|
|
|
|
Chapter Seventy Two Things
could not be any better for Meklin Suul at this hour. His stock purchases have
nearly cornered the Corellian Ship Builders franchise, his greatest threat to
trade is being pummeled into submission, his greatest competition in
manufacturing is expending all of their energy and resources into pounding that
threat, and his largest nuisances on Corellia are off the planet, likely to
never return! Meklin Suul is also made all the more happy by the fact that he
has been enabled with watching the entire thing play out on a vidscreen! Those
overachieving Kuati’s have found a way to give him a direct feed from their
very own snooper ships, and he is watching the entire thing unfold, long before
anyone else knows what is truly happening. Oddly
enough, it is also enabling him to use the information gained from the
transmissions to discredit the CSBU, as well as the ammunition he needs to turn
the tables back around on the Kuati’s once the time is right. Although the
Kuati’s are taking out the Chandrillan Interstellar Navy, they are only doing
so by sheer volume. Had they even a tenth less in firepower, the Chandrillan
might be able to overcome them. Their skill and will to survive has made them a
difficult foe to subdue. However,
subdue them they will. There are simply too many Kuati vessels to contend with
in this battle. They outnumber the CIN nearly four to one, and no matter how
good the pilots & crews are, they simply cannot hold on for much longer
against such a superior force. Yes,
Meklin Suul is a happy man, as he consumes another hearty meal, at the expense
of so many. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A
familiar alarm sounds on the bridge once more, and as much as Commander Orian
does not want to hear it, he does. It is the alarm telling the command crew that
more inbound ships have been caught on their sensors. He waits to hear the size
of this group, hoping beyond all hope, that it is tiny group coming from
Sanctuary to assist in the ground operations. After seeing the Grand Chamber
dissolve into total anarchy, Silvas is beginning to wonder if there will be
anything left for him to fight for any longer. That scene was enough to make him
give up all hope in his homeworld, but he also knows that dark times have come
and gone on his planet, and he can only think that this will simply be another
one come and gone quickly. So,
as he awaits the tally from his crew, his heart begins to grow tight in his
chest… The longer it takes them to configure the size of the inbound group,
the larger the group will be. He sees Lt. Brizer turn to face him, “Sir?” “Give
it to me, Brizer, there are no more secrets here.” The commander says with
some measure of surrender. “Sir,
it appears to be a sizeable fleet.” His
shoulders lump just a bit, “A fleet?” “Aye,
Sir… However…” “Spit
it out, boy!” “It
does not appear to be Kuati in origin.” The lieutenant seems almost happy
about this latest. Silvas has to wonder what this truly means to his band of
weary soldiers. “And they are hailing us, Sir.” “Put
them through, immediately.” Static
fills the command bridge for only a moment, before a crystal clear voice comes
over the comm. “Greetings, Friend… I see you are in a bit of bind, and I am
here to lend my support.” Silvas
takes a closer look at the visuals of each of the incoming ships, noticing the
markings of a, long since thought disbanded, group of pirates. “And what of
your terms?” “Terms
are something we shall discuss later, Friend. Do you accept my offer?” The
voice is somehow familiar to Silvas, yet not so much so. However, he has no
choice, as without this gift of a fleet, he would surely doom his men, Silvas
knows what he must do. “If
you are willing to abide by whatever terms I am at liberty to agree to, then I
shall gladly accept your offer… Friend.” And
as the words leave his lips, the newly arrived fleet comes upon the battle
raging in Grid Three and opens fire on the capital ship there, sending it into a
roiling mass of debris. All that comes back is the leader once more, “Then
consider THAT, my signing bonus!” For
the first time since this battle began in earnest, Silvas has hopes for success.
Now
if only those damn mystics would get here! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A
tinny beeping goes off on the console in front of Jae-Lee Reklaw, stirring him
from his sleep cycle. He sits up and begins to check out the display on his
vidscreen. Once he is certain that everything is fine, he turns around in his
seat to wake his flying companion, only to find her already plugging in the
necessary coordinates for the last leg of their trip to Chandrila. “Hey,
Mees… You didn’t stay awake the whole eighteen hours, did you?” Jae says
with a small amount of concern. Without
looking up from her task she answers him, “I dozed now and then… I just
thought one of us should stay awake in case anything came up.” “Fraggin’
hell, Mees! You should have woke me up!” She
finally looks up from her calculations, “Jae, I’m fine… Remember, I have
weird sleep patterns anyway. I usually stay up twenty to twenty five standard
hours before sleeping for five or six hours straight, but with naps, I can
remain functioning for thirty to fourty hours.” Jae
stares in disbelief at his friend, “Is that how you always got so much
done?!” Now
Meesahran beings to laugh, “You never figured that out?!” And now they both
share in the laughter as Jae settles back into his own seat, facing forward once
more. “Yeah,
well, I’ve been learning lately that I’m not as observant as I thought I
was.” Meesahran
types in the last of their coordinates in preparation for the next phase of
their journey, “You could say that again.” The
two sit for a few moments in comfortable silence, when a though comes to Jae’s
mind. He begins to think about their earlier conversation, and remembers a
question that he has been dying to ask his friend. “Hey Mees?” “Yeah.” “I’ve
wanted to ask you this for a while now, but I wasn’t sure how to go about
it.” Jae says with a great deal of trepidation. Meesahran
takes a deep breath before she answers him, “Well, since you’ve been so
honest with me, I guess it’s only fair to return the favor… Go ahead and ask
me.” Now
it is Jae’s turn to take a deep breath, but he knows that if he does not ask
this question, the possible answers will haunt him forever. “Mees, that thing
with you and Vic… You sorta said it was done, but you don’t talk like it is.
What’s the deal with you guys?” His heart stays still, waiting for her
response and her answer. “If
I knew the answer to that, I’d be happy to tell you…” She looks down into
her hands, as though the answer might be found there, “It’s just one of
those things that can’t be. Both of us tried, but it just doesn’t work.” “What
do you mean? ‘Cause of what he does?” Jae tries to discover if his
suspicions are true. His mind has not been able to wrap around a contract killer
and someone who has sworn their life to protect others being together. Meesahran,
still looking down into her hands, balling them into fists over and over again,
tries to form her words carefully, but is finding it hard to finally put words
to something that has been haunting her for a long time. “Fact is Jae, Vic
tried to give that up, when he came to Sanctuary.” “VIC
was at Sanctuary?!” Jae’s surprise is not hidden this time. “Yes,
he came there looking for me, after… After I was hurt.” Her pauses betraying
the pain those words still bring her, “He actually found me at Xaxan’s, and
helped tremendously with my recovery. I still believe he is the main reason I
was able to walk again.” She smiles a bit at the remembrance of that time,
“He pushed me so hard, and he literally forced me to walk again. When you can
see it, he has such an amazing heart, and his will is stronger than any man I
have ever met… Even Uncle Bowen and Master Falion.” Jae
thinks about that statement a moment, and from his own recollection, he believes
it to be true. Vic did have an amazing will, and one that could never be broken.
“Then why did he come looking for you at Sanctuary?” Meesahran
has returned to her hands, “He was called away on business. It was something
he couldn’t get out of, and it took longer than he thought it would. So, by
the time he came back, I was already at Sanctuary, training with Master Falion
and getting to know my Uncle. When Vic showed up at the gates of Sanctuary, he
thought I had been abducted by a cult or something…” She laughs at that bit
of memory, “But when he met Uncle Bowen, he was intrigued by the place. He
found out that Uncle Bowen did not use his abilities, and that he had severed
his connection to them, yet was still surging with their power. He even became
my Uncle’s apprentice, for a while.” Jae
is completely aghast with this revelation, “VIC!? Anyone’s apprentice?!” “Yeah,
well it didn’t last as long as anyone would have liked… Vic had real issues
with many of the other masters at Sanctuary, and felt that they were all out of
touch with the realities of the outside galaxy. And when he left, he told them
so… It is still talked about among some of the masters.” Meesahran’s voice
has taken a more somber tone that Jae notices right away. “So,
he wasn’t there for very long? Is that when you guys called things off?” Jae
asks, trying to close this conversation. “Not
exactly… We’ve never ‘officially’ called anything off. Of course, there
was never anything ‘official’ between us either. We got as close as either
of us was capable of getting with anyone else, but truthfully, neither of us is
capable of much when it comes to letting down our guards.” Her voice cracks,
just a bit, with those last words and it nearly breaks Jae’s heart to hear his
friend so resigned to being alone. “So
what? You guys just stay in this state of limbo?” “Sort
of… We’ve just not occupied the same physical space in a long time. Comms
go back and forth, and now and then we get as close a parsec or two, but
that’s it. We hide everything in wit and teases, but we never really talk
anymore…” She begins to look out into the vastness of the starlines whizzing
by the canopy, “But…” “What?”
Jae cannot stand the suspense of her pauses any longer. “Somehow,
I know, if I ever really need him… He’ll be there.” Her voice, though
wistful, sounds almost hopeful. Jae,
however, is struck cold by the realization that her words might just be true. A
strange sensation makes its way down Jae’s spine as her words sink in to him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just
as the Council members begin to reach the doors to the Grand Council Chamber,
they find them being swung shut tight against their escape. There is a brief
moment of silence in the air as the formerly chaotic group take in what is
happening. A
chilling breeze wafts into the chamber and each turns to the dais once more,
only to find a dark figure of a woman standing there. And as she raises her left
arm into the air, electricity crackles from her finger tips. Collectively all
present in the room, gasp in total shock at the sight, but that could not have
prepared them for the sight that is to come… As she raises her right arm into
the air, she is grasping the head of the Chair, still dripping from its
excision. Lady
Barevi Lusankya will now have her words heard, “I HAVE RETURNED! And I WILL
have my REVENGE!!!”
Creator: PtrsonsZOO (Jennifer)
*SPECIAL NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond our control, the rest of the story will be written by PtrsonsZOO (Jennifer)
Back to Index Continue to Next Chapter ©2004 Rocky
Mountain Fan Force |