Again waking up to soft, rhythmic beeping, Koril knew the monitors had to be lying. Even though they sounded similar in pace to the ones that had been on him aboard the Celestia, he felt terrible, more exhausted, and even worse than he had been earlier. He felt like he had to fight for every breath, consuming what little energy he had to make one weak, labored gasp. He could tell that his lungs were trying to draw in more air more often, but his tired body refused and wouldn't keep up.

He struggled to open his eyes, but finally able to, he shifted his gaze to either side and was saddened to find himself alone in an unfamiliar place. He had to be in the medical center on Coruscant as Elena had said, but nothing about his room looked overtly Coruscanti. The room was fairly large and open, and the equipment he could see beside him looked highly advanced, but it was all so impersonal and not comforting in the slightest. He wanted to be back aboard the Celestia; there he could at least be calm as he slowly suffocated...

A gentle hiss beside him caught his attention as the lone door to his room swept open. Looking over, he saw a young woman dressed in solid white pass between two Paneau Royal Guards stationed just outside. They turned slightly to look in on him, but he closed his eyes, avoiding their stares until the door shut behind the medic.

"Hello, Mr. Rys'tihn," the medic greeted him kindly with a sweet Coruscanti accent. Koril looked up at her after a moment, but he had to blink his eyes a few times when he realized he was no longer seeing color. Everything was a muted shade of gray, and he could hardly make out the borders of the medic's face. Frustrated and drained even more, he closed his eyes again, letting his head fall to the side away from her.

"My name is Amti," she continued quietly. "I'm one of your nurses. I'm here to give you a little something that will help your breathing."

As Koril felt her warm hand on his arm, turning it palm up, he looked up at her again, somehow mustering the strength to talk.

"No."

Surprised, Amti looked up, holding the hypodermic injector mere inches from his arm. Correcting her expression quickly, she gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Mr. Rys'tihn, it won't hurt. I'm just going to put it into your IV here, so I won't have to stick you again."

After another weak gasp, Koril persisted. "No medication..."

Amti's brows furrowed deeply in concern, and her voice softened the slightest bit as she continued, as well. "It's okay, it's going to help you. It'll make it easier for you to breathe, so you don't have to work so hard." She again inclined her head, bringing the injector closer to the IV tubing, but Koril feebly rolled his arm away from her, continuing to protest as strongly as he could.

"I said no."

Amti held his gaze for a long moment before she sighed resignedly and pocketed the injector, looking over him worriedly. She bit her lower lip, but eventually she nodded, holding his hand briefly before resting his arm across his stomach. Wordlessly, she checked the monitors behind him then left reluctantly, leaving him alone again.

Though he knew he was still looking at the door, his vision continued to deteriorate, eventually going completely dark. He felt lightheaded, as though he weren't getting enough oxygen, but his lungs still refused to work harder. Feeling his last reserves of strength leaving him, he curled his fingers around the light blanket draped over him, and was surprised to feel the chilled IV tubing brush against his hand. He released the blanket, instead gripping the IV, pulling on it until it gave. Doing the same for the other three IVs he felt in his arm, he could tell his delayed gasping wasn't going to be enough to keep him alive for much longer. His thoughts slowed substantially, to the point where the only thing he saw in his mind as he fell unconscious again was the image of his infant son, looking up at him with his brilliant emerald eyes, just like his mother's.

I'm sorry I've let you down...

Being back on Coruscant worried Mand more than it excited her. The last few times she had been on the city-planet, something had gone wrong, and she feared that this time would be no different. She no longer sensed the dark, smothering presence of her father, Morden Tarthos, nor did she feel any other dark presences. Her father had apprentices, but all of them had been taken care of...hadn't they?

Making the trek to the Jedi Temple Training Center from the main Temple grounds only took her a few minutes. As she stepped inside it, the large, cavernous room echoed her footsteps. It had ample space for dozens of young Jedi hopefuls to train with their instructor, and she, too, had trained there briefly almost a year ago. The center vaguely reminded her of her days on Yavin IV, when she had begun training with her friend Elena after surviving the Huxnel Invasion on Paneau. Though Mand had to basically start over to relearn her skills utilizing the Light Side of the Force, she and Elena still had a few classes together. As she allowed the fond memories to momentarily take her over, she didn't notice until it was too late that she was no longer alone in the center.

Turning around, she faced a monstrous, furry beast with narrow black eyes, gray and brown coarse fur, and two large pointed teeth that extended upward from the corners of its jaw. Its body was wide and barrel-like, but it stood on four narrow, bony but powerful legs, and it swung a muscular tail with a spiked knob at the end from its back side. Snorting from its small black nose situated just above its jagged, vicious-looking mouth, it watched her with a calculating stare, waiting for her to make the first move.

Having never seen such a brutish creature, Mand glanced about the open floor, attempting to determine the best means of escape. She was completely unarmed, no blaster, no lightsaber, and her only chance at survival was outsmarting the beast. She held her breath as she took one sidestep, her senses on edge and her muscles tense, prepared to make another move if the beast charged. But the creature matched her movement, quickly stepping just as she had. She was surprised by its swiftness, the ease with which it moved such bulk. It was going to be difficult to outrun, she surmised, and it had to be immensely powerful, judging by its solid core. Was this some kind of new Force skills test? Surely the Jedi hadn't resorted to such brutish evaluations...

Seemingly impatient waiting for its prey to move again, the beast leaped forward, and hardly able to react fast enough, Mand dove aside, rolling away as it skidded to a stop with its padded, clawed paws on the rough stone floor. She had just enough time to scramble to her feet as it charged again, and she instead used the Force to propel herself up and over its back. The beast was too quick for even her Force-enhanced jump, though, as it swung its powerful tail up at her, catching her in the stomach with its spiked end. As hard as she had jumped, she was thrown back to the ground, landing hard on the uneven floor. She immediately felt that at least one of the spikes had punctured her skin, but she had to ignore it for the moment, determined to best the creature.

Again drawing on the Force, she unleashed a powerful Push on the beast, allowing herself to slide along the floor on her side away from it as it absorbed the blow, barely affected. Enraged by her use of the Force on it, it roared ferociously and charged again, lowering its head and turning its extended teeth into dangerous ramming spears. Still on the ground, though, Mand had to work quickly, wrapping an invisible grip around the beast as it approached. Just inches before it could reach her, she used its momentum to launch it over her head, landing it against a wall behind her. It was briefly stunned, and using the opportunity she had afforded herself, she quickly stood and sprinted for the nearest door.

The creature recovered rapidly, however, and as it caught up to her, it spun itself around, again landing its spiked tail in her stomach, sending her flying and landing hard against another wall. Dazed and bleeding even more as she fell to the floor, she lifted her head the slightest bit as she watched it lower its head again, prepared to charge once more, but it stopped suddenly. As if having heard something that startled it, it dashed off in another direction, disappearing down a dark, empty hallway. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished, leaving her wounded and in a shocked stupor. Why was such a terrible beast loose in the Jedi Temple? Why hadn't it charged one last time? Was it going to harm anyone else?

Determined to overcome her injuries, she propped herself up off the floor, painfully twisting her torso to sit with her back against the wall. With a hand on her stomach, she willed her breathing to calm, and finally silencing her panting, she heard two sets of footsteps approaching quickly. With the adrenalin still flowing from the attack, she was able to stand without too much protest from her wounds, and supporting herself with one had on the wall, she looked up to see Chiss Jedi Master Strone Lithess and his young apprentice Wes Arosc sprinting into the room. They both immediately turned to her, quickly stepping up to her after briefly scanning the room for danger.

"It's gone," she reported blankly. "Left out that door." She weakly pointed with her hand that had been on her stomach, but seeing the amount of blood dripping off her fingers, she quickly brought it back, though to no avail; Master Lithess had already seen it.

"We're taking you upstairs," he stated dryly in his usual emotionless tone, looking her over with his glowing crimson gaze. Mand could feel his powerful arms wrapping around her shoulders, but within seconds, everything went black as she felt her entire body go limp in the Jedi Master's grip.

Feel the Force flowing through you...

It is your ally, your weapon against anything, and used wisely, it will empower you to overcome even the darkest night...

A Jedi is never truly alone, instead surrounded by those noble servants of the galaxy who had gone before him. If one remains open to those voices of the past, the lessons passed on are priceless gems to be cherished...

As Rech prepared for his trial, he heard the voices of his past instructors, their teachings reverberating though his mind. It was hardest for him to hear Master Noor's voice, though, having valued his advice and guidance more than anyone he had encountered in his Jedi Academy career. The wise Jedi Master was only thirty-seven standard years old when he sacrificially protected Elena and her son she didn't even know she was carrying. He gave his life to save someone so young, when he was young himself. But instead of dwelling on the loss, Rech again focused himself on the trial. He knew Master Noor was going to be looking out for him.

After explaining well the circumstances surrounding his brief fall and how much he believed himself to be redeemed, the committee had sent him away. Blindfolded and led into the center of a large sparring room, Rech released a long, controlled breath, doing his best not to grin as he excitedly awaited his test. He knew the evaluators were watching him carefully, keenly attuned to his emotions, but he couldn't help the smile on his face. He hadn't felt so good, so well prepared in years.

Having just turned twenty-one a few days ago, it had hardly been more than two years, but he knew he had grown so much since his Knighting Ceremony at nineteen. He left Yavin IV that night in search of Mand, and his life hadn't slowed since. It hardly seemed possible that his most desperate struggles, his most skill-challenging battles, and the sweetest, most joyous events had all taken place in two short years. He had sworn an oath to the Jedi Order, and back on Coruscant to reaffirm his choice and demonstrate how much he had learned from his experiences, he was only eager to show them.

With his lightsaber hilt loosely in his grip at his side, he felt a mild alarm sound in the back of his mind, putting his senses on edge.

The test was beginning.

A sudden whoosh of tiny repulsor remotes echoed all around him, and his grin broadened as he counted then. At least thirty practice remotes hovered around him, each darting between each other in random patterns. He could hear the electric buzz in the air as they charged their small, low energy blasters, and opening himself completely to the Force...he waited.

The first remote to fire was directly behind him. Swinging his arms up, he ignited his lightsaber and rotated his wrists to extend the blade down the length of his back. Just as he blocked the bolt, the rest of the remotes unleashed a flurry of fire, forcing Rech to bring his blade back in front of him. Unable to block them all, he deftly twisted his body about as he swung his saber in grand arcs around himself, deflecting the tiny bolts away from the remotes. Blocking the numerous small blasts with his blade required so much control, but resisting the urge to send them back in the direction from which they came was that much more challenging. He had to defeat them some other way, proving his restraint and total control of his refined defense strategy.

Rech grinned again as he leaped into the air, soaring over the bunched remotes as his blindfold ties snapped against his cheek. He deflected their fire as he twisted and somersaulted overhead, landing a good distance away from them. With all of them in front of him, though, he easily blocked their rapid haze of bolts. Sensing a small, empty cargo container nearby, he slowly floated it up behind them while he retained their attention with his blade, which had blurred into a bright blue shield before him with his rapid movements. While still parrying their fire with his saber in one hand, he extended his free hand toward them, wrapping an invisible grip around each individual remote, then lowered his hand. Simultaneously, the remotes gradually sunk to the floor under his command, and after they released one last round of bolts, he swung his blade and twisted his wrist, turning the container over on top of them, trapping them all inside it.

Though he could still hear them buzzing about under the container agitatedly, he powered down his saber and watched the box momentarily. Even though they were merely programmed practice remotes, he had defeated them without destroying a single one. A victory over an opponent need not always be destructive, but decisive, Rech remembered Master Noor telling him years ago. He could hardly claim victory over a bunch of mindless droids, and surely the evaluation committee had more of a challenge in store for him...

Follow the hall to your left for the next stage of your test.

Reaching out with the Force, he probed the hall beside him, using his senses to "see" what lay ahead of him. He relied heavily on what the Force projected into his mind, but his other senses were helpful, as well. He heard the subtle change in the echo of his footsteps as he continued on into the hall, and he felt a shift in the vibrations in his legs as he made cautious steps, as though the stone underneath him were thinner than what he had been standing on earlier. The more he moved, the more information he gathered...

But the hall eventually came to an abrupt dead end. He reached out a hand to feel the cool, solid stone wall in front of him, perplexed. Had he missed a turn he was supposed to make? He was very sure he had made his way down a door-less, windowless corridor, so why had he been instructed to go this way?

As he stretched his senses all around him, he noticed a strange sound filtering down to him from above. As he turned one ear upward, he heard the subtle howl of a light breeze sweeping over a narrow opening. Again reaching out to explore the area, he sensed a long passage extending straight up from the hall, opening to the Coruscant sky high above him.

Just as he began to investigate further, though, he felt his lightsaber hilt get stripped from his hand. Before he could react, it flew up the shaft, up and out of his reach. Flustered, he drew on the Force to propel him up after it, making one powerful leap that landed him on a thin ledge at the top of the shaft.

Regaining his balance and extending his search, he felt his saber still floating away from him out across a series of tall, narrow columns randomly arranged over a shallow pool of water. The fall alone would be painful enough, but the bed of rocks just under the water's surface would make the failure that much worse.

Still determined, though, Rech drew in a deep breath and made a simple Force-powered jump to the nearest column -- and felt a sudden blast hit him midair, barely landing him on a different column nearby. He had to swing his arms wildly to keep from falling backwards off the small, round step, and before he could regain his footing, he sensed another blast headed for him. He made a desperate back flip, twisting himself to avoid another at the height of his jump, but he took a second hit in the stomach as he landed, knocking him off the column. Barely able to extend his reach as he fell, he desperately gripped the edge of another column, dangling perilously from it.

Breathing heavily, he kept his senses on high alert as he hung over the serene pool far below him. After pausing for a brief moment, he noticed that the attacks had stopped, or at least, they hadn't yet extended down to him as he clung to the column edge. Able to finally think, he searched the area for his saber...and found it, perched atop a pedestal on the other end of the pool. How was he going to get all the way over there, though, if he couldn't even make it from one column to another? He was beginning to formulate a plan, but would it work...?

Swinging himself side to side until he built up enough momentum, he released the edge and used the Force to power himself up onto a column top and immediately launched himself into the air again as he had moments before. Instead of avoiding the blasts, though, he absorbed them, using them to redirect his energy as his toes barely made contact with the columns. Anticipating each blow, he reoriented his body, forcing the power to aid him, not work against him, and propel him through the air.

He effortlessly made his way across the pool, and with one last bounding leap, he landed on the ledge near his lightsaber with ease. Though he anticipated meeting another challenge, he felt no impending attack, no alarm sounding in his mind, so he slowly reached a hand up and called his weapon to his open palm, gripping it tightly with the Force as well as within his hand.

The instant the hilt touched his palm, though, an intense, sharp pain in his stomach doubled him over, stealing his breath. It had hit him so hard and so suddenly, he knew it hadn't been a result of his struggle to get across the pool. No, the pain came from somewhere else entirely, and as he fell to his knees, again breathing heavily, he ripped his blindfold off, squinting in the daylight as he struggled to determine the source of his feelings.

A human Jedi Master landed on the ledge beside him within moments, tossing her long braided blond hair behind herself as she quickly knelt beside Rech, seriously concerned.

"Mr. Natiyr, are you injured?"

The realization struck him harder than the original pain had, and as his upper body sagged to the side, he was just able to lock his elbow and catch himself with one palm on the ground, his gaze unfocused and frozen.

"No," he answered her breathlessly, "...but my wife is."