Omereth system, outer rim
Marin had retreated to the shuttle's cabin where she hoped to get some rest after this long, devastating day. She tried to concentrate but none of her Jedi meditation techniques seemed to work at the moment. She was tired and distracted. She couldn't get her mind of Kinnar, and Art and Esper. Not knowing anything about what happened to them, her mind started filling in the blanks with the worst possible scenario's. She opened her eyes, shaking her head violently, trying to lose those terrible thoughts.
Jes was right. There was no going back. Again, she had lost everything she built up. And again there was nothing she could do about it. Again they would have to start over.
A dark voice in the back of her mind tried to convince her the dark man had been right, maybe the dark side could solve all her problems. But the comforting presence in the forest had given her the strength to defy him. And as she remembered Yoda's voice from her vision she knew she'd made the right call. She had passed the test. But it still felt terrible.
It was then she realized that from now on things would be different. No more running.
When Jes punched the hyperdrive commands once again after rerunning some tests on the jump calculations, the shuttle made its fourth seemingly random jump to yet another system which Jes expected not to be under Imperial control. There would be no one to watch them jumping in and out. No trace of any tail yet. The star destroyer would have to maneuver out of Andean's gravity well before they could jump after them and Jes doubted they would leave their sith-leader there before leaving. It would be nearly impossible to find them now.
What was left was to decide where to go now. To find a place they could ditch a high-profile Imperial shuttle without having working communication systems. The credits they would earn by selling it would get them a long way to finding another hiding place. But Jes knew he couldn't risk it. He knew that none of the parties which would be interested in buying a hot imperial military shuttle could be trusted. The chance they would sell them out would be far too big. Well, they still had some time to figure something out. He had just closed his eyes to get some well-earned rest when Marin barged into the cockpit.
"I want to fight!" She said with a raised voice.
Completely caught off guard, Jes looked at her with a tired expression.
"You want to what now?" He managed to answer.
"No more running. I want to fight!
Not so much against the Empire, but for the people who suffer from it. People like Kinnar, Esper and Art! It's what I've been trained to do all my life Jes! The order might have fallen but that doesn't mean I can't still live by its ideals!
I know you don't want to fight anymore Jes but I'm done running! I want to..."
Marin kept going on about why she wanted to fight while Jes' thoughts wandered off. Back to the battles he fought, the brothers he'd lost. He wanted to tell Marin that war would take you to dark places. Places you never knew you had in you. He'd seen it in pirates, terrorists. But also in some of his brothers, his friends. War could break anyone, anyone. Occasionally master Yoda had mentioned the dark side of the force. Jes always immediately thought of war. According to Jes, one didn't need to be a Jedi to fall to the dark side. Jes wanted to tell her she would lose more and more people she cared about in war. That it would change her forever. And he wanted to tell her a lot more.
But he recognized the look in her eyes; Determined, naive and full of fire. He'd seen it many times before in new recruits. Young soldiers, among the best of the best, who wanted to make a difference. Who wanted to fight for all the right reasons.
Seeing that look in her eyes made him realize that maybe, maybe she was right. Maybe they had to fight for those who couldn't, just because they could. Maybe a bit of naivety was what the galaxy needed. And who was he kidding. A mechanic? Farming? It had all seemed like a dream now. Those last days of running and fighting? He hadn't felt alive like this in a long time. He was bred for this shit.
Jes suddenly realized Marin had been ranting on non-stop and he hadn't heard half she said.
"... and I'll fight without you if I have to! I will go-"
"Ok." Jes interrupted her. Marin stopped talking and gave him a questioning look.
"Ok Marin. We'll fight. "
"We will?" Marin asked surprised. "You're, you're serious?"
"Yes. On one condition. We train. There is much you have to learn. "
Marin gave Jes, who was still in the pilot seat, a big hug. "Thank you Jes! "
"Watch the leg, watch the leg! " Jes groaned. "It's alright. You're right. We'll fight for them who cannot. I'm done running as well. "
"Where do we start?" Marin asked, eager to get going.
"We'll need to ditch the shuttle first. It's too hot to sell. But I think if we hide it somewhere, we might find it useful later. Then we go visit an old friend. "
"An old friend?" Marin asked.
"Senator Garm Bel Iblis. …..
And the view screen was filled with star lines as the shuttle flew through hyperspace.