Lord Darth Yoda - Order 66 is such a bummer, luckily there are lots more stories before that disaster... And yeah, Tiplee so sure that she'll never fight a war again...

Mr Insane - I think the droids will only be more aggressive with Coren Vox in charge...and I don't think that's a good thing. You're right to point out the the Ubrorans still need to hold on, because they are still badly outnumbered, but they might just have a little bit of hope that could look forward to.

Speechbubbleme - War will...not be good to Tiplee on her sister. (FYI, they both have canonical deaths that I will be sticking to.) There will indeed be serious consequences for fighting for Ubrora - I'm not even sure that it's the 'right' thing to do, really.

A/N - Nothing to say! Moving on.

Please enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 43: The Price That is Paid

"Father, you said I could always call if I got into trouble. Well, the trouble I've gotten into right now is beyond anything I've ever gotten into in my life."

You see there is this planet called Ubrora…"

-Transmission from Pravin Ecalt to Ecalt Industries twenty six days into the Invasion of Ubrora

Lirri Boikana, fresh from another grueling day of leading her resistance fighters into battle, was winding down her day by doing something normal, preparing tea in her kitchen. Usually making tea was a relaxing activity for her, it was something she used to do every day when she had come home from work. Now, it was only with the help of some…herbally infused tea that she was able to sleep at night. Without it, she would be up all night – planning missions, crying over lost members of the resistance, and generally just trying to remember the girl she had been just a few weeks ago.

Behind her, she heard the two Jedi Padawans quietly slipped into the kitchen. She continued stirring her tea, but she had a rather strong feeling that she wouldn't be able to get to sleep as soon as she had hoped. "You want to talk to me, so let's not waste time with the niceties," she said, her tone harsher than she had intended it on being. When she turned around, she saw the two Padawans wince at her bluntness. "Well?" she said, "are we going to talk or not?"

"We do need to talk to you," said Sascha, clearly the diplomat of the pair. Lirri admired his unruffled nature and his ability to encourage people with the simplest of phrases. It was almost as if he could see into a person's soul. Maybe that was a Jedi talent.

Lirri strode over and took her usual seat at her kitchen table, a table that had become home to discussions of tactics, talks about the Force and impromptu memorial services.

The two apprentices sat in their usual seats across from her. She looked at her two companions, but more than that, she used her nascent talent in the Force to probe the feelings of the two Jedi. Sascha was very obviously exhausted. His eyes no longer held the kindness or warmth that he had possessed when she had first met him, and dark bags had formed underneath his eyes. More than physically tired, he seemed emotionally tired as well. His last few raids had not gone well, and his squads had taken more than their fair share of casualties, which seemed to rest heavy on the human's heart. Lirri wasn't sure if she had seen him smile at anyone besides Nara for at least a week. From the reports that she had gotten, Sascha had fought heroically to keep things from going even worse. Clearly, that didn't seem to matter to him anymore.

Nara's tiredness was less recognizable, but it was obvious to Lirri that the Togruta was beginning to fray at the seams. Yesterday she had caught Nara screaming furiously at her friend for not anticipating that a droid patrol was about to encroach on her squad. Lirri wasn't an expert in how Jedi were supposed to act, but she knew that those sorts of outbursts were not the norm. That had been bad enough, yet what had followed had arguably been worse. Left alone after her outburst, the next time Lirri had seen Nara was curled on the floor of her refresher, crying uncontrollably. Lirri had tried to comfort the girl, but her words seemingly had no effect. The only person that had been able to help her, that Nara would respond to, was Sascha. The two of them occupied the refresher for almost an hour before the human was able to guide the Togruta into her bed for a long nap.

Lirri Boikana had come to her own conclusion about these two Jedi. They were spent. Possibly, if they hadn't been wounded early on, things would have been different. But as powerful as Nara and Sascha both obviously were, it was clear that they had limits, and that both of them had either reached them, or were just about to reach them. She didn't want to think of what that would mean, but she assumed that they wanted to talk to her now so that she could arrange transport back to their Masters. Which she would do, she certainly owed them at least that much. She just didn't know how the resistance would survive without them. She didn't know how she would survive without them.

Lirri stirred her tea, "So, I before we start, I wanted to talk about what happened today. And to thank you for saving me."

Today had been a harrowing day for her. She and Sascha had been leading a raid when Coren Vox had appeared, seemingly out of mid air and fired on her and her squad. Sascha had interceded with his teal blade, but not before two of her more veteran raiders had been wounded. Pinned down, Lirri and the rest of the Ubrorans had retreated inside the closest house for Nara to be summoned. Once the other Jedi had reached them, the two Jedi had fought a delaying action while she and the rest of her squad had retreated.

Nearly an hour she and the remainder of her squad had returned to headquarters, Sascha and Nara had arrived looking bruised and beaten and no closer to defeating Coren Vox. Both Jedi had required a medic to patch up their cuts and then had been promptly sedated so that they could recover. Without the Jedi to protect them and plan their raids, the resistance hadn't dared to venture outside again for the rest of the day. With Coren Vox and the Mandalorians always lurking, they needed their Jedi to counteract them. Unfortunately, their Jedi were being worn out.

"You're welcome Lirri," said Sascha. "But we have something important we need to talk to you about."

"You saw what happened today Lirri," said Nara, her eyes cast down at the table, "Neither of us have been right since we've been hurt, and we've been pushing ourselves hard so that we could help the resistance. But, I think we've reached the point that we are doing more harm than good to the resistance. I…can't stop shaking," said the Togruta holding her hand out as evidence. Nara stared calmly at her hand as it shook slightly in nervous twitches.

Sascha calmly clasped her outstretched hand with both of his for a long second before letting go. A brief look of warmth passed between the two Padawans. Lirri had watched Sascha and Nara for a while now, and she wondered if something…romantic was happening between the two. Certainly, they spent a lot of time together, which might not have been indicative of anything. For example, she spent a lot of time around Arslan, and that certainly didn't mean that she an Arslan were an item. Yet, Lirri had noticed that Sascha and Nara would both touch each other in supportive, comforting ways, but if she tried to do something similar, the Jedi would pull back. Lirri didn't particularly care, but she did know that many of her troops gossiped about the two young Jedi and their theoretical romance.

"I've noticed that the two of you seem to be tiring easier these days," she said placatingly. That was another understatement. A couple of nights ago she had tried to wake the Jedi up after they had gotten wind of a crucial shipment of supplies being convoyed into the city. Sascha had stirred, but only after she had shaken his shoulder insistently. She had gone upstairs to wake up Nara, but she couldn't get the Togruta to respond at all. If Nara hadn't been snoring loudly, Lirri might have assumed that the Togruta was dead. She had headed back downstairs to see if Sascha knew how to wake up his friend, only to find that the human had fallen back asleep. Not knowing what to do, she had let the Jedi sleep, and the convoy had entered the city unmolested.

"Nara and I have decided that we need to take a step back from the resistance," said Sascha.

"I understand," she replied, "I'll have Arslan arrange transport for you to rejoin your Masters." Lirri tried to keep her voice confident, but she knew better than anyone that trying to deceive a pair of Padawans, even exhausted ones, was probably not worth the effort.

Nara brought her hands together on the table and looked at her dead in the eye, "Actually both of us feel very strongly that we should remain in Bontha. We seem to have independently come to the same conclusion, that the Force is telling us to stay put."

"We just can't keep going the way we have," added Sascha, "so something needs to change."

Lirri leaned back in her chair, confused, "And what do you think should change?"

"We think that we should officially make you the head of the resistance," said Nara. "And we mean that totally, we'll take orders from you, the whole deal. The only person that will be able to countermand your instructions will be our Masters. Other than that, you might as well be General Boikana."

Sascha picked up from the Togruta, "Personally, I like the term Commandant Boikana, I think it conveys sufficient authority without confusing the command structure, such as it is, too much."

"I…I don't know what to say," she said honestly. She had come into this conversation with expecting a certain outcome, and now she was getting almost the complete opposite.

"You don't have to say anything, you don't even need to accept this promotion," said Sascha.

"But we'd really like you to," added Nara.

Lirri swallowed hard, "Then, I guess I accept."

Sascha and Nara bowed their heads respectfully, "Thank you, Lirri…err Commandant Boikana. With your permission, we'll go to bed," said Sascha.

"Wait," Lirri said, holding her hand up, "I want to talk about a few things."

Nara slumped tiredly in her chair, but Sascha merely nodded, "Whatever we can do to help."

"As your commanding officer, I have some questions for you."

Sascha smiled faintly, "We'll do our best to answer them."

"Okay." She took a deep breath, "Are the two of you involved…romantically?"

"What?" both exclaimed at the same time.

"He's not my type," protested Nara, half-rising from her chair.

Sascha nodded, and discreetly pulled his chair further away from Nara, "And we are Jedi, we don't do relationships," he added.

"I don't care if you do, I'm just curious. You just both seem really close."

"We are close, but don't confuse our friendship for something it isn't," said Nara definitively.

Lirri was almost disappointed at their stringent denial. If anyone deserved some comfort, it was Sascha and Nara. They even seemed like they would make a good couple too. She plunged onward though, "Alright. I have some more questions. I've been reading some of what Sascha has sent me regarding some basic Force techniques, and it is very much appreciated. Look at how good I'm getting." She closed her eyes and concentrated deeply, thinking about her glass of water, and making it move into her hand. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the water had splashed over the sides of her glass, spilling onto the table. Not exactly what she had wanted to do, but it wasn't bad.

Both Jedi stared at the glass, amazed. "That is amazing progression, Lirri," said Sascha.

"I know! A few weeks ago, I had no idea what the Force was, and now I can move things with my mind! I can't do it well, but that I can do it at all still amazes me." She glanced back and forth between the two Jedi, "Thanks for helping me reach my potential. Or at least part of it. But the real question I wanted to ask you two was about the 'Dark' side of the Force. What exactly is it?"

"It's too late at night for philosophy," muttered Nara quietly.

Sascha silenced her with a stern look. "There are many ways to talk about the 'dark side.' First off, I think that I should clarify that there is only one 'Force.' Yet, we allow it can be used for different purposes. As Jedi, we follow the will of the Force, letting it guide us, protecting life, and so on and so forth."

"In short, the 'light side' is selfless, and the 'dark side' is selfish," said Nara bluntly.

"But can't you protect life for selfish reasons?" she asked. "Like protecting your wife just because she is carrying your child?"

"I'm having flashbacks to ethics class," Nara groaned.

Lirri ignored the Togruta, and looked at Sascha, "I'm just saying from the material you've given me Sascha, there doesn't appear to be a lot of difference between the light and dark side, besides intent."

Nara busied herself by inspecting one of her lekku, but Sascha nodded at herand responded, "Intent does have a lot to do with it. I can't really summarize the hundreds of ethics lessons that we got at the Jedi Temple, but it generally comes down to something simple," he said, placing his hands softly on the table. "To use the dark side is to twist the Force to respond to your own desires. To use the light side is to submit to the will of the Force, and letting it guide you."

"How do I know that I'm following the will of the Force? I mean, I'm getting more competent with using it to…you know…do things. I'm not messing up, am I?"

Sascha grinned, "I don't think moving some water around is going to alter the future, Lirri."

Lirri brushed at her face nervously with her left hand, "It just scares me, that I have this power. I don't want to use it in the wrong way."

This time it was Nara who let a faint grin creep on her features, "I think that if you keep thinking like that, you'll be fine, Lirri. The main brunt of our lessons as younglings was always to be wary of our powers."

She nodded to Nara. "Thanks. I have a question. Have one of you ever…fallen to the dark side?"

The two Jedi shared a long glance. "Yes. One of us has. I'll let you guess which one of us has had a brush with the dark side," said Sascha.

Lirri pondered for a moment and then went with the obvious answer, "Nara. She's a bit wilder, more aggressive, something that seems like it might make you more susceptible to this 'dark' side."

Nara smirked, her purple lips turned upwards, distorting her facial markings for a brief instant, "You'd be wrong actually. While I…lost my way for a few years during my training, I've never felt the touch of the dark side."

Surprised by that answer, she saw Sascha wince, "And I fell to its temptations for a few moments. It was a while ago, and it made me stronger, more aware of a glaring weakness of mine, but yes I fell."

"What was it like? I assumed it felt terrible."

Sascha offered her an enigmatic look, "Oh no, using the dark side will feel fantastic, it will feel like this unlimited fountain of power at your fingertips. It's a lie, of course, but using the dark side will feel intoxicating. It's only after, when you realize what you've done, that you feel awful."

Feeling curious about the actual story behind the human's fall to the dark side, but not sure that she wanted to dredge up those memories even further, she decided to move on. "So, I shouldn't be thinking of using the dark side. Even if it will help me save my planet?"

"No," said Nara quickly, "If we feel you slipping to the dark side, we'd have to stop you…one way or another."

"And the same goes for us," Sascha added. "If either of us falls to the darkness, you have to stop us."

"But how can it be worse to have one dark Jedi, than to have my planet free of this infestation?"

Nara's face became grim, "Because one dark Jedi can cause more damage than fifty petty tyrants like Vash Varless."

"I don't believe that."

Sascha shook his head, "Just think of the army that Admiral Varless has. Now put my Master in charge of it. Don't you think that's a scary prospect?"

Lirri swallowed hard and felt her face pale as she envisioned Aurine Brynar, her face a cruel mask, leading the droid army in an assault against the Ubroran army. The blonde-haired Jedi Knight was cutting swaths through the defending Ubrorans, cackling as she did it. It was not a mental image she wanted to recall ever again. "I think I understand now," she added somewhat unnecessarily.

Sascha nodded politely, "Unless there is anything else, Nara and I should head to sleep."

Lirri glanced over at the Togruta, who almost appeared to be half-asleep already. "One last thing." Nara sighed and placed her head on the table. Sascha rolled his eyes at the disrespect being shown, but Lirri wasn't bothered. This wasn't the army, nor would it ever be. "I wanted to ask you both about a project Arslan has going down by the spaceport. He's using a ton of our non-combat personnel, but when I asked him what the project was, he said it was for your Masters."

A look of total confusion passed between the two Padawans. "No one has said anything to us about a project involving the spaceport. Isn't it basically rubble, anyway?" said Sascha.

"It looked pretty bad the last time I walked past there," she responded, "Which is why I was confused."

"Do you want us to ask our Masters about it?" Nara asked.

Lirri shrugged, "You could, if you wanted to. I was more curious than anything."

The two Padawans shared another confused look, which was more than enough to convince Lirri that the two Jedi were being honest with her. She shrugged to herself and made a note to ask Arslan about it tomorrow. "Padawans you are dismissed. I want you both to get a good rest. We'll handle things without you."

Nara slowly dragged herself to her feet, but Sascha nodded and snapped into a crisp salute, that she returned. The two Padawans retreated to their respective rooms, Nara to the guest room upstairs and Sascha to the living room. Lirri waited in the kitchen until she heard both Sascha and Nara clamber into their beds. Deep in thought, ran a delicate finger around the top of her glass. Comandant Boikana had a nice ring to it, she decided. She wondered if her father would agree.