Prologue

"Hello, Riksha. Or should I say, Master Noabbaa?" A tall man of about 40 years entered the ship's briefing room. He had a kind, knowing smile and compassionate hazel eyes which currently gleamed with joy. His skin was lightly tanned, and his dark brown hair was neatly cut. He wore dark chestnut robes that fell just above his knees, and made a faint swishing sound as he walked across the threshold. His pants were a lighter brown, and his knee-high boots were slightly redder in tone than his robe. Classic Jedi armor was present, the Republic symbol painted in clear red on the shoulder plate. A white and silver lightsaber sat on his hip, clipped to a belt.

Chestnut colored gloves covered his hands, and as he entered the room he called out a cheerful greeting and crossed his arms. "I do believe you had your knighting ceremony three months ago?" His voice contained a hint of pride, which could not be hidden even by his peculiar accent. It sounded as though it were Scottish, Spanish, and English all at once mixed with the calm disposition of a leopard in a combination that could be soothing, encouraging, authoritative, reassuring, and cheerful as needed. It was the kind of voice you hear and immediately feel as though you can trust.

A 19-year-old adolescent stood beside a hologram, which she had been examining before this man entered the room. Her chocolate colored eyes lit up when she heard his voice, a smile appearing on her lips. She lifted her head, turning it so that she was looking at the man. "Hello, Master," she replied. She was a bit shorter than him, standing at a height of around five feet five inches. Her hair was about 12 inches in length, and the color of dark pinecones. It was not done up in any fancy style, instead flowing freely about her shoulders, with only a simple inside-out braid that ran across the top and fell across her left shoulder. She wore dark tan pants, the color of a deer's pelt, and her shirt was short-sleeved, just a shade or two darker than her pants. Her arm guards were mahogany, matching her boots. Her lightsaber was silver, with a black grip. "Yes, it was."

"I am sorry I couldn't make it. As I'm sure you were told, I was negotiating a difficult treaty at that time," the man, who was named Qyu-Lyen, apologized. He strode over to where she stood beside the hologram, looking at the large blue image.

"It's alright, Qyu-Lyen. The treaty was important for the Republic," Riksha assured him.

"This is our new mission I take it?" The hologram made a faint buzzing sound, and the image flickered every now and then.

"Yes. It isn't supposed to be too hard, or at least not any harder than the other invasions the Republic has staged," Riksha pointed to a small planet on the far edge of the hologram, then zoomed in on it. "This is the planet we are traveling to. It has no proper name, popular rumor being that the Queen couldn't decide on a name so she decided not to name the planet."

"How strange... Well, I suppose a name isn't so important, in the grand scheme of things," Qyu-Lyen commented. He zoomed in on the planet even farther, rotating the hologram so that the underside of the planet was facing them. "The Southern Hemisphere is our target. The Separatists have built a droid factory there, although it is not quite finished."

"How did you know that?"

"I did my research," came the amused and somewhat playful reply. "Did you do yours?"

"You taught me well, master. I did indeed. The goal is to take out that factory, which is also the Separatist base. Then, once we have control of the Southern Hemisphere, we can negotiate with the Queen and try to convince her to sign a treaty with the Republic," Riksha paused a moment, glancing over at Qyu-Lyen for confirmation. He nodded.

"If we can gain control of this planet, we will be able to put a serious damper on the slave trade market. That market is very popular among the neighboring systems, this planet being the capital. Because of the strict laws forbidding trade to planets that are not under Separatist 'protection', the systems are quickly turning to the Separatists so that they can trade," Qyu-Lyen shook his head, giving a disappointed sigh. "It is too bad..."

Riksha agreed, her formally cheerful eyes turning gloomy. "The slave trade market is awful, especially on these planets."

Qyu-Lyen had been bent over, leaning closer to the hologram while he moved things around and pressed buttons and such. Now, he straightened up, turning to his former padawan. "That is why we must succeed. Taking this planet would not only be a huge help for the Republic, but it would help so many innocent people who have been forced to serve."

Riksha nodded in agreement. The two of them discussed for several more minutes, working out how exactly they planned to go about taking the base. After a good deal of discussion, it was decided that Riksha would plant bombs in the main reactor. Then, with their source of reinforcements gone, the remaining droids could easily be defeated.

"An air drop would be ideal, but I highly doubt that any of our ships can get close enough to the base for you to jump onto the building," Qyu-Lyen mused.

"I could borrow one of the native people's vessels. Nobody would suspect that a Jedi was aboard. I could easily sneak past the enemy lines, get through the ray-sheild, and get to the factory. Then, I could use the air ventilation system to get to the main reactor and plant the bombs," Riksha suggested as she studied the hologram that showed a map of the battlefield.

Qyu-Lyen thought this over. "You are clever. I suppose that might work. You would have to get out quickly and set off the bombs, before you were noticed."

Coming to an agreement on a plan, the hologram was turned off, just as a clone trooper came up to the two Jedi. "Sir, the captain instructed me to tell you that we are coming out of hyperspace."

"Thank you," Qyu-Lyen said.

The trooper turned and walked out, with both Jedi following. It was not long before the Republic Cruiser came out of hyperspace and entered the atmosphere of the planet. Nearly instantly, they were met with heavy fire as they entered the battle zone. It was much more intense than any of them had anticipated, with droids swarming the ground and several Seperatist ships patrolling the air. This battle had been raging for several days, with no progress on the Republic's side. If anything, they were loosing the battle by the looks of things.

Footsteps rang out through the ship corridors as clones, Qyu-Lyen, and Riksha ran to board the gunships. These lifted off, flying as quickly as they could out and away from the cruiser. One of the ships was shot down within the first 60 seconds of flight, and the rest were not faring much better. Shots pounded relentlessly at the ships, taking down another mere moments later. Despite this, the two Jedi were surprisingly calm. A few of the younger clones glanced over at the generals, but when they saw the emotionless expressions they wore the anxious clones turned their heads back to face forward.

Miraculously, the ship landed in one piece. Clones burst out of the gunship, lead by two lightsaber-wielding Jedi. Barely more than a blur of green, the lightsabers cut down droids and deflected blasts at the will of their possessors.

"I did not expect this much resistance!" Yelled Qyu-Lyen, over the noise of the furious battle.

"Me neither! I wonder why we weren't informed of this!" Riksha called back.

"Perhaps the communications has been jammed!"

"I suppose that is possible!"

It wasn't just droids that attacked, but many squadrons of native troops as well. There was an attacker coming from every direction it seemed. Droids marched out of the factory, natives leaped out from behind the rock formations, and both rained down from the air.

"Riksha! If you're going to shut down that factory, you must hurry!"

"I'm on it!" Riksha charged forwards, clearing a path for herself with the Force and a lightsaber. A few clones ran along behind her, tossing a droid popper every now and then when the resistance got heavy. They weren't running for the base; rather, they were heading towards a towering rock formation. Their best bet at getting a small ship was to go to one of the many caves such ships were zooming out of. Leaving the clones at the base of the pillar for their own safety, Riksha force-leapt up to the cave. Inside were dozens of small aircraft, most of which already had pilots. It would definitely be difficult to get one, though not impossible. Ducking behind boulders and dashing skillfully across the cave, Riksha managed to make her way to an empty ship. Well, nearly empty. Just as she was climbing in, the ship's pilot arrived. He gave a yell in some foreign language, and before she could think to react the other ships were firing at hers. Hurriedly, she pressed a few buttons, causing the ship to rise off the ground and then burst out of the cave. She glanced back behind, where two of the other ships were in hot pursuit of her.

Pew! Pew pew pew! Riksha banked left, to avoid the shots that had been fired at her. Then she banked right, then spun, then rose steeply upward and dove back down again. It was quite a display, though it drew the attention of more enemies. In order to shake the two ships following her, Riksha directed her aircraft directly at one of the stone pillars. At the last second she pulled up, the belly of the ship nearly scraping against the stone. She heard a satisfying explosion, telling her that her followers had crashed.

Leveling out her ship, Riksha directed it on a course for the droid factory. She glanced down at the ground briefly, where she caught a glimpse of Qyu-Lyen fighting alongside an army of clones. From up here, the young Jedi could see that the Republic troops were sorely outnumbered. The realization hit her that if she failed, there was a very good chance none of them would be going home alive. Literally thousands of lives were resting upon her, including her own and that of her former teacher. She had to succeed. Failure would be fatal.

The small agile aircraft zig-zagged between rock formations, soon coming to rest on top of one that was very near the Seperatist base. It would be too obvious if she were to land right beside the large building, and so Riksha left her vessel out of view. She climbed down the formation in a series of force-jumps, landing in a crouching position at the bottom. Straightening up, she raced for the black building that was in the shadow of only the sky scraper type rock pillars. It was lucky that she wore clothing that was in shades of brown and tan, as the rocky landscape was very similar in hue. There was little to no vegetation in the area, no doubt wiped out by the Seperatists. Not that it looked like there could have been much before, what with the dust and rocky ground.

It was actually easier than anticipated to reach the factory; it was ray-shielded, and so it did not require as many droid guards as otherwise. There was a steady stream of droids hot off the assembly line marching from the wide mouth of the factory, but they did not stray from their formation. They marched along one path, breaking off only once they made it to the rock formations. Riksha dashed stealthily across the space that separated her from the factory, ducking behind a boulder every now and again. It was not long before she was standing with her back pressed against a sleek black wall of the factory, undetected by the droids. After a quick glance around, she plunged the green blade of her lightsaber deep into the wall, near the ground, cutting a small opening into the ventilation system. The adolescent got down on her hands and knees, crawling through the opening and lifting the piece of wall into place behind her. Then, she set off through the tunnel towards the main reactor, reaching it in a matter of minutes.

After peering down through the grate at the room to be sure it was empty, Riksha lifted the grate and placed it to the side. She then jumped down, landing nearly silently. Moving quickly, she placed about a dozen bombs, which beeped faintly as she pressed the button to activate the countdown. Once the last one was in place, she turned to leap back into the ventilation system, only to find a cloaked figure standing before her. Where did that being come from? Riksha had been careful to use the force to be sure there were no life forms in the room. Cautiously, the Jedi drew her lightsaber, holding it out in front of her.

The figure simply chuckled. "You will not do much good with that," a voice said from under the hood. "Nor will your puny bombs cause the destruction of this factory."

"I am certain you are mistaken," Riksha replied. By now, the two were walking in a wide circle about each other, much like two warriors do before a face off. "I will destroy this factory and free this planet."

"My dear, you are so young and talented... And foolish." The figure reached under their cloak, to reach for what Riksha assumed would be a weapon, but turned out to be a small remote. "It's such a shame I have to kill you now, it would have been so fun to duel first. But we can't always get what we want can we?"

"Interesting, I don't recall putting dying on my to-do list," Riksha replied calmly, though she was a bit nervous. The longer she stayed here, the closer the bombs got to 00:00.

Laughing again, the being pressed a button on the device he or she was holding. Instantly, Riksha's bombs stopped their countdown. Perplexed, Riksha looked over at her bombs and then at the device that rested in the gloved hands of this shadowy enemy. How did that device shut off her bombs? Her thought was interrupted by a very loud beeping, much louder than all of the small bombs combined. Confusion turned to horror, as the young Jedi used the force to tear a panel off the reactor. Underneath she saw a large, red, flashing bulb. The entire thing was a bomb! Turning, she ran, forgetting the figure (who had disappeared anyway) and focusing on one thing. Getting out of here.

Riksha had barely made it out of the room and into a hallway when the main reactor hall lit up like a fiery inferno, the blast throwing the young Jedi off her feet and smashing her into a solid door. The door didn't remain solid for long, nor did any part of the factory.

Meanwhile, Qyu-Lyen swung his lightsaber, slicing a super battle droid right down the middle. A sudden nearly deafening sound resounded across the battlefield, and droids and clones alike turned their heads. They witnessed the black factory explode, looking much the way a building does in the movies when it is destroyed by a huge bomb. There was a smokey grey and orange burst, leaping up into the sky and tumbling across the ground like an angry cloud. Qyu-Lyen and his men braced themselves for the shock wave and cloud of dust that followed the blast, pressing themselves against the backsides of the rock formations. Once the dust had cleared, little bits of the factory rained down around them, though most of the larger pieces had already fallen closer to where the factory once stood. Qyu-Lyen sheathed his lightsaber, since the droids had all been swept away by the shock wave. He came out from behind the rock pillar, looking at the smoking and burning mess. Despite the calamity, the Jedi smiled.

"You've done it, Riksha. Great job," he spoke into the communicator on his wrist, holding his arm up near his face, praising his former apprentice.

There was no response.

"Riksha?" Asked Qyu-Lyen, his smile fading quickly into a look of worry. "Riksha, where are you?"

Silence was all that replied. Miraculously, the communicator attached to Riksha's wrist was barely damaged, and his voice came loud and clear over the device. But the same could not be said for the young Jedi, who (unbeknownst to Qyu-Lyen) lay crumpled among the wreckage of the factory.

Qyu-Lyen dropped his arm to his side, and stared out across the expanse of the battlefield. He tried to pick up on her life force signal, closing his eyes as he searched for it. Meditation was not necessary to feel a person's life force, as it is very easy to detect. That is how a Jedi knows when a life form is nearby. But Qyu-Lyen found only a very weak signal, which then quickly faded to nothing. His former student was dead.

Or so he thought.

Riksha was in fact not dead, but dangerously close to it. She was teetering on the edge between life and death, and in her condition anyone could predict the outcome. But in an unexpected turn of events, a small ship landed among the wreckage. Out of the ship burst several natives to the planet, who appeared to be medical personnel. They found Riksha and lifted her onto a stretcher, hurriedly loading her onto the ship before taking off nearly as quickly as they had come.

Back where Qyu-Lyen stood, a much more hostile group arrived. The death of his beloved former student struck a huge blow, but Qyu-Lyen did not let this interfere with his fighting ability. He fought just as strongly as before, but it was not enough to defeat this group. The Jedi was taken hostage, and locked up in a cell. He was a pawn in a plot they had, and for now they needed him to be locked up.

A pair of brown eyes flickered open, only to shut again as bright light overwhelmed them. Slowly, Riksha opened her eyes again, squinting as they adjusted to the bright light. Where was she? What had happened? Why was she here? She went to sit up, but instantly lay back down as pain shot through her body. She felt as though she were being burned alive, but different. The feeling was more of an intense aching than burning, and in places she felt as though she were being jabbed by a thousand needles. It was then they she noticed the oxygen mask on her face, and that her surroundings were mostly a sanitary white color. As her mind began to clear and make sense of her situation, she realized she was in some sort of medical room. But why? That's when she remembered, (almost) everything flooding back to her.

She had been fighting, alongside clones and her former Master Qyu-Lyen. They were trying to take the planet, to liberate it from separatist rule. Qyu-Lyen had sent her on a mission, to get inside the building the separatists had claimed as their stronghold, and plant bombs to destroy it. But something had gone wrong... The details were still fuzzy, as she tried to recall what had taken place. Riksha remembered an explosion, being hurtled through the air, and then nothing.

The question now was, who had rescued her?

She heard the door open, and turned her head slightly to see who it was. Even this small movement was painful. The Queen entered the room, which answered her question about who had rescued her and where she was. Though Riksha had never met the Queen, the stories and descriptions she had read matched this woman perfectly.

The woman was tall and lean, reminding Riksha of a Kaminoan, except with proportions similar to a human. Her skin was similar in hue to a chameleon, the same lovely green. Five dark evergreen colored horns protruded from the Queen's head, attached above the forehead where a hairline might be and curling neatly over her head as though they were hair or a special hat of sorts. The horns were rather flattish, sitting snugly against the cranium, and only long enough to reach the shoulders. There, they curled up a bit, only adding to their hair-like appearance. The Queen's eyes were the same dark green, and her emotions could be fairly easily read if one looked at her eyes closely enough.

The Queen was clothed in a long dress, which was a pale gold color and detailed with intricate designs. It had an interesting cut, layered in a spiral with wavy edges. A dark tan fur rested around her shoulders, spotted and resembling the pelt of a leopard. Strings of pearls adorned the woman's neck, as well as her horns and wrists. All of these looked very expensive, obviously signifying the wealth of the planet's ruler.

Riksha looked at the Queen with a suspicious gaze. Why would someone intent on destroying Jedi rescue one?

"Good, you're awake," The Queen said in her signature cheerful and self-important voice. "We were beginning to think you wouldn't make it. You've been teetering on the edge of death for several days now."

Several days? She had been out that long? No wonder she was so disoriented.

"Anywho, I've got a little decision for you to make. A business proposal, you could call it."

Well, she was about to find out what the Queen wanted. There was no way anyone in this planet would save her life without knowing they could get something in return.

"You see, you weren't the only we captured. We got the other Jedi too."

No. Not Qyu-Lyen.

"You have two choices. One, you stay with me as my newest servant, and I release your friend. Or two, you refuse and you both die."

Some choice that was.

"I am an honorable business woman, and I know you Jedi are honorable as well. If you give your word that you will stay, I trust you will keep it. Likewise, I promise your Jedi friend would be released."

The Queen watched Riksha, with an almost scrutinizing gaze. Riksha thought over her choices. She couldn't bear the thought of her former master being killed by these people. As are most padawans, Riksha was terribly loyal to him even after being knighted. There was a special bond that is shared between a padawan and their master, a bond not easily broken. Taking in a shaky, painful breath, Riksha responded.

"I'll stay."

There is a good chance you are quite confused at the moment, so allow me to explain what you just read. This takes place two years before Anakin is sent to the unnamed planet. This was the first mission to the planet, which as you can see failed. You will understand this better once you have read a few chapters of the story, but this prologue contains a lot of important information so I recommend reading it.

Also, this story takes place during the same time period as the third Star Wars movie. This prologue takes place during the Clone Wars. In this story, Anakin allowed Mace Windu to kill Darth Sidious, and thus never became Darth Vader. Anakin never married Padmé, and the two have always been just friends. Anakin stayed with the Jedi Order, though he still has not become a Master.

This is my first fanfiction, so any constructive criticism or comments would be greatly appreciated. I may be a bit slow to update, but I promise I will not forget about this. :)