The life of an ordinary native of Chandrila would never have been particularly exciting. After all, what awaited her? Her brother? Family inheritance and a boring life, she would have gotten married, and her brother would have gotten married. Children would have appeared. And that would be it… They would have lived a boring, ordinary life, like most inhabitants of the galaxy. But neither Mila Karnur nor her little brother Joyran liked a simple life. The stars beckoned her brother and sister. And each of them set a goal to become someone who would fly among them. See the beauty of space and the galaxy. What a goal! Mila still had a chance to become a Jedi Knight. Her parents would not have objected to such a turn of events.
But Mila herself was too weak… Unlike Light. Light… At the thought of this handsome guy, Mila's heart filled with warmth. And the problem wasn't his incredible beauty. Light… Light was kind, considerate; Mila was sure that even if he had a completely ordinary appearance, he would be popular with women. The author – alas, ladies have never had selection criteria such as kindness and intelligence. But we have a fantasy. So let's pretend that's the case. Mila herself could confidently say that she had fallen in love with Light… Something strange connected her with him. She felt drawn to him, she could feel his emotions, feelings, and state. She even envied Zele Diren, that Togruta, who managed to do it… With him. And Rela? A Padawan of the Twi'lek race, a very beautiful girl.
Mila was worried that Light wouldn't choose her… She even dismissed the fact that Jedi take vows of celibacy. Even if she never got married. She just wanted to be near him. After all, his mere presence filled her with joy. While near the propulsion unit, she studied the technical documentation of the "Star Path." The ship was incredible. Especially its price, comparable, perhaps, to a battleship or a dreadnought. Although Mila herself was not familiar with the prices of warships, if only because warships had long since disappeared in the Republic. Only the Trade Federation uses their analogs. And full-fledged cruisers, battleships, and other ships more powerful than frigates could, according to rumors, be seen only in the Kuat sector. And even then, the Kuatians were in no hurry to boast about the huge monsters that, according to rumors, were located near their equally enormous ring shipyards.
"Hey, mechanic," BB-7 contacted her via comlink. A rather strange droid, whose model was new to Mila, who was used to astromechs. If the upper section, containing sensors, was familiar to her, then the lower section, which astromechs used for movement, was a sphere. Just a rolling sphere, which, however, did not prevent the designers from "Tustra Droidworks" from stuffing it with rocket accelerators, an electroshock weapon, and a grappling hook analog. According to Light, the VV series is an exclusive series that His Majesty Alaric planned only for their sector. However, at some point, VV models will reach the galaxy. Most likely, the company itself will release this model on the Galactic market so that competitors do not steal it.
"What?" Mila asked the droid.
"There are life forms gathered around the ship. Clearly sentient, come to the cockpit."
Sentient beings? What other sentient beings are languishing here? Perhaps it's somehow related to her brother, and also to the fact that Light and his mentor went deep into the swamps, locking her up here and taking the cylinder that her brother had entrusted to her? Mila quickly went to the elevator and went up to the second level. Entering the cockpit, she approached the windows of the starship…
"They appeared unexpectedly," BB-7 reported. "I counted twenty sentient beings by tapping into the ship's scanners."
"Is this connected to Light and Master Lorm?" Mila asked the droid.
"More likely than not," the droid turned its sensors towards her. "They are trying to hack the ship and lower the ramp!"
Mila closed her eyes… They're going to hack the ship?! It would be obvious to a fool that hackers wouldn't do anything good for the actual owners. I need to get out of here…
"BB-7, you have the ship's control codes, right?"
"Yes," the droid's affirmative trill was heard. However, Mila understood binary.
"Then launch the ship. We won't fly away from Selvaris, but we need to give these sentient beings a deadly surprise that someone is still on board," Mila smiled mischievously. Before, she was scared by the necessity of killing sentient beings, but what wouldn't you do after a slave planet. She was promised to be sold to a Hutt, it seemed. And Mila re-evaluated her attitude towards the life of a sentient being.
"I like the way you think," the droid beeped, connecting to the ship's port. "Star Trek" literally came alive, screens and sensors lit up.
Mila sat in the pilot's seat and took the controls, and the sentient beings… The non-sentient ones quickly recoiled from the ship. Where to shoot? Mila happily pressed the button wired directly to the steering wheel. The ship shuddered slightly, and lasers burst forth along the starship's course, literally plowing the ground. The mercenaries opened fire on the ship, but to no avail. They couldn't even penetrate the ship's shields. Mila flew forward, while BB-7 took control of the aft lasers and began firing backward… She banked, turning the ship, grazing the thickets again, and thanking BB, who managed to help her correct the course, preventing her from crashing into some of the trees she'd rather not encounter. The bandits were once again in her sights, and Mila pressed the button again. Even if these lasers weren't what you'd put on some dreadnought, they were enough to kill sentient beings…
The death of sentient beings felt to her, but she tried to detach herself from it. Mila had already felt death. For example, the death of her mother or the demise of her father…
"Should I add to them, perhaps," Mila mused, finding the missile armament control lever.
"What are you doing! Missiles are for starships!"
But Mila didn't listen, aiming the missile directly at the bandits… A shot. The missile hit the courtyard of the hut precisely, killing eight sentient beings in the explosion.
"You're crazy! Sometimes I think that raising an army of droids and teaching leather bags to suffer is the right idea."
"I won't even ask where you picked up those words," Mila said tiredly.
"That's right, don't ask. Although I will answer. I read the history of my master's search on HoloNet. And if lesbian twi'lek porn is still understandable to me, then where did 'leather bag' and 'what do we know about HK-47' come from – it personally raises questions for me."
"If you have questions, BB, then it's a reason to check your personality manifest," Mila sighed heavily. Light… Why is he attracted to some exotics? And why lesbian porn? Or maybe his mentor was looking for it? If anyone could, Lorm Decer could certainly look for such things… After landing the ship, Mila thought about contacting Light.
"Don't distract them," BB said. "They're probably busy right now."
"How do you know?" Mila asked the droid. "And what do you think they might be busy with?"
"Dismembering the companions of those who showed up to us."
"But…"
"They are both Jedi, mechanic. Those like them are capable of dismantling a weak army piece by piece."
"Jedi," the apparent leader of the gang addressed them. It should be noted that he was clearly speaking into a loudspeaker, as it was impossible to determine where the voice was coming from. "We know you arrived with Mila Karnur and are looking for her brother. Would you deign to help our employers, who are also looking for him, in their search?"
"I don't think we can reach a consensus on this matter, mercenary," I took the floor.
"Oh, why, young Jedi?" the man asked. "Look for yourself. You are targeted from all sides. You are completely surrounded."
Surrounded? Jedi? What kind of surprise… I understand, if there were a thousand of them here, but with the help of sensors, I counted about thirty-seven sentient beings.
"In addition to all this, we have captured your ship and one girl, quite interesting and attractive…"
"Funny joke," Lorm laughed, "if that were the case, why wouldn't you show us the hostage? Our captured ship?"
An explosion sounded in the distance… "Star Trek" was in that direction… I focused on the Force bonds that spontaneously arose between me and Mila… Most likely, they arose because I liked her. I liked this girl, and my feelings turned out to be mutual… Already now I am thinking about the future and clearly see Mila at least by my side. Mila's emotions did not express apprehension and anxiety, fear. On the contrary, they were filled with excitement and fun.
"It seems they can't," the mentor, I chuckled.
"Is that so…" Lorm said.
"I'm giving you one last chance, Jedi! Or do you think you can cut us all down in direct combat? You are just pathetic trash, we have killed Jedi before. Surrender. You'll just meet some old acquaintances. Maybe she'll even bury you somewhere picturesque…"
"I don't know which Jedi you've killed," Lorm said thoughtfully, a Lightsaber flitting into his hand, and mine instantly into mine. "But the instinct for self-preservation is a basic instinct inherent in any living creature!" Lorm shouted. "How did you manage to turn it off by saying such nonsense to us?"
The Lightsabers activated, and we prepared for battle. The mercenaries took positions behind the wreckage of buildings, on the roofs of the remaining buildings on the platform, and inside the buildings.
"Kill them!" the leader shouted. "Fire!"
That's it, let's get heated! Taking the Soresu form stance, I began to deflect blaster fire, even managing to send shots back a couple of times. Lorm trained me to do this, teaching me elements of the Shien form. The mentor, in the style of a seasoned Shien adept warrior, closed the distance with one of the mercenaries, immediately hacking him to shreds, then the second, the third… The light blue, cyan blade of the Lightsaber chopped in all directions, mostly killing. Lorm never liked leaving an enemy behind. I also didn't stay in one place for long. They tried to bombard me with grenades. Deflecting mercenary shots on the move, I rushed towards those who had the audacity to throw grenades at me.
Explosions sounded behind me, but I had already jumped onto the roof of a one-story building, thrusting my Lightsaber directly into the body of one of the men, and turning, I immediately closed in on the woman holding a sniper rifle. A swing of the sword… The sniper rifle remained in the woman's hands, but her head fell next to her body, which lay nearby. The mercenaries themselves helped Lorm and me by shooting and giving hints about their location. Although, the bravado that their group encountered a Jedi and killed him is certainly not a lie. They acted competently, attacking from all sides, using the terrain, and most importantly, not engaging the Jedi in close combat.
Because at the range of a Lightsaber, we could only be stopped by another Jedi or a Sith. Ordinary people have no chance at all. There are, of course, proud Mandalorians, like Teyron Jarps. But for that, you have to dedicate your whole life to training, and it's not a fact that you will reach the level of a Jedi. Pulling a mercenary towards me with telekinesis, and I am now capable of such a feat, I ripped his stomach open with my sword and threw him away… Behind me? But I had jumped off the roof of the building before and moved to close with my mentor. Deflecting a couple of shots aimed at my back, I turned to the shooters and slammed them into the building wall with telekinesis. What the…
Only at the last moment did I manage to move aside… How? How did these bastards drag a tank onto a half-submerged platform? This tank almost killed me, however, it provided me with invaluable service; the shot hit the wall into which I had previously telekinetically slammed two mercenaries. I didn't manage to eliminate them, and as a result, they were simply blown apart. But now there will be no mistake… The tank was on anti-grav, looked slightly battered, the armor was chipped and scratched. But nevertheless, a tank is a tank. It looked classic: a regular hull with a medium-caliber laser attached. But even that would have been enough, for example, to penetrate "Star Trek" with a couple of shots…
Well… I took the Ataru stance and, without waiting for an invitation, rushed towards the tank… It fired, I jumped up, dodging the shot, infusing my body with the Force. The gunners didn't have time to raise the weapon, I landed precisely on the turret and, spinning in place, cut through the turret, jumping into the tank itself. With precise movements, I killed two operators and looked around. The tank's systems are still functioning, which is good… Pressing a lever, I turned the turret towards the mercenaries fighting Lorm and opened fire on them… Lorm didn't even look in my direction, continuing to chop up the enemies… One shot and three auras immediately went out, another shot took the lives of two more.
"Student, get out of there," Lorm's order came through the comlink. I acted quickly, jumping out of the tank. And just in time; as soon as I landed nearby, the tank was thrown into the air by an explosion from a local RPG analog. Grabbing the burning carcass of the tank with telekinesis, remembering the notorious "no weight," I hurled it towards the shooters. Two more mercenaries were swept away by the tank…
A crackling sound was heard… What the… Approximately eight enemies remained, but that doesn't matter. The platform… It couldn't withstand the abuse of our battle and was sinking underwater. Then my eyes met my mentor's gaze. He jumped up and began moving towards the place Mila had told us about. At this moment, he switched entirely to defensive mode and simply deflected shots… I understand. The cylinder is with the mentor, as are all the passwords; to get information, he has to do the job. And I'll finish them off in the meantime. And I ran, jumping over the burning tank, I jumped onto the roof. Lorm had already climbed into the very building that was behind the smoldering tank…
And this time they decided to attack all together…
"Fire!"
I jumped down, began deflecting shots, and systematically closing in on the mercenaries. They tried to retreat, but couldn't; I pulled two towards me at once, killed them with one swing, then with a wave of my hand, I threw another one into the water using telekinesis… Full Force augmentation allowed me to close the distance with the remaining five enemies almost instantly. And up close, they were no match for me. The blows, which were precise and fast, ended their lives. Making sure no one else was left alive, I went to the building where Lorm was.
"Well, mentor? Did you find it?" I asked Lorm.
"Yes," the Knight sighed, "finally, we know where Joyran Karnur is. It's Gizelum."
"Gizelum?" I asked.
"The owner of the Medallion was not only a servant of Vitiate but also a prison warden in his Empire. On Gizelum, at least that's what his planet is called…"
I closed my eyes… Such a planet didn't appear in games or comics, which didn't prevent it from actually existing, after all, authors aren't obligated to describe "every single" planet in a vast, galactic Empire, which can include many diverse planets.
"Hutt," the mentor said, "the answer was right under our bellies all this time. Gizelum is a couple of parsecs from Zakuul, and I've been to Zakuul."
"We couldn't know for sure that Joyran was on Gizelum, mentor," I remarked. "After all, there's probably such a Force anomaly there that we definitely couldn't feel Joyran's Force disturbance."
"Yeah," Lorm spat. "Considering he ended up on Gizelum, I assume it's the influence of the medallion, not just another one of his hideouts. But even if this smart guy figured out how to create a hideout in the prison complex of one of the strongest Star Empires of its time…"
"Then we can write him a ticket to the Alderaanian Psychiatric Clinic," I finished for the mentor.
"Be that as it may, my young student, we must leave here. Soon this wreck will definitely go underwater, and I personally do not wish to swim in putrid water."
"Nor do I," however, the platform had a firm intention to give us a bath, seriously.
Because a long howl and a crack were heard. It couldn't withstand our fight with the mercenaries and now, apparently, decided to drown completely.
"I don't care about your passion, student, but I will personally prescribe this smart guy, her brother, a couple of punches to the gut!" the mentor exclaimed, telekinetically throwing a pile of mangled metal away from us.
I didn't answer. The platform was sinking, so we had to act quickly. As soon as we left the building, it was already listing, and things, naturally, flew towards us. Hmm… Apparently, to jump to the ground from a heavily listing platform, we should jump from its highest point. And this meant the following: we would have to run, practically uphill, and, having reached the point, try to jump to the ground. Otherwise, you could jump from anywhere, but it's worth considering that debris might also fall on us from above, because the platform was sinking unevenly. That is, first one part, then the second. And if you jump into the water and try to swim/walk to the ground, then debris might fly at us from the suspended part.
It seemed that the mentor had the same thought, because, without even talking, we ran as best we could, upwards. Trained Jedi accordingly – masters at overcoming obstacles. Both the mentor, who is an archaeologist and has certainly run through tombs, and I – a sentient being, who, although I didn't have an outstanding physique, that was in my first life; in my second, I actively studied parkour… In practice. And also with parallel killing of aggressive life forms. Thus, we were able to calmly, adding strength with the Force, climb up. Objects on the platform were falling, mercenaries' corpses were flying into the water, as were insufficiently secured items…
But we kept climbing, jumping over buildings that were listing with the platform, clinging to them with our hands. I also used a grappling hook, helping both myself and my mentor.
"UGH!" we jumped onto one of the buildings and almost fell down. It seems that…
"What the Hutt?!" Lorm exclaimed, pointing down. "Do you feel it, student?"
I peered into the water… What was shaking the platform was astounding… According to the data we managed to obtain before traveling here – people from this place always disappeared. Sooner or later… This area was attempted to be colonized three times, and always, within a year or two, the entire platform population vanished somewhere.
"I'll kill this idiot!" I exclaimed, looking at what I wouldn't want to see even in a nightmare. "He called it a hideout and even gave his own sister the coordinates!"
Tentacles writhed before us. They embraced the platform and tilted it. Nearby were metal mining shafts: that's why the Selvarisians created a settlement here. And right under the platform where they settled, lived a real swamp monster. Pale tentacles with strange growths resembling teeth. And from the water peeked out what resembled the monster's mouth. And we didn't see its whole body, although in the Force this monster looked terrifying.
"Oh…" its tentacles finally shook the platform, dropping the corpses of people and the remnants of the colony into the monster's mouth.
But why is this platform alive at all? Because if such a monster lives here, it could have destroyed the platform long ago, unless… It acted more cunningly and began to devour sentient beings gradually, attacking in such a way that no one knew of its presence, without damaging the platform. No… Its own dish. And I think I understood: how it managed to do it. After all, its tentacles opened, forming gaps. Are these mouths? No… These are suckers. It seemed to inhale and create a huge force of attraction.
"This, damn it, is beyond limits!" the mentor exclaimed, launching a Force Lightning directly into the monster's mouth…
The tentacles stirred, and the monster let out something resembling a roar. The water foamed, disturbed by the monster, and the mentor changed his target. If at first he attacked its mouth with Force Lightning, now he simply struck the water. The platform clearly had insulating properties, but the monster's skin did not. Only from the pain, the monster only got angrier, striking us with one of its tentacles… We jumped away from the blow. This tentacle left a significant dent in the hull, turning a couple of buildings into rubble… Suddenly, a noise came from above. A starship… And I easily recognized the sound of my ship's engines.
"And here's salvation."
Naturally, we informed Mila that we were going to leave and ordered her to wait in our place. But the girl mechanic decided to act on her own and flew to us herself… I felt how surprised she was… Stunned, seeing what we had awakened. However, she didn't forget to lower the ramp, and we immediately jumped into the ship. There's no time at all; I literally felt one of the tentacles fly past the ship, so I rushed into the cockpit immediately. Running inside, I immediately sat at the controls, lightly pushing Mila aside, and relying on the Force, dodged the tentacles flailing everywhere, and now… The ship turned as I gained sufficient altitude… Fire… Everything, everything I could, I shot at the swamp kraken. Missiles, lasers. Only seismic charges I didn't launch into it.
The monster's roar, whose body was tearing into bloody scraps, was heard even in the ship. Scarlet blood literally flooded the swamp. I shot until, finally, I felt in the Force that it was dead…
"That was a bit much, student," Lorm's voice was heard. "Even too much. We'll have to replenish our ammunition before flying to Gizelum."
"I don't care," I shook my head. "The main thing is that we're flying to Gizelum. For Joyran," I explained to Mila's bewildered look.
"Let's finish this," the mentor agreed. "The Council has already assigned me a couple of places to study after we find the medallion."
They love to assign. In general, the fact that we were chasing the medallion didn't stop Lorm and me from occasionally flying on missions related to its direct profile. These were one-day missions. There were no truly incredibly important relics, knowledge, or artifacts in those places. But they at least helped me train…
Later that night, I lay in my bed. Tired, but satisfied. After all, the job we got was interesting… Suddenly, the cabin door opened.
"Mila?" I asked the girl. The ship was still at the spaceport on Selvaris. We weren't planning to leave it. After all, the comfort on it was much better than even in the best hotel on this little planet. The girl looked a little strange and wasn't in her usual mechanic's suit. Instead, she was in something resembling a nightgown. Although yes – we bought her this nightgown ourselves.
"I understand everything, and I'm tired of waiting for an opportunity," she said, coming closer to me, and sealed my lips with a kiss.
"Well?" the tall, dark-haired man asked the woman.
"You're forbidden to take it off, you know," the Witch remarked.
Not a single ray of light penetrated the gloomy cave. Nevertheless, the people present seemed unconcerned.
"A true warrior determines the laws he must obey himself," Teyron Jarps chuckled.
Oh yes. Shilazh knew about this favorite phrase of Teyron, the mercenary imposed on her. He has truly flexible principles, doing everything for victory.
"So, what did you find out, Witch?" the mercenary asked her.
"I found out Joyran Karnur's coordinates. It's Gizelum," she placed a portable holoprojector in front of Jarps, from which a yellowish ball of a planet emerged. "It was once one of Zakuul's secret prison complexes. Little information remains about the planet's role, actually. What kind of prisoners were kept there, and therefore – what we might encounter there: unknown. But…"
"But we'll go there anyway. Just like that Knight and his Padawan."
"Yes…"
"And the Boss demanded that the Padawan be delivered to him intact. The boy has considerable potential in this witchcraft of yours…"
"You haven't seen real witchcraft, mercenary," Shilazh hissed.
"I've seen a lot," Teyron interrupted her, starting to put on his armor again. "And I know perfectly well that you would gladly turn into mince: both the Knight and his Student for disgracing you in front of Him. But remember who you obey and that He will be displeased."
"I thought you were a pathetic liar and hypocrite, Jarps…"
"Be careful with your words, Witch," the Mando said through clenched teeth. "We don't want your brains to leak out of your beautiful little head…"
"I would advise you to be careful with your words, Mando," Shilazh turned around and walked out of the cave.
The Jedi are just a bunch of idiots. In the heat of battle, when they use their sensory techniques to the fullest, they didn't notice her witchcraft spy. However, it's for the best. They are one step closer to their goal, and with them, Shilazh herself. Only the main thing is to play the game correctly. Plagueis is dangerous, but if she can obtain the power of ghosts, which are apparently easy to summon with the help of the medallion – even a Sith of Bane's Line will bow before her, let alone pathetic Jedi…