Chapter 8

Ari was pacing again, unable to just sit. She was trying to think of what they could do. This was bigger than a kidnapping for ransom, which she felt would be better than whatever was happening now. She couldn't just sit and listen to messages. When the Jedi from Yavin IV arrived, they could handle communications and guarding the younger ones. Yet, what could she do? Where could she start?

"You're going to wear a hole in the carpet," Mara told her.

"They can bill me for it," Ari muttered. Her hand played with the bracelet she wore on her wrist. It was the one that Luke had given her many years ago on Tatooine. Back then, they had just dreamt of going elsewhere. They imagined adventures. They had found adventures and even more.

"Skywalker keeps wanting you to take it easy," Mara added. She almost never called Luke by his first name.

"I will take it easy once we find the children and end whatever threat is coming. I am pregnant, not an invalid."

"Don't tell me. I don't think any of us do well just sitting back and letting others take control."

"Then why are you here?" Ari asked the red-haired woman. Mara normally would be with Han and Lando, using her feminine wiles to get what she needed. She often said that a woman could get more information than a Jedi. Ari, who had seen this, had to agree.

"Contact some old sources. Help protect the kids. Besides, I had a feeling you would need my help. Either to keep you from going crazy or to join you on whatever adventure you throw yourself into."

Ari paused and glanced at her.

Mara shrugged. "It was obvious. You are worried about the kids. We all are. Skywalker has tried to protect you in the past and you still do what you have to."

"He doesn't always appreciate it."

"That never stops you."

Before Ari could respond, Mara's comm chirped and Mara quickly answered. Ari could hear the being on the other end, but it was a language that she didn't know. Mara responded in a similar language. Though she couldn't understand the words, she could understand the urgency.

Mara gave a small nod to Ari to let her know it related to whatever was happening to the children. Ari forced herself to be calm.

Finally, after a few minutes, Mara ended the communication, then sighed and looked at Ari.

"So, I received word of more kidnappings. Most successful but some not." She pulled up a map of known galaxy and moved it to focus on Coruscant and the surrounding planets.

"We know of a few kidnappings, but there are a few others to be added." Mara went around the map. "Mostly they are going for places in the core. I was thinking they might be going for the center. However, there has been some unofficial chatter of another location with some strange activity."

Ari noticed the planets that Mara paused by. They would probably find more kidnappings with research. However, Jedi were not always contacted about kidnappings. While Ari had been a part of a few missions, there were just never enough Jedi. "Let me guess, I will not like what I hear about the other planet?"

Mara changed the map and Ari felt the odd dizzying experience of the map moving and zooming into a new area. The map focused on an area in the outer rim. It showed one planet, seven moons and what appeared to be two asteroid belts.

"The Horuset system," Mara announced.

"The Horuset system?" Ari repeated. "The only planet there is…" she trailed off as she remembered her trip there.

"Korriban," Mara finished for her.

Ari remembered her time there as well as her duel with Mara. It had been years ago, but Ari had suffered some nightmares after her experience there. Though she and Mara had become comrades and even friends, neither of them had ever brought up that time. Ari could tell that Mara was thinking the same thing.

"Then it means the Sith," Ari said after a moment.

"It means that they want to be Sith or believe they are Sith."

"He was Force sensitive," Ari protested. "He was strong."

"A master or apprentice though?" Mara asked. "There can only be two. Sith do not follow the same ways as the Jedi."

"If there can only be two, they wouldn't take the children. Why take them all?"

"The Jedi Order changed. Maybe this one did too."

The door to the room opened and Eean entered. "I thought I should tell you that the children are awake. And Leia just got a message. I think you should both see it."

"A message? From kidnappers?"

Eean winced. "It is connected, but no."

Mara and Ari shared a look then hurried into the other room. Winter was with the children off to the side. Ben, who had been looking worried, seemed a little calmer with Ari in the room. Ari smiled, pausing to kiss him on the head.

"When will we get Tiri and the others back?" he asked.

"Soon," Ari assured him. "Don't worry. Your sister and cousins are very smart. We will rescue them and then we'll go to Naboo."

"For the babies?"

"Yes, but also to relax. I also know your grandparents would like to see you. And so would Aunt Sola." Though Sola was a great aunt to the children, they only called her Aunt Sola. The whole Naberrie family had become close to the Skywalkers as well as their loved ones.

"What about training?"

"We'll train there. Near the waterfalls and the meadows." Ari knew she couldn't promise this, she was certain that if things went well, she would go there with her family. They had work to do. They were Jedi. Yet, she had a feeling that things were going to be even more difficult before they could have a moment of peace.

She kissed Ben on the head again, hugging the other two before heading to where Leia was talking to a group of asides. They were talking quietly but urgently.

"What is it?" Mara asked Leia.

Leia, who always looked calm, didn't look calm now. "There is a group. They call themselves the First Order. They have vowed to bring back the Empire."

"We always have people who say they are going to bring back the Empire," Ari pointed out. Usually they were small groups that were angered by some ruling or law made by the Senate. They might have protests and then those would end, either through some negotiation or just over time.

"We received a broadcast that was coded. It was intercepted. I will show it to everyone when they get back. I already contacted Han, Chewie, Luke, Lando and Taylor."

"The Jedi from the Temple will be here soon," Ari said, explaining what happened on Yavin.

"I worry what this means for everyone. Not just our families, but the Republic and the galaxy."

Ari nodded. Somehow it was all connected. It wasn't just a kidnapping. It could be the end of the Republic, the Jedi and all of them. She made a vow that she would not stop fighting. No matter what it took.