Jinn, Uadda, and Shal Mymm hurried after the astromech. It was moving so fast that they nearly lost sight of it twice. Around the final corner, they were met with blaster fire. Uadda, her adrenaline depleting slowly felt sluggish and was no longer comfortable engaging in close combat as she had earlier. Jinn attempted to reflect the shots but after more than a few close calls, he retreated behind the wall again. The Jedi looked to Shal. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Thar, you owe me SO much more than double." She muttered. She rounded the corner and tapped a pad on her wrist. A hum of energy sounded and a small energy shield grew to the size of a large plate. Using the shield to deflect incoming blaster fire, she returned the attacks with her own. No shots were wasted. Dropping her guard long enough to activate a thermal detonator and hurl it into the middle of the guard's formation. Many of the soldiers scattered in an attempt to escape. None succeeded and a moment later, the corridor was engulfed in flame and shrapnel. When the smoke cleared, Shal peered around the corner.

"Well?" She said in annoyance. Jinn and Uadda looked at each other and followed her. AE sped ahead of them and jacked into the scomp-link. A few twists later and the door slid open.

Inside, the room was dim as there was only a single light bar still functioning as opposed to the five that were intended. The figure in the dark sat motionlessly, legs crossed and hands clasped. He wore a white robe that could have been given from a medical bay. His jaw was covered in a thick black beard that hung down to the top of his sternum. His greasy hair was long and hung loosely around his head. When he opened his eyes, they shone like dark moons in a pale sky. Master Tophta stood and Jinn could not hold himself back any longer. He dove at his master and wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders. Master Tophta laughed a pained laugh and returned the hug, burying Jinn behind his bearlike arms.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. Jinn pulled away and helped the Grey out of the room.

"Your last transmission said you'd completed your mission and would be returning to Zonama Sekot. That was a little over a week ago. I convinced the other masters to let me come see what was wrong." Jinn explained. Shal's head perked up, as did Uadda's. The sound of heavy footfalls was fast approaching.

"This is great and all, but we have to go," Shal said impatiently.

"Who are you?" Tophta asked.

"Run now. Introductions later." She replied breaking into a dead run back the way they had come. Tophta didn't push any further, instead, following the Togruta woman and his former padawan. Uadda reached into her robes and retrieved a lightsaber, handing it to the master.

"This was in a cell. I believe it's yours." She explained. Tophta smiled and took the saber. Behind them, more soldiers poured into the corridor. As Uadda and Tophta turned another corner, Shal was placing small metal orbs in the corners of the hall. As the pair passed her, she placed and activated the fourth and final orb. The orbs whistled at a nearly inaudible frequency and Shal hurried to rejoin the others. A moment later and the hall was filled with the sound of screaming and electrical power. Jinn glanced back to see several soldiers caught in an electrical net. The blue crackling energy pulsed violently between the forward guards. Their teeth illuminated and their weapons acted as conductors, sending more electricity in various directions.

Everyone piled into the turbolift and AE took them up. Had they waited any longer and they would have had to contend with the smell of blistering, charred flesh. Tophta and Shal stood straight as the lift ascended, but Uadda and Jinn were exhausted, and it showed.

"What happened?" Jinn asked. Tophta shook his head. Seemingly unwilling to answer. Surprisingly, Shal backed up Jinn and his request. She seemed annoyed as if superiors withholding information was something she'd become exhaustingly accustomed to.

"Look at them and tell them after everything they have been through, they don't deserve an explanation." Her words were harsh and biting, and Tophta relented.

"I was captured shortly after my last transmission. The group here is called the Ascension Syndicate. They are obsessed with genetic augmentation in every aspect." Tophta took a deep breath.

"Their leader, Mo Plord, is a Muun who was kicked off of his homeworld of Niro for unlawful experimentation. He and his accomplice Hora Tebet sought a way to undermine the authority and power of force users. Jedi and Sith alike. But neither of them understood how it worked and insisted it was a genetic superiority strain. When word got out that a known force user had arrived on Chrsitophsis, they threw everything they had at me. It worked."

Tophta looked to Jinn and Uadda, hoping to see they understood. He was relieved to see only an appropriate amount of confusion and continued.
"The Muun brought me here and conducted experiments, blood and tissue samples until they found what they were looking for."

"Midi-chlorians." Jinn finished for him. Tophta nodded.

Just then, the lift stopped at the ground floor. Rather than opening to another underground hallway, the lift opened directly to the cold surface of the planet. The hangar deck was filled with ships of all kinds for both surface and star travel. Shal took the lead again and pointed to a ship ahead.

"That's it." She said gesturing to a modified BT-7 Thunderclap. The dorsal wing had been shortened to make room for an additional long gun. The wide but squat body of the ship was painted deep forest green, so dark that it almost appeared black.

They all quickened their pace. Less than thirty meters from the ship, Jinn pulled Tophta and Uadda to the ground before a volley of blaster fire could take them by surprise. Tophta grabbed Jinn by the collar and shoved him toward the ship. Jinn pulled Uadda with him. Shal Mymm darted for the entry hatch to her ship and keyed it open with an access pad on her wrist. The hydraulics hissed as the hatch released and dropped. Shal dove through the ship's interior and fired up the engines.

Jinn had made it to the hatch with Uadda and AE, turning to watch his master. Master Tophta ignited his lightsaber, deflecting blaster bolts off its cyan blade. He was slowly making his way toward the ship, slowed further only by his concentration on the incoming fire. A shot hit its mark, taking Tophta in the shoulder and driving him to the ground. Jinn shouted and leaped from the ship as it was beginning its ascent. Igniting his yellow blade, he guarded his master, reflecting shot after shot. Tophta struggled to regain his footing as another shot got past Jinn and burned cleanly through Tophta's foot. He screamed in agony.

Jinn glanced behind him and panic grew on his features. Tophta grimaced through the pain and looked to the ship, hovering just high enough to jump into if they had been close enough. But they weren't. Tophta deactivated his lightsaber and pressed it into Jinn's free hand.

"Get out of here!" He yelled over the sound of blaster fire and the engine turbines. Jinn yelled something back in defiance but it was lost to the sound of a stray bolt hitting an engine on a nearby ship. The explosion rocked the platform and forced Shal's ship to veer closer. Jinn batted away another burst of blaster fire with reckless abandon.
"I wasn't asking your opinion! Take my saber! It has everything you need to know!" Tophta shouted again. Jinn's eyes were blurry with tears. He'd come so far. He couldn't leave him behind now.

"No! You have to come with me!" He shouted back. Another volley was fired. Another shot seared through Jinn's defenses. This one caught his own knee and buried itself in Tophta's hip. Tophta screamed in pain. Jinn had very few options left and time was running out. Without thinking, Jinn gripped his master's chest with the force and hurled him toward the hatch. There was a blur of searing red light as a bolt whizzed past his eyes, nearly taking them clean from his head. Another bolt collided with his forearm. He nearly dropped his own saber. He hooked Master Tophta's blade on his belt and turned to face the threat. There was no time to react. The bolt took him in the chest. He was stunned. His lightsaber clattered to the ground. He felt no pain. He swore he could hear someone calling his name. His vision blurred, then faded to darkness.

Epilogue

Orange, yellow, and red tongues of flame rippled and danced around the body, ceremoniously placed upon a bed of kindling and decorated with flowers long since burned away. The grey robes grew darker as they, like the body they decorated, were swallowed by the flame and turned to ash. Uadda rested her head on the chest of the man beside her, wiping tears from her face. The sobs hurt, but the ones she held back hurt far worse. She looked upon the body of the late Master they had worked so hard to save. Her eyes drifted up to Jinn's face. A face that had gone placid and emotionless days ago when he awoke. In medical, he was told the news of his master's passing. The mission was a partial success. Master Tophta was brought home. But in their daring escape, a blaster shot had caught him in the temple, after Jinn attempted to toss him to safety. He was dead before he hit the deck.

The return home had been exhausting and terrifying for Uadda. Shal Mymm returned them to the city and collected Thar from a mod station on the outskirts. He rode with the young padawan and her companions, doing his best to keep her calm. He'd tried and failed several times to recite the code of the Grey Order as a means of comfort. It worked because Uadda was distracted for the short while it took for her to correct him. Back home, a medical team was on standby in the starship hangar. Uadda had to be restrained by Thar, who was still recovering from his recent modifications, so Jinn could be cared for without issue. She could now feel the new metallic housing plate, which had been installed as a modesty cover for the modifications within Jinn's chest. It was the only thing that could be done to heal the scarred and damaged tissue of his right lung and liver.

As for Master Tophta, there was nothing to be done. The Jedi boarded the ship with a stretcher, and he was lifted into the temple in silence. On Zanoma Sekot, the weather was in a constant state of humid warmth and relieving cold. But since their arrival, the planet itself seemed to join in mourning for the loss of the man in the fire. Its skies were dark and grey. The same that threatened rain in torrential force, but no rain fell. Perhaps there was enough of that on the ground already, as there was not a single dry eye to be seen.

No matter what the other masters told him, or the soft and caring words Uadda tried to offer, Jinn couldn't help but blame himself. A hundred times, he had played the memory over in his head. And a hundred times still he found ways he could have changed things. He had spoken less than ten words to any one person in the days since he regained consciousness. Uadda reached a hand up to wipe his tears, but he turned his face from her.

"Let them fall." He said to her quietly.

"Jinn..." She began, but the words betrayed her and instead left her feeling helpless. Together they watched the flames consume Master Tophta. They had been the first to arrive, and they were the last to leave well into the night.

Uadda still had trouble adjusting to the thick linen robes in the warmth even at such a late hour. But Jinn didn't seem to notice any of it. He never did, she remembered. She led him back inside when his mind seemed too far gone to recognize the sun had set and the flames were nothing but dim embers. She took him to his room and helped him to get settled.

"Do you want me to stay?" She asked as he sat on the edge of his bed. His eyes staring, still a glaze of shock and disbelief. He didn't answer.

"I'll come back with something to drink. Ok?" Again, there was no answer. She stepped out of the room and tapped the control panel to close it. She was gone only a few minutes before the emotions finally returned to him. Slowly at first. Then faster, forcing sobs from his chest. Then the anguish of loss and regret took him. He screamed. He screamed and the chair beside his bed crumpled. He screamed and the glass vase on his desk shattered. He screamed and the desk itself split into seven places before falling to splinters.

Something heavy clattered to the floor then. Jinn's sobs echoed in the small room but never made it any further. He fell to his knees and scooped up his master's lightsaber from where it had fallen. The pommel had come loose and a thin sliver of light shone from between the cracks. He pulled the pommel away and tipped the shaft of the saber. A thin glowing data chip tumbled into his hand. His sobbing slowed and he dried his eyes quickly to get a better look. He placed the saber pieces gently on his bed and retrieved the datapad from his bedside table. The chip slid easily into the slot on the side. Without any prompt, a recording began playing. It was Master Tophta's voice.

"This is Grey Master Siduga Tophta. The following message is for the Grey order and all force users in the galaxy. I have discovered a criminal organization called the Ascension Syndicate here on Chrystophsis. During my investigation, I found several outposts for the organization spread out among the various star systems. The Syndicate is founded on the belief that genetic augmentation is the next step in evolutionary advancement. More importantly, through augmentation, Force abilities may be obtained." The door to his room slid open and Uadda yelped in surprise.

"Jinn! What happened?" She exclaimed. He waved her into silence, still focusing on the message. Uadda shut the door and set the steaming cups on the edge of the bed.

"...for the right price. These operations would grant force capabilities to anyone willing to accept them and disregard the training and discipline required to maintain balance in the force." Master Tophta paused and took a long, settling breath.

"Their tests have been a success thus far. I was captured moments before I was to leave the planet. My blood and tissue were collected and tested. Through the discovery of Midi-chlorians, the syndicate has learned how to exploit them and merge them with a new host. The first was a Muun by the name of Hora Tebet. His first experiment with this new power was to annihilate a Sith apprentice that had been captured prior to my arrival. Tebet claimed the Sith's lightsaber as a trophy and is parading as a new Sith Lord. The syndicate must be stopped. While our order holds no allegiance to the Sith or Jedi, we must all agree that synthetically created Force Sensitives would be the doom of everything we hold dear. I have been separated from my lightsaber and cannot escape by aggressive means. I will be attaching a list of all known Ascension Syndicate locations and will make my escape as quickly as I can. If I am able to get my saber back, even for a moment, I will stash this Datachip inside. To all sensitives in the galaxy, regardless of your allegiance, May the Force be with you."

The message ended. Jinn looked to Uadda. Horror plain on her blue face.

"What are we going to do?" She asked.

Jinn sat quietly as if coming to a decision. When he did, he reassembled his master's saber and collected his own, hooking both to his belt. His answer came in a voice that conveyed emotions and purpose in all their complex relations.

"We are going to finish the mission."

It's not every day that an author gets to take the breath that seals the ending of a story. It's a complex thing really. I am proud to finally finish this one but saddened that it's over. Almost like watching an awesome series and suddenly the final season is over. You're glad you finished it, but upset that there isn't more waiting for you. In writing it's the same feeling. The only difference is you can't just go back and write more before the ending. It wouldn't be the same. So instead, you begin anew and hope to find the same love and attachment as before. Jinn Kreed has become such an important character to me and I often find myself considering where else he might go. Who he might meet. Would he succeed and redeem himself for the sake of closure? Would he fail and be driven down a darker path?
These are all questions I want to answer. And so I have decided that I will. The next chapter in the life of Jinn Kreed will be the first of a new story; and will be separate from this one in name alone. If you have any questions or comments regarding this story, leave a review. It would really mean a lot to me. Goodbyes are never easy when you've grown so attached to something. So I am glad to say that this ending is not goodbye at all, but simply "Until next time."
Thank you so much for your support and I hope to see you all again soon.

So, until next time...

-Wick Pagano