Stranger in a Strange Land - Part 7 - Our Time Has Come - UPDATE 5/2 - Chapter 16

Hello again.

Welcome to the seventh part in the 'Stranger in a Strange Land' mini-saga, Our time has come.

For those of you just joining in, allow me to bring you up to speed on the story so far:

In Arrival, our main character, Dalan Kalamar, finds himself regaining consciousness aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Roundhammer, making his escape and drawing the ire of the ship's captain, Terin Corvain.

In Ally, Dalan travels to the ruined world of Naboo and befriends a lone Gungan named Tamus. Together, they help to rid Naboo of the slavers that had all but conquered it and begin the long process of re-building.

In Whisper, Dalan and Tamus meet an escaped slave girl on Corellia: Triel Davenport. Dalan also meets Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, who arrest him for the suspected murder of a crime lord's underling. The murder, though, was actually committed by a hired henchman of Captain Corvain, who is determined to take Dalan and have him cloned for a new third column army.

In The Price of Peace, Dalan, Tamus, and Triel are introduced to Luke Skywalker and the Jedi. Triel is revealed to be what the Jedi refer to as a Rogue Talent, which is a being with the ability to use the Force, but without the natural focus required to even begin training.

Soon after meeting them, Dalan comes to their aid as the Yuuzhan Vong try once more to wipe out the Jedi and in so doing destroy their most powerful enemy.

In Hellos and Goodbyes, Dalan, Tamus, and Triel have returned to Naboo to prepare the planet's application for reinstatement into the Republic Senate. However, a siege by some of Corvain's closest allies reveals Borsk Fey'lya's true colours.

During this battle, Triel's powers begin to surface and fearing for her safety, Dalan invites the Jedi to rebuild their academy on Naboo. Luke heartily accepts the proposal in front of the Republic Senate on Coruscant, rubbing it in to Borsk Fey'lya.

In Year One, six more rogue talents are discovered and sent to Naboo to be dealt with. Because of their uniqueness, Dalan is asked to train the six of them the same way as he taught Triel, hopefully helping them discover their powers through martial arts.

Which now brings us to the present:

Two years have now passed since the original six came to Naboo under orders from the New Republic. In that time, the Jedi ranks have swelled as more and more Force-sensitives are found.

Dalan has found the time to further train his original rogue talent students, as only one out of the recent bunch of Force-sensitives was found to exhibit the traits of a rogue talent: Oxrin (Or 'Ozzy,' as Shon loves to call him), a Togorian male who'd been orphaned as a cub and forced to live as a scavenger. Now under Dalan's guidance, he has grown into a formidable fighter, and has only recently connected to the Force.

Unlike his counterparts, though, he has yet to be chosen by a Master to begin his journey as a Padawan. Until then, he is throwing himself into his studies to become the best student he can be and, like the other rogue talents, make Sensei proud.

One thing Dalan has learned over the past three years is that before a rogue talent can truly move on and embrace the Force fully, they typically have to come face to face with their darkest secret, thereby opening up their souls to let the light of the Force in. To date, Dalan has learned of the secrets of all his students...

Or has he?

And now I give you: Our Time Has Come.

 

And awaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy we go!

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Stranger in a Strange Land
Part 07 ? Our Time Has Come

Prologue

Somewhere in Wild Space

Impact?

Violation?

Desecration?

Doom?

I can feel the Hated Ones?their defiling hands have finally touched us?violated us in our sanctuary.

They bring the One with them?the One that we now feel pressing on us like some unclean weight. We feel it clouding our thoughts, as rainclouds blot out the sun. We must keep it at bay, but we are in pain from the blow. Their strike has wounded us deeply.

The infidels now make their refuge in our wound like maggots infesting a corpse. Their seeds are planted and I can feel the obscenities begin to grow. The One will guide them and soon it will lead the Hated Ones against us?seeking to destroy us and claim our treasure as their own.

This must not happen. We cannot allow this. Yet, it has been millennia since we tasted battle. Are we prepared to engage the Hated Ones, who have suckled at war?s teat for so long? Can we even hope to defeat them, now that they have come here?

We must. We must drive them from our land and protect our treasure, lest the balance of power shift in their favour. They must not succeed or the destiny of this galaxy will be written in the blood of the innocent?of our children.

Already I feel the One growing in power. It is only an infant?a newborn and it is growing. Surely whatever sample of the treasure it consumes will only make it stronger in time. If we can feel it now, then surely it will overcome us given the chance. It must die, lest the universe pay the price.

My children! Awaken! Sheath yourselves in the weapons of old and prepare for battle! The Hated Ones will taste our vengeance for their desecration of our most sacred soil. Drive them back into the void and scatter their remains to the stellar winds. Do not rest until we are cleansed of their stench and their burning bodies become ash to help replenish what has been lost.

Rise up, my children! Rise up and eliminate them?ELIMINATE THEM ALL!

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already and things do not bode well for our heroes...

Fantastic start, Whiskey!

glad to see that the series is still rolling along!

 

Hey, that was great! A highly engrossing intro.

Can't wait for more!

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, After reading that, I had to check my shorts for cake.

Very cooooooooooooooolllllll.

This is going to be soooooooooo veryyyy cool.

 

I'm here!

And I'm staying! After that post there is no way I'm leaving.

More please!

 

Hehe, I guess I'll have to sneak over to your website and catch up on the last three installments and refresh the rest. But that won't keep me from lurking, Whiskey!

 

Jaxx: Aw, you know me...I'm just getting warmed up

Rookie_One: WAHOOOO! A NEW READER! Welcome aboard. I certainly hope I can keep your attention for a while. I also hope you take the time to check out the other chapters to which there are links in the first post, otherwise you might find yourself going 'huh?' quite often

Casper: Ok, I'm off desserts for a while Glad to see you made it. Yep, I'm hoping to really blow the lid off with this one

Mouse: In it until the end...You make me so happy I could just

Djuva: WOW! Long time no see, stranger Hopefully I can keep your attention for a while.

Ok, so let's keep the ball rolling. Some of this might seem a little slow at first, but it'll pick up, I promise.

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Chapter 1 - Jailbreak

Planet Tatavus: Imperial Remnant Penal Colony

The best way to describe Tatavus was a desolation that wanted to be a wasteland. The 10th planet of its star system, there was very little in the way of light, air, water, warmth?any of the essentials humans require to function, let alone survive.

As a prison planet, Tatavus was perfect for political prisoners whose only thing to look for was a quick and painless execution before an Imperial firing squad. It was also one of the few places within the Remnant where the pristine, refined image of the former Galactic Empire was all but lost. In its place existed a dark, torturous lot who loved nothing more than to dole out endless punishment to those deemed traitors in the eyes of the Empire. It seemed that while the Remnant was growing more and more tolerant of other races and other forms of government in the galaxy, they were rapidly losing patience for the still-active in-fighting that had plagued the Empire of old.

Palpatine, unless directly affected by this in-fighting as he was during the Harkov/Zaarin affair prior to the Battle of Endor, tended to not get involved in the petty squabbles between those under his control. Even when a small cabal of officers tried to destroy Darth Vader aboard the Imperial station Tarkin, the Emperor did nothing. It was speculated that since each of these major conflicts had been resolved, Palpatine had known their outcomes and therefore did little in the way of getting things back in line. It was either that or his philosophy that in-fighting helped to weed out the weakest of the stock and as a result build a stronger war machine.

Whatever the reason, petty squabbles escalated into battles that cost both lives and materials. In this new age of the Empire, it could not and was not tolerated. Hence came Tatavus. No one left this hellhole unless it was via body bag or a three-finger baggie as ashes.

Prison Warden Brion Sanvarian knew all too well the fate of the prisoners that were sent here. He?d been overseeing the operations on this rock since its inception just before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Originally, it was designed to house high-ranking Republic prisoners to be used as bargaining chips for political and strategic gains. However, now that everyone was supposedly playing on the same team, such methods were no longer deemed acceptable.

Contrarily, how the Remnant dealt with its own traitors was a matter over which only the Remnant had absolute authority. For the traitors, this was the worst of all news, for if the Empire knew one thing, it was how to inflict pain of any sort. Mind probes, psychotropic drugs, electro-convulsive confessionals, and even parasitic torture were deemed quite routine when dealing with those who would see this fragile new society destroyed. The key to all of this agony to the prisoner was that he or she would never die from it. That would be considered sloppy work on the part of the interrogators, and could bring down heavy penalties on them. No, death was reserved for a select audience, namely the victims of the crime and many high-ranking political officials. The reasoning behi

 

AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

<PUNT!>

 

Wow! That was incredibly written there, Whiskey. Really.

Love the prison; very unique and original. Come to think of it why hasn't anyone really thought about using the dark depths of space to confine the most dangerous of criminals?

(Snaps fingers) I know why; because writers want to get the action going quickly, and therefore see a prisonbreak in space as being too daunting a task.

Well, you took it! BOO-YAH!

It makes it all the more imparitive for us readers to stick around and see who this guy is. Apparently someone really, really likes him.

FORWARD!

 

Yeah, really! I get the feeling that that particular prisoner is the one being targeted! But they'd be releasing a Goebbels in the Empire's universe. Propaganda expert. Who wants him that badly? Obviously not the Empire, for they sent him there...

Geez, I woke up a half an hour ago and you have my bean frying already!

Thanks, Whiskey.



Sweet post

 

Casper: About the only way I could have made that prison worse was to have the planet orbitting a black hole. <thinks about it> DAMN! WHY DIDN'T I?

The idea for a prison with no atmosphere (with respect to air and decor) was somewhat inspired by the prison scene in Outland. It also makes sense too, limiting a prisoner's freedom of movement under threat of exploding. As for those who would cry violation of sentient rights in this matter, I counter with the simple question:

What of the rights of the victims?

Jaxx: Well, the prisoner talks a good speech, and sorry for frying your bean...well...maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe

I was planning to have a post up last night but Darth Critic wouldn't let me until it had some more work done on it.

It should be done and up tonight hopefully. Stay tuned

 

Hey, Critics are there for a reason! They're cool people! excal and I were movie critics

 

That's RIGHT: Outland had that didn't it? That was a pretty good movie. Another movie would be Moon 44; one of the early movies made by the think tank that thought up Stargate and Independance Day.

STILL I haven't seen it around here before, plus you have your own stamp on it.

FORWARD! AND YES, bring forth The Promised Future!

 

Weeeeeehhaaaaaaa! Well boys looks like we got an old fashioned jailbreak on oour hands here. And I bet our friend that the Warden was talking to will be making full use of this little diversion.

Absolutely outstanding!!

{Heh heh, just finished watching Full Metal Jacket. Outstanding. }

 

Here we go, folks...the end of Chapter 1. Enjoy

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Brion was thrown against the wall from the force of the attack. Rocket after rocket impacted with the outer wall of the prison compound, punching every-widening gaps in the once-thought impenetrable barrier between the compound and the harsh environment outside. Some rockets managed to punch holes in the cells that shared a wall, and some of the occupants not wise enough to take some measure of cover soon found themselves unhooked from their air supplies and now little more than exploded goop in their pressure suits.

The warden maintained a death-grip on his portable unit as he staggered to his feet. He looked to where the largest hole had been made and swallowed hard as by twos, several zero-g troopers entered the compound. Their blasters swept the area around them, as if expecting some kind of resistance after such an attack. After a few moments, twelve of the heavily armed and armoured soldiers were moving around the area. Three of them had their blasters trained on Brion, who remained perfectly still.

The zero-g troopers began deactivating the energy barriers confining the prisoners to their cells. Brion winced as with each new one, a trooper would enter and shortly afterwards there would be a bright green flash of laser fire, no doubt as the trooper summarily executed the prisoner inside. This action confused the warden somewhat; why go through all the trouble of nearly destroying the place just to prematurely execute prisoners already sentenced to die?

His answer came as he noticed a trooper opening the cell belonging to his conversation partner from earlier. There was a long pause, and Brion suddenly felt several pairs of eyes upon him. The two troopers guarding him now seemed to lean in closer, practically begging him to do something stupid.

A third trooper approached Brion and silently motioned the other two back. Brion tensed as this newcomer got even closer to him, the garish design of his helmet concealing any kind of identification other than that of an Imperial soldier.

However, the moment the trooper reached out and grabbed the tubes connecting Brion to his attaché case, more motives became clear?albeit too late.

It seemed odd that there was no real pain at first when the trooper ripped the tubes from Brion?s suit, exposing him to the environment of Tatavus. There was only a quick rush of cold before his suit began to feel a little tight. There was an odd sense of relief too as his face began to swell from the decompression, mainly because it was the first time in a month that his sinuses were finally clear. A pity that such euphoria wouldn?t last owing to the fact that he only had a moment or two left to live.

Inevitably, Brion finally succumbed to the decompression of his suit and became little more than crimson soup in a sack. The zero-g trooper who had caused this murder still clutched the attaché and proceeded over towards the cell where the spared prisoner was located.

Upon entering, the trooper noticed the prisoner?s somewhat brightened features as he approached with the attaché. He stood out of the way as the trooper dropped to one knee and crimped off the two hoses connecting the prisoner?s pressure suit to the stationary air unit. Then, about 10 centimetres from the crimps, he severed the connection and worked quickly to attach the portable unit to the now-cut hoses.

For his part, the prisoner did his best to avoid inhaling during this process. While he was confident that the clamps were secure, he did not want to take the chance and wind up rupturing himself much like he assumed the warden had.

About a minute later, the prisoner felt the cool rush of air sweep across his now-sweating face and he drew in a hefty breath. He felt himself waver slightly, only to be propped up by the zero-g trooper that had done the hose switch. With a nod, the prisoner indicated his readiness to quit this place and wash away the memories of the past three years

 

MEEP! MEEP!

 

aHA! I knew it, the pris'ner could be none other than Captain Sunzabich...I forget his real name. But the nasty captain guy we keep thinking we've heard the last of.

Well it looks like we got a new father-son combo returning to us. Great posting Whiskey, can't wait to see what'll happen next!

 

Shezbot!

Well, as I always say: Insert the Hook, and reel in the fish.

Call me Dinner; after that, I'm really hooked, cleaned, and fried!

Jastro! Father! The family pinic is just going to be a hoot!

HIC! (Butters emerges from the Deep) "My Precious."

 

Oh man!

The only way I'm leaving now is if you pry my cold, dead fingers away from my keyboard!

Very intense Whiskey!

 

Sorry, haven't caught up yet, but I found that you should check out your links to the other chapters, they look like this:

http://boards.theforce.net/"http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=2282253

and then you only get a server not found mesage, of course.

Comments later !

 

GAH!

DOH!

<starts with an 'F' >

Hmmm...a GDF...new Windows/human error.

OR...

A collection of kick-ass warriors out to save the galaxy from iteself...it's all about the context, I guess.

Ok, Djuva; the links are fixed (I think) and if you're still having troubles, there are clean copies of all the fics on The Drunken Gungan, as well as a couple other tidbits.

More this weekend, and watch for my first one-poster, Watching Over Me, appearing later today

 

FORWARD!

 

Hey all.

Just wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and all the best in 2003.

May the coming year find all of you well and in good spirits, and may this Christmas season fill you with enough hope in mankind to carry you through unto next Christmas.

And for those who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays and all the best in the coming year!

ONWARD!

 

And the same to you Whiskey. May Santa's gift to you be plenty of time to relax AND work on this story.

CHEERS!!