AN: Nope, I still don't own Star Wars, which is why you're reading this on FFN instead of watching it on TV. ;) I'd like to thank everyone who's been following this series.
"Defenders of the Force, Episode 4: Face of the Revolutionaries"
By EsmeAmelia
Chapter 1
After the ghosts vanished, the real world returned.
It had been two days since the bomb attack on the Jedi Temple and ever since then the Skywalkers and the Solos had been swamped by what seemed like all the journalists and politicians in the galaxy, granting them almost no privacy. Even the children were bombarded with requests for interviews, which meant Mae and Anakin weren't able to visit Tamyra in the temple's healing ward until after class on the second day.
They had been hoping to talk to their friend in peace, but when they got to the ward they found a Mirialan man with black hair cropped short and curved tattoos on either side of his mouth hovering over her bed who didn't look too happy.
"I'm not leaving!" Tamyra was saying.
The man gave a heavy sigh. "Sweetheart, look what happened to you. Next time it could be even worse."
"I'm willing to risk that," said Tamyra, "and you should too. I'm a Jedi, after all."
"You're also my daughter," the man said firmly. "Your mother and I have talked about this and we decided it was best for you to come home as soon as you're better."
"You can't take her away!" Anakin suddenly exclaimed.
"Anakin!" Mae hissed.
Tamyra breathed with relief. "Hi guys!" she said, giving a slight wave with her good arm in the direction of their voices. "Dad, these are my friends, Mae and Anakin. Mae, Anakin, this is my dad, Laron Offee."
The man nodded at the cousins, but it wasn't exactly a friendly nod. "Nice to meet you. My daughter's told me a lot about you."
Anakin raised his brow at him. "Well, she's told us you're Barriss Offee's little brother and you never told her about what your sister did."
Laron sighed, sitting on the edge of his daughter's bed. "Look, I was a little kid when it happened. I never knew my sister - like all Force-sensitive babies, she got taken away and we could never see her." He sighed again. "I doubt she ever knew she even had a little brother."
"That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell Tamyra," said Mae.
"I hardly even remember it," said Laron. "I sort of remember seeing my sister's confession on the holovid, but mostly I remember my parents being all upset about it." He looked over at his daughter. "Barriss is dead anyway, so I thought why should I tarnish her image for my daughter?"
"I could have handled it," said Tamyra, shifting her position but then cringing from the pain. "Look at my friends - they're Darth Vader's grandchildren and they're doing fine."
"Yes I know," said Laron, looking up at Mae and Anakin, "but all this is beside the point."
"I'm still not leaving," Tamyra said quickly.
"Yeah, she's not!" said Anakin.
Mae quickly stepped in front of her cousin. "Mr. Offee, our parents are keeping us in school . . ."
"Of course your parents would," Laron interrupted. "Your family runs the school. Besides, you two can see. Tamyra can't."
"So that's it?" Tamyra exclaimed, briefly attempting to sit up but finding she couldn't. "You think I can't defend myself because I'm blind?"
Laron twisted his mouth into an awkward expression. "No sweetheart, of course not . . ."
"The Force helps me with my blindness," Tamyra interrupted in a passionate voice. "You know that. I can already sense living things when they're nearby. Master Skywalker even told me that if I train hard enough, someday I might not even need a sensor anymore."
"Well you need a new one now," said Laron.
"Don't you and Mom want me to be independent?" Tamyra pressed.
"Of course, sweetheart, but we also want you to be safe."
"No one is safe right now," said Mae. "I think you know that."
Laron's brow furrowed. "Listen, young lady, you may be Skywalker's daughter, but you're not in charge of what happens to Tamyra. I would appreciate it if you respect that."
"Dad," Tamyra said in an annoyed voice, "could you maybe leave us alone for a while so I can talk to my friends?"
Laron sighed yet again as he stood up, his eyes darting among the three teenagers. "Fine," he said. He leaned over to kiss his daughter's forehead. "I'll be back soon, honey." He waited for a response, but when it was clear that one wasn't coming, he turned and left the room, nearly bumping into a medical droid as he did so.
Once he was gone Tamyra let out a long exhale. "I'm sorry, that's my dad for you."
"He's not really gonna take you out of school, is he?" asked Anakin.
"I don't want to talk about it," said Tamyra. "I'd rather hear about the ghosts." She gave a tiny grin. "Come on, tell me everything."
. . .
Mae and Anakin chatted with Tamyra until she fell asleep and the medical droids urged them to leave. After they got shooed out, Anakin went to look for his siblings while Mae went to look for her parents. After wandering the halls for a while, she found her father in the spot she didn't want to go near - the place where the bomb went off.
It used to be a meditation room, but most of it was gone now. The floor was now little more than a large hole that spread into the hall. The walls had cracked and crumbled and the tall window had shattered, letting in cold air and the noise of speeders from the outside. Several small droids were flying around the room, inspecting every detail for any clues.
"Come on, there has to be something," Luke was telling the droids from outside the barrier that was set up next to the hole in the floor.
"Hey Dad," Mae said from behind her father.
Luke turned around to face her. He had dark circles under his eyes and a weary expression on his face. "Hi honey," he said. "Did you go visit your friend?"
"Yeah," Mae said with a sigh. "I guess you know her mom and dad want to take her out of school?"
"Yes," said Luke.
"Are you gonna let them?"
Luke gazed over at the bomb site. "Mae, they have a right to take her out of school, you know that."
"Yeah, but . . ."
"You can still keep in touch with her," Luke continued.
Mae looked over at the droids. "Dad, do you think I'm trained enough to feel when something's not right?"
"What do you mean?"
"I dunno, I just kinda feel like Tamyra shouldn't be taken out." She shifted her weight from one foot to another, her stomach feeling tight. "I think she's meant to be a Jedi."
Luke gave a small smile. "Sensing things through the Force comes from inside yourself, not from training." His eyes flicked back and forth between his daughter and the droids. "But you have to be careful when you sense these things. The future is always changing - what's meant to be one day might not stay the same way tomorrow."
"Do you think this was meant to be?" Mae asked, gesturing towards the bomb site.
Luke put his real hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I don't think that's for us to judge, sweetheart."
Just then Luke's comlink beeped. After taking another look at the bomb site, he flicked his comlink off his belt and answered it. "Hello?"
"Luke!" came Rianna's scratchy voice.
"Honey, what is it?"
"Did you pick Owen up from school?" Rianna said in a panicked voice.
"I thought you were doing that."
"I am," said Rianna, "but I can't find him!"
"What?" Luke and Mae exclaimed together.
"No one's seen him since class ended," Rianna continued. "I've looked all over the school and I can't find him. I don't think he's here."
. . .
Mae couldn't speak after her mother said Owen was missing. She heard Luke tell Rianna not to panic even though he was struggling not to panic himself, she watched him comm the Solos and tell them what happened, she saw him rush away from the bomb site, but she couldn't bring herself to follow him. Her insides were numb, her breath uneven.
Use the Force, she tried to tell herself, but her lungs were too tight to breathe steadily and her head was whirling too much to concentrate. Owen was fine, right? He was probably just hiding somewhere to play a not-too-nice prank, right? But then again, if he hid anywhere in or near the school, wouldn't Rianna be able to seek him out with the Force?
She started walking without being aware she was doing so, her heart hammering against her ribs. Use the Force. What was the point of repeating that to herself when she had only started her training?
Her pace quickened, her footsteps echoing against the walls, though she still had no destination in mind. Dammit, what are you doing, Mae? Your brother's missing, for the Force's sake!
She wanted to talk to someone. Her parents, her cousins, her aunt and uncle, someone.
Then without knowing how she got there, she found herself at the door to the healing ward. Once she realized where she was, she slammed her hand on the button to open the door and rushed up to Tamyra's bed, ignoring the medical droids telling her visiting hours were over.
"Tamyra, WAKE UP!" she cried.
The Mirialan's eyes opened only slightly. "Wha?"
Mae wasn't going to wait until she was completely awake. "Tamyra, Owen's gone!"
. . .
Owen awoke feeling dizzy. He couldn't remember what happened . . . only that he was talking to a security droid at school and then . . . nothing. After breathing for a few moments to gain his bearings, he realized that something warm and tough was squeezing him under his armpits and knees - he was being carried . . . carried by something that smelled dusty. He moaned and twitched his head, which made the throbbing in his skull worsen.
"Waking up, hon?" said an unfamiliar female voice that was dripping with sweetness.
Owen's eyelids felt glued shut. "Wh-what happened?" he choked out in a raspy voice. "Who are you?"
"Don't worry," the syrupy voice continued, "it's just a little drug. If you cooperate you'll be out of here in no time."
Finally Owen was able to open his eyes and realize he was being lowered into a bed by a middle-aged human woman with long black hair, pale skin, and full lips that were curled up in a large smile. She wore a white coat that drew up tight around her neck.
"There you are," the woman said as she fastened Owen's hands into some sort of binders. "You're going to be a good boy, right?"
The lights on the ceiling glared into the child's face, making him squint. "Y-you . . . you know you're not gonna get away with this, right?"
"Whyever not?" the woman asked in an unconcerned voice.
"You know who my mom and dad are?"
The woman smiled down at him as she fastened his feet into binders as well. "Of course, sweetie. That's why we chose you."
"Chose me?" Owen exclaimed. "Chose me for what?"
"Just a little experiment."
Owen turned his head to the side, seeing that the room he was in was very small, hardly big enough for the bed. What little space the wall had was taken up by shelves of various machinery and cupboards that might have contained any number of horrors. "W-well . . . my mom and dad and everyone else are gonna come rescue me and kick your butt!"
The woman gave a snicker. "Come come, Owen, you have nothing to fear. Like I said, if you behave you'll be out of here before you know it."
Owen grunted loudly, thrusting his body back and forth, but the binders held him fast. "Who are you?" he said between grunts.
The woman smiled again. "You may call me Lee. I'm a scientist."
"Scientist?" Owen squeaked, his eyes widening. "Are there gonna be needles?"
"Oh, come come, dear," said Lee, clapping her fingertips together. "You're not afraid of a little thing like needles, are you? Aren't you gonna be a big brave Jedi when you grow up?"
Owen felt tears emerging from his eyelids and creeping towards his ears. "My family's gonna rescue me," he said again, more to assure himself than to scare the scientist.
Lee shrugged. "They'll try, but they don't know where you are, do they? Now come on, the sooner we get the experiments done, the sooner you can go home."
Owen imagined a big, sharp needle going through his skin and the tears came faster. His hands trembled in their binders and his heartbeat quickened. "Why're you doing this?" he whimpered. "What's this about?"
Lee maintained her overly-sweet smile. "The thing that makes you different from us," she replied. "Your midichlorians."
