Imperial Memories and Forgotten Dreams

I do not own anything Star Wars. Han, Leia, and Luke are all borrowed characters, obviously, with Samantha Heart and Komiak being my own creation.

I wrote this a LONG time ago so please be patient as I "update" it...lol. Enjoy!

Chapter Three – Discovery

Han and Leia look up as I come in, watching me. Leia appears weary but unsure, Han pinning me with a glare that could drop a wookie. Luke is laying back on the couch, head back with his eyes closed. I study him a second before looking to Leia.

"I'll be back in just a moment." Leia nods, Han not even acknowledging I spoke as I head for the stairs off to my left, leading to the upper floors.

Upstairs Komiak sits on the edge of my bed, watching me as I strip off my boots and socks, grabbing a pair of soft soled shoes from near the heating unit. I take my lightsaber and set it in it's box on my desk, closing the lid slowly."If anything does happen, do not harm them." I say quietly. Komiak snorts.

"I can't promise you anything, but if something happens here, the pack is going to know about it. They won't get far." I turn to her.

"No. They must not be harmed. They are too vital to the Republic." Komiak eyeballs me, a small smile showing.

"You still like Luke." I glare at her, turning away. "Don't let your feelings cloud your thinking." Komiak says quietly. "You are too close. If you let your feelings rule you, the darkness will claim you." I sigh, letting my hair down from it's braid and shaking it out, running my fingers through it to work out the small knots.

"As soon as this is done, I'm taking Nakita up into the mountains." Komiak stare at me.

"I thought we agreed to go together." I shake my head.

"You must stay behind for your pack."

"You won't last a week out there without me." I rise, heading for the door with Komiak behind me.

"That's the idea." She grabs my arm in the hallway.

"I will not let you end your life like that." She says sternly and rather loudly.. I pull my arm from her grip.

"I am tired of fighting it. I don't want to fight anymore. That is the only way to stop fighting."

Downstairs the three are still where I had left them on the couch. Only Han turns when he hears me coming down the stairs. I don't speak as I round the couch, tossing a log into the fireplace along the wall before seating myself in a reclining chair, curling my legs up under me. Komiak plants herself on the floor beside my chair.

Silence reins for a moment then I lean forward.

"I know you have questions..."

"You bet we do." Han states, cutting me off in mid sentence. I ignore it.

"And I will answer them. But there is something I want to know first." This gets Leia's attention. "Why are you really here?" Luke, at the end of the couch, sits up slowly. I try very hard not to glance at him but as soon as I feel his gaze on me I look. His blue eyes are closed slightly, and I can see that his head must ache as much as mine.

Leia and Han share a glance, but before they can say anything Luke speaks.

"Three weeks ago one of our spies that had infiltrated the remnants of the empire found communications that exposed the location of a secret imperial base on this planet. The spy was able to get the plans back to us. We were sent here to find it and report back what we find."

"Kid, maybe we shouldn't..." Han cuts in, glancing at me. Leia cuts him off.

"Luke, we can't be sure we can trust her." Komiak's eyes narrow and she growls. Leia glances at her, seeming slightly afraid. Han ignores her. Luke doesn't look away from me.

"We can."

"Kid, she could be a..." His voice dies and he glances at me again, now looking slightly nervous.

"She's not. I can feel the light side of the force in her." I rise, startling them. Komiak does as well.

"I will leave you alone to discuss this." I say quietly. "Call me when you have made your decision." I say to Luke before turning and heading for the kitchen door, Komiak in tow.
In the kitchen I immediately head for the medicine cabinet, grabbing the small bottle of pain pills and dumping the entire bottle onto the counter, counting out three before heading for the sink. Komiak begins putting them back in the bottle as I take the pills, chasing them down with a lot of water.

"Well, at least we know what Han thinks now." I chuckle, turning and leaning back against the counter, one hand going to my aching side.

"Yes, that we do." She watches me, then comes up to me and lays a hand over mine. I feel her touch in mind and body, gritting my teeth as she starts healing the wound again. I slide my hand out from under hers and grip the counter behind me hard, my knuckles white. The touch of the pure light side of the force is agonizing to me, the dark side within me lashing out at my own body as it fights for supremacy.

After a couple more seconds she releases her hold, catching me as my knees give out. I am panting slightly, trying to clear my head as Komiak touches my hand.

"I will stay with you until you leave." She says quietly.

Your pack needs you right now, especially now in the winter. You don't have to remain with me. I send.

"I owe you my life. I only wish I could save yours." Komiak whispers, her voice full of regret.

Just then Luke walks in, a concerned expression on his face.

"Is everything all right?" I avoid his gaze as Komiak nods.

"She's fine. Are you three done chatting it up in there?" Luke looks slightly baffled at her comment but nods.

"Yes."

"What Luke told you is all that we can tell you for now." Leia says after Komiak and I are seated. "It is not that we don't trust you, it is because to much is as stake here for this mission to fail." I nod.

"I understand that. I wouldn't expect you to trust me anyway."

"We would like your help though. You've lived here for ten years, you know the area. We would like your help to find the base." Komiak, looking alarmed, is about to say something but I stop her.

"And if I decide not to help you?" Han scowls as Leia replies.

"We leave."

"That's it...you would just leave?" She nods and I stare hard at her a moment. "You ship didn't really crash, did it?"

"No. That was just a decoy. Our ship is stored safe in a town about three days east of here."

"What would you want if I did agree to help?"

"Maps of the area, and your knowledge of the area. What ever you can do for us. We are on our own here." I sit back slowly, slipping my hand off the arm of the recliner to touch Komiak's hand where it rests on the edge of the recliner.

If you don't want to do this, you can leave now. I won't blame you. Komiak shoots me a glare and shakes her head. You do know what this means? She nods.

I rest my hand back on the arm and lean forward.

"Before I go any further, there is some things I must tell you. Then you can decide if you want my help."

"All right."

"When I was six, Imperial troops came and took my entire family. Someone had ratted us out to the Empire that there was a force user in the family. They brought a Jedi with them that singled me out. My father and brother were sent to the spice mines on Kessel. My mother simply disappeared. I have no idea where they took her." I take a deep breath and feel Komiak's hand on my knee, squeezing reassuringly.

"I was taken to a base somewhere. I had no idea where. For ten years they trained and tested me. There were others, but they soon disappeared. That's where I met Komiak. We were in a cell together. They are the ones that made Komiak what she is, and what I am." I have to pause a moment, collecting my thoughts. "Ten years ago we managed to escape. We fled here and have been living here in hiding ever since."

They sit silent a long moment, then Leia leans forward slightly.

"Komiak's transforming into a wolf, the Empire did that to her?" Komiak nods.

"I'm originally not human. I was from a very small race on one of the other outer worlds. We have the ability to change our shape, but our abilities are severely limited. When the Empire found us, they came and wiped out everyone except for the children. As children our abilities are at their peak. The Empire found a way to expand my abilities. They scattered us around the galaxy, and I ended up with Samantha."

"So they experimented on you?" Komiak nods.

"On both of us." Luke looks to me and I nod, flipping my hair slightly so it falls over one shoulder, the pure white strands stark against my black shirt.

"During part of the experiments they found that my blood has a unique property. The genetic code that makes me a Jedi was mutated." I pause, looking away from Luke's piercing gaze. "They found that I hold the ability to use the dark side of the force without being succumbed by it immediately."

"That's what happened. You used the dark side of the force." Leia says quietly. I nod.

"Why can't we touch you? Why did Luke react that way that one night?" Han asks.

"You can touch me, Han, but any force user that touches me the dark side within me attacks. Most times I can stop it, hold it at bay, but should any light force user touch me, the dark side attacks them. The stronger the force user, the stronger the reaction."

"The Empire probably planned on using you to wipe out the remaining Jedi." Luke says quietly. I nod.

"They did, but they don't understand the true nature of the dark side of the force." Both Luke and Leia frown.

"What do you mean?"

"The longer I live, the stronger the dark side within me gets. Periodically, I have to use the dark side to release it, kind of like a pressure valve. If I go long periods of time without using the dark side of the force, it will eventually take over me. It happened once before, about a year after Komiak and I escaped." Beside me on the floor Komiak shivers.

"What happened?" I remain quiet so Komiak speaks.

"She wiped out every living being within a click of her in an instant." Komiak whispers. "I finally managed to find her and stop her. She nearly died."

"You almost killed her?" Leia asks. Komiak shakes her head.

"Every living being contains an amount of the light side of the force. It may be minimal, but it is there. The dark side of the force is the natural opposite. Should the dark side come into contact with the light side, it attacks the light side, killing it slowly but surely over time if not immediately." I say quietly. Han stares at me, brow creased.

"So you're saying that..."

"I'm dying. The dark side within me has grown to strong for me to keep fighting off. I have to have Nakita or Komiak with me or else I would have succumbed to it months ago." They simply stare at me a long moment then I sit back, a slight smile on my face. "So, still want my help?"

As one Han and Leia glance over at Luke. He stares at me a long moment, then nods slowly.

"Yes." Leia stares at him a moment then nods, clapping her hands on her knees as she rises.

"Well, we should find some maps to try and isolate possible areas where the base could be."

"You don't need to." Leia stops as Luke speaks up.

"What?"

"We don't need to." He says again, his gaze never leaving mine. "Do we?" I shake my head.

"No, we don't." Han glances between the two of us, obviously confused.

"And why not?" He asks. Luke smiles slightly.

"Samantha already knows where it is."

Well, what do you think? Please review!!!