Star Wars Episode IV: Hope Reborn Chapter 4: In Exile: Year 4 Part 1, a buffy x-overs fanfic

Episode 4 Chapter 4

In Exile: Year 4

The Great Temple Robbery

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There was a violent flash of purple and white light and suddenly Dawn appeared in the bowls of the Council, where she promptly collapsed. She was a mess - dozens of bruises, several fractured bones and a smoldering hole in her side from a lightsaber blade. The young Jedi gasped for breath, looking around frantically at her surroundings. She noted dimly that at least all of the artifacts had arrived. Whether or not they were intact would have to be investigated when she was in no danger of actually dying.

She was alone. She was in the darkened basement of the Council, where nobody knew to look for her. And worse, her strength was fading. It wasn't supposed to go like this, she thought to herself. It was supposed to be in and out, no alarms, no patrols. Nobody was going to know what I did. Boy, did I fuck up…Dawn took a shallow breath, attempting to center herself and reached out to the one person she knew would hear her.

Zett, hear me…

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Two Days Earlier

Dawn stood in the middle of the training room, a blindfold fastened over her eyes and her lightstaff deactivated in her hands. She was surrounded by several practice dummies that the slayers normally practiced their stake throwing on and around them were half a dozen stinger remotes. Though she couldn't see them, Dawn felt them activate and rise and she activate the lightstaff. Twin blades of azure light streamed from the ends, terminating in rounded edges nearly a meter from the handle and in an instant she was spinning around the room, blocking and truing back stinger bolts while protecting the dummies.

Buffy and Sera stood in the back of the room, watching Dawn move through the practice. "She's gotten quite good with the staff, Master," Sera was saying. "Before it was mostly instinctual. Now, it's actual skill. And she's learning more every day."

"Then why do I detect worry in your voice, Sera?" Buffy asked as Dawn spun, batting away one bolt and sending another back at the remote, deactivating it.

"She's much too angry at times," the Jedi said plainly. "And she channels it much too often. You of all people know of the dangers of the Vaapad form. Only you and Master Windu were able to successfully master it without falling."

"Dawn won't fall."

"I understand how you feel about her, Master-"

"SHE WON'T FALL," Buffy repeated strongly.

"She lost one of her Slayers, Master Skywalker. And not only was Vi her Slayer, she was her friend. I fear that attachment may be her undoing."

"And I believe it will make her stronger," Buffy countered. "She merely has to come to terms with the loss and move past her anger… that is all. And she can do that. She WILL do that."

Sera looked at Dawn, who had defeated the final remote. Five of the six remotes lay on the ground, smoking ruins of what they once were. The sixth was lodged in the body of one of the dummies. Sera looked back at the Jedi Master blandly.

'If you say so, Master."

Dawn pulled off the blindfold and looked around sheepishly. "Uh, sorry, Masters. I got a bit carried away."

Buffy sighed. "Let's take a walk."

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"How have you been holding up, Dawn?"

"Fine. Why?"

The two were walking in the expansive courtyard of the Watcher's Council. It was a beautiful spring day, warm even by England standards, and many of the occupants of the Council were out enjoying the weather. Buffy and Dawn walked among them, side by side. Buffy glanced at her sisters and sighed inwardly.

She had to be as stubborn as me, she thought. "I know the past year has been tough for you, Dawn. First with the intensified training, then with taking full Watcher duties. And it's been two weeks since you lost Vi on patrol and you still haven't talked to anyone about it."

"You're one to counsel someone on how to deal with grief, Buffy," Dawn shot back acidly. Buffy winced.

"That may be, Dawn. I haven't had the best experience in dealing with grief. I'm hoping, though, that I can teach you to avoid my mistakes. You're more than a normal person, Dawn. You're a Jedi. And as a Jedi, you can't keep all of this anger bottled up inside."

The two stopped and the young Jedi looked up to find herself in front of the Wall of Remembrance. It had been decided that that should be some sort of memorial to commemorate the sacrifices of all of the Slayers throughout history early on after Giles and the rest of the Scoobies arrived. How to do that without seeming too gaudy was another thing. In the end, it had been decided on a long, solid piece of white marble, about two meters tall that would curve around the edge of the lake between the two main buildings. All of the known names of Slayers and Watchers that had fallen were then carved on it. Occasionally there would be an epitath, but mostly it was just the names. And Buffy had brought Dawn to the center point of the slab, where the latest name had been carved in.

Violet "Vi" Dames

Dawn's chest tightened up at the though of her former Slayer. Along with Rona, Molly and Belle, Vi had been one of four Slayers in her group, and one of the two who had been with them since Sunnydale. Along with Zett, Dawn's team had been one of the best in the London patrol zone, dealing with the most difficult cases with ease. At times, they seemed invincible. At times, they felt invincible.

Of course, that feeling isn't always good. That feeling can lead to mistakes.

They had been called upon the deal with a particularly nasty next of vampires that had been praying on the downtown London area. They found their base in an old, burnt out London opera house. Operating like a well oiled machine, they managed to infiltrate the building and destroy the sentries and were well on their way to destroying the main clan when the master arrived. What they hadn't known was that the master, Tomlisov, was as old as the vampire Krakistos had been when Faith had taken him on.

Dawn knew the story of Krakistos, having (sort of) lived through it. She knew it had taken two Slayers to kill him and even then it almost wasn't enough. And so she watched in horror as Vi rushed the vampire with her sword, swinging to decapitate it. She watched as the Vampire moved with preternatural speed, ducking under the swing and grabbing Vi's arms, braking both of them with a casual twist. She watched as Vi crumpled to the ground in pain, screaming.

She watched as her Slayer, her friend, stopped screaming as the vampire plunged the sword through her heart using the sword the vampire had taken from her. Even as the vampire withdrew the sword slowly, cruelly, the look on Vi's face showed no resignation and held nothing but pain. Even as she fell, her blank eyes stared off into nothing.

Dawn didn't remember much after that. She remember watching Rona and Belle get brushed aside roughly through a red haze, remembered vaguely as Zett and Molly worked to dispatch the remaining sentries.

She remembered surrendering to the rage that had boiled up inside of her, lashing out with the Force to pulverize every bone in his body, then hacking him to bits with her lightstaff before finally, mercifully, taking his head.

Dawn pushed her feelings back down deep into her gut and glared at her Master. "I don't need to talk to anybody. I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me, my OTHER job calls." Dawn pushed past Buffy and stalked back to the compound, leaving the Slayer to stare forlornly at her back.

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She was sitting at her desk, staring at the same line on the report that she had been trying to read for the past half hour when the knock came.

"Dawn, can we talk?" Zett's worried voice came from beyond the door. Dawn sighed in frustration.

"I'm kind of busy, Z-"

"I won't take too much of your time," the young Jedi said, coming in and closing the door behind him. "It's just that we haven't had much time to talk since…well, you know…"

"Yeah, well I've been busy," Dawn said flippantly, not looking up from her paperwork. "It's amazing how many forms you have to fill out when you get one of your Slayers killed."

Zett winced at that. "Dawn, you didn't get Vi killed... I'm worried about you, Dawn. I'm worried that you're falling deeper and deeper into the darkness…"

"Look, sorry to interrupt, but did you need something?" Dawn interrupted rudely. "Because I've got more important things to do than listen to you bitch and moan and worry about me and my darkness."

"I'm worried about you! Dammit Dawn, I love you!" Zett shouted. "And seeing you like this, I just want to help you get through this!"

Dawn looked at Zett coldly and then slowly stood up. Stalking around the desk, she moved until she was right in front of him. "I also have more important things to be doing than dealing with over-emotional men. So why don't you do us both a favor and go off somewhere to meditate and forget all about me? Because I'm already forgetting about you."

"But - but I love you," Zett replied softly, his voice cracking with barely restrained emotion. Dawn shrugged coldly.

"That's your problem, not mine," she replied cruelly, then moved around him and strode out of the office. Zett stood there for a few moments and then jerkily moved out of the room to head back to his quarters. He hoped to sleep and then wake to find this all to be some horrible nightmare. Or at the very least, he hoped sleep would help him forget the fact that the first girl he had ever loved had just ripped his heart out.

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Willow watched as Dawn moved through her katas in the darkened training room. Even from her position at the door, Willow could see how clumsy the moves were. Willow could see Dawn stood on a precipice - the same precipice she herself had stood on nearly a decade previous and it was with alarm that she realized how close Dawn was to following her footsteps.

"You gonna stand there all night, or are you gonna come in and 'talk' to me?"

"Actually, I was just walking down the hall, when suddenly I had this really vivid flashback of my days as Darth Traya," Willow said happily. "You know, the days when I murdered innocent people, perpetuated a galaxy-wide war and tried to kill my best friend? Then I came in here and realized I was sensing you."

"Cute."

"But enough of this idle chit chat," Willow said, striding over to the weapons case and picking up a small lightsaber. She switched it on and adjusted its green blade to the training setting. "Let's spar."

Dawn stared dumbly at the witch. "Are you NUTS?" she asked incredulously. "You haven't touched one of those in years."

Willow whipped the bale up in a traditional salute. "Then I'll go easy on you."

Dawn grunted in reply, then took her lightstaff from her belt and activated both blades and then quickly set the blades to the training setting. She brought her right blade up in salute and then attacked without preamble.

The two spared for a few minutes in silence, during which time Dawn's frustration grew. Every move she made, Willow seemed able to block with twice the efficiency and half the effort. Willows strokes were small, darting moves that were starting to try Dawn's patience.

"Are you going to attack me or not?" Dawn snarled, thrusting one blade towards Willow's stomach. The Witch parried and spun away, striking out with her saber and nicking Dawn's cheek.

"Was that good enough for you?" she asked sweetly. She chuckled as Dawn responded with a furious volley which she easily deflected. "So, I ran into Zett on my way here. Funny thing, I thought he was a zombie at first, the way he was acting." Another thrust, another parry. "Guess you wanted space, hmmm? Maybe that's why you don't talk to your team anymore and you barely acknowledge your own Master. I know; Buffy likes to gossip."

Dawn swung for her head and Willow ducked, blocking the return thrust. She rolled to the right and stabbed out, nicking Dawn's shin. "So, I got to thinking. There could be two things going on with you - either you are so upset over the death of your friend that you're shutting everybody out in some vain attempt to spare yourself from future loss, or you're so ashamed at how easy you fell to the supposed 'Dark Side' that you're pushing everybody away in shame - and you really didn't give a rats ass about Vi."

Dawn yelled in rage and full-out attacked Willow, using everything Buffy and Giles had taught her. She stabbed, kicked, slashed and jabbed, but somewhere Willow managed to block, parry or avoid every attack. "But let me ask you a question, Padawan," Willow continued calmly. "What if I told you there was no Dark Side of the Force?"

Dawn stopped and shut down her staff. She hunched over, bracing her hands against her knees as she sucked in much-need oxygen. "That's a lie."

"Everything I tell you is a lie," Willow replied. "That doesn't make it any less true."

"That doesn't make sense!"

Willow sighed. "We live in a world of vampires and witches, where we have traveled to another dimension and are now in the process of preparing to fight an evil, galaxy-dominating regime headed by a Sith Lord of unimaginable power. And to top it all off, you were created from an ancient power known as he key that was used to break open the doors to all dimensions and from Buffy, which means your sister is also technically your mother. So tell me, oh wise and powerful Jedi, what her exactly makes sense?"

"Point taken," Dawn replied dryly. "Still, do you have a point here? One that makes a little sense, preferably?"

"Fine. To answer your question, let me ask one of my own. What is the Force? In purely scientific forms, if you can."

Dawn thought for a moment before answering. "In the simplest terms, the Force is an energy field."

"I see. And is an energy field evil?"

"What?"

"It's a simple question," Willow said. "Is an energy field evil? Or good, for that matter? Can it take sides?"

"Well, no…I don't suppose so…"

"Then how, pray tell, can there be a Dark Side of the Force?" Willow put forth. Dawn scoffed.

"And this is coming from one of the most prolific Sith Lords in recent history."

"I'm not saying the Sith aren't real," Willow replied with an edge to her voice. "Nor am I saying that they don't use the Force for evil. I'm simply saying that Force isn't what helps them be dark - it's their intent. Intent!" she exclaimed. "That's the key. Intent decides if one is good or evil. For example - when Buffy, Anakin and I were in the desert on Tatooine, I was a full-fledged Sith apprentice. And yet I was still able to heal Shmi by using the Force - an act of compassion, of the Light Side. But, when I attacked the Temple the first time and destroyed the balcony, Buffy was able to use the Force to hold it up and then used Force lightening to fuse the stone back together. Force lightening, which has long been thought of as a power of the Dark Side.

"It was our intent that determined whether or not our actins were good or bad. Another example - Darth Plagus used his knowledge of the Force to preserve and prolong life; Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth felt that his power made him better than everybody - just read Obi-Wan's report on how he was on Outbound Flight and you can see his intent. It was my intent to save Shmi; it was Buffy's intent to save her students; and it was your intent to cause as much pain and suffering to that vampire that you could before you killed it." Willow smirked slightly as Dawn's eyes narrowed. "Please. Tell me I'm lying. Tell me you didn't dig down deep into that dark place in your heart…"

"I don't HAVE a dark place in my heart," Dawn shot back.

"So that rage you used against the vampire - that came from your happy-feel good place?" Willow responded sarcastically. "Don't lie to me, Dawn. You wanted to hurt him."

"No."

"YES," Willow retorted. "Listen to me, Dawn and listen well. You are at a crucial stage in your development as a Jedi, when the Dark Forces will tempt you the most. But you have to realize that they aren't coming from the Force - they're coming from deep inside your own heart. You must accept that those urges are apart of you - accept it, live with it, but never give in to it." She put a reassuring hand on the young girl's shoulder. "I don't want you to turn out like I did, Dawn. I don't want you to become me."

Dawn, struggling to control her emotions, shrugged out from her embrace and stalked out of the room without saying a word. Willow sighed. "It was worth a shot," she mumbled and then she moved to put away her lightsaber.

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Dawn wandered aimlessly around the halls of the Watcher's Council, mulling over what Willow had told her. It all seemed so unbelievable - and yet, it seemed perfectly logical. Buffy and the other Masters had always warned her of the temptations of the Dark Side - could that in actuality be the temptations from the dark place in her heart, like Willow had suggested? The idea scared her more than a little bit - she was acutely aware of how much pain and suffering she had gone through in her short life - the death of her mother; Buffy's sacrifice and Willow's disappearance to keep her safe; the death of so many potential Slayers, including Amanda, in Sunnydale; the fear of losing the ones she loved - a fear that has become so prevalent in her mind that she began pushing everyone away; the uncertainty of her own existence. These things, these secret fears and angers, she kept them buried, locked away in the back of her mind and heart. Could these things really be the fuel for the Dark Side? Could accepting them and living with them be the ultimate way to defeat it?

So engrossed in her thoughts was Dawn that she ran head first into Fred, who herself rounded a corner fully distracted. The two cried out in surprise as they both tumbled to the floor.

"Ouch!"

"Oh!" Fred exclaimed, helping Dawn up as she herself staggered to her feet. "Darn, Dawn! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Fred. Really." Dawn offered the other woman a tentative smile. "I guess both of our heads were in the clouds."

"Yeah," Fred replied. "Actually, I'm glad I ran into you. The latest expedition to the Jedi Universe. They got some intell that you and the rest of the Jedi need to hear."

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"So, what is it?" Anakin asked.

It was not even nine o'clock the following morning when Dawn found Anakin and asked him to convene the Council, promising big new that would require a Council decision. And here they all sat as Fred, Dawn and Olee Starstone stood in front of them in the Council chambers presented what Dawn claimed was Earth-shattering news.

"Well," Fred began, "as you know, we've been sending expeditions into your galaxy ever since we were able to adapt the PPG's to port to specific planets."

"Yes, we know," Master Chatak interrupted. "That's how you were able to obtain all of the medical supplies and equipment, among other pieces of technology."

"Exactly. Also during this time, we've been cultivating an information network to keep us apprised of the situation. One of those contacts is a man named Karrde. He's a smuggler; he's in charge of a modest operation that's building quite a reputation. We've followed his information a few times and every time it's panned out. On the last mission, he informed Wesley of a cache of Jedi artifacts being held in a secure facility - artifacts including the remaining pieces of your archives."

The Masters were astonished at that and began talking amongst themselves. "I thought the archives were destroyed," Master Kilwallen stated, looking at Olee. The young Knight nodded.

"When the situation became untenable, I sent a signal that should have destroyed the entire thing. It is possible, however, that the signal was interrupted or blocked. If that is the case, then Palpatine may have the complete knowledge of the Jedi at his fingertips."

"I'm SO not feelin' that," Buffy muttered. Teryl nodded in agreement.

"The knowledge of the Jedi in the hands of a Sith - I hate to admit it, but the very thought disgusts me," she said.

"Well, that's why we're here," Dawn interrupted. "I have an idea on how to get the archives and every other artifact he has, away from Palpatine."

Buffy stared warily at her sister. "Go on."

"Fred has been refining the PPG's so we can use them for bulk transport. We hope to eventually be able to send large groups of people with them…"

"But we already did that," Teryl pointed out. "We did that when we got here."

Dawn shook her head. "We used a traditional portal to come here. However, those types of portals aren't the most efficient way to transport people or materials because they usually require a ritual and at least one magically inclined person involved in the creation of the portal. The personal portal generators were created to bypass that. The drawback, up till now, has been that only one or two people could go through at a time – any more, and the fabric between realities began to become unstable and we risked a 'key' event, where all barriers begin to break down. However, Fred has been able to refine the PPG's enough that we can now send large shipments across the dimensional barrier with minimal risk of an event."

"Unfortunately, right now it only works for non-living matter, though that should be fine for the mission," Fred interjected. Dawn nodded in agreement.

"The plan is simple. We have several cases of the small portal generators that are linked to a central control pad. A small team will port into the storage location and attach the units to all of the artifacts. Now, our intelligence says hat the archive holocrons are packed away in storage crates, so it should be easy to tag them as well. After we do that, we simply activate the PPG's simultaneously and transport all of the artifacts back here to the Council's storage vault. Once that's done, we merely have to hide and wait for about ten, fifteen minutes before the dimensional barrier is stable enough to transport the team back," Dawn smiled. "Easy-peasy, japaneesie. In and out in under thrity minutes."

"What of security?" Obi-Wan asked. "Surely Palpatine would have these artifacts heavily guarded."

"That's the best part. The complex is heavily guarded - on the outside. All entrances and exits are covered, but there aren't any storm troopers inside the actual space."

"And where is this 'space', Padawan?" Roan asked, leaning forward. "Because I haven't been able to not notice the fact that you've been carefully omitting that little detail from your report."

Dawn took a breath. "It's the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

The Council immediately started talking amongst themselves until Buffy's voice rang out.

"So let me get this straight. You want to lead a small team of Jedi into the Jedi Temple, not one mile away from the most powerful Sith Lord in existence, to recover the Jedi's artifacts and archives." She paused and leaned forward in her chair. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm not the one in the family with the history of mental illness, Master," Dawn shot back. "And I didn't say I'd lead it, I was just laying out the plan…"

"You implied that you were going to lead the team, Dawn," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"Well, I didn't mean to…"

"No, you did," Buffy interjected. "But there are two problems with this plan. While I agree that we need to get the archives away from Palpatine, we need more information. We need to send our infiltrators into Coruscant to get some independent confirmation."

"I agree," Roan said.

"And I second," Teryl added. The Masters all nodded in agreement. Dawn frowned.

"We may not have time to wait, Masters," she said. "The archives were boxed up - that implies that Palpatine is preparing to move them. If we don't go in now, we may never have the chance again."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at her charge. "Let's get this straight, Padawan. You will NOT undertake any mission for the Jedi Council without our express permission. And we will not grant you that permission until we are all satisfied that you are stable."

"Again, I point out I wasn't the one who was committed to a mental institution, Master."

"You're emotions have become increasingly erratic, Dawn," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Ever since Vi died, your attitude has been belligerent, even violent at times. Your team has fallen into disarray, your training ahs suffered and let's not even talk about Zett."

"I've had issues," Dawn ground out. "I'm dealing with them."

"Not well enough," Anakin pointed out. "There's still a lot of turmoil in you. We can all sense it."

"Consider yourself suspended Dawn, pending a full evaluation by this Council. Until that happens," she raised her voice over Dawn's objections, "you are to remain in the Council complex, working on your training. Do you understand me, Padawan?"

"What about my Council duties?" Dawn ground out. "I'm a senior Watcher. I've got responsibilities."

"You will carry those out for now. But I will be talking to Sir Nigel about putting you on leave." Buffy looked hard at her sister. "Do you understand?" Dawn nodded curtly. "Good. Olee, please stay behind for a few minutes. Fred, Dawn, you are dismissed."

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Dawn stalked into Fred's office and instantly plopped herself down in front of a computer terminal. Fred came in behind her, desperately trying to put a positive spin on things for Dawn.

"Well, just look on the bright side! You get a few days rest, pull yourself together and come back in fighting form! Heck, you can even spend time patching things up with Zett!"

"I doubt he'd have me back after what I said to him," Dawn muttered, typing away.

"Pfsh," Fred said dismissively. "The man loves you. Sure, he's not in the best state of mind, but I'm sure if you just talk to him, you two can work things out."

Dawn hit print on the computer and moved over to the printer. Grabbing the sheet, she thrust it at Fred. "Yeah? Well, it'll have to wait until I get back."

Fred looked at the paper and paled. "Dawn, no….no, no-no-no…"

"Fred…"

"This is SUCH a bad idea…"

"FRED!" Dawn shouted. Once she had the tech's attention, she continued. "I am a Senior Watcher on this Council. As such, I have full discretion on any and all missions I plan to implement. Which now includes my Temple raid. That order," she pointed to the paper, "is valid and I expect the materials to be loaded and ready to go within the hour, before Buffy talks to Lord Ambrose-Bellairs and gets me canned."

"Why don't you just wait for them to clear you, Dawn? Why not just wait?"

"Because time is a luxury I don't have, Fred. And I need to know," her voice dropped till it was barely a whisper. "I need to know if I can still do it. I need to know if I can control myself, if I'm really stable enough be a Watcher or a Jedi."

Fred sighed in defeat. "Oh, alright. Give me an hour to get things together."

"Thanks, Fred," Dawn said, then turned and walked out. Fred sighed once more.

"I got a bad feeling about this…"

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Dawn made her way back to her room and quickly moved to her computer. She sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating what to write.

"She doesn't want to be a Watcher, I think." Vi had told Buffy three years ago. They hadn't known it at the time, but she had heard every word. "She enjoys working with the girls, myself included, I hope. But she doesn't like sitting on the sidelines, writing reports. She doesn't like watching her Slayers get beat up. I think she mainly does it to make sure we get treated fairly. And to metaphorically spit in the face of Sir Nigel."

Vi had been right. Dawn hadn't liked to be a Watcher. But she had done it nonetheless, hoping to get fair treatment for the girls, hoping to keep them safe.

So much for that idea.

Coming to a decision, she quickly wrote the letter, printed it, sealed it in an envelope and placed it on her nightstand. She then stripped and moved to her closet. She pulled out a pair of black leather pants and a black turtleneck and put them on. Finally she moved to her dresser and gathered her infiltration kit - black gloves, lock pick, set of stakes, throwing knives, and strapped them all onto her body. Finally she picked up her lightstaff and slipped it into her specially-designed back holster. Taking one final look around, Dawn slipped out of her room and headed back to Fred's lab.

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It was nighttime on Coruscant when Dawn arrived in the remains of the Jedi Temple. As the intelligence had said, the only guards were posted at the exits and entrances - far away from the central chamber where the Emperor was storing the Jedi artifacts. Dawn immediately noticed how everything was packed and stacked.

"Probably going to move it in the next few days," Dawn muttered to herself, quietly putting down the two large cases that carried the tags. "Time to go to work."

It only took Dawn thirty minutes to attach the PPG tags to all of the crates and loose artifacts. Once she did that, she retrieved the control tablet from the case and turned it on. The display screen showed green lights on all of the PPG's. She quickly took out three of the extra devices and attached two of them to the cases, keeping the third on herself. She ran one last diagnostic, made sure to disconnect her PPG from the networked group and then stepped into the middle of the room. Without any further hesitation, she hit the activation button on the tablet.

The room lit up in a blinding flash of purple and white energy and, as one, everything Dawn had tagged seemed to shrink as it was pulled into the cloud of energy until there was nothing left. And then the portals snapped shut, leaving the room in total darkness once more. Dawn sighed in relief.

"Ten more minutes and I'm home. No-"

A crimson blade suddenly flashed into existence, piercing the control tablet and coming to a halt inches from her throat.

"-problem," Dawn squeaked.

"I'm afraid you have a BIG problem, girl," a feminine voice growled. Dawn squinted to see the face of her assailant past the glowing red blade. "Those things you just – whatevered - belong to Palpatine, Emperor of the Galactic Empire. You WILL return them now," the blade lowered slightly so that Dawn could get a clear look at her face, "or I will make you suffer for taking them."

Dawn gaped. The woman in front of her… it couldn't be! But that slim build, the soft face with flowing red hair and green eyes…

"Willow?"

Those familiar green eyes seemed to flash with anger. "Willow? What do you know of Willow?"

"She's my friend," Dawn said slowly. "But you're not her…"

"Of course not!" the woman snarled. "I want nothing to do with that deserter, that traitor! It's bad enough that she's my mother…"

Dawn was torn between being astounded and horrified. This woman was Willow's daughter? "Yeah," she said at length, "I guess that doesn't make you the most popular person around here, whoever you are."

"I'm liked well enough to become the Emperor's Hand. You may call me Mara Jade." The blade moved back up towards Dawn's face. "Now, bring it all BACK."

Dawn slowly raised her hands up over her head in what she hoped was interpreted as a non-threatening gesture, though she was subtly shifting her right hand lower to reach her lightstaff in its holster. "Well, gee Mara. I'd love to bring it back, but you see that tablet you just destroyed? That controlled the whole transportation process. So I guess your Emperor's up the proverbial shit-creek."

"Then you're in for a world of hurt, little girl. And after I'm done with you, I'll turn you over to my Master. And if you're lucky, you won't survive long enough to meet the Emperor…"

Now! Dawn thought as she quickly whipped out her lightstaff and ignited one blade, bringing it down and out to bat away Mara's crimson blade. Dawn followed that up with a spin as she activated the other blade, bringing it up and swinging for Mara's head. "Little girl? Don't you know what I am?" she asked the astonished Hand as she blocked Dawn's swing. Dawn spun again, ducked under Mara's return swing, and thrust her leg up, sending her boot into the redhead's jaw.

"I'm a Jedi, bitch!"

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The two women went at it tooth and nail, neither giving nor taking quarter. Mara fought to kill, knowing it would please both of her Masters to destroy a thing they both loathed. Dawn fought hard, knowing if she let her guard down for an instant, she would die. So Dawn fought harder than she had ever fought, relying on everything Buffy, Anakin, Obi-wan and all of the rest of the Jedi had taught her. Mara swung high and Dawn blocked and then brought her low blade up towards Mara's gut. Mara leapt back and thrust out with the Force, sending Dawn hurting back across the room and into a stun field that blocked off the doorway to the outer corridor. She grunted in pain as she was thrown forward a few feet where she landed in a heap on the floor.

Just have to hold out for a few more minutes, she thought to herself as she staggered to her feet. She noticed a cable on the ground running into the wall at the blocked-off door and sliced it in two with her lightstaff, instantly cutting the power to the stun field. Warily the young Padawan backed out of the main room as Mara aggressively stalked her.

"So, you're a Jedi?" she said dismissively, attacking once more. The fury behind the attacks took Dawn by surprise and she blocked desperately as the Hand battered at her defenses. "Gotta say, girl. Not what I was expecting."

"Yeah? And what were you expecting?" Dawn gasped, gritting her teeth and blocking a high swing. She tried to follow up with a side strike at Mara's waist, but she clocked it, spinning around and thrusting her lightsaber behind her - straight into Dawn's abdomen. Dawn gasped in surprise at the nearly overwhelming pain that exploded in her side, but before she could even scream Mara pulled the blade out and reached out with the Force, slowly crushing her neck as she lifted Dawn into the air.

"I was expecting some skill. Talent, even," she said as she slowly choked the life out of the injured girl. "Quite frankly, after all of the stories Master Halcyon told me, I was expecting more than some half-trained girl with no power." With contempt she Force -tossed the girl back through the doorway into the main hall, where she thudded to the ground and skidded a few feet before finally coming to a rest. She looked down at the deactivated lightstaff she had dropped and kicked it away, then stalked back towards the fallen Jedi.

Dawn groggily looked up as the Emperor's Hand stalked towards her. Just a few more minutes! Dawn practically screamed to herself. Come on, Dawn! You're a Jedi and a Watcher! It's your job to think of ways out of spots like these! THINK! Dawn's eyes darted around and instantly she spotted the power cable. The cable powers the stun field. If I can force her back into the doorway, I could use Force lightening to light that field up and send Mara to bed. The only problem with that plan was calling on the Force lightening - she had always been taught that it was a Dark Side power. And what if Willow is right? She thought to herself. Is it dark if I don't intend to harm her with it?

Mara was now two feet past the door. Now or never, Dawn. Gathering her strength, Dawn grasped for the three throwing knives strapped to her chest and loosened them. Mara acted just as Dawn had suspected she would - she leapt back in a graceful back flip, landing directly in the center of the doorway. With little effort she batted away the knives and sneered.

"Is that the best you've got?"

"No, not really," Dawn said through gritted teeth as she grasped the cable. Instantly she let the Force flow through her, forcing it out through her hand as the devastating lightening that had taken her sister's arm.

But this lightening wasn't meant to fry flesh.

The raw power flowed through the cable and instantly the stun field lit up - with Mara dead center in it. She screamed in pain as the stun field seemed to overload every cell in her body at once. After a few moments Dawn let go of the cable, instantly ceasing the lightening. The stun field died and Mara collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

How's that for intent, Will? Dawn thought as she painfully climbed to her feet. Her left hand instantly grabbed for her wounded side and Dawn was grateful that the lightsaber cauterized the wound. At least I won't bleed to death. Well, internally may be a different story. Dawn wearily reached out with the Force and called her lightstaff to her, though she almost missed catching it in her exhausted state. Looking down at the watch on her wrist, she groaned.

Still got five minutes to wait. What's that noise? It only took Dawn a few moments to realize the clomping sound she was hearing was dozens of boots plodding towards her. Great. There's no way I can hide form a full company of troops. Guess I'll have to go home now. Reluctantly she pulled the PPG from her belt. Boy, I got a bad feeling about this… she thought to herself as she activated it.

The normally serene purple and white energy cloud exploded to life in turbulent form as blue blots of energy crackled around it . Dawn screamed in pain as the portal seemed to tear her apart at the molecular level ripping her to shreds as it sucked her into its violent maw. Then with a loud BANG, the portal snapped shut, leaving the hall and its one unconscious occupant in the dark once more.

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Zett, hear me…

TBC…

Boy, did this chapter get long. For something I had pretty clearly laid out in my mind, things sure got changed around a lot and I'm not too entirely happy with it. For some reason, I just couldn't translate it to paper properly. This chapter ended up being split in two. The next part will have Dawn's recovery, along with her disciplinary hearing in front of the Council. Also, I think steps will be taken by both Anakin and Padmé to rebuild the friendship and familial bonds that Willow shattered in the last trilogy.

Finally, the page breaks on the FanFiction edit page aren't working, so I hope the ones I put in are. Hope they get that fixed.

Peace,

Andrew