"Are you the Jedi?" The graying older man asked.

"Yes," Jaden said, not correcting the man's assumption of her rank in favor of the urgency of her mission. "Tell me everything you know about the Disciples of Ragnos. Please make it quick, though, I ran into some trouble back there and it might be following me." She glanced over her shoulder to ensure that no one was following her.

"We should go inside, it'll be safer," the merchant said, gesturing to the door of the nearby structure, one of the many ancient sandstone ruins that littered the planet, a testament to grander days and now just shelters for those who claimed them. Jaden eagerly followed, ready to not be out in the open. Suddenly, the familiar blast of a disruptor rifle flashed out of seemingly nowhere, going right through the merchant's chest. Startled, Jaden quickly caught him before he hit the ground, she could sense the life draining from him and realized he had only seconds to live, seconds he tried to make worthwhile.

"Cult… Must… be st-" He sighed, his eyes closed. Hating to leave him there but needing to survive herself, Jaden rested him on the ground. She jumped up to run inside, glancing back briefly at her beat up swoop bike she'd rented just an hour before. So many credits the Academy had lent her, gone.

"Sithspit!" She cursed as soon as she was inside. "I have to get out of here!" She guessed that that sniper blast came from somewhere far back from where she'd come, so that meant that those mercs were still on her tail, but a long way off and had resorted to dirtier tactics. She found a back door to the house and to her good fortune, there were two swoop bikes parked out back, one green and one purple. She disliked stealing, but seeing as how their owner had just been murdered, they would have to help her make her escape. She checked the fuel levels on both, they were full. She chose the purple one as it was somewhat close to the one she'd ridden before and cut the fuel line on the green one, she could never be too careful with these mercs.

Maybe I can haggle with this one and trade it in. If it stays in one piece.

"The Force is with me and I am one with the Force," she whispered to herself as she revved the bike's engine and off she went.

"Kalil, abort mission! Get me outta here!" She shouted into her coms as she raced away from the dwelling.

"Copy that, Jaden, what happened?"

"Mercs on my tail, too close, they sniped my contact before I got any info!" She weaved her way through narrow passages through the canyoned countryside, behind hills and down valleys, through more canyons and deep gorges. Kalil had been sent with Jaden as back up to guide her remotely through the absolute labyrinth that was the wild countryside of Zonju V. Their mission had been simple. Meet with a spaceport worker on the planet that had information pertaining to the cult's connection with the Imperial Remnant. She was to meet him at the abandoned outpost three clicks outside of Zoronhed. Their plan had failed.

Kalil Streen sat inside a cafe in the capital city of Zoronhed, tucked into a hidden corner as she stared intently at her datapad, locating Jaden and finding the best path to lead her back safe and sound.

"Okay Jaden," she spoke into her headset as she took the last sip of her warm caf, looking longing at the dredges. It was the best caf she'd ever tasted, she'd have to thank Jaden later for getting her hooked on the stuff. "There's a big jump coming up, I'm not sure how big exactly, but you're gonna need to use the turbo boost on your swoop bike, and maybe a little Force to help it along, I'm not sure."

"Okay, thanks for the heads up."

"No problem, I'll have a to-go cup of some delicious caf waiting for you when you get here."

"That would be fantastic!"

"Of course, and may the Force be with you!"

Jaden revved her engine, she was newly motivated to get back in record time and kept her pace.

"Okay Jaden you're still several clicks from that chasm but you're doing good!"

Jaden was so close, then she heard the sound of blaster fire, but not quite, it sounded like they were firing with the guns attached to their swoop bikes, and gaining. She risked a glance back, two, no, three bikes were coming and coming fast and were already firing at her. Steering with one hand, she pulled out her saber and waited. Slowing down a bit, the first mercenary over shot his swoop's speed and raced right past her -then realized that the front of his bike was missing. He spun out of control and crashed into the nearby wall of the gorge they were in.

The others saw and adjusted their direction in time. Jaden revved the engine and raced off, knowing she had to beat them to that chasm jump. But they persisted with firing upon her. She could only go so fast while driving one handed and deflecting with her lightsaber.

"Jaden you're just one click away, you're gonna need all the speed you can get!"

Jaden chanced it, she secured her lightsaber to her belt and dodged as much as she could, picking up speed, channeling as much Force as she could muster, then…

She was airborne, flying so many feet in the air she couldn't see the bottom of the chasm, she looked straight ahead at her goal instead and landed, a little hard but without damage to her bike and silently rejoiced when she heard the last two mercs screaming as they undershot the jump and fell to their deaths in the seemingly bottomless chasm.

Jaden pulled her swoop bike to a sudden stop in front of the outpost just outside Zoronhed where she'd rented her bike. The proprietor was not happy about her losing and damaging his other bike, but softened a bit when she told him about the dead spaceport worker and his other swoop bike that was in near perfect condition except for a mysteriously cut fuel line. She checked in with the city authorities about what had happened as well and they promised to go collect the poor dead man's body and give it a proper burial.

Exhausted and ready to be back home, she almost dragged herself into the cafe Kalil had stationed herself in. No words were exchanged, just weak smiles and Kalil handing Jaden a hot cup of caf, which she took with her to her X-wing that she'd nicknamed the Far Wanderer. At this point Luke had designated it for her use alone since she was now an apprentice and getting to do so much outside of the Academy's walls.

Rest was something scarce for Jaden and many of the Academy's students. It had been two months since Rosh's disappearance and the most recent news came from a video message Kyle had sent to Jaden's datapad:

"Hey, Jaden. I'm not sure if Luke's discovered anything about the cult being on Dagobah yet, but I found out that Rosh has been captured. I tried to find out where they've taken him, but those blasted Sith Cultists are covering their tracks pretty well."

Kyle, and sometimes Jan, had searched high and low for him after this latest update. But so far no luck except the promise from distant contacts to "be on the lookout" or "keep their eyes open" for any information. Even rumors at this point were welcomed. It was starting to look bleak. But Kyle and Jaden, as well as Luke and some close friends, never gave up hope that he was still alive. It was a fact that Luke assured the master and apprentice many times, particularly on this last occasion.

"I still sense that he is alive, but he is very afraid," Luke had said, and Jaden had no choice but to hold onto that bit of hope.

Jaden had taken to going on several missions and training a lot with Tionne and her apprentices, even sometimes joining her other friends and their masters since Kyle was away so much. She almost began to feel like she didn't have a master anymore. Not that he didn't care, but his time was almost fully dedicated to finding Rosh and that, she'd convinced herself, was the most important thing right now, not her training and helping her find the balance between failure and success. She'd come to peace about the matter, or so she told herself.

Everywhere she looked it seemed, she saw things that stirred up memories of Rosh, and, instead of letting it bring pain and the feeling of guilt and grief, she decided to look at it positively, as a way for the Force to communicate to her that her friend was still alive and alright. More than that. That he was safe and sound. She clutched her necklace often, reminding herself that Rosh was still out there somewhere. She liked the slight weight of it in her hand as she rubbed the smooth metal. It soothed her and brought her a small sense of peace by wearing it. When she could, she'd climb up to the roof of the Academy, the very top of the ziggurat above the Audience chamber and look out at the stars, wondering where among them her dear friend was or even which one them her master was at, searching for him.

Thinking of Kyle also made her think of Jan, who she'd gotten to meet again a few more times and interact with, but never alone. Kyle probably knew that she'd try and ask some questions about him, and them, from her. It made her smile. She couldn't prove it, she just had expressions and body language to go off of, but she was over ninety percent sure Kyle and Jan were a couple. She hadn't really thought of it before, Jedi being in love. She knew that in the old days, when the Old Republic still stood as did the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, that attachments of any kind were forbidden, including romantic ones. But now… Luke didn't expressly forbid attachments, such as masters and their students having a fondness for each other and growing attached, but he also made it clear that their attachment should not blind them to the greater good of their missions or compromise it. He was rebuilding the Jedi order, yes, but he was determined to rebuild it for a new generation.

She wondered about her fellow students and if any of them liked each other. She still wasn't certain that Jacyyn liked her or not, but then again, she'd made sure not to encourage him. It did seem as though he'd been spending a lot of time with Arta-Mess lately, but that didn't really mean anything. Jas was the same as ever and dedicated to his training, he seemed content with bachelorhood, except when she'd seen him around Tionne. He didn't act any different, but seemed eager to help her, and she seemed just as eager for his assistance and his company. She wasn't sure about her other friends. She laughingly thought of Rosh and who he'd like.

Probably Arta-Mess as well, she seems to have all the boys taken in a bit. The thought made her laugh a little, but also feel a bit jealous.

No, she thought, Rosh and I wouldn't work, we share the same master and he's been pretty competitive with me since the beginning.

She thought of one time when she was in school, how the little boys teased the girls and sometimes, the girls, if they were brave enough, either teased back or challenged the boys to a race of some kind. They didn't win often because boys that age ran like the wind, but it'd occurred to her much later that boys that teased and accepted the girls' challenges, did so because they, in one way or another, liked them.

Could that be what Rosh was doing? Does he… like me like that? He certainly seemed stuck in that age because of various things he'd gone through in life, looking for attention, affection and affirmation. He needed maturing that was for certain but she couldn't help wondering, Do I like him too?

"Making another run!" Yelled the voice of General Wedge Antilles through their coms. Jaden and Goran raced side by side as they bolted to the lift, taking it down and rushing as far away as they could get from the command center. They panted, hands rested on their knees as they watched Wedge take out the small building they'd just planted the homing beacons for his targeting computer to follow. The top of the building exploded, raining debris in the middle of the mining platform that floated high amidgest the orange skies of Kril'Dor. The New Republic had recently gathered intelligence of the existence of this Imperial tibanna gas platform just days before. And General Wedge Antilles of Rogue Squadron was the one to approach his old friend Luke about his bold plan to capture the entire facility.

"If the Republic could take control of the platform, it would deal a severe blow to the Imperial Remnant, I just know it!" He'd told Skywalker. "And I believe that having one or two Jedi as the ground troops will be the key to success in this mission. They'll plant the homing beacons, and I can take out the defensive structures on the platform without completely destroying it."

Jaden was immediately recommended and Goran was chosen to accompany them seeing how it was a light mission and, after going on a few missions with his master, was confirmed ready to go on a more daring mission with a high ranking apprentice. And things had gone very smoothly with Goran following Jaden's lead. She'd come to enjoy his quiet, but intelligent input and value to the mission. She looked at him now, he'd come a long way from the shy, sad boy who'd ridden on the shuttle with her. He looked positively warrior-like, wearing his parents Akul tooth headdress.

Overhead, Wedge's X-wing soared past them, then Jaden's com came alive again.

"Jaden, a number of troops are making their way to the storage tanks to sabotage them. Stop them or this mission will be for nothing!"

"Roger that, General," Jaden said and turned to Goran, "Let's divide and conquer, you take that storage tank on the left, I'll get the right and we'll meet at the last one, okay? Can you do that?" She didn't want to push the young Togruta out of his element, but knew that the situation was severely urgent and that he needed to step up in order for it to not end in disaster. To her relief, Goran nodded and raced off to disarm the bomb. Jaden went her way, not bothering with fighting the stormtroopers closely with her saber, instead, she'd taken to merely pushing them off the platform to save time as they tried fruitlessly to shoot at her.

She met Goran at the third charge and got to work.

"Wedge I got it!" She called into her comlink, cutting the last of the wires.

"That did it! Get back to your ship Jaden, we're outta here! The New Republic forces are about to arrive and take over!"

"Roger, I'll see you at the debriefing later." She and Goran made their way back to the small platform outside the hangar where they'd landed. Goran stopped and Jaden followed suit after seeing what. A small line of stormtroopers, the platform's last defense, stood in their path. At their head stood a cultist, clad in the similar garb she'd come to recognize on them.

"Goren, take the troopers," she said calmly. "I've got the scary one." She glanced at him sidelong and winked, he returned it with a weak smile but nodded. He had this.

Lightsabers were ignited and blasters were drawn. The cultist already seemed to know that Jaden was the one in charge and didn't even bother with Goran. Their sabers met in flashes of red and purple.

"Surrender, New Republic forces are coming and there's no place for you to run!" Jaden urged him.

"Then I'll take you down with me before then!" He hissed. Goran had finished off the stormtroopers and seemed to be on the fence about whether or not he should join the fight. He'd never fought a Sith before, only his master and fellow students in training. The cultist noticed this hesitation and saw his opening. He turned and elbowed Jaden before she could bring her saber up and she staggered backwards. She righted herself, bringing up her saber for an attack that never came. Instead, she saw him glance back with a wicked smile and head straight towards Goran.

"Gor, remember your training!" She yelled, which seemed pointless, but it brought Goran to the present. He put up his saber, catching the cultist's first strike, then another which came at his feet. Jaden rushed in as fast as she could. Now the cultist was against two Jedi, albeit one being far more advanced in saber dueling than the other, which the cultist put to his advantage, always making Jaden come to Goran's defense. Something that would fail if they kept this up.

"Goran, run!" Jaden shouted, aiming a slash at her opponent's side while he was distracted, but he easily blocked it. The action gave Goran time to run away. The cultist's hand flew out to trip up the young Jedi and he fell to the floor, then he caught Jaden's blade in time and caught her off guard by pushing her back too. She landed on her rear and lost her grip on her lightsaber, the cultist neared.

"Once I kill you, who's going to protect your scared little friend?" He taunted. Jaden glanced sadly in the direction of her saber, knowing she'd be dead before it reached her hand. She stared into the Sith's eyes, the only thing showing from behind the set of wrappings and cloth mask around his head, and smiled, so suddenly that the cultist was confused. Then, the sound of another lightsaber igniting sounded directly behind him and the bright green of Goran's blade pierced through his chest.

"Oh," Jaden said, still keeping eye contact. "I wouldn't call my friend scared or little." The cultist slid off the verdant blade and into a heap on the ground, dead. She looked up at Goran, a proud grin spreading from corner to corner. "Great job Goran, you just won your first fight against a Sith adversary."

Goran nodded, looking completely exhausted. "Can we go home now?" He asked wearily. Jaden stood up and put her arm around the young Togruta.

"Yes, Goran. Yes we can."

Some days later Jaden sat alone at a table in the dining hall. Her friends had said they were busy with training or studying and so would be late, but from the looks of the commotion at the entrance doors, they'd clearly been fibbing. All together, they proceeded towards her and the table, Arta-Mess at the head, carrying a large frosted confection that was surely the work of Ched, the kitchen master. They all sang as one and ended as Arta-Mess rested the cake down on the table in front of Jaden.

"Happy twentieth birthday Jaden!" They all chimed in unison. Jaden blushed, feeling all of their attention, as well as the attention of the other few students in the hall, but smiled nonetheless. She'd never had a birthday celebrated by more than two other people before, it'd only ever been her, Uncle Orn and Aunt Thisa. This felt nice, and made her feel warmer inside.

The cake was delicious and everyone in the small party got a piece, including seconds. Masters Corran and Tionne even dropped in to wish her well and steal a sliver of the sugary goodness. Jas and Jacyyn handed her something wrapped in a coarse cloth.

"A new holster for my blaster!" Jaden exclaimed when she unwrapped it. It was almost too much, the dark handtooled leather was freshly cleaned and oiled, with unique designs carved along its edges, highlighting the craftsmanship. It must have been expensive. "You shouldn't have, this looks…" She trailed off, not wanting to sound ungrateful.

"Well…"Jacyyn started.

"...We all pitched in to make it," Jas said, gesturing to the entire group. "Jacyyn and I got the leather and prepared it, Arta-Mess and Kalil helped with carving the designs, Ral worked on sewing it together…"

"And I helped cut out the pieces!" Goran piped up.

Jas smiled. "Yes, Goran helped with that. But…" He quieted a moment and they all looked somber.

"But?"Jaden encouraged him.

"But it was actually Rosh who commissioned it. He came to me a few days before, well, you know, and asked me if I knew how to work with leather. He wanted to make it himself because he knew your birthday was a few months away, but he wanted to be sure he'd have enough time to make it and he'd drawn out some ideas…" Jas looked at his fellow students and smiled sadly. "We were gonna get started after we both got back from our missions but…" He trailed off again, the absence of one member of their group filling the silence. "Anyway," he continued. "I still had his sketches and decided to make his idea come true, so I got some help. And here, I thought you might like to have his original drawings." Jas handed her a piece of worn, crinkled paper, folded up four ways. She took it as if it was the most precious gift of all.

"And," Jas added, pointing to the holster's belt. "We all added our names in Aurebesh along the inside of the belt strap."

Jaden took up the holster and looked closely. Sure enough, all of her friend's names were embossed there in a long line, including Rosh's. She had to fight hard to not cry. Shedding her Academy issued holster, she buckled the newer, better one onto her hip.

"That looks incredible!" Arta-Mess squealed. "Maybe we should all have one to match, so that we'll be set apart?"

Jacyyn laughed and ran his hand through his hair. "I think we're already set apart from the other students, but that's not a bad idea, it would just take some time to make them."

Jaden agreed, the idea sounded like fun and she offered to join in and help. They could work on them in their free time.

"Looks like I'm late to the party." Everyone but the two lingering masters jumped, bringing forth snickers from Tionne and Corran. The gathered students parted so that Kyle could come through.

"Sorry I'm late, but I couldn't make up my mind what to get you so I let Jan help me pick out your gift." He spotted his apprentice's new holster and smiled. "Well I'll be, the Force moves in mysterious ways." He handed her a glossy, brand new blaster, military issue and slightly better than the ones given out by the Academy. Jaden's grin grew as she expertly twirled her new blaster, a maneuver that rivaled Jacyyn's, and holstered it.

Kyle grabbed the last slice of cake and addressed everyone. "I'm really sorry to put a damper on the party, but I need to talk to Jaden now, master to apprentice." Everyone reluctantly agreed and filed out, getting in one last "Happy Birthday" to Jaden before the dining hall became quiet. Kyle settled down in a chair across from Jaden.

"Luke learned that some of the Disciples of Ragnos were on Dagobah. They siphoned the dark Force energy from a cave there," he said in between bites of cake. Jaden simply nodded. It was important info, she knew, but to her, it didn't feel as important, not after receiving such a beautiful gift that'd been commissioned by her missing friend. "I've also got a lead on a new mission." That got her attention.

"On Rosh?"

Kyle shook his head, "No, not yet. A crime lord named Lannik Racto has been supplying illegal assassin droids to the Imperial Remnant as well as to the cult. A real sleaze bag but you should be able to handle this no problem. Small-time thugs like Racto are usually very intimidated by the sight of a lightsaber. I've gotten word of where he keeps his private office and you've been tasked with bringing him in."

Jaden tried to manage her feelings of disappointment. "Okay," she breathed out a sigh. "Where's he located?"

She could see the weariness taking its toll on her master, in his face and the new patches of gray in his hair and felt sympathy rather than frustration at his seeming lack of concern or news of Rosh.

"I know you're disappointed," he spoke somewhat dryly, but not unkind, just tired. "I want Rosh back too, he's my student and I'm supposed to take care of him. But the closer we come to finding out who's behind all this, the closer we are to taking it down for good, and, hopefully, we'll find Rosh in the process."

"I know, and I understand," Jaden replied, then summoned all of her energy again, touching her new blaster and holster tenderly, drawing joy and comfort from them. "So, where am I going this time?"

"Coruscant," was the reply. Jaden's eyes widened, she hadn't thought of when she'd return, if ever, back to the planet of her birth. "It looks like you're getting to go back home for a visit."