The Will of the Stars

by SparkleAnne

When one is hunted by the Dark Side, and a showdown between Light and Dark ensues, sometimes Light doesn't always Win... Please R&R! (STORY COMPLETED)

9. Coruscant

Mara turned to see the one Luke called Evadne coming toward her. Smiling, she walked with Evie to a room not to far from her own.

     "I realize it doesn't look like much, but it is better than the one Luke was joking about," she told Evie as they entered the room.    Looking around, Mara made mental notes on what to bring in to make the room more comfortable.  "I'm going to go and get a few things for you in here. I should only be a moment. Will you be ok while I
am gone?"

Evie nodded and Mara left to look for some supplies.  Mara went to the closet and found nearly everything she would need and started to carry them toward Evadne's room when Jada rounded the corner and knocked Mara down, sending blankets, sheets, and a few other items scattering all over the floor.

"Jada, you need to be more careful." Mara noticed that Jada was soaked and offered her one of the blankets when the COM beeped.  Jada, ignoring the offer, rushed to answer it.
    Mara shook her head while picking up the items. She could feel some fear and puzzlement coming from Jada.  She looked over at the holocom that Jada was looking at and could barely make out the image of a figure in a dark cloak talking that was to her.  She finished picking up the items and headed to Evie's room and placed them on her bed. Evie was looking out the small window; she turned when Mara came in.

"Have you been here long?" Evie asked.   

"Feels like forever, but actually has been more like five years." Mara looked at Evie and could sense a bit of apprehension coming from her through the Force.  "Luke will help you, Evie, with whatever you are here for. I need to go and check on another young girl. Will you be ok until Luke can get back to you?" Mara asked.

    "Yeah, I'll just put these things away and thank you for bringing them in. I would have gotten lost trying to find them." Evie started to make the bed as Mara made her way to the door.   

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to holler."  With that Mara went toward the Med room.

Evie sat down on the bed after she was done making it. Something made her certain that she was destined to stay here with Luke and his followers for a very long time.    She decided to take a nap until Luke came to tell her when she could meet with the man that could tell her what the box and her necklace meant.

Luke stepped into Evie's quarters, "Get your stuff together. We've got a meeting to get to. I talked with Lando and we have to meet him on Coruscant."

    Evie's face seemed to brighten; "I'll be ready in a flash." she beamed.

    Luke smiled, "I'll meet you outside by the ship."

Evie quickly grabbed her things and stuffed them into her back pack. She was really excited to finally meet someone who might be able to tell her a little about her past. Luke had already left the room, so she stepped out into the hallway. There was no one in sight since it seemed that Luke may have called a meeting for all of the people to meet so he could tell them that he was going to Coruscant.  Evie found the meeting room and took a seat at the back, not wanting to interrupt Luke who was in the middle of a speech.

Evadne slipped out of the meeting room and headed towards a girl that was sitting off by herself. The girl seemed to be in a daze, and it looked like she had been outside.   "Hello." Evie said to the girl. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met." Evie extended her hand towards
Jada. "My name is Evadne Darkstarr, but you can call me Evie."  

Jada shook the hand that was offered to her. "My name is Jada."

"Something seems to be bothering you." Evie said as she read a sense of loss and confusion coming from Jada. "Do you want to talk about it?"

   "It's a long story that I'm sure you don't want to hear." Jada
said. Evie sat down next to her.

   "Well, I have time to listen. Why don't you come with me to Coruscant and we'll have enough time to talk on the way?" Evie suggested.   Then Evie waited for Jada's response.

Jada smiled at Evadne.   "Alright. Tell Master Skywalker I have to go pack my things, and then I'll be at the ship. Unless you want to talk while I pack? I could use someone to talk to right now." Jada said. She got up and started walking with Evadne.

"I can talk right now if you'd like. It doesn't
matter to me." Evie said as she walked with Jada towards her room. "I'm sure that Luke wouldn't mind if we take a little bit of extra time to at least get to know each other a little before we go on the
trip, as long as we're out there when they are loading the ship."

"Yeah... It would not be a good thing if we miss our ship." Jada said.

   "So what's on your mind?" Evie asked as she watched Jada pack a few things.

Jada took some dresses and other clothes from her closet and laid them on the bed, "I don't know...its just everything that's been happening lately...The Sith...I had this dream about when I was little," She looked up, and had a look on her face that made Evie tell she was thinking about something, "and then I got this message from...from a boy. He wasn't a Sith. I could tell through the Force. And it was like I knew him from somewhere, but...I couldn't place it, and I still can't..." Jada sighed as she sat down on the bed. "My family is...messed up...I just found out that my parents are dead, my twin brother is...who knows where."  She looked down at the floor. "And then I have to deal with things here at the Academy...The Sith...Guage nearly turning to the dark side...Dealing with the fact that Guage and I broke up." She got up and looked away from Evie.  "It's not like I knew I was going to break up with him...I just...fell in love with
someone else...I didn't really even give Guage a chance..." She said. She let out a breath and turned to her dresser to pack some jewelry and a brush for her hair.

Both Jada and Evie walked towards the ship. Evie listened carefully as Jada explained her life. Evie could feel the pain and confusion that came from the girl, and could relate to it her own feelings of pain and confusion. Evie didn't want to interrupt Jada with her own story because she was so interested in what Jada had to say, and she felt that if she interrupted, Jada would become quiet again...and Evie didn't want that. She knew that the best thing for Jada to do was to talk it out.... Perhaps when Jada was finished with her side, she'd ask Evie to tell a little about herself.   They boarded the Millennium Falcon and sat by each other...and Evie listened intently.

Jada looked at the ship and stopped. She looked around, wondering why she didn't see Guage around. She figured that he was probably off practicing with his lightsaber or something. She sighed, and then looked back at Evie.

"So basically...My life isn't at its best right now...What about you?" She looked at Evie, letting a smile come to her face, but it slightly faded, even while she was listening to Evie.

"Well...I've come here in search of my past...It seems like a lot of people hare have done the same thing. I'm the reason why we're going on this trip to begin with." Evie said as she made herself comfortable in the seat. "I'm searching for my lost family. My mother is dead...I know that.... My father is a Sith...and I have a sister who is missing."

   "Missing?" Jada asked curiously.

   "Well. The last time that I saw her is when I was ten and she was five. We were put aboard a ship after we witnessed our mother's murder. Mid flight, we were separated and she was sent aboard another ship. I was told that it was for our protection," Evie said.  

"That doesn't sound right..." Jada's voice drifted off.

   "My ship crashed before it ever reached its destination, so I don't know if we were to meet up.... but that never happened because the people on my ship all died except me... AND I was stranded on Corellia until a few months ago...The people on Corellia were nice...they were Jedi that raised me...but I miss my sister..." Evie said. Evie noticed that something else was occupying Jada's mind...   "Tell me what's wrong..." Evie said to Jada..."You seem distant and distracted." Evie smiled as she felt the ship lift off.  Finally she was going to find out some information that might lead her to find her sister, and to figure out what had happened to her family so long ago.  "If it's okay Jada, I'm going to take a nap." Evie said. Jada told her that it was fine.  

Evie lay down and began to dream. In her dream she was little again. It was the day that her mother was killed. She saw her sister Aidia, who was leaning in front of a mirror examining the star-shaped birthmark on her cheek and complaining that it made her look ugly. Evie could remember smiling at her sister and pointing to her own birthmark. That was the day that both girls realized something was seriously wrong. They had always been Force sensitive, so premonitions were almost every day occurrences to them... As Aidia looked at herself in the mirror, she felt a terrible pain. Evie had felt the pain too, and had looked Aidia in the eyes and seen the pain there too.   They
knew that their mother was going to die before they witnessed her brutal murder.

    Evie woke with a start.  Why was it now that she was slowly remembering the terrible pain? Had she resurrected something from the past? Something that she had long ago buried? Something that was best forgotten? Evie sat up straight in her chair and looked around. It appeared that everyone was taking a nap. She remembered the dream that she had just had, and took out a faded, torn picture of her sister and herself.  The only thing that she had to remember her sister by. She
studied the picture and saw both of the girls as she had seen them in her dreams...   She wondered if Aidia was out there holding the very same picture and wondering what happened to her sister. Evie wanted so dearly to be able to piece together her past so that she could
find her sister faster.  

Evie got up and walked to the front of the ship, where she saw Luke and Mara. Luke looked up at her. "Heya Evadne. What's up?" 

"I'm just wondering how long it will take to get there. I'm kind of nervous." Evie said.

"Shouldn't be much longer." Luke leaned back in the chair, "Is there something on your mind?" he asked.   

"No. Just wondering what we'll find is all." She smiled a bit.

    Luke stretched his arms and groaned a bit, "Well, hopefully we'll find the answers you're looking for. Just be positive and let the Force guide you."    A beep came from the console.    "We're coming out of hyperspace. Can you let everyone know it won't be long?" he said to Evie.

The cockpit had become crowded as everyone had come into trying to get a look at the city. Luke talked with control and gained clearance to land.  "Well, if what Lando told me is correct. His place should be just over here. We land, and then go straight into the building and one elevator just takes us straight down into his new development. And for those of you who would like to take an excursion off into the city there is another corridor which leads to a taxi area."    Luke fired the repulsors and brought the Falcon to a soft landing, "Here we go." He said standing up.   

The excitement in the air was high. Evie left the cockpit followed by Jada, then LaDessa. Mara fell in behind them. And Luke stepped in behind Mara. They headed out onto the landing platform.  

They all stood in a half circle around Luke, "Here's
the plan. We will meet back in two standard days. Mara is off on her own mission. Evadne is with me." Luke looked to Jada and LaDessa, "What about you two?"

Evie turned to Luke and asked him what kind of
information he thought that Lando would give her. Luke said
that he didn't know, but it ought to be interesting.

    "I wonder if this guy has any clue to the possible whereabouts of my sister Aidia." Evie said excitedly. "Maybe he can take me to Aidia...." Evie's voice trailed off. "I don't think that will happen though." She sighed, and frowned slightly. "You know, I had a dream
about the day that our mother died."   

"Well, let's go." Luke said as he turned towards the building, "You ladies better figure out where you are headed. Time is running." He called back to Jada and LaDessa, and then looked to Evie, "Let's find your past." Evadne smiled slightly at him.  Abruptly Luke stopped and cocked his head, "Strange." he whispered to himself. He looked left and right, "Strange." he muttered once again.   

Evie stood looking at him, perplexed, "What is it?" the concern echoed in her voice.
    "Not sure. Let's go see Lando," he said changing the subject.    She shrugged as they walked into the alcove housing the elevator. Entering the elevator Luke pressed the button for Evie's destiny. And they began to plummet. Evie and Luke crowded over as a few more people
got into the elevator.  

"What do you think Lando will tell us?" Evie asked as she turned to Luke. 

"I'm not sure Evie, but I'm sure that it will be worth while." Luke said. "Now were you going to say something about that dream that you had?"

   "Yeah, I dreamed of the day that we were separated. Both Aidia and I
knew that something was wrong before we witnessed the murder." Both Evie and Luke stepped out of the elevator and looked around at the wondrous sites.   "How do you know where we are going Luke?" Evie questioned as she followed Luke.  

"Lando gave me a run down on this place while we were aboard the ship." Luke sighed. "We will be there in a little bit."  

"I sense that there's someone here that I may have known a long time ago.... possibly one of the Royal Guards of the Royal Family of Bespin." Evie said all of a sudden. "Whoever it is, it's a presence that I haven't felt since I was a child." Evie said. Evie and Luke had hailed a cab and were now inside of one as it shuttled them down the main street. Evie suddenly had the feeling that they were being followed.  She looked at Luke to see if he had the same feeling, but he showed no sign of knowing. Evie turned around in her seat and looked out the back window. She was surprised to see both Jada and LaDessa sitting in the back seat of the cab that was following them. She waved at them to let them know that they would meet up at the destination.

Evie wondered what lie ahead for her concerning her future, as the cab came to a halt. Evie still turned around flew into the back of the seat,"HEY!"

    Luke laughed to himself, "Come on let's go find Lando," he chuckled. They climbed out of the car, and watched as Jada and LaDessa's cab shot right past them.

    "Where do you suppose they are going?" Evie asked watching them speed off.

"I don't know." Luke wondered aloud.

Evie rubbed her sore neck. "Talk about whiplash…that hurt like
heck!" Evie said. Luke laughed at her and the both of
them headed into the building.   There was a person
at the desk that looked up at them.

"Can I help you two?" The person said. Evie faltered and then looked at Luke....

"I hope you can. We have a standing appointment with Lando Calrissian." Luke spoke up.

    The man behind the desk reached for some sort of log book, "And
your name?"

   "Wenchel." Luke replied. 

The man scanned the book for a moment, "Ah, yes. Here it is. You will find Mr. Calrissian on the Promenade Level. Head towards the end of the hall. Follows the signs, you can't miss it," the man said abruptly and turned his back on them.   

Luke gave him a look, then turned to Evie, "To the Promenade level we go then." Luke sensed her anticipation.

    As Luke went to head down the hall, Evie grabbed him by the elbow, "I don't want to be disappointed. Can Lando help us?"  He heard the urgency in her voice.

"Yes, I am confident."

Xander sat by himself in the large dining area. Everyday at this time the workers of the Dometown took their lunch breaks. The place was at peak capacity. Solitary in his thoughts, he sat in and waited for the call from Lando Calrissian. He had been instructed that he was on call. Something about Calrissian having some guests in who needed some deciphering only he could do. It was fine with him. A change of pace would do him some good. They hadn't found much in their digs of late. The above ground officials had been picky and wanted to make sure all areas were excavated so as not to lose any artifacts. And well Xander was the resident expert.    He sat and waited for the
call.

Luke smiled back at Evie and both of them started to walk down the hall again. They followed the signs that lead them up a staircase and around a corner. The building reminded Evie of a maze.

   "I feel like a rat in here...this maze." Evie said. Luke
smiled... He was feeling the same thing.   LaDessa and Jada
struggled to keep up with Luke and Evie, but lost them as
they turned a corner.

"Blaster bolts!" LaDessa said.  "Where did they go?"  

"Listen...you can hear them talking." Jada said as she followed the sound. They soon came upon Luke and Evie.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" LaDessa called to Evie. LaDessa and Jada caught up to Luke and Evie just as they neared the end of the hallway.   

"Were you guys trying to lose us?" Jada slyly asked.

"No, not at all." Evie smiled.  

Luke interrupted, "Well, let's see if Lando is here." He pushed the COM button by the door they now stood in front of.

    A scratchy voice came back, "Do you have an appointment?"

    "Yes, we are here for Lando Calrissian." Luke replied.

    "Mr. Calrissian has no appointments for today. You are
mistaken. Now leave," the person answered sharply.
    Luke gave Evie a half smile then turned back to the
COM, "YOU ARE MISTAKEN. WE WILL SEE LANDO."
    Immediately the voice on the other end came back, "I am mistaken. You will see Lando." Almost instantly the door in front of them slid open revealing a room full of cubicles. They all walked into the large room.   

"I think that Jada and I will go for a walk.  We want to leave you to your business, and then we can meet up later maybe?" LaDessa asked.  She grabbed Jada by the arm and turned and walked back the way that they had come.  

"I think that this is the place that we need to go to." Evie pointed.  Luke's eyes followed the direction in which she pointed. At the other side of the room they spotted a set of large doors, ornately decorated.

"Well, what are we waiting for. Shall we?" Both Luke and Evie stepped up to the desk that Lando was sitting at. Lando looked up at Luke and smiled.

"Hey old buddy...Haven't seen you in awhile." Lando exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting you to come here for another day. I'm sorry if my secretary gave you any problems." Lando then looked over at Evie, who was looking off in another direction and twirling bits of her red hair around her fingers. "And who have we here?"

   "This is Evadne Darkstarr. She's the one who I was telling you about. She's the reason why we came." Luke said. "Evadne is searching for clues about her past, and the whereabouts of her sister and possibly other family members." Luke turned to Evie. "Did you
say that you might have other family members that are still living?"

"No I didn't...Well, besides my sister Aidia." Evie explained.

"Aunts or Uncles maybe?" Lando asked. "Or cousins...or some other distant relatives?"  

"No. It was just my mother, my father, Aidia and I." Evie sighed. "That was until my mother was murdered."  

"How interesting." Lando said as he pushed the button to notify the guy that could help Evie. Evie's hands suddenly went to her head as it started to ache. Luke looked at her and asked if she was ok. Evie wanted to nod an affirmative, but the
headache just got worse.

   "Something's wrong..." Evie's voice trailed off...she was distracted. "I don't know what it is...but something's very wrong..." Evie tried to focus back on what Lando and Luke were doing, but it was becoming difficult for her to do so. She sighed heavily and waited for whomever Lando had contacted to respond. Luke saw the anguish on Evie's face.

He felt the same thing as her. As if two voices had cried out in
agony. Then subsided. He closed his eyes and tried to
pin point the source. LADESSA! She was down. But where was Jada, he couldn't find her.

     "Luke, what's wrong?" Lando asked concerned. Luke held up a hand and continued feeling through the Force. Stretching out Luke searched for Mara, and then touched her mind, "Are you okay?". All he got were horrible images. Then a familiar presence passed through him,
Guage… 

Luke opened his eyes as the assistant Lando had called for entered, "Am I interrupting anything?" the man asked.  

"No...." Lando answered. "Luke what's wrong?"  Evie then collapsed into an empty chair, holding her head.

Luke ran to her side, "Everything will be ok. Lando, you have infiltrators."  

Lando walked around to Luke's side, "I don't see how. But I'll take your word for it." He walked over to his desk and punched buttons on a control panel of some sort, "I just locked down the facility. There will be no one getting in or getting out. And I alerted my security teams. Now what do we need to do?"   

Luke looked at him stone faced, "Save some friends."   

"Let's do it."  Lando came back, "Xander you stay here. We still need you. We'll be back in no time."   

Luke looked back to Evie, "I think you should stay here."

Evie grabbed Luke's arm and held him back. "They should be okay. I have a sense that someone is there with LaDessa, and is helping her." Evie said. Luke remembered that he had felt Guage's presence along with LaDessa and he nodded in agreement.

"You're right Evie." Luke sighed. "I made a promise to you, and I should stay with you so that we can find out your information." Luke sighed again. "Lando, send out any security troops that you can spare in search of LaDessa, Guage and Jada. They couldn't have been taken far."

Lando nodded. "Ok. Will do." Lando said. He turned on his comlink and notified security. Then he turned back to Evie and Luke and Xander. "Ok, now let's see what we can do for you Evadne."   Evie smiled as she took several things out of her pocket. One of them was the last picture taken of her and her sister before they were separated. She also took out the puzzle box that she had found, and showed them the key/necklace that she had found inside it. She hoped that Xander would be able to tell her something about it. Evie stood holding the box and necklace as Luke and Lando left the room.

"Miss....Miss.MISS?" Xander repeated.   

Finally Evie snapped out of it, "Ummmm...yes. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."   

Xander walked towards her, "Hey, it's ok. So this box you have. I remember discovering it. Have you found anything out about it
all?"

"Well, it bears the symbol of the Royal family of Bespin, of which I am part. That's about all I know about it. The ship that Luke had been storing it on also bears the same mark. It may have been that the ship was one of Bespin's old fighter brigades. The ship and the box with the necklace are not dated the same. So I know that they have nothing to do with each other I think." Evie said.

"I haven't seen the ship, so I can't help you with that. I can tell you a little about the circumstances under which I discovered the box. I didn't know about the necklace inside, as I guess that I didn't look at the time, and I doubt I would have been able to open the box, as it looks to me that the box was only meant to open for certain people. My guess is that it has something to do with the Royal insignia on the box. It looks to be coded with some sort of reference point. That's why it opened for you and not for anyone else." Xander
said.

"Ok, but what does it all have to do with me?" Evie said.

"Well, you are obviously of the Royal family of Bespin, that's not debatable, but as I take it, you already knew that." Xander said. Evie nodded.   

"So how did you come to discover this box, and what can you tell me about it?" Evie asked. "There is another that could have opened this box. Her name is Aidia. We were separated when we were younger, and I haven't seen her since." Evie's voice trailed off in reverie.

Xander looked over the box carefully, "We discovered the box on a dig down on Bespin. That's about it. As I looked at the box it said, as it still does. 'Lady Evadne' on side and 'Jedi' on the other."

"What about this?" Evie handed him the necklace with the key on
it. 

Taking it, Xander turned the item over in his hand and noticed the hieroglyphics on the key, "Well this lettering here, is different than that of the box. And actually, believe it or not, it's fairly
common."   

"Really?" Evie said questioningly.   

Xander looked up at her, "Yea..it only says one word but
twice.....Zorba."

"I've never heard of that word. Is it a person or a place?" Evie asked. "I'm sorry to say that I have quite forgotten my native language. When my ship crashed on Corellia, the Jedi who found me could not understand what I was saying." Evie sighed. "I wish it was still in my power to decipher what is written on the box and necklace." Evie looked away for a minute. "So you say that this word is fairly common, or the necklace is fairly common, and why would it be in a box
with my name on it?" 

Xander looked at her a bit puzzled, "You've never heard of Zorba the Hutt? Everyone has heard of him."   

Evie's face straightened a bit, "A Hutt? You must be kidding."    

"No I am not," Xander said flatly, "Zorba is Jabba's father, a huge Hutt with stringy white hair and a white beard. He has to keep his hair braided, so that it doesn't fall into his face. And let me warn you he is just as ruthless and conniving as Jabba ever was."   

"So what are you saying then?" Evie asked. 

Xander walked over sat behind Lando's desk then answered, "What I am saying is I think you are going to Nal Hutta, the Hutt home world to find Zorba."

Evie looked at Xander in surprise. "Me? You've got to be kidding!" She shook her head. "The Hutts are dangerous. Everyone knows that. Plus, I don't think they like Jedi. Especially after the incident with Leia Organa." Evie sighed. "Was that really all you could tell me about my past?"  

"I'm afraid so." Xander said. Evie sighed again. She was afraid of this. Somehow she had known that Xander wouldn't have been able to tell her much about her background.  "Well, all we have to do now is to wait for Luke and the rest of your friends to come back."    Evie sighed as she took out the picture of her and her sister. She felt that she might as well show it to Xander, because maybe he had come across Aidia before. She just had to give asking him a try. She held the picture out in front of Xander.

"Have you ever seen her before? She'd be about 20 years old now?" Evie's voice trailed off as Xander nodded a negative. Evie looked at Xander and sighed. "I was afraid that you would not be able to tell me much. I guess I'll have to tell Luke that we need to go to Nal Hutta." Evie exclaimed. "I guess I should go find them."

Xander reached up and grabbed Evie's hand.  "Please don't do that. It's dangerous out there. Anyway, Luke told me to keep you here." Xander said. Evie sighed and took a seat to wait. Xander was getting a bit bored sitting here waiting for Lando to come back. Finally, he spoke, "Let's go find your friends. We aren't accomplishing anything by waiting here."   

Evie's face brightened, "I thought you'd never speak up." 

Xander headed for the door, "Follow me."  Evie turned and
followed right behind.