Sorry it's late. I've been busy lately. This is going to be the last part for the next two weeks, roughly. I'll be on vacation. Now for the disclaimer. This is not in any way cannon. I have taken a great deal liberties with this story, including the creation of new planets and species. Previous parts will be found in previous blog entries. Enjoy!
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Aaron awoke to the sound of men talking. He got up, using the Force to retrieve his lightsaber. He put his armor on, and he stretched his shoulders, fully rested and ready for the fight ahead. He walked out of the bunker with his shattergun slung on his shoulder. He saw Kira and Vorack talking with Drak, surrounded by several other men, Drak's commanders, Aaron guessed. He joined the group. Kira and Vorack acknowledged his presence with a nod, and Drak looked up from a map of Xevin's stronghold. The crime lord's forces had been pushed back, and this was his final stand. Aaron was helping because one of the weaponsmiths in Xevin's bases sold weapons to soldiers connected to the Vaakra assassins. The buyer had possible information for all three, and they were unwilling to pass up the opportunity. Drak nodded to Aaron and explained their plan of attack.
“Aaron, good to see you. Now, my men will attack from the front. It will be an all-out assault, all of my men against all of his. I predict that he'll divert every guard to defense of the stronhold. When I give the signal, you, Kira, and Vorack are going to go down a sewer tunnel an-”
“Sewers? Really?” Aaron groaned.
“Don't get prissy Aaron. You've got to get down and dirty too,” Vorack chuckled. “As I was saying, the sewer tunnels will lead you into the base. There may be a few guards, but there shouldn't be many. Sound like a plan?”
“I guess,” Aaron sighed, looking to his teammates for agreement.
“Fine by me,” Kira said.
“I'm ready,” Vorack rasped.
“Good. We're about to attack.”
“Gonna make a speech, oh high lord of the just armies of Bonifex?” Aaron joked.
“You're real funny Aaron. So funny that I think I'll call off my whole attack so the rest of the troops can hear your joke and laugh.” Drak threatened with a slight grin.
“Alright, alright, point made. But seriously, are you one for speeches?”
“Maybe I'll give one. We may be winning this war, but the enemy has sustained few actual casualties. Most victories have been due to strategic retreats. There's a massive army waiting for my men, and they know it. It also doesn't help that the enemy is well-fortified. Maybe I will take your advice. Just this once,” Drak conceded, walking off to figure out how to best inspire his men.
“How good do you think it'll be?” Kira asked Aaron.
“Considering his chattiness back on Kayburr, it won't be a pretty sight.”
“Good. Bad speeches will at least lighten the mood,” Vorack said.
“Who knows? He might actually inspire people,” Aaron said, willing to give his friend at least a chance.
“We'll see. He didn't need much time to prepare. Let's listen,” Kira told the party as they moved towards the gathered army. At it's head, facing it, was Drak. His helmet was on, his fork-blades both extended, and his rifle slung on his shoulder.
“How long have we been at war?” the soldier began. “Weeks? Months? Years? It doesn't matter. What matters is what happens here! The enemy is ready. They are expecting us. Their expectations will not fall short. We will fight, and we will die. We've lost good people. We may lose more. But the deaths of our soldiers should not be mourned. Not yet. We shall fight! In their name! In the name of all those who have died by the hand of Xevin and his soldiers! Today, we shall kill Xevin and his armies. Or we shall die trying! FOR BONIFEX!”
“FOR BONIFEX!” Drak's men cheered, inspired.
“Didn't know the bastard had it in him,” Kira muttered, surprised.
“Same here,” Aaron chuckled, approaching his friend as he walked through the crowds of his soldiers, receiving friendly and inspired claps on the shoulder. Drak walked up to the party. Though his helmet covered his face, it did not take exceptional intelligence to know that the man was grinning.
“What did I tell you, Aaron?”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up.”
Drak grinned, “You ready? My men are.”
“We're ready,” Aaron said.
“Right,” Drak replied, gesturing to one of his men, “he'll unlock the gates to the sewers. Once you're in, you're on your own. Good luck.”
“You too,” Aaron replied before parting with his friend. Aaron walked with Kira and Vorack to the grating that served as a gate to the sewers. Aaron looked back at Drak, who had donned his full armor, standing at the head of an army of loyal soldiers, before walking through the gate. The guard waved them through, eager to join his comrades. He gave the team a forewarning:
“The sewers were sealed off because they're crawling with hostiles. There are all sorts of beasts, but there are also several pirate guards there. Watch your back. They won't hesitate to sound an alarm. Good luck.”
“Thanks. We'll be fine,” Aaron responded, standing at the top of a ladder leading down into the sewers. He looked back at Vorack and Kira before donning his helmet, taking a breath, and jumping into the sewers.
He landed in ankle-deep water, and he walked forward to allow the others room to land. He examined his surroundings. They were in a tunnel, with walls of durasteel. They were standing on scaffolding. They advanced, Aaron and Vorack hoisting their rifles, Kira readying her wrist launchers. Aaron took the lead, pressing his back against a wall and looking around the corner. They were on one side of what seemed like a moat. There was a single bridge connecting two sides of scaffolding. Aaron saw one guard on his side and one on the other. The guard on his side was approaching the alcove where they were hidden, alerted by the sound of the team dropping into the sewers. Slinging the rifle on his shoulder, Aaron extended one of his wrist blades, standing back. The pirate walked into the alcove and Aaron pulled him deeper in, clamping a hand over his mouth while slicing him in the throat to prevent him from calling out. He them stabbed his enemy in the heart, killing him. The other guard, unalerted, continued his patrol. Aaron gripped his rifle, aimed down the sights and pulled the trigger. He heard a pop, and a slug shot from the rifle, imbedding into the skull of the other guard. The team moved up, crossing the bridge. They encountered very few other guards, most being dispatched by either Aaron, Vorack, or Kira. Above them, they could hear the battle being waged. They advanced, eventually exiting the caverns into the enemy base. Aaron looked around. Drak's diversion was a success, as there were no guards present. The team searched the base, avoiding the fromnt, as they did not want their presence known. Eventually, they came across a room filled with guards.
“That's got to be the way to Xevin,” Aaron told his team. “You guys ready?” he asked, preparing to open the door.
“Ready,” they both said. Aaron opened the door, charging in, ducking under one of Kira's explosive wrist rockets, which scattered the pirates. Vorack ignited his blue lightsaber in his right hand, and he whipped out one of his swords in his left, slicing soldiers left and right. Aaron had his lightsaber ignited, while at the same time, he was using telekinesis to fire fallen soldiers' weapons, causing additional chaos. After twenty seconds, the soldiers were dead, and the team was completely unscathed. They heard an explosion behind them.
“Kira, find out what's going on!”
“Got it!” Kira replied, taking her thumb and pointer finger and activating a device on the fingers that created a holographic screen that hacked desired cameras. The team looked at the footage of Drak's men pushing Xevin's criminals back.
“They're winning,” Vorack observed.
“Should we just leave Xevin for them?” Kira asked.
“No. We took this assignment, now we're going to finish it. You two, stay here, cover me. Kill anyone that isn't associated with us or Drak. Got it?”
“Got it,” they both replied, taking up defensive positions.
Aaron continued through the passages, using the Force to detect traps and enemies. He approached a door, sensing ten men, nine elite guards and Xevin. He opened the door, lightsaber at his side. The Weequay spoke in Huttese, which Aaron had learned as a child.
“Very impressive. Unlike most great warriors, your reputation does not precede you.”
“That's because I work to not have a reputation,” Aaron responded in the same language.
“Intelligence, as well! Arcturus is lucky to have found you, but he pays very little. I can offer you much more than him. All you have to do is turn around and kill Arcturus. Simple.”
“I'd die before betraying him,” Aaron growled.
“So be it,” the crime boss sighed, gesturing to his guards to attack. Aaron ignited his lightsaber as a feint, but before his enemies could reach him, he hit the ones closest to him with lightning. Two were killed instantly, and another three were stunned. Aaron leapt forward, driving his lightsaber into one of them before ripping it out and slicing off the head of another while at the same time using the Force to impale another on one of the dead guard's vibro-ax. The last four stepped back momentarily, then all attacked at once. Aaron used the Force to pick up one of the fallen soldier's weapons, and he hurled it at one of the guards with such power that the ax sliced through the guard and his weapon. Aaron engaged the other three, quickly killing one by sidestepping his sword and stabbing him through the side. He then blocked a vibro-ax of another guard, first high, on the blade, then down by the end of the handle, which spun the ax out of control. Aaron decapitated the guard before he could regain control of his weapon. The last, Aaron impaled in the back with a vibro-sword. He then spun towards the crime boss, who was brandishing a vibro-sword. Assuming his combat stance, his right foot back, his left foot forward, with his side facing the enemy and his lightsaber pointed towards them while angled slightly down, Aaron challenged the Weequay to come to him. He obliged, charging. Aaron swung his lightsaber towards the ground in an upward motion, the blade brushing against the durasteel floor, creating sparks that flew towards the crime boss, throwing him off balance. Aaron charged, attacking with vicious blows. The Weequay responded in kind, and the two eventually locked blades.
“You know what I love about a lightsaber?” Aaron asked, maintaining the lock while angling the vibro-sword away from him.
“What?” the Weequay growled.
“You can turn it off,” and Aaron switched off his lightsaber. The crime boss stumbled forward into Aaron's reactivated lightsaber, which sliced through his side. The crime boss toppled, breathing heavily from his wounds. Aaron held his lightsaber up for the killing blow, but he halted, thinking about the morality of the killing.
“Do it,” a voice in his head, familiar since he was small, urged.
“No. He is defeated. Let him live the rest of his life as a cripple,” another, more light-sided voice told him. Both voices were ghosts of the past, Aaron's ancestors, their true identities unknown. The dark sided voice was of an unknown Sith who posed a massive threat to the Republic at one point, and the light sided voice was a Jedi descendent of the Sith Lord who managed to avoid his ancestor's corruption. Now, both sides waged their own war against each other in Aaron's head trying to influence his decisions. One said dark things, the other light. Aaron had followed the instruction of both, but this time, he followed the dark voice, knowing that Drak's men would kill Xevin slower than he would. Aaron brought his orange lightsaber down on his defeated opponent, decapitating him. He switched off his lightsaber, re-attaching it to his belt. Drak's men burst through the door, which Aaron had locked for the confrontation. Seeing the dead Xevin, they cheered, pulling Aaron through the crowds with claps on the back and shoulders. Many wanted to shake his hand, and Aaron obliged, used to the fame being a hero brought.
Xevin is now dead . Now the war is over .