《Star wars : Les Héros Brûlent Eternellement》
1. Born in the dark
Quand elle a ouvert les yeux, elle ne savait pas o¨´ elle ¨¦tait ni qui elle ¨¦tait, tout ce qu¡¯elle savait, c¡¯¨¦tait qu¡¯elle ¨¦tait une tr¨¨s jeune enfant, un b¨¦b¨¦ mais elle ¨¦tait bien consciente de son environnement.
La fille qui la tenait dans ses bras n¡¯¨¦tait pas sa m¨¨re, mais l¡¯une des orphelines des bidonvilles qui l¡¯avaient ramass¨¦e dans la rue et qui faisait de son mieux pour prendre soin d¡¯elle.
Elle s¡¯appelait Mila Vosa et n¡¯avait que 12 ans mais elle avait d¨¦cid¨¦ de prendre le risque de s¡¯occuper d¡¯un enfant. Mila avait appel¨¦ l¡¯enfant Komari Vosa, ce nom r¨¦sonnait ¨¦trangement pour l¡¯enfant car Komari Vosa ¨¦tait le nom d¡¯un apprenti du Ma?tre Jedi Dooku.
Comment l¡¯a-t-elle su ? Une s¨¦rie d¡¯¨¦clairs, ¨¦trange m¨¦lange de r¨ºves, de souvenirs ou de proph¨¦ties, la frappa sans qu¡¯elle en comprenne l¡¯origine.
Elle n¡¯avait pas l¡¯impression d¡¯avoir une vie ant¨¦rieure et pourtant elle avait beaucoup de connaissances sur un monde qui n¡¯existait pas et sur l¡¯avenir de sa maladie.
Elle ¨¦tait Komari sans vraiment ¨ºtre Komari. Certes, Komari, ag¨¦e d¡¯environ un mois, ¨¤ quatre pattes dans un berceau de fortune dans une cabane d¨¦labr¨¦e des bidonvilles, cach¨¦e entre plusieurs r¨¦seaux de canalisations, s¡¯est lev¨¦e du mieux qu¡¯elle a pu puis a tendu la main vers une barre de c¨¦r¨¦ales ¨¤ moiti¨¦ mang¨¦e.
Rien ne s¡¯est pass¨¦, la barre de c¨¦r¨¦ales n¡¯a pas boug¨¦ d¡¯un millim¨¨tre.
Komari a fait plusieurs tentatives tout aussi infructueuses, mais elle ne s¡¯est pas laiss¨¦e abattre et a r¨¦essay¨¦ pendant plusieurs heures. Sa frustration grandissait mais elle ne se laissait pas abattre, il n¡¯¨¦tait s?rement pas facile de contr?ler la force.
Si elle s¡¯en tenait ¨¤ ce que ses souvenirs ou ses r¨ºves lui disaient, elle devait se vider et ressentir la force, alors Komari ferma les yeux pour essayer de percevoir la force.
Elle le sentait, c¡¯¨¦tait comme un flot qui entourait tout, comme sentir le vent souffler dans tes cheveux, dans ta nuque.
La barre de c¨¦r¨¦ales a vol¨¦ doucement dans sa main, elle ¨¦tait fi¨¨re, elle avait r¨¦ussi et pouvait se r¨¦galer malgr¨¦ son manque de dents.
Komari ne comprenait pas vraiment sa situation dans ce monde et malgr¨¦ ses efforts, son esprit ¨¦tait r¨¦guli¨¨rement parasit¨¦ par ses r¨¦flexes d¡¯enfant sur lesquels elle n¡¯avait aucun contr?le.
Elle d¨¦testait ne pas avoir de prise sur ses besoins primaires, faire caca, dormir et manger, m¨ºme si elle r¨¦ussissait ¨¤ se tenir ¨¤ quatre pattes ou ¨¤ se lever de temps en temps. Lorsque son corps ou son esprit ¨¦tait trop fatigu¨¦, elle se mettait ¨¤ pleurer sans pouvoir s¡¯arr¨ºter jusqu¡¯¨¤ ce que sa m¨¨re la prenne dans ses bras pour la bercer.
Elle ne comprenait pas pourquoi, mais ¨ºtre dans les bras de sa m¨¨re ¨¦tait un vrai bonheur, un cochon chaud o¨´ elle pouvait tout oublier.
? Tu n¡¯es vraiment pas normal. ? Mila remarqua, la surprenant en train d¡¯essayer de quitter le berceau de fortune pour trouver quelque chose ¨¤ manger alors qu¡¯elle n¡¯avait que quelques mois.
Komari regarda sa m¨¨re du haut du berceau avant de redescendre lentement, marmonnant indign¨¦e ? bahbha bah ?.
Elle a ¨¦t¨¦ attrap¨¦e par les mains de sa m¨¨re qui l¡¯a blottie contre elle
? Si vous ¨ºtes si ¨¦nergique, allons nous promener en ville. ?
C¡¯¨¦tait la premi¨¨re fois que sa m¨¨re la sortait de la maison, les rues de la ville de base ¨¦taient sales, plong¨¦es dans une obscurit¨¦ perp¨¦tuelle ¨¦clair¨¦e en de rares occasions par la lueur artificielle des n¨¦ons cr¨¦pitants.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Les murs suintaient de la salet¨¦ et de la d¨¦composition, accentu¨¦e par le climat tropical ¨¦touffant qui habitait la plan¨¨te. Les tuyaux expos¨¦s lib¨¦reraient des jets de vapeur et d¡¯autres fum¨¦es toxiques.
L¡¯odeur qui y r¨¦gnait ¨¦tait un m¨¦lange de d¨¦charge d¡¯eaux us¨¦es, de vapeur toxique et de corps en d¨¦composition. Mais si une vie se d¨¦veloppait abondante avec des march¨¦s, des ¨¦tals, Komari observait avec int¨¦r¨ºt l¡¯¨¦change de rations de survie contre de la ferraille de toutes sortes.
Elle remarqua ¨¤ la fois les criminels et les honn¨ºtes gens du haut des bras de sa m¨¨re adoptive. Leur monde ¨¦tait situ¨¦, d¡¯apr¨¨s ce qu¡¯elle avait compris, dans l¡¯espace Hutt, c¡¯¨¦tait Nar-Shaddaa, capitale des Hutt et cit¨¦ du crime, l¡¯une des grandes villes de la galaxie o¨´ tout pouvait ¨ºtre vendu et trouv¨¦.
L¡¯endroit o¨´ elle vivait n¡¯¨¦tait qu¡¯un des milliers de bidonvilles domin¨¦s par les gigantesques tours du Hutt, il ¨¦tait si insignifiant que leur r¨¦gion n¡¯avait pas de nom. Plong¨¦e dans ses pens¨¦es, Komari remarqua finalement que sa m¨¨re tremblait et parlait d¡¯une voix effrayante ¨¤ deux individus qu¡¯elle ne pouvait pas voir.
? Silence, sale pute, si je te dis de te d¨¦shabiller, tu te d¨¦shabilleras. ? rugit le premier d¡¯une voix agressive.
? Tu es une pute, tu devrais y ¨ºtre habitu¨¦e. ? dit la deuxi¨¨me voix avec un soup?on de sadisme.
? D¨¦p¨ºchez-vous ou votre enfant sera celui qui nous servira de ............. ?.
? Perdez-vous, bande de malades ! ? hurla sa m¨¨re d¡¯une voix tremblante, toujours tremblante. Komari n¡¯¨¦tait peut-¨ºtre qu¡¯un b¨¦b¨¦ et n¡¯avait aucun lien de sang avec Mila, mais elle ¨¦tait toujours sa m¨¨re.
Ils ont os¨¦ menacer sa m¨¨re ?! rugit la voix int¨¦rieure de Komari alors qu¡¯elle sentait une rage bouillante monter en elle. Elle sentit la force bouillir avec elle comme un vent furieux, un coup jetant sa m¨¨re ¨¤ terre.
Komari est tomb¨¦e sur un tas d¡¯ordures, elle a entendu les cris de Mila alors que les deux hommes d¨¦chiraient ses v¨ºtements. Elle parvint ¨¤ se redresser et vit l¡¯un des deux d¨¦faire son pantalon avec un sourire aux l¨¨vres.
La fureur s¡¯empara de nouveau d¡¯elle, emport¨¦e par sa col¨¨re, sa main se leva, sa petite pointe commen?a ¨¤ se refermer. Elle entendit le bourdonnement du sang marteler ses temps ainsi qu¡¯une sensation ¨¦trange comme le souvenir d¡¯une sensation agr¨¦able.
Les deux hommes port¨¨rent la main ¨¤ leur gorge, surpris par la pression exerc¨¦e. Komari leva la main plus haut, guid¨¦e par le flot de forces qu¡¯elle ressentait, elle ressentait leur peur, leur terreur comme elle avait ressenti leur plaisir sadique.
Son poing se referma, leur cou se brisa dans un bruit sec de bois mort. Ils cess¨¨rent de bouger, leurs corps toujours suspendus dans les airs par la force.
Tuer avait ¨¦t¨¦ si facile que Komari s¡¯est rendu compte que ? c¡¯est presque plus facile que d¡¯attirer la barre de c¨¦r¨¦ales vers moi ?, se dit-elle. Elle contemplait les cadavres en se rendant compte qu¡¯elle avait ressenti peu d¡¯¨¦motion ¨¤ leur mort, certainement elle avait ressenti de la col¨¨re quand ils avaient attaqu¨¦ mais l¨¤ elle n¡¯avait pas ressenti de d¨¦go?t ou de peur de son acte.
Pas m¨ºme la culpabilit¨¦.
? Ai-je perdu mes sentiments ou la force les a-t-elle r¨¦duits ? ? se demandait-elle mais elle rejetait l¡¯id¨¦e qu¡¯elle savait qu¡¯elle ¨¦tait heureuse avec sa m¨¨re, curieuse et gloutonne, elle ne manquait pas de sentiments.
Non, sa r¨¦action devrait, selon elle, ¨ºtre plus proche d¡¯un trouble psychopathique, mais il restait ¨¤ d¨¦terminer dans quelle mesure.
? Attendez, qu¡¯est-ce qu¡¯un trouble psychopathique ? ? se dit-elle, surprise et effray¨¦e par le raisonnement de son cerveau.
Sa m¨¨re, Mila, ¨¦tait toujours ¨¤ terre, sanglotant, inconsciente des deux cadavres suspendus de force, la voyant pleurer ainsi, Komari sentit les larmes lui monter aux yeux.
? Maman ? a-t-elle r¨¦ussi ¨¤ articuler en marchant un peu sur Mila avant de retomber ¨¤ quatre pattes, plus facile ¨¤ bouger. Elle a serr¨¦ dans ses bras sa m¨¨re adoptive qui l¡¯a prise dans ses bras en sanglotant toujours.
? D¨¦sol¨¦e ma ch¨¦rie d¡¯¨ºtre une mauvaise m¨¨re. ? elle sanglota puis elle vit les cadavres pendus.
Son regard se posa alors sur sa fille blottie contre elle, Mila avait vu des choses, elle savait que les l¨¦gendes sur les Jedi¡¯i avaient une part de v¨¦rit¨¦ mais elle ne pensait pas que Komari poss¨¦dait leur magie. On savait que les Jedi¡¯i prenaient des enfants dot¨¦s de magie ¨¤ leur famille, qui ne les reverrait plus jamais, elle ¨¦tait d¨¦termin¨¦e ¨¤ prot¨¦ger sa fille.
Je m¡¯excuse pour les erreurs et la qualit¨¦. C¡¯est mon premier travail publi¨¦ et l¡¯anglais n¡¯est pas ma langue maternelle.
II. The loss of innocence
This incident revealed Komari''s powers to her mother, but the latter, after the initial surprise, gave her a good spanking to Komari''s great misfortune. Understanding that it was she who was devouring their precious cereal bars.
This humiliating and degrading act reminded Komari that if she did not know her mental age, she was a child physically unable to escape the reactions of a child despite her maturity and that there was nothing more terrifying than her angry mother. She had to promise not to use her powers to hurt others, unless her life or that of her loved ones was in danger.
On the other hand, she could train in their house, which would avoid attracting attention and Mila had decided to teach her to read Basic without realizing that Komari already knew it without knowing how.
Unlike the other children in the family, Komari did not like to mess around or play, preferring instead to meditate on mastering the force. A particularly difficult exercise was to assemble and disassemble objects of all types using only the force. At times, she occupied her brothers and sisters by making toys fly around them.
Time passed quickly, she was five years old and had spent the last five years training to master the force. She had decided to ignore her visions and flashes of knowledge, preferring to simply live her family life. Komari preferred the relative comfort of her home to the terrible omens that her dreams showed her if she decided to follow this little path that encouraged her to explore the galaxy.
Life in the slums of Nar Shadda was extremely hard for the family which included Mila, Farique and Bilas as adults and a dozen children like Komari that they had decided to adopt. This kind of thing was not uncommon in the slums, groups of children formed to protect themselves and survive.
Mila was forced to prostitute herself to provide for their needs, as did many of the girls her age in the area, while Farique and Bilas were forced to engage in theft and trafficking of all kinds. Very quickly, Komari had to do the same. She skillfully slipped between passers-by to relieve them of their wallets or infiltrated warehouses to steal equipment.
She had no choice, she had to survive, the galaxy was merciless with the weak.
When she was six, Mila gave her a vibro-blade that she had obtained from one of her clients.
It was the first and last gift she received from Mila who was killed a few months later by a client who belonged to a gang.
Komari had never felt such a sense of loss.
She had gone to pick up her mother as usual after work. In the pouring rain, Komari had waited several hours for Mila to come out. Her delay didn''t worry her, because in this profession, working overtime was common.
A bad feeling began to germinate in her when after 3 hours there was no sign of life. Mila had never let her wait so long. Then, she felt this strange icy sensation rise from the back of her neck to her skull.
Komari advanced in the rain, guided only by this faint echo in the strength she felt, at the turn of an alley, she saw her.
Her mother was lying on the ground, her arms scattered like a doll whose strings had been cut. Mila''s always smiling face was swollen as if she had been hit again and again. On her bare chest had been engraved with a knife the symbol of one of the branches of a major gang.
Komari fell to her knees next to her mother, she struggled not to give in to the distress that tore her apart, but even her rational mind could not overcome the pain she felt.
With delicacy, she arranged her mother''s limbs, with a gentle hand, she smoothed her hair, ignoring the trash that littered the street.
The one who had raised her like her own daughter, who had fed her with her meager reserves, had suddenly disappeared. With her died a part of Komari, that childish joy she felt at the idea of ??seeing her mother again, of snuggling against her in search of comfort!
Her mind was struck by visions, if she had already had visions of her possible futures, this was the first time she saw a vision of the past. Komari clearly saw the bar where her mother worked, then she saw the satisfied smile of the person responsible for her mother''s death as he hit her.
A whisper began to germinate in her mind, her fingers curled into a fist and her cries turned into an animalistic growl.
The whispers only grew louder, becoming angry screams "Kill them!! Kill them!".
Her mind buzzed and suddenly, she silently rushed towards the club where her mother.
Her hand gripped her vibro-blade which was huge in her child''s hands. She could no longer reason, she no longer wanted to think, her actions were guided by her instinct.
The galaxy was dangerous, she had known it since birth even before the visions struck her, her mother had always protected her as best she could from this reality.
The brutality of this world forced those who were exposed to it to mature quickly or die. Her mother had had to sell herself to survive, her uncles had to steal to survive.
The weight of this life pushed many people to seek anything that could allow them to escape this reality, Farique drank while Bilas took drugs, her mother had always escaped it for the good of Komari and her brothers.
At that moment, Komari was no longer a child, she had just lost her last vestiges of innocence.
The loud music in the club couldn¡¯t override the voices in her head, the blinding light effects illuminating the club couldn¡¯t distract her from her target. He was there in the VIP area with a new hooker on his arm, a shoddy suit, but already much more expensive than anything the others were wearing.
Tasteless bracelets on his wrists jingled, strangely, Komari could hear their metallic jingle through the music and the screams.
She advanced through the crowd of dancers who circled around her, oblivious to the six-year-old who was slowly walking towards the VIP area.
Komari took a breath, pushing back the voices and her most primal urges for a moment. Yes, she was going to kill him, but she wanted to be in control of herself at that moment and not prey to her urges.
The force flowed around her like a fresh breeze, a breeze that could become a storm.
The voices became more and more incomprehensible, blending into a whisper like a moan.
A waiter at the bar frowned as he saw the glass in his hands suddenly crack, then the bottles of alcohol behind him began to explode one after the other. Then the neon lights exploded, sending impressive sparks all around, plunging the club into chaos.
"Fuck, what the hell is going on!!" roared one of the VIPs, sending the girl on his lap flying, he didn''t know why, but his instincts warned him of danger.
He had been around enough to know how to listen to him. He signaled to his men to prepare for trouble while taking out his blaster. He scanned the crowd but couldn''t identify the threat. Two of his men moved forward to observe the crowd.
Suddenly they were thrown, not swept brutally against the tables, the sound of their spines breaking was clearly audible.
Komari after sweeping the two men, turned his attention to the other three who remained without stopping walking towards them. They raised their weapons, but his hand closed, interrupting their gesture, freezing them in the moment.
They saw a child with white hair and fluorescent green eyes come out of the crowd. She advanced slowly with a sad face, one could guess that she had recently cried.
Each of her steps seemed to add more pressure on what was holding them still. No matter how hard they pushed, they couldn''t move.
Komari stopped a meter away from them, her strangely disturbing eyes passed over them for a long time, then slowly, she turned her fist.
Panicked, the two subordinates saw something firmly push their own weapons towards their heads, they screamed and put all their energy into trying to control their bodies, throwing panicked glances at their leader.
A blaster shot to the head had the gift of exploding the entire back of the skull.
The lifeless bodies of his subordinates fell with a dull thud to the ground after having sprayed it with their blood. His previously white suit was slowly stained with their fluid.
Komari raised his vibro-blade which glowed despite the dim light.
"Wait please, you don''t have to do THAT!!!" he yelled, struggling unsuccessfully as Komari approached him. "I''ll give you money all you want!!! " he pleaded as the blade was about to sink into his stomach. Stolen novel; please report.
The movement suddenly stopped and he let out a reliable sigh of relief as she put her blade away.
Komari moved away from him to pick up a bottle from the ground to read the label.
"My mother, I want my mother," she said before pouring the bottle over him.
"What, your mother? What are you talking about? What are you doing here? Stop."
Komari pulled a lighter out of the pockets of one of the corpses, "that''s better," she growled, not wanting to stain her mother''s only gift with her killer''s blood.
"I want my mother and you kill her," the alcohol ignited, devouring the man who screamed at the top of his lungs without being able to move.
She watched him burn until the end, only deciding to leave after the entire club had caught fire.
The death of her mother was a huge blow to her family. Mila was the most stable of the three adults in the family.
Farique and Bilas were deeply saddened by her disappearance, she was the soul of their group and on a more material level, the one who brought food.
For her part, Komari, once her anger had subsided, had to swallow her tears and get more involved with her uncles to feed her family.
A kind of pimp had approached them to offer his services, but her uncles had thrown him into a waste pipe.
"Komari, don''t worry, we''ll manage to feed you and your brothers, on your side, watch over them okay." Bilas asked her as he watched the pimp try to hold on to the drain pipe while screaming as Farique pushed him.
"Uncle, you two won''t earn half of what Mom earned." she replied before adding "and your addictions are very real." referring to their drug and alcohol problem.
"I threw my products away." she gave him an incredulous look, but he wasn''t joking. "and Farique did the same thing.".
The latter, after throwing the pimp away, comes towards her. He had always been the taciturn one of the gang but also the most dangerous from what Komari had learned.
He bent down to her level to pat her on the head "I don''t know what you did with your strange magic, but thank you." he took a breath then continued.
"Alone we can''t protect the family, so I''m sorry to have to hand this burden over to you. Komari use all the means you deem fit to protect your brothers, use your magic, use your fists.".
"Farique stop!!" Bilas exclaimed "what?! you want to preserve her? look at her eyes! You know she''ll kill again to protect her brothers!" Farique yelled, looking at her friend.
"I blame myself for not having been able to protect your innocence, Komari. But now, we must protect your brothers and sisters."
Komari nodded agreeing to her uncle''s words, she would do anything for her family but she had also noticed that her current strength was far from enough for that. If she paid attention to her visions the galaxy was filled with people with abilities far superior to hers. Until now she had mostly relied on strength to neutralize threats but that was not enough.
"Uncle I want to learn to fight." She asked him in a soft voice while playing with her fingers with her vibro-blade.
Farique observed Komari thoughtfully before launching herself "I know people at higher levels who really know how to fight they run a weapons room. You will go see them.".
To effectively protect her family Komari had to learn to fight whether bare-handed, with a baster or with a blade, it was the least difficult of what Farique had taught her because there were plenty of weapons rooms and practitioners of various martial arts.
On Nar Shadda, the city of crime par excellence, there were bounty hunters, mercenaries, hitmen and other scum of the galaxy. While waiting for contras or to pass the time, some of them made their knowledge available to those who were willing to pay to learn.
There were therefore weapons rooms at almost every level of the city except in the lowest levels.
On the other hand, Komari was aware that her mastery of the force was at best imperfect, in fact chaotic. In the absence of an individual capable of showing her how to do it, she had decided this time whether to follow her visions and dreams.
Some of the fragments of her visions concerned the training or initiation of what the Jedi''i called initiated to the force. She even dreamed of their ancestral rival the Sith teaching their apprentices how to use the force in the same way.
Ironically, the two had the same training method, meditation. Except that the Jedi''i seemed to seek inner peace by purging themselves of their emotions. The Sith, on the contrary, sought to rekindle the flames of their passion by remembering their raw emotions.
At this point Komari was caught in a dilemma which methods to apply? She had no attachment to the two philosophies that were In the finals she decided to practice both of their methods in turn.
The upper levels were certainly richer than hers but she could still observe the poverty in the alleys.
The weapons room indicated by Farique stood before her, its walls were decrepit, there was no external indication that the place was a weapons room. It was the regular flow of individuals of all kinds who entered and left that had guided her.
Inside the air was filled with screams and grunts followed by noises of impact, there was a smell of sweat mixed with blood. Sitting in a corner were two people who stood out from the crowd training, instinctively Komari felt that they were among all the people gathered here the most dangerous and by far.
The tallest was a Trandoshan she couldn''t tell, next to him stood a woman dressed in armor. She was a Mandalorian there was no doubt about it.
Both were representatives of the two most dangerous peoples in the galaxy according to what Komari knew from her dreams and visions. Specialists in hunting, war and death.
"Get lost kid!" the Mandalorian growled after Komari introduced herself. Usually that was enough to scare off the curious but she didn''t flinch, taking a step forward instead.
"I said train me!" Komari repeated.
"No now get lost." the Mandalorian waved her hand away.
The Trandoshan tilted his head to the side curiously "why do you want to train here?" he asked her with a strange forked whistle.
Komari spread her arms as if to indicate something obvious "to survive. To protect my family." she stared at the Trandoshan "the weak are devoured by the strong!".
The reptile had a chuckle, he understood the child''s mentality because his people advocated strength. He had devoured his brothers once he had hatched as their culture wanted.
"Arrogant words coming from a child." he pointed to the weapons room where men and women trained as if their lives depended on it. "They know that the price of weakness would be their death but I doubt you really know that. Now go home to your mother little one.".
Komari advanced again "train me! I have no money, no property but in exchange I would clean the weapons room every night. And if you refuse I will go see another weapons room, and if they refuse another one until someone accepts! ".
His strange fluorescent green eyes shone with a determination bordering on madness, kissing their eyes the Mandalorian could see Komari''s bare feet as well as her patched pants covered in what was drying blood.
"Okay, you will wash the weapons room every evening and maintain the weapons, in return you can train here for 2 hours." The Mandalorian declared.
The exchange was absolutely not fair but Komari agreed to that. "Well what you''re doing is cleaning the weapons on the rack!" the Trandoshan growled.
Komari was not restricted to Rogna and Balk''s weapons room to train and learn, people were generally surprised to see a young child of 6-7 years old ask them to teach her their art and secret but she had a certain talent or stubbornness and was able to take several courses in exchange she cleaned the place.
"Never stay still, kid, never!" Balk, her trainer of Sojo, a Trandoshan martial art using a force staff, shouted at her. "If you stay static then you''re dead! And keep that fucking stick at your fucking solar plexus go!".
Komari applied what the trainer asked her to do while paying attention to her balance, the secret of any martial art was the stability and balance of her body. But that was fine talk when you had to run for 1 hour alternating several intense biomechanics exercises. She was out of breath, exhausted and had vomited the little of what her stomach contained at the end of the 15th round. She had trouble lifting the stick because her arms were heavy.
The trainer sent her several blows that she parried as best she could but some passed her guard and came to bite her violently. Komari did not react to this pain, preferring to concentrate on the essentials: her opponent and also the perception of her environment.
The coach nodded at her lack of reaction, pain was a good thing in the city base, he could secretly admit that he was impressed by the girl''s concentration.
Since Komari had arrived, she had been participating in general training at the same stage as the adults. If at first many had laughed at the 6-year-old child that she was, their mockery calmed down when it was obvious that she could keep up with their pace.
Her hands were bleeding from hitting sandbags, her palms had remained more than once on the handles of training weapons from practicing the exercises.
Komari could be thrown to the ground, knocked out, fainted from exhaustion, she always ended up at one point or another getting up... only to end up on the ground again. It could be said that the kid she was had bled so often on the floors of the rooms she visited that we could talk about kinship between them.
The others had come to respect her in silence for her determination but also for her strange talent to be a real sponge. It was enough to show her a movement for her to master it in a few sessions by dint of practice.
Komari perceived the loss of concentration of her opponent and took advantage of it to hit him in the left flank which the latter parried in extremis.
"And sneaky with that it is very good to continue." but she could not hit him again the stick was very heavy for a child exhausting her quickly.
She spent the week training with the stick or the Ter?s-K?si with another trainer who shared the room but when she was not training she went to the next level to steal what she could or to recover abandoned objects.
It was amazing what people threw away a lot of what is considered good for the trash is in reality totally functional or reusable with a little elbow grease. Her greatest treasure was a small jet bike, probably a toy of a son of good family, with the help of Bilas she had installed on it a large cylinder engine that she had stolen from a warehouse.
As a result, her jet bike sped at full speed through the alleys of the city base, avoiding trash cans and people and passing through extremely narrow passages where most often the sides of her jet bike scraped the walls. More than once she had crashed into a wall or hit an old rusty pipe.
But thanks to her bike she could make deliveries for the various gangs, which greatly helped her little family. Komari had met many gang members in the weapons rooms who took advantage of the neutrality of the place to chat. One day she had been asked to help out by transmitting a package, and gradually she had become the neutral transporter of the gangs. Komari had quickly gained a reputation for being very reliable, even going so far as to retrieve the cargo if it was stolen, something carriers generally did not do.
III. The job
Komari m¨¦ditait en tailleur dans la petite salle de l¡¯un des num¨¦ros du club aux niveaux inf¨¦rieurs o¨´ les transporteurs et tous les criminels des niveaux environnants se rencontraient.
Elle sentit un rat la renifler avant de s¡¯enfuir face ¨¤ une impulsion de force, cette fois Komari avait d¨¦cid¨¦ de suivre la m¨¦thode de m¨¦ditation Jedi¡¯i en se purgeant de toutes ses ¨¦motions pour ne faire qu¡¯un avec la force. Elle pouvait entendre l¡¯¨¦cho des personnes qui se d¨¦pla?aient dans le niveau. La force lui permettait de sentir les gens sur une centaine de m¨¨tres, mais lorsqu¡¯elle m¨¦ditait, sa perception s¡¯¨¦tendait sur des kilom¨¨tres.
Ce genre de m¨¦diation ¨¦tait tr¨¨s pratique lorsqu¡¯elle voulait trouver quelqu¡¯un ou quelque chose.
D¡¯habitude, les gens la laissaient m¨¦diter en paix dans son coin, et c¡¯¨¦tait particuli¨¨rement vrai apr¨¨s qu¡¯elle ait coup¨¦ les mains d¡¯un homme qui avait voulu la d¨¦ranger.
Elle avait huit ans et, comme tous les enfants des rues, elle ¨¦tait beaucoup plus mature pour son age et beaucoup plus endurcie.
Grace ¨¤ son m¨¦tier de transporteuse, elle pouvait le plus souvent manger ¨¤ sa faim, m¨ºme si la nourriture n¡¯¨¦tait pas vraiment bonne. Toute la nourriture au niveau inf¨¦rieur n¡¯¨¦tait rien d¡¯autre que des blocs de nutriments infames ou des rats morts. Quant ¨¤ l¡¯eau elle ¨¦tait extr¨ºmement pollu¨¦e, les alcools vendus dans les clubs ¨¦taient en fait un m¨¦lange chimique plusieurs fois coup¨¦ avec de l¡¯essence.
Les deux derni¨¨res ann¨¦es de formation lui avaient ¨¦t¨¦ extr¨ºmement b¨¦n¨¦fiques car elle pouvait tenir t¨ºte ¨¤ n¡¯importe quel adulte et le vaincre sans trop de difficult¨¦, ce qui ¨¦tait crucial dans son environnement.
Komari ¨¦tait le seul transporteur de 8 ans capable de transporter des objets de valeur tels que des ¨¦pices ou des articles sensibles, normalement travaill¨¦ pour des transporteurs plus anciens et affili¨¦s ¨¤ des gangs.
Ce qui l¡¯attirait, outre sa fiabilit¨¦ et son courage, c¡¯est qu¡¯elle n¡¯¨¦tait affili¨¦e ¨¤ aucun gang, elle restait toujours neutre dans les conflits de gangs, ce qui la d¨¦signait souvent comme messag¨¨re entre les gangs en guerre.
Elle avait attach¨¦ ¨¤ sa taille ¨¤ une ceinture de qualit¨¦, vol¨¦ son vibro-lame souvenir de Mila ainsi qu¡¯un blaster offert par un chef de gang ¨¤ qui elle avait rendu service en tuant l¡¯un de ses hommes qui avait tent¨¦ de les d¨¦passer tous les deux.
Il ¨¦tait ¨¦norme dans les mains de son enfant, mais il ¨¦tait aussi tr¨¨s pr¨¦cis, ce qui signifiait qu¡¯elle ¨¦tait souvent sous-estim¨¦e.
Komari ne pensait pas avoir de talent en tirs de barrage compte tenu du peu d¡¯occasions qu¡¯elle a eues. Le prix de la pile d¡¯¨¦nergie d¡¯un blaster ¨¦tait un luxe qu¡¯elle ne pouvait pas se permettre, mais l¡¯objet ¨¦tait toujours dissuasif et dans les couloirs ¨¦troits, il y avait peu de chances de manquer sa cible.
? Komari, Komari ! ? S¡¯appelant un peu, Komari interrompit sa m¨¦ditation et ouvrit la porte de la pi¨¨ce pour trouver Simon, le plus jeune de sa famille derri¨¨re elle.
"H¨¦ Simon, qui est-ce ? Vous ne devriez pas ¨ºtre ¨¤ la maison ? Demanda-t-elle en lui frottant horriblement la t¨ºte. Il ¨¦tait devenu sa lumi¨¨re au sourire ¨¦ternel, sa curiosit¨¦ d¨¦bordante les avait amen¨¦s ¨¤ explorer tous les recoins de leur niveau. Chacune de leurs escapades ¨¦tait une nouvelle aventure loin des probl¨¨mes de la vie quotidienne.
? Il y a des membres de la bande de Zolan chez les Komari, ils veulent te voir et menacent Farique et les autres ?, dit Simon de sa petite voix, essayant de contenir son angoisse pour lui. Sans vraiment r¨¦ussir car elle a d¨¦tect¨¦ la peur dans sa voix.
Komari fron?a les sourcils, le gang de Zolan avait une tr¨¨s mauvaise r¨¦putation dans le cercle, m¨ºme avec les autres gangs, car ils ne respectaient jamais les r¨¨gles communes ¨¤ tous les gangs.
De plus, ils venaient d¡¯en croiser un, sans jamais impliquer ni menacer la famille, ni m¨ºme s¡¯introduire dans l¡¯espace de vie de la famille.
Ce gang ¨¦tait ¨¦tranger selon les normes du niveau inf¨¦rieur, des informations qu¡¯elle avait pu obtenir ici et l¨¤, elle avait appris que ce gang ¨¦tait les restes d¡¯un gang du niveau sup¨¦rieur dont le chef Hutt avait perdu une guerre de territoire.
Pour ¨¦chapper au nettoyage habituel qui avait suivi la mort d¡¯un chef de secteur Hutt, ils s¡¯¨¦taient enfuis vers les niveaux inf¨¦rieurs avec l¡¯ambition de s¡¯¨¦tablir.
¨¤ Nar Shadda, les Hutts ¨¦taient la loi, leur cartel r¨¦gnait sur la plan¨¨te puis les subdivisait en sous-branches par clans et par niveau. Les plus jeunes de leurs clans ont ¨¦t¨¦ plac¨¦s ¨¤ la t¨ºte d¡¯un niveau inf¨¦rieur qu¡¯il contr?lait par le biais de ses r¨¦seaux criminels. Il est alors libre d¡¯essayer de dominer les Hutts voisins afin de gagner en puissance pour ensuite grimper dans la hi¨¦rarchie et ¨¦ventuellement passer au niveau suivant.
En fin de compte, Nar Shadda ¨¦tait un vaste terrain d¡¯entra?nement pour le jeune Hutt, et les autres n¡¯¨¦taient que des pions dans leurs petits jeux de pouvoir.
Il y avait une exception ¨¤ cela, les niveaux inf¨¦rieurs en dessous du niveau 50 ¨¦taient surnomm¨¦s la ville souterraine, les Hutts n¡¯y avaient aucun int¨¦r¨ºt, aucun pouvoir parce qu¡¯ils ¨¦taient trop loin de la surface pour avoir un quelconque int¨¦r¨ºt.
Komari et sa famille habitaient le niveau 88, l¡¯un des derniers niveaux habitables, les autres niveaux ¨¦tant soit infest¨¦s de monstres ¨¦tranges, soit totalement sous l¡¯eau. Jusqu¡¯¨¤ pr¨¦sent, Komari n¡¯avait vu que 5 fois la lumi¨¨re du jour lorsqu¡¯elle est mont¨¦e au niveau sup¨¦rieur, ce qu¡¯elle avait pris pour de la pluie ¨¦tait en fait un m¨¦lange de d¨¦charge de tuyaux et de condensation cr¨¦¨¦e par les moteurs des navires des quais de chargement des niveaux 45 ¨¤ 50.
Elle confia Simon au barman, le mena?ant des pires atrocit¨¦s s¡¯il ne s¡¯occupait pas de son fr¨¨re, puis rentra chez elle ¨¤ toute vitesse.
Les membres du gang de Zolan n¡¯¨¦taient absolument pas discrets, ils ¨¦taient tout autour de sa maison, on pouvait voir la diff¨¦rence entre eux et les membres du gang local. Ils avaient beaucoup d¡¯armes laser en bon ¨¦tat, des fusils blaster ainsi que quelques armures.
Les gangs locaux ¨¦taient limit¨¦s en termes de blasters, la majorit¨¦ des combats qu¡¯ils menaient se d¨¦roulaient avec des couteaux.
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Komari ne savait pas ce que la bande de Zolan voulait d¡¯elle, mais puisqu¡¯ils ¨¦taient chez elle et retenaient sa famille, il n¡¯y avait aucun int¨¦r¨ºt ¨¤ ce qu¡¯elle soit discr¨¨te.
Les voix dans sa t¨ºte lui chuchotaient d¡¯¨ºtre prudente, mais elle les repoussa.
Lorsqu¡¯elle arriva devant sa maison, elle fut violemment projet¨¦e ¨¤ terre et tra?n¨¦e devant Zolan lui-m¨ºme.
Ce dernier ¨¦tait le fils d¡¯une bonne famille de la haute ville, son habillement d¨¦notait celui de ses hommes par son luxe. Instinctivement, Komari savait qu¡¯il ¨¦tait une mauvaise personne, il n¡¯¨¦tait pas fort physiquement, mais la lueur de sadisme dans ses yeux lui faisait comprendre qu¡¯il passait un bon moment ¨¤ blesser les autres.
? Voici donc le fameux Komari Vosa. Vous savez que les gens ne tarissent pas d¡¯¨¦loges ¨¤ votre ¨¦gard, vous ¨ºtes r¨¦put¨¦ pour accomplir tous vos contras, que la marchandise ait ¨¦t¨¦ vol¨¦e aux Hutts ou aux Mandaloriens ou m¨ºme que vous deviez la ramener dans des endroits gard¨¦s. Il s¡¯exclama quand il la vit avec un petit sourire sur le visage.
Komari d¨¦poussi¨¦ra ses v¨ºtements avec la poussi¨¨re avant de lui r¨¦pondre, signe qu¡¯elle ne lui accordait aucun respect.
? Oui, je suis Komari Vosa et je suppose que vous avez quelque chose ¨¤ porter. Ou pour voler. ?
? Oui, mais c¡¯est parce qu¡¯elle est perspicace. ?
? Alors, faites une demande dans les r¨¨gles au lieu de vous ramener ¨¤ moi avec vos hommes et de menacer ma famille. ? Elle lui a fait un doigt d¡¯honneur, pas forc¨¦ment la meilleure chose ¨¤ faire quand quelqu¡¯un mena?ait sa famille mais cela lui a permis de d¨¦compresser.
? Ha ma ch¨¨re Komari, on m¡¯a dit que tu ¨¦tais extr¨ºmement intelligente et mature pour ton age, mais je vois que ce n¡¯est pas le cas. J¡¯ai en effet un travail pour vous qui diff¨¨re un peu de ce que vous faites habituellement. La voix suave, mais sadique, de Zolan s¡¯¨¦leva d¡¯un geste, il fit signe ¨¤ l¡¯un de ses hommes, qui frappa Komari dans le dos, la jetant ¨¤ nouveau au sol.
"Come to the point quickly," she said, grimacing before getting up cautiously.
"There is a ship at Pier 114, the Fierfly, and there is on board in its navigation survey information on the movements of a certain Senator Bachure. I want you to bring me his information and everything you can find about the senator in exchange, I wouldn''t kill your little family of stinking rats. he ordered.
There was no room for negotiation, no room for manoeuvre, he used weaker than him to take risks. Komari knew that her small size and reputation had worked against her because the only way to discreetly pass through the security of the ultra-secure Pier 114 was through the narrow pipes that led to the void under the landing platform of the ships. The place was an ultra-secure port with a real army capable of vaporizing Zolan''s gang. Located on a gigantic tower that pierced the clouds it was the garage of all the important people of Nar shadda.... and Komari was to infiltrate her.
Climbing to the surface took half a day by public transport but it was expensive. No, the easiest and cheapest way was to go up to level 44 and hang on to a cargo ship that went up. With the traffic and depending on the ship, the journey could take about twenty hours to get back into the transit tunnels. We had to hang on because the winds in the heart of the tunnels were strong enough to tear a man from the ground.
Komari had spotted a transporter going up through a tunnel not far from the area where platform 114 was located.
She had made a detour to Rogna and Balk''s weapons room to retrieve some equipment they had in stock. The latter were not on the planet because a contra had sent them for several months to the core worlds. If they were the Komari wouldn''t have hesitated to ask for their help.
What she had retrieved from them was a hacking kit capable of getting her through the service doors leading to the pipes. Komari had also taken a homemade bomb that she had made with Rogna when the latter had started showing him how to make explosives a few months ago.
She just hoped that the bomb wasn''t going to explode in her hands, not being at all sure that she could control the firing.
She was lucky on the surface, it was raining showers which would reduce the visibility of the guards and significantly affect the detection sensors. Unfortunately this would make his progress even more dangerous because the pipes were filled with water and the sockets suspended under the platform extremely slippery.
Accessing the pipes had been child''s play, she had cracked the encoding of the door in a few seconds.
Under the glowing setting sun, Komari began to climb the underside of the platform of the statio port. The holds she could hold on to was limited, Komari grabbed with all her strength the few fasteners located under the platform she had already almost fallen four times during her progress. She could make out the lights of the base city below her as night began to break.
It was with real relief that she hoisted herself onto the platform, dragging herself like a slug so as not to be blown by the wind that was howling in her ears.
She paused to catch her breath, the progress above had taken more than two hours and a good part of her energy. A single mistake would have meant a fatal dive.
The Fierfly was located in the center of the platform between two luxury pleasure boats, Komari was quickly able to reach it, the potential guards being sheltered from the rain.
The Fierfly was a mix between a senator''s ceremonial ship and a luxury ship thanks to the forcing keys given by Zolan, she had no trouble getting inside the ship, not unhappy to be able to take shelter from the rain.
It was probably the most luxurious ship she had ever seen, it was worth being a senator, she said to herself as she climbed to the cockpit, it took her a few minutes to find what she was looking for, the central computer.
It was from here that she was able to access the ship''s information and especially the navigation survey as well as the captain''s note.
Komari found what she was looking for when she came across the ship''s navigation history between several planets. She then went to the senator''s room, the luxury of the room was frightening, according to her., Komari almost had to squint his eyes not to be dazzled by the bright reflections on the decorations.
The senator''s personal terminal took her about twenty minutes to hack before she noticed that a computer-it stuck in a corner with the said passwords.
Upon entering the terminal, she quickly looked for anything that could be compromising to blackmail the senator according to Zolan''s request.
What she found was edifying, the senator was dirtier than the lower levels of Nar shadda. He was involved in everything, insider crime, corruption, blackmail, arms sales, sex trafficking and so on.
While searching further Komari came across something unexpected, in a hidden file were the bank details of all the senators'' accounts, personal account and secret account. There was even on one account the revenues diverted from the trade taxes of his planet.
Komari felt her heart start beating fast when she came across the senator''s passwords who seemed to be afraid of forgetting them.
It was his chance to offer a better life to his family, with this money they could leave Nar shadda to go live in a more peaceful world. Why not on an agricultural world? Farique had always dreamed of having a farm and Simon would surely like it.
Komari calmed down and copied all the documents onto two cipher diskettes that were lying around. On both of them she placed a password that only she had as insurance. But the key she was going to give to Zolan contained only something to blackmail the senator while the one she looked for on her contained all the information, including banking information.
Quickly, she had all the information erased from the senator''s terminal, becoming the only one to master her secrets.
Two distant presences touched her, it was imperceptible yet she did not like it. His instincts told him that something was going to happen.
It was time to leave, she took the way out, it was still raining when she got off the ship. So much so that she did not see the two individuals dressed in a brown cape facing her.
L¡¯un ¨¦tait grand, il avait une posture noble et ses traits ¨¦taient charmants. L¡¯autre ¨¦tait petit, de la taille d¡¯un enfant, voire plus petit.
? Je vous l¡¯ai dit, Yaddle, il y avait un beau rat ¨¤ Bort. ? Dit le plus grand au plus petit.
? C¡¯est incroyable, Dooku, je ne l¡¯ai pas senti du tout, tu avais raison ?, r¨¦pondit le plus petit, nomm¨¦ Yaddle.
C¡¯est alors que Komari les a vus, elle s¡¯est arr¨ºt¨¦e parce qu¡¯elle avait entendu leurs discussions, Yaddle, Dooku ¨¦taient des noms qui avaient r¨¦sonn¨¦ ¨¦trangement dans son esprit pendant des ann¨¦es. Elle savait, sans savoir qui ils ¨¦taient, deux ma?tres Jedi¡¯i... non Jedi, la question ¨¦tait de savoir ce qu¡¯ils faisaient ici devant elle, devant le vaisseau du s¨¦nateur Bachure.
? Jeune fille, donne-nous ce que tu as vol¨¦ sur ce navire. ? Demanda Dooku avec une grande politesse mais son ton ne souffrait d¡¯aucun refus alors qu¡¯il tendait la main. Derri¨¨re eux apparurent les gardes alert¨¦s par les Jedi, ils point¨¨rent leurs armes sur Komari tout en criant des ordres contraires. Elle ne pouvait pas ne pas bouger en s¡¯allongeant tout en levant les mains et en les croisant en m¨ºme temps.
Cette derni¨¨re ¨¦tait coinc¨¦e, elle ne pouvait pas faire face ¨¤ deux ma?tres Jedi, et encore moins ¨¤ plusieurs gardes arm¨¦s, mais elle ne pouvait pas non plus abandonner car la vie de sa famille ¨¦tait en jeu.
La pr¨¦sence du Jedi ¨¦tait inattendue pour elle et a boulevers¨¦ son plan qui ¨¦tait de partir sans bruit apr¨¨s son vol et de livrer rapidement les donn¨¦es demand¨¦es.
? Tu vas me donner ce que tu as vol¨¦ ! ? r¨¦p¨¦ta Dooku avec une intonation ¨¦trange dans la voix. Komari voulait le lui donner, c¡¯¨¦tait hypnotique, mais elle r¨¦sista ¨¤ son imp¨¦ratif en secouant la t¨ºte pour chasser le dernier brouillard dans son esprit.
? Je vous remercie pour cette sollicitation Jedi mais non, je vais garder ce que j¡¯ai vol¨¦ car j¡¯en ai un besoin imp¨¦rieux, la vie en d¨¦pend. ?
Dooku leva un sourcil, surpris par la r¨¦sistance de la fille, Komari commen?a ¨¤ se d¨¦placer nonchalamment sur le c?t¨¦ ¨¤ droite puis ¨¤ gauche.
? Toi, rat de niveau inf¨¦rieur, ne bouge pas ! ? Un garde a hurl¨¦. ? Donnez ce que vous avez pris et nous serons compr¨¦hensifs. ?
Les gardes n¡¯¨¦taient pas aussi calmes que les Jedi car la pr¨¦sence d¡¯un voleur sur le quai pouvait leur causer des probl¨¨mes avec le s¨¦nateur ou les riches marchands. Pire, les Hutts, leur employeur, pourraient d¨¦cider d¡¯en faire un exemple.
Komari sourit, les idiots qu¡¯ils ¨¦taient se g¨ºnaient mutuellement au risque de se blesser en se tirant dessus. Ses mouvements apparemment al¨¦atoires avaient pour but de les d¨¦stabiliser et non de faire d¡¯elle une cible statique.
Alors que les gardes criaient des menaces, Komari a doucement sorti de sa ceinture une grenade fumigante qu¡¯elle avait achet¨¦e au march¨¦ noir en pr¨¦vision d¡¯une telle situation.
Le corps cylindrique de la grenade glissa aux pieds des gardes qui la regardaient avec un tonnerre.
Quand elle explosa, Komari ¨¦tait d¨¦j¨¤ en train de se pr¨¦cipiter, se faufilant ¨¤ travers la brume de fumigent entre les gardes, elle avait presque atteint des caisses de stockage pour grimper sur le toit d¡¯un hangar qu¡¯une main ferme lui attrapa par l¡¯¨¦paule.
? Pas si vite, mon enfant. ? Dit Dooku sans qu¡¯elle puisse percevoir sa pr¨¦sence.
Mais il fut surpris par la r¨¦action de Komari qui se retourna sur elle-m¨ºme dans un mouvement totalement contr?l¨¦, lui tordant le poignet en m¨ºme temps et la for?ant ainsi ¨¤ lacher prise. Dans le m¨ºme mouvement, elle d¨¦pla?a le pied de Dooku avec son pied, contr?lant son ¨¦quilibre, le faisant tomber au sol. Le mouvement n¡¯avait dur¨¦ qu¡¯une demi-seconde et avait profit¨¦ de l¡¯inattention des Jedi.
Sans rien demander d¡¯autre, elle s¡¯enfuit, grimpant dans le hangar pour sauter sur le toit d¡¯une maison au-del¨¤ de la barri¨¨re du quai 114 avec les gardes qui la suivaient, qui se r¨¦veillaient de leur stupeur.
Dooku est litt¨¦ralement rest¨¦ sur son cul pendant un moment jusqu¡¯¨¤ ce que Yaddle vienne le sortir de son ¨¦tonnement.
? Tu es d¡¯accord avec Dooku ? ? demanda-t-elle, tout aussi surprise que lui de le trouver les fesses au sol.
? Ce gamin m¡¯a renvers¨¦ sans force en utilisant la mienne ¨¤ la place et... ? Elle n¡¯a pas sembl¨¦ paniquer autant que je l¡¯aurais pens¨¦ compte tenu de la situation. ?
Une s¨¦rie de tirs de blaster provient de leur ¨¦change.
? Ils vont la tuer, il faut les arr¨ºter. ? Yaddle a grond¨¦ mais a ¨¦t¨¦ arr¨ºt¨¦e dans son ¨¦lan par Dooku.
? Je vais m¡¯occuper de la fille, tu sauras ce que fait le s¨¦nateur Bachure. ? Sans attendre sa r¨¦ponse, il se pr¨¦cipita ¨¤ la poursuite des gardes.
IV. The fall
Komari was running on the roofs of the buildings with all her might, she had managed to leave the tower that housed platform 114 by clinging to a shuttle that was passing nearby. A shot then ricocheted a few centimeters from her hand on the shuttle''s cabin, surprised she let go of her grip and fell on one of the roofs of the upper level.
She jumped from the roof where she was standing, avoiding the fire of the guards who had followed her with several light transport shuttles. Screaming, she luckily landed on a fret droid ship, one of those that descended to the lower levels.
Another volley of gunfire passed by her, forcing her to duck to dodge the shots. His transport passed by another transport of the same type, Komari took the opportunity to hang on hoping to lose or destabilize his pursuers. Nothing to do, the guards seemed not to want to let go of her, watering the poor automated transport with their pull.
She managed to slip onto the automated control station, with her vibro-blade she removed the protection to access the autopilot wiring. With a sharp blow she tore off all the cables, the shuttle immediately lost its system of repulsion. Komari had to hang on so as not to lose the shuttle which was starting to fall at full speed. The howl of the wind in the stationary propulsion and the failure alarm sounded in Komari''s ears.
What she was doing was a risky gamble but one that could pay off if she succeeded. She had about fifty levels to pass before returning home.
She couldn''t do it with the pursuit of the 2 ships full of guards who were just waiting for an opportunity to catch and kill her.
By cutting the repulsor system, she had turned the cargo ship she was on into ordinary pieces of scrap metal falling at a dizzying speed that none of the Spiders pursuing her would try to match.
There was a significant chance that it would crash into one of the ships that was traveling in the tunnels'' shipping lanes.
But it was a risk to take. What she had ripped off was indeed the primary repulsor system, any ship worth its salt had a backup system that would activate the repulsors after a few minutes. This was enough for their fall to buy him a lot of time.
As she clung as best she could to the free-falling cargo ship, she had a moment of doubt. The hoods were not known for their generous donations and appreciation of the rules, what told him that the ship had a backup system?
With this realization, Komari is back to screaming thinking about the potential and disastrous fate he was waiting for if the Hutts had been miserly.
Luckily for her, the emergency system activated and activated the repulsors, the shuttle went from free fall to a sudden stop that almost caused it to tip overboard.
His pursuers, surprised by the rapid deceleration of the shuttle, did not have time to stop and overtook it in a hurry. This was the opportunity Komari had been waiting for, and he threw himself into the void.
After a brief fall, she landed on the roof of one of the 2 shuttles that were chasing her.
The pilot in his cockpit turned his head to understand the origin of the brief jolt he had felt.
"She''s on the roof of the ship!" the pilot of the other shuttle yelled into the radio when he saw Komari.
"I don''t see it," his fellow pilot replied.
"Get out of the way, make a maneuver." in the words of his comrade, the pilot of the shuttle, what do you mean a brutal yaw maneuver to make the intruder fall.
Like one of those parasites that infest the hulls of large cargo ships, Komari clung on with all his might, watching for the right moment to keep them company.
This moment arrived with a maneuver a little too brutal which brought the shuttle closer to another shuttle. To avoid the crash, the pilot had to make a crash recovery by deviating to one of the secondary tunnels.
This maneuver forced her to decelerate and she took the opportunity to jump on one of the advertising neon lights.
The gigantic advertising neon emitted so much light that it was difficult to perceive anyone running overhead. The observers in the shuttle were dazzled by the neon and he could not make out Komari running alongside it.
At the end of the neon structure stood one of the access tunnels leading to the terminals that connected the lower sectors. The tunnel is far too small and congested for a shuttle to enter.
From where she was on the neon light, she could see the tunnel but not access it because the neon was way too far forward compared to the entrance to the tunnel. But that''s not what Komari was aiming for, no, what she was aiming at was the small security platform that ran along the tunnel. The platform was located 10 M from the edge of the neon and nearly 3 M deeper.
"She''s going to try to jump!" exclaimed one of the guards, understanding what she was going to do.
"Don''t mess around, she''ll never make it, the distance is way too great," the shuttle pilot tried to contradict him.
Arriving at the edge of the neon light, Komari accelerated with all his might. She drew on the strength to jump as far as she could.
Under the lights of the neo, alternating between blue, purple and green, Komari felt a moment when time stopped, she could clearly see the platform in front of her. But also the endless abyss that stretched at his feet, the promise of inevitable death.
Her feet hit the platform hard and she crashed into the guardrail. The shock took her breath away momentarily and then she looked at the 2 shuttles that were chasing her before giving them a big middle finger.
"Catch me that dirty kid!!" yelled the guard leader in their com Link as they woke them up from their dazes. Quickly, the shuttles approached the platform to drop their troops before moving away, the rest of the pursuit was to be done on foot.
To survive in the lower levels she had to know how to move on rooftops and walkways, but if Komari was good at this game, she was still a child in front of healthy adults.
She could slip from one pipe to another, jump into you to another, her pursuers don''t want to let go of her. At that moment she understood how great the terror the guards felt for their master Hutts was, they preferred to break their necks by falling rather than face the wrath of the Hutts.
She was quickly caught by the guards, one of them grabbed her arm, she got rid of him with a simple movement and then hit his skull on a wall.
Jumping from a roof she dodged a guard who knocked himself out against a pipe, Another watch here falling on her, unfortunately for him she stuck her vibro-blade in his ribs and used him as a human shield while his comrades unloaded their weapons on them.
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If the wounds she had inflicted on him were not mortal, the one caused by her comrades did indeed dig into her death.
Komari knew that she could not continue like this, she quickly exhausted herself, the solution she found was the most radical, she placed her explosive against one of the walls which was forced to take the guards and adjusted the detonator, praying that it would not expose her in her hands.
Then to attract the guards she took cover and took out her Blaster, the weapon was still too big for her hands but by wedge it against a support she could have a more than decent accuracy.
Engaged in a firefight, the guards did as she expected them to do, they remained static, right where she had placed her explosive.
"Shit," one of the guards exclaimed as he stumbled upon the bomb hanging on the wall.
The explosion pulverized them for a moment, those who had not been killed instantly were thrown overboard into the void.
Rid of their chase, she continued to descend from level to level while remaining on her guard, she didn''t know if everything had continued, had been eliminated.
Komari felt a presence behind her, she felt her striker''s hand move.
Dooku was once again surprised by the girl''s reaction who parried his movement once again as if she had felt it.
He tried several times to catch her but Komari managed to retread her each time, she pushed him away to jump away on a roof much lower down. She almost crashed by narrowly missing the edge of the roof, the perspective seen from the other roof was deceiving.
The moment she got up, she saw Dooku jump after her, although he had the strength of the Jedi, he had also underestimated the distance, he just missed the roof and his skull hit the edge ringing it.
He quickly came to his senses to notice that he was floating in the areas held by force, his first reaction was that it was Yaddle who had saved him but he remembered that they had separated.
His astonished gaze fell on Komari who had his hands outstretched using force to hold him in the threshing floors. Exhausted by her run, she did her best to concentrate on saving the Jedi, slowly sending him to the nearby roof.
The latter landed safely on the roof, he slowly got up trying to understand this new data he had about this young child. He hadn''t seen the strength in her until she started using him.
"Thank you for your rescue, my young friend," he tilted his head toward her in respect and thanks.
"But I must insist, give me the documents you recovered from the senator''s ship."
KOMARI smiled sarcastically, "and I feel like I have to turn Jedi down. For me, it''s a matter of life and death, I have no choice. ?.
"Someone is threatening you and you use it to retrieve the senator''s information?" Dooku understood, earning him Komari''s acquiescence.
The 2 looked at each other on either side of their respective positions, he saw a dirty child with white hair and fluorescent glass eyes who was standing despite her tiredness.
Komari distinctly saw for the first time one of the people who haunted this vision and her dreams, she had mixed feelings.
Because a small voice in her head whispered to her that this man was going to be her downfall. Yet another told her that her future was not mapped out and that she had to write it, and this man was the gateway.
"I encrypted the information I stole from a card. I''m the only one with the password. I''ll try to temporize with Zolan until you get there and then I''ll give it to you. She said before slipping away by jumping into an air duct.
Komari finally arrived at the meeting point planned by Zolan, the latter was sipping a drink while chatting with a fat rich man that Komari could not identify.
Zolan''s men were not at all vigilant, she could have slipped between them without any problem.
"Zolan!! I have your fucking proof file! She yelled in front of him, which cut him off from the discussion he was having with the fat rich man.
He smiled broadly as he motioned for Komari Vosa to come closer to the hand.
"Well, we''re finally going to go here. I admit I didn''t believe in your chances. But in the end, who am I to judge a professional. Mathilde exclaimed, putting her hand on her heart and assuming a constrained air.
"Okay, you''re happy, but now let''s talk about business. You''re going to release my family and not go near them or else you won''t have your information. She threatened him, playing with the storage key in her hands.
Zolan frowned, visibly displeased, "Are you threatening me?" he snapped his fingers and several of these men approached, looking menacingly at Komari.
The latter I smile at her "yes I''m taking my precautions. I coded the key so if you want your information you''ll release sir. And once they are released, I will give you everything in this key. ?.
You could read on Zolan''s face anger, he was not used to being questioned by weaker or younger people. No, until now, he had never received a negative answer from anyone.
But he quickly regained control of these emotions, she felt the sadism rise in the heart of the force. She had a moment of doubt, she had the key, she had the codes of the key, so why was he so sure of himself and why was he getting off the ground.
He began to clap his hands at a slow pace in a condescending and theatrical manner.
"Bravo, bravo, you have more balls than the majority of my men." Komari really began to worry about the turn of events. Only slowly drift to his Blaster. She felt things were going to go very wrong.
"You see, my young friend, when I came to pick you up, I really needed your services," Zolan said, and then put his hand on the shoulder of the fat rich guy next to him.
"But, you see, my friend here, Senator Bachure, convinced me to let''s say cooperate with him. So I don''t need your services anymore. ?
Before Komari could react she was pierced by several blaster shots, she staggered one back before collapsing to her knees.
"You dirty rat, you''re going to join yours." Spat the senator by shooting him several more times.
Once his anger had passed, he turned to Zolan, "We have an agreement, comrade." "Happy to work with you," the latter replied.
Komari Vosa could hear them congratulating each other on their future cooperation as pain radiated through his body and a veil of darkness began to envelop him. She hadn''t seen it coming, she hadn''t felt it in her visions or had she refused the visions? She didn''t know what to think.
When Komari woke up, she was lying on a pile of garbage in one of the drains on level 89, she had drifted through the sewers until she washed up on a pile of garbage. It was a miracle that she hadn''t drowned on the way.
The pain was terrible, almost unbearable, his stomach was pierced by blaster shots that had charred the surroundings of the wound and caused a shock due to the burns.
She screamed and screamed for several minutes before trying to keep the pain to herself, doing her best to get back up. Her first attempt was a failure, she collapsed before she could even get on her knees. But the 8-year-old girl with white hair and green eyes persisted until she was able to stand up with the help of the wall.
Zolan was to get rid of his body by throwing it into the sewers as gang degenerations had done before him.
The first step she took caused an explosion of pain that threw her to the ground again, she screamed while vomiting blood.
She didn''t know what miracle she was still alive but she had to quickly find her family before Zolan did the same thing to them.
Gritting her teeth, she stood up again and moved forward, each of her steps was a torture but she will have her teeth.
The journey to her home was a torture, she dragged herself against the blackberries, leaving a large trail of blood behind her.
She fell several times but each time it was up, a hand pressed against her wounds she moved forward little by little.
There was absolutely no sign of Zolan''s men in the vicinity of her house, she should have been happy about it, but it could only be a bad sign.
Komari hurried as best she could to get home. In her haste, she crashed into the ground and then continued on all fours.
By pushing the door of her house with the hope of seeing her brother Simon''s smile, her uncle Farique''s gruff look and the incessant chatter of her other brothers and sisters.
Silence welcomes him. Then came the smell of blood.
The scene she had in front of her eyes, confirming her worst fears, was brothers and sisters, her uncles, everything was dead, absolutely all.
Zola''s men had not been content with killing them, he had humiliated them, everything had been naked, tied by the feet upside down, their heads resting detached from the rest on a table.
Simon''s small body was disjointed, with no skull had been smashed against the table, she could make out the tears in his eyes as well as a mute scream on his mouth.
Komari You didn''t want to believe it, the scene she had in front of her eyes was almost too insurmountable even for her rational mind.
And yet they were all dead, blood was dripping from her wounds but she had totally forgotten her pain.
Komari no longer felt anything, she no longer felt pain.
She had wanted only the happiness of her family, the happiness of her family. She had always rejected the visions she had, the dreams and prophecies. What did their trial of the galaxy matter to him, what did the war between Sith and Jedi matter to him. What does the Republic or the independent federation matter to him? What did good or evil bring her, she just wanted to be with her family.
She had wanted to live in peace, not necessarily in happiness but in peace. Not necessarily dancing but in peace.
To keep the promises made to her mother she had not used force on many occasions, she had always relied on her own talents to get out of complicated situations. She had avoided harming others with force, by training herself to control her body and mind.
Something broke inside her.
A whisper sounded in his ears, a nameless wail, a disembodied moan.
A roar of rage.
Toute la maison avait commenc¨¦ ¨¤ trembler, les feuilles de fer qui servaient de mur commen?aient ¨¤ se tordre et ¨¤ se fissurer. Le sol ¨¦tait comme repouss¨¦ par une force incommensurable.
Komari fera les yeux de son fr¨¨re, d¡¯un geste d¨¦licat alors que tout autour d¡¯elle s¡¯envolait.
Puis elle a cri¨¦.
Sa rage ¨¦tait totale, incommensurable.