Disclaimer: I ( draksisreborn) own nothing but my OCs. Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney. Many thanks to zazabelle once again for making this possible with me. So yeah, this chapter took forever. Part of that is school starting up again for both of us, part of it is that we both had bouts of writer's block. But its here now and extra long. Thank you everyone for getting this story to over 200 views, it means a lot to both of us. Please enjoy this latest installment and feel free to drop a review.

Rating: T

'The fire, the smoke, the agony.

I couldn't breath.

I couldn't think.

I didn't want to anymore.'

"Wake up Cenden. Come on, wake up."

Cenden heard a voice as he watched the ship collapsing around him in flames.

He took in a sudden breath as his eyes flew open to blurry blobs and shapes.

His mind caught up with him and he slowed his breathing. Groaning he pushed himself into a sitting position. His head still pounded as he felt the buzzing feeling of a vision still swarming around in his mind.

Leaning up against his bed, he looked over towards the now solid figures of the crew standing crowded near him in his room with BX awkwardly leaning through the doorway.

"What happened Cenden? You just kind of collapsed and the holocron locked itself up again!" Nek rapidly fired out, holding the holocron out to him in a panic.

"Calm down Nek, I can open it again." Cenden mumbled almost irritated as he rubbed his temples and took the holocron back from the Devoranian.

It was nice that he could say he could open it again with confidence though.

Lerti stepped forward.

"Ok, so explain what happened? You just have fainting man syndrome or something?" The Mandalorian teased, a hint of true interest in her voice.

At that, like a rush of water, the vision came flooding back through Cenden's mind. His eyes flickered across the images he saw before his subconscious. He had to fight to keep his breathing steady.

'A temple. A crash. What am I supposed to tell them?'

"I...I had a vision." Cenden answered, trying to sort through the disturbing images still seared into his brain.

"What did you see?" Now Soron asked, yellow eyes filled with curiosity.

"I'm not sure. There was a temple. I've never zeen anything like it before… It wasn't quite a Jedi temple that was for sure. Yet it didn't look Sith either." Cenden replied, uncertainty littering his words as he stroked his thumb across the holocron in his hand.

"Well? Can you show us? Do you know what planet it's on?" Chol finally spoke, eyeing the device.

Cenden nodded, a pit dropping in his stomach. Bracing his arm on the bed side, he pushed himself into standing position, his body almost feeling hollow.

He let the Force come rushing into his mind, it filled his thoughts easily enough but it felt like pushing on a bruise. Letting the Force take hold of the holocron it lifted steadily from his fingers and began to unlock.

The glow emanated across the room as a star map sprang to life out of the tetradecagon surrounded by orbiting pyramids. Nek smiled while the rest of the crew stood, watching in amazement as the device seemed to be floating through the air held up by nothing. Even BX seemed to lean further into the doorway, a touch of curiosity seeming to appear in his empty eyes.

"It's here, on the edge of the Unknown Regions." Cenden told as he stepped forward and enhanced an area on the star map, pointing to one of the many moons surrounding a large gas planet.

"I recognize that planet." Cholmon cut in. "I've overheard pirates talking about that planet's moons containing unimaginable riches, but most disappear or give up after the fifth moon or so." Cholmon explained as the crew looked at him.

"You can you get us there?" Soron and Cenden asked simultaneously, their tones conveying very different questions.

"I can put us in the planet's orbit, but… uh, can we use the holocron thingy to tag the right moon? I won't be able target our trajectory if the moon's not on my star maps." Cholmon replied, scratching his chin.

"Are you sure it's the best idea to go straight there? What if the Empire is waiting?" Cenden asked, a slight bit of worry in his voice.

"Cholmon should have no trouble with them, this ship is stealthier than it looks. Not to mention we can easily use the other moons to lose them if they chase us." BX stated. Cholmon thanked him with a nod of his head.

"I still think it's a big risk." Cenden mumbled. Lerti looked at him, dumbstruck.

"Weren't you the one who just had a vision of this place? Why are you the one second guessing this?"

"Enough." Soron interrupted. "I'm sure he's just worried, as we all should. Chol how long should it take for us to reach the moon?"

"Probably a couple of days minimum, a week tops. I'll go plug in the coordinates." He replied, exiting the room with his hands in his pockets.

"Good. Nek, I want to go do a check up on the engine and weapon systems, we're behind schedule on those. BX, be on standby to assist Chol with navigation. Lerti and Cenden, make sure your gear is ready for when we touch down. I'll broadcast an update when we arrive in the system." Soron finished, dismissing everyone. The crew minus Cenden nodded and went to do their jobs, while Cenden sat mulling over his vision.

'I have to warn Soron about what I saw.' He thought as he exited his room and chased after the Shistavanen.

"Soron, can I have a word? In private." He whispered to his captain.

Soron raised an eyebrow then nodded.

"Walk with me." The captain said gesturing as he turned and continued forward.

The two walked down the turning and twisting hallways of the ship. Cenden followed along in a daze. The still unfamiliar paths hardly passing his thoughts as he followed Soron into his room.

Taking in the simple bed and desk as well as the workbench, terminal, and small collection of books, Cenden was surprised to see the window that dominated the far wall, giving a glimpse into the vast expanse of space. Most quarters tried to avoid having that sort of installment for safety purposes, Soron must've had it specially installed for his room.

"So," Soron began, pulling up two foldable chairs in front of the window, "What is it that you wish to discuss?"

"The Force...showed me something in my vision." Cenden began, taking a seat next to Soron.

"That's what visions tend to do right?" Soron said with a smirk.

Cenden tried to smile as he ran his hand over the back of his neck, "I'm not even sure how to explain what those are like."

"I'm guessing how they work isn't important right now is it?"

"It was something horrible." Cenden continued, causing his captain's demeanor to sour immediately. "It was of a ship crashing, breaking apart in the atmosphere before exploding on impact. I saw only one person escape, though I couldn't make out their features."

"And you're sure this has to do with our destination?" Soron asked.

"That ship crashed into our destination. And I think the ship is our ship." Cenden finished. He watched Soron mull this over, eyes staring into the endless black expanse. The seconds turned into minutes as Cenden grew fidgety as Soron remained silent while the Jedi's own mind snapped from one thought to the next. Cenden felt fear rising in him again.

"What would you have me do?" Soron finally asked, pulling Cenden back into reality.

Cenden's eyes went wide.

"Isn't it obvious? Don't go there! Do you really want your crew to die!?" Cenden asked hysteria taking hold of him.

"Of course not!" Soron shot back. "But what other choice do we have? It's clear that we are supposed to go to this moon, who are we to argue with that?" Seeing Cenden open his mouth to argue he continued. "And besides, this may not have been our ship. But even if it is, it could just be one possibility among many, meant to test our determination." He saw that Cenden was still unconvinced. Sighing, he continued, "Didn't the Jedi of old put their trust in the Force, even when all signs pointed towards failure?"

"What reason do I have to put trust in it in return!?"

The two went silent.

Soron squeezed at the bridge of his nose.

"Cenden, I… I don't know how to convince you otherwise. In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have a goal in mind here. We're just a bunch of mercenaries, tossed aside by whatever society is left in an ever expanding universe under the control of madmen with just as little idea about how everything really works as we do. Nothing is truly defined for us. All my life, I've wanted more. Not more material gain, but more knowledge. I want to do something that really matters, but when I try and think about what that might be, it's like I've drawn a blank at the edge of time."

Soron sighed again. "I don't know why I do any of this. It's not like I'm just going to suddenly become 'one with the universe' or some crap. There just has to be more than this. It would be foolish otherwise. A foolish waste of life."

Cenden was silent for a moment, "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force." Cenden looked to Soron, an understanding passing between them.

"Back when I was a temple guard for the Jedi Order, the younger generations used to make fun of such sayings, but now I see zhe comfort in it. Soron, if you are truly going to learn to follow the Force, and if I am going to learn to put trust in it again, then I have to start remembering the truth. There is no death with the Force, but life is still worth discovering."

"There is no life without discovery." Soron said smiling as he stood.

Cenden gave a small nod and stood in return.

"I swear you are at least 10 times more spiritual than half the Jedi I ever knew. Alright. Let's go to the vision moon then!" Cenden laughed as the two shook hands.

The captain and the Jedi turned to leave.

"We should probably tell the crew there's a chance we might die though."

"But there's also a chance we might discover something great." Soron finished.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dawn light filtered through the enormous accidental skylight running through the temple's interior. Mist rose up through any breaks in the temple's walls and waltzed through the decaying entrance, blanketing the ground.

From where I watched, all I wanted to do was cannonball down into the ground clouds.

I imagined myself falling endlessly through the mist void, tumbling through beams of light, the cool wind roaring around me. Wings flew from my shoulders and carried me across a sea of sky fluff. It was all very gray.

I shook myself from my daydream with nervous excitement, 'Focus Vis. They could be here any moment. Right?'

I felt the Force surround my mind. In the distance of time, I could feel a presence walking among the ruins, still at least what felt like several days away. But it could be sooner or later. Either way I had to be ready.

"Alright, let's go over this again."

I sat tucked away in a nook crumbled out of a wall in the temple that had long since been eroded by water damage and such. For me, it made a nice little hidey hole type room overlooking the far left half of the temple plus the one of the main entrances to the whole first building. No one's ever made the effort to get past my traps or the Force's traps, but there's a first time for everything.

I was so excited I could barely sleep. The shifting hue of my freckles, I guessed, were in their bright green state of ecstasy 24/7.

The Force was excited for me too I think. In the middle of the night I would feel my own spirit intertwine with it's and pull me from my sleep to the edges of the "balcony" outside each room to watch the stars through the sky light. On some night I would catch a glimpse of several moons or even a HUGE planet in the sky, and I could just smile and laugh.

Wherever whoever or whatever was coming going to be from that planet? Where they going to be from the other edge of the galaxy!? Sometimes on those night I would just close my eyes and let my mind unravel across the stars. Letting my guide lead me through nebulas and star systems and space ships passing through it all…

Pulling myself from the thoughts once again, a smile quickly stretched from one end of my face to the other.

Taking a shaky breath, I reached over to my side and grabbed the smooth round cylinder resting a few safe inches away from me. The weight of the damaged lightsaber felt calming and cool in my grasp. I couldn't believe I had found one. Or rather, that the Force had finally shown me where in the temple to find one. I was tempted to relive the little adventure in my head, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

I adjusted the possible death tube away from my face, making sure my fingers weren't on the trigger, I decided to hold the saber upside down. It just felt safer. I didn't have a physical master of any kind, but it wouldn't make much sense to give a deadly weapon to a 13 year old, much less use it. But who was I kidding? I was definitely going to turn it on. Just not when I was jumping from a ledge onto the slippery mist floor.

'Now for the finishing touch!' I thought to myself now grabbing the temple guard mask.

I slid the mask over my face, letting it rest snuggly on my temples. Surprisingly, I could see out of the slits in the mask really well! It wasn't perfect, but it didn't totally suck either.

"Why didn't more Jedi wear these? They seem like such a great idea!" I asked the Force.

I could almost hear it laughing. That was the best feeling in the whole galaxy.

"Ok, show me where to go!" I laughed back to it.

I gathered the Force around me.

A dominant scenario begin to be strung from one marker, one foot step, one flying leap after another.

I would fight someone as soon as they walked past me.

There was a chance I'd win and a chance I'd loose.

It didn't matter if I lost, I was just suppose to do my best and that would do it.

I laughed and leapt down from my spot.

I stood and felt myself in the right path turn on my lightsaber, I would speak, they would speak. I ran forward. I swung up, ducked right, rolled across the ground, swung as I spun, jabbed twice, got punched in the mask, went with the momentum, rolled again, swung.

From there it branched off into three highly likely scenarios that I couldn't quite make out. But if I just followed the first steps, everything would work out.

"Will they be a friend? Someone I know? ...A Force wielder!?" I asked excited, I didn't want to speculate but this is huge! "I can't believe someone's finally coming for me. Someone finally heard you. They know I'm here… This whole training thing is to prove myself right?"

The Force caressed a few of my thoughts, it was hard to make out, but at least I knew I was right somehow with one of those!

"I'm going to turn the lightsaber on now."

I pressed the switch.

The lightsaber ignited, sparks flew out of it, and a burst of white hot light shot out of it.

"OH SHOOT."

A shock flew through me.

I dropped the saber as I fell on my butt.

"Ow ow ow…" My arm felt all tingling,

I took off the mask. Examining my arms, nothing much had happened except my freckles turning bright yellow and red with shock and fear. I let out a breath before I started laughing and plopped onto my back.

"Could've warned me about that!" I looked at the saber, "...Huh. Ok I see where you were going with that, I have the idea now."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'I… I will go. I never thought we'd see the day when a real opportunity presented itself, and if it's fate we die, then we die searching.'

'Well I, for one, am going. Vision or not, I'm the pilot of this ship, and we have a mission. Would it honestly help to worry about something petty like death?'

'The logic in vision is not within my coding. Logic in attempt is, however.'

'...I don't know. One minute you all are trying to convince me stuff like the Force actually exists. Now I know it's real and we're choosing to take a chance on something like flying right into death? That, to me, seems rash, and risky, and wrong... I thought I'd never rub off on you guys. I'm in. But if I die, I swear I will kill all of you, starting with Cenden.'

Soron stood in the cockpit, gazing out into the massive gas planet looming through space as Chomon began his change in direction towards a small moon.

Cholmon looked to his captain one last time for confirmation, an unspoken question in his eyes. Soron stood and reflected on the crew's reaction to Cenden's vision of a fiery crash.

'Could this really be it?' Soron's mind whispered.

Soron tried to shake himself out of the feeling of being torn between contemplating his last thoughts or focusing on the present. He took a breath of uncertainty and with that, nodded to Chol before reaching for the comm.

"Alright everyone, this is it. Cholmon will be setting us down via Cenden's instructions. I want Cenden, Lerti, and Nek in the cargo hold ready to go. BX will stay with Cholmon and serve as our rear guard." Soron paused. "Be prepared for anything but cower from nothing. May the Force be with us." He finished as he shut off the comm and sat in the copilot's seat. Even if he couldn't pilot to save his life he wanted to be there to see this through.

"Ya know you don't have to be up here right? I can handle everything on my own." Cholmon commented as the ship dipped towards the moon.

"I know, but… this is what we've been looking for for so long. I mean, we've been temple robbing for long enough, you and me especially; it's nice to be going somewhere with understanding and purpose rather than a blaster. " Soron replied as the moon loomed up on them.

"Don't need to remind me. I still remember when we first met." The pilot replied.

Any further conversation was cut off when the ship began to shake slightly as they entered the atmosphere.

The ship's hull dipped slowly into the ozone layer of the moon, falling into orbit around the moon's surface.

Cholmon's fingers twitched across the console, his eyes darting nervously from one system status to another.

Soron's eyes remained locked ahead, his hands laid steadily across the controls, ready to do whatever he could muster up inside himself to help.

The ship shook.

The two looked at each other.

The ship shook again, violently jolting about the sky.

Cholmon reached for his comm, "BX! Are you still in the engine room!? How are we looking down there!?"

"Everything is running smoothly. We seem to only be experiencing turbulence."

"Turbulence. When we were prophesied to die in a fiery crash. Lovely." Chol mumbled to himself, his eyes locked on the sky.

"Don't talk like that. Show some faith." Soron spat back, the fur along the ridge of his neck visibly standing on end no matter how calm his demeanor claimed to be. "Cenden. Any idea where we're needing to land yet?"

Down in the cargo hold, Cenden, Lerti, and Nek stood. They had all three braced themselves up against the hold wall, grasping onto the railings lining the walls.

"Not yet Soron. I'll let you know when I'm told." Cenden answered back, glancing wearily at the supplies of Lerti's rocket launcher ammo. "I wish that wasn't on the ship."

"Shut up." Lerti shot back at Cenden.

Cenden sighed.

'Ok, no fear. Just trust.' He let his eyes fall shut.

He reached out into the Force. His mind unraveling through clouds of thought and emotion. He connected with the energy inside himself, the energy, his mind, continued to push through the clouds and into the energy within the space around him in the ship. He unraveled further, into the sky around them, he stretched out across the planet.

A pressure in his mind built up as he reached across the world.

Then he felt it.

The Force took the line and tied it to the land. Like an anchor in the sea, the man was tethered to the marker. The Force gushed and pulsated about the marker. Burrowing deep into the earth, it veined out across the planet, like a heart.

"Soron! Chol! We have our heading!"

"Where are we landing?" Chol answered back.

"Keep heading east, in about thirty minutes there should be a strip of clearing in the landscape below. What do we know about this moon?" Cenden commanded.

Chol cleared his throat, "From what I remember, it's mainly a deciduous forest biome, but the forest floor looks more like a jungle marsh. Colder up north, warmer down south, and not inhabited. Though as I told you, it does have a reputation for driving people away."

The ship jolted again.

Lerti could hear Nek praying under his breath.

Maybe she should've ditched the explosives.

BX came over the comms.

"We have a slight leak in one of the backup compressors. It will now be fixed promptly."

"We're ok everyone. Just stick to the course." Soron's voice came next over the comms.

For the next thirty minutes, everyone sat about, waiting. They either talked quietly in the cargo hold, or made weather observations up the cockpit, but it all felt wasteful. Like any words at all would not amount to what could be their last words. So then, everyone sat in silence. Of course, then even their thoughts felt unimportant.

Cenden assumed a state of meditation, something he hadn't done in a while. It felt nice to just let his mind wander through the Force, it's purposes, it's paths, it's thoughts. Eventually, he could even sense the wind currents surrounding the ship, predicting the next bump in the current or shift in the torrent. He pushed down his fear, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to sense a point of crash.

This was comforting at first, but in the back of his mind, he knew that just because you couldn't sense something was about to happen, didn't mean it wouldn't happen. He learned that the hard way once, he didn't want to relearn that again.

His thoughts were interrupted and his heart skipped a beat as Chol's voice came over the comms suddenly.

"I see our landing spot! We're heading down! Seven minutes and counting 'til we make landfall."

The three pilgrims in the cargo hold gathered together readying themselves to make leave.

Lerti stood adjusting her armor and helmet, "Ya know Cenden, I'm actually glad I'm here to get to do this. I would've thought I would've had to stay on the ship. I'm not exactly 'the spiritual type' ya know."

"Oh we know." Nek piped.

"Anyway. Just, I guess, maybe you're not totally as useless or fake as I originally thought." Lerti finished, tweaking the positions of her holsters.

"Wait. Was that a complement? Or an apology?" Cenden smiled mockingly at her.

"For the second time today, shut up." Lerti retorted, "And yes."

Nek laughed. Perhaps out of humor, perhaps out of hysteria. Either way it was a much needed sound as the ship made its final descent.

Cholmon and Soron both let out a sigh of relief as the ship brushed the tips of the treetops before touching down in the clearing, contrasted with the sound of Lerti and Nek's faint cheering coming from the cargo hold.

"Guess it's time to see what there is. I'll keep in contact with you and BX." Soron said as he stood up and left the room. Cholmon gave a simple nod in response.

Soron quickly stopped by his room to grab his 9118 carbine before entering the cargo hold to see the shore party armed and ready.

"Alright everyone," He said as he opened the cargo door, revealing the lush jungle. "Same procedure as last time. Cenden and I will take the lead while Lerti and Nek will cover the rear. Now then, let's get this started." He finished as he readied his carbine and stepped outside.

Lerti smirked and gave a mock war cry. "Let's go desecrate some ancient history!" She shouted, earning mild chuckles from the group as they advanced.

The trees loomed up around them, the heart-shaped leaves tipped in purple. The trucks grew so close together they crew could barely see a hundred yards past where they stood.

"So where now, Master Jedi?" Lerti asked wistfully as she looked out across the scene.

Cenden still felt the tether pulling at his energy, drawing him into the woods.

"I guess we just follow the Force." Cenden mumbled, he felt eerily at peace here.

"Easier said than done for us I suppose." Soron responded, his voice the same peaceful murmur.

Nek remained silent, his eyes wide and darting about.

"Chol we'll keep you posted." Soron informed the pilot over the comms.

Cenden started forward, the other following close behind as they wove their way through the dense flora. Everything was so peaceful, so beautiful. It didn't feel real.

"So there's really a Jedi temple on this moon?" Nek asked, his voice sounding far off.

"Maybe not a Jedi temple, but a temple, yes." Cenden answered.

"I believe it." Nek sighed.

Cenden smiled.

The Force felt different here. It felt more open and alive. The deep connection with nature here definitely helped, he had to admit, it had been a while since he'd been on a planet not in the city territory. But was so calm here, he didn't even need to lift a finger to his weapons…

CRACK!

His thoughts were cut off as Lerti suddenly disappeared from sight, falling deep into a hole that had not been there a second earlier. Nek let out a yelp of surprise and Cenden rushed over to the hole.

"Lerti!" He shouted. "Are you al…" He trailed off as Lerti slowly rose out of the hole with her jetpack, arms crossed.

"You two forgot I had this didn't you?" She deadpanned, earning sheepish looks from the human and Devaronian. As she touched down Soron knelt by the hole, examining it.

"To be fair, you did lose it last time." Nek joked.

"Probably just a sinkhole or something." Lerti said with a shrug as she continued walking.

"No." Soron said, stopping her in her tracks. "This looks like a trap. A primitive one, but a trap all the same." He said, standing up and facing the group.

"Are you saying that someone is trying to keep us out?" Nek asked. All eyes turned to Cenden.

"Maybe. It's unlikely given the temple's age and location, but with how strong the Force here is it's possible these were set up centuries ago." The Jedi replied.

Soron's hair bristled a bit before he calmed the involuntary action. "We aren't going to let this someone try and keep us out. We've come too far. But we will be more careful from now on." He said, earning nods from the others as they continued moving, their formation tightening the closer they got to the temple.

However, Soron felt each step grow more tiresome, the peaceful and calm feeling that had earlier had such a powerful hold on their consciousnesses had turned into a growing sense of calm before the storm. A pressure had built up and with each step it grew more and more urgent. Soron gave a quick glance around the group confirmed that they felt it too. Soron chalked it up to the presence he felt, which had gone from a light prodding on his mind to a full fledged assault on his psyche. His head ached, his legs felt like they were encased in durasteel, and his mind at war with the presence.

Yet it felt different, like the fear existed outside his own mind and was trying to force its way through. Everything felt groggy or anxious.

But he trudged on. He wouldn't let this presence control him, he hadn't let himself give into that since-

He sighed, "Cenden, do you know how much farther? Or are we being lead somewhere else?"

"I honestly can't tell at this point, I still have the lead, but I can't be for sure that it's where we want to go or where we need to go."

The pressure kept building.

Lerti groaned and clutched at her head, "Anyone else have a headache?"

"What is that?" Nek asked rubbing at his own temples.

"I'm not sure." Cenden mumbled, he felt it but it wasn't bothering him so much.

Was… was the Force trying to connect with them?

"We should… keep moving." Soron stuttered.

The captain looked terrible. His eyes darting from one place to another, his breath seemed heavily, his whole demeanor was that of a man who had been fighting for all too long, but he was still fighting.

He moved Cenden aside and kept walking forward, Lerti followed behind.

"Hey wait. Soron. Lerti." Cenden exclaimed following them through the brush. "Maybe we should take a rest? I'm not sure what's going on, but it seems to be taking a toll on everyone."

"We. Are. Fine!" Soron suddenly snapped.

"Hey I'm just trying to help!"

"Well maybe you should keep your mouth shut and just stick to your Jedi mumbo jum…"

"Hey guys?" Lerti interjected.

"What!?" The two said at once.

"Where's Nek?"

Everyone went silent.

"Nek? Nek!?" Soron shouted.

Nothing.

They looked around them, nothing looked familiar at all.

"What the heck!? Where did he go!?" Lerti's voice laced with panic as she leapt through the nearest brush patch. "This has to be the way we came!"

She screamed.

Soron and Cenden leapt through the brush.

Lerti had disappeared.

"What in the galaxy is going on!?" Soron screamed.

"Soron…" Cenden put a hand on his shoulder.

A ruined temple now lay in front of them, stretching for miles in any direction, buried in the earth and grown into the trees. An involuntary gasp escaped the two. Soron was astounded by the age of the temple and its beauty, despite the many collapsed walls and plant life that seemed to be choking the life out of the building itself. It looked different from any other temple they had explored, just as Cenden had said, and despite his awe he felt a nagging fear in the back of his mind, a fear of what this temple held. Did this really have answers or more dead ends?

The pressure broke.

Soron's mind seized up.

He crumbled to the ground.

"Captain!" Cenden yelled driving for his falling body, his dead weight nearly pulling him to the ground with him.

Grabbing the captain around the arm and waist, he hoisted him up. Whatever was going on, the temple was there only source of shelter where they could contact Chol.

He dragged Soron towards the temple, the building drawing him in, yet still seeming weary in his sensing of the place.

The Jedi came to the first entrance he could see, old crumbling stairs sunken into the ground leading up to an equally crumbling gateway.

His feet marched heavily up the nearly decayed steps and through the cool, vine ladened entry way. He set Soron down and checked the man's pulse. He was alive, good.

Standing, he looked about the immense foyer of the temple. Deep pools bore into the ground along with the most noticeable feature being the giant hole stretching from the ceiling to the ground floor.

Walking forward, he emerged from the shadows into the sunlight from the sky pouring through.

'How did that happen?' Cenden wondered.

He felt the Force suddenly break around him, centering around movement behind him.

He turned as a gray figure leapt from a crack in the wall, green trench coat fluttering through the air.

They stood, a mask he never thought he'd see again placed across the figure's face.

A Temple Guard.

Their green lightsaber flashed to life.

"What are you doing in my home?"