Silverlight Rising Part I: ForceFall

Chapter Four: Aftermath

I’ve always hated space travel; it’s so cold and uneasy. The hum of the ships throws my senses off and makes me feel vulnerable. But necessity is necessity, almost like having to deal with the Jedi. I walk into the ship’s common area where Halish gathered the surviving Jedi form the Conclave along with the Cardinal Phoenix’s owner, Quomas Bartle. I made sure to stay in the doorway, close enough to hear what was being said and far enough to avoid unneeded attention.

From the looks of it Quomas Bartle was a timid man small in stature and less incline to engage in confrontation. However he didn’t hide the fact that our present predicament was an inconvenience on him. His look is strange to me though, as if he is a mix breed between a Zabrak and human. His skin is tan with a few dark brown marking and a crown of small horns circling his head. But unlike most Zabraks he has long dark blonde hair pulled into a pony tail hiding some of the horns. His eyes are bright blue and he has a neatly trimmed beard making one think he is human from a passing glance. He stood behind Halish Qin with his arms crossed in front of him and a look of displeasure painted on his face.

“It’s important not to panic.” Halish begins in an egotistical tone. “We all have questions, but the first thing we need to do is get somewhere safe.”

“What were those things master?” The female padawan from the conclave asks…although she was trying she couldn’t hide her fear.

Halish glances at me then back at her. “I don’t know Mara. But the Grand Council will hopefully know.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea.” I say more or less involuntarily. Everyone stops and stares at me with mixed expressions. “It’s likely that Xyon would be heading to Coruscant. We should hide out on Dathomir, there are a few small Sith groups there I can contact them.”

“I know you’re not suggesting that we mingle with the enemy!” Halish barks.

“Well you’re mingling with me…this new threat will need both the Sith and the Jedi working together…”

“Silence!” Halish shouts. “You don’t know anything more about this supposed enemy than I do…you’re the one who lead him to us!” he snarls.

“If he was just coming after me then why did he let us go!?” I shout back, pushing off the wall.

One of the Jedi, Tome I believe, activates his lightsaber. “Hold your tongue Sith, you’re speaking to a Jedi Master!” he yells.

I hear a subtle wail beside me gaining my attention. There was a young girl no more than five or six hiding between some creates and the wall, she was scared I could tell. I look up at Quomas who notice my glance, his face flashes with a helpless worry.

“He’s not my master.” I say coldly.

Tome takes a step forward when Halish grabs his shoulder. “This is not your fight.” He says then looks up at me. “Then what, may I ask, was Xyon doing at the Conclave?”

Halish takes several steps closer to me, placing himself between me and the other Jedi. I hear another fearful gasp from the little girl. “Xyon went to the conclave because it was the closest concentration of strong force sensitives. I think he intends to remove the leadership of the Jedi just like he did with the Sith.” Everyone remains quite so I continue. “He didn’t kill all the Inquisitors…he turned them into something else, I think he raising an army.”

Halish grimaces. “So you’d rather us hide and let him attack the center of the Galatic Republic?”

I glower at him. “No, when we exit hyperspace we send a message to Coruscant warning them of the attack. Then we find the Sith on Dathomir and start raising our own army.”

“I already told you, we will not work with the Sith!” Halish growls, taking another step towards me. “Quomas!” he says sharply without taking his eyes off me. “As soon as we exit hyperspace set our destination for Coruscant.”

Quomas tentatively nods his head and leaves the room. I hear another whimper from the young girl as Halish takes another step towards me. “You’re going to get us all kill or worse, Halish.” I say taking a step back and away from the little girl.

Halish activates his lightsaber, the cyan blade glares off the walls. “Atlas Gordon, as the only remaining acting council member of the Dantooine Jedi Conclave, you stand accused of heinous acts of violence.”

Haish continues to advance, raising his lightsaber above his head. “I’m not going to fight you, Halish.” Not here at least.

A twisted grin forms on his face. “You’re accused of being a Sith sympathizer as well as being a member of the Sith terrorist faction, punishable by death.” Halish unleashed his fury forcing me to defend myself.

The other Jedi crowd into the ship’s corridor to watch as Halish lands volley after volley of deadly attacks allowing me only a fraction of a second to defend myself. There is no quarter in his assault, Halish Qin intended to murder me and if I were to defend myself and kill him then the other Jedi would attack me.

I continue to block his attacks causing him to get more and more frustrated. His blows become more brazen, it was only a matter of time before he punctures the ship’s hull and kills us all. I need to end this; I’ll just half to deal with the others after. I lead him through the ship to the more open storage area and then I go on the offensive. My attacks were just as ferocious as Halish’s with the only difference being I am in complete control.

Halish senses my battle tempo and forces me away with a force push. We square off in the room; the rest of the Jedi was crowded in the doorway. Halish flicks his wrist making the doors slide shut. “It’s just you and I now, Atlas.”

“No need to keep up the charade now huh?” I mock, “Now that your fellow Jedi can’t see you. Tell me…how are you going to explain the fact that you murdered me to them?”

Halish smiled. “I don’t have to…they know who you are, Exiled One. Your deeds precede you.”

I point my blade at him. “I hope that someday your deeds will be brought to light, maybe I’ll see to it after I kill you.”

Halish laughs. “They would never believe the likes of a Sith assassin, especially one with a reputation like yours.”

I feel the fire of hatred starting inside me. “Let’s end this old man!” I growl grasping my saber’s hilt with both hands.

Halish lunges forward madly, nothing but cold animosity in his eyes. I stand still waiting for my moment. For eight years I’ve cared the burden of Halish’s scar on me and finally it’ll end, for Kavin and for our parents. I shift slightly to my left, Halish’s attack will barely graze me but it will leave him open for a fatal strike. I prepare myself, calming my nerves like I have countless times before.

That’s when I saw her, the little girl from behind the creates. I had no idea she was in the cargo hold and yet there she was behind me. I only have a second to react; Halish’s sloppy attack will hit her if I dodge it, however if I block his strike I’ll lose probably my only chance to end this...to end him. Everything seems to slow down, a true Sith would let the girl die and take the kill. But I can’t allow that! I shift to my right back in front of Halish’s attack. A moment later our blades collide letting out a shock wave and throwing each other and the little girl back.

The door slides open and Quomas runs in followed by the other Jedi. “Peni!” Quomas shouts rushing to the little girl and embracing her.

I go to grab my lightsaber but Tome already had it in his hand with the other two Jedi holding at the ends of their sabers. Halish was recovering from the shock wave when he realized the other had entered. “Back away, I’ll deal with him!” he orders, picking up his lightsaber and begins walking toward me with malice intent.

Mara holds up her hand. “He is unarmed Master, we should take him prisoner.”

Halish glares at her. “What! You forget your place Padawan!” he shouts, glancing at the little girl. “He almost killed this defenseless girl!”

“That’s a lie!” I shout, “I saved her from yo…” Tome punches me.

“The Jedi code forbids us to kill defeated enemies. We will bring him to the Grand Council on Coruscant for a trial.” Mara states confidently.

I can tell Halish Qin isn’t happy but he somehow regains his façade and deactivates his saber. “Very good Mara Nix you will make a very wise Jedi master one day.”

I sit up and lick my busted lip where Tome punched me and flash Halish a mocking grin. “What now Master Qin?”

Halish looks at Quomas. “Is there a place we can lock this Sith until we reach Coruscant?”

Quomas glares at me. “The starboard sleeping quarters would suffice.” His words were caustic.

Mara and the youngest Jedi lift and take me to the makeshift cell setting me down in the middle of the room while Tome and Halish glower at me. “We will each take turns watching him.” Halish says, “Pensim, you get first watch after we eat.” He finishes.

The youngest Jedi nods his head in response and closed the door. The room quickly falls silent with only the mind numbing hum from the ship filling the atmosphere. I half expect Halish to return and finish me, and there is a small part of me that really doesn’t care anymore.

I close my eyes and begin to meditate, reining in on my wayward emotions calming my mind and clearing it of anxiety. Before long I feel my heart sync with the gyrations of the ship’s hull. My breathing soon follows my hearts example as I begin fluxing my force aura, a technique I learn when I was just a Jedi initiate to help ground yourself. I extent the aura to the walls and back again like a flowing ocean I do this several times before opening my eyes again.

To my surprise my stare was met by the little girl. She stood quietly no more than three paces away from me. I see a lot of Quomas in her facial features, accept for some major differences. Her eyes are big and bright with light purple irises and her skin is dark pink with nearly burgundy hair twisted into little braids. Such a drastic difference in appearance between her and her father leading me to believe her mother was something entirely different.

Peni continues to stare at me quietly “Hey there…” I say awkwardly. “Peni, was it?” the little girl slightly nods her head. “Are you ok…you know from before?” I force the words out, it’s been so long since I’ve talked to a child I’ve kind of forgotten what I can and can’t say. Peni frowns and lifts her arm showing me a large scrape on her elbow. “I’m sorry…but you should really stay away from me.” But she doesn’t move, all she does is stare at me. Jeez what’s up with this kid? “Listen, you shouldn’t be around me…I’m the bad guy.” I say softly. This time I see a single tear run down her face. She shakes her head violently and runs forward, giving me a tight hug around the neck. She knew…she knew I saved her life and that was all that matter. I take the time to control my emotions again, emotions I haven’t felt for a very, very long time when she releases me and scurries out of the room letting the door slide shut after her.

I am distraught, the feelings I have are not ones a self-respecting Sith should have. I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore, nothing does in the wake of what just happened. Soon we’ll be on our way to Coruscant where we will most likely meet Xyon and his army of Silverlights. That is, if Halish doesn’t come in here and finish me before we make it there. If he has any sense, he would never allow me to stand trial because in the end the word of a Sith and ex-pupil still holds some merit even in front of the Grand Council. I struggle with my senses again having to ground myself once more when I feel the ship lurch forward. We just left hyperspace and Dathomir is probably well in sight, too bad we have a mad man directing us. I feel the Phoenix quickly pitch around and with another lurch we enter hyperspace bound for Coruscant. Eight hours left and we’ll see who is right.