The Krayt Dragon landed at its usual berthing place, in the docking port near the city where Shadie stayed. Though “city” was hardly a way to describe it. The fields were vast in this part of Mandalore, and it certainly wasn’t crowded, but she liked it. As for the docking port, it was a scarcely used one, situated in the middle of the fields, away from the main and busy port. It was practically in Shadie’s front yard, even if it took a good fifteen minutes to walk to. It was, if nothing else, convenient.
            The landing ramp lowered and Brenum and Trylia walked out, all smiles.
            ‘Look at you two love birds,’ said Knarf.
            ‘All right, don’t rub it in,’ said Brenum, ‘we’ve just had to sit through extensive talks with the Chiss Ascendancy, being all formal and proper for the Republic.’
            ‘What he means to say,’ said Trylia, ‘is it’ll be nice to be more open about our show of affection, now we’re among friends.’
            ‘Aren’t you two supposed to be on Tython?’ asked Fane.
            ‘We are,’ said Trylia. ‘We’re picking up some supplies along the way, that’s all.’ She smiled.
            ‘It’s good to see you,’ said Fane, smiling back at them. Everyone hugged. ‘Hey, check this out. Shadie and I showed Knarf how to construct a lightsaber.’
            Knarf unclipped the lightsaber from his belt.
            ‘Nice hilt,’ said Brenum.
            Knarf took a few steps back and ignited the blade. It glowed a gentle, yet bright orange light.
            ‘You found a crystal in your colour,’ said Trylia. ‘It suits you so well.’
            Knarf twirled it around a bit, showing off the hiss and buzz it made. There was a whistle. Everyone turned to see Talyc approach.
            ‘Impressive lightsaber, Bes’laar,’ he said. Knarf twirled it around some more to show it off even more.
            ‘Talyc, good to see you!’ said Brenum.
            ‘Likewise,’ said Talyc, acknowledging Brenum and Trylia. ‘Fane, my man! Haven’t seen you in a while.’ He pointed behind him. ‘Saw you at the tavern with Lashika, though. How’d that go?’ Fane shrugged.
            ‘We’re going for drinks later, by the way,’ said Shadie. ‘You’re coming along, right Fane?’
            ‘Oh, I don’t know, I need to meditate.’ Fane seemed flustered.
            ‘Well, I’m certainly going,’ said Talyc, ‘I’m assuming the invitation includes me?’
            ‘Of course, it does,’ said Knarf.
            ‘Fane, you sure you don’t want to come along?’ asked Shadie. ‘We’re all going.’
            ‘I’ll be there,’ said Talyc. ‘It would be nice if you came along. I know buying you a drink won’t repay you for saving my life, but I do feel safe around you.’
            ‘You don’t owe me for saving your life, Talyc,’ said Fane.
            ‘I want to… repay you. At least let me buy you a drink, again. They’ve got the best Tarisian ale, aged to perfection, given the hundreds of years.’
            Fane looked from Talyc to the others. ‘Tempting, but…’ His expression hardened.  ‘No. Sorry.’ He looked at Talyc. ‘Jedi duties.’
            ‘Oh, well, if you change your mind,’ said Talyc, looking dejected.
            ‘Please excuse me.’ Fane left the group. Shadie signed.
            ‘What’s up with him?’ said Brenum.
            ‘Well, you were there when he explained to Master Herl’unik why he felt he couldn’t return to the Jedi Order just yet,’ said Shadie. ‘I think there’s something troubling him. Every time I think I’ve grasped what’s going on… I think we best leave him be for now. Let him clear his mind.’

* * *

            Relsor and Perce strode at a brisk pace along the long corridor. It felt good to have purpose again. Since Coruscant, Perce had not had the chance to focus on their cause to take over the galaxy.
            ‘The dark side will be strongest there,’ said Perce, ‘and then we can sense where the light side is at its strongest, where it’s at its weakest, without encountering any resistance in the Force from whomever is averting your Force attacks.’
            ‘You make me feel like a fool for not thinking of it myself,’ said Relsor.
            ‘I don’t expect you to think of everything.’
            They arrived at the command console. They had retrieved pieces of the flotsam from the battle on Kromus’s starship and Perce was going to slice into Kromus’s console and retrieve the coordinates they needed.
            ‘I require but a few moments,’ said Perce. ‘This shouldn’t take long.’
            He felt the console through he Force, and let it guide him as he sliced into the main computer, fuelling it with the Force to keep it functioning long enough for him to work his magic. He muttered a series of numbers out loud. Relsor took note of them as he dictated them out. When Perce was done, he let go of his Force connection to the console and it powered off.
            ‘You got the coordinates?’ Perce asked Relsor.
            ‘In my datapad,’ replied the Chiss.
            ‘Excellent!’

Continue reading the Chapter Two

Catch up on previous Star Wars Fan-Fiction from the Shadie story series.

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Relsor stood before the Dark Council, his hands clasped behind his back, his chin up, breathing in to his full height. The Dark Council members stared at him with impunity, as though trying to make him feel like a small child. He laughed in their faces and let them see his amusement.
            ‘What makes your True Sith, the Followers of Kromus, truer Sith than us?’ asked the Head of the Dark Council, sitting in the centre of all the seats.
            ‘If you need to ask that question, then you would not understand the answer,’ Relsor replied condescendingly.  ‘If you understood the power of the True Sith, then you would have already come to a decision, and that decision would be to join us.’
The old man in the centre kept his eyes narrowed, while the man sitting next to him sat leaning forward, eyes wide with his jaw clenched.
            ‘Do you really think, the Sith Empire and its Emperor will join a mere sub-faction?’ asked another of the Sith sitting before of him, a woman whose tone was incredulous.
            ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ said Relsor, ‘did I make it sound like you had a choice? My mistake.’  He grinned. ‘Did I mention I killed my own Uncle to take his place as the leader?’
            ‘Petty squabbles of a sub-faction don’t interest us,’ a Pureblood replied.
            ‘We are not a sub-faction!’ Relsor was getting impatient. ‘We are the True Sith.’
            He focused his thoughts and took a few steps back, focusing on the Force around him, touching the minds of every Sith in the room. He walked backwards some more to allow them their space, and watched the chaos unfold before him. Simultaneously, they each saw their own version of reality, which he had planted into their minds, bending the Force around them, causing them to see and hear each a different scenario occurring at this very moment.
            After some time, he let go of their minds, all at once, and they stood staring at him, as he stared back at them, waiting. They began arguing amongst one another about what had just happened, each counter-arguing why said occurrence was false and how what the other had seen had been the true reality. Then, understanding began to settle into their minds, and they grew quiet and looked at Relsor.
            ‘Now do you understand?’ he said to them.

Continue reading the Prologue

Read Chapter One

Catch up on previous Star Wars Fan-Fiction from the Shadie story series.

Perhaps you’ll also enjoy Stardust Destinies I: Variate Facing; fantasy action-adventure taking place in a realm strong with magic where prophecies are dictated by dragons. https://binkyproductions.com/stardustdestinies