Four for flirting?

by Spideymaan

Four girls from Earth are pulled into Star Wars and must stop the events of the Phantom Menace from taking place. (Epilogue up: domestic tranquility and eternity). NOW COMPLETE.

20. Conflict, Confrontation, and Sacrifice

A/N: My God, it's the longest chapter in the history of fanfiction! This baby is just about thirty pages, even, if you can believe it. I thought about breaking it up into two chapters and posting them separately, but this is the big climactic scene, and I figured someone would shoot me if I left it with that big of a cliffhanger. So, instead of trimming it down or splitting it, I just decided you all could handle an insanely long chapter, et voila, chapter twenty.

As always, I owe so much to all my reviewers. Everyone who takes the time to stop and tell me what they think of this story encourages me just that much more to keep writing. Also, I wrote this chapter listening rabidly to any John Williams I could get my hands on, and it's just not the same without its musical accompaniment.

As you all have guessed, this miniature saga is coming to a close (woo-hoo!), and things are about to get really crazy. I've said it before, but I've never meant it this much: grab tight and hang on for the wildest ride yet, and as always, enjoy!

(Added note: Whoops, my last upload cut off my last sentence! So here's the correction. Sorry about that! P.S.: Whoever gives me my hundredth review gets a cookie.)

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TWENTY

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The wraiths gave them no time to recover or even to plan; two instantly picked up the motionless Danielle and, hoisting her above their heads, took her from the room as Annie and Krista yelled in protest. When they tried to follow, three of the remaining four emotionlessly pointed blasters at them, freezing them in place, as the fourth went into the hallway only to return with three more wraiths a moment later. Annie could not help but wonder how many such wraiths existed; Atharca seemed to have an unending supply of them, and on top of that Palpatine had his own troops. Truly they were far too outnumbered.

Four of the wraiths went to the motionless Nexu, then transformed into huge, bulking men who among them easily lifted the half-grown beast over their shoulders. As they carried Sweetums after Danielle, two of the wraiths approached Annie and Krista, putting binders on their hands and holding them at gunpoint. Making certain Laura could see the helplessness of her comrades, the third went to a control panel on the wall and, after a few minutes of typing, deactivated the laser cage. Laura could do nothing but stand helplessly, fuming, as binders were placed on her wrists and she too was put at gunpoint, then all three of them were also led into the hallway. In the hall waited--surprise!--even more wraiths, and they surrounded the three girls, following the limp forms of Danielle and Sweetums.

Krista and Annie walked slowly, numbly, unable to think what to do or say. Laura, however, thrashed like a mad thing, forcing a crowd of wraiths to restrain her.

"Kitty!" she screamed, her voice echoing down the metallic hall. "They're taking us to the sacrifice chamber now! This is our last chance! KITTY!"

Still struggling, Laura was hauled out of sight and around the corner as Krista and Annie stared after her blankly.

"And now, to top it off, Laura has gone insane," Krista said flatly. "Could this get any better?"

"I think it's about to," Annie said glumly.

Had Danielle but been awake, she might have explained to the other two girls what Laura was saying; but, as chance had it, she was not, and so in all ignorance they were led around the corner. Thus they did not hear, moments later, when a gravelly, incredibly deep voice called hesitantly, "Laura?"

Down, down the wraiths led them, taking them on ill-lit flights of stairs that seemed to spiral endlessly into the building's echoing depths. Laura had finally lapsed into silence and allowed herself to be led passively down the stairs to the sacrifice chamber.

After a small and terrible eternity, they ended their descent, and the wraiths led them across a hallway and opened a set of heavy metal doors. Filing into the room beyond, Krista and Annie's jaws dropped as they stared into a square chamber with black walls, ceiling, and floor. Torches placed at random intervals gave guttering, uncertain light, and the fluorescents overhead had been dimmed to a low, uneasy setting.

In the room's center, a circular area about ten feet in diameter had sunk down about a meter below the floor, and several steps led down to the platform below. At the edge of the circle stood Palpatine and Atharca, both watching with undisguised eagerness as the prisoners were brought into the room. All around the room was a ring of wraiths, cloaked and hooded and very obviously armed, clearly present to ensure the ritual succeeded.

If the girls had ever had any hope of escaping, it was soon dashed. "Close and lock the doors behind you," Atharca instructed the wraiths gently. "We don't want anyone interrupting us, now do we?"

As the wraiths hastened to do as he had instructed, Annie scanned the room frantically. In the dimness of the far edge of the room, she thought she could make out another exit; a small metal door, sealed, and guarded by two wraiths. Except for that, however, the doors behind them were the only means of entering or leaving the room.

Atharca stepped forward, eyes gleaming behind his spectacles, and eyed his prisoners thoughtfully. "I had so wanted to kill the Jedi brat first," he mused, "but it will be no fun if she is still unconscious when I do so." His eyes flickered to Annie then, and he gave a frosty smile. "Perhaps it is more appropriate to kill the prophet first anyway. After all, we are destroying the future today; the symbolism is quite nice."

Atharca gestured to the wraiths. "Put the others in the corner, and bring the prophet to me," he instructed, and Laura, Krista, and the still motionless Danielle were led across the room where their binders were attached to hooks on the wall, securing them in place.

Annie stared uncomprehendingly as the wraiths dragged her across the floor to Atharca. Behind her, she could hear Krista screaming, "Annie!" and Palpatine's amused chuckle, but none of it truly registered.

Stumbling, she allowed herself to be led down the stairs to the reverse dais. In the middle of the circle was a table, metal shining pristinely in the dim light, with four straps at its corners. Sitting on its edge, gleaming, were two ornately carved knives.

Only when the wraiths pushed her onto the table and began spreading her limbs, clearly intending to strap her down, did the reality of what was about to happen hit Annie. "No," she said, disbelieving, then she screamed it. "NO! Let me go, please--" But when she saw Atharca's obvious amusement, she forced herself to swallow the words, even though she thought she might die of fear. With reserves of courage she'd never known she possessed, she bit her tongue and glared at him. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of begging.

"It is such a great pleasure to finally see one's dreams realized," Atharca said, mistily, as the wraiths strapped Annie to the table. He picked up one of the knives and ran a hand along the blade, feeling the ornate carvings. "The research I had to conduct to find what ritual would negate the spirits in the pendants without destroying the pendants themselves . . ." He looked at Annie and gave her a grandfatherly smile. "You are about to be the first subject of an elaborate experiment, my dear. You should be honored."

Annie, squirming ineffectually against her restraints, gave him a death glare despite her trembling. This was the moment to speak out defiantly, foresee his doom, quip, or even swear, but she couldn't seem to make her mouth shape words.

"No last words then? Very well. With that, we--"

"Atharca!"

Atharca's head whipped up, as did Annie's, and she looked hopefully for the source of the shout. To her disappointment, however, it was only Laura, shackled to the wall and staring at Atharca with blazing eyes.

"Yes?" he said, impatiently.

"You know that this will never succeed," Laura said, her gaze dark and intent.

"Do I?" Atharca asked impatiently.

"For the pendants to ever function correctly, we must be living. Our living energies are now bound to them. If you kill us, all the power will leave them. If you ever hope to see our galaxy, you cannot kill any of us!"

"Is that so?"

"I have researched these pendants for years, and I know it to be so. Ask Palpatine, my master," she replied, the last phrase dripping with venom.

"It is true, she has researched," Palpatine said thoughtfully from his position at the edge of the dais. "But then, you have as well."

"Yes, I have," Atharca said, looking steadily at Laura. "And who ever said I was going to completely kill her? She will remain alive for quite some time, until I have harnessed all the energy from her pendant as my own. But thank you for your helpful advice." Turning, he bent back over Annie.

"No!" Laura shouted, and now the desperation in her voice was apparent. "Look, I'm telling you, this is a mistake!"

"My dear Palpatine," Atharca said, his voice bored, "I do believe the girl is trying to stall me."

"As do I. Though to what purpose, I cannot imagine," Palpatine agreed, voice disdainful.

"How true. Give it up, girl," Atharca said, voice turning suddenly dark. "There is nothing left for you to do but watch your friend die."

Turning a final time to Annie, Atharca raised his knife and gave her a demonic smile. "And now," he whispered, "my victory will be complete."

"Not," a voice called contemptuously, "just yet, Atharca."

This time, the voice was not Laura's.

Atharca and Palpatine whirled, both shocked, and Annie's head snapped up again as she struggled vainly to see. The voice had come from the far side of the room, but . . . there was no one there but wraiths.

Then, oh-so-slowly, two of the figures stepped away from the others, reaching within their robes and pulling forth beautifully familiar black cylinders. "You see," the other said, conversationally, "that prophet happens to belong to us. We wouldn't take kindly to you harming her." And, with that, they pushed back their hoods.

"DRU!" Annie screamed, her voice raw with relief. "WES!"

"Jedi!" Palpatine spat, clearly enraged, as Atharca stared in disbelief. After only a moment, however, he hissed, "No!" and raised the knife again.

As it began its flashing descent, however, Dru made a sharp gesture from across the room, and Atharca staggered as if struck by an invisible hand, the knife falling clattering to the floor. Dru gestured again, her dark eyes blackened with hatred, and Atharca was slammed backward to trip on the stairs, nearly falling to the floor.

"Dru!" Annie sobbed. "But--how--?"

"We followed you," Wes explained, clearly in a much calmer mood than his partner. "We heard about your falling-out with Jinn and Kenobi, and when they explained what happened, we knew something was wrong. So Dru and I followed you--first to Palpatine's estate, and now here. When you were captured, we killed two wraiths and took their cloaks, so we wouldn't be discovered and captured as well. And a good thing we did," he said with asperity, giving her a disapproving stare. "Needing to be rescued again, I see."

Right now Annie thought his patronizing disapproval was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. "Be careful!" she yelled. "They're dangerous--Palpatine's a Sith!"

"A Sith?" Wes said, shocked, as Dru's eyes merely darkened further. "We'll take care of it, Annie," she assured her coolly.

"This is a setback," Atharca said with irritation, ascending from the lowered circle to Palpatine's side, "but not a large one. Shall I deal with it, or you?"

"I have suffered the existence of Jedi for long enough," Palpatine hissed, glaring at Wes and Dru with hatred. Atharca nodded, taking a few steps backward to watch.

As one, Dru and Wes shrugged off their cloaks, letting them fall to the floor. With that same eerie synchronization, they ignited their lightsabers.

Palpatine spread his arms, looking at them with raised eyebrows. "Well? I'm waiting, oh brave Jedi," he sneered.

Wes and Dru exchanged a glance, then Dru nodded, once. As one, they turned back to look at Palpatine.

From the other side of the room, Laura suddenly yelled, "No, Jedi, look out! You don't realize--"

But it was too late. The Jedi were moving before she could finish, rushing across the room to Palpatine, who stood waiting for them with a lascivious grin of anticipation on his face. As they drew near, he raised his hands, lazily--and suddenly a stream of violet dark Force energy crackled from his fingertips.

Dru yelped and leapt aside, throwing herself to the ground and rolling away to dodge, the lightning barely missing her. Wes, shocked, flung up a hand instinctively, and he somehow repulsed the dark energy, sending it streaming around him to either side.

As Wes staggered back, still stunned, Palpatine turned his attention on Dru, who was struggling back to her feet. With an evil grin, he raised his hands again, aiming for the hapless Jedi.

"Dru, NO!"

Dru looked up as the lightning streamed toward her, dark and deadly--but, quicker than thought, Wes flung himself in its way. Clearly he had intended to try and catch the lightning on his saber, but instead it struck him full on his torso, knocking his lightsaber from his hand. Dru could do nothing but watch as it picked him up, writhing and screaming, and flung him back to the ground where he lay panting and moaning, clearly unable to stand.

"Wes!" Dru screamed, flinging herself across the floor to kneel at his side, face distraught.

"That was disgustingly easy," Palpatine said, his voice disappointed. "It's almost an insult to finish them off now."

"The excellent part is that we don't have to," Atharca informed him reassuringly. Glancing around the room, his voice suddenly hardened. "Wraiths!" he boomed.

Every cowled head within the room snapped to stare directly at him.

"Take a fighting form and rip these two Jedi," he gestured at Wes and Dru, "limb from limb."

In synchronization, the wraiths bowed, then straightened. Slowly, each one's features began to morph, transforming into a fierce fighter to better destroy the Jedi.

"Dru, look out!" Annie screamed, jerking her chin to indicate the wraiths, and Dru heard her. Glancing up, her eyes went wide with astonishment and fear as, all around the room, the now-transformed wraiths discarded their cloaks, grabbed various weapons, and began to move toward her.

"Now that's taken care of," Atharca said, glancing at Palpatine, "I think it's time we got on with this ritual."

As he walked back toward Annie, Dru rose, lightsaber gleaming in her hand, clearly ready to die defending Wes. Before the wraiths reached her, however, a sudden pounding noise caught everyone's ear. It came from the small metal door Annie had noticed when they'd first come in.

For a moment, nothing happened . . . then, with a creak of protesting metal, the small door ripped itself from its hinges and fell clattering to the floor. At first the silhouette in the doorway was unrecognizable; then, as he stepped into the room, the countenance of an enraged Sith Lord emerged from the shadows.

"Oh, shit," Krista moaned, staring at the new arrival. "What now?"

Annie, too, closed her eyes, feeling all hope leave her--then, she heard Palpatine spit, "Maul!" as Laura yelled, joyfully, "Kitty!"

Dumbfounded, Krista and Annie stared as Darth Maul drew a crimson lightsaber and snarled maliciously at the stunned Palpatine and Atharca, wrath distorting the intricate red and black tattoos covering his face. Igniting his blade, he turned to Laura, and his features softened into something almost like affection. "Laura," he growled, and she beamed at him.

"No," Krista said into the unexpected stillness. "I don't believe it. I don't freaking believe it."

As Atharca hissed angrily to Palpatine, "You let him escape?!" Laura announced to the room, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you my comrade in deception, my fellow Sith, my ace in the hole: the one and only Darth Maul!--or, as I more affectionately call him, 'Kitty'."

As Krista and Annie simply waited, still too stunned to react, Atharca snarled to his wraiths and Palpatine, "Kill him!" and all hell broke loose.

Darth Maul moved with the same unnatural speed and grace as the Jedi as he flung himself across the room--not toward his former master Palpatine, not to the beleaguered Dru, but to Laura, still tied to the wall at Krista and Danielle's side. The wraiths flung themselves in his way, trying to stop him, but they were simply no match for the Sith Lord; the scarlet lightsaber cleaved a path through them as a knife through butter.

As Dru, still hovering over the fallen Wes, raised her own lightsaber and began to defend against the blaster bolts of the wraiths, Atharca thundered over the din, "Remember, DON'T HURT THE GIRLS! None of them must die!"

In little more than the space of a heartbeat, Maul was at Laura's side. A sure swipe of his lightsaber and Laura snatched her hands from the wall, flinging the scalding metal of the binders from her wrists. To compound Krista and Annie's shock, she reached out and clasped the Zabrak's hand affectionately for a brief moment, then released him and with the same hand called Wes' dropped lightsaber to her hand.

"Go and distract Palpatine," she instructed him. "Don't let him or Atharca touch Annie."

With a grim nod, Maul leapt into the fray once more, his lightsaber whirling around him as he raced to the still-trapped Annie's side. Laura, meanwhile, turned and deflected shots for a moment, defending herself and Krista and Danielle. When she had a break, she turned and instantly slashed the binders from Danielle's hands, freeing her.

Moaning slightly, Danielle's eyes fluttered open slowly. "Wha . . . whur . . . ?" she mumbled.

"This would be a great time to wake up, Danielle," Laura informed her, returned to deflecting shots as the wraiths began to close in.

Danielle's eyes opened, filled with wariness. "I've been unconscious again, haven't I? I spend way too much time passed out." She focused on the chaos before her, and her jaw dropped open. "Whoa," she said, shocked.

"Laura," Krista said, still unable to believe what she'd just seen. "How . . . ?"

Laura flashed a grin at her over her shoulder. "We've been fellow apprentices under Palpatine for two years; that does tend to form some lasting bonds. I can be a pretty persuasive speaker, too--and besides, I'm quite a bit nicer than ol' Palpy."

Danielle still hadn't quite caught up. "Is that--Darth Maul?"

Laura ignored her. "You remember when I rescued Danielle? He helped me do that. And when I had a 'distraction' when I was rescuing you from Palpatine--that was him, too." Seizing another break in the shots, she turned and slashed Krista free, too. "He was captured that day, for helping me. Atharca's been keeping him imprisoned here; he must have heard me when I yelled for him, and gotten free somehow."

"Darth Maul?!"

"Yes," Laura told Danielle impatiently. "Kitty."

From the dais, Annie's voice rose in something akin to a shriek. "If no one is too busy, I wouldn't mind being UNTIED right now!"

"We've no time," Laura snapped. "We've got to help Annie before Atharca--"

Krista scooped up a fallen blaster from the floor. "I'm on it," she said grimly, and took off through the wraiths toward the dais at the center of the room.

Danielle meanwhile, had spotted Sweetums. "Laura, cover me while I free Sweetums!" she yelled, and Laura nodded compliance, her lightsaber flashing as she bisected a wraith who drew too close. Together, the girls rushed to Sweetums's side, and Danielle tugged the bindings from around the Nexu as Laura deflected volley after volley of shots. At last, the Nexu was free, and Danielle shook him until, with a pitiful yipping mew, he raised his great head.

Laura disarmed a nearby wraith and flung its blaster to Danielle, who caught it expertly. As Danielle crouched and began picking off wraiths, Laura sprinted to aid Dru, who was still heavily beset by wraiths at Wes's side.

Across the room, Krista yelped, and Danielle and Laura turned and saw that she had been stopped at the edge of the circular pit by Atharca. Unerringly, Krista raised her gun and snapped off a shot directly at his chest, but with a gestured he brushed the deadly bolt aside, and another wave of his hand sent Krista sprawling across the room. Sneering, he turned and started to descend into the pit where Annie still lay helplessly bound. Krista leapt to her feet and would have gone to Annie again instantly, but a heavily muscled wraith attacked her and she was forced to defend herself instead.

Laura and Danielle exchanged glances over the melee, and as one they left what they were doing to sprint to the pit, leaving Dru to defend Wes and Sweetums to leap, fangs bared and snarling, into a group of wraiths.

Laura reached the pit first and instantly flung up her lightsaber, deflecting the shot Atharca fired at her. Rolling to avoid a blast of energy, she ducked under another shot and came up under Atharca's guard, swinging her lightsaber. Atharca leapt back, and the blate bit only through his voluminous cloak. Snarling, he made a rough gesture with both hands, and Laura was slammed up out of the pit to sprawl on the floor, doubled up in pain, as her lightsaber fell from nerveless fingers and rolled away.

Grinning evilly in anticipation, Atharca stalked across the floor to where Laura struggled to get to her feet. Danielle reached out a hand, however, and called Laura's dropped blade to her hand, then lunged at Atharca.

Atharca barely leapt back in time to avoid the blow, and he hissed, turning to face Danielle full-on as she paled. "You dare to defy me, girl?" he mocked, but Danielle held her ground, raising her lightsaber defensively.

Laura's eyes met Danielle's briefly, then she hauled herself painfully to her feet, using Atharca's distraction to slip past him into the pit. Weaponless, her fingers fumbled clumsily with the straps binding Annie's right hand as Annie urged her to hurry.

From the chaos of the largest group of wraiths, Dru cried, joyously, "Wes!" as her partner, slowly but surely, hauled himself to his feet, wincing at the pain. His eyes flickering over the chaos, he saw Atharca advancing on Danielle as she helplessly retreated before him.

Gathering his strength, Wes extended a hand and pushed, and Atharca staggered, the blow he'd been aiming at Danielle knocked off course. Dru, realizing what her partner was doing, shouted, "Catch!" and flung her own lightsaber to Wes as he dove to Danielle's aid, crouching at her side as Atharca came angrily toward them.

On the far side of the pit, Darth Maul and Palpatine circled each other warily. Casually, Palpatine sent a wave of black energy at Maul, and the Zabrak whipped up his lightsaber and caught it on one of the twin blades, snarling in silent challenge. When Palpatine glanced into the pit, he saw Laura had succeeded in freeing one of Annie's hands, and rage contorted his features. Knocking Maul aside with another pulse of dark energy, he whirled and pointed a clawlike hand at Laura. "Apprentice! Obey!"

In the pit, standing at Annie's side, Laura suddenly stiffened, her face stiff with fear. "Oh, no," she whispered. "Oh no, not now."

"Laura--?" Annie said, horrified, as her friend began to shake, a terrifying blackness creeping into her gaze.

"Laura!" Palpatine shrieked from above. Even as Maul recovered and attacked him once more, Palpatine continued. "Hear my command and obey!"

With a gasp of agony, Laura doubled over beside the table, clutching her stomach and squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to block out her Master's command.

Realizing something was wrong, Annie began struggling to pull her hand loose of its strap, then desperately began fumbling to free her left hand. As she worked, she gasped, "No, Laura, don't listen to him!"

Above them, Palpatine's voice thundered, resonating with dark power. "Laura! OBEY!"

For a moment Laura sat stock-still, not moving; then, in a single fluid motion, she rose, and there was nothing of Laura in her eyes. "I hear and obey, my master," she intoned, bowing.

Annie, looking at Laura, felt all the blood drain from her face. "Laura, no!"

With a cackle of delight, Palpatine pointed at Annie, who was struggling madly to untie her left hand. "Restrain her," he ordered, and Laura moved instantly to obey. She caught Annie's thrashing right hand and forced it back to the table even as Annie pleaded with her, trying to appeal to whatever of Laura might be left within this expressionless creature. It availed nothing; with quick, efficient motions, Laura strapped Annie's right hand back down, then stepped away, heedless of her friend's pleas.

"Excellent!" Palpatine crowed, glancing over from his battle with Maul. When he had a free moment, he reached within his robes, then pulled free a disengaged lightsaber hilt, tossing it to Laura. She ignited it the moment her hand closed around the cool metal, the scarlet blade emerging with an ominous snap-hiss and painting the air around her crimson. Turning her face to her Master, she stood silent, awaiting instruction.

Palpatine pointed to Danielle, who along with Wes was very busy trying not to be killed by Atharca at that moment in time. "Kill the Jedi," he ordered.

Laura simply bowed again, crisp and professional. Turning sharply on her heel, she took the stairs two at a time and strode toward her prey.

Danielle, meanwhile, had not been having an easy time of things. She and Wes had so far managed to evade death and major injury and had succeeded in distracting Atharca, but she wasn't sure how much longer they could last. She and Wes were both Jedi, but Atharca had powers neither of them could even fathom, and he was by no means playing fair.

Atharca continually fired at the two Jedi, forcing them to deflect the bolts with their lightsabers, but at the same time he could send waves of energy at them that knocked them aside like a physical blow. Invisible ropes tripped them up when they moved and blackness would suddenly obscure their vision at crucial moments. Occasionally, the floor itself would suddenly yawn open beneath their feet, or a great wave of metal would hurl itself upon them, trying to smother them under scalding durasteel. As they frantically deflected, retreating all the while and battling to remain alive, Atharca simply laughed contemptuously, clearly enjoying their struggle.

Danielle was deflecting a sudden barrage of shots from a group of nearby wraiths when she caught a blur of scarlet from the corner of her eye. She turned and flung her lightsaber up just in time to block Laura's initial strike, her muscles straining as she pushed Laura away from her.

"Laura!" Danielle gasped, barely remembering to lift her blade and parry Laura's next flurry of blows. "What are you doing?"

"Danielle, look out!" Annie screamed from where she was once again neatly lashed up on the table. "She's gone mad again! Palpatine's ordered her to kill you!"

"Don't kill her!" Atharca screamed, enraged. "I need all of you alive for the ritual to succeed!" But Laura answered only to Palpatine, and she continued to strike mercilessly at Danielle, oblivious to Atharca's command along with Danielle's cries.

"Laura, please!" Danielle yelled above the din of the fight, even as she parried lunge after lunge. "Remember who you are. Don't do this!"

Laura's eyes remained eerily blank, her expression coldly determined, and her fencing skills were undiminished. If anything, they had improved, for Laura was following Palpatine's instructions exactly: this time, she intended to kill Danielle, and she showed no mercy.

Knowing that Laura was not holding back, Danielle fought back just as ruthlessly, calling desperately on all the skills she possessed to fend off her friend. The wraiths drew away from them whenever the two combatants came near, and so Laura and Danielle swirled across the floor, lightsabers crackling when they connected and painting vivid streaks of color through the air.

Wes had time only to spare a single worried glance at Danielle, for he was still busy distracting Atharca, who was now closing in on the single Jedi. Across the room, Dru finished off the last of the nearby wraiths and saw Krista trying to make her way stealthily into the pit to free Annie. Palpatine, however, saw her as well, and with a well-placed shock of dark force energy he sent Maul sprawling to the ground, hissing in agony. Palpatine moved swiftly around the pit to intercept Krista--only to leap back in alarm as Dru was suddenly between him and his prey, firing point-blank at his face.

Palpatine drew himself away with a snarl, black robes fluttering around him like crows' wings, and the shot slid past him and into the distance. Dru raised her blaster again, but Palpatine knocked it aside with a snarl, and Dru dove after it only for it to skid away from her grasp. She rolled to her feet, somersaulting to dodge a swift blast of dark energy. Standing, she skipped backward and, with an expression of extreme distaste, reached down and helped Maul to his feet. As he continued to hiss with pain, Dru called a gun to her hand from a nearby fallen wraith, and together they faced the enraged Sith.

Behind them, Krista took advantage of their distraction to head into the pit again, only to stop and battle a nearby wraith with, of all things, a piece of pipe it had picked up somewhere. As she struggled to shoot it, Annie yelled from within the pit, "It would be REALLY GREAT if someone could untie me right now!"

"I'm working on it!" Krista shouted back, harassed.

On the far side of the room, crimson and azure blades met with a crackle of energy, and for a brief moment Laura and Danielle locked eyes over their crossed lightsabers. Then, with an almost contemptuous movement, Laura shoved, sending Danielle sprawling. She barely regained her feet in time as Laura came at her with a sweeping stroke, black tunics swirling around her, her expression still coldly merciless.

Before, they had been well-matched, both strength and skill approximately equal. Now, with Laura no longer trying to rein in the Sithly half of her nature, Danielle found herself facing an opponent more ruthless, experienced, and skilled than herself, and she struggled anew to block each of Laura's unending attacks.

All too soon, Laura found a weakness, discovering a parry of Danielle's she had always had difficulty with. Mercilessly, Laura lunged again and again for that spot, until Danielle faltered, engaging Laura's blade poorly. With a swift jerk of her wrist, Laura disarmed Danielle. As Danielle reached out a hand to call her blade back, Laura kicked her hard directly in the abdomen, knocking all the breath from Danielle's body and knocking her on her back. With a gesture of her hand, Laura sent Danielle's lightsaber flying, then stepped until she stood towering over Danielle, gazing down at her with that same terrifying emptiness.

As Danielle stared up at her, she seemed to gaze not at her friend of so many years, but instead at the nameless Sith that controlled her body. Summoning every ounce of her Jedi skills to her, Danielle reached out for her friend's spirit, trying to find Laura locked somewhere inside her own form. "Laura," she said, desperately, packing that single word with an overwhelming amount of persuasion. "Laura, please. I know you're still in there, I know you can hear me. Don't do this! Fight, Laura, I know you can fight it! Please!"

And, amazingly, Laura hesitated, and it seemed for a moment that emotion crept onto her horrifically slack features, a hit of recognition entered her hazel eyes. Her lightsaber twitched forward, humming, as though she meant to strike Danielle, and Danielle winced away. But no sooner had it moved than Laura drew her hand back, her brow furrowed in concentration, sweat breaking out suddenly on her brow. She stood stock-still, eyes still locked on Danielle, and she seemed to be trembling all over.

Danielle knew that this was the crucial moment--Laura was fighting her Master's command, so difficult for a Sith apprentice to obey, as well as the urgings of Dark Side that flowed through her. Afraid to move lest she break Laura's concentration, she instead whispered, "I know you can do it, Laura. You have to!"

Abruptly, Laura's eyes cleared, the slackness receding and her entire body relaxing. For the span of a heartbeat, she looked at Danielle with horrified recognition, then started to extend a hand to help her friend up. Just as Danielle breathed a sigh of relief, a tremor shook through Laura, freezing her again, followed by another, even harder.

Impossibly, walls suddenly slammed down behind Laura's eyes once more, and her face went slack, brutal. The call of Master and Dark Side had proven too strong. The battle was over, and Laura was lost once more.

Danielle cringed back but could not look away as Laura raised her crimson lightsaber high overhead, grimly purposeful. Without ado, she struck downward viciously, and Danielle closed her eyes, making her peace with the Force--

--but the blow never landed.

After only a millisecond Danielle's eyes flew open again, and she stared upward dumbly at the crackling blur of color overhead. There was Laura's scarlet blade, less than a foot from Danielle's flesh, ready to cleave her in two--but perpendicular to it was a blade of brilliant azure, effortlessly holding Laura at bay.

Danielle's breath caught in her chest, and she barely dared to breathe as Laura, even in her Sithly form, was momentarily frozen in shock. Danielle finally managed to pry her eyes away from death hovering so near to her unprotected skin to look at her savior--and when she did, shock and joy coursed through her.

"Obi-Wan!"

Still keeping Laura's blade at bay, Obi-Wan spared a glance for Danielle, shooting her a roguish grin. Then, with equal ease, he lifted his blade sharply, knocking Laura away. Before she could recover his blade flashed as he swirled inside her guard, knocking her lightsaber from her hand and slamming his hilt onto her head. Soundlessly, Laura crumpled, her disengaged lightsaber rolling away from her limp form.

"Obi-Wan!" Danielle sobbed again, unable to believe her eyes. "My God, you came, you came! Oh, thank God, I thought--but you came!"

"And," a voice said from behind her, "he did not come alone."

Danielle whirled, looking over her shoulder, and felt her heart leap within her chest. "Qui-Gon!"

Reaching down, he pulled her to her feet, then grasped her in a bone-crushing hug as Obi-Wan covered them. "Danielle, I'm sorry," he said raggedly. "I am so terribly sorry. Can you ever forgive me--us?"

Danielle smiled through her tears and wrapped her arms around the huge Jedi Master's neck, allowing herself a brief moment to wallow in his embrace. "Of course, I forgive you. You never even had to ask. But . . . but what . . . ?"

Obi-Wan, deflecting shots now, rolled an eye back at them. Qui-Gon smiled at him sheepishly, then turned back to Danielle. "Obi-Wan, who is a horrendously disobedient padawan, completely ignored my orders and read through the information you gave us--and found that it was exactly what you claimed: a record of transactions between Palpatine and this Atharca person that incriminated both of them in an incredible conspiracy.

"This convinced me enough to search our rooms for the bug you mentioned. When we found it, I knew you had not been lying, and that I had just made the most terrible mistake of my life. So, we informed the Council of what we were doing, and Obi-Wan and I took off after you."

"But how did you find us?"

"The location of this building was in your stolen information, which we have now turned in to the Council. When we found Palpatine's estate deserted, we came here." Qui-Gon gazed across the melee, and his face darkened. "And it seems we have arrived just in time. Danielle, I thought you said your friend Laura was not in league with the Sith, not truly."

"She isn't," Danielle said, looking at her still motionless friend in concern. "Palpatine is controlling her with the Force. She has trouble with that sometimes. But thanks to you," she looked at him with sparkling eyes, "I'm all right."

From behind her, Danielle heard Obi-Wan say gruffly, "You defend for a while, Master," and then suddenly Danielle was swept into a new embrace, one which she returned with equal fierceness. Obi-Wan was not as tall as Qui-Gon, but he picked her up off her feet with total effortlessness and swung her in a graceful circle as she laughed in delight.

"You're all right," he said, sounding infinitely relieved. "Danielle, I continue to come so close to losing you. I'll never let anything happen to you, I swear it."

"The same to you," Danielle replied, giving his padawan braid a playful tug. "But I think it's time we started helping the others now," she added, pointing out to where the others still struggled.

"Of course," Qui-Gon said. "Danielle, we brought something for you, since we thought this might happen." With a smile, he pulled free a lightsaber, and extended it to you. "Perhaps you might give that blade to Knight Parsival, for I believe she has need of it."

Danielle nodded, calling Dru's lightsaber to hand. "Dru!" she yelled. As the other Jedi turned from fighting Palpatine, looking harassed, Danielle cried, "Catch!" and flung the lightsaber to her. Now looking exceedingly relieved, Dru raised a hand and called her blade to her, igniting it swiftly and lunging back into the fight with Palpatine.

Danielle engaged her own lightsaber and pointed to where Wes was desperately trying to hold off Atharca by himself. "Now," she said, "we have to--"

The sudden snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting behind her was the only warning, and she didn't actually turn in time to defend herself. Once again, Obi-Wan's azure lightsaber was the only thing that kept Danielle from meeting a swift death as he parried Laura's sudden blow.

As Laura, clearly recovered from Obi-Wan's hit to her head, drew back, he and Qui-Gon inserted themselves between Laura and Danielle. Laura glanced behind them to Danielle, her eyes glinting, then raised her lightsaber to the two Jedi. Cocking her head, she made a come-hither gesture, then backed away, clearly expecting them to follow.

"Don't hurt her!" Danielle screamed as the two Jedi prepared to fight her friend. "She's not herself! We can heal her, help her!"

They both nodded in her direction, but then Laura moved in a blinding flash of crimson light, and the two Jedi were forced to take the offensive, falling easily into a practiced routine of one defending while the other attacked, as fluid and graceful as water.

Laura was terribly outmatched and would have soon been disarmed and defeated once more had not Darth Maul, still fighting Palpatine with Dru on the far side of the room, glanced over and seen his friend and fellow apprentice facing two Jedi. With a bestial snarl of rage, he pulled himself away from Palpatine and sprinted across the floor to her side, his fierce loyalty to his friend overpowering his need to defeat his hated Master.

Maul threw himself into the fray at Laura's side, his crimson lightsaber crackling as he caught Obi-Wan's lunge, and the two Jedi pulled back in horror at facing another angry and incredibly powerful Sith. Realizing what was happening, Danielle screamed, "NO! DON'T! You're on the same side! Stop it!" But, heedless of her desperate cries, Laura accepted Maul's help with that same unblinking efficiency, and together they fought as one, striking mercilessly at the horrified Jedi.

"No!" Danielle screamed again, desperately, but in a horrific tangle the four blades, two crimson against two of azure and emerald, met in a snarl of hissing and crackling. Laura, apparently angry with him for thwarting her attack on both times, focused her attack on Obi-Wan, attacking in a flurry of furious blows that he met with grim determination. Following her lead, Darth Maul turned and began leading Qui-Gon away, entering into a separate battle with the elder Jedi Master.

With Laura keeping Obi-Wan very busy, Qui-Gon was now facing Darth Maul alone. Maul might be their ally at the moment, but he was still a full-blooded Sith, and he saw in the Jedi only a lifelong enemy. While Qui-Gon met him with unfaltering patience and effortless skill, Danielle knew, from repeated watchings of The Phantom Menace, that if this battle continued, Qui-Gon was doomed.

If she could not separate them, Qui-Gon was going to be killed in a short amount of time; and, if Obi-Wan were not careful, Laura might be killed, too.

For a moment Danielle stood frozen with horror, unsure what to do, whom to aid. Then cold certainty overwhelmed her. If she killed Palpatine, Laura would be free of his command, and she would stop fighting Obi-Wan. Maul would listen to Laura and let Qui-Gon be. Palpatine was the key.

Forcing down the fear that was like bile in her throat, Danielle cast one last desperate glance at the two horrific duels then sprinted across the room to where Dru desperately held her own against the Sith Master.

Krista, meanwhile, had finally made her way in the pit to Annie's side, and she scrabbled furiously with the leather bindings keeping her friend trapped. Finally, saying to hell with it, she pulled out her blaster and simply shot the leather straps away, freeing Annie's hands first and ankles second.

Free at last, Annie sprang to her feet, then quickly stretched with a moan of relief. Grabbing a fallen blaster from nearby, she and Krista exchanged grim nods, then sprinted up the brief stairs together.

Back on the main floor, they stopped aghast at the chaos that met their eyes. To their right, Danielle and an exhausted Dru continued to fight Palpatine, making little progress in defeating the Sith Lord. To their left, they stared in horror as Laura and Obi-Wan swirled across the floor, blades flashing furiously, and further down Maul and Qui-Gon were also fiercely entangled.

"When did Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon get here?" Annie asked, confused.

"I don't know, but it's all wrong!" Krista moaned. "Darth Maul's going to kill Qui-Gon! And why is Laura fighting Obi-Wan?"

"I don't know," Annie said, "but--Wes, look out!"

In front of them, Wes, fought nearly to the last of his strength, suddenly stumbled, losing his balance. Atharca, clearly meaning to seize an opportunity, reached out a clawed hand--

Both girls acted simultaneously. Annie, raising her gun, fired, the shot arrowing in to strike Atharca directly in the chest. He could not defend against it, however, for Krista, in her wrath, somehow summoned the energy for another terrific blast, sending Atharca to slam into the wall nearly five meters behind him, shocked.

Instead of killing him, as it had done to the Del Majeecans, the blast seemed merely to enrage Atharca, and he regained his feet with an expression of utter hatred. As Annie and Krista rushed to Wes's side, encouraging him, Atharca raised both hands. The two girls screamed and Wes cried out as the floor suddenly shook under their feet, nearly tumbling them to the ground.

"Look out!" Annie screamed with a flash of precognition, gesturing for Krista to duck and tackling Wes to the ground. Over their heads, a wall of fire suddenly seared their air, scorching the edges of their tunics.

As Annie pulled Wes to his feet, the Jedi giving her a smile of utmost gratitude, Krista raised her blaster and aimed it at Atharca. Before she could depress the trigger, however, Atharca gestured sharply, and Krista screamed as she was pulled into the air, dropping her blaster in sheer surprise.

With another vicious gesture, Atharca flung the still-airborne Krista into the pit, and the sound of her head colliding with the sacrifice table was audible even across the room. Clearly unconscious, she slid down the table to lie still as death at its feet, a small trickle of blood coming from where her head had hit the table's corner.

"No!" Annie cried out; but, before she could move, a wave of precognition more powerful than any she had ever experienced washed over her, doubling her over with agony. When she finally straightened, her head throbbed, and her nose had started bleeding, but a strange energy coursed through her.

While she had been experiencing her vision, Wes had rallied himself, taking advantage of Atharca's distraction to lunge, intending to run the old man through with his lightsaber. Atharca, however, was ready for him, and batted the Jedi aside like a fly. He landed at Annie's feet just as she straightened.

Annie seemed to move in a dream. Moving even before Atharca began the gesture, she dodged the psychic blow that would have pounded her and Wes into the metal floor. Rolling to her feet again, she rolled forward to evade another lightning-fast blow, then came up with her gun pointed directly in Atharca's face. Point-blank, no more than two feet away, she fired, while Atharca was still finishing his motion.

The blaster bolt hit him directly in the face, and Atharca reeled back, screaming. It was a horrible sound, piercing, and nearly everyone staggered and halted what they were doing to cover their ears while it continued. Atharca clawed at his face where the blaster bolt had struck him, and Annie realized in horror that he was ripping away his own flesh. As he flung fragments of skin around him, his body writhed and spasmed uncontrollably, spine contorting and bones stretching.

When he finally ceased, Atharca was no longer the bespectacled little old man of before. Now he was a towering giant of a man, ebony-skinned with eyes of flame. As she still crouched, panting, in front of Wes, Atharca hissed at her in hatred.

"You'll pay for that, you little bitch," he snarled; and, with no warning from Annie's precognition, Atharca leveled his hands at her, and a wave of malevolent black energy spiraled across the floor, striking her fully in the chest. As she screamed, it threw her backward--and into the waiting arms of Wes, who had stood to aid her if he could. Groaning with pain, she slumped within his arms, fighting not to pass out as Wes stroked her hair, murmuring to her soothingly.

Cradling her as gently as he could in one arm, Wes raised his lightsaber with his other arm just in time to catch Atharca's next attack on his lightsaber blade. Face contorted with concentration, Wes deflected a few shots from Atharca's blaster before Annie could stand on her own again. As she staggered away, still dizzy, Wes moved to stand between her and Atharca, lightsaber raised in grim determination and face coldly set.

Then, out of nowhere, Wes staggered suddenly, his face white. Stunned, he raised a hand to his smoking side, then glanced in confusion at Atharca, who had not even raised his blaster. Horrified into silence, Annie whirled to shoot the wraith that had crept up behind them, shooting the Jedi while his back was turned.

Ahead of her, Wes maintained his stance for only a moment before he staggered to his knees, clutching his side in agony. Heedless of any danger to herself, Annie rushed to his side, dropping to her knees as well. Atharca, laughing in sheer delight at this unexpected boon, moved toward them with malevolent intent.

Danielle, still helping Dru fight Palpatine with little success, cried out when she saw Wes sink to his knees. Leaving Dru to fight Palpatine alone, Danielle bolted across the room to where Annie still knelt by Wes, undefended. Raising her own lightsaber, Danielle deflected the fierce volley of shots Atharca aimed at the fallen Jedi, then stepped forward, grimly.

"Give it up, girl," Atharca laughed. "You could not defeat me before, when you had a Jedi to aid you. You could not defeat Palpatine, who is by far my lesser in combat. What do you hope to achieve now?"

Danielle simply raised her lightsaber and met his eyes over the green blade, feeling the Force sing through her. "I won't let you hurt them, Atharca."

"We shall see," he purred in reply; then, with no further warning, he thrust his hands forward, and Danielle threw herself aside barely in time to dodge a blast of dark energy.

Across the room, battle raged everywhere. Annie, crouched over the fallen Wes, was forced to defend herself against two more wraiths, seeking to finish off a wounded foe. Dru was a skilled Jedi, but she was no match for Palpatine, and even as she fought him some of his dark Force lightning snuck past her guard and struck the Jedi, making her cry out in pain. On the other side of the pit where Krista still lay motionless, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul battled fiercely, and Obi-Wan and Laura continued to duel.

Danielle raised her own hand and concentrated, using the Force to barely block a huge metal girder that Atharca had flung at her. Casting it aside, she wearily raised her lightsaber again as, with an evil smile, Atharca spread his hands, flames crackling at his fingertips. Eyes dancing with delight, Atharca gathered his hands together to form a ball of flame in front of him. Danielle merely braced herself, not knowing what she could do against such a threat.

It was impossible to say who was more shocked when a gargantuan roar split the air. Atharca barely had time to turn before Sweetums was upon him, the force of his leap knocking Atharca to the floor and his massive jaws at Atharca's throat. With a yipping howl, he bent to sink his teeth into Atharca's flesh, but the howl turned into a yowl of pain as Atharca somehow flung the great beast from him. Sweetums struck the wall so hard that Danielle could hear the snap as several of his bones shattered, and Atharca continued to pump streams of black energy into him.

Sweetums gave a feeble twitch, turning so his many eyes could gaze on his beloved Danielle. He gave one last faint, mournful yip . . . then fell motionless, his eyes dimming forever.

"No," Danielle whispered, voice choked with horror. "No . . . Sweetums!"

Grinning, Atharca turned to face her--and found himself confronted with a cold hatred like none he had ever seen before.

Rage pounding through her veins and making it difficult for her to see straight, Danielle threw herself at Atharca, unable to think of anything but killing the monster before her. Her lightsaber screamed in her hands as she wielded it with deadly expertise, effortlessly deflecting Atharca's shots even as she dodged his blasts of energy. A deadly blur of focused hatred, Danielle moved closer and closer to Atharca, closing in.

At last, Atharca desperately summoned another wave of flame and flung it at Danielle. Instead of dodging to one side, she threw herself forward to that it scorched overhead, and she came to her feet a handsbreadth from Atharca. Before he could recover from his shock, Danielle lifted her lightsaber--and shoved it hilt-deep into his gut.

Atharca choked, his skin rippling, and a faint trickle of blood came from his mouth. For a brief moment as Danielle held her lightsaber, motionless, she thought she had killed him--then, with a scream of rage, Atharca shoved her away, knocking her lightsaber from her hand. With one hand he sent it to fling itself against the wall, where it shattered; with the other, he bent down and picked Danielle up by the throat. As she kicked and squirmed, clawing desperately at his hand, he brought her close enough to whisper in her ear, "And for that, my little Jedi, you die."

As Danielle stared, horrified, Atharca opened his mouth, his jaw dropping--and it kept dropping, sagging until his mouth stretched nearly a foot long, teeth and jaws elongating horribly. With a terrible wheezing noise, he sucked inward--and Danielle started to scream.

A bright haze appeared around Danielle, and as Atharca's jaw continued to sink impossibly lower, the strange light began to stream out of her, spiraling into Atharca's open mouth. As Danielle struggled ever more weakly, her soul drained from her own flesh and into Atharca's yawning maw. At last, she fell motionless within his grasp, and still Atharca continued to drink of her essence.

A shot pierced the air, sending Atharca staggering, and in his shock he dropped Danielle. Annie, again with pinpoint accuracy, had seen what was happening and desperately tried to stop him; but the shot merely wounded Atharca, and once he had recovered he laughed richly. It was too late; on the floor, Danielle lay like a discarded rag doll, her skin as pale as porcelain and her lips tinted blue. Her eyes, wide open still, were glazed, and horribly drained of color.

"Danielle!" Annie screamed, then to Atharca, "You bastard!"

Across the room, another scream echoed Annie's own, and she turned to see Laura suddenly stagger to a stop. Obi-Wan barely managed to a divert a blow that, with her guard lowered, would have bisected Laura as she stared blankly at her fallen friend.

Still slack-featured and expressionless, Laura whispered, with little recognition, "Danielle." Then, her eyes beginning to clear, she whispered again, "Danielle!" and sank to her knees, retching. As Obi-Wan stared in amazement, she knelt a moment, gasping for air, then staggered dizzily to her feet, her eyes clear once more. "What--where--?"

Her roaming eyes settled on Danielle, and once more she saw what had broken her free of Palpatine's trance: Danielle, motionless at Atharca's feet. Hatred etching ugly lines in her face, Laura hissed, "Atharca . . ." then whirled to face the others.

"Maul! Qui-Gon! Stop!" she ordered, and amazingly they did. "You are allies, both of you. Maul, do not harm these Jedi, they're our friends. Qui-Gon, this man is a Sith but he is our ally. Put your differences aside. I need all of you to cover me," her eyes gleamed, "while I kill Atharca."

Without even waiting for confirmation, Laura snapped her crimson blade back to her hand and sprinted across the room, aiming straight for the still-laughing Atharca. Just as she reached him, however, Dru suddenly screamed. Palpatine, tiring of toying with her, had drawn a knife from within his robes and slashed at her viciously, opening a long cut from her ribs to her hip.

As Dru collapsed, bleeding profusely, Palpatine gave her a last contemptuous kick and turned. "My Apprentice," he called sharply, stopping Laura mid-stride. As she turned to look at him, he smiled, spreading his hands. "It is time we finished things between us, you and I."

Laura hesitated a moment, shooting a glance of longing hatred at Atharca, then turned to face her Master. "Maul, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, you take care of Atharca," she called across the room, striding slowly toward the Sith. "Palpatine is mine."

Of these, only Maul obeyed her instructions, running to confront Atharca. Qui-Gon rushed to Danielle's side, cradling her in his strong arms and weeping as he murmured apologies and cradled the young woman to him. When a wraith drew nearby, he rose and destroyed it with a single sweep of his lightsaber. Obi-Wan joined Laura, standing at her side as they faced Palpatine together.

Annie finished the bandage she was dressing Wes's side with and tied it firmly. Patting it to make sure it would stay in place, she rose, helping Wes to his feet as well as he hissed in pain. As he raised his lightsaber wearily, Annie fired her blaster at a nearby wraith, only to realize in horror it was out of charge. When Annie dove for a new one, Wes, more exhausted now than ever, moved to defend her.

Annie glanced over her shoulder and saw Maul and Qui-Gon facing Atharca, and pointed. "Help them," she told Wes. "I'm going to go see if I can help Krista."

Reluctantly, the wounded Jedi agreed, sparing a horrified glance at the fallen Dru as he moved to aid the others. Annie sprinted across the room and jumped the stairs into the pit, rushing to Krista's side where she tried, to no avail, to rouse her friend.

Laura and Obi-Wan merely waited as Palpatine watched them, yellowing eyes gleaming with delight. "Ah, now this is a moment to be treasured," he purred, smiling broadly. "My Apprentice intends to complete her journey to the Dark Side by rising up and slaying her Master, and a promising young Jedi may corrupt himself as well attempting to aid her."

"You are wrong on both counts," Obi-Wan shot back. "This young woman is free of your control, and you will never turn me to the Dark Side."

Palpatine raised an amused eyebrow. "Is that so, young Jedi? Well, we will see." And, almost negligently, he raised his hands, sending a blast of blue-black lightning at Obi-Wan. With uncharacteristic skill, however, Obi-Wan merely straightened his blade, catching all of the Dark Force energy on it.

When his attack on Obi-Wan proved fruitless, Palpatine turned to Laura, who raised her own lightsaber warily. "Free of my command, now, are you?" he asked tauntingly. "Hmm. Apprentice, hear me and obey! I demand your service!"

Laura went rigid, fighting the command, as Obi-Wan backed away from her in sudden wariness. For a moment Laura stood motionless; then, eyes blazing, she seemed to shrug the command aside. "No, Palpatine," she hissed. "I obey you no longer."

Rage burning in his eyes, Palpatine attacked without warning, sending blasts of Dark energy at both of them. Obi-Wan caught it on his blade again as Laura jumped aside, but he followed this attack with a psychic shove that sent Obi-Wan sprawling. As Laura leapt to defend him, Palpatine thundered, "Apprentice, hear and obey!"

With a gasp, Laura clapped her hands to her ears, trying to block out the words. As Obi-Wan leapt to his feet, Palpatine made another gesture, and suddenly Laura was clutching at her throat, writhing and gurgling as an invisible hand crushed her windpipe.

"No," Obi-Wan said, staring at the struggling girl. "What are you doing to her? Leave her alone!" When Palpatine ignored him, focused on killing Laura, Obi-Wan suddenly lunged, his lightsaber scoring the old Sith's arm. Palpatine screamed in hatred and pain, releasing Laura to fall to the floor, clutching her throat and wheezing. Dancing back, Obi-Wan glared defiance. "Fight me instead, if you can."

Eyeing him distastefully, Palpatine's lips suddenly curved into a wicked smile. "You know, my young Jedi, I don't think I shall kill you after all. You will make a fine replacement for my apprentice if I must kill her." He glanced sweetly at the rigid Jedi. "Now, brace yourself; this might hurt a little."

Ruthlessly, he extended both hands, and this time the dark lightning snaked around Obi-Wan's lightsaber to sink into the young man's flesh. As he screamed in pain, the force of the blow throwing him backward, Palpatine swatted his lightsaber from his hand, stepping forward. On the floor, Obi-Wan tried desperately to escape the awful pain but could not, his spine arching of its own volition. His limbs, filled with the horrific energy, flailed and thrashed under the unending assault, and he could not stop the unending screams from pouring out of his raw throat.

Suddenly it stopped, and he managed to crack his eye open long enough to see Laura standing between him and Palpatine, her expression torn between hatred and terror.

"Do not toy with me, child," Palpatine said, his voice cold. "I am done with games. If you stand between me and my prey, I will kill you."

Laura stood motionless, then simply raised her lightsaber and saluted him faintly. "By all means, Palpatine, destroy me."

"So be it," he said, sounding almost sorrowful; with a leisurely gesture, he sent forth the dark lightning once more.

This time it was torrential, streaming forth so that even though Laura caught some of it on her blade, more swept around the sear her flesh. This was not lightning meant to agonize or knock unconscious; Palpatine meant to kill her, and as swiftly as possible.

Impossibly, though, Laura did not fall; her booted feet braced against the hard metal floor, she was not knocked backward. Her faced contorted with agony, she instead focused--and took a single, incredibly painful step forward, toward the Sith Lord.

Still the assault continued, the lightning dancing over her and soaking into her flesh, and still Laura took another step forward, feet braced and lightsaber upheld. Palpatine's face held a faint trace of doubt now, but he did not lessen his assault; to the contrary, he strengthened it, leaning forward and baring his teeth as he put as much malevolent energy into his attack as he could.

Still Laura came forward, like an automaton, refusing to fall unconscious or submit to the incredible agony of the Sith's torture. Soon, she drew near enough that Palpatine took a hesitating step backward, wrath and confusion on his face.

"No!" he screamed. "No, it is impossible! You should be dead!"

Laura took one final step toward him, so close now that the black energy cocooned her, reaching in to skitter along her very bones. "Then I'll see you in hell," she said, and thrust her lightsaber forward, plunging it into Palpatine's heart.

Unlike Atharca, Palpatine was mortal, and he screamed as Laura dealt him his death blow. For a horrible heartbeat, the dark energy assault continued; then Laura ripped her lightsaber upward, and with a shattering scream the Sith exploded into a wave of violet light, his very flesh incinerated in the release of the sheer evil it had contained for so long. In the shimmering waves of purple light, it was almost impossible to see the smaller black figure beside it crumple forward to lie motionless atop his empty robes, crimson lightsaber tumbling from a nerveless hand.

On the other side of the room, Maul staggered a step in shock, staring in disbelief at the blackened floor where his Master had once lain. Qui-Gon and Wes, not certain what had transpired, both hesitated . . . but Atharca made a low noise of disbelief. As he froze, all around the room the wraiths under his command froze as well, stricken with their master's shock.

"No," Atharca said, voice rough. "No, this cannot be! The Sith is slain? Impossible!" Backing away from the Jedi facing him, he screamed at them, "It's impossible!"

Suddenly, he emitted a bestial roar, spreading his arms wide. From him issued a blast of power so immense none of his opponents could dodge it; Maul, Qui-Gon, and Wes all went sprawling, clearing the way to the pit. Atharca sprinted past them and leapt down the steps to where Annie was still at Krista's side. Annie rose and drew her blaster, but Atharca backhanded her, knocking her aside. With a rough motion, he picked the still limp Krista up and slammed her atop the sacrificial table. "This farce ends, now!"

Picking up one of the sacrificial knives and holding it aloft, he turned to face the room and his assembled enemies, his face black with rage. "All your efforts have been in vain," he snarled, the humanity slowly draining from his face to reveal a skeletal and altogether horrible countenance underneath. "I have tired of your petty efforts to stop the inevitable. I will kill you all one by one, starting with this girl, and when I have finished, this galaxy and hers will be mine to rule!"

Frothing at the mouth now, he snarled at the Jedi and their allies as they stared back at him in horror. At his feet, flames began to lick up his robes, spreading around him; overhead, the air began to swirl as though stirred by fierce wind, even though they were indoors. As Atharca began to speak, clearly starting the ritual, Qui-Gon, Annie, and Wes rushed forward, knowing they must stop him. The flames from his cloak, however, suddenly rippled out from him, surrounding the sacrificial pit in a wall of white fire, stopping them in their tracks.

Still speaking words in a language none of them recognized, Atharca opened his free hand, and the air above his head darkened, turning into a deep blue-violet maelstrom of power. His raised knife gleaming with its own inner power, Atharca laughed, madness and triumph in the inhuman sound. "And now," he said, grinning, "I shall smite the unworthy, and plunge them into Hell--"

Atharca stopped so suddenly that it took the defenders a moment to realize what had happened. Slowly, his eyes widened in surprise, and his mouth continued to move, emitting a strange croaking noise. "No," he rasped, shocked. Around him, the maelstrom curled within itself and vanished, and the ring of flames surrounding the pit shrank, dimmed. "What--?"

As the onlookers stared, a trickle of blood suddenly dripped from his mouth, rolling down his chin. Dropping the knife, Atharca raised his hands to his face--then his jaw dropped and he emitted a scream that shattered the glass windows of the doors and scorched the metal floor around him. Writhing in agony, his face suddenly shifted to a young woman's, another man's, an alien's. Too quickly to see, the changes continued, his face and flesh whirling through transformations as he arched in agony.

All around the room, the wraiths suddenly echoed his scream, those that still lived crumpling to their knees and writhing themselves. As Atharca continued to scream, white light suddenly seemed to erupt from within him, seeping out of his flesh and escaping in a thousand directions. When the last of the light was gone, Atharca's face and form suddenly snapped into a grotesque alien facade, the swift transformations finally ceasing.

His back arched like a bow, Atharca's scream died out with a long, shuddering gasp . . . and he slumped forward, falling to lie face-down on the scorched metal floor in front of him.

Everyone in the room stared dumbly at the knife protruding from his back, the runes etched into its surface making it the twin of the one that lay dropped at his side. Behind him, Krista's eyes were frozen wide in shock and fear, and one of her hands was still extended to deliver the fatal blow.

Before anyone could even react, all over the room the wraiths made a sudden hissing sigh, like a noise of release. The dead wraiths shifted, suddenly assuming the features that must have been theirs while they lived. The living ones moaned with joy as their own souls and forms were returned to them, and all across the room men and women of all sizes, ages, and species suddenly came to life, clearly weak and disoriented from their long incarceration within the evil Atharca. No sooner had they been restored to their true selves, however, than they all collapsed, lapsing into a deep healing slumber.

Then, into the silence, they heard a familiar yipping howl . . . and a soft cough as Danielle sucked in her first breath. Putting a hand to her head dizzily, she gazed around her with wide brown eyes. "Wh-what . . . ?"

Qui-Gon dove for Danielle as Annie scrambled down into the pit, throwing her arms around Krista. "You did it," Annie sobbed, holding her smaller friend tightly against her, heedless of her injured side. "Krista, you killed him! His own dagger killed him! It's over, thank God it's over!"

Krista, for one of the few times in her life, could think of nothing to say; she simply pressed her face into Annie's shoulder and shuddered her relief, breath coming in hitching sobs.

Qui-Gon pulled Danielle into his arms; she was very bruised and confused but seemingly none the worse for having her soul temporarily removed. Wes, oblivious to his own wound, threw himself to Dru's side, his hands working swiftly to bind the gash on her chest and staunch the bleeding. Maul, without a mark upon him, remained aloofly at the edge of the group, eyeing the Jedi and the newly recovered wraiths with apparent mistrust.

When Krista recovered, Annie helped her off the table, then together they dodged Atharca's corpse and sprinted from the pit. Qui-Gon released Danielle just in time for the two girls to throw their arms around her. "Danielle, you're all right!" Annie wept, as Danielle said, "Krista, you--how--?"

Wes, carrying with difficulty the still-unconscious Dru, joined the huddle, depositing his precious burden carefully on the ground. He clutched his own hurt side as Maul joined them. "Dru is severely wounded, as am I," Wes said through clenched teeth. "We must get to a healer immediately."

"But . . . but . . . everyone else is all right." Danielle looked around her dizzily even as Qui-Gon gathered her into his arms again. "What happened?"

"Krista killed Atharca," Annie explained. "Palpatine--"

Even as she spoke the terrible words, everyone fell silent, realizing the same thing simultaneously. Everyone, that is, except Danielle. Frowning, she asked, "Guys, where's Laura?"

Krista made a sudden strangled noise, and everyone turned to follow her pointing finger. On the opposite side of the pit, in the shadows of the room, a huge scorched circle ringed an empty pool of black robes, from which emitted a noxious smoke. Emerging from the shadows was Obi-Wan, his clothing singed from that same evil blast, his face drained of all color and his blue eyes blazing in his face. Weakened as he was by Palpatine's assault, each step was clearly an effort, but he moved resolutely forward.

Draped in his arms was a figure dressed all in black, completely motionless, dark cloak spilling over his arm and head lolling with each step he took. Like Obi-Wan, her face was white as death, but her eyes were not open.

Laura.

Shocked into silence, the circle parted to let him in, and Obi-Wan ever so gently laid Laura on the metal floor, then drew carefully away. As Darth Maul made a pained noise, Annie, Krista, and Danielle all fell to their knees at her side, speechless with horror.

"Laura," Danielle whispered, not wanting to believe it. Krista began weeping silently, and Annie reached out and took her friend's icy hand in her own.

At this, Laura's eyes slitted open, and she gazed on her friends with surprise. Numb lips barely moving, she whispered, "What happened?"

With Danielle and Krista clearly unable to speak, Annie took it upon herself. "It's over," she said, forcing the words out. "Palpatine and Atharca are dead."

Laura's eyes widened slightly. "Atharca's dead? How?"

"Krista killed him with one of his knives."

Laura grinned weakly at Krista. "All right, Krista."

When Krista couldn't summon a return smile, Annie continued slowly. "All the wraiths are transformed, Danielle's all right . . ." Annie felt her throat closing. "But you . . . Laura . . ."

Laura smiled again, even more faintly. "I've been blasted with Force lightning a few times too many in the past few days," she whispered. "Even Sith can only withstand so much. And when I killed Palpatine . . . the blast . . ." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Obi-Wan was close, too. Is he--?"

"I'm all right," Obi-Wan said soothingly, joining the girls in kneeling at her side. "Thanks to you," he added with unwonted gentleness. It seemed he was at last convinced of her worth, at the end.

"It was truly a heroic thing you did, slaying the Sith," Qui-Gon added unexpectedly. "Never have I seen such courage--and all four of you possess it."

"Thanks for that," Laura said, wry even as she lay dying. "But I killed him . . . and I'm free. At last I'm free of him, forever. And you, Maul," she said, turning to meet the eyes of her fellow apprentice, who stood like one in a dream. "We're free of him and his evil now, always." Her eyes drifted closed, and her voice when she spoke was nearly inaudible. "That is worth any price."

"No," Krista managed at last, reaching out to wrap her arms around her friend's neck, hugging her fiercely. "Laura, please be all right, please . . . We're all safe, we can go home now . . . please be all right . . ."

Laura returned the embrace as best she could, but when Krista released her, she gave a hissed gasp of agony. "I'm afraid," she said haltingly, "that I won't be going home with you."

"No." The word ripped itself from Danielle, forcing her to speak even through the haze of disbelieving agony. To have fought so hard and endured so much, only to lose Laura now, at the last . . . "Laura . . ."

Laura smiled, the expression encompassing all of them in its warmth. "I love you all," she whispered.

Annie clenched Laura's hand so tightly she nearly crushed it; Krista gave a choked sob, putting a hand to her mouth; Danielle looked away, fighting to breathe. All three girls were crying now; around them, the others were motionless with sorrow.

Laura's eyes closed, and did not reopen.

For a moment, no one breathed. Then, someone said, "No no no," and all three girls began to sob, violently. Maul, his alien features twisted into an expression that might be sorrow, turned his face away from his fallen friend, keening deep in his throat. Obi-Wan, stunned, reached out and put a hand on Laura's cheek, fighting his own unexpected grief.

Around them, the other Jedi were silent, acknowledging their sorrow. Then, suddenly, Wes cocked an ear. "Hush," he said suddenly, shocking everyone into silence. "Listen!"

The three girls froze, stilling their tears for a moment. Briefly, they could hear nothing but the echoing emptiness of the motionless room . . .

. . . then, into the stillness, they heard the distinctive tap, tap, tap of a gimmer stick.

Everyone leapt to their feet and stared, slack-jawed, as Yoda stepped over the fallen metal doors that led into the sacrifice chamber, ears swivelling as he surveyed the chaos. "Late am I, it seems," he said, his crackley voice ringing across the room. "Sidetracked by other matters was I. Accept my apologies, you must."

"Master Yoda!" Obi-Wan was the first to find his voice. "What are you doing here?"

Giving the young Jedi a look of disdain, Yoda continued to make his way across the floor to the stunned group. "When told was I that Danielle had sought me, I knew in motion the future was," Yoda said enigmatically. "Great evil, Atharca planned. Stop him I knew I must. So here I journeyed, as swiftly as I could, hmm. But too late am I. Already fought and won, the battle is." He regarded the motley group of heroes with obvious pride. "Done well, you have, all of you. Defeated the evil is."

Danielle glanced at Laura, then looked at Yoda. "Our friend . . ." she began, then choked off, unable to finish.

Yoda looked at Laura, motionless on the floor, and frowned mightly. "Hmm. Touched by great darkness, this one has been. Death I sense in her."

"Can you help her?" Krista blurted.

Yoda stood motionless for an agonizing moment, considering, before he smiled. "Help her I can." As everyone collapsed in sudden hope, chattering and moving, he frowned and smacked the nearest legs with his stick. "No help can I be if move you do not!"

Everyone parted respectfully, allowing the ancient and tiny Jedi Master to hobble to Laura's side. Setting aside his stick, he examined her for a moment, muttering, "hrrmm, hrrmm," several times in his concentration. Finally, he extended his hands a few inches above Laura and closed his eyes, focusing.

All the Jedi could feel the incredible tug on the force as Yoda summoned his considerable power into the girl before him. Slowly, as everyone watched, Laura's skin suffused with a faint glow, and color flushed back into her face. Several minutes later, Yoda's eyes opened and he drew his hands back with a satisfied grunt, retrieving his stick.

On the ground, Laura suddenly sucked in a deep breath, her eyes cracking open to squint uncertainly at the many figures towering over her. "What the hell just happened?" she croaked.

Instead of receiving an answer, Laura was crushed as several people flung themselves bodily onto her, laughing and weeping in joy. For a moment she was invisible under a roiling mass of people; then, at last, she managed to stagger to her feet, heartily confused. "Okay, wasn't I just about to die? What's going on?"

Gazing around, Laura suddenly spotted Yoda gazing at her serenely, and without conscious thought she dropped on one knee. "Master Yoda," she said, cringing slightly away from the diminutive Jedi Master. "I . . ."

He gazed on her coolly for several minutes before smiling. "The Dark Side I sense in you and your companion," he said, nodding to Maul, "but uncorrupted your heart is, and full of courage. Welcome back, young Jedi."

Tears sparkling in her eyes, Laura bowed her head, then instantly flung all decorum to the winds to return to madly hugging her friends. As Yoda turned his attentions to the wounded Dru, Wes kneeling to watch, the uninjured now allowed themselves to celebrate fully. Hugs were exchanged all around and tears of joy flowed freely.

Krista, ever the bravest, was the first to fling her arms around a stunned Darth Maul, and he was startled at first and stiff in her grasp, but eventually patted her hesitantly on the back. When she released him to throw herself on Annie once more, Laura turned to him next, clasping the Zabrak's hands fiercely as she smiled at him brilliantly, whispering something he alone could hear. As Danielle threw herself into Qui-Gon's arms again, Annie hugged the startled Obi-Wan, once again taking advantage of his tangible form and laughing openly at his confusion. When Laura turned and threw her arms around Danielle, the two girls exchanging wordless forgiveness and acceptance, Krista decided there was never a better moment to fling herself at Qui-Gon. As he returned her embrace unashamedly, his guard down for a moment, Krista boldly kissed him on the cheek, something she had been wanting to do for a very long time. Instead of being offended, the Jedi Master laughed and returned the favor, flushing Krista's cheeks with delight.

As Yoda pulled away, finished with healing Dru, Annie went to the side of her Jedi friends, clasping the still-weak Dru's hand and then hugging Wes fiercely. As Danielle wrapped her arms around Sweetums' neck and Krista went to join Annie with Wes and Dru, Laura looked with momentary surprise at the friendly hand Qui-Gon extended. After only a second's hesitation she accepted it, and she and the Jedi shook hands firmly, exchanging nods of mutual respect. When Obi-Wan tapped her on the shoulder, she turned and saw his own hand extended, respect, admiration, and apology dancing in his eyes. Grinning, Laura took his hand and shook it firmly, but when the Jedi would have pulled away Laura yanked him in, throwing her arms around him unashamedly and laughing into his embrace. After a moment's shock Obi-Wan clearly decided what the hell and hugged his newfound ally with equal fierceness, picking her up and swinging her around as they laughed together.

Finally, an impatient Yoda tapped his stick fiercely, bringing order to the rowdy crowd. They quieted immediately, but nothing could quench their triumph or their sense of accomplishment, and every face in the circle that gazed at the tiny Jedi was beaming. Annie and Krista stood with Wes and Dru, Annie supporting Wes quite happily and the injured Krista and Dru leaning heavily on each other. Danielle stood at their side, one arm wrapped around Sweetums' furry neck and her other hand in Qui-Gon's. Obi-Wan stood at his Master's side, and somehow once Laura had entered his embrace she hadn't seemed inclined to leave, so she stood quite happily in the circle of his arms, exchanging mischievous grins with Krista. Beside them stood Maul, clearly still uncertain of his status in this group of warriors but welcoming the camaraderie nonetheless.

"Quiet you must be!" Yoda ordered, and everyone obeyed, looking at him eagerly. "Done well, our four otherworldly visitors have," Yoda said shrewdly, his keen glance picking out each of them. "Much explaining have they to do, but wait until another time, it can."

All four of the girls heaved audible sighs of relief, looking gratefully at Yoda.

"Master Yoda, what is happening with the war?" Qui-Gon, ever the practical one, inquired.

At last, Yoda smiled, gazing at them fondly. "Destroyed or converted all the Sith are. Defeated the evil Atharca is. Without their guidance, collapse the resistance will. Weakened already are they."

"What about Naboo?" Krista asked, fear in her voice. "What happened to Amidala?"

Yoda hrmmmed impatiently and tapped his stick. "Defeated the Trade Federation forces, Amidala has. A powerful leader, that young woman is. Crucial to the war, her victory was."

Krista's eyes closed in relief, knowing that her friends and planet were safe. It was Annie who said, "And . . . the war?"

"Victorious our forces have been. Too weak the resistance was. Already fleeing were they when I received Danielle's message."

"What are you saying?" Laura asked, her eyes huge.

Yoda huffed in seeming impatience, but his eyes gleamed with triumph. "Averted this war has been. Peace in the galaxy there is."

For a heartbeat, everyone seemed to hold their collective breath--then melee erupted once more, the shouts and screams of joy echoing across the room.