Chapter 9
Chapter 8
Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.
Warning: A bit of violence in this chapter and some death.
Chapter 8
As they walked into the Wookiee village Andrew noticed the Wookiees run down and welcome him and they growled welcomes to them.
He smiled and waved to them when the Wookiees that led them here separated and showed their leader.
C-3PO translated the grunts and said, “Master Andrew, this is the leader of the village, named for his famous ancestor: Zaalbar.”
Andrew bowed and said, “I am Andrew Naberrie of Naboo, these are my companions: Watto of Toydaria and Shmi Skywalker of Tatoonine.”
Zaalbar nodded his greetings and looked in Andrew’s eyes and growled out something.
“Master Andrew, he says welcome to Kashyyyk and he also has a request after dinner,” C-3PO said proudly.
Andrew looked puzzled but agreed to listen to the request.
Zaalbar nodded and roared as the food was brought in, Andrew looked at the roasted meats and vegetables. C-3PO translated the conversations or questions and Andrew found himself answering about the worlds he had visited and Naboo and his family.”
He bit into a roast leg of something as they talked, Zaalbar told him of his Ancestor’s deeds about how he brought the Wookiees into the Republic and while some villages still preferred to be left alone, even their own village was relatively isolated.
After the dinner Zaalbar gave Andrew a serious look and growled.
C-3PO said, “The wise Zaalbar wishes you to venture into the Shadowlands and hunt the great beast that appears to be hunting their kind, many warriors have fallen and not come back but you have something in your eyes.”
“By myself?” Andrew stammered, “Because I can’t, not by myself.”
“He knows that Master Andrew,” C-3PO said, “He wishes you to have a guide to the Shadowlands, the bravest warrior of their tribe: the mighty Chewbacca will accompany you into the Shadowlands.”
“Why me?” Andrew asked confused, “I’m just a kid.”
“Because,” C-3PO stated, “Zaalbar needs an offworlder to do this as the Republic will not look into this.”
Andrew frowned and nodded, “Very well, I’ll do this as long as you promise that if I don’t come back you let Shmi and Watto go.”
Zaalbar nodded and he called Chewbacca over, who looked at Andrew curiously.
As Andrew and Chewbacca headed out Shmi looked at C-3PO who stated, “I shall go with him so they can communicate.”
Andrew waved C-3PO over as they left the village.
They listened to Chewbacca explain the dangers of the Shadowlands and Andrew sighed, if he could stand on Korriban then he could survive these Shadowlands.
They walked towards the elevator and Andrew gulped nervously as they entered it and it went down into the Shadowlands, the moonlight dimming and Chewbacca was trying to calm him down.
As they walked onto the surface of Kashyyyk Andrew could hear snarls and growls from beasts and stuck close to Chewbacca, who guided them through the Shadowlands to where the beast supposedly hunts.
“Oh dear,” C-3PO mused, “This place doesn’t seem very safe Master Andrew, especially for a young man your age.”
Andrew made a face and muttered, “It’s going to be alright, Chewbacca is helping us, right?”
Chewbacca nodded and growled as they kept up and followed him.
The trees loomed, blotting out any of the natural moonlight and Andrew knew why the Wookiees stayed in the higher levels as this place was scary. He could feel a primal energy here, it was almost feral and he clung close to Chewbacca.
“Master Andrew,” C-3PO stated, “Chewbacca states that your fear will attract the Katarn.”
Andrew nodded as they walked into a large clearing that Andrew felt, if it had been on Naboo it would’ve been calming, but here it looked sinister.
Chewbacca held up his hand and snarled, “The beast approaches,” C-3PO translated.
As they remained hidden there was rumbling sound as the creature crashed through the foliage, Andrew felt uneasy, ‘It looks like a mutated Rancor with large tusks and long spines coming from its back,’ it sniffed the air and it seemed to be looking for something.
‘It’s looking for me,’ Andrew thought, ‘It can smell the Force and I bet my last credit that it eats force users.’ It looked right at him and walked over to him when it was stopped by a voice screaming, “You weren’t allowed to be here right now.”
A man walked out and Andrew shuddered as he looked at him, this guy seemed really off, he didn’t seem that much older than Obi-Wan was when they were on Naboo.
The man looked around and stroked the creature’s back, he yelled, “Come here Wookiee, come and face me.”
Chewbacca walked while Andrew tried to pull him back and he shook his head, “No Chewbacca, it seems like a trap,” he whispered.
“Ah, there you are,” the man laughed, “Another Wookiee.” Chewbacca roared at him and the man stepped back and said, “Why I’m not killing Wookiees, I love Wookiees and I have to keep them alive to make a profit off them all or we would have to sell their pelts and a live Wookiee is worth more than a dead one. Do you like our pet? We found it asleep and decided to wake it up to lure you savages in here.”
Andrew realized that they were slavers and his eyes darkened considerably. Slavers, he hated them a lot as they did bad things.
“Now Wookiee, I sense there is someone else here,” the man said, “Someone with potential, you have a friend, does your friend want to come out too?”
“C-3PO,” Andrew whispered, “Leave while you can, we cannot risk you getting captured as well. While I’m going to try to help Chewbacca you get more help.”
Andrew ignored C-3PO’s sputtering denial as it left and he walked out.
“Ah, there you are,” the man said with a slight smile on his face, the creature turned around and snarled at Andrew. “Now that’s interesting, my pet senses the Force and I can too, you have potential.”
He walked over and had the beast hold Chewbacca back while he examined Andrew and smiled, “You have potential and it’s intoxicating, why did the Jedi leave you untouched? I sense their presence on you.”
Andrew gulped and the man smiled, “Fear or is it concern for these beasts? They are meant to be enslaved, most races can understand and speak basic but they can only understand it, why would that be unless they were born to be slaves?”
“No,” Andrew said, “No one deserves to be enslaved; I know ex slaves as I was part of the group that helped free them.”
He simply shrugged and said, “Let’s talk about something else, like you coming with us so we can train you in the force.”
“You’re not a Jedi,” Andrew said warily.
“Of course me and my companions aren’t Jedi; we’re members of the Agricultural corps or were. We all had potential but no master chose us and they decided that our future was to scratch in the dirt making worthless plants grow and we can’t even enjoy our own harvests, they were given to the poor,” the man spat out.
“So,” he said, “Me and some friends from the corps decided to make our own destiny our own way and it was hard at first but we got stronger.”
“How!!?” Andrew yelled, “How can you do this? If you were in the temple then you should know better.”
Chewbacca roared his agreement and the man growled, “Do you know what a Jedi’s life is boy? It’s a life of sacrifice and duty; no happiness, no joy. We are encouraged not to love even in the corps though we’re told to be compassionate.”
Andrew felt ill suddenly as the man smirked, “You’re going to feel sleepy, it’s time for you to grow up kid,” as he used the force to cause Andrew to collapse. He walked over, picked Andrew up and slung him over his shoulder, he looked at the beast and said, “Come, we’re done here.”
As Andrew was being carried off Chewbacca snarled and the man said, “Take the beast too as we’ll need something to sell.”
Hours later Andrew woke up in a cage, he still wore his robes and even the lightsaber was still there, surprising him.
The man smiled, “I suppose I didn’t give you my name? It’s Gano Sunshadow and I must admit that you have potential, the only ones that had your potential were some sandrats from Tatoonine.”
Andrew looked down and away from the man who simply stared at him and walked away for a couple of hours. Andrew sat in the small cage, hearing them talk about their operations and how they had to put some of the angrier Wookiees down and his anger was growing, these were sentient creatures they were talking about. He heard bellows of pain and felt ill; they were using the Force to dominate the Wookiees.
He sat alone in the cage sniffing, he could hear the Wookiees being treated like animals and the rage was growing. He felt the lightsaber in his pack and suddenly ignited it and sliced through the cages.
Gano grinned, ‘So, I’m right; the boy has a lightsaber, I wonder where he got that? Well I have one myself and the boy has no idea how to use his.”
Andrew was free; he had to find the Wookiees and that creature if it decided to attack. As he shut the lightsaber off he ran towards the area where he heard the sounds coming from.
The holding pen was awful, ‘How did the Wookiees miss this place? Its disgusting.’ he wondered if Faith or Anakin suffered through this, being put in pens and treated like animals?
His rage was growing as he saw the smaller Wookiees lying on the ground, he heard a roar and saw the big creature walk out and it roared at him again.
A voice rippled though Andrew’s mind whispering, *That’s a Terentatek; a great beast that hunts Jedi and other Force users.*
Andrew ignited the lightsaber trying to scare it away from the Wookiees and it ran towards him, the voice whispered, *Defend yourself, remember your past.*
He leapt back from its claws and sliced his lightsaber through its flesh, causing it to back away.
As Andrew fought the beast he felt a presence flow over him and his rage was starting to subside as he sliced off one of the arms of the beast.
Andrew felt good, really good as he managed to hold his own against the Terentatek and finally killed it.
“This is impossible!!” Gano screamed, “This kid is using techniques that the Jedi masters don’t know,” he Ignited his lightsaber and he and his gang jumped in front of Andrew.
Gano smirked, “You got moves kid, last chance: help us put the Wookiees down and you can get rich, I mean Wookiee slaves and pelts catch a hefty price from the Trandoshans.”
Andrew growled, the anger and hate he felt for these people was growing so much that he had to scream, he had to let it out as he suddenly screamed loudly and the dark side of the force powered his scream, pushing the slavers. He growled, “I hate slavers, I hate you all!! You bastards don’t even deserve justice or mercy, only death.”
He rushed over towards them and suddenly screamed as he sliced through them and used the power of Force scream to hurt them.
On Coruscant Anakin looked up and shuddered, Faith looked at him and whispered, “What’s wrong Ani?”
Anakin whispered, “Its Andrew, something’s happened. He feels angry, I don’t know why but I want to help him.”
Andrew came out of the rage and he saw that was covered in blood, he whispered, “Gods, what did I do?” He looked behind him and opened the cages that kept the Wookiees prisoner, they looked at him almost fearfully but as he smiled he felt ill, ‘That was like being on Korriban.’ The presence that was in him also felt ill but it tried to reassure him.
Chewbacca walked towards him and picked him up and carried him back through the Shadowlands, Shmi and Watto saw Andrew covered in blood and Shmi whispered, “What happened to him?”
A Wookiee gave a growl and C-3PO stated, “Andrew now has their thanks as he did what had to be done, let him not be condemned for it. His name shall be honoured.”
Shmi walked over to him and said, “Andrew, are you going to be alright?”
He shook his head no, “I did a bad thing Shmi,” he whispered, “I killed those slavers, I was so angry, I hated them all. It was like some sort of rage took me and made me into a monster.”
Zaalbar looked at Andrew and growled, C-3PO stated, “You acted as a Wookiee would’ve done. Our tribe honours you with the robes of the Revan and of the Exile and Chewbacca has requested to join you on your journey of exploration, to aid you if you are in trouble.
Andrew nodded and Watto flew around worried about Andrew as he felt different and decided to go to a safe world. He flew next to Andrew and said, “What about Ithor? It might help you feel better, not my taste but the planet is peaceful.”
“I suppose,” Andrew whispered as he walked into the ship, holding the robes that Zaalbar’s tribe had given them.
TBC
What do you think of Andrew’s use of the dark side? What will the Jedi think of this? What do you think of my choice for the dark side technique? What do think of Chewbacca joining the team?
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