Chapter 4

FIRST MISSION

A SPECK OF BLACK AND YELLOW ride along a grey cliff's edge surrounding a crater-made lake that had once seen pristine days. The blueness of Ore Lake and the summer-greens of the forests had yet to be completely muddied by the murk of this area's growing iron industry. Along the cliff's edge, a rockcruiser carrying Luke, Terigo, Han, and Chewbacca slow to a stop at a lookout point.

The young driver darts out of the cruiser and nervously opens the side-gate for the exalted group to step out. He hands Luke binoculars and points to unscaleable cliffs on the opposite side of the lake, "That high rocky patch is it. The East Bank Mines. And waaay down the cliff to the right you can see the white specks of stormtroopers near South-East Guard and our base in the South. The lake is at the center of the north, south, east, and west, by the way."

Luke hands the binoculars to Han. The driver points out to Luke the whole left side of the lake, "That's allll North Bank." His nervousness is pushed aside by something in him more pressing, politely saying, "Please be nice to them, sir, if you can. They're neutral so they can stay alive. They don't know when the Imperials will overpower us, the power changes here all the time. So we think it's okay they're neutral, we don't push them to join to wipe out the Imperials now, because they say they could get wiped out a year from now if the Imperials come back. 'There will always be ore here' they say." By now he was visibly trembling, from whatever his concerns were in that area, and from asserting himself so much to—essentially—royalty. His youth was most visible now, looking to be no more than a kid in Rebel hand-me-downs.

Han had ignored the kid to use the binoculars and had turned on a handheld holomap to take notes of the location in the geographic hologram. The kid sees it and says, "You—You—uh, don''t have any, any, um explosives on you do you?" His head partially ducked into his shoulders, "I'm just checking I'm sorry, their scanners pick-up any weapons or vehicles."

Han had no interest in wide-eyed wimps, so Luke answers, "Yes we were informed. Our holomap and lightsabers were cleared as undetectable."

"...And you're not going to blow it up the mine like the Death Star are you?" the kid asks sheepishly.

"With what explosives," Han states with a tone of finality.

"No," Luke says, almost with a chuckle, but the concern of killing thousands was no laughing matter.

"Ok good, I was just checking because all of my brothers have been snuck into North Bank, undercover, and—"

Luke comforts him as a Jedi Master should, "Don't worry. Our commands include only taking out known Imperials."

Han says, "Yeah, meaning only people wearing white or black," glaring a 'you-hear-that' at Terigo. Luke looks at her too but quickly remembers to switch to looking into her. Han looks to Luke to see if he's thinking the right thing, and by the look of Luke's concentration towards her, Han becomes pleased just enough to make a joke. "Except our Jedi here," patting Luke on the shoulder. "But he has this wild notion that black looks professional instead of evil. Jedi: What can ya do," shrugging blandly, looking to move on. Luke rolls his eyes with an embarrassed smrik.

Han motions to a massive steel-rod fence with a giant paw wiggling out of it. Between the fence, they see what has come over to say hi: a thirty-foot-long creature a foot taller than them that looks made out of only dreadlocks and two black eyes as big as their heads. Han squints to groan, "This our Dreadback?"

"Yeah," the kid says with a new-found joy. He trots over to pet the wooly bird-shaped paw and says, "Bready's a sweetheart, we raised her. She loves old bread, so we named her Breadhead." As he starts unlocking the fence gate, he mistakes Han's look of disgust with confusion, so he explains, "We're taking her because they're sending scanners further and further out from North Bank these days, so we've got a ways to go, but she'll get us there a lot faster than walking."

Han flaps a tired hand of 'I know I know.'

.

In the smooth weaves and bobs, Luke manages to relax his essence on Bready's back to heighten his reflexes, allowing him to balance himself without needing to hold onto a dreadlock like the others. The five sit shoulder-to-shoulder along Bready's spine: the driver in front of Luke, then Han, Chewbacca, and Terigo in that order, all comfortably hip-deep in hair. Bready's thumbed paws allow her to grip rocks and rough terrain without slipping, carrying the group along as smoothly as an ocean raft.

Between tugs of Bready's reins, the kid gazes thoughtfully at the white specks of stormtroopers across the lake. "Um, Master Jedi Luke sir?"

"Yes?"

"So, um, how come people join the Imperials and listen to them and stuff? I mean my other brothers and other slaves at the mine outnumber the stormtroopers, like 10 to 1. So what's so scary about them that my brothers over there can't rebel too?" His face shows a saddened determination of overcoming his fears so to become a man.

Han wasn't interested in this kid's blabber, so with finality, he says, "They pay better, trust me."

The stimulus of a new challenge, new people, and bright sunlight had kept Terigo smiling, until now. Her entire body and tone becomes neutral, focusing on the distant specks to reply, "They don't pay slaves, just soldiers. They sell the idea that their only freedom is a higher form of service. But it's all slavery. And they'll all die."

For the kid's sake, Luke tries to keep the conversation's tone in-line with Han's sarcasm. At least Han's comment was more positive. "Jaba froze you for a trophy, that can't be worth the risk. And now you're on our side."

"Hey," Han blandly jokes, "if the women on their side weren't so ugly..." with a weak smirk and an elbow bump.

With some silence and rhythmic breaths of Bready, Luke's thoughts meander on the kid's topic, welcoming an opportunity to broaden a young mind. He speaks with a mentor's softness, "To answer your question: They follow the same desires as the Sith Lord that owns them. The Dark Side of the Force seems primal, childlike," glancing at Terigo inadvertently from remembering her use of the word. "My master explained they cling to three simple, primal desires: only anger, fear, and aggression."

Han retorts, "You know, you're making her religion sound sophisticated. Watch it."

"It's true," Terigo says, almost too quiet to hear.

Even though they knew from her tone what she meant, Han jokes, "What, sophisticated?"

"No," and chuckles once before returning to an even, concerned tone. "Even though my father always pressed the ascension from Dark to Light, now that I've witnessed such Darkness myself, I hardly understand how one can live like that. I never saw them celebrate or even eat cake. Some of the lowest slaves would slap backs and talk, but higher-ups just compete and belittle and feel proud when they get promoted because someone got strangled by a Sith throwing a temper tantrum."

Luke speaks to the kid but faintly smirks at Han while giving him a look from the corner of his eye, "See, childlike."

Terigo seems to kindle her emotions back by focusing on the curiosity of the subject, "...I've never even seen the mess halls have those dry sweet clay cakes. I mean they're cheap, you can get them anywhere, all the kids would buy them with whatever credit they could find."

Han groans a switch in topic to one he hated less—or not so less; griping was a recreational delight, "Uhg. Clay cakes,—"

Chewbacca gargles in agreement.

"—those bring back memories." Thumbing Chewbacca, "We once had to survive off those things for a week. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why the central heater always chugs. I couldn't get all the vomit outa the stupid thing."

To this, they all smile in their own ways, Han's smile turning into a jaded smirk as it usually does.

Luke's ascended demeanor invites more of this kid's eager youth, warmed by it, "You're awfully young. What's your name again?"

"Oh. Jag," his mouth shaking wider until all his teeth bravely show, excited to divulge himself to anyone, much less a Jedi. "I'm 14. All my brothers and sisters are helping fight the Imperials. We all came from the orphanage," pointing at the East Bank Mines across the lake. "The Rebels can't afford enough soldiers here, so we're helping get our mine back. I didn't like working there, but my older brothers worked there a lot and they're tough, they say it toughens you up, so I want to work there again even though I don't want to. But fighting them will make me tough too, and if we kill them quick, they won't send more for a while, Dub said. He said their leader was just killed so now everyone's going crazy trying to get in or get out, and no one has the money to do any of that."

Darth Sacrifus, Luke thinks.

But Han was having unrelated thoughts. He thinks, If I say this, it might kill two birds with one stone, three actually: It could get the kid to stop talking, and maybe saying this to him would soften the blow to both Luke's and her egos, education by proxy. He scoffs and adds some sarcasm to hide the condescendence towards them all, knowing the fake sincerity wouldn't be enough: "Gosh, you're not even 30 yet kid? You sure have a long way to go before you can start saying you're ascended."

The kid didn't really understand. But Luke understood the word 'kid' was for him. Terigo understood 'ascended' was for her.

As Luke rolls his eyes back to the boy, Terigo turns her head. "No... I'm not," she says. Her gaze droops to the lake but focuses on nothing there, as if seeing nothing but memories.

Just before her reply, Luke had felt a sudden spark in her of a blaze in winter, strong enough that he felt it without concentrating. He turns his head to her and sees nothing unusual, just a neutral face. Though she hadn't sounded sad , her sudden change in tone, to something quiet and delicate, suggested that questions about her reply would be too personal. He remembers she's practiced with hiding emotions, and that spark was nagging too much on his curiosity, and nagging on his concern for her allegiance. He closes his eyes... and senses wavering tepidness. The blazing winter was completely gone. Is this just a mask...? What are you hiding? So, he remembers to want a connection to try to read more than just emotions...

Sparse civilization starts coming into view as they head down the hill. Han had learned not to bother Luke when his eyes were closed, but his eyes open anyways, having not sensed any more about Terigo than he had with Chewbacca.

The driver brings them to a stop among a few scattered iron buildings. He turns to them, "Ok, so um, this is as far as they let us. The locals get pretty aggressive if we go farther." Bready lowers to the ground, they dismount, and drape on simple shabby ponchos. The driver stays on and says his goodbyes by trying to keep his enthusiastic waving & smiling under strict control.

.

Civilization here meant gravel roads, stone blocks, and iron. There was plenty of it from the mine.

As they walk further into the North's populated territory, they realize pretty quickly to take back-alleys to avoid the many civilians from gawking at Chewbacca, though most people in this part look too poor to care. The majority of people are either human or muscular rocky-skinned aliens that don't seem native, but seem well-fit for laborious industrial work. In some dark empty nooks, Han turns on his holomap to make their way towards a river.

"Alright," Han says with relief. "I can see the river through those buildings." Pointing along the right of the river, "That way is east, upriver, leading towards the stormtrooper base. I'll find us a water speeder dealer."

Luke says half serious, "It would be quicker and safer if I do so by mind reading, people around here look simple-minded enough for my powers to find those thoughts. That way we wouldn't have to draw more attention to ourselves by asking questions."

"You mean if she mind reads. But it'll still be quicker if I do it."

"Why? How do you intend to?"

"Dealers have a certain..." Han does a one-shoulder-shrug and wince, "look. I don't know, the posture? The eyes? Subtleties, k—Jedi. Comes with experience. No magic could be quicker than being able to size-up someone instantly," giving a 'you-must-be-joking' eye to both Luke and Terigo.

Luke's brows squash flat, "You think that because you haven't felt what it can do."

Han sighs, not wanting to get in an argument now. "Fine, let's have a contest. Between the three of us. Find a speeder dealer."

Luke says with an eye-rolling groan, "We're wasting time."

Han smirks and thuds Luke's arm, "Oh how. That's three pairs of eyes instead of one."

Terigo's attention was pulled away from civilians and is now meagerly aimed at what they're discussing. "That's not exactly fair. I've been trained to use the Force since childhood. He just started 5 years ago. But, well, do what you want. It would be good practice for him," looking away, apathetic, starting to look into civilian minds, aside from whatever contest they start.

"Well," Han chuckles once and grumbles, "looks like she already started. I'll be looking, without asking questions. Join if you want Luke," and starts looking around.

Luke adjusts himself and does the same. They meander around the area together, making their way to the river, and follow along the river's parallel walkway. After much looking, just as Luke starts to get the hang of touching on minds, Chewbacca speaks quietly and points to a human near a sign.

"Oh," Han says, defeated. "Chewie found one."

Terigo chuckles and Luke looks to both of them for a translation. Terigo says, "He says the sign says 'Speeder Dealer' in a language that he was around before Han was even born."

Chewbacca playfully rubs Han's head and adds, "I've seen more of this galaxy than you have. I'm older than you three kids put together you know."

Han groans, "You only remind me of that every birthday. Mine and yours."

As they draw nearer to the hard-eyed dealer, Luke notices Terigo's expression turn dead, then friendly. Just as Han opens his mouth to greet the dealer, Terigo says nicely, "Give us the keys to your speeders."

Appalled, Han looks to her but her eyes are locked on the dealer's, on his mind. Han opens his mouth again to object, but the dealer grabs his keys and hands them to her, leaving Han's mouth open for longer still.

She touches the man's arm and orders, sweetly, "Walk that way for 15 minutes—jog actually, you could lose some weight," pointing away from the speeders. As he moves, she smiles with a falsely friendly tone of having tricked a trickster at his own game, "Thank you."

She hands the keys to the flabbergasted group and they head down to the speeders as Luke speaks up, "We're not here to cause these people trouble. If—"

"What," she says, forcing friendliness over a hump of bitterness, "you couldn't feel that murderous streak in him? He shouldn't have property, he'll just kill more. To be perfectly honest," and her tone becomes grey, "I would have executed him if you weren't here or concerned about that. That is, if executing him wouldn't have caused a riot meaning more good people would die in the long run." Her default smile returns by the last of these words.

Han's smirk returns, "Execution aside, that trick might come in handy. Why don't you do that, Jedi?" teasing lightly.

"I do, Han. You just choose not to notice when my requests have more influence than they should. Maybe so you can still call me kid," teasing less than Han.

They discretely trot to four of six water speeders chained to trees.

"Oh great," Terigo says with no concern and a chuckle. "There's not enough room for two people." Their heads whip to her. They all continue to unlock the speeders in haste while their gazes request clarification. Upon seeing their brows change for the worse, she says, "Inanimate objects are not my thing... But, that's ok. I'll just read your minds to learn how. How fast do they go?"

"Really fast," Han snaps. This ponytailed-princess can't even pilot speeders? Han warns, "If you dare start complaining about these things blowing your hair..."

"I—No—" tussling her hair to prove she doesn't mind. With confidence and the joy of a new thrill, "I'll just tell my mind to treat the incoming terrain like blaster fire. I'm trained to detect that at high speeds."

"What?" Han says, already done with her nonsense.

Luke watches her with parental concern as she tries her speeder. She turns it on, gives it a test-thrust, and wobbles it around them before Han barks, "No no no, we're not doing this. He'll be back any second and you're going to blow up."

"Terigo," Luke yells smoothly, "Just get on the back of m—"

Chewbacca had spoken to her at the same time. She had looked to Chewbacca and not Luke. "What?" So he repeats. She brightens differently, now smiling more with her mouth than her brows, and replies, "Ok." She gladly dismounts with a jump, runs over, and hurdles onto Chewbacca's back. She hugs him and grips his hair to prevent from falling off. "Ok, let's go."

.

Zooming past rocks and rapids, after miles of cliffs & trees lay behind them, the four spot battered buildings scattered up a grey rocky hill. They dismount a ways away from a tiny lonesome shack and Han turns on his holomap heading towards it.

Han says, "Ok, so—"

"HEY!" a stormtrooper says meters away, "I think I heard a bugrock!" pointing in their direction, yelling to another stormtrooper a ways behind him. Luke's group rushes to hide behind the shack while the second stormtrooper trots over to the first and raises his blaster, "Where? Better not!" He looks back and around, frantically.

Huddled closely, Chewbacca raises his crossbow dangerously close to Han's cheek, but Han gently presses his finger on the bow's tip, lowering it, eyeing him to wait for his signal.

Three more stormtroopers with a cargo hauler come from the side-bushes to check in with the first two.

"Oh thank goodness," says the first one, the shortest.

"What now Frankle,—" says the annoyed third.

"Bugrock, he heard one," says the second, raising his blaster in the shack's direction.

Terigo whispers, "So what are we waiting for, let's go get them." Her smile was burning with determination.

But apparently smiling was not what Han had in mind. "Hey," he says sharply and quickly, "your cheerfulness isn't going to win any battles, missy. Take it down a notch and get serious."

She slowly smiles even bigger, lips closed, her whole face blazing with the promising thrill, as if she was saying 'oh you just watch.' It only irks Han even further.

The stormtroopers start coming their way, blasters raised, ready for something possibly worse than them. Han motions for them to go around the shack to get the troops from behind when they pass, so they sneak around, except—Where's that woman?—

—Pssshhhew—Stormtroopers yell, "What the—!" "Stay there!" "No way!"

Han and Luke's eyes burst widest for a moment before bolting to action. Pssshhhew-bright-green comes Luke's lightsaber and they hear blaster fire. He jumps out and dodges a shot to see Terigo deflecting shots with her saber. Han stays behind the shed wall, giving cover to Chewbacca moving behind a tree, then they both cover Luke as he heads for the troops.

The stormtrooper nearest Terigo falls from a deflected laser. Chewbacca shoots another down. Han wounds another running away from Terigo, running towards Luke, and Luke cuts him down without having to move. Terigo does a running swing to lob the head off the next-closest to her while she uses that momentum to do a 360-spin and kicks the last stormtrooper towards Luke, and again he cuts him down without having to move more than an arm muscle. Precise and effortless. With two years of missions and training—one year mostly alone—with his deeply determined will to grow—his improved skill was just starting to shine.

Han and Chewbacca take a deep breath while the other two & the lobbed head settle. Luke and Han notice Terigo had fully enjoyed herself, and she looks back at them to see if they feel the same. But her disappointment of seeing their scowling faces only closes her open smile, it doesn't dampen anything else. She and Luke sheathe their lightsabers, then she looks to the forest as if the guys were uninteresting, as if hoping someone else would pop out shooting. That got to Han.

Han thrusts his finger at her and glares at Luke with frustration meant for her, "How is it that she can just go prancing into battle like she's at a dance rehearsal."

Luke almost thinks this was an attack on Luke's Jedi skills, as if his serious composure seemed tense and inexperienced compared to her nonchalance. But Terigo answers as she forces interest to the forest, carrying a tone as if reciting a passage from childhood lessons, "The sun's light gives us life and warmth, but its blaze can burn us to ash." She glances at Luke, "Anyone from a two-sunned desert would know that," then takes interest in the shed, bearing a softer smile of curiosity and boredom.

Luke's eyes grow curious too, "What does that mean exactly. It's about the Light Side of the Force, isn't it. Your Light Side."

A corner of her smile rises larger for a moment, pleased with his willingness to learn, however her eyes almost at look him but don't. "The Dark gains destructive power from hatred causing misery. The Light gains con-structive power from... happiness."

Luke's eyebrow twitches among his otherwise frozen body. His mouth opens to almost ask 'huh?'

But Han rolls his eyes, "Are we done here, let's move. It's not far from here."

They start walking, but Luke remains perplexed by her words, unable to stop staring at her smile and her content expression in a situation where blaster fire could start shooting from the forest at any moment. It's as if she finds no difference here than being in their Royalty Flat. Her pleasantness had a new meaning now.

"Is that really possible?" he asks, eyes narrow. "How can that really be a source of power?"

"The body wants to be happy," she says. "When it is, it functions the best. Mind, body, and essence."

"Ok," Luke says, not quite sure. "How is it you can have that power here though? When in danger. When killing people. Killing isn't... empathic, or what you said."

"Well, truth is often based on our own point of view. And training of course. But it's easy. Once you see everything as a good experience—as something to learn from—nothing but good comes from everything, all your memories are good, fueling more of it."

Luke's eyes narrow, thinking. A certain point of view. He remembers the sting of Ben's excuse for lying to him about his father. He opens his mouth again, but she knows his question.

"With killing, for example, I may be making one person suffer, but from a broader, long-term point of view, I know I'm making many more safe by ridding them of his torment."

Luke relaxes some, beginning to understand.

"And," her voice wavers, then her tone gradually fades and dies, but it returns to a frail optimism, "if the people you love die, it's a chance to love someone new, to learn something new from others that you wouldn't have before."

Luke's lower eyelids pinch up, half confused, half disturbed. Her whole planet was destroyed, everyone she loved, like Leia—

—In the lead, Han freezes and shoots his arm out to hold them back. They halt and he hoarsely speaks just above a whisper, "There. Up ahead, and allll up the hill."

They peek out of thick brush to see a rocky hill filled with huts and buildings and tan specks of people young and not so young, and, stormtroopers, wandering aimlessly. On the top of the hill, on one side: the mine. On the other side: a building on the cliff edge overseeing the South East battleground where the Rebels can't get through.

Han's already got his holomap out. He starts counting meters on the map in his head while Luke focuses his essence on his surroundings and Terigo counts the stormtroopers, also in her head. Her attention flicks to Han for a second, "Shh, I'm trying to count too."

Han's attention does a slow double-take, "W... What? I'm counting inside my hea—oh. Stop pe—"

"40 troops. 20 on each side," she says, then looks to Han, "Thanks for stopping."

Han's face turns sour and waits for her to react to it, but she ignores it. He says, "Can't, you, turn, that, off?"

"I... I can, but it takes effort. It's automatic, because we're supposed to connect to people, or at least we do, or, did. It feels weird if I don't, like avoiding eye-contact when you talk to someone, or holding your breath."

"I don't care about all that, I just don't want you inside my head all the time."

Luke, reluctant to contradict Han, says, "Actually Han... I think it would help with missions, especially when trying to be quiet. We wouldn't have to explain everything to all people on the team." Luke kept his voice unassuming, knowing it was sometimes better to let Han make decisions at times like this. He was 10 years older, and who knew how many more years experienced in battle.

Han nearly gripes, but has grown old enough now to be over some of his ego, not that he would let this one go without a grimace, "Fine. But only on missions," giving her a hard eye. But he couldn't tell if she agreed by her default smile. "As I was saying," holding up the map and pointing to it, "so this is where we go around to the back side, see. We can get there by nightfall and sneak in tomorrow morning."

"But..." Terigo says. Her fiery excitement returns full throttle, "We can kill them all, here. Now."

Even Chewbacca made a doubtful scoff.

"Are you kidding me!" Han whispers loudly.

"We should stick to the plan," Luke says with calm authority.

"But we can take them," Terigo says, looking at Luke, "you and I. You can fight. Right? There's only 20 on each side." Pointing to Luke then herself: "20 20."

Luke's pauses in thought. He's not sure he can, but his ego won't let him say no. I'm a Jedi. If she can, I can too. Han looks to Luke for support but after seeing the dilemma on Luke's face, his frustration tilts his head forward to warn 'you better not'.

She speaks to Luke before Han interferes, "Oh come on, don't let fear get to you," bumping Luke. "They're far away, laser deflection will kill most of them," and flashes him a confident supportive smile.

Han says, "You say fear, I say sanity." He warns, "Luke..."

With Chewbacca remaining silent, Luke knows it's up to him to break the tie. He wants to show them how he's grown over the years, but he doesn't want to be wrong again, to have his friends tortured again, to lose the other hand. He asks her, "So you're not afr—... concerned, about being wrong? Aren't you... concerned... about dying?"

"No," she speaks with a warm softness of all things right with the world, "Death would be welcomed. I would see my brother again."

Luke's eyes mix with sorrow and grave concern, concern for her sanity, though her eyes were perfectly sane and thoughtful. He asks, "You're not even afraid of the pain?

"No. Any pain would be worth it."

Han has had enough, so he looks back to his map.

"Or being caught and tortured instead," Luke says.

"...Oh..." she realizes. "You have, haven't you,—"

Han turns his head to Terigo, "Y—"

"—by the Emperor..." she says.

Han blinks, She meant Luke? He looks to him, and things become clearer. Luke averts his eyes from Han, realizing he's realized what darkness he's endured. Embarrassment begins brushing Luke in increasing quick waves: I'm not weak—I faced torture without fear, but Han doesn't know that, I'm just a kid to him still, I have to prove I can take the heat.

"Fine," Luke says, determined. He doesn't take his eyes from the enemies, "We can do this Han. You haven't seen me fight recently. I've honed my skills in the last year of solitary missions. Now I'll show you a true Jedi." Show you both. "Fear of death is the first thing that Jedi overcome."

He eyes Terigo, expecting her to smile, but her smile fades and she looks away, as if she was disappointed in something about Luke again. Han stood stiff, almost wide-eyed.

Luke takes the lead—and command, turning his head halfway towards Han and Chewbacca, eyes closed, readying his essence, "The Colonel said their test-assaults revealed the stormtrooper's strategy. They attack in groups of four. They're spread along the hill so that we can take each group out before the next one hits. We'll have 30 minutes to shut off the elevators before the troops from the bottom of the cliff reach the top as backup. We can start as we did at Pargin's Gulf, when I drop my head."

Chewbacca gets ready but looks to Han who is standing stiff and unsure, until he groans. "Fine. I'll cover Luke. Chewie, cover her." Through his tension, he manages to force a smirk to peek out just enough, "But don't feel like you have to protect her at all. Apparently she's invincible."

Terigo smirks back at Han, happy his sassy confidence has returned.

To that, Han says, "Hey, suicide should come quick and easy sweetheart." And with a bitter smile, "Have fun."

Chewbacca stands behind Terigo, waiting for her to advance. She looks to Luke, as does Han standing behind him. Luke stands still, facing the enemies, his eyes having remained closed the whole time. He was calming himself, allowing his body to become looser, becoming serene, becoming one with the crevices of the landscape, surveying his hillside. His eyes were now useless compared to the Force.

He walks forward, and Terigo begins walking at the same calm pace. They move apart one-hundred feet to approach the base of each of their hillsides and Han & Chewbacca take cover, and take aim. Stormtroopers call out, and many more spread the word up the hill. Luke and Terigo halt, waiting for the enemy to make a move.

The closest group on each side eases closer to Luke and Terigo, blasters raised.

And closer...

Luke raises his hands as if surrendering to the troops.

And closer...

Then he drops his head—

—Pzewww bzewww—blaster fire hits a stormtrooper on each side from Han and Chewbacca. Luke's lightsaber flies from hip to hand. Shots fire from stormtrooper blasters.

Pssshhhew, pssshhhew, green lightsaber unsheathes, then yellow, Luke's slices down, Terigo's slices up, deflecting shots.

More calling, panicked and angry, roaring. Young children scream. And footsteps of a scattered stampede: slaves heading indoors, troops heading downhill.

While the first deflected shots both hit dirt, the next ones do not. Han and Chewbacca each hit a third enemy. Sabers each deflect onto a fourth.

First wave down. Luke opens his eyes for a moment and glances at Terigo from the corner of his eyes. She does the same and thinks about smirking.

All four take a deep breath as they await the next group. Luke starts calming his stirred essence, but enemy shots start flying the second he finishes. These troops keep their distance, seeing the four fresh bodies, so Han and Chewbacca are unable to hit close enough to help. Luke and Terigo begin deflecting and dodging four frantic shooters alone.

Luke's movements are crisp and swift. Cool. Clean with direct intent. No unnecessary movements. Linear.

Terigo's are smooth and fluid. Heated. Wide with playful bounce. Moving as much as she can. Circular.

Terigo finishes her enemies only a moment before Luke. She might have been quicker if she wasn't having so much fun. Once Luke finishes his, he notices her speed and whim, and it annoys him a little. While his acute composure had made it look easy, her carefree composure had made it look fun.

She doesn't appear to be showing off, but—He closes his eyes to calm his stirred essence, but blaster fire starts again. Too soon.

The third wave. Good thing they were only getting warmed up.

With Luke's unquelled essence heat, he displays a little more vigor than before, a little fiery, but deflecting in this wave is no more difficult than previously, if not easier. When he gets down to one enemy, he starts merely deflecting without aiming it back so he can glance over at Terigo's efforts, to notice more about her style. She holds her nightstick-shaped lightsaber hilt by the side-handle and the rest pivots from it, swinging it around in smooth circular motions, whipping away blaster fire. She triggers the locking button on the handle to stop or change spin-direction at times, so with her timing the jerk of each swing just right, it causes the blade's momentum to whip around much quicker than it could have if swung when locked in place—a blur, an onslaught of yellow light. And the way she carries herself, it's clear she feels invincible.

Even though Luke took longer by spending time to watch her, he finishes his enemies off before she does, as if she was just playing around.

The fourth wave had caught up to the third just as the last one fell, leaving no time for Luke to calm himself. And this time, his group had a Lieutenant. The group begins shooting at the third wave's location, but as soon as one gets hit by deflection, the Lieutenant orders them to hold fire. He also speaks over their comlink to four men approaching Terigo, and they begin to spread out and take cover. They try to surround both Luke and Terigo, and that's when they see the fifth wave isn't far behind.

Terigo bolts after the one nearest her—full-speed—and he tries to backup and hold fire, screaming, "Shoot now, SHOOT NOW!" They aim at her back but her lightsaber pivots to whip behind her and stop an inch before her spine.

Luke had thrown away his serenity to do the near same, bolting after his nearest foe but making a wide arc around to avoid being hit in the back, doing a flip clear over a truck with the Force to keep running. Terigo slices down her first target of wave four, but now two from wave five join, as well as four more on Luke's side. The troops spread out as much as they can, trying to surround them. Luke and Terigo race after their targets one at a time, and with much of it uphill, it takes longer. Han and Chewbacca move up, losing cover, but receiving no fire, not with it all going towards two wild Jedi.

Terigo's smile becomes more solid with the seriousness of the challenge, and Luke's serenity becomes more vigorous with determination. And more vigorous still. After each deflect and each slice through an enemy, Luke's essence grows hotter with adrenaline, animating him further, further from his linear efficient movements, further into a fury, with a hint of exhilaration, much like the raid on Jaba the Hut. He was sliding towards anger, towards Darkness.

In slicing down his last foe, he makes a triumphant, feverous shout to strengthen his swing, sending the stormtrooper's helmet flying. The shout grabs Terigo's attention away from chasing down her last foe. She halts and stares directly at Luke's eyes, watching him stand upright and lower his saber as he breathes heavily. And his hard eyes glare back at her.

Her foe hides to catch his breath, so she watches Luke as her eyes slowly grow more and more narrow. She stares, as if waiting for him to do something. But he mistakes her look for jealously over finishing after he did. His hint of a smirk shows on a face that says 'I win, you showoff. Who's the ascended one now?'

Then a child's arms fling around his legs. Luke blinks. Another hugs him gently around the torso and he sheaths his lightsaber but can't attach it with the child in the way. More children cheer and call to others. They come to touch him with hands and tears and laughter. Luke absorbs it like water to the fire. The heat in him fades, calming him, returning him to serenity and the warmth of joy. And he straightens his hair while his smile grows.

He goes to itch his forearm and accidentally drops his lightsaber, it turning off. A child snatches it up, carefully, and hands him his lightsaber using only his fingertips to hold it. Luke flexes his hand before grabbing it.

He looks to Terigo, wondering what she thinks of the children. Her eyes are still glued on him, but now she's glaring, and her jaw locks tight.

Her last foe had unhidden himself and was now charging with downhill momentum towards her back, his blaster raised to shoot once he's close enough that she can't deflect. At the last split-second, she spins around on one foot to dodge his shot and slice his rifle in half from his side as his momentum continues to propel him towards where she stood, getting tripped by the foot she pivoted on. She lets him scramble to his knees but she kicks him down hard to get him on his back. As his feet push him towards a nearby gun and he holds out his hand to beg for mercy, she looks straight into Luke's eyes for a good moment and, all throughout her body, it looks like an intense rage is forming.

Luke's widening eyes watch with the children as her clenching grip of her saber thrusts the blade to point diagonally left at the ground. With the stormtrooper's fingers on the nearby gun, she storms forward to him, steps into the widest stance, raises her blade back left as far as it will go, and with all her strength and momentum and a terrible shout, she swings her blade as far right as she can, slicing off the stormtrooper's raised hand, then swings it left with another shout to cut off his head.

Luke's entire body stiffens and his eyes widen as much as they can on such a stiff face. Her lightsaber was now already sheathed and she clicks it onto her side. Her eyes close and her head rises to the sky as she takes a deep breath. Luke thinks he sees her lips move until mere seconds go by and her head pops back down with open eyes and a bright smile. A pure lightness had returned nearly as clean and clear as when she started the mission.

That was like when she conjured lightning during the interrogation...

She gives him a quick friendly look that says, 'that's how it's done' and picks up the severed hand.

And in her next words, there is no sarcasm, no hatred, no pride, no jealousy, no negative emotion of any kind. She says, "Forgetting something...?"

...and throws the hand before his feet.

The children had dodged it and shrieked and they all stare at it with Luke, all in shock. Stricken. With her smile of complex emotions, that look and those words could have had so many meanings, but Luke decided on only a few when he realizes:

...it's a right hand.

The oldest kid snatches it up, thrusts it above him with his whole body, and shouts with victory. The children all join in like monkeys to jump or cheer or shout or chase him to spit on the hand. He runs off and most the children follow, especially when Han and Chewbacca approach Luke. The three all take one last wide-eyed glance at Terigo—whose attention was up the hill—before returning their thoughts back to the mission.

Han says, "Let's take that truck up to the top."

At the top of the hill, alongside the cliff edge, they jump off the truck and Han looks over at white splotches in an elevator rising to their location. "Three minutes I'd guess, let's move!"

They rush inside a two-story building encasing the elevator.

In the wide cargo room, they search the elevator area, but find nothing but basic controls.

"These won't work," Luke says.

"Maybe upstairs?" Han says.

"Wait, I sense someone hot," Terigo says.

Luke starts easing his essence to be more in-tune to possible threats. Han raises his blaster and looks to Luke, "What does that mean?" but receives no answer with Luke concentrating.

Terigo replies instead, "I think there might be more stormtroopers around. I think my last group only had two instead of four."

Luke commands, "Spread your essence on the right side of us to find him while you follow. I'll do the same on our left while Han and Chewie keep a lookout. Let's go."

They climb the stairs with their weapons armed for sudden surprises, and head down a long hallway towards the elevator.

"Wait," Luke warns, "there's two cold people up ahead."

"They're children," Terigo says.

The group enters the room with weapons ready. Luke's quick Force-scan of the room reveals the same as Han and Chewbacca's visual scan: only two strong teenagers looking down the fenced shaft of the elevator. Their grip on two heavy iron rods tightens with fear and a will to attack, so they dart behind a hiding spot next to the elevator door. But they see the lightsabers at the last second and their fear disappears.

"Whoa you're the Jedi!" the oldest says with exhilaration.

The other nearly yells, "Stormtroopers are coming up," pointing down the shaft. The noise of a rising elevator starts to fill the room, so he raises his voice, "We were going to surprise 'em and get 'em," demonstrating a whack with their rods, "but there's too many."

Han finds the control box but—

The oldest teen says, "The controls are locked,—"

—Han had darted out of the way as Luke storms over—

"—we can't—"

Green-zwoom. Luke slices the box open, sheathes his saber, and clicks it to his belt, all in one split-second motion.

"WHOA!" both the teens say. "That was AWESOME."

Luke had opened the box and places his hand on the emergency-stop handle. He catches a glimpse of the beaming teens and can't help but smile at the delight his skill gave them. He smirks and yanks the handle down—

—His hand yanks off from the handle, as if he lost his grip.

The whole room turns their heads, and he glances back, embarrassed, but they all return their gaze to the elevator as the top of it comes into view.

Luke grabs the handle again with as firm and aware grip as he can and yanks it down, causing himself to almost topple due to the thing being easy to move.

The elevator stops. Several stormtroopers peek through the fence, their eyes just a hair above the floor. They see drawn weapons and a yellow lightsaber and frantically try to get their blasters through the two fences of the elevator and outer cage. They yell at each other, pushing each other aside, but it's no use. Everyone outside the elevator stands still, gawking, their anxiety relaxing into scoffs. So the troops try to aim their blasters in a way that it won't ricochet back. No way, Jose.

Chewbacca gives a taunting gargle and what is clearly a deep chuckle. The lieutenant stormtrooper bangs once on the elevator, defeated.

Luke grabs an adjacent handle, tightly, then smirks at the troops, and yanks down.

Heavy gears above the elevator clank and the lieutenant—with all the bloodlust of preparing to kill, with all the irritation of a grating elevator in his ears the whole climb, and with all the boredom of a thirty minute elevator ride—yells: "Oh COME ON!"

And back down they go.

Han waves, smiling, "See ya suckers!"

Terigo's head wrenches to look behind them and says quietly, "I sense someone, getting closer."

They all turn their heads, but hear nothing. Luke closes his eyes for two seconds, "He's hot. Kids, stay back and hide," and ignites his lightsaber.

The group prepares their weapons and tense up when they hear stealthy footsteps of someone in armor. A flash of red crosses the hall outside the room. Han puts his back to the doorframe, while Luke follows Terigo as she moves forward in steady even steps... closer... and closer.

Han says, "He's either a desperate coward or the smartest of them. Either way, don't underestimate him."

Pzewww—bright red shots start firing and Terigo deflects. The blaster had peeked out from around a wall corner and then disappeared behind it. She trots forward a few steps to the crossroads of a perpendicular hallway and—

Pzewww—she's nearly hit by a shot from the right hallway—then the front. She dodges frontal fire by stepping into the right hall towards the other fire. Luke instinctively deflects the frontal fire in her place just before the right hall. They both deflect more shots before Han and Chewbacca peek out to return fire to the front. They hear an alarmed yelp from the right-hall as if the shooter realized who he was dealing with, and his footsteps scramble away into the depths of the building. Terigo steps to follow but sees Chewbacca dart across the hall in front of her. He had gone around through another door and yells something.

"Chewbacca says he's got that one," Terigo says to the others. From the edge of the right hall, she watches Luke deflect for a bit, noticing his firm concentration. As he moves closer to the shooter, next to Terigo, she says, "Move up more, I'm going to cross the hall so I can maybe find a way around."

Luke opens his mouth to speak and steps forward—and suddenly takes a step back. The shooter had just stepped out and now there were two pairs of shots, then four, then—Luke darts into Terigo and Han stops shooting.

"His shield reflects shots!" Luke announces. "Be careful!"

"A Perk?" she says.

They hear fast footsteps of the shooter coming close, so Luke darts out with an idea. The shooter starts backing up and keeps shooting, apparently with two blasters, one in each hand as part of the shield's handles. Luke deflects fire but the shots he deflects bounce back off the shield, creating twice as much fire in split seconds at each shot. He begins executing his idea: he deflects the shots into the wall instead, dealing with only two at a time. He doesn't swing his blade, but instead holds it still and rotates it at each shot so that both shots hit either end of the blade at the same time. Every few shots, he tries hitting the tiny blaster-hole with the deflected shots, but it's too tedious to miss and deal with four shots.

It's then that Terigo notices a look of insecure pride in Luke, seeing his ego won't let him lose. So he begins moving forward, further and further towards an unmoving red-marked captain behind his translucent red shield. But when he's only ten feet away, the shots start multiplying again due to being too close to avoid the shield. "I can't get close enough to swing!" Can't get close enough to swing!

Han yells, "Stay there, I'm going around," and bolts out, taking the left hall just behind Luke. Terigo follows Han full-speed.

The captain starts jogging back with the shield still aimed at Luke and turns the left corner. Luke follows while deflecting, but can't get around the corner without being too close. One of the captain's blasters clicks and he removes it to aim behind him down the left hall while his shielded blaster still shoots blindly at Luke. Han and Terigo turn right, but as they approach the next right, she yells "Wait!"

Luke hears her yelp in pain, Han groan "Damn," and their bodies shuffling around.

Luke had moved up to swing but the shooter starts running towards Han and Terigo, still shooting blindly at Luke. Luke's near-panic turns his head for another option—and yes!—he darts into the room next to the shooter, runs alongside the same wall, Force-leaps over boxes, and slices through the wall's corner with all his strength.

Through the gash in the wooden wall, Luke sees the red shield fall in two pieces with two pieces of the shooter.

"What?" Han asks for clarification.

Luke replies, "I didn't say—" but realizes he was talking to Terigo. She was mumbling, sentences.

Luke runs around and sees Han's hands on her to help. He sees her saber hilt on the ground and her kneeling, holding her arm, her eyes tightly shut, bending over a hole in her wrist, fiercely smiling. Smiling.

"—how you wear—how you read everyone's name b—Our essence was warmest then and—Chinoon's warmth was nothing—Father always loved—gave so much—"

Luke's breath chokes still as Han's already had. The hole was shrinking. Han lifts his hands off her slowly and he backs away. And was she choking on the pain, or laughing? Or both?

"—He was only fifty because of—Your smile—we are one. Father will always love me..." Her words fade to a whisper as her wrist-skin closes completely... She rotates her hand and shakes her whole forearm, then takes a deep breath and smiles at Luke as if it never happened.

As Luke's mouth stays gaped open, her smile turns disappointed, with no interest in eye-contact again. As they all stand up, she says, "Sorry for the delay, I had to use my hand to block or I might have cut Han's arm off." She only glances at the shooter as she steps over him to grab her lightsaber, and her attention focuses down the hall in Chewbacca's direction.

Luke remains speechless, and just follows her, trying to piece together questions. Han's interest turns largely on the Perk shield, picking it up while he walks with them. After determining it's useless to salvage, he tosses it and says loud enough for both to hear, "Does she just get happy instead of getting mad? That sounds like the Imperials to me. The definition of insanity."

Luke turns his head towards him, "Han, she just saved your life."

"She didn't have to you know. You Jedi can deflect lasers. That was masochistic. Crazy Luke."

Terigo seems to know which way to go, venturing deeper into the building. "We're almost there," she calls down the hall. "Ours is dead."

They find Chewbacca holding the stormtrooper hostage, one with a lieutenant's colored shoulder pauldron. Chewbacca lowers his blaster some, knowing the guy couldn't even surprise-attack two Jedi. He barks several words, motioning to the stormtrooper.

Han replies, "I don't know. If it were my vote, I'd say execute him, here and now. But Leia would imprison him, as if that ever does any good."

Terigo says, sarcastic yet half-serious, "Sure it does. Most prisoners can work their way up to work-force slaves. Cheap labor. There's a beneficial side to everything you know."

"Anyways," groans Han, "a prisoner would present a hassle. They don't take criminals into slavery at poorly funded places like this, just immediate execution, so we would have to transport him ourselves. You two figure out what you want to do with him, as long as you don't release him into the wild. Chewie and I are going to find the comm station and inform South East. We'll be camping here, work on that too. And if you can find food better than those rations they sent us off with." He mumbles his next words and trails off as he and Chewbacca walk out, "(What am I talking about, of course there's not. Slaves get fed dirt...)"

Luke only gazes through the stormtrooper. All his thoughts were still elsewhere. Terigo looks at the stormtrooper holding his arms up against a wall. She says, smirking, "You can put your arms down for now. They'll just fall from numbness anyways."

Confused, he reluctantly lowers them, and stands with a little more confidence for two reasons in regards to these people being unlike his cruel commanders: one, it's a nice break, and two, they're weak with kindness and therefore may present an opportunity to take advantage of. His fear begins to calm as the two chat.

Luke continues to face the stormtrooper, without really looking at him, "I'm going to get straight to the point. Can you heal my hand?" and his eyes stay on thoughts.

Terigo looks even further away from him.

"And have you really known you could this whole time and never—"

"I can," she says, clearly and evenly, "but I won't."

He pauses to let her explain why, but she says nothing. She just concentrates on the stormtrooper by thinking about him or looking into him. Luke says, "You already know what I'm going to ask, so why are you refusing to answer?" He looks to her, but thankfully he had reduced his scowl by remembering manners. He was asking for a favor, despite the apparent ease. He sees her stillness and blankness, and feels her warmth hide and fade under a thick cool shell. This is definitely a mask. What—

She says, "It wouldn't do you any good if I did—"

"What? Of course it would, it doesn't behave as well as a real hand, and—"

She scoffs. He stops, having felt a hot spark among this statue of an essence. Her mask allows a dry smile as she says, "All Force users can heal if they ascend high enough. Your hand would give you proper motivation, a chance to learn something."

Luke looks at his hand and groans silently, "How can I learn something if I don't—You had a master, in your Light Side. I don't. I can't just—"

"In the Light, The Light's Blaze, true mastery comes from self-discovery. Only a mind that can develop what it takes to overcome obstacles alone can become the most capable mind. (Sacrifus leaped through the ranks for what he sacrificed to change in himself, but anyways.)"

What, is she admiring a Sith Lord now? "That doesn't answer my question." He feels another hot spark. "And I felt that. What are you hiding?"

With a hard turn of only her eyes, she gives him a brief glance with just a millimeter of an angry smile. Then she looks back at the stormtrooper and still speaks evenly, with only the faintest dips of emotion. "Forgetting something?"

"What? What does—"

"You're forgetting how you lost your hand. You're trying to take the impulsive, easy way out. You're whining for results now without working for it. It sickens me that you have a chance to grow and test your own healing, without causing yourself pain by cutting off a finger yourself, or three," holding up her last three, clearly implying she has, "but you're throwing the chance away."

Luke's eyes narrow, but his essence becomes less heated than it would have if he were insulted, because why would he be. He knows she's wrong. "And what about facing my father, Vader—and the Emperor—at the same time—do you think is taking the easy way out—that I haven't worked hard for it. What could that possibly have to do with how I was when I lost my hand." He doesn't look away. Like hell. He's right, and he'll challenge her to dispute the pains he faced head-on.

So she looks straight at him. He almost flinches at such an emotionless confident face staring at him so stiff and unwavering. But he strengthens himself and says, "I, am a Jedi."

The stormtrooper shifts his weight, not just intimidated by the infamous killer, but also from an obvious annoyance for their blabbering, and leans against the wall.

Terigo says, "You only think you're strong because this is the strongest you've ever been. You only think you've trained a lot because this is the most you've ever trained. If your father hadn't saved you, you'd be dead. And you lost your hand for the same reason you nearly died." Her eyelids blink, only mechanically, to wet her drying eyes.

Luke pauses, his rage was growing while he comes up with the same reasons—or excuses—that he's told himself every day since then. But I succeeded in saving my father's soul, and I resisted even the Emperor himself. He takes a large breath and opens his mouth to reply, but she continues.

"Proof is that you haven't executed him yet," looking to the stormtrooper.

The stormtrooper's wandering head flicks to attention. Luke's expression changes for a moment with his line of thought and his mouth moves again to speak. But Terigo puts on a lecturing smile. She seems to decide to have some fun with this lecture, being whimsically exaggerated as if in a theater performance, but with hidden, bitter wry. Luke would be able to feel the frequent tiny sparks among her now warm essence—if he wasn't going to be spoken to with such dynamics. He wouldn't notice that the sparks came with the dynamics, as if the grand gestures were caused by grand anger. Anger hidden with gratification.

"Look at this enemy here," presenting the stormtrooper with a broad sweep of her open palm. "When he's far away, in that blank face of a helmet..." she had moved closer to him and tilts her head onto the stormtrooper's shoulder for her next line, "barely seems human, does he. It's easy to kill hundreds this way, isn't it," thumping the stormtrooper's head to mock compassionate petting.

She almost grabs Luke's arm and instead just waves him over. Even though Luke had had enough of her, her smile is so inviting and warm... so he bitterly drags himself closer. She has him stand even closer, right in front of the stormtrooper. She continues with a whisper, "(But if you stand this close, and watch him for a bit...)" she pauses, looking motionlessly at the stormtrooper to allow Luke to focus on him without distraction. "(...He sways idly... breathing... He shifts his weight... bored and muscles fatigued... He turns his head—and then back—feeling awkward with such closeness, then back to guard his ego... He's so very human...)" Then to break the silence, she snatches hold of the stormtrooper's shoulders and jerks him at Luke, "Look out, he might kill you," with an exuberant smile as if she was tickling them, and almost laughing.

Luke takes a step back from the invasion of personal space, and the stormtrooper thrusts her hands off him with his shoulders, but she doesn't seem to notice. She prevents Luke from stepping further back by moving on. She yanks off the stormtrooper's helmet, revealing his parched face. She says, "Look. He's afraid—ah now angry. Human," wrapping her arm around the man like a friend. He considers sluffing-off her arm again, but his jaw tightens and he looks to Luke. Terigo looks back and forth as she continues, "Despite his unwelcoming grimace, he no longer seems like an enemy, does he? Now he looks like a man. One that once had children. They're slaves of the Empire now, yet he still serves." She speaks to the man in armor and her arm slides off his shoulders, "You too know sacrifice, to grow stronger."

She continues to speak to the man, but with a more normal casual tone, "If I put this helmet back on, one of these kids will shoot you, easily. But if I leave it off, they probably won't. One might not even throw rotten food at you because you could look like one of their fathers. We would arrest you and send you to the Republic labor-system, where you could have a simple life among the paid slaves of the Republic rather than a torturous servitude at the Empire." She motions to his helmet and her bitter-sweetness comes back, "So which would you like? On or off?"

Both Luke and the man stare at her wide eyed, until finally the man speaks, "...Off. I'll take my chances with you people..." giving her a cautious glare, and the same to Luke.

"Ah," she says, as if the man gave himself away. She props herself on him with her elbow on his shoulder and her hand keeping her head up, "Problem is, there's no one else here but Luke and me, and we both felt you would only use our kindness to escape back into the Empire, to use your knowledge of the Jedi to gain power, to kill again... Kindness means killing only in self-defense, but it also means protecting the many over the few. We know now that any enemy spared will pose as a threat to many, even if they were a loving father. The Empire's control is too invasive," tapping a finger to the man's brain. "That's why the Republic executes many of their captives. As we should do too to relieve their busy efforts, so they can stop more killers, and to protect them by reducing risk of your escape." She stays propped on him and turns her eyes to Luke, "So, what about you? On or off?"

Silence. Stillness. Not even a shift of discomfort. Luke just stares at her, disturbed.

She lets her arm slide off, and resumes with more of a serious tone among her sweet scorn. "This shouldn't be a problem for a Jedi, especially according to this one," popping a thumb at the man. Her voice remains very soft and direct, almost cold-cutting, "Death Star Killer, they call you. You killed thousands in one shot, but not this one man? Come on. This is impulsive, childish thinking. We can save them later, much later, when their chains have been removed."

She begins a reciting tone: "As a Jedi, killing someone while staring them in the eyes should cause no more change in emotion than killing an insect. To consider their one life over the many unseen gives-in to youthful impulse.

"Same as thy self: Understanding of thy self," at 'self' she points at Luke's chest, "must not be self-determined," with another light finger-dab on 'self.' "A Jedi's understanding of thy self must come from judgment by those that understand. You know," —she cups her ears to make her hands look like Yoda's ears— "those that aren't reckless." Then she continues reciting, "To consider your point of view over the views of many gives-in to a youthful view." She casually drops her hands from her ears.

"Growth from youthful point of view: it's elementary training in the Light, Luke... Broad, long-term point of view is ascension. Wisdom comes with a century."

Her gaze leaves Luke, permanently again. The man glances between the two of them, thinking what the hell was all that nonsense, she just went on and on! Luke was a flurry of all sorts of everything, unable to move. She touches the man's lieutenant-pauldron as if to remove it, but he slaps it away as if she tried to remove his eye. To this beast-like display of desperation-over-accomplishment, she makes a soft confirmatory "um-hm" and turns. She picks up the stormtrooper's helmet and begins walking out with it in hand. With her back turned, she says, "If you don't execute that murderous human father, here; you're useless in helping destroy the Empire. Useless to me, useless to everyone." Then she was gone.

I don't answer to you!—was his instinctual reaction, as well as chastising her for being an over-the-top jerk. And she thinks she's more of a Jedi than me!? Just because she's been trained her whole life? Reciting passages from her religion. But now... concern for defending his ego seemed like a pathetic game.

With her gone, his brooding takes over every part of him. Though it takes a moment to apply what she said to why he lost his hand, her words had rung true. Logical, direct, and hard. He had always wanted the most challenging route, but now... Even though the concept of execution vs. self-defense would have been his main concern, he can't get over the concept of youth vs. wisdom. He ponders how many stormtroopers he's killed, how many heads he's cut off, how much blood he's seen. But if allll their helmets had been off, if he had seen their pained faces roll on the ground... holding pictures of their children... would he have grown less likely to kill? Or grown less likely to care? Or is grown the right word, and instead devolved? Descended?

The man shifts, but stays as still—as non-distracting—as possible to try and size-up Luke. Using only his eyes, he looks around, looking for options, and fakes a casual stretch to look behind him. He sees Luke is none the wiser. "Permission to sit down, sir?" the man—the Imperial armored man—says. He spoke to Luke much in the way he would to his superior officer, but quickly tries to sound at-ease, human, nicer, (weaker) than he was, "My legs are getting tired." His new tone failed for the most part, but Luke was brooding too much to notice. Luke simply glanced and waved a 'sure, whatever.'

The man cautiously sits down on a box, and starts taking off the armor on his chest and back. He coolly tosses it far behind him as if he hates it, and it lands in a dark corner. He takes a deep breath, rotates his shoulders, sighs, and fails to make his smile noticeable enough when Luke glances again.

Glancing at the man begins shifting Luke's thoughts back to him. He takes what pieces of decisions he has and stores them in the back of his mind. Then he looks to the man—the armored man—the enemy Luke reiterates to himself. "Let's go," waving for him to follow as Luke reflexively puts his hand on his lightsaber.

"Permission to grab my armor, sir."

"You won't need it where you're going," Luke says, but the man was already bending over to pick it up.

"It's important to me. And maybe your fleet can use it as a disguise." His tone would suggest he's nervous or making empty small talk, if only using a white lie from such nervousness of talking to a Jedi. Luke was used to this, but his essence feels a true lie in the man, and deceit, all over the surface of the mind. The man shuffles with his armor a bit, but he doesn't put them on. He just holds them a little awkward as he approaches Luke to follow. Luke calms himself, settles his stirred essence, closes his eyes, and considers bitter thoughts for just a moment longer. He reluctantly decides what to do and sighs. So he takes a serene breath, gently clasps his hands in front of him, and turns around, allowing the armored enemy to follow behind him, unsupervised.

At their second step, the stormtrooper—unfortunately a man, a human—slowly, quietly, sneaks something black around his armor and—zwoom—Luke's saber cuts through him. The wooden floor thuds with an armored body, plus halves of chest armor and a black blaster rifle from the darkness where the armor was thrown...

.

Luke finds Terigo at the bottom of the stairs in the only sliver of light of the echoing floorspace, but she was otherwise surrounded by darkness. The darkness and his resonating footsteps hide his location, to anyone but a Jedi that is. He walks by without inviting acknowledgement, holding his saber limply at his side. His calm, brooding essence flickers with various temperatures of thoughts. He continues towards the exit and she follows, but before they enter the door's cast square of outer light, she says, "You cheated. Like you did before, and long before then."

The room's hidden vastness had added an amplified resonance to the words.

He stops in darkness before the light. He lifts his gaze from the floor and says, "I need more time. Otherw—"

"You've already—"

"—Otherwise... I will fail, again."

She halts before the light as well, next to him. When she had spoken, there was almost an eerie feel to the melody of her bland words when coming from this cavernous darkness. But it was only in that moment. For when she spoke again, her words were lost in the space, as if they were one with the emptiness of the dark. "Never mind. I understand."

Though it was the coldest that her essence had ever felt to Luke, he steps onwards as she stays gently still, frail. Luke had enough to think about, and couldn't really give a damn about her right now and her pretentious ascendance.