STAR WARS/PREDATOR: MASTER XOL'S SAGA (PART SEVEN)

Feeling hopeless and abandoned,

Xol races toward the core system world of Ord Mantell on the suspicious advice of his recently vanquished dark master Blades.

Following the only path he feels will make up for his lengthy absence,

He journeys to free his dear friend, Dex Kamino from the clutches of Orlo the Hutt.

He hopes that Dex will forgive him after all this time and aid him in his quest to once and for all, bring about the demise of the Galactic Empire.

Xol has become a Jedi without an order.

A warrior without a cause,

A Yautja that walks a razor edge,

One misstep will see him falling deep into the abyss,

And this time he may never resurface…

Sensors wail with alarm as Xol exits hyperspace. The warnings come from his proximity to Imperial vessels. Looming over his tiny craft is one of the Empire’s fearsome Super Star Destroyers. He had encountered them before so he did not fear them however, Xol knows he is outclassed and attempts to escape its range. Throttling up, he finds himself immobile. Only a tractor beam could hold him in place so quickly. Furious, he mashes the control panel, angered that he has been captured so soon after freeing himself from the clutches of Dark Lord Blades. As his mind resigns itself to the idea of capture, he cannot help but think, how could they have known to be waiting for him with a tractor beam armed? Was it protocol in the Empire now, to seize any ship coming out of hyperspace he wondered?

As his Starlight class freighter inches its way toward the gaping maw of the Star Destroyer, Xol stares at his custom saber swirling it in his hand.

“I loathe you,” the Yautja says with a growl. “You are all my hatred and anger collected in one place. I have defeated you, and you have returned. You haunt me at every turn and I resist your Dark Side influence. No more can I do this, being so alone in this galaxy. Master Blades was right, I must become more than simply a Jedi and as much as it pains me to say this, I will require your power to do so.”

With a cascade of red energy across the weapon, the shadowy voice from within speaks inside Xol’s mind. “You keep the power inside of you Xol. I am only the key to unlocking it.”

“Like on Tatooine?”

“No, that was a juvenile reflex. If you allow yourself to flow through me, you will be unstoppable. A glimpse of this will come to pass soon.”

“How can you be certain?”

“I exist within the Force itself Xol, you forget that. My vision is not as limited as your own.”

Darkness falls over the pilot canopy as the Imperial ship consumes the freighter. As it is drawn further into a secured hangar, the tractor beam lowers the vessel to the floor and docking clamps fasten hard to it. Xol walking down the freighter's now deployed gangway surrenders himself. Even with the Yautja on his knees, the Stormtroopers sent to detain him are still cautious as they approach him, blasters already drawn and aimed at Xol while they fasten binders to him.

Removing his weapons, the Imperial troops escort their Yautja prisoner through the ship to a chamber near its heart. The circular room is entered through a heavily armoured and guarded door. The two Sith knight guards outside scowl at Xol as he passes them, entering the room. The room is a Sith perversion of the old Jedi council chamber on Coruscant, with plush throne like chairs circling its outer edge leaving an immense space at it’s center. The middle chair is occupied by a youthful, dark skinned human male adorned in elaborate Sith regalia. Dreadlocks hang from his head, each one tipped with an opulent gold decoration. Standing behind his seat is a hooded figure, presumably a consular of some sort as they can be seen whispering into the seated male’s ear before returning to their place behind him.

“I had foreseen your arrival Jedi,” the Sith gloats. “Lord Starkiller will be pleased that I have captured you and it will only be a matter of time until we find your master as well.”

“I have no master fool, I am the master.”

“Is that so?” the Imperial laughs. “Then Master Jedi, by decree of the Emperor I will execute you myself.”

“You would be so cowardly Sith as to kill me while I am bound and helpless?”

“Certainly not,” the officer puffs. “I am a Sith Lord and a bound Jedi is no test of my superior skills. Now rise prisoner, and take up arms for this will be your last moment before you transition from this world to the next.”

With the Force the Sith Lord unhooks the binders holding Xol’s hands. One of his Stormtrooper escorts steps forward to present the Yautja with his lightsabers.

Surprised Xol takes his weapons from the soldier, turns to the lord and asks, “Are you so foolhardy to think you will survive this battle? Do you know who I am soft meat?”

“I am Sith Lord Katarus, special envoy to Lord Starkiller himself, who you are is of no consequence Jedi, but I will indulge you. What is your name traitor?”

“I have been known by many titles Katarus,” Xol begins, as he assumes a defensive stance. “Dark Jedi, Jedi Master, and Dark Lord are just a few, but in the end those that know me and know to fear me call me Xol.”

“By the Emperor!” Katarus gasps. “You are the Jedi they speak of in the holocrons. You slew Vader but it cannot be you. Xol fell on Tatooine six years ago, destroyed in a battle with Darth Maul.”

“Don’t believe everything you view in a holocron feeble Sith. I am very much alive.”

“Not for long. Guards, kill him!” Katarus shouts as he deploys his lightsaber.

Stormtroopers open fire on Xol, sending a volley of blaster fire toward him while the room’s outer door slides open allowing the two Sith knights from outside to enter. With a crimson flash the Yautja summons his lightsabers and deflects some of the red bolts away from him. With an outstretched arm he pushes with the Force sending the troops and the Sith knights out through the open circular portal. With a swift hand gesture, Xol closes the door and locks it. As Katarus bears down on him with his lightsaber from behind the Yautja, Xol sends an arc of lightning into the door fusing it shut. Red hot slag drips from the seams of the door as he turns to face the oncoming Sith. Oddly enough, Xol can see that Katarus’ consular has not moved, chosing to remain still and watch the melee instead.

Katarus is slow, his power is a drop of water in comparison to Xol’s ocean of ability. With each laboured strike, the Imperial becomes more and more frustrated as the much more adept Yautja parries and blocks each attack with ease. In a desperate attempt to vanquish his Jedi opponent, Katarus unleashes a prolonged stream of lightning. As the arcs near Xol, he counters them with his own lightning. The twisted mass of electrical energy in between the two combatants snarls and cracks occasionally striking the ceiling, walls and floors, leaving sooty, charred holes wherever it strikes.

“Help me you fool!” Katarus screams at the still motionless cloaked figure behind his chair. “He will kill you too, we must defeat him together.”

The Imperial’s cries go unanswered from the silent witness as he struggles to fight back his powerful adversary. His best efforts fail him as the crackling tentacles of Xol’s lightning overtake his own energy and rush into his own body. Collapsing to the ground, Katarus succumbs to the power of Xol’s ability and is electrocuted. His body violently shudders and spasms as raw, hateful Force energy courses through it. He screams in pain as he becomes so charged that his skeletal structure can be seen with each pulse of lightning arcing into him.

Xol still bombarding Katarus with lightning turns to the silent consular and asks, “Are you afraid or do you not care for this man? What say you?”

“I care little for him and he has failed me as a master,” a soft feminine voice speaks from beneath her cloak's hood. "He is a disgrace and should not be allowed to live. However, you are Jedi and you are sworn to preserve life.”

“So be it.” Xol says his voice growing dark.

The Yautja can feel the very power the voice had explained earlier. In that moment, he feels overcome with anger and summons forth enough energy to vaporize the prone Imperial officer lying before him. Katarus’ body is reduced to papery black ash, still glowing red with energy. The Sith’s face frozen in a scream before crumbling to powder before his eyes.

Terrified, the consular draws her weapon, its red blade quivering with fear. “You’re a Jedi which means you are not supposed to kill.”

“Sadly, the Jedi Order is dead and I am all that remains.” Xol says as he retracts both his sabers. Now, I do not wish you any harm but if you get in my way I will destroy you as easily as I did your master. You will show me how I can leave this ship.”

“I will help you more than that if you take me with you.”

Confused, Xol turns his head and asks, “You are a Sith are you not? Why would I possibly take the likes of you with me?”

“I am no Sith. I am a seer, I do not even know how to use this weapon,” the female says as she casts her saber aside. “Katarus insisted I learn as I was to become his apprentice, I am just a slave, nothing more.”

“Assuming you are telling the truth slave girl, how do we get off this ship?”

“I know a nearby escape pod we could use but I do not know how far we could get before they notice our departure.”

“It is near Xol,” the shadowy voice of darkness says inside the Yautja’s mind. “Soon the time will come for you to strike fear into the hearts of every denizen of this puny galaxy!”

Shaking his head, Xol returns his focus from his inner consciousness to the woman in front of him and responds, “Take me there and you will go with me to the planet and that’s it!”

“Agreed,” she says, with a small smile.

She lifts the hood obstructing her face, and reveals herself to be a young Nautolan woman with long tresses running along the sides of her face, each tendril adorned in the same fashion as Katarus’ was. Her dark black eyes reflecting Xol in their smooth inky surface as she gazes at him.

“I am called Qiin, Jedi Master Xol.”

Entranced momentarily by the young woman, Xol nods his head in understanding and asks, “Your name is irrelevant, we won’t be together that long, just show me to the escape pods before those Sith knights figure out how to get through those heavy blast doors.”

“Katarus had a back entrance secretly installed in case he was ever mutinied,” Qiin says as she opens a hidden keypad in the rear wall. After pressing a complex sequence of buttons, a hatch hisses and slides open revealing a smaller room with an airlock connected to it.

The young woman leads Xol into the room and points beyond the sealed airlock. A sizable escape pod, plush and decorated in the same style as the previous chamber begins to light up as systems are triggered by the pair’s presence. With an ushering hand wave, Qiin opens the airlock and boards the pod, with Xol behind her. Once aboard, the young Nautolan engages the release and with a rush, the two passengers are thrust headlong toward Ord Mantell below. The Super Star Destroyer seen through the viewport spins overhead. As they gain more distance from the Imperial vessel, streaks of green erupt from the batteries of the capital ships, a few narrowly missing the tiny module as they race by.

“It’s just as I thought,” Qiin nervously cries. “They have detected our unauthorized ejection and are going to destroy us.”

“Silence girl, we are not dead yet!” Xol snaps as he stretches out with the Force.

With slight pushes and pulls he maneuvers the pod out of the way of incoming fire. While his focus and reaction time is impeccable, a few shots glance against the small pod, sending sparks spewing from consoles and causing it to swirl out of control. Xol struggles to regain control of the spinning craft and just as he does, his vision becomes clearer somehow infused with the Force itself. Time is at a near standstill as he can perceive the world around him in ways he normally cannot. In this altered perception he can hear the shadow’s voice again.

“This is it dark one,” it says with delight. “It is the moment of Shatterpoint, seize it and you will ascend to unspeakable heights!”

It is at that very moment through the Force that Xol can see the Super Star Destroyer on its most complex levels, its strengths and weaknesses revealed to him with crystal clear clarity. Acting almost instinctively, he no longer exerts energy on the pod and instead musters all of his focus and concentrates it as the capital ship’s most vulnerable point.
Channeling all of his aggression and hatred into his effort, he can feel a surge run through him like a great dam opening up and unleashing a torrent of power into his abilities. With his mandibles splayed open in a great scream, Xol sees the super structure of the Imperial ship begins to collapse. It’s hulking mass crushing in on itself, setting off a chain reaction of explosions throughout its length. Fiery plasma from the engines engulfs the rear of the vessel tearing it asunder, sending large chunks of debris out into space. Subsequent ruptures along the Star Destroyer’s spine carve it into islands of derelict, lifeless metal.

The pod is rattled by the shockwave of the ship’s explosion colliding with it. Xol and Qiin stare in awe as they continue towards the planet, leaving only a debris field behind where one of the most powerful Imperial ships once was.

“I did not foresee that occurring,” Qiin says, shocked at what she has just witnessed.

“It is a symbol of change young seer,” Xol calmly replies, with determination in his voice. “The Empire will know that I have returned, and they shall pay for what they have done in my absence.”

Fire envelops the outer hull of the pod as it collides with Ord Mantell’s atmosphere, a rain of smaller debris pieces erupting alongside it as it falls toward the planets surface. As the ground grows closer, Xol looks to Qiin’s hopeful gaze and is reminded of the innocence he lost long ago at his father’s side. He will not rest until he can be allowed to feel that way again. Nothing, not even the Empire will prevent him from obtaining that goal.

TO BE CONTINUED…