The Jedi Creed


		Chapter IX: No Life Forms Location: The Devastator Directive: Find the Death Star plans the Rebels have stolen Regard Inception: Works around notable scenes In a hall amidst others, next to a maintenance room, two officers continued a conversation. One stood erected while the other leaded on the maintenance door. A foul, dampening smell came to them as they coordinated their short speeches. They didn't care. Captain Typhi rubbed his face with a wet cloth as he spoke. "It seems we were correct. It seems the Runner we're after went out of hyperspace at the fourth sector. For a strong, apparent reason, of course. For a strong, apparent reason. Commander Praji nodded. "Yes, an apparent reason. A strong one, indeed." He looked down the two ends of the hall. "No one would stop at that piece of rock if there wasn't one. No one. The ship is carrying too important a load to drift off where they have. Diplomatically speaking, it doesn't make a bit of sense. Iy Ku'vee kept saying it over and over again. 'What in blazes are we stopping here for! What in blazes!' Ha!" He gave a very low laugh as he put his cloth away. "I know what you are getting at, very much so. I was thinking the same thing just a while ago. It has already been about an half hour since we learned Runner put its coordinates to the Tatoo system before hyperdrive. The Destroyer will have them any minute now." "Yes. It seems as if the Rebels were telling us the truth. I'm surprise they are trusting us to go along with this." "You know what this means, right?" "What, Praji?" He shook his arm away from the door, then sat on the cold pavement against a wall. He gave a huge sigh and took the cap off his head, folding it with one hand. The other hand rubbed against his bald head. "What?" He placed his cap back on, positioning it in attentive mode. "General Dedonna personally told me all about it when we landed on Yavin 4. He was right. He is alive, still alive. I can't believe he trusted us." "What are does this mean? Who's alive?" "Kenobi." "Who?" "Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Obi-Wan Kenobi." "From the Clone Wars?" "Yes, Kenobi. Please. Are you going to tell me you don't know who Kenobi is?" Typhi flinched somewhat. "I thought he was dead." "He's not dead." "Surely, he's dead." "He's a Jedi, Typhi." "He couldn't have survived this long. He couldn't. Not on Tatooine. No, no, not at this point in time. Not him, not him." Commander Praji's speech patterns remained sharp as if nothing but a regular conversation was occurring. "The risks are high, the threats still remain. Still, I know what we have to do even before you know about it." He slammed his elbow against the wall. "Your worried tongue is going to get us both into trouble if you can't be controlled. Hopefully, my confidence will infect it." Typhi calmed down. "So, he survived." "Yes." "And how do are you so sure? How do you even know this is who they are attempting to contact? Tatooine could simply be where a hidden Rebel fleet is located. They could be attempting to talk to Tatoo's ambassador." He shook his head. "Dedonna could have told you anything to get us to keep contact with the planet." "Remember though, my friend, he didn't give us the name of the planet or the system. He strictly told us to do our job, nothing more except the fact he knew this Kenobi information would bring us closer to realizing our goal here. Please, analyze this accordingly. We get paid the big fee if we do it. In fact, it must be a bigger amount than Kenobi's bounty. Why else would he tell me?" "And I should trust you are telling me the truth." "Why would I make such up?" "I, I don't know right now. You told me this was going to be simple, no games, no hiding information, nothing of this sort. A simple plan to get us in control of our financial problems. I'm risking more than my position here. Our lives, Praji, our lives. Does that mean anything to you? If Tarkin ever found out what we were doing..." Praji stood up quickly and punched the other's shoulder blade softly as a warning. "Shut up, okay. Shut up! No one is going to get killed unless you keep moving that tongue of yours the way you do!" "Okay! So!" "Quiet!" A legion of Stormtroopers quickly ran from right to left. One of them looked as if speaking to himself. "We will meet you at level six, level six. Level six, along with TK-143, sir. Yes, I comply. Level six..." They turned around a corner. They both gave a huge sigh. "My father was a Jedi. That's why he told me." Typhi's stressed nerves forced him to let out a hideous, slithering laugh. "What?" Praji laughed along with him. "Yes, a Jedi. Imagine that, huh?" "I beg your pardon?" "A Jedi. You know what a Jedi is, right?" "I beg your pardon?" "My father, Tal-Geptil Praji. Never heard of him in the Imperial Archives?" "No." "He used to be a temporary ambassador with a water herder out in this here Outer Rim before he..." He held up two hands and two fingers each, "'retired.' It was mainly work on Adriana - he'd see to it shipped water supplies came to Tatooine during the harsh summer seasons there. And of course, since the Republic didn't give a bantha about what was going over there, he wasn't greatly missed when the Jedi purge occurred." "And why are you telling me this?" "Well, any ways, my father and the crew he was helping were taken by surprise one by a Kypt Dragon. They would have died if the man hadn't lured it away." "Kenobi. Ah, I see." He laughed again. "And I am suppose to believe this bantha fodder, right, this poor excuse for a children story? Tell me, if this children's story is true, why didn't your father let the Empire know Kenobi still was alive and gain a big reward for his bounty then? Perhaps they wouldn't have..." He held up two hands and two fingers each, "'retired' him. "Come on, now. Besides the fact Kenobi had saved his life, his crew, not to mention the water supplies, and the fact that my father gave his word to keep his mouth shut, along with his weak Jedi nature, the Empire would have killed him just in case he told someone else. I would have been fatherless any ways." "And you're telling me now." Praji nodded. "I'm telling you now. Kenobi had been there five years already. Father said he already looked like an old man." He smiled in serenity. "I can imagine the guilt he had, knowing he killed more Jedi than the infamous Count Dooku, not even considering his failure with you know who." Typhi shook his head. "What a mess up." "That's why we aren't going to mess up. We are going to let it pass. Afterwards, we can tell about Kenobi, then get twice the fee." "And what about Xizor. He's running the show down there if he finds anything on Tatooine the Empire needs to have deleted." "No ones going to know. You see, friend, this is our chance to get ahead, make sure we stay ahead. If we keep this going, we'll be rewarded and promoted. Both sides will be paid while at the same time get screwed. Ha! We will know what happens before it happens. And, of course, we'll be more than just 'heroes.' We'll be well paid, known for bringing Kenobi to his knees, and the Rebels will be sorry for their tiny mistake of trusting me." Silence. "Heroes, hum? All right, why not? Why not. All right, I'll give them clearance. Even though I don't like the possibility of Xizor running the show from here on in if anything gets on Tatooine, I know we can prosper if we do at least this part right. Just make sure you know what you are doing." The Commander stared at him. "Of course I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't be Commander Praji." "Good point." Suddenly, an alert was issued. "Let's get out of here. We're out of hyperdrive." They both left their separate ways. * It was the high alert. Dozens of Stormtrooper parties strolled down the Star Destroyer's many hallways. An Imperial officer had forgot his cap. Another, his sidearm. Many troopers strode along while still placing on equipment. Suddenly, a droid mouse parted the flow like a chariot. Two walked along each other talking with handheld comlinks. "Yes, I hear you now," a voice came out loudly from one. "Yes, code name: Savage, Alpha. Savage Alpha loading. Give a few minutes, processing. Operating number cleared. Operating number..." Along with the troops, officers, pilots, and droids, was Lord Vader. "I want that ship intact, you hear, no excuses this time." He gripped his utility belt and waited for an answer. For a moment, he stopped as Commander Daine Jir, an officer who had been patiently awaiting his aperture, fiddled his belt for a better fit. His robotic hands made hard fists as he waited. "Commander..." Jir was drenched with bashfulness, as Vader became drenched, as usual with an unhidden fury and penetrating glare. He quickly regained his his stride and attempted to remain boastful. "We'll get it taken care of. The Devastator is right on course, the engineers are already gathering the appropriate explosives for the entrance. This shouldn't last more than five, six minutes." He looked down. "And the transmission?" "It's located here. I assure you my Lord. Why wouldn't I?" Vader waved his finger. "I am counting on you ... and for your sake, and your sake only, you better take caution of this very fact." He gave a quick, sinister laugh, a rarely and quick strange for the Commander to hear. "Remember Commander DeMekarick. His expedience was quite...lacking." Jir kept his serious look. His affirmation was clear as he never gave the opportunity for him to flinch. "Yes, of course. No problem, no problem." He smiled gleefully. "See you at the other side, then?" The Lord turned around quickly and left. * "Commander Praji, are you sure?" "I want all firepower focused on sectors five and six." An Imperial officer and Stormtrooper looked at each other briefly for a moment, then looked back at the Commander. The Commander stood stubbornly, viewing space from one the ship's window, staring at the halted Blockade Runner. His arms, folded behind his back, looked pointed and assertive. "What about sectors three and four, sir," responded the Stormtrooper. The officer's face began to get as chalky as the trooper's suit. His agitation was clearly seen. A small tear of sweat fell from his forehead to his furnished, black vest. "Even though no life forms are detected there, we should at least take a string of our parties over there just in case something happens. Don't you think this is necessary?" The Stormtrooper nodded his mask. "I agree. Besides, regulations call for it." "So be it. But I want it light. Make sure it is light." The Commander turned around and faced both men. He felt their nervousness and hesitation. Although he knew it was regulation to keep all sectors of a hostile environment guarded, he also knew he could alter them somewhat at his discretion with no interference from them. "Just send one party though. As I said, I want the firepower focused on the sectors that matter most. Do you understand?" He knew they had no way out of this one. "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." * "Captain Typhi, we are all set." The Captain nodded. The main systems were projecting a total shut down in about eighteen minutes. He looked at the indicator to the left of his seat. 17:32. "Get those engineers on it now! We are bringing it too close, too close." He looked around him. "Jethro?" He wasn't there. He then noticed the Lieutenant was quickly guiding the pilots to their new stations below him on the lower sub deck. "Jethro? Get the engineers! Contact them! This is cutting it too close, too close." The Lieutenant nodded and went to the communications corner. "Captain, Captain, we are all set, we are all set," repeated the Chief Pilot, his right hand now fitting tightly on a hand-held trigger. The outer guns shifted towards the ship's main hanger gates. The stars flickered violently. A large planet glowed in the background. The other pilots began to relax in their new chairs after they placed on their earphone equipment. Another alert rang out. Typhi abruptly stood up from the captain's seat, viewing the main screen. "No pods, Lank?" "No pods yet, sir. One may be warming up right now. With some of the fighting still going on, a few may not depart for at least a while. Still, I'm ready to fire on call, sir. When I have the order, sir." He gave a big sigh. "Good." The Lieutenant ran up to tap on Typhi's cold shoulder. "The engineers are almost done. They promised me it will only be two and a half minutes or so before they lock it down. Also, sir, Commander Praji just contacted us and sent word he'll be coming soon to hear of our report. I just thought you should know." The Captain gave his affirmative. "Just make sure those engineers disable the device. I don't want to be space dust any time soon, you hear? I hope you realize the Devastator is hooked up to this ship as well. You talk about the Emperor's displeasement ..." The Captain nodded again, slowly. The Lieutenant slowly nodded with him. "Yes, sir. Give them a minute and it should be taken care of. Assurance is yours. In fact, I'll go out to see their progress, perhaps motivate them a little." With a nod and a breath of fresh air, he rushed out of the main deck along with two grumpy Stormtroopers at his side. The Chief smiled. "Captain!" A pod rushed away from one of the side hangers, starting to pick up speed. "What sector?" He glanced at the pod's life readings at the bottom of the screen. "Sector six." "Shoot it down." With a bend of the index finger, a click sound was made, a laser beam stormed out from the outer guns, and a pod was of no more. The debris, though firmly insignificant, shot out into the dark abyss. It never had a chance. Lank turned around to the Captain, along with a small smirk on his red, happy face. "As you can see, it's completely destroyed." "As you know, Lank, I'm quite aware of that fact." He circled his fingers. "Turn around and pay attention." It didn't take long for the Chief's smirk to turn into a frown. It then went firm. He turned around as quick as he possibly could to avoid embarrassment. "Yes, sir, I understand." The Lieutenant, this time alone, came back in quite a hurry to present the good news. "As assured, the engineers stopped the countdown. Also, the final remnants of the Runner fighters have been completely dissipated. Captain Antilles has been captured." "Great. Praji should be on his way here then. Wait by the deck's entrance hall and escort him here, now, will you? I want to make sure you tell him what you just told me about the engineers." The Lieutenant eyes went up as he looked at the ceiling. "Yes, yes, sir, I will do as you say." He knew his position didn't require him to be a message boy, still he did what he was told. Soon, very soon, he was sure to have some pleasant moments as Commander on his own in due time. And so he, again as before, left. Another pod lighted its engines and took off. The Chief grinned to himself, knowing he needed the practice. "Another pod, sir." Typhi looked at the data inscriptions before him. Sector 9. "You know what to do." "Yes, sir!" Lank, this time, let the pod fly out a little farther than he did the other, possibly tricking the pod's inhabitants. Had they escaped the Empire's clutches? The laser beams broke out hitting its target right on the mark. The pod escaped All right, yet only as a million or so pieces of leftover scraps. The Commander, along with the mobile Lieutenant, entered loudly into the main deck. The Commander smiled. "Typhi!" He turned around. "Commander Praji. A pleasure, of course, to see you. As you can see, everything is under Empire control." "So," commented a stern voice straining with dominance. He eyed him. "Everything is going as planned, right?" He then folded his arms around his back and turned around. "My parties have the Runner secured and are searching for the plans now. The rest of the crew is searching the main systems. It seems all is going well. Lord Vader, hopefully, will be somewhat pleased of our present situation." "Yes, Lord Vader. Yes." Typhi paused a bit. "If I may so sir, I would like to say no one has yet to escape us. Everything is in check from here. They have no where to go." Praji didn't look the slightest bit surprised. "Yes, I see. I see, I see." "There goes another one," respond the chief. On screen, a pod jettisoned out into the dark abyss. Data inscriptions. Sector 3. No life readings. Typhi looked at his receptive. Praji nodded to Typhi. "Hold your fire! There are no life forms. It must have short-circuited." "Yes, sir." The chief frowned and moved his index finger outward. "It doesn't make any sense," the Lieutenant declared. "No sense at all. Why would someone short-circuit a escape pod? Shouldn't we destroy it just in case?" Commander Praji looked at the Lieutenant. "I'm sure he took the best precaution necessary. Right, Captain?" "Of course, sir, of course. I know what I'm doing." "Of course. Or he wouldn't be Captain Typhi, right Lieutenant?" Jethro somewhat nodded. * "I knew what I was doing," the Stormtrooper said. "I did what I could. I just didn't have enough men, not enough men. Sector three was just too open and at least a droid went into an escape pod. There was not much I could do to stop them." "And you got a good look at the droid?" The Commander stood stubbornly, viewing the Devastator Destroyer from one the Runner's windows. Outside, he also viewed the warm glow from planet of Tatooine. His arms, folded behind his back, looked pointed and assertive. He knew what had to be done. "Yes, I was the main one in Sector three." "In order to succeed, there are certain risks to take. You did what you could, as did I." The cold tastelessness received from the Commander were brutal. A long interval passed before the Stormtrooper continued. "The rest of the men didn't see anything, they were too far back, dispersed to check the other sector. Never the less, I had a good look. I almost shot the Goldenrod but the blast wouldn't go far enough." "I see." The neck lowered. "I'm sorry, sir." In the background, they could hear troopers and officers moving about within the small ship. It still had not been thoroughly searched. "No, no, don't worry about it. You did what you could with the men you had. It's my fault." "Your fault ... , sir?" "Yes, my fault. And I'll take full responsibility for it." The Stormtrooper took off his helmet. A man appeared with dark hair, brown eyes, and fair complexion. In fact, it had been so well protected for so many years it hardly had any battle scars. He rubbed his head full of hair as if in deep thought. "They could have had the plans, sir. If they had them, we could have ended it right there. The goal of the mission would have been completed, wouldn't it, sir?" The Commander took out his side arm. "Yes, it would have." Before the trooper could drop his helmet and reach for his blaster, the Commander gave one cold shot in the face. He went down within a second. The man, with a dark, red circle scar on his forehead, started at his officer. "Why did you do..." He passed out. "I know why." "What." It was Typhi. Praji quickly turned towards his right to see the Captain at close range. "You aren't supposed to be here." A blaster was directly pointed at his chest. It was the first time he showed his true emotions. "What are you doing! I told you I would take care of my end as you did yours." "Drop it." "No." "Drop it or you'll be sorry." "I'll kill you right now, I'll do it!" "Would I have been next, Commander?" A drop of sweat hit the floor. "No! I won't bow to you Captain!" "You lied to me, didn't you. I figured you did." "About what?" "About your father meeting Kenobi and all of that. I know well enough there is no such person as Tal-Geptil Praji. I also know Kenobi is, indeed, alive. He is quite alive on the planet as Dedonna told you." "What are you talking about? What 'we' are you talking about?" "You just created a story so you knew for sure I wouldn't destroy the pod. It could have ended right there, but no, no, you wanted me to listen and heed your every word. Now the pod is on Tatooine. You destroyed all knowledge of its existence, great job. I couldn't have done it better. And, well...you basically let them go free also. The Rebellion should give you a metal." The Commander sighed as best as he could and dropped his sidearm. He then turned once again towards the window. "I graduated top of my class in the Imperial Academy with honors. With honors, mind you. As you well know, I am smarter than you. I always was. I know what it takes to get ahead. I know...I know what it's like to take real orders you have no idea of taking. This is my chance, don't you see. And yes, I attempted to use you because you were dumb, foolish, and extremely insignificant. I want the recognition to prove I'm better than this. I'm better than this!" "You are smart, I agree," said the Captain. "But, overall, you are just a big fish wanting to control the water. Just a hunter hunting the vulnerable. Yeah, you'll get recognition. I'll be sure the Rebellion knows about your good deeds." Praji gave a big sigh. "Okay. I see." The blaster remained on the ground. "Because of your greed and manipulation, you allowed the Rebel Alliance a way out. You are a piece of scum, hidden in Imperial fatigues and a fancy honors decorum back home. More lives will now be saved because of you. Glad you could do it." The Commander couldn't speak. Praji laughed. "Something wrong with your tongue Commander? Well, Praji, let's just say you allowed yourself to be fooled. Like an old Jedi once was known for saying, 'Greed can be a very powerful ally.' You allowed yourself to be used." The Commander then walked slowly and directly to the Captain, right next to him. "What I know is some people are too weak and to fearful to do anything. There is one thing I learned in life and that is the only way to succeed, you must create a conflict." Praji went to grab the gun. "Now I will have to kill you. Was it really worth it? I'll still win. I always win." The Captain smiled brightly, not doing anything. "Oh Commander, what can I say! Being on such a suicide mission, I knew you were the best! You are definitely the best!" He laughed hysterically. The blaster did its work. *** "... inform the Senate that all aboard were killed." "Lord Vader!" The dark mask turned to his direction for the first time during the mission. "The battle station plans are not aboard this ship. And no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no life forms were aboard." Vader faced Commander Daine Jir. "She must have hidden the plans in the escape pod." Jir gave a look of agreement. Vader looked back at Praji. "Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander. No one will stop us this time." "Yes, sir." As they turned to go their separate ways, Praji began to grind his teeth. ...Jedi Relan [Home] \| [Chat Conferences] \| [Discussion Forum] \| [Hyperspace Links] [The Belief] \| [The Force] \| [The Journey] \| [The Lesson] \| [The Challenge] \| [The Philosophy] \| [The Tales] [The Encyclopedia] [Contributions] \| [The Gallery] \| [Our Contacts]