Chapter 12

The morning after the initial interview with Admiral Picard, Shaznia woke up alone. Feeling the sheets where her husband usually lay found them cool to the touch. Expanding her senses, she felt Ryu's presence in the living room; felt him meditating deeply. Getting out of bed and putting on a light robe, she mentally replayed her interview with Admiral Picard from the day before as she exited the bedroom. She had left Michelle on the Titan to assist the Engineers in going over the speeder and its "black box" information. Michelle would call her back up to the Titan when she had the results of her inspection and the Admiral was ready for a more detailed interview.

Entering the living room, she saw her husband, still in his nightclothes, meditating in a suspended split like his father before him was known to do from time to time. Shaznia preferred to meditate in a regular cross-legged sitting position. She was just as flexible as Ryu but never felt the need to place herself in a suspended position. As she got closer she did a double-take when she saw that Ryu was actually floating a few centimeters above the blocks he usually used.

Thinking to herself, 'I remember now, a few years before Ryu's mother Gabrielle passed into the Force when she told me about how she had conspired, more or less, to get Luke to come to New Hope and promote Ronin to Master. She told me about the waves of peace and contentment that would roll off of him when he meditated. It got so that even if she consciously ignored the Force, she could still feel his power emanations. Ryu's not there yet but if he's already started to levitate a little, it won't be much longer until he becomes as strong as his father . . . maybe even stronger.'

As Shaznia came to stand before her husband, he gently lowered back onto the blocks, reached down to the floor and recovered from his suspended split then changed to a kneeling position, Shaznia knelt with him. Ryu opened his eyes and smiled at his wife.

"Good morning Shazi. Sleep well?"

She answered, "I was sleeping great until your absence woke me."

The silence was thick until Shaznia spoke, "Please tell me what you're feeling."

Ryu took a breath, "I'm feeling trepidation mixed with a little excitement for what I will undertake today. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't even a little concerned about my plan to go underground to find Xoran and get the information I need. You were right when you pointed out that it's been something like twenty years since I competed last. Even so, I know I can do this and I'd be lying again if I said that I was ambivalent about fighting again. As un-Jedi as it may sound, I still enjoy a good fight on a level playing field when only the swiftness of limb, the hardness of knuckle, will determine the outcome. The Force is clear, the only way I'll get what I need it to meet Xoran. Meet him and defeat him. Besides, I have a little something extra that will help and it's not the Force, though of course, that is part and parcel of who I am, who we are together Shazi."

"What do you mean? She asked.

He pointed to the low table in front of the couch to a box on it and said, "Hand me that box please." When she did, he opened it to reveal four pieces of equipment that she had never seen before; a pair of gauntlet-like hand pieces and two rectangular pieces that clearly went over the instep of a foot.

"What are these? I've never seen them before today." Shazi asked.

Ryu answered, "There in lies a tale to tell, if you want to hear it." When Shazi nodded yes, Ryu said, "Neither of my parents was particularly skilled in Farsight. My dad told me once of the flashes that he and my mom got about the first base they were stationed on during the Rebellion, about how it would be attacked by the Empire. I also remember one time my mom mentioned to me about the images she received about the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 several years before it existed. But my dad did tell me once of a Farsight sequence he had. At the time, he was teaching me to differentiate wishful thinking from genuine insight through the Force. He told me that in this vision he had, there was a man with his face and name but he wasn't from the Federation homeworld. He was from Bakura. He was also a nonpracticing believer in the Bakuran religion of Balance. But unlike my father, who was trained as a Jedi, this person was a Force Adept, a wilder, if you will. He was Force Sensitive yes, but never trained. He used the Force unconsciously. Anyway, this Adept was a full contact shock-boxer."

Shazi sat back a moment, "Shock-Boxer? I haven't heard that term in a long time. Is it still actively practiced?"

Ryu answered, "Its popularity has waxed and waned over the years. Currently it is experiencing something of a comeback though the GFC frowns on it as a fighting style, and doesn't allow it in any official events that it sponsors. This Adept had a special set of shock-boxing equipment that he had made. He was good and went on to win an enormous monetary prize in a galaxy-wide tournament. Shortly after his win, he was employed by a group of travelers as a bodyguard for a passenger of some importance. Before these travelers got very far, the Empire picked them up on some charge or another. The group as a whole save for this person with my father's name and face was executed as sympathizers to the defunct Rebel Alliance."

The question was clear in Shaznia's exclamation of "Defunct?"

Ryu continued, "Yes, defunct. The Alliance was defeated at The Battle of Endor, the fleet, what few ships remained to it was scattered and on the run. Luke was in hiding but my Father's vision didn't explain how he escaped the Death Star or if he was even there. A Dark Side Adept, one of several Prophets of the Dark Side that Palpatine had recruited had taken an interest in the person and decided to begin his training in the Dark Side of the Force. While it was clear to my Father in his vision that the ultimate goal was to convert this Adept to the Dark Side, the training was very cunning and disguised as a series of missions that would have consumed this Adept before he was even aware of it. The training didn't get very far though, the Adept died on his second or third mission and since he had been naturally attuned to the Force, he passed into it leaving nothing behind but an all weather cloak and a lightsaber that had been given him by the Prophet. My Father had decided, on a lark, to build the fighting equipment that his alternate self had used."

Shazi took one of the hand-pieces and one of the foot-pieces out of the box and examined them. She could feel the supple sturdiness in both pieces as she turned them over in her hands. "What are they made of and how are they of any use?"

Ryu said, "Both sets, the hand and foot pieces are made of two pieces of custom formed nerf-hide leather. Sandwiched between the two layers is a microfilament mesh attached to a pair of powercells. When activated and in turn when they impact their targets, a shock is administered at the point of impact. The shock is low power if compared to a stun blast from a blaster and won't cause unconsciousness right away, but there is a momentary numbing effect paired with the impact of the fist or foot. I'm pretty sure you can imagine what the end result can be."

Shazi shivered as she thought it through and then put the pieces together in her mind. With a sharp intake of breath, she said, "You mean to tell me that you'll be fighting with these?"

Ryu's grimace was unmistakable as he took the equipment from his wife's hands and placed it back in the box. "Afraid so; I've already done some research and the underground fight circuits have started to allow shock gear back into their fights in an effort to get the betting even higher, and in order to get where I need to, I've also withdrawn a thousand credits for food, shelter and to make some bets if I need to."

Getting to his feet, Ryu walked back to the bedroom with the box in hand. Shaznia was only moments behind him. She wanted to object, vehemently, but couldn't. She looked on as Ryu packed his shoulder bag, the one he carried with him everywhere, with an extra gi, some underclothes, a first-aid kit, a lightweight thermal blanket and a couple of towels. On top of that, he put a small bag that clinked with credit chips and the equipment from the box over that. Tying off his bag, Ryu started to change into a clean gi when Shazi said, "Let me help you."

While Ryu stood there, Shazi took a clean gi out of their closet and just as she did once before, long ago, before his final bout in the GFC that earned Ryu the title of 'Galaxy's Strongest', Shazi dressed the man she loved more than her own life. After he stepped into the pants, she tied them snugly at his waist with the proper knot. Then she put his sleeveless gi jacket on and tied it down in the cross-tie at both hips. From there she took a black belt out of a drawer that was clearly worn and frayed at the edges, its symbology a little faded but more than legible, tied it around his waist so that both ends dangled evenly at a mid-point on his upper thighs and finished his ensemble off with a clean, bright red headband tied behind his head with another sturdy knot. Embracing him tightly she said into his ear, "I know that there's nothing I can say or do that will change your mind in this except to tell you again, I love you."

Returning the embrace, he looked deeply into her eyes, kissed her and said before leaving, "I know."

Industrial Sector, Empty Zone

Fey'lya was livid, and the fur on his head rippled in time with his temper. Turning on his Aide, Tereb Koth, he said in a tightly controlled voice, "You imbecile! You fail not once, but twice in a span of less than half a month!"

Pointing to a copy of the holorecord of Kenod Jayks firing off his energy blast that the mole in the NRPC had provided, Fey'lya said, "Why did you not inform those thugs of the possibility that the Jayks boy could do this?"

Koth, his eyes downcast in shame said, "Until this occurrence, only the Jedi Master Ryu Jayks was known to be able to perform that technique, even then only in hearsay. I did not act directly. To better shield you from possible discovery and thereby protect our goal, the coordinator was contacted by an anonymous party, and was warned that Kenod Jayks was a full Jedi Knight. Perhaps the coordinator chose to omit that particular piece of information when he recruited Barab and Xoran for the kind of wet-work the plan called for. It was thought that three operatives, two of them to actually carry out the assault, would be enough."

With scorn thick in his voice, Fey'lya said, "Well obviously not near enough. Every time I think I've studied my enemy enough, they pull something new out of the cosmic ether! Who gave the order to attempt an outright assassination on Picard? It's far too early for that level of intimidation. I remind you again that at this stage, the goal is only to cause fear and uncertainty, to accumulate the power that will allow us to act more forcefully later. Who gave permission to that Rodian group?"

Koth's fur rippled weakly as he said, "I must take responsibility for that sir. I approached the Rodian group discreetly, with my face covered and my voice altered and had them plant the sensor on the window of Ambassador Picard's office in the Consulate so that we could begin to build a profile on his movements and plan for the time when we could strike. I was aware of the instructions to only intimidate, but I had the impression that if we could do something more direct then that could only help bring our goal closer."

Fey'lya yelled this time, "BRING OUR GOAL CLOSER! Your ill-advised and poorly planned attempt on Picard's life may actually have set our goal further away! Eliminate the coordinator who selected the operatives for the assault on the Jayks boy and round up that Rodian group, isolate them and have their current leader killed very slowly in front of the rest of them as an example of what happens when a failure of this magnitude is allowed to happen. When that is completed, have our agitators step up their protests and basic harassment, but suspend all other actions of a more direct nature for now and have those groups lay low for the time being. After I've played to the ignorant masses and rattled my saber over the 'disgraceful' and 'dishonorable' actions of a desperately fanatic few, then we can move forward in the proper manner, at the proper time; but make no mistake Tereb, this was your one and only mistake that I will overlook. If you ever overstep yourself or the parameters of my plan again, you will not like the consequences. Am I perfectly clear? Now, get out of my sight."

Koth's fur rippled again in shame as he met Fey'lya's eyes and said, "Understood sir."

Five minutes after Koth left, Fey'lya turned in his seat to his comm-unit, activated his encryption, voice and visual alteration and frequency bounce, thereby rendering it impossible to trace his signal and placed a call. Moments later a Falleen face came onscreen. The image only said one word, "Speak."

"You are certain that Ryu Jayks is coming to you?" Fey'lya asked.

The image answered, "I have Forseen it. He will make his way to me in my domain, and I will render him a nonviable threat to the plan."

Fey'lya said, "You are aware that he is a Jedi Master now, aren't you?"

The image said, "I am. But I have in place what I need. Though I don't plan to kill him at this time as that would bring the full weight of the Jedi Order down on us, I can at least render him a nonviable threat."

Fey'lya nodded, "That will have to do for now. When everything has come to pass, then you can kill him if you like."

The image's voice dropped a degree or two, "I don't need your permission for that. When the time is right, and he and I meet, one of us will not survive."

The image blinked out and Fey'lya sat back in his seat and contemplated a Newer Republic, his Republic.