The Shadow Protector sat in his office on Kuat and was getting ready to go home for the night when his assistant walked in the room. He said, "Please don't tell me that I have to go somewhere now. I just spent all day with the trainees and I have to write up the security details for the conference next week."
She simply stared at him with a grave face. He chose a more somber tone and asked, "What is it?"
She looked down at the flimsiplast she held and said, "The Grand Inquisitor just sent this over for you. He says he has a location on The General."
The Dark Lord grabbed the sheet and rushed out of the room, leaving all his papers behind.
Church of the Dark Side Kuat Headquarters, Office of the Supreme Prophet
Tarna had barely entered the building when Supreme Prophet Praxeum appeared in front of him. "I could feel you coming here from miles away, what's wrong?" he said quickly.
"We know where he is."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"Yes, your in charge for now, High Prophet." Praxeum said into his comlink as he and Tarna quickly walked out of the chapter of the Church. A small speeder owned by Tarna awaited their arrival and they jumped in through the doors as quickly as they could. They hadn't spoken a word since Tarna told him that he had the location of their dead friend Matas. Praxeum hadn't even taken the time to get his outer robe - was only equipped with one of his lightsabers. “So, what the hell happened?”
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"Story we knew: He was fighting pirates over Mon Calamari and got shot down, he crashes and dies. I felt it, you felt it. We all felt Darth Matas die, which as it turns out is something of a flexible term." Tarna said grimly. Praxeum continued to stare, confused, so Tarna continued, "Intelligence says that he received fatal wounds in the crash...which is when we all felt it. Intelligence also says that the pirates got him out of the ship and revived him somehow. But the damage to his brain is so intense, he has no idea who he ever was."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"Then how do we know where he is?" Praxeum asked as he turned to stare out at the landscape of Kuat flying past his view. He had knew Matas for a long time and consider him one of his few true fruends he ever had. And he had no idea what he would do if he lost another person close to him.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna took a breath and said, "An informant the Inquisitorius has in the gang. He managed to take holos of some of the crew and sent them to Kuat for ID checks. A Zabrak pirate known as Longhorns matched facial scans with Brigadier General Darth Matas."
He let the facts sink in while he raised his comm, "Lieutenant, get my shuttle prepared and Battle Royale on standby." Praxeum looked at him incredulously. "We're taking the Executor-class?" Tarna simply kept flying the speeder because he didn't have to say it: There was nothing to hold him back on this mission.
The two finally arrived at the main hanger. Both ran to the shuttle, which sped off towards the Super Star Destroyer waiting above.
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum walked down the long halls of Star Destoryer, hands clasped behind his back. He slowly walked right behind Tarna as the pair neared the bridge. "So - do we have a plan?"
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"We go to Mon Calamari, we haul these guys in with a tractor beam, we capture Matas, go home." Tarna said crisply. He turned towards Praxeum, "But since that's the plan I know that it's not going to work anything like that. Most likely, we're going to lock blades with our former friend. He might not know how he got them, but he has immense lightsaber skills. Not to mention we'll be on a slight emotional handicap until we can make him remember, if at all possible."
He turned towards the young officer, "To Mon Calamari, Lieutenant." With that, the stars turned to starlines and they were off.
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum's eyes continued to stare out in the lines of stars flying by his vision. He turned the small ring on his finger, given to him by Lord Shadow - coming from Lord Kaan himself, with this thumb as he tried to occupy his thoughts. But he couldn't. He had known the Zabrak for so long, had become so close.
"Do you remember the first time I met you two?" Praxeum said with a laugh. "I was as wasted as a Marix when we all went to Naboo. I walked up to you and punched you straight in the face." Praxeum said as his laughed continued to grow louder.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna couldn't help but laugh. "That's right, and so then I blasted you half to hell with Force Lightning...before..." Tarna choked briefly, "...before Matas stuck his saber in front of you to catch it. He yelled at me for attacking a drunk. He didn't care that at the time you out-ranked us or you could've died, he was mad because you didn't have a fair chance of beating me." Tarna turned towards his friend, the only true friend he had left.
"Then we all went back to the cantina, and you got even more drunk while we tried to catch up to you." he said with a smile. "Then we got so bad that they tried to kick us out, but of course we brandished our sabers. The police had to come, which of course ended well."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum voice was growing soft and distant the more he spoke, but still had the grin he was famous for. "Then we all had to go to the Dojo and duel..."
(Sorry it is so short, in a hurry.)
Sovereign Defender Tarna
(( Then I shall wait for you to make a real post. ))
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
(( There are sometimes when I wish I really could Force Choke you ))
Praxeum voice was growing soft and distant the more he spoke, but still had the grin he was famous for. "Then we all had to go to the Dojo and duel..." Then he couldn't contain his laugh, despite the sorrowful mood. "Then you nearly bit my head off!" Tarna was laughing himself nearly to the floor. It was if the pair tried to feel grief for their friend, but were always over-whelmed with joy when the thought of their time with Matas. "If I wasn't able to use Force Push better than most, you would be a cannibal!"
Sovereign Defender Tarna
(( That's the point. ))
Tarna stood up, slightly ashamed of himself in front of his crew. His lieutenant hid behind a station to conceal his grin. "I was not a cannibal! I've told you a hundred times, I was shouting and I threw myself at you! I wasn't flying at you with my mouth open to eat you!"
At those words, several technicians looked up from their screens. "Besides, that wasn't as bad as Dxun." Praxeum quickly blushed as his eyes darted around the room. "Who would ever think that a Sith Master would trip over a rock and fall unconscious?" Tarna sneered as Praxeum began to look worried.
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"Hey!" Praxeum yelled, "At least I still killed the Duros!" Praxeum said, having such a good time he didn't even notice the crew. His whole life were filled with sorrow and grief, yet when he was with Matas and Tarna - it was if it all had dissappeared. Which was more the reason to save Matas.
"If I remember that time on Dxun correctly, that is when I came back to find you and Matas stuck together in a pair of stun-cuffs..." Praxeum said, sending the whole crew into silence.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna shouted, "We were caught off our guard and outnumbered three to one! And did I forget to mention they had two Jedi Masters with them? We had to fight Jedi in the middle of that jungle while you were chasing after one lousy Duros." Praxeum still had a confident and cocky grin. Then, Tarna said coldly and calmly, "Do I have to bring up the night at Mara's?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"Woah, woah, woah. We talked about that!" Praxeum said as he slowly turned away, hoping to avoid that subject. "She admits there was no way I could have known I was there. A Wookie in the hands of a drunk is never a good idea...and in a bathroom like that no less..." Praxeum, leaving the rest to Tarna to remember and the rest of the crew to imagine.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"Fair enough, I suppose. Besides, that was nothing compared to what Matas did." Tarna chuckled as he said it. Praxeum looked confused as if he didn't remember. Tarna lowered his voice and said, "Matas, Coruscant, that Twi'lek girl? Remember?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum continued to stare at Tarna, trying to recall the moment...then it hit him. "Wait was that the time with the spice or the time with the speeder?" Praxeum asked. Tarna laughed before saying "Speeder." Praxeum laughed and said "I never knew police were so accurate."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna laughed like he was a madman. With the stress of his job and all the extra tasks he had taken on for the Empire, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to take a moment and relax, never mind laugh. But here he was, hurtling through space, and laughing with one of his oldest friends. He made a mental note to take a vacation in the nearby future.
"I have to do all this security detail information for the military conference next week. The Emperor's going to be there, so that's my guard. And then the Supreme Commander, who's trying to try and bring his special forces to secure the palace. And then whatever diplomats representing planets we're trying to bring in will have bodyguards, so I'm going to have to coordinate it so nobody's in each other's way." Tarna ran a hand through his hair. "And then I think of all the stresses of your job...like sitting and waiting for a vision."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum laughed out loud. "You only think that because you couldn't handle being a Prophet!" The two continued laughing as time moved along. Sitting there exchanging stories and just reminiscing on times spent together. It had taken so long, that they had lost track of time until a officer on the deck yelled out,
"Approaching Mon Calamari, sirs."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna looked grimly out the bridge windows as they reverted to realspace. The planet of Mon Calamari loomed in the distance like a large blue marble. Many ships were going to and from the planet. The small freighters nearest where Battle Royale entered were turning and fleeing, trying to avoid a confrontation with a Super Star Destroyer. Praxeum chuckled, "Could we have made a larger entrance?"
Tarna turned to him, "We're going to get into my personal corvette. If we cruise around for a while with transponder codes that look appetizing, we will be boarded and we can find him."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum walked around the small table they brought out for Tarna and Praxeum to sit at without leaving the bridge. He finished talking the last sip of his Corellian whiskey before setting it down, then turned to Tarna. "So, Await aboard a expensive ship, bait the pirates into boarding, keep Matas alive." Praxeum repeated as he replaced his dirty, white robe on him. "Sounds like our time in Wayland...without the girls." Praxeum said laughing as the door shut behind them and Tarna, Praxeum, and a few men stood in the lift to main hanger.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"Nothing will ever even come close to being like Wayland. That was the single most wonderful trip of my life, especially the girls." Tarna turned to see Praxeum giving him a disgusted stare. "I was brought to Kuat when I was three! I had never experienced women until that trip...and what a trip that was."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"Still...you didn't have to do that in front of the rest of us...and that tribe." Praxeum said, as sort of a conclusion to their good time - knowing the threat that was coming. He quickly walked out of the lift as it opened, making the others keep up with him. He was the first to arrive at the landing ramp, and turned and waited for the rest to arrive. "Let's go."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna walked up the ramp and into the cockpit of Liberty. He sat down in the pilot's seat and waited for Praxeum to strap into the co-pilot's chair. Then, he gunned the engines and the ship blasted out of the hanger. When the small corvette was far away, Tarna raised a comm to his flagship. "Liberty to Battle Royale. Jump to hyperspace for open space nearby and wait for my word to re-enter the system." Without answering, the comm went dead. Slowly but steadily, the massive dreadnought turned away from the planet and vanished into space.
"And now for some new transceiver codes." Tarna said. He turned to the communications station and sat at the screen for a few minutes. Then, he turned back to face the viewport with a grin on his face. "Welcome aboard the New Pearl, a jewelry sales ship from Bastion."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum sat, feet crossed and hovering off the ground, feeling the Force flow through himself and all that around him. His lightsaber floated beside him as he cleared himself from all emotions. He small alarm sounded throughout the ship, but his feet had already touched the ground and he was out the door. His lightsaber clung tightly on his belt, Praxeum was already near the bridge by the time the crew was able to get the coordinates for the ship - though Tarna was already aware were it was coming from. Praxeum walked up behind Tarna and quietly asked, "Are you ready for this?"
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"Absolutely not." The bulky freighter appeared from the blackness rapidly. It came up on their ship's starboard bow. In the cockpit, consoles were ringing as Liberty, or rather the New Pearl, received the target lock notification. The freighter had sneaked up on them, and immediately locked them on with several cannons and rockets. Tarna said over his shoulder, "They're good. Got us fairly quickly." Tarna killed the engines and waited for instructions.
"Ship, power down all weapons and non-essential systems." said a grizzly voice over the comm. Praxeum turned to a console and did so. "Stand by for boarding."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum stood by Tarna's side, listening to ever word Tarna said, but focused on locating Matas through the Force. Every fiber of his beings ached to find him, but he was not able to sense his presence. A thought fell into his head that perhaps Matas had become so convinced of his identity as Longhorns that even his presence in the Force was not the same. Praxeum's mind raced to think of if there was a way for them to bring the old Matas back - but he couldn't even think of a single idea.
"Sir, they are attached." A young man said while looking at a small console. Praxeum looked at Tarna and gave a quick nod as he slowly began to walk towards the starboard airlock.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna walked over to a solid wall, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, out of the middle of the wall a small hatch opened. He took out his datapad and other items. "Put anything that could link us to the Empire in here. We have to only use the Force if necessary, and maybe even then they'll think we're Jedi."
Dallow walked over to the door and stood there, waiting. He could not sense Kolar's familiar presence. A small flame burst into the top of the door, evidence of a torch being used to cut the door open. Tarna banged against the door, "Stop! Stop! I'll open it, damn it!" He slammed his hand against a button and the door slid open to reveal a large Twi'lek and a small, hunched Human who was holding the blowtorch. "Do you know how much that's gonna cost me?" Tarna snarled at the human.
The Twi'lek, nearly twice as wide as Tarna, grabbed him and slammed him to the ground. Tarna simply accepted it. The plan was to get caught.
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
Praxeum allowed one of the smallest pirates, what seemed to look like a deformed Ewok, capture him to enforce the facade of being easy prey. He watched the rest of the pirates run through the ship looking for treasures as the others took their "prey" in tow towards the ship. Once a board, and when the guards felt in a safe spot, they searched the captured crew for weapons, finding planted non-lethal weapons on them.
"Um, that's not a weapon." Praxeum heard Tarna say and could hardly contain busting out in laughter.
"Depends on who you ask." Praxeum muttered under his breath, hoping Tarna's Force-assisted hearing could pick it up. Praxeum knew he hadn't been on an adventure like this with Tarna in years, but it felt so right - he wasn't even nervous in the slightest. That is, until he heard a familiar voice from behind him saying,
"Welcome aboard."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
A shiver ran down Tarna's spine, and his body froze up. His stomach felt like it could be on fire, and yet filled with ice. As he was lying on the ground, he rolled over which caused his enemies to startle. He looked up and saw a tall Zabrak covered in tattoos and Tarna had to choke back tears.
"I'm your lovely first mate." the alien said to them. Tarna tried to catch Praxeum's eye but the Corellian was staring at the Zabrak. The Zabrak said, "There's something odd about you two."
Tarna used the Force to throw his guards away and managed to stand up. "What's your na-?" he started to ask. However, before he could finish the sentence the alien had blasted Force Lightning at him. Catching Tarna completely off guard, he was hurled across the room and slammed into the wall.
Praxeum used the Force to throw the alien against the wall, but the pirate drew two stun pistols and shot both the Sith. Before Tarna blacked out, his last thought was Kadrian.
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
(( You make the hardest things to reply to. ))
Praxeum eyes fluttered open, wincing as his eyes fought to adjust to the light. He tried to sit up, but pain flared through his body and muscles tightened from the stun gun, he just laid there trying to look around. He could see Tarna still laying on the other side of what he determined was a jail cell. He looked around him to see what there was, but these pirates left nothing in the cell that could help them at all.
He knew the two of them could destroy the doors of the cell with a single thought, but he knew he need to heal for now. He used the Force to slightly push Tarna against the wall he laid on, making the other Dark Lord wake up instantly.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
(( That's half the fun. ))
Tarna awoke with a start. His head throbbed violently. He looked across his cell to see Praxeum slouched against a wall, looking positively murderous. He tried to sit up, but pain shot through his body. Suddenly, he began to laugh. It was just a calm chuckle at first, and then it grew louder and louder until his voice was ringing off the walls. Slowly, Praxeum joined him. The two were laughing, tears streaming down their faces, bodies still in horrible pain.
"We're Dark Lords of the Sith, chief officers of Imperial Orders, Moffs of important Imperial worlds, and now we're captives of a bunch of backwater idiot pirate wannabes!" he said. Tarna roared with laughter even louder until the hideous tiny creature came over. A cross between a Ewok and a Gammorean, then badly disfigured, it simply snarled at them and banged against the cell bars.
Tarna nodded at the creature, whose neck snapped immediately. Praxeum stuttered and laughed. Slowly, the two managed to stand back up. After regaining their composure, Tarna raised his hand and the door flew off it's hinges.
"Ladies first." he bowed to Praxeum. The Corellian rolled his eyes and walked past Tarna. The two sneaked down a hallway for some time, until they found a small viewport. They looked out to see an immense asteroid field. "How did we get onto this rock?" Tarna asked in confusion. Before Praxeum could answer, a voice shouted, "Hey!"
The two turned to see a young human boy looking at them. No older than eleven, he was probably raised with the pirates. The boy tried to run, but Praxeum used a Force Pull to summon the boy to them. Praxeum lifted him off the ground and snarled, "Help us or die." The boy's face grew stony, and then suddenly red. The boy spat in Praxeum's face. Praxeum slammed the boy's head into a wall.
The two looked down at the body. Tarna looked up at his old friend and said, "He had it coming."
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"Wait." Praxeum said as he stood up from his bent over stance. "We're Sith Lords. Why are we sneaking around?" Praxeum said with a grin. Tarna added his own grin before standing up, reaching out with his left hand and blasting the door in front of them through the Force. They walked in the room slowly and calmly, despite seven pirates raising their blasters to attack. Praxeum brought two into the air and created such a heavy pressure in the Force that the pirate's bones began to crunch beneath his Force Crush until Praxeum heard his neck snap. Then he threw that corpse down and turned his attention to the other pirate he held in a Force Grip.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna used the Force to squeeze the pirate's inner organs. The pirate's face shook with agony as he screamed. "I can do this to every last one of you until I get what I want!" Finally, one of them screamed, "What do you want with us!?" Tarna used the Force to summon the twi'lek to him and he snarled, "Bring me Longhorns." He dropped the twi'lek, who ran out of the room. Tarna then turned around to all the other pirates and blasted them with Force Lightning until their burnt corpses littered the ground.
He turned to Praxeum, "You're right, this is more fun." Suddenly, the Zabrak stormed into the room wielding a massive rifle. Before he could say anything, the rifle was lifted out of Kadrian's hands and flew into Tarna's. He raised the rifle to eye level and said, "Don't move. We have to something to say." He paused, trying to find the words. Finally, he turned to his fellow Sith. "You want this one?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
"I...uh...." Praxeum stuttered. "No, you take it." Praxeum said, looking at Tarna.
"No - you do it." Tarna quickly said.
"I am not going to do it." Praxeum rebutted.
"No!" Tarna said, adding force to his voice.
"Ye..." Praxeum began to say.
"Shut the hell up!" The Zabrak said, firing a blaster shot in the air. "You," He said, pointing to Praxeum, "Tell me.
"Well...your not a pirate." Praxeum said as he tried to think of how to explain. "Your a Sith. You were a powerful Sith that can't remember who you are."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"That's how you're able to make lightning shoot from your hands." Tarna said to Longhorns. "That's a Sith ability. You are Brigadier General Matas of the Eternal Empire Army."
Longhorns stared at them in incredulity, "I'm not any evil Jedi slime."
Tarna spoke again, "You are Kadrian Kolar, born on Iridonia. You were trained by Supreme Commander Minious, my name is Tarna Dallow. His name is Stap Magnus Praxeum, we were the closest things you had to friends. Does any of this sound familiar?"
Supreme Prophet Praxeum
The Zabrak was at a lose for words, unable to fully understand everything Tarna and Praxeum were saying. If it was true, everything he thought he was is a lie. Praxeum began to move in slowly, but stopped when Matas brought his massive rifle to bear. Praxeum raised his hands as if to surrender, but he was really keeping the rifle down with the Force.
"I...I..." Longhorns began to say, confused. Then he looked up, an evil grin that Tarna and Praxeum both knew so well was on his face. "What a clever little trick." Praxeum and Tarna both looked at each other, now they were confused. "This is the best prison escape excuse I have ever heard."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna quickly said, "No, that's not what this is about. Don't you think that if we really wanted to, we could have killed you by now? Look at your comrades...burnt to a crisp, using naught but my hands. This is not an excuse, we are telling you the truth."
Longhorns raised his rifle, "Shut it, Sith! Or I'll blow your brains out!"
Tarna closed his eyes for a moment. The blaster rifle's barrel in Longhorns' hands bent so that it could not work. Tarna looked at him and said, "No you won't."
))
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