However, the Dark Jedi is forever insubordinate and does not divulge any detail that could endanger himself, his friends, or their mission.
With each failed interrogation, Xol is returned to his cell adorned in new scars and a new perspective on pain itself. His cell mate, the famous Jedi master Yoda, teaches Jedi philosophy and technique to the warrior as he recuperates from each ordeal.
Though Darth Vader often threatened to execute Xol, his delight in having him tortured time and time again seemed to override that decision.
As the Yautja Dark Jedi’s incarceration approaches the five year mark, he wonders whether Dex is alive or not. Most of all, he wonders if he will ever escape, and fulfill his destiny to cure the unbalance in the Force by killing Darth Vader…
The cool sting of Bacta still fresh in his wounds, Xol sits on the floor, his back against the polished metal of his cell. Yoda with his legs crossed sits in front of him, his eyes closed in focused meditation.
“In pain you are,” the wise old Jedi says with a crackle in his voice. “Natural this pain is, lead you to more pain fighting it with anger will do. Remember this you must , Padawan.”
“I keep explaining to you Master Yoda, I am not a Padawan, I have been trained by a Master already.”
“Trained, you may be. In the ways of the living Force you, are still a Padawan, Xol. Teach you lessons I will. Give you an advantage against Vader I will.”
“For the past five years you have taught me nothing but meditative technique, and Jedi philosophy. The Great Holocron tells of your incredible fighting prowess, that is what I should be learning to defeat Vader!”
“A great fighter, you already are Xol. A crude but efficient blade, fired by hate, anger, and pain, you are. Tempered like a blade you must now be, the living Force, quench you it will and you will grow stronger than ever before.”
“I understand master but, I am no Jedi.”
“Yes, a Jedi you are not, foundation there is still. Be mindful, you must, that your Master, Lord Blades was once a Jedi himself, when our Order was still young, before the Sith.”
“Very well Master Yoda, I will follow your superior wisdom.”
The pair engages in meditative exercises, unmoving even when food is delivered through the slot in the bottom of the door several hours later. Xol’s mind drifts into thoughts of the future, his earlier precognitive abilities taught by Tyvokka’s holocron now made stronger with Yoda’s focused meditation. Great images of war, destruction and his own death shake him from his trance in a panic, instinctively reaching for a lightsaber that is not there.
Yoda, gracefully levitating cross legged in mid air, open his eyes and approaches the now shivering Yautja. “Calm, you must be,” the elderly Jedi says in a soothing tone. “Uncertain, your future is, what you witnessed was one of many outcomes, not truly realized, and so changed, it can be.”
“Thank you master, your assurances always seem to aid me. Master, something bothers me, I read in the Great Holocron of Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi knight that became Darth Vader. The holocron never discusses why he fell to the Dark Side, simply that he did, influenced by a Sith lord that became the first Emperor of the Galactic Empire.”
“Omitted the real reason was,” Yoda regales, his tone saddened. “Possessive love, attachment it was, in the end took Anakin down the path to the Dark Side. Loved a young woman so much he did, that marry her and father their twins he would . Even from the Order, kept his secret, he did.”
“What happened to this woman master?”
“Destroyed by the Dark Side, she was. Her and Skywalker, a great loss this was, and the beginning of this dark time it became.”
“What of the children Yoda? Does Anakin Skywalker still have progeny?”
“Born they were, yes. Away they were taken, hidden from their father. Rumored it is, that Emperor Palpatine had found them and killed them he did. At the hands of the Dark Side, so much loss there is.”
Yoda’s eyes began to well with tears, yet he did not cry. The hurt suffered at the hands of the Empire cutting the venerable Jedi deeper that the most finely tuned lightsaber. Xol strained to think of another topic so that he may divert the master’s attention away from the painful memories. But, before he could, the sounds of blaster fire, and the distinctive humming of a lightsaber as it swings through the air can be heard just outside their cell block door. Perhaps a prisoner has escaped and the Stormtroopers with their Sith commander have pacified them. Xol remembers his attempt at escape had got him as far as the nearest hangar before he was subdued; his shoulder still ached with the memory of that incident. Yoda had to use his gifts to mend the shattered bone there, an injury so severe Bacta wasn’t enough to heal it.
As his thoughts returned to the present, the sounds of combat outside had stopped, and to his surprise, he could see a hand surrounded by energy piercing through the cell door, not in the way a blade pierced but penetrating it as if it were water or air. As more of a person emerged through the door, Xol stood up, warding off pain as best he could so that he may defend himself against this stranger if necessary.
As the humanoid figure fully passes through the front of the cell, it takes off its helmet to reveal a female, youthful in appearance with long white hair. In a rushed fashion, she takes assessment of Xol and master Yoda and then with a look of concern turns back to the Yautja and says, “Xol, right? Are you and Master Yoda able to walk, we need to get out of here before anyone notices that we’re here.” Drawing two lightsabers from a satchel slung across her body, she motions to the pair and asks, “Are you both able to handle one of these? We really could use the help.”
With a nod, Xol takes one of the weapons from the woman’s open palm and hands the saber with the smaller hilt to Yoda. Their construction is crude but effective, as if built by Padawans. Before they can exit the cell, the strange woman first phases through the cell door again and opens the door from the outside. Without hesitation the three run down the hall of the detention block, the Force increasing their speed as they go.
Upon exiting the holding area, making their way into a main corridor aboard the Death Star they are met by an unlikely band of rescuers, Tuskens and Jawas with a few Astromech droids all dressed in covert black. Even the droids had been altered to look Imperial in origin. The smoldering, armored corpses of storm troopers scattered down the hall show the way in which they came.
“Master Yoda,” the white haired woman says in a commanding voice. “We await your orders, our vessel is waiting in a cargo bay on this level and we still have an operative on station completing our secondary objective.”
“Escape, we must.” Yoda says after thinking for a moment. “As soon as the second objective is complete, depart, we will. As for you, Master Kuro, well, you have done. Good to see you, it is.”
“This is Master Kuro?” Xol says, in surprise.
“She is, yes. Not as I had foreseen your meeting this is.” Yoda replies, looking straight up make eye contact with the tall Yautja.
Kuro, busy conversing with her odd assemblage of soldiers did not hear the conversation between the pair. A moment later she waves them over to her, signaling that they are about to head back toward the cargo bay where their vessel is waiting. A pair of Jawas with a single Astromech in tow move ahead of the group, presumably scouting out the route ahead. The remainder of the troops are surprisingly well disciplined and efficient in their procedure as they move down the hall, scanning from side to side and checking side corridors all the way along. Yoda deploys his lightsaber and assumes a defensive posture. Xol follows suit assuming that the Jedi’s advanced experience may be telling him something the Yautja is not aware yet of in spite of his acute senses.
After traveling a quarter of the way, the group comes to a halt at the sight of one of the scouts making a stop motion with his hand. Tuskens begin to spread out, in choreographed formation, assuming defensive positions behind support pieces and dips in the walls that surround them. The Jawas and droids stay with Xol and Yoda surrounding them in a semi-circle, blasters panning from left to right, surveying the hall ahead.
With another hand gesture signifying all clear from the scout, the group takes up their previous positions and proceeds once more down the hall. As the straight corridor bends around a corner, the scouts temporarily are obstructed from sight. Just as they disappear around the bend, the sound of a blaster being discharged can be heard, followed soon after by the screams of Jawas and several small explosions causing flying debris from shattered droid bodies to emerge into the line of sight.
“Master Yoda,” Xol says his voice strained from pain. “You, Master Kuro and her soldiers should proceed another way, I sense a dark presence ahead. One that would intend to harm you, according to my mission, I cannot let that happen. The Jedi must be reestablished, and you dear master, are the personification of that order at this time, so I will guard your retreat, you and Kuro are the only two Jedi left, you are more important than I.”
“Speak, like a Jedi, you do. May the Force be with you Xol.”
“You as well, Master Yoda.”
As the Jedi and soldiers make their way down a side corridor Xol, his body still in tatters, walks down the hall igniting his newfound lightsaber as he goes. Its bright orange blade swirling in turmoil, its emitter and power crystal are unstable, it will be lucky to survive this battle. Then again, he thought to himself, so will he.
As Xol rounds the corner, a full compliment of stormtroopers at his back, a Sith knight in his black uniform and cloak, walks towards Xol with a look of focus upon his face. His lightsaber’s ruby red blade drawn out at his side, ready for a strike, his form almost perfect, denoting a level of training far superior than that of Xol’s past Sith opponents. The knight’s stormtroopers remained at attention, unmoving as he advances ever closer to the Yautja.
In a thick Imperial accent the Sith warrior looks at Xol and utters, “At last Emperor Vader has let loose the beast from its cage. Academy rumor has it that you are a formidable duelist, for inhuman swine.”
“Better to be inhuman swine, than a Sith,” Xol says, goading. “Honestly, in my experience the only true warrior among you is Vader, and he received most of his training through the Jedi Order.”
Xol can feel the Sith knight’s hate welling up inside him, his tactic was working; he began to understand why Yoda chose to train his mind more than anything else during their time together.
In a fury, the Imperial lunges forward, leaping high into the air, propelled by the Force, once there, with a scream of anger he throws his ignited lightsaber like a javelin directly at Xol. The still sluggish Yautja is unable to dodge clear and the red blade plunges into his left shoulder, sending him to his knees from pain. Although the wound cauterized almost instantly, the blade still superheats the wound sending wave after wave of intense torture coursing through his body.
The Sith knight lands, and seeing his quarry wounded and unmoving, idly strides over, as if already sure of his victory over the much larger opponent.
“It appears as though the Emperor has had you caged too long, you are a pathetic excuse of a creature, and I would be doing you a service by putting you out of your misery.”
With a reaching open palm the Imperial extracts his weapon from Xol’s shoulder and once it returns to his hand assumes a striking stance. As he comes in for the coup de gras Xol manages to raise his own lightsaber in defense, just barely blocking the downward slash in time. With the two weapons locked, crackling with energy as they rub against one another, the Yautja stands, dwarfing his much smaller Imperial adversary. Xol can feel fear taking the place of hate inside his opponent, filling with hope that his years of incarceration hadn’t changed his effectiveness as a warrior. With a Force push, he breaks his lock with the Imperial sending him back a few feet scrambling to keep his footing. In response, the Sith flares out his hand sending arcs of lightning streaming towards Xol, but instead of defending or taking cover, the Yautja chooses to retract his saber and take the full brunt of the attack. At this moment, Yoda’s teachings come flooding back and Xol begins to intensely focus his mind, all the while allowing the lightning to wrap around him like a constricting python. The Sith, now confident in victory once more, retracts his own saber, drops it to the ground and uses his now available hand to produce lightning as well. Xol ignorant to the pain is now fully engulfed in Dark Side electricity, his mental state allowing him to tolerate far more than he ever did before. Then, as if willed by some unseen hand, the lightning swirling around Xol begins to shed off of him and form into a brilliant blue sphere of energy directly in front of him, arcs from the Sith knight’s attack still colliding with it. As the sphere becomes larger the Imperial ceases his display of power, frustrated that his barrage has proved ineffective against the Yautja. In a fit of rage he once again deploys his lightsaber and charges full on toward Xol, a crazed look in his eyes. Xol, sensing his enemy drawing near, opens his eyes and in one elegant motion, pushes the sphere of energy outward toward the charging Sith. The blue orb races in the direction of its target, sending bolts of lightning spewing out in all directions, searing small holes in the surrounding metal of the hallway before colliding finally with the Sith warrior exploding in a torrent of Force energy so powerful it knocks Xol off his feet and buckles many of the surrounding support structures. The Imperial is disintegrated upon impact and many of his stormtroopers well over one hundred feet away are sent to their feet.
The Imperial soldiers begin to right themselves to a standing position, picking up their blasters and some of the comrades that are having more difficulty. In expectation of their impending attack, Xol motions his lightsaber in front of him and assumes a defensive posture. The blade of the sub-par saber however, will not ignite meaning that more than likely its energy cell was overloaded during the lightning attack. Xol had seen this before when he used training sabers against Master Blades. Defeated, he drops the lifeless hilt to the ground and takes assessment of his available exits so that he may retreat. Taking a look around, he notices the supports warped by the explosion, which give him a clever idea. Even though he is without cover, he allows the stormtroopers to advance on him, their blaster’s rapidly firing bolts as they march in well disciplined and coordinated formation. Each bolt that comes too close, Xol deflects away by the sheer will of the Force, the task is tiring and extremely dangerous, but essential given the situation.
As the Imperial troopers enter now the extinguished blast radius, they begin to charge, hoping that their fifty-to-one advantage will ultimately win the day. Once they are all within the damaged section of the hall, Xol turns his focus to the walls and using all his concentration and will within the Force, pulls at them. Blaster bolts now unobstructed strike the Yautja’s abdomen sending shockwaves of agony rippling through him. However, Yoda’s mental techniques allow Xol to maintain his focus and even ward off the pain while he continues to pull at the sides of the corridor. With a loud snap of support cables and the creak of durasteel, parts of the ceiling begin to fall down atop some of the Imperial troops below. Then finally with one last triumphant crash the support beams and walls give way sending tons of rubble crashing down upon the Stormtroopers, crushing them under the intense weight. The passage is all but blocked by the amount of debris.
As Xol releases his grip, the blaster wounds he suffered now become more apparent and he realizes that if he does not make an exit immediately to the cargo bay and the escape craft, he will not survive another encounter like this one. Luckily much like his injury from the saber, the bolts cauterize flesh upon impact thus inadvertently preventing blood loss by the victim. He struggles and limps to a side hallway where hopefully he can circumvent this self made chaos and rejoin Masters Yoda and Kuro.
The Death Star is a labyrinth of grey durasteel and endless control panels. Mouse droids skitter about the cold black floors going about their duties, completely ignoring Xol as he struggles by them, using the wall to brace himself as he goes. The occasional technical officer or stormtrooper patrol walking by are avoided by the Yautja, who even in his current state is still stealthy and hides in side hatches or halls whenever he comes into contact with an Imperial. He knows that he is going the right way, his many years spent with Yoda have made him very familiar with the Jedi’s scent and the trail takes him down his current path.
Finally, after running the gauntlet of the Empire’s prize space station, he arrives at the cargo bay. There, waiting for him beside the battle-scarred Lambda class transport is the motley mercenary group, still so cautious that they draw their weapons as he enters through the access port. Upon seeing that it is Xol, they lower their blasters and a few Tusken’s rush over to him to assist him as he moves to the ship. He is thankful for the help as his muscles ache so much that he is near collapse; years suffering at the hands of Darth Vader’s torture have taken their toll. By the time he is brought to the ship he is near unconscious, lucid from his natural endorphins compensating for his severe injuries.
Tuskens and Jawa’s move Xol together onto the floor of the transport and begin opening various medical kits and set to work patching up his various wounds the best they can.
Yoda, stands by the shattered Yautja’s body, kneels down and speaks calmly into his ear, “Full circle, we have come, you and I. Like the first day we met, this is. My advice, same today as then it was. Rest, Padawan. Rest, for the future. Your strength you will need.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
J.R.BENNETT DID YODA WORDS WELL BECAUSE IT SOUNDS JUST LIKE YODA, GEORGE LUKAS SHOULD HIRE J.R.BENNETT AS WRITER FOR STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS, THEN STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS WOULD BE WORTH WATCHING, GREAT JOB J.R.BENNETT.MTO007
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