Star System MZX3290S, Near Bimmiel

Jacen Solo's image abruptly disappeared from Lumiya's subspace transceiver. "Stang!" she muttered to herself. The Jedi was running scared. She needed to get that virus to its target. Once the death of Ta'a Chume was on his hands he was more likely to walk away from the Jedi and come to her for training.

"He's not a good prospect," she heard Darth Vectivus' voice call out from the shadows. "It's eating him up inside. He's a good man and guilt weighs heavily on his shoulders."

She heaved a sigh. "Perhaps once he's killed Ta'a Chume there will be no going back for him."

"Perhaps," the dark form agreed. "While you are at the temple…maybe you should look for another prospect. You said there were a number of Force strong members of the Skywalker line. You may have made the wrong choice."

She rubbed her temples where a headache was forming. "I can maybe get a look at them, but while doing Force stealth there is little more than I can do but look."

"Often you can tell the mettle of a man by the way he walks and talks alone. The Force is not always needed."

She nodded in agreement. "I will do that."

.

.

.

Coruscant: Jedi Temple

The Coruscanti Jedi temple was impressive in its size and grandeur. It took up an entire city block and rose over two hundred meters in height with spires around the perimeter of the building rising even higher. The top floor of the main building was covered with a transparisteel pyramid that glittered like a jewel in the sunlight. Lumiya could see aircraft moving into what must be docking bays for the Jedi fleet of fighters. It appeared there were dozens of small bays around the exterior of the structures. Large blast doors secured each hanger. It was more like a fortress than a temple. She was sure the stronghold was dotted with military fortifications and security precautions, but here she was, a Sith, preparing to walk through the front door.

She saw Jacen standing on the front steps trying to look nonchalant but doing a poor job at it. She had been cloaking since her arrival on planet so he couldn't sense her approach through the Force. His gaze did fall on her when she came closer and an almost imperceptible stiffening of his posture let her know he recognized her.

"I didn't think you would come," he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Lumiya suspected he wished she hadn't show up.

He gave her a forced smile. "Thank you for not wearing assassin-causal."

She looked down at her outfit which consisted of a corporate pantsuit with briefcase. To disguise her face she wore a head scarf with veil that was often worn by women belonging to the Bojhica religion located in the southern region of the planet.

"I figured my usual garb of a leather bodysuit and Force whip would make this experiment more difficult."

"True," he chuckled nervously then took a deep calming breath and let it out. After a moment he gestured toward the doors. "Shall we?"

She nodded. "Lead the way."

Jacen, with obvious reluctance, climbed up the Temple stairs with Lumiya by his side. "What's the plan?" he asked.

"We both use the Force stealth technique and mingle in the public areas." She glanced over to him. "You said your Uncle Luke would be in the area?"

Jacen nodded as they neared the main entrance. "Luke will be leaving a meeting in the main conference room shortly. If you can walk by him and hide your presence…then I'll know this technique would work with anybody."

She stopped and looked at him slyly. "I want you to introduce me to him."

His eyes flew open in surprise. His stealth technique faltered and she could feel his apprehension ooze out through the Force. "He might recognize you simply by your eyes," he stammered.

"Calm down!" She whispered. She looked around and saw a few Jedi Apprentices entering and exiting the building had stopped and turned in their direction. "You are going to get us caught. And I really doubt he'll recognize my eyes," she said dismissively as she started walking again. Jacen grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

"You said you two were once lovers."

"That was decades ago and our affair was very brief." She stared at Jacen coldly, angry that he brought up that subject right before she was to meet the Grand Master. "And I really doubt your uncle ever once thought about me or my eyes after I left…especially after he met your Aunt Mara." Her voice took on an icy tone that surprised even her. She roughly pulled her arm out of his grip. "Let's get this over with." She turned and walked into the main lobby of the Temple. Inside, Jedi student and Masters, all wearing traditional robes walked swiftly between classes. None paid any particular attention to her. Occasionally a few would nod and acknowledge Jacen's existence.

She could feel Jacen closing himself down completely in the Force until his signature was undetectable. "This way to the conference room," He said softly. "He should be leaving his meeting and make way to teach a meditation class shortly."

When they neared the entrance of the conference room Jacen stopped. He gave her a queasy smile and whispered to her softly. "We can't stand here like we are waiting for him. We need to talk and make it look we stopped to chat on the way to somewhere else."

"Fine," Lumiya agreed. She could see the worry in his eyes and she was now fairly certain that Darth Vectivus was right—she had chosen the wrong person to pass on her knowledge to. She needed to discover if there was another, perhaps more fearless prospect out there. "Jacen, I don't have much longer to live and I don't know when this great evil will strike the galaxy. It may be years." She paused for a moment, chosing her words carefully. "Have you considered taking an apprentice of your own, so you can one day to pass on what you have learned…preferably a descendant of Anakin Skywalker."

Jacen looked perplexed by her query. "You mean like Anakin or Jaina?"

"Yes, or Luke's children…or his clone, Mark isn't it? Are any in the temple today? I would like to see them if possible."

"Anakin and Jaina are away on missions and Luke's younger children are away at college. Ben and Mark are supposed to be here training, but I didn't feel their presence when we entered."

"Then none are here?"

Jacen shook his head. "Not necessarily. They could be in the gymnasium weight or calisthenics room. They use ysalamiri to keep trainees from using the Force to augment their strength."

She looked over surprised. "Ysalamiri? That's not a creature one would expect in a Jedi Temple."

"Yeah, well Mark Tantiss has a strange attachment to the creatures." He looked up when the doors of the conference room opened and Jedi began spilling out. "Here comes Master Skywalker. Get ready."

Lumiya tightened down on her shields some more ensuring she was totally cloaked. She could see Luke Skywalker approaching in her direction and she cursed herself when her pulse quickened at the sight of the man. Decades have passed and he looked just as handsome now as he had back in the days of the Rebellion. He just traded in his boyish face for the one of a handsome and distinguished gentleman with just enough laugh lines around the eyes and graying at the temples to give him the look of a wise and benevolent Jedi Grand Master.

She felt a flash of jealousy of Mara Jade. They both were Emperor's Hands, both served under Emperor Palpatine, but their later paths could not be more different. Lumiya was hunted by the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance Guard and law enforcement personnel of dozens of planets. Mara Jade on the other hand was married to the most revered man in the galaxy; she was forgiven of her past trespasses as an Imperial and was seen by most people as a hero in her own right. Why Mara Jade got every lucky break in the universe while she, Lumiya, was left to suffer was beyond comprehension.

She was brought out of her musings by an elbow to her shoulder. "Concentrate," Jacen warned her. He raised a hand and called out. "Uncle Luke."

Lumiya saw the Jedi Grand Master look up and smiled when he recognized his nephew. "Jacen, it's good to see you." He pointed down the hall. "I would stay and talk, but I have a class to get to."

"No problem, I would just like to introduce you to a friend and colleague who's been doing some research for me." He turned to the veiled Lumiya. "This is Bora Anez from the Coruscanti Historical Society in the southern region of Sandur."

Luke gave her a friendly nod. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." Luke's attention jerked to the right as if he sensed something. He frowned in concentration and immediately Lumiya realized he was sensing a weak sense of her presence. She redoubled her efforts until she was sure her Force signature was completely masked. This appeared to help because Luke shook his head and turned back to her. "Sorry, I thought I saw somebody I knew." He turned to Jacen. "I really have to go." He turned to Lumiya. "It's nice meeting you."

"Perhaps we can have caf later, Uncle Luke."

Luke was already walking down the hall. "Sounds good, comm me later." He rushed down the hall and around a corner.

Lumiya let out a breath of relief but made sure her shields remained firmly in place. She hoped Jacen didn't suspect his uncle sensed her briefly. "Let's get out of here."

"Don't you want to see Ben or Mark? There is a public observation platform on the top floor where the training rooms are located. You can possibly get a glimpse of them up there."

She hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "Let's make it fast."

He guided her to a lift which brought them up to the top of the Temple. The lift let them off within a Transparisteel walled hallway that followed the path of the exterior walls. From here a person could view the city or watch the training going on within the translucent pyramid enclosing the grassy courtyard.

Jacen motioned her to follow as they moved around the building to a corner of the top floor where a large tree grew.

"It is an Olbio tree where the ysalamiri live most of the time."

As they drew closer an uncomfortable sensation came over her.

Jacen must have noticed her body tensing. "You're entering the Force bubble," he explained.

"Then I won't be able to use the Force to mask my presence," she pointed out as her paced slowed.

Jacen chuckled obviously more comfortable now that he knew the technique worked. "It doesn't matter because the Jedi inside can't touch the Force either. You won't be able to shield, but they are unable to sense you." He continued on then turned to urge her to follow. "We'll see them and get out. I dislike being in a Force void also."

They moved along the corridor until they could look down upon a weight room. Inside Lumiya saw a number of young men and women in exercise clothing lifting free weights or using weight machines to work out. In one corner she saw two men both with bright red hair on the bench press. The smaller, clean shaven man was currently trying to push up a large barbell weighted down with what looked like an impressive amount of weightlifting plates. Behind the bench was a giant of a man. He was easily over two meters in height and his large muscular physique was clearly outlined through his black compression shirt. He had a thick red beard that hid most of his face, but she could see he was talking to the other man, probably encouraging him to push harder.

"I recognize the smaller man as Ben Skywalker." Lumiya said. "I've seen holos of him, but who's the giant?"

Jacen smirked. "That's Mark Tantiss."

She gave him a confused look. "Luke Skywalker's clone?" She turned back to gaze at him. "He doesn't look much like Luke."

"He did when he was first taken out of stasis, but then he continued to grow. It's believed he was developed from Luke's DNA to become an Imperial Sentinel."

"That's not possible; Imperial Sentinels are brain dead. They are controlled by their dark adepts."

"True, but he was saved before the chemical lobotomy or the muting of his vocal cords. We end up with a very large and somewhat intelligent Luke Skywalker clone."

Lumiya thought back to the memories Palpatine left within her after the brief time he possessed her body. She remembered a clone, but she didn't remember him being this huge "Is he as powerful in the Force as he is big?"

"I doubt it," Jacen scoffed. "He seems quite happy to carry around a ysalamiri on his back all day. My guess is he's scared."

"Scared of what?" she asked.

He turned and gave her a level gaze. "He's scared of becoming like you." He looked back to the large man. "He's also carrying Palpatine's memories. It has to be terrifying in a way." He looked back at her. "Do you like it?"

She averted her eyes. "I like the skills it infused within me…the memories of his various atrocities or fetishes I could live without." She continued to look at the two men. Suddenly Jedi Tantiss turned around and looked directly at her. Lumiya took a half-step back somewhat startled. "I thought you said we are within the Force bubble."

Jacen looked down at his adopted uncle and gave him a wave and a forced smile. "All of us are within the bubble."

"Then why did he suddenly turn around and is now looking at me like he knows exactly who I am." She was becoming alarmed. The large man below had stepped away from the bench press and walked a few steps closer gazing at her intently.

"He can't sense you."

"Then how did he know we're here? He was facing away from us before he turned around?"

Jacen looked down at Mark and then to the surrounding room. He noticed the far wall was lined with mirrors. "He saw you in the mirror. He is probably just curious as to who I have with me."

Lumiya saw Ben call to his uncle. The larger man gestured for Ben to be quiet and then he started walking to the exits. Lumiya's head swung around to face Jacen. "I don't like this. Let's get out of here."

Jacen looked like he was going to argue, but decided they had tempted fate long enough. They both quickly made their way to the lift making sure they cloaked their Force presence as they left the Force bubble.

Lumiya let out a breath of relief as the lift doors closed and they were on their way to the ground floor. "He sensed me," she said nervously. "You may have exposed us to the Jedi by bringing me up there with those animals."

He shook his head. "It's impossible. I don't know the cause of his curiosity, but it had nothing to do with sensing anything with the Force."

"Still let's get out of here as quickly as possible," she said with a slight tremor in her voice. The big clone made her nervous. If her cybernetics limited her ability to touch the Force than perhaps being a monster of a man would increase that ability. And if he was in possession of Palpatine's memories and knowledge—then he was extremely dangerous.

.

.

.

Ben was attempting to bench his personal best with his Uncle Mark spotting him. He hit his sticking point and was having trouble completing the set. "Spot," he called out.

When there was no response he shouted out again. "I need a spot, Uncle Mark." To Ben's shock his Uncle shushed him and then walked out of the gym. "Oh great," Ben moaned as he made a second effort to push up the barbell. He wasn't able to get it to the top support but he managed to wrestle the bar up enough to drop it on a lower adjustable bar catcher. "Nice spotting," he said sarcastically as he got up to follow his missing uncle.

He found Mark on the top transparisteel catwalk that surrounded the top level of the Temple. "What happened?" he asked his former Master.

"What?" Mark said distracted before he turned to look at Ben directly. He shook his head looking confused. "It's nothing. Jacen was up her with somebody I thought I recognized."

"So that's why you left me with a hundred kilo barbell balanced precariously above my windpipe in that ysalamiri Force-void gym?"

Mark looked embarrassed. He turned and put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Sorry Ben. I shouldn't let things distract me. Let me make it up to you. How about dinner tonight at the Manarai restaurant? According to Kira the specials are Plicto steaks, Kashyyyk Land Shrimp or Wroonian Flychatcher filets."

"Only if you're buying," the younger man smirked.

"I own the restaurant," Mark said with a grin. "When it comes to family, I'm always buying."