The Jedi Adventure
--sparkvallen

As always, there are my original characters based on particular folk from my life. Those you recognize belonging to Lucasfilm… do!

Chapter Eight

Joni realized he had only moments in which to act as the comlink connection was severed from his Jedi colleagues on Coruscant. After firing off the brief message to the other teammates on Tatooine, the trainee made his way back to the WayneTech building, determined to gain entry in order to help his friends. As he approached the security booth however, the comlink chimed again.

Gnashing his teeth at the delay, knowing that Z'Trooper and Falco could need him, Joni pressed himself back against the duracrete of the building's façade and clicked on his comlink. "What?"

"Joni - glad I could reach you. There's been a development and we need to pull both teams from their missions."

He stared in surprise at the sound of Corran Horn's voice at the other end of the connection. "What?" he said again.

"Both units need to return to their shuttles. Now," the Jedi Knight said. "The pilots will have the coordinates for the next jump."

"But… this doesn't make sense," Joni said, not having any idea what Corran was trying to say to him. "Falco and Z'Trooper are likely in a firefight in the WayneTech headquarters!"

"Then you all need to get out of there," Corran replied matter-of-factly. "Now, Jedi Joni."

With a flustered sigh, he shut down the connection and tapped into the Force for strength and guidance. Drawing his lightsaber but keeping the blade extinguished, Joni hurried to the security booth. "You will allow me entry into the building."

The guard stared back at him, doing a visual double-take. The Codru-Ji's four arms twitched and flailed. "You are allowed to enter the building."

Joni gave him a mock salute and hurried inside, guided by the Force toward his companions. After several minutes of navigating his way through the office building, he managed to hone in on Falco and Z'Trooper's Force signatures and find them dodging stun bolts from security forces within. It was clear that their lightsabers were useless in this case - they were trained to deflect actual blaster bolts, but there was no way to deflect the wider beam of a stun ray. He had gone unnoticed by the WayneTech security staff, standing behind them as they fired on Falco and Z'Trooper who were presently dodging and weaving, trying to get past the trio of guards.

"Glad you finally made it!" Z'Trooper shouted toward Joni.

Given that his momentary advantage was now blown, Joni called back, "There is no emotion, there is peace!"

Falco stared at them incredulously before leaping behind an overturned cafeteria table. "C'mon! I don't want to explore 'There is no death, there is the Force' today!" he exclaimed.

Joni had had the hopes that they could talk their way out of having snuck into the WayneTech building, recognizing that the odds were sorely out of the Jedi's favor to fight their way out. Time was especially of the essence now with Corran's message in his mind… the mysterious orders that Falco nor Z'Trooper knew anything about. Reclipping his hilt to his belt, Joni tucked it out of sight before speaking to the security staff in his most commanding tone.

"Gentlemen, just what is going on here?"

"And just who do you think you are?" snapped one of the trio as his blaster was leveled on Joni.

"Mr. Cee and it seems obvious to me that you're not only disturbing the peace but mistaking these two gentlemen you're firing on for some common criminals," Joni said evenly.

As matter-of-factly as he was carrying himself, it was just enough to throw the security officers into confusion. "Mr. Cee? Where's your ID tag then?"

Joni couldn't believe the synchronicity that there would actually be a Mr. Cee on staff with WayneTech! Out the corner of his gaze, he could see the other Jedi looking similarly astonished.

"You don't need to see my identification."

"I don't need to see your identification," the guard said dutifully. He looked two his partners who were watching Z'Trooper and Falco and said, "We don't need to see his identification. That's Mr. Cee."

"You've done your job well. These gentlemen are consultants to test security's response and you've proven your department very capable," Joni went on, using the Force on all three guards, hoping that his skills were good enough to manage this.

"That's… that's right!" Falco chimed in. "You've shown your department can track would-be spies well. You may go about your business now."

"We can go about our business," responded the guard who'd had his blaster trained on Falco.

"Move along," Z'Trooper added, drawing in the Force to give further persuasion to his tone too. His lips curled into a satisfied smile as the words were repeated back to him from all three guards.

"That was too close," Falco whispered as he stood and righted the table.

Z'Trooper clapped Joni on the back. "Never would've thought that would work on those goons. Good job."

Joni nodded, but said, "We're not out of here yet. Mission's been aborted. Let's go."

Following him back through the corridors toward an exit, Z'Trooper asked Joni what he was talking about. In a low voice, he quickly explained his message from Corran just after having contacted the team on Tatooine.

"What's going on that we're all being pulled?" Falco asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Joni replied. "Corran didn't say. I just had the feeling it was very, very important."

"Do the others know then?"

He could only shrug as they went past the egress guard booth once more. Joni nodded at the Codru-Ji who nodded in return as though Joni and the others were just regular WayneTech employees leaving the complex. The trio of Jedi said nothing more as they hurried across the walkways of Coruscant back to the shuttle - while they had been successful in their mission overall, nothing had gone quite like any of them had expected.

"Good, you're back. Strap in and let's go," the Jedi pilot said.

"Where are we going though?" Z'Trooper wanted to know.

"Home." Already, the pilot was firing up the sublight engines and bringing the ship about to ascend into space over Coruscant.

"Yavin IV?" Z'Trooper persisted.

"No. Your home."

Immediately, their thoughts went to Ebony who had had "a bad feeling" about the home situation since their leaving to train as Jedi. Brows furrowed, they strapped into their crash webbing and remained silent, trying to meditate and gain calm as the shuttle was guided into space and then hyperspace.

On Tatooine, the tourist transport that carried the Jedi back to Mos Eisley came roaring back into its parking spot. They deboarded quickly and assessed their next move. Talon, who had been on-planet longer than the other trainees with his master began to pace back and forth under the scorching twin suns over the desert world.

"Darth Valion may have already received word that his corporation has been compromised, you realize," Talon was saying to Ebony, Spark and Sapharin, who all nodded at this truth. "When we approach his compound then, it's likely he'll be expecting us and I can't imagine any Dark Lord of the Sith who is going to be exactly… accommodating about being taken into custody."

"By a quartet of Jedi trainees, no less," Ebony added.

"Do we stick together or storm his residence from different angles?" Spark asked, trying to think tactically.

"In pairs," Talon replied. "Strength in numbers but it still gives us multiple fronts. We can communicate through the Force from pair to pair."

Sapharin was frowning, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. "A Dark Lord would sense our Force use as easily as technology would pick up comlink transmissions…"

"Point. However, the bonds between us all should be strong enough that we can--"

"Talon."

All four Jedi turned at the brusque tone of voice that spoke his name. Spark whispered, "Kyp Durron…" as she gazed upon the lanky, dark-haired Jedi Knight. He wore a roguish smile that bordered on being downright cocky.

"Plan's have changed, Talon. We're to… wait, who have we here?" he asked, the smile never leaving his face.

Talon offered his Master a formal bow then introduced the other Jedi trainees, explaining that like him, they were from the Unknown Regions and had been training on Yavin IV. He quickly brought Kyp up to speed on how the trio had also been sent to Tatooine to take Valion into custody. Talon explained that they'd just been analyzing how best to make their move when Kyp had approached.

"Ladies, a pleasure. Your planet has surely held a high concentration of Force sensitives secret for a long time," Kyp said. "Unfortunately… that gift is the reason why I was just seeking Talon out."

In a very quiet voice, feeling dread at the pit of her stomach, Saph asked, "Why? What's going on, Master?"

"I just received word from Luke that Talon and I were to head into hyperspace to head back to your homeworld immediately," Kyp said, his voice calm and reserved.

"Why?" Ebony demanded, her tone sharp.

Kyp looked into each of their eyes before speaking. "There's word of an attack."

"I knew it! Didn't I tell you all!" Ebony roared. She threw her hands up in the air and stomped away from the group.

Kyp looked to Saph and Spark. "A vision?"

"Since just after we'd gone to Yavin IV," Spark said. "Ebony had had a bad feeling about the fact that Master Skywalker had promised our families would join us… and when they never did…"

"We don't have all the facts," Kyp said. "I… can't say much more than that."

Ebony whirled around sharply and looked back at the senior Jedi. "You know something."

He was saved from answering her by the beeping of Sapharin's comlink. She quickly unclipped it from her belt and answered. "Hello, this is Sapharin - can I help you?"

"Sapharin. It's Master Skywalker. Are you able to talk?" he said.

"Why… yes. We were just talking about you actually. Is something going on at home?"

There was a pause before Luke said, "That's exactly why I am contacting you. Disregard your present mission. You need to get back to your shuttle - the pilot has coordinates to take you back to your homeworld in the Unknown Regions."

Everyone's breath caught in their throat upon receiving the same orders as Kyp and Talon. Ebony glared at the comlink and Spark could only look on in shock.

"What's going on there?" she asked the Jedi Master.

"It seems… that the Jedi were not the only ones to discover your planet as having a high concentration of Force sensitives," Luke admitted. "We have reason to believe your world is under attack and possibly under the control of Dark Force users."

Sapharin blanched visibly. "I… see, Master."

"The Coruscant team has already been contacted and deployed as well. You're to depart Tatooine immediately," he said.

"Yes, Master. We've met up with Master Durron and Talon Sky who have the same orders, it seems?"

"They can travel in the same shuttle as you so that you all arrive together. May the Force be with you."

Ebony looked like she was going to go into orbit as rage boiled through her. "For. How. Long. Did. He. Know?"

Kyp turned to face her, setting his hands on her shoulders. Given his tumultuous history as a former slave in the spice mines of Kessel and his rough life as a Jedi, if anyone could understand the anger Ebony was feeling now, it was surely Kyp. "I won't give you the spiel about a Jedi's calm. Because - trust me - I know what you're feeling right now. I'm just going to say to you that its in your best interest to keep it together. Feel your anger but don't act from it. You're going to be instrumental in helping your world - don't sabotage it with your own anger."

Spark, Sapharin and Talon remained quiet and respectful during the exchange, keeping their gazes averted. They were - as it was - in their own states of shock considering that they were also learning that their families were endangered because of their abilities. They all knew it was even harder for Ebony because she'd all but prophesized this from the beginning and the concerns had been ignored by the senior Jedi.

"Let's go," Ebony said at last. Though her words were quiet, fire burned in her brown eyes.