The Chaoswar Saga

[Fein Medon]

INDEX:
1. Flight of the Thief
2. It's a Nightmare
3.


Chapter One
Flight of the Thief

Two months after the Sacking of Coruscant. . .
A single Theta-class T-2c shuttle lurched out of hyperspace. An emerald green planet squatted below, Cholganna of the Outer Rim Territories. The long fingers of the pilot curled around the steering gears and descended into the atmosphere. Flames licked the underbelly of the shuttle as intense heat encompassed the vessel. It was not long before the ship had broken through cloud covers and was welcomed with the sight of a jungle that spanned thousands of kilometres. A blanket of green that spanned the globe.

The shuttle steered towards the remains of an old and unused military base that had cut a square out of the heart of the jungle. Camp Chattahoochee had once belonged to The Silver Jedi Order, and their Jedi General, Hasjo Hallu. The camp was fenced off with near-fatal electrical discharges if one touched the wires. Though the generators had long since died. The encampment was 11.7 kilometres long and 9.4 kilometres wide. Four launchpads could be seen for gunships no longer than 50 meters long and 35 meters wide. A gang of garages and guard barracks sat alone. Sensor relays were spread throughout over one-thousand kilometres within the vicinity of the camp.

No one occupied this encampment anymore. No one could detect the incoming foreign shuttle. The landing pads began to unfold out from under the ventral of the Theta-class vessel. The ship decelerated as it closed on the ground, sending up wafts of dust and dirt. The wings began to curl upwards whilst the landing pads made a successful touchdown. The ramp descended and from the belly of the beast came out a Pau'an garbed in crimson robes. The clothes themselves were elegant and regal, traditional to the people of Utapau. Creases and folds of the cloth were made delicately and precisely.

 

[Jora Vao]

Jora Vao found himself on the planet of Cholganna. His sapphire hand drifted towards a pocket in the folds of his robes, withdrawing an organic crystalline lattice cube. It stored a phenomenal amount of data but he had yet to access it alone. He could with Parmi Miemant around, but the Gatekeeper of the Holocron had yet to trust him. He did not feel any judgement towards the limited artificial intelligence, after all, it was indeed it's duty to safeguard the knowledge held within.

The Twi'lek fell to a squat, brushing his hands in a dark, murky pond. Ripples began to spread across the body of water. He craned his neck from his position, noting the old blaster burn marks upon the wall left by a sensor station. There were signs of close-quarters fighting. Though he could not judge whether it was two weeks or two decades since the fight had occurred. This was his investigation. His investigation into the murder of Hasjo Hallu. The Holocron he held in his left hand belonged to that very Nautolan Jedi Master, who's own story truly began on Ossus. Yet much of his life was spent on this planet.

Long ago, he had researched, the Jedi Master encountered a swathe of bounty hunters, defying them in the very spot he knelt. A mandalorian had opened fire on the Jedi, only to be deflected and the racing bolts collide against the permacrete walls. The Nautolan and the Sixth Battalion were the only ones to stand in the way of this hired horde. Though Hasjo had won, it sparked a series of event. This would ultimately culminate into his murder. Jora Vao had to know who it was and bring them to justice. To bring peace of mind to his friend and saviour; Parmi Miemant. He owed her a life debt. The bounty hunters had tried once, and failed. The second time, Hasjo had not been so lucky.

The distant noise of propulsion drives and the flight of birds awoke his senses from his drifting thoughts. He did not have time to ponder, he wished to move and quickly. It was not safe for one to travel alone in such lands. He knew, having survived the harsh landscape of Felucia. He began to wade out into the surprisingly deep waters, bending his back to dip his hands into the water. His fingers prodded the water for a few moments before ensnaring a small baton-like object. He placed the holocron back into it's pocket and brought the device under the light of the natural sunlight that came from a crack in the roof. His eyes squinted, observing the object; a lightsaber hilt. Rusted and crushed.

Beginning his journey back into the corridors of the decrepit facility, Jora began to pry his fingers against the metal. Slowly he began to disassemble the hilt, revealing a cerulean focusing crystal. He drew his hand back to the folds of his robes, slipping them away. He preceded to the noise, hidden by the dark shadows of the hallways. He had nothing on him but for the robes on his back. He relied on the lands natural resources for nutrition and hydration. Jora pushed aside the inconvenient vines that draped the entranceway. He studied the Pau'an and knew for what he was, and more importantly, why he was here. Jora raised his wrist to his mouth, whispering into the transceiver to Kuan Le, "We've got company."

 

[Kuan Le]

"We've got company," Jora Vao said over Kuans transceiver. He spun around, but there was nothing for him to see that he hadn't already studied. Three levels deep and all there was to find were stained blood, blaster marks, pools of water where it had dripped it from cracks in the earth and lastly, flora. Much of the planet had reclaimed the underground facilities with pools of water to be found with organisms living in them such as toads. Grass, weeds and vines curled around old medical stations and prevented doors from being opened or closed. It was truly a unique sight to see, but one he would have to quickly say goodbye too.

The eleven year old Kaminoan was an adult by his species biological standards, but by many other standards he was still a child, and thus many saw him as such. Jora Vao didn't, he had proven a true albeit dangerous friend. It was known Jora was a Jedi, but he had defied the Silver Order when he stole the holocron of Jedi Master and Keeper of the Code, Hasjo Hallu. His life as a member of the Silver Council had been short-lived, this much he knew. Jora went on a self-imposed crusade with a group of other now-rogue Jedi padawans, including Kuan himself. Lanky limbs began to scoop up small odd bits of technology that were responsible for scanning plant life, determining the purity of the oxygen in the air and other such information. Information other type of Jedi would often consider irrelevant, but not for this specific Lore Keeper. Or so he had been before he went rogue.

Kuan began loading the devices into a rucksack bag he had been carrying around. Just like Kuan in his current state, the bag had seen some hard times. It was patchy, dirt-ridden and unclean, just like his own robes. Time spent on the field day after day with little time left no such room for personal comforts, and so was the life of the Jedi. He couldn't concern himself with how he appeared, only in which he served. The Kaminoan raced up the fire-exit stairs, for the elevator system had not been in working condition for quite some time. Kuan began to wonder where Parmi Miemant may be during all this mess.

 

[The Upright Man]

The Bounty Hunter known as Lily Rose among colleagues, the Black Sun Syndicate and the Bounty Hunters Guild was crammed into the shuttle cargo hold. It rumbled and rocked, trembling with a horrible screech as it descended into atmosphere. Luminous had the faint feeling the only thing holding this ship together was hope. It was only the Mandalorians that knew her birth name. She used Lily Rose as a means to cover her tracks relatively 'easier.' Though that cover had faded, she was now Dar'manda. An exile by her own people, for good reason, she had systematically and viciously slaughtered her fellow Mando'ade.

The thing with a Keshiri, there were so few in the galaxy outside the world of Kesh. There were thousands upon thousands of species, and few would ever be able to categorise them in their minds. Yet, some still thought it socially acceptable to gawk at a purple-skinned, cyan-eyed, red-haired woman. In a galaxy filled with ugly behemoths and talking rodents, it was a wonder why some people in One-Sith occupied space felt the need to stare. She often would look back and give a guttural growl.

The freighter thudded heavily against a landing pad. Her head bobbed up and down at the 'crash,' because that was the only way to describe such an atrocious landing. Placing her hands on her knees, she pushed herself up onto two feet and waltzed her way across the cargo hold, reaching down to an old bag made of calve skin, fur and wool. It was from Kesh, and a valuable product. Not that the products within were of any less value. An AMR Anti-Materiel rifle. A Z50 grenade launcher with twelve ForceBreaker gas grenades, those grenades put the real punch in her credit bank. It was almost painful to think about their cost, not that it would matter once she got her reward. A single Force Containment Collar, courtesy of an invasion on the New Order. She had found two, albeit one was broken. She didn't need more than one, she never held more than one force user captive before.

Lily wasn't sure what the place was called. She didn't pay attention to the details, but she knew it was an old military encampment they were visiting, and she knew more than quite well that this place was as humid as it was deadly. Whoever said Cholganna was a beautiful, exotic planet, she wanted to elbow them in the jaw. She drew a thin cloak around her, traditional weave of Kesh. The cloak was long enough that it dragged behind her heels as she walked. A hood drew over her scalp. She moved down the ramp to stand beside her contractor, a Pau'an. Her cybernetic eyes scanned the local scenery, she spied the Twi'lek hidden in the shadows.

 

[Fein Medon]

Fein Medon placed a foot onto the permacrete surface of the compound, finding it rough and derelict, weeds sprouted forth from cracks in the stone. His ears picked up on the sound of the thumping boots of the bounty hunter behind him. He had heard of her reputation. Fein found it ironic in hiring her to kill these Jedi. A bitter sweet ending. He knew what they held, or so intelligence reported, and furthermore he knew what they were investigating. Tracing the footsteps of a dead Jedi were as useless as it was time-consuming.

Fein turned to stalk the eyes of Lily, spotting the Twi'lek that hid below the overhang of the compounds underground entryway. Fein raised his hand to Lily, speaking to her in a harsh whisper, "There are more of them. Find them. Kill them." The Pau'an reached into the folds of his robes, retrieving the inky-black hilt of his lightsaber. His thumb slid down the shaft of the weapon and ignited it with a familiar snap-hiss. The focusing crystal shot forth a crimson plasma from the hilt. A standard single-blade lightsaber, it's design was pure simplicity. Fein began to step towards the entrance, holding out his hand, "You know what I want. Give it to me."

 

[Jora Vao]

"It doesn't belong to you," Jora Vao defied the Pau'an. At the introduction of his enemies hilt, Jora brought to heel his own. A single-bladed lightsaber, it was far from traditional. The hilt was wrapped of leather and a leather cord, with a yellow focusing crystal. A metal chain hangs from the bottom of the hilt with a rodent's skull attached at the end of the chain. The rodent skull formerly belonged to Master Veron Lovi who adorned it to his own lightsaber. Jora continues Veron's legacy by adorning his own lightsaber with the rodent skull. He utilised Form Zero, finding that it was not yet his time to activate his own blade.

The Twi'lek twisted his body around and fled into the dark depths of the forgotten military facility. He ran as fast as he could, consumed by darkness. Slivers of light shone through cracks of earth but they were far and in-between. Water dripped from the ceiling, splashing in small ponds that had assumed their positions in explosion-formed craters. The lekku that stretched out from his scalp bounced up and down behind him as his body urged itself onwards. Jora pushed himself into an interconnecting corridor, slamming his back up against the wall. He breathed heavy, and found dread in his heart. He waited to launch an ambush. His fee hand fumbled with the holocron in his robes, making sure it was secure.

 

[Kuan Le]

Not only had Kuan Le heard the commotion echoing down the stairwell, but he felt it in the Force. A slight tremor that radiated from the two beings above, and then a third one. Kuan could hear Jora flee through the complex, and Kuan followed his lead; he turned and began descending the staircase once more. His mind raced with possible solutions, and it wasn't long until realisation dawned on him. The generator. If he could get the generator running again, he could get to the third floor launch bay and open the launch pads, and fly his way out of the facility. When the compound was abandoned, they had left behind a single LAAT. A back door of escapes per say.

His long lanky legs made it hard for him to sprint, or rather run on the uneven surface. He needed to keep calm and cool in this situation or he wasn't coming out alive. He felt it in the force, this was not a friendly encounter, far from it. He walked with haste, keeping his eyes on the floor. The two black orbs scrutinised every rock and crack before he trod another step. He glanced up, seeing that he was on sublevel three, home to the communication centre, launch bays and the generator room. Convenient. He raised his hand to his mouth and spoke into the transceiver, "Find your way to the launch bay, I know how to get us out of here."

 

[The Upright Man]

There came a whisper into her ear, "There are more of them. Find them. Kill them." Lily nodded her head, "Understood." Such a formal and simple answer. She grounded her boot and dropped her bag, the weapons would prove useless in the close quarters combat she would face; not that she knew it would be so. Her hand gripped the hilt of a vibroblade and yanked it free from its sheathe. She launched herself forward into a break-neck sprint, just as Jora had fled into the underground complex. She wasn't to give chase to him, but that wouldn't stop her from defending herself if he chose to attack her.

As the darkness began to greet her on all sides, her cybernetic eyes adjusted to the dimness. She could see with infrared vision, hiding from her would be futile. She didn't know what to expect of the others, the Pau'an was so vague in his information. But it wasn't her first encounter with Jedi, and was notorious after the Hapes Incident. After all, she was on live holovision as she scalped the corpse of Jedi Master Hasjo Hallu. The splash of water was heard underfoot as she passed a corridor, throwing a glance to see sudden bright illumination; the Twi'lek. She moved even after, ignoring him in hope he wouldn't give chase and thought he was hidden. She found the emergency flight of stairs and began her descent, hearing the distinct sound of footfalls. Her prey.

 

[Fein Medon]

Black eyes trailed after the figures of both Jora Vao and Lily Rose. Jora Vao, yes indeed. He knew much about him, and not only from what intelligence reported. A Twi'lek lost in time and without little purpose. This investigation had consumed the Twi'leks life, and Fein would make sure of that. He held an artefact that was crucial to him, it was told to have unfathomable knowledge of not only lightsaber forms and techniques, but the strange and foreign weapons of the Exotic Weapons Master. A Jedi whose ability with weapons was profound and respected among both his peers and enemies.

Fein Medon began to walk towards the entrance, feeling out with the force. Jora was faint, but there. The crimson plasma illuminated his path, bathing in it a bloody glow. The hum of the weapon seemed to echo in the silent corridors. His eyes swept the place, a dreary and dreadful place it was. He peered into the darkness, making out the reminders of scorched stone and blaster marks. He mused on this, for there was little to say what happened here. There was so little information for him to access and analyse about the facility and much of the planet itself. He wondered what the dying hours of the combatants were like. Had they been afraid and all out of hope? Or were they confident in their leader and courage. He began to pass an intersecting corridor.

 

[Jora Vao]

Jora saw the bounty hunter crash her way past the corridor and onwards, taking a moment to notice him. His stomach sank for a moment and thought she would turn, but she didn't. She looked away and kept running. He let out a breath of relief until he heard another noise. The sound of the footsteps beat to the rhythm of his heart. Louder and louder. He was almost upon the corner. Jora steadied his breathing, closing his eyes and focusing in on himself. The time for Form Zero was no more, there was no way he was parting with the holocron. There was no negotiating such a device. He held his lightsaber to his chest in a silent prayer to the Force, asking for guidance.

As the Pau'an emerged next to the corner, Jora launched his attack. He ignited his yellow-orange blade with a snap hiss. He turned his bade to face Fein and raised the hilt of his blade high above his head. A frown sported his forehead, eyes set on his target, mouth turned into a grimace of courage and hope. His muscles flexed as his feet held their ground, refusing to move. Jora would not be pushed aside easily. He began to bring down his blade in a vertical slash with ferocity and speed. A grunt of defiance left his gritted teeth at the exertion of strength. He had survived the Clone Wars, the campaigns of Felucia and six hundred years of drifting through space, he could surely survive this,

 

[Kuan Le]

Urgency overwhelmed him, he could hear someone approaching and something told him it wasn't Jora, or Parmi for that matter. He had no idea where that Togruta was right now, but in this current situation, she would prove immensely useful if she popped her head up. Kuan walked down the hallway and found the entrance into the generator, but for one problem. The door wasn't open. He held out the palm of his hand and closed his eyes. His mind encompassed the object before him, placing pressure on it. He tilted his head, lowering it so his chin touched his neck. He entered a trance-like state as he focused the energy of the force into a pulling motion.

The door creaked loudly and shuddered open. Kuan scurried his way in to find the generator wrapped in vines but otherwise unharmed. The Kaminoan marched forward, looking and sizing up the device. He didn't know much about how it worked or the mechanics beneath the hull, but he didn't think it was too hard. He assumed it was something to do with a disconnected cord or the engine simply needing to be restarted. He moved towards it and fell to a crouch, dropping his rucksack bag on the floor. His hands began to pry a small metal cover that hid a variety of buttons.

 

[The Upright Man]

Lily craned her neck when she found herself on sublevel three. The sound of footsteps no longer came up the shaft in the middle of the stairwell, but came from the corridors. The Keshiri warrior turned and began to stalk silently, treading carefully with each step. She had become silent, no longer as loud as a charging bull. A crunch was audible under her foot, some form of crumbled stone had shattered under her weight. She held the vibroblade across her torso, a defensive posture to prevent any attack against the largest of her body targets. Yet, she knew how the Jedi worked, they often targeted limbs in a fight and not the crucial points of a body; torso and head. Quick kills.

The protesting door was close, and Lily was nearing upon her prey. She continued her approach, quietly and slowly. She brought her body against the wall next to the door frame and peered around the corner, seeing the form of a Kaminoan. Strange, very strange. So far from home, and so few ever left home. She lowered her vibroblade, the Jedi wasn't aware she was here as of yet it seemed. She began to approach behind the Jedi, whose focus was determined on a utility hatch for the generator. Lily raised the vibroblade and its corresponding hum would give it away. With enhanced strength beyond the limitations of Keshiri and most other species, she viciously slammed down the short sword-like weapon in an attempt to thrust into the Kaminoans spinal cord.

 

[Fein Medon]

It wasn't the ignition of a lightsaber that gave Jora away, but the hushed communication emitting from his wrist transceiver that came from his fellow Jedi. When the blade ignited, Fein spun around to face the Twi'lek. The yellow-orange came crashing down with the power of a falling avalanche, and only just in time did the Pau'an deflect the blow with a horizontal guard. His heart skyrocketed, adrenaline pumped through his veins. Sudden exhilaration ran rampant through his mind. Anger boiled over.

It had all happened so fast, but time seemed to have slowed in retrospect. The two of them struggled for a moment, one trying to overpower the other. The eternal fight between the Light and the Dark. Fein twisted his wrist and shuffled his feet, side-stepping his opponent. His thumb switched his lightsaber inactive, the crimson blade vanishing. The sudden response would leave the Twi'lek to stumble forward, and with that, Fein Medon would utilise the hilt of his lightsaber as a baton. Fein held the hilt with both his hands and attempted to slam the butt of the lightsaber against the direct centre of the Twi'leks forehead, an attempt to stun him.

 

[Jora Vao]

There was one thing Jora hadn't anticipated, and it was the crack to his forehead. As Fein suddenly disengaged his blade, Jora began to tumble forward as all his weight was pushed against where Fein had once stood, and moments before falling onto the ground, the hilt of a lightsaber slammed into his forehead with his combined weight of his body pushing against it. It snapped his head back, enough to cause whiplash to his spine. It was only now that the Twi'lek fell with everything he had. His arms quickly raised, hands scrambling to prevent his face from impacting the permacrete floor.

His body hit the ground with the subsequent sound of a meat bag hitting a butchers floor. There was a slap to it that was grotesque in nature. Dazed, confused and in agony, Jora tilted his head and cried out at the pain. He could see Fein standing beside him, his legs right beside him. Jora looked back down, breathing heavily. His hand tightened around the hilt of his lightsaber with resolve. He lurched his back, pushing himself onto his knees with his free left hand. His right hand arced outwards, whizzing towards the legs of Fein in an attempt to cleave them right from his body.

 

[Kuan Le]

Kuan Le didn't hear anyone enter the room, or even walk in the hallway. All was quiet and peaceful, but the clashing of distant lightsabers mildly disturbed him. It was an unsettling thought to think Jora was fighting for his life whilst he crawled on his knees and scoured over a generator that looked to have little hope of starting again. When he had pried the hatch off the engine, he had no idea what he was looking at. No button was labeled and nothing identified itself as the ignition, Kuan was dumbfounded. He was about to stand when he heard something. The sound of shallow vibrations. He felt something, for only a second. Then all turned to black.

 

[The Upright Man]

Satisfying. The only word to describe a kill. Her hands trembled with excitement and adrenaline. The vibroblades hum was muffled by the flesh it now lodged itself in. The bone had crackled audible and the kill was clean, an instantaneous death or near enough. The Kaminoan slumped forward, limp. Dark blood leaked out of the wound as Lily yanked the vibroblade free. Now, more blood began to expel from the fresh corpse of the alien, but her work wasn't done here. A set of headtresses had been laminated and hung from her belt, Nautolan headtresses from a certain Jedi Master. Now, she had another trophy to hang from her belt.

When she was done, the long neck and head of a Kaminoan had been bagged, leaving behind a headless body. It reminded her of a headless chicken back home on Bastion. She was raised on a farm and seeing a headless chicken was an ugly sight as a child, but one she had seen far too often for a kid her age. She wondered if that was why she relished in the kill as an adult. Lily propped herself back onto her feet and sheathed the blade. She would clean the weapon later. The sound of an ensuing fight upstairs was faint from this distance, but it was audible nonetheless. The Keshiri walked out of the room and down the corridor.

 

[Fein Medon]

The whine of plasma penetrated his eardrums. Hyper-reflexes were a gift unto him from the Force, and a gift all Force-Users seemed to innately have, not to mention the heightened survival instincts. Fein bent his knees and propelled himself up, arching his back and neck so as to avoid hitting his head against the low-hanging roof. The yellow-orange lightsaber narrowly missed him, if it had struck true, Fein would lose in a matter of seconds. There was no defending oneself when you lacked mobility.

Fein thudded back against the ground with a snarl. Crooked, yellow teeth were revealed. They bent towards the centre of his lips, each tooth as thin and long as needles. The Pau'an quickly repeated his dance, side-stepping the Twi'lek. He was now positioned behind his foe. He released his left hand from the hilt of his blade, reaching forward to curl his arm around the neck of the Twi'lek, his right hand pushed the lightsaber against the right-side temple of Jora's skull. Fein Medon slid his hand down the base of the hilt, thumb hovering over the ignition. He relished himself in this moment. He slapped the trigger, igniting the crimson focusing crystal.

 

[Jora Vao]

A moment of sheer panic assaulted every part of his being. Something had gone wrong, crucially wrong. A long arm wrapped itself around his throat and pulled, preventing the supply of oxygen. Jora Vao gasped madly, scratching frantically as he dropped his lightsaber in trepidation. He thought only of Parmi Miemant and her Master. Had he failed them? It was a fear deeper than that of death. He had failed his Master, and now he too had failed his friend. There was a moment in time where everything seemed to slow to the drop of a pin. He could hear it, the pressure on a button. The rumble of the focusing crystal. Something hissed, a red glow began to light the intersecting corridor. There was no time to move, only to feel, to see, to hear. Jora Vao's eyes opened widened, a final gasp left his lips. Eyes rolled into the back of his head as the crimson blade penetrated his skull. Then all turned to black.

 

[The Upright Man]

Lily reached out a hand for the wall. She saw the burst of heat come from the lightsaber, almost blinding to her infrared cybernetic attuned eyes. She glanced away to shield herself from any annoyance. The meaty slap of a dead body hit the ground. Two Jedi, quickly and efficiently. Thus were the battles of many conflicts; fast and fatal. Yet there were too often conflicts out in the greater and wider galaxy that resulted ever in unconscious enemies or chopped limbs. So few great Jedi, Sith and others alike ever died, it was only the unmentionable names. Those that few people ever thought about or cared. She wondered on this, if she would be another nameless victim of a terrible war by the reputable.

The current Bounty Hunter and future Royal Guard of Darth Mierin stepped towards Fein Medon, looking over the increasingly cold body of Twi'lek Jedi Padawan, Jora Vao. The job was done, the bounty complete. She would get her pay and leave, but hopefully claim another trophy. She would say she killed Jora Vao, but it wouldn't be the truth. It's not like she hadn't done it before; after all, she never killed Jedi Master Hasjo Hallu. Someone else beat her to it, she was simply around to scalp him. No one could prove otherwise, 'it's on the holonet' after all. The trophy would help her reputation, the better she was known at 'killing' Jedi, the more jobs she would receive. She moved towards the Twi'lek, "I just need his Lekku, and lightsaber" Lily said to Fein. The Keshiri unsheathed her vibroblade and began to make work of the Twi'leks scalp.

 

[Fein Medon]

Satisfying. Yes, that was it. A culmination of intelligence-gathering, tracking and hunting had cultivated in the collection of a holocron, and better yet, the holocron of a Jedi Master. Fein acknowledged and allowed the Keshiri bounty hunter to take what she wanted, it wasn't what he had come here for. When she was done, and rightfully so made herself a mess, Fein deactivated his lightsaber. The Pau'an reached down and heaved the corpse onto his back, eager fingers began to pry through the Jedi robes, searching and discovering for that little crystalline lattice device. His hands stumbled on something in a relatively hidden pocket, square in nature. He pulled it free and held it under the shining light from a crack in the roof. A Holocron.

Fein Medon had gotten what he so wanted. Information he would find out he didn't deserve. The gatekeeper would not allow him passage to the information stored. But this was a long time ago, and much has since changed . . .