What's up, FicFans? Pirate here! I had a fan suggest this way back when I finished the last one and I find myself these days thinking about it a lot. I sat down last night and began a new adventure for the characters of "Choices from a Dark Past." Now for those of you who read the first installment, you will know that there were two endings...one light, one dark. If you haven't read them, there is a serious spoiler coming up so I suggest you go read at least the last two chapters of CFADP. Are they gone? Alright, cool. As I was saying it wouldn't do me much good if I had killed off my main character so if you accepted the dark side ending as canon, this story won't make much sense. In my mind, the light side ending is usually the best and so we are going to assume that the light ending was how it ended.

For those who are new to this series, here's how this will work. At the end of each chapter, one of the main characters will be left with a choice. I don't think past the end of these chapters so the choice is yours. Leave a review and tell me what should happen next and that's quite simply what will happen.

Good luck to you all and without any more of my blathering on please enjoy "Choices from a Dark Past: Part II".


The cloaked figure crouched on the roof of the enclave where no one would see. Normally this was not the routine but the unusual events that had happened as of late had forced this awkward situation upon them all. The eyes beneath the dark hood darted back and forth ever-vigilantly scanning the landscape for intruders. There had been many these past months and all had the same primary objective. Kill this new Jedi master and quell the uprising of this new Jedi order. The figure that hunched on the roof had only the objective of protecting said Order…and particularly its new master. Oftentimes there was nothing but boredom to be found on this roof. Nothing but the chirps of bugs and birds filled the sky with sounds on nights like this and nothing but darkness met anyone's eyes. Still, it was worth it to be here…just in case.

The eyes beneath the hood widened slightly and snapped to a particular point on the horizon. A sharp red beam that appeared stationary shone in the distance and the cloaked protector knew there was only one thing it could be. The cobalt blade shot from its hilt as the knees straightened standing the figure upright. A gust of wind caught the cloak and hood both and revealed her as she was today.

Madylyn Katarn stood on that roof and glared down at the intruder that dared show himself so boldly on the edge of her sight. Sometimes, merely seeing the dark guardian there looming over the enclave was enough to send the Sith running. This one was stickier though. He just stood there, as confident as she was…seeming to be begging for a fight. However, in the midst of this deadlock something happened that made her stomach flip.

Suddenly, from somewhere underneath her a yellow lightsaber sprinted wildly at the invader. The eyes widened once more as she cursed to herself. Teeth bared, she leapt off the roof and began running at the Sith trespasser herself, hoping now that the both of them attacking would scare him off and protect this brave, yet foolish Jedi in front of her. Luckily, her instinct appeared to be right. The shadowy being with the red lightsaber fled through the valleys and shallow canyons of Dantooine. For a long time the Jedi chased him and after a while they both knew the job was done.

"Yeah! Keep going, Sith coward! I dare you to show your face around here again, nerfherder! See what happens!" said the young Jedi in front of her. She scoffed and pulled her hood up. The braid he had hanging off the side of his head told her that he was a Padawan and the fact that he had run all this way without noticing her told her that he was quite young and easily distracted.

"Padawan! What are you doing our here?" she asked, startling him slightly. He whirled around and she realized just how young he was. He couldn't have been any older than fourteen and the shock in his eyes showed this blatantly.

"Master, I-I was…wait, you're not a Master. Who are you?" he asked.

"Someone who just asked a good question. Also someone who is still waiting for an answer!" she said, demanding a response from him.

"I…I was on guard duty." He said, unsure of why he was explaining himself to this stranger.

"They don't put Padawans on guard duty. Especially not lately. And even if you were, you chased that Sith way too deep into the restricted area!" she scolded. He stared at his shoes, no longer having the courage to respond to this phantom.

"You saw that Sith out your window and wanted to see if you had the right stuff to beat him, right?" she asked. He only nodded. She sighed. She couldn't be mad at the boy. In him, she saw herself at that age quite clearly and even still in her adult life. The only difference between them was that knighthood and her KIA status gave her permission to do such things. As a Padawan this was something that he did not yet have, nor should. He was young and foolish enough to run headlong into a trap, and he had proven said fact just now.

"Do you understand how dangerous things are right now?" she asked. He nodded. She looked at him once more and saw that he was remorseful. Genuinely so. She couldn't scold him further.

"Alright, run back to the enclave now and you and I can keep this between us. Just promise me you'll never do this again. You could have run right into a—" she was cut off, by the unmistakable snap-hiss all around her accompanied by six glowing red beams.

"What was that, Jedi?" one of the villains asked. Mady smiled an arrogant smile.

"A trap." She finished, pointedly not igniting her lightsaber though the trembling Padawan's back pressed against hers.

"Right. And you were saying something about…what was it? Oh yes…walking right into one?" he mocked. The sound of laughter echoed all around them. It faded, though, when she started laughing, too.

"Yeah, that's pretty funny. You guys really surprised us! Although, I'm not really sure why since you all are too spineless to even take on this kid one on one." She said. The remaining chuckles ended like they had hit a brick wall.

"I was prepared to make your deaths painless, Jedi, but now I should think you've squandered such a privilege." He said. Behind her, the boy was jabbering quietly to himself, nearly frozen now with fear. She was used to taking on such tasks by herself and now that there was another to watch out for, she fought her old habits.

"I assume your goal tonight wasn't to kill a teenage Padawan who is back there pissing his pants right now." She said.

"Our goal was to kill Jedi. Two in one night makes a handsome report to hand our superiors." He said.

"But this little one is hardly worth your effort. I mean, you never know what might happen. Sure, you'll run him through…that's a given. But, what if I jump behind you while that's going on? I'd be willing to bet you'd all be a man or two short tomorrow. So, let the kid go. That way you can have a sure bet…and your boss never needs to know that there were two." Mady tried. She heard the kid behind her begin to strain and finally thud to the ground unconscious after some twisted Sith power overcame him.

"Or we could take you in alive and make you watch while we kill him." The Sith suggested.

"Wrong answer." Mady said, locking her lightsaber into fighting stance. She lunged at him slashing and stabbing in quick and furious motions. With a final stab he was dispatched and the two that sprinted up behind her quickly met the same fate. Only three left. She switched the grip of her lightsaber to reverse to confuse the Sith which, not too surprisingly, worked. She advanced on him and slashed back and forth until finally he stumbled over backwards and met a skewering downward stab once he was on his back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the second to last Sith towering over the unconscious boy, not prepared to let the night be a total loss. With an outstretched hand, she shoved him to the wall of a nearby jut in the landscape and walked towards him. Having lost his lightsaber the Sith seemed frozen with fear as the hooded Jedi protector walked quickly toward him, twirling the blue blade as she neared. His breaths hastened as he knew his seconds were becoming few.

"No! Please! NOOO—" he began, but would never finish. The words seemed to halt abruptly as she drove her lightsaber through his stomach once…then several more times for good measure. Her head then snapped over to the only remaining Sith who had taken his knees in front of her.

"I-I don't want to die." He said, meekly.

"Good, because I need a message delivered." She said. He stared up at her fear flooding from his very pores.

"You tell your master about what happened here tonight and you tell him that if any more of you Sith pieces of bantha shit come around here, they'll get ten times worse than this. Understand?" she said. He nodded quickly, eyes still the size of dinner plates.

"Then get the hell out of here." She ordered. He sprinted off into the night without so much as another word. Her glare softened as she glanced back at the shadowed pile of boy lying helpless on the ground. She walked over to him and knelt at his side tapping him lightly on the cheek.

"Come on, kid. Wake up!" she said. It was no use. He was alive, but there would be no waking him from this injury.

"Shit." She cussed, under her breath. She readjusted her stance and moved to lift him, but was suddenly stuck by a crippling pain in her side. Apparently these Sith had not been quite as incompetent as she had thought. Her feet seemed to fall out from under her as the pain nearly rendered her as comatose as the crumpled boy beneath her. Without even realizing she had done it her hands had flown to the injured spot. She moved them slowly to find that they were covered in blood. A low groan escaped her as she tried overcome the deep and awful ache. Somehow, she had to get that kid back to the enclave or she knew the consequences for him would be dire indeed. However, each new breath brought a fresh pain that she knew would be daunting to defeat. As if her weakness gave him strength, the first Sith who had not quite been killed, spoke to her in threatening tones.

"These attacks won't stop. They won't ever stop, kath bitch." He gurgled. Her eyes flashed her anger as she crawled over to him, gathering up her lightsaber as she went. Another pain forced her to stop moving and collect herself even as the scoundrel taunted her.

"Your world will burn and there is nothing you can do about it." He continued. She glared at him but was unable at that moment to do more than that.

"And your new Master…Katarn. He'll be made an example of when we get a hold of him. I'm sure our Master will enjoy breaking him!" he taunted. At that moment, Mady found the strength to finish the crawl to him and with an angry scream she rammed her lightsaber down into his chest. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. Somehow, she knew that what the man had said was true about the attacks. They would never stop. They would be fighting and running and struggling for the rest of their lives…and that was going to have to be something that she accepted.

No time for tears though. Not yet. This kid needed a doctor. She found the strength to find her feet and walked gingerly over to him. She lifted his arm and screamed as she hoisted him over her shoulders.

Each step felt like being stabbed and now tears finally fell. She couldn't help it. The agony was simply too much to bear. Still, though she walked knowing that she simply needed to get this poor brave kid back to the enclave.

After about an hour, she had finally made it back and luckily for her, by this time almost no one in the enclave was awake. The only ones would be the night watchmen. Luckily for her, they were on their toes this night.

"Master Katarn! Please, come in! Over!" the knight urgently communicated.

"Ungh. What is it, Knight? I just fell asleep. Over." Ben replied groggily.

"I'm sorry, Master, but the Dark Guardian is back. She appears to have an injured knight with her." He said. Ben sat up in bed and swung his legs over the edge. Hurriedly, he pulled on a tunic though he already had his pants on.

"I'll be right there." He said, beginning to realize the urgency.

The watchmen knights made it onto the front pavilion quickly enough to see her gently lay the body on the metal slab that was the entryway. Breathing deep yet faltering breaths, she took a few slow steps back away from the body so none of them would get so close as to discover the unthinkable. They rushed to the form of the young Padawan and one began to check his vitals. The other only stared at her. Not all of the knights in the enclave fully trusted this darkly clad being that lurked about in the dark like a mynock. Though their master told them that the warrior could be trusted, they couldn't help but be slightly wary of her and slightly perturbed when she stood and stared and didn't say a word.

"Is he alright?" Ben asked as he rushed to the side of the young Padawan.

"He'll be fine. Something busted him up on the inside, but he'll recover." The crouched knight said, looking at the guardian. She did nothing in response. It was all she could do to remain conscious.

"Knights, take him inside and attend to him. When he recovers bring him to me. I want to have a talk with him about going out after dark." Ben said, in his best disciplinarian voice. He was still developing this voice and it was certainly a work in progress. The knights carried the boy back inside the enclave and the doors slid shut behind them. Now that they were alone, Mady fell to one knee and he rushed to her side.

"Sweet Force, what happened?" he asked.

"The frackin' Sith happened." She groaned. He guided her to the slab and began to examine the wound more closely.

"Force, this is pretty deep." Ben noticed.

"No…shit." She strained, followed by a painful sounding laugh. Suddenly and startlingly to them both another figure came running out of the front of the enclave. She quickly hid her face, but would realize in the next moment that there was no need.

"I saw the knights carrying a padawan inside and—oh Sith spit! Kid, are you alright?" Axol said kneeling at her side along with Ben.

"I think…I…I…think…" she said, beginning to lose consciousness once more. As the men looked down at her and her wound which still issued torrents of blood, they realized why.

"We need to get her inside." Ben said. Axol nodded and pulled a communicator from his belt.

"Lakaar, come in. We need to get Mady inside. She's hurt." He said.

"On my way." Lakaar growled back and in no more than a minute the giant creature emerged from the front doors and flung his little sister over his shoulder.

The enclaves new doctor was one of the few entrusted with the secret of her existence. They hadn't wanted anyone else to know about her in the beginning, but every so often there would be a wound that was too much for them to handle alone. On a night like tonight, they had no choice, but to see a real doctor. He was a tall and clean-cut man right around Axol's age. Being a Jedi, they trusted him and being a doctor, they needed him. His name was Wendell Pak and he had become a true friend to them all.

"Doc, we need you in Master Katarn's private quarters right away!" Axol commed.

"What's wrong? I'm just patching up this Padawan you all sent in." he said.

"Is he well enough to make it through the night?" Axol asked.

"He will." Said Wendell.

"Well I have another up here in Master Katarn's quarters who I am not so sure about." Axol replied. Knowing full well what this meant, the doctor packed up his bag and made his way to the room of his Jedi Master. When he got there, he was shocked at the amount of blood there was. The wound was so open now that even trying to put pressure on it made matters worse. She was long since unconscious so was no longer in pain, but still in great danger.

The doctor went right to work and stabilized her as best her could. She would need attention over the next few days and while she couldn't get it in the sickbay with everyone else, but she would get in nonetheless. She would be alright…it was only a matter of when.

"You've given up on the Jedi ideals so quickly." A voice stated plainly.

"Given up? I'm protecting the Jedi Order." She argued back into the darkness.

"Oh come now. Scaring the piss out of those Sith wasn't fun at all? It wasn't…enjoyable?" the voice pointed out.

"I am a protector of the Jedi and I enjoy ridding the galaxy of scum!" Mady argue, becoming frustrated.

"You think that with the corrupt council destroyed, the dark side will just go away, do you? You think it will just…leave you alone?" the voice said.

"No." Mady agreed.

"Then what do you think?" the voice asked.

"I think that I have defeated the dark side once. I can do it again." She said.

"The dark side? Defeated the dark side? What you defeated were a useless pawn and his son! You can't even comprehend the darkness that's coming for you and your new master. When it hits you, you'll find the true power of the dark side shan't be so easily…defeated." The voice warned. Her eyes snapped open and saw the Master's dormitory room all around her. She rose a hand to her forehead to find that she was sweating and apparently had been for some time. The sheets of his bed clung to her body as she tried to move and as she tried to sit up, she realized that would be impossible. New pain struck her and reminded her of why she was her in the first place.

"You're awake." Ben said from his seat next to her. She groaned.

"Unfortunately." She said, wincing at the wound that still ached. "How long was I out?"

"Four days on and off. That must've been one hell of a fight." Ben said, bringing her some food and helping her sit up so she could eat it.

"It was an ambush. There were six of them, but it was dark and it was a long time ago. There might have been more." She said, taking a bite of the bantha jerky he had brought up especially for her.

"These attacks are getting worse. And why so many in such a short time? What could they want?" Ben asked himself aloud.

"You did just assume power three months ago. It could be they want what the Sith always want." Mady suggested.

"And what's that?" Ben asked.

"Jedi heads." She said, chewing on one last bite of jerky. She we only half joking about that last statement. In truth, she wasn't joking at all. This was all the Sith ever wanted and as far as heads went…Ben's was very, very valuable these days.

"Whatever their reasons these attacks are getting worse and it's only a matter of time before one of them works. This one was too close for comfort." Ben said, concern for her leaking through his jokes.

"You're right." Mady agreed, seriousness bleeding in as well.

"So I figure we have a few options here. We could strike out together like the old days." He suggested.

"Or you could stay here and do your job, while I go out there by myself and do mine." Mady countered. Ben sighed.

"Are we really going to go down this road again?" he asked. Mady smiled that damn know-it-all smile that he hated and loved at the same time.

"Sure as hell looks that way." She replied.


So there it is fictionites. If you know Mady, you'd know that she has usually been one to volunteer to go off by herself...and if you know Ben, you'd know that he usually doesn't want her to. But now, she seems to have duty to think about...and so does he? So what's the right choice? Go off by herself or take the old gang out with her. It's up to you now FicFreaks...don't let Mady down!