Death of the Heart

Rick swung his sword with all his strength. It did little to his opponent's body due to their thick armour, but there was now a deep dent in the armour pushing into the side of their chest. Without a second thought, Rick swung again and severed the man's head.

By this time, the two couples he'd past on his way her had realized there was a fight happening, and had come to join him, Hector, and two other men who had shown up not long after the group of attackers had appeared. That equaled eight against about two dozen.

"Rick! Behind you, mate!" Kail shouted as he danced around the four swords he was being attacked by, (two warriors) in the way his mother had taught him. Rick ducked as the man in front of him stabbed and it went right into the throat of the attacker behind him.

Padme, despite not being able to use the Force, was a living weapon. She didn't even need the two hand-made short swords; her fists and boots were dangerous enough as she ducked, kicked, punched, jabbed and side-stepped around her opponents, taking on three at once.

Kevin and Rain were fighting back to back, not because they were surrounded, but because they fought well back to back, not letting anyone sneak up on them; as well as being able to take out any who came with a meter of them as they continued to rotate.

Short version – despite their youth, the five Jedi were a force to be reckoned with as they tore through the Garcia warriors, leaving a scattering of corpses in their wake.

Finally, there were none left, and Rick leaned on his swords for support, a dozen small cuts on his face and a long gash on his waist. Well, that would teach him to get some armour before entering the next battle without the Force. It was time to get out his Mandalorian armour again.

Kail and Padme looked up as Rain walked in. Unlike the cabin where the girls were staying, (where none of the boys were permitted) anyone could walk into the boy's cabins.

"Something wrong…?" Padme asked.

Rain shook her head. "Not, wrong, exactly." She said. "Just… hard too do something about."

"What is it?" Kail asked.

"Kevin's birthday is in less then a week." Rain said quickly. Kail's and Padme's jaws dropped.

"What do you want us to do about it?" Padme asked. Less then a second later she said, "Yes, I won!" Kail looked down at the Pazaak game. She had indeed won – they'd both already won two games, and Kail had exhausted his side deck, meaning he could do nothing when he added the eight to fourteen.

Rain did not seem to notice this little exchange, as she simply continued the original conversation. "I need your help to give him a kind of birthday party. Except maybe not a party…I don't know, I'll check with some of the woman in the village, see what they can tell me about birthdays."

With that, she turned and left the cabin as if she'd not meant to go in. "Ever get the feeling she's hiding something?" Kail asked.

"She has seemed reluctant to be around us without Kevin lately." Padme agreed. "So, let's add this up. I've beaten you in the last six games; you owe me a new lightsaber part for each of them."

"Yes, my lady-queen." Kail mock-bowed and stayed down when, Padme threw her inactive lightsaber hilt at him; "Gamorrean sister!"

"Monkey-lizard!"

"Boar-wolf!"

The insults continued until they'd both exhausted the vocal chords, at which point they sat down and began playing Pazaak again.

Rick found the Ebon Hawk where they'd left it, and was thankful it was still there, considering all the rain they'd had in the past week. According to Hector, the rain was common, but not so much that they had six days in a row of nothing but torrential downpours.

Many townsfolk believed the Force could be used to manipulate the elements, and that the Garcia where using the Force to weaken their defences.

That belief certainly explained Victor's dislike of the Jedi, which made it all the more necessary to quickly find what it was Alison had come here for; and leave as soon as possible.

After half-an-hour of going through the war zone that Kail, Kevin and Rick claimed looked liked a wardrobe; Rick finally found his Ceremonial Mandalore Armour. It was not the armour of the actual Mandalore; Rick wouldn't receive that until, one: he was at least eighteen, and two: he could defeat his father in single combat. Neither of which wouldn't be happening for at least a year.

That was if he returned. At all…

Until then, he would've worn the Ceremonial Mandalore Armour, the armour of Mandalore's most trusted general. That would've being the key word.

He could've laughed at his situation; he'd left Dxun to avoid fighting, and so far almost all he'd done was fighting: first they'd had to battle their way off Tatooine, then on Derallia they'd battled 'the Master' and his apprentice Jaden.

On Manaan they'd had another close encounter with the Disciple, and now, on Myrkr they'd landed right in the middle of s civil war.

Donning the Ceremonial Armour, Rick went to the refresher – the only place on the Ebon Hawk with a mirror – and looked himself up and down. Despite the fact his father had had the armour custom made by Suvam Tam, Rick saw that it no longer suited his tastes – when he'd left Dxun, it may have, but no longer. Sighing, he removed the armour, placed it in a footlocker with an impenetrable code (unless you were Padme), and headed toward the exit of the 'Hawk.

As he passed the communications room, he saw that a message had come through (though with the weather they'd been having, it surprised Rick that it was anything more then static). He hit a few buttons, and the message came through.

Three words was all that came through; "It is time." It was an audio message, so Rick didn't see the face – but he had an idea of who might.

One of two people: Kail may get a vision if he heard the message, and, if that failed, Rick might ask Torne to see if he could make one of his sketches.

The Handmaiden sat in the Cargo Hold, as she usually did. Only this time, she was not practicing Echani fighting forms; the last of the Handmaiden's was meditating, trying to focus on the Force as Biggs had taught her earlier that day.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not seem to focus; could not feel the Force as Biggs explained it. 'It is like opening your eyes and seeing for the first time…" He had whispered, and then had a look of anguish on his face, as if remembering something best forgotten. "…and to lose it is to lose oneself, like waking and finding yourself without sight, sound or smell."

"You still can't get it?"

The Handmaiden looked up. He had come so close to her without her knowing – normally it was impossible to get near her without her knowing; to get close to her at all. And yet he had done it. He had broken her shields; broken down the walls she had built; and it was him for whom she had broken her oaths to Atris.

The Handmaiden shook her head. "It is there, I can sense it, but to hold it…" She sighed, and shook her head again. "…it is easier to try to hold the wind."

Biggs smiled, and sat down in front of her, crossing his legs. He then pulled a small, shiny white stone out of the pocket of his Padawan robes, and placed it between them.

'The crystal is the heart of the blade' The Handmaiden looked up. That voice – she'd heard it somewhere, she was sure of it.

"Close your eyes." He said softly, as if he hadn't heard the voice. The Handmaiden gave him a quizzical look. "Close you eyes." He repeated, a bit firmer. The Handmaiden obeyed, closing her eyes, choosing to ignore the voice for now.

"Good, now picture the crystal in your mind's eye. Can you see it? Don't speak; just nod your head if you can." She nodded, after a moment or two, and it seemed forced. That was good.

It meant she was separating from the physical, allowing herself to become one with the Force.

'The heart is the crystal of the Jedi.' Again, the voice, where was it coming from?

"Now focus on a colour, fill the crystal with that colour until it glows too bright to look at."

The Handmaiden gave a slight nod, showing she understood. For a few moments, nothing seemed to happen. Then the crystal that sat between them showed a faint silver glow. The silver slowly changed to a pale pink, and grew brighter, and the colour darkened slightly into a bright magenta.

Then it began to rotate, spinning anti-clockwise, first slow, then faster, and faster until it was nothing but a bright magenta blur, its light dancing off the walls of the Cargo Hold.

"Now, open your eyes, slowly, and keep your focus on the crystal." Biggs whispered in his gentle voice. The Handmaiden obeyed, slowly opening her eyes. She gasped in amazement when she saw the reaction her thoughts had had on the crystal. She lost focus on it, and it stopped spinning. But the colour remained.

'The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.' And suddenly, she recognized the voice.

"I…I don't understand." The Handmaiden whispered.

"You bonded the crystal." Biggs said. "I carried it with me for years trying to get a reaction from it, but all I could do was levitate it into the air." His gaze flickered to the crystal for a second, then back to the Handmaiden. "But it reacted too you, it reacted to your connection to the Force."

"But I don't understand. I've been trying so hard for hours to feel the Force, how did it work this time?" The Handmaiden asked.

"My old Master used to tell me that the Force does not respond to hard work, or orders, and that it cannot be controlled." Biggs said. "A Jedi could want to use the Force, could focus on using it, for days and get nothing. You have to let the Force come to you, in its own way."

He looked at the crystal. "Your crystal represents your heart, your power. It is best to keep it near."

'The Force is the blade of the heart.' Arren Kae spoke to her daughter through the Force.

"I knew someone once, who had bonded a crystal to herself much in the same way as you have, though she did it on purpose." Biggs looked at the Handmaiden for a moment, as if sensing her mother's voice through her.

Then he continued, "But she lost the crystal along with her lightsaber in a battle against a Sith warrior. He gave the lightsaber to his Master as a trophy, and the Sith Master used the crystal to corrupt the Force with the Jedi, forcing her to the Dark Side through her bond." Biggs closed his eyes for a moment, as if another unwanted memory had surfaced.

'All are intertwined: The crystal, the blade, the Jedi.' Biggs opened his eyes. Was it possible that he…? No, he couldn't have heard her voice.

"Be careful not to lose it. Having a crystal bonded to you enhances your Force connection like…" He thought for a moment.

The Handmaiden had noticed that Biggs likes to use poetic examples a lot of the time. "…imagine a river flowing into a lake. Well, your Force connection is the river, and the crystal is the parting that opens you up further into the lake that is the Force."

"'You are one.'" Biggs said this as Arren Kae's voice spoke, and he smiled. So he had heard the voice.

Rick returned to the boys cabin to find Torne and Kevin both pushing again the steel doors, trying to get in. Rick increased his pace. "What's happening?" He called as he got nearer.

"We're not sure." Kevin said, stepping away from the door for a moment. "But whatever it is, Kail and Padme are both locked inside, and we've heard a lot of fighting noises inside – I doubt they've had an argument that's gone that far, so that leaves one thing."

"Someone's attack them." Rick said. As soon as he said it, he suddenly realized how quiet the village had gone. He looked around. Past the barricades, he saw the glimmer of stealth shields in the afternoon sun.

He turned quickly to Torne. "Sound the alarm; there are at least two dozen Garcia on the other side of the barricade, and they're closing the distance pretty damn quickly."

Torne didn't argue. He turned on his heel and raced off to the center of the town; Victor could often be found there, and he was the only one, except maybe Mia, who could sound the alarm.

Then he and Kevin turned to the door, and began to try and push it open, just as they heard a loud and anguished shout from inside.

"No!" Kail shouted. It was too late; the assassin's vibrodagger struck home, the bloodied point sticking out of Padme's back. The Zabrak girl jerked backwards from the force of the dagger penetrating her chest.

Time seemed too slow for Kail as she fell back, landing on the hard wood floor of the boys' cabin in slow motion.

But he didn't have time to run to her side, to try and save her. There was still three assassin's standing, one holding a short sword, one holding a vibrodagger, and one seemingly unarmed.

The one with the dagger raised her arm, and threw the dagger at Kail so fast it was almost impossible to know she'd done it, except that he had the Echani ability to perceive events before they happened. Not very well, but enough to keep him alive.

One of his vibroswords hit the daggers head on, sending it flying back at its owner. The unarmed one, who seemed to be the leader, moved so fast even Kail's battle precognition had trouble locking onto him, and caught the dagger just as the door behind Kail burst open.

It was at his throat almost before Rick, Kevin and two of the village warriors stepped over the threshold. They froze when they saw the dagger, and Padme's body lying nearby.

Kail stared hatefully into the assassin's eyes. Aside from his eyes, his entire body, including his hair, was covered, making it impossible to see his face. "Go ahead, do it!" He taunted. The assassin's eyes widened, the dagger wavering, edging closer to Kail's throat. The Echani boy didn't even flinch.

"You've taken what mattered most to me." He snarled. "You can't take anything else that will hurt more then her death." The deep blue eyes that looked into his seemed to go out of focus for a few seconds.

Then the assassin reached into pocket of his light armour, and pulled out a small grenade. Kail saw it was just a gas grenade, though it could've been a plasma grenade for all he cared.

The dagger remained exactly in place as the assassin threw the gas grenade at the small group that had burst into the room. They coughed for a few seconds after it exploded, and then passed out.

No one outside seemed to notice what was happening. The reason was given when Kail heard the sounds of battle; blasters being fired, swords scraping against other swords of quarterstaffs, grenade explosions.

It was the last thing Kail heard as the assassin suddenly spun and kicked Kail square in the side of the head.

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