Anakin
looked around the long hallway and figured that the building was much larger
than the
It
had been a wise decision to leave the Exiles with the planet of Coruscant to explore.
He wasn’t quite sure how this Coruscant might
be different from his own, but he was sure that his teammates would find
something to fit their various needs.
This world was one that he could understand far better than any of the
Exiles and having them coming with him to meet the Jedi Council would have only
created confusion and flurry of questions from Bluestreak. That
woman had an ocean of never-ending questions.
Finally,
his escort and himself arrived at the door to the Jedi
Council. A picture of a fierce battle
between the Jedi and what looked to be Mandolorians
was etched into the metal wall. Anakin
was curious about the picture, but knew he would have to keep himself focused
for the task ahead. As much as this
world might be familiar to him he had no idea how different things might really
be. Blink had reminded him to be careful
and he would take her words to heart.
As
the doors to the Jedi Council opened the first person Anakin spied was the one
he hated the most. It took all he had
not to pull out his lightsaber and strike the man
down. As much as this world might be
different he couldn’t believe a world existed where this Sith
Lord could actually fight alongside the Jedi.
Of course his experiences as of late had put many of his ideas about
things to rest. So he would maintain his
calm.
“Anakin
Skywalker I presume. We have heard of
your presence and are greatly intrigued by it,” Master Palpatine
said seeming far too comfortable in his floating chair.
Anakin
sensed something from all of these Jedi.
It was the Force, but not the Force he felt on his world. Something was different. Maybe there was some difference between the
power that he was sensing or maybe it was just the fact that…
“The
Force is different about you. Something
else has been added to your power,” Master Ki-Adi Mundi commented.
This Skywalker was full of power and he had not seen such power since
his apprentice, Mon Motha, had begun training with
him.
The
Exile hated that the Jedi had seen straight through him and he wanted to give
some arrogant comment, but he relented and confirmed what Mundi
said, “Yes. On another world I was
attacked and nearly killed. Surviving it
seems to have changed my Force abilities on some level. I’m not quite sure how, but it disturbs me.”
“You
mean frightens you Skywalker,” Master Windu corrected.
Mace’s
comment struck Anakin like a brick and he responded in kind, “I came here for
information. Not the opinions
of old fools!”
Palpatine and the rest of the Council saw Anakin’s eyes
flare up with black energy and trickles of blue lightning edging at his
fingertips. Palpatine
raised a hand of peace and said, “We mean you no harm Anakin. We are simply curious about your situation.”
Skywalker
sighed knowing that he had let his anxiety in being in the same room with that
man overwhelm him, “Forgive me Masters.
I’m simply tired from so much fighting and traveling. Help me find the Sith
Lord I seek and I will answer all your questions.”
“And
perhaps we can help you with this change in your powers as well,” Master Thrawn, the only Chiss to bear
the Jedi title, added.
“Yes,
perhaps.”
“The
Sith Lord that you seek is on Kashyyk. He’s been hiding there for months. We shall send Master Xizor
to assist you,” Palpatine said.
“I
have a team. I don’t need Xizor,” Anakin replied with a bit more force behind his
voice than he would normally have in the presence of Jedi Masters.
“You
presume far too much Skywalker. You and
your team know nothing of this world or how it operates. Kashyyk may be a
place where Jedi can freely come and go on your world, but I assure you this is
not the case here. The Wookies are under the dominion of the Falleen
and if you want to have any hope of getting to that world then you’ll need
someone of Falleen royal blood. Master Xizor is
that.”
All
that had come from Windu and it was enough to send Anakin through the
roof. He hated this man. How could he sit here on the Jedi
Council? It wasn’t right. It wasn’t possible. Just trying to wrap his mind around the idea
was killing him. The man that killed his
master was sitting here staring him in the face and Anakin was trying to keep
his composure around him. There was too
much irony here.
Palpatine could sense a rise of power in the boy again and
spoke tenderly, “Trust us Anakin. We
have no reason to steer you wrong.
You’re a fellow Jedi no matter what world you may be from. Trust us.”
Anakin sighed once again having been wooed by Palpatine, “I will trust you. So where shall I meet Master Xizor?”
Bluestreak
lay down on the cold metal table as the green light passed over in the shape of
a grid. The machine was analyzing the
material that made up her arm. It had
taken Bluestreak all of ten minutes to find this
Droid Repair Office. She really wasn’t
even sure if they would be able to do anything for her, but she figured if any
universe could tell her about her problem it would be a Star Wars one. The man analyzing her was a Gungan and Bluestreak was almost
tempted to ask him if he knew Jar Jar Binks. Of course
Anakin and Blink had told her to curb her enthusiasm while here. It was just that Episodes 8,9, and 10 were
the best movies she grew up with as a child.
Seeing Luke’s son, Ben, all grown up and fighting the evil Yuuzhan Vong was a childhood
memory she just could not shake. Being
here and being around Anakin just dredged up all those feelings of innocence
and Bluestreak hadn’t felt that way in quite some
time. She didn’t tell the others, but
the horrors of the world ruled by Sinister still haunted her dreams. The pain of losing her arm was still very
vivid in her mind and she woke up quite often to a sweat filled bed.
Then there was the battle with the Warlords. They were so ruthless and powerful. Bluestreak wasn’t
sure if she could handle another encounter with them. She knew the next time they fought those guys
it might be without any back up and that could end up being a very bad
situation for all of them. Even Blink,
who was the veteran, had a hard time fighting them off. They all had a card up their sleeves, but it was
one that Bluestreak had yet to make any of them aware
of. Besides for her nightmares the young
woman also saw something else in her sleep.
Mistress Strange was far from dead.
Before her physical body gave way she imparted different chunks of
herself into Stepstone, Bluestreak,
Blink and Reed. She would be back again
when her power was able to get back to its former levels, but that would take
time. Honestly, Bluestreak
wasn’t even sure if she’d be around for the woman’s return.
“That’s very sophisticated nanotech,” the Gungan said as he typed away at his console. He was analyzing what the light had shown him
in regards to Bluestreak’s replacement arm. Turning his head back to her he asked, “Where
did you say you got that from again?”
“A friend,” Bluestreak
answered evasively.
Recognizing her want for privacy the scientist
continued, “I’m afraid your friend did a shabby job. The nanotech is spreading across your body
and not in a good way.”
“Is there a way to stop it?”
The Gungan paused before
answering and that pause gave Bluestreak all the
answer she needed to know, “It won’t stop I’m afraid.”
“How long do I have?”
“Two or three days at most,” the Gungan said somberly.
Blustreak
jumped from the table, said thank you, and was out of the door before the Gungan could even open his lips for a reply. The wind from the woman’s quick exit knocked
around some of the Gungan’s equipment and he called
out for his droid cleaner, “C-3PO come here this instant!”
“So we’re going to go to the Wookie planet. I hear they have some huge trees there!” Bluestreak exclaimed. Normally she would have done some wild gesture along with her excited cry, but all she could do was clutch her new arm. The arm that would so soon bring death to her. It was surreal and the idea of her imminent death was still sinking in, but she was confident in one thing. She would let none of her teammates know about it.
“Not so much so now Blue. The Falleen have
leveled much of the trees in favor of erecting their huge missle
silos in the event that the Mandolorians return for
their revenge one day,” Anakin explained.
Xizor had told him of the Mandolorian
Wars and how the Republic had been so incredibly crippled by them. The Wookies had
sided with the Mandolorians and when the armored race
retreated from the galaxy the furry creatures were subject to the wrath of the Falleen.
“So the Sith Lord is
there without a doubt?” Blink asked.
“Most definitely.”
Blink nodded, “So let’s sleep up and head out
tomorrow.”
“Why sleep?
I grow bored with his world and desire to move onward to the next. Sleeping only slows that down and Doom will
not have his boredom grow any further.”
“I said we sleep and that’s final. If you got a problem with it I suggest you
try to call your Dad and whine to him about it,” Blink snapped.
Reed laughed.
The woman thought she could hurt him by pulling his past out. She was truly a fool. Blink reminded him of the She-Hulk of his
world in the way she tried to taunt him.
She-Hulk was one of the Last Marvels along with Silver Surfer, Thor, Gravitron, Sersi, and Candra. They were
his allies in the war against his father even though they despised him only
slightly less than Victor. What had
become of them now was something that Reed could not be sure of. All of them were probably in the eternal
sleep of death by now.
“Fine we sleep Clarice,
but don’t forget who you address. I am
Doom and my name is not to be taken lightly,” Reed reminded with a venomous
tone.
“So what all do you know about Darth Sidrian?” Bluestreak asked Master
Xizor as they moved through the ravaged forests of Kashyyk. She was
trying to keep her mind off what that Gungan had told
her and being a pest was the only way she knew how.
“We don’t know much, but we know what his real name
is. Wedge Antilles.”
“Ohh you’re shitting me!”
Bluestreak exclaimed earning her an odd stare from
Master Xizor.
“It is probably something related to her
world. Lets stay focused Xizor,” Anakin suggested as they continued to move ahead of
the group.
In this situation Blink was willing to let Anakin
have some leeway. This was a world he
was more familiar with and it was better to let him and his alien friend
confront their foe alone. If they needed
help they would be there to provide it.
After walking for about ten more minutes Anakin and
Xizor came to stop.
Skywalker looked back at the Exiles and nodded darkly. Their opponent had been found.
“So Jedi have come to provide me with
entertainment!” Sidrian exclaimed as he leaped from a
broken tree branch and landed to the ground gracefully. He was carrying a lightsaber
in each hand. They both glowed white and
he was swinging them quickly around his body as he approached the two
Jedi.
Skywalker and Xizor
unleashed their lightsabers and they charged forward
into battle with Sidrian. Anakin ducked the swinging weapon and sent
out a blast of dark lightning that sent Sidrian
flying into the air. The Sith Lord unleashed a powerful dark force blast as he was
flying backwards and it struck Xizor square in the
chest. Before he could collide with a
protruded branch Sidrian flipped off a tree and
landed on the ground perfectly.
“I sense darkness in your power. How can you be a Jedi?”
“Because I choose not to embrace that darkness!”
Anakin exclaimed as he charged forward commencing the lightsaber
battle again. Xizor
quickly jumped up to his feet and began to help Anakin.
“You both fight well. And it is a pleasure to see you as always Xizor.”
“It shall only be a pleasure after I dispose of
you,” the Falleen royal said as he knocked one lightsaber out of Sidrian’s
hand.
“Fool!” Sidrian yelled as
he launched Xizor into the air with a Force
push. Turning back to Anakin with rage
he used that same Force to throw off Anakin’s footing slightly. It was enough of an advantage to allow Sidrian to remove the hand that held the lightsaber.
Anakin cried out in pain and gripped his lost
appendage. Sidrian
was nearly about to finish off Skywalker when he felt the presence of Xizor coming behind him.
The Sith Lord quickly turned and batted away Xizor’s lightsaber. The weapon hit the Kashyyk
ground with a sizzle.
Xizor smiled as he
outstretched his hand and another lightsaber appeared
from under his cloak, “I always carry a spare.”
“Then you’re not the typical Jedi,” Sidrian replied as the two began to battle once more.
Blink hated standing by especially with Anakin
hurt, but they had to. It was obvious
that them getting involved in the battle would only complicate things. They would just have to hope that Xizor would be able to finish off Darth Sidrian.
Xizor rolled out of the
way of a head shot from Sidrian and with an upward
swing he deflected a downward swipe from Sidrian. The move had exposed his chest though so he
could never have seen the knife that stabbed him through the chest. Xizor let out a
final gasp before he fell to the ground dead.
“And I use my Force for more than just throwing
things around,” Sidrian laughed as he kicked the dead
body of Master Xizor.
The Exiles watched all of this happen in horror and
were preparing to strike against their opponent. Bluestreak looked
down at her arm and up at Sidrian. She had to make a choice and she was going to
make it now.
“Goodbye guys!” Bluestreak
yelled as she sped forward and slammed into Darth Sidrian.
“What are doing child? Do you wish to die as well?”
Bluestreak
laughed, “I’m already dead man. Just
making it happen a little faster.”
Techno-organic matter began to pour from Bluestreak’s arm and cover her and Sidrian. The daughter of Quicksilver kept the flow
coming until her and the Sith Lord were covered in a
cocoon.
“What is she doing?” Stepstone
asked horrified.
“I don’t know,” Blink mumbled, “I don’t know.”
“Isn’t it obvious?
She said goodbye. She’s killing
him and her,” Reed von Doom said.
“She’s made her choice. We need to get to Anakin and see if he’s
okay,” Belladona exclaimed as she ran towards the
still in agony Skywalker.
Stepstone
continued to watch Bluestreak killing herself and
tears flowed down her eyes profusely, “Goodbye Bluestreak. I’m going to miss you.”
“I guess you’re the bunch I’m supposed to be with,”
a sassy Southern voice said catching the attention of the Exiles.
They were looking at a young woman with curly
auburn hair, a black leather jacket, brown slacks, a punk rock t-shirt, and a
wooden stake in her hand.
“Who are you?” Reed von Doom asked looking over Bluestreak’s replacement with a disdainful eye.
“The name is Faith. I guess you can consider me an
Exile.”