Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Epilogue

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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."

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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."

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

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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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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 22

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Noelani stood guard as Chase and Asyra'mata raided the weapon's locker. The other three children were hunched inside the small room as well, staying out of sight, and out of the way.

She knew that it wouldn't be long before the compound realized that she had already gotten her family out of the cells, what she didn't know was what was taking them this long in the first place; she hadn't expected the Ferals to put up that much of a fight against the Guard soldiers that Tahiri had in here.

The building rumbled slightly, and at the far end of the hallway, a plume of smoke came rolling towards her. Her thumb moved closer to the ignition switch of her lightsaber as she watched the smoke dissipate.

Another blast wave rolled towards her, nearly knocking her off of her feet, and she saw that the hallway now opened up onto the undercity. She frowned as she saw the first of the Ferals rush through the newly opened hole.

Laughing, she glanced back towards the weapons locker as Chase and Asyra'mata stepped out. Each held a blaster rifle, and had a blaster pistol attached to their hip. Strung across their chests were bandoliers of thermal detonators.

"What was that?" Chase asked as he looked down the hallway.

"That was my diversion escaping back into the city."

Asyra'mata shook her head. "For weeks we've been routinely killing those things, and you let that big group back out into the wild. There's no sense to you."

Noelani sighed sadly. "I didn't do them a favor. They're all infected with some type of disease which destroys their coral. Literally melts it off. It's not pretty, and appears to be entirely fatal from the samples I saw."

She glanced over at Asyra'mata, and saw the look of shock on her face slide to one much more malicious. She gave a very adult chuckle. "Oh, that's just delicious; and to think I used to worry about you being a goody-two shoes."

Chase sighed, as Noelani just grinned at the younger girl. "Glad to disappoint, are you two ready to move? I say we just follow the ferals out that big hole in the wall."

Chase nodded his head. "Sounds good to me."

Noelani beckoned the other three kids out from the weapons locker. "All right, I'm taking point, Chase right behind me. Jen, Prilla and Huff, you three stay with Chase, and Asyra'mata cover our backs."

They all nodded, and Noelani began to jog down the hall, heading towards the hole in the wall where the last of the Ferals had just disappeared. She grinned, and pulled the Force to her, opening herself up to it.

In surprise she stumbled, and caught herself on the wall. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Shock rolled through her, as she considered things.

The Force had changed.

Where before it had been warm and welcoming, now it had become cold and oily, tainted somehow.

She felt a hand touch her on her back, and then Chase whispered, "'Lani, you all right?"

Tossing a quick smile over her shoulder at him, she nodded her head. "Yeah, just a dizzy spell. Nothing big."

He didn't look that convinced but she faced forward again and started moving.

When they got twenty meters from the hole they were aiming for as an exit two squads of Gaurdsmen appeared from around the corner. As soon as they saw her, they stopped and the front row of them dropped to their knees in a low firing stance.

"Back!" Noelani screamed as she ignited her lightsaber.

Then she started falling back as a virtual wall of coherent light flashed towards her. She weaved her saber in a complicated sequence in front of her, letting the Force guide her actions.

She managed to catch each blaster bolt that came at her or the others, sending them back in various directions. There was just too many of them for her to aim. Then she felt Chase and Asyra'mata taking up positions on either side of her.

A quick glance to the left and right saw that they held their blaster rifles to their shoulders and were firing, as well as falling back at the same rate that she was.

Then the soldiers parted and someone new advanced. Someone holding a lightsaber with an indigo colored blade.

Noelani paused for a moment as she recognized her mother.

"Mom," she said, and she could hear the despair in her voice.

She saw a flash of silver twirling towards the Guard, and then Chase grabbed her shoulder. "Let's go!"

She allowed herself to be pulled away as she watched her mother. The thermal detonator stopped in mid air, even as the rest of the soldiers dived out of the way.

A few moments later it exploded, but Noelani could still feel her mother, so she guessed that the weapon had been tossed out of the hole they had planned on escaping through.

She focused forward, and saw that Asyra'mata was leading the way, the kids immediately behind her. Suddenly she darted to the left and entered a darkened room.

Noelani came in as well, and looked around.

It was some type of briefing room. Tiered rows of seats surrounded a simple lectern. Noelani went down the steps and found a door off to the right of the lectern. Opening it slightly, she glanced out at a hanger.

In it were three ships. Two single seat fighters, and then Tahiri's Stolen Star.

She grinned and closed the door. Glancing up towards the others, she beckoned them down. "Come on, I think I've found our next way out of this joint."

The kids scampered down, and Chase moved slower, limping slightly. She frowned as he reached the bottom. "What's wrong Chase?"

He shook his head. "Just got scratched by a lucky shot out there. So, what's the new escape plan?"

She gestured towards the hanger. "Out there is mom's starship. I say I steal it, and then we just fly away."

Asyra'mata frowned for a moment. "Where would we go? I've lived my entire life here--there's nothing for me anywhere else."

Noelani smiled at her. "I'll take you all home. My papa would be happy to have my family live there."

Chase nodded his head. "That sounds nice…."

Then the door at the top of the room burst open, and a squad of soldiers darted in. Tahiri followed a moment later and stood there looking down on them.

Noelani gripped her saber tighter as she looked around. She was too far from the kids to defend them, and if she jumped over there, then Chase would be defenseless as well.

Her lips pulled back in a snarl as she realized just how kriffed she really was.

"Give up," Tahiri calmly said from the top row of the room. "There's no way you can all escape, and I don't feel like killing every one of you."

Noelani took a step forward, one which moved her closer to the kids, but further away from Chase. She felt her heart breaking as she made the decision, but it was all she could do. "Why Mom? Why do this to us? Just let us go."

Tahiri shook her head. "I can't. I have my orders."

Noelani sighed. "Then you'll just have to kill us."

She jumped towards the kids, her saber igniting even as the soldiers up top pulled their triggers.

She landed and wove her blade in a quick infinity circle, sending three bolts back towards the top row.

She could feel the soldier's shock as their own blaster fire was hurtled back towards them. They dove out of the way, and Noelani turned to look to Chase.

Just in time to see the blast strike home in the middle of his chest.

In apparent slow motion he was lifted off of his feet and flung backwards crashing into the lectern.

Time sped up as the lectern exploded in a shower of splintered wood.

"Chase!" Noelani screamed.

"Stand down!" Tahiri yelled at her soldiers.

But Noelani didn't care. She was running towards Chase. He was slumped on the ground, not moving and she slid to a stop beside him. Asyra'mata and the kids hovered above her, and she could hear Jen and Prilla crying.

Her own tears splashed against his cheek, and she stared in amazement as his eyes flickered open.

They were filled with pain, and he smiled, even as blood leaked from the side of his mouth.

"'Lani," he whispered.

She gripped his hand tightly in hers. "I'm here, Chase."

He coughed, and she could feel the flares of agony with the motion. Reaching into the Force she touched his body and her worst fears were confirmed. The bolt had snipped one of the major arteries leading from his heart and punctured a lung.

His mouth was moving, and she pressed her forehead to his, straining to hear anything.

A single, last word came out. "Love-"

She tossed her head back and screamed.

Anger.

Hate.

Rage.

Revenge.

Suffering.

Despair.

Dark emotions slammed into her. Everything that she had been taught to avoid, every single emotion that as a Jedi she had learned to suppress, blasted past her emotional damns, and flooded into her; through her. She drank in those dark emotions, pulling them from the kids and Asyra'mata, savoring their taste, their feel.

She became a receptacle for those emotions, they swarmed her, eating away at her consciousness; at her very self.

With a start, she realized that she could release them.

Staggering to her feet she looked up and saw the squad and Tahiri. Tahiri's face was hard, but Noelani could feel her mother's sorrow and suffering. Just more Dark Emotions for Noelani to consume.

To Tahiri's left was the soldier who had shot Chase. Her rifle had been lowered. She was protected only by the standard Galactic Alliance Guard armored uniform.

Noelani snarled and raised her hand; palm out, fingers splayed and then she flung those dark emotions at the soldier.

She felt the hate roll through her and down her arm. The Force erupted from her outstretched palm and the air roiled around her. The positive and negative energies of the molecules in the air shattered, creating an imbalance between her and the soldier.

And nature abhors an imbalance.

Energy flooded the area, and then lightning, nature's vehicle for repairing imbalances between positive and negative charges in the air, ripped out from Noelani's palm to strike the masked soldier.

An electronic scream echoed through the briefing room as the soldier was slammed against the wall and pinned there by the energy. The putrid stench of burnt human flesh hung heavily on the air.

The sound of Jen gagging reached Noelani's ears and she clasped her hand into a tight fist pulling it back to her chest; drawing the dark emotions back into her heart.

She stared in horror as the soldier dropped to the ground and stayed there. The thick black smoke that came from the openings in the uniform left no doubt as to the soldier's state.

She shifted her gaze towards Tahiri. Her master. Her mentor. Her mother.

Horror shone on her face.

The pain of that look shattered her, and she stumbled back. The back of her legs hit the edge of the platform and she dropped to her butt.

Tahiri spoke again, though her voice was pained and low. "Please come with us. We need to stop this killing."

The remaining three soldiers moved forward, putting themselves between Tahiri and Noelani.

Noelani raised her palm and looked at it, seeing a circle of cracked, blackened flesh in its very center. She blinked her eyes and looked down at Chase.

Pressing her fingers against his lips, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

Then she stood back up, and ignited her blade again.

Tahiri shook her head. "Don't do this Noelani. Take the easy way, give up."

Noelani braced herself and began pulling the Force towards her. "You should know better than that, Mom. You're the one that taught me that easy isn't for Jedi."

"You're not a Jedi anymore, and neither am I."

Noelani felt her lips part in another snarl. "Doesn't matter."

Then she launched herself forward.

In that single, smooth movement, she had propelled herself into the midst of the soldiers. Her blade flashed and the first Guard fell away in two pieces.

The third one pushed Tahiri out into the hall, and closed and locked the door, as Noelani decapitated the second.

Before the third was able to bring her weapon to bear, Noelani had shoved her own blade through the soldier's heart.

She pulled it out as the Guard dropped like a rag doll. Then she pulled her elbow back, ready to cut a hole in the door.

Asyra'mata's voice cut through the room. "Mom, he's not dead yet."

She stopped and looked down, to find his eyes, pain filled as they are staring at her.

Relief crashed back into her, and she rushed down the steps. In moments, she was once again by his side, and holding his hands. "You… you, dummy! Don't scare me like that."

A weak grin flickered over his lips. "S'ry… no ch… choi… ce…"

A hissing sound started from the top of the room, and Noelani looked that way to see a saber melting through the door. She bent down to pick him up. "C'mon, we've got to get out of here before Mom makes it through that door."

He pushed her away. "No… I stay be… hind… slow... 'er down…."

Noelani shook her head, and he waved her on, even as he gestured for Asyra'mata's thermal detonators. The Twi'lek girl passed them over, and Noelani could see the tears in her eyes.

She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I wish you could have been my father for real."

He grinned at her, and then she stood up and went to stand behind Noelani, herding the other kids with her.

Noelani leaned closer. "Please don't do this. Come with me, I… I need you. I love you."

He shook his head. "Can't… and no time…save… kids…."

Her tears falling once again, Noelani leaned down and kissed him. Then she stood up and walked toward the door. Her back was ramrod straight, each step mechanical.

She reached the door to the hanger, and placed her hand on its jamb. After a moment, Asyra'mata touched her shoulder. "We need to go. That Jedi is almost through the door."

Noelani looked up, and saw the saber complete its circle. A chunk of the door fell inward as Noelani opened the door to the hanger. She pushed the kids through as Tahiri once again entered the room.

For a moment, their eyes locked, and all Noelani wanted to do was to run to her mother and be held.

All she wanted was to be comforted by someone that loved her.

What she did was step into the hanger, and allowed the door to close behind her.

She began jogging towards the Stolen Star and a few moments later a thump sounded followed by a shock wave which rattled the whole building.

Getting back to her feet, she ran faster, reaching the starship at the same time as Prilla and Jen. She quickly punched in the access code, and let out a breath as the ramp dropped.

As soon as they were all aboard, she closed the ship and ran to the cockpit, and without bothering with a preflight check, she powered the engines and weapons. Within moments, she had lifted off of the hanger deck and spun the ship around, so that she faced the still closed hanger doors.

A twin blast from the turbolasers corrected that problem for her, and then she punched the throttle forward.

The starship rocketed out of the hanger as another explosion shook the building.

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 21

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Noelani stepped away from the window, a frown coming to her face. She sighed, wondering exactly what she should do next.

Deciding, she turned and stood next to the doorway, listening for movement in the hall. After a few minutes of not hearing anything she stepped out and rushed back towards the entrance which she had came into the base through.

Since the guards had not come this way, then the other direction had to lead towards where they were keeping Asyra'mata and now Chase and the others.

Anger flashed through her quickly, as she pushed herself to run faster. As she rounded another corner, she stopped suddenly and glanced around. A frown formed as she realized she had no idea where she was at.

Sighing, she began checking the doors which lined either side of the hallway.

The third access panel she touched the door swung open, and a gust of wind blew past her and into the room, startling her slightly.

She stepped forward and walked into something from one of her nightmares.

Cells lined either side of the hallway, reminding her vaguely of Tahiri's description of the BioTech holding area on Ambria. But what truly frightened her was the Ferals.

There were hundreds of them, some dead in their cells, some, the most horrifying looking, where the ones whose coral implants were literally melting off.

What replaced the implants was a mass of boils and welts, in an array of colors ranging from bright yellow through the greens and oranges all the way to a fiery red.

She stepped closer to the glass of one spectacularly disgusting specimen, and the Force suddenly cut off. She stumbled and reached out to the glass to steady herself as she looked around. Frowning she took a step back and the Force flooded back into her awareness.

Frowning, she stepped closer to one of the other cells, and as she neared the Force once again shut down.

"That's odd; I wonder why they did that."

From the darkness at the far end of the room, came the reply. "Why? To hide all of this from you Jedi of course."

Noelani frowned. She had heard that voice from somewhere before. She knew it, but that memory refused to come. The woman advanced from the darkness, and stepped into one of the circular lights close to Noelani.

She was older than Tahiri, even older than her Aunt Jaina. Her black hair was cropped short, and she was almost skeletally thin. Her cheekbones were high and stuck out, causing her face to be composed of all sharp angles and hard lines.

Vaguely, it reminded Noelani of old holos of Grand Moff Tarkin.

Instinctively, she took a step backwards. "Who… who are you?"

The woman laughed. "I'm not that surprised you don't remember me. We really didn't get a lot of time to play with one another before young Chase stole you away from us."

She frowned as she processed the woman's words. "You… you were on Ambria?"

The woman laughed. "On it? I ran it! And now, look what I get to do."

Noelani realized that her saber was in her hand the moment that it snapped to life. "I know exactly what you get to do."

The woman laughed again, further enraging Noelani. "Ah, so is the good little Jedi-trainee going to kill me now?"

Noelani darted forward, and the woman had a moment to scream in shock as she shoved the blade into her shoulder, and yanked up.

The arm hung uselessly at the woman's side--held on merely by a length of muscle and flesh. Grinning, Noelani pressed her hand against the woman's chest and then pushed with the Force.

The woman screamed as she flew through the air and slammed against the closest of the feral's cages. The clear material splintered into a spider web of cracks around her impact site. The woman slid to the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the glass.

Noelani reached out with the Force and twisted, and both of the woman's ankles snapped loudly as she screamed in pain.

Then Noelani closed the distance between them, standing over here for a moment. "Maybe you didn't hear, but I'm not a Jedi any more."

The woman gaped at her, as the ferals began hammering on the glass. The cracks began to grow. Noelani looked at the glass for a moment, and then looked back down at the woman, a vicious snarl appearing on her lips. "I'll leave you to your work."

Then she turned and started walking away.

It took five steps before the woman processed what Noelani was doing, and then she called out. "No! You can't do this to me! Pleases, at least kill me first!"

She reached the door and held her hand over the activation plate. "But, it's as you said, I'm a good little Jedi. I can't kill you in anger. Just consider this a daughter's payment for what you did to her Mom."

She pressed her hand against the door's activation plate at the same time as the glass wall shattered.

As Noelani left the room, the woman's cry shifted from a yell of disbelief to another, louder scream of pain.

The door closed behind Noelani and she paused, leaning against it for a moment, collecting her thoughts. With a moment's hesitation, she shoved her blade into the activation plate. With a sharp retort of an electronic explosion, the door behind her snapped open slightly.

Noelani smiled, and thought; at least they'll be able to go back to the rest of their colonies now.

She continued down the hall, trusting her Force senses to guide her in the direction she needed to go.

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Tahiri stepped out of her office as waves of aggression and anger began washing over her. She frowned as she spun in a quick circle, trying to discover what was happening.

Before she was able to reach out to the Force, one of her soldiers rushed up and saluted. "Jedi Viela, the Ferals we had in Area 33-Jenth seemed to have escaped from their containment labs."

Tahiri frowned for a moment, and then pulled her saber to her hand, and started jogging towards the stairs. The soldier fell into step beside her, as Tahiri said, "Then, I guess we need to round them back up before they escape. Do we know the status of the intruder?"

The Guardsman was silent for a moment and then she shook her head. "Sorry, ma'am, but there's been no sighting of her."

Tahiri shrugged and with a slight chuckle, replied, "That's all right; we're probably heading towards her handiwork anyways."

"Ma'am?"

Tahiri laughed again, a bitter, harsh sound. "Don't worry, Private, we'll have plenty enough to do soon."

He words were prophetic, for as soon as they turned the next corner; they were faced with a wave of ferals rushing towards a half dozen of her soldiers.

Tahiri let loose a Tusken War Cry and then had her blade in her hand and was rushing forward.

She closed with the Ferals and began slicing through them. From behind her she could hear the near constant chuff sounds of her soldier's blaster rifles, accompanied by the bright flashes of red light as they slashed past her.

Slowly, an odd sound intruded into her awareness. Something which she did not expect to hear in the midst of a raging battle: laughter.

As her blade slashed through the neck of the next feral another realization appeared fully formed in her mind. The person laughing was herself.

Startled, she took a few steps back away from line of ferals, and gave her head a quick shake.

This isn't right, she thought to herself as she looked around. The remnants of her handiwork littered the ground.

Tahiri looked around, and then spun to the ground, vomiting. A hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up at the Guardsman standing over her.

"Ma'am, are you all right?"

Tahiri wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and then slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, just… just a shock for a moment is all."

The helmeted Guardsman watched her for a moment longer and then nodded her head. She turned away from Tahiri and once more began firing into the mass of ferals.

Tahiri sat back onto her haunches and scrubbed a hand over her face. What's wrong with me?

Turning away from her soldiers, she left them to the destruction of the Ferals.

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Chase leaned against the far wall, watching the door. He had already tried a dozen of the things that had allowed him to escape from the cells on Ambria, but this was different. The rooms he had been held in weren't designed to keep him in them.

If they had been, he'd probably still be there.

He sighed, as hung his head slightly, wondering if he'd ever get out of here; if he'd ever see Noelani or the kids again.

He decided that the answer to both questions was probably going to be no. The Guard had been trying to capture him for months now, ever since he left the Jedi Temple and descended into the Coruscanti Undercity. He'd been one step ahead of them that entire time, but his luck had ended.

Now they had him, and he doubted they'd ever let him go.

He lowered his head slightly, staring down at his boots.

When the door opened, he didn't bother to look up. He heard the guard's boots stepping into the room, but was startled when a pass key was dropped to the ground between his feet, with a blaster following quickly behind it.

His head snapped up, and he found Noelani standing over him, a smirk on her face. "I thought you were going to get the kids away from the Guard."

He felt himself grinning, despite everything. "Well, you know how it is. You get them all into the speeder, and then they start begging for toys and snacks and bathroom breaks."

Noelani giggled, and she held out her hand towards him. He grasped it and she helped pull him to his feet.

Once he was up, she refused to let him go, but instead pulled him into a tight hug.

He found that he couldn't stop smiling, and then kissed the top of her head. After holding her for what he was certain was not long enough, he pulled away, holding her at arms length. "Come on, let's get the kids and get out of here."

Noelani grinned at him, and nodded her head. "Sounds like a plan."

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 20

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Tahiri watched as the crash foam was washed away from the insurgents in the speeder. He knew he was a dangerous one as he had single-handedly killed a number of her soldiers. She could feel the anger seething just beneath the skin, a festering boil of rage.

Even though she knew intellectually that Jacen had stacked her command with soldiers who bore a strong resemblance to Noelani in order to keep her off balance, she still saw each of those deaths as a strike against her daughter.

Even as the rage burned in her veins, she wondered if that was Jacen's purpose. To make her angry and filled with hate; and not for the first time she wondered just how Dark Jacen has become. Between the anger and the almost unconscious need she had been feeling to once more Flow Walk to see Anakin, she felt herself being wound tighter and tighter into Jacen's web.

A shudder slashed through her at the image of Jacen as a giant, bloated black spider; much like a purella.

She squeezed her eyes tight as the memory of that particular adventure. Tears burned at her eyes for a moment before she blinked them away.

Zora gestured that the last of the crash foam had been washed away and she stepped forward to look at the insurgent.

Shock raced through her as she recognized the driver of the speeder. Although it had been weeks, if not months, since she had last seen him, she knew him. He had after all, saved her daughter.

"Chase," she muttered under her breath.

"Ma'am?" Zora inquired.

She quickly shook her head. "Nothing, Zora." She glanced at the three children also rendered unconscious by the sedatives in the crash foam. "Take them all and place them in cells near the Twi'lek. Then make sure they receive some medical attention."

Zora saluted and made a gesture towards some of the other soldiers. They began pulling Chase and the children from the wrecked speeder, and just as they pulled Chase out a flash of hate and anger rolled through the Force.

Tahiri's back went ramrod straight at the sensation, her entire body tense and filled with adrenaline from her Danger Sense.

A twang sound reverberated throughout the landing pad, and Tahiri turned around and looked up at one of the windows of the compound.

For a second time, shock slammed into her. She felt her mouth dropping open as she recognized Noelani standing in the window, her fist planted against the plassteel plating--dead center of a network of cracks.

Their eyes met, and Tahiri could feel all the hate and anger just drain from her; leaving her emotionally empty and void. She felt no passions, no stirring of the heart.

The only thing she felt was regret and longing. She regretted not hugging her daughter, and she longed to do so.

But she knew that if Jacen felt either of those emotions, he would either kill her or Noelani if not both of them.

Quickly, she pushed her emotions deep down into her heart of hearts. Hiding them beneath the pain of Anakin's death.

As Noelani stepped back away from the window, Tahiri gestured Zora over. "We have a guest in the compound. We want to be on a level 2 alert."

"Level 2 ma'am? That means that we won't be able to send a status update to central."

Tahiri nodded. "I know exactly what it means Private, and believe it or not, there's a reason for it. Now, get inside and post a guard on the young man we just took to the cell."

"The newest prisoner ma'am? If you'll pardon my asking, but that doesn't make sense. We just brought him in; there should not be any type of jail break attempt this soon."

Tahiri shook her head. "Don't question the Force, Zora. You'll live longer. After you place the guard, come find me."

Zora saluted smartly; Tahiri ignored it and walked towards the compound, a heavy weight on her shoulders.

She reached to her utility belt and unclipped Anakin's lightsaber. She still hadn't built herself a new hilt to house her crystal, but before now she had been happy using Anakin's. Suddenly she felt unworthy to be holding his weapon.

She felt tainted. Dirty.

Arriving at her ready room, she went over to her desk and dropped the blade onto it. Then she went around it and dropped into her seat. It molded itself to her body, and she covered her face with both hands.

She wanted to cry, but the tears refused to fall.

Instead she reached down and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. From the very back, she extracted a bottle of Reta, the brand of Corellian Whiskey which Jaina's old boyfriend Jag had always preferred.

She grabbed the empty caf mug from her desk and splashed some of the whiskey into it. Looking into the whiskey for a moment, she swirled it about, then downed the entire contents of the cup in one quick swallow.

Fire burned down her throat and she coughed, even as she felt the Force automatically going to work at breaking down the poisons and alcohol she had just consumed.

She sighed and wondered why Luke taught his Jedi to do such things unconsciously. It made it hard for her to get drunk.

The door opened and Zora was standing there at attention. Tahiri looked up just in time to notice the frown appear and disappear from the younger girl's face.

She shook her head. "Go ahead and sit down, Private. Also, don't bother to include this in your report to Jacen."

Tahiri smiled, not surprised when the girl did not respond to it; outside of a slight hardening around her eyes.

"If I may ask Ma'am, what gave my mission away?"

Tahiri laughed as she poured a shot of the whiskery for Zora and another for herself. Pushing Zora's share towards her, she replied, "Nothing. I'm a Jedi, I just know these things."

Zora's eyes hardened again for a moment. "Do you mind telling me who the intruder is, and who that young man we arrested is?"

Tahiri watched her for a moment. "Off of Jacen's little record?"

Zora frowned for a moment, and then nodded.

"She's my former apprentice, and the young man is, well he rescued her from what would have effectively been biogenetic testing, if not worse things on Ambria. I assume Jacen filled you in on my previous missions before I left the Jedi?"

Zora nodded her head again.

"Good, then you know what I went through at the hands of BioTech Industries. That young man, Chase, rescued my d… apprentice from the same. Additionally, Chase is one of their experiments. From my understanding of the files, he's basically a living, breathing, human-equivalent of a battle droid."

Zora's eyes widened a moment. "Then, shouldn't I gather more people on guard duty?"

Tahiri shook her head. "No need. The guards are just there to be distractions. To make Noelani think we're serious about keeping Chase and those kids in. She'll come to me when she's finished."

Zora frowned, and glanced down at her datapad. "How do you know?"

Tahiri smiled, and stood up, walking around the desk. As she moved, Zora shifted and turned off the datapad on her lap.

"I thought this little conversation wasn't going to go to Jacen."

Zora smiled slightly. "I couldn't help myself. This type of information is why I am here."

Tahiri nodded her head. "I know, and really, once he reviews the security footage, there's nothing there that he wouldn't know."

Zora frowned. "Then why ask me to keep it off the record? Why reveal that you know about me?"

Tahiri smiled at her. "To see if I could trust you, despite you being Jacen's lapdog."

Zora bolted to her feet. "I'm not a lapdog!"

As the girl was rising to her feet, Tahiri's hand shot out behind her, and Anakin's blade slapped into it. She thumbed it on, and shoved it forward in a single smooth motion.

Zora doubled over where the blade entered into her stomach. She coughed, splattering blood all over Tahiri's desk.

She turned off her lightsaber as Zora collapsed to the ground, and then knelt down beside her. She picked up the datapad and used the Force to destroy the delicate electronics within.

Smiling down at Zora, she dropped the smoking datapad beside her. "Didn't you notice that I never did answer your question, as to how I know Noelani would come to me?"

Zora's eyes shifted to Tahiri, and she tried to speak, but all she did was spit up blood on the carpet.

Tahiri glanced towards the door, and then leaned down close to Zora's ear. "I know because, she's my daughter. That's the relationship that Jacen was trying to figure out between Noelani and myself. That's why you were down here. To protect her, that's why you had to die."

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Chase rolled over, as pain echoed through his head. His mouth felt like he had been shoving cotton balls into it. Smacking his lips, he tried to sit up, and was rewarded for his efforts with a headache and a wave of dizziness.

"Jena? Huff? Prilla?"

None of the children responded and he tried to stand. Another wave of dizziness washed over him, and he quickly gripped the edge of the sink to keep from collapsing back to the ground.

Sighing, as the last thing he remembered was the ground hurtling towards him, he assumed that they had all been captured. He stumbled towards the door, and began to beat his fist against it.

After a few moments of this, it snapped open, startling Chase and causing him to drop onto his butt. A girl, at most just a few years older than he was, stood in the doorway, irritation marred her features, but that's not what shocked him. What shocked him was how closely the girl resembled Noelani.

"What do you want?" the girl snarled at him.

"I just want to know if my kids are all right, and where they're at."

"Prisoner's don't get to know things like that."

He frowned and shook his head, reactivating his headache. "Please, let me know about them, and I'll not give you any trouble. I promise."

"You killed my friends."

He looked up at her, and realized that she would have been part of the same Guard Company that had attacked him. "In my defense they did attack me first."

"Not a reason."

Chase shrugged his shoulders. "I was protecting those kids. That's all the reason I need."

The girl continued to frown at him for a moment, and then she glanced behind her. "I didn't tell you, but the girls have a couple of bumps and bruises, while that Bothan pup is mute."

Before he could tell her thank you, she kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling into the back of his cell. "Stay there and stop asking questions."

Then she was gone and the door slammed shut behind her.

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark Ch. 19

Previous Chapter

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He neared the gate, and sent the command to activate the doors. They rolled open slowly, even as he accelerated towards the opening. The explosions near the main gate had gotten louder, and he needed to get the children to safety—so he could come back and help Noelani.

Frowning, his eyes flickered around, and instantly he recognized the numerous machines on the far side of the entrance as hostiles.

There were at least a dozen speeder-bikes and around half that many military-grade air-speeders.

He blinked for a moment, weighing his options. When he realized that he had none, he punched the throttle. The girls in the seat behind him yelped in surprise as the speeder rocketed forward. Acceleration pushed them all against the back of their seats, and suddenly they were through the gates, and past the military blockade.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw two of the speeders and around 5 of the bikes racing after him. He knew he could out-run the speeders; while they did have military-grade engines, they also had all the additional weight of their armor and weapons to carry.

It was the speeder bikes that would catch him.

Facing forward, he wondered what he could do; how he could fulfill his promise to Noelani and make sure the kids were safe.

A proximity alarm started beeping from the in-dash console, and he sent the speeder into a sharp dive. The beeping grew more insistent, and he glanced behind himself to find a pair of missiles heading towards him.

"Kriff," he yelled, as he twisted the yoke. Angling close to the nearest building, he skimmed its surface, and let out a sigh as two explosions erupted behind him.

Pushing the throttle forward, he darted ahead, and suddenly he pulled the throttle all the way back and swung the speeder around so that it hovered in the traffic lane; his door facing the oncoming speeders.

Raising his blaster he fired three times, and watched as one of the riders fell away. Grinning, he focused on the next speeder and fired twice more.

Then he noticed movement, and his eyes flicked over just as a rider-less speederbike slammed into the side of his vehicle.

There was a squeal of stressed metal, and his speeder went up on its edges. The bike that had rammed him, careened upwards and towards a building, and his blaster pistol fell down towards the ground beneath them.

Sighing, he pushed the throttle and leveled out the speeder, hunting for a way to escape. Only to find the remaining two speeder bikes coming towards him.

Chase cursed as he swerved the speeder around. The latest in a series of explosions rocked the vehicle up on its side, and he glanced upwards at the military-grade speeders advancing towards him.

His lips pulled back in a snarl, as he pushed down on the stick, and pulled it to the right, sending his speeder into a sharp dive. The girls strapped into the seats behind him screamed, as Huff, bounced up and down in his own seat next to him.

Chase shook his head, realizing that this was the most animated he had ever seen the young child.

Another air-burst rocked the speeder, and he twisted the yoke, sending them spiraling around.

An action which caused Prilla and Jena to scream even louder. He winced as their shrieks dug into his skull.

He leveled out the speeder and set it to hover, and then stuck his hand behind him. "Give me a blaster rifle."

"All right," Jena called out and a moment later the barrel of his rifle slapped into his palm.

He quickly pulled the weapon around, and rested it on the doorframe. He squeezed off a handful of shots, catching one of the speeders in its front air-intake. A smile came to his lips as the speeder careened out of control, heading towards the ground beneath them. Dropping the blaster into his lap, he pushed the throttle forward and once again, almost laughed as Huff started bouncing in his seat.

Suddenly, there was the sharp screech of metal being sheared apart, and the controls in his hand became unresponsive. He looked forward and noticed that they were hurtling towards a walkway. He grimaced, and glanced over at Huff, noticing that he was no longer bouncing in his seat.

Then they hit the walkway, and the impact foam flowed around them.

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Noelani cradled her wounded shoulder as best as she could, while still hanging onto the undercarriage of the troop transport as it flew through the warrens of the Coruscant undercity. She had pulled her Force presence as close to herself as possible, trying to hide herself from the Jedi that she had watched board the next transport over.

The wind tugged at her tunic, and she shifted her head, so she could once more look down. The apparently unending depths of Coruscant flashed by, and she wondered, not for the first time, just how crazy she was to be doing this.

Yet, she needed to be taken to the Guard's base in this sector, as that was the most likely location for where Asyra'mata was being held.

As the other troop transport pulled away, she let out a short sigh of relief. She was certain if that Jedi had sensed her he would have stayed.

She closed her eyes, and stretched out, trying to feel Chase or one of the kids. When she received nothing from the Force, she frowned and once more opened her eyes. Looking ahead, she saw a squat, grey dome directly ahead.

A portal began to open on the top of the dome, spilling warm yellow light into the perpetual smog of the undercity. The transport she was riding in swerved towards the opening, and began descending.

She felt herself grinning slightly, trusting the Force that it had led her to the correct Guard headquarters where Asyra'mata was being held prisoner.

As they passed into the dome, she stretched out once again, this time hunting for Asyra'mata. When she felt the familiar mental patterns of her friend, it was all she could do to not let out a scream of joy.

Instead, she sent a wave of reassurance towards her and then shut down in the Force; knowing that either her mother or that Jedi would be around somewhere.

Finally, the transport's landing gear rolled out; they were long skids on either side of the transport. The repulsor engines began to whine, and jets of smoke erupted from the sides as columns of superheated steam flashed outward.

Almost losing her grip on the underside of the transport, Noelani grimaced as the steam instantly both soaked and burned her.

Then the transport was safely on the ground. A ramp lowered at the rear of the vehicle, and the Guardsmen and their prisoners stomped down the gangplank, heading deeper into the compound.

Finally, the pilot and co-pilot left the cockpit, and disappeared, and Noelani allowed herself to drop to the ground.

The sudden impact aggravated the burns on her back, and she yelped in instinctive alarm.

Her hand slapped over her mouth, and she stretched out with the Force, trying to see if anyone had heard her. When no sense of alarm came back to her, she rolled out from underneath the transport and glanced around.

She spied three cameras between her and the door way, and as she started running, reached out and sent a surge of energy towards them.

She reached the door and gently touched the keypad next to it. Her hand hovered there for a moment as she felt the keys, sensing the different amounts of use each key had suffered.

Hoping that her luck holds out, she quickly punched in the sequence that she had constructed in her head from what the Force told her.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she hit the last key, fully expecting an alarm to begin wailing. When instead the door in front of her snapped open, she stumbled back a step in surprise.

Quickly recovering she darted into the room, and instantly reached out with the Force, hunting for any surveillance equipment. She found some, and flash-fried it with the Force--she wanted her arrival to be as much of a surprise for her mother as possible. Glancing to the left and then the right, she turned left and headed deeper into the complex.

As she neared the first corner, her hand slipped to the hilt of her saber that hung from her belt. In a smooth, quiet movement, she unhooked the weapon, and allowed her fingers to caress the activation switch.

She stuck her head around the corner, and just saw another corridor. Spying a doorway halfway down the hall, she rushed that way, and entered the room.

It was empty, but provided a view of a second landing pad. She watched as two military speeders entered the compound, a third, wreck speeder dangling between them.

The damaged speeder was dropped to the ground, and a group of guards rushed out of the door that Noelani had entered the compound through.

Quickly, they began spraying a dissolvent on the crash-foam. Noelani stared transfixed. She wasn't certain why, but she had to watch. She had to see. Absently she noted that the other two transports had landed. Movement from one caught her eye, and she saw her mother get out of the transport.

Cursing under her breath, she focused once again on the wrecked speeder.

Her mother got closer, and was standing there as the last of the crash foam was dissolved and washed away.

Then the rest of Noelani's world crumbled. She slammed her fist against the plasteel window as she saw Chase, Jena, Prilla and Huff being dragged from the speeder. Their bodies hung limp between the guards as they were dragged away.

Noelani gulped at the air, trying to catch her racing heart.

She slammed her fist against the window again, and it reverberated in its frame. Noelani looked at it, and saw the spiderweb of cracks radiating out from the spot where she had struck it.

Horror sunk in as she realized that she had drawn on the Force when she had hit the window.

Her gaze shifted towards her mother once again, and found her staring directly at her.

Noelani swallowed, and backed away from the window.

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 18

Previous Post

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A voice rolled out from the distance, echoing loudly against the dome. "Attention, this is the Galactic Alliance Guard. Pursuant to the War Crimes Act you are all under arrest for suspected treason."

"Kriff," Noelani muttered, her hands squeezing tightly against the railing.

Another shockwave rattled their building, and Noelani pushed inside running down the hall and jumping down the stairwell. She landed with a grunt and then rushed into the room they had set aside for training, and grabbed her combat suit.

Chase was a moment behind her, and yanked his from the hook where they were stored. Anger flared through Noelani as she noticed the empty hook which should have held Asyra'mata's uniform.

Fastening the suit closed, she glanced over at Chase. "So, what's the plan?"

He snorted as he began pulling on his boots. "I was hoping you'd have one."

By this time she was pulling weapons from the cabinets and attaching them to her utility belt or stashing them in various pockets. "I say we get out of the dome, and then follow the Guard back to wherever they're going.

Chase glanced over his shoulder. "How sure are you if that's a good idea or not?"

Noelani turned and looked in the same direction he was watching, to see Jena, Prilla and Huff standing in the door way. Huff's muzzle quivered slightly, and she could see the abject terror in both Prilla's and Jena's eyes.

Noelani frowned for a moment. I don't need this distraction right now.

She felt Chase's attention return to her. "We can't leave them here, and we can't take them with us."

Noelani nodded her head. "Then you're going to stay with them and protect them."

"But you ne-"

"No!" she interrupted him with a slash of her hand. "I can get Asyra'mata out of whatever prison they're holding her in. I need you to watch these three. I need to know that they're safe."

"'Lani…"

She smiled at him wistfully, knowing what was going through his head. He hated the thought of letting her go out there; as much as she hated the thought of leaving him behind.

"I found you twice so far, I'm certain I can do it again," she finally said, a grin appeared on her lips; one that anyone who had ever met a Solo would have instantly recognized.

He stepped closer to her, and she swallowed hard. Suddenly, she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life.

He leaned down, and pressed his lips to hers. Dimly, she was aware of the handful of vibroblades clattering to the floor as she dropped them.

While this wasn't her first kiss, as that dubious honor belonged to Ben—who she now knew was her cousin—it was the first time that Chase had done so.

As suddenly as the kiss began it ended, and he stepped backwards away from her. She blinked her eyes, trying to once again regain control of her thoughts and her heart. Giving up, she glanced over at him. "Chase…"

He shook his head, and gestured towards the door. "Get going. I've got a few more preparations in order to get the kids ready."

"I…" She snapped her mouth shut, not certain what she had intended on saying.

"I love you, Noelani. Make sure you come back to me."

She smiled at him, feeling tears as they threatened to fall. Then she threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. "I love you too."

She dropped from him and went to the children grabbing them into a tight hug as well. "I want you all to be good for Chase, all right?"

"Okay, Mama," Prilla, the youngest replied.

She quickly kissed them each on the head once, checked to make sure she had her blaster and her lightsaber and then left the room at a jog.

She felt tears burning her eyes as she ran towards the main gate. Slowing down, she stopped and quickly worked through a breathing exercise. She couldn't go into that area distracted by thoughts of Chase and the children. She had to focus on the here and now—and trust Chase.

Once her emotions were under control again, she started moving forward.

She heard the sounds of battle first. The blasts of the blasters, the screams of the wounded and dying. Then she was close enough for the smells; charred flesh, discharged blasters, and the acidic tang of low-yield detonators.

She crept towards the edge of the next building and peered around. She saw Evir's soldiers as they slowly fell back away from the advancing Guard unit.

Then odd movements caught her eye. Someone was on the battlefield using a lightsaber.

She throat closed up, and she struggled to gain control of her pounding heart. A single thought slammed through her mind: the Jedi had found her, and were now killing all of her friends in order to take them away from her.

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Jacen smiled as he led his troops into the compound.

His intelligence network had been working for weeks trying to find the location of this group. They had been interfering with his plans concerning the Ferals, and he had finally decided that it was time to stop them.

So, not only was he happy over that, but he was also happy because for the first time since he had killed Mara, he was leading his Forces into battle.

From the front lines, just like his Grandfather had.

He couldn't help but smile as his blade slashed through the insurgents around him.

In fact, it was all he could do to not laugh as he fought on; slaughtering the enemy around him.

Suddenly, there was a surge in the Force. It was a spike of fear and horror which flooded his awareness. He paused, his blade humming loudly even over the sounds of the dying around him.

Stretching out with the Force, he found the source. She was young, trained, and terrified of… Jedi?

Jacen frowned, as he stepped towards the building she was hiding behind. "Come out, youngling. I'm not a Jedi, I won't hurt you."

He saw a moment of blond hair stick around the corner, and another surge of fear in the Force.

Her voice wavered for a moment, "I, I don't believe you."

Jacen grinned. She wasn't as trained as he thought. If she was, she would have known better than to start talking to him. He advanced.

"Why don't you believe me?"

"You're using a lightsaber. You've come to take me away."

He frowned, wondering what she was talking about. After a moment, he decided it didn't matter, she would either be useful to him, or she would die.

He took a number of steps away from the building, and then sprung forward so he could see her clearly.

Her scream echoed back at them, and he savored the fear that flooded the Force. For a moment, she reminded him of Tahiri, but he assumed it was just the fact that she had the same color hair as his potential apprentice.

A snap-hiss startled him out of his reverie, and he suddenly realized that she held a lightsaber, and had it pointed towards him.

He grinned again, wondering just how much fun this would be. As he raised his own saber into a mid-guard, he hoped that she had at least enough training to make this entertaining.

Then he darted forward, his blade thrusting forward. She side-stepped as he expected her to, just as he pushed out with the Force.

She flew through the air and slammed into the building across the street. Her body convulsed with the impact and the saber fell from her fingers.

He allowed her to drop, a frown coming to his face.

"That was easy and not fun at all," he muttered under his breath.

He closed the distance, until he was standing over her. He watched her for a moment, that annoying similarity once again at the edges of his awareness; though this time she reminded him of his Allana.

He shrugged the feeling away and raised his saber to deliver a killing blow, when the girl's hand flew up. He braced himself with the Force, expecting telekinesis.

So, he was caught off-guard when the handful of dirt flew into his eyes.

"Kriffing, Jedi," he heard her snarl, and suddenly, he felt a weight slam into his stomach.

The impact knocked him backwards, even as he struggled against the dirt in his eyes; fighting against the urge to rub them as he knew that could scratch the lenses.

Instead he took control of the autonomous functions of his body, and forced his tear ducts to begin operating.

As the dirt began to flow out of his eyes, he found himself grinning. Maybe this will be fun after all.

The girl's saber ignited again, and he brought his own blade around. With the Force guiding him, he inserted it perfectly into the spot necessary to deflect her blow.

Then a blaster bolt rang out, and the girl yelped as pain flooded through the Force. He glanced over and saw that his personal squad had advanced when they noticed his fight. He fought against the urge to send lightning at them for interfering and instead turned back to the girl.

She writhed in the dirt, one hand clasped tightly against the shoulder, which had been discolored, and burned from the blaster.

As he stepped forward, a yell came up from behind him, and he turned that way as two dozen soldiers came running from around a building, their blasters blazing.

He snarled, and began deflecting the bolts. Then he swore as four droidekas rolled up and transformed into their deployed mode.

The voice of one of his squad rang over their personal comnet. "Where the kark did these guys dig up four working droidekas?"

Jacen merely shook his head, as he responded. "I don't know, but we need to fall back so that the heavy artillery can deal with them."

Four double-clicks sounded over the comnet, and he glanced at the ground, to discover that the girl had disappeared. Uttering another curse, he began falling back towards the entrance.

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Chase smiled down at the children as he bundled them into an ancient XJ-15 airspeeder. He didn't like the fact that it lacked anything by way of offensive weaponry or even defenses, but it was the only vehicle he could find which both held them all, and Evir's guards would let him have.

He just wondered how it had survived by the Galactic Civil War and the Vong War.

Shaking his head, he quickly strapped the children in and powered up the systems. A handful of green ready lights flickered into existence, and he pulled back on the stick, lifting the craft up off of its landing gear.

Then he was moving, flying towards the rear entrance of the compound; away from the Guard invasion force.

Away from Noelani.

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 17

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Chase paced in front of Evir's desk. The older scientist calmly sat on the far side of it, watching him, while Noelani fumed in the chair that sat a few paces behind him.

After his third circuit, he stopped in front of Evir's desk. "We need to rescue Asyra'mata."

Evir shook his head. "I'm not going to approve that. The Guard is not something that we want to go up against; even for the two of you."

Noelani stood up and Chase could taste the electrical energy tingeing the air. He turned towards her, as she took a step forward. In amazement, he watched as her hair flickered and flowed, even though there was no air circulation going.

"I'm telling you this a single time," she snarled. "We're going after Asyra'mata, and you're going to give us the help we need."

Evir stood up behind his desk, and leaned forward. "You can go kriff yourself little girl. If you feel like getting yourself and your boyfriend killed over that little Twi'lek tramp that's your death. I'm not following you, nor am I letting you bring the Guard down on what I've built here."

Chase saw her hand heading towards her saber, and reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "That's enough 'Lani. Let's go, he obviously doesn't care about the folks under his protection and is willing to cut them free whenever they're no longer useful."

Evir laughed. "Right you are, young Chase. If someone or something endangers my operation here, I will happily throw it away."

Chase felt the muscles in Noelani's shoulder tense. He gave it a gentle squeeze, and her head snapped towards him. He fought against an instinctive urge to take a step back away from her. Anger colored her face red, and seemed to tinge her eyes even.

He blinked, and her eyes were once again that crystal clear, sky-blue that he admired so.

He tilted his head towards the door. "C'mon 'Lani. Let's go."

She nodded her head, and turned away from Evir. Chase reached down and grabbed her hand, and together they left the room.

Silence reigned over them while they waited for the turbolift. It finally arrived and they both boarded. As soon as the doors closed, Noelani grabbed his tunic and buried her face into his chest.

Startled, he raised his hands up for a moment, before lowering them around her shoulders. "Shh… it'll be all right, 'Lani."

She pushed out of his arms, anger flashing on her face. "How? We've got to get Asyra'mata back."

"Do we know where they took her?"

Noelani turned away from him, her head lowering. After a few moments, she shook her head. "No, I don't. But that won't stop me from finding her. I have the Force after all."

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Tahiri dropped into the seat behind her desk and stared at the datapads that she should be filling out. Bureaucratic annoyances that she despised. Sighing, she waved her hand in the direction of her terminal and it sprang to life. A few hand gestures and the cell of her prisoner was floating before her.

Not for the first time, Tahiri wondered why her daughter was not with the Jedi; and what she was doing with this Twi'lek tramp. Then she reminded herself that the Twi'lek was nothing but a child, even as tension raced down her body, her fists instinctively clenching as memories of the Rar sisters flashed through her mind.

With a flicker of the Force, she sent all the datapads flying from her desk, reveling in the clatter as they crashed to the floor.

A few moments later, Zora walked into her office, her helmet tucked under one hand. Tahiri watched the blue-eyed blonde for a moment. "Can I help you?"

Zora dropped into the seat in front of Tahiri's desk. "Want to talk to me about that Jedi we found in the under-city? And who is that Twi'lek?"

Hesitation flashed through her, as her lips pulled down slightly into a frown. She wanted to take Zora into her confidence, but she still did not trust Jacen, and had no doubt that anything she said to Zora would inevitably make its way back to him.

It would be just another weapon in his arsenal to use against her; to manipulate her.

Deciding, she leaned back in her seat. Better that no one here knows that Noelani is my daughter. "She was my apprentice before I left the Jedi."

"Ah… why did she leave the Jedi?"

Tahiri shook her head. "I'm not certain. I guess she was hurt worse by my leaving than I had expected her to be."

Zora nodded her head. "So, I've been wondering, why did you leave the Jedi?"

Of course we'd get back to this topic. It's something Jacen is dying to know. Tahiri smiled. "It's… complicated, and I don't feel like talking about."

Zora smiled at her, and stood up. "I understand, boss. I'm here if you want to talk."

I bet you would be here. I wonder what Jacen promised her for the information. Tahiri returned the smile, even though she didn't feel it. "Thanks, Zora. Now go on and get out of here. I've got an appointment with our fearless leader in a few minutes."

Zora saluted and then turned away and left the office. The door clicked shut behind her, and Tahiri watched it for a few moments. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. What are you doing down here 'Lani?

Sighing, she pulled the monitor for her console closer and watched the Twi'lek girl they had taken prisoner. Frowning, as she estimated the girl's age at a few years younger than Noelani, she suddenly pushed out of her seat and walked out into the corridor.

A few minutes later, she was standing in front of the cell where the young girl was being held. Tahiri hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the room.

The Twi'lek was lying on the bed—a thin sheet of bare metal jutting out from the far wall; one arm cradled the other, and Tahiri noted the dark, purple of a contusion on the side of her head. She stood there for a minute, and then stepped into the room, allowing the door to close behind her.

"What's your name," Tahiri asked.

The girl continued to ignore her for a few minutes, and Tahiri reached out with the Force, slipping tendrils of herself into the girls' mind, and quickly finding her pain centers. Without a flicker of a thought, pain flooded the girl's mind. A psychic backwash slashed back towards Tahiri and she found herself grinning.

A whisper slid across her awareness; a whisper fed to her through the Force. Mom, why?
Startled, she allowed the Force to flicker away from her control, and instead reached out towards her daughter, only to find nothing.

Sighing, she turned back to the Twi'lek. "So, what's your name?"

The Twi'lek was panting, and finally, she responded. "Asyra'mata. My name's Asyra'mata."

"Good," Tahiri replied, sending warm feelings down through the force into the girl. "You're in a lot of trouble, youngling. That was a restricted section we found you in earlier."

The girl snorted, and laid her head back onto the bed. "It seems most of the Undercity is restricted since the Guard showed up."

Tahiri shook her head slightly. "That still doesn't answer my question."

"Oh? Ask me if I'm really concerned about that—because I know I'm not." The girl's eyes flicked towards Tahiri for a moment. "Are you going to choke me again with that mystical mumbo-jumbo power of yours? Or is it going to be the pain again?"

Tahiri felt her hands clench tightly, and was slightly shocked to discover she had to fight back the sudden desire to yank the girl off of the bed. Instead she spun on her heel and left the cell; followed by the laughter of the Twi'lek.

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Noelani collapsed onto the floor of her room; folding her legs up tight against her chest. Anger, frustration and fear flowed through her; even as the tears slipped from her eyes.

"Why," she whispered, begging the Force to give her an answer. She wanted to know why she was suffering this way; why her family suffered this way.

Why, every time she found some measure of happiness, someone or something came and ripped it away from her.

Pain slashed through her, searing her mind. She bolted upright, and then standing quickly crossed over to the window. Even though the building they were in was underground, she faced the west, and could feel Asyra'mata's pain.

It was a burning agony that wavered in the Force, and with a jolt of horror Noelani realized that it was being caused by the Force.

She screwed a fist against her eyes, and she pushed at the edges of the bond between her and Tahiri. For the first time in what felt to her like forever, Noelani sent a message across their bond: Mom, why? Why are you hurting my friend?

Halfway through the mental sending, an overpowering Force presence slammed itself against her mind. She screamed, and found herself on the floor, her head clasped in her hands, and the coppery taste of blood filling her mouth.

The door burst open, and Chase ran into the room. "Noelani? What's wrong?"

She glanced up at him, and shook her head; instantly regretting it as spikes of pain ran through her skull.

He knelt down beside her and helped her to a sitting position. Gripping the railing of the balcony, she pulled herself upright, and once again glanced towards the west. A cough racked her body, and she leaned over from the sheer force. Opening her eyes, she saw a bright splash of red blood on the floor.

Wiping her mouth, she straightened, and glanced over at Chase who was staring at her with worry shining in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly cut him off.

"I'm fine. The Force will fix me up good as new in no time. But now we've got to go rescue Asyra'mata. She's being tortured."

She stepped away from the railing, the world wavering around her for a moment. Clenching her jaw, she took another step, as Chase stepped in front of her.

"What aren't you telling me?"

She stared at him for a moment, and then sighed. "She's being tortured, by someone using the Force. Whoever it is, is calling me. They want me to go to them."

Chase frowned. "Then, wouldn't it be a bad decision to do so?"

Before she could respond, a shock wave rolled over them, shaking the building, and sending a fine mist of dust rolling out from the dome's ceiling.

"What was that," Chase asked.

Noelani looked off towards the main gate, a plume of smoke becoming visible in the distance.

"I'm not certain, but it doesn't look like its good news…"

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 16

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Chase followed behind Noelani, occasionally stealing glances at Asyra'mata. It comforted him somehow that the young Twi'lek was as confused by Noelani's actions as he was.

He thought back to what he had seen: a Guard unit slaughtering the Ferals; ruthlessly and without provocation or mercy. He personally, did not see anything wrong with it; after all that's why they had been in this sector of the Under City.

Yet, Noelani had reacted badly. Her hands had clenched the railing until she shattered the plasteel that it had been made from.

Sighing, he tried again. "Noelani?"

She stopped suddenly, and he stumbled to keep from running into her.

She spoke without turning to face him. "You think I'm something of an oddball don't you? You think this was about the Ferals?"

He glanced over at Asyra'mata for a moment. She shrugged her shoulders, letting him know that he was on his own. "No, 'Lani, I don't think that at all. I was just wondering what you were thinking."

"That was Mom."

"What?" Asyra'mata cut into their conversation.

Noelani glanced over her shoulder at the Twi'lek for a moment, and Chase saw tears streaking down her face. Instinctively he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him in a hug.

Her body shook slightly as she fought against the tears. "That was Mom who was leading those Guardsmen."

"How do you know?" he asked.

She barked a short, brittle laugh. "I'm a Jedi remember? I'd feel my Mom in the Force anywhere. Yet she felt odd, as if she was hiding something; something that she was ashamed that she had done."

"What could it be?"

She lowered her head to her chest. "I don't know. All I know is that her Force presence felt dark… dirty somehow."

Noelani's body tensed suddenly in his arms, and he frowned down at her. She pushed away from him, her lightsaber igniting in the gloom of the undercity. "We're under attack."

Blue stun bolts ripped out from the dark and struck Asyra'mata.

The girl yelped in pain as she dropped to the ground. Chase's blaster rifle was up against his shoulders within seconds. The bits and pieces of yammosk that were in his brain were feeding him details about where the stun bolts had come from.

Looking down the barrel of his rifle, he centered the finder on the spot, and squeezed the trigger. A bright red bolt of energy was spat from the end of the rifle. A feminine cry of pain came out from the darkness.

Then suddenly there was a second lightsaber shining.

Their attackers stepped into the light, and Chase realized it was the Guardsmen from earlier. One of them spoke. "You are all under arrest."

Noelani's body was hunched over slightly. "For what?"

"Pursuant to Galactic Alliance Code 75124.4Aurek, you are trespassing. The Guard has annexed this entire section as part of our training compound."

Chase barked a laugh. "Jeez, 'Lani. Why is it that whenever I'm with you, someone is trying to arrest me?"

He could almost sense the amusement from her.

Then the Guardsmen with the lightsaber took her helmet off, and Chase felt his stomach flip. He knew that Noelani had said her mother was in that squad, yet he hadn't really believed it. He had thought that Tahiri's Master was too good for that; that she was better than joining the Guard.

Tahiri stepped forward, her blade held low. "Come on, Noelani. Don't do this. Come home with me."

Noelani shook her head. "You ran away from me. You left ME." She gestured towards Chase an Asyra'mata. "I found myself a home."

Tahiri sighed and then nodded her head. A blaster bolt erupted from one of the Guard's blasters. Noelani's blade shifted and batted the bolt back.

Then Tahiri was there. Her blade slashing in; the attacks aimed at her daughter were fast and furious. Chase stared in shock for a moment, and then ducked down behind a desk. Lifting up slightly, he sighted along the gun and pulled the trigger. The bolt caught one of the soldiers in the shoulder and she spun around and dropped to the ground.

The attack seemed to wake up the remaining two Gaurdsmen, and they began pouring blaster bolts into his desk. He cursed and hunkered down. A moment later, he lifted his head up, and saw that one of the soldiers was pulling Asyra'mata away from them.

"No!" He screamed at her, and fired three times in that direction, haphazard shots. The soldier hunkered down slightly and continued pulling Asyra'mata away. Then the other soldier threw something at him.

He glanced down, and felt his eyes widen in shock. Sitting at his feet was a small-yield explosive device. "Kriff!" he muttered as he jumped away from the grenade.

From the corner of his eye he saw Tahiri kick Noelani in the stomach, knocking her down through a hole. Chase raised his blaster and fired off a quick shot, amazed as it struck Tahiri in the thigh.

Noelani's mom dropped to the ground, clutching her leg, and Chase glanced over at the doorway that Asyra'mata had been taken through. He frowned for a moment and then dropped through the hole, chasing after Noelani.

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Noelani felt Tahiri's kick to the stomach. The wind rushed out from her in a whoosh, and suddenly she was falling.

She slammed into something hard and unyielding and heard her saber skitter off into the darkness. Her chest burned, and she suddenly remembered that she had to breathe.

Her first gulp of air, burned and she rolled over coughing, as tears sprang to her eyes. They were tears that had nothing to do with the pain in her back and stomach, and everything to do with the fight that she had just had.

She struggled to up until she was on her hands and knees and then lifted her head, looking up at the hole in the ceiling through which she had fell. A shadow crossed over it and a moment later, someone landed with a thud on the ground next to her.

Reaching out with the Force, she latched on to her saber and pulled it to her hand. Once she felt the metal hilt hit her palm she activated it to find Chase getting to his feet.

He blinked in the sudden light, and glanced up. Giving a quick shake of his head, he grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards a door. "Come on, we've got to run."

Noelani was startled, and stumbled after him, as she looked up at the hole. "But what about Asyra'mata?"

"She was captured."

Shock reverberated through her, as she stumbled to a stop. "Captured?"

"Yeah," Chase replied, pulling her arm again. "We've got to move."

Then a wave of concussive pressure slammed into them, flattening them both to the ground.

Noelani lifted her head, and found herself once more wrapped in Chase's arms. Hearing returned with a sharp ringing in her ears, and she shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

After a minute or two, Chase stood and glanced over where the hole had been. Noelani looked that way, and discovered that it had been enlarged and the floor beneath it was filled with smoking rubble.

Noelani stepped forward, and began to pull the Force to her, intending to jump up through the hole.

"Wait," Chase called out to her.

She paused, and glanced over at him. "What?"

"What are you planning on doing?"

She felt her face twisting into a scowl. "I'm going to go after Asyra'mata."

He shook his head. "They're probably already gone, but we know who they were and where they're probably at. Let's go talk to Evir." She frowned at him, and he stepped forward, holding his hands out towards her. "Please, 'Lani."

Sighing, she lowered her head, grief slammed into her, and she dropped to her knees, her hands covering her face as the first of the tears formed in her eyes. "I don't want to leave her…"

Chase dropped down beside her and wrapped her in his arms. "We're not going to. I promise; we'll get her back."

She lifted her face from her hands and looked into his eyes. Slowly, she nodded.

He smiled and she felt her heart jump in her chest. "Good, now let's go make some plans on how we're going to get Asyra'mata back."

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Asyra'mata felt herself being dragged down a hallway. A black bag was over her head, hiding her surroundings from her. She strained her ears, trying to hear anything that could help her escape.

Then the movement stopped, and she felt herself being lifted up and then tossed. She curled up, trying her best to protect her head from the inevitable fall.

Then she slammed hard into the floor. She coughed, and the bitter-chalk taste of blood filled her mouth.

A moment later, she felt the wrist restraints being released, and with a profound sense of joy, she yanked the bag from her head.

Blinking in the bright glare of the lights, she looked around, and found the door. Standing there was one of the Guard soldiers who had attacked them. She was not much taller than Asyra'mata herself was, and had long bright blonde hair—and she looked exactly like Noelani.

The deep pain of betrayal slashed at her.

"Noelani?"

An odd emotion flickered across the soldier's face. "No. But hopefully we both will be seeing my daughter soon enough."

Asyra'mata spat a mouthful of blood at the soldier.

It landed on her thigh; a bright red in direct contrast of the black body armor. The soldier looked down at it for a moment, and a look of anger and hate formed on the blonde's face. Asyra'mata felt something picking her up, and as her feet left the ground, she found it hard to breathe.

A gurgle escaped her lips and the sound seemed to snap the woman out of her reverie. Asyra'mata dropped to the ground, coughing once again as she tried to gulp down air.

The blonde spun on her heel and left, the door closing with an echoing finality behind her.

She crawled into the corner, and curled around her legs. Intently, she stared at the door; waiting for her chance to escape.

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