Last time: A Jedi arrived along with the Empire and gave Sasha and Viran a datacard.

Now: The trio attempts to escape.

Part 1-Chapter 4: The Sith Acolyte

Cien was somewhat annoyed to come out of hyperspace in her leithe fighter to see a Star Destroyer waiting for her. Thanks to the Moff, her ship had access throughout Imperial space as though she was one of the Inquisitors and they did not bother her. One nice aspect of that regime was that they didn't bother anyone with the proper authority. Tapping into their network she discovered that the Imperials had tracked a Jedi here - this would make her job harder since she would have to dance around the Imperials, her Master was not ready to be discovered yet. She dove into the atmosphere and cruised low over the outpost, letting the dark side guide her as she searched for the traces of the fragment. Probably in the personal items now being sorted through in the Star Destroyer's detention center.

But no.. wait… As she flew low and was about to loop back over the forested foothills to the north of the town, she felt a familiar feeling of the fragment. But…also Force users, running away. But the Imperial network said they had apprehended the Jedi?

Wasn't this interesting.

She brought her fighter down and landed in a clearing, and made her way up the hill on foot.

Oppie could not recall who the Jedi was, but he felt so familiar, both in person and through the Force. He absently wracked his brain, trying to place who he was, who he may have been. If they had ever met. He pushed thoughts from his mind and felt a horrible sense of guilt over the relief that it was neither Sasha or Viran that had been caught by the Empire and someone else instead

They had no time. They didn't stop at the apartments, anything they really cared about was on the ship anyway. They hiked up into the hills as quickly as they could, to the hiding spot. They had to get out of here, before they started investigating the area to see if there were more Jedi runaways. Before an Inquisitor or something worse showed up. He was angry at the situation, angry at the Empire, angry mostly at himself for letting them get too cozy in this outpost that had been their home for too long. When they reached the ship Viran bounded up the opening ramp to start the preflight. Sasha stood there seething, which brought Oppie to a halt.

"This is insane! We can't just leave him behind, he's a Jedi like us." Sasha said with an edge to her voice, not quite yelling but definitely infuriated, and breaking the silence that had held since they had left the crowd outside the cantina. "We have to help him, I can't explain why, but we need to."

Oppie looked between her and the ship and back again. "We can't. They have a star destroyer in orbit. Do you know what's happening to him right now? What would happen to us if they knew we were here?" The ire in his voice rising. "All trying to help him would do is get us locked up in an interrogation cell next to him. I can't let that happen to you two! We have to get somewhere safe!"

"Screw being safe!" Sasha yelled, "We've been silently protecting this town ever since we got here, now the moment one of our own shows up and gets arrested by the Empire we run like cowards! This isn't right!"

Oppie was silent for a moment before losing his temper. "Of course it's not right! Nothing's been right for fifteen years! The Jedi died, my master died all trying to do the right thing. That is how we die! Can't you feel that? That disturbance? Inquisitors or something even worse? That is death, and it came for him and us too if we don't leave now!"

Sasha held his gaze in silence for a moment before breaking from their staring contest. She looked like she was about to speak before they were interrupted by the voice of another figure, emerging from the woods like a stalking wolf.

"You're right," she said in a menacing voice that had too much of a smile to it. "What you feel is Death, and I have come for you."

Oppie stepped over to face their new menace and interpose himself between her and Sasha. "You have no business here Inquisitor, go back to the Empire." Oppie said, moving his hand down to the blaster at his hip. His lightsaber was hidden on the ship.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation "Why does everyone always assume I'm one of those... Minions of the Empire?" She vaguely gestured skyward at precisely where the Star Destroyer orbited overhead. "I serve an Empire, just not that one. I am no inquisitor. And I definitely have business with you. Hand over the fragment and I won't draw out your death." At that she ignited her saber, the red blade flaring to life as she fell into her ready stance.

"Get to the ship!" Oppie yelled over his shoulder to Sasha as he brought his blaster up in one smooth motion, aligned the sites and snapped off three bolts while ducking to the side. As he did that, Sasha ran aboard the ship, out of harm's way.

Their opponent deflected the bolts with ease, enjoying the moment. "Really now Jedi, a blaster? How so very uncivilized."

Oppie used the Force to grab a fist sized stone and throw it at the Sith. She deflected it and brought it around to catch the blaster bolts that Oppie followed up with, then pulled the blaster from his hand and towards her, slicing it in half with her saber. "Really now, enough of that." She said mockingly.

Oppie brought his hands up, sending a quick series of Force blasts towards her, she deflected each one, but it distracted her enough for a small log to come flying at her from an oblique angle to hit her in the shoulder. Oppie grunted with annoyance since it had been aimed at her head.

She absorbed the impact from the log without losing her poise but was definitely annoyed. "I said enough of that!" She slammed him backward with the Force and pinned him to the ground with a crushing Force hold. Barely able to breath, he watched as Sasha charged out of the ship with his saber in hand, landing a quick series of four blows that the Sith deflected easily and then held out her free hand towards Sasha. Sasha gasped as she was frozen mid blow, the saber up and out ready to strike if only her limbs would obey her command.

"Cute try, little one." The woman said, striding towards the frozen Sasha who was only able to let out a ragged few breaths, and all the while keeping Oppie pinned. "Ah, I see you have some talents with the Force…" Oppie watched from his angle at the ground as the Sith raised her hand towards Sasha's forehead and concentrated. A pained gasp escaped Sasha's lips.

Suddenly the Sith recoiled, as is if struck by a hot iron. That gave him an opening as the crushing weight on his chest faltered. He used all his strength with the Force to grab a small boulder nearby and fling it at the Sith. In a daze she parried it off to the side with the Force, sending it off at an angle. With her concentration broken, Sasha collapsed to the ground in a heap and saber rolling from her hand. For a moment Oppie panicked thinking she was dead, but he could still feel her in the Force just like he could feel Viran inside the ship.

The Sith, still in a daze, flashed her free hand and her saber up defensively towards the ship, and flew backwards in a blaze of light as the blasters from the vessel finally came online and Viran fired.

Oppie rolled to his feet and ran to Sasha, lifting her limp form up into his arms and then onto the ship.

"Is she okay?" Viran yelled in desperate concern from the cockpit just beyond the ship's small living space.

"Get us out of here!" Oppie yelled back as he slammed the button with his foot, closing the ramp to the ship.

"Is Sasha okay?" He repeated.

"She's fine! Just GO!"

Cien awoke some time later, her quarry gone but she was mostly unharmed. Her saber and the Force had been able to shield her from most of the blast. A seething anger filled her. They had gotten away, and she would have to track them down. Reporting her failure could cost her her life, so she would hold off on that. As she stood she shook off the last vestiges of the mental shock from the girl. Now, there was someone strong in the Force, and she also shared Cien's mental abilities, a gift most rare and precious among Force users. Raw and untrained, but with some strong potential there. She might actually make a worthy acolyte to add to their own cadre, and perhaps be able to get rid of that sycophant Kopesh -

"Stop there!" Cien turned towards the sound of the voice that broke into her ruminations. It was a dark armored character with pasty skin. He also had Imperial emblems all over his armor.

Cien rolled her eyes and addressed the minion. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"I am the third brother, drop your saber and surrender." He stated. Cien brushed his mind, finding something akin to a far more amature version of Kopesh.

"Ah so you're one of the inquisitors I keep hearing so much about. Now I am truly insulted that I keep getting confused with you people." Cien said, brushing some leaves off the sleeve of her tunic and paying him the attention he deserved.

"I said halt!" He yelled in what may have been an authoritative voice to anyone else. He also ignited his strange double bladed saber with a useless and theatrical flourish.

"I think not." She said as she raised her hand. He froze, he was such a weak Force user he couldn't even counter her Force grip.

He looked at her in fear as she approached, and she gently placed her fingertips on his face, the only part of his body not covered in armor or a suit of some kind. They both stood frozen for a few seconds, and then she released her grip, turning to walk away.

He immediately fell to his knees, screaming loudly and inhumanly, falling to the forest floor and writhing in terrified anguish at the nightmares only Cien knew and only he was trapped with. She did smile a little bit, for this minion did remind her all too much of Kopesh, so she had left him with some particularly nasty companions in his mind. The screaming continued, and kept going as Cien walked back towards her fighter. She stopped, and saw the Jedi's discarded saber on the ground. Interesting that the Jedi just took off without it. She called it to her with the Force and hung it on her belt, then continued onto her fighter to track her quarry. As she moved farther the screaming faded into the distance, while she idly wondered what her next steps might be. Perhaps the girl. If she could track her through the Force then she could find them, and she knew her mental signature now… Yes, that should work.

End of Part 1

Things are getting tense! REVIEW!