Chapter 28: Precious Scraps
21 BBY, Lotho Minor
Pong Krell walked upon a mountain of trash, doing his best not to lash out at this new assignment. He had been sent by the Council to secure the Junk World, Lotho Minor, from the Separatist. They asked him, a Jedi Master, one who probably had some of the most important victory records amongst the Jedi Order during this war, instead of some newly promoted knight.
What had the galaxy come to, when a Junk World became a strategic resource? Lotho Minor had been neutral for most of the war, but with the success of the destruction of the primary droid production facilities on Mustafar, as well as the strange happenings in Hutt space, which severely impacted both the Republic and the Separatists’ access to their Hyperspace lanes, this pile of scrap became somewhat important. In fact, a lot of Junk Worlds were, since the Trade Federation was trying to secure them to salvage the materials to make up for their losses.
The Jedi wasn’t exactly sure as to what had happened that made Hutt Space so volatile. He knew that it involved Tatooine, somehow, and apparently, there was a civil war between Hutts, since one of them ended up losing influence, or honour. Pong wasn’t sure, and he didn’t particularly care for the affairs of the Hutts.
It wasn’t the only strange thing that was happening. He knew that there was stirring on Coruscant. He heard some things from the Temple and sensed more than a few disturbances in the Force that would originate from it, but he hadn’t been there for some time, and it was clear that the Council didn’t want to say anything over comms.
Pong had almost been tempted to return to the Temple out of pure curiosity, but he knew that it would be an unnecessary risk.
After all, Pong Krell had a secret, one that he had kept for a long time, and that was that he had fallen to the Dark Side.
He found the idea of it being ‘falling’ to be a mistake. The Dark Side was to be embraced, accepted, for it was true power, true strength, that the rest of the Jedi were too weak to grasp themselves.
Then again, the Jedi were all blind to what was to come. They had not seen what Pong had, the end of the Clone Wars, where the Republic and the Jedi Order would be no more. He had decided then that he would be part of this new order, part of this new galaxy, instead of dying like the rest.
From the moment the war began, Pong could tell that the Dark Side grew stronger by the day, with every battle, and so was he. Count Dooku was playing the Jedi and the entire Republic for fools, and no one could see it, no one but Pong Krell.
One of his clone troopers broke him from his thoughts, “Hostiles ahead, General?”
Pong Krell suppressed the urge to snap at the clone but saw a few battle droids patrolling the piles of trash. He nodded at the trooper, “You have permission to engage, CT-3942. Forward assault. We need to secure this planet quickly.”
The clone looked like he wanted to argue, but stopped, though the Jedi could still sense the reluctance in his tone. After all, this strategy would likely end in the death of more than a few clones, but Pong hardly cared for that.
It was hard to, when they felt so much… lesser in the Force, like living droids, instead of something real. Oh, they had given each other their own names sometimes, but at the end, each clone was a number, and no one batted an eyelash at a number going up or down.
“What of the locals?” a trooper asked. He was a new one, fresh from Kamino, if he remembered correctly.
“If they are peaceful, then let them be. However, if they are not… You know what to do.”
There was a small, uncertain pause, as the troopers became hesitant, and before they could say anything, he steeled his voice and said, “Was I not clear, clone?”
“As you command, General,” his captain immediately said. He would keep them in line, at least, for now.
The Jedi then relaxed and finished, “We’re wasting time…”
Finally, some form of excitement in this literal trash planet appeared when a battalion of battle droids began to fire at them. Pong Krell ignored his clones and raced forward, relishing in the idea of letting loose. He removed both of his double-bladed Lightsabers, spinning them, destroying one droid after the other, relishing in the strength that the Dark Side gave him.
It was in the middle of the skirmish that he felt something… strange. It was the Dark Side, and he could feel it stirring in the distance, hidden beneath the mountain. He stopped, only using the Force to guide his Lightsabers to block any blaster fire, and instead wondered what it was.
He hadn’t considered that there was something that might actually be useful on the planet, but perhaps he was mistaken. The darkness beneath the mountain was certainly powerful, and he wondered what its source could be. Maybe it was a Sith Holocron of a sort, or maybe a Sith artefact that could spread its darkness so strongly.
If so, then maybe it would serve him as a gift to Dooku, a way to convince him to take Pong as his apprentice. Or maybe, if it were truly a Holocron, he would learn from it the Sith arts and become Dooku’s ally, and not a mere apprentice.
He activated the comms, speaking to his troops, “I am investigating a disturbance in the Force. Continue fighting and send me updates every so often.”
“Acknowledged, General,” the clone captain answered immediately, and he smiled, using the Force to jump to great heights and away from the skirmish, landing on heaps of trash.
He took a deep breath and relished the feeling of the darkness permeating everything around him, before a surprising sight stopped him.
There was a man there, a very familiar man. He doubted that anyone wouldn’t recognise him, at least anyone who kept up with the bounties set up across the galaxy. For the man walking around was none other than Harry Potter, whose head was probably worth more than a small fleet.
However, what most did not know was the interest that the Jedi High Council had in the man. Every Jedi had a standing order to bring him back to Coruscant, claiming that it was for his own safety. They did say that he felt strange in the Force and that he had some skill in the Force, but he seemed remarkably normal to the Besalisk when he attempted to sense his presence, not that it mattered much. It wouldn’t be the first time that the Jedi High Council was mistaken.
Of course, that was not all, for Pong Krell knew more than that; as a Jedi Master, he had access to more information than most, and apparently, Count Dooku was extremely interested in capturing the man as well.
And just like that, all thoughts of the darkness that he had sensed earlier disappeared, his attention being completely consumed by his new target, for Harry Potter would be the key to what awaited him, the perfect gift to become Count Dooku’s apprentice.
However, before the Besalisk could quickly incapacitate his target, the human looked up towards him, and with a wide smile on his face, began to wave at him. The Jedi hesitated for a moment before reluctantly dropping his stance and walking towards the man. After all, knowing what Harry Potter was doing in a Junk World of all places could be useful, and with the element of surprise gone, there was no real reason to attack at this moment. The Besalisk did remember reading that the man was dangerous, but so far, he couldn’t see anything.
And so, the Jedi Master jumped using the Force and landed next to Harry Potter, who didn’t seem perturbed by his little display of power like most people. Instead, he seemed completely at ease when he spoke up, “Oh, hello. It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Harry Potter.”
“Pong Krell, Jedi Master,” he simply answered back.
“Splendid. Say, Pong Krell, you wouldn’t have seen something shiny and metallic somewhere?”
The Besalisk looked around in the trash around him, most of it being made of reflective metal that could easily fit the human’s words, “You will need to be more specific.”
“Well, I’m tracking a piece of interesting metal that I found recently, for purely educational purposes, of course. It should be somewhere nearby…”
Pong Krell quickly concluded that the man was just an idiot. That was the best explanation that he could find for someone literally trying to find a specific metal alloy in a mountain of metal scrap.
Having had enough of this idiocy, the Besalisk spoke up, “On behalf of the Jedi High Council, you are…”
Pong Krell didn’t even finish his sentence before Potter interrupted him, “Wow… We can get to the Council later, but we need to address… this.”
The human waved at the Jedi in general, who frowned, “What are you talking about?”
“There’s so much negativity in you. Don’t you know that it is bad for you?”
Pong Krell shook his head, stifling the frustration that he felt, and repeated, “The Jedi High Council…”
“Have you considered taking some time away from it all?” Potter continued, still interrupting him, “You could go somewhere nice and relax on a beach. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“Listen to me…”
However, Potter didn’t let him finish, “Or maybe you could try farming. I heard that the Jedi Order had some farms, or something. You could give it a try. It’s surprisingly a good way to relieve some stress and work on anger issues, which you have plenty of.”
With every word that Potter said, especially the insinuation that he belonged in the Agri Corps of all places, Pong Krell could feel his frustration bubbling, ready to be unleashed until he could not do it anymore, “ENOUGH!”
He would not be berated by some insane human without a single drop of self-preservation. He didn’t think that Count Dooku would care if Potter had some bruises and a few broken bones, as the Jedi vented some of his frustration. He prepared to move towards the human, only for a white shape to slam into him with the speed of a Speeder, and he felt himself being sent flying back from the mountain of garbage that he was on, feeling the impact of metallic junk as he fell down.
The Besalisk groaned as he pushed himself up, but he stiffened as he heard Potter’s voice, “See, what did I say about anger issues? It’s like you’re trying to prove my point.”
He looked up and saw Potter standing there, nearby, with a mug in hand, taking a loud sip, as if he was not facing a Jedi Master.
Still, Pong Krell knew that he needed to think things through rationally. Whatever had attacked him was fast and strong. Was it some kind of experimental weapon of some kind, one aimed not to be sensed by Jedi? If so, then it certainly explained the Bounty and why the High Council and Count Dooku wanted him.
The human obviously knew this, which was why he had attacked him first. Now, the Besalisk would need to track down whatever it was and deal with it first, or get to Potter before it could attack him.
Of course, this plan went out of the window when Potter continued talking, “Or, maybe the anger is hiding something. In my experience, people more often than not get angry because they are afraid. Are you afraid, Pong Krell?”
For a fraction of a second, Pong Krell’s mind went back to his vision, to the darkness that enveloped the galaxy. And suddenly, the Besalisk stopped caring how Potter had even gone down to this place, or the weapon that hit him; everything inside him was overwhelmed by his rage at his enemy. He growled and released a great Force Push, which all but obliterated a section of the mountain, just above Potter.
He smiled viciously at that, since Potter would be buried in piles of scrap. It was hard to outspeed a Force Push, after all. Of course, that sense of victory disappeared when the white shape moved towards him once more. Just like earlier, he hadn't sensed it, but the knowledge of its presence alone was enough. He rolled away from its path and spun his Lightsabers in the white blur's path.
Unfortunately, the blur seemed to dodge his counter, but flew past him, before disappearing as it neared a pile of scrap. He would have thought that this was it, only for the white blur to appear out of nowhere and send him flying back once more, with piles of junk falling atop him.
As he landed, he released another blast with the Force, sending trash flying away from him, and he groaned as he stood up.
Kriff. He should have realised that there was more of this weapon. But even then, there was something that did not make any sense to him. If this weapon were controlled by Potter, then it shouldn't have been able to do anything, at least not while he was buried by tons of scrap.
Of course, the answer to his unspoken question revealed itself after a brief look at his surroundings; Potter was not buried by anything. In fact, he was standing there, completely fine, still sipping his drink as if nothing was happening, “That was quite rude. You are not appreciating the effort that I'm putting in helping you, not at all. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you don’t want my help at all.”
It was obvious that Potter was mocking him, that he was speaking nonsense, while underestimating Pong Krell. This was a game to him, one that he was not taking seriously, and that, alone, made this humiliation even more burning.
And so, the Besalisk’s rage soared to new heights, as he let the Dark Side subsume him completely. He felt his power soar, and he looked at his enemy and growled, “You wanted to see my anger, then I will oblige you. By the time I am finished with you, they'll need to sift through this scrap just to find all pieces of you.”
He quickly activated both of his double Lightsabers, ready to end this farce once and for all. The sight of him should have terrified most; the threat of his Lightsaber, the fact that he towered over most humans, and the darkness in his eyes should have made anyone cower.
However, Potter didn’t seem phased by his threat. In fact, he only raised an eyebrow and said, “You know, that would have been a lot more intimidating if you hadn’t just been beaten up by a bird.”
A bird?
Before he could let his confusion show, a white bird flew and landed on Potter’s shoulder. It was then that things made sense, the white blur that attacked him. Had it been a bird all along?
Logically, Pong Krell knew that a few species evolved to use the Force in strange ways, and he supposed that unnatural speed, strength, and being invisible in the Force could be one of them. He also knew that the bird was special, since it had been mentioned in the details of Potter’s bounty. Yet, none of that changed the fact that he, a Jedi Master, had been humiliated in combat… by a Kriffing bird.
The world faded away, and he decided that he had had enough. He readied to attack as he saw Potter casually reach towards his blaster pistol. Finally, this farce would be over. It was obvious that the bird was the biggest threat. He would let Potter fire, then use his Lightsaber to redirect the blaster bolt towards the bird. That should make it fly away and leave Potter available.
After that, he had dozens of options available to him, all of them ending in his victory. He leapt forwards, his blades spinning, and just as he predicted, Potter had taken out and fired his blaster pistol. The bolt made its way towards him, and the Jedi Master prepared his Lightsaber to redirect it, just as he had thousands of times before.
However, this time, the bolt’s trajectory warped, as if coming in and out of existence in a very chaotic way. The Jedi Master's eyes widened as the bolt slipped underneath his Lightsabers and slammed into his chest.
The Besalisk felt his grip on his Lightsabers weaken, as he felt pain radiate in his chest, like a burn. He barely realised that the impact alone had sent him flying back again, something that blasters normally shouldn’t have been able to do.
As he fell down onto lumps of scrap, he felt his agony intensify. Every breath he took burned him, each one harder than the last, his vision becoming blurrier by the second.
He heard Potter’s voice speak up, “The thing I noticed about Jedi is that you’re a bit too reliant on your use of precognition in battle, especially when it comes to blaster bolts. Unfortunately for you, I spent a lot of time devising ways to counter this kind of ability in my younger days.”
Krell hated the smugness that he could hear in Potter’s voice. He hated the casual way that the human spoke to him, as if he never had a choice in the first place.
No, he would not die like this, not on a Junk World, not to some trick that a human came up with to fight Jedi. No, this would not be the end of Pong Krell. He would survive, he would rise, he would be Sith, and he would make Harry Potter and his loathsome bird pay.
Pong Krell felt the Dark Side flare with his vow, stopping him from succumbing to his wounds. He could almost feel it approaching, becoming stronger with every moment, his darkness, strengthening him in a way that the Jedi Arts simply never could.
His hand moved towards one of his Lightsabers, which had landed next to him, grabbed it, and limped up. He ignited it, feeling the Dark Side ripple around him, and the scrap around him shift and shake from its sheer might... his might...
The smile on his face was probably an ugly one, but he didn't care for it much, for the Dark Side would grant him the power to slay his enemy.
At least, that was what he thought until he gasped in shock and in pain as he felt a blade made of scrap impale him through the heart. He turned back and saw something coming out of the mountain of scraps.
It was a Zabrak with tattoos covering his chest, with mad golden eyes, and a body that looked almost an abominable combination of scraps that vaguely looked like a spider.
Realisation set in rather quickly after that.
This was never his darkness, was it?
The last thing that Pong Krell heard before he died was Potter’s loathsome voice, “Well, isn’t that interesting?”
And then, everything turned black, and Pong Krell was no more.
AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. As I said before, I’m still getting the hang of writing a Star Wars story, so bear with me if anything feels off.
Well, since we're done with Tatooine, I decided to begin this mini-arc with Harry ragebaiting, humiliating, and then killing Pong Krell. I suppose I could have made it a bit more of a challenge, but I suppose I was venting. Harry immediately realised how bad he was, using his Arcane Hearing, and decided to let Hedwig have some fun before ending it casually. Also, the Dark Side that he sensed, like the quest, was Maul all along. I sort of wanted to show the idea of the Dark Side a bit, since it was what Pong Krell was unknowingly looking for, which actually ended up killing him.
Anyway, I also wanted to give you a glimpse of the consequences of what happened in Tatooine, mainly Jabba running away, and the impact of the ensuing Hutt infighting would have on the Clone Wars.
As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.