This is my last update for a couple of weeks. I'm going on vacation, so hopefully this chapter should tide you over until I get back.

I'm afraid I have developed a case of writer's block. Fortunately, I am just a couple of paragraphs away from completing Chapter 5, so I should be able to post it once I get back. I don't know what happened. Once I started writing the climax (I suck at writing lightsaber duels by the way...oops, did I just reveal a spoiler? Heh-heh...), it's like all the creative juices in my brain dried up. Weird.

Oh, yeah. One more thing. I created a new e-mail address for myself to use while I'm posting stories, so you can send e-mails to me now.

Coruscant - Elan Jorus's Apartment

Men, women, children, and aliens run screaming away from a fiery explosion that swallows them all.

A Duros cries "Mercy!", raises his arms to cover his head, and shrinks away as a blue saber cleaves him in two.

A gray pyramidal device is lying alone on a table. A red light flares within it, growing brighter and brighter…

"Jedi Korr?" Jaden shook herself free of the visions. She found herself lying on the ground outside the apartment. Captain Doris knelt beside her, an anxious look on his face.

"I…" Jaden fought to regain control of her raging emotions. "What happened?"

"You collapsed. I dragged you out of the apartment. Are you all right? Should I call a medic?"

"No need," she replied. She sat up and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, at least we know what the artifact is, now."

"What?" the Bothan asked. "What is it?"

"It's a Holocron."

"I beg your pardon, Jedi Korr. What is a Holocron?"

Jaden sighed. "It's a recording device used by the ancient Jedi. Only trained Force-users can access its knowledge database. The Holocrons used by the Jedi Knights were square in shape, but this one is pyramidal. That, and the dark aura around it, tells me it's Sith."

"But if it is merely a recording device, how could it kill Elan Jorus?"

"Perhaps it had some sort of safeguard against unauthorized access. Holocrons can determine the Force-sensitivity of a being. Perhaps it decided that Elan Jorus was not Force-sensitive and...and killed him."

"Fascinating…" Mika mused. Jaden hesitated over her next question.

"I must ask...what were your feelings as you looked at the Holocron?"

The captain thought for a moment as recalled the event. "A sense of foreboding. I could almost perceive a cloud of darkness around it as I stared at it. And yet I…I wanted to touch it."

Jaden started. Elan Jorus obsessing over the artifact, holding it in his hand…

"Where is the Holocron now?"

"On the table where we first saw it."

She gripped the captain's arm tightly. "Listen to me, captain. It is of the utmost importance that we destroy it as soon as possible."

"Destroy the Holocron? Are you sure that's wise?"

"It's the only thing we can do in order to save as many lives as possible."

"But…but the knowledge contained in there could increase the New Republic's strength a hundredfold…" The Bothan half-turned towards the apartment, a greedy, feral look in his eyes. Jaden had seen that look before, and knew what it meant.

She took a deep breath to slow her racing heart. "I know, Mika, that the dark side of the Force corrupts. I have seen the effects of its seductive power — not just with Elan Jorus, but with my friends as well. Trust me. It's the Holocron that's causing you to feel this way. It has some sort of alluring power that draws you to it. Elan Jorus was known to have an obsession for it. You yourself aren't immune. We can't risk letting anyone else get close to it, lest they suffer Elan's fate."

Doris straightened. "We can handle it."

"No, Mika! That is a lie! You may think you're controlling the dark side, but its power is too strong! It will end up controlling you!"

He shook his head. "You want the power for yourself."

"No! I want to destroy it!" As soon as she said the words, she regretted them instantly. Doris's eyes grew wide.

He pulled out his blaster and pointed it at her. "You would deny the New Republic a great source of power."

"It is powerful, Mika, but it is from the wrong place!"

"I can't let you do this." He shot her. Red spikes burst in Jaden's vision as the pain registered. Everything went black.

Touch was the first sense that Jaden regained. A roaring fire that resonated throughout her whole body, especially her side.

Sound. A moan echoed through the air. It took Jaden a few moments to realize that it was the wind rushing through the alley.

Sight came next. The blue Coruscanti sky was a mere speck above her; the skyscrapers rose up ominously on all sides.

Memories came flooding back. Talking with Elan's wife, the Holocron lying on the table, Mika pulling out his blaster and shooting her…

Mika! Painfully, Jaden tried to sit up, but she was unable to do so. She tried the other alternative; rolling over on her stomach and pushing up on her hands and knees. Jaden did the former successfully, but rising to her knees was too difficult. Jaden whimpered in pain.

The Force. Of course. Jaden drew on the healing power of the light and felt the pain ebb enough for her to crawl to the apartment door.

"Mika?" she gasped as she gripped the doorframe and looked inside. There was no one in the front room. Jaden could not sense his presence, but something was very wrong.

She climbed to her feet very slowly, clutching her side. "Captain Doris?" No response.

Jaden staggered to the back room, and it was there that she found Mika Doris.

Dead. Burnt inside out, just like Elan Jorus.

Jaden swallowed hard. "Mika…" She turned away from the grisly spectacle.

The Holocron was still on the table where they had first found it. It appeared to be inactive, but Jaden could sense the dark aura around it. It felt like…an animal. Waiting to pounce on its prey.

Jaden Korr…

Jaden trembled.

I sense your presence. You are strong in the Force.

I know that you desire the knowledge I hold. You could end the corruption within the Republic.

Jaden saw a vision of herself. She stood proudly in the Senate chamber. Her cold stare and ebony-black eyes betrayed her new allegiance. Around her, the corpses of the senators and their assistants lay dead.

You are worthy to hold my knowledge. I give it to you. Freely. Just reach out and take it.

Sweat rolled down Jaden's face and into her clothing. The darkness was overwhelming. She wanted to touch it. Oh, so badly. But she only had to remember Tavion and Ragnos in order to see that it would kill her, and many others besides, if she assimilated its knowledge. The only thing she knew of to avoid the artifact's powers was to run.

So she ran.