Chapter 4

After she arrived back on Citadel Station Kianna headed to the Cantina where she found Mira, still playing pazaak and apparently getting her butt kicked by Atton who must've joined her while Kianna was on the surface. As she approached them, Mira looked up from her deck and called out "Hey! There you are! Everyone else has gone back to their apartments already. I've been wondering when you were gonna come back from your little rendezvous!"

Atton looked uncomfortable as he excused himself and muttered something about going to order one more drink before they headed back to the ship. As he sulked off Mira rolled her eyes. "That man has the biggest crush on you Ki. He's been whining about you since he came here about an hour ago!"

"Please, don't remind me. I don't know what to do. Atton is a friend and a great help but I just don't feel that way about him. I've told him this a thousand times! How many times can you turn someone down before they get the point?"

"Eh, don't worry about it. He'll get over it. If there is anything I know about Atton Rand, it's that he's a big time ladies man. Someone else will come along and catch his attention."

"Yeah, you're right. He is quite the ladies man, although not quite the charmer that Carth is…," she said smiling.

"Oh really," Mira laughed, "So how was your little date anyway? And why are you all wet?"

"It wasn't a date thank you very much! It was just a walk…at the beach. I just wanted to put my feet in the water. I…I tripped over a rock and fell in…"

"Riiiight," Mira said with a skeptical look. Both women broke out in laughter.

"While we were down there Carth asked to come with us," Kianna said seriously.

"Why? I mean shouldn't he stay here? He is the Admiral of the Republic Fleet…"

"He just wants to make sure the mission goes smoothly, that's all."

"But why I mean we can handle our-…Oh," she said as she realized, "How cute! He wants to come and protect you!"

"Oh please! He just wants to ensure that we are successful. It's not like that, you are reading too far into it," Kianna lied.

"Alright, I'll drop it…for now. But only because I see Atton heading back over here and I'm sure he'd just love to hear about Carth's new crush."

Kianna was back in her room on Citadel Station. She had just finished gathering the crew for a meeting. They all seemed pretty excited to have Carth, The Admiral of the Republic Fleet, accompanying them. Well, almost all of them. Kianna couldn't help but notice that Atton seemed less than thrilled at the news. They were leaving at 9 am standard time so she advised them all to get a good night's rest. It would take several weeks before they reached Malachor V but they beds on the ship were not known for their comfort and these would probably be the last comfortable beds they would sleep on for awhile.

As she slipped into bed Kianna closed her eyes and remembered the sand between her toes, the warmth in the night breeze, and the way her heart fluttered every time Carth looked at her. She was going to have a hard time not falling in love with him, she could already tell. But how nice it would be to fall… she though as she drifted in a peaceful sleep.

Kianna woke up feeling surprisingly relaxed. She checked the time. 7:06. Good. She had time to freshen up and head over to the shuttle bay with plenty of time to spare. After enjoying a nice 15 minute shower she slipped into her favorite robes. They were a dark blue that worked well with her eyes and they fell a little high on her knee, exposing a good amount of her leg. Although they were nontraditional, these robes allowed her more freedom during battle, not to mention they made her feel more like a woman. Hell, they made her feel sexy. If the Jedi council saw her there was no telling what they would do. Jedi were supposed to be free from passion but Kianna knew better. Passion wasn't just a bad thing that could lead to the dark side, if Jedi could be taught how to control it, passion could be a useful tool. Who cares what the council thought…she wasn't what you would call a traditional Jedi anyway…

She slipped on her black knee-high boots, then got up and pulled her long hair up into a loose bun. A few curls slipped free but Kianna did not notice. She grabbed her bag and slipped in some medpacs, shields and stims. She grabbed her black robe, threw it on and left her apartment. She wandered out into the lounge but didn't see any members of the crew so she headed up to the Entertainment Deck to catch the next shuttle to the Docks.

The shuttle came to an abrupt stop and after some loud whirring noises the doors opened and Kianna exited the little shuttle. She could see just a few other travelers around as she made her way to the docking station. As she approached the Ebon Hawks hangar she came across a tough looking group of young men. Something was not right; something inside her told her that they were not friends. She felt the adrenaline kick in as their leader walked up to her.

"Well lookie here boys. A Jedi! And a pretty one at that."

"Yes. I am a Jedi…Can I help you?"

"Well honey, I think you look like the capable sort. What do you think boys?"

Kianna suddenly felt uncomfortable as all the men in the group looked her up and down. She could feel their eyes ravaging her and began to feel unsafe. "Look, I really need to go. Please don't make any trouble for me."

"Ha ha, trouble? Sweetheart, we don't want to make any trouble, we just want to play," the leader of the group said as he grabbed her arm. The rest of the group starting walking closer, closing her in.

"You will remove your hand and tell your friends to back up or I will remove your hand for you."

He tightened his grip on her arm. "Oh? Is that a threat Jedi? You do not scare me. I know your kind and I can't say that I'm impressed. Do you really think you stand a chance against all of us? You are outnumbered 6 to 1!"

"Listen, little boy," she said emphasizing the word, "Do not mess with me. I'm way more woman than you could ever handle! I don't want to hurt you but if you don't move out of my way I'll be forced to kick your ass while all your friends watch."

"Whoa! This one is feisty boys. I like 'em that way. It makes the game so much more…interesting," he said as a dangerous smile crept across his face. "Get her."

As two of the men tried to grab her, Kianna used her Push force power on one of the thugs causing him to fall to the floor in an unconscious heap. She quickly twisted her body to face the other man and gave him a round house kick to the face. "We don't have to do this the hard way. It's easy, you move out of my way and I won't tell your mother what a bad boy you've been."

The leader stormed over, enraged at the fact that she had beaten his two best men so easily. He raised his hand to strike her. "You little-"

"Get away from her NOW," Kianna heard a voice boom somewhere behind her. The voice was so loud and stern that it caused everyone to stop abruptly and turn to the man it came from.

"And just what the hell do you think you are doing," Carth yelled at the group of men. "Get out of here now before I call security and have you thrown in jail," he snarled.

"Hey now Admiral, we didn't mean nothin' by it. We just wanted to play a game with her."

"I know exactly what you wanted to do with her you scum. Leave now before I change my mind."

The leader turned to Kianna. "You're lucky little Jedi. If your little boyfriend hadn't of shown up you would be begging for mercy."

"Pfft. Keep dreamin' schutta."

The man turned angrily to his friends. "Come on boys lets go," he said through clenched teeth. "Next time you won't be so lucky." They ran out of the room leaving Carth and Kianna alone. He ran over to her as he looked her over making sure they didn't leave any bruises.

"Are you alright? They didn't hurt you did they?"

Kianna laughed lightly. "Carth, I'm not made of porcelain. I'm glad you came along but they were luckier for it, not me. Those punks would be out before they even knew what happened."

Carth smiled, relieved. "Glad you're alright. They still shouldn't have done that. You'd hope that people would behave like decent human beings."

"You'd hope, but some people will never change. Come on my big strong rescuer, let's get to the Ebon Hawk and set you up in your quarters before everyone else gets here."

It took me awhile to finish this chapter. This college thing is kickin my butt! Anyway, this story will probably take a long time for me to finish! I have big ideas! I try to keep my chapters short, but I think they may become progressively longer. Also, I noticed that I have had many hits but no comments were left. With that many people reading this someone has to have something to say? D