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Death Story 2005 short story by Mark Newbold
Nineteen years before Episode IV – A New Hope The life of a Jedi is often a solitary existence, and never
more so than today. Ade-arr B’erain can feel the weight of destiny heave down
upon his shoulders and sorrow has never been more prevalent in his life than
right now. He has witnessed much in his long days as a Jedi
Knight. He has lost friends and
allies, students and teachers. He has
fought for justice and equality in a galaxy that was never designed to uphold
such ideals. And he has survived the
most brutal war the galaxy has ever witnessed. The Clone Wars. Mercifully the war is at an end, but at what cost. The Jedi Order has been obliterated, seemingly
wiped out in an instant by the insidious word of a corrupt Chancellor who has
seconded himself into office and declared himself Emperor of the new Galactic
Empire. Ade-arr feels sick to the
stomach at the thought of it. The Jedi
Council gone. All the great masters
slaughtered. Master Yoda, Master Windu
and Master Kenobi have fallen. Even
the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker has been slain. The Jedi are no more, their light gone out of the
universe. What remains of the Setnin Jedi has managed to escape
into the depths of space aboard the Worldship Rinsome, with the intention of
resuscitating the Jedi at a later time.
But Ade-arr did not make the rendezvous in the Commodor System in
time. He had a date with destiny, one
that had been predicted decades before by the wise members of the Setnin Jedi
Council and had only recently been revealed to him. He had to find and defeat the powerful dark
Force user Astorr Gorre, and in a titanic battle he had managed to do so,
though how he wasn’t sure. Gorre was
an adept of the dark side, a manipulator who powerfully utilised the dark
arts. And B’erain: he was just one man
fighting against the blackness that threatened to engulf him and had already
taken his fellow Setnin Jedi council members.
So many dead, so many lost forever.
It chills his heart to think of it, to reflect on the Jedi in the past
tense. He had sensed great upheaval in the Force and knew that
somewhere, somehow, terrible deeds were being wrought. The universe, the Force, everything was changing, and Ade-arr
feared that the days remaining were short.
Time was running out for him – he needed to complete his final
mission. Something Gorre had said during their confrontation made
Ade-arr pause as he waits by the corner of the wall, judging the moment to
make his move, and he is transported back to that battle, knee-deep in
trouble and clasping onto life by his very fingertips… “YOU
CANNOT ESCAPE ME. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME. I AM INEVITABLE, LIKE THE RISING OF THE
SUN, THE EBB AND FLOW OF THE TIDE. THE
FALLING OF THE JEDI.” “You waste your words Gorre. I know who you are; I can smell your
fear. It is you who cannot defeat me.” “THEN
FINISH THIS, JEDI. FUFLFILL YOUR PLACE
IN THE HALLS OF DESTINY. CONQUER ME
AND PERHAPS YOU CAN SAVE YOUR COMPATRIOTS.” Ade-arr lunged
again, the words of Gorre echoing in his mind as the towering dark force user
slashed a parry back at him and swatted his attack away, stabbing in a
straight attack aimed at Ade-arr’s heart.
B’erain clipped it away and rolled, perilously close to the edge of
the jagged rocks that plunged away into the dark depths below, too far for an
echo to follow. The lavender light of
the Janos dawn cast a surreal colour on their battle, waged across the plains
and now to the mountains for hours and hours.
B’erain had tracked Gorre here, followed the whisper of the Force and
wondered how Gorre had secluded himself so effectively on Janos, the most
dangerous world in the Setnin Sector without detection. The Janites had no time for Jedi or Sith. Gorre snarled, his
wordless mouth twitching as he swung out again and lashed out a hand,
invisible power sending Ade-arr sliding closer to a death dive. The Jedi, bloodied and battered, raised his
hand to deflect and all around rocks jarred from their ledges and tumbled
down around them, kicking up dust and grit.
Gorre smiled. “ALLOW
YOURSELF THE LUXURY OF A SWIFT DEATH.
YOU HAVE FOUGHT WELL B’ERAIN. I
SHALL MAKE IT PAINLESS.” Ade-arr furrowed
his brow, shut the booming words of Astorr Gorre from his mind and surged
forward again, fighting against the fall, the dark side and the inevitability
of history that grew ever darker. He fought for his
lost Padawan Shayy. And Astorr Gorre,
dark Force user, marshal of the Separatist movement in Setnin and leader of
his own dangerous faction suddenly found that he had no response, in action
or in thought, and as the jade blade of B’erain cut through him like a knife
through water he frowned and asked himself a simple question. `WHY DIDN’T I SEE
THAT COMING?” Ade-arr allows himself a moment of reflection as those
words and memories swirl back to him.
Satisfaction, a most un-Jedi like emotion, swells within him as his
part in destiny had been fulfilled with the death of Gorre. Satisfaction at avenging his Padawans
death, to some small degree. B’erain checks around the corner and narrows his eyes as
he stares intently at the incongruous terraced building that holds his target
within. Traffic flows by, a steady
stream of speeders and land vehicles, and Ade-arr waits for a gap in the flow
before racing across with lightening speed and slamming against the wall,
shrouded by the shadows of the evening.
He checks his lightsabre and closes his eyes, falling into the Force. It is a black pit, unhealthy and acrid and he feels
sorrow that for the final few months he has felt no solace there, as he has
for the previous five decades of his life.
The Force is now a dead pool, rancid water and scum accumulating on
its surface, a barrier he has to break through every time he accesses its
powers. It makes him feel filthy, but
he knows he has to use its magic, if only for one more time. His target lies within the house, crying in desperation
and fear. His target was an infant,
the son of a great Jedi Knight and a slain mother, snatched from her dying
clutches by the minions of Garani Allafson, his sworn enemy and former
lieutenant of Astorr Gorre. Ade-arr
believes Blake holds the key for the future of the Setnin Jedi. Young Blake De’Athe, born to the Force and
beholden of great potential, now a captive of dark side abductors. It is a situation Ade-arr will not allow to
stand. He takes his jade sabre into his hand, says a final
prayer to the gods of Nam Chorios, his distant homeworld and turns around the
corner to the rear of the building and the back entrance to the
property. Garbage scows and trash bins
fill the rear courtyard, but Ade-arr flies gracefully over them and up to the
back door. He knows he has been
sensed, the dark side now reigning over the light of the Force in these
desperate days and he readies himself for battle. He is not kept waiting long. The first darksider drops from above, not igniting his
blade until he is almost on top of B’erain, but the Jedi Knight does the
same, dropping a shoulder and stabbing the blade upwards, into the torso of
the unfortunate attacker. The man
falls silent, the air cauterised out of his lungs by the flash of the blade
and he falls to the floor with a wet slap.
B’erain closes his eyes and senses the number of his enemy. Eight, as well as his deadliest living foe Garani. He allows himself another smile, one borne
out of noting but grim determination. With a kick he smashes the rear door to splinters and
adopts a neutral stance, waiting for the first attack, and it comes with a
volley of blaster fire. Three of the
abductors stand in a row, raining fire down upon him, and Ade-arr swats the
shots away as if clearing flies. The
room is peppered with holes as he advances, slashing at the first man and
pausing as the other two drop their blasters and lift their sabres. Ade-arr grins. This is more like it, and he engages them
in furious combat, taking the first man down after just three clashes of the
blade. He feels connected to the
Force, but more than that he feels it flowing through him like never
before. Despite the revulsion he now feels
when accessing the Force, the taint of the dark side a
bitter bile in his mouth, once in its embrace he becomes a conduit for
it. And today it almost feels like
their final time together. The three men dispatched he moves further into the building. Only four men remain along with Garani and
he knows full well that she is as dangerous as all eight combined. The cries of the baby alert him to his
presence and he bolts upstairs, racing towards the first floor landing where
he finds another two darksiders waiting, one man and one woman. He wastes no time in small talk and lashes
towards them, cutting them down in short order and deflecting the sniper
attack that comes from the third attacker who hides behind a cabinet. The final sneak volley is swung right
back at the sniper and Ade-arr hears the gunman as he hits the floor. Eight down, two to go. He reaches the door and grips the lightsabre tightly in
his hand, all the sorrow of recent events welling up in him. Had it really come to this? A six month old baby and an ageing Jedi
Knight, left alone to battle the darkness of the sith? Perhaps his Master Zeboden had survived, he
didn’t know. He didn’t know who had
managed to make the flight of the Rinsome as it escaped from the Setnin
Sector. He prayed that it was many,
that his Jedi brethren and all of the council had tactically retreated to
fight another day. But deep down,
where the truth holds reign, he knew that was a forlorn hope. Much like his current fight. Ade-arr opens the door to the room, ignited lightsabre in
hand, and steps in. Garani sits in a
plush seat, the baby held in her arms, her long black hair even more lank and
lifeless; her once luscious ruby lips now black and thin like her body. It was as if using the dark side has
emaciated her and sucked away her lifeblood, her formerly beautiful visage
withered by its constant use. B’erain
glances at the final darksider, a brute of a man dressed entirely in black
who bores a hole through him with his stare and turns to face him. “Leave. I would speak with Garani alone.” “You are in no
position to give commands Jedi. Your
time is at an end.” The man doesn’t even manage to lay a hand on his sabre
before his head is forcibly removed from the rest of his body, and the steam
from his decapitated neck leaves a whispering trail as his body slumps to the
ground, the head rolling into a corner. Baby Blake begins to chuckle. “So Jedi,” spits Garani as she strokes
Blake’s hair gently. “You’ve come to
free the child. Or perhaps you’ve come
to confront me? Avenge your fallen
Padawan?” Ade-arr refuses to rise to the bait as he takes another
step forward and looks at Blake who is staring intently into Garani’s eyes. “The boy will
come with me. Your fate is no longer
my concern.” Garani furrows her brow at this. “No longer your concern? Ade-arr, dear Ade-arr, whatever do you
mean?” She stands to her feet and
places Blake in a cot next to her chair, walking around the back of the seat
in deliberate steps. “My fate has
never been your concern. Not on Salutarr or any time since.” Ade-arr slips back to the events of the Battle of
Salutarr and momentarily loses his focus, the sorrow of losing his Padawan
Shayy runs over him. And in this instant of vulnerability Garani attacks. Her blade sizzles in the air as it slices towards his
head, and Ade-arr barely manages to lift his chin away from the death
blow. His own sabre ignites and the
jade and crimson blades clash in a cacophony of noise, the atmosphere
electric. They have fought before and
know each others moves intimately, their clashes as known to each other as
ritual mating dances. Ade-arr prepares
an attack but Garani anticipates it and steps away, bringing her lightsabre
low for another clash. Both are deep
in the Force, sizing each other up and preparing for their final
assault. Garani smiles slowly. “You are
uncertain Jedi. You don’t know if you can defeat me.” Ade-arr grimaces as he swings another attack and the two
blades meet, Jedi and Darksider eyeball to eyeball. “My uncertainty
is not from besting you Garani.” “Then what?” Ade-arr gives her an unexpected grin and she freezes, her
senses alert to incoming attack as the wall to her left suddenly rips away
and through the dust and rubble she sees a hovering freighter. “Jedi scum! Too afraid to fight me alone!” Ade-arr doesn’t reply, he is too busy scooping up Blake
and leaping through the hole onto the top of the freighter as it retracts a
huge suction unit and backs away. “I have fought
you before Garani, and we shall meet again, of that I have no doubt.” He strokes the cheek of baby Blake as the Gripped Talon begins to rise into the
air. “Enjoy what little time you have
left. Your days are numbered.” “As are yours Jedi.” she says softly to herself as
she watches the freighter bank and roar away.
She lifts a comm. to her lips and activates it. A moment passes and she begins to speak. “Commander Deej,
I have a mission for you.” “Once again I
save your hide.” “One of your
better habits Elise.” Ade-arr hugs the smuggler Elise Ni’ipe as she waits by
the top hatch, her oil covered red jacket and smeared black trousers as much
a uniform as B’erains Jedi robes.
Blake gurgles quietly to himself as Elise takes a closer look at him. “So now you’re saving
babies. What next, an animal
sanctuary?” Ade-arr smiles as he seats himself on the couch. Elise takes Blake and holds him up, smiling
at the blond haired infant. Blake
laughs. “He likes
you.” Ade-arr motions to the boy. “That’s good, considering what I must ask
of you.” “And what’s
that?” Elise seats herself next to
B’erain as the Gripped Talon gains
altitude. Ade-arr lowers his head and
takes a deep breath. “You know what
is happening, don’t you?” “About the end
of the war? Sure, who doesn’t, it’s
all over the HoloNet.” “It’s more than
that. The Jedi have been
outlawed. Hunted down and
exterminated. I may well be the last
Jedi alive in the Setnin Sector.” Elise looks at Ade-arr like he has grown another head. “Have you lost
your mind?” Elise passes Blake to
Lessek, her pilot who takes the boy in confusion. “We all hear what Palpatine has been
saying, but there are millions who don’t believe a word he says.” “That I don’t
doubt, but he has taken over the
Republic. Not usurped it, not
conquered it. He has become the Republic. And the Senate is blind to his lies and
subterfuge.” Ade-arr glances out of
the window at the streaking brown clouds of Leogard and the starless skies
above. “And only the Jedi can see the
extent of his deception. But now we
are gone.” He turns back to face
Elise. “Today we are diminished, but
in the future we shall fight again.
Retake the galaxy from Palpatine’s grip. And that boy,” He looks at Blake who is
laughing at the stupid faces Lessek is pulling. “Could very well be the saviour of the Jedi
Order.” Elise takes a long look at Ade-arr and Blake before
turning back to the Jedi Knight. “What do you
want me to do?” “Take the boy
away from here. It’s not safe anymore. Take him somewhere with a large population,
a place he can be an ordinary child.
Where he can grow into a good man, and when the time is right return
and reignite the light of the Jedi.” “But where?” Ade-arr shakes his head. “That detail I
must not know.” There is a long pause as Elise sizes up her old friend. “And when am I
coming back for you Ade-arr?” B’erain gives her a sad smile and takes her hand in his. “You are not. There is one last thing I must do. And then…”
His voice trails off, and Elise squeezes his hand as the two of them
drift into silence. “He is still
here, on the planet. And if I know
that Jedi fool, he is making his
way back here to confront me.” Commander Deej nods in agreement as he stands beside
Garani atop a huge mountain that overlooks the township below. A large squad of troops stand behind him,
awaiting his orders and he checks his chrono. “Master B’erain
will not leave it long to return. Once
set on a course of action he is impossible to deflect.” Garani smiles at this and turns to the Clonetrooper
commander. “Of course, you
know the Jedi well. On Salutarr you fought alongside B’erain in
battle against me. He considered you
an ally.” She folds her arms and
stares at the implacable Clonetrooper.
“How do you feel, now that you are fighting beside me instead of
against me?” “I have no
feelings one way or the other. My
orders are clear. Wipe out the
remaining Jedi threat to the Empire.
My allegiance is irrelevant.” Garani casts Deej a side-long glance. “And do you
still feel an allegiance to B’erain?” “I feel nothing
M’lady.” Garani nods in satisfaction at this. “Good. Prepare a welcoming party for our Jedi friend. Make sure the last thing he ever sees is on
this planet.” “As you wish
M’lady.” Ade-arr walks with a purpose towards the township, not
hiding in the shadows as before or attempting to cover his steps. He knows what he must do. Garani still sits in his Force visions, like the pitch
black nothingness of an eclipse, light curling around its rim. B’erain feels their final confrontation is close
and he increases the length of his stride as he approaches the outskirts of
the town. He can sense something else, another danger, but he is
unsure as to what it is. All he is
focused on is Garani, and her demise.
Now that Notami De’Athe’s infant son was safely off-world nothing else
mattered. He will rid the galaxy of
that dark side filth and let the Force decide his own ultimate fate. His eyes drift towards a distant hill, broad and
imposing. It fills almost the entire
skyline behind the township, and on top of it he can clearly make out the
wispy figure of Garani, waiting for him.
Somehow she senses his eyes and ignites her lightsabre, its crimson
glow a beacon for him to follow. Ade-arr
does the same and begins a sprint, circling around the edge of the township
and to the foot of the hill, powering his way up the shallow incline until
Garani is within spitting distance. He
clears his throat as the wind picks up and a fine rain begins to fall on the
rocky Leogard ground. A shrill wind
howls as he steps forward. “I knew you
would return Jedi. As ever you are true to your word.” Ade-arr grips the sabre in his hand tightly. “This ends now
Garani, you and I. We have nothing
else to fight for.” Garani raises an eyebrow and snorts a laugh. “Speak for
yourself. The Jedi are no more. The dark
side has taken the galaxy. A New Order
has been installed.” She takes her own
step forward. “Nothing to fight for
you say?” Ade-arr frowns as he feels a sudden chill. His awareness of the Force suddenly drops
to zero and for the first time in many a year he feels naked and alone. Garani cannot hide the cruel smile from her
black lips. “Jedi, while you may have nothing to
fight for I have everything to live
for.” Ade-arr watches in numb resignation as Garani executes a
graceful flip off the top of the hill, and he watches as she lands smartly on
the lip of a LAAT/i that has dropped from above to hover over him. As he slowly turns around his vision is
filled with approaching ships. ARC-170
fighters, Swamp Speeders, HAVw A6 Juggernauts, not so long ago the
artillery of the Republic. Now the weapons of the Empire.
Every escape route is blocked and Ade-arr frowns as he looks down at
the weapon in his hand that suddenly feels alien to him. His lightsabre, given to him by Master
Zeboden so many years ago. The
realisation hits that without the Force to guide his actions he is just a
man, and for reasons he does not understand the Force has been denied to him
in his time of greatest need. He closes his eyes, willingly succumbing to the will of
the Force. If he is destined to die,
to be the last Setnin Jedi, then so be it.
He knows that somewhere out there are more Jedi, waiting for the right
time, training the young and honouring the skills of the Jedi Order. And as the all-encompassing barrage of blaster fire
strips flesh from bone and the charred stink of his own death clogs his
nostrils he is able to release a final wry smile. The Force moves in mysterious
ways… Death Story 2005 short story by Mark Newbold
Nineteen years before Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – The final Ade-arr B’erain story, set during the events of Revenge of the Sith. As the Jedi
fall, Ade-arr frees baby Blake De’Athe,
setting into motion another chain of events that will impact of the Setnin Sector for many years to
come. Despite knowing that he is the
last living Jedi in Setnin his assumptions regarding their deaths is wrong,
as many Setnin Jedi made the trip on the Rinsome. And of course, Masters Kenobi and Yoda
survived. As did Master Skywalker… Cast of Characters Ade-arr B’erain Blake De’Athe Garani Allafson Elise Ni’ipe Commander Deej Lessek |