So, as you all probably have noticed, each time I finish a certain amount of pages I will upload them here for viewing. As usual, I will post what you have probably seen already so that the full picture is there. Remember, skepticism and advice is extremely welcome!
Enjoy!
STAR WARS: The Old Republic
THE KNIGHTS
Book one: The Knights Reborn.
CHAPTER 1
Unknown Region.
Admiral Sharm Golran stood at the bridge of The Predator; hands clasped behind his back, and stared at the unfamiliar stars before him. His heavily modified Frigate that he so adored was attacked out of nowhere by a Sith fleet that must have been waiting for him on his route to Courscant. The Predator was seriously outnumbered and was forced to flee, but at the cost of severe damage to its hull. They had jumped into lightspeed despite the fact that this region of the galaxy was not mapped or explored before. Though they were lucky they had not collided with anything on the way there, especially given the fact that they now found themselves staring at asteroids and debris. Now, they waited, suspended in space and attempting repairs. Despite the fact that he was sure he already knew, he turned to his second in command and asked, “Is there a way to send a coded signal to any nearby planets? ‘’ He shook his head. “If the Sith are waiting for us, sir, then any signal at all would be cause for some suspicion. They would triangulate our comm frequency and find us within minutes. ‘’ Sharm nodded, and sighed. The only possible things to do now was to either further explore this region in hopes of a hiding place, and then send the signal, or he could wait for repairs and attack the Sith. He shook his head, the latter was foolhardy and too risky. He looked over his shoulder at the pilot’s station. “Helmsman, ‘’ he said. ‘’ Go half speed and find a place to hide us. We’ll send out help once we are hidden. ‘’ He nodded. The ship lurched forward with sluggish speed.
Sharm doubted that the Sith would be stupid enough to go after them, but there was no way for The Predator to slip out of this area unnoticed. The Sith had them cornered, but they had no idea where at in this unknown region. A stalemate. The ship had gone fifty meters from their original position, and hope slithered through Sharm as he saw a asteroid with a large hole, dipping in so much that it had turned essentially into a cave. He pointed out the viewport. ‘’Helmsman, straight ahead. Back into the cave so we have a view out. ‘’ The ship shuddered again as it picked up speed. His second-in-command looked dubious. ‘’ Sir, ‘’ he said. ‘’ If they find us in there, we will have nowhere to go. ‘’ Sharm smiled grimly at him. ‘’ We have nowhere to go now, Siahm. This is our best bet for defense right now. ‘’ Siahm nodded. By now, they had reached the asteroid; it’s thick and uninviting terrain intimidating to the crew. The Helmsman turned the ship but kept forward momentum towards the asteroid. They smoothly slid into the rock, the back end of The Predator going as far as possible into the depths of darkness that would hopefully provide visual protection.
After an hour of silence, Sharm gave the OK to activate the communications. The Rodian manning the communications hailed any planets loyal to the Republic. After thirty standard minutes, a hologram of what looked like a human male emerged from the Holocom table. The communications man waved Sharm over. ‘’ Greetings, ‘’ he said. Voice and picture garbled. ‘’ I am General Satnern of the Republic on Courscant, who am I speaking to? ‘’ Sharm leaned forward. ‘’ Greetings, General, I am Admiral Sharm Golran. Commanding The Predator. I was inbound on Courscant when I was attacked by a Sith fleet. I was forced to take desperate measures and am now in a unknown region just outside of Bakura. They have my Frigate cornered. ‘’ Satnern stood in silence, pondering this. Sharm continued. ‘’ I have just completed my mission on assisting with protecting a Republic Orbital Station above Sullust, and I am now on my way to return to Courscant for my reward. ‘’ Finally, Satnern said, “You’re a freelancer? ‘’ Sharm shook his head. ‘’ Sometimes a Bounty Hunter and hand for hire. ‘’ Satnern considered this, and seemed to consult something Sharm could not see through the holo imagine. “You said your name was Sharm Golran? ‘’ Sharm was flustered. ‘’Yes! ‘’ he said. ‘’ Now can you send help? ‘’ After some long moments, Satnern slowly shook his head. ‘’ Sharm Golran… You are wanted by the Republic for stealing Jedi artifacts and sacking Republic trading posts. And, let’s see… for threatening Senator Ayma Sensoya of the Mon Calamari system, for---- ‘’ the comm blinked out by Sharm’s command. He slammed a closed fist on the table. “Blast! ‘’ he growled. There was tension in the silence that followed, and Sharm’s second-in-command hesitantly stepped to his side. “Should I prepare an away team to secure the inside of the asteroid? “ Sharm sighed. They had broken comm silence in the hope that someone could help them with the Sith. Now, no matter what, they had no help and no way out, unless there was something that could be of help in the asteroid, though he doubted it. But then again, there were no other options anyway. He motioned with his hand, and his second-in-command turned and walked out the bridge. He turned from the viewport and looked at the entirety of the bridge’s crew. ‘’ Everyone, power down. Keep our signature level low. ‘’ He looked out the viewport once more, before the lights dimmed, and durasteel panels slid down, blocking his view. Now, they were to wait.
Sergeant Morran Iroth lead the away team on the asteroid, all of them wearing sealed Vac suits and trying not to trip with all of the pieces of durasteel laying on the ground. As they looked around, their headlights revealed strange objects; Shattered Blaster Pistols, supply caches that hung from the makeshift ceiling, broken search lights, and… What looked like a temporary fire was still burning. “How is that possible? “One of Morran’s men said. ‘’ There is no way that a fire can be going in dead cold space! “Morran had a very bad feeling about this. But there was no time to be hung up on that. He tore his gaze away from the lit fire and continued to search for anything useful. He had walked twenty paces away from the majority of the search team before noticing a strange creature, hiding in a opening gap on the ceiling. His lights did not have enough range to reveal what it was, so he took some steps forward. The Light intensified, and he now saw what looked like a hawkbat, though it had burning yellow eyes that was not a shared characteristic with most known hawkbats, but Morran sternly reminded himself that they were in the unknown region; he was to expect nearly anything. But the eyes of the hawkbat now almost glared at him, sending shivers down Morran’s back. Morran was not sure if it was hostile, so he just ignored it, passing below the hanging creature. It was only after another set of thirty paces that he saw perhaps the strangest thing in this arcane cave; It was a woman, black short hair, and clad in dark, scaly armor. She seemed to have no evident age; her face suggested many years, but it also seemed to be very young. She lay on her back, evidently sleeping. Morran was nearly paralyzed with the sheer obscurity of this. She had no helmet nor air tanks, didn’t have zero gravity compensation boots, or any of the equipment needed to traverse space. He knelt down and gently shook her shoulder. “Ma’am? “He said. She did not awaken or even groan in response. His comlink must have been still on, because he heard ‘’ Ma’am? What is he talking about? ‘’ Soon he heard footsteps coming towards him, and that was another thing; he could hear muffled sound even through his helmet. He was sorely tempted to take it off and see if the air was breathable, but he knew the risks and decided against it. His comlink crackled again. “Sir? “Morran heard. “I have found something you might want to see. “ tearing his gaze from the woman, he saw one of his men holding up a amulet of some kind. He got up from his kneeling position and started towards it. Even from a few feet away, he saw the amulet glowing red and white. It looked like some treasure out of a holodrama that was worth fortunes upon fortunes. He covered the distance between them, and now took a closer look at it. It was richly defined, with durasteel lining around a ruby crystal. In it, white lettering was inscribed on it. “It says ‘Knights’ “Morran said. “Must belong to the Jedi. Probably ancient.“ He began to tuck it in his pocket when he felt a vibroblade jam itself into his back. He screamed and fell, the amulet falling from his hands. Agonizing pain shot through him, making it unbearable to move. He managed to look up as his vision grew hazy and saw the woman slaughtering his team, a hood now pulled over her head. He saw his crew die one after another in a blur of seconds. Morran looked down at the area he was punctured, and saw green smoke rising from the bloody hole. He was in too much pain to ponder about it, and, as he realized he couldn’t move, he knew that he was about to die. He tried to activate his comlink and get a line over to The Predator, but his comlink was abruptly jerked out of his hand. He saw it tumble away, and noticed that a knife was thrown through it. He was fading rapidly, and as he saw the woman mercilessly killing the last one, he realized that the crew of The Predator would be helpless to defend themselves from this woman’s unnaturally fast and brutal attacks. The room grew silent as she looked around the area. She must have noticed he was still conscious but barely so, because she now strode towards him. She knelt next to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Where are they? “She said with a distinctively feminine voice. Morran failed to deliver voice but the meaning dwelled upon her anyway. “The other Knights, ‘’
She said. “Where are you keeping them? ‘’ But Morran was already gone.
The Sith Apprentice Caran Klor meditated in his quarters, using the Force to levitate his lightsaber in the air. He had assembled and disassembled it several times in the past hour, and now it felt as natural as moving his arm. His lightsaber was uncommon, or so his master said. He had found the crystal nearly five years ago, on a planet called Vjun. The acidic rain had caused the crystal to turn to a darker shade of green, and had caused the lightsaber to constantly smoke when he ignited it, sending cold fear into the eyes who found it. Caran was proud of his accomplishment, and had earned a rare compliment from his master:
“Let this blade strike fear into the enemies of the Sith. “ She had said, examining it. “It will forever more be yours. Use it wisely. “She handed it back to him, elation flooding through him as he took something that would be a part of his life, perhaps until he died.
“Our enemies still live. “ She said.
Caran shook his head. “I killed them all. The Knights are gone. “
His master scowled at him. “Don’t be foolish; they are dangerous. Perhaps more dangerous than the Jedi. “
Caran kept silent. She continued. “I am sending you to one of the Unknown Regions, just outside of Bakura. One of the Knights resides there, perhaps in exile. Carry out her failure to the end. Do you understand? ‘’
Caran nodded, than stood from his kneeling position. “She will be no match for me, my master. “
He was brought back from the past when his door chimed. “Come, ‘’ he said. He heard the door open behind him, but he did not rise from his meditation. “Sir, ‘’ he heard from a breathless voice. “They must have known we were coming; A Republic Frigate was waiting for us when we came out of hyperspace. “
Caran said, calmly, “Only one Frigate? Not an entire fleet? “
The subordinate shook his head. “No, sir, just one. It went for our objective; we think it’s a rescue mission. “
“Have three of our cruisers, The Eclipse, Shadow, and Vornskr, begin a patrol pattern. Have them wait for my word to attack if they see the target, understood? “
The officer bowed. “Yes sir. “He turned and left, the door closing behind him. After some silence, Caran stood and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. He left his quarters and started for his personal hanger. This kill was going to be his.
Sharm Golran was the last to die, being a victim to the slender woman’s knife thrown in his chest. He was slumped awkwardly in his chair, the knife keeping him upward through the back end. This woman now aimed what looked like an oversized version of a Jawa’s ion blaster in one hand at him, and a medallion in the other. She shoved the latter in his face. “You’ve seen this before. Tell me where the other Knights are. “Sharm couldn’t possibly understand what she was asking for, and didn’t care. If he was going to die, he was going to take her with him. He pulled his heavy holdout blaster pistol out of his leg holster and snapped it towards her. But she was too fast, blocking his swinging arm with her own, and smashing her pistol like a club in his face with the other. She realized that by now no one would answer her. She had tried nearly the whole crew of The Predator, but they all claimed to know nothing of the Knights’ whereabouts. She thought about finishing Sharm, but knew that a slow death would teach him more than anything else.
She holstered her custom weapon, and thought a little before deciding what to do. She had never piloted a Frigate by herself before, and knew that such a task was nearly impossible. But if she could tune herself to the entire ship, inside and out, she could command it as a whole. She reached out with the Force, and gripped all the controls, all of the ship, and shoved forward with her mind. The ship whined a bit before slowly escaping her temporary home, and now faced thousands of asteroids and rocks. That wouldn’t be a problem; once, the knights had commended her for use of the informally named ability known as Battlemeld. In harmony with all her surroundings, she pushed the rocks gently out of the way as she made way for the nearest planet.
After fifty meters of travel and after some asteroids had no longer obstructed her view, she saw three massive cruisers attempting what looked like a search pattern; they knew she was here.
Gritting her teeth, she summoned her resolve and shoved fear and anxiety out of the way; they would be no help here. She attempted to search The Predator subconsciously for any helpful mechanics she could use to escape, but there was none.
She halted the ship with her sub-conscious and considered her options: Attempt to surprise the patrol and fly out of the region in the time allotted to her, but that was too risky and foolish. Then an idea dawned on her. If she could find something that could present a larger signature to grab the attention of their sensors, she could possibly slip by unnoticed if it caused enough racket.
Having The Predator wrapped around her mind through the Force, she searched for any device that could possibly do such a thing, and found one. No, two; It was the hyperspace engine, and the sublight engine. That stopped her dead in her tracks; Sublight engines were required to get her out of the asteroid and away from the patrol crafts, but the hyperspace engine was needed to get her out of the region entirely. Attempting to travel to a planet would take far too long for sublight engines, and by then she would probably run out of fuel anyway. She decided to mask her presence with lit sublight engines; she could probably move the ship herself all things considered, and the sublight engines would at least be brighter visually. She concentrated on it, focusing with the Force to power it down and disconnect the tubes and wires keeping it still. It took awhile to get the tubular locks enwrapping them off, and even more so to get the rusted things to move, but they suddenly jerked free, and now drifted into space, on an endless momentum. She directed them to move towards the distant patrol ships, and when it was close, she activated them and powered them at full. The engines, no longer restrained by a ship, spun and sped all around with blue flames shooting out of them. They still had artificial gravity, and that kept them from wildly spinning on an endless tight loop, but it was no doubt imposing. She could feel the pilots behind the ships suddenly jerk with surprise, and their attempt to capture the runaway engines. She did not know if they thought it was a starship, but it was enough for them to ignore their search pattern and focus on it.
Now was the time. She stood up from her meditating position, and reached out harder in the Force than she had done in a long time. Even with extra concentration, it didn’t seem to be enough; The Predator only inched forward a little. She summoned her legendary resolve and this time shoved her hand out, reinforcing the authority the Force already had on this ship. It now moved faster, but it had to be at least more or the same amount of speed that the sublight engines had provided. She thrust her other armored hand out, both arms stretched to the viewport of The Predator. Now it had gone by what she thought 10.5 percent more than what the subs provided. But she couldn’t think too hard; she was expelling too much energy as it was.
“Track those pods! “ The Admiral of Shadow yelled. “Get a tractor beam on it now! “
He heard frantic mumbling behind him, and one of the gunners said, “Sir, I can vaporize them right now. Permission to attack? “ The Admiral shook his head, rueful. “Orders from Commander Klor himself. Blasted fool. Communications, tell The Eclipse and Vornskr to create a tractor wall surrounding our ship. Do it now! “
He heard “Yes sir. “But realized that at the speed those two were going, it would be nearly impossible to steady them. He was sorely tempted to ignore the orders and blast them out of space, but Commander Klor would have him executed immediately and probably assume command of his ship. That was motivation enough to bide his time.
He saw the other Cruisers making a slow turn to make a less than perfect staggered formation. He tartly remembered the other part of his orders, and pulled his comlink up and to his lips. “Commander Klor, we have spotted and are attempting to capture the targets. “
“There are two? ‘’ His calm and intimidating voice asked.
“Yes, two… Pods, by the looks of it, sir. “
There was silence as he considered that.
“Continue with the original plan. One extra Knight means nothing but more fun. “
The Admiral shook his head in disgust. The thing with these blasted Sith Lords is that they always consider what happens when the target is captured, not how to capture the target. It was a disgrace to the Sith military to follow under these amateurs.
“As soon as you have finished with the tractor beam, “Caran continued. “Bring them both over to the capital ship. “
“Yes, sir.”
“Commander Klor out.”
She would have smiled at their obliviousness, but she was concentrating so hard that her nose began to bleed. Her old instructor would’ve told her that to submit to size would be the same as saying that the Force was smaller than it. But there was only so much that her body could take, and pushing a Frigate, even in the space, was seriously taking a toll on her. She would require rest after this, and she knew the risk that she would not make it out in time, and her body would give out. But what else could she do?
As the ship nearly made it out, passing by the oblivious cruisers at fifty meters away, she was touched in the Force. Not in the way that the Force was directing her, no, someone made contact with her subconscious and was attempting to fill her with fatigue. This was the last thing she needed right now, and as she saw the frigates finally capture the wild sublight engines, she realized that someone onboard one of the cruisers must have thought she was still in it. The ruse had been done perfectly, but the effect in the Force was very real.
She estimated that she had perhaps five minutes before she passed out, just enough time to make it to open space. And as the patrol ships were meters behind her, her heart sank; fifty meters in front of her, in a formation that was meant to block escapers, was a Sith Fleet.
There was only one thing she could do now.
Using the Force, she took hold of the The Predator, and aimed it somewhat in between the formation. She didn’t know if her ship was small enough and she didn’t know if they would catch her. She grabbed the hyperspace lever with her mind. Now, she had to use complete faith.
She shoved the stick down, and the viewport turned into blue stars.
And, after a few seconds of anticipation, she did not instantaneously implode.
She made it.
“What was that? “Caran demanded from the ship crew aboard the capital ship. “What starship just went into hyperspace? “
After a moment of silence, one of the techs hesitantly said, “It was the frigate that we were chasing, sir. “
Caran nearly burst with rage. “What are those pods then? Identify them! “
Again, a moment of silence. “It appears to be two modified sublight engines, the kind that can operate without the ship’s help. “
This time, Caran did burst with rage. He landed a gloved fist on the terminal in front of him, smashing and burrowing into it, sending sparks everywhere. He turned to an officer. “Have the Admirals of those three cruisers join me on board of this ship. Once that is done, search for anyone on this ship with experience enough to replace their roles. “A little shaken, the officer nodded and pulled up his comlink.
Caran looked at the space The Predator had been in before it went into hyperspace. He would not lose the Knight. He would not fail his master.
“Have a bounty set on the head of whoever is piloting the ship, “he told to no one in particular. “And plot a course to any nearby systems that might support them in anyway. “
He turned and left the bridge.
Her eyes shot open, head throbbing, and energy gone. She was lying on the floor of the bridge, her back aching for something more comfortable than durasteel. She managed to get on her feet, though she stood unsteady. She went to the terminal and reached over the body that was slumped on the chair. She toggled some switches and found that she was two standard hours from Courscant. That was strange; she had set it to a nearby planet, Bakura or perhaps Bespin and Hoth. She decided to puzzle on that later. Now she had to call her brethren. She pulled out the amulet that she had been granted at the age of six, and looked at the letters inscribed on it. An interesting design that she had not cared to ask about before allowed it to change comm frequencies every twenty seconds. She guessed that they relied on nearby comm stations to hack and command them to change the original location of the comm’s ping.
She went to the comm terminal and tapped the appropriate frequency and waited, anxiety flowing through her each second no one picked up. Finally, after a full minute, she heard a garbled noise and then a deep voice demand, “Who is this? How did you get this comm frequency? “
Hastily, she said “1,000 two nine seven FFA3. I repeat, this is Raven. They know we aren’t dead, I repeat, they know. You need to activate the Knights Reborn command, alright? Contact the council but do it now! “
“Easy, Raven. I can’t issue the order myself. You know that. “
“You don’t understand, “She said angrily. “The Sith know we are still alive. The ruse didn’t work, or just not for long. The entire team is at stake, Thunder. “
There was some silence, then he said, “Meet at Dagobah, you know where at. And I’ll bring the Council, is that okay? “
She sighed but knew that was all she could get at the moment. “That’s fine, but hurry. I’m on my way there now. “
She hit the comm button and wasted no time, not even for energy, to begin plotting a new course for Dagobah at the next jump.
CHAPTER 2
Dagobah
Underground base
Training room
Even though she was smaller in stature than him, Falcon’s side kick nearly broke Jawfin’s ribcage. He reeled back, yellow lightsaber held in a defensive form. He hadn’t expected her to start using her body, as she had consistently used the Ataru form during their fight. It was her signature form and that made it the more unpredictable. She had changed her body language, coming at him with the hint that she was going to aim for his head in a spin. Jawfin held his saber in anticipation, but he was not counting on her finishing the spin. As she attempted to feint and twirl the other direction, he brought his saber up and met her dazzling sky blue saber, and smashed the hilt into her face. This time, she had to step back, and Jawfin quickly pressed his advantage by leaping up and over her, bringing his saber around to backstab her. She side stepped, and swung her saber upwards, forcing his saber to rise with it. Again, she kicked at him. Patience was the key to breaking those who don’t have it, as Jawfin’s long gone master would say, but Jawfin had enough of her piecemeal attacks. He swung his saber in a heavy arc, forcing her to bring her own up to meet it.
But attempting to block such an attack left her no choice except to kneel, her boots scraping against the metal floor. That prevented her from effectively using her legs as an offensive technique. Jawfin brought his durasteel armored knee into her face, knocking her backward. She used this momentum to back flip away, and bring her feet underneath her again. He wasted no time to attack, switching from the Soresu form over to Djem So. He charged forward, and spun his saber in front of him, the yellow color trailing behind the blade as it was brought up in an endless X shape. This made an intimidating and unpredictable promise, and as he neared her, he abruptly stopped and rolled, swinging his saber to bear on her armored legs. She blocked this with surprising speed and concentration, leaped over the blade, and attempted to hit his face in his crouching position. But evidently she had exhausted the use of using her body as a weapon, because he bent his head backward, making her attack overshoot him. She landed a foot away from him, and hastily switched to a defensive form as he furiously rained blows on her lightsaber, perhaps wanted to knock it out of her hand with his brute strength.
On the verge of losing energy all together, Falcon decided to short circuit his momentum, spinning around him and striking at his back. It was met with his yellow blade and almost an elbow as she raised her own arm to block it. Instead of attacking his large frame, Falcon chose to swing heavily at his legs, using the Force to empower it. Jawfin’s custom armor stopped the blade from cutting his leg off, but the kinetic force was undeniable. He lost his balance and fell, but managed to push his free hand on the ground, turning his fall into a somersault. As he landed, he brought his saber up in a one handed guard, stopping Falcon’s overhead swing. He shoved his hand out with the Force at her unprotected waist. He did not add enough power to make her shoot back outright, but it was enough to make her nearly topple over, falling into her own blade. He seized her moment of weakness and pushed his blade upward, ending the saber lock and leaving her no choice but to leap away from the confrontation.
The training had gotten too intense as it was, and as Jawfin closed his yellow lightsaber, he noticed that they had inflicted a lot of damage to each other. Falcon, following suit, shut her saber off and hooked it to her belt. She swiped at her face with her arm and found a small amount of blood on it. “Remind me to take knee pads off of the armor list. “
Jawfin smiled and said “You’d need that, wouldn’t you?”
She glared at him. “Well, how about you? Do you need them? “
He shrugged and didn’t answer.
They were leaving the training chambers, Falcon still swiping at her bloody nose, when they heard their comlinks beep. They glanced at each other. Jawfin cautiously raised it to his mouth. “Rcon here. Can I speak to you, hooded meal? “The coded phrase sounded stupid even after all these years, but for some reason it stayed with the Knights.
“Only to the most balanced meal, proxy. “He heard in reply.
Falcon’s eyes grew large at the voice and phrase. “Key? “
Key was the team’s hunter, though the galaxy would know him as a bounty hunter. He was a loyal and skilled predator, and Jawfin even suspected that he was sensitive to the Force to a degree. It made for a good team member and a even better one man army.
Jawfin cautiously said “What is Key like? “It was possible that the Sith or another form of a enemy had learned this phrase somehow. After all, Jawfin and Falcon hadn’t heard from the other Knights since the downfall.
The downfall. Jawfin did not need to be reminded of it. Many years ago, the Knights were warriors of the peace, doing what the Jedi either could not or would not do. But because of that difference, they had been deemed as murderers and thieves. Jawfin quickly banished that thought from his mind and listened to Key’s coded reply.
“He is a man of many flavored ideas and assorted opinions-- in other words, a well balanced meal. “
Falcon stifled a laugh. Even though that was not exactly the correct phrase, it was no doubt the Bounty Hunter Key himself.
Jawfin was less cheerful. “Why are you calling us? Is something wrong? “
“Yes--- well, so Thunderbird tells me. Raven called and gave him a 1,000 two nine seven code. “
The atmosphere darkened suddenly; the code to rally the Knights.
Jawfin said “Okay. Where at? “
“Dagobah. In our old base. “
“We’re already in it. “
“Alright, I’m on my way with some of the Knights in tow. Can’t wait to see you both again. Key out. “
Key’s modestly large starship, The Satisfaction, zoomed back into existence as it jumped out of hyperspace. The dark and muddy planet known as Dagobah was in the unwelcoming state it almost always was in. Key slowly accelerated the ship, not hoping to waste any time.
It had been years since the Knights used Dagobah as a base, but it was clear that its overall thick terrain and air was necessary to block out any people that may be listening in on their conversations through tight beam transmitters. It also was convenient for keeping any Force signals inside its atmosphere, though no one really knew how it did this.
Inside, Key’s little trained Force perception stirred a bit, though Key gave it no thought. He would’ve devoted more time to his training of the Force and saber practice if he had more time; He had been busy all over the galaxy accepting bounty missions, sacking their enemies’ trade posts and even kidnapping some high level officials for ransom. At some times, he wasn’t proud of it, but he certainly had fun most of the way, and besides, he had a reputation nearly as large as a hutt’s backside.
But somehow, during all of this, he had been reduced to babysitting council members and transporting them. It was an insult, and he would have shot his passengers outright, had they not been a part of the Knights. Apart of his family.
Yes, it was during his twenty-five long career that Jawfin had found him and brought him into this strange pile of people he had affection for. It was a unwelcome feeling and one he was not used to, but had brought him to what he was now: nearly rich, reputation, glory, and some nice armor. The people, at first, saw them all as heroes, people who worked with the Jedi and the Republic to defend them from the tyranny of the Sith and the Empire.
It was all true, but apparently only true as long as they liked it. Soon, after they declared that the Knights were stealing supplies from the Republic and sending them to their enemies, they had become vigilantes of a kind. It was only when the Sith and Republic had cooperated to slaughter hundreds of Knights stranded on a planet that the Knights began to fight against the Republic as well. The only unsure faction they had connections to was the Jedi, and even they weren’t promising to keep their secret.
The Knights had gotten smaller, and with that, weaker. Soon, after the Sith ambushed a lone group of Knights returning from a raid, they had decided to go off the grid entirely. They sent Jawfin and a couple of others to erase the records from both the Republic and Sith. And with that, they vanished and split up across the galaxy.
Now, apparently, they were needed to rally together, once more. Key was never one to back from a fight, but he was not sure it was even worth the rally, if the threat was so real.
A beeping snapped him out of his thoughts, and saw that they were entering the atmosphere of the planet. He took the controls.
“Zabuza was the only one you could find? “Raven demanded. “We need the whole council to make a decision on this! “
Key raised his hands “The others are too well hidden. I was lucky when I found him on Bespin. “
They were standing in the muddy and unwelcoming forest of Dagobah, just outside the entrance to the Knights home base.
Zabuza, a Zabrak warrior from the planet Dathomir, laid a hand on Raven’s shoulder. “Calm, Raven. We will find the others in time. There is no need to execute any drastic actions in a mad rush. “
After his fourth or fifth time in the last two minutes, Key slapped his hand on the door scanner. It still denied his request with a red glow on the panel.
Zabuza studied the panel for a moment, and pulled his glove off of his hand. He gently pushed on it, and the panel responded with a positive beep.
The door opened, and the three Knights descended the steps into the aged base.
It was still a lot like what Key remembered it, with red low dimmed glowing floors, and long hallways leading to rooms for different purposes. But it had grown considerably dulled, with some glow panels to light the hallways broken, a couple of inconsequential holes in the ceiling, some doors bent and semi broken windows.
It was still a sight to see, with some Knights’ armor incased in glass, it looked like a museum of sorts.
Key looked them over as they crossed the hallways and noticed that his old armor shone like a star in its glass. He smiled as memories came flooding through him, snippets of him and the team, fighting against evil and doing it with style.
It was apparently not a finished trend, yet.
He looked at the others, Jack Skywalker and his flexible red and blue robe, Nebula with his mandolorian heavy armor. Thunderbird, with his padded vest, robes flowing through it. It was almost overwhelming him with memories that felt forgotten.
Raven, though stoic as always was marveling at it too. She even spotted her old armor. It looked ancient and arcane but it always seemed to be a part of her that was missing as the years between the Knights gained.
She ran her gloved hand over its scaly and thick material, eyes losing focus as the memories swept through her.
Key spotted Jawfin and Falcon on their way up a flight of stairs. It was even more jolting seeing them here, looking some years older. Jawfin had gray creeping in his sandy hair, and his face looked tired and worn. He wore Jedi heavy armor along with a brown cloak covering his body.
Falcon, though appearing as youthful as ever, certainly looked like she had seen better days. She wore a flexible Nano-tech combat suit, with some resistant armor here and there. But her face had dried blood, and her hair, usually piled atop her head, was now dismayed and dirty. It looked like she had seen combat.
But none of the two’s condition could hide the joy that came to their faces as they saw Key, Zabuza, and Raven. Years and years between the Knights had caused home sickness in Key, and, in surprise, Raven.
Though she was trying to hide it under professional pride, there was no doubt in the Force that she had been nearly reunited with the gap that was there.
Key shook his hand firmly with Jawfin’s, and was surprised when Falcon brushed his hand aside and wrapped him in a warm embrace.
Raven attempted to dampen her emotions through the Force and said “Jawfin, Falcon. You know why we are here. “
Falcon released Key and, used to Raven’s way of speaking, said “Of course, Raven. We must consider this as a whole team first. Remember, the Sith may not know we are all here. “
Jawfin walked away, motioning them to follow. “We’ll take this into the meeting room. “
Once inside the room with a large table and just enough chairs for the entire Knight team, they all sat except for Raven, who said determinedly, “As we were saying, “
Key laughed outright. “By the Force, Raven, calm down. “
Raven glared at him with ice eyes. “This is no laughing matter. The entire team may be in danger. “
Jawfin raised his hand for silence. “Raven, let’s take this slowly, alright? “
She just stared at him, and sat.
Zabuza, with his air of quiet, said “The other Council members could not be found at a moment’s notice. Can we still activate the code? “
Jawfin laid a hand on his chin and thought. Executing any codes without full authorization would, in the tradition of the Knights, be cause for instant punishment and sometimes death.
But if this threat was as real as Raven claimed…
“Raven, can you tell us anything about who attempted to attack you?”
She closed her eyes a moment, thinking. “Whoever it was, he was extremely powerful in the Force. Powerful enough to sense even the smallest flicker. In this case, me. “
Even though it was an effective ability, cloaking one in the Force didn’t diminish the presence entirely.
After a moment, Falcon cleared her throat. “Strikes me that if he is that powerful, he could easily find us, especially with all of us packed together on this planet. “
Raven reluctantly nodded. “I chose a preprogrammed route in the ship to get here faster. “
Jawfin looked at her. “You took a ship here? “
“Yes, but I know what you are thinking; there is no tracking device on it. Whoever I stole it from heavily modified it, and apparently it has some kind of special coating, or so I could gather from it. “
Key’s mind was still on the Knights Reborn command. “You know, if you are still thinking about initiating the command alone, I could probably find the rest of the Council. The only reason I didn’t find them all together was because Zabuza was practically standing out like a Sand Crawler. “
Key’s customarily humorous speech was cause enough for a few chuckles.
“But, “He said, leaning on the table. “I already have a good source, who tells me he might know where Jawa is, and even Jammer. And, before we go into that, who’s idea was it to have no knowledge of where the other Knights were when they vanished? “
Raven ignored the last part. “How does this source of yours know where they are? “
“He’s a lifetime friend of mine. Don’t worry, I trust him. “
Jawfin finally looked up. “We can’t issue the Knight’s Reborn command without the whole Council. Even if it’s only one member missing we still can’t. “ Jawfin was retaining some of his old leadership personality. “Key, you and I will go find them. Raven, I want you to find out more about our Sith enemy. Find out if he has a master of any kind, but do not go after him alone. “
She said nothing in reply. He stood up. “I know how much you hate guard duty, Falcon, but you and Zabuza are most qualified at the moment. Are you okay with that? “
She nodded. A few years ago and she would have exploded at such an idea, but she seemed considerably aged since Key last saw her.
“Alright, Key, where do we start? “
He thought for a moment, and said “I’d say Tatooine, for Jack. “
“His parents? “
Key quietly said “I think so. “
Jack Skywalker was the Team’s youngest member, being at the age of fourteen. He worked with his parents in a cantina on Tatooine, the family business being one of the best known on the planet. The tragic event took place when a local messed with a refueling tank and caused it to explode, destroying half the cantina’s structure and burying his parents in a single blow.
Jack, being an orphan and also alone, was taken up by Falcon, who was on a diplomatic mission during the event. The Force was strong with him, and he became Falcon’s only apprentice. He and Falcon shared a Force bond, and he had grown with the Knights too. Since the Downfall, and the Knights’ vanishing, no one heard any word from him.
Now, they could only assume that he was either mourning his parents or tracking down the accidental killer, which was trouble indeed for the Knights, should they actually be responsible for a murder on Jack’s case.
“We better get moving, “ Jawfin said, starting for the door to the hallway.
Key followed him and pulled on his helmet.
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Enjoy!
STAR WARS: The Old Republic
THE KNIGHTS
Book one: The Knights Reborn.
CHAPTER 1
Unknown Region.
Admiral Sharm Golran stood at the bridge of The Predator; hands clasped behind his back, and stared at the unfamiliar stars before him. His heavily modified Frigate that he so adored was attacked out of nowhere by a Sith fleet that must have been waiting for him on his route to Courscant. The Predator was seriously outnumbered and was forced to flee, but at the cost of severe damage to its hull. They had jumped into lightspeed despite the fact that this region of the galaxy was not mapped or explored before. Though they were lucky they had not collided with anything on the way there, especially given the fact that they now found themselves staring at asteroids and debris. Now, they waited, suspended in space and attempting repairs. Despite the fact that he was sure he already knew, he turned to his second in command and asked, “Is there a way to send a coded signal to any nearby planets? ‘’ He shook his head. “If the Sith are waiting for us, sir, then any signal at all would be cause for some suspicion. They would triangulate our comm frequency and find us within minutes. ‘’ Sharm nodded, and sighed. The only possible things to do now was to either further explore this region in hopes of a hiding place, and then send the signal, or he could wait for repairs and attack the Sith. He shook his head, the latter was foolhardy and too risky. He looked over his shoulder at the pilot’s station. “Helmsman, ‘’ he said. ‘’ Go half speed and find a place to hide us. We’ll send out help once we are hidden. ‘’ He nodded. The ship lurched forward with sluggish speed.
Sharm doubted that the Sith would be stupid enough to go after them, but there was no way for The Predator to slip out of this area unnoticed. The Sith had them cornered, but they had no idea where at in this unknown region. A stalemate. The ship had gone fifty meters from their original position, and hope slithered through Sharm as he saw a asteroid with a large hole, dipping in so much that it had turned essentially into a cave. He pointed out the viewport. ‘’Helmsman, straight ahead. Back into the cave so we have a view out. ‘’ The ship shuddered again as it picked up speed. His second-in-command looked dubious. ‘’ Sir, ‘’ he said. ‘’ If they find us in there, we will have nowhere to go. ‘’ Sharm smiled grimly at him. ‘’ We have nowhere to go now, Siahm. This is our best bet for defense right now. ‘’ Siahm nodded. By now, they had reached the asteroid; it’s thick and uninviting terrain intimidating to the crew. The Helmsman turned the ship but kept forward momentum towards the asteroid. They smoothly slid into the rock, the back end of The Predator going as far as possible into the depths of darkness that would hopefully provide visual protection.
After an hour of silence, Sharm gave the OK to activate the communications. The Rodian manning the communications hailed any planets loyal to the Republic. After thirty standard minutes, a hologram of what looked like a human male emerged from the Holocom table. The communications man waved Sharm over. ‘’ Greetings, ‘’ he said. Voice and picture garbled. ‘’ I am General Satnern of the Republic on Courscant, who am I speaking to? ‘’ Sharm leaned forward. ‘’ Greetings, General, I am Admiral Sharm Golran. Commanding The Predator. I was inbound on Courscant when I was attacked by a Sith fleet. I was forced to take desperate measures and am now in a unknown region just outside of Bakura. They have my Frigate cornered. ‘’ Satnern stood in silence, pondering this. Sharm continued. ‘’ I have just completed my mission on assisting with protecting a Republic Orbital Station above Sullust, and I am now on my way to return to Courscant for my reward. ‘’ Finally, Satnern said, “You’re a freelancer? ‘’ Sharm shook his head. ‘’ Sometimes a Bounty Hunter and hand for hire. ‘’ Satnern considered this, and seemed to consult something Sharm could not see through the holo imagine. “You said your name was Sharm Golran? ‘’ Sharm was flustered. ‘’Yes! ‘’ he said. ‘’ Now can you send help? ‘’ After some long moments, Satnern slowly shook his head. ‘’ Sharm Golran… You are wanted by the Republic for stealing Jedi artifacts and sacking Republic trading posts. And, let’s see… for threatening Senator Ayma Sensoya of the Mon Calamari system, for---- ‘’ the comm blinked out by Sharm’s command. He slammed a closed fist on the table. “Blast! ‘’ he growled. There was tension in the silence that followed, and Sharm’s second-in-command hesitantly stepped to his side. “Should I prepare an away team to secure the inside of the asteroid? “ Sharm sighed. They had broken comm silence in the hope that someone could help them with the Sith. Now, no matter what, they had no help and no way out, unless there was something that could be of help in the asteroid, though he doubted it. But then again, there were no other options anyway. He motioned with his hand, and his second-in-command turned and walked out the bridge. He turned from the viewport and looked at the entirety of the bridge’s crew. ‘’ Everyone, power down. Keep our signature level low. ‘’ He looked out the viewport once more, before the lights dimmed, and durasteel panels slid down, blocking his view. Now, they were to wait.
Sergeant Morran Iroth lead the away team on the asteroid, all of them wearing sealed Vac suits and trying not to trip with all of the pieces of durasteel laying on the ground. As they looked around, their headlights revealed strange objects; Shattered Blaster Pistols, supply caches that hung from the makeshift ceiling, broken search lights, and… What looked like a temporary fire was still burning. “How is that possible? “One of Morran’s men said. ‘’ There is no way that a fire can be going in dead cold space! “Morran had a very bad feeling about this. But there was no time to be hung up on that. He tore his gaze away from the lit fire and continued to search for anything useful. He had walked twenty paces away from the majority of the search team before noticing a strange creature, hiding in a opening gap on the ceiling. His lights did not have enough range to reveal what it was, so he took some steps forward. The Light intensified, and he now saw what looked like a hawkbat, though it had burning yellow eyes that was not a shared characteristic with most known hawkbats, but Morran sternly reminded himself that they were in the unknown region; he was to expect nearly anything. But the eyes of the hawkbat now almost glared at him, sending shivers down Morran’s back. Morran was not sure if it was hostile, so he just ignored it, passing below the hanging creature. It was only after another set of thirty paces that he saw perhaps the strangest thing in this arcane cave; It was a woman, black short hair, and clad in dark, scaly armor. She seemed to have no evident age; her face suggested many years, but it also seemed to be very young. She lay on her back, evidently sleeping. Morran was nearly paralyzed with the sheer obscurity of this. She had no helmet nor air tanks, didn’t have zero gravity compensation boots, or any of the equipment needed to traverse space. He knelt down and gently shook her shoulder. “Ma’am? “He said. She did not awaken or even groan in response. His comlink must have been still on, because he heard ‘’ Ma’am? What is he talking about? ‘’ Soon he heard footsteps coming towards him, and that was another thing; he could hear muffled sound even through his helmet. He was sorely tempted to take it off and see if the air was breathable, but he knew the risks and decided against it. His comlink crackled again. “Sir? “Morran heard. “I have found something you might want to see. “ tearing his gaze from the woman, he saw one of his men holding up a amulet of some kind. He got up from his kneeling position and started towards it. Even from a few feet away, he saw the amulet glowing red and white. It looked like some treasure out of a holodrama that was worth fortunes upon fortunes. He covered the distance between them, and now took a closer look at it. It was richly defined, with durasteel lining around a ruby crystal. In it, white lettering was inscribed on it. “It says ‘Knights’ “Morran said. “Must belong to the Jedi. Probably ancient.“ He began to tuck it in his pocket when he felt a vibroblade jam itself into his back. He screamed and fell, the amulet falling from his hands. Agonizing pain shot through him, making it unbearable to move. He managed to look up as his vision grew hazy and saw the woman slaughtering his team, a hood now pulled over her head. He saw his crew die one after another in a blur of seconds. Morran looked down at the area he was punctured, and saw green smoke rising from the bloody hole. He was in too much pain to ponder about it, and, as he realized he couldn’t move, he knew that he was about to die. He tried to activate his comlink and get a line over to The Predator, but his comlink was abruptly jerked out of his hand. He saw it tumble away, and noticed that a knife was thrown through it. He was fading rapidly, and as he saw the woman mercilessly killing the last one, he realized that the crew of The Predator would be helpless to defend themselves from this woman’s unnaturally fast and brutal attacks. The room grew silent as she looked around the area. She must have noticed he was still conscious but barely so, because she now strode towards him. She knelt next to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Where are they? “She said with a distinctively feminine voice. Morran failed to deliver voice but the meaning dwelled upon her anyway. “The other Knights, ‘’
She said. “Where are you keeping them? ‘’ But Morran was already gone.
The Sith Apprentice Caran Klor meditated in his quarters, using the Force to levitate his lightsaber in the air. He had assembled and disassembled it several times in the past hour, and now it felt as natural as moving his arm. His lightsaber was uncommon, or so his master said. He had found the crystal nearly five years ago, on a planet called Vjun. The acidic rain had caused the crystal to turn to a darker shade of green, and had caused the lightsaber to constantly smoke when he ignited it, sending cold fear into the eyes who found it. Caran was proud of his accomplishment, and had earned a rare compliment from his master:
“Let this blade strike fear into the enemies of the Sith. “ She had said, examining it. “It will forever more be yours. Use it wisely. “She handed it back to him, elation flooding through him as he took something that would be a part of his life, perhaps until he died.
“Our enemies still live. “ She said.
Caran shook his head. “I killed them all. The Knights are gone. “
His master scowled at him. “Don’t be foolish; they are dangerous. Perhaps more dangerous than the Jedi. “
Caran kept silent. She continued. “I am sending you to one of the Unknown Regions, just outside of Bakura. One of the Knights resides there, perhaps in exile. Carry out her failure to the end. Do you understand? ‘’
Caran nodded, than stood from his kneeling position. “She will be no match for me, my master. “
He was brought back from the past when his door chimed. “Come, ‘’ he said. He heard the door open behind him, but he did not rise from his meditation. “Sir, ‘’ he heard from a breathless voice. “They must have known we were coming; A Republic Frigate was waiting for us when we came out of hyperspace. “
Caran said, calmly, “Only one Frigate? Not an entire fleet? “
The subordinate shook his head. “No, sir, just one. It went for our objective; we think it’s a rescue mission. “
“Have three of our cruisers, The Eclipse, Shadow, and Vornskr, begin a patrol pattern. Have them wait for my word to attack if they see the target, understood? “
The officer bowed. “Yes sir. “He turned and left, the door closing behind him. After some silence, Caran stood and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. He left his quarters and started for his personal hanger. This kill was going to be his.
Sharm Golran was the last to die, being a victim to the slender woman’s knife thrown in his chest. He was slumped awkwardly in his chair, the knife keeping him upward through the back end. This woman now aimed what looked like an oversized version of a Jawa’s ion blaster in one hand at him, and a medallion in the other. She shoved the latter in his face. “You’ve seen this before. Tell me where the other Knights are. “Sharm couldn’t possibly understand what she was asking for, and didn’t care. If he was going to die, he was going to take her with him. He pulled his heavy holdout blaster pistol out of his leg holster and snapped it towards her. But she was too fast, blocking his swinging arm with her own, and smashing her pistol like a club in his face with the other. She realized that by now no one would answer her. She had tried nearly the whole crew of The Predator, but they all claimed to know nothing of the Knights’ whereabouts. She thought about finishing Sharm, but knew that a slow death would teach him more than anything else.
She holstered her custom weapon, and thought a little before deciding what to do. She had never piloted a Frigate by herself before, and knew that such a task was nearly impossible. But if she could tune herself to the entire ship, inside and out, she could command it as a whole. She reached out with the Force, and gripped all the controls, all of the ship, and shoved forward with her mind. The ship whined a bit before slowly escaping her temporary home, and now faced thousands of asteroids and rocks. That wouldn’t be a problem; once, the knights had commended her for use of the informally named ability known as Battlemeld. In harmony with all her surroundings, she pushed the rocks gently out of the way as she made way for the nearest planet.
After fifty meters of travel and after some asteroids had no longer obstructed her view, she saw three massive cruisers attempting what looked like a search pattern; they knew she was here.
Gritting her teeth, she summoned her resolve and shoved fear and anxiety out of the way; they would be no help here. She attempted to search The Predator subconsciously for any helpful mechanics she could use to escape, but there was none.
She halted the ship with her sub-conscious and considered her options: Attempt to surprise the patrol and fly out of the region in the time allotted to her, but that was too risky and foolish. Then an idea dawned on her. If she could find something that could present a larger signature to grab the attention of their sensors, she could possibly slip by unnoticed if it caused enough racket.
Having The Predator wrapped around her mind through the Force, she searched for any device that could possibly do such a thing, and found one. No, two; It was the hyperspace engine, and the sublight engine. That stopped her dead in her tracks; Sublight engines were required to get her out of the asteroid and away from the patrol crafts, but the hyperspace engine was needed to get her out of the region entirely. Attempting to travel to a planet would take far too long for sublight engines, and by then she would probably run out of fuel anyway. She decided to mask her presence with lit sublight engines; she could probably move the ship herself all things considered, and the sublight engines would at least be brighter visually. She concentrated on it, focusing with the Force to power it down and disconnect the tubes and wires keeping it still. It took awhile to get the tubular locks enwrapping them off, and even more so to get the rusted things to move, but they suddenly jerked free, and now drifted into space, on an endless momentum. She directed them to move towards the distant patrol ships, and when it was close, she activated them and powered them at full. The engines, no longer restrained by a ship, spun and sped all around with blue flames shooting out of them. They still had artificial gravity, and that kept them from wildly spinning on an endless tight loop, but it was no doubt imposing. She could feel the pilots behind the ships suddenly jerk with surprise, and their attempt to capture the runaway engines. She did not know if they thought it was a starship, but it was enough for them to ignore their search pattern and focus on it.
Now was the time. She stood up from her meditating position, and reached out harder in the Force than she had done in a long time. Even with extra concentration, it didn’t seem to be enough; The Predator only inched forward a little. She summoned her legendary resolve and this time shoved her hand out, reinforcing the authority the Force already had on this ship. It now moved faster, but it had to be at least more or the same amount of speed that the sublight engines had provided. She thrust her other armored hand out, both arms stretched to the viewport of The Predator. Now it had gone by what she thought 10.5 percent more than what the subs provided. But she couldn’t think too hard; she was expelling too much energy as it was.
“Track those pods! “ The Admiral of Shadow yelled. “Get a tractor beam on it now! “
He heard frantic mumbling behind him, and one of the gunners said, “Sir, I can vaporize them right now. Permission to attack? “ The Admiral shook his head, rueful. “Orders from Commander Klor himself. Blasted fool. Communications, tell The Eclipse and Vornskr to create a tractor wall surrounding our ship. Do it now! “
He heard “Yes sir. “But realized that at the speed those two were going, it would be nearly impossible to steady them. He was sorely tempted to ignore the orders and blast them out of space, but Commander Klor would have him executed immediately and probably assume command of his ship. That was motivation enough to bide his time.
He saw the other Cruisers making a slow turn to make a less than perfect staggered formation. He tartly remembered the other part of his orders, and pulled his comlink up and to his lips. “Commander Klor, we have spotted and are attempting to capture the targets. “
“There are two? ‘’ His calm and intimidating voice asked.
“Yes, two… Pods, by the looks of it, sir. “
There was silence as he considered that.
“Continue with the original plan. One extra Knight means nothing but more fun. “
The Admiral shook his head in disgust. The thing with these blasted Sith Lords is that they always consider what happens when the target is captured, not how to capture the target. It was a disgrace to the Sith military to follow under these amateurs.
“As soon as you have finished with the tractor beam, “Caran continued. “Bring them both over to the capital ship. “
“Yes, sir.”
“Commander Klor out.”
She would have smiled at their obliviousness, but she was concentrating so hard that her nose began to bleed. Her old instructor would’ve told her that to submit to size would be the same as saying that the Force was smaller than it. But there was only so much that her body could take, and pushing a Frigate, even in the space, was seriously taking a toll on her. She would require rest after this, and she knew the risk that she would not make it out in time, and her body would give out. But what else could she do?
As the ship nearly made it out, passing by the oblivious cruisers at fifty meters away, she was touched in the Force. Not in the way that the Force was directing her, no, someone made contact with her subconscious and was attempting to fill her with fatigue. This was the last thing she needed right now, and as she saw the frigates finally capture the wild sublight engines, she realized that someone onboard one of the cruisers must have thought she was still in it. The ruse had been done perfectly, but the effect in the Force was very real.
She estimated that she had perhaps five minutes before she passed out, just enough time to make it to open space. And as the patrol ships were meters behind her, her heart sank; fifty meters in front of her, in a formation that was meant to block escapers, was a Sith Fleet.
There was only one thing she could do now.
Using the Force, she took hold of the The Predator, and aimed it somewhat in between the formation. She didn’t know if her ship was small enough and she didn’t know if they would catch her. She grabbed the hyperspace lever with her mind. Now, she had to use complete faith.
She shoved the stick down, and the viewport turned into blue stars.
And, after a few seconds of anticipation, she did not instantaneously implode.
She made it.
“What was that? “Caran demanded from the ship crew aboard the capital ship. “What starship just went into hyperspace? “
After a moment of silence, one of the techs hesitantly said, “It was the frigate that we were chasing, sir. “
Caran nearly burst with rage. “What are those pods then? Identify them! “
Again, a moment of silence. “It appears to be two modified sublight engines, the kind that can operate without the ship’s help. “
This time, Caran did burst with rage. He landed a gloved fist on the terminal in front of him, smashing and burrowing into it, sending sparks everywhere. He turned to an officer. “Have the Admirals of those three cruisers join me on board of this ship. Once that is done, search for anyone on this ship with experience enough to replace their roles. “A little shaken, the officer nodded and pulled up his comlink.
Caran looked at the space The Predator had been in before it went into hyperspace. He would not lose the Knight. He would not fail his master.
“Have a bounty set on the head of whoever is piloting the ship, “he told to no one in particular. “And plot a course to any nearby systems that might support them in anyway. “
He turned and left the bridge.
Her eyes shot open, head throbbing, and energy gone. She was lying on the floor of the bridge, her back aching for something more comfortable than durasteel. She managed to get on her feet, though she stood unsteady. She went to the terminal and reached over the body that was slumped on the chair. She toggled some switches and found that she was two standard hours from Courscant. That was strange; she had set it to a nearby planet, Bakura or perhaps Bespin and Hoth. She decided to puzzle on that later. Now she had to call her brethren. She pulled out the amulet that she had been granted at the age of six, and looked at the letters inscribed on it. An interesting design that she had not cared to ask about before allowed it to change comm frequencies every twenty seconds. She guessed that they relied on nearby comm stations to hack and command them to change the original location of the comm’s ping.
She went to the comm terminal and tapped the appropriate frequency and waited, anxiety flowing through her each second no one picked up. Finally, after a full minute, she heard a garbled noise and then a deep voice demand, “Who is this? How did you get this comm frequency? “
Hastily, she said “1,000 two nine seven FFA3. I repeat, this is Raven. They know we aren’t dead, I repeat, they know. You need to activate the Knights Reborn command, alright? Contact the council but do it now! “
“Easy, Raven. I can’t issue the order myself. You know that. “
“You don’t understand, “She said angrily. “The Sith know we are still alive. The ruse didn’t work, or just not for long. The entire team is at stake, Thunder. “
There was some silence, then he said, “Meet at Dagobah, you know where at. And I’ll bring the Council, is that okay? “
She sighed but knew that was all she could get at the moment. “That’s fine, but hurry. I’m on my way there now. “
She hit the comm button and wasted no time, not even for energy, to begin plotting a new course for Dagobah at the next jump.
CHAPTER 2
Dagobah
Underground base
Training room
Even though she was smaller in stature than him, Falcon’s side kick nearly broke Jawfin’s ribcage. He reeled back, yellow lightsaber held in a defensive form. He hadn’t expected her to start using her body, as she had consistently used the Ataru form during their fight. It was her signature form and that made it the more unpredictable. She had changed her body language, coming at him with the hint that she was going to aim for his head in a spin. Jawfin held his saber in anticipation, but he was not counting on her finishing the spin. As she attempted to feint and twirl the other direction, he brought his saber up and met her dazzling sky blue saber, and smashed the hilt into her face. This time, she had to step back, and Jawfin quickly pressed his advantage by leaping up and over her, bringing his saber around to backstab her. She side stepped, and swung her saber upwards, forcing his saber to rise with it. Again, she kicked at him. Patience was the key to breaking those who don’t have it, as Jawfin’s long gone master would say, but Jawfin had enough of her piecemeal attacks. He swung his saber in a heavy arc, forcing her to bring her own up to meet it.
But attempting to block such an attack left her no choice except to kneel, her boots scraping against the metal floor. That prevented her from effectively using her legs as an offensive technique. Jawfin brought his durasteel armored knee into her face, knocking her backward. She used this momentum to back flip away, and bring her feet underneath her again. He wasted no time to attack, switching from the Soresu form over to Djem So. He charged forward, and spun his saber in front of him, the yellow color trailing behind the blade as it was brought up in an endless X shape. This made an intimidating and unpredictable promise, and as he neared her, he abruptly stopped and rolled, swinging his saber to bear on her armored legs. She blocked this with surprising speed and concentration, leaped over the blade, and attempted to hit his face in his crouching position. But evidently she had exhausted the use of using her body as a weapon, because he bent his head backward, making her attack overshoot him. She landed a foot away from him, and hastily switched to a defensive form as he furiously rained blows on her lightsaber, perhaps wanted to knock it out of her hand with his brute strength.
On the verge of losing energy all together, Falcon decided to short circuit his momentum, spinning around him and striking at his back. It was met with his yellow blade and almost an elbow as she raised her own arm to block it. Instead of attacking his large frame, Falcon chose to swing heavily at his legs, using the Force to empower it. Jawfin’s custom armor stopped the blade from cutting his leg off, but the kinetic force was undeniable. He lost his balance and fell, but managed to push his free hand on the ground, turning his fall into a somersault. As he landed, he brought his saber up in a one handed guard, stopping Falcon’s overhead swing. He shoved his hand out with the Force at her unprotected waist. He did not add enough power to make her shoot back outright, but it was enough to make her nearly topple over, falling into her own blade. He seized her moment of weakness and pushed his blade upward, ending the saber lock and leaving her no choice but to leap away from the confrontation.
The training had gotten too intense as it was, and as Jawfin closed his yellow lightsaber, he noticed that they had inflicted a lot of damage to each other. Falcon, following suit, shut her saber off and hooked it to her belt. She swiped at her face with her arm and found a small amount of blood on it. “Remind me to take knee pads off of the armor list. “
Jawfin smiled and said “You’d need that, wouldn’t you?”
She glared at him. “Well, how about you? Do you need them? “
He shrugged and didn’t answer.
They were leaving the training chambers, Falcon still swiping at her bloody nose, when they heard their comlinks beep. They glanced at each other. Jawfin cautiously raised it to his mouth. “Rcon here. Can I speak to you, hooded meal? “The coded phrase sounded stupid even after all these years, but for some reason it stayed with the Knights.
“Only to the most balanced meal, proxy. “He heard in reply.
Falcon’s eyes grew large at the voice and phrase. “Key? “
Key was the team’s hunter, though the galaxy would know him as a bounty hunter. He was a loyal and skilled predator, and Jawfin even suspected that he was sensitive to the Force to a degree. It made for a good team member and a even better one man army.
Jawfin cautiously said “What is Key like? “It was possible that the Sith or another form of a enemy had learned this phrase somehow. After all, Jawfin and Falcon hadn’t heard from the other Knights since the downfall.
The downfall. Jawfin did not need to be reminded of it. Many years ago, the Knights were warriors of the peace, doing what the Jedi either could not or would not do. But because of that difference, they had been deemed as murderers and thieves. Jawfin quickly banished that thought from his mind and listened to Key’s coded reply.
“He is a man of many flavored ideas and assorted opinions-- in other words, a well balanced meal. “
Falcon stifled a laugh. Even though that was not exactly the correct phrase, it was no doubt the Bounty Hunter Key himself.
Jawfin was less cheerful. “Why are you calling us? Is something wrong? “
“Yes--- well, so Thunderbird tells me. Raven called and gave him a 1,000 two nine seven code. “
The atmosphere darkened suddenly; the code to rally the Knights.
Jawfin said “Okay. Where at? “
“Dagobah. In our old base. “
“We’re already in it. “
“Alright, I’m on my way with some of the Knights in tow. Can’t wait to see you both again. Key out. “
Key’s modestly large starship, The Satisfaction, zoomed back into existence as it jumped out of hyperspace. The dark and muddy planet known as Dagobah was in the unwelcoming state it almost always was in. Key slowly accelerated the ship, not hoping to waste any time.
It had been years since the Knights used Dagobah as a base, but it was clear that its overall thick terrain and air was necessary to block out any people that may be listening in on their conversations through tight beam transmitters. It also was convenient for keeping any Force signals inside its atmosphere, though no one really knew how it did this.
Inside, Key’s little trained Force perception stirred a bit, though Key gave it no thought. He would’ve devoted more time to his training of the Force and saber practice if he had more time; He had been busy all over the galaxy accepting bounty missions, sacking their enemies’ trade posts and even kidnapping some high level officials for ransom. At some times, he wasn’t proud of it, but he certainly had fun most of the way, and besides, he had a reputation nearly as large as a hutt’s backside.
But somehow, during all of this, he had been reduced to babysitting council members and transporting them. It was an insult, and he would have shot his passengers outright, had they not been a part of the Knights. Apart of his family.
Yes, it was during his twenty-five long career that Jawfin had found him and brought him into this strange pile of people he had affection for. It was a unwelcome feeling and one he was not used to, but had brought him to what he was now: nearly rich, reputation, glory, and some nice armor. The people, at first, saw them all as heroes, people who worked with the Jedi and the Republic to defend them from the tyranny of the Sith and the Empire.
It was all true, but apparently only true as long as they liked it. Soon, after they declared that the Knights were stealing supplies from the Republic and sending them to their enemies, they had become vigilantes of a kind. It was only when the Sith and Republic had cooperated to slaughter hundreds of Knights stranded on a planet that the Knights began to fight against the Republic as well. The only unsure faction they had connections to was the Jedi, and even they weren’t promising to keep their secret.
The Knights had gotten smaller, and with that, weaker. Soon, after the Sith ambushed a lone group of Knights returning from a raid, they had decided to go off the grid entirely. They sent Jawfin and a couple of others to erase the records from both the Republic and Sith. And with that, they vanished and split up across the galaxy.
Now, apparently, they were needed to rally together, once more. Key was never one to back from a fight, but he was not sure it was even worth the rally, if the threat was so real.
A beeping snapped him out of his thoughts, and saw that they were entering the atmosphere of the planet. He took the controls.
“Zabuza was the only one you could find? “Raven demanded. “We need the whole council to make a decision on this! “
Key raised his hands “The others are too well hidden. I was lucky when I found him on Bespin. “
They were standing in the muddy and unwelcoming forest of Dagobah, just outside the entrance to the Knights home base.
Zabuza, a Zabrak warrior from the planet Dathomir, laid a hand on Raven’s shoulder. “Calm, Raven. We will find the others in time. There is no need to execute any drastic actions in a mad rush. “
After his fourth or fifth time in the last two minutes, Key slapped his hand on the door scanner. It still denied his request with a red glow on the panel.
Zabuza studied the panel for a moment, and pulled his glove off of his hand. He gently pushed on it, and the panel responded with a positive beep.
The door opened, and the three Knights descended the steps into the aged base.
It was still a lot like what Key remembered it, with red low dimmed glowing floors, and long hallways leading to rooms for different purposes. But it had grown considerably dulled, with some glow panels to light the hallways broken, a couple of inconsequential holes in the ceiling, some doors bent and semi broken windows.
It was still a sight to see, with some Knights’ armor incased in glass, it looked like a museum of sorts.
Key looked them over as they crossed the hallways and noticed that his old armor shone like a star in its glass. He smiled as memories came flooding through him, snippets of him and the team, fighting against evil and doing it with style.
It was apparently not a finished trend, yet.
He looked at the others, Jack Skywalker and his flexible red and blue robe, Nebula with his mandolorian heavy armor. Thunderbird, with his padded vest, robes flowing through it. It was almost overwhelming him with memories that felt forgotten.
Raven, though stoic as always was marveling at it too. She even spotted her old armor. It looked ancient and arcane but it always seemed to be a part of her that was missing as the years between the Knights gained.
She ran her gloved hand over its scaly and thick material, eyes losing focus as the memories swept through her.
Key spotted Jawfin and Falcon on their way up a flight of stairs. It was even more jolting seeing them here, looking some years older. Jawfin had gray creeping in his sandy hair, and his face looked tired and worn. He wore Jedi heavy armor along with a brown cloak covering his body.
Falcon, though appearing as youthful as ever, certainly looked like she had seen better days. She wore a flexible Nano-tech combat suit, with some resistant armor here and there. But her face had dried blood, and her hair, usually piled atop her head, was now dismayed and dirty. It looked like she had seen combat.
But none of the two’s condition could hide the joy that came to their faces as they saw Key, Zabuza, and Raven. Years and years between the Knights had caused home sickness in Key, and, in surprise, Raven.
Though she was trying to hide it under professional pride, there was no doubt in the Force that she had been nearly reunited with the gap that was there.
Key shook his hand firmly with Jawfin’s, and was surprised when Falcon brushed his hand aside and wrapped him in a warm embrace.
Raven attempted to dampen her emotions through the Force and said “Jawfin, Falcon. You know why we are here. “
Falcon released Key and, used to Raven’s way of speaking, said “Of course, Raven. We must consider this as a whole team first. Remember, the Sith may not know we are all here. “
Jawfin walked away, motioning them to follow. “We’ll take this into the meeting room. “
Once inside the room with a large table and just enough chairs for the entire Knight team, they all sat except for Raven, who said determinedly, “As we were saying, “
Key laughed outright. “By the Force, Raven, calm down. “
Raven glared at him with ice eyes. “This is no laughing matter. The entire team may be in danger. “
Jawfin raised his hand for silence. “Raven, let’s take this slowly, alright? “
She just stared at him, and sat.
Zabuza, with his air of quiet, said “The other Council members could not be found at a moment’s notice. Can we still activate the code? “
Jawfin laid a hand on his chin and thought. Executing any codes without full authorization would, in the tradition of the Knights, be cause for instant punishment and sometimes death.
But if this threat was as real as Raven claimed…
“Raven, can you tell us anything about who attempted to attack you?”
She closed her eyes a moment, thinking. “Whoever it was, he was extremely powerful in the Force. Powerful enough to sense even the smallest flicker. In this case, me. “
Even though it was an effective ability, cloaking one in the Force didn’t diminish the presence entirely.
After a moment, Falcon cleared her throat. “Strikes me that if he is that powerful, he could easily find us, especially with all of us packed together on this planet. “
Raven reluctantly nodded. “I chose a preprogrammed route in the ship to get here faster. “
Jawfin looked at her. “You took a ship here? “
“Yes, but I know what you are thinking; there is no tracking device on it. Whoever I stole it from heavily modified it, and apparently it has some kind of special coating, or so I could gather from it. “
Key’s mind was still on the Knights Reborn command. “You know, if you are still thinking about initiating the command alone, I could probably find the rest of the Council. The only reason I didn’t find them all together was because Zabuza was practically standing out like a Sand Crawler. “
Key’s customarily humorous speech was cause enough for a few chuckles.
“But, “He said, leaning on the table. “I already have a good source, who tells me he might know where Jawa is, and even Jammer. And, before we go into that, who’s idea was it to have no knowledge of where the other Knights were when they vanished? “
Raven ignored the last part. “How does this source of yours know where they are? “
“He’s a lifetime friend of mine. Don’t worry, I trust him. “
Jawfin finally looked up. “We can’t issue the Knight’s Reborn command without the whole Council. Even if it’s only one member missing we still can’t. “ Jawfin was retaining some of his old leadership personality. “Key, you and I will go find them. Raven, I want you to find out more about our Sith enemy. Find out if he has a master of any kind, but do not go after him alone. “
She said nothing in reply. He stood up. “I know how much you hate guard duty, Falcon, but you and Zabuza are most qualified at the moment. Are you okay with that? “
She nodded. A few years ago and she would have exploded at such an idea, but she seemed considerably aged since Key last saw her.
“Alright, Key, where do we start? “
He thought for a moment, and said “I’d say Tatooine, for Jack. “
“His parents? “
Key quietly said “I think so. “
Jack Skywalker was the Team’s youngest member, being at the age of fourteen. He worked with his parents in a cantina on Tatooine, the family business being one of the best known on the planet. The tragic event took place when a local messed with a refueling tank and caused it to explode, destroying half the cantina’s structure and burying his parents in a single blow.
Jack, being an orphan and also alone, was taken up by Falcon, who was on a diplomatic mission during the event. The Force was strong with him, and he became Falcon’s only apprentice. He and Falcon shared a Force bond, and he had grown with the Knights too. Since the Downfall, and the Knights’ vanishing, no one heard any word from him.
Now, they could only assume that he was either mourning his parents or tracking down the accidental killer, which was trouble indeed for the Knights, should they actually be responsible for a murder on Jack’s case.
“We better get moving, “ Jawfin said, starting for the door to the hallway.
Key followed him and pulled on his helmet.
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