Blaster & Blade 2: Worlds Collide

Chapter 20

Mal’dar

    The star destroyer was massive. Ras docked the ship, Mal’dar and Marrish waited for the doors to open. Harvos was hidden under a floor panel, it wouldn’t be good for him to be found due to his status as an escaped slave. The doors opened and several stormtroopers stood in front of them.

    “Come with us please,” said one.

    Mal’dar and Marrish moved to follow but two stood in front of Marrish, “Not you,” said one.

    Marrish looked at Mal’dar who nodded, and Marrish back away. Then Mal’dar followed the stormtroopers. They went through the angular hallways for what seemed like both forever and no time at all. The hallways all looked the same, they passed several stormtroopers and a mouse droid. They stopped outside a door that was larger than most of them, and darker. A stormtrooper held out his hand, “Your blasters”.

    “I have nearly a dozen weapons on me, and I’m not giving you any,” said Mal’dar.

    Some of the stormtroopers held their weapons tighter.

    “We have you six to one,” said the lead stormtrooper.

    “Easy odds, not like you can aim,” said Mal’dar.

    The stormtroopers all aimed at him.

    Suddenly the door opened and standing inside were two figures, Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader.

    “Let him in,” said Tarkin.

    The stormtroopers lowered their weapons and Mal’dar walked inside. The door closed behind him and Tarkin gestured for Mal’dar to come closer. Mal’dar did so but still kept a fair difference from the pair. Behind the pair was a large black object that was slowly closing, and inside was holovideo of a Shistivan. Mal’dar’s eyes widened behind his mask, it was the Jedi, he lived.

    “Please proceed Lord Vader,” said Tarkin.

    Suddenly Mal’dar arms were stuck to his side and he slid towards them. He tried to grab his blasters, tried to activate his gauntlets, tried to do anything, but he only slid toward them. He was only a few feet away he stopped and then was forced to his knees by an unseen force, still unable to move.

    Vader reached towards him and a spike of pain shot into his mind. Mal’dar let out a yell of pain, that was all he could do. He saw memories flashing in his eyes, and his heart filled with fear as he realized that Vader was looking through his memories. The onslaught of memories slowed as Tyvral saw in mind as his crew tried to convince him to fight the empire. Vader sifted through more memories slowing only for mentions of Genosis or fighting the empire. But then Mal’dar noticed that it slowed somewhat when he was with Khura and even more so when he showed her pictures of Rimi.

    Then Vader stopped looking and the pain stopped. Mal’dar let out a sigh of relief and Tarkin looked at Vader. “Well, what did you see?”

    “He is with us,” said Vader.

    “And what of Geonosis?” asked Tarkin.

    Vader let out what also seemed to be a sigh, or was it just him breathing. “He and his crew are aware”.

    Tarkin nodded, “Go kill them, then torture this one for information”. He began to walk away.

    “NO!” screamed Mal’dar his mind going to Khura, “I’LL TELL YOU ANYTHING JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE! I’LL KILL THAT JEDI FOR YOU I’VE FOUGHT HIM BEFORE! ANYTHING JUST DON’T HURT THEM!” yelled Mal’dar his heart beating so fast it seemed on the verge of exploding. Mal’dar felt tears running down his face as he looked at Vader, whose mask showed no emotion but stood with slouched shoulders and unwilling to look at Mal’dar.

    Tarkin froze and he slowly turned back to Mal’dar, “What Jedi?”

    “The one that there was holovideo of,” said Mal’dar frantically.

    “And you say he loyal to us?” asked Tarkin looking at Vader.

    “Yes, he is,” said Vader.

    Tarkin nodded, “Very well, we shall delete all scans from your ship and search it for copies. We will destroy them. Then you may leave and shall have one month to deliver that Jedi to us alive. If you fail then we will place the largest bounty the galaxy has ever seen on you, then we kill you and everyone you love. Do I make myself clear?”

    Mal’dar nodded frantically, “Yes, yes”.

    “Is he being honest?” asked Tarkin looking at Vader.

    Vader nodded, “He feels only fear”.

    “Good, remember that fear, for if you do not deliver then that shall become your life,” said Tarkin. Then as if he had not just threatened Mal’dar, his family, and his crew, he said, “You are free to go”.

    Mal’dar felt his ability to move come back and he stood shakily. Then he quickly walked out, his whole body still trembling in fear.

    The stormtroopers led him back his ship and he nearly ran back on. His crew who was all gathered by the entrance looked at him horrified, “What did they do to you?”

    “Get us out of here,” said Mal’dar his voice barely a whisper.

    Ras ran to the cockpit waiting for their search to finish. They erased the ship’s memory but tore it apart looking for copies but found not, but there were none to be found. They didn’t look under the floor panels so Harvos was fine. The searchers left and as soon as the connection was released Ras sent the ship into hyperspace.

    Mal’dar sat numbly every shaky breath radiating with fear. Then he looked at Khura and his fear vanished, rage rising in its place. He stood in front of the holotable and slammed his fist on it, “All of you still want to fight them?”

    His crew stared at him in shock and Artal grinned, “When do we start?”

    “Not yet,” said Mal’dar, “First we need reinforcements”.
   

    Mal’dar banged on the door and kept banging on it until it opened. Sarna looked at him and immediately said, “Who are we killing?”

    “A space station,” said Mal’dar.

    “Haven’t killed one those before,” said Sarna, then she shrugged, “But I’m up to new experiences”.

    The ship hurtled through hyperspace and Mal’dar told Sarna everything as she held Khura. Sarna’s face darkened as he told her of what Tarkin and Vader did. Once he was finished she looked at him solemnly, “We need more”.

    “That’s why we’re going to Lyvor to talk to the tribe,” said Mal’dar.

    Sarna shook her head, “All of the tribe wouldn’t be enough,” she said.

    “Well I’m open to ideas,” hissed Mal’dar.

    “With two Jedi we could fight our way through almost anything,” said Sarna.

    “Have some up your sleeve?” asked Mal’dar sarcastically.

    Sarna rolled her eyes, “No but I know where to find one, and you can find the Shistivan Jedi,” she said.

    “Where?” asked Mal’dar.

    Sarna shrugged, “I don’t know but your good at randomly finding that Jedi, even better at finding Jedi period. So find him”.

    “Not that I can find him, I’ve done it before. No, I want to know where you know we can find a Jedi,” said Mal’dar narrowing his eyes at her.

    Sarna smirked, “That’s easy, on Lyvor”.

Author's Note: Laughs in cliffhanger