Shadow Of The Past
*~*This is a work of fan fiction. Meaning, that these characters are of assorted belonging. I can say that Karah is mine, so is Riker and Caloth. Loki and Eh-Ron belong to their respective creators including the author "Bandersnatch". And of course other characters and location and let's face it…the universe they all live in are on loan from the wonderful man in plaid himself, George Lucas.*~*
Chapter 1
Karah Jinn stood patiently outside the doors to Luke Skywalker's private chambers. He had just contacted the Jedi Knight on her comlink.
"I thought he said this was urgent." She sighed. Just then the Jedi Master appeared from around the corner. Luke nodded to her as he approached.
"Greetings Jedi Jinn." He called. Karah lowered her head briefly in a light bow.
"I came as soon as I got your call."
"Yes, thank you." The look on the Jedi Master's face grew grim. "I'm afraid I have some disturbing news…"
"Disturbing news?" Asked Karah The Jedi Master nodded and proceeded to open the doors to his chamber.
"But not of the like that we can discuss openly." He said as he motioned for her to join him inside.
Once within Luke's chambers and securely behind closed doors, they sat opposite each other a set of small couches.
"Where are your apprentices?" Luke asked.
"They are with your nephew and a few other students in the Great Hall. But I thought you said not to bring them…"
"I did, because to share the details of what I must tell you is at your digression." Karah raised an eyebrow at his words, yet remained silent, waiting for Luke to continue.
"Reports have come in from Wayland about the appearance of a Dark Jedi supposedly trying to locate the remnants of the Emperor's old storehouse."
"I see the danger in that, Luke. But I fail to see the need for such secrecy."
"The Dark Jedi I speak of goes by the name…" Luke hesitated. Not for any sort of drama, but the name was going to be difficult for the young Knight to handle. "… Riker Setkin."
"What?" Seethed Karah through gritted teeth, her grip on the couch's armrest tightening ferociously. Luke had anticipated this reaction. Although a dedicated and powerful Jedi Knight, Karah still had her almost typical Corellian attitude and temper to contend with. Luke was relieved to see her close her eyes and utilize one of her calming exercises. When she reopened her eyes, her gaze settled directly on the Jedi Master.
"He has to be stopped, Luke."
"I know. I'm giving you the option of taking this mission. I can understand if you would like me to send someone else…"
"No. I have to be the one to stop him."
"What are you going to tell your apprentices?"
"Nothing. They're staying here. I can't take them along with me this time. It's too dangerous."
"You mean too personal."
"Look, Luke, I know you're trying to be helpful… but I can't knowingly put them is such peril."
"And it's not perilous enough letting you go face Riker on your own?"
"I know what I'm going up against."
"Karah you knew what you were up against. We haven't heard from Setkin in five years. Without doubt he's only delved deeper into the Dark Side."
Karah turned away from Luke. Her gaze now toward the window, her brow furrowed deep in thought. Luke had a point… and the issue was not if her apprentices were ready or not. They were. Both Eh-Ron and Loki had proven their dedication to their training. Impressing the Corellian Jedi on several occasions.
"Well Karah?" Pressed Luke.
"Alright. I will take them with me." Adjusting the hood of her outer robe, Karah rose to her feet. "I will have my ship prepped for departure by this evening."
"Wait. What are you going to tell Loki and Eh-Ron about Riker?"
"His name, rank and alignment." Karah answered sternly. "They do not need to know anything further regarding that part of my history."
"If you are confident that's the best thing to do… I will not object." He added. Karah could see right through him, though. He wanted her to tell them. About Riker Setkin, a figure from her past that she wanted to block out more than anything, memories she wanted to destroy like beginner training droids.
"And now…" She thought. "It's time to do it."
Loki Quigonjinn wiped the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her Jedi robe. "Whew, I don't think I've ever lightsaber sparred that much." She looked to Eh-Ron Kenobi who was walking along side her.
"It wasn't that bad." Answered Eh-Ron, "I don't see what you're complaining about."
"I'm not complaining." Retorted Loki.
"I wonder where Master Karah went off to…" Eh-Ron said trying desperately to change the subject.
"She didn't say, her comlink beeped and she just took off. Jacen didn't even seem to know what was going on."
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Muttered Eh-Ron as the two apprentices turned to enter their quarters.
Chapter 2
Upon entering, Loki removed her brown cloak and tossed it over a chair. She then sat down on the end of her sleep-couch. Reaching down to her boots, she slid them off.
"Ugh, these new boots are killing me…"
Eh-Ron sighed, her arms crossed in front of her as she regarded her friend.
"What?" Asked Loki.
"Nothing." Said Eh-Ron trying to stifle a slight laugh.
"I'm not complaining."
"What do you call it then?"
"I'm…. just… stating how I feel. Yeah, that's it."
"Whatever you say…" Eh-Ron moved from the doorway to her own sleep- couch opposite Loki's. Waiting for her fellow apprentice to change into more comfortable footwear. "Come on, we have to go find Master Karah."
"Perhaps she will seek us out." Suggested Loki. No sooner had the words left her mouth than Karah appeared in the doorway. Her face was stern and as steady as the stone of the temple walls.
"We have a mission." She said with little inflection in her voice. "Pack only what you absolutely need to survive and get down to my ship in ten minutes." And with that she was gone. The two apprentices looked at one another stunned.
"What do you suppose that was about?" Asked Loki.
"I don't know, but I told you I had a bad feeling about this."
"I hate it when you're right."
Outside the Temple, Karah stood atop her YT-1300 Corellian Transport, known as the Coronet Knight. She pulled open one of the external service panels and crouched over the opening. She tugged on a few wires than flipped a switch concealed within the compartment. Reaching up to the collar of her tunic, she keyed her comlink.
"Alright, Corran, try it again." The ship's engines revved and sputtered a bit then settled into a healthy hum. "There we go."
"Any idea as to what was wrong?' Came Corran's voice from the comlink.
"Just some space dust" She remarked. "I'm coming in."
She climbed off the ship and walked up the entry ramp. Corran met the female Jedi as she reached the top.
"Space dust, eh?" The elder Corellian said with a smirk.
"Isn't it always?" Karah answered. "Thanks for you help though Corran. You know, with the ship."
"My pleasure." His visage turned very serious. "You just be careful, alright?" He placed his hands on the younger Jedi's shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze. Usually Karah wouldn't listen to talks like this. But listening Corran Horn was something completely different. He had been one of her mentors when she was an apprentice. Now he was one of her most trusted friends.
"I will, Corran. I promise."
"Remember, Karah, the failure was not yours."
Approaching the parked freighter, the apprentices each gripped their travel packs tightly. Their minds clouded with questions of their destination, mission and their Master's current mood.
They saw Jedi Master Corran Horn exiting the Coronet Knight's hull. He nodded to the apprentices as he passed.
"Be mindful young ones." He said. Eh-Ron and Loki bowed respectfully to the Master and he nodded in return. "And may the Force be with you."
As the apprentices boarded the ship, they placed their travel bags in the cargo hold and made their way to the cockpit where Karah was.
"Strap yourselves in." She ordered from the pilot's seat. "We're just waiting for clearance."
Loki slipped into the copilot's seat, not without catching a stern look from Eh-Ron as she settled back into the passenger bench.
"Corellian Transport Coronet Knight prepped and ready for departure." Karah said into the ship's com unit.
"Coronet Knight, you're cleared." Came a familiar voice from the speaker from the speaker. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Luke." Karah keyed the com mike off, pushed the throttle bar forward and eased back the control stick. The repulsor lifts pushed the craft up and away from the planet's surface. Sailing above the lush Yavin IV jungles, the Coronet Knight tilted upward and blasted off into the stars.
Chapter 3
As the transport broke away from the Yavin atmosphere, Karah began to prepare for the jump to hyperspace.
"Loki, punch these coordinates into the navicomputer." She said, quickly glancing over to her apprentice, then back to the view port. "Seven, five, five, three, seven, oh, three."
As Loki entered the numbers into the command console, Eh-Ron reviewed the coordinates in her mind.
"Three, seven, oh, three?" She repeated. "That's Wayland."
"Correct." Karah answered, failing to elaborate before easing the ship into hyperspace. "We've got about half an hour before we reach Wayland. I suggest that you both take this time to rest and meditate. Because once we arrive I cannot be sure that you will have a chance to do so."
The apprentices nodded and rose from their seats. Eh-Ron paused at the exit of the cockpit.
"But Master Karah, you have yet to tell us what we're going to Wayland for…"
"A Dark Jedi."
Eh-Ron waited… but Karah said nothing more.
"I sense there is something you're not telling us."
"Perhaps, but you know all that you need to know at the moment." Karah answered calmly. But her apprentice would not back down that easily.
"Well does this Dark Jedi have a name?" She pried. The Corellian Jedi released an exasperated sigh.
"Setkin… Riker Setkin."
While Karah watched over the controls in the cockpit, her apprentices retired to the ship's living quarters. It was a large room with a padded bench that ran along the wall. In one corner there was a table for dining and the occasional game of sabbac. Upon the floor lay a thin blue training mat that led to the matching corridors that led off into two separate double occupancy sleeping quarters. Loki took a seat long the wall, resting her head back upon the ship's durasteel plating.
"I don't like the sound of this mission already." She sighed. Eh-Ron didn't respond. She was busy activating her R2 unit, Indigo. The droid's exterior lights blinked as it came to life. Eh-Ron then motioned for the droid to follow her over to an output plug near the sabbac table. She inserted the connection cable from her data pad into the droid's control panel.
"What are you doing?" Asked Loki.
"I'm hooking Indigo up to the ship's main computer."
"I figured out that much. But, why?"
"To see if I can find anything on this Riker Setkin."
"Are you sure you should be tapping into the computer without Master's permission?"
"I have to find out what the deal with this Setkin guy is. If he's ever come into contact with this ship he'll be on some sort of record." Eh- Ron observed her data pad screen as Indigo sifted through the computer's files.
"One… make that four…no, seven entries regarding Riker Setkin."
"Really?" Asked Loki, now interested in Eh-Ron's sleuthing.
"Let's take a look at this first one." Eh-Ron said, opening the first listed file. "It's the purchase agreement for the Coronet Knight."
"But how is Setkin involved? Did he own the ship before her?"
"No, according to this the ship was property of Radic Shipyards out of Coronet City Corellia. That must me the owner's signature there… Zyler Radic."
Loki reached over and tapped the lower portion of the data pad screen. "There's Master Karah's signature… right there."
"I see it." Eh-Ron nodded. She scrolled further down on the document. "And there's Setkin."
"What's that say under his name?"
"It says 'witness'. He was the legal witness to the transaction, for Master Karah's side at least. Radic looks like he had some sort of relative sign on his behalf… Orin Radic."
"So Setkin had to be someone she trusted…"
"Obviously."
"This doesn't make any sense!" Loki pondered aloud… perhaps a bit too loud. Eh-Ron clapped her hand over Loki's mouth.
"You want to get us caught?" She hissed. Eh-Ron stretched out with the Force, it didn't take her long to discover that Karah was on her way to the living quarters. "Quick! Help me unplug the droid!" Eh-Ron yanked the connection cable from Indigo as Loki removed the droid from the output plug.
Sliding her data pad into her large outer robe, Eh-Ron sat down, meditative style, on the floor. Loki rushed to reclaim her previous seat along the wall. Both apprentices quickly closed their eyes, trying to convey the pretense of meditation. They could sense, though, when Karah entered the room, They could sense her standing in the doorway. And although it was difficult to sense, they knew that her arms were folded across her chest as she sternly observed them. Karah stayed there for duration of three minutes, then they sensed her return to the cockpit. Eh- Ron sighed in a release of air that she must have been holding back the entire time.
"Whew, that was a close." Commented Loki.
"Close? She knew."
"What are you talking about? She didn't say anything."
"She didn't have to… I could sense that she figured it out."
"You're senses must be off today. Because she definitely would have said something. You know… a lecture, assigned kitchen duty something."
"I don't know. I still think she caught us." Eh-Ron said as she glanced warily down the hall.
Karah's fist pounded soundly into the armrest of her chair. "It's your own fault." She told herself. "You knew they'd go looking. You would have done the same in their position." She keyed the security lock on the main computer. "They can't know… not yet." She then centered her gaze on the forward view port waiting for Wayland to come into view.
Chapter 4
"Approaching Wayland." Came the automated voice from the navicomputer. Karah nodded to herself and reached for the comm. unit mike.
"Eh-Ron, Loki… come up to the front, please. We're about to enter the system."
As her apprentices approached the cockpit she could sense their caution and wariness; careful of the wrath of a short tempered, full- blooded Corellian Jedi. Although at another time and place she would have laughed at this, now was not that time.
"Before we speak of strategy, I must make this clear. Going into a mission like this you must remember not to be afraid. Do not fear the unknown, do not fear for me, do not be afraid. I know that looking at it… there is much to fear, but as Jedi we are to control the primal factions of fear and dispel them. Now more than ever you must understand the reality of fear being used against you… and in dealing with Riker Setkin… I assure you it will be." She fixed her gaze on them. She couldn't remember the last time the two ever looked that serious. "We will land on Wayland approximately five kilometers from Riker's suspected base of operations; an abandoned mining control center near the base of Mount Kal'Tar. Six Noghri warriors have disappeared trying to investigate the building. Knowing the Noghri's stealth tactics… I sense sneaking up on Setkin will be difficult bordering on impossible. Once we set down, I'm going to have Blink take the Knight up again." she motioned to her personal R2 unit already connected to the ship's controls. "That way no one will be able to sabotage the ship. I will be able to call Blink back through my wrist comm. unit. Should anything happen to me, the comm. will automatically alert Blink to bring the Knight around for you. If that is the case, I have preset coordinates for Yavin IV to get you all home safely."
Eh-Ron wanted to ask who exactly this Riker was… how she knew how lethal he was and most of all, why did his signature appear on the ship's purchase agreement. But Eh-Ron knew better then to ask Karah now.
Within the observation tower of the mining complex a thin smile spread across Riker Setkin's face. The tip of his tongue snaked out to wet his lips as he watched the Corellian transport touch down in the distance. Twisting his head to the side, his steely-gray eyes centered on a hooded figure in the shadows; a young man on bended knee, head lowered and his body cloaked by a billowing, ebony robe.
"Arise my young apprentice..." Riker called. "… and come to your Master's side."
Without hesitation the shadowy figure stood and walked over to Setkin, coming to a halt just to his left and a few inches behind.
"Yes, Master?"
"They have arrived as I predicted; Jedi Jinn and her two padawans." He said the last word with a sneer.
"If it pleases you Master, I will dispose of them all."
"And destroy a valuable resource? No, my apprentice… I wish for you to intercept them and separate Jedi Jinn from her apprentices. You will "entertain" the padawans and bring them here. None of which is above you abilities."
"Of course not Master. This will be a mission to enjoy." The young man's lips retracted in a sinister grin.
"You are not to cause any debilitating harm. I want them brought to me whole."
"What about the Jedi?"
"She will find her way here, I assure you." Riker brushed back the dark robe that cascaded down his figure like a waterfall of black silk; his slate gray Imperial uniform visible beneath and bearing the status bar of a decorated Admiral. Also visible, the platinum shimmer of his lightsaber hilt, the crystals of its crimson blade hidden within.
"Very soon, my young apprentice, I will have back what once was mine."
Chapter 5
"Speeder bikes?" Asked Eh-Ron gawking at the two roan colored transports. "Theses haven't been used since the days of the Empire."
"Don't worry." Said Karah. "I've made some special modifications."
"Corellian modifications…" Thought Loki. "I'll be sure to wear my helmet."
The bay doors to the Coronet Knight opened up with a rush of cool wind into the cargo hold. Strapping on her army fatigue colored helmet, Karah climbed onto the first speeder bike.
"Come on… we have not time to waste."
Loki hurried over to the other bike and went to climb on the front.
"Oh no." Called Eh-Ron. "No way. I'm driving."
"And why is that?"
"Because it is preferable for you to get there in one piece." Added Karah. "Let Eh-Ron take the controls."
"It's not fair." Mumbled Loki as she slid to the rear of the speeder, allowing Eh-Ron to climb aboard. Eh-Ron started up the bike and steered it to follow Karah out of the ship. The Knight's doors closed behind them and the ship rose into the air. Karah watched the ship take off; her small droid now controlling her beloved Corellian Transport. Karah then looked over her shoulder at the other bike and activated her comm. unit.
"Alright let's go. Stay close and stick together." Her gaze traveled up above the tree line to the skies above as her voice lowered to barely a whisper. "And may the Force be with us."
The Dark Apprentice sat, crouched in the thick forest underbrush. He side glanced to where his personal speeder was hidden then turned his attention back towards the distant 'whirr' of speeder bike engines. Stretching out with the Force, he could sense the location of the three Jedi. He now could tell that the two Padawans were on the same speeder, following behind the Jedi Knight. The Dark adept's face contorted into a malicious grin.
"This will be quick." The apprentice thought, reaching out with the Force and focusing on the accelerator if the Padawans' speeder as he gripped one of his twin onyx bladed lightsabers in his right hand.
The foliage of the Wayland forests rushed by in a green blur as Karah pressed the accelerator down even further on her bike. The Force allowed her reflexes to act quickly so as not to crash into one of the mighty tree that often 'came out of nowhere'. She keyed her comlink and quickly glanced back over her shoulder.
"Everything alright back there?"
"Yup." Came Loki's voice from the comlink speaker. "Are you sure it's a good idea going this fast?"
"You're fine, don't worry. We're about three miles away from the complex… not too much longer." Karah's eyes focused on the terrain ahead, there was a fallen tree followed by a patch of heavy vegetation on the forest floor. The speeder bike easily cleared the rotting tree trunk and began to cover the patch of brush. Then a flicker or black caught her eye, like ebony lightning. Her speeder swerved to the right then spun out of control as the rear of the bike erupted in flames. Trusting the Force to guide her fall, she leapt from the burning wreck and fell into the brambly underbrush. She turned back just in time to see her flaming bike run into the ground in a great explosion and to see a cloaked figure take off on another speeder; in hot pursuit of her two apprentices.
"Did you see that?" Yelled Loki as she turned to look back toward Eh- Ron. Her attention previously caught by the blazing wreckage of Karah's speeder.
"Of course I did." Eh-Ron shouted.
"Then why aren't you stopping?"
"I can't." She gasped, her foot lodged under the gas petal in an attempt to raise it. But it wouldn't budge. She tried turning the bike around… but something was blocking the steering column.
"Uh-oh." Said Loki turning around once again. "This is going to get worse before it gets better."
"What now?"
"We're being followed."
Eh-Ron turned to look behind them. A dark figure crouched over the controls of a silvery personal land speeder was gaining on them. The shadowy assailant held a black- bladed lightsaber tight in his grip. "Loki! Get your saber out!"
Quickly Loki reached for her lightsaber and activated its emerald blade. The other speeded continued to advance, until the two speeders were side by side. Letting go of his controls, the dark warrior placed both hands on his lightsaber as he swung the weapon to meet with Loki's. Pressed his blade against hers trying to throw her off balance. She met his pressure equally, leaning into his swing; creating a stalemate. Loki glanced quickly at the young man's face. He looked to be a few years younger than Karah, perhaps only a little older than Eh-Ron and herself. His eyes were filled with anger and rage and there was a sense of coldness surrounding him, undoubtedly a Dark Jedi.
"I grow tired of this." He sneered. And with that, their speeder came to an abrupt halt and dropped to the ground. Scrambling off the dilapidated speeder Loki and Eh-Ron, lightsabers in hand, watched the Dark Jedi gracefully swoop around to circle them. The cloaked figure leapt from the silver land speeder as the vehicle slowed to a stop. Reaching to his waist he unclipped a second lightsaber, one identical to the onyx bladed saber he already held. Elegantly he swung the weapons around in his hands, forming intricate patterns of laser light.
"What's the matter, Padawans?" He called mockingly. "Scared?"
The two apprentices glanced at each other then turned their attention back to the Dark Jedi, awaiting his attack. Only Eh-Ron spoke.
"You're Riker Setkin, aren't you."
The assailant chuckled slightly. "I see it is my Master's name you fear, as you should. But my name you will learn to fear as well."
The Dark apprentice swung his sabers outward and around to meet Eh- Ron's and Loki's. They blocked his attack swiftly. Swing, block, lunge, thrust, and parry their sabers clashed in battle. Loki and Eh-Ron were being pushed further and further back, trying to fend off the vicious attacks. The assailant brought his saber up in a swing looking to decapitate the young apprentices. The Jedi leaped in a Force enhanced jump backwards. But when they landed, the ground gave way beneath them, revealing a well placed, ten foot deep hole; a trap.
"All to easy." Laughed their attacker, now captor. Eh-Ron glared at him, trying to make a connection with the Force to lift her hand Loki out of the pit.
"Your attempts to use the Force against me and pitiful and pointless. The ysalamiri I placed in the hole made sure of that."
Eh-Ron quickly glanced around, now noticing the slimy, slug like creature attached to the side of the pit.
"Who are you?" Loki demanded.
"My name, young Padawans…" He sneered. "… is Jairun Caloth." He reached to his belt and produced a small capsule. He bit off the end and it began to smoke. Casually he tossed it down at the Jedi. "And I am your most terrifying nightmare."
But the apprentices could not hear him, as the smoke fumes they were inhaling had left them unconscious.
The thick vegetation made running through the forest difficult. Karah had her saber drawn and would swipe it across her path to clear the way.
"Something's not right." She thought. "Why didn't they stop? Setkin's behind this, I know it."
Cutting away a thick growth of brush, she entered a large clearing. And in the clearing sat an all too familiar reddish-brown speeder bike.
"Loki? Eh-Ron?" She called, but no answer. She stretched out with the Force, but could not sense their presence nearby. She did sense a strange disturbance; following it she came upon a large hole in the ground, in which sat a slimy gray ysalamiri. Karah glanced around the area, there were obvious signs of a struggle; carbon scoring on nearby trees suggested lightsabers were involved. But thankfully no signs that fatal wounds had been inflicted.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Karah hurried back to the speeder; finding it in working order she climbed aboard and started it up. Pressing the accelerator down, she sped off to find Setkin and her apprentices before it was too late.
Chapter 6
Loki Quigonjinn awoke slowly. She moaned and rolled her head to the side. Looking up she realized that her hands were shackled to the wall above her head. Glancing around she saw that she was in some kind of large, bi-level control center. She looked to the side to the side to see Eh-Ron, still knocked out, her hands were bound to the wall as well.
"Eh-Ron." Hissed Loki. "Eh-Ron wake up." No response. Desperate to awake her friend, Loki reached over with her foot and kicked Eh-Ron in the side. Nothing. So she did it again, only a little harder.
"Ow!" Eh-Ron awoke with a start. "What the… Why'd you… How'd we…"
"I'm sorry. I figured you'd want to be awake for this."
"Where are we?"
"My guess is that mining center Master Karah told us about."
Noticing the restraints on her wrists, Eh-Ron tried to free her hands, to no avail. She looked down to her belt, only to see that her lightsaber was gone, as was Loki's.
"This is not good."
Just then the blast doors on the opposite side of the room slid open. In stepped the Dark apprentice, Caloth, grinning mischievously.
"Wakey, wakey little Padawans You don't want to sleep the day away." His sarcastic voice echoed off the walls.
"Let us go, Caloth!" Demanded Eh-Ron.
Jairun merely laughed. "Foolish Jedi. My Master has yet to deal with you."
"You slimy, worm-ridden bantha carcass. You're too cowardly to face us in a fair fight." She called, struggling against the binders.
"Those are some pretty brave words for someone who's chained to a wall. Perhaps your shackles need to be adjusted." With a gesture of his hand he called upon the Darkness of the Force to painfully tighten the wrist restraints on the two Jedi.
"You won't get away with this!" Warned Loki. "Master Karah will come to free us!" A low resounding laugh erupted from the doorway. There stood a figure clothed in black robes, hood drawn over his head. Pushing back the thick hood of the robe he revealed his face. He looked upon the apprentices with steely-gray eyes. His facial features rather rugged, most likely of Corellian descent; definitely older than either Karah or Caloth. The short military cut of his black hair complimented the charcoal gray of the Imperial uniform he wore underneath his robe.
"Of course she will come for you. As I have planned for it to be so."
Immediately Caloth dropped to one knee and lowered his head as the robed figure entered.
"Stand my apprentice, you have done well." Jairun stood as the Dark Master walked to the edge of the upper level. Gripping the rail he turned to look upon the Jedi.
"Setkin." Sneered Eh-ron, glaring at him.
"Correct padawan. I see your Master has told you about me after all." He regarded the subdued reaction on their faces. "Or perhaps she hasn't." He grinned. "This will me more exciting than I originally planned and most interesting."
"Master…" Called Jairun. The Dark Apprentice was looking to one of the control room's small monitors. "Jedi Jinn has entered the complex."
"Good." Riker's malicious grin relaxed a bit. "We have our quarry, now here comes our prey."
Karah's saber cut through the blast door slowly, melting the thick metal. As the searing blade came around in a complete circle, the chunk of blast door fell to the floor. Kara's control of the Force cushioned it's landing, so not a sound was made. Quickly she jumped through the hole and stretched out with the Force again, searching for her apprentices. She could sense them, but just barely. The connection wasn't strong enough to make any sort of telepathic communication possible.
"Hang on." Karah sighed as she started town the twisting corridors.
Another blaster bolt erupted at Eh-Ron's feet. Jairun had made a game out of firing as close to the apprentices as possible.
"You never know when I may decide not to miss." He laughed as he raised the barrel of his weapon again. This time releasing a bolt that hit micro meters away from Loki's shoulder. Riker looked on as the padawans flinched at the incoming fire. This was no mere marksman exercise for Jairun. He was keeping the young Jedi in a constant state of fear. Though only under his instruction for two years now, the young man had fully embraced the teachings of the Dark Side. Blackness burned in him almost as strongly as his first apprentice. Riker shook his head slightly; thinking if the loss of his previous instruction.
Karah raced through the labyrinth of halls that made up the complex; relying fully on the Force to guide her. What she found odd was that she had not met any opposition yet. No droids, guards or anything.
"This is too easy." She thought. So sooner had the notion entered her mind she came upon the end of the hallway and the beginning of a suspended catwalk overlooking some kind of storage facility. She knelt down by the start of the walkway as to not attract the attention of the stormtrooper that was patrolling it. Through the Force she could sense that there five more in the warehouse below.
"Too many for a simple Jedi mind trick." She thought. "This isn't going to be pretty." She sighed softly as she unholstered her blaster. She waited until the trooper paused to glance over the rail at his fellow Imperials; then she pulled the trigger and watched as the armor clad figure toppled down to the warehouse floor below. A prefect distraction, or so the Jedi Knight thought. She crept across the catwalk blaster fire and erupted from below.
"Get the intruder!" One of the troopers shouted.
"Sithspawn" Muttered Karah as she reholdstered her blaster and unclipped her lightsaber. It's emerald blade came to life in a *snap hiss * as she leapt over the rail.
"Jedi filth." Called one of the stormtroopers, aiming his rifle at Karah as she landed. He pulled back on the trigger, releasing an energy bolt in her direction. Karah swiped her saber across to meet the blast and deflect it back at the stormtrooper's chest. As he fell dead to the ground, she turned to face the other four Imperials. They held their rifles steady, all aimed at her.
"Freeze rebel scum."
Karah raised her arms in the air. "Aw, come on guys.." She said with a grin. "No hard feelings, right?"
"Drop the weapon, Jedi."
"Oh..what, this?" She asked, adjusting her grip on the lightsaber. "Sure guys, no problem." With a flick of her finger she had the saber ignited again. Using the Force to control it's path she flung the saber horizontally at the troopers. The searing blade caught the first trooper in the nape of his neck. And as he fell to the floor, the lightsaber had already struck the next two Imperials and was on it's way to the fourth. But despite the mere seconds that had passed the trooper found clarity of mind enough to pull the trigger of his rifle; just as the saber blade burned into his chest. Having nothing to deflect the shot with, the blaster bolt burned deep into her shoulder.
"Augh." Karah groaned. She called her saber back to her hand as she sank to her knees.
Chapter 7
Riker watched the security monitors as Karah took a medpack from one of the fallen stormtroopers and began to dress her wound.
"Your Master's very resourceful." The Dark Jedi commented. "I suppose she picked that trait up from me…"
"What are you talking about?" Demanded Eh-Ron. This secret had gone on long enough; she was tired of being toyed with.
"Not to fear, young Padawan…" Riker continued. "I'm sure your Master when she arrives in three….two… one…"
"Let them go, Setkin!" Karah emerged from the entrance to the control center's lower level.
"Resourceful, but pitifully predictable ." Riker muttered.
"Let them go!" Karah said again. "They have no part in this. This is between you and me, Setkin."
"So I have been told. It appears that you have not even enlightened your apprentices as to who I am."
"Was." Corrected Karah.
"No, you can be sure that I still control the Dark Forces within you. You haven't extinguished their flames yet."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Ah, but I do." He turned his steely gaze toward Eh-Ron and Loki.
"What's going on?" Yelled Loki. Riker snickered.
"Well, are you going to tell them or shall I?"
"I wouldn't dream of giving you the satisfaction." Karah shifted her field of view toward where her apprentices were being held. "There once existed a great Jedi Master. One who took a chance on a young Corellian apprentice. Trained her in the ways of the Jedi and earned her trust. It was once thought.." Her gaze grew cold. "…that the Jedi Master cared for his apprentice as a dear friend. But that friendship was forsaken when the Master found a Sith article and began to study it. Indulging in its teachings he began to adapt these Dark ways into how he instructed his young apprentice. Deceiving her into following him along the path of the Dark Side. That apprentice was me, that Jedi Master was Riker Setkin." While the apprentices sat speechless, Riker clapped his hands lightly.
"Touching story. And for the most part correct. Yet you hind behind the falsehood of reluctance." He scoffed. "Never before has there been a more willing student of the Dark Side, not until my latest instruction. Meet your replacement, my apprentice Jairun Caloth."
"Replacement?"
"After your failure… I had to start anew."
"Failure?" Kara scoffed. "In your eyes perhaps."
"Ah, but in the eyes of your pitiful Order as well."
"And how do you figure that?"
"You failed to turn me back to the Light Side. You were too consumed with your own ambition for power. Had that reprehensible Corran Horn not interfered, you would have totally given yourself into the Dark Side." He grinned.
"I am not a failure."
"Rejected the Dark, it's tint on your being keeping you from the Light. Why bother even getting out of bed in the morning?" Riker laughed.
Eh-Ron and Loki observed silently. They couldn't believe it, Setkin…Karah's former Master? And Karah… once an agent of the Dark Side? It couldn't be. It just couldn't.
"That can't be true!" Shouted Eh-Ron. Riker's head swiveled toward the two apprentices.
"Ah, I see that I have been neglecting my other guests. Perhaps they would like to experience the raw power of the Dark Side…" He cast his fingers out toward them as his hands began to tremble and a short blast of blue Force- lightning shot out his fingertips. It engulfed the young Jedi and their screams echoed off the walls.
"Riker stop!" Kara activated the lightsaber hilt she still held in her hands. Hastily she charged up the stairs at the Dark Master. He in turn drew his amethyst bladed saber. But as Karah was just a few feet in front of him she stopped and deactivated her saber.
"What are you doing?" Setkin snapped.
"It's not my apprentices you're after, Riker. It's me. Let them go and take your revenge upon me." She clipped her saber to her belt.
"If you think your pathetic plays of heroism will sway me you are mistaken, Jedi. He brushed his cloak aside momentarily and Karah saw the flash of two more lightsaber hilts on his belt. "As much as you think my rage would be settled by blood, you are wrong. I do not seek to end your existence, I only wish to revive the potential within."
"What are you talking about?"
"I will set your apprentices free, if you once again take your place at my side."
"You have already courted an apprentice Setkin."
"Don't you see? Skywalker and Horn have robbed you of a promising, powerful future. They have taught you to be weak, like them. Because they are too afraid of our power."
"No."
"What once was can still be again!"
"No, Riker. No. I spent years ridding myself of the things you taught me. They are gone, forgotten, as I wished them to be."
"Even I know that is not true." Riker laughed. "You are still very much the Karah Jinn I once knew. I can feel your anger, your hate. Me, you hate me."
"Setkin, no."
"Let it flow through you. It is your gateway to power and control.."
"Stop it!" She cried, sinking to her knees, covering her ears. His words cutting through her like a vibroblade. Riker circled her like a predator around its wounded prey.
"You see what they have reduced you to? My once promising student…" He trailed off as he reached down and cupped her chin is his hands; guiding her gaze to meet his. "You can do so much better than this, Jinn. I have witnessed it."
Loki and Eh-Ron were dumbstruck. How could this be happening? What was Master Karah doing? Did Riker really have a hold on her? Did the Darkness really exist in her as Setkin proclaimed? And would they ever get out of this…alive?
Karah's teeth gritted as her eyes met Setkin's. But she hid her determination under a pitiful frown. Slowly she slid her hand to her belt and waited for Riker to falter his advantage. Riker released his grip on her and pivoted on his heel.
"In this pathetic state, perhaps you are not worthy of this power anymore. Perhaps you are indeed a failure." His cloak brushed against her face as his back turned towards her. Now was the time for action. In one swift motion she unclipped her saber and ignited the weapon bringing it in a graceful arc to slice through Setkin's cloak; scoring his belt and it crashed to the cold floor. Karah called the item to her hand then used the Force to send a wave of telekinetic power toward the shackles that held back Loki and Eh-Ron. Under the pressure the binders cracked, freeing the apprentice's hands to catch their sabers as Kara sent them toward their awaiting grasp. This happening within mere seconds, Riker had ignited the saber he held and spun to meet Karah's blade.
"Apprentice, after the young Jedi!" Commanded Riker. " Do not let them escape!" But Caloth had already removed his cloak and was in hot pursuit of Eh-Ron and Loki as they ran down the corridor.
"I've called for the ship. Get to it as fast as you can, get in the air and wait for my signal." Karah instructed through Force Telepathy as she prepared to face a trusted friend, turned foe.
Chapter 8
"This is not good." Said Eh-Ron as she raced down the steel-plated halls of the mining complex. Loki was running after her, just a few steps behind.
"He's getting closer. I can sense it."
"I know, but a lightsaber battle in here is not to our advantage. We have to get outside."
"I know. Look, in the door ahead! It's been cut by a lightsaber…that's how Karah must have gotten in." Loki called as she sped up towards the door and Eh-Ron was quick to follow. They leaped out through the jaggedly cut opening and into the fading sunlight of dusk. The Coronet Knight loomed overhead.
"I've never been so relieved to see that ship." Sighed Eh-Ron.
"Pity it'll be the last time you ever will." Sneered Caloth as he emerged from the doorway; twin ebony-bladed lightsabers in hand. "Prepared to meet thy destiny, Jedi." With that he lunged forward bringing his sabers is a crossing upsweep motion. Their sabers ignited and ready the two apprentices blocked the attack. This time there were no traps to worry about. Master Karah had caught Setkin off guard, upsetting his plan. Though now she faced him alone, and the apprentices would have been worried, if they didn't have their own opponent to attend to. The four sabers slashed and blocked in the fading daylight.
"You will not win, Riker." Karah said as their lightsabers met only inches from her face. "You never will."
"Foolish Jedi." He sneered as he pushed his blade closer to her. "Your childish delusions of victory have no place here. You are weak compared to my power." Karah heaved her shoulders forward, pushing Riker away.
"When are you going to realize that you were always wrong about me…" She swung her saber clockwise bringing it up to strike at his chin, the Dark Jedi swiftly blocked.
"The fierceness of your blade has dulled with your 'reform', dear apprentice." Snickered Riker. Karah stuck again this time to the shoulder.
"Never call me that again." Her lightsaber barely had a chance to singe his uniform before he pushed it away.
"You cannot escape the shadows of your past, Jinn. No matter how far you run, they'll catch up with you." He swung his saber fiercely at her, causing her to stumble back. He crashed his blade into hers, pushing her down to the floor before she had the chance to recover from his last blow. Karah moved with the force of his saber, tumbling backwards in a flip. A smirk crossed her face as she landed soundly on her feet, with a good 6 feet of distance away from Setkin. She twirled her saber in her left hand as she rushed at him, swinging the blade up to meet his and the battle continued.
Jairun Caloth fought with the precision and hatred of a millennia of Sith behind him. He fought as if all of his training had been for this day alone, and in a sense it had. He wielded his twin sabers with almost veteran expertise against the younger Jedi apprentices.
Loki flinched slightly as her saber met with the ebony blade of Caloth's. The energy sparks crackled sharply in the air. She cross-glanced to Eh-Ron who was putting up an equally tough fight. But how long could they hold out against the Dark Apprentice? She wasn't sure and couldn't focus enough to tell though the Force. His saber slashed too quickly and all too often, it slashed to close. Melee combat was not their best choice…but did they really have any other?
"The ship…" She thought, almost forgetting Karah's instructions. They had to get into the ship, without Jairun at their heels. The fight had not yet made it's way around to the lowered gangway of the just landed ship. But the distance was closing in with each second. Connecting her thoughts to that of her fellow apprentice, she mentally shouted.
"On three push forward with the Force, then make a run for the ship!" Eh-Ron nodded the slightest bit before responding telepathically.
"It better work, otherwise we might get back to Yavin IV…in several slices."
"One…two….THREE!" Both apprentices channeled the living Force binding them outward as a gigantic wave, washing over Caloth and knocking him to the ground. The Dark Sider was stunned. He had felt the Jedi's concentration but never believed two novices could get the better of him. While he cursed his own foolishness, Loki and Eh-Ron dashed across the dusty soil and up the ramp of the Coronet Knight. Slamming her hand against the activation panel, Eh-Ron retracted the ramp and the bay doors sealed.
"Tell Blink to get this thing in the air again. We have to find Master Karah."
The battle had raged out of the control room and onto a connecting terrace. The light of day had faded into nightfall as their sabers sparked and hissed with each strike. Setkin's attacks had loss some of their raw ferocity, but were just as lethal. Karah's defense was rancor tooth sharp, yet some weariness was beginning to show. Broad blade sweeps connected again and again. Karah let a cryptic grin tug at her lips as she prepared her next move. Strangely enough, so did Riker. Heaving their shoulders back they swung around, both aiming at each other's open necks, both stopping micrometers from the opposite flesh. Karah had to block the searing pain of the lightsaber's intense heat. The thought that Riker was experiencing the same agony was oddly comforting.
"Well, quite a stand-off here, Jedi." Girded Riker while turning the hilt of his saber in his hands. "I could easily press and take your life."
"As could I, even if it was my last action. I do not fear death as I do not fear you."
She gritted her teeth. "So strike if you wish, and should I perish, so will you." The thought itself was strangely satisfying. Not for any dark purpose. But knowing if she was to die, the galaxy would finally be rid of Riker Setkin.
A tickle washed over the back of her neck, a powerful gust of wind… too sporadic to be of natural origins. She dared not glance behind her shoulder. A face full of a lightsaber blade was not all that appealing at the moment. Luckily the expression on her foe left no guesses as to what and who lay behind her. Riker's vicious snarl raged upon those thin lips, steely eyes afire with raw ire. Shoulders tensed and Karah barely sensed the Force-guided warning to his attempt of decapitation. Dropping to one knee, saber blade following in motion to meet Setkin's vertical to horizontal. The well polished hide of an Imperial issue boot made contact with the Jedi's torso, knocking her back onto the panels of the terrace floor. Dark brown hues catching a rewarding glance of the opened lower hatch on her beloved ship. She righted her position to a crouch, allowing the Force again to directed her projection and strengthen her leap.
"Escape is the easy way out, Jedi." Riker hissed as he stepped closer.
"So's the Dark Side." A mere mutter of the words as she sprung upwards to safety. A desperate slash of Riker's crimson blade seared at the end of a flapping tabard. A cut that was close, all too close. Her gaze fell upon Riker as the hatch began to close, such ominousness lost from her vantage point; fading into the color of the terrace floor as she ship sped away.
Karah stumbled into the cockpit, one hand clasped over the singed hole in her shoulder. A brief glance to the two rather stunned apprentices there then a bee line to the set of modified controls. She knew by now, the detinators she had palced within the structure had been found. But not all of them. Silently she pressed a small blue button and though the viewport a quick flash could be seen on the planet below. She streched out with the Force, risking complete exhaustion, and to only find that Riker had escaped the blast. Another outreach of the mystical enery field…and yes his apprentice had too. Karah checked the coordinates for Yavin IV, and as quietly as she had entered, she retreated to her private cabin. Meditiation was needed. Eh-ron and Loki left speechless in the cockpit.
Chapter 9
The med droid unwrapped the makeshift bandage Karah had assembled during the flight home, exposing the tender flesh of the blaster wound for futher inspection. The cold metal needle of the antibiotic injection stung in the slightest, as did the placement of the bacta patch. The mere odor of the medical wonder fluid had her recalling the past times of being immersed in the stuff.
A brow arched curiously, she could sense that her apprentices were approching the room. The stoic Jedi Knight nodded slightly to herself. They had fared much better than she would have ever expected. And despite her reluctance, her dread of revealing the path she had traveled in her youth, Karah was gald Master Skywalker had insisted they accompany her. How would one learn about the different aspects in the ebb and flow of the Force if they were going to be sheltered from them? Another jab of the droids cold metal prong woke her back to the present.
"Hmm…could be worse." A sigh to herself as the med droid finished and she examined it's work with a quick rub over the wound.
"Yeah, it could always be worse. Eh-Ron could have gotten into Mischia's spice stash." A grinning Loki strolled into the room, followed by a freshly surprised Eh-Ron.
"Like I would ever!" Her rebuttal came to only the chuckling of her fellow apprentice and the ever-familiar "warning" glare of the Jedi Knight. The serious expression broken by a grin that her blasted shoulder was the worst of the damage. "Feeling better, Master Karah?"
"Mmhmm." Another test as she rolled her shoulders back, pain effectivly numbed by the bacta now and the flesh had started to heal.
"Why didn't you tell us? About Riker…about everything…"
The elder Jedi sighed a little, looking across the medical chamber at nothing in particulat for a moment, then switching her gaze upon the apprentices.
"For the simple reason that you didn't need to know at the time. You didn't need to have time to think about why I followed him. If there was still Dark in me or not…"
Loki cleared her throat some before asking. "Is there still the Dark side in you at all?"
"I don't know. There is the potential for the Dark side to surface in every one of us. Through anger, hatred, fear… no one is exempt. And if we control these elements, we allow the Light to grow in the void of the Dark."
The younger Jedi blinked a few times, rather surprised by the speech their Master had given off the cuff. Karah grinned at the expressions.
"This is why I'm the Jedi Master and you're the apprentices"
"All in all the Wayland mission was a success. The complex destroyed?" Inquried Eh-Ron.
"Mmhmm."
"But Riker escaped?"
"Unfortunately."
"Caloth as well?"
"Yes."
"And we're going to run into them again aren't we?"
"Oh yeah."
"I had a feeling you would say that."
*~*This is a work of fan fiction. Meaning, that these characters are of assorted belonging. I can say that Karah is mine, so is Riker and Caloth. Loki and Eh-Ron belong to their respective creators including the author "Bandersnatch". And of course other characters and location and let's face it…the universe they all live in are on loan from the wonderful man in plaid himself, George Lucas.*~*
Chapter 1
Karah Jinn stood patiently outside the doors to Luke Skywalker's private chambers. He had just contacted the Jedi Knight on her comlink.
"I thought he said this was urgent." She sighed. Just then the Jedi Master appeared from around the corner. Luke nodded to her as he approached.
"Greetings Jedi Jinn." He called. Karah lowered her head briefly in a light bow.
"I came as soon as I got your call."
"Yes, thank you." The look on the Jedi Master's face grew grim. "I'm afraid I have some disturbing news…"
"Disturbing news?" Asked Karah The Jedi Master nodded and proceeded to open the doors to his chamber.
"But not of the like that we can discuss openly." He said as he motioned for her to join him inside.
Once within Luke's chambers and securely behind closed doors, they sat opposite each other a set of small couches.
"Where are your apprentices?" Luke asked.
"They are with your nephew and a few other students in the Great Hall. But I thought you said not to bring them…"
"I did, because to share the details of what I must tell you is at your digression." Karah raised an eyebrow at his words, yet remained silent, waiting for Luke to continue.
"Reports have come in from Wayland about the appearance of a Dark Jedi supposedly trying to locate the remnants of the Emperor's old storehouse."
"I see the danger in that, Luke. But I fail to see the need for such secrecy."
"The Dark Jedi I speak of goes by the name…" Luke hesitated. Not for any sort of drama, but the name was going to be difficult for the young Knight to handle. "… Riker Setkin."
"What?" Seethed Karah through gritted teeth, her grip on the couch's armrest tightening ferociously. Luke had anticipated this reaction. Although a dedicated and powerful Jedi Knight, Karah still had her almost typical Corellian attitude and temper to contend with. Luke was relieved to see her close her eyes and utilize one of her calming exercises. When she reopened her eyes, her gaze settled directly on the Jedi Master.
"He has to be stopped, Luke."
"I know. I'm giving you the option of taking this mission. I can understand if you would like me to send someone else…"
"No. I have to be the one to stop him."
"What are you going to tell your apprentices?"
"Nothing. They're staying here. I can't take them along with me this time. It's too dangerous."
"You mean too personal."
"Look, Luke, I know you're trying to be helpful… but I can't knowingly put them is such peril."
"And it's not perilous enough letting you go face Riker on your own?"
"I know what I'm going up against."
"Karah you knew what you were up against. We haven't heard from Setkin in five years. Without doubt he's only delved deeper into the Dark Side."
Karah turned away from Luke. Her gaze now toward the window, her brow furrowed deep in thought. Luke had a point… and the issue was not if her apprentices were ready or not. They were. Both Eh-Ron and Loki had proven their dedication to their training. Impressing the Corellian Jedi on several occasions.
"Well Karah?" Pressed Luke.
"Alright. I will take them with me." Adjusting the hood of her outer robe, Karah rose to her feet. "I will have my ship prepped for departure by this evening."
"Wait. What are you going to tell Loki and Eh-Ron about Riker?"
"His name, rank and alignment." Karah answered sternly. "They do not need to know anything further regarding that part of my history."
"If you are confident that's the best thing to do… I will not object." He added. Karah could see right through him, though. He wanted her to tell them. About Riker Setkin, a figure from her past that she wanted to block out more than anything, memories she wanted to destroy like beginner training droids.
"And now…" She thought. "It's time to do it."
Loki Quigonjinn wiped the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her Jedi robe. "Whew, I don't think I've ever lightsaber sparred that much." She looked to Eh-Ron Kenobi who was walking along side her.
"It wasn't that bad." Answered Eh-Ron, "I don't see what you're complaining about."
"I'm not complaining." Retorted Loki.
"I wonder where Master Karah went off to…" Eh-Ron said trying desperately to change the subject.
"She didn't say, her comlink beeped and she just took off. Jacen didn't even seem to know what was going on."
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Muttered Eh-Ron as the two apprentices turned to enter their quarters.
Chapter 2
Upon entering, Loki removed her brown cloak and tossed it over a chair. She then sat down on the end of her sleep-couch. Reaching down to her boots, she slid them off.
"Ugh, these new boots are killing me…"
Eh-Ron sighed, her arms crossed in front of her as she regarded her friend.
"What?" Asked Loki.
"Nothing." Said Eh-Ron trying to stifle a slight laugh.
"I'm not complaining."
"What do you call it then?"
"I'm…. just… stating how I feel. Yeah, that's it."
"Whatever you say…" Eh-Ron moved from the doorway to her own sleep- couch opposite Loki's. Waiting for her fellow apprentice to change into more comfortable footwear. "Come on, we have to go find Master Karah."
"Perhaps she will seek us out." Suggested Loki. No sooner had the words left her mouth than Karah appeared in the doorway. Her face was stern and as steady as the stone of the temple walls.
"We have a mission." She said with little inflection in her voice. "Pack only what you absolutely need to survive and get down to my ship in ten minutes." And with that she was gone. The two apprentices looked at one another stunned.
"What do you suppose that was about?" Asked Loki.
"I don't know, but I told you I had a bad feeling about this."
"I hate it when you're right."
Outside the Temple, Karah stood atop her YT-1300 Corellian Transport, known as the Coronet Knight. She pulled open one of the external service panels and crouched over the opening. She tugged on a few wires than flipped a switch concealed within the compartment. Reaching up to the collar of her tunic, she keyed her comlink.
"Alright, Corran, try it again." The ship's engines revved and sputtered a bit then settled into a healthy hum. "There we go."
"Any idea as to what was wrong?' Came Corran's voice from the comlink.
"Just some space dust" She remarked. "I'm coming in."
She climbed off the ship and walked up the entry ramp. Corran met the female Jedi as she reached the top.
"Space dust, eh?" The elder Corellian said with a smirk.
"Isn't it always?" Karah answered. "Thanks for you help though Corran. You know, with the ship."
"My pleasure." His visage turned very serious. "You just be careful, alright?" He placed his hands on the younger Jedi's shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze. Usually Karah wouldn't listen to talks like this. But listening Corran Horn was something completely different. He had been one of her mentors when she was an apprentice. Now he was one of her most trusted friends.
"I will, Corran. I promise."
"Remember, Karah, the failure was not yours."
Approaching the parked freighter, the apprentices each gripped their travel packs tightly. Their minds clouded with questions of their destination, mission and their Master's current mood.
They saw Jedi Master Corran Horn exiting the Coronet Knight's hull. He nodded to the apprentices as he passed.
"Be mindful young ones." He said. Eh-Ron and Loki bowed respectfully to the Master and he nodded in return. "And may the Force be with you."
As the apprentices boarded the ship, they placed their travel bags in the cargo hold and made their way to the cockpit where Karah was.
"Strap yourselves in." She ordered from the pilot's seat. "We're just waiting for clearance."
Loki slipped into the copilot's seat, not without catching a stern look from Eh-Ron as she settled back into the passenger bench.
"Corellian Transport Coronet Knight prepped and ready for departure." Karah said into the ship's com unit.
"Coronet Knight, you're cleared." Came a familiar voice from the speaker from the speaker. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Luke." Karah keyed the com mike off, pushed the throttle bar forward and eased back the control stick. The repulsor lifts pushed the craft up and away from the planet's surface. Sailing above the lush Yavin IV jungles, the Coronet Knight tilted upward and blasted off into the stars.
Chapter 3
As the transport broke away from the Yavin atmosphere, Karah began to prepare for the jump to hyperspace.
"Loki, punch these coordinates into the navicomputer." She said, quickly glancing over to her apprentice, then back to the view port. "Seven, five, five, three, seven, oh, three."
As Loki entered the numbers into the command console, Eh-Ron reviewed the coordinates in her mind.
"Three, seven, oh, three?" She repeated. "That's Wayland."
"Correct." Karah answered, failing to elaborate before easing the ship into hyperspace. "We've got about half an hour before we reach Wayland. I suggest that you both take this time to rest and meditate. Because once we arrive I cannot be sure that you will have a chance to do so."
The apprentices nodded and rose from their seats. Eh-Ron paused at the exit of the cockpit.
"But Master Karah, you have yet to tell us what we're going to Wayland for…"
"A Dark Jedi."
Eh-Ron waited… but Karah said nothing more.
"I sense there is something you're not telling us."
"Perhaps, but you know all that you need to know at the moment." Karah answered calmly. But her apprentice would not back down that easily.
"Well does this Dark Jedi have a name?" She pried. The Corellian Jedi released an exasperated sigh.
"Setkin… Riker Setkin."
While Karah watched over the controls in the cockpit, her apprentices retired to the ship's living quarters. It was a large room with a padded bench that ran along the wall. In one corner there was a table for dining and the occasional game of sabbac. Upon the floor lay a thin blue training mat that led to the matching corridors that led off into two separate double occupancy sleeping quarters. Loki took a seat long the wall, resting her head back upon the ship's durasteel plating.
"I don't like the sound of this mission already." She sighed. Eh-Ron didn't respond. She was busy activating her R2 unit, Indigo. The droid's exterior lights blinked as it came to life. Eh-Ron then motioned for the droid to follow her over to an output plug near the sabbac table. She inserted the connection cable from her data pad into the droid's control panel.
"What are you doing?" Asked Loki.
"I'm hooking Indigo up to the ship's main computer."
"I figured out that much. But, why?"
"To see if I can find anything on this Riker Setkin."
"Are you sure you should be tapping into the computer without Master's permission?"
"I have to find out what the deal with this Setkin guy is. If he's ever come into contact with this ship he'll be on some sort of record." Eh- Ron observed her data pad screen as Indigo sifted through the computer's files.
"One… make that four…no, seven entries regarding Riker Setkin."
"Really?" Asked Loki, now interested in Eh-Ron's sleuthing.
"Let's take a look at this first one." Eh-Ron said, opening the first listed file. "It's the purchase agreement for the Coronet Knight."
"But how is Setkin involved? Did he own the ship before her?"
"No, according to this the ship was property of Radic Shipyards out of Coronet City Corellia. That must me the owner's signature there… Zyler Radic."
Loki reached over and tapped the lower portion of the data pad screen. "There's Master Karah's signature… right there."
"I see it." Eh-Ron nodded. She scrolled further down on the document. "And there's Setkin."
"What's that say under his name?"
"It says 'witness'. He was the legal witness to the transaction, for Master Karah's side at least. Radic looks like he had some sort of relative sign on his behalf… Orin Radic."
"So Setkin had to be someone she trusted…"
"Obviously."
"This doesn't make any sense!" Loki pondered aloud… perhaps a bit too loud. Eh-Ron clapped her hand over Loki's mouth.
"You want to get us caught?" She hissed. Eh-Ron stretched out with the Force, it didn't take her long to discover that Karah was on her way to the living quarters. "Quick! Help me unplug the droid!" Eh-Ron yanked the connection cable from Indigo as Loki removed the droid from the output plug.
Sliding her data pad into her large outer robe, Eh-Ron sat down, meditative style, on the floor. Loki rushed to reclaim her previous seat along the wall. Both apprentices quickly closed their eyes, trying to convey the pretense of meditation. They could sense, though, when Karah entered the room, They could sense her standing in the doorway. And although it was difficult to sense, they knew that her arms were folded across her chest as she sternly observed them. Karah stayed there for duration of three minutes, then they sensed her return to the cockpit. Eh- Ron sighed in a release of air that she must have been holding back the entire time.
"Whew, that was a close." Commented Loki.
"Close? She knew."
"What are you talking about? She didn't say anything."
"She didn't have to… I could sense that she figured it out."
"You're senses must be off today. Because she definitely would have said something. You know… a lecture, assigned kitchen duty something."
"I don't know. I still think she caught us." Eh-Ron said as she glanced warily down the hall.
Karah's fist pounded soundly into the armrest of her chair. "It's your own fault." She told herself. "You knew they'd go looking. You would have done the same in their position." She keyed the security lock on the main computer. "They can't know… not yet." She then centered her gaze on the forward view port waiting for Wayland to come into view.
Chapter 4
"Approaching Wayland." Came the automated voice from the navicomputer. Karah nodded to herself and reached for the comm. unit mike.
"Eh-Ron, Loki… come up to the front, please. We're about to enter the system."
As her apprentices approached the cockpit she could sense their caution and wariness; careful of the wrath of a short tempered, full- blooded Corellian Jedi. Although at another time and place she would have laughed at this, now was not that time.
"Before we speak of strategy, I must make this clear. Going into a mission like this you must remember not to be afraid. Do not fear the unknown, do not fear for me, do not be afraid. I know that looking at it… there is much to fear, but as Jedi we are to control the primal factions of fear and dispel them. Now more than ever you must understand the reality of fear being used against you… and in dealing with Riker Setkin… I assure you it will be." She fixed her gaze on them. She couldn't remember the last time the two ever looked that serious. "We will land on Wayland approximately five kilometers from Riker's suspected base of operations; an abandoned mining control center near the base of Mount Kal'Tar. Six Noghri warriors have disappeared trying to investigate the building. Knowing the Noghri's stealth tactics… I sense sneaking up on Setkin will be difficult bordering on impossible. Once we set down, I'm going to have Blink take the Knight up again." she motioned to her personal R2 unit already connected to the ship's controls. "That way no one will be able to sabotage the ship. I will be able to call Blink back through my wrist comm. unit. Should anything happen to me, the comm. will automatically alert Blink to bring the Knight around for you. If that is the case, I have preset coordinates for Yavin IV to get you all home safely."
Eh-Ron wanted to ask who exactly this Riker was… how she knew how lethal he was and most of all, why did his signature appear on the ship's purchase agreement. But Eh-Ron knew better then to ask Karah now.
Within the observation tower of the mining complex a thin smile spread across Riker Setkin's face. The tip of his tongue snaked out to wet his lips as he watched the Corellian transport touch down in the distance. Twisting his head to the side, his steely-gray eyes centered on a hooded figure in the shadows; a young man on bended knee, head lowered and his body cloaked by a billowing, ebony robe.
"Arise my young apprentice..." Riker called. "… and come to your Master's side."
Without hesitation the shadowy figure stood and walked over to Setkin, coming to a halt just to his left and a few inches behind.
"Yes, Master?"
"They have arrived as I predicted; Jedi Jinn and her two padawans." He said the last word with a sneer.
"If it pleases you Master, I will dispose of them all."
"And destroy a valuable resource? No, my apprentice… I wish for you to intercept them and separate Jedi Jinn from her apprentices. You will "entertain" the padawans and bring them here. None of which is above you abilities."
"Of course not Master. This will be a mission to enjoy." The young man's lips retracted in a sinister grin.
"You are not to cause any debilitating harm. I want them brought to me whole."
"What about the Jedi?"
"She will find her way here, I assure you." Riker brushed back the dark robe that cascaded down his figure like a waterfall of black silk; his slate gray Imperial uniform visible beneath and bearing the status bar of a decorated Admiral. Also visible, the platinum shimmer of his lightsaber hilt, the crystals of its crimson blade hidden within.
"Very soon, my young apprentice, I will have back what once was mine."
Chapter 5
"Speeder bikes?" Asked Eh-Ron gawking at the two roan colored transports. "Theses haven't been used since the days of the Empire."
"Don't worry." Said Karah. "I've made some special modifications."
"Corellian modifications…" Thought Loki. "I'll be sure to wear my helmet."
The bay doors to the Coronet Knight opened up with a rush of cool wind into the cargo hold. Strapping on her army fatigue colored helmet, Karah climbed onto the first speeder bike.
"Come on… we have not time to waste."
Loki hurried over to the other bike and went to climb on the front.
"Oh no." Called Eh-Ron. "No way. I'm driving."
"And why is that?"
"Because it is preferable for you to get there in one piece." Added Karah. "Let Eh-Ron take the controls."
"It's not fair." Mumbled Loki as she slid to the rear of the speeder, allowing Eh-Ron to climb aboard. Eh-Ron started up the bike and steered it to follow Karah out of the ship. The Knight's doors closed behind them and the ship rose into the air. Karah watched the ship take off; her small droid now controlling her beloved Corellian Transport. Karah then looked over her shoulder at the other bike and activated her comm. unit.
"Alright let's go. Stay close and stick together." Her gaze traveled up above the tree line to the skies above as her voice lowered to barely a whisper. "And may the Force be with us."
The Dark Apprentice sat, crouched in the thick forest underbrush. He side glanced to where his personal speeder was hidden then turned his attention back towards the distant 'whirr' of speeder bike engines. Stretching out with the Force, he could sense the location of the three Jedi. He now could tell that the two Padawans were on the same speeder, following behind the Jedi Knight. The Dark adept's face contorted into a malicious grin.
"This will be quick." The apprentice thought, reaching out with the Force and focusing on the accelerator if the Padawans' speeder as he gripped one of his twin onyx bladed lightsabers in his right hand.
The foliage of the Wayland forests rushed by in a green blur as Karah pressed the accelerator down even further on her bike. The Force allowed her reflexes to act quickly so as not to crash into one of the mighty tree that often 'came out of nowhere'. She keyed her comlink and quickly glanced back over her shoulder.
"Everything alright back there?"
"Yup." Came Loki's voice from the comlink speaker. "Are you sure it's a good idea going this fast?"
"You're fine, don't worry. We're about three miles away from the complex… not too much longer." Karah's eyes focused on the terrain ahead, there was a fallen tree followed by a patch of heavy vegetation on the forest floor. The speeder bike easily cleared the rotting tree trunk and began to cover the patch of brush. Then a flicker or black caught her eye, like ebony lightning. Her speeder swerved to the right then spun out of control as the rear of the bike erupted in flames. Trusting the Force to guide her fall, she leapt from the burning wreck and fell into the brambly underbrush. She turned back just in time to see her flaming bike run into the ground in a great explosion and to see a cloaked figure take off on another speeder; in hot pursuit of her two apprentices.
"Did you see that?" Yelled Loki as she turned to look back toward Eh- Ron. Her attention previously caught by the blazing wreckage of Karah's speeder.
"Of course I did." Eh-Ron shouted.
"Then why aren't you stopping?"
"I can't." She gasped, her foot lodged under the gas petal in an attempt to raise it. But it wouldn't budge. She tried turning the bike around… but something was blocking the steering column.
"Uh-oh." Said Loki turning around once again. "This is going to get worse before it gets better."
"What now?"
"We're being followed."
Eh-Ron turned to look behind them. A dark figure crouched over the controls of a silvery personal land speeder was gaining on them. The shadowy assailant held a black- bladed lightsaber tight in his grip. "Loki! Get your saber out!"
Quickly Loki reached for her lightsaber and activated its emerald blade. The other speeded continued to advance, until the two speeders were side by side. Letting go of his controls, the dark warrior placed both hands on his lightsaber as he swung the weapon to meet with Loki's. Pressed his blade against hers trying to throw her off balance. She met his pressure equally, leaning into his swing; creating a stalemate. Loki glanced quickly at the young man's face. He looked to be a few years younger than Karah, perhaps only a little older than Eh-Ron and herself. His eyes were filled with anger and rage and there was a sense of coldness surrounding him, undoubtedly a Dark Jedi.
"I grow tired of this." He sneered. And with that, their speeder came to an abrupt halt and dropped to the ground. Scrambling off the dilapidated speeder Loki and Eh-Ron, lightsabers in hand, watched the Dark Jedi gracefully swoop around to circle them. The cloaked figure leapt from the silver land speeder as the vehicle slowed to a stop. Reaching to his waist he unclipped a second lightsaber, one identical to the onyx bladed saber he already held. Elegantly he swung the weapons around in his hands, forming intricate patterns of laser light.
"What's the matter, Padawans?" He called mockingly. "Scared?"
The two apprentices glanced at each other then turned their attention back to the Dark Jedi, awaiting his attack. Only Eh-Ron spoke.
"You're Riker Setkin, aren't you."
The assailant chuckled slightly. "I see it is my Master's name you fear, as you should. But my name you will learn to fear as well."
The Dark apprentice swung his sabers outward and around to meet Eh- Ron's and Loki's. They blocked his attack swiftly. Swing, block, lunge, thrust, and parry their sabers clashed in battle. Loki and Eh-Ron were being pushed further and further back, trying to fend off the vicious attacks. The assailant brought his saber up in a swing looking to decapitate the young apprentices. The Jedi leaped in a Force enhanced jump backwards. But when they landed, the ground gave way beneath them, revealing a well placed, ten foot deep hole; a trap.
"All to easy." Laughed their attacker, now captor. Eh-Ron glared at him, trying to make a connection with the Force to lift her hand Loki out of the pit.
"Your attempts to use the Force against me and pitiful and pointless. The ysalamiri I placed in the hole made sure of that."
Eh-Ron quickly glanced around, now noticing the slimy, slug like creature attached to the side of the pit.
"Who are you?" Loki demanded.
"My name, young Padawans…" He sneered. "… is Jairun Caloth." He reached to his belt and produced a small capsule. He bit off the end and it began to smoke. Casually he tossed it down at the Jedi. "And I am your most terrifying nightmare."
But the apprentices could not hear him, as the smoke fumes they were inhaling had left them unconscious.
The thick vegetation made running through the forest difficult. Karah had her saber drawn and would swipe it across her path to clear the way.
"Something's not right." She thought. "Why didn't they stop? Setkin's behind this, I know it."
Cutting away a thick growth of brush, she entered a large clearing. And in the clearing sat an all too familiar reddish-brown speeder bike.
"Loki? Eh-Ron?" She called, but no answer. She stretched out with the Force, but could not sense their presence nearby. She did sense a strange disturbance; following it she came upon a large hole in the ground, in which sat a slimy gray ysalamiri. Karah glanced around the area, there were obvious signs of a struggle; carbon scoring on nearby trees suggested lightsabers were involved. But thankfully no signs that fatal wounds had been inflicted.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Karah hurried back to the speeder; finding it in working order she climbed aboard and started it up. Pressing the accelerator down, she sped off to find Setkin and her apprentices before it was too late.
Chapter 6
Loki Quigonjinn awoke slowly. She moaned and rolled her head to the side. Looking up she realized that her hands were shackled to the wall above her head. Glancing around she saw that she was in some kind of large, bi-level control center. She looked to the side to the side to see Eh-Ron, still knocked out, her hands were bound to the wall as well.
"Eh-Ron." Hissed Loki. "Eh-Ron wake up." No response. Desperate to awake her friend, Loki reached over with her foot and kicked Eh-Ron in the side. Nothing. So she did it again, only a little harder.
"Ow!" Eh-Ron awoke with a start. "What the… Why'd you… How'd we…"
"I'm sorry. I figured you'd want to be awake for this."
"Where are we?"
"My guess is that mining center Master Karah told us about."
Noticing the restraints on her wrists, Eh-Ron tried to free her hands, to no avail. She looked down to her belt, only to see that her lightsaber was gone, as was Loki's.
"This is not good."
Just then the blast doors on the opposite side of the room slid open. In stepped the Dark apprentice, Caloth, grinning mischievously.
"Wakey, wakey little Padawans You don't want to sleep the day away." His sarcastic voice echoed off the walls.
"Let us go, Caloth!" Demanded Eh-Ron.
Jairun merely laughed. "Foolish Jedi. My Master has yet to deal with you."
"You slimy, worm-ridden bantha carcass. You're too cowardly to face us in a fair fight." She called, struggling against the binders.
"Those are some pretty brave words for someone who's chained to a wall. Perhaps your shackles need to be adjusted." With a gesture of his hand he called upon the Darkness of the Force to painfully tighten the wrist restraints on the two Jedi.
"You won't get away with this!" Warned Loki. "Master Karah will come to free us!" A low resounding laugh erupted from the doorway. There stood a figure clothed in black robes, hood drawn over his head. Pushing back the thick hood of the robe he revealed his face. He looked upon the apprentices with steely-gray eyes. His facial features rather rugged, most likely of Corellian descent; definitely older than either Karah or Caloth. The short military cut of his black hair complimented the charcoal gray of the Imperial uniform he wore underneath his robe.
"Of course she will come for you. As I have planned for it to be so."
Immediately Caloth dropped to one knee and lowered his head as the robed figure entered.
"Stand my apprentice, you have done well." Jairun stood as the Dark Master walked to the edge of the upper level. Gripping the rail he turned to look upon the Jedi.
"Setkin." Sneered Eh-ron, glaring at him.
"Correct padawan. I see your Master has told you about me after all." He regarded the subdued reaction on their faces. "Or perhaps she hasn't." He grinned. "This will me more exciting than I originally planned and most interesting."
"Master…" Called Jairun. The Dark Apprentice was looking to one of the control room's small monitors. "Jedi Jinn has entered the complex."
"Good." Riker's malicious grin relaxed a bit. "We have our quarry, now here comes our prey."
Karah's saber cut through the blast door slowly, melting the thick metal. As the searing blade came around in a complete circle, the chunk of blast door fell to the floor. Kara's control of the Force cushioned it's landing, so not a sound was made. Quickly she jumped through the hole and stretched out with the Force again, searching for her apprentices. She could sense them, but just barely. The connection wasn't strong enough to make any sort of telepathic communication possible.
"Hang on." Karah sighed as she started town the twisting corridors.
Another blaster bolt erupted at Eh-Ron's feet. Jairun had made a game out of firing as close to the apprentices as possible.
"You never know when I may decide not to miss." He laughed as he raised the barrel of his weapon again. This time releasing a bolt that hit micro meters away from Loki's shoulder. Riker looked on as the padawans flinched at the incoming fire. This was no mere marksman exercise for Jairun. He was keeping the young Jedi in a constant state of fear. Though only under his instruction for two years now, the young man had fully embraced the teachings of the Dark Side. Blackness burned in him almost as strongly as his first apprentice. Riker shook his head slightly; thinking if the loss of his previous instruction.
Karah raced through the labyrinth of halls that made up the complex; relying fully on the Force to guide her. What she found odd was that she had not met any opposition yet. No droids, guards or anything.
"This is too easy." She thought. So sooner had the notion entered her mind she came upon the end of the hallway and the beginning of a suspended catwalk overlooking some kind of storage facility. She knelt down by the start of the walkway as to not attract the attention of the stormtrooper that was patrolling it. Through the Force she could sense that there five more in the warehouse below.
"Too many for a simple Jedi mind trick." She thought. "This isn't going to be pretty." She sighed softly as she unholstered her blaster. She waited until the trooper paused to glance over the rail at his fellow Imperials; then she pulled the trigger and watched as the armor clad figure toppled down to the warehouse floor below. A prefect distraction, or so the Jedi Knight thought. She crept across the catwalk blaster fire and erupted from below.
"Get the intruder!" One of the troopers shouted.
"Sithspawn" Muttered Karah as she reholdstered her blaster and unclipped her lightsaber. It's emerald blade came to life in a *snap hiss * as she leapt over the rail.
"Jedi filth." Called one of the stormtroopers, aiming his rifle at Karah as she landed. He pulled back on the trigger, releasing an energy bolt in her direction. Karah swiped her saber across to meet the blast and deflect it back at the stormtrooper's chest. As he fell dead to the ground, she turned to face the other four Imperials. They held their rifles steady, all aimed at her.
"Freeze rebel scum."
Karah raised her arms in the air. "Aw, come on guys.." She said with a grin. "No hard feelings, right?"
"Drop the weapon, Jedi."
"Oh..what, this?" She asked, adjusting her grip on the lightsaber. "Sure guys, no problem." With a flick of her finger she had the saber ignited again. Using the Force to control it's path she flung the saber horizontally at the troopers. The searing blade caught the first trooper in the nape of his neck. And as he fell to the floor, the lightsaber had already struck the next two Imperials and was on it's way to the fourth. But despite the mere seconds that had passed the trooper found clarity of mind enough to pull the trigger of his rifle; just as the saber blade burned into his chest. Having nothing to deflect the shot with, the blaster bolt burned deep into her shoulder.
"Augh." Karah groaned. She called her saber back to her hand as she sank to her knees.
Chapter 7
Riker watched the security monitors as Karah took a medpack from one of the fallen stormtroopers and began to dress her wound.
"Your Master's very resourceful." The Dark Jedi commented. "I suppose she picked that trait up from me…"
"What are you talking about?" Demanded Eh-Ron. This secret had gone on long enough; she was tired of being toyed with.
"Not to fear, young Padawan…" Riker continued. "I'm sure your Master when she arrives in three….two… one…"
"Let them go, Setkin!" Karah emerged from the entrance to the control center's lower level.
"Resourceful, but pitifully predictable ." Riker muttered.
"Let them go!" Karah said again. "They have no part in this. This is between you and me, Setkin."
"So I have been told. It appears that you have not even enlightened your apprentices as to who I am."
"Was." Corrected Karah.
"No, you can be sure that I still control the Dark Forces within you. You haven't extinguished their flames yet."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Ah, but I do." He turned his steely gaze toward Eh-Ron and Loki.
"What's going on?" Yelled Loki. Riker snickered.
"Well, are you going to tell them or shall I?"
"I wouldn't dream of giving you the satisfaction." Karah shifted her field of view toward where her apprentices were being held. "There once existed a great Jedi Master. One who took a chance on a young Corellian apprentice. Trained her in the ways of the Jedi and earned her trust. It was once thought.." Her gaze grew cold. "…that the Jedi Master cared for his apprentice as a dear friend. But that friendship was forsaken when the Master found a Sith article and began to study it. Indulging in its teachings he began to adapt these Dark ways into how he instructed his young apprentice. Deceiving her into following him along the path of the Dark Side. That apprentice was me, that Jedi Master was Riker Setkin." While the apprentices sat speechless, Riker clapped his hands lightly.
"Touching story. And for the most part correct. Yet you hind behind the falsehood of reluctance." He scoffed. "Never before has there been a more willing student of the Dark Side, not until my latest instruction. Meet your replacement, my apprentice Jairun Caloth."
"Replacement?"
"After your failure… I had to start anew."
"Failure?" Kara scoffed. "In your eyes perhaps."
"Ah, but in the eyes of your pitiful Order as well."
"And how do you figure that?"
"You failed to turn me back to the Light Side. You were too consumed with your own ambition for power. Had that reprehensible Corran Horn not interfered, you would have totally given yourself into the Dark Side." He grinned.
"I am not a failure."
"Rejected the Dark, it's tint on your being keeping you from the Light. Why bother even getting out of bed in the morning?" Riker laughed.
Eh-Ron and Loki observed silently. They couldn't believe it, Setkin…Karah's former Master? And Karah… once an agent of the Dark Side? It couldn't be. It just couldn't.
"That can't be true!" Shouted Eh-Ron. Riker's head swiveled toward the two apprentices.
"Ah, I see that I have been neglecting my other guests. Perhaps they would like to experience the raw power of the Dark Side…" He cast his fingers out toward them as his hands began to tremble and a short blast of blue Force- lightning shot out his fingertips. It engulfed the young Jedi and their screams echoed off the walls.
"Riker stop!" Kara activated the lightsaber hilt she still held in her hands. Hastily she charged up the stairs at the Dark Master. He in turn drew his amethyst bladed saber. But as Karah was just a few feet in front of him she stopped and deactivated her saber.
"What are you doing?" Setkin snapped.
"It's not my apprentices you're after, Riker. It's me. Let them go and take your revenge upon me." She clipped her saber to her belt.
"If you think your pathetic plays of heroism will sway me you are mistaken, Jedi. He brushed his cloak aside momentarily and Karah saw the flash of two more lightsaber hilts on his belt. "As much as you think my rage would be settled by blood, you are wrong. I do not seek to end your existence, I only wish to revive the potential within."
"What are you talking about?"
"I will set your apprentices free, if you once again take your place at my side."
"You have already courted an apprentice Setkin."
"Don't you see? Skywalker and Horn have robbed you of a promising, powerful future. They have taught you to be weak, like them. Because they are too afraid of our power."
"No."
"What once was can still be again!"
"No, Riker. No. I spent years ridding myself of the things you taught me. They are gone, forgotten, as I wished them to be."
"Even I know that is not true." Riker laughed. "You are still very much the Karah Jinn I once knew. I can feel your anger, your hate. Me, you hate me."
"Setkin, no."
"Let it flow through you. It is your gateway to power and control.."
"Stop it!" She cried, sinking to her knees, covering her ears. His words cutting through her like a vibroblade. Riker circled her like a predator around its wounded prey.
"You see what they have reduced you to? My once promising student…" He trailed off as he reached down and cupped her chin is his hands; guiding her gaze to meet his. "You can do so much better than this, Jinn. I have witnessed it."
Loki and Eh-Ron were dumbstruck. How could this be happening? What was Master Karah doing? Did Riker really have a hold on her? Did the Darkness really exist in her as Setkin proclaimed? And would they ever get out of this…alive?
Karah's teeth gritted as her eyes met Setkin's. But she hid her determination under a pitiful frown. Slowly she slid her hand to her belt and waited for Riker to falter his advantage. Riker released his grip on her and pivoted on his heel.
"In this pathetic state, perhaps you are not worthy of this power anymore. Perhaps you are indeed a failure." His cloak brushed against her face as his back turned towards her. Now was the time for action. In one swift motion she unclipped her saber and ignited the weapon bringing it in a graceful arc to slice through Setkin's cloak; scoring his belt and it crashed to the cold floor. Karah called the item to her hand then used the Force to send a wave of telekinetic power toward the shackles that held back Loki and Eh-Ron. Under the pressure the binders cracked, freeing the apprentice's hands to catch their sabers as Kara sent them toward their awaiting grasp. This happening within mere seconds, Riker had ignited the saber he held and spun to meet Karah's blade.
"Apprentice, after the young Jedi!" Commanded Riker. " Do not let them escape!" But Caloth had already removed his cloak and was in hot pursuit of Eh-Ron and Loki as they ran down the corridor.
"I've called for the ship. Get to it as fast as you can, get in the air and wait for my signal." Karah instructed through Force Telepathy as she prepared to face a trusted friend, turned foe.
Chapter 8
"This is not good." Said Eh-Ron as she raced down the steel-plated halls of the mining complex. Loki was running after her, just a few steps behind.
"He's getting closer. I can sense it."
"I know, but a lightsaber battle in here is not to our advantage. We have to get outside."
"I know. Look, in the door ahead! It's been cut by a lightsaber…that's how Karah must have gotten in." Loki called as she sped up towards the door and Eh-Ron was quick to follow. They leaped out through the jaggedly cut opening and into the fading sunlight of dusk. The Coronet Knight loomed overhead.
"I've never been so relieved to see that ship." Sighed Eh-Ron.
"Pity it'll be the last time you ever will." Sneered Caloth as he emerged from the doorway; twin ebony-bladed lightsabers in hand. "Prepared to meet thy destiny, Jedi." With that he lunged forward bringing his sabers is a crossing upsweep motion. Their sabers ignited and ready the two apprentices blocked the attack. This time there were no traps to worry about. Master Karah had caught Setkin off guard, upsetting his plan. Though now she faced him alone, and the apprentices would have been worried, if they didn't have their own opponent to attend to. The four sabers slashed and blocked in the fading daylight.
"You will not win, Riker." Karah said as their lightsabers met only inches from her face. "You never will."
"Foolish Jedi." He sneered as he pushed his blade closer to her. "Your childish delusions of victory have no place here. You are weak compared to my power." Karah heaved her shoulders forward, pushing Riker away.
"When are you going to realize that you were always wrong about me…" She swung her saber clockwise bringing it up to strike at his chin, the Dark Jedi swiftly blocked.
"The fierceness of your blade has dulled with your 'reform', dear apprentice." Snickered Riker. Karah stuck again this time to the shoulder.
"Never call me that again." Her lightsaber barely had a chance to singe his uniform before he pushed it away.
"You cannot escape the shadows of your past, Jinn. No matter how far you run, they'll catch up with you." He swung his saber fiercely at her, causing her to stumble back. He crashed his blade into hers, pushing her down to the floor before she had the chance to recover from his last blow. Karah moved with the force of his saber, tumbling backwards in a flip. A smirk crossed her face as she landed soundly on her feet, with a good 6 feet of distance away from Setkin. She twirled her saber in her left hand as she rushed at him, swinging the blade up to meet his and the battle continued.
Jairun Caloth fought with the precision and hatred of a millennia of Sith behind him. He fought as if all of his training had been for this day alone, and in a sense it had. He wielded his twin sabers with almost veteran expertise against the younger Jedi apprentices.
Loki flinched slightly as her saber met with the ebony blade of Caloth's. The energy sparks crackled sharply in the air. She cross-glanced to Eh-Ron who was putting up an equally tough fight. But how long could they hold out against the Dark Apprentice? She wasn't sure and couldn't focus enough to tell though the Force. His saber slashed too quickly and all too often, it slashed to close. Melee combat was not their best choice…but did they really have any other?
"The ship…" She thought, almost forgetting Karah's instructions. They had to get into the ship, without Jairun at their heels. The fight had not yet made it's way around to the lowered gangway of the just landed ship. But the distance was closing in with each second. Connecting her thoughts to that of her fellow apprentice, she mentally shouted.
"On three push forward with the Force, then make a run for the ship!" Eh-Ron nodded the slightest bit before responding telepathically.
"It better work, otherwise we might get back to Yavin IV…in several slices."
"One…two….THREE!" Both apprentices channeled the living Force binding them outward as a gigantic wave, washing over Caloth and knocking him to the ground. The Dark Sider was stunned. He had felt the Jedi's concentration but never believed two novices could get the better of him. While he cursed his own foolishness, Loki and Eh-Ron dashed across the dusty soil and up the ramp of the Coronet Knight. Slamming her hand against the activation panel, Eh-Ron retracted the ramp and the bay doors sealed.
"Tell Blink to get this thing in the air again. We have to find Master Karah."
The battle had raged out of the control room and onto a connecting terrace. The light of day had faded into nightfall as their sabers sparked and hissed with each strike. Setkin's attacks had loss some of their raw ferocity, but were just as lethal. Karah's defense was rancor tooth sharp, yet some weariness was beginning to show. Broad blade sweeps connected again and again. Karah let a cryptic grin tug at her lips as she prepared her next move. Strangely enough, so did Riker. Heaving their shoulders back they swung around, both aiming at each other's open necks, both stopping micrometers from the opposite flesh. Karah had to block the searing pain of the lightsaber's intense heat. The thought that Riker was experiencing the same agony was oddly comforting.
"Well, quite a stand-off here, Jedi." Girded Riker while turning the hilt of his saber in his hands. "I could easily press and take your life."
"As could I, even if it was my last action. I do not fear death as I do not fear you."
She gritted her teeth. "So strike if you wish, and should I perish, so will you." The thought itself was strangely satisfying. Not for any dark purpose. But knowing if she was to die, the galaxy would finally be rid of Riker Setkin.
A tickle washed over the back of her neck, a powerful gust of wind… too sporadic to be of natural origins. She dared not glance behind her shoulder. A face full of a lightsaber blade was not all that appealing at the moment. Luckily the expression on her foe left no guesses as to what and who lay behind her. Riker's vicious snarl raged upon those thin lips, steely eyes afire with raw ire. Shoulders tensed and Karah barely sensed the Force-guided warning to his attempt of decapitation. Dropping to one knee, saber blade following in motion to meet Setkin's vertical to horizontal. The well polished hide of an Imperial issue boot made contact with the Jedi's torso, knocking her back onto the panels of the terrace floor. Dark brown hues catching a rewarding glance of the opened lower hatch on her beloved ship. She righted her position to a crouch, allowing the Force again to directed her projection and strengthen her leap.
"Escape is the easy way out, Jedi." Riker hissed as he stepped closer.
"So's the Dark Side." A mere mutter of the words as she sprung upwards to safety. A desperate slash of Riker's crimson blade seared at the end of a flapping tabard. A cut that was close, all too close. Her gaze fell upon Riker as the hatch began to close, such ominousness lost from her vantage point; fading into the color of the terrace floor as she ship sped away.
Karah stumbled into the cockpit, one hand clasped over the singed hole in her shoulder. A brief glance to the two rather stunned apprentices there then a bee line to the set of modified controls. She knew by now, the detinators she had palced within the structure had been found. But not all of them. Silently she pressed a small blue button and though the viewport a quick flash could be seen on the planet below. She streched out with the Force, risking complete exhaustion, and to only find that Riker had escaped the blast. Another outreach of the mystical enery field…and yes his apprentice had too. Karah checked the coordinates for Yavin IV, and as quietly as she had entered, she retreated to her private cabin. Meditiation was needed. Eh-ron and Loki left speechless in the cockpit.
Chapter 9
The med droid unwrapped the makeshift bandage Karah had assembled during the flight home, exposing the tender flesh of the blaster wound for futher inspection. The cold metal needle of the antibiotic injection stung in the slightest, as did the placement of the bacta patch. The mere odor of the medical wonder fluid had her recalling the past times of being immersed in the stuff.
A brow arched curiously, she could sense that her apprentices were approching the room. The stoic Jedi Knight nodded slightly to herself. They had fared much better than she would have ever expected. And despite her reluctance, her dread of revealing the path she had traveled in her youth, Karah was gald Master Skywalker had insisted they accompany her. How would one learn about the different aspects in the ebb and flow of the Force if they were going to be sheltered from them? Another jab of the droids cold metal prong woke her back to the present.
"Hmm…could be worse." A sigh to herself as the med droid finished and she examined it's work with a quick rub over the wound.
"Yeah, it could always be worse. Eh-Ron could have gotten into Mischia's spice stash." A grinning Loki strolled into the room, followed by a freshly surprised Eh-Ron.
"Like I would ever!" Her rebuttal came to only the chuckling of her fellow apprentice and the ever-familiar "warning" glare of the Jedi Knight. The serious expression broken by a grin that her blasted shoulder was the worst of the damage. "Feeling better, Master Karah?"
"Mmhmm." Another test as she rolled her shoulders back, pain effectivly numbed by the bacta now and the flesh had started to heal.
"Why didn't you tell us? About Riker…about everything…"
The elder Jedi sighed a little, looking across the medical chamber at nothing in particulat for a moment, then switching her gaze upon the apprentices.
"For the simple reason that you didn't need to know at the time. You didn't need to have time to think about why I followed him. If there was still Dark in me or not…"
Loki cleared her throat some before asking. "Is there still the Dark side in you at all?"
"I don't know. There is the potential for the Dark side to surface in every one of us. Through anger, hatred, fear… no one is exempt. And if we control these elements, we allow the Light to grow in the void of the Dark."
The younger Jedi blinked a few times, rather surprised by the speech their Master had given off the cuff. Karah grinned at the expressions.
"This is why I'm the Jedi Master and you're the apprentices"
"All in all the Wayland mission was a success. The complex destroyed?" Inquried Eh-Ron.
"Mmhmm."
"But Riker escaped?"
"Unfortunately."
"Caloth as well?"
"Yes."
"And we're going to run into them again aren't we?"
"Oh yeah."
"I had a feeling you would say that."