Fiction Archive...
Acolyte Tantor

In Search of Justice

Jaxter hurried down the street toward the cafe where he was to meet his girlfriend. He was nervous and his palms were slick with sweat. As he entered the cafe a darkly clad man pushed past him without so much as a word of apology. "Don't mind me!" Jaxter called as he strode over to the table were his girlfriend was seated.

"Hello Marela" he said as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Your late" she said with mock annoyance.

Smiling he answered "I know but we had a lot of military craft landing at the port and I couldn't get away."

"Well i've already ordered something for us so it should be here soon" she said. After there food arrived and they'd eaten Jaxter got out of his chair and moved around the table to face Marela.

"Marela," Jaxter said as he got down on one knee "we've been going out for a while now and I love you with all my heart. Will you be my wife?"

On the edge of tears and unable to speak all Marela could do was nod her head. Letting out a whoop of joy Jaxter scooped her up in his arms and kissed her passionately. And in that moment they knew both extreme pleasure and extreme pain as an explosion ripped through the cafe

and its surrounding buildings. As the superheated plasma and rock seared the flesh from there bones they, and one hundred and twelve others, died never knowing who there killer was.

 

    Standing in the center of a circular room, surrounded by three duelling droids, was a man. About six feet six inches tall he had close cropped black hair with signs of grey creeping in at the temples and the light beard that adorned his face. His exposed chest and arms were well muscled and on his back was a large tattoo of a hawk bat. The man's name was Breen Tantor and he was an apprentice Jedi. Unclipping a silver cylinder that looked like the handle of a force pike, Brenn slid the power control on until it clicked into place. From the end a dazzling blue-white blade emerged. Bringing the blade up to his forehead in a salute to his droid attackers he set him self in a guard stance and waited. Opened to the force as he was Brenn knew these driods had no chance even if they were programed to be twenty percent faster than a normal human being. As the first driod, armed with a pair of vibroblades, attacked Brenn took two steps forward and scythed his blade through the air neatly bisecting the droid at the waist. The other two, one armed with a Jar'kai duelling sword the other with a staff tipped with blades, attacked simultaneously. Using the force to leap clear Brenn landed softly and swept his legs in a wide arc catching one of the droids and bringing it down. Continuing the sweep he brought his lightsaber around and sliced through the other droids knees bringing it crashing to the ground. Using the force to vault to his feet Brenn faced his last opponent, the droid with the staff. Shutting of his lightsaber he faced this final droid unarmed. Even before the first strike came Brenn was spining. Completing his spin Brenn now faced the droid and in a single fluid motion pulled back his fist and unleashed a thunderous blow that sent the droid flying through the air to land with a loud crash a few feet away. Leaping for the droid he gave it no chance to rise as he landed on its chest took hold of the head and with his considerable strength tore the head from its shoulders and threw it across the room.

 

    Sitting in the small meditation room attached to his apartment Brenn was deep in a jedi trance when a faint but familiar sound broke into his peace. Coming fully awake Brenn reachd out with the force to grab the source of the interuption, a small comlink about three feet away. Thumbing the device on Brenn said "This is Tantor"

"Brenn, this is Mistress Thunderhawk." said the small voice from the speaker. "Can you please join me in my villa immediately"

Rising with the fluid grace of a seasoned fighter Brenn answered "Yes Mistress Thunderhawk, im on my way". Heading for his bedroom Brenn quickly dressed in a pair of black trousers, calf high black boots and a black sleeveless shirt over which he placed the chestplate from a set of stormtrooper armour that had been painted black. Around his waist he strapped his gun belt and placed his two modified blaster pistols in there holsters and clipped his lightsaber to the back. Just as he was about to leave he grabbed his coat. It was a nerf hide jacket that reached down to his knees and was a gift from his father when he'd graduated from high school. Heading down to the garage he fired up his swoop bike and sped off toward his master's abode. Twenty minutes later Brenn pulled up to the palatial home that belonged to Aseret Thunderhawk, Questor of House Dominatus of Clan Alvaak. Shutting down his bike Brenn dismounted and made his way to the front door where he rang the bell and waited. The door opened to reveal a bronze coloured 3PO protocol droid who said in a prissy voice "If you'll please follow me the master is waiting" and headed deeper into the house. Stooping at a large fijisi wood door the droid knocked and entered. "Novice Tantor to see you Mistress"

"Thank you K-3PO your dismissed. Brenn please take a seat." said Aseret gesturing toward one of the two large couches.

Taking a seat Brenn said "You wished to see me Mistress Thunderhawk?".

"Yes Brenn I did. As you may have heard there have been several bombings recently. The first was a freighter parked at the spaceport that was to take supplies up to the Avenger. The second, a Hammer's Fist supply depot and just today an office building that also destroyed several other buildings when it was destroyed." said Aseret as she ticked the incidents off on her fingers.

"I had heard about them. But what do they have to do with me?" asked Brenn.

Smiling Aseret answered "I was just getting to that. As you know we belong to the same clan as GA Ronin and he has asked us to invetigate these attacks. Because of your history in a security force I am charging you with finding and apprehending this bomber or bombers. Do you understand?"

"Completely" Brenn answered as he stood.

"Good. K-3PO will show you out. May the force be with you" Aseret said as Brenn was shown to the door. Getting back on his swoop bike Brenn headed toward the latest bombing to begin his investigation.

 

    As he pulled up to the scene of the devistation Brenn could feel the death and pain that eminated from the site. Shutting down his swoop Brenn made his way over to a stormtrooper and said "I'd like to speak with whoever's in charge"

"I need to see some identification" said the stormtrooper. Pulling his ID card from a pocket of his jacket Brenn handed it to the trooper and waited. After reading the contents of the ID card the trooper handed it back and spoke softly into the comunit within his helmet. "My sergeant's on his way over now sir"

"Thank you" said Brenn as he took his ID back and put it in his pocket. Moments later a short stocky man came over and in a gruff voice said to Brenn "What can I do for you?"

"I've been sent by GA Ronin to investigate these bombings. I want you to tell me what you know" answered Brenn with venom in his voice.

Scratching his head the sergeant answered "Well it was definitely a profesional job. Whoever did it certainly knew a thing or two about explosives. There's not much left of the actual device but my squads demolition expert says that it was triggered remotely, by a comlink I think he said."

"Thank you sergeant" Brenn said. "Oh sergeant" Brenn called before he'd gotten too far away "have you found any survivors?"

Shaking his head the sergeant answered "None yet sir".

"Can you contact me if you do" Brenn replied.

"Yes sir" the sergeant said as he walked away. Thinking that this was getting him no where Brenn headed for the club district to get some info from one of his contacts. The contact Brenn was going to see was a gotal by the name of Bertak Jeli. Brenn had met the gotal his first day on Aurora. Brenn was making inquiries about picking up some cheap weapons and was told that Bertak was the one to see. It was said that if it was illegal on Aurora, Bertak knew about it.

 

    Pulling up outside of the Angry Bantha, Brenn shut down his swoop and armed the self destruct in case one of the less than honest residents of this part of the city got any idea's. As he entered the bar his nasal passages were assualted by the stench of tabac smoke, spilt liquor and stale sweat. As he made his way over to the bar every set of eyes follwed his progress. Sliding on to a bar stool he got the attention of the bartender and ordered a shot of Whyren's Reserve. When the barman had brought his drink over Brenn asked him "Have you seen a Gotal by the name of Bertak Jeli by any chance?"

Pointing toward the back of the bar the barman answered "He's in the back somewhere". Paying for his drink he threw his head back and drained the glass. Leaving his seat he carefully made his toward the back when he spotted the twin horns of a Gotal heading for the back door. Rushing through the crowd Brenn grabbed the furry little humanoid by his collar and lifted him of the ground. "Going somewhere Bertak?" Brenn asked.

"Brenn. Hi. How are ya? Been a while since I seen you here." the Gotal said nervously.

"Where were you running to Bertak? You in some kind of hurry?" Brenn asking shaking the little alien.

Looking toward the back door Bertak said "I was just going out for some fresh air".

Kicking open the rear door Brenn said "What a coincidence, so was I". They emerged in an alley that ran behind the club and Brenn slammed the Gotal into a corner and said "Relax Bertak, all I want is a little information"

"Sure. OK. Whatever you need" said Bertak.

"Who's been blowing things up?" asked Brenn.

Shaking his head Bertak said "I can't give you a name. Baut I can tell you where there hiding out. Its an old warehouse over by the spaceport. Real nasty place, wouldn't catch me there in the middle of the night without a wookiee or two for backup."

"Who's been supplying them with explosives?" Brenn asked.

"Not me that's for sure" answered Bertak "I dont deal in explosives. Only guns".

Shaking the Gotal again Brenn growled "You better not be lying to me because if you are im gonna come back and skin you alive".

"Im not lying. I'll even write down the address for you" said Bertak fearfully. After he'd written down the address Brenn dropped him and watched as he scurried away.

 

    Pulling up a few blocks from the warehouse Brenn stalked silently toward his target building. Circling the building Brenn spied a ladder that would take him to the roof. Climbing the ladder Brenn reached the roof, took a look around and spied what he'd been hoping to find. In the eastern corner was the outlet for the air conditioning system. Making his way toward it Brenn prayed that it wasn't running. As he crouched beside it he placed his hand against the grill and felt nothing. Smiling Brenn unclipped his lightsaber and ignited it. Using the flourescent blue blade he quickly cut the grill off and shut the blade down. Taking a length of fibro-cord from his belt he attached it to the outlet and slowly fed the cord into the shaft. Slowly lowering himself into the shaft he slid down the cord until he came to a vent. Stretching out Brenn could detect five other life forces in the warehouse. Looking through the vent Brenn could see two humans, a bothan and a trandoshan all sitting around a small table. Silently sliding his body through the air conditioning shaft Brenn made his way to a vent that was big enough for him to get out. Softly pulling the vent into the shaft with him Brenn got out and pulled his blaster pistols. Setting them for stun Brenn got to a spot that would give him some cover and opened fire. One of the humans was taken down in the first salvo before the rest of the group pulled there weapons and began to fire back. Returning fire in the small gaps between enemy salvo's Brenn managed to hit the bothan. When he popped back up to blast away again he noticed that he was now only facing one opponent, the trandoshan. Firing blast after blast at the big lizard Brenn finally managed to stun the trandoshan. He waited until he was sure no-one else would fire at him and came from behind his cover. Looking down at the bodies of his adversaries Brenn began to reach for his comlink when he was grabbed from behind by what looked like a large shadow. He could feel the creatures hot breath on the back of his neck when he remembered he detected five other life forms in the warehouse. This new attacker must have been that fifth. Slamming his head back he delivered a headbut which only seemed to make the creature more angry. Reaching down into the force Brenn sent tendrils of the force toward his opponents chest and searched. With a smile of satisfaction Brenn used all his strength to squeeze the beast's heart. Releasing his grip on Brenn the creature clutched its chest and roared with pain before dropping to the floor, dark red blood flooding from its mouth and nose. Taking a deep breath Brenn pulled his comlink and said "This is Tantor. I need a squad of stormtroopers to my location immediately. And tell them to bring a body bag".

 

    Firing a few more stun blasts at his prisoners to ensure they were unconscious, Brenn decided to investigate the warehouse to see if there were any leads as to the identity of the fifth bomber. After searching the table and finding nothing Brenn headed for the rear office. Finding nothing Brenn got frustrated and kicked the wall, and to his surprise his foot went straight through it. Moving his hand foward he reached for the wall and encountered solid permacrete. Sliding his hand down the wall Brenn discovered the hidden niche that had been roughly cut from the wall and disguised by an old holo-transmitter. Reaching in Brenn pulled out a couple of data cards and some building plans. Discarding the data cards for a minute Brenn leafed through the plans. All the targets were there, the office block, the supply depot, and on the bottom of the pile the plans for the senate building. Quickly loading one of the data crads into his small datapad Brenn scanned the information looking for anything relating to the senate. Finding nothing he removed the first card and inserted the second, and found plans for the bombing of the senate. Hearing the stormtroopers finally arriving Brenn raced past the bemused looking trooper in charge and quickly made his way to his swoop bike and kicking it into high gear, headed for the senate building.

 

    When he arrived he quickly dismounted and headed for the bowels of the building. Extending his sense's Brenn could sense a person about fifty meters down the corridor he was walking down. Pulling one of his blaster pistols Brenn used the force to mask his approach but just as he got within range of his target the man stood up and took off. Grabbing his comlink Brenn quickly called for a bomb disposal team and headed off in pursuit of the terrorist. Sensing the man through the force, Brenn was eventually led to the sewers. Slowing down to a walk Brenn pulled his other blaster pistol and crept foward when suddenly an earsplitting screech rent the air. Turning to face the source of this terrifying scream Brenn was greeted with the sight of a giant lizard moving like a runaway airspeeder straight for him. Standing shoulder height with talons that looked like they could cut through steel, the creature was covered in bony armour that reflected the small amount of light that seeped into the sewers. Raising his blasters Brenn was just about to fire when one of the lizards huge talons ripped the weapons to shreds. Dropping the scraps of metal that used to be blasters, Brenn reached back and unclipped his lightsaber, igniting it as he brought it forward. Reaching out towards the creature with the force Brenn's mind was assualted with feelings of animalistic fury. Ducking beneath an outstreached talon Brenn counterattacked. Slashing his blade along the creatures flank he was surprised to see the blade bounce of the bony shell with only a slight scorch mark to show where he'd hit it. Taking a few steps back, Brenn began searching for a way to kill the beast when he saw his only option. Sprinting forward Brenn slide through the muck of the sewer until he was under the beast's exposed stomach and throat. Plunging the blade deep into the beast's throat and used the force to push himself along, all the while slicing open the creatures belly. Rooling out of the way before he could be crushed by the lizards dead body Brenn got up and searched for some trail of the fugitive bomber. After a few minutes he found a trail of footprints embedded in the sludge and followed them until they disappeared beside a ladder. Climbing back up into the daylight Brenn used his comlink to call his bike to him and headed for the guard house where the other bombers were being kept.

 

    Entering the small guard house Brenn walked over to the duty officer and said "I'd like to speak to the bombing suspects".

"Yes sir" said the officer "right this way". Heading down some stairs Brenn enterd the interigation room where the human was strapped into a chair. Walking over to the man Brenn leaned down so they were eye to eye and said "I'll know if your lying to me, so I encourage you to tell the truth. Understand?". Too frightened to speak the man only nodded. "Good." said Brenn "I want to know where your partner is"

"Im just a mercenary. He hired me and the other three to protect him, honest" the man said through sobs.

"Then your no good to me" Brenn said to the man. Turning to the guard Brenn said "Kill him".

"Wait, wait." the man shouted hysterically "The guy didn't seem to sleep too well. Kept having nightmares or something. He talked alot in his sleep. Said something about caves in the hills. That's all I know, honest".

"You'll be facing trial soon, i'd try to find myself a good lawyer" Brenn said over his shoulder as he left the room. Heading back up stars Brenn asked if he could use the guard houses terminal. Punching up a topographical map of the area Brenn began searching for some caves in the hills nearby. Finding the location of a series of caves Brenn programmed the co-ordinates into his datapad and headed for his swoop. And hopefully the end of this search, he thought.

 

    Arriving at his programmed destination, Brenn sent thin tendrils of the force into the system of caves in search of his quarry. Getting a strong feeling coming from a large cave halfway up the hill Brenn began his short hike towards it. Just as he was about to step into the darkness a bolt of energy came sizzling out of the cave mouth and struck Brenn in the shoulder, spinning him through the air like a top. As his attacker came bursting through the cave mouth Brenn finally got a good look at his target. He was a large man, not as tall as Brenn but certainly as well built. In his hand he carried the blaster that had felled Brenn and taking aim at his head he pulled the trigger. And nothing happened. With a snarl he threw the empty blaster away and drew a wicked looking curved dagger from his belt. Rising grogily to his feet Brenn began to reach for his lightsaber before he realised the man needed to be taken alive. Hoping to end the fight quickly Brenn took a few running steps and launched himself in the air to deliver a kick to the other man's skull. With the moves of a seasoned fighter the bomber swerved and sliced his blade through the air, catching Brenn on the thigh and leaving a deep gash. Landing on his good leg Brenn turned to face his opponent with new found respect. Slowly circling each other like a pair of bantha bulls the big man rushed Brenn and grabbed him in a bear hug plunging the blade into Brenn's back. With pain quickly draining his strength Brenn used a blast of the force to knock the man from his feet. Leaping in the air in a move similar to the one that destroyed one of his dueling droids, Brenn landed on his chest and began to rain blow after blow on the bomber's head until his face was a bloody pulp and he was unconscious. Getting up off the man Brenn pulled his comlink and reported his position before he fainted.

 

    Brenn woke up to find himself swimming in a tank of bacta. Noticing her patient was awake the nurse motioned for him to float to the top so he could get out. Drying himself off Brenn inspected his leg to find a large red scar only freshly healed. Turning to the nurse Brenn asked "How long was I in there?"

"Two and a half weeks. The stab wound to your back punctured a few organs and cut some arteries. Your actually pretty lucky to be alive. If those troopers had taken any longer to get you here you wouldn't be so lucky" the nurse said with a smile. Later in his room Aseret paid him a visit. "Mistress Thunderhawk, thank you coming to see me" Brenn said.

"No problem at all Brenn. I just came to congratulate you on a job well done" Aseret said smiling.

"What happened with bomber?" Brenn asked.

"Well he was tried before the HCI and found guilty. He was executed this morning. Seems he was on some private crusade to destroy the EH. Apparently GA Ronin led a task force that invaded his home planet about eight years ago, some stormtroopers got a little trigger happy and killed everyone in his village. He was going to keep bombing targets until he killed Ronin. The mercenary's were also tried and found guilty. They'll spend the next fifteen to twenty years in a penal colony." answered Aseret. "You get some rest now Brenn, you must be tired".

"Thank you Mistress Thunderhawk" said Brenn before he fell into an exhausted slumber.