----- A Knighting Fiction by Maximus Alvinius -----
Nancora Orbit
Mission: Cleaning up leftover rogue agents from The Collective
::TIE Defender makes it’s course towards the surface::
“Well this is going to be interesting. We will see if your training is enough to have my back today Zeline. I can already see turrets pointing in our direction from the anti-air turrets at this base,“ said Maximus Alvinius.
“Turrets huh, yeah let’m bring it on. I’ve been waiting for some action since the war ended and surprised some rogue Collective members haven’t went into complete hiding yet. ” the young Padawan yelled enthusiastically.
“Patience apprentice. These foes do not play by the rules like our kind. Try not to be over confident. I assure you their bite is like a snake striking when you least expect it,” Maximus responded in a calm voice.
“Yeah, yeah I get it patience and playing by the rules are the path that lead to staying true to the light without fading to the dark side. I know your referencing our previous knight in the Casino. That was just a little hiccup back at the Casino. Can’t blame me, I was pumped up and won the game over those dang Smugglers. I wasn’t gonna fight them until they fired their weapons after the win,” Zeline replied confidently.
“I understand, but your boasting throughout the game didn’t help settle their already angry minds. I love winning like the next, but humility is the way of the light…” A loud warning started sounding in both pilot’s cockpits.
“Looks like we are being targeted earlier than expected by their turrets, take evasive actions now. Follow me through the lower through the canyons.” Maximus said while maneuvering his TIE Defender 180 degrees towards the lower surface with Zeline quickly following in suit.
As both Maximus and Zeline made a daring attempt to evade the incoming firepower of what they believe were rogue Collective agents left over from the war. Within seconds both craft began taking fire. The pilots continued one after the other spinning their craft in a zig zag pattern methodically missing the firepower by inches. Continuing along their path they were able to lower their TIE Defenders between the canyons adjacent from the agents headquarters about 2 clicks away. Desperately seeking a safe location, Maximus began to use the Force for guidance.
“Zeline, help me use our connection with the Force to find a safe drop. I know it is close, but I can’t figure out where,” Maximus said through the Force filling Zelines’ mind with thoughts of calmness and focus.
“On it, time to blind fly this bad girl through the storm!” exclaimed Zeline.
“It feels like we are 1 kilometers off, we need t…” All of a sudden a loud blast was heard.
The sounds of alarms were ringing as smoke poured out the side of the TIE Defender. Looking to her right, she could see Maximus’s wing had been blown off as his TIE Defender as the craft began to tumble to the surface below. Glancing at the blows to her own cockpit, Zeline realized half of her cockpit was starting to become exposed to the outer atmosphere as the fire power began to connect taking pieces of the craft with each hit from the turrets hidden in the canyons. Her own Tie Defender had started to malfunction and began stalling in a fast descent to the surface. Knowing impact was imminent and with her Master no where in sight anymore, she began to brace for impact while guiding with the little control she had left of the TIE Defender into the surface on of Nancora’s outskirts. The TIE Defender would slam into the dunes with amazing force. The impact was enough to knock a normal mortal into pieces.
Nancora Surface
“That was awesome. Let’s do that again! That was better than the time we battled the during the war! I can’t believe I survived that,” An excited Zeline yelled into her Comm-link as she departed from the wreckage of the craft.
“Simmer down Zeline. Most wouldn’t have survived that at all. Let’s just be glad our training as pilots and connection to the Force helped prepare us for the worst case scenario. I have a feeling Mauro isn’t going to be too happy about these new Tie Defenders being destroyed as well. See there about 1 click out. That is an old ancient Temple that we can seek refuge.“ Maximus said while pointing.
The two Jedi started making their way towards the location they sensed the rogue Collective forces were at.
“Yeah. This is bad. They are a lot closer than that, it means they are regrouping. I don’t think our guys are prepared for another war.“ pondered Maximus.
Entering the Temple, Zeline felt an immediate presence of the Force.
“Did you feel that Master?” Zeline said, looking back, but Maximus was nowhere in sight.
“What the…” Zeline said.
Walking through the Temple she could feel the surge of the Force all around her. The power was strong, stronger than anything she had ever felt, but the sense of her Master was gone.
“Strange, I can feel something pulling me in this direction” Zeline thought to herself as she proceeded to the presence.
With each step, the air around her felt denser, warmer. The light within the temple dimmed as Zeline’s head buzzed with her connection to the force. Just when she thought she couldn’t handle any more, it all came to a stop, and the chamber within the temple slammed into focus. Her hand instinctively went to the training saber at her side, which was fortunate as within seconds a hooded figure was bringing a golden hued blade down upon her.
Once, twice, three times Zeline deflected the rapid blows from this hooded figure. She had been driven back several steps. The figure stopped its advance.
“You have skill, but is it… enough?” a raspy voice came from the blackness of the figures hood. Zeline adjusted her grip on the hilt of her saber and lunged. Her blade cut straight through the man before her, his form turning into mist before disappearing.
“An Illusion?” Zeline questioned quietly. From the shadows candles popped to life, one by one, each being held by a hooded figure. Zeline spun around in her spot as the candles illuminated every corner of the room around her. As she finished her rotation, she found herself face to face with the hooded man once again, this time the light in the room illuminating the man’s face.
“Enough… for now.” He spoke with authority, “Kneel.”
Zeline, wide eyed with quick understanding kneeled in place and looked up at the man who was Ranarr-Kul. Maximus it is time as he tossed the Ranger a lightsaber hilt.
Maximus made his way over to Zeline and ceremoniously dropped the blade of the blue hued saber side to side of her shoulders as Zeline looked up soaking in the sight of this moment and all the Odanites who came to witness it.
“Rise Jedi Knight Zeline Nemesis,” Maximus yelled as the Odanites in the room began to cheer.
“So I take it the mission was fake,” Zeline chuckled as she stood.
“Yeah, however the loss of the two ships was not. One of our techs input the wrong code. Yeah I’ll have to figure out explaining that to Mauro,” Maximus laughed as he embraced the new Jedi Knight.