The city was silent, the screams had been quelled. The once beautiful buildings of the city that were a massive improvement over its incredibly industrial center were now run down husks of their former selves. The streets were empty, it was the empty husks that were once buildings that held the most activity, as troopers in ebon armor filled the balconies. One of the troopers stood on a balcony that oversaw the great bridge, a pair of binoculars pressed against the visor of his helmet.

A chime came from his left gauntlet and he quickly removed the binoculars from his eyes to check his ringing wrist. He pressed the glowing red light on the radio on his wrist and a small projection of Tiberius’ head appeared in the palm of his hand.

“Milord?” The trooper reported.

“Platoon commander. There is a Jedi on his way to the city, he plans to enter the Sector D Carbon Freezing facility. I want you to make sure he doesn’t reach his destination.” Tiberius ordered.

“But milord, wasn’t the Gamallian supposed to kill him?” The trooper asked.

“I can’t count on that wild animal to accomplish that task, he’s already failed to kill this Jedi twice. At least this time, his failure will give me a reason to make him watch as I activate the charges I’m having planted in the workers barracks. Use any means necessary to stop this Jedi, use rockets, mines, or any other heavy or lethal weapons you have at your disposal. He should be approaching now.” The image of Tiberius faded away.

The trooper then pressed a dial on his helmet. “This is platoon commander TT-Alpha Bravo, to all troops within the city, we’ve got an intruder coming, clearance to use any high explosives and high grade penetration rounds has been granted.”

He removed the finger from the dial on his helmet and took another look at the bridge, he readied his sniper rifle as a short distance transport came into view.

***

Something wasn’t right. Dave could sense they were nearing the end of the bridge, he didn’t need to be in the cab with O’Reily to know that. In fact, he didn’t want to be in the Cab with O’Reily, but his instincts were telling him to move into the cab and be ready for anything. They should have encountered resistance as soon as they had reached the bridge, but the several mile long structure had been a smooth ride, a sure fire sign of an ambush.

His body reacted before he could say anything or think anything. He immediately rushed into the cab and activated his lightsaber and swung the blade in front of O’Reily’s head. The man was confused, no surprise there, he was always confused, but now he was more so.

“Sir Flynn, what are you—“O’Reily’s question was soon cut off as a laser bolt burst through the windshield of the transport, made contact with Dave’s Lightsaber blade, and they flew back out the windshield.

“They know we’re coming!” Dave stated.

“I thought we already knew that!” O’Reily responded.

“No, only Lyon knew I was supposed to know we were coming. Tiberius set this up, keep driving, don’t stop, no matter what happens!” Dave ordered.

“I have seniority over you Sir Flynn, and what makes you think anything’s going to happen because of a stray bolt?” O’Reily said in an arrogant manner.

They had entered the city interior, he barren streets were lined with crashed speeders, ships, and rubble. No one was on the ground, Dave looked to the buildings and saw soldiers, soldiers with explosives, with rocket launchers, blasters, and sniper rifles.

“It’s a trap!” Dave shouted.

Almost as if on cue, volleys of rockets, laser bolts, and small explosives rained down on the small transport with murderous intent. O’Reily jerked and thrust the controls around in a hell bent attempt to avoid every bolt and explosion that riddled the once calm roads. He was successfully avoiding the rockets, but the bolts continuously pelted the transport. Dave ran back to the cargo hold.

“Is there a rooftop hatch on this thing?” Dave questioned.

“No, this is a cargo transport, it’s not meant for combat. I think Flint wants me dead!” O’Reily said panicked.

“He’s not the only one.” Dave muttered under his breath, of course, HE was the one Flint wanted dead by the end of this mission, O’Reily was probably just a bonus.

“What?” O’Reily squeaked.

“Nothing, I’m going to make a rooftop hatch!” Dave yelled.

“How are you going to do that?” O’Reily yelled, but Dave had already closed the door to the cargo hold.

He stood in the center of the room, he managed to maintain his balance through the force, even with O’Reily’s shoddy driving skills. He could hear the explosions outside, he was reminded of the campaign on Mandalore, when he and his fellow Jedi had to storm an entire mountain range lined with heavy cannons. He wasn’t quite as armed as he was then, choosing only to wear his shoulder armor, gauntlets, and body armor, as opposed to the full suite of Commander clone trooper armor he had managed to salvage and update to be on par with the Galaxy’s current technical advances. His armor would serve him well here just as it did then, but armor did not win battles, neither did weapons alone, it was the warrior holding the weapon that won battles, and he was not going to die here.

He detached one of the lightsabers from his belt and activated the blade. He double checked his footing, he needed to maintain his balance and be ready to move when the time came. He thrust the blade into the ceiling, the metal heated and began to buckle and melt around the intensely hot blade. Sparks burst from the ceiling and small molten pieces of metal dripped onto the floor as he moved his blade in a large circle, crackling and hissing as it drew a bright red circle. If there was no rooftop hatch to exit through, Dave would just have to make his own. He pulled his blade back and the metal disk fell to the ground with a loud clang. He leaped through the hole he had just cut, he burned his robes as the briefly made contact with the still hot metal. He landed firmly on the roof and fought to keep his balance again, more bolts were coming down, and more rockets and sniper bolts and small explosives were following them. He activated the lightsaber he had pulled from his belt before, and then pulled his second sword from his belt and spun the blades around to keep volleys of lasers off the ship.

They sped down the road while the blue blades arced in their defensive performance to protect the transport. O’Reily was at least able to avoid the rockets, now if only he was able to keep the ship out of the line of fire from the rest of the riflemen.

The rockets stopped falling, something was amiss. They were an army, they had a star destroyer hanging above their heads, why stop using the rockets. Dave continued to block the bolts and try to figure out what the rocket troopers were doing, and then he caught a glimpse of what was ahead.

A great archway hung from two large buildings, obviously commerce centers, the various arched bridges connected the buildings for citizens to pass between them, and Dave’s face grew pale at the sight of it when he saw volleys of rockets aimed for the access points that connected the bridges to the buildings.

“O’Reily, speed up!” Dave yelled.

His cry fell on deaf ears, he should have realized O’Reily couldn’t hear him through a closed door, and the sound of the rockets would have silenced his voice anyway. The shots earlier had shattered the windshield of the transport, the loud wind made the inept driver hard of hearing, and the sounds of battle only served to deafen him to anything around him more.

Dave dashed towards the roof of the cab, there was only one way to get past the falling archways, and it would make him vulnerable to the snipers and rifleman.

The ride was silent, for the most part anyway. O’Reily would try to make small talk, only to be thoroughly ignored by the Jedi in the passenger seat. He sat with his arms crossed and his eyes shut. He was meditating, or at least trying to, it was hard to focus when the man next to you kept trying to engage you in conversation about things like the galactic purge, and the potential of another one occurring with most Jedi going into exile. The cabin was silent again, and Dave attempted to meditate once more. “I don’t see why you’re so against killing him, he’s just one Gamallian sir. It’s not like we’re asking you to fight another Jedi.” O’Reily cut in once more.

Really, was he really this foolish? were Dave not a master of his emotions he would have grabbed O’Reily by his collar and thrown him through the windshield. “He is a Jedi, or were you really not paying attention when he fought that foreman, did you not see his technique? Did you not see the weapon he held in his hands? He is a Jedi Knight, just like me! I taught him everything he knows, and he has become far more powerful than me!” Dave awoke from his meditation and snapped at the pilot.

“Well, he’s not a real Jedi sir, I mean, beasts can’t become Jedi can they? Gamallians are just hunting game or beasts of burden aren’t they? Only people can become Jedi, Sir Flynn, not animals.” O’Reily gleefully continued his conversation proud of himself.

Dave rose from his seat and walked towards the cargo hold. O’Reily turned from the controls as he left the cockpit. “Hey, where are you going Sir Flynn?” he asked.

“I hate all of you, I really do, all of you bigots and tyrants, you think you know a race or our order inside and out. Are you a Jedi? No, then how can you decide who can and who can’t be a Jedi? You put labels on everything and everyone and that is supposed to make you feel superior or inferior to them. Who cares what colour your skin, eyes, or hair is. Who cares if your ears look different, who cares whether you have fur or scales. Who cares whether you have modern technology or not, or what language you speak. Whether you are straight or not, or what planet you come from! At the end of the day, humans, Twi’leks, Wookiees, Bothans, Calamarian, and even Gamallians,  we are all people! Remember my words well O’Reily, a Bantha has a better chance at becoming a Jedi than you do!” Dave raged at the security member and then shut the cargo hatch behind him.

He would meditate away from the man in the cab, the empty cargo bay was quiet, save for the sound of the engines. He had to calm himself, focus, find a way to reach his broken apprentice, put him back together, save him from himself. He tried to meditate, but all he could do was travel down memory lane.

He remembered when he first became a Jedi knight, he had passed his trials, and was granted an apprentice. That apprentice would later awaken a great evil out of jealousy for being apprentice to one who was considered the temple’s most foolish Knight. He remembered being forced to slay him, and all he had to remember him by was the scar on his right cheek left by his apprentice’s dagger. It was after that he met the young Lyon Wenham, at the time he would have been at least fourteen in human years, Gamallians aged differently, fourteen human years could have been ten times longer by Gamallian physiology. There was still so much about them the galaxy didn’t understand, because the galaxy never tried.

He remembered training the young lad who might have been older than him, grooming him from a crazed brawler into the fine Jedi apprentice. He was proud to call himself Lyon’s mentor. All the battles they fought together, the Yuuzhan Vong, the imperial remnant, the mandalorians, and all the scuffles in between.

All their missions and travels throughout the galaxy, to places like Utapau, Kashyyk, Tatooine, Jabiim. He had taught him everything, and he became a knight, he continued to advance while Dave remained in the same place for many years. He was offered a master position, but he refused, the master life didn’t suit him, he was a free spirit, and would have rather fought and learned with his former apprentice as equals. Where could he have gone wrong?

Maybe he should have attempted to find the Gamallians with his friend, the demands of the galaxy were always on the Jedi, but not all the time. He could have helped him save them, he could have become a hero with his apprentice. Heroes the galaxy would remember. ‘The two Knights of the Jedi order, Dave Antilles and Lyon Wenham, saviours of the Gamallians’, people would call them. Then the person who was Tobias Flynn would be gone, no one would remember a petty thief child who robbed many people on Corellia before he was picked up by the Jedi. Dave Antilles would live on a hero and Tobias Flynn would fade away, even he would forget himself.

He had to try one last time. He had to reason with him one last time, drag him back into the light, show him the error of his ways, stop the Sith on the planet. Free the Gamallians and leave, and never come back to Christophsis ever again.

If he could not persuade his friend back from the dark, then he would have to do his duty. It is a Jedi Knight’s duty to keep the peace, preserve order, protect the weak, and stop the dark side at every turn. He recited the Jedi code over and over again as he meditated.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no death, there is only the Force.

He had to deny what emotional ties he still had to his brother. He had trained him since he was a boy, he was like a little brother. They fought together in wars, skirmishes, arrests, genocides, he had vivid memories of the dispute on Jabiim, two war lords disputing, the rain pouring on the planet like it always did, he was up to his waste in mud and an assault mech was ready to grind the rest of him into the blood soaked soil. He then recalled the tank exploding, his apprentice emerging from the flames, and working tirelessly to pull his friend from the mud, while in the process, sinking himself. He remembered the chase on Felucia, Lyon had gotten lost while chasing an escaped convict, his weapon was stolen, and his ride trashed, the criminal had him pinned. Then came master Antilles, ridding in on some flying beast which proceeded to use the criminal as a chew toy and sub doing him.

So many fond memories, and now, like all good things, they must come to a crashing disastrous end.

There is no emotion, there is peace

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge

There is no passion, there is serenity

There is no fear, there is only the force

He continued to repeat the motto in his head. Casting aside his doubts, his emotions, his humanity, such was the life of a Jedi, the life of a knight, carry the weight of those you kill, be ready to kill again, and once he raised his sword, there would be no stopping him from bringing it down.

The ship reached the bridge, and sped across into Sector D territory, the rest of the ride was in silence.

halfbaked-alchemist:

HI 

I am the potoo

I spend most of my time sitting on the edges of tree branches, 

pretending to be a stick or dead leaf

it’s not as easy as it looks

I sing virtually exclusively around the period of the full moon

because, according to legend,

I am a mournful spirit in love with the spirit of the moon

the bird with either the creepiest, or funniest looking face ever

amaranthinehymn:

 

 The faintest of nod was given in response to his riposte and though the soft smile remained within her eyes and they remained mostly upon his visage, she could not help but to grant herself a quick once over of the man.

  Disheveled though his mane was, and though the strange weapon at his side seemed old, she did not permit herself to underestimate him. She’d seen plenty who, put in the right circumstances, acted as a warrior in his prime. “I am not interrupting anything am I?” Spoken as her eyes returned to his, she kept her tone light. Though she was a warrior of sorts, none that would fall under the designation of Sith or Jedi. 

He took a quick examination of his drink… Almost empty. He quickly downed the rest of it.”No, this is normal.” He threw the bottle into a nearby crate.

“Can I help you with something Miss? It’s not often I run into a pretty lady.” Keep up the facade of your ‘delivery business’.”I may not look it, but I do run a small shipping company.”

“Um… two?”

amaranthinehymn:

rogue-jedi started following you 

  Dipping her head in a quite but reverent greeting, Mura straightened slightly and smiled toward the rogue, the physical motion lost beneath a mask adorned with glowing purple lights fitted to look akin to fangs, though her pallid and mismatched optics displayed the smile all the same. “Greetings.”

He returned her bow, although his was interrupted by the cracking of his stiff back. His hood folded over his head. He looked at her through his disheveled hair.”Likewise.”

Her appearance gave off the vibe of one who was adept in battle. Was she a Sith? Or perhaps a bounty hunter? She would be disappointed to find that this man was no prize kill, with a rusty lightsaber hanging from his belt and a half empty bottle of brandy in his hand.

leftblondsinger:

ahogeknight:

There were little to no comments that she could make towards that remark. She had only just met this warrior after all. Her words had as much power behind them as his own did towards her past. Speaking for the dead in his life was already a dangerous road to be walking on. It was obvious the subject was touchy, Tobias had yet to lash out, but did she wish to risk it?

Or more so did she want to give into her own curiosity when it came to him?

A faint, and brief, smirk came across her features then. To have that kind of friendship with another- “I am envious.” It was something that Saber never had. With her gender a mystery to the people it was impossible to grow close to any. Even the very knights that she’d sworn a brotherhood to knew nothing of what truly lay beneath her armor.

Seeing that they may be here a while the blond took to sitting down on the grass opposite of him. A small swish given to the bottle of water she held before a sip was had. Her eyes staying glued to the object. “Never had I any in life like your companion.”

That was strange. Granted, Tobias was not of this world, but he had been on this ‘Earth’ long enough to study it’s literature. He had read most of the Tales of King Arthur, and he could have sworn that the books detailing Arthur having strong bonds of friendship with most of his knights. Could the texts have been wrong? Granted, he was speaking with THE King Arthur herself, so if the texts were wrong, then he knew virtually nothing about the girl sitting before him apart from what he had experienced in their short competition.

“No one? No mentor? Rival? Brother or sister in arms?” He stared rather puzzled.”Surely you must have had a great companion to share in the joys and sorrows of your time.”

Lyon looked out over the city of Sector D, Tiberius had gone into the facility and was in the process of unlocking all the doors with the codes he stole. The buildings were in shambles, troops and acolytes ran rampant through the streets, and they all stood under the looming shadow of the stolen Star Destroyer above them. He was on the winning side, yet he felt no joy in it at all.

“Beautiful isn’t it, someone should paint a portrait.” Tiberius’ voice boomed from behind him.

“Lord Tiberius!” Lyon turned and bowed.

“You seem troubled Lyon, we are still in the process of unlocking the facility, you will be reunited with your fellow Gamallians soon.” Tiberius spoke through the mask that covered the lower half of his face.

Lyon turned o the city and looked on from the balcony. “I am grateful for your kindness Lord Tiberius, but, was all this really necessary?”

He looked on as smaller buildings were set alight, and civilians fled their homes only to be shot by troops or slain by acolytes. “The people of this world knew only how to oppress others, whether they are above or below them in the hierarchy, they even turned on their administrator when the Vong invaded, and he was shaped, and his rage was great. It is time they learn what it means to be oppressed. They oppressed your people Lyon, don’t you feel they deserve to the feel the pain they have caused you and your people?”

Lyon was about to answer when a familiar voice chimed in from his belt. “Challenge.”

He grabbed the communicator from its pouch, his master was calling him, but how? He was supposed to be dead, he saw him die, he threw him off the damned bridge five days ago. He always knew his master had a habit for disappointing him, but reduced his expectations to fine powder.

“Don’t you know when to stay dead?” He snapped into the comm. link.

Tiberius looked at him in disappointment, but said nothing as Dave continued the conversation.

“I’m coming for you. Sector D, carbon freezing facility, we settle this like knights.” Those were Dave’s final words in the conversation before he cut the connection and the comm. channel went silent.

Lyon gripped the communicator, he grit his teeth, he was furious, he thought he had killed him, no, he should have stayed dead, now he had to do it all over again. Why, why did he keep doing that, why did he always have to make things harder for him? He roared and crushed the communicator in his hand, his eyes turning a crimson red with golden pupils.

“It seems you failed to kill him again, I’m starting to wonder where your loyalties lie in this matter Lyon.” Tiberius interjected.

“I swear, I tried last time!” Lyon growled.

“Then consider this your final attempt, if you want to free the Gamallians, you will kill that Jedi.” Tiberius said emotionlessly.

“That wasn’t part of the deal!” Lyon snapped.

“Wasn’t it?” Tiberius laughed. “I believe part of the deal was leave no witnesses, and you left one, and it seems he has informed security of your actions, not that they needed to find out, you left a rather large trail behind you that night. Kill that Jedi, or you will never see your precious Gamallians again, if at best, buy time for me to get the facility completely open, and then fall back and I will do the rest.”

“Is the carbon freezing facility unlocked?” Lyon growled.

“It is, go Lyon, kill that Jedi, and you will be one step closer to bringing your people their freedom.” Tiberius turned towards the large building in the center of the city, it may as well have been the city as it was big enough to fit several inside.

Lyon leapt off the balcony and landed on the ground in the middle of the carnage, more civilians were running away being chased by soldiers and acolytes alike. Buildings were burning, people were dying, and he didn’t care one bit. Someone fell at his feet, a young woman, nothing particularly note worthy about her other than she was a citizen.

He stared at her for a few minutes in silence as she lay at his feet staring at him with terrified eyes. She finally spoke. “You, you’re a Jedi, save me!” She cried.

And then Lyon was reminded of what Tiberius said, how they cared nothing for others, only themselves. She could have asked him to save the child she cast aside, but no, the child was expendable, she thought she could also demand Lyon’s protection just because he was a Jedi, because he was a Gamallian and she figured that gave her the right to order him around? He felt nothing as he pulled the lightsaber from his belt and pulled the trigger while it was pressed against her chest. The green blade burst forth and impaled her, puncturing her heart and leaving a burning hole in her as she fell to the ground.

The child began wailing, such a horrendous racket. How long did he lie on the ground and cry as his parents died from drinking poisoned water, how long did he lie on the ground and cry as his sister was shot in the back? The child wanted help just as he did, but he did not receive it, and so this vermin shall receive none either. He silenced the brat with one blow, and then deactivated his sword and walked behind Tiberius towards the large complex in the center of the city.

***

Dave exited the armory, his lightsabers hung from the clasps on his belt again, his hands were once again protected by his 501^st Legion trooper gauntlets. He was fit for battle again, he slid his hood on over his head and headed for the exit where Flint was standing.

“I will be monitoring your mission progress from here Sir Flynn, make any attempt to escape, and your escort has full permission to use any means necessary to terminate you.” Flint said before opening the door to the hangar bay.

Flint escorted the Jedi to a large armored land vehicle, no weapons, all it was meant for was transport, the thing looked like it was in worse condition than the Flying Forge. “What a piece of junk.” Dave muttered under his breath.

“She’s built for speed, if the force of it doesn’t cause the plating to fly off.” Flint chuckled, so the stoic commander could laugh.

A hatch on the side of the ship opened and out walked O’Reily. He had a stupid grin on his face and gestured for Dave to enter the vessel. “Sir Flynn, please come aboard so we can be on our way.”

Dave’s heart sank. O’Reily? The same inept security guard who just watched as a foreman attacked his apprentice because he was a Gamallian, the same O’Reily who held a gun to his back? Dave was convince, Flint was trying to get him killed.

“Remember Sir Flynn, once you enter that transport, you have thirty six hours to complete your mission.”  Flint reminded him.

“Wait, you’re including travel time in the mission time?” Dave turned stunned.

His complaint fell on deaf ears, Flint had already started towards the entrance back into the main tower, leaving the Jedi with his inexperienced and downright detestable escort. He reluctantly followed O’Reily into the ship.

It was meant for short distance cargo transport, the large space revealed that, and through a small hatch was the cockpit, fit for two people, a pilot and a co-pilot. There was no way this was standard issue for security force members or the armed forces. If anything, this might have also been Flint’s way of getting rid of O’Reily to add to the fate that awaited Dave as soon as he exited the transport once they got to Sector D.

They took off through the hangar exit, and sped through the low roads towards the Sector D bridge.

kotorar:

Kot smirked at the jet’ii. “Aren’t we all?” 

He scratched at the scarring under his left eye and smirked.”I’d say so.”