Emergence

[Kit]

It had been a long, long, time since Augustus had stepped foot on a world that could be considered remotely civilised. Having left the Shadowlands, and the safety of isolation, the once-Jedi was on edge. Had the galaxy heard of what he had done? Was that why they were all looking at him, when they thought he couldn't see?

Did they know of his sin? Had they heard the stories?

He shook off a moment of paranoia, a deep breath calming him. They were probably all staring at his tattered robes, stained and dirtied by hard living in an unforgiving environment. After all, he had spent only the force knows how long in the Shadowlands.

He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his resolve. He had come back to the galaxy for a reason, with a purpose. Augustus needed to find the man who had once been Grandmaster, once been his friend. He had to find Beric.

So he had made his way to Corellia. Hiding aboard cargo ships, passenger ships. Any transport headed core-wards, that might get him a little closer. He had been careful to avoid notice, sticking to the shadows and avoiding conflict. Though he had sworn to salvage what remained of his honour, of his soul, the former Battlemaster was not ready to announce his arrival to the galaxy.

First, he had to deal with Beric.

If he could save Beric, then maybe he could save himself.

So, he began walking, attempting to blend into the crowd that flowed out of one of Corellia's many spaceports. His dishevelled appearance, added to his height and size made it difficult at first, but soon enough he was simply another body in the crowd.

Eventually, he found his way to a bar. He didn't know what he was expecting, but he had no idea what had happened in the galaxy since his self-impose exile, and he would never find Beric if he didn't start looking somewhere...

He sat, in a shadowy corner, and ordered a strong drink. He would work out how he was going to pay later. In the meantime, he would sit, and listen...

 

[Kit]

A man entered the bar, glanced around, andslinked over to drop into the chair opposite Augustus. He was well dressed, hair in the current style, or as close as Augustus could tell. The man smiled, unpleasant and predatory. Augustus didn't recognise the man, and had no idea as to why he had chosen to sit with him, until he spoke.

"The shipments ready. Some lovely girls this time. I think you'll be particularly pleased with-"

Augustus realised at the same moment that man did; he had been mistaken for someone else. With the hood of his robes up, the man had assumed that Augustus was whoever he was here to meet. And the meeting was not for something nice.

"Shit..."

A moment passed, where the man clearly went through the flight or fight options. Then, suddenly, he scrambled out of his chair, and began to tear for the door. Augustus was after him in a flash, catching up as the man reached the door. Grabbing the man's hair, the once-Jedi slammed the man's face into the door frame, and was rewarded with a sickening crunch as his nose broke.

Augustus hesitated for a moment, as the man went limp in his grasp. The patrons of the bar had, almost as one, turned to look at the pair, who had drawn little notice until now. Making a decision, Augustus dragged the man outside, and found a nearby alleyway to escape the eyes of any potential onlookers.

The sun was rapidly setting, and the alley that he dragged the near-unconscious man into was almost totally dark already.

Pushing the man forcefully into the wall, and knocking the air from him, Augustus towered over the man. His original purpose forgotten, now fixated on what the man had said to him by mistake.

"A shipment of what."

His words came between gritted teeth, ice practically dripping from them. His hand wrapped around the man's collar, and the former Jedi lifted him slightly off the ground, demanding an answer.

"I-I... Don't know what you're talking a-about!"

The man stammered, his lie as obvious as his fear.

Augustus' response was a sucker punch, driving a fist forcefully into the mans stomach, driving what little air was in his lungs forcefully out. The man coughed and spluttered, whilst Augustus watched silently, a look of disgust clearly painted across his face.

"I..."

The man clearly considered another lie, and Augustus drew his fist back, before the man hurried to interrupt him.

"No! No, no, wait! Ok, ok, I'll tell you! Just... Just don't hurt me! Don't... don't..."

He trailed off, and Augustus relaxed his hand again.

"Dock 13."

Augustus remained static, clearly waiting for more information. Though... wasn't dock 13 where he had landed earlier, not too far from here?

"They're in a warehouse, at dock 13. Warehouse S, ok?"

The man glanced around, clearly hoping for help, but the look of desperation in his eyes revealed the truth; no-one was coming for him.

"Can... can I go now?"

Augustus finally spoke again, and did so quietly.

"No."

The man looked confused for a moment, not sure what Augustus had said, or meant. Then, a look of terror crossed his face, as he realised what it meant.

Before he could speak again, an invisible force began to press down onto his throat, growing stronger so quickly that he barely had time to notice it before his windpipe collapsed, and, moments later, his spine fractured, and split. He crumpled to the ground, as Augustus released him.

Turning, the ex-Jedi began to make his way back to the docks.

 

[Kit]

The former Jedi Master walked quickly, all too aware that it was only a matter of time until the corpse he had just made was found, and that he would need to be as far away as possible when it was. However, he was also preoccupied with the blood now on his hands. Not literally, as the kill had been clean and quick, but figuratively. Another stain upon his honour, though, if he was right, he had just done the galaxy a favour.

Vindication for his actions waited in warehouse s. He began to mutter a prayer to any god that would listen that he was wrong, and that his honour was stained. The alternative was far worse. However, he was cut off by a scream behind him.

He had hoped it would take longer than this.

Augustus fought the urge to run, and damn himself simply by appearing guilty. However, the decision was taken from him, when someone behind him yelled.

"Hey! He just came from in there! Stop him!"

The former Battlemaster cursed. Looks like he would have to run after all.

 

[Kit]

He pivoted almost on the spot, and began to sprint down the nearest side street, all the while praying that it wouldn't be a dead end. His goal of investigating the warehouse would have to wait, until the consequences of his actions had been dealt with... Or avoided.

A gasp of relief escaped his mouth, as he realised this street wasn't a dead end, but branched off in two directions. This would definitely help him avoid pursuit! But, as he made to go left, the force practically screamed a warning at him, and he immediately changed direction. He flitted down the right hand branch, just as two CorSec officers came running out of the left choice.

Cursing, Augustus began to run all the harder, wishing that he could use the force to speed himself up. He didn't want to advertise his presence here to any Jedi, so his own strength would have to suffice.

He came skidding out of the side street, and began running again. To his annoyance, he would have to go much further from the dock that he would have liked. In fact, having been seen very nearby, he might not be able to return at all. Lost in his thoughts, he barrelled straight into a group of drunk young men, knocking one over, and barely staying upright himself.

He was suddenly barraged with jeers and insults, as well as one or two thrown bottles, before he could pick up the pace to escape them, and stay ahead of the CorSec officers that he was sure were chasing him.

Sprinting down the street once more, with his eyes open for another side street to duck in to, he couldn't help but wonder how had this all gone so wrong so quickly.

 

[Kit]

He dashed down a side street again, and realised the answer to his question, he had let his emotion get the better of him. It had been easier to kill the man than to let him go, and it had felt good. It was, he had decided, wiping a small evil from the galaxy. Perhaps if he did enough, his own sins would be balanced out.

He kept running, though he was beginning to feel the onset of fatigue. He would need to find somewhere to hide soon, he couldn't keep sprinting like this forever. He spotted a doorway, and, with the force remaining silent, tried the handle.

It opened, and Augustus thanked the force. He quickly ducked inside, and flicked the lock.

He waited.

Seconds passed, and nothing happened. Slowly, seconds became minutes. It looked like he had lost his pursuers. He breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to look at the rest of the room he had burst in to. It was quiet, and empty, but clearly saw use. It was a hallway, with several doors leading off, and stairs at the far end. He could see light pouring from the doorways further down, and the sound of a holovid of some kind, being drowned out by a group of people talking.

Hopefully, he could find a way out of the building other than the way he came in, and avoid going right back in to the hands of the CorSec officers that had been chasing him.

He exhaled quietly, and began to move further into the building.

 

[Kit]

Suddenly, the conversation stopped, and moments later, the noise of the holo-vid did too. Augustus stopped, when the talk did, concerned about being heard. He was getting tired of everything going wrong exactly when it shouldn't. He was considering turning back, when he heard the floor creak behind him.

He spun to face whatever was behind him, to find himself staring down the barrel of a blaster.

His hand hovered over Mountain, he knew he was fast enough to draw and execute a Cho Mok before the man could fire, but he was the intruder here. He didn't actually want to hurt an innocent. However, his hesitation faded when he got a good look at the man in front of him. He looked sickly and gaunt, as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. But his pupils were massively dilated, and his whole body was shaking lightly. The man was strung out on some kind of drug, and smiling viciously at Augustus.

The former Jedi frowned slightly, before oh so carefully extending his senses through the force.

What information he could glean, from the unguarded thoughts of this man, was disturbing. Drugs, slaves... These people definitely weren't innocent. Though Augustus was tempted to smile, the Force having delivered him to another nest of evil to be dealt with, he didn't want to overplay his hand.

He reached for Mountain through the force, ready to pull it to his hand and attack the man, only to realise that it was... gone?

Augustus seemed to deflate, almost as if he had given up. He couldn't have lost Mountain. It was his most important, arguably only, possession. And without his blade...

He was in a lot of trouble.

 

[Kit]

Without warning, the addict before him fired, and, with such little warning, the former Blademaster barely managed to throw himself to the ground in time. The shot, which would have burnt a hole in his chest, instead tore a chunk out of his shoulder, causing him to yell in pain.

His restraint now fully eroded, Augustus lashed out at the man, a gigantic force push hammering him into the wall with a wet crunch. The once-Battlemaster dragged himself to his feet, and turned to face where he now knew three other men would be coming from, the sound of blaster fire a sure fire method of attracting attention.

Augustus rued his refusal to use a firearm, as the skill would have been very helpful in keeping the other men at bay. They emerged from the room, weapons in harm, and one yelled in surprise and anger. Augustus wasted no time slamming another massive force push into the small group, hammering them to the ground, before turning and running for the door.

He didn't bother with the bolt this time, instead using the force to smash the door from it's hinges. Turning, he began to retrace his steps at a decent pace, his eyes searching for his weapon the whole time.

Eventually, he saw it, and his sense of relief was both palpable and visible upon his features. That was, until he saw it in the hand of a CorSec officer, who appeared to be giving a report via commlink to a superior. Augustus cursed, though he felt like screaming. It was bad enough that his left arm was basically useless until he could find time to heal, but now his weapon was in the hands of one of the groups of people now actively pursuing him.

Though they had yet to notice him, Augustus knew it was only a matter of time until they did, or the group of criminals from earlier caught up. The former Battlemaster sighed. Today was only going to get worse.

 

[Kit]

Augustus did the best he could to block out the pain in his arm, and gather his bearings. Now that he was in immediate danger, and had resolved to get the hell off of this clearly somehow cursed planet, he was much less reluctant to use the force. If the Jedi were here, he couldn't care less if they knew, because he didn't plan on hanging around much longer.

He drew the force into him, as much as he could gather, opening himself up fully. Though his arm felt better almost immediately, his newly enhanced senses also made him all the more aware of the pain that still lingered. He reached out his good arm, the other still too injured by far too move freely, and snatched the lightsaber through the force. It flew to his outstretched palm, and he began to sprint.

His injury impeded his full speed, but even so, he far outstripped his best pace without the aid of the force.

Augustus' feet pounded the durasteel pavements, hollow sounds ringing at each rapid footfall. He was at the docks in minutes, and despite a large number of CorSec personnel, he moved so quickly through them that he was aboard a medium sized freighter before they could get a decent look.

He threw himself into the pilots quarters, and did his best at starting the autopilot.

The ship struggled to life, ramps closing and engines roaring, as the captain and first mate banged furiously on the now sealed entrances to the ship. The Battlemaster felt a surge of guilt; he had probably just ruined at least one livelihood, but at this point, he was mostly beyond caring.

Instead, he relaxed into the chair, letting the autopilot take the ship out of orbit, and into hyperspace.

Such was his exertion, and injury, that he had lapsed into unconsciousness before the autopilot announced the ship's destination; Coruscant.