Chapter 12

Resemblance

Go to the mirror. Look at it. Do you see it? No? It's there, that mark, that uncanny mark that connects you. Ha, you already threw your father against the wall, isn't that enough to prove to yourself that you're a lost cause? Your friends think you're dead. It's been a week, who could remember your face, unless it's mine? A cold mask, dead and hollow filled by a man half alive because he was burned. That's not who I look like. Anakin Solo gazed into the mirror, the voice he had heard in his sleep had woken him up and he found himself at the mirror in the bathroom. It's in the mirror. Look, boy, why don' t you just make it easier on everyone, just kill yourself. Anakin smashed the mirror with his fist, blood trickled down his knuckles. I'll kill the Yuuzhan Vong. Anakin's voice now matched the one in his head. Don't forget, you can't do that if you're going to regret it.

"Who said anything about regret?" Anakin snapped at his reflection. "I want them dead."

"Anakin-Sarka?" Synthor came into the bathroom. "What are you doing awake? The ship will not be landing for a few hours."

Sarka was the honorific the Sytars used to designate someone they respected or who was not close enough in relation to be familiar with. Anakin's hands gripped the side of the sink. "I'm fine, I just need to by myself."

Synthor nodded and exited. Anakin stared at the mirror, the place where Anakin's hand had punched it was bloody and had a shattered glass circle in the center. He placed his hand on the spot then dropped it to his side. Despite how angry he got, he couldn't erase what he had heard in his own mind. Anakin knew better than to distrust his own mind. It had been the voices in his head that had saved the Massassi children trapped in the Golden Globe.

But if the voices were telling him to just end his own life, could he simply just stop trusting himself?

Anakin made his way back to his room, not bothering to bandage his bloodied hand. It dripped on the floor, leaving a trail. As he reached his door, Anakin felt his mind become blank. Why had he felt so no presences in the force of late. It was strange. He had to know why this was happening. Anakin stood up and left his room, heading for Synthor's door. He knocked on the door.

It opened, revealing a tired Synthor with his eyes barely open. "Anakin-Sarka, what brings you here, I thought you were going to sleep? And your hand-"

"Don't bother about that." Anakin's voice dropped to a low cold level. "Synthor, why can't I feel anything in the force?"

Synthor's eyes narrowed, "So you've noticed. Then there is no point in hiding it. When you agreed to come with us, I placed my hand on your forehead to remove your force presence. I had to, or others would find our location."

Anakin felt himself growing heated, "You took me out of the force?"

"Or we would be found, you agreed." Synthor pointed out but at that moment Anakin had stopped listening to anything but the heat rising inside of him. He stretched out his hand and with a force shove sent Synthor against the wall. Anakin approached Sythor who was sitting limp against the wall.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to not be able to contact anyone you know?" He snarled. "Well?" Anakin didn't wait for an answer and lifted Synthor up by his neck. The strength of Anakin's hands couldn't do anything but Anakin felt the force around him and started to press it against Synthor's neck. The Sytar choked and tried to say something.

Hearing the commotion, Sytar guards came down the hall, and fired at Anakin, who absentmindedly stretched out his hand and used the force to block the lasers. They murmured to themselves. Anakin grinned for a moment then felt the pain in his hand. He dropped Synthor and looked around him. Synthor rubbed his neck and stood up, warily watching Anakin, who wasn't moving.

He was shocked. Appalled at his own actions. He had done what Vader had to his fellow soldiers, crushing their windpipes with the force and deflecting blasts. Anakin had done that just now and would have killed Synthor if it hadn't been for his hand. Anakin glanced down. His hand? The one that had punched the mirror had stopped him. The pain. Anakin looked at Synthor.

"I'm sorry. I've acted out of myself." Anakin quickly went down the hall to his room and closed the door,locking it. He took out his lightsaber and turned it on.

He heard a banging on his door followed by Synthor's voice, "Anakin, it's all right, we know it wasn't you who did this. You are not a violent type."

Anakin remembered the voice. He brought the glowing blade over his abdomen then stabbed inwards. The last thing Anakin remembered was his own voice screaming as the door was broken down.

Their victory was short lived, because as soon as the wookies arrived, a new fleet of Yuuzhan Vong dropped out of the clouds, unloading a new wave of warriors. Jacen groaned.

"Why can't they just admit defeat for a change?" He asked, more to himself than to anyone else.

Tenel Ka replied "Because they are unafraid and determined."

"It was a rhetorical question, Tenel Ka." Jacen pointed out.

"That is a fact." She said and stood ready to attack the next carrier's warriors as they swarmed the platform.

"Tenel Ka, see if you can't push them close to the edge!" Jacen called, "We can make them lose their balance."

"A good plan," She agreed and started fighting by pushing her opponents closer to the edges of the platform. Jacen did the same, though more slowly because of his wounds.

The Yuuzhan Vong swarmed the platform, more and more coming out of the ships by the minute. Soon all the docking bay platforms were covered in Yuuzhan Vong who vastly outnumbered the Jedi and their allies. Lando's soldiers opened fire once more on the Yuuzhan Vong, downing a few more warriors but their staffs reaped destruction on them as the warriors charged down the platforms, killing all in their paths.

Jacen cursed as he knocked another Yuuzhan Vong warrior over the edge. Their plan had worked, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the other hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong on the other platforms or those that were still coming out of their ships.

The corral skippers in the sky had blown up several of the wookie ships despite their efforts to relieve the Jedi on foot. Lowie let out a roar and threw one of his warrior opponents over the edge.

"Okay, maybe we should just let Lowie take care of them." Jacen mused to himself. Tenel Ka brought her blade down on another Yuuzhan Vong warrior and when it doubled over from the blood coming from the side of its face, she kicked it over the ledge.

"Tenel Ka, you should play soccer!" Jacen called to her. She didn't laugh out loud, as was usual of the warrior girl. But inside she was smiling. Jacen had returned to his normal self, he was joking around and making light of their situation. Though it was worrisome and not even remotely humorous how dire their fight really was.

Jaina and Zekk had teamed up with Lowie to block the doors to Cloud City's base. Many of the guards lay on the ground, slain from the Yuuzhan Vong's first wave. Jaina weaved among the warriors, slicing up and down alternatively then in a full arc managed to slice the legs out from under two warriors. They still wriggled and tried to get at her but Jaina ignored them, even though the idea of a severed body that wouldn't give up and die, made her skin crawl.

Zekk force shoved five Yuuzhan Vong over the edge and then decapitated another who had tried to stab him from behind. Zekk was still unsure of how he felt about his abilities as a Jedi because his strengths were rooted in dark methods, methods that required him to hate his opponents. Zekk did hate the Yuuzhan Vong but he still couldn't help wanting to spare a life or two if he could because he knew he'd done enough damage to the world as it stood now. He'd almost been responsible for bringing about a second empire. Zekk coolly ran another warrior through with his lightsaber and as he pulled the blade out, turned in time to see a larger and almost unrecognizably scarred warrior behind him bringing its staff down. Zekk jumped to the side and then charged his new opponent. This was what he'd wanted to do. Not delivery some goods, he wanted to fight the Yuuzhan Vong with their own techniques.

Zekk grinned and parried each blow aimed at him. He slipped under the warrior's open side and struck at the warrior's unprotected skull. Despite the hole in its head, the warrior swung wildly around. Zekk dodged each time and the staff, which was so big it could have been a club, smashed another unsuspecting warrior. Zekk then moved forward and cut the warrior's left arm off. The warrior roared and swung at Zekk with its staff, Zekk leapt backwards then went back in to finish the warrior with a force shove. The warrior, being heavier than the others, toppled backwards and knocked another warrior off the ledge as it fell through the sky.

Zekk wiped the Yuuzhan Vong blood from his face, turning away from the warrior he'd just killed. The only way to fight them was to be like them, even if that meant merciless killing.

Tahiri came into Master Skywalker's office to find James was already there. His hair was still wet and flattened against his head. She made a mental note to make sure the next time they had a water fight to have ten towels instead of just one.

"Well, now that you're both here and I'm sure you have a good explanation as to why you're all wet." Luke raised an eyebrow at them and Tahiri turned beat red. "I can explain your new assignment." He reached onto his desk and pulled out a file, "I want you both to go to Coruscant on an information gathering mission. No fighting unless necessary. You're going be gathering data on the amount of underground Jedi there are, who they are, and give them the message that they can come here for shelter and that we're willing to fight."

"Just the two of us?" James asked, a little stunned that the Jedi Master would entrust a mission of that caliber to two teenagers.

"Who said you were going alone. The nerve, eh, Luke?" Kirk said as he walked into the room.

"Would it kill you to be punctual, Kirk?" Luke asked, his head in his hand as he massaged his forehead.

"Probably and I'm not sure I want to try." Kirk came over to Tahiri and James. "So, you two ready to get going?"

"Hold on, Kirk. I have to give you the list of places you're going to first." Luke's stern voice cut into Kirk's actions and he sighed.

"Alright." He stood by as Luke repeated what he'd said to James and Tahiri. Then he handed Kirk a thick packet.

"All of these?"

"There are a lot of Jedi missing or in hiding. We're looking for the ones that might still be around. This is important, Kirk."

Kirk blew a long sigh, "Well, since I'm still here, I might as well humor you a little longer." He rubbed the hair on the back of his head and hefted the packet. "Well, let's go before Master Skywalker decides to add another packet to this one." Kirk pushed James and Tahiri out of the office with a wink at his old Master.

Luke rubbed his temples. "I must be getting old. My students have more energy than I do. To think Kirk's the one humoring me." Luke smiled and laughed to himself.

On board Kirk's ship Wild Fox, Tahiri settled into her room while James polished his blaster. She wasn't sure she was happy about going on a mission with the two other people on board the ship since the last time she had, someone important had died. But it wasn't like she had any choice since she gave Master Skywalker her word. Tahiri knew that she'd want to go back to Tatooine as soon as she returned to Yavin 4 at the end of their mission.

Kirk leafed through the files on the Jedi they were going to be looking for and he blinked twice as he looked at one of the names. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was no possible way that he had to go find that Jedi.

James noticed Kirk's intense expression and came over to see the name he was looking at. On the page it said "Claus Neros." The profile went on about Claus' constant raids on Peace Brigade bases and how he'd rallied many other ruffians and rogue Jedi to attack the Peace Brigade for their crimes against the Jedi.

"Self righteous bastard." Kirk muttered. But the fact was that Claus had a good idea of who was in the right in this situation. The Jedi were the ones who were actually trying to help the galaxy but what really worried Kirk was that James probably would not get along with Claus and Claus would never get along with James. How did this mission end up with two of the most polar opposite people.

James was most certainly not the most open minded of people, he only started to get along with Tahiri and Kirk but still bitterly resented the Jedi as a whole. Claus was always very proud of being a Jedi and believed that anyone who thought the Jedi were in the wrong, were the real enemies. That meant James was his enemy and Claus was not one to easily change his mind about anyone.