Star Wars: Tears of Fire (Book II)

Book II: Part 1: Chapter 1 - Destroyer of Worlds

Spoiler alert! This is the second book in a series and proceeding will give away many plot lines and story elements from the first book. If you haven't already, please check out Book I of the series titled Star Wars: The Great Awakening.

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The chill of the early morning air was hard and cold. With rain now falling in droves accompanied by a thick layer of dark cloud cover enveloping the city as far as the eye could see, the surrounding scenery looked grim and bleak.

Despite the eerie clouds, they did little to block out the sheer magnitude of lights which emanated from all over the massive city. On normal evenings and early mornings with clear skies, the amount of light put off by the various sized buildings was enough to block out the light of the stars overhead. Today, however, was not a normal day.

His body was tense as he climbed into the backseat of the airspeeder. The precipitation was continuing to fall as small drops landed upon his exposed face before he entered the shelter of the enclosed speeder.

Wiping the rain droplets away as he sat down in the back seat, the driver then set off towards their pre-established destination with all haste. There was no time to delay.

It was quiet as he rode along. The hum of the speeder combined with the diffused sound of the rain pelting against the outside was all that could be heard as he sat alone with his thoughts.

Drawn into a memory, he glanced outside the window next to him and observed the ill weather.

What began as a light rain all around the bustling city had now turned the water puddles into steady streams which ran along the sides of the road. What's more was the unusual feeling he couldn't shake.

Having grown up and more or less spent the majority of his life on this planet, he'd come to know the weather of the world and the various seasons which accompanied it. Because of this, the scenery around him caused a thought to enter his mind.

There was something unnatural at work here.

In the days leading up to the deluge of rainfall, he'd noticed an unusual amount of cloud activity. More so than one would normally notice, anyways.

Then came the downpour.

As the days continued on, so too did the rainfall.

For roughly two standard weeks now, it had rained nearly nonstop. Although he had seen plenty of rainstorms during his childhood and adult years, they were nothing compared to this.

On most days, he would've shook the feeling aside but given the current situation, it was difficult to not somehow see it as a coincidence.

Turning his attention away from the window next to him, Decius looked up towards the speeder pilot from the back seat. He took note of the alien creature's unbreakable attention. It seemed absolutely focused on its current objective. Such devotion was normally admirable but not in this case.

He cast a quick glance at the device on the back of the creature's neck; a device he'd seen countless times during his life. He turned away in disdain.

Tools. Designed and used for a purpose.

Hoping a few deep breaths would calm his mind as the speeder raced towards his destination, he found the simple exercise soothing but it did little to ease the apprehension he felt. His mind was restless as he considered the reasoning behind the urgent message and the possibilities of what was to come.

Closing his eyes, he briefly thought of the countless battles and skirmishes he'd faced in his relatively young life; achieving victory against all who have ever opposed him. Yet despite this, his body held onto a great deal of tension. Given the summons he had just received only moments ago, however, this was to be expected.