Chapter 11

X-Tec building, Taris

Drex knew the layout of the building, having been employed there for the past seven years. After he reentered the building from where the Falcon was, he quickly hid down a hallway and into an alcove of a lab. He waited until the hallway was clear of employers. It was not long after when he heard the X-Tec Security team marching its way to the entrance of Platform A. They knew he was missing and they're going after the Jedi. Drex figured the Jedi could hold their own. He just hoped Nika was safe.

The hallway was clear and Drex moved to the main labs. One in particular was formerly his own. He saw the many employers in their labs working. They were so focused on their work that they didn't notice Drex looking on. Drex still wore the flashy outfit of Nika's character she designed for him. It was a contrast to the white lab coats that the employees wore. He noted that those employees were him less than a week ago. He, too, had been too focused in his work. It obscured his vision of the true value of life that had been in front of him for two years. Ironically, having the Force opened him to more of what the galaxy has to offer.

He passed by his former lab. It may have been five days ago since he worked there, but it felt like five years. He managed to reach the lower floor and eventually to the infamous secret lab that he accidentally discovered. It wasn't as vacant as it was when he found it. It was bustling with workers and X-Tec Security. Drex quickly hid behind storage crates. He took a peek from behind the crate. He saw that the workers were placing an item in smaller containers and into larger ones to stack them onto crates. He looked closely and saw what was going into the small containers.

Gene guns. No doubt they were filled with the serum that contained the living nano-machines that produced Force abilities in beings. Just as Dr. Kenzeel had said. They were ready for distribution.

Drex was now determined to destroy them all. X-Tec could not get away with abusing bioethics. But how to destroy them all? Drex thought hard on the times that he had used a gene gun to remember their weakness. There was one time when the microchip inside failed. It had burned out due to someone using a flash emitter too close to the gun. A flash emitter was relative to an ion pulse. That was it. If a similar pulse could be set off in the building, it could disable the weapons. It wouldn't kill the nano-machines inside, but it would fry all of their microchips making the gene guns useless. And he knew exactly where he could set one off. The Emergency Electro-Mag Wave. It was an emergency shut off system set in the building in case any equipment, electrical systems, or droids malfunctioned. Yet, Drex cringed. Its controls were housed inside Dr. Kenzeel's main lab.

He had to make his way there. Drex sprang from his hiding place to head for the exit to the upper floor. His elation turned quickly to horror.

Standing in the way of the exit was Ciser, the not so human Head of X-Tec Security.

"Drexal Connick. Going somewhere?"

"I'm going to end all of this. This is not what X-Tec is about."

Ciser's laughed boomed. "It's exactly what X-Tec is about—making money."

"Not this way."

"I suppose you think you're the hero now." Ciser reached from behind him to reveal a heavy blaster canon. "You're not." Ciser raised the blaster and fired.

Drex dodged the shot in time as he scurried to hide behind another storage crate.

"What are you going to do now, Drex? There are no ale kegs to throw at me this time!"

Drex shouted, "I don't need them!" He focused on the Force and directed it at a container above him. He lifted it with the Force and hurled it at Ciser. The humanoid dodged it easily.

"Oh, nice try. Maybe the next one will only graze me. I am so much stronger than you."

"Maybe physically. I have more strength of mind now."

"Is that so? Would that be because of the injection that we gave you? Now you have the Force. You can thank X-Tec for that." Ciser approached where Drex was hiding and made a quick move around it. He fired immediately. Nothing was there. "Where did you go, hero? I will find you."

From his new hiding place behind a support beam, Drex cried, "Every living being has the Force. Except you. You are not a living thing. You are a machine."

"Oh, I am so much more than that." Ciser began to fire at random across the room. When one shot managed to hit the support beam that Drex was behind, he yelped. The sound echoed and Ciser followed it. He came to a corner.

Drex was up against the wall with nowhere to go. He looked back to see Ciser standing before him again. He was trapped against the corner.

"Well, look at this. Nowhere to run now." He raised the blaster.

"I thought X-Tec needed me alive."

"All we need is your DNA. We can take that whether you're alive or dead. It will be more than enough to make more serum."

Drex wanted to use the Force but there were no objects to hurl at Ciser. He tried to focus on the blaster but he could not concentrate in the Force. Ciser loomed closer.

Ciser said, "Ah, I can sense your fear. I may be a machine but I can detect your heart beating faster and your adrenaline pumping. You can't show fear as a Jedi, Drex. Isn't that the path of the Dark Side? You would have never been a Jedi, Drex. You will always be a scared scientist. And that is how you will die. And you will die alone."

"He won't be alone," said a voice from behind him.

Ciser turned to see Jaina Solo in a defensive stance with her violet blade at the ready. Immediately, Ciser started firing at her in rapid succession. She blocked every shot with her lightsaber as she edged closer to him. She quickened her pace into a sprint and suddenly made a move to her left. The move surprised Ciser as he raised the blaster shots at her. Most of the shots went wide, and those that didn't were angled back at him. She ran up alongside the wall and pushed herself off against it. She flew over Ciser's head and performed a somersault in mid-air. Before she landed, her blade went into a wide arc across Ciser's upper body. She landed feet first on the opposite side of Ciser. His head had separated from his body courtesy of her blade, and it landed on the floor near her. Sparks flew out wildly from its cut wires. The rest of Ciser's torso fell over on a delay.

Jaina exclaimed, "My brother sends his regards." She looked back at Drex and said, "Are we done playing hero now?"

"Not yet. I have to get to Dr. Kenzeel's office lab. There's an Emergency Wave that can neutralize all of the gene guns. The controls are in his office."

"Well, it's not going to be pretty getting up there."

"Why?"

A Klaxon sounded at once in the building, telling employees to evacuate.

"Well, there's that," Jaina replied. "X-Tec Security was alerted to your true plan, which is more than I can say for us."

"Hey, I had to do something. I couldn't let X-Tec get away with this."

"Which is why I'm helping you out of admiration. Takes guts. We separated to find you while the Security team fired on us. There's something else, Drex. Nika is missing."

"Missing? Wasn't she with you?"

"Up until you took off. Then she went after you. Once they started firing on us, we lost track of her."

The lift opened and out marched a group of armed Security guards. They spotted Jaina and Drex along with the disabled body of their Head of Security.

"Don't move! You have really done it this time, Jedi. You took out Ciser."

"Seemed easy enough. Proves that even a highly advanced droid can hold an ego."

"Drop your weapon!"

Jaina gave him the Solo grin. "Sure." She dropped her lightsaber to the floor. She then said, "But you didn't specify which weapon." With full use of the Force, she pushed the team backwards to knock each one down to the floor. She turned to Drex after she called her lightsaber back to her hand. "Stay behind me."

They went up the lift to the top floor where the doctor's lab was. They exited out of the lift into chaos. Employees were frantically running towards the exits themselves. Some bumped into Jaina and Drex just to get in the lift.

"Where is this lab?" Jaina asked.

"Just ahead on the right."

Jaina led him there and found the lab, but another group of Security guards blocked it. They were about to fire on them when Jaina used the Force again to push them back. Some did manage to fire but Jaina blocked the shots. They passed by the fallen men to enter the lab. Drex looked back and saw that one man down was about to fire on Jaina from behind. Drex quickly called on the Force and concentrated more precisely on the weapon. The blaster was ejected out of the guard's hands and flew across the room. Jaina looked back at Drex and smiled. She gave a nod of approval.

Drex went to the doctor's desk to a terminal and started typing at it. "I'll need a few minutes to get the Wave set up."

"I've got you," she assured.

Drex gave the commands to activate the Electro-Mag wave. After a few moments, a panel on the opposite side of the room slid open. It revealed a heavy lever inside of the wall. Releasing the lever activates the Wave. He walked over to the lever and was about to reach it when he heard a cry of pain from behind him.

Drex turned around to see Jaina enveloped in electric shockwaves for a few moments. They disappeared and she limped to the floor. Her lightsaber extinguished and laid beside her. The electric shock came from the phase-pulse pistol held by Dr. Kenzeel. One arm held the phase-pulse and the other was wrapped around Nika by her neck in a chokehold. He dropped the phase-pulse blaster and replaced it with a traditional pistol that he retrieved from his pocket. He aimed it at Nika's head.

The doctor said, "It is my belief that in a battle of warriors, it is wise to take out the strongest one first. Don't you think, Drex?"

"Let her go!"

"Oh, no, I want to see you finish what you were about to do. Destroying the gene guns. Go ahead. We can make more. Nikala, on the other hand, can never be duplicated. A rather unique individual, is she not? It would be a shame to destroy such a creature."

Nika called out, "Drex, don't you dare stop! You can't let this animal get away with this! Destroy them all!"

Drex called on the Force to remain calm. He spoke to the doctor in a soft even voice. "Thanks to your own experiment, Doctor, I can feel the Force within me. I suppose I do owe you for that. It's opened my eyes in a way that science never could. Stronger. The Force doesn't act against science. It is part of it. As you know, science is the art of finding how things work. We deal in facts. Sometimes the facts don't reveal the mystery of how the Force works. Maybe that should remain a mystery."

"You're stalling."

"And you're bluffing."

"Am I? Drex, we could have shared the wealth that is coming to this company. To you. Think of the people who desperately want to use the Force for themselves. They want that power. The Jedi do not share their power."

"You're delusional. The Jedi share their knowledge, not their power. Power is not what they're about. I only learned that in the last few days. The power of the Force is shared by all living things."

"But not all can manipulate the Force like the Jedi do. They can't levitate objects or sense feelings in others. Think of the power that would give the whole galaxy. And you, Drex, would be the first artificially manufactured Jedi."

Drex shook his head. "That's not how it works. Funny. You're telling me exactly what you think I want. If I'm not mistaken, that's what a con artist does. Right, Nika? But I don't want any part of wealth or power, Dr. Kenzeel. I only want Nika."

Nika uttered in disbelief, "What?

"Science blinded me, Nika. You were right all along. I was so focused on the facts of science. I'm overly analytical. The greatest mystery in this galaxy is not the Force. It's love. Love is the miracle, and no form of science can explain it. I could never see the miracle in front of me for so long. It took the Force to make me sense your feelings enough to finally notice."

Nika cried, "But I betrayed you, Drex. I lied to you about what I was and what I was really doing."

"It doesn't matter anymore. You fell in love. You could have left me at any time. You didn't. You tried to con your way out of it, but your love was too strong. I repaid you by ignoring you. I can repay you now with forgiveness. I don't care about your past mistakes. We can work together to learn from both of our mistakes. I can do that, Nikala Jordana. Because I love you."

Nika's voice cracked as she said, "I love you, Drex."

"Touching moment," interrupted Dr. Kenzeel. "May I remind you that I have a blaster at her head."

"What is your purpose here, Doctor? What do you plan to accomplish? Killing her won't change anything. You're only threatening her to get to me. All I have to do is pull that lever and your plans are gone."

"I swear, Drex, if you touch a finger on that lever, I will kill her!"

Drex smiled in confidence. "Who said I need a finger?" Drex called on the Force and focused on the lever behind him. He could see it in his mind in the same way he could see the blaster shots on the Falcon. He called on the Force to pull the lever down. And it did.

An electrostatic charge surged through the entire building. Sparks flew at every terminal. Lights had dimmed. It shut everything electrical down in an instant. Emergency reflector lights that did not require electricity came on.

In the semi darkness, Dr. Kenzeel let out an emphatic, "No!" of disbelief. Taking advantage of his distraction, Nika broke free of the doctor's arm. Instead of firing at her, he aimed his blaster at Drex. Drex swerved to avoid the shots as he sprinted forward towards the doctor. He spotted Jaina's lightsaber and he dove to grab it. His momentum lurched him forward. Dr. Kenzeel kept firing. Drex ignited the blade to block the shots. Drex came at the doctor with such ferocity that the doctor backed away too quickly. The doctor lost his footing and started to tumble backwards. At the same time, Drex angled the blade outward. Before the doctor landed to the ground, the blade impaled him through the chest. Drex ended up on top of the Doctor.

Barely alive and with a look of horror, Dr Kenzeel could only mouth his words that would no longer have sound. Drex removed the blade from his body. He then said to the dying doctor, "Your experiment on me worked, Dr. Kenzeel. Only not the way you intended."

Doctor Bose Kenzeel began to fade away and his eyes stared upward. Never to experience sight again.

Drex turned to see Nika looking on. In the semi luminescence, he thought she never looked so beautiful. She had tears in her eyes as she ran towards him. He welcomed her into his arms. They kissed wildly and with purpose. Each of them proclaiming their love for the other in between kisses.

Nika separated from him but kept in his embrace. "Drex, you did it! You stopped them! It's over."

Drex smiled at her. "It may be the end of X-Tec. It's only the beginning for us."

They kissed again.

Epilogue

The effects of the Electro-Mag Wave didn't last long. The technicians of the company worked to restore systems, lights, and machinery within an hour. The lights were back on but there was more about X-Tec to shine a light on.

Throughout the building, employers learned of the death of Dr. Bose Kenzeel and the Head of Security, Ciser. Rumors also were abounding about the doctor's true plans for the gene guns. As the Jedi subdued the remaining guards of the security team, they also began interviewing the employees. It was found out that to their knowledge, the gene guns were to be used for a new gene-splicing technique. Drex, himself, had spoken to many of his former coworkers who had no clue as to the origin of the protein that gave him Force abilities.

The next step was exposure. Corran was chosen to alert HoloNet reporters on what went on at X-Tec and what they were up to. Dr. Kenzeel's plan to sell the Force to anyone who wanted the power. The Taris government's cover up of X-Tec's plans. The secret experiments in the hidden lab, one of which was found by Drex accidently. Corran planned to also explain that this was the true reason why the Taris government wanted Drex and Nikala captured. To shut them up. They didn't want the facts exposed.

The Jedi were gathered just outside the building as Corran was waiting to go live on the HoloNet to reveal Dr. Kenzeel's true intentions. Drex and Nika were together with their arms around one another. It was then when Senator Gavron marched toward them.

"You will stop this now!" he cried. He faced Luke. "You don't have the proof of any of your accusations. I can sue you for defamation just for suggesting it. I can charge Drex here for the murder of Dr. Kenzeel. Then we will see who gets the last laugh, Jedi."

Mara said, "We will, Senator. Those gene guns still contain the serum that Dr. Kenzeel used on Drex. They were from a design based on Yuuzhan Vong biotech that was sold to them by Nom Anor himself. The serum can prove that easily."

Corran added, "Any bio-warfare of the Yuuzhan Vong has been deemed illegal after the war. That won't look good to X-Tec's value."

Drex said, "As far as Dr. Kenzeel is concerned, he tried to kill me and Nika. She was witness to my self-defense." He had a sudden thought and reached into his vest pocket to reveal a data strip. "Oh, and there's this." He handed it to Luke. "All of X-Tec's plans about the protein giving abilities in the Force are on that strip, as well as its origins in Yuuzhan Vong biotech. Courtesy of Adan Wari, the former X-Tec technician and slicer. He and Jan Thorn were among the original subjects to the first experiments that didn't work. They solved it on their own and are alive and well."

Luke reiterated, "All of that is on this data strip?"

Drex nodded. "Yes, I lost the original one that I took from the secret lab. It was destroyed when we were being chased by the X-Tec team on Coruscant."

The Senator looked confused. "I thought that strip had been destroyed in the fire at the Elite Hotel."

Luke smiled at him and said, "Funny that we never disclosed that information to any press. How could you possibly know about that, Senator?"

Gavron struggled to speak. "Well..I..I heard from reliable sources."

Jaina called him out. "You must mean my brother, Jacen. He's recovering nicely from his encounter with the humanoid droid, Ciser. I'm sure we can access what's left of its databanks to find the original orders from the Taris government to destroy the lab in the hotel and capture Drex."

"As well as the murder of our landlady, Ms. Vandergruff," added Nika.

"You can't do this!" exclaimed Gavron. "This is Taris jurisdiction."

Mara snapped, "I can tell you where to stick your jurisdiction!"

The Senator turned at once and stormed off in a huff.

Corran retorted, "Don't you just love seeing the Mighty fall into the trap of revealing their own guilt?"

Jaina said, "Has a kind of poetry to it."

Mara directed a comment to Drex. "Did I just hear you tricking the Senator into incriminating himself?"

After Drex shrugged, Nika exclaimed, "There's a hidden con-artist inside you after all, Drex."

He looked at her sweetly. "I learned from the best." He gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Jaina asked, "What's going to happen with the X-Tec employees?"

Luke said, "We've pretty much established that they were not part of Dr. Kenzeel's scheme."

"I'm not sure there will be an X-Tec after this," said Corran.

Drex said, "It can be rebuilt. Probably with a new name. I suspect keeping the name X-Tec will be in bad taste after this is all revealed." He hesitated before he looked at Nika. "They will have to replace the Head Genetics Researcher."

Nika's eyes went wide. "You?"

"When I spoke to some of my coworkers, they offered me Dr. Kenzeel's position as soon it's available. They said I deserved it."

Nika cried out, "You do. Drex, that's great!" After seeing his blank look and thinking about it more, she frowned and said, "Or, is it?"

"I'm not sure. I don't want to become so busy at work that I miss out on the things that really matter."

Jaina quipped, "Welcome to our world."

They all smiled and Drex continued. "I want to keep exploring science and genetics. I'm good at it. But thanks to the injections, I've discovered the Force. And that has opened up a much larger world for me."

Mara eyed her husband. He said innocently, "Hey, he said it. I didn't."

Drex looked at Master Skywalker. "I liked the training I received."

Luke stated, "You would be welcomed on Ossus."

Drex admitted, "I may not ever reach Jedi level. I could never lead that adventurous of a life. But I could still focus on the Force as a research project. But that may also mean abandoning science."

Nika said, "If you can't decide, then why not choose both? The Science of the Force."

"Should be interesting," said Corran.

Mara said, "It's one subject that hasn't been discussed in the galaxy for quite a while."

Luke noted, "Something that Dr. Kenzeel said struck me. He said that many in the galaxy yearned for the power of the Jedi."

Jaina said, "In some ways it could be true."

"I think he was half right," said Luke. "I think most non-Jedi in the galaxy yearn for the knowledge of the Jedi."

Jaina asked, "What, like teaching them the Jedi Code?"

Luke replied, "Not so much as teaching them the Jedi doctrine. But the general knowledge of the Force itself. For as much as the Force is a mystery even to the Jedi, it's much more of a mystery to the rest of the galaxy." He looked over at Drex. "Perhaps if we had a liaison to bring together the knowledge of the Force and its science to the galaxy." He glanced at Nika. "The Science of the Force."

Nika chimed with glee. "Wow, Master Jedi Skywalker liked my idea!"

Mara stated, "That's certainly something to think about, Drex. You know, as long as you don't throw anyone against the wall in doing it."

Drex sighed. "You're never letting go of that, are you?"

Corran grinned and said, "Drex, you have now officially met Mara Jade Skywalker."

Drex looked at Nika. "I don't want to think about any of it right now."

"You don't have to decide anything now anyway. Say, we can go back to our old apartment."

"Not sure I want to stay there anymore. We could get a better place. Now that you have all of your con money."

She squinted her eyes. "Drat, I did show you all my stash, didn't I?"

Drex looked deep into her blue eyes. "I know what we can do. We can get away. Go on a vacation. Just the two of us. You always said you wanted more adventure."

"I think we over adventured in the past week."

"Aw, come on. Live a little, Nika," Drex cried. "We could go to the opera on Mon Calamari. Or take in a theater play. We can even go to The Outcaster Club down the street from here and dance. We could go to Canto Bight and gamble all day."

"Let's not go that far. That place is a disaster. I will say all of that sounds nice."

Drex took her hand in his and said, "Whatever I choose to do, I want you by my side for everything from now on. And you are dying another strand of your hair red. I miss it."

"So do I."

A HoloNet reporter came up to Corran and said, "Mr. Horn, we are ready for your live report whenever you are."

"Give me just a moment." He looked at everyone and exclaimed, "It's showtime!"

"Good luck," said Drex.

"You too," Corran said.

Jaina said, "I have to get back to prep the Falcon. Drex, Nika, I wish you good luck as well."

"Thanks, Jaina. Guess that's our cue. Until we meet again, thanks to all of you."

Luke said, "Anytime, Drex. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. Now go and make those vacation plans."

"Oh, there's no plans," said Drex. "We'll just go on a whim."

Nika smiled. "I think I'm gonna like this new Drexal Connick." They began to walk away. "Where else can we go?"

"Oh, I don't know. Hey, how about going to an art museum and seeing that Alderaanian artist you mentioned. Wales?"

Nika exasperated a sigh. "It's Wahls, you idiot! I'm going to have to teach you some culture. Looks like I have my work cut out for me."

"Can I request something when you teach me?"

Nika replied cautiously, "All right."

"Could you use one of your accents?"

"Seriously? Which one?"

"The Coruscanti one was nice."

She reverted to the accent. "You mean this one? People tend to believe I am actually from Coruscant with this accent." She switched to a Correllian accent. "Then there's this one. Lose and lazy is the Corellian way. You got that, kid? Saying kid is big on Corellia." She started speaking like a Neimoidian. "Then there is this one. I had to do this on a con once. Thank the Maker I only had to do the voice and not dress up as one. Hate their mannerisms." She went back to her normal voice. "Hey, why do you want to hear those?"

Drex answered awkwardly, "I think they're sexy."

"Sexy? Oh, when we get back to our apartment, I will teach you sexy, Drex!"

Corran watched the couple walk away in the distance and noted, "That is truly a match made for this galaxy."

The voices of Nika and Drex arguing began to fade away into the Taris night.

THE END!