"Calm Waters Before The Storm"
by Strider Ixion
Raydan Levaithan (NPC)
Regent Duke Yu - Duke of Gallor (NPC)
and Rita Keares (NPC)

Location: Duke's Palace, Midgar, Gallor
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

The day was warm for the type of season that was on Gallor. The rain collapsed, wetting the streets, trees and grass, but life continued mostly indoors.

Raydan sighed through the glass window of the training facility. He was dressed with a training tunic and he was putting on his protective wrists. He glanced one last time for the sky as it was pitch black.

Raydan walked to the center of the room and picked up his training swords that were lying there. He waved them through his fingers as the sound of the wind was being cut by the swords. He then looked to the entrance of the room. "Computer! Initiate program."

The sound from the console was heard and then, in just a few seconds, six stormtroopers were around Raydan, all with a sword on their hands. Raydan placed himself in position putting his two training swords in front of him, making a cross with the two weapons.

He moved his swords accordingly as the six Stormtroopers attacked him. He defended the first two attacks and he attacked at the same time, the third stormtrooper hitting on his head, as the Stormtrooper's sword missed him for just a few centimeters. The second one made another attack and Raydan defended with his right sword and made the second stormtrooper's sword defend the fourth one's attack. He cut the second stormtrooper's stomach while the first and fifth attacked. Raydan defended with the two swords and kicked the first one in the stomach, sending him backwards, while he waved the right sword, penetrating the fifth. His right sword was stuck so with his available hand he grabbed the sword he was using with his left hand.

The fourth guard made an attack from above and he was able to move before it hit him. He cut the fourth stormtrooper's head, then moving around and stabbing the first one in the heart.

Now, there was one left, the sixth guard. They waited for a brief moment and then he attacked Raydan with all his might to Rayden's left side of the head. Raydan ducked and then jumped as the Stormtrooper's sword hit a piece of his uniform. Rayden fell to the floor and stabbed him with his sword but the Stormtrooper kept on fighting. He waved his sword to hit Raydan's legs, but Raydan jumped over his sword that was still inside the last Stormtrooper and kicked his head. The Stormtrooper fell to the floor, penetrating even more the sword that was already in him.

The bodies disappeared and his respective swords fell to the floor. He then heard some clapping of hands and looked around, seeing that it was the Regent Duke.

"My liege..." He kneeled before the Duke and raised only when the Regent Duke made the sign to order him to raise. "I didn't see you enter."

"I was seeing the way you fight. Very unique style, Raydan." He paused as Raydan approached the Duke. "I see why my daughter has full confidence in you."

"Thank you, Duke Yu." He looked at him, while he took off his wrist protections.

"What is it called, that style of yours?" the Duke smiled.

"It is not a style, my liege. It's a combination of different styles. And I didn't even bother to name it," Raydan approached the Duke and a gave little bow.

"You better think of a name for that style, because I want Strider to learn it and train it," the Duke said as Raydan accompanied him.

"Training Strider? Why?"

Yu laughed and hit his right hand on Raydan's shoulder. "This is a Galaxy that is passing through a rough time. It's a time where Republics and Kingdoms can easily fall. The Empire made the Outer Rim a very unstable place where crimelords and warlords rule these parts. Not even to mention those Moffs that try to fight to be the next Emperor!" he sighed. "I want Strider be a strong leader that doesn't depend in security like myself. I want Strider to be trained, because in the future he has to survive some difficulty that he might encounter."

"I see... You not only want him as a leader, but you want him a survivor in case of a revolution or something." Raydan looked at the Regent Duke while he carried his protective wrists on his right hand.

"Yes, and no..." He paused. "Yes, I want Strider to be a great leader and to make the right choices at the right time, and no I'm not concerned about some revolution. I'm concerned about our neighbours on the Corporate Sector. They can easily conquer this planet in the blink of an eye, but the reason they didn't try to do it is still unknown."

Raydan read the message between the words of what the Regent Duke said. "So a revolution is still a change, a remote one, but there is still that possibility."

"I'm afraid so, Raydan," the duke sighed to the end of the corridor and then to Raydan. "Our planet is an easy target against any foes that want to control it. Luckily, we don't have the full attention of the Galaxy, which is good because it gives us the edge to evolve our military. But since we are still in face of rebuilding of our cities, we can't afford money for ships. Since the New Republic and Tae'Karada are facing their own problems we can simply ask: We want ships protecting Gallor, so can you put some of your ships here. No, Raydan, everything costs money and first we need stability on our planet and then we think about having our own ships protecting Gallor... Until then, we depend on third parties and in this case, the Brath'Nam Inter-Galactic Guild."

Raydan saw that Gallor was having a rough time. "I see now what bad judgement can do to a planet..." He then sighed to the Duke. "With all due respect, giving the throne to Garnet Seifer was your worst decision."

"Yes, it was, Raydan. I thought at the time it was the best bet, but her wishes to control the Galaxy ruined our view in the galaxy. Also, her bad judgements and her army was destroying everything me and my ancestors worked hard to build. Anyway, enough to speak about the past. Let's see how my grandson is!"

Raydan nodded affirmatively and both men walked through the corridors.

A few minutes later Raydan and the Duke entered through a room that was Strider's bedroom. There, a young woman was playing with Strider. She had long blondish hair with blue eyes and she was tall. She dressed in simple clothes. "Regent Duke!" She got up and bowed before the Duke.

"Hello there, Rita. How is my grandson?" He made a weird face that made Strider laugh.

"Very well, Duke. The Jedi masters have taken good care of him!" Rita said while she glanced to Raydan and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Very well. I'm going to take my grandson for a walk, while you two... do whatever people that are engaged do these days!" He smiled as he picked up Strider. "Oh, you're getting heavier!"

Rita and Raydan saw the regent duke exiting the room and then both approached each other and kissed. "Oh, I missed you, my love."

"I missed you too, Rita. Like I said, I return now to stay!" Raydan said then kissing her again.

Rita nodded. "How is Princess Kitana?"

Raydan backed off and gave a serious look. "You stop right there, Rita. I thought you got over that jealousy thing when we got engaged."

"I'm sorry, Raydan. I won't touch the subject anymore if it's so hard on you to talk about it..." Rita said angrily by the way Raydan spoke.

"Sorry, but everytime we get together you want to talk about her. It's like... it's like it was you that had a case with her, not me! I got over her, and I love you, Rita. You're my world, my galaxy."

Rita blushed by what Raydan had said and she kissed him softly. "Yes, I know, Raydan," she smiled. "Raydan, is it strange to me or is something wrong with the Duke?"

"So you noticed too?" Raydan said, looking at her beautiful face.

"Yes, but I'm not the only one. Everybody saw that the Duke lost something, like he was talking for the last time kind of thing..." Rita said as she separated from Raydan to clean some of Strider's toys.

"Yeah, I know. When we were on our way here the Duke told me to teach Strider this new kind of Martial Art that I came up with so he can be able to survive in the Galaxy," Raydan said as he looked at Rita with a worried face.

"That is understandable, Raydan. Maybe he wants Strider to defend himself, without worries like having bodyguards like you always walking in his shadow," Rita said as she picked up one of Strider's toys and placed it on a shelf.

"But that is it, Rita. He didn't say it like that! He said it like he wanted Strider to be a survivor, like hiding or running from his foes to survive in hard conditions, like... Like the rebels during Hoth!" Raydan approached her. "He wants him to be a fighter, more than a ruler of a planet."

"I see... That is something to worry about, it's not like him. It's like he lost part of his charisma, like he's tired to live or something. He had such life even during the Civil War, but now..." Rita sighed to the ground and she stared to the floor.

"All will be alright, Rita. I made a promise to Kitana and to the Duke that I was going to watch over Strider, but I also going to watch over you!" He paused and approached her, grabbing her hands and kissing them. "That is my promise, to you... to our love. Ok?"

She smiled. "You don't have to promise anything to me, Raydan. It is I who promise that if anything happens to me I will come back to look for you."

Raydan smiled and kissed her hands. "I didn't want it any other way."

---

"Internal Discussion"
Garnet Seifer
Ammut - NPC

Location: Garnet's Mansion, New Plouton
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

Garnet's mansion was calm like nobody lived inside the mansion, only Garnet. The room and the halls were empty, only a few servants wandering inside, cleaning one of the many rooms of the mansion.

Garnet was seated, somewhat desperate looking into the far of her bedroom. She didn't remember much about what she had done lately and she wanted to remember, but nothing - it was like there was a piece of her memory was blank, erased, but the computer behaved like it was nothing of their business. What made Garnet so desperate was that she couldn't behave like it was nothing, if it was true she had a double personality and the other person was too dangerous, like a dark part of her that she used to know in that part when she was leader of the Liberation Army. Also she was able to find some separate memories, flashes of somebody else not her. Garnet thought it was probably of Ammut's.

"You look so pathetic," a voice said that appeared coming from the entire room.

Garnet looked everywhere, but she couldn't see no one inside her room. She glanced all over, but nothing, she was alone in her big bedroom.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed the voice in a very cold and amusing way. "You are so pathetic, Garnet, and an idiot, looking everywhere to find someone..."

"Who are you!" Garnet demanded, looking every centimeter of the room.

"Who am I? HAHAHAHA. Besides being an idiot your dumb," the voice said.

Garnet got up from her bed and looked everywhere. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!" Garnet screamed.

"I am you! You are me..." the voice said in a very slow way.

Garnet realized that nobody was in her room and she knew who she was talking. "Ammut?"

"Finally she uses her brain, before it started to malfunction," the voice said. "Don't destroy that brain of yours, because I'm using it..." She paused. "Look at you, you know who you're talking with, but still searching a face. Look to the mirror on your left," the voice said.

Garnet glanced to the nearby mirror and she saw her, but she was not dressing with the same clothes. On the mirror she had a black tunic on her and her face was somewhat different. Especially her way to look, it was like a look of very cold and assassin of a person. "Ammut..."

"Yes, it's me, Garnet. In some way like a person," the image spoke as Garnet approached her.

"Finally I meet you. I was starting to be sick and tired with all the notes. I want my body back! I want you disappear forever!" Garnet demanded, pointing to the window.

"How dramatic! Garnet. HAHAHAHA! You still think we are two completely different people?" Ammut spoke as she took the hood that was over her head.

"OF COURSE WE ARE..."

"BE SILENT, YOU INSOLENT BRAT..." Ammut shouted in a way that Garnet stepped back and tripped on a nearby chair. Since the window was large that went all the way down to the floor, Garnet still could see Ammut on the mirror. "You think that you can destroy me to give a tip to my adversaries about me, or to ruin my plans. Don't you forget, Garnet, that I can lock you up inside this little brain of yours for years to come and in a matter of seconds. You are my puppet. You will do as I command like I used to when I controlled the Liberation Army. You're weak, you are pathetic, you are nothing without me..."

"SHUT UP... SHUT UP... Shut Up!" Garnet said, putting her hands over her ears.

"Hum, hum, hum, hum..." Ammut shocked her head in a negative way. "So helpless, so naive. I'm the base of you, Garnet, you created me with your hate and suffering and now I'm a different personality since the Ursurr'ai."

"If I'm correct, I beat you in Ursurr'ai, I won fair and square, so leave my body NOW!" Garnet said like she was ordering Ammut.

"Be careful. You do not want to taste my wrath..."

"Your wrath...." Garnet started to laughed. "May I remind you that you're Ammut and I'm Garnet; you are just a character, nothing more, you are a piece of paper and I only have to find the paper shredder to erase you."

"Oooooooh, I'm so afraid. Look, everyone, Garnet has balls and I thought she was a woman." She paused then looked in a very serious way. "You don't have the guts."

"Oh, I don't have the guts, do I? I can't remind much, but you don't even have control over yourself. I can easily push your memories and see what you've done, and guess what? I found a way to see what you see and I can easily destroy you, even if that means I sacrifice myself. I don't have family, so if I died the Galaxy will be a better place without me or you, because we are not so different. You are just an obstacle that I have to eliminate," Garnet spoke, smiling.

"Eliminate... I highly doubt about that and also I think you're bluffing," Ammut said with smile.

"Bluffing is it? Or may I enlighten you about something called Tarkin's Legacy?" Garnet said.

"What do you know about Tarkin's Legacy?" Ammut demanded.

"What I know is the same as you, Ammut, absolutely nothing." Garnet was amused by the face that was forming in Ammut. "I only know by name because I saw one of your memories."

Ammut had a face that was momentarily of panic, but then acted that it didn't bother her. "I see... If you continue reading or seeing or whatever you do of my memories, other people close to you will suffer consequence and I will destroy every deal you make. Do I make myself clear?"

Garnet laughed, showing that she was not affected by her threats. "It is I who is going to destroy you. I know you, Ammut. You are me, your character was me. I know how you work, Ammut. I will win this and you cannot bet me in no other way."

"I laugh at your pathetic threats, Garnet," Ammut spoke.

"The last one to laugh, laughs better," Garnet said, saying goodbye to Ammut and walking away from the mirror and out of the room. The war to control Garnet's body had just began.

---

"One Small Step for a Padawan, Part 1"
By: Nyah Darasar
Alisson Blair

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

Nyah had taken a moment away from everyone else to meditate. For some reason, a rather unsettling dream had been getting through her defenses. It started several days ago at least, she didn't really know for sure. Her concentration shifted to another presence in the room. A smile appeared when she recognized that presence as her Master.

"Hello, Nyah," Alisson bowed. "Meditating, I see... It is the best way I know to surpass problems and achieve the most righteous answers. Ready for your training?"

Gracefully Nyah rose from where she was seated. "Yes, I'm ready." She was interested to find out what she would be learning today.

"Well then, let us start with some joint meditation then..." Alisson smiled. "Sit down with me and hold my hands. Together we will be more in touch with life and with the Force than alone. It is a very powerful technique, and it is said that a Jedi can transfer at least part of his skills to another Jedi even if there is no physical contact between them," she explained as she sat down on the floor.

With a smile, Nyah seated herself, facing Alisson. This would be a very interesting training session indeed. She did as her Master instructed. "I'm ready to begin when you are."

"Good," Alisson nodded. "I want you to close your eyes and concentrate. Focus..." she said, as she watched Nyah close her eyes and then she did the same. It was not very hard to joint meditate, and it would make it easier for Nyah to do it with someone more experienced than her. "Now, without opening your eyes, tell me what you see, what you feel."

Nyah took a moment to mentally focus on her surroundings. She could see herself standing before Alisson on some moon. It appeared to be rather tropical in climate, yet not too uncomfortably hot. A light breeze rustled through the trees. "You and I are alone on some moon, though I couldn't begin to say where exactly. I feel calm, at ease. As if there's no reason for fear."

"It is the future you see..." Alisson said as she too could see the same image, which was now fading. "But the future is always in motion. Hard to predict. Now, focus on your surroundings. Feel the Force as it is in all things. You, me, the trees outside. Even within the rocks on these walls."

She did as requested, really trying to feel the Force in everything both living and non-living around them. The comment about seeing the future was intriguing but Nyah would ask more about that later.

Alisson felt Nyah as she deepened her concentration. Alisson smiled briefly. "Good. You are doing well... Now, let go of your conscious self," she said as to have Nyah come more in touch with the Force stream that was abundant in the Jedi Temple.

Nyah had tried this a few times before each time it got easier. Proceeding to let go of her conscious self as Alisson had instructed her. As she did so her awareness of the Force became more distinct. It was a powerful feeling, yet comforting at the same time.

"Good..." Alisson whispered. "Now, relax yourself and come back, slowly," she instructed, as she felt Nyah do exactly as she had said. Alisson then opened her eyes and saw Nyah as she opened hers. Alisson smiled at her Padawan. "You did well! How do you feel?"

Once Nyah had fully awakened from the meditation session she nodded to Alisson. "Thank you. I feel far more at ease and focused than I did earlier today."

"That is good. Focus is important in a Jedi's life!" Alisson nodded. She then got up and offered to help Nyah stand. "Now, I would like to practice some more with the lightsaber and then discuss some precepts. Is that ok, or would you prefer to do it the other way around?"

Nyah smiled. "Lightsaber training first sounds like a good idea. I'm ready for something a bit more physical this morning."

"That is good..." Alisson smiled as she gave Nyah a cylindrical metal object. "Here, this is a training saber. It looks just like a regular lightsaber and the blade is about the same size. But the crystals that are in it are small and not fully developed so it won't cut as a lightsaber will. However, it will be able to deflect small weak blaster shots. Try it out."

For a moment Nyah tested the weight of the saber in her grip. Then she proceeded to full out training exercises with it activated. With each and every practice her skills continued to improve.

"Make your movements flow as a river... Constant and fluid, yet able to overcome an obstacle if necessary," Alisson said. "And feel the Force. Let it guide you. Trust your instincts..." she told Nyah, as she watched her in her practice.

Adjustments were made to her movements as necessary. Nyah focused on the Force with more clarity than she had when this practice session first started.

Alisson saw Nyah and for a brief second she closed her eyes and extended her feelings to feel Nyah in the Force. She was becoming more in touch, stronger in the ways of the Force. She then opened her eyes and gave Nyah a gentle smile and a nod, as she showed a small practice seeker droid in her hand. "I will set this drone and I want you to deflect its shots. Are you ready?"

Nyah's only answer was a simple nod. Already beginning to focus her attention on the seeker droid and her saber training.

Alisson set the seeker drone on and let it float into the air. It twisted and turned around Nyah, shooting an occasional bolt that the Padawan was well able to predict and deflect. Alisson watched and was content to see Nyah's obvious development with each training. She then motioned for Nyah to safeguard her training lightsaber, knowing that the seeker drone would stop until she ignited it back on. "I want you to put this blindfold on and try the same exercise..." she told Nyah.

With a nod Nyah shut down her saber blade, placed the blindfold on then reignited the weapon. Now that she didn't have her eyes to rely on all of her actions would have to be driven by the Force. This time it wasn't as daunting as the first time Alisson had given her an exercise like this one. In fact Nyah quite enjoyed testing herself in this manner.

"This is an important exercise for you to test your other senses. Your eyes can deceive you, so you shouldn't rely only on them. Trust your instincts and feel through the Force," Alisson told Nyah as she saw her move and use her training saber to deflect the shot that came towards her. Alisson waited for a few seconds and then set another seeker drone on without warning Nyah.

She didn't need her eyes to tell her something about the environment around her had changed. That her defenses needed to be sharper because there was now two targets to worry about. Nyah adapted easily and gracefully deflected a series of shots fired by the seeker drones.

Alisson watched for a while. Nyah was learning fast to focus correctly and her adaptation was fast. She waited for a while and then Force pulled the drones back into her hands and set them off. "You did very well, Nyah," she said as she saw her apprentice take off her blindfold. "You're becoming better by the day!" she smiled as she took another training saber and ignited it. "Let's see how you fend off against myself. Don't worry too much because the training sabers won't cut through me or you, although they'll give a slight shock, so avoid it if you can..."

Nyah was already on her guard prepared to do exactly as Alisson had suggested. Whether it was just a training exercise or for real she always approached the situation in a controlled manner. There would be no getting past her defenses easily.

Alisson nodded with a small smile on her lips and ignited her lightsaber. She had her blade touch Nyah's and then took one step to the side, walking in a circle. As Nyah did the same, she watched the girl and then smashed her blade in a small movement to get Nyah's saber out of the way and then took yet another step left and attacked with a frontal attack.

The frontal attack didn't really surprise Nyah. She managed to evade and defend against Alisson's tactics, initiating an attack of her own to keep her opponent off guard. Deep concentration showed in her features as she continued to see where this bout would lead them.

Alisson fended off Nyah's attack and took one step back, holding her lightsaber high. "Good!" she nodded towards the other woman. She then moved again, now using a different approach. This time she used her footwork in a faster manner, with her lightsaber in shorter, yet faster, movements. She wasn't pushing Nyah with her best, of course, but she was adding up the difficulty each time.

She could easily tell things were getting more difficult, Alisson's attack's more complicated. Nyah compensated then raised the stakes yet again. Their pace increased and without really having Nyah compensate with moves that were far more complex than she had been training so far.

Alisson couldn't help but smile as she was somewhat surprised with Nyah's skill. She decided then to see just how much Nyah could take and increased her speed in attacking as well as using more complex attack patterns. Moving forwards and forcing Nyah back, she didn't think the girl could handle it for long but she wanted to see exactly what she would do.

Once again Nyah managed to surprise her Jedi Master with her skills. While there was still lots to learn she was improving by leaps and bounds. Some of her innate natural abilities worked in conjunction with those of the Force.

Alisson smiled for a brief moment and moved faster and harder. She managed to parry Nyah's lightsaber to the side and moved to her open side for a blow, even though she stopped her lightsaber before touching her Padawan. Alisson was gladly surprised to see Nyah get out of the way just in time by leaping back. "Very good! Resourceful and simple, yet intelligent," she nodded. "But how long can you keep it up?" she asked as she moved once more to face Nyah. Nyah managed to block her first two attacks, but Alisson twisted her lightsaber and had Nyah's entangled in hers. With a smooth turn, she got Nyah's lightsaber out of her own hands and into hers. "You did very well! Better than I expected!" Alisson smiled as she safeguarded both lightsabers.

"Thank you," Nyah nodded then continued, "I should be able to retain my own saber even if I'm eventually defeated."

"Of course you should!" Alisson nodded with a smile as she handed Nyah her lightsaber. "It is the only true possession a Jedi should have! And that is one of the many aspects of the Jedi Code... One should conquer materialism, meaning that a Jedi should not have any possessions that are unnecessary," she told Nyah as she began to walk into the nearby woods. "But I would like to hear what you think of this."

Nyah looked at Alisson curiously. "Think of what. That I allowed you to disarm me? Or what do I think of the Jedi Code?"

---

"Secrets and Dreams"
By Cole Slaton

Location: Jedi Temple
Date Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

It was one of those times. It didn't happen often, the phrase "Once in a blue moon" came to mind, but this was one of those times. He looked up at the brightening sky, a light smile on his face as if expecting to see a blue moon staring back at him. This wasn't the case. The sun of Tea'Karada was not in full view but it was casting a brilliant ray of light out across the sky.

Clouds were hit by an incredible red, pink merging with a deep purple only intensified the sight. He could now see why the Jedi chose this place, this temple, to train their apprentices and to live. It was a beautiful place, with the forest. He just wished he could reach out and touch them, like those around him through the Force, but his control was haphazard at best, only coming through when angered or provoked.

He still had nightmares - it was one of the reasons he was up so early, only getting a few hours' sleep. It had been the same since arriving at the temple. He had yet to meet the person who would instruct him. It still didn't sit well with the young man that he would have to call him 'master', there was only one master in his life and it was him.

Cole looked away from the view towards his bedroom, the lamp at the side of his bed was smashed with pieces of glass on the carpet. Second time this week alone, thankfully nothing else had been broken or damaged; his room didn't look like a bomb had hit. But his eyes were looking at the secret compartment he'd found while cleaning up after his first night at the temple; he still had shivers thinking about that man in black.

He knew what he kept within that small compartment, a small box containing two small pistols. While spending hours on end in the darkness of the night he'd searched the temple and gone out, without telling the Jedi Masters obviously. He'd 'procured' them, which in other words meant he stolen them.

They were both part of a set, but Cole had no idea where the rifle that went with them was housed, he was content with the two pistols and though they needed a lot of work before they could fire, it gave him something to keep his mind off of what waited for him in his dreams. He had made the decision that once becoming a Jedi, a notion which was beginning to grow on the young man, he would keep the pistols and use them. Pistols, especially projectile pistols, could come in handy when the elegance of a lightsaber was inefficient. Cole wasn't a total fool in thinking a lightsaber could handle every situation, and he also knew the Jedi wouldn't take it kindly if they found this fact out, which was why they were kept in the secret compartment and he only worked on them during the night.

He looked out into the jungle. The sun was just past half way, bringing more light to the surroundings. Time to go out into the world. It was during this time he could be alone, before all the other padawans were up and about. Dropping from the windowsill he made his way outside, walking along the stone corridors, down flights of stairs until finally reaching the outdoors.

There was a nice cooling breeze coming through the forest from the North. Cole carried the brown robe, still not caring for it, but knowing how those around him reacted he carried it instead of wearing it. The young Jedi-to-be threw the robe onto a small wall as he stepped up to a training pole. It wasn't much but then it didn't need to be much, a simple wooden pole roughly two and a half metres in height and a half metre in diameter. The wood was strengthened both by the way it was treated during construction but also by metal rods that ran through its core. Smaller wooden poles stuck out from it at various heights; it was used for mental discipline, strength and speed. Cole just used it to hit something.

Stepped up to the wooden pole he launched his right fist smashing into the top of the pole. Cole moved around the pole, ducking and weaving, hitting both the main body and the small poles as if they were punches and kicks coming towards him. He would also attack, never letting up. Sweat quickly started to form on his face and body; he could feel it running down the side of his face, but still he continued.

He knew he should say something about his past, what he had done, the people he'd killed, the pain he'd caused, but whenever he thought he'd tell someone, anyone, he faltered. He would come up with some excuse not to tell them so he'd change the subject and talk about something else. He knew he should tell them about the man in his dreams, the man in black who tormented him. But what could they do? They were just dreams.

His fist slammed into the wood as if believing it was the black-hooded man in his dreams, but no matter how much he wanted it to be he knew it was a wasted effort. He knew he could still be waiting for him. Always waiting for him.

---

"Following Shadows, Part 2"
by Daemor'rah
and Quinlan Vos

Location: Nar Shaddaa
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

She was now before one of the Hutt Palaces in Nar Shaddaa. By her side was a man, his hands tied at his back and his feet chained together so he couldn't run away.

"I'll pay you as much as they're offering!" the man cried out. "Just let me go!"

She looked at him and hit the back of his head to make him shut up. "Shut up!" she rasped. "I never fail a job."

"So what's that supposed to mean? If you make as much money it shouldn't matter, should it?" he argued.

She hit him again, this time in the stomach. "One more word from you and I'll rip your tongue out. I doubt that you'll be needing it and that they won't pay me as much for doing it. In fact, they might give me a bonus for it!" she grinned.

The man was about to say something else, but he shut up before saying it. At that point, the large blast doors that gave entrance to the palace opened, and Daemor'rah pushed the man inside. There were large gamorreans with armour and spears standing guard to the entrance, but they said nothing, merely looking at them both.

A Rodian made his way over to them. "Ahh... I see you have captured him. That is good. Hand him over!" he ordered. He was Majordomo for the Hutt who ran the palace.

"Not so fast..." she shook her head. "Where's my pay? I'll hand him over when you pay up," she said since she knew only too well how Hutts were.

"You don't trust me? You get your money afterwards!" the Majordomo said fiercely.

"Wrong! I will get my money now!" she answered.

The gamorreans moved about to be closer, but the Rodian merely grinned and held his hand high as to tell the guards it was ok. "You will hand him over or you will die! No one tells me what to do!"

"Not even your boss?" she asked, sarcastically.

"You just made a big mistake..." he told her as he withdrew a blaster from his vests. "Now, hand him over and I might let you leave alive."

She looked at his blaster and sighed. "The mistake was yours, I'm afraid..." she said. And with that said she Force pulled her lightsaber into her hand and ignited it in less than half a second. With a short move she cut the Rodian's arm out.

He yelled in pain and fell to the floor. There was no need to tell the guards to attack, but two gamorreans weren't much of a threat to her. She leaped over one of them and cut his head before he could turn. The other one was scared to attack at first, so he was clumsy when he moved at her. She cut through his spear and with a second movement she cut through his chest, killing him also.

Daemor'rah knew that she had only a few seconds until true forces came through, and the Rodian was yelling for help, so she kicked his head, knocking him out cold, and then cut through the chains that bound the legs of the man she was initially bringing in.

"I guess I'll take on that offer, after all..." she said as they got out of the Hutt's palace.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Too bad that we're both with prices on our heads now, though. I'd say that we'll have every scumbag after us!"

"Shut up!" she rasped at him again. "I might still cut your tongue, you fat fuck! Now move!" She pushed him. She had her swoop nearby, and already there were guards coming out after them and shooting. She used her lightsaber to parry the shots and told the man to get on the swoop. He got on the pilot seat and she moved back and got behind him, back to back.

"Go!" Daemor'rah shouted. She didn't need to say it again. The man accelerated and they were gone. But, of course, there came other swoop bikes after them. They were shooting, so Daemor'rah took one of her blasters out while fending off the shots with her lightsaber with the other.

In her head, the shot was given before she actually pressed the trigger. She already knew the outcome of it before it happened. One of the swoops that was following them was hit and it moved to the side, making the other one crash into it. They were safe, at least for now...

"Good shot!" the man told Daemor'rah. "I have a place where we can hide. It's a safe spot, don't worry!"

"A safe spot in Nar Shaddaa?" she asked sarcastically with a raised eyebrow. "There's no such thing!"

"Well..." The man thought about it. "A safer one..." he said as they turned and went into a small alley. Soon they were near a small door on the side of a building. The man inputted a code and they entered. The room was small and simple. Definitely a hideout spot of some sort.

The man opened a small safe and took some credits out of it, and then tossed them at Daemor'rah. "Here... I guess I should thank you for not taking my life. Not that you had much of a choice, of course!"

They took the credit chip and confirmed its value. She then placed it in a pocket and looked at the door. The man looked about and sighed. "You know... Everyone is probably looking for you. Me, they'll forget, but you killed a Hutt Majordomo. Big mistake!" he told her.

"I can still make it out..." she said angrily.

"Sure, but everyone will be looking for you anyway. And everyone will want to collect whichever price is on your head..." he warned her. "But I do know a way you might make it."

"Let's hear it! This ought to be good!" she grinned.

"Well, you know how Hutts love to gamble. Everything that proposes entertainment is great for them! So, I was thinking that maybe I could set up a game on you, to see who got to you before you leave the planet. If you make it out alive, you're the winner and the price on your head will be forgotten!" he told her.

"And let me guess... You make money in the process, right?" she asked him, with her arms crossed.

"Well, at least I'll be betting on you!" He smirked at her. "It's your best chance! And maybe the best way to insure that your ship is waiting for you when you get to the Spaceport."

"With a bunch of thugs waiting for me!" she argued.

"You kidding?! After what you did back there?"

"Set it up!" she told him, only to see him nod with a smile on his lips. Gambling men were always the same, no matter where they came from. It took him but a few minutes to set it up, since it was needless to say that the Hutt was all content to have this so-called game underway.

Daemor'rah left the small hideout and took the swoop. She knew Nar Shaddaa well enough to escape the normal routes. Plus, she had the advantage of knowing the trade of bounty hunting only too well, so it was easy to avoid the idiot thugs and low-lives that were after the prize until she got to the Spaceport.

Getting into the spaceport shouldn't be too hard. As it seemed there were two thugs looking for her to show up on the eastern entrance, and another lurking in a corner nearby, plus a speeder with three more. She could see them well from beneath a balcony, hidden under a cloak.

She slowly backed up and looked at the top of the building she stood in. If she could make it across the walls, she could easily avoid those waiting for her. The only tricky part was to do it unseen and unnoticed by them. She set up her swoop so it would run directly through the gates and stop abruptly ten meters after them. She then moved towards the top of the building and prepared herself.

When she hit the button in her remote command, her swoop made the run it was programmed to do. It served as the perfect distraction, as all those waiting for her were now looking at the empty swoop. This being done, she managed to leap over the chasm that was the vertical streets of Nar Shaddaa and into the Spaceport without much trouble. Of course all of them followed the swoop, and she had to retrieve it, but at least they had missed her position.

She jumped down, and while still in the air, she hit two of them, leaving the other four to be dealt with. Of course this would not be an easy task had she not her lightsaber with her to deflect the shots. But this was not the case, so Daemor'rah had them Force pushed into the walls, knocking them out cold, while sending their own blaster shots back at them with her weapon.

She then thrust her swoop into her ship, which had its ramp already set down. She boarded it and walked to the cockpit. The ramp closed itself automatically and she sat down at the commands. The NT900 droid for overall assistance and navigation was up and running, so to relieve her from having to have a co-pilot. It seemed it was ready to go, which was good since there were many humanoids who were now outside and getting ready to destroy the ship with her in it.

"NT, start the engines!" Daemor'rah said as she got herself ready.

"Affirmative," the NT900 droid replied as the vessel was starting its engines and readying itself for liftoff. It then beeped. "Ion cannons reducing shields... Now at 70 percent."

Daemor'rah took hold of the controls and took off from the bay, leaving those who stood there looking at it while it got smaller and smaller with the distance. However, it was not all done. Daemor'rah now had five ships that were coming in after her, and shooting. It seemed any rule was ok in this particular game, and she was now feeling what it was like to be hunted.

"NT, concentrate all shields in the rear! We're in for a bumpy ride!" Daemor'rah ordered.

"Affirmative. Shields in rear."

It took a few seconds and the shields were dropping fast, but Daemor'rah got to the limit point and the fighters that were coming after her returned back. She had won the game, and was thus free to go. Her comm beeped. It was the same man she was originally going to deliver to the Hutts.

"I see you made it!" he told her through the holocomm with a sly smile. "And you made me a richer man! I knew I had the right bet!"

"Yeah? Well, I ought to consider going back for it, since I did all the work!" she told him. "And I might still get something for your head with the Hutts!"

"Oh, come on! I paid you! Have you no honor?!"

"Ha! That coming from someone who lives in Nar Shaddaa must be a first!" she laughed. "You're lucky I'm sick of Hutts... Out!" she said as she turned off. She was not sure where she was going after. Maybe the guild had interesting propositions...

***

Date: Lythe 23, 4 ABY
Location: Nar Shaddaa

He walked towards the entrance of the Hutt palace, and was let inside. He waited for a few minutes and was then escorted into the main room, where two large Hutts sat. There was a mob of people nearby. Surely they were the regulars at the Hutts' palace. Mostly scoundrels and low-lives from what he could tell. And then there were the guards, of course.

"Haku doo chuba jochee?" one of the Hutts asked. There was a droid who was going to translate but Quinlan Vos raised his hand.

"I'm seeking someone. I believe she may have come to see you..." he told the Hutts. "One who goes by the name of Daemor'rah."

The Hutts and the mob of people grew restless. "Cha killee ma majordomo!"

"I'm sorry to hear that she killed him," Quinlan said with a respectful bow. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Nobata!" the other Hutt replied. "Boska junkie granee man!"

"The junkyard owner?" Quinlan confirmed. "Thank you."

"Killee che!" the other Hutt demanded.

Quinlan had already turned to leave, and turned back to face the Hutts. "That much I cannot promise. It is not why I seek her."

"Slimo Murishani! Killee che!" the Hutt said.

"Yes, I agree she is a bounty hunter who has to be stopped. But I am a Jedi Knight, and we do not take lives unless it is completely and utterly necessary," Vos explained, then bowing again. The Hutts were most obviously nervous after he told them he was Jedi for they remembered well the Old Republic days, having lived through them, like most Hutts, since they lived for such long periods.

Quinlan left the Hutt palace and found the man who ran the junkyard. He learned that she had captured him to deliver him to the Hutts, but due to a complication she had killed their majordomo, and fled afterwards. He also told Quinlan Vos of how she had played this game and had gotten away with it. Alas, he could not tell him where she had gone because he too did not know...

Quinlan Vos spent some time in the small hideout and got some impressions and images out of the place with his psychometric talents. With those impressions and the ones he got out of the spaceport he was able to determine more or less where Daemor'rah was going. But he was still one step behind her and following shadows.

---

"Lucrative Offers"
By: Korva Valkier
Chowe [NPC+]
Laedra Vorrel

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

He must have seen it a hundred times, perhaps a thousand, but the sight still took his breath away. Sitting back on the captain's chair he looked out of the cockpit window at the blue light of hyperspace. It looked like liquid rippling in a pond, the stars flashed past his ship as they headed towards their impending destination.

"Man this sucks..." Korva sighed, leaning back on the chair. He had it tailor-made to fit him perfectly, but it was nothing to what his partner sat on. The wookiee towered over him, even while sitting, in the largest chair he'd seen to date. He'd often imagine how big Jadda's hover platform was - all Hutts had them and Korva imagined Jadda was no different.

Thinking about that overgrown slug brought Korva back to his present situation, running the back lanes for means of making a living. This was not the way to live a life, especially him. He dimly heard Chowe's response to his statement, echoing it in his own choice phrases. Most of which could not be translated in public.

"One of these days I'll have to see that slug of a Hutt..." Korva said, looking down at the sensor display showing how long they had before coming out into normal space. They had run into two more bounty hunters after the price on his head; luckily it was an 'alive' warrant, but that wouldn't last. Not a chance in hell.

At the mention of the Hutt Chowe instantly growled, in that strange way wookiees did when they seriously hated someone, or something. Chowe did the same every time the Empire was mentioned. Korva couldn't believe they were still out there, remnants of the old regime still trying to finish what the Emperor started.

He heard the warning alarm two seconds before the tunnel of hyperspace was replaced with the planets of the system. Korva instantly took the controls and flew his ship towards Tae'Karada, their destination. Their flight data registered them as a transport of supplies heading to New Plouton, of course none of that was true.

He turned to Chowe beside him. "Send the signal, tell them we're on our way..." Chowe nodded, making a strange half-growl half-moan before he went to work sending the signal to their employers. Boy are they in for a surprise... Korva thought as he brought the ship down into the atmosphere.

***

Laedra Vorrel greeted the Temple's latest guests at its entrance, offering a bow and an amiable smile. "Welcome, Mr. Korva."

Korva looked at Chowe with a raised eyebrow, the wookiee in all his wisdom just stood there and shrugged. "You're a lot of help..." he whispered looking back at the Jedi. "Hi," he began, half waving at her as he stepped up to her. "This is my partner Chowe, we'll be able to unload your supplies whenever you're ready for them."

He turned, hearing a soft noise behind him. He saw Isia walking up to him, stopping just beside him. "Ok..." he whispered, stroking her. "Go run around, but don't eat anyone..." He watched her vanish into the forest. Korva slowly shook his head, smiling as he returned his attention to the Jedi. The smile vanished in an instant as he become more serious. "But I have some information that you may wish to know, all of you."

Laedra stepped aside and extended an arm towards the doorway. "We can speak in the council chambers." She eyed the wookiee skeptically. "He will be alright on his own, won't he?"

"Him?" he asked, looking up at the wookiee. "He wouldn't hurt a fly, he's a kitten..." Chowe growled as if to say Who me? which brought a smile to Korva's face. "Unload the supplies and I'll help when I'm done with these...people... Don't worry it won't take long."

Chowe nodded and walked off, growling to himself. "What--?" Korva called to him. "What did--? We'll settle this when I get back!" he called after his friend, shaking his head as he turned back to the Jedi. He stepped up through into the temple and followed Laedra along the corridors towards the Council Chambers.

"Is this your first time here?" Laedra asked, her gentle voice still echoing off the walls.

"It is..." Korva replied. "Though I've met you...Jedi...before, here and there. You get around like an 'octarian flu bug'. Nice place, like what you've done with it. I see you've gone for that old stone look," he said, running his hand over one of the stones making up the wall. He saw a large statue and stepped up to it. The statue was of a warrior holding a large spear. As he touched the spear it suddenly snapped off. "Oh...shit..." He tried catching the spearhead but missed;, he could only watch as it smashed on the floor.

Laedra Vorrel smiled tightly and gestured Korva into the nearest room before he could do further damage. It wasn't the council chambers, rather a smaller room with a sturdy enough table and chairs - nothing even a careless man like Korva could destroy unless he tried. "So, what is it you wished to speak with us about?" Laedra took a seat and encouraged Korva to do the same.

He nodded briefly before taking the offered seat. "Do you know of a system not far from here... Netrilva System?" He didn't wait for a response. "Two weeks ago a friend of mine, a smuggler, was making a run through that system. Just as his ship was making the jump to hyperspace he caught an 'echo' on his sensors. A ship. I thought nothing of it at the time when he told me - his reputation for making things up is well known."

Korva leaned back on the seat, running his fingers over the arm rest while he took out a small communications node from his inside jacket pocket. "This was recorded from that system." He activated the node. There was a high pitched shriek, screams, and noises in the background which were suddenly followed by silence. "That was the last communications with the system. That was four days ago."

"Did this friend of yours perhaps witness anything substantial?" Laedra asked. "As you say, his reputation leaves something to be desired."

Korva shook his head as he leaned forward, looking Laedra in the eyes. "No..." He paused for a moment before continuing. "But two ships were dispatched when they discovered the communications blackout. They never returned. To say people are getting unsettled would be an understatement. I just thought you should know what was happening..."

Laedra sat in pensive silence, considering the communication device resting atop the table. "You believe people are flying to their deaths in this system...by some unknown means?" She glanced up at Korva, masking her suspicions with a placid cast to her features. "What purpose have you for bringing this to the attention of the Jedi, Mr. Korva? Do you mean to recruit us for aid?"

"I've had dealings with Jedi before. It seems the New Republic are aware of this fact, and the fact I was on my way here. They approached me with the information about the two ships they sent to investigate the matter. They believe it would be best to have Jedi investigate it further." He shrugged as he sat back. "I was just told to deliver the information, what you do with it is your business."

"I can bring it up with the rest of the council, Mr. Korva," Laedra said. "But we are not pilots. What makes you or the New Republic believe we would fare better than they have if we were to explore this mystery?"

Korva shrugged. "Honestly I don't know, but everyone's having kittens of this blackout. Having a Jedi, or two, at the scene would calm a lot of nerves. But if you're not interested I'll leave as soon as your supplies are unloaded."

"It is not a matter of interest, Mr. Korva, it is a matter of performing effectively. Which means" --she smiled-- "we will be needing an able pilot. Do you perhaps know where we can find one?"

"I know a few people who fit the bill, myself included. I'll contact some of my friends. I think a few of them are in the area and might be willing to help. For a fee of course."

"Perhaps, Mr. Korva," Laedra countered, folding her hands atop the table and leaning forward, "you can find someone who would volunteer to transport us." Her pointed gaze remained upon him. "Do you believe you know of anyone?"

"A few names come to mind..." he replied, leaning forward himself. Gently placing his elbows on the table, resting his head on his hands as he leaned forward. "The question of course...is fee."

"A fee the Jedi will likely be unable to pay," Laedra pointed out. "As you can see" --she gestured vaguely to the room around them-- "we are not wealthy, Mr. Korva. We are but defenders of peace, and that does not leave many opportunities for paid employment." Her long robes fell straight about her slender frame as she rose. "Thank you for this information, Mr. Korva." She inclined her head in gratitude. "I will bring this to the council, including the more problematic aspects of undertaking such an endeavour. May I keep the transmission to bring to their attention?"

Korva placed it on the table, sliding it across to her. "By all means... I'll return to help Chowe unload your supplies. Good day..." Korva bowed his head slightly before exiting the room. He always paid attention when someone was leading; he'd been in situations where meetings had turned bad and having an escape route was always a good idea.

As he walked the corridor of the temple, passing the statue with only half a spear, Korva couldn't help but smile. There wasn't a chance in hell the Jedi would find someone to work for free. The notion still sent shivers down the smuggler's spine. They'd have to come to him, the trip would give him the time to work out his little Hutt problem, and it also would put him in good with both the New Republic and Jedi if he took it. First he'd have to have a word with Chowe.

---

"Rude Awakenings"
By: Cirran Tyris

Location: Drogen Shipyards, Tae'Remok system, Outer Rim
Date: Lythe 22, 4ABY

***

The alarm went off, and Cirran groaned, and groggily rolled over. It was unfortunate for him that he committed this reflex action, because the width of the bed was such that the target landing area for this maneuver, a space where he should in theory be dropping comfortably back into a nice soft mattress, was in fact composed entirely of empty air. Cirran gave a brief yelp as he pitched over the edge of the bunk and crashed into the floor, landing on his wounded arm which sent pain shooting through his side. This second, physical alarm of the morning actually succeeded where the first did not - in initiating his higher brain functions, which responded accordingly to their rude awakening in the order they saw fit:

Owwww! What the hell...oh yes, that's right, I'm living in a closet because I'm broke, I've wrecked my ship and I'm stuck on a station full of people who should in theory be throwing me in jail. Son of a bitch.

Cirran struggled in the tangle of blankets which comprised the aftermath of his second crash landing in two days. He reached a sitting position from where he could hope to better assess this grim-sounding reality and discover it was all a horrible dream. But no, there was the unyielding dull off-white surface of the opposite wall, about half a metre from his face in the nearly dark room. He grunted as something occurred to him: Jawas. Designed by and for Jawas, he thought. He winced as he looked at his arm and saw the sight of fresh blood soaking into his temporary dressing. "Damn you, Durga, you malodorous Hutt bastard," he said to no-one in particular. He gingerly flexed his arm to the accompaniment of more pain - if we was going to make it through his first day of repair work on the delightful Miss Harough's precious docking bay, he would have to get this properly seen to, and medical treatment meant money, of which he was in short supply.

He sighed, and briefly considered the option of going back to sleep where he was lying on the floor. Hmmm, Harough might have Captain Kir throw me in the brig, which has probably a lot more spacious than this place...maybe it's worth it. Then, as often happened when Cirran was feeling particularly uninspired or hopeless, an image of his sister flashed into his mind. Jax is quite probably in-system somewhere right now, Cirran. IN-SYSTEM. Get your arse off this floor, he told himself.

"Lights," he said, and then wearily he dragged himself to his feet, splashed some water from the small sink in the room onto his face, got dressed, grabbed a few things and stepped out of his luxury accommodation into the concourse. Around him, a variety of humans and aliens, mostly ship crews, were emerging from other temporary accommodation rooms like his in preparation for their departure flights. Cirran observed an Ithorian making several attempts to try and turn in such a way that his huge, hammer-shaped head would fit through the small door to his (or her?) room, and reflected that things could be worse... Although he/she probably gets to leave today, if he/she ever manages to get out that door... his brain reminded him. He left the Ithorian to his or her frustrated rotations, and headed up the hallway to try and find a medical station.

He emerged from the sub-section that led to the temporary berths and stepped out into the busy main concourse, which was humming with the to-and-fro of the beginnings of the morning shift change. Cirran stifled a yawn. This won't do, he thought. He glanced over towards a few small shops he had noticed upon his arrival last night and located a stim bar he had noticed the night before, where a bustling throng of customers, both human and alien, were lining up for a morning fix.

He joined the queue behind a Trandoshan, and after a couple of minutes reached the wide counter with a number of other customers where a number of serving droids were busily operating under the general supervision of a fat bald man in his 50s. Cirran looked up over the counter at his droid server, which seemed to be twitching its head slightly every so often. "Can I help you, sir or madam?" it said.

Cirran looked slightly askance at the odd question, but nonetheless asked the hopeful question he always asked at stim bars. "Do you have authentic Liannan Jumpberry juice?"

The droid looked at him as if he had just asked for a cup of pureed Jedi. "It's awfully hard to come by, sir or madam," it said. "We have the synth version, of course."

Cirran sighed. "Gods no," he said. "Just give me a Coruscant Kicker." A cup of real Jumpberry juice would have probably cost him about half as much he had gotten the previous night from selling Rigg's blaster, anyway.

He leaned on the counter while the droid went about fixing his order, a popular combination of flavours that originated in Coruscant cafés, and was widely popular around the galaxy amongst humans as a morning pick-me-up. Eventually the droid came back with his order. Cirran flipped it a couple of credits and left with his drink, strolling back out into the concourse. As he raised it to his lips however, behind him he heard a commotion. He turned to see the Trandoshan he had been in the queue with angrily yelling - growling, really - at the stim bar owner and gesticulating towards his drink. The proprietor looked extremely apologetic.

Turning to the droid that had served Cirran, he began to give it a dressing down. Cirran turned to resume his search for a medical centre, raising his cup to his lips again. Hmmm, smells a bit weird, he thought. Suddenly a call came from behind him. "Sir! SIR! You, in the coveralls! Don't drink that!"

Cirran lowered the foam cup again, and spun to see the droid that had served him pointing at him, and the cafe owner waving frantically in his direction. He saw Cirran had noticed him, and broke into a relieved smile. "Yes, you, sir!" he said. "We have had a bit of a mix up here. I'm afraid you have this gentleman's order." He indicated the Trandoshan, who still looked far from happy. Mind you, thought Cirran, Trandoshans never look very happy. He reapproached the counter.

"No problem," he said to the proprietor. "It was an honest mistake. Problem with your droids?" Only then did he notice the fat man was sweating rather profusely.

"Yes, time for a complete overhaul for this one..." started the man, "...but, sir, tell me please, did you drink any of that?"

"No," said Cirran, "I haven't touched it, I promise, we can just give it to this guy if you like." He smiled and held out the drink for the Trandoshan to take. The Trandoshan looked at him quizzically, almost as if waiting for something, took the drink from him, and then began the Trandoshan equivalent of a raucous laugh. To Cirran's left above the counter, the proprietor heaved a sigh of relief. Cirran gave a perplexed smile. "Something funny?" he asked.

The proprietor returned his smile nervously. "Let's just say, sir, that if you, as a human, had started quaffing unfiltered Trandoshan Spinebeast extract, the results would have been...well, unpleasant."

Cirran frowned. "How unpleasant?"

The Trandoshan, who seemed to have a pretty good understanding at least of Basic, laughed harder. Another Trandoshan further back in the lengthening queue for service, annoyed at the delay, queried the fellow who found Cirran so amusing, which produced some kind of explanation from the laughing alien. This provoked the second Trandoshan into also bursting into laughter. Cirran took this in and glared at the rotund cafe proprietor.

The owner of the stim bar hurriedly broke in on the Trandoshan's amusement. "Let me make it up to you, sir," he offered Cirran, clearly keen to clear things up before Cirran found out just how 'unpleasant' things might have indeed become. "Free drinks for a week." Cirran continued to glare. "Er, and food, too? We do a fine range of snacks and light meals."

Cirran looked at the proprietor, and then the Trandoshan with his drink, who doubled over laughing again. He looked up at the man behind the counter once more, without saying anything.

"All right, then, we'll make it two weeks!" stammered the fat man. "And the station authorities need never hear about this, er, honest mistake as you called it?" He waited anxiously for Cirran's response.

Ha, like I'll be going to station authorities...food probably more of a poison risk than the beverages in this dive...but you're broke, Cirran, remember? Free food and drink falls into the 'all good' category... Cirran thought to himself. He smiled again. "An honest mistake!" he said, smiling to the clearly relieved manager. "No need for a fuss. I'll take that Coruscant Kicker to start with, thanks."

The manager smiled and nodded and turned to bawl out his droids. "Get the man a Coruscant Kicker, and make it damned snappy!" he bellowed. The droids scurried to obey his orders. A couple of minutes later a still smiling manager personally handed him a large cup. "Enjoy it, sir," he said. "We'll see you again soon."

"Bet on it," said Cirran. "Tell me, could you direct me to a med centre on this level?"

The proprietor looked extremely taken aback, and Cirran realised that the fat man was afraid that he was going to go and get a medical definition of 'unpleasant'. He smiled and held up his bandaged arm. "Relax, it's for this," he said.

Relief once again washed over the proprietor's face. "Follow the concourse and head up to the mezzanine about 2 sections on from here," he said.

"Thanks," said Cirran. "See you tomorrow." He took his drink and set out for the centre, following the cafe owner's directions.

He soon located the medical centre in a separate administration and services area on a mezzanine floor overlooking the main concourse. He finished his drink and headed into the brightly lit and clean centre to be greeted by a standard model medical droid. The droid looked up as he entered, and obviously picked him as a spacer, because it immediately asked: "Formelian Pox, sir? We can clear that right up."

Cirran might have been offended if this question wasn't so regular in medical centres around the Rim. "No chance of me catching the pox lately, I'm afraid. I was wondering if you could take a look at my arm, I think it still has fragments in it. I was welding and hit an air pocket, caught some splashback." Cirran knew that the droid would be programmed to report any suspicious injuries to a higher authority, which was the kind of attention he didn't need on the station, so he was not about to confess his arm was injured in a gun battle with a Hutt gangster's minions.

"No problem, sir. Just take a seat on the bed, there." The droid glided over to Cirran and adroitly removed his inadequate bandage, gently probing what Cirran could now see was a rather nasty looking wound. "Yes, there is a decent sized splinter and several smaller fragments in here still, sir. We'll have to remove them. Bacta use would be desirable, too."

"How much?" asked Cirran, dreading the answer.

"85 all up, sir. The procedure shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

Cirran sighed and nodded his confirmation. He couldn't do much about the cost, and his arm had to be healed properly if he was going to work - and later fly. He sat back slightly as the droid applied local painkillers and went about its work.

As Cirran waited, two officers wearing New Republic Flight suits entered the centre. Son of a bitch, thought Cirran, realising that he was going to be stuck in the room with the two men for the next few minutes at least.

The medical droid turned its attention from Cirran's arm to the two new patients. "Is this an urgent matter, sirs?" it asked.

One of the two officers shook his head.

"Then if you would like to take a seat, I will be with you shortly." The men did so and the droid returned to easing small fragments from Cirran's wound. Cirran tried to avoid eye contact with the uncomfortable looking officers, without looking like he was deliberately doing so. Every so often he noticed that one of the officers was looking at him quite closely. I might be in trouble here, he thought. After a few minutes, the question he had been dreading was asked.

"Excuse me, have we met before?" asked one of the officers.

Cirran smiled. "I don't think so," he said. Got to shake this guy's attention, somehow, he thought desperately. Suddenly, the droid's initial question to him, the level of the station they were on, and the uncomfortable look of the two pilots all added up in Cirran's head. He turned back to the black-haired pilot that had seemed to recognise him. "What are you guys doing down here? Doesn't the New Republic maintain its own independent medical facilities up higher?" The two men squirmed at this line of questioning and independently averted their eyes.

"Uh, yeah, but they're real busy right now. We've just got something, um, minor needs taking care of," the talkative one replied. Cirran smiled.

"OK," he said knowingly. "Yeah, nice and quiet down here. Quiet and discrete." He smiled again.

The two young pilots looked like they wanted their seats to swallow them. Cirran sat back again while the droid continued the procedure, safe in the knowledge there would be no more questions from the two embarrassed military men. He was still shaken however. Every minute I spend on this crate increases my chances of ending up in the brig, he thought. The droid finished removing the small fragments, and then was courteous enough to let Cirran know what was coming:

"This might hurt a little, sir," it said.

Cirran nodded and then grimaced as the droid swiftly extracted a jagged 10 centimetre sliver of Saluyan bar counter top from his arm. "Ow," he managed, and then the droid quickly applied coagulants and bacta-based salves. The cooling effect was immediate to Cirran who sighed in relief. The droid dressed his arm and perfunctorily examined the splinter. "This looks like carbon scoring," he remarked out loud, which caught the attention of the two ashamed pilots in the wafting area.

"Uh, yeah," said Cirran. "An ion-arc welder can produce that sort of effect." He jumped forward off the bed. "85, was it?" The droid confirmed this and Cirran flipped him the credits. Sithspit, I'm late, he realised.

He hurried out of the centre past the two young pilots, who were looking at him with renewed interest. "Don't worry, lads, it'll clear right up," he said to the pair, who dropped their gaze, and Cirran hurried out of the centre to head for his first shift.

***

Across the concourse, and largely hidden behind a pillar, a cloaked figure observed Cirran's exit. He flicked on a commlink as Cirran jogged off down the concourse.

"No doubt about it, it's Tyris," the cloaked figure hissed into the communications device.

"Are you sure? There can be no mistakes," came a crackly voice on the other end of the line.

"I'm sure. The genuine article, one Rebellion hero in the flesh. Shall I take him?"

"No, not yet. I have plans for Cirran Tyris," the voice sneered. "But keep me informed."

"As you wish," said the cloaked figure, and melted back into the shadows.

---

"Choices Made"
By: Korva Valkier
Nyah Darasar

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4ABY

***

Chowe grumbled as he picked up one of the crates. Why was he always stuck with doing the hard labour? Isia was out having fun eating the local wildlife, Korva was with the Jedi telling them what they'd found out, so he, as usual, was stuck picking up the supplies.

He stepped out of the Wraith, down the access ramp, to where he was piling the supplies. He placed the crate down when he caught a scent in the air. Roaring he spun around, pulling the rifle from his back in one fluid motion, aiming it at the woman he'd caught the smell of. She stood not five metres from him.

He slowly lowered the rifle, growling at her. Bloody Jedi, always sneaking up on people, giving poor wookiees heart attacks. He slung the rifle over his shoulder as he regarded the Jedi.

Nyah had instinctively reacted to the Wookiee's threatening posture and relaxed only when she deemed it safe to do so. "My apologies, it was not my intention to scare you."

He just shrugged, he wasn't about to tell her how close she came to him killing her. Never start a relationship with a fact like that - goes downhill from then on. Chowe looked up as a thought came to him. That was how he met his wife. Moaning outloud the large wookiee regarded the Jedi before stepping back up into the black ship. He quickly returned with yet another crate, though larger than the other, it weighed a lot more too. He turned to the Jedi, asking why she was not with the one that met him and Korva. Wasn't she a master?

The question intrigued Nyah. "I'm still a Padawan, student. Perhaps you are mistaking me for another Mirialan Jedi of the Darasar line. One of my parents maybe." She didn't know if he would recognize the name or not but she was not yet a Jedi Master.

He growled, knowing the name, though not as well as he'd like. There had been a Jedi of the Darasar line long past who'd saved a wookiee. His kin did not forget such acts. It was the familiarity with this ancestor that had saved Nyah. The cycle of debt and life continues. Chowe bowed his head at the young Padawan when he heard her name and explained that he knew it, he also told her what little he knew of her ancestors.

He looked over at the temple, wondering how his friend was. He didn't like leaving him in unfamiliar terrain, even though it was Jedi he still had a life debt to fulfill. Sighing, he looked back at the Padawan. He growled at her, asking how long she'd been at the temple, also how long she had as a Padawan before becoming a full Jedi.

Nyah answered his questions to the best of her knowledge. "I'd be willing to show you to where you companion may be speaking with one of the Jedi Masters." She could tell Chowe wasn't exactly comfortable being away from his charge.

Chowe shook his head. He knew Korva wouldn't like it, the idea of being 'baby-sat' still annoyed the human, though Chowe couldn't understand why. Korva has saved his life, he owed him a life debt and only the gods could change this.

She simply nodded in response, indicating she understood his reluctance to actually see if Korva was ok. "He's fine," Nyah answered as additional reassurance.

***

He came out through the entrance he'd used with the Jedi, his eyes squinted as the bright sun struck him. He instantly lifted his left hand to shield his eyes until they adjusted to the difference in light. As he approached his ship he found Chowe slacking off, as usual, but what surprised the human was the Jedi speaking with the wookiee. Not many would bother to learn the language of the wookiees; it was a welcomed surprise, one of which Korva was sure Chowe was enjoying.

"How's it coming?" Korva asked, his eyes glancing at the young Jedi for a brief moment before returning to his old friend. Korva nodded at Chowe's response. They were halfway through unloading the supplies. The wookiee growled as he regarded Korva, asking about the meeting.

Korva shrugged as he entered the ship with Chowe following behind. They both picked up a crate of supplies. Korva didn't reply until they were walking down the ramp. "It could have gone better I suppose..." Korva began stepping down the access ramp. "But then it could have gone worse. She believes me, or as far as I could tell she did, which is good. The situation is getting out of hand."

Chowe growled after dropping the crate to the ground. "What are you talking about? Why would I help them? And for free?" The master smuggler turned to his friend, leaning against one of the larger crates as Chowe growled and groaned in his usual way, trying to convince him of the right thing to do. "I know they need a pilot...yes I know they need a good pilot..." Korva shook his head. "I can see you're not going to give up...are you?" he asked, his eyes looking to his right side at the wookiee. The large furball just stood there, his black eyes staring at Korva.

Korva sighed heavily, stepping back up into his ship, leaving Chowe alone with the Jedi still standing to the side. Chowe turned, looking at Nyah, shrugging to himself. He knew Korva all too well, he wanted to help the Jedi, he just needed a push in the right direction. "And don't think you've not heard the last of this!" Korva called out from within the ship.

Nyah smiled at Chowe. She'd heard similar disagreements before. "I'll leave you to your duties. Have a safe journey."

Chowe growled, nodding his thanks and wishing her a safe journey, though knowing it was of a different kind. "Chowe get your furry butt in here!" Korva called out from within the ship. The wookiee sighed, watching the Jedi for a few seconds longer before walking up the access ramp into the ship to help Korva with the last of the supplies.

---

"First Step In The Ways of the Jedi"
by Taran Kinneas
Kal'Aran
and Aurra Sgall

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

Taran had been accepted into beginning his training to master the ways of the Force just a few days ago. His master, Kal'Aran, was the wisest person who Taran had ever met. At first, Kal'Aran taught him some breathing procedures that helped somewhat to calm a nervousness that every padawan had at first, since it was one of the things that made it more dangerous for an adult to begin training when already grown up.

Taran was practicing those breathing procedures. At a certain point, he started to hear his own heart. The velocity of his heart was still great, but he started to hear as it pumped his blood into his veins.

His heart began in a nervous rhythm, but as time went by, he learned to control his breath and slow down the frenetic rhythm of his heart and maintain a normal heartbeat rate. He opened his eyes and he was somewhat satisfied with himself, to be able to control his heartbeat.

"That was good. Your focus is getting better, and I can feel that you are more calm..." she said as she walked into the room. It was Aurra Sgall, Kal'Aran's other padawan. It was funny to see Taran doing what she had begun learning not too long ago. And yet, she had learned so much since then.

"Good Morning, Aurra. Thank you. Did you at least sleep this night?" Taran asked as he got up, but he looked down to the young twi'lek.

"Sure I did!" she smiled. "Why do you ask, Taran? Are you having a hard time falling asleep?" she asked her new padawan companion.

"Me? No, not at all! I had, before meeting the counsel, but now I sleep fine." Taran paused. "Well, a few days ago you seemed somewhat distant, like on the day of my meeting with the counsel!" Taran smiled as he set one of his large hands on Aurra's shoulder.

Aurra smiled back at Taran warmly. "Perhaps I was a bit sad because one of my best friends left..." she said, remembering Daemor'rah. "She saved my life, but it kind of cost her balance in the Force. Master Vos went after her, so I hope she comes back," she told Taran, not going into any further details such as Daemor'rah having been a Jedi Huntress. "But never mind that, now. I would like you to know that if you ever need any help in any exercise you can ask me as well. Although I am far from being as knowledgeable as Master Kal'Aran, or any other Master from the Temple for that matter, I will try to do my best!"

Taran smiled back. "You honor me by offering to spend time helping me, but Master Kal'Aran says we must do things by ourselves. But if I have some doubt I will gladly accept your help," Taran smiled, looking at the young Twi'lek.

Aurra smiled gently. "You will learn that we all have our doubts and that even though we cannot depend all the time on others, that it is wise to often seek help," she told Taran. "And I assure you that it may come the time when I will need your help, Taran!"

Taran smiled. "Thank you." Taran looked over her head and saw Kal'Aran standing at the entrance. "Master, I didn't see you standing there."

"I just arrived myself," Kal'Aran smiled gently. "I see you two are already here, so perhaps we may begin our training session. I would like to begin with some small exercises. I think they will be good for Taran, and I'm sure that Aurra can appreciate some training in the basics."

"It's always good to remember and retrain the simple things to help us improve the more complicated ones!" Aurra nodded with a smile.

"Well, I do have to concur with Aurra. My father always said we never truly learn anything until our subconscious learns it, and if it does not learn it, just do it again until it does. I think that my father wanted us to do the most basic things like an automatic mechanism. Making the basic without even thinking of it," Taran smiled, crossing his arms and looking down at his Master.

"Well, I don't want anyone here to act like a machine! For that we already have droids in our society," the Jedi Master smiled. "And what separates us from any droid I've come across is instinct and the ability to act on impulse. But yes, some of the things we learn, we retain and are able to do them without thinking much about them. Here, you will learn things that make you think as well as things that you should know by heart. And sometimes things for which there seems to be no rights and wrongs!" Kal'Aran smiled. "So, shall we begin?"

"We're ready!" Aurra replied promptly as she looked at Taran.

"Very well then. I would like to start over with some physical practice courses. It will give the chance to see what Taran is capable of, so I can adjust my teachings better, and it will give me the chance of seeing what Aurra has learned and whether she can use it."

"Very well, Master," Taran said, waiting for his master to tell him what this practice course was about. But Taran didn't show impatience, standing as if he had all the time in the Galaxy to wait.

Kal'Aran looked at Aurra and back at Taran. "You will go through the forest and there will be a trail that I have set up. It is easy to follow because it has some markings on it," he explained. "Basically, you will be expected to run through this course, having to leap over a few of the lower tree branches and climb over a rock. There are no surprises, nor trick parts. At the end there will be two training drones. Taran, yours will be set on the lowest level, and I want you to try and focus on it. See it not only with your eyes, but with your mind as well..." Kal'Aran said.

The Jedi Master then approached his tall padawan and gave him a lightsaber. "This is my lightsaber. You will be using it for this exercise, but only at the end. It is not as clumsy or random as a blaster, but a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age..." he told Taran as he handed him his lightsaber.

Taran looked at his master's lightsaber and saw it was small for both of his hands. Taran tried to get a grip on the lightsaber trying to fit both hands, but that was humanly impossible. "Thank you, master, but it seems that it's too small. But I think that would be enough."

Kal'Aran smiled. "You're right. It is too small for you to use both your hands. Just use one, and we'll work that out later..." he assured Taran. "I'm sure you'll manage just fine. Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am, Master!" Taran said, looking down to his master with a smile.

"Me too!" Aurra nodded.

"In that case, you may begin..." Kal'Aran said.

Aurra and Taran sprung forward and took a run into the forests. Taran's steps were a lot bigger than Aurra's, but then again, she was much more agile and faster than he was due to her training. But it was no sort of competition, so neither of them was pushing it to the limit.

They could easily see the small markings that showed them the path to follow, and at a certain point it was clear that they were supposed to go over a tree branch that was not too high. Aurra simply leaped over it with a somersault, aided by the Force, while Taran climbed over it. Of course, for the taller being this was not too hard either. After that, they had to climb a small tree, and Aurra was impressed with Taran's ability to climb fast. They both grabbed a vine and crossed to the next tree and leaped down to the ground again to proceed in their path.

There were a few more jumps and crossings they had to do. For Aurra this was fun and easy, but she still did it with her best efforts. To make it sound too easy would be to disrespect the training and could be a very serious mistake. Besides, in real life there could be easy times followed by surprises, so it was better to keep calm and focused.

In the end they had to climb over a rock that was on the edge of a water creek. Aurra jumped directly to the top of the rock with a leap that was about five times her height, and then waited for Taran to climb to where she was. They both climbed down and onto the end of the forest.

When they got back to the temple clearing there were two training remotes. One was clearly designated for Aurra as it moved immediately after her with three bolts fired against the twi'lek girl. But Aurra had her lightsaber already in hand and defended all three shots, then rolling on the ground and gaining a good position. The drone swirled once and fired five more times in consecutive shots, but they only hit the blue lightsaber that Aurra was holding, as she moved it about in almost perfect movements. Her remote then shut itself off automatically.

Taran made his way by using his muscles rather than usage of the Force, because he only used it now and then without noticing it. Taran reached the part where he saw marks on the tree. Taran knew he was going in the right way.

After a few minutes still with his master's lightsaber in his hand, he still didn't light it up. He had to climb down a huge rock to reach the clearing, but there weren't any signs of the droids. As he reached the clearing he felt something inside him, like an imminent warning of threat. After a few moments, with no time to think, he lit his master's saber and turned to his right, almost instinctively, and saw the drone firing three shots.

Taran saw the shots coming in his direction. He grinned. The first shot passed right next to his face, and the second shot Taran was able to deflect with his lightsaber. But the third shot got his right shoulder and stunned him slightly. He felt a sharp pain from his right side for merely a few seconds and then it disappeared and he saw that the training drone had been deactivated. He felt somewhat disappointed to not complete the training, but inside him he knew that it wasn't his fault, that the third shot was too fast to catch or maybe, just maybe, he was sure that he would catch that third shot.

Then it hit him that the drone had fired four shots instead of three. The drone had been too fast and fired two shots almost simultaneously, and he thought it was only one. He saw the mistake he had done.

Kal'Aran approached both his padawans and nodded at Aurra. She had showed that she was very well trained and had mastered all the basics of Jedihood. As for Taran, he had done well too, showing good physical prowess. He smiled. "I am proud of both of you. You have done well. Very well! Aurra, you were flawless in this small training course. And Taran, I must say that I am nicely surprised to see your physical attributes. You show great strength!" he smiled.

"Thank you, Master. But I failed to complete the test... But I know where my mistake was. My eyes and my mind thought that the third and fourth shot were only one!" Taran kept looking down to his master.

"On the contrary, Taran. You did better than expected! Did you know that most padawans find this course a lot harder than you have?" Kal'Aran smiled. "Besides, you have only yet begun your training. I assure you that you will be finding it easier and easier with the passing of days as you train yourself."

Taran smiled. "Thank you, Master."

---

"Mystery Unfold, Part 1"
By: Korva Valkier
Alisson Blair
Nyah Darasar

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4ABY

***

The atmosphere of Tae'Karada was slowly replaced with stars, millions upon millions of stars making up his galaxy, his home. The smuggler glanced at the small display showing the course the Federal computer had them on. He kept to the course not wanting any unwanted attention. It didn't take long with the Wraith's engines to propel them clear of the planet's sensor net, and once they were clear Korva pulled the ship around.

He pulled a hard right, punching for full throttle. "Make preparations for jump..." Korva said. Chowe growled softly before getting up, punching the co-ordinates of the planetary system into the hyperspace computer. The main computer was just like the ship itself, an antique, but in Korva's eyes they don't make them like they used to.

"We're about to make the jump, grab hold of something." He quickly got the green light to make the jump after making the announcement. "Ready or not..." he whispered, grabbing the hyperspace levels, pushing them forward. He stared ahead of him, watching and feeling the sudden acceleration into hyperspace, the sudden jolt sending shivers down her spine which were quickly replaced with a strange calmness.

The ocean of blue that could be seen only during hyperspace engulfed the ship, all they could do now was wait and relax. Korva leaned back on the chair sighing with a faint smile. He frowned, feeling like someone was watching him. When he looked to the right he found Chowe was staring at him, those bead like black eyes appeared to be puncturing into his soul.

"What?" he asked. "What do you want?" he demanded, getting annoyed. "I'm not going back there! I'm just transporting them there and back... I don't have time to chat with them! Stop it! I'm not going! I'm not and that's the end of it!" he shouted, crossing his arms to make his point as he looked away.

***

"Are you all behaving yourself?" he asked, stepping through the door into the lounge area. There was much, since ship normally consisted of himself, Chowe and Isia. There was a large cushioned wall sofa going around a table, the two chairs for the holographic game, and then Korva's personal chair.

Alisson was seated in one of the chairs belonging to the holographic chess game. She was playing against Nyah, her padawan. "You don't usually transport people, do you, Mr. Korva?" she asked him. "We are fine, thank you. How long will it take to reach our destination?"

When Korva entered, Nyah was busy planning her next move against Alisson. She glanced up briefly before proceeding with her next move. Not allowing her pleasure to show at the fact she'd trapped one of Alisson's key pieces in that familiar move known as checkmate.

Korva shrugged at first question from the Jedi. "The people who generally ask to be transported by me don't tend to criticize the ride, they're too busy being occupied with other matters..." Korva gave her a slight wink before stepping up to their game of holographic chess. "As to your other question... it'll take four hours to arrive..." He knew it sounded impossible, normal vessels took longer to cross the distance they were travelling, but then his ship wasn't normal.

He watched Nyah's move and winced; he'd done it before he could retract and sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Bad move, kid..." he whispered before turning away, walking up to the sofa. He spun around, allowing himself to crash down on the cushions, leaning back. "I'm sure you... people... can find something to occupy yourself until then. Mediating... or whatever... not that it does any good..."

Alisson had overheard Korva's whisper to Nyah. Funny that it didn't look like a bad move to her. In fact, it seemed she had lost the game to Nyah... But then, Alisson was never too good at playing chess. "Well, I guess you won, Nyah!" she smiled. She then got up and bowed her head to Korva. "And I'm sure Mr. Korva that you would find our meditating techniques most relaxing if you were to try them... You'd be amazed at how very enlightening they can be."

He smiled, almost going as far as laughing. "Thanks for the offer but no thanks, this is all I need to relax..." he reached under his jacket, pulling out a thin cigar with lighter. "...and a nice stiff drink..." He put the cigar to his lips, shielding the end as he ignited the lighter. His eyes were fixed on the small flickering flame as it touched the end of the cigar. Once lit he quickly stuffed the silver lighter back in his jacket. "And me... enlightened?" he said with the cigar still in his mouth. He took a small intake of smoke before taking the cigar from his lips. He blew the smoke up towards the vent system; the air conditioning quickly took of the smoke, pulling it out of the room. "You've got to be kidding. Do I look like a guy who needs enlightenment... Besides, I wouldn't know what to do with it when I got it..." he said with a slight chuckle.

"Well, in that case, Mr. Korva, all I can do is offer you the chance to join us sometime, whenever you feel ready to learn something that is part of the life of a Jedi but can basically adapt to the life of just about anyone..." Alisson bowed.

He inclined his head towards her. "I'll keep that in mind... thanks," he said. Korva placed the cigar to his lips, once again taking an intake of smoke which he allowed to fill his body before breathing out. The air conditioning system once more took hold of the smoke, pulling it out of the room. "I'm sure you both have Jedi...things...to do so I'll leave you be. If you need anything please let me know." Korva nodded once to Alisson and then to Nyah before heading off to the cockpit.

Nyah listened to the conversation, still rather intrigued by this latest addition to her training. Even though it was dangerous she looked forward to seeing something other than the Jedi temple for a change. She was utilizing every opportunity to learn from those around her, that included Alisson.

The door hissed open, allowing him entry into the cockpit. The large furball of a wookiee was still seated on his overly large chair to his right. He stepped over the snoozing Isia, miraculously managing not to wake her, before taking the pilot's seat. "Happy now..." Korva grumbled, checking the ship's systems. Everything seemed to be in order, which for his ship was a rare and wondrous thing.

The answering growl he got from Chowe made his anger grow seemingly ten fold. He never considered himself a people person. Chowe was different as he'd known him for all his smuggling life, people just didn't feel comfortable around pirates or smugglers, and Korva was both. "Two hours... twenty-three minutes..." he whispered to himself. He couldn't help but imagine what they would find when they reached the system. Was it ever there? Were there ships lying in wait? Only the gods knew and they weren't on speaking terms with Korva so he was holding his breath on an answer any time soon.

Back on the lounge area, Alisson sat on the floor and crossed her hands, folding them on her lap. Closing her eyes she meditated for a while and relaxed. It was always a good thing to do before any given mission, and most especially considering she didn't know what they were up against. No questions, just inner peace and relaxation, just as she had learned to do through the passing of the years. Alisson then opened her eyes and smiled towards Nyah. "You know, I didn't get to travel much when I was a Padawan..." she commented.

Nyah had been using the time to meditate as well. Only when she heard Alisson's voice did she bring herself out of it. She met her Master's gaze with a smile. "I have to say I'm surprised I am here now. Anxious and ready for a chance to see something I wouldn't otherwise but still pleasantly surprised at this turn of events."

"Perhaps we should do this more often. Going out of the Temple for training and field trips seems like a good idea. Master Kal'Aran told me that they used to do this all the time in the Old Republic days, but I guess that with the Empire things got too complicated for the Jedi..." Alisson commented. "Now that there is no more Empire, perhaps we ought to travel more. I'm sure that there are always things to learn from it!" she smiled.

Korva glanced at the red warning light flashing, indicating they were about to make the jump into normal space. He quickly turned the sirens off before they even had a chance to come into life while activating the intercom with the lounge. "We're about to jump into normal space, strap yourselves in..." He didn't mention there were three extra seats in the cockpit, having anyone else apart from Chowe in his opinion was a bad idea.

Knowing a Corellian YT-1300 freighter only too well, Alisson and Nyah made their way to the cockpit and sat down, strapping themselves. "Ready!" she told Korva as she strapped herself. "Do the long range scanners give any indication of inbound Imperial remnants?"

He heard the door opening behind him and visibly winced. He heard the low chuckling that came from Chowe's direction and Korva's head snapped over to give him an evil look. It silenced him. But only until the human looked away back at his controls. Bloody furball... he cursed, looking over the sensors. "No imperial ships on scans... but if they have a cloak..." He left the thought open, knowing anything larger than his own vessel could carry a cloak. He'd had the option years ago to install a cloak; Korva had declined as the price was extortionate and the energy output to power the cloak was extreme to say the least. "Still no coms traffic..." he said.

Alisson suddenly had a bad feeling. An empty feeling that told her something was very very wrong. Pressing her fingers against her forehead she breathed deep and frowned. "Something's not right... I can't say what it is for sure, but something is very wrong. I feel a great disturbance in the Force. Stay alert."

---

"Mystery Unfold, Part 2"
By: Korva Valkier
Alisson Blair
Nyah Darasar

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4ABY

***

The bright yellow sun burned brightly in the sky, its continuous cycle of burning hydrogen gave light and heat to the planets within the system, the elements for life. The third planet was their destination, its name Kelerin IV. A planet much like Corellia, partially covered by forest, mountains and grassland extensively used in farming, the planet's surface was 78 percent water and 27 percent of that oceans.

There was a flash of light far off in space before the Wraith came out of hyperspace, coming to a sudden deceleration. The main engines quickly kicked in and she swerved to the right, heading right for Kelerin IV. "We're here..." Korva said. "The Netrilva System..." He was about to tell them the name of the planet they were looking at, only it wasn't the green and blue planet he was expecting. "My god..."

The planet looked dead. The oceans, lakes, farmland, mountains, even the atmosphere itself seemed dead, everything turned into death itself and it happened quickly. The planet had red swirling gases in the atmosphere partially hiding the surface; it almost seemed as though the sun had sent a major solar flare out through space and scorched the planet to dust. Nothing had survived. Nothing.

"Oh no..." Alisson sighed. It was far worse than she had expected. "I sense no life. Nothing. Only death and the dark side."

Nyah had strapped herself in when they first entered the cockpit. Solemnly she nodded in agreement to Alisson's comments. "It feels so cold and evil."

Korva only nodded at Alisson's remark, when he heard Nyah it brought him back to reality, shaking his head before looking over the sensors. "You'll get no argument from me..." He glided the ship down towards the planet. "Chowe... I want continuous scans, whoever... whatever... did this might still be around." The wookiee growled in agreement, not wanting to be caught with their 'trousers down'.

The planet loomed in front of them, growing in size until nothing else filled the windows of the cockpit, the ship shook violently as they struck the atmosphere. The raging winds of the planet slammed against the hull plating, rocks bounced off, vanishing once more into the red storm. "Wouldn't you have detected something like this...?" Korva asked, not bothering to glance over his shoulder at the Jedi.

"I did feel a disturbance in the Force. Millions of voices calling out and then only silence. That's why I told you to be careful just prior to coming out of light speed..." Alisson answered. "But I could never imagine it would be like this!"

He glanced at the sensor readings: no energy signatures of any kind, no communications traffic of any kind, it was like the planet had been dead for eons. "It would take a lot of fire-power to do something like this, another Death-Star?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Alisson. Though the Empire no longer existed some of the old regime still existed and thought of nothing but the Empire and bringing the good old days back. Going from just a few remnants to being in the position of a fully operational battle station was going from one extreme to another, in Korva's view, highly unlikely.

So what did that leave?

"The Death Star project was all about destroying a whole planet. A massive weapon with unseen proportion that had more firing power than anything else. But I have heard of superlasers mounted on Imperial Super Star Destroyers," Alisson commented. "And I've also heard of preliminary tests with superlasers before the Death Star was complete that could render a whole planet lifeless... Like this..."

Korva picked up something on the sensors. Still no power signatures but something was out there, within the red gases that made up at the atmosphere. If the readings he got were correct, and they usually were - emphasis on usually, whatever it was, was as tall as a mountain. It then loomed in front of them; it just appeared without warning, one moment there was nothing in front of them but swirling gas the next... bang!

"Full reverse!" Korva cried out the moment the structure appeared. Chowe roared, pulling the levers back. The main reverse engines fired, with a little extra thrown out for good measure. Everyone lurched forward into the safety harnesses that they were strapped in. The Wraith came to a sudden halt five metres away from the structure.

Korva only nodded at the sight as Chowe growled after turning the reverse thrusters off. At first glance Korva had believed it to be a building, something that had survived whatever had happened to this once beautiful world, but he'd been mistaken. It was no building.

It was a statue.

"Perhaps we ought to check out the area on foot?" Alisson suggested. "Scan a test on the air outside to see how bad things are. Also, do you have air masks?" she asked Korva.

Korva nodded at his partner to make the scans. He did it without taking his eyes from the statue that loomed in front of him. It was as tall as a mountain, and it wasn't here by accident. But the question remained. Why? Chowe told them the gravity of the planet had been altered, but only slightly and the effects wouldn't be noticed. The atmosphere, however, was another matter entirely. It was filled with poisonous gases and some elements that were showing up as unknown on the scans. The wookiee had made the scans three times and each one came up with the same readings.

The Wraith lowered down towards a large flat plain at the base of the statue. Landing struts folded out from her underside, locking into place just in time to take the weight of the ship as she touched down on the surface. Steam escaped from vent lines quickly being consumed by the toxic atmosphere of the dead world.

"We have air-masks and body suits in the back... Chowe stay here and keep her engines running, I have a bad feeling about this..." he whispered the last part so only the wookiee could hear. He knew Chowe didn't want to go, even when he acted all brave wanting to go with them. He knew the wookiee all too well. Korva patted the furball on the shoulder, glancing down at Isia as he passed her in the corridor. She instantly stood up, looking up her master. "I need you to stay here and keep Chowe company..."

The Corellian rubbed her forehead, running his fingers through her thick fur before moving out into the back of the ship. He opened the compartments with the air-masks. He grabbed one, giving it a quick test before sliding it over his face. He then grabbed a rifle and some spare power cells, with a few other choice items. Never hurts to be cautious... he thought to himself.

Alisson followed Korva and grabbed another mask. She gave it a small test and placed it to be ready for use. She then grabbed her lightsaber and looked at Nyah, giving her a small nod. "Be careful. We don't know what we're up against. Keep your senses sharp for any anomalies..." she said. Alisson then turned to Korva. "We're ready. After you..." she motioned.

He stepped through the airlock and waited for the Jedi to follow. Once they were all safely inside he closed the outer door, making sure it was locked and air tight before pressing the red button to open the outer door. The access ramp lowered down, hitting the ground, kicking up a small cloud of ash only to be taken away by the wind. Korva was the first to step down along the ramp, quickly followed by Alisson with Nyah taking up the rear guard.

"Chowe you reading me?" he asked, glancing up at the cockpit. He saw Chowe waving before hearing the wookiee's cry over the intercom. He then saw Isia jumping up, placing her paws on the dashboard so she could look out. "What have I told you about letting her up on the furnishings! She'll them..." Shaking his head. "You're getting soft in your old age..."

He couldn't help the smile as he looked away from Chowe, hearing his muffled cries and he cycled the channels on the intercom. "Sorry... what? Couldn't quite hear that..." he sniggered, walking away from his ship in the direction of the statue.

Nyah remained extra vigilant as they began to explore. While they were protected from the toxic air for a time that didn't mean every single danger had passed. She would heed Alisson's warning.

He turned, looking back at his ship, partially hidden in the thick red mist that swirled all around them. Clouds of ash rose up into the air with each step he took. His attention quickly returned to the massive statue that loomed in front of him and the two Jedi. Only part of it was visible as it vanished into the mist. It was made from a substance Korva had never seen. "What the hell is it?" he asked, unaware of its significance.

"It's obviously a statue of something, but the mist doesn't quite let us see what it is..." Alisson said. She wasn't sure that the statue was important. "Chowe, can you get a better reading of its shape from the ship's scanning device?" she asked.

Chowe's hands moved across the console in front of him, scanning the statue. An image appeared that was transferred to both the Jedi and Korva. The statue was huge, four slits that seemed to be where the eyes should be. It was a mask! A head mask hiding whatever the alien looked like beneath, but whatever it was it didn't look friendly.

"Friendly looking, ain't he?" Korva whispered sarcastically, seeing the image on the data padd.

"Not really, no..." Alisson said seriously. "And we best proceed with caution. This statue, it represents something bad. I can't say what for sure, but it's not good. I mean, look at it. Does it seem to be supposed to inspire any other thing than fear?"

---

"Mystery Unfold, Part 3"
By: Korva Valkier
Alisson Blair
Nyah Darasar

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Lythe 22, 4 ABY

***

He looked out ahead of him. The darkness of space was a strange comforting sight to his old eyes, he loved space travel. The emptiness, there seemed to be no past, or future, just the here and now. It was beautiful. He eyes slowly looked off to the right at the young sub-commander standing at ease beside him. The young commander was being trained to take his place; he knew he was going to retire either willingly or not within the next few years. He had heard the rumours, it was the rumours that were heavily denied that more often than not were found to be true, so it was in this case.

"We're approaching the jump co-ordinates, captain..." the ensign at the helm said, grabbing the Andaran's attention as the vid-screen appeared showing their destination.

No communications for weeks... he mused, rubbing his chin as he remembered his briefing before heading out on this mission. Why now? Why this sudden interest in this planet? He didn't know the answer. He knew he'd never get the answers he wanted, they were on a 'need to know basis' and he didn't need to know. It was bullshit. The crap one would expect from those bureaucratic assholes.

"Jump into normal space..." he heard himself say while his heavy eyelids closed. He rubbed them for what seemed like the hundredth time before forcing them open. He felt the light-engines deactivating beneath him as they re-entered normal space coming out like a flash of light.

And there she stood!

His hands gripped the armrests of his seats at the sight. All eyes were on the vid-screen showing a dead world. Toxic gases raged within its atmosphere, its surface was one big storm. "Is that...?" he couldn't force himself to ask the question.

"Confirmed, captain..." the navigator responded, his voice mirroring the shock everyone felt.

"Captain I have something on sensors! A ship is on the planet's surface!" A low growl escaped from the captain's throat as he leaned back on his chair, staring ahead of him. One ship couldn't do this? Could it? Star-Destroyers might be capable of doing such destruction, but why? Who?

"Hail them... I want answers!" And if those answers weren't good enough they were dead.

***

On the surface, Alisson had returned with Korva and Nyah back to the ship. Alisson was the only one at the cockpit when the hail came through. She decided it was best to call Korva.

"Korva! We have a vessel that approached the system. They are on the planet's orbit," she called out.

Korva was in one of the rear compartments, up to his elbows in grease and oil, when he heard Alisson's voice. She could stop an army with that voice... he thought, sliding out from under the conduit climbing to his feet. "Keep at it. I've a feeling we'll need her..." He ignored the growl from Chowe who was still tweaking the ship's systems. She had bad and good days and it appeared this was one of her bad days.

Korva grabbed a cloth on his way through to the cockpit, wiping most of the grime from his hands before bursting through the doorway. He passed Alisson, dropping down onto his seat, running a scan. "Damn... Imperial Cruiser..." A hologram of the cruiser came up on the console beside him. The image flickered, but if it was from interference or a glitch in the power system Korva couldn't say.

"It's no Star Destroyer but they can still give out more than enough..." He sighed, licking his lower lip while rubbing the fresh stubble over his chin as he glanced back at the Jedi. "I'm not very well liked when it comes to the Empire..." he said, indicating the comlink. "Care to do the honours?"

She pressed the comlink as she looked at Korva. "This is Alisson Blair. Go through with communication," she said simply. Truth was that they didn't know exactly what they were facing. They could be Empire and they could be New Republic, so saying as less as possible seemed the best course of action.

"This is Captain Andaran of the Imperial starship Kerlora. I demand to know why you are here!" his voice echoed within the bridge where he sat. His hands gripped the armrests as if he were on the verge of pushing himself off. "And what have you done to this planet!?"

He got a confirmation nod from his tactical officer, a fairly competent lieutenant. That single gesture informed him that their weapons were now hot and ready to target their ship.

Remnants of the Empire, Alisson told herself. Without losing too much time she pressed the comlink to reply to the Imperial Captain. "We came here for a routine stop and found the planet as it currently is. There's no life signs that we can find in our scanners. We were just about to leave and request for a specialized team to come and study the possibilities for what has happened here," she told the Captain.

"So you just happen to be passing through and found the planet dead? And you expect me to believe that!" he roared down the com-link. "Do you take me for a fool?"

"No, Captain Andaran, I do not," Alisson said in a most serious manner. "I trust your reply would be the same as mine should I ask you the same question? And because I don't think you a fool, I know you realise that our ship does not have the conditions to do such a task as the one that has happened."

He had to give her that, no matter how much he wanted to blast them into space dust. He sighed, rubbing his forehead feeling his headache returning. "Very well..." he said finally as if the very notion of agreeing with Blair caused him pain. "What have you learned so far?"

"The air isn't breathable, due to toxic gases and we didn't detect any life forms. It's like something has killed the entire planet in one go..." Alisson said. She wasn't exactly glad to grant Empire Remnants that information, but surely they could tell that as well, so there was no point in hiding it.

The captain was about to respond when a high pitched alarm sounded off to his right. His head snapped around, looking at the young officer who was staring wide eyed at the terminal screen. "What in the blue-blazes is going on!? Turn the damned alarm off!"

"Captain! I'm detecting a growing energy spike!" the young officer countered, spinning around to face Andaran with wide eyed fear.

"What location?" he demanded, rising from his chair. He quickly closed the gap between him and the young officer and leaning over him he saw what the lieutenant was seeing. "That's...impossible..."

The Imperial Cruiser hung in the grip of the now dead planet that had once been a lush green habitable planet. Out from the darkness of space a bright red beam exploded into view, slamming into the side of the Cruiser, cutting through it like a hot knife through melting butter. The opposite side of the cruiser glowed bright red before the beam punctured through, liquid metal debris was thrown out into the vacuum.

The picture on the bridge was utter chaos, consoles and terminals exploded all around, throwing men and women, young and old, experienced and green through the air. Andaran managed to grab hold of his chair and watch with bewildered horror as his ship was attacked. An explosion engulfed a young woman at her station and for a brief moment was completely immersed in fire. A second officer was quick to grab an extinguisher, putting out the fire, but it was too little too late for the young woman.

Over the com-link onboard the Wraith Korva heard the captain's voice through static. "If you c-n st--l hear me! G-t o-t of h-re! We're u--er attack by unknown f--ces! I repeat g-- out -f here... NOW!!"

"My god..." the smuggler whispered, his eyes looking up at the swirling gases above him. He could only imagine what was happening up there. "Chowe get up here!" he screamed through the onboard com-link.

He had just enough time to turn to one of the flickering screens, swaying too and fro kept up only by a few cables. As the screen showed space through the static he saw another beam raging towards him. He collapsed in his chair and looked out ahead of him.

Still in the cockpit, Alisson shouted down to the corridor that led further into the Corellian transport ship. "Nyah, be careful! We're in for a bumpy ride!" she told her Padawan. She then took control of the ship and let them out of there, not bothering to turn to Korva as she spoke to him. "Trust me, I'm a pretty good pilot, and the Force is with us!" she said as she flew them off the way.

The second beam screamed through space. At first it appeared it had missed the cruiser completely passing over her top. This wasn't the case. The red energy beam slowly lowered towards the cruiser, cutting through it as it ran down. Within mere seconds the beam had effectively sliced the cruiser in half.

Nyah heard Alisson's comments as she was headed to strap herself in. A cold feeling of fear permeated every fiber of her being. "Are we under attack?" she called back to the more experienced Jedi.

The front section began drifting away from the rear caught in the gravitational pull of the dead world, debris quick spread out behind it as bodies were sucked out by the decompression. The rear section exploded after a few moments of silence, throwing fire raging out along with a shockwave that expanded outwards like a bubble before finally dissipating. The shockwave slammed into the front section of the imperial cruiser, pushing it forward.

Fire quickly licked over her hull as she entered the upper ionosphere of the planet. There was little chance of survival even for those fortunate to find escape pods. They were going too fast and as soon as the pods were released they exploded from the sheer heat of re-entry. The remains of the cruiser plummeted to the surface of the planet, slamming into bed rock, which had once been a vast ocean, exploding on impact. The high winds and poisonous gases quickly filled the gap created by the initial blast. Within moments the burning wreckage was gone from sight like it never happened.

Alisson knew that everyone aboard the Imperial ship was dead. She would go for survivors, but she could feel there were none. May they rest in peace... she told herself. She then turned the ship around, just as they got to outer space, to face the planet again, and had it go at full speed against the planet.

"Hey!" Korva cursed, watching the Jedi taking control of his ship was not part of the arrangement. "This is my ship!"

She looked briefly at Korva. "Trust me. This requires programming of a fraction of a second. Soon we'll be in the gravity well of the planet. I'm transferring the coordinates to you. Save them on your navigational computer and prepare to jump to lightspeed... NOW!" she said.

Suddenly the ship disappeared and a fraction of a second re-emerged on the other side of the planet, just as another beam struck the side of the planet in which they had just been. "And, we're out!" Alisson sighed gladly. "I know what you're thinking, and the answer is that I didn't use hyperspace to go through the planet, but rather by it... And I assure you it's possible, although not recommendable. Now, get us out of here," she told Korva as she left the pilot seat for him.

While Nyah could feel the presence of Alisson she couldn't shake the evil emotions that were so prevalent somewhere nearby. Silently reminding herself that she was just a Padawan. Beneath Nyah the ship rocked violently. She scrambled to keep her footing and failed. It wasn't long before Nyah felt herself hit the deck plates hard.

"Bloody women..." he muttered just as Chowe appeared, instantly taking his seat. "Activate the hyperdrive computer... I think we've seen enough..." An alarm sounded and Korva's eyes instantly looked down at the sensors. Four contacts coming straight for them, but the scanners were locking in on their signature as they normally should, almost like they each had a personal cloak. "We may need some of your Jedi reflexes soon... man the turrets. This is going to get rough!"

He punched the throttle to full, throwing a huge flame out the rear of the ship. She spun around, heading off through the planetary system with the four sleek black ships hot on their tail.

Alisson didn't bother to wait to see what would happen next. Instead she made her way to one of the turrets and took hold of its controls. She reconfigured the controls to fit the occasion and turned to face the back of the Corellian ship, with the approaching foes.

For a brief second, Alisson closed her eyes and took a deep breath to become more in tune with the Force. It would surely prove helpful in such a situation. "May the Force be with us..." she whispered to herself, as she turned to find the incoming fighters approached.

The first shots missed, but got the enemy fighters off bay, as they were obligated to break target in order to avoid Alisson's shots. These fighters are damn fast! she told herself. The second time they came around, she was ready. With an air of peace in her face, she moved her turret slightly to the right and fired two shots. Both hit one of the fighters on its left wing, and placed it off combat, although it didn't totally destroy it. Surely the pilot had survived the encounter.

"I got one! He's bailing out," Alisson told Korva through the comm. Alas, as she said it, another one came by and hit them with a couple of shots itself. Alisson deviated her turret and followed it, but only managed to scare him off his path. She could tell there was another fighter coming in, so she prepared herself and moved to counter its attack run. She got the second fighter, and this time there had been no salvation for the pilot. "That's two..."

"How long until we can make the jump?" Alisson asked Korva through the comm.

Initially it felt like her world was violently spinning. The sensation only added to Nyah's unease. Lying where she had fallen, the Jedi Padawan used everything she'd learned to remain calm. If I can reach a state of meditation, maybe it won't hurt as bad. It will certainly allow the natural healing process to take over.

Korva heard the answering roar from his partner in crime beside him, he trusted Chowe's estimate, more so than some people's facts. "Forty seconds!" he shouted before allowing a curse to escape him. There were too many to dodge all the incoming fire but he was doing his best to keep the fighters where he wanted them. The cockpit was suddenly lit up by an explosion, the first fighter Alisson had hit finally succumbing to the effects of her earlier strike.

The Wraith spun as Korva pulled a cork screw maneuver before peeling off to the right bringing another fighter into Alisson's sights, he had to admit she wasn't half bad. Having a Jedi on board had its draw backs, but they had their pluses too.

She saw the other fighter as it approached her visual scanners when Korva made the hard turn to the right. She maneuvered the turret into position and followed it as it tried to avoid her. Fact was that no matter how fast she could shoot, the imperial pilots were not easy marks.

Alisson saw the other incoming fighter and drove it to the side by blocking its path with shots, and thus obligating it to cross paths with the other imperial pilot which made it virtually impossible for them to shoot at the Corellian transport. It was at that same point that Alisson managed to hit the third fighter, which in turn spun around and turned hard left and upwards, hitting the last remaining imperial fighter.

"They're all gone!" Alisson told Korva through the comm. "Now, get us out of here!"

Nyah didn't try to pick herself up off the floor as she managed to catch Alisson's comm exchange with Korva. Pain lanced through her body as a result of the earlier fall.

"Punching!" Korva called out, reaching forward as he straightened their course. The levers moved forward and the lights in front of him flickered slightly before they were thrown forward into hyperspace. Within a matter of milli-seconds they went from normal space into hyperspace, the blue haze of the tunnel they were now flying through. Korva sighed with relief, falling back against his chair. "That was interesting..." he joked, shaking his head. "I'm getting too old for this..."

The Corellian turned at hearing his partner roaring from beside him. "You're how old?!" he demanded, shocked at what the wookiee had said. "I stand corrected..." Korva said, placing his hand over his heart. "Wouldn't say you were a day over a hundred..." He saw Chowe looking at him suspiciously; he couldn't help the smile that came through. Nothing like a good joke after nearly dying, nor a stiff drink and a cigar too but at the moment he had to be satisfied with annoying Chowe.

Alisson came down from the turret seat and sighed in relief for having survived the encounter. She hadn't expected more Imperials after having crossed from one point of the planet to the immediate opposite one. It was lucky that they had managed through. Alisson then made her way over to Nyah and found her still lying on the floor. She moved quickly and crouched near the other woman.

"Are you ok, Nyah?" she asked simply.

"I'm not entirely sure," Nyah responded as she fixed her gaze on Alisson. "One second I was carefully making my way across the room to strap in and the next I found myself here. It hurts but I can't exactly pin point where at this time."

"Stay still then," Alisson told her. "Close your eyes and concentrate. I will hold your hand, and we shall both ease your pain in joint meditation. Once you are feeling better we will administrate some bacta, if necessary," she added as she took Nyah's hand and sat by her side, closing her eyes and breathing deep.

Nyah regarded Alisson with a serious expression. "My earlier attempt to reach a meditative state didn't work so well." She closed her eyes to try again as she felt her mentor take a hold of her hand.

"Stay calm. Try and focus your breathing and feel the Force as it surrounds us..." Alisson said in a gentle whisper. She could feel Nyah and she used her skills to soothe the girl's pain. It would surely help her to achieve calm and perhaps be able to rest.

Calm didn't come as easily as Nyah hoped, even though she opened her mind to Alisson's assistance and tried to stay focused so she could relax. She concentrated on her breathing.

"Just relax..." Alisson whispered in a very low and soft tone. "Relax..."

Nyah did her best to follow Alisson's instructi