Hey Super Star Wars Fans!

Wow, does life get crazy sometimes-strange hours, random weekend trips, and then important job interviews. Feels like I haven't been able to sit down and write or edit for weeks now. That being said, 85% of the rest of this book is written. We're looking at twenty-two chapters in all, and like all but two of the remaining are completed and even final draft ready.

My schedule looks relatively clear, or clearer than usual, the next two weeks, so I'm making it my priority to really get after the chapters that are eluding me.

I dearly hope the Force is with you all.

Enjoy!

Chapter Ten

The next day they knew they had to get back down business and locate Sa'kard. Aedan and Kyra found Ahsoka in the archives. A huge grin spread across her face at their arrival. She came up to them, looked around them seeing if anyone else was a vicinity, then jumped forward and wrapped them both in a hug. "How was it?" she half-whispered, half yelled.

Aedan and Kyra both laughed, "It was amazing," Kyra said, "Dinner was delicious, and Dyat was incredible."

Ahsoka clapped her hands together rapidly, still smiling widely. "I'm so happy for you two," she said, a bit too loudly, causing Aedan to cough. "Sorry, sorry," she said, ducking her head. "I'm just so excited."

"How are things going here? How are you doing?" Kyra asked.

She shrugged, "Oh, you know, cleaning up Flyguy's messes."

"I believe it," Aedan said, "Where is Anakin anyway?"

Ahsoka, tilted her head, "I'm not sure. I think he went to see the Chancellor, or someone in the senate building. I don't know, said he had errands to run. But what brings you here?"

"Remember those droids we've been chasing, well, we found some evidence pointing to Mon Calamari, Dac, specifically, and since you were there and developed a successful relationship there, we were wondering if you could help us?"

She brightened, "Of course, what do you have in mind?"

Kyra spoke, "Well, we just need a contact there, someone you trust completely."

Ahsoka' fingers rested on her lips as she thought about it. "Well, I was only really close to Prince Lee Char, who is king now, so that may be difficult to arrange a meeting. However, I do know someone who could help you."

"And who might that be?"

"Senator Amidala."

They traversed the walkable distance to the huge domed senate building, passed through several security checkpoints, and made it up to the Senator's office, where Ahsoka knocked on the door. There was some rustling from within and a few hushed words.

Kyra gasped beside Aedan. Her mouth was wide open in shock. Aedan prodded her telepathically, but she just shook her head, and her cheeks turned bright red.

Finally, the door opened, and there stood a dazzlingly beautiful woman dressed in regal Nubian attire. Behind her stood Anakin Skywalker, flushed, awkward, and eyes darting from Ahsoka to Aedan and then to Kyra. Anakin's eyes turned to panic, and then flashed to anger. Weird.

"Ahsoka, what brings you here?" the Senator said calmly, "Anakin and I were just discussing old times."

Anakin was not nearly as composed. "Yep," he choked out, "Old times."

"Right," Ahsoka said, "Senator Amidala, I'm sorry if this is a bad time, but I'd like to introduce Master Aedan Kahl and Jedi Knight Kyra Dawnstar." Aedan and Kyra bowed in unison.

Senator Amidala extended her hand to each, with a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you both, please come in," she said, walking back into the office and sitting behind her large, wooden desk. The office was lovely and had an interesting and eclectic array of trinkets and souvenirs, from Gungan Spears to sculptures from Tattoine. Most notable, however, were the lovely paintings on the wall depicting the Naboo countryside. One in particular was of a lovely house near a beautiful, picturesque lake. Three pillars framed a view extending over the Lake and to the green mountains beyond.

"That's a beautiful painting, Senator," Kyra said, still admiring it.

Padme smiled in response, "Yes, it is. It's actually from our villa in the Lake Country. My family visits their often, and I am dying to go back." Aedan did not miss the furtive glance the Senator cast towards Anakin. Nor did he miss the young Jedi knight stifle a grin with a slight cough.

Kyra smiled widely at her admission. "I'll bet."

"So, how can I help you, Master Jedi?"

"Yea, Snips, what's up?"

Aedan nodded to Kyra, who then spoke up, "We've been investigating a new droid being manufactured, a droid designed for the sole purpose of killing jedi, and in some way, we don't know how yet, it's tied in with a slave trade. On a recent mission to Onderon, we found evidence that Mon Calamari is involved. As that is our one and only lead, we have to go there, take a closer look, and see if we can find anything else. So, we're coming to you, Senator, to see if you have any contacts on Dac that could maybe help us out, and point us in the right direction."

The senator smiled warmly, and then seemed to weigh her words for a moment. "I do, actually," she said, a coy smile appearing, "However, I'd like to ask a favor in return."

Kyra smiled, "Ever the politician, aren't you? Name it, Senator, we'll do our best."

Padme grinned, her nose crinkling. "I'm close with the Mon Calamarian Senator, Meena Tills. I'll correspond with her, and set up a meeting for you. She will help you out."

"And in return?" Aedan asked.

"If at all possible," Padme said, biting her lip, "Make a good impression."

Aedan's eyebrow rose at that, "May I ask why?"

Padme nodded, "The Mon Calamari build the best star cruisers in the galaxy, and I have a sneaky feeling that amiable correspondence with them will prove fruitful."

Aedan couldn't help but chuckle, "Consider it done, Senator. "We'll be fast friends in no time."

"Thank you. I do appreciate it," she said. "And good luck with your mission."

"Thank you, Senator," Aedan said, bowing, "And take care of these two," gesturing to Ahsoka and Anakin.

She laughed, "I'll do my best. Oh, and one more thing."

Aedan arched one eyebrow.

"Try not to sneeze loudly around Mon Calamarians."

Both Aedan and Kyra stood there blinking, "You're serious?" Aedan asked.

Padme nodded, "In fact, try not to sneeze at all, it's rather offensive to them," she said biting her lip, and turning to look at Anakin, "Isn't that right, Anakin?"

The jedi knight sighed in response, "Yea, we had to learn that the hard way."

Aedan laughed, "No sneezing. Got it. Thanks again Senator."

"Oh, and congratulations on your knighthood, Kyra. You definitely deserve it."

Kyra smiled and bowed, "Thank you."

Aedan and Kyra bid farewell to Anakin and Ahsoka and left the room. They exchanged subtle looks until they were out of the senate building. "What was going on in there?" Aedan asked.

Kyra shrugged, a sly smile on her face, "Let's just say you and Anakin are not as different as you'd like to believe."

Aedan stopped in his tracks, and stared at Kyra. Then glanced back at the senate building. And finally looked upwards. "Anakin and the senator?"

Kyra nodded slowly.

"You're kidding me."

She shook her head, big grin still on her face.

"Wow."

They came out of hyperspace and the big, totally blue world of Mon Calamari filled the viewport. The two gazed out at the planet as they approached. "So where to now, Master?" Kyra asked.

"Senator Amidala sent us instructions," he said holding up his datapad. "We'll land on Hikahi, an island on the surface that exists as a major spaceport on Dac. From there, we'll take a transport down to Coral City, the capital. Padme sent word for us requesting an audience with Meena Tills, the Senator. She also mentioned a Captain Ackbar, and said both should at least be able to point us in the right direction."

"Sounds like a plan," Kyra said.

"Yea, this is our only lead so I hope we find something."

The Peerless Guile touched down on a teardrop shaped landing pad. Aedan and Kyra were both fascinated by the décor of the spaceport. Everything was spherical. Every building, every light fixture, every trash dispenser, was in the shape of a sphere. "These Mon Calamarians sure do like their spheres," Kyra said.

Aedan nodded, "That they do."

They stepped into the main spaceport hub, hundreds of Mon Calamarians and Quarren filled the area. There weren't too many other species, a handful of Selkath, and even a few Gungans. But as far as humans they were the only ones. Aedan sensed panic from Kyra, and quickly turned to face her.

She had her hand covering her mouth and nose, and her eyes were scrunched closed. Alarmed Aedan stepped closer to her, "Kyra, are you okay?"

She shook her head, still not uncovering her face or opening her eyes.

"What is it? Do you sense danger?"

She nodded solemnly, and then let out a quick half giggle. Now Aedan was even more confused. She slowly blinked her eyes open, and removed her hand. Her lips were quivering, doing their best to hide a smile. Aedan waited, and almost tapped his foot on the ground with impatience.

"Sorry," she said, hunching her shoulders. "I had to sneeze."

Aedan tried to stop the onslaught but it came on too quickly and too powerfully. He snorted loudly, and now both of his hands went to his mouth to cover the building laughter. Seeing her master struggling set Kyra off, and she was now stifling laughter as well, trying to seal her lips tightly to cut off any other sounds. But now the look on her face of her clamping her lips together furiously spurned Aedan into another bout of laughter, causing the nearby Mon Calamarians to giving them odd looks. Aedan closed his eyes, and breathed deeply, trying to calm down, but his shoulders were shaking.

Another pulse of panic from Kyra had him looking back at Kyra, and he saw that her eyes were wide with alarm, and her nose was scrunched.

"Uh oh," he said. She inhaled quickly and tilted her head back, eyes closing, mouth opening. Aedan stepped forward quickly and wrapped his cloak around Kyra's face just in time for her to sneeze into the brown fabric. Aedan's quick thinking and garment had suppressed the violent nasal exhalation enough so that only a few locals heard it around them.

After a few seconds, Aedan took his robe off of a wincing Kyra, whose eyes were darting around the large room. Relief blossomed on her face as no horde of angry fish people were accosting her as she had previously surmised. She looked to Aedan, "You saved me," she said dramatically.

Aedan puffed out his chest, and then tipped an imaginary hat, "Just doing my job, Ma'am."

"My hero," she beamed. "I thought we were goners."

Aedan grinned back, "Never." He looked around the room, assessing the situation. "Now that that's done, let's find this Senator."

Right on time, a brown skinned female Mon Calamarian approached them, and held her hand out to Aedan, "Welcome Master Kahl and Knight Dawnstar, thank you for coming."

"Pleasure to meet you, Senator," Aedan said, "Thank you for seeing us."

The Senator nodded, "Your timing is impeccable as somewhat of a crisis has developed recently. I was about to request for Jedi assistance and then Senator Amidala informed me you were on your way."

Kyra stepped forward, "What kind of crisis?"

"Come with me," Meena said, "The Security Team is down in Coral City, and will be eager to speak with you."

"Security Team?" Kyra asked, "What's going on?"

Meena nodded, "A few weeks after the battle here, dozens of Mon Calamarians were going missing weekly. Then large groups just disappeared. As of two days ago, five-hundred and thirty-seven are unaccounted for."

"Five-hundred?" Kyra exclaimed.

"This has to be him." Aedan said.

Meena sucked in a deep breath, "Who? You know something about this?"

Aedan nodded solemnly, "We've been tracking an adversary named Salas Sa'kard, who spearheads a slave trade. A few days ago, we found vague evidence that his operation incorporates Dac. And you just confirmed that it's him with your report of missing people."

Meena shuddered, "Can you help us?"

"Absolutely," Kyra said, "We will do everything in our power to find them."

"Take us to your security force headquarters, or whoever is in charge of the investigation."

"Senator Amidala mentioned a Captain Ackbar would also be able to help us."

Meena let out an odd sounding cough, and dropped her head. "Captain Ackbar was one of those that went missing."

"If I may, Senator, who is Captain Ackbar?" Aedan asked.

"He was pivotal in the battle against the separatists here. He's a skilled warrior, but an even better leader. If he was taken, then we're dealing with professionals."

"We'll start with him then," Aedan said, "Take us down to the capital, we'll meet with the security team and go from there."

Meena nodded, "Understood," she said, "Right this way."

They walked out of the spaceport, caught a tram vessel that traveled through a tubular above ground system, where they got off at another large spherical building that sat right on the edge of the water, which existed as a seaport. The three individuals boarded a small submersible and made their way down to Coral City.

Aedan and Kyra gazed out the front viewport in awe. "This is incredible," Kyra said. Coral City was five times the size of Hikahi, most of the buildings looked like the massive, sleek Mon Calamari cruisers were just sticking up out of the ocean floor. Interspersed between the underwater towers were hundreds of giant shimmering spherical buildings, and between each ball and tower tubes. Hundreds of these tubes ran throughout the city, creating an intricate lattice of passageways. The entire city was lit up with lights that gleamed in the dark reaches of the water.

The transport docked inside one of the city's hangars. The humans were given specialized suits, so they could breathe in the underwater city, and each suit had its own voice modulator so they could still communicate with one another. Meena led them to the closest tube and turned to Aedan and Kyra. "This will be a rush," she said.

Meena hit a series of buttons on the datapad outside the tube wall. A six-meter slot opened in the tube itself, and curiously there was no water inside. The three individuals stepped inside, and the glass door closed off the tube.

"What happens next?" Aedan asked. just as two valve doors were released, and a surge of water filled the reservoir, shooting the occupants down the tube at alarming speeds. Kyra and Aedan, initially were startled by the sudden velocity, but quickly began enjoying the ride as they were now in the Galaxy's most advanced water slide, shooting toward their destination.

Minutes later, the water began slowing, and they came to a stop. Meena landed dexterously on her feet. Kyra and Aedan, scrambled a bit the moment the water began receding, but righted themselves in time, and they landed in a crouched position.

Meena led them out of the tube and brought them to a hub where several individuals were hard at work at data screens. There were no desks or chairs, as the screens were suspended and the Mon Calamarians just attached themselves via black elastic cables. The water filled room obviously nullifying the need to sit down.

"This is the Dac Security Head Quarters, DSHQ for short. They have been working non-stop since the most recent disappearance," Meena said, "This is Officer Caitken," introducing a white skinned Mon Calamari.

Aedan nodded, and spoke through the suit's speech modulators, which transferred perfectly to the surrounding Mon Calamarians, "When was Captain Ackbar last seen?"

"He was investigating the disappearance of others when he took a shuttle from Coral City to Hikahi five days ago."

"Ok," Aedan said, "And he reached Hikahi?"

"No," the officer said, "His ship arrived at Hikahi twenty minutes after the scheduled arrival. But he never checked in."

Aedan nodded, "Go back to the security footage of when the ship arrived."

The Mon Calamarian nodded and cycled through the footage. A sleek vessel appeared on the screens, showing when the ship arrived, and they saw that one individual, wearing a black cloak, got off the ship. They waited a few minutes, but no one else exited the transport.

"So it seems Ackbar, along with his crew were kidnapped on the way to Hikahi."

The Dac officer shook his head, "That's what we gathered, but how? Only someone knowing the exact timing of the transport and having an adequate ship to board a Dac vessel in transit, could do that."

"Exactly," Kyra said.

"You're saying it was an inside job?"

Aedan nodded, "Someone on Mon Cala orchestrated this."

"That can't be."

"Look at the facts, Officer Caitken," Aedan said. "Who else could have done this?"

All of the Mon Calamarians in the room were contemplating the idea of sabotage. They didn't want to believe it, particularly not after that recent, horrid battle that was far too fresh in their minds.

"Have your security force check with the deck officers. Find out if they can identify who came off that ship. But first, is there any way you can scan the sea during that time, or to pick up any unidentified vessels?"

The security officer shook his head, "No our scans only work in real time, but we can ask other vessels if they saw anything out of the ordinary."

"Where's the nearest surface city, besides Hikahi?" Kyra asked. "After taking them, they'd have to get them off world quickly."

"Ronnolly City," he said, "But it's thousands of kilometers away."

"So, they had to come through Hikahi," Aedan said.

"No, they could have just traveled to the surface, and another spacecraft just picked them up right in the middle of the ocean, far away from Hikahi, and then had the lone pilot take the ship back into the port." Kyra said.

"Kriff, you're right," Aedan said, then turned to Caitken, "I'm assuming there won't be any scans in that location and at that time to maybe get a drive signature."

The officer shook his head, "Only if there's a ship nearby that was actively scanning. If it was in the city or near it, most likely, but on the surface in the middle of nowhere, it's near impossible."

"Alright, go back to the cameras that captured the lone individual getting off the ship."

Caitken cycled back and they began tracking the progress of the person exiting the station. There was extensive camera coverage in Hikahi, and they were able to follow him into the city for a kilometer, until he ducked away into a narrow street.

"No cameras in that corridor?"

Officer Caitken was hesitant to answer, "No, coverage stops at the street."

"I understand," Aedan said calmly. "Go back to the last footage of him, and slow down playback."

Caitken did so, and Aedan observed the surroundings as the black cloaked mystery person made his exit from view.

Aedan pointed at one area of the screen, "Do we have a camera facing that way?"

"Well, yes, but it's facing the opposite direction of the alley he went down."

"I know, pull it up anyway."

Caitken did so quickly. A street lined with storefronts filled the screen, and Aedan watched attentively.

"There," he said, pointing to one storefront's window. "Zoom in right here."

"Okay," Caitken said, noticeably unsure of where this was going.

As the camera zoomed in on the window, another picture began to form.

"The reflection!" Kyra said. "Oh, Master, you're a genius."

Aedan tilted his head, "Only if the picture is clear enough."

Officer Caitken was much more diligent now and zoomed in closer. The image wasn't crystal clear, but they could make out enough of it.

"He's continuing down the alley," Caitken said. All three observed the suspect remove his hood, revealing his species.

"As I suspected, it's a Quarren. Caitken, can you get facial identification on that?"

The white skinned Mon Calamaria shook his head, "I don't think so, footage isn't clear and it only shows his profile."

Aedan nodded and continued to watch.

"Now he's getting on a speeder," Kyra said.

Aedan moved closer to the screen. He didn't need perfect clarity to recognize the snub-nosed speeder with the large ventilated grill at the front and the short fins that hung down like a Firaxan sharks. "A balutar-class swoop."

"A mandalorian speeder," Kyra said, continuing his thought process.

"Exactly."

"That's extremely rare, especially on Dac. It should be easy to find," Caitken said.

"Yes. Sa'kard's minions have made their first mistake."

Caitken turned around facing all the other security officers who were conspicuously listening in on the surveillance investigation. "Scan the city for a Balutar-class speeder. Time Frame is between now and two days ago."

The entire office began searching voraciously. They had something to look for now, something to put their anger and frustration toward. It was only a matter of time now.

"I have something," one officer said after only a few minutes.

"Jakinso, good work," Caitken said, swimming over to his station, Aedan and Kyra following. "Let's hear it."

"I ran an image search through our camera database. It was picked up in the Northeast sector of town, even hit one of our hidden Transponder-Drive readers."

"You mean you now know it's transponder codes?" Aedan asked.

"Well, no, those were jammed. That's actually what alerted me to that particular reader. But, we did get its drive signature."

"Perfect, send that out to the rest of the team, and we'll narrow the search."

"I, um, already did," he said, somewhat embarrassed, "And I have its most recent hit which was two hours ago."

"Their second mistake. And it's probably still there."

Officer Caitken stared in surprise. "Excellent work, Jakinso. Where is it?"

"The Krakana shipyards," he said.

"Well, let's go check it out," Aedan said.

"I'll take you," Caitken said, "It'll be faster than taking the shuttle up to the surface."

"Excellent," Aedan said. "Lead the way."

Luckily, they only had to float a short distance to the security force's hangar, and within moments they were shooting up to the surface spaceport, hot on the trail of their only lead. Aedan felt his heart rate increase—felt the anticipation growing of finally getting closer to this monster. Aedan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Emotion was a great thing, but had no business on a mission. He released his feelings to the force, and let peace flow into him.