Tom Lucitor hailed from the volcanic world of Wolddunerr, an inhospitable planet to beings lacking the evolutionary traits that would make capable of surviving in extremely high temperatures. As such, heat had never bothered Tom. Whereas Janna would dart to every patch of shade possible on Tatooine to keep out of the scorching rays of the system's twin suns, the demonicite would casually stroll along, perfectly content and comfortable. But while heat did not bother him in the slightest, low temperatures were nearly unbearable.

Tom had outfitted his and Janna's little hideout on Orto Plutonia to be rather cozy inside, adding some rugs and wall fixtures to make the place feel a little bit more welcoming and less like the abandoned military installation it had once been, and he didn't mind staying there. But going outside the heated structure into the ice and snow and wind? That was something Tom avoided as much as physically possible.

A strong gust of polar air blew ice particulate past the hood of Tom's parka and down his back. He shivered in disgust and pulled the hood tighter around his head, trying to ignore his discomfort and remain focused. He checked his WESTAR-32 blaster for the umpteenth time, making certain that the safety was on.

Star and Marco stood a few paces ahead of him and Janna. The pair of Jedi Padawans were practicing their unique Force-ability and the smugglers were helping.

"Okay," Star said hesitantly. "You guys ready?"

"Yup," Janna replied, holding her DC-17 hand blaster at the ready. "Have at it."

The princess turned to her best friend beside her. "Ready, Marco?"

He returned a nervous smile and took her gloved hand in his. "Ready."

Their hands clenched tightly between them, the pair closed their eyes and raised their free arms, holding them outstretched toward their target.

Over the last three months, Star and Marco had practiced their Force-Cleave ability as much as they dared. It was a difficult skill to learn, considering that it would kill them if done improperly or for too long, and even harder still without Glossaryck to guide them. It was still impossible to do without passing out for an extended period of time, though a few times they'd managed to perform a Force-Cleave and merely faint for a few minutes.

Almost immediately, the heart-shaped marks on Star's cheeks began to glow with soft, white light, and Marco's invisible crescents did the same. Though they still always lost consciousness afterward, they had vastly improved their skill and could now induct a cleaved condition with relative ease.

Their target was a sloped rock face, coated with an undisturbed layer of pure, white snow. They reached out toward it in tandem, their singular combined focus drawing the midichlorians in the air around them into a defined area.

"Go."

At Star's single word of instruction, Tom and Janna raised their blasters, flipped off the safeties, and each fired one shot past Star and Marco. Two bolts of energy, one blue, one green, struck the rock face, instantly evaporating the snow where they struck and leaving a pair of burn marks. The green laser from Tom's powerful WESTAR-32 left a mark almost twice as large as the one from Janna's DC-17.

"Nope, not quite," Janna said.

"Focus harder, Marco."

"Yup."

Their connection to the Force never breaking, Star and Marco intensified their collective focus.

"Try now."

Janna and Tom fired once more. This time, their blaster bolts did not impact the snow on the rock face. Instead, the shots abruptly ricocheted off in random directions as they struck the invisible Force-shield created by the Padawans.

"Ahh, there we go!" Marco exclaimed. "Keep shooting, guys."

So Janna and Tom kept firing. Shot after shot of blue and green energy streaked across the empty field of snow and was deflected off into the sky. One bounced right back at Tom and the demonicite quickly jumped to the side to avoid it, tripping on a buried rock and face planting into the snow. Janna found it quite amusing.

"I think that's enough, Star," Marco said quietly.

Star didn't want to stop. She wanted to see just how long she and Marco could keep this up. But, much as she hated to admit it, her partner was right. Any longer and they ran the risk of draining their life force to the point of death.

"Yeah...you're right...that's enough, guys."

Tom and Janna ceased fire and a second later, Star and Marco dropped their connection to the Force. Both swayed on their feet as they fought to remain upright, and then tumbled into the snow as they passed out.

The teenaged smugglers holstered their weapons and began the second part of their task: transporting their unconscious friends back to the hideout. Janna jogged several meters away to where they'd left the speeder bike and hopped on, pulling it over closer to where her friends lay in the snow.

"Well, I'm sure they'll be happy when they wake up," Tom said as he helped Janna hoist Star up onto the seat of the jump speeder. "That was definitely the best Force-shield they've done."

"Oh, yeah. They're getting the hang of it now."

Star and Marco had fairly well mastered basic Force abilities while Force-Cleaved during their months of practice on Orto Plutonia. They could lift, push, pull, and launch objects with incredible ease and power. Creating a shield with the Force was something neither had ever been taught. Kit Fisto had told Marco stories of Jedi using the Force to create a shield against poison gas and explosions, and that was an ability that he and Star felt could be quite useful...if they could figure out how to do it on their own. With her strong connection to the Force, Star cracked it fairly quickly on her own, but it was rather difficult for Marco, who was not only attempting to learn a new Force ability, but also how to tap into the Dark Side as Glossaryck had instructed. They'd finally started making good progress at the Force-cleaved version of the skill about two weeks ago, and this was the first time they had been able to deflect every single one of Tom and Janna's blaster bolts with their invisible shield. It was hard to keep their focus with all that shooting going on, but it did help them learn how to ignore distractions while still being aware of their surroundings.

Tom and Janna slung Marco's unconscious body up onto the speeder bike behind Star. "C'mon," Tom said, "Let's get back inside. It's freezing out here."

Janna smirked as she took hold of the bike's hand grip and guided it through the snow alongside her as she walked. "Any ideas for a new silly place we could leave them to wake up in?"

"I think this time we should tape them to the ceiling."

"Ooh, good one!"


A dull ache more annoying than painful radiated throughout the inquisitor's head. They were here somewhere. It could sense them. But their presence was weak, fleeting, ghostly. No amount of searching seemed to bring them any closer. No point anywhere on the moon of Pantora seemed to make their presence more solid. It was just out of reach, barely teasing the senses.

And it was giving the inquisitor a headache.

Where ARE they?!

It had been four days since the crew of the Mentis Mal had landed on the marshy-moon of Pantora, but thus far they had turned up empty-handed. It was not overly surprising, considering that, including the Inquisitor and Security Officer Rosado, there were only eighteen of them. It wouldn't be very difficult for a pair of Force-sensitive beings to elude them. Then again, if the kids thought their hideout had been compromised, wouldn't they have fled the moon altogether by now? Either the task force hadn't come even remotely close to finding them, or...somehow...Butterfly and Diaz weren't here at all.

But if they're not here, then why do I sense them?

The sound of boots clomping noisily up the Mentis Mal's boarding ramp drew the inquisitor's attention and it looked away from the planetary scan it had been studying. "What?" it demanded.

Security Officer Rosado nervously wrung his hands. "The troops have completed their sweep, sir. No sign of the Padawans or of their friends' YV-560."

"Impossible. I know they're here." It slowly paced across the floor. "The Pantorans must be helping them. Hiding them somewhere." It turned toward Rosado, and the electronic alterations to it's voice could not hide the evil smile behind the mask. "I think it's time we meet with the Pantoran Assembly."

Rosado gulped down the lump in his throat. He'd been afraid of that. "Yes, sir."


As she held her cheeks in her palms leaning on the mess hall table, Star yawned openly, making no attempt to cover her mouth as she did so. Despite having passed out from the most recent Force-cleaving stint for nearly twelve hours, she still felt exhausted.

Janna took a seat across from her, casually holding a steaming cup of caf and smirking with pride. "Why so grumpy, Star? Wake up on the wrong side of the floor?"

Star had actually found it quite the hilarious prank to wake up and find herself and Marco stuck to the ceiling with repair tape. Her fellow Jedi Padawan, on the other hand, was quite perturbed. When Marco freed himself by activating his lightsaber with the Force and cutting through the tape, he fell haphazardly to the floor and managed to dislocate his left shoulder on impact yet again.

"Oh, Janna Banana, that was a good one," Star said, managing a smile. "I'm just...tired."

Janna slowly sipped her caf. "Physically or mentally?"

"Umm...both."

"I get the physical part," Janna said, familiar by now how Force-Cleaving exhausted her friends. "Why mentally?"

Instantly, Star regretted saying that out loud. She didn't want to talk about that.

"Um...Just tired of hiding out," she said, quickly sitting up a little bit straighter. "Mewni has been under Imperial control for three months and we need to get back there." She leaned back into her hands with dejection. "I just wish I knew how..."

"Hey, you and Marco are doing what you guys need to do to give us a fighting chance," Janna said. "But we'll never win if you guys keep passing out every time you do the crazy Force thing."

Star felt her lips involuntarily scrunch up. "Yeahhhhh..."

The conversation paused as Marco and Tom entered, carrying several plates containing breakfast. Marco had discovered quite a knack for cooking while they'd been cooped up for the last few months. Often his skills were called upon just after waking from a Force-induced coma, and in those cases Tom leant much appreciated support.

Not much was said between the four teenagers as they ate. The young smuggling partners were tired, too, and after three months of being stuck together they had completely run out of conversation topics.

"So," Tom asked as they cleaned up from breakfast, "What's on the agenda for today? Gonna take another crack at the Force-shield?"

Star and Marco simultaneously met each other's eyes. Marco blinked wearily at her, and she concurred with his silent conveyance. "I think maybe today...we take an 'off' day," Star said. "I think we could use a break."

And the others nodded quietly in agreement.


Assemblyman Thuralo struck the wall with a sickening crunch, slumping over in pain as he landed on the floor. The black-clad inquisitor stood over him menacingly, having just thrown him into the wall with the Force, and Thuralo inwardly cursed his prepared nature and arriving to the assembly hall so early that no one else was yet present.

Thuralo felt himself rise up off the ground, levitated into the air by the Force, an invisible crushing grip around his throat choking out his breath.

"Where. Are. The Jedi?"

Thuralo could not answer. His lungs were empty, his throat firmly held shut. He was suffocating. Security Officer Rosado watched helplessly as the assemblyman gasped for breath, desperately wanting to beg his partner to stop.

A ripple in the Force brushed across the back of the inquisitor's neck, and in the blink of an eye it ignited a crimson lightsaber, just in time to deflect the blaster bolt fired at it's back. Jedi hunter and Security Officer whirled around to find a blue-skinned near-human with a silvery beard aiming a blaster pistol at the Inquisitor.

"Well," laughed the inquisitor through its helmet, "If it isn't Chairman Papanoida. How nice of you to join us."

"Release the assemblyman," the head of the Pantoran assembly demanded, waving his blaster. "Now!"

Smirking beneath its helmet, the inquisitor let Thuralo drop to the floor and stalked over to Papanoida, its stride exuding evil intent. "Perhaps the esteemed leader of Pantora will be more cooperative."

"Inquisitor..." Rosado said hesitantly, hoping to slow his partner's anger.

"Stow it, Rosado." The inquisitor stared down Papanoida menacingly, but the steadfast chairman was unphased by either the Jedi hunter or the glowing laser sword in its hand. He kept his blaster trained on the inquisitor as it asked, "Where are they, Chairman?"

"You storm into my chambers and attack one of my compatriots, and you expect me to cooperate?" Papanoida growled. "You have no right to be here. I demand that you leave this instant!"

A flash of red light blurred past the Chairman's face as the inquisitor bisected the blaster in his hand, missing his skin by a fraction of a millimeter. "You're in no position to demand anything. Now..." It lined the lightsaber's blade along the right side of Papanoida's neck. "Where are they?"

The Chairman still showed no sign of flinching. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."

"Two Jedi Padawans. They're on this world, somewhere. I know they're here! I can sense them! We've searched the entire planet and haven't located them. So where are they?"

Papanoida narrowed his eyes at the inquisitor. "Oh, yes. I received several reports that there was a squadron of Imperial stormtroopers running amuck on my world. We had wondered what you were up to, but figured you ask if you needed assistance, not just barge into the assembly chambers and attack one of our-!"

"Stop stalling!" the inquisitor roared. "Where are the Jedi?"

"I am afraid I do not know what you are referring to. To my knowledge, there are no Jedi here."

"Liar!"

"I swear to you that I am not lying. Are you not a Force-user yourself?" Papanoida asked, gesturing to the lightsaber mere centimeters from his neck. "I am no expert, but I met a few Jedi before the purge. Are you not capable of determining whether or not I am lying with the Force?"

The inquisitor's teeth gnashed together. "Yes."

"And am I?"

"...Unfortunately...you're telling the truth." The inquisitor let its finger slip from the activation plate and the crimson lightsaber blade shrank back into the hilt. "You're of no use to me." It turned on its heel toward Rosado, who was kneeling beside the collapsed assemblyman, checking the Pantoran over. "C'mon, Rosado. We're wasting our time here."

"Um...okay..." He got to his feet. "What's our next move?"

"If we can't find the Jedi by conventional searching, then we'll just have to tear this world apart until we find them."

"Just a minute now," Chairman Papanoida protested. "I can't allow you to destroy my homeworld. I have a duty to protect the inhabitants of Pantora, and I will do so, even if I have to fight you to the death."

The inquisitor turned back to him, snickering evilly. "You won't last five seconds in a fight against me, old man."

"Perhaps not. But I may have an idea that could aid you in your search that would also make, as you said, 'tearing this world apart' quite superfluous."

"Alright. Fine. But this better be good."

"If I help you, will you promise to leave peacefully?"

"That depends on just how helpful you are."

Papanoida sneered, extreme hatred for this intruder overtaking all other emotion. Forcing back his desire to curse out the inquisitor, the chairman held his composure. "You say you can sense the presence of your targets here, yet you have been unsuccessful in locating them, yes?"

"Uh-Huh."

"Pantora is not the only celestial body capable of sustaining life in this system, you know."

For a moment, the inquisitor was stunned into silence. "Orto Plutonia?"

Papanoida nodded. "That would be my assumption."

The inquisitor thoughtfully touched the bottom of its helmet. "That would explain why I sense them, but they never seemed to get any closer..."

Before his partner had an opportunity to make another move, Security Officer Rosado stepped between Papanoida and the inquisitor. "Thank you very much for your assistance, Chairman. We'll be leaving now." He directed the entire statement toward the Jedi hunter, not Papanoida.

The inquisitor stared for a moment before turning and briskly stalking past the tall Pantoran. "Back to the ship, Rosado. Come on."

The Imperial officer politely tipped his cap to Papanoida who bowed in return. Then he hurried after the inquisitor.