NAR SHADDAA
Predictably, the Hutt-controlled systems were wrought with Coalition vessels, including at least a dozen Dor'bulla ships circling between the moons of Nal Hutta.
Processions of Syck fighters and Hawk gunships sailed between the Dor'bulla, while also flying into and out of the foggy atmosphere of the Hutt Cartel homeworld.
Fortunately, the Jedi StealthXs were designed to keep out of sight when not engaging in combat, and Luke and Tionne both bypassed the blockade before flying in the direction of the next closest world, Nar Shaddaa. Nar Shaddaa's history was heavily intertwined with the Hutts and the rest of the criminal underworld, and their presence had not changed with the rise of the New Republic.
"Remember, we don't want to look for any trouble," Luke said, leading the way towards the distant sphere of Nar Shaddaa. The industrial pollution of the planet outstripped even that of Coruscant, and the factory smoke was visible throughout the planet surface.
"We'd better hope trouble doesn't find us instead," Tionne remarked, looking at the Dor'bulla orbiting around Nar Shaddaa, accompanied by at least two dozen Sycks.
"This means you too, Artoo," Luke said to the droid in his StealthX's customized socket.
Artoo beeped in protest.
"I know you never go looking for trouble, I just want to make sure you remember."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Tionne said as they flew low, edging closer to the planet's south pole, "It looks like those ships are all massing together."
"Don't worry about it, whatever they're doing," Luke replied, watching as the Dor'bullas and Sycks began to slowly group in a single armada, "Once we land, we'll make sure nobody's following us, and then we'll make the jump back to Tatooine."
The Hutt Council members had each boarded one of the Cartel's command vessels.
In their large, accommodating quarters, each Clan member spoke via holoconference in an assembly, their bulky, sluglike projections forming a circle.
Grappa the Hutt asked in his native language, "Where are the Dark Master and his Sith Lieutenants? Have they deserted us again?"
"We don't need them to take back Jabba's assets on Tatooine," replied the mustached Marlo, "We have a strong fleet and team of mercenaries."
"But the rumors of Jedi hiding on Tatooine," countered Grappa, "One of our spies spotted a bunch of young ones training with their laserswords in the salt flats."
"We shall contact the Dark Master," Gorga mediated, "and if he proves himself unworthy, we will proceed without him with all of our firepower."
Gorga's Weequay aide pressed a few buttons on the holotable's control panel, making the Hutt Council's holograms disappear.
They were replaced by the two figures of Ultor and Talon, standing side by side.
"What do you want?" Ultor growled.
"The Hutt Council wishes to see if you intend to proceed with the invasion of Tatooine," Gorga said with a scowl.
"I have a mission of my own," Ultor replied, "One that will take priority over your criminal games."
"You dare speak to me that..." Gorga's eyes widened as he realized that he was putting his own life in grave danger, even remotely. The Hutt leader changed his tune and said calmly, "Very well, Dark Master. We will wait patiently for you."
Without a reply, Ultor waved his hand to telekinetically sever the transmission.
Gorga turned his slimy head to address the rest of the Council.
"The Dark Master has become a liability to the Hutts and our syndicates," he said in his native Huttese.
"Once our use for him is fulfilled, we'll dispose of him for his insolence," Grappa replied.
SOJOURN
Damask had put Kira to work in another basement underneath his resort home. This facility contained an elaborate training course filled with shifting platforms that slid into the walls, swinging pikes that threatened to impale Kira, and panels on the floor that became electrically charged at random. Thus, Kira could not remain in one place for too long.
The training was reminiscent in aesthetic of the obstacle courses she had been through at the Ossus academy under Luke Skywalker, but already, Kira could feel the difference in rigor.
As she jumped from one sliding surface to the next in order to avoid falling onto the electrical floor, Kira allowed her mind to drift away from the task at hand, back to the midichlorian manipulation she had witnessed.
She wanted that power- to control life and death themselves. Kira couldn't imagine how Damask could have come by the abilities she had witnessed him demonstrate, but she wanted in.
As the plate below Kira retracted into the wall, she sprang with a vigorous yell, grabbing the bar that hung from atop the ceiling.
In her mind, however, Kira was in the heat of battle, cutting down enemies with greater ease than even Luke Skywalker could imagine. Coalition mercenaries, droids, and even Ultor's apprentices, before coming to the Dark Master himself.
She continued through the obstacle course for several minutes until reaching the exit, where the frail but towering Damask was waiting for her, 11-4D at his side.
"How did I do?" the young Jedi renegade asked eagerly.
""Your reflexes haven't lost edge, out of practice as you may be," Damask replied.
"What about the midichlorian training?" Kira asked trying to restrain her panting in spite of her struggle for air, "When do I start that?"
She was red in the face and sweating a waterfall that trickled down her hair, but she felt as ready for more as anybody could.
Damask smiled faintly and replied,"Let us begin."
Down in the laboratory, Kira once again took in the sightof the Sith cadavers that Damask had collected, resting in their tanks with varying degrees of organic preservation.
Some were little but bones while others had their full life-like appearance intact.
Kira would soon have control over their lives, she realized, once she learned the secrets of midichlorian manipulation. These once- powerful and devastating beings would depend entirely on her. Ultor wouldn't stand a chance with such power at her command.
Damask tapped the controls to a tank that consisted of a lifeless Zabrak, who looked oddly frail and muscular at the same time. The Zabrak reminded Kira of a droid simulation she had fought once, but this cadaver had yellow skin under its black tattoos that indicated Dathomirian Nightbrother heritage.
"This is a specimen I found buried on Dathomir," Damask explained, "He was from the old witch clans wiped out during the Clone Wars. He was a Force to be reckoned with when enhanced by Nightsister magic, but relatively weak on his own. His midichlorian count won't be too daunting for you to start off with."
Kira studied the cadaver with a tinge of repulsion at his pitiful state, but knew that it was a stepping stone to her victory.
"I'm going to try it first," Damask told her, "As I do, try and sense my motions with the Force- feel the ways in which I affect the life forces inside this creature."
Kira nodded, impatiently waiting for her mentor to begin.
Damask closed his eyes and extended a bony hand towards the tank that contained the tattooed Zabrak.
He seized control of the resting midichlorians inside the being, yelling at them to wake up.
"Pay attention to the midichlorians inside," Damask said, "They have minds of their own, and minds can be manipulated to no end with the right skill behind it."
Kira thought about these words, wondering if she herself was just as vulnerable to outside manipulation with the right influence compared to the tiny midichlorians. Could the proper amount of Force power cause her to do anything against her own will?
Slowly, life began to return to the deceased Zabrak. His organs and tissue began to revive, as did his cells and blood vessels.
"Can you feel it?" Damask asked Kira, "The control over life and death?"
Kira nodded, concentrating intensely on the process.
"You really can bring back the dead," she said.
The Zabrak finally began to regain consciousness inside the liquid tank, looking blankly around the laboratory and at his fellow experiments.
"Where...am...I?" he asked wearily.
"It's all right, Savage," Damask said in a soothing voice, "You're safe now."
"Brother?" asked the Zabrak named Savage.
"No," Damask whispered.
To Kira, he said, "Now stay with me as I reverse the process, draining his life energy. His functions will shut down and his spirit will return to the Netherworld from which his midichlorians pulled him out."
Kira could not help but wonder if this wasn't the least bit inhumane. As she sensed Damask work his magic on the Zabrak once again, she felt a touch of pity for the helpless creature. And here she was, seeking to have the same ability to control another being's life at will.
"You're killing him," she said. She did not say it in a way that demanded that Damask stop, she was merely observing what he was doing. Kira felt very meek all of the sudden in the presence of such an ability, even though she had seen Damask do the same to the Bith named Tenebrous.
"Essentially, yes," Damask replied calmly.
"The power to take away somebody's life at will...I don't know if that's right," Kira said, with a reservation that had seemed to come from nowhere.
"Remember your enemy," Damask reminded her, "and what he had done. What he will do if he is not stopped."
Kira nodded, telling herself that she could not afford to hesitate, or to show mercy the way the Jedi has taught her to. She was not bound by their dogma anymore.
"I'll be ready to kill him when the time comes," Kira replied, "No matter what it takes."
"Yes, you know that you can't show mercy, even if the methods are brutal in nature," Damask replied, "and now, it is your turn."
Kira looked nervously from the dead Zabrak to Damask, who was watching her with his sunken black eyes.
"Go on," he urged softly, "Concentrate on his life forces, waiting to be reactivated. All it takes is just the right push."
Kira returned her focus to the dead body in the tank, extending her hand and trying to sense life inside his remains.
She dug deep into the living Force, finding nothing inside at first. His organs were completely shut down, there was no heartbeat or brain function.
"I can't sense anything," Kira said, "He's just dead."
"Look beyond the physical matter," Damask replied, "We are all more than just that."
Kira had heard that somewhere before, but she wasn't sure where at the moment. It didn't matter, she decided, as she searched harder for the lingering energy within.
She thought of the world that was invisible to living beings, the one that connected her and everybody she knew to the Force: including those who could not use it, such as her father and Sam.
There was something that gave her the abilities that she was now expanding, something or someone had made a conscious decision to instill the potential for powerful use of the Force within her.
Finally, Kira sensed a twinkle of light in the abyss. Living beings, invisible to the eyes, idly resting. They were barely perceptible, but abundant in the thousands. Not just in herself, but in Damask, and all of the bodies that had once been powerful Force users.
Finally, the Zabrak's midichlorians began to respond to Kira's commands. Only a few at a time did, but enough to the point where Kira could detect the faintest signs of life returning to the experimental property.
"Good, even more now," Damask said hoarsely.
Kira summoned even more of her own strength, screaming internally at the midichlorians to wake up and do their jobs.
She sensed activity within the Zabrak's midichlorians, but it was still very faint and limited. They were not responding to her commands other than meekly acknowledging their own existence.
Kira growled in frustration, trying to yank as much of her own raw power out as possible.
"Why isn't...this...working?" she grunted.
Damask watched passively, silently drifting his attention elsewhere.
He sensed very big trouble literally on the horizon, but he hoped that the girl didn't sense it yet. A dark shadow of evil was looming over the entire planet, one that was sure to spell doom.
"Stay focused on your task," Damask instructed, "Do not think about anything else. That is the key to success."
Kira nodded noncommittally and turned back to the Zabrak, channeling her internal vigor and will.
Answer me! she screamed on the inside.
Damask strode across the aisle of tanks, 11-4D silently following.
The Muun stopped at a tank that contained a green male Twi'lek, who was about an equal mix of flesh and bone.
Damask concentrated on the midichlorians inside the Twi'lek, willing them to revive the late Sith Lord.
"Darth Malten," he said offhandedly, "The Master of my predecessor."
Malten's flesh returned to his bones, and slowly, his organs began to revive.
Kira turned her attention from the Zabrak to Damask's experiment, glowering at him as he successfully brought the Twi'lek back from the dead.
"There's something you're not telling me," Kira said, only expressing a hint of anger, "about the technique. What are you keeping from me?"
"You are only a beginner, young Solo," Damask replied, "it will take time."
He's starting to sound like a Jedi, Kira thought to herself with a hint of scorn. She wrinkled her nose as Damask turned back to his experiment and put his aged hand on the Twi'lek's forehead.
"Now watch the final step of midichlorian manipulation, and see the powers of the living Force in full effect," Damask rasped.
Kira sensed a wave pounding against the surface of Damask's locked chest, a wave filled with repressed darkness and rage.
She sensed Damask channel that rage as he applied his manipulation to the Twilek's mind.
The Twi'lek that had just woken up stared at Damask from inside the glass.
"Are you ready to serve the will of the Force?" Darth Plagueis asked.
Inside the tank, Malten silently nodded.
"Good," Damask replied, "Soon you will reassume your position as the Dark Lord of the Sith."
He pressed the tiny button that opened the glass panels to the tank and caused the liquid inside the flow into tubes that connected them to the plumbing.
The Twi'lek, dressed in humble robes, slowly climbed out, assisted by Damask.
The pure evil that Damask had exuded a moment ago seemed to vanish, and his kind, unassuming demeanor returned.
"Kira, Lord Malten and I are going to take a short journey. You will stay here and continue to work on the technique. Once you have brought our fallen friend Savage back to life, you can take a break and enjoy the sun."
Kira gazed curiously at the Twi'lek Malten, and back at Damask.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Just an errand," Damask replied, "Practice makes perfection."
He started out of the laboratory, and back up the stairs with 11-4D and the limping Malten in tow.
Kira stated into the blackened passageway through which Damask, the revived Sith, and the droid had disappeared, frowning with suspicion. Something was not right, she told herself, and she hoped that she wouldn't have to find out what before she was ready.
She supposed that it would be best to try again. Kira turned back to the Zabrak named Savage and concentrated on the midichlorians inside him, commanding them to activate once again.
NAR SHADDAA
The two Jedi StealthX's glided into the gaseous, polluted atmosphere of Nar Shaddaa, still managing to avoid the Hutt Cartel and Coalition-affiliated vessels passing through the traffic lanes.
"This way," Luke said to Artoo, transmitting the trajectory to Tionne's fighter.
"How long are we going to stay here?" Tionne asked, "Even if we hide ourselves from the Cartel mercenaries indefinitely, I don't think we can avoid the Sith Lieutenants."
"I don't think we'll need to worry about them again," Luke replied.
They flew out of the mob-ruled city limits towards the entrance leading into a metallic tunnel, allowing their StealthXs to blend in with traffic.
It was several minutes before they emerged into a less busy part of Nar Shaddaa's large metropolitan area, and before long, they arrived at a spaceport that looked humble enough to avoid attention from the Hutts.
"We'll be safe there for a while," Luke said, "Then we'll go home."
The Jedi landed in the small, dirty hangar, which was nearly vacant except for a few freighter-class vehicles.
"It's been abandoned," Tionne observed, "a little too quiet, maybe?"
"We won't be here long, just until we know the Coalition and the Republic is off our backs," Luke replied.
He and Tionne climbed out of their fighter cockpits, but Luke gestured for Artoo to stop as he began to lift himself out of his droid socket.
"You'd better stay hidden, Artoo," he said, "we don't want to attract any unwanted notice."
Artoo whistled an indignant protest in reply.
BLACK RING
Sam was walking out of the briefing room of the command ship Black Ring when Trix Azer hurried up to him.
"Major, did you see what's going on on the command deck?" she asked urgently.
"No, I didn't, what?" Sam asked with only the faintest touch of interest.
"You'd better come see," Trix replied breathlessly, gesturing Sam along.
When Sam reached the command bridge with Trix, he froze in shock at the sight.
His father, General Praxium, was in the middle of addressing an odd assortment of armed people. Sam immediately recognized the giant Gen'Dai Durge among them, realized that they must have been bounty hunters.
"What in the name of blazes..." Sam gritted his teeth with anger at the sight. He strained to listen to what Hoff was telling them.
"As you know, the Republic forces are spread thin across the galaxy dealing with the Coalition," the general was saying, "but the Jedi pose as much a danger as ever to Republic security. This is why I am employing you to find them and deal with them as best as you can. Even if you don't capture them all, they will be damaged enough for us to snuff out the rest."
"I don't believe it," Sam whispered, staring in horror as his father addressed the hunters, "He's got bounty hunters, and some of them work for the Coalition."
"Deadly force may be necessary in dealing with the Jedi," Hoff continued, "and so in that case, you may kill them if you have to. They are some of the most brutal thugs imaginable, although many of you have experience in facing off against them."
"Yeah, working for the Sith and the gangsters," Sam muttered derisively.
He saw suddenly that the assembly of hunters was starting to disband. He hurried away as a small band of them started towards the entrance.
Instinctively, Sam dove for cover in a turbolift. He was about to slam on the panel to shut it when someone joined him.
He stared hard at a medium-sized tattooed woman wearing Mandalorian armor and a jet pack entered and shut the turbolift door.
"Remember me?" Ailyn Fett asked with a playful smirk, "It's been a long time, Captain."
"Yes," Sam replied, "You couldn't manage to hold on to a teenage girl."
"And you couldn't rescue her by yourself," Ailyn replied, jabbing Sam in the ribs with her steel elbow, "I hear you're Major now. Does your daddy know that you're still friends with the Jedi?"
"What he knows is none of your business, bounty hunter," Sam retorted, "I don't know why he's doing business with filth like you. Weren't you working for the Coalition?"
"My allegiance goes where the money is," Ailyn replied, laughing, "any respectable bounty hunter, assassin, or mercenary would say the same."
"That's why you have no principles," Sam growled, full of contempt, "none of you do. You have nothing to fight for."
TATOOINE
The remaining Jedi Masters and Knights were gathered inside the circular underground opening, listening to Tahiri's briefing.
"Masters Skywalker and Tionne are taking a detour to the Hutt Systems to avoid the trail of any Coalition or Republic spies," Tahiri explained, "With luck, they will be back safely before too long."
"If they are followed by Coalition ships, us Jedi may have to leave Tatooine," Master Glut Nodlad said, "We are running out of places to hide."
"Maybe we've been running for too long," Leia Organa Solo spoke up, "Maybe it's time we wait for the Coalition to find us, and actually beat them this time."
Everyone looked with slight surprise at Leia. She was calm, but her voice betrayed a hint of raw, numb grief.
She had lost more than perhaps anyone to the Coalition, and the dark order that ran it.
"Master Solo," Master Kahn said gently, "I'm not sure we're equipped to battle the entire Coalition, and whatever thugs for hire they have in store, not with all the Younglings here."
Han spoke up to the assembled Jedi. "Then we hide them, and have everyone who's able to fight on the front lines. I agree with my wife here. I think this status quo has gone on long enough."
"We all want to end the war," Nodlad said, "But we're at an increasing disadvantage against both the Republic and the Coalition."
"They're against each other too," a younger Jedi named Jysella Terrik spoke up, "The Republic isn't likely to team up with the Cartels. What if we used that to our own advantage."
"We should wait for Master Skywalker before taking any serious action," Nodlad concluded, "His counsel will be our greatest asset in carving a path forward."
"All I know is that we can't hide out forever," Han said.
Tahiri looked down, worrying about everything all at once. There was too much at stake, and still too much wrong for the war to end the right way in the near future.
They were just still too deep in the hole.
Several minutes later, the assembly had disbanded, and Leia was climbing the staircase onto the sandy surface overlooking the hot blue horizon.
Han slowly climbed up to join her, shuffling his feet as he approached.
Wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders, Han asked, "Honey, what's wrong? Is it Luke?"
"No, Luke's okay," Leia replied distantly, "I just have this feeling, about Kira."
Han froze and stared in horror. "Leia, what happened? Did something happen to our daughter?"
Leia choked for a second, thinking of the terrible possibility that Han had just hinted at, and then turning her thoughts to their son Ben.
"No, I would sense it if it did," Leia replied, on the verge of tears, "but I just have this feeling that wherever she is, she's not safe. She needs guidance."
"What about Anakin?" Han asked, "She's always had a special Jedi ghost bond with him."
"I'm not sure what even he can do now," Leia replied, "It's up to Kira whether or not to accept anybody's help."
Insider her personal quarters, Tahiri Veila activated her small holoprojector, communicating across a long distance with Captain Sam Fel Praxium.
"Glad to see you made it back okay," Sam said from the Black Ring, "Did the others make it?"
"No, they took the long way," Tahiri replied, "How's the military business treating you?"
"That's what I wanted to talk about," Sam said urgently, "My father has hired bounty hunters to go after the Jedi."
"Bounty hunters?" Tahiri asked, "Why would he want to deal with them?"
"He and Vizier Omas really have it in for you guys," Sam replied grimly, "Some of these bounty hunters have ties to Tatooine. So I just want to say, be careful."
Inside her Firespray class ship Slave II, Ailyn Fett snickered as she listened to the conversation, playing out on her recorder.
"Anybody in particular we should be worried about?" Tahiri asked.
"There's this really big one, a Gen'Dai named Durge. He fought for the Separatists in the Clone Wars, and Kira and I barely escaped him before. There's also Ailyn Fett, she kidnapped Kira a long time ago for the Coaltion."
"That's right, you good little boy," Ailyn laughed.
"Sam, how long do you think this will last?" Tahiri asked, her frame of mind shifting to the long term. "All this hiding, and the war, and hatred between the Jedi and the Republic."
Sam shook his head sadly. "I don't know," he replied. "I do know that the aggressive sentiments against the Jedi are deeply rooted into the system. The Republic is still new, and its leadership feels threatened by any challenge to its power."
"But the Jedi are about keeping peace," Tahiri replied, "We protect the free galaxy by preventing violence."
"That's the problem," Sam replied, "Most of the Senate believes that violence is the only way to keep the status quo."
"I just want it to be over," Tahiri said, knowing that she was sounding puerile and that her ramblings were ultimately fruitless, "I don't want to keep hiding, and I want Kira to come back and not be hurt anymore. I want the Coalition to go away forever, and the Sith."
"We've beaten the forces of evil before, and we can again," Sam replied. He was not speaking of himself, but of the Republic and those who believed in the values of democracy and safety from terror.
"It just feels so hopeless," Tahiri said.
"I know it does," Sam replied with a sigh, "But hope has always been our secret weapon. We can't give up on it now."