Star Wars: Origins- Part 8 blog - AK151

No, I haven't forgotten about the series. I lost interest in it for a bit of time. Now, that interest has been regained. Here is part 8 of my original fan fiction, a story about a vengeful Jedi who goes on a quest to avenge the death of his entire planet. This is all FANNON, and is not, in any way, intended to be a part of the cannon universe. Previous parts are in previous blog posts. Enjoy!
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A lone man ran for his life, constantly looking behind him to make sure that his pursuer was no where to be seen. He paused for a moment, checking his surroundings. He heard a pop behind him, whirled around, and was impaled by a vibroblade. The assassin wrenched the weapon out of the man and wiped it clean. Ryloth's star illuminated the alleyway where the killing had taken place, along with the face of the killer. She was a red-skinned twi'lek, 19 or 20 years old, with many scars on her face and neck. The twi'lek heard footsteps behind her and turned quickly, readying her tonfa blade. A Vaakran assassin approached the twi'lek, sword drawn but not at the ready. The assassin held out his gnarled hand, which possessed a holo-recorder. The twi'lek took it and activated it, seeing the face of a Mandalorian.

“I've got a new job for you,” he said.

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The Shadow Wing approached Ryloth, stealth systems activated, just in case hostile forces were waiting.

“Ryloth. Why are we here again?” Drak Forn asked, a full member of the Shadow Wing crew after the victory at Bonifex.

“That weapons dealer identified the weapons as being bought by Mandalorians. He heard some talk about Ryloth when he went to retrieve the weapons. It's the best lead we've got, at the moment. I'm not going to ignore it.”

“Fair point, I guess. So, we're hunting for Mandalorians?”

“Yup. Hopefully, they've got some more info on this LV guy.”

“Kira taking it well?”

“She doesn't care. If she does, she's disguising it pretty damned well.”

“Heh. We'll see when we find those Mandos.”

“That we will.”

The corvette maneuvered onto a landing pad, dropping onto extended landing gear. The boarding ramp extended and the party, now four, walked out. The automatic defenses activated to defend against possible thieves, and the four advanced into the small town. Aaron felt a slight tingling sensation and found himself constantly observing his surroundings, looking from rooftop to rooftop for assassins.

“Something's not right. Someone's waiting for us.”

“You can feel it to?” Kira asked, hand on her double-bladed lightsaber.

“I can,” Vorack growled, fondling the hilt of the lightsaber at his hip and wrapping his other hand around his saber grip. The group walked onward, brushing past crowds. Aaron led them into an alleyway. The group stopped at a corpse. Aaron bent down to examine it. It was a man in his late thirties. He had a gash in his torso from a vibroweapon. The group all of a sudden whirled around to the entrance of the alleyway. A lone twi'lek stood, a tonfa-style vibroblade gripped in her hand. She was young, but her eyes had nothing but cold hatred, as if she loathed everything in existence. The group drew their weapons, but Aaron, Kira, and Vorack did not activate their lightsabers. The twi'lek broke into a sprint, charging directly at the group. Aaron prepared to force push the girl back, but just as he called upon the power of the Force and unleashed a blast that would blow back a wookiee, the twi'lek vanished. The last image Aaron saw of her, she looked as if she was imploding, her entire image being sucked into a single point, like a singularity. He felt a tingling at the back of his neck, spun around, igniting his lightsaber, just in time to block the twi'lek's vibroblade. Aaron force-pushed her back, but she disappeared again, reappearing in front of him, engaging him with her vibroblade.

Vaakra assassins charged in, attacking Kira, Vorack, and Drak. Drak extended his wrist-blades, one blade running the length of his forearm, the other jutting out of the elbow joint on his armor, one of each on each arm. Kira activated her double-bladed lightsaber, two yellow beams of energy, and charged at the assassins. Vorack drew his saber and activated his blue lightsaber, charging into the fray, allowing his Drakiir instincts to take over.

Aaron drew away from the fight, performing an acrobatic flip to put distance between him and the twi'lek. She disappeared while he was in mid-air and reappeared right above him. Aaron quickly controlled his fall and engaged the assassin, furiously countering her attacks. She didn't use any Jedi or Sith powers, but she seemed to be able to anticipate his moves as if she were using battle precognition. Aaron battered her blade out of her hand and she teleported away. The tonfa flew towards the twi'lek, who had appeared twenty feet away from Aaron. The blade returned to the assassin's hand, and she settled into a combat stance once again. Aaron maneuvered her away from the battlefield and away from his companions, who were easily holding their own against the Vaakra. The twi'lek teleported once again. Aaron closed his eyes and unleashed a storm of Force energy around him. The assassin appeared behind him, but she was caught in the storm and brought to her knees from the electricity. Before Aaron could disarm her, she teleported away once again. Aaron looked up and saw her on a rooftop. She glared at him, and he held her gaze for a second before she turned her back, taking a wounded step before disappearing again. Aaron sighed and returned to his party, watching the battle come to a close.

Each of his allies was battling a single warrior. Drak blocked a downward swing with his forearm blade, swiping it aside, spinning around, and plunging the blade protruding from his elbow into the skull of his opponent, impaling the Vaakra in the chest with his other elbow blade before withdrawing both, spinning around once again, and running the assassin through with his forearm blade. Vorack was engaged in a furious duel, but eventually battered his foe's blade aside, slashing him in an “X” pattern with his saber and lightsaber before beheading his enemy. Kira was fighting a dual wielding opponent, her saberstaff whirling around as she countered his blows. She caught one of his blades on one side of the saber, and one of his blades on another. She detached the two hilts, brushing one of the caught blades aside while bringing the other blade through the midsection of the assassin. She then stabbed him in the side of the neck, killing him. The group sheathed their weapons, the fight over. Aaron rejoined the trio.

“Who the hell was that twi'lek?” Kira asked.

“Damned if I know. She could fight, and she has some sort of teleportation device. I took care of her, for now. She'll be back, I can pretty much guarantee it.”

“She's our ticket to the Mandalorians. She's a gun for hire, that much I know. She killed this poor bastard about twelve hours ago. The wounds match the blade she used in the fight,” Vorack stated. “The Mandalorians probably hired her to kill us, giving her some Vaakra backup.

“Who the hell are these guys, Aaron?” Drak asked, still unsure about the capabilities of the enemies they were facing.

“They destroyed a planet. A well armed planet, ready for battle. They're tough. They're not Imperial, but they're tough. I think we should walk around a bit more, maybe find some more info.”

“Agreed,” Kira said. The others concurred.

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The assassin sat down on the hard floor in one of the many alleyways that she used to navigate the town, a town that she had memorized. Her skin still tingled painfully from the lightning , but she was unaffected by it. She caught her breath before turning to a Vaakran assassin, who had just found her. He was flanked by nine others, each with their weapons drawn.

“You have failed. We don't accept failure. In any case, you're a loose end that needs to be tied.”

The twi'lek grinned, bloodthirsty and savage. “That's not going to happen.”

She disappeared, reappearing in front of the lead assassin, her weapon in front of her. She had positioned the weapon so that when she warped, her blade would end up inside her enemy. He gasped once, and then fell to the floor dead. The assassin quickly brought her weapon to bear and disappeared, reappearing behind a Vaakra and beheading him before disappearing again. Within five minutes, the entire force was dead. The twi'lek cleaned her blade and left, making sure that she wasn't followed.

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Aaron and his party wandered around the large town, searching for any leads on the assassin who attacked them, along with any leads to the identity of the Mandalorians. Again, he felt a tingling sensation in the back of his neck. He turned, his gaze falling upon the twi'lek who had attacked him earlier. Her blade was not drawn. The others turned and readied for a fight. Aaron raised his hand, telling them to hold off. He approached the twi'lek, hand on the hilt of his lightsaber.

“Who are you?” Aaron asked.

“My name is Ryla,” the twi'lek responded in a cold voice. “I've got a proposal...”