Fic: Secret Empire II

[valandhir]

Disclaimer: This is a private work of fiction, not intended to infringe any copyrights. All rights to the characters and the concepts of Star Wars rest with their respective owners. I receive no money or other compensation.

 

 2. Forging alliances

 

Kir Kanos collapsed right after the ship had jumped into hyperspace. The knowledge of having escaped a dire calamity and the fading stress left his tortured body without energy. He tried to prevent it but to no avail. Pain erupted from his back as he touched the wall and left bloody smears there. He was unable to stand any longer and slid down to the cold floor of the ship.

 

The dark-haired man at the helm of the ship had heard him fall. He might not have lost a second in getting them out of the planet, nor have cared whether Kir presented a thread, now they had escaped or not, in fact he hadn’t even checked whether Kir was still where he had left him, but the faint noise of the guardsman’s fall caught his attention at once. He activated the autopilot, to guide the ship towards the next jumppoint, then took something from under the co-pilot’s seat before rushing towards Kanos. The former guardsman saw an outstretched hand and knew it to be an offer of help, even as he considered it an useless offer, as the other man would hardly be able to support his muscular body’s weight. When he hesitated, the other just took his hand and helped him up, without any problems. In fact, rising proved far more easy than he had believed it could be. He was led towards a locker chest two steps away. “Sit down. I will look after your injuries.” His companion said, stating a fact that could be easily taken for an order.

 

Kir Kanos nodded in consent, he needed the help there was no denying it. He let his companion just go about it, it was the best way to hide his weakness right now. He hated being weak in the eyes of others, usually it was him offering aid to others, or scoffing at their ineptness to cope with things. Even now, after all what was behind him, he felt ashamed of being weak, for needing help. He did not care much for the pain the treatment would inevitably cause, he was used to far worse, anyway. So it startled him when the pain suddenly faded and a cool, soothing feeling crept along his spine and into his body. It was nothing what he had ever felt before, it was certainly not bacta and no painkiller he had ever experienced before. He felt almost as if he might be able to stretch his back again. He looked down and saw to his amazement that his leg wounds had stopped bleeding. They were better, in fact. He could not remember seeing his companion doing anything to them.

 

He came around from behind him, casting a quizzical glance at him. “Better?” his greyish green eyes surveyed him closely, checking for wounds still bleeding, or other problems.

 

 “Very much so.” He said honestly. It was much better, the bleeding had stopped, many of the wounds were only visible as angry red lines against his skin, even the bone deep pain from the lashes had evaporated. “How did you do this?” Kir inquired, wondering what special drug could offer such a rapid recovery. It would be of tremendous use on the battlefield.

 

“It is a special trick of mine.” His companion replied. “It will be really better when you catch some hour’s worth of sleep. Next to the bridge here is a room with a bed and a refresher besides. The clothing there won’t fit you really, I fear but it’s better than nothing. “

 

***

 

When Kir Kanos returned to the bridge somewhat twelve hours later the ship was still in hyperspace. He felt better, in fact he felt well. Somehow the sleep had restored most of his energies. He still did not know how this was possible but decided to find out later. In the refresher he had seen that most of his wounds were miraculously healed, not even lines reminded of what had been gashes of any kind. The only problem right now was clothing. The things he had found in the bunk were for a person smaller than himself. So breeches and tunic were fitting skin-tight. He missed the weight of his armour. But this was a wasted thought. It was lost and perhaps beyond recovering.

 

The bulkhead opened before him noiselessly as he approached it. His strange companion seemed to have returned to the pilot’s chair only moments before. He had not heard him coming and was concentrated on the instrument’s readings. So he took his time, standing close to the bulkhead and to study him for some minutes. The man hat the helm of the ship was not as tall as Kir himself, but what made him really appear smaller was his light built. Kir already knew that the light appearance was deceptive, that a warrior’s strength was hidden beneath it, yet it made the man appear smaller and perhaps weaker than he truly was. His long dark hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. “Want to come in?” He had not looked from the instruments up nor had Kanos moved, but still his companion knew he was there.

 

“Well, if I may.” He said and strode towards to the co-pilot’s seat. Sitting down he studied the controls before him for the first time. It was not a real conscious action, rather a reflex that made him study his new surroundings at once. The ship’s equipment was awesome this he saw from the first glance. It was a unique design and build with the best technologies that were to find in legal and illegal sources. It was well possible that it had been built in the last days of the old Empire, but it had been upgraded scrupulously after that. They went fast too, the engines had to be tuned if he understood the readings right. When he saw that the pilot could divert his attention from the system’s readings he spoke up. “I wanted to thank you for saving me. Even if I don’t know why you did it. My name is...”

 

“Kir Kanos, former royal guardsman, rank of captain, fighter of singular abilities whose loyalty to the Empire was second to none.” The pilot completed Kanos’ sentence. “No need to thank me. I found you by accident. My name is Delany.”

 

Kanos shook his head. “It is not.” He observed calmly, carefully keeping any aggression out of his voice, the words had slipped out before he could stop them. He had forgotten for a moment, that he wasn’t with some drifting space-pilot or another whom he could easily handle. It was never particularly bright to annoy people who carried lightsabers needlessly.

 

His companion arched an eyebrow. “What got you that idea?” he inquired, almost casually. Had it not been for the sharp glance he cast towards Kir Kanos, checking for potential dangers, he would have appeared to be relaxed. 

 

Yet, Kir knew he wasn’t, he had seen that glance and knew its meaning. “That’s easy enough. It comes with the way you speak this supposed name of yours. You might as well say ‘sithspit’ or ‘rebel scum’ instead and it would not ring differently. You hide behind this name and you hate either yourself for doing so or the name for veiling your true identity.”

 

Now the pilot looked really up and his greyish green eyes scrutinized Kanos. “Were all royal guardsmen that sharp?” he asked somewhat surprised. “You are quite right. My true name is Shareán.”

 

“That’s an ancient name from Alderaan isn’t it?” Kir Kanos pointed out. “It is the name of some dark godmother, as I recall it?”

 

“The child of darkness.” he was corrected at once. “Shareán in the legend is the son of two evil powers: Father War, Mother Darkness, he unites all evil in the world, bringer of war, veil of darkness, voice of despair, ender of life who lives forever. It is one of the worst legends Alderaan had. He is the antagonist of all Alderaan believed good and true.”

 

Kir Kanos leant back. The explanation had not yielded any further information on the person sitting opposite to himself. It was even hard to guess the age of the man, his face gave only few clues about it, high cheekbones and a determined jaw were marked by a few lines, but no real indication of age could be found. He might be in his late thirties, or ten years older, somewhat younger, it remained impossible to guess, except that his eyes did not belong to a young man. “Well. It is an impressive name.” Kir eventually replied. “But how do you come to know about me? My name and who I was?”

 

“Let’s say we have had the same swordmaster at times.” Shareán replied while handing the ship back over to the autopilot again. “And we have met before.”

 

“Impossible. I would remember you.” Kanos insisted at once. But he checked Shareán’s face again at he same time just to make sure his memories were not failing him. Something about Shareán seemed indeed oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place it exactly. And then there were the fighting moves he had observed, for all but the all too light built, Shareán still might be a brotherguard. “There’s no denying you must have been trained on Yinchorr.” Kanos admitted. “Yet, I’d probably remember ever meeting you.” 

 

Shareán’s couldn’t suppress a short, reminiscent smile. “You were right on that: it happened on Yinchorr. It was the week after the Emperor’s visit. You had had a nightmare about the death of Burr Danid and because you could not sleep you stood up for some walk in the grounds hoping to get eventually tired. You came to the training grounds where you saw two fighters. One was the taskmaster himself, the other one wore a type of armour similar to yours but it was black and unmarked. And you saw how the stranger...”

 

“...beat the taskmaster without breaking much sweat.“ Kanos ended the sentence. Memories emerged from the past like Firaxan sharks from dark water.

 

Shareán nodded confirming the words. “Yes and when that fighter left the training grounds you were daring enough to speak to him. You asked for the one move you had seen him execute on the bridge. And he showed you how it was done but insisted that you never told anyone about it. You never learned this particular trick from the taskmaster but it won you some of the critical fights on your way.” He spoke on. “For about three weeks you sparred every night against the stranger, and learned some other strange moves, before he left Yinchorr, never to return.”

 

His eyes went wide. “You? You were the fighter in the arena! But I thought you were a full-fledged guardsman, coming back for some specialised training.”

 

“I know you did. Everyone did. You were supposed to believe me for a guardsman.” Shareán explained. “No one except the taskmaster knew I was there.”

 

Kanos needed a moment to get used to these facts. The man opposite of him still did not look like a deadly fighter, even as Kir already knew the man was good, it was hard to believe that Shareán had been beating the taskmaster of Yinchorr, the man who taught the royal guardsmen, on his own training-grounds. “But this move, the attack, why did the taskmaster never teach it? He saw me doing it, during some fights, but never asked how I knew it. He just told me that I was never to speak about where I learned it.” Kanos was confused. He remembered the taskmaster had been frightened when he had seen Kanos doing that particular attack the very first time and firmly insisted that Kanos never ever told anyone where he might have learned this one.

 

“He could not teach it for he could not do it himself.” Shareán answered. “It’s no Echani move but comes from the fighting technique for the doublebladed lightsaber invented by Ulic Quel Droma. Only a Sith could have taught you and this the taskmaster knew quite well.”

 

“So you’re a Sith?” Kir Kanos asked. There was no shock or fear in his voice. There had been some Sith, dark force user’s been around at court at most times. Kanos had been bested by Lord Vader himself right before he had been accepted into the elite ranks of the royal guards. Later he had defeated Jax, a former comrade who had had some dark side teaching of his own. He had lost his fear of them a long time ago.

 

Shareán shook his head. “I don’t believe I am; I am no Jedi either. The man who taught me insisted there was more to the force than Jedi and Sith, albeit he himself held rank and title of a Sith. I never cared for one of those sides. Caught somewhat in between you could say. I feel both sides of the force and I can use them. It is liking walking on a razor sharp blade but I have been doing it for many years now.” Running his hand trough his hair, he shook it out, then looking at up again.

 

It didn’t take much of an observer to see that Shareán wasn’t at ease talking about the subject. It didn’t mean much to Kir Kanos anyway. Shareán was no Jedi, so he wasn’t part of the Order the Empire had banned, other forms of training had been condoned and used by the Empire, and ultimately it was none of his business. So he decided to drop the subject. “So what were you doing in this base?” he asked instead, bringing their conversation back to solid grounds.

 

“I had – have – a mission.” Shareán began slowly. “I was there, in Daala’s base, because this base is one of the storage places for the Regnum-database. You may have heard of it, I think.”

 

Kanos eyes widened. “I do indeed,” he replied. “It’s a copy of the most important data the Empire had. Or so I was told.”

 

“It is. The data is copied by an automated mechanism, so even some of the mainframes in rebel hands, like Coruscant central mainframe still provide their data. But the real important data come from places like Omwat, the Maw centre, Onderon research facilities and others. The whole scientific know-how of the Empire neatly stored away in secure places.” He leaned back in his seat, studying the blue light of hyperspace as it flashed by. “There are twelve storage places, containing part of the data. The parts are completely useless, the data is stored in fragments, jumbled pieces that make no sense until you have the full data and can complete it again.”

 

“So it can’t be used by anyone, who doesn’t know where the other parts are hidden.” Kanos observed.

 

“That’s about it.” Shareán hesitated. “When… when the Emperor died, his last clone died, that is. The last important copy of data was done and stored away. Four months ago the rebels conducted a complete inspection of Coruscant mainframe and discovered by accident the mechanism used for the copying of the data. They turned the whole place upside down to recover the data. I managed to sneak these updates out, before they could destroy them.”

 

Kanos understood what he was told at once. “So, if the Coruscant mainframe doesn’t send any further copies, any future copy of all mainframes will be incomplete and…”

 

“Unreadable. That’s the gist of it.” Shareán acknowledged. “So I am about to assemble the last working copy of the Regnum-database before it can be lost forever or fall into Rebel hands. While doing this on Jardooine, I was following some other kind of rumour also. There is much talk on all grapevines, that Admiral Daala caught some kind of Imperial Heir. I wanted to check this out, see what she was up to now. But it turned out a wrong lead.” The last part went with an unheard sigh.

 

“Not at all.” Kir Kanos answered. “She was searching for an Imperial Heir, she still is. She thought I knew about him and that’s why she interrogated me. Wait...” he frowned, recalling the conversation with the Admiral.  “She mentioned that she learned about all this through some files that originally belonged to Lord Vader. That sounds like a solid lead if you want to move on it.” More than a solid lead certainly, it was a trace. If someone was likely to have kept files on such a delicate subject, it was Lord Vader. And he might be one of the few people actually having more information than just mere rumours or half-baked truths.

 

“The fact, that I’d have to go to Bast castle anyway notwithstanding, let me ask you beforehand why you are inclined to jump on this.” Shareán inquired calmly, while he was re-checking the course plotting.

 

Kir’s eyes flew wide. This man knew who he was, knew what he had been and still had the nerve to ask such a question. “It’d be better for you, to keep your assumptions to yourself.” he snapped. “I have sworn an oath to the Empire and the Emperor. If there is so much as a trace of an Imperial Heir then it is my duty to find him, to protect him.” Now as he spoke the words, the full weight of the implication hit him all at once. If there really was a child sired by the late Emperor, than his fight, the whole war was far from over. It meant, that there was still some purpose left, something to live for, to fight for. His anger on Sharean’s doubtful question became even greater, he never realised that he had raised his hand, nearly ready to strike.

 

Sharean seemed completely unfazed by his threatening pose. He had turned fully towards Kir, not attempting to evade a strike or attack that might come any time. “I am sorry, Kir Kanos,“ he said in very serious tones. “I did not want to mock or doubt you. But I had to ask for motifs, because there are so many Imperials out there, who would kill any child of the Emperor just to preserve things as they are. Too many people have invested too much into the status quo, who would now go to any length to keep things the way they are. Others have turned towards the Rebels and even if their heart was not in it, would kill this person too, to prove their new loyalties.” He drew a deep breath. “Still, I knew what a guardsmen’s oath entailed and should not easily have doubted you. For this I apologise.” And he extended a hand towards Kir in apology.

 

Kir took the proffered hand in a firm warrior’s handshake. Most of his anger had already dissipated. “It’s not necessary to apologise,” he said letting go again. “I read too much into your words too. It’s been a long time since I met a person on our side, that wasn’t twisted in it’s motifs and dealings, that I nearly forgot how it felt.” When he spoke those words he realised how true they were. He had not met a person he’d even remotely considered as someone with equal goals since his brotherguards met their fateful end. “You said, you had to go to Bast Castle anyway,” he took up their conversation again. “looking for the Regnum-database, I would guess.”

 

Shareán confirmed the first part with a curt nod. “Aye. Bast-Castle is the one place that has some overview on the whole copy-and-transfer process as a whole. It shouldn’t be too hard to hack somewhat deeper into the mainframe and see what information about an Heir of Palpatine Lord Vader had. We can do the search together, if you wish to do so. I may not be bound by any oath but I will prevent any assassin from finding this person.”

 

Kir considered the offer for some moments in silence. Having lost his ship and most of his gear, Sharean’s help was certainly most welcome and his willingness to take on the search for the Imperial Heir was welcome to Kir Kanos as well. But accepting Shareán’s help meant also accepting his own mission: the assembly of the Regnum-database. While it had nothing to do with either avenging the Emperor or finding his Heir, Kir saw the worth of the project. If the database truly contained all the information Shareán had hinted at, it would be invaluable for the coming war. “Well then, I accept.”