Star Wars: the Jedi Chronicles Episode II: Army of the Jedi

Star Wars: The Jedi Chronicles Episode II: Army of the Jedi By Myles L. Edmundson Based on characters and situations created by George Lucas Chapter IV Calm Before the Storm Padme Amidala has been ordered to take a leave of absence. While she is off Coruscant, Jar-Jar will take up her duties in the Senate. Additionally, Obi-Wan Kenobi travels to the distant planet of Kamino to investigate the mysterious Chenko Brothers. But while the Jedi Order protects Padme and try to get to the bottom of the attempts on her life, dark and sinister forces push the Empire inexorably toward war. In a dark and remote part of space, a theta-class shuttle emerged from hyperspace. The red dwarf star was small and dim. It was orbited by a vast disk of dust, asteroids, and feeble planetoids. The shuttle was black, barely visible in the black background of space. The shuttle approached a planetoid near the edge of the system, and skimmed its surface till it reached a collection of domes and prefabricated structures fixed to the surface. Folding its flight wings, the shuttle set down on a landing pad, and descended beneath the surface of the planetoid. Darth Sidious stepped out from the boarding ramp. As a master of the Dark Side of the Force, he was capable of appearing as a shadow, dark and formless. He could even use the force to ensure others would see nothing but blackness beneath his hood. He oozed through the corridors of the nameless outpost, shadow and darkness seeming to follow him like a foul stench. He entered a cybernetics laboratory nestled in the deepest depths of the outpost. He expertly hid his disgust at the blood oozing from the mutilated body on the operating table, and dripping on the floor. The Sith Master did not know the name or the species that lay dead on the table, nor did he care now. His operatives had acquired the being for this secret experiment. Thus far all the test subjects had died. Darth Sidious glared at the medical droids that had conducted the experiment, but were now beginning to clear away the body. Presently, a full-scale hologram of Count Dooku appeared near Darth Sidious. Count Dooku was a tall, slender man. His gray hair was neatly combed, and his short beard was trimmed to a knife-like shape. His black single suit was impeccably clean and pressed. His armor weave cape was a deep mahogany with a geometric weave pattern embossed in red and gold on the inside lining. The curved chrome and black hilt of his lightsaber hung at the left side of his belt. Dooku deferentially bowed his head. Darth Sidious glanced at Dooku’s hologram, then back at the body being cleared away from the operating table. “What is it, Lord Tyranus,” Darth Sidious growled. “The last test subject clearly died,” Dooku noted. “A keen observation,” Darth Sidious quipped, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Do not fret, my master,” Dooku assured, “I have already procured another test subject, and I sense this one will survive the procedure.” “How is this new test subject different from the previous one,” Darth Sidious hissed. “He is a warlord, full of fury and rage,” Dooku gushed, reveling in the thought of the test subject, “His rage alone would allow him to survive where the others failed.” “What do you mean,” Darth Sidious demanded. “THIS one is filled with rage,” Dooku explained, “He desires revenge against the Jedi Order.” “What could the Jedi have done to him,” Darth Sidious asked, eager to know more. “Apparently, they refused to aid this warlord in a war his people were fighting with another planet,” Dooku explained, “he would make a perfect candidate for your experiment.” “How powerful would he become,” Darth Sidious asked. “I cannot say, Master,” Dooku replied, “However, his rage is strong and his stubbornness will carry him through the experiment.” “Very well, Lord Tyranus,” Darth Sidious growled, “send the creature. I will judge the creature’s usefulness if it survives the procedure.” “I will send him presently, Master,” Dooku said. “Excellent, Lord Tyranus,” Darth Sidious said, “now, resume your work.” “There is another matter, my master,” Dooku said. “What is it,” Darth Sidious demanded, glaring at Dooku. “I have discovered a force-sensitive girl,” Dooku replied, “She is an orphan that was being trained by a Jedi stranded on Ratatak. Her master was killed, leaving her alone on that world. Years among the gangs of Ratatak has saturated her with the Dark Side of the Force. She could be a valuable operative…with the proper training.” “Are you suggesting we take this…GIRL…as a Sith,” Darth Sidious asked. “No, my master,” Dooku said, “I am suggesting we take her as one of your Dark Jedi…in time she can EARN a status as a Sith Lord…should she merit it.” “What is her name,” Darth Sidious asked. “Asajj Ventress,” Dooku said. “Do you still possess Komari Vosa’s lightsabers,” Darth Sidious asked. “Yes, Master,” Dooku stated. “Give them to Ventress,” Darth Sidious commanded, “guide her on the journey down the dark path. She will either become a Sith…or she will die.” “By your command, my master,” Dooku replied as his hologram vanished. Darth Sidious glared at the body of the unfortunate being on the table. He did not know who the being was, nor did he care. Now another being would soon be subjected to the same experiment. Sidious did not care who THAT being was either. He was not interested in the creature’s name or species. If the creature survived the experiment, only THEN would Darth Sidious give a damn about who and what the creature is. But by then, the creature would belong to Darth Sidious. If the experiment succeeded, the creature would not only be a powerful cyborg, but also inseparably linked to the Force. And if the creature was as filled with rage and fury as Count Dooku claimed, turning him to the Dark Side of the Force would be simplicity itself. With a final glare at the blood-soaked corpse, Darth Sidious turned in a flurry of black robes and strode from the room. In moments, his shuttle lifted off and flew away, soon vanishing into hyperspace. On the planet Coruscant, a speeder bus descended onto a landing platform at one of the out of the more out of city-planet’s many spaceports. The spaceport was a secondary spaceport that normally handled bulk freight and cargo, though quite a lot of passenger traffic passed through the spaceport as well. It was a small, out of the way spaceport where beings came when they wished to come or go from Coruscant using unregistered transportation. The main source of passenger traffic from these small spaceports were refugees fleeing one form of persecution or another on Coruscant. This suited the Jedi Order and their plan to get Padme off Coruscant unnoticed. Padme, always staying in character as an imperial senator, looked at the spaceport with barely disguised disgust. The spaceport was dirty, the walls were covered in graffiti in a dozen different languages. The refuse bins were overflowing with garbage, despite the efforts of the sanitation droids to clean the spaceport. Refugees of dozens upon dozens of species moved through the spaceport, most moving to the bulk freighters that had been hastily converted to passenger transports. The speeder bus landed in an out of the way area of the spaceport to make their arrival less noticed. On the speeder bus, Anakin looked himself over as he gathered Padme’s luggage onto a repulsor cart that R2-D2 would tow to the transport that would be taking them off Coruscant. To cover their departure, the three Jedi had disguised themselves as refugees fleeing persecution by a local, yet unspecified crime syndicate. Qui-Gon had simply put on the gray poncho he had once worn when disguising himself as a moisture farmer. However, he had exchanged the upper half of his Jedi robes for a simple white tunic. Padme had elected to put on a simple, gathered-top peasant blouse and a colorful gipsy skirt. She covered her hair with a simple scarf and wore sandals on her feet. Anakin had dressed in a simple white tunic of rough linen and the black trousers of his usual Jedi robes. He too wore a gray poncho. During the ride in the speeder bus, Padme demonstrated her practiced hand at carving jewelry out of japor snippets, as she had quickly carved some pseudo-religious amulets for them to wear, thus making them seem to be members of some small, obscure religion, and by extension making their flight from Coruscant more plausible. For the purposes of their voyage, Qui-Gon was masquerading as Padme’s father, and Anakin was undercover as Padme’s husband. To sell this cover story, Padme had also carved japor wedding rings for her and Anakin to wear. Mace Windu looked around as the speeder bus’s door opened. When he was sure they were entirely unobserved, he motioned for the trio and their droid to exit the speeder bus. A few beings glanced at them, but immediately dismissed them. It was not unusual for a Jedi Knight to aid people in escaping local crime syndicates. Anakin stood with Artoo, ostensibly guarding their luggage. Padme tied a sash across her hips of a sort that had many folds and hidden pockets. She had one of her lightsabers and other small items concealed in the folds of this sash.

Load more