Gakowa: Yahoo!
SoftWare: (To Ahsoka) Did you give him too much chocolate or something?
Ahsoka: No, he just wanted you to release the next chapter.
SoftWare: Ah.
Chapter Three
A Second Discovery
(EV Ares, halfway between Earth and EV Apollo)
"Yes, sir, Mr. President." As Trump's face vanished from the viewer, the commander faced his commsman. "Send this
message to the Apollo. 'Investigate Centennial activity, but do not engage. Transmit all discovered data to EV Ares for
retransmission.'" The commsman nodded.
(EV Apollo, Mustafar system)
Gakowa looked out the viewer and said, "We already had trouble with the first one. Why did they send two more?" His
helmsman had no answer for his captain. Katooni placed her hand on her master's shoulder. Gakowa nodded in
appreciation, then faced the commsman, as he had signaled to him. "What is it?" The commsman faced him. "Message
from the Ares. Your little spying mission is a go." Gakowa grinned. "Nice to know. Anything else?" The officer nodded.
"They want us to transmit our findings so that they can send it to Earth." Gakowa nodded. "We already know where
they came from. I just want to know if we can get there." The commsman nodded. Gakowa faced the helmsman. "Any
sign they know we're here?" The helmsman shook his head. "If they do know we're here, they're ignoring us." Gakowa
sighed, and opened himself up to the Force, to get a clue about his opponent aboard the first ship. He felt a powerful
presence in the lead ship, no doubt the leader. However, Gakowa also noticed that he was strong in the Force.
Confused, he delved deeper, and sensed something. This leader was underconfident as a Force user, but was very
confident with his swordplay, meaning he must have a lightsaber. Gakowa faced his mother, and said, "I think their
leader's a rogue Jedi." Ahsoka faced him. "I sensed it, too." Gakowa faced his helmsman. "Get us back to Abregado."
The helmsman nodded. Once they arrived, Gakowa faced his commsman. "Send what we've learned about them to the
Ares, and let them know we're going to try to get there from here." The commsman nodded. Gakowa faced his
helmsman. "Launch the Warp Gate." Once it was opened, Gakowa gave the order. "Full sublight. Take us through." The
Apollo sailed forward, passing through the Warp Gate and arriving where the probe had arrived earlier. Gakowa could
feel the black holes all around this sector, which made him wonder how the planets weren't falling into them. He faced
Katooni. "Didn't you have skill as a healer?" She nodded. "I healed your leg while you were unconscious. As long as you
don't put too much pressure on it, you should be able to walk without crutches from now on." Gakowa nodded. He faced
his second officer. "Tell Captain Anderson to prepare for a ground mission. I want to know why they left the planet."
The second officer nodded.
(EV Apollo, port hangar)
Gakowa walked forward gently, trying not to pressure his leg. He nodded to Katooni, then faced the team. "This is a
simple science mission, but I want to be prepared. Carry four extra charges, and each of you gets a T-90. No other
weapons, besides my and Katooni's lightsabers. Understood?" The men nodded. "Any questions relating to the
mission?" One trooper put his hand up. "Yes?" The trooper cleared his throat. "How many shuttles are we taking?" "One
should be enough. There's just fourteen of us." The trooper nodded. They boarded the shuttle, and were off. When they
touched down, Gakowa stepped out first, and was naturally surprised to find dead Togrutas laying on the ground, with
what looked like bullet wounds. Facing Anderson, he said, "Search for survivors." Gakowa let the Force guide him, and
sensed a life sign on the top of a nearby hill. He climbed up it, and found a Togrutan male, who faced him. Gakowa's
biggest surprise was that this man shared his facial markings. He was a Tano. The man was also surprised, and asked,
/Are you related to an Ahsoka Tano?/ Gakowa nodded. /She's my mother. How do you know her?/ The man chuckled.
/She is my daughter, one of two children. I lost track of them both during a pirate attack and assumed they'd been
killed. Clearly, I was mistaken./ Gakowa nodded. /We actually met the other one. She was calling herself Darth Rath.
Mom killed her seven years ago./ Getting back to his curious nature, he asked, /How long have you been here, and how
did you get here?/ Pash Tano sighed. /I was taken aboard a pirate ship to be sold as a slave. Their hyperdrive
malfunctioned, and their ship fell into a black hole. I awoke on this planet, with their ship being dismantled by a group
of warriors who called themselves the Centennials. They decided to conquer this world, to kill their own people who did
not submit./ Gakowa's facial reaction got his grandfather's attention. /You've met them?/ The boy sighed. /They almost
destroyed my ship. It's in orbit above this planet./ Pash nodded. /There is nothing left for me here now. I would very
much like to see my daughter again, and her mother, if the Code has changed./ Gakowa smirked. /You may find the
Apollo a tad bit unusual./ Pash faced him. /Pardon?/ Gakowa chuckled. /Come on./ He helped his grandfather down the
hill, and to the shuttle. He commed Anderson. "Anderson, I found a survivor. How about you?" The shuttle door opened.
Gakowa shut off his comm. "I take it that's a no?" Anderson nodded. "Sorry, sir, we didn't find anyone. Who's your new
friend?" Pash seemed surprised by their uniforms. /I am not familiar with this design of a shuttle, or with those
uniforms./ Gakowa faced him. /This planet is in another galaxy. On the other side is their homeworld, which is where I
grew up./ Facing his men, he said, "Let's get out of here. There's nothing more we can do here." They boarded the
shuttle, and they were away.
A/N
SoftWare: Until next time.
Gakowa: Man.
Computer: SoftWare, offline.