Star Wars - Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Wayside ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

The Wayside

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Two

 

Six hours, it turns out can be a long gap of time to fill when you're waiting at an empty landing pad. With nothing to busy myself with, I try meditating. Granted, this isn't what the Jedi would consider meditating, since I never get any visions from the future or the like, but I find that it helps clear my mind and keep me focused. The problem with my kind of meditation is that I can only sustain it for so long before I simply loose my concentration and stop, whereas Jedi meditation can last almost indefinitely at the behest of the Jedi meditating. That I've managed to meditate for nearly four hours is actually quite impressive for me, but it still leaves a lot of time.

 

So, what shall I do for these next two hours then? Ah! Of course! I reach into my duffel bag and pull out the late Master Zaz-kai Ell's double-bladed lightsaber. Back at the academy, I had shown a fair amount of prowess at using the double-bladed lightsaber styles. I had only been using quarter staffs with painted areas to signify the blades, however. I was only a trainee after all, and only when one became a padawan did one ever have the chance to even hold a lightsaber. I never thought I'd ever get that chance once I'd left the order, and now over a decade later, here I am with one right in my hand.

 

I stand up, and quickly survey the landing pad to make sure that the old mechanic is still absent. Seeing that he is, I hold the saber out in front of me, making sure that the blades are facing horizontally, and turn it on. The signature snap-hiss is music to my ears as the glowing purple blades shoot outwards from the saber's hilt. For a moment, I just stare at the sight before me, hardly believing that it's real. Then, giving the saber a little twirl, I start going through the basic movements. Though I occasionally get into melee combat situations during a mission as an intelligence agent, it is not nearly frequent enough to keep my old skills honed, so even the basics of what I learned at the academy are difficult for me to recall.

 

Frankly, though, it doesn't matter. Just the thrill of wielding the lightsaber is exhilarating, no matter how poorly I do so. It just feels so…so right. As soon as this thought crosses my mind, however, I stop and shut the saber down. Right? It feels right for me to wield a lightsaber? Does this mean I still want to be…? No, no, stop that train of thought right there. This carries no meaning at all, you're simply letting yourself live a childhood fantasy, nothing more, and that other childhood fantasy you are thinking of is long since dead. Drawing any conclusions rashly from something as simple as this is foolhardy. In fact, it's about time I stopped.

 

I walk back to my bag and put the saber back in. I'll find something else to pass the time.

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

At long last, I hear the shuttle descending towards the landing pad, right on schedule. It's a small troop carrier judging from its size and sleek frame, which confirms the identity of its current occupants. Excellent, I had been hoping to get a bit more information on the Telos situation before meeting the Admiral. The group that walks down the exit ramp is exactly who I suspected it would be, a group of men in civilian clothes toting patchwork armor and an assortment of weapons - the militiamen of Dantooine. I quickly scan the group for Zherron, whose face I still seem to remember from before. Once I've spotted him, I briskly walk over and extend my hand in greeting.

 

“Hello again, Mr. Zherron,” I greet with a smile. “I'm with Republic Intelligence. We met around a month ago here on Dantooine.”

 

“I remember you. Mical, wasn't it?” he responds gruffly while shaking my hand, though without any friendliness. “What's a Republic Intel Agent like you doing back on this rock?”

 

“Investigating a possible lead. Nothing of real consequence.” I reply nonchalantly.

 

“I see. Can't tell me, huh?” he says with an understanding nod. “Doesn't matter. I assume that you've got something to ask me if you bothered coming up to me in the first place.”

 

Zherron had struck me as a fairly shrewd man on my first visit. Of course, you'd have to be to even do half the job he's done with the militia on this planet. Hopefully, that shrewdness would mean he understood what was happening at Telos.

 

“You are correct, I did have some questions for you,” I admit. “I recently learned that there was an attack on Telos, and that your militia was called upon for assistance. Could you tell me what exactly occurred there?”

 

“I can only tell you what I saw, I'm afraid,” he answers, with a bit of disdain in his voice. “Apparently, I'm too low on the ladder to get the inside scoop.”

 

“That will do just fine,” I assure him. “Please, tell me what you know.”

 

“All right, just let me set down my stuff while I tell ya',” he begins and sets down his armor and blaster rifle with a relieved sigh. “Damn. Wish that armor was as useful as it is heavy. Anyway, when we got there, the first thing we saw was this massive capital ship headed towards Telos. Now, that a big ship like that was attacking Telos was surprise enough, but that wasn't the strangest thing about it. I recognized that model from my day in the Republic Army, that thing was a Republic ship.”

 

“That doesn't make any sense…” I blurt out in bewilderment.

 

“It didn't…until we saw all the holes in the hull,” continues Zherron. “That ship looked like it should have been a piece of scrap years ago, but somehow it was fully operational. There are plenty of places in the sector a Republic capital ship can get repaired, so the fact that it wasn't meant that it wasn't a rogue Republic crew. Anyway, that was all I saw of the ship, since we were dropped off at Citadel Station right away. From there on, it was your basic infantry battle for us.”

 

“But exactly who was it you were fighting?” I ask, eager to get as much information as possible.

 

“That's the big question, isn't it?” he counters, suddenly lowering his voice a little. “It was the armor that gave them away. It was Sith armor.”

 

This was an interesting turn of events. Was this attack linked to the deaths of the three Jedi Masters here?

 

“And here's something even more interesting,” he adds. “That Jedi you were looking for, Vagus Machaera, showed up there also. Add that to the rumors floating around after the battle, and I think we might have been dealing with some Dark Jedi Master, or whatever the hell they call `em.”

 

“You're sure? I wasn't aware that there were any left,” I respond, raising an eyebrow and stroking my chin as I contemplate the information I have just received.

 

“Neither did I, and I'll never know for sure, since the higher ups wont tell me anything. You might be able to get something out of them, though.” he said, aggravation apparent in his tone and on his face. “That all you needed?”

 

“Yes, that will be sufficient, I believe,” I answer, and give him a quick salute. “Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Zherron.”

 

After he returns the salute, I continue onward towards the shuttle's boarding ramp. If Vagus was there, then Zherron's assessment of who was attacking Telos is most likely correct. Now the question is whether what I found here on Dantooine is linked to the attack on Telos. Hopefully, Admiral Onasi will provide me with that answer.

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Truthfully, when Zherron had told me it was the Sith that attacked Telos, I had expected far more damage than I saw as I walked through Citadel Station's corridors. Any damage that may have occurred had been reduced to blaster scoring on the walls and a few small holes that were being patched up by a swarm of repair droids. That it was in such good condition was likely due to the large effort being put forth by the Republic to repair the station, but somewhere in the back of my mind I wonder if it was because of Vagus. It appears that my idolization of him is beginning to resurface. I ought to be wary of it.

 

I receive a few salutes from the occasional guard on my way to the VIP residential area. Usually I don't receive any salutes at all, but I had changed into my Republic officer's uniform on the way here, so I had been expecting it. Being a field agent, I'm not used to such formalities, but I had figured that it would be inappropriate to meet an admiral in anything less. I still carried the duffel bag, however. I may need to show its cargo to Admiral.

 

I flash my ID to the guard stationed outside the Admiral's suite and after verifying it, steps over to the communications console.

 

“Sir, Agent 5607 here to see you, sir,” the guard informs the Admiral over the COM system. “Will you see him now, sir?”

 

“One moment,” I overhear from the console, followed by a few seconds of silence. “All right, send him in.”

 

The guard motions me to enter, and I do so. Before me now is Admiral Carth Onasi, reclining in a comfortable looking chair with his feet propped up on a small coffee table and holding a glass that contains some form of hard liquor. At first, one might mistake him for a spacer in his current attire, and not the man often referred to as the last remaining hero of the Republic, but then again, this was also Carth Onasi, the “Soldier's Admiral”. Though he has the rank and ability of an admiral, his personality is still that of a simple soldier, and for this his men adore him. However, it has always been my way to show proper respect for rank, and as such I give a sharp salute, though it is returned in a rather nonchalant fashion.

 

“At ease, soldier,” requests the Admiral, to which I comply. “I've never really liked formalities that much, so you can go ahead and relax. There's a minibar to your right if you want something to drink.”

 

“Thank you, Admiral,” I reply and take a look at the minibar.

 

I never really developed much of a taste for alcohol, and I can't say I regret it. I can still enjoy a good ale on occasion, but only in moderation. Even now I'm only doing it out of courtesy. I pick a random brand of beer and pour myself a glass, before sitting myself down in a chair across from the Admiral.

 

“So, Mical, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” he inquires after taking a sip from his glass. “I was told that it was urgent.”

 

“Very well, sir. As you know, the Jedi have not vanished from the galaxy, at least not completely,” I begin solemnly. “Just yesterday, I found three Jedi Masters on Dantooine…but…”

 

I reach into my bag and remove the lightsabers one by one, setting them down them onto the table. The Admiral takes a look at the weapons arrayed on the table and his expression suddenly turns grim.

 

“They were all dead,” he finishes for me.

 

“Yes, sir,” I confirm. “But that may not be the worst part. The manner in which they were killed…it was as if the life had been sucked right out of them. To do that to three Jedi Masters would take terrible power.”

 

For a short while the Admiral just stares off into space, thinking about something. I've seen that look from several superior officers before, it's the look that they have when they're contemplating whether they should tell me something classified.

 

“Mical, have you heard about what happened to Katarr?” he asks.

 

“Katarr? It was a Miraluka colony, correct?” I respond, a bit puzzled as to why he's asking this particular question. “The official report says that it was wiped out in some sort of raid.”

 

“Lies,” he says bluntly before taking another sip of his drink. “When we arrived at Katarr, we found it in the same state as the three Jedi Masters that you found. The entire population of Katarr had the life sucked out of them.”

 

“The whole planet?!” I gasp in a mixture of shock and horror. “But how?!”

 

“We just recently found that out, but before I tell you, I need you to answer a few questions yourself,” he replies, finally turning his attention back to me. “The first being who those Jedi Masters were.”

 

“Masters Vrook, Kavar, and Zez-kai Ell,” I answer quickly, perhaps a little too quickly.

 

“I recognize the first two names. They were some of the best the order had, from what I understand. The third is less familiar,” he states, stroking his chin in thought. “What makes me curious is how you recognized them.”

 

This is quite the predicament I've worked myself into. I took great care to hide my status as an ex-Jedi trainee from anyone at all, even going so far as to erase most of my personal information from Republic Intelligence's archives. No one knew, and I didn't plan on anyone ever knowing. I shall have to tread carefully here.

 

“My field of expertise is dealing with Jedi related issues, sir,” I reply coolly. “And those three were members of the Jedi Counsel before the Order dispersed. I made myself familiar with all counsel members' profiles so that I could recognize them instantly should I ever come across them. Were I to run into them and fail to notice, it could prove disastrous.”

 

“And how was it that you ended up finding their corpses on Dantooine?” he queries, clearly not satisfied with my answer. “That takes an awful lot of luck.”

 

“I had heard that there was a raid at the colony there, so I came to investigate,” I lie. “However, I was making little progress, so I decided to sweep the Jedi enclave there for any information I had missed before. Instead, I found the corpses.”

 

Admiral Onasi's eyes narrow ever so slightly as he stares intently at me, as if trying to will me to admit to something. It was a well constructed falsehood, though, if I do say so myself. The most effective lies are those based partially on truth, as was the case in this instance. Finally satisfied, the Admiral's eyes return to normal as he becomes convinced that I am indeed telling the truth.

 

However, as I am about to ask the Admiral a question, I sense something amiss. Something…something is in my head. A Jedi mind probe? Impossible, the Admiral is most definitely not a Jedi, of that I am certain. Yet I still feel something. Fortunately for me, even though I have lost touch with the force, I am still plenty capable of guarding myself against mind reading and the like, especially when it's being used as cautiously as it is now. I take a drink from my glass to stall for time until I finally fend off the presence in my mind. It appears that the Admiral has a Jedi friend watching…most peculiar. However, if this mystery Jedi is in league with the Admiral, then there is no real reason to look into the matter…yet.

 

“May I ask what it was you were going to tell me about now, sir?” I request as I set my drink down.

 

“Right, of course,” says the Admiral, the interrogative look now gone from his face. “You see, there was a secret meeting of Jedi going on at the time Katarr was wiped out. I was one of the few non-Jedi that knew about it, so I sent a probe into the system and stayed nearby as a precaution. An unknown ship entered the system, and by the time I got there, the planet was wiped clean of life. However, the probe managed to pick up a significant amount of information from the vessel, and the data matches exactly with the one that just attacked Telos. I'm assuming that you already found out about the incident.”

 

“For the most part, yes, though I am curious to know how the predicament was resolved,” I respond, although I think I know what happened anyway.

 

“That exiled Jedi took care of it,” comes the expected reply. “He apparently killed whatever monster was in that thing and then blew it up from the inside, or at least that's the best we could tell. I didn't ask him specifically about it.”

 

So, Admiral Onasi had a meeting with Vagus. I can only hope that Vagus told the Admiral some information relating to the dead Jedi Masters, seeing as I now know it had nothing to do with whatever attacked Telos, and since that was destroyed by Vagus, the information the Admiral just told me is nothing more than an interesting anecdote now.

 

“Did he tell you anything that may relate to what I found?” I ask hopefully.

 

“I'm afraid not, and since whatever did in those Jedi Masters doesn't suck entire worlds dry, we don't have any idea what might have done that,” answers Admiral Onasi. “But I got the impression that there was something else out there that our friend Vagus was about to go confront, and I'd bet a lot of credits that it's the same thing that you're looking for.”

 

“Did he say where he was going?” I inquire, now feeling a little desperate.

 

“Not even a hint,” he replies and shakes his head.

 

I drop my head in despair. Now it's my information that is just an anecdote. Vagus certainly knows how to make one feel useless.

 

“Don't worry, kid,” assured the Admiral with a smile. “We happened to catch sight of one of his crew leaving in a separate transport that left the sector at a different trajectory. If you find him, he should be able to tell you where Vagus went. If he's willing to talk, of course.”

 

“Who is this man, sir?” I ask, intrigued.

 

“Mandalore.”