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Guest · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:20 am Post subject: Another Confrontation

This is a story that involves one of many dealings with my enemy Jorell. While it is complete as it is, there is a lot more background that is found in other stories and RPG's on TSC.

Outside, the massive winds tore across the frozen tundra. Outside, it was cold enough to cause a person to freeze to death in less than ten minutes. Outside, nothing living moved, only the wind.

Inside, it was warm and calm. Candles cast a flickering glow throughout the room. Ice chimes occasionally tingled in the background but were for the most part silent.

Sitting cross legged in the middle was a single man. He was not young, but neither was he old. Despite being sixty-seven, he was in very good shape. If were careful and kept good care of himself, he could easily live to be a hundred and forty. Though he was not bulky, his muscles were defined and smoothed down through years of training with fluid motions. He was not a power player, but rather one for the quick move, the unexpected twist.

A soft, respectful knock at the door caused two red eyes to open. His meditation interrupted, but yet complete, Trivas answered, "Enter."

A young Chiss officer opened the door and saluted at its entrance. "Commander Seinous, Captain Repness has found something he feels you would like to see."

With ease, Trivas stood up and donned his black cape and lightsaber belt. "Very well, he usually knows what he is talking about."

When the two arrived at the small command center, a hologram of Repness was waiting. "My lord, good to see you, even if it is over one of these blasted connections."

"Speak, my friend."

"We have a problem," Repness said. "There is a small shipment that has gone missing. In its place, we found this." He held up a small holocrystal to the projector enabling Trivas to see it.

"What is on it?"

"That is the funny part, there is only one thing on it. Just a picture of a snowflake."

Trivas' eyes narrowed as he took this information in. "Thank you for the information."

"What shall we do about the lost shipment?"

"Forget it. It is already lost. Continue with the rest of the supplies and get them to the rest of the Council as soon as possible."

"What are you going to be doing?"

"I have to visit an old friend. I will talk to you when I finish."

"Very well, good luck."

With that, the image faded into nothingness. "Commander, your orders?"

"Prepare my ship, I will leave as soon as it is ready."

*************************

Floating in the viewscreen in front of him was a beautiful white sphere. Beyond the sphere was a tiny sun, very distant even for normal. The planet was on its farthest orbit from its primary.

It was winter on Csilla, the frozen capital of the Chiss Ascendacy.

"Csilla Central Control to Clawcraft squadron Black Omega, please state your intentions," an arrogant Chiss voice hailed them.

"This is Black Prime, we only wish to land and conduct our business uninterrupted," Trivas said in an equally arrogant voice. The Chiss were a proud people, showing deference to someone like this meant you were either ignorant or desperate and Trivas was neither.

"You know that your kind are no allowed here," the voice said with some harshness. "The Ruling Houses forbade you from returning."

"The Ruling Houses will allow me to pass."

"They have left specific orders to prevent any from the Hand of Thrawn from landing on Csilla."

Trivas would not be disdained with this rabble. "One way or another, my squadron and I are landing at our desination. If you don't want trouble, you should just wave us on."

Now the voice was getting angry, always a good sign with a Chiss, it meant that they were not in control and thinking straight. "You and what fleet! You cannot force your way down here and we both know it."

To emphasize his point, a Star Destroyer and three Chiss Assault Cruisers were rounding the Csilla's horizon angled for the tiny squadron of Clawcraft.

Trivas sighed and shook his head. From his vest pocket, he pulled out a small transceiver and plugged it into his communicator port. The transceiver overrode all safties and blocks and routed him straight to General Fel's private comm. Within seconds, a gruff human voice replaced the Chiss one.

"This is General Fel, I asked not to be disturbed now."

With a silky smooth tone, Trivas replied, "Hello Fel, it has been a long time."

After a short pause, "I know that voice, but I know that you cannot be here on Csilla after the Ruling House banished you."

"I am back, I was summoned."

"Summoned? How?" Fel asked.

"Someone raided one of my supply depots and left something for me. It was a holocrystal with the image of a single snowflake on it. You know what that means."

More silence, then, "But it can't be genuine, he is dead."

"Apparently not, otherwise I would not be missing three hundred tons of supplies with nothing but a holocrystal to show for it. Only he would know the significance of that."

"How do you know he is here?"

"Do you need to ask?"

Fel smirked, "Of course, the Force. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to get the Expansionary Fleet to lay off of me so I can land and take care of the situation," Trivas said with a smile.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you still have a daughter and you know he won't just stop with killing me. You are next and what better way to get at you than to kill her?"

There was some muttered swearing, "Blast you and your Chiss logic. Fine, I will see what I can do."

"Please be quick about it, my scanners detect eight squadrons of Clawcraft coming towards me."

*************************

General Fel marched into the Expansionary Fleet Command Headquarters on Csilla with four of his most loyal bodyguards behind him. "I want to speak to whomever is in charge here," he commanded. Pairs of glowing red eyes immediately stared at him. Most humans would be unnerved by the knowledge that they were the only alien admist the Chiss, but Fel was used to it. He was one of only three humans that lived on this planet, the other two were has wife and daughter. His four sons were either dead or elsewhere in the Expansionary Fleet.

A middle-aged commander turned and met his eyes, "I am in command."

"I want you to grant special access to the Black Omega Squadron of clawcraft currently on approach."

The commander sighed before replying, "You know who is flying with them. I cannot allow them to enter on orders from the Ruling Houses."

"I am overriding their authority on basis of Special Threat Imperative 327."

The commander blinked once. "You know what that means?"

"I helped put the Imperative in the books," Fel snapped, "of course I know what that means."

"Why would you issue such an order?"

"Because someone is here that is a threat to our civilization. He could destroy us."

"I thought Commander Seinous was that threat," the commander quipped.

Fel shook his head, "No, Trivas is dangerous, but not to us. Not now at least. He has his dangers, but the threat he is here to stop is far greater than he is."

"I doubt it. I cannot let him pass."

"You will let him pass because I say he will pass." Fel tossed a security chip to the commander and commanded, "On the basis Special Threat Imperative 327 by the authority vested in my by the Expansionary Fleet, you WILL allow them clearance to land anywhere on Csilla they desire."

The commander stood there for a second debating, but the Chiss were too diciplined to hesitate for long. Having been given a direct order by a superior officer, the hapless commander had no choice but to follow it. "As you wish, General, but the Ruling Houses will have your head for this."

Fel nodded, "I will take full responsibility for what happens."

*************************

Above the frozen wastelands of Csilla, twelve black clawcraft were flying in tight formation through the atmosphere. Trivas smiled as he felt the indignation of the Expansionary Fleet's pilots as they watched them fly by without being able to confront them. In recent years, the Hand of Thrawn had lost much popularity among the Chiss, especially when he took it over and turned it into a Sith ally.

"Commander, we have a problem," one of his pilots said.

"Yes?"

"We have contacts on scanners, at least thirty of them and more coming into range."

This was interesting. Trivas looked at his own readouts and saw the blips on the screen. They were small, fast atmospheric craft. They were coming from their destination.

Trivas smiled, This would be fun. "All clawcraft into combat formation. I want you to cover me as I land. After I am safely on the ground, you are to jet for space. Don't bother with my ship, it will be destroyed, I don't want extra casualties."

They confirmed the order and formed a screen for him in preparation to engage the thirty-six hostile fighters heading toward them.

The clawcraft fired concussion missiles in unison and took advantage of the disruption it caused in the enemy ranks. Three enemy fighters did not evade the missiles and two more were destroyed in the head to head rush. Trivas made it through the main two enemy squadrons with six of his squad. The third enemy squadron engaged with lasers and destroyed one of the clawcraft.

The other five clawcrafts, those that were not with their leader, were engaging the other two squadrons. These fighters were no match for clawcraft one on one, but their numbers would give them the battle if Trivas did not land quickly. Trivas dodged a laser attack but lost some of his shields. His comanions made it through the screen and were streaming rapidly toward the icy surface. The squadron circled around and tried to get behind the five dropping clawcrafts, but they were both going too fast in opposite directions.

"Black Lead to squadron, I am clear, abandon the fight and get back to the fleet. Stay there until I signal extraction. Contact General Fel and inform him of our status. Also, caution him about these fighters," Trivas ordered.

The remaining fighters had destroyed two clawcraft at a cost of four of their own, but the advantage of speed was lost to the clawcraft. One more was destroyed before they made it high enough that the atmospheric fighters could not pursue.

*************************

Through a holo feed from one of the orbiting Assault Cruisers, General Fel was watching the entire battle. He did not have the authority to order assistance, but the presence of those fighters was not on any Expansionary Fleet records. That alone confirmed that Trivas was right. That meant that the danger was very real. If he was indeed here, the threat would be tremendous.

He saw the maneuvering of the clawcraft and how they got their leader through the screen. As the clawcraft broke off and headed for orbit, he noticed Trivas' clawcraft continue to rocket toward the surface.

As Trivas was only a thousand or so meters from the surface, several heavy laser canons opened up from the surface. In horror, Fel watched as the single clawcraft evaded the first several rounds, but not for long. A tiny puff of light and smoke showed the explosion of the clawcraft.

Fel zoomed in but could not see any trace of the clawcraft or any survivors.

"General, we have a message for you from Black Omega squadron," one of the aides said.

"Put it through."

"General Fel, this is Lieutenant Horath of Black Omega squadron. I was to inform you that Commander Seinous was on the planet, but he has been destroyed trying to land. There are many defensive canons on the surface that we did not know about. We need your assistance in destroying the target since he will not be able to complete the task."

Fel sighed. So it was the Sith that was trying to reach the surface. His loss was a good thing for the Chiss Ascendacy, but not a good one for General Fel. He knew who was lurking in that forsaken fortress and what he was capable of. "I cannot do that without the permission of the Ruling Houses."

"You should try to get their approval. These people have invaded Csilla territory and have planted an illegal base on her surface. Not even the Ruling Houses would fail to see that as a threat," Horath said.

"I do not know. I can only try," Fel said reluctantly. This was not turning out to be a good day.

*************************

There was nothing else that could be done. With the death of Darth Trivas, the Expansionary Fleet would only express it’s gladness at the removal of a threat. They did not realize that a far bigger threat existed right under their noses. General Fel shook his head in anger and frustration. The Chiss had many admirable traits: loyalty, a strong sense of duty, competence, stamina, intelligence, and tendency to work hard. They did, however, have a large weakness: they were arrogant and that led to stubbornness.

There was nothing more he could do. He had already visited the Ruling Houses and they had refused to investigate the fighters. As far as they were concerned, the entire incident was a good thing since it removed the head of the Hand of Thrawn.

Fel called his wife and told her, “I want you two to pack your things and leave the planet. Head for one of the colonies where you will be safe.”

Except he knew there was no place safe from the danger now sitting less than six thousand kilometers away. He got into his ice tram with his four loyal guards and headed for the Valorn Heights where his house was.

The ice tram shook violently causing Fel to come to his feet at full alert.

"General, we are under attack!" one of the guards said.

Two airfighters like the ones that killed Trivas circled around for another run at the defenseless ice tram. The pilot tried to evade the strafing run, but some of the shots hit the tram's force field and drove its bottom into the snow drifts.

"Central Authority, this is Ice Tram 346, we are under attack!" Fel yelled into his comm.

Only static answered him. He tried several other emergency channels, but nothing went through. The attackers were jamming transmissions. They were on their own for this.

The fighters came around once more for the kill. This time, the force field did not hold and two shots blasted through the tram. One guard disappeared in a cloud of red flames and twisted metal and another was shredded by shrapnel. A piece went through the top of Fel's left arm, but he was on the other side of the tram.

Still fighting for control, the pilot twisted the controls this way and that. Unfortunately, the damage to the repulsorlifts was too great and the tram buried its nose into a snow drift and came to a stop. Fel, his two remaining guards, and the pilot collected themselves in the wreckage and took stock of the situation.

"Sir, they are not attacking now," one of the guards commented.

Fel looked out a shattered viewport and noticed that the fighters were nowhere in sight and he did not hear the whine of their ion engines. This was not good.

"They are trying to take us alive," he replied.

"No sir, they are trying to take you alive," the pilot said. "We are of no importance as hostages, you apparently are."

Fel knew that, and he also knew who was after him. Either way, this would not be a fun trip. He hoped that his family managed to escape off planet before these assassins got to them.

"Head out over the snow. We need to try to escape their jamming field and call for help," Fel ordered. The four of them armed themselves and went out over the snow. Chiss are naturally adapted to the cold and normally have good stamina. Fel was getting old and was not in as good a shape as he used to be so he found it hard to keep up with the others.

They did not make it far when the whine of a repulsorlift engine reached their ears. "Must be a medium sized vehicle. Perhaps a Corseth Class Transport," the pilot reported.

Fel nodded, "If it is, then there are twenty or more troops inside plus two pilots and a gunner."

*************************

Trivas hit the snowy ground with a thud knocking the wind out of him. So this is how you want to play, he thought. The Force had warned him of sudden doom so he had ejected from his ship just before the laser canon punched through his shields. In order to avoid detection, he could not turn on the repulsor imbedded in his flight seat. When another laser blast shot by him, he reached out with the Force and absorbed some of the energy into his own body. Using that energy, he was able to muster enough of the Force to slow his descent.

Despite the added energy, his ability to use telekenisis was extremely limited and he could barely slow his fall enough to prevent him from being a plastered ball. The snow helped, but not much. This was not going to be a good day.

He made his through the deep snow toward the laser emplacements where he knew his enemy was lurking. It would be a long hard battle, but it needed to be done. He checked his inventory. He had his two lightsabers, a small utility pack with a days food and water, a glowlamp, rope, and several vibroknives. He had no grenades or explosives. To get those, he would need to liberate them from his enemies.

After thirty minutes of walking in the freezing climate, most people would be near death. Not a Chiss. It is said that the Chiss have blue skin because they are so cold blooded and that their eyes were red because of the passion and intensity that dwelled in them. While it was true that Chiss born and raised on the frozen Csilla were better adapted to the cold than most species, they still needed warmth and could freeze to death fairly quickly if not careful. Trivas did not need to worry as much about it. Using the Force to manipulate the atoms around him, he created energy and from that, heat to keep him warm. Still, it used up some of his concentration and would not keep him alive forever. He needed to get into a warm place quickly or risk frostbite.

Fifteen minutes later, he finally arrived at the laser emplacements that shot him down. His senses told him that there were at least three dozen beings there. Only a handful were Chiss and that worried him. There were not many aliens allowed on Csilla. Less than a dozen that he knew about stayed for more than a month. That meant that whoever was here got completely through the defense systems designed to protect the Chiss capital and that was a feat that even he could not do.

The soldiers were chattering about their recent kill and were still filled with energy and excitement. They would be easy kills. Preparing an illusion to back him up, Trivas strode confidently into the open in front of the guards. The entire group stopped what they were doing and stared slack jawed. Though there was just one middle-aged Chiss male fresh from a crash walking toward them, they saw an entire group of Horothrim elite warriors striding and yelling in full battle armor. The soldiers opened fire with smaller weapons to no effect. Trivas chuckled to himself, even if the imaginary warriors were real, they would not be effected by the weapons used against them. Even Lord Trivas himself would have trouble with this group.

Calmly and collectedly, Trivas strode up to the panicked soldiers and ignited his ice lightsaber. It was only a few seconds before those inside knew what was really happening. By then, it was too late for them. In the enclosed space and with the recent panic over the imaginary Horothrim, the soldiers had no chance. It was over within thirty seconds.

Wiping some human blood off his cheek, Trivas stepped over the hewn bodies and strode to the doorway that led to one of the many tunnels that burrowed under the ice of Csilla.

Inside the tunnels, he found a single corridor that branched out to what looked like a small base. It was hastily dug and was not very old since there were no patches on the energy lines that usually pagued normal tunnels. Those had a tendacy to freeze up after a year or so.

Using his Force senses, he knew that there were still more enemies to be dealt with. So swift was his previous attack, the base did not get any warning of his survival, so those inside were not on alert. It took thirty-five minutes and all but one of his six vibroblades to clear out most of the base. Moving quietly demanded as little noise and disruption as possible and the snap hiss of a lightsaber often spoiled that stealth. That meant he could only use his vibroblades, which were very messy and required a lot of delicate moves.

Trivas walked through the central hallway (now filled with blood splatters and bodies) to the last room, one that was empty. He opened the door and paused. Before he could pull out one of his lightsabers, both of them ripped off his belt and flew across the room. The room was NOT empty as he had assumed, and that fact worried him more than the presence of the man before him.

"Same old Trivas," a cold voice sneered. "Still cannot move a pebble, can you?"

"So, you finally managed to master the technique of hiding your Force presence," Trivas replied.

"Obviously, otherwise I would not have had the fun of watching you kill all my guards. They were useless anyway, so don't think you won a big victory for killing fifty or so thugs."

"And that is the difference between you and me. I actually value the lives of those under me, as Thrawn did."

"Notice that he is dead, by one of his own men."

"Why did you call for me to come here?" Trivas asked.

"I wanted to settle an old score, you fool."

"Why here?"

"Don't expect me to answer every question. I just wanted to show you how pathetic the mighty Chiss Ascendacy was. I managed to move my base here all under their snobby noses. Also, I know this is one place where your pathetic Council cannot help you, as I showed by wiping your squadron out."

Trivas sighed. "So, you think you thought of everything, Jorell."

"I haven't even told you the part where my men are capturing your dear General Fel and his family. Their screams of pain will be a symphony to my ears," Jorell replied. "There isn't anything that is going to stop me from finishing you off."

"You have to beat me first."

Jorell chuckled, "That is not going to be hard since I have your lightsabers. You are no match against telekenisis." With that, he reached out with the Force and slammed Trivas against the doorframe. Trivas rolled with the blow and hurled blue lightening at Jorell. With that, the fight began.

*************************

"Blast!" Fel muttered as a near miss threw snow into his face. The enemy was closing in on the survivors. All but one of his men had already been killed. His blaster pistol was nearly drained and he only had a few shots left. Fifteen or more aliens, most species he did not recognize, were still shooting at him.

"Lookout, sir!" his bodyguard cautioned before throwing himself into the snow.

Fel followed suit just before blue laser bolts turned the snow around them into a steam bath. Five Clawcraft buzzed the glacial field and circled around for another pass. The remaining aliens forgot their prey and were scrambling to get back to their airfighters. Only one made it and his ship was vaporized by a concussion missile before he could liftoff.

Without even a pause, the Clawcraft turned tail and jetted to the south skimming just meters above the glacier. Two clouds of black specks appeared in the sky from the north angling to intercept the fleeing Clawcraft. Fel knew what had happened: the remnant of Trivas' squadron had disobeyed Expansionary Fleet warnings and come to his rescue. Unfortunately, at least two squadrons of Clawcraft were now on their tail.

He picked himself up and ran toward the damaged airtram. "Common," he said to his bodyguard, "we're not out of this yet."

*************************

Jorell dodged the bold of lightening and charged Trivas with his blue lightsaber. Trivas rolled to the side and tried to make it to his lightsabers on the other side of the room but Jorell just tossed them aside with the Force. Once the lightsabers were safely out of his reach, Jorell extended his hand and caught Trivas in a Force grip.

Not being able to counter the telekenisis, Trivas was forced to use a different tactic. Using his mind, he touched Jorell's and scrambled his senses for a second. Jorell was forced to focus to keep standing and hold his lightsaber and the added strain allowed Trivas to break the hold.

Trivas reached into his belt and pulled out his remaining vibroblade. Not even bothering to take the time to turn it on, he threw it deftly at Jorell. Without watching the result, he dove into the hallway. Before the thrown blade could reach its intended target, Jorell had recovered and blocked it easily with his lightsaber. He faced at Trivas who had picked up a blaster pistol and was aiming it at him.

"So, you are going to try to shoot me? I always thought you were stupid, now I know," Jorell taunted.

Trivas did not reply but rather opened fire. With considerable ease, Jorell blocked the first three shots and deflected the fourth back at Trivas. Trivas did not even bother to dodge the shot but took it full in the chest. Jorell blinked as his foe stepped back with the impact but did not fall. Trivas' uniform was charred where the blaster had struck, but his skin was still a healthy blue.

Jorell's lips pealed back in a wicked smile, "So, I see you have finally managed to master energy absorbtion."

Using the energy from the blast to assist his weak telekenetic skills, Trivas summoned both of his lightsabers to his hands and ignited them. "Let's play on a little more fair level. I was always better than you in duels, lets see if you have learned anything."

Both charged at the same time and met just inside the doorway with lightsabers clashing. Just before they met, Jorell tried to use the Force to trip Trivas, but Trivas expected the move and blocked it with his temporary telekenetic abilities. Both realized this would have to be a lightsaber duel now.

Jorell fell back from the fury of the two lightsabers giving Trivas some much needed room. Now that he was away from the doorway, Trivas was able to circle around and use his two lightsabers to more of an advantage. The battle was quick and calculated. Both had dueled countless times and knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. Both had learned to exploit the other's weakness while defending against their opponent's jabs.

In truth, Jorell was the better duelist, but inside a room and unable to perform any jumps and flips because of the ceiling evened the match up. Even then, it took only a minute for him to launch the fire blade out of Trivas' hand and into the hallway. With only one blade to attack with, Trivas began to lose ground.

Finally, Jorell saw an opening and smashed Trivas' hand against the wall. The impact was hard enough to numb his fingers causing the lightsaber it held to clatter to the floor. Without pausing at the loss, Trivas jumped to the side to avoid Jorell's follow up swing. Three more times Jorell made short swings at Trivas taunting him with his single lightsaber. Jorell now stood between Trivas and the doorway where his lightsabers were now collected. With the energy from the blaster shot now spent, Trivas was unable to summon them to his hands and continue the duel.

"Now what are you going to do? We are right back where we started and you have wasted more of my time," Jorell said.

"Don't be so sure of victory just yet."

"I am quite sure of it my old friend." With that, he stepped forward and swung again at Trivas. Instead of dodging the attack, Trivas calmly reached up and grabbed the lightsaber blade. With shock, Jorell looked into the fiery red eyes of his opponent and stammered, "NO! Not even you can absorb a lightsaber blade!"

From beside him, a voice calmly said, "No, but I can make you think I did." A glowing orange blade sliced from nowhere and cut Jorell on the side. The blow did not kill him, but he fell back in pain and screamed in fury.

Knowing that any further fighting would be pointless against the massive telekenetic outburst that was about to occur, Trivas ran down the hallway. Behind him, Jorell's fury caused the walls to creak and bend outward. A series of holes smashed into the wall behind him as Jorell tried to pound his foe with Force blasts.

Trivas ran through the hallway until he reached the hangar from where the airfighters had come from. He quickly killed the three pilots who had stayed with their ships and jumped into the nearest one. He was far from out of this mess, but at least he was away from Jorell.

*************************

General Fel recovered an extra coat from one of the dead guards in order to survive longer in this iceland. He did not have much in the way of survival gear, so he and the surviving guard would have to get lucky and hope someone spotted them. The icetram was utterly destroyed and neither of them had comlinks. Every attempt to get into the landed airfighters failed: even armor that weak could absorb blaster shots. They piled up the snow around the wreckage of their icetram to block out the wind and waited for the Chiss to return to investigate the wreck.

*************************

One good thing about being able to alter people's minds was that it was really easy to travel unnoticed. After ditching his stolen airfighter, Trivas slipped into a nearby city. Using his emergency funds, he purchased a ticket to the nearest intersteller spaceport and from there, contacted an agent to get him off the planet. Three days later, he was safely onboard the Incalculable meditating in his favorite room contemplating how to deal with Jorell.