Enter Darth Seront

This is an excerpt from a work a friend of mine and I are cowriting. It was originally going to be included in the first book but might just have to be the beginning of the second if it works out that well.

‘There is something wrong. Something has changed.’

‘What do you mean, sir?’

‘The flow of the force has changed. It is no longer in my favor.’

‘Ricktick doesn’t … ‘

‘QUIET!’

The room quivered and Ricktick was forced to blink rapidly. Somewhere in the mess of Ricktick’s hovel a jar smashed and liquid flowed across the floor.

It must have just fallen. Ricktick was clumsy and it fell.

Ricktick gave Seront a quick glance and averted his eyes back to the floor. Seront was smaller than average but next to Ricktick’s tiny body the man was a giant. He was never still. Seront swayed only slightly left-to-right right-to-left. It was not the swaying of the mad but a thoughtful cunning serpent. Indeed the man was a serpent. Dark red, almost black, scales covered his body. Seront’s eyes were a deep yellow the color of sulfur. The eyes seemed to glow with an inner light. The eyes of Seront unsettled Ricktick deeply.

Those eyes were piercing the distance between the two and they made Ricktick quiver as the room had only moments before. Of course, the room hadn’t quivered that was only Ricktick’s imagination.

‘There is something wrong and the Mandalorians are at the center of it.’

Seront’s voice had a rumbling rolling quality. His voice resonated within Ricktick. The voice made Ricktick burn inside and Ricktick did not like the burning.

As Ricktick burned inside, Seront mused absent-mindedly. He clawed at the hollow of his cheek tearing a layer of dead scales from his face and peeling it down his neck. Ricktick began to shudder. It was a convulsive shudder from his core. Ricktick couldn’t stop himself.

‘What was the name of the creature you sent to retrieve the relic?’

‘Trevailyn,’ Ricktick blurted out.

Seront repeated the name slowly letting it resonate and linger in the air.

‘He was a Mandalorian of some repute, sir.’

‘Silence, Ricktick.’

The snake’s eyes unfocused the slits became wide as he gazed into a far off corner of the room.
Seront was shedding his body he became a creature without form something of the Force. His essence was now connected to everyone and everything in the universe. Ricktick was fidgeting. He was planning something but it was of little consequence. Seront knew what Ricktick would do or at least what he was thinking of doing.

Seront reached out through the cosmos for a Mandalorian named Trevailyn and the Force blocked him. He felt anger and rage swell within him it choked at his throat and he began to lose his concentration. Bordering between the physical and metaphysical Seront swallowed the rage and fell back to the Force. He reached and it resisted. Over and over again he reached. He was beginning to lose Trevailyn. Seront lunged with all of his will and seized the barrier and wrestled with it. Falling through eternity Seront fought with the Force. It fought him but he would not be denied. After the everlasting struggle the Force was brought to his will.

As Seront came back to the physical, the Force laced through his body. It danced along his
blood vessels and invigorated his soul. He was the master of the Force.

When his eyes came into focus they centered on a blaster held by shaky Ricktick. The little man’s eyes were darting between the two yellow orbs. He squeaked in alarm as they came into focus and Seront began to speak. Recovering from the shock Ricktick steeled himself and held the blaster firm inches from Seront’s face.

‘It would seem that Trevailyn was a poor choice Ricktick. They have taken the relic for themselves.’

‘I am very sorry, si …’

Ricktick had stopped mid syllable in the process of squeezing the trigger of his blaster. Nothing happened and Ricktick had suddenly and completely froze. He could not even blink. His chest heaved in panic. Why had Ricktick’s body betrayed him what was happening to Ricktick. His mind raced back and forth. In his mind his muscles were flexing but nothing happened. In his eye’s mad dash to find the source of his torment they settled on Seront’s yellow eyes. They were smoldering and fixed on Ricktick. This devil had done this to him this monstrous snake of a man. Seront swayed back and forth slowly, slowly.

‘All is well dear Ricktick,’ Seront cooed. ‘I will retrieve the relic myself.’

‘P-p-please, s-sir.’

Seront’s face became stony and focused. The anger within him became infused with the Force. He simply raised his hand open palmed towards Ricktick and with a violent clench of his clawed hand Seront crushed him.
. . .

The manager of the space station eventually came to investigate the missing Ricktick. It had been four months since the little rodent had paid his rent and this was the last straw. Mez had to throw him out this time.

If he don’t leave, I’ll just have him jettisoned into space. That useless junk will have to be jettisoned with him. What will I got to do to get that nasty little room clean? Maybe some space slugs will clean it all up. That acid might be a problem. Hmmm maybe an acid wash would work just as well. Cheaper too.

Mez fumbled with it’s keys trying to find the right card among a wallet filled with gray cards. As it mumbled to itself, Mez tossed the cards one way or another searching for Ricktick’s card. It finally found the grungy old card. Mez swiped it twice rapidly across the door to create a tone inside the apartment indicating someone was at the door. No one answered and Mez tried it several more times. Mez sighed and held the card up to the card pad. The door groaned and attempted to open. It succeeded only by a centimeter and screeched to a stop. Mez held it’s hands to its ears and swore. It paused and then swore again, this time in surprise, as a stench emanating from the room crinkled its nostrils slits.

That Ricktick is more filth than I thought.
Why is this door not moving?

As Mez investigated the broken door he realized it had been bent from the outside to form a concave shape. Mez stumped out of the corridor. The tiny landlord returned later with a heat cutter and began working on the door. The cutter was old and its power source cut out several times. Finally Mez cut a hole in the door large enough for him to squeeze it’s small wiry frame through. Mez instantly clutched his bony hands over his nose holes as he entered Ricktick’s apartment. Then it’s hands dropped.

Ricktick was dead. His gut had been torn open by carrion feeders living on the station. Most frightening to Mez, and the probable cause of the rodent’s death, was that Ricktick’s ribs were all depressed inwards. Ricktick’s eyes and mouth were wide open. Blood had not only flowed from his mouth across the floor it had seeped through his shocked little eyes.

With it’s hands firmly over it’s nose, Mez took a few steps towards Ricktick. After three steps towards the broken rodent, a high pitched beeping emanated from a nearby stack of junk. Mez hardly had time to gasp before the little landlord was jettisoned out into the void of space along with Ricktick and all of the countless pieces of junk lovingly collected and stacked over the course of forty years.

Back on Mez’s station a single blast door closed automatically sealing off the rended room. Somewhere in the distant parts of the station a whining alarm sounded.