The Chronicles of Tron Dlarit
Book 1, Volume 1
SWORD OF NAGA SADOW
Chapter 1
Present - 3 years after Endor
Byss - Throne world of the resurrected Emperor
The stars shone brightly in the darkness of space. And soon that darkness blotted them out as it continued on its journey. Out of that blackness emerged an imperial Lambda-class shuttle, gray against the black opaque of the Imperial-class Mark II Star Destroyer. The shuttle began its approach vector for the nearby planet of Byss and began its scent into the atmosphere.
The journey down was without problems and the turbulence that they did encounter was nothing of significance. The small shuttle hovered above the landing pad and extended its landing struts as it set down. The boarding ramp lowered with the hydraulic pumps hissing as it touched the permacrete slab that was being used as the landing pad. Two honor guards, stormtroopers in obsidian black blast armor, proceeded down the ramp and took up positions at the foot awaiting their superior.
His cape was a deep black, like the dark emptiness of space itself. It was attached to his outfit by two gold circular broaches and hung from the shoulders to the nape of his thighs. His uniform was military cut and similar in style to that of an imperial officer, except that it was jet black. His nerf leather boots and gloves were black as well, though they were a tinge lighter than his uniform. The only thing that wasn't black was his hair, which was a dark brown and close cropped, much like the standard military cut.
He stood there at the top of the ramp looking down and out at the central command station of Byss. His mind wandering, he finally snapped back to reality and continued his descent down the ramp. Once at the foot of it, the two guards fell into step behind him and followed him to the main gate, there they were all inspected by the towering sentinels. After they were cleared the group of three continued into the the tower and down a lift to the place that their superior had dreaded to come. He was a man willing to die for his emperor, but why he was now being brought before the Emperor he had no idea... only a feeling.
The doors opened on the lift and the three strode out. At a certain point down the long hallway that the lift had opened to, he noticed that his two honor guard had hung back as they were not permitted to continue any further. He commenced his walk at a steady pace and eventually came to the grand door at the end. The door opened with a swoosh! and he walked forward three feet and saw the throne chair which was reminescent of the one that was once on Coruscant itself.
The chair turned 180 degrees and the aged figure sitting in it motioned with its finger for him to come closer. His throat tightening from anxiety and mostly fear, he came to the foot of the steps which lead to the throne. The figure in the chair began to chuckle to itself and then locked eyes with him. The Emperor stared at him and kept his gaze for well over five minutes before he spoke, obviously testing his patience.
"You have come as requested," gawked the Emperor, "good, good. Now I will instruct and teach you how to harness this power of the darkside that you've uncovered in yourself." The Emperor looked at him with questioning eyes, "You are contemplating why I called you of all the dark jedi from Khyron's Dark Brotherhood, aren't you?"
He nodded, his throat still feeling tight from fear and not wishing to speak before the Emperor lest he say something incredulous or something that could end his life. The Emperor continued to gaze at him with uncertainty and waved his hand to the side in a gesture of dispair.
"You really don't know why I called you here, do you young one?" The Emperor leaned forward with his yellow menacing eyes looking into his soul. "I have called you here for a very special reason my friend. Your ancestor was the great Dark Lord of the Sith, Naga Sadow. The darkside is strong in your families bloodline, though they've taken the liberty to ignore the power they could have used. You are the first in your family in a long time to use its power. Before you came your ancestor Anubis Dlarit. He tried to harness his powers and use them against others.
"But when he finally found his secret, it was to late. At that time the once famed Exar Khun was coming to power and it blotted him out. He made himself a servant of Khun and was soon destroyed like Kkhun other servants when their fleet was destroyed by a supernova. And now here you stand ready to take your ancestor's place as the next ruling figure, yet you don't exert your power. That is why I have called you here.
"You knew of Naga Sadow, thats why you created that dark jedi house using that name. I will not make you my servant like I did Vader... that is for Skywalker himself... but you will be one of my few dark jedi warriors. My warriors are few because of the purge I had Vader undertake and because of the many newly found jedi going to Skywalker's academy. But I have some, and that is all that is needed. You will instruct them as I instruct you in the ways of the darkside.
"Help them grow and I will make you rise as your ancestors were meant to. I will see to your growth and developement as long as you teach my new servants in the ways of the darkside." The Emperor stared at him longingly and finally raised his withered cane and pointed it at him. "Do you accept this duty to serve your Emperor, do you Tron Dlarit?"
And then his throat seemed to loosen and Tron Dlarit mouthed the first words from his mouth in hours. It was a simple reply to the Emperor's question and yet it destined him for a future of unwinding and unforseen adventures and perils. And all he said was, "Yes my master."
Chapter 2
Dathomir - the planet of the Witches
His first thought as the shuttle passed through the Imperial blockade, which was being provided by Warlord Zsinj, was not a pleasant one. He knew deep down in his heart, he knew by searching his feelings, that this was going to be a difficult assignment. His job was to take one or more of the lightside witches and turn them to the darkside gradually.
He was to avoid contact with the darkside witches at all cost, they were not what the Emperor wanted. They were already self-centered and would more than likely attempt to betray the Empire for their own benefits. But if Tron could turn a lightsider gradually to the darkside and brainwash them with the propoganda that COMPNOR produced, he would have a better chance of controling them.
His Sentinel-class landing shuttle eased down on its landing struts and released pressure from its internal mechanisms. The ramp lowered and this time Dlarit was at the foot of it before it even touched the soft ground beneath. With his entourage of black armor-clad stormtroopers following at his heels, he headed for the mountain fortress of the lightsiders.
He didn't intend to enter it or go anywhere near it. He only needed to apprehend one or more at the base of the fortress where his troops could capture them. It would be quite easy for his men to capture these Jedi women, not because they were force endowed themselves - for they weren't - but because, though it was a hindurance to him, they each had a ysalamiri in pouch strapped to their backs. The Jedi would pose no threat and few stun blasts from his troops would prove most effective.
They waited the better part of three hours before they saw a young woman scantily clad in what appeared to be reptillian leather clothing of some sort. Dlarit's personal guards, (who also served as his honor guards on Byss) both bearing the rank of lieutenant and both highly trained special ops officers, took the privilege of capturing her. But it was even longer until they saw their next victim, unfortunately she was up high enough to evade capture.
Tron was beginning to become impatient, though at times he would remark that his patience was infinite. He would claim that this "infinite patience" was like space and time. According to theory space and time are warped and sooner or later come back to the beginning, and so claims Tron does his patience.
Looking back on his time in the Emperor's Hammer and all of his tactics he planned out for fighter squadrons and for the Intelligence Division, Tron decided that his best means of capturing more would be to raid the fortress. His troops were well armed with the latest weapons from BlastTech and Loronar and they also had their ysalamiri companions, the lightside witches would stand no chance against an assault. Therefore they went through with this incredulous plan and in the end they came back with thirteen jedi - counting the one captured at the beginning - and with only two troops wounded.
He now had the long journey of convincing these young women that what happened was in their best interests and he had to condition them to serve the Emperor and his Empire, the ones who took them from their world. Tron pondered and came to the only conclusion possible... they're going to need alot of brainwashing, possibly mind wipes.
* * * * * * *
It had been two months since he had undergone the task laid before him by the Emperor. Palpatine knew it would take time, yet he checked on Tron's progress of changing them everyday. Yet it was the same reply, "My lord, their will is strong and hard to break." Except for the recent reply from Tron Dlarit, "My lord, their will is strong and hard to break, but I have managed to change the thinking of five of the thirteen. These five will serve you, and the good news is that they won't require brainwashing. They've been actually waiting for a long time, ever since the garrison was set up, to get off the planet and do something for themselves. They will be easy to conform to your New Order."
Tron had set up his training facility at a remote island on Carida, one of the largest Imperial training academies. The island was roughly three hundred meters by six hundred meters and had everything he needed to train them in the ways of the force and then the darkside. It reminded him alot of his homeworld Thyferra with its thick jungle growth and humid climate. The facility was set up like an average pirate base, composing of four buildings: a warehouse - where six I-7 Howlrunners were stored along with various tools, a mess hall, a troops barrack - for the students, and a main barrack - where Tron lived at himself.
After the first few weeks, Tron had instilled loyalty to the Emperor and himself into their minds. However, four within the group had tried to escape and were brutally slaughtered by his loyal students. With only nine left, he had to continue working with another set of four who weren't as easily transformed as his loyal five were. They proved to be difficult and after days of working on them he noticed that it was to no avail and had them sent to Byss to be brought before the Emperor for his own personal judgement.
Once the four had been removed from the troops barrack, Tron began his lessons in the darkside with his loyal servants. They progressed fast and were very adept at some of the hardest lessons that Tron had seen students of Lord Khyron take years to learn. But teaching them darkside tricks was not all that he was limited to teaching these young ones, he had also been instructed to teach them to use the I-7 Howlrunners for combat and for personal use - though he wouldn't teach them how to read a nav comp and program a course for hyperspace until last.
And so after four months of hard work and determination, Tron had them ready for the Emperor. But his mind began to race with thoughts of his own greatness and how he could use these students for his own... but he knew he wasn't all that powerful, a Sith Warrior was all he was until Palpatine instructed him as he had promised. Tron was no where near being a Jedi Master, yet. But, pondering on Palpatine's promise to make him great as his bloodline was meant to be, Tron felt that maybe he would get one or two of his students as his own servants, if Palpatine felt inclined to allow it. Or Palpatine could be using him to get his own ways and if any of these adepts failed, then Palpatine could blame it all on Tron for a lack of training.
Tron's ponderings were interrupted by the beeping of the communications console. The light continued blinking as Tron composed himself and entered the mini-holo chamber he had set up for communications with the Emperor. He knelt on the platform which activated the comm system. The enlarged image of the Emperor's head staring down at him was more an instrument of evoking fear than for making visual pick-up quality.
"I've read your recent report Warrior Dlarit and am most pleased by the positive outcome." The image flickered from sub-space interference and came back as the transmitter established a stronger link. "I want you to send your students to me at once and prepare for another mission." The Emperor paused as the impact of his words sank into Tron's head. "Your new mission is of grave importance, it is superficial to gaining darkside adepts for my coming army. I will give you a platoon of Dark Troopers for this mission to ensure its success.
"You are to go to Koriban, there you will find ancient artifacts of the Sith Empire. You are to locate and acquire the Sword of Naga Sadow! Now go my servant and bring this weapon of power back to me at once." The image flickered and died out and the transmission ended. Tron knew he was being used by the Emperor, there was no doubt in his mind. Palpatine could have assigned either of these missions laid upon Tron to one of his more qualified adepts that he had personally trained, but he wanted Tron to do it for some unkown reason. What could it be? Why, was an even better question.
Tron rose from his knelt position, turned around and left the chamber. He exited to the training grounds where his students awaited him. They were a fine group of darkside adepts all former witches of Dathomir - Ayalla Tulaine, Doraa K'Tal, Linsey McKenzie, and Froga & Rya D'Neer.
"My students," he began, "you have grown strong in the ways of the darkside and therefore his majesty Emperor Palpatine wishes your audience in the Royal Court. You are to debark immediately, the course has already been pre-programmed into your Howlrunners. I wish you the best of luck on your journey."
"Master aren't you coming with us?" asked Rya D'Neer.
"No, the Emperor has a mission of grave importance for me and I must leave as well. This will more than likely be the last time we'll see each other... so may the power of the darkside be with you." He turned and headed for the Sentinel-class shuttle where his troops eagerly awaiting for him had been prepared since he informed them of the mission. His two lieutenants, Marvo Drax and Torin Brosk, were sitting in the pilot and co-pilot seats and began lift off as he walked up the raising ramp.
The shuttle picked up from the ground and headed skyward. The two twins, Rya and Froga, stared at in wonderment and amazement while their three companions went and prepared the required arrangements for their journey.
Chapter 3
Koriban - the graveyard for Dark Lords of the Sith
The shuttle exited hyperspace at a distance from the planet. The proximity alarm blared as sensors picked up a Galofree-medium transport exited hyperspace almost on top of them. Drax banked the shuttle to starboard and down, avoiding a collision. The transport raced past them heading for the planet. Drax brought the shuttle back around to its original heading and increased speed in order to catch up to the transport. It registered as the Burning Arrow, a New Republic transport assigned to the 322nd Army Regiment.
After gaining a full status report Tron sat back in the command chair of the shuttle and began planning out all contingencies that might occur with the wretched rebel forces. They were obviously here for the same reason as Tron, though to his understanding this place was not on any space charts or recorded in any galactic navigational texts. There must be a leak in the high command that gave the rebs an upperhand on this mission. But if the Emperor had assigned it to him, who else would have known about it? The only ones who knew were the Emperor and his advisors, himself and his crew.
The only other possiblity could be that a tracking device was placed on the shuttle at one of its port of calls. But no one knew of their existence at Carida and there were no rebels at Dathomir. So that left Tron with but only two possible outcomes, it was either on of his own men or one of his students... which he didn't know. All he knew was that he was going to have to watch his back more than the usual.
The shuttle was now about fifteen clicks behind the transport but still to far away to do any serious damage. Beginning their descent, Tron had Drax lay in a course five miles from the landing site to through off the rebels. The rebs couldn't have know where the Sword of Naga Sadow is/was since only the Emperor told Tron and he had told no one. The shuttle set down with no difficulties and Tron's Dark Troopers descended the boarding ramp in rows of two.
* * * * * * *
There was an easy way to deal with every situation handed to one. That also meant there was a hard way for every situation. Tron knew this and thought of which would be more profitable and would ensure fewer losses. He also added into the equation his own well-being. He didn't mind if he got bangedup in the process of accomplishing his main goal and now his secondary goal, but he didn't want to put himself in a situation where he wouldn't be prepared for any outcome either.
"Lieutenant Brosk you will take half of the men with you and hunt down the rebel scum who have landed on this sacred ground," he ordered. "As for Lieutenant Drax and the remainder of you, you will accompany me in fullfilling our primary goal." Tron headed for the crevass which would take him to the burial tombs and hopefully to his intended goal. Without looking behind himself he heard the voices of his two lieutenants braking the troops up into teams of two and their heavy footsteps splitting up in seperate directions, one of them following behind him.
The crevass was deep and had high walls with ominous looking statues of long forgotten Dark Lords. Through his force-enhanced senses Tron could feel the presence of the evil darkside hounds which guarded this ill-forgotten land. They were much like katarns, the pack animal found on Kashyyyk, in many ways. Their sleek bodies made for speed and agility made them deadly. One on its own was not much of a threat to one with a mere blaster, but an entire hord of them would rip an individual or even troop company apart in minutes if not seconds. Knowing of this threat, Tron a message through the force that would affect them, if not because of their weak minds then for the one reason that he was a darksider and was instilled with the blood of Naga Sadow.
As they approached the main tomb in which only the deadliest of Dark Lords had been buried, Tron wondered of other assumptions. Why would the Emperor believe Naga Sadow's sword woud be here? he thought, My ancestor died on Yavin IV, his remains wouldn't have been returned here. There must be something else behind this. Tron began ascending the stairs with lieutnenat Drax and a handful of his men following while the others stayed behind on guard detail. There were actually quite a few of stairs here, the Sith must have been strong muscled in order to hall a coffin up these things, especially all their ornamental clothing. They reached the top uppermost stair and looked at the sealed doors in amazement. The doors took up at least twenty feet in heighth and ruffly ten feet in width.
Tron approached the doors alone and placed his hand at the center. He opened his senses trying to feel any presence that might lay beyond the vast doorway, but could sense nothing. The Sith people were obviously strong if they had to manually open these doors which weigh a mighty sum. Not in the mood to waste time, Tron reached out with the force and pushed the doors ajar. Immediately once the doors opened from their slumber of millenia, dust and toxic fumes spilled out of the chamber and almost knocked Tron and Drax over by the overwhelming strength of the wind that bellowed out. Letting it air out for himself and Drax would only take a few minutes and therefore it would be advisable to send the darktroopers, who had internal breathing apparatus, to set up a defensive barrier. Even if Brosk found the rebels, there would be some who would get away, end up here and initiate a fight for the sword.
Once the chamber seemed to have had the outside air circulate through it enough to make it safe for Drax and Tron's respiratory systems, they ventured in. The darktroopers had set work lamps in the four main corners, this allowed ample illumination for the room. Tron looked over the tomb searching for anything resembling a sword of grand significance or anything with the family crest in it. After ten minutes of searching he found nothing that alluded to his ancestor ever being buried here. The Emperor had sent him on a wild nerf chase and somehow the New Republic Intelligence found out and sent a team in to stop the Empire from gaining any weapon that would give them the upperhand.
There was a tomb with his families recognizable crest that had been worn by Naga Sadow and his servants but it was empty, nothing. Tron reached out with the force once again touching everything in the room feeling for some clue that would help him find his desired goal. Nothing. That was a word he was getting used to and a word the Emperor would tell him he was achieving. Failure. That was another word he disliked that was starting to edge its way in to his train of thought. Why would the Emperor set me up for failure if he knew it wasn't here? Even better, why didn't he send me to Yavin IV? Perhaps he wants me to go there to show my skill of initative. This continuous pondering was bothering him, that or something in the air. But it didn't matter anymore once he heard the all to familiar sound of a blaster bolt whine and its connection with a stony surface.
His troops had already taken up defensive positions and Drax had rushed to the doorway with his back to the internal wall. Drax peeked his out to see the full picture of what was taking place. Two darktroopers lay on the gournd dead while the other four had taken up positions of protection on the large steps laying low and send a downpour of return fire. There appeared to be a band of about eight or so Republic troops, Drax couldn't be sure since a couple of them were half hidden behind a large outcropping of stone and there could be more back behind it. Approaching the doorway on the opposite side of Drax, Tron took in the details of the land and where the rebels had positoned themselves as well as his own troops.With this information he compiled a plan of the battle to come, but before he implemented any plans he took into account his wild card that obviously had accomplished its mission or was close to finishing.
"Bring me the comm unit, I wish to contact Lieutenant Borsk." ordered Tron.
"But my lord, that will give away our positon to the enemy aa well as his if he's accomplished his mission and if they have any reinforcements standing by they'll be able to use that to their advantage." retorted Lieutenant Drax.
"I know what I'm doing Drax and wish you'll not interfere with what I'm about to do." Tron's fixed his gaze on Drax as he ended the sentence and then added a lit bit to scare him. "Their are other qualified soldiers here that would be more than willing to recieve a field promotion and take your place if you can't do as you're told."
Drax sank back in fear at the menacing words. He was a strong man, both physically and loyally, and Tron would hate to have to replace him ...if the need arose of course. Drax signaled one of the troops to bring the comm unit over to Tron and peaked his head outside for another view of the ongoing battle. The troops on the stairs were holding their ground, mainly because the stairs were so large but also because of their fighting prowess. Looking back at his resources in the tomb, Drax noticed the trooper had lugged the comm unit over and was setting it up to transmit to Borsk.
The red light on the transciever mechanism went from its crimson color to that of the bright green which meant it was ready to transmitt. Tron walked over to the contraption and picked up the audio pickup. "Lieutenant Borsk, this is General Dlarit." A short but meaningful message for Borsk to understand and if he was still alive he'd now procedure and go from there.
A couple of minutes passed and then Borsk's raspy voice came over the speakers, "General Dlarit this is Lieutenant Borsk. Mission objectives complete."
"Lieutenant bring your forces to our location and reinforce us. It appears a splinter faction of your target discovered our whereabouts and has pinned us down in the graveyard. Proceed at your own discretion. Do not communicate anyfurther until all enemy forces are eliminated." Tron ordered. The silence that soon followed was evidence enough that Borsk had understood every word. Turning to Tron, Drax saw that their commanding officer was standing still looking at something towards the rear of the chamber. Looking in the same direction as Tron was, Drax saw what he was so intently investigating.
If he hadn't been raised on a planet that believed in ghosts or spirits of the dead, Drax would have just shrugged it off as a holographic recording which probably came on to scare away thieves. But being the superstitous man that he was, and being in a tomb after all, he believed that what he saw was quite real. Stepping backwards he almost fell head over heel down the stairs outside if it hadn't been for Tron; Tron swung his arm out and grasped Drax's bicep and hauled him back in and out of the line of fire that was prevalent outside. All in the room stared in amazement at the glowing figure as it moved forward.
"Must the we always start these conversations?" it asked. This question and the figure's forwardness shocked Tron and surprise filled his face. As for Drax he just stood there not being able to move. The figure moved towards Tron and stopped approximately, but not accurately, three feet from him. It just hovered there waiting for him to respond, and finally he did.
"I am Tron Dlarit, descendant of the Dark Lord of the Sith known as Naga Sadow." Tron began, his voice sounding dry. "I seek the Sword of Naga Sadow. Tell me where it is."
"We are all former Dark Lords of the Sith here boy, you need only call us by our names." the figure growled out. "And since we're introducing ourselves, I am Marka Ragnos; I was your ancestor's predecessor. You are much like your great ancestor, in looks and in your directness. That was his downfalling you know. He was too direct, he wanted everything done at once and didn't allow time for it all to happen in time. He wanted to have our mortal enemies, the Republic, destroyed and vanquished so that he could rule the galaxy alone. What a fool!"
"And you are everything the records say you were too. Hard to imagine they even made you the Dark Lord of the Sith." Tron's sarcasm had upset Ragnos, for at finishing his statement the once great Dark Lord rose his hands and threw Tron against the wall.
"Was that entirely necessary?" coughed Tron as he got up off the floor.
"Your insolence will not be tolerated little one." sneered Ragnos, "We may be dead, but we are still powerful."
"So I see." replied Tron, "Now if you'd be so kind as to tell us where the Sword of Naga Sadow is, we'll be on our way."
"Again you mention that useless piece of metal. What significance is it to you? Is it to be adorned in your private chambers or are you that desperate for weapons?"
Tron was really getting tired of Ragnos sarcasm, Drax could tell by the look on his face that Tron was doing everything he could from exploding into an uncontrolable rage. "Master Ragnos, I've been sent on a mission by the Emperor and that mission is to retrieve the sword of my ancestor." Tron's anger was replaced by puzzlement on his face as he finally let what Ragnos said sink in. "Why did you say it was useless metal? The Emperor was told it contained great power, the power that Naga Sadow used to take over the Sith Empire."
"Then your Emperor was fooled." laughed Ragnos, "There was and never has been any power in the sword that you speak of. Were you foolish enough to believe that one sword could conquer the galaxy?"
"No." blurtted Tron, "I... I was just following what my master instructed me to do."
"Well, your loyalty to your master is comendable. But I'm afraid that you've been duped for some unknown reason." Ragnos let that sink in and then continued, "If you really want to know the whereabouts of the sword however, I'm sure you could find it on Yavin IV in his private lair. Of course you'd have to go through that wretched hive of Jedi to get it."
"No I don't believe I'll be making an assault on their academy anytime soon, but thank you for this information." Turning to Drax, Tron began to spill out his next set of orders for the company of troops. "Pack up and contact the shuttle and its pilots, we're pulling out. We have some matters to attend to. Move out."
* * * * * * *
Stepping out into the sunlight Tron noticed that a new sound filled the air. Silence. Looking down at his troops on the stairs he noticed that Lieutenant Borsk was among the men and that the rebel forces were either dead or coralled at the base of the tomb. Marching down the stairs, Tron approached his lieutenant and stood staring at the scenery and imagined what the battle must have been like.
"Report lieutenant." Tron ordered Borsk as his mind focused on the task at hand.
"The enemy has been neutralized." said Borsk, " We have only the two casualties that were present when my squad arrived and there are six rebel prisoners. What are your orders concerning them?"
"Do we have room for them on our shuttle lieutenant?" asked Tron, Borsk only shook his head. "Then shoot them."
Walking down the rest of the stairs he approached the shuttle which had landed in crevass once the order for pulling out had been given. Tron boarded the shuttle without looking back at his men, some of whom had just witnessed something unbelievable... that of Marka Ragnos spirit.
Chapter 4
Past - 3 years before Yavin
Thyferra - home of the Dlarit family and bacta cartel
The hazy mist that covered the night sky was a welcomed sight to young Tron's eyes. After eightteen years of growing up on this hot and humid planet, he always looked forward to the breezey night mist to cool him down from a hard day of work. He looked out at the lush jungle below his parent's home and thought of his childhood growing up around it. But now there would be no more adventuring down into the vast jungle, he was to ship out for the Imperial Naval Academy tomorrow and wouldn't see this world for sometime.
The wind picked up and sent a shiver down his spine though it wasn't all that cold. That happened sometimes, more often when danger was immeninet than anyother time. Taking this intuitive warning he decided to head back to the homestead and call it a night. Upon his arrival at the house he saw his father talking with someone through the window. Odd, he thought, father never does business this late... he usually lets it wait until morning. Drawing closer to the house he was knocked to the ground and any scream of astonishment was muffled as his sister Erisi cupped her hand over his mouth. She released her grasp once she knew he wouldn't talk to loud, they had re-enacted this same event many times when Tron would come bumbling upon his sister spying on their father or mother.
"So whats going on? Who is dad talking to?" he asked.
"Take a look but don't say anything." she whispered back smiling with a joy of knowing something that her brother was a total blank to.
Tron peeked his head up above the bushes that his sister had always found to be a good hiding/spying spot. As he caught sight of his father, he immediately looked for the stranger and saw someone he never would have guessed would come to their house. But it was him, Mandalorian battle armor and all, it was Boba Fett. Tron ducked his head back down and looked at his sister who was starting to laugh.
"I can't believe it!" He said as loudly as he could in a low voice. "The Boba Fett! In our house. What type of deal is dad making with him?"
"All I could make out was something about a job involving a pirate named Anthor." replied Erisi.
"Probably a hit job." Tron smiled back, he had heard tales of Boba Fett from his friends but never thought that he'd ever see the man. "I wonder how much its going to cost us."
"You and your credits," chided Erisi, "You're just like father. But I guess thats good if you're going to take over the family business someday."
"Yeah, yeah and you and you're dreams of being a pilot." he sneered back. Tron looked up to take another peek but when he was able to see the room all that was visible was his father slumped back in his chair. Boba Fett had left and Tron's moment of joy was over. "He's gone." And over their shoulders the two of them could see Boba Fett's ship Slave I take off.
* * * * * * *
Present - 3 years after Endor
Thyferra - home of the Dlarit family and bacta cartel
The hazy mist still set at night and was still refreshing, even more so after getting off the cramped shuttle. Disembarking from the Sentinel-class landing craft, Tron walked to his home of years past. There were differences to the homestead as he approached. The walls showed carbon scoring from a past fire fight between rebel forces and what was left of his families loyal servants. His father had died here in his office and his sister died up in space in a TIE Interceptor. The family had been brought to ruin and crushed by the terrorist acts of the Rebel Alliance, now known as the New Republic.
In his opinion the New Republic was nothing but a bunch of power-hungry hypocrits. The said they wanted to return justice to the galaxy. So what did they do? They destroyed the only form of order holding the galaxy together. Palpatine had initiated his Galactic Empire becuase the Republic was corrupt and falling apart at the seams. Then come along the rebels led by Mon Mothma. Mon Mothma, the evil woman who used the Alliance to fulfill her own power-hungry desires. She wasn't upset at the injustices happening around her(after all the rebels were causing them). No she was upset that she wasn't in charge but that Palpatine had beat her to the punch. The rebels were terrorists who didn't care about important things such as order, loyalty, and honor.
The Empire, though Tron wasn't blind from its ill-effects, did keep order and had restored peace to the galaxy. Palpatine had rid the Senate of the corrupt senators, like Mon Mothma, and even got rid of that corrupt system in order to make for a better time for the galaxies inhabitants. Sure the destruction of Alderaan was wrong, but that was Tarkin's fault. Tarkin hadn't communicated with Palpatine and had gone ahead with its destruction on his own.
"Sir?" questioned Lieuntenant Drax, waking Tron from his musings.
"Yes," Tron responded, "Lets setup inside. I want a perimeter watch at all times with a change of guard every three hours, though I don't anticipate we'll be here that long."
Tron's guest should be arriving within the hour and then they'd all be on their way off this planet of bad memories. Tron entered his house, the locking mechanisms long being fried by a blaster shot. The house looked much the same as when he'd left all those years ago. He entered the den and took his place in the seat that had been occupied by his father back when he'd met with the individual that Tron was to meet.
Hours passed and finally Lieutenant Borsk entered the room with their esteemed guest. Only Tron, Borsk, Drax and Boba Fett stayed in the room, all of the guards were dismissed.
"Boba Fett." Tron said with a little reverence, "I saw you in here back when you met with my father a long time ago."
"I remember it." rasped Fett, his voice filtering through the helmet's speakers.
"Well you know our family always pays well, and even though we have had some serious problems as of late," Tron paused while he thought of their serious problems, "we still have an income and can pay your price."
"I should hope so." rumbled Fett, "I'd hate to have been drug out here for nothing."
"Don't worry Fett, my credit is good. Now lets get down to why you're here, I know thats all you want to do anyhow." said Tron. "There is an item of the families that has been lost for millenia and I'd like for you to recover it."
"Do you know where it is?" asked Fett, though he knew he wouldn't be here unless it had been found. It was obviously just somewhere that Tron didn't wish to venture.
"Yes, and thats the hard part of this entire mission." Tron paused to let that sink inot Fett's mind. "Its on Yavin IV beneath the main temple. Nothing you can't handle."
"Yavin IV, whats so hard that you can't go in and get it yourself?" asked Fett.
"Lets just say that Luke Skywalker is checking it out for a future Jedi Academy and I'd rather not have a run in with him." replied Tron. "I'll pay well, all you have to do is retrieve this sword." Tron handed Fett a datapad with an image of an archaic sword.
"Alright but its not going to be cheap." Fett thought over how much he could make Tron pay for something so simple and then decided with his normal fee. "25,00 credits in full up front."
"Make it 50,000 credits with 25,000 up front and the rest upon delivery of said item."
"Sounds like a deal." And with that said and done Fett turned and left the room. He wouldn't take off of course until he saw that 25,000 credits had been transfered to his account that the Dlarit family had paid to last time. Once the transfer of credits was complete, Tron saw an image he saw once back in his youth pickup and leave the planet's atmosphere.
Chapter 5
Sif - Capital planet of the Phare System
The planet's purple haze of an atmosphere was almost homely to Tron. He had served as Planetary Governor for a year here before his appointment to Chief Surveyor. And even then he still stayed here; his home was here now. Thyferra had long since been his home and now with his palace located in the foothills of Sif, Tron had made himself a new home where he started his new life. The palace was very reminescent of the late Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine. Tron had acquired the layout plans from the monks that wondered the corridors, seeing whereas it was they who built it and Jabba who took up occupancy.
The main audience chamber was much the same except instead of a floating dias like Jabba had, Tron had ordered an exact replica of Emperor Palpatine's throne be made. It sat up above the rest of the chamber and had stairs leading to the main floor below. Here in the palace, the audience chamber that is, Tron's fellow acolytes would join him and feast each night as their small Dark Jedi House grew with a new acquisition.
Tron's aedile Taage, a Krath priest, took over the position of Quaestor while he was gone for a few months. But upon Tron's return he stepped down and Tron soon regained his standing with a new aedile, Bob-Fett(in no relation to Boba Fett, just a mere coincidence). As aedile Bob-Fett also served as majordomo to Tron and took care of the little bothers that would come upon the house. Tron had taken in his own personal guard of the blue skin natives of Sif. He had them suited in stormtrooper armor that had been painted a dark black and adorned with a black cape. His personal guard were armed with a ceremonial vibro sword for decoration and were outfitted with the latest in blaster rifle technology slung at their sides and were given a force pike for when they did sentry duty.
It had become late in the day and Tron was seated in a slumped position in the throne awaiting any news from his hired hand when Lieutenant Drax approached him. Drax walked up from behind the throne and bent over to whisper in Tron's ear that they had a transmission coming in from Yavin IV. Tron got up from the throne and tried to hide his excitement at the news that he would soon have what he had been striving for all this time.
They went into Tron's private chamber, two sentry guards who were always on duty parted a way for Tron to pass through. Tron walked over to his wall monitor and activated the vid-screen. Static filled the screen as it locked on to Fett's encrypted signal. A picture began to take form and then the ominous face of Boba Fett, the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, came into view. Tron looked straight into the eiree gaze of the T-shaped visor and just stared until Fett's words brought him back to reality.
"Sorry about that," he said. "I've been pre-occupied with a great many things; what did you say, again?"
"I said that I've retrieved your sword and something else that might be of intrest." replied the bounty hunter.
"Something else?" asked Tron, "Probably something I'll have to pay to see no doubt."
"Oh, you can see it." sneered Fett, "But if you want it, it'll cost you extra."
"Well then show me." ordered Tron.
What next came up on the screen almost made Tron fall backwards.
TO BE CONTINUED...