Echoes of the Past

Estellio

Rating: Pg-13 (T)

Summary: Luke watches as an all too familiar pattern unfolds. Fear, love, anger, hate, death. Can he learn from his mistakes and stop what is happening or is the past doomed to be repeated and the republic plunged back into war?

A/N: Sorry I took so long to post this, I have no internet connection at the moment and had to come into a café not to mention carious commitments that dragged me kicking and screaming away from my computer. But I'm back and no, furry fur, I don't think I'll stop this fic yet though I have been getting a lot of writers block concerning it. Well, I'm back and here's the next chapter. If you read it then please review so I know that people out there are actually reading it and maybe even liking it. I'm sorry, I'm a review whore and I'm shameless about it.

IOIOIO

A dark haze covered Ryan's senses and left him in a realm between conscious and unconsciousness. Try as he might he couldn't claw his way to the surface and the force was but a dim light, far, far away. He had been knocked unconscious before, falling objects, booby trapped chests, grenades, blasters, you name it…but never before had he experienced this. He could feel his body, he knew it was there, but the limbs felt like lead and every second he was slipping further and further into the smothering darkness. A cold feeling encompassed his being, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long, long time. Fear. All thoughts in his mind became jumbled in a miasma of panic but one stood out, one too logic and terrifying to be ignored.

Is this what it feels like to be dead?

He floundered like this for a few moments before his long abandoned Jedi training kicked in and drawing upon it he ordered his thoughts, discarding all illogical and unhelpful notions like he was dead. The very fact that he could feel his body and still retained cognitive thought forced him to believe he wasn't dead but merely heavily sedated. Granted, this had never happened when he was sedated before but there were some similarities. The blocking of the force, the awareness of his body but inability to move his limbs and the darkness…but these sensations only occurred as he was waking up and he didn't appear to be regaining any abilities at all. He tried to think and focus but he realised more sedative was being added to his system and it wouldn't be long before he succumbed once again to oblivion. His options were limited but somehow he knew that help would come if only he could concentrate a little harder, reach for that white light far away that pulsed with energy and life. This darkness wasn't as empty as it seemed, it was just another plane of existence. The emptiness his mind could go to, leaving the burdens of the body behind so that he could concentrate. His Master had told him about this, a plane all Jedi reached for as they meditated, when they became just that much closer to the force. It was said you were sent there moments before you died and all you had to do was reach for the light and embrace it, become one with the force.

I'm not dead yet.

Ryan snarled in his own mind and reached for the light, fear still nipping at the edges of his mind with oblivion close on its heels. One word exploded forth from his mind, all his need behind it as he grasped the light and shouted into the darkness. One word that could save or condemn him.

MASTER!

IOIOIO

Luke moved through the Senatorial Palace almost as if he belonged there amidst the various Ambassadors and Senators that made up the Senate. His meeting with Leia had proved quite interesting and this 'Empire' movement she had heard about was beginning to worry Luke a great deal. As head of the Senate she would be the next target after this radical movement had seized enough power. Whoever it was that was pulling the strings must be powerful indeed to pull off such a feat in a short length of time and Luke had no leads on who was behind this at all. He had been sensing small disturbances in the force recently and they had been growing steadily. He was almost sure it had something to do with the movement but answers eluded him at every turn and he found himself facing nothing but dead ends.

"Oh Ben, I just don't know what to do." He sighed, leaning up against the wall outside one of the offices. A strange wave of vertigo hit him causing him to stumble. That wasn't a slight tremor in the force at all, that was a very, very big disturbance. Ahead of him he saw the doors burst open and Mara Jade flew out, her feet moving so fast it almost looked as if she was flying. She ran straight past Luke, ignoring him and igniting her lightsaber as she ran, slicing open locked door at the end of the corridor and deflecting the blasts of the guards stationed in the room.

"What the hell is she doing." Luke mused aloud, looking at his wife, her hair still flame red after all these years. He didn't think that even he, the Grand-Master of the Jedi order could still move like she was, her lightsaber spinning wildly and her hand outstretched as she channelled the force, sending chairs and desks flying around the room knocking the guards away. Once they were dealt with she moved onto the next door and sliced away the lock. "MARA! MARA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Luke shouted, racing down after her.

"They have my Padwan!" She snarled. "I must go to him, they're holding him captive."

"Mara, you haven't had a Padawan since…Ryan?" She kicked open the door and was greeted with a less than happy sight. Three Droideka turned to face them, guns outstretched and shields humming loudly with a blue luminescence. "I hope you know what you're doing, beloved." Luke said, drawing his lightsaber as the droids opened fire.

IOIOIO

"Talen." Risha called, staring at the young guard levelly. "Talen." She called again, trying to draw his attention away from the binders secured firmly around his wrists that he was struggling with. Again he ignored her. "TALEN!" She shouted at last, causing his head to snap up.

"What!" Talen snarled, looking up at Risha with his teeth bared and a determined set to his face.

"You've been trying to free yourself from these binders for the last hour and all you've managed to do is make your wrists bleed. Stop." He shot her a dirty look and looked down at his bruised wrists. Ariot lay slumped against the plating over to one side, her mouth hanging agape and drool slowly edging its way down her chin. The blow Wagga had dealt to the back of her head knocked her our cold and she had been lying motionless for the last few hours. "Think she's alright?" Risha asked, regarding Ariot's prone figure.

"She's fine." Talen growled, beginning to struggle with his binders again.

"Talen, stop it!" Risha snapped, growing impatient with the young officer.

"With all due respect Senator, I don't take orders from you."

"No, your CO is currently out for the count in a charming position over there and if I know Ariot she'd have already smacked you by now, now stop it. You'll only end up hurting yourself more and you need yourself to be in top condition if we're to escape from this blasted Gungan's captivity." She looked up at the binders on her wrists that were lashed to the netting above her, then over at Ariot.

"You have an idea?" Talen asked, his tone thick with sarcasm.

"As a matter of fact…yes. Can you reach Ariot's boots with your feet." She asked. Talen looked confused.

"I'll try." He shifted his weight onto one hip and reached out with his leg, catching Ariot by the ankle and causing her to slip down, her full body weight hanging on the binders and causing her lax hands to go white.

"Oh no, she's cut of circulation to her hands. We have to get her to regain consciousness then she can take out the tools in her boots." Talen looked up at her, catching onto what Risha was planning.

"But these are her dress boots, not her regular ones, I've never seen these ones before, they mightn't be in her boot and even if they are I have no idea how to get to them." There was some shifting in the netting behind them and a small head popped out.

"I can. The Gungan didn't tie me up." The young woman they had seen earlier in the cargo hold before Wagga appeared and had disappeared soon after was apparently back and in a very advantageous position.

"Prop her up, she's cut off circulation to her hands."

"I heard ya the first time." She said, slipping through the netting and walking over to Ariot, propping her up before she knelt down and pulled off her boots. She searched the insides first then examined the outside for any catches that would reveal a hidden compartment but found nothing. "Sorry, I got nothing."

"Frisk her, Ariot is as paranoid as a Hutt." Talen said, watching with interest as the girl opened Ariot's jacket and felt around the pockets then pulled up her shirt to check she didn't have a harness on. She efficiently patted down Ariot's legs and shook her head. "Nope…hold still, I have an idea." She reached inside her dark brown robe and when her hand emerged it held a lightsaber.

"Where did you get that?" Risha asked. She had seen countless crystals and hilts in Ryan's workshops but not completed sabres.

"I'm a Jedi. I was sent to do recon. We like to keep tabs on our rouges. When you arrived I stowed away on the ship, hoping to avoid detection but then you took off. Don't worry, I'll have you out in a jiffy, just hold still."

"We've been here nearly two hours, why didn't you help us before." Talen asked sourly, pulling at the binders that were lashed to the floor between his outstretched legs. The young woman looked at him and sniffed.

"Please, I was supposed to avoid detection…That and when I dove for cover a crate fell on top of me and knocked me out clean. I only came around a few minutes ago and had to move the crate off me as silently as possible." She ignited the blue blade and reached forward, her lightsaber carefully cutting through the middle of Risha's binders before she moved to Talen's. "Should I cut down the sleeping one?" She asked, deactivating her lightsaber in case Wagga returned and saw its light.

"We better cut her down and see what we can do to help her. That blow she took has let her out for the count." Risha moved to Ariot and held her up while the Jedi took hold of the lock and closed her eyes. There was a loud click and the binders snapped open. Ariot tumbled gracelessly into Risha's arms and caused them both to fall to the floor with a loud thump.

"Why didn't you do that with our binders instead of cutting us?" Talen snapped, rubbing his scored wrists.

"Why don't you shut up?" The woman snapped and moved to Ariot. "What happened?"

"She was blaster whipped across the back of the head, can you do something?" Risha asked, propping Ariot back up against the bulk head beneath the crate laden nets.

"I'll try." The woman said and placed her hand against Ariot's forehead. Immediately she pulled away with a gasp, cradling her hand against her chest as if burnt. "Pull down the neck of her shirt!" She demand angrily and Talen happily reached forward, yanking the neck down to reveal her dark grey vest and a large expanse of sternum. Cradled there, attached to a length of braided leather, was a uncut, silvery crystal. "I thought as much. Dead rock. Why would she have dead rock around her neck, that'll cut her life span in half!"

"What's dead rock?" Talen asked, finally focusing on the crystal and not her cleavage.

"It is a type of crystal, only found in the old Outer rim, in a small dead planet completely crystallised. It's core is dead and it's mainly just a floating rock but the crystal that's there is…dead. Some horrible catastrophe must have happened that wiped out all the life on the planet and left only the crystal. The crystal…it absorbs the force. Kills the mediclorians but every living thing has mediclorians so exposure to it, even this small amount, over a length of time will slowly kill you. Why would she wear such a thing?" Risha looked up, a sad look in her eyes.

"Ariot doesn't like Jedi. I don't know why. Maybe she wears it as a sort of…protection against them." The Jedi nodded.

"Yes, it would dull the effects of any force used against her and drain force energy. She doesn't need it." The Jedi reached out and grabbed it, trying to pull it away but the cord was too thick and she ended up just snapping Ariot's head forward, waking her. Ariot immediately jerked away, holding the crystal to her chest protectively and snarling at the Jedi.

"Stay the heck away from me!" She shouted and immediately Talen and Risha shushed her. It was too late, Wagga heard and burst into the back room, his blaster at the ready. He fired but the Jedi ignited her sabre and deflected the shot off into the crates netted against the walls before force pushing him away and pinning him there. He began to choke, trying to clasp at his throat but his hands were held tight and he soon fell unconscious. The Jedi walked away, stepping over his slumped body and into the cockpit. "Why is my shirt ripped?" Ariot asked, examining the ripped collar of her loose shirt. "And why are my boots off?"

"Jedi did it." Talen said, blushing and looking away. Risha gave him a withering look and stood.

"I'm going to go out see what she's doing."

"How'd she even get on board?" Ariot snarled and Risha stopped before Wagga's body, turning to face her.

"She stowed away in the ship to avoid detection and ended up getting carried along for the ride. She was checking up on Ryan. The Order like to keep tabs on their rouges." Ariot nodded slowly.

"What does that have to do with my necklace? Why did she want to remove it?"

"She said it was dead rock, that it kills mediclorians and would half your life span. She just wanted to help." Talen said, slipping his arms around her. She shrugged him off, earning a stern glare.

"Don't." She warned and turned back to Risha. "Don't trust her. The Jedi Order don't send people to spy on rouges. She's not here to keep tabs on Ryan, that's one thing sure and certain."

"Then why is she here?" Risha challenged.

"I don't know, not yet, but I'll find out. Make sure she doesn't change our course heading." Ariot got to her feet, rubbing her hands. "What happened to my hands, they feel so weird." Risha stepped over Wagga's body and moved to the cockpit. Talen got up and took Ariot's binders, binding Wagga's hands to the netting above him in his sitting position and giving him a stern punch across the face.

"That's for my split lips you stupid Gungan." He snarled, running his tongue over his lips. He tuned back to Ariot and saw her sitting against the bulkhead, staring off into space. "What is it?"

"Something is wrong…something is wrong about this whole thing. How would she know what dead rock is? That's classified material. Only a handful of people know about it not to mention the fact that Jedi generally don't use the force to choke people into unconsciousness. What if she's not a Jedi…what if she's a…"

"Ariot, if the next word out of your mouth is Sith I'll smack you. The Sith Order was destroyed, both Sidious and Vader were killed. There are only ever two Sith at any one time."

"Luke still lives, Vaders son." Ariot said sourly. "If you ask me the whole Jedi Order is corrupt." Talen reached down and helped her up.

"I'll make it a note not to ask you then. They're not all bad…pompous pains in the ass but people feel safer knowing they're around. Come on, let's keep an eye on our new guest."