Hello dear readers. I hope your week has been fantastic. I have another exciting chapter for you.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Freddie is a widower, not dead. He was getting the message loud and clear with Tori probing his emotional state. He's a TOS starship captain with extensive training to be diplomatic, so he knows how to not just shoot her down and risk offending her. There is a question of does he really wants to do such a thing. Besides still trying to move on from the lost of Carly, timing is a clear issue at the moment.

Trina isn't blindly trusting Nug Nug and she shouldn't. He told her that it was a powerful place of the Dark Side of the Force, so one would have to be nuts not to be armed and as you said, that's not even counting the fact that there are a number of dangerous creatures in the swamp.

Rating: T

Chapter 12: Look Who's Coming to Dinner

Dagobah
Outer Rim

In the perpetual dark swamp, Trina was standing on her hands in a mud clearing about halfway between Nug Nug's dwelling and the water where her fighter craft had made the crash landing. Her face showed some strain as Nug Nug was perched on her feet.

In front of the pair a few feet away, rested two rocks about the size of bowling balls. Trina focused on the rocks, trying to reach out with her will towards them. One of the rocks began floating off the ground then towards the side to rest on top of the other one.

Nug calmly instructed her, "Use the Force. Yes..."

The Jedi master taps Trina's leg and quickly she lifts one hand from the ground. She struggled with the shift in her bodyweight, but maintained her balance. Her breathing increased with the additional strain on her body.

The faithful droid stood nearby, watching and hoping in his own way that she would succeed the test, however, he noticed something in the background. He started frantically whistling and beeping.

Nug continued his instruction, "Now... the stone. Feel it."

Trina concentrated on the master's words and tried to block out Artoo's frantic beeping. She kept her eyes on the rock she had just moved and it began to rise again, but shaking as the strain was taking its toll on her with her awkward position, Nug Nug's weight and the astrometric droid peeping up a storm. Something had to give and it was her as the stone fell and she suddenly lost her balance, tumbling over to her left.

Nug demanded as he tumbled off her feet, "Concentrate!"

She rolled over onto her back, literally wallowing in the mud then sat up, bringing one bent leg up to the chest. She sighed in disgust and looked in Artoo's direction to finally see what he was so concern about getting her attention. The droid was rocking urgently back and forth. He waddled over to her, continuing to chirp wildly then extends his middle roller and turned to head to the edge of the swamp. She shook her head and pulled herself onto her feet so she could follow him.

They pair stopped at the water's edge, watching as the Z-95 finished sinking into the water with only the ends of the engine nostrils sticking out of the water.

Trina sighed in frustration, "Oh, chizz… we'll never get it out now."

"So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?"

The lovely fighter pilot uncertainly looked to her swamped fighter and muttered in a tired voice, not sure how much more she could take, "Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different."

Nug Nug angrily stabbed the end of his cane into the dirt and answered, "No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

Trina nodded her head and halfheartedly answered, "All right, I'll give it a try."

Nug Nug tapped his staff onto the rock this time and uttered with mild frustration, "No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."

The Jedi knight-in-training looked at the old master with a dubious expression then looked back at the starfighter. She closed her eyes and raised her right hand, concentrating as she did to move the rocks in the attempt to raise the ship in the same manner.

The water started rippling away from the ship then the nose of the craft began to rise from the water.

Trina felt a drain on her then self-doubt crept into her mind, reminding her that it was a starfighter, not just a rock she could pick up.

In response to her doubts, the nose ceased rising then began lowering until the ship sank further into the water.

Trina dropped her hand and panted as if she had physically tried to lift it with her bare hands, "I can't. It's too big."

Nug Nug returned with a soft scolding, "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? Mmmm."

The old master shook his head and continued, "And well you should not for my ally in the Force…" He gripped his fist tight. "…and a powerful ally it is." He motioned a hand around him as he spoke, "Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we..."

He pinched Trina's shoulder. "…not this crude matter." He continued, sweeping out with his hand towards the surrounding swamp, "You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you... me... the tree... the rock... everywhere! Yes, even between this land and that ship!"

Trina shook her head and stood up, muttering in a discouraged voice, "You want the impossible."

Nug turned towards the starfighter. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He raised his right arm and pointed towards the ship. The water above the ship began to bubble, catching Trina's attention as she had began walking off, then the fighter began rising out of the water until it cleared it. It began moving forward, causing Artoo to start beeping in terror and scooting away from the shore.

The Headhunter fighter continued to move majestically towards the shore as Nug Nug started walking to his right, getting out of the way of the fighter. A few more moments passed until the fighter was clear of the water and landed onto the end of the clearing.

Trina stared astonished as the fighter settled down onto the shore then almost in a daze, started walking towards the fighter. She walked under the right wing, letting her fingertips trail across the undersurface to make sure it was real then looked to Nug Nug. She muttered, utterly stunned by the sight. "I don't... I don't believe it."

Nug Nug answered in a tired voice, "That is why you fail."

Trina shook her head, bewildered by his words.

Millennium Falcon
Landing Platform
Cloud City

Dusty sat on behind the large engineering station inside the main hold of the ship, going over the diagnostic systems for this ship to make sure it was performing at peak performance despite some of the hodgepodge systems he had scavenged over the years. It was a delicate and attentive job as the higher order functions of the computer was a combination of several droid brains and sometimes they could be temperamental.

A familiar voice called out from his left, "Who's the girl in the picture?"

He was startled by the voice, surprised that the Force hadn't alerted him to her presence and turned the seat to see Jade resting her shoulder against the curved frame that marked the separation of the corridor and the main-hold. He knotted his brow and asked, "What girl?"

"The girl with you in the picture stuck on the wall beside your bed… the girl that looks identical to me—except for her hair is darker."

Dusty turned back to the engineering station and idly answered, "Just some girl I used to know. It's an interesting little coincidence, but with the sheer number of our species and the population, it was bound to happen just by probability."

"Just some girl? It didn't look like she was just some girl with the way you were holding her and laughing."

He rolled his eyes and muttered, "So I had a good time with a girl. Don't guys our age on your planet meet up with girls for no-threads-attached fun? A up-hook?"

Jade knotted her brow at hearing the odd translation from the universal translator, but got the jits of the meaning. "You do that on a regular basis?"

Dusty kept his eyes on the monitor while casually answering, "I'm a good looking guy, I was in a war for three of the last five years and a guy has needs and if you haven't noticed, she and you are mighty fine looking…" He passed a look up and down her body to accentuate his point. "I'm sure you have a string of men and women that would love to get to know you that way…"

The dark headed doctor rolled her eyes as she couldn't argue you with him on that point and even in the twenty-third century, people loved a person in uniform and she could wear her blue one, especially the female dress one with the particularly short skirt quite well. However, she was not one to just readily accept an answer she instinctively felt was not entirely true, so she pushed on, "Then why don't you have pictures of any other girls? Why just her picture?"

The former soldier looked to Jade and gave her a guarded expression.

Jade pushed off the support arch and took a few steps to towards him and took a seat on the edge of the console. "I knew plenty of guys and girls that were like that in school—hook up for a good time, but they wouldn't keep pictures of them, not pictures like that anyway and certainly not close to their bed. She must mean something special to you. Is that why you helped us? Were you doing it for me because of the appearance?"

The freighter captain turned again and relaxed back in his chair, giving her a contemplative gaze for several seconds before answering, "I told you why I helped you and getting away from that Star Destroyer was for all our benefit. You shouldn't read anything else into it and look, I've been to one side of the galaxy to the other and I've seen a lot of strange things, so seeing an identical twin of people not related ranks pretty low on the weirdness scale. It's not going to sway my decisions."

"Maybe it's not. Maybe you're still a professional that can compartmentalize things like that, but there is a lot of sorrow and regret in your eyes… I've seen that look many times as a doctor… and personally. I think that's why you've been so cold at times yet been so helpful above and beyond. You're hurting and hurting badly. It's just not how the war turned out… it's something personal for you."

"I didn't realize you were that kind of doctor?"

She gave him a coy smile as she answered, "It becomes a double duty ship's surgeons usually have to take on when on a five-year deep space exploration mission. There's a lot of cross training for the medical personnel."

"Well… I'm not sure I appreciate the attempt at a psychological evaluation."

Jade crossed her arms and snickered, "You should be glad I'm giving this to you free of charge."

"I should? Well, I'll save you the trouble. I am bitter that everything I fought for turned out to be a lie and all the blood I shed, my own and those under my command and those of my enemy were for nothing and what's worst, I lost everything, so… there's nothing much you can do about that. Advice I have for you… hopefully your government will surrender and save you a lot of trouble so you don't have to lose anything. Pay your taxes to the Empire, be a doctor, find a good man and make a lot of babies and be happy."

She returned with a stoic gaze, feeling a great deal of sympathy for him in believing that some of those things he listed was what he wanted to do with the girl in the picture, but the Empire stole from him.

Dusty turned from her gaze and looked at the display, trying to focus back on the diagnostic.

Jade stood up, but leaned back down to bring her face level with his face, bracing her right hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for everything. Take care of yourself… and… I'm sorry you lost her…" She placed a chaste kiss on his cheek then stood up and started back for the exit of the ship.

The freighter took a deep breath and clenched his jaw and feeling a bit of heat rush to his cheeks.

The doctor stood up and headed for the exit of the freighter. She took a few steps then she heard him call out, "She's my wife."

The doctor stopped in her tracks and turned to look over her shoulder. "What?"

"Your… doppelganger, she was my wife."

Jade turned to face him and slightly tilted her head, slightly squinted until it truly dawned on her what she heard. She only hoped that the translator actually worked.

"The reason I have so much hostility towards the princess is because the Empire rising out the ashes of the Republic isn't just abstract for me. Yeah, yeah… she can claim that they and the rest are fighting for freedom, justice… peace and fairness, blah, blah, blah… and I fought for all of those during the war… I bled and I killed for those ideals… but those weren't the only things I lost when they put him into power… it was a personal loss."

Jade brushed her palm over her mouth then dropped her arms and asked in a quite tone, "Is she dead?"

He shook his head and answered, "No, she's alive and doing quite well. She's an actress… actually well known and one that is enthusiastically supportive of the regime…"

She slightly dropped her chin and asked, "So… she betrayed you?"

"No… I had to keep a low profile because I may not have been a Jedi—who had a death sentence put on them—but I'm a Force user, so that makes me a potential threat to the regimen. The Jedi may have gotten the brunt of his force because the Jedi like to the think they are the end-all-be-all in true knowledge of the Force, but they're not. As I explained to the Princess, there are plenty of other groups and the Empire can't afford for them to start stirring trouble. So, I left her and she did everything to renounce me and the Jedi. She plays ball and she's safe and they overlook the fact that she was once married to me. She makes a very good propagandist."

He cracked a smile and added, "You've seen yourself enough times in the mirror to know how hot you are to humanoids."

Jade sympathetically nodded, feeling her heart going out to him in the situation he was stuck. She quietly asked, "Why didn't she just go with you?" She glanced around the ship. "I know this isn't the most glamorous situation to spend a marriage, but you would at least have been together. I would have…" She trailed off when she saw his stern look.

"As much as that would have been an epic ending of just flying off together into the deep unknown one step ahead of the Empire…" He passed the same glance over the interior of the ship as she had given and replied, "Would you want to raise a family here? This ship as their home? Never settling down and them never having any friends? How could I do that to her… to them?"

The doctor faintly smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder. "No, I guess I wouldn't want to do that to my children… never really thought about children myself… I've been focused on… other things in my life…"

"That starship captain of yours?"

She pulled her hand off his shoulder and crossed her arms under her chest. She gave him a flippant look and answered in a dry tone, "We're not involved that way."

"Is that regret I hear?"

"No, it's not."

"You clearly care about him, very deeply."

"Is that your 'Force powers' telling you that?"

He nodded his head to the side and answered, "A little… then there is the way you look at him and something in your eyes when that Princess looks at him a certain way. You're protective of him."

"He's my brother-in-law."

The Force allowed him to better translate her meaning than the universal translator did for Tori and he answered with a cocked eyebrow, "Oh… you're his wife's little monitor. Makes sure he stays on the straight and narrow and doesn't stray from her? I didn't realize he was married." He shook his head and looked at the monitor again. "Why doesn't he just shut that down right now? I doubt his wife would appreciate the attention the Princess is trying to give him."

Jade snorted out a breath and answered, "My sister is dead."

The freighter captain remained silent for a moment, acting as if he was paying attention to the monitor. He rhetorically questioned in a dry voice, "So that's why he carries that pain?"

"Yes…"

He looked away from the screen to meet her eyes and asked, "Why you carry the pain?"

The devil-may-care attitude and coldness look that had alternated in his eyes throughout their crazy adventure switched to one of compassion, the glance that setting her at quiet ease.

The doctor glanced to her feet and answered, "We were taking a shuttle run up to the natural satellite of our homeworld to visit Freddie during his training and… there was an accident… I walked away with a broken arm… she didn't walk away at all…"

"So you blame yourself? It was your idea for the visit?"

She reluctantly answered, as if just speaking was like tearing roots out from ground of a stubborn plant, "Yes. I wanted to surprise them both… an early anniversary gift…"

He gave a sideways nod. "And now you're with him now to make sure he stays alright? You took that responsibility for your sister."

Her eyes remained on the deck and quietly muttered, "I owe it to both of them… I took their fairytale away from them."

Dusty took a quiet breath then started then stopped lifting his hand then started again to give her a comforting pat on her left knee in a sign of comfort.

Jade turned her head to meet his soft smile, feeling a little at ease with the guilt she still carried. She cleared her throat and glanced away, taking the moment to settle herself. She looked to him with a semi-forced confident smile and stated, "That's a cute misdirection to get us off the topic of your wife and why you didn't take her with you."

Dusty grinned, giving her an approving gaze at her ability to recover, and answered, "You are a bright doctor… I guess I'll play along since we're doing all this soul bearing… I think you've bared more than you're comfortable doing right now… There was a more practical reason. My father is deceased and my mother… that's an open question, but her parents and grandparents and any number of her family are alive and make nice easy targets for retaliation, so… she'll be the good little Imperial to keep them safe…"

"And if you're seen joining up with the Rebels, they could kill her."

"That… and I don't think they have a chance of winning. Freddie's wrong. Killing him won't make a difference." He slightly squinted and snorted out, "Sure, they'll up end the system and they'll be chaos and they just might regain power, but they'll just replacing one dictator with another… and the people still have too much hate whipped up from the war against anything that isn't human."

Jade knotted her brow.

"I meant what I said: the people embraced him. They're not oppressed, not yet anyway. They still might want to invade your space to pacify it to secure their safety or on a more 'noble' note, liberate you from the 'alien' influence."

"Then we just got to convince them it's wrong to invade our side and that they don't have to be afraid of their neighbors."

Dusty chuckled, "Good luck with that Miss Optimist…"

The communicator beeped from Jade's inner pocket before she came make any comeback to argue that she was usually the pessimist. She slipped her hand inside and pulled it out, flicking her wrist and the gold shield antenna flipped open with the distinct chirping. She answered in a crisp tone, "Jade here?"

Freddie's voice spoke over the speaker, "I just wanted to let you know that Mister Oliver has invited us to dinner this evening—about two hours from now then he's booked us a flight out."

"Good. I'd appreciate a good meal and I'll feel better when we're someplace a lot safer."

"Oh and if you see Dusty, let him know he and Sinjin are invited."

Jade smirked and turned an eye towards Dusty.

Dusty relaxed back in his seat while bringing his hands back to cup the back of his head. "I guess I'll get something out of this trip."

Dagobah
Outer Rim

The thick vegetation on the continent spanning swamp made the surface look as if it was perpetual night. Trina had picked up continuing her handstand exercises, balancing with ease with her eyes closed. The stones randomly sitting around her started to tremble then slowly rose from the muddy ground.

Nug Nug patiently watched her from the distance, pleased that the Jedi-in-training was becoming more attuned with the Force. He quietly encouraged her, "Concentrate...feel the Force flow. Yes. Good. Calm, yes. Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future...the past. Old friends long gone."

Soon, heavier rocks further out from her were lifting off the ground followed by the astrometric droid.

Artoo started squealing and turning his dome head back and forth, shocked to say the least that he was floating.

The Jedi-in-training's eyes began to squint as her clearing mind began to be filled with an unknown place… blue skies with the wind blowing past her face and hair whipping around then felt dread and pain then fear. She opened her eyes with a snap when a face appeared in her mind's eye associated with the pain. "Tori! Tori!"

Her attention broken, the rocks and Artoo fell in a heap then she tumbled to her side, rolling onto her shoulder and onto her back.

Nug shook his head in mild frustration and admonished, "Hmm. Control, control. You must learn control."

Trina muttered, trying to get her bearings in falling and the vision she saw, "I saw... I saw a city in the clouds."

The Jedi master offered with a nod of his head, "Mmm. Friend you have there."

"She was in pain—Tori."

The diminutive creature nodded his head and answered, "Is the future you see."

Trina darted her eyes and muttered, finding it hard to grasp what he was saying. "Future? Will she die?"

Nug Nug closed his eyes and concentrated, lowering his chin. "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

Trina emphatically spoke, "I've got to go to her." She turned and headed to her base camp.

The Jedi master answered in a tired voice, "Decide you must how to serve her best. If you leave now, help her you could. But you would destroy all for which she has fought and suffered."

Trina took a deep breath, stopping cold at his words. She looked over her shoulder, meeting the stout creature's eyes. She nodded her head, giving him a sad expression.

Jade and Tori's Quarters

Cloud City
Bespin

Jade relaxed back on the couch in the living area of the suite wearing some provided casual wear of a T-shirt and sweatpants, watching the a video monitor displaying a time delay report of one of the major news outlets on the capital planet of the Empire. The news reporter was going on and on about the good news about the invasion of the other side of the galaxy, putting down the barbaric Klingon Empire, the cannibalistic Gorns and liberating the humans of the mongrel Federation. The newsreader may have been a human from the other side of the galaxy to her, but Jade could pick up the body language of a person who was reading something he didn't believe.

Tori stepped out of the bedroom wearing a blue high scoop neckline with spaghetti strap silky royal blue summer dress with random pink, sky blue and purple doodles over the front. She playfully smiled to the doctor and asked, "So, how do I look?"

Jade cocked her head and remarked, "You look good. Trying to impress someone?"

Tori innocently grinned and glanced down at her dress. "Maybe…"

The doctor crossed her arms under her chest and asked, "You have your eyes on Beck? He seems just too self-absorbed to really be relationship material."

The princess rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing away, "No, I was thinking someone that I actually know."

Jade shot her once pierced eyebrow and questioned, "If it's not Beck and I assume you haven't met some guy while you're here… Is it Dusty? Are you into those antagonistic kind of relationships?"

Tori cocked her head to her right shoulder, clearly not happy with her suggestion.

Jade quickly followed up, "Robbie is happily attached, so…"

"Do I actually have to say it?"

The darker haired young woman slightly turned her chin and mocked with a teasing grin, "Not trying to impress me are you?"

"As attractive as you are Jade, I'm trying to impress Freddie. I was hoping he'd think I'd look nice in this. I think he liked the red dress I wore earlier."

Jade slightly squinted and mouthed softly, "Oh? So you think he's interested in you?"

Tori put up a defensive expression and answered in a chilly tone, "Maybe, I think he could be receptive even with… his current circumstances of his former relationship."

"Yes… his former relationship," Jade tactfully repeated, wondering how much she knew of Freddie's past.

The Princess studied the doctor's expression and carefully questioned, "Are you jealous? Are you interested in him, but was hoping he would make the first move?"

Jade's face slouch and gave her a barely patient expression. "I'm his sister-in-law."

Tori took a seat next to her on the couch and answered with hopefully a consolatory voice, "I'm aware of that… he told me that his wife… your sister is decease. I'm sorry."

Jade glanced away as her mind traveled to a different place, a different time. "Yeah…" She turned her head back and pressed, "So, your intentions are to make a move on him?"

The royal young lady politely smiled and answered, "I would like to show him that I'm interested in him… it's alright to move on as he told me."

Jade turned an offended expression to her and verbally tore into her, "Do you really think it's best that you try to pursue anything with him while you're negotiating with us and the fate of the galaxy is at stake? Or are you hoping to seduce him to wrap him around your finger to try to get everything you want?"

Tori had heard whispers of such suggestions in her career as a senator, but no one had dared to outright accuse her of it to her face. The muscles around her eyes tightened and her cheeks flushed as she shouted back, "How dare you?!"

The doctor stood up to look down at Tori and snapped back, "I dare. We're worried about an empire that spans nearly half the galaxy putting my home in its crosshairs and you're concerned about whether you can get laid or not."

Tori stood up to meet her gaze, feeling that she had been insulted again, but the translator failed to translate the idiom, so Tori questioned, "Laid? What does that mean?"

"You just want to have sex with him!"

The brunette frowned and glared at Jade as the doctor pressed on, "And you're doing it because you want to make a political play! To have some leverage over him in negotiations and taking advantage over the fact that he's a widower."

The former senator retorted, clearly frustrated with the doctor, "Or maybe I just like him in the middle of this whole crazy mess? I could just genuinely like him and hope that maybe he could like me in return?"

Jade wore a stoic expression and answered, "It's nothing but infatuation and emotional bonding brought on by the stress of the last several days with no other foundation and that's assuming you're telling the truth."

Tori crossed her arms over her chest and challenged, "So, you're a psychologist now?"

"I'm not fully licensed, but highly trained in the field because of the long duration missions Chief Surgeons are on. It's a valid diagnosis."

The brunette opened her mouth, about to speak but quickly closed it. She sighed and dropped her arms. She shook her head and answered, "Maybe you're right… I see this handsome and kind guy swoop in and save me in this… this… Hell around me and I get attached and attracted to him, okay? That doesn't make me some conniving harlot trying to make a political play."

Jade stared at her for several seconds, using all her skills as a doctor and the fiercest girl to ever walk the halls of Hollywood Arts to determine if she was lying. After several more moments, she quietly answered, "You might not be. You might genuinely care about him and your motives are pure, but he's still my family and I can't take the risk that you're trying to play him, not in the middle of everything."

Tori licked her lips and took a soft breath through her nose. "So, what are you going to do to 'stop me'?"

The dark haired young woman kept a calm expression and softly answered, "You don't want to try to find out."

They held a practical staring contest for several seconds before Tori curtly pointed out, "You should get ready… dinner is in less than an hour." She turned to head back to the bathroom so she could fix her hair and makeup.

Jade coldly stared at the retreating princess almost as if phasers could shoot from her eyes and disintegrate her on the spot.

Dusk
Dagobah
Outer Rim

The swamp was lit up with the bright flood lights of the starfighter as Trina was loading up a heavy case into the underbelly cargo bay of the craft. Artoo has managed to get on top of the left wing and rolled up to the back of the sip and settled down in his slot.

As the pair were getting the fighter ready to take-off, Nug Nug was sitting on a nearby log. He shouted, desperate for her not to only hear him, but heed his advice, "Trina! You must complete the training."

Trina shook her head as she turned away from the hold. "I can't keep the vision out of my head. She's my friend. I have to save her."

The Jedi Master slammed the end of his staff against the ground and shouted, "You must not go!"

Trina shouted back in frustration, "But Tori will die if I don't."

Sikowitz's voice called out in an ethereal tone from somewhere behind Nug Nug, "You don't know that."

Trina turned to see the source of the voice, amazed and perhaps a little frightened at seeing the ghostly image of her former teacher walking around the root of the tree to stand just behind Nug Nug.

The former Jedi Master continued with a resigned tone, "Even Nug Nug cannot see her fate."

The brunette took a step forward to the masters and shouted, "But I can help her! I feel the Force!"

Sikowitz slightly shook his head and corrected with a sorrowful voice, "But you cannot control it. This is a dangerous time for you, when you will be tempted by the dark side of the Force."

Nug Nug eagerly agreed with his former pupil, "Yes, yes. To Sikowitz you listen. The cave. Remember your failure at the cave!"

The fighter pilot turned a sharp glare at him and shouted, "What failure? I fight an imaginary Darth Vega and I killed him then my face was in his helmet? What did that mean? I was going to become him because I'm willing to fight?" She snorted out dismissively and turned back to the craft, putting the last piece of supplies into the fighter. "What chizz!"

Sikowitz shook his head and pleaded, "It is you and your abilities the Emperor wants. That is why she is made to suffer."

Trina turned from the small cargo hold of the fighter and snapped, "And that is why I have to go."

Sikowitz softly admitted, "Trina, I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vega."

Trina shook her head and reassured him, "You won't."

Nug Nug pleaded with a determined voice, "Stopped they must be. On this all depends. Only a fully trained Jedi Knight with the Force as her ally will conquer Vega and his Emperor. If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path, as Vega did, you will become an agent of evil."

The Jedi-in-training paused, considering her teachers words. She was determined not to follow that path.

Sikowitz calmly added, "Patience."

Trina spat out, her anger and disgust bubbling up from their unspoken suggestion, "Patience? I'm supposed to sacrifice Tori?"

Nug Nug squinted his face almost into a pout then whispered, "If you honor what they fight for ... yes!"

Trina turned an outraged expression towards the master. She felt that rage, that gnawing darkness that he had warned her about and she wanted to unleash it upon the master. "If you feel that way… you're no better than them and you can go straight to Hell!"

She turned away from him and gathered the last of her things.

The Jedi masters looked stunned at her reaction. Sikowitz sorrowfully informed her, "If you choose to face Vega, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere."

Trina slightly bowed her head and muttered, "Whatever." She turned and climbed up to the cockpit of the Z-95. "Artoo, fire up the converters."

The little droid happily whistled as he followed through on the command.

Sikowitz raised his hands and called out as she climbed the ladder, "Trina, don't give in to hate - that leads to the dark side."

Trina stopped at the last step to climb into the cockpit and turned her head to look at her former master. She gave him a detached expression and answered, "If I'm hating anyone right now, it's you two." She slipped into the cockpit and fastened herself into the seat.

Nug Nug called out, the desperation lacing his voice, "Strong is Vega. Mind what you have learned. Save you it can."

As the canopy closed, Trina remained silent, trying to keep her cool as she was furious with the Jedi Masters.

Sikowtiz and Nug Nug stand watching the fighter began to lift off and the repulser lift caused the surrounding air to whip around them on the ground. The living Jedi Master sighed and bowed his head, "Told you, I did. Reckless is she. Now matters are worse."

Sikowitz continued to look skyward as the fighter lifted off and answered, "That girl is our last hope."

Nug solemnly replied as the spotlight from the fight passed over him, "No. There is another..."

Cloud City
Bespin

Freddie arrived outside the quarters provided to Jade and Tori about fifteen minutes before they were to arrive at the invited dinner. Since it was a casual affair and that afterwards, they would be taking a flight out to hopefully rendezvous with the Rebels, he decided to wear the clothing that he had worn since this mission began. He had his 'fun' earlier in the day to relax, but now he couldn't afford to drop his guard, not when they were so close of finally getting to some real safety. He tapped the button to the doorbell then patiently waited for someone to answer.

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Jade, wearing her clothes from the beginning of the mission. She still looked just as lovely in her casual 'street' appearance that would catch many humanoid eyes with her long dark hair with highlights. She glanced at him and commented with a teasing smile, "I see you had the same idea?"

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I relaxed earlier today and with Dusty's concerns, I have to be ready for anything. I'm always the captain…"

"Always the captain…" she lightly teased him as she stepped aside to let him inside. "I kind of had the same idea myself."

He cracked an affectionate grin and commented, "You still look a lot better than me. I feel like I'm really dressed down standing next to you."

She lulled her head to the side and cracked a lovely smile as she turned back to face him. "Charmer… but you don't have to flatter me. I'm not your 'date' for this dinner."

Freddie cleared his throat, tightened his smile then answered, "I didn't realize that I had a date tonight?"

Jade lulled her head and replied with a near mocking tone, "Freddie… you have to see what she's pulling…"

"That she may be interested in me? Yes, that was clear earlier today when we were out, but I'm just murky on the motivations."

Jade cocked a surprised eyebrow, one part relieved that he saw it, another part confused why he was confused, "Really? You're confused why she would try to get in your pants or more accurately, her wanting you to try to get into her panties."

He pinched the bridge of his nose then answered, "What's the point of trying to seduce me? I'm already inclined to support a recommendation for an alliance, authorized to promise them practically anything they want and I don't have the final say on the alliance anyway. Besides, you're my backup anyway. You don't think the Admiral isn't going to get your opinion? He's not going to trust it?"

She crossed her arms and glanced away. "I see your point, so the only other reason would be… she really likes you, but you can't discount the possibility of her trying to turn you to be on her side in the future."

Freddie stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and answered, "She just might, but we're not in any position to explore anything."

"So you might like her?"

The starship captain quickly cleared his throat and glanced away.

Jade sighed, seeing the look of near panic in his eyes. She did her almost trademark lick of the front of her top teeth and remarking, "Freddie, it's okay if you like someone. You're not betraying Carly if you want to move on. It's just her I'm concerned about. There is another reason why you were sent and not another captain."

He blinked as his look towards her became a curious gaze. "What reason?"

She glanced down with a smirk, trying to hold back a laugh. She glanced up at him and answered, "Dad made it a point for you to go instead of Jim Kirk. He was afraid he might try to sleep with her and compromise the mission. People are starting to learn his reputation."

He slightly knotted his brow, caught off guard by her confession then eyes went wide when he realized he was being serious. He nodded along and asked, "And you think I could do that now?"

She shook her head and rested a hand up his upper arm, sympathetically looking to him. "No… it's her I'm concerned about and I don't want her to dig into old wounds."

He parted his lips, ready to respond and assure her, but Tori stepped out of the bedroom and called, "Hello Captain."

The Star Fleet officers turned to look at the princess and Freddie directed a smile to her. He smiled to her, assessing her in the spring blue dress that she had shown to Jade. He thought she would fit perfectly on any human or centaur world on a spring day.

He took a step towards her and commented, "You look very lovely this evening."

"Thank you Captain. You are looking ruggedly handsome."

Freddie tightened his smile, feeling a little embarrassed by the attention. "Thank you. You're too kind." He passed a look between the ladies and asked, "Are we ready to go?"

Tori spared a glance to Jade from the corner of her eye, waiting for her to say something that could potentially embarrass her.

The doctor politely answered, "Sure, we're ready, unless she needs to check her makeup again."

The princess slightly knotted her brow, clearly annoyed with the remark.

"You look lovely…" Freddie was quick to point out then passed a glance to Jade, hoping she wouldn't let out her old snippy self she was in high school.

She threw him a look, signaling she would 'behave' for a moment, but she wasn't finish by a long shot.

He offered his arm to Tori and she happily accepted it.

Jade took the lead, not wanting to witness Tori make goo-goo eyes at Freddie, and pressed the button to open the door.

A few minutes later, the lift the three had taken reached the designated floor and the doors opened, revealing the promenade, but it was oddly not busy. It looked as if all the shops had closed up for the evening. Jade was the first one to step out then the pair followed right behind. Only a few strides down the promenade, they were met by Dusty, Sinjin, Robbie and Beck patiently waiting for them.

Beck opened his arms and greeted them. "Hello my dear friends, I'm glad you're able to attend my little going away dinner."

Freddie answered with a nod of his head. "It was the least we could do with the hospitality that you've shown us."

The administrator approached them and offered his arm to Jade, who after a moment of hesitation accepted the escort. "I've hoped you've enjoyed your stay so far," he commented, taking a particular eye to Jade.

The starship captain answered as Beck began leading them to the dining room, "Yes Mister Oliver, it's been quite a respite after what we've been through. I enjoyed the mingling and meeting all the new species to my people. I know that Miss… Shay here enjoyed the ice cream that your side of the galaxy has to offer.

Jade snapped her head in an instant to look to her former brother-in-law.

Tori raised a curious eyebrow to the name, but quickly added not to raise Beck's suspicions, "Yes, I enjoyed the beeblebarry."

"Ah, I particularly like that flavor myself."

Beck looked to Jade and started some small talk with her, flirting with her a little bit as they made their way to the dinning room.

Tori dipped her head close to Freddie's ear and asked, "Shay?"

"My wife's madden name. The first thing I could think of for a fake name," he embarrassingly provided.

She wasn't particularly sure what a madden name was as the translator failed to render a meaningful translation, but she understood it must have been significant name to belong to his late-wife.

The group reached the dining room less than a minute later. Beck reached over and tapped a control panel to races the door to reveal a large dining room with an extended rectangular table set out perfectly… and Lord Vega standing at the end of it.

The group paused with a range of emotions: Tori felt a wave of fear rippled through her; Jade and Robbie looked apprehensive and shocked; Dusty wanted to instinctively reach for his blaster and try to take a shot at him, but stayed his hand as it would be a pointless gesture at this range and being in the direct line-of-sight for him to be able to block or redirect the shot; Freddie guardedly stared, showing the calm demeanor earned from commanding a starship into the deep unknown.

Dusty looked to Beck with a cold eye.

The handsome businessman looked nervous and uttered, "I'm sorry. They identified your ship and tracked you down doing a lot of business here yesterday. I didn't have a choice…"

The freighter captain smiled and calmly answered, "Of course you did… the choice I expected you to make."

Beck flinched as if he had been struck in his very soul.

In a raspy voice, Vega politely invited, "I would be delighted if you would join me for dinner."

A half a dozen skynauts filed out behind Vega and another group behind the Star Fleeters, the Princess and the rogues.

Dusty and Sinjin resisted the urge to reach for their weapons as they saw they were at a tactical disadvantage. The freighter captain may have been alright, but knew that the others weren't fair as well. Shapiro darted his eyes all about to assess the situation. Jade swallowed down a fearful lump in her throat, but had faith in Freddie that they would be alright.

Freddie glanced over his shoulder, passing a reassuring glance to Jade and Shapiro then looked to the 'Fist of the Emperor'. He did the unexpected, smiling as he answered, "We would love to join you for dinner." He offered his arm to the frightened Princess, reassuring her with a smile.

Tori looked for a moment if he was mad, but after several seconds, she accepted his arm and trusted that he had some plan to get them out of their situation.

The others followed him inside the dinning room then door closed behind them.

Author's Note: So we leave off with an iconic scene, but we'll have to see how it plays out for our heroes in the next chapter. I hoped you like some revelations with some of our characters and how relationships are turning. See you next chapter, OneHorseShay.