Swan Song: Part 2

Hector had only been to a couple of funerals before this one. When a Jedi died, all were welcomed to attend, unless they had pressing business elsewhere, which as he glanced around the crowd at the faces of his assembled teammates, save two, he assumed was the reason for Master Granger's absence (that and the fact that only a handful of the assembled Jedi knew that Granger was still a Jedi.

The other funerals that Hector had attended were for various old masters to which he was expected to pay his respects.

But never had he been to a funeral for a friend, arguably his best friend. He stared into the pyre as it burned. There was nothing there for the wood to burn. The atmosphere of some small, distant moon had already done the pyre's job. Hector knew that he should not be grieving, yet it bothered him that there was nothing left of Finly on this side of the light for the assembled Jedi to honor.

When the memorial was over, the Jedi mingled with one another. Myriam spoke briefly with Master Yoda. She and Voudon even managed a polite nod in each other's direction. Numa spoke with Master's Tarayzin and Oo'looku. Hannibal mingled with various acquaintances. Eventually, Hector and Iesha found each other. Hannibal was the next to join them followed soon by Myriam. Numa found her way to the group forming a proper, but silent circle.

Myriam spoke first, "So Numa, have you arranged a shuttle to the Edge or should one of us handle it?"

Hector perked up at the thought of finding out what happened to his friend, but his optimism was quickly squashed.

"The Jedi Council will handle the investigation. We will resume our designated missions," Numa explained. She could see that did not sit right with anyone around the circle.

Hannibal was the first to respond, "That ain't right, Numa," Their eyes met and in a very un-Hannibal fashion, he seemed to back down.

"He's right," Myriam chimed in, "Finly was one of us. We should be the ones looking into this."

Numa sighed. "More importantly than being 'one of us', he was a Jedi. And the Council has made their decision."

The circle was silent for what seemed like an eternity. This time, Iesha, who was becoming quite crafty as she grew more experienced, spoke up. "Did the Council expressly say that we could not go?"

Everyone searched Numa's face as she pondered the question. "Well…. No…."

"I'm going," Hector announced. He glanced around the group, then eyed Numa. "Don't worry. If the Council asks, I'll tell them that it was my decision."

"Very well," Numa conceded. "See what you can turn up, but do not get in over your head."

Well," Hector offered, "it was ruled an accident. If that's true it shouldn't take long." For some reason, none of them thought it was an accident.

"If you need back up, just send word," Myriam was the first to offer.

"Absolutely," Hannibal was next.

"Same here," Iesha added.

"That goes for all of us," Numa confirmed.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Brace for impact! Were the last words Finly would hear as he faded into the Light of the Force. Or maybe it faded into him. He could not tell which and it did not matter anymore. Finly was completely at peace. His entire life as a Jedi had been about this moment. He briefly thought about the pilots, and Rolyn, even Johann, but these were fleeting concerns as he and the Light embraced each other. He briefly regretted not getting to say goodbye to his new-found friends on his team, but he also quickly let that go as the Light took over. He even felt himself begin to fade, soon would come the moment every Jedi wished for, to be completely one with the Force. Only the fading seemed to come to a stop. He blinked his eyes, but saw the Light all around him whether his eyes were open or shut. Then he realized that he did not have "eyes" any more. The Light was bright, but it did not hurt. Soon Finly, but not yet, the same voice from a few days earlier whispered again, both from within him and all around him.

"Why?" Finly asked as the Light began to withdraw from him or shrink, he was not sure which. He was quickly aware that he still had a body and that it was full of pain. His arms felt heavy, but he managed to reach out for the receding Light. "No!" Finly screamed, but his voice came out as barely a whisper

"So, your upper body still functions?" a voice came from beside him. "Good."

Finly was suddenly aware that he was in a medical facility and that he was reaching for the light fixture hanging from the ceiling. "It seems you are paralyzed from the waist down, but don't worry, I'll see what I can do about that."

"Where am I?" Finly's voice was rough, but louder than before. He turned his head towards the woman who had been speaking.

"You're on Kora. And believe it or not, in the best facility in the galaxy for your type of injuries," the woman rose from her chair and approached the bed.

"What happened?" Finly thought he knew the answer, but was struggling to focus.

"Your ship crashed," the woman explained. "You and your friend there seem to be the only survivors….. if you can call the state he is in 'survival'. She pointed to Rolyn's body, which was submerged in a bacta tank.

"Is he….." Finly whispered.

"He's not quite braindead, but pretty close. I'll work on him some more before his vitals shut down completely, but I doubt he'll be fully functional again. She glanced at a datapad then paused to admire Finly. "I have never worked on a full-fledged Jedi before." She picked up a device near his bed and placed it around his head. "We're going to have a lot of fun together."

"What are you….." Finly tried to ask.

The woman hit a button on the device, sending agony through Finly's brain. "Can't have you using that pesky Force on me. A round tube enclosed Finly's bed which quickly filled with bacta. "Just try to relax," the woman suggested. "It will be easier for you that way."

XXXXXXXXX

Hector brought his small craft out of hyperspace. Most Jedi were trained to pilot such craft to some degree or another, but he rarely flew himself. This was one of the instances that he felt it would be better to come alone. Finly had been with at least three others when their ship went down. Whatever was going on out here, if he was flying into a trap, Hector did not want to drag anyone else along with him.

He landed near the crash site. Not much was left of the ship. Hector aimlessly wandered around the wreckage taking scans. He thought it ironic that Finly would be much better suited to this job than he was. After scanning what was left of the ship and some nearby pieces of wreckage that had broken away, Hector reached out with his senses. There was something that did not feel right, but he could not place it. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out, slowly. Still all he felt was an ominous feeling. Hector knelt by a piece of wreckage. He picked it up a small piece and closed his eyes as he placed it against his forehead. "Finly," he whispered.

"Find anything?" Hector dropped the scrap and shot to his feet as he spun to face the familiar voice of possibly the last person that he wanted to see.

Hector's hand reflexively went to his lightsaber, although he hesitated to pull it. "What are you doing here?"

Nelino raised his hands to demonstrate his peaceful intentions. "Take it easy. I'm not here for that. I'm here, same as you, to find out what happened." After a pause and period of staring each other down, the Sentinel added, "Funny, the Council didn't mention that they were sending anyone else to investigate."

Hector relaxed. "The Council didn't send me. Our team just felt….."

"He was your comrade," Nelino completed. "I get that too. It's only logical that you would feel obligated to send someone to investigate for yourself."

He was my friend, you twit. Hector wanted to clarify farther, but the Sentinel may take that as attachment and try to steal his lightsaber again. "I suppose you could say that. I took some scans of the wreckage. I'll send them in, see if anything turns up. Beyond that….."

"You feel it too?" Nelino stated more than asked. "The darkness?"

"Yeah," Hector muttered. "Any idea what that is?"

"I'm afraid not," Nelino conceded. "Just some twisted presence that hangs over this place like a shadow. And a Jedi died here. I doubt it's a coincidence."

Hector swallowed the anger that tried to well up at the thought of someone murdering Finly. "Did you find anything?"

"Maybe. There are some tracks that do not match those of the emergency vehicles. No way of knowing which came first. Probably just scavengers." Nelino pondered aloud.

"Scavengers," Hector glanced around. "There's a lot of metal scrap still here if that's the case."

Nelino seemed to perk up. "True." He examined the ship. "Only the midsection is still more or less intact." He tapped the hull, then grinned, making a Force leap to the open section in the rear that stuck almost straight into the air. Looking inside he noticed the two emergency seats that had been used. His grin grew bigger, then he hopped back down to Hector. "This part of the ship is reinforced. They call it a 'crash room'. Most smaller ships out here have one of these instead of escape pods. It looks like there were two people strapped in when this thing went down."

Hector nearly burst with hope. "You're saying there could have been survivors?"

Nelino glanced at the hull again. "This ship came down hard. There may have been bodies, but I doubt anyone survived this."

Hector clinched a fist at the thought of someone stealing Finly's body. He breathed in slowly and looked off in the direction of the tracks. "Then we should get moving."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"We gotta problem, Doc," Holden barged into Dr. Piraeus' office.

The doctor, sitting at her desk and sipping tea, glanced up from the datapad that she had been studying. "What now?"

The saboteur continued, "There's a speeder and a shuttle making their way across the desert. I think at least one's a Jedi."

The doctor exhaled slowly. "I should have expected this." She glanced around her desk at her gathered data. "Worst possible time too. I have a real Jedi to work with."

"I'm pretty sure that's why they're coming," Holden placed his hands on his hips.

The doctor gave the saboteur a cold stare, then seemed to accept her fate. "Ah well, the Jedi only would have been a distraction from the real work I suppose." Then she paused, "Any chance you can get rid of them?"

Holden grinned, "Of course I could, but that will only bring even more Jedi this way."

Piraeus pondered her choices. "I suppose you're right." She hopped from her seat and began to gather various data pads and disks. "Can you slow them down at least?"

"I already set all that up, but slow them down for what?"

"Our time here has come to an end. It was fun while it lasted. Rig this place to blow. We have to destroy everything," Piraeus summed up.

"What about the…patients?" Holden asked.

"No time to evacuate them," Piraeus continued to gather her belongings. "I have all the data. I can restart somewhere else."

"What about the kids?" Holden seemed to push.

Piraeus paused and looked the man she considered a subordinate in the eye. "We destroy all the evidence. I have the data."

Holden understood the urgency, but still begged to differ. "The bosses won't be happy about….."

"Our employers," Piraeus clarified, "value secrecy above all else. That's why you were not allowed to take out the Jedi before he left the planet. They have the previous subjects. I have the data. Our expedient escape is the only priority." She paused to regard her collected data. "Such a pity though. This was the perfect place to operate. That cult provided so many completely anonymous subjects for testing….."

Holden cleared his throat, "One too many apparently. So, I'll go rig the bomb. You finish getting what you need and I'll meet you at the shuttle." With that, they both went to work on their tasks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hector's craft followed just slightly above Nelino's speeder. A transmission came in from Iesha informing Hector that a trace amount of some chemical from his scans matched a trace amount of some chemical that had been detected in the hospital explosion. Neither seemed out of place, except that the same chemical was also detected in connection with several of the crimes for which the saboteur, that Finly had been chasing, was wanted. It was still a very thin connection, but that was all they had at the moment.

Hector and Nelino followed the tracks through the desert until they disappeared among a group of rocks. They parked their vehicles and searched, but the tracks seemed to evaporate. "Well," Hector asked. "Now what?"

Nelino looked into the sky. "It will be dark soon. We should set up camp for the night and get some rest."

"Great," Hector tried to swallow his frustration as he tried to swallow his previous anger. Nelino set up a portable force-field that would help produce a more breathable atmosphere and laid out a sleeping mat in the sand. Hector's small ship did not allow for a sleeping area so he set up a similar mat then set up his portable heater for dinner.

"Look," Nelino tried to break the awkward silence. "I know our first encounter was not exactly social, but you need to understand, Finly was my fellow Jedi as well. I want to find out what happened to him just as badly as you do. I do hope you trust me."

Hector pondered the comment as he chewed his food. "He was my friend. That's why I called him when you took my lightsaber." Hector paused again at the memory. He could not help but chuckle. "He thought you were a Sith."

Nelino chuckled this time. "The problem with being a Sentinel is that no one knows who you are." He thought about Hector's words. "And we don't have friends."

Hector paused from his meal. "What about your fellow Sentinels? There are other Sentinels, right?"

"I think so," Nelino chewed as he spoke. "We don't exactly work together. We're kind of chosen for this based on our ability to function on our own."

Hector thought of Granger. "Sounds kind of sad, but you're here now helping me with this. Regardless of what happened before, that makes you a 'friend' in my book."

Nelino tried not to sound like a child. "I never had a friend before…" Then he added, "And with three-time lightsaber champion, Hector Andrilious, no less."

Hector nearly choked on his food, "You know who I am?"

"I'm pretty sure that entire Jedi Order knows who you are," Nelino answered.

Hector held his plate without eating. "Did you know who I was when you stole my saber?"

Nelino chuckled, "Not at first, but pretty soon after. That's why I held on to it. Safest play for me to make."

Hector could not believe his ears. He tossed his plate aside. "I'm going to sleep." He lay back on his mat and stared up at the stars. Nelino finished his food soon after and likewise laid down. With the clear air and thin atmosphere, the entire galaxy seemed visible to Hector. Wherever you are now, Finly. I hope what you are seeing is half as wonderful as what I'm looking at.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The device that Piraeus attached to Finly's head before placing him into the bacta tank sent random impulses of energy into his brain. It wreaked havoc with his ability to focus, which prevented him from calling upon the Force. His scattered mind was everywhere at once. Sometimes he was in the bacta tank on the forsaken moon.

Then he was in lightsaber training in a group of younglings with Master Yoda in the Jedi Temple. Then he was back on Syllian with his teammates. Hannibal and Hector were cracking jokes, usually about each other, but every once and a while, Hannibal would send one his way. He knew that it was just Hannibal's way of trying to include him, but he could not make the snappy come-backs that Hector could or drum up the killer looks that Myriam produced. Then Finly was seated across from his Master in meditation training. Then he was standing before the Council with other initiates. Myriam was there holding the lightsaber that he had built. Then he was older standing before the Council again, this time for a botched mission.

Then he was back in the bacta tank and in complete agony. In one of his few coherent thoughts, Finly realized that the pain was less intense in his memories. He tried to stay in the memories for as long as he could, but that required focus too, which brought pain.

Then he was sitting across from his former master in the Jedi Temple. His master was instructing him on how to properly connect with the Force. "Just let go, Finly."

Finly breathed deeply. He tried to focus on his breathing, but his mind was scattered.

His master's eyes popped open. "Clear your mind, young one. The Force beckons you to it. Just feel it."

Finly became frustrated. "I don't think…."

"Exactly!" his master piped up. "Don't think!" He stared intently into his pupil's eyes. "Finly, you are possibly the smartest Jedi in the Order, but do not trust in your intelligence to understand the Force. It is not something to be understood rationally. Just feel it within you."

Finly closed his eyes again. "Feel he whispered to himself. Just feel it."

Suddenly, the entire room began to shake. The bacta in Finly's tank began to bubble. The glass container began to rattle violently, then shattered into nearly microscopic pieces. A surge of power shorted the device around Finly's head and with a violent yell, he snatched it off and threw it to the ground. He looked around the room. There was no one except Rolyn, still submerged in his bacta tank. Finly tried to move his legs, but they were unresponsive. He reached out with the Force and managed to lift both of them, but it would take years of practice to mimic the natural motor skills. So, he went with his only option and rolled out of the tank and onto the floor with a much harder crash than he would have liked. He pulled himself across the floor to Rolyn's bacta tank. Reaching up, he placed one hand on the vertical glass. With a blast of power from the Force, this glass likewise shattered. Finly reached out with his senses and caught Rolyn's falling body before it hit the floor. He propped his nearly naked body against the base of the tank and through the Force gently set the body of the young officer in his arms.

The woman from before mentioned that Rolyn was nearly dead. Finly could sense the life-force fading out of him. The Jedi choked back tears. "Don't be afraid. I would gladly go in your place." As he cradled the dying officer, Finly knew in his heart that death was nothing to fear. However, it was not his place to lead someone else into it. Rolyn exhaled one last time, then Finly was left with a lifeless body in his arms. He stared at shell of the young man who had been so determined. He thought of the two pilots. He thought of Johann who had come looking for him. He glanced into a mirror in the wall and saw the severely burned left side of his face. His ear was missing from the wall of flame that hit him when the ship's engines exploded. And there he was a half-paralyzed, half-fried broken Jedi sprawled out on a trashed hospital room floor. He cried out in hopelessness. "Why am I still here?"

He dropped his head and continued to cradle Rolyn's body. Finly did not see the light this time, but he did hear the voice. Soon Finly, but not yet.

His head darted up at the sound. Had he imagined it? He reached out through the Force hoping to hear it again. His heightened senses did not bring the voice back. What it brought was far worse. All around him, Finly sensed misery. The facility seemed filled with rooms filled with beings who, like Finly, were in various degrees of pain. Finly could feel that he was in the next to the last room. In the last room there were two children, one a baby. And Finly could feel that the baby could sense him as well. Was the child Force sensitive? What is this place? Is this why he was here? With new determination, Finly gently set the body of his fallen friend on the floor, wrapped himself in a blanket, and began to pull himself towards the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A surge of pain from within the Force awoke Hector. "Finly!" he screamed jumping to his feet and immediately ignited his lightsaber. He glanced around the camp, but all he could see was Nelino bathed in the blue light of his saber.

Nelino was also on his feet. "I felt it too. What do you think….." the ground began to violently shake and both Jedi were slammed to the ground. Some of the nearby rocks seemed to sink into the ground and a massive hole of light appeared in their place. Within seconds, a shuttle was shooting out of the hole, up into the sky and into space. Just as quickly as it appeared, the hanger began to shut. "You should follow them in your craft," Nelino started to suggest.

However, Hector had already closed his saber and was charging for the disappearing hole. "Finly!" he screamed again. "Hang on!"

"Wait!" Nelino yelled behind his fellow Jedi and followed.

The main door of the hangar shut a little too closely to Nelino's feet as he dove through it. Hector was a few paces in front of him. They both sensed danger, but before either could ask the other, remote cannons rose from the floor and began to fire. The Jedi's blue and yellow blades likewise sprung to life and as quickly deflected the fire, back into the weapons. The echo of the fire was still in the hangar when Hector's saber was closed and back on his belt. As he was moving towards the door to the corridor, Nelino yelled. "Wait!"

"There's no time!" Hector yelled back. "Finly is here and in pain!"

"I know," Nelino reassured his new partner. "But that door is wired."

Hector froze in his tracks. He examined the door and reached out with his senses for any other booby traps or defenses. Nelino pointed to the device near the control panel of the door. "Do you happen to know how to disarm it?" Hector asked.

Nelino stared at the device for a moment. "Done," he stated, then tapped the door controls. The door opened, leaving the two Jedi intact.

Hector thought of Numa. "I have a friend who can do that. Guess I could use some practice."

"That's all it takes," Nelino grinned. "You seem to have a lot of friends. A Jedi should not allow those close to him to cloud his judgement."

Hector was annoyed that Nelino was trying to teach him a lesson, but he had gotten carried away. "Sorry. I thought Finly was dead. To sense him alive…...I just didn't want to waste any time."

The pair had not taken many steps down the corridor when a wave of misery seemed to waft over them. "What is this place?" Nelino asked first.

"It seems Finly is not alone here," Hector choked back the pain that he sensed as it welled within him. He opened the first room that they reached. There were several creatures strapped to various devices. "The Maker…" Hector could not believe his eyes. "Any idea how to unhook these poor beings from these machines?"

"We can try," Nelino was also astonished. "but I'm not sure which ones can survive if we unhook them."

"I'm sure death will be better than whatever this is," Hector admitted.

XXXXXXXXXXX

At the other end of the corridor, Finly had managed to crawl out of his room and to the one next door. Inside the next room he found a young dazed girl strapped to a machine and a baby boy in something like a very sterile crib. "Hello there," Finly imagined how horrid he must look and sound to the children. The girl was nonresponsive and the baby merely slept. Finly crawled to the girl first. With his hands and the Force, he unhooked her from her machines. She rose to her feet, but still no acknowledgement or response.

Finly did not sense that the baby was wired to anything. He gently floated the small one out of the crib and towards the girl. "Can you please hold him while we get out of here?" Finly asked.

The girl did look down at the Jedi this time, then the baby. Without a word, she took the small one in her arms. Still silence, but tears began to roll down her face. "Don't worry," Finly hoarsely whispered. "Follow me." He began to crawl back to the corridor with the children in tow.

They had not made it very far, when Finly saw others approaching. Soon one of the shadows yelled, "Finly!" Hector broke from the others and rushed to his fallen comrade. Ignoring his friend's severe injuries, He lifted Finly from the floor in a heartfelt embrace. "We thought you were dead. I was at your funeral."

"Still here," Finly whispered. "Or what's left of me. I can't walk."

Hector hoisted his friend over his shoulders. "I gotcha, buddy. Let's get out of here."

Finly nodded in Nelino's direction. "Fancy meeting you here." Before the Sentinel could respond, Finly saw the various other creatures that were now in their company. "There was a woman….. a doctor or so she claimed. Did you find her?

"Just these poor souls," Nelino answered. "A ship took off before we came down. She may have been on it."

"Whoever she is, I think she is responsible for all of this," Finly informed as they began their trek back to the hangar. Nelino led with the children, followed by Hector and Finly. The others straggled silently behind them. "There's so many of them," Finly whispered.

"A few of the more coherent ones already took off for the surface. Don't know if they'll wait for us or if they know where they're going."

The group had not made it far, when a massive explosion rocked the entire complex throwing everyone to the ground. Bits of the roof began to crash to the ground. All of the straggling creatures were buried beneath massive rubble. Hector, who tried to grab the ones closest to him, had his leg crushed under a chuck of rock. Nelino shielded the young ones from debris, but it was obvious that the rest of the complex was going to come down very soon. "Hec!" Finly yelled. Without hesitation, he reached out through the Force, slinging the massive rock off of his friend.

Hector crawled over to his friend. "Thanks buddy. Maybe we can Force lift each other out of here." What was left of the ceiling gave way. A massive block fell, nearly crushing the remaining survivors. All three Jedi thrust their arms up catching the mass with the Force before they were all crushed.

"We have to go, now!" Nelino urged.

Finly closed his eyes, and with a surge of power, lifted the ceiling high enough for Nelino to stand. They could all sense the upper structure crashing down on top of the block above them. "Get Hector and go," Finly ordered.

Nelino sighed reluctantly and lifted Hector atop his shoulders. "No!" Hector screamed. "We can hold it together. We'll move slowly."

"There's no time," Finly grunted. "Get the kids and yourselves out of here. I'm ready."

"He's right," Nelino whispered to Hector. "May the Force be with you, brave Finly."

"No!" Hector yelled. "This is not happening."

Finly looked his friend in the eye one last time. "It's OK. The Force is waiting for me. I've already seen it. "It's my time. And you've already been to my funeral."

"No!" Hector screamed. Finly could hear the echo of his screams as Nelino carried him away. Finly held the rubble in place until he was sure they were safe. Then he held it just a few more seconds. He knew that they were safe, but suddenly, he couldn't seem to let go of the rubble. Perhaps he could continue to hold it while he crawled to safety. Finly glanced down the dark corridor. A light seemed to shine at the end. It came closer, or maybe it was growing, he was not sure which. It's time, Finly. Just let go. Finly gave up his hope of crawling to safety. He gave up his desire to see his friends again. He gave up his hold on the ceiling above and he gave up his body as the rubble crashed down upon him. And he embraced the light and peace of the Force.

Nelino, Hector, and the children reached the hangar, just seconds before the corridor collapsed behind them. "Finly! Nooooo!" Hector screamed in vain. He continued to yell as Nelino opened the hangar door and carried him out to their camp and vehicles. He set Hector on his sleeping mat. "You left him to die," Hector whispered, exhausted from his yelling.

"We had no choice," Nelino explained. "And it was his choice."

"I had a choice," Hector argued. "I chose to come here to save him."

"And you failed to do that. You did not even know he was alive. It was not the will of the Force, but we did save these children. Maybe they hold the answers to what was going on here," Nelino explained. "Now, your craft will not hold all of us. I have a shuttle not far from here, we can retrieve it and all of us can get off this rock. Do you want to go back to your system or back with us to Coruscant?"

Hector dropped his head back to his mat and became very aware of the throbbing pain in his leg. "Just drop me on Syllian."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Iesha read the report from Nelino and the Council. She wondered if there was more to it that she was not allowed to read or if this was complete. Not that it mattered, what she read was unbelievable. She checked the time, then glanced around the headquarters. Jenaid was watching some simulation on the main screen and Hector was laying on the couch with his injured leg raised. He was fumbling with a piece from Finly's damaged ship. This had been his habit for the last three days. The leg was nearly healed. He needed to stay off of it, but Iesha was concerned that he was staying a little too off of it. The Hector she knew would already be practicing lightsaber forms or cup and water drills. This Hector had barely moved from the couch, not to meditate, not to eat, for nothing. She understood why. She had also been close to Finly. His death, two deaths, were hard on all of them.

"Hey," Iesha rose and approached her comrade. "I need to check-in with Jessie in a bit. Care to join?"

"Nah," Hector passed. "Gotta stay off the leg."

"The report from the Council just came back. I think you should read it," Iesha offered.

"Later," Hector mumbled, focusing on the object he was holding.

Iesha started to turn, but then added. "It's the kids," Iesha began. "The baby is Force-sensitive. It took an intense scan, they found some sort of…. Implant in his brain, like a carbon-base micro-chip or something."

Hector sat up. "What?"

"They removed it and he's fine. It's like someone wanted to remote control a Jedi or something."

Hector pondered the idea. "And the girl?"

Iesha swallowed hard. "She died, shortly after they arrived in Coruscant. It seems…" Iesha hesitated. "It appears that she had been drained of all of her natural blood and been injected with blood from several other beings. All of the blood was rich with midichlorians."

"Midichlorians?" Hector raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Iesha swallowed again. "The Council's best guess is that whoever was behind this wanted to see if they could inject the Force into someone."

"That makes no sense," Hector struggled to find words. "That's not how the Force or midichlorians work."

"We know that because we're Jedi," Iesha explained, "but apparently this person did not or maybe thought…..I don't know what they could have thought."

Hector thought of the other creatures that were killed when the complex exploded and the ones that escaped. What horrors had they been subjected to? Iesha had turned and was preparing for her meeting with Jessie. "Hey wait," he rose to a seated position on the couch. Slowly he stood, putting weight on his leg for the first time in days. It was sore and felt strange, but he knew it was getting better. "I'll join you."