As the Nova Star moved through hyperspace, Aleah was still thinking about that kiss she had with Siv just over an hour ago. It was amazing, yet, so… magical. The beautiful Nelvaanian couldn't understand why the Jedi would forbid such feelings. True unchecked emotions were dangerous, but should love be ignored? No! To Aleah, it was she had been looking for. The young padawan however knew that she had plenty of time to tell Siv her feelings, but for now, she sat in a meditation position, Dray sat in front of her and floating in the air between them, their lightsabers disassembled. The Jedi Bothan smiled as he felt the force around him.
"Now," he calmly said to Aleah. "Use the force to assemble your lightsaber. As the saber becomes one, so do you with the force."
Aleah focused and listened to the faint clicks and snaps of her lightsaber coming together.
Dray went on with his teaching. "Feel the force as it binds your saber. You can feel it flowing through you."
"It controls our actions," Aleah stated.
The Bothan nodded. "In a way, but it also obeys your command."
When Aleah was sure that she had assembled her lightsaber, the Nelvaanian opened her eyes to and took hold of her lightsaber. She flicked the switch on the hilt and it ignited in lovely green. Dray nodded at the sight of her accomplishment. Then he ignited his lightsaber which was blue.
"Now, for saber training," he said and took a defensive stance.
"Hey guys! Aleah and Dray about to duel!" Danny shouted. The other Star crew members all stopped what they were doing and took a seat on whatever they could to watch this duel take place.
The Nelvaanian swung her saber around and readied herself for battle. Dray swung his saber only once and knocked hers out of her hand. She stared at him in disbelief.
"Attack slow," Dray said scolding her for instant failure. Aleah picked up lightsaber and did a light thrust.
"Good. Again," Dray commanded.
Thrust. Block. Thrust. Block. After a few minutes of the same move, Dray switched it up. "First triangle," he said and slowly moved his blade around Aleah, she blocked them.
It was almost like the two Jedis were performing a dance routine. Their movement was in synchronization with other; like a well oiled clock.
Soon, the Nelvaanian and Bothan were moving at full speed. The sound of their sabers colliding brought the rest of the crew into the cargo bay where the two had been training. Everyone stared in awe at the sight of Aleah and Dray sparing with their sabers, but in the end, Dray proved the better dueler and won the match.
Cheers erupted from their fellow crew. Feline took a look at the data she had collected during the sparing match. She turned to Kenna. "Look," she said showing the lovelyShistavanen her data pad. "Aleah had only 25% chance of winning, but Dray had 72% chance of winning."
"Great, what about the other 3%?" Kenna asked.
Feline looked over at at Cutey. "Well, I was sure our little trouble maker would have joined in and done something to cause them both to fail."
Cutey beeped loudly, the little droid was clearly not happy. "BEEP. BEEP. BOOP. BEEP."
Lyra covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "Such a rude little droid you are," she said.
Not long after thateveryone was at their posts, ready to come out of lightspeed. Dozens of humming, buzzing instruments lent the ship's cockpit the air of busy hive. Jens and Fang had their attention locked on the most vital of those instruments.
"Steady… stand by, Fang." Jens adjusted several manual release switches. "Ready to come out of lightspeed… ready… cut us in, Fang."
The male Shistavanen turned something on the console before him. At the same time Jens pulled back on a comparatively large lever. The Nova Star came out of lightspeed and a gauge on the console registered zero.
Four big Imperial cruisers floated just above Mustafar's atmosphere. Thankfully, the cruisers not on alert or ready for battle.
Vader stood on the bridge of the Venator, staring at the motley array of stars displayed on the holographic touch table while Captain Needa and the Grand Inquisitor conferred nearby. A quiet yet demanding beep caught the captain's attention.
"Yes?" he inquired calmly.
A voice reported over anunseen speaker. "We've spotted an unknown ship coming out of hyperspace in sector five."
Even thou Vader's face was hidden by his mask, he was frowning. "Order our men and the second brother to halt construction on my fortress and wait for my arrival." he said, then pointed a cautionary finger at the Grand Inquisitor. "I have a feeling that this ship is the Nova Star."
Pau'an looked confused. "Are you certain my lord?" he asked the dark lord. Vader wheeled around and held out his hand.
"Don't question me!" he growled. "Just do as I command."
The Grand Inquisitor bowed to his dark leader. "It will be done Lord Vader. We will not fail you."
Vader was not easily convinced by the confidence Pau'an showed, but the Grand Inquisitor had never failed a mission yet. Turning away from the Grand Inquisitor, Vader watched as the Nova Star flew toward Mustafar. He could feel the force telling him that the Bothan who had beaten him on Naboo was no doubt here for reason, but whatever the reason, it did not matter. All he had to do was wait and Dray would soon be begging for his life, but several minutes later after receiving no reports of anyone exiting the Nova Star, Vader took his private shuttle and headed for the planet's surface.
Something wasn't right.
Vader walked up to the Nova Star that sat silently on the huge landing platform. Around him was Pau'an and Commander Fletcher who now was sporting some very nice robotic arms. The Sith enforcer turned to Fletcher.
"Send your men in," he ordered.
Turning, Fletcher relayed the command to a noncom, who barked orders. A number of heavily armored clones made their way inside the Nova Star. They advanced with appreciable caution.
Fletcher soon went inside to look around as well, but he came out and reported to Vader. "There's no one aboard; the ship is completely deserted, Lord Vader. According to the ship's log, Captain Jens and rest of the crew abandoned ship just after coming out of hyperspace, then set her on automatic landing procedures."
"Possibly a decoy, my lord," Pau'an ventured aloud. "We should search the location where they exited hyperspace."
"Possibly," Vader admitted reluctantly.
"All the escape pods have been jettisoned," Fletcher went on.
"Were there any of the holocrons on board?" Vader asked.
"No, Lord Vader—nothing. If there were any, the crew no doubt took them after abandoning ship."
Vader hesitated before replying. When he did so, uncertainty was evident in his voice. "This doesn't feel right. Leave four men here, contact any patrols in the area and tell them to be ready for anything." With that, he whirled and stalked from the landing pad, pursued by the infuriating feeling that he was overlooking something of vital importance.
Then Vader and Pau'an returned to their command ship, but left Fletcher to guard the Nova Star.
Fletcher pulled out his comlink. "DAX-0042, stay alert." he said, but there came no reply. So he tried again. "DAX-0042, do you copy?"
The speaker gave back only static.
Fletcher was about to try once more when he heard a voice call, "Hey out there, need some help in here."
Fletcher turned to the clone next to him, who shrugged. They both hurried inside the Nova Star to see the three other clones dead. The commander reached for his comlink, but something grabbed his metallic arm—and fumbled for his blaster in a state of shock.
It was Faolahd! "Nice to see you again, Fletcher!" the Wookie shouted before lifting the clone commander over his head and slamming him into the ceiling. Fletcher was knocked out and went limp.
The last clone was reaching for his blaster when a narrow energy beam passed completely through his chest, killing him. The female Zygerrian smiled at her companion.
"You know, shooting Fletcher seemed more like the logical choice," Feline said looking at the unconscious commander at her feet.
"I prefer a straight fight when your making calculations and blasting clones," the Wookie replied with a huff. "That's why Danny loves me."
Feline just shook her head and pulled out her comlink. "Jens, Nova Star secured." she said, Jens' voice crackled over her comlink.
"Good, prep the ship for our departure because once we have the holocron, we'll steal the iron ore that is going to be shipped off to Corellia."
Feline smiled. "But what are Faolahd and I to do if more clones show up?" the female Zygerrian asked.
"Lock the ship down," Siv said over the comlink.
"And hope they don't have blasters designed to get through armor," Jens added.
Feline's tone indicated she didn't find their answers humorous. "That isn't very reassuring," she replied, then kicked Faolahd in the butt when he laughed.
As Jens and his fellow crew moved climbed up one of the steepest mountains, they couldn't help but wonder who would build a temple on this forsaken world. As they neared the top of the mountain, Aleah could fell the force calling to her, they were drawing closer to their prize. Turning to the Star crew, she said, "We're almost there."
"How can you be certain?" Danny asked pulling himself onto a ledge.
"The force," she replied.
After a brief rest rest to catch their breaths, the Star crew reached the top of the mountain after a little more climbing. And there, hidden from view was the entrance to the temple. Above the entrance was the mark of the Sith. Everyone felt a darkness wash over them as they approached the sealed doorway.
Jens didn't like this one bit, because being the captain had taught him to suspect the unexpected. The bearded man ordered that half of the group to go back and wait for them at the storage warehouse, while Aleah, Danny, Rusty and Siv get the holocron.
After held out her hand and used the force, the door opened and the four Star crew members hurried in. Theymoved cautiously through the temple, looking at the many statues and texts, Siv could only wonder what else they might Nelvaanian reached the main treasure room. She scanned the area and spotted the holocron. It was sitting out in the open. Danny saw it and smiled. It was now or never.
"We must hurry, there is nothing to fear here," he said and was about to step beyond the threshold when he was yanked back by Siv.
The armored warrior stared at his friend, his helmet visor hid his face. "That's what scares me," he said. Siv looked down at the floor of the temple. Danny looked as well. He only saw patches of black ash on the floor, but that was when the Mandalorainreached his arm out and pushed down on the black ash.
It happened before he could move his head to look up. A noise, the sound of something slamming through the air, something whistling with the speed of its movement, and a small dart drove itself into Siv's steel wristband. He took a step back, thankful that his armor did its job. Danny exhaled quietly, then pointed to the wall behind the bow.
"It came from there," he said. "You can see the hole it came from? The dart came from there."
"I also see hundreds of other holes," Rusty said. Then he looked at Aleah and said. "You go and get the holocron."
"HER?!" Siv shouted, shocked that Aleah was going to have to be the one to get the holocron. The Nelvaanian sighed. If she was going to be a Jedi knight someday, she had to face challenges head on. So, Aleah took a deep breath and slowly made her way toward the holocron. Siv, Danny and Rusty watched anxiously as she traversed the trap filled chamber. Finally, she reached the holocron.
Siv pulled out his comlink. "Captain! Aleah has reached the holocron."
"Good," came a voice that Siv didn't recognize.
"Who is this? Where's Jens?" He asked, demanding the new voice to answer, but all he got was a warning.
"If you do not hand over the holocron when you get out of the temple, your friends die!"
Hearing the threat, Danny turned to see Aleah pick up the holocron. "Aleah, they have our friends!" As she was turning to leave, a hologram of the Sith who built this temple appeared. His words were cold as he spoke.
"Well, you found my holocron, but you'll never leave with it or the relics of Mandalor the Heartless!" That was when the rumbling started. The walls shook as hot lava began shooting out of the holes in the walls around her. "Oh, No! Run for it!" Aleah shouted to her companions. All four of them ran faster then their legs could have carried them.
Aleah was just turning a corner when she suddenly tripped over a rock which caused her to drop the holocron. Seeing the holocron, Danny quickly spun, grabbed it and quickly spun around and ran after his friends. The Nelvaanian looked over at him.
"Are you sure you're not a Jedi in disguise?" she joked.
"Hell no, Aleah, but let's split up!" Danny said as he and Rusty turned left into another chamber.
Now only Aleah and Siv were together. As the two of them reached the entrance of the cave, the Nelvaanian threw herself forward toward the opening. She landed in hot bed of ash and laid there, glad that she had made it. Exhausted, out of breath, Aleah forced herself to stand.
"We made it, Siv," she panted, but heard no reply from Siv. Aleah looked around for Siv, but then realized that the Mandalorain must have been caught by the lava and burned to death. It couldn't be possible. She loved him and he was the first man in her life who ever returned any affection. Tears began to run down her cheeks as the pain of the loss of her beloved Siv began to consume her. Fearing that her friends might be killed, she made her way back down the mountain alone, and when she reached the bottom, the Nelvaanian breathed deeply. That was when a shadow fell across her.
Aleah turned and saw a black armored Inquisitor looking at her. This was not good. That was when black armored clones moved in and circled the young Jedi, holding her friends hostage, but they had most of their blaster aimed at Dray. The Inquisitor removed his helmet to reveal himself to be a Chiss. He smiled at Aleah and held out his hand to her.
"Well done Jedi, I see you have found another one of the holocrons. But sadly, I must take it from you," he told her with a smile. Aleah frowned.
"I don't have it. And even if I did, the only way you would get the holocron is if you took it from my cold dead hands." she said challenging the Inquisitor. With her lightsaber ignited, the Inquisitor ignited his.
"So, be it Jedi!" theSecond Brother shouted, and lunged forward.
Aleah saw this move before while training in the Jedi temple before order 66, it was a very sloppy move which left you wide open for attacks. So the blue-furred girl took a deep breath did an elegant spin, her lightsaber slid across the back of the Inquisitor. The smell of burning cloth and skin filled her nose as her foe let off a shriek of pain.
Still, the Inquisitor stood on his feet, but one could tell he was in great pain. Turning around to face the Nelvaanian. The Second Brother focused himself and lunged forward with his lightsaber, swinging it at her face. Still, the blue-furred girl blocked it and brought her lightsaber up in a well time slash.
The Second Brother stumbled back looked at his chest, there was a pretty bad looking wound there and now he was losing his cool. The Inquisitor looked over at his men. "Kill th-" he never finished as he felt a disturbance in the force. Turning around he saw Siv landed behind him. The Mandalorain looked at before hefired a cable from out of his armored sleeve.
The cable wrapped itself several times around the neck of the Second Brother. Siv smiled and with all his strength, yanked the Inquisitor towards him. "Take this!" he shouted pulling back his arm and punching the Inquisitor so hard that he knocked the Second Brother out.
Aleah then threw her lightsaber and guided it with the force, cutting down many of the clones. Jens and the others quickly dealt with the remaining clones. Once again, the crew of the Nova Star had cheated death, but how much longer would their luck hold out? None of them knew the answer.
What none of them knew was that Imperial probe droid had been watching the Star Crew and the Clone forces, which had been sending Darth Vader a pretty good picture of how well the Nova Star crew were when dealing with a threat. However, the dark lord had been focusing more on Aleah. Vader could tell by her form that she was using a Sith technique, but where she learned that was still a mystery.
The one thing that was very clear to him was how she had feelings for the Mandalorain. That was evident by seeing her embracing him after the fight was over. Maybe he could use this to his advantage in the future.
Feeling that it was time to go, Jens called Feline to come and pick them up. Soon, the Nova Star arrived, and everyone boarded it. Then they stopped by to collect the iron ore and went to go pick up Danny and Rusty, who by some lucky break had also found a load of treasure worth taking, but also the relics of Mandalore the Heartless. Soon, the ship's cargo bay was filled up and all they had to do was now escape the Empire once more.
As the Nova Star made its way into space, the four Imperial cruisers began to open fire. Jens and Fang were able to avoid most the turbo lasers, but a few bolts found their mark. Inside the small ship, Rusty and Siv worked hard to contain the flames. As Vader's cruiser moved in close to try and capture the Nova Star, Jens found his opening and shot his ship into hyperspace, escaping the Empire once more.
Onboard the Imperial cruiser, Vader once again felt the humiliation of defeat. Without saying a word, two clones who were standing close by were killed by his force choke ability. Their lifeless bodies were dragged away as Captain Needa walked up. Vader looked at him him, "What is it?" he asked imperiously. "Speak up!"
The captain's face turned pale with fear, his trembling voice shaking almost as much as much as his body. "The Emperor wishes to speak with you."
Vader seemed a bit taken back. "The Emperor?" he then pointed to a clone tech officer. "Patch him through."
Within seconds, a hologram of the Emperor appeared and Vader immediately bowed deeply in homage to his royal master. "What is thy bidding, my master?" the Sith Enforcer asked with all the solemnity of a priest attending his god.
The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "There is a former Jedi Master by the name of Dray Saron. He has taken a new apprentice."
"I know who the apprentice is," the Sith Enforcer replied solemnly. "It is the Nelvaanian, Aleah."
The Emperor emphasized the danger as he continued. "This girl must not find the holocrons or it will lead to our undoing."
The thought was impossible. How could the Emperor be concerned with this insignificant youth?
"She's not a Jedi," Vader reasoned. "Aleah's just a young woman. There is no way Daesha or Dray could have taught her so much that-"
The Emperor broke in. "The force is strong with her," he insisted. "She must be destroyed."
Vader reflected for a moment. Perhaps there was another way to deal with Aleah, a way that might benefit the Imperial cause. "If she could be turned to the Dark side, she would make an excellent Inquisitor." he suggested.
Silently the Emperor considered the possibility. After a moment, he spoke again. "Yes… yes. And what drives someone to the Dark side?" he asked his fellow Sith.
"Love and fear of loss," he answered.
The evil Emperor smiled as he felt those emotions fell Vader with past painful memories of his days with the Jedi. This would work to their advantage indeed. "Do what must be done to turn her, Lord Vader. Find her weakness and break her spirit," he said before the hologram faded away, leaving Darth Vader to formulate what would be, perhaps, his most subtle plan of attack.
And it would involve that Mandalorain.
Back on the Nova Star Aleah held out the holocron for everyone to see. It opened to reveal another map, but instead of riddle, it was a haiku. She began to read it out loud. "Sea of sand brings death. Forever to they wonder alone to live. Under two sons that rise."
"It's Tatooine," Fang smiled, then his sister spoke up.
"The Dune Sea." she added.
But Rusty walked up. "But the Dune Sea is massive. It might take us months to find any Sith temples there." he concerns were noted by the crew and they seemed ti agree with their droid, but Jens stepped forward.
"True, but look at all this wealth we got. I say we go to Tatooine. Lay low for few months until Vader and the Empire spread out before we try and look for this next holocron."
"Agreed," Siv said.
"Same," Danny and Faolahd said in unison.
"BEEP. BEEP. BOOP. BOP." Cuty agreed.
Feline stepped forward and looked at her charts. "The odds of the Empire finding us on Tatooine are approximately two thousand twenty-three to one." she stated.
"Never tell us the odds, Feline," Dray scoffed.
"So, are we all agreeing on going to Tatooine and holding out for a little bit?" the captain asked looking around, no one seemed to be protesting this time. "Good, now onto a more engaging matter at hand," he turned to Aleah. "Aleah, we want you to become a member of our crew. We see you like family and we want you to stay on board."
Aleah was shocked. She looked around at all the smiling faces. "You want me to join this crew?" she asked, still shocked to be asked at such a time. The blue furred girl thought back to her days with the Jedi. They were her family after own people declared her an outcast for being born with the force, but then they were all wiped out. Now, here she was on a ship with a bunch of misfits who saw each other as a family.
She now knew what she wanted. "I'm in," she said.
As the Star crew welcomed her in now as one of them, Siv went to check on some of the treasure. As he was shifting through some of the wealth, his eyes locked onto something. It was Beskar. Siv quickly shoved some of the loot aside to see a black hemet with a red t-shape visor. Picking it up, Siv suddenly felt something… Something dark and he loved it.
Before he could try the helmet on, he heard Aleah calling for him. Siv frowned but put the helmet back where he found it.