Exar: A Youth Wars Story

Part 1: The Deserter

(This story is in two parts; the second part is in progress. I will not be uploading daily, as I have multiple books in the works right now.)

Chapter 1

The dripping of perspiration. The beating of his heartbeat. The scream of the crowd. The bruises on his skin. The drops of blood. The typical sensation of a brawl. Exar managed a smirk as he recovered. He lifted his head, and -as the opponent approached- flipped into the air. He twisted his body around, and gave his rival's head a heavy side-kick. He landed and swiftly spun around him, and pushed him into the stone wall, shoving him head-first into the brick.

The adversary fell, nearly passed out. Exar stepped away, then raised his arms, and faced all of the crowd as applaude erupted. The other Zabrak rose, slowly, and rubbed his head and stretched. He approached Exar and stuck his arm out. "Good match, Exar."

Exar faced him and clasped his forearm, "Very good, Heceowa."

"I'll be victorious next match." Heceowa told him.

"Nah, you know I'm better than you."

"All it takes is more training. One of these days though, Exar."

Exar shrugged, then they picked up their capes and upper garments, and retreated back through the doors to fully recover.

Exar bandaged himself, after applying bacta to his wounds. He put his unifrom back on, then looked into the mirror, and observed himself. He laughed, then said to himself, "You're gonna hurt yourself one of these days."

...

He smiled again. "And you're gonna get in trouble if you keep trying to sneak up on me like that." Exar spoke loudly, turning his head to the side, eyeing the shadow in the corner.

The shadow rose and a human appeared. "What are you gonna do about it?" He teased with a grin.

"Something you can't do." Exar replied.

"Yeah right." Ephraim said as they hugged.

"Oh, but one of these days. How'd the mission go?" Exar asked as they separated.

"Same result every time. Find the base, scare the soldiers, destroy the base, chase away the soldiers... after destorying every means by which they fight." Ephraim replied.

Exar paused for a second, then replied, "That sounds normal."

"Mhm. How'd the match go? And who'd you fight?"

"Do you really need to know how I beat Heceowa?"

"Say no more. What's on the agenda?"

"Nothing new."

"Hitting the training deck?"

"Same ol', same ol'."

The leaders gathered into a mediocre, cave room, bringing together the council. Consisting of Zabraks Aren Mastigar, Tover Chelchu, and Ora Tao-ni; and humans Dara Tarask, and Jecht Woodle. They were all similar, but very different. Tough, headstrong, and smart: all attributes fit for leaders.

Aren Mastigar was the main head of the council; he ran everything that went on in their caves. He had only the horns on the back of his head -and parts of the horns on the front- due to an accident on one of his missions. Black and red tattoos, and only a few scars covered his body. He always wore, the same as everyone else, black robes.

Tover Chelchu was second-in-command; he was in charge of organization. He was Aren's right-hand-man. and occasionaly the leader when Aren was gone. He too had red and black tattoos, but unlike Aren, Tover had all horns and no scars; but had cybernetic fingers and right eye.

Ora Tao-ni was in charge of leading the students in meditation and in connecting with the force, learning new things every once in a while. Being one connected with the force more, she was always the calmest one, even in hard situations. Despite that, she was brutal when necessary. She had black and yellow tattoos, and all her horns.

Human Dara Tarask was the teacher of physical combat; she was the strongest physically, a toughie with muscles, but though she had immense strength with the force, she rarely uses it. She had dark, shoulder-length hair, and bright blue eyes that -some would say- might have been crafted by the force itself.

Jecht Woodle was in charge of all missions and the mission "simulator". He formed plans, and computes the possible outcomes of each mission. He had very short hair, which best fit his round face and dark eyes. He knew best who to send on any mission, and was proud of any decision he made; missions hardly ever came out wrong.

"Now that we're all here, we shall begin." Ora said.

"You've made us all curious." Jecht said to her.

"I'm aware. I have made a discovery in one of our students." Ora said.

"You don't say?" Tover asked sarcastically.

"Shortly after a session, I delved into the force, meditating, again. And this time, the force has shown me a trace of an element." Ora explained.

Aren remained still, stroking his chin, looking downward, while the others shared gazes.

"Do you happen to know which element?" Jecht asked.

"Is it one of our current sudents? Or is it one we'll meet, soon, perhaps?" Dara wondered.

"It's Ephraim." Aren said, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Our most gifted pupil. I've always sensed something special in him, and I suspected as much as an elemental power. I meditated on the force, as well, and have also found a hint of it."

"You knew?" Tover asked.

"Of course he did." Dara reasoned.

"He is the smartest of all students, he functions at a faster rate than all the others; and being as strong as he is, I dare say he's more than gifted." Jecht said.

"When are we going to tell him?" Dara asked.

"As soon as possible. He needs to immediately begin advanced training to unlock his special ability. I will leave it to Jecht and Ora."

"Already know what we need to do." Ora said.

"Very good. Council dismissed."

As everyone began leaving, Aren summoned Ora back. "We are to receive new additions soon. I had a vision, concerning people I had never seen before. I'm going to need you to do a little mind probe around them. I believe we will have all six of them soon."

"All six?" Ora whispered. "Is it time?" Ora asked, after assessing the context of his statement.

"It is. We will need to prepare."

"Why didn't you inform the others?"

"For all I know, this may just be a test; given the possible circumstances, I believe this information is best kept confidential."

"But don't you think that if we receive all six elementeers we'll need their help to properly help the students manifest their power?"

"I'll tell you what, sister, if we find them within our grip, we'll let everyone else know. That sound alright?"

Ora rolled her eyes while grinning. "You're the boss." She said playfully.

Exar and Ephraim trained hard in the gym, sparring, running, and lifting. Their gym, like most event rooms in their catacombs, was lit by fire. Two openings on either side of the gym, but no windows. Two torches surrounded each door, and a single strand of fire ran along the wall from torch to torch. The room was lit enough to look powered by electric lights, but the room temperature was something different entirely; the heat would be considered above average for outsiders, but was normal to the inhabitants.

Exar and Ephraim were finished exercising, then Exar decided to bring up a topic on his mind. "You know, besides today, we haven't really talked much. Not in a long time."

"I guess so." Ephraim replied as they exited the gym.

"We've been friends for as long as I can remember, and I think the lack of communication has been severing a bond we established." Exar continued as they entered a neighboring room.

"You know I'm a busy guy. I've been a hard worker, and have impressed our leaders. If I keep it up, I could fulfill my dreams of becoming probably one of the most powerful force-wielders the galaxy has ever known. And you know as well as I do, that that's not something anyone would like to pass up. My point is: I can't spend too much time doing other things other than become stronger."

"You can't let attachments get in the way of your destiny." Exar figured.

"I guess so." Ephraim said again. "Let's talk later."

Exar and Ephraim took turns refreshing themselves, showering, and cooling down. Once done, they met back outside and walked through the halls.

"I hope you understand my perspective."

"Yeah."

"Great things can't undermine more important things."

"I know attachments shouldn't get in the way, but they can also make you stronger. If you know how to treat them properly, they help shape your fate."

"Also a considerable fact."

"Attachments go both ways. Together, we can get more done than we can apart. One man can't do the job of two." Exar told him.

"Only half the job." Ephraim replied.

Exar internally laughed. "A force-wielder, but not an elementeer."

"Ephraim!" Ora and Jecht shouted across the hall.

"Masters?" Ephraim acknowledged.

"Jecht and I need to have a word with you." Ora said.

Ephraim looked concerned. "What about?"

"It's confidential." Jecht answered.

"Ah." Ephraim's eyebrows raised.

"I'll catch ya later." Exar said, waving him off. Ephraim disappeared into the distance, and Exar stood there thinking to himself. 'Aaaaand what do I do now?'

-Meanwhile, Somewhere in the Outer Rim-

Two Zabraks dashed stealthily through the grass under the night sky.

"Where were the coordinates of those signals?" One asked.

"Just up ahead. Wait! Northwest, now!" The other replied as they leaned another direction and resumed running. They shortly came across a Resistance base; they laid down in the grass and observed. "Keep an eye out. I'm transmitting the coordinates to base."

Exar finished up eating a meal, and remained sat at the table. Heceowa joined him shortly. "What's up?" Exar asked monotonically.

"I gotta know. What's your secret?"

"Eh?"

"How do you win each time? It seems like no matter how hard I train-"

"When are you going to figure out that it isn't just brawn that gets you through a fight?"

"There can be ways to go around it. That force-stuff kinda creeps me out, and I'd prefer to distance myself from it."

"One of these days, you'll change your mind."

"The day my life hangs on the line will be the day I consider."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Exar asked, chuckling.

"If we're taken captive, if we're invaded." Heceowa pointed out.

"We are safe here. Invasion is unlikely." Exar told him.

All students were attending Ora's force class. Exar looked around, but didn't spot Ephraim anywhere. He, as well as all other students, sat in connection with the force. It had been a while since any student had received a vision during this time, but that was going to change.

Exar knew Ephraim's absence meant something was up, and he knew it was definitely something force-related; he focused on that, and was not disappointed.

He found himself back in the catacomb hallways, but they were all empty. Not a sound was heard, and all lights were still; no flickering and no popping. He saw torches along the wall, but the fire wasn't moving. He approached one of them, and hesitantly reached out, but the still fire didn't scorch his hand. He pulled it back and stared, amazed.

"What is this?" He asked aloud, hoping for a response, but all he heard was the echo.

He turned away from the torch and faced the cave, but saw something different. Something horrifying. All of a sudden, several dead bodies were strewn about. All familiar faces. He screamed and stumbled back. He regained himself, still weak in his knees, but started trudging through the mess. He looked around at all the bodies, starting to panic.

"What happened?"

He stopped in his tracks once he saw Heceowa. He knelt down in front of him, and sensed no life in him.

"He doesn't deserve this." He looked around. "None of them do."

He got up and continued to reach the end. He then felt that he stepped in a puddle. He looked down, and saw the pile of blood. He screamed, and tripped. Looking intensely at the puddle, he noticed a reflection forming. He looked into it more, but didn't see himself. Just a black shadow. The shadow started moving away, until it was 'far away.' Exar frowned slightly, growing curious, but still scared. Then it disappeared.

Then he noticed something happening to the lighting in the distance. The lights were going out. All the torches were going out, row-by-row. Soon, they were all put out, and he saw only blackness. Then a single torch lit up in the middle, but Exar noticed he wasn't in the same place. He then saw a collected puff of black smoke next to the torch. He stared at the strange, lively gas in front of him...

...

Then it clicked to him.

He awoke suddenly, on his back. Students were gathered around him, and Ora standing above them.

"What happened?" Ora asked.

"A..." He thought about it for a second. "I think it was the future."

"A vision?"

"Uh, I- it." He simply gave up.

Ora sensed distress and fear in Exar. "Come with me." She ordered.

Exar shakily stood, and followed along.

Exar sat down on a mat; Ora sat in front of him. Exar was slumped, his back and neck bending; he kept his gaze downwad, and he was shaking. Ora could tell he was afraid. "Tell me what it was you saw."

"It was all death." He replied with a raspy tone. "Everyone, was gone."

"Then we must work harder to try to prevent it from happening."

"How can you prevent the future?"

"It might have been the future, or it might have been a warning."

"Either way... It could still most likely happen."

"Soon, we will change things. We will double our efforts to diminish the Resistance once and for all. The Republic and The First Order will have no one to fight their battles."

"But... the First Order will still have theirs."

"Times like these we start letting the others know of our plans." Ora sighed. "With the Resistance gone, the First Order army will have no reason to fight; they'll be relieved of duty, then we'll hunt them down."

Then an alarm rang through the halls.

"Speak of the force. You better get going." Ora said.

"Alright."

The mission team gathered around the hologram tables; Jecht joined them when he was done assessing the plan. "Two of ours reported the sighting of a Resistance camp on Talus. It's a medium base; minimum soldiers. It will only require a few soldiers. I'll be assigning Exar, Ephraim, Heceowa, and Heceowa will choose some partners of his own to accompany him."

"Why does Heceowa get to choose others?" Exar asked.

"Because you and Ephraim are good enough on your own, and don't need extra help." Jecht said.

"Ouch. Don't let him hear you say that."

"He's not here yet. You're being sent ahead of time; like I said, you guys are good enough on your own, and he'll need some time to choose his teammates."

"Seems like we're in no rush." Ephraim said.

"Not too much. Take your shuttle. But first..." Jecht signalled the rest away, then gestured Exar and Ephraim towards him. "The council has noticed your intelligent strategies, as well as advancement of your intelligence, and strategies. To sum it up, you are going to receive honorary titles. Codenames, or something."

"Well." Ephraim faltered. "We are honored, but, how do we choose?"

"You don't. I do. Exar. Your ferociousness and remarkable brutality has earned you the title, 'Mirtis.' It means 'death.' "

"Thank you, sir." Exar said, bowing his head.

"Ephraim. In the galaxy, we are considered disgusting lowlifes, not just by the Republic. We are proud of who we are; if we are lowlifes, then so be it. 'Erk' shall be your title. It isn't a title smiled upon by most, but if we're the opposite of what the galaxy wants, then take it with pride."

"I will. Thank you sir." Ephraim replied.

"Then get to it. Don't leave everyone waiting." Jecht ordered.

"Let's kick their butts." Ephraim said, cracking his knuckles.

"Let's break their butts. And more." Exar added as they were on their way.