomoor paced through the corridors of the Red Raptor, having given up on meditating on the ship and sitting in his room was becoming tiresome. The ship had a long corridor around the ship, providing access to many of the larger rooms aboard the vessel, most of which lay unused or full of old crates and containers. Perhaps something useful was buried amongst the boxes.

He could hear the sound of people talking, Berry's voice rang out across the ship almost non-stop. He really would have to teach her the art of silence at some point before someone else shut her up by force. Young Bería was wind and untamed, exactly the kind of person the Jedi council didn't want to teach. They believed that force training should begin in a narrow window of development while a child is still young enough to accept all the Jedi have to say. Had Bomoor been much older when he was discovered as force sensitive, he may have been turned away and perhaps become a Herd Leader on Öetrago.

The Ithorian had often considered the other paths he could have taken had his father not sent him to the Jedi. Could he have flourished on his own? Perhaps he could have found another calling? He was thankful to the Jedi for nurturing his gift but, in this era of peace in the galaxy, the Jedi did little but observe. A passive way of life was not what Bomoor wanted. He wanted to see life in all its forms and make a difference.

Bomoor found himself at the cockpit door so he wandered inside as there was nobody manning it. The blue swirl of hyperspace glistened onto his dark, reflective eyes. There was a whole Galaxy out there waiting to be seen. He had read so much in the Jedi archives - he wanted to see more. Perhaps this new journey he found himself a part of would become more than the hunt for Axion. Perhaps it would, for the first time, allow Bomoor to see what he wanted to see and not what he was supposed to see.

He exhaled deeply, but that will all be determined when we reach the capital.

It was still there. He could sense it - hear it - and Thane was certain that the others had to, as well. At least, Bomoor must have felt something once they had departed Nar Shaddaa, but clearly not in any way that he had, when he first stumbled upon the holocron in Grogga's Vault. It had literally been as though it had called to him.

Sat on his bunk, his elbows resting on his knees, the Human was staring across at where his red jacket lay across the small desk that served as one of the few pieces of furniture within the undersized cabin, in which the holocron was still kept. Contemplating the events of the past couple of days, he found himself feeling more and more drawn to the concept of the Living Force, of how everything was so intertwined and happened for a purpose that the Force had divined.

Honestly, Thane did not like it; he had no wish for the Force to be deciding aspects (if not all) of his fate for him, or even those around him, such as through visions like the one he had shared with Bería. Even that left a sour taste in his mouth, particularly as he doubted himself. Ever an outspoken critic of the Jedi Order's philosophies, the mission to Nar Shaddaa had only incensed his disdain for their ideals more; that they were misguided and incorrect, and simply because an idea has been around for a long time - and that it sounds the 'nicest' to the most people - it does not make it correct. His experience with sentients across the galaxy suggested the majority of people did not even know what was right for them, let alone deciding how an entire galaxy should be run. Being more to the point: most people do not have the power - or the right - to do what has to be done, or what should be done.

Not even the Jedi, he thought, even with their power in the Force, which was certainly not what it could be. More time was spent deliberating and scolding than actually acting, and most of the Jedi were not talented or skilled enough to actually divine any true knowledge, or have enough power to do what was right. They had spread themselves thinly, and still managed to lose Knights daily to their incompetence and false ideologies, when - if properly applied, by dropping their pretentious nature and bureaucracy - they could fix so much that was crippling the Republic from within; they could centralise and rebuild. But no, they were content to limit themselves, to deny truths and permit corruptness.

It was sickening, and it was something that had bothered him for a long time. The Jedi had a duty to justice, and they were not fulfilling it, and it had driven him to find aid elsewhere. Certainly, his Master, Sotah, had done what he could to appease the young Human, but it was in the Archives he learnt the most, about history, philosophies and ideas, although even they had been limited. Once upon a time, the older Jedi Orders kept any holocrons they discovered, both Jedi and Sith in origin, although only with limited access to the dark side ones. The current Order's incarnation - the Reborn Jedi Order - was far less open; they destroyed any Sith relic they discovered, limiting their knowledge and understanding, only lending themselves further to stagnation.

Thane's was not an attitude shared by many, and those other voices of dissent tended to opt for self-exile, which - in his opinion - was weak. Those touched by the Force were more fortunate than others, he knew, but surely that meant a responsibility to use such powers for the benefit of the galaxy? They were in a better position to nurture and develop, to ensure those who could not care for themselves were protected and positioned accordingly.

Finally, he made his decision, and carefully pulled the holocron from out of his jacket's pocket, its metallic and crystalline design far more intricate in appearance than the Jedi holocrons he had examined in the Jedi Temple. Pyramidal in shape, it shone with a deep, inner red light from within, burning like a hot ember. It was remarkable to feel such raw power coming from an object that could not be much larger than his own fist.

As he placed it upon the ground, he sat cross-legged before it and focused his will upon the artefact, his own connection to the Force the method by which he knew he would have to activate the relic. From an old text, Thane had learnt that some holocrons only responded to those who were deemed suitable, meeting particular criteria or other factors, but as he began to believe he would have no luck, the piece grew brighter yet. His entire cabin was filled with an eerie crimson glow, his own blue eyes reflecting the hue as the light overhead seemed to diminish.

And then, something that could only be named as an apparition appeared before the Jedi Knight, a chalky-blue colour - not unlike a hologram - but so different from any hard technology. This figure, now standing tall over him, glared down at the Human. Its presence and power was undeniable, even though the gatekeeper was merely an imprint of the holocron's creator. From nearly head to toe, a peculiar armour engulfed the imposing figure, adding further to his image. Hanging from his hip was a curved-hilt lightsaber, and deep orange eyes peered menacingly at Thane.

"I am the gatekeeper of the holocron," it declared in a deep baritone voice, as dark as his visage. "I," it said slowly, "am Darth Bane."

CHAPTER END

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