Before - Legends Republic and Rebellion (KotOR Era) - Chapter 26 Posted December 23rd!

Chapter 11



About six months before the events in the Senate?



?Break it up, gods damnit! Jon, hold him back!? Shad shouted, shoving the two men apart. Ryce?s lip was split, blood slowly rolling down his chin and neck. A punch to the eye would give him a nice look for the next week or so. The man he was fighting, Bean, had a number of scratches on his face from the ring Ryce wore on his left hand. He too, was bleeding from the mouth and also from the nose. Judging by the angle of the cartilage, it was broken.

Jon grasped Ryce and held him back, using his wiry frame to wrap the shorter but stockier man up. Even with Jon repeatedly telling Ryce to relax, he was still trying to get back at Bean, who had 10 centimeters and thirty kilograms on him. A man Shad recognized but did not know the name of grabbed Bean and pulled him back, finally getting him to leave the area. When Bean disappeared, Ryce stopped resisting and professed that he was fine.

?What the hell was that about, Ryce?? Shad demanded, using his own height to glare down at his best friend. Ryce?s wife, Maren, would be quite upset with his injuries. Ryce spat out a bit of blood and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

?It was nothin?,? he replied gruffly. He looked back up at Shad before Jon seized him by the shoulders and shook Ryce roughly.

?Shad asked you a frackin? question Ryce, and you?re the crappiest liar here so spill it,? Jon said with violence. Ryce smiled, the blood staining his teeth, giving him the look of a satisfied predator.

?As bad a liar I am is as much a fighter you are, Jon. But fine. You know I don?t let no one talk bad about you, Shad. Reze?s men, all they do is talk crap about us,? Ryce answered, licking his teeth clean and spitting once more. The small crowd that developed around the fight had dispersed, thankfully, and there were no other scuffles breaking out. Men and alcohol, Shad thought with annoyance.

?Ryce, I?ve told you like ten times not to reply to those bastards. They just want to provoke us,? Shad answered.

?Yeah well sometimes they say things and I can?t hold back! I?m tired of it, and takin? their insults without reply ain?t fair,? Ryce shot back quickly.

Shad let out a sigh. At first, not many of his men heard about the insults whispered by Reze?s men. No one took any action or replied, and when the others saw there was no punishment, from anyone, they got louder and louder until his men had enough. The past three months were broken up by constant fighting when the men weren?t mining, sleeping, or eating. Well, it happened when they ate sometimes. And when they mined. Would they attack a man in his sleep? Shad hoped not.

?And what are we supposed to do about it? Pretty soon someone?s gonna get shot or stabbed and that doesn?t help anyone! We?re supposed to be in this together, working and fighting as one for a better life,? Shad replied. He felt like he?d said those words too often the past six months.

?Yeah, well, go talk to Reze ?bout it,? Ryce snarled. He turned and walked away, slamming the door to the shack shut. It was a dingy place, but it held most of their drinks and was, as Shad insisted, locked every night.

?Not like he?ll have anythin? good to say,? Jon muttered. He nodded to Shad and then left as well. The shack was now empty save for himself, so he stepped outside and locked it, sliding the key into a pocket. The camp was quieting down for the night as various fires were put out, or lamps inside shacks snuffed out.

When they arrived at the mine from the complex of caverns to the north those six months ago, a few monarchist soldiers were idling around, but when they saw how outnumbered they were, they surrendered. Those who wished to stay did, those who did not were let go. The next day, Reze sent a squad of his men out, and they returned two days later, reporting success on killing the unarmed and unarmored soldiers.

Reze was unperturbed when Shad confronted him moments later, claiming that they would take back information or help lead more troops back. The ensuing discussion was

 

An interesting story and love your characters.

 

I'm beginning to think not all is what perhaps I orginally preceived. Hmmmm. I'm wondering if maybe even Seabastian is being played as well....Oh well, I still don't like Mek. I hope Shad gets out though.

 

earlybird-obi-wan - Thanks, I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far!

JediDingo - There's always twists and turns, but we'll see if your instincts are correct!

Verbs that are capitalized refer to Force powers, just for your information. It took me 178 pages, but we finally get some lightsabers going! Enjoy everyone!

Edit: Extra spaces added to make flashback appear different from surrounding text.




Chapter 12



Erisi rolled over, smacking her buzzing alarm. The blue numbers showed it was only 4:30 in the morning. Forgot I set that time she thought, frustrated. The damn thing was so loud she knew she wouldn?t get back to sleep. Instead, she stepped out of bed and threw on a robe and set the processor to stir up a hot cup of caf and cocoa. Energy and sweetness, all in one. Her favorite, just like her mom always made it.

The unfinished draft of her interview with Lieutenant Yveret Pax remained on her screen. Ah, that?s why I set the alarm. It?s due in three hours. She scrolled through the lengthy interview while sipping the hot caf. As she recalled the words that she had spent the last two days transcribing into text, her mind wandered back to how she got into this mess.

Just who was that man who followed her onto the speedrail? Who was spending the resources to keep a man, maybe even more than one, to watch her at all times? She?d certainly kept to dressing in the refresher now, fearing her privacy had been breached even further than she wanted to admit. She only liked the men she chose to see her naked, not some spy or man hired to watch her. She shivered at the thought and tried to put it aside.

But why did Pax seek her out? Was she more trustworthy than some of the other people the lieutenant could have gone to? And why, exactly, was a Jedi running the whole operation? That was possibly the strangest part; all he did was identify his name and that of the younger boy, who clearly was just extra ?muscle.? What would a Jedi need extra backup for though? Did they really fear something beyond serious?

Accessing the search link to the HoloNet, she pulled up the public files for the Jedi, Visto Cafran, as well as Yveret Pax. Both had multiple restrictions on their accounts, letting her see nothing much more than their names and where they worked. She put in a dial to her favorite hacker friend.

?Yup, whatcha need Erisi?? he asked in his fast, quiet way. He always sounded like he was being watched, speaking so quickly.

?Can you get me more information on a Visto Cafran and a Yveret Pax? Spelled with a Y, mind you,? she answered. He hummed as he typed, his fingers making small impacts on what she presumed to be his laserboard.

?Okay, I just sent the files over. I see you?re working on something big, mind if I take a look?? he asked.

?Did you hack into my console Jirjun?? she exclaimed.

?Woops. I won?t leak it, since its due in a few hours anyway,? he answered. How did he read that so fast? He spoke up after a long pause from Erisi: ?I?m a speed reader, remember? That and the whole photographic memory.?

?Oh, that?s right. Well, if you have any thoughts on what she?s saying, I?d be interested to know,? Erisi answered. When he wasn?t trying to hack into the deepest, most secure databases, Jirjun was an avid reader. And with his gifts, he read a lot. Sometimes, she figured he knew more than she did about anything.

?Well, I can confirm what she said. They are beginning to move the troops today, that?s pretty much known all over the deep-sphere, but that?s only a few million people who know that. And I have heard rumors that the invasion is starting in ten days, on par with your two weeks you got from her. But I don?t know who her source might be, there?s hardly any paper trail of all this besides that between the Minister of Defense and the top general on this,? Jirjun answered.

?So I?m not about to stick my neck out for a pack of lies, yeah?? she queried.

?No, you seem to be good. I?ll let you know if I get anymore juicy tidbits. That all, sweetcheeks?? he said, l

 

An exciting post with Revan showing up.

I like Visto. A nice character and giving depth to the KotOR time.

 

Wow. Just wow. Incredible chapter. This is my favorite so far. I got chills reading it. I really felt for Visto, how he couldn't move to help his Padawans, very gripping. Usually we think the Jedi always have their hero turned on, but Visto froze up seeing his friend kill his Padawan. Wow. Love it.

Edit: Oh, and I like the "Force-verses" haha.

 

Wow! Both of those chapters were super exciting. I got lost a bit in what was flashback and what was current, but I love how you're developing that history. The more I learn of Visto, the more I like him. He's been through a lot.

Meeting Revan was also pretty awesome. I hope we see more of him sometime soon.

Also, nice use of Psalms. ^_^

 

earlybird-obi-wan Thanks I'm glad you're enjoying it! I think right now Visto is my character with the most depth, but as the oldest, he's had a lot of formative experiences that I needed to bring in to provide that. I hope the other characters continue to grow and that I can show that growth, and we'll see if I can actually accomplish that!

JediDingo Thank you, that really means a lot to me. I think so far this was the hardest to write, but there are a few events I have in mind that I hope I have the courage and talent to write. I've always been somewhat, I guess the right word is 'annoyed', at how perfect the Jedi are often shown to be. Mostly in the movies, I think the fanfic has allowed people to present anti-hero and hero Jedi alike.

But in the trilogies, you were either a paragon of justice (Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Qui-Gonn) or you were a symbol of evil (Anakin, Palpatine, Maul). Even Anakin, the supposed redeemed character lacks the ability to draw out the empathy of the viewer - partly because of the acting/dialogue, but also because he goes from doing such good things to being just EVIL in about five seconds. That doesn't jive with me - people don't just become something else so quickly. Yeah, there are hints of his evilness (Tuskens, hating of democracy) but it just wasn't well done.

I want people to see Jedi as people that can fail, that can not do the right thing sometimes, and sometimes that will make mistakes that actually matter. I hope I'm doing that, and there should be more of that. Also you changed your avatar and now I'm going to get confused.

SoA Thank you for the kind words. I do like writing Revan... so I'm positive he's going to show up again. Whether he's got a big role in this or not is for all of us to discover together... haha because I have no idea! He just shows up like a devious youngster

And yes, I do admit that I used Psalms, but come on, the overtones of the Jedi as a religious force are begging for more of those sayings. They've got the code, why not some 'sayings'? I'll come up with more, I promise!

To everyone! I know I usually follow this up with a post, but sorry! Instead I spent the past week researching and writing a paper for conflict resolution class. And if everyone hasn't noticed, I do try to sprinkle lots of international relations concepts and theories into this, so maybe some of what I'm learning now will filter its way in.

I hope to have something out within the next week! And maybe, JUST MAYBE, we'll get this war started. Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is well!

 

Chapter 13



There was no light. Not a single crack of light underneath the door, through a window, nothing, nowhere. Sometimes the slat in the door would open and a tray of mush thrown in to the room. The rodents usually got to it first, baring their teeth before scuttling away from his moving form. Did it matter what he was eating? There was no point.

He squinted to no avail. He still couldn?t see.

What day is it?

Reaching out, his hand bumped against the wall. Was it the right place? He wasn?t sure as his fingers danced over small bumps and nubs, looking in place of his eyes. He dragged himself around the room, feeling with his hands for the rough cuts he tried to make. He couldn?t find them.

The sound of boots, the creak and slam of the door, the rough material thrust over his eyes, a ball of cloth into his mouth, and then the scent of something?



He woke when a light snapped on. He screamed in pain as the light bore straight into his opened eyes. I can?t close them! he thought in a panic. His arms were bound down, scrabbling to reach his eyes, shield them, anything. The light snapped off, and it was dark again. His breath came in ragged gasps, hardly reaching his lungs. His pulse raced, his heart beat thundering in his ears. It wasn?t black anymore, but greens and reds danced in front of his eyes, the remnants of such blinding light.

The light came on again, and again he could not make it stop. It was there, a burning sun mere feet from his eyes, eyes that hadn?t seen light in? how long was it? The days ran together, had it been two weeks? A month? A year? Why was that light there?

It went off. Wetness dripped from the corners of his eyes, running against the metal clamping his head to the table, or floor, or something. He tried to look around, his eyes screaming in protest at the movement, but he could see nothing. His eyelids were held back by something, something sharp when he tried to move them.

It came back. Pain.

It went off. Quiet.

What day is it?

It came back. Pain.

It went off. Quiet.

He hadn?t seen light in so long, and here it was. Reaching out to him, but he couldn?t reach back. His fingers were bleeding, he knew. His legs had locked up, bolted down.

A hand grabbed him, then another, then one more, then five more. The bonds were loosened, the hands firm on his arms and legs and neck. The cloth over the eyes, the cloth in the mouth. But no rag smelling of cheap liquor. His legs wouldn?t cooperate, and as he fell, the first blow came.

This was different pain. Pain that made him feel something? tangible. Something real. The fist was in his side, pressed deep into his oblique. It came back, this time into his stomach. He coughed and heard a satisfied grunt. The fist came again, right below his sternum. If there had been anything in his stomach, now would?ve been the time to release it, but nothing came. The stench of bile filled his nostrils, but all he did was cough and cough.

At least it was something more than lying in a box, scrabbling for walls.

What day is it?

Days don?t matter a voice said. He struggled to open his mouth and speak, but the cloth pressed against his throat. He gagged and felt the urge to vomit, but again nothing came. The hands grabbed him again and pulled him up. His legs worked, his feet slapping loudly on the floor. The floor was smooth, perfect, endless.

How long had he been walking? What day is it?

The hands shoved him down, and his tailbone smacked against hardened metal. A chair? He leaned back and fell, his shoulders and head banging against the floor. Not a chair. Something sticky rolled down from his head onto the ground.

Someone laughed. Hands grabbed him again, pulling him up. He heard a few clicks and the cold lick of metal on his ankles and wrists. A door opened, footsteps clomped, and then it closed.

It was dark and quiet.

What day is it?

The door opened. Footsteps sounded, but different. The others, the feet of the hands had been hard, muted, strong. The sound of t

 

Wow! That was a long one, and intense too. Maybe those bombings will give Shad a chance to escape, but it seems like someone Sithy has a hold of him. That line of thought he was going down makes me think of Darth Nihilus.

And good to see Carth again! Canon character dropping will always make me happy. He could be a good resource for Arisi.

Mek is in the big leagues now. I wonder how well he'll be able to keep his head above water with these guys. I also wonder how long it will take for him and the Jedi to have a nice little chat about the Force. Or maybe not so nice? ^_^

 

and I hope that Shad will escape too.

Nice long read

 

I'm going to have to agree with SoA that Shad's line of thought reminded me a lot of Darth Nihlus. It would be really awesome and tragic with Shad ended up becoming Nihlus. Great work! I can't wait for more.

 

SoA - Sithy... Nihilus... we'll find out, someday!

earlybird-obi-wan - Thanks for reading! This one is just as long I think.

JediDingo - Everyone is seeing Nihilus here, how funny. I neither confirm nor deny Shad's end point

Onto Chapter 14! This is getting long folks. And this is a long chapter as well, hooray!

Also, just a future note for you all. When I capitalize a verb, that means the verb is referring to a Force power. Such as "He Pushed" or "She Pulled" or "They Sensed" etc etc. Just keep that in mind for the rest of the story.



Chapter 14



?Good, thank you for the update, General,? Sebastian said, disconnecting the line. He put the electrum-engraved mobile down and leaned back in his chair, rotating it to look out at the setting sun on Coruscant. The skylanes were packed, as usual, and life on Coruscant was continuing, as it always did.

So far, the invasion was proceeding as planned. The rebels and the Republic had joined forces and were currently bombarding the various large cities by air and by artillery. Following those days of bombardment, they would invade, evict the monarch, exile him, and take power. After six months, should all go well, which it will, the Republic would pull out with a functioning democracy in its place. Nothing can go wrong.

He picked up the mobile and dialed a contact. As he waited for the connection to go through, he stood and looked out the window, enjoying the sight of the sun setting. Another hard day of work was soon ending, and the night was going to be a good one.

?Yes, hello?? the female voice came back. Sebastian felt his stomach churn momentarily but then took a deep breath. He had to make this work to get an in there. It was the only institution he didn?t have any inside knowledge about, and that worried him.

?Good evening, this is Sebastian Ardin, calling for Jedi Master Atris. Is she available to speak?? he asked.

?Just a moment,? the woman answered. The line went quiet. He could hear his heart hammering in his head and ears. Just calm down and breathe. There are other ways if this doesn?t work. A few crackles and then the line reconnected.

?Yes, this is Master Atris,? the crisp, sultry voice came back. Sebastian hesitated for hardly a second. ?My time is precious, say what you need to say.?

?My apologies, Master Atris, my secretary was handing me something,? he replied, trying to hold his voice steady.

?Ah, Mr. Ardin, this is a pleasant surprise,? Atris answered smoothly, the tension and annoyance in her voice suddenly gone. ?Is there anything I can do for you??

?Well, um, I was wondering if you would grant me the pleasure of escorting you to a performance by The Galactic Players at the Galaxies Opera House this evening? Um but if you have more pressing matters?? he finished lamely, his hand shaking on the mobile. There was a pause.

?A rather odd request, Mr. Ardin. May I inquire as to why you have asked me? It is not often that a Jedi is asked to attend an opera, mind you,? she said. He thought he could hear mirth in her tone, but she did that flat monotone speech so well.

?To be honest, if I ever hope to become a true Coruscanti politician, I believe that I must know many things. And learning about the Jedi from their own historian would equip me well to understand and work in harmony with the Order,? he said. Another pause.

?Then I would be delighted, Mr. Ardin. Shall I meet you there?? she asked, he imagined, with a smile.

?I will arrive at precisely a quarter past the seventh hour at the east entrance. Is that satisfactory?? he asked.

?Yes, that is satisfactory. I will meet you then. Good day, Mr. Ardin,? she said politely and then closed the line. He put the pad down, sat in the chair and sighed, blowing all the air from his lungs out before breathing in a fresh gulp.

?Len?? he said into the speaker on his desk.

?Yes, Mr. Ardin?? his secretary replied.

?Send for the tailor. Double his rate,? he said.

?Yes, sir,? she replied crisply. He leaned back, his heart

 

a nice post seeing more of the Force and Visto is great. Shad too. I like him

 

Once again, you have outdone yourself. Thanks again for the mention of Aaryn and Cruuso. Those are always nice. I have a feeling Visto is about to take on a new learner! I love it. Also, the discussion about the Force was really insightful. I like where you were going with it, I plan on brining a similar discussion in my next chapter. I also don't trust this old man with Shad, he reminds me of Jafar from Aladdin haha. Great stuff!

Oh, and I don't have AIM. I will see about getting one. I've got a facebook though, we should talk writing.

 

Huge update everyone. Enjoy and thanks for reading!



Chapter 15



When Shad awoke and called out the name, he realized Bishara was gone. He scrabbled around the pitch black room, not knowing how long he scratched in the dirt, ran his hands through the mud and across the bricks, searching for what he knew wasn?t there. He Sensed outward, trying to find anything, but beyond a few meters, he could Feel nothing. Why can?t I Feel further? I could do it before he thought, smacking the ground with his hand in frustration. The sores on the hand oozed pus and he cringed.

Where is Bishara? Were they listening to us and took him away in the night? They had stayed up for a long time, talking and sharing their life stories. Bishara had been an important resistance leader for many years, but more than that, he had been the thinker behind the entire movement. He was the brains supplementing Mek?s braun, and Shad discovered to his surprise that there were more resistance groups inspired by Bishara?s words.

While thinking back to the conversations, Shad felt the pain in his body radiate upward to his head. His left leg was broken by his shin and his right leg was bruised up and down the outer side, but he found that sitting in the muck and mire was making him both dirty and angry. He needed to move, to do something. The inability to stretch his Power, what Bishara called a force or something, was frustrating him. He needed to move.

Pressing his hands against the grimy floor, and still in total darkness, he forced himself upward, trying to support his weight on his right side. The left leg was completely useless he found, standing on one leg with his hands now braced against the wall. He spent the next ten minutes, he guessed, hopping slowly around the room, trying to visualize the size of the room. He couldn?t make a picture of the room appear in his head until his left knee banged into some sort of outcropping in the wall.

A bed! Or, rather a slab of duracrete. He sat down and felt the full length of it and eventually laid down on the hard, unforgiving surface. Its small bumps and deformities of age pressed deeply into the sores and bruises on his back. But it is a place to lie down he thought, closing his eyes. Unnecessary he chuckled in his mind.



The door slammed shut and a wet thump sent him bolting upright. Was I asleep? It felt like no time had passed since he closed his eyes, but time hadn?t seemed to matter anymore to him. Just a long time spent in darkness with the brief moments of blinding pain and agony the prison guards and torturers provided him.

?Bishara?? Shad said quietly into the quiet. He tried to Sense and again found nothing answering him. What could?ve happened to me? he mused. A groan came back. ?Hold on, I?m coming.? He lifted himself off the bench or slab and cautiously set himself down in the wet floor of the cell and scooted closer to the sounds of groaning. His hand grasped the back of the rotting and slowly dying old man and he rolled the figure onto its back.

From his touch, he could Feel the black creeping closer. Death in all its power was nearing. There was nothing Shad could do to stop it, but maybe I can keep it at bay for just a bit longer. His touch on Bishara?s body told him of the multiple wounds and sores and breaks and scars littering the man?s frail figure. Both legs were shattered many times over, ulcers in the stomach, one hip was fragmented, at least six ribs were broken, two fingers missing, and thousands of bruises and scrapes over the entire form of his body. Bishara?s second eye was now gone.

I hardly know this man Shad thought. And yet, I want him to live. Whatever his crimes, whatever his misdeeds, whatever his actions, whatever his thoughts, no man deserves a fate like this.

?Shad? is that you?? came a weak voice, trembling in pain.

?Shh Bishara, I am here,? Shad answered, placing his hand gently on the man?s shoulder, pulling his near weightless head into his lap. ?You are safe with m

 

Huge and with lots and lots of action. I hope Shad will be safe and being cared for.

 

I disappear for a few weeks and you write two massive chapters. Action-packed and awesome on both accounts.

Good to see Gad in action again. Thanks for that cameo!

That tailor must have had an army of assistants in his pocket to get that much sewing done in that little time. *laughs* I am curious what is going to come of Sebastian and Atris' relationship.

Speaking of relationships, Visto is leaving me wondering a bit in regards to Yveret. Though, I was suspecting she's been Force sensitive since that tree incident. Glad to see that she is! I'm looking forward to see how he manages to trick her into training as a Jedi... and to trick the Jedi into letting him train her.

 

Finally got it done! Sorry it took so long. With each chapter, Visto starts to become my favorite. Not just with this story though, but with Star Wars itself. Great job!

 

Thanks earlybird-obi-wan! There's more in this set too, and we'll find out what happens to Shad.

SoA - Ortolans are always surprising little blue elephants, never doubt them because they're pudgy and cute! I think you are really, really going to enjoy a character I'm going to introduce in this chapter, because they happen to be related to one of your favorites.

JediDingo - It took forever to finish this, I think longer than it took you to read mine! This should keep you going for a bit though.

Everyone- - I'd like to throw a special shout-out to my man JediDingo for helping me out with the choice of a specific character's name. You'll know them when you see it, but I needed a good, strong name and he definitely had the best idea.

I apologize for the long delay, school, girls, life, all that jazz has been keeping me busy. This will be last update until sometime in mid to late December. While it's easy to write 35 pages of SW fan fiction, it's extremely difficult to write 35 academic pages, plus a final exam. I'll be finished with my first graduate school semester on December 15th, and I hope to start firing out pages immediately after. I hope this can tide everyone over until then, we're starting to get to serious stuff here! Enjoy and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, wherever they were in the world.




Chapter 16



?Are you sure we?re going the right way?? Yveret hissed from behind. Visto turned and looked back at the camouflaged naval officer behind him, a blaster rifle held loosely in her arms. Her gaze was darting around the dusty streets and he could see her mind working already, memorizing details and taking note of certain things. Her situational awareness was incredible, and Visto knew he owed success of this mission to her, already, considering the near run-in with a pack of loyalists only a few moments ago.

?It feels like the right way. Don?t give me that look, it Feels like we?re getting closer, but this person?s Force signature is so weak,? Visto said, squatting. The hem of his robe was now grey, no longer brown, and his boots, oh his poor boots. What a scrubbing they?ll need after this planetary escapade.

?We don?t have time for this, you?ve gotta figure out where this guy is and soon,? she said, glaring at him.

?Why the rush? The guy hasn?t gone anywhere,? he answered.

?We?re supposed to get in and get out, and apparently he?s in the hardest prison to get in or out of, that?s why we need to get moving before daybreak,? she replied, clearly annoyed.

?Fine, fine, but I warn you, the Force works in mysterious ways,? Visto answered, turning back and scuttling forward, keeping his eyes and senses up to detect anyone.

?You and those silly sayings that mean nothing,? Yveret whispered as they cut across an intersection. Tonight was the first night in over two weeks with no bombing and after what had happened in the Republic camp, Visto made sure they left and used this night for finding this person and getting him out.

They were in one of Farso City?s hundreds of small, interconnected neighborhoods. Unlike Coruscant, the tallest building in the city was the palace where the king lived and it only rose to about ten stories. The inner ring of the city was mostly filled with offices and government buildings, with the richest of the Farsians living there as well. The next ring was much poorer and characterized by many connected and poorly built buildings, making running across roofs quite easy. The final ring, far away from the center of the city, had buildings that hardly stood and many of the people fleeing the fighting in the outlying villages had fled into what were more or less refugee camps at the exterior.

?You two! Hands up!? someone shouted.

?Sithspit,? Yveret cursed, turning to face the noise. Visto glanced over and saw a Farsian soldier standing there, his rifle to his shoulder aimed directly at him. As the options spun through his head, eleven more men turned the corner, dressed in similar yellow and black armor. Their wea

 

The end of a war, or is it? Left with a messy end to monarchy and two pretty old padawans for Visto to train. I wouldn't want Mek at the head of a government. Now I'm even more curious of what exactly Sebastian's hopes for this whole war were.

 

exciting post with Visto saving Shad. I hope the boy will be safe.

 

Wow, brutal ending. I had a feeling the Farso war wouldn't be too long, but the implications of what has happened will be far reaching. Great stuff. Hurry up and be done with school!

 

I'm back! First semester of grad school is done, I haven't bothered to check my grades, and I got 22 fresh pages for you guys!

SoA - End of a war eh? I think we'll find out soon enough if it's really over or not...

earlybird - I think you'll get your answers this post!

JediDingo - Oh boy we're not even to 25% of the consequences of this business!

Onward we go! Also, please re-read the first post, I'm adding an author's note to the beginning in order to give some semblance of "voice" to the characters in terms of accents.



Chapter 17


Shad opened his eyes. Whatever was in front of him was blurry, unfocused? and blue? He tried blinking the sensation away, the blues and some distant whites failing to disappear the more he blinked. Is it the sky? Where am I?

Something beige, or maybe some kind of light brown thing, appeared in front of him. Bits of the beigeness began moving, but Shad couldn?t see what was going on, not really anyway.

He felt oddly disconnected from his body, he realized, as he couldn?t feel his legs, or his arms. Well, that?s not normal. As he swiveled his head down to see if he even still had limbs, he caught sight of a large, black tube coiled around his mid-section. He blinked, hoping that the tube wasn?t there, since he could see part of it clamped onto his stomach. Is it? in me?

Curiosity slowly morphed into panic as he felt something pumping through the tube and into him. He moved his arms, feeling his hands around the black, but his gaze told him that his arms hadn?t moved at all. But I can feel it he thought desperately, kicking his legs, but never saw them move.

Whatever beige thing was beyond him was moving more wildly and then a big brown blob appeared in the distance, followed by one in white. The three blobs now were moving around and suddenly Shad felt a wave of exhaustion flow over him and his eyes closed.



?Shad.? The voice was warm, quiet and was accompanied by the gentle pressure of a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw a faintly lit lamp resting overhead, its light blocked from his eyes directly. Above the lamp rested the beams of a structure, wooden, he thought, but as his eyes focused closer, he saw that he was wrong; it was metal made to look like wood.

?Good, you?re awake. Now don?t move too much, Shad, you?ve been through a lot,? the person said. It was the voice of a man. As he turned over to look at the man next to him, he saw a short, green thing with big, pointy ears staring at him. And the thing had absolutely massive brown eyes, that were directed right at him.

?Oh gods who are you?!? Shad shouted, trying to push himself up and away. Pain lanced through his entire body, from his head down his spine, running through his arms and legs, and even his groin registered pain. He groaned and stopped moving, his body tucked in a position half-lying down and half-sitting up. Slowly, he lowered himself back to a prone position and breathed out, trying to calm his heart, the beat pounding in his ears.

?I did not mean to frighten you, Shad. My name is Vandar Tokare,? the green thing, man, said in his calm baritone.

?Vandar, if I might interrupt,? another voice came. This one sounded familiar, and Shad rolled his head to the right, feeling a wave of discomfort greet him for the motion. Standing in the doorway was a man, and Shad recognized his posture immediately. The way he stood, he remembered that it was the man who had opened his prison cell and saved him.

?Of course, Master Cafran. I will gather the Council in the main chamber in twenty minutes,? the green thing, or Vandar, said. Vandar hopped off the chair he had been standing on, not sitting on, and with a start Shad realized the alien was about a third of his height; he just had an enormous head. The alien walked slowly from the room and the man shut the door quietly.

?Hello, Shad,? the man said, pulling the chair a few feet back and sitting down in it. His tanned face was framed by a brown and grey beard and mustache, cut close

 

Excellent post with Shad, Yveret and Visto. And nice to see him becoming a Jedi.