Chương 167: The Voices Are Silenced
I don't own star wars…
"What the hell happened here?!" I said, viewing the carnage of my boyhood home as Rattletrap and X-E tried to repair the damage. And there was an old man lying on my couch… Seis had crash-landed Jon-Nee's ship on our lawn just as Nike returned from the city with Jon-Nee himself in tow. Killa was apparently left behind in the city helping the inhabitants deal with an infestation of aggressive wildlife. Apparently, an attractive Twi'lek who could kill vicious animals with her bare hands was an appealing sight to them. Jon-Nee seemed rather unperturbed with his ship… but openly disturbed by the old man. I was equally disturbed, but oddly satisfied at the dead Vargoss rotting on the grass, but that can be dealt with later… preferably with me pissing on his corpse first.
Nike. Upon seeing Barradowwa covered in wounds immediately went to tend to him, cursing softly to herself at the sight of blood as Barradowwa waved me over. "Roland. You need to talk to him, Chant… he won't last." He said a little sadly waving to the old man as I approached.
The old man looked to be a hundred years old. And getting older by the minute. He glared at me through highly intelligent, but cataracted eyes. "…I had hope… to be meeting you in a more… favorable position." He said, as Jon-Nee stared at the man oddly, he seemed confused at the sight. "…Preferably… you in chains…" he said, a half smile on his crusted lips. "But you and I don't have long… I refuse to let your… grandmother win…"
I leaned close, listening to him. "What do you mean?"
He feebly waved his left arm, "Shut up. Let me talk. Don't interrupt me. I'm using the force to keep my organs functioning… but with every moment I do, I age even faster. Curse my blood." He hissed, "…Your grandmother. Seeks Immortality…" he shook his head, "We all chase it in the long run. But she discovered my works… Transference. So she sought us out… We were trapped in that holocron. Our alliance failed, our leader dead, and betrayed by the one who escaped. He was supposed to acquire our new bodies. Clones… or in my case, relatives." He eyed me, his gaze wavering "Because you need a BLOOD RELATION to perform the transference."
…I stared at him. Suddenly realizing why Malisis wanted me. Or my mother… the old man nodded as he saw the realization on my face. "…She would prefer you, of course." He hissed. Lying down calmly on the couch, seemingly at peace. "As male, you could produce dozens of potential bodies and genetic lines for her to pass herself down. But your mother would do as well, she could be cloned given enough time…"
But that left me with two questions.
"But don't the other's know how to transfer themselves?"
"I transferred them. Only I know how to do it…" he sighed closing his eyes slightly, "…Its was what kept me alive."
"Okay… but then why doesn't Malisis just clone herself?" I asked.
"Shut up." The old man said, lifting his right arm as it literally aged before my eyes. "Clones have RISKS if made in haste." He said, coolly, "Unaltered are preferred. Otherwise you might end up like me. Faulty, and dying too quickly to make another…" his arm dropped weakly onto the couch. "…I couldn't do it to my children…" he sighed, "…I was a jedi… Before I was a sith." Jon-Nee shivered as Chant continued, "But I became disillusioned when they took my boy away… I fell. But the sith were no better. I spent centuries locked in a virtual space with the four of them, betrayed by another, you eventually start to see things in a different light. We all broke in the holocron, just in different ways. Scream became too bloodthirsty, forgetting his once talented tactical mind. Gasp became obsessed with sensation when she found she couldn't enjoy her lusts and molded an abomination hybrid body to pursue it. Silent became lost in her own mind, transferring only her memories into a new droid body and fading away herself in the Holocron!" he waved feebly to X-E as I stared at her blank face in shock, "Whisper needs to be in control, but he can't seize it! He has to manipulate it out of the grasp of his masters!" he coughed violently, snarling to himself. "And I… I became disillusioned with the sith… I think they have even forgotten their own names completely."
"But as I lay dying here… I bought you time." He said, his eyes flickering to me, "He still needs to get to his ship. The only way now that Malisis could get what she wants, to get the Transference technique, is to learn it from my memory I placed in the holocron." He gripped my arm weakly. "…Now is the only chance you have, while Scream has no help. If you can get that holocron… Malisis will trade you ANYTHING for it." he hissed… "Including a certain cure for your father."
And that's when what he was saying struck home.
"We need to catch up to Scream." I said as they stared at me, "Barradowwa get ready too-"
"The Wookiee isn't cured." The old man crooned huskily, "I only used Force healing to stop the bleeding and deadened the pain. But he needs proper medical attention… it cost me my liver to do it."
"…Okay… Nike stay with Barry and patch him up."
"Listen… to me." Chant began again, and before my eyes he aged at least another couple years. "…Do not try to overwhelm Scream. He is a master swordsman… you might be tempted to face him at range. This is a mistake." I stared at him confused as he looked at me with blind eyes. "He… is a master at getting close and killing… if you shoot at him it will only make it easier… as his defensive force abilities are second to none. I've seen him stop shrapnel in the air with the force… you must face him in hand to hand…"
"Fuck that." I (and just about everyone else) said but he growled angrily.
"You have Silent. She is more than capable of facing Scream, and with your help, you can beat him. You only need to retrieve the holocron for your Barg-" he coughed violently, lying back on the couch in exhaustion before finishing "-ining… chip."
"Okay…" I sighed annoyed, "…X-E… it is looking like it's just you and me…" a strange look flashed in her robotic eyes and she nodded. "Seis stay her and keep an eye on the property. Help Nike with Barradowwa." Seis frowned but she nodded, obviously very annoyed that she wouldn't get to clash with a Sith Lord.
"I don't like this…" Rattletrap mumbled, absently scratching his butt with… is that Vargoss' mechanical arm?
"…It will be alright Master Rattletrap." X-E said kindly, smiling at him as Chant flinched at her voice.
"…She speaks!... That… That is a surprise…" he whispered softly as I turned to Jon-Nee.
"Can you help us too Jon-Nee?"
The Jedi began to stand but Chant lashed onto his arm, feebly. "W-wait…" he said, he sounded scared. "…Wait I… I don't want to be alone… when I go…" Jon-Nee watched his arm whither on his, and he nodded. Sitting back down.
"I will catch up." He said firmly, watching as Chant faded rapidly before our eyes. "I will join you as soon as I can."
Strangely, Chant smiled almost thankfully towards the Jedi, closing his eyes and saying nothing more.
"The Caradoc Barradowwa I am borrowing your Vibro-axe." X-E said firmly and obviously taking it regardless of permission as Rattletrap and I headed to the garage to get in the speeder. She yanked it from the wall and held it to her back, where a pair of pincers pierced her sythskin and clamped around the haft, holding it to her back.
"I didn't know you could do that." Rattletrap mumbled as I grabbed whatever I thought could help, Mom's old weapons, dad's rifle, Killa's spare armguards and leg guards. X-E stood before the speeder, staring ahead as he watched her. "…You'll be okay right?"
"…I am unsure… If I am indeed the vessel for the former Sith Lord we've clarified as Silent, I am confident that Captain Roland and I could defeat him.
"…But you don't have all her memories…" he said, watching her nervously as I adjusted Killa's gear on me. "…You barely have all her combat data."
X-E smiled down at Rattletrap, and amazingly. She leaned down to kiss his forehead. "…But she had extensive data on numerous combatants. Including several tactics and strategies when facing Scream himself." She said as we turned to her surprised.
"You do? Since when?!" I asked shocked as she stood straight again, quite serious.
"I performed an extensive search of my databanks once much of this came to life. The data is a little damaged but 64% of her files on this Scream remain. I imagine it was quite a thorough piece of information when it was intact."
"…Well at least it's better than half a chance…" I mumbled, taking a deep breath as Rattletrap opened and nearby hatch and dropped down into it. I wondered briefly when that was put there but then I realized that it was Rattletrap. He soon returned, carrying a blaster of some sort that looked like Killa's Tri-barrel blaster.
"X-E… take this. It's a slugthrower. It's got two shots and needs to be close, but it'll bust a hole in anything…"
She smiled again as I got in the driver seat. "Thank you, Master Rattletrap. I will do you proud."
I fiddled with mom's lightsaber at my waist as I flexed my fingers of the wheel into the driver's seat. "Let get that holocron." Then putting it in gear we headed out.
We headed south over the vast savannah plains… I at first didn't expect to find Scream at all… but then I was proven wrong as I saw a figure moving by leaps and bounds across the plains, at least thirty or forty feet with each forward stride.
"Captain Roland…" X-E said seriously. "…It would be best if you gave me your mother's lightsaber." She said watching me thoughtfully, "…I do not doubt your own abilities…" she added, handing me the slugthrower and lying the axe on the back seat. "…But if we are to succeed with minimal casualties, I must face Scream in combat. You will provide support, ideally, we need to surround him… The Silent's data on him shows that he consistently faces his opponents in open combat… but his tactics are unnecessarily brutal."
…Coming from a Sith Data file that wasn't a very comforting thought. But X-E had a point, I didn't like it, but I handed her mom's lightsaber and she took it. Eyeing it uncomfortably as her eyes flickered with red light, glaring at the leaping figure of a sith lord. Then… I speed up, turning towards him as I quickly closed the distance in the speeder. "Captain Roland?" she asked curiously as Scream turned to face us, looking legitimately surprised before skidding to a stop.
"I'm going to ram him." I said as I pushed my foot to the floor, hitting 120 mph as he drew his lightsaber.
"…??!!!!!!! CAPTAIN ROLAND!!!" X-E suddenly shouted in alarm, her blue eyes were flashing red and she grabbed me. She leaped with surprising force and strength from the speeder seconds after I grabbed Caradoc's axe. We leaped from the vehicle as Scream casually stood firm…
The red lightsaber swung, and the speeder split apart. Flying off either side of him before spinning out and exploding in balls of fire as his eyes narrowed dangerously at us. The fires cast his shadow widely towards us as X-E put me on my feet. She held the lightsaber in her right hand as Scream snorted in disgust.
"…How far you have fallen Silent…" he said scornfully, pulling his lightsaber up and before him in a ready fencer's position.
"My name is 53-XY. My Master, Rattletrap, calls me X-E. Silent is no more." She said coldly, strangely cold for her in fact.
…She sounded different. Her voice changed for those last four words. For just a moment as I watched her, her blue eyes were red with a dark light as mom's lightsaber erupted in with its red hue. And suddenly I saw it… I saw the Sith known as Silent as the light of the fires and the saber engulfed her. It was so obvious seeing her like this, but just as suddenly as it came, it vanished. And I saw X-E again…
Scream spat on the ground, but he still didn't attack. He was being cautious. "Master? The only Master you had was Command… Remember?" he said, his eyes narrowing curiously as he watched her for any openings, she gestured to me to back away. I did so, just a little. We had planned to surround him after all. If he was drawn towards her all the better as she stepped away from me to the side as Scream's eyes followed her.
"…No." X-E said abruptly, both hands gripping the lightsaber as he flinched. Changing his stance ever so subtly, "I remember nothing of my old life other than my extensive combat files… and a plan to destroy You and the others if it came to it." she said as I blinked at her. She had plans for the other sith lords? I guess that made sense. If Sith lords weren't killing other people, they were planning to kill each other. But Scream snarled and, oddly, he stripped. Tossing away his upper robes and revealing his bare muscular chest. Covered with burn wounds and various scars, cybernetic implants…
…And another lightsaber… shit.
He drew it from his waist in his other hand and smirked confidently as it erupted into life. He was duel wielder… shit! "That's not good!" I grumbled annoyed as I held Caradoc's axe in both hands, trying to pull just a little bit of his courage from it.
"Captain." X-E whispered. "…This is preferred. He cannot focus and use the force with his hands in use like that…" she readied herself. "I will engage him. Circle around him, and attack." She said, firmly. And with an amazing Jedi/sith like leaped she clashed rapidly with Scream, sparks flying everywhere as her robotic speed slammed rapidly against his whirling twin sabers.
Amazingly X-E managed to hold him firm, both of them striking but making no connections as I realized that Chant was right, with X-E we stood a much bigger chance. I darted to the side as X-E attacked head on, swinging and matching him blow for blow in a rapid succession. Neither gaining or losing ground as the lightsaber darted in and out like biting serpent, but his saber blades deflected and attacked in almost a predictable pattern.
"…Why are you so slow?" he said suddenly as I made it partway around him, their sabers clashed as he towered over her, she held mom's saber in both hands as he pushed her down, her feet actually sinking into the ground with his muscle. "...I knew a droid body was a poor choice for you." He growled as I charged at him from behind, he glanced over his shoulder at me and swung a lightsaber down at me to get me to back off.
But he didn't expect Caradoc's axe to be able to deflect the blow. His eyes widened in surprise and he grunted in pain as X-E's leg slammed into his, it probably didn't hurt him but it distracted him as I pushed the saber away and slashed at his side. He darted away from the both of us, unable to avoid the large scratch I gave him. He glanced at the open wound as we readied for another attack.
He scowled at us both, and took a deep breath.
Oh… right screaming. I forgot about that.
X-E hurled the lightsaber at him and charged he slapped it away as she reached him. Mom's saber clattered into the grass as she lashed out and grabbed the wrist that slapped it away, he tried to drive her off with his other saber but she grabbed his wrist as well, catching him in a lock. "Captain!" she shouted as I charged him.
He sucked in a breath, ready to scream again only to find her head bash against his chin. "Bitch!" he snarled before returning the favor.
Now you think a tall, muscular Zabrak headbutting a Female replica droid would be silly… but his head was like a steel plated helmet, smashing into her skull as her legs lost strength, sinking slightly as he smirked.
I leaped at him, swinging the axe down in a roar as he glanced at me. Dropping the light saber and grabbing the axe by the haft, holding it before it could reach him. His knee shot up, and slammed into X-E's exposed side, then he put his foot on her chest and forced her to the ground, tossing me away while still holding Caradoc's axe in his hand.
"Enough!" He slammed his foot down again and again on X-E, an unknown power (probably the force) driving it hard down on her: Her chassis crumpling under his boot. "What is the matter with you!?" he roared, raising the axe and slamming it on the arm that still held his wrist, separating it from her shoulder and pulling away. "You worthless tinker toy! You disgust me! You are nothing more than a shadow of your former self!" He swung his lightsaber at her waist, cutting her in two as he walked away, leaving her in a crumpled heap. "…Well. This wasn't a total waste of time." He mumbled, turning to me. "…Your Grandmother would like to meet you." He stated, reaching out to me.
I scrambled about for anything, before pulling up the slugthrower, aiming at him using the two… But the Shrapnel literally froze in the air as he walked through them like fallen raindrops, they clattered to the ground behind him as he quickly closed the distance. He gripped me by the throat, slapping the slugthrower away. "Pathetic." He said flatly… almost bored. As he ran just the tip of his lightsaber slowly into my upper right thigh. It burned like sticking my leg in molten lead and I screamed like it to, he went just deep enough to wound me, but not enough to cripple me. "Did you really think you could beat me?" he asked, strangely calm even as the fires from the destroyed speeder burned around us. He squeezed as I coughed, slapping at my pockets. And feeling something… "Truly? I admire your confidence… if not your-SNICK!-uch!"
He flinched, blinking curiously as he gazed and lingered slowly down at his left side, and the fact that I just slammed Mom's retractable sword deep into his flesh between the metal of his implants. He coughed slightly, I must have stabbed him through a few vital organs judging from the angle… he released me. Shocked as he feebly flicked at the hilt with his freed hand, a curious look of calmness on his face.
"I… I am…" his lightsaber dropped from his grip as he sunk to his knees, his mouth flooding with blood as he gazed at me.
"C-Captain Ro-Ro-Ro-" X-E was trying to speak, but was unable to as Scream lost all strength.
"…I… am… Scream…" he said with a strangely satisfying finality to it. I reached down and picked up his fallen lightsaber as he blinked at me, his bloodied lips stretching into a smug grin. "…I… regret…" he gagged horrifically on his own blood as I stared at him before finally, he added, "…nothing." He said as I raised the lightsaber up in both hands, and removed his head from his shoulders. It bounced into the dirt and rolled… that smug grin still on his face as his lifeless corpse collapsed.
I fell, the adrenaline quickly wearing off as my thigh burned horribly into my nerves and I screamed again in pain. It echoed in the air for a long time as I tried to steady myself on the ground.
"C-Captain… Ca-ca-ca-cap-…"
"Stop!" I said, crawling towards the severally damaged X-E. "It'll… It'll be okay." I said, rolling over next to her as the pain became too much, "…We'll get fixed up no problem. Nike and Rattletrap will…" but I cringed in pain. My leg wound, even though I wasn't bleeding, was indescribable agony… Now there was probably going to leave a heck of a scar.
"…Te-te-tell… Master… ra-ra-rattle…" but she went still. "Activating power reserve…" she hissed as her undamaged eye dimmed.
"Don't die on me okay…" I mumbled as I heard an oncoming speeder in the distance, exhaustion overtaking me. As the heat of the flames drew closer… the pain in my leg far from my mind and my vision dimmed. "…Don't die."
I suddenly sucked in air as I sat up, but a steady hand slapped onto my shoulder and pushed me back down to lie in the back seat of a speeder. Jon-Nee had a hand over my wounded leg, a focused look on his face.
"Don't move. Let me finish… I'm not a doctor but I can stop the bleeding." He said as the pain lessened.
"…X-E?" I asked looking around to find a collection of X-E's parts piled up in a heap in the speeder, her eyes closed as if she was asleep. "…Oh man…" I mumbled softly but Jon-Nee waved a hand.
"…She is a droid, and your Jawa is quite talented. I imagine she'll be up and about within a few days. He laid my mother's lightsaber next to me, and I noticed at on his belt were Scream's lightsabers. "I am impressed that you bested him." Jon-Nee said seriously. "I admit that I thought I'd have to intervene."
"The holocron!" I said as everything came flooding back. But he waved me down.
"Its right there…" he said, pointing to the tiny handheld Jedi relic, resting ominously on the back seat "Keep calm." He stood up, "Have your Cathar look at that when we get back. And I recommend rest… I need to return to the Jedi Temple and report on this…"
But I wasn't listening. To focused on the tiny ominous jedi device. This was it, this was the key to saving dad. All I had to do was trade it… how I was going to do that I didn't know… but it was a step in the right direction. Scream was dead, I was wounded, and X-E was severely damaged… We paid a heavy price for it, and as I rested in my seat as Jon-Nee drove us back I came to terms with that.
But things were looking up.
End of Chapter.
BONUS
after Roland Left to face Scream.
"Come on Barradowwa let's lie you down." Nike said, helping the suddenly sore and weakened wookiee to his feet. "Lucky a sith lord healed you… never thought I'd say that." She added a little disbelievingly as she led him from the room, "Seis give me a hand." She said admonishingly to the Ratataki who reluctantly complied, "We can talk about how much shit you're in" and together they took Barradowwa upstairs as Jon-Nee eyed the former sith lord; Chant.
"…I must admit I am impressed at your force knowledge." He said thoughtfully, "Tell me. This Transference technique. What happens to those who suffer it? Do they die?"
Chant's cataract eyes flickered open. And dimmed. He was blind now, physically aging before Jon-Nee's eyes. "Ideally it's better to use a young body, a baby or a clone. One with an empty mind so that it never develops a personality. But if it were to be used on one of advanced age in desperation…" he shook his head slowly, his skin crackling as he did, "…I… imagine it would be like watching another live your life, like a forced Symbiosis… a powerful enough will might be able to sustain itself long enough to survive the possessor leaving to another body, but I don't know for sure. I had the option to use the technique on my Son… but I couldn't do that to him."
Jon-Nee nodded, respecting Chant's integrity if not his motives. "…So, you had a family?"
"I had children, a daughter… and a son. But the Jedi took them away from me. The… bastards..." He spat the words like a curse, coughing "…I came from a long lineage of Jedi. And my kin had innate talent. It was only my memory of them that kept me sane in the holocron, kept me from forgetting who I was."
"Oh?..." Jon-Nee frowned before he just had to ask, his curiosity getting the better of him as the old man began to fade. He could feel it through the force. "What was the lineage?" Jon-Nee asked, leaning forward as Chant's voice became weaker. It would not be long. "What was your name?" trying to comfort the aging man as the very life drained before his eyes. The man getting thinner and shabbier by the second…
Chant's breath became ragged, and with his last breath, his whispered the name to Jon-Nee.
"…Tarkin Knox."
…Jedi Jon-Nee Knox registered the name far too late… and felt the old man suddenly lash his hand onto his head. The next thing he knew, he was watching Nike speak to him. But his words did not match his own.
"I'm afraid he passed while you were upstairs. I hope your friends can succeed in their goals without my aid… but I will check on them quickly before I return to the academy. I need to report of these… 'Voices' to the others." She smiled at him and thanked him as he screamed at her for help. His body taking one last look at the dead body of Chant… no.
Tarkin Knox.
Just as it promptly crumbled and turned to dust, no longer sustained by Chant's force techniques.
"Ugh! Gross! How are we going to clean that up?" Nike mumbled as Seis stared at the dusty couch in good humor.
"I recommend just burning the couch… that's what happened the last time that happened to me."
"…Do I even want to know?" Nike asked hesitantly as the body of Jon-Nee Knox walked outside and off the property. It waited, then walked towards a collection of trees as Alecinder Moray, the former togruta student of Jon-Nee Knox appeared from his hiding spot.
"…Did it work? Master?" he asked hesitantly. As he felt his body smile.
"I feel fantastic…" his fist clutched tightly at his newfound 'youthful' strength
"…And Jon-Nee?" he hissed, glaring suspiciously at the face of his former master.
"He's screaming a little. But he'll grow out of it. When I acquire a new body in time, I'll let him take over again if he's still sentient. But until then." He gripped Moray's throat with the force, glaring at him as he dragged him forwards. "Keep your cock in your pants. If you want to return to the Order with me, you will continue to do as I say. Is that understood?"
"Yes!... Master!" hissed Moray desperately dangling in the air as his feet struggled in Jon-Nee body's iron grip. He felt himself smile again, dropping Moray and admiring his own body.
"Now… I need to go maintain the façade, he drew the Jedi's lightsaber a familiar blue glow highlighting his body. As he grinned taking complete control.
"Fantastic." Tarkin said grinning triumphantly as the echoes of Jon-Nee's screams vibrated off the walls of his mind.
End of Bonus
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