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Chapter Three
An explosion rocked the bunker as Arden followed Elias back through the medbay and into the control room. He grabbed a bag and thrust it into her hands.
"Find all of the datatapes, chips, anything with information on it, and put them in this bag."
Arden nodded and slid a stack of datapads into the bag while Elias and Ames started dumping the computers and monitors onto the floor. Kohr came over and took the bag from her, filling it with the rest of the data.
"Ames, the explosives," Elias said, snapping his fingers. Ames tossed a package across the room. Arden tensed for a moment as it fell into Elias's hand. He unwrapped the explosive device and placed it under a computer in the center of the pile. "Okay, let's move."
Elias grabbed Arden's hand and pulled her to the front of their group as they ran toward the turbolift at the end of the corridor. Kohr aimed a remote back at the control room while Elias summoned the lift.
Arden drew closer to Elias. "It's the Sith, isn't it?" she whispered, watching the control room as another explosion rumbled through the bunker. No one answered. The lift door slid open behind them, and she followed Elias and Ames inside.
Elias nodded at Kohr. "Do it."
Kohr hit the button on the remote, and a plume of flame erupted from the control room. He stepped backward into the turbolift, and the door closed.
Arden felt her heart pounding against her ribcage. She'd known this would happen; they should never have gone to Ossus. Almost as disturbing was the realization that her fellow crewmembers were unusually well-prepared for this situation.
The lift shuddered as it descended. The bunker was settled in the side of a rather large hill, and Ulin's ship was docked in a hangar that jutted out from the bottom of the hill. When they'd first arrived, Arden had been annoyed that she had to trek from the surface to the basement, from the northwest corner to the southeast corner, just to get some food from the Ho'Din. Now, with the Sith coming from above, she was very thankful that they had an escape.
The three men exchanged uneasy glances as the lift shuddered again. Kohr looked up at the ceiling. "I can't believe we left him alone with that guy," he muttered.
Elias stared straight ahead at the door. "He'll be fine." He looked down at Arden and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "He can handle himself just fine."
Arden nodded, watching the light above the door move from right to left. They were almost there.
The door opened on another control center, this one overlooking the hangar. There were three rooms, each separated from the others by a blast door. Arden and the others jogged through the rooms, closing each blast door behind them until they came to the last one.
"Why is this one closed?" Arden slapped her palms against the door. "Kohr?"
The young man flipped open the keypad. "I don't have the code." He looked up at the others. "Ulin should have been here already."
There was another explosion, closer this time. Ames jumped.
"What the hell—?"
Arden backed up against the blast door. "They're coming."
"Our explosives aren't strong enough to take out the door." Kohr ripped the face off of the keypad and started rummaging through the wires. "I'm gonna have to hotwire this thing."
Elias growled and pulled out his blaster. "You better do it fast, because it sounds like their explosives are strong enough."
"I'm working on it!"
As Kohr fiddled with the wires, Ames took his holster off and handed it to Arden. She accepted it hesitantly. "What's this for?"
The boy shrugged. "Just thought you'd feel better if you had a weapon."
Another explosion, still closer. The Sith had to be through the first blast door. Arden shook her head and tried to give the blaster back. "Don't you need it?"
Ames waved her away. "Naw."
Elias closed his eyes and muttered something that Arden couldn't make out. She buckled the holster around her hips and rested her right hand on the blaster.
"I think I've got it," Kohr said, touching two wires together. As the blast door slid open, another explosion rocked the entire room, causing several ceiling panels to fall down. Arden and Elias jumped out of the way to avoid being crushed.
That was when Arden heard several angry voices coming from beyond the blast door.
"Come on!" Ames shouted, already heading through the doorway. "Come on, let's go!"
Elias didn't move. A strange look had crept into his eyes. He turned and gave Arden a half-smile. "I'll stay and hold them off. You go with Kohr and Ames."
Arden held onto Elias's hand. "No, we can make it, come on!"
There was a crash on the other side of the blast door. Elias snapped his head toward the sound and raised his blaster.
"Elias…"
He pulled her close and kissed her. "Go."
And then there was another sound, a low, steady beeping that set off warning bells in Arden's head. Elias shoved her away as the door exploded in.
She fell to the floor hard, propelled by the energy of the blast. Heat rolled across her skin, so intense she was sure she was about to be incinerated.
Someone was pulling her up by the shoulders, but she couldn't hear anything but the ringing in her ears, couldn't think of anything but getting to Elias. She tried to crawl toward him, fighting the grip on her shoulders.
"No!" she screamed, her voice faint to her own ears. She looked up at the person holding her, saw Kohr's face, saw his lips moving, eyes staring over her, shouting something, something…
"Elias!" Kohr's voice returned in an explosion of sound.
Arden turned to find Elias, expecting the worse. But as she twisted out of Kohr's grip, she realized someone else was standing over her, and they were all only centimeters away from a solid wall of fire.
"Get her out of here!" Elias yelled over his shoulder. His arms were outstretched, reaching toward the fire, almost as if he was pushing it away. He winced and drew his head back. "A little help?"
Kohr lifted Arden up and dragged her away from the blast. She watched in disbelief as Ames ran to Elias's side, lifted a hand, and pushed the wall of flames back through the blast door. As the fire subsided, Arden heard a new sound, a buzzing, hissing sound that she didn't recognize. Elias and Ames pulled twin metal rods from their jackets and stepped in front of the smoldering doorway. The last thing Arden saw before Kohr carried her out of the room was a flash of green and blue light.
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"What exactly are we dealing with here?" Anakin asked as he jogged slightly behind the captain.
"The Lessers," Dagen replied absently. He turned a corner, and the floor began to incline.
Anakin was about to ask what he meant when Dagen stopped and pulled his lightsaber from his jacket.
"Do you feel that?" Dagen asked.
Anakin frowned. "Three lifeforces, coming straight at us."
Dagen glanced at him and nodded. "I guess you're not a complete fraud."
"I already told you—"
The captain held up a hand and smirked. "It was a joke."
Anakin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't take you for the joking type."
"Yeah, well, don't tell anyone." Dagen activated his lightsaber. "Ready?"
Anakin's saber ignited with a snap-hiss. "Let's go."
They jogged down the corridor, Anakin following after the captain. The incline grew steeper as they approached what Anakin could only assume was the surface. The three lifeforms were very close now – Anakin could make out some of the differences between their presences. As he had earlier, he sensed that one of the intruders was very calm and dispassionate. The other two were hot with anger, but he sensed restraint as well. They weren't just here to kill.
"They're looking for something," he said between breaths.
The captain didn't say anything, and Anakin still couldn't feel anything from him either, but he sensed that he had hit on the truth.
One of the intruders dropped back and headed in a different direction, but the other two continued forward. The corridor ahead split and went off in two directions. Before they reached the fork in the corridor, Dagen stopped and put out a hand to keep Anakin back. He raised a finger to his lips and then closed his eyes.
There was a crash from one of the passageways.
"Watch it, shufa!" a voice hissed. Anakin recognized a distinct Trandoshan accent.
"Quiet!" another male replied. "That was a ceiling panel."
"They're close."
Dagen lifted a hand and then dropped it. There were several more crashes and an angry yell. While the Trandoshan and his companion were still shouting, the captain swung around the corner and charged at them. Anakin followed right behind him.
The Trandoshan was caught beneath one of the fallen ceiling panels, but as soon as he saw Anakin and Dagen running at him, he roared and flung the panel at them. Anakin raised a hand and stopped the metal sheet mid-flight while Dagen ducked under it and thrust his lightsaber at the Trandoshan's human companion. Anakin dropped the panel and brandished his lightsaber, moving to intercept the Trandoshan.
The corridor was narrow, and Anakin put himself back-to-back with Dagen as the two intruders ignited lightsabers.
"Jedi scum," the human said with a leer.
Dagen flipped his wrists and knocked the man's saber upward. He kicked the human in the chest, sending him into the wall. Anakin spared Dagen a short glance before returning his attention to the towering Trandoshan.
"You're all going to burn," the alien hissed as their lightsabers locked. He bared his teeth in a gruesome smile.
Dagen appeared at Anakin's elbow and joined him against the Trandoshan. "You guys really need to come up with some new threats," he said.
The three combatants pivoted around each other, and Anakin caught sight of the human male lying on the ground, a lightsaber wound smoking in his chest.
"That was quick," Anakin murmured, blocking a blow.
"Wasn't hard," was all Dagen said.
Their opponent growled. "You will pay for that."
Dagen pushed forward with his weapon, putting the Trandoshan on the defensive. "Whatever you say, big guy."
The alien smiled again. "That's right, Jedi. Whatever I say."
Anakin felt the floor beneath him rumble as if from an explosion. He sensed a mixture of panic and anticipation from below.
"Focus," Dagen warned.
There was another explosion. The Trandoshan used his size and weight to push Anakin and the captain backward. Free for a moment, he roared and lifted a hand to chest level.
Anakin's eyes widened. He recognized that gesture.
Both Anakin and Dagen raised their lightsabers as lightning exploded from the alien's fingertips.
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Arden fought back as Kohr grabbed her hand and began to run. "Come on," he urged, "we've got to get out of here."
"We can't just leave them!"
"We're not, they're just buying time for us to get the ship running."
Arden tried to look back, but Kohr was running too fast. "I don't understand… what's going on…" She fought for breath as they sprinted toward the hangar.
"I'll explain later." Kohr pulled a small remote from his pocket and aimed it at the far end of the corridor. A sliver of white light appeared and grew larger as the hangar door opened.
Tears sprang into her eyes as she stumbled after Kohr. They had abandoned Elias to the Sith. They had let him be their sacrifice. She tried to struggle against Kohr one more time, but his hand was like a vise on hers. They ran through the hangar entrance and climbed the ramp of the Happy Ho'Din.
Kohr didn't let go of her until they were in the cockpit; then he dropped her in the co-pilot's chair. He rushed around the cabin, flipping switches and turning knobs. He even punched the console once or twice. Arden stared numbly out the viewport at the hangar entrance, praying for Elias to appear.
"Ulin should have been here," Kohr said, more to himself than to her. He punched the console again. "Piece of junk…" He stopped suddenly and looked around the cabin before grabbing the comlink off his belt. "Captain? Captain Dagen?"
There was nothing but static.
"Dammit!" Kohr gulped down several deep breaths as the engines started to whine. "Ha! There we go. Now, Arden, I need you to—"
"Look!" she interrupted, jumping up from her seat. Elias and Ames were sprinting full speed into the hangar, moving faster than she'd ever seen a human run. And in their hands were… lightsabers?
She didn't have time to process it, because hot on their trail were two men in black, both of them also wielding lightsabers. Arden's blood went cold at the sight of the Sith.
"Aw, great," Kohr growled. "Arden, get the ship in the air!"
"But where are you going?"
"To help them!" He ran from the cockpit, and the next Arden saw of him, he was outside of the ship, rushing toward the Sith.
Elias and Ames had turned around, and now each of them were fighting a Sith on their own. Elias was a fairly powerfully-built man, but the Sith he was fighting was enormous. Arden fumbled with the controls as she watched them.
"Come on, come on," she urged the ship, glancing down at the controls. She barely knew how to pilot anything, let alone Ulin's junk ship. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elias go down.
"NO!" She yanked back on the stick, and the ship jolted into the air.
Kohr fired off several shots at the Sith, distracting him long enough for Elias to jump to his feet and resume the fight. Kohr joined him, activating a green lightsaber and rushing headlong at the Sith.
Arden steered the ship toward her friends, turning it so that the ramp was facing them. Just before she lost sight of them, Ames knocked the other Sith's lightsaber away and kicked him square in the chest. Then he raised his hand, and the Sith flew across the room, crashing into a stack of crates.
The next thing she knew, Elias was in the cockpit, sliding into the captain's seat. "Everybody strap in," he ordered, flipping a few switches above his head.
"Wait!" Ames shouted from the corridor. "It's Ulin!"
"Where?" Elias yelled back.
"Just hold steady, Kohr's getting him!"
Elias stared at the side wall of the cockpit as if seeing beyond it. "Better hurry it up!"
Arden glanced back and forth between Elias and the corridor. "You didn't kill them?"
Elias shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"You don't think so?" Arden flailed her hands in the air. She was still having trouble with the whole lightsaber thing. "How can you not know?"
Elias winced. "Well, I dropped a big light fixture on them, but I'm pretty sure they're still alive."
She was about to ask how he'd managed to drop a light fixture on them when he reached over and pulled her gently toward him. Arden felt a swell of relief as he kissed her.
"Hang onto something," he said.
Before Arden could respond, Ames came up behind them and leaned down in between their seats. "Ulin's on board, let's get moving!"
Elias pulled back on the throttle, and the ship shot through the open roof. As the Happy Ho'Din broke free of the planet's atmosphere, Arden leaned back in her seat and finally had time to wonder just what the hell had happened down there.
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"I think you made him mad!" Anakin shouted over the crackle and crash of electricity.
Dagen squinted his eyes against the light. "How do you know it wasn't you?"
Anakin smirked, and for a moment he could almost imagine he was back home, fighting alongside Obi-Wan.
The Trandoshan stepped toward them, the stream of lightning intensifying. "My master is coming, Jedi, and when he arrives, you will pay."
Dagen turned his head to Anakin. "Can you handle this alone?" he murmured so that only Anakin could hear him.
Anakin nodded. He thought he knew what the captain had in mind. "Yeah, I've got it."
Dagen deactivated his lightsaber, and the lightning was redirected to Anakin's blade. He held firm against the lightning as Dagen lifted his arms to the ceiling. The remaining panels above the Trandoshan began to tremble and shift. Dagen jerked his hands toward the floor, and the ceiling came tumbling down onto their opponent.
Through the dust and debris, Anakin saw another figure appear at the end of the corridor. It was a Falleen male in dark robes – the cool, calculating presence he had sensed earlier. The Falleen's eyes shifted from Anakin to Dagen and widened.
"You!" he shouted.
Dagen grabbed Anakin by the arm. "And that's our cue." He pulled Anakin in the opposite direction; the floor continued to shake as more explosions ripped through the bunker. Dagen stopped underneath a vent and proceeded to cut the grated vent cover with his lightsaber.
"What—?"
"Be quiet and get up there," Dagen said as the grate fell between them. He pulled a tiny silver ball out of his pocket and clicked a switch on it.
"Is that—?"
"A miniature detonator. Thermal." He glanced at Anakin. "Go."
Anakin jumped up into the air shaft as Dagen threw the detonator down the corridor. He began to crawl along the shaft away from the detonator, and he heard the captain follow him into the shaft.
"That blast should block them in long enough for us to escape," Dagen said.
Anakin winced as his hand nicked a piece of twisted metal that jutted up from the bottom. "How much time do we have?"
"About ten seconds." The captain laughed. "Don't worry; we're past the blast radius."
"And those two back there?"
"They'll probably live. That Falleen is far more skilled than the others."
The shaft and the corridor below shook violently from the force of the thermal detonation. Anakin continued forward, trying to ignore his now ringing ears.
Dagen shouted something at him. "What?" Anakin yelled, coming to a halt.
"I said we're almost there. When you get to the end, push the grate out and head for the ship."
"Right." Anakin crawled ahead. The air shaft was becoming tighter around him, but he squeezed his way through. He saw several thin rays of light spilling into the shaft. The metal trembled from another explosion far below.
Anakin came to the end of the tunnel and pushed against the grate. It took a few blows, but the grate came off and clattered to the floor of the hangar. Resting at the center of the room was the ship Anakin had boarded on Ossus. He and Dagen emerged from the air shaft and ran to the ship. Dagen opened the hatch and motioned for Anakin to get on board. He pulled out a comlink and flipped it on.
"Elias."
There was no response – only static.
"Damn," the captain muttered, inspecting the device. "Looks like I broke it somewhere back there."
Anakin stood on the ramp, watching him. "I'm sure they're okay."
Dagen ignored him and climbed the ramp, closing it once he reached the top. Anakin hurried after him. He reached the cockpit just behind the captain, who was already powering up the ship.
"Sit down," Dagen ordered. Anakin bristled at his tone, but he did as the man said. The ship rose into the air, and the ceiling overhead retracted, revealing a gray sky. Dagen pulled back on the controls, and the ship rocketed toward the atmosphere, leaving the bunker and the planet behind.
Anakin glanced over at Dagen, but the other man continued to ignore him. Now that they were out of immediate danger, Anakin sensed that he was going to be under heavy scrutiny once more.
It was going to be a long flight, indeed.
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Darth Dominius had every right to be furious as he felt his enemies' presences grow distant, but instead he was somewhat amused. His surviving comrades had suffered only minor injuries, and only one apprentice had been killed. Force knew there were plenty of replacements throughout his master's empire.
"I will prepare the ship, my lord," one of his servants informed.
Dominius waved him away. "Go heal yourself. I will handle the ship."
"Yes, sir." The Trandoshan apprentice bowed low before limping away. Dominius closed the cockpit door behind him.
He withheld a laugh as he powered up the ship. Under any other circumstances he probably would have overcome his reptilian heritage and become angry about failing his mission. Not today, though. He had good news for his master.
A miniature holographic image of the Sith Master appeared before him. "My lord," Dominius greeted, bowing his head.
"Lady Varice informs me that the thieves stole information on the Vjun project."
Dominius smirked inwardly. Always straight to the point. "They were Jedi, my lord. Jedi thieves."
"Did you reacquire the data?"
"Not yet. They split up and escaped. I lost one man."
"Send word to Ossus. I want Lord Raze and Lady Varice to lead the search for these Jedi. You are to return to Coruscant immediately." He paused for a moment, as if reaching across space to peer into his minion's heart. "Is there something else, my apprentice?"
Dominius hesitated. It still surprised him that his master could read him like that from so far away. "There was a man with them, my lord. He felt like… well, he seemed to be a locus of energy."
His master didn't even blink. The image wavered for a moment before regaining clarity. "A locus?" the Sith Master repeated.
Dominius nodded swiftly. "Indeed, my lord. A very powerful presence, filled with confusion and doubt. I sensed much fear and darkness in him."
His master seemed to turn it over in his mind. "And you have no idea who this man is?"
Dominius took a deep breath. "No, my lord. I have never seen him before."
"Very well. We shall investigate this mysterious Force-user at a later time. Do you have anything else to add to this report?"
"Yes, my lord. I request permission to personally lead the search for these thieves."
"Why?"
This time Dominius smiled, an act that his reptilian features made particularly eerie. "Because I believe I have found Skywalker and Cain after all this time."
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Once the ship entered hyperspace, Captain Dagen leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Anakin stared at him for a moment, waiting for the interrogation to resume.
After five minutes of silence, Anakin realized the captain wasn't going to say anything. He cleared his throat.
"I'm not lying to you about who I am," he said slowly.
The captain didn't say a word. He did open his eyes, but his gaze remained on the starlines outside of the cockpit.
"I'm sorry about—"
"Look, I appreciate your help back there," Dagen said abruptly. "But you have to know how crazy you sound with this Anakin Skywalker thing."
Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "I told you. I'm not a clone, I don't know any Emperor, and I'm just as confused as you are."
"Fortunately for us, there's someone here who can verify your story." He rose from his seat. "Come with me."
Anakin stood and followed Dagen out of the cockpit. They walked down the main corridor, turning off into a darkened service passage. A shower of sparks spilled into the passage ahead, and Anakin squinted his eyes in the dim light to see the source of those sparks.
"A droid?" he whispered.
Dagen took a few more steps down the passage and turned toward the niche where the droid was working. "You can come out now."
An astromech droid emerged from the niche and rolled toward Anakin.
"This is our trusty mechanic," Dagen said. "He came aboard on Heibic 3 while you were unconscious."
The droid entered the light, and Anakin had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Artoo?"
The droid stopped as if uncertain whether to go any further. Anakin felt his heart ache. Here, finally, was someone who might understand – who would understand.
"Artoo, it's me."
The little droid swiveled its dome toward the captain. The two looked at each other for a moment before the captain nodded for R2-D2 to proceed.
The droid let out several short whistles and beeps.
"He says that although Anakin Skywalker died forty-seven standard years ago at the Battle of Endor, he cannot deny that the resemblance is striking."
Anakin experienced a swell of dark resentment. "I know what he said." He narrowed his eyes at the captain.
Dagen didn't respond, but there was something unusual in his expression, almost like a combination of irritation and disbelief. He waved at the droid. "Thanks, Artoo. You can return to your duties." Dagen pushed past Anakin without another word, leaving him in the service passage.
Anakin hesitated for a moment as he watched Artoo roll back to his station, seemingly unaffected by their encounter. Then Anakin spun around and ran after Dagen. "Hey, wait!"
He emerged from the passage to find Dagen walking into another room slightly down the corridor. Anakin rushed into the room, realizing as he did so that it was the captain's private quarters. Dagen's back was to the door. He had his hands planted on a small desk, his head bent as if in prayer. Anakin felt a surge of impatience.
"What did you do to my droid?" he growled.
Dagen let out a gruff laugh. "You've got some explaining to do," he said, pulling something from his eyes. "Because if by some infinitesimal chance you really are who you say you are, then that would make me your grandson."
Anakin's mouth opened involuntarily as the captain turned to face him. "My what?"
The captain stared back at him with blue eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "My name isn't Dagen. It's Ben Skywalker, so you'd better start at the beginning."
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