Chapter 5

After a few hours of dancing, the pair finally determines that it has been enough time to leave the social function without offending the Perator or his court. They begin the short walk back to their hotel.

Jysella looks up at Ben. "So what did you think of the Perator?"

"Oh, he knows why we're here."

She frowns. "Why do you say that?"

Ben stops walking, and looks around. Noticing for the first time that the street they are on is darkened and deserted.

He reaches down for his lightsaber as a small silver ball comes rolling towards them. Ben takes one look at it, and grabs Jysella's hand and starts running the other way. He pushes at the ball with the Force, trying to send it away from them, but as soon as it starts going the other direction it detonates.

The blast picks them up and flings them further down the street. Jysella can feel him wrapping the Force around her, and she curses his instinctive protectiveness.

As they roll to the stop on the ground a dozen or so meters from where they started, Jysella stands up and looks down at her dress. Or rather she looks down at the remains of it. Just patches of black cloth held together by random strings. She glances down at Ben, noticing a slight gash in his forehead. Gently probing with the Force she realizes that their attackers are coming to finish the job. Straightening, she looks around.

Three men walk up from the shadows. One of them is dressed in typical Adumari fashion, garish clothes and a dark over-cloak. The other two wear more standard spacer fare, one dressed in blue, the other red. All have blasters and blastswords on their belts.

The first one looks her up and down, appraising her current state of dress. "Well, well guys, what have we here?"

The second one's face twists into a leer. "I'm not sure, but she sure is dressed nice."

Fire flashes in her green eyes. "This was my mother's dress."

As she says that, she reaches down to her waist, and realizes that her lightsaber is not there. She looks towards the three men, and notice that the one in red has hers, and the one in blue has Ben's.

The first one pulls out his blastsword, and thumbs it on, his grin taking on a menacing quality. "Be nice girl, and we won't have to hurt you too much. Who knows you might even like it."

She takes a step back, and they begin to walk towards her. Then she darts forward, towards the man with the drawn blastsword.

A quick jab to the neck of the first guy, and he's gasping for breath. She grabs his blastsword arm, and twists the wrist until it breaks and he drops the sword. As she catches the falling sword, her foot flashes out and breaks his kneecap.

She slams the guard of the blastsword into his head, immediately behind the ear, and he falls to the ground. He lays there unmoving, his cloak covering his body.

She falls back into a mid guard as the other two draw their blastswords. She smiles as they rush forward.
She dances out of the way, catching red's sword on the guard of hers, and plants her foot in the stomach of the man in blue. She quickly spins and swipes the feet out from beneath him, dumping him to the pavement.

She spins back to red and touches the tip of her blastsword to his right leg. With a loud pop, that man is laying on the ground screaming and clutching his leg. She frowns at him, and quickly kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

With a slight warning buzz in the Force, she swings her sword laterally, intersecting blue's blade once more. The pressure of his blow releases, and she turns towards him, and parries his blow once again.
Jysella smiles sweetly at him. "Behind you."

The man barks a laugh at her. "What do you take me for girlie?"

Jysella just laughs as Ben spins the man around and punches him hard in the stomach. As he kneels at Ben's feet throwing up, Ben calls his saber to his hand. He flips the handle around, so that the end holding the power supply is sticking out of his fist.

"That's my girl you were hitting on."

With that said, he slams the butt of his saber against the man's head, who promptly crashes to the ground unconscious.

He looks at her. "You all right?"

"I was doing fine all by myself."

"I know. I just couldn't let you have all the fun."

"And what's this 'my girl' stuff?"

"I'm protective?"

She smiles at him. "Chauvinist"

He laughs. "Blame my dad."

Ben bends down, and searches the unconscious forms for identification. He turns once more towards Jysella, taking in her form, and then removes one of their cloaks. He wraps her in it and kisses her cheek.

"What didn't you like my outfit?"

"Oh, I liked it plenty, but I'm a chauvinist remember?"

She pulls the cloak tighter around her as they once more head to the hotel, their senses alert, and ready for danger. They arrive at their rooms without further complications and Jysella quickly shrugs out of the cloak.

"Ugh, that thing stinks."

Ben smiles are the amount of skin the remains of her dress shows. "Well it's better than having you walk into the lobby wearing the few remaining threads of your dress."

She looks at him, tears in her eyes. "You know this used to be one of my Mom's dresses."

He walks over and pulls her into a tight hug. "I know, and I'm sorry."

An old sorrow crosses his eyes, as he remembers all that she has lost due to Jacen and the fire the night her parents died. Kissing the top of her head, he whispers into her hair. "I wish I had been there sooner that night."

She looks up at him, the tears silently falling down her cheeks. "I trust the Force. Besides something good did come from that night; I found you."

------------------------------------------

The Viscount, in orbit around Gynndine

Gavin Darklighter stares at the holo image of his superior officer. The bothan did not appear overly intimidating at a mere four inches tall, but Gavin knows better than to underestimate Admiral Bwua'tu.

"Admiral Darklighter, how goes the efforts to federalize the Gynndine Shipyards?"

Gavin grimaces. "They are nominally under our command sir, though there is still some local resistance."

"That is fine. Prepare for redeployment. The Allegiance will be coming on-station there, and you are to head at flank speed to the Adumar system. You will not enter the system, but wait outside of it, until you receive word from Jedi Skywalker, Jedi Horn or myself. Any questions Admiral?"

"Yes, what exactly is our mission there?"

"Support. The two Jedi are on planet attempting to locate an illegal manufacturing concern. If they find it, they may need help in convincing the Perator of Adumar to obey the law in turning the manufacturing plant over to the Federation."

"Sir, I must once more iterate my dislike of these orders."

"I know Admiral, but they still stand. These come directly form Chief of State Omas."

"Yes sir, is there anything else?"

"No. Admiral Bwua'tu out."

Gavin leans back in his seat and sighs. He punches a command into his terminal and then pulls out a bottle of Whyren's Reserve, pouring himself a glass. As he puts the bottle away, the door chimes. "Come"

He gives her a smile as she walks in.

He has known her for a decade now, and in that time has come to enjoy her companionship and friendship. She is Cheriss Ke Hanadi, a native of Adumar, and a fine pilot and squadron commander.

He leans back in his chair. "You're wondering why I brought you here?"

"Yes sir."

"We're going to Adumar. It will probably end up being a repeat performance of what we did here at Gynndine. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

She doesn't answer right away. "Honestly sir, I had a problem with what we've done here. Of course I'll have issues with it being done to my home planet. Our prime exports are munitions and capital grade explosive devices."

He runs his hand through his goatee, considering her answer. "Do I need to take you off line?"

She shakes her head. "No sir. I belong with my squadron."

He watches her a moment longer before making up his mind. "Very well. Return to your squadron."

She salutes and spins from the room, Gavin silently wishing he could do the same. As he gives the new orders to the helm, Gavin once more wonders when he stopped believing in what he was fighting for. When did it stop being for the betterment of the galaxy and become merely a fight for the Federation.

Sighing, he activates the holocube on his desk, and watches the images of his family that appears. Wondering if what he is doing is the right thing, knowing deep down in his soul that it is not.