STAR WARS - Dawn of Extinction (A Dark Times Adventure)

[OniBocho]

Prologue

The dark room was cold and an even colder draft came in through some cracks from the outer wall. It was always dark in Coruscant, but it felt that the flats above the Crimson Corridor were covered in the uttermost darkness of the Galaxy.

Brea Marr has never been the girl that got off easy, but this time, things were different. Running and hiding from the Empire's lackeys was the greatest challenge she ever had to face, but deep down, Brea was determined to come on top of it, taking her chances against the odds.

Her blaster had been the closest thing she had to a friend for some months now and she made sure very often to keep her friend clean and happy. Seated on her knees, between the two beds aligned parallel to the edge of the small room, she had disassembled the pistol and followed the usual routine of cleaning the barrels and the trigger. She could hardly breathe, trying to focus on doing it without a sound, ever vigilant and mindful of her surroundings. Any time of her day -or night- had the potential of becoming a perfect time for some merc or bounty hunter to jump into her dirty hide-out and go for it! Make the arrest of a lifetime...

Meanwhile, in the Outer Rim world of Bespin

This night couldn't be any better. There was no unsatisfied client and every player in the Casino was having a really good time, regardless of winning or losing. It was well-known after all that "the time of your life is waiting for you, at the Living Planet Hotel and Casino".

Mare Ondus was gliding amidst the tables, dancers, security personnel and intoxicated customers. He had a wide smile on his face, projecting his satisfaction on how well his estate was fairing recently and now in particular, with the Empire only four months in existence. Every other rival businessman was having the most difficult time to hold on, but not him. Just like every master-player, Mare Ondus had a very special card up his sleeve.

While heading from the Casino to the hotel, , his holocommunicator signalled as Mare stood at the edge of the long air-pad corridor connecting the two grand estates. Hovering towards the latter, he brought up the image of a protocol droid. If he didn't know any better, , it was rather obvious that his metallic employee was under stress and feeling uncomfortable.

"Greetings, H2. What is the matter?"
"Master Ondus, I am very sorry to bother you on such a prosperous night, but you need to come to the front office, as soon as humanly possible"
"I'm already heading your way. Will you tell me what's so urgent?"
"There is a certain delegate here waiting for you, sir. He says he is a diplomat in the service of Emperor Palpatine himself."

15 minutes ago, the Zi-Kree sector, Coruscant

"I need to do this right", he thought to himself. "There is no margin for errors this time. I must get over with this annoying mission and get off-planet, before I end up filling the Moff's death-list."

Ke'elon Ionis could have never predicted what his destiny had in store for him after the Clone Wars. Imperial business was one way to put it, but he knew very well that he was just being held hostage. He knew very little about the deal he cut two months ago. He was pretty sure that the Imps did not know of his connection to the Force, or else he wouldn't be alive now, chasing down fugitives. He also knew that the Empire did not want this manhunt to take on official proportion.

That's why he did not have any credentials or ID on him. That's why when or if he succeeded he would just leave the evidence in a safe-house and never contact his employers. That's why, if he failed, he would be dead...

But this was not the case. He would simply burst into the room, arrest the runaway -or kill her if she resisted- strip her of the stolen data and head for the rendezvous-point. He clinched his teeth, adjusted his hood to hide as much of his face as possible, took out his blaster and touched the durasteel , trying to sense whatever was happening on the other side of the door.

At the same instant, at a random junkyard on the low-levels of Coruscant

She came around to her senses without knowing how much time she had been unconscious. She looked around, but her eyes hadn't been accustomed to the darkness and she couldn’t discern anything just yet. Her head felt heavy; she thought it would blow-up any moment now. Taking a good look at her surroundings, she couldn't figure out where she was. Or why. Or more importantly, who she was...

Trying to realize what had happened, she tried to remain seated and empty her pockets in search of clues - in vain. There was not a single entry on her datapad, of which she too had no memory of acquiring, but it was pretty obvious that it wasn't stolen or violated in any way. Oddly enough, she had a hold-out blaster pistol hidden on the right sleeve of her seasoned tunic.

Before she tried to stand on her feet, she heard strange voices from behind the junk rubbles that provided a basic cover to her.

"Don't move stranger! Don't move, or we're gonna blast you as you stand!"
It felt completely natural to her to reply to a threat with one of her own, as if it were the correct thing to do.

"Are you sure you are going to make it, before I blow up all your heads?"

"You've got some nerve there, girl. I'm gonna enjoy killing you, after all!" said the harsh voice that betrayed the existence of a breather that most probably belonged to some Kel'Dorian bandit.

"Whenever you are ready", she replied and standing near the edge of the junk pile, she tried to get a glimpse of her attackers. As soon as her head came out over the corner, a blaster fire sounded and an energy bolt came her way incredibly fast. The shot was extremely close.

"Is that the best you can do, you troglodytes?" she cried out, not letting her fear become visible. With an unconstrained staccato move, she skillfully released the blaster's mechanism in order for it to be delivered into her palm while still in hiding, and she shot at her attackers blindly with as much accuracy as she could guess towards their direction.

The situation was getting worse, since she understood she was soon going to be surrounded. The worst part was that she had done nothing, but wake up in the middle of nowhere, without any knowledge of how and why. And death's threat was closing in up on her...

STAR WARS


DAWN OF EXTINCTION


The Clone Wars are over! Almost 4 months after the Galactic Empire's establishment, the War's consequences are still visible. The Galaxy does not seem capable of healing its wounds.

With the fruition of a 1000 year old master-plan, the Sith are ruling the Galaxy. Emperor Palpatine and his fearsome right hand, Darth Vader, dictate everyone's lives, using fear and desolation. The War's end finds the Jedi declared as traitors of the Republic and murdered in cold blood by their own troops, while the few escaping the unexpected Order 66, remain in hiding to survive the relentless purge that Lord Vader has cast down upon his -not so long ago- fellow defenders of peace and justice.

In this catastrophic climate, the lives of ordinary citizens of the Galaxy have been put aside. This would seem the perfect opportunity for anyone that has the reflexes and resources to grab it and play a role in shaping the fate of the Galaxy...

https://swdoe.wordpress.com/prologue/

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[OniBocho]

CHAPTER 1

Ke'elon pressed his hand hard against the metallic door. Trying to ascertain inner peace, he closed his eyes and brought up the words of the Jedi in his mind. "There is only peace" he recited and meant to extend his senses through the door, inside the room. It was not an easy task for him. After all, he had never taken proper and complete training.

"One should never consider the Force as a means to achieve any given desired goal" his Master would often say. "It is but the substance that binds life together and along with the gift of controlling such a powerful element, comes the responsibility of serving life itself. Controlling the Force does not make you omnipotent. And neither should you think of yourself as superior to others, who find it difficult to communicate with the Living Force. Such is the way of the Sith and their tyranny. As complacent as the Galaxy has become, since the Jedi vanquished the Sith over a millennia ago, we should never forget what the evil of the Sith is capable of. If only there could be a way of showing the horrors that come with absolution to the common people... Then nobody would defy the role and duty of the Jedi..."

Her words were now more apropos than ever. This Galactic Empire, ruled by the Sith had only begun to show its true face, regardless of how they had ruined his own life so far. Now, it was coming down to absolute size. Now it would affect everyone's lives. Now, it would ruin all life...

These thoughts distracted Ke'elon and he lost his focus for only just a moment, but that’s all it took. His head already felt quite heavy from trying to probe the room, so he moved on to his second plan of action: Burst into the room, catch his victim off-guard, throw in a stun grenade and use his binder-cuffs to complete the arrest. Sounded like a good and solid plan. What could go wrong? He was a clone-wars veteran, although he was no more than 25 years of age.

Un-pocketing a piece of equipment from his utility belt, he placed it on the door and moved two steps away from it. A few "bweeps" later came the sound of the lock opening, and a green light appeared on the keypad placed on the wall, to the right of the door. He grasped his blaster firmly and took a deep breath. Moving towards the door triggered the sliding mechanism that revealed the room dark and empty. With his off-hand, Ke'elon threw at the centre of the room a stun grenade, which flashed like lightning and provided partial visibility for some split seconds. He couldn't make out any moving silhouettes through the thick darkness.

He rushed inside with his arms stretched out before him holding the blaster and once he came halfway in, he shouted clearly "in the name of Emperor Paplatine, you are under arrest for conspiring against the Empire".

No response came from the other side of the room. The grenade had damaged the ventilation circuitry at the ceiling and every five or so seconds, small amounts of current released from the destroyed cables flashed and buzzed. It was the only sound that could be heard apart from his heavy breathing which revealed his fear and anxiety. Uncertain of how he should proceed, Ke'elon made a few steps forward, his eyes scanning the room constantly. He was now surrounded by a strange feeling of something more than fear.

He knew that this was his last chance. Had the imperial information brought to him been fixed to frame him? Had he made another foolish mistake? Could it be that his bounty was never in that room and there was a rat in the Imperial Information Agency? His mind was playing the same tricks again, his vision blurred and his head felt like it was being pressed inwards by a wookiee berserker. In that instant, a dark figure jumped behind two beds that appeared to be the only furniture in the deserted flat. And that, perhaps, was the last thing Ke'elon Ionis would see...

***

"You will never get me, Imperial scum! Die, die, dieeeeee!!!!!!" she shouted as she landed in the space between the hacked door and the intruder. The human had a black-market blaster pistol in his hands and black hood which did not allow Brea Marr to make out his facial features.

While making for her escape she fired twice at her attacker and started running towards the exit, without even taking notice if her shots landed. She thought she knew the schematics of the building by heart, but she never expected that a stun grenade could make such a mess of her head, causing her to lose her sense of direction. "There's a first time for everything" she thought, and tried to gather her wits for the final run to safety. Before long though, she knew that she was still being hunted down.

The first blast never found its target, but the second one struck Ke'elon straight on the chest. The protective vest absorbed as much of the energy necessary as to keep him alive, but it was enough to drop him to the ground. The pain was excruciating, but being alive was still better than being executed by an Imperial Moff, so he had to push through and get on his feet as fast as possible.
Brea Marr was running down the main corridor, turning back every now and then to glimpse at her assailant who was gaining ground on her. As they passed through a series of empty flats, they came across an opening that housed the two 20-person lifts. Thinking blazingly fast, Ke'elon shot both of the elevator touchpads with accuracy.

"Stop! You have nowhere to go! Surrender and let's get this over with!" he shouted at her but all he got in response was two more blaster shots. Thanks to his military training, he was able to avoid both, but the dodging gave Brea all the time she needed to blast the security door open and move quickly towards the staircase, leading all the way to the ground floor.

Ke'elon gathered himself up once more and followed in the girl's direction, who had fled down the staircase with uncanny speed. Whenever he thought he had eye contact and could shoot her in the back, she was already turning to the lowest level, making him even angrier. He chased her all the way down to the ground floor, where she fired another round at him, but this time it was even easier for Ke'elon to dodge the energy bolts, due to him holding the higher ground. Once again though, he had to slow down, which allowed Brea Marr to run through the main exit and vanish in the vastness of Coruscant's lower levels.

The thought of losing her for good made him reckless; for he ran full speed at the exit, only to find Brea pointing her gun at him as soon as he passed the double door.

"I don't know who you are or what you want with me. But if you want to keep on breathing, you will stop hunting me right now!" she said as she started squeezing the trigger.

Ke'elon stopped, raised his hands above his head and took a breather. He tried to speak, but Brea Marr didn't let him even open his mouth. "Not a word, creep! You lie down or I put you down..." she said, but before she finished her sentence, the young man made a rapid move with his hands as if he were pushing the air. This movement threw Brea against the wall behind her, even though Ke’elon never physically touched her.

The impact made Brea lose her breath and before she could understand what happened, Ke'elon had already overwhelmed her. "It will be over, soon" he thought as he applied the binder-cuffs on her left wrist, but before he could tie her right hand as well, Brea gathered as much of her strength as she could and hit him hard, moving her knee in an upwards fashion, striking his chin. Ke'elon fell on his back, almost unconscious from the vicious blow.

With steady moves, she took his blaster off him and since her own was way beyond her reach now, she pointed his on the top of his head and told him slowly and clearly
"You've had your chance. It didn't have to end this way. Too bad you are slow learner."

She lowered her voice until it was completely covered by the sound of energy gathering inside the power cell of his blaster. While he knew his end was imminent, he remained calm and perhaps for the first time in a very long time, he was at peace...



https://swdoe.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/chapter-1/

[OniBocho]

CHAPTER 2

Mheros Nuk was a man of medium height but there was something in his overall posture that made him look physically bigger than what he really was. In truth, he never was a great fighter, nor an excellent marksman, but he had always been an astonishing tactician and from his early years in the Imperial Academy he had shown a natural knack for battle planning and hard fought diplomacy.

He was waiting patiently in Mare Ondus' office, paying attention to the slightest details that could provide leverage against the accomplished businessman he was about to meet. There was one thing that struck his mind: being in this situation many times before, he had never seen such a plain and minimalistic decoration of a private office. Most of the Casino owners filled their personal quarters with any kind of extravaganza mainly for reasons of showing-off but subconsciously exposing an image of authority and power.

What could be more intimidating to an uprising sabbac star than the gloves of a famous champion in a display and a Holo-graph descriptor highlighting the date of his defeat? “Many of these ludicrously rich money-makers would have to pass some hard-pressing re-evaluation”, Nuk thought, for it was vital for the Empire to get a grip on their taxable income. And the sooner, the better, for all he cared.

It wasn't long before the door of the office slid open and a middle-aged human appeared, sharp features, dark of skin, black hair -with the exception of white on his temples- topped to the side, dressed quite elegantly wearing a silver suit and a purple cape with matching silver details.

"I hope you did not have to wait long. You should have informed us of your visit, so that I would have the elite suite prepared for you. It is not every day we have the honour of hosting an Emperor's envoy in our humble establishment" said Mare Ondus with a smile and a silver tongue, surely matching his clothing.

"It is not necessary. I am here on Imperial business, not leisure. So, do not bother yourself with such commodities, for my time is valuable and I must get straight to the point of my visit here".

"By all means, mister..."

"Mheros Nuk. Lieutenant Commander of the Imperial Army, currently assigned to the economics and resources department. I understand Mr. Ondus that affluent residence and gambling are not your sole operations here on Bespin. You happen to be one of the most successful tibana gas mines owners, if I am not mistaken."

"You certainly are not Mr. Nuk, but let's not exaggerate. It is just a job, like any other in the Galaxy. No need to make a big deal out of it. With the War over after all, tibana gas requirements have dropped more than 300 percent" declared Mare Ondus, who thought that the envoy has been sent for taxation reasons. He had already heard stories of how the Empire treated the wealthier of the galaxy, even though the Hutts or other criminal organizations hadn't been touched yet.

“There is no need to be modest, Mr. Ondus. The Empire is well aware of your financial status. We also know that you provided the Army of the Republic with valuable tibana gas, which certainly counts in your favour, but you should also consider that the Empire has many enemies, both inside and outside of its new-born structure, something that means that a well organised and strong army is necessary to keep our citizens safe. Moreover, a strong Imperial Army is the only answer to the threats we constantly receive by terrorist organizations targeting not only our Emperor's life, but our society as a whole.”

“I must admit I admire your dedication to the citizens of this tormented Galaxy, Mr. Nuk. Rarely have I met such a passionate individual, sworn to protect the common people in my field of business. I wonder, though, how do my operations interest the Empire? Have you come to me with a specific proposition?”

The diplomat moved in his seat, perhaps due to the fact that he was feeling uncomfortable with Ondus getting on the offensive, since he was accustomed to hearing complaints and arguments on the demands he was stating, rather than small talk of “propositions”.

“The Emperor is not a man that forgets, Mr. Ondus. Nor does he forgive, though, so you should bear that in mind. The help you provided the Republic with was valuable. And now, the time has come again for you to show your dedication to the Galaxy. The Empire requires you to provide our army with 75% of your yearly gas resources; further, the taxation for the rest 25% that you will be at liberty to sell to any other party interested to buy will be increased to 60%.”

“Sixty?! You are talking about an increase rate of more than 100%, from the current tax of ¼ that applies to every businessman's income in the open market. On top of that, we are talking about the income I can make from what will be left, after the Empire empties my stock-houses. In the long-term, this is going to be devastating both for the market and the Empire itself”.

“The Empire will be in position to control the market and by this I mean that every businessman will have exactly the same chances to profit. The Republic ended up being a corrupted government, that instead of caring and providing for its citizens only existed to serve the few privileged with fame and fortune. Many people took advantage of their position or birthright to become even more famous. Εven wealthier! Εven stronger!!! The line of corruption led straight even to the Jedi Temple, a place far from the slightest suspicion! You are well aware of the rest, I should guess.

This will be tolerated no more! The Empire has already stabilized the political system and it will soon enough be in control of the markets, industrial and mineral production, succeeding in the ultimate goal: equality and prosperity for every being in the Galaxy.”

“I really am moved by your vision, Mr. Nuk. I cannot imagine myself not contributing to this goal. But, all these years of experience have taught me that giving the same opportunities to everyone does not necessarily yield the same results for everyone. I must admit that the plan you are talking about concerning the Galactic economy will backfire. For it is not always about getting the head-start. Most of the times, it has to do with the initiative, the risks involved and how well does one read the signs.”

“Either way, Mr. Ondus, this is not a debate. If you cannot comply with the Empire's demands, we will find someone else who does who can easily take over your operations and willingly provide what is needed.”

Mare Ondus didn't like that at all. Being threatened inside his own office wasn't something he was used to and although he wasn't known for any underworld activities -as was the case with many of his colleagues- he didn't like the idea of some Imperial diplomat throwing an ultimatum to his feet. He was not going to surrender without at least trying to make the most out of this twist of his fate.

“There is no need to get ahead of ourselves. I never said that I am not willing to help the Empire. But this transition will require some time. I need to inform my employees, have a long discussion with my accountants and evaluate whether it is in my own interest to be involved in such a deal, or if the proper course of action on my behalf would be to sell the mines. Perhaps the Empire would be interested in buying the facilities and keep every square of gas mined?”

“The Empire is not a company, Mr. Ondus. If we wanted to apply such an unfair procedure, we would confiscate your facilities and advance the original plan without asking. But we do not wish your economical breakdown. You have until tomorrow afternoon! By this time tomorrow, I would very much like to offer the Emperor the good news he is waiting for. And you can trust me on this - the Emperor is not a man whom you would like to disappoint.”


https://swdoe.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/chapter-2/

[atom_smasher]

τι ναι αυτό;

[OniBocho]

Μία νουβέλα Star Wars που γράφω όποτε ξεκλέβω λίγο χρόνο. Είναι τοποθετημένη χρονικά 4 μήνες μετά τα γεγονότα στο Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Ξεκίνησα να τη γράφω εδώ στο φόρουμ, αλλά εν τέλει έφτιαξα κι αυτό: https://swdoe.wordpress.com/

[atom_smasher]

ok. να δεις λίγο και το ποστ από τον φουντάκια που έγραφε κάτι ανάλογο εδώ μέσα για να πάρεις και καμιά καλή ιδέα