Approximately 1 year later
Salmina threw herself on wearily on her cot after a long day of battle training. The suns were starting to set. Jessi wasn't the warrior that she could be, even allowing for her strange ability to knock out an opponent without physical damage. It wasn't a skill that was a whole lot of help in a real battle- at least not yet. It took more concentration then she currently possessed in a battle situation. She had a good feel for the lightsaber, she just needed more time and training to hone her skill.
Just as Salmina closed her eyes she heard unfamiliar voices outside. Luke would see to it as Jessi was away getting supplies, but...
She crept around the corner and poked her head into the room. Immediately her whole body tensed and her heart jumped to her throat. Stormtroopers. Would they question him, even knowing who he was? Were they really willing to take this that far? The fact that they were here suggested they were, which very bad new for her. She strained her ears to listen.
"Excuse me sir, for bothering you."
Salmina allowed herself a scornful grin. The Imperial sounded very nervous.
"Yes?"
"Have you seen a girl..."
She needed to hear no more. She turned and ran out the back entrance into the simmering desert. Hiding would be no problem even on this revealing rock of a planet; she had mapped out several escape routes within a week of their arrival here. As her feet pounded the sand, tears welled in her eyes. Tears of anguish, of fear, of anger, of hate. Why? Why was she cursed with this? Why not someone willing? Someone who liked the empire. Not her. Why couldn't she have just stayed with Luke and Jessi? Why couldn't they all work together like they had, in complete ignorance of who she was and why she hated the Imperials. She tried to push away the tears and feelings, knowing they were the reason she never let on how much of Jessi's training she really could have participated in. Maybe they knew anyway. But they didn't know her secret. If they did, they wouldn't have let her stay with them. If only her abilities were something more... but she knew as she brushed away the tears that it was better that way. For her. For the galaxy. She waved a hand behind her and a weak, mysterious wind wiped away the signs of her passing as events wiped away the kindest era in her life forever.
Luke eyed the stormtrooper in the doorway, laughing inwardly at his amateurish nervousness but a little suspicious about his question. "What?"
"About this high, red-black hair, disguised as a Kimiro."
Aha, Salmina, thought Luke. So she was in disguise. Had it been for all her life? From what? Somehow he sensed that this was not the time to find out. A glance at the shaking messenger told him that he would never be able to get out the right story anyway.
The young stormtrooper shifted feet. This guy knew had obviously heard some rumors about the Jedi. Perhaps crazily exaggerated. Not that the truth wouldn't be enough to unnerve an amateur. Maybe his buddies had put him up to this. Maybe he lost a bet. Luke smiled. This would be easy. And perhaps a little fun. He waved a hand.
"Sorry. Guess you'd better try somewhere else."
The stormtrooper passed out with a small thud on the ground. A little confused, Luke looked at him. "Hmmm." So nervousness and fear increased the effect that the Force held, on this guy at least. But it increased it in a different way. This stormtrooper's mind had tried to prepare him, but it overdid it so much that when Luke touched his mind, it just shut down. Interesting, not to mention helpful. Luke grinned inwardly and dragged the limp stormtrooper away from the house.
Suddenly he felt an odd absence. He ran through the house, looking into every room. Empty. He ran outside. Nobody. No footsteps. In the distance he heard the hum of Jessi's landspeeder and felt her anxiety blast against him like a freezing wind.
"Luke!" she called. "Shadow Chaser's gone!"
Luke sighed. "So is Salmina."
The young apprentice parked the landspeeder hard, pelting Luke with a sandstorm. "Sorry. I wonder how she disappeared so fast?"
Luke stared off into the distance, forgetting to answer. He could sense a whisper of Salmina's presence, but then it was gone. It was almost as if he had been... shut out. Consciously.
"Um... Luke? What is it?"
"I think we know even less about that girl then we could ever have guessed."
Jessi pondered this in silence for a moment. "We're going to find the answers, aren't we?"
"No."
"No?"
"First we have to find the questions."
"What is that on the scanner?"
"We think it's her ship, sir."
Ranash smiled grimly. "We've got you now," he whispered. "You can't run: this is your destiny."
Indeed it would seem as if they were going to catch the small ship frantically trying to escape the tractor beam. Ranash knew that he was just performing one more deed for his brother. Comforting himself with thoughts of ruling as Emperor was the only thing that kept him from starting a chain of events that would end in the announcement of the attempted assassination of Vespash Koshan-and the death of his dear younger brother Ranash.
So he waited.
His victim jostled about in the overpowering pull of the star destroyer's tractor beam, unable to break free. Like a fish hooked on a line. Ranash smiled.
His satisfaction turned to shock, however, when the pilot shot an unexpected torpedo. The tractor beams sucked it up before anyone had a chance to react. Explosions rocked the metallic menace and forced Ranash to brace himself, setting his jaw to keep the surprise off his face. This was supposed to have been simple, but now the pilot was gone.
"Our scanners tell us that her ship was headed towards the planet Itaruni. Orders, sir?"
"Itaruni... that names sounds familiar."
"It is a known refuge for the Rebels, sir. It's considered very wild and dangerous."
"A known refuge for Rebels? Excellent! We'll enter orbit and then I will accompany a select squad to the planets surface."
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Pardon me for asking, but are there any corrections to the orders given about the capture of Skywalker's allies?"
Oh yes, my extra measures, just to be safe. "No, remind your men that they remain the same."
"Yes, sir."
Luke relaxed in a seat at the back of a passenger ship. He let himself slip into the Force, trying to make something of the feeling of urgency that grew ever stronger. He was startled by the sense of his sister's presence. At least she was alive. Then he felt another presence. It was weak, but close. It felt almost like... but it couldn't be, could it? If it was her, then that would explain why she'd been so secretive. He wished he'd known sooner. Despite the weakness of her presence, he knew where to look.
"Jessi."
The drink carton in front of her exploded. "Oh, you broke my concentration!"
"I don't think you'll need the fine art of opening a drink carton with the Force anytime real soon."
"What if we crash and my hands-arms are cut off? How will I drink?"
"You'll figure something out, I'm sure."
"Or what if-"
"Just tell the pilot to set a new course to Itaruni."
"Why don't you?"
Luke gave a despairing look. "Jessi, apprentices are supposed to respect their masters. It builds discipline." Jessi raised an eyebrow. Luke threw his arms out in surrender. "Just go tell the pilot. I know where Salmina is."
"Yes Master."
A few days later Jessi and Luke were tramping through thick underbrush in a particularly dangerous part of the jungle. They stepped lightly at the edge of yet another crevice. Jessi curled her lip is disgust.
"Why do we have to travel across these? It's so hard to keep my balance. What's wrong? You seem awfully- oh!" Jessi slipped for the umpteenth time, nearly falling down the deep chasm. Luke caught her arm and balanced her- again. Jessi was walking closer to the edge than he because of her fear of the abnormally large spiders prowling the walls, and it was a narrow walkway.
Luke did look tense. He felt tense. "There's just a- a sense of urgency in this search today. Something bad is going to happen if we don't find Salmina soon."
Suddenly he stopped short. "What was that?"
Jessi pulled out her lightsaber, ready to ignite it at a moment's notice. The tension hung thick in the air. The sense of danger was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
As they backed up against the rock wall to their left and away from the chasm a rock fell. Luke ignited his lightsaber and swung it in a wide arch to deflect a blast bolt. Soon there was fire from all sides. Jessi swung wide to deflect a bolt. It hit the walkway behind her and blew away the thin rock. Now they only had a ledge of about five steps wide and ten steps long.
They both fought hard with their lightsabers, but Jessi lacked experience and soon slipped out of sync. Luke moved closer to protect her. He could feel her exhaustion struggling to regain the smooth motion. The Force guided his arm to deflect a bolt she was about to miss, then led him around again. There were too many; he was growing tired. They had to get out of there. He pushed his blade into the cliff wall. The ground was relatively soft and gave way. Jessi was awkwardly picking off the stormtroopers now, using their own bolts against them. She wouldn't last much longer. He cut out another chunk of ground, forming a small cave. Suddenly the Force warned him of more danger: several bolts coming in from different directions. The Imperials were learning; they were firing simultaneously.
Desperately Luke pushed the fatigued Jessi into the shelter of the makeshift cave, his mind racing. There was no way he could deflect them all at once. He couldn't avoid getting hit, so he used a different strategy. He swung high to deflect the three coming towards his head down to his waist. As he swung around he felt a fiery bolt pierce his left leg and the other hit the cave wall, followed by a cry of surprise from Jessi he barely heard. The world around him seemed to grow dim as pain, fatigue and concentration wrapped him in his own bubble of reality.
His leg gave way and as his lightsaber slipped out of his hand his feet slipped off the ledge. The part of his mind still in tune with the here and now knew Jessi couldn't save him, so he used some of his quickly-fading concentration to summon the Force to nudge himself a slightly to the right and kick off an outcropping back up to path level. A sharp pain in his shoulder informed him he had been hit again, but it was all so distant...
A vision came with the new wave of pain. A person he easily recognized. Someone standing beside the figure, family, but not child... it hit him like a shockwave. He knew. He knew why Salmina had run. He didn't blame her, either. Then it faded, and his grip on the rock was loosening.
Salmina threw herself on wearily on her cot after a long day of battle training. The suns were starting to set. Jessi wasn't the warrior that she could be, even allowing for her strange ability to knock out an opponent without physical damage. It wasn't a skill that was a whole lot of help in a real battle- at least not yet. It took more concentration then she currently possessed in a battle situation. She had a good feel for the lightsaber, she just needed more time and training to hone her skill.
Just as Salmina closed her eyes she heard unfamiliar voices outside. Luke would see to it as Jessi was away getting supplies, but...
She crept around the corner and poked her head into the room. Immediately her whole body tensed and her heart jumped to her throat. Stormtroopers. Would they question him, even knowing who he was? Were they really willing to take this that far? The fact that they were here suggested they were, which very bad new for her. She strained her ears to listen.
"Excuse me sir, for bothering you."
Salmina allowed herself a scornful grin. The Imperial sounded very nervous.
"Yes?"
"Have you seen a girl..."
She needed to hear no more. She turned and ran out the back entrance into the simmering desert. Hiding would be no problem even on this revealing rock of a planet; she had mapped out several escape routes within a week of their arrival here. As her feet pounded the sand, tears welled in her eyes. Tears of anguish, of fear, of anger, of hate. Why? Why was she cursed with this? Why not someone willing? Someone who liked the empire. Not her. Why couldn't she have just stayed with Luke and Jessi? Why couldn't they all work together like they had, in complete ignorance of who she was and why she hated the Imperials. She tried to push away the tears and feelings, knowing they were the reason she never let on how much of Jessi's training she really could have participated in. Maybe they knew anyway. But they didn't know her secret. If they did, they wouldn't have let her stay with them. If only her abilities were something more... but she knew as she brushed away the tears that it was better that way. For her. For the galaxy. She waved a hand behind her and a weak, mysterious wind wiped away the signs of her passing as events wiped away the kindest era in her life forever.
Luke eyed the stormtrooper in the doorway, laughing inwardly at his amateurish nervousness but a little suspicious about his question. "What?"
"About this high, red-black hair, disguised as a Kimiro."
Aha, Salmina, thought Luke. So she was in disguise. Had it been for all her life? From what? Somehow he sensed that this was not the time to find out. A glance at the shaking messenger told him that he would never be able to get out the right story anyway.
The young stormtrooper shifted feet. This guy knew had obviously heard some rumors about the Jedi. Perhaps crazily exaggerated. Not that the truth wouldn't be enough to unnerve an amateur. Maybe his buddies had put him up to this. Maybe he lost a bet. Luke smiled. This would be easy. And perhaps a little fun. He waved a hand.
"Sorry. Guess you'd better try somewhere else."
The stormtrooper passed out with a small thud on the ground. A little confused, Luke looked at him. "Hmmm." So nervousness and fear increased the effect that the Force held, on this guy at least. But it increased it in a different way. This stormtrooper's mind had tried to prepare him, but it overdid it so much that when Luke touched his mind, it just shut down. Interesting, not to mention helpful. Luke grinned inwardly and dragged the limp stormtrooper away from the house.
Suddenly he felt an odd absence. He ran through the house, looking into every room. Empty. He ran outside. Nobody. No footsteps. In the distance he heard the hum of Jessi's landspeeder and felt her anxiety blast against him like a freezing wind.
"Luke!" she called. "Shadow Chaser's gone!"
Luke sighed. "So is Salmina."
The young apprentice parked the landspeeder hard, pelting Luke with a sandstorm. "Sorry. I wonder how she disappeared so fast?"
Luke stared off into the distance, forgetting to answer. He could sense a whisper of Salmina's presence, but then it was gone. It was almost as if he had been... shut out. Consciously.
"Um... Luke? What is it?"
"I think we know even less about that girl then we could ever have guessed."
Jessi pondered this in silence for a moment. "We're going to find the answers, aren't we?"
"No."
"No?"
"First we have to find the questions."
"What is that on the scanner?"
"We think it's her ship, sir."
Ranash smiled grimly. "We've got you now," he whispered. "You can't run: this is your destiny."
Indeed it would seem as if they were going to catch the small ship frantically trying to escape the tractor beam. Ranash knew that he was just performing one more deed for his brother. Comforting himself with thoughts of ruling as Emperor was the only thing that kept him from starting a chain of events that would end in the announcement of the attempted assassination of Vespash Koshan-and the death of his dear younger brother Ranash.
So he waited.
His victim jostled about in the overpowering pull of the star destroyer's tractor beam, unable to break free. Like a fish hooked on a line. Ranash smiled.
His satisfaction turned to shock, however, when the pilot shot an unexpected torpedo. The tractor beams sucked it up before anyone had a chance to react. Explosions rocked the metallic menace and forced Ranash to brace himself, setting his jaw to keep the surprise off his face. This was supposed to have been simple, but now the pilot was gone.
"Our scanners tell us that her ship was headed towards the planet Itaruni. Orders, sir?"
"Itaruni... that names sounds familiar."
"It is a known refuge for the Rebels, sir. It's considered very wild and dangerous."
"A known refuge for Rebels? Excellent! We'll enter orbit and then I will accompany a select squad to the planets surface."
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Pardon me for asking, but are there any corrections to the orders given about the capture of Skywalker's allies?"
Oh yes, my extra measures, just to be safe. "No, remind your men that they remain the same."
"Yes, sir."
Luke relaxed in a seat at the back of a passenger ship. He let himself slip into the Force, trying to make something of the feeling of urgency that grew ever stronger. He was startled by the sense of his sister's presence. At least she was alive. Then he felt another presence. It was weak, but close. It felt almost like... but it couldn't be, could it? If it was her, then that would explain why she'd been so secretive. He wished he'd known sooner. Despite the weakness of her presence, he knew where to look.
"Jessi."
The drink carton in front of her exploded. "Oh, you broke my concentration!"
"I don't think you'll need the fine art of opening a drink carton with the Force anytime real soon."
"What if we crash and my hands-arms are cut off? How will I drink?"
"You'll figure something out, I'm sure."
"Or what if-"
"Just tell the pilot to set a new course to Itaruni."
"Why don't you?"
Luke gave a despairing look. "Jessi, apprentices are supposed to respect their masters. It builds discipline." Jessi raised an eyebrow. Luke threw his arms out in surrender. "Just go tell the pilot. I know where Salmina is."
"Yes Master."
A few days later Jessi and Luke were tramping through thick underbrush in a particularly dangerous part of the jungle. They stepped lightly at the edge of yet another crevice. Jessi curled her lip is disgust.
"Why do we have to travel across these? It's so hard to keep my balance. What's wrong? You seem awfully- oh!" Jessi slipped for the umpteenth time, nearly falling down the deep chasm. Luke caught her arm and balanced her- again. Jessi was walking closer to the edge than he because of her fear of the abnormally large spiders prowling the walls, and it was a narrow walkway.
Luke did look tense. He felt tense. "There's just a- a sense of urgency in this search today. Something bad is going to happen if we don't find Salmina soon."
Suddenly he stopped short. "What was that?"
Jessi pulled out her lightsaber, ready to ignite it at a moment's notice. The tension hung thick in the air. The sense of danger was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
As they backed up against the rock wall to their left and away from the chasm a rock fell. Luke ignited his lightsaber and swung it in a wide arch to deflect a blast bolt. Soon there was fire from all sides. Jessi swung wide to deflect a bolt. It hit the walkway behind her and blew away the thin rock. Now they only had a ledge of about five steps wide and ten steps long.
They both fought hard with their lightsabers, but Jessi lacked experience and soon slipped out of sync. Luke moved closer to protect her. He could feel her exhaustion struggling to regain the smooth motion. The Force guided his arm to deflect a bolt she was about to miss, then led him around again. There were too many; he was growing tired. They had to get out of there. He pushed his blade into the cliff wall. The ground was relatively soft and gave way. Jessi was awkwardly picking off the stormtroopers now, using their own bolts against them. She wouldn't last much longer. He cut out another chunk of ground, forming a small cave. Suddenly the Force warned him of more danger: several bolts coming in from different directions. The Imperials were learning; they were firing simultaneously.
Desperately Luke pushed the fatigued Jessi into the shelter of the makeshift cave, his mind racing. There was no way he could deflect them all at once. He couldn't avoid getting hit, so he used a different strategy. He swung high to deflect the three coming towards his head down to his waist. As he swung around he felt a fiery bolt pierce his left leg and the other hit the cave wall, followed by a cry of surprise from Jessi he barely heard. The world around him seemed to grow dim as pain, fatigue and concentration wrapped him in his own bubble of reality.
His leg gave way and as his lightsaber slipped out of his hand his feet slipped off the ledge. The part of his mind still in tune with the here and now knew Jessi couldn't save him, so he used some of his quickly-fading concentration to summon the Force to nudge himself a slightly to the right and kick off an outcropping back up to path level. A sharp pain in his shoulder informed him he had been hit again, but it was all so distant...
A vision came with the new wave of pain. A person he easily recognized. Someone standing beside the figure, family, but not child... it hit him like a shockwave. He knew. He knew why Salmina had run. He didn't blame her, either. Then it faded, and his grip on the rock was loosening.