Prodigal
Son 2001
short story by Louis Turfrey Fifteen
years after Episode IV - A New Hope PREFACE "Ouch, that hurt!" Nera
Deniz rolled away from the impact of the stun blast and brought her lightsabre up in a
defensive parry again. This time the remotes blast was deflected straight back at it,
causing it to deactivate and drop to the ground. There was a clapping sound and she turned
around to see her mentor, Blake De'Athe standing at the edge of the practice area. "That was good. You lost concentration
momentarily, but you seemed to solve that problem quite well. May I ask how you did
it?" His face turned solemn and he walked towards his pupil. She looked down at her
feet and muttered something under her breath. "I called upon the light side."
There was a moment's silence and then she felt an incredible pressure as she was lifted
off of her feet and slammed against the bulkhead. "No!" Blake strode towards her, as
she slid down the steel plate of the cargo hold. He reached down and lifted her bodily off
her feet. "The light side is for weaklings and
fools. How many times have I taught you this? Only the dark side of the force offers the
path to true power." His voice became a growl as he brought her down to his face. So
close she could see the thin filaments of tiny scars where the cybernetic implant extruded
from his face. "You are a fool if you
think that I haven't noticed your forays into the light side. I won't have it, do you
hear?" He dropped her to the ground, momentarily shocked by his hysterical loss of
control. "Get out of my sight, you disgust me." She
ran out of the cargo area of the old bulk transport, leaving Blake to his thoughts.
Something was nagging at his brain, a feeling that he had seen this somewhere before. The
pain was upon him again. Clasping
the side of his head, Blake fell to the ground, a white agonising fire filling the corners
of his mind. His body writhed as the fit took hold and he struggled to regain
consciousness. Then the memories came. The
pain was incredible. He felt the sticky warmth of his blood as it ran down the side of his
face. There was a voice near his ear, but his sight was blurred. "Hold on Blake, we'll have you out of
here in no time." It was Centaur. He could feel himself being dragged back to the
landing bay. What landing bay, where? Somehow he felt this was important. His vision
momentarily cleared and he saw Tarr Ranth standing above him. The mans armour was hanging
loose in places and he could see blaster burns and scars, but he was still firing and
providing cover. There was another voice shouting from behind him. "Hurry up guys, they've called in an
assault shuttle. We'd better get out of here." Jan Lomona, a voice he knew well,
sounded unworried - but there was urgency in his tone. Who were these people, what did
they do to him? Then there was another bolt of pain and the darkness returned. He
woke up on the floor of his ship and felt the sweat running down his back. He remained
still for a moment, pondering what he had just seen. Why did he keep having these waking
nightmares? He knew it had happened some years ago, but he couldn't remember anything else
but the names. Then his own frustration at the gap in his memory and his weakness turned
to anger and he propelled himself back to his feet. The time had come to end this farce.
He strode towards the computer core and tapped into the command console. He'd find out who
these people were once and for all, and if they were an obstrustion to the greater glory
of a new Empire, he would remove that obstruction. FIVE
WEEKS LATER "I have their co-ordinates my
master." Gordal looked towards Lord De'Athe and followed his masters' gaze out of the
viewing windows on the command deck. Blake De'Athe sensed his students gaze and turned
back towards him. His cold smile brought a tinge of fear to Gordal's mind. "Good Gordal. Ready my command shuttle
and ask Nera to join us." He turned away, heading out to his private antechamber to
the right of the main communications centre. The light from the nearby star of the
Yatchrare System reflected off of the cybernetic implant that was attached to his face as
he took one last look out of the windows. Then he was gone. The
tension level on the bridge dropped by a significant amount and several sighs were heard.
Gordal gritted his teeth and held in his temper. These fools were not worthy of following
the great Lord. He opened a communications channel to the training rooms. "Initiate Nera, Lord De'Athe has
requested your presence at the command shuttle immediately." He closed the channel,
knowing that Nera would have heard him, even over the sound of her lightsabre. He grinned
to himself as he handed over his station and left the bridge. This would be an interesting
mission. The
converted Imperial Shuttle Revenge released its magnetic locks and dropped away from the
modified Nebulon B Frigate, the Emperors Slave. It's vector taking it away from the
searing heat of the nearby star and out towards the planet of Zelon and the trade city of
Chancai. Sitting at the controls, with her master behind her, and her fellow initiate
Gordal to the left, Nera felt a tinge of apprehension. As they approached the planet and
gave their false ID code, her tension grew. The master seemed preoccupied with something,
and had not spoken since they had entered the shuttle. She piloted the craft through the
atmosphere of Zelon, following the automated beacon that would provide them with a flight
path to the Chancai Trade Centre. Within an hour they had entered the kilometre wide
tunnel that opened from the top of the trade centre and descended into its maw. Nera
folded back the large repulsor vanes and coasted the shuttle to the landing platform that
they had been assigned. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when she felt the landing gear
settling beneath them. Blake placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry Nera. All will be well.
Just do as I ask and we won't be in any danger" Jan
Lomona noticed the Lambda Class Shuttle settle on to a landing platform fifty metres away,
and paused on his way to the bottom of the Berone Sunrises ramp. He was scheduled to meet
Ryath and Ranth within the hour, but there was something about the shuttle that drew his
attention. The ramp of the shuttle extended and silently met the surface of the landing
platform. There was a brief hiss of air as the platform locked into place. Jan couldn't
hear the gas, but he could see it escape from vents at the side, briefly obscuring the
ramp it's self. When the steam cleared, he saw for the first time a group of three robed
figures standing at the base of the ramp. Some primeval instinct, Jan called it his sixth
sense, caused the hairs to stand up on the back of his neck, and he felt his blood run
cold. The tallest of the three figures turned towards him, and he could have sworn it had
recognised his interest. However, hidden by the dark black hood of the robe, he could not
turn away. He felt something cold touch his mind, and there was a brief flicker of light
reflected back at him from inside the robe. Then the figure turned back to his colleagues
and they rapidly moved towards the exit to the platform. Blake
De'Athe knew who he was being watched by and deliberately turned to face the man. So this
was the smuggler Jan Lomona. Tall, A-desandian in origin. Those clothes were entirely too
bright. He stretched out with the force and touched the others mind, letting him feel his
presence. He felt some shock. Good. He turned to his initiates and motioned for them to
follow him off the platform. This man could be manipulated. He
would enjoy that. "I'm telling you Ry, the man sent
shivers down my spine. I actually felt fear, not the kind that hits when you're in a tight
spot. The real thing. He knows me, and I'm sure I know him." Jan sat back, his
demeanour calming. Ryath smiled wryly. "So who do you think it was?" He
relaxed back into his seat, his hands resting lightly on the blaster carbine that sat
across his lap. So
he thinks something is up as well, thought Jan. "I'm not sure, but whoever it is, he's
no Jedi. I've met Jedi before." He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and acknowledged Tarr
Ranth. "Ready for the match?" Ranth,
fully armoured, sat down at the table next to the pair of friends and nodded. The speaker
at the front of his helmet clicked into life. "Apologies
for my tardiness. I'm baby-sitting a visitor to the system and she doesn't appreciate my
company. As it is I now have two hours to kill." He raised his hand and ordered a
Vineau from the serving droid. Jan looked at him quizzically, wondering how he would drink
it. As if reading his mind, Ranth moved both hands up to the sides of his helmet and
pressed lightly. There was a sound, like the beep of a comm unit, followed by the hissing
of escaping gas. With a slight twist the helmet came free. Ranth placed it on the table in
front of him. "So what're the odds on the Flyers
beating the Giants this year?" Ryath and Jan looked at one another and burst out
laughing. Ranth looked at them both, puzzled by the response to his question. "What's so funny?" Jan
took a moment between gulps of air to explain. "It's
just that I never figured you for a Hardball fan." Ranth frowned and accepted the
drink that the serving droid offered. This
was going to be a long afternoon. The
screams of the three men rose above the already loud screams from the rest of the bar.
Zythlies was full of loud sports fans who were rightly outraged as the Flyers primary
defender was knocked into oblivion by the Giants full forwards. They were so engrossed
that they failed to notice the two people standing at the edge of the room, watching the
interplay. Not distracted by the noise around them, they were silently communicating with
each other whilst watching their three targets. One drew a modified hold out blaster and
took careful aim at the tallest of the three. Deliberately setting the blaster to stun he
opened fire. As he did so he was already working out his path of escape. His colleague
repeated the manoeuvre from the other side of the room, intending to take out the one
called Centaur. Neither
bolt hit home. With
a blur of speed Tarr Ranth knocked both his colleagues to the floor taking the full impact
of both blaster bolts. The assailants ran. Ranth
climbed back to his feet a slightly dazed expression on his face, and grabbed for his
helmet. Wasting no time, Lomona and Centaur took up defensive positions and moved towards
the perimeter of the room. The volume of the crown had drowned out any sound from the
blasters. Ranth grabbed his helmet, shaking off the residual effects of the stun blast and
ran after his friends, putting the helmet on as he did so. He found them standing outside
looking around with blasters still holstered. Lomona stood high and scanned the masses as
Centaur calmly surveyed the crowd. "They couldn't have gotten far. Ranth,
did you get a look?" Ranth
nodded and played back the holo-image recorder from his helmet. It had still been
activated when he had placed it on the table. However, it had been the targeting lasers
that had drawn his attention to their assailants. "I have an image on one of them, a
female. One point six metres high, jet-black hair tied back into a tail. Green eyes, lithe
figure, dark black robe, hood drawn back to the shoulders. Black pants and tunic, silver
three-bladed emblem on the right arm. She was also wearing a lightsabre." He turned
off the holographic projector within his helmet and focused on the scene around him,
tracking the crowd for likely subjects. He worked towards the edge of the crowd, quickly
flicking from one individual to another. Then he saw her, ducking into one of the smaller
side tunnels. "I have her now. One hundred metres at
point three-five, near emergency access tunnel three. Engaging." There was a sound of
rapidly shifting air, and the roar of a rocket motor, as Ranth leapt up and over the
crowds in the central mall. At the same time, he was able to transmit a holo of the girl
to the local law enforcement, using his private ident code. The whole process took six
seconds and he touched down near the entrance to the tunnel. He looked over his shoulder
and saw Jan and Ryath taking advantage of the shocked crowd, they were with him five
seconds later. Ranth
motioned for them to step back out of view as he poked his head around the corner of the
tunnel. His low light imaging system caught a flash of the girl as she ducked into a
smaller service hatch sixty metres ahead. Ranth, Ryath and Jan entered the tunnel
together, Ranth slightly ahead. It was a practised manoeuvre, one that had saved their
lives several times in the past and which allowed them to function as individual parts of
a unit. They advanced slowly, relying on Ranths low light imaging systems to warn them
about any problems in the darkened service tunnel. Ranth heard the whine of a power
coupling as Ryath activated his targeting monocular. They stopped near the entrance to the
door of the hatch, which was now closed but not locked. "It' a trap. I suggest we proceed with
caution." Ranth saw Jan roll his eyes in frustration at his comment. Ranth felt no
qualms at stating the obvious. He stood square on to the door and motioned his friends to
either side. A quick scan showed no obvious or hidden booby traps. He primed his blaster
and opened the hatch. De'Athe
stood on the walkway, fifty metres away from the hatch and ten metres above it. The roof
of the disused droid maintenance bay was less than a metre above his head. The bay
stretched down to the level below. The hatch by which his initiate had entered was a
little over half way up the side of the wall. A guarded walkway stretched across from the
hatch to the main gantry way and made anybody who walked it a sitting duck. Ten metres to
either side his initiates waited patiently, their lightsabres drawn. The hatch opened. Ranth
stood in the hatchway, relying on the movement sensors in his helmet to provide him with
the exact positions of any probable assailants. He focused on three bodies, one of which
was the girl who had fired upon them. Ranth assumed the second to be her accomplice. The
third had moved back from the rail and was concealing him or herself from him by using the
darkness and radiant energy contained within the gantry way. Ranth switched to optical
mode and zoomed in on the location of the third figure, powerful computer algorithms
enhanced the image until Ranth could see the face of the concealed figure. "De'Athe. I should have known." Ryath
had made the connection a brief second before Ranth had. Jan nodded as if understanding
for the first time what he had seen upon the landing pad. Ranth walked into the giant room
and stopped about half way across the walkway. Blake turned his back on them and walked
away towards the exit on the other side of the room. "I thought you were dead." Ranth
kept his comment to himself. He released a cylindrical device on his belt, revealing what
looked like the shaft of a lightsabre. However, when he pressed the button on the pommel,
two recessed blades of a highly reflective nature extended outwards from each end. As each
blade stopped extending, they started spinning. The device, like a metallic quarterstaff,
hummed with power. Two blue force fields extended along the length of the blades and the
whole effect was one of a double bladed lightsabre. Ranth turned to his friends. "You get De'Athe, I'll get his
friends." Jan
Lomona's face melted into a why does this always happen to me expression, Ryath just
nodded. Ranth leapt forwards, using the remote control on his repulsor belt to give him
the added lift he needed and propelled himself onto the gantry way. Landing
nearest the girl he expected an immediate attack, but she hesitated, looking at him
closely. Not wishing to be caught unawares, Ranth went onto the attack, bringing his
unusual weapon around in a tight arc near his body. The girl's lightsabre immediately
parried the blow, but the effect of the two energy fields colliding caused a bright
momentary flash that temporarily blinded her. Ranth took advantage of her discomfort and
pressed into the attack. She seemed only capable of defending and this puzzled Ranth.
However, he was aware that her colleague was sprinting across the gantry way and at the
last instant, spun the weapon around to intercept the blow aimed at his rear. There was
another bright spark as the energy of the second lightsabre hit the other blade. The
teenage male grunted with the effort and forced Ranths weapon up and behind him. His
accomplice, the girl, simultaneously pressed the attack from the other side, seemingly
coming into the attack. Yet Ranth could feel that this was more for show than for
advantage. Ranth parried her easily, noticing the lack of strength behind her attack. Ranth
had trained for a long time and years of combat experience flowed through his frame, this
girl was not fighting, and he had to take the fight away from her. He leapt directly over
the gantry rail, using the repulsors to reduce his mass, and landed ten metres lower, on
the walkway beyond him. Retracting one of the blades in his weapon, he switched hands.
Quickly reaching behind himself, he pressed a button on the back of his base of his small
jet pack. A second cylinder dropped into his hands, one that he had trained with, often
painfully, for hundreds of hours. His father's lightsabre. He held it concealed, knowing
that he didn't have the innate abilities of a Dark Jedi, hoping for the first time in his
life that his training would be enough. The young male leapt of the rail, following Ranths
lead, and landed with the grace of a cat. The young girl shouted to him as he did so. "Gordal, no, back away, he's not as he
seems." Gordal
just sneered, and Ranth knew he had already won this battle. Rule one - never get
emotionally involved whilst in combat. The
one called Gordal screamed in an unknown tongue and charged at Ranth, his weapon held
high. Ranth let him cover the five metres between them and then activated the blade of his
own lightsabre. The youth looked shocked and momentarily lost his concentration. Ranth
brought his lightsabre round in a tight arc and took the youth's arm off, just below the
elbow. Both arm and lightsabre span off onto the decking below. Ignoring the others
screams, he brought his other weapon around and caught the youth in the middle of his
body. Blue energy discharged from the blade, earthing to the walkway, the boy looked up at
Ranth imploringly. What he saw was the blank emotionless visage of his Mandalorian-styled
helmet. "Your Force has abandoned you
Gordal." The youth heard the voice but was too busy falling into unconsciousness to
worry about its implication. He folded to the floor. Ranth grunted in approval,
administering a fast acting sedative to the youth, and called in the emergency services.
It would take time, but Gordal would recover. He stood up and stepped over the youth,
walking calmly to the steps at the end of the walkway, mounting them. He expected the girl
to be hiding, or maybe ready to attack, but the she was standing near the edge of the
gantry way, just looking shocked. "Why did you help him, he would have
killed you?" She looked around as Tarr Ranth approached. He spoke calmly and softly,
not wanting to antagonise her. "Why did you help me? I heard your
thoughts in my mind before you attacked us." She
shook her head. "I don't know, maybe I see things from
a differing viewpoint but it seems that the light side of the Force is easier to access
for me. The dark side has always held it's self away from me." Ranth
nodded. "The
Force has two sides, and the man you serve was once a champion of the light side. He will
want you to join him again when he recovers, but until that time you must be held in
custody. You have good in you. You'll make an
excellent Jedi apprentice. I am sorry about your friend, he needed a lesson in humility.
His rage was too deep, too extended. It will take time for him to come around to a new way
of thinking. He may never achieve that, but he must be given the chance." He took out
a pair of binders, but the girl shook her head. "You won't need those, I'll come
willingly." She handed him her lightsabre and they both walked towards the exit. As
they headed out the bay, the medical and security forces entered. Ranth explained to the
local law enforcement the type of security needed, and they were then on their way. Ryath
and Jan took advantage of the gap created by the combat and ran after Blake. Both were
painfully aware that their ex-colleague and friend had turned to the Dark Side of the
Force. However, whilst Ryath just accepted the situation and tried to work out a tactical
response, Jan's mind was trying to find a reason for the turn. The last time that they had
seen Blake De'Athe alive, he had been badly wounded. His face had been covered in a
cybernetic implant to reduce the effects of shock and control his pain. Jan and Ryath had
left him with Doctor Marcher Tedd, eminent neuro-geneticist and acclaimed healer. That had
been at the Duroon Mobile Hospital Frigate. Shortly afterwards the Hospital had been
destroyed after emerging out of hyperspace into a pirate attack. Their search for Blake
had been terminated when they found no trace of the frigate. The worst had been assumed.
Now Jan was starting to feel a combination of guilt at not trying harder to find the man,
and anger at his attack on him and Ryath. Something was nagging at his mind though. "Ryath, I'm playing on a hunch here but
set your blaster to stun." Ryath
looked at him in stern amazement. "Are you serious? You know what he's
capable of." Jan
nodded but he wasn't going to be put off that easily. "Ry, I'm always serious. I don't know
why, but something tells me this isn't as straightforward as it seems." He flicked
his own blaster to stun, waited whilst Ryath switched his, and they both followed the
trail. Blake
winced and fought the headache that was starting to break down his sanity. He could sense
his pursuers gaining on him, yet it was taking all his self-control to keep himself moving
and upright. The pain came again, this time more intensely. His knees buckled and he had
to hold onto the wall. Just a few more paces and he would be back in the main shopping
mall. That would give him the chance to regroup and rest a while. Only a few more paces
and... "De'Athe you traitor, face me like a
man!" Jan Lomona was taunting him from down the corridor. Blake turned, the rage
rising in his mind. There was a taste of bile in his mouth as the anger rose to engulf
him. His gateway to the dark side of the Force reopened and his mind let out a primeval
scream as the dark force energy amplified the pain. "You will not take me." The
whisper was silent and deadly. Blake's
arm lashed out and Jan Lomona, twenty metres down the corridor, was lifted from his feet
and slammed into the wall. His other hand released the Krill, his personal weapon, and
dispatched it towards Ryath Centaur. It sliced a gash in his upper arm as he dodged to
avoid it, embedding it's self in the wall behind him. Ignoring the blood running onto his
gun hand, Ryath immediately brought his weapon to bear and opened fire. The blast hit
Blake dead centre on the chest. Blake was unaffected. The Dark Force energy that coursed
through his body fed on the blast and a half second later it was travelling back towards
Ryath. Ryath dodged it easily, rolling across the corridor. He came up on one knee and
fired off more stun bolts. The energy barrage was combined with the blast of Jan Lomona's
weapon as he recovered his wind. Surrounded
by more energy than he could handle, Blake went down on his knees. His face contorted in
anger, the cybernetic implant in the side of his face sparking wildly. Blake's body seemed
to refuse to respond and Jan suspected that something else was at work on him. He darted
over, blaster raised in one hand like a club, and smashed it into the cybernetic implant
on the side of Blake's head. Blake's eyes glazed over and he sank down onto the floor.
Ryath walked up behind Jan. "Think he's dead?" Jan
looked at him and shook his head. "Nah, but we'd better call a med team,
just in case. This time I'm not leaving him alone for a minute." There
was a noise in the corridor behind them and both men turned around, weapons raised. Tarr
Ranth noted the reaction of the two friends as he came around the corner of the corridor.
He smiled and wondered what would have happened if anybody else had appeared. He motioned
for his captive to step after him. "Gentlemen, this is Nera. She has some
information that we might use to our financial benefit. Apparently, she knows where we can
pick up a Nebulon B Frigate." EPILOGUE
- Three Months Later Blake
De'Athe stood on the surface of Yavin IV, watching the sunset over the jungle. His
thoughts were jumbled and he was still trying to fully comprehend the import of what had
happened to him. After waking up in hospital, his friends had cautiously greeted him. His
response had been quiet but enthusiastic. Apparently, the damaged implant had blocked out
several years of memories. Memories that had started to resurface almost immediately.
Blake had truly thought that he was still a servant of the Dark Side. Blake
shuddered at what he might have done, and then reminded himself that he was only human. He
looked around him at the temple, the dense jungle and the gas giant that now filled the
expanse of space above him. He vowed never to use the Dark Side again, yet at the same
time, he knew he would find it incredibly hard to keep his promise. He heard someone
approaching from behind and an arm wrapped itself in his. He looked down to see Nera. "You told them you didn't remember
much, but you remember everything don't you?" He
nodded, holding her to him as she shuddered in the cold night air. "I'm glad I do. It will remind me how
far I can fall. Such things make a man stronger. Besides, if I hadn't committed those
crimes, then I might not have met you." She smiled, embarrassed by his comments, but
happy nonetheless. "So what do we do now? Where do we
go?" Blake
was about to answer when another voice interjected. "You both go back inside and get some
supper. Then you get some sleep. Tomorrow we do more lightsabre training." Both
of them groaned and turned around to see their Master smiling at them. Blake approached
him. "Master, how do you come to terms with
what you did in the name of the Dark Side?" Their
Master momentarily hung his head and then answered. "In some respects I haven't. However, I
believe that the Force needs to be balanced, that is why the Dark Side exists. This could
be in the individual or throughout the Galaxy. You can't have light without darkness. So I
believe that in order to defeat the darkness inside of us, it helps if we can recognise
it. It makes us better Jedi. That's how I come to terms with what I have done." He
turned around and headed back to the temple and Blake couldn't help but notice that there
was something stately and powerful about the way he walked. He sighed and turned to Nera. "What do you think? Hungry?" She
looked at him in disbelief. "After today's training session, you've
gotta be kidding?" They
both laughed and headed back to the temple. Prodigal
Son 2001
short story by Louis Turfrey Fifteen
years after Episode IV - A New Hope Histories
- The tale that explains the way back to the light trodden by eventual Jedi
Knight Blake De'Athe, and the part in that path that Tarr Ranth, Ryath
Centaur and Jan Lomona played. Years
later, De'Athe's student Gordal Anunes would return to his dark ways and
wreak revenge on the men who helped his former dark master return to the light, an act
that would lead to De'Athe tracking him down. Cast
of Characters Blake
De'Athe Tarr
Ranth Ryath
Centaur Jan
Lomona Nera
Deniz Gordal
Anunes Doctor
Marcher Tedd |