Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, Lucas does. I own only the characters I have breathed life into, (i.e Keira and Tohulk'la). I also own the many places and planets I create for this fiction. Email me if you've got questions or anything else you might want to ask. Email: konoko-mai13@excite.com

Chapter 19- And so the dark path commences

Of course this could all be part of some elaborate plan he has cooked up to get me to work for him again. And the data I'm looking at could easily have been sliced in to make it seem we are somewhere far away. Looks like the only thing I can believe here is the fact he needs me to pilot the ship.

She grinned a bit at this thought but only lightly so as not to attract his attention. A countdown timer flashed a red indicator light stating less than 10 seconds till reversion to realspace. They dropped out of hyperspace, below them was a small moon.

It was a watery mass of clouds and continents, they were approaching the largest of the three. Which also happened to be in the midst of an extremely large monsoon cloud bristling with lightning strikes.

"I want you to enter atmosphere on coordinates three-oh-five."

"But that would mean traveling through the storm! Are you insane? Haven't you been watching the sensor readout on those lightning bolts? One hit the shields would be knocked-out and any near miss would short out the systems!"

"Shut the fuck up bitch, you do what I tell you to do!" he backhanded her face leaving a bright red mark.

Her face stung from where he hit her. She felt something trickle down into her mouth and tasted blood. His slap had drawn blood. On his left hand was a small silver ring flashing on the middle finger. On top of the ring's band hovered a small piece of jagged metal in the shape of a hieroglyph.

The entire hieroglyph was stained an intense scarlet, the glint of the silver gleamed beneath the crimson colouring. Blood pouring from the hole in her face gradually lessened till it clotted a grimy streak of dried-blood. Soon the hole in her cheek disappeared, not a trace left except for the line of blood.

"I'm sick and tired of having to deal with the lip you give me." Tohulk'la smashed Keira's head against the console. Her nose was broken in two places: at the ridge and below it, along with an impression of the keyboard.

"You will DO what I say and only give your opinion when I ask for it!" He squeezed her face in one hand trying to shake his declaration into her while with the other pointed a blaster at her chest.

Keira nodded her head, never taking her eyes off his visage. "What were your orders, sir."

"That's more like it, bring us on a leveled approach to the center of the largest storm cloud over the continent on mark zero-two-four. And don't get any bright ideas."

Keira grabbed the pilot's yoke and steered towards the main part of the storm cloud. She brought back the same calmness she usually carried about her when working closely with Tohulk'la. The storm loomed ever greater, threathening to overcome the cockpit's transparisteel window. The raging tempest clouds swirled round and round the ship, strong gusts of wind hitting the ship with flying debris loosening equipment from the outer hull.

Using her acute senses, Keira was able to dodge a number of strikes that would have proved fatal to any lesser being. At one point the turns came at such a fast pace that both she and Tohulk'la nearly gagged at the site of spinning through an inward looping nosedive. Keira managed to get past the front part of the storm but was still faced with strong inner part of the hurricane.

It was in here that Keira could effect an escape, if only I had one. The seat' s restraints were tighter on her than on Tohulk'la. Possibly to keep me from running, eh? The wind speed outside began to grow stronger with each passing minute. Any longer and the ship would be blown off course, not to mention us gettting ripped to pieces and fried by lightning. The strikes before this she could avoid with ease but now they seemed to be directed to hit the ship.

This is strange, before I could only sense the lightining enough to avoid it. Now there's something else there. But to what purpose? Is this another assessment of my skills? Oh Obi-Wan I wish you could be here, take me away from all this miseryÉÉ like you promised you wouldÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ

The storm cleared up as her thought finished, they were now flying inside a cavern that made their ship seem miniscule in comparison. All around jutted the tips of lofty stalagmites and stalactites, each tip sharpened to a fine point. Flying throughout the cavern might have been difficult had there not been a path already blasted through it.

The ship jerked suddenly as a tractor beem caught onto the ship.

"Well this is where you get off Keira babe. I won't be needing your piloting skills for now." Tohulk'la had already unstrapped himself from his seat and spun Keira around to face him. He put one hand on her thigh while the other he placed on her breasts and kissed her deeply on the lips dragging her tongue into his mouth.

Keira kicked him back then shredded the straps off running to the munitions store closet. Tohulk'la jerked up and slowly strolled after her. Keira franctically searched for something to use as a weapon.

"Come on! There's got to be something here that I can use! Ah spast! This is fake!"

"Babe, I wish you wouldn't do this to me." Tohulk'la stood in the door way with a blaster rifle pointed at her mid section.

"Stop trying to resist, though I admit I like the challenge you provide. Makes it all worth whileÉ"