AN: Thanks for the reviews! I'm REALLY sorry it took me so long to get this up - my internet connection was down for more than a week. However, I've already gotten substantial work on Chapter 3 done, so my next update should be quicker.

"Defenders of the Force Episode 4: Face of the Revolutionaries"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 2

"You're quite special, Owen." Lee swayed from side to side as she spoke. "Most Jedi trainees don't have the Force passed through their genes like you do. Some of them like your cousins might have one Force-sensitive parent, but you have two." Her smile grew wider, showing her white teeth. "Not to mention that you're the descendent of Anakin Skywalker. Owen, did you know he didn't have any father?"

"Yeah," Owen groaned. "What about that?"

Lee giggled as if she were about to tell a dirty joke. "Well, ah, do you know how the father . . . helps the mother get pregnant, let's say?"

Owen rolled his eyes. "I know how babies get made, okay? The mom and dad . . ."

"O-kay!" Lee interrupted. "So you must know how amazing it is that your grandfather didn't have a dad, right? He was conceived by the midichlorians themselves."

"Or Palpatine," Owen muttered.

Lee ignored him. "Now of course your sister has all this in her genes too, but she's already started her Jedi training. Your Force talent, on the other hand, is still raw and malleable."

Owen wasn't sure what "malleable" meant, but he didn't like the sound of it. "What're you gonna do to me?" he whimpered, gulping when he noticed the scientist sterilizing a long needle.

Lee gave her obnoxiously sweet smile. "Well, we're gonna start with a little blood test. With your blood we can see how high your midichlorian concentration is."

"Then what?" Owen asked between swallows, unable to take his eyes off the needle, his forehead sweating.

"You'll see," said Lee.

Owen's eyes squeezed shut as the needle's point neared his arm.

. . .

With the kidnapping of Luke Skywalker's son, suddenly all of Coruscant was on high alert. Less than an hour after Owen went missing, broadcasts went out, interviews were given, and search parties were sent out both on-planet and off. The Skywalker and Solo adults went off to lead the search parties, leaving their children at Luke's apartment in the care of Chewie, with 3PO and R2 assisting him. Not because the teenagers needed a babysitter, the adults had said, but because they wanted to make sure no one went off on their own rescue mission.

They ate their supper in the living room, gathered in front of the holovid, watching for any news about Owen. Mae, Anakin, and Jacen were on the floor and Jaina and Chewie were on the sofa. 3PO and R2 stood to the side, also watching for news. If droids could breathe, they might have been holding their breaths.

"Poor Master Owen," 3PO was saying. "He must be terribly frightened."

R2 beeped in agreement.

Meanwhile Jaina was slouching on the couch with her arms folded. "This is stupid. There's no reason we can't help out."

"You heard Mom and Dad," said Jacen. "They don't want to worry about us."

"Well that's stupid," said Jaina. "I'm the top of the class in Lightsaber Training - I should be able to help. It's not like we're little kids anymore."

Chewie roared at them and 3PO translated it as, "Chewbacca says for you to stop the complaining. Your parents simply want you to be safe."

"Like how Tamyra's dad wants her to be safe?" Anakin muttered.

Mae swallowed, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Look guys, they don't want anything to happen to us, okay? It's bad enough that Owen's missing - how do you think they'd feel if we went missing too?" She went back to staring at the holovid, where Leia was currently giving an interview.

"My nephew will be found," she was saying in a voice that sounded more confident than she probably felt.

"President Organa Solo," a reporter asked, "what do you have to say about your brother's inability to prevent these attacks?"

Leia's brow furrowed. "I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my brother when his son is missing."

"But your brother hasn't been able to prevent these attacks," the reporter persisted. "He assured us that the Jedi Temple was safe from the Revolutionaries, but then the bomb attack happened, and now this. President Organa Solo, you can't deny that your brother's security has failed."

"The Revolutionaries have proven themselves more crafty than we thought," Leia said firmly. "At first we thought they were just a small group trying to scare people, but now they will be considered an enemy of the New Republic. Until Owen is located, no unauthorized ships will be allowed to leave Coruscant. Our search parties will scan the entire galaxy if they have to, but my nephew will be found."

. . .

It was late into the night and the adults still hadn't returned. After several hours of interviews with politicians making her brother's kidnapping into a political affair and criticizing her father for not preventing this, Mae decided she'd had enough and retreated to her bedroom. Now she sat cross-legged on her bed, trying to meditate, hoping she might receive some sort of clue about where her brother was.

Owen, where are you? She pressed her brother's image into her mind - his brown hair, his mischievous smile, his high voice. Come on Force, give me a sign. She breathed in, out, in, out, letting her stomach expand and contract like her father taught her, but still nothing came.

She was probably doing it wrong. After all, when the family meditated together or when they meditated in Luke's class, it was about relaxing and letting thoughts come to them, not about trying to have visions.

Owen! Come on, if we're connected through the Force, show me where you are. Why was she even doing this? It wasn't like she was a trained Jedi Knight.

Then the comm beeped.

Mae groaned as her eyes popped open. She considered not answering it, but then she thought that it might be her parents, so she reached over and pushed the button to answer.

The hologram that emerged wasn't Luke or Rianna, but a hooded figure Mae instantly recognized. She didn't know this Revolutionary's name, but she had seen him before when he called her not long ago.

"YOU?" Mae shouted.

A hint of a smile was visible under the figure's hood. "Hello Mae, I see you remember me."

Mae picked up the comm and shook it as if that would hurt the person on the other end. "All right, where's my brother?"

The hologram shrugged. "What makes you think we have him?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Mae snarled. "Owen goes missing two days after you blow up the temple's meditation room . . ."

"What makes you think we did that?" the figure interrupted.

"Of course you did that!" said Mae. "Now tell me where my brother is or I'll tell my mom and dad you've been calling me!"

"Go ahead," said the figure. "That's some pretty weak leverage you have there."

"I'm hanging up," said Mae.

"Fine," said the hologram. "I was going to take you to your brother, but if you don't want me to . . ."

Mae's face reddened. "What?"

"You heard me," said the hologram. "I'll take you to your brother if you want me to."

Mae's eyebrow went up. "Where is he?" she asked cautiously.

The figure shook his head slightly, looking again like he was grinning under his hood. "Can't tell," he said in an almost teasing voice. "But if you want to go to him, my speeder's parked right outside your window." He tilted his head. "However, if you tell Mommy and Daddy or anyone else, I'll fly off."

Mae's eyes flicked upward and she gulped. There was a speeder hovering right outside her window, driven by a hooded figure who looked exactly like the hologram.

"So what'll it be?" the mystery person asked.

Mae gulped again, her focus shifting from the speeder to the comm and back again. "This is a trap, isn't it?"

The figure shrugged. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but look at it this way. Your family has an entire galaxy to search for your brother. Meanwhile, I'm offering to take you right to him."

Mae's eyes kept flicking back and forth. "Can I at least leave my parents a message?"

The hologram looked like he was sighing. "Fine, but make it short."

Mae hung up the instant he finished his sentence. After glancing again at the speeder, she took a deep breath and pressed the recording button.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad," she said awkwardly. "Uh . . . a Revolutionary contacted me and he said he can take me to Owen. So . . . if I'm not back soon, that means it was a trap and you'd better try to find me. Um, I love you, bye."

Her face started heating up before she finished recording, but at least she was leaving something behind. Luke and Rianna would most likely kill her when they found out, but if she was able to bring Owen back they might not kill her quite as hard.

The Revolutionary tapped at the window with a long fingernail. It was a gentle tap, yet urgent at the same time. After a deep breath, Mae put down the comm and made her way to the window, praying that she wasn't making a mistake.

The wind whipped through her hair once she opened the window, where the speeder hovered just a few inches away. The hooded driver patted the seat beside him as if inviting her on a friendly ride.

"Come on," he said.

With another deep breath, Mae jumped into the seat.

No sooner was she fastened in than the figure held up a blindfold. "Here," he said. "You'll need to wear this."

Mae scrunched her face at the cloth dangling from his fingers. "Why?"

"I'll make this simple," said the figure. "Either you wear it or I don't take you to your brother."

Mae groaned. "Fine."

She allowed the Revolutionary to tie the cloth around her eyes, knotting it tightly behind her head, shrouding her in darkness. Whatever fabric the blindfold was made of, it didn't let in any light.

"Take it off and I take you home," the Revolutionary ordered, and then the speeder started.

. . .

Mae tried to keep track of approximately where the speeder went, but they turned this way and that so many times that it robbed her of any sense of direction. The roaring of other speeders, the chatter of drivers, the music from buildings, and all the other city sounds merged themselves into a single noise, giving Mae no points of reference. After what she estimated was around fifteen minutes, the speeder docked, but her driver still wouldn't let her take the blindfold off. He took her hand and led her out of the speeder and up a ramp.

The stranger's grip was firm but not harsh. Mae got the feeling that he would let her take the blindfold off and walk away if she tried, but if she did so he wouldn't take her to Owen, so she remained passive, though she still hoped her Jedi reflexes would let her make a quick escape if it were necessary.

Their footsteps echoed around her, informing her that they were in some narrow enclosure that smelled dusty, possibly a starship. Did that mean Owen was off-planet, then? How far away were they going?

"Sit," the stranger ordered.

Mae obeyed, but only after using her free hand to feel behind her and make sure there was a seat. Once she was seated, she felt a safety restraint being pulled across her lap.

Stay calm. She took several deep breaths as the floor vibrated beneath her. Stay calm.

After several minutes, the force of a hyperspace jump thrust her against her seat, causing her breath to jump with it. Stay calm.

"You can take the blindfold off now."

Immediately Mae ripped the blindfold off and threw it aside, then she was greeted to the view of the galaxy streaking by in front of her. She turned to the side and was unable to suppress a tiny gasp when she saw that her companion had his hood off.

He was a human who looked around eighteen or nineteen years old, with red hair cropped at his ears and clusters of freckles on his cheeks. He was staring ahead at the streaks of hyperspace with an intense expression.

"My aunt said no unauthorized ships were allowed to leave the planet," said Mae.

"Yes," said the stranger, not looking at her. "The key word there would be unauthorized."

Mae's stomach jumped. "You stole a government ship?"

"Borrowed."

Mae swallowed as she looked through the viewport, wondering what else the Revolutionaries managed to steal.

"So . . ." she said after a few minutes, ". . . what's your story?"

"Story?" the stranger said, still staring ahead at the endless streaks.

"Yeah," said Mae. "You've gotta have some story to join a terrorist group, right? Like, were your parents killed by Jedi or something?"

He gave a small snicker. "Well, some of us have lost loved ones to the Jedi, but for your information my parents are alive and well."

"Well then why did you join?"

"Why do I have to tell you? It's not too late to take you back, you know."

Mae folded her arms. "Can I at least know your name?"

The stranger twisted his mouth. "It's Chon."

"Chon," Mae repeated. "Is there a last name that goes with that?"

Chon was silent.

"Okay, okay," said Mae. "I'm just curious, that's all. I mean, you seem like an okay guy, so why would you join a terrorist group?"

Chon shrugged. "You seem like a pretty nice girl, so why would you join the Jedi?"

Mae groaned. "You're seriously comparing the Jedi to a group that blows up buildings and kidnaps kids?"

Chon shrugged again. "Once again, you point fingers without questioning your own morals."

"My family has good morals," said Mae.

"Do they?" turning to look at Mae for the first time. "Need I remind you who your grandfather was?"

Mae's fingers were clenching. "My grandfather was a great person before the dark side took him."

"You say that so nonchalantly," said Chon. "As if turning to the dark side doesn't matter." He went back to looking out the viewport. "Mae, do you know how to do a Jedi mind trick?"

"No, not yet."

He smirked. "Well, if you could do one, do you think it would work on me?"

Mae raised her brows. "I dunno. Dad says they only work on the weak-minded, and you must be pretty smart to steal this ship and all, so I guess not."

"What if it did?" Chon continued. "What if you knew how to perform a mind trick and you were able to do it to me? What if all it took was a wave of the hand for me to return your brother and tell you everything you needed to know about the Revolutionaries?" He looked back at her. "Would you do it then?"

"I don't know what you're getting at."

Chon's fingers brushed his seat's arm. "Do you really see nothing wrong with taking advantage of those who happen to be born with less intelligence than some?"

"A Jedi mind trick isn't permanent."

"So?" said Chon. "Suppose the tables were turned and I had the power to wave my hand and make you do my bidding?"

Mae's jaw dropped. "Are you calling me weak-minded?"

"We're imagining here," said Chon, now leaning on the arm. "Let's imagine that you are weak-minded enough to be controlled by a mind trick and I've got the power to perform one on you. Would you say it was okay for me to do it?"

Mae swallowed, suddenly finding the streaks outside quite interesting. "Look, it's not like the Jedi perform mind tricks for fun. They only do it when they have to."

"So you have no problem with the Jedi having the power to manipulate people's minds?"

Mae was silent. She remembered her father's story of his first encounter with a mind trick, how amazed he was that Obi-Wan could fool the stormtroopers into letting them pass. Did he ever question the morality of it all?

"And what about the Force choke?" Chon snorted. "That never gets misused, right?"

"Jedi almost never use the Force choke," Mae said without looking at him.

"The key word there would be almost."

The young Jedi groaned, slamming her back against her seat. "You've got a lot of nerve, you know that? You guys blew a kid's legs off and injured five others - one of them was my friend Tamyra, by the way - but you've got the gall to lecture me about morals?"

Chon gave yet another shrug, turning back to the streaks outside. "No matter. You'll see reason soon enough."