Episode 9: Nemesis of the Force Part 11

Skywalker Saga

The Shadows of the Past Trilogy

Episode 9: Nemesis of the Force Part 11

                In First Order Space, Hux is approached by Traisl.  “The fleet is now ready, Sir.  We leave at your command.”

                Hux straightens his uniform.  “Proceed,” he says, a bit of nervousness threatening to override his disciplined expression.  The orders are given, and two dozen Star Destroyers, and the Valiant, jump to hyperspace.

                Above the planet Mandalore, the Zyn Empire’s fleet has gathered.  Twenty-five warships gather around Saydra’s larger flagship, the Vengeance.  Aboard the Vengeance, an officer approaches Saydra. 

                “M’Lady, priority transmission from the Sith Council.”

                “Patch them through,” Saydra says, and the image of a Devaronian male appears, dressed all in Sith robes.  After him, six other Sith Lords appear, each obviously transmitting from their own ship.  “What is it?” Saydra asks sharply.

                “M’Lady,” says Lord Setdavel, the Devaronian, with a sly and soothing voice.  He is obviously the spokesperson for the Sith Council.  “Some of the Council and I have been discussing this sudden call to gather.  We are wondering why you have ordered us away from the front lines.  Is this truly necessary?  Seems a bit excessive, don’t you think?”

                “Indeed,” says a Bothan Sith Lord, staring at her with malice in his eyes.”

                Saydra regards them icily.  “The Empress’ life is in danger,” she says matter-of-factly.

                “M’Lady?” Setdavel replies, shocked.  “How could it be that our beloved Empress is in danger?”  His sarcasm seems to grate on Saydra.

                “The Empress has put her faith and trust in the wrong people, and she may pay for it with her life,” Saydra explains.

                “But M’Lady!” the Bothan, Lord Tar’tel, exclaims.  “If the Empress dies without an heir…well, then the Sith Council would have to step in until a suitable replacement could be found.”

                “We must see to it that she lives, then,” Saydra answers.  “That is why such force is necessary.  We head to Uratsixo to destroy all those who would attempt to kill our Empress.  ALL who desire her demise will die,” and her words indicate a threat even to the Council.  Before they can respond, she concludes.  “Prepare to make the jump.  The coordinates have already been provided to your navigators.  We leave on my signal.”  Then she switches off the com.

                “M’Lady,” says the captain of the ship.  “The fleet is on standby.  They await your order.”

                Saydra stares out the viewport, Stalker standing behind her and just to her right.  She is deep in thought, as if sensing something.  She seems reluctant to give the command.

                She turns to Stalker and speaks in low tones.  “Stalker.”

                “Yes, M’Lady,” his voice is dark and powerful.

                “We have been betrayed.  It is clear that what I had feared all along is about to come to pass.  Members of the Sith Council are behind this.  They will take whatever opportunity they can to kill the Empress, and unfortunately she has made it all too easy for them to make that happen.  Fool child!  I'm certain someone she's been speaking with has counseled her to take this course of action." 

                "But I will deal with that.  Go to Korriban at once.  Take the other ST units with you.  Bring the Nemesis Disease to me on Uratsixo as soon as you can; ALL of it.  Make sure the data is downloaded into the Master Computer and all other records of it deleted.  I don’t want any of it to fall into the hands of surviving Sith or traitors associated with Snoke.”  She then faces the viewport again.  “Besides, I think it is time that Nemesis was tested.”

                “As you wish,” says the droid.  Then he twists on his heel and walks out. 

                A small ship is seen leaving the Vengeance.  Then, the entire fleet makes the jump to lightspeed.  Shortly after, the small ship, flown by Stalker, disappears into hyperspace as well.

                The scene cuts to the Felderra Dragon Mercenaries dropping out of hyperspace in a borrowed, banged up freighter.  Bannick and Li, in the cockpit, look a bit tense as they approach Korriban.  “I do wish we could have brought the Barracuda,” says Bannick.

                “The ship was too damaged from rescuing the Chancellor,” says Li.  “Besides, it would have stood out too much.  This has to be a stealth mission, and this ship belongs to the Zyn.”

                He flips a few switches to transmit codes.  Then he looks over at her.  “So tell me honestly, do you think we made a mistake?  Do you believe Cordasi is the Empress Amelia Zyn?”

                “She'd better be,” says Li.  “Otherwise we're pretty much screwed.  But hey, she probably is.  She DID have some seriously high level codes and intel.  I mean, looking back, I don't think we'd have escaped with the Chancellor if she wasn't who she says she is.  We're pretty good, but even WITH her codes we almost didn't make it.”

                Bannick goes back to flying the ship, a worried look on his face.  “Yeah, that’s what worries me.”

                The ship descends without hindrance to Korriban’s surface.  It lands on a platform within the Zyn facility.  The team meets at the exit ramp to the ship.  They are disguised in Zyn labor force uniforms.  None of them says a word as the ramp lowers and a Zyn officer approaches.  Bannick steps down to talk to the officer as the others wheel cart-loads of crates down the ramp.  Bannick can be heard saying, “…special parts and supplies for the cloning facility and the research labs.”  Li and Kika head off with their crates towards the cloning facility while Zelia heads off alone towards the research labs.

                Inside the facility, Kika and Li immediately drop several crates near others that need to be inspected.  Then they pop open one of the crates and Kika pulls out several slicing devices.  She pockets them, as well as a blaster pistol, and Li pockets her own blaster pistol and several grenades.  The two then walk away from the crates and begin making their way into the facility.  Shadow is then seen, trailing behind them, flitting about appearing and disappearing.

                “It’s amazing that they’ve lasted this long,” comments Li quietly to Kika.  “It’s way too easy to infiltrate for an "air-tight" facility.”

                “Clones are too innocent,” Kika responds, trying to keep a straight face.  “They just aren’t suspicious enough, like normal people.  Just flash them the right codes and you’re good.”

                “Yeah,” says Li, "as long as you don’t give it away by acting like a person.”  She smiles at Kika and then fights to stifle it just as a Zyn patrol rounds a corner.  Both girls continue on looking as unemotional as possible.

                Zelia arrives in a different bay.  She drops her crates near others as well, but she leaves one on the cart, wheeling it away towards an exit that leads deeper into the facility.  An officer approaches her and stops her.  “Where are you taking this crate?” he asks, though his voice is not hostile or suspicious.

                Zelia, a blank look on her face, responds almost robotically, “Special chemical products needed for new Nemesis testing.  My work order states that they wanted it delivered down to Lab 6A immediately.”  She pulls out a datapad and shows it to the officer.

                The officer nods.  “Very good.”  And then she continues into the facility. 

                On the Falcon, sitting in the cargo hold, Finn has his eyes closed and his hands outstretched.  Rey sits across from him, both on the floor and cross-legged.  Her hands rest just under his, palms up while his are palms down.  She says, “Just relax.  Don’t think too hard.  Thinking is a suppressant.  You must feel, not think.  Let it flow through you.”

                Finn seems nervous, but he tries to stretch and arch his shoulders and back to loosen the tension.  “Are we sure I can do this?”

                “No,” says Rey.  “That’s why we’re trying this.  Now stop asking questions and just relax.  Breathe.”  Finn inhales deeply.  “Now let it out slowly.”  He exhales, obeying her commands.

                Stepping into the room quietly, Jacen smiles deviously as he sees the two sitting on the floor.  Then, glancing over at a remote sitting on a work station, Jacen uses the Force to hurl the remote right at the back of Finn’s head like a bullet.  Just before hitting him, Finn dives and rolls to the side, and Rey catches the remote deftly.

                Finn looks up at Jacen with a hostile look on his face.  “What was that?  You coulda killed me!”

                “There,” says Jacen triumphantly with a smirk on his face.  “We have proof.  He has it.”  Then he turns and walks out of the cargo hold.

                Finn and Rey exchange glances.  Rey tries to fight a smile as she says, “Let’s move on to something else.”

                "First, tell me again why he being here is okay," says Finn.  "Poe told everyone in the galaxy that Kylo would be locked in a detention cell under his command.  But here he is with us flying towards some remote world in the Unknown Regions."

                "We need his help, Finn," says Rey.  "Like it or not, we need every Force user we can get, and Jacen is one of the strongest we have.  Poe said Jacen was under his command and authority.  As such, he has the right to allow him to be remanded into someone else's custody.  In this case, it just happens to be me.  He will still serve time in one week, after all this is over."

                "Yeah, well, it just doesn't seem right," says Finn.  "None of this seems right.  Seems like we're playing the system, and in the end Kylo's just going to escape."

                Rey grows serious at this, but she doesn't know how to respond.  Deciding they don't have time to dwell on that, she says, "Come on.  Let's return to your training."

                Elsewhere in the Falcon, Rose is working with Chewie, R2 and 3P0 on last minute repairs.  She is muttering to herself, “…supposed to get this thing up and running?  Huh?  How?  I’ve got like a million things to repair…no time…but is REY helping?  No…she COULD…but no…stupid Jedi Force crap…”

                Suddenly, Aritra steps into the workspace.  Golrit is right behind her, hovering protectively.  “Is everything all right?” she asks, looking down at Rose.  “You seem very upset. Anything I can do to help?”

                Rose looks up at Aritra from where she is crouched and working inside of an exposed panel.  She lifts her goggles off of her eyes, regarding Aritra with a look of annoyance.  “Not unless you can wave your magical Force-wand and rewire half a million cables that have been fried - or weld brand new pieces of metal into place with superheated laser vision.”

                Aritra smiles at her warmly.  “Love is a powerful thing,” she says, and Rose seems to recoil at these words.  She immediately goes back to work, trying to ignore Aritra now.  However, Aritra continues, seemingly oblivious to Rose’s body language.  “It can easily turn to jealousy and hate, if you aren’t careful.  If you truly love someone or something, however, you must learn to love them enough to let them be free.  Love does not bind and imprison.  It allows freedom of choice, and it learns to adapt so that you continue to love even if that love does not fit into whatever mold you are attempting to put it in.”

                Rose stops working again, unleashing her wrath upon Aritra.  “Look!” she snaps, even standing to face Aritra.  “Don’t give me a lecture.  I don’t need that right now.  Save your Force talks for Rey or Finn or Kylo Ren.  I don’t want to hear it.  I’ve got too much to do and…”

                “You are forcing yourself to work harder than you should because you are upset and jealous,” Aritra cuts her off.  “It isn’t good for you.  It hasn’t been good for you for some time.”

                “Yeah, well, too late now,” says Rose.  “We don’t have time for this.”

                “You should MAKE time,” says Aritra, somewhat sharply.  “We are about to enter the most deadly situation of your lives.  You are already about to snap.  There will be a moment, coming soon, when YOU will be tempted by the Dark Side.  Yes, even those who do not feel the Force can be influenced by it.  When the time comes, you will fail unless you do something to change the course of your future, and you will regret it for the rest of your life.  You need to stare your darkness in the eye and deal with it now while you have the strength - before it is too late.  We will not arrive at our destination for some time.  Go.  Rest.  Think.  Deal with your emotions.”

                Rose becomes more subdued, then, as she takes in Aritra’s words.  For several moments, she just stands there, holding her tools and looking down at the floor.  Aritra, seeing her words have sunk in, turns and walks away, leaving Rose looking very lost in thought.

                In the lounge, Jacen drops into a seat across from Elyani, the Empress Amelia Zyn.  For a moment, he simply stares at her.  Amelia, who was just drinking from a tall glass and reading some sort of article on her data pad, merely looks up at him as if wondering what he might want.

                Jacen regards her for a moment, as if sensing everything about her.  “I know who you are, Empress Amelia Zyn,” he replies.  “I just don’t fully understand what you are, and why you are here.”

                Amelia's normally innocent look vanishes like a vapor, replaced by guarded hostility.  “What does it matter?” she asks.  “I will not betray Rey and the others, though one may not be able to say the same about you.”

                Jacen's jaw sets, his face growing darker.  “I’m going to make sure Snoke is truly dead.  He is now our mutual enemy.  That makes us allies, at least temporarily.  After that, who knows what I will do.”

                “And you are kidding yourself,” she says in reply.  “In the end, you will surrender to the New Republic and face your sentence - if you don't die fighting Snoke, that is.  Your mother means more to you than you want to admit.  That’s why you couldn’t kill her when you had the chance all those years ago.  Your wingman had to do it.”

                “How do you know about that?” Jacen asks, now intensely on guard.  "No one knows about that.  I even executed my wingmen so that they wouldn't be able to tell anyone what happened that day."

                “I have my ways,” she replies coolly.  “Look, I desire to see Organa saved as well for my own reasons, and I desire Snoke’s ultimate demise.  He is a pox on the galaxy that must be removed - as is my mother.  Darth Saydra must be stopped, and her New Sith Order must be destroyed.  Everything she's built - the clones and all - it must be purged.”

                “Who are you really?” asks Jacen, trying to use his powers to figure it out.  He is clearly seeing her in an all new light.  “You are powerful.  That much is certain.  I can’t breach your mind.”

                She smiles, hardly strained as she resists him.  “I am well trained,” she replies with the same cool expression and tone.

                Aritra and Golrit suddenly enter the lounge area where they are sitting, and the mental battle ends instantly as both look over at her as if nothing had occurred.  Aritra regards both as if she knows what has just transpired, but she says nothing and continues on through the ship towards the cargo hold.