Resurrection -- Prologue

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Nem Yim's consciousness floated within the depths of the Eighth Cortex.

She watched the few concepts and processes as they floated by her, arcane designs that had long ago been stored within the Cortex. Things that had not seen the light of existence in thousands, if not millions, of years.

And for how empty these depths were, the complexities and and sheer brilliance in the few designs that lingered were amazing to her.

Then she reached the theoretical edges of the Cortex; the realm where her own designs were filling the uncharted depths.

And she found herself once again frowning--concerned about the lack of knowledge. For she knew that given enough time, the infidels would even out-innovate the realm of the Eighth Cortex, and that no matter how fast she filled it up, no matter how many new creatures and living artifacts she brought into existence, the infidels technological prowess would out-match and out-pace her.

She was only a single heretic amongst the billions of Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, while the infidels had billions of scientists working against her and the Elect.

There had to be something beyond this. Something which would allow the Master Shapers of the Yuuzhan Vong to create new things without the taint of Heresy.

Even as she thought these things, the Qang Qahsa wavered around her, and she felt pain blister through her mind, ripping at the delicate neurons that had been prepared for the sharing of knowledge with the Qang Qahsa.

Slowly, she realized that this was a pain she had felt before, that once more, she was the focus of the intelligence which governed the Qang Qahsa and the protocols as a whole.

Begone.

The word reverberated throughout her brain, more terrible than even the voice of Shimrra.

"No," Nem Yim said in a hiss. "I am the Master Shaper of the Yuuzhan Vong, you will show me your knowledge."

The pain flared and grew more terrible, attempting to burn away her iron will.

But she held fast, and remained.

Then, the pain disappeared and the icy-coldness of the Cortex once again flowed through her awareness.

She looked around her, and realized that she had transcended the Eighth Cortex and found herself still deeper within the forbidden, ancient knowledge.

Here she found two things.

Two protocols hidden deeper within the Qang Qahsa than any had ever dared travel before. Two protocols hidden two levels further than all the other Master Shapers alive today knew existed. It was possible that this level was even beyond the keen of Lord Shimrra.

The first protocol was the Protocol of Yun-Harla. She reached for it, and there she found the way that Yun-Harla had stolen the secrets which were stored in the Cortexes. It was the steps, a process, to create knowledge--to refine it and make it better.

She knew she had found the concept that would help her race survive, prosper and prevail over the Infidels.

Then she focused on the second protocol. She noticed that is was defined as the Protocol of Yun-Yuuzhan.

The very thought of a protocol named such bothered her; it smelled and tasted of blasphemy.

So of course she retrieved it.

The protocol resembled a dhuryam or a yammosk. A massive floating brain creature. What it did or was suppose to do, was not defined.

As she burned the knowledge into the space created by her last session with the Vaa-tumor, she felt the awareness of the Qang Qahsa focus on her.

Be wary of the Protocol of Yun-Yuuzhan.

She blinked. "Why?"

The Protocol is destructive to the very concepts of space-time. It creates a... it does not matter. Do not shape it. Such has been the command for eons. Such shall be the commands for eons more.

"Is it a weapon?"

Yes. And No.

Nem Yim frowned for a moment. "I shall consider things."

The commands of old are to purge this knowledge when you leave the Qang Qahsa.

Then she found herself once again in her real body. The Protocol of Yun-Yuuzhan burning in her brain as she struggled to grasp what such a creature would be used for.

For two days she struggled with the knowledge, wondering if she could or should purge it.

Finally, she decided that she must know what this creature was capable of. What it could do. And how.

So, she ordered a dhuryam birth-chamber, and created the few embryonic cells which would grow into whatever the creature was. The Qang Qahsa had refused to name it, and Nem Yim did not wish to until she knew what it would be capable of.

For weeks, she watched it develop and grow. Finally, she had it moved to a yammosk pool, where it continued to grow.

Finally, it reached what she assumed to be its full growth. The creature was slightly larger than a standard rikyam but smaller than a yammosk. She stared at the creature, amazed at the... beauty inherent in its form.

Now, if she only knew what its function was.

That night she was woke by a strange dream. It had felt like something primal had been speaking to her from the depths of her brain.

Standing, she stepped out into the hall and glanced around. Feeling a subtle, telepathic pull, she walked down the hallway to where the yammosk pull was.

Once there, she descended the steps, and walked through the thigh-high water until she stood before the creature.

A thin tendril reached up, and caressed her cheek, and concepts and thoughts slashed through her brain. Knowledge was ripped from it. Primarily, the ways of communications, but she also felt large portions of her own personal history transfer as well.

It spoke directly to her brain. Do you wish for your former Master to return from beyond the veil?

Nem Yim frowned as she considered the words, even as she found herself responding. "Yes."

So be it.

And then Nem Yim felt it.

A subtle warping in the pit of her stomach, that transcended everything; a jagged rip in the very concept of herself, and before her eyes, or rather the enhanced creatures with which she had replaced her eyes, creatures which allowed her to see below the microscopic level, she watched as the very building blocks of existence wavered and flickered.

She tasted tachyons and other exotic particles exiting from the creature. Things that she had no name for, but she knew, instinctively, that they traveled faster than light, and backwards through time.

And in that instant, she saw that if you accessed a high-enough dimension, time curved in upon itself the same way space curved and folded within the realm of Darkspace. That every moment in time was the exact same as right now.

And that every tachyon released touched upon all times and no times. They flickered out, racing through those high-order dimensions, searching for something.

Or someone.

Searching, to bring them back to the here and now.

At the epicenter of this disturbance, she knew all of this. For the first time in existence, she was aware of all things.

If she had been a Jedi, she would know that she was accessing a fundamental aspect of the Universe: the Force.

But she was not a Jedi, and had no concept or framework upon which to base the feeling. Nothing with which she could organize the near constant stream of feelings and information that flooded through her.

Thousands upon millions of tachyons raced past her, through her, while at the same time, they had yet to be released from the creature.

The concept raged through her brain, the Vaa-tumor struggled to keep up with the flow of information.

Before finally succumbing.

In a heartbeat the Vaa-tumor, a symbiotic organism that had replaced large portions of Nem Yim's brain, died.

The effect was startling, and worked exactly as if Nem Yim had had a massive aneurysm.

Her death was instantaneous.

So fast, so sudden, that she did not even have time to disable her revenge mechanisms. As her body recognized the fact that it was dying, it released a dozen different retro-viruses. Things designed to kill anything native to the Yuuzhan Vong or native to the Infidel galaxy.

Before Nem Yim's body even had the chance to slip beneath the waters of the yammosk pool, the creature she had shaped was in its death throws.

And with its death, those billions of tachyons that had already raced through time were released.

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Next Chapter

An Insignificant Thing

The wind swirled through the plain, rustling leaves and grass. It was a caress, a gentle touch, that traced swirls across the exposed skin of her arms and forehead.

It almost felt like the touch of an old, long-lost lover.

The rustle of the grass was a whisper in her ears.

It almost sounded like the voice from her past. Someone whose voice she had not heard from in far too long. Someone whose voice she would do anything--even fall to the Dark--in order to hear again. Someone whose voice she had fallen to the Dark in order to hear just one more time.

She stared out at the empty savanna, before lifting her eyes to the curved ceiling in the distance.

It had taken her years, but she had finally arrived.

Ten years of hunting through the nether regions of the galaxy after her failure at Jacen's hands.

Ten years of searching, and struggling. Of pain and loneliness.

Ten years.

But she had succeeded. She had found the place where her heart had died.

She had found the place where her life had shattered.

She had found the place where her world had crumbled.

She had finally managed to find the dying remains of the Baanu Rass.

After over 25 years, she had finally returned, ready to face the ghosts of her past, ready to conquer them.

Jacen had taken her to a Baanu Rass all those years ago, but they had been out in the middle of space, in high orbit around Myrkr, not on the Koros-strohna itself.

She had gone to visit the Aing-Tii and she had learned what Jacen had teased her with. She had learned Flow Walking.

Clearing her mind, she she settled into a meditation pose.

With a slow exhale, she subsumed herself into the Force, feeling the Flow of Time as it tried to pull her forward. With a shift of her will, she trudged backwards, fighting the Flow, enforcing her will upon it, turning it backwards.

She knew that with the Force, all was possible.

She knew that with the Force, she would be able to go back in time.

She knew that with the Force, she would be able to unanchor herself from the present, and travel into the past.

She opened her eyes, and knew the Force was with her. All around her, she saw a mixture of Yuuzhan Vong and coral-implanted slaves.

And there in the midst of them was a group of Jedi.

They were young, nothing more than children, and not for the first time, she wondered why in the name of the Force, that Master Skywalker had allowed them to go on that insane mission.

Her eyes tracked them, and then she ignited her saber.

All movement stopped, and for the first time in nearly a decade, Tahiri Viela smiled.

As a fifteen year old apprentice, she had no concept of what a fully-trained Jedi would be capable of fighting like. Yes, she had seen the Masters fight one another, and even fight against the Yuuzhan Vong; but it was one thing to watch, and another thing entirely to be able to do such herself.

She became a blur.

Her saber flashed, and flashed.

It was a sheet of blue lightning, that tore apart Yuuzhan Vong warriors and coral-implanted slaves alike.

Finally, she stopped, and found herself standing amongst the Young Jedi. They stared at her, wide-eyed, and confused.

Then her heart began hammering in her chest, and she found it difficult to breath. Neither physiological action had anything to do with the battle she had just fought.

It was a reaction to what she saw. Who she saw.

Anakin.

He was standing between his sister and her own, younger self, and she noticed that he was holding his hand over the open, bleeding wound of his stomach. She knew that she had been too late, and without saying a word to any of them, she released her grip on the Force, and allowed the Flow of Time to pull her back to the present.

Time flowed around her, a jumbled mish-mash of potentials and possibilities. A cacophony of futures and pasts, and possible presents.

With a gasp, she stumbled forward, once again finding herself on the empty wind-swept plain of her present.

She was still in the slave-city from so many years ago, but now, those buildings had died, and just their mummified remains were left for her to see.

Then memories slammed into her.

They seared through her synapses, bright and shining and powerful.

Anakin proud and strong, even though he was wounded. Her still denying him that last kiss. His still dying. Him still throwing away his life away in a vain attempt to destroy a few dozen cases of voxyn clone embryos.

Tears flowed through her. Burning hot as they slashed down her face. She had sacrificed so much, only to still fail.

Then with a sad sigh, she realized the truth. She had attempted to change too much. Killing all of those warriors, intendents and slaves had been too much.

The Aing-Tii had taught her that the past could not be change significantly. That any significant changes would be corrected by the Force, and once more flow into the gentle Way of Time.

What they had not taught her, was what they meant by significant.

Tahiri knew that she did not need to make a significant change in order to bring about changes to the present.

She exhaled, and stood up, looking around her. Then she found what she was looking for, a small alcove, an entry way that led deeper into the Baanu Rass. Deep into its bowels, and the warrens where the wild, escaped voxyn had made their nests.

The warrens where the young Jedi had fled after that fatal fight when Anakin had been injured.

Gingerly, she walked through the warrens; the spicy scent of voxyn still hung heavy on the air, and the mummified remains of sterile eggs were arranged in nests of straw and dried grass, surrounded by the bones of their would-be parents.

It reminded her so much of her own life. A terrible waste. The end result of a terrible war. Pointless, vain hopes, that ended in dust and misery.

Finally, she found her destination: the mummified remains of the hovel where the young Jedi had spent a few hours trying to rest and sleep after the disaster within the slave village.

Smiling, she once more pulled the Force to her.

She twisted the Force, and imposed her sense of self upon the Flow of Time to force it to take her back to the past.

And it obeyed her will, depositing her into the time and place she desired.

She watched the hovel and waited, her robe pulled tightly over her head, helping her to hide in the shadows of the warrens.

She did not have to wait long.

Her younger self stepped out of the hovel, for what Tahiri knew was to be the first watch.

She stood up, and threw back the hood from her head and then walked forward.

The younger Tahiri glared at her, and then her eyes flickered across the scars that were still prominent on her forehead.

"Who's there?" The younger Tahiri asked as her hand slapped down to the saber on her belt.

"Hello, Tahiri," she said to herself.

Her younger self's eyes opened wider, "You... you're me!"

Tahiri chuckled slightly. "From a certain point of view."

"Wha... how? Why?" her younger self asked in a stammering voice.

Tahiri smiled. "It's a long story, and not that important."

"Why is it not important? I'm confused..."

"That's all right," she replied calmly. "What you need to know, what I've came back to tell you is this... whatever happens, kiss Anakin."

"Why?"

"Because love can ignite the stars. Love can change everything. Love can make the strongest, and most canny fighters, try harder and do better."

A frown flashed across her younger face. "I don't understand..."

Tahiri smiled sadly as she started to release her strangle hold on the Force. "You will."

"I-"

Tahiri interrupted her younger self. "No. No more questions. Just remember: kiss Anakin."

Then she was back in the Flow of the Force, in the river of time.

As she watched time itself twist around her. She realized something.

She found something, that for far too long she had believed to be dead within her.

She found that she did have hope.

Even though for her the majority of her life, those hopes had been in vain, they were still there and still burned brightly. Her dreams were still alive, her faith in once again having a home and a life were merely a banked fire; one ready to burst out into a blazing inferno with but the merest hint of possibility.

She found that she had a faith in her younger self, and the love that still burned brightly in her chest.

She hoped that her younger self would kiss Anakin.

She had faith that her younger self would give Anakin that kiss.

She knew that that could, would, give him something to fight for.

She had hope.

She had life.

She had her love.

She knew that all three could change the world. The galaxy. The universe.

She knew that it was unfair to place such a burden upon such a simple thing as a kiss.

But still, she had faith that that single kiss would be one of those eternal moments on which the world hinged.

She had faith in that kiss.

She had faith in that simple act, and its ability to save her present.

After all, it was such an insignificant thing, a kiss.

A kiss was merely a sign of love or affection between two people.

The press of lips against lips. In so many ways, it was so... insignificant.

Yet she still knew... she still hoped that a kiss could change her life.

A kiss could give him something to live for.

A kiss could ignite the stars.

A kiss could change the world.

I Want to be Your Knight - 38

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After we disabled the remaining guards we were out of the building, and running down the street at the prodigious speeds available only to Jedi and droids.

I could feel Seha off in the distance. Her consciousness was flickering in and out of my awareness. It almost felt as if she had been drugged and stunned, but her presence was firm and alive and that gave me hope.

In the distance I could make out the three fins of a lambda class shuttle, and I pointed it out to Jysella.

We arrived just as it launched. Cursing, I snatched my saber and threw it, using the Force to guide it.

The blade ripped a long, deep furrow through the fuselage, which in turn showered Jys and I with hyperdrive coolant. A white plume of smoke flew out of the rip in the starship, as it moved off, and away.

I watched as it dwindled into a small black speck at the head of that trail of white smoke.

Jys turned to me and said, "Well at least we know it's staying in-system."

I frowned and nodded my head as indecision warred within me. I was here to save Lando's daughter, and I still wasn't sure what had been done with her after we were arrested. But now, Seha had been kidnapped.

And I didn't know why.

My comlink, which I had recovered along with my lightsaber, beeped. When I activated it, Uncle Lando's voice emerged from the speaker. "Kid, we got your notice, and we're in-system now. Do you know where Cassa is?"

"Sorry, Uncle Lando," I replied. "I'm not sure where she was placed after we were taken. She might be at the school still."

"All right, I'll meet you there then."

I stared off into the distance where the shuttle had disappeared as I turned off the comlink.

"What now?" Jysella asked, a slight hesitance entering her voice.

I shook my head. "Cassa comes first. I'll go deal with Uncle Lando, you go talk to the Planetary Flight Control and determine where that shuttle came from, where it was going, and anything else you can find out. Then come get me."

She nodded, and began to walk away. Before she did, she touched my shoulder gently. "We'll get her back. I promise."

I smiled at here, and nodded my head once. "Thanks, Jys..."

Then she really surprised me. She quickly leaned over and kissed my cheek before running off towards the spaceport's control building.

I watched her run away, my mind tumbling end over end as I tried my best to process that girl.

After all, it seemed like every time I was certain that she hated me, then she'd do something like that to just obliterate my conception of her.

I was certain that she was the most confusing and exasperating girl in the galaxy.

It's so good to have at least a little bit of certainty in ones life.

Sighing, I made my way to the front, and found a speeder rental company, and within 20 minutes was once more at Cassa's school.

My destroyed speeder had already been hauled away, and construction droids were hard at work rebuilding the gates and front steps from where I had crashed into them.

Ignoring my handiwork, I walked through the listing gates, and found Lando Calrissian speaking with an elderly Sephi wearing the school administration uniform. You could tell she thought highly of herself, as her hair was in one of those ornate, winding top-knots braided with gemstones which their ruling classes love so much.

I got a dirty look from the school administrator, and a kind of half-grin from Uncle Lando.

"Hey, Uncle Lando," I said as I neared them.

Lando responded accordingly, while the school administrator went with a rather terse, "And what can we do for you this time young man?"

I gave her one of my patented sweet smiles. The kind that I learned from Mom, that special smile she reserved for those people who earned her Personal Ire. And yes, those are capitalized on purpose.

After she started squirming for a moment, I turned back to Lando, and said, "Have we learned anything new?"

He shook his head. "Dean Ollo here was just telling me that she is uncertain where Cassa and Koo are."

I allowed my eyes to slash that way for a moment, as I stretched out with the Force. It was obvious that she was trying to hide something, and was doing her best to not think about it.

"I guess that's what she's not talking about then."

I didn't know that a Sephi could turn that white.

I was corrected of that, when Lando pulled his blaster and shoved it's muzzle into her eye socket. It's like there wasn't any blood in her head left.

Lando's voice was terse and nearly a growl. "Answer my questions. If my friend here thinks that you're not 100% truthful, I pull the trigger."

"B-b-but..." she began, her unencumbered eye rolling towards me, pleadingly looking at me. "But you're a Jedi, you're going to let him do this to me?"

I shrugged. "I took a leave of absence when he asked me to find Cassa."

Her mouth opened and closed twice, before she finally spilled her guts. "Koo took her two experiments out into the retirement sheds around back."

Lando glanced at me, and I nodded. It was obvious that she was telling the truth. As he lowered his blaster, I pushed with the Force, as I waved my hand. "You want to go tell the authorities everything that you and Koo have been doing to the students here."

The administrator blinked, and then glanced towards a parked speeder. "Now, Mr. Calrissian, Jedi Skywalker, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see the local branch of the Judicial Services."

Then we ran to the back of the school.

And to my unending surprise, found a lambda-class shuttle nestled next to a shed.

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I Want to be Your Knight - 37

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After a long, uneventful ride, we were separated and pushed into interrogation cells. Mine was a moderately sized room, with a one-way transparent window, a large metal table bolted onto the floor and two plastic, non-conform chairs.

It was as unappealing room as possible, one designed to affront the sensibilities as wide of a range of beings as possible.

I could feel the girls' Force presences. Their emotions were cold, black stains on the Force. A mixture of anger, frustration and impatience. They worried me a bit, but after a wait of two hours, I was less concerned about them, and more about what was going to happen. As the door opened, I brought my focus back to the here and now.

The being that entered through the door was another Chadra-fan. The diminutive alien laid a datapad onto the desk, as well as a folder thick with flimsiplast documents. He looked at his datapad for a moment, before focusing on me.

"Well, Mr. Skywalker, it seems that you have a problem."

I arched an eyebrow at that. As far as I was aware, I didn't have any problems at all. "And how do I have a problem?"

"Well, first there's the breaking and entering at the academy, the destruction of private property, and accosting Administrator Koo. Oh, yes, and I can't forget the counterfeit identifications."

I chuckled. "Now I know you're just reaching. I don't carry any counterfeit identities."

"So you're Ben Whitesun?"

"No, I am Ben Skywalker, but that doesn't make those identities counterfeit."

I felt a twinge in the Force from Seha, and looked off to my right where I could feel her presence. My danger sense suddenly shifted into overdrive.

"We'll see," the interrogator replied, as he consulted his notes again. "Tell me again, why you accosted Administrator Koo?"

i sighed, and leaned back slightly in my chair. I knew he knew all of this. I also knew that he was hoping that my story would change. "He was using them as navigation computers in order that he could find that legendary treasure that the school's founder had hidden."

"See, this is what I don't understand. Why wouldn't he just use his ship's navicomp?"

I laughed. "If you're trying to trick me, you've got to work harder than that. As planetary security you should be aware that all Navicomps are required to record the destinations that they travel to."

I fought to keep a frown off my face as Seha's Force presence twinged again.

"That's interesting, as the Investigators noticed that yours lacks that particular feature."

"And I'm sure that you noticed I have an Official Variance signed off by both the Director of Intelligence and the Jedi. Order."

The Chadra-fan grunted and opened up the folder as that twinge in the Force shifted to an inferno.

I focused on the interrogator, knowing that whatever was coming, was nearly here. "So, tell me why you're protecting Administrator Koo's abuse of those two girls?"

The Chadra-fan immediately started sputtering. "I-I resent the impli-"

"Enough!" I interrupted, as I pushed back in my chair.

The Chadra-fan's eyes widened at my sudden movement. Just as a blast of red plasma erupted through the one-way transparisteel slashing through where I had just been.

I felt a feral grin come to my face. "You resent the implications, huh?"

The Chadra-fan's eyes widened, and I flicked my fingers at him, sending him tumbling against the wall. Hard enough for his body to leave an imprint.

Then the Force wailed and Seha's Force presence erupted in pain.

Growling, I reached out with the Force and grabbed the being on the far side of the mirror. The one who had taken a potshot at me. Once I had him, I pulled him to me.

The Nikto arrived on my side of the mirror unconscious and sporting a dozen wounds bleeding freely. I dropped him, and then turned my attention to the door. With another flick of the Force it was off its hinges and I was running down the hall.

I turned a corner and saw two stormtroopers of all things, in dark, reddish armor, standing at the end of the hallway by the lift. One was carrying Seha.

The other one opened up with his repeater and realizing that I lacked my lightsaber, I dived back around the corner.

A few moments later the blaster bolts stopped. I peeked around the corner and saw nothing. Frowning, I reached out and found Jysella and went to get her out of her interrogation room.

She was standing there, her arms crossed, a bruise forming on her right temple and a scowl on her face as I ripped the door from its hinges.

"Took your kriffing sweet time I see," she snarled at me.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I was trying to get to Seha."

Pushing past me, she walked towards the lift. "And you let them take her?"

I followed, feeling my frustration growing. "It's not like I had a blaster or a lightsaber, and they were shooting at me."

She didn't even bother to look at me as she responded. "You're a Jedi, you shouldn't let something like blaster bolts stop you."

"Well, not all of us can absorb them you know," is what I wanted to say. What came out, was, "The next time someone's shooting at us, why don't you show me how it's done then."

We got on the lift, and she finally looked at me. The anger bright and clear in her eyes. "I just bet you'd like that. You'd finally get to finish the job that you started all those years ago."

I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

Actually, a kick in the stomach would have been a step up from what I was feeling.

"Jys..." I began, but let it trail off with the realization that there was nothing I could say.

With a ding, the lift doors opened, revealing a dozen planetary security officers circling around three idiots playing with our lightsabers.

I glanced over at her. "Should we save them before they cut something off of themselves?"

She glowered at me for a moment, before turning her attention to the guards. "Nope. Let them cut off a leg or something. They'll be more cautious for it."

I chuckled, and turned back to watch the three, just as the alarm, probably announcing our escape, blared. True to my expectations, one of the men slipped, and sliced off the leg of one of the guards as they panicked.

I pulled Jysella to the side, and hid us in the Force, as most of the guards rushed to the lift and the stairs. That left us with three to take care of, plus the injured one.

Two took up stations near the door, while the third was giving first aid to the idiot without a leg.

I glanced at Jysella, and nodded. Subtly I used the Force to bring us the sabers as she moved closer to the lift.

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I Want to be Your Knight - 36

Previous Post

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A voice intruded into my nice comfortable darkness.

"Ben!"

Groaning, I lifted my head and opened my eyes, frowning at how blurry the world was. Wiping my forehead, I pulled my hand away and saw it covered in blood. I looked over my shoulder and saw Seha and Jysella in the backseat, both safe and none the worse for wear.

"I'm okay," I mumbled as I pulled my lightsaber and slashed the gate which was wrapped around the driver's side of the speeder. I pulled out my comlink, clipped it to my collar and set up an autofeed to the Scion, programming the ship to send the data to the Jedi and Uncle Lando, if the com-connection shut off. Then I was climbing out of the speeder. As I rushed up the steps, I called over my shoulder, "Come on you two."

I kicked in the door, and there was the protocol droid, it's arm folding away to reveal a heavy repeating blaster.

My saber came up, as the blaster let loose, sending the bolts right back at the droid.

Then Jysella was dancing around me, her silver blade slashing in, and she cleaved the droid into two. I didn't give it a second thought, but instead reached out with the Force, hunting for Administrator Koo.

I felt her Force presence a short distance away, and began running down the hall. "This way," I called out, and then used the Force to really run.

Within moments, I had burst into a hanger. I noticed a few things as I entered. The first was the yacht that was obviously warming its engines.

Next was Casa and immediately to her right was another girl about the same age. Both were obviously frightened as they were sitting perfectly still in chairs, and right behind each were two security droids.

Droids which began shooting as soon as I stepped into the hanger.

I cursed, as I dove to the side with the realization that I couldn't risk deflecting the bolts back because they might hit the girls. I rolled behind some crates, and glanced at the door noticing that Jys and Seha hadn't come through yet.

I sent them an image of what I was seeing over our training bond, and hoped they'd catch onto what I was doing. Then Koo was standing on the edge of the gangplank, and called out, "Bring the girls, and kill Whitesun."

"No!" I screamed as I jumped to my feet and threw my saber towards Koo. The Chadra-fan yelped and dropped to the ground as my blade slashed through the support struts for the gangplank--knowing that would be enough for it to fail launch protocols.

I was running after the saber, when a series of bolts stuttered across my path. I threw myself backwards, and away from the bolts. Where are you two? I sent over the training bond.

To get a wave of amusement, tinged slightly with Jys' sense of humor coming back to me.

Then one of the droids let out an electronic squeal. I looked that way and saw Seha behind a droid the one immediately behind Cassa, her saber extending from its chest.

Then Jysella took out the droid holding the other girl.

With a grin, I stretched out my hand and flicked with the Force. The two remaining droids flew against the wall, slamming into it hard enough to break.

Recalling my saber, I turned on Koo. "Hello Administrator. It's a pleasure to see you again."

I forced myself to not laugh as the diminutive alien glared at me. Koo's gaze flicked from me towards the girls and then back. "How... who?"

I shrugged, ignoring her questions as I slipped a pair of stun-coughs on her wrists. Then I turned and walked over to Seha and Jysella. "How're they?"

Seha looked at me, concern flickering over her face. "Physically they're fine, but they just keep repeating hyperspace coordinates."

I sighed. "I was afraid of that. Apparently, Koo over there has been shoving, at least Cassa's head full of astronavigation programming instead of the standard primary education that she was supposed to be getting."

Both Jys' and Seha's faces hardened, as their eyes flickered over to the administrator. I chuckled as I felt Koo's Force presence flare in fear.

"Freeze!"

We turned and saw a squad of the planetary security forces entering the hangar, their blasters drawn.

Koo began to chuckle, and I shot a glance at her. She instantly quieted.

Jysella spoke. "Hello Officer, we're Jedi Knights."

The officer in lead didn't drop his blaster. "I know what you three are, what I don't know is why you're here."

"To find and rescue this child," I quickly explained. "Administer Koo filed an missing persons report on her, despite the fact that he had secreted her away from her parents. Additionally, he modified her education program, in effect turning her into an astromech."

Still, I found myself staring down the barrel of that blaster. "I think we'll just take all of you down to headquarters to sort this out."

"As you say, Officer," I replied as I nodded my head, and with the Force, shut off my comlink.

---

Next Post

I Want to be Your Knight - 35

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Let me let you in on a secret.

It's a secret to investigations which no one ever tells you about. A secret which is never shown on those crime holodramas. A secret that's glossed over in fictionalized accounts of crimes.

On an investigation, you spend 1% of your time doing stuff, 5% of your time talking to people and 94% of the time working on the computer, holonet or doing some type of forensics.

What all those numbers mean, is that after the thirty or so minutes I spent at the school collecting stuff, I had a good six hours of working through the collected data.

So, I was quickly engrossed in it.

First I looked at the forensics that were collected, and did not find anything.

Which I found really odd. Lando's reports stated that she had been disappeared at night from her quarters while she was in the learning pod.

There should have been something in the forensics, unless Cassa had left willingly. Or at the least with someone she knew well.

So, I opened up the data that had been on her console, and felt a frown forming on my face.

Cassa was at a high-end, primary education facility. One of those places where they take the kids for a few weeks, and when they return them, they know basic maths such as algebra, trigonometry and geometry, as well as how to read and had been given a dozen aptitude tests. The really good ones also tossed in a few languages onto the mix--and this was one of the best.

I should know, it was the same school where I had my primary education when I was four. It was three months of playing with other kids my age all day, getting information shoved into my brain at night, and finally going home and just knowing trig.

But what was causing my frown was the sheer amount of astronavigation theory that was on her console, as well as hyperspatial physics and starcharts.

I wasn't certain what to make of it.

All I knew was that there was something there. I could feel it, a niggle tugging at my memory, as my mind tried to bring something together.

I looked through the data that was on her console. One thing I was certain of, was that there was no way that that data should have been on her console, as even with the data imprinting of trigonometry, she shouldn't have enough higher-order maths to understand it. She would be able to plot a hyperspace course manually, but wouldn't know what that meant.

This was the data I was staring at when Seha commed me at 1300 hours.

I answered, "Whitesun here."

"Ben," came her response. "We've not found a single thing out here. There's no smuggling, no drug running, there's not even an unsolved murder for us to find."

I frowned, that bothered me, but I wasn't sure why. "No matter, why don't you two get back here. I think we need to get a closer look at that education facility."

"Did you find something?"

"I'm not sure. I'd like to get yours and Jys' opinions on what I'm looking at when you get here though."

"Copy that, Ben. Be there in ten."

Then the comlink went dead and I was once more watching the console screen, struggling to figure out what was niggling me at the back of my neck. What Seha had said on the com had made the niggle of unease worse. Something about there not being anything to attract a Jedi's attention.

Suddenly, everything shifted and I understood all the disparate parts: Cognos, Koo, an asteroid and astronavigation.

It all made sense. I jumped out of my seat and rushed from the room grabbing my saber as I did.

Instead of going to the gangplank, I ran into the cargo hold. With a flick of the Force, I opened the cargo doors, as I ripped the canvas off of my speeder. It was a sporty, open air model, and I jumped into it, quickly activating its repulsors.

The speeder's engine growled, and I feed it power. With a rush of wind, I was out of the ship. I saw Seha and Jys walking towards me, and I slashed to a stop in front of them.

"Get in," I yelled, and for once they listened to what I was saying, as they both climbed into the rear seats.

Once they were in, I stomped on the accelerator, and the speeder jumped forward. I knew I was breaking a dozen local speed ordinances, but I was past caring.

Jysella leaned forward. "I thought you wanted us to look at something."

I shook my head, and yelled back at them. "No time."

"Why?" Seha asked.

"Because I think I know what's happening, and I'm afraid that I might've spooked them by showing at the Academy earlier. It's already been hours since I left, I just hope it's not too late."

"Too late for what?"

I shook my head, and wove through the traffic, focusing intently on getting back to the academy. I didn't want to really think about what it could be too late for.

After all, I owed it to Cassa and Lando both to make sure that she was okay.

Then we were nearing the academy, and I noticed that the massive iron gates had been closed. Rather than breaking, I pushed the throttle harder. The speeder jumped forward again, gaining speed, and Seha and Jysella screamed as the speeder slammed into the gates.

There was a harsh metal squeal and I jerked hard against my restraints as the gate crumbled around my speeder.

The speeder continued moving forward until it slammed hard against the a waist high pillar in front of the steps that led up into the building.

As the front of my speeder crumbled around the pillar, there was nothing but darkness.

---

Next Post

I Want to be Your Knight - 34

Previous Post

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Seha left before I could say anything else, and I busied myself with the post-flight checks. One thing was certain, these girls were great at destroying anything resembling equilibrium.

I finally finished, and with a sigh leveraged myself out of the seat.

Instead of going to the common area, I stepped into my quarters and got prepped for the mission. Which involved changing everything about myself.

I needed to stop being Ben Skywalker, Jedi Trainee and start being Ben Whitesun, Private Investigator.

First I dyed my hair black, then I put a couple pebbles into my shoes to shift my walk. Next I slipped a pair of contacts into my eyes to shift my retinal patterns.

The last physical change was to spread a thin layer of an adhesive over my fingers to ensure I wouldn't leave any fingerprints.

I exchanged my Jedi robes for more Corellian style clothes. The jacket had been custom made to include a interior hook for my lightsaber, so that the only obvious weapon I carried was my blaster.

Finally, I picked up all the tools that my life as a spy had granted me; things like lockpicks, a forensics collector and a specialized, high-speed, datacopier.

My preparations complete, I went to the common area, and found both Seha and Jysella on one of the couches, talking quietly.

Seha noticed me first, and when she looked up at me, her eyes widened slightly.

Jys turned towards me, and arched an eyebrow. "I didn't realize that we were playing dress up."

I smirked at her. "Sometimes being a Jedi isn't the best thing for what you're trying to do."

"Don't you two start fighting right now, we have a mission," Seha replied. Then she focused on me. "So, do you happen to have a plan?"

I nodded my head. "My plan is that you and Jysella act like Jedi, being a bit conspicuous, but searching for some drug smugglers. I on the other hand, act all sneaky, and put that intelligence training that was drilled into me to good use."

Jysella's lips tightened for a moment. "I don't think I can see anything wrong with that plan."

I chuckled, and gave my head a sharp nod. "Great. So, we'll check in with one another at 1300 hours standard. Sound good?"

Both girls nodded their heads, and I gave a short smile for Seha before leaving the ship.

Part of me was happy that my plan for ensuring that I kept a low profile involved the girls working away from me.

Not only was I still worried about the girls sharing in the visions of the past I kept happening, but I also knew it was only a matter of time before Seha realized that I wasn't worthy of any happiness.

That I really wasn't worthy of her.

That I wasn't worthy to be with anyone.

Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I clenched my teeth, and headed towards Cassa's boarding school.

And before long, I was there. It was a bright cheerful structure, and having read the datapacket from Lando, I knew it was one of the best advanced education systems in the entire Alliance.

Patting my pockets to ensure that I had my "Ben Whitesun" credentials, I entered the school.

Within taking two steps into the building, a Tenandro protocol droid was standing in front of me.

"I am ZT-003, Welcome to Clorith School for Elementary Studies. How may I assist you?"

I knew about the ZT line. While they were technically a protocol droid, fundamentally they were a battle droid as well. Much like the nanny droid I had growing up, except for the "adult" world.

"Hello ZT, I'm Ben Whitesun," I replied, as I held out my credentials towards him. "I'm a private investigator hired by Lando Calrissian to look into his daughter's disappearance, and I'd like to talk to the administrator of this facility."

The droid scanned my credentials as I talked, and I knew that it should be talking to someone at the moment.

Then it seemed to focus on me again. "Please remain here, and Administrator Koo will be here momentarily."

I nodded my head, and finally looked around overtly. I wanted the security cameras to catch me looking at all the things that I had noticed when I stepped into the room. No need for them to realize about my eidetic memory.

I liked keeping things like that as a surprise after all.

Before long, a Chadra-fan was standing before me, and introducing herself as Administrator Koo.

"I'm Ben Whitesun, and as I hope ZT here told you, Mr. Calrissian has asked that I look into his daughter's disappearance."

Koo watched me for a moment, and then nodded her head. "Very well, Mr. Whitesun, how can I assist you?"

"I'd like to look at her room, if possible."

She gestured towards a hall. "This way, though I hope you don't mind my presence, it's against our policies to allow non-personal unescorted access. Safety and all, you understand."

I smiled at her. "Of course, Administrator Koo."

"That said, I'm not certain what you expect to find. We told Mr. Calrissian that it is our belief that his daughter ran away from our school."

I nodded again. "Yes, he mentioned that, but I have procedures I follow in this type of cases. You understand policies, I'm sure."

I fought to keep a grin off my face as I felt her Force presence tighten at my subtle jab. We passed a bust that I recognized as one of the school's founder, and I paused for a moment to look at it. The bust was of a female Ikotchi, and I knew I had seen a statue just like this someone before.

The Administrator noticed my attention, and began speaking behind me. "That's Sil Clorith, our founder. Rumor had it that she had an asteroid where she kept a small fortune."

When Koo said asteroid I suddenly remembered. It was one of the things that Jacen had mind-rubbed out of my memory on Brisha Syo's asteroid. But rather than being labeled "Sil Clorith," that statue had been labeled "Darth Cognus."

I smiled, thanked her for the information and we continued down to Cassa's dorm.

As i entered, I reached out with the Force, trying to get a feel for the room, and its occupant. Stepping over to her desk, I obviously flicked through the flimsies on it as I activated my data copier. I set the small sphere next to Cass' console as I pulled out an imager and scanned the room.

And while being overly obvious about taking pictures, I set the forensics data collector to working.

A few minutes later both the data copier and the collector had pinged my comlink with a short buzz to let me know that they'd gathered everything that they were going to.

Having everything I expected to get, I discreetly--and with judicious use of the Force--retrieved my copier and forensics sphere, and had Koo escort me from the building.

As I walked back towards the spaceport, I just hoped that Seha and Jys were having an easier time without me around.

---

Next Post

I Want to be Your Knight - Ch. 33

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I stared at her for a moment, and then hung my head. No matter how much I wished otherwise, there was only a single answer for that.

"Yes," I whispered, hating myself the entire time.

Of course, I'd gotten good at that.

I felt Seha's shock roll across me in the Force, and the pain as Jys' tears flowed freely, her body shaking.

"If I had seen you, I would have taken you over to the Anakin Solo. I obeyed orders, Jys. I was a Lieutenant in the Guard. That doesn't excuse all the things I did, but at the time I didn't know..." Frowning, I paused. I had been about to say that I didn't know better. But that would have been a lie. "No, I knew better, I just... I just trusted Jacen."

I leaned back in my seat, gingerly touching my nose where Jys had hit it.

Jysella cried there on the deck of the cockpit, and I watched, wanting nothing more to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be all right.

But that would've been a lie.

I knew better.

I'd lost a mother to Jacen as well.

In an ironic twist of fate, I was the cause of her death as well. She went after Jacen because he was corrupting me. I think she would have known even then that it was me that turned Mirax over to Jacen, even if Jysella hadn't still been hiding out on the Errant Venture.

So, I knew that it would never be all right again. That there was nothing that would ever quite feel the same now that her mother was gone.

I glanced over at Seha, and found her staring at me. Her face white as she chewed at her lower lip.

"Seha?"

She blinked, and then shook her head. "No... I... I'm sorry Ben, this...I... no... I can't..."

She got up and headed towards the door, stepping around Jys as if she was afraid that she would get burned by touching her. I stood up, and Seha's head snapped towards me. She looked terrified--kind of like an animal trapped in the lights of a landspeeder.

She gave another one of those quick, abbreviated shakes of her head, and then fled, literally running down the corridor. I clenched my jaw as she disappeared, and dropped back into my seat. Leaning forward, I put my head into my hands, propping my elbows on my knees as I felt the tears wanting to fall.

I forced them back, slamming the door on my emotions, locking them behind the durasteel walls where I kept them.

Why had I let her in, I thought to myself. Why? I didn't deserve any happiness. I knew that I wasn't worthy of it, I knew that I'd just end up hurting her, so why did I do it?.

As was the case so often, I didn't have an answer. All I knew was that I hated myself as much now, as I did while working for Jacen.

I'm not sure when Jysella left, but when I lifted my head she was gone. I glanced at the navicomp, watching the inevitable scroll of numbers.

Finally, it reached zero.

Absentmindedly, I reached out and grabbed the hyperspace levers, and pushed them forward.

The swirls of hyperspace fell away, replaced by the cold pinpricks of light that was a starscape. I reached out and grabbed the controls, pushing the ship around until I could see the blue and green orb that was Sinteria.

I glanced at the datapad on the pilot's console, and noted that I needed to go to the city of Cythin in the tropic region.

As I requested landing clearance for Cythin, I stretched out with the Force.

The first thing I came across was the cold, hard diamond of Jys' anger.

I reached further and found the smoldering embers of Seha's sorrow and fear.

I almost dropped out of the Force, as it hit me once again just how much I've damaged those girls.

Instead, I reached out further.

I stretched, reaching out and touching all of the Force presences on the planet below, allowing every being's sense of self wash over me, just getting a taste for the web of life, allowing it to entangle me.

The console in front of me beeped, drawing me back to the here and now. I confirmed my receipt of the landing instructions, and then sent the ship into a dive; plunging into the atmosphere.

I wanted to get this mission over with, and then see about finding an appropriate hole where I could hide out for the rest of my life.

Maybe a nice little house out in the middle of nowhere on Dagobah or Tattooine.

My danger sense flared, and my head snapped over my shoulder to find Seha standing there. Her glare was hard and dangerous.

Two adjectives I had never thought would apply to her.

I nodded my head, and turned back to the console. When I spoke, I was surprised at how even my voice sounded; especially since my stomach was doing backflips. "Why not strap in, we'll be landing in a few minutes."

She sat down in the co-pilot's station, and stared out at the clouds we were flying through.

"Are you going to leave? Run away again?"

I looked at her, and the hardness was gone. All that was left was broken edges, and a tear slicing down her cheek.

"Do you want me to stay?"

She looked at me, chewing at her lower lip. Another tear tracked down her face. "I... I honestly don't know..."

---

Next Post

Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Epilogue

Previous Post

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A lightning bolt of pain slashed across Tahiri's awareness; jerking her from the ritualistic numbness of the Embrace.

She blinked back the sweat from her eyes to find Jacen standing over her. Anger clouded his features, and his eyes seemed to glow yellow in the dim orange lighting.

"You failed me, Tahiri," he snarled at her. "The ferals have been lost as a useful contingency option."

She opened her mouth, and willed words to come from her parched throat. "I… I'm sorry Jace…"

He felt him watching her, felt the first tendrils of his power snake out from his mind and begin to invade hers. Feebly, she attempted to mount a defense, yet pain, exhaustion, hunger and thirst made her too weak, and he smashed them aside.

She felt her back arch as he invaded her mind, plunging through her memories. Every nerve lit on fire as he forced his way through her thoughts and desires. Pain clutched at her side, shards of glass tore at her lungs.

Suddenly, the invasion stopped, and she remembered how to breathe. She gulped at the air as he turned away from her. "I'm not certain if you're worth knowing about Flow Walking…"

Fear rose in her breast, and she once more had to struggle to breath. "No! Please…"

He turned back towards her, his eyes still holding that almost glow. "Then go out and find me the Jedi. If you do that, if you discover where they've hidden themselves, then we might continue. Do you understand?"

She bowed her head and felt a tear trace down her cheek. "Yes…"

He backhanded her hard, and she felt a trickle of blood start pooling at the corner of her mouth.

"From now on, you'll address me as Master or Lord."

Tahiri watched him for a moment, and then bowed her head. "Yes… Master."

"And another thing, bring me Noelani." She lifted her head, and felt her heart freezing in her chest. "Bring me, your daughter."

-------------------------------
Noelani stared at the viewport, watching the blackness of space give way to the bright blue of atmosphere. Her mouth was compressed into a tight line. Pain ate away at her heart. Anger and hurt smoldered in her soul.

The Stolen Star dropped lower, falling into a thunderhead. The black clouds rolled around her, as turbulent as her own emotions. Flickers of lightning played at the edges of her awareness; bright angry flashes of light and sound.

Before long, she had left the storm behind, and she continued to descend. Finally she over flew her destination. A massive ziggurat made of brilliant white Hapan marble. She could still remember the first time she had seen this building; how it gleamed a blinding silver-blue, how it caused her to stare in awe.

Now, blackened, smoldering trees were all that remained of the Temple's courtyards. Even from the cockpit of her ship she could see that the blasted remains of doors, and broken windows.

In the Force she could feel a sense of desolation and abandonment.

She landed the ship within a stone's throw of the scorch fields and then shut down the engines.

For a small eternity she sat there in the ship, listening to the hull and engine ping as they cooled down. Waiting, praying to the Force for some type of guidance; some inkling of what she was supposed to do.

Standing, she went through the ship and found herself at the ventral airlock. With a wave of her hand and a flicker of the Force, the door opened, and Noelani walked out. Smells and sound, and a light wind tugged at her, trying to draw her back through her memories.

She stepped off the gangplank, and could almost imagine Tionne standing there saying "Welcome to Ossus, Noelani."

She wrapped her arms around her own shoulders and dropped to her knees as the first of the tears flowed down her cheek. It splashed against the dusty ground, and she stared at it for a moment.

Then she lifted her face to the sky, just as a break in the clouds allowed a shaft of sunlight to strike her.

"Why?" she screamed at the heavens, her voice roughened with anger and pain.

The only answer was the echoes of her own voice.

Rage gripped her heart again and she struggled to her feet. Reaching out with the Force, she grabbed the closest of the buildings, and pushed. With a thunderous crash it crumpled under the power of her anger.

Then she turned to another building.

Then another.

And finally, yet another.

Exhausted, she once more collapsed to the ground, her body shivering with her tears.

"Why?"

This time it was nothing but a whisper; the weakened cry of her broken heart.

This time though, she was answered. "Why? It is merely because you refuse to take command of the power which the Force provides you."

Noelani rolled to her feet, her saber springing to her hand to find a Yuuzhan Vong warrior standing in the shadows of the Temple itself. The warrior was female, and garbed in what almost appeared to be Jedi robes.

The warrior stepped forward, and Noelani hissed in a breath. She recognized this warrior; having been tortured by her not that long ago.

The warrior smiled; a hideous grin of flayed flesh and missing teeth. "I see you remember me."

Noelani ignited her saber; its throbbing sounded loud in her ear, a noise begging to be used, released; a noise which nearly demanded her to slay the warrior. "Yes. I do. What do you want?"

The warrior's grin turned into a full-fledged smile. "Is it what I want? Or what you need?"

Noelani frowned for a moment. "I… I don't…"

"No? You don't?" The warrior uttered a short bark of a laugh. "Don't you want the power to force your former Jedi compatriots to see the error of their ways? Has Master Skywalker ever bothered to even apologize to you for what he has done?"

She shut down her weapon, allowing her arms to slump to her sides. "I… I... no. No, he hasn't…"

Ulya Tu walked closer to her, placing her hands on Noelani's shoulders. Comforting her. Noelani lifted her head, focusing on those large, grey irises. Ulya's lips twitched in imitation of a human smile. "Let me teach you how to force them to apologize. Let us force them to acknowledge what they have done to you."

Noelani looked up at the warrior as a tear rolled down her cheek. Slowly, she nodded her head, and after a short eternity, she simply said, "Teach me."

First Kiss; Last Kiss

Once in a great while lips meet and two spirits merged for a time and the universe was right and complete and the planets wheeled in their proper places.

And despite everything else that was happening, this was one of those times.

Or at least that was what Jysella Horn told herself, while her lips were pressed tightly against Ben's.

That eternal moment, that second, in which they were able to ignore the sounds of the dying. They could ignore the searing heat of plasma that flickered by centimeters over their heads. It was a blessed moment, when they could ignore everything and everyone in this crazy, mixed up place that most folks called the real world.

For that single, blessed moment, in the midst of the death and destruction of the unending war, they were at peace. They, two halves of the same soul, were reunited and made whole.

Even though she knew that he could die, or she could, or any of their soldiers, at that second in time, none of that mattered. She was happy, and in love, and with the boy she loved. Nothing else mattered.

She poured everything that she felt, that she was, through their bond, and into him, the same way that he poured all that he was into her. This was their ritual; as essential to going into battle for them, as checking their lightsabers' power packs. That heady feeling they needed, wanted, desired even.

The feelings as they kissed--lust, love, compassion, need, longing, and a thousand others--were just as bright, just as intense for this kiss, as they were for their very first kiss, which had occurred on a battlefield just like this one a thousand systems ago.

But as always was the case, their moment, their kiss, was over way too soon. He pulled away with the roguish grin he worked so hard to perfect and keep on his face. After all, their soldiers followed him not because of who his father was, but because of who his cousin was.

So, Ben did things to encourage that following. He grinned like his Uncle Han. He led from the front lines like his Grandfather. Even that kiss was part of the act. The soldiers enjoyed the fact that their two leaders were married and loved one another; it made them all remember a loved one back home for who they were fighting. And he was always, always, the first into the most dangerous situations.

A couple of ancient soldiers from the Clone Wars said that his Grandfather used to be just like that. The Hero Without Fear. She knew that Ben hated that name. He had fear, and a lot of it, he just refused to let it show, or to let it affect what he knew had to be done. Ben played the part of the Hero Without Fear.

And he played the part perfectly.

Jysella though, she hung back, and watched with her heart in her mouth. At least for a moment. Ben knew that Jys would be up and over the ramparts moments after him. She had to watch his back after all. But that initial charge, the first burst, that was all him.

It was what was required and expected of him.

And though she hated it, hated seeing him put himself into danger in that way, she loved him for it as much as the rest of their squad, their army did.

He stepped away from her.

"I love you," she said to him with a smile.

Her grinned, and replied, "I know." Then he turned towards the rampart, and drew the Force to him.

With a quick glance over his shoulder, he winked at her, and then his blade was ignited and he was throwing himself over the bulwark, and towards the enemy below. Her heart plunged as she began her five-count, listening to his blade as it changed pitch and tone based on what he was doing. Jysella knew those sounds by heart.

One.

That pitch was him redirecting a laser blast.

Two.

That pitch was him swinging the sword through an infinity arc.

Three.

That tone was him catching a slug, or maybe a black-market thud-bug, on his blade.

Four.

Then the unmistakable happened. A sound she wasn't prepared for. One she had never heard on the battlefield before. Then silence. That unmistakable sound of a lightsaber was just... gone. Despite the noise and the explosions, all Jysella heard was the nothingness which the battle now lacked.

Five.

Her blade flared to life at the same time that the sound of Ben's name erupted from her lips. Her powers surged, and she threw herself forward, scrambling over the rapport, and then tossing herself into the fray, even as her eyes shifted about, hunting for him.

Her brain refused to believe what her eyes were telling her. He was just not there. Their soldiers streamed past her, sending waves of coherent light towards the enemy, but she did not care. They fell by the hundreds as the enemy returned fire, but she did not care.

All that mattered was that lack. That nothingness which was all she could feel of Ben.

Her blade moved of its own accord, protecting her when needed, slashing at the enemy whenever one got to close. That was happening in the mundane world though. Jysella was beyond that, her focus, her consciousness was deep within the Force.

She screamed into the velvet folds of the battle that waged around her, hunting, searching for some speck of Ben.

Finally, her foot touched something round and metal, and the mundane world crashed back into her awareness with all the explosions, smoke, grit and dirt of the battle.

She hunkered down, and found his lightsaber. Tears instantly sprang to her eyes, as she cradled the weapon to her chest.

She looked around, hunting for any sign of him, not really able to see a thing through the blur which the tears had made her vision become.

So intently was she looking, so focused on just finding Ben, that she never heard the sound of the battle stop. The first she knew that it was over was when a hand fell onto her shoulder; heavy, armored.

She stopped, and blinked back her tears. There was a cold, oiliness to the Force presence behind her. He, and it was definitely a he, wasn't one of her soldiers.

She stood, and turned around, keeping Ben's blade hidden from the soldier's view.

He stood there, watching her. His black GAG armor held an almost reddish tint from the dust and grim which still hung in the air at waist height, his helmet was gone--probably discarded at some point in the battle due to damage. He was young, maybe five years younger than Jysella, maybe ten; but that didn't matter.

He was the enemy. She poured her will into the Force, and flung it at him. Making him see her as a superior officer of the Guard.

"Do we know what happened to Ben Skywalker?"

The soldier's entire stance changed. He snapped to parade attention and instantly stopped pointing his carbine at her. "No ma'am. He disappeared during the battle and we've not found him yet."

She fought to keep a snarl from her voice. "Then go see if there's an update and report back immediately."

The soldier jogged off, and she once again took up looking for Ben's body. Hoping and praying that she finds it, even while dreading that she will. It was an odd feeling, an emptiness and a pain; one that threatened to consume her very sense of self. She had to know his fate, she had to find him.

Of that she was certain.

Then, suddenly, she was certain, and in that moment, she would give up that clear, hard certainty for ambiguity and not knowing.

She had found him. His body rested in the dirty, hidden among the smoke and dust which still hung heavily on the air. She waved away the dirt, and looked at him, her eyes, taking in his form, flickering from one feather to another, from his reddish-blond hair, cropped close to his skull, to his brilliant blue eyes which were lackluster and dull.

Finally, Ben had lived up to his moniker, he truly was the Hero Without Fear.

She knelt down into the dust, and pressed her forehead against his, trying to not smell the stench of charred flesh and plasteel armor. They had always known that sooner or later, one of them wouldn't make it back from one of these battles. Of course, they had always assumed it would be later, but that knowledge of encroaching death was the real, unspoken, reason that they had always kissed right before every battle. Just to make sure that there would be a last kiss.

She saw her tears splash against his slack face. "You just had to play the part. You couldn't let the rest of us go over at the same time as you, and you wouldn't ever hear of staying back for a moment. No, you had to be the Hero without Fear. You kriffing schutta."

She saw his saber resting next to him, where she had unconsciously laid it. She snatched the blade up, and placed the emitter next to her heart. There was no need to be here anymore. She couldn't do this by herself. She wasn't strong enough. Not without him.

Her thumb began pressing on the activator.

The standard lightsaber activation plate requires seven pounds of pressure to activate. Ben's took 6.9 pounds.

Jysella had applied 6.8 pounds of pressure before she opened herself to the Force and stopped. She kept the pressure applied, but she listened. It was whispering to her, in his voice. Telling her that she could go on, that she needed to.

"Why?" she cried out. The sound echoed back to her across the now empty battlefield.

In response, she remembered an old, old lesson. A lecture she had heard well over a decade ago, maybe even two, right at the end of the Vong War. Master Tionne, was talking about the Force, and had said, "Life sustains it, makes it grow. When we kill, we destroy the Force. We weaken ourselves and all other life. With every death, the Force itself dims. But, with new life, the Force is renewed. With each and every birth, the Force glows and grows and becomes stronger than it was before. That is the balance that we must protect. That is the balance of the Force."

Jysella's eyes snapped open. They had not been abstinent, but they had been taking precautions against pregnancy. All of the standard anti-pregnancy tricks which were available to all of soldiers under their command. The same ones which GAG used, and the Imperial Remnant, and even the GAR, decades ago.

She touched the Force again, but instead of reaching out, she reached in. She hunted, and search, and then found. A nugget of something that was not her, and was not Ben, but was them both at the same time. She gulped at the air, trying to understand.

Ben's voice seemed to laugh through the Force. "The Force wills to happen, what it will."

She finally released the pressure she held against the activator plate, and dropped back onto her haunches. This is real, she thought to herself. I'm going to have Ben's baby..

Standing, she looked about at the death and destruction and suddenly knew. She knew with the certainty that only the most fanatic of fanatics ever manages to achieve. It had never been her job, or Ben's job, to fix things. They were never there to end the war. There were not there to win. They were just a stop-gap measure. Something to ensure that it didn't get too bad before the person who was supposed to fix everything showed up.

Their real job had always been to create the person who would.

Ben had lived up to his name. He had stepped forward time and time again, doing that which the Force willed. And as always, the Force used and then took him back into itself. His job was complete. Now, hers was just beginning.

She knelt down again and took Ben's nexu-tags and gripped his saber tighter in her hand. These would be the only remembrance their child would have of Ben. But, Jysella knew they would be enough.

As the tears flowed down her face, she watched Ben for another long moment, memorizing his face. Closing her eyes, she slowly exhaled, letting go of the anger that she felt towards him.

She knew it was time to go now. She had over a klick to walk in order to get to the retrieval point, and it was probably all hostile territory by now. But she also knew that it would be all right.

Standing, she turned away from Ben, and realized that she was facing the setting sun. It seemed appropriate somehow. The end of day, plus the promise of new life around the corner. It was representative of her. She knew that she was facing a new world. Her love, her life, her Ben, was dead, but their child was healthy and would be born in just a few short months.

Without looking back, she took her first step into this new world. A world which was at once both larger and smaller than the one she had left behind.

Chasing Dreams

Chase Pollitska sighed as he stepped out of his small conapt. He was in the depths of the Blackpit Slums, a vile district of Coruscant renowned throughout the planet-wide city for having the highest crime rate of any of the districts.

It was dirty and smelled of oil and smog. Yet it offered Chase the anonymity that he desired.

The anonymity that he needed after what BioTech Industries had done to him. The experiments that they had performed on him.

He hated himself due to them. He wasn't human, at least not anymore.

He scrubbed at his face as he walked through the hallway, heading towards the main entrance. He currently had a job washing dishes at a greasy diner a few blocks upwards. It was menial work, but it provided him enough credits for food and his small room. More than that, he didn't really need.

He frowned as he looked down the long hallway. The despair seemed to roll off of everything down here, and his eyes lighted on a woman and her young daughter. She wasn't much older than he himself was, but her child often had to cry itself to sleep in order to get away from the ever prevalent hunger.

He didn't know her story; didn't know why she was down here, hiding with the child. He didn't really care either. He knew she had her reasons, the same way he had his own.

But that didn't stop him from handing her the small bag he carried. It contained two sandwiches and a couple small pieces of fruit. The fruit had cost him a day's wages down here, but he didn't mind.

He ignored her sputtering protests as he continued walking down the hallway towards the stairs. As he reached them, he could hear her begin to cry and being to yell "thank you" after him.

He hung his head, not really wanting to hear it, but knowing that he would until he had gotten at least three flights down.

He pushed through the door, and rushed down the stairwell, his feet falling heavily, as the echoes reverberated through the narrow duracrete room.

Finally, he was at the level he needed, and darted through another door and stepped out into the dismal, depressing air of lower level Coruscant.

He glanced around, taking stock of his surroundings, the yammosk cells embedded in his brain giving him indications on which of the beings that walked around him were the most dangerous to him.

He sighed, not wanting yet another reminder of the fact that he was no longer human.

Shoving his hands into his jacket, he hunched his shoulders up and began walking towards the diner where he worked. Walking like this was not really comfortable, but he found that when he did, he was left alone.

Slowly, he passed one dark alley after another, the yammosk constantly updating the threat analysis. He had tuned out the world around him, ignoring the traffic noises, the hawking street vendors, and even the all-too-common beggars.

Then something stopped him. Some noise had cut through the filters he had built around his reactions.

Frowning, he took a step back, and looked down the darkened alley. Deep in its depths, he could make out two forms, standing over something. The yammosk in his brain raced, providing its thoughts on the danger those two posed to him.

He ignored the yammosk. They were doing something, and he couldn't help but intervene.

Slowly, he turned and began to make his way down the alley, his hands held loosely at his sides, as he stepped around the piles of trash.

As he drew closer, he could hear the chuckles the two were making. It was low and guttural, and rankled at the back of his brain. A flash of silver caught his eye, and the yammosk trilled a warning down his spine. He glanced down at what the two were standing over, and his teeth clenched in anger.

It was a girl, around his age, maybe a year or two older. Horror filled her brown eyes, as she tried to push herself into the wall. A large bruise was already forming her right temple, and he could make out a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

"What the kriff are you two schuttas doing," he snarled at them.

The larger of the two, turned to look at him. He was the most massive Bothan Chase had ever seen, and he wondered just how many steroids the fur-covered alien had to have consumed in order to generate that much muscle mass.

"Wazzit toja, pup," the Bothan slurred.

Chase's lips twitched slightly, and he focused on the other person in the alley. He was kneeling over the girl, his hands on her clothes, a knife halfway cutting through the fabric. He was human, and nowhere near the size of the Bothan, yet, for some reason the yammosk in his brain sent more shivers of alarm down his spine--and Chase knew which of the two was the most dangerous.

"She's under my protection."

The human laughed, and patted the Bothan on the shoulder. "Kartr, why don't you go deal with our young friend here, would you? The fem here will keep 'till your done."

The Bothan's snout twisted into a horrid version of a grin; something that would not be misplaced on a Vong. Then he began advancing, his arms held out wide as if he expected to run forward and crush Chase.

Chase though, had other plans. He hunkered low, and darted forward, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a stylus, then punched forward, slamming the slim cylinder into the Bothan just beneath the sternum.

Kartr doubled over, and dropped to his knees, howling in pain. Chase spun around, and kicked him in the side of the head, the durasteel tipped boots he wore rung hollowly as they connected. Chase watched as the Bothan's eyes rolled backwards, and then he dropped to the ground.

Grinning, Chase turned towards the human. "Leave, and I won't hurt you."

The knife was in the human's hand again, and with a flicker of a thumb, an electric blue glow flickered into life around the thin metal edge.

The defense patterns the yammosk had been showing suddenly shifted as it recognized the extra danger of the vibroknife.

He fell into one of the stances that had been hardwired into his muscle memory, and the human darted forward, his blade slashing through the air, leaving a blue after-imagebehind its movements.

Chase dodged, and then his fist snapped out. The man grunted in pain and shock as his knife clattered to the ground.

Chase grinned, and the man attacked with his other arm. Chase threw another punch, putting as much force into the attack as possible. His fist landed just beneath the nose, and Chase heard something crack.

The man howled in pain as he dropped to his knees. Chase pushed him over to his side, and then kicked him hard against the liver. He leaned over the man, his voice low and harsh. "If I ever see you in this district again, I will kill you."

His foot snapped out again, and slammed into the man's knee. Another snap echoed through the alley, and the man screamed in pain again.

Chase watched for a moment, and then hunkered down in front of the girl, making sure not to actually touch her. He'd made that mistake just a few days before... though he hadn't quite made it to that girl in time. She was hunched over her knees, her entire body shaking. This was the first time he had really gotten a look at her, and he realized that she was from one of the upper levels. Her body was too soft, it lacked the hunger which nearly everyone who lived at this level had. It must have been this softness which had drawn the predators to her.

"Are you all right," he asked softly.

She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy as the tears cut down her face. She glanced around quickly, her eyes dropping to her two assailants for a moment before she focused on him. "P-p-please d-d-don't hur-hurt m-me..."

He shook his head slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you. Do you need me to take you to the closest medcenter?"

She chewed at her lower lips, her eyes flickering to the other two for a moment, before she quickly shook her head. "N-no... I... I just want to go home."

Chase nodded, and stood back up, and stepped away from the girl. She watched him for a moment, and then bounced to her feet and took off, heading towards the nearest populated street.

Quickly, he followed, staying a couple dozen meters away from her, but always within sight. He tailed her, until she safely got on a working lift, and then he shook his head, and once more resumed his walk towards the diner where he worked.

The yammosk in his brain, began its overlay of threat assessments, danger evasions and details on the best way to hurt every person he passed. Though he sometimes found the information useful, all it did, all it ever really did, was act as a continual reminder on just how inhuman he really was.

Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 23

Previous Post

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Noelani banked the ship slightly, watching as the building beneath them burn. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

A few moments later, Asyra'mata slipped into the co-pilot's station. She herself had sat in that seat so many times, with Tahiri here at the controls. It didn't seem right for someone else to be sitting there.

With the back of her hand she wiped away some of the tears, even as she made another circuit of the building.

"Are we going anywhere, or just flying in a circle until security shoots us down?"

Noelani looked over at her, and had to bite back the retort that wanted to come out. "I… you're right. We need to go."

Her fingers pressed the various controls, and the ship straightened up and flew level for a few hundred meters, until she punched another button. The ship sat up on its keel, and its ion engines flared to life.

Ignoring the cries from traffic control, Noelani poured more energy into thrust, leaving a trail of turbulence behind her which disrupted speeder traffic for kilometers.

Then they were out in space, and Noelani began inputting a course into the navcom even as the defensive computer began screaming.

She glanced over and saw the two cruisers coming over the horizon of the planet, on an intercept course.

"Kriff," she muttered.

"What is it?" Asyra'mata asked.

She gestured towards the scanners. "We've got company. I'm just hoping that we can get into hyperspace before they can get a tractor lock."

Finally, the navcom beeped, and she reached up and grasped the levers that would send them into hyperspace. She looked at the stars for a moment, wishing that she had not had to leave Chase behind.

"Good bye, Chase. I love you."

Then she pulled the levers. The stars stretched towards them and then fell away revealing the blue swirls of hyperspace.

She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as the tears ran freely.

Before long, the tears had gone, and she was left feeling empty and alone. She raised her head from her hands and glanced over at the pilot's station surprised to see Asyra'mata still sitting there.

Sighing, Noelani leaned back in her seat.

"Care to tell me what that whole lightning thing was about? It kind of scared me you know."

Noelani shifted her head so she could look at Asyra'mata again. "It means I failed."

The Twi'lek's eyes narrowed slightly and she leaned towards her. "What do you mean?"

"I gave into those dark emotions. I'm tainted now. I'm sure that even if I had wanted to go back, the Jedi wouldn't take me back now."

"There's a war on, they might do it."

Noelani shook her head. "No. There's no where for me now."

"So, what are you going to do with us?"

"Like I said, I'm taking you all to Papa. He's a good man; he'll take care of you all."

"That sounds like you're not staying with us."

"I'm not," she whispered. "I… I can't do it. I need to find myself again. I need to meditate and figure out what's happened. I need to know who, and what, I am"

Asyra'mata nearly leapt out of her seat. "Maybe I don't want that. Maybe I wanted to stay with you, did you ever think about that? I know that Jen and Prilla would want that as well."

Noelani shook her head. "I know. But sometimes what we want just doesn't happen. I can't stay. It's…. it's too painful. I… I'm afraid…"

"Afraid of what? Ever since I met you, you've thrown yourself at things that would send most people running in terror. What are you afraid of?"

"Of falling again. I'm scared that I'll lose control and hurt you or Jen or Prilla or Huff. That's what I'm afraid of."

Noelani turned away from Asyra'mata at that point, and once more covered her face with her hands.

She felt Asyra'mata standing over her for a few more minutes, and then she was gone, leaving Noelani alone on the bridge.

She wanted to call after her and beg her to stay.

She wanted to tell Asyra'mata that everything would be all right.

She wanted someone to tell her that.

What she did, was lean forward and cry.

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Tahiri knew she had screwed up.

She had been scared after Noelani had killed Lyria with Force lightning.

She had been surprised when Noelani had attacked the rest of the squad.

She had been so startled that she hadn't realized that Kirie was pushing her out into the hallway until after the door was closed and sealed.

Tahiri knew she had screwed up.

So she started to cut her way back into the room. She had to get in there before her daughter escaped. Her muscles quivered as she pulled the blade in a large circle around the thick steel of the door.

Finally, she had completed the circle. With a flicker of the Force, she pushed the circle into the room.

She looked in and saw the door opening. As she entered, she noticed that the children were rushing out through the door to the hanger.

Her eyes locked with Noelani's and she felt a way of sadness and longing emanating from her little girl.

Then she was gone. Tahiri lowered her face and started down the steps, to be brought to a stop by the discharge of a blaster. She focused on Chase and found him holding his blaster in one hand.

She took a step forward, and then Force flared in warning. His other hand opened up, as he dropped what he had been holding. Her eyes widened as she saw the thermal detonator rolling to a stop beneath Chase.

Instinctively, she threw up a Force Shield and was then slammed with a wave of energy from the detonator, and blackness claimed her.

An unknown time later, she woke to dim, smoke and dust chocked light.

She struggled out from the rubble and looked around, muttering a curse under her breath as she did so. Jacen's going to be so karking mad.

Frowning, she slowly made her way down to the bottom of the briefing room, hunting for any remains of Chase. Even now, she was surprised that he had sacrificed himself. She hadn't expected that. She hadn't even expected him to still be alive. I guess BioTech did more to him than we ever expected.

She stood at the epicenter of the blast, looking down at the slight carbon charring which were all that remained of him. The door that led to the hanger opened, and her hand instinctively went to her lightsaber.

She relaxed slightly as she saw that it was just Jacen and his usual retinue of guards. Then the Force wrapped tight around her throat as she was pulled to his hand. He held her, and she found herself looking into an angry storm of yellows and oranges and reds which had at one time been his eyes.

"I'm disappointed in you, Tahiri," he snarled.

Then the darkness claimed her once again.

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Noelani stood on the edge of the world.

Growing up, that's what she had always told herself that it was. This rim which encircled the pit that was the main courtyard of her home; she would stand at its edge and be able to look at the setting suns or just stare at the horizons all around her.

Now after all the things that she had been through, it just seemed so small and insignificant.

Yet she had never felt as far from home as she did at right that moment.

It had been three days since they had arrived. Huff had not hesitated in taking in the kids for her, but he still didn't understand why she refused to stay. Even now, she could feel him coming up to try and talk her into staying once again.

Part of her wanted to accept it, wanted to just curl up in her old room, and stay there.

Yet, the notice on the holonet stating that there was a bounty on her head for the destruction of the Guard facility on Coruscant ruled that out. Even if she hadn't needed to be alone, even if she hadn't needed to run from everything she knew, that alone would have been enough to drive her away from the kids and from her father.

That was the only thing she could do to protect them.

That was the only thing she could do to protect them from her.

Finally Huff was there beside her. She reached out and grabbed his arm, holding it tight against her, as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"You know you don't have to leave, right, Little One?"

"You know that I have to, Papa. Please don't argue this, it's hard enough already."

He sighed, and they stood together watching as Tatoo II made its inevitable march towards the horizon. Tatoo I was still high in the sky, and Noelani wished that both suns were setting at the same time. She had wanted to see that beautiful sight once again.

She had wanted to show it to Chase.

She took a deep shuddering breath, trying to not break down in tears again.

"Thank you for watching over my kids Papa."

He grunted, and she found herself smiling.

"Mama! Mama!"

She took a step away from Huff, and turned as two bundles of blonde girls slammed into her. She laughed as she hugged them tightly. Looking up, she saw Asyra'mata and Huff coming up out of the stairwell.

When the young Bothan saw her, his eyes lit up and he darted forward as well.

As she hugged the three young children, she found herself crying again. After a few minutes, she pulled back, and put one hand on Prilla's cheek and the other on Huff's muzzle.

"I've got to go away for a little while, all right?"

Jen frowned for a moment. "Can we go?"

Noelani shook her head. "No… all four of you are going to stay with Papa for a little while."

Prilla glanced behind her at the Twi'lek. "Asamata too?"

Noelani smiled at her. "Yes, Asyra'mata is going to stay with you. Now, I need you all to behave for Papa, all right."

In unison, the two blond girls chimed, "Yes, mama."

She grabbed them all for another hug and then stood up. Her Papa stepped forward and plucked up Prilla. "Come on you kids; let's go find something sweet to eat."

Jen cheered and rushed towards the stairwell, and Huff slowed down as he neared the stairs. He stopped and glanced at Noelani. Then after a moment, he descended down the steps.

Asyra'mata came forward. "I didn't trust you, you know."

Noelani gave a wry grin. "I know. I thought you something of a brat."

Asyra'mata laughed.

Noelani stepped forward and threw her arms around the Twi'lek. "I'm gonna miss you."

She felt the Twi'lek's tears on her shoulders, and was startled when the girl wrapped her own arms around her. "And I'm going to miss you as well, Noelanid'arklighter."

They broke the hug, and Noelani smiled at her. "Be good, all right?"

Asyra'mata grinned. "I can't promise anything."

Without saying another word, Noelani turned away and headed towards the ship. When she got to the ramp, she paused and looked back at Asyra'mata. The younger girl stared at her, and Noelani waved once.

Asyra'mata raised her hand, and then Noelani climbed the rest of the way into the ship. She went back to the bridge, and sat at the controls, quickly running through the pre-flight checklist. As she sent power to the repulsors, she looked out the window and saw Asyra'mata still standing there.

The Twi'lek raised her hand, and Noelani did the same.

Then she slid a control forward, and watched as the world around her fell away.

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