Chapter 44
Promises kept
“Kang there is a ship about eighty five degrees off to our right.” Lore said. Kang had been called to the bridge of the “Ravenous” the third raider the group had built.
“What’s their heading?” Kang asked as he deposited his great bulk into the command chair.
“Lore looked at the scope. “Bearing three point four.”
“Is he giving off an Imperial beacon?” Kang asked.
“Yes, it’s very clear.” Lore smiled.
“Good let’s go say hello.” Kang smiled back.
The Ravenous increased it’s speed and closed with the Imperial freighter.
“Hailing the approaching vessel. What is you intention.” The Imperial ship asked over the comm system.
“Respond but raise the interference levels so he can’t make out what you are saying.” Lore said to the communications officer.
“Stall them until we’re a little closer.” Kang said.
The Ravenous closed quickly with it’s modified engines.
“I think they might suspect something, he’s increasing speed, trying to make a run for it.” the weapons officer said.
“This will have to do. Fire torpedoes one and two.” Kang ordered.
The torpedoes flew towards the Imperial freighter as the ship tried to maneuver away from the torpedoes that were closing with it.
Both torpedoes hit blowing the freighter in half. The crew gave a cheer at having their first success.
“Check scanners for escape pods and look out for any other ships in the area. Make ready to pick up survivors.” Kang said.
Adda knocked on the door to Pep and Matt’s quarters. Timtam opened it and pulled Adda in then shut the door quickly.
“What’s going on Timtam? What was it you two wanted to see me about?” Adda asked.
Timtam looked at Pep who was sitting on a chair in the dining area. “Show her Pep.” Timtam said.
Adda watched as Pep picked up a spoon and held it out in front of her. Timtam placed a pot of water under it.
“Okay Pep.” Timtam said after she was sure the pot was directly under the spoon.
Pep closed her eyes and concentrated. Within seconds the spoon became white hot and literally melted in two and dropped into the pot with a loud hissing sound.
Adda took a step back, she was obviously shaken. She looked at Timtam and then at Pep.
“Who else knows about this?” she asked sternly.
“Just us three.” Timtam answered. Adda looked at Pep, she had her head down and was looking up at Adda pathetically.
“This is bad isn’t it.” Pep asked Adda, she seemed to know what the answer was going to be.
“Yes Pep it’s a bad thing. This is a power known only to the Sith. We need to find out why you have it.” Adda was no longer the friendly healer, she was now speaking as a Jedi master.
Pep looked at Timtam.
“It will be alright Pep.” Timtam said. “Won’t it Adda.”
“I don’t know Timtam, I won’t lie about this to make either of you feel better. Pep, you will have to be watched from now on. I need to find out what is happening to you before I can decide what must be done.” Adda said.
“No Adda, she hasn’t done anything wrong, why are you acting this way? It’s Pep, she wouldn’t hurt any of us, she’s our friend.” Timtam pleaded.
“You two need to understand, this is for Pep’s safety as well as ours. If anyone were to find out about this they might hurt Pep out of fear.” Adda opened the door.
“I want both of you to go to my quarters and wait for me. I need to find out a few things before I can figure out how to handle this.” Adda said.
Timtam and Pep walked to the door.
“No.” said Pep stopping dead in her tracks.
“Please Pep, it’s for your own safety.” Adda said.
“I’m going to go back to working on the ships and wait for Matt. I want to talk to him before I do anything.” Pep said looking at Adda angrily.
“Let’s just go Pep, Adda knows the right thing to do.” Timtam said as she took Pep’s hand.
Pep pulled her hand away.
“I said NO!” Pep shouted. A wave of energy erupted around her causing all the plates and glasses to shatter. Both Adda and Timtam felt the wave of energy pass around them giving them the feeling that Pep had spared them.
Adda composed herself. She realized Pep was more powerful than she had thought.
“I’m sorry Pep. I think you’re right. I don’t think you should go anywhere, there’s no need to do that. You can go and do whatever you think best. I was wrong to be scared of you. You are our good friend and we can trust you. I apologize.” Adda said calmly.
Timtam was frozen in fear.
“It’s alright Timtam, you’re my friend. I would never hurt you.” Pep said.
“She’s right Timtam, I was the one who was wrong. Pep won’t hurt us, will you Pep?” Adda said putting her hands on Timtam’s shoulders.
“ Of course not.” she said with tears in her eyes. “I just want you to help me.”
“We should talk about this Pep. Will you sit with me and Timtam so we can figure out how best to help you?” Adda asked.
“That’s all I wanted.” Pep said.
Adda put her hand out to Pep who took it. They sat down in the dining area being careful not to cut themselves on the broken glass. Timtam went and got a broom and started sweeping up the mess.
“Now how about me and you starting over? Pep, how do you want me to help you?” Adda smiled. She wasn’t sure how to handle someone like Pep. She was gaining more power everyday. Pep was becoming a danger to herself and everyone around her. It was never good when someone like her who had been so badly abused and humiliated suddenly gains so much raw power.
Pep smiled back. Maybe there was a good side to these powers. Even Adda backed down and let her have her way. She was powerful now and people would have to listen to her. Pep leaned back in her chair and relaxed.
“Timtam, when you’re done with that would you mind fixing us all something cool to drink?” Pep said looking over her shoulder at her and smiling.
Timtam stopped sweeping and looked at Pep and then at Adda.
“Sure Pep, as soon as I’m done.” she smiled nervously.
“I’m so glad we can talk as friends about this.” Pep said to Adda.
The Revenge had maneuvered behind the Star destroyer and was looking straight up the left exhaust manifold.
“Ready torpedoes five, six, seven and eight. Make sure the shields are still down on that ship before you fire.” she said holding tightly to one of the ceiling posts. They had made a hard left turn and were banking heavily.
Suddenly from behind them two Imperial Corvettes slid in behind the Revenge and began firing everything they had. They had timed it perfectly. The Corvettes knew she would have all the power channeled to the forward shields for their run against the Star destroyer’s engines.
“We’re taking heavy damage to the rear from those Corvettes Princess.” one of the engineers said.
“Stay the course helmsman. We won’t get another chance like this.” Lionette was gambling they would be able to fire before they took too much damage.
“Locked and ready Princess.” the weapons officer said.
“You may fire when ready.” Lionette said in her cool and calm manner.
The torpedoes launched and streaked towards their target.
The Revenge shuddered as the aft maneuvering thrusters exploded. Luckily the torpedoes had been launched so their trajectory had not been affected.
Lights and alarms sounded on the bridge. Crewmen were calling on the ships comm system to the various departments to assess the extent of the damage. Lionette stood bracing herself against the post calmly waiting for the reports to come in.
“Full power to the rear deflectors please.” she said leaning over to the defense officer. She said it in an almost matter of fact way as not to make the young Feloid more nervous than he already was.
“Aye aye Ma’am.” he responded.
“Good work Liotis.” she replied. She was sure to say his name. She wanted him to know she knew him that well.
“Princess ! There are four large signals dropping out of Hyper space directly in front of us.” said one of the crew.
Lionette knew they only had two torpedoes left. Hardly enough for a fight between one heavy cruiser let alone four.
“ Ready Torpedoes nine and ten.” at least they would do some damage before they were killed.
“Princess, they’re not Imperial ships. They appear to be Mon Calamari heavy cruisers.” the officer said surprised.
The Mon Calamari cruisers opened fire on the Imperial ships as soon as they dropped out of Hyper space. They were all large ships and by the looks of their first salvo, an equal match for the Imperial ships.
“Torpedoes five, six, seven, and eight have hit. The Star destroyer is burning Princess.” the weapons officer reported.
“Hail those Mon Calamari ships and find out their intentions.” Lionette said to her communications officer.
Two more Mon Calamari ships appeared, they were smaller, most likely frigates or escort destroyers.
The Imperial ships began to leave the battle. It wasn’t from fear, it was just good sense to fall back and reassess the situation now that a new unannounced third party had become involved.
“ Princess, the Commander of the Mon Calamari flag ship wishes to come aboard and meet with you.” the communications officer said.
“ Tell him I would like that very much. He should dock in the forward landing bay.” Lionette said.
Matt had finished his shift and was headed down to the mess for his dinner. The voyage thus far had been uneventful. They had reports from clandestine sources that the area they were in was used by Imperial transports to pick up supplies from a depot that stock piled cargo from the rim. Something must have gone wrong because this entire area seemed absent of any Imperial ships at all. He had discussed the idea of leaving and trying their luck elsewhere but Ragg wanted to give it a few more days.
Matt noticed one of the crew had been watching him. It wasn’t obvious but he was sure he was. Ever since he had become Matt Mazin he was always leery of people recognizing him as Zekk . The crash had caused the medics to reconstruct his face. Like everyone else they thought he was Matt Mazin so they did the best they could to make him look like Matt. They did a good job but he could still see some of Zekk in his new face. There was no way to tell if anyone else saw it too. Maybe it was all in his mind.
He turned quickly only to glance a figure duck down the passageway behind him. Was he being watched or was it just one of the crew going about his normal duties.
Maybe he felt this was a worst case scenario. The only people that may recognize him were the mercenaries that served under him. Most of Ragg’s men were mercenaries that had served with the Separatists in the Clone wars like Matt did. It was highly unlikely that any of these men served under him. These men were mostly from other units. Matt had taken the precaution to check each man’s records to see what their past military experience had been. None were ever anywhere near where he served.
Matt stepped into the mess hall and stood in line to get something to eat. He knew several of the men from past missions they had gone on together. They exchanged greetings and went about their business. He saw a man leaving the mess hall looking over his shoulder at him. It was the man he had seen earlier. Matt quickly stepped out of line and followed the man out into the passageway.
“Hey you, soldier, come here.” Matt said.
The soldier turned and walked back to Matt and stood at ease. “Yes sir?”
“Have we met before? I mean do you know me from some place else?” he realized how stupid the question was after he asked it. If the soldier knew him as Zekk he would most likely never admit it.
“No sir, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?” he replied calmly.
“ I just thought you looked familiar is all.” Matt said forcing a smile.
The alarm sounded suddenly. “Battle stations, battle stations. Three Imperial freighters approaching. Prepare for action.”
“ Well you better go soldier. Good luck.” Matt said.
“You to sir, I’d hate to see you have some kind of accident. Accidents can happen during a battle.” the soldier said as he walked calmly away.
Furonious had arrived at the front lines. He was still in exile while he was in charge of the Ty main battle force. It consisted of the largest ships in Lionette’s fleet. None were as large as the Imperial behemoths but they were an equal match for the average Imperial ship at least. Up until the Imperial attack he had been engaged in a border dispute and had stationed the fleet there as a show of force to keep hostilities to a minimum.
He received the recall order and made his way back home. It had been months since he had been there.
Lionette’s shuttle arrived earlier in the day carrying the Mon Calamari liaison officer that was representing the their fleet and the interests of their people in this conflict. Furonious was on his way to meet with Lionette and the Mon Calamari official in the briefing room. He was actually surprised to find out that he was invited. He understood that Lionette wanted to use the flag ship as the formal meeting place due to his ship the “ Invincible ” being better suited for hosting dignitaries.
He arrived on time. He saw Lionette and Neeka waiting in the room. He must be early. He quickly walked over to her and bowed. “Princess, I am here as you ordered.” he said.
“How has your time away from home treated you my brother?” she asked.
“It has been…humbling My Lady.” he said with his head down.
“How do you mean?” Lionette asked.
“When you destroyed my home and sent me away I was livid. I was Furonious Ty, I had never been treated so harshly. I was an important man with wealth and title. Then I realized the things I had were of little value. The one thing I did not have was honor. I soon found that the men that served under me had no respect for me. I had been selfish and disrespectful. I only hope that one day you will forgive me and the way I behaved.” he said looking down.
Lionette took a breath. “Do you remember when you were still young, the time I went away to school for that summer?” she asked.
“Yes.” he replied.
“Father sent me away as punishment. I was told I was a disgrace and was not aloud to come home. I had not behaved as I should have. I had a violent temper and was abusive to those below my station so father banished me. While I was away I understood that it would be my responsibility to protect those same people I had abused one day. I would have to live for their well being and not the other way around. Once I was able to show father I understood what I had done wrong he forgave me and let me come home.” she said.
“I understand more than you know My Lady.” he said.
“I need your loyalty more than ever before Furonious. We need to protect our people. Will you help me to do that?” Lionette asked.
“I beg you only for the opportunity My Lady.” he said.
“Then welcome home brother. I will give you plenty of opportunity to show me your loyalty over the next few weeks I fear.” she said.
“Then I am a very lucky fellow indeed sister.”
Kllair landed the ship on the estate grounds. This was the home off Admiral Svad Desha. He was the man responsible for the invasion of the Feloid frontier. He had been given credit for the planning and execution of the entire assault. It was now time to pay for the lives that he was responsible for.
Adda’s ship was equipped with the same cloaking technology that Kllair’s cloak had built into it. They turned off all the lights in the ship and opened the door. The twins were the first to leave. Kllair watched as they skipped and cart- wheeled themselves across the lawn in the dark finally disappearing around a hedge row. They would go in first. They would draw first blood. Next Novuh walked down the short ramp and stepped onto the cool wet grass. She leaned down and wiped her hands across it to feel the dampness. Her mechanical arm had sensors that converted anything she touched into the same sensations that she would feel as if it was her original hand. Novuh wiped her hands on the legs of her outfit and sprinted towards the house.
“Elith, I want you to stay here with the ship. If anyone gets too close I want you to lift off and come back later. Our second rendezvous point, if we need it, will be behind that grove of trees.” Kllair said.
“Got it, behind those trees.” Elith smiled nervously.
“Relax Elith, everything will be fine.” Kllair whispered. She turned and went down the ramp running into the darkness.
The twins had stopped at the corner towards the front of the house and looked to see who was out front. There were only two troopers at the door. The defenses of this house all counted on standard military grade scanning equipment. Adda’s ship was built to defeat all such scanners. They both took turns kissing the other on the forehead and smiled at each other for luck. Nya ran across the front of the house and stopped in front of the guards. Vyra switched on her static gloves and boots and made her way across the front wall of the house like a spider. The guards were transfixed on Nya as she paced seductively back and forth in front of them sucking on her finger.
“Okay you, hold it right there.” one of the guards said coming to his senses.
Nya stopped and put her hands up as if complying with his command. Vyra launched herself off the front wall doing a flip with her molecular thin blades in each hand. She landed in between the guards and holstered her blades. She smiled at Nya who was smiling back. The guards collapsed and fell down the stairs as their heads popped off and rolled down along side their bodies. They ran to the front door and pushed it open. The twins walked into the main hall and looked around. The room was huge. There must be an awful lot of money to be made killing for the Emperor. Guards began to run down both of the huge stair cases that lead to the upper floors on each side of the main hall. One of the guards began to call to the twins ordering them to stop. Both women froze and put their hands up. About twenty guards in all were approaching them across the floor and on the steps. Suddenly there was a loud crash of glass as the skylight above smashed in raining broken shards of glass down on the men below. Vyra drew her blades and raising them above her head began flashing them so quickly above Nya and herself that they acted like a steel umbrella shielding them from the falling glass. A body landed in the middle of the floor along with the broken glass. It was the guard that was stationed on the roof. Novuh dropped down into the middle of the floor following her first victim. Her mechanical legs absorbed the impact with ease. Guards were yelling and trying to get out of the way of the storm of glass from above. Novuh grabbed one of the men and with her metal arm slammed him into two other guards killing all three. Some of the guards still had the presence of mind to draw their weapons but that just signaled Nya to draw hers. She won the draw, she always did. Bolts of plasma spit out of each one of her guns striking a guard with each shot. The blasts from the muzzle lit up the room in quick flashes giving the scene a flickering affect. Vyra drew her back up pistol and began to help cover Novuh as she strode across the chaotic scene towards the head guard. The guard fired his pistol at Novuh. She quickly stuck out her arm and raised her hand as if she was telling him to stop. To his amazement the energy bolt from his pistol was drawn into the hand of Novuh’s mechanical arm. It seemed to hold it in for a second and then the energy was fired back out hitting him right between the eyes blowing the back of his head off.
The General heard the battle down stairs. He knew his house was under attack. Luckily for him he was smart enough to have planned for just such an event. The general grabbed his wife and children and took them to a secret back stairway. They quickly went down to the cellar where they met two guards. The guards opened a concealed door and watched as the General and his family ran into the tunnel on the other side. The family made their way down the long corridor and up a flight of stairs to a hangar that had been built into a hillside at the far end of the compound. He looked around to see if it was clear. There didn’t appear to be anyone in sight. The general stepped into the hanger holding his pistol. They heard and explosion and blaster fire from far down the passageway they had just come through. The assassins were coming. He motioned to his wife and children to get into the shuttle as quickly as they could as he watched the tunnel’s exit for anyone pursuing them.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a commotion in the shuttle. He looked just in time to see a woman with blonde hair suddenly appear from nowhere in the pilots seat. The woman started the engines and locked the doors. He watched in horror as his family beat on the glass and pleaded to him for help them. He raised his gun to fire at her but she lifted the ship off the ground and blew him a kiss. He threw his gun at the shuttle in frustration as he watched the shuttle fly low across the lawn and up into the sky.
Azak, Lionette and Furonious all stood as the Mon Calamari representative entered the room.
“Hello, I am Fadhor Doir, envoy of the Mon Calamari expeditionary fleet. I am honored that you have invited me to speak with you.” said the Mon Calamari officer.
“The honor is ours, it seems your abrupt arrival has thrown a cog into the Empires plans.” Lionette said.
“Allow me to explain. We Mon Calamari have felt this new Empire is a very dangerous force in the galaxy. They favor only humans and that places all other races at risk. It is inevitable that the non human races along with the humans that oppose the Empire will have to fight back as a united front. This will happen one day so if you are willing we can let this be the beginning of such an alliance.” he said.
“ We do thank you for your help but as Feloids we prefer to do things ourselves. We are isolationists by choice. Some of our cultural beliefs would not be tolerated by other races, we except that and have found it better to live apart from those who don’t view things in the same light as we do.” Azak said.
“That is why we want you to join us. There are many races that feel the same way. We want to show these others that they will not be asked to change anything they believe. We wish only to form an alliance to stand together against the Empire. You are just the first that have been attacked. Once they are done with you they will begin picking us off one by one. We all need to come together in a pact of combined defense in an effort to stop Imperial aggression.” Fadhor said.
“There is a great deal of logic in what you say Fadhor, the only choice is to band together and fight as one.” Lionette said.
“How can we combine all these different races and belief systems into a cohesive fighting force. It’s never been done.?” Azak asked.
“You mean it’s never needed to be done, until now. Remember, if there is a need for something, someone will find a way. Let us begin finding a solution today.” Fadhor said extending his hand in friendship.
Lionette saw this as an opportunity to open relationships with the other races. Ever since reading the true history of her people she wanted to find a way to do just what Fadhor was trying to do. It would force her people to see that other cultures and their differences could sometimes help them to grow as a race.
“As Leader of the Ty clan I would like to give my support.” she said taking the Mon Calamari’s hand.
“I’m still not sure about this but I will go along with the idea for now.” Azak said taking Fadhor’s hand next.
After explaining his relationship with Lionette Ty the Feloids that rescued him found Hudd to be believable. He had been placed in one of the Feloid ship’s crew quarters and not the ship’s brig. The ship was small and sparsely equipped as it was a privateer vessel and not designed for long journeys. He was told they would be arriving at the mobile support base soon. It had been two days since the Feloids had rescued him and took his ship in tow.
A Feloid crewman stepped into his room. “We’ll be landing in a few minutes, once there you and your ship will be handed over to a representative of the Ty clan.
“Okay, thanks.” he said to the Feloid who nodded at him and left to go back to his duties. Hudd was getting used to the idea that he would most likely sit the rest of the war out in a Feloid prisoner of war camp somewhere. He had no illusions of thinking the Leader of a Feloid clan would come prancing in and signal him out from all the other prisoners and set things right.
The ship landed at the at the mobile base. He was escorted to the main hatchway and told someone would come and take him to his new quarters. He thought it was strange that they didn’t leave a guard with him but he guessed it was because he had nowhere to run.
The Feloid crew came and left the ship ignoring him completely. He saw a young Feloid female walking up to the ship. She was dressed in a simple white uniform and was wearing a cap.
“Is your name…Hudd?” she had a hard time with the inflection of his name with her accent.
“Yes…I’m Hudd.” he said.
“Thank you. My name is Neeka. Follow me please.” she said and began to walk away.
Hudd followed still surprised that no one was escorting him but this girl.
They took an elevator to one of the upper floors. They shared part of the ride with two massive Beast type Feloids that barely took notice of him. The door opened and he was lead to a nicely furnished room with some chairs and sofas in it.
“Please wait.” the girl said. She walked to the opposite side of the room and walked through the door. He stood quietly waiting for only a few minutes. The door opened and in stepped the girl followed by a tall well built Feloid woman. She was stunning and regal to behold. Her bright red military uniform and long gold trimmed cape accented her natural beauty.
“Mr. Hudd is it? I am delighted to meet you even if it is under these terrible conditions. I am Lionette Ty.” she said offering her hand to him.
“ Hudd, my friends call me Hudd.” he felt stupid. Was that all he could say to her?
“We had been keeping an eye out for your ship. Since you were pressed into Imperial service I was afraid you might get caught up in this war. I’m glad we found you in time.” Lionette said as she lead him to one of the sofas and had him sit with her.
Hudd looked at the girl and then at Lionette. “Why? Why did you do all this?
“I told you that you were now under my protection. We Feloids don’t say such things lightly. You will be sent to my palace for protection if that suits you Mr. Hudd. You will be my guest there as long as you wish.” Lionette said straightening her uniform.
“Your palace?” he asked.
“Unless there’s somewhere else you wish to be?” Lionette asked.
“No, a palace is fine. I’ll just stay at the palace.” he said.
“Excellent. My aid, Neeka will accompany you back to the Palace and make sure you are taken care of. Besides I thing she may be missing her young daughter just a little bit.” Lionette said smiling
Neeka smiled. “Thank you Princess.
If you have enjoyed these stories please check out my first all original book series at Amazon.com. The title is Beyond the Crystal Heaven.
Once again thank you for your support.
Last Updated (Tuesday, 10 September 2013 02:05)