Opening her eyes Jupiter smiled. She had been practicing such a technique for some time now and had only recently perfected it. The compulsion of the Force onto another being even when they were many light years away. To Luke it would have felt like a dream, but to Jupiter it was as real as if she had been there in person. It was the only way she could see and speak to him for a very short amount of time without being discovered, as it required a very strong control over the Force to commit to such a technique. If the Sith sensed her, then she would be in danger, however a brief few moments every few years were of no consequence, she simply wished she were able to use it to see Obi-Wan.
It pained her every thought that entered her head about Obi-Wan and their old life together. The man she loved was gone and she knew in her heart of hearts that she would not be seeing him again in this life. Though the Force would bind them eternally together, the lack of a physical connection was difficult to bear. All the same, Jupiter could not allow herself to become weak and break their vow to one another. He was there to protect Luke and Jupiter refused to compromise them. If the Empire ever found them, they would both die.
Shaking her head, Jupiter forced herself to dispel all thoughts of Obi-Wan Kenobi from her mind, focusing on her task at hand. Hondo had contacted her to inform her of an abandoned medical centre on one of the old Republican bases, giving her the coordinates but also warning her of the fact that the wildlife there would be less than hospitable. "Hondo, I'm coming up to the coordinates now. I hope you are right about this place, otherwise we shall both be sorely disappointed." Jupiter said to him through their comm. link, though Hondo's optimistic voice replied rather insistently.
"Has Hondo ever let you down before my favourite friend?" Electing not to answer such a question, Jupiter exited hyperspace and came up upon the planet, reading her scanners carefully before heading down with her commandeered prison bunker. Her scanners were not picking up any civilisation upon the planet but there was a heavy indication of plants and wild creatures, possibly the ones Hondo warned her of. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"It is rather picturesque." Jupiter agreed. "Descending now, I do not read your ship's signature Hondo, are you not meeting me here?" She questioned, however she suspected that she already knew the answer.
"Ah…about that…it appears that some other business has cropped up that I have to take care of. My deepest apologies, my friend." He said quickly but Jupiter was all too wise to the game that he was playing. Shaking her head with a sigh, Jupiter gave her farewell before heading down to the medical base. Of course the moment she landed she could sense the people lying in wait for her, Empire troops and some heavy artillery, however she remained unfazed. The medical droids she had purchased were already tending to their patients, chattering and babbling to one another in gibberish, however as Jupiter swept past them to exit the ship, they all went silent, blinking at her curiously and the rather ominous air she carried about her.
With her hood drawn Jupiter already had her hands poised and ready to move, hidden under her long sleeves as she slowly made her way off the ship and out into the open. Without even lifting her head to look she could sense the troops lining the top of the building and the rocks, locking down on her position as she stopped, tallying up the number of men and their positions until she had it all logged into her mind. Her assumption that Hondo would sell her out was correct and they had brought a rather sizeable force with them, as well as one of those Inquisitors that she had encountered with Ezra, however in all honesty, Jupiter was a little disappointed. Was this all they had determined would be required to capture her? If anything, she was offended. Perhaps Hondo had not given them her name, merely sold out the location for money. It did not surprise her and neither did it particularly bother her, he was pirate through and through.
"Hm." Her lips curled up in amusement, turning her head slowly to eyeball the Inquisitor who stepped out from the shadows of the base, walking calmly towards her. It was neither of the ones she had faced before, however it was another male with a leanly muscled body, face covered in a mask.
"Jedi Knight, prepare to face your demise." He growled darkly, flicking out the rotational blades of his lightsaber. Immediately Jupiter was scrutinising the weapon, noting down its flaws and poor workmanship as well as the huge inconveniences of wielding such a weapon. Honestly, they were such amateurs. Electing to say nothing, Jupiter merely remained silent and still, waiting for him to take the first move. Irate that his prey was not responding, the Inquisitor rushed at Jupiter with a snarl, slicing his weapon down as it began to spiral however Jupiter expertly stepped to the side with a quick movement before cracking her hand down upon his back, winding him effectively however by this point, the soldiers had all moved out from their positions and open fired, attempting to box Jupiter in. "Cease fire you imbeciles! Do you want to catch me in the crossfire?" The Inquisitor demanded, however Jupiter was already moving, dancing and spiralling away from every blaster bolt, moving with the agility of a much younger version of herself as if she were still a teen.
With nothing to lose Jupiter pulled out a smoke bomb from within her folds, pulling the pin and allowing it to spiral on the ground, quickly causing a large billowing plume of white that shielded her from view and forcing the storm troopers to cease fire, unable to locate their target in the smog. "Agh!" With great disgust the Inquisitor attempted to seek out his opponent however Jupiter did not allow him time to recover. Sweeping out his feet from underneath him she Force slammed him into the ground, cracking one of his ribs before she sent him flying away out of the smog, yelling until he crashed into the hard rock of the cliff face, jolting with shock before dropping uselessly to the ground.
What in the galaxy had just happened? That Jedi was far too quick for him, it was unreal! Blinking away his concussion and clutching his broken rib, the Inquisitor managed to turn onto his front and look up into the haze, blinking away the blur and gradually beginning to hear the screams of his men. This Jedi…they were dragging in his men a fistful at a time and with a bright flash of purple their screams were silenced. The deep whir of movement the blade made rang strongly in the Inquisitor's mind, however upon seeing the flash of bright purple, fear immediately coursed through him. Purple…only one Jedi Knight carried that blade. It cannot be…it was said that that Master died in the Great Purge!
Knowing full well that he was out of his depth, the Inquisitor stumbled to his feet the pure terror kept him upright, stumbling towards his ship and yelling for his soldiers to get him out of here and back to the main star destroyer in order to return to Coruscant. The Emperor needed to know of this Jedi…he was too dangerous to be allowed to live but it would require more than just himself to deal with him. In fact, it was quite possible that only one person alive could deal with that Master Jedi. The one who had led the Purge himself, one who had killed hundreds of Jedi with his own two hands. He would go back to report, however the Emperor would not be pleased if he returned without the Jedi, so firstly, he needed to gather reinforcements.
Jupiter watched as the ship left orbit, carrying the Inquisitor away. This greatly limited her time allotment here, however with little choice but to remain, she began to bring out the incarceration tanks with the medical droids to hook them up to the mains system at the facility. It took some tinkering to get it back online, however after Roo came out of hiding from inside the ship, together they soon had it back online and the power generator whirring back to life. "Good work Roo. Although you may not be much help in a fight, I can always rely on you for maintenance." She teased her droid friend gently, rubbing his head even as he bleeped indignantly at her. "It is the truth and you know it, my little friend." Chuckling she calculated how much time she had left. A few hours at most, not much more.
The tanks were already being hooked up to the generators, powering up the revival units in order to assess the medical data on her old friends. "Tell me." Her soft murmur drew one of the droids towards her who babbled in its mechanical language, the translation appearing on Jupiter's datapad in front of her even though her eyes were fixed upon Keyes. "I see, please continue with your work, time is not on our side." Stepping forwards Jupiter frowned with concern. Being incarcerated for so long was bound to have detrimental effects to their health, however according to diagnostics it was nothing that could not be fixed or even theoretically prevented if they were revived gradually and properly.
One of the other droids spoke to her, offering a few ideas of how best to revive the patients and also a time frame in which it was safest to do so. It would take too long. Empire forces will return in under three hours, she did not have such time to spare. "Search for life support pods. If we can transfer the patients to sustain their vitals then revival can continue on board the bunker. Please, also search for as many supplies and left over equipment still in working order and return them to the ship." Jupiter began to give her instructions, Roo rolling along behind her as she walked however when she stopped, he bumped into the back of her legs having not being paying attention to what she was doing. "Oof! Roo, what have we said about paying attention when moving?" Giving Roo a stern look as he whirred and beeped, she eventually chuckled with a shake of her head. "Never mind. I need you to look around for spare parts and useful items to take back with us. Cables, wiring, sockets, computer chips, maintenance supplies and those sort of things. The facility back home needs a little repairing, can you do that for me my little friend?"
Roo beeped a strong affirmative, his tone signifying a salute before rolling off to carry out his job whilst Jupiter oversaw all proceedings. Progress was steady but slow, reviving the patients who had been in stasis for fifteen years. Some were proving a little more problematic due to complications, however Jupiter was informed that they would be resolved in time. Meanwhile, one of the droids had managed to locate the bacta-tanks, ones that could be transported quite easily. "Alright, let us begin moving them. Please, be very gentle with them all." Jupiter cautioned, biting on her lip nervously as the exchanges were made.
Her good friends and old comrades had been defrosted, so to speak, but they were kept at an extremely cold temperature as to not shock the body too quickly, transferring them safely into the tanks in order to sustain them and place them on life support whilst slowly reviving them, activating their organs and bodily systems once more. "Keyes…" Watching as her closest friend was transferred over, her hand pressed against the glass as the greenish liquid welcomed him in, slowly beginning to return his systems to normal. "Alright. Begin the transfer immediately. Roo, we are out of time. We must leave." She called out to him, drawing him away from one of the storage cupboards where he emerged dragging a large crate of things behind him, making Jupiter smile affectionately. "Allow me to help you, my dear little friend."
Beeping back at her cheerfully, Jupiter helped him to move things across before beginning to count off the two dozen clone troops as they were reloaded onto the ship. However as the last few were being transferred, an overwhelming sense of dread took over and Jupiter instantly knew that time was up. The Inquisitor had returned with reinforcements and they were quickly descending down towards the medical facility. "Hurry!" With a quick shout she pushed the last few tanks and droids inside with the Force, roughly sliding them into place whilst refraining from knocking them against one another. "Roo!" With a wild cry of panic as the loud roar of starfighters came from above, Roo rushed onto the ship as Jupiter closed the ramp, racing to the cockpit and activating the ship, feeling it thrum unto life.
There was no speed or agility with this bunker, all that she had going was its durability due to its build. "Roo, I need the thrusters on maximum, we need to get out of here and fast." She ordered, switching seats to reach the buttons and dials in sequence. The ship lifted gradually off the ground, however as a missile struck the facility itself, the colossal boom and flash of fire sent Jupiter flying off to the side, almost tipping the ship but her hands immediately grabbed the controls and forced it level out, moving forwards as Roo placed the thrusters on full, giving them an initial burst of speed as the starfighters came gunning after them.
They took several hits and Jupiter grit her teeth, sensing that it would not be long until they breached the exterior. As Roo was panicking in the background, wailing and screeching, Jupiter kept her calm eyes focused forwards, weaving the ship in a serpentine motion to make it a little more difficult to target. "All we have to do is reach open space and then we can make the jump to hyperspace, little Roo, so do not be frightened." She said to him caringly, taking a slow breath as her grip tightened on the controls, feeling the ship shudder as they took another hit. One more and they could hit something vital. It appears all other options were out. "Take over Roo. Set coordinates for emergency lightspeed location, make the jump the moment you are clear." She ordered, switching control over to Roo who complained at having to take over in such a heated situation, however Jupiter was already changing her focus.
Closing her eyes Jupiter stretched out a hand, reaching out with her senses to feel the six starfighters that were following after them. One was in the lead so she pinpointed her focus on that one, the Force bringing a picture of clarity to mind until slowly, she began to move her fingers and hand, keeping a stern grip on her focus until finally, she managed to disengage its thrusters. Instantly the ship span out of control, the pilot yelling in confusion as it spiralled and crashed into another, the both of them crashing with a bright flash. Not pausing to celebrate, Jupiter continued. The next she forcefully flipped the wing over, sending its shot wide before spinning it around whilst continuing to engage its blasters, targeting the other ships instead and forcing them to scatter, all pilots now crying out in fear and confusion as the Inquisitor watched in pure amazement. Never before had he seen a Jedi use the Force in such a way.
As the prison bunker jumped into hyperspace, a quiet hush fell over the ship as everyone awaited with baited breath for the Inquisitor's reaction. For a moment he was too stunned to respond, however after a few moments of quiet deliberation he stepped forwards and made contact with the Emperor via holocom. It took a moment, however when the Emperor appeared seated and hooded in a dark visage, the Inquisitor immediately knelt to the ground. "My Lord, there has been a new development. The Jedi Knight…they have escaped." Immediately the displeasure and anger could be felt from the Emperor directly into the surroundings of the ship, making the air tingle with a bitter taste as its chilling bite nipped at your soul. "Please, forgive my incompetence."
"This is a most unfortunate development. Your incompetence should be the least of your concerns at this moment in time." The Emperor replied with a sinister tone, making the Inquisitor want to shiver and shrink away. "Were you at least able to identify this…Jedi?" The word seemed to be mere bile in the Emperor's mouth, lips turning downward in distaste.
"Not affirmatively, my lord, however it is unquestionable the nature of the blade the Jedi wielded. It is the blade used by the traitor Master Windu. Only he carried such a weapon of such distinct nature, it is undoubtedly him." The Inquisitor informed, however the Sith Lord was less than convinced. He glowered down at his ineffectual whelp of a servant before turning his head away.
"In that case, you had better leave this matter to more…experienced hand. Lord Vader shall continue to track this Jedi and will bring him to justice. Report back to your post and await further instruction, Inquisitor." The Emperor ordered before cutting the transmission. From the dark shadows of his office, the mechanical breaths of his most powerful and loyal follower sounded, almost as if he himself had melted into the shadow. "What is your opinion on this matter, my most loyal apprentice?" Stepping forwards, Darth Vader made himself visible to the naked eye, imposing and daunting with each step as his large black cape flared around him.
"It is no mistake, master, it is her." He responded, voice so different to how it used to be. The Sith Lord regarded his apprentice for a few moments, calculating this new threat with the utmost of care. "My sister is alive, just as I have suspected all this time. Only she would carry the blade of her former master, and it would only be her who would have gone after those ships and the prisoners whom had been incarcerated. Unfortunately the plan to use them as a trap was ineffective. She pre-empted us, my lord."
"This is…largely problematic…such a Jedi as her cannot be allowed to live. Who knows what traitorous plans she has concocted to take her revenge on us? Even you cannot allow yourself to become tempted by any appeal she might make, my apprentice." The Emperor warned, seeking to guard against the possibility of this slave pest returning his apprentice back to the light side. "She is your sister no longer, she has turned away from the love she once bore for you and you are no longer her brother. She must die."
"It will be done, my master." Lord Vader vowed, bowing in respect to his master before leaving to make the arrangements. As he walked, however, his fist clenched tightly. Jupiter, he had sensed that she was out there somewhere, still drawing breath. The irrefutable bond that they shared was too strong to break even after he had destroyed his former self. It was only a matter of time until he finally found her, and now his chance to kill her had finally arrived, to strike down that last link to a past that he now denied with all of his being. He was Darth Vader, apprentice to the most powerful Sith Lord in the galaxy and will one day take his place. This woman…his former sister…will not take that chance away from him.