KGWrites

3981 BBY, Pyrshak System, Ahto City, Manaan

                                                                Drejek Thek                   

Drejek woke with a start, sucking in deep breaths, his body coated with a cold sweat, making his nightwear stick to him. He snapped his head around his room, scanning vigilantly for threats as his father had taught him. A quick look around the room revealed no threats and Drejek allowed himself to relax. But still, something had woken him, and he knew it likely was something bad, two years on Manaan hadn’t been long enough for him to forget what being on the run had felt like, nor had his father’s constant lessons seemed to allow him to forget it.

A light came on in the corridor outside his bedroom, filtering in around the edges of the door frame. Hearing someone walking around outside, Drejek slid out of bed and started making his way towards the door. His father was away from the house on a trip due to take until the next night, so it wouldn’t be him wandering around. As he approached the doorway, Drejek reached out to the Force, his connection was more matured and refined than it had been when he’d first arrived and under his mother’s tutelage, he was learning more about it every day. The Force allowed him to feel if the being in the corridor was a threat or not. It only took the briefest of touches to recognise his mother’s mind and Drejek relaxed.

He opened the door and walked out into the hall. It opened to the top floor landing, where he could see his mother standing leaning over the balcony railing through the glass door at the far end. Her hair was blowing in the sea breeze and her jaw was set. She didn’t turn as Drejek stepped out onto the balcony behind her, just continued staring out over the dark ocean, lit only by the silvery light of Manaan’s moon.

“You should still be asleep.” Allana stated simply as he stepped up to stand next to her, mirroring her pose as much as he possibly could, arms folded against the cold wind.

“I woke up.” Drejek replied simply, it was true, and he couldn’t really explain what had happened any more accurately than that. Allana looked at her son and narrowed her eyes, only the tiniest hint of amusement crossing her face before the troubled look clouded her features once more.

“Sensing a disturbance like this so early, you truly do have great potential in the Force my little ik’aad.” Allana said as she looked out over the oceans of Manaan again. Drejek wanted to beam with pride at her words, but her tone and grim set features made him stop short.

“A disturbance? What is it? What have we sensed?” He asked her.

“I don’t know, the Force rarely allows us to sense specific things like that. It only tells us when something is wrong.” She replied. Drejek pondered this for a moment, his brow furrowed, before he folded his arms and sighed loudly.

“That doesn’t seem too helpful.” He growled with frustration, Allana looked down at her son, her expression one of concern. Her voice took on an edge of authority and guidance as she spoke.

“Be careful of your frustration with the ways of the Force, it moves in mysterious ways yet the power of it and the knowledge it grants us is far more useful than any other power in the galaxy. Controlling your frustration is key to being able to use the Force.” Then she chuckled gently and briefly ran her hand through his hair. “But yes, it can be vague like that sometimes. But eventually, you’ll be able to look deeper into it. Like looking below the surface of the ocean.”

Drejek nodded and took a breath again. Allana looked back out over the lapping water and closed her eyes. Drejek could feel her reaching out with the Force to probe the disturbance that had awoken her and her son.

“It’s your father, something is very wrong. There’s something different in him.” She said, her voice very serene seeming as she relayed her vision to him.

“What is it? What’s wrong with him?” Drejek asked, impatiently refusing to wait to be told.

“He’s here, on Manaan, in his Mandalorian armour, there are other Mandalorians here with him too. We’re both there… oh no.” Allana’s gaze suddenly slackened, fear crossing her features.

“What? Mom? What’s wrong? What has the Force showed you?” Drejek asked, Allana’s sudden change scaring him.

“Something has changed your father, something I haven’t felt since the Great Sith War against Exar Kun when I met him.” She replied, her voice strained with worry.

“What is it?” Drejek implored, getting tired of her ominous avoidance of his questioning. Allana said nothing for a moment, breathing deeply, before she turned back to face him, her eyes open and a grim look of determination crossing her face.

“The Dark Side. Come on, we need to find him, now. Get dressed and grab your blaster.” She told Drejek, the familiar commanding tone she had used when they’d been in danger on the run clear in her voice.

“Will I need it?” Drejek asked as they headed back inside, moving towards their respective rooms.

“I hope not.” His mother told him as she ducked inside her room, the door sliding closed behind her. Drejek wasted no time in getting to his room either, and as soon as he was inside, he grabbed his clothing and pulled it on. He didn’t understand what was happening. He didn’t know what this “dark side” was, or what had changed in his father. But he understood his mother was frightened, and that she would need him to be brave.

He was still pulling on his boots as he heard Allana’s door open again and her footfalls as she walked downstairs to the open living space that made up the ground floor of the family’s home. Drejek quickly strapped his boots on and reached under his bed. After a quick moment of searching, Drejek’s fingertips brushed the edge of his blaster, but he couldn’t quite reach it without getting under the bed himself. With a frustrated groan, Drejek reached out with the Force and gripped the blaster, pulling it into his grasp without even touching it. It was a frivolous and unnecessary use of the Force he knew but still, time was of the essence and bringing the blaster to his hand like this saved a few seconds which could be vital to helping his mother. He strapped the leather holster for the weapon to his thigh, it still felt too big for him, he needed both hands to steady the weapon when he held it and the holster took up much of his leg above his knee, causing the grip on the weapon to dig uncomfortably at his side. Ignoring the annoying feeling he stood, making his way to join his mother.

Allana was pacing back and forth in the centre of the room. Her long brown hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, she wore a padded leather coat and a pair of long dark pants. She’d look like any member of Ahto City’s public were it not for the hilt of her lightsaber strapped to her belt, twisted so that it sat horizontally along the small of her back, making it less obvious. She looked up expectantly at Drejek as he descended, her face grim.  

“We need to find your father Drejek, and quickly. I can drive, but I’ll need you to focus and find him through the Force. Can you do that for me?” She said, her voice firm and focussed. The same voice she used to use when danger was nearby. Drejek thought for a moment, then nodded once, his jaw set with determination.

Allana led them both out of their home, and down a set of stairs to a small watercraft, docked at a small jetty. Not stopping to search for her activation fob, Allana simply waved her hand and the hatch on the craft opened up, allowing the pair to enter its cabin. Allana settled herself into a seat behind the controls and Drejek pulled himself into the forward passenger seat next to her. As she began keying in the sequence that would wake the craft and allow her to guide it out into the canals that crisscrossed through Ahto City, Allana reached over and took Drejek’s hand in her own.

“Take it slow, don’t dive into the ocean. Always take the time to tread the water and take a breath first.” She said gently, repeating a mantra they had shared for allowing Drejek to reach out to the Force. Drejek nodded and closed his eyes, reaching out to the Force around him, dipping into the ocean.

To Drejek, the Force always felt like the lapping tides of an ocean, flowing to and fro as it moved around him. Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself to slip beneath the surface of it, reaching out into those flowing tides. The feeling of touching the very essence of life in the galaxy felt cool as it washed over Drejek, giving him a moment of peace in the frantic worry of the last few moments.

“Search through Drejek, focus. Picture your father, how he feels when you are around him. Find that feeling. Can you picture it?” His mother’s voice felt almost distant to him, echoing slightly. Slowly he nodded, holding the feeling of his father in his mind, a hardened feeling, like steel.

“Good,” His mother continued. “Now look through the ocean, find that feeling among the others.”

Drejek focused, pushing his presence in the force outwards, swimming deeper through the waters. A few moments passed as he searched without any luck but then…

“I found him mom.” Drejek said with excitement, a smile slowly creeping up his cheeks. He was proud of himself, he had found people like that before, but they’d always been close by to him. He’d just found his father across a whole city.

“That’s very good sweetheart, now focus on that feeling. Pull yourself towards it, try and see him. See where he is.” Allana’s voice was wavering slightly now, still bearing that tone of a teacher, but struggling to keep worry from creeping in.

Drejek was silent for a moment, straining through the Force, pushing himself further than he had gone before. Then he spoke again.

“He’s… at the spaceport, I think. He’s in his armour.” There was a long pause, then Drejek’s voice became almost a whisper. “He feels… different to how he normally does.” The feeling of his father, that cold hardened feeling, was different. Changed. Now the cold steel was molten hot and burning. Still hardened, as his father had always been, but now it almost felt… wrong. It scared Drejek to move close to through the Force and he instinctively pulled himself back, opening his eyes with a gasp.

He struggled for words as his mother guided the watercraft through the canals, pushing it faster than he had been in it before, sending a gentle spray up in their wake. He wanted to ask what was happening, what was wrong with his father, why his mother wanted to hurry, why he’d needed his blaster. But he couldn’t find the words. Instead, as Allana pulled the craft around a corner and began to throttle down as she guided it to a berth at the spaceport, Drejek slipped his hand into hers, holding onto his mother tightly.

As she stood from the pilot’s chair and moved to the hatch, she looked down at him and smiled briefly, squeezing his little hand in hers. He felt her mind brush against his through the Force, like a cool breeze. Gently she enveloped him through the Force, passing the feeling of a tight, comforting, hug even as she hurried through the crowds towards the spaceport.

Drejek was only vaguely aware of the people around them as Allana hurried through, allowing himself to be totally taken into the comfort of his mother’s presence. He could feel her reaching out now, taking over from him as she sought out Gredun’s mind and followed the feeling through the Spaceport. She weaved and dodged, moving in, out and through the numerous traders, travellers and other beings as she led Drejek towards a small hanger.

There were no Selkath customs officers or security droids at this hanger. In fact, it appeared to almost be completely devoid of any sign of life at all. At least, until Allana keyed a panel at the side of the wide door and it split apart, opening into a wide open space with a single ship at its centre. A long, boxy ship raised up on tall landing gear with a loading ramp lowered to the hanger floor, casting a red light from the interior of the vessel out onto the dark chamber.

With a hiss, the door closed behind Allana and Drejek as they entered and Allana immediately turned to her son, crouching down to his eye level and keeping one hand on his shoulder. Her eyes, a sky-blue mirror of Drejek’s own, stared into his intently.

“Stay brave now sweetheart. Whatever happens, I’m right here, okay? I need you to stay here, by the door controls. Please.” She said, her voice commanding, yet gentle and loving at the same time. Drejek’s skin pricked and a cold feeling washed over him, making his lip quiver slightly as he nodded. Allana leaned forward, placing a hand either side of his face and tilting his head forward to kiss his hair. She remained like that for a second, and Drejek swore he could have felt her shaking slightly, before she straightened and walked towards the ship.

“Gredun!” She called out when she had crossed half the distance, one hand drawing the tube-like hilt of her lightsaber from behind her back. Silence greeted her call, filling the wide hanger space for a moment until footfalls echoed from within the ship, heavy with the clanging of metal on metal. The silhouette of Gredun Thek, massive in his heavy Mandalorian plate armour, filled the doorway at the top of the loading ramp, framed by the scarlet light of the interior. The big figure’s head took in Allana, still slowly approaching and then swung to see Drejek at the hanger entrance.

“You brought him for this?” His father’s voice was low and angry seeming. There was something unnatural about the crackle of it through the helmet’s intercom. Something that made Drejek want to run away from this… other person in his father’s shape. Allana drew herself to a stop.

“This? Gredun please, I don’t know what this is.” She said, her voice punctuated by a quiver of fear. “What are you doing?”

“I’d have thought it obvious Allana, I am leaving.” Gredun replied, not moving from the top of the ramp. Drejek’s stomach dropped at the words and he blinked once, his mouth falling open slightly, unable to fully understand what he was hearing. Allana’s shoulders rose in tension, herself now silhouetted from Drejek by the red light, nearly at the bottom of the ramp.

“You’re leaving us? Just like that? After everything we’ve been through? Why?” She eventually asked, her voice struggling to stay level, though whether with anger, sorrow or disbelief, Drejek couldn’t tell.

“Because this is wrong Allana.” Gredun snapped, punctuating his words with a slash of his hand through the air. He followed it with a string of words in quick, brutal Mando’a that Drejek didn’t understand. “All this sitting on the balcony, watching the ocean, living in peace. It isn’t right, it isn’t who I am.” He drummed a hand on his chest, speaking again in Mando’a before switching back to basic, his voice raising to near shouting. “I am a Mandalorian. A warrior. Not some kriffing dockworker. It is time for me to go back where I belong, to re-join my true family.”

“True family?” Allana practically spat the words back at him incredulously, then she gestured to herself. “Gredun I am your wife, Drejek is your son. We love you. Please, don’t do this.”

Gredun stepped briefly to one side of the door frame and returned holding a blaster rifle, which he levelled directly at Allana. Drejek’s world dropped away, he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, could only breathe and watch as everything fell apart.

“Don’t make me do this Allana. Go home. Let this end as it always should have.” Gredun said, with a finality that told that it would only be said once. Allana shook her head slowly.

“No Gredun. You are not yourself, come home with us. We can make this right.” She pleaded, her shoulders shaking with sobs she hid beneath her words.

For a moment, everything was still. Even the sounds of the ship’s idling engines slipped away as husband and wife stared each other down, bathed in blood red light. Then Gredun’s shoulder’s shifted and he lifted the rifle.

“I didn’t want to do this.” He said and fired.

 The blaster barked out a quick burst of three rounds, aimed not at Allana, Drejek suddenly realised. But at him. As quickly as the glowing yellow bolts appeared though, they were intercepted by the humming emerald blade of Allana’s lightsaber, ricocheting away throughout the hanger bay.

But that movement of Allana to defend her son had been what Gredun had been counting on. With a flick of his wrist, a dart fired from his bracer and sunk itself deep into Allana’s shoulder. The toxin entered her system almost immediately and she cried out as her arm’s muscles paralysed, causing her saber to tumble away from her grip. Without her grip on the hilt, the blade began to retract in. But it was just slightly too slow.

Spinning through the air towards the ground, the blade ever so lightly brushed at the side of Allana’s right thigh, and even the slight touch burned through her clothes and caused skin beneath to blister and burn.

Allana screamed out in pain, collapsing to her knees, her right arm still paralysed uselessly at her side.

Only now did Drejek find the will to move, sprinting towards his mother. No thought was paid to his father or the ship as the loading ramp raised and the engines flared, he just wanted to reach his mother, to help her.

He was a few meters away still when the ship began to lift from the ground, the force of the engines throwing up residual sea water from the ground in a typhoon that threw Drejek off his feet and sent him tumbling into a cargo crate with a dull thud, forcing the air from his lungs and leaving him struggling to regain his breath.

Drejek looked up in time to see the long ship raising into the Manaan night, about to clear the tube-like entrance to the hanger bay. But he saw something else too.

In the centre of the chamber, having been thrown too but having gathered the force to herself to stay steady, Allana rose back to her feet. Smoke rose from her damaged leg and it shook terribly, her right arm hung limp and useless at her side and her tied back hair whipped around in the ship’s wake. Through its landing spotlights, Drejek could make out the deep tear streaks that ran down his mother’s cheeks, and the snarling grimace that her mouth was set in.

Above the roar of the engines, he couldn’t hear her speak as she threw her one working arm out towards the ship, her hand spread wide. But he could feel the Force as she gathered it like a great spear and sent it spiralling up towards that presence that felt akin to his father and yet so different. He could sense it hit, feel it work around that being, scrambling up his mind, taking and twisting memories of Manaan away from him.

Drejek had once asked his mother what she had done to make sure they never had to run again and she had told him her method, of changing someone’s memories. But it was something that required time and focus, she said. What he felt now was different, darker, more destructive. She wasn’t changing the memories, she was scrambling them, destroying them. Making sure he couldn’t hurt her or Drejek because he wouldn’t even remember them.

Above, the ship stalled in its ascent as the pilot’s mind briefly struggled against the molestation. But after a moment, Allana staggered in place, dropping to one knee, her arm fell and the ship shuddered, before resuming its terrible rise. As its engines faded into the night sky, taking with them the peace and family that Drejek had known all his life, the young boy curled up on the cold permacrete floor of the hanger bay, and began to sob.