Star Wars: Red Talon/Chapter1

Chapter 1

The space craft broke through the tree line, a puff of smoke and flame trailing behind it. There was nothing special about the craft, it was a single fighter and it wasn’t the most fuel efficient. It’s fuel was the main reason Rem Drat’n was in the situation he was in, crashing into a forest on a planet he had never visited. Though he had been an airman for many years, flying wasn’t his best skill. He had known one more mistake and he would have been discharged from the military, his future now seemed uncertain.

His life also seemed uncertain as the craft hit the trees, and eventually the surface, with loud crashes the entire way down. The hunk of metal continued to shake violently, even after he touched down. Eventually the thrashing stopped and Rem exited the craft and looked upon his former beauty. The small craft had puncture marks where tree branches had entered the wings. The ship would never fly again, but he was still alive. Amazed at his luck, the man eventually removed his flight helmet. He shook his medium-length brown hair loose. The man had no wrinkles, a faint stubble and tan skin, he was clad in a warm brown jacket that was ill-fit for jungle travel.

Walking through the forest, Rem kept his ears tuned for any danger. At the snap of a twig he hugged a tree and, with a shaky hand, drew his weapon. He let out a battle roar, ready for someone, or something, to come charging. But nothing did, he just stood there looking ridiculous with a reddened face from over-exertion.

“Get a hold of yourself,” Rem said aloud as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He holstered his silver blaster and continued walking on. There was nothing eventful going on around him, just the breeze that whistled through the trees. He was a long way from his home of Corellia and he knew his superiors would soon be wondering where he was, which was also something he wanted to know.

The walk was long and tiresome, so Rem decided to rest. There were trees and shrubs all around him. Finally finding a comfortable spot, Rem sat against a tree, closed his eyes and took a breath. In and out. In and out. His heart beat slowed to a normal pace, his face returned to its tan complection and his hands stopped shaking. Rem then sat up and began walking once more. His legs wobbled underneath his weight, he needed to find some sort of civilization soon or he would collapse and be out in the open. Unprotected and ready for death were two things he did not want to become.

He then heard from behind him another twig snap, this one louder than before. Instead of going crazy like he had last time, he slowly turned around, only to see a smiling woman. Before he could say anything to the pretty girl, he received a blow upon his head as a tree branch smacked him.

&mdash; &mdash; &mdash;

The prison cell was small, the technology was primitive and the hospitality was scarce. Rem laid there, huddled in the fetal position from a searing pain in his gut. He was in pain, but he could manage.

“Now tell me spy, who sent you?” The woman said standing outside his box. She ran a small dagger against the metal bars in front of her. Rem looked at her, she had straight brown hair and a face that looked nothing like a warriors. Her soft brown eyes and full lips contrasted her bruised and bloody knuckles that clutched so tightly around the dagger. He also noticed a mud covered sword tied to her hip, its kind unknown to him.

“I am Rem Drat’n, an Airman of Corellia, my space craft crashed in a forest not too far from where you took me captive,” Rem said as he sat up, his back resting against the hard metal bars opposite from her.

“Corellia? Did you just come up with that one, Mr. Drat’n?” She spoke through gritted teeth, an attempt to strike fear in her prisoner.

“Look, just take me to your commanding officer and I’m sure we can clear this all up,” Rem said pushing his bangs away from his eyes. The cell he was in was hot and musty, a strange smell wafted from the ground where he was seated.

“That’s just what I’m going to do. Tarvis will know just what to do with you, spy.”

She then opened the cell and ordered two men to bind and carry Rem out of the cell. The two men looked near identical, white skin, a lot of muscle and cropped hair. One of the men grabbed Rem’s legs, the other his arms. They then carried him to a car when they threw him in the trunk. The vehicle was just a primitive as the cell. The green and mud covered thing ran on tires, and had very little trunk space. The latter would have bothered him more, but he was just glad to have a bit more room in the car than in the cell.

The ride was bumpy to say the least. At every turn, Rem’s head would bobble into the side of the car, making a soft but prominent thump thump sound every few minutes. By the time they stopped and lifted Rem out, he was so dizzy that he stumbled the entire three steps he took before being carried the rest of the way. They took him into a long tent. Brimming with people, the tent was hot and smelly, just like everywhere else Rem had been. In front of him, standing on a pedestal was an older man. He had grey hair and a slightly wrinkled face. Like Vayla, a sword was on his hip. This one, however, was clean and polished.

“–and it pains me to tell you–who is this?” The old man caught sight of Rem.

“It’s a spy, sir. We’ve brought him here to be tried by Tarvis,” the woman stood up straight. She was preparing for the honor of seeing her leader, Tarvis.

“A spy, you say? What is the name of this spy?”

“Re–” Vayla was cut off.

“I believe the man can speak for himself,” the older man said. The young woman looked like someone had thrown poodoo in her face.

“My name is Rem Drat’n,” Rem strained to say as one of the men who escorted him tightly gripped his wrists.

“Nice to meet you, Rem. May I ask where you hail from?”

“Corellia,” Rem said, pulling away from the man’s grasp. He knew the grunt wouldn’t try to harm him when he was speaking to this man who seemed to have the respect of everyone in the tent. He just noted the any sudden movements could change their hospitality.

“Corellia? The planet?” The man’s face was scrunched, his eyes squinted as if straining to see if Rem was lying.

“Yes, the planet. My ship ran out of fuel and I was lucky, or so I thought, to have landed on this planet. Though I must say I’ve had one helluva welcome.”

“Where is your ship?” The older man asked. He stepped down from his pedestal and approached Rem. The same confused look was stretched across his face.

“It’s in the forest, near where they found me,” Rem said in reference to the pretty girl who looked as if she was ready to rip off Rem’s head.

“Vayla, show me. And let’s take Rem along with us,” the woman’s jaw dropped as the man spoke.

“Krist, what would Tarvis say? You need to clear this with him,” immediately after Vayla spoke, Krist looked down at the ground. He rubbed his eyes with his middle finger and thumb.

“That brings me to why I called this meeting. Master Tarvis had succumbed to his stomach wound. He died early this morning.” Krist said, he looked at each and every face around him. There was not a dry eye in the tent, except for Rem, who drew the conclusion that Tarvis was the leader and now had died. “Now, I’m sorry but we must be off to clear this man’s story,” Krist said.

Rem was escorted out the tent by the two men who had carried him earlier. “Your services won’t be needed for this,” Krist said to the men after they were several paces outside of the tent.

“Sir, you can’t just send my men away,” the woman said.

“Fine, if you want to stay with us at least introduce yourselves,” Krist stared at Rem as he spoke, as if trying once more to gaze into him.

“I’m Twitch,” the man to Rem’s left said.

“And I’m Sanke,” the other man said. There was no handshaking involved, but their angry expressions did disappear almost entirely. The four men and one woman walked on, they entered the vehicle and drove once more. This time, Rem was privileged to squeeze into the back seat with his two new friends while Vayla drove and Krist sat up front.

“Dead?” Vayla asked in a hushed tone, it sounded as if she could believe Tarvis’s misfortune.

“Yes,” Krist replied putting a hand on her shoulder. The rest of the drive was silent, until they eventually reached the outpost where Rem had been earlier held. When they got out of the vehicle, Sanke looked at him and said, “Maynian Rover, the one thing the Par can do right.” He chuckled after he spoke.

“Par?”

“Yes, the Par,” Vayla said bitterly. “The government built on the blood and betrayal of the great Gevorians.” The name had no meaning to Rem, but everyone else’s chest seemed to puff out at the mention of Gevorian.

“Ah, so you’re rebels?” Rem asked as they walked on toward the forest edge.

“We’re more than rebels!” Vayla snapped, “we’re the rightful leaders of Maynus.”

Rem knew it was best to shut his mouth as Vayla was carrying a weapon. The five then walked on. First past the forest line and then deeper until they were at the skeleton of his once great beauty.

“Wow, you made quite a splash, didn’t you?” Twitch said in reference to the snapped twigs that were all around the ship. The ship looked worse than when he had left it. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it just looked bare.

“Keeping everything intact was not on my mind when I landed,” Rem said approaching the scrap metal.

“Landed? Buddy, you crashed,” Sanke said laughing. Rem continued to walk, eventually putting his hand on a torn wing.

“Well that proves your story, Mr. Drat’n,” Krist said, looking at Vayla as he spoke. “You’re welcome to stay with us,” he said, finally looking at Rem.

“Wait, this could just be a trick by the Wizard of Welish. There is reason that the rebellion to the west calls him the Trickster,” Vayla said, her hardened stare focused directly on Rem.

“First, Vayla, the Wizard of Welish would not set this whole ploy up. The chances of you three finding him were low. Also, the wizard would want to be present during our destruction. He wouldn’t send a boy, no offense, to defeat us.” Krist’s spoke through clenched teeth.

Rem was confused, who was this ‘Wizard of Welish’ and why did Vayla still not trust him even though he had proved his story, were two questions that floated around his head. “Who is this man you’re talking about?” He eventually asked. Vayla looked at him with refreshed anger, she knew he was a spy. The only problem was, he wasn’t.

“The Wizard of Welish is an evil man,” Sanke replied, a sober tone to his voice. Looking at Sanke, Rem noticed that the man wasn’t looking at him, he was looking past him. Rem turned around as a large group of men and women cloaked in white emerged from behind his craft and in between trees.

“Everyone stay back,” Krist said as Vayla and her men turned around to see they had been circled by these cloaked people.

“Fancy seeing you here,” a large man said, his cloak was a richer cream color, signifying his superiority.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Krist said as he slyly put his right hand on his hip, clutching his sword.

“Well we do,” another cloaked man said. His mangy beard and dirty face hid his age, making him look years older than he really was.

“Silence, Joyn,” the cloaked leader spat at the bearded men. The cream-robed man then removed his hood, revealing a bald head. “Prepare for battle, you fools,” the man eventually said, removing his cloak all together. Rem was relieved to see that the man was wearing something underneath, though it was not much.

The loin clothed man approached the rebels and as he walked toward them, his soldiers followed. The circle tightened and hope seemed lost. “Screw this,” Vayla said as she drew her filthy sword. She charge the mostly nude man, ready to strike. Just as she was in striking distance, the man lifted his hand and Vayla shot backward at magnificent speed, hitting a large tree with an audible thud. After that, the once docile, but menacing, circle turned into wild beasts. They charged with fists, spears and stones, ready to do some damage. Rem reached for his gun, what would surly have handled these guys, but when he touched his hip holster it was empty. Damn.