Star Wars: Downfall/Chapter 1 - Retrieval on Lok

Chapter 1: Retrieval on Lok

19 BBY The Outer Rim Territories The Karatthak system Nearing the planet Lok

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

These were the teachings she had devoted her life too. The teaching which guided her in every decision she made. The teachings she now repeated over and over in her head; and yet, for the first time in her life as a Jedi, they suddenly seemed to hold so little meaning to her. She sat, cross legged, meditating on her cold transparisteel bunk, as she had so much recently whilst being transported across the galaxy on the whims of the mighty Republic. She remembered a time when she would have wanted to be in no other place than on some vital mission or daring adventure with her Master and friends. But it had been several years since the death of her mentor, the always emotionless Weequay; Tyr Venala and her closest friend and fellow padwan at the time, Cal Drayke, a young Enchani. They had perished on a mission to Thrusta, a supposed diplomatic visit which had turned hostile. It had even become important enough to gain the attention of Master Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi order, who had sought to resolve it peacefully but to no avail. Being on the same mission as the ancient Jedi had made her truly feel like she was at the forefront of the war and doing her part to end it. However, now the objectives she was given hardly even seemed necessary the majority of the time. It was this endless list of routine scouting missions, diplomatic check-ups and even delivering supplies that had brought up this sudden doubt in her mind. Surely there were far more important tasks that she, Pixadia Quen, Jedi knight and victor of so many battles should be given! She, who had crippled the separatist fleet of Ocho Strale, who had sought out and destroyed the Shido assassin Covola, who had.... She silenced herself;

“There is no emotion, only peace”

That is what the Jedi had taught her anyway, that she was to remain void of feeling, especially the anger that had suddenly overcome her. She knew such things could lead to the dreadful places, places like the dark side of the force, and too many times she had seen the result of such corruptions. However the point still stood in her mind, if all things happened according to the force, then why had it lead her here, to pointlessness and obscurity on the edge of a galaxy that needed her help, a galaxy at war. It was almost as though it was trying to hide her away; keeping her from achieving anything at all. Suddenly Pix was interrupted from her inner conflict as she became aware of a presence at the entrance way to her quarters. As she quickly opened her eyes she saw the familiar helmeted face of a clone trooper, the loyal soldiers of the Republic, who was leaning in the doorway opposite her, for every trooper shared this exact helmet, bar a few markings or gadgets to promote individuality, just as they all shared the face that was hidden behind it. This particular trooper, nicknamed Waker wore armour decorated with murky brown markings, identifying him as one of the 78th legion with whom she served. She realised the solider was waiting for a response and moved herself to a more comfortable position before addressing him

“Captain Waker, I’m hoping you’re here to tell me we’ve reached our destination”

The clone nodded briskly “almost general Quen, we’re approaching Lok now, we should be at the target’s location within a few minutes” the clone ducked forward entering the room “Do we have any more info on him yet?”

Pix sighed pulling a small Holo projector from her desk across the room and switching it on. It shone out a bright blue light, which quickly focused into the blurry shape of a translucent head.

“No more than what it was seen fit to tell us in the briefing; target’s name is Maako Tetsu. He’s a Rodian pirate with a sizeable crew who’s been raiding ships in this sector for some time, one of which happened to be a republic transport, which is why we’re here. He works out of Lok and can normally be found in Do Pluza spaceport. Our job is to swoop in and arrest him for trial back on Coruscant”

Waker nodded again looking down at the tiny blue face in Pix’s palm “sounds like scum to me, this shouldn’t be too hard”

She too stared down at the scarred face of their quarry “he’s certainly scum, you’re not wrong captain; but he’s no separatist, not even close” she threw down the device and starred up at the clone “what are we doing here captain, what am I doing here? Since when was it the job of Clone troopers and Jedi to hunt down criminals on unheard of planets in the outer rim? This nobody” she gestured to the Rodian’s flickering image “is no threat to the republic”

The clone stood calmly before her despite her sudden out burst “It became our job when the Republic ordered it ma’am, it become our job when the galactic senate we both serve willed it to happen, and I think you’d do well to remember that”

The Jedi stood in silence taken aback by the soldier’s cold response. The trooper’s normal politeness suddenly returned. “Now master Quen I think it’d be best if we got ready for landing.”

The hot sands of Lok were a welcome change to Pix from the hard floors of the CR20 troop carrier Resurrection whose prisoner she had been for the last few days. Even the clones who now accompanied her took a moment to enjoy the fresh air and warm breeze before starting their short march to their sheltered destination. Not that Lok was a pleasant planet, it’s surface was barren and almost uninhabitable, with only a few cities dotted across its scarred plains. Those who were desperate enough to live here did so due to extreme poverty or to hide from the legal systems of the Core Worlds. Do Pluza was only a small spaceport and lay in a dusty valley beneath them, it’s streets full with the hubbub of daily life, visible even from the squad’s high vantage point. They had landed atop a cliff near the town, instead of in one of the numerous docking bays that Pix could see scattered throughout the port, to make sure Tetsu wasn’t made aware of their arrival. She and the small group had slowly started to make their way down a winding path cut straight out of the cliff, its edge leading to a sheer drop down into the canyon. Only a single squad of clones followed her, consisting of eight men including the captain, but she knew this is all they would need. Maako’s crew would almost certainly be spread thin throughout the town and wouldn’t be expecting an attack, after all why should they? From their point of view there were few for whom it would be worth the effort of attacking them, a view point which the Jedi knew she almost agreed with. Still, Waker had made a good point, she had sworn to serve the force and if this was what it willed then this would be her path. Pix looked over at the captain who signalled for the group to stop for they had reached the outskirts of the town. A labyrinth of hovels and dwellings spread out before them, the slums that made up much of Do Pluza. The poverty stricken area’s residence paid them little attention, most of them probably not even knowing what a clone trooper was the Jedi realised, and carried on with their daily business. Pix turned to the clones and gave them one final reminder of their objective.

“Right, this is it men. Stay together and keep out of trouble until we find Tetsu then subdue him but keep him alive. Anyone else defending him is unimportant, but keep casualties low, this is a civilian area and no one innocent needs to get hurt.”

The trooper’s showed they understood and the squad started to make their way through the crowded shanty town. Pix passed men and women of a huge variety of different species, some of which she couldn’t even identify, they carried on around her tending to their young ones, hanging out strips of nerf meat to dry, mundane everyday actions that she had almost forgotten about in the constant chaos of war. She stopped for a moment to watch an elderly Skakoan being helped across the dirt track by a young Nautolan, two races that had long been foes due to their allegiances in the Clone Wars. Here however they were simply neighbours, galactic politics and conflict having little effect or meaning this far away from the Core. One of the clones, nicknamed Sketcher, stopped with her, watching the gentle flow of the town around them.

“It’s odd to see people like this, I’ve never been anywhere so alive and yet so, so peaceful”

She remembered that most clones had only ever experienced battle and the brief lulls between aboard soulless cruisers and knew nothing of the peace which they so willingly gave their lives to defend. She smiled at the clone.

“Get use to it trooper, once this war’s over we can all go back to living like this, living in peace” The clone looked at her, his expression impossible to read under his helmet.

“You really think so master Jedi? You think there’ll be a place for us clones somewhere like this?” Pix touched the man’s shoulder

“I know so Sketcher, and I promise you’ll get to see it, the war’s nearly over now”

And it was true. Just a few days ago their ship had received news of the death of general Grievous, the foul cyborg leader of the Separatist. Without him their foe would quickly fall apart and the war would end. Before the solider could respond Waker approached the two and motioned irritably for them to move on. As they continued down the street he fell into step alongside Pix. “General were approaching the centre of town now, Tetsu will most likely be nearby. What are your orders” The Jedi surveyed the dusty square the made up the centre of the space port. It was quite large and much of it was taken up by a trader’s market which blocked one edge of it from her view. However, her attention was caught by a set of flashy glowing signs directly across the square from them; a cantina. She pointed toward it and Waker signalled for the squad to move forward. As they approached the run down building Pix could make out the bright neon signs more clearly. They depicted the rough outline of a Twi’lek whose arm moved jerkily up and down, presumably to show some sort of dancing, and identified the building as The Twi’lek Temptress although the light on the letter m had gone out and the final s hung at an angle. She was reminded vividly of the disgusting under levels of the galactic capital Coruscant, which were made almost entirely of establishments such as this and slums in an even worse state of disrepair. Once they were about ten metres from the entrance to the establishment Pix ordered two of the troopers to circle round to the back to check for any escape routes before proceeding straight towards the door, not wanting to waste time listening to Waker outlining the plan as he normally would. It was going to be simple enough, walk in blast anything that fights back and grab the objective, the normal Clone tactic and one that, today, she was all too happy to use. A space had cleared between the group and the cantina now as the clones pulled out their weapons, on a planet like Lok the locals were normally pretty good at sensing trouble and avoiding it and so many had retreated to their homes or further away into the square to watch. With six clones at her back including the disgruntled Waker, annoyed his routine had been interrupted; Pix stepped through the shadowy doorway into the cantina.

The bar’s interior was equally as shabby as the outside, and much of it was hidden in shadow. Pix however could still make most of the occupants, seated at low tables or along the grubby bar. Each sipped oddly coloured beverages or chewed on grubby strips of food. As she and the clones, their bright armour standing out in the dark environment, stepped through the portal all eyes turned to them many filled already with a readiness for violence. For a moment she simply stood there in her hooded cloak, letting the light from the door cast her silhouette across the room as the tension rose. In the end it was the barkeeper, an old Yakoran who made the first move, putting the glass he’d been filling down slowly.

“Afternoon gentleman, what pleasure brings you to the temptress today?”

There was an undertone of malice in his thick guttural voice and Pix knew he must recognise the clones or at the very least expect they were bounty hunters. Before she could reply however Waker addressed the whiskered alien.

“We are soldiers of the Grand Galactic Republic and we’re here for the criminal Maako Tetsu not any of your filthy pleasures”

This was all the evidence most of the cantina needed to attack the group and they jumped up, blasters drawn. However they were stopped by a calm voice, with what the Jedi recognised as a Rodian’s sharp accent.

“You came all the way out here just for little old me trooper boys? I’m flattered but I’m afraid whatever business you got is gonna to have to wait, can’t you see I’m busy?”

The owner of the voice was seated across the bar from the entrance, which lay in the centre of the room. He spoke in a casual tone, betraying his slight arrogance, but Pix could also sense how worried he was. She stared across at him now, recognising the face from the blurred holo-projection. The criminal sat in an alcove behind a large circular table covered in credit chips, sabacc cards and various bottles of alcohol. He wore a long red jacket embroidered with gold and adorned with various trinkets and tassels collected during his various misdeeds. A well worn scarf tangled with a series of necklaces and mementos hung around his dark green neck down over the expensive looking shirt which was draped slightly loosely on his skinny frame, last of all she noticed he was flanked by a pair of heavily built thugs, A Weequay and a Twi-lek, who had both stood, blaster rifles aimed at the new comers. She smiled; he was exactly what she expected. Waker began to bark back a response at Maako but the group was already under attack, the thugs growing tired of waiting. A huge Trandoshan lunged out of the shadows at Pix, his vibro axe raised above his scaly head and blaster bolts blazed through the air around her. This rush of adrenaline was what the force user had been missing and eager to fight after so long she quickly pressed down the switch on her lightsaber, the familiar hum greeting her as she did so. Just as a trooper behind her was lifted off his feet by a lucky shot, Pix brought the blade up through the air, sweeping across her assailants chest and sending him crashing to the floor before he could strike her down himself. Before he had even hit the floor she had bounded up onto a table, knocking glasses to the floor, and forward into the conflict, deflecting blaster bolts in a blinding series of parries as she went.

Maako ducked, narrowly avoiding one of the numerous energy bolts that were now flying across the room, and heard it scorch the wall behind him. How had this happened! Only a few moments ago everything in the galaxy had seemed to be going perfectly for him, he and his crew had raid several well loaded ships in the last few months and the credits had been stacking up, he practically ran Do Pluza now and even the local ruling warlord Nym had left him to his own devices recently, it had all been perfect; right up until those clone troopers and the man in the hood had walked through the door of his favourite watering hole. Now he was pinned down with a good few of his men dead or wounded around him and to make matters worse he was pretty sure the guy in the hood was one of the fabled Jedi he had heard about. Whoever they were Maako had seen them cleave poor Grovk clean in two at the start of the fight and now they seemed even to be able to block blaster bolts with their bright green blade. The criminal needed to make his escape and fast before he too ended up like the late Trandoshan or Haquwel, his Weequay bodyguard, who lay slumped beside him, having caught a energy bolt with his face. He quickly moved past his other guard Lendi and made a dash for an up turned table a few metres away. Maako knew there was a back door concealed in the shadows just behind it, he had used it a few time before during a number of bar fights back when he was just another nobody on this dead end world. As he ducked past him, the Twi’lek made a sound as if to object to his employer’s sudden cowardice but was cut down by the clones’ blaster fire before he could speak, their attention drawn by Tetsu’s movement. However the bar now lay between them and the Rodian, and Maako heard them quickly shift their attention back to the cantina’s other occupants. Having reached the table, he bent down, gathering up a few credit chips that had been cast aside during the commotion, before crawling toward the hidden exit. As he reached it he quickly stood firing off a few rounds at the clones to cover his retreat before bolting through the door to freedom. Or so he thought, as he stumbled out into the sunlight he found himself staring up at yet another clone trooper. The solider seemed confused for a second, unsure as to where this shocked Rodian had come from, however he recovered quickly and raised his blaster just as Maako pointed his own at the man’s head.

“Drop your weapon, criminal scum”

Maako felt the cold metal of a blaster pressed up against his back and realised the trooper had not been alone, the Rodian had just been unlucky enough to end up trapped between him and his partner. He slowly raised his hands, keeping his gun firmly gripped however and stood up straight. The clone before him took better aim now realising he was safe and began to approach him cautiously.

“Take his weapon Bunker, quick before he tries something stupid”

The clone behind Maako encouraged his friend and bunker reached up to grab their prisoner’s DL-18 blaster. However the pirate still had one trick left up his sleeve and as the clone trooper took hold of his pistol Maako swung his foot up into the soldier’s stomach, the blade that had been, until that moment, concealed in the tip, piercing between the joint in the armour and into the clone’s flesh underneath. Bunker howled in pain and before the other clone could react, Maako swung the impaled clone around throwing him into his comrade. As the pair toppled to the ground, the second clone firing off a volley as he went, Maako brought down his pistol and fired five shots into them before turning to flee back down the alley. After a few steps away from his minor victory however, he found himself unable to move forward. Swiftly turning to find the source of his problem Maako discovered his feet no longer touched the ground; he seemed to be floating, as though held by some cruel invisible force, about a foot off the floor. Suddenly the reason for his newfound ability of levitation became all too apparent to Maako as the hooded figure stepped out from the shadowy recess that hid the cantina back door, his arm raised in the air and pointing towards his helpless victim as though holding him there in space. Maako had heard rumours that Jedi could do such things but had never believed them, surely not even a warrior as mighty as this could control such magic? But as he looked more closely he realised this was no great warrior, not the towering being he had expected but instead a slender Human woman. She wore simplistic garments under the cloak almost like that of a monk and her wiry frame looked even less intimidating then his own.

“Why, your nothing but a child!” he exclaimed, now writhing and struggling against his invisible bonds “how are you doing this to me!?”

Beneath the hood a smile flicker across the girl’s face before she twitched her wrist to the left, and her victim was sent crashing into the nearby stone wall with all the force of a podracer crash, the sheer impact knocking him into the dark world of unconsciousness instantly.

End of Chapter 1