Location: Ice Lands of Dathomir
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

A soft ice breeze blew tiny particle of snow, while the sun hit on those particles of snow making quite a nice mist. There were no trees or mountains nearby, only one mountain where the temple was located.

The three Rancors walked near each other and once and a while it seemed that they talked to one another. To Tidus and Quistis this seemed very intriguing, but Tidus was more than Quistis, only because the rancors had their own clothes. Well it was not exactly clothes, but wooden blocks to protect their bodies, made by themselves.

Tidus knew that these Rancors were more evolved then any other rancor across the Galaxy. Tidus tried to think more and more, because Bazon was one more time the tale of Nagori. Tidus almost knew Nagori tale with his eyes closed. "Bazon don't you talk anything else, like sports, near death situations or the sort?"

Bazon nodded and looked behind to Tidus. "No..."

The rancor where Maniva, Bazon and Tidus were softly growled and shut up. Gnorin and Maniva started to laugh. Tidus nodded strangely. "What so funny?"

Maniva with her eyes straight on finally spoke. "He said that for you to lose patience so quickly you must be as ignorant as you are scared to fall down!"

Tidus nodded and didn't understand where was the funny in what the rancor said. He wanted to tell anything, but after a few seconds he decided to be silent and to hear the story of Nagori once more.

Mar'k looked behind and saw that Quistis was distant, looking towards the mountain that was just up ahead. "You seemed distant!" Mar'k told her.

Quistis shook her head and nodded. "No... Well... Yes! I feel something in me, something strange that if I get that sword, things will never be the same."

Mar'k looked behind to Quistis. "You're not scared are you?"

Quistis looked to his eyes. "For the first time in my life, yes I am!"

"Everyone is scared at least once in their lives. This is your turn. Don't worry, just follow your instincts and you will be fine."

Quistis inclined her head to what Mar'k just told her. "I'm not scared of what awaits me inside the temple, I'm scared in things I don't know and yet are somewhat... familiarized."

Elina and Gnorin were in the third Rancor, both woman couldn't avoid to listen to what Quistis said. "I think she now wonders," Gnorin said.

"My sister told that she might do that before arriving to the temple, but she's still not confidant on her skills. The Quests will show her true skills."

"But how sure is your sister about her?"

Elina nodded and approached to Gnorin's left ear and spoke. When Gnorin heard what Elina said she was quite shocked. "My, my, my, my! That is quite a secret. I never could have guessed that. Not in one million years."

"Try five!" Elina said.

Gnorin looked behind and opened her eyes as far as she could. She was really caught by surprise.

***Few hours later***

The three rancors approached the temple that one of the sides continued to be buried partially under the snow. The rancors stopped and everyone set their foots on the snow and walked the rest of the way. Gnorin, Mar'k and Maniva stood by the rancors as the rest of the party went towards the main entrance.

The temple itself was almost 1 kilometer high and probably 500 meters of size. It was huge to their perspectives. In the entrance Quistis saw that a few statues at the entrance were missing. Bazon approached the entrance and took out a strange object. He placed it over the lock on the entrance and turned.

Nothing, Bazon was perplexed. "It's got to be it! I stake my own life that this is the key to enter the temple."

"My friend Bazon, it didn't work! We find another way in..." Tidus was interrupted by the sound of a mechanical device and the rocks moving.

The entrance opened and the smile on Bazon's face was huge. "I told you. Now who is laughing, Corellian History College?"

Tidus hold himself not to burst out laughing. They proceeded through the entrance. The corridor was a dark place, but Bazon was leading. The ground was very uncorrected. Quistis and Elina almost tripped in one of the rocks on the floor. "The snow is slowly destroying this place," Tidus said, keeping an eye where he put his feet.

After a few minutes the party entered a grand chamber. It had a rectangular floor that lead to a black abyss. On the other side of the abyss was the rest of the floor.

"How do we go to the other side?" Elina asked, but before anyone could response a holographic image appeared.

It was a beautiful woman standing there, that caught the attention of everyone. She was wearing a long cape that covered her entire body. "Welcome strangers. You seek the Wakizashi Sword, that once belonged to one of the best warriors that was known in this Galaxy.

"But before you have the sword, you must prove that you are worthy of it. To whom will be the Quester, he or she must pass four Quests." It paused. "Quest of Courage, Quest of Strength, Quest of Wisdom and Quest of Honor. Also only one of you must pass to the other side and complete these four quests alone with only one help from his or her friends, but without interference. The others may see the progress of their friend, through the Holovids that are in front of you." The party saw two gigantic screens appeared.

The woman continued to talk. "The quester may walk over the round circle and we may proceed with the quests."

Everyone looked towards Quistis. To try to get some courage she took the huge jacket off her and with her trench coat stepped on the circle. She looked behind to Elina and saw in her face that she was going to make it.

"Use your help when you need something to interpret," Bazon said, which Quistis thought was good advice. She didn't yet understand the language that probably she might find in this place.

Quistis looked towards the other side as the circle started to move towards the other side, where her destiny was waiting for her.

"Saber Training"
by Kal'Aran
and Taran Kinneas

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

A few days had passed and Kal'Aran was content that Taran was becoming better and more concentrated, thus getting better results and becoming more attuned with the Force. He was using the abilities of the Force to push and pull with much more ease, and was beginning to be able to lift objects and control them.

The training sabers clashed and they walked slowly in a circling motion. Kal'Aran nodded. "Very good... You read that very well. But beware to keep your distance from any incoming strike enough to prevent it," the Jedi Master said as he moved his blade to push Taran to the side and then force him to step back.

"Yes, Master..." Taran said, his training saber up again while held in just one hand. Once again, his grip of the training saber was too small and he felt as if something else was missing in his other hand.

"Think of it as if you had concentric circles around you. You must master anything that comes within that area and be aware of it," Kal'Aran explained before he invested again. "And the closer your opponent is to you the more control you may need to have over his or her actions. Only then will you truly be able to defend yourself properly..." he added as he moved to attack Taran once more. He wasn't going too hard, but wasn't making it easy either.

With a thought, Kal'Aran had a small stone lift and move its way towards them both. The idea was to make a distraction for Taran. The Jedi Master was nicely surprised when Taran moved out of the way, obviously having felt the stone.

Kal'Aran smiled. "That was good. You have your senses alert to incoming peril and distraction factors. They are always important and will be present most of the time you find yourself obliged to act," he said.

"Yes, Master. But ever since I was part of a team that built pits and barriers back home, the first thing we learned was to expect the unexpected. Lava rivers are a very unpredictable thing, and that is why I'm always ready for any cheats from others. The lava is and always will be a very good cheater," Taran said as he placed himself in a defence position again and waited for any his Master's attacks.

"Don't think of it as cheating or not. Although that would be the case here, perhaps, I did so because I want you to learn to cope with distractions. Imagine if this was a crowded street. Surely other people are always a distraction and they can either intervene, or worse, be the target for your opponent," Kal'Aran argued. As he said so he moved towards Taran and dodged at the last second from his path, striking at Taran and hitting him in the legs. Taran knelt down from the sting that the training saber dealt for a second but was still ready to defend himself.

"Nothing more shall I teach you today. You show great display of strength and courage, Taran. You did well, my Padawan," Kal'Aran smiled as he offered his hand to his padawan to help him up.

"Thank you, master!" Taran blinked his eyes and put the training saber above the table were the rest of the training sabers were. "It is a pity that there are no bigger sabers for both my hands..."

"Yes," Kal'Aran nodded. "I had considered building a bigger training saber for you to use. It will make it easier for you to learn. Besides, when you build your lightsaber you will surely have one that applies your hand size..." he smiled gently. "Come, let us go and meditate for a while."

"Yes, Master," Taran nodded as he followed Kal'Aran out of the room.

"Quest Of Courage"
by Quistis Knox
Tidus Highwind
Elina Kasn - NPC
Bazon Zak'Keeer - NPC

Location: Inside the Temple on Dathomir
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Quistis was transported over the black abyss to the other side. Quistis thought while she was being transported what kind of quests she had to pass to show that she was worthy of the sword.

As the transport docked on the other side of the abyss she stepped on the small dusty chair and walked slowly towards the entrance. As she stepped inside the first chamber she saw that the floor was a curved one. Very unusual floor, she thought to her self.

A holographic image of the woman appeared again, but now she seemed more real to Quistis' eyes. "Welcome, Quester!" the holo woman spoke. "As you know you must pass four quests to prove your worth or not. This chamber is where the Quest of Courage will happen."

Quistis heard that, part of the floor fell to the blackness. She could see a bridge leading to the other side. She continued to listen to the woman. "Courage is only proven when something is happened and you have to choose two choices in a matter of seconds. The quest of courage begins now!"

Quistis saw the image of the woman disappear and looked to the bridge. Inside her pain came again, but this time it was different, like it was alerting her for imminent danger. She didn't know what was exactly, but she started to walk on the bridge. After a while something in her alerted her, so she started to run and jumped forward.

A mechanism was activated and destroyed part of the bridge and missed Quistis for mere centimetres. She rolled on the floor and continued to run as the mechanism like pendulum destroying every part of the bridge. Then a second pendulum was activated and Quistis used her instincts to stop as she saw the path in front of her was destroyed.

"Geez, Glorify Gods, that was a close one," Tidus said as she moved near. "What insane person would create such a thing for a sword."

Elina smiled. "Well a very clever and a very dead person!"

Quistis walked a few steps backwards and ran towards the edge and jumped over it. She reached the other side successfully. As she got up she looked in front of her.

"Hey. Is this cool or what?"

Quistis turned to the side and saw her brother on the other side. "Bazon? Is that you?"

"Yeah, the woman let me pass the abyss. Wait I will come to you..." He glanced as he ran towards the abyss and jumped.

Quistis saw Bazon grabbing the other edge but he slipped. "Shit..." Without thinking she jumped to the other side and ran as fast as she could. Behind her the first pendulum destroyed part of the bridge. She slid on the ground and grabbed Bazon's hand just before he let go of the ground.

Quistis tried to pull him up, but he was too heavy. She looked to the side and saw the second pendulum going towards her. She felt thrown to the side and she knew that this was it. She was going to die...

"NO. QUISTIS THAT IS HOLOGRAPHIC. IT IS NOT ME!" Bazon screamed frenetically as he saw Quistis being hit by the pendulum.

Quistis felt herself hitting a hard floor that she was not suspecting so soon. The blow has hard, but when she opened her eyes she saw that the ground was back again, the two pendulums had disappeared. She got up and saw the Holographic image of the woman on the other side. She walked towards her and nodded. "What happened? I thought I was going to die... Where is Bazon?"

The woman smiled. "You value the life of others above you own. You had inner courage to sacrifice yourself to try save another's life. For that you successfully passed this Quest." The image faded as the door the leading to the second quest opened.

Quistis nodded strangely at what just happened. Only a few seconds later she understood that the Bazon she tried to rescue was a holographic image, a very real one. She walked through the door without knowing what lay head.

"New Enterprises, Part 1"
by: Adam Edwards
Dax Vogar (NPC)

Location: Elusive, somewhere in space
Date: Vadris 8, 4ABY

***

Adam sorted through the treasures he had looted from the Moff's quarters. The man apparently had a liking for precious gems. Putting together what he had taken from the Moff, with what Adam had earned from his mining operation, and he had a small fortune.

And Adam knew exactly what to do with it. Ever since working for Talon Karrde all those years ago, Adam had always wanted his own business.

On his way back to Chimaeria, Adam had planned it all out. He had a place. A month ago, he had discovered an abandoned Imperial research station in the next planet out from Chimaeria. The planet was called Maldorish, and it was used as a research post and a refueling station.

The research station was concealed in a canyon, and something in the soil of Maldorish naturally repelled scanners. It would be a perfect hiding place.

But first he had to get the connections. He knew the place to get them too.

***

New Plouton

Adam stepped into a rather seedy bar, named the Crescent Star. It was hot, and smelled of spice and Rodian Ale. A large Nikto guarded the door, and he gave Adam an unpleasant look as he entered.

Adam looked around and found his friend.

"Dax Vogar," Adam said, and he found his aging friend.

Dax was a man, in his early 50's, was a Corellian too. He had helped Adam's father in his smuggling days. Before that, he had been an Old Republic Army Officer. Dax had a Corellian ale in his hand, and he looked the old, shaggy man Adam had always known.

"Adam, what kinda trouble have you been getting into? Your parents miss you. You never visit them anymore," the old man said.

"I've been a bit busy Dax," Adam grinned.

"So I suspect," Dax said. "What can I do for ya"?

"I'm starting my own business, Dax, and I need your help. I need you to contact the smugglers you and Dad used to work for," Adam told him.

"I can do that for ya. I'll also put ya in contact with some guys who need work," Dax said.

"That would be great. I've already spoken to a Mercenary force who will run security of the base, all I need is the smugglers to run the goods. And, I want you," Adam said.

"Me?" Dax asked, a confused look on his face.

"I want you as my second in command. I need someone who knows how it's run," Edwards said.

"I'm not sure," Dax said," I'm a bit out of my game."

Adam stood up, and grinned at the older man. "Think about it." He threw a data disk across the table. The coordinates for the base are on there. "I'll be there, starting everything up".

Adam turned, and strode out, on his way back to his ship.

"Uncovering Truth, Part 1"
by Daemor'rah
Chronos [NPC]
and Yannos [NPC]

Location: Agamar, Mirgoshir System
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Commander Dynn had left her in the planet of Agamar, at her own request. It was a small planet near the one they had fled from, and had a similar temperate climate. She had chosen to stay in the forest, and Dynn thought that to be perfect since it would bring less questions for the Empire remnants to follow.

With the ship they had taken for himself, Dynn thanked Daemor'rah for her help and set his own course. With no time to lose, and what seemed like a storm heading her way, she had decided to look for a place to stay. Perhaps she could find a cave or a tree big enough to shelter her from the rain.

In her way, she found a stone wall with painted murals on it. The pictures seemed to tell a tale, a story. But there were no sentences or words that told the tale. Only pictures. Apparently it had something to do with a man and a staff. And everyone else was defeated at his feet. It was obvious that this man was a tyrant by the way he was depicted in the images, killing even small children. Perhaps she had not been too prudent to remain in that planet. She decided to go on with her journey.

Alas, it only took her a few minutes to find what was apparently a small village. It seemed simple and the people seemed nomads. Once she neared them, however, they became aroused and scared at the same time. She didn't know why... Perhaps they had never seen anyone like her. There was only one man who had the courage to approach her, and even he stayed a few steps away.

"You must go to the temple. You are required there by the great Chronos..." he told her.

She bowed to the man and made her way to what they referred to as temple. It was the only stone building in the village and seemed like an old one as well. Its large double doors were open, so she walked inside it, admiring its tinted windows and ancient looks. At the far end of the temple, stood a man dressed in reddish dark robes. He held a staff with an orb at the end and motioned for her to approach.

" 'Where am I?' is the usual question..." the man said.

Daemor'rah could feel his presence in the Force. This man was attuned with it, though she suspected he was no Jedi. She took her lightsaber and decided to have it ready for use. Alas, as soon as she ignited it, the old man's orb shined brightly and the lightsaber's blade retracted itself.

Daemor'rah frowned. "Very well, if you prefer I use my bare hands!" she told him as she walked towards him.

The man seemed both scared and confused. "This is not expected! The orb disables our enemies. Strangely, it has the same effect on that peculiar weapon you carry. You must believe me, I mean you no harm..."

"You can drop the facade! I know who you are. I should kill you where you stand!" she hissed at him.

"Perhaps you should..." the man nodded. "But you don't kill me!" he said, now with a mischievous grin.

"Are you so certain?" Daemor'rah asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My role as time guardian affords me a certain level of omniscience," Chronos explained. "No, you don't kill me. That honor belongs to Yannos, the one who is the true enemy here!"

"My, my... You are fatalistic," Daemor'rah said as she crossed her arms.

"Death comes for us all, Daemor'rah. It is just a matter of time," Chronos explained. "My future was foretold aeons ago. We each play out the parts fate has written for us. Free will is an illusion!"

"I don't agree. But who is this Yannos?" Daemor'rah asked.

"He is the scourge of this land! He butchers people and kills without mercy," Chronos explained with obvious feelings of hate for this Yannos character. "He has killed many over the years. And he is the reason why everyone looked scared to see you, because you look just like him. Same pale white skin, same long fingers and long red hair... They would have attacked you if I had not intervened."

"Then I should thank you," Daemor'rah replied. "But I don't understand. How do you know who I am?"

"I told you. I am the time guardian. I know many many things," Chronos explained. "And I know that you were tricked by the mural with the pictures. Yannos was the one who put it up. That one is the tenth he has placed now... The others, we have destroyed."

"And he alone has done harm to your people? Why?" she asked.

"Because it is in his nature. He is deranged, mad if you will..." Chronos waved. "The prophecy states you as our saviour. It states you as the only one who can kill Yannos, thus restoring balance to the land."

"And thus saving your life?" she asked rhetorically as she read the man before her. "After all, you said it yourself. Yannos is to be your assassin."

"I am prepared to accept my fate. I have known it for long. But the coming of the saviour. The one who is of the same mysterious race of Yannos and who can bring balance can call a history paradox," Chronos explained as he walked around. "And with this paradox, there can be new possibilities that are now impossible."

"And if I don't believe this nonsense?" she asked.

"You need not believe it, Daemor'rah. Just go to him and see for yourself. He awaits you in the pillars. The pillars represent the balance. See how he will be the one to corrupt them. Head north and you shall see what I mean..." Chronos said.

"I will go and see. But I shall return."

"The villagers will not harm you. I promise," Chronos bowed.

Daemor'rah nodded and walked away from the temple. She was curious to see what this was all about. All in all, she didn't believe this Chronos, this so-called Time Guardian. But he had surprised her with what he had told her, nonetheless. What if he was right? What if free will was nothing but an illusion? It can't be an illusion! she told herself.

***

The path to the pillars was an easy one to pick up. And it had not taken her too long to get there. They were black and high. In fact, they were so high that one could not see where they ended. They seemed to rise and rise until they were lost amidst the clouds in the sky. Truly magnificent.

And even though she did not believe Chronos to have been sincere to her, he had told her the truth. At the very center of the pillars, stood a man. He had the very same white skin she had and large fingers, plus a large braid of red hair protruding from the back of his head.

She approached him, but he did not turn to face her. She could feel that this man too was strong in the Force, but once more she wasn't sure he was Jedi. In fact, she wasn't truly aware whether he knew she was there or not, until he spoke.

"I know you are there..." he said, even though he did not turn to face her.

"Chronos led me to you," she answered.

"And if he told you I was hidden in the underside of hell, would you throw yourself into oblivion to pursue me?" Yannos asked with a mocking tone. "Chronos trawls for the ignorant and unwary, hauling his gasping prey from the streams of their destinies. Stay out of his net, Daemor'rah..." he warned, now turning to look at the woman in the eye.

"Spare me your elaborate metaphors! I have pursued you here for one purpose! You will pay for your actions and balance will be restored!" she answered.

"And whose will is satisfied then? Yours or Chronos'?" Yannos asked as he tilted his head ever so slightly and turned his back on her once more.

"Would I be better manipulated by you?" she asked as she withdrew her lightsaber and ignited it. This time, there was nothing to prevent the weapon from working properly. "Now, turn and face me. The chase is over!"

"This isn't a chase. We are merely passengers on the wheel of destiny, describing a perfect circle to this point. We have been brought here for a reason!" Yannos told Daemor'rah. "I have seen the beginning and the end of this story, however, and the tale is crude and ill-conceived. We must rewrite the ending, you and I."

"Face me! Even you shouldn't die a coward's death!" she replied, choosing not to pay attention to all the stories that this Yannos person was telling. He too seemed just as mad as Chronos. But this one was dark, whereas Chronos had been uncertain.

"Isn't it customary to grant the condemned a final request?" Yannos asked.

"Why should I?" Daemor'rah asked.

"Indulge me... All I ask is that you listen," Yannos gestured. "Let's drop the moral pursuit, shall we? We both know that there's no altruism in this pursuit. Your reckless indignation led you here. I counted on it!" he said, noticing that the white skinned woman was obviously disturbed. Yannos smiled. "There's no shame in it. Revenge is motivation enough. At least it's honest! Hate me, but do it honestly."

And even though Daemor'rah could feel the darkness in this particular one, she decided that hate was not a feeling she cared to have. She safeguarded her weapon and nodded. "Continue..." she told him.

Yannos bowed. "You see, I'm presented with a dilemma. Let's call it a two sided coin. If the coin falls one way, I die and the balance is restored. The pillars are supposed to be white and pure, not like you see them now. Alas, if I die, that would mean the total annihilation of our species," Yannos explained. "If the coin falls on the reverse, I refuse the sacrifice and doom the pillars to an eternity of corruption. Either way, the game is rigged."

Daemor'rah frowned. "Then we agree that balance must be restored?"

"Yes. That is why we have come full circle to this place," Yannos nodded.

"So, after all this, you make my case for me?"

"The pillars don't belong to them... They belong to us!" Yannos said somewhat furious.

"Your arrogance is boundless!" Daemor'rah shook her head.

"There's a third option. A monumental secret!" Yannos pointed out.

"You said it yourself," Daemor'rah argued. "There are two sides to your coin."

"Apparently so," Yannos said. "But suppose you throw a coin enough times... Suppose one day, it lands on its edge."

Daemor'rah considered the chance. The metaphor was clear enough. And though Yannos was not to be trusted, neither was Chronos. Perhaps she ought to know more of this game before she did something only to find out that she had been played as a pawn to one side.

Almost reading her mind, Yannos grinned. "Go east of here. There is a chamber where Chronos does his ritual and chanting, along with an occasional offering of life. He is going there now, and not expecting you to go there. Surprise him, and uncover the truth."

"You best not kill anyone or anything, or I will have you pay for your crimes!" she warned him. He gave her a bow to honor her request and she made her way east and away from the pillars.

"Uncovering Truth, Part 2"
by Daemor'rah
Chronos [NPC]
and Yannos [NPC]

Location: Agamar, Mirgoshir System
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

The past few hours had been restless ones. She had found herself in the middle of what seemed too strange to be true. A man who was apparently of the same race she was, even though she didn't know what race that was, and an even more mysterious man who seemed to know too much beforehand. And both were strong with the Force, but not Jedi, nor Sith...

And the funny thing was that the supposedly evil man called Yannos, who was accused of butchering innocent people, was more straight forward than the cunning one called Chronos... But both seemed to hold back some of the cards of the deck.

And what of these pillars of balance? What was she to make of those? Black and corrupted, when they were supposed to be white and pure. And how was it possible that some pillars would hold balance to a land? It was a mere structure. She hoped to find more answers, for at this point she only had questions.

Yannos had led her well enough into Chronos' chamber. A small place, built with black stones, describing a circle. As she approached she could hear a chant. It seemed like several voices chanting as one. At least five different voices. Without too much time to lose, and little patience for games, Daemor'rah opened the door to the chamber and walked inside. She was at once intrigued that only Chronos was to be seen inside. And he too looked surprised to see her there.

"You? Here? This is most unexpected..." Chronos said, somewhat dumbfounded that she was there.

"And here I was thinking that you were omniscient," she mocked. "Perhaps you didn't tell me everything."

"I said I had a certain level of omniscience. But I am no god, Daemor'rah. Even I cannot see the whole future and what is to happen," Chronos said, now more secure about himself. "You didn't kill Yannos. Why?"

"Because he was not the beast you described. And you are far from what I would call a prophet. What game is this that you both seem to play?" she asked.

"It is no game. It is quite real!" Chronos corrected as he raised his hand. "Yannos is a deceiving person and he will cloud your mind. He must be stopped!"

"Then why don't you do it?" Daemor'rah asked. "I am not wanting to be played for a fool, and I am no pawn for your pathetic games!"

"If it were only that simple... You see, I cannot kill him because he was my maker, if you will," Chronos replied.

"Your maker? How so? You two look nothing alike!" the white skinned woman argued.

Chronos smirked. "I didn't mean my physical maker... I meant my role as time guardian. He was my mentor. And I was passed on with his unique abilities. But he was mad and wanted to create a new possibility, where both of us would play the same role. It could not be, so he became enraged and deranged as a consequence..."

"Explain yourself better," Daemor'rah asked. "I'm not sure I understand this charade."

"It is no charade," Chronos frowned. "You see, every three hundred years, a new time guardian is born. And from the very beginning of this new child's life, he or she is trained to become the next time guardian. I was taught by Yannos. But our minds can become tainted and deranged from seeing too many things, too many possibilities. So, there is a circle of men and women who play out to keep the balance of the time guardian. These men and women, a number of ten in total, are symbiotically bound together. When one of them died, murdered, the others were tainted on their minds with pain. Not wanting their loss to become his own, Yannos killed them all, thus dooming his own mind. He chose not to leave his role and have both of us play the same part. But there can only be one of us. You see, history abhors a paradox, and the change cost Yannos his own balance. Luckily, I sustained mine."

"How very convenient..." Daemor'rah frowned. "You will forgive me if I don't swallow every single shred of information you toss at me, but I didn't find Yannos to be crazy at all. Besides, what does this have to do with the pillars?"

"The pillars represent the soul of the time guardian. When a new guardian ascends, the old one must die. He did not accept his fate, and therefore condemned the pillars to damnation and corruption," Chronos said, somewhat furious.

"And so you have a new problem. You need someone who can kill him for you, don't you?" Daemor'rah asked, now understanding the reason. "You can't do it because he was a time guardian. In fact, you can't even fear him for what he represents."

"Yes. We are forever bound and yet we cannot approach one another. It would cost us both our lives. And the men at the village cannot do so either. It has to be someone with similar gifts..." Chronos continued.

"Gifted in the ways of the Force," Daemor'rah stated.

"If you would call it that, yes," Chronos nodded. "So you see, I need you to restore balance. It is even a better thing that you are the same race he is!"

"And what race is that?"

"I honestly don't know..." Chronos shook his head.

"Yannos said that the pillars belonged to us. What does that mean?" Daemor'rah asked.

"Lies. Lies and deceits!" Chronos waved. "The pillars belong to the land! There is no us. Now go. Leave me to my chanting for the gods to protect you and deliver balance to the land once more."

"I shall go, old man. But I will return," Daemor'rah bowed. Perhaps it was time to see this Yannos once more and check his version of the story. Truth was that she didn't like the way he seemed to act whenever he spoke.

"Beware!" Chronos called out. "To embrace a serpent is to invite poison into your heart. He is a sinuous beast. He will seduce you and deceive you! You pride yourself on your free will, and yet you let that degenerate deter your resolve!"

Daemor'rah stopped and turned back to face Chronos. "I harbor no illusions about his integrity, nor anyone else's. In fact, I am beset on manipulation on all sides. I merely seek the truth."

"You will find that the truth lies with my words..." Chronos bowed, then letting her go on her way.

***

Once back at the pillars she didn't manage to see Yannos anymore. But she knew he was there. She could feel his presence, even though she couldn't tell where exactly he stood.

"Show yourself!" she called.

From behind one of the large pillars, Yannos appeared. He was smiling and bowed respectfully. "At last. I must say I'm disappointed in your progress. I imagined you would be here sooner."

"Chronos told me quite a lot. How you butchered lives out of selfishness and spared only yourself of your supposed fate," Daemor'rah pointed out.

"Did he also tell you that he himself killed the very first one of the circle?" Yannos asked, immediately seeing that Chronos had not by the look on Daemor'rah. He laughed shortly. "I see he still throws just pieces of the story to conveniently benefit himself. You see, he wanted to become the time guardian, but it was all too soon. So he decided to create a catalyst event to make it happen. I was given no choice but to kill the rest of the circle."

"And what of not sacrificing yourself?" Daemor'rah asked plainly.

"Ahh, I told you that my death would mean annihilation of our species. You see, the circle were the very last ten of them. The sole survivors and you and I," he explained. He then took a few steps. "We were once the great men and women of this land. The stronger ones, who used their gifts to help others. We erected these monumental pillars that live on the souls of our kind. It has the unique power and ability to protect the living and the land itself. And now, Chronos is wanting to use it for his own sake."

"And I am to be your executioner because he cannot get near you, is that it?" Daemor'rah asked, now a bit confused once more.

"No..." Yannos smiled. "Fact remains that neither Chronos nor I know what will happen if we get near each other. It may cause a temporal distortion. But it may also cause nothing at all. I think he is simply scared because I will not refrain from killing him if he approaches too much."

Daemor'rah considered the words. She felt compelled to know the truth, mainly because she knew nothing of her own people. But this seemed way too crazy to be involved in. On the other hand, not being involved could be much worse...

"Here..." Yannos continued. "Everything is decided here. You cannot comprehend the magnitude, the rapture and tragedy of this moment."

"I understand only that you and Chronos have impelled me to this moment, which simply means I can't trust either of you!" Daemor'rah stated. "I don't know who is pulling the strings, but it no longer matters because I'm cutting them. I set my own course from here!"

"If it were only that simple..." Yannos grinned.

"Your fatalism is tiresome!" she answered.

"And profoundly ingrained!" Yannos pointed out. "You must understand, our presence here does not alter history. You and I meet here because we are compelled to. We have always met here! History is irredeemable. Drop a stone into a rushing river, the current simply courses around it and flows on as the obstruction were never there. You and I are pebbles, and have even less hope of disrupting the time stream. The continuum of history is simply too strong, too resilient."

"So, nothing I do is of free will?" Daemor'rah asked, even though she didn't believe it.

"I didn't say that... Even though Chronos believes it, that is not the truth either," Yannos replied. "You have seen one of my murals. You should see the other ones. Comprehend them and you will see that I mean the truth. Go north into the caves and see. I am not to die here and not by your hand."

"If what you say is true," Daemor'rah stated, igniting her lightsaber. "Then you shouldn't be scared that I point this at you! I could strike you down right now."

"You could. But then you would never find the truth," Yannos replied. "I'm sure you will comprehend once you see these murals I speak of. And I'm not the author so you need not worry about the truth depicted on them."

Daemor'rah narrowed her eyes. "I tire of your games. But I will go and see. In any case, I can find you, no matter how much you run," she said as she safeguarded her weapon.

"I know. And that is why I do not run away," Yannos bowed. After that, he watched her leave North of the pillars and sighed of relief.

"Uncovering Truth, Part 3"
by Daemor'rah
Chronos [NPC]
and Yannos [NPC]

Location: Agamar, Mirgoshir System
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

The weather of this planet she was in had been cloudy so far, and ever since her arrival, she had foreseen a storm. But only now had it begun to rain. It took her a while to get to the caves that Yannos had mentioned. But there it was.

A large cavernous entrance with two big statues that seemed to guard it, and a frame carved into the stone itself, which created quite an atmosphere for it. And there was no mistake to be made. The statues were a representation of her race. The same sleek lines and long fingers and the long hair protruding from the back of the head. The statues were quite majestic and she stopped to admire them for a while, even in spite of the rain that poured down.

Finally, Daemor'rah decided to enter the cave and saw at once that Yannos was not joking nor mocking her when he told her to go there. Indeed there was murals that were painted by hand, so much like the first one she had seen. And like the first murals, these had no inscriptions, no words. Just images.

But one didn't have to be a genius to figure it all out. The story was quite clear. This race of men and women with white skin, so much like her own, had been the gallant people of this land. And there were several pictures that showed that they protected all the life forms and cared for the balance of the land. But they were not alone. More races were bound to the land, and they hated this mysterious race for their wizards and seeming magical powers... No doubt they were all strong in the Force.

Another mural told a war story. Of how the others took upon actions of war against her race, destroying the land and burning it up, thus consuming what they believed to be the source of their power. With all of this, the white skinned race erected the pillars. With all their might, this structure consumed most of their magical powers and served only one purpose - to be the key to the balance of the land.

That which was destroyed was once more reborn in order to sustain balance. And one man or woman called to be the time guardian, the keeper of the pillars and seer to the future. Along with a circle of men and women who strived to keep the balance of the time guardian.

But something went wrong. Not wanting to wage upon war any more, the white skinned race welcomed humans into their circle. And corrupted as they were, they brought only greed and selfishness. To make them understand, they chose a new time guardian. A human boy. Chronos. He was to become pupil to the circle and to Yannos.

But Chronos killed one of the circle out of greed to become that which he was destined to be. He wanted to accelerate the process. Yannos would not have that be, so between them they murdered the circle.

Daemor'rah touched the mural on Chronos' image. "You shouldn't have done it..." she whispered.

"No he shouldn't have!" someone called from behind.

Daemor'rah turned at once to see who it was, but was merely struck with disbelief and appalled to see what it was. A spirit. The spirit of a tormented woman who seemed to be there as well.

"I was his first kill... My mind was spared the loss of balance, but was the catalyst to the others going mad," the spirit continued. "It was a mistake to have humans inside the circle."

"Who are you?" Daemor'rah asked, still both marveled and uncertain as to what this was.

"Aeriel. Overseer of the circle that sustains balance to the time guardian," she replied. "I was not aware that there was more of us. I had thought Yannos to be the last."

"The last of what?" Daemor'rah asked.

"Of our race, of course!" Aeriel replied with a smile.

"And which race is that?"

"I...I do not know," Aeriel replied sadly. "We never understood who we are. But we came to accept that we simply are, and that we were all strong and gifted with the spirit world and all life."

"The Force..." Daemor'rah nodded.

But Aeriel seemed only confused by this word. "Force of what? We called it life spirit..."

"Then I guess we mean the same thing," Daemor'rah said with a short bow. "But...I thought that all went to be part of the pillars when they died."

"Yes. But only when their time comes. I was killed before my time," Aeriel explained. "Therefore, I am eternally bound to roam this land until balance is restored."

"Until Yannos dies," Daemor'rah nodded.

"Oh no!" Aeriel shook her head. "Yannos must not die! If he does, then the pillars will be destroyed and the balance tainted forever! No, my child, the answer is not Yannos' death."

"Then what is the answer? It is clear that Chronos must not die either..." Daemor'rah stated.

Aeriel nodded. "The answer is in life itself. And in the destruction of that which threatens, and birth of which keeps," she answered, then disappearing.

Daemor'rah knew better than to make more questions for it was clear that this spirit would answer no more... She decided to exit the caves, and was surprised that in the short time she had been there, the rain was no longer pouring down. She decided to return to the initial village and talk to Chronos.

***

Once at the village, it was becoming dark. The skies, now in shades of dark blue and violet, were clear and the small visibility gave a certain atmosphere to the small houses and even to the Temple itself. She could tell that Chronos was there even before she went in.

Disappointed as she was in not finding who her race was, she had decided that Aeriel's words were somewhat comforting. It didn't matter what race she was. Only that she, in fact, was. And the decision to accept it gave it a whole new meaning that was in fact, without a meaning - or at least an important one.

Chronos was now even more surprised to see that she was there, and he seemed to know that Yannos was still alive. He was scared. That much was visible from his eyes.

"Ahh yes. You really don't know what to do now, do you, Chronos?" she asked as she approached him. "Here you are, without your staff, and I suspect that things aren't progressing as you hoped. You're not used to the fly turning to confront you in your own web are you?" she asked sarcastically.

"His influence has poisoned your mind! Now you see betrayal everywhere, even in your closest allies!" Chronos cried out.

"We were never allies," Daemor'rah waved dismissively, as she neared him even more. "Conspirators perhaps, briefly."

"Why didn't you kill him when you had the chance?" he questioned. "He was at your mercy!"

"Precisely. I had a choice, and I chose mercy," she replied. "Strangely enough, I was enlightened by the devious Yannos, not by you. In fact, I've learned much more than you counted on. I understand how you tried to manipulate this story to your own personal gain! But now your little schemes are whirling in ruin around you, aren't they? I know the truth..."

Chronos frowned. "And what is the truth, precisely? I find that it always depends on who tells it. I didn't lie to you, even though I did refrain from telling you the whole lot, I admit."

"My, my... Aren't you a brave little cunning one. Lest I be inclined not to kill, I would think you were the one who deserves it the most," she told him.

"But you don't really think that Yannos was honest to you as well, do you?" Chronos asked with a mischievous grin. "After all, what do you make of the mural that you first saw. Nothing alike was in the caves, was it now?"

And before Daemor'rah could say anything, the room seemed to tremble a bit. And it felt as if things were constantly moving in the room, including the walls, even though at a very slow pace. Behind one of the columns came forth Yannos himself. He bowed at both Chronos and Daemor'rah.

"That mural represents the future. One which you fail to see because you are its catalyst, Chronos," Yannos explained. "But I always knew you for who you were. I knew you would kill Aeriel just to become the next time guardian sooner than expected."

"You knew?" Daemor'rah asked, somewhat confused.

"Yes, I had foreseen it before he was born. As time guardian I could tell these things," Yannos nodded.

"Then why accept him?" the girl asked.

Yannos laughed shortly. "Because I knew that he would hate us all. All of our race," he said then stopping for a little while to smile once more. "One must keep his friends close, Daemor'rah, and his enemies even closer. Who better to serve me than him whose passion transcends all notions of good and evil?"

Chronos too was confused. But amidst Yannos' speech he had grabbed the orb staff. And under his command he would use it to destroy Yannos. "Lies! All lies!" he shouted.

"No. Not lies. Honesty," Yannos corrected. "You are, after all, my son. It was the only way we could be able to introduce you into the circle. None of your race was strong in the ways of life spirit. It was the only way... But we made sure this was a well kept secret and made sure that your looks would be the same as theirs."

"Lies!" Chronos shouted. "You die now!" he said as he threw the orb staff at Yannos with intent to kill. He hoped the orb would do its work.

Daemor'rah tried to use the Force to have the staff miss, but the shining orb would not have it so. It was a weapon that seemed to affect the Force itself as well as lightsabers.

None of them had counted on what was to happen. The spirit of Aeriel was suddenly in the way and struck with the staff. Strange at it was, the staff could not go through her and the shining orb shattered when it hit, thus saving Yannos.

Aeriel, on the other hand, was beyond salvation. She ascended into the very essence of the Force and became a huge blue light spirit. The light that emanated from her was enough to fill the whole room, and make it shoot out the doors and windows.

"My purpose was this..." Aeriel's voice said. "To save Yannos." And with those words said, the whole light disappeared and so did Aeriel with it.

"The answer is in life itself. And in the destruction of that which threatens, and birth of which keeps," Daemor'rah whispered, remembering Aeriel's words.

"What?" Chronos asked, confused. He still couldn't believe that even he, as time guardian, was not able to foresee this.

"I have the answer," Daemor'rah smiled. "Yannos, if you die, the pillars will be destroyed. You are bound to them for an eternity, as were all before you. And you Chronos, must sustain your role as time guardian. But neither of you must attack each other."

"I don't understand. What of the paradox? Look at the walls. We're creating a paradox because we are both here!" Chronos stated.

"Only because you both share the same role," she said with a nod. "If you didn't, there would be no paradox, would there?"

"No," Yannos agreed. "But what role would that be?"

"You both agree that a time guardian needs someone who is symbiotically attached to the time guardian. All must share the life spirit power," she stated. "Now, whether you are willing to accept that you are father and son or not, you both share that unique ability."

"So, if I become his circle. His balance keeper, the corruption will end," Yannos agreed. "Yes! That is the key!"

Chronos didn't know what to think. Finally the whole truth sunk into him and he fell to his knees, sobbing for what he had done. "I am sorry... You were right."

Daemor'rah approached him and knelt by his side. "You need not worry now. New destinies are set and you will be able to bring balance."

"I accept my role as your balance keeper, should you accept me as such," Yannos stated.

Chronos got up and nodded seriously. "I accept your role as balance keeper. May the life spirit bless us all...father," Chronos said, smiling at the end.

There was no need to see what happened next was quite a beautiful vision. The pillars changed colour and became pearly white and pure once more. They could all see it, even though they weren't near the pillars.

***

"Thank you for your help. You avoided war and death for many," Chronos smiled as he shook Daemor'rah's hand.

"No need to thank me. But I must be going on my way. It was...interesting," she smiled. "Thank you for getting me a transport in which to leave."

Chronos bowed, and so did the villagers as she passed them. Not far from them was a landing strip, where a big freighter was docked. Arrangements had been made so that Daemor'rah could leave with them. She wasn't sure where she was headed to, but it didn't matter to her. She only knew that she had to go on, especially now after uncovering truth.

"A New Opponent"
by Reeve
Gherig Hoff, Crime Lord (NPC+)
Jal Saren, Bounty Hunter (NPC+)

Location: FOE-HAMMER, Hoff's Chambers
Date: Vadris 8, 4ABY

***

Gherig Hoff looked up from behind his desk as the portly aide entered. Hoff frowned immediately.

"This had better be important."

"Sir, there is more news of Reeve," the aide said. This made Hoff sit up in his seat. The aide now had his full attention.

"Go on," Hoff said.

"Well, the reports are unconfirmed as yet," the aide said. "But since yesterday, there have been at least four bounty-hunters killed. Two of them were stabbed, two more were incinerated when the house they were in exploded. There's no evidence implicating Reeve specifically yet, but..."

"It's his doing, all right," Hoff said. "And that proves he's still there."

Hoff leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. The aide stood there for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, then cleared his throat softly.

"Erm...will that be all, sir?" he asked.

"Get out," Hoff said, not even looking at him. The aide quickly turned and left, leaving Hoff alone with his thoughts.

***

Location: Thanatos

Reeve stepped out onto the streets of Thanatos and began walking. Today, he had things to see to, preparations to make before Gherif Hoff arrived. He took a quick glance around, checking to make sure no one was following him. He noted a puny looking Twi'lek doing his best to not look in Reeve's direction. Reeve sighed.

Another idiot bounty hunter. Reeve had no qualms about killing people by the dozens, but the constant attempts on his life recently were getting tiresome. Reeve silently hoped this new bounty hunter would wise up and go home, but he seriously doubted it.

Oh well. If it came to it, Reeve would kill him without mercy. That was his way.

Reeve started down the street, whistling a merry tune to himself. He knew the Twi'lek was moving to follow him, but Reeve seriously doubted if this new bounty hunter would be any more successful than the others. Reeve did not pay him another thought - if the fool was stupid enough to act, he would very quickly realize the error of his ways. One way or the either, Reeve didn't care.

***

Location: FOE-HAMMER, Bridge

Hoff walked purposefully onto the bridge of his ship. The officer on duty noticed him immediately and saluted, but Hoff was hardly in any mood for pleasantries.

"Lieutenant," Hoff said. "I want you to contact someone for me."

"Of course, sir," the officer nodded. "Who?"

"A bounty hunter," Hoff said. "By the name of Jal Saren."

"Jal Saren, sir?" the officer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Hoff said. "You won't have heard of him, of course - he likes to keep his name out of the spotlight."

"Very well, sir," the officer nodded.

"Notify me when you've reached him," Hoff said. "And put the transmission through to my private chambers. I want to speak with him myself."

"As you say, sir," the officer nodded. Hoff turned and left the bridge.

***

Location: Modified Corellian Freighter, STAR-RUNNER, somewhere in space

"Incoming transmission, sir."

Jal Saren slowly opened his eyes and stretched, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He turned and looked over at AP-21, frowning.

"I thought I told you to screen my calls," Jal grumbled, rubbing his chin (with the perpetual five o'clock shadow).

"I think you will make an exception in this instance," the droid co-pilot said. "Receiving transmission now, sir."

Jal sighed. He had owned that droid for close to four years now, and it still seemed to take every possible opportunity to annoy him. This time, it had interrupted a very good dream, where Jal was the king of an entire kingdom full of beautiful human women and Twi'lek dancing girls. He made a mental note to melt down AP and sell him for scrap when they got back to a civilized system.

For now, though, he sat up and turned his attention to the small viewscreen in front of him. When a familiar face appeared, a face that Jal had not seen in nearly a year, he found himself fully awake fairly quickly.

"Gherig Hoff," Jal said, shaking his head.

"Jal Saren," Hoff's image replied.

"And to what do I owe this unwanted pleasure?" Jal asked. "Or is this just another one of your 'I swear I shall hunt you to the ends of the galaxy' calls?"

"That's behind me now, Saren," Hoff said. "There's someone I hate even more than you."

"Now that's a disappointment," Jal said, grinning. "And here I thought I was at the top of your 'Best Buddies' list."

"I'm in no mood for your sub-standard attempts at being witty, Saren," Hoff frowned. "I have a job for you."

Jal nearly fell out of his seat.

"...would you care to repeat that?" he asked.

"I said I have a job for you," Hoff said. "Believe me, I am loath to come to you, of all people, for help. But in this instance... well, I believe you might be the only person who can handle it."

"Could you say that a little louder?" Jal asked, cupping a hand behind his ear. "I could have sworn I just heard Gherig Hoff pay me a compliment."

"Enough, Saren," Hoff said. "Will you help me or not?"

"And what in the name of the Force makes you think I'd help you?" Jal asked, raising an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you spent the last two and a half years trying to kill me? I mean, I'm sorry, Hoff, but that's going to put quite a strain on our working relationship."

"Perhaps the lure of credits can change your mind?" Hoff said, a slight smile passing his lips. Jal's interest increased.

"That depends on how many," he said. Hoff's smile widened.

"Very well, then, Saren," he said. "Let's talk."

"The Calm Before the Storm"
By Vaya Bek, Padawan (PC)

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

Vaya sat atop the Temple in silence and in deep thought. She had awoken to news that the Jedi had left for a mission. The past day seemed to be like a haze for her. She felt tired, drained, and had a mild headache. Not much of a headache she thought, just that her head was heavy. She felt sluggish and out of place. She looked out upon the surrounding grounds, the trees and the skies. She felt something about her, some sense of foreboding, a sense like she was forgetting something, or that something was going on around her that she was not totally aware of, yet had a sense of. It was quite perplexing to her.

She kept having these bits and pieces of a vision of sorts, like a distant memory of some kind of dream. She didn't feel much like herself and she could not place the origin of it all. Vaya thought maybe it was just stress of the Jedi's mission and her Master's foreboding prior. There was defiantly an odd air to the Temple of late, she thought. As she sat and tried to meditate, Vaya found it hard to concentrate, many thoughts whisked through her mind like the leaves in the autumn wind. Nothing particular, nothing cohesive.

Something is just not right, not right at all, she thought to herself.

She sighed and got up to reenter the Temple, thinking that she should busy herself, perhaps to find Aurra or the other Padawans to get her mind fixed on something productive while she awaited the return of the Jedi, and her Master.

"Back In the Game"
by Vyn Kether
Jerek Welder [NPC+]
Herker Gaal [NPC]
Jerrin Gaal [NPC]

Location: Jerek Welder's Quarters, Xayled's Abyss, Drogen Shipyards
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Vyn grinned as he paced down the ramp of the Midnight Rogue onto the floor of the main docking bay in Drogen Shipyards. Returning from his "much-needed" vacation from the smuggling business, he was eager to get started again, and in his mind, what better way to start fresh than on Drogen Shipyards. First though, he would track down the one who was responsible for Vicks' death. Although he grieved over the loss of his cousin, he earned quite a few of Vicks' contacts through Deebo, including a helpful acquaintance named Jerek Welder. Welder was apparently on the station, which was quite helpful because it meant that Vyn didn't have to track him down. He set out to his supposed quarters and pressed the chime button.

Suddenly, a grumpy inquiring voice sounded from the small intercom above the chime button. "Yeah? Who is it?"

"I'm a friend of Vicks Mason. Vyn Kether."

The door opened, revealing a shirtless but well-built man with very short hair and stubble. He stood there staring at Vyn.

"Well? Can I come in or--"

He tilted his head, signaling him to come in and walked back to what appeared to be the kitchen of his small and messy apartment. The room smelled of expired goods and decaying remnants of food left over on dirty dishes scattered all over. The man sighed and continued cooking what smelled like a dirty and wet womp rat, which wasn't very pleasant to most. "What do you want?" the man questioned.

"Are you Jerek Welder?"

"Maybe. What's it to you?"

"The amazing and undefeated freelance pit-fighter?"

"You forgot retired... After I lost my ship I settled for a deadbeat job up here working the docking bays. It's not bad..." Welder added with obvious insincerity.

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"Vicks was murdered. I need help to find his killer."

"What makes you think I know who his killer was?"

"You're one of the last individuals involved with him. You're gonna help me find him," said Vyn with bitterness in his voice.

"I don't think so, kid..." said Jerek with a chuckle.

"I have creds..."

"You do know that there is a pretty big bounty on your head? I may not be part of the underground crime anymore, but I still have my contacts. The Empire wants your head on a pike, and I know a lot of bounty hunters will be out for it," said Jerek in a serious tone. "It's not worth the risk."

"This doesn't sound like an undefeated pit fighter to me, besides, I can hold my own. I'm a pretty damn good shot."

"Maybe because I'm not a fighter anymore. I'm retired remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I've heard enough. I'm going to the bar to get a couple drinks. I'll be back to talk to you about Vicks tomorrow," said Vyn reluctantly.

"Sure. Go to Xayled's Abyss, they make a damn good Storm Water there."

"Yeah, sure...." Vyn said as he began to leave Jerek's quarters.

"Vyn... watch your back... There have been a few bounty hunters on the station lately and I assume they're looking for you..."

Vyn nodded and left toward Xayled's Abyss to contemplate what to do next. He wasn't going to just give up on trying to enlist Jerek's help, but he needed to find a way to convince him. Arriving at the bar, he took a seat at an empty table in the corner and waited patiently for the gorgeous waitress to come and serve him. The catchy and uplifting jizz music could be heard from all over the bar and it was quite good. Vyn knew a good jizz band when he heard one and this one was quite spectacular. Just as the waitress was heading Vyn's direction, two identical twins with long dark coats sat down at the same table.

"What can I do for you...?" asked Vyn in a rude sort of way.

"We heard that you're a mercenary for hire..." one of them said.

"Where'd you hear that?" inquired Vyn.

"You Vyn Kether?" asked the other one.

"Who wants to know?" asked Vyn as he slowly went for his blaster.

"Herker and Jerrin Gaal. Keep your hands where we can see them. You currently have two DH-17 Blasters pointed at you right now..." said the one called Herker.

"If you didn't guess yet, we're here for your bounty. Can't believe how easy it was," said the one named Jerrin.

"Believe me, if I wanted to disappear, you wouldn't have found me..."

"Shut up, now--"

"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" asked Jerek who appeared behind Herker, wearing a black spacers suit with two blasters holstered under his arms and a rifle on his back.

Vyn immediately kicked up Jerrin's blaster, firing a shot through the bottom of the table to the ceiling of the bar. Jerek quickly grabbed Herker and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold. Just as this was happening, Vyn drew his blaster in a split second and fired off a round at Jerrin, ending his life and preventing him from shooting Jerek or himself. Jerek threw Herker aside and looked at Vyn. It all happened in an instant and immediately someone was already calling Shipyard security.

"Let's go, kid. We don't have much time. I hope you have a ship ready..." said Jerek, following Vyn out the bar and to the docking bay.

"Don't worry, I have something that'll get us out of here before security even gets to the bar..." said Vyn.

Arriving at the docking bay, they didn't stop and ran up the ramp to the Midnight Rogue. Vyn yelled at the droid to get permission before the alarm went up. Permission was granted and the ship blasted its way out and down to the surface of Tae'Karada. Vyn took over the piloting and Jerek sat in the navigator's chair to the right of Vyn.

"What now?" asked Jerek.

"I have a plan to find Vicks' killer. I know a woman who was dealing with Vicks before he was killed. I'm going to contact her and she's hopefully going to help me find the killer. What I need you to do is come out of retirement..." Vyn said quickly.

"You mean, go back into pit fighting..."

"Essentially, yes. I need you to contact Jadda the Hutt and join his crime syndicate. You'll probably have to prove yourself in some way, and I assume it's going to be a pit fight. Last time I checked he's always looking for strong arms..."

"Wait, wait, wait! Why Jadda the Hutt?" inquired Jerek.

"Because he tried to kill Vicks once when Vicks was working for him. He either might have something to do with it or knows someone who might. I need you to find out all you can on Tae'Karada."

"What about you?" asked Jerek.

"I'm a wanted man with a bounty on my head. Tae'Karada isn't exactly a friendly place for men with bounties. I'm going to call on some old favours with the New Republic, they might be able to help me out..."

Jerek raised an eyebrow, sighed and looked ahead as they neared the Starport. "Let's hope this works..." said Jerek as the ship got closer and closer...

"Quest of Strength"
by Quistis Knox
Tidus Highwind
Elina Kasn - NPC
Bazon Zak'Keeer - NPC

Location: Inside the Temple On Dathomir
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Quistis entered a new chamber, this time it was a long hallway. It was so dark that she couldn't see anything in front of her. Then the series of torches lit up revealing the hallway. The floor was composed of many rocks that fit together perfectly like it made one single floor.

The walls were made of hard stone that exited from the wall that made the light of the fire exiting from the torches to have more light. The ceiling was composed of the same material as the floor. For Quistis if she put there blind folded she didn't know if that was the ceiling or the floor. She heard stories of the SSD Lusankya that its prison was upside down to prevent for prisoner to flee.

At the end of the corridor she could see the other door. The holo image appeared again revealing the same woman. But this time she had very beautiful blue eyes. "Quester, you succeeded in passing the first Quest, but it is far from over. This is the Quest of Strength. The only thing you have to do is simply carry those 10 rocks to the other side of the hallway. The key that opens that door..." She pointed to door at the end of the hallway. "But word of advise don't guess which rock has the key. Good luck, Quester and may you be fast enough..."

Quistis nodded in a strange way at the last few words of the woman. She looked to the rocks and saw that two piles of five rocks formed like a pyramid. She picked up the first rock and carried it through the hallway.

The rock at least was a weight of 30 Kg and this first rock for Quistis was not so heavy; the problem was the other nine. She reached and put the rock on the floor. At that time the walls started to move, closing the hallway. She knew that she had to be faster. Now she realized what the woman told her. Now she had to carry those heavy 30 kilos rocks and with the walls closing very slowly. Thank God I'm not claustrophobic, she thought as she ran quickly to the other side.

***

"Holy Gods..." Bazon said as he saw the walls closing.

Tidus saw that these Quests were not a piece of cake and he doubted if he was able to succeed in passing those tests. Are you afraid? he asked himself, it sort of affecting his ego, but he knew that this woman Quistis had to be special only for the extreme courage in not panicking at that same time. He was uneasy like Bazon, but Elina was different, she had so much confidence in Quistis, that it made him wonder what kind of game she was playing and what she knew about Quistis!

Elina saw the walls closing as Quistis carried the second, the third, the fourth rocks and in each time she carried one of those rocks she began to tire. At the Seventh rock, she fell and for the first time made her wonder if Quistis was really the one, but after seeing from the images of Quistis not giving up gave back the confidence in Elina. Quistis had to succeed.

***

Quistis put the ninth rock and she was beyond tired. She looked back and the walls were closing, Without a moment to lose she ran back to the other end of the corridor to get the final rock. She picked it up and started to move to the other side. The walls were so near that Quistis felt it hard to breathe, but that didn't make her give up. She tried to move quickly, hitting several times in the rocks and when she got near the other side away from the closing walls she fell to the floor and the rock rolled out to safety. Quistis could touch the end of the wall but her arms were so tired that they didn't respond. She looked up to see the walls. She then used her back to move her feet to the side where the ten rocks were located.

The walls closed just before her head exited the closing walls, but the walls caught her black leather trench coat, that put her in some awkward position. She took some time to undress the jacket since she was barely upside down.

She felt bad about losing her priceless jacket, but duty called. She knew that in those rocks was the key. But which one? Quistis thought.

She studied carefully the rocks and saw that each one had some strange markings. After a few times thinking she found out that in the ten rocks two rocks had the same markings. She picked up both and put the two rocks together. "A perfect fit."

She saw the two rocks flow in mid air and bending together. She couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. The rocks fell to the floor, without breaking. She looked at it and saw that the two rocks were now has one. She saw another set of marking that both rocks made when they got together. She understood that all ten rocks were linked together.

When she slid the last rock with the rest, all ten rocks started to move in midair and then out of nothing tiny pieces of rock started to fall on the floor revealing a hiding object.

The object was a circular iron object with several lines the converged at the center. The object fell to the floor. Quistis picked it up and examined it. She noticed something written in it. "Shak lon sinon nor atuhum."

Quistis looked to the door and saw that it had a slot like the object. She put it and saw the circle object moving around and a sound came from the door. The door opened itself revealing another chamber. She stepped in where the third Quest was going to happen.

***

"What do those it mean, Shak lon sinon nor atuhum?" Tidus asked, keeping his eyes on the screen.

Bazon heard loud and clear what Quistis read and there was no need for Tidus to say it again. He was simply amazed by the words and translated. "All roads lead to the Force."

"Storming Arcadia, Part 1"
By: Koran Darr
Major Jaro
Alisson Blair
Kal'aran
Quinlan Vos
Liam Zaneth
Laedra Vorrel
Kael Selrid
Ambassador Theen Fida

Location: Palace of Arcadia
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Deployed in teams of two, each just outside the various entry points Alisson had uncovered for them, the Jedi were ready and merely waiting for the appropriate time to strike. Although they vowed they were not soldiers, they would be the aggressors of this battle, but only in retaliation for the unlawful seizure of Tae'Karada's palace by two of their former apprentices. It was their duty to put an end to Dani and Nieme's flight of terror, even if they were required to cut down their own.

Ambassador Fida's commander, Major Jaro, supplied New Republic soldiers as reinforcement, keeping with the ambassador's promise. It remained to be seen, however, how much they truly had told the Jedi about their attack plans, and how much they were concealing. In the end, they would need to rely on one another for survival; secrets would only jeopardize lives.

Sitting quietly in their dark corner, Laedra Vorrel kept her mind and senses open for the attack's commencement. Waiting was all they could do for the time being. She and Koran were positioned one kilometer from the palace itself, outside one of Alisson Blair's secret entrances. It placed them directly in an underground tunnel that had undoubtedly been home to some uncleanly, malodourous creature at one time, but the smell was easy to ignore after an hour of waiting.

"It's nearly time," Laedra said softly, again peering down the corridor, into further darkness.

Koran Darr pulled his lightsaber from his belt. "We should be receiving the notification to begin at any moment," he said. He lowered his voice for only her to hear. "Laedra, whatever happens in there, whatever may become of this attack, know that I love you and always will."

"Too late," she answered levelly, then smiled. "I already do. The Force will see us through this safely, Koran. There's no need for such fatalistic talk."

"I know," Koran said, "but I just wanted to say it." He looked up. "I think it's time."

Laedra exhaled steadily and nodded. They moved to face the portal that would lead them to the palace and for a moment Laedra clasped Koran's hand. "May the Force be with you," she whispered.

"May the Force be with us all tonight," Koran said as he gave her hand a squeeze. "Come on, let's go make this planet safe for everyone again."

Unclipping her lightsaber, Laedra prepared for inevitable battle. The only consolation was that Koran would be by her side through it all.

***

Alisson breathed deeply once. She had paired with the one man she had been so keen in not letting near. But this one man could make the difference. Besides, he had saved Zari, even though he left his son behind for Nieme and Dani's pleasure, no doubt... And then again, perhaps that was reason enough for Dargus to be trusted.

"We should be moving soon," she whispered. They were the closest ones to the Palace, just a little less than half a kilometer. "But I wanted to tell you one thing. You know I don't trust you much. We were never friends. But, in spite of things, I am willing to be the first one to support you with us. When we go in there, I can trust no one else, and neither can you. We're all each other has to count upon. So... May the Force be with you, Dargus Kandran."

Dargus looked over Alisson, then nodded. It was a new experience for him, to be fighting on this side, but it wasn't as bad as he thought...being a good guy. He hadn't had a chance to do the things he'd wanted yet. He needed to see Raeila again, to show her how he was living up to his promise, and doing so happily. To... to try to get through to Yelara. He hadn't had a chance to speak with Liam yet, but he knew that had to happen soon. He knew that Yelara belonged with Liam, and he would work with the Jedi toward that end. He wouldn't be responsible for hurting her more... he'd already done enough.

"Thank you," he said. "May the Force be with you as well."

***

Major Jaro stood upon a building not far from the Palace. His forces were in positions surrounding the Palace area, but of a distance and under covers so as not to alert the Palace forces. For some time had they been mobilised in secret, with weaponry and supplies funneled in. Jaro viewed the landscape with his macro. He then viewed the screen of his datapad which showed the blue spots of his forces in their positions.

Silently he chuckled and his heart pittered and pattered in the anticipation of all that was to unfold.

Stupid Jedi! he thought to himself.

"Major," a young officer approached. "All teams have reported in and are standing by."

"Very good," Jaro replied. "Now go make yourself useful, I am busy."

The young officer saluted and turned, and left the Major to his devices.

Jaro's datapad came to life with an incoming transmission. It was Theen.

"Major, report?" Theen ordered.

Bureaucrats! Jaro spat to himself. "Ambassador, we are in position, awaiting the Jedi's lead. I am confident all shall be well."

"Very good then, keep me apprised of any changes."

The tiny holograph of Theen dissipated from the data pad as Jaro mocked the Ambassador silently.

As soon as Theen's holograph disappeared, Jadda came into communication with Jaro. The Hutt laughed once and frowned his eyes a bit as he puffed his pipe, letting some smoke out. "Ahh... Ready are we? Let the Jedi go as planned. Create the diversion for them and let them in. As soon as you have them inside, leave a sentry in each secret entrance and have them blow it up with detonators as soon as they spot anyone coming out. Take the rest of your men and go inside and ally with the forces I borrowed Nieme and Dani. I will be ready for instructions and who to kill at that point. But if you shoot a Jedi I will not hold you for it," he said, then laughing.

Jaro smiled wickedly as the Hutt cut his communication. He ordered one of his officers to take over the command post and he made for his speeder. Jaro had it all planned out, his forces would keep with the Jedi's plan, by creating a diversion, then he would turn the tables on them, announcing to his squad leaders that new intelligence has indicated that the Jedi are in fact making to take over the Palace and all of Tae'Karada for themselves! He laughed to himself at all that was to unfold. Chaos, death, destruction!!

Though he was but a Major in his guise, the former was an operative of military intelligence, and that allowed even a lower ranking officer to out rank a field commander. Jaro commed the colonel who was in charge in the force that would draw out the Palace guard.

"Colonel, it is time. Proceed!" Jaro ordered.

Jaro's speeder flew around in a wide arc around the Palace area as he watched what was to unfold. A sizeable New Republic force marched upon the Palace grounds from their hidden positions. The Arcadian sentries did not know what was going on, only that a New Republic force was upon them.

Laser fire lit the sky as the New Republic soldiers and the Palace forces engaged at the outer borders of the government center.

***

"Ambassador," a human aide approached the large Anx diplomat.

"Yes?" he replied.

At the aide's side was another human, dressed in New Republic military uniform, a colonel by his insignia.

"Ambassador Theen, I am Colonel Drostnik, New Republic Intelligence," the man announced.

"What can I do for you, Colonel?" Theen asked with wonder.

"We seem to have a problem, Ambassador," the man stated.

"Well come on man, what is it?"

"Major Jaro, Sir," he replied as if he was unsure of what he was talking about.

"What of him?"

"He is dead, murdered, we found his body just hours ago," the Colonel explained.

"What in the blazes are you talking about, Colonel?" Theen spat. "I have just spoken with Major Jaro, he is engaged in an operation as we speak, in Arcadia!"

"Begging your pardon, Sir, but whoever that man is, he is not Major Jaro. The body we recovered has been positively identified with his DNA on record. We have an infiltration, Sir."

Theen stood there for a moment in wonder, "By the stars..."

"Sir," a soldier called as he ran up the hallway to the Colonel and Ambassador. "All communications to the forces in Arcadia are being jammed, there is an engagement as we speak."

"Come quickly, we must go to Arcadia," Theen commanded as he ushered them along. "How in all the hells could someone assume the identity of one of your operatives, Colonel?!" Theen demanded.

"I have no information at this time, Sir," he said plainly.

"It would have been good to know before all that has been set in motion! You have any idea what is transpiring?! Quickly now, the Jedi are in the middle of a trap!" Theen exclaimed as they rushed off for the landing bay.

***

The sounds of active bodies moving about brought him out of his meditation and Liam Zaneth opened his eyes. Something wasn't right but what it was remained elusive and distant. He stood from his meditative pose and looked at the Jedi gathered around him. "Something has started," he said. "We should get inside."

Kael's lightsaber was in his hand, but unignited. Koran Darr and Laedra Vorrel's lightsabers remained on their belts.

"May the Force be with us all," Koran said as he looked around at the others.

"It will be," Laedra whispered with resolve, though her words were almost lost amid the crash of turbulent waves. They were gathered at the base of a cliff branching from that upon which the palace stood. It was this cliff that bore the hidden passage they would traverse to gain entry unnoticed into the castle. It was dark and unknown territory, yet Laedra felt they would easily find their way. The Force would be their guiding light. With a reaffirming nod, Laedra was the first to venture inside the gaping mouth of the cave. Thick darkness closed around her in moments.

***

The shadows under the palace were oppressive, weighing down more heavily than the entire palace could have. Dargus Kandran stepped carefully, the hilt of his lightsaber held firmly in one hand. He felt no fear, from himself or his companions. They were here on Jedi business, and the Force would guide them. He had to have faith in the Force, even though this mindset was new to him. More than anything, he had to be ready for anything. As such, his mind was tuned to danger, heightened through the Force. He would be ready for anything that may happen.

They rounded a corner, and at the end Dargus felt life...and death. His companions felt it at the same time as he. Four bodies hidden in the darkness, surrounding a single object that weighed heavily in the Force. It was a weapon, for certain, and one which the four intended to use to end the lives of the approaching Jedi. Dargus turned to the senior of the Jedi, those who would make decisions.

Quinlan Vos knew only too well how to sense danger and be able to tell when it was nearby. After all, he was still a young padawan when he began to go on trips to the far ends of the galaxy with Master Tholme, his Jedi teacher. And most of those missions were based on stealth and intelligence gathering beyond enemy lines. In this particular case, danger lurked just around the corner.

He needed only to lift his hand in a closed fist to warn the others, although he was sure they too could feel the presence of the four men and the large object they had near them. He ignited his lightsaber, as he was sure to need it, and heard the hisses of the other lightsabers as they too ignited around him.

Kal'Aran frowned ever so slightly. This was a secret underground passage to the Palace. Supposedly, only Alisson had knowledge of them until recently, which meant that either Ambassador Theen had double-crossed them, which seemed unlikely, or someone had stolen the intel from their battle plan and granted it to Nieme and Dani. The question remained...how much did the two girls know and what had they done to confront the Jedi that were incoming?

The first shots fired seemed more of a warning, as they hit nothing but air. With the darkness of the tunnel, it was hard to tell for certain who remained on the other side, just next to the repeating blaster mounted on the ground. The question that had been answered, however, was that the object was in fact a weapon.

As the next shots came, Quinlan Vos moved gracefully and swiftly, sending them back. At the very least, he was looking to hit the repeating blaster. Alas, he had not expected what was to come. It seemed that the big mounted blaster had a shield generator of some sort, which protected it against the bolts that Quinlan sent back.

"They have a shield generator!" Quinlan shouted as he was forced to move aside. The repeating blaster was a very rapid weapon in firing, and he needed his best to be able to dodge and block its shots.

Kal'Aran too was concentrating on the incoming shots, and they seemed to come in abundance. The only small advantage they had was the basic fact that the mounted weapon fired almost always in the same basic line of fire, which left it easier to block any second shots. He moved side by side with Quinlan. "Yes, perhaps we should redirect the shots to our foes..." he suggested as he blocked a few more.

It took them less than a second to discover that the latter suggestion was not an option, as the men also had personal shields protecting them. It seemed Nieme and Dani had protected themselves well. "Does anyone have a suggestion?" Quinlan asked.

Alisson moved fast and took her place near Kal'Aran, immediately followed by Dargus. A line seemed the best way to protect themselves against their opponents, but even they wouldn't stand long as it was. And the clone soldiers had the obvious advantage. Sending shots back wasn't an option, which meant that striking at them would also not work... But then it struck her. Even a repeating blaster with shields wouldn't function on its own.

"Move with me!" she told the others as she took small steps ahead. One by one, they became closer and closer to the enemy, even if by just a small distance further on. When she was in range she quickly moved and stretched her arm. With a strong Force push, she was able to send them back, falling down. However, the soldiers were fast in getting up and they had personal blasters of their own. Easier as it was, the problem still persisted in a certain level. But at least they were well beyond the reach of the repeating blaster.

"Well, that takes care of the mounted turret!" Alisson commented. "But we still have these troopers to take care of."

Dargus Kandran pushed his way forward, crimson blade lighting the darkness. "Then let's take care of them," he said.

***

With no illumination, the Jedi navigated the sinuous, cavernous tunnels using their Force sight to guide them. No longer relying on their vision, they were allowed to depend solely on the Force for detecting danger, expanding their awareness outwards to what might be laying in wait for them. It was comforting to feel one another's presence so near, to know they were not alone in this darkness, but the inner quietude achieved through that unity was disturbed by a ripple in the Force. All four Jedi stopped.

"Something's near," Laedra whispered.

"Ahead," Liam whispered. "I sense...four. No, five. The danger is strong."

Koran nodded. "I sense it as well. Approach slowly, allow the Force to guide us." He knew he need not say it, but for the sake of Kael who brought up the rear, he did. "Have lightsabers ready."

Laedra unclipped hers but kept it deactivated. Alisson had insisted the tunnels were unknown to others, but it was apparent soon enough that she had been mistaken.

A chorus of blaster rifles charging filled the silence, yet their opposition remained in the dark. Stretching out towards them with the Force, there was nothing but a large void; even with droids there was something perceived in the Force, but aside from their intent to kill, the Jedi were incapable of discerning who awaited them. But even in the absence of perception, it was clear what they were.

"Clones," Laedra whispered.

"Somehow Nieme and Dani were alerted," Kael said. "It's the only reason for clones stationed inside these tunnels."

Koran nodded. "It is a valid point, but the source of betrayal will have to be sought at another time. For now, we must continue with our mission, if we can."

"We can," Laedra affirmed. "They're as much in the dark as we are. Our advantage is the Force, though I suggest we keep our lightsabers deactivated for as long as we can. They can't shoot if they can't see us."

"Let us conceal ourselves within the Force," Koran said. "If we can approach without them noticing, perhaps we can disable them quietly. That'll allow us to slip inside the Palace."

Liam nodded. "It sounds like a sound plan to me."

A blaster bolt screamed past them and struck the wall to Koran's left. They ducked and deflected the spray of rubble that broke free of the craggy surface, but only another inch to the right, and Koran would have been struck.

Laedra frowned. "It would seem they already know we're here."

"That it would," Koran said. "I believe we'll have to do this the hard way. Lightsabers, and move forward on my mark. Defensive until we approach, then subdue them as quickly as possible. This day is going to be bloody enough; I'd prefer that we minimize the death on both sides."

"Preferably our own," Laedra quipped, and as one the four Jedi activated their weapons. The darkness became alight with shafts of pink, green, and blue, casting an ominous glow on the faces of each Jedi. Without a word, the clones began firing relentlessly. Their long fight had just begun.

"Storming Arcadia, Part 2"
By: Koran Darr
Major Jaro
Alisson Blair
Kal'aran
Quinlan Vos
Liam Zaneth
Laedra Vorrel
Kael Selrid
Dani
Nieme

Location: Palace of Arcadia
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Dargus Kandran followed the others inside, stepping over the section of wall he'd helped cut away. He moved to flank Alisson as they started down the corridor into which they'd arrived. "If my guess is accurate," Dargus said, "Nieme and Dani will make their stand in the throne room."

"Yes," Alisson agreed. It was the main room with the main controls for the speakers and cameras that were spread throughout the palace. Surely the best stance for a complete control and planning. But even such a room had faults. "But they will know we're going that way, so perhaps we ought to consider a different way to get there. There is a passage that leads us there so that we don't have to commit to the main door. But that passage may be compromised as this one was, so I suggest we cut down the power to that section of the palace and then make our way."

"I agree. We will stand better chances if they can't see us," Quinlan agreed.

***

Koran, Laedra, Liam and Kael all filed into the gallery chamber of the palace. The room was empty, but they were all certain the danger was far from over. Nieme and Dani were monitoring everything. It was a game of holographic chess, and a particularly dangerous one at that. Without speaking, the Jedi spread themselves into a defensive wedge and began moving forward. Not too distant, the sound of booted feet could be heard approaching. The next stage of the fight was about to begin.

As he removed his lightsaber from his belt, Koran turned to Laedra. "Can you sense Talara?"

She shook her head curtly. "Unless they are masking her, I don't feel her anywhere near us. Perhaps we were deceived. Perhaps she never was here."

"I cannot imagine them separating their prisoners," Koran said. "I think we'll need to go deeper. Liam, keep your senses at their limits, let us know as soon as you sense something headed toward us. Kael and I will focus on closer threats. Laedra, search for Talara as we move. Let's move toward the habitation wing."

Liam stopped and glanced around. "I sense something but I'm unable to pinpoint it. It is malice toward us, but it's faint. Be wary."

With that warning, the Jedi started forward, taking the leftmost of the passages out of the gallery. According to the maps they had, it would lead them to the areas of the palace where private chambers would be located. While most would choose to keep their prisoners in some sort of cell, they had a feeling that Nieme and Dani would have other ideas for their defenseless prisoners.

***

Major Jaro had taken a position to allow him to watch as the Jedi had entered into the Palace via the secret entries.

Heehehee, not so secret now!! Jaro amused himself as he gave the go for his team to pursue the Jedi from behind.

Jaro commanded several commandos to stay behind and guard the entrance, while he and half a dozen others entered into the Palace to find the Jedi.

"As soon as you even think you hear one of them breathe," Jaro ordered under his breath, "Open fire and don't stop until they are all dead!!"

***

The Jedi were about to pass through the door that would take them across the main hall when Liam Zaneth suddenly stopped. He spun around, the azure blade of his lightsaber snapping to life as it blocked a blaster bolt before it could burn a hole through his chest. "Behind," he called, though the others were already reacting, their senses alerted through the Force.

A stream of New Republic troops came through one of the doors behind them, weapons aimed and firing at the Jedi. The betrayal was now obvious. The real question, as Liam blocked several shots intended to kill him, was weather these troops were real Republic troops, or if someone had replaced them from less savory sources.

As the four Jedi turned to focus their efforts on the swarm of soldiers positioned in the corridor, the doors to the palace's main hall were flung open. Laedra and Koran reacted by swinging back around, only to face an army of Nieme and Dani's clones. "It would seem, Koran, that we have been betrayed," Laedra said gravely.

Koran deflected a pair of blaster bolts back at the soldiers who fired them. "Yes," Koran said as he blocked a blast that would have punched through Kael's back just as Kael did the same for him. He looked at the young Knight and gave him a nod of thanks. "This will be a difficult fight, even with our skills. We need to find a way past them, one that won't involve wholesale slaughter."

Laedra flashed him the faintest of smiles. "Of us, or them?" But despite the moment of levity, she was wholly focused on defending against the relentless barrage of blaster fire being directed at them.

To make the most of their situation, she aimed to deflect every bolt back to its origin, but none of the clones so much as flinched when they were struck; their armour absorbed the brunt of each blast. It would take more than energy pulses to subdue them, and she feared that would mean a direct attack, with no holding back.

Kael Selrid's focus was complete as he pushed himself deeper within the Force, nearly becoming one with it as his lightsaber whirled about his body, catching all the blaster bolts that ventured too near his body. They were at a stand-off here, forced too far into a defensive stance that would give them no chance at offensive action. With the flurry of blaster fire, the Jedi would be able to do nothing but defend themselves. "We've got to move out of here and quickly," he said calmly. "This is a stalemate here."

"There does not seem to be an avenue of escape, Jedi Selrid," Laedra reminded him calmly. "Unless we wish to press forward into a close combat battle." She frowned as her blade flashed past her face to block a well-aimed shot. "There will undoubtedly be casualties."

"If we concentrate all of their fire into a particular section of their defense," Kael began.

"It will create a weak spot we might be able to punch through," Liam finished, and with that, began to focus the deflected blaster bolts at the path that would lead them further into the palace, closer to where the prisoners would be kept.

***

They had managed to make their way through the first corridor without having been caught or ambushed... so far. But with the Palace security systems, it was an almost certainty that Nieme and Dani knew they were inside, and probably which way they were headed. But even so, they had not yet heard or seen a guard since they made it inside.

All of a sudden, Quinlan Vos made a stop, motioning for the others to do the same. All knew that the odds were against them and that they had been betrayed. It was just a matter of finding out whom had done so and how much did Nieme and Dani know.

"A group is headed here..." Quinlan whispered. "Ahead of us...I sense five presences."

Kal'Aran nodded. He felt it too. But there was more to come. "And one other closing in from behind," he added. "We must move fast, lest we fall in the trap that has been laid for us."

But it was too late already. The only good thing was that they were only facing one of the groups, as the latter one was still somewhat behind them. Without a single second to lose, Quinlan touched the control to close the doors behind them and destroyed the control to it with his lightsaber after they were shut. It would surely hold the second groups for a while.

The first shots came and Kal'Aran deflected them. He was surprised to see that they were facing the New Republic troopers, even though it answered who was betraying them to a certain extent.

"We must find a way to resolve this! They are not to blame for their actions. After all, they are merely following orders. Try to preserve their lives," the Jedi Master said as he defended himself along with the others, even though he meant his words more as a reminder to Dargus Kandran.

Dargus found it difficult not to roll his eyes at Kal'Aran's comment as he moved forward with the others, his lightsaber held ready before him. Each blast that neared him, he sent back at the attacker, planting each bolt between their feet. He longed for a blaster with a stun setting, but knew that it wasn't quite that easy. He swept his hand before him, and in response, several of the clone troopers were flung back from where they'd taken up positions. Suddenly Dargus pulled back as if struck. He glared into the ranks of the New Republic troops, searching for the source, but he could find none. The others would find out soon enough, but it wouldn't hurt to give them advance warning... So, as he moved backwards, still defending himself with his lightsabers, he shouted: "Ysalamiri!"

Alisson moved back with Dargus and the others. Things had just gone from bad to worse. Plus, the blast door behind them would not hold the guards off for long. A solution had to be found, and fast. If the Ysalamiri get close enough, we're as good as dead... she told herself, though she felt no need to speak them, as she was certain everyone knew it.

"We have to stop them! And pushing them will not help with the lizards..." she said as she fended off a few more incoming blaster shots. The troopers were getting closer and closer, and with the lizards there was no pushing them back anymore.

Alisson made a decision and sent a blaster bolt back at the trooper who had fired it, making it hit his leg. The trooper fell down injured, though he was not dead. It was a simple wound to heal with a medical bot or even some bacta fluid, but effective nonetheless. She grinded her teeth for she didn't like what she had done, but they didn't seem to have an alternative at all. "I suggest we take them out like this before they come any closer," she told the others.

Keeping well out of the Force-void bubble, Dargus kept his lightsaber held in front of him, twitching it occasionally to block an incoming blaster bolt. "Find the one who's got the creature," he said to the others. "I know how to stop them, but I need to know who has it."

Alisson could tell that whoever had the Ysalamiri in his possession, that particular soldier was not with an adult lizard in his hands. It was still a small one. And that was their luck as well, for an adult one would have a ten meter radius and they would have been caught. "I can feel the first three soldiers, so that means they're out of the bubble, and therefore not holding it. Which leaves us with the other three soldiers," she commented.

Dargus glanced around and found a crystal vase setting atop a pedestal. He reached out a hand and pulled it to him in the Force. It stopped before him, and he clipped one of his lightsabers back onto his belt. He let go of the Force-hold he had on the vase, and it crashed to the floor at his feet. "Whoops," he said with a smile, then gathered the shards with the Force and brought them up to his gloved hand. "Just let me get a clear path to the one with the Ysalamiri."

Quinlan wasn't sure what Dargus was up to, but if he knew a way then they would have to risk it and trust him. There were a couple of vases on the corridor, not too far from where they stood. A curious thing about the void bubble created by the Ysalamiri was that a Jedi could not use the Force when within it, but was able to feel and reach with the Force things around it and too far from its limit. The vases would provide a way...

Taking a defensive stance, he trusted the Force to guide his hand and block the blaster shots, while he took hold of both vases with his will. His stretched hand hurled the vases to the two guards on the back that were closer to the walls, leaving the one in the middle unharmed. And even though he lost control of the vases when they became too close, they already had too much speed to simply drop to the floor. The hit was precise and the guards fell unconscious to the ground.

"The Ysalamiri must still be small enough to be kept within a human body. Probably embryo. If the bubble keeps moving forward, then we already know who has the Ysalamiri," he said.

"Ysalamiri are too fragile," Dargus said. "Many have died just getting them to uncling from the branches they've grabbed hold of. One would not survive within the body of a living being, not and produce the bubble we're seeing here. Look for someone carrying a case, or someone whose armour seems overly large for their body."

Jaro stayed his distance behind his troops as they opened fire on the Jedi. He delighted in their surprise at the attack and could only imagine their scathing at finding New Republic Troops coming up from the rear. He was fairly certain that the young ysalamiri he kept about him had had its desired effect of slowing the Jedi's abilities.

So far he concluded by the Jedi's manner of attack, that they were not at all aware that these particular troops were not true New republic commandos, but former Imperial troopers for hire. He had hoped the mercenaries would take care of the Jedi before they could catch on to the way they attacked. Their mannerisms were typical of Imperial training, unlike that of New Republic training. Jaro also surmised that the ysalamiri would probably help to mudd the Jedi Force senses that would also allow them to read the intentions of these troops, compared to the mentality that a New Republic Trooper would have.

Jaro had to keep from losing control of his emotions, he was absolutely giddy with how the events had unfolded.

Jaro took aim for the dark haired Jedi that he oddly thought resembled a well known criminal he was somewhat familiar with. He fired a shot with his blaster but it went wide as one of the troopers was shot in the leg by the deflection of their own laser fire.

Dargus had been turning away to address another threat when the shot aimed at him was fired. Without turning, he swung his lightsaber back and intercepted the blaster bolt. Using the Force as his guide, he sent the bolt right back toward his attacker. "That's the one we want," he called as he spun around to follow the blaster bolt he'd redirected. When he saw the man who had fired upon him, however, he only raised a very intrigued eyebrow. "Well, well," he murmured.

***

The four Jedi moved together, directing all of the blaster fire coming in at them toward a particular point in the ranks of those opposing them. Koran Darr was the focal point, the guide in their actions. With each action he made, Liam, Laedra and Kael followed instinctively. They were as one.

As they finally managed to push their way through the troops blocking their passage, they sensed a new danger approaching. Crackling with the anger of their emotions, Nieme and Dani stormed into the room, purple blades held ready as they glared at the Jedi.

"You've gone too far this time," Dani said, her voice an angry growl. "We've played with you before, but not any longer. Now, you will truly feel our wrath."

And with a piercing, sinister giggle issuing from the two creatures of darkness, the Jedi were engaged.

"In Waiting"
By: Yelara Zaneth
Jae Dyn Brael
Zari Zathmir
Raeila Selrid

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Holding Leshie close, Yelara studied the woman sitting across the room with much scrutiny and wariness. She had called herself Jae Dyn Brael - Kallia - but Yelara knew neither, even though the woman had insisted they had a history together. There were moments when Yelara's memory was stirred by Kallia's scent, or certain looks in her eyes, but nothing surfaced, and again she returned to her state of imposed ignorance that kept her suspicious of all those around her, save for Dargus. She couldn't remember much about him, but that he was familiar was enough for Yelara. Everyone else was strangers, and it frightened her.

Noticing Kallia glance up from the child sleeping in her own arms, Yelara quickly gazed away towards the window. She had no idea why the woman insisted on remaining with her at all times.

"They'll all be back soon," Kallia said again. "So, did you want anything to eat? I can have Orn make us something. He's a very good chef. You don't remember his cooking do you? I could tell that little Leshie does though."

"I'm not hungry," Yelara replied flatly. "But...if you're hungry, feel free to go dine. I won't be lonely."

"Oh, I'm not hungry," Kallia said. "But, I thought you might be. So, now that you're here, Yelara, what...what would you like to do? You used to be really good with technical things. Would you like to do that again?"

She was brushing her lips against the crown of Leshie's head, his fiery red hair reflecting against her pale flesh. "I don't...know how to do that," Yelara said quietly. "I just...want to be with my son."

Kal nodded. "You still have no idea who I am, what we've been through together, do you?"

"I'm afraid not," she answered, and seemed almost apologetic. "My memories...many of them are gone. It can't be helped."

"I understand," Kallia said softly. "It's hard for me...because...because we were very close. I...I named my little girl after you."

Yelara smiled kindly. "I've been told as much." She glanced briefly at Zari, the young Padawan who was sitting alone at the table, studying a text. Yelara spoke quietly, keeping the conversation from being heard entirely. "I'll admit...there are times when I think I know you, when I...feel something. But those moments are fleeting. Whatever it was we shared with one another...perhaps it's time to move on. We may never retrieve what has been lost."

"It's hardest on Liam," Kal continued, as if Yel hadn't even spoken. "You were married to him, had a child by him. You saved his life from Dargus' attack, and allowed him to get Tae'Karada back from his control. He spent months trying to find you, trying to bring you back. It's quite ironic that when you did come back, you rushed into the arms of the man who killed you to begin with."

Yelara's expression hardened. "I have no recollection of that. I only remember loving Dargus...but I wouldn't expect you to be truthful about the past. You have much to gain by tarnishing Dargus' reputation. But I will not be so easily manipulated, Ms. Brael."

"You think that I would seriously..." Kallia shook her head and sighed heavily. "Dargus Kandran is currently my lover. I have no desire to tarnish his reputation or hurt him in any way. I only want you to know the truth...I only want Leshie to know the truth...and I don't want Liam hurt by all of this. I don't want him to bring you back, only to lose both you and his son."

Yelara's raven hair curled around Leshie's face as she reached down to kiss his brow. "I can't help it if his intentions were selfish ones...but I am grateful he revived me. I just don't feel I'm obligated to him in any way because of it." She looked up at Kal, and her eyes were devoid of emotion. "Or you."

"No, now your intentions are the selfish ones," Kallia said. "Then again, maybe they always were. Just don't expect to keep the child from him...you'll have a fight on your hands if you do."

Her eyes narrowed to angry, violet slits. "He may see Leshie all he wants. But he must realize Leshie belongs to Dargus now just as much."

"We'll see about that," Kallia said, "because I really don't think Dargus wants that responsibility now, now that he's not the villain of the piece and actually wishes to end the hostilities he'd started with Liam. Though, we'll see when he returns from the Palace tonight. I'm sure he'll--" She suddenly whipped her attention around. "Intruders."

Yelara stiffened and pulled Leshie closer to her breast. He whimpered softly in protest. "Who is it?" she asked in a mild panic. "What are they doing here?"

"I can't tell that yet, but there are a lot," she said, then turned to Yelara. "It's a counter-attack. They're the clones sent from the Palace, they were sent here by Nieme and Dani."

"Well what do we do?" Yelara asked, already rising. "We can't stay here!"

"There are two choices for you," Kallia said, standing up and shifting the carrier in which Yara sat to her back. "You can stay in this room, and wait until we've taken care of the threat. Or you can stay close to me where I can protect you. I will need to, however, get out there to assist the padawans."

"You're going out there?" she said incredulously. "But...your baby..." Yel was gazing at Kallia's belly.

"I'm the only Jedi Knight in the Temple," Kallia said softly. "Someone has to lead the padawans, guide them. I know now isn't the best time for me, but there's no one else."

Yelara was surprised at the pang of fear she felt in knowing Kallia was prepared to risk her life to protect the Temple...and herself. It was a troubling sensation, for she had no idea why she should worry over a woman she hardly knew. "I'll go with you," she decided, still perplexed. "Do you have a blaster? I can help."

"There should be one around," Kallia said. "Come on, I know where it would be if there is one."

"You there," Yelara called to Zari, who seemed lost in her own thoughts and unaware of the danger around them. "The children...can you manage with both? We need to get them to safety, and I can't exactly shoot with Leshie in my arms. Can you do it?"

Zari looked up and nodded. "I can take them," she said as she pushed away from the table. "I don't know enough yet as a Jedi to be able to fight." She moved to stand in front of Yelara, and her eyes were rimmed with tears that she was trying to blink away. "I know a place that's safe where I can hide."

"Then I will trust you with him," Yelara said gently. She kissed her son's brow, and murmured something into his ear that seemed to calm the child. Then she offered him to Zari. "Keep him warm, remember."

"I will keep him safe for you," Zari murmured, then gave Yelara a short bow. "He is a beautiful baby."

She smiled. "I know it."

A brisk knock came to the door, startling the three, but the voice coming through the wood reassured them for a moment. "Master Brael!" Raeila's voice urgently whispered. "Please, hurry!"

"We're on our way," Kallia said, then turned to Zari as she helped fit Yara's carrier on to the girl's back. "Take good care of them, Zari." She brushed away one of her tears. "And, you'll be fine. The Force is strong in you, it will guide you well."

"Thank you, Master," Zari said.

Kallia moved to the door and opened it to find Raeila on the other side. "Are you going to be joining us to take a stand against the invader's, Raeila?"

Her eyes grew wide with surprise, and she looked between Kallia and Zari, lightly bouncing Leshie to keep him calm. "I...I can if you wish, Master Brael. Or I can help Zari."

"Go with Zari," Kallia said gratefully. "Make sure she stays safe. See that the other non-combatants go with you. If you see Tralesha or Shaza, send them to the main hall, that's where we'll be assembling. Come on, time is against us now." For as inspiring as the words were, Kallia didn't appear very inspiring as she waddled from the room with one hand supporting her very pregnant belly.

Zari looked up at Raeila as she fell into step beside her. "When I was at the Palace, I saw your brother once. He told me to tell you he was safe and he'd see you very soon...and that he loves you very much."

Raeila smiled wistfully at the girl. "I know he does. I feel it." And relieved Zari of Leshie to ease her burden, and winked at her friend to assuage her emotional one as well. "I'm glad you're back, Zari. So glad."

"Me too," Zari said with a smile. The tears that had fallen just a short time ago were gone. The fear she felt, the defenselessness and hopelessness was a thing of the past. With the Jedi taking a stand and with friends near her, she felt safe again. Hopefully very soon, they would all feel safe again.

"Promise of a Kiss"
By: Keeve Shivral
Talara Sorenne
Ferrig Mullerin
Oot Kovan

Location: Palace of Arcadia
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

With all the organized chaos surrounding the palace's invasion, no one was placing much stock in guarding Dani and Nieme's acquisitions. Especially when one of them looked the part of one of Arcadia's Royal Guard. Playing his role as best he could, Keeve marched through the corridors with Talara hurrying along beside him. They'd avoided the fighting thus far, much of it localized at the far end of the palace where Dani and Nieme had positioned their troops. Even so, the sounds of battle rang through the corridors audibly enough.

"I thought the Jedi were supposed to be good," Keeve muttered to his companion. "It should've been over by now."

"Nieme and Dani were trained by the Jedi," Talara said softly. "And...and someone informed them that the Jedi were coming. They had a trap waiting."

Keeve stopped suddenly and turned to face her. "They were being ambushed and you knew about it? Why didn't you say anything! We could've tried to warn them!"

"I tried," Talara whispered softly. "They almost caught me, but...but I tried."

He grumbled. "We can't do anything for them now. Not until we get out." Then he started forward again. "Is Ferrig ready?"

"He should be," Tala said. "He took some clothes with him to Oot's room earlier. They should be dressed and ready to go."

Keeve raised his right hand and activated the comm imbedded in his vambrace. "Ferrig, we're nearing your location."

"We're ready," came the reply from Ferrig's own comm. "The guard has moved on. I don't think he enjoyed listening to us in here. We're ready for you."

"I hope you mean that in the most innocent way possible," Keeve retorted, and heard Oot chuckling in the background. "Just try not to start anything you can't finish before we get there. Keeve out." And he deactivated the comm before any other unwanted noises could issue from it. "Talara, go on ahead and make sure we're clear."

After checking her lightsaber, Talara nodded, then moved ahead of Keeve. The corridor was empty, except for the single guard stationed as far from Oot and Ferrig's door as he could be without abandoning his post. She gave him a nod and he returned it, then she started toward the door. As she did, she glanced back at Keeve and gave him a subtle nod. It was time.

Keeve stepped into the open with his blaster rifle levelled at the soldier. One clean shot hissed past Talara and threw the clone back. The only sound was a clatter as he hit the ground. "Alright, let's move," Keeve urged and jogged towards Oot's room. The two were in the doorway before he'd even come to a stop. "Get his weapon." Keeve tossed his head towards the fallen soldier.

Talara hurried to the crumpled heap that was no longer a threat and picked up his weapon. She quickly checked his vitals, and was satisfied that he was only unconscious. She ran silently back to the room, flashing a grin to Keeve as she approached.

Relieving Talara of the weapon, Keeve offered it to Ferrig. "You and Oot get to the south entrance. Shoot anything that moves. Talara and I will take the east."

Ferrig nodded and checked the weapon. "Good luck," he said. "I don't know the area around here, but we should meet outside if we can. Will the Jedi Temple work?"

"I think it's a location we may all know," Oot said, raising an eyebrow at Keeve.

He nodded curtly. "Right...if there's one left to return to," he muttered.

"If it's not there," Oot said, "we'll all have to figure something out on our own. Now, we need to get moving before those two have the sense to think that their little playthings might have minds and lives of their own with intentions to flee with the chaos." She turned to Ferrig. "Let's get moving." She gave Keeve a look that held a healthy amount of sultriness to it. "Good luck, Keeve. I'll see you soon."

Smirking under his helmet, he answered, "You wish." Then he and Talara stalked down the corridor. The last he saw of Oot before he rounded the corner was her hungry smile. He shook his head. "I'm in trouble when we get through this."

Talara grinned. "You don't sound too disappointed," she said as they moved silently through the corridor. "At least you can have your wife defend you from her advances."

He snorted. "From hers or yours?"

Talara grinned. "I'm being good now," she said. "Besides, I know a hopeless fight when I see one. I think I've got about as much of a chance at getting your attention as a frazzie in the desert."

"Then focus on Ferrig," he advised her. "But first...shall we get out of here?"

Talara nodded and moved alongside Keeve toward the exit they'd chosen. As they cautiously fled along the hallway, she glanced at him. "There isn't a chance, right?"

He glanced aside at her. "Do you really believe there could be?"

"Not really," Talara said with a smile. "But, you can't blame me for hoping. You are very cute, you know." With that, she quickly looked away from him and hurried a few steps ahead.

"Kids," he muttered fondly, and lengthened his strides to catch her. For as lustful as she was, Keeve still found Talara endearing. He just didn't want to get caught naked in a locked room with her, that was for certain. Though, he imagined Maeren would find that idea appealing. He sighed, thinking of his wife. "I'll be home soon," Keeve whispered. "I promise."

***

When Keeve arrived at the hidden door that would lead to his freedom, Talara was waiting for him, but the expression on her face was not a happy one. "The Jedi have broken through, and they're headed this way. That means troops are headed this way too. Hurry, Keeve. You have to get out."

Keeve grasped her arm gently and meant to drag her through with him. "You mean we."

"You have to get out, Keeve," Talara said urgently. "I'll cover for your escape, but you have to make it. If they don't think I betrayed them, I'll be fine, and I can find a way to sneak away. But as long as you and Ferrig and Oot are safe..."

"But you're just a kid," he told her. "What can you possibly do against all those troops!"

"I'm a Jedi Padawan," Talara said, a hint of pride leaking through in her words. "You'd be surprised at what I can do. I'll get out, Keeve, and I'll come see you to show you I'm alright. I promise."

Fearing for the girl, Keeve nodded hesitantly and released her. "When we meet up later...you'll have to collect your kiss."

"I'm looking forward to it," she whispered. "Be safe, Keeve. And, may the Force be with you."

Tugging off his helmet, Keeve smirked at Tala in the way he knew would melt her heart. "Who needs the Force when I've got the promise of a kiss from you to keep me going?" And with a dazzling wink, Keeve dashed through the door, ready for any offense he might face.

It took all of Talara's will not to wilt under the heat of his smile. She watched him go, offering a slight wave he couldn't see. Once she was certain he was gone and safe, she closed the hidden door and turned back down the hall. With her lightsaber in hand, she started down the corridor, preparing the story she would tell about the escape. She just hoped her own window of opportunity opened soon.

"Outnumbered"
By: Nyah Darasar
Vaya Bek
Aurra Sgall
Taran Kinneas
Yara Zaneth
Jae Dyn Brael
Yelara Zaneth
Va'Lesh Zaneth

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Ever since Nyah had learned of the plan the Jedi Masters devised she was worried. That uncertain feeling only grew stronger once Alisson and the others had departed the temple. She'd tried meditation but couldn't focus on that for as long as she'd like to. After giving up on that Nyah decided to go in search of Vaya. Perhaps some conversation with one of the other Padawans would do her some good.

***

Vaya felt that the mood in the Temple was very edgy. All the Jedi, save for Master Jae Dyn Brael, had left on some urgent and dangerous mission, leaving behind the Padawans. Not only was there a sense of uneasiness within the Temple, but Vaya herself was not feeling very well...she just wasn't herself, she was having feelings and thoughts that just were not like her own. She hadn't wanted to trouble her mentor with it as Laedra had more important things to attend to. In truth, Vaya didn't even know what she was thinking or feeling, she was just sort of lost in some kind of limbo. Sometimes she had her faculties about her, other times she felt as if she was drifting from reality.

Vaya had meditated for some time on these things and the sense of foreboding she was getting, either from the Force, or just her own personal feelings after her talk with Master Vorrel. Afterwards she thought it would be a good idea to seek Aurra out, and maybe have some companionship to ease her mind and feelings. She thought that maybe Aurra too may need a friend right now. She didn't know much about the Padawan, but the two were becoming friends, and after all, that was what friends were for.

Something's in the air... Vaya heard in her own head.

Padawans best beware... she heard again, like some stray unconscious thought of her.

Vaya shrugged it off, though she maintained a certain feeling of wonder and worry as she sought out her friend.

Alisson could handle herself well enough, Nyah knew. She'd seen her mentor in action in training several times and more recently on the mission with Korva. The cold feeling of darkness which settled on her that day wasn't something easily forgotten. With a quick shake of her head those thoughts were set aside. After some searching she finally located Vaya.

"Vaya I hope I'm not disturbing you," Nyah commented as a way of verbally announcing her presence even though that wasn't quite necessary.

"Hey, Nyah," Vaya answered. "No, you're not disturbing me, I was just looking for Aurra. Care to join me?"

Nyah nodded and fell into step beside Vaya. "I was hoping some conversation or other distraction would allow me to get my mind off of other things."

Vaya smiled. "I understand that, the air around here is pretty thick with everything going on."

Not to mention my own going-ons, Vaya thought to herself in regards to her recent dreams, loss of time and strange vibes.

"You're Master Blair's Padawan right?" Vaya asked the other girl.

Vaya didn't know much about the other Padawans; she had met and talked to Talara, and had quickly befriended Aurra. She hadn't really the pleasure of getting to know Nyah yet

Aurra saw the two girls and walked their way. She too knew of the dangers of the mission that the masters had undergone, and in a certain way she had hoped to go herself and help, but she knew that she was not yet ready for such a serious matter. No Padawan from the temple was.

"Hey..." she nodded to the two other girls. "Seems no one really knows what to do. Umm...maybe you want to hang out a bit?"

Nyah nodded a greeting to Aurra then proceeded to answer Vaya's earlier question. "Yes I'm training under the guidance of Master Blair. And yes I've been looking for a way to keep busy, even though I know the Masters are quite capable."

Vaya gave her friend a warm smile. "Hanging out is just fine. I, for one, do not have the concentration for any training right now."

Vaya turned to Nyah. "Of course they are capable. I don't doubt them, but still...I suppose we can only trust in the Force, and hope for the best for all to return safely," Vaya said. "I still kinda wish I was with them, with Master Laedra...but who am I to question her wisdom."

Aurra nodded. "Yes, we must trust their judgement. And we must trust the Force, as I'm sure they do too. It will guide them well...always," she said. She was confident in her own words for she had partly lived them when she was originally found and then later on when her Master was killed and Master Kal'Aran found her. She then forced a reassuring smile to the two other girls. "Come. Let us find Master Jae Dyn. Maybe she would appreciate our company as well."

***

Taran felt inside him something that bothered him. He didn't know why, but it started when Master Kal'Aran told he and Aurra that they were going to attack the Palace. He didn't know if it was about the Palace or any other thing that could go wrong.

Taran glimpsed towards the bed and saw a blaster that he had for some time, but what he was worried about was a box that he kept. The last object left of his family. But the strange thing was that the few times he glimpsed to it was as if he remembered the time his family was killed. Back then he had the same feeling that he had now. He decided to grab the box and walk with it until the Masters returned. He hoped that this time he was wrong.

Taran exited his room and went to try and meet the others. Talking to someone would probably take his mind of that feeling, but the box never left his hand.

***

"Well, then what shall we do?" Vaya asked.

She was still pretty new around the Temple and didn't really know the others save for Aurra.

"I have a nice spot atop the Temple I like to sit and look at the stars, anyone want to go out and hang around up there?" Vaya asked.

"Sure," Aurra nodded. Anything would be good. And the calmness of the outside with its nature sounds seemed a good way to try and relax. On their way though, she felt something and stopped. "I feel...a disturbance in the Force. Outside. We're not safe here," she said in an almost whisper.

Nyah simply nodded. "I feel it as well." That same disturbingly cold, dead feeling she'd felt with such prominence only once before.

***

In the corridor, Taran was greeted by a veiled presence, though one that was not wholly attempting to conceal itself. Simply one that moved with much grace and calm, contributing little disturbance to the Force around them. As he turned, a voice called to him. "You are Vurk?"

Taran stopped and looked towards the voice. He saw a beautiful face with brown hair and brown eyes. She was still young in probably her twenties. She was dressed like a Jedi, but she could be still a Padawan. He finally decided to speak. "Yes I am. The name is Taran Kinneas, miss...?"

"My brothers and sisters and I know many ways to kill a Vurk with but a single precise maneuver," she mentioned nonchalantly as she moved towards Taran. "We were taught much...but exposed to very little." And stopping before him, the girl tilted her head to one side to study him curiously. "I am Yara Zaneth. You are a very interesting creature, Taran Kinneas."

Taran laughed. "So are you, Yara Zaneth. You may know many ways to kill a Vurk, but have you ever known what drives a Vurk or their pain? Or how to fight a Vurk deadly as molten lava?" Taran looked to her eyes. "You may know many ways to kill, but are you prepared to face death when you see it?"

"I was engineered to face death," Yara answered flatly. "Of course I am, Taran Kinneas. Is that not why we are training to become Jedi? Because we accept death as one potential fate?"

"Yes, quite true, Yara." Taran studied Yara for moment. "You mention your brothers and sisters but I guess you don't have a relationship with them, do you? What I meant is they never were your family!"

Her head perked and Yara watched him quizzically. "Va'Lesh is my brother, and he is with me. My other siblings are serving another. We did never interact with one another...but they are still family."

"Well you know that it is your family that is serving the two probably insane woman at the palace and probably will kill you and Va'Lesh or anyone who lives in this place just for following the orders of some insane woman!" Taran tried to smile, but continued to hide the small box in his hand. Even if she noticed, he was not leaving that box out of his hand by any means necessary.

"They are simply performing their duty," Yara explained. "It is what they are programmed to do. They are good soldiers, Taran Kinneas. And I will be a good Jedi. No one should be faulted for doing their best."

"Yes, I agree with you! But answer me this: if one of those so called brothers or sisters kill Va'Lesh or anyone that you consider a loved one, would you consider the killer part of your family?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "Yet in the name of vengeance, I would be obligated to repay Va'Lesh's death in kind."

Taran looked in the strange point of view of Yara. "Maybe we have a different point of view. Or you didn't have a childhood to understand the word family. I hope I didn't offend you. If you knew what my childhood was like or how hard the Vurk's life is on Sembla you would understand my point of view..."

"Perhaps I would," she allowed. "But I do not." And she was not at all perturbed by the revelation. Instead, Yara manufactured a smile for Taran. "I am glad we met, Taran Kinneas. Were you off to train? I shall join you."

Taran looked at Yara as she accompanied him. He definitely made a strange new friend. At least he had someone to exchange points of view with. Taran moved the box to the other because his hand was hurting. He didn't want Yara to see the box, but part of him wanted her to see it. Like something in him wanted Yara to see the box.

She glanced aside at him, and his shifting gaze, which fluttered between herself and the box. Yara frowned. "Is that an heirloom? A tool of some kind?"

Taran looked to the box and showed it to Yara. "To tell you the truth, I really don't know. It belonged to my father. He gave it to me before the night he died. He simply told me that it was his lucky charm and he wanted me to have it."

"And you have not opened it yet?" she asked. "What has taken so long?"

"It is not that simply I don't even what it is than to open it. It continues to puzzle me to this day!" Taran looked at Yara. Strange was that the heaviness he felt before was gone, but the feeling was still there.

"Well, I hope you find the courage to do so, Taran," she told him, though her gaze suddenly turned distant as if she was focusing on an object through the temple walls. Yara's eyes grew wide and she stopped. "My brothers," she breathed.

"Brothers?" Taran said, as he tried to use his little experience to sense the surroundings of the Temple. Then closed unconsciously the box so tight.

Her lips spread into the first true smile Taran had seen from Yara. "They've come. My brothers have come to visit." Then, she bolted past Taran. "I must greet them!"

Taran used the Force to sense the surroundings and his feeling grew sporadically that danger was coming towards them. Taran saw Yara walking towards her brothers... The Clones... The Palace clones! Taran thought for a moment and realised that Yara's brothers and sisters were there to do the dark deeds of Dani and Nieme.

"Yara, no!" Taran said as he ran, towards Yara. Taran saw clone troopers entering at the end of the corridor with blaster rifles elevated to eliminate anyone that they found. The clones fired towards them. Taran was able to grab Yara just before a energy bolt hit Yara's face and pulled her to another room. "What kind of family wants to kill their own sister? We need to warn the rest..."

"They are only following orders," Yara explained calmly. "If I could simply speak with them..." And she turned out of Taran's hold in an attempt to return to the corridor.

Taran ran after her. She must be crazy... Taran thought to himself. Taran looked at the end of the corridor and saw one of the clones aiming towards Yara. Taran pushed Yara out of the way, but he was hit on his right shoulder, which threw him to the ground. His shoulder hurt like hell. He looked back to the clone and saw him taking aim towards him. Even if I used the aid of the Force to escape the first shot, I am probably hit on the second or third. This was it, the moment that he would die.

***

Danger! was the word that came to Aurra's mind. She had moved fast along with Nyah and Vaya to find the others as soon as they had first sensed it. This was a bad omen to whatever was to come from the Jedi at the Palace. She didn't feel Nieme nor Dani, but she did feel many others, though their presence was not at all like a regular one.

She knew that Master Jae Dyn would have felt it too, but with her present condition and the babies to look after, Aurra hoped that she would remain hidden as a final line of defense only. Drawing her lightsaber in a quick movement, she got to the corridor just in the nick of time to see the troopers come inside from the far door.

And suddenly it hit her. These were the clones from the palace. She summoned the Force to spread her senses and become more attuned with the Force and ignited the bright blue blade just before the clone could open fire. Her weapon swirled and its blue blade sent the shot back at the clone, though she made sure it would hit the wall and not the clone.

Nyah too was ready to react quickly. Ever since her mission with Alisson and Korva she'd kept her lightsaber within arm's reach. The entire situation at the temple spelled danger but she also knew the Padawans were the only available resource to defend their home. It should be a very rough fight assuming Nyah and her companions had a chance at all to prevail in this one.

Gladly, Aurra had spent much of her training time with training drones, so fending off blaster shots was not hard for her. But how much time they could stand the clones off was yet to be seen. Also, she didn't know how much training Vaya had and if she was able to defend herself. Hopefully she would be. "Anyone have any ideas?" she asked as she fended off a couple more blaster shots and took a step back to gain a more defensive stance.

Vaya saw everything in slow motion. Her Force sense picked up on the danger just as soon as it did the other girls. She had never felt a clone before. It eerily reminded her of the empty and slippery sensation she had been experiencing of late. She was of some wonderment as to these clones, she only knew of them from the impressions she received from Aurra, of which helped her to understand who they were and what it meant. For a fleeting moment Vaya thought perhaps the Jedi had failed in their mission if there were attackers to the Temple, but she quickly pushed aside those thoughts with no feelings of such a tragedy.

Vaya had seen Aurra skillfully deflect the blaster bolt to the wall with her lightsaber, and at that moment she ignited her own lightsaber, knowing that it was only a training blade, given to her by Master Vorrel. She was both surprised and yet not so, to see that instead of an azure blade, her weapon snap-hissed to life with a brilliant violet color. She had no recollection of procuring the lightsaber of Qel, but she gave it no real thought as her training and instincts took over.

With the surge of Force awareness about the Padawans, Vaya felt a slipping within herself, as if something was trying to take control or to direct her. She pushed out with her arm and her clenched fist opened as if she were throwing something in the direction of the clones. A powerful Force push was unleashed. The clones were thrown back into each other as Vaya watched them all fumble to the ground about each other in the same slow motion perspective.

The clones were not incapacitated, but momentarily put down and disoriented.

MOVE! she felt and heard within her own self, and she quickly obeyed.

"Come on, they will get back up in but a moment, this corridor is no good to us," Vaya commanded.

She then used the Force to mentally contact Aurra, You know this Temple better than I, lead us away, Aurra, I don't think it wise to make a solid stand, maybe we would be better off to have them chase us and gain some home advantage!

Aurra nodded at Vaya's comment. If they could make them go somewhere else further away from where the others were. Orn and Jae Dyn Brael and the children. They had to stop the clones from reaching them. She used the Force to attune herself with the other girls as she began to move back to where the corridor split in two. Yes, let us have them follow us. But we must make sure that they do follow, so keep your defensive stances and be on the lookout.

Vaya gave a mental nod to let Aurra know that she understood as the girls backed off from the troopers in a manner to let them believe they were on the retreat.

Nyah also believed their strategy was a good one. A direct stand could lead to more than they were prepared to handle. Though she didn't allow herself to ignore the weight of the lightsaber in her hand either, a reminder that this was real, not simply some training exercise.

With no time to lose, Aurra started to lead their foes to the other side of the Temple. The training room seemed a good place to regain some stance and have things more even. Gladly, the clone troopers didn't seem as eager to explore as they were to chase them with their blasters, so it was not hard to lead them there.

Once they got to the training room, Aurra turned to the others and nodded with a sigh. "They'll be here in a couple of seconds. Spread out and let us see if we can either have them surrender or run away. Though it seems unlikely, we must try our best."

"I'm glad you're here," came a familiar voice. From where they'd been huddled over by one of the tables Jae Dyn Brael and Yelara looked up from where they'd been going over plans of the Temple. "We're readying the defense from here. The force facing us is stronger, better trained, and more numerous, but we know this area far better than they. I may not look like I can fight, but I assure you I'm more capable than appearances would seem. Raeila and Zari are taking the youngest to safety, if you happen to see any of them, lead any of the enemy away from them. Our goal is going to be to lead our attackers into the forest and take them out in smaller groups."

"In that case," Aurra said as she took a quick glance to the doorway, "You might want to ready yourself for the small group that is nearing us right now and due through this door any second now," she stated as she readied her lightsaber.

It took only a few seconds to have the first clone entering the room. But Aurra already had thought of a distraction and turned the remote drones to attack any one who held a blaster. Of course they wouldn't hurt the troopers, but the distraction could prove useful enough.

The room erupted in chaos as Aurra Sgall let the remotes loose, earning a string of curses from Jae Dyn Brael. As the small hovering devices opened fire, it appeared to be a good idea, until they began to open fire on Yelara as well. The Jedi Knight cast a glare at the Twi'lek Padawan that told her there would be a serious discussion regarding her actions if they all made it out of this alive.

"You fool," Yelara shouted to the Twi'lek, and tossed aside her blaster. The remotes tracked it and fired, sending it skittering across the room. Her scowl was aimed at the girl. "Think before you act so hastily. Hasn't your Master taught you that?!"

Aurra glanced at Yelara. She hadn't seen the blaster and hadn't thought of the drones attacking her also. A mistake that she now hoped would not bring about any dire consequences to Yelara. Alas, she was too busy to answer and concentrated solemnly on the troopers that were incoming, deflecting their shots and using the Force now and then to push them back. She did, however keep an eye out and even force pushed a seeker drone back into her hands and away from Yelara, and shut it off.

Despite her pregnancy, Jae Dyn glided forward with her purple lightsaber flashing about her body, deflecting any of the blaster bolts that might be venturing too near Yelara. Those remotes that were closest, she slashed into debris with her blade, the rest she flung against walls and troopers, putting them out of commission before they could do more harm than good.

"Padawans," Jae Dyn called, her voice full of command, "outside now! You will be given instructions by Yara, Taran, and Va'Lesh." With that, she settled into a groove to finish off the small squad of troopers that had entered the sanctuary of the Jedi. Once the Padawans had gone, she allowed herself to descend into the Force and take care of the intruders.

"Dreams Do Come True"
By Garnet Seifer
Aeolus - NPC
Major Karvon - NPC

Location: Secret Base somewhere on Klain
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Ammut's personel ship landed on the hangar on her secret base somewhere on Spira. The location of this base was so well kept a secret that millions of transports and other kind of ships passed near by without knowing that this was her base.

She exited the ship, with her mask on her face and long black cape. Aeolus, her highly trusted personal bodyguard accompanied her every where she went.

A large group of people was waiting, many were soldiers like they were receiving somebody extremely important, and she was. In the last few months, still being doing time in jail for some tiny accusations, she decided to obey the orders of the Lord.

Ever since the strength that they had been gathering was still a long way to go. It was lucky that no one still found out about them or their plans, but all in due time.

A man dressed with a brown uniform was standing there, showing all his medals that he had already won. He stood there and saluted Lady Ammut. "Welcome, my Lady."

"Thank you, Major." Ammut continued to walk and the Major accompanied her. "Where is the Admiral?"

"He had a meeting with the Lord. Presenting the last report of the Project," he said.

"The Lord is waiting for my response. If the project satisfies me, you have to go on the test."

"Yes, of course, my Lady. I assure you that this will pleasure you. Please follow me." The major walked to the entrance and showed the way to the laboratories.

A few minutes later they arrived at the doors that lead to the labs. Ammut could read on the doors:. "Attention. Only authorised personnel is permitted."

The major placed his head on a retinal scanner. After a few seconds the sound of the door opening was heard and Major opened the doors and saw at first some cages. "As you can see here these are the many cages of the animals that we tried to manipulate, but some of them didn't obey us. Others were simply too small to do what we wanted. From this face we encountered only four kinds that would survey our purpose." He opened a new door that was on the other side of the room.

She saw beyond the doors a huge lab with some people dressed with white clothes and with masks inside a room, so that the environment inside those labs could be maintained clean. "These are the fertilisation chambers. It is here that we fertilise the eggs and it is here that we maintain close surveillance when they are on their egg stage. Once they are born they are moved to the next room," the major said, moving to another chamber.

She noticed that here some people took care of the babies.

"It is from this stage that each caretrooper is appointed one animal to educate when they are babies. The caretroopers feed them and take care of them ever since this stage."

"Making them think they are their respective mother or father," Ammut spoke up, looking to one of the caretroopers feeding milk to one baby that looked like a tiger of some sort.

"Exactly, My Lady. This stage the animals are still inoffensive." The major moved along and opened another that lead to a larger chamber.

Ammut saw the youngest animals jumping, doing what the caretroopers ordered them to do.

"This is the training chamber, it is here that we teach the animals what to do." He looked to Ammut. "Here is a Kordux. It is a fierce and violent one, very loyal to their parents, as you can see here that the Kordux has black fur..." He stopped speaking and approached a comm and spoke something.

Moments later the Kordux looked towards the window like he was seeing the people on the other side of the glass. The Kordux started to growl. His gentle black fur, change to a reddish spiked fur. The animal approached the window but continued in the attack position. The care trooper called him and the fur turned back to normal.

Ammut glanced to Aeolus that looked happy when the Kordux looked to them so calmly. "Why did he change color of his skin?"

"Is very simple, it is only to intimidate the victim, to create fear in them."

"Well I feel his anger towards me. It made me shake my spine," Aeolus said with a smile on his face. "Magnificent animal!"

"That is not all. This change of fur is only possible because the animal is a Force sensitive one. They only evoke it to change the color of their fur, nothing else."

"The Kordux uses the Force to intimidate his victims?"

"No exactly intimidate, the correct word is create fear on his victims," the Major said. He moved along and looked to the other side, looking to another animal.

Ammut saw an animal almost five meters in height with a dense fur, and a large mouth like it was a nexus, but it was exactly, because this animal could sustain on two legs, which made them huge.

"This animal is called the Zaikon. At first this animal can mistake their opponents, because he as two skins. The first is like our own, very fragile, but the second it is very hard and thick. It can sustain blaster wounds, swords and vibro knives. It can probably sustain a lightsaber, but not for long. The only way to kill it quickly is by cutting their head off. But don't be mistakened, it is much harder than it looks. The Zaikon's defense is pretty damn good, which compensates for his slowness. This animal is much more clever. We have been training them to hunt others of his kind." The major paused.

"In their natural habitat, one of them lures the prey into the trap. Magnificent animal this one. It shows that also animals know how to make a trap." He continued to walk to the last training room.

Ammut saw that each kind of animal was trained in separate rooms. "How many rooms do you have like this one?"

"Well we have a total of three hundred in this base. We produce about twenty animals per two weeks," the major said as he stopped at the third window. "We are currently building more than a hundred training rooms."

"And you have personnel for that number of animals?"

"Yes, of course. These animals only obey their respective trainers. We have a waiting list of about two thousand people to enter. Of course we make few tests if they are qualified or to make sure that they do whatever we ask of these animals."

Ammut glanced to the last animal and saw one of the ugliest animals yet. It didn't reach about a meter of height and it didn't have any fur. It looked like some kind of lizard.

"This is the Kratus Dragon, also known as the Pod Racer Dragon. It is called this because it is the fastest of Klain and probably the fastest of the galaxy. He can reach to a top speed of 300 kilometres per hour." The major noticed Aeolus whistle and Ammut was quite impressed. "His legs have such power that we were quite surprised when we first saw them and it took us almost an year to capture two of his kind. The down side is that it has small claws, to permit it to run at such high speeds, which means his attacks are very weak, but it can inflict 30 attacks under thirty seconds which compensates a lot." The Major heard Aeolus whistle again. "Please follow me, I'm about to present the grand jewel of this base."

Ammut followed the Major towards a gigantic room. This room had special protection like a window and force field to protect them. The Major turned on the lights and what looked like bird sat right in front of the window. The bird almost reached two meters of height.

"This is the Night Angel, the most dangerous creature on Klain and the second most dangerous creature in the galaxy. It can look like a normal bird, but don't let that fool you! It was with this animal that the myth of the Vithires was created."

"The blood sucking creatures?" Ammut said, surprised.

"Yes also known in the rest of the galaxy as the Dark Angels. This animal is considered a pre-historic animal, and many of the tales of the destruction of many ancient civilisations is awarded to these creatures. Of course that fact wasn't proven yet." The Major continued with his explanation. "The only thing that you mustn't do is get bitten by one of these animals, they will insert a poison inside the blood stream, that will alter drastically the nervous system of his prey. They usually kill their prey for food, but there are in some cases people who have survived."

"I heard that it can turn a gentle person into a mass murderer!" Ammut said.

"In some cases yes, but you must understand that the way it affects the nervous system can change from species to species, and we suspect that it can change from people to people. How it is done we don't know yet. Most of the infectious people are considered a danger, so that is why we order shoot to kill and question later. Admiral Fanion was beaten by this one." He pointed to the animal near the window. "And we were forced to kill him."

"I heard of him. The admiral that went crazy," Ammut spoke and looked to the Major.

"Well this is it. It is small, but we try to do our best."

"Thank you, Major. I will tell the Lord what conclusion I got from our visit." Ammut walked out of the room and made her way to her personel shuttle.

As the shuttle took off, Garnet took out the mask and set it on the table. "Geez, I don't know how she can wear that mask. I could barely breathe in there."

Aeolus looked to Garnet's face. "You can act, Miss Seifer. All the time we were there I thought you were Ammut."

"Thank you. She said it was going to be worthwhile." Garnet paused. "My idea is now a dream coming true. Who would have known?"

"For the record, Miss Seifer we didn't make changes on your idea whatsoever. All of what you saw came from your original idea," Aeolus said.

"Impressive. I thought my ideas never worked out. Except for Brutball - that is working only because of Jadda's money. My idea coming to life, I would probably look incredibly stupid when I saw those animals... Maybe Ammut is right, together we can reach somewhere. Do you have any word of the doctor?"

"No." Aeolus smiled in a glory day. To him this was good news since once the two minds joined together the Lord would respect her again and himself for the good work they were doing for him. "We are down to three planets. Tatooine, Dantooine and Nar Shadda. Don't worry we will find him."

Garnet smiled and sat on the chair, glancing to the mirror. "You were right, Ammut. With my gift in making plans and thinking of new ideas and your gift of maintaining the plans to work out, soon we will become unstoppable."

"Painful Thoughts"
by Aeris Strife
Yuna Ronso - NPC

Location: Ronso Estate
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Aeris sat on the gardens of the Ronso estate, with a hot cup of coffee to worm her. It tasted so good in that winter night and it was the first time in an extremely long time that she was resting.

The warm blue sweater that she was wearing was cozy. She sat there and looked to the stars that filled the night over the Ronso estate. She sat there aside of the news of two unknown girls being proclaimed as Empresses of Tae'Karada, made her think. "Only in the Outer Rim."

She never understood what kind of people controlled this planet, but it seemed they were not very good at it. She probably couldn't do any better, because she wasn't fit to rule a planet. But just proclaiming some unknown empresses just like that, sounded very much a like Republic of the bantha poodoo. A term very used by Imperials to symbolize a government that can't take control of things and are constantly in revolutions. Power, without the people's support, wouldn't last. A rule of the Galaxy.

She remembered very well when she was a pirate that she heard and saw many worlds between the Mid Rim and Outer Rim worlds succumbed in endless internal conflicts ever since the Empire took control and some of those conflicts were much older than the Empire itself. If no one brave enough to take control of this planet, Tae'Karada would probably succumb to a Civil War. It was the way of the Galaxy. It always started like this, some taking over and who paid? The innocent people, those poor people that simply wanted to live their peaceful lives.

The first ones to suffer were the children. Did any of those people think about that? No, it was simply for profit or to have control and that made her even madder.

"Seeing the stars are we?" Yuna spoke as she sat beside Aeris. It was strange how close friends that Aeris and Yuna became.

"Yuna... Yes just seeing the tranquility of the stars, also to think." Aeris placed the mug to her lips and drank a little of the hot coffee and then placed the two hands around it to get it warm.

"Think... I used to be here looking at them trying to see which one of them that my Auron supposedly died. I tried to guess many times and I prayed to them to bring my son back, at least his dead body, but they brought him alive and well."

Aeris sighed for a moment and that face of hope reminded her so much of her mother. "War...!" she said with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"No..." Yuna shook her head and looked to Aeris. "Power, is the guilty one. It's a condition of every species. We are like this for punishment, we in the beginning of time our ancestors did something terrible do deserve this destiny of wars and suffering."

Aeris smiled. "I believe the gods are not punishing us, but constantly remind us that life is too short and we must live every second of it."

"A noble notion," Yuan said, looking to Aeris. "Your parents taught you that?"

"I wish... My parents didn't have time for that kind of thing constantly working. No... I learned this notion has pilot. We constantly face death in every battle we are in. It is a hard life, but an honest one." Aeris turned finally to meet Yuna's eyes. "I believe the people that are responsible for these wars are alone and angry at the galaxy, only because they didn't have normal childhoods. They kill innocent people for their personel gain. Women, men, old people, children and even babies..."

"Yuna do believe that a baby that never saw her mother can recognise her in the other life?"

Yuna nodded. It was definitely a strange question, but looking to her eyes she could see that she once was expecting a baby. She could see that in her eyes. "I believe so, Aeris! Things can be hard in life to lose a friend or husband, but I think nothing compares to losing a son or daughter. The parents are not supposed to bury their children, it would be the other way around, life has its own strange things."

"Yes..." Aeris said. She was a fighter; it was in her blood, but when she remembered the loss of her child, the mother inside her wanted simply tp cry for a child that she never saw and never will.

Aeris simply looked at the stars and hoped that one day that the galaxy found peace, a peace that she knew inside her that all the species would not have not one billion years, because there will be always another war to be fought.

"Proceeding Plans"
By: Cole Slaton

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

They'd been training for what seemed an eternity, the lightsabers were a blur of light as they cut through the air crashing into one another. The humming noise of the weapons were almost a constant as attacks were blocked only to have counter-attacks coming thick and fast. Cole ducked under a savage swing from Koran, feeling the heat radiating from the lightsaber as it passed harmlessly over his head.

Cole had two lightsabers, a dark blue almost black saber in his right hand and an almost white blade in his left. Cole couldn't see the smile slowly growing on his opponent's face the faster and harder he pushed Cole. He knew the boy's arms and legs were aching beyond belief but still the boy continued, continued to fight and resist.

"You can resist all you like!" Koran shouted, blocking another attack before stepping back, allowing the white saber to slash in front of him, kicking into Cole's side, pushing him back. "But in the end you'll lose! Just like before..."

That seemed to do the trick. Cole's eyes twitched just slightly, showing the anger within him bursting to the forefront. The young padawan exploded forward, a wave shot out through the room as he manipulated the Force. Koran reached out with his hand, throwing a bubble out deflecting Cole's attack. He didn't have long, a split second, to react as Cole followed the shockwave with both sabers.

This boy is powerful! Koran thought with a smile, finding it increasingly hard to keep the boy at bay. He was in full flight with his anger fuelling his actions.

He knew what Cole was feeling, the adrenaline, heart pounding in his chest. There was nothing but the target, nothing but the urge to kill, the desire to tear him to shreds. It's all coming together...

He felt something as he lifted his lightsaber, blocking Cole's own weapon. Danger was close, someone was attacking the Temple! He must be warned!

"Cole..." Koran whispered through clenched teeth. "A strike force is attacking the Temple, you must hurry, you must survive!" As Cole looked at his master he watched with horror as he suddenly turned to black mist that exploded outwards, engulfing everything.

***

His eyes opened, he sat cross legged with a circle of candles encircling him in an otherwise dark room. The light from the candles only seemed to go a single pace before swallowed by the dark. He was alone in the bare room. There wasn't even a carpet, there were no curtains for there were no windows. The lonely figure was all that stood within the room alive or not. "They are becoming meddlesome..." he cursed, his deep voice echoing around him, filling his ears. "Cole is too important to my plans, something will have to be done." He just hoped he'd done enough.

***

The door creaked quietly as it swung open. A lonely dark figure emerged in the shadows sliding a knife free from its sheath. The blade caught the light coming in through the window from the outside. Derrik was still in bed, the Force must have warned him, or perhaps it was something else, something that came from a deep animal instinct thought long lost. Whatever the reason the young padawan woke with a start and at seeing the cloned soldier in the room his eyes grew wide.

The soldier ran forward, and in the darkness didn't see the thin cord waiting in a noose. It was pulled tight the moment he was caught in the trap. There was a loud gurgling sound from the soldier as he tried to breathe in, but his weight was crushing his windpipe, choking the very life from him. Scratching at his neck the soldier never even thought about using the knife in his hand; when panic entered one's mind, even a clone's, rational thought vanished.

When he stopped moving, and the knife fell from his now limp hand. The body was lowered quietly to the ground. Cole dropped from one of the high beams above running just below the ceiling. He rolled the soldier over, looking down at him, a human. Nothing really striking about him, in fact everything about him was average. Average height, average built, hair long. If he were in a crowd you'd never have spotted him; perhaps that's what the appeal was.

"You should stay here..." Cole whispered, unfastening the soldier's belt quickly, putting it on before sliding the knife into the sheath. He tested the blaster now on his right hip. It drew smoothly. Obviously their employers didn't want sloppy soldiers.

"Y-you're going out there?" Derrik asked, still shaking after the ordeal. "Y-y-you're c-crazy..."

Cole just shrugged and grabbed the soldier's radio before he stood, glancing at his roommate. "Perhaps, but where there is one... there'll be more. Keep your head down and stay out of trouble." Cole slipped out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him, not waiting for any protest from Derrik. Sticking the earpiece into his right ear he attached the radio to his belt at the back before turning it on.

"Moving into rear of Temple." He heard other voices telling him where other squads were proceeding. He hadn't heard any gunfire, which really didn't mean much as the soldier who came into his room was willing to get blood on his hands. If one was then it was safe to assume they all were.

Cole stepped off away from the door, vanishing into the shadows proceeding towards one of the groups. The hunters were becoming the hunted.

"Quest of Wisdom"
by Quistis Knox
Tidus Highwind
Elina Kasn - NPC
Bazon Zack'keeer - NPC
Gnorin - NPC

Location: Temple on Dathomir
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Quistis entered a new room. This one was very wide and it had much light in it, that she could see details of the room. The ceiling and walls had the exact architecture of the previous rooms, but the floor was divided in three different colors.

To her right stood a floor painted in Blue, on her left had green painted on the floor and on the other side was painted in yellow. The lines that divided this three coloured floor met in the middle of the room.

Quistis walked very slowly, trying to see what kind of trap this room had. As she reached the center of the room, the holographic image of the woman appeared. "Welcome to the Quest of Wisdom, Quester!

"As you can see on the other side of this room there is a wall with some words written there. First you must put the correct words of each line. Once that is complete you must respond to a question. A warning, you only have three shots at this or you fail this quest!"

Her image disappeared. Quistis ran towards the wall and she saw it had five lines written above some crystals where the letters were easy to read, each letter was written in a different crystal together. Quistis read:

Sword of... Art of... Becomer of... Eternity of... Reinforcer of...

To the left of this lines there was five rectangular crystals that had the words:

Honor Courage Strength Wisdom The Force

Quistis tried to read with the many combinations that made the phrases, but everything seemed to fit in any one.

***

Elina stood watching the five phrases and she knew which word went to which line. She knew quite well those five lines too well. She sensed Quistis' uneasiness on this quest. "Calm down, Quistis," she said to herself. "Read the lines and hear it with you heart..."

The sound of heavy footsteps was heard from the corridor behind her. She saw it was Gnorin. "Guys there is an Imperial squad searching the area for the visitors, we need to get moving!"

"She is almost there, Gnorin. I can't interrupt the quests. She needs to conclude it."

"It is better to prepare a defensive stand, at the entrance. The TIEs are searching this perimeter and it would be matter of minutes to find us!"

Tidus approached Gnorin. "I will go with you. Elina you wait here for Quistis. Once she is back here tell us! Bazon you come with us!"

"Who, me? No... Me and weapons don't combine," Bazon said, stepping back.

"Today you will combine. No choice." He grabbed Bazon's arm and followed Gnorin.

***

Quistis set the words in the lines. It read:

Sword of Honor Art of Courage Becomer of the Force Eternity of Wisdom Reinforcer of Strength

A sound was heard but no movement, then a huge sound was heard behind her. Quistis turned and saw that the floor painted in blue had fallen to a huge abyss. Oh great, she thought to herself and retrieved the last word she input. She thought for a moment trying to think of it, when something didn't quite fit there. She reviewed the phrases over and over and tried something. She read the lines one last time.

Sword of Honor Art of Courage Becomer of Strength Eternity of Wisdom Reinforcer of the Force

She waited for a while, then no sound. On the right of the phrases there appeared something. She moved to the side and read out loud. "Using the letters of the phrases respond to this question. What is called the main weapon of a Knight?"

She stepped again to see the phrases and took out the crystals that composed the word 'sword' and placed it on holes under the question.

No sound came from the room, then the floor with the green floor fell to the ground. She took out quickly her response and set again where they were. "What is called the main weapon of a Knight?" she said out loud.

She took her time to examine the phrases and then out of nothing she saw it. It was right in front of her. She knew that Bazon telling the story and realised that sword was not correct.

She took out the crystals of the first letter of each phrase and wrote as a response "SABER". She waited while hoping that Bazon didn't mistake in mentioning the name. No sound for a few seconds, the wall in front of her started to move to the sides, showing the entrance of a new room. Now the final quest was now waiting for her. Just one quest to reclaim the sword as hers.

"Close to Freedom"
By: Keeve Shivral
Oot Kovan
Ferrig Mullerin
Kambra Gant

Location: Arcadian Palace
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Keeping as far away from the sounds of battle as he could, and moving as fast as he dared without appearing suspicious, Keeve, disguised as a soldier, sought his way to the arranged meeting area, and towards freedom. The armour clacked as he strode through the corridors, and attempting to approximate the clones' rigid, precise gait proved frustratingly impossible to Keeve. He opted for speedwalking in the hopes that he would be long gone before anyone could spot him.

Communication with Ferrig and Oot was out of the question - there was no way of completely securing a channel, and now was not the time to take chances. They all knew the plan; there was nothing more to discuss.

One small matter, however, gave Keeve pause once or twice in his trek through the palace, and it was Talara's absence. In the back of his mind, he knew Talara wouldn't be there when he arrived, but Keeve was still determined to see her safely out of the Temple. For as much as he'd initially despised her, Talara had made an indelible impression. He didn't know if he could leave without her. Still, he pressed on, even if he would have to go back for her in the end.

The clatter of armour and staccato, regular thump of boots against the marbled floor snapped Keeve back to reality. He flattened his back against the wall, inwardly cursing at the loud racket his own armour made when it hit the surface. But the group of soldiers jogged past the intersecting corridor without noticing his presence. Once their footsteps faded, Keeve poked his head around the corner and looked up and down the passageway. Time was running out and he could no longer afford to be cautious. Taking up his blaster, Keeve swung around the wall and dashed through the corridor.

His footfalls echoed resoundingly in the deserted hall, but Dani and Nieme had summoned all the clones to the front lines of battle. He met no resistance on his way to the rear of the temple, and if a lone soldier wandering outside seemed odd to anyone, they gave no indication of that.

Slipping through the ornate gates leading to the courtyard, Keeve was certain he'd set off a perimeter alarm or two. Yet still no one came, which gave him a moment to stop and just wait. He tugged off his helmet and exhaled in relief at being freed finally of the sweltering heat within. Wiping sweat from his brow, Keeve stared hard into the corridor, hoping to catch some glimpse of Talara's approach. Minutes passed, each one minimizing his chances of a safe escape, but Keeve couldn't bring himself to leave just yet.

It took a moment to register fully that the staggered clomp of running footsteps was not Talara's bare feet scampering towards him. When the horde of soldiers in gleaming black armour veered around the corner, charging towards him, Keeve had no choice but to abandon his vigil for Talara. Tossing aside his helmet, Keeve turned and sprinted across the courtyard, trampling flowers and kicking up tufts of dewy, green grass as his feet pounded against the ground. The shrill hiss of blaster fire was not lost on him, nor were the orange shafts of light streaking past him and disappearing into the hazy darkness beyond the palace's outer limits. It was that void that Keeve now sought, his only passage to freedom.

That seemed much farther away as the blaster fire grew louder. One blast clipped his right arm, glancing off the armour but its force still knocking him slightly off balance. He stumbled to the left, sliding on the slick grass, but righted himself quickly and soldiered on. The whine of energy sailing past his ears seemed to spur him on faster and harder, and the waist-high stone wall bounding the courtyard seemed that much closer. He blinked away sweat stinging at his eyes and unclipped the portable grapple hooked to his belt. There would be no time to secure the device to the cliff-face beforehand; Keeve had no choice but to do so during freefall.

Smiling ferally, Keeve scoffed at the challenge and prepared to swing himself over the edge. "You better be waiting, Shiv, because I'm coming home soon," he murmured, and planted his hand down firmly upon the ledge.

Shiv's smile flashed across his mind, lending him courage, but her lips now twisted as a cry ripped from them, though it was his own voice issuing forth. The bolt of energy caught him squarely in the back and rippled over the armour's surface. Stunned and tingling painfully from the shot, Keeve plunged over the balustrade headlong. Mind still numb from the shot, Keeve aimlessly fired the grapple and feebly attempted to clip the free end to his belt. He couldn't be sure if it had taken before his body slammed into a jagged outcropping; something snapped loose, and he couldn't be sure if it was the rocky promontory breaking off, or his torso separating from his legs, for he could feel nothing below his waist now.

Debris clattered against his armour plating and the wind screamed past his ears. Before him was nothing but darkness, and now it was closing around his mind as his eyelids fluttered closed. He'd yet to feel the rope go taut, a sign that would assure him he was no longer plummeting to the rocky shore below. There was no way of knowing if the grappling hook had secured itself to the cliff, but as he slipped into unconsciousness with Shiv's name coming soundlessly from his lips, Keeve hoped it had found its mark.

***

"This way," Ferrig Mullerin said, pointing down a long alleyway that led between a pair of government buildings.

"Just at the end of the alley," Oot said calmly as she followed Ferrig's lead. Thankfully they both had clothing, and she something to cover her head. The less distinctive they made themselves, the better. "He should be here though."

"Your friend?"

Oot shook her head. "No. Keeve. He should be here. Kambra is already here, has been for some time. I figure he knew we were getting out of the Palace before we did. There!" She pointed at a figure hurrying away from the Palace, in their direction. "That's him! Wait...where's... Damn, it's not them."

"Only one of them," Ferrig said with a nod.

"And, he's too short," Oot said. "We'll wait longer."

"Mesa tink you shouldn't wait too long," came a drawling voice from the shadows of the alley.

A wide grin spread across Oot's face as she turned to find Kambra emerging from the darkness. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again," she said as she hugged him. "I've missed you, my friend."

"Wesa need to find safety," Kambra said as he nodded to both Oot and Ferrig. "Come."

"We can't go yet," Oot said. "There are others coming out of the Temple too. I can't leave them behind, Kambra."

Kamba Gant eyed her through his one good eye, then nodded. "Mesa understand," he said. "Wesa can't stay too long. Mesa not let you get caught again."

Oot nodded, but said nothing. She wouldn't leave Keeve behind, not if she could avoid it. She had to be able to avoid it. While she'd never been very discriminatory over who she took to her bed, there was something special with Keeve. Where others held an interest, there was a burning passion for Keeve. She would wait for him if she could.

Time seemed to stretch on, and neither Keeve nor Talara showed up.

"I hope she didn't betray him," Oot muttered.

"Don't you ever suggest that," Ferrig snapped. "Don't. She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't."

Kambra cocked his head to the side and regarded the young human. "But she has before," he said.

Ferrig started to snap off an answer, but only turned away.

Kambra took a step toward the regent of the planet, and she nearly cowered away from him. "Oot..."

"Not yet, Kambra," she whispered. "Please. Just a little longer."

"If he were coming..." But Kambra didn't need to finish the sentence.

"Fine," she said. "Let's go. Are your people ready?"

"Yesa," Kambra said. "They are ready."

"Then, come on," Oot growled. "He knows that if we didn't meet here, we'd meet at the Temple. I...I just hope he's there."

With that, they slipped away from the alleyway, and made the best speed they could toward the forest that held the Jedi Temple. It wasn't easy to disguise a human, a gungan, and a twi'lek, along with a retinue of palace soldiers. Somehow, though, they managed to get out of Arcadia, but throughout the entire trip, Oot Kovan could not shake the feeling of unease that had descended upon her.

***

Weightless, suspended upon a miasma of swirling fog in a sea of darkness, his incorporeal eyes opened to the black, endless tunnel surrounding him. There was nothing on either side of his floating body, aware of its presence only by the pain throbbing in his back; though, since he was dead, why did it still hurt so much?

The muffled sound of moving water filled his mind, and the cord extending from his midsection far into blackness transported him back to the womb, the once place he blearily recalled being safe and truly content. Kaysa's lullabies echoed back to him in a language he had never learned to comprehend, but the rich accent alone brought him comfort. As much as he'd hated her in life, now he would give anything to see her smile once more. He wondered if she would cry for him; he knew Maeren would be, but now she could finally find someone worthy of her love. Keeve had never felt worthy.... His life had been a waste, filled only with anger and hatred, and contributing nothing. If he'd lived, he would have done anything to make Shiv and Kaysa proud of him. Why had he been such a brat?

The taste of something wet and salty struck his tongue, but Keeve felt no tears drawing from his eyes. The same wetness sprinkled against his cheek and stung at his eyes. Then came the smell - sweet and fresh. The smell of the sea. The Tarkayze Sea. If he was truly dead, then why could he still feel the spray of water spattering his face?

Keeve sucked in a sharp breath and his eyelids snapped fully open. His body jolted as newfound vigor coursed through him, causing the rope holding him aloft to sway side to side and twist him around. It was then he caught sight of the distant shore, waves crashing against the weathered rocks. He glimpsed the stars and moon, then swung back around to discern the rocky cliff face that had broken his fall. Keeve groaned at the memory and tucked his chin into his chest to gaze down the length of his supine body. His legs hadn't been torn off during the plunge after all, and although his back still ached, all feeling returned to his limbs.

Rubbery arms reached up to grasp the rope, missing at first in disorientation, then caught hold. Keeve gave it a tug, and then emitted a hoarse laugh. The grapple had secured a hold after all, had spared Keeve's life. His original task, however, quickly returned to mind and replaced Keeve's joyful relief with determination. After struggling to pull himself upright, Keeve paused with his cheek against his gloved hands to gain some bearing.

Judging from the volume of the cresting waves, he gauged his distance to the bottom. He had a long way to rappel and was still dizzy and weak. But the prospect of being able to see Maeren and Kaysa again, innocent Kim with her sweet smile, and even Talara imbued Keeve with the strength required to find solid ground.

Steeling himself, Keeve tapped his belt to unlock the suspension rope, then began the gruelling, long journey down.

***

When they'd reached the outskirts of New Plouton, they'd abandoned their footmarch, opting instead for a pair of transports that would move them much more quickly through the forest. Oot had set aside a small residence within the commercial hub of the planet, and stopped there briefly to gather some belongings since all she had possessed previously were the clothes she'd escaped the palace with. Now, wearing familiar clothes, she felt ready to face what she may find in the forest, at the Temple. It would be a meeting place, nothing more. With the Jedi attack on the palace, she knew there would be no Jedi there.

Before leaving the apartment, she considered contacting Zale Tregat. Knowing that communications may be monitored from the Palace in Arcadia, she opted against the plan, much to Kambra's approval. "Let's go," she said as she strode toward the hovering transport that would hold herself, Ferrig, Kambra, and several of Kambra's troops. The second transport held the rest of the troops, all that they'd been able to gather to fight against Nieme and Dani. She was certain that others would be in the city, waiting for word. But, she mused as she slid into the passenger seat, how to alert them...

"--suppose there will still be any Jedi at the Temple?"

She looked up to see that Ferrig was speaking as the transports nosed their way into the forest, slowing to avoid wrapping their bulk against any of the many trunks standing tall before them. "I do not believe so," she said. "There aren't many Jedi. Against Nieme and Dani, I fear they'd need everything they could muster. We may arrive to find it abandoned."

Ferrig nodded slowly, lost deep in his own thoughts. "Raeila will be there," he finally said. "She'll...she wouldn't..."

Oot turned to glance back at the path they'd been following, receding into the distance, hoping to see a dark head and wild smile racing up behind them on a swoop, but there were only trees in the wash of light coming from the transport's lights. "This will be a painful day, to be sure. One that Tae'Karada will never forget."

The speeder dropped to silence as they sped on. Finally, Kambra broke it by announcing that the Jedi Temple was just up ahead.

"Good," Oot said, shifting in her seat. "Sitting here, unable to do anything is making me--"

Bright red blaster fire suddenly lit up the forest, causing the Gungan to slew the speeder to the side, narrowly avoiding having the front canopy splashed with deadly energy. "Mesa think all's not good," he said, clearly understating the situation.

In the light from the vehicles, armoured troops could be seen moving through the forest, pursuing children.

"Damn," Ferrig whispered as he watched. Things had definitely gone from bad to worse.

"Retribution, Part 3"
By Girra Zallir
Laerron, NPC
Chakka, NPC

Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY
Location: In orbit around Gallor

***

Girra sat in the command couch of the cockpit of the Helix. Outside the viewport was the pristine bay of the Victory Class Star Destroyer her ship was berthed in. Just the day before she had gotten word from Theen Fida to help out on a secret mission of some diplomatic importance. He asked that she rendezvous with the Star Fury, a New Republic ship that had at one time been a Star Destroyer in the Imperial Navy. Girra had been involved with other personal matters, but Theen had said that he would owe her one, and Girra liked to have such debts, especially when such one came from a person of influence such as an Ambassador of the New Republic.

Outside the Helix the Star Fury's bay was quiet, too quiet for a ship of war, she thought, but of course they were not at war, just on a diplomatic mission.

A diplomatic mission that involved a Star Destroyer, Girra thought to herself. Now that's diplomacy for you.

All Girra had to do was wait, and when she got the signal to launch, she had some cargo to retrieve from the surface.

She got up from her seat to go to the back of her ship and check on her own cargo.

As she made her way back she heard the distinct growls of a pissed off Wookiee.

"What's wrong, Chakka?" she asked the older and more worse for wear of a Wookiee.

"Wraar Woowrooaw Gnaarhuf!" he spat in what meant nothing to Girra as she couldn't speak or understand the language, at least not yet.

"Alright, alright, settle down for Sith-sake! How is our guest?" she asked.

He let loose a menacing growl and hiss as he cocked his head in the direction of the person she had asked after.

Girra walked over to the detention cell she had in that particular cargo bay.

"How are the accommodations? Comfy I hope...well, not really, but far be it from me not to be as good of a hostess as I can," she smarted to the Elomin man in the corner of the little cell.

And the smell hit her.

"Ughh, gods, what the hell is that stench?!" she exclaimed with a wrinkled nose and ill-favored look.

"Grawl hwooof!" the Wookiee spat.

Upon closer inspection, Girra knew what it was.

"Agh, Laerron...you sick bastard! You pissed and shit on my cargo bay floor!!"

Chakka snarled at the Elomin and wrinkled his own nose.

"Blaster bolts!" Girra cursed. "Chakka, get that hose, our guest needs a shower. You really didn't think either of us would fall for such a thing, now did you?" she asked the red skinned man. "You mustn't have a high opinion of me if you think I would let you out of there to clean up your mess. And then what? Huh? You thought you would get away? Surprise me? Lock me up in my own hold?"

"Well, actually, I was just trying to cover the stench of that awful excuse for a Wookiee you have here as my watch dog," Laerron smarted.

"Hey Chakka, make sure you use cold water too okay?" Girra instructed as she walked away.

Chakka huffed in his form of a laugh as he got the hose out and proceeded to spray the cell and the man down with ice cold water....

"Skirting the Edge"
By: Laedra Vorrel
Liam Zaneth
Dani
Nieme Yaresh
Koran Darr
Kael Selrid

Location: Arcadian Palace
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

It had quickly dawned on Laedra Vorrel once the battle began that Dani and Nieme's prowess with their weapons had improved significantly. She attributed their growing abilities tn the dark side powers they had harnessed, ones they had fully given themselves over to. It was in their eyes, the fire that was at once intense and cold. There was nothing of the two pleasant, innocent girls she had known within these women who desired nothing but to destroy Laedra and her companions. She was saddened by the revelation, but maintained her emotionless state of mind. It would only cause her distraction, and now was the most inopportune time for that to happen.

She and Koran had been holding the two at bay for a time, as the girls swung at them fiercely with matching purple lightsabers. Soon Laedra and Kael had traded places, he now facing Nieme while she aided Liam in fending off the remaining soldiers. Some had been subdued, but more appeared to seemingly replace their fallen brothers. Laedra wasn't prepared to admit it, but she knew fatigue was on the horizon.

The Jedi were on the defensive and there was no denying it now. They could not hope, it was clear, to defeat Nieme and Dani when they were doing nothing but fighting for their lives.

"This isn't working," Liam said under his breath to Laedra as they tried, once again, to drive back the attacking clone soldiers. Behind them, the sound of clashing lightsabers seemed to get louder as Kael and Koran fought the two dark Jedi. "They were prepared for us, and they have a stronger force. We...we may need to...to retreat."

"I doubt, Liam, that we will be allowed to," Laedra told him. Her lightsaber was moving on sheer nonstop momentum now; the blaster fire was coming more frequently, and even two Jedi Masters couldn't deflect them all. "Liam...I do not think we were meant to leave this place alive."

"I've always had a habit," Liam said as his blade whirled around his body forming a cobalt shield that was designed to keep the blaster fire back, "of doing things that I'm not meant to do. We need to start moving toward an exit...and we need to let the other group know as well."

"We still have Dani and Nieme at our backs," she reminded him. A blaster shot nearly caught Laedra in the arm as she was batting away four others. She noted the singed fabric of her robe, but remained unperturbed. "Liam?" Laedra said.

"Yes," Liam said, a slight smile playing at his lips despite the desperation of their situation.

"Cover me." Then she broke into a short run and launched herself high above the mass of clones. Blaster bolts trailed her as Laedra travelled over the soldiers, turning many of them towards her and dividing their forces between herself and Liam. Coming down lightly behind the contingent of soldiers, Laedra resumed parrying the fire aimed at her.

"Nicely done," Liam muttered as he continued his defensive maneuvers. Now they had the cloned soldiers between them forcing them to divide their attention. It gave a respite from the constant attacks. With the clones' attention split, Liam began to move forward, both blades now out. If all worked well, he'd form a path toward Laedra, and their exit. If it didn't...he decided not to think about that outcome, and pressed on.

"Having fun yet, Kael?" Nieme chuckled darkly as she pressed her attack against him. She had no intention of killing Kael, but she had to at least give him the illusion of peril, and every stroke of her blade that came just a bit too close to a vital body part imparted that illusion.

Kael met Nieme's gaze without emotion and continued to defend himself from her attacks. Exhaustion wasn't far off, though Nieme and Dani appeared much better rested. Had they been in the middle of the fight from the beginning, perhaps things would be different. Kael was one of the better lightsaber fighters at the Temple, but it made little difference here. "You cannot win," he said to Nieme. "Maybe not today, but eventually. Is that the life you want? To be hunted, to always have people looking to put you down?"

"Actually," she corrected smugly, "you're the ones being hunted now. Isn't that so?" She swung high, drawing Kael to do the same, then kicked out at his exposed midsection. As he stumbled back, Nieme grabbed his right wrist to immobilize his weapon, then swung him towards the wall. She flattened her body against his once his back hit, and pinned him there with a blanket of the Force. "Kael," she breathed, her lips brushing his and her hips pressing forward. "I'm not truly evil, you know. And I do still love you," she whispered.

"No," Kael rasped, "you are thoroughly evil. And, like this, I could never have any feeling toward you, except for disgust." With that, he pushed her away, bringing his blade back into a defensive position. "You'll fall, Nieme. It's inevitable...all tyrants do."

Her gaze hardened, watching Kael coolly as she lazily twirled her weapon. "You could have everything with me.... We can be together again, like in the desert. I could show you the stars again, Kael, like our first night together." She smiled, but there was no warmth there. "Just come with me, and we can make it happen."

"Not while your heart is still black as pitch. And, not while my love for Raeila still burns brighter than a sun."

Nieme chuckled. "Are you still on about that? You know you've loved me since that day in the diner. Why do you deny it, Kael? My Arozeil?"

"I love the woman you were, not this that you've become," Kael said. "You have changed, and...what you are now, I could never love that."

"So do you choose death over my love?" she asked bitterly.

"I choose the love I bear for Raeila and the life we have together over the evil you've become," Kael said. "I choose the light over darkness."

Nieme shrugged. "Then you'll die here with your friends. I'm sure that will be of great comfort to Raeila." Setting aside any feelings she'd still held for Kael, Nieme engaged him once again with greater intensity. There were no longer hopes of turning him, which meant no point in trying to keep him alive. When she struck, she did so with the intention to kill.

As Nieme and Dani traded taunts, Koran Darr and Dani merely fought. The young woman was extremely talented, and to think otherwise would be foolish. Her purple blade lashed quickly and deadly toward him, showing a skill and determination he would never have expected of the young woman. He pushed the fears aside, however, and pressed on. While she was talented, he was still a Jedi Master, and knew more of the Force and lightsaber fighting than she probably would in her life.

She caught his blade with hers and pushed him back. When her eyes met his, though, something passed between them, and through the Force, Koran Darr found an understanding he'd not had before. He continued on, however, fighting just as hard as she. The outcome of this fight, regardless of who remained standing, would see all involved on the losing side. In a battle of this sort, there could be no winners.

Behind them, Liam and Laedra were faring well in cutting a trench between the clone forces, a path they could take towards retreat. Laedra's only fear was for Kael and Koran. Nieme and Dani would not simply allow their prey to flee. The duels must be seen through to the end in order for the two Jedi to have any chance of escape.

Do not falter, Koran, Laedra pleaded in her mind. Envision your goal and achieve it. And I'll be there waiting when you do. To Liam, she shouted, "The room!" Her mind guided his towards the hall on their left, a large one that could easily fit the entire assembly of soldiers. If they could herd them there. "Can it be done?!"

"It can," Liam said. "Come on." He immediately shifted to help put Laedra's plan into action. He could only hope that the clones would be as easily led as he thought they might. But, the situation was growing more dire...but he trusted in the Force.

It would likely prove to be a fruitless effort, but Laedra darted for the hall, pushing open the doors with a wave of the Force, and sped into the columned room amid a flurry of blaster fire from behind. Although some of the soldiers did give chase, the others simply stood guard outside the door, holding their positions. Laedra was aware her plan had had little chance of succeeding, but she had hoped. Now, she was the one being cornered. All she could do now was parry and bat away blaster bolts rapidly. She was not yet ready to give up.

Liam's attention shifted to those soldiers who hadn't followed Laedra through the doors. He narrowed his eyes as he brought both lightsaber blades before him. Subtle shifts of the blades caught all the incoming blaster bolts and sent them out in different directions. Around him, the air seemed to thicken, crackling with energy from the Force. He started moving forward, as a small vortex began to swirl around his body. A wind rose and he forced it toward those troopers who lingered, giving it power and strength from the Force around him. He winced inwardly when he recognized his anger powering the storm he had caused. He hadn't intended it so, but it had come so naturally. It was a trick he had not used for several years, years in which his heart was black and his actions blacker. It had been a trick learned and used while in the thrall of Vader, a dark Jedi who longed for the teaching of the Sith. He pulled back on the anger now, intent only on moving the soldiers, pushing them toward Laedra's plan.

"Careful," Laedra muttered in the face of Liam's intense emotions. She was worried more for the fate of his soul than his physical well-being. The last thing any of them needed that night was to cut down one of their own.

Backing away from the line of soldiers before her, while Liam began guiding the others inside, Laedra finally began thinking about her own route of escape. Liam would be closest to the doors - an easy out for him. But she had no such passageways open to her. Don't hesitate, Liam, she wove into his mind. If I cannot find a way out...you must.

Trust in the Force, Liam answered. You will find a way. With the violent, buffeting winds pushing them, the last of the soldiers were pushed ahead of the maelstrom and into the room with Laedra. Liam moved to stand in the doorway, blades and body blocking the exit from any who might think of chancing an escape back the way they had come.

The formation of soldiers, now nearly huddled together, was nearly too wide for Laedra to clear with a leap, no matter how much of the Force she put into it. Without a running start, she might just end up on top of them. Although, it was far better than being trapped underfoot when the clones decided to rush her, neither option suited her. But Laedra found a way to gather her speed after all.

Without giving the clones time to predict her actions, Laedra turned towards the far wall and made a run for it. All blasters did the same, swinging around to fire trailing blaster bolts at her. Channeling the Force to her legs, Laedra gained the required speed and used it to propel her along the wall, feet moving wildly fast and lightsaber still twirling to deflect oncoming fire. Reducing the distance she would have had to cross by half now, Laedra sprang from the wall using mostly momentum and sailed over the remaining sea of clones with the Force to elevate her. Her goal was Liam, who was still fending off his own attacks and backing into the hallway once again. Laedra needed to reach him in time to avoid being trapped inside with the enemy.

She curled into a ball at the apex of her flight and hurtled towards the floor. The heat of blaster bolts warmed her cheek and arms, but not a one hit their mark. Unfolding herself as the ground rushed up to meet her, Laedra landed gracefully into a full-out run. "Liam, go!" she shouted as she headed for the doors. The clones did the same.

As if Laedra commanded his body, as her thought formed and it was vocalized, Liam Zaneth was already in motion.

The two weaved and dodged blaster fire, forgoing face-to-face combat for a hasty retreat. Laedra smelled singed hair, realizing one bolt had gotten far too close to her head. Sharing similar minds, the two Jedi each vaulted across the threshold to clear the remaining distance, then combined their strengths to seal the doors shut behind them. It was no sooner than they had both closed that a loud boom echoed in the hallway as the soldiers slammed into the metal barrier. Using the Force, Liam and Laedra focused to prevent the clones from pushing their way through.

"We can't hold this forever," she warned Liam, staring intently at the doors, her hands held out before her to direct the Force at them.

Using one of his blades, Liam started from the bottom of the doors and began to work slowly upward. The material of the door, a metallic alloy, bubbled and melted, fusing itself together. It didn't take long at all once he'd pulled his weapon away for it to cool. "Hopefully that'll help hold them a little while. We should make sure Koran and Kael are alright, then see if we can end this fight."

But the battle between Kael and Nieme, and Dani and Koran raged on, with Nieme driving Kael back towards the wall once again. Her teeth were bared into a vicious smile and her eyes were crazed, yet her apparent insanity hadn't diminished her dexterity at all. She and Kael were evenly matched. "So, is the bitch pregnant yet?" Nieme chuckled darkly, her blade thrusting towards his abdomen. "Trust me...she won't ever be."

"Oh, I'm certain she will," Kael said as he knocked her blade away, then attempted a riposte that Nieme barely got her blade up in time to block. Kael flipped over the top of her, coming to land gracefully behind, but quickly had to return to the defensive as Nieme pressed her attack once more.

Koran and Dani still fought in silence, their blades flashing faster and faster. Sweat seemed to sheen from both Jedi Master and Dark Padawan, though given the skill with which she fought, it was difficult to consider her a Padawan any longer. For every attack she made, his defenses held. For every attack he launched, her blade found it and blocked it.

Mimicking the move Kael had made, Dani vaulted over the top of Koran, her body tucked tight in an aerial roll. The Jedi Master spun around and moved in, but as he did, Dani struck wide. He shifted his blade to block, but her booted foot cracked hard against his jaw. It was enough to off-balance him. Her blade whipped back around and she lunged. The pain was excruciating, pulling a cry from his lips, but somehow the Master Jedi found the focus within himself to remain in the moment rather than giving into the pain. One hand closed over Dani's wrist before she could wrench the blade out through his side. His other fist, still holding tight to his lightsaber, deactivated the blade and punched upward. The hilt of his lightsaber slammed against her purple-hued jaw and sent Dani flailing backwards. Her lightsaber still remained embedded in Koran Darr's side. Somewhere between the blow to Dani's chin and her fall, he'd shifted his own hand to her lightsaber. With his eyes narrowed at her, he deactivated the blade. On his tunic, there was no blood, but the cauterized wound showed clearly against the light-coloured fabric.

Koran swayed on his feet.

Laedra's cry rang out through the corridor, she and Liam running towards them. Both Kael and Nieme had stopped sparring, Kael to watch in horror while Nieme giggled with sick delight. "Well done, my flower!" she exclaimed. Her blade swung aside, stopping at Kael's throat, eyes shaded over with darkness. "Ask her," Nieme told him quietly. "Ask Raeila how long she's been trying for a child and why she hasn't succeeded." Her mouth contorted into a wicked smile. "I hope she appreciates my work." Then she stepped quickly away from Kael to join Dani.

Kael let out a cry of pure anguish. His lightsaber ignited and he leapt at Nieme. Whatever exhaustion he'd felt previously had been lost in the rage that now boiled within him. Nieme got her blade into place just before his could split her in two. His other hand stretched back toward Koran where Dani's lightsaber leapt into his open palm, ignited and followed the first. The attacks were vicious and powerful, born of the rage within. Against such attacks, Nieme would have little hope, not against the fury she'd set ablaze.

Too focused on defense, Nieme hadn't time to spare for a witty retort. She had obviously struck a delicate chord with Kael, and knew any action against Raeila would do it. "Dani," Nieme called as calmly as she could manage while Kael's blades slammed relentlessly into her own. Each blow nearly had her on her knees.

From beside Koran, where Laedra was helping to support the injured Jedi, she could only watch in horror as Kael skirted the edge. She shook her head numbly. "Kael! Stop this!"

"I can give you...a child," Nieme managed. "She can't...but I can, Kael!"

"Never," Kael rasped as he nearly broke through Nieme's defense. "Never! I'll see you dead, Nieme. For what you've done, you will pay!"

"Nieme, run!" Dani urged. "Get away. I...I don't have my blade. He does. I'll...I'll protect you."

"Kael! Don't!" Laedra cut her gaze to Liam. "You have to stop this...you know what he's risking!"

Liam started forward, but a weakened voice stopped him before he could take a second step.

"Kael," Koran Darr said, trying to put as much strength in his voice as he could manage. "This isn't the way. Not like this."

Kael's blade stopped before it reached its mark. Then, instead of striking Nieme down as he'd intended, he flicked his blade, severing the end of Nieme's. He gazed down at her, sanity returning behind his eyes. "Go," he said in a rasp. "But do not get too comfortable here. We will be returning, and we will force you out. You will pay for your crimes, Nieme. Both of you. You will pay for every crime you've committed."

Nieme hid her shock behind a shrewd smile, though it became apparent as she hastily backed away from him, tossing her ruined weapon aside only when she was next to Dani. "You've overstayed your welcome," she told the Jedi. "It's time you all left."

"We'll see ourselves out," Liam said as he and Laedra helped Koran to his feet. "The others are in trouble. Come on, we need to hurry."

Supporting Koran, the two turned to leave. Laedra looked back at Kael, who remained where he was, a seething glare aimed at Nieme still. "Kael," she called gently. "It will be fine. Let's go and we'll fix this."

Kael nodded, then backed away from Nieme and Dani, falling in step beside the other Jedi. "It's not over yet," he said, then pulled his gaze from her.

Nieme bowed her head at him. "We'll be together soon enough, my arozeil." Then, she blew him a kiss. She noticed her hand was trembling as her breath fell upon its palm. Kael's rage had been unimaginable. Nieme very nearly regretted what she had done to Raeila. Not quite...but nearly.

"Friendship's Appeal"
by Cloud Everblades
Aurora Sideah - NPC

Location: Green Forest, Gallor
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Cloud set his ship in the middle of the forest and grabbed the arc and walked to the exit of his ship. On the way over there he grabbed his sword and placed it on his back.

He walked for a few minutes after reaching the clearing where he was supposed to meet his superior. When he reached there he couldn't see anyone. He waited for her, but no sign. He started to be worried about her.

As the minutes passed he looked around the forest and kept a close guard of his surroundings. Out of nothing a sound of leaves being broken alarmed him. He looked towards the place and kept close watch. He put the arc that was covered by the old cloths he made a knot around his belt and moved carefully.

A black figure came out of nothing with a sword at hand, aiming towards him. With a swift movement he took his sword from the sheath that was on his back, and quickly made defence against the attack of the intruder. The intruder jumped back. Cloud ran towards the intruder with two strikes that took off balance his opponent, but the opponent moved to the side, kicking his hands, taking his sword from his hands.

The opponent grabbed Cloud's sword and set the blade near his neck. "You are still too harsh on your movements, Cloud. Athena would not be pleased that you forgot her lessons."

Cloud let out a laugh. "I didn't forgot her lessons, because I don't have skills to beat you, yet."

The opponent pushed back the hood covering its face, revealing it was a woman. She put down the sword, delivering it back to its rightful owner. "It is good to see you again!"

"You too, Aurora." Cloud hugged the woman and looked to her face. "I got what they asked for." He took out the dirty cloth covering the arc.

Aurora looked amazed and she felt so happy to see it. "The arc. It is so beautiful! Did the buyer give any trouble?"

"Some. He lured me into a trap and tried to kill me." He paused. "I repaidy him in the same currency. What is important it is now it is in good hands..."

Aurora looked to his eyes. "Cloud Everblades, I've known ever since you were a baby. Did you see the contents of the arc?"

Cloud let pass a smile. "What was I supposed to do in two days travelling? I had to see it."

Aurora approached him like he was beginning to give a sermon, but didn't. "So what was it like? What kind of content was in it?"

"Well." He paused for a brief moment, smiling. "It was so wild. It is like we travelled to a different universe. It gave us the sensation that we were there and it takes away that will revolutionize the medication against the Night Angel poison."

"No! Are you serious?" Aurora couldn't believe him. "I also want to express my gratitude in helping me with Quistis. I still think you were too harsh."

Cloud smiled. "You said to put some heavy questions on her mind, so that is what I did."

"Did? Blowing up her speeder and trying to kill her is hardly what I had in mind." She paused. "But your weird ways of doing things have prevailed, she is now with Elina retrieving the sword."

"Are you saying that all of us in the order are going to have the privilege to see the sword that is the backbone of the Order?" Cloud was somewhat incredulous.

"Yes, but first she has to know the truth and that won't be easy," she said.

"That is great, really!" Cloud prepared to walk back to his ship, but he saw in her face that there was something more. The way she looked only had to do with one person. "Aurora, I know that looking was what your sister wanted me to do?"

Aurora looked to him. "I know that is a somewhat sensitive subject when it involves Hel, but, Cloud..."

"Don't!" Cloud continued. "Don't make any excuses for what she's done. Tell me what she wants."

Aurora sighed. "But you still blame her..." She didn't wanted to press the subject. "Ok. Do you know what is happening in this world?"

"No."

"Well to give you a brief story.... The Regent duke died and his brother took over. The councillors started to question him and the new Duke ordered their arrest and all of them are being accused of crimes against Gallor," Aurora said with a heavy tone.

"Ok, but what this has to do with Hel?"

Aurora approached. "She and another person escaped the trap set by the new Duke. She is now taking care of another problem, that is far more greater than this. Anyway she pleads on your friendship with her, to do something for her."

"What is the job?"

"Well at this point Hel is protecting the grandson of the Regent Duke Yu, but the situation became more complicated when she learnt that among the councillors arrested is Regent Duke Yu's only daughter Kitana Gellar. The implications of this are far greater."

"Aurora, cut to the chase and tell me the job!" Cloud said.

"The job is to aid a New Republic officer in rescuing as many councillors as possible, but your main objective is to rescue Kitana Gellar by any means necessary and when I say any means necessary I mean any means necessary."

Cloud looked to her and gave a smile. "Ok, I know you want me to be literal. Where can I find this New Republic officer?"

"She's on the docks, her name is Amii'a Val'or. The boat that you're supposed to meet with her is called Lionel," Aurora said, putting her hand on hisshoulder.

"Ok, I will do this in the name of the friendship that I had for Hel. Next time she wants my help she has to ask me to my face," Cloud said, kissing Aurora's cheek and walked away.

She can't see you, Cloud. Her feelings are still hurt by what you said that day. You feel that she is the one that must do apologies, but it is you who has to do apologies, Aurora thought, for moment. Seeing him disappear between the vegetation made her feel that this subject was a long way from being over.

"Quest of Honor"
By Quistis Knox
Elina Kasn - NPC

Special Guest Galiana Klainus - NPC

Location: Temple in Dathomir
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

The new chamber was well lit by what looked like a blue cylindrical light that was located in the middle of the room. She could see that the floor was composed of rocks that fit on each other, forming a perfect flat floor.

The walls had tone of brownish color with few designs, that were only to make the place not being monotonous.

Around the blue light were five statues standing in around the blue cylindrical light stood there glancing towards the light.

Quistis approached silently and slowly the blue light that was quite unclear what was inside. She could see what looked like a statue, but wasn't sure about it. A sound came and looked to the side and saw a blue holographic image of the woman.

"Welcome, Quester. You are the first to arrive here in a very long time. You prove your courage, strength, wisdom and the honor that involves those three gifts. Now the honor of your heart and soul will be tested right in this chamber. All you have to do is continue to walk towards the blue light and prove you honor."

Quistis looked at the woman and didn't respond because the holographic image was not set to respond to her question. She continued to walk and looked to the statue and had the incredible sensation that they were looking to her. As she approached the light she tried to look towards it but she couldn't. She touched it with one of her movements and felt like cold water stood there.

She was amazed to realise that it was a sort of liquid that made the frontier where she was standing and probably the quest that she would prove her honor.

She gave a big breath and walked towards it. A sharp cold attacked her skin under her clothes. She continued to walk through the liquid. She felt lifeless and as she moved towards she saw a few small balls of white light pass next to her; it looked like that was some sort of creatures, but she continued to walk.

As she reached the end she fell to the floor, wet with the unknown liquid. She tried to breathe rapidly to catch her breath. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and focused and saw the feet of a statue. She moved her eyes upward and saw a statue of woman embracing a sword... "The sword!" Quistis said, amazed at what she looked to the sword.

She slowly approached it and examined and saw the woman look like the woman in the holographic image. She approached the hilt of the sword and grabbed it. She pulled it out with one single movement and it looked like the statue didn't give much struggle to let go of the sword.

Now with the legendary sword in her hands she observed more closely that the sword looked like brand new. "Not bad for very old sword," she said to herself. The liquid that involved the statue collapsed to the floor falling to a very black abyss that replaced the floor and the previous chambers.

There looked to be no where to go out of there. "Great. Just my luck."

"You still question your skills!" a voice said.

Quistis looked towards the voice and saw the blue holographic image of the woman. "Wait... It couldn't be you that talked, if so I'm seeing..."

"... a Ghost?" the woman spoke and released a smile.

Quistis opened her eyes so wide, surprised and believing what exactly she was seeing. She didn't say nothing; she had simply her mouth open.

"That was hardly the reaction I expect from the new carrier of the sword." She smiled. "Quistis, you can close your mouth now!"

"Wow! I... You... How?" Quistis said.

"Well, when I died I became a Force spirit! Before I died, I vowed to make sure that that sword you hold would reach to the right hands, but I had to make sure even before my death to make sure the sword would reach to the rightful owner! Quistis, my time in this world is short, so you must hear what I'm about to say to you."

Quistis nodded and paid close attention to the woman.

"This sword was owned by my Mentor and husband. He made it himself and entrusted me to gift to the last carrier. You! The galaxy will have one last time to see it. Once you die this sword must be buried with you, or your soul will only rest once is with your mortal remains." She prepared to leave.

"Wait! What is your name?" Quistis asked.

"What for?" the woman said.

"So once I travel to the other side to seek you out and thank you personally," Quistis said.

"There will be no need to give thanks to us. The name is Galiana Klainus." She disappeared.

Quistis looked behind and saw a bridge of floor that went to the other side. The temple started to shake and a few rocks from the ceiling started to fall. Quistis ran as fast as she could with the sword in her hand towards the other side.

Elina saw that the image disappeared of the videowall once Quistis penetrated began to be very nervous, and it endured once Quistis appeared running from a new bridge built out of nowhere and the Temple falling apart. She knew that her sister was sure that Quistis would succeed, now seeing that sword in her hands she had no doubt of her sister's planning ever again.

"You did it?" She hugged Quistis, happy for her succeeding.

Quistis nodded for moment, but a rock fell near them and missed them, made them to get of there.

Once they reach outside they saw that the rest of the group was near the rancors. The two women ran as fast as they could out of the way of the temple that was now collapsing. Once they were safe out of there Quistis and Elina looked behind and saw the rest of the temple falling and being swallowed by the ice that covered part of the temple.

Elina looked to the sword and approached Quistis. "A new chapter is beginning, Quistis. With it a bunch of new adventures special for you!"

"To the Rescue, Part 3"
By Amii'a Val'or
Cloud Everblades
Kitana Gellar
Vulga
And Girra Xel-Xux Zillar
With Merk Krie, NPC
& Lt. Sul Fhurr, NPC (New Republic Special Forces)

Location: Prison Island, Gallor
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

Cloud's words rang in Amii'a's head, coupled with the sight of losing one of their own. Cloud was right, they were in a precarious position...but then something snapped in her, all her training and past experiences kicked in, for better or worse. It was something she would have to live with, something any commander in charge of troops and any other person in the position of authority - having the power over men's lives.

"You, listen to me!" Amii'a spat with deadly seriousness. "These men and women put their lives at risk everyday, they know the dangers and they know the price. I will not have us blasting through here like Storm Troopers. Now get back on point and do your job!"

"My job? Lady, I'm doing my job and don't come to give me a lecture about the risk of any troopers following commander's orders. Also, don't you fucking dare to compare me to whities!" He made his tone elevated enough to every single commando to hear. "Did I make the right choice back there? Yes I did. So fuck your orders." Everyone stood there glancing at him. Those words in that certain tone was definitely any average gun for hire. The commandos saw in him a well trained veteran in the arts of war and the tone he spoke was clear to the people there, that he saw the many horrors of the war that was still devastating the Galaxy and the lives of the people who live in it.

"Enough is enough, Cloud, we don't have time for a discussion. I am in charge of this mission, you are here to help get us in and out," Amii'a said with more reserve than she would later think was possible. True, she knew, Cloud was skilled and he was with them of his own volition. However, she knew from the viewpoint of a leader, that she had to exert her authority and get the mission on track. "If you want to say to hell with my orders, then you can get off this forsaken rock by yourself, understood? Now move out!" Amii'a ordered.

She could tell that Cloud was fuming, and she also knew that he had good points. But she was the leader of the mission and had been doing these sorts of operations since she left the service of the Empire and joined the Rebellion. She had every confidence in Cloud's abilities, and could feel his concern for the well being of the lives of those he was also risking with. But as she had said, enough was enough, they had business to do. Amii'a knew there would be a confrontation afterwards, but like many things in life, she would deal with it when that time came; at the present time they needed to re-focus and move on.

Cloud moved to the front of the group with frustration still under his skin. He knew that she was in command, but what he didn't get was if she knew what was on the line, why he gave such orders. Also she called him a Whitey? Cloud knew that was a low blow and only for that, he definitely was going to continue this discussion later.

Amii'a, Cloud and a couple other troopers moved on up to meet up with the others who had moved forward to secure their exit from the chaos of the mess area. They moved on unchallenged through several corridors to find the section of the building where the prisoners were supposed to be.

Cloud had point with Krie; they motioned for the all- clear and everyone moved as one around the corner and down the hall to the turbolift that was to take them to the floor where the political prisoners were held.

***

Outside the complex, Lt. Fhurr and his men had secured their position. On their flanks the old battle droids held their ground and continually fired upon anyone who came into their sights.

"Roger, roger!" the droids cried in their demented battle call. "Roger, roger!"

"By the stars... If Krie doesn't hurry up I'm going to blast those damned droids myself!" Fhurr shouted at his annoyance with the droids' insistent battle cries.

***

On board the Star Fury, Girra waited patiently in the cockpit of the Helix, an older model of the Republic Star Cruiser. The com-channel came to life.

"Cargo vessel THX-1138, you are cleared to disembark," the controller announced. "I repeat, you are clear to disembark."

"Acknowledged, control," Girra said as she took control of her ship.

The Helix had been on and warmed up for some time, just waiting for the go-ahead to fly down to the planet and pick up her cargo.

She commed the ship's internal communications system, "Chakka, buckle up your furry rump, we are a go!"

Girra cleared the mag field and kicked in the sublight drives. The Helix roared out and away from the New Republic's Star Destroyer and headed for the planet.

Wonder what in the Stars is happening on this mudball? Girra thought to herself as she flew the Helix toward the planet.

***

As the turbolift climbed to the upper levels, Cloud exchanged a few looks with Amii'a. He saw something troubling her. It was hard to see it because she buried it away inside. He took out his black blaster pistols and got ready as the turbolift went to stop.

The large blaster doors were closed as Cloud approached it and then the door opened automatically. Cloud could see a large long rectangular room with two higher levels on his left side. On his right was a huge wall that had a few crates near the entrance that Cloud was standing along.

Cloud could see the prison cells and he saw that every single cell in view was empty. This is a problem, he thought. He moved forward a few steps and stopped. It is too quiet for my own taste.

Cloud tried to look everywhere making his senses more sharper to hear anything, when he noticed on the higher level right in front of the entrance a huge repeating blaster. He squeezed more on his two blasters and waited.

As a man with a different uniform ran towards the repeating blaster, Cloud pointed both his blasters towards the man, but he was still too far to make a clear shot. But when the last laser bolt was going right towards the man, it was defended by some kind of blue shield. Seconds later, Cloud saw the man charging the repeating blaster and pointed with his very rudimentary sight. "Take cover!" he said as the man started to fire towards Cloud and Amii'a who was just behind him.

He pushed Amii'a to cover behind the crates that was high enough and resistant from the enemy laser bolts, while the rest of the troopers hid behind a wall that divided every cell so that prisoners could talk to each other.

The enemy fired towards the two positions, making any move forward impossible. They were now stuck in that place, no where to go.

"Are you ok?" Cloud asked, looking to her eyes.

Amii'a had the wind knocked out of her, but she quickly recovered. She grinned at Cloud, letting him know she was alright and that she appreciated the save.

Krie and the other New Republic commandos took up defensive positions around the metal crates.

"That carbine must have an independent shield!" Krie called out over their personal communicators.

"Cloud!?" Amii'a called out, "a thermal detonator would be good about now, half charge - we don't want to be blown to Asri'Tae just yet!" she said, knowing that he would have already known such a thing.

Cloud reached for his thermal detonator and when he was about to charge it, he felt absolute silence. Cloud poked his head out of cover and saw that the man was still standing on the repeating blaster. There was a woman standing there. From the distance the woman had black hair and had some sort of mask on her face. He couldn't sort out what was his format or why, but right beside of her was a man around sixties or so. Cloud noticed it had to be one of the councilors.

"I don't know who are you," Vula spoke and continued with broken Basic, "but I know what are you doing here. You're here to rescue the councilors, but the thing is - I can't let you." She grabbed the councilor and moved him forward. "Surrender now, and the prisoners will be maintained alive. If you don't..." She took her blaster and fired. The bolt penetrated the councilor's head and his body fell to the ground and slid to the edge - falling two levels to the ground.

Amii'a was burning with rage and disgust at the atrocity, but they were in no position at the moment to do anything about it without risking more lives.

Cloud saw in the distance the body of the dead councilor.

"You now know that I'm not kidding. If you don't comply in the next two minutes, Kitana will be next," Vula spoke, ordering the other uniformed trooper like the one on the repeating blaster to bring the woman.

Cloud close his eyes and went back to hiding. Now definitely this rescue turned to the next level. "Your orders still stand for terrorists?" he asked turning to Amii'a.

"Absolutely not, Cloud," Amii'a said with ice coldness in her voice.

Cloud cracked a huge smile, like Amii'a had released the shackles that were around his wrists. He took out his blasters and looked one more time to the second level; he saw a woman approaching Vula, he had to do something. He placed back the blasters again - he knew that he had to do something. He was running out of time and out of options and he had to do something.

He got out of his hiding place with his hands elevated. "Don't shoot, we surrender, but my commander wants to negotiate the conditions of our surrender." He hoped that Amii'a and the rest of the New Republic troopers stayed in the same places. "Once agreed on the conditions the rest of my companions will surrender."

Amii'a just looked at Cloud with an opened mouth, What the blazes is he thinking?! she thought to herself.

"Why doesn't your commander do that instead of you?" Vula asked.

"He is not the diplomatic one. I am," Cloud said, seriousness in his voice.

"Very well drop your weapons and come on up," Vula said. "Don't make any sudden moves or you will be shot on sight."

Cloud dropped his blasters close enough to Amii'a, but it was still in sight of the enemy.

He?! Amii'a thought to herself as she stayed crouched out of sight. She could see Cloud's blasters, but they were in view of the enemy, and she had her own anyway.

Cloud moved up to the second floor taking a while to reach there. I made the right decision because if I had blasted my way up there, more people would die.

As he approached Vula he saw that there was another entrance on the wall that stood on his right. There he could see at least two guards plus the three that were standing there in front of him.

Cloud glanced and recognised the prisoner woman. His priorities changed for the moment. She was important - this woman over the other councilors, but he had to make sure that he drew the attention of those guards on him.

"Now what are the conditions of your surrender?" Vula said.

Kitana looked to the man that kept making a sign with his foot, that was clearly enough for her. Whoever this man was he knew the military signals of the Gallorians. She now had to trust these strange people.

"Well, to tell you the truth it was a bluff to get up here..." He punched Vula's face and with a single movement he took a small blaster pistol and fired towards the nearby enemies. They had no chance. Taking out another small blaster pistol, he fired towards the man on the repeating blaster, nor Amii'a had a chance to counter attack, while he made sure Kitana stood safely and now that he called the attention of the other two enemies guarding the rest of the prisoners.

Amii'a scooped up Cloud's blasters and sprinted out in the open, followed by one of the New Republic commandos. Krie and the two men he had with him were on point, laser guided blaster rifles covering their ascent to the second floor where Kitana and the prisoners were.

Amii'a shot one of the other guards square in the chest without skipping a beat. The other guard made as if to make a move, but all she had to do was raise her eyebrow. The guard knew it would have been fruitless, and his life was obviously more dear to him than his current orders.

Cloud had the other guards downed, and he had the Vula character secured in a vice like grip.

"A bit showy there," Amii'a said, "but very well down, you no doubt saved the lives of these people. And nice to see you again, Kitana, but your choices of meeting places are getting seedier each time."

"If everyone is accounted for we need to scram, now!" Krie commanded. "Transport will be on the way and we still have to get the hell out of this shit-hole!"

Cloud took a few seconds to release Kitana from her bonds. As he looked to take care of Vula, she was no where to be seen. Cloud looked everywhere and there was no sign of her. "Where did she go? The woman?"

Kitana looked everywhere and she didn't see her anywhere. "Don't worry about her! we need to get out of here."

Amii'a silently cursed herself for not paying attention to that Vulga.

Cloud looked to Kitana and knew that she was right. "Amii'a the woman got away! She probably went to call for backup; we need to get out now!"

"Let's go, the councilors are my only concern anyway, prada, prada!" Amii'a ordered.

Krie had ordered his men to set some charges to use to help cover their escape. As the group made it clear of that building and into another, a powerful explosion rocked the walls and the ground they were running on. Krie tapped his wrist-pad to let Fhurr know that they were on their way.

***

"Roger, roger!" the few remaining battle droids called out as if they were calling out for their lost brothers. "Roger, roger!"

The fire fight had drowned down some, Fhurr noticed as the first rays of dawn began to push the blackness of night from the sky.

"What a freaking drag this world is!" he cursed outloud, venting his frustration.

And then there were the tremors of an explosion, not too far off he surmised. Fhurr's wrist band bleeped to life. Krie! he thought to himself. "Look alive people, we got incoming!" he yelled as he saw a ship coming in over the ocean along the horizon.

"This is the Helix, over," a female voice called over his communication set. "Coming in to pick you up, hold tight!"

"You two stay put, clear the way for the extraction!" Fhurr ordered, then he turned to the female trooper, "Follow me, we gotta go in and make sure the way is clear for Krie!"

The two took off inside while the other two waited for the ship to land and helped to maintain a secure site for the extraction.

***

Cloud and the rest of the group that was now composed by a large number of councilors followed Cloud and Amii'a from their captivity. The guards started to resolve the situation in the prison, which meant one thing - more trouble for them. Cloud had his weapons in his hands, because he knew that whatever they would find, he needed to be ready.

A few corridors in front he saw a black figure on the hallway disappearing in the far corner. He stopped and moved carefully around the corner and when he met face to face with a Bothan, saw it was Fhurr. "Sithspit, I could have killed you!" Cloud said.

"You wish," Fhurr said, as he poked Cloud in the chest where the other trooper behind Fhurr had tagged him with her laser sight.

Cloud moved towards the exit that lead to where the transportation was. He saw the ship was already there; he moved towards the ship to see the surrounding if it was clear. He waved to the prisoners to move.

Outside of the prison it looked as if hell had broken loose outside as well. Battle Droid pieces littered the ground. Amii'a about tripped over the scrap of one that was still sparking.

As they ran towards the ship, the guards on the top floor started to fire towards the prisoners, injuring several, dividing the group in two. Cloud elevated his blasters and started to fire, making covering fire. Cloud looked up and saw the same woman was now standing with other guards, watching. "The bitch is good," Cloud said that this was the perfect spot for a trap, but Girra's transport didn't include in Vula's plans.

Kitana saw an old man falling to the ground; she saw that he was shot in his leg. She tried to pull him towards the entrance, but he was too heavy for her to carry. The man pulled her down where both their faces met. "Go, Princess. You're the one that needs to flee this planet, now. Promise that you will come back to rescue the rest of us?"

Kitana saw the second group moving towards a local speeder boat that was anchored on the platform. At that point she knew that the rest of the councilors would flee this place, but now of the planet. "I promise to send aid for you. Don't worry, I will come back." He saw a few councilors pull the old councilor towards the boat.

The biggest, meanest and ugliest Wookiee one could ever have imagined emerged from the platform of the rescue ship. Chakka helped to gather the councilors onboard, while over head, the laser cannons of the Helix poured lethal fire upon the prison facility.

Amii'a and Kitana were the last, as Colonel Krie and his team made for the watercraft with those councilors that did not make it aboard the Helix. Having everybody that was capable of being aboard, the ramp engaged back up and the Helix roared off from the island prison facility.

Kitana was tending to the councilors as Amii'a walked up to her.

"Don't take this personally," she said as she walked by without stopping, "but I don't think I care to ever visit your world again anytime soon," and she disappeared into the ship.

"Girra, my Ambra," Amii'a said, "I thought I recognised the Helix. Not very many Old Republic Star Cruisers out in the galaxy these days!"

The blue skinned woman turned from the command couch with a grin, "Nope, and certainly not with all the goodies I've put into this baby!"

"I noticed the Wook," Amii'a stated with a weird look upon her face. "Where in Thanatos did you find him!?"

"Haaaa, how'd you guess? That is Chakka, and a loooooooooong story," Girra said. "He is a special-interest case. I have been kicking the idea of having a crew around for sometime; if I can deal with that old and mangy furbag, I suppose I can handle sharing my home and profits with anyone. As long as they can pull their worth, of course."

"Of course," Amii'a said. "Is that the Star Fury?" she asked of the ominous wedged shape ship that the Helix was closing in on.

"That would be the one. So what in the Sithspit did you get yourself into down there?" Girra asked.

"Haaha, nice try," Amii'a laughed. "You are a trusted, but classified is classified. Let's just say that it is very good to be away, and if Gallor was on any vacation manifest, I wouldn't recommend it...at least for a time."

"Uh, that bad huh?" Girra asked.

"Well, it has a lot to be desired, but it has potential," Amii'a replied.

"Yeah, don't they all?" Girra said as the Helix was taken into the under belly of the New Republic Star Destroyer.

"Sibling Rivalry"
By: Yara Brael
Va'Lesh Zaneth
Taran Kinneas

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

"Brothers!" came Yara's perturbed cry. She couldn't fathom why they would wish to harm her or her new friend, Taran, but their rifles were trained on the two. The fallen Vurk appeared frozen and defenseless as one clone hovered over him. The others were quickly closing in around them and Yara had not thought to carry her lightsaber through the corridors with her. She rushed forward and imposed herself between Taran and the clone. Her eyes held confusion. "Brother...what is it you're doing?" The clone merely cocked his head to one side in a manner so similar to her own, Yara believed he had finally recognized her. But as the butt of his rifle buried itself into her abdomen, Yara crumpled to the ground with a great heave, knowing for certain she was but a stranger to them.

Taran saw Yara fall to the ground. He took the chance to push the nearby clones with the aid of the Force. He finally reacted, putting himself up and helping Yara to stand up. The clones fired towards them, but luckily no one was able to shoot them. Taran took out his blaster pistol and fired towards the clones. "Do you want to try convince them a little more?"

Yara shook her head firmly. "They do not recognize me without my armour," she said. "I am afraid we must subdue them, Taran Kinneas. But...promise you will not hurt them too badly?"

"I only promise if they don't be very aggressive, but we must to get out of here. We need to get our hands on weapons and a good place to hold them off." Taran pulled Yara and turned the corner. "And, Yara, we must hold off our position the maximum time even if that means to die trying! For the younger ones!"

"Then why do we not fight, instead of run?" she asked him as she was hurried through the corridors. "We are Jedi. We should not require weaponry."

There was some sense in what Yara said, but there were a few points that didn't make sense. "Well, I don't have a lightsaber and neither do you right this moment. Also lightsabers are not very abundant at the Temple that we can find one in the next room. So we need weapons to make a stand or elude them inside one of the rooms and lock them up or something, because we can't do more than that."

"Then we must go to the training room," Yara told him. "There will be weapons there." And extricating her hand from Taran's, Yara took the lead and guided them to the training rooms.

Behind them, the clunk of heavy boots giving chase spurred them on. Yara still could not fathom what her brothers meant by attacking the temple. From another corridor, there came the echoes of battle, warning Yara and Taran that there were more of the invaders than they had encountered, but their diminishing hope was bolstered as they neared the training room. Yara felt a very familiar presence within, and when they pushed through the doors, she was filled with inexplicable joy. "Mother Brael!" Yara called and rushed towards Kallia.

Well this becoming a promising evening, Taran thought to himself, keeping his box in his hand.

Kallia smiled at Yara as she rushed forward. "It is so good to see you here," she said. "I see you're aware of the trouble coming our way. We'll be staging our defense of the Temple from here. I alerted Koran Darr, but I'm not certain they're in a position to return. We'll have to hold the intruders off until help arrives."

Yara nodded duteously. "We have come for weapons." And her eyes, so alike Kallia's, glanced towards Yelara. "Are you going into battle as well, Mother Brael?" she asked curiously. "The both of you? You should not. Taran Kinneas and I will take care of everything."

"There are too many of them," Kallia said. "You cannot fight them alone. And, besides, Yara, you are part of a team now, we all stand together."

From the other end of the room, Va'Lesh strode through the doorway, a lightsaber clipped to his belt and a blaster burn darkening the sleeve of his tunic. "They have broken through the outer perimeter. I counted one hundred, though there are likely more. Standard formation of twenty troopers to a squad. Two squads have entered the Temple, the rest have taken position around it." He turned to Yara and smiled. "I am glad you are well, Yara."

She tilted her head to examine his sleeve, then frowned at him admonishingly. "You were careless, Va'Lesh." Then her expression softened. "Be more careful," she whispered.

"One of our brothers managed to discern my location," Va'Lesh said, somberly. "I had not expected discovery, and my reaction was slower than it should have been. I used the pain dampening technique Father taught us, and the pain is no longer a bother for me. Everyone is currently safe?"

"We think so," Yelara answered. "Jae Dyn hasn't sensed any disturbances in the Force that could be attributed to the students. But from what I heard, they might not be safe for long if they're the ones engaging the enemy."

Va'Lesh nodded. "Perhaps Master Brael will allow us to check on the others and make certain they are safe."

"Taran Kinneas will join us, I think," Yara said to Va'Lesh, but watching Taran.

"Yes, but we need to secure first inside the temple and then we must head for the Troopers outside the Temple," Taran said. He didn't understand about military, but being on the team that planned the protection of a population on Sembla because of the Lava rivers, he knew a few things. "When I was on Sembla we divided the main Lava river into many, that weakened its speed and its strength, the same applies here. We need to separate them, if we join everyone in the same room we might lure the strike force here and then even if the Force is with us we can't hold them for long. We are talking about people to be perfect fighting machines, not everyday pirates or smugglers."

"But my brothers are not easily fooled, Taran Kinneas," Yara said. "They will not allow themselves to be herded into a single spot where we might subdue them. We must separate their forces, as you said...and keep them separated so we might fight them in smaller numbers." She looked between the three - Va'Lesh, Taran, and Kallia. "I believe we must lure them into the forest. We know it better than they, and I believe we can use that to our advantage."

"But that is probably what they are expecting from us, Yara. if we get out of the temple, they will be expecting us," Taran said and he looked to Va'Lesh and to Yara and then he just gave an ironic smile. "Yara, how do you look with a uniform?"

She cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. "Like a soldier. Why do you ask, Taran Kinneas?"

He simply continued to give his ironic smile. "Let's create some big confusion between them. Yara, you're taking me as prisoner outside and once we're inside the forest we will make ourselves like an incoming force to aid the students. You said that you know this forest better than them and I know that inside you have the knowledge to pull it off!"

"As does Va'lesh," Yara reminded him, looking at her almost brother. "Would he not fit into the armour better than I?"

Taran looked to Va'Lesh. "One must be inside, because the knowledge that you have about your 'Brothers' can aid the rest of the students how to defeat them. So who will stay?"

"Our brothers are highly intelligent and observant," Va'Lesh said. "If Yara goes outside, masquerading as one of them, she will be spotted as an imposter instantly, since none of our sisters are present in this operation. The choice is made without our say, I must be the one to go outside to fool them as one of their own."

"But you forget," Yelara interrupted, "that you require armour. That means you'll need to take it from one of the soldiers."

"The risk is too great," Kallia said, moving closer to the group of Padawans. "As Yara says, you will require armour. Then, once you've obtained armour, are you aware of the various protocols you'll be required to follow to make them believe you're one of them?"

"That is correct," Va'Lesh stated. "The plan carries a great amount of risk. However, facing the enemy at all will be risky. If the plan is successful, we will be able to attack our attackers from two sides, instead of one. It will put us in an offensive position, and force them to assume a defensive posture."

Kallia looked between the three Padawans. "Very well," she said. "Try it, but keep in contact with us here at all times. Now, go get that armour."

Yara bowed her head at her mother, then moved with Taran to the weapons rack and selected a compact, sturdy blade to carry with her. Taran did the same, and with the three padawans now capable of defending themselves, they slipped out of the training room to seek out the armour they required.

Taran followed Yara and Va'lesh and he wonder how they were to pull it off. "Do you guys have some sort of plan?"

"We had thought you did," Yara responded. "Was this not your idea, Taran Kinneas? Unless you simply wish to politely request the use of their armour."

"No. Just asking if you two who have military training have any ideas. So since you don't, I guess I will tell you mine. Ok, we need to separate at least one trooper from the rest. One of us has to be the decoy while the other two makes the trap...!

"It is unlikely only one will pursue," Yara said. "Our brothers work as one unit. If they must, a small party will be sent out to chase any fleeing from the fight. I shall be the decoy, however, if you wish, Taran Kinneas."

"I don't have a problem with that. You two are running the show, since you know better your brothers. I'm just here for the ride and aid you anyway I can," Taran said, glancing to Yara.

"Then you shall follow us," Yara replied, and moved ahead of Taran and Va'Lesh with pure determination. "They will listen to me this time," she vowed. "My brothers will listen to their sister."

"I hope so! I don't like to get hit by blaster ammo, just to save you!" Taran said, simply looking to Yara.

"Then do not get in the way of it," Yara replied, and without a trace of humour to denote levity.

"Concern yourself with keeping yourself safe from harm," Va'Lesh said to Taran. "I will assist my sister, should she require it. We must go now, before it is too late. Come, Yara." With that, he moved swiftly toward the exit.

Taran looked to the side for a moment to see if there was any clone trooper following them. When he looked forward Yara And Va'lesh had disappeared. "This is bad." He moved quickly to the nearby corridor and didn't see them, but he hadn't that feeling before the clone troopers arrived at the temple, so he was not scared. He felt like the Force was calming him down or was it something else? He wasn't sure what it was. His knowledge of the Force was still too limited.

He decided to move to the next corridor and when he got there a clone trooper was standing there. He stopped and without saying anything Taran elevated his hands, surrendering. "What a night!" he said to himself.

Four other clones were behind their comrade, all with weapons trained on the Vurk. The one before him charged his blaster, and Taran was only narrowly spared a bolt in the chest by a clamour among the other soldiers.

"Taran Kinneas!" Yara's voice hollered, and she appeared in a break amongst the small group, with Va'Lesh alongside her. "You will run now," she ordered him, then Va'Lesh and Yara did the same with the four clones in close pursuit.

Taran did without making questions about what Yara ordered to do. He ran away from the clone. They must have a plan... was one of the million things running through his mind and he hoped that they actually had a plan.

As he ran through the corridor he saw energy bolts passing through him. He turned on the next corridor and saw that it didn't have an exit. "What a night!" he said. He turned, facing the troopers and elevated his hands. Now he had to wait.

But not for long, for Taran's two comrades appeared from behind the soldier, their faces blank but focused. As the clone swung to face them, Yara's expression conveyed a brief hint of regret. "Forgive us, Brother." Then she and Va'Lesh moved in to engage him.

Va'Lesh and Yara's bodies performed in unison against the single soldier, who matched them in speed and technique. As siblings, the three seemed to have insight into what the other was thinking, and each strike was anticipated. Kicking out towards their brother, the clone leapt back with agility to avoid the powerful blows and retaliated with combined punch and sidekick, one aimed for Yara's chest and the other for Va'Lesh's abdomen. The Padawans had no trouble evading the strikes, yet the clone remained undaunted.

"Please," Yara said flatly while stepping forward into a punch, "we simply require your armour."

As Yara moved in to engage their sibling, a fighter of equal skill, Va'Lesh rolled in the opposite direction, bringing himself around to the soldier's back. It hadn't taken the two young Padawans long to realize that one thing that became their strength against their brethren was the freedom of thought they appeared to have found. Their ability to fight with improvisation and spontaneity would be the key to winning this fight. Va'Lesh launched a series of lightning fast attacks at their brother, but few of them landed effectively...however, his presence behind the clone was enough.

With attention divided, the clone seemed no longer able to effectively anticipate their attacks, but he was still faring remarkably. None of the three showed any signs of wavering, nor did Va'Lesh or Yara's faces display any mark of struggle. They flowed from position to position, fluidly changed stances as they delivered blow after blow. The clone compensated by alternating between Yara and Va'Lesh in a dizzying series of leaping spins and turns, but Yara and Va'lesh's Jedi training was beginning to prove superior to Dargus' military regime. More of the two Padawan's strikes were connecting now, and the clone feeling more of them despite his armour. He stumbled back into Va'Lesh as the flat of Yara's hand impacted his chest, the Force energy channelled there overpowering the clone.

While their brother was off-balance, Va'Lesh kicked his feet from beneath him, using the clone's lack of balance to his advantage against him, and sent him crashing to the ground. Before he could react, Va'Lesh planted a foot on his shoulder to keep him pinned in place.

Yara's foot held down his other shoulder, and the two Padawans looked down at their brother as he struggled. "We will not kill you, Brother. But we must take your armour. It is imperative." Watching Va'Lesh now, Yara gave a nod.

Va'Lesh dropped to his knees beside the prone figure and quickly unsealed the helmet from where it connected to the rest of the armour. With a tug, he pulled the helmet free and found himself staring down into his own face, struggling against the Padawans' hold over him. "I apologize for this, Brother," he said, sadness in his voice. He cocked his arm back and cracked it against the side of the clone's head, dropping him into unconsciousness. He looked up at Yara. "He should be out for ten minutes, I believe; we must hurry."

She nodded and knelt on their brother's other side. Taran was still standing back, witnessing the entire altercation and saying nothing. Her expression remained neutral as she gazed up at him. "Thank you for being our bait, Taran Kinneas."

Taran crossed his arms and looked to Yara. "Don't mention it, but next time tell me about it."

She bowed her head humbly. "As you wish, Taran Kinneas." Then she proceeded to help Va'Lesh in removing their brother's armour.

"We would not have allowed you to be injured, Taran Kinneas," Va'Lesh intoned as he shifted down to begin removing the lower half of the clone's armour. "There would have needed to have been at least six of our brethren before you would have been in danger."

"Seven," Yara corrected in all seriousness, and with no hint of pride or humour.

Va'Lesh regarded his bondmate for a moment, his mind working the odds of the fight had there been seven opponents, and he nodded. "Yes, that is correct," he said. "Taran Kinneas, can you find us something with which to bind his feet and hands?"

"Yes," Taran said as he walked a little further and entered a nearby entrance.

After a few minutes Taran exited, carrying a sort of a rope. He approached the group. "Will this do?"

"That will be perfect for our needs, Taran Kinneas," Va'Lesh said. "Bind him securely. Yara, will you assist me in donning this armour so that we might carry out the plan?"

She nodded duteously and rose to do so, picking up the soldier's helmet as she did. "Will it not feel strange, wearing this again?" Yara asked him.

"Indeed it will," Va'Lesh said with a grave nod as he began putting on the armour. "I never expected to put it on again. I believe it will feel...extremely awkward."

"It is simply a disguise, Va'Lesh," Yara reminded him. She moved closer to her mate, tightening his vambrace while staring into his blue eyes. "You are Va'Lesh now," Yara whispered. "If you remember that, it will be alright."

Va'Lesh nodded once. "Yes," he said. "You are quite correct. I am no longer one of those soldiers, no longer a mindless drone. I will return safely to you, Yara. We still must make a baby like my little brother."

"I agree, Va'Lesh," she answered evenly, then kissed his cheek before placing the helmet over his head. Once he was attired, Yara stepped back with Taran. "We are ready."

"Stay before me," Va'Lesh said, his voice changing slightly. It held an affected, dispassionate monotone, much as the other clones used. "You will be my prisoners. Together, we will move through the forest, eliminating patrols of our brethren. Surprise will be on our side."

Yara tipped her head, taking everything in stride with utter lack of emotion. "As you wish, Va'Lesh." Then turned from him and waited for Taran to join her.

Taran joined Yara, breathing a little nervously. "Let's see if the Clones buy our scheme!"

And silently, Yara did as well, but kept her apprehensions hidden well.

***

With prisoners under his charge, none of the other roaming soldiers halted the three Padawans, but they did give them long looks. It would seem Nieme and Dani had demanded no prisoners, which translated to instant death of all captives. That one of their own had defied such an order cast some doubt upon the Padawans' ruse, but as yet they had encountered no trouble. This allowed them to venture outside the temple, into the forest.

Yara frowned at the nearby sounds of blasters discharging. "There is a battle," she told them. "That is where we must go."

"I am in agreement," Va'Lesh stated. "I see a small group of Padawans north of the fight. We must go to them. We can use the chaos of the battle to insert ourselves where necessary." He hurried the others forward, trying not to take his role as their captor too seriously by prodding them on. He sensed danger ahead, grave and desperate danger. They would all need to be careful if they hoped to stay alive.

"The Heist, Part 1"
By: Rylaa Lyssander - PC
Lani Vissip - NPC+
Lorgal - NPC+
Sergeant Jaller Two-Thumbs - NPC
Corporal Kypp - NPC
Corporal Rwaggagga - NPC
Corporal Morgal - NPC
Various other NPCs

Location: Various
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

They had been in the hotel room for most of the evening, and well into the next day. Rylaa, Lani, Lorgal, Credit, and the half-Cyborg mercenary Jaller Two-thumbs. They were trying to come up with a workable plan, one that would let them into the old Imperial facility. It was Lorgal who had suggested bringing in the mercenary group 'Durasteel Fist'.

Durasteel Fist, led and owned by the self-titled Sergeant Two-Thumbs, was a small mercenary unit specializing in fast-reaction strikes, guerrilla warfare, and the swift employment of super-heavy man-portable weapon systems. The unit consisted of three 18-man platoons, each with its own specialties and led by one of the three corporals, and the command unit.

Corporal Kypp was a beast of a man. Fully 7 � feet tall and almost as wide. It was rumored that he may be half Huek. He was made up of hair, muscles, and gristle. Most make the mistake of believing him to be stupid based on his appearance; they couldn't be farther from the truth. Crpl. Kypp was highly intelligent and a specialist when it came to quick strike tactics. He ran Stryker Platoon, made up of blaster-laden swoopbikes.

Corporal Rwaggagga was a lean Wookie renegade with one eye. He carried a gigantic bowcaster on his back and carried double belts of quarrels across his chest. Despite his size, he was an infiltration, guerilla warfare, and insurgency tactics expert. It was said that you could drop him in the middle of Tatooine and he would come back out three weeks later riding a Kryat Dragon. He led Ghost Platoon.

Corporal Morgal was Lorgal's nestmate and fellow clansman. He was considered large even by Barabel standards. His personal weapon of choice was a particle cannon normally called 'crew-served'. He was in charge of the heavy weapons platoon; lovingly referred to by its members as Boom Boom Platoon.

Sgt. Two-Thumbs himself was a former stormtrooper commander who got a bit too close to a thermal detonator. This, combined with a violent allergic reaction to bacta, is the reason that the majority of his body was replaced by electronics and durasteel. He was the mastermind behind 'Durasteel Fist' and ran his unit with the crisp military precision one would except from a former Imperial officer. He normally hired his unit out by the platoon, but favor asked for by Lorgal, an old friend, as well as the rewards promised by this venture, had led to him bringing along everyone.

Recon had been done by Credit, via satellites, on the location they sought. The compound was 100 kilometers north of Arcadia in the secluded Te'Gon Mountain Range, nestled in a protective valley and protected by a sheer cliff face on one side. The compound itself was heavily guarded, even in the post-imperial era of the planet. On each of the base's four corner was a salvaged turbo-laser battery, probably from an old Star destroyer. Dotting the heavy duracrete wall was anti-personnel repeating blasters as well as heavier anti-vehicle lasers. The fortified command bunker in the center of the compound not only housed the vaults that were their destination, but also sported four quad-laser cannons for anti-fighter defense. A single Planetary Defender Ion Cannon squatted ominously from the mountain behind the base. A tough nut to crack to be sure.

The plan so far was to utilize the Fist's Omega class assault shuttle to position Cpl. Rwaggagga and Cpl. Morgal's platoons in support positions. Lani, Rylaa, and Lorgal would compose the Infiltration squad, tasked with getting in and taking control of the center. Cpl. Kypp and his swoop platoon would conduct harassing strike on the compound's defenses until Morgal's missilemen could take them out. Ghost platoon, except for the two sniper teams, was stay in standby to exfiltrate Rylaa's squad in case the shit hit the fan and they had to pull out. Sgt. Two-Thumbs would in the shuttle with his four men to coordinate. The plan was shaky to be sure, but everyone agreed that is was the best chance they had.

After a quick nap and a hit of Corellian Whiskey, everyone geared out, loaded up their various transports, and headed out.

*** Near the Palace, Arcadia ***

Rylaa, Lani, and Lorgal crested the rise near the Palace and viewed a picture of bedlam. A pitched battle appeared to be happening on the grounds themselves. Red and green blaster bolts flew every which way, many striking only dirt. Some buried themselves into flesh.

"What the fuck is going on?" Lani demanded, stunned by the scene in front of her.

"Remember when I said those two little girls wouldn't stay on the throne long? This is what I was talking about," Rylaa responded coolly. He had already recalculated their course to take them around the battle.

"But those are New Republic troops down there. Some of them appear to be firing on other New Republic soldiers! What kind of insanity is this?"

Lorgal turned to regard the pair. "More than likely the dark Jedi that seized control of the planet were able to warp the minds of some of the men in command so that they ordered their troops to open fire on their friends. Or, they could have infiltrated the command structure. Either way, severe repercussions are going to come down on the ones that allowed this to happen." He announced all this in a voice the sounded like a boulder rolling downhill. Rylaa merely nodded his agreement while Lani, understanding everything, smiled.

"I wonder if the Jedi are involved; and if so, if Dargus Kandran is down there with them. If he is, I wish him the best of luck. It would be a pity to have a man like that die in something as stupid as a political struggle." He kicked his swoop into action, readjusted the goggles over his eyes, and said, "Come on, we're to meet the Fists 10 klicks outside the base." His two companions did the same.

*** Ten kilometers outside the compound ***

The Omega class assault shuttle Hammer had touched down in a clearing well off the road leading up to the facility. The Fists were already setting up the camouflaged command and control post when Rylaa and friends arrived. The well-paid Sgt. Two-Thumbs greeted them warmly; his normally polished durasteel parts dulled down and painted a matte-black. They unloaded their gear, ran through the plan one more time, then the Platoons broke off to await the command to advance.

Rylaa and Lani both wore camouflaged jumpsuits with the custom-made form-fitting body armor underneath. Both wore a thick metal belt with a large red knob in the front. The Personal Shield Generators. The PSGs would not be activated until they were approaching the compound. Lani carried two pistols in thigh sheaths and had a pair of large vibrodaggers in both her boots and in sheaths across her breasts. Rylaa carried an illegal Decksweeper Stunner. The Decksweeper looked a lot like a blaster rifle, except the barrel was flattened and elongated. The weapon produced a wave of stunning energy that could easily bring down a raging bantha. Its range, however, was very limited. They would be relying on Ghost Platoon's pair of snipers for coverage entering the base anyway.

One hour later, everyone was in position. Morgal and his crew had taken up support positions along a rock line in the forested portion of the valley. From here, they had a perfect view, and aim, of the four turbo-laser batteries that would be the first to fall. Rwaggagga and four of his men had infiltrated almost all the way up to the wall of the compound, where they would attempt to scale the walls while receiving covering fire from both Morgal and Kypp. Kypp's swoops had full charges in their blasters, and each carried several thermal detonators to drop if they got close enough. Rylaa, Lani, and Lorgal, were standing by several klicks down the road rocky road that led to the base, waiting for Rwaggagga's group to open the big durasteel doors for them.

The base appeared to be deserted, though everyone there knew it wasn't. No watches appeared to have been set, few lights were on. The compound supposedly carried four full companies of stormtroopers and a compliment of 3 AT-STs. Credit's recon, however, showed the garrison to be about half that. Still a formidable force.

"Grrrawl gggragga," Rwaggagga growled across the circuit. His team was in position at the base of the wall.

"Gate team, go." That was the sergeant's voice. Rwaggagga and his four men each fired their silent grappling guns. At the end of their cords were knobs each coated with Bondo, a sticky substance that instantly bonds with whatever it touches. The bonding is released when an electric current passes through it.

The grapplers silently sailed through the air, attaching themselves high up the wall near the edge. The five members attached the guns to their belts and began to scale the walls. There was no reaction from the compound.

Rylaa watched everything through his electrobinoculars.

"I just don't get why there are stormtroopers here. The Empire pulled out, the New Republic came in!" Lani said. She was checking the charge in her vibrodaggers.

"Because the New Republic didn't want to put any troops here. The stormtrooper garrison here is all local, no foreign soldiers allowed. Even the officers are local boys. From what I heard, they aren't as loyal to the Empire or the Republic as either would like them to be. So when the rebels swooped in and kicked the Imperials out, they left them in place."

"Ahhh... got it."

Rwaggagga and his men had made it to the edge of the wall and clambered over. After a couple of minutes a furry paw holding a red cloth popped over the edge, the signal to continue with the attack.

*** Inside the compound ***

Major Hasek-Jordan was sitting in his comfortable chair with his hands folded over his ponderous belly. A steaming cup of kaf sat on desk in front of him. He was contemplating just how cushy this job was when the alarms sounded throughout the facility, followed closely by two large explosions.

The major fell out of his chair and managed to crawl/run to the door. He snagged a junior officer by the sleeve as the man ran by and demanded to know what was going on.

"We're under attack sir!" the officer said.

Major Hasek-Jordan's face blanched at the news.

*** Overlooking the Eastern compound ***

Morgal watch the first two missiles leave the heavy MerrSon missile launchers and fly towards the closest two turbo-laser batteries. Apparently there was as least one person on watch in the compound, as the alarms began to sound even before the missiles reached their destination. The following booming explosions tore through the weapons, blowing the closest completely off its mount.

The missilemen cheered at their kill, vowing to paint the turbo-lasers on their launchers. Morgal watched with grim satisfaction as Stormtroopers, many only half in their armor, boiled out of buildings. He smiled and hefted the ungainly looking weapon that he called his own. The evil looking collection of tubes, wires, and ambiguous electronic devices was a particle cannon. It was a weapon that could cause widespread destruction at a great distance. Its cost was power. The gun could drain the fusion battery from a good-sized speeder in just a couple shots. It was also highly unreliable, requiring intense maintenance prior to use.

The particle cannon bucked and pushed the huge barabel backwards as an azure beam flew towards one portion of the wall. At first, nothing seemed to happen, just a few crackles of electricity dancing around the impact point. Then that section of the wall disappeared in a fiery explosion that shocked even the heavy-weapons specialist.

*** 5 klicks away ***

Cpl. Kypp gunned his swoop and led his men towards the compound. Two large explosions showed themselves briefly above the tree line. The men behind him whooped and sped even faster. They were staying low to the ground in order to avoid detection.

They soon saw the three companions waiting on the road and pulled back in order to launched themselves over their heads. Reds lights were spinning everywhere and klaxons were sounding loudly as they flew over, triggering their blasters at everything from troopers to dirt. After two passes they swooped into the distance, leaving the compound in a profound state of chaos.

*** On the road to the compound ***

Rylaa, Lani, and Lorgal watched the swoopbikes fly overhead. The one in the tail did a barrel roll.

"Swoopers, never did understand them," Rylaa said as he readied his own bike.

"You're not supposed to, that's part of the mystique," Lani replied with a smile.

"Oh shut up," he shot back with a grimace. Rylaa had run a swoop bike gang back on Tanis a few years ago. His motto was, "It's all part of the mystique." The gang fell apart after about a month.

A bright green flare launched high into the air. That was the signal they were waiting for. The signal that Rwaggagga had succeeded in his mission. The gates would soon be open to them and they would storm the command bunker. Then, hopefully, everything would go nicely and they would load the boxes of hard credit onto the assault shuttle and leave. Yeah, like that would ever happen.

"The Heist, Part 2"
By: Rylaa Lyssander - PC
Lani Vissip - NPC+
Lorgal - NPC+
Sergeant Jaller Two-Thumbs - NPC
Corporal Kypp - NPC
Corporal Rwaggagga - NPC
Corporal Morgal - NPC
Various other NPCs

Location: Various
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

Major Hasek-Jordan carefully poked his nose over his desk. This was supposed to be a cake position. When the Empire had sent him here, at first he thought it would ruin his career. However, when the Empire fell a year later, it didn't matter. The New Republic had come in and left things exactly as they had found them, since the Stormtroopers here were really just local boys in the armor and not a real threat. No one was supposed to attack this facility, it was supposed to be suicide. But obviously someone was attacking his base, and he had no real defense against it.

Major Hasek-Jordan, pride of the former Imperial Navy, hid behind his desk and shivered.

*** In the air above the base ***

Cpl. Kypp whooped in delight as he and his swoop squad angled over the base, blasting at random bits of building. This was his element, up here in the air with no one to challenge him. Unlike most Swoopers he wore no facemask or helmet, only a pair of goggles. His mates called him insane, but he thought them silly for not letting them feel the wind rush through their hair.

Kypp laughed as he saw Grawl and Liaster, his primary wingmen, tossing a thermal detonator back and forth between them like a baseball. Then something caught his eye.

As they curved back towards the base for another base, Kypp noticed machinery moving on the roof of the primary complex. Blood drained from his face as he recognized the threat for what it was. A quad-laser cannon salvaged from some freighter and pressed into duty as a light anti-fighter weapon. He noticed this mere seconds before he was cut from sky by a hail of sizzling green bolts.

*** Overlooking the Eastern Compound ***

Morgal cried out in disbelief as he watched the quad pick Kypp and his wingmen from the air with ease. Kypp had been his closest friend since they first joined the planetary militia on Tarterus together. They had climbed through the ranks of the militia before joining the sarge in his mercenary group. And now he was so much vapor.

The rest of the squad could only stare helplessly as fully a third of their force was wiped out in seconds. The air around them rained with burning vehicle parts and bits of blackened flesh.

Morgal roared in defiance of the scene and hefted his massive particle cannon. The azure beam sliced through the thin armor protecting the quad-laser and discharged most of its energy right into the capacitor. Another massive explosion rocked the badly shaken compound, throwing stormtroopers everywhere. The Barabel grimaced at the puny revenge he had enacted.

What good was it, now that Kypp was dead? Meh, that's the life of a mercenary. He could only hope for a bigger paycheck.

*** On the road to the compound ***

The companions watched as a mass of green blaster bolts erupted from the tree line to strike down the now seemingly puny swoopbikes. They were flying down the rough road on their speederbikes at speeds that would put a bug's eye out. Rylaa cursed and hoped that the gate would be open in the next minute.

Otherwise, they were going to make a very large red stain.

Trees blurred past them as they soared through the forest, breaking abruptly as they entered the clearing around the compound. The devastation wrecked by the mercenary company could be clearly seen. Over to the left it looked as if a capital scale weapon had hit an entire section of the duracrete wall. Chunks of the wall had been blown off from the multitude of missiles that had been fired at it. But best of all, the gate was wide open and being held by Rwaggagga and his men.

Lorgal hefted the heavy repeating blaster he had taken with him, the end of which was plugged into the portable fusion battery on his back, and hosed down the doors to the main building of the compound. They blew open quite satisfactorily, crushing the man standing behind them.

All three skidded to a halt and leapt off their respective speeders. A beam of azure flashed through the air right over their heads. Lani, alert to all forms of danger, pushed the two men ahead of her and dove for the entrance, rolling through the door just in time as a fiery orange cloud enveloped the space were she had just been.

They all jumped to their feet and readied their weapons, expecting at any moment to have to face the hoard of Stormtroopers that were to be expected at any imperial facility.

Nothing. No sounds of booted feet running uniformly on plasteel flooring. No voice barking, "Halt!" with the familiar crackle of a radio circuit. It was rather disappointing.

"Well, it looks like this will be easier than I thought," Rylaa said, lowering his roomsweeper. Lorgal, veteran of a hundred battles, and Lani, ever alert, kept theirs readied. Just in case.

They slowly moved down the hallway, opening doors to various rooms only to find them all deserted. Lorgal in the lead, they continued deeper and deeper into the facility.

Then a wave of danger hit the sensitive Lani like a hammer. "Look out!" she screamed to Lorgal as she grabbed Rylaa by the shirt and hauled him backwards. The explosion of a frag grenade picked the Barabel off his feet and knocked him all the way to the end of the long stretch of hallway. He bounced off the wall and laid very still, his clothing smoking.

Blaster bolts rained down upon Rylaa and Lani from further down. It seemed as if the stormtroopers really were here. Lani opened up with both of her DL-44s as she rolled for the cover of an empty room. Rylaa, lacking any real ranged weaponry, opted for the next best thing.

The criminal grabbed a C-90 Cryoban grenade from his belt and lobbed it with all his strength down the hallway. Hopefully he would hit something. There was a flash of blue light and several screams further down. Good toss, he silently congratulated himself.

He picked himself up and motioned for Lani to follow him, only to find that she had already gone ahead. Her pistols were back in the sheaths on her thighs and both vibrodaggers had been drawn.

She crept silently across the floor, ready for anything. When she arrived to where the soldiers had been, she found that the daggers were unnecessary. Every soldier lay dead, most frozen solidly in whatever position they had been in moments before the Cryoban splashed over them. She kicked at one lightly, just to make sure, and had to jump back a little as he crumbled into a hundred pieces.

Rylaa came jogging up a minute later and looked at the carnage he had enacted. He was slightly pleased with himself. After all, he never was much good at combat. They both heard a whimper in one corner and whipped around, weapons in hand, to face the threat.

Though the threat turned out to be a stormtrooper curled up in one corner shivering and whimpering to himself. The trooper's helmet had been knocked off to reveal the face of a boy not more than fourteen years of age. He look up at the pair and wiped his tear-streaked face with the back of his dirty glove.

Lani shot him clearly between the eyes.

Rylaa, shocked by the display of savagery that had come over the normally soft-hearted woman could only stare at the corpse with his jaw hanging open. He turned slowly to face the woman.

"What the frag did you did that for?" he yelled at her.

Lani whipped the pistol so that it touched Rylaa's nose slightly. "Whatever I do today, I do because of you, Rylaa Lyssander. I do because you made me this way, slowly, over the past several years. This is the final culmination of it all. The breaking of the oath I made years ago to never kill a child. Never to kill any innocent." She leaned close to him. He could feel her breath, hot against his face. "But you taught me an important lesson, Rylaa, you taught that there are no innocents." Then she kissed him fiercely, rushing in too fast for the eye to follow.

The kiss lingered for awhile, the moment hanging in the air. A frozen bit of time granted to these two by the Powers of the universe that they might enjoy it.

Of course, it was shattered by the sound of someone clearing his throat. A very large someone clearing his throat. Lorgal stood, embarrassed at having interrupted them, with his clothes still smoking from the blast. He cleared his throat again and said, "Sorry... but I don't think they were enjoying the show as much as I was." His pointed behind the lovers and they turned slowly.

Several full squads of Stormtroopers were charging down the hallway the meet them.

"Ahhhhhhh, crap," was all Rylaa could say.

"Fledgling Defenders, Part 1"
By: Jae Dyn Brael
Yelara Zaneth
Aurra Sgall
Vaya Bek
Nyah Darasar

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Blaster fire was coming from all around in the forest, but whenever a bolt ventured too near Jae Dyn Brael, it was stopped and harmlessly diverted by her lightsaber. At her side, Yelara fired into the distance, aiming for any clone who might happen to stray too far into her line of sight. Arrayed around them, throughout the forest, small skirmishes were taking place between Padawans and soldiers sent by Nieme and Dani.

As she sent a blast back, splitting the tree next to the trooper who had fired it, Jae Dyn couldn't help the fleeting thought that Zari and Raeila had found a safe place to hide out during the fight. If something happened to either Yara or Leshie, she didn't know if there was any power in the universe that would calm her. As she continued to deflect blaster bolts, she spared a glance at Yelara. "How are you holding up?" she asked, concern etched across her face.

"I have a feeling I'm not a stranger to this sort of thing," Yelara replied above the din. She leaned around the tree she'd taken cover behind and squeezed off a shot, barely winging a soldier. "How 'bout you?" Her eyes motioned pointedly to her belly.

"I'm holding up," Jae Dyn said. "Not as easy to move as it used to be. I don't know how long we'll be able to hold them off here, but we'll do our best. I think as long as we don't let them get too close to us, we'll be able to hold out."

"And how long do you believe they'll remain fearful of a few half-trained children?" Yelara asked.

"They're not," Jae said. "I don't think they fear anything...or at least they haven't learned to. They must be holding back for some other reason. I can only think that they're trying to keep the attack here more subtle. If the public knew about this attack, it would surely generate sympathy for the Jedi's cause and turn whatever support Nieme and Dani may have found against them."

Yelara frowned as she pressed her back to the tree. "Or they're waiting for reinforcements and are trying to catch us offguard."

"Whatever the case, I hope we have someone coming to help us," Jae Dyn said. "By now the Jedi will have felt our situation. The question is whether any will be able to abandon their mission to assist us here. We may be able to request assistance from the New Plouton police force, but I don't trust anyone associated with the Tae'Karada government right now."

"If Dargus can get to us," Yelara told her fervently, "he will. I can feel it." And she peered around the trunk to fire off another shot.

Jae Dyn looked at Yelara and suppressed a sigh. "I'm sure he will," she said softly, then returned her attention fully to the attack.

***

Vaya had the worst dread in her gut she could ever remember feeling.

Just what the hell is going on around this planet?!! she thought to herself as she dodged a blaster bolt with a Force assisted lunge and roll to a nearby tree.

Vaya knew she had no time to think about anything except survival, she quickly put all emotions into check and tried to focus on her surroundings. She could feel Master Jae Dyn like a hot star within the Force. She also felt Nyah and Aurra close to her as they had formed a bond through the Force at the start of the attack in the Temple. Vaya found it somewhat difficult to keep track of the troopers, their presence in the Force was not like any other being she had ever felt, and though she didn't know much about clones, she heard that that was indeed who these troopers were, and she could only surmise that it must have something to do with it.

Vaya could sense a trooper ahead of her position and to the right-rear of where she knew Master Jae Dyn to be. Vaya knew her lightsaber skills were no match to go one on one with trained soldiers. She would if she had to, she knew that.

Vaya took a sizeable rock in her hand and launched at the trooper, gathering strength in the Force to propel the rock with more inertia than she could humanly muster. The rock cracked loudly against the trooper's black armor, he faltered, more likely from the shock of the assault than anything else. Vaya sent a sharp alarm to Master Jae Dyn and the woman she was with, the one Vaya had seen with a blaster, in hopes they would see and sense the trooper she had caught with a stone.

A burst of orange light took the soldier in the chest, pushing him back. It was only after two more successive blaster shots struck him that the soldier finally slumped to the ground. From her tree, Yelara saluted the young Padawan, then returned her focus to the battle.

Any ideas, Aurra? Vaya shot to her friend in hopes of some sort of plan.

If Aurra was content in anything at all, it was that she had spent so much time in lightsaber practice. She flung it in circling motions, sending each shot that was driven her way back to its point of origin. Aurra tried to relax as much as possible and concentrate on the task at hand, but there seemed to be a stand-off.

The blue skinned twi'lek girl heard Vaya's thoughts and sighed. Remaining as such would lead them nowhere at all. She moved to the side, while clearing her path of blaster shots with her blade and whirled around to strike upon a tree. The lightsaber cut through it with amazing ease, sending the tree falling into where the clones stood. Some clones were injured by the tree and some were knocked out. But even so, they were still numerous.

Master Jae Dyn, any thoughts? Aurra asked mentally.

Fell too many trees like that, came the Jedi's reply, and you may end up crushing one of us or the Temple itself. Unless you've been trained as a treecutter, with the skill to judge the fall before you've even made the cut, then proceed. Otherwise, we'll need to find another way to hold them back that won't injure us in the process. And, switch to comlinks. While you may have the skill to place your thoughts into the minds of others, some aren't so skilled yet. Remember, there is a majority of barely trained Padawans out here. For now, regroup to the west.

Vaya was awed and surprised at the fallen tree by the stroke of Aurra's lightsaber, it almost made her laugh as well.

Lords, a rock, a tree...what else next, she thought to herself as she assessed her surroundings and took in Master Jae Dyn's command to regroup westward.

All around the dark forest was illuminated by the crimson streaks of blaster fire and the ethereal glow of those who held lightsabers. The clone troopers' armor was a perfect hue for this hour of attack.

Vaya tried to take mental collection of the Padawan learners out in the forest, they couldn't be forgotten in the midst of battle. Heading the call to regroup, Vaya made from her tree to try and help guard and gather what Padawans she could.

Nyah had learned her lessons from Alisson well. It wasn't an easy battle but she also knew they were the only ones around to defend the temple. At one point her attempt to deflect an attack didn't work as well as the Padawan had hoped. It came almost nearly out of the blue. Enough to confuse Nyah's defenses.

In the time it took her to regroup Nyah's movements simply weren't quick enough. One instant she had the upper hand the next found her biting back pain induced by a fresh injury. Very uncertain of how long they'd be able to hold the Jedi Temple from falling.

Aurra knew that she was perhaps the sole padawan with enough training to sustain defenses with a lightsaber in an open field. And coming out of the Temple was starting to seem like the wrong choice of action. But she trusted that Master Jae Dyn was more knowledgeable than her and certainly more experienced, so she began to regroup westwards along with the others.

At a point, Aurra was passing near Master Jae Dyn and Yelara. Coming out from behind the tree lines would leave them open for blaster attack. "Should we move all together? We may be able to provide better cover for each other that way..." she suggested.

"We should move in small groups," Jae Dyn said. "All of us together would just be an easy target for them. No more than three to a group, moving out past the lake." She turned back, a presence nagging at her, but she pulled her attention back and focused on the Padawans. "Come, let's keep moving. If we linger too long in one place, we're no more than targets for them to practice at."

Vaya was thankful she had had some experience in the midst of such action as this, although she also wished she had more training. She felt like she wasn't capable of helping matters other than to keep alive and help to usher some of the other Padawans from harm's way. She saw Aurra and Master Jae Dyn off to her left, and heard the instructions to move out past the lake. She ushered a younger Padawan near to her, keeping the student in front of her to help guard against a blaster shot to the back, not even thinking of her own back side.

Keeping her sense about her she stretched out with her feelings to touch the minds of her fellow students, trying to give a sense of assurance to ease any anxieties, more so for the younger than anyone else of course. She could just imagine how they felt, this was their home, they were suppose to be protected and feel safe.

They were here to learn the ways of the Force, not to be shot at! she thought as she and the younger student took cover behind a tree to avoid the blaster fire that was aimed at them.

A few trees over she saw Nyah, and to their left she saw Master Jae Dyn and Aurra.

"Nice night out tonight huh?" she said to Nyah. "I don't recall this in the brochure..." she said as another succession of blaster fire burned away at a tree forward of her position.

With a brief smile Nyah responded, "This most certainly wasn't in any brochure I've seen."

Aurra wondered what had happened to Taran and the others. After all, there were others. She moved from behind the tree line to block and defend against a couple more shots. "Master Brael, what of Taran and the others?" she asked.

"They are still safe and free from harm," Jae Dyn said. "My daughter and her companion will keep Taran safe. Though, we should try to find them when we can. For now, let's keep moving."

"Very well," Aurra nodded. And with that she began to move. She ran and trusted the Force into knowing where each blaster shot would be delivered at, thus dodging or blocking it while she ran. She took cover behind a tree for a few seconds and then came out, blocking a few more shots and sending them back.

Aurra then moved once more and stopped next to Nyah and Vaya. "Ok you guys, we have to move from here. I think the deeper we go into the forest the better for us. We can hide and cloak ourselves and we stand more strong! Master Jae Dyn told us to go to the lake," she said. "You ready?" she asked.

"I am," Vaya said simply as she looked to Nyah for confirmation. They would have to have each other's back.

Nyah nodded, knowing full well they would have to work as a team to survive. "I'm ready."

When they were all ready, Aurra stepped out and began to move throughout the treelines, blocking the shots that were fired their way. They stood back to back in a triangle-like shape, so as to block more efficiently.

"Once we get to those trees up ahead, I suggest we run a short distance and use the tree branches to conceal ourselves better. We can jump from branch to branch and use the vines if necessary, and it will make it harder for them to shoot at us!" Aurra suggested.

Vaya gave her friend a slight Force nudge of understanding. If there was one thing Vaya was skilled at for this night's escapades, it was her aerobatics and gymnastics training. Vaya kept her senses about her as the girls made their way forward. The woods were so dark, yet sporadic blaster fire lit the darkness as did the humming glow of their lightsabers.

Vaya felt secure in the meld she shared with the other Padawans, it wasn't a true battle meld that experienced Jedi were capable of, but more of a joined awareness. It helped, it was comforting, that was what mattered. Suddenly she felt a warning sensation in the Force. Without thought, she struck out with her lightsaber just in time for it to meet a blaster bolt. She flung it up into the air, out of harm's way. She knew her skills were not that adept to aim the shot back to the trooper, and she certainly didn't want to accidentally shoot one of her own.

Thank the Force! Vaya thought to herself at that thoughtless action.

She was surprised at her action, and felt a bit weary. She didn't know if it was luck or the Force that the bolt went into the sky above, but she preferred to believe in the Force of course.

Aurra kept her senses up and kept her lightsaber firm in her hand, using it to deflect the fewer blaster shots that got close enough. The trees provided a much better cover, and using the Force to leap from branch to branch made it harder for the troopers to follow.

Vaya stretched out with the Force to feel the forest around her, to sense every branch and vine, as well as to assist her in her motions above the forest ground. From limb to limb she hopped and swung, flipping from tree to tree, grasping and swinging from a vine when it was available. From outward appearance one would think it was an exercise well rehearsed. True, Vaya had spent countless hours training in such skills, but with the Force as her ally, she easily maneuvered through the trees just as is it were another training session with ropes and bars.

Aurra was right, the trees do help provide cover from the troopers' blaster, and it is definitely faster than the stopping and going on foot! Vaya thought as she somersaulted in mid air from one limb to another.

She called on the Force to enrich her blood with more oxygen with every breath. It gave her strength, enhanced her agility, and kept her moving where anyone else would have already begun to feel the effects of fatigue. Vaya kept an eye out for any troopers below, and was mindful of the blaster shots that streaked through the air. All around shots exploded into the trees as they missed their marks or were deflected by Aurra and Master Jae Dyn.

The troopers were now more scattered because of them running into the woods and towards the lake. Aurra was wondering whether this was in Master Jae Dyn's plans, but it had certainly worked well. "Master Jae Dyn, the lake is just up ahead. But it's an open space. Should we stand firm ground there?" Aurra asked through the comlink.

"We'll prepare to make our stand just beyond that," Jae Dyn said. "We don't want to make it too easy for them to pick us off."

"Very well," Aurra replied as she was forced to dodge a blaster shot. They were in an easier position now, but still, there were far too many clone troopers for them to handle. "Anyone has any bright ideas?" Aurra asked the two girls.

"I don't have any ideas, Aurra, they just keep coming and coming like a swarm of mad Corellian Stinger Beetles," Vaya replied.

The Troops were swarming in indeed, overwhelming them with sheer numbers and firepower. Vaya had enough training and some experience to control her emotions, but she still could not help but feel some perplexity at the situation. It was just the reality of the situation; a handful of students, most younger than she and with the exception of at least Aurra, less experienced in the use of the Force - at least in the ways that she and Aurra had showed capable in what little they could accomplish. They were still alive though, and they still had each other, and the Force. That gave Vaya all the comfort she needed.

She knew that the Force worked in its own ways, even though in her young and inexperienced years she had yet to grasp many meanings of the Force. Vaya reached out again to give a soothing and securing feeling through the Force. As a Lorrdian, she knew full well the power of emotions and appearances. And while the look upon her face was one of uncertainty, her heart felt that there was always hope, and that in some way they would prevail. She hoped that she could touch the younger students and give some assurance that everything would be okay, that they were not alone. She felt it was the very least she could do under the circumstances. She knew in heart that the Jedi were meant to protect and preserve life, but in the face of such a relentless enemy, she wished there was some way she could just do away with their foes. But wishful thinking did not fatten the Hutt, she thought.

Aurra was forced to take cover amidst the branches of the tree she was in. The clones were coming in larger numbers now, and although they were scattered before, they were now more organized. And without the Masters at the Temple, they didn't seem to stand much chance, at least not for long. I sure hope that some form of help arrives soon... she thought to herself, even if she wanted to keep positive thoughts. One thing that Master Kal'Aran had taught her. Conquer defeatism.

Vaya awaited any orders from Master Jae Dyn, it was all she could do. She had no blaster to shoot with. She was not skilled with the saber to do anyone any justice on the ground, and her Force capabilities were limited, let alone with her perch in the trees. Unto herself, Vaya prayed for some relief to this night's end.

"War Effort, Part 1"
By: Cole Slaton
Zari Zathmir
Raeila Selrid
Orn
Orinth Neerou
Taran Kinneas

Location: Forest around the Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

He could hardly see anything. He feared putting any sort of light on, it would only announce his presence. He'd never known fear like this - apart from in his nightmares - the sound of his heart beating seemed loud enough to give him away.

Glancing behind him he looked back the way he'd just come. Where was everyone? Had these clone soldiers taken everyone? All he had was a blaster and a knife, what could he do?

Seeing no other option he continued along the hallway, hugging the wall as if it were a second skin. He could feel every stone that made the walls as he scraped along it. He was pressing so hard against the wall it was beginning to draw blood. But he dared not move away, even for a moment, believing a soldier would burst out from the very shadows that hid him.

He crouched low, looking around the corner, his hand gripping the handle of his blaster so hard his knuckles ached. Where were they? Where were the bloody Jedi! He shook his head, knowing the truth: they were off fighting Dani and that stuck-up bitch - whatever her name was - far away from the Temple.

They were almost like the authorities, never around when you needed them. Sighing after checking the route was clear he came around the corner, his eyes looking all around as if expecting someone to jump out. His heart was in his throat, his palms sweaty and his throat felt like a desert wasteland.

How he missed his old life of stealing and drinking.

As he passed a window he caught movement - it was only slight but it piqued his interest. Stepping back he saw a familiar sight, bringing a smile to his face even in the current situation. "Zari..." he whispered. His ears twitched slightly, hearing something echoing in the darkness. His eyes glanced up and what he saw instantly wiped the smile from his eyes.

"Fuck...!" he cursed, pushing away from the wall as the two soldiers opened fired.

The bright red laser pulses slammed into the wall, showering the hallway with shards of stone. Cole, putting his whole weight with his shoulder, burst through a door falling into the room behind. Picking himself up he ran away from the soldiers, half crawling half dragging himself across the room as laser bolts cut through the thin wall of the room, flashing past over his head.

Screaming, he found his way into the next room through an adjoining doorway. He could hear the soldiers closing the gap as they continued firing. It was almost like they knew where he was. Turning sharply as a laser bolt flashed past, it exploded when it struck a vase. Cole jumped towards the door; he didn't know if it was locked or just closed and couldn't take the chance of losing his momentum.

Jumping forward the young padawan lifted his arms up to protect his head there was a brief moment where he thought the door might not open, that moment where everything seemed to stand still, but it passed and he smashed through, hitting the corridor, sliding along the tiled stones.

He didn't take long to climb to his feet. His arms ached and he could feel the warm blood running over his skin from the grazes and cuts. It was strange, a knife in your side burned though didn't hurt, but the smallest of grazes killed like a son of a bitch. He knew ankles was the key to staying out of the line of fire; most people thought speed was the key, running in any direction as fast as your legs could go, but Cole knew different. It was all in the ankles. Those pursuing had to stop checking the corners, making sure you weren't lurking behind them. This took time and helped break up the momentum of the chase.

Cole came to a junction and without waiting ran to the left. Waiting to decide which way to go would only serve to help the soldiers behind. He came to a sliding halt at seeing the dead end.

"...shit..." he whispered, panting.

Turning, he could hear the soldiers coming, their boots echoed in his ears like thunder. His eyes saw the light reflecting on the wall and he looked to the window.

With no other option he jumped, smashing through the glass, slamming into a large tree that stood a few feet from the Temple wall. He missed one branch but managed to grab hold of another. Though his grip slipped it slowed his fall sufficiently so when he slammed into the branch below he could hold on. His ribs screamed with pain after hitting the thick branch, knocking the wind from his lungs.

His eyes grew wide when he glanced back at the smashed window. Shadows appeared, followed quickly by one of the soldiers. He took aim with the rifle, firing. Cole opened his arms that were wrapped around the tree branch. The laser bolt cut through the branch continuing on to hit the ground. Cole fell, screaming until he felt the sudden jolting impact of the soft grass-covered ground, though the soft grass did little to soften the blow to his back. He thanked whatever god was watching over him that he'd been on the first floor.

He cried out when he saw the branch falling towards him and ignoring the protests of his aching bones he rolled to the side. The branch crashed into the ground beside him, bouncing up before quickly settling. Cole was up against the tree, glancing up at the soldiers who were still aiming down at him.

"A target is outside, east side of Temple." He heard the emotionless voice of the soldier, it was almost like a computer speaking but using a human's voice. Gritting his teeth Cole pushed himself away from the tree and keeping it between himself and the soldiers ran into the forest in front of him.

***

"It's just through here, right?" Zari asked as she pointed through the trees. Between herself and Raeila, they had charge of over a dozen of the young Padawans at the Temple. Orinth Neerou and Orn were also with them, helping as they could to herd the children as quietly as possible through the trees to the secret hiding places behind the waterfalls.

As she heard the sound of the rushing waterfall, memories of her time in the cave with Cole came rushing back and she felt a jolt of fear for him. It was after a few steps that she realized the jolt was still there and seemed to be growing. Cole was in danger, of that she was now certain. She looked back fretfully at Raeila, and thankfully received a calming smile in response. "Just through here?"

Raeila nodded and stepped aside to usher the younger children inside. "Don't worry," she told them gently, "it's not so dark once you get there. We'll have lights, but for now, we need to make sure no one sees us, okay?"

Some of the children bobbed their heads eagerly, others sullenly, while the rest were rubbing tears from their eyes. Raeila smiled warmly at them, and as they filed inside the cave, she tousled the hair of those children who seemed the most fearful for reassurance.

Zari edged closer to Raeila, and once the last of the children had entered, she leaned close. "Cole's out there," she whispered. "I...I think he's hurt."

"How can you tell?" Rae asked, but already knew the answer. It was the same way Kael could detect everything she was feeling. "Well...maybe he's with the others. They'll take care of him."

Zari shook her head. "He's alone," she said. "I...I think he's...he's looking...for me. And...they're chasing him."

Rae frowned. "You're planning on going after him, aren't you?"

"He's close," Zari said. "I can get to him." She pulled her lightsaber off her belt and felt a cold feeling settle in the pit of her stomach. She knew if it came to using it against any of the soldiers, she was in danger. It was still a training blade, and she'd not had much of a chance to practice. But...she had to get to Cole before the soldiers did. "I have to."

"I can come with you," Rae offered. "I don't have a weapon, but..."

"Hopefully we won't need it," Zari said. "We just need to find him, and then run back here with him. We won't need to fight." Rae sighed. "I hope you're right..." Hurrying to Orinth, she told him of their plan then transferred Va'Lesh to his hold. The old man tried to protest, but Zari and Raeila were gone before he could say a word.

"Stubborn," Orinth sighed fondly.

"And crazy," Orn put in. "Come on. We'd better get some light for those kids." The two men disappeared into the cave, preferring to wait out the battle's end with a group of children over shooting off blasters.

Waiting, Orn thought solemnly, is the harder of the two.

***

He could feel them, not with the Force, but he still knew they were back there pursuing him. Where were the bloody Jedi! Why did all of them go! Didn't they know anything! He used the anger to force his limbs to go further, picking up the pace slightly.

He felt his foot slip and though it all seemed to happen in slow motion he could do nothing to stop himself from falling. Either it was the Force or his devil's luck. Regardless falling at that split second saved his life. A laser pulse flashed above him so close he felt the heat on the back of his neck. It felt like it singed the hairs on the back of his head, it exploded within the tree not three paces from where he landed. He was showered with splinters. Thankfully most just bounced off; two however did not and imbedded themselves in his neck and cheek.

His fingers dug into the soil as he pulled himself up, grabbing the partially destroyed tree for support before carrying on. He'd lost the feelings in his feet long ago. His arms seemed to be on fire but it was his chest that was the worst. Every breath he took was agony.

It was only the soldiers behind him that spurred him on. Pushing away from another tree he forced himself to continue, even at the slow half jog, half walk pace he found himself in. Without even seeing the ditch his legs went out from under him and he slid down the side of the hill. A rock dug into his chest, hitting the rib he was sure was broken. A new pain shot through his chest and he knew he was in trouble.

He just needed a place to rest and regain his strength and quickly dragged himself up against a tree. Why does all this shit have to happen to me? he asked himself, hiding in the shadow of the large tree. He allowed his head to rest back, feeling the hard bark but he was too tired to even think about moving.

Suddenly he started to have coughing fits. He grasped his chest with one hand while tightly trying to keep his mouth shut with the other, but it was hard and he tasted blood. When he stopped he allowed his head to fall into his chest, blood trickled down with strings of drool.

***

"This way," Zari whispered as she hurried forward, one hand clutching the hilt of her lightsaber, the other holding onto Raeila's hand. "I can...I sense...he's this way..."

"What's he doing out here all alone?" Raeila whispered back. "Is he always this headstrong?"

Zari nodded vigourously. "He is," she whispered. "I don't know why he's out here alone, but I think he's in trouble." She looked up at Rae. "That seems to happen a lot too."

"Well, he's your boyfriend. If anyone can set him straight, you can." Rae smiled and squeezed Zari's hand.

Zari couldn't help a soft laugh. "I'll straighten h-- Did you hear that?" She pointed to their left where movement could be seen through the trees. "There! There! Cole! Come on, Raeila!"

The older girl yelped as Zari launched them into a headlong run. The hem of her skirt whipped against her thighs and her hair was falling loose of its tie, but there would be no slowing down, not with Zari's desire to save her friend.

Raeila nearly lost a shoe in the race to reach Cole, but the two girls halted in time to prevent dishevelling Rae further. They crouched behind a stand of bushes and peered through the gaps in its foliage.

"Do you see him?" Rae whispered breathlessly.

"I think...oh there...no," Zari gasped. She was peering into the distance, searching for any pattern that might resemble a human. "There he is!" She pointed at a form that was obviously Cole, lying prone under one of the larger trees.

"Yeah, and there are some unpleasant looking creatures," Raeila added, pointing to a mass of black bursting through the trees. "Zari...what're we g oing to do?"

"We have to get to him before they do! We have to hurry, Raeila!"

"Fine!" Raeila replied shrilly in their urgency, then both girls leapt to their feet and pushed through the bushes to rush towards Cole. "They're getting closer!" Raeila squealed.

"Cole," Zari called softly, hoping her voice wouldn't carry to the troopers bearing down on her boyfriend. "Cole, it's me! Get up!" Her bare feet made no sound on the floor of the forest, a stark contrast to the sound of the approaching soldiers. "Help me get him up, Raeila."

Each girl went to one side of the fallen boy and hauled him onto his feet. Grunting and struggling with his dead weight, Rae and Zari slung both of his arms over their shoulders, then dragged him off towards the trees. Blaster fire already began sailing past them.

"They're practically on top of us!" Raeila cried.

"Cole," Zari sobbed. "Cole, please move."

He almost collapsed when his eyes popped open. He found himself on his feet being half carried half dragged through the forest. Trees passed him on either side. He looked to his side and found himself looking at the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. "Zari..." he managed, swallowing the blood in his mouth.

His legs started to move on their own, sensing that if he slowed them down Zari would be killed, along with himself and Rae. At this point he didn't much care what happened to himself but Zari was a different matter entirely.

"Troopers," Zari rasped as she struggled to get him back up on his feet. "They're coming. Cole, you have to...get up! Up! Hurry!"

"Really..." Cole whispered, not hiding the sarcasm from his words. A half-hearted smile grew but was quickly replaced with a wince. Something seemed to be digging into his chest, it was like a knife was inside him cutting him from the inside out. He could taste blood in the back of his throat. That was no a good thing.

He concentrated on her voice, her words, her smell. He moved his right leg, then his left, then right, left, right. It was all that mattered for he'd be damned if he was going to let those soldiers get their hands on Zari. He didn't know where they were going, he only knew what was behind them.

The three managed to disappear among the bushes before the clones could enter the clearing. Rae, Cole, and Zari hunkered down low, hoping they wouldn't be noticed. "Cole," Rae whispered shakily. "Are you hurt very badly? We're going to have to make a run for it, I think."

He thought about telling the truth as he lay panting, trying to get as much oxygen into his blood as he could. His chest burned, but it seemed a blessing distracting him from the aching in his arms and legs. "I... only need a moment to rest..." he forced the words out, not trusting himself to hold the blood back. He could feel it in the back of his throat, swallowing hard to feel it running down into his stomach.

"Oh, Zari," Rae whispered worriedly, "we're not going to be able to move him. But I don't know how long we can remain hidden from those soldiers."

"We just need to stay still and quiet," Zari whispered as she tried to concentrate as Master Jae Dyn had taught her. With Cole hurt, the soldiers so close, and...and all the chaos, it wasn't easy at all. She closed her eyes and slipped one of her hands into Cole's hand, and the other into Raeila's. "We just need to stay still and quiet."

The soldiers moved carefully around the area where Cole had fallen, but seemed to not be moving into the direction he'd been carried. Finally, one of them straightened. "This way," he said, and moved in the opposite direction from Zari, Raeila and Cole.

The three sat still, barely daring to breathe until the retreating crackle of boots crushing leaf litter grew faint. Raeila sighed heavily when all seemed clear, and smiled at Zari. "I can't believe they didn't find us. Let's just hope they don't decided to double back before we can get moving."

"I...for one, second the 'getting the fuck out of here' plan..." Cole whispered with a sly smile towards Zari, winking at her. "Never thought our sneaking around would be so handy..." He couldn't wait any longer. If he remained where he was he'd never get up. The pain in his chest was subsiding, he didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. "Come on, time's a wasting..."

"We have to hurry," Zari said. "Come on, let's get him-- Oh, do you hear something? I...I think I hear...speeders."

Again, the three grew still. Raeila held her breath as she listened. "It's speeders, alright," she confirmed. Then her ears perked at another sound issuing from the opposite side. She gasped. "The soldiers! They're marching back this way. They must've heard the speeders!"

Zari pointed as the soldiers began moving behind trees and dropping to a knee to steady a blaster rifle shot. "Look," she whispered. "I don't think the speeders are friendly to them. They're...they're going to attack the speeders. Maybe...do you think it's...they're friendly? The speeders?"

"If they are...they're in trouble," Rae whispered. "Can't we warn them, Zari? Isn't there some Jedi trick you can do?"

"I really haven't learned very many of them," Zari whispered back. "I...I think if we distract them...the soldiers...that may help the speeders."

Rae shrugged. "We could throw stuff at them."

Zari grinned mischievously and held up her lightsaber. She didn't think it would hurt any of them too badly, but it was bright and would certainly show up well in the darkened forest. "Kind of like how bugs are attracted to the lights at the Temple."

"But these aren't bugs," Raeila reminded the girl. Scouring the forest floor with both hands, she found a hefty rock and gripped it in one hand. "Ready?" She grinned, cocking back her arm.

"Ready," Zari said, then looked to Cole who was in no condition to make much of a distraction. She turned her attention back to Raeila and nodded her head. As one, they stood up, and as Rae lobbed the rock forward, the telltale snap-hiss of an activating lightsaber filled the area, and the suddenly illuminated blue of the blade shone brightly in the darkness.

"There's two," came the voice of one of the clones, as they turned and readied their weapons.

Reaching deep inside herself, Zari flung her lightsaber outward, its incandescent blue blade spinning through the air at the troops. Before they had a chance to fire, they had to quickly duck out of the way of the seemingly deadly blade. It worked!

The speeders, warned by the sudden display, slowed to a stop and began disgorging troops.

Zari was about to cheer when she noticed Raeila's downcast look, and following her gaze, she spotted Taran Kinneas and Yara Zaneth being marched forward with one of the clones aiming his blaster rifle at their backs. "Oh no," Zari whispered.

Raeila frowned. "Does this mean no one's coming to the rescue?"

Using Rae's and Zari's distraction Cole slowly moved up to the tree beside him, using it for support. He ignored the bark, pushing painfully against his side as he lifted the pistol up. As he aimed he slowed his breathing. When you fired you did it when all the breath was pushed from your lungs, the pause before taking in another breath where the movement was as little as possible.

Be proud, he thought before squeezing the trigger.

Many make the fatal mistake of pulling back hard against the trigger - it's not needed, the trigger will fire just as effectively - even more so - without force. Easing the finger back, holding it against the rear guard allows for more accurate fire.

The laser bolt flew through the air. Before it struck the impending target a second laser bolt was fired. Cole had set the blaster to full, not wasting any time nor was he interested in keeping them alive. As far as he was concerned they had forfeited that option when they tried killing his friends.

A bare instant before the blast hit, a familiar snap-hiss sounded and an iridescent blade sprung to life before the clone's body. The first shot was deflected harmlessly to the ground on the clone's left side, and the second to the right. As quickly as it appeared, the blade was gone, and the clone pushed his charges forward toward where the Jedi were hiding.

Half the clone formation dropped back and diverted their attention to Cole's position. A blaster bolt caught the tree he was leaning against, splintering its edge and throwing the shards of wood into Cole's face. Raeila screamed and quickly tugged him to the ground by the hem of his shirt. The blaster fire continued, but it was now louder than ever as the soldiers they had seen pouring from the speeder opened fire. All of it was directed at the clones.

Having used Cole's distraction, Yara, Taran, and Va'Lesh scattered, Va'Lesh rushing towards his brothers while the guise remained convincing, Yara towards their newly arrived allies, and Taran to Cole and the girls to offer his aid.

Raeila gasped as the Vurk appeared before them, but was glad they had been discovered by a friend and not someone trying to murder them. "Taran! What are you doing here!"

"The same as you, Raeila. Trying to pass all of this alive." Taran paused and looked to Cole's condition.

"Cole, you have to be more careful," Zari said, touching the new cuts to his face. "You're already hurt enough as it is. Don't get yourself killed, I just got back and haven't had enough time with you yet."

Cole was sitting up his with eyes closed, his breathing a low wheezing. He smiled at her comment. "You can't get... rid of me that easily..." he whispered in between wheezing pants. "They'll have... to do more than that... to kill me..." His eyes opened, the left was pain and blood-shot, obviously a small splinter had managed to get in under his eyelid and was irritating his eye, scratching the surface.

He took hold of Zari's hand, looking into her eyes. "We should go... it won't take them long to regroup and come after us... and there will be more..."

Zari glanced out where the new battle waged and smiled. "I think they have other things to worry about right now," she said. "But, you're right, we should-- Oh! Raeila...look!"

Raeila did, squinting at the blinding lightshow of red blaster bolts criss crossing with orange. Between the storm, she saw the object of Zari's excitement. "Ferrig!" She was on her feet again and nearly bolted from their hiding spot to seek him out. She was stayed by the large Vurk.

Through Raeila's excitement in her voice, it was clear that he was a friend, but they could stay there for long. "If he is a friend, the better; we need the extra help. You hurry about the Troopers and I'll carry Cole to a better hiding place."

Raeila took Zari's hand. "Come on. He'll be fine. We have to go."

Zari looked to Cole, her gaze lingering momentarily on his face, then she nodded. "Okay," she whispered, and gave Rae's hand a squeeze.

In a crouching run, the two hurried from their protective cover of bushes and sought out the help of their newly arrived allies.

Taran picked up Cole and started to carry him. He felt his wound start to hurt him like crazy; it was a tiny wound, but it seemed like it was stabbing knives in it. He decided to hold the pain as he followed Zari and Rae lead to a better hiding place, but he hoped that where ever they were going was near.

He was only dimly aware of what was happening. He heard a voice saying something that stuck in his mind. "Ferrig!" The bastard who took Zari! What was he doing here!? Before he could answer that question, or even ask it, his mind closed off into darkness. When his eyes half opened he found himself being carried on someone's back, the pressure against his chest was agonising, pushing the broken rib deeper into his lung.

He wanted to cough and could taste the blood in the back of his throat, the copper-like taste was sickening, threatening to make him throw up. Thankfully, though, the pressure against his chest was pushing against his broken rib. It was also keeping him from coughing and from throwing up. He clenched his teeth, shutting his eyes against the pain, praying wherever they were going wasn't far.

Taran felt Cole coughing and he was sure that it had to do with something in the position he was carrying. He slid him over to his arms, like he was carrying a baby or something. He continued to search for a safer place.

"Doublecross"
By: Alisson Blair
Dargus Kandran
Kal'Aran
Quinlan Vos
Major Jaro
Ambassador Theen Fida
Kael Selrid
Liam Zaneth
Koran Darr
Laedra Vorrel

Location: Arcadian Palace
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

The surprise was nothing she would expect. In fact, it seemed that nobody foresaw it. And yet it defined well enough what had happened. Major Jaro, the same one to whom she had given out the plans to the Palace and on whom they had relied upon for their surprise attack, was the same one who was fighting against them. Worse than that...he was the one holding the Ysalamiri.

Alisson frowned as she blocked and sent back a couple more blaster shots. At least they were now winning the battle ground. And Jaro was prevented from moving too much forward from where he stood, should he be shot down or lose the lizard he carried. "Any bright ideas now, Dargus?" Alisson asked, hoping that they would get out of that mess soon enough, before more backup would arrive.

"I can think of one or two," Dargus said as his blades flashed dangerously before him. "Don't get shot. And, aim everything you can at the guy who looks more important than the rest. Even if we don't aim to kill, enough heat and he's bound to try to weasel his way out of the kitchen." He grinned at Alisson. "So to speak."

"Oh really?" Alisson grinned back as she concentrated herself more and more in the blaster fire that they were up against. Her movements became faster as she concentrated by using the Force to speed up. She used the Force to push the troopers and one of them hit the far side wall so hard he was knocked cold out of his senses.

"You blundering fools!" Jaro scowled as he edged further back from the thick of things. "Concentrate your firepower and over take them!"

Jaro skulked from his view point behind the troopers, not very happy at the Jedi's standing of their ground as they picked the troopers off one by one. He had seen the look in the eyes of the two Jedi after he had tried to pick the dark haired one off with a sucker shot. He knew that he had been recognised.

Blast it! he swore to himself.

"Push forward! Push forward!" he commanded as he kept as much of a safe distance as he could while using the troopers in front of him as a shield from returning fire.

Jaro had been overly confident that his betrayal and the overwhelming firepower of the troopers would subdue the Jedi, but he soon realised that though both parties were stuck in the corridor, the Jedi proved more resilient. He knelt further down to be out of sight as he switched his Major's rank insignia for a lower ranking one. He knew if it came down to it, he could shape-shift into a different identity and retreat in the hopes that the Jedi would be none the wiser.

I'm certainly not being paid that well enough to be caught, or die trying to kill these blasted Jedi! he thought to himself.

Quinlan frowned. He wondered if it was solemnly Jaro who had sold out, or if the Ambassador himself was a part of this facade as well. Either way, they had been fooled into this plan. And their training was the sole thing that had prevented their deaths so far... He was moving his lightsaber with incredible speed and skill, and it seemed more a blur than a blade, as he twisted and turned it.

Quinlan then considered things for a while. In the old days of the Republic he hadn't exactly agreed upon the course of action. He had in fact been sent to spy upon the Separatists during the time of the Clone Wars. And he had seen the rise of the Empire and, gladly enough, its downfall. And these troopers didn't fit right. Suddenly it hit. "These are not Republic troopers, but hired Remnants from the Empire. I've seen their training all too well, and they certainly act like stormtroopers," he told the others, confident in his statement.

"Even so, my friend..." Kal'Aran replied as he dodged a blaster shot and sent back another. "We must still disable the one who is holding the lizard."

Quinlan moved swiftly and steadily while blocking the blaster shots. Their main target was hiding behind the line of troopers, and there seemed to be no clear shot at him. And remaining so would only enable them to move forward and catch the Jedi within the reach of the lizard's bubble, which would only mean defeat.

And then it finally struck. Dargus had sent a shot back at the trooper who was shielding Jaro, and though the trooper's armor absorbed most of the shot, the man still staggered a step or two. And that was more than enough for Quinlan to send a shot at Jaro. The shot missed Jaro but hit the box he held, sending it to the ground and crashing. The lizard was unharmed by the fall but luckily ran the opposite way from the Jedi location.

"Don't lose the opportunity..." Quinlan stated as all the Jedi began to move forward.

He had been lingering nearby the whole time. But with the Ysalamiri lizard he would be just as helpless as anyone else. And that clumsy Jaro had lost the golden opportunity of finishing the Jedi. Clumsy and foolish to think that he would be able to defeat the Jedi with such ease. A fact that would certainly cost him, for it would displease Jadda...

Alas, with the lizard gone, he had better intervene quickly. He jumped in an amazing somersault, igniting his twin crimson blades as he did so and assisted the troopers in attacking the Jedi. Luckily enough, they were well trained. And perhaps with Vorgoth on their side, deflecting the incoming shots that were sent back by the Jedi, they still held a chance to defeat them.

Alisson frowned. This Sith seemed to always intervene in some way, whenever the situation was dire. And they had yet failed to defeat him. And, now that they had the chance to move forward, they were impelled back to a defensive stand. "Perhaps we should seek a different course of action," she commented. "If we stand here, we're bound to lose ground."

"The only danger is in all the bodies present," Dargus said, making sure his voice was loud enough for Jadda's minion to hear. "This painted joker poses no serious threat. But, we should fall back and find another way around."

"Agreed," Alisson nodded. "The best way out, though, would be to go through those doors just slightly ahead to the right," she pointed out, since the way they had come through was obstructed and troops lurked there as well.

"Then let's begin clearing a path," Dargus said. "The Sithling Apprentice will be no bother." He cast a baleful glare at Vorgoth, and began to press toward the doors Alisson indicated, focusing all the incoming fire at a point, forging a path for the Jedi.

Jaro had stayed in his crouching position after the female Jedi had shot at him. A bit rattled, it took him a moment to realize that the Ysalamiri was gone.

Jedi Bitch! he cursed to himself as he looked around, but the Ysalamiri had long fled the conflict.

Jaro rose as he realised the troops were moving forward and had intensified their firepower. When he stood, he saw the reason for the sudden push forward. Vorgoth.

Jaro stood and pressed in with the soldiers, trying to get in a shot at the Jedi amidst the conflict of blaster fire and deflected shots from the Jedi's lightsabers. He imagined the Jedi were none to pleased with the addition of Vorgoth. It gave Jaro cause to grin, he was enjoying this little game, and would enjoy it even more when he could step over their dead bodies.

Vorgoth hissed back at the Jedi, while moving himself and his dual lightsaber in perfect motions and giving protection for the troopers to attack. They were closer and closer, but then again, so were the Jedi in trying to reach the exit.

They were all closer now to the exit door and Alisson took a split second to force push the commands, thus opening the door. "Quick, get through!" she told the others.

"Don't let them escape! Blast that door! I don't care if you have to throw thermal detonators and blow the whole thing!" Vorgoth ordered.

The soldiers didn't waste anytime. They immediately thumbed the grenade launchers attached to their blaster carbines and unleashed a volley of explosive charges at the Jedi attempting to flee through the door.

Dargus nearly stopped to laugh at the troopers, but instead reached out through the Force and batted the grenades back in the directions from which they'd come. He found he was happy for the open-faced helmets which allowed him to see their expressions when they realized what they'd done. He was forced back to the moment by a near miss from Vorgoth's blade. His own batted the Sith's away, and a kick both pushed the Sith back and propelled himself away. He followed after the others through the door, but their pursuit was close behind.

With no time to lose, and the guards coming in behind Quinlan quickly pushed them back in a swift and strong Force push, making them fall upon each other. The Jedi were just getting to yet another door, and Alisson had already opened it for them. As soon as they all went through it, Quinlan destroyed the door console with his lightsaber.

"That should keep them off our backs for a while," he said as he sighed. "This whole attack failed. We best retreat from the Palace. Contact Koran and Laedra. I suspect they are in the same situation as we are."

"Yes... We were blind not to see this betrayal. But we can do no good from dying today," Kal'Aran agreed. "We must get the others and retreat."

Alisson was now glad that she hadn't given exactly all the information she possessed. "There's a room with a passage to the outside of palace walls not too far off that they didn't know of. I have not given them the info on access to all the passages of the Palace. But I'm not sure the passage is still functional and open for us to use it," she stated. "But I guess it's our best attempt still," she added.

Alisson then sighed. "It's this way..." she said as she led the way. Luckily, this particular passage was in a simple guest room - one that the High Prince used to come and court some ladies who were guests at the Palace in the old days - and was not being used. She tried the secret passage that was behind a large stone bookcase, and it seemed functional.

***

Theen had arrived upon Arcadia. A mixture of anger and abashment flourished through his veins. His head crests pulsated with darker hues as his emotions ran high.

New Republic forces were engaged in a heated conflict between Palace guards. The New Republic troops seemed to have been pinned down as the highly skilled and dedicated clone troopers held their ground.

"Colonel Drostnik?" Theen asked. "Have you any luck with bypassing the communications jamming?"

"One moment, Ambassador," the Colonel said as he checked his comlink. "Our slicer has successively broken through, we now have communication with the troops!"

"Well tell them to disengage for gods-sake!" Theen ordered with no qualms about letting his anger vent on the man. "Keep us on a fly by, but watch for incoming fire, I want a full assessment of what has been going on here!"

"Yes, sir!" the Colonel replied as he relayed the orders to the ground troops, giving an authority override provided for by high ranking military officers and those of the Intelligence Division.

"I can assure you, Colonel," Theen said as an after thought, "that when this comes to bite my ass, you can bet that yours shall be on my platter as well for this blunder!!"

***

Quinlan was using an old Jedi technique, using the Force to create light. He had used it many times, even if in different situations. "The passage seems to end up ahead, and I can see some light," he stated.

"Yes," Alisson nodded. "But be wary of the grounds. We are still near the Palace, though outside the wall's reach," she told the others.

Dargus Kandran had no use for light as he strode through the tunnels, relying on the Force itself to guide his steps in the pitch blackness. He could hear the pursuit behind them as they made their way toward what would hopefully be safety. Their mission in the Palace had failed, though at least they'd escaped with their lives. He wasn't sure if they'd ever have another shot at this again, but that would be something to ponder at a later time.

"Come on," he urged everyone, prompting them to hasten their pace out of the tunnels.

Finally, they broke into the open and the stars shone down from above. The chaos of the palace could be heard behind and to the east. The wailing sirens continued to howl in the night, announcing the failed attack to all who could hear it. Their next attack would need to be more carefully planned, and without the assistance of the New Republic. The betrayal tonight would sting for some time yet.

***

Theen had landed outside of the Palace grounds where he could have a view of the situation. A small contingent of troops hovered in the distance upon a small transport craft.

"Sir," the Colonel said, "The troops are disengaging and pulling back, I have confirmation on the location of the Jedi, Sir, they are in retreat from the Palace!"

Theen wasted no time in ordering the squad to aid the Jedi in their retreat. The craft veered down to the site. The soldiers slipped down on cords and began a cover fire against the rogue troopers and palace guards outside of the Palace. Once on the ground, they took up positions on each flank of the Jedi and continued their assistance.

They emerged moments later, all appearing free of injury, but still struggling for their lives. Blaster bolts sang towards them from within the Palace, while the soldiers in the courtyard divided their time between Theen's men, and the Jedi.

Dargus Kandran vaulted over a statue, landing easily on the other side, and resumed his flight from the palace. Behind him, the arm of the statue exploded in a shower of marble. Dargus was aware enough of it to know that his had been a narrow escape. As they reached the walls of the palace, he couldn't help wondering at the others. Of Liam Zaneth and the others, he saw no sign. Stretching out through the Force as Kallia had taught him, he found them, in flight as well, but safe. He sensed their concern over injuries... Koran Darr. Koran Darr was injured, but with the help of the Force was still moving.

The transports were visible in the distance, and Dargus made for them, hoping that the soldiers there were good enough that he wouldn't have to worry about being fired upon. A worry for another time, he told himself. For now, just get there and get away.

The other Jedi Masters were making as hasty a retreat, although any retreat would seem unimpressive to them considering their mission had been to secure the palace. They only succeeding in falling into a trap. As the Jedi ran through Theen's defensive line of soldiers and made for the transports, Liam and his team emerged from the western access into the courtyard. They had yet to be spotted by the clones and were now skirting the edge of the palace's perimeter wall for the waiting transports.

Dargus Kandran stopped within the safety of Theen's group of soldiers and turned back toward the palace. Anyone who did not possess a keen eye and the training to spot such things might have missed the shadows moving against the wall. "There they are," he stated softly, pointing out the shapes to Kal'Aran. With a nod, the Jedi Master moved back to alert the others that Koran and Laedra's team had been spotted. Dargus moved forward to the edge of the line, ready to spring forward should the other group of Jedi require assistance.

"Liam, you and Kael should go on ahead," Laedra advised, bearing much of Koran's weight upon herself, though Liam did attempt to assist her. Although much of the clones' attention was on Theen's soldiers, errant shots did make their way towards Laedra and her team now and again. It would only be a matter of time before they became true targets.

"We're not leaving you defenseless once we get out into the open." The voice was Kael's, and despite the incident inside, he appeared to have come to his senses once again. "We'll block anything trying to hit you as we go."

Liam nodded. "We're not leaving you. Now, come on, let's not make ourselves targets for any longer than we have to."

Laedra was at once annoyed and grateful for her friend's persistence. She turned her lips into Koran's hair as they ran and kissed him lightly for reassurance. "Almost there," she whispered. "You will hang on, Koran, so that I can heal you properly." Even now she was channeling what reserve energy she could into Koran's body. She couldn't yet discern how bad his wound was, but anything she could offer him would undoubtedly help.

Koran made a sound, but no meaning could be discerned.

As they finally broke into the open, and the clone soldiers spotted them, the blaster fire started up. None of the fire made it through Liam or Kael's defenses, however.

Although exhaustion had long ago set in for Laedra, and her running gait was becoming more and more unsteady, she managed to haul Koran through Theen's defense line safely. She nearly dropped to her knees with relief as one of the ambassador's soldiers moved forward to assist her. Catching a brief glimpse of the Anx, Laedra couldn't truly gauge his emotions, but she did hope he felt at least partially responsible for what befell the Jedi that day. Her attention returned fully to Koran, however, and the effort to load him onto a transport.

There wasn't much energy left for Koran as he was helped up into the transport. The medics of the unit had flocked to him, but as he was eased down onto the stretcher, he let the activity around him fade into the background as he descended into a Jedi Healing Trance. The last face he saw as he was swallowed by a mixture of darkness and light was Laedra's. As consciousness finally fled, and his body began to slowly repair itself, a slight smile curled his lips.

Laedra sighed, the strain of lending so much of her energy to Koran finally lifting. Still, as he devoted his entire being to repairing the damage done to his body, Laedra held his hand and offered him what little strength she could, while slumping against the wall of the transport and finding sleep herself.

Outside, Liam Zaneth strode toward the Anx ambassador. Kael Selrid followed at his side, and Dargus Kandran fell into step with them. Liam glanced at him, then shook his head. "Well, I guess you managed to make it out."

Dargus chuckled. "I did," he said. "And, I believe I managed to leave everyone I fought against very much alive."

"We'll make a Jedi of you yet."

"No thank you," Dargus said. "I happen to like the idea of standing in the middle, staying out of the way, and actually enjoying some peace and quiet for a bit. Besides, it appears I now have Yelara to worry about." The idea seemed to cause him considerable distress. "Don't worry, Liam, we'll resolve this...somehow."

Liam nodded. "I know." He covered the last bit of ground until he stood before the ambassador. "May I have a word with you, before we pull everyone back and retreat from this failed operation?"

"If you so wish it, Master Jedi," Theen replied with a bow.

"What happened in there," the Jedi asked. "Your people turned on us, or seemed to. How secure is your operation here, Ambassador? We were betrayed inside the Palace. They knew we were coming, and they were ready. Who set us up?"

"I do not know the extent of this treachery, but the full force of my resources will unravel and bring to justice this wanton betrayal, I assure you," Theen replied. "We only found out moments ago, after the mission was already in progress, that the true Major Jaro had been killed, his identity...everything, stolen. I came with forces that I know to be loyal, my own personnel, when the betrayal came to light. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for this, but you Jedi all know well the treachery of those who are supposed to be your own...troubling, most troubling this is."

Liam nodded. "Please keep us informed of your progress in the investigation. It is only because the Force was with us that we managed to survive at all tonight."

"I shall, my friend," Theen replied.

At Liam's side, Dargus suddenly paled. "The Temple," he whispered. "They're attacking the Temple."

Liam needed no more than that to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Sithspit," he rasped. "We'll be in touch, Ambassador. For now, there's another pressing matter that needs our urgent attention."

"My transports can take you in haste, Jedi!" Theen offered.

It was only moments later that the Jedi and the New Republic troops were in the air and on their way to the Jedi Temple. Hopefully what had turned into a bad day wasn't about to get a lot worse.

"Fledgling Defenders, Part 2"
By: Jae Dyn Brael
Yelara Zaneth
Aurra Sgall
Vaya Bek
Nyah Darasar
Kambra Gant
Oot Kovan

Location: Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Even late in her pregnancy, Jae Dyn Brael was a formidable presence on the so-called battlefield. Her eyes blazed in their intensity as she deflected blaster shots that veered too near herself, Yelara, or any of the Padawans. Her body was nimble, despite the bulk protecting the small life within, though she kept a part of her thoughts and sense of life around her focused within, over the life of her child. If anything she did endangered the young one, she would know. So far, she had done nothing to endanger the child, though if they didn't drive off the clones soon, she would have few options remaining to her.

As if prayers and Force-wishes had been heard, they were answered. Clad in the colours of the Palace and planet before command of Arcadia had been usurped by Nieme and Dani, armoured figures stormed from the sides and back. At the head of the charge was a one-eyed Gungan with twin blasters disgorging bolts of blue energy. The stun setting he used wasn't as effective as a full powered blast, but a couple shots were enough to fell one of the clones. The forest lit up with blaster fire as the palace troopers bore down.

The clones, as one, turned from their objective to address this new, more imminent threat.

Yelara and Jae stood in momentary shock at this twist of fortune. "Friends?" Yelara ventured, nodding towards the newly arrived forces.

Jae Dyn peered at the new arrivals, then finally smiled. "Yes," she said. "These are friends coming. I think that help we've been hoping for, it's arrived."

"Good." Yelara was dazzling in the intensity of her determination, and the smile she gave Jae Dyn. "Then let's go, unless you're tired of fighting by my side."

Jae Dyn gave Yel a bright smile. "That's something I'll never grow tired of."

"We'll see about that," she retorted, and exchanging nods, the two women threw themselves back into the battle, one that had suddenly become anyone's victory.

The arrival of the palace military had certainly been a boon for the Jedi defending the Temple, though winning the battle would be the trick. As they continued to fight on, it was clear that Kambra Gant's soldiers were good, but there were still too many of the clones up and fighting to see a victory on the near horizon. Jae Dyn watched two of the clones go down under a barrage of blaster fire, but on the other end of the clearing two palace troops had fallen as well. She hadn't been able to get a good count of the men Kambra had brought with him, but she hoped he had more than the clones at the rate soldiers were falling.

Vaya almost didn't believe her eyes. She didn't have to though, because she believed in the Force, and it seemed her prayer was answered. She knew full well that she was not the only one hoping for help of course, but the surprise relief to Vaya was indeed the working of the Force.

As the battle took a new turn, Vaya at first had an almost overwhelming urge to jump in and dish out whatever fight she could muster against the enemy. But her Master's last words to her rang in her ears as if Laedra was next to her in the tree... Help take care of the younger Padawans... is what she had told her.

"Master Jae Dyn, should I help get the younger Padawans away from the battle now that we have aid?" Vaya asked, before taking anything upon herself.

"Assist where you're able," Jae Dyn Brael said. "Zari and Raeila were taking the others to the caves near the waterfalls. And, Vaya, unless you have someone to return here with, stay with the younglings. I don't want any of us wandering the forest alone. May the Force be with you, Padawan."

"And with you, Master," Vaya replied.

Vaya took the current opportunity to scout for any Padawans that had not gone with Zari and Raelia, and left the battle to those more able.

Aurra saw the help coming, and was relieved that they weren't alone fighting the clones anymore. She couldn't even help herself from smiling for a bit. The blue skinned Twi'lek girl then leaped down from the tree as the clones were now moving to counter the new incoming troopers.

Calling upon the Force to move as fast as she could, Aurra charged on a clone, fending off a blaster shot and somersaulting over him. She then turned and as the clone turned as well, Aurra cut his armor with her lightsaber, then taking the chance and kicking the clone across the chest.

The clone trooper fell and as he did his blaster went off, hitting another clone. That was lucky! Aurra thought as the shot had barely missed her. She then cut the blaster off the clone, as he got up, and used the Force to whoosh his away against a tree, just prior to taking cover again.

Grateful to have the Force as her ally and now the newly arrived reinforcements, Nyah smiled briefly to herself. With more balanced odds she could focus on the task of survival easier. Being slightly injured the battle had begun to take its toll on her but it also wasn't the Padawan's nature to just give up. Her natural physical ability only helped Nyah out.

***

The clone troopers' continued assault was relentless, despite the Jedi reinforcements, and despite the evened odds. They did not care for odds, only for following the mission to its conclusion, carrying out the orders they were given, and succeeding in their objectives.

The trooper designated Eleven Thirty-Eight pressed forward, his blaster training on a soldier who had recently arrived in the battle. He fired twice, and the soldier crashed to the ground before he could fire upon his target, one of Eleven Thirty-Eight's own squad. He had been given the rank of captain, but such titles were rarely used amongst the clones. They were unnecessary. Their hierarchy was essentially instinctual; they knew whose orders were to be followed.

His comm crackled to life and the orders came through. He felt no joy or sadness at the new orders. Such emotions were irrelevant and only stood in the way of a soldier in the field. Orders were orders, and they were to be followed. He relayed the new orders to his lieutenants. Once all his lieutenants had acknowledged, the clone troopers began their retreat. They had been recalled to the Palace; their mission was to be aborted.

As quickly as they had arrived, the clone troopers disappeared into the forest and were gone.

***

Preparing for return fire, Yelara pressed her back to the tree and waited for the splintering of wood flying at her face that would accompany the burning stench as blaster fire assailed the thick trunk. But, there was nothing. The din of battle died instantly, leaving behind the clatter of armour. Yelara hazarded a peek around the tree, then emerged from behind it fully in bewilderment. "Where are they going?" she asked Jae Dyn distractedly.

"They're...they're leaving," Jae Dyn said, lowering her guard slightly. "They're just...retreating. I don't understand it."

"They could be meeting up with a larger force," Yelara suggested.

"To completely pull out like this, to then meet up with a larger force... I can't imagine a force like this, these clones, operating like that. Though...you never can be too certain. It makes no sense. There's no--" She suddenly turned her attention away and off in the direction Tae'Karada's capital would be. "They're pulling back," she said, this time sounding much more confident. "They drove the Jedi off from the Palace, but the Jedi are now returning here. Nieme and Dani have pulled them back so they won't be slaughtered when the rest of the Jedi arrive."

"Then we need to go after them and make sure they don't escape alive!" Yelara exclaimed.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she said. "I don't think they'll just let us pick them off, and... and I couldn't bring myself to kill them. The soldiers, they're clones of our children."

Yelara's face registered shock. "What? How can you know this?"

"Because...because I was there when Dargus made them," Jae Dyn said. She pointed out Va'Lesha and Yara. "Those two, they're not like the others. They've broken free of the...programming. Those two, they recognize us for who we are, but the others...they can't see it."

Staring out at the fleeing soldiers, and utterly dumbfounded, Yelara muttered, "Dargus did that? To my child?" A fleeting memory flashed in her mind - a wicked smile, black inscrutable eyes, incarnadine glowing blade plunging deep, deeper...and more pain than anyone could ever fathom. Then Yelara was gone, bolting into the forest back towards the temple.

"Yelara," Jae Dyn cried, but could not go after her, not yet. She would go to her friend later, after the matters of the Temple had been attended to. She quickly passed the word amongst the Padawans who remained in the forest: assess the wounded, bind the prisoners and assemble them outside the main entrance of the Temple, and then regroup within the main training room. She sent some of Kambra's soldiers out to the perimeter of the Temple grounds to watch for any signs of the clones returning.

The clones may have fled, but they couldn't relax yet.

Aurra fended off a few more shots as the clones were now retreating. She was glad to see that the battle was closing in to an ending. But she also knew that she couldn't relax yet...

A nearby clone trooper was injured and unable to run with the others. Not able to keep pace, it seemed he had decided to fight to the death. Aurra was able to fend off two of his shots before she took cover. The blaster shots hit the tree but were unable to surpass it.

Aurra then saw one of the friendly soldiers moving in and he was firing upon the fleeing clones, but missed the injured clone who was near Aurra, firing at her. The blue Twi�lek girl saw the clone turn his blaster to fire upon the soldier and that was when she came out of her cover and used the Force to pull the blaster off the clone�s hands.

As it were, she couldn't rip the blaster off his hands, but was able to move it enough for him to miss the shot. The friendly soldier saw the clone and shot him dead, then nodding towards her for thanks. Aurra wasn�t sure that killing the clone was necessary but it was done...

Similar instances of disarming were happening around the Jedi Temple. As the fighting finally calmed, Oot Kovan left the safety of the vehicles from where she'd been monitoring the battle and advising Kambra as best she could. Her Gungan companion appreciated having someone who could watch from the outside, and provide additional input from a vantage point other than his own. While she was nowhere near as talented as Kambra or any of his soldiers, her mind was still up to the task of the tactical assessment of the battle.

She watched from a distance as Kambra had the clone troopers herded into the clearing outside the front of the Temple entrance. Once he detached from the small group and turned to find her watching, he gave her a lopsided smile. She took that as her cue that it was safe to approach. "The clones, they've fled back to the Palace," Kambra said. "Mesa think we are safe for now."

"Your plan, Kambra?"

"Mesa think staying here will be good," he said. "Help the Jedi with defense, I can."

"Good," Oot said, then she smiled. "I thought you might. Perhaps with Liam here, we can do some damage control and try to reassert ourselves as the true leaders of the planet."

Kambra bobbed his head, then stopped. He cocked his head to the side and lifted one of his large, floppy ears. "Mesa hear transports."

Oot frowned and turned in the direction her closest friend was gazing. "More clones?"

"Mesa no think so," Kambra said. "They be here soon. We wait and see?"

Oot nodded, then turned as the New Republic transports roared into view. It was obvious as they blazed over the clearing that they were prepared for a fight. In one of the open hatches, she could see Liam Zaneth standing, looking as if he might leap free of the transport. At his side, she could see Kael Selrid, and a darker man she didn't recognize. She smiled. The Jedi had returned.

"The Calm After the Storm"
By Vaya Bek, Padawan

Location: Jedi Temple Grounds
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

Vaya ushered two Padawans along through the dark forest. The blaster fire had increased as the new troopers who had arrived had engaged the invading clone troopers.

The sounds of the falls could clearly be heard, they continued forward to find the caves where the other Padawans were to have been.

"Come along now, everything will be just fine," Vaya said as they made their way.

They had arrived to find that Zari and Rae had left. Orn and Orinth were present, tending to the wounded and to the security of the small group of young Padawans present.

Vaya informed them that help had arrived, but she did not know much else. She shared her optimism that all would be well soon enough as the battle had seemed to have taken a turn in their favor.

Vaya helped to inspect the Padawans. She checked for injuries, found some bruising from falls, sprains and scrapes. The Padawans had been receiving some first aid with what few supplies were on hand.

A couple of the more younger were sleeping, wore out from the sudden excitement of the night. Others were huddled close by the lanterns for mutual sense of security. She checked after the little ones who were fast asleep. One young Padawan, a pretty little Togrutan girl with snake like appendages that draped down from the crests upon her head, was laying near a human boy close of age. Her face was dirty, but it looked so serene to Vaya's eyes, with her painted face that was common among the Togrutan.

Vaya knelt down to inspect the girl while she was asleep, pulling away her tunic to inspect for any injuries that could be visible without disturbing the child, or the boy near to her.

Vaya lifted up the dark brown outer robe to reveal a dark pinkish stain upon the cream colored tunic. At closer inspection, Vaya saw that it must have been blood. It didn't register at first, as human blood was red, other alien species didn't always have the same hued blood.

Oh dear, Vaya thought to herself as she inspected closer.

Vaya found that a large splinter of wood was poking through the girls tunic. The bloody patch was around the area of the girl's leftside abdomen. Vaya checked for a pulse, and found none. The girl was cold to the touch, and Vaya had a sudden sinking feeling in her heart and gut. She rolled the girl over to see that the splinter had entered from the back side, a good size shard of wood that had been made an unintentional projectile weapon from a blaster shot.

The wound had coagulated, obviously the girl had passed from the injury. No doubt she had internal damage and bleeding, the shard of wood had clogged up the injury preventing the release of more blood.

Vaya slumped to her rump on the rocky floor and pulled the girl closer, cradling her close as warm streams of tears rolled down from her eyes.

I'm sorry, so sorry, she thought to herself as she held the girl close. She caressed the girl's face and thought, So brave, so young...

"War Effort, Part 2"
By: Cole Slaton
Zari Zathmir
Raeila Selrid
Taran Kinneas
Ferrig Mullerin
Keeve Shivral

Location: Forest around the Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Watching her brother thrusting himself into the fray, Raeila was at once overjoyed at again seeing him, and stricken with fear for his safety. Without proper armour, one hit might kill him. Raeila wasn't too enthusiastic about that prospect. "Come on, Zari! We can't just hide here!" Still clutching her friend's hand, Raeila skirted the edge of the clearing, continuing to use tree cover as a shield, and sprinted towards the friendly forces. Her grin broadened as Ferrig's face grew clearer.

Zari raced along at Raeila's side, charging headlong toward Ferrig. He held a blaster in one hand and was firing away at the clones, while punching those who happened to get close enough with a balled fist. As Raeila drew closer, he spotted her and gave a whoop of delight...one that nearly cost him his life.

Zari, noticing that in the instant his attention was diverted, one of the nearer clones raised a rifle to fire at Ferrig. "No," she cried, and reached back and hurled her lit lightsaber at the clone. The clone's shot went wide as the deactivated blade (without her focus on keeping the blade active, it'd shut off as soon as it left her hand) klunked against his helmet, breaking his attention. Ferrig managed to spin around, fire two shots into his chest, then race toward his sister once the clone was taken care of.

"Ferrig!" she shrieked in happiness, and was soon throwing herself into his arms before she realized it. Zari had been dragged along with her the entire way and now, too, had her slender arms wrapped around Ferrig's waist while Raeila smothered his face with kisses.

"Oh Raeila," Ferrig rasped as he held her close. "Thana be praised you're alright. Stay with me...I don't want anything happening to you."

"And I don't want you getting yourself foolishly killed," she replied, her voice obviously affected by tears. "So you stay back with us." Raeila pulled away from her brother, gazing up into his smiling eyes. "Before I forget...I love you, big brother."

"I love you too, little sister," Ferrig whispered, tears filling his own eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again." He held her tight, not wanting to let go, but knowing if he didn't they might end up getting hurt or worse. "Unless that husband of yours has claimed time on you tonight...I...when we're out of this, I just want to hold you and remember what it's like to be alive and loved."

And forgetting Zari was still nearly trapped between them, Raeila pressed in against Ferrig and shared a searing, desperate kiss to recapture lost time.

A sudden squeak of surprise broke the kiss between the siblings, then Ferrig realized his mistake as he glanced at the hand that was cupping Zari's breast rather than his sister's. "Oh...I'm...uh, I'm sorry..."

Zari blushed and grinned at him. "It's alright," she whispered as she glanced down at the hand still present. Ferrig seemed to realize it, then withdrew the hand, and pulled Raeila close again. "Honest mistake," he murmured, then kissed her again.

The clamour of the raging battle drew them reluctantly out of the kiss once again. Raeila looked past his shoulder at the chaos. "Ferrig...come with us. We'll go somewhere...we'll hide!"

"I can't, Raeila," he whispered. "Stay with me here, we'll fight off the soldiers together. Then...then after, when everything is settled and they're beaten, then we can go hide together, and try to forget that all this violence happened at all."

She looked helplessly to the soldiers, fighting steadfastly for their safety, then at Ferrig, whose expression indicated unwavering determination. Sighing, Raeila sagged against him again. "Give me a blaster, and I'll fight by your side," she murmured into her brother's neck.

Ferrig kissed her again, this time his hand managed to find the correct breast. Once the kiss breathlessly broke, he handed her a blaster, then looked at both Zari and Rae. "Now, both of you stay close to me. If we get separated, just go for the waterfall. It's too dangerous out here to wander alone."

"There's no way I'm leaving you, Ferrig," Rae declared with a brilliant smile. "Kir'Thana never run from battle, remember?"

Ferrig grinned back at her. "I feel complete again with you at my side," he said. "And, with Zari protecting us."

Rae snorted haughtily and tossed back her flowing, golden hair. "We'll see who's protecting who when I'm through with those clones," she challenged. With a grin for both of them, she weaved away around the trees for her destination: the battle.

Zari and Ferrig exchanged a look, then raced after Raeila with blaster firing and lightsaber slashing. Anyone who happened to get in the way of the trio would rue their misstep. Nothing would stop Raeila and Ferrig's reunion after the battle. They'd waited long enough.

***

Cole watched as Zari and Rae left, along with Ferrig... He wanted to spit his name out like a bad taste, but all he could do was watch as they ran off towards the fighting. "Bloody woman!" he cursed, trying to get to his feet.

They had given him an ear bashing just for running away from those damned clones, now here they were running right towards them! "Bloody inconsider... stubborn... half-witted..." he allowed his words to trail off, wanting nothing more than to join them, his hand clenched around the blaster in his hand.

Wincing, he looked at Taran. "They may need some help... I can make my way to the waterfall..."

Taran glanced towards Cole and saw that his was no shape to go alone. Yet the others needed his help, but he looked to the blaster and took a small box out one of his pockets and stared at it for a brief moment. At that point he reminded when his family died, because they didn't had no help none whatsoever. He placed back the box in the pocket and looked to Cole's face. "You are in no condition to go alone. I will aid you to get there and I'm going to stay with you until this thing blows over." He paused. "Don't try to persuade me to say other wise, because I have Vurk's stubbornness."

"Figures..." he laughed, wincing as he was helped up.

***

Raeila laughed in glee as her and Ferrig's combined efforts brought down a single clone. Ducking behind the speeder for cover, they'd moved in unison, firing at the same targets and smiling at one another and their synchronization. Their connection with one another hadn't diminished after all. They were still brother and sister, and their bond just as strong as it had always been. Still, Raeila would have preferred to have realized that under different, less perilous circumstances.

But fate had brought them together here, just as it would next carry them to safety, where they could reunite properly. With that prospect in mind, Raeila doubled her efforts and shot at anything that moved now.

Standing just a meter from where Raeila and Ferrig were, Zari was doing her best to deflect blaster shots. She'd managed three so far, though she'd nearly been hit four times, and completely missed another two dozen that (thankfully) had ended up hitting something that wasn't herself, Raeila or Ferrig. "I think I'm getting better," she said happily as she nearly stopped another blaster bolt.

Raeila looked back at the smouldering tree behind her which had stopped Zari's missed shot. "Yeah...much better," she murmured, and returned her attention to the battle.

"Cute girl," Ferrig said softly to his sister. "I know I don't have much pull with the Jedi, but when we get out of this, I'm going to ask whoever her master is to work with her a lot more on that whole blocking blaster shots thing."

Any laughter Raeila meant to express reverted to a gasp as a clone in black armour burst from the forest amid the fighting. Raeila panicked when she noted who he was barreling towards. "Zari!" she shrieked.

Zari whipped around to face Raeila, then quickly turned to follow her gaze, and nearly screamed herself. She took a step forward, and started to raise her blade, but she realized it was too late, he was already too close. She lurched aside, trying to get away before he could catch her.

Zari! Cole screamed in his mind. His mouth was wide open but no sound came forth; it was stuck in the back of his throat, demanding to be released. His hand grabbed the tree he was using for support while his eyes, fixed on Zari, watched in stunned horror. He wanted to move, he demanded his limbs to move, but they were frozen in place, he could do nothing but watch.

As the charging clone's arms looped around her waist and carried her off, a blaster bolt whizzed past Zari's head, glancing off the soldier's helmet. Another blaster discharged from a weapon aiming out at the small of her back, and when she and the clone rolled to the ground, Zari got a glimpse of another behind them toppling over as the shot connected.

Zari looked up at the soldier now pinning her to the ground. She tried to squirm out of his hold, but something nagged at her. He'd tackled her to the ground, but he'd shot one of the other soldiers. "What...who are you," she rasped.

"Later," his muffled voice answered, and again she was lifted away and carried off by the stranger, this time into the forest. Just as he set Zari down safely, a screeching, flying weight slammed into his back. He stumbled forward and tried to throw the squawking creature off, but it had latched on tightly.

Zari took the moment of the distraction to try to bolt away, but stopped when she noticed that it was Raeila now clinging to the soldier's back. She renewed her struggle to get free.

"You leave her alone!" Raeila hollered and wrapped her arms around his neck, hoping to throttle the clone. But he seemed unperturbed.

"What are you doing?" he asked in utter amusement, now trying to pry her arms free. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, but you are to try and hurt my friend!" Rae shot back. Grunting with the effort, she tightened her hold, only further exasperating the soldier.

"Zari," he addressed her directly, "you mind getting this thing off me?"

Zari suddenly stopped struggling as she gazed up at the soldier. "Keeve," she whispered. "Keeve, it's you?"

The soldier reached up and trapped his helmet between both hands. With a single tug, it came off and revealed her valiant saviour. It was Keeve, alright, but a slightly bruised and bloodied version. Even still, he grinned at Zari while Raeila halted her attack.

"Zari?" she asked. "You know this guy?"

"It's Keeve," Zari said with a big grin as Ferrig came up behind what had just vaguely resembled a squalling fight between a pair of reisacats. "He's my friend." She leaned up and kissed the end of his nose. "He's my boyfriend."

He narrowed his eyes skeptically at Zari, barely noticing Rae slipping off his back to join her friend. "So, still got your head in the clouds, I see. Is that why you almost got yourself killed back there?"

"I...I panicked," Zari said. "And, none of the other soldiers were moving like you were. You came out of nowhere."

"That, Zari," he boasted, leaning down to stare directly into her eyes, "was the whole point. Now come on." Straightening up, he took her arm gently and led her farther away from the line of fire. There was a noticeable limp in his step.

Zari waved for Ferrig and Raeila to follow them, and the two quickly fell in line behind Keeve. Zari shifted herself around on his side so that she could lend support for his walking. "You're hurt," she said as she gazed up into his eyes.

Keeve smirked. "Falling from a cliff will do that to you." At her concerned gasp, Keeve shook his head and chuckled. "I'm not dead. I'm fine. And you will be too once I get you out of here."

"Wait!" Raeila scrambled in front of them, halting Keeve with an outstretched hand. "Where are you taking her? And who are you anyway? We've got a temple to save!"

Zari took a defiant step back away from Keeve, moving herself closer to where Ferrig had just stopped, his eyes focused on his sister. "I'm not leaving," she said. "I'm a Jedi Padawan and my place is here, protecting the Temple. My friends are here, Keeve; I won't abandon them."

"Zari, don't be stubborn," Keeve told her. "You're just going to get hurt."

"Not with me protecting her," Raeila declared and clasped hands with Zari.

Keeve rolled his eyes. "Why are women so unruly these days?"

"If you're so worried," Zari said, "then help us. Fight by our side, and help us beat back these guys."

"And I can't change your mind?" he asked.

"I can't believe you'd want to," Zari said softly. "These are my friends, Keeve. These are people I care about very much, who care about me. I can't just run away from them. No, I won't change my mind. I'm staying here to help my friends." She gave Raeila's hand a squeeze, then slipped the other into Ferrig's hand. "Please help us, Keeve."

He raised an eyebrow at Ferrig, then regarded Raeila and Zari's determined frowns. Sighing, he threw up his arms and turned back to the battle.

Meanwhile, Cole had made his way through the forest, judging where Zari had been taken with Rae fast on the soldier's heels. He could almost feel where Zari was though he couldn't say how, perhaps it was the Force reacting to his need. Pushing through a bush he caught sight of Zari standing with the clone. He didn't have time to think, lifting the blaster up, pulling the trigger.

Zari was just about to begin dancing around happily, when a sudden uneasiness washed up her spine. Danger! Without thinking, she lunged forward, passing Keeve in a blur as her lightsaber snapped to life and bathed the trees that surrounded them in blue. The blade whipped outward toward the onrushing verdant bolt of energy. The two connected in front of the chestplate of Keeve's armour. The bolt caromed off into the forest and Zari and her lightsaber tumbled forward, coming to a rolling stop on her backside about a meter in front and to the left of where Keeve stood.

"Nice move," Keeve commented appraisingly. "Less than impressive landing, but you got the job done." He held out a hand to Zari and smiled to soothe her wounded pride. "Looks like someone's got his sights on us. We'd better move fast."

"It's Cole," Zari said. The fact that she didn't know how she knew was enough to tell her how she knew, and that thought nearly made her head spin. "Cole, it's okay," she called. "He's with us."

Keeve snorted. "That little brat? He's still around?"

"You just don't like him because he's my boyfriend," Zari said, then stuck her tongue out at Keeve.

Cole frowned now completely lost. Weren't we fighting the clones? he asked himself, looking up to the heavens as if expecting an answer. Why had Zari stepped in front of the energy bolts, deflecting them away? They were dead on target, which for him in his current state had been quite an achievement. He coughed, wincing against the pain before spitting out the blood that came up. As he spat, black oily liquid was mixed in with the blood. He was coughing up the lining of his lungs.

As Zari stood, waiting for Cole to emerge, she sensed something very wrong. Fighting down the panic within, she raced forward until she slid to a stop by his side. "Cole, oh Cole." She turned back to where the others still stood. "He's hurt really bad! He's...oh he's...Keeve! Raeila! Oh help!"

Sighing wearily, Keeve gestured for Zari to lead the way and followed behind as she scampered off. "I came to fight, and end up babysitting," he muttered.

Seeing that Keeve wasn't moving as fast as she wanted him to, Zari scurried forward, grabbed Keeve's hand and started dragging him back with her. "He's coughing up blood," she said, her voice clearly edged with panic. "It...it looks really bad, Keeve. Oh please...help him!"

"I'm not a doctor, Zari!" he explained irritably. "What am I supposed to do?" Keeve yelped and barely dodged a tree rushing towards him. He glared at Zari's back.

"I don't know," she sobbed as they reached Cole's prone form. "But...but you...you're good at everything. Please, Keeve. Please help him. Please..." Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked up at him. "Please."

Gazing into her piteous eyes, Keeve could do nothing but submit to her pleas. Rolling his eyes, he dropped to his knees beside the Padawan. Raeila quickly joined him.

"I know some things about healing," she told him.

Keeve half-smiled and gestured towards Cole. "Then start getting his shirt open."

Scowling mildly at being ordered around, Raeila did so.

As Zari held Cole's hand and watched Raeila work, she managed to spare a glare for Keeve. For as much as she loved him, she couldn't believe how cavalier and dispassionate he was about her boyfriend lying in front of them almost dying.

"Well...he's breathing," Raeila assured Zari. "I think...maybe he broke a rib...that's where the blood's coming from." With his shirt spread wide, they were able to examine his torso. Raeila probed gently with her fingers, brushing them over his bruises and tapping his abdomen for the telltale signs of internal bleeding. She smiled up at the group. "I think it might be alright to move him--"

Ferrig nodded, then moved up toward Cole's head. "I'll take him," he said. "I should be able to get him up to the Temple; some of Kambra's people are field medics, they can handle it. I'll be back before you know I'm gone."

Before he could dash off, silence fell over the forest, creating an exchange of curious looks between the four. "It's...quiet," Rae observed in a whisper.

Ferrig glanced around, then down at the others. "What's going--?"

"The soldiers," Zari said softly. "The clones, they're retreating. They're leaving the forest, and...and going back to them."

"Cowards," Keeve spat. "I didn't even get a chance to shoot any."

"My heart bleeds..." Cole whispered sarcastically, glancing up at Keeve. Why the fuck did he have to be the one? God hates me... he thought, looking away, having another coughing fit. Blood sprayed out from his mouth, both bright red and dark. With each cough he could feel the fragment of rib sticking into his lung, moving, pushing deeper into him. To say it hurt would have been the understatement of the century.

Keeve backed off, grimacing. "I'm not touching him now. He'll bleed on me and I have my own to deal with!"

"Now who's the coward," Raeila retorted with a scowl for his insensitivity. "Don't worry, Cole," she said to the injured boy soothingly, "we'll get you to the med bay."

"It'll be alright, Cole," Zari whispered, as she kissed his forehead. "We'll make you all better, I promise."

"Zari, Rae," Ferrig said as he carefully adjusted his hold on Cole, "go find one of the medics, they've got white patches on their sleeves. I don't think we should move him with him coughing up blood like that. Moving him will more than likely just make it worse."

Nearly dragging Zari away, Raeila did as Ferrig asked and scampered into the forest, Keeve grudgingly falling in step behind them. They hoped there was someone at the Temple to seek help from.

"Hang on, tosh," Ferrig said as he made sure Cole didn't move to aggravate his wound even further, "they're getting help. Just try not to die while Zari's away."

"As if you care a damn..." Cole replied, trying to push Ferrig's hands away. His strength was wavering and he found himself seized by another coughing fit. He tried stopping it but the more he tried the harder he wanted to cough. "Argh...!" he cried, his right hand grabbing a handful of grass and dirt, tearing at it, trying to fight through the pain. He ignored the blood trickling down his face.

"Stow the tough guy act, tosh," Ferrig said. "Doesn't work on Keeve and it doesn't work on you. Keep snapping and biting the way you are, and you're going to lose her too. Don't think that if you push her far enough away, someone won't jump in to snatch her up. Now, stop fighting and wait for someone to get here to put you back together." He leaned close and brought his blaster into view. "Keep with the invectives, and I'll stun you. Thana didn't see me through all this pash just to listen to you tell me how much I don't care."

"Care... don't make my laugh... Did you care when you took Zari away, to those fucking bitches?" he demanded. He would have shouted but his breathing was a low wheezing cough. He swallowed hard, allowing his head to fall back against the ground. And who the fuck is Thana? he thought though didn't speak it out loud.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Ferrig said. "You have no idea what they're capable of. And, until you're put in the same position, have had your free will stripped from you, and have no choice but to follow and fulfill their every whim, you're in no position to judge. The only thing worse than someone who's gone sunmad and sandsick is someone who judges others out of ignorance."

"Well then..." Cole coughed. "... if that's true... you won't mind me tearing them apart the next time I see them..." Before he heard a response for Ferrig his eyes rolled up as the world turned to darkness around him.

Taran knew that Ferrig was for a few weeks under the command of the two bitches, as Cole so nicely called them. He looked to Cole and he knew that he had passed out. He saw a great fighter that still fought for his life.

Ferrig looked down at the prone figure of Cole. At least he wasn't struggling now and thus aggravating his injuries. The young former-Feltrey looked up as in the distance Raeila and Zari came rushing back with one of the medics in tow. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Cole would receive the help he needed. Despite his dislike for the brash Padawan, it would at least make Zari happy. Right now, finding some piece of happiness to hold on to in the middle of the raging chaos and darkness...that's what they all needed. His face lit up as Raeila returned to his side and clutched his hand in her own. At least his own bit of happiness was back in his life, though without Talara at his side, there was a part of him that still felt empty and alone. Ferrig pushed away the thought and focused on what was before him. They'd all find a way through this...somehow.

"Target Acquisition"
by Taja West
Tralesha Zibel
Shaza Nightshade

Location: Outside the Jedi Temple
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Taja glanced at the quiet Jedi Temple through her electrobinoculars. She was looking for a way in, but it was obvious it wouldn't be an easy task.

As she watched, a few armed individuals in battle armour appeared, and began moving toward the Temple. "What in hell...?" she asked. The unknown troops were beginning to form a perimeter around the Temple. Taja quickly grabbed her things and began moving. She needed to find a safe spot where she wouldn't be seen.

She found a spot that looked suitable, where she could see everything going on, but they wouldn't be able to see her without looking too closely. Minutes passed and blaster shots could be heard in the distance. She was more confused than ever about what was going on.

***

Elsewhere in the forest, Shaza Nightshade's fists pummeled into the armoured chest of one of the clones who'd attacked the Temple. He hadn't seen where she and Tralesha had been hiding, and when she popped out of nowhere, he hadn't been fast enough to reply. Fists and feet, elbows and knees. They were deadly weapons, despite the battle armour. With a twist and a flurry of movement, the trooper went down. With a deft move, Shaza took the trooper out of the fight, though he'd recover eventually.

"I don't think anyone heard," came the whisper at her side as Tralesha slipped away from the tree where she'd been searching for others. She held a blaster rifle in one hand, and a comm headset in the other. "Come on, let's get over around to the eastern edge. That's going to be a nice defensive spot." She was worried about Orinth, but at least Raeila and Zari had taken him and the others to safety.

"We're going to find you boots," Shaza said glancing down at Tralesha's bare feet. "How do you manage it? I should just know that when you take your boots off, the crisis isn't far away."

"Coincidence," Tralesha said with a grin. "Come on, let's get over there--" Before she could finish, blaster fire erupted behind her, narrowly missing her shoulder. If Shaza hadn't pushed her down... She didn't want to finish the thought.

As if summoned there by some mystical power, Shaza's blaster was in her hand and she was firing. The troopers that had been firing ducked away from the shots, giving the two women the chance they needed. Shaza reached out a hand, grasped onto Tral's and raced off through the forest toward a position that would hopefully be safer for both of them.

***

Taja got up from where she'd been watching the troopers attacking the Temple, grabbed her bag, and quickly moved around the perimeter, searching for a way in to find Tralesha Zibel.

As she edged along, she couldn't believe her luck as she spotted her target: Shaza Nightshade and Tralesha Zibel. She couldn't hear them, but they were moving quickly. She decided to follow along, and quickly took up a position to their rear where they wouldn't see her.

Shaza and Tralesha were getting farther away, and Taja quickly increased her speed to keep up. As she moved herself even quicker, she decided it would be now or never. She brought up her blaster and zeroed in on her fleeing targets.

The sound of an onrushing body turned Shaza around from the small mound of earth she and Tralesha had found for cover. It wasn't difficult to spot the rushing form in the midst of the trees, and immediately she brought up a blaster and fired. The trees made targetting difficult, so instead of blasting away the approaching figure, one of the tree limbs exploded into a spray of mulch.

At her side, Tralesha spun and brought her own weapon. It took the younger woman a little longer to find her target, but she opened fire once she did, but not before the figure disappeared behind the trunk of a tree. "It's not one of the soldiers," she said.

Shaza shook her head. "No, definitely not. And she's a woman, and not from the Temple."

"Trespassers beware," Tral said with a grin as she tried to find a clear shot on the now-hidden intruder.

Taja brought up her blaster, while she hid behind a large tree. She spun and fired from one side and then ran towards another tree as the laser bolts from Tralesha and Shaza came just a little too close for comfort. She knew it was going to be difficult to get to their position.

From the cover of the small, earthen bunker that made their position such an appealing one, Tralesha and Shaza held their fire. It wouldn't do to waste their shots needlessly against a tree without a target.

Taja decided it would be very harsh to do, but it was the least that they would suspect. She fled from her cover and ran as fast as she could, charging towards the bunker, putting them all in melee range.

With the sudden close proximity of their adversary, Shaza quickly holstered her weapon and launched into a series of debilitating kicks and punches, or punches and kicks that would have been debilitating against a lesser opponent. But their unknown attacker was good enough to get her defenses into place before Shaza Nightshade could pummel her into submission. At her side, Tralesha kicked out at their attacker, but only managed a glancing blow against her thigh.

It was obvious that the offensive plans that she'd had were quickly pushing Taja onto a defensive stance against two attackers. Tralesha Zibel wasn't nearly the fighter that Shaza was, but the additional combatant would certainly make things increasingly more difficult.

The fight strayed from the safety of the bunker, but here, off to the side of the Temple, the fight with the Palace clones was far too distant to be a worry. Now, without the bunker, it merely meant that all three fighters had more room to maneuver. To the side, along the stream that came from the western lake that was a favourite of many of the Padawans, the dull roar of a waterfall, one of the many breathtaking features surrounding the Temple, could be heard. Though, the beauty of the scenery was lost on the three as they fought. A bruise was forming on Tralesha's cheek, a product of a vicious kick from their attacker, but she'd given as good as she got and Taja sported a cut above her eye from one of the rings she wore. Taja and Shaza, however were doing the most damage to one another and both would be bruised and battered at the end of their fight...though only the survivor would need to worry about any aches and pains.

Taja tried to manage against the two fighters, but only a really and extremely good fighter could keep up against two opponents. Also she strived to hold herself, she didn't want to repeat the things that she did on Kessel, that made her very insecure of herself. With each passing moment, the chances of her losing the fight increased.

Shaza could sense that their assailant was wearing down. It wouldn't be long before they'd beat her, and then get some questions asked. Tralesha lunged forward and brought her foot around to try to sweep Taja off her feet, but a quick reverse on the part of the stranger, overbalanced the younger girl. A snapkick sent Tralesha back toward the cliff as she struggled to regain her balance.

Tralesha's scream clawed at Shaza's attention, and she quickly turned to check on her friend, who had managed to stop herself perilously close to the edge of the cliff. Before she could bring herself back around to finish off her opponent, a body slammed into hers, driving them both back toward the edge. Shaza tried to grab for purchase, but there was none to be had. And, then she was in open air, gazing into the smug grin of her attacker. The ground raced up at her in the form of a shimmering lagoon. It was hopeless, but she let out a futile scream of rage. Even as she hit the water, she began plotting her path back up to their attacker.

Tralesha had nearly pulled herself back up over the rim of the cliff, but knew she was in danger when she saw her friend plunge into the water below. She let out a growl of frustration and hoped she could get in a few good shots for her friend.

Taja looked over and saw Tralesha just pulling herself over the edge of the cliff. She called in her aircar, allowing it to use its autonav to reach her position. She pulled out her blaster and pointed it toward Tralesha who was just standing up. "Now you have a meeting with someone that is eager to see you." Taja made the sign to put down her weapon. The aircar settled into the clearing. "Now, how about we take a little trip?

Tralesha looked up at the barrel of the weapon aimed at her face. There was nothing she could do, and trying to get away would only mean her death. She let out a sigh of defeat, but refused to answer her attacker's question.

Halfway up the path up to the top of the cliff, Shaza Nightshade watched helplessly as the speeder streaked off through the air. She had a very bad feeling, and it was only made worse when she finally reached the top of the cliff: Tralesha and their attacker were gone.

"Sithspit," she snarled, and quickly raced back toward the Temple. She didn't have any time to lose.

"Dispensing Punishment"
By: Dani
Nieme Yaresh
Talara Sorenne

Location: Arcadian Palace
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

She could sense the battle waning, winding down. The Jedi were fleeing from the Palace and Nieme was extremely upset. Talara Sorenne looked around, stifling the panic she felt within. She quickly moved from the back of the battlement where she'd been overseeing the clones' defense of the palace against the New Republic troops. She'd been caught up with them as they'd filed past after her departure from Keeve. She thought she could slip away after, but hadn't been able to. Now, time was running out.

Moving quickly, she got away from the clone troopers and started down the winding staircase that would hopefully lead her near one of the exits where she could slip out in the chaos. The thick-soled boots she wore were silent as she moved, though the soft creaking of the leather clothing would give her away if she moved too quickly. Even though she'd helped take the palace without a stitch of clothing on, she wasn't going to leave it that way. She'd be far too conspicuous...though tight leather pants and a leather halter weren't exactly inconspicuous.

She hit the last stair and started across the open space, heading for the doors beyond. Before she could take a third step, a voice called out behind her.

"Talara! Where do you think you're going?"

She spun around quickly to find Nieme and Dani there, looking quite upset, Nieme far more than Dani.

"I was...I was looking for you. The Jedi have fled, I saw from atop with the clones fighting off the New Republic troops."

"And what would we be doing out there?" Nieme asked, her voice a low, angry growl.

"I...I don't know," Talara said, her voice a whimper. She hadn't been fast enough. "I just came down to find you. I didn't...I didn't know where you were. I thought...thought you might have gone..." She pointed toward the door she'd been headed toward. "...gone out to taunt the Jedi for being the

cowards they are."

"Cowards..." Nieme chuckled harshly as she climbed the stairs towards Talara slowly. "Who, truly, is the coward here, Talara? While we were fighting for our throne, what were you doing, pet?"

"I was overseeing the clones manning the palace walls," she whispered. "I was being helpful. I...I didn't think I'd be useful against fully trained Jedi."

Dani frowned and blinked slowly at their young pupil. "Your place is at our side, Talara." She peered closer at the girl. "What of the prisoners?"

Tala paled. "I...I don't know what you mean."

Nieme drove Talara back until she had the girl pressed up against the wall. She trapped her in with both arms on either side and grinned down at her. "Talara," Nieme sang, "if we check on the prisoners, what will we find?" Her eyes darkened. "We know of your affections for Keeve. You wouldn't help him escape to have them reciprocated, now would you?"

"I...I...I wouldn't betray you," Tala stammered. "I love you, more than life. I wouldn't do anything to ever hurt you." If she hadn't been pinned to the wall, she would have dropped to her knees before Nieme, so all she could do was lower her head subserviently.

"Then prove it to us," Nieme whispered. She brushed her lips against Talara's cheek. "Show us Keeve, Talara. Show us where your loyalties lie."

Talara savored the touch of Nieme's flesh against her own. "This way," she said. "Come on, they're this way." She hurried from beneath Nieme's arms and off in the direction of the rooms that would have held Keeve and the others had she not already let them free. She had to pretend they were still there though, had to play the part of the loyal little, submissive servant.

"What is the clothing for, Talara?" Nieme asked as she and Dani followed behind her. She smirked at her lover conspiratorially. "Don't you know it pleases us to see you without?"

Dani grinned back at Nieme as Talara quickly stopped and shed the top she'd been wearing. She glanced back at her Mistresses and received a slow nod from Dani, and proceeded to remove her boots and pants.

"Much better," Dani said. "Tomorrow, I think we should get that new artist we found. She needs a ring for her clit at least, and maybe her nipples. Something we can attach a beautiful leash to." She glanced aside to Nieme again. "Don't you agree, my Star?"

She nodded pensively. "I believe by tomorrow, it will no longer be up to us." At Talara's questioning gaze, Nieme motioned her head towards the door to Keeve's prison chamber. "Open the door, Talara."

Talara nodded, then reached a tentative hand forward and pushed the door open.

Nieme and Dani required not a single look into the room to determine it was empty. In fact, their eyes never left Talara. "My dear Talara," Nieme crooned menacingly, "I do believe your new owner will approve of the leash, don't you?"

"New owner?" Talara whispered.

"Oh yes," Dani purred. "This will be the final opportunity you are given to prove your worth and love for us. Your last chance, Talara. If you fail this...it's your own fault."

"Tell us, Talara," Nieme mused, prowling towards the girl and backing her into Keeve's room, "where did your little boyfriend go? And did Ferrig and Oot go with him?"

"They...they left separate," Talara said. "I don't know where they were going. They...they wanted me to go, but...but I stayed."

"Yes, you stayed," Nieme granted, seeming rather calm despite the situation. Then, her anger exploded, manifesting itself as a crushing blow to Talara's face. The girl was knocked flat on her back, blood streaming from her nose. Still raging, Nieme leapt upon her and pinned back her arms as she straddled Talara's waist. "You stayed behind so you could ensure their escape!" she shrieked. Nieme mentally directed another strike to Talara's face, marring it further as her lip split. "Now where are they!"

Between her sobs, Talara managed to sputter that she didn't know and that she thought they might have tried to make it to the Jedi Temple. Dani had moved calmly to stand at the side of the scuffle, watching impassively as her lover raged against their young prot�g�.

"And is that where you planned to go?" Nieme jeered, delivering light, taunting slaps to the girl's abused cheeks. "Back to the Jedi? Back to our enemy?" She leaned forward, blazing eyes peering into Talara's. "Were you the one who sent them here, Talara? Hm?"

Talara shook her head. "No," she sobbed. "I wouldn't do something like that. They came on their own...but...but I didn't bring them. I wanted to go with Keeve, to be with Keeve. I wanted...I wanted him inside me, to feel him..."

Stroking her cheek roughly, Nieme pouted and teased, "You wanted him inside you, did you?" She clucked her tongue sympathetically, but the ruse ended as she sat up and sneered at Talara. "Then you won't mind a Hutt's dick inside you, will you?" Her grip on Talara's wrists tightened. "Will you!"

"Oh, please no," Talara rasped, tears forming in her eyes as she inwardly fought against the urge to struggle away.

"Oh yes," Dani said. "Though, I'm certain he'll appreciate you that much more if you pleasure him yourself, just like we know you would have loved to with Keeve. Tomorrow, we'll get some new rings for you," she said as she ran her hand along Talara's slit, "and then we'll take you to Thanatos where we can gift you to the Hutt. But it won't stop there. You will still be able to earn your place back in our hearts and in our beds. You will be our little spy in Jadda's palace. In addition to the beautiful rings that will go in your pussy and nipples, you'll have a transmitter inserted that will allow you to privately comm us. It will be untraceable, just don't get caught using it."

"And don't even think about betraying us," Nieme advised. "We're stronger than you could ever imagine, Talara. Next time you turn against us" --she kissed the tip of her nose and smiled cruelly-- "trying to bed Keeve will be the least of your worries."

"I understand," Talara whimpered. "I'll never...ever again. I love you. I'll be your perfect servant."

"We've heard that before," Dani said as she began to languidly stroke the cleft between Talara's legs, stirring up the girl's emotions even further. "But, this time we hope we can believe you."

"You leave tomorrow," Nieme told her, and removed her weight from the girl's waist as she rose above her. "For tonight...well...I'm sure you'll enjoy being on display for all of Arcadia to witness. Though, it might get a little chilly out there." She chuckled dryly. "Maybe we'll give you a pair of socks, hm?"

"I'd rather not cover her up," Dani said with a smile as she drew a finger down Talara's side. "Our loyal subjects should be allowed to witness her in all of her beauty with nothing covered up. Though, I'm certain she will be kept warm by those who come by to sample her charms." She gave Talara a lingering kiss. "Just remember, little one, you are there for their pleasure, not your own."

"And if they wish it," Nieme added, "we might just let them touch." Then she stepped over Talara and started down the corridor. "Now get up and don't dawdle. The night is fading."

"Don't worry," Dani said. "Being a Hutt's slave won't be very bad. You can dance, can't you?" With that, she moved on, leaving Talara to run quickly after them to keep up. Dani would miss the young girl, whose charms were ample. Had she been truly loyal, Talara would have been perfect. But, she's too good, Dani said with an inward smile. With a rather sordid taste for pleasure, but there's nothing wrong with that. She heard Talara's bare feet on the tiled floor behind her, but she forced herself to keep on moving. When the sun rose in the morning, Dani had a feeling that Talara will have been well used during the night. The clones would only do so if they were ordered, but she was certain that Jadda's mercenaries would certainly partake if they were allowed. That thought drew an even bigger grin from Dani as she finally managed to catch up with Nieme.

***

The clones had watched her as if she were a specimen to be studied, circling and leaning in to peer closely at any particular body part that caught their interest. With arms and legs spread wide as she remained suspended between two poles, Talara Sorenne went from Jedi Padawan to object of ridicule and amusement. Dani and Nieme had commanded that she was free to be touched and violated as they pleased, as long as she was not harmed.

The clones were more interested in examination - probing and prodding as they desired - while Jadda's men seemed more inclined towards other acts they could perform upon a naked, helpless girl. They displayed extreme imagination and ingenuity in discovering ways to fornicate with the girl as she hung, and thrusting themselves into her mouth despite her height off the ground, but with some cooperation on the part of their fellow soldiers, they managed well enough, and not even the chilly night air could dissuade them from their fun.

"You do have to admit," Dani said as she and Nieme stood to the side, watching, "that she is quite talented in the arts of pleasure."

Nieme smirked. "It's too bad she can't be moulded to our will." Sighing, Nieme wrapped her longcoat tightly around herself and turned to her lover. "Shall we go inside now and celebrate our victory?" Her smile was decidedly lustful.

Dani smiled and slid her body around until it was pressed against the front of Nieme's. "Yes," she breathed, "I definitely do feel like celebrating. I had hoped to see if both of those mercenaries would figure out how to enter Talara together, but I am certain they are resourceful enough, and Talara wants it bad enough that they will manage." She slipped her hands into Nieme's. "Come on, it's time for us to enjoy ourselves. And, tomorrow, after we've given the girl to the Hutt, I think we should make the equadi the official garment for women on the planet. We'll need to devise one for the men as well."

Spirits uplifted after their strenuous day, Nieme and Dani shuffled back into the Palace while locked in a passionate embrace. Behind them cheers and grunts of pleasure rang out from the crowd of soldiers. Any orifice Talara had available was used, and when none were free, the men simply watched their comrades pumping into the girl and administered to themselves.

"She's a tame one," she heard one of them say off to the side.

"And receptive." The other chuckled hoarsely. "Think we'll get to keep her?"

His friend snorted. "What's the point? After tonight, I doubt she'll be much use for anything ever again." Both broke into raucous laughter, then moved in closer to observe the spectacle.

"The Heist, Part 3"
By: Rylaa Lyssander - PC
Lani Vissip - NPC+
Lorgal - NPC+
Sergeant Jaller Two-Thumbs - NPC
Corporal Rwaggagga - NPC
Corporal Morgal - NPC
Various other NPCs

Location: Echo Mike Facility, Te'Gon Mountain Range
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

Rylaa, Lani, and Lorgal all stood with their hands in the air as the 12 stormtroopers covered them with their blasters. One of the troopers, bearing the shoulderboard of a sergeant, stepped forward to address them.

"You are ordered to drop your weapons and surrender peacefully," he said with the crackle of a radio comm.

Rylaa looked to his companions then back to the stormtroopers. "Alright," he said nonchalantly. The sergeant paused, unsure of what to do in this situation. Although trained some time back what to do when an enemy surrendered peacefully, it had never happened in his career and he was hard pressed to remember it.

All he could get out was an, "Ummm," as the various blasters hit the floor. A corporal, with the knowledge of what to do still slightly fresh in his head, keyed his mic to a private frequency and said, "Take them into custody, sarge. You are supposed to take them to the Major."

"Alright you three, you're coming with me to see the major. Corporal, take their weapons to the armory." The platoon formed up around the strangely calm trio of would-be burglars and marched down a series of passageways before stopping in front of a pleasant looking wooden door. The sergeant rapped loudly three times before the door whooshed open to reveal a short, chubby man wearing the imperial officer's uniform with the rank of major displayed proudly on his breast. "Sir, the intruders have been apprehended and their accomplices outside the base have been driven off."

"So these are the three, eh?" the major asked in a nasally tone. His face had a pinched look to it, as if he was thinking real hard about something and it got stuck.

"Yes sir!"

"Very well. I see that they are disarmed, take them inside and then leave us. Post a pair of guards outside the door though, just in case they try to escape."

"Of course sir!" The sergeant knew it was unwise to leave the prisoners inside with the major alone, but like all imperial stormtroopers, he was thoroughly brainwashed to follow orders from his officers implicitly. He roughly shoved Rylaa in the back and barked, "Come on, you three, you heard the major!"

Major Hasek-Jordan circled around to his large wooden desk and hopped up into his overstuffed leather chair. In it, he looked more like a child playing at being an officer. Rylaa stifled his laugh as he noticed this.

"So, you three think that you can just waltz into my facility and take whatever you like, eh?" the major said, looking quite pleased with himself.

Rylaa, ignoring the imperial completely, turned to Lani and said, "Can you believe those buffoons? Not only did they not secure us in any way, they didn't even search us! Then they took us to the man in charge, who we were coming to see in the first place."

Hasek-Jordan's eyes widened as he realized that indeed, the three supposed prisoners in front of him were free to do as they wished. "Guards!" he shrieked.

The door opened and the two stormtroopers rushed in to defend their major. Lorgal cracked their helmets together loudly before they could react and they slumped to the floor.

Rylaa looked at the major and grinned. The man cringed at the sight. "Alrighty then. Now that we have you alone and helpless, you will listen to our demands and then you will carry them out. Any questions?" Major Hasek-Jordan shook his head. "Good. First off, you will take us to your vault and open it up for us that we might take everything inside." Nod. "Then you will order your men, via radio, not to do anything as our ship lands and carries all that money onboard." Nod. "And finally, you will gather your men into the courtyard to watch as we fly away, otherwise we will level this facility from our cruiser in orbit." Nod. "I'm happy that we understand each other so well. Now I will turn you over to my female companion and I must warn you, she's very dangerous with her hands and has been known to twitch without warning." The major blanched as Lani walked over and stood behind him. She pulled him to his feet and pushed him ahead of her.

"Take us to the vault, swine."

"Of course, of course." The imperial scurried down several hallways that looked exactly like all the others in this damned facility and stopped before a blast door. He quickly keyed in the combination and submitted to the retinal scan. The doors opened to reveal a simple lift. "This will take us below to the vault."

"You are being rather courteous for an imperial," Rylaa observed.

"That's because I'm a coward," the major replied honestly and with a shrug. "Why else do you think I'm on this backwater world in the Outer Rim? The Empire only rewarded courage and bravery. I have neither of those two qualities but am still a good administrator."

"Ahhh, alright then. Proceed."

The lift shuddered and moved slowly downwards. The creak and whine of little used machinery set Rylaa's nerves on edge. After several agonizing minutes, the lift gave one last shudder and stopped. Again the little major typed into a combination and submitted to a retinal scan. This time, however, he was asked to present his finger for DNA testing as well. A tiny prick and one drop of blood later, and the massive vault doors began to slide open.

None of them were really sure what to expect when the doors opened. Nobody had really been in the vault in many many years. Money changing was usually done completely with droids so as to minimize theft. Rylaa peered inside expecting to see piles of credit chips so large he could dive into one. Lani was hoping for gold or jewels that had been forgotten. Lorgal was hoping that someone had misplaced a sandwich. Major Hasek-Jordan was simply relieved that the doors opened at all.

Black plasteel null-grav crates were what they all got instead. There were five stacks four high, four deep, and four across. Each stack also had one of the crates balanced on top. That gave them twenty-five crates.

"Well," Rylaa commented, "not what I was expecting, but I guess it will do. Major, is there any special way needed to get into these crates?"

"No, they are simple storage crates."

"Ah, this gets easier and easier. Lorgal, would you be so kind as to test one of them?"

Lorgal harrumphed and walked over to one of the stacks. With a mighty heave, he knocked it over retrieving one of the bottom crates. The sound of plasteel hitting the steel floor reverberated throughout the vault. A thin silver seam could be seen near the top of the null-grav crate, but no controls were evident. After a couple minutes of searching for a button or switch to open the crate, Lorgal submitted to his baser Barabel instincts and simply tore the lid off.

Inside the box were thousands of thumbnail sized disks of a dull gray plastic. Each disk had a symbol stamped on the front. Rylaa picked one up and turned it over several times.

"Huh, these are a rather old style of credit chip. Old Republic I'd say. Still worth the same amount though. I wonder what this symbol means."

"That's 5,000 credits you're holding in your hand, Rylaa," Lani said. "Old Republic chips used symbology to identify the worth, not numbers like we do."

"Strange, but whatever worked for them." He tossed the chip casually back into the crate. "Wait a minute... 5,000 credits? Frag me gently with a blaster, this whole crate's full of them!" Rylaa dug his hands into the chips and began to sift around. "A whole crate full of chips worth 5,000 credits apiece! This one alone will make us rich! I could buy a planet, a whole fleet of ships."

"Yes... but how long would it take that friend of yours to launder this much?" Lani asked.

"A couple of years," he sighed. "At the very least. And that's only with this one box, who knows how much is in the rest of them."

"What about another organization?"

"Yeah, there's several others that I can think of besides Jaklet, but most of them probably wouldn't even touch something this hot."

"So we have more money than we can comprehend, but have no way of laundering it to make it look legit?"

"That's about right."

"What? Even we only laundered a part of it, the part that we need to set up a cover business in the legit world, and use the rest when dealing with other criminals?" asked the booming voice of Lorgal. His sudden vocal outburst surprised everyone and made the major jump a little.

"Well," Rylaa said, rubbing his chin in thought, "that could work, in theory. All right, let's do it. Lani, call for the ship to come around and start picking these up. Major, you, know what you need to do. Where do I need to take you in order to let you address your entire base?"

"Umm, the control room would be best," the quivering officer said.

"Good, let's be off then."

"Family Reunions"
By Gengis Zibel - NPC+
Taja West - NPC+
Tralesha Zibel - NPC+

Location: Sybil Casino
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Taja pulled Tralesha forward, as she entered directly to the back entrance so that the common people could see the way Taja treated her. Tralesha had her arms pinned behind her back with a set of cuffs and a black sheet covered her mouth so that she couldn't scream.

She approached the entrance to the main office, when Mr. Levitz stepped in front of both woman. "What is the meaning of this? He said she was not to be hurt!" he said with an angry voice.

"Not my problem!" Taja spat in the same tone. "She was constantly shouting and was restless, so I had to deal with it..."

"Uncuff her, right now!" he ordered as several guards pointed their blaster rifles towards Taja.

Taja saw that she had no other way to uncuff her, but new guns pointed towards Tralesha. "The rest of my money?"

Mr. Levitz threw her a small bag and Taja caught it in mid air. "Thanks for your humble hospitality!" she spat again, leaving the same way she entered.

"I'm so sorry, my dear, please follow me, my boss would like a word with you." Mr. Levitz showed the way in.

Once inside Levitz's boss was nowhere to be seen, but the water running from the next room could be heard. "She is here, boss!" Levitz said and left without hearing any word from his boss.

Tralesha looked around the room, rubbing at her wrists to get the circulation moving again. She had no idea where she was, other than that they were still on Tae'Karada, and somewhere in downtown New Plouton. She still wore the same clothes she'd been captured in, leaving her in a pair of close-fitting pants and a loose top. As usual when trouble seemed to strike, she was barefoot and sorely wishing she'd remembered to put on a pair of boots before she and Shaza had left the Temple when the clone troopers attacked. And, then out of nowhere, the madwoman came. Despite the fear inside her at the situation, she managed not to tremble. At least, she'd put on a brave face for whatever fate she was facing.

Gengis exited from washing, his hands in a white towel. He saw his own daughter, she looked more adult than the last time he saw, but at that time she made a huge cut on his face. He wondered if his rebuilt face had been truly successful or not. Whether Tralesha recognised him or not would dictate that.

As he entered, Tralesha fixed him with a gaze. "What's this about," she asked as she slid easily into a defensive stance. She wasn't nearly the fighter that Shaza was, but she did know a few tricks, and had achieved fifth rank with her fighting skills. "Why was I brought here? They'll come looking for me and when the Jedi find me, you'll be in very big trouble."

Gengis was amused and couldn't help but laugh. "Jedi! Oh they will be quite rescuers! I'm shaking my bones." He continued to laugh. "In big trouble will be your friends. You see New Plouton is a big city and even if your Jedi found about this place, they won't be able to stop us from having this little conversation."

The face was different, but there was no hiding the voice. She took a step backwards, trying to put all the pieces together in her mind. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him, but her thoughts were a blur. The eyes, they were the same too. But...but why him? Why now? How had he found her? And why? "What do you want with me," she asked, her voice thin and brittle. "Why have you brought me here?"

Gengis smiled as Tralesha put the clues together. "Can't a father have a little nice conversation with his own daughter?"

"Not when that father has to have his daughter kidnapped to have the conversation with her," Tralesha snapped. "And, I can't think of anything you could say that might be considered nice, even amongst the low standards you're used to keeping. Unless, it's not conversation you're really after, and just want to see what I've got under my underclothes."

"Woutch," Gengis said with is smile dissipating. "I know that I did many ugly things in the past, for which I can say I paid greatly... no, we paid greatly."

"I didn't want to see you again," Tralesha said. "I thought I made that plenty clear last time we were in the same room together. Do you really think a new face and a charming smile is going to make any difference? I have my own life now. Why would I ever want you in it?"

"To tell you the truth, probably I was thinking to make some kind of peace treaty, but you had too much of your mother in you. Poor soul, obligated by her father to marry a monster like me. Poor soul...who would guess that she will have a tragic ending." His face looked sad. He wasn't pretending, he really missed his wife.

"I want nothing to do with you," Tralesha said, though some of the fight had vanished from her tone. "I just want to live my life. I'm happy where I am, with the people I'm with. If you ever want my trust or something other than a harsh word, you've got a lot of work to do to repair the damage you've done."

"Yes, Tralesha. I have a lot of damage to repair, but comparing that to the damage that you caused." Gengis had a heavy look. "It is far greater than the one I caused, and for it you wanted to destroy me and you succeed in it with a much bigger price that you don't imagine."

If it weren't for the fact that she was angrier than she'd ever been in her life, Tralesha's jaw would have dropped in stunned surprise. "I did more damage to you, you bastard? You would have raped me if I hadn't stopped you! You were doing it, you sick bastard! If you think a cut on your face is more damaging than raping your own daughter, then I want nothing to do with you! Let me out of here!"

"No! I want to continue to see the murderer in front of me trying to put the blame on me." His voice was filled with anger.

"What the hell are you talking about," Tralesha shouted. "Murderer? You've gone insane!"

"Me insane? No! I'm just beginning. The truth is that you are the one responsible for the death of your mother and brothers. You didn't pull the trigger, but it was like you pulling the trigger." He approached Tralesha, his face twisted in anger. "You took the papers that belonged to my former boss and you knew it extremely well. You took the papers, you killed your mother and brothers." He approached the desk and punched a button. Seconds later five large security guards swarmed into the room and surrounded her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tralesha shouted, as she glanced around at the guards. "I don't know anything about any papers! I didn't take any papers!"

"That is what all the guilty ones say to declare their innocence," Gengis said as he approached her. He took out a small pocket purse and threw it at her face. "Take it, it's yours." He looked back to the security guards. "Gentlemen, there has been a mistake. This is not my daughter. She died with the rest of my family. Please escort this impostor out of this building."

He approached face to face when Tralesha was grabbed by the security guard. "I don't want you at my casino and I don't want you near my house. When you see me in the streets, you cross over to the other side of the street. I don't ever want to see your fucking face again, you bitch. You hear me? Next time, I will not be so benevolent."

By the look Tralesha gave him, an outside observer might have wondered if Gengis Zibel had just grown a second head. "What!? Maybe you should think of that the next time you send your goons after me, you retarded bantha-fucker!? Just remember that you had me brought here...because I never wanted anything to do with you! If you want to be benevolent, make sure you just leave me alone like I wanted. And, I'm sure if you ever do see me on the street, you'll have your squad of goons take care of me...because you're a pathetic waste who can't do anything without a gang backing you up!" She turned to one of the guards. "What are you waiting for...escort me out of this place."

Gengis laughed at Tralesha's comment. She was as idiotic and impulsive as he remembered her. He was ashamed that she was his own blood. He made a sign for the guard to stop her from leaving and walked over to her. "Don't think that you were ever in control... And know that it was you the reason why our family died," he told her.

Gengis then slapped Tralesha across the cheek hard. "And don't talk back to me, you little bitch!" he muttered, then snapped his fingers and the guard removed her from the room without her consent to do so.

Once Tralesha was gone, Gengis sat down on his desk and lit a cigar. Puffing he chuckled. "Some people can have it all and waste it still..." he told himself.

"Man of Ash, Part 2"
By: Kaleb Cutter

Location: New Plouton, Yallder District
Date: Vadris 8, 4 ABY

***

Hours after the unknown burned man had entered his office Kaleb was finally able to get his bearings and get back to doing what he did best. Retrieving his father's old bio kit, Kaleb took a few samples of the man's ashes and the few strands of clothing that was left over. As he continued to search the remains he found a datapad and some identification cards as well. He was optimistic that he'd at least find out who this man had been and maybe get some clues on how he was going to figure out what happened.

Moments later Kaleb had the ash samples running in the bio kit. He was hoping he would be able to get some kind of DNA residue but he wasn't sure how accurate the bio scans would be. As for the datapad, it seemed to be in good condition so Kaleb connected it to his computer terminal. And of course the data was encrypted. Not wasting anytime Kaleb used one of his own decipher programs and ran it against the datapad's encryption. It would probably take some time so Kaleb decided to try to clean up the rest of the ashes and burned clothing. He decided to put the remains in a air-tight container for future references if needed.

As he was finishing his clean up when the bio scanner chirped notifying him that the scan was completed. Perspiring a little from his efforts to clean up the mess Kaleb walked around his desk and looked over the results. The destruction to the man's body was complete. The bio scans could not produce any DNA results. He silently wondered if there was better equipment to do the scan, but where would he find such equipment. A little discouraged Kaleb sat down and waited for his decryption program to complete.

20 minutes later the decryption program found the password. Kaleb entered the password and listed the file contact across his console. There where millions of files and from what Kaleb could discern, mostly shipping invoices to and from various locations. It seems the data was attached to a trade company named 'Agnar Enterprises'. There were no names included on the invoices but serial numbers and credit prices. Well it was something, so Kaleb decided he would find the location of this Agnar company and go from there. But first he would try to get some rest and start early the next day.

***

The following morning Kaleb woke up without much sleep. He had a cup of cafe then did his morning exercise of calisthenics and stretching. Then he did his normal routine of pull-ups, sit-ups, and push-ups followed by an hour of sparring. After a shower Kaleb put on the holonet and listen to the local New Plouton news reports while he logged on and searched for the address of Agnar Enterprises.

To his surprise the address of the Agnar offices were located right here in the Yallder District. This was very strange since Kaleb new these streets well and was sure he knew every business. This one must have slipped by him somehow. It looked like it was at the very edge of the district on Clement Avenue. Clement Avenue wasn't as vicious as other areas of the Yallder and it housed some of the smaller to medium businessmen who couldn't make it the Yemol and Yellvin districts. This was also a hot spot for more illegal items and there wasn't much of a worry of the Morality Guards bothering them. Kaleb knew a few of the locals in that area so this would be his first start.

He exited his office building and looked around for a speeder cab. None were available at this time in the morning as usual. The barren streets shimmered with a thin film of morning dew, casting orange glassy reflections from the morning sun. Adjusting his vest he moved down the street hoping he'd be able to catch one of the speeder cabs. It wasn't a long wait as he came upon a human vendor who sold newspapers and breakfast foods on the side of the street. There were two speeder cabs parked at the curb, both cabbies sitting on the hood of one eating and drinking.

Both cabbies were human and a little dirty looking but that was normal for Yallder cabbies. As Kaleb walked up to them the both looked up. The one on the right had a wad of food stuffed in his mouth and mumbled something, the other asked, "Can I help you bub?"

Kaleb nodded, "Yeah, I need to get to Clement Avenue, are you in service?"

The cabbie on the left nodded as well, "No problem, my speeder is back there," he pointed past the speeder cab he was sitting on to the older, more beat up one behind it, "It will be 10 credits up front."

Digging into his pocket Kaleb dug out his remaining credits and handed them to the cabby, "I've got 9, can you give me a break this time?"

The cabby looked disappointed but the other cabbie elbowed him in the side and he finally responded, "Sure why not. I'm in a generous mood today."

"Thanks," Kaleb said, then moved passed the cabbies and got in the dungy looking cab. As he sat in the well worn back seat, Kaleb wrinkled his nose at the cramped and foul smelly cab. He was glad the ride wouldn't take long but decided to breathe through his mouth instead. Shortly the cabby entered the front pilot seat and fired up the engine converters. He looked back over his shoulder, "Sit back and relax, bub, it should be a pretty short ride. I drive fast as hell," as he said that he punched the accelerator and ripped past his cabby-mate and waved. Kaleb's head was plastered to the stinky backrest as the speeder cab shot through the Yallder district streets.

"The Heist, Part 4"
By: Rylaa Lyssander - PC
Lani Vissip - NPC+
Lorgal - NPC+
Sergeant Jaller Two-Thumbs - NPC
Corporal Rwaggagga - NPC
Corporal Morgal - NPC
Various other NPCs

Location: Echo Mike Facility, Te'Gon Mountain Range
Date: Vadris 8th, 4ABY

***

"Attention all troopers," the intercom said with Major Hasek Jordan's voice. The major was standing the control room of the base. This was the center for all operations. If it happened on base, they knew about it here. It was also the most heavily fortified spot in the compound, with almost as much blast shielding as the vault in the rock below. The technicians that would normally be manning the myriad of consoles here were grouped frightfully in one corner as Lorgal loomed over them with just the hint of violence in his eyes.

"This is your commanding officer. Stand down all hostilities. I say again, stand down all hostilities. Return your weapons to their racks and then muster on the grinder for debriefing."

The major stepped back from the squawk-box and looked over at the three criminals. "There, I have done as you asked. My men should be standing down."

"Good," Rylaa said with a smile. He held up a small comm unit and spoke into it. "Sergeant Two-Thumbs, when the imperials finish mustering up, hit them with one of your special missiles."

"Roger that," came the reply. Major Hasek-Jordan looked at Rylaa with horror. Even Lani and Lorgal looked uneasily at him. This wasn't according to the plan. They were supposed to leave the surrendering troopers alive, if possible. This was murder, not war. Killing an armed man that was obviously trying to kill you was much different than slaughtering unarmed men.

Rylaa simply looked back at them, his face an impassive mask that hid every emotion. There was silence for a few minutes, then a THUD as a missile detonated outside. The tension in the air was almost tangible and everyone waited for the chubby criminal to explain himself.

"What?" he finally asked innocently. Lani blinked and her jaw dropped.

"What the hell do you mean 'What'?" she shouted. "That wasn't part of the plan, that wasn't what was supposed to happen!" She wanted to hit him; she wanted to take that smirk off his stupid face. She wanted to... wait, why was he smirking at her?

"You don't think I actually order the good cyborg sergeant to kill those men, do you?" Rylaa folded his arms across his chest and chuckled at the incredulous expression across everyone's face. After all, they did hear the missile go off. "That missile had a glop warhead on it." He looked around again, no recognition from anyone. "Oh come on, you've never heard of glop grenades? That blue sticky stuff that the urban police use sometimes to control riots?" Everyone shook their heads. "It's glue! It's just bloody glue! No danger to anyone unless you eat the stuff. Hell, you can even breathe through it. Look at the monitor."

Everyone turned to look. Sure enough, there was a large crowd of stormtroopers in various stages of dress fighting to get their way out of what appeared to be a massive blob of blue jello. Two had resigned themselves and simply stood there.

He may be a prick and arrogant as hell, Lani thought, But he's not a murderer. She thought about that for a minute before smiling inwardly. At least, not that I know of.

"There, everything is taken care of." The criminal tossed the comm unit into the air and caught it behind his back. "Alright sergeant, you can bring the ship in now, we're ready to load up the crates," he said into it.

Major Hasek-Jordan, pale and shaking slightly, glanced at him. "Ummmm, is there any way I can convince you to take me with you?" he asked.

Rylaa raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Yeah! Sure! Hop on board buddy, we'll take you wherever you need to go!" Sarcasm dripped off every word. Major Hasek-Jordan, however, had grown up in a well-to-do family and went to one of the finest academies in the Empire. Therefore, sarcasm was an unknown variable in conversation and bounced straight off his thick skull.

"Really? Splendid! I shall go gather a few things and meet you outside." Color was beginning to return to his face.

"I was joking, you dolt. I'm not taking a spineless coward like you with me. Not unless you want to be the meat shield in my next raid."

The major, the very soul of bravery, blanched at this thought. "Uh, well, no. Not really. I'll just stay here then."

"Good. Glad that's settled." Rylaa turned to his teammates. "Lorgal, radio the ship to come in and retrieve the cargo in the vaults."

"Right, boss." Lorgal turned to the comm table.

Rylaa took a minute to think about what they had done. The raid, the plunder, everything. The merc group was hit pretty hard, but that's why he had hired them. The rewards, however, were greater than any of them could have imagined. There must be several hundred million credits lying around in hard currency down in the vault, perhaps even more. The mercenaries would taker their cut, enough to replace their losses several times over, and it would still leave him with a large fortune. He could retire comfortably with that kind of money. Of course, that's not what he wanted.

No, what he wanted was to feel the pulse of an empire under his hand. He wanted to be in control of everything he saw. It would take time, of course, and probably much of the money he had just stolen, but his empire would reach the stars once again. He knew it would probably be bloody, no build ever was peaceful, but it would be worth it in the end.

Planning would have to start right away. Perhaps he should keep the Sergeant around on a permanent basis. Yes, that would do well. Then providing a legitimate front, perhaps a large manufacturing firm or warehousing complex? This would have to be discussed with the rest of his team after they secured the credit and had smuggled it off planet to his contacts on Tharkad. Jaklet would know what to do with the stuff from there.

Realization hit Rylaa with the force of a turbo-laser. Something was missing from the current equation, something they had all overlooked. Where were the bloody walkers? The pilots of the chicken-legged mechs should have been with the rest of the troopers when he gooped them. A glance at the monitor confirmed his horrid suspicion. Not a single pilot's uniform was among the men struggling in the blue slop.

"Blast!" he exclaimed. "Blast and damnation!" Everyone turned to look at him.

"What's--" Lani began to say.

"Lorgal, wave the ship off! There are still ATSTs out there and unaccounted for, they'd be landing right into a trap. Get sergeant Two-Thumbs' men up on the walls with the heavy weapons. I want a full sweep of all the buildings until we find them." He thought about it for a moment. "Perhaps we can use them if we manage to get them intact."

"Gotcha boss," Lorgal responded in his usual tone.

The criminal whipped around to face the major. "I don't know how you did it, major, but the ploy won't work any more. If you want those men's lives spared, you had better call them off." He snarled and took a step towards the major. The sweeper was pointed in the imperial's direction and there was nowhere he could go that would avoid the unusual weapon's beam of destruction.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" major Hasek-Jordan said as he raised his hands to the threat. "I ordered no such thing."

"If I find out that you lied to me, major, I'll turn you over to the sergeant, whose men you slaughtered with your quads, for amusement."

"The sergeant says his men are ready to begin the sweep, boss," Lorgal said from the comms console.

"Excellent. I want those walkers taken intact if possible. We might be able to sell them." Potential buyers flashed through his find, but two in particular stuck out. "And if they survive their encounter with the New Republic, I think I might know a pair of Empresses interested in their purchase."

*** Several hours later ***

Rylaa tapped his foot impatiently. He was a careful man by nature and did not want to make any rash decision regarding the potential sale of a couple ATSTs; or the loss of the transport ship for that matter. Everything was going well so far, and he didn't want it to change.

Except for the chattering over the comm-net, it had been rather silent inside the command room. Lani had fallen into meditation while Lorgal played dice with the captive techs. The major simply shivered. This was a loss that no servant of the Empire could even begin to imagine. He had resigned himself to his fate, though. When the criminal sitting in the corner quietly drinking a cup of juice and eating a doughnut found out about his attempted trickery, he would probably shoot him. And if he didn't, the Empire certainly would.

Something chirped over the comm and Lorgal leaned over to hear. "Boss, the sergeant says they got four of them walkers intact, but they had to take a fifth down. Three casualties, all imperial." He turned to look the major in the eye. "One of the pilots says the major put them up to it."

Rylaa looked up slowly at major Hasek-Jordan. "I warned you what would happen if I found out you lied to me, major. Now you have forced my hand and I have to deal with you. Lani, knock him out and tell the sergeant he can pick up a little gift here." Lani nodded and before major Hasek-Jordan could protest, she chopped him at the base of neck. Rylaa turned to the captive techs as the body hit the floor. "Any of you guys want a job?"

They nodded as one. "Good, follow Lorgal here out to the landing pad and help the droids load up the crates. You'll work for sergeant Two-Thumbs until I find out where to place you. Come on Lani, let's go see our walkers."

They headed down to the hanger where sergeant Two-Thumbs had herded the walkers and their pilots. Four ATSTs stood in a semi-circle while eight men knelt under armed guard. Sergeant Jaller Two-Thumbs stood next to a ninth who wore the uniform of an imperial lieutenant. As Rylaa and Lani walked up, the pair turned to greet them. Sergeant Two-Thumbs wore a smile that gleamed as brightly as his cybergear normally did.

"How's it going, sir," he said, snapping off a sharp salute. It took Rylaa off guard for a second, as the sergeant had treated him merely as an employer up until now.

"Just fine sergeant. What's going on here?" Well, two could play at the whole chain-of-command farce for now. Rylaa clasped his hands behind his back and began to act every part the arrogant superior officer.

"Well, sir, we managed to convince four of the pilots to surrender. One went rogue and had to be taken down. The lieutenant here is their CO. He's willing to join us, for a price."

"Excellent." He turned to address the imperial. "Lieutenant--"

"Hornsby, sir."

"--Hornsby. I'll allow you to join us, for now, but I must say that your walkers are now my property, to do with as I see fit. Of course, since I know how terribly attached you are to them, I will of course allow you to use them. For now, that is."

"Terribly kind of you, sir." This kid sure wasn't your typical imperial officer. He even had a grin on his boyish face.

"From around here, lieutenant?" Rylaa asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes sir, born and raised in New Plouton."

"I see, conscript are you?" he asked, referring to the imperial practice of drafting locals from backwater planets to serve in the army.

"No sir. Volunteer, sir."

"Ah, very well then. You and your men will listen to sergeant Two-Thumbs here until I decide otherwise. Carry on." The lieutenant snapped a salute and spun crisply on his heel. His men, no longer under armed guard as they were now part of the unit, stood up and began to massage life back into legs that had spent too long in a cramped position. Rylaa began to walk out of the hanger with the sergeant in tow.

"Alright, Jaller, what was that back there?"

"I figure the lieutenant to be the gung-ho military type, so I spread the story to say that you were a former imperial colonel that had gone rogue when the empire fell. I told them that you were going to try and set up your own empire starting with this planet."

"Great, just bloody great. Oh well, I plan on selling them to the two cute girls sitting on the throne at the moment."

"The new Empresses?"

"Yeah, that's them. Nieme and Dani I think their names are, but I'm not to sure. I'll have to see if I can contact them about the purchase. In the meantime, let's get these crates loaded on board and get hell out of here. Oh yeah, if Lorgal didn't tell you, there's a present in the control room. You can do whatever you want to the lying little coward."

"Thank you sir."

Ambition is what drives men to do great things, whether those things are good or bad. It's what caused men like Palpatine to build an empire, or Luke Skywalker to destroy it. Some may mask it as "doing what needs to be done" or wrapping it up in a cause. But those who admit their ambition see it for what it really is, a driving force in a universe build on power and money.

Rylaa knew that his ambition could destroy him, knew that it was a dangerous thing he was playing with. But he was willing to take that risk in order retrieve what was stolen from him. This theft was but another stepping stone on his long path to regain his criminal throne, though it was a large one. He knew that it would only get harder from here.

It was time to find some allies.