Star Wars Episode 7: True Knight

by Aer-ki Jyr

This is the rage writing of a professional author. It's raw, unedited, and incomplete, but has been sitting on my hard drive for months, so I figured I'd throw it up here to let people read. I HATE what Disney has done to Luke Skywalker. This is how I would fix what Disney has done, retcon out of existence everything after ROTJ, and pick up the story hundreds of years later in Ep7.

1

Luke Skywalker sat on the thick railing atop the Jedi temple on Prioniss, his legs hanging over into the emptiness of the early morning darkness as the first rays of sunlight began to rise on the forested horizon. Breathing in the cool, fresh air he sat tranquil on the precipice, inches away from falling the great height to the courtyard below, but he was in no real danger. Luke often sat on the railing rather than the meditative couches inside the cupola, feeling more connected to the planet and the galaxy out here rather than inside the building…and the slight hint of danger helped his mind to stay focused on matters at hand and not to get lost in the torrent of future possibilities that the Force held for him.

Meditation was an essential skill for a Jedi, but he'd learned long ago that such things did not require luxury. It was the stillness of the mind that mattered, not the body, and something about Luke had always been more content in action than passivity. The Force was always in motion, sometimes a torrent and other moments a trickle, but never stagnant. And to best align himself with it, Luke preferred his reckless, yet still perch on the railing, though he wasn't here for the view. His eyes were closed but his senses were open to the far off galaxy, both in the present and the possible future as he looked out through the Force.

Gone were the days of the Empire and the countless wars that had followed it, with the galaxy now fractured but at a stable peace the reborn Jedi Order had worked hard to achieve and maintain. Both he and his former students were largely credited with the 'golden age' that had long since been in the making, but Luke knew better. For no matter how many worlds, how many people were at peace there was always someone else in pain and conflict. The galaxy as a whole could never know total peace, and while the 6 major factions were not fighting each other and focused primarily in building up their respective civilizations, smaller worlds or even individuals were in peril and it was the duty of the Jedi to seek out and right as many of those injustices as they could, knowing they could never help or save all who needed it.

So to the majority of the galactic populous and even many of the younger Jedi, the golden age was a seemingly lasting peace, but to the Jedi Master it was but a cover for apathy. When one was at peace they were hesitant, if not defiant about leaving that peace behind to seek out conflict, but that is what Jedi must always do. It was not for them to rest in peace, but to provide peace to others.

A Jedi's life was always one of conflict, and unfortunately that was the very nature of life. At times the suffering of the animals surrounding him on Prioniss, Endor, or the other worlds where the Jedi now had temples would seek to drive him insane. The more he opened himself to the feelings and experiences of others through the Force the more horror he witnessed, and with it a dangerous paradox. A Jedi must be empathetic, but in order to survive the horrors that even a 'peaceful' era such as this held, Luke had to insulate himself from the plight of the trillions of others.

Even now he could vaguely sense deaths in the forest surrounding the temple, but he'd long ago mastered the art of caring without being overwhelmed, though he never accepted it as necessary or natural. The Force grew and flourished from all life, and every death that occurred weakened it. The very structure of the galaxy seemed designed in a continual contest between life and death, and even now, centuries past the last days of the Sith, the darkside was ever present. It no longer clouded his vision as it had for Master Yoda and Ben long ago, rather seeking out tiny islands of anonymity where it lurked while the rest of the galaxy was at peace.

It was those small areas that Luke and the other Jedi were constantly seeking, for where there was the darkside there was Jedi work to be done, but even in the small death of a bird not far from the temple there was a tiny spec of it, like a momentary spark of evil that was here and gone in an instant, and Luke was always wary of the younglings being consumed by this. To be Jedi meant you had to stare into the galaxy as it was, both brilliant and brutal, and dive into the latter to combat it without becoming saturated with it.

But right now, on his railing perch, Luke could barely sense the planet around him. His focus was elsewhere across the stars, following the swirls and tendrils in the Force where it may lead him, though at times he could almost guide it where he wanted. Not as well as Yoda could, and he missed his conversations with his old Jedi Master, short lived as his training with him had been in life. After the destruction of the Sith, Yoda had spoken with him often, teaching him what he needed to reestablish the Jedi Order, but over the years as Luke required less and less instruction the conversations became shorter and the interactions less frequent, so much so that he had inquired as to why.

Yoda had insisted that Luke must walk his own path, but if ever there was a great enough need he would be there to offer counsel. Ben hadn't been much more revealing, though his father had. He'd told him that there was much more to the Force and life than the physical world, and that in their state as, for lack of a better term, 'Force ghosts,' it was an effort for them to interact with Luke's realm. They could do so if they chose, and with great effect, but unless they had something to draw their attention here they were almost called to be elsewhere doing things that his father couldn't find the vocabulary to explain.

Luke had accepted that, realizing all too well that the more he learned of the Force the greater the mystery of it became, but a part of him regretting not having spoken to any of them in the past 60 years. He knew their paths were separate now, but he often wondered what exactly it was that occupied their time…and those of his former students that had joined them in the Force. A few had achieved the 'ghost' state, but they had disappeared from Luke's view almost as soon as they passed. The others were part of the Force now in another way, though even that Luke didn't fully understand.

For some reason he had endured in the physical realm while they had not. Yoda had once joked that when Luke reached 900 years old he wouldn't look as good as his former Master, and now Luke wondered if that had been coincidence or if he'd seen a glimpse of the future, for while he hadn't reached 900 yet, he'd lived through 700, and while his hair was now long and bone white, his body had barely decayed. He wasn't the most physically robust Jedi in the Order at the moment, but he was still in the top handful…and like Yoda before him, no one commanded a mastery of the Force the equal of Luke.

Which also meant that he had no one to learn from now, and while he had received counsel over the centuries he had no one to do the heavy lifting for him. During the rebuilding of the Order the responsibility had laid squarely on his shoulders, and for better or worse he had endured it. Now the pressures were not so great, for there were thousands of Jedi spread across the galaxy acting as peace keepers and Generals. Luke was free from organizational details and teaching students the simplest of lessons. Others now handled those duties, and did so admirably well, leaving Luke to ponder the greater mysteries of the Force.

But a part of him regretted never having been a Padawan and learning from an active Master in the field over the course of years. His brief experience with Ben and Yoda had been measured in weeks, and often he had wondered if he was really a true Jedi or merely one of convenience, given a title he hadn't earned in experience. Yoda had said he had learned enough, and he took his old Master at his word, but seeing the younglings transitioning into Padawans and then becoming Knights over the course of years, if not more than a decade, left him wondering just how much he'd missed out on in his own developmental years.

But that was a regret of the past. Luke was the Jedi now, and as part of his ongoing responsibilities he was needed to see the threats on the horizon and prepare the Order and the galaxy for them before they arrived. He was the beacon to lead all the rest, and for that reason he often spent a short period of the early morning in meditation, looking out on the galaxy through the Force atop this or one of the other 8 primary temples they had, all of which were located on worlds teeming with life, but not civilization.

The clutter of society often had a disruptive effect on the Force. So many voices, so many minds, so many stories all weaving together into the wellspring of the Force, for where there was life it was strongest, but complexity of life and events created what Ben had told him amounted to 'noise' that could lead one to be blind to certain aspects of the Force.

It was for that reason the temples were not on populated worlds, at least not populated by those intelligent enough to talk. Life was on Prioniss, but it was simpler life that caused less noise, allowing the Jedi to pull on and probe the mysteries of the Force in greater clarity…as well as let Luke look out upon the galaxy with few distractions, but in recent years his vision was not right. He couldn't identify the problem, for there was none that he could find, just a tickle at the back of his mind that said his senses weren't as clear as they should be.

Luke had sought out Yoda's counsel on this, but his old Master hadn't responded. Perhaps that was because it wasn't important, or just a figment of Luke's imagination, but even this morning it was there at the periphery of his senses. Just a hint of numbness that he couldn't isolate. He wasn't going to solve that riddle today, but he knew better than to just ignore it. Nothing in the Force was inconsequential, and he'd keep probing this feeling for as long as it took to discover what was amiss, but for now there were more pressing matters to investigate.

As his mind wondered across the stars he sought out points of conflict and injustice, searching for spots both touched by the dark side and those that were twisted by other factors. When he found one he'd send Jedi there to investigate, or go himself if needed, for he'd found, and encouraged the others, to get out of the temples regularly was a necessity. Sedation was not the Jedi way, and too much mediation and peace was a betrayal of the Jedi's responsibility to the galaxy. They were to seek out the trouble and take on the fights that others couldn't, and it was those little ripples in the Force that he was seeking out now.

His mind coursed through many worlds, individuals, and events…popping in and out of the present and potential futures almost at random. Eventually he looked into the ongoing war the Naboo Confederation was fighting against a nameless, invading race of Insectoids that had arrived out of nowhere to strike at several worlds, one of which belonged to the Confederation. The attackers had been repelled, but only to seek out other local targets. The Naboo were handling the conflict well, and more than a dozen Jedi were aiding them in both the small war and the investigation as to where these invaders had come from, but Luke's nagging sense of something amiss didn't sit there.

Nor did it sit with the slave smuggling circuits that the Jedi had been working hard to shut down, though they always managed to reform in some other place. Luke thought he had a tendril of connection on Tothaq, but pressing it deeper revealed nothing. Sometimes when you concentrated harder on a vision you made it disappear entirely, but others would open up further. This one dispersed as soon as he focused on it, but he didn't fault himself. Luke knew that if you didn't try you'd miss out on those that could be further explored, but none the less he had encountered something on Tothaq, so he made a mental note to send someone to investigate later today as he continued to bounce around the galaxy, barely aware of the temple beneath him as he retained only the slightest connection necessary to keep his butt planted firmly on the rail to avoid falling.

As he usually did his thoughts spread out to the uncharted territories, both those in the far rim and the cluttered center of the galaxy. Dangerous it was to travel in either direction, and one of Luke's priorities for the Order was helping their allies chart new hyperspace routes in both directions. Without Force intuition it was a matter of luck, not knowing whether you'd hit something with sufficient gravity to yank you out of hyperspace prior to reaching your destination star…and if there was something in the way, when you dropped out of the other dimension you'd run right into it and be blasted into oblivion.

Some pilots took that chance anyway, many of which died in the attempt, but those that made it through were heralded as heroes and potentially rich ones if the connection yielded economic opportunities, for there were individuals and factions that would pay handsomely to have private hyperspace routes that no one else knew about, and that was one way Luke was sure the slave rings were avoiding being completely shut down…along with a lot of other unsavory activities in a galaxy far too expansive to adequately watch over, but the Force gave Luke an advantage that he and the Jedi couldn't responsibly waste. They were the eyes and ears of all true civilizations, and those who did not have ulterior motives found an ally and mutually beneficial relationship with the Jedi, keeping the Order constantly busy with various missions and projects.

Which was good, but as larger as the Order had grown they were still not large enough, and to make matters worse it was becoming harder to find Force-sensitive infants, despite the assistance of all 6 major factions in the screening process. Luke was worried about that, not only because of the logistical implications, but because he sensed the dark side involved in the falling number of recruits, and yet still even that wasn't the source of his Force 'phantom,' as he'd come to think of it.

As the sun rose and the dark forest beneath him gave way to visible trees swaying in the breeze far below his feet, Luke identified three other troubled spots within the galaxy that he'd send investigators to, but it wasn't until she was a few feet away from him did his mind detect the presence of another Jedi walking up behind him.

"Master Skywalker?" Aida Brien said softly as she stopped short of his position, fearing that she might startle him into a fall.

"Yes," Luke said without turning around.

"Admiral Chor's shuttle has landed. He is awaiting you in the audience chamber…at your convenience," the Knight added, citing the Admiral's exact words.

"Thank you. I will be there shortly."

Aida bowed her chin respectfully, then spun around whisper quiet with her brown Jedi robe twirling in the wind as she walked back through the open doorway into the interior of the cupola.

"I sense you have another question," Luke said before she'd gotten two steps inside. She calmly stopped and glanced back hesitantly.

"Why the railing?"

"I can feel the air out here."

"You can open the windows," she pointed out.

"True," Luke said, pulling back his far reaching senses and finally opening his eyes before deftly spinning around on the rail and pulling his legs back inside its protective perimeter, "but I find more clarity here."

"You told us not to sit on the rail."

"I don't want you falling off."

"And if I said I don't want you falling off, Master?"

"You worry that I will?"

"No, I just…"

"Question the hypocrisy."

"I meant no offense."

"None taken, Aida. It's a valid question. I could tell you that there are mysteries to life that few have explored, and as such there is little vocabulary to describe them. I could tell you that giving you a bad explanation would do more harm than simply not answering…or I could simply tell you that if I did fall I know how to slow my speed enough that I would survive."

Aida frowned. "You can use the Force to fly?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I said I could slow my fall."

"Is that why you don't wear an anti-grav harness when flying?"

"Well, yes, but the harness also interferes with movement in the cockpit. It's better to avoid getting shot down in the first place, by my reckoning."

"Then why are we told as younglings to wear the harness?"

"So you have a chance to live through a mistake…or bad luck."

"And?" she pressed.

"And your piloting skills aren't so good as to be interfered with by the harness. Only a combat-level pilot would notice the interference."

"I stand corrected, Master. Forgive my doubt."

"Having questions is never a bad thing, Aida," Luke said as he hopped down off the railing a few inches and landed on his feet, his white Jedi robes flickering in the wind slightly as he walked inside with the similarly dressed Knight. "Only lies fear questioning. The truth never does. Did the Admiral come alone?"

"He brought two others, one of which was not wearing a uniform. I sensed he is a hired contact. As far as my asking questions, he said you'd personally requested his presence?"

"I did a while ago on the condition of him acquiring certain information. Council-only information," he said apologetically as a clear door shut out the exterior environment as they headed for a more solid one on the far side of the cupola that would lead them down into the lower levels of the temple.

"Asking a question does not always mean you get an answer," Aida responded with an understanding smile. "Do you require me further?"

"Not at this time, thank you."

"Then I will let you take the lift," she said, stepping over to the right and the narrow set of almost hidden stairs that descended around the tower in a majestic and lengthy corkscrew. "I have business with Master Perrin."

Luke nodded as he stepped into the lift, with the door sliding shut in front of him and him pressing the button for the lowest level and the only one in the temple where visitors were allowed.

2

"Admiral Chor," Luke greeted the Mon Calamari as he walked across the large, circular lounge that was just inside the six main doors to the temple. There were a handful of other non-Jedi there, mostly those with regular business to conduct, but the two Calamari and the rough-looking Human waiting just inside the doors were clearly out of place.

"Master Skywalker," the Mon Cal Admiral said with a polite nod that his peer mimicked, though the Human didn't respond at all. "I have information for you."

Luke pointed an open hand to his left. "This way."

The quartet walked across the large room and inside a side chamber that they had to themselves. Luke shut the clear door behind them, then telekinetically flicked a wall switch that turned both the door and the interior windows opaque, giving the small chamber a bit of a claustrophobic feel, but one that also supplied sufficient privacy for the delicate matter the Admiral was here on.

"What have you found?" Luke asked as the three visitors stood in the center of the empty room looking back at him.

The Mon Cal held up a data cube in silence, with Luke triggering a panel on the floor directly behind the trio to pull apart, out of which rose a work table that the Jedi walked around and stood behind as the Admiral found the appropriate plug-in. A holographic map along with numerous lists and charts appeared, cluttering the air with so much glowing data it partially obscured Luke's view of the visitors.

"I apologize for the delay," Chor said as he began to organize the mess into more recognizable divisions. "I wanted a thorough investigation before I reported back to you. Your fears were justified. These are the compiled blood tests with midi-chlorian counts for the past 83 years. These are the number that survived long enough to be brought to the Jedi Order."

Luke looked at the lists, not immediately seeing the implication until the Admiral began making highlights. All living beings contained microscopic midi-chlorians, though they weren't produced by the body. They manifested themselves in all life, then disappeared soon after death or disconnection from an individual, which made blood testing tricky. You had to analyze the samples quickly before the midi-chlorians disappeared, but all six major factions…the Naboo Confederation, Mon Cal Protectorate, Chiss Consortium, Corellian Alliance, Corporate Sector, and Yati Emporium…had a long standing agreement with the Jedi to screen for potential candidates and report back their existence in a timely manner.

It was those relationships, along with a few others in the minor factions, that provided the net the Jedi needed to find force sensitive younglings. Most were given over willingly to the Jedi, though some were not. In the cases of the latter the situation was investigated and many were simply passed over, but if the younglings required 'rescuing' from a bad environment they would be. That had rubbed some people the wrong way, but for the most part the civilized galaxy was helpful in the search for Force sensitive children under a certain age that varied a bit from one faction to another, though all had to have at least a midi-chlorian count of 3,400.

Below that and they were deemed to have too weak a connection to the Force to train to become Jedi, though that didn't mean they couldn't touch and use the Force. That left a lot of children with Force-sensitivity out there, but Luke had trained many over his lifetime and those with limited skills couldn't keep up with the others. Though he hated to do it, the 3,400 mark was the minimum he'd accept, though he had started another program to help guide and train Force-sensitives with either a lower count or those too old to begin formal Jedi training. He knew better than to leave them without guidance, and many of them assisted the Jedi with varying work, most notably working as scouts.

But even their numbers had been declining in recent years, and the numbers the Admiral were reporting from the Mon Cal Protectorate backed up his fears.

"As you can see, some 13% of those identified at birth didn't survive long enough to be given to the Jedi, but that number spikes to 63% if you look only at the previous 4 years. When I looked into how they were dying, the number of unexplained deaths and kidnappings were statistically high. I do believe that someone is deliberately targeting them, but not only them. Look at the numbers of older Force-sensitives," he said, bringing up the relevant data.

Luke's eyes widened in shock.

"I can see from your expression that you are surprised, as was I. Over the past decade 84% of all known Force-sensitives not part of the Jedi order, excluding younglings, have died of various means. It is improbably that these could all be accidents. Someone is intentionally targeting them, and we have a lead."

The Admiral glanced at the Human, who crossed his arms over his jacket and leaned back slightly, looking as if he was trying to put up a brave face to cover his unease at being inside the temple.

"On orders from the Mon Cal I did some independent digging. Security cameras in the vicinity of where some of the 'accidents' have happened have been damaged or had their footage erased cleverly. Whoever this is, they're covering their tracks well…but not completely. I managed to pluck one recording before it could be erased, and it shows the assassination of a Force user called Kabash. The Wookiee was known to me and others in my…occupation, but we never suspected he had your abilities."

Luke watched as the holo recording played. It wasn't a good vantage point, taken from considerably far away, but sight of the landing pad was unobscured save for the heavy rain. He saw the Wookiee's ship land, and when he came out he was gunned down in an ambush. Not on the first shot, for the Wookiee either spotted or sensed a threat, but after a short exchange of blaster fire from multiple attackers Kabash went down, though not before he Force threw one of them off the pad in a fit of rage typical of his race.

"He never stood a chance."

Luke nodded his agreement. "Did they try to delete this recording?"

"Yes, but I happened to be on planet at the time. There was a backup that they didn't find until later. I left a programming worm that alerted me when they deleted the files that I'd already made a copy of."

"How long?"

"Within 36 hours. Not lightning fast, but I'd assume they had all the closer vantage points dark a lot faster. Maybe even before they hit Kabash. These aren't petty thugs. They're organized, efficient, and good at hiding their tracks."

"Did you identify any of them?"

"No," the Admiral said regretfully. "Other than this slip-up, they're phantoms as far as our security is concerned. I had to acquire the help of independent trackers to come up with even this much."

"How are they getting the lists?"

The Admiral turned to the other Mon Cal standing beside him, who reached forward and brought up some additional records.

"We do not know how, but we know when. They are not intercepting them immediately. A delay of at least 4, up to 8 months is the statistical trend. Given that younglings in the Protectorate are not typically collected until the age of 3 to 6, depending on the race, these assassins appear to have plenty of time to enact their fell deeds."

"But most of the deaths are the older ones?"

"By percentage only. In raw numbers there are far more younglings going missing given how few older Force-sensitives are known. We do not record data on midi-chlorians aside from in children. The required equipment is sensitive enough to be located only in the facilities that care for them."

"The same is true elsewhere," Luke agreed, having turned over the ancient technology to them himself years ago so they could help in the search. It wasn't something that was widely used, given the odd nature of the midi-chlorians and their lack of a genetic fingerprint that defied most scans. "Can you quietly begin expanding your testing?"

"You want to find the older ones before the assassins can?"

"The younglings we will have to start collecting immediately upon recognition. I see no other way to combat this unless we can find the leak. That will take some reworking of the temples in order to accommodate those that young, but we can't bring in the older ones. Most won't come even if we offered, but if we can identify them and watch them, we may be able to catch this enemy in the act."

"Widespread blood testing is out of the question," the Admiral said regretfully. "There is no cause for it, so we will only have access to those that are injured or being tested for another purpose, and even then we do not have enough equipment to cover all of those."

"Throw as large of a net out as you can," Luke suggested. "Whoever is doing this is identifying the older ones through another means. We need to get lucky and find one before they do."

"Are the Jedi not aware of many already?"

"Only those that have connections to us. A few others are known, but most of them have dropped off the map in one way or another. Nothing obvious, given the lives that some of them lead, but I fear those that are unaccounted for are most likely dead now. What did you mean by kidnapped earlier?"

"The bodies were never recovered, so we do not know for a fact that they died. They simply vanished. Sometimes the families did as well. Initially we thought this was to deny their children being taken by the Jedi, but since our government doesn't require it that never sat well with me."

"It doesn't make sense," the nameless Human abruptly said. "If they're trying to cover up the deaths, they need an excuse. Abruptly making them disappear leaves questions behind."

"That it does," Luke agreed. "And the older ones. Some of them disappear as well?"

"A few," the Admiral admitted. "You suspect another motive?"

"As bad as it sounds, I fear something worse for those taken. You haven't found any suspicious ship activity?"

"Nothing. My staff has gone through every bit of data we have multiple times. There is no trail."

Luke rested a hand on his clean shaven chin as his long white hair fell slightly onto his arm.

"I have made inquiries elsewhere, but you are the first to report back. Recruitment numbers are down across the galaxy. If it is the result of these mysterious assassins, they must have a very widespread organization and taps into all governments. I had wondered if this wasn't a natural reduction due to the identical reductions regardless of geography, but your data is undeniable. Someone is targeting Force-sensitives across the galaxy and being very thorough about it."

"The Protectorate will do whatever we can to assist the Jedi in this matter," Chor eagerly pledged.

"Thank you, Admiral. I get the feeling we're going to need as much help as we can get. Right now, unless we can force their hand, we have to identify and get to the Force-sensitives before they can. I need you to start testing as many people as possible, as well as making arrangements for the pickup of the already identified younglings and security protection until such a time that pickup can be arranged."

"Then time is already against us. With your permission, I will begin at once."

"Save as many as you can," Luke urged, with the Mon Cal wasting no time. When he turned away from the table Luke telekinetically unsealed the door and allowed the threesome to leave, but he remained standing at the table that still held the data cube as its contents were emblazoned before him. He knew that wasn't an accident and the Admiral had left it here for him on purpose, so he began sifting through it in detail and getting better acquainted with the horrific numbers.

There was no mistake here. Too many were dying or disappearing to be chance. In the beginning the reborn Jedi Order had faced many trials, suffering losses along the way, some of which still tugged on his heart when the memories resurfaced, especially concerning his sister. But that aside, the Order had survived the chaos post-Empire and grew into such a strong and dominant force for peace and stability that no one had outwardly challenged them for more than 200 years.

He wasn't well acquainted with public gossip, but he'd dabbled now and then to get a feel for the perspectives of those without his experience and knowledge, and there was an unmistakable respect/hate for the Jedi depending on who you asked. But no matter who it was, the sentiment regarding challenging them was clear…you didn't mess with the Jedi unless you had a death wish, and while the Order captured more enemies than they killed, their skills and power had made them dominant for such a long time now that most people didn't think anything or anyone could stand up to a Jedi and survive.

Luke wished that was so, for he'd lost many fellow Jedi over the years. Most were in odd circumstances, but the majority of conflicts in recent memory had the Jedi or Jedi-led forces prevailing, often with ease. Jedi work wasn't safe by a long shot, but the number of people bold enough to challenge them outright had been reduced to a very short list.

But this…this was a direct attempt to stab them in the back. They meant to strike at the younglings before they could become Jedi, taking down the supposedly unbeatable foes before they could ever wield a blade. There was an evil cleverness to that strategy that Luke could appreciate, but why would they also target adult Force-sensitives? The last adult that had become a full Jedi was 430 years ago and that had been a very odd case. What threat were the adults outside the Order if the aim of these assassins was to destroy the Jedi by attrition?

Something here didn't fit, and Luke suspected that whatever the answer was he wasn't going to like it.

Standing at the table reading through the floating records, he let his mind drift as he closed his eyes and reached out to the Force.

Master Yoda, hear me. I need your counsel. I sense a grave threat to the Jedi, but one that is striking us from the shadows. I know the Sith are gone, but this reeks of the darkside. I can reason it clearly enough, but I cannot sense it. You spoke of the clouding of the Force during the time of the Sith, and I ask now for your help. Hear me, Master. I need your guidance.

With his thoughts spoken to the Force Luke waited, sifting through the data while also trying to look into the future, hoping to pick up on one of these attacks before they happened, but Yoda didn't respond. Luke didn't know if that was because he chose not to or because he couldn't hear him, but the more he though this through the more he sensed a threat to the Order. This was not something he had encountered before, and while he was confident in both his own skills and those of the other Jedi, this method of attack left them not even knowing who their foe was and he feared them exploiting the Jedi's ignorance and doing great damage before the Order could unravel this mystery.

Luke was lost in thought when a familiar presence walked through the doorway and the glowing red eyes of Master Kas dropped upon him.

"We are in trouble, my friend," Luke said with his elbows leaned on the table and his head cradled in his hands.

"I've not seen that look in your eyes before," the Chiss said warily. "Were your suspicions confirmed?"

"It's worse than I imagined," he admitted, closing the door from afar so their conversation would remain private. "We have a clever, organized foe working against us from the shadows. Force-sensitives are quietly being eliminated across the galaxy, more younglings than not, but all are being targeted except the Jedi. I fear this is an attempt to kill us before we can be trained."

Kas considered that for a moment, his silent demeanor typical of his persona. "The culprits can be found and stopped. And we are still receiving younglings, so they are not winning yet."

"I sense a long term strategy here, but it is escalating," Luke said, referencing the data before him with a swipe of his hand as he fully stood up. "They know who the younglings are."

"And so do we. It is a race then?"

"Yes."

"But you are concerned with more than this?"

"I have questions that cannot be answered until we get more information."

"What of your transcended Jedi?"

Luke sighed. "They haven't spoken to me in a very long time. I've asked, but I fear they may be of no help in this."

"We are the Order, Master Skywalker. It is our duty to counter whatever threats befall this galaxy, not those of past generations."

Luke smiled ironically. "I am of 'past generations.'"

"And we are fortunate you are still with us. If we are being attacked through this means, it is because our enemies fear to face us directly. No matter how clever they are, we will root them out eventually."

"Your optimism is refreshing, but I still have grave concerns."

"Do you have a course of action?"

"Working on one. The Admiral just left to work his angle. As for us, I'm still thinking things through."

"How can the Council assist you?"

"By piecing together what I can't," Luke said bluntly, pointing at the holograms. "Dig in and see what you can gather from the data. Maybe I'm missing something obvious."

"I doubt that, but I will assist regardless. Have you informed the others?"

"No. I wanted to have something to give them other than questions. We obviously have to race them to the targets, but we need a way to identify who we're going up against and I don't expect to get lucky enough to both be in the same place at the same time."

"You cannot see them in the future?"

"Not yet."

"If they are of the darkside, it would shroud their movements to an extent. You taught us that long ago."

"I had hoped my own powers had developed enough for me to see through that."

"Perhaps they are more powerful than…" Kas cut off, realizing the implications of that.

"That's what worries me most," Luke admitted.

3

After several hours of study and meditation Luke called it quits, unable to get any leads on future attacks. He left Kas to inform the rest of the council and see if they could come up with anything, eventually making his way outside the temple and onto one of the many training courses in the forest beyond.

Wearing only body clinging shorts and a sleeveless shirt, Luke ran along narrow, crooked paths passing by other Jedi doing their own workouts with each trying to not interfere with the other, but sometimes the terrain didn't allow for that. Most of the time the younger Jedi would make way for Luke, stepping aside for a few seconds to let him pass, but on occasion a faster runner would catch him and he'd do the same…though in his case, when a Twi'lek named Ollar Neveen came up behind him Luke deftly braked to an almost halt then jumped upwards, flipping over backwards as he let the Jedi Master past.

As Luke landed he saw the Twi'lek wave his thanks, then the flashing legs were eclipsed by vegetation as he powered on. He wasn't a member of the Council, which included the 16 most senior Jedi who accepted the position, but Ollar was one of the strongest and quickest in the Order and Luke wasn't interested in matching pace with him today, so he returned to his own quick, but relaxed running and let the forest continue to whip by as he tried to clear his mind of distractions.

Eventually he came onto another path that quickly merged with 7 others, bringing them all together for a short stretch that came up to a high wall that two other Jedi were already climbing using the handholds, but in a display of his true strength Luke skipped it entirely, launching himself into a Force jump at the base and flying past the climbers, then got a hand on the upper rim and with one solid pull rolled himself up and over the edge, leaving those below wondering how in the galaxy he'd done that.

Luke returned to his running stride and picked a different path to follow as they branched off again, each going on their unique circuits. He chose one of the longer ones and trudged through several miles of trail out to a ridgeline with the path taking him up to the summit of one of the low peaks. When he got there he finally stopped and took a breather, climbing a short ladder up a nearby rock where they'd built a tiny observation platform that could hold three or four people.

There was no one here now and normally there wouldn't be, for this trail was reserved for the veteran Jedi and beyond the ridge lay a lot more difficult terrain and obstacles to pass, but right now the Jedi Master took a moment to rest and enjoy the view that put him just above the treetops that slopped down to the flat in front of him and extended all the way back to the Jedi temple that could be easily seen rising in the distance far higher than anything else on the horizon.

He remembered when they'd built it here, 5th in line of construction. Originally there had been disagreement over having multiple temples, citing the need for only one primary and then having secondary facilities elsewhere, but Luke had eventually decided that the Jedi, if they were to truly be a force for good throughout the entire galaxy, should not be centered in any one place…and definitely not on Coruscant.

That planet was far too packed with people, and while there was something to be said about the level of Force activity in such places, it was not the kind of place that fostered training. The Jedi would have to keep to themselves indoors on city worlds, but here on Prioniss and other mostly uninhabited planets, they were free to roam and soak in the feel of the Force and take the measure of the galaxy absent the taint of society.

He'd never regretted that decision, or the creating of the 8 primary temples that he rotated between on occasion. The Council did not sit in any one either, rather keeping in contact with one another via the hyperspace communications network…or if they had to, through the holonet. Plus, with so many of the Council out on field work it was rare that even half of the 16 would be in the temples at the same time. Luke had wanted a Council that moved about and were Jedi rather than a group of administrators who sat and watched while others did. That was a lesson he'd learned the hard way years ago, but like with many other growing pains the Order had survived and adapted.

Luke wondered if some of the small changes he'd made to what the old Order used to be was part of the reason why Obi-wan and Yoda didn't speak with him anymore, for they'd helped him rebuild it as it had been…more or less…but some things hadn't worked out as predicted and he'd had to make changes. For the better, as far as history had determined, but it still bothered him why they wouldn't speak with him anymore. Perhaps they had to move on with their own paths just as he did, but they'd never actually said 'goodbye' and that left Luke wondering if something else wasn't involved in their silence.

With the sun high overhead and Luke feeling the strong wind on his face now that he was up above the trees, his mind wandered to that old question again as his breathing slowed and the slight heaviness in his legs diminished. When he was about ready to drop down and continue on with the harder part of this circuit an old memory of Yoda flashed to mind…then quickly transitioned through the foresight he'd had of Han and Leia suffering on Cloud City to Han's eventual death in the Battle of Taris during the Yatti Rebellion.

His old friend had gone out in a blaze of glory befitting his personality, but it still soured Luke to remember it. He hadn't been there during that fight, but he'd watched the holos afterward and he still didn't know how Han had pulled off that reversal. Leia had taken his death far harder than Luke…and that was saying a lot…but he still thought that loss was what had prompted her to leave the Order. She'd felt responsible for not being there with him in that battle, rather a system away leading troops in another fight.

After another year of fighting when the Yatti were finally dealt with she had withdrawn from the Order, citing the need to be with her children and grandchildren…those that weren't Jedi, at least. Yoda hadn't been pleased with the Skywalker 'lineage' that had developed in the earliest of the Order's years before a 'proper' definition of what a Jedi's life was to look like was reestablished, and Leia had always disagreed on that point, so when she decided to leave the Order he had been supportive.

Some people were better off forming strong bonds with others, but Jedi couldn't allow that weakness. As close as he had been to Han, his death hadn't made Luke incapable of carrying out his duties. It had hurt him terribly, and that pain would always be tucked down inside of him, but he hadn't linked his identity in the way that Leia had. Though they'd never 'officially' been married, the two had become so close and emotionally dependent on the other that it had killed a part of his sister when he'd died.

That was the price of bonding with someone so closely. It gave you great strength at times, but sever the bond and it left you damaged. Luke cared about all the Jedi in the Order, and many other people, often with deep feelings of friendship, but he never made the mistake of tying himself to them emotionally. When one of them was lost it hurt, but it did not incapacitate him. He was an individual, as all Jedi were meant to be, capable of operating as a team but just as easily going it alone beyond the boundaries of civilization into the wilds for years at a time if necessary.

Leia had never been one for those extremes, and her leaving to cling to the remaining familial bonds she had made sense, in a way, for she didn't want to cut herself off from Han's memory. Luke had had a long talk with her about such things, laying it out plainly what he thought was happening to her and what her future might entail, but fortunately their bond was strong enough that she didn't take such criticism harshly, and in the end Leia left the Jedi Order on good terms. For after all, one didn't have to be a Jedi to follow the lightside or wield the Force. He just wished her path hadn't been decided for her by Han's death.

For if he hadn't died and she'd remained on the path...but there was another old question. Why had Luke lived this long when other Jedi hadn't? Other Humans anyway. Did Yoda live as long as he did because of his race or was it something else? And if Luke had something special, might not Leia have had it too? Might she still be alive today if she hadn't left the Order?

Her children didn't have it, though strong in the Force they were. Nor did her grandchildren and those that came after. 136 years was the longest any of them had lived, with that being Jaina, and here Luke was sitting at year 713 and still going strong…

Cloud City. The memory came back again and he wondered why. Had he been able to sense both of their fates there, or had he been sensing his sister? Was it their bond that linked them, or had he seen the future independent of it? Luke still had so many unanswered questions concerning those early years, not to mention who his grandfather was. His father was said to have been a 'virgence' within the Force, yet no one seemed to know what that meant for sure.

Would has father have lived as long as Luke had if he hadn't been killed? Luke had wondered about that many times, never coming up with an answer as to why he was still here and…

Suddenly the memory of Cloud City came back with a clarity that surprised Luke. He was feeling it like he had long ago, as if he was remembering the vision in real time…then suddenly the Force swerved, as it often did, and took him somewhere else entirely.

Someone else was in pain…no, multiple people, in multiple places. He didn't know why his mind had come here, but he wasn't going to argue with it now for he was seeing Force-sensitives…and they were being ambushed.

One was shot…another forced off a cliff…another pair blown up in some sort of audience chamber. The three events kept repeating in his mind, and not always with the same scenario, but Luke tried to pick out whatever pieces he could, for he needed to know where they were and when. He was fairly sure he was seeing the future, but how far out?

Over the next several minutes he surfed the images, with two more locations surfacing as he observed without trying to focus too hard and lose vision…then when he finally opened his eyes he found himself on top of the observation platform looking out over the forest again, but this time with information. Three planets that were recognizable to him along with two that were not.

Felucia, Mellor, and Kuat.

Luke stood up and stepped over the ladder rungs, falling down back beneath the trees and landing in a crouch on the soft dirt below. He had three firm leads now along with two possibles to give to the Council members, and hopefully with their combined help they'd be able to find and get to at least one of these targets before the assassins did.

Kaylar Degan received the council summons in the middle of the night onboard the Jedi Arbiter-class cruiser as it sat on the surface of Suungal. He and his padawan had been assigned to assist with the refugee relocation from the neighboring star system, particularly with the organization effort in the camp cities being set up on the relatively uninhabited world.

There were only a few settlements on the northern continent and the Naboo Confederation had secured the bottom half of the western one to relocate the primitive race known only as the Barrati that was otherwise doomed to die in the ice age rapidly consuming their planet that had been knocked out of orbit by a freak collision of planets that had thrown off the gravitational constant in the system and sent the Barrati on a slowly escalating spiral away from their giant red star.

Most of them had already been transported here and the others would be arriving in stages over the next year, but keeping them orderly and calm with the limited supplies available required a Jedi's touch to fight the panic and uncertainty of making a new home for scratch on an alien world. Kaylar and his padawan were two of six assigned here to help guide some 18 million Barrati, a none too small task, but one that had been going well despite the random storms that wracked the continent during the summer season.

With nothing more than tents to their name, the Jedi had been helping the Barrati build some basic structures to establish a center point for their new civilization, which left Kaylar living off their grounded starship in lieu of guest quarters that were far from anyone's imagination on this raw world. The Jedi didn't mind the accommodations, and would have been happy enough with a tent if that was all that was available, for the work they'd been assigned was getting done and the Jedi had firmly established their trust. So much so that 6 Jedi were no longer needed in Kaylar's opinion, and he was expecting most of them to be reassigned to areas of greater need soon while leaving one caretaker in place until the full relocation had been completed.

The Human Jedi rolled off of his bunk and activated the holo communicator that he had left on the table beside it as the persistent chirping pulled him from his peaceful sleep. When he activated it his small room filled with tiny holograms of the Jedi Council, but it was Master Skywalker that spoke.

"How are things on Suungal?"

"Proceeding extremely well, Master. It will be many years before the Barrati can rebuild what was lost, but they are safely on the path and I believe they will require only minimal oversight to keep them on it. Am I right in my sense of something urgent from the Council?"

"Your senses serve you well. There are a pair of force sensitive individuals on Kuat that we believe to be in imminent danger along with many others throughout the galaxy. We believe they are being targeted for elimination by unknown forces that are seeking to destroy those that could one day become Jedi."

Kaylar sat up a bit straighter. "What is my assignment?"

"Go to the shipyards and seek out the pair. We believe them to be vendors and hopefully by the time you arrive on the planet we will be able to narrow down the search, but for now the best we can do is Kuati Gordon Province, executive level."

"What am I to do when I find them?"

"If you are in time, quietly inform them of the threat and shadow them. Their protection is your priority, but if they are seen to have Jedi guards their attackers may simply wait until you leave and then strike. You must draw them out."

"I understand. Do you have any feel for who or what they these attackers are?"

"We sense a group rather than an individual. Beyond that we cannot see, but their assassination methods vary greatly. Be alert for uncommon attack methods and take both your padawan and Neva with you."

Kaylar raised an eyebrow. "Three?"

"These are not common assassins," Kas Mati said from his seat beside Luke. "They are a wave of death. If we are to discover and protect, you need to be in multiple places at once."

Kaylar nodded. "Are we to leave at once?"

"The attack has not happened yet," Skywalker said, "but I sense it will be soon."

"Then I will waste no further time in discussion," Kaylar said, standing.

"May the Force be with you," the elder Jedi offered as the hologram deactivated and the device flew into Kaylar's hand and then inner pocket as he pulled his boots on, after which he alerted the Captain, crew, and padawan to their new mission and the fact that they'd be lifting off within minutes, then picking up Neva from her campsite on the way up to orbit. Her ship and crew would be remaining here to continue their work, but their Mirialan Jedi would be coming to Kuat with them.

4

When Kaylar entered Kuat orbit he couldn't feel a trace of what he'd been sent here to discover, nor could the other two Jedi with him, but that wasn't unusual. He was disconnected with it, but hopefully when they got to ground and crossed paths with something involved he'd pick up a trace.

It was going to take some time to get to ground, for the low orbit traffic was fierce. The planet had a single space station that was in itself a full ring around the planet where many of the galaxy's finest starships were produced, but beyond that there were many other smaller stations and a horde of shipping going to and from those stations in addition to the surface.

Kaylar contacted the Corporate Alliance traffic control nexus and used his priority Jedi codes…which got them first in line for landing traffic, but they still had to proceed slowly and on a highly scripted flight plan to avoid the convoluted traffic pattern that was allowing for massive transport of raw materials and exports to and from the planet. Kuat had been mined out long ago, and while the infrastructure remained it had to be fed by massive imports, the kind of which only a vibrant economy could afford to ship in.

Fortunately the Corporate Alliance was the richest of the major factions and had not only maintained, but enhanced Kuat to the point where it functioned as their primary industrial stronghold for everything for starship production to power couplings. Agricultural exports the planet did not have, but the Corporate Sector had acquired many worlds who specialized in such things, binding their web together in a massive shipping business that made Kaylar wonder how they avoided stepping on each other in the mess of organized chaos.

The Jedi vessel made it to ground without incident, landing in one of thousands of identical spaceports on a pad twice the size of the cruiser to no fanfare. When he and the other two Jedi left the ship they walked across the connective bridge alone and unnoticed as the sky above them buzzed with all manner of traffic.

"I feel an energy I do not like," Illia said, shaking her Twi'lek head tails with disgust. "This planet is saturated in it."

"You sense the confusion. Something massive could happen and few would notice. It gives stealth to many who do not wish to be seen, and in the cracks they lurk," Keva explained as Kaylar led the way with the pair of girls following in his wake with one to either side, their lightsabers hidden beneath their plain over robes that would not give them away as Jedi, for many in the galaxy wore similar garments.

"It's foul, isn't it?" her master asked.

"Somewhat. But it's more a mix of something foul and…something else. It's not wholly bad, but I do not like it."

"You'll get used to it in time. Jedi do not come to place we like all that often."

"True," Keva agreed as they passed through a set of large doors that opened at their presence then closed behind them when they moved into the busy promenade that linked multiple landing pads. There were dozens of people passing by within earshot, but it looked like the architecture had been made to hold hundreds.

"Off you go," he told Keva, with the Mirialan silently walking to the left as Kaylar and his padawan headed to the right and began to roam the city built up around the shipbuilding industry as they felt for any trace of the upcoming incident that Master Skywalker had warned them about.

They walked for more than an hour before Illia suddenly pressed a hand against Kaylar's chest…a gesture for him to stop. She pointed a green finger into a nearby building that stood on its own off an outdoor walkway that ringed one of the larger spaceports.

Kayla reached out with his senses and felt a disturbance inside, though it wasn't what they were looking for. None the less, they were Jedi and the darkside twinges from inside beckoned for a challenge.

"Follow me in 40," he said, walking ahead of her as he accelerated into a casual jog with his robe fluttering behind him like a cape. The Jedi entered the building and disappeared inside as his apprentice followed more slowly. She got to the door and waited a few moments longer until her mental count came to 40, then she followed him inside, easily able to sense and track his presence…as well as feel when he entered combat.

Illia accelerated when that happened, rushing through the narrow hallways until she came out into a small hangar bay filled with crates and blaster fire. She drew her lightsaber but did not ignite it, jumping up to the top of one crate then leaping further up to the top of a stack where she could see from above what was happening.

There were two small ships with cargo ramps extended and Bsatti crews rushing to get crates onboard as Kaylar deflected blaster fire from the others covering them. Illia eyed them for a moment, seeing if she'd receive any, but they hadn't noticed her so high up. She took a deep breath, summoning the Force into her legs, then she jumped out almost sideways, dropping through the air as she ignited her yellow lightsaber and landed behind two of the blaster wielding Bsatti. A push of her hand and both were knocked onto the faces by a Force wave, then she spun and deflected a bolt meant for her as she drew attention away from her master.

She held her ground, blade flinging around her in a rhythm she'd developed through extensive hours of training against droids far more accurate than these fiends. It didn't take much of a distraction for Kaylar to gain the upper hand, and within a minute he had the weapons of the Bsatti cut in half or otherwise unfunctional and their wielders knocked unconscious or running for their lives.

"Let them go," he said as Illia used the Force to trip one running away, causing it to do a temporary face plant before the Rhinoceros-like biped scrambled to its feet and rushed off. "The cargo is what matters," he said as the whine of engines powering up cut through the din of the hangar. "Stop that ship."

Illia ran into the nearest one while Kaylar went to the other, each getting onboard before the ramps could be fully retracted. She had to make a short jump and deflect a blast bolt mid-air to get onboard, but once she did there was little resistance that even a Jedi padawan couldn't handle.

The ship made it three meters in the air before stopping its ascent and dropping back to the ground as the pilot was held at lightsaber point, then she forced him and the other occupants out and onto the deck along with the rest as her master used his commlink to call for local security to arrive.

Until they did the two Jedi brought all those prisoners that hadn't fled to a central area and had them sit down on the deck plates while Illia walked a circle around them, her blade gleaming brightly and discouraging anyone from trying to run off as Kaylar moved to one of the crates and sliced the lock open with a quick flick of his blue blade. He waved a hand and the lid opened, revealing stacked pouches of a black powder.

"Good catch, Illia. Looks like Narsil."

"I can feel the taint of death on it," she said, glaring at those who were shipping the banned poison that doubled as an intoxicant in very mild doses. It had a variety of uses, none of them good, and wherever a cargo of Narsil went, deaths were inevitably to follow…so much so that even the more unscrupulous planets in the galaxy had banned the substance. Even they didn't want a trail of bodies to pick up after.

When security got there the Jedi relinquished their prisoners and the contraband, then disappeared into the city and resumed their wandering, not finding anything else of consequence for hours. Eventually they found their way to an information terminal and tried their luck at the arrival logs…the public ones, anyway. Kaylar scrolled through the list as his padawan watched, then after a few minutes he stopped, oddly staring at one entry.

"What is it?" Illia asked.

"This one," he said, pointing to a ship called the Solar Strider, privately owned with no name attached. "What do you think?"

"I sense nothing."

"I'm not sure either, but something caught my attention."

"Where is it?"

Kaylar pulled up the information, brief as it was, seeing that it was some distance away.

"Halfway across the continent."

"Not in this region then?"

The Jedi frowned, then checked something. "It won't be in two days. It's double booked. Right now it's…just to the North. Too far to walk, but a speeder ride can get us there with ease."

"Why would they double book?"

"If they had business in both places they'd schedule arrival points ahead of time to make sure they had available slots. In a high end area such as this traffic is the heaviest."

"It doesn't seem too crowded…for this planet anyway."

"High end doesn't see the masses, but it does see a lot of ships with VIPs onboard."

"You think there's a connection here?"

"Not sure, but at least it's a lead to something. You have anything else to go on?"

"No, master."

"Head back to the ship and stay there until I return. I'll check this out and report back. If it's nothing there's no point in both of us wasting our time."

"I'm not that tired, master."

Kaylar smiled. "I'm not concerned with your stamina, youngling. I want you to do a thorough records search of all ships docking in the past two days and those schedule for the next week. Any trace of anything."

"What do you suspect?"

"That the force sensitives aren't commoners. I get the feeling they may be hiding in plain sight. I'll check out this lead, you look for others until Neva comes back."

"As you wish," she said, nodding as peeling off from the information terminal as Kaylar deleted his search and returned to the main screen. He proceeded to the nearest transport terminal and hired a speeder to take him to the landing pad in question, then he quietly blended in with the pedestrian traffic and worked his way around to one of several elevated walkways that connected to various shops and high rise infrastructure that ringed the various landing pads like egg containers.

He wanted to get his eyes on the Solar Strider, and as soon as he did he realized it was a dead end. There wasn't anything special about it, other than its make. It was expensive, small, and completely uninteresting as far as the Force was concerned. Kaylar knew there was nothing here, his gut told him as much, but he decided to sit and enjoy the view for a while as he thought, picking a curb underneath a lamp that show out to the main walkway and not directly underneath.

He leaned up against it and kept a sense of his surroundings. Kuat wasn't the most dangerous place in the galaxy, but even in a high end region such as this there were always scenarios that could ensnare someone that wasn't paying attention. Kidnappings weren't unheard of, and a fair number of corporate assassinations were common, but if what the Council had said was true, these mysterious attackers were going after Force-sensitives. If that was true, they weren't typical assassin and might be able to pick up on the fact that he wasn't exactly normal.

With that thought tucked in the back of his mind he waited and let his mind wander. Nothing of importance came to him, and after a little while he was considering cutting his losses and heading back to the ship when someone approached him from behind, coming up to the railing in front of his feet and standing in view for a few seconds before respectfully turning and bowing.

"Greetings, stranger," the furry Bothan said. "How may I be of assistance to you?"

"I'm sure you have some ideas," Kaylar said dismissively.

"I can only guess, but I have a wide range of services available to someone of such high merit."

"And what do you know of my merit?"

"Intuition only. And you do not look like someone who is focused on a task, rather someone looking for a means to do something."

"I am looking for dangerous men."

"Many of those here. Are you looking to hire or to kill?"

"Depends."

"Few to hire. Much competition. But I can acquaint you with those available, if my services are required."

"They're not, but thanks for the offer."

The Bothan bowed again. "I meant no offense. Pardon my intrusion. Good day."

Kaylar watched him walk off, but remained at his lamp post perch for a while longer. Something was bugging him, and it wasn't that Bothan. It was something nagging him, as if it was obvious but he was too close to see it. He replayed everything the Bothan said in his mind, then he got hung up on one word.

Competition.

He didn't think expert assassins would be hiring out for work like this, but maybe the Force-sensitives were?

As he pondered that thought he got a Force echo off it, along with the sense that the targets were recruiters of some sort. He got a hazy vision of a landing pad and people on it, but nothing firm and it disappeared as soon as he tried to focus on it.

Kaylar stood up. The vision hadn't been much, but he felt it now. Like a tendril connecting to the near future. There was a countdown now, and he sensed he only had a day or two to find this mystery recruiter, but he was confident he was on the right trail now…or at least of something important, if not his actual quarry.

The Jedi abandoned his seat in a hurry, walking smoothly but quickly to the nearest available speeder for hire and had it take him straight back to the Jedi cruiser where he shared his insight with Neva and Illia, and between the three of them and a little meditation they were able to narrow down their hunt further…the target was not an individual, but a pair, and they were both Human.

5

Kaylar stood on a railing, obscured in his cloak and the passing foot traffic as he observed the traders going about their business. Keva had found earlier this day and tracked them at a distance, then had switched off with Kaylar while she got some rest. He could sense their connection to the Force, with the younger of the two being far more powerful…for an untrained user. They barely would have registered at the Jedi level, but there was no doubt these two were the ones the Council had sent him here to find. They stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the population now that he knew what to look for, but neither he nor the other Jedi had made contact with them.

If an attack was to happen, Kaylar and the others needed to be nearby to stop it, but they also needed to capture those who would be responsible so they could backtrack this plot to the source. So far nothing had happened, and what little information Illia had managed to find on the pair was limited. They were moderately wealthy, running a small shipping line that did business here and thorough the Corporate Sector. They were also siblings, with the girl being the eldest of the two by 5 years.

There was no other family relation registered. Had they been born to Force-sensitive parents or were they a random manifestation the Jedi did not know, but the fact that both siblings had a strong Force connection suggested a gifted bloodline. Illia had been cross referencing with Jedi records to find a match, but no correlation had been found to those Jedi that had left the Order. Those within it were banned from procreation, and the few infractions that had occurred over the years had also been recorded, but this pair could not be traced to either source.

But these two individuals could have been trained as Jedi, Kaylar was sure of that. They must have slipped through the cracks when they were young, but that wasn't too uncommon. Blood testing was done in the more civilized areas, often for other reasons and the Jedi's network of contacts added the midichlorian test as an afterthought, but that left many people unaccounted for in the galaxy. These two were probably born to another Force-sensitive that had escaped detection, for those who were identified and then declined Jedi training were still monitored by the Order. If they had offspring they would be the most likely to have Force-sensitivity in the galaxy, thus they were where the Order first looked.

But if there were no records of these two in the database, how then were they going to be identified as targets? That didn't make sense to Kaylar, with him feeling there must be something more in play here than bureaucratic slight of hand when he got a chirp on his commlink.

"Yes?" he answered, hiding the device behind the cuff of his robe sleeve as he continued to walk parallel to the two Force-sensitives but on an upper level of the promenade.

"I sense danger," Keva's voice warned. "These are not normal assassins. They have a Force wielder with them."

"Where?" Kaylar said, resisting the urge to reach out with his senses for fear of giving away his position. Instead he increased his sensitivity, trying to pick up on any ripples in the Force rather than making direct mental contact with the people around him.

"I don't know. I woke from a dream that was more than a dream. Our protectees are being hunted by someone who can track them in the Force."

"Then I may have already given away our presence."

"I don't know the timing. They might not be here yet. I recommend you cloak your presence as best you can. I am on my way to you now."

"Bring Illia with you."

"Unwise. She has not learned to hide her presence in the Force."

"I know. If she is nearby and they sense her it will draw their attention…and they will be more unlikely to notice the two of us."

"You want to use her as bait?"

"How much danger did you sense?"

"A great deal."

"Enough that they might try to take down a young Jedi?"

Keva hesitated before answering. "I don't know. Perhaps. I sensed multiple enemies working together."

"My feelings tell me this is coming to an irrevocable moment. I want you both here. The Council sent 3 of us for a reason."

"That they did. I will bring her."

"Have her travel separately, but close enough to help if needed."

"You really think they will come after a Jedi?"

"The stupid have tried before, and I'd rather have backup and not need it than need it and not have it."

"It will take almost an hour to reach you."

"I'm not picking up any disturbances yet, so we have time. Get here soon, but don't be obvious about it."

"On our way."

Kaylar returned his commlink to his concealed belt pocket and walked on, having to make several adjustments in his path to stay within decent range of the pair of Humans as they made a couple of stops at vendors before finally arriving at a shipbuilder kiosk. He got close enough to faintly overheard their conversation…something to do with a new ship purchase. He didn't get the details, but there was some haggling going on that resulted in a reluctant purchase.

The Jedi saw them given a purchase slip, then the pair were on their way again with Kaylar sliding into the traffic flow behind them, trailing at a distance of about 20 paces until they came to a speeder rental and shot off across the cityscape.

The Jedi boarded another reluctantly, knowing that following them through the air was going to be much more obvious.

"Follow that speed, please," he told the driver who acknowledged his request with an uninterested nod as Kaylar sat back in the passenger bench behind him. He flipped a switch on his commlink that activated a tracking beacon so Keva and Illia could follow him, though he had no idea where exactly they were, but they should be close. He tried to feel for his padawan without revealing his own presence, but she was not close enough for him to pick up passively.

Instead he connected to the Force itself, looking for insight as the driver followed the other speeder to one of the spaceports that had rows of identical craft stacked closely together…too close for normal landing procedures. This must have been a dealer's port, with these ships sitting here waiting for purchase and parked close together to maximize available pad space.

As they approached he felt a presence ahead, realizing it was Illia. She was mobile and heading for the same spaceport, apparently figuring out where his flight path was leading and getting there ahead of him. He chirped his commlink twice, then deactivated the homing signal in a gesture that meant to go comms silent as he saw the speeder ahead of them land and offload its passengers at the main spaceport entrance and not within the circular confines of the main landing pad.

Kaylar arrived at the same point, getting off several docking ports down on the slightly elevated pad that allowed the hovering vehicles to offload pedestrians laterally without them having to step down out of the craft. The Jedi Knight seemed to float out of the speeder and across the platform with his robe trailing behind him like a wide cape as he made haste to catch up with the pair that he now sensed were in danger. What exactly he did not know, but the feeling was growing stronger by the second.

Eventually he broke into a run, shoving his way past several slower pedestrians as Illia was also headed their direction from the other side of the spaceport. She was already inside the service ring and Kaylar could feel her sprinting hard. Apparently she was making no effort to stay hidden. He, on the other hand, was still trying to blend in and not move at superhuman speeds, but when everyone else was walking and he was moving amongst them at twice their pace he couldn't exactly say he was being clandestine.

But right now that didn't matter, for he felt the moment nearly upon them. He'd almost caught up to the pair, seeing the back of their heads through the crowd when he felt a stab of insight coming from the wall to the right. He glanced that way and saw a pair of hooded figures leaning against it.

Kaylar immediately slowed to a walk before they noticed him, then silently they detached themselves from it and fell in behind the protectees, gently pushing their way past the people in front of them until they were only a few steps behind them. The Jedi felt a weapon emerge and the intent to kill saturating their minds as he broke his anonymity and reached out to them.

Neither was Force-sensitive, but before they could nudge the subtle poison needles into their prey Kayla put a sense of confusion into their minds. One of them staggered a bit, bumping into the person to his right before gaining control of himself…but by that time the Jedi was directly behind them and yanked both stick-like weapons out of their hands, dragging them to the floor as if they'd mysteriously dropped them.

One of them stopped to pick it up. The other turned and looked around for whatever was causing them problems. His dazed mind noticed the glint from the barrel of a baster just before a stun shot landed in his gut from two feet away as Kaylar walked up to him…then the Jedi turned and shot the one still leaning over the ground with both falling to the deck as the people nearby quickly scattered at the sound of the stun shots.

Kaylar pulled off his hood and brandished his lightsaber without igniting it for all to see.

"Jedi business," he said calmly as Illia approached the protectees and fell into sync with them as they got away from the 'Jedi business' as fast as they could without making a scene of it. "Carry on."

The crowd settled for the most part, but they gave him a wide berth as he knelt down next to one of the assassins to pick up the Bith's weapon. He examined it briefly, finding the activation trigger that would jab the needle delivery system forward about the length of half his thumb. It was meant to gently touch someone then send the needle forward, resulting in only a tiny sting of pain that might go unnoticed in a larger person. The Humans would have felt it, but then the assassins could have apologized for the inconvenient collision or just walked away while their targets remained confused as to what had just happened…then within minutes or hours they'd drop dead.

Kaylar didn't know what poison was in the devices, and both of them appeared identical. The one the Kubaz held was slightly heavier, but of the same non-descriptive make. The Jedi had seen similar handiwork before, crafted by independent makers who didn't use identification markings because they catered to the lawless and criminal. An examination of the poison might give a clue as to where they came from, if it was rare, but as long as he had two prisoners to interrogate that…

Kaylar spun around in a flash, brandishing his blue lightsaber in a snap/hiss that barely caught the blaster bolt before it hit…but it wasn't aimed at him, rather the Bith lying on the floor.

Meaning someone didn't want these two assassins to talk.

He deflected two more shots up into the air so they didn't hit the nearby crowd that was quickly running for their lives…save for two other individuals who also drew blasters and took aim. Kaylar quickly grabbed one of their weapons with the Force and wrenched it from his grip, then he was too busy blocking shots from both of the others to do much else.

Once the street cleared he tried to send some of the blaster bolts back into the shooters, succeeding with one before he felt another shot coming in from behind him. He flicked his lightsaber around just in time to catch it, but soon he was moving back and forth so much it was all he could do to keep up his defense of himself and the two prisoners.

Eventually one bolt slid through and hit the Kubaz, at which point Kaylar knew he couldn't just stand here and deflect the blaster shots forever, so he jumped across the gap to the single person on the left, parrying bolts as he went until he got close enough to slash at the Sullustan…but he dove to the side out of reach just in time.

Suddenly another snap/hiss sounded and Keva's green blade came down on the other attackers, cleaving one of their blasters in half and then taking another's hand. Its blaster dropped to the ground as the Human screamed in pain, falling to his knees as he clutched his severed wrist.

With the distraction, Kaylar was able to pay full attention to the Sullustan…only the assassin was shot before the Jedi could get to him by a sniper bolt, smaller in view but longer and far more intense coming down from overhead. It went straight through the Sullustan's chest before two more hit in almost the same place, meaning the alien was dead before he fully hit the ground.

Kaylar's blade came up in defense, only to see more sniper bolts raining down on the other attackers, taking them out before the Jedi could capture them, and now that the attack was taking place he could clearly sense the darkside in the shooter. Not around him, but flowing through him, meaning he was a Force-sensitive and probably the tracker identifying the assassin's targets.

"He's mine!" Kaylar yelled at Keva as she tried to subdue and protect at least one of their enemy's for questioning later. The Human Jedi leapt up to a nearby balcony, then made two more jumps to get to the roof level where the shooter was, having to deflect one blaster bolt sent his way mid jump, with a lightsaber slash that left him a bit off balance when he landed, having to come down to a knee so he didn't roll off the edge and fall back down to street level…then he was off and running as he chased the very fast assassin that was doing likewise.

Fast for a Rodian, maybe, but not for a Jedi. Even having to block a few hasty shots fired at him while on the run, Kaylar was methodically gaining on the darkside sniper up until the edge of the building complex where there was a waiting speeder bike. The Rodian jumped on it and gunned the engines…but Kaylar grabbed it with the Force, slowing its acceleration but not stopping it. He also turned it heavily to the side, and in the haste to get away the sniper gunned it right into the side of a communications tower.

The speeder crashed and the sniper bounced off it and into the tower, breaking an arm on one of the metallic struts and flopping to the ground a few body lengths below in a crunch.

Kaylar was on him in moments, but not before the sniper pulled out a pistol and fired it at him. His first instinct was to parry the bolt, but something about this shot bespoke extra danger so he sidestepped as he did so, making contact with the blaster shot wide of his own body. It hit and deflected up into the tower, blowing apart another support strut but not enough to take the whole tower down. Rather it leaned with a creaking sound, then stuck firm a few degrees off its normal alignment.

The Jedi pulled the pistol out of the attacker's grip part way, then it seemed to pull back just enough for him to clench few fingers around the handle. Kaylar kicked into it, sending the pistol flying and the sniper diving a hand into his belt, pulling out a stick-like weapon similar to what the assassins had tried to use on the Cadrens.

The Jedi tried to yank it away with the Force, but his attempt failed as the Rodian grasped it tightly. Kaylar tilted his blade up towards his throat, about to tell him to drop it, then he realized he'd made a mistake, for the Rodian turned the device around and jabbed it into his own chest.

"No," Kaylar said, yanking again and getting it freely as the Rodian let go and flopped to the deck, breathing heavily but not yet dead. He knelt down, checking for other weapons as he stared the darksider in the face. "Who are you?"

"Your death," it coughed, with a trickle of blood splattering on his lips. "The Jedi will fall. You…and the lightside must fall. It is foretold."

"Old history," Kaylar quipped, sensing the Rodian was dying a lot faster than he'd suspected. Whatever this poison was it was working fast. "Who are you, exactly? Give me a name."

The Rodian laid back, clearly intend on not giving the Jedi any information, then a moment later his eyes rolled up and Kaylar felt him die, his insides eviscerated by the poison as the blood pumped it throughout his entire body at a rapid pace.

The Jedi pulled out his commlink. "Illia, status?"

"I have the Cadrens on their ship. They're shaken but safe for the moment."

"Do not let them leave."

"They're not going anywhere, trust me."

"They tried to run?" he guessed.

"Stun bolt at close range. I dodged just in time. I have them tied up now."

"Good work."

"And you?"

"Dead end. Hopefully Keva has one alive."

"I'm on pad 6, ship number 3271."

"Call Captain Neefa and have him send some men to haul them back to the cruiser. I'll me you there," he said, changing frequencies. "Keva?"

"I've got two still alive, one of whom is badly hurt. Local authorities are just arriving now."

"Do not let them take the prisoners out of your sight," Kaylar warned. "We can't risk losing them."

"I know, but it looks like they're just local hires for this one job. They were backup in case the Cadrens got away or the assassins failed. I'm guessing they know nothing more."

"We can't be sure of that until we get them thoroughly questioned."

"I'm coopting the locals and will use their facilities to sort them out. Stick with the Cadrens. I've got this covered. Did your guy get away?"

"In a manner of speaking. He killed himself rather than be taken prisoner, but I can confirm he had rudimentary Force powers. He's had at least some training."

"One of ours?"

"I'll check, but I doubt it. I get the feeling he won't be in any database."

"Why?"

"Just a guess. Find something if you can, but my gut tells me we're not going to be able to backtrack anything."

"We will not know unless we try. Perhaps your 'gut' is wrong."

"I hope so, but I'm rarely that lucky."

"There is no luck. Only the Force."

"No, there's plenty of bad luck. That much I've had ample experience with."

"Do you need someone to retrieve the body?"

"Yes. I'm on the rooftop not far from you," he said, activating his homing beacon.

"Got it. Dispatching pickup," she said as Kaylar telekinetically pulled the sniper's backup pistol across the ground and into his grip. He looked at it closely, not understanding at first, then his eyes went wide.

"Keva, we have a problem."

"What sort of problem?"

Kaylar pulled his lightsaber out and ignited it, then laid his blade across the multiple barrels on the pistol. There were three of them, set in triangle formation, and as he moved his blade around he confirmed that no matter what position he held it, at best it could not block more than two of them at a time…meaning if he hadn't trusted his instincts and stepped to the side when it was fired, he would have blocked one or two of the bolts, but the third would have got by and struck him.

"A big problem. I'll show you later, but right now do not try to block blaster fire thrown at you. Sidestep and avoid."

"Things are calm here now."

"They won't be for long. Whoever these people are, I think they're going to start hunting not only Force-sensitives, but full trained Jedi sooner or later."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I think this one has a weapon made specifically to kill us."

6

Elsewhere on Kuat…

Tarnu Frell hurried up the stairs of the obsolete corporate headquarters of some defunk financial exchange that had closed years ago but was kept in pseudo operation by the Brotherhood to hide their activities. Employees they knew nothing of the owners had been hired to run it while select areas of the building had their security recorders blocked. The lifts that everyone used were monitored, but the emergency stairs were not, allowing Frell to climb them quickly and anonymously as the Human angrily carried the data of the failed assassination with him.

When Frell got to the third closest level to the top he entered a sealed door with a quick access code, then made himself known to the armed guard just inside before finding Tarnu Hashinne sitting behind his desk running a series of analysis programs as they searched for more potential Force-sensitives within the Corporate Sector masses.

"What's wrong?" the Sullustan asked, immediately picking up on Frell's near panic.

"The assassination of the Cadrens has failed. Beir is dead. All the hires are dead or captured."

Hashinne leaned back in his chair and crossed his fingers in front of his chest. "Did you recover his body?"

"No," Frell said darkly.

"Then we must recover it. Has Kuati security taken possession?"

"You don't understand. He was killed by a Jedi."

The Sullustan jerked in surprised, then placed his hands on his desk and stood up slowly. "What happened…exactly?"

"Three Jedi were there. They knew about the assassination and ambushed our people. One of them ran down Tarnu Beir, confronted him, and captured him. Beir killed himself before any information could be extracted from him, but the Jedi know. They know!" Frell yelled.

"Did they take the body?"

"Yes. And the Jedi found his blaster," Frell said, pulling out a data chip and inserting into a slot on the desk. The holograms disappeared and security cam footage replaced it. Frell stepped around and used the keyboard to zoom in on a far building, on top of which the glowing blade of a lightsaber was evident even in small view. The enlargement only went so far, but it was enough to see the confrontation, the fall of Tarnu Beir, a brief interrogation, then the slumping of Beir's dead body.

"How long ago was this?" Hashinne asked.

"8 hours. They took the body and the prisoners with the Jedi. Security was assisting them, but the Jedi did not relinquish custody. What should we do?"

The leader of the darkside cult on Kuat forced himself to remain calm to counteract the reckless fear in his subordinate. They had known this could, and probably would, happen at some point, but the past few years of uninterrupted successes had clearly made Frell soft.

"Three Jedi, you say?"

"Three," the rattled Human confirmed. "And they knew. This was not an accident."

"The Force can give them premonitions the same as us. I'm actually surprised it took them this long to discover us…never the less, we will manage this."

"Manage it how? They're going to examine the body, his weapon, his commlink, and a dozen other clues Beir will give them. They will use it to see us through the Force."

"Yes, they will. So we must recover the body. Have you discovered where the Jedi took it?"

"No. I came here immediately."

The Sullustan raised a hand and snapped his fingers, getting the attention of two staffers who served the Brotherhood, but were not part of it. "I need data traces immediately. There is a Jedi contingent on the planet or recently left. Find them."

The two normals nodded and got to work with their equipment as Hashinne stepped closer to Frell, lowering his voice.

"Which Jedi was it?"

"A Human Knight I did not recognize. One of the others was a Twi'lek Padawan, but Knight Keva I recognized."

"Keva…" Hashinne mewed as he stroked his wide chin.

"We cannot take them in ambush. Not together."

"We do not need to take them. We need to recover or destroy Beir's body. Killing the Jedi is…"

"Necessary. We have to remove knowledge of us before it can be spread to the Order."

"They could already have reported it."

"Do we advance our timetable?"

"That is not my decision to make," Hashinne said, clenching his fist angrily, but preventing this debacle from getting any worse is. Find the Jedi. Find the body. And until then maintain your composure. Your fear is repulsive."

"I am not…" Frell began to argue, but the clearing of one of the Rodian staffer's snouts caused him and Hashinne to turn their heads towards the impudent underling.

"The Jedi arrived by ship," the staffer said bravely, or perhaps ignorantly, not picking up on the inappropriateness of her timing. "It is registered and docked in a surface bay. It has not left yet."

"What kind of ship?" Hashinne asked.

"A full Jedi cruiser, Arbiter-class."

"They will have troops onboard," Frell warned. "At least 18. A crew of more than 60…"

Hashinne used his limited Force power to constrict Frell's throat just enough to stop him speaking, though that was the limit of his telekinetic control.

"Do not lecture me on what I already know," he said before releasing the effort.

Frell spat on the ground beside him, sneering at his superior but not making any hostile actions that would have resulted in more than a gentle reminder of his place. "How are we supposed to get to the body against that security and Jedi?"

"We can't."

"The longer we wait, the more time they have to study him."

"We will not wait. If we cannot recover the body we must destroy it. And if we cannot get it off the ship, we must destroy it with the ship."

Frell frowned heavily. "The only way we can do that is to…"

"We have no choice other to let them go and hope they cannot learn as much as you fear."

"The effort will expose us."

"We are already exposed. We must limit it if the Brotherhood is to survive."

"The others will not like this."

"It is not their responsibility, but I will consult them as you make preparations. We cannot waste time."

"That I agree, but we another way."

"Prepare the strike and I will seek to find one," Hashinne said with a wave of his hand as he sat back down. "Go. I will waste no more time on you."

"It was Beir's incompetence, not mine."

"Was it? Or was it fate that befell us?" the Sullustan asked rhetorically, pointing to the door with lethal intent in his eyes if Frell delayed again.

He did not, turning abruptly and leaving in as much of a hurry as he had come, then Hashinne activated their secure comm and sent a signal off planet. A few minutes later a response came in and a hologram of six individuals standing in a semicircle appeared over his desk.

Hashinne hit a button and a privacy field fell across his side of the office, cutting off vision and sound from the staff and guard.

"We have a problem. I have set in motion an operation to limit our loss, but we are no longer hidden. The Jedi have discovered us and we must move quickly before they learn more…"

"Relax," Kaylar told their two unwilling detainees being held onboard the Jedi cruiser. "We came here to save your lives, and did, but if we let you go now you most likely won't live out the day. So what's the rush?"

"You have no right to hold us," Saaren asked. "We've done nothing."

"Your demeanor suggests you did," he said as he paced before the pair as they were restrained to a pair of comfy chairs, for they'd tried to escape not once, but three times already. "And your lack of carrying about the assassins that were less than 3 seconds away from killing you before I intervened is curious."

"We only have your word for that," her brother quipped.

Kaylar reached a hand out sideway and pulled one of the cylinder-shaped weapons to him, then held it in front of the pair so they could get a good look.

"This is a poison injector. They were walking up behind you and about to kill you. It's silent, easy to deliver, and allows them to walk away innocently before you fall over dead less than a minute later. The poison is a very potent combination that is hard to come by…because it's been altered to slow your deaths just enough to allow the assassins to get clear. If unaltered it would drop you within 5 seconds."

The Jedi saw the first shock of fear in their eyes, and he sensed he was getting through to them.

"If we let you go, someone else could get to you anywhere at any time. I was sent here to stop your deaths and capture those involved. The one who appeared to know the most killed himself after having the failed assassins gunned down so they could not talk. Someone wants you dead, they're very skilled, and you are not safe. Now, do you still want to leave my ship?"

"If they're all dead, where's the threat?" Dagan challenged.

"Do you know why you are being targeted?" Kaylar asked. "You think you might, but you're wrong. This isn't just happening to you, but to Force-sensitives across the galaxy. You do know you're Force-sensitive, don't you?" he added, picking up a subtle reaction when he said those words.

"Others are being targeted?" Saaren asked.

"Yes. Most we have not been able to predict. This one we did, lucky for you, but we still don't know who is doing this. There are others, and even though this attack was thwarted, don't assume they won't try again. Now tell me what you know of it."

"Nothing," she conceded. "A few months ago someone approached us, saying we were Force-sensitive and offering us a job. We turned it down and we never saw him again. Up until then we'd never even heard the term before."

"But you do notice a bit of luck here and there that seems unnatural?"

"Not really."

"On occasion," Dagan disagreed, sharing a glance with his sister as they seemed to argue with each other via stares. "I hadn't thought about it before, but that guy got me wondering."

"Who was it?"

"Said his name was Gorden, but we figured that was probably a cover. Human, a bit taller than me and twice as thick. We discouraged further questions and he went away, but it left me wondering."

"Did he say how he knew you were Force-sensitive?"

"No."

"If we can't leave, what do you intend to do with us?" Saaren asked.

"For the moment keep you out of harm's way. After that…I'm not sure yet."

"Lovely. Now we're prisoners of the Jedi."

"I had planned on 'guests,' except you keep trying to walk out into the line of blaster fire. So if being prisoners keeps you alive another week, then we'll go with that. We can't…" he said, suddenly trailing off as he got a funny look on his face.

"Can't what?" Dagan asked, but Kaylar ignored him and pulled out his commlink.

"Bridge, give me a status report."

"All quiet here," someone other than the Captain responded. "Is something wrong."

"I sense a danger. Is there anything abnormal happening, no matter how small?"

"Checking now…all ship functions appear normal…the area around the ship is clear…the traffic patterns are nor…wait. There is a ship curving off its trajectory and heading our general direction."

"Raise shields now," Kaylar said, then a few seconds later the ship shook slightly as it took an impact, with the Jedi racing out of the room leaving the Cerden siblings behind and still tied to their chairs.

"Get us in the air now!" the cruiser's captain said as he ran onto the bridge amidst the sight of incoming turbolaser shots from not one, but three smaller vessels hovering in the air at various points around them, with the shield power levels dropping quickly. "Return fire, all cannons!"

"The engines are in power down mode. We can't refire them until…"

"Now!" the Twi'lek yelled at the helmsman. "I don't care if we lost half the engines, get us in the air or we're dead. Head for orbit at best speed and get our belly cannons engaged. Focus all firepower on one of the vessels…"

Keva was sitting in a Kuati security office reading a datapad while forensic work was being done on the bodies of the hired guns. All three of the assassins had been taken to the Jedi cruiser at Kaylar's request, but there was nothing special about the rest of them. Still, Keva knew better than to leave loose ends, so she was coordinating with the locals as they tried to identify each of the dead while the two survivors were doing their best to keep their mouths shut…that was until Keva got involved, then they broke quickly through a combination of fear and her tricking them to reveal a few details they didn't intend to.

After that they'd told her everything…which was basically nothing. They'd been hired two days ago for backup work on a hit job. They weren't to do anything unless the assassins failed, and if they did they were to finish the job. When the Jedi got involved they'd received new orders via commlink to shoot the captured assassins and not let them be taken prisoner…then someone started shooting at them as well. These two had tried to run, and Keva had actually had to protect one of them from the sniper while the other was huddling up next to a crook in the building wall to survive.

The local security was checking on their stories, going back through security camera footage and trying to piece a trail back to anything of consequence, but so far there had been nothing. At the moment Keva was searching through weapons records, trying to find a match, or even something similar, to the tri-barrel blaster that only the sniper assassin had carried. Kaylar thought it was an anti-Jedi weapon, and while Keva wasn't sure she also couldn't find any trace of something similar in the Kuati records.

That meant it probably wasn't local merchandise, and the craftsmanship was too good to be a custom conversion of another weapon. Whatever this was, it was produced in this design with a high degree of scrutiny. This was about as professional of a job as she'd seen smugglers and other low lives use. It was virtually military grade, with some minor discrepancies. Her best guess was a high end private shop, with each weapon being hand-made rather than coming off an assembly line, but beyond that there was nothing to identify it.

Kaylar had taken it with him for further analysis on the Jedi cruiser, which ironically had better molecular analysis equipment on it than the local security forces had, but Keva had already gotten a report on it from the ship's staff that served the Jedi specifically, though they were volunteers from across the galaxy and not just representing one faction. In fact, they had to disavow their former loyalties in order to work for the Jedi, making sure they were truly neutral and trustworthy with no hidden agendas before being given access to the galactic peacekeepers.

There had been few problems, for most saw it as a high honor, and the Jedi had a small army of support as they patrolled the galaxy looking for all forms of trouble, but sometimes, Keva had learned, one needed to dig through the local cesspool to find answers, thus she was here trying to find even the scarcest of crumbs concerning this assassination.

Other than nothing she hadn't found anything on the blaster, which in itself was something. Normally an assassin would carry a common weapon so it couldn't be traced to anyone specific, but a weapon that had never been seen before, and one capable of bypassing a Jedi's lightsaber parry, was significant. It didn't tell her anything about the source, but the more she dug and maintained a zero correlation the more worried she became. If this sniper had been able to use the Force to some extent, and his blaster had been designed to confront Jedi, then she doubted he was a loner.

Her instincts told her this was something sinister, beyond just murdering Force-sensitives, for one didn't build a weapon to fight Jedi unless you were planning on fighting Jedi. Not many people did, and the few that were foolish enough to try didn't last long, but it wasn't like Jedi never died, and if someone had come up with a damn simple application of blaster fire that could defeat a Jedi's ability to block all the bolts, then someone was either an inspired genius, or a lot of effort had been put into this…whatever it was.

Keva continued to dig through weapon records, personnel files, and everything else she could get her hands on until one of the Kuati's ran into the room in a rush and the Jedi knew immediately something was wrong.

"Master Jedi, your ship is under attack!"

"What?" she asked, standing up and dropping the datapad. "By whom?"

"We're not sure, but there are multiple ships engaging it at the spaceport. Our patrol ships are already on the way…" the Human said, but the Mirialan pushed by him and ran to the nearest lift, taking it up to the roof and exiting into the windy exterior as she felt the conflict occurring to the west.

She ran over to the low rim and was stopped by the clear force field that prevented people from falling to their deaths, but it did nothing to interfere with the view of the Jedi cruiser climbing in the sky, pointed straight up and dropping debris in its wake as it was being fired upon and returning fire…but with too few cannons. The others must have been damaged already, and even as she saw the distant specs of security cruisers descending from orbit to intervene one of the small attacking vessels half exploded under fire from the Jedi ship, with what was left of it falling back towards the planet and crashing into the buildings beneath.

That left two attacking, but only one cannon on the cruiser appeared to remain operational. The shields were down, for she could clearly see the turbolasers hitting the hull. Keva reached for her commlink, then stopped herself. Her natural reaction was to inquire what was happening but Kaylar and Captain Lassi'ven didn't need her distracting them.

If they could just get a little higher the Kuati ships could intervene and drive off the attackers. Maybe another 30 seconds before they entered weapons range, or perhaps 40 if the Kuatis would be reluctant to fire down towards the planet and endanger the populace with any misses. She hoped they wouldn't be too hesitant, for the cruiser wasn't going to last much…

And then it happened. A small explosion on the hull that was amplified by something internal that detonated poured out a large puff of debris…then the ship stopped climbing towards space. It stalled in midair, its nose pointed to the sky, then smoothly began to fall backwards, trailing smoke and debris as the attackers continued to fire on it.

The single intact cannon continued to return fire all the way to the ground, then the ship disappeared from Keva's view behind other buildings for a split second, then she felt the impact and subsequent explosions that rocked the city as two buildings collapsed under the impact.

Kaylar and Illia were dead, she could feel it, along with what was probably the entire ship's crew unless some had been off on business. The Jedi didn't allow shore leave during missions.

Keva's mind raced as she stood and watched the flickers of flames now backlighting the nighttime cityscape. This was not a coincidence. The same people that had come for the Force-sensitives had now attacked and destroyed a Jedi cruiser. They weren't shadow agents anymore. This was a blatant attack on the Order…or was it? The Cedans were onboard the ship. Had they destroyed it to eliminate them?

The Jedi Knight didn't know, but as she watched the Kuati finally arrive and chase the two remaining attacking ships as they tried to flee, her duty was clear. Report the attack the Council after finding out if anyone had survived.

She knew no one was likely to survive the crash, but she pulled out her commlink and set it for a general Jedi frequency.

"This is Jedi Knight Keva to any surviving crew of the Sanguine Blade. If you are still alive, respond immediately."

She waited, with each second making it more clear that she was the only survivor, then a much belayed reply came in after a short audio chirp on the other end as they activated their commlink.

"We are here, Master Jedi."

"Who is we?"

"I am Corporal Anders. I have two other crewmembers with me. We were on refueling detail two buildings away arranging payment when the ship came under attack. We couldn't get back in time before it lifted off. I don't know what happened, but it crashed on top of us…or rather than building next to us. Everything is a mess here."

"Are you injured?"

"No, but the entry doors to the building are junk. We're pinned inside."

"I'm on my way," she said, turning and running back to the lift. There was nothing she could do for the dead now, but she had a responsibility to the crew and to the Council, so as she ran she pulled out a silver disc and palmed it in one hand while pressing the button that created a direct holo link to the Jedi temples' secure network.

7

Keva sat down on a public bench off to the side of a main promenade that only allowed foot traffic, tired, sad, and perplexed after spending the past 4 hours dealing with the attack and destruction of the Jedi cruiser. Two people had been pulled from the rubble, half alive and horribly mangled. They were currently being held in Bacta tanks as the Kuati medics tried to figure out how to put them back together, but neither of them were the two Jedi that had been onboard, nor the protectees that Keva and the others had been sent here to save.

Not only had they failed in their mission, they'd lost almost their entire expedition in that crash to an enemy that was still unknown. The attacking ships had fought to the death rather than be captured, and nothing of their crews had been recovered. The two crewmembers who had not been onboard the ship were stashed away in a luxurious hotel under constant guard of Kuati security until the cause of this attack could be determined, on the off chance that they might also become targets if this was what most people assumed to be an anti-Jedi attack.

There had been a few over the previous years, but they were sporadic and isolated…and most had not succeeded. This felt different, and Keva wondered if this hadn't been as much to kill the Jedi as it was to deny them the protectees, but whoever was responsible had to be hunted down regardless, and right now Keva could not clear her mind enough to think.

So she decided to sit after hours of frantic investigation and dead ends. Her emotions were swirling hard, but she was beginning to a handle on them, just not enough to be able to use the Force to find inspiration in her search. There had to be a reckoning for this, and the longer the delay the better the chance that these fiends would get away with it.

Keva had already informed the Jedi Council twice as to current events and the continuing investigation, but they had no insight to offer as of yet. She was hoping they'd contact her with revised orders, but for the moment this burden was squarely hers…and she was so rattled she couldn't get her bearings.

Losing people wasn't new to her. She'd lost her father and brother a year before she joined the Jedi Order and this felt the same way. Pointless death beyond her control to stop. She hadn't seen her father and brother dying before it happened. Hadn't been able to do anything about it before it suddenly fell into her lap, and with no real time to react when it did.

They'd been gunned down for no other reason than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killers, once eventually caught, had just shrugged as if it was of no consequence, for they were waging a turf war with other locals and were just shooting anyone who came down a street they weren't meant for.

It had partly been city securty's fault for allowing the lawlessness. Officially all streets were for public use and none were off limits, but rather than confront the problem head on they'd let a few things slide. Let the gangs take control of a few areas without warning anyone of it. They'd looked the other way to avoid trouble…and that trouble had cost her family dearly.

So when the Jedi finally came for her she'd gone with them gladly, wanting to learn to become strong and fast and wise…and to have the ability to stop bad things like this from happening before it was too late.

And here she was, unable to do anything again, and that dug into the core of her being very hard.

But unlike when her father and brother had died, this time she was a Jedi. She'd been trained to handle situations like this where everything blows up in your face and you have to dig your way out of it. Master Skywalker had told the younglings many stories of his failures, and how he'd gotten through them simply by refusing to give up. Keva wasn't going to give up, but she was finding it very hard to pull herself together as she'd been taught to do.

Never the less, the break from the constant movement was helping. Her breathing was still heavy, but at least she was aware of it now and allowing herself to spool down from the taught coil she'd been ever since she'd witnessed the crash. The Force gave very loud warnings when the danger was large and imminent, but the subtler clues it offered had to be listened for. Keva needed to calm herself, quiet her mind, and just listen…

It didn't come easily, nor quickly, but eventually that part of her Force powers returned to her and she began feeling around her and far off, letting her mind settle into the ebb and flow of the Force. She didn't try to push it, rather letting herself be drawn along and…

Suddenly a large danger presented itself, but not distinctly. The Mirialan's head came up and she looked to the left through the crowd. Something was there and coming her way with lethal intent.

Calmly, Keva stood up from the bench and blended into the traffic flow, keeping her mind on what was behind her as she veered off, seeing if the threat would follow her or was moving towards someone else…but it moved with her, still closing as she felt a pair of individuals pushing their way through the crowd as they walked faster than the others.

If these pursuers were part of the same group that had attacked the Jedi cruiser, then Keva was glad they were coming to her. It'd save her the time and effort of tracking them down later.

The Jedi Knight kept walking until she came to a side street that led further away from the heavily populated promenade. She darted down it, accelerating to a slow jog in order to get to the nearby landing pad it connected with, then ducked to the right and out of view of the street as her pursuers began all out running to catch her.

Keva stopped in two heavy steps, turned and Force-jumped up and over the archway to the far side, intending to catch them from behind when they turned to the right to follow her…only they didn't. They immediately turned left and pointed the same heavy pistols at her that Kaylar had described the sniper to be carrying.

She activated her lightsaber with a snap/hiss and flicked her wrist up, sending the blade through one of the weapons before it could fire while telekinetically pushing the other one out of alignment. The ruby red bolts of energy passed by her shoulder by a hand's breadth, then she felt a slight tug on her own lightsaber…which was when she realized that at least one of these two, if not both of them, were Force-sensitive.

Force-sensitive perhaps, but not very strong. A little muscle kept her lightsaber in her hand as she sent it towards the single intact blaster, but the unarmed alien dove right into her, hitting her arm and making her miss. Keva rolled him over her body and kicked him away with the combination of a kick and a Force push, only to get hit by the blaster as it shot both her and her opponent.

The Jedi took one grazing hit to her arm, but it was enough to send waves of pain throughout her entire body and cause her to drop her lightsaber. Now free of her tackler, she focused her mind solely on the blaster and made it point away from her before a second shot was fired that impacted a nearby wall and blew off half the panel, then she yanked hard, trying to get it out of the other alien's hand, but this one had an iron grip and all she succeeded in doing was pulling him off balance.

During his stumble step forward to keep from face-planting, Keva rolled to her feet and ran behind him, pivoted, then kicked into his body so hard that he was sent flying over the limping body of the other as Keva pulled her lightsaber into her right hand, while her injured left arm hung limp beside her as she tried to avoid doing any damage to it with additional movement.

Just then she got another danger warning, realizing that there were more than two individuals hunting her…and they were hunting. She was clear on that point now. They wanted her dead, their intent palatable through the Force, for they were transmitting their emotions like most novices did early in training.

But novices or not, enough of those blaster bolts that she could not block and she was going to die, so Keva decided to run and run hard, taking off in a blur while gritting against the pain in her arm as she was forced to swing it for counter balance as multiple shots flew past her, one of which she had to dodge as the Force gave her just enough heads up to make it miss her head while burning through a piece of her head dress.

She tore the burning material off and threw it to the ground, then also jettisoned her overrobe so it wouldn't slow her down, sending it back through the air towards her pursuers with a little Force levitation that hopefully would block their sight of her for a moment. Either through that trick or luck, she managed to get to another corner and round it, bouncing off a Wookie that was in the way before running on as many people scrambled out of her way and the sound of blaster fire following her.

Keva heard a roar as the Wookie took a hit, but she couldn't look around to see what actually happened as she ran with Jedi-enhanced speed through the crowd, having to hop over another pedestrian bench when she came to a bottleneck, prompting three blaster salvos high in the air as she became an easier target. She twisted to avoid two of them, with the third missing on its own, then she hit the ground awkwardly. Her leg buckled, but she turned it into a somersault and came up running again just in time to feel more threats ahead of her.

Two more, at least, but there was also a security patrolman trying to get her to stop and leveling a weapon at her. She didn't know if he was an enemy or just trying to do his job, but she couldn't let herself become an easier target by stopping or even getting delayed. She Force-shoved him out of the way, then felt the energized air typical of a stun shot zip past her head, causing her green skin to prickle.

Now pinned from two directions, Keva turned hard left and leapt over the railing…falling down to a lower level and cushioning her landing using the Force, though she still hit hard enough to jar her knees painfully. She countered that by toppling over and taking part of the impact on her right hip, but then more blaster bolts rained down around her, one clipping her left leg before she got back to her feet.

Keva willed away most of the pain and kept running, but she was now slowed considerably. Putting her attackers a level above her made for easier shots, but they were not following as she had. That didn't mean she was safe, but if she could put some distance between herself and them then maybe she had a chance of losing their line of sight.

The Jedi continued to run, occasionally dodging what would have been a kill shot with a brief inkling from the Force, then she was in the clear for a while as she kept running, putting as much distance between herself and her attackers as she could. Minutes passed as she continued to lose blood, with her running through more and more remote areas where heavy cargo transfer was occurring and few pedestrians were about.

That wasn't good, but she didn't know where she was running, just away from the blaster fire, and when she finally got out of eyesight of everyone nearby she ducked behind a stack of crates and made herself as small as possible. If these attackers could use the Force, then they might be tracking her that way, but Jedi knew how to hide their presence, so Keva did so now as she looked at her arm and leg, seeing that both were light wounds that were oozing blood past the cauterized flesh, for the movement of running was cracking those impromptu scabs heavily.

That meant she only had so much time until she passed out. Knowing this, Keva sat down on the ground and, while keeping her senses keen on the immediate area, began a healing trance that should stop the blood flow again. In the heat of battle wasn't the best time for it, but she had to do something before she bled out.

Minutes passed with no one coming near her. She could feel the workers nearby, but her little crate stack wasn't being added to or taken away from, giving her some anonymity to work with. She wanted to use her comm to call for Kuati security, but that too could be tracked to her location. Keva needed time, and while she had a little she was going to use it.

As soon as she got the blood leakage stopped, the Jedi slowly stood up and began tearing part of her dark brown robe off below the waist. A little Force tug helped her to get a few strips off, which she then tied around her leg and arm, knowing that when she started to move again the wounds would crack open again and she needed the compression to help keep that to a minimum.

She tied them tight…maybe too tight…and kept her teeth clenched as she did so the pain didn't cause her to jerk and bite her own tongue. Once she got the makeshift bandages on she took a moment to look around the corner of the lowest crate, then had to flinch backwards as another triple blaster bolt hit the ground nearby.

"Blast it," she cursed, then expanded her Force sense out now that she knew she hadn't lost them. She felt not one, or two, or three, but 22 individuals that were Force-sensitive nearby. None too close, but they were forming a ring around her position and she knew they were going to slowly work their way in, limiting her escape routes, until they forced a confrontation that Keva knew she'd lose. A few of these guys she could take, but without being able to lightsaber block their blasters, she couldn't stand up against an army of them.

"This is Jedi Knight Keva to Kuati Security," she said, getting on her comm and setting it for the standard frequencies the law enforcement division used. "I am pinned down by hostiles and need immediate backup."

"This is security. What is your posit..." the dispatcher cut off as a piercing whine replaced it.

Keva shut off her now jammed comm, hoping they'd at least got a location ping off that initial contact.

"Who are these assassins?" she asked herself as she felt the ring slowly begin to shrink…and now with 23 individuals. How many more of them were out there beyond her range?

Knowing her time was limited, and she couldn't go out into plain sight, Keva ignited her lightsaber and cut through the side of one of the crates, spilling out a wave of grain, some of which burst into flame when it hit her lightsaber. She coughed on the smoke, then pushed it aside as she began digging into the flow and essentially swimming through the large container until she got to the far side…at which point she cut through it and into the next one.

The grain in it was identical, and she used the Force to pull it out and into the first one, pushing it up against the entrance like a pile of orange-colored snow to partially block it. If these assassins wanted to get to her, they'd have to come through that narrow opening…assuming they didn't have any grenades or other explosives with them.

Keva wasn't going to assume they didn't, so after she got her first entrance block up she moved back through the second and pushed her way to the narrower end of the rectangular crate. She cut through it, finding a hard wall on the other side, which was what she wanted. She got a meter-wide second of the crate off and tossed it back into the sea of grain, then dug her lightsaber in deep and slowly dragged it in a circle, coring out a plug of the permacrete…but her blade wasn't long enough and all she managed to do was cut a circle in it.

She offered a very rare curse in her native language, then pointed her blade in at an angle, cutting out a cone that finally severed and slid out. Keva had to jump out of the way, then push with her hands to move the heavy slug to the side where it half sank in the grain. Had this been a normal circumstance she could have Force-lifted it, but she was too exhausted now and had more wall to cut out in bits and pieces that caught some of the grain on fire as their molten edges were thrown behind her.

Keva could feel her attackers nearby outside, so she didn't have time to be pretty about it. She hacked and Force threw the smaller pieces back behind her, eventually breaking through into the air beyond, yet having to cut out a wide enough passage for her body.

She let the final pieces go out the other way, then she crawled over the still hot permacrete as she dove through, burning her hands but getting her out of the crate and on the far side of the wall. No blaster-wielding fiends were here waiting for her, so she tried to cloak her presence in the Force once again and ran across the large, semi-empty warehouse before her hunters realized she had gotten away from them.

8

With her comlink still jammed, Keva had no choice but to keep moving until she got out of range, but when she finally did she didn't want to give away her location so she kept dark and kept moving, but she couldn't outrun the assassins. They appeared to be numerous and everywhere, with them eventually pinning her down again at a docking ring that held individual starships. There were 8 berths, each connected to the promenade by private walkways large enough for medium-sized vehicle passage.

She'd hoped to board one, commandeer it and escape, but the assassins had gotten there ahead of her. Keva got another warning just before a hail of blaster bolts shot through the space where she'd just been before Force jumping up to the top of the archway leading to the promenade. She clung there, then began to climb up it to the next level, barely able to get up and over the railing before a lone assassin appeared.

Keva pulled out her own blaster and shot it twice, rolling across the ground before landing a third and killing shot on the Human's chest. She ended up on her knees, wincing as tears fell down her face at the pain the maneuver had caused her, but it was better than getting shot again. Her leg bandage was soaked in blood, and her arm not much better, but she got to her feet and kept moving again, for if she didn't they'd group up on her and she'd be a goner.

Turn around, she heard someone say through the Force. Now!

Keva hesitated, not knowing who it was, but so far the attackers hadn't spoken to her, in voice or via the Force, so she took the chance this wasn't an enemy but potentially some help. She didn't really have much choice, and her gut told her to try it, so the Jedi turned around and ran back the way she'd come as she reached out through the Force to try and find the source…but there was nothing aside from two more assassins headed her way.

She sidestepped behind a lamp post as more blaster fire opened up, then she sprinted for better cover behind an advertisement sign as she shot back, missing the long range attempts, then she saw someone above her but across the promenade. He was a human in nondescript clothing, yet he was perched high up the wall in a nook and out of view of the assassins.

Stay put, the voice said, and she was sure he was the source of it now. I'll handle them. Just watch your back.

Keva didn't argue or ask questions, and some 20 seconds later as the assassins worked their way up to her position while more were approaching from all angles further off, the human fired on them with his own blaster, taking down both with ease as they apparently couldn't sense him. Keva thought she could, but when he jumped down and landed in an artful crouch, he opened up in the Force far beyond what Keva had thought possible…and in response 6 blaster bolts came at him from various directions.

He darted towards her position before they could hit, then momentarily came up next to her, looking at her injuries and her limited cover, then turned her back to her.

"Stay behind me and use your blaster," he said, holding his own aloft in his left hand. "This is not a good spot. We have to go down a level…and we're going over that railing farther to the left. Follow me and I'll catch you, but go fast. Do you understand?"

"Go," Keva said, not understanding what was going on, but she knew her position wasn't holdable and wasn't going to interrogate anyone who was interested in helping her.

The Human took off running and shooting to the left, sprinting so fast she knew he had to be using the Force to do it, then he dropped to the ground and rolled to evade the blaster fire coming his way. Keva followed a moment later, and when she got to the railing they managed to take down one of the assassins, but another 8 were already in range and firing at them. Their only saving grace was the range involved, for most were missing on their own, but the human reached out and yanked her hard just before a shot would have nailed her in the back…then they were both falling over the railing.

It wasn't down one level, but at least four, and Keva knew she couldn't brace herself against that much of a fall, but she did what she could to slow her descent, never one to go out without a fight. But near the end the human, still holding onto her arm, pulled her into him and wrapped her up in a hug…then they both landed on the wet permacrete with a none too gentle thud that banged Keva's head hard.

But she was alive, and as many questions as she might have had in other circumstances she was just going with this as it manifested. She didn't have to know how they hadn't squashed, only that they hadn't, and her blurry vision wasn't giving her much of an opportunity to think hard as she rolled over onto her knees and held her head with her left hand. When she looked up she saw the edge of a large lake before her, with the wind blowing bits of water onto the dock and glossing everything in wetness, including the water transports docked nearby.

"Hang on," the human said, pulling her to her feet and dragging her away from the water and the transports to the base of the huge wall. She stumbled to keep up, her body hurting everywhere and her head groggy enough from the blood loss, not to mention the hit it had just taken, but when they came to the base of it they ran further to the right, making it very hard for the assassins to shoot down on them until they came to a grate that blocked access to a pipe twice Keva's height that had a small river of water running out of it and down to the lake.

"Use your lightsaber," the man said, catching her eyeline. "Cut the bars."

Keva reached down to her far hip, feeling her belt hook but no lightsaber on it. She looked down, then spun around and looked back the way they'd come, but it was nowhere in sight.

"I lost it," she said, with her bringing a hand to her head as the words caused her head to hurt even worse.

The man half walked around her, looking at her belt. She still had her blaster in its holster, but the clip for her lightsaber was gone.

"Don't use a magnetic clip in the future," he said, visibly vexed as he glanced around. There was a long, empty platform to the right, same to the left, and some ships docked in what looked like permanent positions on the waterfront, but no one was seen on them. They were out in the open, and unless they could hide in the ships, and that was unlikely.

Keva pulled out her blaster and pointed it at one of the bars at point blank range, but the man reached out and placed a hand on her arm before she could fire.

"No time," he said regretfully as he flicked his chin towards the sky behind them.

Keva turned and looked, her head pounding with every movement and the burns on her arm and leg seering, but it didn't take long before she saw, and then felt the danger from one ship in particular as it was breaking off from the traffic patterns and heading their way.

"The water," she said, holstering her pistol and taking a step away from the wall. It wasn't a good option, and she was in no condition to swim, but they had to get out of sight and she had a breather on her belt so she wouldn't have to resurface. She didn't know about this guy, but there weren't any other options.

"No," he said firmly, with her turned back after three steps.

"Where then?" she demanded, knowing there was little time and that she couldn't waste much in conversation.

"Guess we'll have to use mine," he said with heavy regret, reaching down and unzipping a pocket on his baggy pants, from which he drew a black and silver lightsaber.

"Who are you?" Keva asked.

"A friend," he said, igniting the pure white blade and slicing through the first of the bars with little resistance. "Stand aside and watch that ship for me."

Keva did as asked, stepping to the right and spinning around so she could watch it with her eyes and her senses. She guessed they had 15, maybe 20 seconds before it got here, but if it was armed it could fire long before then.

"It's getting ready to fire," she told him a moment later, her feelings screaming at her to move.

A heavy thud answered her as the rectangular piece of the grate fell forward onto the ground and the man jumped through, with Keva racing to get inside behind him. She hopped over the glowing end bars and got two splashy steps inside when a large blaster bolt hit the wall just outside, blasting out a chunk of the permacrete a meter to the left of the grate and three meters away from the hole in the bars they'd come through.

Small chunks of the wall ricocheted down the tube, one of which hit her in her good leg and knocked it out from under her. She fell backwards into the water…only she didn't hit the water. We found herself suspended in the air a few inches away from it, then her body raised up to standing position just in front of the man's outreached hand.

"Not your day, is it?" he asked, releasing her from his Force grip.

Keva fell almost instantly as her leg collapsed and her other one was still in agony from the earlier blaster shot. The Force grip returned on her and kept her off the ground, then she floated further down the pipe and onto the man's shoulder as he took off running with her just before the sound of the ship got louder outside.

She arched her head up, getting a bouncing sight on the grate as a ship appeared in front of it…then fired into it, with some of the bolts passing through the holes and hitting the ground just behind them, sending up a shower of steam and bits of debris, but the ship was too tall to get a straight shot, meaning they were out of danger for the moment as the Jedi was carried down the drainage pipe back into the city.

Every step he took hurt her, but she suspected what had been her good leg was now broken, and being painfully carried was far better than being left behind. She closed her eyes and endured to bear the pain for what seemed like an eternity before she felt herself lifted off his shoulder and laid down on the ground…but not in the water. Keva looked around, seeing that they were on a small permacrete platform to the side of the pipe that led to a closed door.

"Thank you," she said, leaning back against the wall and relishing the lack of movement. "What now?"

"Making it up as I go," he admitted as he ran a hand along the door lock.

"You have a name?"

"I could give you give my fake name, but all things considered, if I manage to get you out of here alive, you're going to know about me anyway, so what's the point. The name I use for business is Loran Versa. My real name is Sy-Fen Jor."

"Where did you get the lightsaber and Force powers?"

"Where did you get yours?" he asked, closing his eyes and concentrating for a moment, then she heard the lock click and he pulled the door open. "Time to go."

"Are they following us?"

"Yes," he said, picking her up again.

"No lightsaber burn on the door?" she asked from over his shoulder as he walked her through then pulled it shut, dropping out the minimal light from the distance markers in the pipe.

"No need to advertise where we went, and we passed by four other doors already."

"I think they can use the Force to track us," she said as his lightsaber lit up again, bathing everything in the narrow tunnel a soothing white glow.

"Then we better keep moving. Staying put will only draw more attention. This looks like an old maintenance walkway that probably spans half the city."

"Run," she insisted.

"Can you handle that?"

"I'll live. Just put some distance between us and then."

"Alright, Jedi. But remember, you asked for this," he said, accelerating up into a jog, then stretching out into a very high cadence that pounded Keva's various injuries with each bounce.

It hurt, badly, and she managed to hold onto consciousness for a good three minutes before finally blacking out and leaving herself totally at the fate of the mysterious stranger.

9

Tarnu Hashinne was breathing heavily, for the Sullustan had ran most of the way back to the Brotherhood headquarters. He'd personally oversaw the successful attack on the Jedi cruiser and organized the hunt for the remaining Jedi up until the white blade had emerged, the sight of which had sent him into such a flurry of rage that the moment he'd stepped off his ship onto the landing pad he'd run every step of the way back to his desktop terminal now.

He locked down the office out of paranoia and then engaged the privacy shield before sending the message that he and others had long waited for…and dreaded.

"My brothers, prophecy has revealed itself," he began, transmitting live even though those who needed to hear it might not be available. This could not wait for a formal meeting. "The white blade has surfaced and thwarted our concealment. The Jedi laid a trap for one of our eradications, but we successfully destroyed those they sought to protect and their cruiser, but one Jedi escape and we were prevented from destroying her by the white blade. We pursue now but have lost their trail. Assume the Jedi Order will soon discover our secret. We are exposed, but we now have found the white blade. The return of the dominion of the darkness is at hand…"

When Keva woke she realized she was no longer being carried. She was not being moved at all. Rather, she was laying on a hard surface looking at the dimly lit ceiling of a rather grungy place.

She was wearing a robe…not one of Jedi make, but one that covered her body as she lay on what she found to be a stack of crates when she slowly rolled over. Pulling aside the robe she found healing patches applies to her burns beneath bandages and a crude splint on her right leg. From the pain seeping from it she knew it was still broken and she dare not stand on it, but she sat up and swung her legs of the box anyway.

Keva looked around, seeing that she was in some sort of storage area. It was small, probably a large closet off some business, but there was no one else here…alive anyway. On the ground beside her were a pile of bodies and a neat stack of triple barreled blasters, 8 in total to match the eight corpses.

The door ahead of her opened, and she quickly grabbed her pistol from its holster and held it steady on the door as a Toydarian hovered in the air behind it with her hands held up peaceably.

"I mean you no harm, Jedi. I was told to watch for when you woke."

Keva lowered the blaster halfway, still unsure of what was going on and not too trusting of anyone right now. "How did I get here?"

"A Human called 'Versa' brought you here…and them. He said I should look after you while you rested. You have many injuries. He said I should call for Kuati Security forces, but only when you woke and gave your permission."

"He's gone?" Keva assumed.

"Yes. He paid good money for me to look after you. Are you in trouble, Master Jedi?"

"Why do you call me a Jedi?" she asked, hoping he had her lightsaber too.

"He tells me you are. Is this not true?"

"It is," she said with a wince.

"They shoot you?" the Toydarian asked, pointing to the pile of bodies.

"Yes. Them and their friends."

"More of them, he said. Keep you quiet and safe, he said. Now you want me call Security?"

"Let me," Keva defered, reaching into one of her belt pockets and glad to see that her holocom was still there. "They could track yours easier."

The Toydarian waved a hand in a lecturing manner. "No, no. I have secure communications. That is why he said he brought you here. No one will track transmission."

Keva hesitated. "How do you know that?"

"I…ah…might have done some, you know…things that I don't want security to know about. And others too. I can…ah…make sure the transmission is not tracked."

"I see. And when they come here?"

"I will be gone before that."

"Convenient."

"I was hired to get them to you. Not to me."

"Very well. Tell them to bring a cargo hauler for the bodies while they are at it."

"Yes, yes. I do so then I leave, but I watch to make sure you are unharmed before then. You promise not to follow?"

"I have no idea what you have done or not done, so I have no reason to follow you."

"Good, yes, this is good. Thank you. You are most worth saving, Master Jedi," the Toydarian said, leaving through the still open door without so much as giving half a name. That was probably by design, but it didn't matter to Keva. Right now she had to get to safety and get these bodies and weapons analyzed. Hopefully there was a clue in them as to who these attackers were.

As for her rescuer, it appeared he didn't want to stick around to talk…but she was glad he had appeared when he did, or she would have been a goner.

But a white lightsaber? She didn't even know there were crystals that made for a white blade. There were blue, green, yellow, and in some cases odd variants, but she'd never heard of one being pure white. The color of the crystal bonded with the Jedi that created the lightsaber, and was reminiscent of their personality.

Blue represented a headstrong fighter, more apt to combat and aggressive actions than to diplomacy and empathy. Those were represented by a green lightsaber, though obviously Keva could still fight. Green didn't mean passivism any more than blue meant pigheadedness. It was just a reflection of what one's default reaction to a situation was, and all Jedi were taught when they were very young that they had to think and adapt, go beyond their natural reflexes, and do what was necessary in any given situation.

All Jedi could fight. All Jedi could conduct diplomacy, investigations, lead armies, etc. Keva's natural reaction was to talk first, kick ass second, so when she'd found her crystal it had been a deep green…and over the years as she'd learned to see the galaxy with a more cynical view it had lightened slightly. She wasn't sure when, exactly, but it wasn't quite so deep a green.

Lightsabers from past Jedi didn't alter color. Fixed it was when it passed into another's hands, but during the life of the Jedi the color would alter slightly if big changes occurred within the person. Keva had never heard of a green turning blue or anything that drastic, for she doubted basic instincts could alter much, but there was some variation there.

Yellow was symbolic of a Jedi who had no basic reaction. They were essentially neutral and went into defense mode by instinct, then consciously decided how to respond later. Keva admired that, but her first response was to initiate contact and figure out what was going on, not sit and observe, which was why she experimented with her blaster-damaged leg to see if she could put enough weight on it to hold up her entire body.

With a little Force assistance she was able to do just that, then hobbled over to the doorway barely putting any pressure on her right leg. The splint held it together that much, but she felt like she was going to rip something anew if she even tried a normal step on it.

Keva held position in the doorway, leaving on it heavily, until Kuati Security finally arrived, and as promised, the Toydarian was long gone by then.

"Grab the bodies, their weapons, and any gear they have on them," Keva said before the Kuati's had a chance to ask questions. "Then get me to a secure med bay. They tried to kill me once, and I'm in no condition to fight them off a second time."

10

"I have no idea where he has gone," Keva said via hologram to the Jedi Council as Luke, Kas, and a few others were present in real life while the others were monitoring from various field operations across the galaxy. "He left me unconscious and made arrangements for my safety. I have no idea where he got those bodies from either."

"Was he a Jedi?" Kas asked.

"His skill set says yes, but I didn't think we had any rogue Jedi in this era."

"We don't," Luke admitted. "And he doesn't match the description of any of those who have left the Order."

"He learned to use the Force somewhere."

"I'm more interested in where these assassins learned their skills," Dovu Lannis asked.

"I too," Keva answered the Twi'lek Jedi Master. "But their skills, from what little I observed, were those of amateurs. Sy-Fen Jor was not an amateur. His raw power alone would rival Master Skywalker's."

Luke arched an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"It is not an exaggeration, my Master. We both went over a high railing. I could not have cushioned my fall at that height…but he did so for both of us. That is not something you can fake."

"Anti-grav?" Kas asked.

"No, I felt him use the Force."

"Interesting," Dovu mewed.

"Very," Luke agreed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got stepped on by a Bantha," she joked.

"Has that ever happened to you?"

"No, it's just an expression."

"Sadly no, it's not," he said grimly, "but I understand what you mean. How safe are you?"

"Against people who use blasters...fairly safe. I've got enough shields around me to stop a kamikaze ship."

"Good. I suggest you stay there until you can recover. We'll send a ship for pickup. I don't want you using regular transport."

"As you wish, but I'd like to take part in the investigation."

"You're the central witness, of course you'll take part," Luke said dismissively. "But we need you in one piece."

"Understood, Master. I will take the additional time to meditate as I recover. If I discover anything further I will alert you."

"One more thing," Kas interrupted. "You said he was reluctant to use his lightsaber?"

"Indeed. He only revealed his after mine was lost. Security later found and returned it, by the way, though they had to take it from a street vendor that got to it first."

"It's out of harmful hands," Luke agreed.

"My question is this," Kas continued. "When you saw his reaction, was it a reluctance based on secrecy or shame?"

"I'm not sure I understand the question, Master."

"Did you feel he did not want to use his lightsaber because he did not want you to know he had it, or because he felt ashamed to use it?"

"I felt no shame. Why would…"

"A few of the Jedi who left the Order felt shame at certain actions they took. The lightsaber became a symbol of this to them, and they could never wield the blade again without feeling shame."

"I feel sorry for them. That is a horrible mindset to be ensnared in. I felt none of that from Jor."

Kas nodded. "Thank you, Keva."

"Any other questions?" Luke asked the assembled Council. "Keva, stay safe and may the Force be with you until your return. I'll get that ship to you quickly."

"Thank you, Master," she said, bowing respectfully, then her hologram disappeared while those of the Council members did not.

"Thoughts?" Hicarii, a Wookiee, asked in his native Shyriiwook language.

"We must find him," Kas stated the obvious. "And it sounds like he knew this meeting would be inevitable."

"But unwanted," Sre'ben Wren, a Human Jedi Master commented. "I sense a distrust for us."

"I got that feeling too," Luke agreed.

"What was so important about the siblings to bring forth this strike against us?" Hicarii asked. "If they have been killing force-sensitives quietly for years, why reveal themselves now?"

"To avoid something worse," Domu explained. "Fear drives the darkside. It consumes them as they seek to escape or conquer it. Most likely they feared us discovering them."

"Or interrogating them," the Wookiee amended.

"But why the strike on the cruiser and the pursuit of Keva?" Brehn Vebb asked. "What did they possess that we are not meant to?"

Luke rubbed his smooth chin for a moment as no one had an answer to the Calamari's question. "It's possible they thought they could maintain their secrecy by destroying all those involved in the ambush, but that doesn't feel right. This foe is clever, but their actions appear to be far from it. Unless the siblings were more important than we know?"

"That does not explain Keva," Brehn repeated.

"Unless she possessed something the siblings had," Kas noted. "Perhaps information. We need to examine the wreckage, the bodies, and all communications involved in the attack more closely."

"I will see to that," Domu volunteered.

"Take backup with you," Luke urged. "If you do find something, or they think you will, they may attack again."

"I'll have the airspace locked down. They won't be able to repeat the tactic again."

"I have a feeling they have many tactics," Kas warned.

"As do I, but if there is something to be found we need to claim it. We also cannot fear every move we make. Best to draw them out than wait for them to strike when they have the advantage."

"And what of this Jor?" Hicarii asked.

Kas glanced at Luke with glowing red eyes, but the Chiss Jedi Master said nothing.

"Yes, Kas. I will be going myself," Luke answered half sarcastically. "I always claim the best assignments, do I not?"

"Indeed, but do you wish to go alone?"

"I'm not going in with an army, and I may have quite the chase. No, I'll it alone. The rest of you have a plot to uncover. If you can find a source, it's all yours."

"I'll hold you to that, Skywalker," Kas said evenly. "Where will you look?"

"Kuat, then follow whatever trail he left from there. If he truly disappeared, well, I'll leap off that cliff when I get to it."

"We should begin collecting all younglings the moment they register," the Wookiee said, changing the subject. "For their own safety."

"I don't like that, but I can't disagree," Luke said somberly. "If they choose not to undergo training we can at least arrange a new identity for them."

"What of the force-sensitives? We now know they are also targets, yet they are not being recruited to be Jedi. They may be eradicated to reduce the likelihood of children being born with higher midichlorian counts."

"No," Kas said. "I fear it is more than that."

"Recruitment?" the Calamari asked.

"They were attempting to kill them," Hicarii reminded him. "An assassination, not a discussion."

"None of this makes sense," Vindar Fen said, with the male Twi'lek twitching both lekku in frustration.

"We have stumbled onto something," Luke said, focusing the Council on the positives. "Kuat provoked a reaction. We have encountered the mysterious nemesis, and though we do not understand them, we now have forensic traces to follow."

"And ship records," Kas added.

Luke nodded. "My guess is they did not want to reveal themselves this way, but we somehow forced them to. We have a great deal of work to do, but we are closer to an answer than we were before."

"And two Jedi less," Yiui said, sitting meekly to Luke's left. The Falleen rarely spoke in session, though when she did her words were always taken most seriously.

"Yes, we are two less," Kas agreed, "but we are now alerted. The rest of us will not be taken so blindly."

"I believe she speaks of attrition," Wren corrected. "It is unlikely that more than 34,000 Jedi Knights could all be hunted down and killed in ambushes, but if we cannot replace our losses with the younglings, then those losses are, in effect, permanent. And even if we lose no Jedi to assassinations, the rest of us do not have Master Skywalker's longevity. We will expire to old age eventually. I believe this threat is more serious than the attack on the cruiser."

"You believe this is a long term strategy on their part?" Kas asked.

"I think they fear direct combat with us. And this is the only safe way to destroy the Jedi Order."

"Then their attack on Kuat makes even less sense…unless we stumbled upon something very valuable to them."

"If we have, we need to find it, but I agree that the younglings, their detection, and their protection are our highest priority. We will find and warn the other force-sensitives, but they are not linked to the Order. Our focus must be on the younglings. If you are correct, then this could be the opening gambit in a much more extensive war. I greatly desire to know who that war would be with, but we must move swiftly to thwart their efforts now. Patience will only see more deaths by those who cannot defend themselves."

"We will take care of it, Master Skywalker," Kas said firmly. "There is no need for you to delay your mission further."

"Well said," Luke agreed as he stood while the others remained seated. He'd long ago learned when to delegate and when not to, and this fight was one the entire Order had to counter as a team. Finding Jor was a solo task and best suited to him. "I will check in occasionally, but I may have to go dark for some time depending on where this journey takes me."

"Good hunting," Hicarii offered.

"Likewise, my friends," Luke said with a bow, then he turned and left the Council to the task at hand with confidence they would be able to solve the problem, or at least make a down payment on the solution, in his absence.

Luke headed down through the temple to the hangar where a variety of Jedi craft were kept, using his comlink to signal his navigator to meet him there. During the ride down the tall Prioniss temple in one of its many lift cars, Luke stretched out with the Force trying to glean some insight on who this Jor was, or where he was, but he didn't get far before a familiar voice echoed in his mind.

"Go, you will," Yoda said, though he wasn't visible anywhere as Luke's eyes snapped wide open. "I cannot stop you from that. Know you I do. Curious you are. But, skeptical you should be. Not all is as it will appear. Danger of losing the path, you are in. Lead you astray, he will."

"Who is he?"

"A rogue he is. His own path he walks."

"Is he a Jedi?"

"Discover that, you will, if you go."

"Should I not?"

"Truth he holds, but a skewed truth it is. Escaped my vision, he had. Bring him to the Jedi, you should not. Walk your own path, you must."

"What do you know about the younglings and these assassins?"

"Use the dark side they do. Target the Order, you are correct, but more there is. A storm comes, Luke. Precede it, they do."

"Can you tell me where they are?"

"Everywhere…and nowhere. Many they are. How many, I do not know. Limited my vision is."

"Is there something wrong, Master? You haven't spoken in years."

"Need me then, you did not. Your path, the Jedi now walk. Mine, it is not. Jor's, it is not. It must not become Jor's. On this all depends. The Order, he would destroy."

"What do you recommend I do?"

"Mind what you have learned. Save you it can."

"I lost my hand the last time you said that."

"Listen to me then, did you?"

"Not as much as I should have," Luke admitted.

"But right you were, in the end."

Luke smiled as he thought he guessed at what Yoda was referring to.

"I should trust the Force rather than instructions from my Master?"

"Learned much you have, Luke. Know what you need, you do. Jor will attempt to unlearn you. See through him, you must."

"To do that I must go to him."

"And you will. He is not of the darkside. Yet a threat he is. One you have not encountered."

"Have you?"

"My old Master did. Twist into recklessness, the Order they would. Firm you must stand."

"They? Are there others?"

"In the past, yes. Now, only Jor," Yoda said as the lift doors opened onto the hangar deck and a myriad of ships and a hum of activity washed over Luke. "Remember what you have learned…"

He felt Yoda's presence vanish, and as grateful as he was for the warning, he wished his old Master would talk longer...but he knew he wouldn't.

"I will," Luke whispered, then strode out into the hangar with the brown cape of his Jedi robe trailing behind him as he wove his way across the deck to where his personal X-wing was parked, getting a warbling greeting from R2-D2 who had beat him down here.

"Field work again," he confirmed, kneeling down and patting the little droid on the head with his artificial hand, though to everyone in view it looked just as real as his other one, but Artoo was one of the few that knew better. "Is she ready to go?"

He bleeped an affirmative, then trolled over underneath the fighter and signaled a clamp to lower and drag him up inside the ship. Luke saw his domed head pop up just behind the cockpit as the Jedi Master climbed up the short ladder and hopped over the side to land in the seat.

He triggered the hatch to close on the green/black starfighter that was almost exclusively used by the Jedi Order. New technology was rare in the galaxy these days, but there were many new alterations or redesigns of the basic technology that had seen the X-wings become obsolete, or more accurately, out of fashion. The basic design was still solid, and Luke had kept it as the primary fighter craft and personal transport for the Jedi Order, so aside from a few collectors here and there, the only X-wings being flown in the galaxy were those of the Jedi.

That didn't make his choice of transport very clandestine, but the countermeasure package that it contained would make it appear to be a number of varied craft on both sensors and telemetry except for when he came into visual range or ran up against a top end sensor suite. For the most part that meant he could go just about anywhere in the galaxy without attracting too much attention, and the loss of two of the six standard proton torpedoes had given the X-wings enough extra fuel capacity that he wouldn't have to make too many pit stops.

If he took a larger ship, even a full cruiser, he could be out and about the galaxy for a long time before having to come back into civilization, but there was something about going in alone, small, and quiet that Luke preferred in a situation like this. Especially when he didn't know what he was going to end up running into…and the X-wings were close to the fastest ships in the galaxy, so he could outrun almost anything.

Luke ran through an extra set of pre-flight checks, finding Artoo had already taken care of everything, then he gently lifted off above the height of most of the other ships on the deck and drifted the X-wing out the main hangar doors and into Prioniss's sky with the jungle treetops barely clearing the X-wing's underside.

He gradually pulled up and began to gain altitude as Artoo warbled a question that appeared in text on his dashboard.

"Kuat," Luke answered. "We have a potential rogue Jedi to track down."

Artoo's respond was indifferent, for this wasn't the first such trip they'd made together over the past centuries. Artoo was the only one of his old friends to still be alive and in the flesh, or in his case metal, and after a good chewing out he'd given Luke long ago about sticking him away for safe keeping, he'd taken Artoo with him on all his personal missions. That's what the droid wanted, stating that he'd rather be destroyed in service than preserved in a museum.

Luke respected that, and the amount of experience the droid had picked up over the years couldn't be replaced, though he'd tried. Most of the R-class droids the Jedi used were clones of Artoo's programming, though none of them could quite pass muster. Not for R2, anyway, but his 'offspring' were better than average compared to the newer models available, so Luke had decided to stick with what worked.

When the X-wing got above the atmosphere Luke kept climbing until the gravity shadow of the planet no longer eclipsed the straight line from his current position to Kuat. If it did, he'd be dragged back out of hyperspace before he went anywhere, and if he didn't get at least a little bit away from the planet his hyperdrive wouldn't engage at all. Larger ships, or rather those with stronger hyperdrives, could push through denser portions of the gravity well and take shorter routes between locations. It was an advantage of the big ships, but also a disadvantage. If the nav computer didn't pull them out at the appropriate time they'd run into the gravity well of a planet or star and emerge inside it, destroying the ship instantly.

Small, weaker hyperdrives would get pulled out before they ran into the mass itself…then potentially collide in the rapid deceleration afterward, but it was much safer to be scouting new territory in a small craft with a weak drive, though you could be getting pulled in and out of hyperspace constantly for asteroids and other small masses if you ran directly over them.

Large or small, weak or strong, no matter what type of ship and hyperdrive you used, traveling uncharted routes without a navcomputer was usually a short trip to disaster…which was why the Jedi Order led most of the scouting missions into unexplored regions of the galaxy to give them an extra edge in avoiding tragedy. The Force was very useful if you knew how to use it, and even after all these centuries Luke was still picking up new tricks here and there, but nothing that would prevent him from having to make this a multi-stop journey, for there were not one, but two gravitational masses between Prioniss and Kuat.

Artoo gave him three possible routes, with Luke selecting one on instinct that wouldn't require them orbiting around the planet for another hour before they could jump, though Artoo had also included a microjump away from the planet to reorient them as an option to save time, which he asked Luke about in another warble.

"No need to get fancy, Artoo. We're not in a rush."

Artoo chirped an acknowledgement and made the final safety checks, then allowed Luke to manually engage the hyperdrive when they reached the necessary altitude. The stars elonged for a moment as his X-wing accelerated rapidly and transitioned out of normal space and into the blue cascading blur of hyperspace without hitting anything first.

"Wake me 10 minutes prior to arrival," Luke said, leaning his head back against the fighter's seat and slipping into a trance to both pass the time and to reach out through the Force for any glimmers of insight it might or might not provide.

11

Luke had fallen asleep by the last leg of the journey to Kuat, but Artoo's insistent beeping slowly dragging him awake as he found him mouth dryer than expected. He blinked twice, then saw both the swirl of hyperspace before him and the coordinate tracker display showing that they were nearly to their destination.

"I'm awake," he said, prompting Artoo to stop his electronic troll, then the Jedi Master pulled a bottle of water out from under his seat and drank a few gulps. He would have guessed they were only halfway there at this point, but he must have dosed off somewhere in his meditations and lost track of the time.

Artoo bleeped a question, and Luke knew the gist of it even before he read the text on his cockpit's display screen.

"I don't know, Artoo. I was tracking currents in the Force and…got lost I guess. I didn't meant to fall asleep. Thanks for waking me, buddy."

Artoo warbled an 'are you alright' mournful trill.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The sleep actually did me some good. I feel wide awake now…and I sense our luck might be good on this one. Actually, I haven't felt like this in a long time. Maybe it's the adventure of it. You and me like old times, huh?"

Artoo agreed, then offered a complaint.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Jedi Master duties and all. I don't get out as much as I should. And considering that I'm in charge, I don't really have anyone to blame but myself, do I?"

Artoo agreed a little too eagerly on that one, which prompted Luke to smirk. "Yeah yeah, you told me so," he said as he flicked a few diagnostic switched and checked on the X-wing's status prior to reentry. He knew Artoo was monitoring everything, but some old habits never died.

He and his navigator remained silent for the rest of the hyperspace flight, then Artoo pinged him so he could manually drop them out with the pull of a handle within a 3 second window that the computer would translate into the precise moment to come out at Artoo's coordinates. If he didn't pull the handle they'd fly right on by and hit the outer edge of the gravity well. Not enough to force them out, for they wanted to come out well above the planet and the traffic fields, and had Artoo not woken Luke up or did it himself, they would have missed their destination…which was yet one more reason why astromechs were badly needed on hyperspace-equipped fighters.

When Luke saw the countdown timer get inside of three seconds he pulled back on the appropriate level and the blue/white swirl engulfing his X-wing shrunk down into star lines and just as quickly again into pinpricks of light set against the black backdrop of space…but some of those pinpricks were moving and Artoo gave him a light collision warning for the starliner approaching a few klicks to starboard.

"Ouch," he said, activating his conventional engines and swerving out of its path well before it got close enough to wave at. "Now that's a breakdown in flight traffic. Usually Kuat is more strict about its lanes."

Artoo bleeped and highlighted their position on the orbital map, showing that they weren't in a lane and outside the designated area for both arrivals and departures.

"Well what's he doing way out here then?" Luke asked as he banked around and slowly headed down towards the traffic lanes as he pinged his registration and asked for a path to ground with a few preset button presses as Artoo responded with sarcasm.

"We're arriving, he's not," Luke pointed out as he stretched his senses towards the ship. "His trajectory is away from the planet."

He didn't pick up any wrongness from it, and it wasn't reacting to his arrival, so maybe it was just a freak near collision. Luke often arrived high up to avoid the odds of such a collision in the designated lanes when he had ample time for arrival, which some people might deem paranoid, but then again he'd been ambushed on arrival not once, but 19 times over the course of his life and he didn't intend to let there be a 20th. Space was so vast the odds of a ship running into another one coming out of hyperspace were almost not worth calculating unless you were near a transit point, and at present he wasn't.

"Veriton CV832074," a voice broke through over his comm. "This is Kuat traffic control. We plot your position well outside the designated arrival vector near an outgoing ship. We request you transfer all current sensor reading of said craft to us immediately."

Luke frowned, then keyed the comm open. "This is Veriton," he said, citing the false fighter profile his countermeasure suite was making his X-wing look as. "Might I ask what for?"

"The vessel near your position has been hijacked. Our security patrol is enroute, and they'd like as detailed a sensor scan as you can provide."

"One moment," he said, muting the comm. "Artoo, send it to them."

The droid chirped an affirmative as Luke reached out his senses to the ship again. Nothing felt wrong with it…but then he realized he couldn't feel anything at all. No crew. No danger. Nothing.

"Something's not right Artoo," he said as he swung the ship around. "We're going to have a look."

"Veriton, do not alter course. All we require is your sensor scan. Do not approach."

"Just doing a flyby," Luke said as he spotted the approaching patrol ships. They were more than 10 minutes out.

"Negative, do not approach the vessel. We will handle this…" the controller said, with Luke switching off the comm. He didn't want to reveal who he was, and he certainly wasn't going to be bullied by some traffic controller while he investigated this.

"What do you think?" he asked as they caught up to and slowed to a matching course.

Artoo warbled indecisively and Luke had to agree. His senses weren't signaling danger, but every now and then something would sneak up on him without announcing itself well in advance. Still, he expected to pick up something from the ship.

"See if you can get anything from their computer," he suggested as he spun the nose of his ship towards the starliner that was easily 50 times as long and 20 times higher than his tiny ship. The slow acceleration of the mystery ship pushed it on by to the right, then Luke swung around behind it.

"Engines look good. No sign of damage at all," he said, eventually coming around the far side and heading up to the front of the ship. "You seeing anything, buddy?"

The droid warbled a negative, then noted that the hangar bay was receptive to his inquires and was able to be opened remotely…whereas normally the ship would be locked into manual operation if there were a crew onboard.

"So who did the hijacking?" Luke wondered. "Open her up."

Artoo chirped, eager to investigate himself. Other droids, Luke knew, would have been less enthusiastic. Somehow he'd lucked out and gotten one of the better, if not best, droids in the galaxy. Was that the Force at work, or had it just been dumb luck? Luke didn't know, for there were a lot of things that happened that he couldn't rightly put down to the Force, but whatever it had been, he was thankful to this day that Artoo had shown up with those Jawas and the other astromech Luke had picked had blown a motivator.

Luckiest malfunction in the galaxy, as far as he was concerned.

On queue the hangar bay doors opened and Luke piloted his X-wing through the small opening and landed in a bay large enough to hold no more than three or four fighters, though it had probably been designed for a single transport to ferry passengers up and down from orbit rather than trying to land the ship on the ground itself and pay the extra docking fees that would have required.

The magcon field crackled as the X-wing flew inside the pocket of atmosphere and landed gently on the deck. Artoo confirmed there was breathable atmosphere inside, free of any toxins, then Luke cracked the canopy open and stood up, glad to stretch his tight legs.

"Stay with the ship and let me know if anything traffic control has anything useful to say. And keep the engines running, just in case."

Artoo complied, but with a regretful tone, and Luke knew he wanted to go with him. He turned around, still standing on his seat, and looked into the familiar blue dome.

"Fine, have the X-wing keep you updated. You do have fuel in your jets, right?"

Artoo responded by disconnecting from the ship and flying out onto the deck where he landed and extended his third leg.

"Good," Luke said, jumping high in the air and falling gracefully to the deck in a crouch with his brown Jedi robe draping over his legs as he stood back up and promptly headed for the nearby blast door. He waved a pair of fingers at the door controls and the silver/red barrier split in two and revealed an empty, silent corridor beyond.

The Jedi Master didn't hesitate to explore beyond, eventually ending up at the bridge and finding it empty, save for a scattering of parts on the floor around one stripped console.

"Data theft," Luke said, knowing right then and there what had happened. "The thieves are probably out of the system by now while security chases the ship."

Artoo warbled a question.

"No, but it was probably something illegal that they didn't want to chance was backed up somewhere, so they took the whole module. Looks like the nav computer too, and probably the autopilot. Plug and see if there's enough circuits left to stop the ship."

Artoo rolled over beside the debris on the floor to an intact port and extended his interface arm. A few seconds later he mourned a negative.

"I've got it," Luke said, going over to the manual controls and seeing what still worked. Helm was non-responsive and locked into a single course straight ahead, but after a few minutes the veteran pilot managed to disconnect the fuel lines and the engines died out soon thereafter, leaving them drifting away from the planet but no longer gaining any speed.

"Is the comm working?" he asked, getting an affirmative beep. "Tell the patrol ships that they're going to need a tug unless they have a spare DX85 computer system laying around, then let's get back to the X-wing. There's nothing to do here."

Artoo chirped and sent the message, then the pair headed back to the hangar just as a shuttle was flying in and set down next to Luke's ship. He waited in the doorway, knowing that rushing past them wouldn't provoke the best reaction, and he wanted his insertion into Kuat to be as low key as possible…though in retrospect not boarding the ship at all would have served that purpose much better, but one never knew when someone needed help and apathy was not a Jedi trait.

Two Kuati officers walked down the descending boarding ramp before it even hit the deck and half ran over to where Luke and Artoo stood, both coming up short and standing at attention once they saw his Jedi robes. It took a few moments longer, then one of them recognized who he was.

"Master Skywalker?" she asked, eyes widening.

"I was in the area and decided to have a look. The vessel's computer system has been stripped along with whatever data was on it. That nav computer went with it, so you're going to have to tow this beast in."

"What are you doing on Kuat? Were we told you were coming? I heard nothing."

"I'm on a low key mission, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't report who I am or that I'm a Jedi. At least not for a few hours."

"Are you really the leader of the Jedi Order?" the male officer asked, still skeptical.

"I am. And you are?"

"2nd Kavar Madison."

"Well, 2nd Kavar Madison, whoever hijacked this ship sent it out here as a diversion. They've probably already left the system, but if you review flight records you might be able to pick of a trace before they get too far away. Perhaps at least enough to warn the next system before they arrive…if you hurry."

"Yes…right…of course," he said, stammering as the significance of who he was talking to sunk in. "Do you need anything, sir?"

"Just to continue on my mission…and your shuttle is blocking the hangar door."

"We'll be out of your way shortly," the female said, gently tugging at the other officer's elbow as she retreated towards the shuttle. He hesitated, then followed her back inside leaving Luke to visibly sigh, then look down at Artoo.

"Kids," he scoffed, with the droid bleeping in agreement. "Hard to believe I was ever that young."

Artoo rolled out in front of him and over to the X-wing, with Luke following a few steps behind, his robe fluttering behind him slightly as the two officers watched him from the cockpit of the shuttle as they took off and moved it away from the door. They set it down further in the hangar, but Luke didn't wait around for them to get back out again. He jumped up into the cockpit and was back out into space within a minute, accelerating towards the planet and leaving a trio of patrol ships in his wake.

None of them followed or commed him, which gave him the distinct impression that the two officers had went straight to their shuttle and informed their ships of who he was. But on the upside, them not inferring with him leaving or questioning why his ship didn't look like a Veriton was useful, so he took that small luxury and ran with it, hoping to get down to the planet before word spread that he was here.

If it did, he'd have politicians lining up and trying to block his path everywhere he went to get a word or holocom recorded meeting in with the hero of the galaxy. It was part of the Jedi Order that he didn't care for, and why he rarely interacted with the public except on occasions of his choosing.

"Find us a random spaceport," he told Artoo as they flew off. "Not too busy, not too clean, but not too much trouble either. Something nice and anonymous, and use the Kieran Halcyon identity this time. I'm pretty sure that one isn't compromised yet."

Luke closed his eyes for a moment and reached out with his feelings…looking for anything nearby or urgent, and finding nothing but the traffic lanes ahead. He would have to fly around the hyperspace entry zone, then work his way into the normal traffic flow, but the numerous fake identities arranged by the Jedi Order would give him priority access to a faster route down to the surface without marking him as too important of a person. Each identity had different characteristics, and he didn't want to take the inordinate amount of time that one of the 'nobody' names would result in, but he didn't want to pull Jedi rank either. Something about this mission felt like he needed to sneak in to the planet, and it wasn't an instinct that he was going to ignore.

In fact, the closer he got to the planet the more trepidation he felt. Something was going to occur here, and he didn't know if it was good or bad. He felt no danger…yet…but his senses were agitated, as if they were beginning to sense the rising wind before a storm, and he knew he needed to stay on his guard both in orbit and when he eventually landed in a spaceport on the third southern continent.

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