Chapter 11: A New Friend

"Ventress!" The female warrior suddenly yelled down to the fallen Dark Jedi, "I knew you haven't changed a bit! I could sense that you lied to me about the 'new you' the last time we met!" Ventress then sprung up and drew her light sabers once more, and spun around while striking her blades with her new opponent.

As they held their blades together, Ventress sprung up and continued, "I was hoping that I would never see your filthy face ever again you worthless Padawan pest! There is no hope for you now, young one. Have you come back here in search of your precious Master Skywalker to help you find you're way again? Well you're too late for that, because he's dead, just like the rest of the Jedi that served in the pathetic Order!"

"You did this…" She growled in reply.

Ventress chuckled and then declared to her, "I had no part in participating in the façade that caused the debacle of the Jedi, but if the shoe fits, I will be more than happy to wear it!"

The young Jedi charged at her enemy, swinging and striking at the Dark Acolyte's two light sabers with vigor, then used an acrobatic kick to knock one of her opponent's blades out of her left hand. Then, it was Ventress' turn on the offensive, as she struck her enemy with rage. They chased each other around the library, flipping and leaping off walls, counters, shelves and ledges, while striking their blades at each other. Tess tended to the wounded Keira, who watched the new Jedi move with wonder.

Finally, Ventress was able to knock the young Jedi down by elbowing her mid-air. This caused the Jedi Knight to lose her light saber as she fell hard on to the ground. Ventress recovered the weapon that she lost, and ignited it. She crossed them together as she levitated her enemy with Force choke. She held her blades together and surrounded the tips parallel to her enemy's neck. She was ready to decapitate her.

"At last, I have waited for this moment for a long time…" Ventress declared to the choking Jedi with pride and euphoria, "You have pestered the Force ever since we made contact with each other. I have loathed and detested the Jedi in general, but out of all of them, you were the most despicable! I tricked you with my kindness and my 'reinvention' because I knew that it would bring me one step closer to destroying you. You Jedi are so gullible, you'll buy into anything these days! Such a shame that Skywalker has come and gone now, because this time, he won't bail you out from the misery you are about to face!"

The Jedi closed her eyes while gasping for breath, thinking that this was going to be it for her. She then heard a light saber ignite, followed by Ventres exerting a short gasp. She then dropped to the ground, gagging for air. As she was on her knees and hands coughing, she looked up and saw Keira holding her green light saber that pierced through Ventress' stomach.

"I think that's enough talking for one lifetime," Keira quietly mocked into Ventress' ear. The fallen Dark Jedi closed her eyes, gasped one last breath, and fell flat onto the ground lifelessly as Keira retracted the green blade. Keira then turned to the Jedi that saved her first and held out her light saber. She continued to her, "I believe this belongs to you?"

The young Jedi picked up Keira's light saber and replied to her, "Wanna make a trade?" They exchanged their weapons and tucked them away.

"Thanks for coming in out of nowhere and saving me," Keira expressed her gratitude to her new friend, "I thought I was gonna die until you came in."

"Thank YOU for saving me!" The Jedi replied to her, "That hairless harpie had no idea that was coming!"

"Well if I wasn't losing I wouldn't have ever been able to set that up," Keira jokingly bragged to her.

The Jedi chuckled for a little bit and reached her hand out in introduction, "The name's Ahsoka, Ahsoka Tano."

"I'm Keira, Keira Hagai. And this is Tess on my shoulder here," She began to introduce herself to her new friend and shook hands with her. She continued by asking her, "So you're a Jedi too?"

"Well, I was well on my way to becoming a Jedi Knight," Ahsoka started, "but then I left the Jedi Order in my late stages as a Padawan for personal reasons. Then I felt a disturbance from the Force telling me that the Jedi Order was in trouble, and that the Temple was being destroyed. So I rushed as quickly as I could to get here so I could make a valiant effort to save the one entity that has become my life. Too little too late obviously." Then she asked Keira, "I've never seen your kind before. What part of the galaxy are you from?"

"A planet called Eco," Keira started, "It's a planet that's on a distant unknown region in the Outer Rim, and it's called Eco because it was named after the substance that keeps the life force of our planet flowing. It's similar if not exactly the same as what the Force would be anywhere else. There are many types of eco with several different colors. For example, I am what I would normally be called a Green Eco Sage. I can channel green eco energy and do amazing things like communicating with plants and such. That's how I got my Force abilities in the first place. It's really hard to channel green eco energy here because there really isn't any plant life at all, which is probably why I struggled with that duel anyway."

"Fascinating!" Ahsoka exclaimed in wonder, then continued by asking her, "So, what are you doing all the way out here in the Jedi Temple then?"

"The Empire came and ransacked our planet," Keira replied with sorrow, "You see, my father is a Green Eco Sage as well and he was once a Jedi Knight too apparently. Somehow he heard about this and taught Jak and I the ways of the Force. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and a Sith Lord named Darth Vader destroyed everything that we knew on that planet. So me and the rest of our friends fled from that planet and split up all around the galaxy to search for secrets that can destroy the Empire once and for all."

"Wow," a stunned Ahsoka said to herself, "I wonder who started this, 'Empire.'" Then she continued to Keira, "Who is Jak?"

"Oh, Jak?" Keira began, "He's my husband. You'll see him soon. He should be done with those Imperial cronies by now," then she looked down at the dead corpse that lay on the ground and asked Ahsoka, "You knew who this, 'thing' was?"

"Yes," Ahsoka replied, "This was a Dark Jedi warrior by the name of Asajj Ventress. She was an apprentice of the late Sith Lord called Count Dooku. She's been after the Jedi for many years during the Clone Wars-"

"The Clone Wars?" Keira interrupted her.

"Yes," Ahsoka replied again, "You see, we were fighting a terrible war against an organization called The Trade Federation. The Republic needed an army to help fend off their multiplying forces. In fact…" she turned to a fallen storm trooper and walked to inspect it. Keira and Tess followed. Ahsoka concluded, "I believe that these troopers that attacked you earlier were the clones!"

"These came from the Clone Army?" Keira asked her in shock, "These guys fought on YOUR side!?"

"I'm afraid so," Ahsoka answered grimly, "Though I can't say that I am surprised. There have been several reports of someone ordering troops to kill Jedi and each other, but I can't figure out who…" Ahsoka drifted off into ponder.

"Vader!" Keira exclaimed, "He must have been the one who did all of this! He must have been the one who attacked the Jedi here! He came to our planet to try and stop Jak and I from becoming Jedi!"

"You're very smart," Ahsoka began to compliment her new friend, "there may be hope for you in the Force after all!" Then she pondered again, "But the question still remains: Who really is Darth Vader?"

"Hopefully all of those answers will be revealed when I meditate here," Keira formulated, "You see, that's why I am here in the first place. My Father sent Jak and I out here for that. He says its part of the training."

"I know of a perfect spot underground that will give you the peace and quiet you need to search for the answers in which you seek," Ahsoka offered to Keira. Then she encouraged her, "follow me." Ahsoka led the way out of the rummaged Jedi Library into a hidden elevator shaft. Keira and Tess followed her into the elevator, and they descended underground.

Meanwhile, the boys were back to normal, with their weapons tucked away, and were casually walking towards the elevator shaft that led to the top of the center tower. Ratchet and Jak led the way while Daxter and Clank followed close behind.

"I told you we could take them." Jak affirmed to his lombax friend with confidence, patting him on the back.

"Yup. You were right!" Ratchet agreed. "Hell of a bloodbath too."

"Uhh…Jak?" Daxter asked him out of concern, "Shouldn't we go back to help Keira and Tess out? That crazy…whatever she was, probably killed them by now!"

"Relax, Dax," Jak turned to him in a calm voice, "Keira and Tess are alive, safe, and well. I could sense it." He then turned around and approached the door. He noticed that there was a security lock on the left side of it. He turned to Clank and requested to him, "Clank, try to unlock this elevator door for me please?"

"Yes sir!" Clank affirmed and pushed his small finger through the small keyhole. He twisted and turned his hand around all different directions as if he was trying to figure out a combination for a locker.

"I'm gonna go in there and do what I need to do," He declared to Daxter and Ratchet, "You guys stand guard outside this door just incase more storm troopers come in to attack. If they do, try to fend them off as much as you can. If things get too hairy, contact me on the communicator and I will come down there immediately. You guys got it?"

"Got it, bud." Ratchet affirmed.

"You can always count on Orange Lightning, buddy!" Daxter exclaimed with bravado.

Jak chuckled in reply as the door opened in front of him. He walked inside and the elevator door closed behind him with Ratchet and Daxter looking on. Inside the elevator as it was going up, Jak pondered 'What am I gonna see in there? Is it going to be another vision of the future? I hope not. Who knows what Samos wants me to see? It'll probably be something dreadful like another vision of people that I know dying again. But then again, there's a method to his madness, and it's always worked out well for me, right? How bad could it be?"

The door opened into a small circular room with an intricate flower-like design on the floor and on the dome-like ceiling as well. There were twenty small cushioned seats and large windows that surrounded the perimeter of the room, looking out into the vast city. Jak walked until he approached the center of the room, and sat down with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Soon, the landscape around him changed slowly but surely. He would then be surrounded by an array of stars in a black drop background while siting on a small platform. He heard indistinct voices but couldn't figure out what they were, until once voice spoke out loudly to him. The voice was hauntingly familiar to Jak, and he knew it.

"Jak!" The loud, familiar voice called to him. The voice continued, "Have you done as I asked? Have you found my son, Mar?" In that instant, Jak opened his eyes and was stunned beyond belief at what he then saw.