Survivor of Order 66

Chapter Five: New Purpose

     Martus could feel himself waking from his slumber, his body aching in pain all over, and his eyes opened to blurry vision.  After his eyes adjusted, he found he was not alone, as a hooded figure sat across from his suspended ray shield shackles. The stranger wore robes black as the night, worn and tattered from battle, and a mask with a red vizor was just visible from under the hood. The figure sat with their chin resting on their hands, almost as if deep in thought, till a man's voice spoke up. "I hope the welcoming committee wasn't too harsh with you," the man said, Martus not replying with a response. "It's not every day my troops encounter a Jedi, but I'm always pleased when you traitors surface from hiding." "That's a lie," Martus hissed, "we were no traitors! The clones turned against us." The man looked up from his deep thoughts, noticing the fire in Martus' eyes, giving a wry laugh. "You both hate and fear me, Jedi. Why is that?" "I recognize you," Martus admitted, "You're the one from my vision." "Oh?" the man gave a fake attempt to sound surprised. "And what was my purpose in this vision?" "You were there to kill me," Martus answered as he looked around the small, grey room. "In a dimly light room like this one." The figure then stood up and approached Martus, looking over him like he was a piece of art. "You will not die, Jedi. Not today, anyway. I must deal with the task I was dealt with before dealing with you. You understand, I'm sure." "I'll never understand why Sith like you think you have the right to rule, yet you're sent around like a little errand boy," Martus spat, but the stranger only laughed. "And you Jedi felt you could preserve the peace, but ended up being the destruction of it. Though I can't claim to be one of the high Sith of old, I only need to be an Inquisitor to weed out you and those foolish enough to remain loyal to the light." As Martus hung there lost for words, the Inquisitor turned and began to leave, until the Jedi spoke up. "What are your plans for Zeako?" He didn't turn around, only glanced back at the Jedi, "The loth-wolf? He is a creature unusually strong with the Force. He will be used until his usefulness runs out, which as I can sense, isn't very long now." The Inquisitor pressed a button, opening and walking out the door before it closed, leaving Martus alone. Martus found his mind jumbled in thoughts in confusion, I don't know who Inquisitors are, but he was shrouded in the Dark Side of the Force. Martus reached out and felt his fears confirmed: Zeako was here, but he was fading. Martus tried to move, knowing he had to get free to find Zeako, but despite his best efforts, he stayed suspended in the ray shield. Before he could run some plans through his head, he could make out yelling from outside his cell, followed by a few thuds and then silence. Suddenly, the door slid open, revealing a happy little droid as he rushed in to aid his master. "BD-4! You're here. How...?" Martus began, but then stopped himself. "Actually, never mind. I don't care. Can you get me down?" BD chirped as he walked to the projector underneath Martus, placing his limb on it and sending a shock that disabled it and released his master. Martus sat on the ground as his droid gave a concerned beep, to which he patted BD's head. "I'm fine. It's not my first time being captured and held prisoner." When BD seemed surprised, Martus chuckled, "Let me share some of my stories of the Clone Wars with you sometime." Martus then held up his restraints as he continued, "But right now, could you do something about these?" BD then turned himself around, revealing to Martus' surprise his lightsaber, strapped to the little droid's back. "Well, I'll be," Martus muttered as he removed the weapon from his droid, which faced him again. "You're a lifesaver, BD." BD was pleased with his praise, trilling happily as his master carefully cut the cuffs around his wrist, removed them completely, and clattering to the floor. Rubbing his wrists, Martus clipped his weapon back to his belt, before he crept to the doorway and scanned the hallway.  "The coast looks clear," Martus informs his droid, only seeing the now unconscious guards outside, BD-4 beeped as he asked for their next move.  "We'll find a way off this ship, but first, we need to find Zeako.  The Empire has him, and we need to get him out of here."  BD seemed to be hesitant, but followed nonetheless as they began sneaking through the halls.