40: On The Brink
“Your little stunt riled Vader’s lapdog quite fiercely,” the familiar synthetized androgynous voice said through Twilight’s commlink. “She’s ordered the ISB to arrest anyone with even the most tangential connection to the dead man, and I doubt many will again see the light of day.”
“Princess Luna,” Twilight thought, as twin waves of guilt and horror swept over her. “What are you doing? What did they do to you?”
Twilight and Janus, once again reimagined via the miracles of modern cosmetics, sat quietly beside an ancient tree in the forest outside one of Corulag’s mountain resort towns. Kersh, less ably made-over but at least shaved, bathed, and given new clothes and a short haircut, sat nearby, still clutching the wrapped holocron tightly to his chest. The occasional bout of muttering to it was a small price to pay to make sure he didn’t inadvertently wander off into Imperial hands.
“I wish there was something we could do, but there aren’t enough of us on Corulag,” the voice went on. “Not enough for a shooting war with the Bureau, at any rate.”
“So we’re just going to let more than a dozen innocent people be tortured and killed?” Twilight hissed. “Because of something we did?”
“What we did was save an innocent old man from going to join them!” Janus snapped at her. “We aren’t to blame for what the bitch does.”
“But if we hadn’t grabbed Kersh…”
“He would have also been taken,” finished her commlink. “Perhaps a day later, perhaps a week, but she would have done it sooner or later no matter what happened. Your partner is right, you cannot take responsibility for actions that are not your own.”
“I can’t let her go through with this!” Twilight declared. “We have to do something!”
“The abductions have already begun,” said the voice. “And they will be completed within the hour. The nearest target is exactly 527.18 miles from your present location. Do you have the means to get there in time?”
“I…” Twilight hesitated.
“And assuming you can, what will you do? Fight the numerically superior enemy agents, risking capture or death. Assume you succeed, then what? The Imperial Security Bureau will come down on you like a hammer from the heavens for the death of its agents. The Inquisitor will doubtless order anyone connected to the person that you managed to rescue rounded up and treat them to the same fate.”
“She-”
“And while if you wish to confront her directly I can certainly supply you with her coordinates, the fact remains that even in the ludicrously implausible event that you are not immediately carved into pieces who will her defeat call in? Her master, Darth Vader. Do you suppose he will stop with a dozen victims?” The voice was relentlessly logical. “You are skilled and lucky, of that there is no doubt, but you do not have the power right all the wrongs in the galaxy by yourself.”
Twilight slumped back against the tree. The guilt in her soul – the feeling that this was her fault – did not cease, but now her logical mind inexorably ground into war with it. Victory over the Empire and Luna here could not be achieved without calling on the full magic she possessed, yet in doing so she would only call yet greater retribution on this planet and hers. Rationality could not continence it, which only made her feel guiltier. She was among the most individually powerful beings in the galaxy, yet she had little choice but to stand by and watch helplessly as monstrous injustice was perpetrated.
“You must learn to do what you can,” the commlink continued, “and to accept that you cannot do everything, no matter how much you wish for it. I…” there was a deep, bitter sigh “have substantial experience in that.”
There was pause.
“If you must feel guilt, I advise you to turn it into determination. The Empire must fall if injustices like this and too many more to count are to be stopped. And to do that, we will need beings of unflagging dedication and bottomless patience. You must know how to pick your battles, when to stand and fight and when to slip away into the shadows. Our final victory will not be achieved in day, nor a year, and perhaps not even a decade. But assured when I tell you this: our day will come. The Force will make it so.”
“So,” said Kersh, a few hours later. “What’s our next move?”
Twilight, now fitting a broad-brimmed hat over her head, shared a glance with Janus. He nodded, and she nodded back.
“Don’t take this the wrong way… our next move is to get you off this planet,” she said.
“What?!” The old man looked genuinely. “We’ve known each other so long… we’re in this together, the three of us.”
“It’s not even been three days yet,” Janus observed.
“What he means to say,” Twilight jumped back in. “Is that we can’t risk your safety. It’s too dangerous here, between her and Maul, there’s too many people that might want you hurt. So we’re getting you out of here, first transport in the morning. We have friends on Corellia, they can help you get somewhere where you’ll be safe.”
“Dawn…” Kersh said, using Twilight’s given alias. “I been thinkin’… what have I got left, really? Not many good years left in me, nope.” He shook his head. “You’re gonna go say hi to the scumbags that killed Yorrick, right?”
Twilight said nothing, getting an increasingly bad feeling about this. The old man pulled her in close.
“I want in,” he whispered. “I wanna find those scum and make ‘em pay.”
“Absolutely not!” Twilight shook her head firmly. “You’re well past your prime and still recovering from heavy overuses of chemicals. Those people will eat you alive, and there’s no way I’m letting that happen.”
“Didn’t say anything about let. I know we’re they’ll show up, you know it to. I go with you or I go alone,” he declared.
“Are you insane?!” Twilight hissed.
“Probably,” said Kersh and Janus together.
“What have I got left to lose? My family’s gone years ago, now my best friend’s dead. I’m almost broke and probably got some kind cancer… or some old people disease or somesuch.” He shook his head. “May as well get somethin’ important done before I go.”
“Think about what you’re saying! Would your friend Yorrick want you dying in some insane effort to avenge him?”
“Probably. He was always a spiteful one.”
“Gah!” Twilight pulled at her hair.
Behind the old man, Janus slowly slipped the pistol out of his holster. Twilight saw him flick the setting to stun, but shook her head frantically. For all that the old man needed their help he wasn’t a prisoner.
“I know what you’re thinkin’. Has this old coot finally lost it?” he chuckled. “The answer is: yeah. But there’s still enough left a’ me to remember that I can make it worth your while.” Kersh grinned. “I saw that look in your eyes back there, girl. Seen it before. That there was the look of gal lookin’ to save the galaxy.”
“The answer is no, whatever deal you had in mind,” Twilight folded her arms across her chest. “Absolutely, positively, no. I won’t let you kill yourself in some stupid quest for revenge.”
“Justice!” Kersh snapped, before grinning again. “But he thought you’d say that.”
“He? Who – oh.”
“You wanna be hero, do you? Well I just so happen to have someone who can help you with that.” He patted the ever-present bundle. “You may not know it, but this here’s a genuine Jedi holocron. Weren’t no fools in galaxy more heroic than them. Help me out, and he might just help you.”
As the last of the screaming faded away, Luna turned and, with a huff, exited the cell. The door slammed shut but her, as two Stormtroopers from her limited contingent offered a salute. The alicorn ignored them, sweeping past imperiously. She headed back down the hallway and to the grand chamber now filled with holograms and display feeds from satellites and probe droids a world over. With an idle thought, she shut the door behind her. With another, she activated a holoprojector. The Major was refreshingly prompt this time.
“Good day my lady,” Celebraine said. “I trust the interrogations went well?”
“None of the scum had any real ability to shield their minds,” said Luna. “Ripping information out was child’s play.” Without Vader nearby to sense the power of the telepathic attack, there was no reason to hold back. “A little rough on their nerves, but gentler than your interrogation droids.”
“Did they survive?”
“Mostly,” Luna shrugged. “I’ll be transferring them back to you shortly. Detain them until I give word to do otherwise. And keep them alive, Major.”
“Of course. Was there any intelligence of interest?”
“I want the inbound list of the spaceport linked to my data feed,” she commanded, punching in the coordinates with a thought. “Not a ship comes out of hyperspace headed for the area that I don’t know about, understood?”
“Without question. Have we any idea what ship we are actually looking for?”
“Depending on whose mind you’re reading, it’s either Silver Sky or Scarlett Flash,” she answered. “Assuming anything these people remember can be trusted.”
“I’ll add an extra flag to those names,” he promised.
“See that you do. I’ll contact you again soon.”
Celebraine bowed, then vanished.
Luna rubbed her forehead. This wasn’t working. Mundane means hadn’t turned up much of anything of worth, and the Sith artifacts could be here at any time. It was surprising that they hadn’t shown up yet, really. She didn’t have any actual mundane evidence that Maul hadn’t already accepted delivery and fled before she had ever arrived, but the Force was telling her-
The alicorn’s eyes went wide.
“Of course,” she thought, as the answer finally struck her. “The Force shall free me.”
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I know we’re they’ll show up, you know it to
probably got some kind cancer
You wanna be hero, do you
1. Where, Too.
2. Probably got some kind of cancer.
3. You wanna be a hero, don't you.
I'm just hoping that the Force freeing her doesn't involve smashing one Star Destroyer into the planet ala Star Killer style. Even a Vindicator class would be quite bad.
Thank you for the update!
I'm starting to think there might be a spirit attached to that Holocron after all. The question is: Who is it?
Well Luna seems to have come to a realization of some sort, but I'm honestly not sure where she's headed with it beyond the Force being involved. Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this plays out now. Things are coming to a head.
Oh Luna you are falling ever deeper..... As you fall into this empty dark abyss of the darkside you will find not love of your family and friends but their fear and terror as you eventually cut them down
8660820
Indeed!!!
8660836
Meh. They deserve no better.
8660845
you want twilight and celestia and other ponies to be killed by luna?
Luna... how far will you go?
I am afraid to find out what she plans to do next.
8660849
What I want is entirely beside the point. Hence "meh."
But if the question is whether Luna would be justified in cutting down Twilight, Spike, and Celestia with a lightsaber and calling a Base Delta Zero down on the rest of Equestria, then sure, why not? What have they done to deserve any better treatment? From a darksider with no concept of mercy or intrinsic worth?
Just wondering, will we ever see Thrawn?
8661230
Being family?
And so it continues. Good to see you updating this, this is one of the few stories that make drop everything else I'm reading. Can't wait to get to the part where Twi becomes the Jedi to counter Luna's dark side.
8662507
How'd that work out for Padme? Or Leia? Or Han?
Heheheh oooooh boy... oh boy, this is gonna end gloriously
Hahaha!
Good show