Chapter 2

Nessa huddled on the floor of the escape pod as it drifted aimlessly through empty space. She only had enough presence of mind to activate the distress beacon before exhaustion and grief overtook her and she collapsed in a heap.

She was unsure for how long the pod drifted as she lay there. For all she knew it could have been hours or even days. She just didn't know, and apart of her didn't even care.

It was that cold feeling of apathy that jarred her out of her ever darkening thoughts. Her master sacrificed his life to give her a chance to live her own, and she will never let his sacrifice be in vain.

With a newfound resolve Nessa forced herself to her feet. She placed a hand against the wall of the pod to steady herself for a moment as she closed her eyes and opened herself up to the Force. She couldn't help but smile faintly as the familiar presence seem to surround her, bathing her mind in a calming Light, allowing her enough clarity of mind to push away the dark thoughts and emotions that lingered, and leaving her with a quiet serenity.

Finally, she opened her eyes and held out her hand, calling her lightsaber from where she had dropped it. Once she felt the familiar weight in her hand, she clipped the saber to her belt and slid into the pilot's seat.

She glanced at the console only to notice that someone had been trying to comm her, judging from the beeping and flashing button. Nessa pressed the button to open communications and was greeted with a holo of Master Yoda.

The old master smiled at the sight of Nessa and bowed his head slightly in greeting, "Found you, we have, young padawan. In two hours, be at your coordinates, we will."

The relief that Nessa felt at Master Yoda's words was immediate, though she hid it long enough to acknowledge Yoda's words, "Thank you, Master. I will await your arrival."

"May the Force be with you, young one."

The old master signaled to someone off to the side and the transmission ended, leaving Nessa alone once again in the dimly lit pod.

Nessa leaned back against the pilot's seat and tugged absently on her padawan braid as her mind began to wander.

Less than a day ago she and her master were deep underground, exploring, researching, and cataloging the most recently found Jedi temple. After a day and night of exploring and gingerly avoiding ancient traps. There were a few times she had to pulled her master away from the traps because he wanted to see what they did ("It's for science, Nessa!"). Once she and her master had finally headed to the surface, they had received the comm from the Jedi Council.

And now, isolated in the escape pod, Nessa couldn't help but wish her master had blown off the summons for a few extra hours of excavation as he had done before. If they had, then perhaps they wouldn't have crossed paths with the enemy vessel.

Before her mind could drif too far down the trail of "what if" a memory suddenly forced itself to the forefront of her mind.

She remembered being a new Padawan, jogging in an attempt at keeping up with her master's long strides as he led the way into the ruins located on a desert planet.

She remembered making an off-hand comment about how the ancient civilization could have survived for another millennia if the people hadn't fallen victim to greed and corruption.

Her master interrupted her musings by gently tugging on the braid that he had woven into her hair just that morning, "You can't dwell on the 'What ifs', little Nessa. It bogs you down until you can no longer move forward, so, instead, take the 'What is', learn from it, grow, and continue forward."

At the time Nessa had filed away her master's teaching as something to meditate on at a later time, but, now she couldn't help but smile as the now treasured memory faded.

Well, she thought, no time like the present.

She stood and moved to the back of the pod which had just enough room for her to sit on the floor and cross her legs comfortably.

She placed her saber hilt on the floor in front of her before she dropped her hands in her lap and closed her eyes as she opened herself to the Force.

She was so lost in her meditation that it had seemed to have only been mere seconds since she had begun when the pod shuddered suddenly, jerking her out of her meditation.

Nessa grabbed her saber and clipped it to her belt as she scrambled to the pilot seat. She rested a foot on the seat and rested a knee on the console in an effort to get as close to the viewscreen as she could.

She craned her neck to see a large star destroyer looming over her tiny pod. Nessa couldn't help but gape in awe as the hulking vessel only loomed larger as it drew her pod into its hanger.

The pod shuddered as it settled on the hanger floor, nearly throwing the young Jedi padawan off her precarious perch on top of the console. Once she had her feet firmly on the floor of the pod, Nessa typed the code that would open the door of the pod.

She stepped out into the hanger only to freeze in place as her mind tried very hard to understand what she was seeing.

Three men in white armor and medical patches on their right pauldrons greeted her , though it wasn't the men in armor that caused her brain to short circuit. It was the fact that the three men all had the exact same face (with the exception of a few scars or tattoos), and, when she glanced over their shoulders to the men that were bustling about the hanger, her eyes only widened further when she noticed that each of those men also had the exact same face.

Ah, so I've gone insane, then. She mused to herself.

One of the men in front of her chuckled, "You're not insane, kid, well, not that I know of at least."

Her face turned a bit red in embarrassment as she realized she had spoken out loud, though she shook off her embarrassment as one of the medics spoke again.

"I hear you were involved in quite a fight. Are you injured?"

Nessa shook her head, "No, sir."

The medic nodded as he ran his eyes over the padawan, trying to assess if she was telling the truth. Unfortunately, her cloak and loose robes made it difficult for him to make an accurate assessment aside from the obvious bruises and minor cuts on her face.

"Well, if you could follow us to medical, we will give you a check-up, just to be safe."

Nessa obediently followed the small medic team as they closed ranks around her, creating a barrier between her and the other troops as they led the way to the medbay.

Once at the medbay, the examination was conducted to ensure she had not acquired any internal injuries during the fight. Thankfully the examination was concluded quickly with a concussion being the most concerning thing to the medics, and her cuts and bruises were dressed in bacta, as well as a small burn on her arm from being grazed by a bolt that she hadn't even noticed until the medic pointed it out.

The medic that led the examination had shown her to an empty bed in a semi-private area for her to rest under observation.

Once she had been given a tunic and loose pants to change into, Nessa was finally left alone. She changed quickly and crawled under the blankets, and as her muscles finally relaxed against the mattress, the grief and exhaustion she had been holding back through sheer force of will crashed through her weakened mental wall and engulfed her mind, dragging her down into a deep and dreamless sleep.

A/N Hello, all! Welcome to the newest chapter! To start off I wasn't very clear on a few points in the first chapter, so I'll try to clear it up here. Nessa is one of the older Padawans that would have been considered to start her trials in a few years if the Clone Wars hadn't started when it did. Her master tended to gather knowledge from Jedi temples that have been abandoned since the war with the Sith as well as from the ruins of other cultures. He's basically an archeologist. If I haven't clarified anything in the story, don't hesitate to drop a comment! I also don't have a beta reader so any helpful criticism is appreciated!