BONES, BLOOD, AND FIRE - MILESTONE (4 OF 4)
STAR WARS - INTERLUDE THIRTEEN - MILESTONE (part 4 of 4)
"Bones, Blood, and Fire," written by Mark L. Stinson
Wherein the cliffhangers of INTERLUDES 10, 11, and 12 are all resolved....
(from INTERLUDE ELEVEN) Just then a door burst open and in walked two Shades with a third man in the shadows behind
them. The mysterious man in the shadows spoke in a low whisper, "The Inquisitors will get what we need from
this one. I think crushing the rebels will be easier than I thought! And dear Marna, you will hava a chance to
see all the lies he has been feeding you!"
Vette focused the last ounce of his Force strength toward Marna as he was dragged away: "I truly want to help
you...we are the same, you and me." But Marna had turned away. And the Shades had not been kind...dragging
the young Jedi down stairways, across jagged rocks and over metal grates, all the while whispering to him dark
unmentionable things that cut through his very soul He was unable to physically resist them...the battles he had
fought with a Shade and then Marna Jade earlier had drained him of his strength and focus. "Damnit...she just
turned away."
The young Jedi lost track of which direction and for how long he was dragged, but it seemed like hours. Finally
he was taken into a huge dimly lit chamber with a high arched ceiling. Though he was in-and-out of consciousness,
he was able to recognize something familiar about the room. There was a stench of death...the smell of rotting
flesh. He felt his legs being cut by the rocks or gravel that covered the floor. He opened his eyes and look down...bones,
not rocks, littered the floor. Human bones...femurs, ribs, and small skulls. They had brought him to one of the
Harvesting Chambers...where they had kept the children. Here were the remains of those without enough talent. The
remains of those the Shades felt unworthy of service to the Dark Lord. Their dead bodies had been fed to the talented
ones...the ones with power enough to be trained in the ways of the Dark Side.
Vette attempted to gather his senses, and tried to pull his legs up beneath him...to walk on his own. He took a
few steps, and then the Shades on either side of him stopped, and jerked him fully upright. He let out a loud moan
as the wound on his side was stretched, and partially re-opened. The mysterious figure had kept behind him and
in the shadows, but now he walked before him and grabbed Vette by his chin. "I've brought you home, slave...to
die and rot with the others that were not deemed worthy!" It was Farn Lloyd of the Fendora-Bengala Trade Corporation.
Vette recognized him from the video records taken from the Bounty Hunters back on Tibaroe. His thin face capped
by short dark hair. The cold dead eyes of a bureaucrat that has sold his soul. He wore expensive gray corporate
attire, and appeared unarmed. This man had ordered Vette killed, and according to Kenai, Farn Lloyd was responsible
for the death of his Master Meeko-jon on the planet of Fendora-Bengala.
"Your bullshit religion is washed-up, Jedi. Why are you still on Milos? The product...the children are gone.
Shipped off to our best customer!" The Corporate boss broke eye contact with his young prey, and called out
loudly, "WE HAVE HIM...ALL WENT ACCORDING TO PLAN!"
>From the many shadowed tunnels leading into the large room of death came several hundred figures. The first
to come into clear view in the dim light was a group of Hindar Clansmen...not one under six and a half feet tall...and
at their lead a powerful heavily-scarred warrior who could be none other than Morlan Hindar, head of the Hindar
Clan. His long black hair was braided into several long ropes that trailed down his back...his dark beard and mustache
were clearly trimmed, but thin in places where scars prevented the proper growth of hair. His dark eyebrows topped
wide black eyes...empty and souless. His complex armor was thick and clearly powered, but through some advanced
technoledgy appeared incredibly flexible and reactive to his every movement...it was trimmed in midnight black.
"Farn, you have outdone yourself. There is much we can learn from this one." He spoke slowly in a deep
rough voice.
The second group to come clearly into view were Twilight Guardsmen in full powered armor. At their lead strode
Inspector Tickens...a broad smile playing across his face. At Ticken's side was a man in surgical clothing...a
black leather bag in his hands. "Ah, Vette. It is good to see you again." As Tickens said this his right
hand unconsciously went to his own throat. "You were always a bit too naive for your own good! Convert Marna
Jade...that's laughable...she is one of the Dark Lord's concubines!"
At least a hundred figures remained in the shadows out-of-view, but there was little doubt as to their identity.
Shades and their Hounds...Dark Vilars sent to do Darth Vile's bidding. Vette could smell the stink of evil coming
from them. But who commands the Shades? The Dark Lord would not stoop to letting Fendora-Bengala corporate managers
or corporate clansmen lead his fellow creatures of the Dark Side. Then the voice he had heard in his dreams for
the past two years rang out across the large chamber. "I told you to join us, old friend. Now you have no
choice...you will join us or die." It was Targen Netto...fallen Jedi. It was Targen who had almost convinced
Vette to join the Dark Side in the molten pits of Tibaroe. It was Targen who had almost single-handedly defeated
both Quinn and Vette in that massive battle for the soul of the Golden Race.
"NO ONE DIES UNLESS I COMMAND IT!" Morlan Hindar's loud voice rang out, and echoed around the room several
times. "I made a deal with Darth Vile...the product has been delivered into his hands...and as agreed, this
planet is still mine to rule. MINE TO COMMAND!"
Targen Netto spoke quietly, and his tone was full of implied threats. "ALL agreements with the Dark Lord are
conditional. If you can't handle the rebellion...if you can't win this little war...then WE WILL BE FORCED TO WIN
IT FOR YOU." There was a long pause, and tension was thick in the air. "The Dark Lord has what he needs
to take Sector 42, but he will need more children to take the Republic. If you can't wipe this taint from your
slave pool...we'll be forced to liquidate it...and start over. If your corporate forces fail to end this rebellion,
we'll cleanse the planet of life, and re-seed it." An evil growling noise went up from the Shades...Vette
clutched at his ears...and realized that the Shades were amused, they were laughing.
Morlan held his ears, clearly affected by the Shades' laughter. He gathered himself up to his full height. A clan
leader could not let a threat go unanswered in front of his clansmen. "Farn Lloyd and I have discussed this.
If we cannot 'purify' the slaves of this rebellion, WE WILL SELL THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM! Clear the planet, and begin
a new batch. That is the corporate way. There is no profit in mass slaughter! Darth Vile will continue to receive
product from us, one way or the other!"
Inspector Tickens walked forward wincing at the sounds continuing to come from the Shades. Beside him walked his
companion dressed in surgical gear...the one with the leather case under his arm. "The war will be won."
Tickens smiled. "Two hundred Avengers and a thousand troop transports circle Milos as we speak...8 legions
of Corporate Troopers are decending to the surface. The Power Core is hours from being back-on-line...this rebellion
is over, Vette. And you're the key."
The young Jedi realized the man in surgical gear was an Inquisitor. For when the leather bag was opened, all manner
of torture device gleamed into view. Scalpels, hooks, needles, mini-torches, pliers, electrodes, teeth-drills...as
well as mind-bending truth serums already loaded into syringes. "Put him on his knees and hold him."
The Shades that held Vette slammed him to his knees. "This one is practically broken already, Tickens...give
me a few minutes...the location of the rebel base in Burrough G-2 will be ours...Ton Kimble and the others...WILL
BE OURS."
NOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOo! Vette let out a long scream...he would not help these creatures...he would not betray
his friends. He would fight with his last energies...the last spark in his soul rather than give up any information
to these bastards. The Inquisitor's wrinkled gray face bent close to Vette's. "Oh, yes, scream slave...it
is what I live for...."
(Ealier, in tunnels far below...from INTERLUDE TWELVE) Quinn offered Marna Jade her choices. "You can lead
me to Vette and together we can free him. You can step aside and let me proceed. Or I suppose you could oppose
me".
"You know what my answer must be," she replied deploying her crimson light saber.
"So be it" Quinn replied, nodding his head. Bwizzzzrrrwww! His light saber sprang to life.
"May the Force be with you," Marna said this with a sneer.
"I bask in its glory every day!"
At that moment Quinn realized he had little strength remaining for the battle to come, although these thoughts
he concealed from Marna Jade. A strange peace overcame him and a small smile crossed his face. There was a time
when he took little pleasure from battle...it was merely a neccesity...an integral part of the path he had chosen.
But he now realized there was a certain glory to facing the minions of the Dark Side in battle. Gazing into the
electric blue of his light saber as it buzzed and crackled before him, he allowed himself a moment to bask in the
full majesty of that glory....
Red saber met blue saber with a tremendous crash and shower of sparks ... Shzzzzzzuuuurrrr ... again ... Shzzzzzzuuuurrrr
... and again ... Shzzzzzzuuuurrrr. Quinn was on the defensive, and Marna was pressing the advantage. Her long
red hair streamed behind her as she flipped in a wide arc, blocking a powerful blow by Quinn as she landed. The
experienced Jedi, though weakened by prior battles, had strength enough to shove Marna backwards and to the floor
with his mind. As she landed clumbsily, she rolled with the motion, and springing on one hand...righted herself
on her feet. Quinn slowly backed towards the door, his mind racing, "She is very strong in the Dark Side...if
I don't end this battle quickly, I will surely lose."
Marna followed Quinn's lead and slowly backed up, until the two combatants were at either end of the long thin
room. There was a long period of time, where both of them stood staring in unmoving silence. Quinn focused his
mind...breathing controlled rhythmic breaths. Blood had dried below his nose, ears, and mouth from his encounters
with the Shades...and he sensed a deep bruise was forming where one Shade had caught him by the chest and thrown
him to the ground. "This ends now Marna...one way or the other."
"So be it...it ends now."
Both of them ran forward, their light sabers shifting back and forth as they charged toward each other. Quinn ran
up one wall and flipped through the air aiming a deadly blow, while Marna ducked and rolled directing a vicious
slice at her opponent. A gut-wrenching scream rang out and echoed throughout the room as solid light bit into soft
flesh. Marna sprang from her roll, and landed squarely on her feet, while Quinn's body thudded to the floor on
its back. The Jedi clutched at his side, and dark blood oozed through his fingers. His blue saber sizzled and popped
on the floor just out of his reach. He reached for it, and willed it towards him...it shuddered and inched towards
him...but it was not enough...he was too weak.
Marna strode over and stood over Quinn. He expected to see a smile on her face, but there was only sadness and
regret. "Vette couldn't help me by converting me...and now you have failed to help me by killing me. The Dark
Lord urges me to commit great evils...I...resist...but in the end I will be completely his." Marna pulled
Vette's light saber from the back of her belt, where she had hidden it. She dropped it near Quinn's own saber on
the floor. "I want them to believe I killed you...leave these tunnels...leave Milos...save yourself while
you can. The next time we meet...I cannot guarantee that we will both walk away. Take Vette's saber...to remember
him by." And she faded into the shadows.
"I will...ugh....find...Vette. I...WILL...ugh...NOT...GIVE UP!"
Looking back on his time in the tunnels, Quinn would have trouble remembering how long he laid there on the floor...trying
to gather his senses. He was at the end of his energies...he was seriously wounded...but he would not leave Vette
with these dark bastards. He would die first. For hours he wandered the tunnels beneath the surface of Milos, trying
to sense Vette's lifeforce. For hours he stumbled among the underpinnings of the slave city, moving from shadow
to shadow, hoping to avoid any contact with Shades or Twilight Guardsmen. That is when he felt it. Just a spark...but
it was Vette!
Quinn began moving faster, and faster, until he was moving at a slow run. His head swam from the effort, and he
broke into a cold sweat. The tunnels openned into a huge arched chamber...and the smell of death overwhelmed Quinn.
He fell to his knees on bones...children's bones..."By the Force!" He bent over wretching from deep down
in his gut.
Then he saw it. In the middle of the chamber lay a huddled figure. Quinn struggled to his feet and made his way
forward. It was Vette...on his side in a fetal position, covered in blood. Small cuts and tears were evident on
almost every surface of his half naked body...several of his finger-nails were bent backwards and long needles
still extended from the bright-pink quick. The young Jedi's breathing was very shallow, and his eyes were partially
open, but rolled back into his head.
Quinn gently shook his young friend, "Vette, its O.K. You have to help me get you out of here...please, Vette."
Vette's eyes rolled wildly in his head, and his entire body quaked. He mumbled nonsense at first...gibberish, but
finally, Quinn heard and understood words that pierced him with dread. "...I told them, Quinn...I told them
where The Gutter is...Quinn...I told them everything...."
And then Vette fell silent and still.
(At about the same time...back at The Gutter, from INTERLUDE TEN) A man in powered armor crashed through the door
that led upstairs...to the street. Behind him more Twilight Guardmen were visible. They began firing even before
all the door's splinters had hit the floor. Ranar was knocked backwards by an armored backhand, the injured men
flying from his shoulders as he landed on his back. Morgan stood, looking towards Kenai and Ton Kimble, both he
and the man he was supporting were dry-heaving and trying to catch their breath. Energy bolts flew this way and
that, cutting down injured rebels as they scrambled to their feet.
Kenai grabbed Ton by his robes and shook him. "Tell me there's another way out...tell me damnit!"
"In my room...behind the head-board...a tunnel. It leads to the sewers. Get as many of these men out as you
can...I'll slow these armored bastards down!" Ton Kimble's eyes were dark, but there was fire in them. Kenai
paused briefly, reluctant to leave Ton Kimble behind...but the Cordawan knew he could save more lives by helping
the injured retreat, than to face the Twilight Guardsmen in battle.
"This way, Morgan! This way!" Kenai waved towards the door that led to Ton Kimble's room. Energy bolts
cut into the wall behind him, one of them grazing his shoulder. But the chaos and threat of instant death did not
slow the red-skinned squire. He grabbed two of the injured men by the cloth of their shirts, dragging them to the
feet and through the doorway.
Morgan pulled the rebel he was supporting toward the doorway. Angry thoughts burst into his mind. "I will
not die here...not without taking many of these Hindar bastards with me!"
Ton Kimble strode towards the armored soldiers, his arms and fingers outstretched. Ranar gathered up the two men
he had been carrying, and scrambled back, away from the advancing troops. Flames shot from the floor, scorching
Ranar's heels as he ran. Glancing back, Ranar witnessed a wall of flame split The Gutter's main room into two sections.
On one side the Twilight Guardmen continued to fire deadly bolts through the flames...on the other, rebel assisted
rebel in running...walking...crawling to Ton Kimble's room...and possible escape.
Over his armor's external speakers, the Twilight Guard squad leader's voice roared. "FACE YOUR MASTERS SLAVES...FACE
US AND DIE...LIKE YOUR CHILDREN DIED...LIKE YOUR WOMEN WILL DIE UNDER OUR LESS-THAN-TENDER CARESSES!"
Kenai was at the head-board of Ton-Kimble's bed, prying at it with his new black staff. The rebels ripped the matresses
from the frame, and kicked the frame free from the head-board. CCcccrreeeeeeaaakkk! The tunnel was revealed! "GO...GO...GO...BY
THE FORCE, RUN...RE-GROUP AT THE RING OF FIRE!!!!!"
Morgan and Ranar entrusted the injured rebels they were assisting to some rebels that were not as injured. Ranar
spoke first. "We must get Ton Kimble out of there...we can't lose him!"
Morgan ran to the doorway that led to the main room of The Gutter, "Using the flame like that could kill Ton...it
could devour him."
The three men, the Cordawan, the Golden Warrior, and the Priest of Ando Prime looked into the flame filled room.
A cloak of fire seemingly encompassed Ton Kimble, and appeared to protect him from the Guardmens' shots. One suit
of armor lay burnt and still, halfway across Ton's wall of fire. Clearly the flames were hot enough to cut the
plas-steel composites of their armor.
As if he sensed the three of them standing there, Ton turned his head toward them. "Run...RUN DAMNIT!"
The three could feel the heat in that room...they knew that if they entered, they would quickly be overcome and
die. And Ton had sounded so certain...so sure of himself.
Ranar grabbed Kenai and Morgan by their shoulders..."We must go...."
They ran to the tunnel entrance, pulling the head-board shut behind them. The tunnels were dark, but they made
their way as quickly as they could. Just minutes later, they heard it.
BBBAAAaaaaddDDDAAAAaaaVVVVooooOOOMMMmmmmm!
The floor of the tunnel shook, and the wall joints groaned and shifted. From behind them a scorching hot wind blasted
past them...and they saw the flames advancing down the tunnels toward them. Kenai jumped upwards, knocking a man-hole
lid open. Ranar boosted Morgan and Kenai through the hole and up onto the slave-city's streets. They helped him
up through the gap as flames roared past beneath them!
"Curse the Blood Priests...LOOK!" Ranar pointed back towards The Gutter. Buildings obscured their view
of the building that housed their headquarters, but nothing could obscure their view of the column of flame that
towered a 100 feet into the air, scorching the bottom surface of the factory level....
Hours later, Quinn carried the body of his young friend up from the tunnels below. Finding only a black scorched
hole where The Gutter had once been located, Quinn made his way to the room where he had first encountered the
Fire Mages of the Church of Fire. "Perhaps they can help Vette," was Quinn's desperate hope.
Wala rushed to the Jedi's side as he entered the chamber that had contained the Circle of Fire. The room was filled
with injured rebels...as well as some that had made it here, only to die. Quinn placed Vette's body on a thatched
pad, and then collapsed by his side. Morgan, Kenai, and Ranar over...and Morgan and Wala began struggling to save
Vette's life.
Quinn lifted his head slightly, "Ranar, what's happening...The Gutter...?"
"Our position was compromised...Ton Kimble stayed behind to allow our escape...I've sent out feelers to other
rebel groups to get reports on their condition." Ranar said all of this in the tone of a professional warrior...a
man born to do battle. "Golden Mead, give this man Golden Mead, NOW!"
Morgan bent down by Quinn's side. "The Fire Mages say that a great army has arrived...they have told the rebels
to prepare to...to...die as free men. If that is to be their fate...then I am more than ready to die at their side...fighting
to the end!"
A runner burst into the room..."I BRING REPORTS FOR KENAI...OR RANAR!"
"Speak!"
The runner took a couple of deep breaths, and then began. "Legions of Corporate Troopers have been deployed
in Burroughs G-4, G-10, B-3, C-5, F-2, and F-7. Avenger-Class star-ships have been spotted in the atmosphere over
the factory levels by rebel scouts. The tunnels are rife with Shades and their Hounds...but...the...Burroughs G-4,
B-3, an C-5 have been wiped clean!"
Kenai strode toward the runner, his fists clenched. "Wiped Clean? Be clear, man...what do you mean!?!"
"The Troopers went door to door...shooting everyone...everyone. They've begun burning those burroughs to the
ground. Three burroughs wiped-clean...and it appears they're moving on...beginning the process in G-10, F-2, and
F-7."
"Damnit...those were Burroughs with high concentrations of rebels and rebel sympathizers...DAMNIT! DAAaaAAMMMMNNNniiiitttTTTT!"
THE END, for now....
Before you write any further INTERLUDE chapters...make sure you read "MILESTONE AFTERMATH" in order to
understand the guidelines and get some adventure ideas. You have all done such a good job coming up with creative
ideas for your characters, that I have been sort of amazed at the variety of it all! I appreciate all the character-building
you are doing, and I'm having a lot of fun reading it all! Feel free to continue...and I will continue to award
A.P. points! <<<<<Mark>>>>>
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