Thank you to the 10 people who reviewed the last chapter. You guys are the greatest. Here is chapter five and I hope that you like it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

Chapter 5

The nose of the shuttle was buried deep in the dune; sand and pieces of broken transparisteel covered the floor, chairs and damaged consoles with blinking lights that provided some light. Smoke filled the cockpit and Kira coughed; her eyes opened to darkness; she was still in her seat, the straps digging painfully into her chest. Wincing, she lifted her head before looking around.

Mara was slumped forward her head on the console though Kira could sense that she was alive. She quickly looked for her brother and Ahsoka though since they hadn't been seated when the shuttle crashed. "Dad? Ahsoka?" she called before coughing as she undid her straps and started to stand. She winced and sank back into her seat; it hurt to move.

"Dad? Ahsoka?!" She called again.

"We're…here," her father's voice sounded nearby and Kira turned to find Obi-Wan, slowly standing up and brushing pieces of transparisteel and sand off his clothes. He had been kneeling beside Ahsoka who was slumped on the ground between the chairs covered in wreckage as well.

"Are you all right?" Kira asked concerned.

"I think so. Ahsoka's unconscious. Check on Mara," Obi-Wan ordered.

Kira nodded, which proved to be a bad thing to do for her head began hurting. She forced herself to her feet, gritting her teeth at the pain in her chest, before she moved to Mara's side. She stretched out a hand and placed it on Mara's neck feeling for a pulse and, thankfully, found one albeit a faint one.

"She's alive but her pulse is faint," Kira said. "We'll need some light to see her wounds."

Obi-Wan unclipped his lightsaber from his belt before sinking it into the jammed door that led into the cockpit. He carved a hole in the door though Kira noticed him wince when he attempted to lift his arms above his head. He was obviously injured but Kira knew her father was too stubborn to admit it if he felt he was less injured than everyone else.

"Can you get Mara's straps undone?" asked Obi-Wan as he deactivated his lightsaber and, wincing, knelt beside Ahsoka.

"I don't know. I don't want to…" She broke off when she heard a groan and her eyes went to Mara. "Mara?"

Mara slowly lifted her head; her eyes were unfocused and a dark liquid dripped down her fast contrasting her pale skin. "W…Where are we?" she murmured.

"Tatooine," Kira said. "Can you move?"

"I…think so. The straps…make it difficult," the younger Padawan said turning the chair a little before it stuck partway around.

"All right. Let me get those straps off," Kira said before she reached for the straps but found that the straps were stuck. "Blast it, they're stuck." She reached down and picked up a broken piece of transparisteel before sawing at the straps.

"Can Ahsoka be moved?" she asked as she worked. She didn't know how injured the Togruta was.

"She's still unconscious but if I'm gentle, I should be able to get her out of here without hurting her," Obi-Wan replied. "What about Mara?"

"I'm…all right," Mara murmured.

"She's bleeding though," said Kira finally managing to cut through the straps. She dropped the piece of transparisteel before slowly standing up gritting her teeth when pain flared up around her chest.

Obi-Wan glanced sharply at her. "You're hurt," he said.

"So are you," said Kira as she helped Mara to her feet. Mara swayed and leaned against Kira as she guided her toward the hole Obi-Wan had cut in the door. They walked around Ahsoka whom Obi-Wan was gently lifting into his arms. He stood slowly and Kira could feel him reaching out with the Force to help him support Ahsoka's weight.

Kira and Mara limped slowly toward the back of the shuttle before Kira palmed the release for the boarding ramp hoping there was enough power to lower the ramp. Thankfully, there was and the ramp lowered though an avalanche of sand covered it in a thick layer but it wasn't thick enough to not walk across.

Making their way out of the shuttle, Kira shielded her eyes against the blinding glare of the twin suns as her eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination. Once her eyes adjusted, she scanned the area; sand stretched as far as the eye could see. Other than that, there was nothing noteworthy in sight.

Obi-Wan limped out of the ship and walked a few yards from the shuttle before gently place Ahsoka on the ground. He gritted his teeth as he pushed himself back to his feet as Kira walked over to join him and Mara sank to the ground beside Ahsoka. "You're hurt, dad," she said.

"I'm not as bad as them. We need to get them out of the suns at the very least and back in the ship is not a good idea," said Obi-Wan.

"I can't see any settlements," Kira said. "But maybe if I had a higher vantage point…" She broke off before looking at her father whom she knew was hurt but she had a feeling he was using the Force to keep himself from feeling most of the pain. "You need to rest, dad," she said.

"I'm…"

"You're not fine! Look, dad, you weren't seated when we crashed. You and Ahsoka were likely to get the most injured as is obvious by the fact that Ahsoka's still unconscious. We need help."

"Unfortunately, since I don't know where we are, I don't know where to get help," Obi-Wan said.

"We can try to find a settlement," said Kira.

Obi-Wan limped over to the shuttle before slipping inside it. Kira opened her mouth to protest that it wasn't safe but stopped when her father left and walked over to join her handing her a pair of macrobinoculars. "You are obviously the least injured," he said, "so maybe you'll be able to find a settlement from a higher vantage point as you said."

Kira nodded. "How did I not get injured as badly as Mara?" she wondered aloud.

Obi-Wan shrugged before hissing in pain when he did so. "Go see if you can find a settlement. I'm going to go see if all of our communications were knocked out or not," he said before he limped over to the shuttle.

"You should be resting," Kira called. Her father didn't reply.

He's too stubborn, she thought making her way to the top of the nearest dune.

\/\/\/\/\/

"It crashed near here, dear. There could be survivors," Shmi Skywalker-Lars said folding her arms across her chest as she glared at her husband. She was getting older with each passing year but she was still very active; she went to Anchorhead whenever she could though her stepson Owen or her stepdaughter in law Beru would go with her. Even though it's been almost twenty years since she was nearly captured by Tusken Raiders, her husband was still very protective of her.

That was why it was so hard to convince him to let her check to see if anyone survived the crash she witnessed earlier.

"They could be pirates," Cliegg Lars pointed out before coughing. He had contracted a sickness that was, thankfully, not contagious but Shmi worried for him; the cough seemed to be getting worse with each passing day.

"Then why don't we just take the speeder?" She suggested. "That way we can get out of there if it does turn out to be pirates."

Cliegg seemed to be thinking about it before he sighed. "All right…" he broke off with another cough before adding, "…fine, just take Owen with you at least."

"All right dear."

A few minutes later, Shmi and Owen were flying across the desert in the direction that Shmi had seen the crash. Owen expertly guided the landspeeder around the dunes of sand following in the direction Shmi was pointing, which was where a plume of smoke could be seen. It was a few kilometers away from the homestead though further from Anchorhead.

"There it is," Shmi said as they crested another dune that was a little higher than the rest. They could now see that the ship had crashed nose first into a dune; there was a dune between that one and the one they were resting on. She narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't look like a pirate ship."

"No it doesn't," Owen said before he narrowed his eyes. "Wait, I see someone."

"Where?" Shmi followed where her stepson was pointing and was thankful that she still had good eyesight or else she would have missed the girl crouched on top of the dune across from them.

"Looks like there are survivors," Owen said. "Still want to help them, mom?"

Shmi glanced at her stepson before nodding and Owen guided the landspeeder off the dune and toward the other dune. The girl got to her feet and her hand immediately went to her side as she jumped down from the dune when the speeder drew to a stop beside it; Shmi immediately recognized the lightsaber that hung on her belt.

"What's a Jedi doing all the way out here?" she said examining the blonde girl standing a few feet from the speeder examining them warily.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"My name's Shmi and this is my stepson Owen. I saw your ship crash and I thought you might need some help," Shmi said.

"Shmi? As in Shmi Skywalker? Uncle Anakin's mother?" The girl asked.

"You know my son?"

"He's my godfather." The girl took her hand off her lightsaber before smiling. "I'm Kira Kenobi. Dad's in the ship though he really should be resting!" She shouted out the last five words toward the ship.

"I'm fine!" Obi-Wan's familiar voice shouted back.

"No you're not," a girl that looked a year or two younger than Kira said; she was holding her head and Shmi gasped when she spotted blood.

"She's hurt, Owen," she said reaching into the compartment within the landspeeder where she always kept medical supplies in case there was an accident. She pulled out the gauze, bandages and antibiotics before climbing out of the speeder.

"Here, let me help you," she said.

The girl looked at Shmi before looking at Kira who nodded. "Okay, I guess," the girl said.

Shmi walked over to join the girl before kneeling down beside her and looking at her head. She shook her head when she saw the cut on her forehead before she gently put some of the antibiotic on the gauze. "This is going to sting," she warned before gently wiping the blood away. The girl let out a sharp hiss of pain but didn't move as Shmi finished wiping away the blood and disinfected the gash. She then picked up the bandages and began winding them around the girl's head.

"Is anyone else hurt?" she asked.

"Ahsoka is," Kira said pointing to where the Togruta whom Shmi remembered meeting a couple of years before her grandchildren were born. She looked unconscious and Shmi sighed.

"I don't know if I have enough here to treat her. We should head back to our homestead," she said.

"Will all of us be able to fit into the speeder?" Obi-Wan asked making his way out of the ruined ship and over to join them. He was clutching at his chest; he was obviously in pain but his eyes held a stubborn glint.

"Dad, sit down before you make yourself worse," Kira said sternly.

"Kira, I'm fine."

Kira rested her hands on her hips and glared at her father not believing him for a single instant. Shmi wasn't either.

"You aren't fine, Master Kenobi," Shmi said standing up with a grunt before she walked over to join Obi-Wan. "I may not be a Jedi but even I can see that you're hurt. No one can get into a crash as bad as this one and not get hurt. Now sit and rest while I check on Ahsoka." Shmi folded her arms across her chest and leveled Obi-Wan with a glare reminiscent of the same glare that Anakin always gave Obi-Wan when Obi-Wan was hurt and refused to go to the medbay.

Obi-Wan sighed then winced before sitting down.

Shmi knelt down beside Ahsoka and immediately began checking her for obvious wounds; there were multiple cuts and bruises on her lekku though her head was, by far, the worse. It was covered in blood and was likely the reason why she was unconscious.

"We're going to have to get them back to the homestead. If we go a few at a time then we should be able to get them back there safely," Shmi said.

"I'll take you and her back since she's the most injured. Then I'll come back for the rest," Owen said walking over to join Shmi.

"Careful with her head," Shmi said to her stepson who nodded and gently lifted Ahsoka into his arms. He turned and returned to the landspeeder while Shmi, with another grunt, got to her feet.

"Owen will be back for the rest of you soon," she said.

"Thank you, Shmi," Obi-Wan said.

"You're welcome Master Kenobi." Shmi then returned to her speeder hoping Ahsoka would be okay though the wound looked serious.

\/\/\/\/\/

"I hate guard duty," Luke muttered folding his arms across his chest and glaring sullenly out at the bustling metropolis that was Coronet City. He was currently standing in th living room of Senator Garm Bel Iblis's apartment bored out of his mind while his father was downstairs talking with Senator Bel Iblis's protection detail.

"I can see that," Garm Bel Iblis said with a faint smile as he walked over to join Luke.

Luke glanced toward the senator. He rather liked Senator Bel Iblis even though he's only met him a few times. "I wish Dad and I had been chosen to investigate this matter instead," he admitted.

Bel Iblis chuckled. "Your father isn't exactly subtle enough to investigate. That much I did learn in the time I've known him," he said.

"Hey," Anakin protested as he made his way into the living room.

"You know I'm right, Master Skywalker," Bel Iblis said calmly.

"I've been getting better," Anakin muttered.

Luke chuckled. "Any word from Galen or Master Windu?" he asked.

Anakin shook his head.

Luke frowned. "It's been two days since we reconstructed that call. That person said that she was going to attack in three days, which is today," he said. He looked at the cityscape before adding, "Waiting has never been my strong suit."

"You got that from me," Anakin said putting an arm around Luke's shoulders momentarily.

At that moment, there was a disturbance in the Force just as an explosion occurred in the direction of the power supply station on the other side of Coronet City. Luke winced as he felt deaths spike through the Force and glanced toward Anakin who was pale gazing at the explosion with wide eyes.

"Dad, are you okay?" Luke asked concerned.

Anakin blinked before nodding slowly. "Senator Bel Iblis, you need to get away from the window. I'm positive that explosion was the distraction we overheard them mentioning so this would be the perfect opportunity for an assassin to go after you," he said.

"I can take care of myself," Bel Iblis said sternly as all the lights in the apartment went off though only momentarily as the back-up generators kicked in and the lights came back on.

"I know you can, Senator, but if our suspicions are correct then this assassins is…" Anakin broke off when a disturbance flashed through the Force. Luke felt it as well and tackled Bel Iblis as a blaster bolt shot through the air from the direction of the ventilation shaft. He rolled to his feet lightsaber in hand before, using the Force to remove the grate, disappeared into the ventilation shaft.

"Kriff, Luke!" Anakin shouted but Luke ignored his father's shout as he dashed down the shaft after the assassin who was fleeing. She—it was obviously a she—couldn't exactly fire without risking getting hit with a ricocheting blaster bolt though so she just kept moving but Luke could feel the frustration and anger that coiled around her.

Luke, be careful, Anakin's voice sounded in Luke's mind as he rounded another corner just in time to see the assassin drop through a grate. He followed her to find him in an empty apartment that looked like it hadn't been used in years. He dodged to the side when a series of blaster bolts shot toward him from the assassin's blaster before he ignited his lightsaber; the blue blade caught the blaster bolts and either sent them flying back at the assassin or into the walls and transparisteel windows.

I will, dad, Luke thought.

The woman glared at him; he couldn't exactly see her though he did see was red hair spilling out of the hood over her head. She tucked her blaster away before pulling out her own weapon which, to Luke's surprise, wasn't a lightsaber as he was expecting. It looked more like a light whip.

"Let's see how well you've been trained, Padawan," the woman said with a smirk.

This is going to be harder than I thought it would be, Luke thought warily as he prepared himself to fight the dark Jedi.

\/\/\/\/\/

Galen Marek gritted his teeth as he blocked the dark Jedi's blow and danced away from her when she attacked again. The explosion of the power supply station had occurred right when he and his master had been closing in on the dark Jedi. The only reason they had managed to find the dark Jedi during their investigation was because she had let her presence be known long enough to draw their attention.

As it had drawn them to the power supply station before it blew, Galen was convinced that she did that on purpose. How she knew they were there, he didn't know.

Unfortunately, the explosion had caused Galen and his master to be separated from each other with Galen closest to the dark Jedi. Hence why he was suddenly in a duel with a dark Jedi whose skill was clumsy and yet was powered by the dark side power she was using.

She gritted her teeth as they got caught in a bladelock before she lashed out with the Force. Galen jumped to avoid it before unleashing his own Force push that sent the dark Jedi stumbling backwards. He used that distraction to his advantage to gain the upper hand though that only led to another bladelock.

"What are you doing here?" he asked of the dark Jedi who glared at him clearly not about to tell him anything.

"We know your master is named Lord Sicarius. Who is he?" Galen tried again but, as he expected, the girl still didn't answer him. Instead, she broke the bladelock and nearly landed a kick to Galen's chin had he not ducked before aiming a thrust toward the girl's abdomen. She barely twisted her body to the side to avoid it before swinging her magenta blade toward Galen's who caught it.

The dark Jedi lashed out with the Force grabbing the remains of a console before tossing it at Galen who dodged out of the way only to be nearly hit with the dark Jedi's lightsaber. He ducked and landed a sweeping kick that knocked the girl off her feet. Before she could recover, he disarmed her before pointing his blade at her throat.

The girl glared at him with flaring green eyes. "You will never make me talk, Jedi," she spat.

"You are under arrest," Galen said keeping his blade pointed at the dark Jedi when he felt his master's presence joining him.

Mace came to a stop at Galen's side before he shut down his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. "Very nice job, Galen," he said.

"Thank you master," Galen said not taking his eyes off the dark Jedi as he closed down his lightsaber before reaching down and grabbing the girl's arm. He pulled her to her feet and Mace pulled out a set of stun cuffs before snapping them around the girl's wrist.

"Is Senator Bel Iblis all right?" Galen asked.

"I haven't received word from Anakin so I do not know," Mace said. "Come, let's get back to the shuttle and see if we can some answers to our questions."

"I will never answer any of your questions, Jedi," the girl snapped.

"We shall see."

\/\/\/\/\/

Anakin leapt out of the turbolift almost before the doors finished opening before he dashed toward the room where he felt his son's presence. Senator Bel Iblis had told him to go help his son though Anakin had been hesitant at leaving him alone. He had reminded the Jedi that he wasn't an invalid and, once again, told him that he could take care of himself.

He dashed into the room just in time to see Luke dodged out of the way to avoid the dark Jedi's lightwhip and he dashed forward lashing out with the Force as he did so. The dark Jedi skidded a few feet before whirling around, a sneer twisting her lips. "While I would greatly enjoy a challenge from you, Skywalker, as your little runt of an apprentice hardly qualified as a challenge, I have places to be," she said before she unleashed a torrent of Force lightning toward Anakin who caught the lightning in his blade.

The dark Jedi, doing a back flip that brought her closer to the transparisteel windows, pulled out a thermal detonator, activated it and tossed it straight at the Jedi before she turned, used the Force to shatter the transparisteel windows and leapt out of them. At the same time, Anakin lashed out with the Force pushing the thermal detonator away before tackling Luke covering his sixteen-year-old son's body with his own as the detonator went off before it reached th window.

The resounding explosion shattered what was left of the windows, sent chunks of tables, bookshelves, couches and the wall flying in all directions and sent Anakin and Luke flying into one of the rooms in the apartment.

Coughing as smoke spilled into the room, Anakin looked at his son. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Luke coughed before accepting the hand as Anakin helped im to his feet. "Why'd she leave like that? She wanted to fight me but then you showed up and she stopped."

"Maybe she was scared of me," Anakin said lightly.

Luke raised an eyebrow before chuckling. "Sure," he said before he grew serious and added, "You don't think she succeeded with what she tried to do, do you?"

Anakin frowned. "I don't know. I don't think she did though. Senator Bel Iblis was all right when I last saw him but I should probably check," he said before he pulled out his comlink and keyed in Bel Iblis's frequency.

There was a moment of silence before Bel Iblis's voice sounded. "Skywalker, I sure hope you ain't trying to make this entire building come crashing down on our heads," the senator said.

"Glad to hear you're all right, Senator," Anakin said and Luke looked relieved.

"Yes, I'm fine, Skywalker. What happened with the assassin?"

"She escaped," Anakin said.

Anakin heard Bel Iblis mutter a few choice Corellian swear words before the senator said, "That's a shame, I would've liked to know who's trying to kill me and why," Bel Iblis said.

"We're coming back up. Skywalker out," Anakin said before he thumbed off the comlink only for it to beep again when he and Luke entered the ruined living room of the empty apartment.

Anakin turned the comlink back on. "Skywalker," he said into it.

"Anakin," Mace's voice sounded. "We caught the dark Jedi responsible for the destruction of the power supply station. We have her in custody right now. What happened with Senator Bel Iblis? We saw the explosion."

"The Council was right in thinking that Senator Bel Iblis was the target, Master Windu," Anakin said. "Just as that reconstructed conversation we heard said, the destruction of the power supply station was only a distraction. The assassin didn't succeed with her mission but she did escape. That explosion you saw was the distraction she used to escape."

"I see. Very well, we will discuss this more when we return to Coruscant. I strongly suggest that you inform Senator Bel Iblis that it would be a good idea for him to return to Coruscant with us," Mace said.

"Not likely going to happen but I'll do my best. Skywalker out." Anakin thumbed the comlink off before tucking it away and glancing at Luke.

"Are you sure you're okay, son?" he asked.

"I'm fine dad," Luke assured him. "Come on. Let's go speak to Senator Bel Iblis."

Anakin nodded still feeling a little worried before following Luke as he led the way out of the ruined apartment.

\/\/\/\/\/\/

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: well, not only was that chapter shorter than the others but it also went a bit differently than I thought it would though Sariss's capture was what I had in mind originally

Darth: so Han's not gonna make an appearance yet?

Blaze: next chapter

Darth: oh okay

Blaze: yeah. I was considering continuing this chapter but I decided that I've kept everyone waiting way too long (considering I last updated in October 2013)

Darth: yup so how many months are we going to have to wait for the next chapter?

Blaze: well, next week is Spring Break so I'm hoping to get another chapter up during that time

Darth: that's cool

Blaze: so please review and I will, hopefully, post chapter 6 in the next two weeks or so but, unfortunately, I cannot make any promises