So...I kinda forgot to post the last chapter! My apologies. I can't believe I did that. I've been working hard on the next chapter, True Power, and I guess I got caught up in it all. I'm somewhat glad I did because I had some changes to make to help with the flow into True Power. I'm about 50% done it (I blame having to move, signing up for karate, and building lightsabers why I'm not done more) and I'm really enjoying some of the stuff that I've come up with. Anywho, without further delay, here is the last chapter. This will answer some of those lingering questions surrounding Ami that you have :)
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Chapter 24 - Aftermath
After a few days of separation where she had been living on her ship, Mara finally found herself in front of the quarters assigned to her and Luke with her hand trembling over the button to open the door. She finally pressed it for the requisite second it took to read her finger print and the door smoothly slid open into the bulkhead. She took two steps to enter the room and the door closed behind her.
"Hello," Ami said, startling Mara slightly. She turned to see Luke and Ami sitting at the table on her right and her heart skipped a few beats.
"Ami. Luke."
"How did the battle go?" Luke asked rather formally.
"We were able to stop the invasion," Mara replied in an equally formal tone. "But Centerpoint station was disabled. The Corellians are refusing to evacuate. It is unlikely they'll be able to repair Centerpoint. Jacen and Eriana kidnapped Krayt's second in command from his ship."
"Please sit down," Luke finally said, gesturing to the chair beside Ami. Mara reluctantly moved around the table and sat down, still not quite able to meet Luke's eyes. "Why did you keep Ami from me?"
A thousand thoughts shot through Mara's head at once. She had spent days trying to figure out how to answer this inevitable question, but her mind felt like mush now that it was in front of her. Part of her wanted to lash out at him for asking it. Another wanted to run away without saying anything. Another yet wanted to burst into tears and beg forgiveness. She finally picked somewhere in between.
"I was scared," Mara said. She looked into his ice blue eyes and felt tears welling in her own. "I was twenty six. I was raised by Palpatine as a career assassin. I knew nothing about love or how to raise a child. I never had a mother. I knew I had nothing to give her, that her life would be better without me."
Mara looked to Ami and wiped the tears from her eyes. For once, Ami seemed to look back at her with some inkling of understanding.
"I'm so sorry, Ami," Mara choked out. "You deserved a better mother than me."
Ami was about to reach out and grab Mara's hand when Luke interrupted with a tone as cold as ice. "You should have told me."
"What was there to tell?" Mara demanded, her voice hardening. "I was too scared to tell you for years, trying to justify to myself that you didn't need to know. I didn't think it was important, that we would never be together in any meaningful way. Then years passed and you proposed to me. A month before we were engaged I heard from Karrde that she hated me for abandoning her, and I couldn't tell you about a daughter that would never accept us as her parents. I thought you could go the rest of your life never knowing, that I had hidden her away well enough. When we got married, I was scared that telling you about her would frighten away my best friend and ruin his life. If I told you then, I would only have to admit I kept her from you for years. Every year that we were together I buried it deeper and deeper, keeping the secret locked away to protect you. To protect us. And I hated myself every day for it."
Luke stared at Mara for a few moments as he watched more tears trickle down her cheeks. He finally turned his hoverchair around and retreated to the threshold of the bedroom.
"I need some time," Luke said, and disappeared into the other room. The door closed behind him and Mara finally collapsed to the kitchen table, sobbing uncontrollably. To her surprise, Ami pulled her off the table into a hug.
"I forgive you," Ami choked out. "Mom."
Mara merely continued to cry on her daughter's shoulder, still not entirely sure what she should feel.
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Brandy brown and red-yellow eyes stared into the depths of each other on the other side of the transparisteel in a staring contest that had long passed the three hour mark. Jedi and Bogan both seemed unwilling to break the tense stalemate, as if playing a game of "first to speak, loses."
What they were playing was not a game of attrition, for they both knew that the Bogan second in command would sooner chew his own arm off than divulge the secrets of his master. They were, in fact, playing different games. While Wyyrlok was trying to break through his Jedi captor's indomitable will and force some means of escape, Jacen was merely keeping his captive company.
"I need to pee," Jacen finally said after a while. "Will you be okay until I get back?"
"Why would a Jedi concern himself with my wellbeing?"
"It's the right thing to do," Jacen replied. After his trip to the refresher unit, he returned and resumed his place in the chair across from Wyyrlok.
"I will escape," Wyyrlok finally told Jacen. "I am destined to return to my master, always."
"I suspect interrogation or offers will be rather useless," Jacen said. "If you give me information, Krayt will kill you. Physical torture will likely not yield any worthwhile results."
"You have a keen mind, for a Jedi."
"I figured we could talk a bit." Jacen ignored the barb. "I did some research into your Darth Krayt. It seems that there was a Jedi Knight known as A'Sharad Hett that was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and was given the privilege to experience the Embrace of Pain. They found that his mind degraded into insanity, evidently not strong enough to handle the pain. He began hallucinating and talking to phantoms in his own mind. Nothing that anyone said to him seemed to be processed correctly. Deemed a failure, he was given to some shapers that were experimenting with grafting Tom'nok beasts to their warriors as a possible replacement for Vonduun crab armour, but he broke out and they never found him."
"The Dark Lord's name and capture were never revealed to anyone but me," Wyyrlok said with narrowed eyes. "How did you learn of this?"
"I have friends from among the Yuuzhan Vong," Jacen said cryptically. "Do you know of A'Sharad's current condition?"
"Lord Krayt's current condition is known to me."
"May I ask what you know?"
"I know he will hunt you down and kill you, Jedi."
"Are you aware I stripped his connection to the Force?"
Wyyrlok's furled look softened. He hesitated for a moment before his scowl returned. "You lie."
"Do I really look like I care enough to make stuff like this up?" Jacen asked. "There's only one thing I do need to know from you. Unfortunately, I will have to remain quite persistent about this until you tell me."
"It will be a cold day in hell before I tell you anything."
"My question is this; how did A'Sharad learn about the Black Sun?"
Jacen held out a com-link and used the feeding tray trap door to push it into Wyyrlok's cell.
"When you've had enough, signal me. It's a dedicated line to my communicator."
"What would compel me to tell you anything?"
Jacen stood up and shrugged. "Maybe the entertainment we have for you won't be to your liking."
He left the cell area and retreated to an observation dome where Eriana was watching the exchange.
"Do you think he'll crack?"
"Of course," Jacen responded. "Play the video."
"You do realize this is probably the most cruel, unethical thing I have ever seen anyone do," Eriana said. "Slaves on Kessel don't go through this kind of torture."
"That's because their torture is digging through rock," Jacen reminded her. "Just play it on repeat. I think he'll crack within a day."
Eriana loaded the file that Jacen had selected and projected the sound and video into the cell. A specially designed cell, it had been created to have holoscreens on all sides to bombard the inhabitant with images and sounds they could not escape. As the video began to play, Jacen winced at the mere thought of it and they both stood in silence watching it.
"Where did you get this?" Eriana asked in disgust after a few minutes. "This is horrible."
"It's one of my son's favourite videos," Jacen said. "I don't know what sick, twisted person thought children should be watching moaning and dancing anthropomorphic creatures that look like a cross between a Hutt and a spray painted Ewok, but this is possibly the truest horror in the universe."
By the time Jacen and Eriana left the observation bubble, Wyyrlok was already in tears.
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The red light of the stolen holocron flashed through her fingers for the second time and Zara felt the energy of it pulse as it awakened. The image of Darth Vivectus reappeared, this time with a smile across his face.
"Child, you have found your light."
"I want to fight slavers," Zara told the hologram. "I want to bring an end to people who would do what was done to me."
"You are truly ready to take on the mantle of the Sith, my apprentice," the holocron told her. "Shed your identity and prepare yourself."
"What will my identity be?"
"I name thee Lady Talon of the Sith."
"Talon," Zara said, trying the name out. "I like it."
"Your lessons will begin now Darth Talon. Pray you learn them well."
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In a holoconference which brought Wedge, Leia, Tenel Ka and Lowie together with Jacen, Eriana, Mara and Ami, a solemn tone seemed to come naturally to the group as they discussed their plans on how to proceed.
"Our super laser refits are nearly complete," Wedge said. "We can do ten more ships with what we have available, bringing our total to fifty. I've begun deploying our fleets to take advantage of their stall. It seems Krayt's condition has stayed their hand temporarily."
"It could also be that they don't know where to hit us," Eriana said. "I should return to the command centre and help coordinate our efforts. We'll need to step up our game and press on. By the way, your fleet arrived at Corellia. I'm pulling the Vornskrs out now that the twins are here."
"Wedge, tell me where to go, and I'm in," Mara said. "I don't care what I do right now."
Jacen looked up at her and saw a face of solid determination hiding her almost perfectly disguised jumble of mixed emotions. She almost seemed to be daring anyone to try convincing her otherwise.
"Come to our meeting point in the core," Wedge suggested. "I think I have a few ideas on how we can use your unique skill set. Will Luke be coming?"
"He will be returning to Zonoma Sekot," Ami said, speaking for the first time in the meeting. To Jacen's surprise, Mara seemed to be learning of this along with everyone else. "He-he did ask if Jacen could take me on as an apprentice since he can't walk anymore. He wants you to take the title of Jedi Master."
Jacen looked at Ami, not quite sure how to process what he was hearing. Everyone else looked between Jacen and Ami in surprise, except for Eriana, who rolled her eyes. Traditionally, the exemplification of a Jedi Knight to Jedi Master status was done with some level of ceremony involving the master or masters who trained the Knight. Despite being granted the title from Yoda and Obi-Wan years ago, it was still a lingering lifelong dream to see the day his uncle would confer on him the title possessed by only the most devoted and skilled Jedi. To hear of it this way, Jacen had to bite back his anger as he answered. "Why wouldn't he tell me himself?"
"I don't know," Ami said before Mara could chip in her thoughts. "I'm just the messenger."
Jacen took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair to process his thoughts. He looked over at the hologram of Tenel Ka and felt her reach out and touch his presence with the Force. They lingered in the empathic touch for a moment before Jacen spoke.
"Tenel Ka and I are going to start a recruitment drive," Jacen said. "We have some bases that we've established and we think we can use them to recruit and train people in hit and fade attacks and guerilla warfare. Ami, given this, I don't think you're going to be learning a lot from me. I think you'll be better off spending a few months at the Jedi Academy on Zonoma Sekot to learn the basics before you join me."
Ami looked dismayed, but nodded in agreement.
"How big a team do you want?" Eriana asked. "I could contact Lanos and Rjon to help."
"They'll definitely help," Jacen said. "Lanos's experience will be invaluable for teaching new recruits. Have them meet me at the Sunboard Café on Telos in three days. We'll move along from there."
"Absolutely," Eriana said. "I'll also have our techs whip up some false credentials for you both and your ships to send with Rjon."
"Good, that will help." Jacen turned his attention to the image of his mother and Wedge. "Mom, where's Jaina? I got some sense from her that she was distressed."
Leia and Wedge exchanged an awkward, grim look before she answered. "We don't know. She broke out of the brig and did a blind jump in the Falcon."
"She was in the brig?" Jacen demanded.
"There was an incident of behaviour unbecoming of an admiral and a Jedi," Wedge said dryly. "Let's leave it at that."
Jacen stared at Wedge, dumbfounded for the second time that meeting. "Who is looking for her?"
"We don't have the resources to look for an insubordinate drunk right now," Wedge snapped, perhaps harsher than he had intended because his demeanour changed immediately after he said the words. "Jacen, your sister is unstable right now. We locked her up to let her cool off for a couple days, but she overpowered the guard and broke out before we could try helping her. Our resources are stretched really thin right now. I have five doctors and over a thousand patients with PTSD across the fleet."
"We gave her a command hoping it would give her some focus," Leia explained before Jacen could further express his anger towards Wedge. "She had been so distressed lately that we thought the responsibility would help her deal with her pain, but she became stubborn, insubordinate, and refused to work with her command staff. Her actions prompted us to strip her of rank. Kenth agreed to suspend her status as a Jedi Master as well, pending a review."
"So you thought locking her up and taking everything important to her away from her was the right thing to do?" Jacen asked incredulously. "What the hell is wrong with you? You don't take someone who is depressed and kick them around when they're having a bad day. That makes it worse, not better."
"Getting drunk enough to forget to wear pants on the way to the bridge to request a weapons test fire for the sole purpose of watching fireworks is your idea of a bad day?" Wedge asked sardonically. "What about when she beat up your old girlfriend the week before, Jedi Master Solo? Where does that fit in?"
"Enough of this," Eriana snapped, standing up between Jacen and the images of Leia and Wedge. "We've all made mistakes in the last year. We've all lost a lot. And we're all facing a future from hell no matter what we do next, so bickering about something this trivial – yes, Jacen, right now she is one of our least concerns – isn't going to help us. I can ask some of our bounty hunters to look for Jaina, but that's about all we can do right now. We have bigger banthas to cook. Wedge, can you provide any telemetry from your fleet to help track her?"
"She took a blind jump but I'll see what the techs can pull," Wedge said. "Jacen, for what it's worth, we all want to see Jaina get back to her old self."
Jacen shook his head and looked away from the Admiral, turning his attention back to his data pad. He felt Tenel Ka reach out and give him the emotional equivalent of a squeeze on his hand as he stared at the datapad without seeing anything on it.
"I'm going to return to Zonoma Sekot," Leia finally said, breaking the uneasy silence in the meeting. "I haven't seen Luke since his injury."
"You'll be missed," Eriana said tentatively, trying not to upset Leia after the argument she just had with her son. "You know how to do this better than anyone."
"We will succeed, friend Eriana," Tenel Ka said. She activated a holomap of the galaxy to display hundreds of planets glowing red across the map. "Our safe houses and splinter cells are well established across the galaxy. The seeds of rebellion have been well planted; we need only nourish them."
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The tangy metallic taste of blood in his mouth slowly brought him to his senses. Another relapse of the Tom'nok armour stole Darth Krayt's senses, blacking him out of existence and replacing him with the beast. His mouth dripped with the blood of his victim. He could not recognize the face. The bloody, bruised human looked like he had been mauled into minced meat by an animal.
The truth stole Krayt's breath when he realized he was the animal.
"Master, it is time," the voice of his apprentice brought him fully back to awareness of his surroundings. Several crew members were looking on, expressions of sheer terror on their faces. He looked up at his apprentice, understanding just what he meant as the ruby red lightsaber blade snapped into existence.
"You will take my place as the master," Krayt said, spitting blood with his words as the pain from the Tom'nok racked his body.
"As is the way of the Sith."
"Then, Darth Titus, claim your place."
With a flash of red, Krayt's felt the too-familiar feeling of a lightsaber burning through his chest. He fell to his side and his vision faded to black as he watched his former apprentice walk away to claim his rightful place.
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