Star Wars: Secret of The Force

Chapter 8

The Eighth Brother stared out the viewport, watching the escape pod as it shot towards the surface of the planet. It wasn't long before The Eleventh Sister found him. "You let him escape..." she said coldly. The Eighth Brother nodded. "He wasn't going to talk, did the Purge troopers clear the area?" he asked. The Eleventh Sister nodded. "He can't save them, if he does try and get all of these traitors off planet, we will be waiting..." she said. The Eighth Brother nodded. "Lets not make it too easy for him... go down there and make sure he earns his escape attempt!" he said. The Eleventh Sister nodded, and headed for her ship. While she searched the surface, The Eighth Brother returned to the bridge. He had recognised the Lightsaber that the jedi used, and he was going to find out why. "Did you run the image?" he asked Captain Koraann. She nodded. "From the list that was made after Order 66, the design was favoured by two Jedi. The master was named Orion, and his Padawan was Czar Daraine" she informed him. The Eighth Brother laughed. "Excellent work Captain, now, what do we know?" he asked. The captain shuffled nervously. "Not much Inquisitor, according to our information he's worked here as a scrapper for the last several months. The workers and his superiors describe him as polite, professional, but quiet. He does have two other friends on the surface however we've been unable to track them down." She replied, and watched the Inquisitor's reaction. "I know the jedi's master from my past life..." mused The Eighth Brother. "I was the one who ordered his death" he continued. Koraann shifted. "So you and the padawan have history?" she asked. The Eighth Brother nodded as he looked over the hologram. "His master was a fanatic, and because of his obsession I now have a very good idea what that Jedi is hiding..." he said. When it was apparent nothing else was going to be said, the crew and officers returned to their work.

I woke up after who knows how long. I hated escape pods, especially when I had to deal with a crash landing. I checked my head for any wounds that could be covered in blood, but thankfully found none. I fought my way of free the pod, which in itself was a tough challenge. Much as I hated to admit it, I felt that there was something familiar about The Eighth Brother. I looked around the stormy planet briefly, and then started to make a move for safer ground. As I moved through the city, it was clear that The Eighth Brother cared little about the civilians here. The raids he would likely be ordering would start soon. I checked my Commlink, and wasn't surprised to find it broken. I sighed, and kept moving. I had no doubt that The Eighth Brother had seen my Lightsaber hilt and could likely trace it back. Orion had always said I didn't have to adopt a similar design to him, but I had done it anyway as a sign of respect. In all my time travelling I had never learned of any other Jedi survivors. Like the Empire though I had no doubt they existed. Many had left the order as a sign of protest of the Jedi's role in the Clone Wars. Orion hadn't hidden that from me, he'd even said how he'd continue to be a peacekeeper if he did leave the order. I shook that from my mind, eventually, and kept moving. As I snuck towards a nearby communication booth, I stopped dead in my tracks. There were voices. I focused as I tried hard to listen, and managed to make out some of it. It was more than slightly concerning that one of the voices was distorted. The first voice was female. "I've not found anything yet, but the rumours are flying around the local work force, a force user is here..." the distorted voice spoke next. "Have you been able to determine if the rumours are true?" it asked. The first voice was next to speak. "So far nothing, there's an increased Imperial presence, but its hard to tell if that's to do with supposed smuggling group operating here, I thought that's what you were looking for..." it replied. I didn't sense any danger, but I suspected one of them was looking around. The distorted voice spoke next. "I need to know if the rumours are true, smugglers have their uses but there is only so much they can achieve on their own! I can't convince him to spare more resources to searching this part of the galaxy... if he has made it to the outer rim none of my other agents in that direction have discovered any new leads!" it answered patiently. Whoever this was, they had agents. I carefully moved closer so I could hear more. "So if the rumours are true then you suspect he or she is still here?" asked the first voice. I reached out with the force, and that's how I discovered that the second must not be on planet, but communicating by Holotransmission. "The rumours only placed a force user on the planet and footage we were able to get from the Imperial database supports them! Those same rumours are backed up by people who were nearly crushed by ship parts... have you had a chance to speak with them?" asks the hologram. I heard a resigned sigh. "All the ones I've spoken to claim that it was the pilots who pulled off some skilled flying, then the workers smashed the glass and freed them when the doors jammed. It would help if I knew more of a description, but its unlikely to be possible from the footage you showed me!" said the first. "I have no doubt that the pilots of those ships were skilled in their own right, if you can't find more evidence of any force user, make an invitation to those pilots, I can connect them with the others" answered the hologram. "How much longer do you want to wait?" asked the figure. Whoever was on the other end answered quickly. "As long as it takes, but I don't want to risk your cover, if they start to suspect someone is asking too many questions, go to ground and I will arrange transport off planet for you. Before that though, chase down any other leads, me and my Associates would very much like to talk to this Jedi, if he is still in the system. If he isn't, we'll begin our hunt anew more towards the outer rim" answered the other voice. The person on the other side of that transmission seemed smart. "Do we know anything at all about this possible jedi?" asks the female figure. The voice answered very quickly. "Sadly not, the natural storms allowed a great deal of cover when he used the force" the figure sighed. "I'll see what I can do, but I might need some others sent to help me" she replied. "I can't afford the resources, I'm sorry, but you're on your own, find something quickly before The Empire realise that you're snooping around" the transmission then ends. I leap atop a nearby building and watch the young woman go. I look around in confusion. Why was someone looking for me? I stayed there in the rain, watching this 'agent' as she moved carefully. She was armed, and wearing some kind of stealth combat suit. I had seen such things before. The woman, or girl, was roughly sixteen or seventeen standard years of age. 2Two years in and the Empire already has people rising up to fight it..." I muttered to myself. The girl's hair was dark blonde and I could tell even through the rain that her eyes were a sapphire green. As I followed, I noticed that she was keeping lookout for Imperials. If she was seeking a Jedi, she wouldn't know she was being followed by one. I knew I should make my way back to Kara, leave the planet while I still could. For all evidence to the contrary, the Empire hadn't banned departure off world yet. I turned over the calculation over in my head. Learning more about this girl and who she was working for seemed useful. I didn't have channels of intelligence, this was going to involve a stakeout in the rain.   Sighing to myself content with my decision, I reluctantly kept going...