I now present for your reading pleasure chapter 9 of Eyes Open! Hope y'all enjoy!


Mechanical footsteps surrounded the group of younglings, forcing them down the ramp of the C-9979 landing craft they'd been put on after Grievous took over Quarmall's ship. Luckily, the boys did not talk or try to escape. The girls, on the other hand, would've been paralyzed with fear had the four B1 droids not commanded them to walk forward. Kira stuck close to Cadena, worrying over their fate. Cadena sensed this and squeezed Kira's hand before a droid aimed his gun at them and ordered them to keep their hands behind their heads. The girls obeyed without any fuss.

The group was herded to a large building that might've once been a palace. However, it would've been a very gloomy palace. Kira shuddered as the younglings were taken under a row of snarling gargoyles. This place gave her the creeps.

The droids headed the younglings to a set of stairs and demanded that they climb. Allara was the first to follow with Sara close behind. Cadena and Kira were next, then Suki and Sky, then Kandra and Alex, and last followed the boys.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Sara whispered to no one in particular.

"I don't know," Jake Shaun replied sullenly. "But I bet wherever they take us won't be good."

"Have faith," Allara told them. "We'll be fine. Someone will come for us."

"She's right," Cody said. "We've got to bury our fears and face the future with courage, no matter what that future may be."

Kira silently hoped Cody and Allara were right and did her best to follow Cody's advice. Unfortunately, it wasn't working.

The younglings finally reached the top of the stairs, out of breath from the steep climb. They stepped onto a balcony overlooking a large city, now empty of vehicles and pedestrians. The sun reflected off of the buildings as it dipped below the horizon.

"It's Belsus," Sara quietly offered to whom it might concern. "It's a colony of the Ugnaughts."

Two droids stood guard at the doorway, and the others moved to stand by their leader, a frightening figure Kira knew all too well by now. She felt goose bumps on her neck despite the warmth of Belsus. Cadena sensed Kira's fear and placed a hand on her shoulder, but even the older girl's hand was shaking. Kira was not at all reassured at this point.

Grievous turned to face his new captives. "I see you all were brought here safely," he said in a monotone, grating voice. "Excellent."

"Safe!" Garen burst out. "You call-" He fell silent. Suki had slapped her hand over his mouth to shut him up before someone got hurt.

Grievous only chuckled at Garen's outburst. "Good. You will make perfect warriors."

Silence fell. Finally Kandra ventured to speak. "What are you talking about?" she asked in a small, scared voice that was not at all Kandra.

"You will be instructed in the ways of the Force," Grievous explained to them. "Only you will work for me, and for my master. As you will see, it is not that much different from being a Jedi."

Kira was absolutely boiling with fury. What did the cyber general take them for, fools? She might be young, but she wasn't stupid. If they accepted the offer, Grievous would make them into slaves of the Sith. Grievous's glare only served to confirm her theory.

A commotion in front of Kira caught her attention. Sara seemed to be trying to hold Allara back, but Allara evaded Sara's grasp and stepped forward. "No," she said, loudly and clearly so that Grievous, his droids, and her fellow Padawans would hear. "No."

Grievous actually looked startled. "What did you say?"

"I said no. We know what you speak of, and we will never serve the Sith."

While Grievous was distracted, Allara used the Force to pull one of his lightsabers to herself. She ignited the blade and swiftly turned the droids beside her to scrap metal. Kira smiled a little, hoping Allara had good lightsaber skills.

The droids beside Grievous aimed their guns, but their leader waved them down. In two swift strides, he had reached Allara and picked her up by the arm. The lightsaber fell from her hand as he twisted her wrist and carried her to the edge of the balcony. Kira was not the only one who shrieked, thinking that Grievous would drop Allara over the edge. The captive herself stopped squirming and sucked in her breath when she saw the drop below her.

The general pointed to a large dome in the distance. "That assembly hall," he told the younglings, "contains the entire surviving population of the Ugnaughts. Watch."

Kira obeyed, dread pooling in her stomach.

Grievous pushed a button on his comlink. "Fire at will, commander," he ordered smugly.

Kira's eyes widened. "No!" she screamed. "They'll all -"

A large explosion came from the dome's direction, drowning out the rest of Kira's cries. She flinched at the blinding light and raised her hand to cover her eyes.

When she finally put her hand back down, the light was gone.

And so was the assembly hall.

Kira could hear Alex's soft sobs as she stared blankly at the once-occupied space. That hall had been full of lives. And with four little words, Grievous had destroyed them all. That fury returned and bubbled in her chest.

If Grievous could smirk, he most likely would have. "Now do you understand the meaning of my power, younglings?" he asked his captives.

No one said a word. Nods and glares, most notably Allara's and Cadena's, were Grievous's only response.

"Excellent." Grievous tossed Allara back onto the balcony, and she landed with a thump. Kira broke from Cadena's grasp to rush to her friend, who had a little trouble lifting her head.

"Take them away," Grievous ordered his minions, who obeyed. Kira draped Allara's arm over her shoulders, and Sara took the other arm. The rest of the group followed slowly behind the trio.

The Padawans were taken down many flights of stairs and through dark, damp corridors to a holding cell. Luckily, no one else was thrown along the way. Jake Shaun almost got smashed against a wall by a droid for refusing to enter the cell, but Sky pulled him inside before he could get himself injured.

Allara was still shaky from Grievous's throw, and Sara, Cadena and Kira had gathered around her should she need something. Kira took off her outer vest and folded it to make a pillow. Sara used her minimal healing skills to help cloak the pain a little.

After about an hour, Allara was brisk and ready for business. "We have to get to get out of here," she told them all.

"Yeah, thanks, hadn't noticed," Jake Comrand remarked sarcastically.

"No, really," Caleb put in. "We do. Is there a vent system in here?"

The younglings searched every nook and cranny in the cell. Not one got a result. "We're too far underground," Sky told them.

For a while, no one spoke. Kira nearly began to sob in frustration. Never in her life, not even during her time as a slave, had she felt so utterly helpless. She leaned against the wall, lost in her thoughts. Her breath hitched as she held back tears.

Finally someone talked. "What about the door?" Sara asked.

"What about it?" Garen inquired, confused.

Kira caught on, and her spirits began to rise again. "Can we use the Force to open it?"

A little color returned to Allara's face, and she grinned. "That's brilliant! Gosh, where is my head today? Did I lose it when I fell?"

A few laughed at this. "But we'll have to concentrate," Suki reminded them.

"True. Come on, guys. We need to focus!" Sara said, getting into position.

"What if we can't do it?" Cody said.

"We can and we will. Try to be optimistic," Caleb sighed, exasperated.

"What? Opening the door? Is that what we're doing?" Jake Shaun said, not paying attention.

Allara and Kira exchanged eye rolls. "Hush, Jake!" she admonished him.

The younglings knelt near the door and opened their minds. A few reached out their hands to help. Kira did her best to remember what Obi-Wan had taught her.

"Which way are we trying to push the door?" Jake Shaun whispered, breaking everyone else's concentration. They all shouted his name in exasperation.

Suddenly, the floor rumbled beneath them. After looking at each other inquisitively and Sara confirming that it was not an earthquake, they crawled over toward the walls. Jake Comrand made it just before a data probe rose up into the room from where the boy had been sitting.

Allara squinted. "I don't sense any danger," she told the others, crawling toward it.

"Neither do I." Kira ventured toward the probe as well.

Allara poked the circular probe. "Hello? Are you friend or foe?" she asked it.

The probe scanned the cell, then disappeared into its little cavern. The floor promptly began to shake again. Stones and dirt fell into the probe's tunnel and loosened the floor.

The Padawans stayed near the walls. "Are you positive your senses weren't incorrect?" Jake Shaun asked Allara.

"The Force never lies," Allara answered.

Next, a small, pig-like green face popped out of the hole. It looked around at the group as if it was seeing something new and spectacular.

"It's an Ugnaught!" Kira exclaimed happily. "Some of the population survived!"

The Ugnaught made a motion with its hand.

"I think it wants us to follow it," said Allara, eyes shining.

"How do we know it's not working for Grievous?" Suki asked skeptically.

"Are you kidding? After what's happened to Belsus, I don't think the Ugnaughts are joining Grievous willingly anytime soon," Kandra said, stepping toward the hole.

Alex followed the girl's example, then Allara followed. Next came Sky, Suki, and Cadena. Caleb stepped behind Kira to let her down. "Ladies first," he said.

Kira took a deep breath and lowered herself down into the darkness.


Please review if you liked it, hated it, or wanted to light it up and watch it burn. Thank y'all so much for reading!