Comedia and all the other kids struggled and wriggled as they were taken out from the truck at last with cloth bags put over their heads until they were thrown into some kind of room.

Comedia immediately panicked as the bag was removed from her head. She looked around to find herself in what looked like a large prison cell of some kind. There were numerous bunks, and two other girls who'd been kidnapped were thrown in there too.

"Dad?" Comedia called, looking around frightened. "Daddy?"

Comedia and the other girls looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone else around. Except, she did see some kind of window, which was revealed when a curtain opened, and Caleb was on the other side with a bunch of other boys Comedia had never seen before. There was a wookie, a couple of human boys, a Tholothian, and a Nautolan. There was also a Twilek boy and a boy Comedia immediately recognized as a Cerea, like her father.

"Comedia! Are you okay?" Caleb asked.

"Well, let's see. We were kidnapped and taken to this strange place with a bunch of bad guys and we're surrounded by strangers," said Comedia sarcastically. "So, I'm just peachy."

Comedia yelped as she heard the sound of more soldiers coming, and this time there was the sound of more kids struggling.

"In you go, you rotten little brats!" said a trooper in black armor, throwing a boy who looked about fifteen years old into the cell with Caleb. Two more soldiers added two human girls, one about thirteen and the other nineteen to the girls' cell.

Comedia took that as her cue to jump in and hide in one of the bunks.

"Hey!" exclaimed a blonde human girl Comedia accidentally jumped on.

"Aah!"

Comedia jumped back out, and the new human girl. Out from another bunk came a Togruta girl who looked about sixteen years old. Comedia whinnied like crazy and started kicking and jumping in a panic until the Togruta carefully approached and stroked her muzzle.

"Easy, little filly. It's okay now. You're okay." said the Togruta.

"What is this place?" Comedia said, shaking. "I wanna go home!"

"That may be a bit of a challenge." said the oldest girl. "Name's Jinn. Kara Jinn." She motioned to the fifteen-year-old with glasses. "That's my little brother Carmine."

"Myra Windu," said the younger human.

"Kalifa," said another girl, coming out from her bunk.

"My name's Omega. Omega Fett. Boy right there. That's my twin brother Boba." the blonde girl introduced.

"Hey." Boba said, and he introduced the others. "This here is Gungi, Petro, Byph, Jinx, and O-Mer."

"Now you know our names," said Petro. "What are yours?"

"I'm... Comedia." Comedia said nervously.

"Numa."

"Ganodi." said a Rodian girl who'd also been kidnapped.

"So... what's your story, newbies?" Kalifa asked.

Ganodi went first.

Earlier that morning...

Ganodi was out and about at the park while her grandma was sitting at a bench knitting a toy seahorse for her granddaughter. Unlike most other kids, Ganodi was homeschooled, similar to Comedia. At first, everything was fine like any other day. She'd gotten her assignments done early, so Ganodi's mom said she could go to the playground. Her mom had to go to work, so Grandma took her.

While Ganodi was playing on the swing, she heard the sound of an ice cream pod, which got her excited. Immediately, she rushed and asked her grandmother if she could get an ice cream, and she said yes. But when Ganodi walked with her grandmother to get ice cream, Trandoshan men in black armor swooped in and attacked the parents and the children. Some Jedi agents came along and attempted to stop the kidnappers, but the Trandoshans got Ganodi and disappeared with her.

But, Ganodi was even more terrified when she realized she wasn't the only one to have been taken.

Numa didn't speak much Basic, but luckily Jinx understood enough to speak to her and translate for the others.

"According to Numa here, she was on a field trip, when some men in black broke in and took her while she was in the gift shop." Jinx translated.

"What about you, Comedia?" Kara asked.

Comedia looked down, hesitant to share why she was here to begin with. She wasn't sure if she was more embarrassed or ashamed of herself. The last time she'd seen her father, she'd said awful things she couldn't take back. And all she wanted right now was to be able to see him just for a few moments to let him know how sorry she was, and that she loved and missed him so much.

"Hey, it's completely understandable if you're not ready to speak now." Kara said. "Most of us have been here for a while."

"How long have you been here?"

"My brothers and I have been here for about... ten years."

"Wait!" Caleb exclaimed, looking. "You've been here ten years?!"

"What if we're here ten years? Ganodi said. "What if we're here... forever?!"

Comedia collapsed to the ground and started crying.

"Daddy, where are you?" the alicorn cried.

"There, there, Comedia." Kara said, coming to comfort the filly. "I'm sure someone will come looking for you soon."

"But you've been here for years."

"Yes, but..." she whispered. "That gave us time to have one of us get on the inside to figure out a way to escape."

"Why did they take us, anyway?" Ganodi asked. "My family isn't rich, if they plan to ask for ransom money."

"None of us came from rich families," said Petro said. "Except Kara and her brothers. But these guys never even asked their parents for ransom."

"They don't want money," said Kara. "The Sith... they want power. And their best bet for that... recruit the most powerful soldiers they can find. Take me and my brothers for example, our father was a Jedi. Their greatest enemy. When the Sith realized they couldn't terminate all Jedi, they came up with a new plan: kidnap the children of Jedi, and train them to be Sith. But that wasn't enough for them."

"When they realized we weren't going to turn on our families so easily," said Carmine. "they resorted to science experimenting, and creating serums, trying to give each of us new, stronger powers to make us too powerful for the Jedi to fight."

"And Jedi weren't the only kids they went after, as you might've guessed." Boba said.

"Our parents were both bounty hunters," said Omega. "The Sith figured since we have so many brothers, our parents wouldn't notice a couple missing, and since we're the youngest in our family, they kidnapped us from our bedroom sometime last year."

"We're not even sure they're still looking for us."

"Don't say that, guys. It's gonna be alright."

"But why'd they take me?" said Comedia. "My daddy isn't rich, a Jedi, or a bounty hunter. He works in child services."

"Since when do horses work in child services?" asked Petro.

"My dad isn't a horse. He's a cerea. I was adopted."

"That explains it."

"Hey! My daddy works his butt off to take care of me by himself! He rescued me from a flood by himself and took me in as his own. That more than qualifies him as a good dad, whether we're the same species or not."

"They probably took you because you're a magical creature," said Ahsoka. "But why you specifically, I'm not sure. Who is your dad, exactly?"

"Ki-Adi Mundi is his name."

O-Mer and Kara both recognized that name.

"My mom knew him," said O-Mer. "When I was really little, he was our neighbor before our hometown got destroyed by Sith."

"You've encountered Sith before?" said Comedia.

"Yup. It was a gruesome time. Poor guy. I can't imagine what it was like for him to lose his wife and kids like that."

"Wait a minute! Run that last bit by me again." Comedia said. "Did you just say my dad had a wife? And kids? How is that possible?"

"Well, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-"

"That's not what I mean! I'm my dad's only family. He's never mentioned ever having anyone else in his life before me. I've never even seen pictures of his family, if he had any. Except for one of him with his parents when he was a kid. But they died a long time ago."

"I was very little when it happened, but I remember clear as day."

O-Mer explained to Comedia that a long time ago, the Sith attacked many cities in an attempt to rid the world of any and all Jedi. Many people did lose their lives in the process, but not all. There were those able to escape, and O-Mer and his mom were two of them. They were there when they saw the firemen rescue Ki-Adi and put him in the ambulance that took him to the hospital. And they'd been taken to that same hospital as well. The poor man almost died that day from smoke inhalation. And they were surprised he didn't die of a heart attack after learning none of his daughters survived, and that his wife and their unborn baby were killed as well. After that day, he left town and O-Mer and his mom hadn't seen their old neighbor since.

O-Mer's mother eventually found a new job in Saleucami, and they moved there, where they found a more peaceful life... until O-Mer was kidnapped during a field trip with his class a few years ago.

"Wait a minute... so, you're saying... my dad had a family before me and he never told me?!" Comedia said, still processing. "No, that can't be true! Daddy would've told me. Why would he keep this secret from me? Have I just been some consolation prize for him this whole time?!"

"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions. You don't know that." Carmine said. "No good parent would try to replace their children, adopted or not."

"I'm sure that's not the case, Comedia." Caleb said. "Your dad's pretty protective of you for you to be a consolation prize."

"I think what Caleb meant to say," said Ahsoka. "Is your dad loves you. But he loved his other family too. Maybe he wanted to tell you, but he didn't know how. Or maybe he planned to tell you when he believed you were old enough to understand."

"If I'm old enough to understand adoption, aren't I old enough for him to explain this to me?!" Comedia said.

"Maybe the way you're reacting now," said Myra. "Is exactly what he was afraid of."

Comedia started to think more and more about it, and then she came to her own hypothesis. If what O-Mer said happened was true, was that why Ki-Adi was always so worried about her? Was that why he was so protective of her? All this time she thought it was because he found her almost drowning in a flood. But now, she started to realize her father acted the way he did because he'd gone through a much bigger loss before, and by some miracle he was granted a second chance to be a father again. Despite the happiness he felt from having a family again, he was also terrified of losing one all over again. So, he spent his every waking moment trying to keep his daughter safe from any danger.

Tears filled Comedia's eyes again and she started crying again.

"Comedia, don't cry." Ahsoka said, hugging the poor filly. "It's going to be okay. I'm sure your dad won't love you any less because you found out."

"It's not that." Comedia sniffled. "The last time I saw my dad, I said some awful things to him. I told him he would never be my real dad. There's no way he's gonna wanna come for me now."

A tear fell from Comedia's eye and landed on the panda charm on her necklace. It seemed to sparkle as Comedia cried.

Comedia held the charm in her hoof. That necklace was all she had left of her father, and she had no idea where he was now or if she would ever see him again.

That was when the lights turned out.

"Lights out, brats!" said a soldier named Castus. "Into your bunks. You know the drill. Oldies, get the newbies up to speed."

"Get some rest, nebwies," said Jinx. "You're gonna need it."

"What's... the drill?" Comedia said.

"It happens the same way with all the newbies. Tomorrow, they're gonna test you for things like intelligence, agility, and abilities. Only way out is to be quick, but don't let them think you're a threat. The less they think you can do, the better. Then, they're probably gonna try to give you this power serum they created."

"Is it dangerous?" Ganodi asked fearfully.

"We all survived it," said Kalifa. "I wouldn't worry. You'll learn more afterward. And you best conserve energy. We only get rations twice a day."

Comedia didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't even have her teddy bear to cuddle with tonight. So, she just lay in the first empty bunk she could find and cried. Sadly, there were no windows in the cell, so Comedia couldn't even see the stars in the night, assuming it was night judging by how tired she was now. But if there were stars out right now, Comedia was wishing and praying that her father was looking for her now.