Hey, everybody. Merry Christmas! As a Christmas present to you all, I'm back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 11- Trust in the Force

(June 29, 2026)

"So, where are we going?" Jonathan asks as he walks out to his fighter, Alex behind him and Jared off to his side.

"I don't know. But the Force will guide us," Jared says. The following morning, he had chosen Jonathan to go with him to wherever Qui Gon was sending him. The rest of the Squadron and the Rangers would be staying behind on Naboo until Jared and Jonathan returned.

"Hmmm," Jonathan hums skeptically. Being a starfighter pilot, he doesn't want to just trust his safety in a journey through hyperspace to someone trying to just feel their way through hyperspace.

"Trust me, Captain. We'll make it. Just trust me on this one. And if we fail, you can haunt me for eternity," Jared says, ending with a bit of a smile.

"I'm gonna hold you to that," Jonathan says. He then glances back at Alex, and the two shake their heads slightly.

Up ahead, ground crews are finishing getting Jared's SF-23 and Jonathan's SF-15 ready to fly. Jared and Jonathan start doing the walk around before take off while Alex climbs into the backseat in the cockpit of the SF-15.

It takes only a few minutes to do the complete walk around. Once the two have finished their walk around, Jared and Jonathan look at each other, give each other a thumbs up, and then climb into their cockpits, ready to go.

In his cockpit, Jared looks at the picture of Lacy and Brooklyn he keeps taped to the side of the cockpit. He smiles a bit as he just stares at the photo for a few moments before he starts powering up the fighter.

Within a minute, both fighters are fully powered up, and Jared and Jonathan close their canopies. A few seconds later, both fighters lift off the ground. Both fly forward for a few hundred yards as they start picking up speed, then start to pull up into a climb.

As the two fighters exit the atmosphere, Jonathan is watching Jared's fighter intently, waiting for anything from him. However, Jared is meditating, trying to feel for what Qui Gon instructed him to search for. As he meditates, numbers begin to come to him. Hyperspace coordinates. As they come to him, Jared begins to program them into his navicomputer.

After a minute, Jared says, "Jonathan, I'm sending you sets of hyperspace coordinates for our journey. I'll make the jump first, and you just stay locked on my tail through hyperspace."

"Okay," Jonathan says hesitantly, still worried about something going wrong. However, he listens to Jared, and has his astro droid program the navicomputer.

Once the coordinates have been input, Jonathan calls out over the radio, "Alright, Hansen. We're ready."

"Copy that. Standby," Jared says. He flips one final switch, then places his hands on the hyperspace throttles and pushes them forward. The stars seem to lengthen out before Jared's SF-23 jumps to hyperspace. About two seconds later, Jonathan follows Jared into hyperspace.

(June 30, 2026)

"Alright, Captain. On my mark," Jared calls out to Jonathan on the radio. He can sense through the Force that they have almost arrived at their destination.

"Copy that. On your mark," Jonathan responds, resting his hand on the hyperspace throttles.

Jared waits patiently, his hand on the hyperspace throttle, waiting for the right feeling in the Force. Then, right as he feels it, he calls out, "Now!"

Both Jared and Jonathan pull back on the hyperspace throttle, and their fighters drop out of hyperspace. As they come out of hyperspace, a dark red planet appears up ahead, a handful of asteroids in orbit around it.

It only takes Jared a second to recognize it. "Korriban. Of course I'd be able to find a clue to Bosthirda here," he mutters. He then gets on the radio and says to Jonathan, "Captain. We've come to Korriban."

"The old Sith homeworld?" Jonathan asks to confirm.

"That's the one," Jared responds.

"Why here?" Jonathan wonders aloud over the radio.

"Well, not surprised the Dark Force would be interested in this place. I guess it's as good a place to search for a clue as any," Jared says.

Jared thinks about this for a moment before he says, "Alright, Captain. Locate the Valley of the Dark Lords on your maps, and let's fly search patterns over it and the surrounding lands. See if we can't find a shuttle or transport."

"Copy that," Jonathan responds.

The two fighters dive down into Korriban's atmosphere, heading for the Valley of the Dark Lords. As they near the valley, the two separate, flying in different directions to start their search.

For a few minutes, the two of them and Alex scan the ground below them, looking for any sign of a visitor to the planet. At first, they see nothing. No transport or signs of disturbance on the ground below.

Then, Jonathan flies over the remains of the Sith Academy at the end of the Valley of the Dark Lords. As he flies over the ruined structure, he spots something down on the ground. Looking more carefully, he sees a Corellian YT-2400 model light freighter.

"Hansen, spotted a YT-2400 freighter just outside the ruins of the Academy," Jonathan calls out over the radio.

"Copy that. On my way," Jared says. He turns in Jonathan's direction. At his current speed, it only takes him a few minutes to rendezvous with Jonathan. As he pulls up alongside Jonathan, Jared looks down and sees the freighter.

"Alright. I'm gonna set down and investigate. You stay up here and keep watch. Let me know if you spot anything, and be ready to provide air support if I call for it," Jared says.

"Copy that," Jonathan responds. He then climbs about a thousand feet more as Jared descends, eventually setting his fighter down in an alcove about half a mile from the spot where the freighter is parked.

Jared shuts down his fighter before climbing out. "Watch the ship," he calls to his astro droid, which beeps in response. Jared then pulls his lightsaber off his belt, holding it at the ready, before he sets off towards the shuttle.

Although the terrain is uneven and rocky, it's a piece of cake for Jared. He's been hiking since he was 5. His dad once told him that at 8 years old, he could outhike a lot of adults. And after having done hikes like Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon, this is easy. Being in such good shape, it takes him only about 9 minutes to reach freighter. The entire time, he can feel the pervasive darkness of Korriban. He draws on his memories of his family and surrounds himself in the light side of the Force.

As he reaches the freighter, Jared slows down and ignites his lightsaber, ready to engage any threat that should present itself. He moves carefully towards the freighter. Seeing that the boarding ramp is currently raised, Jared reaches out with one hand and uses the Force to pull the boarding ramp down.

Jared slowly walks up the boarding ramp, saber held out in front of him. As he gets up the ramp, he hears a voice say, "You guys finally back?"

A second later, a man wearing the robes of the Dark Force walks around a corner, and the two freeze as they see each other. Then, the cultists reaches into the folds of his robe to draw his blaster. Jared's reflexes are too quick, however, and he quickly lunges forward, driving his saber through the cultist's heart.

As Jared lets the cultist's body fall, he follows what he knows of the YT-2400's standard layout to head for the cockpit. Sure enough, within seconds, Jared has reached the cockpit.

Jared sits down in the pilot's seat. Not knowing how long it will be before the other cultists who had come to Korriban on the freighter will return, he wants to work quickly.

"Alright, boys. What can your computer tell me?" Jared mutters to himself. He turns to the navicomputer's console and begins searching through the coordinates programmed into the navicomputer. The top coordinate is Korriban's coordinates. Maybe, just maybe, Bosthirda's coordinates will be listed.

Jared looks through the list of coordinates programmed into the navicomputer. Thankfully, they're labeled with the name of the destination, presumably to avoid accidentally mistaking coordinates. It takes only moments before Jared sees what he's looking for: a series of coordinates labelled "Bosthirda".

"Boo-ya," Jared whispers to himself with a grin.

Right then, his commlink barks to life, with Jonathan saying urgently over the network, "Hansen! I can see some individuals coming out of the ruins of the Academy and heading straight for the freighter. I'm gonna strafe 'em if you want, but you better get moving."

"Copy that. Yeah, strafe 'em," Jared says as he plugs a device into the console to download the coordinates to Bosthirda.

Outside, Jonathan wings over into a Split S, rolling over on his back before diving down and reversing course, coming out on a perfect course right towards the ruins of the Academy. Jonathan switches his armament switch to his laser cannons, then looks through his gunsight at the ground below him. He keeps his gunsight centered on the individuals he can see making their way towards the freighter. Then, at a distance of 800 yards, Jonathan squeezes the trigger. His laser cannons spring to life, sending a flurry of bolts out towards the cultists. One of the cultists is hit directly and almost blown apart, while the other two are killed by the explosions and shrapnel thrown out by the other bolts.

"Got 'em, Hansen. But no idea if there might be more. You might want to hurry up," Jonathan says urgently.

"Copy that. Just need a few more moments for the download to finish," Jared says, watching the progress of the download. Sure enough, in just a few more seconds, the download finishes, and Jared hurriedly pulls the drive out of the console. He then hurries out of the cockpit and off of the freighter.

As Jared makes it a few yards from the freighter, he turns back to face him. In case any more cultists are here, he doesn't want them leaving Korriban. Planting his feet firmly, Jared raises both hands, reaching out and grabbing hold of the freighter with the Force. First, he uses the Force to crush several dents into the hull before focusing his Force power in those dents. Drawing on all of his power, Jared pulls as hard as he can in opposite directions. With multiple terrible sounds of screeching and tearing metal, the freighter is ripped in half. Jared finishes his act by hurling the two halves of the freighter apart.

Up above, Jonathan has been watching this happen. He whistles slightly to himself before muttering, "Damn. He ain't holding back."

As Jared turns away from the destroyed freighter, he starts running back to his fighter much faster than he made his way to the freighter, just in case there are any more cultists around. It takes him only minutes to reach his fighter. As he runs up to it, he calls out to his droid, "Start her up!"

The droid beeps in response as it gets to work firing up the fighter. By the time Jared has climbed into the cockpit, strapped himself in, and started closing the canopy, the Black Widow is ready for takeoff. Jared eases the fighter into the sky and starts climbing into the sky.

As he pulls up alongside Jonathan, Jared contacts him over the radio and says, "Captain, I have the coordinates. We've got the hyperspace route leading to Bosthirda."

"Copy that, Hansen," Jonathan responds, a big grin on his face.

"Let's head back to Naboo and confer with the rest of the team. Time to take the fight to their home base," Jared says.

And, I'll end the chapter there.

So, there are only 3 more chapters left in this story. Two of them will cover the team's strike on Bosthirda before the third wraps up this story. I know this has been a shorter story, but it's not as important in the long run as some of the others. I hope you all have enjoyed this one.

Next chapter will be up in the next day or two. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!