Seryanna suppressed the urge the curse as she barrel rolled her Headhunter, barely dodging the incoming blaster fire from the four TIEs on her tail. She should have known better than to chase that shuttle down here. But intel had said that there was a high value target on it and he, or she, needed to be extracted. Of course, the minute the shuttle dove for the surface of Vjun, she should have realized that it was a trap. But she hadn't and now she had to live with the consequences. Breaking into a Split S to try and gain some distance from the pursuing TIEs, she dove for the surface, determined to use the terrain to her advantage.
Streaking down among the rocks, she let the Force guide her movements. Skimming past rock outcrops with only centimeters to spare, she saw a flash in her mirror as one of the TIEs misjudged and slammed into the rock wall of the canyon they were in, the explosion from the dead TIE catching a second one in the blast and sending it careening into the opposite wall. Two down, two more to go.
Flipping her Headhunter onto it's side, she hit her repulsors for less than a second, the pulse of energy flinging her away from the sheer rock wall. As she shot horizontally, she killed her engines, yanked back on the stick and flipped her fighter around, facing back the way she came. As first one, then the second TIE drifted across her sights, she caressed the trigger gently and felt her fighter shudder as her blaster cannon spat fire at the Imperial ships. With a satisfied grin, both shots flew true and the two TIEs simply ceased to exist.
Continuing to pull back on the stick, her Z-95 continued it's spin. Just as the fighter started to point back down the canyon, and only a split second before she would impact the canyon walls, she punched her sublight engines back on and slammed the throttle to full power. With a roar from her engines and a sharp shove back into her seat that the inertial dampeners couldn't entirely cancel out, she rocketed back down the narrow seam that split the land asunder.
SIMULATION TERMINATED* suddenly flashed on the screen before her. Not bothering to silence the curse this time, she hit the canopy release switch and began to unbuckle herself from the simulator.
As the canopy of the simulator popped open, she was surprised to see Anakin standing there, waiting for her. She hadn't seen her Master since shortly after her Knighting ceremony.
"Well done Seryanna. Not many people can handle a Headhunter like that," Master Skywalker told her.
"Thank you, Master," she replied. "But?"
Giving her a lopsided grin, Anakin said, "But, you should have known it was a trap as soon as the shuttle dove for the planet. That class of shuttle is hyperdrive capable. Any pilot with even half a brain knows that a Theta-class shuttle can't outrun a fighter. Even a relatively slow one like the Headhunter."
"I know Master. I realized that. About thirty seconds too late, but I did. So I decided to just make the best of it. Like you trained me to."
Laughing out loud, Anakin told her, "Ok, you got me there. I did tend to encourage a certain amount of risk taking in your training. At any rate, I'm not down here to criticize today. I need a favor."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm about to be roped into something?"
"Because you're about to be roped into something," Anakin told her as he laughed.
"What is it?"
"You heard about the two stowaways that came in on the shuttle from Corellia?"
"I think everyone has heard that Master. The Corellians really need to step up their security. That could have been bad."
"They do and they are, but that's beside the point. Han and Qi'ra told me some things the other night that practically made my blood boil. To cut a long story short, they were basically slaves."
As Seryanna opened her mouth to reply, Anakin held up his hand telling his former apprentice to wait a moment before he continued, "You know my history Seryanna. Slavery is, well it's a big deal to me. And it should be a big deal to all of us. We're having a Joint Council Session in thirty minutes. After that, can you escort the two of them to the Council Chamber? The High Council wants to hear their story."
"Of course. Where are they and what time do they have to be there, Master?"
"The last report from their guard said they were in the fitness center in the barracks. And in about two hours. Thank you for this Ser." Turning to walk away, Anakin threw one last comment over his shoulder, "Oh, ummm, by the way, don't tell Han that you used to be my Padawan. He, uh, he might have a bit of a hero worship complex."
Shaking her head, Jedi Knight Seryanna Ky grabbed her cloak and made her way to the barracks to introduce herself to her two temporary charges. Grinning to herself, she definitely planned to tell Han that she had been Anakin's Padawan. The opportunity to spill some of her old Master's more embarrassing moments was just going to be too good to pass up. Now, how did that story about the Gundark nest go again?
_
Anakin had to silence a sigh. These Joint Council Sessions, where the High Council, the Council of First Knowledge, the Council of Reconciliation and the Council of Reassignment all met together once a month, were probably the most boring thing he had ever or would ever do as a Jedi. While it was certainly interesting to get a glimpse at the inner workings of the various other Councils, and perhaps be able to assist them in some problem or other, for the most part, these sessions were nothing but dry reports. Honestly, it was something that could easily be handled with a single typed message. But Master Yoda insisted, saying it was an excellent way to make sure that all the most senior Jedi Masters in the Order had a good relationship. And it ensured that no one missed something vital that could affect the survival of the entire order. That argument carried a lot of weight. Plus there was the fact that Obi-wan, as the new Master of the Order, agreed with Yoda. So now Anakin had to endure these interminable meetings. He half thought Obi-wan only supported it just because it would force him to actually sit still for several hours.
Anakin had already given his report to the combined Councils. The research Master Kenobi had asked him to do was finished. In his opinion, Yavin IV would be a terrible location to build a base at. A fallen Jedi turned Sith Lord named Exar Kun had used the world as his home and base of operations. By all accounts, the man had been an exceptionally powerful Force User, from what Anakin had seen Kun was probably a match for Palpatine. When he had finally been defeated, he had used all of his considerable power to release his spirit from his body and formed a Dark Side nexus in the Temples on the planet, one in particular, though all were infected to some extent. An unwary Jedi could easily fall prey to the ancient Sith's dark energies.
Interestingly, the Jedi had a relic of his in their position, his lightsaber. That was locked away in a vault that even the First Knowledge Councilors could not access. Master Yoda had eventually agreed to enter the vault with Anakin and show him the ancient weapon. It was encased in a resin of some sort and felt strangely dead in the Force. Yoda explained that millennia ago, a group of Jedi had sought to utterly stamp out any and every trace of the Dark Side in the Galaxy. And in their quest, they had eventually created this resin with which to encase Sith and Dark Side artifacts that were too dangerous to handle unprotected, but also too powerful to destroy. Exar Kun's lightsaber was one such object. It was so powerfully imbued with the Dark Side that any who so much as held it felt the call to the Dark Side. The resin neutralized the force energies. For someone who had made a name for himself as a lightsaber duelist, it was unsettling to be disturbed by a lightsaber. But Anakin was forced to admit that that weapon scared him.
After he had given his report, Obi-wan's hologram had looked at Anakin with a faint look of horror on it and asked him a few questions.
"Anakin, please tell me that you were able to find which temple in particular was the focus for this Dark Side energy?"
"One of the first things listed. It's the largest ziggurat on the Eastern Continent. In an region called Ersham Ridge."
"Do any of the records mention anything about how not to awaken a Sith Lord's spirit?"
Chuckling slightly, Anakin replied, "Unfortunately no. Though if he's true to most Sith, he'll only respect power. So I would try and avoid any powerful displays with the Force. Why? Is that where you decided to quarter everyone?"
The look on Obi-wan's face was answer enough. After that exchange, Anakin had pretty much zoned out. He had long ago mastered how to listen just enough so that he wouldn't miss anything important, but still let his mind wander to get him through seemingly endless meetings. Discreetly checking his chrono, he bit his tongue to keep from groaning out loud. Only another hour to go.
_
Qi'ra was getting a little uncomfortable. The chairs in the lounge for those waiting for a summons before the Jedi Council weren't, well, they weren't uncomfortable but they weren't exactly comfortable either. Which almost made waiting in them worse. On the one hand she couldn't really relax in it and on the other she couldn't use the chair as an excuse to pace either. She thought she had seen a couple of almost pitying glances from the Jedi Knight that had escorted them from the barracks that had been their home for the last week, but she wasn't sure. The Jedi were good at hiding their emotions. Only someone who had been trained, or forced by circumstances to learn, to hide their emotions would likely pick up the subtle clues that the Jedi weren't the emotionless droids Imperial Propaganda said they were.
This Jedi though was a little different. On the way here she had been open and gregarious with them. And seemed almost to delight in telling Han stories about Master Skywalker. All of which set all three of them off laughing and most of which were slightly embarrassing for the Jedi Master. Han had already said that he had to learn more about the Gundark story. It was only when they arrived at the actual Jedi Temple that the Jedi had told them to reign it in a little and she put on what she called, "her Jedi face." She had explained that, though the Order was changing, it was changing slowly and many still felt that a proper Jedi must be solemn and dutiful at all times. So as not to make waves until everyone was more comfortable with the changes, most Jedi elected to restrain themselves, at least when within the Temple. That and some of the more traditional members did have a point: The Jedi Temple was a sacred place. It should be treated as such and given the proper respect it deserved.
Just as she was about to adjust herself on this Azkanc-cursed chair, the Jedi's comlink beeped. After listening for a few seconds the Jedi simply replied, "Yes, Master."
Turning towards her now, Seryanna Ky told both her and Han, "The High Council will see you now."