Disclaimers: See Part 1
The Fallen Beginning
by
AJ Marks
Part 9
Petra had watched as his friend made the hardest short speech in his life. They all knew what was at stake, but they did not know what would happen in the future, there was no magic crystal ball that they could use to foresee the future.
"I'm sorry commander, but I can't reach Reg or Ri-Jun on their communicators, they must have turned them off for their mission," The operator said on the screen in front of him.
Petra thought about that, and knew that it meant that either the operation was proceeding as planned, or something worse had happened. He chose to believe in the latter. "Thank you sergeant, let me know the instant you receive any word from either man," Petra replied then the screen blinked off. This waiting was very hard on him. He viewed Regina as the sister he had lost some twenty years earlier, and their daughter, Ame, as his niece. He prayed to whatever higher power that was out there to protect them.
Petra started to pace in the little room as the wait dragged on. He noticed that the meeting room had finally calmed down enough for only one person to be talking at a time. Petra watched as the diplomat wanted Wedge to know what his decision cost him. Petra took notice of who said it, as it could be a clue as to who had kidnapped his family, and now was ordering their very death. That is unless Ri-Jun was able to save them. Petra listened to Wedge's response.
"Sir, you have no idea what the cost is to me," Wedge had replied to the accuser.
The screen next to the monitor came to life indicating that a message was coming through. Petra hoped that it would be good news, but the shrouded figure did not raise his hopes.
"You have disobeyed me, Wedge's family will die," The man said as the connection was terminated leaving Petra with a chill.
Petra decided to wait until the meeting was over before telling Wedge of what had occurred. He really did not want to present bad news to his friend, but it was looking like the rescue team would be just too late. He had just finished that thought when the monitor came back to life. He wondered what it would be.
"Commander Petra, you asked me to call you," Reg said as his image appeared on the screen.
"Yes, what's the situation?" Petra said rather hastily.
"They are safe commander, we got them in time," Reg said seeing Petra face change to relief.
"Are you sure?" Petra said wanting absolute conformation before telling Wedge the good news.
"Yes, they are with Ri-Jun and his friend Tillis, and in a safe place." Reg said not wanting to disclose any information over this channel.
"That's the best news I've had all day," Petra said allowing a smile to come out despite himself. "Send over the reports over to my main channel, Jessica will be able to take it, tell her everything."
"Yes sir!" Reg said signing off to call the other line.
Petra headed back into the room to tell Wedge the good news with a determined spring in his step. The room was still thick with tension by the fallout of Wedge's decision and who to support. His friend's back was facing him and even though he could not see his face Petra knew that his friend was having a tough time, but he was about to get some good news for a change.
Petra tapped him on his shoulder and watched as his friend turned to face him. The look on his face was not one he wanted to see very often. "Reg just called, their safe," Petra whispered to Wedge watching the reaction.
"Their safe, are you sure," Wedge asked repeating what Petra had said and wanting confirmation about it.
"Yes, Ri-Jun has them at an undisclosed location for safekeeping," Petra replied then watched as the news sunk in the transformation in his friend's attitude. Petra almost felt sorry for the other diplomats that had opposed him earlier, they were about to get a taste of the real Wedge Organa. "I'll have a full report in a little bit, we were on an unsecured line, so Jessica should be bringing in more information."
Wedge nodded then turned his attention to the diplomats that were in the room. A few members noticed that there was a change in the man's attitude after talking with his chief of security and they wondered what had been said. Wedge would wait for the right time to strike at his new enemies. He knew that one of the diplomats in front of him knew about the kidnapping of his family, or was directly responsible for it.
Jessica came into the room that Petra was in waiting for the report. He had called her letting her know what was going on. He had just hung up when Reg called to give her the detailed report of the operation. It had not been too long, but it really did not shed much light on who was behind it, just one name, Lord Beasta. It was a name that Jessica was not familiar with and wondered if Petra would be. Reg had asked her if she knew the person, but it seemed that this man just did not exist on any record. That meant that he had changed his name in secret, or it was a false name.
Jessica handed Petra the information and watched as he read the report with interest. She knew when he had gotten to the man's name, his eyebrows went up.
"Have you ever heard of him before?" Jessica asked knowing that he probably had not heard of the name before.
"No, I don't think that you should use your resources either. This man has great abilities and he could be using one of your men to get the information, it could endanger someone else's life," Petra said as he continued to read the report. A smile came to his face as he read the last report, they were on their way here, and everyone would be in the same place.
"Shall I call for extra security?" Jessica asked wondering if that was a good idea with the company she worked for compromised.
"No, I think that we have enough security. That and I hope to keep Ri-Jun to help out," Petra said knowing that the man's help would be better than twenty guards. "Besides, if the report is accurate then this Lord Beasta has the same powers as Ri-Jun, and they will balance each other out."
Jessica nodded her head in agreement. If she called for additional security then there would be questions that she could not answer, and that would put additional pressure on those who she knew were loyal.
Petra looked up as he noticed that the meeting was breaking up. Different people were making little groups and he could tell that the lines for an upcoming war were already forming. He looked around and noticed Wedge with the Ossusian, probably telling him that the support of the Alderaan battle fleet would be on his side. He motioned for his guards to be ready and alert for anything that could be counted as unusual. Now that the royal family had been safely rescued Wedge's life was again in danger by the same group. They needed information, and the logical place to start was with the races that were against the Ossusians.
He would talk to Jessica about it getting a list of races. It should take her long to do, but they would have to wait until tomorrow as the alliances were still forming and the diplomats still had to talk to their governments about the political situation.
Wedge walked out and was imminently surround by his guards. Wedge looked at Petra with a question on his face, wondering what was wrong, he did say that his family was all right.
"There safe, I'll explain later when we're back at the room," Petra replied to the look that he was getting.
"You'd better my friend," Wedge said as he allowed himself to be escorted to his room.
Three adults and a child sat at the small table in a corner of the transport. The transport was crowded as several people were making their way to Coruscant to do a variety of things. Anything from a vacation, to starting their lives over again, to the refugees and criminals trying to flee the law. A person had to be one their guard a bit on these transports.
"Wow!" Tillis said as Regina finished her version of what happened inside the house after Ri-Jun had busted through the window. Tillis looked at his friend in a new light, this man was defiantly headed for greatness. Tillis had no doubt about it anymore, something great was occurring, and he was right in the middle of it. He quickly got out his notepad and began to write everything that he could remember down.
He spared a glance at Ri-Jun who was now looking around the ship, as he had done since they had gotten on board. He was holding Ame, who had jumped into his lap the moment they had sat down and refused to let go of her 'knight', as she called him. Tillis thought that it was cute, and he could see that the man had a gentleness about him that belied his extraordinary abilities in battle.
"What are you doing?" Regina asked she noticed his notepad.
"I'm keeping a written record of the events that have happened. I think that someday someone will want to know what happed here at this time," Tillis said looking at her.
"Do you really think so?" She asked.
"Yes, I do. I believe that we're a part of something special, something that will affect the universe for thousands of years to come," Tillis said, the historical part of him coming out.
"It wasn't much, just a simple rescue operation," Ri-Jun replied not knowing why he thought it was important to record it.
"That's not true, and you know it. There is something happening with the people like you, a rift has occurred," Tillis said thinking about all that had happened.
"The dark side of the Force, just like there is a light side," Ri-Jun said out loud thinking about it for a moment. He was beginning to think that Lord Beasta was hired by someone, and with the man's skill in the Force would have been able to carry it out if it had not been for him. "I guess you could be right Tillis."
"I'm just glad I'm along for the ride." Tillis said with a smile.
"Anyone hungry, I'm going to get something to eat and drink?" Ri-Jun said as he handed a protesting Ame back to her mother as he got up. He walked over to where the food and drinks were and quickly got food for all of them. He did not want to risk having everyone get up and risk the chance of someone noticing exactly whom Regina and Ame were.
As he sat back down and placed the tray on the small table he found his lap again taken with Ame, as she squealed 'knight' again. Ri-Jun looked over and noticed his friend Tillis smirking at his predicament.
"Ame," Her mother said in a stern voice getting her point across as the child settled down a bit. "Lets grab something to eat while we can."
"The captain said that we should arrive at Coruscant in a few hours," Tillis said looking at his watch for the time. He had asked the captain when they came on board how long the trip would take and calculated the time in his mind.
"That good, the sooner were off this transport the safer I'll feel." Ri-Jun said taking another discreet look around the crowded cabin for any sign of trouble. Not seeing any he went back to eating and talking to Ame who was asking him questions about everything.
Wedge was excited, his family would be here before the day was over. They were headed here with Ri-Jun and Tillis. Allowing those two to help out was the best decision he had ever done. They had found his family and rescued them just in time. Now Petra was worried that the attempts against his life would start up again, that he could handle.
He turned around to see both Jessica and Petra working together looking over the races that they knew were against the Ossusians. They're looking for anything that could point them to wanted Wedge dead. So far they had not come up with anything, but it was also apparent that those two liked each other more than they let on to anyone else. Petra usually did not like anyone that close to him, but Jessica was saddled right up next to him as they looked over the reports.
So far they had not been able to find out much about the kidnappers. The only people who knew who the boss was had either been killed, or had been able to escape. The repots had stated that Ri-Jun had accentually killed one of those who knew outside when the man's spinal cord snapped when he hit a tree. The others who knew were killed by the mysterious Lord Beasta. Petra figured that he was the one who had approached the pilot on the ill-fated decoy voyage that had ended in tragedy.
The door rang and everyone almost jumped up startled even though they were expecting someone. Petra opened the door relieved to see Ri-Jun standing in the doorway with Regina and Ame behind him. Tillis was bringing up the rear of the group.
"Gina," Wedge said as the two embraced with Ame in-between them. Wedge had never been so glad to see anyone in his entire life like the sight he saw when the door opened.
"Nice job Ri-Jun," Petra said shaking the man's hand in gratitude. "It was pretty close here. I would like to hear your side of the story though, there might be something that we have missed."
"No problem, but you really should talk to Tillis as well, he's the one who really remembers things," Ri-Jun said bringing Tillis into the mix.
"Would you think about staying on for a while longer?" Petra asked as they walked over to where Jessica was sitting watching the scene that was unfolding.
"Sounds like a wise idea, and you beat me to it," Ri-Jun said feeling like he had not seen the last of Lord Beasta. "Besides, I think we'll be seeing the mysterious Lord Beasta again, and it may be real soon."
"My master, I have failed," Lord Beasta said bowing to his master. He had fled the scene after his encounter with Ri-Jun at the house on Alderaan.
"Can anyone trace it back here?" Lord Dugous said watching his kneeling apprentice.
"No my master, I killed all of those who knew your name, and a few others on my way out." Lord Beasta said still kneeling.
"You have failed at allowing our hostages to be rescued, that can not be allowed to go unpunished," Lord Dugous said rising from where he was sitting.
Blue energy bolt sprung from his hands lifting Beasta off his feet and impacting him on the wall across the room. Beasta made no sound as his master extracted his punishment on him with bolt after bolt of dark Force energy.
"Tell me what happened in detail," Lord Dugous said after the punishment had finished.
Lord Beasta pulled himself up off the ground before beginning. "It was the same one. His powers have grown even more. He led the raid on the house. Garret's forces had the perfect ambush set up, and would have succeeded if it hadn't been for that cursed man. He jumped right into the middle of the clearing and pulled some sort of energy sword," Lord Beasta said.
"Energy sword?" Lord Dugous said as his eyebrows went up.
"Yes my master, it was able to deflect blaster fire. He charged several men, killing Garret in the process and knocking out the rest. He then jumped through the window of the second story where we were keeping the woman and girl," Lord Beast said recalling the events and remembering being a bit impressed with the man's abilities. "I ran into the room, and he had managed knock another one out. I tried to fight him, but that damned energy sword, it blocked my blasts. He could counter everything that I could throw at him."
"I do not think that it would have mattered anyway. Wedge Organa was going to go against my plans even with the death of his family," Lord Dugous said recalling the meeting earlier in the day. "Garret did serve one purpose, although it was accidental. The galaxy is now on the verge of total war, which is what I planned."
"Then all is not lost my master," Lord Beasta asked, knowing that the original plan was to kill Wedge Organa and his family and blame a terrorist group form another world to case a galaxy wide war.
"No, it just taken a different track, but all will come to as I have seen it." Lord Dugous said with a laugh. "But we must eliminate Wedge Organa, his political presence is to great to allow to remain free."
"Yes my master," Lord Beasta replied.
"Learn about this energy weapon, and create on for yourself, then you can match him one on one," Lord Dugous ordered, watching as Lord Beasta bowed and left the room. He would have to begin looking for a new apprentice, this one was too weak, and he needed someone stronger, and a bit smarter than Lord Beasta.
"A lightsaber?" Jessica asked while listening to the events that Regina, Tillis and Ri-Jun explained.
"A blade of energy," Ri-Jun explained taking the object out and activating the weapon with the familiar click-hiss noise that the weapon made. The purple blade sprung to life as the others looked around in awe. "Its able to deflect blaster fire and it seems to be able to cut through almost anything."
"Amazing, and with you abilities it seems like the perfect weapon for you," Petra said.
"Yes, but without the training I received on Ossus, I wouldn't have been able to wield it as well as I can," Ri-Jun said remembering the wise Ga-Sat and many others who had died. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but in reality it was only a few days ago. It felt like so much had changed, in him, as well as the galaxy.
"The compound on Ossus was the same one we had visited," Tillis said wondering if anyone else there had come to the same conclusion.
"Damn, I bet then the same person is behind all of this," Jessica said thinking about who she might know in her company that might have a reason to start something like this.
"It might have been the same ones who've been after me," Ri-Jun said.
"And this person is probably hiding behind so many others that finding him or her will be very difficult," Tillis relied watching the interaction between Jessica and Petra. There seemed to be a connection that he could see in her eyes, something that was missing when he was dating her.
"Who ever is behind it, we still don't know what their intentions are," Wedge said to the group seeing the nodding head. If they could figure out what this person wanted to achieve, then they might be able to figure out who it was.
The young man opened the door to the dark room. He walked inside with relative ease, the darkness making him feel right at home. He walked into the room with confidence that most others would not have had if the role had been reversed. A cloaked figure on the other side of the room watched as the man walked into the room and made himself at home.
Ah, yes the cloaked figure thought, this one will be perfect. The cloaked figure watched a few more minutes waiting to see what the young man would do. He expected the man to do something, maybe show some fear, but he did not.
"I know that your here," The young man stated looking in the direction of the cloaked figure who was almost invisible in the darkness of the room.
"Impressive," The cloaked figure said walking out of the shadows so that he could be seen easier.
"You sent for me?" The young man questioned brashly, not showing any fear for the man in front of him.
"Yes I did, I have a mission for you," The figure replied motioning for the young man to have a seat at the desk as an image of the universe sprung up bathing the room in a light glow. "This is what I want you to do, do this and great things can come from it."
"All right," The young man said having a seat and listened to the cloaked figure's plan.
A single ship approached the planet in complete silence. The ship was heading right toward the planet without stopping or slowing down. It was not even trying to attempt an orbit of the planet.
Frantic operators tried desperately to make contact with the silent ship. All hails were met with an ominous silence that seemed to speak louder than anything else as the ship continued its path right into the planet.
A nearby military ship was notified of the situation and quickly moved to intercept the ship. When further attempts of communication were still met with no response they threatened the ship with military action if the ship did not change course. Everyone watched a few tense moments as the ship refused to acknowledge or change its course.
The military ship, left without any other course except watch the ship crash on the planet opened fire on the ship. Laser blasts shot out from the military ship as a few turbolasers opened fire as well. The ship that they were firing on did not have any shields, so the blasts quickly penetrated the hull of the vessel causing tremendous damage. It did not take long before the ships reactor went critical and blew the ship up causing a rain of metal and debris to fall into the atmosphere of the planet.
A few large chunks made their way intact to the ground, but caused no damage or casualties on the ground. The government immediately went into an investigation of where the ship came from and why it would not answer any calls from operators.
Lord Beasta finished his own bladed weapon. It had taken him a while to do, but after looking for a while he found an ancient weapon used by Ossusian police, all he had to do was copy the blueprints. The weapon was considered to be obsolete so no one used it anymore.
He laughed at that thought, with the powers he held and this weapon, he would be invincible, and then no one would stop him, even Lord Dugous. His master was through with him, this much he was certain of. He had failed his master for the last time, and his master did not have much hope that he could defeat Ri-Jun, he would show his master, then take his master's life, and his place, as ruler of the universe.
The lightsaber sprung to life creating a blue blade of energy that hummed with power that he could feel. This would be his moment, and no one would be able to stop him, not even that retched Ri-Jun who had foiled him on Alderaan.
He twirled the blade a few times before slicing it through a solid piece of metal that he had bought for this purpose. He was surprised at the ease that the blade sliced through the metal, like a hot knife through butter.
An evil laugh sprung from his lips as he sliced the metal into small chunks, imaging that it was Ri-Jun and Lord Dugous, he would be his own master that much was for certain.
Jessica walked into her office to create her report that her superior had been screaming to have for the last couple of hours. Jessica was a bit concerned, she had always been on time, even with this case, so why was someone in such a rush to get her report.
She picked up the report and headed towards her captain's office to report to him directly. As she made her way to his office she noticed that there was a bit more tension in the air today than was normal. For the first time it got on her nerves, usually it did not bother her. She wondered what the reason for her sudden sensitivity to the tension was.
She rapped on her captain's door to get the man's attention and watched as he looked up.
"Jessica, I'm glad to see you, I don't know what's going on up above for them to be chewing my ass off for your report. You and I both know that you're right on time," Her captain said as she walked into the office.
"That's what is so strange, there really isn't anything to report so I don't know why they would want it. It was a quiet weekend, he attended the emergency meeting," Jessica told him watching his reaction. "There hasn't been anything else on the case that is worth reporting."
"I know, but the big wigs and a few others believe that that wasn't everything that happened. I don't know, they don't tell me and I can't read minds," The captain said with a gentle smile even though Jessica could see that the man was annoyed at his superiors.
"Oh well, here it is, so perhaps they will finally get off your back," Jessica said watching as he took her report.
"I can only hope Jessica," The captain said leaning back in his chair looking at the young woman. She seemed different than the last time he had seen her. He could not quite place his finger on it, but there was something else, something that had changed her attitude a bit. "You seemed relaxed today, what's up?" He asked her in a concerned voice more like a father than her superior.
"Well, I've met someone who I really like," Jessica, said watching the man's reaction, but all she saw was genuine concern in the man's eyes.
"I should have known," The captain replied. "Anyone I know?" He gently asked.
"His name's Petra, and he's the head of security for the king of Alderaan," Jessica said in a rush.
"This won't effect your job will it?" The captain said.
"No, we just seemed to hit it off, he even went to the theater with me," Jessica told him.
The captain had to laugh at that one. "Well, if he went with you to the theater, then he's a keeper," The captain told her. "Watch your back Jess, I have a bad feeling that things are about to get real ugly for all of us." The captain said in a hushed toned.
"I will captain, and thank you," Jessica said walking out of his office. There was a lot to be concerned about, even more than the captain knew. She had not put everything in her report, she had neglected to mention that Wedge's family had been kidnapped, and that they were now with Wedge here on Coruscant. She felt that that information would find its way into the wrong hands and put the family in danger again. She was proud of Tillis, for the first time the man seemed to be doing something right for a change. She had just a few more things to do before she went back to talk with Petra about the upcoming meetings.
Entering her office she was surprised to find Lord Dugous in her office waiting for her. She quickly got over her shock and asked what she could do for him.
"I was just seeing if you had finished your report?" Lord Dugous said in an even tone that still managed to give Jessica the chills. She had begun to dislike the man for some strange reason.
"I just gave the report to my captain." Jessica replied wondering a bit why the man was so interested in the report.
"Ah, then I just missed you with it," The man said getting up out of her chair and made his way out of her room pausing at the door. "I'm sorry if my presence bothered you, I'm just concerned with the other diplomats. If we don't catch this person he could very well kill Wedge Organa, and then move on to other diplomats, and that would reflect badly on this company," He told her then walked out leaving Jessica by herself.
Jessica was left with an uneasy feeling after the man left. He never sought out a report personally. His interest seemed to be genuine, but there was something about the way her overall boss said it. Was he really concerned about Wedge's safety, or was there something else, or someone else, who was pulling the man to do this. Jessica quickly checked her mail, sent replies and then left to head back to her duties. Wedge would attend the afternoon meetings. She had no idea what would happen anymore.
End Chapter 9
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