Faith and Trust
City of Disperes
Core World of Mearisa
October 3rd, 1936
Walking down the long hallway, Vistle seemed nearly as upset as he was well dressed. His style always seemed to highlight the most up to date trend of the Core Worlds. With his large hat and stylish Togruta leather boots, he was always flashy. However his mood didn't match his clothes. The events of yesterday seemed nearly impossible to believe. It was as if everything in the galaxy had turned against him on one morning. Before yesterday, he was at the top of his game and he had everyone's respect. He never cared much about the struggle between Light and Dark. For him, it was all about the all mighty credit. Through the wealth of credits that he controlled, he gained so much power. He had connections that many only dreamed of. One such connection was the mysterious Mr. Gold. It didn't matter who you were, if you had dealings with Mr. Gold then you were someone. His profits have been at an all time high thanks to the advice and suggestions from Mr. Gold. All of his dealings and ventures only reflected that he was truly at the top of his game. That all ended yesterday and he should have seen the morning as a bad omen. He should have ran at the first sign of trouble and jumped world.
His morning meeting with Mr. Gold didn't take place as expected. Mr Gold had promised a new venture that would bring Vistle untold wealth and power. Vistle had been excited over the prospect and truly disappointed when Mr. Gold had failed to show at their meeting. It was completely unlike Mr. Gold to stand people up like that. Later that morning, his meeting with Jedi Master Creel didn't happen either. The meeting was another suggestion by Mr. Gold to further build his influence base and prepare Vistle for greater dealings. The meeting was to take the Jedi up on their offer to take over Governance of his section of the city. Mr. Gold had ensured him that Master Creel would be willing to listen and if the offer was pleasant enough, even consider the offer. It was a position that the Jedi had openly refused to consider. Mr. Gold suggested that with the rumors of the coming Reich attack, they might consider it now. Master Creel never showed up for the meeting either. Once more Vistle had been stood up. This was just the top of his problems and the others were going to get even more troubling for him.
The only silver lining was the cash reports of his little golden geese. He had gambled that a midday concert would be as profitable as the night before. He was right, as word spread of the band Sabaton spread the local masses came from far and wide to see them preform. Once more, this had been another suggestion by Mr. Gold. Vislte hated dealing with refugees, specifically those from the Reich. However, Mr. Gold was well, Mr Gold. Vistle took the advice and hired the group. So far, the two days that they had been preforming for him, Vistle had already tripled his investment. The midday concert was simply amazing in terms of credits and the news did cause Vistle to lower his guard at bit. However, that only cause the next blow to really hit home. The Jedi made good on their promise to prevent the bands anti Reich message from getting out. The streets were in open conflict and all eyes from his supporters were now on him. He had no choice but to take a side. He almost sided with the Jedi till he noticed that Master Creel was missing from the battle. Not only that, but a number of other powerful Masters had not joined the battle. He decided to take another gamble and sided with the local mobs against the Jedi. It was a move he later regretted. He lost nearly half of his best street bosses and enforcers. The tide of the battle turned when the NeDor Master Herash showed up. Vistle couldn't do anything but watch as his men were cut down in large numbers. He had thought that Master Herash was off world. It was a costly mistake that would take years to recover from.
With his neighborhood nearly completely in the control of Master Herash's forces, the night turned even worse. It never occurred to him that the Jedi would consider him a threat after the short lived battle in the streets. Twice bounty hunters came to do the Jedi's dirty work. And twice he had to loss more valuable thugs in fighting back the bounty hunters. The Jedi wanted Sabaton badly and now he was on their list as well. None of his contacts were willing to deal with him and some even dared to take advantage of the situation by raiding and attacking his holdings. More of his street enforcers paid with their lives to simply to hold on to his holdings. Fronts after front Master Herash was on a man hunt for him and he couldn't understand why all of the attention now. The Jedi never went after bosses like this before. Mr. Gold had simply vanished from site and was not returning his calls. Vistle couldn't figure any of it out. His only hope was to flee the world and get away from the Jedi till the dust all settled. He had everything set up and was ready to leave in the morning. It was all set up, till Sabaton's leader, Joakim, decided to not show up at the hanger. Vistle's face twisted with anger as he marched down the hallway of the hotel. He was finally going to get those punk refugees on the same sheet of music rather they like it or not.
He glanced at the group of enforcers behind him as he continued to march down the hallway. Each carried a blaster rifle and equipped with the best he could afford. He turned his head to see another pair of guards standing on either side of the door. Each of the men around him were his most trusted and loyal. Each were worth their weight in credits as well as their military grade weapons. The twelve loyal men represented all that was left of his empire that he built on this world. Master Herash had dismantled the rest in the course of one night. Vistle cursed the Jedi for being so good at what they did. He walked up to the entrance of the condo and nodded to the two guards. Just before walking in he glanced at the other men and motioned them to wait. Once that was done he activated the door and walked through the door way. The doors closed right behind him as the guards took up positions in the hallway. As he walked through the door he sized up the group carefully. He already knew who he could loss and who could remain to keep the band successful.
He smiled as he saw the key members of the band that had become an over night success. He saw Joakim the group's leader and lead vocalist. Sitting next to him was Rikard one of the two guitar players. Across from him set Oskar the other guitar player who seemed to be teaching Ulva, the back up keyboard player, to play the guitar. Sitting at a table was Pär cleaning his bass guitar while next to him set Daniel spinning his sticks. Other side of Daniel set Myhr, the groups lead keyboards and computer guy. There were a few others, like the Twi'lek sisters who sang back up vocals for the group and light and sound men. All of them as well as Ulva had already been written off as far as Vistle was concerned. The group could easily hire another road crew and truthfully the sisters were not all that good. However, Ulva, Vistle just simply hated her. His eyes once more fell upon Joakim as all other eyes were on him "I just heard that you have decided to wait."
Not waiting for an answer Vistle continued, "I just can't believe it." He stormed in to the room looking around at the band. "I spent a lot of credits to ensure you get out of here alive and in the face of your own doom prophesy you choose to wait."
Joakim looked around the room as the other eyes fell to him. A tall man, though none could tell as he was sitting. His face was clear of anger over the words fired at him, though his eyes told another story. Joakim nodded as the others reacted to it. Most members of the large group nodded their support of their leader. He already knew he had their support, he was looking for something else without looking like he was seeking it. He was looking for that nod from Ulva. Her eyes told him all he needed to know. Hold fast and trust in her. He turned back to Vistle, "I know. You spent a lot for us and I am" he paused a moment and once more looked at the other members of the group in a glance, "we are grateful. But we need to wait."
Vistle followed Joakim's glance and knew already what was going on. His own eyes fell upon that small framed little female human that always seemed to undermine his plans. He only knew her for just a few days and really hated her. If not for her, he would have already earned twice as much off the group. The last time she defied his plains, he has considered having her killed. 'Just an accident, that's not necessarily evil. Right' he questioned once more about the plan which he had not completely ruled out yet. After all, she was just a back up keyboard player. 'She is expendable' he added to his own twisted thoughts of her 'accident.' "Listen. Guys! This is silly. If what you said is true" he explained and started to hold up his hands, "and I am sure it is. The Reich is on there way here. Right now! We only have hours to escape." He knew this and had an answer for it. "I know, I know. There is only enough room in my transport for the lead members of the group. The rest will be following in another one of my transports just thirty minutes behind us." It was a lie that he was sure no one them would catch on to.
The plan was prefect and would cut his losses across the board. The leading members of the group were his gold mine waiting to be tapped. The rest of the group were simply dead weight. 'Like trimming off the fat of a Togruta steak' he thought with a smile. 'Hmmmm' he thought as the image sank in, 'mental note, ensure that there are plenty of Togruta steaks for the trip' he paused to put to memory. "Here I have a list of who travels with whom." He explained pulling the list from his pocket. As he did so, he glanced at little miss red hair, green eyed nosy do gooder. He had ensured she was on the second transport. The one that would never leave this world. Spare parts and supplies were needed for such a long trip. He didn't want to spend that much on funding two transports. After all, he had some followers he didn't wish to bring along as well. 'Just trimming the fat' he thought with an evil laughter in his mind and a smile on his face.
Joakim shook his head and waved off the papers without looking or taking them, "its not that we want to leave together. It just that we have reach a point where our paths have departed separately. Vistle, you have been very kind to us. And we have repaid that kindness by making you more than enough credits. Now its time for us to go our separate ways. Please understand." Joakim tried to explain.
Vistle couldn't believe his ears. "Fine, I will get everyone on the first transport." It would mean cutting his most loyal men but it was doable. 'after all, I can always hire more loyal men with my little gold mine' he concluded his thoughts.
Joakim didn't need to look at Ulva to know she was shaking her head while looking down, "Vistle you are missing my point we are staying here for the time being."
"Wait, you said just yesterday morning that the Reich would be here tomorrow or maybe sooner. And now you wish to remain here now. Are they no longer coming?" Vistle tried to trip them up.
Joakim looked in to Vistle's eyes, "oh there coming alright. When they do, it will be like nothing you ever seen before. This world will see warfare like never before."
"And so you wish to remain here for it?" Vistle said as he started to rub his head. "Sounds crazy to me."
"I don't think we will be here for it but I do believe we need to remain here for the time being. Just for a little while longer" Joakim explained while nodding. It wasn't hard for them to have faith. Since the day the Reich invaded their homeworld, faith took on a life of its own. Being a refugee was one thing, living without faith or hope was to give up completely. None of them were willing to allow the Reich to win like that.
Vistle hated to loss nearly as much as he hated to spend his own credits. Luckily, he had a plan in place for just this event. He had figured that Ulva would have interfered in what should have been an easy departure. The plan called for him to send a message to his men in the hallway. They would rush in and secure the room with their weapons on stun. 'wouldn't want to hurt my gold mine' he assured himself. Once the room was secure, they would then secure Joakim, and the lead performers of the group. The rest would be left behind to face their fate when the Reich invasion happens. If there was one thing he knew, it was how to handle people like this. Sure there would be a need for some healing time. However after a few weeks, maybe a month or two, they would be back doing what they love. Creating popular music and making him even more wealthy than he already was. 'I had hoped it wouldn't come to this' he thought as he pulled his comlink from his pocket. The screen flashed signaling it was ready to send the message to his men out in the hallway. 'They brought this on themselves' he added as his thumb hovered over the send button.
All he had to do was press the button and ten heavily armed thugs would rush the room and secure the band. It was a daring plan, but he wanted to protect his investment. All he had to do was press the button on his link. And now for some reason that simple action seemed like the hardest thing he could ever do. He watched his finger hovered over the send button as his mind tried to understand why he simply couldn't do it. Despite all of his plans of earning more money off the band and their success. He could only think about how it simply wasn't worth pressing the button. His mind echoed to just let it go over and over again. 'Its not worth it. Let them to their own fate' echoed in his mind. He returned the link to his pocket as his eyes crossed the room. He saw that little red headed green eyed troubling making staring back at him. That look on her face and her eyes always seemed to creep him out. For what seemed like forever, their eyes were joined. "Fuck it" he finally said as he broke the stare. Shaking his head, "you all want to die. Fine so be it. I am out of here." He turned tossing the papers to the ground, "you guys are simply not worth it." He stormed out the door without saying another word.
As the echoes of Vistle's departure drifted away the group sat in near silence. While there were a few that didn't complete agree with Joakim's choice to turn down the ride, all agreed to follow. It was part of the oath they all gave to each other. Never ending loyalty to each other and the cause. And all other things aside, the cause was more important to each of them than anything else. Each would gladly die for it and none would dare betray it. That one goal that burned in the hearts and mind of each member was to see their homeworld free from Reich control. It was the reason why they were here on this world and why they would continue to move from world to world spreading the truth about the Reich and warning other worlds about what is coming. Their own leaders before the Reich came had ignored the warnings and because of it, hundreds of millions of their people paid the price in just two massive attacks.
Isak finally spoke up in their native language, "so what do we do now?" Isak was the newest member of the group and acted as a back stage hand that worked on the light and sound systems. He was discovered here on Mearisa among a group of refugees. Joakim took an immediate liking to him and brought him in to the fold. Not completely but close enough to cause the others to become concerned about it. "We just pissed off our only ride off this rock. I know, Ulva said we should wait. So what are we waiting for?"
Joakim smiled, "listen you don't understand, Isak. We are not waiting for something or someone. We are waiting simply because she asked us to wait. This is the only reason.”
Isak looked even more confused. He had no problem with blind faith. Normally everything gets explained in time. So he figured after the meeting with Vistle, he would receive the reasons behind their actions. He was not prepared for such an empty reason. "I don't mean to be rude but, why are we trusting her like this?"
Joakim laughed, "I guess its time you should know a bit more of the truth” he said while looking to the others. They each gave different responses through nods or shaking of their heads. Joakim took it all in but made the choice to let Isak in a bit more. “What no one outside this group knows is this. When I left our homeworld during the invasion, I didn't get away as completely as I tell everyone. My shuttle was captured and forced to land. I was sent to FranFalle POW Camp" he said as his head hung low. "It was like nothing you can imagine. The Reich were murdering every alien prisoner they got their evil hands on. I was gifted being human. At the time I saw it more as a curse. I would watch so many taken to their death. I hated the feeling of being so helpless. It was there I met, Rikard and Oskar. Both had been selected to be moved to Housing Block C. It was there where people were being murdered in mass by the Reich. There was great unrest in the camp and many tried to fight back the best way they could. I used this as a reason to speak with the camp commander. I asked him to allow me to build a musical group to help claim my fellow POW's. I used it as an excuse to save Rikard and Oskar from their deaths."
"We then started to work with faction leaders within the camp to try to bring calm to the camp. We all knew that something had to change, that the POW's needed something to inspire them. However none of the faction leaders could come up with any ideas. A few weeks later a group of new prisoners came to the camp with an incredible story” Joakim explained then motioned for Rikard to take over.
He took a drink from his glass and nodded, “What we heard was incredible. The Reich seemed so invincible so for us. This story was like Gods themselves had sent it to us as a sign. A single lone freedom fighter was holding up in the mountains and refused to be captured. The Reich called this warrior, Gastulv" Rikard explain using their native language for the name of Ghost Wolf. "We all had images of this warrior who defied the Reich. So proud, strong and mighty to stand up against the Reich. Many of us wished he had only half of his strength, then we could take the camp and end the killing. Work groups repairing a near by bridge would bring back stories of how this hero was fighting the Reich soldiers in the mountains. We all would look to the mountains just beyond the gates of the camp and wonder if we would ever see him. One morning, the Camp Commander called all POW's to the Central Courtyard for a special trail. It surprised everyone because all resistance had stopped. It had hoped that the Commander would think we had been broken. Truth, we were waiting for our moment to come.” Rikard turned to Oskar, “Your turn.”
Oskar nodded, “Right” he said as he turned to face everyone, “That morning was when we all first saw the hero warrior we all had idolized. A truck brought Gastulv in to the camp. We all felt our hearts sink when the Commander told us who was coming to the camp. The Reich soldiers pulled her from the truck bound. I don't know about the others, but I was in disbelief of what I was seeing. Here was the hero that fought the Reich off for almost two weeks.” he shook his head, “Had the stories been all made up? Had the hero we so looked up to been made up. Then I saw it and I knew the stories were true. The very bow we heard about with feathers on top and a small quiver of hand made arrows. There could be no mistaking it. This young girl, this teenage girl had been the hero we all had heard about. She fought back their best soldiers for almost two weeks deep in the mountains. The Commander decided that it was fitting of her crimes that she be placed on trail. We were forced to watch the trail in the courtyard. The Camp Commander found her guilty of waging war against her own kind in just ten minutes. He had her gage removed and allowed her to beg for her life before he issued his ruling on her. What I heard then filled my heart. She turned and looked at all of us. She called out to us as brothers and sister even though we were mixed races. She questioned why we would not fight. She pointed out that there were so many of us and so few of them. She once more questioned why we don't fight. Her voice was like an angel speaking to us. The Camp Commander only laughed at her attempt to rally us.” he concluded his part of the story and motioned for Joakim to resume.
Joakim nodded and picked up the story, “The Camp Commander did laugh at her and said we were broken and not worth the effort. He did commend her and gave her a sickening speech about mercy as he offered to spared her life. She spat at him in defiance and said that as long as she had a voice she would never be silent. He got angry at her and ordered five of his men hold her down while another cut out out her tongue under his orders while we all watched in horror. The others held a lighter to her wound while the Camp Commander took her tongue and smiled. He said he held her voice now. I tried to look away but I couldn't. I couldn't deny her what was happening nor could I forgive myself for doing nothing.”
Joakim paused as he looked at Uvla. There was a tear running down her cheek. She nodded for him to continue. "I can't tell you what happened next. As I heard her screaming in pain and suffering, my heart started to fill with something. It wasn't hate or anger, though I had more than enough of that to go around. I felt something that I never felt before. I started to feel hope and courage. I looked up at the Camp Commander as he laughed at her. At us. He thought he had broken us. We all had agreed to wait for the right time to act. I looked back at her and saw her still on the ground as a Reich soldier held his boot to her neck. My eyes then looked to her simple bow and arrows next to the truck. I saw what she could did and question why I couldn't do the same. After all, she and I were the same. We all were the same as her. We all were brothers and sisters. Without another thought, I turned to the guard standing next to me and attacked him. I guess everyone else was thinking the same thing, cause the main courtyard turned in to a battlefield that morning. Yes, we lost many, but we won the battle and gave ourselves what we needed most. We won our right to survive. She gave us the courage to stand and fight. That afternoon, we gave birth to something the Reich never had to face before. Rebellion!”
Isak looked to Uvla with shook, “You are Gastulv?!” She only nodded. “So why are you here in the open? You should be hiding!”
Joakim shook his head, “Its her wishes that we use our voices to carry her message to those in the Reich's cross hairs. She doesn't wish to hide from them.”
Isak knew that there was more and he was excited to meet such a hero. “I thought you were just a story told to refugees and survivors to give them hope. To show that not all the heroes died that first day. I never knew you were real.” he finally turned back to Joakim, “So whats the big plan. Wait for the Reich and then start attacking them?”
Joakim smiled, “No. We just wait. She will let us know when the time is right. Got to faith Isak and trust in each other.”
The above story uses the musical group known as Sabaton. You will see that I have used the entire group within this Intermission. I have come to really enjoy their music.
Their Web Site is
Sabaton
A sample of their music:
