The More things Stay the Same….

Master Yoda sat around a burning campfire. Han Solo sat next to Olee Starstone, while Chewbacca cooked a hunk of bantha steak. Jedi Master's Jayden Vel Dar, A'sharad Hett, and Obi-wan Kenobi sat nearest Master Yoda, as he listened to Leia and Het explain how they came to be there. Finally, as she explained their flight from Raxus Prime, and their arrival at Dagobah, Master Yoda smiled. "An adventure it has been, hmmmm?"

Het nodded excitedly, while Leia leaned back on a cleaned up Red. "Yeah. Lots of dodging stuff, and fighting the Empire. It never ends."

Yoda sighed. "Ends, nothing does." He turned to A'sharad. "And how be it you came here, Master A'sharad?"

The Tusken Raider Jedi smiled and shook his head. "Her...and him" He pointed at Leia and Het, who looked behind him before realizing A'sharad was talking about him. "Us?" Leia asked. "I thought Unca Ben called you." She said after a moment.

Obi-wan chuckled. "Master Yoda means how he came to be here entirely. Care to explain, A'sharad?"

The Tusken nodded. "Gladly." As he leaned forward, the group listened intently as he began to tell his tale….

"I was scouting, apart from my troops on Socorro. I was assigned to the Eighth battlegroup, with Master Thrane and Master Kon'Dar. I was thinking of my home… and then I felt it. Order 66 had been given. I felt Master Kon'Dar die first. I rushed back to the camp, expecting to see a Separatist attack… and when I got in view of the camp, I saw the clones gun down Master Thrane in cold blood. I attacked immediately.

I killed them all, battling my way through dozens of troops, until only one remained. I questioned him as to why they killed their generals, and he explained to me Order 66. I left him to die in the desert as I took the gunship away from the planet. The Jedi comm. Channels were silent. I reached out through the Force, but I could not sense any other jedi. The feeling of death spread throughout the galaxy as Jedi died by the hundreds. A light had gone out in the galaxy and I was alone. The Jedi Purge had begun.

I made my way to Tatooine and became War Leader of several clans of Tusken raiders. As my father had been before me.

Settlers and moisture farmers had been stealing Tusken land and water for years - - driving my people further and further into the Jundland Wastes. Under my command, the Tuskens were once again a feared and potent fighting force, reclaiming what was rightfully ours… or… so I thought." He looked over at Obi-wan, who nodded to him.

Master Yoda nodded his head serenely. "Continue, please." He said softly.

Master A'sharad sighed. "Then, one day… we came across a Jawa triggo. We needed slaves to build up our water reserves for another group of attacks on the settlers." He looked at Leia. "That is when I first met Pixie."

Leia looked over at him and smiled. "I remember we kicked your butts!" she said proudly. Obi-wan looked at her with a stern expression. "You were lucky you weren't killed."

A'sharad shook his head. "No, Master Obi-wan. She and the Jawa deserve to tell their part of the story. They earned my gratitude, and my loyalty that day."

Obi-wan raised his eyebrow in a questioning glance as he looked at Leia, but now Han was interested. "What happened?" he asked.

Leia smiled. "Well, I was hanging out with Hett here and his family. We were rebuilding a used moisture vaporator the Jawas were using for their water supplies. When the Tuskens came, they came with a huge raiding party. Well, me and Hett saw them coming, and I pulled out my blaster. The Tuskens hadn't expected a stand up fight, and pulled back a little… and that's when I saw Master A'sharad for the first time. He pulled out his lightsabers, and I thought, oh man… we're in trouble. He blocked my blasts as he approached… and I guess that's why he didn't see the Krayt dragon come out of nowhere."

Hett shivered at the memory, and spoke up. "Big big dragon! Hiding in old place, full of nasty statues. We stay away, but he come because of banthas!"

A'sharad nodded. "It was true. The Krayt had come because of the bantha's of my raiding party. We were so… focused on our mission, we failed to follow our instincts, and that is my failing." He sighed. "The bantha's panicked. I defended myself from the dragon, but was near death.. when Leia… fired."

Yoda looked at Leia. "Fired? At what did you?" Leia chuckled. "At the huge rock over the dragons head!"

Han looked surprised. "Ok, what happened then?"

Leia shrugged. "The big rock came down, and smashed into the dragons head, crushing it flat.. Well, the dragons foot had fallen on Master A'sharads back, and knocked him unconscious.. little Hett here ran up and grabbed his gaderfi stick, while I put my gun to his head…and his forces pulled back. When he woke up, he surprised me by…speaking basic."

A'sharad nodded. "I saw that my gaderfi had been taken by the Jawa, and that I had been defeated. My life was in their hands, and in exchange for my life I asked them to name their terms as per Tusken law. Leia told me to stay away from the settlers, and to make peace with the Jawas. In so doing, they would show us technology that would help us make more water… and in exchange, they would be protected by our fighting forces. A very… amicable deal." He smiled at Leia, who nodded. "It was all I could think of." She said softly.

Obi-wan nodded. "I remember seeing Tuskens traveling with Jawas… I always thought it was a slaving party."

A'sharad looked at Kenobi. "Make no mistake, my clans are the only ones who accepted the deal. There are other clans that hold to the old ways… but they are slowly accepting change."

"So, even then, you were being a leader." Han said, chuckling. "How old were you, ten?"

Leia blushed. "I was eleven."

A'sharad nodded. "She gave me the honor of taking the Krayt's dragon pearl." He reached into his robes, and pulled forth a brilliant pearl in a bone necklace. "Another honor she has given me."

Leia shrugged. "I was eleven! Im not gonna gut a dead Krayt and dig around in its guts for a shiny rock!" She shuddered at the thought. "Ugh."

A'sharad nodded. "And so, I sat down with the Jawa leaders, and discussed terms. We agreed to protect them, and in return, they showed us how to build vaporators, how to repair droids, how to tend to our dewbacks, and it has proven very… lucrative for both parties."

Hett nodded. "Still scared of the giants who walk the sands… but now many are friends."

Yoda nodded. "Good this is. Potential to be a great Jedi you have… the both of you." He looked at Leia and Hett. "Complete your training, I look forward too." He said with a smile.

On the Executor, Lord Darth Vader looked over at Chi'anna, who hadn't left his side since he had been… he searched for the words. Hurt? Or… damaged? Sometimes, even he could not tell.. He was more machine than man, and yet, Chi was like him as well. She was part machine, a cyborg, yet she was more flesh than machine. She looked pensive and thoughtful, and he finally spoke. "What is it, my apprentice?"

Chi looked up at him, and bit her lip. "I know how my mommy died. Micah killed her…" She said, and her eyes flashed in anger for a moment… but she calmed herself. "Tell me master… how did my daddy die?"

Vader hesitated. He looked away from her for a moment. "It… it is very complicated, my apprentice…." He said after a moment.

"I want to know." She said finally. "I need to know. Who killed my father?"

Inside his helmet, Lord Darth Vader closed his eyes. "Your father…. My secret apprentice…. Starkiller…"

She spoke the name after a moment. "Starkiller?"

"It was his code-name." Vader said finally. "He was to help me defeat the Emperor, and together we would rule the galaxy… but… things did not go exactly as planned."

Chi looked at him closely, and her eyes grew cold. "What are you not telling me, Master? You are avoiding the question…. Who killed my father!?"

Vader looked over at her from his medical bed, and finally decided to come clean. "Chi'anna… your father…..

….is not dead."