Disclaimers: See Part 1
The Fallen Beginning
by
AJ Marks
Part 7
A car made its way to the under hang of the hotel. Three gentlemen walked out of the car as a gentle rain began to fall from the darkening skies. A distance rumble of thunder brought with it a forewarning of the storm to come. The wind whipped around making the men hold on to anything that was loose. The car went on its way after a quick conversation between driver and the three gentlemen. They watched as it left then walked into the lobby of the hotel.
"I see that one of our fall showers are beginning, the temperature will probably drop a little bit tonight." One of them said to the other two.
"How long till they come back to pick you up Reg?" Ri-Jun asked as they headed to the elevator.
"I'll call for a ride, so we have as long as you like." Reg said.
The elevator ride up was made in silence as no one had anything to say in a public place, although there was no guarantee that the hotel room was not bugged as well, but it was a chance that they had decided to take.
Walking into Ri-Jun's room they quickly sat down around the small table that was provided in the room. There had been some disturbing news today, a traitor was suspected to be in the midst of the investigating team.
"I don't like this idea that Evif might have been a spy, but then again I did not know the man very well." Reg said.
"How long had he been on the investigating team?" Tillis asked.
"He had been brought on board only a couple of months ago, to replace a friend of mine who retired." Reg told them. "He passed every test that we sent his way and his profile showed that he was an outstanding worker, and had been loyal."
"Perhaps money was the issue, someone offered him more to tell them what was going on." Ri-Jun said trying to think logically about the situation.
"I don't think that we will really know what is going on until an investigation of Evif's records is done." Reg told the other two men. "I know that it's not much, but right now it's all we have to go on."
"Perhaps, perhaps not." Ri-Jun said as a thought came into his mind. "Perhaps our attackers gave us more clues than they thought they eliminated."
"What do you mean?" Tillis and Reg said almost in unison.
"I think that you should concentrate on the action that Evif took just before the kidnapping of the royal family. They are still on Alderaan, but if we don't hurry, we might miss the chance to get them back." Ri-Jun said to the other two.
"Hadn't thought about that." Reg said getting up quickly and grabbing his communicator and alerting headquarters that he was ready to be picked up. "I'll look into it and tell you in the morning what I found out."
"Good luck." Tillis and Ri-Jun said to Reg as he walked out the door with purpose for the fist time since they had met the man earlier in the day.
"Do you think he'll find anything?" Tillis said to his friend.
"I think he will." Ri-Jun said. "I think we should get some sleep while we can."
"That's a good idea, I'm bushed." Tillis said making his way to the door. "See you in the morning, and I have something to talk to you about then."
"Okay, see you then." Ri-Jun said as he watched Tillis walk out of the room. He then went about the evening preparations to go to sleep. He fell asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow.
He slowly came to realizing that someone was in the room with him. He could not hear anything, but just the feeling that someone was in the room watching him. He slowly opened his eyes and realized that there was a glow to the room. The strange thing to Ri-Jun was he did not feel threatened by the presence in the room.
He sat up and was not ready for the sight that greeted him. There at the foot of his bed was a glowing Ga-Sat. He had a blue hue surrounding him that gave off the glow that Ri-Jun had first seen when he opened his eyes.
"Master Ga-Sat?" Ri-Jun asked in a bit of disbelief at the sight.
"Hello Ri-Jun." The vision before him said. "Things are not so well."
"What do you mean?" Ri-Jun said not understanding what he was saying. "We finally have a lead to who kidnapped Wedge's family."
"You misunderstand, the danger is greater than we first thought." The vision of Ga-Sat said.
"What's happened?" Ri-Jun asked hoping that it would not be bad news, but he already knew that it would be bad.
"It seems that I am dead, it's the only way possible that I can communicate to you this way." Ga-Sat told him.
"I'm afraid that I don't understand." Ri-Jun said not understanding and Ga-Sat realized that not having the years of training Ri-Jun did not understand a lot of what he took for granted.
"My young apprentice. Those of us who are strong in the Force can appear again to certain others. Usually both must already be strong in the force, or the one who died must be really strong, but it is an unusual thing to happen." Ga-Sat told him. "I am, or was, one of the strongest users of the Force. You are stronger than anyone I have ever met, and are destined for greatness."
"Okay I understand that, but what happened to you?" Ri-Jun said.
"We were attacked at night, we never saw them coming. They killed us all." Ga-Sat said. "This darkness that is spreading feared that we could interfere with their plans, and they hoped that you would still be here. Ri-Jun, these people mean business, be extra careful, they will stop at nothing to kill you."
"All of you?" Ri-Jun stated in disbelief. It was something that he did not want to believe. "I'll kill whoever did this."
"No, anger for revenge is the path to the dark side of the Force, don't use it for the wrong cause Ri-Jun." Ga-Sat said in a rush.
"Your right." Ri-Jun said thinking about it for a second realizing that Ga-Sat was right. "So what can you tell me?"
"Only that this plot goes further than what you first thought, but I have no answers for you, I must go now." Ga-Sat said then as Ri-Jun looked on he faded from view leaving the room in darkness.
Ri-Jun tried to say more but the wise Ga-Sat had already faded from view. He shook his head to clear it and he wondered if what he had heard was real or a dream. There was only one way to find out. He turned on the news and waited as he brought up the news from Ossus. He did not have to wait long before there was a story about an attack against a village of the philosophers. Everyone in the compound had been killed, and it had also looked like that several had been tortured to gain some sort of information. The people of Ossus were treating this as a national catastrophe.
Ri-Jun quickly picked up the phone and called Tillis' room, waking the man up from his slumber. Tillis woke up quickly as Ri-Jun told him what had happened on his home planet of Ossus. It took only a few minutes until Tillis was knocking on Ri-Jun's door.
The man walked in and had disbelief on his face. The first thing he asked was if the information had been real, and if it had been the village that they had visited.
"Yes, Ga-Sat told me himself." Ri-Jun said startling Tillis.
"What do you mean he told you himself, he's dead?" Tillis said.
"It seems that those strong enough in the force can appear to others who are strong in the force as well." Ri-Jun told him. "He said that the forces are more powerful than we first thought."
"This is not good news." Tillis said as he slumped onto the bed. He had listened to the reports on the news and it seemed that most of those who were killed were killed by blaster fire.
"I'll get whoever did this, they will pay." Ri-Jun said. "They will stand trial for their crimes."
"If we can capture them, Ossus officials will see to that they are severely punished." Tillis said as an idea came to him.
Petra and Jessica walked back into the hotel room that he was staying in arm in arm. The night had been very enjoyable for both of them. While Petra was not fond of theater, the company more than made up for it. He had found her to be funny and quite enduring.
Jessica meanwhile had enjoyed the show, and had found that Petra had a dry sense of humor and added to the show. His charm and looks had made her the envy of many women at the theater. She thought that they can look, but he was leaving with her and that was all that matter to her.
Wedge was waiting for them when they came through the door. He knew that their first thought was that he was waiting for them to make sure that nothing happened, but it was because he had received some disturbing news.
"Wedge, you didn't have to wait up my friend, I'm a grown man." Petra said with a teasing voice.
"I wish I could say I was, but there's been some bad news Petra." Wedge said and watched as both of their faces changed from the good time they had been having to the business one they usually wore.
"What happened?" Jessica said as they sat down.
"Well, it seems that there has been an attack on Ossus, and a village of Philosophers were all killed. The citizens of Ossus are outraged that something could have happened. I talked to their respective and he is already saying that war could come out of this." Wedge said to them. "They already have the pledged support of several other races, and he asked me for my support, I told him that I did not know. I hope that war doesn't come."
"I'm gone for one night and the universe explodes, that's it I'm not taking another night off again." Petra said in a teasing voice.
"What do you think will happen?" Jessica said.
"I think that I'll be getting a call from my mysterious kidnapper telling me to go one way or the other. Things are about to get real messy." Wedge said sadly.
"Then we must hope that Ri-Jun and Tillis find your family quickly." Jessica said into the silence as they tried to figure a way out of the trap they now found themselves in.
"Your not familiar with ancient Ossus history are you?" Tillis said watching Ri-Jun shake his head.
"No I'm not, why?" Ri-Jun answered wondering where his friend was going with this question.
"We had an ancient police force called the Jedi, it means peace maker in our ancient tongue. They had a weapon that only the elite could carry. It was a blade of light that they could use to open doors or defend themselves. It can cut through just about anything you can find." Tillis said from where he was still sitting on the bed.
"Can it block blaster fire?" Ri-Jun said thinking about the possibility.
"Rumor had it that it could." Tillis said.
"I could use that, it would give me an advantage hat I could use." Ri-Jun said. "Can you show me how to make one?"
"I have the instructions with me, its not hard, but the weapon can be difficult to control, that's why only the elite were about to carry it." Tillis said. "I don't know if you have time to learn how to use it."
"We have to try, come on." Ri-Jun said getting up and dragging Tillis with him. They had work to do. First off they had to go shopping for some unusual items.
Wedge had gone to bed and Jessica had taken the sofa while Petra stayed awake. They figured that they would get a call sometime during the night. They had decided that one of them should be ready to answer the phone just in cast. Petra and Jessica had decided to take turns as Wedge already had much on his mind.
The turn of events had shaken Petra more than he let on. The 'Massacre on Ossus' as the event was beginning to be known as was turning the entire known universe apart. He knew that if he were from Ossus then he would feel the same way.
The communicator went off startling Petra where he was sitting. Wedge woke up with the communicator squelching. He answered still a bit groggy with sleep.
The picture was distorted beyond recognition and the voice was the same as the past calls.
"Ambassador Wedge Organa, I have a new mission for you." The figure said making Wedge shiver already knowing that he would not like what the man had to say. "The Ossusians want justice on whoever is responsible for the massacre. You are not to side with them, but against them, claiming that they have no right to demand anything from anyone unless there some central form of government. If they want justice then they should call for a vote on a new government, a strong one that will give the Ossusians justice."
Wedge sat there listening to the demands of the man, he did not want to go along with anything the man said. The only reason he would was because his family's life was at stake.
"You will do this otherwise I'll send your family back to you in pieces." The man said and even Wedge could hear the coldness of the voice through the voice disrupter.
"I'll do what you say, but how do I know that my family is still alive?" Wedge questioned.
"They are, for now. As long as you do what you are told then they will remain alive." The man said then the communication was cut off.
"What's he up to?" Petra said after the communications was cut as he walked into the room followed by Jessica.
"I don't know, something big is going on, I just wish I knew if this latest development is because of him or something else that he is taking advantage of." Wedge said as he sat down to ponder what was going on.
"Using the voice and visual disrupters will make it almost impossible to get a clear picture of who he was. And he probably was wearing a disguise as well. A trace will probably lead us to a dead end." Jessica said with a defeated tone in her voice.
"I think she's right, after the fiasco of the last call whoever is doing this knows what they're doing, and can do it well." Petra said not wanting to admit defeat yet, but the outlook was not good.
"Then we wait and hope that we can stop whatever plot this figure has before it's too late." Wedge said walking back over to his bed. "Well, I'm going back to sleep."
Petra and Jessica left the room to grab some sleep as well, but there was not much time left until morning. Petra however decided to get in a few hours of sleep until he had to get up.
The ship entered the atmosphere gently and for a spaceship, silently. The ship then proceeded to touchdown at the local landing pad. It was not a scheduled ship and the crew said that it needed emergency repairs so that's why it landed here. The local technicians were on hand to lend their abilities in case they were needed. The door opened to the ship allowing a couple of people out.
"Welcome!" The headman said to their visitor extending his hand.
"Thank you, we are having problems with our new hyperdrive, it's a XT-3 model." The visitor said shaking the man's hand.
"Ah yes, the old XT series." The man said to the visitor rubbing his beard. "Then it looks like your stuck here for a couple of days, do you have the technicians to repair your ship?"
"No, the last one quite before our last stop." The visitor said glancing around at the local scenery. "Well, I guess there's worse places to be stuck at, like Tatooine." The visitor and the man shared a laugh.
"I hope you weren't in a hurry." The man said quite seriously the humor going out of his voice.
"Nothing to important, I'll give my guys some leave. I could use some leave myself." The man said. "My name's Garret."
"Dac, we'll get to work as soon as you're ready." Dac said.
"Go right on." Garret said glancing behind him to his second in command. The two exchanged a glance and he went off to carry out his orders.
An hour later Garret and six of his men were on their way to the hideout, where if Garret guessed right then it would only be a matter of time before his target showed up there.
The failure of the hyperdrive was planned, but an overhaul was needed on the old engine. It was something that he had wanted to replace but had not gotten around to it. It was the first time that he was glad he had not done it yet.
It was still dark when the group arrived at the house. Five got out and the sixth drove the car back to the ship to wait for further orders.
As Garret walked up to the house the door opened on it's on and an imposing figure stood there. Garret gulped when he saw who it was, Lord Beasta.
"You have finally arrived, come in quickly so you don't attract any more attention than you already have." Beasta said and the men moved quickly inside.
"I wasn't told that you would be here?" Garret said a bit boldly.
"Our local people have already messed up, that is why I'm here, just do your job and we won't have a problem." Beasta said walking to a small room and closing the door.
Inside Garret could see that there were three other men who looked quite pale and he surmised that these men were the survivors of the fallout from Lord Beasta. There were also two females in the group off to one side. Be the looks of it a mother and her daughter and Garret knew that they must be the kidnapped family.
"Okay, you two, go see if you can track down our target and follow his movements." Garret said and after receiving a nod the two men left to do their duty.
Reg waited impatiently as the elevator went up to the floor that Ri-Jun and Tillis were staying on. This morning Reg had received some important news about the kidnapping, and it could allow them to move as soon as tonight if the information probed to be truthful.
The investigation into Evif had reveled more than anyone had guessed. The man had been on guard duty at the time of the kidnapping, which probably meant that he was in on the crime. His bank account also had quite a large sum put in a couple of months ago about the time that he was assigned to guard duty for the royal family. The entire operation had been highly organized some time ago, by someone who of high intelligence. That meant there somewhere there was a mastermind behind everything.
The elevator doors opened allowing Reg to quickly walk to his destination. He knocked on the door and only had to wait for a few minutes before the door opened, but he thought that he heard a strange hum and then a sort of a click. He dismissed the thought when he saw Tillis standing there.
"Hello Reg." Tillis said shaking the man's hand.
Reg walked into the room where Ri-Jun was finishing putting on his coat, an unusual dress for anyone, but Reg did not question it. Ri-Jun motioned for Reg to have a seat at the little table.
"Thanks, I think we have a lead." Reg said telling the two men. "It seems that our man Evif had quite a productive life that he kept quiet. He had been seen by a local farmer driving by his house, it wouldn't seem like a lot, but he was suppose to be on guard duty at the time, and he was followed by a second car."
"The farmer noticed because it the road isn't used that much, right?" Ri-Jun asked already knowing the answer.
"That's right. But there's more. It seems that a few other locals have noticed a bit of an increase of traffic lately. Last night two cars were seen heading in the same direction a couple of hours apart." Reg explained getting to the real good part. "A few of our people asked around and it seems that there is an abandoned house a bit further down the road. It was a perfect place to hide someone. The place is secluded and so you can't see it from the road of the nearest neighbor."
"A perfect hideout." Tillis said as the others agreed.
"I'm moving ahead with plans to check out the house tonight." Reg told them. "I thought that you might like to be there."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Ri-Jun suddenly said thinking of something. The other two looked at him waiting for what he had to say. "Whoever kidnapped the royal family is doing it so Wedge Organa is under his control. And I don't know if you've been keeping up with current events, but a war is about to erupt."
"The Ossusians!" Reg breathed, he had heard of the recent events but had not given it much thought.
"Correct, if we don't act quickly then Alderaan could be entering a war, on the wrong side." Ri-Jun told them. "I think that war is enviable, it's the side you choose that will make the difference. Alderaan will tilt the balance toward one side or the other, and with Wedge Organa under this madman's control, your tipping in the wrong direction."
"This is getting pretty deep." Tillis replied never thinking that he would be here.
"And it seems that there are fewer ways that we can stop the upcoming events without bloodshed." Ri-Jun said trying to think of a way out of the situation.
"I think that war might just be unavoidable at this point." Reg said from where he was sitting. It was a thought that they did not want to think about.
Ambassador He'mor had been talking to another ambassador about the recent events that had occurred. The situation with the Ossusians was going to be tricky to deal with without being involved in an upcoming war. Right now the Ossusians were blaming anyone who even remotely had a grudge against them. Right now He'mor was with two other ambassadors, from two nearby world who were afraid that the Ossusians would declare war on them.
The three of them were trying to form an alliance between their races, although it was not a tying agreement, they had reached an agreement about helping each other out.
"I don't know about you, but it seems that something strange is going on, like it was all part of a plan that we are falling into." He'mor said to his two companions.
"I know what you mean, but right now I am wishing to protect my race." Another one said, his race was the closest to Ossus. They had already received tremendous pressure about the incident, they had denied any involvement.
"I just wish that we could get the Alderaanians in on our agreement." The third one said. They had asked Wedge Organa to join them but the man had refused at this time stating that he would wait to hear more evidence on the matter. He'mor himself was a bit concerned that they might be jumping to quickly.
"What if the real killers show themselves, or we are supporting the wrong side." He'mor asked the other two.
"We don't align ourselves with anyone just yet, we can remain neutral until we know the fact, then we can act." One said and the other two seemed to agree with him.
"Perhaps this won't get out of hand." He'mor said hoping that he would be right as the other two agreed with him.
Morning came too quickly for Petra. After the call he had managed to grab a few hours of sleep, but he wished that he had more time to sleep longer. The past couple of days were starting to catch up with him, however last night was fun, until he got back and Wedge told him the latest news.
"I see your up, breakfast is here." Jessica said as she walked into the room noticing that he was awake.
"Thanks, I'm starving." He said not having noticed how hungry he had become. He walked over to the next room where Wedge was sitting eating his breakfast.
"I forgot to ask, but how was the theater last night?" Wedge asked as he noticed Petra walk into the room and grab a plate of food.
"You won't be happy until I say that I had fun, will you." Petra said seeing the knowing grin on his friend's face. "Okay, I had fun, happy now?" He said with a teasing growl in his voice.
"I told you." Wedge said making Petra look up. He noticed that his friend was not looking at him, rather someone behind him. He realized that Jessica was standing behind him. He had forgotten that she was behind him when he was talking, but by the look on her face she seemed happy about his comment.
"Thanks, I had fun as well." Jessica said sitting down beside Petra giving him a little nudge, which he gave back.
"Okay children." Wedge said after a few minutes of watching the nudging escalate, he was afraid that one would end up on the floor with food on them. It was, however, good to see Petra loosening up for a few minutes.
"I can't believe I just did that." Petra said shaking his head. "I haven't acted like that since I was a teenager."
"Really, I don't remember that?" Wedge said with a look on his face. "I would have remembered that."
"Ha ha!" Petra replied. He would have said more but the communicator beeped bringing the real world back into their lives.
Petra activated the device and watched as the head investigator came into view on the monitor. He could only hope that they had some good news to tell them.
"Report!" Petra said as a way of greeting not wanting to waste much time.
"I've got some good news." Reg replied not bothering with any formalities. "We belief that one of our operatives, Evif, was working with the kidnappers. An investigation of his records and movements has led us to believe that we know where the royal family has been taken."
"When are you moving in?" Petra said knowing that Wedge had heard the news.
"We were going to wait for tonight, but you man, Ri-Jun, thinks that a delay that long could jeopardize the stability of the universe." Reg said.
"Did he elaborate on what he meant?" Petra asked not knowing what he was talking about.
"It seems that he is concerned with a war that is coming about by the incident on Ossus, and that Alderaan could be drawn in on the wrong side." Reg said watching as understanding dawned on the eyes of Petra.
""I forgot about that." Petra said. "He's right, speed might be important, I can only hope that an emergency meeting of the ambassadors here won't happen."
"If it does, Wedge must not do what he has been told to do, he must follow his heart, regardless of what the consequences might be." Ri-Jun said stepping into the picture.
"But my family!" Wedge said in protest.
"And if you do what they say then you'll throw the universe into darkness, for a long time." Ri-Jun said not backing down. "You must trust me to have your family safe by then. I don't think we will be able to contact you in time before you have to decide."
"Very well, I'll do it." Wedge said
"We have to go, and next time I talk to you it will be with better news." Ri-Jun said.
"Okay." Petra said as they signed off.
They were about to say more when another communication came through. This one said what they had feared, an emergence meeting of the representatives was scheduled for right now.
"I can only hope." Wedge said a bit sadly as he got up to quickly dress and head for the meeting. Petra also smoothed out his uniform determined to go with him. Jessica was about to go with them as well when Petra stopped her.
"Wait here for any information, and relay it to me, please." He said looking into her eyes.
"Okay." She replied not expecting it when he kissed her and then he and Wedge were walking out the door.
End Chapter 7
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