Chapter 77 - Sinister

"... We are going to their home."

So their next destination was Mon Cala. Dageer had already heard of the situation on the planet. The two intelligent species on the planet, the mon calamarians and the quarrens had engaged on war for hundreds of years, only coming to some kind of peace on the last few decades.

But that peace was once more broken when the Clone Wars started and the planet once again was divided in two. Most of the mon calamarians took the Republic side, the exceptions being a few like Hiigi and Merai. On the other hand, the quarrens had taken the Republic side, mostly because they didn't want to fight side by side with the mon calamarians.

As the flames of their internal conflict burned stronger and stronger, both Republic and Separatist had sent their troops. Now, both sides were in a standoff both on space and on the planet.

One side controlling the south, and the other the north, small skirmishes had been happening for the last months. Now the planet was on the verge of an all-out conflict. And Dageer voiced his doubts about it.

"Sir, it is not that I like the situation on the planet, but till now, nothing big happened. However, I fear that the arrival of another Republic fleet and legion might be the spark that ignites it all."

"The mon calamari king asked for Republic aid. If we deny that, the whole planet might turn to the Separatist. And the start of a war is crucial. Losing a planet on a battle, we can take it back. But losing the people? That is not something that can be retaken easily. The Senate is afraid that this might start a chain reaction. We have to show our allies, and the neutral systems that we can be trusted."

"Even if that means starting another battle?"

Seeing that things were getting a little out of hand, Commander Keeli intervened.

"Dageer, orders are orders!"

"Yes sir!"

...

Later, somewhere more silent of The Sincerity.

Commander Keeli stoped Dageer, and looked at him seriously.

"Dageer! What was that?"

"Commander, with all due respect, but we are going to send a lot of our brothers to death if we go to Mon Cala. I just think..."

"You think I don't know that?! Do you think the general doesn't know that?! Let me tell you something. When we received our orders, the first thing the general did was go and voice the same concerns with the Jedi Council."

That got Dageer. Of course, General Di would think the same things he did, and have the same worries.

"You, Dageer, are a sub-commander now. If the only thing you do is complain and go against your superiors, then maybe you are not as fit for this position as we thought you were. We are going to Mon Cala, and we are going to fight. That is our job. We are already at war. One battle more we win can be the decisive factor, and you know that. Now think about that, and I want you to pass the information you passed to us to as many as possible soldiers. Go."

"Yes sir! I am sorry sir, I..."

Dageer wanted to explain, but in the end, he just decided to go do his bindings. Meanwhile, with all that talk about Mon Cala, he wondered what happened to Hiigi, the mon calamari he fought on Scarif.

------------------------

Millions of parsecs away, deep into Wild Space.

A small ship came out of hyperspace. The ship was controlled by only one being, a mon calamari.

Before Hiigi was a small planet, called Kalee. When Count Dooku sent him there, Hiigi had looked for all the information he could get on the planet. However, besides the coordinates and the fact that there were no intelligent lifeforms there, he got nothing else.

When his scanners analyzed the planet, he saw that there was no sign of life at all. It was a barren and deserted planet, but weirdly, his sensors told him that it should be habitable to most lifeforms in the galaxy.

As he got closer to the planet, his sensors finally picked up something different. On one of the few mountains of Kalee, there were high energy fluctuations.

Hiigi flew over the plains and savannas of the planet, and landed on the mountain range. There, amidst the mist, a door was opened, and waiting for him. He picked his vibro-trident and his blaster, and got in slowly.

As soon as he passed through the door, it closed, and he was in total darkness, one that even his eyes, adapted to the depths of Mon Cala, couldn't see through. But he walked all the same, until an eerie voice was heard.

"KaKaKaKa! So you are the insect that... cough... cough! The insect that my master sent for me to train."

"Whooo are yoooou?!"

"KaKaKaKa! If you survive, you will see."

A hole opened under Hiigi, and he fell in the darkness below. Inside the mountain, only a creepy laugh remained.