Chapter 63
Shattered
The Colonel sat down behind his massive steel desk. He took the data file that Lionette had given him that contained all the information that she had on Stella Star. He adjusted his chair and placed the file into the holo-veiwer and switched it on.
EYES ONLY
Colonel Mufaris:
Head of Ty Clan Security Division
Regarding the Human known as Stella Star:
Arrived approximately one and a half years ago soon after the fall of the Galactic Republic. Stella Star made contact with my father Maxis Ty and asked for sanctuary as a Jedi.
Maxis Ty agreed to her claim and further extended his aid by promising safe haven to all of Stella’s acquaintances and allies.
In addition Maxis Ty pledged my assistance (Lionette Ty) to Stella Star in her quest to build a group of likeminded fighters to overthrow the Emperor. My assumption now is Maxis foresaw the greater threat of the Empire and knew the Feloids would not be immune to the Emperors plans of Galactic conquest.
We embarked on two separate missions. Stella had an act of revenge to finish and then she would go and seek the aid of a star ship repair facility. This station is located near the Outer Rim and not well known. At that time she also signed on Jaycee Demm and her twin sister Ceecee Demm. Both were the daughters of the repair facilities owner and highly qualified astro-mechanics. Jaycee accompanied Stella leaving Ceecee to join up after her father had completed refitting a ship for her.
After picking up Jaycee Stella and her received a distress call from the Jedi temple on the Reptus home world. They immediately went there and rescued Kang and Lore, two Jedi Knights that had been part of the rear guard that had helped others to escape.
My mission was to make contact with a Reptus assassin by the name of Baltis. He was once a hunter of Jedi.
He had been deceived into thinking the Jedi were responsible for his family’s death. Once he learned the truth he proceeded to kill the real slayers of his family and now has sworn to make amends for all the Jedi he killed during the Clone Wars. After our meeting we became aware Imperial bounty hunters were tracking us so we made the decision to split up and rendezvous at a safer local. I was attacked and with the aid of my slave Timtam and Baltis was able to escape.
Baltis is also thought to be very strong with the Force. It must be said that the belief in the Force is a concept that Feloids don’t generally agree with, myself included, it has been noted here only for consistency.
The next two to join were Matt Mazin, a mercenary officer that had fought with the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Like many Separatist soldiers he was left homeless and without prospects. He was well respected by his peers and came highly recommended.
Stella and Jaycee while on a refueling stop found Tarin Farstar. Tarin was panicked and disoriented but Stella sensed there was more to her and would be a great asset. She was asked to join and she did so immediately. As with most of the mercenaries in the group she is believed to have had a less than glorious past.
Mykala was found in a bar. There had been a shootout between gangs and the only one left standing was Mykala. Stella and Jaycee witnessed the shoot out and noted Mykala’s calm demeanor that allowed her to make all of her shots count. Afterwards Mykala found herself out of work. Stella, seeing her potential, hired her on the spot.
As a quick note I was against her being hired but once again it was believed the Force had intervened in Stella’s decision.
Soon after this first wave of recruitment we found ourselves on a routine mission. We were to rescue an engineer that had vital information about an Imperial building project.
Before we could leave the planet we were attacked by a midlevel Sith enforcer by the name of Lyda Starkiller. We were able to complete our mission successfully but Mykala had killed one of Lyda Starkiller’s assistants in the ensuing battle. Lyda swore a vendetta against Mykala that would later have horrific consequences.
It was soon discovered that Mykala had an above average level of the Force present in her. It was decided that she would go to Tatooine and be taught by a Jedi Knight in hiding there. His name was Tahl Jae Roe. After arriving it was soon learned that Mykala was the long lost Daughter of the Queen of Pendor. The Queen had been ousted along with her guards after a bloody revolution. The queen landed on Bentoo also known as the war planet. She married the captain of her guardsmen and they soon had a child, Mykala. Eventually the queen and all the guardsmen were killed in the fighting that was a continual occurrence on the planet. Mykala survived and was raised by whatever gang would take her in. She left the planet with a smuggler who taught her how to fly spacecraft and stayed with him until he was killed. She then took a job as a hired gun for a petty crime lord on some forsaken backwater moon. This is where she met Stella.
Her cousin Haven Dak met Mykala at Tahl Jae Roe’s home. She had been the ruler in exile of Pendor ever since the queen disappeared. She is only a year or two older than Mykala but once she was told of Mykala’s existence she immediately abdicated and gave the title to Mykala without hesitation. They have been the best of friends ever since.
The Rebels and myself completed several missions after that. On one mission we had been asked to rescue the survivors of a Rebel ship that had crashed on a planet. We soon found ourselves in the middle of a trap laid by Lyda Starkiller. She had now advanced higher as an Enforcer and was able to muster more troops to aid in her plans. She had intended to capture Mykala but Stella intervened and saved Mykala but was in turn captured herself. This sacrifice enabled the rest of us to escape.
Two new members soon joined our group. Buck Bronski, a seemingly indestructible man with extensive tactical knowledge and experience. If it wasn’t for his vulgar and sometimes outright disgusting behavior he would most likely have held the rank of Colonel or maybe even General.
The second member was Adda Beddo. She was a Jedi healer and the exact opposite of Bronski. Highly intelligent and knowledgeable on all subjects she was a delightful person to say the least. She was part of an order that had taken a vow of poverty. They wore very little in the way of clothing that in her case was a constant distraction as she was blessed with a voluptuous figure.
We concentrated our efforts into finding the location where Stella was being held. Following one such lead we found ourselves on Bentoo, the war planet. Mykala took the lead as she was born and raised here. Eventually we found ourselves deep inside the planet trying to re-activate a defense generator. This soon was found to be another trap set by Lyda Starkiller who had become obsessed on capturing Mykala for killing her friend. During the ensuing battle we found that Lyda was now using Bounty Hunters to track Mykala down. Just as the battle was over a lone bounty hunter shot Mykala in the heart, which to everyone’s shock, caused her to disappear. No one on either side understood what they had just seen. Since Mykala was now gone the bounty hunters retreated as did we.
On our way back to our secret base we received word that Mykala had re-appeared at Tahl Jae Roe’s home alive and well. We hurried to his location to try and make heads or tails of this occurrence.
With the help of Adda Beddo, Tahl Jae Roe and her discovered that Mykala was part of an ancient prophecy that told of a mighty Jedi Knight that would be impossible to kill in battle. This Jedi would also be tested and would have to fight a powerful Sith warrior to decide which side the Jedi would serve. We were all stunned by the prophecy. However before we could take in all of the ramifications we had another lead on Stella’s whereabouts. It had been two months since we last saw her and we knew time was running out for her.
The Reptus assassin Baltis received word that she had been seen by a cat girl slave that was one of the survivors of a pirate raid on a passenger ship. The girl was being held for sale too us by some of Baltis’s more seedy companions on a huge pirate stronghold also known as the Citadel.
We made our way there as quickly as we could and with the help of Baltis’s friends we were able to pass ourselves off as pirates to gain entrée. Our group bought the cat girl and she quickly gave us the information about Stella.
I am adding a quick note on the cat girl who aided us. Even though she was freed at the time she was purchased she was taken in by one of our group. She is Pep Pudin, the now companion of Matt Mazin. She is the one that has recently obtained the unexplainable powers that I have found it imperative for your men to keep close eyes on.
Pep had told the group that she had been at the pirate base for what she thought was about two months. As you know cat girls have no formal education so any information may be truthful in their minds but still inaccurate.
She said Stella was taken from the passenger ship by Sith warriors before the pirate attack. She had not been one of the victims of the attack.
Frustrated we broke up into smaller groups and tried to ascertain any additional information from various pirate factions. That evening when we gathered back at our quarters after several hours of investigation two pirates came to our door and presented us with an odd looking box. The box had a message on it telling us to meet the sender in the lower cargo holds of the Citadel. When we opened the box we were horrified to discover Jaycee’s severed head in it. We knew this was a trap but we had no other leads so without hesitation we formulated a plan to split up and try to catch the murderer in our own trap.
The first group to encounter the murderer was Matt and Tarin. They fought well but found themselves outclassed with Tarin knocked unconscious and Matt severely wounded. Kang and myself arrived just in time to keep the murderer from finishing off Matt and Tarin. It was then we saw the murderer’s true identity. It was Stella. She had been tortured and brainwashed to the point of madness. She blamed us all for her capture and the things that were done to her. She fought like a demon. Her attacks were so violent that we could barely defend ourselves from her. We were able to back her out of the room to a long access bridge spanning a ventilation shaft that ran threw the entire complex. To our amazement and relief Stella’s old master appeared and took over the fight. We took this opportunity to rescue Matt and Tarin while we watched in awe as these two Jedi clashed high above the bottomless shaft.
Stella had gained the advantage and just before she struck the killing blow Den Athgar cut the supports to the bridge sending them plunging into the blackness below. The fight had ended as quickly as that. We made the assumption that Stella had died in the fall and had been driven mad by Lyda Starkiller while she was being tortured. Lyda had used Stella to find us. Stella would then be used as the instrument of our destruction.
We decided that we should leave and regroup at our secret base. We felt at the time that we had no advantage here and needed to be on safe ground as soon as possible.
The rest of our story is well known to you so I will not belabor this report with information you already possess.
Report end:
Lionette Ty
The Colonel turned off the holo-veiwer and leaned back in his chair. His gut feeling was that Stella’s return was just what appeared to be. If it had been anyone else but a Jedi he would have his doubts. His years serving Maxis Ty had given him the opportunity to observe the Jedi that had visited over that time. They had great recuperative skills that would allow for Stella’s story to be true. Of course it wasn’t his job to rely on his gut feelings. He called for his chief investigator on his transmitter and poured himself a drink. His men would find the truth about Stella Star and her miraculous return. They always found out the truth no matter what.
Bronski shielded his eyes from the sunlight glinting off the droid as it stood over him.
“I have no more time for you.” The droid said as it lifted his metal foot to crush Bronski’s head.
A rocket hit the droid knocking it back off balance. Bronski quickly rolled away from the droid and tried to get to his feet. He looked around and saw someone dressed like Tarin standing calmly firing wrist rockets at the droid keeping him off balance. The woman was wearing a bubble type of helmet that was chrome-plated concealing the owner’s features. Her aim was perfect as each rocket hit the droid in one of its legs knocking it down,
“Get up old man I can’t do this all day.” The woman yelled at Bronski. He gained his footing and saw a long sleek black speeder just a few feet from her.
“Get in dummy.” She yelled. “And turn off that stupid tracking devise!”
Bronski had completely forgotten about the tracking devise that he had cut out of Tarin’s neck and used to attract the droid to him. That is how it was able to know where he was headed every time. He pulled the devise from his pocket and turned it off. Bronski stumbled to the speeder and tumbled into the backseat. The woman kept firing one rocket at a time as she calmly backed up and climbed in the speeder too. The droid screamed angrily at the woman and Bronski.
“Last one.” She said as the last of her rockets shot from the wrist gauntlet went straight into the droids open mouth exploding and blowing its head clean off.
“Now he’s really pissed.” the woman laughed as she hit the accelerator and sped off with Bronski in the back seat hanging on for dear life. They flew across the landing field just as the local police were arriving. Bronski looked up and saw a brand new luxury yacht swoop down low in front of them just inches of off the ground and open the rear-loading hatch. The woman drove the speeder up inside the yacht and into the cargo bay. The ship lifted off into the sky as the cargo hatch closed tight.
“Remha?” Bronski asked still a little confused by what had just happened.
The woman turned and pulled off her helmet showing her bright purple luminescent hair. She was wearing what at first Bronski thought was a white mask over her eyes until he realized it was a cosmetic dressing covering the wounds around her eyes.
“We knew you’d try to come back and kill that thing. You’re not the kind of guy that runs away after getting his ass kicked. You’re the type that gets even.” she smiled at Buck as she looked over her shoulder.
“I guess you got me figured pretty good now huh?” he said.
“Yeah, Buck, pretty good.” She replied smiling.
He wasn’t quite sure what that last comment meant but right now he was just glad they showed up. They got out of the speeder and went forward into the lounge area of the ship.
“I’m definitely in the wrong line of work. I really need to get a raise.” He said looking around at the ships luxuriance interior.
Za’sha walked in from the cockpit. She was letting the astrodroid pilot the ship for a while.
“Uh, you do know we don’t buy these ships don’t you?” she asked Buck. “We steal them. You do know that right?” she smiled.
“Yeah, yeah of course I know that.” Bronski had no idea that they stole these ships.
“Lighten up Za’sha, this man is a hero. He actually came back to slay the dragon for his fair and beautiful princess Tarin.” Remha laughed.
Bronski scowled at Remha who was still laughing. They had him dead to rights. He had come back to kill that droid for Tarin. No matter how much he hated the idea and fought against it he new he loved her.
“Aw don’t be like that Buck. We think it’s sweet. Tarin is a very lucky girl.” Remha said grinning.
“I did tell you that I’ve killed women before right?” Bronski snarled.
“Relax tough guy, we’re just having a little fun. We all want to help Tarin and if she was here it would just make it harder to do.” Za’sha added.
“Well I gotta admit my plan went to shit. What have you guys got in mind?” he asked.
“Unlike some people we know we did a little checking up on old tall dark and metal. He goes by the handle of B.F.R. eighty-eight. He’s a well-known bounty hunter in these parts and never fails. He never gets tired, he never gets hungry, and he never grows old. Once he locks onto a target he never stops until the target is dead or captured.” Remha said.
“So what’s your plan?” Bronski asked.
“Uh our plan is to leave this planet and never come back.” Za’sha said.
“Yeah let him have it.” Remha added.
“What about my battle frame? I can’t just leave it there.” Bronski said.
“Forget it, just buy a new one.” Remha said annoyed.
“They don’t make ‘em any more.” Bronski said.
“I can see why!” Remha laughed.
“Relax, we’ll call someone down there and have it shipped to you wherever you want. It’s not going anywhere.” Za’sha said.
“You just said he wouldn’t stop. Sooner or later he’ll find her.” Buck said.
“We know that. We’ll think of something but not today. We need a full proof way of killing that thing once and for all. It’s going to be hard. That thing is a lot smarter than we think.” Za’sha added.
“So what now?” Buck asked.
“Only thing we can do now is take you back to Tarin. We have other things that need our attention for now but we’ll be back with a plan to kill it soon.” Za’sha said.
“Yeah Bucky old man, just sit back and relax. Enjoy the trip, you got three free days on a yacht full of booze and two beautiful woman that wouldn’t touch you with a light saber.” Remha said hoisting her drink in the air.
Adda had finished working out. She felt her attitude changing about a lot of things lately. Adda was beginning to realize just how little she knew about the Galaxy and the way things worked. She had caught herself being somewhat prideful in the past of her extensive knowledge on all things but now she was finding out there was a whole different Galaxy she knew almost nothing about.
These women she had wound up with were very bad people. They were capable of the most horrific acts imaginable. Adda had been disgusted by their actions in the past. There was no way she could fathom how they could do those things and live with themselves.
Kllair understood Adda needed to understand her new friends before she could accept herself as one of them so she had arranged to meet her in the shower area for a demonstration.
Adda turned quickly sensing someone behind her. It was Kllair. She was fully dressed in her dark blue body suit standing in the corner.
“What is it you want me to see in here?” Adda asked.
Kllair put her finger up to Adda’s lips to silence her and pointed to the window of the shower room itself. Adda looked in and saw the twins taking a shower together.
“Kllair I have no interest in seeing these girls naked.” Adda was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.
Kllair gently turned Adda’s head back towards the twins and pointed again. Adda forced herself to look and then she saw the scars. Both girls had scars all over their bodies, on every part except their pretty faces. Whip marks and slashes from knife wounds she guessed. They crisscrossed and over lapped indicating the scars had been received over a period of years. Theses girls had been horrifically abused for year explaining much of what she had witnessed of their actions and behavior.
“What happened to them?” Adda asked. She found herself suddenly feeling sorry for these two little monsters in the next room.
Kllair smiled. “It was their mother, she did that to them.” Kllair watched Adda’s face to make sure Adda was empathizing with the twins.
“She was a very high ranking enforcer to a notorious crime lord. She was known as the Blood Queen because of her brutality. She was feared and respected due to never showing mercy even to her closest friends. When she became pregnant she murdered the father so her children had only her to rely on. She taught them how to be killers like herself. Her training was never ending and sadistic.
From what they’ve told me they got most of the scars on their hands and arms learning how to take a knife out of someone’s hand. If they failed any task they would be beaten or have their heads held underwater until they passed out.
There were worse things done to them, fore instance their mother also was their pimp. She would make them have sex with anybody that would give the Blood Queen money or favors. There was never any love or kindness given to them, they were tools to be used by the Blood Queen.” Kllair said as she drew two little frowning faces on the steam covered glass window they were watching through. “I’m sure there is even more that was done that they don’t tell me.”
“How did you meet them?” Adda asked.
“To make a long story short the Blood Queen came after me for reasons we won’t discuss. I wound up killing her and oddly enough instead of the twins killing me they thanked me. In essence I became their new mother and they’ve never left my side since. They do what I tell them to do for the most part mainly because they never were aloud to form their own identity. They have always had the Blood Queen to tell them what to do. I guess that’s how they perceive me now.” Kllair said looking at Adda’s face for her reaction.
“No wonder they act that way. I thought it was an act or something.” Adda said.
Kllair saw a look of sympathy on Adda’s face. Kllair smiled knowing she had drawn Adda a little closer into her family.
Reez’s ship landed at the base late that evening. Timtam, Pep, and Matt had been waiting all day for its arrival. They had been delayed in their arrival due to an outstanding warrant posted on Reez by the Ty Clan for smuggling. The warrant was dropped in and effort to recover their friends. As the ship touched down Timtam ran out onto the landing pad not caring about her own safety. Matt was able to pull her a safe distance away before the pirate ship landed on her. Once on the ground Matt let her go and she ran up to the door of the ship eager to see Hudd again. The crew opened the hatch and to their surprise Timtam rushed inside and found Hudd standing in the hallway waiting to disembark.
Timtam grabbed Hudd and fell to her knees crying.” I thought you were dead. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Hudd helped her up to her feet and held her close. “I’m okay Timtam, I’m just a little banged up is all.” He said smiling at her beautiful face. They embraced and smothered each other in kisses in hallway in front of everyone. They didn’t care they were just so happy to see each other.
Matt smiled as he entered the ship holding Pep by the hand as she trailed behind him.
“Okay, okay one side you two. We have to get to Mykala remember?” Matt said.
Hudd pulled back from Timtam and suddenly his expression changed to sorrow.
“Is it bad?” Timtam whispered.
Hudd closed his eyes and shook his head yes.
Matt had made his way to the infirmary of Reez’s ship. He stopped and held Pep back a moment. He was the first of them to see Mykala lying in the bed. Their eyes had meet as soon as he stepped into the room. She looked awful, as if she had already died inside. Her face was drawn and gaunt. Her beautiful eyes now looked at his pleading to die. Her spirit had been smashed along with her spine. She was raised a warrior and she now understood that life was over. She knew there was no operation that would mend her spine.
Matt forced a smile. “Hey there Mykala. You look pretty good compared to what they had told us.” He couldn’t think of anything better to say. Pep stepped in behind Matt and froze in her tracks. She squeezed Matt’s hand tightly shocked at seeing the stranger lying in front of her. This thing had nothing left inside. Mykala the leader and fighter had gone leaving only the person she was looking at.
Matt looked at Pep. She instinctively knew that he wanted to know if her powers could help Mykala. She knew Matt didn’t want her to use the powers anymore but his look of desperation betrayed him. Pep simply looked down and closed her eyes. Her powers only destroyed life she could do nothing to help Mykala.
They took Mykala from the ship and directly to the bases hospital. She was checked by the medical droids with Thorim overseeing every diagnosis. There was nothing he could do. Even if Adda Beddo were available her Force healing techniques wouldn’t have been any help.
Visitors and friends all stopped by during the rest of the day trying to give her hope and best wishes but there were no lies they could tell that would make it better. Mykala new her days were over. She would lie in a bed somewhere forgotten quickly by her friends and left to be cared for by droids and cat girl slaves.
She had been left alone to rest in the dark room. As Mykala tried to fall asleep she felt a presence in the room. She opened her eyes and through her tears saw a blurred figure approach her. She blinked her eyes trying to clear her tears away. To her amazement she saw Stella standing over her. For the first time in days she smiled. “Stella?” she whispered unsure.
Stella stood by her side and gently stroked Mykala’s hair. “You look terrible.” Stella said smiling slightly.
Mykala closed her eyes and shook her head.
“It’s alright sweetie, time for you to rest.” Stella said. Stella reached her hand out over Mykala’ throat and closed her hand into a tightly clenched fist. Mykala fought for air but there wasn’t any. Her hands had remained strapped down to keep her from killing herself so she had no way to fight back. A million thoughts flashed through Mykala’s mind in a few seconds. She thought of Araya and hoped they would soon meet again. She wondered why Stella was doing this to her. She had trusted Stella more than anyone she had ever known. It was all passing away. Only darkness and silence were hers now.
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.
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Last Updated (Tuesday, 10 September 2013 02:20)