Silently standing, Mainerd looked outward, his arms folded across his abdomen.
On his face was a small beard, mostly just stubble. It had been a while since he had shaved.
For the last few nights, he had been hiding. He had tried to steal another ship to replace
his damaged TIE Defender, but had been unsuccessful. He wasn’t sure what was to blame,
but it was probably himself.
The ship was a freighter, and it was fairly well armed. Some modifications, extra
weapons, and other things, and it would make an excellent ship. It looked space worthy
and maneuverable, and he made up his mind to steal it. He was discovered before he got in
the shipyard and had to run. They hadn’t given up on the pursuit, though. It was three
days since they began, and he’d been chased all over the place.
He was now a Sith Warrior. His master completed his training and knighted him.
He was now the Sith that he had imagined being. With his training and his experiences
before his training on Geonosis, he was much more mature and experienced. His overall
mood was also different. It was more dark and serious than before. He also acquired a
better ability of concealing feelings and replacing them with others if necessary. He was
much more powerful than before, and was also equipped with the weapon of a true Sith: a
lightsaber. The hilt was curved and it was attached to his belt, the crimson blade concealed
within.
Most of his work so far had been hiding, sneaking, and stealth, none of them which
he wanted to be doing, especially for this long. He let out a quiet sigh, observing the plains
before him. He heard footsteps, but stayed exactly where he was, his black robe moving
only slightly with the breeze. The footsteps stopped.
Strange, he thought. Why isn’t he shooting? He turned around on his right foot,
keeping his hurting left leg stationary. He found that he was looking at a short man, well
armored, and armed perceptibly with a pistol.
“Well,” Mainerd said. “Are you going to kill me or just stand there?” His voice
was cool, but not threatening. This man did not seem like he was up to no good, so he did
not add a more threatening edge to his voice, keeping it calm.
“Not quite,” he said, his voice surprisingly low. “I’ve come to shoot you, in hopes
that you will either die or at least be hurt enough to take in.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” The shorter man remained quiet. Angling his
pistol so that it was level with Mainerd’s head, he kept it steady.
“You,” he said. “I’m waiting for you to make a move.”
“That’s a mistake you don’t want to make.”
“I’m quite sure it is,” he replied with a snarl.
“Your sarcasm is truth,” he replied, still not moving at all.
“Then why don’t you attack, huh? I came to fight you, not just shoot you. I want
to bring you down.”
“I’m afraid you won’t have that pleasure.” The man simply laughed. Assassins,
Mainerd thought. Still not moving, he telekinetically shoved the man backwards. He was
very quick and was back on his feet in a second or two and fired a shot straight at
Mainerd’s chest. In one swift motion, he took out his lightsaber, ignited it, and hit the bolt,
directing it back to the shooter. It nailed him in the head, sending him to the ground.
There was a blast hole in his helmet and from the smell, it had hit his head.
Mainerd searched the man for any device that would go off if the assassin would
fail, telling his pursuers where he was and that the assassin had failed. Luckily, there was
none; the hit man must’ve been to proud and conceited to carry one.
“Arrogant scum,” Mainerd breathed. Device or not, he decided that it was best to
get away from this area. They would find out eventually and begin hunting again, if they
weren’t already. They were awfully persistent for planetary security. He was wondering if
there was more to this then met the mind’s eye. He had the Force, though, and if
something was up, he would sense it. However, he could not always trust his own senses,
so he kept searching.
He walked away silently, the only sounds being his boots lightly touching the
ground and his cloak brushing against the grass. His dark eyes searched the area around
him, his mind stretching outward, searching for anything and everything. He walked for a
few more hours before deciding to stop. He was growing weary, and his leg was starting
to hurt. Sith healers had mended the wound for the most part, but with all this walking
around constantly, running, and killing cocky assassins, the pain was returning: shrapnel
from Coruscant and a laser from Geonosis. He tried his own Force remedies, but it only
dulled the pain or kept it away from a short while. Nevertheless, it still helped.
He had sensed water nearby and drank some and filled up his canteen. Then he
moved as far away as possible to stop for a while. Day was approaching, but it didn’t
matter to him. They were using electronic devices, not their eyes, and their devices didn’t
function better or worse depending on the time of day.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, it was instantly disproved. Seconds
before he heard the whine of an engine, he sensed it. Them. There were two or three.
Taking his saber hilt off his belt, he poised himself in a defensive position, ready to light it
and strike. More whines joined the first few. Some were coming from the back, some from
his left. They were all getting close, and he had a sickening feeling that he was surrounded.
He didn’t have enough time to see if the speeders themselves were armed, so he focused
his energies on the upcoming battle, taking his pistol in his left hand.
Then, he saw the craft. Great, he thought. It’s a biker gang. There were over ten
of them, maybe fifteen. Above the whine of the engines, he heard them shouting and
whooping. Then, Mainerd fired a shot right at the stabilizing spokes of one of them,
knocking it off and sending the bike and rider to the ground. The lightsaber blazed with
crimson fire as he jumped in the air, slashing at one of the riders. The bikers were
extremely good and very talented; none of them collided when they all approached where
he jumped, they wove in and out of each other, avoiding the other bikes. One of the
unlucky bikers couldn’t avoid the bike next to him and the bike of the man that Mainerd
slashed, and he was hit.
They were returning fire and Mainerd went into a blocking frenzy, angling the
blade of his lightsaber to intercept the bolts and send them back at their shooters. Only one
or two succeeded in hitting the shooter and they were flung off their bikes.
No way I’m getting out of this one, he thought. The blaster shots were becoming
more accurate, and he had to jump, sprint, duck, dodge, and block to avoid all of them,
and he was constantly on the defensive. A heavier whine entered his ears; a combat
speeder, judging by the sound and the growing volume of it. He was not about to
surrender though, he would escape, kill them all, or die trying, and the only likely one in
this situation seemed to be the third choice.
The heavy cannon on the combat speeder erupted into a flashing green flame,
hitting the ground with an impact that knocked a couple of speeders over, sending their
shrapnel in various directions, as well as dirt from the ground that it struck.
Confused, the bikers wheeled around to face this new threat when another laser
shot out of the cannon and knocked a few more over, sending more pieces of dirt, metal,
and flesh into the air.
Mainerd shot at a biker, nailing him in the shoulder, to help out the speeder, even if
it would attack him next. After all, it could be to groups competing for who would get the
prize and the money for bringing it in. The bikers were fleeing from the sudden attack and
the loss of several of their men. The combat speeder didn’t relent, however. It fired once
more, killing more of them and sending one bike flying into another. It would’ve fired
again, but they were now out of range.
Mainerd looked beside him and saw a distorted human figure wearing a different
suit than the rest, obviously the captain. The combat speeder must’ve nailed him in the
first strike, which was the one closest to Mainerd.
The occupants of the speeder exited and walked over to Mainerd, unarmed. They
were both male, but one was masked. The unmasked one, a human, spoke.
“Forgive us if we injured you. You seemed like you needed a hand.”
“I did, in fact, but I doubt you were just in the neighborhood,” Mainerd replied,
not giving any trust to the two figures. “What are you doing here and why did you help
me?”
“You are the renegade,” he answered. “The one they call Gnagson.”
“They never said anything about Gnagson being a Sith Lord,” the masked man
replied. Mainerd didn’t like him. Maybe it was the metal mask hiding his face.
“No, but it would make sense, especially for what they think he did at Geonosis.”
“What they think?” Mainerd asked. “That was me who infiltrated the spire and
killed the GSA members.”
“Ah! A confession, and proof that he is Gnagson,” the unmasked man said. The
masked man merely tilted his head up minutely.
“There were no reports of any laser sword,” the man in the mask said.
“This is new,” Mainerd said, holding the deactivated weapon out so they could
see. He also held out his pistol and his rifle after clipping the lightsaber back to his belt. “If
you know about the incident, you should know about these.”
“This is a GSA standard issue rifle,” the unmasked man said to his companion.
“Yes,” the masked man replied. “Indeed it is. I suppose that will suffice as proof.”
“Good. Now that you’ve answered my ‘what’, how about the ‘why’?”
“Why we saved you?” The unmasked man asked.
“No, why you want me.”
“Ah. And you will know that. If you come with us. We need your help and you
were on this planet, so we joined the search group and finally found you after tracking the
biker gang that found you and made a rather large noise about it. And it was a good
choice of ships. That one is in fairly good condition.”
“My help? With what?’
“We’ll answer that along the way.”
“They way to where?”
“My, you are inquisitive,” he said with a smile. “To our ship, and from our ship to
another ship.” Mainerd conceded and went to their speeder. The masked man flew it and
the man without the mask answered and asked questions.
“My question, Gnagson, is why you’re here.”
“To get that ship. My old one was a bit beat up and I needed a better one. This
was the closest planet.”
“What happened?”
“Natural damage. It wasn’t all that great when I got it, and flying around, a narrow
escape, and natural wear beat it up.
“I see.” He paused for a moment, then spoke again. “So, you are a Sith Lord?”
“No,” Mainerd replied. “I am a Sith, but I am not a Lord. My title is Darth, a name
commonly given to knights.”
“I see,” he said again.
“So what exactly is going on?”
“In these days, the Sith are becoming more common. There are more of them than
there were before, and their numbers are still growing. However, they are not everywhere.
It is our fortune that you landed here on Naboo.”
“So that’s where I am.”
“You didn’t know?”
“I suspected by the building structure, but it seems the port I went to wasn’t built
by Nubians.”
“Indeed it was not. It is a recent building by some off-worlders. Your ship didn’t
tell you on the monitor?”
“A few of the navigation systems were malfunctioning.”
“I see, and you landed on a planet that you didn’t know?”
“I had no choice. I needed a more durable ship and this was the closest planet.
Sorry for interrupting, continue.”
“Oh yes,” he said, his eyes drifting upward as he thought about where they left off.
“The Sith, and our fortune finding you. We are in need of help. We’ve been attacked a few
times by some kind of fleet that we aren’t sure of. It could be another private army.
They’ve been hitting us for weeks now. I want you to help us defeat them.”
“Why should I help you?”
“Because we just saved your life,” he said with a smile. Mainerd nodded and knew
that he was right. Without their timely arrival, he would have been overwhelmed by the
bikers. They saved his life, and in return wanted him to save theirs.
“Very well, I will help you. Although I’m not sure how.”
“You’ll be our commander and tactician.”
“I’m a warrior, not a strategist.”
“Even warriors know strategies. Plus, you are a Sith. You have a Force. You are a
superior to men.”
“So after winning your private war, then what?”
“Your debt will be repaid, we will perhaps get you a new ship, and we will send
you off to do whatever it is you Sith do.”
“Seems fair enough. More than, actually, with the ship.”
“We saved one life. You will save many. It is less than fair.”
“If you say so,” Mainerd said. With that, the sensor bleeped telling the three that
they were close to arriving to their destination.
“Gnagson, what is it that you Sith do?” The masked man suddenly asked.
“I do whatever my lords command. Our main purpose is to kill the Jedi and
dismantle their order.”
“The Jedi Knights guard and protect the galaxy. Why do you wish to destroy
them?”
“They destroyed us,” he replied. “Twice. We destroyed them once. We want our
revenge. The Jedi Order is corrupt and insolent, stuck on old traditions and
narrow-mindedness.” The masked man said nothing. “Do you oppose the Sith?”
“I do not care unless they get in our way. That’s the way I am with everyone. No
one is my friend or enemy unless they help or hinder me.”
Mainerd nodded. For the most part, he agreed with that. He didn’t like or dislike
anyone unless they hurt of helped him. Despite him being masked and shady, they were
alike in some ways.
“What are your names?” Mainerd asked, remembering that he didn’t know them.
“I am Jordan,” the unmasked man replied. “And this is Kevin.” They had arrived
and stopped, and Kevin was the first to exit. Jordan was quick behind him and Mainerd
was last, walking behind them and following them to their ship.
It was medium sized and completely white. It was hardly armed, and two guards
stood at the exit. As the three walked in, the guards followed, shutting the ramp behind
them. The flight was relatively short since their main ship was just outside the system.
It was a capitol ship, a fairly large one. By the appearance, it seemed well armed,
too. It, like the ship they were in, was completely white.
“White is a symbol of fearlessness,” Jordan said. “It stands out in many
environments and says ‘I’m not afraid of you, and I don’t care if you see me.’ In the dark
of space, you can see every one of our fighters like moving stars. We are bold and
fearless.”
And arrogant, Mainerd thought. Within a few minutes, they boarded and they
immediately took Mainerd up to the command bridge. The inside, unlike the exterior, was
grey and black.
“This is the bridge,” Jordan said. “You will take command behind the lectern
looking things here.” He indicated a quartet of consoles, each of them held up from the
ground with a square shaft. “They indicate the status of a variety of things. An instructor
will tell you how to use them. It shouldn’t take long, and since you’re a Sith, your Force
can help you remember.”
Kevin was talking to someone on the bridge and abruptly left in a rush. He was an
alien of some sort, one that Mainerd was not familiar with. There was a large variety of
aliens, some including Rodians, Aqualish beings, and even a Calamarian. The old captain
was pale and white, with a small head and a long neck. He had several arms and could use
them all well, which was why there were four consoles, so he could extend his reach and
make commanding easier. Mainerd had heard about one of these creatures who was a
good podracer. The extra hands would definitely be useful, but Jordan told him that he
had been killed in an ambush while in a transport attempting to board with the ship they
were in now.
“For now,” Jordan’s voice sounded behind him. “You will rest and eat. It looks
like you’ve been starved, running around in that wilderness with nothing to eat.”
It was true, he had eaten almost nothing in the time that he was on the run. After
he ate, he slept, and his sleep was long because of the lack of it that he had from
constantly being aware or on the move. When he woke, he shaved and ate again, then was
led to the quad consoles to be instructed. After the defining, explaining, and some
experimenting, Mainerd had it down, the Force retaining it in his mind.
“Nothing can give you total master of it except experience, but this is as best as
you’re going to get,” the instructor said. “We do have a simulator. Would you like to use
it?”
“Of course,” Mainerd said. The simulation was fairly easy and covered all the
basics of command, the consoles, and usage of the fleet. Now that he had a feel for it, he
was given leave to do whatever he wanted. He retreated to his quarters and meditated for
a long time. In his meditation, he was given a vision. It was unclear, but there was some
danger; a warning of some sort. A vague image of a man appeared before an alarm blasted
and shook him out of his meditative state. He threw on his cloak and dashed to the bridge.
He saw instantly a fleet outside the window. It was completely white. He relaxed;
the alarm had sounded to inform them that they had found the rest of the fleet. There was
no danger at the moment. He began to wonder why there was an alarm to notify them.
Neither Jordan nor Kevin were to be seen, so he went back to his meditation.
“Wait,” Jordan said. “Sorry about the alarm. Seemed to have startled you.”
“A bit, yes. What is it?”
“You’ll be introduced to the rest of the fleet and you’ll have to get the names of
the ships and squadrons et cetera.”
“Okay, then. I’ll stay up here.”
The command ship, the Ivory Borne, approached the rest of the white fleet. When
they merged, then they would make way somewhere else to pick up war supplies. From
there, they would roam around, luring their enemy to fight them.
Darth Mainerd
Personally, I think this is possibly my best one. I'd be grateful for any feedback and comments.
PART TWO
They had been flying for about a day. Their supplies were picked up and now they
were just wandering, as was their plan. So far there had been nothing, and Mainerd had
spent his time meditating and studying the quad consoles. His meditations were always
interrupted by something they wanted him to do.
The white fleet hadn’t stopped anywhere except for that one time, and they
seemed to avoid every planet possible, and kept in the void of space constantly. Mainerd
thought it would be best to stay near a planet so that they could be picked up better, but
they spoke against it, saying that they knew what they were doing.
It was night, and he was very tired. He fell asleep and the next morning, he woke
up and shaved, then put on his robe and walked up to the command bridge. Everything
was in order, he saw. Jordan approached him.
“Everything in order, Captain Gnagson?”
“Yes, it is,” Mainerd replied.
“Good. We’re changing course about ten degrees starboard and will continue for
about six to twelve hours.”
“Sounds good.” Jordan began to walk away when Mainerd asked a question. “Are
there soldiers here on the Ivory Borne or on any other ships or are these all crew
members?”
“They’re mostly all soldiers, at least with some minimal combat training and
experience. The actual ‘soldiers’ would be in their barracks and/or the deck, where we
keep them for quick emergency uses.” Mainerd nodded. They definitely had a good army,
as well as a good navy. He looked forward to seeing them in a battle. His wish was soon
granted. An alarm blared and on the display scopes of the quad console was a few blips
indicating capital ships and other command ships.
Mainerd was at the consoles in a second and flipped a couple of switches,
activating various features. He was now in command of the entire fleet on the bridge of
the Ivory Borne, and had four consoles in front of him showing the data and readouts of
all the stations as well as the statistics for the fleet. He flipped the comm switch to
communicate to the pilot.
“Pilot, veer ninety degrees port to make us perpendicular to the fleet. All ships,
repeat order,” he said after flipping another comm switch. He flipped another switch.
“Port capital gunners, as soon as you get them in your sights, fire at them.” Another
switch was flipped. “Docking bays, prepare to launch fighters. Once their fighters come
within auto turret range, launch and destroy them.”
It only took about a minute for the entire fleet to get in the position. The capital
turrets were ablaze with a bright white flame as they fired their shots at the enemy fleet
that was getting closer. Since there were more turrets on the side, they would get more
shots off on the enemy. However, this was sacrificed by not being able to move away from
them. Mainerd figured that if they could hit them before they got to them, it would be
better than running and fighting at the same time, which would take too much time and
give the enemy a chance to find some kind of flanking maneuver. If that failed, they could
move forward, but that would open up their port side from attack from the enemy’s port
side. He figured this would be the best option.
The front of the enemy fleet began to fire, their few shots soaring past the White
Fleet, some of them striking the shields, causing the ships to rock slightly. The enemy was
moving fast, not wanting to redirect power from their cannons or shields to the engines for
more power. They instead took off power from some of the systems that were at the time
unnecessary.
“Gunners, they’re coming in faster. Accelerate rate of fire.” He flipped a comm
switch. “System managers, redirect power from engines to cannons.”
Since they were stationary, their engines were not needed and would not be
needed for a while. They enemy was closing in so they wouldn’t be pelted, and since they
couldn’t turn to fire starboard on port because they would be hit too much, this was their
only option. Diving below the White Fleet would open their top to fire, so they kept their
speed, still sustaining heavy damage to the shields in the front.
“Power redirected,” the System Manager said in the speaker. Mainerd flipped the
switched off and surveyed the battle on the console. Their shields were holding out good
and they were inflicting fairly heavy damage on the enemy, whose shields were lowering.
After a short while, fighters were launched from the enemy hangar and made their way
with speed to the White Fleet, dodging the turbolaser shots that were flying towards the
capital ships behind them.
“Fighters prepared in all ships, sir, except for the Snow Rider, which is having
some difficulties.” His last few words were interrupted by an explosion from a turbolaser
to the shields.
“Good. Solve the problem and be ready to launch all fighters when they’re in range
of our auto turrets.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied. Mainerd flipped the comm switch off and continued his
survey. They were less than a minute away from their auto turrets. Once they were in
range, the turrets would open fire and the fighters would engage in dog fights. This would
keep the fighters away from the capital ships while the capital ships focused on the enemy
capital ships. A siren blared as a signal that they were in range. The fighters launched and
began their approach on the enemy fighters. The auto turrets spat out bursts of energy,
missing most of the fighters, but hitting some of them, sending them into a fireball.
One ship, in an attempt to dodge an auto turret laser, dodged too far and almost
hit one of his wingmates, who veered up, losing momentary concentration of the battle.
This moment of evasive action took his concentration from the battle just long enough for
him to explode from the cannons of a white fighter, who flew over the fireball and shot
out a few more lasers, only to be nailed from behind and erupt into flames.
The battle continued for a while, and the White Fleet was outnumbering the enemy
in numbers. One of their capital ships had been downed from the Ice Vapor’s turbolasers,
sending its pieces in multiple directions, large chunks of it separating from the rest of it,
floating now uselessly in space. One of the pieces hit another capital ship, making a hole in
the ship and tearing part of it up. They recovered however, and kept fighting while
impaired.
The battle raged on, fighters exploding and a few capital ships going down. Then,
Mainerd saw an opening.
“Frost Haven, Ice Vapor, and Snow Rider, open fire on their main capital ship.”
“Sir,” the captain of the Frost Haven said. “That would remove our cover from the
ship in front of us and expose our port flank to attack.”
“I will have the White Mist cover you. White Mist, this is the Ivory Borne, cover
the Frost Haven on their approach to the enemy’s main flagship.”
“Confirmed, Captain. Altering position immediately.” An explosion rocked the
Ivory Borne as an enemy ship slammed into its hull. Mainerd checked their shield integrity.
It was still fairly high; sixty-three percent. The Frost Haven was only at about
twenty-seven percent, which was the reason they were so hesitant.
The Frost Haven, Ice Vapor, and the Snow Rider moved into position to attack
the main capital ship. Their turbolasers flashed from the batteries and slammed into its
starboard flank, the impact rippling over the shields, lowering their power. They were
losing their shield integrity at a rate of about one percent per second. The three ships
continued their barrage, the enemy trying futilely to repel the attack. The White Mist was
in position, covering the Frost Haven, but two other ships were coming in to destroy the
weaker vessel. The red ring around the blip on Mainerd’s console disappeared, signaling
that they had lost their shields. A moment later, the blip disappeared and a scream was
heard over the comm that he forgot to turn off. Then, static replaced the violent
explosions and death cries before Mainerd turned it off, giving his attention to the main
capital ship.
The Ice Vapor threw its lasers violently, eventually landing a critical hit on the
bridge, disabling its ability to command itself. Its bow dipped down in a nose dive as it
flew down uselessly into the blackness of space. Mainerd smiled slightly with the victory
and began to give commands again.
“Ice Vapor, your shields are reaching a low state. Fall back behind the Cloudy
Zephyr so it can cover you. White Mist, open fire on the one closest to you and take it
out. Snow Rider, assist the White Mist. Pilot, take is higher and open fire on that smaller
frigate their; it’s causing problems to the Snow Rider. Tell all squadrons to fall back a
small way so they can stay in range of our auto turrets; they’re starting to stray from our
protection. Tell Hanger Three of the Cloudy Zephyr to launch their fighters. Keep all
Hangar Two fighters in their hangars; only use them if it’s an emergency.”
Now that his orders were given, he watched. The Ice Vapor took cover behind the
Cloudy Zephyr, which nailed one of their frigates and sent it into a brilliant red-orange
flash of light. The White Mist was losing shields fast, but there was nothing much that
could be done. The Snow Rider was packing quite a punch on the enemy, that was almost
at zero percent shields. The Ivory Borne was at about forty-eight percent shields and had
almost destroyed the frigate it was attacking. The frigate had ignored the Snow Rider
completely to defend itself. The squadrons fell back as ordered and once again gained the
upper hand. Four of the White Fleet squadrons had been defeated and they were fighting
madly to defeat the enemy, who was in return firing their cannons at a high rate of speed,
often hitting a fighter in the engine, causing it to combust and consume the entire fighter in
flame. Tracking missiles were launched and the enemy was unable to evade them and were
destroyed by them, but countered by firing their own missiles.
The White Mist lost its shields and began to be punctured by multiple batteries
slamming into its hull, piercing its hull, causing things inside the ship, including men, to fly
out into the void of space. More metal was torn apart by the vacuum of space and they
began to lose altitude. Eventually, they were destroyed by proton torpedoes splitting it in
half at the middle, the two pieces now floating uselessly in space while the occupants tried
desperately to escape somehow.
The space was littered with chunks and pieces of metal and ship parts that floated
aimlessly in the void, often striking other ships, including the Snow Rider, who had just
taken its enemy down.
“All ships, concentrate fire on their turret implements. Take down their offensive
devices and they will pose little trouble. Launch all Hangar Two fighters, we’re losing the
dogfights.” He shook his head and lowered it. Their casualties were mounting and they
were running out of ships. The enemy was too, but they were not relenting. If Mainerd
was them, he would have considered withdrawing so he didn’t lose everything for a
victory that was almost completely worthless.
Suddenly, blips began to appear on his screen coming from their largest flagship:
troop transports with heavy escorts. They were going to try and board them and take them
from the inside.
“Prepare the hangars with soldiers, they’re attempting to send landing parties in!”
He ordered into his comm. “All ships, prepare for a boarding party.” As his order was
carried out, their ships began to advance on the enemy, surrounding their ships and
pounding them with laser fire. One of them was destroyed and the Snow Rider stood
almost indomitable amidst several frigates. The White Fleet had lost several frigates.
Mainerd made an error in concentrating on their capital ships and almost forgot about
their frigates. Bombers and other frigates had destroyed most of their frigates, but the
enemy was almost out of capital ships.
The Ivory Borne nailed another frigate, snapping its long, fragile center and
sending the two pieces apart.
“Captain Gnagson, this is the Snow Rider, we’re losing shields fast!”
“Steady, we’ll cover you. Keep concentrating on their turrets.”
“Their shields aren’t down yet.”
“I’m sending in bombers to assist you.”
“Good, sir.”
“If you have missiles, now would be an opportune time to use them.”
“Yes, sir. Out.”
The transports were getting closer to the Cloudy Zephyr, who was occupied with
attacking a frigate, giving it priority since they had a good defensive set up in their hangar.
Mainerd watched as the blip reached its destination and entered the Cloudy Zephyr.
Inside, the troops unloaded, their blasters flaring as bright red streaks of energy
flashed from the barrel, colliding with the White Fleet’s soldiers, sending them dead to the
ground. They returned fire, concentrating their laser blasts on the opening of the transport,
keeping their fire on one small spot, killing many of the enemy. Another transport landed,
unloading its troops. It also had a few men concentrating fire on the entrance. When the
third one landed, the White Fleet Soldiers didn’t have enough firepower to keep them all
at bay, and they began to flood out, firing at will. Their concentration was removed from
the other two to counter this new threat, and eventually the whole hangar was ablaze with
laser fire. Men began to run for cover, hiding behind crates and containers, and the
transports, in the enemy’s case. The fire continued until the White Fleet’s Soldiers were
running out of men. They fell back to the blast door, where an enemy threw a thermal
detonator, sending out a shockwave of fire, energy, and concussion, knocking men out of
the way, killing most of them. Instead of making a stand at the blast door, like they
planned, they retreated completely, sending out a signal that they had lost the hangar.
Mainerd heard this news and sighed, running his hands through his hair. He now
realized their plan. They were going to take over the Cloudy Zephyr and use it to fire at
the Ice Vapor and destroy it, taking it out and damaging itself, causing two ships to be out
of commission. He didn’t want to destroy the Cloudy Zephyr, but if he had no choice, he
would have to open fire on his own ship.
An alarm blared. While Mainerd was thinking of this, a trio of transports had come
close to the Ivory Borne, that was now in the mid twenties of shield integrity. The
turbolasers opened fire, striking one of them, turning it into a combination or metal
chunks, shrapnel, shards of reinforced glass, and flaming gasses. The other two made it
into the hanger and unloaded their troops. A gunfight erupted, resulting in tremendous
casualties on both sides. The boarding party was repelled, however, and the troops
cheered with victory.
“Send reinforcements to the hanger,” Mainerd ordered. “Also, keep a few
turbolasers trained on the Cloudy Zephyr.”
“Why on our own ship?” The head gunner inquired.
“They’ve been boarded. If they take over, we’ll have to kill them, or else they’ll
destroy the Ice Vapor.”
“Yes, sir.”
In the midst of the battle, Mainerd began to wonder where Jordan and Kevin were.
They were commanders or captains, or something. They should be up here giving
commands and helping out with things. He figured they were out doing something else
important. Kevin seemed like a good soldier and was probably in charge of the hangar
defense, but he hadn’t heard anything about it. He pushed it aside as he gave his
concentration to the battle, issuing commands to sweep out the frigates.
Jordan rushed down a hallway, his face dripping with sweat and his eyes squinting
with tiredness. His legs burned and he was running out of breath as he ran. He had to
contact the rest of their fleet for reinforcements. As part of their plan, they secretly hid
part of their fleet back a ways just in case they needed them. Now, they did.
He reached the communication center and leaned heavily against a console,
breathing deeply. He fumbled with the comm as he nervously and wearily imput the code
to contact the rest of their fleet.
“Ivory Borne, this is the Swift Wan. Do you need our assistance.”
“Yes,” he said, breathing in gasps in between words. “Our need is dire. Need help
fast. Get here as quick as you can, hurry!” He deactivated it and leaned in a chair. He
smiled. He’d done it. They were going to be saved. He knew, as well as Kevin, that the
true victory would perhaps alter the course of the galaxy. This fight was much greater
than every one else knew.
He picked up the comm and coded for a new transmittion wave.
Kevin squatted in the hanger. His arm had been singed by a laser, but other than
that, he was unharmed. The rest of his men were in fairly good condition too. Their
reinforcements were well on the way, and so was the next wave of transports. He hoped
they would be able to repel this next force. He had a thermal detonator that he could use
in case of an emergency, but he wanted to conserve it for a worse time.
The men around him were talking worriedly. Fools, he thought. If only they knew
the true importance of this battle. He also had another secret weapon; one that he would
not use unless he were the last of his men.
The reinforcements flooded through the blast doors and took position behind
barricades and other objects that were in the room. Some of them had brought shield like
things with them for cover. The transports were almost there. The turbolasers blew one of
the up, shocking the one next to it with the shockwave. The escort exploded as one of
their fighters shot it to dust.
The two transports landed and the men came out, the clash of red energy beams
initiating again, the two forces fighting each other for control of the hangar.
Mainerd stood, ordering fighter squadrons and frigates while keeping monitored
watch on the Cloudy Zephyr. They had one last defense; the control room and the
hallways in front of it. The group of enemies was a while away from it and just then, the
Ice Vapor launched a transport at it.
Good, Mainerd thought. If they can make it in time, we won’t lose them. Even if
they took the Cloudy Zephyr, the group of soldiers just sent in would take it back before
they could do any serious damage.
The battle seemed to be wrapping up. Most of the enemy starfighters were
destroyed or deserting and the frigates had been reduced to a minimum. Only one captial
ship remained, but it was dormant since it wasn’t going to shoot the Cloudy Zephyr and it
was out of range of the Ivory Borne.
Mainerd was slightly tense as things happened before his eyes. If they kept control
of the Cloudy Zephyr, they would win the battle without a doubt. If not, things would be a
lot worse and they might lose. The Cloudy Zephyr was going to be the turning point of
this battle. Both sides had fought their hardest and fiercest. The causualties had been very
high on both sides. The overview of the battle outside the viewscreen was a complete and
total wreck with pieces and chunks floating everywhere, polluting the space. Starfighters
were still dogfighting, but it was minimal. The chaos of the battle had died down as things
began to quiet, with Mainerd standing silently and still, watching the battle and
anticipating the turnout of the turning point of the battle.
Darth Mainerd
Here is the conclusion of the Hours of Chaos. It's very long; my longest by far. Hope you enjoy it.
PART THREE
Kevin whipped out his second blaster, pulling the trigger and nailing a soldier in
the neck, sending him backwards on the ground, his gun falling out of his hand. The
fighting was tense and Kevin had almost been hit multiple times. His men were dying all
around him and he began to wonder if the time was right to use his thermal detonator. He
was saving it for something more dire, but he was considering using it.
A scream pierced the air as the man next to him was shot in the side of the head in
the ear part of his helmet. Kevin stuck his hands over his cover and began to fire his
blasters repeatedly in random directions. He heard some of is shots hit their mark, but
most of them missed. His men were being driven back, and they were about to fall back to
the blast doors. Kevin couldn’t allow that. He got up from his cover, and in about a
second or two, he found a spot with the most men near it, took the detonator off his belt,
and tossed it towards them.
He fell backwards and hit his back on the floor and his head on a piece of scrap
metal. It didn’t break through his helmet mask, but he could feel the impact. He heard an
explosion, the crumpling of bodies, and the sound of metal scraping against metal. He
arched his legs back and kicked up in the air to propel his body from the ground and
landed on his feet in a squatting position. His guns flared with fire as he shot down
surprised soldiers. His grenade had definitely worked; the blast killed several of them. His
soldiers joined in with him, shooting the rest of the soldiers, killing them all.
Kevin took out his comlink. “Captain Gnagson, this is Kevin. We need more
reinforcements here.”
“Why are you telling me? I’m not in charge of the soldiers.” He looked out the
viewscreen and saw the transport enter the Cloudy Zephyr. “Where are you anyway?”
“The hangar, Gnagson. I’m telling you because I need something else. You have to
order all turbolaser batteries to concentrate on the next boarding party. We can’t take
much more down here”
“Affirmative. Hold your position and I’ll send the order now.”
“Good, sir.” He turned off the comlink and sat down on a box to catch his breath.
Meanwhile, Mainerd transferred the two orders, both with an affirmation to do so
immediately. The Cloudy Zephyr had stood completely still and the dogfights were
wrapping up. The enemy was starting to fall back now that their forces were failing. It was
obvious that they were starting to lose hope in their mission on the Cloudy Zephyr.
He opened up a readout on the Cloudy Zephyr and saw that the enemy was almost
there. His men were fairly close behind.
They must be running fast, Mainerd thought. He kept his attention there for a
while when a few blips began to appear at first where the enemy was, then where the
White Fleet was. Mainerd instantly knew that it was the reinforcements he had held back
for emergency cases. There wasn’t an emergency yet and he didn’t authorize that. The
enemy must’ve had the same plan.
Not good, he thought. That meant that the battle was going to escalate again and
things were going to get more chaotic. They seemed to be about equal numbers. One
capital ship could turn the tides, keeping the Cloudy Zephyr a major turning point.
Aboard the Cloudy Zephyr, a door blew open, sending chunks of it into the
command bridge. Enemy soldiers ran in, their guns pointed at the operators.
“All right, nobody move!” The commander said. “We’re taking control of this ship.
Keep at your consoles!” A Bith put his hands up and walked back to his console, turning
around to face it after being yelled at to do so.
The soldiers dispersed, keeping behind the occupants making sure they did what
they wanted them to.
Mainerd watched as the Cloudy Zephyr opened fire on the Ice Vapor. The Ice
Vapor, confused, hesitated before returning fire. Mainerd looked down and saw that the
Ivory Borne’s shields were recharging at a rate of one percent every five seconds. That
was good, but not good enough.
“Transfer power from engines to shield regeneration.”
“Yes sir.” The numbers turned from 1-5 to 1-3. “Power transferred, Captain
Gnagson.”
“Good.”
The cannons on the Cloudy Zephyr stopped firing, but the Ice Vapor continued its
fire.
“Ice Vapor, this is the Ivory Borne, cease fire!”
“They fired at us sir, we had to...”
“They stopped. Your men made it there.”
“Ceasing fire, sir.”
Laser fire rang out from all corners of the command bridge to the doorway where
the soldiers of the White Fleet stood their ground, disadvantaged. They were in a tight
spot and had to be very accurate or else they would hit their men, which were common
shields for the enemy. Eventually, they dropped the accuracy and began firing at will,
striking their own men with their lasers, dropping them to the ground.
Eventually, the fire died down and the White Fleet Soldiers defeated the enemy
and retook the bridge, although there weren’t enough men to man all of the stations
because of the casualties.
“Ivory Borne, this is the Cloudy Zephyr. We’ve got it back.”
“Good news. Fall back with the rest of the fleet and continue in the battle.”
“There aren’t enough men to man all of the stations, sir.”
“We’ll send a shuttle or a transport with some operators for you.”
“Thank you sir. Out.”
Mainerd flipped a switch and ordered for the shuttle to be sent. The Cloudy
Zephyr began to fall back as ordered. The capital ships began to intermingle and the
flaring chaos of combat continued, the battle escalating as more ships exploded and the
dogfights started up again. Mainerd continued giving out orders, commanding ships to
move into different positions and attack certain ships or certain parts of ships.
The White Fleet lost a capital ship and a few frigates, taking a capital ship of the
enemy with them. Mainerd was mildly surprised at how many ships two private armies
would have. He was beginning to think they were more than just private armies and
perhaps planetary defenses or something. He made a mental note to ask Jordan or Kevin
about it after the battle was over.
An explosion rocked the ship, sending Mainerd to his knees since his legs were
tired and weary from standing. He rose up and looked around confused.
That explosion wasn’t from another ship, it came from inside, he thought.
“Captain Gnagson! We’ve lost the hangar!”
“Kevin? What happened?”
“The enemy took the hangar! We have to retreat!”
Mainerd was startled. “Fall back to the collection stand and keep there. I’ll have
men from other ships come and assist you.”
“I don’t think we can make it,” Kevin replied. It sounded that he was beginning to
lose his cool.
It must be pretty bad, Mainerd thought. “Just do it, we’ll have men as soon as
possible.” An explosion and a scream muffled his response. “Repeat!”
“There’s no way we can make it! They’re moving around to cut us off from the
back; they just sent out a detachment!”
Mainerd began to perspire slightly. Looking at the screens, he saw that the battle
was going well in his favor.
“Kevin, what’s Jordan’s comm frequency?”
“5-02-01, why?”
“I’m coming down there. He’ll take my spot at the quad consoles.”
“Fine. Out.” Before he switched off, a small explosion and a scream was heard on
Mainerd’s end of the frequency. Mainerd commed Jordan, and told him who it was.
“What do you need, Captain Gnagson?”
“Kevin is in serious trouble and I need you to come up here and take my spot at
the consoles and take command, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll be there right away,” he answered hurriedly. He switched off and began
to run towards the command bridge to take Mainerd’s place. When he got there, the place
was empty. “Mainerd must’ve left,” he thought aloud. He took the spot and gave a few
quick orders. “Ice Vapor, watch your shields. I’ll have the White Fire cover you.” Just
then, the Cloudy Zephyr went down, the engines exploding massively, shattering the entire
back and sending the front forward purposelessly.
Mainerd used the Force to propel his steps as he ran forward as fast as he could,
his blaster in his left hand and his lightsaber in his other, unlit. He sped around a corner to
see Kevin in a mad dash towards him. Stepping to the side, Mainerd opened fire, sending a
soldier to the floor. More rounded the other corner and Mainerd kept up his fire, shooting
them down as they came.
A few of them took position and started to fire. Mainerd lit his lightsaber,
revealing the bright crimson blade. He swatted at a bolt, directing it back at the shooter,
hitting him in the hip. More blasts came and he flicked his wrist to angle the blade in a
course that would intercept the lasers. They shot back towards the soldiers, some striking
the walls, floor, and ceiling, and other hitting their mark, heaving the men back with a
burst of energy. Kevin stood behind the corner and periodically turned around the corner
and fired off a couple of shots, usually hitting the enemy.
After a while of standing there, Mainerd deactivated his lightsaber and put it back
on his belt, taking out his rifle and getting on one knee to fire, taking out the rest of the
soldiers with Kevin’s help. Sweating slightly, Mainerd put the gun around his shoulder and
his other in his holster.
“That takes care of them,” Mainerd said. “You okay?”
“Fine, Gnagson. Thanks for the help.” He faced Mainerd, his expression totally
blank with the mask on.
What’s going on behind that mask? Mainerd thought. He began to turn away, then
stopped and looked at Kevin. He was totally still.
“What?” He asked, his dark eyes suspicious.
“In this galaxy, a man has to do what he must to ensure its safety. Do you agree?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know you agree. At least somewhat. For a Sith, you have at least some
morality.”
Suddenly, he got it. “You were reading my mind... Jedi.”
“Indeed I am, Jark Gnagson. The Jedi are not blind to everything. I know what
you think, what you have thought, and what you want to do.”
“So you’re all in this together, huh?” He growled.
“No. Jordan and I are the only ones who know about this.”
“That’s pretty sick for a Jedi; bringing them all into a huge battle and let them all
die to get me.”
“We didn’t want to do it. We had no choice. Like I said, a man has to do what he
must to ensure the safety of the galaxy.” Mainerd glared. “Besides, they really are our
enemies. We have been fighting them for a while. We just noticed the chase for you and
took advantage of the situation.”
Mainerd was furious. He had never been so angry in his life before. Not even when
Angela died.
“I sense the anger in you, Gnagson. It is the fuel of the Sith. But anger is only a
weakness; an excuse to let your emotions flow to achieve what the Sith call ‘power’. You
believe that your hatred makes you stronger and that your anger makes you better. You
are wrong, Gnagson. Using your hatred and giving into it is a weakness. The Dark Side
will forever consume you and dominate your destiny!”
Mainerd glared still. His fury was rising with this lecture. Just then, an explosion
rocked the ship. He kept his balance, but noticed that the ship was still moving as it was
being rocked. His first thought was that they capsized, but then it came to him.
At the quad console, Jordan had his eyes shut. He was sweating and his hands
were shaking. Keying in a command, he over rode all of the systems on the Ivory Borne,
taking complete control. A fighter was shot and flew into the hull, shaking the ship.
Jordan, glad that their shields were almost completely recharged, keyed a command and
the ship lurched forward and down, taking it into the middle of the battle that was raging
between the two forces.
Mainerd slid and hit the wall and, looking up, saw that Kevin had also hit the wall.
Mainerd unclipped the hilt from his belt and leapt forward, igniting the saber and
unsheathing the crimson blade. He landed near Kevin and heaved down with his saber. A
jet of blue energy surged from a straight hilt and intercepted Mainerd’s blow, but the force
of it knocked Kevin backwards. Before Mainerd could attack, he unleashed a fury of
Force energy and sent Mainerd backwards.
The ship returned to its normal altitude and leveled out. Laser blasts slammed into
the hull, rocking it. Mainerd stood back up and ran towards Kevin with a slash to his left
side. Kevin angled his sword up and parried it, then brought it around in a
counter-clock-wise motion and attacked at Mainerd’s left. Mainerd blocked it as he shifted
his body weight to intercept it. Then, he took the saber in one hand and arched it over
Kevin’s head in an overhead cleave, then brought it back out and made a thrust. Kevin
blocked the cleave and sidestepped the stab, extending his sword arm as a slash, only to
have Mainerd lean backwards to let the blade fly over him. As a counter attack, he jumped
up an inch and kicked hard with his left leg, kicking Kevin in the thigh since he didn’t have
enough reaction time.
Mainerd fell back and hit the floor on his back and Kevin staggered. Mainerd
rolled over, pushed up hard, sending him in the air, then turned one hundred and eighty
degrees to face Kevin, surging with the Force, pushing him backwards. He flew back and
almost hit a door. However, as soon as Mainerd pushed him back, he flipped the switch,
opening the door and letting Kevin fly through it, skidding across the ground.
Mainerd ran in the room to be greeted by Kevin’s feet as he drop kicked him.
Going too fast, he couldn’t react and all his momentum was stopped as the two boots of
the Jedi slammed into his stomach, sending him backwards breathless. The Jedi stood up
and shifted the saber to his other hand.
“See, Sith? The Dark Side is not the way. It has brought you nothing.” Mainerd
got on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. “It has not protected you and it has not
defeated me. You are weak, Sith.”
“Oh, just shut up!” Mainerd yelled as he leaned up and Force pushed the Jedi back,
sending him into a table. “Enough of you lectures. Don’t talk to me, fight me!” With that,
he lunged at Kevin with a stab, but he took a step to the side and shoved his blade, pointed
downwards, at Mainerd’s blade, redirecting its course and sending it into the wall, heating
the metal and turning it bright orange color. He then punched at Mainerd, hitting him in
the side of the cheek and knocking him over.
Mainerd telekinetically lifted a chair and hurled it at Kevin, who ducked and sliced
it in half. He threw more objects, all of them slashed at, dodged, or pushed aside with the
Force. Mainerd was up now; his distraction worked.
Kevin made an uppercut, but Mainerd stepped and leaned to the side, letting the
blade go up, then hit it, knocking it aside, then jumped high in the air and sent his boot
hard into Kevin’s mask. His saber fell aside and he lay on his side. Mainerd made a grab
for the saber, but Kevin got it first, using the Force. He telekinetically shoved Mainerd
backwards, then got up, shaking his head after the impact.
Mainerd got up and turned around swiftly, using the momentum as an attack.
Kevin blocked it and swung at his head, but Mainerd ducked it and slashed at Kevin’s feet,
making him jump up in the air to dodge it. He counter attacked by swinging his saber
down, but Mainerd turned and raised his saber to block it, backing up and walking
through another door.
The ship shook again, then again. The shots were becoming more violent. Mainerd
kept backing up, his saber held in a two-handed pose in front of him, the blade facing
upward. Kevin approached with the blade in one hand in front with the saber, the other
behind; a fencing pose. Mainerd angled his saber down, raising it up so the hilt was even
with his head. He stopped backing and Kevin stopped advancing. Another explosion
rocked the ship. The two opponents stood facing each other, catching their breath.
Mainerd was glaring, his dark eyes stone hard with fury and rage. Kevin stared calmly, his
bright eyes concealed behind his mask hard and determined, but not angry. He was a Jedi
and would not give into such foolish things like anger, especially when the Sith would
gloat about it.
Outside, the battle escalated wildly. Without the help of a commander, the White
Fleet was suffering. Since Jordan had the Ivory Borne under his control, threatening to kill
anyone who rose up against him, and standing uselessly in the middle of a battle, they had
no command ship either. The enemy was gaining the upper hand rapidly, but the White
Fleet fought on, sending a few transports to board enemy ships and try to take them. The
enemy did the same, but they didn’t waste men on the Ivory Borne. As the battle got
worse for the White Fleet, more and more ships were not needed to fight, so they hailed
the Ivory Borne since it was a sitting duck. If the White Fleet had the upper hand, they
almost completely ignored it and focused their firepower on the imminent danger.
Kevin surged forward with a thrust, but Mainerd scooped down and up with his
blade, redirecting its course. He slashed back, but Kevin ducked and slashed with his own
attack that Mainerd blocked by quickly swinging his blade over to intercept Kevin’s. The
blue and the red flashed vibrantly in the room, clashing together, creating a loud noise that
crackled. Swings were exchanged, lunges were made, then parries, jumps, counter attacks,
ducks, slashes, overhead cleaves, undercuts, sideswipes, more parries, and physical attacks
like punching and kicking.
This went on for a while, and eventually Mainerd tired and had to allow himself to
lose ground. He stepped back, intercepting a diagonal overhead cleave and attempting to
counter attack, but it was swiped aside. With his blade out, Kevin punched. Mainerd
leaned back and grabbed the arm with his free hand and spun around, twisting it and
kicking him in the abdomen.
Kevin regained his balance and kept pushing Mainerd backwards. He sensed a
door behind him coming up, so when Kevin swept his saber across Mainerd’s throat, he
ducked, slashed behind him, hitting the door release panel, then rose back up and blocked
the next attack.
The room was very dark, and the only ground was a wide catwalk suspended by
wires from the ceiling. They were careful not to hit the fragile wires with their powerful
weapons, so they made overhead attacks, stabs, and other narrow, short ranged attacks.
Mainerd continued to back up, angling his saber up and down and to the side to parry the
unrelenting attacks by Kevin. He was working as hard as he could, using the Force, all his
skill, and all his strength, to keep alive and defend himself by this powerful Jedi Knight.
An explosion rocked the ship, and as Mainerd hacked at Kevin from above, the
rocking of the ship sent him his stroke wide and he snapped a cable. There was little
movement, but as he rose with an undercut, Kevin made an error blocking and redirected
the attack too wide and their sabers snapped another wire. Mainerd had an idea. He kept
fighting, but swung wide, blocked wide, and redirected wide, snapping wires, and cutting
pieces from the guard rails. Kevin noticed the plan and made an endeavor to stop it by
Force pushing Mainerd, who anticipated it and jumped high in the air in a back flip.
Another explosion swayed the ship and Mainerd’s direction was altered. He
regained his composure, but landed on the catwalk and ended up slicing the footpath and a
wire. There was some of the catwalk uncut, but with the wire gone and his weight on it, it
began to give way. Another explosion hit the ship, followed by more. The explosions also
made the catwalk break more.
Eventually, it gave way and the other wires holding it began to snap. Kevin jumped
at Mainerd, elbowing him and sending him back. Both of their weights on it made the
wires snap more. The ship began to move downwards and the two warriors had to run up
the breaking catwalk to escape through the door.
After a few seconds of running, Mainerd saw it was futile and used the Force to
propel his jump, sending him out of the room and into the next one. He clambered in and
laid down on the floor that was moving down. Kevin jumped up too, but his powers with
the Force were better and he would’ve leapt all the way in, but Mainerd Force pushed him
as his legs began to come up, sending him back, his legs slamming into the doorway and
his body flailing as the Force shoved him back.
The ship was going even more downward, and the nose was about at a forty
degree angle and decreasing. Kevin stood up weakly and regained his balance. The fight
for the next minute or two was very tricky with the two warriors on opposite sides of the
doorway trying to keep their feet balanced on the floor and the wall, compensating every
now and then for the declining angle of the Ivory Borne. The lightsabers clashed with each
other and hit parts of the ship, sending sparks in several directions, blinding the Jedi and
the Sith.
The explosions were less frequent than before, which was an up side, but the ship
was almost pointed completely down. Mainerd knew that if he didn’t end the fight soon,
he might not be able to end it. If he didn’t end the fight, Kevin would. Kevin stabbed and
Mainerd hacked down and Force pushed, sending him back while his lightsaber was down.
Kevin hit the wall and got up and clipped his saber to his belt, using his own Force
push. Mainerd was ready for it, however, and used the Force to block it, his lightsaber
already on his belt. They telekinetically contested like this for a several seconds before
Mainerd had an idea. Two people pushing each other result in a tremendous amount of
pressure at the contact point. If one stops pushing, then he falls back with the person on
top of them. The person who let go would be hurt, and in this case, seriously hurt. He saw
the door a few feet away from him, leading into the room below, or would be beside.
He decided to try it and stopped pushing with the Force. Kevin, who had been
exerting all of his strength forward to defeat his enemy, unleashed the Force forward, and
since Mainerd’s strength left, he fell forward without the invisible wall of the Force to
keep him held up has he pushed. Mainerd went back with a crack on the floor that was
behind him and fell forward, his back aching and his whole body hurting from the
concussion. When Kevin fell forward, Mainerd used what was left of his strength in the
Force to make sure that he fell in the doorway, which he did. Mainerd looked over the
edge of the door to see Kevin, shouting, fall onto the broken catwalk, the jagged edge of
the slashed bridge stabbing into his back.
Mainerd rolled over and breathed deeply, his face covered in sweat and dirt from
the battle. His energy was spent and his body ached with weakness from the push
backwards into the floor behind him. After about a minute, the ship began to level out, and
eventually did.
It took a long time for Mainerd to find a way around the destroyed catwalk room
and get back to the bridge. He stopped at the door and knelt, feeling with the Force what
was happening at the battle. It wasn’t much; it was almost over. The White Fleet had lost
and the Ivory Borne was flying away from the battle. He could hardly care less. It had all
been a set up and he was actually somewhat pleased that they lost. The only thing he
didn’t like about it was that all his efforts trying to win it had been wasted. He thought of
it as experience in naval command.
Deciding it was time to leave this place and go back to where his fellow Sith were,
he opened the door and walked in. Jordan stood at the quad console. Mainerd coughed to
get his attention as he stood several meters behind Jordan. He turned around quickly, a
look of sheer panic on his now pale, sweating face.
“C-Captain Gnagson... I-I didn’t expect...”
“Shut up, you idiot! It’s time for you to die, you cowardly, double crossing,
fool...” The look of utter terror on his face was somewhat amusing.
“No! Captain Gnagson...”
“That’s Mainerd,” he said. In one swift motion, he sped of to the consoles, lit his
saber, and swung it outwards across Jordan’s chest, killing him instantly, the look of fear
still on his dead face. He shut the saber off an looked up at the operators.
“This man fooled you all. He took you into danger, into this battle, and down into
the thick of it, to kill me, your leader.” The look on their faces was confused and angry.
“Yes, it was all an assassination attempt. They were traitors; him and Kevin both. Kevin
tried to kill me, and Jordan tried to too just in case Kevin failed. I have killed them both
and saved you all. Why they would want to kill me after I saved the battle is beyond me,
but it is likely that they were planning this for a while, the filthy traitors. I have saved
you.”
A sigh of relief and a few cheers rose from the occupants. He could feel their
emotions relaxing, but there were a few that were still wary. He lied to them and they
didn’t know it. They believed his lies and were now on his side. He smiled slightly
wickedly and raised his hand to silence them.
“We will make for the nearest planet. Navigator, locate it and set the course.
Everyone keep at your stations. Once we get on the planet, you are all free to do as you
wish. This private army is being disbanded and you will all be free to go where every you
want to do whatever you want as soon as we reach the planet. Which is...”
“Tatooine, sir.”
“Tatooine? Good. Set the course and prepare for the voyage.”
On the planet surface in an apartment, Mainerd kneeled in the middle of the room
in meditation. An image similar to what he saw earlier when he was interrupted on the
Ivory Borne appeared. It became clearer and he saw it to be the old Sith he met on
Geonosis.
“Hello, Mainerd.”
“So it was you that I saw in my meditations earlier?”
“Yes, it was,” he replied. “If that blasted Jedi hadn’t have interrupted it, I could’ve
warned you.”
“So it was the Jedi that interrupted.”
“Yes, and he did an excellent job at clouding your mind from it. His acting as well
was very deceiving. You still have some to learn, young Darth.”
“I suppose so. What exactly happened?” Mainerd asked. “I’m sure you know.”
“First, that was a good lie you told them. It convinced them thoroughly. Now, they
came to know of you by your escape on Coruscant, your murder of the Jedi there, your
mission and adventure on Geonosis, and your thieving of the ship on Naboo. They set up a
mission by a Jedi who owned a private army. He wasn’t much of a Jedi, as you noticed.
He sort of slipped from the traditional ways, however, he was still a Jedi and was loyal to
them until the death. He agreed to the mission and with the help of Jordan, he portrayed a
sort of bounty hunter like figure protecting a captain of a private army. They saved your
life from the biker gang that they did not set up. They were real and they took advantage
of it, like they were both very good at. After saving your life, they lured you into their
fleet and fed you the story, which was, for the most part, true. Their captain really did die,
although they did not murder him for the moment. He has been dead, actually, for a few
years now. This enemy was just another private army they were in competition with. Just a
rival that they used to draw you in. During the battle, their plan began. Jordan called in the
reinforcements from your men and impersonated a person on your enemy’s team and said
that they were in need of reinforcements. They both sent them in and the battle escalated
again. Kevin, simultaneously, let the hangar fall to the enemy and called for your help
desperately. You came and saved him, and then he turned on you. Jordan, at the same
time, took over the controls, as was part of their plan to kill you. Kevin dueled you, but
you killed him. He anticipated that you might, which is why he had two attempts to kill
you. Both of them failed and you succeeded in evading their trap.
“In conclusion, they set you up and made an elaborate plot to kill you. They failed
because you beat them, and here you kneel in meditative contact with me.”
“I understand now. It was very clever; I must give them that.”
“As must I. Let me say that you did not really fail, nor did you really succeed. You
did not fail because you evaded the trap and killed them. You did not succeed because you
fell into their trap. It was, as we both agree, extremely clever. Many Sith would’ve fallen
for it. But since you have fallen for it, you will learn from your mistake and you are now
stronger and smarter than before. These trials you go through make you better and fortify
you. Learn from your mistakes and your shortcomings and recognize them so that you can
strengthen them and become a powerful Sith. During these hours of chaos, you have
learned and gained a great deal. I congratulate you, young Darth, for your efforts and your
fortitude. You will indeed become powerful.”
“Thank you, milord. Your teachings as well have made me stronger.”
“What has happened to you has made you who you are. This all a part of fate and
destiny. You are fulfilling your destiny and becoming who you are.”
“What must I do now?”
“You must do whatever your superiors tell you to do. Return to your fellow Sith
brothers and do what they command. Go back to them as soon as possible.”
“As you wish, milord. Also, I was wondering something. May I ask?”
“You may, if it’s quick.”
“What is your name, so I can address you properly?”
“My name,” the old Sith said. “Is Jark Gnagson.”
