Mirial

Lanoree took a deep breath as she sank into the chair, gazing out the viewport at the gorgeous Tythan landscape before them.

"All set?" Cassis asked as he took a seat beside her.

"Yeah," she said distantly.

"If you say so," he shrugged and flipped some switches on the control panel. The engines roared to life, and Lanoree felt the seat press into her back as they left the planet's grasp. After putting some numbers into a keypad, Cassis pulled a lever and they were shot into the void.

"So you pull that lever and we just go?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's got something to do with an alternate dimension or some crap like that. It was super dangerous when it was first invented."

"As most things of this nature are," Lanoree chuckled, "How long will it take?"

"There's a planet not too far from here called Coruscant. It's pretty much the capital of the galaxy, so we'll find just about anything there. We should be there in…a few standard hours. Do know what I mean by that?"

"Not really, but it's not really that important,is it?"

"Nah. You'll be able to figure it out for yourself anyway, it's not too terribly complicated."

A week or so later

"Well, here's Mirial," Cassis said as he lowered the shuttle into the atmosphere, "And I think I found our target."

"That was fast," Lanoree scoffed.

"These pirates don't exactly do a great job of concealing themselves. We'd better hurry, too, it looks like they're about to attack a village, too."

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"Mommy, I'm scared," the little Mirialan girl cried as she was loaded onto the speeder.

"Neela, sweetie, we're all scared. Don't worry about it, though, we're gonna get you out of here," her mother told her.

"Hey, she's getting away!" a voice called from behind them. Several blaster bolts flew overhead, and a swoop bike came up next to them, blocking their escape. Neela's mother jumped out of the speeder and began shooting back at the pirates, taking out two of them before being shot down.

"Let's check what's in there," one of them said, walking towards the speeder. Neela was paralyzed with fear as she felt a hand reach down and grab her, pulling her out of the speeder and onto the ground. She was crying hysterically as they dragged her away. They took her back around her village towards a ship.

Suddenly, a hooded figure jumped in front of them and began slashing through the pirates with a crimson red lightsaber. The man holding her yanked her back and put a gun to her head.

"Put it down or she dies!" he declared. The figure seemed unsure of what he should do, but his posture did not change, "Five...four...three…"

Neela, in a moment of desperation, sent out a Force wave that knocked down both the man and the pirate. The pirate was left unconscious, but the man got up. Neela simply stood in awe of what she had just done. She had no idea that she was capable of such a thing, being only three years old. Of course, she had been able to hear the Force for a while now, but she did not realize she could use it like this. The man, however, did not seem so surprised. He knelt down in front of her, offering a warm smile.

"Wait right here, ok?" he produced a small blaster pistol from the inside of his boot, "Use this to defend yourself. My partner is here too, but she'll be easy to tell apart from the pirates."

"Ok," Neela said weakly, tears still in her eyes. The man stood and went back to join the fight, cutting down pirates with ease. She also noticed the woman he had told her about. She did not have a lightsaber, but it looked as if she could hear the Force as well. A majority of her shots hit their mark, while she avoided all enemy fire. Plus, she did use the Force sometimes as well. One could say that that kind of gave it away that she was Force-sensitive.

"Hey little girl. You didn't think you'd get away that easily, did you?" the pirate that had held her earlier had gotten up, and was sauntering towards her. She raised the pistol that the man had given her, and pulled the trigger several times. The pirate toppled over, dead. She plopped down on the ground against the wall, as she realized that she had just killed somebody. After several minutes, she was brought back to reality by a tap on her shoulder. It was the man from before- he had come back for her! She hugged him tightly for a moment, before following him to the village center where the survivors (all eight of them) had gathered.

"Thank you, Jedi, for saving us," one of them said with a bow.

"Apologies, sir, but I'm afraid we aren't Jedi. We're actually just bounty hunters, though we were sent with good intentions, I assure you."

"It doesn't matter where you came from. Force knows how many other villages they could have destroyed, had you not stopped them. And you saved little Neela from being captured. Speaking of which, what is to become of her?"

"She could either come with me or stay with you. Whichever one she picks is her decision," he glanced down at the girl, who was tightly clinging to his leg.

"I suggest she goes with you. We are fairly ill-equipped to handle a growing child at the moment. And I'd assume you know more about the Force than we do," he came over to her and knelt down in front of her, "What do you think, young one?" Neela said nothing, only tightening her grip.

"I suppose we've got our answer then," Cassis said, "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, you've done plenty already."

"We'll be off, then," he said with a bow, as he, Lanoree, and Neela turned and left.