Obroa-Skai: Discovery

((Semi-open; you could join if you want and can find a good reason to, but I'd appreciate it if you would try not to muddle up the story I'm setting up here. It's mostly informative.))

The news spread across the galaxy like wildfire. The governor of the library world of Obroa-Skai, often reviled as a tyrant, had been assassinated. Suddenly, the rebellion on that planet, which had generally been dismissed by galactic reporters as being of little consequence, had much more galactic attention than it had previously, with many cynical pundits predicting that even should the rebels pull it off, little would change: anchormen debated the possibility of a rebel victory on the news and discussed the potential galactic repercussions; politicians were splitting along party lines on the issue, with some advocating intervention on behalf of the new Governor and others calling for the Jedi to help the rebellion; starry-eyed idealists who had held little hope for Obroa-Skai’s liberation before flocked to the planet in droves with the intention of joining the rebellion, only to have the Governor revoke their passports and turn them away (if they were lucky) at the spaceports; and mercenaries and smugglers of all sorts sought, as always, to turn a profit on the burgeoning conflict, offering their services to one side or the other, or (in some cases) both. In a big galaxy that was constantly in conflict, a little-regarded rebellion on a distant planet was merely a footnote in the nightly newscasts, but the possibility of the success of that rebellion had everyone scrambling and prompted newsmen to keep a closer eye on the situation.

Erdo wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing…but he knew that the repercussions galaxy-wide couldn’t be worse than those on-planet. The new Governor and his Gang of 9 were, if anything, harsher than the previous one, and his tyranny was fueled by fears for the survival of his regime. Though the rebellion had picked up many recruits in recent weeks, the government still held the advantage money-wise and personnel-wise, and those resources were now being utilized to their fullest extent. The government’s thought police were out in force, arresting any and all of those who dared even to make an ambivalent statement towards their leadership…and Erdo had heard grim tales of the fates of those determined (correctly or incorrectly) to be connected to the rebellion. He himself had terrible visions of opening the door one day to the ominous thought police uniforms, and he had minimized his contact with the rebels in an attempt to obscure his connection. The generals had urged all rebels who could to get out of sight, to take their family and vanish into the night to take up shelter with their fellow rebels.

But as prudent as this advice might seem, it wasn’t an option for Erdo. His wife Ellana was still very much a victim of the government’s propaganda; she, like many of the citizens of this planet, had been duped into voting for Governor Frayan when he first ran for office, and she still fully believed in his “vision” for the world. Erdo had planned to tell her of his involvement in the rebellion, but a few political conversations with her over the dinner table had convinced him that she was not ready to embrace that radical solution. He doubted that she would turn him in, but it would cast a pall over their relationship, and he very much wanted to avoid that. He loved her dearly and wished there was a way to blow the smoke away from her eyes, but the government’s propaganda machine was very effective. All of the planet’s news sources were secretly under the control of the government—this the rebellion knew, though it was covered well enough that there was no concrete proof—and news from outside worlds was censored so that (when it was allowed through at all) it gave the impression that the rest of the galaxy stood with the established planetary government. Erdo himself would not know of the furious debate over this world’s future in the rest of the galaxy but for his contacts through the rebellion. His friend Josh Rato was in a similar situation, for though his wife knew about and supported his work in the rebellion, he had young children (the oldest, a beautiful daughter who had given Erdo his name when he was found and diagnosed with amnesia 8 years ago, was only 11 years old) and was reluctant to uproot them needlessly.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The knock on his door came hard and fast, and Erdo jumped. His eyes shifted around the bedroom as he took a deep breath, then let it out. It didn’t have to be the police—in fact, it probably wasn’t. There was always that chance, though, and given the choice Erdo would never answer the door. But they would just knock down the door anyways…worse still, however, would be if Ellana returned from work to find the police lying in wait to arrest her for being associated with him. The thought spurred him into action. Quickly rising from his sitting position on the bed, the Kel Dor grabbed his blaster, checking the charge and setting it to kill. Just in case.

He came to the door and, steeling himself for what lay beyond as he did every time he had to answer the door, he peered through the peephole.

There were no police outside, but the sight that greeted him was every bit as gut-wrenching. Josh’s wife Meghan stood outside with their children, which would not be alarming in of itself, except for the fact that the Ratos never brought their kids to his house…and for the petrified look on her face. He slipped his blaster into its holster, hiding it under his shirt, and jerked open the door and motioned them in silently, quietly closing the door behind them.

Meghan gave him a thin-lipped smile, then glanced at her kids as they rushed up the stairs, keen to explore this new place. When they vanished from sight, she turned her fearful gaze back onto Erdo. Tears rimmed her eyes as she said, “Erdo, they caught him. They caught him!” And, unable to control her tears any longer, she rushed into his arms and cried on his shoulder. Erdo tried to comfort him, but even as he did so his thoughts were racing and his heart started pounding. The police had found Josh out, had arrested him, would try him for high treason, and in those courts a conviction was a foregone conclusion. They would be searching for Meghan, too, which might lead them to him…

He forced himself to calm down. Maybe it wasn’t all that bad. They didn’t have to know that Josh was a part of the rebellion. Maybe Josh had just been arrested for a minor offense, a traffic violation of some sort or a remark that could be interpreted as hostile towards the government. If they didn’t suspect that he was part of the rebellion, they would only punish him with jail time and perhaps a fine, and Meghan—not to mention Erdo and Ellana—would be safe. Meghan was probably just overreacting, jumping to the worst possible conclusion.

He guided her to the couch, letting her expend her tears, keeping his impatience in check. He understood her fear—if Josh’s ties to the rebellion had been discovered, it was certainly justified—but he also wanted to hear if she knew any details about their situation. “Meghan,” he said cautiously. “I’m sorry, but I need to know. Are we in danger?”

The woman hesitated, and then nodded, and a chill went down Erdo’s spine. Trying to control her tears, she bit her lip and shook her head. In a choked voice, she managed, “Maybe.” Erdo got her a tissue, and she wiped her eyes and began. “I was at work when I received a call from Josh. He said that the police had pulled up outside of his building and that they looked like they had come for someone, and that if he didn’t call me back in five minutes I shouldn’t return to the house. We’ve talked about this happening before, and he has always told me that I should just get the children and get away. But…I didn’t know where to go.” Tears started to well up in her eyes, and Erdo handed her another tissue.

“Calm down, Meghan. It’s going to be alright. Are you sure that they arrested him because he was a part of the rebellion?” Erdo asked, his voice tinged with a slight edge of hope, though he knew it was nothing more than wishful thinking. If the police had come looking for Josh, there was little doubt that they knew something was up.

She nodded. “When he didn’t call back, I…called him. The police answered…they told me that he had been arrested for high treason.” This time, she couldn’t stop the tears, and she began frantically dabbing her eyes with the tissue.

Meanwhile, a chill went down Erdo’s spine. “You called him back?” he asked, and she nodded. “Then we don’t have much time. They’ll be looking for you; I don’t think they followed you here—that call was probably too short to trace, and they’d be here already if they did—but they were probably waiting at home to apprehend you, and now they know that you know what happened. They’ve probably been watching Josh long enough to know that you might come here in the case of trouble, so it’s only a matter of time. They’re coming.”

“Who’s coming?” Erdo jerked at the sound of the voice, his hand automatically dropping to his blaster, though he recognized the voice instantly.

“Ellana!” he said, rising from the couch and moving towards her.

She remained unmoving. “What’s going on, Erdo? Who’s coming?” Her voice was suspicious, and he cringed inside. He had dreaded this confrontation for some time, and it was worse now that they were pressed for time. I guess this is the price I pay for putting this off…

He motioned to Meghan, and she rose without a word and walked past Erdo, enfolding Ellana in a hug before heading upstairs to round up her children. Leaving them alone.

Erdo glanced at her awkwardly, but hesitation was a luxury he could no longer afford. “Ellana…Meghan’s husband was arrested today.”

Her gas mask disguised any emotion she might be feeling, but her surprise eked out through her voice. “What? Why? What happened?”

Erdo shut his eyes briefly and shook his head, then decided to just let it out. “He was arrested for high treason in his office earlier today. For being a member of the rebellion. The cops are looking for Meghan now, too.”

“But that’s preposterous. Josh would never do anything like that…and why would they arrest Meghan? Surely they don’t think she’s involved in this, too?” She reached for her comlink. “I have a friend who is a very successful lawyer. She’ll get this all sorted out.”

Erdo placed his hand over her comlink and shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. You see…even if Josh were innocent, once you are arrested for high treason there is no getting out.”

She gave him a sharp glance. “That’s ridiculous. Of course he’ll get out…and what do you mean by ‘if he were innocent’?”

Erdo shook his head and said, “Ellana, the court system nowadays is hardly a fair system. Everything is biased towards the government’s case; if they make an arrest, they don’t want to lose face by having arrested the wrong person. And in the case of treason…it’s impossible to get free.”

Disbelief still clouded her voice as she said, “Erdo, what did you mean by ‘if he were innocent? What are you not telling me??”

Erdo sighed and hung his head, then said, “Ellana, Josh and I were both part of the rebellion. We’ve been working closely with them for the past couple of years. And…we were among the team that took out Governor Frayan.”

He reached to give her a hug, but she shied away from him. “How could you do such a thing? How could you betray your government like that? And…murdering the Governor?”

Her words stung, but more because it was her saying them than because there was anything right with what she was saying. “Ellana, please hear me out. The government has got a hold on everything. Josh was arrested for being a rebel agent, but he could have easily been arrested for simply voicing his opposition to the governmental tactics. These thought police can arrest people on a whim and charge them with anything they like. The Governor controls the police force, the media, the health care system, the military, the stock markets, and the courts. He has become a dictator in everything but name.”

She backed away, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you.” Turning, she fled up the stairs, and Erdo heard the bedroom door slam shut. He allowed himself to collapse on the couch and buried his head in his hands, a sigh wracking his entire body.

Meghan came down the steps quietly, her two children in tow. She walked over, biting her lip, and put a hand on Erdo’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright. We’ll make it somehow—you just go patch things up with your wife.”

Erdo sighed again, then shook his head and rose. “No, you can’t go it alone. You’ll need help to make it to the rebellion without being caught…and I owe it to Josh to make sure you get there safely. Here, let’s throw a few things we’ll need together and we’ll be on our way.” He did not add that he feared for his—and Ellana’s—safety from the police, for there was a good chance that the police would discover that Meghan had indeed visited their home, in which case they needed to get out of there—fast.

They scrambled about in a hurry, throwing together a few necessities into a small suitcase, but Erdo could not keep his mind off of Ellana. He knew she wasn’t going to come, knew that this was too great of a shock for her to recover from right away, and when the police found her here when they arrived…well, she would be arrested and tried for treason along with Josh...not because she was guilty of something, but because of him. His heart broke at the thought of the two people he loved most in this galaxy being hauled off to jail, standing before an unfair judge in a biased courtroom, hearing the sentence of death pronounced upon them…

As Meghan gathered together some food for their trip, Erdo resolved to try again to convince Ellana to go with them, though he knew it was futile. He plodded slowly up the stairs, his heavy steps indicating that he knew the battle was lost even before he started trying. He knocked gently on the door of the bedroom they had shared for the past five years, and, when receiving no answer, cried out plaintively, “Ellana!”

Still no answer, and he hung his head. His voice was choked and halting as he continued. “Ellana! I, I’m sorry I kept this from you, and I’m sorry that I only sprung it on you now out of necessity. It’s just that…” No, that wasn’t right. “I have no excuse. I should have told you before. I should have discussed it with you even before making my decision, no matter how afraid I was of your reaction. I’m so sorry…and I love you so very much.”

A long silence followed, and Erdo waiting in the false hope that something he said may have perhaps convinced her, but nothing followed. Forcing back tears, Erdo turned and began the long, slow walk down the stairs, away from the love of his life, perhaps never to see her again.

He had already started down the steps when the door opened behind him. Startled, he glanced backward to see Ellana already striding quickly past him. She made no sound, did not even acknowledge his presence, but a suitcase was in her hand and she waited for him and for Meghan at the base of the stairs. Erdo tried to embrace her but she turned aside and embraced Meghan instead, and fell in behind them without another word.

Beneath his gas mask, though, Erdo was smiling. She was mad at him, true, and he hated it when it was like this…but she was coming with them, and she was willing to accept him even though she disagreed with his choice, and that meant the world to him.

He breathed a silent prayer and then said, “We’ll be using the secret getaway route Josh installed in our house. It’s dangerous down there, so I want everyone to keep their eyes open for anything…moving, and keep sound to a minimum. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We’ll be taking the route to get to Hender’s shop on Frayan Avenue, so if we’re separated, use the phrase ‘won’t get fooled again’ in any context. He will respond by offering you a great price on an object in his store, and if you reply using the words “A bargain, the best I ever had” he will convey you to the rebellion by the safest route possible. Got it?”

“Got it!” Meghan said. Ellana and the children just nodded. Erdo motioned for them to follow him, and then moved back upstairs to the hall closet. As he entered the closet, he tapped a code into an invisible keypad on the inside.

As the hidden door in the back of the closet slid open, banging came from the front door. “Open up! This is the police!”

Erdo shook his head, then motioned the children through. “Go…go!” he whispered, hoping to get them all through before the police entered the building. At the same time his right hand crept down to the blaster pistol under his shirt. Meghan hurried through and then, after some hesitation and some prompting by the insistent banging on the door, so did Ellana. Erdo closed the closet door just as he heard the crash signaling that the police had broken in, and he passed into the secret passageway after all the others, allowing the hidden door to close silently behind them. “Hold on,” he said, and followed words with action as he gripped one of the handles on the side of the small room they all now occupied. Ellana uttered a small shriek as the floor quickly dropped out beneath them. It was a one-time-use turbolift; after the hidden door was opened, the turbolift had a certain time limit before its supports were cut and it fell in a freefall to the level below. Fortunately it was a short drop, not enough to hurt anyone, and the fact that it could not be lifted again meant that even if the police found the secret passageway, they would not be able to use the lift.

The door opened to reveal an underground path, one completely unknown to the planetary government. But danger lurked even here; though often during the training sessions the rebels had been able to get through these tunnels without incident, some rebels had been lost in this cave and never returned…alive. Some of them had been seen again, lying on the ground covered in blood, and no one knew who the killers were. And in a group of five, they had but one blaster pistol between them. Erdo wished he had thought to grab a second blaster before they left, but it was too late now. There was no turning back.

At least the caverns were well lit, Erdo reflected as he led the group silently through the caves, blaster in his hand and at the ready. Ellana gave him an alarmed glance as he drew it out, but she said nothing and just shook her head.

They walked for what seemed like an eternity, with the children somehow remaining quiet, their fearful glances touching every corner of the area. Of course, only Erdo knew what sort of danger awaited them down there, but the silence was so thick and ominous that it was too dreadful to even consider breaking it; the first time Erdo had been down here, he had thought that if he had made but one small sound, the strings of silence knitting the caverns together would snap and the whole place would come crashing down. It was one of the most terrifying experiences he had ever had…but he knew that a much more terrible silence awaited him in the planetary dungeons, where all he had to look forward to was death.

And so he pressed onward, for hours, days, weeks. Intellectually he knew it could not have been more than an hour or two, but being so far underground and under the pressure of such constant danger made it seem to go on and on until the entire group had lost all sense of timing. Ellana, Meghan, and the children had long ago lost their sense of direction and were now just blindly following Erdo, who had been drilled on this route so many times when the escape plan had been settled upon that his mind was virtually incapable of forgetting the path towards safety.

Still, the silence weighed on him as well, and he suddenly quickened his pace as a dark feeling of dread settled over him. As though they, too, picked up on this feeling, the others kept pace with him, and their glances around the cavern became more frequent, and more frenzied. Erdo began to calculate how long it should take them to get out of this hellhole. Turn right at the corner ahead, continue along to take the middle route at the four-way crossroads, head up the stairs, turn around another corner, and then a simple jump would carry them out of this ghastly place. He smiled to himself and hurried around the corner…only to stop short, so quickly that it caused a minor train wreck within their party as Ellana crashed into him, Meghan’s daughter into her, and so on. Ellana turned towards Erdo as though to berate him, but her voice caught in her throat as she gasped at what Erdo had seen.

A mauled torso of what might once have been a human lied on the ground. It was almost completely unrecognizable, with the chest torn open and most of the organs and much of the skin ripped out. One arm and two legs remained attached to the body, but the remaining arm was nowhere to be seen. The victim’s face had been brutally ripped into and blood was splattered all over the area…fresh blood, as Erdo realized when he drew nearer and knelt by the figure.

He rose abruptly, and motioned to the others to come nearer. In a harsh whisper, he said, “We’ve gotta go now!” With his free hand, he motioned for them to hurry ahead, and he followed close behind. They could no longer afford to be so stealthy; the blood was still warm, which meant the killer—or killers, as the case might be—were probably still nearby. They had to get out of these caverns, and fast. Hopefully if they hurried they could escape this dungeon before the killer returned to his prey.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a roar came from behind him. Sparing himself a quick look back, Erdo caught sight of a monstrous wampa-like beast standing over the carcass, its huge arms outstretched toward the fleeing party. Erdo turned away and concentrated on where he was going; the creature looked slow and probably couldn’t catch them. And then he heard something that made his blood run cold.

An answering roar.

Coming from up ahead.

Ellana, who was ahead of the rest of the group, slowed down as she reached a point in which the paths branched out into three tunnels. Knowing that being quiet was a lost cause now, Erdo shouted, “The middle one! Keep going!” and followed words with action, as he gained ground on Meghan and her children.

Ellana complied quickly, her feet pounding the ground even harder than before. Meghan’s daughter followed, but as Meghan and her son reached the entrance, another of the wampa-creatures appeared out of the entryway on the right and moved to bar their way. Following his instincts, Erdo raised his blaster pistol and pumped two shots into the chest of the creature, which stumbled backwards, opening an opportunity for Meghan and her son to scramble through the entryway. Erdo cursed as he realized the predator was still alive; his blaster pistol could hurt them, but would require very good placement to actually kill one of the beasts. The one he had shot was recovering and, with a roar, moved to block Erdo’s path. More roars followed from behind and from the other passageways as more creatures joined the fray, quickly moving to surround the Kel Dor.

Erdo did not even hesistate; he charged straight for the being at the middle doorway, his blaster pistol up but not firing. He had a limited charge and had to make every shot count.

Wait for it…wait for it…

As he drew nearer and nearer to the beast, he could almost hear a voice in his head, the same voice that he had trusted to help him through so many battles. He felt time seem to slow down around him as the creature swung at him with its gigantic claws. He ducked under a blow that likely would have taken his head off, jumped up, and fired his blaster pistol point-blank into the animal’s throat. With a long moan, the creature staggered, then fell with a crash to the ground.

Erdo was already past it and heading towards the stairs ahead. A glance back revealed the creatures falling on the dying monster, tearing it to shreds…but some were not ready to give up on their prey so easily. First one, than two more leaped over the fray to run after the group, and Erdo shook his head and turned his gaze away. Ahead, he could see his wife halfway up the long stairway, with Meghan’s daughter following close behind and Meghan herself just setting foot on the stairs with her son in tow. He guessed that they could probably be out of there within five minutes if they could keep the pace up.

They couldn’t. As Erdo reached the foot of the stairs, he heard a gasp from above, and looked up to see that Meghan, who had just passed the halfway mark, had stumbled. She yelled at her son to keep running, then managed to force herself to her feet and keep running, but she was limping awkwardly and moved at a fraction of her former speed.

At the sound of her cry, Ellana, who had reached the top of the stairs, turned around and headed back, quickly reaching Meghan and helping to support her as they rushed up the stairs. But it would not be enough, Erdo saw as he glanced back to see the three monsters pick up speed in anticipation of their meal. And so he turned around, preparing to face the three creatures himself.

“Erdo?” his wife called from behind him, her voice betraying her fear and worry.

“Go, Ellana! Get them to safety. I’ll be alright.” Erdo shouted without turning. “Just turn the corner and jump up into the small crevice you find there, then follow it out into the open!”

There was a short hesitation, and then her voice came back. “Okay…just don’t get hurt.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Just get out of here!” With that, he faced the beasts themselves, determined to save those who were depending upon him. Of course, he himself had no intentions of dying here, but in his mind his safety was of secondary importance…and he didn’t know that he had much choice in the matter, because handling three creatures at once was probably beyond his ability. Closing his eyes, he whispered a silent prayer to the powers that be, then set himself in a defensive stance. “Alright. Come and get me.”

The monsters obliged, with the first one charging forward and slamming a fist downward in an attempt to crush him. Erdo leaped backward and watched as the fist buried into the ground where he had just been standing, then raised his blaster and pumped a shot into the creature’s head. It fell backward but was instantly shoved aside by the second beast, which swiped at Erdo with both claws and continued heading forward in an attempt to trample him. Again, time seemed to slow down around the Kel Dor as he leaped into the air, his body being borne up by some mysterious force he couldn’t explain, high enough to avoid both claw swipes. He came down on the ogre’s head and slid down its back, then fired three shots into the chest of the third one, which was close on the heels of the first one. As that one staggered backwards and tumbled down the stairs, Erdo whirled, ready to down the second one…

He wasn’t fast enough. The creature turned quicker than he had expected, and its arm caught him in the side, sending him to slam hard into the wall. He heard the crack of bone and felt pain wash over his body, but he had no time to dwell upon that. The creature loomed ominously over him, and Erdo watched almost as an outside observer as his hands moved seemingly of their own accord, gripping the blaster pistol and bringing it to bear.

His timing was perfect. As the beast came in for the kill, a single blaster bolt flew from the barrel of the gun and buried itself in the creature’s eye. A moan emitted from its mouth, then it toppled down the narrow stairway, taking the third creature, which had recovered and was returning for more, with it.

Erdo had no time to revel in his victory, for he knew the others would be back instantly. Forcing himself to get up, he turned his gaze once more to the top of the stairs and began to run. As he ran, he noticed something strange; he could have sworn he had cracked a rib, maybe two, but the pain had reverted to a dull ache rather than a sharp sting, and he was able to move without hindrance. It was as if something was boosting his energy, something more than just adrenaline, and his body had recognized that his injuries were less urgent than his survival. He shook his head, dispelling those thoughts. He couldn’t afford distractions right now.

As he reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner, he saw Ellana lifting Meghan’s son into the crevice; the daughter was obviously already inside. He nodded at her and helped the two women up, then, with one last glance around this place of death, he climbed up there himself.

They climbed upward, opening up through a manhole in a dark alleyway. Erdo sighed as he leaned against the wall of the building next to him, the building he knew to be Hender’s shop. They’d made it out alive, escaped their pursuers and the vicious monsters below.

Compared to all that, getting to the rebellion would be the easy part.

((Well, I realized I forgot to go back through and do all the italics and other formatting, but it occurs to me that it's unlikely that anyone will read this whole thing anyways. If you do get through it, congratulations. )

((I managed to, but it took me like 10 min to read.

(( I did o.O ))

(Anything worth reading has been read by this chap. )

((I read it last night when he posted it. 8 P))