Chronicles Of The Force - Prologue (Doug)

[Josh Dragovalor]

Doug's calling over to the Jedi, not quietly at all and liable to blow their cover, might I add, had not gone unheard. Not by Josh, or by cameras that were stationed in the room. The Jedi Master would make his way over, looking from Doug and then toward the man and woman he was motioning toward. He noted for a moment that while the old man had a red goatee, he didn't seem to have the red hair that was the trademark for the "Flaming Redhead" that Doug was. Of course.... Thinking back, his own mother had been a redhead. His father? He had black hair. But he had blonde hair like himself in his hayday. How that worked, the Jedi Master didn't know, but questions of genetics weren't ones that he thought should be on his mind right now. Right now, he needed to think of how to get them out of here while escaping the notice of the slavers and their armed forces. It had been made clear to him that their forces were far more armed then the average slave camps that the Jedi Master had encountered. It was... Rather strange, actually. Who was funding them? Who was arming them? Looking around at the sheer -amount- of slaves in this holding cell, and then thinking back at the ones that he had found - as well as freed - on the surface... This was the largest slave operation that he had ever seen in his life. For him, this was a nightmare... This was the absolute epitome of what he was trying to prevent. Right here, was the future that he had worked so hard to keep from becoming a reality. These people... These.... Monsters... Had kidnapped, and enslaved people in DROVES! They had held them up here, to mark them with prices and sell them for profit, to be used as nothing but servants, treated like animals... Liable to be killed at any moment and then replaced with another innocent life. He could see men and women, of varying ages... From teenage, to adult, to the elderly... He even saw CHILDREN in these cells! And they didn't just stop with humans either! Practically every race under the sun was here! They didn't discriminate... Only enslaved. It was inhumane.

This sight... It horrified him. And he knew that it needed to be stopped. There was no way this was the work of a single entity... A single company. They wouldn't have the pull - no - they wouldn't have the resources... Not just to take all these people, but to keep this place hidden for so long... How many hell holes like this were there scattered throughout the galaxy? Gah! It absolutely -DISGUSTED- the Jedi Master to think about it! They needed to be stopped. Not just that, he needed to find out more. He needed to find out if there were more of these. Who was supplying them... Who owns this operation... Who was funding them... Everything. He needed to figure out everything necessary.

But for now, he needed to free the people in -this- camp, get Doug's family out of here, and get them to safety...

Josh would hand Doug the key, motioning for him to unlock all of the holding cells. "Hurry. I don't think we have much time...." He would whisper.

And just like that, the alarms would begin to blare. The Jedi's eyes would widen as he gazed around the room... How had they been caught?

Finally, his eyes chanced upon the camera that was connected to the ceiling. "Damnit!" He swore, gritting his teeth. They'd heard Doug's words before! Damn these eyes! Curse their rotten luck!

He wouldn't blame Doug, how could he have known? He motioned for Doug to hurry up as he would throw off the disguise, having better access to his robes as he would fish out a few thermal detonators...

"Doug! They're going to come for us! Hurry the hell up and get these people out of their cells!" The Jedi would command back to the farmboy as he would search for a place to plant it... He needed to work out an escape route, or they'd have no place for the slaves to go once they were free! They needed an escape route for them!

"Once they start coming, hold them off! This will take me a bit!" He would add back to Doug.

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug quickly looked to the sides. Things seemed like they would be going fine as he got the keys he needed and as he began to walk up to the cell... Sirens began to blare! His eyes widened, but then more instructions were thrown at him quickly to get everyone out. They needed to be hasty! He quickly threw off his own disguise with a frustrated groan and then ran for the cells. "Gotcha!" He had simply replied.

Doug began to unlock the doors and explained what he was doing to those trapped as slaves in the cells and helping them out. He was being diligent and had his blaster ready for when the slavers had finally reached the lower area that they were in.

He had managed to reach the cell that he had saw his parents in before any slavers began to show up and unlocked the door. He explained what was happening to anyone else that was cramped in there with them and then he ran up to his parents. "Mom! Dad!" He cried out. The couple that had been sitting next to each other quickly shot a look at him and their eyes widened.

The man had spoken first. "Douglas?! What are you doing here?!" He cried out as the sirens continued to blare around them. "I came to rescue you two! I'm so glad I wasn't too late!" Doug replied as he helped them up and hugged both of them. "We need to get out of here along with all these others quickly. They're coming...! Luckily, I found some help along the way... Or before the way I suppose." He replied. "Doug... You're so reckless...!" The woman had spoken up as the man ruffling his curly hair. Doug then helped the two out of the cell. "Josh. I think I got all of the people out! Any progress that thing?" He called out towards the blonde who was setting some sort of thermal detonator as he pulled out his blaster in anticipation for their "company."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Just when the plan had begun to go well too! Where had it all gone wrong? Of course, the answer had been when Doug had shouted and gotten the attention of their enemies. But he was young, inexperienced in the world... He had probably been stuck on that desert planet for his entire life, unaware of the dangers that his actions could have caused. But he had potential.. He saw that.

Hmm... He had to wonder...

What could be done if he were trained?

But this would have to be saved for later. Josh would hear Doug talking from behind him and nodded. "Yeah! Stay back!" He called as he would back up and quickly set the thing off, the grenade exploding and blowing up the wall. Josh would toss another, watching it explode at the very end, trying to get an upward angle. The resulting explosion would give them a path from the prison to outside. This was Josh's plan all along - to open up an escape route so they could free all the slaves at once!

"Alright you folks! Single file.... Nah, screw it. RUN! There will be a set of hills that you'll see once you exit the camp! I want you to meet me at the spot where you'll be just out of view of the slavers! Go! Now! We'll hold them off!" Josh would command as the slaves would begin to make their way through the hole that opened up. As the last of the slaves would escape, Josh would hear the doors open and a good six men would begin shooting at them.

"Take cover!" Josh would bark toward Doug as he would duck into one of the open cells.

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug had watched as Josh took care of the explosives with good accuracy and then telling the slaves to run off. He told his parents that they should leave too. They were hesitant, but Doug managed to convince them to get out with the other slaves before another firefight began.

As expected, six men would barge into the room and began firing at the dynamic duo. Under the orders of thy mighty Jedi, Doug rolled into another open cell and raised up his blaster. He aimed it out of the cell and began firing out shots at them, while still retreating away into the cell mostly to ensure his safety.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh would motion for Doug to follow him into the cell. "Listen kid, I'm going to go in guns a'blazing. I need you to provide cover fire for me. Can you do that?" Josh would ask the redhead as he would duck a shot that went through the bars. "Damn! This isn't going to provide us with the proper cover for long! Come on, we need to give the slaves time to escape, and then we need to end this facility for good! We gotta find who's in charge in here!" Josh would bark toward Doug as he would spin his lightsaber in his hand and charge out of the cell, batting away blaster fire as he went.

Hopefully Doug would be able to divert their attention some, and catch a few by surprise, he thought as he would stop in front of them, before tossing his lightsaber into the air and using both hands to deliver a surge of Electric Judgement, the Jedi equivalent of Force Lightning, onto the group. Doug would be able to hear their screams of pain, and that told Doug that was his moment to shoot them. It wouldn't kill them, of course, it was meant to weaken... But man, did it hurt.

Josh would stop the burst of electricity to catch his lightsaber. This was Doug's window...

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug stayed hidden behind the cell as Josh barked out a few more orders. He nodded before the blonde would run out with his lightsaber spinning and then suddenly... Lightning! He shot out lightning at the slavers, which appeared to keep them stunned for the time being, yet they were screaming in clear pain. "Whoa..." Doug uttered in awe at the interesting sight. As the Jedi caught his trusty lightsaber, Doug then hopped out of the cell and shot out some precise blaster shots at the stunned slavers to take them down.

Good thing he was a pretty decent shot...

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh would quickly move to the side, giving Doug every opportunity he needed in order to take advantage of the stunned slavers in order to blast and kill a few. Josh had lined Doug up perfectly for it, but there was something about Doug's accuracy that interested the Jedi Master... He was so precise. And he doubted he had much practice, he was a damned farmboy. But something was guiding him...

Perhaps.... Was it the Force?

His interested in him only piqued, but Josh would have to act quickly when the remaining 3 would begin to recover. "Doug, duck down!" Josh would call to the redhead as he would spin his lightsaber in his hand before tossing it toward the slavers, holding out a hand and taking control of the lightsaber as it spun around, catching two of them by surprise as the spinning blade would slice through them. The last one was lucky enough to get out of the way, but it left him open as the moment that the lightsaber returned to Josh's hand, he would charge forward, the Force propelling him at high speeds as he would slice through the slaver himself.

"Let's go! The slaves are free! We need to end this!" Josh would call to Doug as he would run down the hallway.

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug had managed to take down the electrified slavers as expected. It was a great relief that he didn't mess that up... He probably couldn't take more mistakes now... Nonetheless, they still had more company and he ducked down when he heard a call to do so. He glanced up as the floating lightsaber flew by him and sliced through two of the remaining slavers and then he saw as Josh called the blade back to him and then finished off the last one... Man, all of these abilities he could do were insane.

He rose up from his crouching position once the slavers were finished and he saw the blonde running down the hallway, having called out the fact that they still had unfinished business. Doug nodded and began to run on after him down the hall, his blaster still at the ready.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

They would be stopped when a handful of seven more men would stop them in the hallway, blasters raised. "Damnit" The Jedi Master would mutter as he would ignite his lightsaber again. The blasters would start firing, and Josh knew that he only had one choice. "DOUG! BACK AWAY!" Josh would scream out to Doug before putting away his lightsaber and holding out his hands, letting out a scream as he would unleash the hardest Force Wave that he possibly could, with all of his power.

The blaster bolts would bounce away from them, and the slavers would be bowled over. "NOW DOUG!" Josh would call toward Doug as he used the last of his strength for the time being to use the Force and send his lightsaber toward Doug. If Doug truly was Force Sensitive, then he would be able to at least use the lightsaber like a regular sword somewhat, unskilled or not, to cut them down without cutting his own hand off. It was risky... But he couldn't... He couldn't...

He let out a heavy breath as he collapsed to his knees, sweat beading from his forehead as he would breathe heavily. He'd used far too much of his strength... He had no choice... He had to have faith in Doug to finish them off before they recovered.

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

They had company again as expected. Abruptly, Josh had told Doug to move back, which he had complied with prior to the Jedi firing off some sort of powerful wave that knocked all of the slavers in front of them over. Must be another Force ability of some kind.

Doug noticed that Josh looked rather weakened following that strenuous effort. Suddenly, the blonde's lightsaber had started flying towards him, apparently the efforts of that Force once again. He quickly put his blaster in the holster of his belt and caught the weapon, igniting the bright blade in front of him. He had honestly been wondering if he'd ever get a chance to actually use it humorously enough. He had no time to dwell on those thoughts as the slavers would probably get up from that Force Wave pretty soon.

Doug carefully held onto the blade and then he charged forward past the fallen Josh towards the slavers. With reasonably quick strikes, he would stab and slice through the downed slavers before they could have a chance to get up. His movements were a bit unrefined, but he actually managed to not hurt himself with the blade as he finished off the last one. "Okay... I think I got em. This lightsaber thing is pretty nifty." Doug said, giving a thumbs up back at Josh before he deactivated the blade and walked back over to help Josh get onto his feet.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi Master had exhausted more of his energy then he had planned, having little time to prepare and charge it. He had to release a lot of power in so little time - with so little notice... It was inevitable that he was going to tire. But it was necessary in order to survive in the situation that they were in, and as Doug would take the lightsaber, the Jedi Master would sit down, closing his eyes... Not seeing with his eyes, but with the Force, as he tried to relax.. Hoping that Doug wouldn't be cut down. He just hoped that he was right about the kid.

Either by luck, or by the Force... Doug had manage to pull it off without cutting his fingers off. The Jedi had the time he needed to regain his strength and would return to his feet once Doug assisted him, graciously accepting back his lightsaber. "Good" He simply said, taking smaller, lighter breaths now. "Seeing as nobody's come out to assist these guys, something tells me we're quite close to our destination" The Jedi Master would observe as he would look down the hallway.

"Tell me.... Have you ever felt any strange... Feelings? Seen any illusions in your life? Sensed anything out of the ordinary?" Josh would suddenly turn and ask Doug.

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug nodded as Josh took back his lightsaber and made a remark about the lack of backup following the exchange. It would appear that they are almost where they need to be. This nutty situation might finally be over with... At least for now.

A question then arose from the Jedi towards him that was rather curious to the youth. Strange sensations? Where did that come from? But... He wasn't wrong. He had always noticed some uncanny things about himself through his life experiences. Even some he may not like to discuss very often...

Doug scratched his chin. "Well... I suppose you can say that." He began, taking a deep breath. "I always seem to have some sort of weird feeling in certain situations. Like... I might be trying to focus or be accurate and then everything around me seems to move a little differently... More slowly... Even when things actually aren't moving that slow. And my vision just seems to feel more sharp. Also, sometimes I get these odd feelings when I feel like something's wrong... And wouldn't you know it? That's part of how I ended up here." He continued. "I don't think I recall seeing any sort of illusions, though. Why are you asking me this, anyways? You interested in my mind being strange or whatever it is?" He added on and then proceeded to ask. Again with that slight comical edge...

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He nodded his head a little as Doug would begin rattling off answers. He had to wonder... Could he be? He supposed he'd have to make sure..... After this, of course. They had moved at a slower pace while this conversation went on - giving Josh avid time to recover his strength.

"Nah. You're just a strange fella" He remarked with a light chuckle in return as they would walk. Finally, he nodded toward Doug and took off at a run - it seemed he was ready to continue on full force. Finally, they would come to a door. They could hear talking on the other end... It was clear what lay on the other side.

The Jedi Master would turn to Doug and tilt his head. "You got your parents back" The Jedi whispered. "This is going to be dangerous. If you want to leave now, go reunite with them, and go home, I won't blame you. I have a contact, Je'Dala, who will be in the spaceport... They can take you home"

"Last chance" He whispered. "Once we kick this door down... There's no going back"

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug scratched his head at the rather brief answer given to him by Josh... There had to be more to what this guy was talking about... The blonde then took off quickly, Doug scrambling to run after him to keep up.

The dynamic duo then approached their destination... A door. He had a choice now to leave, but he was not going to drop off that easily without giving the damned leader a piece of his mind. Doug took out the blaster from his holster. "Nah... I wanna take part in this... I ain't letting whoever's in there get off that easily..." He replied. There was no turning back now...

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The blonde would smirk faintly in return. "And so it shall be" He remarked in return. "A lust for revenge can lead to the dark side... But you're correct, they deserve to pay for what they have done" He added, nodding. "Not because we feel that they deserve to die, for our personal gain, for personal revenge... But because alive, they will only harm others without regard for anyone but themselves. We are doing this for the betterment of everyone else.... Nothing more"

With that, he would begin a countdown.

3.....

2.....

1......


And once that countdown expired, he would make the motion, and the Jedi Master and Farm Boy duo would kick the door, sending it open with a loud boom.

They would find themselves in some kind of board room. Slavers of several different species were gathered around a table, important looking papers strewn across it. They would all turn toward the two that had burst in, as if they were expecting them after hearing of all their men being cut down, and the slaves being freed.

They said nothing. The apparent leader, a Toydarian, would snap his fingers. All of the others would draw blasters. As they stepped forward, a crowd of ten guards would stand in front of them...

They had come prepared.

Josh would draw his blade, and nod toward Doug. The end of this slave camp situation was here....

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug nodded. "Exactly. I don't want what happened to my parents to happen to anyone else..." He remarked prior to the countdown.

After they had kicked the door down dramatically, they had come face-to-face with a board room of the top slavers... And they were expected company as the slavers took out their own blasters and then 10 guards poured out in front of them.

Doug growled and raised his blaster, nodding back at Josh. This was going to be rough, but... No turning back now.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"You're right...." He spoke quietly, nodding a bit, and taking a brisk breath. A little harsh though. He was nervous, even if he tried not to show it. It was clear that whatever lay on the other side of this door was not going to be a cakewalk. It was going to be dangerous... Possibly life threatening. Possibly even worse. This was the lion's den that they were entering. But... They knew what needed to be done. No matter what. The slaves were safe... Now it was time to finish the job.

They had come in swinging - kicking the doors down. But they had been met with opposition that even Josh began to wonder if they could take on. He looked over at Doug... What had he done? He'd allowed this farm boy to come with him... Possibly to his death. It was wrong of him. He should have knocked Doug out back at the cells and demanded his parents take him away, somewhere safe... Where they could escape back home. But... He had allowed this child to come with him, to fight... And possibly to die. He regretted that... He just hoped the worst wouldn't come. He could fight. He had a chance. But did Starwind?

Force sakes... He didn't know.

Before long, his blade was out, and he was batting away blaster bolts left and right. Some hit him, but the Magnus Armour under his robes protected him. As long as they hit nothing vital and unprotected, he would be okay. But he still had to be cautious... The armour could only save him when he was outnumbered for so long...

The world felt like it had slowed down into slow motion as he would attack, clutching the saber hilt to his chest as he would leap into the air just above the guards, spinning around in the air with the Force propelling him like a jet. And as he soared up, he would quickly attack, his speed impeccable as he would slice through the shoulders of one of the guards, his blade spinning and slicing and dicing with a grace that you wouldn't think you could ever see wielded by a 6'3 man. As he landed on the ground, the two guards he had struck would fall, and he would dash forward, the Force propelling him forward with Force Speed as he would stab through the face of another, causing them to emit a loud scream before he would pull his blade out quickly, hoping to end their suffering fast as he would slash through their midsection before turning and leaping up to avoid a blaster bolt that would hit his opponent square in the chest, promptly finishing him off. Josh would frontflip through the air to keep himself as small and protected by armour as possible as the blaster bolts whizzed by him, and once he would right himself he would let out a yell as he clenched his fist, charging up the power this time before unleashing a Force Wave that would send the forces flying back.

Josh would land on his feet and quickly assess the situation, noting the 7 remaining guards while they were still down, hoping Doug had taken out a few as well.

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug took a deep breath. He was actually feeling kind of unnerved on the inside, but he tried not to show it as they were in a rather sticky situation and him looking panicked wasn't really going to help much.

Before long, the shots from multiple blasters flew through the air at the duo and Josh had quickly taken action against some of the guards. Doug has crouched down and aimed his blaster forward, firing off a few quick shots at some of the other guards. His nervousness was hindering his usual, or rather unusual, finesse, but he was managing himself through the situation. A guard had set his sights on the youth, but Doug had managed to shoot first (Ha Ha!) to finish the guard off. That left six alive as Josh had taken out three of the guards in a relatively quick swoop.

More shost whizzed by him and they appeared to have singed his robes slightly, but he had managed to avoid being directly hit through some somewhat clumsy rolling motions or sheer luck. Before long, Josh had used another one of those waves and it had pushed the still living guards down. Doug tried to take advantage of this situation by moving in carefully and firing out shots at some of the guards that had been downed by the Force Wave.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

It was clear that blaster bolts were not working. The Jedi Master would just deflect them back at them, and using the blasters they had no chance to defend themselves once the Jedi would get close enough. The commanding officer of the group would make a command, and just like that, the blasters were gone and they all drew their secondary weapon: Vibroblades.

Vibroblades of different shapes and sizes were drawn, and they would advance on the Jedi and the Farmer. If Doug fired at them, he would find that the blaster bolts would be batted away by the vibroblades. Maybe not as easily as one would with a lightsaber, but Doug would find a great deal of his attacks to be useless. That was a problem...

More troops would arrive. Five would advance on the Jedi Master, while five would go after the farmer. They were both heavily outnumbered. Josh gritted his teeth, knowing that this was going to be a tough fight... He couldn't inhibit himself. He couldn't hold back. He had to fight with everything he had, just to survive.

The first thing that Josh would do, was take one of the troops on Doug's end by surprise, holding out a free hand and using the Force to jerk him back, sending him colliding into several of the troops charging the Jedi, vibroblades in hand. Josh would quickly use the distraction to stab through the chest of the one he had struck, before tossing his body aside, but not without taking his vibroblade first.

"Doug, catch!" Josh would call as he would toss the vibroblade to Doug, knowing that he would be having trouble using a blaster. Of course, it was clear that these forces were much more skilled then the goons they had fought outside - as immediately they would be up after Josh had caught them off guard and would swarm him, and the others would swarm Doug. Josh knew that Doug would be having a hard time surviving without the same combat experience that Josh did... He just hoped that he could hold on. Josh had taken out one of Doug's opponents, leaving him with 4, while Josh still had 5 to deal with.

It was time to fight.

Quickly, he would move to parry a blow from one guard, likely a member of this slaver's elites just in case of emergency. The Jedi Master would move with grace, spinning around as he would duck and weave slashes from the various vibroblades, and slashing as he went, his blade connecting with vibroblades everywhere he went. Josh would parry another blow, batting it away before leaping into the air, over the heads of the guards and landing behind one, stabbing his saber through his chest and killing him instantly, before quickly spinning around to deflect a slash from another. Being caught in a lock, he would be defenseless against the attack of a guard coming from behind him, if he hadn't quickly used the Force to bring the second lightsaber - the second one he had built as a Padawan - to his hand, ignite it and use it to deflect the blow, then he would have likely been cut clean and killed. It had been awhile since he had duel-wielded...

But this changed everything. The Jedi Master would whirl around, taking the guards by surprise and slashing through the first one he'd started duelling thanks to it, before he would begin spinning, using both lightsabers to attack the blade of the second man over and over, from every direction until a hit found it's mark and cut the man down. With two blades, he was able to handle them on all fronts. But Josh had no time to admire his handiwork, he would immediately have to spring out both blades to counter when two of the guards would attack at once with their vibroblades. Their bladework had obviously been honed.. He wondered if they had been hired out? These were stronger then the average goons... Perhaps they were hired security, mercenaries maybe? But Josh would have to leap back, using the Force to aid himself when he sensed the third man going for a slash from behind. He would backflip as he would fly through the air and land on his feet, before charging forward again...

[member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug's efforts with his blaster seemed to do the trick for the time being, but then things had suddenly taken a turn that was not in their favor. The guards would disregard the blasters and bring out some kind of swords. There didn't seem to be anything special about them, but he knew that they had a purpose and his blaster likely would have trouble with these weapons. And wouldn't they know it, more guards came in and they were outnumbered once more.

Doug's Jedi ally had quickly taken to the offensive, having taken out one of the guards that was heading towards him as well as batting around the ones heading towards the blonde. As Doug had prepared to defend himself, Josh had suddenly flung the blade of the guard he struck down towards him with a proper warning of course. Doug quickly held out his arm and clumsily caught the blade in his right hand. With that motion succeeding, he put his blaster away in the holster as he probably wouldn't need it for now. While Josh had killed one of the guards, they were still heavily outnumbered and Doug was not exactly an expert swordsman.

Things seemed to slow down for Doug as four guards headed towards him and he held the vibroblade in his hands. One of the guards charged at him, but Doug ducked down and sweep kicked him to the ground. With that motion, another guard quickly slashed at the youth from the side, but Doug turned and held his blade in front of him to counteract the slash, shoving the guard away from him. He took a deep breath as he stood on his feet, but another guard quickly tried to take advantage of this and charged at Doug with his own vibroblade ready. Doug held his blade up and tried to parry the blow, but this time he was the one getting parried and shoved away by the guard. The guards he had knocked away briefly were back on their feet by this point.

Doug's grumbled as he got back onto his feet, but the third and fourth guards were heading for him. Doug slowly clenched the blade in his hand and braced himself...