Chapter 35 Response

The Rists had returned to Alderaan.

It was not something that had been planned, but…given recent events, it had seemed the wisest course of action.

Lady Dorma had been committed to Vess, and not simply because she hoped to regain the titles she had lost when she had first married Lord Errol. She loved her foster daughter, and her foster daughter loved her, and she had planned to remain at her side, to help in anyway she could in restoring the girl to her rightful throne.

Life. However, had other plans.

Dorma had not been feeling well for several days, given the games they were playing, both Vessaria and her husband insisted that she be checked out by a medical droid. The results of that visit didn't surprise the lady, as…she had recognized the symptoms, had felt them before on two different occasions.

Lady Rist...was once again…with child.

Vess was happy to hear the news, and her foster siblings were equally excited, yet, Vess understood what needed to happen.

Word had come from Bantoon, things were heating up on their home world, and it was only a matter of time until Queen Adira and her husband retaliated, and considering what had happened to her parents, Vessaria would not see her foster mother, and an unborn child placed firmly in the targeting reticle of her uncle's wrath.

No, it was safer for Dorma to return home, to the safety of the Rist estate.

Both the lord and lady and tried to deny that. They could, and should, remain at their foster daughter's side.

The young queen would hear none of it.

We can't leave you alone," Dorma had insisted, "Starfish, we can…"

"You are not leaving me alone," Vess reminded her, "Val and Jas are here, and the matriarchs and their sworn protectors are on my side. Besides…"

Vess gave her a confident smile.

"It is not like I'm completely helpless. I know how to fight, and when to run if I have too. You must go, take care of yourself, and my little brother or sister. Trust me…

"…I'll be alright."

Neither Lord Errol, nor his wife liked the idea, but his lordship was no fool, he understood the game they were playing, and Coruscant, despite being far from Bantoon was no where near as secure as the Rist compound.

So, the lord and lady took their young children, and departed, with Vess' assurance that she would keep them appraised of what was going on.

They left, but assigned a five of their bodyguards to see to their foster daughter's safety. Five men who were handpicked by Val herself, men she trusted with not only her life, but the life of her charge. Jas looked into each of them with the Force, seeking any deception or ambition.

Val insisted on that, betrayal had cost Vessaria before.

She would not let it happen again.

The Rists left with no fanfare, nothing to suggest weakness to an enemy. The matriarchs were only told two days after they had reached Alderaan.

The next few days passed with little incident. Val and Jas kept watch, while Vessaria met with the matriarchs, listened to reports from Bantoon, and waited…waited for the Queen and the High General to respond to their actions.

Days turned to a week, and another, and again, another.

One could only remain on high alert for so long. People slipped into a routine, they let their guard down, the monotony of day-to-day life got to them.

The High General and his queen had been smart. They had waited…

They planned their response well.

It came in the middle of the night.

Vess and her allies had tried to be ready.

They tried to be…but…

…they were not.

IOI

Is that my commlink going off?

The thought flitted through Jas' mind, flitted, and was gone before it could truly register. It was hard to focus on conscious thought at times like this.

He gasped, just as he buried his hands into her hair, their mouths locked together.

The world barely existed in that moment, everything was heat, sensation, and desire.

He was as much in the Force as he was in the real world, lost in feeling…lost…in her.

Vess moaned as he rolled her over. He stared into her deep blue eyes as they made love. Their bodies washed in the low, but always present light of the capital city.

Jas found her neck, nibbling and biting. The girl gasped and arched her back enjoying everything he offered her.

This was a new experience for him. He had been with other women, but it had never been like this. Val had always kept part of herself locked away, the part loyal to Vess. Jas had sensed it when they had been together, a part of her that her programming would never allow her to let another see. Prynn might have been like this, but Jas had been the one who pulled away, he…perhaps on some level, had held back, maybe he had known that it wouldn't last, perhaps the Force had whispered to him in those intimate moments, not to let go.

Perhaps.

Vess was not like that, she held nothing back, and he did the same.

Everything…was heat, desire…and want!

She stared up at him, breathing heavily, a hungry smile on her face.

"Harder, my love. I…ah…I want MORE!"

Jas responded, he let himself get lost in her. Vess…she wanted it…all he was, and offered all she was in return.

It was wonderful…glorious!

Finally, they reached it, that sweet plateau!

They cried out in unison, finding what they had sought.

Panting, Jas rolled on his side, letting the Force roll over him, enjoying the link of intimacy that they shared. He, and the woman he had chosen to be with. Despite the room's temperature control, they were both sweating.

The air would soon grow cold, but that was fine.

He would keep her warm.

He sighed.

It was over so quickly, but remained strong within him even now.

Desire.

Heat.

Attachment.

He smiled.

Beautiful.

She lay so close, a contented smile on her face, she reached out and took his hand, gently squeezing it.

"Gods save me," she purred, "I…I needed that."

He slid over letting her rest her head on his chest. She snuggled closer as he stared up at the ceiling, enjoying this moment, and the contented thrum through the Force.

"So much for my promise," he said.

Vess giggled.

"I won't tell if you won't."

He laughed.

He doubted that would work.

He had given his word to Dorma and Lord Errol, he would not seek Vess out for any…physical form of affection, except the occasional kiss, and he had done well in the last few weeks, but it had been easier then. Vess was all but consumed with her work with the Matriarchs and meeting with this person or that. Plus, the presence of the Rists, and their children, had given him other things to focus on.

Dorma and Errol's leaving had changed that. He and Vess had had the apartment all to themselves, but even then, they had tried to remain true to their promise. He and Val had both been so sure that an attack would come, especially after Vess' foster parents had left, but nothing had happened. They had both tried to remain alert, Val and he, but the quiet had seeped in, the lack of any threat had made their wariness seem foolish.

They had fallen into a routine, he had fallen into a routine, training, meditation, speaking with Val and their small security force. Everything had seemed normal. He had sensed Vess' emotions, the girl had also been anticipating a response, and frustration was starting to show. Jas sensed it in every glance, and word she said to those who came to speak with her.

Frustration…and more.

It was only a matter of time, something had to give, tonight, it had happened.

He had been meditating in his quarters. Vess had been outside, swimming as the last rays of the sun had set.

As he had reached out with the Force, he had sensed her, the anticipation, her desire to aid her people, frustration at the waiting, and not just for some type of attack.

He also sensed…desire…need.

At first, he had tried to do his meditation out by the pool, letting the background noises of Coruscant lull him into the place he needed to be, but…that had proven…difficult.

Vess would typically swim in the evening, and to say that he was not drawn to the way she moved through the water would be a lie.

As she swam, she moved with a grace and sureness that was amazing, it was as if she had been born in the water, and returning to it was as natural as breathing the air.

Plus, the tiny swim suits she wore left little to the imagination, even with his training, his eyes were drawn to her, that toned, firm form.

Finally, he had decided it was best to stay in his chambers when he meditated. For the sake of the promise he had made.

It had been…smart.

Yet, now, she had finished her swim, he had heard her moving around outside his room, going to fresher, getting cleaned up.

She was thinking about him, her emotions were not shielded, not in this. He would be lying if he said he felt nothing, that her desires did not affect him.

After that, she had come to him. He had felt her standing there, even with his eyes closed, he felt the fire in her.

He opened his eyes, and his breath caught in his throat.

She stood before him, her hair still damp from the shower, the tiny two-piece swimsuit left little to the imagination. Any man would have needed to be blind not to stare.

Yet, it was through the Force that she called to him, not intentionally, Vess was no Force-sensitive after all, but what she wanted was clear, the look in her eyes, the way she stood, the slight quickening of her breathing.

She smiled shyly and turned away, but held out her hand, beckoning him to follow, to join her.

He rose then, he…he would remind her of what had been promised, that they needed to be patient.

She had not given him the chance. As soon as their hands touched, she was in his arms, kissing him fiercely. The fires within her spread to him, and soon all thought faded, burned, and washed away on a tide of need.

When she did break away it was only to pull him along, towards the master bedroom. She had taken it as her own when her foster parents had left.

She was feeling excited…rebellious, the thought of being with him in what had been her parent's room seemed naughty to her, and she wanted it.

Despite his years of training, he had not put up any resistance, not after weeks of restraint. He might as well had been her loyal droid, that was how much he wanted to resist. She had helped him undress, and he helped her, a simple gesture with the Force was all it had took to remove her swimsuit, and then…they had fallen into bed, and in then the heat of day and their own desires had taken over…

…now…as they lay in each other arms, he realized exactly what it would be like, being with Vess, not just in this, but in being her partner in life. It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Being with anyone…it was not something that a Jedi's training prepared you for.

It would be different, and…

…he liked that.

The chirp of his commlink brought him back from his reflections, part of him wanted to ignore it, remain where he was, but duty remained, and they were not out of danger, not yet.

He shifted slightly, trying to rise, but she stopped him.

"Stay," she murmured huskily.

"I need to answer the comm," he said.

"We could ignore it," she offered, gently kissing down his neck.

"We…um…we're still under threat, remember?"

She paused, and met his eyes, part of her wanted to remain lost in this moment, to simply wallow in their desires.

Yet, she pulled back, and nodded.

"You're right," she agreed, not entirely without disappointment.

Jas decided to compromise, he stayed where he was, but reached out with the Force, pulling the commlink into his waiting hands.

"Yeah," he said activating the device.

"I've been trying to reach you," Val said over the link, "I thought we agreed to remain on comm's, where have you been?"

Jas blinked.

"I…um…"

At his side, Vess giggled, she liked the fact that she was able to distract him, that she could pierce his Jedi calm.

"I must have turned it off accidently," he lied, "Sorry about that."

"Right," Val answered, Jas was not sure if she could hear Vess in the background, but it probably didn't matter.

Given their connection Val might have sensed something in his voice, probably knew what had happened, what they had been doing up here.

"So," he said pushing forward.

"What is going on?"

"We lost contact with a team monitoring one of the buildings side entrances. I'm going down to check on that now. Plus we have an issue in the lobby. We've got…"

The signal cut off in a blast of white noise and static.

Both Jas and Vess winced, the painful whine loud in their ears.

Ugh," Vess gasped, pulling away from him, and covering her ears.

"Interference," he murmured, he quickly switched to another channel, to contact their guards watching the side entrances…

…Again, only static.

Static…or jamming.

Memories of the attack on the North mountains of Alderaan came back to him then. They had lost comms then too.

Vess seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

She leapt from their bed, quickly, grabbing a shirt and leggings.

"Is it time," she asked, "Dop you sense anything?"

Suddenly, they were all business, all the playfulness of the last hour or so was gone.

Jas sat up and reached out with the Force.

He sensed…something, the future remained cloudy, but…

"We need to get ready."

He rose from the bed, grabbing for his own clothes.

Vess went to a picture on the western wall of the room, she pressed her fingers against the frame causing it to slide back…

…revealing a hidden locked box, a box filled with weapons.

A repeating rifle, a pair of heavy pistols, a collapsed portable sniper rifle, and what appeared to be a bandoleer of grenades.

"How long has that been in here?" he asked.

"The Rist family has used this apartment for years," she answered, "Those of the family that practice the old ways made some improvements."

Jas nodded, it made sense, given House Rist's history.

He could see now why Vess had not been as concerned as she should have been about a possible attack.

He tried to contact Cee-Cee, the droid should have been at the Knightfire, keeping the ship ready.

Again, the signal out was being jammed.

Jas frowned.

Damn it!

They had planned for this, Jas had set up a rotation, contacting the droid every hour and a half. If he missed that contact, Cee-Cee was under orders to fly the ship here, and make sure that the two of them didn't need back up, or to escape.

Unfortunately, Jas had checked in shortly before Vess had come to him, it would be another twenty minutes at least before his message was overdue.

Damn!

Vess had the blaster rifle out, and laid two of the pistols on the bed. Jas went to the doorway, reaching out with the Force.

Again, everything felt clouded, but…his other senses were not.

He heard it. It was low, but it was there.

He pulled his lightsaber into his hand.

He heard it so clearly, the sound of electronic lock breakers, clicking and whirring.

Someone was trying to breach the apartment door!

There was a heavy blast door connected to it, but it was part of the buildings main security system, a team of professionals would not have left it operational, not if they could help it.

Vess took cover near the door, her weapon pointed out into the main room, with the exception of the holo table, there was very little cover to be had. Which was both good and bad.

The enemy would find no cover when they breached the room, but at the same time, Jas and Vess had little to block their advance, they would…

The door opened; the security door didn't engage. Two men darted into the room.

Vess…opened fire.

The room exploded with shrieking sound and blinding light!

Blaster bolts bounced back and forth.

Momentarily dazzled, Vess ducked back, but before the men could take advantage Jas drew his lightsaber. He parried several shots and forced the attackers to dive for cover.

Before he had a chance to engage, another flash of light and burst of high-pitched sound. Sonic grenades and flashbangs, all weapons good for giving a Jedi trouble.

The attackers had done their homework.

Someone had known he was here, and prepared.

Another man dove through the open door, while repeating blasterfire covered him. There had been too many blasts to parry, forcing Jas to fall back.

He growled.

As he suspected.

Professionals…all of them.

Yet, he was not defenseless.

He used the Force to activate the holo-table, momentarily distracting the three that had made it into the room, one paused to fire on the hologram of Vess' uncle.

It was just what the Jedi had needed.

He threw his lightsaber, the weapon arced end over end.

One of the enemy dove out of the way, the blade missing him by millimeters, but then, he had not been the target.

The weapon cut deep into the panel of the door, shorting out systems.

The heavy blast door finally fell, cutting off the men inside from the rest of their team.

It would not hold for long, not against a dedicated team of professionals, but it didn't need too.

It gave Jas and Vess time to recover.

It gave them time to attack. Jas tumbled into the room evading shots from the man on his left, while at the same time recovering his saber. The weapon flew through the air, and found his outstretched hand, and its blade found the first of the enemy.

He slashed upward, taking the man from left thigh to right shoulder, cutting him down. One of them tried to shoot him from behind only to be hit several times by Vess' covering fire. The heavily armored attacker didn't die, but he was knocked down. He fired his repeating blaster again, not really aiming, but not needing too.

The shots forced Vess to pull back, and the randomness of the fire stopped Jas' advance.

His remaining partner threw another grenade, which Jas redirected through the Force. It exploded behind the man, its flash blinding Jas again, but through the Force he was still able to meet the man's attack, heavy fire that drove the Jedi back, forcing him to take cover with Vess in the bedroom.

Tears ran down Jas' cheeks, as spots danced before his eyes. He prepared for a second attack only to hear the sizzle and pop of small explosives, that and the sound of the security door falling into the room.

Not good, Jas realized as two more men breached the apartment.

Not good.

They were in trouble.

Vess slammed the door, but not before rolling two grenades into the main room. The apartment shook as the blast triggered, but that only bought the two a few minutes.

Jas used the Force to slide a dresser before the door, while braced it with two chairs. They flipped over the bed, adding it to the barricade, but, as before, knew it wouldn't hold for long.

The doors here at República were thick, but multiple heavy blasters would chew through the heavy wood quickly.

Jas glanced around, with the exception of the small fresher in the corner, the room was empty, the window was an option, but the sheer face of the building offered no chance of climbing, not without gear, and the street was many, many floors below.

Jas looked at Vess, the time they had enjoyed in her only a few moments ago seemed very far away.

Yet, despite what they had to face, the girl smiled, a hard vicious one.

"I think they deserve to lose at least a few friends before they get us, don't you?"

Jas gave her an equally cold smile.

He dropped into a guard position before Vess. He would block, she would shoot.

As she said, they would not be able to get all of the enemy, but…

Some would be better than none.

The wood of the door smoldered; Jas was surprised that they simply didn't try to blow it in. He briefly considered cutting through the Floor with his lightsaber, but the alloy was pretty thick, by the time he got through the men would be in the room.

No, better to make their stand here, they…

The sounds of blaster fire outside intensified, yet, the door didn't give in, in fact, the sound of the blasters changed, no longer targeting the door.

Then, Jas heard it, heard it…and sensed it.

Looks like we aren't done yet.

The hum was unmistakable, so much like the sound coming off his own weapon.

Vess heard it too.

The sound of lightsabers, and the panicked cries of mercenaries.

Vess pulled the chairs away, while Jas gestured pushing the heavier objects back. He used the Force to fling the door open, while covering Vess with his blade.

No blasts came through, and in the smoke of battle, eh could see the familiar glow of two Jedi blades. Blue and green fire cutting through the haze and darkness.

One of the mercenaries, this one dressed in the garb of a República security soldier was caught off guard by Jas' sudden appearance, he raised his blaster only to be cut down in a flash of violet fire.

Another, clad in heavy armor, was blasted by Vess' rife, he stumbled and tried to run, only to be lifted up by the Force and slammed head first into ceiling. The man fell to the ground, his head wobbling at a strange angle.

It was with that act, that the battle was over. Blaster fire ceased leaving only the sound of lightsabers and the slight shifting of rubble.

As the smoke cleared Jas got a look at their savior.

He was doubly surprised to say the least.

"Master Sei'lya," he said with a slight nod.

"Welcome to 500 República."

The Bothan Jedi with the cream-colored fur gave him a wide toothy grin.

"Not exactly how I expected a meeting with Vessaria Istillo to go, Acolyte," she answered. Her gaze taking in the destruction that had been wrought.

"Nasty business, this," she said with a nod, and turned to Jas and Vess, both of whom were now lowering their weapons.

"Are you both, okay?"

Jas nodded, as did Vess as she took in the destruction around them, eight dead men littered the ruined apartment, four in heavy armor, the others in the uniform of Republica security.

Vess shivered.

"Is this all of them," she asked, "Is it over."

Trace Sei'lya nodded.

"V'Lek is dealing with the rear guard," the Jedi councilor assured them, "He, the Valenthyne woman, and the hunter Mirax Fallenstar are with him. We should hear from them soon."

Jas blinked.

Miri?

She was here?

The Bothan's smile widened. Perhaps sensing his surprise.

"Her presence shocked us too. It caused a bit of a stir in the lobby."

It was at that moment that Jas realized who the second Jedi was, he had been too focused on the battle and hadn't realized until that moment.

He managed a polite smile.

"Hello, brother. I…I suppose that thanks are in order.

Sy Dar Bynn stepped through the wreckage, his green blade vanishing back into its hilt.

The look on his face said all Jas needed to know.

Jas' twin nodded and bowed slightly.

"Hello, Jas," he said.

"WE need to talk."