Wind Chimes

[Karmack]

Exactly!  The loss of the Emperor has left a power vacuum, and the Gray are working to make sure it gets filled by the right people.  :-)

[Karmack]

Chapter 3: A Chord of Three Strands

I watched unobtrusively as Kenneniah made his final walk-around pre-flight inspection.  It was generally a formality but like all pilots Ken had been trained that the final responsibility of his ship was his, not his ground crew.  As much as he trusted them, he was the one who would be in trouble if something was wrong, and he and his passengers and crew that would pay the price for any mistakes or errors.  So, like all pilots had for millenia, he did his own final walk-around inspection of the hull, looking for anything amiss.

I already knew he'd find nothing.  My own inspection had been completed an hour ago.  The Wayfarer was ship-shape and ready to roll.  We'd also made some more modifications in the last two months, many of which Ken and his classmates had helped with. 

The old CEC XS Stock Light Freighter had undergone many modifications over the years, including the last round.  The most dramatic change this time had been to the exterior color.  The ship now sported a color scheme consisting of almost all medium and dark gray colors.  The colors were a sharp scheme that looked vaguely like a corporation or some kind of trade union, but in space the effect was to render the ship nearly invisible when her running lights and engines were shut down.  However, it was the internal changes that were profound.

Over the last two months I had overseen the installation of new real-space engines that gave the Wayfarer an MGLT of 107, faster and nimbler than all but the fleetest fighters.  A TIE Interceptor or an A-Wing or E-Wing fighter could run her down; nothing else would.  Even more significantly the hyper-drive engine and motivator were fully upgraded.  The new hyper-drive was rated at 0.7, nearly as fast as the legendary Millenium Falcon, and far faster than anything that looked like a refugee from the Old Republic had any right moving through hyperspace.  For fighting she was equipped with a pair of concussion missile tubes forward as well as two heavy turbo-lasers mounted below the bridge, with twin laser turrets mounted dorsally and on the starboard cargo pod.  The main hold had also been modified, and contained a huge electronics bay with custom-built ECM and ECCM gear, designed by myself and several friends here on M'Tzigon who liked to ... tinker with such things.

The expanded drives had eaten into the internal spaces a little, but the Wayfarer still had comfortable crew spaces.  Arnor and I would share the Captain's cabin while the adjoining conference room had been converted into three double-occupancy state rooms.  On the starboard side of the ship the main hold had become the medical bay while the area around the primary holoterminal now doubled as a briefing room / conference room.  These modifications were done because the main crew quarters and medical areas had been incorporated into Engineering to make room for the larger engines and weapons power systems, as well as enhanced shielding and deflector screen generators.

R3-T2, also known as "Two", rolled up next to me with his new partner R2-K9 aka "Mutt" and emitted a series of chirps and whistles.  I chuckled as I replied to his question.  "Yes, Two, I really plan to let Ken fly the ship."  More electronic sounds followed.  "No, he's a fully qualified pilot.  I wouldn't say he's "wet behind the ears" at all.  He's even flow combat against raiders and pirates in his ARC-170 during the clashes last year."
Two emitted another series of beeps and low, rude-sounding electronic grunts.  "No, I am NOT being paternalistic.  He's a good pilot."

More beeps, and I tried to maintain a straight face as Ken rounded the boarding ramp and called out "I heard that!"  I laid my hand on Two's dome and patted him gently.  "No fear, you and Mutt will have full control of the navicomputer and on-board electronics. I promise."

That seemed to satisfy the droid, and with a final whistle to his companion the two boarded the ship.  Two, Mutt and another R2 unit, R2-V8 aka "Vegan" would be critical to our mission.  While it was possible for one person to fly and even fight a ship like the Wayfarer it was extremely hard to do alone.  Nor could a person stay awake all the time.  Despite the teasing - and I was convinced that was exactly what it was - I knew Two had actually flown one of those combat missions with Ken while I was recovering.  Vegan had also flown with him.  Both droids had shown little or no hesitation in joining the mission with Ken as the designated pilot.  That spoke far louder than any quirky hazing done in public did.

Still, we had a long way to go and little time.  The urgency in the flow of the song was palpable.  The quiet, restful time we'd spent with Zearic, D'Aylanna and their adopted daughter Zorya had been both relaxing and reassuring.  Seeing Zearic shift easily from Master and Mentor to Father as the situation required had done as much to ease my own disquiet at taking Ken as my own Teidowan.  Eased, but not removed.  Still, it felt good to have him a part of our shared song again.  The melody, so long a fugue of two lines interwoven together, was now a three-part harmony with Ken's thread dancing around Arnor's and my own tightly-woven lines.  His energy and enthusiasm were infectious as well.  I could only hope that, when the times came, I would be able to shift as easily between rolls.

And those times will come...
. 
The tranquility of those hours were gone.  It was time to move with urgency.  I was glad for the upgrades we'd made to Wayfarer.  Her speed and firepower would be needed, I was sure of it.  Just as I was sure that there would be conflict before this mission was out.  Unlike the last, this time we knew we were head-hunting.  I let my thoughts turn to our final briefing this morning.  Julwynn Hri...

Julwynn and her sister Jennira were NightSisters from Dathomir.  Unlike Kage Silman, who was a native of the planet, the sisters are human, members of the Witch Clans which had populated the planet for centuries.  And what I had explained to both teams this morning, the thing that troubled me the most, was that in order to do what they were apparently doing these two had to be Singers.

Dark Singers

I shuddered a bit involuntarily.  A Dark Singer was very unlike a Sith or even a Dark Jedi.  These harnessed the raw power of the force for personal gain.  They were often emotionally driven.  Sometimes, if they felt it was in their own best interest, they could and would ally with a Gray or Jedi force user, but generally they were simply in it for themselves and would do whatever they wanted to whomever they wanted to further their own ambitions and position.  They were Evil, and in the end the best way to describe them was simply "selfish".

In the song such as these tended to present as a pounding rhythm or simply as a primal scream of rage and fury.  If there was any organization to their presentation in the Song it was rhythmic, a pounding beat that threatened to overwhelm and subsume everything else within their influence.  Around them, the song was destroyed.  In its place was raw power. 

Interestingly, Jedi also presented as equally one-dimensional in the Song, but they came through as a single line.  Like a chorus of monks singing a chant rather than a mob of people screaming.  One was organized and powerful and had its elements of beauty and composition. The other was also powerful and the near opposite of the first.

Between the two the Mak'Tor had grown, hearing and cultivating the Song, the ENTIRE spectrum of melody, harmony, rhythm, even times of pure percussion.  But always, ALWAYS in balance.

But a Dark Singer was different.  It was our own version of a Sith... and far more rare.  A Dark Singer used the song for their own ends.  They bent it and twisted it into evil, but in a way that didn't destroy the song.  The SONG was made Evil...

A stab of pure dread coursed through me, colored by fear.  Real fear.  Until recently I had never heard a dark song in the force.  On Naboo I had sensed it, heard the echos of it, and it was ...

...unnerving...

I suppressed the shudder that coursed through me.  Yes, it was unnerving.  I was so used to hearing the song and trusting it, nearly without question.  Darkness in the force?  No problem.   But an evil song?  It was like a form of blasphemy.

And yet...  I thought back on that brief touch on Naboo.  The song there had been corrupted, disturbed by the usual evil influences, but there had been elements of true song none-the-less.  Someone was singing to these crystals, using the Song to program them.  Not since the days of the Great Cleansing, when Kage Dorian had slain the final Dark Singer on Coruscant and cleansed the Spire and her crystals of their song, setting up the crystal balance in the Cave of the Wind on the cliffs of the Spire had a true Dark Singer been confronted.  The stories of that encounter were legendary, filled with traps and twists and blind allies and dead-ends...  Then-Master of Song Dorian spoke of not knowing if the Song was Good or Evil, pure or corrupt.  Of not being able to trust the song...

Trust the Singer, not the Song...

The words echoed in my mind again.  Ancient words, etched into the very walls of the Cave of the Wind.  I'd seen them without comprehension, briefly, but the words were burned into my mind.  Words I had heard Master Chillum speak.  Words repeated to our students and padawans and Teidowans.  Words I had spoken to Ken myself.  But words I had never really understood.  Never truly believed.

Until now.

I sighed and shook my head.  Arnor was aboard.  Ken was at the ramp and stopped to look at me.  It was time to go.  I smiled and nodded at his gesture and started toward the ramp myself.  Earlier we'd seen the team from the Vhal'Dan off.  Now we were leaving as well, headed for Sallust to pick up the trail...

One Dark Singer had nearly destroyed the Mak'Tor.  And now...

Now we were hunting two.

"Maker, preserve us..."

[TheDutchman]

Now we were hunting two.

Absolutely perfect!  I feel as if...a minor chord is playing, rising and every line a read it's becoming more and more intense, until--BOOM!--it hits a crescendo!  But...I want to read MORE!

Ohh, "Dark Singers?!"  Well, we' be seen what GraySingers can do, and THAT is a potent power!  Dark Singers...Karm&Co (and, come to think of it, Zearic&Co) are in for some trials and tribulations  . What a fantastic detail!

One (of the many) component(s) of your writing that I enjoy is the level of nuanced detail that DOESN'T feel like exposition; it flows organically throughout the narrative. Details like "Mutt" and, my personal favorite, "Vegan" (Lol, "V8") really enrich this incredible universe you've got us all hooked on!

...and I really hope that Kenneniah is around for a good, long time...but maybe I am just being paranoid 

Until next installment friends 

[Karmack]

Paranoid?  In this environment, I'm paranoid about the characters, and I'm writing this thing!  :-)

Seriously, I am going to be honest: I only have a bare-bones sketch of where this is going.  Dutchman, you know as much as I do right now about what's going to happen.  Well, OK, maybe I know a little more about these guys, but not a lot...

Yeah.  The droids are fun.  I've always seen them as a bit of comic relief in the original trilogy, but serious players in the drama as well.  I always felt that C3-PO got way to weird in the prequal trilogy, but I loved BB-8 in TFA.   The concept here is that the three droids, the R3- model assisted by a pair of R2s, will essentially be the ship's crew.  We'll see more of that in the next chapter.

I have to do a bit more research on Sallust.  I have a good idea of the next step or two, but beyond that... We shall see.

And a Dark Singer?  Be afraid.

Be VERY afraid....  ;-)

[Karmack]

For visual reference:  The Wayfarer
   Note: The deck plans do NOT reflect the Mak'Tor modifications...

[TheDutchman]

That.

Is.

BADASS!

I LOVE schematics like those^^  Outstanding find Karm!

[Karmack]

Thanks.  The ship was featured as a smuggler vessel in SW:TOR.  There are walk-through videos and everything on YouTube.

The overall consensus is that the ship is 88 meters long, 101m wide and 27m high, but there are a couple of nit-pick sites that say the scale of the people involved gives a true size of 44x52x13, or half the stated size.

For my purposes, I am going with the description: Its just a little smaller than the YT-1300 class freighters, the most famous of which is the Millenium Falcon...

So, its a little smaller than Han Solo's ship.  And a lot older, but I think likely in better repair.  ;-)

[Lord_S_Gray]

They were Evil, and in the end the best way to describe them was simply "selfish".

Whoa judgemental much about someone he has never met! This was an interesting foray into Karmack's mindset and opinions, some of them more than a little troubling...such a disgust at these Dark singers could lead to some dark places.  Anyway very interesting that you did a chapter with that particular focus, no doubt the reasons for it will become clear as the story progresses.   

Cool ship too, lots of detail, maybe as well as Ultra Sabers they should consider making Ultra Ships....

[Karmack]

They were Evil, and in the end the best way to describe them was simply "selfish".

Whoa judgemental much about someone he has never met! This was an interesting foray into Karmack's mindset and opinions, some of them more than a little troubling...such a disgust at these Dark singers could lead to some dark places.  Anyway very interesting that you did a chapter with that particular focus, no doubt the reasons for it will become clear as the story progresses.   

Cool ship too, lots of detail, maybe as well as Ultra Sabers they should consider making Ultra Ships....

Nice pick-up.  :-)  Karmack follows the code of the Mak'Tor, which is not technically Jedi, Gray or otherwise, at all.  In their world-view, there is an iron-clad, extrinsic code of right and wrong.  This is codified in a holy book, think something like the Torah, the way it was when Moses had written it.  Pretty bare-bones, but also a pretty clear guide to what was right and wrong.

As for Evil being selfish?  I think, personally, that this is inevitable.  Look at the Emperor.  Everything he did was for his own power and advancement.  Totally about him.  Selfish.
The Jedi ideal was the opposite.  They worked for the good of people.  Gave themselves for others.  Selflessness. 

The problem is, their selflessness became its own form of selfishness.  Like the monk who take great pride in his humility.  :-)

Anyway, that little peek was important.  :-)  Glad you noticed.

[Karmack]

Chapter 4: Skydancing

The fiery ball of Sullust burned in the view port but no one was looking.  Mutt was piloting the ship, with Two and Vegan overseeing engineering while we gathered around the holoterminal.   Ken was actually driving the console, freeing Arnor and I to study the data.  "Well, this place is a mess..."

Orbital space around Sullust was sprinkled with rash of red beacons marking debris.  There were cleared lanes for traffic, but most of the space around the planet was littered with pieces of star ship, large and small.  The Rebel Fleet had staged through Sullust in it's attack on Endor: part of that attack had been a heavy attack on the fleet base and attached assets in Sullust.  Several Nebulon-B frigates and older star destroyers had been destroyed, as well as a few Rebel cruisers, and the attack had been partially successful in that the Empire had sent reinforcements.  It had NOT uncovered Endor, but that battle had already been fought and won.

The problem was that, while Sullust itself was now part of the Rebel Alliance, the space around the planet was still controlled by the Empire - which was still here in force.  

"Why are they still here?" Ken voiced the question we were all thinking.

Arnor sighed.  "At a guess?  Because no one has told them to be somewhere else.  The Empire has been decapitated and is in disarray.  But after nearly twenty years of Palpatine and Vader weeding out anyone who even appeared to think for themselves or stepped out of line..."

"... rest are to afraid or simply incapable of acting on initiative."  I finished the thought.  "Whoever is in charge here probably has specific orders to stay put, likely from Admiral Nida on Executor, and there is NO way he or she will move until the chain of command is re-established and someone tells them what to do.  That kind of paralysis would normally be an asset, but here?"  I waved at the display.

There were no less than four Star Destroyers parked in orbit around Sallust.  They were generally aligned with the cleared lanes in the debris field, which was naturally funnelling traffic by each ship.  It didn't appear that they were actively blockading the planet or attempting to bring it back into Imperial control.  For that matter, they may not know the planet was technically in rebellion.  What whoever was in charge knew was basically irrelevant.  How to get past his ships and patrols undetected, however, was.  "Recommendations?"

Ken's fingers clacked across his keyboard.  "I recommend penetrating the debris field here.  This is the furthest point from any Destroyer.  We'd only be in sensor range of one ship, and it would have spotty coverage at best.  The other three would be behind the planet.  It also puts us over Fulluusub, which seems to be the best starting point for our search."

"Son, you do realize that the reason there are no Destroyers over here is because the debris field is the heaviest in this area, right?"  My lips twitched at the sarcasm in Arnor's voice, but she had a point.  Still...

"Arnor, he may be right."  I reached into the hologram, framing the route with my hands and expanding it to zoom in.  "The debris is thick, but certainly not impassible.  And the high concentration of metals and radiologicals will effectively screen us from detection."

Arnor leveled a very serious look at me.  "That's part of my worry, actually.  Some of that debris is very hot, and in order to avoid detection we're going to have to run it without deflectors or shields.  That's kind of like running through a fire naked.  You can do it, but if you stop for even a second..."

I didn't reply, simply stared at my wife and let my imagination play for a moment ... which led to a playful slap on the shoulder.  "What?  Oh, yeah... Sorry, I was ... distracted by your argument."

Ken just rolled his eyes at us and cleared his throat.  "I am here, you know. In the room?"

"So you are."  I smiled at Arnor and turned back to the display.  "Its risky, but I'd really like to get down without anyone knowing we're here if at all possible.  Ken, it's your course.  Can you pilot it?"

The answering grin was almost as brilliant as the sparkle in his blue eyes.  "Better strap in, old man."

***************

I felt my gorge try to rise again as the Wayfarer swooped through another seemingly impossible series of spins and rolls, narrowly avoiding a huge chunk of ship while also putting it between our naked hull and a particularly strong radiation source.  "Almost there."

"Good." I flexed my hands, consciously pulling them back from the dorsal turret firing controls.  Our external weapons were live, on the theory that it was better to be detected than dead, but despite the close calls both Arnor and I had managed to keep from firing.  

Barely.

A series of chirps and chatters emitted from the speaker.  "No, Two, I am NOT trying to kill us all!  Just keep that starboard power coupling online for another ninety seconds and don't let anything happen to the lateral thruster arrays until we're through!"  Ken replied.  I could see the crimson slash of damage from our one actual collision.  What had appeared to be simply a tight fit had nearly ended the flight when the debris had shifted unexpectedly, scraping across the starboard side between the boarding tube and the expanded engineering spaces.  Fortunately the main casualty had been the turbo-laser capacitor, which we didn't need anyway, but the primary starboard power coupling had also been damaged.  Two and Vegan were keeping it online by patching and replacing as fast as the circuits crashed, but in order to really fix it the starboard engines and manuevering thrusters had to be taken offline.

Which, at the moment, would result in our nearly instantaneous immolation.

My fingers twitched again, responding to a flutter in the force, a "danger" motif humming in the song in the back of my head.  Yes, there is danger.  Trust Ken...  

I pulled my hand back ... and the debris skittered by just a meter from touching our hull.  I released the breath I'd been holding.

"I heard that..." Ken called.  "Almost there.   Stand by..."  The ship swooped, spun and twirled, showing the legendary agility of her type enhanced by the modified engines and the touch of a skilled pilot.  And with a final control input Ken slid the Wayfarer sideways around a huge chunk of debris, and we were out of the field.

"Engines to ten percent.  Approach vector locked in.  Two, hand-shake with Fulluusub control when we hit atmosphere and arrange for a docking bay.  And you can take the Starboard coupler offline now and make repairs."

The answering sounds were brief and rude.  We all chuckled as the tension flowed away.  "Well done, Ken."

I could sense his pride as he moved us to a safe landing, free of any Imperial entanglements.  I laid my hand on his shoulder and let the smile I felt play across my face, but my thoughts below the surface were troubled.  The song was roiled, confused and in turmoil.  There was no overt hammering of the Dark here, but still...

There is a Dark Singer at work.  Be afraid ... and very, very cautious...

[TheDutchman]

Karm, MY gorge rose reading that!  I'm reminded of the chase through the asteroid field in ESB: fast, frantic, and DANGER and ALL sides (x, y, and z axes)!  And, like the Falcon, I like that the Wayfarer is under constant attention, in this case, the awesomely named droids, Two, Mutt, and Vegan 

I like getting to know Ken better; CLEARLY he's his parent's son.  Arnor's wit and Karm's...distractions are the icing on the cake with characterization 

And Imperial apathy: BRILLIANT.  I'm reminded of the Purges that Stalin initiated during his control of the USSR (yeah, I'm old  ).  Perfect Karm!  Only complaint: too short 

Until next installment friends 

[Karmack]

I may have to put in smaller bites.  I have a whole section semi-plotted, but I never have time to write it all up, so I finally just decided to do it in smaller installments.  :-)

And the asteroid field sequence was exactly what I was thinking about.  SWOOSH!

[Karmack]

Chapter 5: Walking in Shadows

Fulluusub was nothing like what I had expected.  My experience with going underground consisted of various caves and caverns on M'Tzigon as well as the lower levels of Coruscant.  Fulluusub, however, was a massive underground habitat, kept light and airy by a combination of innovating lighting and architecture by the Sullustians.  The space port itself was interesting.  Ken had brought us in for a flawless landing while Arnor handled the pursor duties.  The Wayfarer had settled into a sunken bay, the "roof" consisting of a permeable force-field which allowed ships in and out but kept the corrosive and toxic atmosphere out.  The Port Authority had made it clear that they didn't care what we were carrying in or out, or how we were armed, as long as we paid our docking and port fees.  They also made it crystal clear that if we did NOT pay up, the entry portals would be locked and the overhead field dropped, flooding the bay. 

We paid.  Free Enterprise at its finest...

Fulluusub was the largest settlement on Sullust outside the control of the Sorosuub Corporation - which was the same as saying outside the control of the Empire.  It was also a swirling mixture of free-thinkers, mercenaries, artists, and non-conformists that made it the perfect place for smugglers to transact their wares.

Or for someone hoping to fly under the radar to hide.

Our Intel also put Julwynn Hri here, spotted only a few months ago.  I didn't have any details, but someone in the Cobolt Front was supplying the Mak'Tor with a steady if sparse thread of information.  Despite the recent uprising and the new provisional government in Pinyumb, the Empire was still very much tied into SoroSuub and the presence of the Imperial Navy in orbit despite the recent Rebel fleet activity in the area spoke volumes about who was really in charge.

The fluid situation dictated caution and stealth, so we donned our new "uniforms".  We would present as the Captain and crew of the independent merchant ship Wayfarer.  This consisted of dark blue paramilitary utilties and multi-terrain boots over dark gray smart-fabric to control our body temps - and hide our infrared signatures.  We each also had low-slung "gunfighter" holsters with matching blasters, to better project the air of a moderately successful mercenary smuggler crew.  Our sabers were hidden away in seam pockets in the thigh seams of our utility pants, and we were each liberally supplied with spare power packs and electronic gear.

It turned out to be a short walk from the docking bay to a moving walkway that transported us down into Fulluusub's main business district and the adjoining 'red light' district.  We spread out slightly and I let Arnor and Ken keep watch as I opened myself up to the force...

DANGER DANGER DANGER

I recoiled from the hammering thread of danger in the song, my hand twitching toward my saber by instinct.  I barely kept myself from drawing the saber, instead settling for a quick stroke of the blaster's handle.  I blinked hard and extended my senses, looking for signs of aggression or malevolence in the force. 

Nothing...but I did sense a slight ripple in the surface of the force, like a ripple caused by a pebble hitting the surface of a still pond. 

I nudged Arnor as I tracked it back to a man standing across from the slideway we were riding.  He was looking away, but it was obvious in the force that his attention was riveted on us.  Arnor found him instantly and nodded slightly, acknowledging that she had picked him up.   I left him to her and slipped back into the force, tentatively touching the song again...

DANGER Danger Danger danger...

I dialed it back again, looking around yet again.  Something was way off... Or was it?  I had an odd sensation, one I hadn't felt in many years.

I didn't trust the song.

The ancient voice from my visions echoed in my head again: Fear the dark singer ... Trust the Singer, not the song...  In a flash of insight I suddenly understood a little better what he meant.

The song here was ... corrupted.  I felt like a cat on ice, unable to trust my own tread.  Each step was filled with danger and treachery.

We passed the lookout.  From the closer range we could see he was wearing light Mandalorian armor.  No helm, but he had the full clam-shell top as well as arm and leg armor, and he carried a standard Storm Trooper E-11 blaster rifle.  I turned to Arnor casually, as if discussing the weather or where to eat dinner.  "What do you make of him?"

"Lookout." She responded instantly.  "And he made us, no mistake."

"But how would he know who we were?" Ken asked, also maintaining a casual stance and not looking at us at all.  "Are we blown?"

I looked away.  "No.  I think he felt us in the force.  He's force-sensitive." 

Arnor nodded.  "Yes, but untrained.  He just felt a ripple and zeroed in on it."

"Well, the alley-way is coming up.  Ambush, you think?"

Arnor nodded.  "Danger signals are hammering.  It has to be an ambush."

I glanced at Ken and saw the full agreement in his eyes.  I wanted to join them, but something wasn't right.  "Maybe...  Not sure.  There's something I can't put my finger on..."

"So what do we do?  Pull back?" Ken asked.

I caught another glimpse of Mandalorian, behind us now, and following along discretely.  "No.  Either he's just following to see where we go or he's the back-door of a trap.  Lets duck down the alley like we planned.  If he follows us he'll see what we want him to see: three crewmen getting a drink and some socialization after a long trip in a less-than-reputable establishment.  If its a trap, we may bypass it."

"Or spring it." Ken tossed back.

"Or spring it.  Either way we'll know.  Just stay alert."

I felt the tension rise between us as adrenaline levels rose.  The Battle Song tugged at my chest, and I longed to surrender to it completely but I held a part of my concentration back, walling it off from the song.   I wanted that objective viewpoint, now more than ever.  There was a trap here, alright, but I still wasn't sure what it was, or where.  The song felt ... odd.  Slippery.  Elusive.

DANGER DANGER DANGER ...  don't trust it ... DANGER DANGER DANGER ... don't trust it ... DANG...

The conflict was deep and threatened my ability to act decisively.  I could sense it ... but nothing worked.  The song was hammering the danger motif louder and harder than I had ever felt it.  Mortal combat awaited us, I was SURE of it.  But...

But....

We turned the corner.  Mandalorian followed. 

The alleyway was crowded but far from packed with traffic.  I sensed Arnor and Ken open themselves to the Song, entering their battle songs.  They were convinced we were about to fight for our lives.

What is wrong with me?  You're going to get us all killed!  Sing, Master Singer!

I shook my head, falling back further into the remote part of myself walled off from the song.  No!  Something is wrong...

With an effort I pulled myself back, away from the Battle song, away from the danger motif.  I switched to less-used force-perception techniques and opened myself again to the force....

...and found a hammering, blinking kaledioscope of confusion.  The force was full of ... ghosts?  Shadows?  False images?

How is this possible?  I looked up the alley in amazement.  It was like the alley was filled with powerful, sensitive force users, all projecting ... white noise.  White light.  In a disorienting pattern of strobes, not unlike thousands of flash-bulbs going off over and over and over...

The effect was amazing.  How did so many force-sensitives gather in one place and coordinate this kind of attack?  I shied away from the onslaught, wanting nothing more than to dive back into the song, to protect myself from this blinding series of flashes, but somehow I knew that was the wrong move.   It was logical.  Predictable.

Exactly what anyone from our order would do...

I blinked and saw Arnor drifting toward our normal combat spacing.  Her hand was already hovering over her saber hilt, ready to extract it.  Her eyes locked on a man I suddenly realized was at the head of a short column of armed men all dressed alike.  Ken was also drifting out, deepening his connection to the Battle song, zeroing in on a similarly armed man on the right side of the alley, opposite the column Arnor had chosen.  Mandalorian was still behind us, but had now been joined by three more men in similar armor.  I longed to throw myself into the Battle song.  We were about to be attacked!  If I didn't fight with them, we would all be cut down by the ones behind.... 

Don't trust the song....

I swallowed hard.  Indecision reigned.  With effort I turned away from the song and boosted my perception higher, focused on Mandalorian and probed....

tense ... fear ... nervousness ... caution ... determination ...

Nothing malevolent.  No aggression.  No ill will....

I turned to the man in front of Ken and repeated the process.  Again, nothing but determination and caution mixed with a heavy dose of fear.

They're afraid of us...  Of US!

No time for debate!  Decide! 

I looked at Arnor and Ken, both prepared to fight to the death...  It was a risk, but something was not right!

I made my decision.

"Arnor, Ken, STAND DOWN!"  I hissed, the voice of command.  "Do NOT engage!"

I felt Arnor's shock.  The Song was screaming that we were about to be killed, and I was telling her to stand down?  She looked at me, and I saw a flicker of defiance, of fear, then trust overrode and she relaxed, spreading her hands away from her sides, stepping back from the brink of battle.  Releasing the song...

Ken was close.  I laid my hand on his shoulder and felt him flinch.  "Stand down, Ken."

"But..." He shuddered.  "Don't you hear it?"

"Trust me.  I'll explain later."  I said, meeting his eyes.  He nodded, but remained tense, and kept his saber hand a little closer to his side than I would have liked.  I quickly stepped past him and confronted the soldier (for that's what he had to be) who was now leading his squad at a trot up the alley, using hand-and-arm signals to control his troops as he approached.

The alley had cleared out like magic, the people previously scattered everywhere disappearing into every available door and crack.  Ken drifted back behind me, facing the Mandalorian and his companions.  Arnor, arms akimbo, continued to face off the half-squad on her side of the street.  I made my body posture as non-threatening as I could as I approached the Sullustian in command of the unit.  "Sir, good afternoon.  I am Captain Karmack of the freighter Wayfarer, recently docked in the port.  Apparently there's been some kind of ... problem with our paperwork?  I'm sure we paid the approriate docking fees and duties, and we paid in hard currency."

The Sullustian stopped and blinked.  I couldn't really read his expressions, but his emotions were naked in the force: apprehension, confusion, determination and the ever-present fear.  But still, no aggression.  He glanced back at the being who was apparently his second, a massive four-armed Besalisk carrying two blaster rifles instead of one, then turned back to me.  He spoke Sullustian rather than standard, but between my own youthful studies and the force I could understand him well enough.

<You are one of her servants.  You are not welcome here.  Go back now and no harm will come to you.>

So.  These men did know of Julwynn Hri and her operations here!  I barely kept myself from smiling.  "Sir, I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage.  I am no one's servant.  I Captain an independent freighter..."

The Mandalorian interrupted from the back of the pack.  <LIAR!  I could ... feel you.  You feel like one of hers.  One of them.>

I turned and looked at the Mandalorian.  He was gripping his weapon tightly.  I could feel the fear radiating from him.  The song....  Of course!  He's sensing it as well!  The force is hammering it at him just as it was at us.  Danger

I made eye contact and bored into his mind, trying to calm him.  "We are sensitive to the force, as you are, but we are not 'One of the Them'."  I turned back to the commander.  "We are Gray.  Of the Mak'Tor.  We have come to find her and ... end her activities on this world."

The Sullustian blinked again.  <So you say.  How do I know you speak the truth?>

Before I could answer the Mandalorian cried out again.  <He LIES!  HE LIES>  His blaster was up and he was firing...

My saber was in my hand and swirling, sweeping the bolts away.  Simultaneously I reached out with the force and found the power coupling in the E-11 and separated the motivator from the power source.  The blaster died in the Mandalorian's hands.  To make sure everyone knew what had happened, I reached out my left hand and yanked the blaster away from him, bringing it to myself.

I turned back to the Sullustian and retraced my blade.  I stepped forward and handed him the rifle.  "I have no quarrel with you.  Only with her."

<You could kill us all...>

I nodded, looked around the alley.  "Yes, I could.  But if I wanted you dead...

I looked back at the Mandalorian.  He was reaching now for a back-up weapon.  I froze his hand, locking the joints in his arms in place.  "...you'd be dead.   All I want is to know where she is..."  I looked at the Sullustian  "And your assurance that you and your men won't try to kill us again."

The Sullustian took two deep breaths, then turned to his second.  <Stand down.  Grev, go take Innick in hand please.>  He lowered his rifle.  <Come, lets have a drink, and I will tell you what I know of the Dark Mistress and her Warren-Clan.>

[Taegin Roan]

A very good chapter. Not much is seen of Sullust, so it is cool that you actually went there. This whole idea of the song being corrupted is intriguing. Not to mention that almost battle. I knew Karm would make the right choice, but I still wasn't sure what it was. Great job, I look forward to more.

[Karmack]

A very good chapter. Not much is seen of Sullust, so it is cool that you actually went there. This whole idea of the song being corrupted is intriguing. Not to mention that almost battle. I knew Karm would make the right choice, but I still wasn't sure what it was. Great job, I look forward to more.

Thanks.  I'm not 100% happy with this chapter either.  I had it almost done and something happened with the site and I lost it all.  I had to recreate it, but some of it was "in the moment" and I lost .... something.  I can't really put my finger on it, but it was better the first time.  *sigh*

OH well.  I got the point across and I know where I'm going so...  Glad you enjoyed it!    We'll see a bit more of Sullust before we're done.