Wow this story takes no time in getting into the thick of things, hehehe

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New chapter guys!

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When Luke woke the next morning, the first thing he registered was the fact that Jeza was already gone. His arm lay limp in empty space, though it seemed she had taken the time to wrap the covers around him as he was snug and warm despite her absence. Luke pushed himself out of the bed with a yawn, stretching like a tuk'ata before he reached over and grabbed a fresh shirt out of the small nightstand drawer.

He only had three shirts; the one he'd arrived in and two shirts he'd scavenged that consisted of a black long sleeve shirt with a low v collar and a tan tank top. He'd worn the long sleeve yesterday, and the tank top was also dirty, so it was back to the shirt that held more memories than he could stand some days.

Luke pulled the shirt on, his hand resting over the right corner for a few moments as he stared pensively at the floor.

Something was...different today. He could feel as much through the Force. What was so different about today, he didn't know.

But he had the feeling that he would soon find out.

Luke shook himself out of his daze, taking his time on his way downstairs where, to his surprise, he saw his lightsaber sitting right where he'd left it yesterday above the fireplace. His frown morphed into a scowl as he plucked the weapon from its perch.

"Jeza..." he muttered under his breath, already reaching for his cloak. He hadn't been joking yesterday when he'd told her to take the weapon with her on her hunt. Just in case something happened, he wanted her to be ready.

Luke pulled his old black cloak on, lifting the hood over his head as he clipped the weapon onto his belt. It was true that he had arrived on Xenon with two lightsabers, but one of them had been a Sith blade, and had seen too much bloodshed for him to bear. Instead of tossing the weapon aside forever, however, Luke had done something different. It had still been a part of him, and he had constructed it himself. So, on one of the days that he had found some spare time to himself, Luke had set the two lightsabers in front of him and, using parts from both, constructed an entirely new lightsaber. It seemed only fitting that he merge them per say, considering they were both from two separate lifetimes that had recently merged. The result had been a curious thing; it was a mixture between his father's lightsaber and his original, green bladed lightsaber that had seen him through the Second Death Star and Jabba's Palace. Black and silver pieces blended together as most of the hilt resembled his original lightsaber including the emerald blade and the black horizontal handgrip that was now started just below the top part of the lightsaber, while the top part retained the same look that his father's lightsaber had down to the curved blade emitter shroud. It was a piece in and of itself.

Without a second thought even for breakfast, Luke left the cabin and plunged into the depths of the forest in pursuit of Jeza. He ran through a list of her hunting spots in his head, all the while kicking himself for not asking her where she was going to be hunting. Now he had an entire planet to search, with no idea how much of a head start she had on him.

At least he had the Force to guide him in the right direction. Luke followed the promptings without hesitation, threading effortlessly through the trees with hardly any noise. His silence had come from years and years of practice, and he could even sneak up on grazing herds of all sorts of animals to the point that he could reach out and touch their face from the brush if he so pleased. Though his skill in silence was nothing compared to how much his Force abilities had developed over the space of five years. He'd known he was a quick learner, and he needed to be a quick self-taught learner with how his life had originally been, but how far he'd progressed surprised even him.

Luke's train of thought cut off abruptly when he suddenly sensed a bright presence headed his way and heard the sound of hurried footsteps rushing through branches and thick brush. His head snapped to the side and he stepped right into the path of the oncoming presence, ready and waiting for them when they finally burst out of the thicket he was braced in front of.

Jeza let out a squeal of surprise when she ran into Luke and he grabbed her arms, causing her to instinctively fly into one of the basic self-defense maneuvers he had taught her to break free. Luke easily outmaneuvered her, holding her in a strong yet gentle grip, bemused at her reaction.

"Jeza, Jeza, relax, it's me! It's Luke!" Luke exclaimed while Jeza bucked in his arms. At the familiar voice and his reassuring words, she paused and realization dawned on her in the next moment. She gasped, spinning around to face him.

"Father!" she cried out, burying her face in his chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were—"

"A manka cat? I don't think Manka cats have thumbs or know how to break the grip you tried to put me in," Luke said in mild amusement.

Jeza pulled away, shaking her head. "No, I thought you were someone else." Luke gave her a bemused look. There was no one else on this planet, so why would she think he was someone else? He didn't have to wonder much longer, because Jeza was quick to explain. "Father, while I was hunting, I saw a...I think it was...a ship land in a clearing."

Luke's entire figure froze at her words and his mind began to race. Someone here, on Xenon? Jeza had never seen a spaceship in her entire life, so it would be an alien thing to her, as would many other things like desert planets, ice planets, ocean planets...anything outside of Xenon basically. She'd been born on this planet in her isolated village. Also, she was well aware that Luke was exiled here, so she wouldn't joke about anyone arriving on the planet.

Jeza continued onwards with her startling report. "I stayed long enough to see that there were several of them, and they had blasters...well, all of them except one. They had one man blindfolded and tied up."

That caught Luke's attention. He firmly but gently grasped her arm, steering her back in the direction she'd appeared. "Show me."

Jeza hesitated, bringing Luke to a stop. "I was running because I think one of them might have spotted me."

Luke glanced back in the direction she'd rushed from, his mind racing. "I don't think these men you saw are up to any good...We can't risk them spotting us," he muttered more to himself than to Jeza. His gaze roamed upward. "We'll stick to the treetops."

Jeza frowned slightly, and Luke couldn't help the small smirk that flickered across his face. They both were well aware that Luke moved much quicker through the trees than Jeza. Jeza was still really fast, but Luke moved with the inhuman Jedi speed. "Don't worry," he said soothingly. "I'm not going to let you out of my sight, and I'll go slow enough that you can keep up."

Jeza nodded. "All right," she agreed, already moving to scale the tree. Luke stopped her before she could though, gently grasping her arm.

"Jeza...just in case this goes sour...I need you to promise me that you'll stay in the trees and off the ground; I don't want you getting hurt. And just in case it comes to a fight, I need you to be ready to cover me with your bow if it becomes necessary."

Jeza's eyes widened in surprise and there was a flicker of fear in them as well; a reaction that caused Luke's heart to ache. Jeza had only hunted non-sentient animals; she'd never been in a situation where she might have to take a sentient being's life, and the prospect obviously frightened her. Luke wasn't even sure she could do it if such a moment did arise, but he needed someone to cover him in the case of a fight, and she was the only help that he had, no matter how loath he was to put her in this position.

Finally, Jeza nodded slowly. "I understand Father."

Luke smiled slightly, pulling the girl in for a tight hug before he broke away. "Come on; we better hurry. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

It took a while to reach the spot traveling through the treetops, but eventually they found themselves crouched in the high branches of the trees that were at the edge of the clearing that the beings had landed in. True to what she'd said, there was a large freight ship in the center of the clearing, its ramp lowered with seven armed bounty hunters mulling around it. Tied to a pole that had been impaled into the ground just below them sat a man with silvery hair and an aged face. He was blindfolded as Jeza had said, but he was also gagged and tied so tightly Luke doubted the man could move. Two bounty hunters stood guard over the man, jeering at him while he remained silent. Of the bounty hunters there were three Trandoshans, one Zebrak, and three human males total.

Pretty good odds in Luke's mind.

Luke glanced at Jeza, who was crouched beside him with her bow in hand and an arrow already notched just in case. Silently, he pressed his finger to his lips to signal her to remain quiet before he moved further down the branch until he was right over the two bounty hunters that were guarding the man. Crouched low to the branch, Luke closed his eyes and focused on eavesdropping on the two to figure out what was going on.

"...better be worth all the trouble that we've gone to for him," one of the hunters, a Trandoshan, grumbled to his black haired human companion.

"Are you kidding me?" the black haired man asked. "We'll probably never be able to show our faces on Coruscant again now that we've taken him. Judro's plan better work, or all of us are dead."

"Well, we're in the middle of the Unknown Regions with him; I doubt the Jedi will find us out here."

Luke stiffened at the mention of the Jedi, his gaze darting towards the bound man. Whoever he was, it was obvious that he was important. Why he was important had yet to be discovered though.

"Did Kol transmit our coordinates before we entered the atmosphere?" the Trandoshan asked.

The black haired man snorted. "How in the dark are you? Judro gave him the coordinates for this planet specifically. He said he knew that the Jedi wouldn't come here and that we wouldn't be found. He couldn't get him to say why though. He just said to wait here and that he'd come to pick our little friend up, we'd get paid, and then we could go our own ways."

"Have you even seen this Judro? Or heard him?" the Trandoshan asked. The black haired man hesitated.

"None of us have."

"I don't like it...especially with a high profile job like this."

"Just shut up and do as you're told so we can get this over with and get paid."

"I don't think we're even going to be giving him back. From what I've heard, Judro's just going to have us kill him. Not that it would bother me; I'd like to slit a few throats instead of all the sneaking around we had to do."

"That's not entirely true. How many personal guards did we have to cut down to get to him? Sure, a few more would have been nice..."

Luke started to slowly retreat down the branch back towards Jeza, hoping to slip back into the canopy and discuss with her what he had found out without being noticed. Obviously fate and the Force had other plans, because behind him a branch broke and fell to the ground behind the two bounty hunters. Luke's head whipped around to fixate on Jeza, who had frozen in place when she'd accidentally knocked the branch off.

There was no time for a reprimand; there was never time in moments like this. Luke grabbed the branch in both hands and swung downwards, dropping down on the two bounty hunters and bringing his elbows down hard over both of their heads. All three of them dropped like rocks, but Luke was already up and moving, grabbing a vibroblade off of the Trandoshan and bringing it down on the human male's throat. He forced himself not to think, just do as he spun around and locked grips with the Trandoshan. Shouting could be heard from the other men, but Luke didn't want to pull out his lightsaber until it was absolutely necessary and he could already hear Jeza's arrows flying through the air towards the other bounty hunters. Luke grit his teeth before he head-butted the Trandoshan and there was an audible crack. Both of them were dazed, but Luke took advantage of the Trandoshan's dazed state to grab the back of his neck and bring his head down hard on Luke's sharply rising knee. He gripped the vibroblade tightly and yanked himself free of the Trandoshan's grasp, jabbing the vibroblade diagonally into the Trandoshan's collar and letting the being drop to the ground.

He tried not to think of the fact that he'd just killed two people for the first time in years, and all in a matter of seconds. Instead, he leaned down and snatched the blasters from their dead bodies, looking up into the trees where Jeza was still perched, watching him with wide eyed fear. Luke swallowed the guilt and shame; now was not the time for that. Instead, he tossed one of the blasters up to her.

"Cover me," he called as it flew through the air. The sixteen-year-old snatched the weapon before it could fall to the ground, but Luke was already turning around with the blaster in hand to open fire on the remaining five. The first two shots hit true, though those were also the two closest bounty hunters. After that, the remaining three took cover, peppering fire in his direction from behind either some part of the ship or behind foliage in the clearing. Luke holstered the blaster with one hand before he pulled out his lightsaber, and the distinctive snap-hiss of the activated emerald blade echoed around the clearing. Through the Force, Luke felt a distinctive spike in panic among the bounty hunters, and a strong wave of relief from the man that was behind him, still alive and tied to the post. In a last ditch effort, the bounty hunters emerged from their hiding spots and released all the fire they had on the single solitary figure that stood at the edge of the clearing. Bolts whizzed passed Luke's ear from behind, courtesy of Jeza, peppering the ground in front of the charging bounty hunters.

Luke, however, was a blur of motion. His green blade moved with frightening, inhuman speed through the air, catching and reflecting bolt after bolt back at the hunters mercilessly. The hum of his blade, the familiar motions...

It felt right; it felt like home.

One of the reflected bolts struck a bounty hunter in the chest, and one of Jeza's bolts struck a second bounty hunter, leaving one left. The Zebrak skidded to a stop and halted his fire, realizing he was outmatched as he turned to rush back to the ship. Luke reached out his hand, grabbing the Zebrak with the Force and yanking him towards Luke. The Zebrak skidded on the ground several meters before he pushed himself onto his knee and opened fire on Luke once again. Luke deflected the bolts as he advanced on the Zebrak, lightsaber flashing before Luke was finally close enough to him to finish him off with a graceful slash across the chest. The Zebrak fell dead at Luke's feet and he deactivated his lightsaber, stepping away from the body with an audible sound of disgust.

"Father!" Jeza called out from behind him, and Luke turned away from the sight of the dead Zebrak to focus on Jeza. The sixteen year old crashed into him, causing Luke to grunt and stumble a few steps back before he returned the crushing embrace she had on his torso.

"Are you all right?" he asked her gruffly, face buried at the base of her lekkus.

"I-I'm fine, I'm fine, I just...I've never..." Jeza stuttered, struggling with her words. The girl was trembling, and Luke knew it was from a mixture of adrenaline and horror at taking a life. She had seen her fair share of violence; Force, she'd seen the product of Luke submerged in the dark side. But this was different. Luke gently pulled her away, holding her at arm's length so he could look her in the eyes.

"Just breathe, all right? Deep breaths...look at me, don't look anywhere else. Focus on my voice..." he said soothingly. Jeza did as he asked and her tremors slowed down.

"Was it like this when you first..." she struggled with her words for a moment. "When you first killed someone?"

Luke winced inwardly before he threw his mind back to the first time he'd shot someone in his original lifetime. He'd been nineteen, and it had been on the Death Star. "In one life there wasn't time for me to think about it then," he admitted before he thought back to the first time in his alternate lifetime. It was a good thing that he'd explained all of the merged timelines business to Jeza once, as anyone else would be utterly confused at their conversation. "And in another I knew that if I didn't, than he would kill my father and possibly me as well. Just...try not to think about it. Try to think of something else, anything. I always found that keeping my mind on the present helped. For example, there is a hostage that we need to free now."

Jeza blinked in surprise at the reminder, turning back to the direction of the tied-up man. "Oh...I forgot about him..."

Luke chuckled slightly. "That's understandable..." he suddenly became very quiet as they both started forward. Just before they reached the hostage, Luke spoke. "Jeza...everything's about to change...I can sense it. I'm going to need you to do exactly as I say, no matter what, okay? It could be a matter of life and death."

Jeza glanced at him, wide eyed. "O-Okay...All right, I can do that."

"Do you promise?"

Jeza nodded, though Luke thought she looked a little pale. "I promise."

Luke nodded, crouching down to pull the vibroblade out of the Trandoshan's collar before he positioned himself behind the old man, slicing easily through the ropes that held him. At least it was obvious that this man wasn't force-sensitive, so he wasn't a hostage Jedi. Perhaps he was some big shot politician...

Once the man's hands were free he ripped the gag out of his mouth at the same time that Luke took off his blindfold. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, I can't even begin to show you how grateful I am to you—to the both of you," the man gushed, eagerly taking in his two rescuers. Jeza stood cautiously by a tree, observing the man closely while Luke remained crouched on the ground, trying to discreetly clean the blood off of the vibroblade. The man's eyes zoomed in on the weapon that was clipped to Luke's belt, and his face lit up. "And you; you're a Jedi! Thank you so much for saving me, I knew that the Jedi would find me no matter what those slime said!"

Luke shifted uncomfortably, tucking the vibroblade into his belt as he stood up. "I'm no Jedi," he corrected the man softly. "I haven't been for years, and I probably never will be again."

The old man huffed, standing up straight with a rather regal air. Oh yes, definitely a politician, Luke couldn't help but think. "Jedi or not, you still saved my life, and I owe you one," the old man said. Luke started to walk towards the ship, and the old man followed.

"You don't owe me anything," Luke told him firmly. It's me that's forever in debt to the Galaxy, Luke couldn't help but think. "Look, we set you free, and now you can take the ship back to Coruscant, or wherever it is that you were taken from. Just forget you were ever here, and forget that we're here."

"The forgetting part is easier said than done, and I'm sorry to say that taking the ship back is nigh impossible," the old man said breezily. Luke spun around to fix the man with a sharp look, studying him closely.

"Oh, and why is that?" Luke asked suspiciously, his hand subconsciously resting on his lightsaber. He'd been through his fair share of betrayals to be wary.

"Because, those bounty hunters aren't the only ones who want me for a pretty credit, and they won't be the last. There're more of them, and if I travel back to Coruscant alone, then I'm just going to end up in their hands again. On top of that, I have no idea where I am, and I couldn't even begin to pilot a freighter back to Coruscant. Usually I have another pilot fly me everywhere."

Luke had to stifle a groan at that. Of course. "Let me guess...you would like us to escort you back to Coruscant?"

The old man smiled slightly at him. "That would be much appreciated, yes. You've already saved my life once, and I have no qualm with putting my safe return to Coruscant in your hands now."

Luke looked away from the old man. "Listen, as much as I would like to help you, what you're asking...I can't do that."

"Why not?" the old man asked.

"It's complicated," Luke muttered. He cast his eyes toward Jeza to avoid meeting the old man's gaze.

"I must go back to Coruscant; I'm needed there, and if I stay here than my captors will come looking for me. Most likely, they'll come after the two of you as well," the old man told Luke quietly. Luke bristled slightly at his words. He was pretty sure that the old man had purposely hit that nerve, probably guessing at the close nature of the relationship between Luke and Jeza. However, he had a point. Whoever was after the old man would come looking for them, and Luke didn't want Jeza getting hurt needlessly.

Luke searched Jeza's midnight blue eyes for several seconds, mulling over what he needed to do. If he brought the man back to Coruscant, he'd be putting them at deep risk. If it should be found out by the Council that he left Xenon...

But at the same time, it was obvious that this man needed their help, and it would not sit well with Luke if they didn't at least try to help him.

Luke exhaled slowly through his nose before he turned back to the old man. "All right; we'll take you to Coruscant. We'll help you, but as soon as you're off the ship the two of us are gone. I can't even be glimpsed landing on Coruscant."

The old man looked at him suspiciously for the last comment, but was quick to hide it beneath a politician's mask. "I'm grateful for your kindness. Even if you don't agree with me, I believe I am in your debt."

Luke sighed, turning to ascend the ramp of the freighter. "Let's just hope I don't regret this..." Luke muttered to himself.