Star Wars Genesis: Beginning’s End

Chapter I

One year after the alliance between the New Republic and the Empire

“Admiral Tarckok?”

“Ah, Commander Harsa!” the lone human said, turning to gaze down at his subordinate. He ran his pale hand through slicked back blond hair and leaned against the guardrail on the observation deck to better see his first officer. He smiled thinly and asked, “So how goes the construction on the Lispa 9-13’s and their new pilots?”

The Chiss soldier glanced at the data pad in his hand and read off the numbers. “All two hundred eight pilots have responded to the steroids with a two percent increase in brain mass, along with improvements in dexterity, aim, and stamina. Only twenty three have developed uncontrollable mental illness as a result.” Commander Harsa paused, knowing what he had to say next would not be received well. “We have only been able to construct 215 9-13’s because we have not received the next shipment of parts. A message from one of Elder Quarrcta di Donna’s aids states that the parts were needed for his ship so we are to find a new source.”

“What!” Tarckok snarled. Harsa cringed slightly, wondering who the Admiral would punish for this new inconvenience brought about by the leader of the Chiss sect, the Cragon. Time and again he had hindered their efforts for his own purposes and had gotten angry when they fell behind schedule. “Where are we supposed to get those parts?” Tarckok stomped down the ramp from observation deck and paced in front of Harsa. He was the only human in the Cragon army, and yet he had managed to acquire the respect and fear of all those who served aboard his battle cruiser Threnody. “The only other way to get them is to go into New Republic or Imperial space. Or if we want to be suicidal we can go to the Ssi-ruuk. Blast Quarrcta into the void! The final 9-13’s wont be built until I receive full compensations for the insanity that Elder is sure to inflict.”

“Then might I suggest we take the remaining thirty pilots and place them at the gunner stations. Their increased aim will be a great asset there,” Harsa indicated.

Tarckok nodded, his thin lip still curled in disgust. “Fine, do that. And since we don’t have to complete the ship order, we can still make our move on Asendra in six weeks. Do we have conformation that Skywalker will be there?”

“No,” Harsa said, tucking the data pad under his arm. “But he hasn’t missed a Conference of the Worlds yet, and this being the first with Imperials in attendance—besides assassins that is—he will be sure to be there.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want our Jedi to miss all the work we’ve been doing just for him,” Tarckok purred.

Harsa smiled, feeling the first stirrings of anticipation for the revenge that he and his people would soon be receiving. Then a rumor he had heard about Skywalker’s woman having entered into a delicate condition flickered into his thoughts. “Will we be . . . showing any of the other the Jedi our hard work?” he asked somewhat concernedly.

“There’s no plan for it. But if there are other Jedi feel free to test our new weapon on them. That way if we accidentally kill Skywalker we have others to amuse the public with,” Tarckok told him.

S e a r c h f o r S k y w a l k e r

Chapter II

Two standard weeks later

Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master and teacher of the ways of the Force, slammed the flat of his hand down on the button on his alarm clock as he nuzzled his face against his fellow Master—among other thing's—neck.

"Why do we keep that thing?" Mara Jade-Skywalker murmured, letting her hands drift down to his waist. "We always wake up before it goes off anyway."

Luke grinned even though there was no way she could see his face. "Because sooner or later we’re going to wear ourselves out and we won't wake up in time."

"That's true," Mara agreed, nipping his shoulder. She waited until he had moved himself onto his knees before she wrapped her leg around his thighs and neatly rolled him over onto his back and pinned him to the bed.

"So tell me something, Luke," Mara said, tossing the blanket off of her back and shaking her head to cast her red-gold hair out of her face, "how are you on the subject of children?"

Luke blinked blankly at her for a moment, caught completely off guard by the question. "Uh . . . I don't know. I wasn't even aware that we were trying for one. Though it would explain a lot," Luke paused and gave his wife a suspicious look. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Mara said, not meeting his eyes and affecting a totally innocent air about her, which just told Luke that she was about to drop a bombshell. "It's just that you're, um—you're getting one." Luke continued to gaze blankly at her for a moment before the implications of what she had just said finally sank in.

"You mean . . . you mean you're . . ." Luke began incredulously, sitting up and letting his hand brush lightly against her stomach. Mara nodded, waiting to see what would happen, surprised at her nervousness. But she realized that she had no reason to worry as Luke's surprised expression was quickly wiped off of his face by a grin that slowly began to form on his lips. " . . . pregnant?"

Mara bit her lip and nodded. Luke cried out as the joy that built up inside him drove him to releasing it in the quickest possible way. He kissed Mara passionately then, hugging her to him with one arm, and placing his free hand on her abdomen, unsure how to thank her for giving him a gift he had not expected to receive so soon in their marriage. Mara smiled when she felt the Force stir within her as Luke used it to touch the child growing within her center.

Luke released her and shook his head in wonder, feeling as though he had just gone into shock, suspecting that he had. "I can't believe that I never noticed before," he said in wonder. "You'd think a Jedi Master would be a little more observant."

"Well, usually your attention is diverted when you’re down there," Mara commented playfully. Luke grinned with her and twisted her around beneath him again.

And about thirty seconds later there was a knock on the door.

"Blast it!" Luke growled. "Why do they always knock at the worst possible time?" Luke sat up and glared at the door to their bedroom for a moment as if it was to blame before he decided to ignore the intrusion. But the person persisted and Mara finally got fed up and slipped out from beneath him to answer it, throwing one of Luke's long, white shirts on as she padded softly to the wooden door.

"I'll get it. It's probably just Drent having a crisis," Mara called from their small, unadorned living room.

"Uh—Good morning Master Jade-Skywalker," Drent, one of Luke's new apprentices stammered by way of greeting. "There is a m-message for Master Skywalker waiting." Mara leaned against the door jam, knowing the prospect of being near two Jedi Masters was just short of terrifying for the apprentice.

"Master Skywalker is busy right now, Drent," Mara said patiently, "and I want you to tell who ever it is that they should start checking to see what the local time is on Yavin 4 before they call us."

Drent's face paled visibly and he had to try several times to get the rest of his message out of his dry mouth. "B-but I j-just thought that Master Skywalker w-would want to know if-if President Leia Organa S-Solo called him, so I-I came here—"

"It's Leia? Well, why didn't you say so! All right, I'll go get him. And Drent, calm down and do try to breathe," Mara said, letting the door close.

Mara stopped at the door to their bedroom, grinning when she caught him searching for his pants. She went back into the main room and retrieved them from where they been "casually" draped over a chair. Returning to their room, Mara threw the pants at Luke and said, "Leia's calling for you."

"Uh—thanks," Luke answered, pulling the pants down from where they had landed on his head. Quickly pulling them on, Luke grabbed a shirt and left the room, reassuring Drent on his way out. He padded softly down the cold stone hallway, realizing about halfway to the communications room that he had forgotten to put on socks. Sighing, he reflected about where his cold toes would rather be for the duration of the journey. Well, a Jedi ignores discomfort so he could focus on the greater good . . . though what good his waking up before the sun and the gas giant that Yavin 4 orbited was still in question. The hallways were made of the same black rock that made up the rest of the Great Temple, gilded in gold to herald the approaching dawn. The dampness of the lush jungle that surrounded the great moon could not penetrate the thick cold walls, though the air was constantly tinged with the sweet smell of growing vegetation. Luke went down the turbolift and passed through the Audience Chamber onto the communications room. An obvious add-on, it was covered with all sorts of technical equipment, communications mostly, but it also had tracking, ship identification, and an extensive library of all the Jedi knowledge that Luke had collected over time.

"Good morning, Luke," Leia Organa Solo said. Her brown hair, placed in an intricate design of braids and ribbons and clips, was further highlighted by the evening brilliance of Coruscant's sun. She smiled in obvious amusement when she saw her twin brother stumble into range of the holoprojector.

"Ugh," was all Luke said in answer. "Why the early call? I do actually use my bed, you know."

Leia giggled as if reacting to some private joke. "Hmmm. But whether it's for sleeping or something else is open for discussion." Leia commented dryly. But upon seeing Luke's sleepy expression deepen to mild annoyance, she hurriedly continued. "So, have you had any big news lately?" Luke glared at her for a long moment but he finally gave up, a huge smile broke through the façade and he quickly found himself grinning like an idiot.

"You know, I’d expect you to be a little more subtle. But yes, she told me! And let me guess—I'm the last to know as usual." Luke responded, the joyous note in his voice and the sparkle in his blue eyes negating the sting to his words.

"Well, no . . ." Leia said, trying to laugh and think rapidly all at the same time, "I don't think Anakin has figured it out yet."

Luke opened his mouth to respond but he was interrupted by a young voice, in the midst of disruptive puberty, from outside the holoprojector field that shouted, "Yes I have! Threepio told me!" Luke and Leia laughed together at her youngest child's remarks.

"Well, at least the press hasn't found out." Leia noted.

"Thank the stars!" Luke exclaimed in mock fear. "That is not the way for me to find out about my impending fatherhood. I'm getting too old to survive that sort of shock." Leia laughed gently at that, suddenly becoming very aware of the gray streaks just starting to show in his sandy brown hair. She absently touched her own streaks, knowing they had come far to early in her life, knowing she had grown up to soon. Abruptly her laughter stopped.

"So are we both," Leia added, the comment seeming to suck the humor out of the air.

Not liking the sudden awkward silence that prevailed over the siblings, Luke sought to break the quiet. "So is that why you called me at 5:00 am?"

"No," Leia answered, glad that Luke had lifted the brief consternation between them. "I just wanted to ask you if you were coming to the Conference of the Worlds. I could really use you there. I mean, I hate to ask you now that you just got such big news, but . . ." Leia trailed off when she saw Luke start to shake his head.

"I have two new students here that haven't been properly introduced to the place yet. I have an entire class that’s at a delicate part of their training. And not to mention all the other students and Jedi I really don't want to leave alone . . ." Luke said and then he shock his head again but this time he was smiling.

"What?" Leia asked, wondering what the joke was.

Luke looked up and grinned more broadly. "And Mara's gonna be so mad when she finds out that I'm leaving her with all this mess . . ."

"Like hell you are!" Mara said, entering the room from where she had been listening by the door and then gave Luke a rough shove in the shoulder. "I'm coming with you—that Conference is likely to last for a month or two and it'll be easier if I'm there when Luke starts to be overprotective then have him calling the Academy every two hours."

"I would not!" Luke said, pitching his voice to sound like that of a whining five-year-old.

Leia giggled when they started to bicker childishly and she was forced to shout to interrupt them. "Alright! Han and I'll be by to pick you up." Leia giggled again as she received the slightest wave of acknowledgement before she ended the transmission.

The Asendrian bazaar was already bristling with activity when Luke, Mara, and Leia’s husband Han Solo set out early that morning. The white dwarf star cast an eerie light on all that inhabited that world. It was as if the dying solar system was determined to get as much attention as possible before its star waned and all life surrounding it followed. And it was doing a good job of it. Asendra was one of the best worlds for selling all sorts of products—whether it is legitimate or not. But it had never been a place for agriculture and that art had been all but lost on this industrialized world. There were little other uses for the rock slowly being enveloped by the cold indifferent sun.

It had been chosen for the first Conference of the Worlds since the alliance between the New Republic and the Empire because it was a sort of middle ground. There were some senators and other bureaucrats in the Republic dubious of going to the Empire’s territory for fear of treachery and vice versa for the Empire’s politicians. But since Asendra had stayed neutral through most of the conflicts of the civil war, it was considered “equal ground”.

Most of the market places like the one the group of friends made their way through were covered with a protective macrodome to safeguard the potential customers form the industrial pollutants that encompassed Asendra. But if any oxygen-breathing organism were to leave the confines of the bubble, they would die of asphyxiation in less then five minutes.

Luke was thinking about this rather absently as the three walked down the sidewalk, occasionally picking through some of the wares. Luke was also thinking, with a great deal of facetiousness, that no matter how many times they all came to the Conference of the Worlds, it always took them at least a month to remember that only Leia was forced to sit through the dissertations and discussions. So Han, Luke and Mara had narrowly escaped death by tedium and headed for the famed agora of the capital city of Asendra, Atha.

Mara had bent over a table to look at a belt she and Han were arguing over when the unthinkable happened.

Someone shot Luke.

He had stayed out of the quarrel, having no opinion or care of the affair, when the beginnings of an impression of danger tugged on his consciousness. Having learned from many painful mistakes not to ignore it, Luke started to turn towards the strange sensation. There was an air circulation conduit directly behind him and the dark, wide, unfrequented pipe was the perfect place to hide. It had just entered his line of sight when there was a gentle poof, and something small and mechanical slammed into the back of his neck. He cried out in alarm rather then pain; the noise attracted Han and Mara's attention.

"What is it, Luke?" Mara asked, sensing his alarm and seeing it on his face. The pair looked on in astonishment as Luke reached up to his neck and wheezed as if he couldn’t get enough air down his throat. Then his eyes rolled back as he sagged to the ground. Han jumped forward and caught Luke with one arm, reflexively pulling out his blaster with his free hand. Mara withdrew her lightsaber from her belt, dropping into a combat stance in front of Han and Luke.

Suddenly a salvo of laser blasts emerged from the tunnel and Mara's lightsaber activated with a snap-hiss as she blocked the bolts with the lightning reflexes unique to the Jedi. The crowd screamed and broke away, running for cover from the unexpected attack on their peaceful city. Han tried to move with them, dragging Luke along and noticing that the Jedi was barely aware of where he was.

Mara stepped back from the conduit a few paces, trying to get a better look at her assailants and get more room to use her long blade. She needn't have worried about getting a chance to see them. She received more then a good look at the aliens as the blue skinned humanoids pouring out of the tunnel. Mara gasped as the name of their race, a name most people inside of the Outer Rim would not know, came to her.

"Han! They're Chiss!" Mara yelled over her shoulder. They were all wearing an indistinguishable dark green uniform, each carrying a high-powered blaster rifle, with the exception of one. The insignia on his uniform seemed to imply someone of high ranking, a commander at the very least. He was directing his troops with the ease of someone who was either a veteran or he loved his work—but form the gleam in his red eyes Mara suspected both. And unlike the other Chiss, he carried a strange weapon, looking similar to a modified tranquilizer gun. Lifting the rifle he pointed it at Mara's temple and fired.

Mara ducked and jumped to the side, grunting as her slowly expanding abdomen hindered her process. Mara glanced up, half expecting the object that had discharged form the weapon to explode over her head. But it continued on to strike the table with the disputed belt. She saw a brief electrical charge leave the object and enter the wood and she fleetingly speculated over what that would do if it hit her.

She didn't have to think about it for long. Even as she had looked at the device, the commander had the gun ready and aimed to fire. Mara could feel another object strike the back of her neck and for a moment nothing happened besides a slight contraction of her neck muscles. Mara turned around to face the Chiss commander but even as she was standing back up she felt the electrical current enter her throat and go up her spine. It hit her head and it was as if an important part of her mind just shut off, leaving in its place a continues, monotone shrill.

Mara clutched at her skull and collapsed back onto the ground, dropping her lightsaber and screaming in pain, waiting to pass out as Luke had. But instead her sight seemed to dim and her body nearly paralyzed. Yet somehow she still had enough maneuverability to attempt to stagger to her feet. She got to her hands and knees before one of the guards slammed the butt of his riffle across her face and Mara fell to the earth.

"Mara!" Han cried, the crowed surging passed him as he stopped in a moment of indecision. He looked at Luke who had his arm thrown over Han's shoulders, his head lolling backwards and his eyes rolling. Han turned from one helpless friend to the other and swore in frustration. He dragged Luke over to a chemically stained wall and let his contorting body slump against it; Han checked the power settings on his before he lifted the end to bear on the Chiss soldiers. He managed to fire off four shots before any of them retaliated. The first few missed him as Han ducked and rolled off in one direction and another. But then as Han pushed himself to his feet a blast slammed into his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He just managed to scramble to his feet before another blast whizzed by his ear. Diving behind a table to catch his breath and attempt to come up with a better plan then firing at a bunch of hostile aliens intent on killing him, Han cautiously looked around the corner when he realized that they had stopped blasting.

But what he saw sent him to start cursing in utter frustration. They had picked up Mara's inert form and were already carrying it down the tunnel, and two others had started to drag Luke bodily across the street. Han had to fight down the urge to go after them, knowing that as soon as he left his hiding place the five soldiers that had their guns aimed at him would shoot him down in a second.

Then he saw Luke shake his head groggily, as if he had just woken up after someone had punched him out good. As he lifted his head, Luke saw that he was about to be hauled into the conduit and he balked, struggling to find more time to pull himself together. The Chiss tried to tug harder and Luke's eyes snapped open and Han felt a certain sense of relief—Luke could use the Force to get out of this easy. Both of the Chiss that had a hold of his shoulders were shoved back . . . a step. But even as the energy force hit them, Luke screamed in pain and the strength of his paroxysm shook him lose from his captures. One of the Chiss slammed his rifle across Luke's face, drawing blood. Luke slumped to the ground with a sickening thud and all Han could do was watch helplessly as they dragged him through the tunnel and the sirens sounded too late.

Chapter III

There was nothing you could have done, Han," Leia said comfortingly as they sat in the administrative office of the Atha security force.

Han just shook his head, refusing to be comforted. "No. Maybe if I—"

"—were a Greedon you could have deflected the bolts with your shell," a man said as he strode into the suite. He was well groomed with a trim black goatee and clothes that were well made yet would allow him to easily slip into any crowed. "But unfortunately you're just a lowly human and those nasty lasers hurt when they hit." The man paused to inspect Han's shoulder. "Ah, I see you've already figured that out. Has anyone seen to that yet?"

"No, Karrde," Han growled, annoyed at him for stating the obvious and for being right. "I've been trying to help get Luke and Mara back. What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be getting some information for Admiral Pellaeon?"

"And as Supreme Commander of the Empire, Pellaeon is here just as President Leia Organa is. I came to give him some information and arrived just as all hell broke lose. And the Chiss took Mara which gives me every right to be here." Talon Karrde, the only man the Empire and the New Republic trusted enough to be in charge of their joint intelligence group, added as he stared at Han without flinching and yet conveying his carefully concealed concern to all those in the room who knew him. Who knew why the simple fact that one of his people being involved made all the difference.

Leia smiled softly in response, understanding him all to well. "Of course. How did you find out it was Chiss?"

"I had people in the bazaar. They saw you get attacked and once they heard Mara yell out what they were, they reported back to me. I still make it a point to keep the areas around me covered." Karrde said, sinking into a chair the Atha commissioner had resided in before he finished questioning Han. "Unfortunately," Karrde added, "they went out of the dome and no one could follow them. We're currently scanning planetary traffic to see if anything unusual happens—" As if on cue, Karrde's comlink beeped and he dug it out of his pocket.

"Yes . . .? What's their heading . . .? All right, get the Wild Karrde ready; we're going after it. I was right,” he said, putting the comlink away and addressing Han and Leia again, “a shuttle of unknown origin matching the description of one of the fighters Mara and Luke saw at the Chiss military base on Nirauan just blasted off the planet without authorization."

Han nodded; he stood and rotated his injured shoulder. "That'd make sense considering what they did to the place. Let's go."

"Oh, no you don't!" Leia said, catching Han's good arm and holding him fast. "I'm not letting you go out there with your arm in that state. Chewbecca and I'll—"

"Do a better job of flying the Falcon while I go in the gun turrets. I let Luke and Mara down once today already, I'm not about to do it again." Han interrupted, looking at Leia with determination in his eyes. Leia pressed her lips together in a thin line and nodded tersely before all three rushed out the door.

The shuttle sped through the deathly stillness of space, its sublight engines working at full capacity in a vain effort to outrun the multiple ships chasing them; cruisers, snub fighters, and freighters alike. The sleek ship, at first glance appearing like that of a TIE fighter, soon reviled itself to be anything but. It was easily twice as big, and its speed, through it could reach considerable rates, was designed to build slowly, nothing like the New Republic and Imperial ships that pursued it now. The dark blue shuttle aimed its nose towards the thick asteroid field that surrounded the Asendra system. But it didn't even get relatively close as a Yt-1300 Corellian freighter shot past.

Chewbecca shut off the Millennium Falcon's sublight engines and twisted the freighter around using just the thrusters before Han's Wookiee copilot threw power to engines again. The Falcon sped in a direct line towards the shuttle as Han sent off a barrage of low powered laser bolts from the gun turret in an attempt to disable the craft. But all the blasts did was splatter harmlessly off the vessel's shields. The Falcon was forced to twist into a corkscrew to avoid a headlong collision with the shuttle. They slipped under the shuttle and the craft shot off a round of laser blasts that were stopped by the Falcon’s deflectors.

"We could get though their deflector shields if we used proton torpedoes," Leia shouted at Han from where she sat in the pilot's seat in the cockpit.

"Yeah, that would work real well!" Han retorted. "The only thing is we'd blow them up while we're at it!"

Chewie roared into his com as he checked the sensor readings. "Chewie's right, Han. No ship with a tractor beam strong enough to hold our runaway will get here in time! The Mon Calamari cruiser is just leaving the planet!"

"Then we'll just have to stall them until the cruisers get here!" Han growled, gritting his teeth and shooting off another burst of blaster fire. He was rescued when a squadron of X-Wings soared into the battle; Han quickly identified them as Rogue Squadron. The Falcon swooped down and out of the intricate pattern the X-Wings wove around the shuttle, forcing the craft to swerve and veer to avoid the laser blasts and the snub fighters.

The Falcon plunged and soared to the side, the X-Wings leaving them free to scan the area to see what the shuttle had been racing for. There was an empty asteroid field that surrounded the seventh planet in that solar system. The asteroids were unusually thick except for the random pockets of clear space, which occasionally let sunlight to the barren planetoids beyond. Even as Leia thought about this, she saw one of the giant expanses slowly orbiting towards them now. Except the sensors we telling her that there was no light was getting through . . .

"Chewie bring 'er around to coordinates 228º. I think our shuttle has some really big friends!" Leia said, scanning out the view port for the starship she knew was hiding there. Sure enough, the shadowy battleship was there, framed by the misshapen asteroids. "Do you see it Han?"

"Yeah. So that's where our little buddy over there was headed. Get Talon on the com; he's probably got something big enough to take care of that thing here. Or he knows someone who does." Han muttered, starring at the massive spaceship.

"Yeah, I know the New Republic who's got a really slow moving cruiser on its way here and I know the Empire who's got a slightly faster Star Destroyer almost here. But I think they'll do something before we reach them." Karrde said after Leia had gotten him on the transmitter. "But until then the Wild Karrde and the Falcon will just have to do." After receiving agreement from Leia, Karrde signaled his first officer to head towards the ship with the strange azure coloring.

The Wild Karrde had just reached the edge of the asteroid field when the star ship suddenly jerked into motion. Its turbolasers started firing without warning and began to blast away the asteroids that floated between it and the shuttle. The Wild Karrde and the Falcon veered away to avoid the bolts that never seemed to miss their intended victims. The ship emerged from the debris just beneath the two retired smuggling ships. Yet even though one of its own shuttles was under obvious threat by their attackers, the starship was going relatively slow. And the reason soon became very evident as the cargo bay doors on the starship opened and at least two dozen more heavily armed shuttles emerged into space to join the battle.

Leia set the com frequency to an open channel to reach all their ships. "Watch out! We got enemy ships coming at you from 222.56 degrees! Watch it Corran! You've one coming up right under you!"

"I see it! I'm on it!" Rogue Nine answered, altering his X-Wing's direction to avoid the verdant laser blasts aimed at his exposed belly. The fleet of strange crafts cut into the swarming X-Wings, Y-Wings, and TIE fighters like a knife through tumarian butter; splitting the Republic and Imperials aside and creating a path for the licentious shuttle caught in the maelstrom. The Imperial Star Destroyer started to open fire on the unidentified battleship even though it was far to far away to cause any real significant damage.

The Wild Karrde dove down into the melee while the Falcon changed course to intercept the limping shuttle. Han fired off another volley of low powered laser fire, putting more exertion on the shuttle's already straining shields, forcing the craft to take power from its sublight engines to keep them up. The Falcon closed in, Chewie preparing to use their weaker tractor beam to slow them down. The computer had just gotten a lock when the entire ship was rocked by a direct hit from the battleship. The Falcon twisted to the left then veered sharply to the right to avoid another hit, completely losing their lock on the shuttle. Han gave up on the gun turret and raced to the bridge to help with the steering as the Millennium Falcon was forced to turn and evade the uncannily accurate turbolaser fire coming from the starship. Han reached the cabin and Leia scampered out of the way as he jumped into the pilot's chair. In the split second of inattention another blast slammed into the Falcon's deflector shields, sending the freighter spinning. Han fought desperately with the controls, bringing the Falcon out of the dive just in time to dodge another shot. But even as Han fought desperately to elude the turbolasers the shuttle continued steadfastly to the battleship. By the time Han had gotten the Falcon under control the craft had by that time entered the already opened shuttle bay.

"NO!" Leia screamed, rushing towards the view port and reaching out as if she could stop the ship with her own hands. "Han! Han, we have to go after them! Get in that ship or—"

"We can't, Leia! Even if we got we have know idea what we’d be up against. We just gotta hope the Chimaera's tractor beams can hold it." Han said, gritting his teeth and reluctantly moving the Millennium Falcon away from the battleship, recognizing the Star Destroyer as Admiral Pellaeon's flag ship. Leia turned furious eyes on her husband until she heard the dejected acceptance in his voice—and the sad truth to his words. She swallowed her sharp retort before it could leave her lips and stared grimly ahead. She reached out into the Force and tried to touch Luke's mind but a black wall met her. Either Luke was still unconscious or . . .

Leia's dark thoughts were interrupted when Han gripped her hand briefly. "Luke's been in worse then this. He'll be fine." Leia smiled down on him and agreed, even though they both knew that they couldn't be sure just how grave a situation Luke was in.

They headed for the dogfight only to find that most of the unknown ships had started to retreat to the battleship. The TIEs and snub fighters had been holding their own and now Leia got the sense from them that they thought they had their opponents on the run. They started to chase the enemy, serving to hasten the willing retreat. Leia flipped the switch to set the com back on to a broad frequency.

"All ships! Do not let the unknown craft reach the battleship. Repeat, under no circumstances let the unknown craft reach the battle ship!" Leia barked into the comlink. There was an almost immediate response as the faster TIE fighter increased their speed in an attempt to cut off the receding shuttles. The Falcon soared down to intercept the wave of enemy ships. The wave broke in a chaotic culmination of emerald laser fire and azure hulls. Han began to wish he hadn't left the blaster cannons as the Falcon started to take heavy hits while Chewie scored very few with the manual controls. But Leia seemed to anticipate his thoughts as she volunteered to go to the cannons. There was a brief moment when Han got a glimpse of the Star Destroyer engaging the battleship, drawing its attention from the small ships it was easily destroying with its turbolasers.

The Falcon had made its way to the "bottom" of the brawl when he saw the massive bulk of a Mon Calamari cruiser passed slowly beneath them and it seemed that the shuttle's battle technique became a great deal more frantic. And the reason quickly became apparent.

The battleship, while taking heavy damage at the hands of the Imperial Star Destroyer, had reached a hyperspace jump point and had begun to close the shuttle bay doors. The shuttles were all making desperate breaks for the battle ship, even though they could never get to it before the looming threat of the Mon Calamari star cruiser and the immediate threat of the Star Destroyer scared it into hyperspace.

The Mon Cal cruiser closed in and opened fire on her prey. The shuttle bay doors closed with a thundering clunk lost in the noiselessness of space, catching the tail end of one of its own shuttles beneath it and causing another to crash into its side in a brilliant explosion. The battleship's engines lit up in indigo flame as the ship jumped into hyperspace, chased by a sister's grief ridden call.

"What do you mean, you don't know where they went!"

The tactical officer cowered slightly when President Organa Solo's blazing eyes burrowed into him, threatening to pin him to the floor with their desperate fury.

"N-no ma'am," the officer stuttered. "We tracked their course as far as we could but they aren’t going to any place where there is any locale for them to put up a base. And all the remaining enemy craft detonated as soon as the battle cruiser entered hyperspace."

The President glared at the innocent Sullustan. "Of course not. They’re Chiss, they would go out beyond the outer rim to their home world—"

"With all do respect, Leia," Admiral Ackbar commented in his meringue Mon Calamari voice, "but we have no records of where the Chiss home world is and nor do we have any record of planets out where the unknown battleship is estimated to be. And even if we did, I doubt that he—" Ackbar gestured to the Sullustan, "—would know anything about it." Leia turned her fiery gaze on Ackbar for a moment before she collapsed back into her chair and buried her face in her hands.

Admiral Pellaeon gazed at her shuddering form for a moment before he said, "Grand Admiral Thrawn might have kept something in the Imperial data base. I can get my people working on it right away."

"We can also send reconnaissance craft to their estimated exit point and see if they're waiting for us of if they left a trail to their next location." Bel Iblis added as Leia lifted her face and looked vaguely at each speaker.

"And what if they go to a space port? I doubt they would be stupid enough to leave their ship out in the open." Ackbar interjected.

"That's what I'm for, I do believe," Karrde cut in, glancing around the assembly of leaders quickly gathered in the council room on the Star Destroyer. "Once you pick up a trail, my people can do the rest. We'll probably find the Chiss home world and Luke and Mara while we're at it." Karrde added.

Leia's expression had slowly lightened up as more ideas were put on the table, her mind now whirling as it started to formulate plans of her own. "Good point," she said, her enthusiasm building as she rose and started to pace the room. "I want you to make this you main priority. We have a squad of Y-Wings here right now that we can send on recon. We'll have Rogue Squadron on the ready if our new friends are there waiting for us. I want medical frigates on the ready in case Luke and Mara need immediate care. Admiral Pellaeon, if you have any interdictor cruisers in the area they would be—" Leia stopped her pacing to stare in puzzlement at the assembly of whom was staring right back at her as if she'd just lost her senses. "What?" Leia demanded.

"Uh-President Organa Solo," Pellaeon began, rising to his feet, "I believe it would be better if we took care of the details—" He suddenly stopped talking when Leia's eyes once again filled with fury.

"What he means is that you have other duties to attend to and there is no need to neglect them when someone else can—" Karrde intervened, trying to save Pellaeon form Leia's wrath.

Leia's gaze swept imperiously across the room as she felt her anger rise. Of all the times for the men to start worrying about their women folk getting too overwrought . . . Leia quickly quelled that thought with a Jedi meditation technique Luke had taught her. "You will not take me away from this. And don't give me that 'you're too involved' bull. I have been involved lots of times and I usually succeed so don't stop me now." Leia stopped and put her hands on her hips and raised and eyebrow. "So are you men just going to sit there or am I going to have to do everything myself?" Karrde broke out into a grin as did many of the other senators and admirals who knew her. As she turned to leave the room she was forced to hide the grim smiled at Pellaeon's surprise.

Leia left the council room and strode rapidly down the corridor to the bridge. The rest of the party had to hurry to keep up with her swift stride. She entered the turbolift and tapped her foot restlessly as she waited for everyone else to enter. She started to eye the buttons indicating the deck impatiently as she slapped the back of one hand against the palm of her other. She was still fidgeting restlessly when Karrde stepped up beside of her.

"I assume you’ll not be attending the rest of the Conference until Luke and Mara are safe." Karrde commented softly into her ear. Leia glanced back at him with a gaze that told him he didn't even have to assume that. "Of course. Then who will?"

"I'll get Vice President Ponc Gavrisom to do it. All this whole thing is about is a preview of what we'll be arguing about for the next five years until the next one. I'm sure Gavrisom can serve as a walking talking recorder till this is all done and over with." Leia answered in a low voice, turning her glower back onto the control panel.

——————————————

It was almost a day later when Leia was pacing in the command center on Coruscant—a planet that was completely covered in one city and had become the centre of the New Republic unknown millennia before. She glanced over and saw Karrde looking at her with a bemused expression on his face and she pivoted sharply on her heel to bring herself to a stop. The Y-Wings had already left but all they had been able to do was confirm that a ship had exited hyperspace recently. But they couldn't be sure if it was their rogue ship or someone else's. They also hadn't been able to find the ship's jump point or any clue as to where they were hiding—especially since there wasn't so much as an asteroid for them to conceal themselves with.

Leia was trying frantically to keep herself from tapping her foot when she heard an explosive blast of twittering answered by a prissy argumentative voice. Leia turned around and felt a smile start to curve on her lips.

" . . . Well, I don't care what you think Artoo," C-3P0, a golden protocol droid normally called Threepio, declared. "I was told to bring this message to Mistress Leia and just because you got to take that message about the Death Star to Obi-Wan doesn't mean I have to tell you what mine is." The small R2-D2 unit squawked in outrage and bleeped something that didn't sound particularly polite. "How rude! And just for that you can't even listen when I talk to Mistress Leia. Even though you wouldn't have even considered telling me unless you wanted to get me upset—"

"Hello Threepio, Artoo," Leia interrupted, smiling warmly, surprised at the pleasure of this respite from the waiting. "What's the news?"

"Vice President Gavrisom wishes for me to tell you that he has just received reports of a disturbance on Tatooine. He said that some agents have been hearing some rumors of a revolt." Threepio said quietly, glaring at Artoo to make sure the little droid kept his distance. Artoo groaned as if he thought the whole thing was very beneath him and swiveled his head away. This seemed to placate Threepio but Leia saw the astromech droid sensor dish tip in their direction.

"Do they have any idea when this revolt will happen?" Leia asked, gesturing for Karrde to come over. The intelligence agent casually got to his feet and walked over to where the droid and human where talking.

"Uh, no Mistress Leia," Threepio answered after quickly scanning his memory banks and starting at Karrde's sudden appearance. "But they do believe it has something to do with the water shipments coming to the planet. They think they're getting less then Detoia desert inhabitants because Tatooine is closer to the Outer Rim."

Karrde snorted in mild amusement. "How appropriate. They start complaining that we don't pay enough attention to them because they're on the outer edge when our attention is actually well beyond them." Leia shushed him and searched her mind for what to tell Threepio.

"President! We have word from the recon mission. They found the battleships escape vector and have been able to track it to an unexplored star system 26500.32 light years further out. They wish to know whether or not to proceed." A com officer called from his terminal pit, interfering with Leia's thoughts.

"No. Tell them to wait for backup." Leia answered, the Tatooine revolt forgotten. "Karrde, do you have your ship ready?" The former smuggler nodded. "Good, then get ready to leave—the trail could already be gone."

Chapter IV

Mara felt her mind swirling in darkness, falling onward into eternity in an endless spiral of madness. She clawed at the air with her hands but they found nothing to grab on to. She opened her mouth to scream but the blackness poured in and choked her, suffocating her. She felt as if her lungs would burst and she felt Death's cold hand gripping her soul . . .

And then she coughed and opened her eyes to see a cup of cool, clear water being tipped to her lips. She lifted weak hands to the cup and stopped its flow while she swallowed its exquisite liquid down her parched throat. When she was finished the almost painful draught Mara brought the cup back to her mouth and greedily gulped the rest of the liquid down.

"Dat be enough for yea now," a kind, gentle voice murmured softly. Mara blinked her eyes until her fuzzy vision cleared and she saw an old Chiss woman remove the cup form her hands and set it beside her along with a tray that had a strange looking casserole on it. Mara tried to sit up but the plain, unadorned room—or rather cell—began to swim around her and she hastily let her head fall back on the floor again before she passed out.

"I guess they hit yor head a wee bit too hard, dinnea they now. Ah, I cannea say I'm surprised. You lok a great deal bettar den most who come do this mournful place. An' yor friend loks a wee bit worse than yea, I'd say." Mara blinked in confusion at her comment before the brief fight at Atha came back to her. The Chiss soldiers, the struggle, and the device at the base of her neck. And Luke . . .

Mara scrambled to a sitting position and swung her head around and almost immediately regretted it. She gritted her teeth against the immense nausea and let her gaze fall on the still figure lying on the floor. She lifted a trembling hand to Luke's pale face, touching his cheek where a line of blood dribbled down. It was warm. She touched his neck and found the pulse strong if not steady. She saw his chest rise and fall in shallow breaths and knew he was not all right but he was at least alive.

Mara let her head drop to her hands as she firmly told her protesting stomach to settle down. She felt a clump of bile rise in her throat and realized that she was about to have her now daily bout of morning sickness.

"Oh, dear! Yar be turning green!" the old lady exclaimed. "Oho, wait till I get a pail!" The Chiss woman rushed to the door of the prison cell and waved her wrist in front of a orange panel, causing the door to open and her to rush out. She returned almost immediately with a bucket and placed it ahead of Mara who grabbed it before it could hit the floor and heaved. She vomited for several minutes and thought she would keep going until she filled up the pail when her riling gut subsided. She wiped her hand across her mouth and nose and lay back down on the floor with a groan.

The old woman glanced at the bucket and then at Mara and then at the bucket again. "Now dat be a wee bit different than what I be expecting from yea," the old lady said. "But, than, dat's what I hear pregnant humans do."

"How'd you know that?" Mara asked, her voice croaking and her brows furrowed in confusion as a mild sense of violation overcame her.

"Ah, I read the med. report dey did on yea. If yea can call it dat." The old lady commented dryly as she gingerly picked up the pail by the handle and placed it outside of the cell then closed the door. "Really all dey do is tell yea what's wrong an' dan send yea to yor 'room'."

Mara nodded in understanding and then slowly pushed herself to a sitting position again to look eye to eye with the woman. "Thank you for caring for me and my husband then. I'm grateful."

"It be nothing," the old lady said kindly. "But my staying in ‘ere for a while would not be seen well, an' dan I wouldn't be commin' back. So I'll leave this 'ere fresh pail with yea and dis food—dunnea worry, it's ok for humans." The old woman said as she stood and left. Mara thanked her again on her way out and then glanced dubiously at the food. She knew she was hungry but she wasn't so sure she wanted to chance throwing up again. She decided the latter concerned her more and crawled over to Luke's prone body and gently tipped his head to better see the wound. It had all but stopped bleeding by then, and Mara dipped the cuff of her shirt into the water and carefully wiped the laceration clean. Luke moaned and stirred at her ginger ministrations. Mara grabbed his shoulders and shook him gently, calling softly to him.

"No . . . I don't wanna get up, aunt Beru . . .when am I ever gonna use math anyway . . ." Luke mumbled. Mara shook him again and was met with more ranting that was even more incoherent. She touched the back of his neck and found the device still there and realized with a start there was still one on her neck as well. That might explain the nausea and Luke's further disorientation. She brushed Luke's forehead with her fingers and concentrated, thinking to put him in a healing trance. But as soon as she started to touch the Force she felt an electrical shock shoot into her neck. Mara screamed in pain and fell backwards, narrowly missing the platter.

"So that's what they're for," Mara said to herself hoarsely. "And that would explain why Luke's still out. Having the Force cut off like that probably put him into shock." She pushed herself to a siting position yet again and looked around the room. Standing up, Mara proceeded to inspect every wall, crack, corner and crevice to find any weaknesses but came up with none. But what she did find was a set of two buttons on the three walls that did not have a door. She thought briefly about whether or not she should push any of them to see what happened, but a memory of a concentration camp's prisons where they had the exact same situation stopped her. Whatever button was pushed, a poisonous gas came out to kill the occupants. But then she though, if these people had gone through so much trouble to get them here, why kill them now?

Quickly making a decision Mara picked the first button and pressed it. There was a small whirling and then a click and nothing happened. She kept waiting for the sound of hissing gas to break the deathly silence but no sound came. Mara rolled her eyes in irritation and pressed the second button. There was another click followed by a whiling noise, except this time a long, thin panel opened up on the wall directly below the buttons and a hollow, rectangular box with a cushion and blanket on it moved out. Mara glared at the thing that had caused the brief moment of fear and kicked it. She went over to Luke's body and carried him over to the bench, gingerly setting him down lest she disturb him. He moaned and stirred as she retrieved the two platters and set them down on the floor beside the bed. Luke opened his eyes and then groaned and closed them, covering his face with his hand. She poured some water into another cup and waited for him to wake up. Luke finally took his hand away and stared vaguely at the ceiling before he looked at Mara.

"Ugh . . . where are we?" Luke mumbled, rubbing his temple and frowning when his hand came away with blood on it.

"I think we're on a Chiss ship," Mara answered, propping Luke up and tipping the glass to his mouth. He gulped thankfully until it was completely empty before he came up for air. Mara lowered him carefully to the mat again and pulled one of the trays to her. She was about to ask him if he was hungry when he gasped in pain and arched his back off the bed. "Oh, yeah, don't use the Force."

Luke glared at her and growled, "Next time I'd appreciate a little warning!"

"I'll remember that," Mara said smiling grimly and holding up the tray. "Anything look good?"

"Not really, but I'm too hungry to care," Luke answered, pushing himself upright and taking the platter. Mara felt her stomach begin to turn and looked away. "Are you all right?" Luke asked, gently brushing her red gold hair out of the way to better see her face.

Mara smiled weakly. "I'm fine. Just a little morning sickness, that's all. I'll be as good as new in an hour," Mara assured him. Luke just gave her a dubious glance and then continued to eat the strange food.

"Do you know why we're here?" Luke asked between morsels.

"No," Mara answered. "The only person I've seen besides you is an old lady who brought the food. And she didn't tell me much beyond the fact that the food was all right for humans to eat."

Luke dropped the strange looking utensil on the plate and set the food aside. "So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know," was all Mara said. "We can wait until someone comes to tell us why we're here."

"Yeah, I guess. Is there any way out? You said there was an old lady here, what did she do?" Luke asked hopefully.

Mara gestured behind her to the orange panel on the wall and answered, "All she did was wave her wrist over that panel to open and close the door. She probably has an implant in her arm that allows the security system to know who's opening the door and whether or not they're allowed."

"Is there any way to rig something up to make the sensors think that one of the ‘keys’ have been waved in font of it?" Luke suggested.

"I suppose," Mara said skeptically. "But what could we use? The only thing we have that's even remotely mechanical are these things on our necks and if you know a way to get them off then I’d like to hear it. I guess we could try and pry—" Mara's spoken thought was interrupted when the door suddenly slid open to reveal the silhouette of a humanoid.

"Good, you're awake," the human said by way of greeting, stepping into the cell along with two armed guards. "I do hope you like your accommodations."

"Oh, yeah," Mara said sarcastically, "they're great. They don't even treat us this good on Coruscant."

The human smiled and came to a stop in the middle of the room. "I'm glad to see that you are so comfortable seeing as you're in such a gravid condition." Mara's lip curled in a false snarl used to cover up the sudden fear she felt when she heard the smug tone in the man's voice. Luke's hand touched her arm reassuringly. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here and who I am."

"The thought had occurred to us," Luke commented dryly.

"Then I will introduce myself. I am Admiral Tarckok and you are on board the Chiss battle cruiser Threnody to prevent you from interfering with our plans." The Admiral smiled again that smug and self-assured smile and waited for their response. Luke just looked on blankly, waiting for the man to continue when Mara stirred.

"Tarckok . . . I know that name . . . " Mara murmured.

Admiral Tarckok grinned. "Oh, you probably heard it in the Emperor's court or saw it when you were researching Grand Admiral Thrawn. You see, when Emperor Palpatine sent Thrawn to the outer regions, I was sent with him on his star destroyer as one of his top interrogators. And when he returned, I was left behind." Tarckok's voice, as he spoke, turned from mocking to bitter in an amazing transformation. "And I was left to the mercies of the cult of Chiss extremists called the Cragons, who have decided that they should be the rightful rules of this galaxy, not the Republic."

"So why capture us?" Luke asked. "My sister may be the President of the New Republic, but if you think she'll turn it over to save two people you're wrong."

"Of course not. My superiors are not that vain as to think that taking control would be that easy. No, but they are also not vain enough to think they can take control without knowing the history of their future territory. And they have found that you, Luke Skywalker, seem to have a deciding factor in a lot of events dictating who gains control." Tarckok smiled again and now his eyes burned as with a kind of fever. "And I was sent to make sure that this time you would not have the chance."

"Then why take Mara?" Luke demanded.

Tarckok shrugged. "She was there. But now that we know about her . . . delicate condition we have decided to use it to our advantage. Your father helped to hold together the Empire, you helped to hold together the New Republic, and your son will help to hold together the Cragon Dynasty." Tarckok's smile twisted into a malicious sneer. "We don't want to break a family tradition."

Mara's eyes burned with anger and she glanced at Luke to see his reaction and found him staring at Admiral Tarckok with wide eyes and a pale face. "Never," Luke whispered softly, almost lethally.

"Well there's a small problem with that, Master Skywalker," Tarckok said, his voice dripping with acerbity. "You don't really have a choice."

—————————————————————

"Now I know this will be hard, but I want you to try to be subtle. I know it's a new concept besides the usual blow-it-up scenario, but I think it might help if we don’t attract a bunch of Chiss with really good aim and lack of morals to us."

"You know, Karrde," Corran Horn said, "we're not that blunt."

Karrde looked down at the former CorSec agent turned X-Wing pilot in Rogue Squadron and grinned. "No, but only because everyone else here seems to be as blunt."

Corran opened his mouth to respond but at that moment he saw a Twi'lek throw a Kellonian that had beat him in a sebacc game across a table and Corran was forced to agree with Karrde's assessment of the bar they were in. They had followed the Chiss battle ship to this star system and had found a bristling trading center, mostly located on the solar system's fourth planet, Kellonia. The Alliance had decided to send as few people as possible to the unknown and unexplored areas past the Wilder Regions.

Talon Karrde and Han Solo had insisted on going because of their personal stakes and they were allowed to come because of their experience in getting into places where they weren't supposed to be. They came in their own ships—the Wild Karrde and the Millennium Falcon—since they were built to be used in such situations. Karrde's crew and Chewbecca came along with them but stayed on their respective ships. Wedge Antilles, as the original commander of Rogue Squadron, was taken along incase of the inevitable dogfight they would get in. And then there was Corran Horn. He had been brought along not only because of his supreme skills as an X-Wing pilot and training in CorSec but for another, unpublicized skill given to him—his training as a Corellian Jedi. Both Wedge and Corran had their X-Wings safely stored in the cargo holds of the undistinguishable freighters they were using to infiltrate the strange places they would have to go in.

As soon as they entered the system they realized the folly of attempting to follow the missing battle cruiser. Even as the newly arrived ships watched, eight different yachts entered hyperspace and their sensors told them moments later that the battleship was long gone. So it had been decided to land on Kellonia and search for any traces the battleship might have left. And somehow that search had led them to the stingy bar on the outer edge of the trade capital of Kellonia.

Corran shrugged and downed the rest of the liquor the locals all seemed to be enjoying. The booze was bitter on his tongue and burned going down. But the dryness in the air and his consequential dehydration overrode any protest his taste buds or throat might have had. He clunked his glass down and stretched muscles made taut within the cramped confines of the freighter’s cockpit, turning his head to the side and catching a glimpse of the leering face of an anemic old creature. It seemed vaguely humanoid except for the large amount of tentacles protruding from its mouth and the spindly legs that were so long that the knee bent well over the creature's head. It had leathery blue skin with green spots on its back. Corran sat up in his chair and craned his neck to better see the creature, knowing that he was being unbelievably blunt with the grand gesture. Suddenly a tingling of the Force made him start to turn around again when a sharp, shrieking cackle sounded behind him—Corran cried out and fell out of his chair in surprise. He twisted desperately to get to his feet before his assailant could reach him as everyone else at the table and half the patrons drew their guns.

"Oh, you be kind to let an old man take you seat, little fleshy!" the elder creature said as he clambered into Corran's chair. "But that noise you make be too much. " The rest of the aliens in the bar just chuckled and put their weapons away and went back to their business. Corran remained on the floor for a minute longer, catching his breath and wondering how this old "decrepit" creature had managed to almost completely undercut his Force abilities. He slowly got to his feet, never taking his eyes off the continually leering alien as he took a stool from an empty table.

"Who in the universe are you?" Han demanded.

The bar once again resounded with the high pitched squeal of laughter. "Yeema be a friend. Don't worry, Yeema be a friend!" Yeema ranted, bouncing up and down in what was now his seat.

"And why would you be our friend?" Karrde said evenly, exchanging looks with the rest of the group. "We have never been here before and have no contacts here."

"Yeema know! Yeema know you be looking for Jedi, Yeema know where Jedi went!" Yeema squealed in a voice meant to be a whisper but it probably carried to outside of the cantina.

"I didn't know we were being that obvious," Wedge commented.

Yeema squealed again and hopped up and down as if he found the entire thing absolutely hilarious. "No, no. Yeema hear you headwords, Yeema hear your headwords worry. Yeema know what Jedi look like, and Yeema know you look like Jedi!" Yeema finished proudly.

"Yeema seems to know a lot," Corran said, causing the alien to beam even brighter and flap its tentacles. "But what does Yeema mean by 'headwords'?"

"Yeema hears the words you have in head, but don't always say. Yeema can make the words change to help Yeema or let Yeema know what Yeema wants! Yeema make fleshy think Yeema over there and make Cragon think Yeema not there to see data card." Suddenly Yeema seemed to feel a moment's sadness. "And Yeema hear fear in Jedi, fear for little one."

It took Karrde a moment to make sense of the alien's choice of words before he realized Yeema was telepathic. And then the rest quickly became more clear—he had seen the Cragon, whoever they were, and had wanted to know what they were doing so he looked on a data card that had information about Luke and Mara on it. He had probably scanned the battle ship and found the only two humans on board and somehow gotten their impressions. But that only left . . . "Who is the little one, Yeema?"

Yeema's eyes narrowed and he leaned close enough to Karrde for him to be able to smell the local liquor on his breath. "Little one be little Jedi!"

"The child," Corran said immediately, "they're afraid for their child. But why? Mara's only four months pregnant."

"Maybe the Chiss have no need for a baby and they threatened to kill him?" Han suggested softly. The rest of the companions looked at him fearfully, each knowing the possibility was all to good but prying that it wasn't.

"No! Little one carry on family line, little one carry on tradition of father and father's father!" Yeema said ominously. "Little one to stand beside Cragon as father and father's father stood by the great powers of their time!"

Wedge's eyes narrowed. "Who are the Cragon? Part of the Empire?"

"No, silly fleshy. Empire not exists here in the dark lands! Cragon rule here. Cragon rule where Empire's champion tried and failed. Cragon take your friend!" Yeema moaned and then he wailed, "Cragon kill Jedi!"

Chapter V

"What do you mean kill them?" Han asked in alarm. "Why go to all that trouble just to kill them?"

"Cragon vengeful! Cragon want Jedi pay. Only want older Jedi, but like having weaker Jedi. Take little one from weaker Jedi then kill them both. Yeema knows!" Yeema said.

"Yeema said Yeema knew where they went," Corran stated eagerly, "can Yeema tell us?"

Yeema nodded excitedly. "Yeema will, Yeema will! But Yeema afraid for Yeema. Yeema hear headwords of bad men in bar. Yeema distract headwords but hard when Yeema get distracted Yeema's self. Yeema take fleshies to Yeema's home and show them data card. Then fleshies will know what Yeema knows! And then fleshies can find little one and break the tradition."

They arrived at Yeema's home to find it littered with all kinds of what most would think of as trash, but with one look at the place Corran found himself wondering just how much Yeema did know.

"Come to Yeema little card! Card cannot hide from Yeema forever!" Yeema cackled as he started digging through a rather large pile of what looked to be fairly new findings. He threw unwanted baubles in every which direction, heedless of where they went—or who they hit, for that matter.

"Hey! Watch it Yeema, you almost hit me with that—OW!" Han yelled as a metal box rebounded off his head.

"No time!" Yeema declared, "Yeema has no time! Ah! And now Yeema has what Yeema seeks! Here is answers." Yeema hopped off of the pile and shoved the data card in Karrde's hands. Karrde inserted the card into a data pad and the others clustered around him to read it.

Report #5484-86272

The raid on Asendra was a better success then we had originally intended. Fitting Master Skywalker with the Force Inhibitor was pitifully easy. We were also able to capture Master Skywalker's wife, Master Jade-Skywalker, in the process. I suggest that keeping the child alive after the parents have been taken care of would be a profitable idea if we are able to train him to follow our orders as Emperor Palpatine did with Darth Vader. And I am sure our men would not be so sloppy as to allow a way for our servant to break free of our control.

We will subject Master Skywalker to the standard amount of beatings—to keep him under control, especially since he has a habit of escaping confinement, and to lessen the objection he would naturally put up when we take away his wife. Medical reports show that she will be in need of assistance when she goes into labor.

We will kill Master Jade-Skywalker as soon as we are sure the babe will have no need of parental assistance and I will be sure that Master Skywalker is present and conscious. We will then take him to the K'ti'ma System and put him on K'ti'ma V and place him near one of the aeries of the creatures that have been observed to be quite voracious and relentless after birth.

We will bring the Threnody back to K'ti'ma once we are sure the creatures are done with their meal and then bring the remains of dear Master Skywalker back to the dying New Republic.

"By all the deities in the universe . . . " Han murmured.

Corran took the data card from Karrde's hand and had to run a Jedi calming technique through his head twice before it had enough effect that he trusted himself to speak. "Yeema, what kind of sick people are the Cragon?"

"Cragon sick, very sick. Think the All was theirs by birthright and think Jedi take it away. Cragon think to avenge their loss but all Cragon do is doom themselves. Jedi come back and free the All to what if should be! And the All is not Cragon!" Yeema's voice started out soft but rose as his fury did. "Cragon must not have their way! Palpatine better than Cragon!" Corran looked up from the data card at the creature in surprise.

"Why are the Cragon so bad Yeema? What did the Jedi do to make them this way?" Wedge asked.

Yeema's dark eyes seemed to lose focus as he searched back through his memories. Suddenly his voice changed; it became stronger, younger, the words remembered as if they were from his own time. "Long ago, when the Force was young and strong with its new Followers—who so long ago did not even call themselves Jedi, for that would come soon—the Cragon split away from their brethren. They had heard of the Force Followers' power and they wanted their own. But, as with all people, not all Cragon could have it . . .

"The Force followers heard of this craving and they worried. Creeta di Donna was the hungriest of the Cragon. He saw the Force Followers' power and his dark soul dripped with envy and greed. Creeta clawed his way to the supreme position of power in the Cragon Dynasty and ordered the scientists to find a way to overcome and then steal the Force Followers' powers. And then the dark day came when the Cragon were able to discover what it was that enables the Force Followers to use their abilities when others could not.

"A part of the mind that every creature has . . . a part that cannot be probed by conventional means but one that if disabled could be manipulated. It speaks to the Force Followers, whispers the Force to them. The Cragon learned how to remove this part of the mind from the Force Followers they captured and transplant it into their own people.

"And as the Cragon's power grew, so the Force Followers' power weakened. For when the Force is taken away, they cannot live with the grief and they pass on to the Beyond.

"A strong Force Follower, by the name of Jedis, realized their danger and knew that the Cragon's defeat would not come without a grave price. And then he was given a Vision—he saw his people enslaved by the Cragon Dynasty. He saw the Force Followers joining together in one united front and he knew the Cragon could not oppose such a force!

"Creeta di Donna amassed his troops and moved against the Force Followers and the people they had attempted to protect. But Jedis had told his people of his vision and the Force Followers knew that they must let the Cragons win the War so they lay down their arms and surrendered.

"Creeta di Donna ordered that the Force Followers be imprisoned and the others put into slave labor. But even then they were undefeated. The Force Followers were able to assemble a fleet of ships built with the new hyperspace technology and train the populace how to use them right under the Cragons’ noses. The Force Followers built up their strength and struck the Cragon capital under the leadership of Jedis.

"In the bloody battle that ensued, the only scientists who knew the secret to stealing the Force from others were isolated and eventually killed. Creeta's forces and Jedis's forces battled relentlessly for nine days and nine nights until they came to a stand off. And it was then that the Cragon's greatest weakness was their downfall.

"The Cragon had always been for themselves, but not the Force Followers. They knew that united they could call on more powers then a single entity ever could. Jedis stood before the great walls of the Cragon capital where Creeta di Donna waited and called on the others to channel all their powers through him. Jedis sent a wave of fear through the Cragon capital to frighten away the innocent, and leave only the guilty to die. And then he dug down deep into the furthest reservoirs of the Force, unleashing such a power as to obliterate the capital, kill Creeta di Donna and his followers, and ruin the Cragon home world for inhabitation. He broke the Cragon Dynasty and ripped away the Force form those who had stolen it. He sent the remaining Cragon into flight, driving them to the furthest recesses of the universe. But all that energy passing through Jedis burned and destroyed his body and left it to ashes to blow away in the wind.

"The Force Followers, in honor of his sacrifice and wanting to set an example for themselves to be like then called themselves Jedi, and vowed to forever protect those not as gifted who after the war created the Republic based around Jedis's ideals."

Yeema stopped talking and slumped to the ground, as if the telling of such a great tale had taken all his strength. Corran rushed to his side and supported the creature, no doubt in his mind that Yeema had not been the one telling the story, but afraid to ask who had.

"It's too bad Luke wasn't here to listen to that," Han said softly, "He's been searching for the origin story since he became a Jedi."

Yeema looked up at him with strange eyes and said in the same strong voice as before, "That is the least of your concerns. The secret has been relearned and it must not be reused!" And then Yeema slumped completely to the littered floor, unconscious.

It was over and hour latter that Yeema woke up. Wedge had rummaged through kitchen and made what he devoutly hoped was soup. Yeema took the bowl and drank it in one gulp and then rocked back and forth of a few moments, muttering silently to himself.

"Can Yeema tell us where the Jedi have been taken?" Corran asked softly.

"Yeema can tell, Yeema can tell," Yeema said, rocking just a little harder. "Old story, old friend tell, hard to hear. Geeea System. Cragon go to Geeea system." The group of humans hesitated, wondering if the creature would survive all right on its own. "Do not wait for Yeema! Find Jedi or dark plague will spread across the All!" Yeema looked at Corran with a piercing gaze, as if he could see directly into Corran's soul. A deep and terrible coldness entered him and Corran felt a sudden desperate need to find Master Skywalker. He backed away from the alien towards the door, feeling his urgency. "You know, you know what Yeema knows. You must go and warn them!"

"About what?" Karrde asked, not realizing the severity of Corran's reaction. "Who must we warn about what?"

Yeema turned his dark eyes to Karrde and hissed ominously, " He knows, he knows, and he will warn the Master and he will know what to do!" Karrde looked behind him and saw Corran's wide eyes stare as if he could see what the alien's portended.

"We have to go," Corran said. He felt his breathe quicken without reason and the need to find Luke become even stronger. But when the others still didn't follow him he almost shouted, "We have to go!" Without waiting to see if the others were behind him Corran bolted for the door and onto the street. He started walking back to their ships and blinked against the sudden glare of sunlight. He heard the others running to catch up and slowed his pace just slightly.

"What was he talking about in there?" Wedge asked, disturbed by the sudden lack of control one of the most level head members of Rogue Squadron was displaying.

Corran glanced at Wedge and then hastened his pace again. "I—I'm not sure. It's just that I have this terrible feeling of dread and I can't get rid of it. From what Yeema said the Cragon Dynasty were the first great evil the Jedi faced and if they can hold a grudge for this long it has gotta be big. And if Master Skywalker knows what to do, then we have to get him away from them as soon as possible!"

——————————————————

"Wakey, wakey, Skywalker!"

Luke shut his eyes against the sudden blinding light that streamed through the opened door to his and Mara's cell. "What? Bed and breakfast? How nice."

"Funny, Skywalker," Harsa said, dragging Luke from the cot he and Mara were sharing and prodding the nose of a blaster rifle against his side. "But the Admiral wants to see you. Not you," he added as Mara started to follow. One of his escorts pointed his weapon at her and Mara slowly sat back down. "He has some things to discuss with the Master, man to man."

"In that case forget it. You can tell him right now that I don’t swing that way," Luke said, balking. In response Harsa brought his rifle up and slammed it across Luke's face, almost knocking him out. Luke stumbled and had to cling to Harsa's arm to keep from falling completely and gasped, “You guys sure like doing that, don’t you?”

"If you're done with the pointless wit, we'll be going," Harsa said, dragging Luke along behind him. They left the cell and Mara behind and entered a long light cerulean corridor that ended with a pair of heavy blast doors. Two guards moved ahead of the first officer and the prisoner, and six followed them. They reach the doors and the two guards in front moved to the opposite edges of the doorway as Harsa waved his wrist over the panel. They passed into a small room with another pair of blast doors on the adjacent side which Harsa opened the same as the last ones. After walking down a long hallway they entered a turbolift and ascended several floors. They stepped off and two more guards moved to take the original leaders’ place. They entered into a large room that was hexagonal in shape, a black panel running along the wall with at least thirty Chiss working a various stations.

"Ah! Master Skywalker. How kind of you to join us," Tarckok said, waving Harsa and Luke forward.

"You know me," Luke said, scanning the room for anything that could help him escape—a weapon, some distraction that would give him enough time to take Harsa or Tarckok down and remove the Force Inhibitor from his neck, "never could refuse an invitation."

Tarckok smiled as he picked up what looked like a dubeck cattle prod. "Ever defiant. It shall please your viewers to no end."

"Viewers?" Luke asked, not liking the ominous tone to the Admiral’s voice as he was shown the holocams scattered around the room for the first time.

"Hmmm, yes," Tarckok said as he walked casually around Luke. "You see, the Cragon have a bit of distaste for the Jedi. And while taking revenge on the one we hate the most has long been impossible, we can compromise."

Luke glanced at the holocams and then let his eyes follow Tarckok. "And let me take a wild guess—they involve me?"

"I see that bump on the head hasn't addled that thing you refer to as your brain. Even better. Tell me, do you know who Jedis is?" Tarckok asked.

"No, but for some weird reason the name rings a bell . . ." Luke said, rolling his eyes.

Tarckok's smile broadened as he continued. "Well then, I will just tell you that he was the first great Jedi, which is why you still use his name as a term. He almost destroyed us; denied the universe its rightful rulers. We cannot harm him in this plane of existence, but we can harm his legacy." Luke opened his mouth to respond but suddenly Tarckok swung the prod around and slammed it full into Luke's stomach. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor, curling into a fetal position.

"You are nothing with out the Force, Jedi, and soon we will have that from you along with you life." Luke looked up at the human admiral through a haze of pain, wishing wistfully for the to block it with. Tarckok raised the prod high into the air and then slammed it down onto Luke's exposed back as hard as his well-muscled arm could. Luke cried out again and felt himself begin to black out with no small amount of relief. But the third blow he was waiting for didn't come. He forced his pain-wracked body to release itself from the tight ball he had convulsed into and gazed up.

"Our viewers want Jedis's blood," Tarckok said, brandishing a spiked club one would think to find in some backwater planet. But that must be where the Cragon are from, Luke though to himself whimsically. "They want Jedis's blood, but yours will do just as well."

He raised the club and Luke waited for it to end.

Mara waited for Luke to return, pacing in the cell, back and forth, back and forth, until she heard the first scream. She spun on her heal towards the door, knowing it was Luke's voice and prayed that it wasn't his death scream. She heard Luke cry out again but this time it wasn't as loud, muted perhaps by the pain on the first. There was a long pause before the next but it was even louder then the fist two wails. And after that the shrieks came in a continuous rhythm, frightening with its endless tempo. She knew they must be piping the sound to her cell to torture her, but it did nothing to lessen the tactic’s effect.

It seemed like forever before his last cry sounded and Mara slowly sat down on the bench waiting for the numbing coldness that would tell her the Luke was dead. But it never came and it was then that she realized that there was no way she would be able to tell if he had died. This is their way of torturing me, Mara though savagely, they will torture his body and torture my mind.

Suddenly Mara was attracted to a strange sound coming from the hall, almost as if someone was dragging something along a slick channel. Then the door to her cell opened and the two guards threw Luke's limp body to the floor.

"Sithspawn—Luke! What did you do to him!" Mara cried, dropping beside his torn and bleeding form as she turning blazing eyes accusingly at the guards.

One of them laughed and said in badly accented standard tongue, "We pay back ol' debts." They both leered at the two and then threw in some bandages and a flask of water and told Mara not to let him die, he had another show for tomorrow. Mara wondered at that oblique remark but then Luke groaned in pain and began to twist on the floor. She picked up the bandages and sniffed at them, making sure they hadn't put any chemicals in them that would do more harm then good. She couldn’t smell anything, so she took the first roll and started wrapping it around a deep wound in Luke's back after she had washed it out with a piece of fabric torn from her shirt.

By the time she was done Luke's skin had paled to a sickly shade of blue-white and his eyes were constantly rolling as if he couldn't get away from the pain the lacerations caused him. Mara brushed the back of her hand across Luke's cheek and his eyelids fluttered and he moaned. For a moment he was still and Mara felt her heart run cold—what had happened? Had his heart just stopped? Did he just stop breathing? Mara's hand had just moved frantically to his neck when Luke groaned again and he opened his clear, no longer glazed but still pain filled eyes to Mara's face.

"Tell me," Mara said as she once again let her hand drift to his cheek, "what did you say to Tarckok to warrant a beating like this? 'Cause whatever it was it must have been good." Luke started to laugh and almost immediately began to choke. Coughs wrenched his body and Mara gently slipped her arm around his shoulders and supported him until he was done. She lay him back on the floor and his hand that he had held against his mouth fell away, covered in blood. Mara though of saying something but stopped, realizing that nothing she said or did would be able to help that wound. Picking up the nearly empty flask Mara held it to his lips and waited until Luke had swallowed the last drop before she assisted him back to the cot.

"Why did they do this?" Mara asked quietly.

"I have been chosen to pay for a crime an ancient Jedi preformed against the Cragon," Luke whispered. "And the people liked the idea so much they decided to make a holo about it." He closed his eyes and his breathing slowed till it was almost even and Mara felt a stab of fear.

"Don't fall asleep Luke, please! I don't know if you'll wake up," Mara said, shaking him gently.

Luke's eyes opened slowly and he moved his blood stained hand forward and stroked her forehead. "I won't leave you, Mara, never." Mara smiled weakly and they kept each other awake far into what they could only assume was the night.

Chapter VI

Nineteen standard weeks later

Mara gently wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on Luke's forehead, electing a sigh from her beaten husband. They had been there for somewhere around four months and Mara was finding it more and more difficult to drag Luke back to the cot after his almost daily battering. They had all but stopped using the spiked club Luke had informed her with no small amount of relief. They finally realized that humans can easily bleed to death and just kicking them around the room was much more entertaining. He had maintained, more then she who should by all rights have more hope then him, that they would be found and rescued. Mara had wanted to have that belief and had asked him how he kept up his faith. But his answer was even more disconcerting then her original feeling of despair.

It was the only thing that kept him alive.

Mara placed her hand over her stomach as she felt another tightening of muscles. It had been going on all morning and they had been getting closer and closer together. She knew she was only eight months pregnant but a part of her mind also knew that this baby was not going to wait.

"Oh, please, if anyone is going to find us let them do it now!" Mara whispered, her eyes filling with tears of pain. "None of us can wait much longer." As she spoke Luke stirred and opened his eyes. He looked up at her questioningly and then saw her whole body stiffen. He saw her hand on her expanded abdomen and lay his beside hers. He felt the contraction and lifted silent, sad eyes to her face.

"You Skywalkers always did have bad timing," she wheezed. Luke moaned softly and then pushed himself painfully to a sitting position and pulled her onto the cot beside him. Mara protested as he pushed her down on the bed and he slipped off to where she had originally been sitting, ignoring her objections. As soon as his knees touch the ground Luke doubled over for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to dissipate.

Luke took Mara's hand in his just as a particularly severe spasm wracked her body, forcing a whimper from her tightly closed lips. Luke reached for one of the unused bandages and dipped it in a bowl of water. He was about to wipe her perspiring forehead with it when the door opened. Twisted around his let narrowing eyes fall on Harsa.

"I won't let you take her," Luke declared with more strength than he thought he could muster.

"Yes you will," Harsa said softly, with a dangerous glint in his voice and yet a belying sympathy in his eyes which caused Luke to wonder if this cold killer had ever had a child. He doubted it mattered. "You will give her to us for three simple reasons. First of all if you refuse we will simply knock you out and take her anyway. Secondly our medical reports say that she will have considerable trouble with childbirth. And thirdly since this baby is being born almost a complete month early, it will be in desperate need of assistance after it is born. And I am positive that this room does not have the needed equipment."

Luke looked back at Mara and she touched her fingers to his tensed arm and sat up. They helped each other to stand and then walk to the door. Harsa put a hand on Luke's chest once they had reached him and shook his head, yet not unkindly. Luke let the guards take Mara from him then looked at Harsa questioningly.

"I have three children at home and have been present for each and every birth, no matter what duty. If it's any condolence I pushed to let you go with her but Tarckok overruled me." Harsa let his hand drop from the bewildered Jedi Master's chest and stepped out of the cell. "You can see him after he is born." With those surprising words, not only to Luke but to the speaker, the door shut.

It wasn't long before Luke found out why Mara was always so distraught at hearing his screams of pain. And he had no illusions that what he had gone through was anything comparable to what she was doing. He sat down on the cot and hugged his knees to his chest, wishing that he could touch her mind, comfort her or give her strength. But he couldn't, all he could do was listen and that was, he realized, what Mara went through every day and vowed anew to find a way out.

He knew it had been a long time since the labor had started and he was beginning to wonder if it would ever end. He didn’t remember Leia’s births taking this long and he wondered if that was what Harsa had meant by a difficult delivery. He snorted. Who was he kidding? If that was what Harsa had meant, than he’d was a gwakian monkey lizard.

At that moment he heard Mara scream as he had never heard her scream before but that wasn't what drove him to his feet. It was the high pitched crying that interrupted her that did it. In fact Mara had fallen completely silent and he didn't know whether to be elated at being the father of a rather loud baby or to worry about Mara. He ended up doing both which left him considerably confused. It was a half an hour latter when the door finally opened and Harsa directed the guards to put Mara down on the bed. Luke gazed at her and he felt whatever elation he might have felt drain away. Her face was paler then his and she was clearly unconscious. He turned accusing eyes at Harsa and was met with a compassionate expression.

"You're lucky she survived it," Luke gasped and started towards her when the guards took him by the arms and started to drag him out of the cell.

"What are you doing?" Luke demanded in desperation. "You can't separate us now!"

Harsa shock his head. "We're not, I'm just taking you to see your son." Luke glanced at him and stopped resisting the guards. They went through the double blast doors and turned down a different corridor then the one he was use to traveling on. They turned down many twisting hallways, went through multiple doorways until Luke gave up trying to remember the route they took. Eventually they came to a door with the universal symbol for hospital engraved on it. They entered the large room, filled with empty beds, five bacta tanks, and panels with utensils and sensors and various other pieces of medical equipment on them. Luke, as he surveyed the sickbay, saw a group of nurses cleaning blood stains from one of the beds and knew who it had just belonged to. Beside the bed was a small incubator. Harsa pointed him to the incubator and then in the still uncommon display of compassion let Luke go forward on his own.

Luke let his hands rest on the glass dome and gazed down at his son and felt his pounding heart stop when his son looked up at him with pale, glittering eyes . . .

Mara had just woken up when Luke returned, walking as quietly as he could with a limp he received when his bad leg gave out on him under the constant strain. Mara sat up and held her arms out to him and they embraced each other in silent joy and grief. Harsa stood by the door and watched them for a second, and then left.

Luke pushed Mara back down on the cot and sat next to her. "What does he look like, Luke? I never got to see him," Mara whispered, her eyes blinking slowly in exhaustion. Luke hesitated but he saw her forehead crease and he knew it would only make it worse if he remained silent.

"He . . . He is very small. And . . . his skin is almost white. His eyes are pale and . . . and one is blue and the other is green." Luke began.

"Sounds like he’s part albino," Mara said, frowning in worry. Luke nodded.

"He . . . he has your nose and my hair—I think, there's not much." That elected a smile from Mara and Luke pressed on. "He has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen, I use to think you did, but his is way cuter." Mara laughed at that, holding his hand and thanking him as best she could without interrupting him. "And he has the smallest hands and the smallest feet with the tiniest fingers and the tiniest toes . . . " Luke's voice trailed off and Mara used her free hand to press their foreheads together as they both started laughing and crying at the same time. Overjoyed at the new life they had created together. And the terrible sorrow at the knowledge that they would not be there to see the fledgling life grow.

Harsa walked back to the bridge feeling extraordinarily subdued. He had thought, as most good, Jedi hating Chiss did, that they were all heartless monsters. Yet instead he had seen a Master show a complete disregard over an obvious defect in his first born for the love of his child. Most Cragon, however family oriented, would have been enraged, stormed around the room until they all came to the inevitable conclusion that the mother was to blame, then they would severely beat her to ensure it never happened. This had never happened in his family but he had seen it happen to others and Master Skywalker's near complete ignorance of it was extremely surprising and forced Harsa to rethink his biased opinion.

He loved a good kill just as much as the next Cragon, especially if it was for the betterment of his people. Though unlike most military leaders he had morals and now they were telling him that this wasn't right. He had been raised to believe in the family structure, but he had also been raised to believe that the exodus caused by the Jedi was the reason for that belief. He should hate the Jedi, but part of him couldn't see why. It had been war—a long time ago. They had lost and as with all conflicts, were forced to leave. It was the way it worked and the Cragon had become stronger for it. It was only a matter of time before they learned the secret of the Force, and then the Jedi would not be a problem any more. Why go against everything their society was based on out of some overextended grudge?

Harsa stepped onto the bridge and saluted Admiral Tarckok. He returned the salute and Harsa quickly strode to his side before he loosed the nerve to ask his almost blasphemous question.

"Sir, why are we killing the Jedi?" Harsa asked as firmly as he could.

Admiral Tarckok looked at Harsa and for the first time in the first officer’s memory he saw an expression of surprise came across the Admiral’s face. "Excuse me? Am I still talking to a Cragon?"

"Well, sir, I just think it is a waste." Harsa added.

"How so?" Tarckok asked, still bewildered.

"I understand killing Master Skywalker since he is a danger to us, but Master Jade-Skywalker would not be a problem if we keep her . . . restrained. She would also help raise the child; we do not know how to open him to the Force but she might. But looking at it that way it would make more sense to keep Skywalker alive and kill Jade-Skywalker instead. But then there might be complication with the child. And once we kill the Jedi’s greatest leaders there will be nothing to stop them from tracking us down and destroying us. And the last time the Jedi set out to do just that it didn't bode well for us." Harsa stopped talking and took a deep breath, waiting for the reply that would send him to Tarckok's personal torture chambers or at the very least demote him or put him in a holding cell.

But all Tarckok did was nod and say, "You make a good point, Commander Harsa."

"I do?" Harsa asked indecorously.

"Yes, you do, " Tarckok said, laughing. "In fact I made similar arguments to the Council of Elders and they decided to ignore them. They want them to die slowly and they want the boy exploited in every way. And what the Council of Elders says, goes."

Harsa nodded and started to back away. "I see. Well then, if that is the Elder’s decision than they must have their reasons. If I have your leave, Admiral, I have duties to perform. Thank you, sir." Harsa saluted his superior once again and left the bridge. The reason, for most people, would have been more then enough to end the conflict and let them go about their business. Still, Harsa couldn't quite shake the deeply rooted feeling that he had to do something to override the Elders' decision. He had lied to Tarckok, he had no duties to perform; in fact his shift had ended almost twenty minutes ago, but he was never one to leave things unfinished.

He traveled the multiple corridors that would take him to his quarters, wasting no time in knocking to make sure his wife was not doing anything he should not know about. The door slid open and he saw the old lady cradling the Skywalker's child in her arms, the tiny albino baby squirming for all his worth.

"Harsa!" his wife cried in alarm. "What—What ar’ yea doin’ ‘ere!"

"Don't be alarmed, love," Harsa reassured her gently. "I agree with you. This family should not be split up in such a way. And if you're willing, you can help me remedy that problem."

Eventually, Luke had crawled up into the cot next to Mara and they lay beneath the light covers in each other’s warm embrace, finding simple comfort in the other's presence. Mara had fallen into a fitful sleep, murmuring and moaning as she fought her battle the only way she could. Luke remained awake, guarding her sleep and wishing he could help her. All good intentions aside, though, exhaustion always had the final say. It slowly started to creep over him and he welcomed the warm blanket of darkness . . .

And he was rudely brought back to awareness when a large hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him almost violently. He screamed in surprise and sat bolt up, scaring Mara into wakefulness beside him.

"Calm down, Skywalker! It's only me!" Harsa said.

Luke pressed the palm of his hand against the left side of his chest and breathed deeply. "You could have given me a heart attack!"

"Quiet, Skywalker," Harsa said, pulling him roughly from the bed and thrusting his lightsaber into his hand. "We're leaving."

"Not that I'm arguing, but what are you doing?" Luke asked, standing and watching as Harsa helped Mara to her feet and handed her own lightsaber back to her.

"My . . . own personal feelings can no longer condone this," Harsa answered, leading them from the cell. From there they could see the two guards posted outside of their prison slumped on the floor with a gaping hole in each of their chests.

"Nice shot," Mara said, leaning against Luke, "but why? I though you people hate the Jedi."

"Yes, but we were always taught that the Jedi cruelty helped us develop a loyalty between all of us, but especially our family. For that I must thank you and this is the best way I know of. " They entered the room with the blast doors and Harsa continued, "My wife awaits you in our quarters with your son. We will go there first and then I will put you in a shuttle. But we have to hurry, it won't be long before they realize something has happened."

They raced down the corridor that had originally led them to the sickbay, but took two different turns then usual. They had just started down a long hallway when they heard the shrill scream of an alarm.

"The found the guards! We have to hurry!" Harsa started to run and the pair of humans limped valiantly after him. They tore off down the hall until they came to a smaller corridor branching off from it. "I can distract them while you get to my quarters. They're down this hall until you come to a T-section, go right until you reach room 2257. Go!"

"Thank you!" Luke cried has Mara took his arm and dragged him after her. They ran down as fast as they could and they could hear Harsa's voice rising in anger at the disruption and a guards shouted reply. They had reached a number of one-man escape pods when the guards had reached them. Luke tried to block their blaster fire with his lightsaber, but the emerald blade was almost impossible to use with the Force Inhibitor still hindering him. He saw the escape pods and swore briefly. If they stayed they would die and there would be no one to help the baby. But if they left they would never get back on. Luke looked behind him where Mara had her own blade out and though but what if . . .

Lifting his blade high into the air he slashed it as far along the wall as he could and heard the beginning of a series of small explosions that were the hyperdrive fuel igniting. The lights went out and then emergency power went immediately to the escape pods. He punched the command button, grabbed Mara's arm and shoved her in. As she fought to recover from the fall Luke closed the door and hit the eject button. The pinions shifted as the release mechanism was initiated. He turned away from the window where Mara had slammed her fist against and saw the guard lift his gun to fire.

Mara could see his eyes widen and heard the blast through the hull as she saw his body go flying backwards in response to the hit. Then the pod ejected and all she could do was scream.

————————————————

"Admiral Tarckok! The Jedi have escaped!" The ensign yelled from his command chair.

"Escaped!" Tarckok exclaimed. "What do you mean escaped? How?"

"I don't know sir. The computer says that one of the guards opened to door to bring in their food and then sensors picked up some blaster fire and there is no longer any life signs in the cell."

Tarckok was about to snarl something back at the ensign when he was interrupted by the amused laughter from the holoprojector in front of him. "What a splendid job you are doing Admiral. Our prisoners are completely safe and secure."

"They were, but if you had trained Harsa to listen to his commanding officers rather then his family values they wouldn't have had the opportunity." Tarckok snarled at Elder Quarrcta di Donna. The leader of the Cragon sat back in his command chair and gently tapped his long spindly fingers together as he frowned and pursed his thick lips.

"What are you talking about, Admiral Tarckok?" Quarrcta asked softly.

Tarckok smiled, making no attempt to hide his satisfaction at being able to show one of the Elders up. "Master Jade-Skywalker gave birth today and Harsa couldn't stand the thought of splitting up the family."

"You can't know that for sure." Quarrcta persisted.

"Of course not," Tarckok agreed easily. "But I find the fact that he just came in here demanding to know why we were killing the Jedi and giving a few good arguments as to why we shouldn't about twenty minutes ago is mildly incriminating."

"I see. He will be dealt with."

Tarckok smiled snidely. "I'm sure you'll be fair. Now, why is it you are calling?"

"Actually on a related topic. While the public thought it deliciously ironic that a human was delivering our retribution at first, some have demanded that a Chiss do more then keep Skywalker from rolling out of your reach. I have decided that I will perform that duty of retribution from now on. You will transfer both—I mean all three prisoners to my ship as soon as they are detained." Quarrcta said in his pretentious tone.

"I think not," Tarckok said simply.

"And why is that?" Quarrcta demanded.

Tarckok smiled, practically preening with superiority. "I have the Jedi Masters, I have the Jedi child, and I have the technology to exploit then all. Do you really think I would give it up that easily? As long as I have them, you cannot touch me."

"You fool!" Quarrcta snarled. "I knew you would betray me, human. I will not be stopped by some pale faced weakling! I can take those Jedi by force if I have too!"

"The only way to do that is to get on this ship and you won't do that without blowing it—and all its occupants—up in the process."

"Then you'll be dead," Quarrcta replied.

Tarckok's smile didn't fade. "And so will the Jedi. Either way, I win."

"There are many ways to board a ship, Admiral Tarckok!" Quarrcta said, his voice low with anger. "Fire ion cannons!"

The massive battleship, its slightly larger cerulean form almost the exact copy of the Threnody, slowly turned its body around majestically in the coldness of space, causing the drifting debris of a nearby nova star to twist and extend. Then as its turbolasers and ion cannons came into range a blast of light shot from a larger cannon and played blue lightning across Threnody's shields. Then the opposing battleship's turbolasers came online and began their relentless bombardment of the Threnody's unprotected body. The Threnody responded in kind, shooting off its own turbolaser cannons in a useless attempt to bring down the undamaged ship's own shields.

But Admiral Tarckok had foreseen trouble once he had made his declaration. Several squadrons of the Lispa 93’s flew from the cargo bays. The 9-13's soared through the dark void between the two ships and began bombarding Quarrcta's shields with high concussion missiles, slowly whittling away at them. Quarrcta responded by releasing his own fighters; not as heavily armed but more then ready to destroy their opponents, no matter who flew them.

The two groups of 9-13 fighters had just engaged each other when the ensign once again shouted bad news at his commanding officer. "Sir! Sensors have just picked up over a dozen Republic and Imperial fighters and two unmarked freighters heading our way!"

Tarckok snarled in frustration. He couldn't afford to send any of their fighters off to intercept them, they were barely holding their own as it was. The new intruders were heading for them now, keeping their distance but possibly just scouting for a larger incoming force. Gritting his teeth he ordered that one squadron engage the Republic and Imperial ships and looked back out the view port. Quarrcta's ship was still pounding them and engineers were scurrying around in a failed attempt to get their shields back up. On top of that he still didn't know what had happened to those blasted Jedi—

The thought had scarcely run through his mind when the lights suddenly dulled before slowly coming up again and a succession of explosions seemed to making their way around the ship.

"One of the main fuel conduits has been ruptured and ignited sir!" the ensign informed him. "It's blowing out energy circuits all over the ship."

"Blast those Jedi into the void and beyond!" Tarckok cried. "What could possibly go wrong now!" And then he saw the psudolights of an object leaving hyperspace form into two Mon Calamari Star Cruisers. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of an escape pod ejecting and felt a cold stab to fear. Was his crew deserting him? No, not now! Not when they were so close! There was a way, some way too—

"Sir! We have Master Skywalker back under custody. Master Jade-Skywalker was able to board an escape pod." Harsa's voice, almost sounding disappointed but not quite, informed Tarckok over the com.

"Skywalker . . . Is he injured?" Tarckok asked.

"Yes sir," Harsa answered with the faint sound of regret, "it was the only way to subdue him."

Tarckok smiled quite menacingly to himself, as the simple solution to all his problems became painfully evident.

Chapter VII

"This had better be the last place," Wedge growled from inside the modified cockpit of his X-Wing. "I never knew I could hate a quadrant of space so passionately before."

"And that's just the kind of talk that keeps getting us in trouble," Talon Karrde commented over the com.

There was a bemused snort and a roar from another channel. "You said it, Chewie." Han Solo grumbled from the same com frequency.

"Said what, Solo?" Shada D'ukal, Karrde's second in command, demanded tersely.

"That we get chased out of enough star systems back home, we don't have to add new ones to the list." Han responded dryly.

Wedge laughed. "Here, here! Four months of making enemies is far to long."

"All right, lets save this delightful discussion for another time. We're about to come out of hyperspace." Karrde interrupted. The surrealistic lights twisted and converged together and then slowed until the stars settled into their proper places. The two light freighters, a TIE Defender squadron, and Rogue Squadron exited hyperspace and soared smoothly forward; the star-studded space was clear before them. Not for the first time in their long search each pilot and crewmember groaned with dismay. Once again, the battleship called Threnody was one step ahead of them.

Karrde had slumped into his command chair on the Wild Karrde's bridge, thinking that even making a few more enemies was better then the hours long wait for the Y-Wings to get there and find the battleship's escape trajectory. Then suddenly an alarm went off as the sensors picked up turbolaser fire a number of light-years away.

"Dankin, change course to follow the turbolaser fire. I think our little friend might be having a bit of a disagreement with someone else." Karrde ordered. The Wild Karrde's nose rose sixty-eight degrees upwards and the Millennium Falcon and the rest of the snub fighters followed closely behind. The scene in the view ports quickly changed as the blackness of space was replaced by the slowly expanding cloud of debris spreading out into the vastness around it. The cloud was at first beautiful, its grains of dust tinted purple and cerulean blue, swirling together to form an awe-inspiring canopy of color. There was only one thing diminishing from the splendor—the Threnody, the ship they had been chasing for all these months, sharing turbolaser fire with another battleship of similar design.

"What in Kessel are they doing?" Han demanded.

"I'll be damned if I know," Karrde responded. "I'm not about to argue with them. Dankin, contact the taskforce and tell them we found the Threnody and for them to send back up."

"Done and done. I can't wait until this is all over," Dankin muttered, his hand flying over the controls.

"It ain't finished until the fat Hutt sings," Han reminded them.

"Burps," said Corran.

Han frowned, glancing over at Chewie. "What?"

"Hutts can't sing," Corran explained.

"Oh, for the love of—it's just a saying!" Wedge interjected.

"Have you ever heard a Hutt sing?" Corran demanded. "'Cause I've heard 'em try and it ain't pretty."

"Yeah, you're right, Chewie, he's got a point. However irrelevant," Han commented.

Shada, ignoring the bickering, suggested, "Let's go in a bit closer. Maybe they have their cargo hold open and we can get in without too much trouble while their crews are out fighting."

Karrde frowned. "It might work. But I'd still like to wait until some bigger ships get here and we know if we'll be able to use the tractor beam."

"Might as well check out Shada's idea while we're waiting," Wedge commented.

"Agreed. Lets go in nice and easy and try not to give them a reason to start shooting at us." Karrde cautioned.

Han grunted. "Like that ever works."

"To be safe, all X-Wings put your S-foils in attack position and everyone keep weapons on stand-by."

The group of ships closed in on the two battling starships and started to drop beneath them. The Threnody had started to ponderously turn towards the billowing cloud to its side, the opposing ship raking its side with verdant laser blasts. The New Republic and Imperial ships circled as far away form the Threnody as they could while still staying close enough to see if the docking bay doors were open. An armada of the Threnody's shuttles spotted them and started in their direction just as Karrde received word that two Mon Calamari Star Cruisers were seconds from exiting hyperspace. Karrde just confirmed that they had received the message when they were forced to engage the enemy shuttles.

They hit the TIEs first, sending one spinning into the vaporous cloud of debris. The other ships responded more quickly, the Falcon had her nose already turned to their attackers and the rest were not far behind. Wedge ducked below the Falcon and fired off a volley of laser blasts at a shuttle shooting at the Falcon's belly, the first four taking out the forward shields and the next three blowing the engine and eventually the whole ship; the debris and shrapnel splattering against the Falcon's shields. Wedge rolled his X-Wing to the side as a TIE came in behind him to blast the shuttle coming in through its sister ship's debris. The Falcon corkscrewed up 60°, chasing two shuttles Han was blasting at in the gun turrets. The quad laser blast finally blew one of the ships and the Falcon swung wide to avoid the explosion. The remaining shuttle tried to arc up and over the Falcon in a classic attempt to get behind her. But the freighter was able to stay with the light fighter and even make their turn just small enough for Han to be able to hit the front shields, which had been diminished to strengthen the rear deflectors. The shuttle exploded and the Falcon twisted neatly out of the way.

Corran dove right into the middle of the dogfight, Ooryl Qrygg watching his back closely. Corran picked out one shuttle and roughly changed his course to follow it. Suddenly a barrage of laser bolts exploded behind him.

"Corran! I have a ship on my tail!" Ooryl shouted as he spun his ship away in a vain attempt to lose his pursuer.

"Alright, I got 'em!" Corran responded, turning his X-Wing to follow. Ooryl twisted and turned through the debris-strewn battlefield as the shuttle stayed on his tail like a shadow, Corran struggling to copy their maneuvers. He moved his X-Wing closer as his guns were still having trouble hitting the weaving shuttle. He saw the shuttle hit Ooryl's aft shields and saw them flicker and quickly glanced at the sensors and realized they were about to fail. He knew he had to hit that shuttle soon but it was weaving such an intricate pattern in front of him that he was having enough trouble just following it. Corran switched his lasers to quad-fire and relaxed, letting his hands rest easily on the controls and stretched out into the Force. He let it guide his hands and in the exact instant when the shuttle was most vulnerable . . .

And the enemy shuttle blew up in a blaze of fire as the X-Wing's lasers cut through one of the ion engines, igniting it and sending it blasting through the rest of the ship. Corran let out a cheer as he snapped out of his trance and realized it had worked. He was about to ask Ooryl if he was in need of any assistance when Whistler, his R2 unit, squealed in alarm. Corran checked his displays and swore in frustration. Now he had picked up a tail. He twisted the X-Wing in every which direction, wondering where Ooryl was and how the shuttle was staying on his back so readily. He corkscrewed the X-Wing down and to the right in a near fatal mistake as the shuttle let of a barrage of blasts that almost cut through his upper S-foil. Corran struggled with the controls that seemed to leap and jump in his grasp as the distorted gravitational forces generated from the dead suns tugged at the X-Wing. He managed to get the fighter in check but it was too late. He could feel the targeting systems of the shuttle lock on his X-Wing and accepted the knowledge that there was nothing he could do. He closed his eyes and waited for oblivion . . .

And he didn't get anything like he had expected. As it turned out the shuttle's plans were rudely disrupted too as a TIE fighter blew it up in a near impossible fly by shot. Corran sighed in relief. “Thanks for the save Blue Seven!”

“Any time Rogue Nine.”

Karrde grabbed hold of the arms of his command chair as the Wild Karrde was hit yet again by the Chiss ships. But instead of feeling worried like most others would he felt a certain sense of relief. The two Mon Cal cruisers had just left hyperspace and engaged Threnody and the other battleship. There was barely any opposing shuttles left and it looked like they would be able to easily subjugate Threnody without resorting to destroying it. The last shuttle was destroyed and Karrde signaled the other ships to follow him in to assist the Mon Cal cruisers.

And suddenly an entire section of Threnody's lights flickered and then winked out, as the area seemed to inexplicably lose all power.

"How did that happen?" Shada asked, glancing at the sensor readings. "Nothings even hit that part of the ship!"

"Which is just another way of saying Luke and Mara got out and they decided they liked the place about as much as they liked Nirauan." Han commented from the Falcon. Karrde grinned as he turned intent eyes on the view port, waiting for a ship that would be hopefully leaving the hanger in any matter of minutes. He ordered that all the ships slow down, waiting to see how they would get out or whether they would have to go in.

Suddenly there was a small explosion on the side of Threnody as a one-man escape pod was blown off the side. "Sensor indicate one human female on board!" Dankin reported.

"Mara . . ." Karrde murmured to himself. "Alright, lets go pick her up." The Wild Karrde changed course almost before the words had left his mouth and headed straight for the pod. The tractor beam was activated and the pod came to a staggering stop. They tractored it into the shuttle bay as Karrde jumped to his feet. "You have the bridge, Shada!"

He rushed down the corridors and met the medical team he had on call part way there. They entered the bay just as the door to the escape pod opened. Karrde jogged forward and easily sprinted up the ladder to catch the pale, refined hand that was grasping its way out. Karrde leaned back as he pulled Mara towards him and out of the pod, and promptly fell off the ladder. They tumbled to the floor and Karrde got the air knocked out of him as Mara landed on him. She scrambled to her feet and fell against the escape pod, gasping for breath and glancing around quickly to get her bearings. She looked around and saw Karrde gasping for breath.

"Karrde! Oh, by the void, I gotta get back on the ship!" Mara cried rushing forward and dragging Karrde to his feet. "Please! Luke's still on there and I know he won't be able to get off—"

Karrde took one more gulp of air before he interrupted her strangely frantic pleas. "You can't go back on there, Mara. Calm down, if you can get off, so can he," Karrde said soothingly, seeing her bruised and broken body and not liking the sinking feeling that there was something missing.

Mara opened her mouth to respond when Karrde's comlink suddenly beeped. "What?" he asked.

"The Threnody has a message for us that you might want to see," Dankin said quietly, his subdued tone alone telling Karrde and Mara that the news wouldn't be good. Karrde put his arm around Mara's shoulders and helped her to the bridge. They stepped through the door and Mara moaned in grief at the sight seen through the holoprojectors.

There was a human admiral surrounded by Chiss troops. The admiral had an especially smug grin on his face which most of his crew shared. They were standing on a wide bridge filled with officers racing around putting out fires or trying to get various systems up. There were two low ranking soldiers standing by the Admiral with eager gins on their face as they held up Luke's limp form. The Jedi Master was in even worse shape then Mara, his entire body was covered with gashes and large welts. There was a deep gash along his face and a large amount of the skin on his prosthetic hand had been ripped off. But worsted of all was the blaster wound in his abdomen, bleeding freely.

"To all ships opposing the Threnody," the Admiral began in a tone that implied that he was in command now and he knew it. "I know that he is the man you're all looking for. And I know that you would all go to great lengths to keep him alive. And I have just that great length.

"You will let my ship pass unhindered where we please until I am ready to hand him over. Otherwise I will simply kill him—" the Admiral paused as he reached for something out of the holoprojector's range and lifted a small bundle of clothed to his chest, "—and we'll see just how interested you are in his child."

There was a simultaneous gasp form the bridge crew on the Wild Karrde and almost everyone turned to look at Mara who groaned and started to sink to the floor. Karrde quickly brought her over to the command chair and let her sit down.

"I await your decision but know that I have a short patience. And a eager trigger finger," the admiral said. Then, just as the transmission was about to end, one of the soldiers slammed his fist into Luke's stomach, electing a groan of pain and then setting off a spasm of coughing. The image disappeared and the bridge was silent.

Suddenly the com channel squawked and Shada jumped to answer it. "This is Admiral Ackbar—all Republic and Imperial ships are to stand down and return to Coruscant." The Mon Cal's voice set in motion a variety of protests among the crew and caused Mara to slam her fist against the arm of the command chair. But everyone did as they were ordered and all the ships slowly began to move away.

The Threnody had, by then, turned its massive form onto its hyperspace vector and as its engines lit up in preparation Mara began to moan, "No . . . no . . . no . . ." over and over again as she clutched her head in her hands.

And then the Threnody disappeared into the silent coldness of space, living up to her terrible name.

————————————————

Luke could feel his life slowly draining from the gaping wound in his abdomen, and along with it he felt a certain sense of relief and failure. Failure at saving his son and relief that his fight was finally over. You won't have the chance to kill me now, Tarckok! he thought feverishly. The metal floor was cool against his cheek and neck, cooling the beads of sweat that had formed there and for once making him more then a little comfortable. Oh, great, I'm delirious. He heard, in a far off way, the door to the cell slide open and footsteps coming in. Gentle hands turned him onto his back and now he heard someone softly swearing. He felt the tatters of his shirt being pulled away from his wound and he hissed in pain. He tired weakly to push the hands away; death was preferable to this torture. And then cool water was poured into the wound and though at first painful, eventually it seemed to drive away the burning fever. He heard the echoes of a voice, but it was still too distorted to understand. He tried to open his eyes but they seemed glued shut. He finally forced them open and caught the last part of the sentence the speaker spoke as he placed something cold and cylindrical into his shirt.

" . . . Here, take you lightsaber," the voice—was it Harsa's? —said. "I don't doubt I won't be here much longer to give it back to you next try."

Luke's vision cleared to reveal to him the blue visage of Harsa's care worn face. "What's going on . . .?"

"You've been shot," Harsa answered, amused. "Don't you remember?"

"So that’s why there’s a big gaping hole in my stomach. But why aren’t you and I dead?" Luke asked, forcing the words from his mouth and the humor into his voice as Harsa carefully place gauze in the wound and started to bandage it.

"Tarckok needs you as a bargaining chip, and . . . I don't know why I'm still alive," Harsa explained. "I—I'm sorry, I can't do more for you." Luke tried to raise his voice enough to stop him but his last comment seemed to have taken everything from him. Harsa carefully turned Luke back onto his stomach again and then scurried from the room.

It seemed like forever had taken place between then and when the door opened once again. Luke could feel his stomach begin to growl and his throat dry up. He waited patiently—he really couldn't wait any other way— for someone to come in with food but no one did. Under normal circumstances this would not have been a problem for him. But with a blaster wound in his stomach, he desperately needed something to help him replenish the loss of blood. He could feel his mind slowly drifting back into the darkness from which he knew he would never arise when the door slid open. He tried to see who it was but even if his eyes had been working he doubted that his mind was working well enough for him to recognize them.

He could faintly hear a loud wailing that sounded vaguely familiar. Then beside him he heard something thud against the floor and forcing his failing eyes to watch the bundle of brown cloth flailing and squirming and screaming.

"Hello, Skywalker."

The two words, simple enough, echoed over and over until Luke moaned in pain, feeling his grip on reality weaken.

"I see you are already learning your lesson in not attempting to escape again," Tarckok said, kneeling alongside Luke's head so he could hear him better. "Your wife may have escaped, but only to live with the guilt that she left her husband to his death and her son to a lifetime of servitude."

Luke snarled in anger and pressed his palms into the floor, sluggishly pushing himself up. But Tarckok had other ideas as he stood back up and shoved him to the floor again by stepping on Luke's back. "As it is, you will at least have a little time with him. As punishment for his crimes, I had Commander Harsa's wife killed. And since she was the only one who knew how to get the little brat to stop crying I will let you suffer with him."

There was another thud as a basket with food was dropped onto the floor. "I'll tell you what. You think of a name for him by the time I come back and I'll let you live for . . . oh, another month. " As he finished Luke could hear Tarckok's foot steps leading back to the door and then the cell was dark and empty once more. Summoning all his strength Luke pushed himself onto on of his elbows and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He looked at the first bundle and realized in his pain fogged brain, which seemed to be stumbling along about ten minutes behind him, that Tarckok had casually dropped his son from about a metre in the air to a metal floor. Driving himself on, Luke pushed until he was sitting and then picked up his son, cradling him to his chest as he doubled over, sobbing in pain as his son sobbed in fear.

Holding his son to him with one hand, hooking the handle of the basket around the other, Luke somehow managed a three-limbed limp to the wall. Leaning against it, Luke rocked back and forth as he had seen Han do so many times to calm down his three children. The babe only cried louder and squirmed in a useless attempt to free himself from Luke's arms. He tried to feed him from the bottle included in the basket but the baby just turned his head away.

Luke was becoming more and more frantic. He didn't know what to do; he couldn't use the Force or call on someone with experience. If the baby had been injured in the fall, then there would be nothing Luke could do about it. As his son's screams escalated Luke bit his lip when his only option became apparent. Bracing himself against the wall and placing his son in such a way that he hoped he wouldn't accidentally hurt him, Luke tried to reach out into the Force.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring his pain, ignoring his son's cries, ignoring all sensation except the Force. Then the Force Inhibitor kicked in he felt an electrical pulse shoot through his body. Gritting his teeth, Luke steadfastly ignored that as well. Drawing on all his strength, Luke forced his way past the block keeping him from utilizing all of his reserves and reached out. Out to the small, young mind screaming not only out loud, but unconsciously doing so in the Force as well.

His parents! All he wants is his parents! The thought was so obvious that Luke couldn't believe he hadn't picked up on it as well. Forcing the pain of the Inhibitor away from his own thoughts, Luke touched his son's mind and opened his. The baby, somehow knowing exactly what to do, looked in and saw who Luke was. His crying instantly stopped with a small hiccup and he giggled enthusiastically, bouncing up and down in Luke's lap. Luke let go of his tenuous grip on the Force and choked down a shriek of agony. He opened his eyes and saw his son looking at him with his small, charmingly cute smile and big, pale, mismatched eyes. Then he passed out.

Luke wasn't sure how long it had been since he had lost consciousness when something started poking him in the side. Opening his eyes he looked up to see the fuzzy image of Admiral Tarckok prodding him with his foot. He could see Harsa standing behind him, his blazing eyes burning a hole in Tarckok's back as his rage and grief sought to free themselves.

"I'm impressed, Skywalker," Tarckok said, though his voice did not reflect his words, "you got the little banshee to shut up. Now, as I said, I have come back for the name. What will it be?"

Luke blinked frantically, realizing that he and Mara had never even brought the subject up. His mind whirled as he thought furiously for a name, any name. When he didn't answer immediately Tarckok took his blaster form its hustler at his side and aimed it at Luke's chest. "Well . . .?"

"Ben!" Luke wheezed at the last second. "His name is Ben."

"Ah, your lamented Master. Nostalgia is such an inspiration for so many names. Wasn't your first child named for you wife's father, Harsa?" Tarckok asked, glancing behind him as he put his gun away.

"Yes . . ." Harsa hissed, his voice seething with hatred.

Tarckok smiled smugly and then turned to leave, saying as he passed Harsa, "Set a course for the K'ti'ma System. We will stay there until exactly one month from now and then we will drop off Master Skywalker." Harsa looked back at Luke with a brief expression of dread before he brought himself back under control.

"K'ti'ma . . ." Luke murmured after they had left, rolling the word around in his head in a vain attempt to remember if he had ever been there. But nothing came up and he realized he was lucky to remember his own name. Looking down he saw his son, Ben, curled up on the floor with a small contented smile on his face. Luke touched his fingers to his cheek, and smiled himself when Ben uttered a sigh.

T h e D r e a m

Chapter VIII

Four standard weeks latter

Luke knew that his time was almost up. He could feel it in the brief times he was able to break through the barrier set up by the Force Inhibitor when he calmed down Ben. In the quiet way his son clung to him, Luke knew his son sensed it too. He had done his best to instill values in him, using the Force to ingrain them into his very mind, knowing that the prospect that Tarckok would leave Ben with someone who would teach him these things was unlikely.

He knew the dangers of what he was doing, but he had no choice. He stood over the bassinet immersed in the Force. He had learned to shunt away all feeling except that which he needed to move. While this allowed him to work with his full attention, it had the added disadvantage of taking away his knowledge of how long he could hold out before exhaustion overtook him. Sometimes he would pass out without any warning at all. He didn't intend to work long.

He touched his hand to Ben's forehead and concentrated. The babe didn't resist, he was used to his father's intrusion but Luke had ingrained in him a rejection of anyone else's touch besides that of a Jedi. Now came the most important thing Luke wish to impart. He worked his way past the blocks and natural defenses until he reached the most basic part of the mind. He found the part of Ben that might lash out in anger and disabled it. He put in its place the ability to harm others, with the Force, only out of self-defense and the protection of others who could not fight back. He had to strain; the alteration of natural instinct was the most difficult of tasks. At last he succeeded and withdrew.

Opening his eyes he saw Ben looking up at him with an oblivious smile on his face. Luke knew he liked having his father touch his mind, in the same way all children enjoy knowing they are loved and noticed. Luke was glad he didn't have to force his way in, not because he couldn't, but because one of his own natural instincts wouldn't allow it.

Brushing his hand across Ben's forehead in his now customary show of affection—Ben had started doing the same to Luke when he was cradled—Luke stood back and lifted the blanket away from the bassinet. He took out the lightsaber that he had not touched since Harsa had placed it in his shirt and ignited it. The emerald blade extended and Ben caught his breath and stared at the laser sword, mesmerized.

Letting the Force guide his hand, Luke made a small insertion into the mattress of the bassinet, just slightly longer then the lightsaber. He took the lightsaber and pushed it into the slit. Then he used the Force to bind the mattress back together, reconnecting the cut molecules so that no one would see where the insertion was made. He touched Ben's mind again and let him know where the lightsaber was and how to remove it and hide it again. And a need to keep it with him at all times without letting anyone else see it.

Suddenly he felt a stirring in the Force—someone was coming to his cell. Sitting down on his cot Luke let go of the Force and all the pain and exhaustion came back in a rush and he lay down on the cot hurriedly. Tarckok had inexplicably stopped beating him and he had slowly begun to heal. Even so his food allotments were kept small and that alone was enough to bring his strength down to a minimum.

The door opened and Harsa and two guards came in. Luke pushed himself up until he was sitting again and murmured a greeting to the anguished First Officer. After Tarckok had killed Harsa's wife, he had hired an assassin to go to Harsa's home and kill all but one of his children. The remaining child was then brought to the Threnody and kept hostage so Harsa could be kept under control.

"It's time to go, Luke," Harsa said, helping him to his feet. Luke glanced at him quickly before his eyes turned to Ben giggling in his cradle. "You can say goodbye."

Luke slowly picked up Ben and held him close, laughing softly when he brushed his hand across Luke's forehead. Clutching him to his chest, Luke fought to keep his emotions in cheek, knowing that Ben would sense them and become upset. Better that he doesn't know. Unfortunately the child had learned to sense what his father was feeling and began to sniffle in preparation to the loud screams Luke could feel coming.

"No, no, don't cry, Ben," Luke soothed. "I'll be back for you, I promise." Except Ben couldn't understand his words, he only knew that the one person he trusted was leaving. Luke went to place him back in the bassinet but Ben let out a scream of such magnitude that Luke held him tighter and whispered reassurances over and over again until Ben's wailing had been reduce to small sobs. Putting him down in the bassinet Luke followed Harsa out of the cell, hiding his tears in his hands when the door closed and Ben's screams started anew.

He was taken to a shuttle with his hands in binders, sitting in between two heavily armed guards on their way down to the isolated planet K'ti'ma V. All the way down Luke could feel tears running down his cheeks and he was not ashamed. He couldn’t fear death, he had faced it too many times and come out triumphant. He could only feel grief at what Ben would face and pray to the powers that be that he would come out triumphant as well.

The shuttle came to a gentle landing in a grassy clearing surrounded by massive trees that reminded Luke of the ones on Endor, except they weren't quite as round and there was larger spaces between them. Luke noticed, with no small amount of trepidation, that all the Chiss that traveled with them—and there was quite a few—had their own blaster rifles with them. As they entered the forest, the Admiral would not go forward until several scouts had returned after reporting a certain amount of space clear. They moved about a silently as they could, Tarckok ordering one of Luke's guards to slap him every time his bad left leg caused him to stumble, which would make him stumble again, which would get him slapped again. Eventually they just bodily dragged him along and picked him up when his leg gave out. More then once a guard would hear something moving in the brush and when it didn't immediately answer his call, shot at it. Three creatures that were plainly herbivore and of no danger to them were killed, as well as one scout who made just a little too much noise and didn't think the call was addressed to him.

Eventually they came to a place where the trees where filled with aeries of all shapes and sizes. Luke could hear strange calls resounding from the occupants of the nests, and saw all the men aim their guns upwards as if they were waiting for something to attack them. They stayed that way for the longest time, everyone tense and ready to fight. Luke had picked up on every ones feelings of stark fear but then he realized that he had nothing to lose by whatever it was killing him now rather than later.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Luke asked loudly, his voice causing everyone to jump and turn their guns on him. "Hey, I was just asking. I’d rather like to know what’s about to eat me."

Tarckok twisted around to glare at Luke, snarling, "Listen, Skywalker. Those trees are filled with the nests of some of the most vicious creatures in the universe. They will attack without provocation and start to eat you while you are still alive. It is impossible to fight one without a large force behind you and an entire roust of them would eat us in about two seconds. They are incredibly protective of their nests and as of yet have attacked everything that came within one hundred metres of them. I am taking every precaution."

Luke crossed his arms and glanced upwards, keeping the cold fear that started heaving in his stomach from showing on his face. "What do I care when they come? If they attack now at least I'll have the satisfaction of taking a few of you with me. In fact, I'd rather it happened that way." Looking up at the intricate network of branches and mud Luke took a deep breath and yelled, "COME ON! GET DOWN HERE AND EAT ME!" Luke started to jump up and down and wave his arms before the guards could stop him, "COME ON! EAT ME! I MAY BE TOUGH ON THE OUTSIDE BUT I'M JUICY ON THE INSIDE! HURRY UP! COME ON! TAKE A BIG BITE—"

Moving swiftly the guard next to him slapped his hand over Luke's mouth and pinned his arms to his side. Tarckok snarled in anger and delivered a backhand that almost knocked Luke out. The admiral yanked what looked like a medical kit from an ensign, ripped it open and hauled a stylus from inside. Ordering the guard to hold the struggling Jedi still, Tarckok inserted it in his neck. Within seconds Luke saw the colors around him start to shift and change. He blinked and shook his head, backing away from Tarckok who had suddenly started to twist and glow with kaleidoscopic colors.

"We will leave you here to your fate, Skywalker," Tarckok said, his distorted voice echoing eerily in Luke's ears. "I hope you enjoy your spice." Luke felt his body falling to the ground and thought idly in his spice-drugged mind that he seemed to be taking an awful long time to get there. He finally hit and for some strange reason he couldn't feel the earth at all. He could see, in distorted shadows, Tarckok and his men rushing off. His eyes rolled back in his head as he felt himself slipping into full-blown hallucinations. Fighting the delusion with all the mental power at his disposal, Luke rolled onto his stomach and started to crawl in what he could only assume was the same direction Tarckok had gone. Suddenly his ears where split by the sound of a thousand voices screeching and he realized that one of the clutches had just started to hatch. He struggled even harder to get away, but even in his state he knew there was no way he would be able to outrun—out crawl—the creatures. Then he almost ran into a tree and saw a long pointed stick lying beside it. Gripping it in trembling hands, Luke prepared to fight off the beasts with the last of his dying strength.

Using the tree to pull himself to a partial kneel, Luke turned around just in time to see one of the animals heading towards him. He swung the unwieldy stick as best he could, but the beast caught it in its fang filled mouth. Ripping the stick from Luke's hands and throwing it a good distance behind itself, the creature gathered its body together in a posture Luke knew meant that the beast was about to pounce. He waited until he saw it push itself off the ground and then he let go of the tree and fell over backwards. Keeping his body rolling, Luke managed to get a fair distance from where he had been by the time he stopped. Ending the roll on his stomach, Luke started to push himself to his knees when the beast caught up to him and shoved him onto his back. Luke looked up at the creature and waited for it to start ripping into his flesh and devour his body. He could feel its sharp claws digging into his chest to stay balanced. Its still wet, glistening wings were spread to its sides. Its long tail curled around and Luke could feel it tickling his ear. Its slender bronze neck decorated with a thick skinned ridge arched back and it slowly opened its long, wedge shaped maw while it regarded him with glowing crystalline eyes.

And Luke could see a dark silhouette rising behind it, its massive shadow over taking them all. The beast atop him growled and, moving its arms, placed three fingered almost humanlike hands on his cheeks, pressing them close until Luke could feel blood dripping from the wounds. It moved its head closer to his and Luke felt a stirring in his drugged mind and an invasion such as he had never felt before. Yet, oddly enough, he felt no fear. Then he felt a strong push in the Force and the Inhibitor activated, sending a jolt through him with enough energy to make both beings scream in pain. Then the dark silhouette moved into the light and Luke could see clearly beyond them through the pain and he was finally opened to the Force once more.

The spice wore off almost suddenly, at least too Luke's not so reliable perception. One moment he couldn't tell reality from hallucination and the next he felt as if he had simply started to wake up from a dream filled sleep. The first thing to come back was his hearing. He knew he was still in the forest; he could hear a gentle breeze blowing through the branches of the massive trees accompanied by the soft brushing of nearby wing beats. The natural sounds of animals chirping and singing seemed unnaturally loud in comparison. Then as the rest of his senses came back he was made aware of the musty smell of soil and rotted foliage that little the forest floor, and the yielding softness of the leaf bed underneath him. He opened his eyes slowly, gazing skyward at the domed canopy of tree branches. He blinked rapidly as every corner, every curve, every color and detail leapt out at him.

"Must be the spice still wearing off," Luke muttered thickly. Gritting his teeth, Luke prepared to push himself to a sitting position. He started to inch his way up but instead of the stabbing pain he was expecting he felt perfectly fine. Siting up the rest of the way more quickly he looked over himself. There were no longer any wounds on his body. The lashes on his back, the blaster wound in his stomach, even the soreness in his left leg was all gone. In fact, there were no longer any rips in his clothes either. Frowning, Luke stared to get to his feet when he saw what appeared to be a small camp set up beside him. A small burner was turned on, heating a kettle, which after closer inspection was revealed to contain hot chocolate. A pack filled with at least two weeks worth of supplies and some rather odd instruments sat next to the burner. Besides the unexplainable reason for it being there, there was only one problem: it all looked as though it had been made before the Clone Wars. Luke wasn't quite sure he even knew how to use half of it. Sighing he picked up a spidery looking object and started pressing buttons to little success when he heard the soft pattering of footsteps and rustling wings behind him and belatedly remembered hearing it earlier. He turned around, his hand reflexively going to his waist where his lightsaber use to be, not expecting to find it there and trying to hide his surprise when he found it was in fact right where it was supposed to be.

What he turned to see was the small lizard-like creature sitting calmly on his—how he knew it was a "his" Luke couldn't quite figure out—haunches. His skin was covered in dull bronze scales that sheathed his long serpentine body. His wings were folded neatly against his sides but even so Luke could tell they would have a massive span. His hind legs were tucked neatly under him and his three fingered forepaws set close to the rest of him. They were holding his upper body including his wings, which should have required some effort, but he did not show it. He had a long tail that curved around his legs, the tip tapping gently on the ground. His long, slender neck, topped with a ridge of thick skin, was arched gracefully; his wedge shaped head was bowed, a small, adolescent ebony horn curved from each side of his head. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be resting. Then he lifted his head and regarded Luke with large, crystalline eyes . . .

Welcome to the lands of K'ti'ma,

For your life a panacea.

Luke frowned again. The creature had not even moved his mouth yet Luke was sure it was he who had spoken. "Who are you?" Luke asked, walking slowly towards the creature.

I am the dragon of life,

And I will be with you for every strife.

Cyan is my name,

And it is with I who you will play the game.

"I see," Luke said slowly. He sat down again. "Might I ask you a question?"

Ask away,

Though you might not like the answer I say.

"Sounds like Yoda," Luke mumbled to himself. "Uh, yeah, why are you rhyming?" Luke asked warily.

K'ti'ma is a land of rhyme and song,

To answer things gone wrong.

To teach you things new,

You thought you knew.

To share your knowledge in turn,

With those who would learn.

To make things right,

For the greater might.

Luke rubbed his temples, mulling Cyan's words over in his mind, trying to make sense of them. Finally he asked, "So what is it that needs righting, then?"

For ages too long,

The Force has been without song.

Lessons for twenty five thousand years,

Won with blood and tears.

Have been lost in such a short time,

Because of an odious crime.

And then there came you,

Who did all you could do.

But one cannot teach,

Lessons beyond his reach.

And so you are here,

To make them clear.

"So, you're going to teach me those things about the Force that I don't know yet," Luke translated slowly.

Of course that's what we're to do,

Why else would I have chosen you?

Luke sighed. "Ok, why do this now? Why not when I was young and knew even less?"

You had to find your way,

With the one who loves you forever and today.

To learn restraint,

And to love without complaint.

The peace with Jade’s fire,

Now lights the Knowledge pyre.

"Wha . . ." Luke started to ask then groaned and let his head fall into his hands. The rhymes were getting more complicated and somehow more personal. Plus the mention of "Jade's fire" put him in mind of Mara . . . And then it clicked.

"You're talking about me and Mara, aren't you? And what we learned from each other and . . . " Luke's voice drifted off as Cyan patiently bobbed his head. They had never told anyone about that, besides Luke drastically changing his teaching philosophy. But this creature seemed to know the most intimate details of his life.

Come this way! Come this way!

We've much to do and people to see this day.

Come this way and you will see,

It is time to plunge into memory.

Chapter XI

Han walked softly into the sick bay, slowly approaching the bed where Mara perched, fingertips pressed together and her stunning green eyes almost completely glazed over.

"Hey," was all he could think to say as he hopped onto the bed beside her. She mumbled something that was probably a greeting and then seemed to ignore him once more.

"How are you doing?" Han asked tentatively. Mara shrugged. "Aw, c'mon, you ain't fooling me with that. Luke isn't here to coax it out, so I'm gonna hafta do." No sooner had the words left his mouth then Han mentally kicked himself when Mara's eyes almost seemed to brim over with tears. Almost, but she choked back the impulse, swallowing visibly. Then, without warning, she punched Han in the arm, nearly knocking him off the bed.

"I thought you were supposed to be a diplomat's wife," Mara growled.

Han chuckled softly even as he rubbed his sore arm. "Yeah, but I think I've started my mid-life-crisis and I'm stubbornly holding on to my youthful lack of subtlety." Mara laughed softly and then fell silent. Then she slowly let her head fall into her hands and moaned. Han put his arm around her shoulders, not saying a word lest this rare openness of emotion disappear. When Mara let her full weight fall against him, something slipped from her lap and clattered against the floor. Han leaned over and picked it up, realizing it was a data pad with her medical chart and experiencing a brief moment of uneasiness. He started to hand it back to her, but Mara had lifted a slightly expectant eyebrow, waiting for him to read it. With a small amount of trepidation, Han started to read the pad.

Han quickly glanced up at Mara when a brief mention of postnatal depression appeared on what was apparently her medical report. Her eyes narrowed and Han hurried on to the next part.

Han had always thought himself well accustomed to most technical jargon, but after wading through the next report he decided that he had made a somewhat ignorant self-examination. After reading through some dialogue he could barely understand he came to a word biocide parturition condition and finally gave up.

"I don't understand this," Han said, handing the data pad back to her. "What does it mean?"

Mara smiled bitterly and answered, "It means that because of either genetic problems, or purposeful DNA twisting, I cannot have a child without it being . . . disabled. In other words, the baby I had with Luke, who most likely has some physical defect because of me, is probably dead by now. And he was also my only—" Mara stopped herself, as if she realized she was revealing too much of herself. She bit her lip and stared hard at the floor.

"Jeez, Mara," Han exclaimed softly. "I—uh, I'm sorry." Han mentally slapped himself, the words sounding hollow even in his own ears.

Mara shook her head, pressing her lips firmly together in a vain attempt to control her emotions. "You don’t get it! If this had happened two years ago, I would have only been a little upset! I never even wanted children until . . . Luke." Han smiled sadly and nodded. Luke had always wanted a family, if only to carry on the Skywalker line. "At least this way he could be worried about protecting his children instead of running off on every errand the New Republic wanted him to," Mara added bitterly.

"Well, there are ways to fix this, I'm sure. When Luke gets back you two can take care of the kid you already got and try and find a cure," Han said optimistically, rubbing Mara's back in support.

"That's assuming that Luke and our baby get back, and that they live, and that the baby hasn't already died or won't in the future," Mara snarled in anger. "And besides, it's a genetic problem! There's no cure for that!"

Han shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure there's some sort of treatment to at least increase your chances." Mara just snorted and shook off his arm, hugging her self and refusing to respond to Han's optimism.

Mara's brooding was suddenly interrupted when the quiet swoosh of a door sliding open heralded Karrde's approach. Han opened his mouth to tell Karrde what had happened but he just shook his head slightly, the usually slightly sardonic expression he wore was replace with dark anger.

"The ship I sent to watch the Threnody has reported back," Karrde informed them.

Mara lifted her head, her eyes desperate and almost hopeful. "What did it say?" she asked urgently.

"It said that the Threnody waited one month after you escaped before they dropped Luke off on a planet. They've identified it form local star charts as K'ti'ma V. They said that after several hours the shuttle that brought Luke there returned and they left, supposedly without him," Karrde answered.

"Then they have Luke?" Mara asked, hope starting to enter her voice. Then she saw the shocked expression on Han's face and the grim acceptance on Karrde's and that hope died before it was fully born. "What? What's so big about this world K'ti'ma?"

Karrde sat down on the bed next to Mara and asked, "Did we tell you everything that Yeema told us?"

"No," Mara answered, "only that he had a data card that told you where they were taking me and Luke and that he told you some story about the Chiss that scared Corran half to death."

"Well, the data card said that they would torture Luke until you gave birth and then force him to watch you die. After that they would take him to a world called K'ti'ma V and put him near a clutch of eggs about to hatch, all full of creatures known to be very hungry after they are born," Han explained. Mara stared at him in the same shock that Han had directed towards Karrde a few seconds earlier.

Karrde nodded in agreement and then added, "A team when down after the Threnody left and tracked their path. They found samples of Luke's blood, some torn material . . . and a nest full of broken eggs."

"Oh . . . I see." The words were spoken so softly that even sitting beside her, it was difficult for Han and Karrde to hear Mara speak them.

"He's not dead," Han said, mind racing to find a way to take the look of acceptance form Mara face. "You would have known instantly if he was dead."

"But he had a inhibitor on! Leia said she couldn't sense us when we had it on, so how would I know if anything had happened to him?" Mara demanded.

Karrde shrugged and, continuing on Han's line of thought put in, "Then he would have done what Obi-Wan did and come back to tell you. You'd know Mara, no matter what."

—————————————

Now here's a man you knew so well,

Though he's young now, so you really can't tell.

But if he saw you now his pride would swell.

"Well, who is it?" Luke asked as they walked into the clearing. He was dressed in the same clothes that old Ben used to ware, with a lightsaber hanging comfortably on his belt. His hair was brown with a long braided rat-tail on the right side and thicker, shorter one in the back. "He looks vaguely familiar. Maybe it's the clothes."

You've already made the connection,

This isn't for my deduction.

Oh, look, here comes the introduction.

The man spotted them and started to walk over with and expression of relief on his face. Probably wondering what was going on just as I am, thought Luke, I wonder if he has a little rhyming lizard leading him around too?

"Pardon me, I don't suppose you could tell me where I am?" the man asked when he reached them.

Luke sighed. "Um, I know we're on a planet called K'ti'ma V somewhere in the Wilder Regions. That's about it." Luke answered warily.

"That's all?" the man asked. Luke shrugged. "Not even the system?" the man asked hopefully. Luke shook his head. The man sighed. "Well, at least I found someone just as lost as I am. My name's Obi-Wan Kanobi. Yours?" Luke raised his eyebrows slowly, looking over at Cyan.

Did I not say,

You'd already made the connection this day?

You should listen to me, OK?

"Well, yeah, but you're not the most direct person in the galaxy when you talk," Luke growled. The man who claimed to be Obi-Wan gave him a questioning look. "He rhymes. Constantly. It's horrendously annoying and it takes you five minutes to figure out what he just said."

Obi-Wan looked a little more confused and worried. "He . . . he didn't say anything."

"Yes he did, he just—" Luke stopped and glared at Cyan. "Let him hear you."

I was waiting for you,

To say that I could do,

What you just told me to.

"Wow, he does rhyme," Obi-Wan said.

"No kidding," Luke said. "He also seems to know every detail about your life too."

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows again. "I see. Sounds fun. By the way, I'm Obi-Wan, and you are . . . ?" he repeated

Luke sighed. "Sorry, he's distracting. Luke Skywalker. And if I can be of aid just ask."

"Skywalker? Any relation to a Anakin Skywalker?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Well yes, he's—"Luke began, then paused. This was either a weird dream or he was an imposter or Luke had back about fifty years in time. And if the latter was true then saying that someone who was probably only ten years old was your father wasn't the best idea. "—he's my cousin. Last I heard of him he was killed in a coolant leak." Luke winced inwardly. He was a terrible liar and he felt guilty about misleading his former mentor. But if this was the past, then it had already happened. Was this how Obi-Wan had know that Luke would become a Jedi?

Now he was confused without the help of Cyan's riddles. Then Obi-Wan was speaking again and Luke quickly brought his attention back to what he was saying.

" . . . good news for you then. He's alive and well. I'm actually training him to be a Jedi myself."

"That's wonderful! Is he here?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. If he was here he was just one of many people Luke shouldn't allow to see him. Unfortunately he was talking to another one of them now.

Obi-Wan just shook his head. "He was with me just a few minutes ago. But, then, a few minutes ago I was on Coruscant too."

"Interesting," Luke mused out loud, his gaze sliding over to the dull bronze lizard trotting contentedly at his side, staring up at him with intense eyes. "I wonder if you have anything to do with it?"

How could it be me?

I'm as innocent as can be,

Don't you see?

"You sound like my nephew Ana—" Luke caught himself just in time, "—tipren when he's trying to convince me he wasn't the one who dismantled the protocol droid that was babysitting him." Obi-Wan chuckled when Cyan ruffled his wings in indignation.

They had started to walk in the direction that Obi-Wan had presumably come from when he chuckled again. "You two suit each other. No, that's not an insult, just an observation." He paused and then frowned, "And I know this probably has nothing to do with that, but would you tell me your midi-cholrian count? We found some interesting results when we tested Anakin.”

"Uh—I don't really know it off hand," Luke said, vying for time. What in the galaxy was that?

Obi-Wan stopped, glaring at him. "You don't know your midi-cholrian count?" he asked incredulously.

Luke took a deep breath before answering. "Nope. I guess my Master never told me about that." Which was, technically speaking, true, until . . . when. No, that wasn't it. Luke frowned.

"You're lying about something," Obi-Wan said suddenly.

"W-What? Why would you think that?" Luke asked, still stalling.

Obi-Wan compressed his lips. "What good Jedi wouldn't know what midi-cholrians are?"

"I had a terrible Master," Luke said, his mind spinning. "Really inept. And being a very, very oblivious person it took me up until recently to figure out he was an . . . alcoholic." Luke bowed his head in shame to hide his failing attempts to keep from laughing.

"That's terrible! How didn't the council see this? Never mind, he probably didn't go very near the council, didn't he? What was his name?" Obi-Want asked.

Luke took along time in answering, trying desperately to keep from bursting into laughter. "Wes Janson. He found me on . . . Bakura. I lived in a small village so no one knew any better."

Obi-Wan shook his head, looking angry. "You're lucky you got out before he did irreparable damage. I'll take you to the council so they can decide what is to be done with this 'Master' Janson. But for now I guess I can fill you in. From one Skywalker to the next, I suppose." Luke just squeaked and nodded, not trusting his voice. "Midi-cholrians are organisms that live within our cells. They listen to the Force, and they, well, as my Master put it, they whisper to us. And the more you have, the stronger in the Force you are."

"I see," was all Luke could think to say. "How can you tell?"

Obi-Wan took out a small cylindrical device. "All you have to do is take a blood sample with this and analyze it. It's a standard test in most core world hospitals."

"Well, Bakura isn't exactly a core world," Luke said, having little trouble feigning sheepishness.

"True," Obi-Wan agreed. "That will have to be changed."

They were silent for a minute and then a question came to him. "Why did you want to know my—uh, count?"

"Oh, it's just that Anakin's count is in the thousands!" Upon seeing the blank expression on Luke's face he added, "That's a lot. It's more than even Master Yoda."

At that Luke did look impressed. His father had been stronger in the Force than Yoda? "That is amazing. I've even heard of Master Yoda."

"It's a pity we don't have any equipment to scan you. This only transmits the blood sample," Obi-Wan commented, pocketing the device again.

"Well, there might be something in here,” Luke suggested, gesturing to the backpack. "Cyan insisted that I bring it with us and I didn't get a good look at everything inside."

Obi-Wan agreed and they stopped as Luke settled the pack gently on the ground. Obi-Wan opened it and rummaged around inside and then pulled an object much larger than the first device out. It was like a rounded rectangle with smooth protrusions and a small 2D keyboard and screen that Obi-Wan pulled out of the side. There was also a small slot with the same diameter as the original device.

"Here," Obi-Wan said, taking Luke's right arm by the wrist and placing the device where normally a blood vain would have been and depressed a button. Nothing happened.

"You might want to try the non-prosthetic hand," Luke commented. Obi-Wan's eye's narrowed. "Accident with a load-lifter. Bad Master, gooood doctor." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and took his other hand. There was a soft puff and he took the device away and inserted it in the slot on the machine. He typed a quick sequence on the keyboard and waited. There was a small beep and Luke leaned over to see the results. A useless gesture since the language was completely foreign to him.

"Amazing . . . " Obi-Wan murmured.

"What?" Luke asked, trying to see the screen again as if it would have changed languages in the split second he couldn't view it.

Obi-Wan shook his head, still not quite believing what he was seeing. "Your count is at the same level as Anakin's. I—We have to check the rest of your family. This is outstanding."

Luke sat back and thought for a second. He had to tell him. If they somehow got off this world it would become pretty obvious that he was lying when they went to Bakura and there was no trace of him. "Yeah. You see, there's something I gotta—"

Turn this way!

Listen to what I say!

The trees do sway!

Luke sighed and turned in the direction Cyan was tugging him in, fully expecting to see a avian of some sort fly out of the bushes in front of the tree.

Then saw that Cyan was actually right. The massive tree was swaying from side to side but there was nothing at eye level that was causing it. Then the sound of a sharp blade sinking into wood reached his ears. He and Obi-Wan looked up to see a creature that for all intensive purposes looked like and adult version of Cyan. The only real difference was his scales were like rubies and their edges looked razor sharp. His ebony horns curved well in front to his snout. His wing span seemed proportionally larger than Cyan's and when he parted his lips a strange blue tinted saliva dripped forth, landing in the bushes beneath him and burning away some of the leaves. He whipped his serpentine tail back and forth, the end making an odd clanking, jingling sound when it snapped.

A deep rumble had started in the dragon's throat as he regarded them. Then Obi-Wan said, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, me too," Luke agreed, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. They had both slowly started to drop into a combat stance and Luke felt his hand drifting towards his lightsaber. Cyan had started to growl too, and Luke wondered at that. He seemed like the kind of creature that needed to socialize.

That one is no friend,

Your soul he could bend.

He would like nothing better then to bring your end.

Please, take my word,

I know this seems absurd,

But here you have been lured.

Cyan looked up at Luke and he seemed to truly regret the situation they were in. He sighed and continued:

I know you feel betrayed,

All will be explained.

But now fight Carmine or get yourself maimed.

Just as Cyan finished Carmine leaped from the tree. He took two long strides towards them and then stopped, elegantly curving his head forward, his long bellowing scream splitting the air. His gapping maw had opened completely, his forked tongue flicking at the air. He sank his claws into the soil and beat his wings fiercely, arching his neck and snarling. Then he released his forepaws from the ground and stopped beating his wings, waiting for their move.

"Back away slowly," Obi-Wan said. "No threatening or sudden moves."

That's not a good plan,

His senses do span,

Read our thoughts he can!

As soon as Cyan said it, Carmine gathered his body up as if to pounce upon them. Luke and Obi-Wan jumped to the side as Cyan jumped into the branches of the tree above them. Luke spun around as soon as he reached the heavy bush next to the path, drawing his lightsaber and igniting it all in one smooth motion. On the other side of the path he heard Obi-Wan do the same. Carmine skidded to a halt, snaking his head under his arm and screaming at Obi-Wan. Then the dragon twisted around completely and bolted towards him, too fast for Obi-Wan to get out of the way. Obi-Wan swung his lightsaber towards Carmine's head, meaning to end the fight quickly. Blade met with crystal and sparks flew—

—And Carmine sat back in surprise and yet he was completely uninjured. Luke didn't wait for the dragon to collect himself. Taking a running leap Luke landed on Carmine's back and shredded his saber across Carmine's wing. The thinner flesh parted, but not without effort. Carmine screamed in pain, rearing up and throwing Luke off. He landed hard, all the breath forced from his lungs. He tried to stand and suddenly Obi-Wan was at his side, hauling him to his feet.

They tried to back away as Carmine approached, taking his time, taunting his pray. Luke swallowed, catching his breath and lifting his lightsaber again before commenting, "We are in so much shi—"

He was interrupted as Cyan, all but forgotten in his perch, dropped down on Carmine's head. Carmine shrieked in surprise, shaking his head violently in a vain attempt to dislodge his unwanted passenger. Cyan clung with all his might, clawing and biting through scales that had easily deflected a lightsaber moments before. Lifting his head, Cyan turned towards Carmine's back. A ripple started at the base of his neck just beneath the skin. It moved upwards like a tiny wave until it reached his mouth. Arching his neck as far back as he could, Cyan snapped forward, spitting the same blue tinted saliva as Carmine's on the elder dragon's back. It hit Carmine's withers and left wing, searing through scale, skin, wing membrane, and bone. Carmine screamed in agony, rolling on his back and nearly crushing Cyan. The baby dragon jumped off just in time, cantering a few feet away and then turning around to look at his handy work.

"C'mon, he's wounded, we can defeat him now," Obi-Wan said. He started to charge Carmine but Luke grabbed his arm and dragged him to a stop.

"No," Luke said, "we can't defeat him. All we can do is shred his wings and hope Cyan has enough spit to take him out. We should get away before he recovers."

Obi-Wan shook free of Luke's grip and gave him an almost superior look. "I know you think you're right but you were ill-taught and inexperienced in this sort of situation. I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't! Look, I lied, I was actually very well trained and I probably have more experience than you do—right now anyway! If we attack we'll be killed." Luke turned his lightsaber off and started to inch towards the forest where Carmine wouldn't be able to follow.

"No, Skywalker," Obi-Wan said, his eyes dark with anger, "I will not lose."

"You're turning this into a matter of honor! But honor isn't gonna do you a damn bit of good if we're to dead to let anyone know what we did!" Luke ran towards the trees expecting Obi-Wan to follow when he heard a battle cry behind him. Luke swore and turned back, running after Obi-Wan as fast as he could. Cyan squealed in alarm and clawed at his leg, but Obi-Wan just shook him off and kept going.

Carmine was still rolling on his back, trying to extinguish the pain of the acid burning through his flesh. Obi-Wan leaped into the air, prepared to start slicing through Carmine's unprotected belly. At the last moment Carmine twisted suddenly to his feet and caught Obi-Wan in his arms, biting down on his shoulder and arm.

"NO!" Luke screamed, running faster. Cyan spit at Carmine again but the ruby dragon leapt back onto the tree trunk, still holding Obi-Wan and tearing into his flesh. Luke clicked a button on his lightsaber to keep it on even when he let go of it and threw it at Carmine's leg. The dragon saw it coming and pushed away from the tree and soared off, Obi-Wan's dying screams echoing through the forest.

Chapter XII

"No . . ." Luke whispered weakly. Cyan sat down beside him, hooting softly. "This isn't right. This isn't supposed to happen. He doesn't die like this. I was there—I know."

I know that you are sad,

But it really isn't that bad.

I believe you missed something, just a tad.

"Like what?" Luke asked, flopping down beside Cyan and speaking without interest. Cyan seemed sad despite his soothing words and continued in an almost mournful tone.

None of this is true,

The elders have been fooling you.

But they say it's for my benefit too.

Luke frowned yet again, feeling a brief moments hope. "Then, that wasn't really Obi-Wan?" Cyan nodded. "Then who was it?"

All of this is a dream,

As real as it may seem.

To help you it was deemed.

"You keep saying this is for me, to help me or what ever. But the way you just said it you didn't sound to sure. What's wrong?" Luke asked.

They said is was preferred this way,

You learn it better, they'd say.

But you've many lessons to learn this day.

I have nothing but your welfare at heart,

Our feeling for each other; this is only the start.

You protection is my part.

But these lessons, they could harm you,

Though the are not meant to.

Me? I don't know what they will do.

Luke leaned forward and held Cyan's tiny chin between his thumb and for-finger. Looking deep into his crystalline eyes Luke stretched out into the Force to gauge if the small dragon was telling the truth. He had only just begun to search Cyan's thoughts when everything came to him in a rush. Every thought, every sensation, every memory became blindingly clear in less then a second. It was an invasion that Cyan should have been alarmed by but he just sat there contentedly even as Luke, with the certainty that he knew his own thoughts, that Cyan was aware of the invasion and was even enjoying it. It was then that Luke became aware that even as he could see everything within Cyan, so to could the small dragon see everything within him. Luke let go of Cyan's chin and sat back slowly, realizing that he was about as alarmed by it as Cyan was.

Since a time long ago,

When the Universe was starting to grow

The seeds of Darkness did sow.

They sought your kind’s destruction,

And their own power's construction,

They did not anticipate the reaction.

When after you were enslaved,

There arose a power engraved,

In one man that could have saved,

All his brethren had he not been injured

By a wound that could not be cured.

His soul Death lured.

But then he came here,

And it did appear,

That his Life Force would soon disappear.

He was so needed,

That the powers that be decided,

That we be created.

The first of us healed his lesion,

And they both could not find reason,

To make a division

Between each other,

For they were sister and brother

To one another.

And she stayed with him until the end of his life,

Suffering his every strife,

Bringing down his enemies like Goodness' knife.

And that's what I'm here for.

It is for me to open Fate's door.

And when you are gone, I will tell your lore.

To all those who wish to learn,

Your words could turn

Them from the Dark Power they might yearn.

"I think I understood that," Luke said slowly. "So, when I die, you will pass on my memories?"

Not just your memories,

You know more than these.

What they could tell would only be a tease.

I know all that you know,

Your greatest high and your greatest low.

Those who would be your friend or foe.

Everything you've seen and done,

Whether serious or for fun.

Your experiences are worth a ton.

"So, everything I've seen and experienced, even if I've forgotten it, you know it? And the same thing the other way around?" Luke asked. Cyan nodded. Luke sighed. "I think this could take some getting used too."

——————————————————

"You know, it only hit me just recently, but I am very old."

"It just hit you?" Lando Calrissian asked, giving Han an appraising look form across the dingy table.

Han shook his head. "No, not that way. I mean that I'm getting too old to—to do what I do."

"I still don't follow," Lando said.

"Well, if I had been younger on Asendra I might have been able to stop them from taking Luke and Mara—"

"Han . . ." Lando began but Han ignored him and continued.

"—I might have found a way onto the Chiss ship to get Luke off—"

"But—"

"And countless other times when I've failed my friends!" Han slammed his drink down on the table, sloshing the ale onto his hand.

Lando licked his lips, waiting for Han to stop the angry glare of his own accord. "None of this was your fault. There were plenty of ‘young’ people out there trying to do the exact same thing. And there was no one to help you on Asendra. It's a miracle you're alive! I mean, I was pretty upset when I got here and found out you and everybody else had already taken off on the rescue mission for Luke and Mara and left me behind. Trust me, sitting around and waiting to see if things will turn out is hard, but sometimes you gotta just let things run through."

"No, I'm not going to just sit here, give myself a pat on the back, tell myself that I ‘did my best’ and let Luke and my nephew die," Han growled, determination lowering his voice rather than raising it.

Lando sighed, knowing there was no reasoning with Han when he was in this mood. "Alright, then what are you planning on doing?"

"I'm going after Luke," Han stated firmly.

"You're what!" Lando exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"

Han gave Lando his best lopsided grin. "It just hit you?"

"Oh, no, don't you start making jokes. That data card said that Luke was dropped off on a world full of vicious animals! If Luke's not dead yet they'll have hunted him down by the time you find K'ti'ma.

"We already know where K'ti'ma is. The scout ships recorded the location when they saw the Threnody drop Luke off. And as for finding him when I'm on the planet, I'll just bring Mara with me," Han told him, his eyes lighting up as the plan formed in his mind. "She'd beat me up if I tried to go without her."

"Touché," Lando commented dryly.

Han grinned, for the first time in months feeling truly useful. "And I can—"

"Um, can I interrupt?" Han stopped talking as he and Lando looked up to see Corran. "Look, I don't if anyone's planning a rescue mission for Luke but if you are, I need to go along," Corran said, sitting down.

"Hmmm," Han said, giving Lando a sidelong look. "That's just what we were discussing."

"Why do you need to come along?" Lando asked more seriously.

Corran took a deep breath. "You remember the story that Yeema told us?"

"Isn't he that alien that gave you guys the data card?" Lando asked.

"Yeah, and he also told us this creepy origin story about the Jedi and this Chiss sect called the Cragon," Han explained. But the moment Han said "Cragon" Corran abruptly shuddered. "What?"

"That word! When I hear that word it’s like this deep sense of dread and loathing coming over me. It's happened with all the other Jedi I talked to as well," Corran shivered. "I have to tell Luke about it."

"Why?” Lando asked worriedly. "You don't think the story is true do you? I mean, I've been hearing crazy ‘origin’ stories since I was a kid and Luke's said that all of them are untrue."

"I know that this one is. And if Luke heard it, he would too. And on top of that Mara said that the Chiss on that ship called themselves Cragon—" he stopped to shudder, "—which would make sense for them to want to torture Luke."

"Have you told Mara Yeema's story yet?" Han asked.

Corran shook his head. "No, she seemed to be under enough stress as it was. But I have to ask someone about this. Yeema said to "tell the Master". I can only assume that means Luke. He's the only Master I know."

Han nodded. "I agree. The last thing we need is a bunch of Jedi hating Chiss running round stealing the Force."

"What do you mean, ‘stealing the Force’?" Lando demanded.

"From Yeema's story, it sounded like the Cragon—" he shuddered, "—had figured out a way to steal the Force from someone. I don't know how, but I'm afraid they do."

"Well, I guess that's settled. C'mon, we gotta go tell Mara that she's going on a little trip," Han said, pushing himself up from the table.

"He's my brother, Han!" Leia exclaimed in exasperation as she, Han, Lando, Mara, and Corran argued in Leia's living room. "I have to go with you."

"What, do you think the council is just gonna let you run off? Just like that?" Han demanded.

Leia pursed her lips. "Forget the council! Since when did you bother to worry about what the council thought?"

“There’s a small difference, Leia,” Han said soothingly, “I’m not on the council.”

"We can find him, Leia," Mara said wearily. "You have to stay here in case we don't come back. Someone needs to be here who will know what to do with the Cragon—" she shuddered, "—threat. "

"Yeah," Han said, resting his hands on Leia's shoulders and looking deep into her eyes, "in case we don't come back."

"We should get going," Corran said, sorry to interrupt but still inflicted with a keen need for haste. Leia held Han's gaze for one more moment before breaking away.

"Alright. But you'd better come back or there'll be hell to pay!" Leia said with mock fierceness. There was a ripple of laughter and some of the tenseness seemed to leave the room.

"Well, we wouldn't want to do that," Han said.

"Would you at least take Chewie with you?" Leia pleaded.

"We can't," Lando said. "Lowbecca's gotten pokoloka disease and Chewie needs to be with him."

Mara nodded, inching towards the door, "Yeah, you know how traumatizing the hair loss is."

Leia went with them to the landing pad where the Millennium Falcon was waiting in stand-by mode. She even tried one last time to come with them. Unperturbed by their continued refusal, she even waited at the landing pad until she was sure they had gone into hyperspace and beyond, a lonely figure in the night.

———————————————

Luke had decided after wading through what seemed like hours of rhyming riddles to go on with the lessons. Cyan had said that all the things he was being taught would help him in defeating the "Great Darkness" that had arisen again. The Dragons of K'ti'ma usually don't get this involved in matters but the Great Darkness always has such an effect on the Force that it could not go ignored. Beside, Cyan had added rather dryly, their purpose was to make sure no knowledge of the Force was lost but it wouldn't do anyone a whole lot of good if no one else knew it.

So Luke had gone through the lessons, each time meeting someone different, always someone he knew. The lessons were always strange and obscure—he still didn't know what to make of the tea party with Jabba the Hutt's rancor—but after some thought he usually figured them out. Or Cyan would try to explain as best he could but since he didn't know much more than what Luke did (coming from the clutch that was supposed to have eaten him) he didn't do much good.

As they went along, the lessons got deeper, requiring a stronger understanding of the Force then Luke would have had until a few years ago, explaining yet another of The Dragons of K'ti'ma's reasons for waiting. As they went and as Luke learned, Cyan seemed to grow stronger and larger, taller now then Luke when on his hind legs. His scales had to stretch to cover the highly evolved muscle beneath them. His horns stopped just behind his snout and the dorsal ridge seemed to have developed a way to move—raised when he was relaxed or running at high speeds, flattened when he was angry or frightened.

A patterned had started; each time Luke entered a clearing there would be someone new. He'd been surprised the first few times, the rancor being a prime example, but he had gotten used to it by now. Which was why he wasn't surprised in the least when he came upon Corran pacing back in forth, looking fit to kill someone.

"Hi, Corran," Luke said.

"Oh, shut up," Corran snarled.

Luke stopped, raising his eyebrows. "Pardon? What did I do?"

"What did you do?" Corran asked, incredulous, and then with sudden astonishing fury he screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO!? If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be in this situation at all!"

"Huh? What situation?" Luke asked warily, glancing around the clearing, expecting to see legions of stormtroopers pop out from anywhere.

"THIS SITUATION!" Corran cried. Luke turned back and gasped in surprise. Where the irises of his eyes had been was nothing but white. Corran came towards him, drawing his lightsaber, his face twisted in fury except for his emotionless eyes. He slammed the butt of the handle across Luke's face before the Jedi could react, knocking him off his feet.

Luke gasped in pain and tried to push himself to his feet and draw his own lightsaber even as he heard Corran ignite his. "This isn't how I think of Corran," Luke wheezed.

"Of course it's not, you moron!" Corran growled, kicking Luke in the side before he could rise. Luke groaned and tried to crawl away but Corran just stepped over his prostrate form and cocked his foot to kick him again. "I'm what they made me. This is all their creation."

"This is just a dream, he can't actually hurt me," Luke whispered, waiting for the blow.

"Oh, yeah, rub it in!" Corran said, kicking him in the side again. "This is your fault and now it's time for you to pay!" Corran lifted his lightsaber, prepared to drive it through Luke's back when suddenly Cyan leapt on his chest, knocking he over, slicing flesh and cracking bone. Corran screamed in pain and tried to bring his lightsaber up to defend himself but Cyan caught the handle in his teeth and threw it to the side. He jumped off the wounded Jedi and moved between him and Luke, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Corran got up slowly and turned his sightless gaze upon him. He looked like he was about to say something when he was interrupted by a familiar bellow. Carmine, stalking the prey that had gotten away from him. Always just out of sight, like the shadow of a dream. Corran glanced behind him and grinned, laughing in a way that didn't sound completely sane.

"You escaped your punishment this time, Luke," Corran said, still facing him but slowly walking backwards towards the trees where Luke could see Carmine's dark shadow lurk. "But someday your sins will come back to haunt you." With those disturbing words Corran turned and ran into the trees, Carmine's victorious shriek and the sound of rendered flesh soon following.

Luke got up slowly, leaning against Cyan and looking into the trees with a terrible feeling in his gut. "What was that supposed to teach me?" Luke whispered hoarsely.

I wouldn't know, you shouldn't ask me,

But the only thing I can think of,

Is that's what the future's going to be.

Chapter XIII

It was a binary star system found in the Unknown Regions. One star was a yellow M-Type with originally eleven planets orbiting it. The accidental attraction of a G-Type—Red Giant—star to the system had the subsequent effect of drawing the unstable second and ninth planets orbiting the M-Type into its super heated surface. It has also continued to cause the slow decay of the orbits of the remaining nine planets, including the only inhabitable one—K'ti'ma V.

It takes K'ti'ma V about just over one standard year to revolve around the yellow star. The red giant played havoc with its day and night, starting out as equal between light and dark and gradually changing to light and red. This seemed to have had an as of yet unknown effect on the inhabitants of the world, but since there was no intelligent civilization living on the forsaken planet so far as anyone was concerned that didn't seem to matter a great deal. Until recently.

"Are you sure this is the planet?" Mara asked from behind Han, giving the peaceful, green world a dubious look. "I don't sense anything evil from it."

"Why would you? It's just supposed to be full of savage creatures, not evil minions of darkness or something," Han said.

"You never know,” Corran commented dryly, “Them evil minions can pop up anywhere,"

"It's not that. In fact it's the complete opposite of that. It's like there's an . . . abundance of the Force here," Mara said, throwing an annoyed glare at Corran.

"What does that mean?" Lando asked from the copilot seat.

Mara shrugged. "I don't know. Like there's so much life giving off the Force here that the planet can't contain it all . . . strange, I know, but that's the best way to describe it."

"Well, whatever, we're still going down. Strap in there's some high turbulence in the upper atmosphere," Han said, griping the controls.

Except for the turbulence the ride down was surprisingly smooth. They followed the path described in Yeema's data pad down to a large clearing where the Falcon fit with plenty of room to spare. They packed as many weapons on them as they could, each carrying a blaster rifle on the ready, and a heavy blaster holstered. Mara and Corran both had their lightsabers and Mara had her smaller blaster concealed in her quick release holster on her arm.

"I'm beginning to wish we had brought Chewbecca with us," Lando grumbled, scanning the clearing nervously.

"Yeah, well, he's on Kashyyyk with Lowbecca," Han said.

"Still, he would have been handy here," Mara said, making sure her blaster rifle was at its highest setting. "Well, c'mon, let's get moving." They made their way carefully through the widely space trees, following the directions on the data card as closely as possible. Every once in a while they would find some sign that someone had come through there. A foot print here, a shred of clothing there. But as they went the marks became more noticeable. Broken branches, clumps of dirt that looked like they had been ripped up by massive claws. There was scorch marks on trees and blast craters in the ground where thermal grenades had gone off. Then they found traces of blood, then a finger, and eventually, a body.

"Great stars . . ." Lando said, reeling away from the smell.

"It doesn't look like they ate any of it—him," Mara commented. "Whatever ‘they’ are."

Han grunted. "Oh, great, we can't even hope that ‘they're’ full if we ever come upon them."

"Has anyone else noticed that all the foot prints seem to be running in the opposite direction that we're going?" Lando asked nervously.

"Yep," Mara said, stepping over the leg of the mangled Chiss soldier and continuing down the path. "You can go back to the ship if you want, Lando. But I'm still going, with or without you."

"When did I say I wanted to go back?" Lando demanded, jogging to catch up.

"You didn't. It just looked like you were gonna start throwing up back there, that's all."

"I was not!"

"Could you two make a little more noise?" Corran demanded in a harsh whisper. "I don't think every predator on the planet has heard you yet."

Mara looked back over her shoulder at him and smiled sadly. "Corran, I think they knew we were coming before we did."

They continued on, finding scraps of clothing and occasionally body parts as they went until they found the nesting grounds. The trees seemed to be arranged in a wheel formation, far to organized to be natural. Eleven trees formed a circle with a small clearing in the center and innumerable trees forming the spokes outward.

And each and every one of them was filled with nests.

"Oh, this is comforting," Lando said.

"Hey, look," Corran said, pointing at a portion of foliage. "A syringe."

"Yeah, and from the looks of it, someone didn't react well to whatever was in it," Han added, seeing the compressed grass, multiple footprints, and what appeared to be decomposing vomit.

Mara moved to a spot in the clearing where a number of claw marks could be seen just beneath the grass. She lightly touched her fingers to them and closed her eyes. "Luke was here!" she said, suddenly very sure.

"How do you know?" Han asked, kneeling beside her.

"I can feel his presence . . ." the she paused, "no, not Luke's presence, but something very close to it."

Han shrugged. "That doesn't make sense to me but not much about the Force ever does. Can you tell what direction he went in?"

"Yeah, I think," Mara said, rising. She reached out into the Force, letting it guide her hand. "He went—"

"Uh, guys?"

"Shhh, Lando. Mara's trying to concentrate," Corran said.

"But—"

"Lando! Shut up—" Mara's angry demand broke off into a strangled scream when she saw what Lando was pointing at. There was a horrible sound similar to someone sheathing a sword as the creature sunk three curvilinear talons into the tree it was slowly climbing down. It turned its wedge shaped head to the group and shrieked, displaying its long fangs. Its body rippled and undulated under the tiny ruby scales that covered its entire body. A ridge ran down its neck and face, slowly flattening against its slender, snake-like head. It flicked at the air with a forked tongue before regarding the group of petrified humans with crystalline eyes. Then there was answering screams from other trees as more creatures slowly climbed their way down. They seemed to be every color of the rainbow; red, blue, green, purple, gold, bronze, and even diamond. Then, on some unheard cue, they leapt from the trees and all started to walk towards the small clearing.

The ruby one reached them first, lightly bobbing its head and regarding them almost curiously. They all walked on their hind legs, occasionally flapping their massive wings to stay balanced. Ruby came within a metre of Lando and sniffed the air in front of him. Lando lifted his rifle and prepared to fire but Corran grabbed his arm just in time.

"Wait," he whispered softly. "I think they're just trying to figure out who we are. If we don't make any threatening moves we might not have to fight them at all." Lando lowered his rifle.

Mara walked slowly up behind Corran and whispered in his ear. "Maybe you should try influencing their minds a bit. Make us feel like friends."

"Or at least not something to eat," Han added. Corran stretched out into the Force and tried to project friendly intentions into each of the creatures' minds. But as soon as he did, there was a rather excited response. He was immediately shut out from all of them but they didn't seem the least bit offended by the intrusion. They began to bob their heads up and down excitably and squealed in joy.

"What happened?" Han asked, having to yell over the noise.

"They sensed my presence in their minds! They shut me out but I don't think their angry at me," Corran answered, just as confused as everyone else.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the creatures stopped their noise. The cocked their heads as if listening to something. Mara strained to hear but she couldn't hear a thing, even with Force enhanced hearing.

Then Ruby stopped listening and turned his full attention back on the group of humans. Arching his head back as far as it would go, he snapped it forward with frightening speed and bellowed forcibly enough to knock Lando over. He moved foreword, his talons extended another inch as its maw slowly opened. His brethren followed suit and swiftly converged on the group. Han hauled Lando to his feet and screamed “Run!” as he lifted his rifle and fired.

It was a solid hit, striking the beast's broad shoulders. Though it did give the dragon pause, it didn't even leave so much as a scorch mark. "Sithspawn!" Han exclaimed, pelting after everyone else as they bolted to the one gape left to them, a path that took them even deeper into the forest.

———————————————

Luke walked slowly, almost fearfully, into the next clearing. Just before he left the tree cover he had become extremely aware of the "feel" of the forest. He was aware of the sensation of all the organisms around him—the excitement of the predators, the fear of the pray. He was even aware of the latent fury of Carmine as the dragon sought him out and the passiveness of the trees.

He knew what it was. On several occasions his skill or strength in the Force was changed in the Dream; the better he would understand those he was teaching. He recognized what he was experiencing as empathy and the possible scenarios to test those abilities were as frightening as they were varied.

Don't worry Luke,

None of this is real.

Hold yourself together

I’ll make sure you don’t keel.

"You know, those rhymes are starting to get really weak," Luke commented irritably, slowly inspecting the clearing for someone that he might know.

Hey, c'mon!

I'm making these things up on the spot!

It's harder then it looks—

Whoa! Is she hot!

Cyan had turned around and was looking at someone Luke could sense coming out of the forest. He turned around too, half expecting to see a female dragon and was completely caught off guard when Mara walked out of the brush.

"Hey!" Luke exclaimed, smacking Cyan on his broad shoulder blade. "That's my wife."

Oh, give me a break,

I have the same preferences as you.

Me liking her,

Just means you like her too.

"Luke!" Mara cried. Oblivious to Cyan's comment, she ran into Luke's arms. He stumbled and spun around as she threw her weight against him and the flood of her emotions overwhelmed him—joy, relief, and a expected outrage for causing so much worry. She grabbed him by the ears and kissed him in a more enthusiastic greeting than he had ever received in real life. Luke grunted and finally lost his balance, falling over backwards.

"I missed you so much!" Mara exclaimed, spreading kisses down from his lips to his ear and then to his neck as Luke struggled to keep himself under control even as Mara's reaction heightened his own. "If you ever disappear like that again I'll rip your head off!"

"That's just—that's just great," Luke mumbled, squirming beneath her and striving to get out from under her. His efforts were curtailed when Mara sat up, straddled him, and shoved him the ground. "Oh, ah, not that I wouldn't love to continue this, but I don't really think this is the best time in the Universe."

"Oh, c'mon, Luke. It's been sooooo long . . ." Mara moaned.

Luke stopped struggling for a moment and bit his lip. Then he smiled warmly and said, "Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with dreaming about sleeping with my wife." Mara giggled as he twined his leg around hers and flipped her on her back as he had so many times before. Rather then continue the way they usually did Luke jumped back, doing a rather awkward backward summersault and somehow managing to wind up on his feet. He started to back away as Mara gracefully stood up with all the smoothness and lethalness of a cat on the hunt and approached him.

"Oh, were playing that game, are we?" Mara cooed, at first gripping his shoulders and then letting her hands roam across his chest. Luke continued to back away as fast as his wobbly legs would let him. "You know I'm your only chance."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke whispered breathlessly, stalling.

Mara smiled and let her hands slip underneath his shirt and her smile deepened when it elected a gasp. "You'll never find anyone else brave enough to stay with you. Especially considering the mortality rate of your . . . other partners."

Luke shook his head, his efforts and thoughts becoming more frantic as old wounds and fears rose up. "It's a dream, not real," Luke whispered desperately, feeling his back press against a tree.

Mara's laughter rippled with cruel amusement. "Of course it is. You just keep telling yourself that. And when I die, you'll have a small justification that I 'knew' what I was getting into, which might even help you sleep at night." Luke groaned when her hands slipped under his waistline and he felt his legs give out. Mara straddled him again easily, swinging her leg high over his knees. She dropped her lips to his collarbone, biting and nipping her way down as she popped the clasps on his shirt one by one. Luke tried as hard as he could to push her away but his physical efforts were weak compared to the mental barrage he was receiving. It had been too long since they'd been in a situation where they could do this. On top of that, what she had just said, she—the real Mara—had only barely convinced him wasn't true. Yet he could feel it so acutely in the dream. Mara—the dream Mara—was so sure, and took such malicious, righteous enjoyment from telling it. It's a dream! It's nothing but a dream!

Mara laughed, throwing her head back and arching her lithe body. She slipped off of him and sidled up beside him, gripping his shoulders with one arm to keep him from running. She bit down on his ear hard and yanked, bring tears to his eyes and his attention to what she was saying.

"I know you. No matter how you rationalize it to yourself, you, as a sane reasonable person, will never be able to heal from this. And that will be my victory," Mara let her tongue slide up the side of his head and then slipped back into the trees.

"NO!" Luke cried, grasping for his wife. "Carmine's there!" Mara's answer was a victorious laugh that became twisted into a shriek of agony matched by Carmine's triumphant one.

"No . . . " Luke said hoarsely, curling into a fetal position. "Stop, stop, stop, please stop . . ." He managed to push himself to his feet and stumble away from the woods. "I don't want to do this anymore." He hugged himself as Mara's pain washed over him. "It's not worth it anymore! Make them stop. Cyan, please! Make them stop!"

I will make them stop,

This has gone far enough!

I will help you Luke!

And if they don't like it—tough!

Luke felt his vision dim; he felt the ground shift beneath his feet as if the whole would were falling apart. Luke stumbled one last time before crashing into the wildly shifting ground. He felt the world dissolving and once again his hearing was the least effected.

"LUUUUUUKE!"

Was that the dream Mara? No! It was the real Mara! She was here and she was in trouble! He forced his eyes open and was arrested with searing pain from his abdomen. He looked down and saw all the unhealed injuries he had suffered on the Threnody flare up with a vengeance. There was a steady pulse coming from the Force Inhibitor still on his neck, adding pain to agony. He screamed and felt himself start to black out.

"No! Don't go back to sleep, Luke! You'll go back to the dream if you do!" The voice sounded familiar; it was almost like his own, except with an underlining feline growl. Luke looked to his right and saw Cyan reach out with his forepaws and shake him roughly. He was a bit bigger than a taun-taun now and surprisingly his eyes were jet black. "Please! I can't protect you in the dream but I can here!"

Then, distantly, Luke heard an all too familiar bellow drift through the trees. At first Luke thought it was Carmine following him out of the dream but then he heard the answering shrieks of terror.

"Mara . . ." Luke whispered, his concern dampened by what she had said in the dream.

"Yes! The dream! Not real. It was just a reflection on how we project our fears onto others. This will effect you and someone you know in the near future," Cyan explained, shaking him gently to emphasize his words. "But right now, in the present, Mara needs your help. And so do Han, and Lando, and Corran. You have to stay awa—"

Suddenly Cyan's head popped up and his mouth snapped shut. Then his sable eyes narrowed and he covered Luke's broken body with his own. Cyan snarled viscously at something behind Luke's head just as an oppressive weight settle on Luke's consciousness. He thought he heard, in the vague outreaches of his mind, Lando scream in pain.

Chapter XIV

"Run!" Han screamed needlessly as they plunged deeper into the forest. Ruby was right behind them, snapping viciously at their heels. Han spotted a dried up creek bed just barely visible through the trees so he started to run towards it. There were just enough boulders and potholes that the larger dragons would have trouble getting through them. Suddenly Mara veered off, leaping over the neck of one of the creatures trying to catch her legs.

"This way! I can feel Luke's presence in this direction!" Mara shouted.

"Wait!" Lando cried, "It's really not going to help him if we bring a bunch of hungry lizards with us—AGH!" Lando slammed hard into the ground as an emerald lizard latched onto his leg. The creature reared up, lifting Lando upside down with her. She bit down hard and the crunching of bone was plainly audible.

Corran ran forward, igniting his silver blade and slashed it across the creature's side and up through her wing. It cut through the wing membrane but it was like trying to use a log to slice through congealing mud. But the blade did nothing when it hit the emerald scales except set off sparks. What it did do was bring the lizards full attention on Corran; the beast dropped Lando and struck at the pilot. Corran jumped out of the way, over the lizard's tail. He caught his foot at the last second and tumbled, landing hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.

The emerald creature reared up again, ready to crush the life out of the insignificant being that could somehow do her harm while nothing else could. Corran waited helplessly—he couldn't use telekinesis to shove the dragon away; it wasn't his skill in the Force, and there was no energy for him to tap into to gain that ability.

It was then that he remembered he wasn't the only Jedi there and she was quite good at throwing things.

Mara stood over Corran with her blue lightsaber drawn and made a sweeping gesture with her arm. The emerald lizard squealed in surprise, stumbling over backwards and landing with a thunderous crash. Mara pulled Corran to his feet and then called his lightsaber to her hand and thrust it against his stomach. They bolted after Han—he was helping Lando hobble along as fast as he could possibly go.

Mara kept them going towards Luke, reasoning that if he could survive so long on this planet, injured as well, he would know a way to help them. She could sense that they were very close when she heard a roar coming from where she thought Luke was. Igniting her lightsaber again she jumped blindly over a thick clump of bushes into another clearing. Luke was there, just as she had through, but with a dull bronze lizard shielding his unconscious body from something beyond the clearing. He twisted his head over his shoulder and regarded Mara with sable eyes when he heard her land and squealed in joy. Then Corran, Han and Lando came into view and the creature suddenly snarled and bolted towards them. Mara shrieked and ducked and saw everyone else do the same. At the last second the lizard leapt into the air and struck head on with Ruby who was about to pounce on the humans.

The bronze creature slashed his talons across Ruby's eye, electing a shrill howl of pain from the slightly larger lizard. Mara stumbled over to Luke side and touched his neck—the pulse was there, beating faster then her own. A small electrical shock went up her arm and she jerked away. Han knelt down beside them and tilted Luke's head to the side, spotting the Force Inhibitor still on his neck. He pulled a vibro blade from his back pocket, eyeing the circling creatures warily; they seemed, for the most part, to be willing to leave them alone to help Luke. Turning the blade on he carefully looked for the weak point on the device before inserting the instrument. The Inhibitor turned off immediately and fell off his neck. Mara stood up and crushed it beneath her heal, savoring the crunch it made. Luke sighed in relief and some of the lines of pain eased from his face. In spite of everything going on around him he still unfortunately didn't wake.

Suddenly Ruby bolted towards them again, blue blood dribbling unnoticed from his eye. Shrieking the bronze lizard arched his head back and snapped if forward; the spit hit Ruby on the neck and immediately began to sear through the seemingly impenetrable scales. Ruby screamed in pain and backed away; the other creatures began to close in. The bronze did his best to keep them away, inflicting wounds where he could, but the other creatures were getting more and more strikes of their own in.

"C'mon, Luke! Wake up!" Mara moaned, shaking him gently. Luke groaned and stirred, and for a moment she thought he would rise but he stopped just as suddenly as he had begun. Then an amethyst beast reared up over them, larger even then Ruby and the bronze. But that didn't seem to perturb the bronze as he launched himself at his brethren. The mass of the amethyst creature easily overtook the bronze, but the smaller lizard managed to redirect their fall so as not to land on Mara and Luke. Getting his hind legs braced against the amethyst's belly, the bronze pushed, throwing the amethyst a considerable distance away. He twisted to his feet and screamed long and hard and loud until the others backed away a step, covering their ears with their humanish paws.

"THIS IS ENOUGH!" the bronze bellowed in easily understandable Basic. His voice was familiar aside from the rumble that accompanied it. "He was the one chosen! And I am the one chosen to be with him! What is this? This is not allowed!"

Then the green came forward, her wing membrane still bleeding from the cut Corran had inflicted. She sent him a baleful glance before answering the bronze, "We all know this, Cyan. It is only Carmine who is jealous of you receiving the Gift. But the Mother Dragon has ordered that we kill them. We must comply with her wishes. Step aside and you and the Master will not be harmed."

The bronze creature, Cyan, stood up a little taller, arching his neck to cover Luke and Mara. "No. These are people he cares about and killing them will hurt him and I cannot allow that. I will not allow that."

"You have no choice," Ruby, Carmine, said, limping back into the clearing. The scales on his left shoulder blade had all but melted away, exposing white skin and some muscle smeared in blue blood. "You will die and I will take your place and will be able to do a far better job of serving him then you ever will!"

"I don't know about that, I seem to be doing a fairly good job. Look what I did to you," Cyan said, slowly curling his body around Luke and Mara, spreading his wings to cover Han, Lando and Corran.

"You will do nothing of the sort, Carmine," the emerald said, snarling viciously to make her point clear. "Please, Cyan. It is the Mother Dragon's will. We cannot disobey her."

Cyan sighed, shooting Luke a worried look before beginning, "Luke has not yet finished the Dream. Much as I would like to stop it, him awakening to his wife, brother, and friends slain in what will undoubtedly be a violent death is not how he should wake. Especially taking in to consideration the fact that he's going to be quite confused by the contents of said Dream. They are Jedi—" Han cleared his throat. "—Pardon, some of them are Jedi—and is it not our duty to insure their continuation? Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't killing them sort of go against that? I could just be confused, but it just makes a lot more sense that way."

A few of the dragons had begun to look nervous, shifting uncomfortable amidst themselves. "We know this," the emerald said sadly. "But we cannot change it—" She was interrupted when Luke suddenly gasped and arched his back, screaming in pain. He kicked out violently, hitting Cyan in the flank and causing the dragon to back off a step. Han knelt down again and tried to help Mara hold him still. Luke twisted and screamed again, clutching at their arms and squeezing until they found themselves trying to escape his grip. Cyan turned away from the other creatures, crooning soothingly to the person he had professed to be sworn to protect.

But the other dragons weren't nearly so concerned with his welfare. Carmine, the emerald, and a diamond colored one pounced on the unsuspecting dragon; slamming him hard into the ground. Cyan shrieked in pain and Luke twisted into a fetal position as if he was the one wounded. The amethyst had returned and approached them. Corran and Lando started to run over to where Mara and Han were still watching over Luke, but with a broken leg Lando made easy pickings for the creature; the dragon pounced on the limping human and shoved him down, his talons digging painfully into Lando's back. He cried out, struggling to get a hold of his blaster that had gone flying from his hand. Han already had his out and was shooting uselessly at the dragon as he opened his maw. Suddenly Luke screamed again, louder then before, and an explosive burst of the Force slammed into the amethyst creature, throwing him off Lando. Corran grabbed the bleeding ex-smuggler and dragged him away.

Luke seemed to be straining, his back arched, his feet digging into the ground, his hands clamped down on Han and Mara's arms as if he would break them off. All of a sudden his eyes snapped open and he gasped, as if a great realization had hit him. Then his eyes drifted shut and he relaxed again.

The other dragons had stopped, eyeing Luke warily. The amethyst creature lay still, its back snapped against a tree. They had released Cyan and the dragon moved in front of Luke, looking imperiously at them. They had slashed through his scales, yet there didn't seem to be any bleeding. The others began to circle again, unwilling to attack, then they were interrupted by a rustling in the trees. Everyone looked up to see more dragons, even larger then the first group, all with the same sable black eyes that Cyan had. They snarled, saliva splashing from their jaws to land on the beings below. Han gasped in pain as some landed on his shoulder. He grabbed a bundle of dead leaves and wiped as much of it off as he could.

Corran ducked away, just managing to avoid a large blob and looked over at Cyan, hoping to see the same contemptuous, confidant expression he had shown towards the others, but all he got was a grimace that mirrored his own sinking feeling of despair.

_____________________________________

Life is a circle.

Such is my will in creating it.

Such is its will in creating me.

We are one and we turn onto each other continuously.

As do all things.

Is it for you to judge?

No. Only to understand.

What was before, will be again.

And you will be in the middle. The circle will pivot around you.

You need do nothing. Fate has set your course.

And so has Life.

And so have I.

Let the waters of Life close over you, we will keep you afloat,

Fate and I.

Follow your instinct; that is how we will speak to you.

That is how we always have.

But this you know.

Look to the future and make your choice.

The present has been taken care of.

_____________________________________

Luke found himself standing on the edge of a great cliff. Grasslands, stained with blood, spread out around him. Behind him, standing on the slow rise of the cliff, were all the Jedi he had ever taught, and some he knew he had taught but could not remember teaching them. Still others, who were Jedi, he had witnessed their coronation, but had not been the one to teach them. In front of him the grasslands continued, empty but soiled nonetheless, to the base of a massive ancient city, surrounded by a wall covered in ornate markings and scriptures which were beautiful in appearance, but terrible in meaning. A meaning that he was positive he knew, but couldn't understand how he did.

He looked back at the Jedi; he could see Mara, dressed in old Jedi garb he abruptly realized he was wearing too. He could see Cyan there as well; his scales were now a sparkling sapphire, which should have surprised him but it didn't. Leia was there was well, with Anakin—was that Anakin? He looked so much older—at her side. Oddly enough, they were all gazing at him with pleading eyes. What were they asking? His life? Ah, so he was going to die, but for what?

He turned back to the city, his gaze drawn to the glistening spiraling towers peeking up above the wall. He sensed darkness there, deeper than the center of a black hole. So that was it, he would die fighting that. It seemed right for some reason, everything coming full circle. He frowned, wondering why that was so significant and why it made sense. Well, he was going to die so it didn't really matter. It was no longer his problem.

He turned back and saw the resignation on everyone's face replace the silent plea. He looked at Mara and saw her smile sadly and mouthed something. I love you too, Luke mouthed back. He turned away again and looked at the tower. He knew what had to be done. He opened himself to the Force, and felt it spill into him, filling his being. Then it became a massive, unstoppable flood as everyone directed his or her power to him. It overcame him, took over him and it was all he could do to direct it. He tried to will it to do his bidding but realized that was not the way. So he rode the wave, directing it where he could, but finding it was going in the direction he wanted it to in the first place. He felt it hit the wall rather then saw it, splitting the rock, shattering the hieroglyphs, destroying the dwellings beyond it, sparing the innocent, eradicating the guilty.

——————————————————

And now you see what will be.

It is a set moment in time.

The only guarantee there is.

The only thing in question is how will you get there.

This is your choice.

You are confused but you understand more than you think.

Awaken,

You are needed.

By Fate, by Life, by Me.

—————————————————

Luke opened his eyes just in time to see a rather large blob of familiar looking goo heading right for his face. Feeling a rather strong instinct to move out of the way—and remembering the strange, musical voice's urgings—he rolled to the side.

"Luke! You're awake!" Mara gasped. He used the grip he already had on her arm to pull himself up. He saw her wince so he let go, revealing the red imprint of his fingers underneath. "You always did have a good grip," Mara added with a lopsided grin. Suddenly another drop fell near them and Mara shied away, dragging him with her. Luke looked up and finally saw the black eyed dragons climbing down the trees and the smaller, more familiar crystalline eyed ones backing away to give them room.

"Luke!" Cyan squealed, bounding over, hugging Luke enthusiastically.

Luke laughed and squirmed, suddenly feeling lightheaded. The others had clustered around them as the black eyed dragons moved closer. Corran leaned towards Luke after he had—mostly—freed himself from Cyan's embrace and asked, "You got any bright ideas?"

"Yes," Luke said, gently pushing Cyan's arms away. "I'm going to tell them to stop." He walked passed the surprised Corran and reached Han before he stumbled and almost fell, his brother catching him just in time. He pushed himself up, thanked Han, and started walking again.

"Stand down," he said calmly. One dragon, her body covered in translucent crystal scales, stepped forward and tried to pass him. Luke moved in her way and the dragon stopped and sat on her haunches much the same as Cyan had the first time he had seen him. "I said stand down."

"Why? What right have you?" the creature asked, her voice silvery and yet sad.

Luke stared steadily at her and then said, "The same right as the one you protected long ago. I sense that she lost someone she cared about and this hurt her deeply. You understand how that feels, yet by killing them you would do the same to me. Would you wish that on me? Or him?" Luke glanced back at Cyan, who was watching all of this with keen interest.

"Of course not," the dragon said, sounding more then a little relieved. Then she look skyward and said, "He understands this, and how to read us. Our part is done. Do as he says!" She called to the others. She saw Carmine hesitate. "Stand down! Stand down or I will make you. They will all leave here unharmed. The Mother Dragon’s true will is done." The dragon took a step back and bowed her head gracefully to the ground before leaping back into the trees with all the others. Luke watched her go, only now realizing that his heart was beating erratically.

"I didn't understand a single thing that just happened here," Han said.

"You're not alone," Mara added, shaking her head in wonder.

"I will explain," Luke assured them, turning around and smiling warmly when Cyan offered him his arm. He took it and started to walk back in the direction they had just run from. Suddenly his step faltered and he started to sink to the ground. Cyan caught him and picked him up, cradling him in his forearms. "But I think it will have to wait till latter. I feel inexplicably tired all of a sudden."

"It's alright, Luke, we can wait," Han assured him. "Much as we'd like to know how you just did that."

Luke nodded and then let his head fall back and his eyes nearly closed before something caught his attention. “Cyan! Your-your skin! It’s just hanging—”

“Don’t worry, Luke, it will shed soon when I have reached maturity. I feel no pain. It will be like I was in the vision of the future they gave you. Go to sleep. You’re tired. I will explain everything to them.”

"Cy . . . Cyan can explain. He knows all that I know," Luke mumbled, excepting Cyan’s reassurances and letting his eyes slowly shut.

Cyan chortled as if this somehow amused him. "Yes, I will explain for them. Sleep Luke, and may you not dream of naught at all." Luke murmured something that sounded like agreement before drifting off. Cyan turned to them and dropped his jaw in as close a simulation to a smile as his anatomy would allow. "First, I think I should explain who I am. I am a Dragon of K'ti'ma. My kind have been here since before the Jedi and we are dedicated to the Force and protecting its lessons. There is always one of us joined with a Jedi except when the Dark Side holds sway; such at with the Emperor's rule, and so it was during the Sith War, and all other Dark Side uprisings.

"We were created from the Force, not evolution like most beings. Not all of us join with a Jedi, only those born with the right mix of Light and Dark, strength and intelligence, drive and compassion. A quick and easy way to tell if one of us has, or was, chosen is our eyes will be black, not clear like the others, a symbol of the balance within us, I suppose. I was born when the Cragon dropped Luke here; I joined with him while my siblings drove them off.

"The Elders, including the Mother Dragon, decided to give him the Dream to fill in the gaps left from Yoda and Obi-Wan's teachings, and his own studies. I . . . I thought it too harsh, so I tried to stop it." Cyan hung his head, suddenly looking ashamed. "Not only did I defy the Elders, but I failed to help him and almost got him killed for the effort."

"You only had good intentions, Cyan," Han assured him. "You could have done nothing else."

"Yes, I know," Cyan said. "But with the joining—I care so much for him! I know everything he's been through, everything he's witnessed. Even some things he doesn't even remember. I feel all his pain and he mine and—and I can't stand it! I know it is hard to understand but that is how it is, and how it will always be.”

“No so hard,” Mara said.

Cyan looked at her closely and nodded before continuing. "Luke understood that the others that had been chosen would understand. He used it to reason with them. I guess that was the final test, to make sure he understood the connection between us. I wasn't really sure I had gotten it across. It was decided, you see, to make the Dream more of a challenge, that I would talk in rhyme." Han was quite sure that had he pupils to do it Cyan would have rolled his eyes. "The Mother Dragon needs her kicks, I suppose, having been born before the Old Republic would make your sense of humor rather perverted. I wouldn't know."

"I'll be sure to ask you in twenty-five thousand years," Lando reassured him, hopping on one foot.

"You’re injured! I'm sorry, in all the excitement I didn't notice," Cyan exclaimed. He stopped and bowed down, making his broad back at level with Lando's hip. "Here, I can carry you too. It won’t be a strain, and it will be easier to see to your leg."

Lando blinked in surprise and was too stunned to refuse. "Uh—thanks." After he had mounted Mara took off her over coat and ripped out the lining to use as makeshift gauze—all the while grumbling about how everyone had come fully armed but no one had bothered to bring a first aid kit. Then she used her lightsaber to cut the sleeve and tied the lining to the wound.

Cyan stood up when she was done and continued. "The Force has come full circle. But what was at the beginning and what was at the end, I don’t know. Someone, one of you—yes, you, Corran, you are to explain it. Or you will take us to someone who can."

"Yeema," Corran said. Han compressed his lips and nodded.

"Yeah, that would make sense. Though I don't really like the sound of it," Han agreed.

"Neither do I, at least, not with that expression on your face," Cyan responded, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "But there is nothing to be done now. We are caught in the flow of Life and we can but go with it or drown."

"Now that I don't like the sound of," Lando commented.

Mara turned around and grinned at him. "Don't worry, Lando, I'll get you a life preserver."

"Ha, ha," Lando growled. "So how long till we reach the Falcon?"

"Uh . . . I'd say two and a half to three hours. We went pretty far at a walk then when pretty far at a run," Han answered.

Lando rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you want to carry me that far, Cyan?" he asked.

"Don't worry, Lando, you're not nearly as big as you think," Cyan said.

Mara gave him a sly look. "Did you mean that how I think you meant that?"

"Mara," Cyan said, pausing and taking her hand graciously in his paw, "you may interpret what I say however you wish."

Mara laughed and flashed Cyan a friendly grin. “You know, I think I’m going to get along with you just fine.”

Chapter XV

"No, that's not enough! People are dying of dehydration as we speak, President, and you don’t seem to understand that!"

Leia sighed, slumping into her chair. They were into the third hour of negotiation with the Tatooine Prime Minister Titati and they had gotten nowhere. They had already made several more than generous offers but each time they were turned down. Titati sat, just barely fitting into his chair (obese would be an understatement for the human) and Leia found herself wondering absently if he could flatten a Hutt. Not for the first time she had to keep from smiling at that, the paranoid man would probably take the change in expression alone as an insult. He fingered the data pad with the new water and food shipments nervously, darting his squinty eyes around the room.

Leia sat back up and tried again, "No, I do understand that, or at least I’m trying and I think the new shipment rates are more than enough—"

"I believe our good President is under the impression that because she is sister to one of our former residents that she has a grasp of the situation on our planet," a man that had been identified as The Fixer commented. He had his feet crossed on the table and his hands behind his head. He had dark dirty brown hair and a heavy, athletic form. He had on a light tunic that had seen better days with a pair of tan breeches to match. His boots and under shirt were stained with the same grease that marred his face. He apparently was there to represent the rebellious faction on Tatooine but all he seemed to be doing was annoying Leia. It was also bothering her that she was positive she had at least heard of the man before but she couldn't for the life of her remember where. "But tell me this: how many times have you been there?"

"Several. Once to rescue my husband from Jabba the Hutt—" Leia began.

"For which effects we are eternally grateful," Titati said hastily.

"—And I was there with my brother to hand over Lars Homestead to the Darklighter family. And—and I'm sure I was there on other occasions and I have a feeling I will be going there soon," Leia finished warily, feeling a sudden twinge in the Force.

Fixer smiled, "I believe that would be an excellent idea. Perhaps then you will see why we can't accept you generous offer."

"Well, you must know that 'soon' is a relative term," Leia added. "I am horrendously busy and it may be a few weeks before I actually get there…"

"My, she backed out of that quickly, didn't she?" Fixer said, smacking Titati roughly on the shoulder.

"Mr. Fixer, I am telling you the truth. In fact, I'm not the one who usually handles these negotiations but because of my personal involvement I decided I would. If you want a quick inspection of your world I can hand this over to someone else," Leia stopped to take a deep calming breath. This man was more annoying than Borsk Fey'lya. "But I can tell you right now, if I decide that Tatooine is not getting enough water the problem will be fixed a lot quicker than if anyone else was sent there right now."

"Yes, yes, th-that will be quite charitable of you," Titati said hastily, rising and attempting to pull Fixer with him. Fixer didn't move for a second, letting his eyes rake up and down Leia's body. "Please Fixer, we should be going so the President can get all her work done as soon as possible." Fixer shook Titati's pudgy hand from his arm and slowly got up and followed the Prime Minister from the room, keeping his eyes on Leia all that way. Leia rose when Titati reached her and shook his hand and then Fixer’s, meeting his gaze without blinking.

Just before leaving the room The Fixer looked over his shoulder at Leia and asked, "I don't suppose you could tell me where Master Skywalker is?"

Leia frowned briefly at him before answering, "Master Skywalker is on a mission at the moment so he probably isn't even aware of these negotiations. I'm sure he would have taken part had he been available. Why did you want to know?"

"No reason," Fixer said before finally exiting the room.

———————————————

In reality it took four hours to reach the Millennium Falcon and the sky had turned a bloody hue as the surface was exposed to the red giant. Creatures that were clearly meant to be nocturnal stumbled about as they attempted to shield their underdeveloped eyes from the glaring sun.

"This must have been fairly recent," Mara commented, seeing a spiky, plated creature actually run into a tree. "Nothing seems to have adapted to the new star yet."

"The red star represents evil," Cyan said, kneeling so Han could take Luke from him and Mara could help the now very pale Lando limp into the Falcon.

Lando rolled his eyes as he hobbled up the Falcon's ramp. "Does everything in this system represent something?"

"Yes. In fact, that creature represents blindness to evil and how that will only inevitably harm you. You see, the red star grows larger as evil grows. It was very small for a long time until the Emperor, then it shrank again after he and his clone’s bodies died. Yet now it grows again," Cyan paused before entering the Falcon. "By all rights, K'ti'ma V should have already been pulled away from its original orbit. If the star gets much larger, there will be nothing even the Elders can do to stop it."

"Then we'd better get going," Corran said, laying his free hand on Cyan's shoulder. "C'mon, I think you'll fit."

It was a while later until they finally got Lando properly patched up and made a temporary bed for Cyan out of the small cargo bay. The dragon had wanted to stay with Luke but they found that he was just too big to fit in the sleeping area. Luke hadn't woken up at all, undisturbed even by the Falcon's rough passage through the boiling atmosphere or the entrance into hyperspace. Mara had stayed with him the entire time, occasionally joined by Corran on the long hyperspace journey home. Corran had attempted to help pilot but neither Han nor Lando seemed willing to relinquish the Falcon’s controls to a "crazy X-Wing jockey" so he spent the rest of his time chatting with Cyan. Though they had been wary of the dragon at first, unsure how he would act without Luke there, he soon proved not only trust worthy and helpful, but extraordinarily knowledgeable about the universe. He claimed to have learned it all from Luke’s life experiences but he had a rather distinct personality of his own. A blitheness that kept him at ease whether he was in the wilds of K’ti’ma or the cargo hold of a space ship. Unfortunately, the dragon seemed to have problems pronouncing his name so he had taken to calling him Corn instead.

"Corn?" Mara had said, laughing softly so as not to wake up Luke. "I like it."

"Just don't use it. It's bad enough Cyan calls me that all the time. I'd never live it down if the squadron heard it," Corran commented dryly. Mara laughed again as the words Corn 9 popped into her head. After seeing the sour look on Corran's face she decided not to voice it. "It's weird, really. In some respects he's exactly like Luke but in others they're not alike at all."

"How so?"

"Well, first of all, he can be incredibly annoying," Corran said, sitting on the bunk next to Mara. "I think he miss-pronounces my name on purpose just so he has an excuse to call me Corn."

Mara ginned and looked over at him, "Oh, Luke can be really annoying when he wants to. Just ask Han to tell you some horror stories about the pranks Luke and Wedge use to pull."

"Wedge?" Corran asked in disbelief.

"Oh, yes!" Mara exclaimed. "I tell ya, these are some sick-minded people! And apparently Wedge just got worse when he started commanding Wraith Squadron. Did you hear what he pulled?" Corran shook his head. "Well, apparently he managed to get Janson naked, covered in Ewok food, in Han's mess room when he was still commanding the Mon Remonda."

"You're not serious? I wonder if that has anything to do with the 'yub, yub' thing they keep quipping at each other." Corran commented.

"I'll ask him when he wakes up," Mara said. She paused for a moment, not sure how to continue the conversation and then she remembered something. "Hey, what was with that cut you made to that emerald dragon?"

Corran turned towards her again and frowned. "Well, lets see, Lando was about to become draco fodder so I figured distracting the dragon would be a great idea…"

"No, not that. I mean, you’ve got better control then that, it looked kind of awkward," Mara said.

"Well it was also an awkward angle…" he looked skyward and then quickly glanced back and saw she wasn't buying it and sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright. I haven't been practicing as much with my lightsaber as usual. I've been busy!" He explained.

Mara's green eyes narrowed, "That's no excuse. You could have easily gotten yourself and some of us killed."

"I know, and believe me I'll be practicing a lot more from now on. I got some damn good incentive," Corran said emphatically. Then he said, "To make a drastic change of subject—"

"And take the heat off yourself."

"—if Luke wakes up before we get back, do we take him to Yeema?" Corran asked, ignoring Mara's comment.

"No, he needs medical treatment and out here I'd say we'd be lucky to find a bacta tube and Luke can't stand those," Mara said. "We'll wait until after we get back to Coruscant and we can take more people with us."

Corran nodded in agreement, "Good plan . . . Wait, why can't he stand bacta tubes?"

"Childhood trauma. Long story, never mind, but for now, we don't tell him," Mara said.

"We don’t tell him," Corran agreed again.

"Don't tell me what?"

Mara and Corran jumped in surprise and looked over at Luke's bunk. He had raised himself up on his elbows but that seemed about all he could do at the moment. In fact, he sank down as soon as they were both looking at him.

"Luke! You're awake!” Mara exclaimed, quickly moving to kneel beside him. "Uh—How much did you hear?"

"It was off and on, really. Hence the question. Thought I did hear the part about you not doing your lightsaber practicing and I've already figured out a punishment for you, Corran," Luke said, glaring at his former apprentice. Corran groaned.

Mara smiled, "So, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got caught in a herd of stampeding Banthas," Luke answered, closing his eyes and wincing as he tried to move. “Why?”

“Oh, it’s just you look it and I was wondering if you were being deceiving in you appearance…” Mara said. Luke growled and weakly hit her on the arm after pushing himself to an unsteady upright position.

“I hate it when you ungrateful students turn my words against me,” Luke grumbled. “So what are you not going to tell me? I promise I’ll act surprised when you do.”

It is better that you don’t know, Luke. You should heal first, Cyan’s voice echoed in Luke’s head.

“Hey! Cyan’s speaking telepathically and he’s not rhyming! Thank my lucky stars!” Luke exclaimed, throwing his legs off the side of the bed.

Mara grabbed his shoulder and kept him from rising. “Oh, no you don’t. You gotta stay in bed.”

“Mara, I have no recollection of using the bathroom in about a month and I’m pretty sure I didn’t go in my pants. But if I don’t go soon, I will,” Luke said.

Mara and Corran laughed and the serious tone of his words. “I’m sorry Luke, that didn’t occur to me. Do you need some help?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. This is Corran’s punishment,” Luke grinned as all mirth disappeared from Corran’s face. “I’ll be damned if I can get there on my own and damned if I can stand there long enough to finish so you get the honor of holding me up. C’mon.”

“I’ll never skimp on my duties again,” Corran moaned. He helped pull Luke the rest of the way to his feet and supported him as they walked slowly towards the bathroom. They went passed the couch and game table where Cyan was sitting calmly in the middle of the floor. “How’d you fit in here?” Corran asked.

“A whole lot o’ squeezing.”

“Keep Mara company will you Cyan?” Luke asked. “I’m gonna be a while.” Corran sighed in resignation.

Cyan rumbled in amusement. “Of course I will. But go quick, you’re making me want to go and I can’t fit in there, and I don’t think Han wants me marking my territory all over his ship.” They all agreed and Luke hobbled off with Corran. Cyan opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by Luke’s groan of release from down a hall.

“So, Cyan,” Mara asked, gesturing to the unhealed skin literally hanging off his arm, “when do you shed?”

“When Luke’s mind and my have been fully melded I will enter adulthood. I will shed the dull incognizance of my youth and become a reservoir of knowledge for Luke. I will always be growing but only as he does,” Cyan said.

“Meaning…?”

“We still got some bugs to work out but once we’re fully connected the old skin goes. Until then I’m to chicken to pull the already damaged parts off.”

Mara laughed at the disconcerted expression on Cyan’s face as he picked at the dead scales and then she mused out loud, “I wonder what Leia will think of you?”

“I have a bad feeling about meeting Leia,” Cyan said. “It doesn’t make sense of course, but I can’t shake it.”

Mara frowned at the dragon. “There’s nothing to worry about. If you’re connected to Luke like you say then she’ll like you just fine.”

“That’s what has me worried,” Cyan rumbled.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Cyan answered. “Just a feeling. I will face this issue in its own time, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mara said, brushing Cyan’s shoulder blade, “you have nothing to hide, so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

Cyan shrugged. “I sure hope so.”

About fifteen minutes later Luke and Corran made their way back. Luke sat down next to Mara after briefly scratching Cyan behind his almost fully-grown horn while Corran remained standing, shaking his head in wonder.

“Hey, Cyan, did you tell them about the rock test?” Luke asked suddenly.

Cyan rumbled negatively. “No, of course not. That’s for Masters to know.”

“Ah, good. I want to try this on you two,” Luke said as he started to rummage around the table.

Mara and Corran exchanged glances with each other. “Rock test?” Mara asked. “Shouldn’t this wait until you’re better?”

“No, this will only take a second. Here, this’ll have to play the rock,” Luke lifted a hydrospanner from the table and painfully crouched on the floor. He then placed the hydrospanner less than a centimetre away from the seam in the deck plates and sat back up. “I want you two to tell me how to move the hydrospanner into the crease using the least amount of energy and concentration.”

“Huh?”

“Just think about it. But don’t say or do your answer. Whisper it to me and don’t tell anyone else what your response was until you’re both Masters.”

“Gee, don’t be strange or unreasonable about it or anything,” Corran commented. Luke just glared at him.

Mara looked at the hydrospanner for a moment, then tilted her head and frowned. “This is easy.”

“Not as easy as you might think,” Luke said obliquely. Mara frowned at him and then at the hydrospanner again. Sighing irritably she whispered the answer in his ear. Corran shrugged then did the same. “Hmmm, that’s interesting. I thought one of you would get it wrong but it wasn’t the person I thought.”

“Well, what’s the answer?” Corran asked.

Luke shook his head. “I can’t tell you until you become a Master.”

“Why not?” Mara demanded, annoyed. “It’s a simple enough test.”

“Yes, but the funny thing is if you get the right answer it means you’re capable of becoming a Master now, or at the very least soon,” Luke explained.

“But I am a Master,” Mara said, offended.

“Officially you are,” Luke corrected. “But you lack just enough technical knowledge to make you an actual Master.”

Corran nodded in agreement. “You did sorta get your training in spurts. Though while we’re on that subject how to we know you’re a Master, Luke?”

“Yeah,” Mara said defensively. “You did declare it without proper authority.”

“Luke’s a Master now, though he wasn’t when he first started teaching. The Dream tested him to make sure he was a Master now. There is no doubt in their minds and the Dragons have been doing this for twenty five thousand years,” Cyan said.

“Great,” Mara growled, “now I’m going to be wondering who answered the question right.”

Luke chuckled then started to slowly push himself back to his feet. “It’ll give you something to occupy your mind,” he said. “While you’re doing that I think I’ll go back to bed. Hurts less when you’re unconscious.”

G o o d

I n t e n t i o n s

Chapter XVI

Three standard days later

“Luke…”

Leia walked softly into the room, careful to not wake the other patients recuperating from their dips in the bacta tanks. Luke had been rushed into one immediately after his arrival, even before Leia could free herself from a council meeting. He floated serenely in the tank of curative liquid, his wounds sticking out against he near bloodless skin. Mara sat protectively on the edge of a bed in front and just to the side, swinging her legs idly.

Then Leia stopped, seeing the strange lizard with peeling bronze scales sitting neatly beside the tank, looking up at Luke eagerly.

“Who are you?” Leia demanded. Cyan jumped in surprise and let out a small yelp of alarm. Mara twisted around hastily and saw Leia striding over, abandoning any pretence of quiet.

“Leia! Oh, we forgot to tell you about Cyan in the transmission, didn’t we.” Mara stood up and beckoned the dragon forward. Cyan rose, walking over to Leia with his head carried lower than what seemed comfortable to him. He tucked his arms against his chest and lowered his crest as if wary of her. Stopping in front of Leia he gracefully extended he paw to her, all the while making a muffled chiming sound as he moved.

“I am Cyan of K’ti’ma. Luke and I…bonded while he was there.” As Cyan spoke he voice came out in a soft respectful sounding purr.

“Bonded?” Leia asked suspiciously, taking Cyan’s hand. “Is it life long?”

Cyan blinked he sable eyes, appearing puzzled at the question. “Yes, of course.”

“You’ve nothing to worry about from Cyan, Leia,” Mara assured her. “In fact, he’s one of the only reasons we’re all alive.” Mara led Leia over to the bed she had been sitting on and explained all that had happened. Cyan went back to his spot by the bacta tank and barely moved except to add something to Mara’s explanation.

“Well, it’s good that you’re here to help him, Cyan, I suppose. I think I’m going to have to ask him to help with some negotiations when he’s well,” Leia commented when Mara was finished.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s been some unrest on Tatooine over water rations,” Leia said. “There’s a small resistance group forming.”

“There’s always dispute over water rations on Tatooine. Or any desert planet for that matter,” Mara said dryly, shaking her head. “I wonder if Luke’ll be even interested.”

Leia snorted in mild agreement. “He will if they do actually break into revolt. The even sent the leader of the resistance with the Prime Minister. Annoying man, called himself ‘The Fixer’.”

“The Fixer?” Cyan exclaimed.

“You know him?” Leia asked.

Cyan shook his head, making a loud clank. “No, of course not. I’m only a month old. But he was Luke’s friend growing up. In fact, he was sorta the de facto lead after Biggs left.”

“Hmmm,” Mara said. “I think Luke’ll be interested after all.”

“I hope the Falcon didn’t get damaged or anything. I’d rather go in her. Speaking of the Falcon, where’s Han and everyone else?”

“Han and Lando went to get some food and Corran had to go report in with Wedge.”

“Well, those data cards should fill you in on the briefings you missed, but you might want to discuss them over with some of the other squad members.”

“I’ll talk with Ooryl before I head home. Thanks again for letting me off,” Corran added, reaching across Wedge’s desk and taking the data cards from him.

“I heard Yeema’s story too. I have no urge to have it happen again,” Wedge said darkly. “If Luke can do something to prevent it than I’ll give him all the help he needs. I don’t think I have enough luck left to survive another prolonged conflict. You’re just lucky we didn’t get called out on any missions while you were gone.”

Corran smiled thinly. “I know, I know. But at least we’re sending someone after the Threnody.”

“Tarckok still has Ben and besides, I would say kidnapping two Jedi Masters alone would be testament to an act of war.” Wedge shook his head. “From one conflict to the next.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about the Imperials,” Corran said optimistically.

“Actually Supreme Commander Pellaeon’s thinks that the Cragon could represent the outside threat Grand Admiral Thrawn was so worried about. He’s even sending in an Imp Star Deuce,” Wedge said.

Corran’s eyebrows knitted together. “That could be. He would certainly have know about all this.”

“That’s something we’ll never know for sure seeing as he’s dead. But we can discuss this later,” Wedge said, pointing at the data cards and rising from behind the desk. “You have to read through those cards and run some catch up simulations.” Corran stood too and they exited Wedge’s office. On their way to the hanger Wedge asked, “So who is this Cyan I keep hearing about?”

“Cyan? Oh, I think he could take awhile to explain,” Corran said with a bit of a grin.

Wedge raised an eyebrow, “Well, you can tell me about him on the way to the hanger. I have to go down there anyway.” So Corran filled Wedge in on the events to, during, and then the return from the K’ti’ma system, very careful to leave out Cyan’s nickname for him. “Really? Isn’t that dangerous? I mean, couldn’t he alter Luke’s thoughts or something?”

“I never thought about it,” Corran said. “I’m fairly certain he’s trustable.”

Wedge said, “Well, I trust your judgment then. So when do I get to meet him?”

“CORN!”

Corran turned around and saw Cyan barreling towards them sounding like a wind chime in a sandstorm. His forearms were tucked against his chest and his wings folded neatly against his back. His ridge was up and his eyes were bright. He sat back on his haunches and half opened his wings coming to a neat stop right in front of them, managing to only make enough wind to blow their hair around. He had run from the other side of a large lobby, scaring two Quarrens half to death and scattering a group of Ughnaughts.

Corran sighed in resignation. “Now, I suppose.”

“Corn?” Wedge asked, puzzled. “Why’d you call him ‘Corn’?”

“I can’t say Corn’nan—Cora’an—” Cyan stopped and stuck out his tongue before trying again. “I can’t say Corn’s name right so I use Corn instead.”

Wedge covered his mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to hide his smile. “Corn . . . Good choice.”

Corran turned his glare from Cyan to Wedge then back again. “Why aren’t you with Luke?” he asked, purposely ignoring Wedge’s chuckling.

“They took him out of the tank and he and Mara wanted to spend some ‘quality time’ together and much as I like Luke, I don’t need to be there.” Cyan said dryly.

“Aren’t you just going to get the experience anyway?” Corran asked, raising an eyebrow and letting a grin of his own tug at the corner of his mouth.

Cyan rumbled. “I’m getting it right now. I don’t think he should be doing that in his condition.”

“They’re creative, they’ll find a way around it,” Wedge said, resuming their walk down to the hanger.

“They already have,” Cyan assured them, shacking is head. “Odd that this is what we end up talking about.”

“I’d just as soon stop before you say something specific. So why are you hanging around with us? Isn’t Leia there yet?” Wedge asked.

“I don’t think Leia likes me,” Cyan said with a shrug that shifted his wings off is back.

Corran and Wedge traded glances. “Why not?” Corran asked.

“I don’t know,” Cyan responded. “I didn’t look into her mind or anything and she didn’t say she doesn’t like me. It’s just a sense.”

“Weird, I thought Leia would really like you,” Corran commented.

Wedge shook his head. “Me too. I’m sure it’s nothing.” He patted Cyan on the shoulder. “I like you though.”

Cyan purred as if this pleased him greatly. “I like you too. You’re the only person honest enough to not hide his laugh when I call him Corn.”

Wedge grinned and then a though occurred to him. “So are you and Luke going with us on the mission to find the Threnody?”

“Most definitely,” Cyan growled. “And Mara too. In fact, Luke wants to bring along as many fully trained Jedi as he can.”

“I’d be doing that too if someone had my son,” Corran said darkly. “Tell Luke and Mara not to worry about getting Ben back. We’ve got Rogue Squadron on the job so success is pretty much assured.”

Cyan arched his head up and lay his ridge flat against his neck. “I hope so, Corn. Because if we don’t, Tarckok won’t live long enough to enjoy his victory.”

————————————

“Here, Luke. I want you to take a look at these.”

Luke took the data pad from Leia and quickly scanned the text. “What’s this?”

“Current quotas on food stuffs and water imports for Tatooine and Detoia,” Leia said. Luke sat back on the bed in the bacta recovery room and put his arm over Mara’s shoulder where she was lying beside him. She rested her chin on his shoulder and read with him.

”Ok, and…?”

Leia handed him another data card. “Here’s the suggested changes for Tatooine.” Luke read that too and frowned. “What do you think?”

“The old one’s are definitely unfair to Tatooine and I don’t think the new ones are much better,” Luke answered.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Mara said, looking at the numbers. “There’s a fair sized increase of water. Especially when compared to the population.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t include banthas, or dewbacks, or any of the large animals they’ve got all over Tatooine. They need water too and they drink a lot more than our average citizen,” Luke responded.

“It doesn’t include any of the animals used for transport on Detoia either,” Mara pointed out.

Han grunted from the end of the bed. “Wouldn’t make much of a difference. Detoia only has mie-mies for transport and the last time I road one my legs dragged on the ground.”

“Maybe you fell off and didn’t know it?” Lando suggested from his chair.

“Ha, ha,” Han said blandly. “Still, I agree with Luke.”

“Yeah, but look, Tatooine’s got almost three times as many moisture farms as Detoia,” Mara said, pointing at the numbers on the chart.

“That doesn’t mean much,” Luke said. “Tatooine’s got the lower humidity index of the two. Uncle Owen never made much of a profit and that was usually spent on repairs from Sand People attacks or new droids.”

Leia shrugged and took the data cards back from Luke. “Mon Calamari and Al-Prinka just upped their water exports, maybe we can use that.”

“This’ll all have to wait until we come back from the Threnody mission,” Luke said. “Right now that holds precedent for me.”

“And me,” Mara added.

There was a rumble from the doorway and they all tuned to see Cyan duck into the room. “The doctor said it was alright for you to go now and adds a plea that you actually listen to him and take it easy for a while.”

“File received and deleted. Tell him thanks for the concern,” Luke said, swinging out of bed.

“Already did.”

Leia frowned at him as he put on his belt. “You’re planning something. What is it?” she demanded.

“Cyan’s got wings, but I haven’t seen him fly yet,” Luke said, standing. “And according to the Dream I’m supposed to be able to ride him. I wanna see if both are true.”

“Will you at least get a saddle or something first?” Leia pleaded from atop the hanger complex. It was the middle of the evening and the sky was relatively clear for Coruscant. Most people were home from their jobs and the patrol speeders weren’t due back for another few hours. They all stood around the edge of the building, Leia, Luke, Cyan, Han Lando, Mara and Corran and Wedge who came as soon as they heard what Luke was going to do.

Cyan crouched and Luke vaulted easily onto his back. Cyan wore a belt around his neck, which Luke gripped. “This should be alright for now. Besides, any saddle I got for him would have to be hand crafted and that could take forever. I need to know Cyan’s capabilities before we leave.” Luke leaned down and kissed Leia on the cheek. “I promise I won’t do anything too stupid.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Leia growled. Luke chuckled and gripped Cyan with his legs. Cyan walked over to the edge and unfurled his wings a quarter of the way. Crouching down he tuned his sable eyes skyward. Luke made sure his hold on the belt was secure and tried not to grip too hard with his legs.

“Don’t worry about that, Luke. I can scarcely feel what you’re doing right now,” Cyan informed him, shifting around to find the perfect position. Luke could feel Cyan’s muscles gathering between his legs; bunching, tensing, readying for that first all-important down-stroke. The dragon extended his wings to their fullest, easily reaching a wingspan of thirteen metres. Cyan crouched down even further, pressing his arms against his chest, digging his hind claws into the ferocrete, and becoming a single, massive ball of muscle. Luke crouched down too, laying his cheek against Cyan’s neck to minimize the whiplash. All was still for a moment until a sudden blast of foul air erupted from the trench between the layers upon layers of buildings that covered the planet.

Cyan pushed off; leaping into the sky so fast everyone’s face disappeared in a blur of motion. Luke was jerked back and he clung desperately to Cyan as his wings made their first sweep, almost doubling their speed. Cyan beat harder as they increased their altitude, his wings slicing through the wind like a lightsaber.

They leveled off and Luke sat up a bit, looking around and glorying in the exhilarating feeling of power that came to him as Cyan beat the air, his wings moving deceptively slow yet they were going faster then Luke thought any living thing could.

Cyan let out a bellow of sheer joy, dipping and weaving, glorying in the mutual sensation of freedom. Beating harder, Cyan climbed a little more in the sky, then spread his wings in a glide. Suddenly he started to tip from side to side, first dipping one wing, than the other. Luke laughed and then Cyan abruptly snapped his wings to his sides and turned towards the ground. They dropped about twenty metres before Cyan brought them out of the dive. They climbed again and then dropped, climbed and dropped, doing this over and over until Cyan finally leveled out again. Luke sat up and shook his head.

“That felt weird.”

Yeah, but it was fun! Cyan commented in Luke’s mind. Luke agreed and then he got and idea. Cyan said he like it so they turned upwards again, climbing higher then ever before, until the air was almost too thin for Luke to breathe. They flew level until they were just over the trench besides the building everyone else was still standing on. Cyan turned to the ground again but this time he flapped his wings, increasing their speed, seeing just how fast they could go.

“They’d better pull up soon,” Wedge said, shielding his eyes from the glare of the setting sun. “Or they’re not going to have enough room to pull up at all.”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Leia said angrily, wringing her hands.

Han kneaded her shoulders gently, though he was getting worried about their distance from the rooftops as well. He said reassuringly, “Don’t worry about Luke. He’s an experienced pilot. He knows what he’s doing.”

“He pilots X-Wings, Han,” Leia exclaimed. “With shielding, and emergency boosters, and ejection seats, and—and helmets, for the love of little green apples!”

Mara’s eyebrows knitted together. “What are they doing? They’re not even slowing down!”

“Pull up,” Corran said, even though they were too far away to hear him. “Pull up!” Then Cyan stopped flapping and started to tilt his wings to break the wind but it was too little, too late and with a loud floosh they disappeared between the buildings.

Leia cried out and rushed to the edge with Mara and the rest right behind her. “It’s my fault! I knew there was something wrong with that thing. I should have argued with Luke harder. I should ha—AHHHHH!”

Leia screamed in surprise as Cyan and Luke burst from the trench, the dragon’s shriek of glee splitting the air. The force of their passage knocked Leia backwards with Han just able to catch her in time.

“They buzzed us!” Leia cried. Everyone else burst out laughing at the outraged expression on her face. “I can’t believe they buzzed us!” Luke and Cyan climbed to a considerable height just on the momentum of the dive and then Cyan curled into a little ball with Luke splayed across his back. They fell towards the ground until Cyan gracefully unfolded and rose again. They continued weaving around the sky for all of twenty minutes after that, attracting small clusters of people on the roofs around them; gasping when they plummeted, cheering when they rose just in time.

Eventually the time came when Luke called an end to the aerial acrobatics and they began a slow spiral that brought them to an easy landing on the roof. Cyan back-winged to a stop and made two little hops before coming to a stand still. Luke jumped off and Cyan reared his head back, making a strange cough cough sound before coming back down.

Mara rushed over and embraced Luke, giving him a swift kiss and then a punch in the arm. “You scared me to death when you made that suicidal dive! I can’t believe you did that!”

“I can’t believe you did it twice,” Lando said, rubbing the elbow that he’d scrapped when he was blown over during the second pass.

“Sorry, Lando,” Luke said with a chuckle. “You guys rushed to the edge right when we came up the first time. I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to do it again.”

Leia crossed her arms and grumbled, “Didn’t think you’d be either. Are you alright?”

“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” Luke asked, truly puzzled.

“Why? Luke, what you just did was reckless and stupid. You just came out of the hospital. Not to mention the whole thing was completely pointless! You could have been killed,” Leia exclaimed.

“Oh, Leia, we weren’t in any danger! Cyan can pull up a lot faster then you guys could tell and if it comes too close, we can both use the Force to catch ourselves,” Luke explained easily. “Don’t worry.”

Leia let her arms drop to her sides and clenched her fists. “Don’t worry? Cyan’s young, you hardly know him at all! You don’t know what he’s going to do.”

Cyan arched his head up and snarled at Leia. “I have been with Luke my whole life! I have a full knowledge of my capabilities and I am not able to do anything that could harm him.” Cyan tossed his head and took a step closer to her. “And I am tired of you speaking to Luke like I’m not in the room. I can hear you!”

“See that?” Leia demanded, gesturing at Cyan but glaring at Luke. “No temper at all!”

“That’s because I’m losing my temper with you. I don’t know what’s been up with you lately but I wish you’d stop it,” Luke said, placing his hand on Cyan’s chest to keep him from moving any closer to Leia.

Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment then she looked around for support. Finding none she let out and exclamation of frustration and stomped off the roof.

——————————

“Alright, Luke. What is it?” Mara demanded.

Luke sat back in surprise and abandoned his unclasping of her shirt. “What?”

“It’s obvious our minds are not even in the same system at the moment,” Mara said dryly, pushing herself up to rest on her elbows. “It’s Leia, isn’t it?”

Luke smiled wanly. “How’d you guess?”

“We’ve all been wondering what’s up with her.”

“I just don’t get it,” Luke said, sighing as he lay down beside her on the bed in their apartment. “Cyan’s never done anything to warrant her reaction to him that I know of. And if I don’t know about something that happened to Cyan, then it didn’t happen at all.”

Mara sat up and took her shirt off the rest of the way as she spoke, followed closely by her bra. “She’s just worried about you, that’s all. She’ll accept Cyan eventually. I mean, we didn’t all trust him right away but he’s more than proved his worth. Besides,” she added, pulling her pants off in one clean tug, “you, Leia, and Han didn’t like each other when you first met.”

“That’s true,” Luke agreed, hardly noticing when Mara tossed his last article of clothing practically out of the room. Straddling him, she began to kiss and nip at his collarbone. She sat back to frown at him when he started talking again. “I just can’t get this whole thing out of my he—“ Mara suddenly grabbed Luke by the ears and smothered his words with her mouth, refusing to let go until he growled and rolled on top of her. She pressed her fingers against his chest and Luke moved away just enough to allow her to speak.

“What were you saying?”

“I can’t remember.”

Han walked a little unsteadily into the living room. Leia was sitting curled up in a self-conforming chair pull up in front of a monitor. She was frowning at something on the screen.

“Leia, what are you doing up? It’s 1:00 in the morning,” Han said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Oh, it’s only you,” Leia said with a start. “I was just looking over the report they did on Cyan. A very odd creature.”

Han shrugged, kneeling beside her. “He was created by the Force. I think everything’s odd about it.”

“I’m not joking Han. This thing’s practically impossible to kill in a fair fight. Look at this; a second layer of scales impenetrable to almost anything except turbolaser fire and highly acidic compounds, the ability to produce his own acid strong enough to penetrate the hide of any of his own kind if their body chemistry is even slightly different than his. He’s also got titanium-laced talons and horns, skull and spine strong enough for him to be able to ram his way through that wall right in front of us. If Cyan ever turned on us, I don’t know that we’d survive,” Leia said angrily.

“Cyan’s not gonna turn on us, “ Han said emphatically. “He’s dedicated to Luke in every way, and he’s never done anything to show otherwise. The only people who have anything to fear from him are those who try to hurt Luke. And I ain’t got no problems with that.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Han grunted, “Well, you don’t seem to be trying too hard to believe it.” Leia turned to him and opened her mouth to argue. Han pressed on. “You haven’t Leia. And you’ve just been getting worse for no reason at all. You know, this is really upsetting Luke and he’s got other things to worry about right now. Like is son for one.”

“I know, Han. I just have this feeling that something really horrible is going to happen to Luke and I have to do everything I can to prevent it,” Leia said resolutely, turning back to the monitor.

“Well, whatever it is, Leia, you know I’ll support you one hundred percent,” Han told her, gripping her shoulders as he stood. “But Cyan is not going to hurt Luke. And you know what?”

“What?” Leia asked, trying to ignore the warm touch of Hans’ hands softly kneading her back and read the text.

Han leaned down and whispered in her ear. “It’s the middle of the night, nothing can be done right now, the kids aren’t home anymore, and I want my wife in my bed with me.”

“I can’t, Han. There’s something here I have to find . . .” her voice trailed off and she leaned closer to the screen. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?” Han asked warily.

“Nothing . . . nothing, don’t worry about it. I can fix everything. She looked up at her husband and smiled. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

Chapter XVII

Three standard weeks later

Luke opened the door to his quarters and grinned when he saw who was there. “Wedge! This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to keep you updated on the mission progress,” Wedge said.

“Oh, thanks. C’mon in,” Luke said, surprised. “I didn’t think you’d have time for this.”

“That’s the great thing about being a General. No one says much when you come in late. But what about you?” Wedge asked, gesturing at the warm nerf hide jacket he was wearing along with the thick breaches and boots he favored when going for a flight on Cyan. “I didn’t think you were doing anything beside prep your Jedi for the mission.”

Luke shrugged as Wedge sat down. “Usually I’m not, but Leia sent me a message this morning asking that I come down to some warehouse to see something.”

“Maybe she’s planning a surprise day of life party?” Wedge joked.

“Doubtful,” said Cyan as he waddled through the room on his way to the kitchen. He waved absently at Wedge who did the same. He grabbed a large bowl and filled it with water from the tap. Dipping his snout in he sucked the bowl dry, tipped his head back, and gurgled before spitting it out in the sink. “If she was planning a day of life party it would have to have happened three months ago. Besides, you’d be invited.

Luke ginned. “Well there you go. So tell me the news while Cyan ‘freshens up’.”

“Alright,” Wedge said, laughing at the dirty look Cyan shot Luke behind his back. “The Star Destroyer II, Catharsis, finally met up with the Mon Cadella and the Mon Reeal. Rough Squadron, as well as General Salm’s Defender Squadron, have joined the group and are starting their final set of SIMMs. I’ll be going out to join them by the end of the week and the mission should set out by the end of the next. I just wanted to know when you guys would be heading out.”

“We might was well go with you, I suppose. We’ve been ready for a long time,” Luke said. Cyan dumped a large slab of some unrecognizable meat onto an oversized try sitting on the floor. Luke compressed his lips and gave Wedge a hard look. “This mission will not fail. I won’t let them take my son.” His statement was punctuated by the sound of rendered flesh as Cyan tore off a chunk of meat and neatly swallowed it whole.

“Don’t worry, Luke,” Wedge said rising. “Nothing’s gonna stop us.”

—————————————

Han and Mara rushed through the double doors and over to the observation room overlooking a group of medics clustered around an operating table. Luke was laid out on top of it, his face pale and his lips blue with lack of oxygen. He showed no sign of consciousness. Leia was already there, watching the events nervously.

“Clear!” a doctor shouted as the medics and 2-1B droids pulled away. Luke’s body jumped in response to the electro-stimulators on his temples. An assistant waved a sensor over his torso and shook her head. The doctor shouted again and Luke jerked more violently this time. Still there was no response.

“What happened?” Mara asked, pressing her hands against the glass.

“Cyan happened,” Leia answered angrily. “I got them out to an abandoned warehouse to try and talk about all that’s been happening. You know, let by gones be by gones. The place use to be a chemical manufacturing plant and a lot of old waist was still lying around. So I didn’t think we’d be disturbed. I’d finally decided to except Cyan. I honestly believed that he wouldn’t hurt us like I had thought. Then just as we were leaving, he turned on us!”

Han and Mara’s expressions turned to shock incarnate. “Are you sure?” Han asked.

“Of course I’m sure,” Leia snarled, gesturing to the two bloody gashes running down Luke’s arm. “He hit Luke first, and then came after me. Cyan had his mind so twisted Luke wasn’t even aware of what was happening. There was a vial on a crate near by; I didn’t have any other weapon within easy reach so I threw it. Maybe it was acid or Cyan’s old skin just isn’t as strong, but it burned right through.” She was interrupted when the doctor yelled again. Still nothing changed.

Leia’s voice became more hoarse as Luke’s skin started to turn the same shade as his lips. “It slowed him down but he just decided to get me back by severing the bound between him and Luke. It was horrible! He screamed and even started convulsing a bit and then—and then he just want dead!

“Cyan tried to finish me off; no witnesses he said. So I ran over to some barrels and knocked one over on him when he came near. He got it pretty bad and took off. Promised he’d be back,” Leia hugged herself and sobbed. Her face seemed to breakdown and she let herself lean against the glass wall. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was barely audible. “It’s my fault.”

“No, no it’s not,” Han said reassuringly, wrapping his arms around her and swallowing the lump in his throat. “You did all that you could.”

“Yes. I did all I could. All I could,” Leia murmured as if she was trying to convince herself of that fact.

Mara pressed harder against the glass then let her hands curl into fists as a rising sense of panic filled her. “Come back, Luke, come back.” She forced down her fright and focused on the Force, willing his heart to start beating.

“CLEAR!”

Luke’s body jumped again and was followed by an almost triumphant beep. His eyes fluttered and he gasped for air. Someone fitted a breath mask over his face while a sensor was placed on his chest. He slowly came back to consciousness, moaning and shaking his head.

“No . . . no, let me die . . .” he groaned, curling into a fetal position. “ . . . Let me die . . .”

Mara looked around and found a two-onebee droid. “I have to go in there. I can help them.”

“My apologies, Master Jade-Skywalker, but you are not permitted it see him until he has stabilized,” the droid said without feeling.

“Let me go with him. Let me die!” Luke’s shout brought everyone’s attention back on him. He kicked out, hitting a nurse in the stomach. A burst of the Force knocked a tray over, spilling its contents across the floor. Luke ripped off his facemask as the medics pushed him back down on the operation table.

Mara gripped the two-one-bee droid by its mechanical arms and shook it to punctuate her words, each time stronger than the last. “Let—me—in—there—I—can—restrain—him!”

After several threats to send the droid to meet its maker, it finally let Mara in and she bolted for the operating table. She shoved the doctor out of the way and pushed Luke down before he was even aware she was there. She used the Force to keep him from getting up again and held her hands to the side of his head and made him look at her.

“You will not die!” Mara snarled, bending his thoughts like she had never done to anyone else. “You will not give in!” Luke squirmed desperately beneath her grasp, gripping her wrists in a vain attempt to force her hands away. “You will not follow Cyan!” Luke’s concentration was too fragmented to defend himself against the onslaught. He gave in and began to sob uncontrollably. “You will live!”

Luke’s grip slackened and the medics moved back in. A nurse gave him a sedative that put him to sleep in a matter of seconds. They replaced the facemask. Mara waited until she was sure that he was unconscious before she slackened her grip on his thoughts. Suddenly his breathing stopped and his heart rate slowed. Mara tightened her hold on his mind again and his vital signs returned to normal. The doctors tried to remove her to let them work, but once she explained what she was doing they stopped. They finished what they were doing and brought them both to the recovery room. Mara settled down in a chair with a strong cup of café; if she fell asleep, Luke would never wake up.

It was going to be a long night.

“How’s he doing?”

Mara jumped when she heard Karrde’s voice and rubbed her throbbing temples. “Bad, of course. His mind’s in such a state of turmoil I think he’s going to need therapy for years after this.”

“How are you doing then?” Karrde asked instead, dragging a chair over. “You don’t look all that great.”

“I don’t feel all that great,” she responded, leaning back in her chair.

Karrde shrugged and then glanced around. “Where is everyone else?”

“Leia’s getting checked out and Han went with her. She’s a bit of a wreck right now, they think she’s got a mild case of shock,” she yawned. “And Lando’s getting some more café.”

“You should be getting some sleep, not café. There’s plenty of people here to look after Luke,” Karrde admonished gently.

Mara shook her head and tried to force the last bit of tiredness from her eyes. “No, I can’t. The moment I let go of my hold on his mind, his starts to die. I’d rather not have that happen for some strange reason.”

“I’m sure there are other Jedi here who can do that. Isn’t Corran Horn better at controlling minds than anyone else Luke’s taught?” Karrde commented.

Mara nodded, “Yeah, but Corran’s already joined the task force out at Dantooine with the rest of Rogue Squadron. Besides, I don’t want anyone else this ingrained in Luke’s head. I’ve seen it, but . . .”

“No, you’re right, I guess,” Karrde said with a small shrug. “All I’m saying is you can’t stay awake forever.”

“I can stay awake for as long as it takes. I won’t let him go out like this,” Mara said in determination. Neither of them said anything for a moment, then the silence was broken by a groan, Luke’s groan. Mara knelt by the bed and helped him sit up. He coughed twice and gasped for air through the breath mask still on his face. He slumped against her, breathing heavily. Eventually he noticed her presence in his mind and he grunted, pushing against her.

Sounding small and almost childish, Luke said “Out, out. Get out,”

“I can’t do that, Luke,” Mara said gently, stroking his forehead. “Not until I know you’ll stay.”

Luke moaned and shook his head. “I don’t wanna stay. I wanna go . . . go ‘way with Cyan.” His voice broke when he said the dragon’s name and he started to cry. “He’s dead. Dead, dead. Leia killed him.” Mara and Karrde exchanged glances.

“Leia didn’t kill him, Luke, she just injured him. He tried to kill you,” Mara explained gently. Luke looked up at her with eyes made wide with confusion and a kind of innocence. Then his eyebrows knitted together and it seemed a little more of him came back.

“No, she killed him,” Luke said, anger creeping slowly into his voice when he saw the pity on Mara’s face. “She did! She killed him right in front of me. She put him in the carbon freeze.”

Mara bit her lip at the conviction in his tone. “He was controlling your mind. None of what you remember is true.”

“NO!” Luke cried, pulling away from her support. “She—she killed him. She said it was for my own good; he’d only betray me. But—but it was Leia who betrayed me.” He looked at Mara and she suddenly felt so unbelievably rotten for disagreeing. “You believe me, don’t you?”

Mara took a breath before answering and said, “Yes, I believe you.”

Luke breathed a sigh of relief but then he looked confused again. “Then why won’t you let me die, Mara?”

“Because I need you!” Mara pleaded, feeling the same sense of panic as before rising again. Had he gone completely over the edge? Had Cyan broken his mind when he broke the bond too? She whispered softly, “You have to stay. I don’t know what your death will do to me.”

“You believe me?” Luke asked again. This time Mara nodded without hesitation. “Then I’ll stay. I’ll stay for you.” He slumped against her again and just as quickly fell asleep. Mara eased her touch on his mind, but his time his life signs didn’t flicker. She sighed in relief and lowered him back to the bed.

“Do you believe him?” Karrde asked. “For real?”

“I believe he thinks he’s telling the truth and under different circumstances that would be all I need. But this is Leia we’re talking about. She can be stubborn, but she would never resort to murder,” Mara responded.

“At least you can sleep now.”

Mara smiled wanly, “Yes, that’s true. But do you know what bugs me about this whole ordeal? Leia’s story just seems so . . . convenient.”

“Convenient?” Karrde asked. “How so?”

“Well, she said she invited Luke out to an abandoned warehouse so they could talk in private. So it turns into Luke’s word against her’s since the only other person there was Cyan and if he’s still alive, than he’d obviously go with some version of Luke’s story. Normally we would be stuck, but even before Luke’s resuscitated she’s put doubt on anything he says. Not to mention there just happened to be acidic chemicals nearby for her to use on Cyan. And what person in their right mind would go into Invasec unarmed?” Mara stopped then gestured to Luke’s arm. “And considering how close Luke and Cyan always were, if he had wanted to hit Luke, he could have delivered a more serious blow than that.”

Karrde blinked as he absorbed all the information she had just shot at him. “You’re right. I’ll have to look into this.”

“Huh? Just like that? You’re gonna launch an investigation against the President of the New Republic?” Mara asked incredulously.

“One’s already been launched,” he informed her as he stood up to leave. “If Leia’s telling the truth, than we have to catch Cyan before he finishes the job. And if Luke’s right . . .”

“Then we have to convict Leia.”

——————————————

The two-onebee droid pressed Luke’s left thumb to the data pad. “Please return in eight days for psychiatric assessment. You are free to go.”

“Sounds like I’m getting out of prison,” Luke commented to Mara as she helped him down a set of stairs in front of the hospital.

Mara laughed, “Well, you are a repeat offender.” They reached a landing that opened onto an outdoor platform where landspeader taxis came to pick up out bound patients. They hailed one and got in, heading strait back to their apartment. Luke dozed most of the way, but when he opened his eyes it was only to turn an empty gaze out the view port. He fought to keep his pain from his face, failing miserably. He wanted to get out of the taxi, go to Leia’s home, and beat her for what she did, but he refused to give in. Cyan would have been disappointed in him if he did. He couldn’t do that so long as he cared about the dragon’s ideals. The in the objective part of his mind however knew that wouldn’t last forever. A showdown between the two would eventually come and the violence of the encounter was something he didn’t want to contemplate.

When they reached their current home, Luke virtually collapsed on the couch, his gaze accidentally falling on the low set bed Cyan had used. He squeezed his eyelids shut, making a futile attempt to force the thoughts from his mind. Mara sat next to him and rested her chin on his shoulder, her arm around his waist, offering silent comfort. He opened his mouth to say something when the door chimed.

“I’ll get it,” Mara said, putting her hot chocolate on the table hovering in front of them and rising. She opened the door to reveal Talon Karrde standing there. “I’ll be back in a second, Luke!” She let the door slide partially shut and leaned against the doorframe. “What have you found?”

“Nice to see you, too,” Karrde commented sardonically. Mara glared at him so he got started. “I interview Leia and for the most part her story checks out. But there are just a few important details she might have forgotten.

Mara frowned, “That’s assuming she’s lying. What are they?”

“Well, for one thing a large sum of money was subtracted from her account just after all this supposedly happened,” Karrde said. “When I interviewed her, Leia said she’d donated it to the firm started to help clean up Coruscant’s lower levels.”

“That’s not odd. She makes a donation every year around this time.”

Karrde smiled. “I know. But when we checked later that day, we found that while she did make a donation, it was a considerably smaller amount and it was made twenty minutes after our interview.”

Mara’s eyebrows knitted together. “The records could have been delayed or mistaken—it’s all volunteer work, after all. What else?”

“According to Luke’s medical report there is a rather extensive chemical imbalance in his brain, a type usually cause when telepaths have a traumatizing episode. This doesn’t prove either point since it could mean Cyan’s dead or just broken the link. But it does mean Luke’s a little unstable right now so don’t let him near anything that aggravates him easily. We also checked out the warehouse. Leia dragged Luke to her landspeeder before she called for help. So the crime scene wasn’t checked out until later that day.” Karrde ticked off a finger with each point. “There was a broken vial with some traces of an acid in it. There was an upturned barrel with left over acidic material still in it. But there were no fingerprints, and no claw marks. Which maybe the oddest of all, since Cyan leaves them everywhere he goes. I can see them on you floor right now. There also wasn’t a drop of blood—human or dragon.”

“That’s impossible! Luke has permanent scars from the claw marks on his arm,” Mara insisted.

Karrde shrugged. “You’re right. But what I found even more interesting was the fact that there was a carbon-freeze chamber set up in one of the building’s storerooms. It was damaged beyond repair but it had been used recently.” Karrde smiled humorlessly, “We scanned the place and didn’t find any prints that matched Luke or Leia’s. But we did find claw marks and traces of Cyan’s blood.”

“She did it,” Mara whispered savagely. “That bitch! She did it!”

“Small problem; the blood we found was tainted with acid that matches the stuff we found before. Cyan might have just gone back and found the place afterwards and put the memory in Luke’s mind. Personally, I agree with you. But we can’t be sure until we have Luke’s full version of what happened in there,” Karrde told her.

Mara shook her head, “That could be hard. Even remembering it hurts him. Retelling it out loud will do it even more. I’ll see what I can do.” She closed the door and turned to see Luke staring at her so steadily he seemed to be burning right through her to the wall beyond. “What? What is it?”

“Nothing,” Luke said with an abrupt smile that disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. “Nothing at all.”

——————————

Shada D’ukal wrinkled her nose at the smells that wafted out of the kitchen door. She and Karrde sat in a dingy tap-caf in one of the lower levels of “civilized” Coruscant. The two were hooded but so were most of the other patrons of the Hawk Bat’s Burrow. They had ordered drinks that arrived in mugs that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the Clone Wars. They sipped the liquid warily and waited for their latest suspect to show up.

“I still think that lizard did it,” Shada growled. “This is a waist of time.”

“There’s too much evidence to the contrary. Besides, we need to account for the missing money in Organa’s account,” Karrde argued softly but purposely.

Shada snorted, “Maybe she picked up some groceries up on her way home?”

“Five thousand credits worth? Her kids don’t even live with her anymore. We need to check this out. If she took out Cyan she’d need to have help and it couldn’t be official,” Karrde muttered as a burly cloaked man with a dark curly beard and a scar across his left eye lumbered into the bar. He had an entourage of several humans, three Rodians, and a Gotal. There was one other figure who kept his hood pulled low on his face as if to hide it. The first man walked with a limp that he tried unsuccessfully to cover up. “That’s our man.”

“Gremtak? I don’t think he’d have the brains to take Cyan out,” Shada commented.

Karrde smiled and rose from his chair after Gremtak and his lackeys disappeared into a side room. “He wouldn’t need to, Leia would have been issuing the orders. Besides, it’s the Gotal that really controls his organization. He would take it over completely except some of their more valuable men are ex-Imperials who wouldn’t be able to stomach orders from a non-human.” Karrde threw some credits on the table as they made their way over to the door.

Karrde knocked twice and a small panel slide open at eye level to reveal the greenish visage of a pig faced Gamorrean. “What you want?”

“I would like to speak to Gremtak about a business offer,” Karrde said.

“No offers today,” the Gamorrean said. “Gremtak take day off.”

“Tell him it has to do with a dragon he took care of recently,” Karrde tried again. The Gamorrean grumbled and slammed the slide shut. A minute latter the slide opened again to reveal the same Gamorrean.

“Gremtak say he don’t know nothin’ ‘bout big bronze dragon we offed last week,” the Gamorrean said.

Shada turned to Karrde with a raised eyebrow and a half grin. “We got a bright one here.”

“At least he speaks Basic,” Karrde mumbled back. “Tell Gremtak he’s not in trouble about offing the big bronze dragon, we just want to ask him a few questions.” The slide slid shut again with louder grumbling about his wages being too low and then nothing for several minutes, than a different Gamorrean opened the door. Behind him was a dark hallway illuminated by the light streaming from a room near the end on the right side. An angry voice and the familiar sound of the first Gamorrean pleading drifted towards them. There was an angry retort followed by the sound of a blaster bolt, cutting off the Gamorrean’s last words.

“Brub’s been fired. I take you to Gremtak,” the new Gamorrean said. They followed him down the corridor and through the open doorway. Gremtak sat behind a paper littered desk with an ugly snarl on his thin lips. The Gotal stood behind him, just holstering his blaster. The unfortunate Brub’s feet were just disappearing behind a side door. Gremtak saw them enter and twisted the snarl into a smug grin that would have been toothy had their been enough teeth left.

“Ah, I see the great Talon Karrde has come to grace us with his . . . respectable presence,” Gremtak said. “Welcome to my humble office, what can I do for you?”

“Nothing much. I just wanted to get some names from that job we were talking about at the door,” Karrde said, strolling into the room and sitting down in the chair in front of Gremtak’s desk, deciding on the direct approach. Shada remained standing, eyeing the various guards around the room. The man with the hidden face was tucked into a far corner.

Gremtak shook his head and started straightening out the data cards cluttering his desk. “Now, now, Karrde, you know I can’t be doin’ that. Confidentiality being one of the main reason people come ta me. If I were to start giving out names to anyone who waltzed into my office—even someone as respectable as you—then I would lose customers.”

“Of course, I understand. I don’t expect you to just give the names to me,” Karrde said, waiting until Gremtak took his eyes off him to concentrate on the job of cleaning his desk. He quickly glanced at the hooded man then at Shada. She gave him a scarcely perceptible nod of comprehension. “But as you know, a respectable man such as myself shouldn’t even be allowing you to operate.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat? Because if it is, it’s a pretty weak one. Plenty of authorities on lots of different worlds have tried the same thing,” Gremtak said disappointedly.

Karrde smiled and crossed his legs, looking quite comfortable. “Not at all. I’ll tell you what, you answer one question for me, and I’ll leave. And you don’t even have to use any names.” Shada wandered absently over to Gremtak’s desk as Karrde spoke. The Gotal scrutinize her closely and Shada smiled at him in a way that said I don’t care if you watch me. But the moment you get in my way, you’ll pay for it. The Gotal smiled right back. She looked down at Gremtak’s table and picked up a shinny paperweight, which reflected the light from the glow panels running down the wall.

Gremtak thought about it for a second, then said, “Deal. What’s the question?”

“Just confirm for me that you did get a job to take care of a dragon last week.” Shada turned the paperweight over in her hands, causing the reflection to flicker across the hooded man’s face. The action was quick, seemingly accidental to everyone watching, but it was all Shada needed. She smiled at the Gotal again and returned to Karrde’s side.

“That’s it?” Gremtak asked with a surprised blink. The Gotal grabbed his shoulder as if to warn him of something but Gremtak shook him off, unconcerned “Well, yeah, I got a job to do that. And we was successful too.”

“That’s all I needed to know,” Karrde said as he rose from the chair and made his way from the room. “But remember, Gremtak, most of the authorities on lots of different worlds don’t have my contacts and aren’t nearly as respectable.”

“So, what did you see?” Karrde asked when they were safely in a turbo lift on their way back to Karrde’s current office.

“Two diagonal slash marks going across his face,” Shada said. “They were long, they were deep, and they matched the one’s on Skywalker’s arm except I’m pretty sure they were made with the other paw.”

Karrde grinned at her. “Do you still think the dragon’s guilty?”

Chapter XIII

Luke lay on his back with his arms crossed behind his head. It was well past midnight and even the constant drone of repulsor lifts had dimmed. Mara lay sleeping beside him with her head resting on his shoulder and her arm thrown across his chest. Her leg was twined with his and he could feel her fingers and toes twitch occasionally in reaction to her unfathomable dreams. Luke wished he could be so blissful, so relaxed, so at ease. Emperor’s bones, he just wished he could sleep.

He hadn’t been able to hear everything Mara had said when she was speaking to Karrde, but he had heard enough. She didn’t believe him—she had lied. Just like all the others she thought Cyan had betrayed him, twisted his mind for the dragon’s own ends, but Luke knew that wasn’t true. He knew in his heart that Cyan could never betray him just as he could never betray Cyan. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind . . . was there?

Luke took a deep breath and shook his head. It was too stuffy in the apartment, he had to get out, get some air, things were getting far to muddled. It was too hard to breathe, and each uncomfortable breath reminded him of the warehouse. He gently disengaged himself from Mara’s casual grip, gingerly laying her head on his pillow before quietly throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

“Mmmm? Luke? Where you goin’?” Mara asked sloppily, brushing her red-gold hair behind her ear.

“I just need some fresh air,” Luke said, refusing to look at her. “Go back to sleep.”

Mara grabbed his arm and used it to pull herself up, snapping to wakefulness. “Wait. There’s something that’s upsetting you. What is it?”

“Nothing, the room’s just a little stuffy, that’s all,” Luke said, pulling away from her hand and continuing to dress.

“No, it’s not. The room only gets stuffy when you’re mad at something,” Mara stated, taking him by the shoulders and pushing him back down on the bed. “Tell me what it is.”

Luke still couldn’t bring him self to turn to her as he said, “You wouldn’t understand. No one understands.”

“Then explain it too me,” Mara insisted. “You can trust me.”

Luke turned around finally and fitted Mara with a savage stare. “Can I? You lied to me, Mara, you lied to me about Cyan.”

“What? When?” Mara asked, straightening in surprise.

“When I woke up in the hospital. You said you believe me, but you didn’t. No one believes me anymore,” Luke said, fighting the quiver in his voice and turning away again. He took a breath that should have calmed him, but it had no effect on his frayed nerves.

Mara reached around his head and cupped his face in her left hand, gently forcing him to face her once more. “I always believed you thought you were telling the truth and now I believe it is the truth. So does Karrde and pretty much everyone else who’s helping him investigate.” Mara licked her dry lips and slid closer to him. “I—I had to lie to you, Luke. You were just going to let yourself die and—and—” she stopped and took a deep breath. “When they first brought you in, they were trying to resuscitate you. And, you know I never panic.”

“No,” he said the corner of his lip twitching, “you don’t.”

Mara smiled briefly in reply and pushed on. “But when you didn’t respond right away I panicked. I mean really panicked. Ask anybody who was there. I was this close—” she took her hand away from his face and held her thumb and index finger less than a centimetre apart. “—to completely freaking out. I don’t know if you remember waking up then, but you started screaming at the doctors to let you die. I almost beat up a two-onebee droid trying to get in there. I had to use the Force to keep you alive.”

“I remember vaguely, I think,” Luke said, rubbing his temple and not straining quite so much against her pull.

“It was something like seven hours straight I had to control you because I didn’t want anyone else that ingrained in you head. When you woke up again I had to lie to you. You wouldn’t have survived and I couldn’t force you to forever. You’d lie to keep me alive, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, yes of course I would. In a heart beat. I’d do just about anything to keep you alive,” Luke assured her, now cupping her face in his hands. He pressed their foreheads together and took a shuddering breath. “It’s just that I need to know you really believe me. I’m right, I know I’m right. But everyone keeps telling me I’m wrong and I’ve heard it so much now I’m starting to doubt myself.” His voice suddenly broke. Swallowing noisily he continued, “It’s like I have this empty pit in my heart and it’s always at the back of my thoughts. No matter what I’m doing it’s always lingering. It’s like a part of me keeps reaching out for something that will never be there to answer, and it’s slowly turning into an obsession. I hate it. I hate it. It’s like I can feel myself gradually going insane.” Mara drew him slowly back onto the bed and let him lay his face against his shoulder as he fought the sobs seeking to escape his throat. Luke could feel her beautiful hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks and her surprisingly soft hands stroking away tension from muscles straining to contain such emotion. Her gently reassurances pushed hot moist breath against his ear and neck.

“Let it out Luke, you can trust me.”

The tears came in a rush, accompanied by deep racking sobs that shook his entire body. He curled into a fetal position and Mara supported him, occasionally using the blanket to wipe away his tears. He cried for a long time but not just about Cyan. His grief for the dragon was the epicenter of all the things that had happened to him. Leia’s betrayal, losing Ben, and more. He cried for what seemed like time on end and Mara’s voice was hoarse with her patient reassurances. He tried to stop but it had become spasmodic in nature. He had failed to stop several times before Mara realized what he was doing. She made her voice louder, stronger.

“I . . . can’t . . . stop,” he gasped.

Mara slid out from under him and he felt himself curl into an even tighter ball. Somehow she managed to unfold him and lay him on his stomach. She kneaded his shoulders and let her hands slide down his back, smoothing away his tears. Sleep eventually came to claim him, and the last thing he managed before he slipped into oblivion was to mumble, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I look ahead and all I can see is emptiness…”

————————————

Karrde was mildly surprised to see Luke open the door the next day when he went to brief Mara on his new findings. Though he wasn’t quite sure why that was odd to him, he none the less felt a distinct wrong-ness about the situation. The Jedi looked as if he’d just been though hell and back, and went back just to make sure he remembered everything. His eyes were red-rimed, blood shot and swollen. He didn’t look too steady on his feet as if he had just woken up. “Good morning Luke,” Karrde said, deciding on cheerfulness—it couldn’t hurt. Besides, it worked so well for Skywalker when he did it. “Is Mara in?”

“Uh, no,” Luke answered, looking as surprised as Karrde felt. “She went out for some groceries. You need something?”

“Oh, uh, no, never mind. Just some case she’s helping me with. I’ll talk with her later,” Karrde said.

Luke raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled grimly. “She told me last night. What else have you found?”

“That was quick,” Karrde commented. “Can I come in? This really shouldn’t be discussed out in the open. Mildly delicate, and all that.”

“Sure, come in. It’s not like I’m going to throw you out just because you might not give the info to me. Probably not very good for me emotionally anyway,” Luke added. He went into the kitchen and started rummaging around in one of the cupboards as Karrde longed on the couch.

“I’ve pretty much pinpointed the group that Leia hired to help her take down Cyan. They didn’t use any names but there isn’t really any doubt since they referred to the whole thing as ‘the bronze dragon they offed’, if you’ll excuse the wording,” Karrde explained.

Luke shrugged. “Down to the point, that’s all. Keep going.”

“Well,” Karrde said, wincing slightly, “unfortunately, though most of the evidence I have supports what I know of you story, most of it’s circumstantial, heresy and conjecture. Basically, I need a little more hard evidence before anything can be done. If you could tell me your complete point of view, I might be able to come up with something.”

“But you can’t arrest her?” Luke asked. Karrde shook his head. Luke sighed and stared to put something together in the cupboard, out of Karrde’s line of sight. The Intelligence Leader recognized the sound, he knew he should know it, but he couldn’t quite place it. “Well, Leia sent me a message telling me to come to the warehouse. We got to a storeroom, and the mercenaries trapped us in there. When we tried to fight our way out one of them shot some acid gun at Cyan. Leia was there the whole time giving orders and she said we had a choice of either the acid or the carbon-freeze. Wound up with the latter since it was the least painful.” Luke stopped to take an unexpected shuttering breath and then continued with what he was doing, but louder than before. “They put him in, the carbon-freeze killed him, felt like half my brain was ripped out, then I lost consciousness.”

Karrde’s brow furrowed at the near emotionless tone he had used to tell the tale. Aside from the unsteady breathing, it seemed like any other story. “Then how did you get the claw marks on your arm?”

“One of the men took Cyan’s paw and dragged it down my arm. Cyan hit him back, so you can look for that,” Luke told him. He held up his handy work. It was still out of Karrde’s sight, so he had no clue why Luke seemed unsatisfied with it. He put it back down and frowned in impatience.

“We already found someone who might be that man. Was it Cyan’s right paw?” Karrde asked. Luke nodded. “Then we probably got the right people. We’ll check out that storeroom again, see if we can find any of their fingerprints or DNA traces. I’m sending a team to pick them up tonight.” Luke nodded again and then smiled slightly when he seemed to have been successful in his task. Karrde got up and walked towards him, his curiosity finally winning out. He was but a metre away when it came into view. Mara had told him that she had removed all power packs from the blasters in their apartment when the psychiatric review revealed just how unstable Luke really was. Now he was holding one, and though it didn’t have a proper power pack either, the entire time Luke was talking to Karrde he’d been rigging the pack from the food processor to work with it. Luke turned the blaster towards his chest and squeezed the trigger, his expression remaining unaltered.

Karrde leapt the last half metre and yanked the blaster to the side, sending the bolt into the floor. His continued momentum carried him into Luke’s side and dropped them both to the ground. Wrestling for the blaster, he finally got it away from Luke and then ripped the rigged power pack off and broke it against the wall, rendering it useless. He tossed the blaster away and held Luke down as he kicked and fought beneath him.

“Stop it! What in the Void are you doing?” Karrde demanded, shoving Luke’s shoulders to the floor. He looked into Luke’s expression and decided that Mara wasn’t just being paranoid in taking the blasters away from him.

“Let me go!” Luke shouted, trying to get his knee up to get Karrde in the stomach. Anticipating him, Karrde used his own legs to hold both of Luke’s down. With one last shove Luke fell back to the floor and glared up at him. “Why did you stop me?”

Karrde let out an angry breath. “Because you were going to kill yourself if I didn’t, that’s why!”

“Get off me,” Luke growled. Karrde didn’t move. “Look, you wreaked my only weapon, what else am I going to use.”

“There’s plenty of things in here you could use as a weapon. And if anyone could find them it’d be you. Now answer my question. What are you doing?”

“Killing myself, what’s it look like,” Luke snarled sarcastically. “You’re slipping in your old age, Karrde.”

Karrde narrowed his gaze at Luke for a second and decided he was purposely trying to provoke him to hide something. But what? He released his hold on Luke and waited for the Jedi Master to squirm out from under him and lean against the kitchen wall. Luke hugged his legs to his chest and glared at Karrde as the Intelligence officer said, “Then why didn’t you use the Force to push me off?”

“I can’t—“ Luke stopped and swallowed, then tried again. “I can’t use the Force well enough, I can’t focus. I only want to kill myself, not anyone else.”

“Alright,” Karrde said, wishing Mara were here, wondering if he should call her, “Then why kill yourself?”

“Why? Why not?” Luke snarled, lifting his head. “Why not when every night I am plagued with nightmares? When there are only two people I know who don’t think my mind has been warped by the very creature my sister had murdered? And she can’t be tried because all the evidence against her his circumstantial? All that and I don’t have a reason to be depressed? I know I’m unstable, Karrde,” Luke added, slamming his fist against the wall. “Can you possibly imagine how disturbing it is to know you’re going off the deep end and there’s nothing you can do about it? I can’t even sit at home alone without fear because I’m all alone. There’s nothing to feel, to touch. I’m too use having that constant presence in my head that when it’s not there, and there’s nothing to distract me from its loss, all I can do is scream and scream for it to come back.” Luke suddenly stopped as if he just realized that he was revealing too much. He turned away, his cheeks flushing.

Karrde got out his com link and called up Mara. Then he got to his feet and pulled Luke up with him. “Come on, Luke, it’s not going to be like that for the rest of your life. You’re still grieving and adapting to thinking individually again.”

“You don’t get it,” Luke mumbled, sinking down onto the couch and holding his head up with his hands. “I was never meant to think individually again. Cyan was build to live forever. Or at the vary least, for my entire life and well beyond. When most telepaths link, they do it so their minds can recover if the link is broken. Or if they never intend to live without the link, then they do what Cyan did, do it the easy way and make it permanent. And since I was never meant to out live Cyan, it didn’t matter. But I did out lived him. Do you know what happens to telepaths who lose a permanent link? They die, kill themselves, or develop severe mental problems. So far I’ve almost died, and I’ve tried to kill myself. Since none of those worked I’m probably going to go through the rest of my life as a nut. And all of me, the sane and not so sane part, doesn’t want to live like that.”

“You can get help. I’m sure there are cases where telepaths have recovered.”

“Yeah, and the one reason why I’m not still trying to kill myself—again—is coming back here right now,” Luke said, gesturing at the door. “If it weren’t for her, I’d be well and gone by now. I don’t want to hurt her but I can’t go on like this! I just hope . . . I just hope I love her enough.”

Mara was tidying up the living room the next day, late in the morning, when the door chime sounded. Thinking it was Karrde she rushed to answer it and was sourly disappointed.

“Good morning, Mara,” Leia said almost too cheerfully. Han was standing behind her with an expression that seemed to be a mixture of concern and discomfort. “Can we come in?”

Mara forced a smile on her face and said sweetly, “Actually, Luke’s still not awake and he’s a little weak from the trip back from the hospital. He didn’t really sleep well so I’d rather not wake him until I have too.”

“Still asleep? It’s almost noon! You should wake him up and get some food in him,” Leia said briskly as she walked towards the door. Mara leaned against the doorframe and blocked her from entering. Leia gave her sister-in-law a bemused smile and tried to side step past her but Mara moved in her way again.

“He’s really not up to seeing anyone today,” Mara said firmly with the smile fixed on her face. “You might as well go home. We’ll call you if he’s feeling better.”

“If he’s that tired we can always come back later. Leia?” Han added, almost pleading. He tugged on her arm but Leia would not be moved. She looked up at Mara and then both their smiles disappeared.

Leia spook with every ounce of authority she was endowed from her adoptive father Bail Organa when she said, “Let me in. I’ve been meaning to speak with you as well.”

“Fine,” Mara said softly. “But keep your voices down.” She stepped to the side and Leia pushed past her imperiously. Han followed them with a sigh of resignation.

Leia walked to the centre of the living room and spun around to face Mara. “I don’t like the way you’ve been comforting Luke through all this.”

“Oh? Seems to be working just fine.”

“You’re deluding him,” Leia growled. “You’re just making things harder for him to except.”

“Keep your voice down,” was all Mara said in response.

“No! This has to be said. You’re coddling him. Encouraging Luke’s belief that Cyan’s innocent will just put Luke in danger if Cyan were ever to return. You’re just hurting him more and more!” Leia said, her voice steadily rising.

Mara threw her arms in the air in exasperation. “You woke him up. Nice job.”

“That’s all you can think about? We have bigger concerns,” Leia exclaimed.

“My only concern is keeping Luke safe,” Mara answered surprisingly calmly.

Leia’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “That’s my only concern as well.”

“Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it,” Mara snarled. “I know what you did.”

“You believe Luke, don’t you?” Leia asked, taking a step back incredulously.

Mara smiled a true smile this time. “I trust his judgment more than I will ever trust yours half-Jedi.” Leia’s eyes widened and her face visibly paled with anger.

“Get out.”

They turned to see Luke just stepping out of their bedroom, leaning on the kitchen counter for support. Leia opened her mouth to speak but Luke slammed the flat of his hand against the counter. His eyes darkened with anger and it seemed the only thing keeping him from physically throwing her out of the apartment was his apparent exhaustion. His lip curled and his voice shook with suppressed rage as he repeated, “I said get out.”

Leia swallowed hard before stuttering, “Luke! I—I just came by to see how you’re doing—” she stammered to a stop when Luke snarled. She threw a quick venomous glance at Mara before she stormed out of the room.

“I’m really sorry guys. Leia’s just been having a bad . . . month. I gotta go, maybe I can talk some sense into her or something,” Han said in an abnormally meek tone of voice.

“It’s ok, Han, you don’t have to make excuses for her,” Mara said. “And though I doubt you can change her mind on this matter, thanks for trying.” Han nodded and hurried after his wife.

“What’s been up with you lately, Leia?” Han demanded when he caught up with her. “Jumping at shadows, short temper, yelling at Mara for no reason at all. Not to mention donating five thousand credits to charity. I mean, it’s a nice thought but I would like to have been at least notified first.”

Leia stopped at the turbolift and pressed the up button. She glanced up at Han almost self-consciously and answered, “It’s Cyan. I keep expecting him to come back and it’s got me doing all kinds of weird things.”

“Look honey, it’s been almost a week since Cyan turned on us and he hasn’t tried a single thing. If we spend the rest of our lives in fear of him then he wins by default,” Han told her, putting his arms around her shoulders and leading her into the empty turbolift. He pressed their floor number and they began to move up. “I think Mara knows how best to help Luke through this. We should leave her alone to do her thing.”

“I know, Han,” Leia said, letting her head fall back against his chest. “But . . . do you remember when I told you I had that feeling of impending danger?”

“Yeah. So?”

Leia licked her lips nervously as the doors opened and they walked out onto their floor. “Well, it’s gotten worse. Cyan could attack at any moment and there would be nothing we could do about it.”

“Of course there would be! Luke’s got his best Jedi here; Mara, Kyp, Dorsk 82, and Tenel Ka. No to mention a whole bunch who’s names I can’t even remember,” Han said supportively, giving her a squeeze. They reached their room and he thumbed open the door. “Plus some of the best ships and troops this side of Byss. If Cyan make’s trouble, he doesn’t stand a chance.”

“I know you’re right,” Leia said, kicked off her shoes and glancing at her chrono; an hour before she had to be at the Council meeting. “I’m just worried that we won’t be able to take him out before he takes Luke out.”

Han turned her around to face him and gently kissed her on the lips. “Hey, Luke’s a resourceful guy. And he’s not stupid. When Cyan comes at him, he’ll know what to do.”

“You’re too good at comforting me, you know that?” Leia commented, twining her fingers behind his neck and keeping him from straightening back up.

“I’m to good at everything I do. You know that,” Han said, fringing surprise. Leia laughed and playfully shoved him away. She went into their bedroom and pulled her lose braid out. Sitting at her make-up table she set to placing her hair in something a little more fashionable. “Besides, if all else fails, we have that thing you found the other night.”

Leia frowned. “What thing?”

“Remember? You were up late looking at Cyan’s physical record and you found something. You said you’d take care of it. What was it, by the way?” Han asked, mildly curious.

“Oh, that. It just said Cyan was vulnerable to high-powered lasers and just about any dangerous acid you could throw at him until he sheds. So I went out and got an acid gun just to be on the safe side,” Leia explained. She pulled up the hem of her dress to her knee with one hand to reveal a small blaster with a miniature tube strapped to it. “I still carry it around.”

Han snorted. “In that case, I might get me one of those.”

“You know, I bet that’s it,” Leia said suddenly, dropping a lock of brown hair and a corsica gem studded clip shaped like some multi winged insect in her sudden understanding.

“Huh?” Han asked, sitting on the bed. “I don’t follow.”

Leia turned in the hover chair and picked up the clip before continuing. “I know why Cyan waited to attack Luke. He said he couldn’t shed until he and Luke were perfectly bonded together. So all he has to do is pretend to be Luke’s perfect buddy until the bond gives him the better, more invincible scales and then he just breaks the bond and goes home. I bet that’s how they all do it. Carmine probably wasn’t even part of Cyan’s clutch.”

“That . . . makes sense,” Han said, this time not fringing surprise but feeling the real thing. “Cyan just sensed that you had that blaster on you and decided he was in danger. That’s why he attacked early.”

“Yeah,” Leia said with a small smile, slipping the clip in place. “That explains everything.”

“Are you alright?” Mara asked as Luke slumped against the counter. She drew him over to the sofa and sat him down just before his legs gave out. He closed his eyes and rested for a moment. Then he opened them and found himself staring right at Cyan’s low couch when the dragon used to sleep. He groaned and let his face fall into his hands.

“No. But I’ll survive. Ooh, I did not need to see her this early,” Luke moaned.

Mara snorted and got up. “Funny, I didn’t feel a need to see her at any time of day.” She went into the kitchen and put some milk on the sonic heater. She grabbed two wrapped rice cakes from a shelf, opened one and bit on the edge to hold it. She got the hot chocolate power and put two scoops in cups for both of them. She tossed the second rice cake at Luke and said, “Eat!” He just managed to catch it and made a face before taking a bite. She clunked the two cups on the counter next to the heater and twisted the dial off. Mixing the drinks she brought them out to the hovering coffee table. “Eat,” she said again when she saw he had only taken that one bite. “You need it.” Luke sighed and obediently ate the rest of the rice cake.

Letting his head fall back he stared up at the ceiling and tried to blank his thoughts to no avail. “Well, my life turned into one pile of crap real quick, didn’t it.”

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Mara said optimistically.

“Oh, really? Then it’s good that the Cragon have our son?” Luke demanded. “And it’s good that a creature I loved more that I thought I could love anyone besides you was killed by my own sister. And now I can’t even look at her without bile rising to my throat.” Luke ripped another bit out of the rice cake. “I didn’t know those were good things. No one ever told me they weren’t crap.”

Mara slowly raised one shapely eyebrow as he spoke. She carefully laid her unfinished rice cake and cup on the table and then rested her chin on his shoulder, giving him her best big-eyed expression. “There is one thing I would hope you would see as a good point.”

“What’s that?” he asked emotionlessly, ignoring her face as best he could.

“I’m still in one piece.”

Luke turned to her, saw the innocent expression on her face, and burst out laughing. “You are right about that. I think if you ever did die on me, I would completely snap.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Mara cooed. Luke laughed again and let his cheek rest on her forehead. “Hey, it’s just like Han always says, ‘if you can laugh at it, it can’t be that bad’.”

“I’m telling the truth, though. I’d either kill myself, or go on a murderous rampage and then kill myself,” Luke said almost absently.

Mara sat back up as Luke finally touched his hot chocolate. He looked so dead serious to her, mildly worrying his wife. She tried to lighten the mood, remembering that when he did it for herit usually helped even when she didn’t want it to. “If you do, try not to kill Corran. I like him.”

“I don’t think I’m that good,” Luke commented dryly. “How many times has be been left for dead? Twice now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and then his wife did pretty much the same thing. Good point. Hmmm, we got a message,” Mara added, glancing at the blinking light on the holoprojector. She got up and clicked it on. “It’s from Karrde. It’s in text form for some reason, and it’s encrypted. Just a sec, gotta stick in that all purpose code he gave me the other day . . . here it is.” She scanned the message, a grin slowly taking shape upon her lips. “It says he’s gathered enough evidence to press charges against Leia. He wants to know if you want him to arrest her privately from her quarters. Or if you want to do as much public and political damage to her as you can by having it done it at the gala this evening, celebrating the joining of seven new worlds to the New Republic?”

As she talked Luke’s grin widened as well, matched with a deeper, more savage meaning in his eyes. “Cyan was born into the Jedi which makes him one in the deepest regard. He was joined with me to help keep me on the path to Light but she killed him. And since he’s not here to guide my decision I guess I’ll just have to do the un-Jedi-like thing and hurt her back as much as possible. Tell him I want the latter.”

Chapter XIX

Turbolaser fire slammed relentlessly against the Threnody’s shields, flashing a brilliant green throughout the deflectors as the energy dissipating more and more slowly. Eventually the shields were overwhelmed all together, leaving that part of the ship naked to her attackers. The turbolasers kept coming, blasting into the hull plates, evaporating them into liquid clouds of molten metal and escaping atmosphere. All this happened so fast that it disrupted the entire battleship; the sensors didn’t report the occurrence until a minute later. The ship shuttered and moaned in response, the turbolasers strafing the her side until they blew one of her main fuel injectors. The resulting explosion erupted into glistening debris surrounded by blue flame fed by the Threnody’s slowly escaping air supply. The blast resulted in knocking out the sub-light drive, effectively killing the ship’s chance of gaining enough speed to reach hyperspace.

“Hull breach on decks twenty three through thirty seven. Sub-light engines are dead, the hyperdrive will have to be ejected within ten minutes or the whole ship will be blown up with it! Another squad of Quarrcta’s men have gotten on board through the ventral cargo bay on level sixty seven!” Commander Harsa shouted from the crew pit.

Admiral Tarckok felt all the blood drain from his already pale face. “How many men do we have left on that level?” he as tensely, looking down from the command deck.

“None,” Harsa answered. “Most were diverted to fight the commandos coming in through the dorsal bay. The rest were evacuated when the coolant leak occurred on deck sixty eight.”

“Do we have any reserves left?”

“No,” Harsa said. “What are your orders?”

Tarckok gazed out the wide view screen where Quarrcta’s three most powerful battleships were pouring gigajuole upon gigajuole of turbolaser and ion cannon fire at them. It was only a matter of time before their shields failed completely and they were either destroyed or Quarrcta would take over the ship and have the entire command crew executed for treason.

Snarling Tarckok stepped off the command deck and headed for his office, saying, “Come with me, Commander.”

“Yes sir,” Harsa said softly. He followed the Admiral to his office and then into Tarckok’s private turbolift. “Were are we going?”

“When this ship falls I will be executed before I could possible feel the full brunt of Quarrcta’s anger. But he is still unwilling to kill the Jedi baby. We will take it and a copy of the ship’s records of our findings right before we delete them from the main computer,” Tarckok answered, gripping his hands together tightly and letting his eyes dart around the turbolift.

Harsa’s eyes narrowed. “Then why bring me? You don’t need my help to do that.”

“Because you can control the Jedi baby. Because you can be useful when you have the right impulse,” Tarckok told him as the doors slid open with a gentle puff. They entered onto the most secure deck of the Threnody; everything was quite, neat, and antiseptic, with the only evidence that a battle was going on was the occasional low thud. “And I think you’ll like the impulse I have planned for you.” They stood down a long, well lit corridor with locked doors on both sides. The reached one in a seemingly unremarkable place—both strategically and visually. Tarckok waved his wrist across the door panel and walked calmly into the room. Harsa was right on his heels.

“Wisp!” Harsa exclaimed. His daughter, not even two standard years old, sat in the middle of the floor rolling a ball back and forth with an extremely pale human boy, their only care being provided by a nanny droid. The boy was looking at them as if he already knew they were coming. Wisp turned around and almost fell over. She spotted her father and giggled enthusiastically, bouncing up and down as she held out her round arms. Harsa ran forward and scooped her up, gathering her close to his chest. “Wisp! Oh, my little Wisp, thank the All you’re alright.”

“Good, you pick up the offspring while I download all the Jedi information to my personal shuttle and then we can get out of here,” Tarckok said, rushing over to terminal and inserting his security clearance. He started the remote pre-flight warm up and hatch release for the shuttle while the download took place so they wouldn’t have to wait to leave.

Tarckok was just beginning to think he might make it out of this battle alive when he heard the ominous sound of a blaster powering up. He slowly turned from the terminal to face Harsa, who was still holding his daughter in one arm, using his free hand to point his blaster at Tarckok’s chest. Then Harsa said, “This ends now.”

“W-what are you doing?”

“You slipped up, Tarckok, and now I get to deny Quarrcta his vengeance, and the information on the origins of the Force and the Skywalker child. I’m taking them both to the New Republic. Quarrcta won’t be as eager to attack them if the Jedi know how to defend themselves against us,” Harsa said, gesturing to the terminal before continuing. “Less people will die. But nothing can stop that from happening to you.” He fired three quick shots into Tarckok’s chest, thrusting him up and backwards, flipping the Admiral over the terminal to land with a dull thud in the corner.

Wisp began to cry profusely but all the Skywalker child did was cover his ears and watch Tarckok’s death spasms. He turned his miss-matched gaze on Harsa and the former commander would swear later on that the child was fully aware of what was happening.

“Come on, Ben,” Harsa said, lifting the babe in his other arm after he had holstered his gun. “You’re going home.”

Walking over to the terminal he saw that not only had Tarckok started the pre-flight on his shuttle, but also he had already cleared a rout to his office. With a grim smile, Harsa followed the path through the ship passing by only three other officers who were too busy to wonder what he was doing with two babies.

Harsa passed through Tarckok’s office and out the air lock into the shuttle. Glancing at the control board he saw the pre-flight was finished and he started the sub-light engines. Belting Wisp and Ben in he took a look at the display. The shields had failed completely all along the right side of Threnody and Quarrcta’s ship Cragon’s Pride was moving to take full advantage of the weakness. But what this also did was give Harsa a clear window of empty space.

Closing the hatch he gunned the engines and the hidden doors built just behind the bridge slowly swung open. As soon as there was enough room Harsa pushed the throttle forwards and blasted their way out and away. The gunners on Di Donna’s Legacy just below them reacted almost immediately; the turbolaser fire splashed off the shuttle’s deflectors as Harsa gained speed. Wisp gasped and cooed at the verdant flashes seen in the view screen. Harsa juked and sideslipped, wishing he had spent more time in the simulators.

Suddenly the turbolasers stopped and Harsa realized they had figure out that Ben was on board. Keeping a light hand on the stick, Harsa kept the ship going in a straight line to the escape vector the navicomputer had plotted. Then the ion cannons came to bare, one shot grazing his rear deflectors, bringing them down almost eighty seven percent before Harsa could maneuver the shuttle away from the follow up shot. One direct hit and they would be dead in space, with all the technical equipment fired.

Then the navicomputer beeped an affirmation that they had cleared the gravity well of the system’s sun. Harsa grabbed the hyperspace levers and pushed them forward, watching the stars stretch and then distort into the twisted tunnel that was hyperspace.

And freedom.

Luke slipped his arm around Mara’s slim waist, letting his hand rest low on her hip. He wore his plan black Jedi robes—he had found that when he actually did put on something different the tabloids would argue (or complain) about how good or bad he looked for days afterward. Mara, it seemed, was the exact opposite. She usually restricted to putting her robe on only when training and at Jedi ceremonies. She came with a sleeveless dress on, fastened around her neck with a ruby pendent. It was a sleek black with invisible threads woven through which glittered when viewed out of the corner of the eye. It drew one’s attention to her, but just when the viewer started to wonder why, the cutout triangle that revealed her full bust and the slit up her right leg that almost exposed her buttocks gave them other things to worry about.

Karrde had replied to their agreement to make the arrest public with another message saying he would show up just before the inauguration ceremony when there would be the most people and holocams there as possible. Until then he suggested making as good an impression as possible. Greet the representatives from the new worlds, chat with the other guests, and be as affable with the press as they could. Simply, make themselves as popular as possible. Leia’s arrest would be met with a great deal of public upset, and since the trial would take place in a public court and most likely be broad cast, the more support Luke had the better. If they got the joining worlds on their side, the government would be less likely to through out the charges for fear of scaring them off.

So that was exactly what they did. They chatted with just about every group present. They gave several interviews, diverting any questions about Cyan. As they went Luke projected a carefully created presence in the Force, one of friendliness, agreement, and trust. Every time he looked at Leia, Luke had to struggle with himself not to laugh.

“Look at her,” he murmured in Mara’s ear as they strolled toward the buffet table. “She’s beaming.”

“Notice how she’s following us around the room? It’s like she’s checking out what kind of impression we’re making,” Mara answered, refilling their cups with a spicy punch one of the new worlds had brought.

Luke smiled smugly. “Obviously likes what she’s seeing then. I wonder if she has any idea what we’re doing?”

“None, love,” Mara purred. “Which makes this all the sweeter. Poor Han, though. He doesn’t deserve to be caught up in all this.”

“He also doesn’t deserve to have to put on that dress uniform. I think Leia picked out his cloths again,” Luke commented. Mara frowned at his apparent lack of concern. Luke patted her arm with his free hand and added reassuringly, “Don’t worry about Han. He’s tough, he’ll get through all this. Once he sees all the evidence Karrde’s got he’ll have to admit this was necessary.”

“I just feel sorry for him, that’s all. I know he’ll understand eventually, but maybe we should call this off. Do it privately for his sake,” Mara suggested.

“No,” Luke stated with a quick shake of his head and a hard edge to his words. “We’re dong it this way. I want Leia to pay for what she’s done, and this is the most painful way to do it.”

Mara leaned away from him a little to see his expression. She could see coldness and something else she couldn’t quite fathom. The coldness there made he uneasy. The thing she couldn’t identify gave her the distinct feeling of fear. “I’ve never seen this vengeful streak in you before. I’m not sure I like it.”

“I suppose I get it from my father. But I can assure you this is a one-time thing. I’ve never felt such a need for revenge before,” Luke said softly, his burning gaze on Leia. “I’m going up to the balcony for some fresh air. If I don’t, I think I’ll vomit from all the pleasantness.”

Leia toughed Han’s arm to get his attention when they were finally alone and gestured at Luke and Mara getting more punch. “This is amazing, Han. They’ve been wowing people all night.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird. It’s like someone suddenly turned them into politicians or something,” Han commented.

“Maybe he’s alright now,” Leia suggested hopefully. “And maybe you were right, Mara was just pulling something to make Luke see Cyan for what he really is.”

“Of course I’m right. I wouldn’t put it past her, she knows how Luke’s mind works better than anyone,” Han added.

Leia smiled. “He wouldn’t have come if he was still mad at me. I’m going to go have a talk with him.” Turning back to them, she realized Luke had disappeared. Walking over to the buffet where Mara was still standing, Leia asked, “Hello Mara. Do you know where Luke went? I want to talk with him.”

“He’s up on the balcony getting some fresh air,” Mara responded, seeming a little stunned at Leia’s sudden appearance. “He should be back in a few minutes.”

“I’ll go find him. I wanted to speak with him in private anyway. If you two don’t mind occupying each other, that is . . .?” Leia added, inching towards the balcony.

Han waved her on. “Don’t worry about us. We can just talk about you two behind your backs.” Leia grinned thankfully and strode briskly to the Grand Staircase of the Rellsi Hotel Reception Hall, the largest hotel on Coruscant, built recently by a well-established Bothen billionaire. She almost tripped on the hem of her dress several times in her eagerness but she managed to compose herself by the time she had reached the first landing. The doors were made of two large glass panes draped in blue silk. Leia slipped through and closed them gently behind her. Looking around she saw that the balcony was deserted except for a lone figure leaning against the rail cradling a glass of punch. Smiling warmly to herself, Leia waked towards him.

“Luke?”

He jumped and turned, then relaxing only a little bit when he recognized who it was. “What are you doing up here?”

“Mara said you were up here, and I . . . I want to talk about what happened this morning,” Leia explained, a little unnerved by the sudden coldness she felt from him.

“Be truthful, Leia,” Luke said softly. “We both know why you’re here.”

Leia’s eyebrows knitted together in mild frustration. “But I am sorry about what happened. I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was just worried that Mara was leading you off in the wrong direction. But I guess you must be all better now if you’re here—“ She was interrupted when Luke suddenly started to laugh.

“All better? I don’t believe this! You still think I’m going to accept the story you’ve created that Cyan’s alive and trying to kill us?” Luke exclaimed. “If he is, then why, sister dear, has he not attacked yet?”

“H-he’s waiting for the right time. Oh, stars, Luke, I thought you had come to your senses but I see I was wrong,” Leia said sadly, shaking her head.

Luke laughed again, but this time it sounded a little shakier, a little less sane. “Do you know why I cam here, tonight? I came because Mara, Karrde and me have planned a little surprise for you. Karrde’s been investigating this, Leia. Quietly, because you asked him too. But you would have done better to get Cracken to do it since he would be remorse to convict you on charges of murder.”

“What?” Leia demanded, alarmed. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, Leia. You know just as well as I what happened in that warehouse! You hurt me, which hurts Mara, which is intolerable to Karrde. He was more than happy to make the arrest at the inauguration ceremony where it’ll do the most damage,” Luke said, speaking with a low voice, walking towards her menacingly. “I’m just here to watch. I want to be there when your entire life goes down the drain like mine did in that warehouse. I want you to pay for what you’ve done.”

“He’s going to arrest me? Tonight?” Leia asked tensely, backing away from his advance.

Luke’s smile twisted as he commented, “Running, Leia? Those are the actions of the guilty.”

“And yours are the actions of a man in denial. You were blind to what he was. All of you were. I had to do this to protect you,” Leia insisted, holding her ground now and looking up at her brother determinedly.

Luke threw his glass against the paracrete floor in anger and snarled, “You had no proof! You just decided you didn’t like him and that made him evil. He was two months old! He was a baby to the universe. He was innocent, as innocent as every child is!”

“He’s still feeding off of you, Luke and you just can’t let yourself see it for the false love he gave you!” Leia shouted back.

“NO!”

Leia felt a serge in the Force as he released his anger on her. Her body was thrown backwards like a rage doll, only to crash into the glass doors. They shattered around her, slicing through her gown, and then her flesh. She landed on her side with a loud crack, and she knew she had broken something. She could hear people screaming behind her but as she forced her head up, all she could see was the dark figure walking through the shattered doorway.

“Karrde! I, uh, wasn’t expecting you until later,” Mara said as the ex-smuggler strode over.

“Thought the inauguration would have started by now,” Karrde explained. “Apparently I was wrong. Serves me right for trusting in the official schedule.”

Han snorted in amusement. “The Trekkian senator hasn’t shown up yet. They can’t start until he gets here or he’ll be complaining for the next year about it.”

“Hm, I could never understand Trekkians. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the . . . surprise we have planned for Leia,” Karrde said carefully.

“Surprise?” Han asked with a wary frown. “What sort of surprise?”

Mara and Karrde exchanged glances before Mara responded, “You probably won’t like it at first, but once we explain things afterward, you won’t be as opposed to it.”

“Where’s Luke?” Karrde asked before Han could say anything.

“He went up on the balcony and Leia’s gone to talk with him,” Han said sourly. “Now, what about this surp—”

Mara held up her hand to forestall his words. She narrowed her gaze on the balcony doors and stretched out in the Force. “Blast it! We’ve got to separate them!” Mara suddenly exclaimed, bolting for the Grand Staircase heedlessly. They reached the base of the stairs just in time for an explosion that rocked the room. The doors shattered as Leia’s body was propelled right through them. She slid across the landing almost to the edge.

“Leia!” Han cried, running up the stairs past Mara.

Then Luke walked out.

His eyes burned with anger and his face was twisted in rage. He didn’t rush, it was as if he already knew he would win and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. Han reached Leia and tried to help her up. Luke flicked his wrist and Han was flung back down the stairs. Mara caught him before too much damage could occur and Karrde ran past them. Pulling his hidden blaster out he set it to stun and fired.

Luke extended his arm and caught the bolt with his hand. Karrde was thrown back just as easily as Han and Leia. He rolled down the stairs; Mara made a desperate grab for him but missed. He continued unabated until he became a crumpled heap on the bottom.

“Luke, stop!” Mara cried.

“No!” Luke shouted, striding toward Leia as she crawled feebly away from him. “This ends now! What you did was evil, and we kill evil people, don’t we, Leia?” Luke snarled, grabbing her by the throat and shoving her back down to the floor. She gagged and then let out a strangled scream as Luke used the Force to dig into her deepest thoughts.

Han regained his feet and both of them made it the rest of the way up the stairs. While he was distracted, Mara used the Force to throw him off Leia and keep him on the ground. Han picked Leia up and dragged her down the stairs. Admiral Ackbar was there, kneeling beside Karrde’s still body.

“Is he alright?” Han asked with a nervous glance upward where he could hear Luke’s unseen rage.

Ackbar shook his head. “He’s breathing, but unconscious.”

Suddenly Mara shouted as Luke overpowered her. She fell on the landing, shards of glass digging into her back. Luke rose and stalked down the stairs toward them.

Leia gripped Han’s arm in fear. She whispered, “He’s lost it, Han. He’s going to kill me.”

“We’ll lead him to some place less crowded,” Han said grimly. They made a b-line for the doors, the guests scattering as they came near. Luke reached the main floor and walked right past Ackbar and the fallen Karrde. Mara pushed herself to her feet and stumbled after him.

“Luke, don’t do this!” Mara pleaded.

“That’s what I bagged her to do,” Luke growled. “She didn’t listen, either.”

Mara grabbed Luke’s arm and he twisted in response, using the Force to thrust her closer to Han and Leia. They made it to the doorway and ran as fast as they could. Mara stopped at the doorway and spread her arms across, facing him.

“You’ll have to go through me.”

“No, I’ll just have to shove you out of the way,” Luke corrected her. Mara was slammed against the opposite wall, her head hitting it hard enough to put her in a daze. She sank to the ground and could do nothing but watch as Luke walked by.

Han and Leia reached the entrance that led onto a skywalk. Han locked the door behind him with Leia’s security clearance and dragged her on as fast as he could.

“We’ve got no cover,” he groaned.

Leia glanced back. “Then run faster. He’s almost here.”

They were halfway across the skywalk when the door was sheered off the wall. It slid along the paracrete for several metres before coming to a stop. Luke walked out without pause.

“There’s no running. I’ll find you no matter where you go!” Luke shouted after them. Han and Leia were a quarter of the way there when they heard an eerie cracking from behind them. Looking up they saw fractures forming in the glass dome covering them.

“Go faster,” Leia moaned, putting all of her energy into her legs. The glass shattered down the skywalk, starting form Luke and moving towards them like a serrated wave. Han used his coat to cover Leia’s head and felt a shard slice across his own arm. He cried out in pain but refused to stop. They made it to the other side and didn’t bother to close the door this time.

They found the emergency stairs and Han dragged Leia down them, remembering that this building had a landing pad and hanger that was usually deserted this time of night. They got down three flights when Luke found them. He gritted his teeth and Leia could sense him drawing on vast quantities of the Dark Side.

Suddenly he was pulled from the railing and they could hear his grunt as he was shoved against the back wall.

“Stop this, Luke!” Mara snarled, blocking his path and tensing herself for another battle of wills; even if she knew she’d eventually lose. “You’re going to kill Han too and he doesn’t deserve to die.”

“He does if he gets in my way,” Luke answered. Rather than battle with her like he had before, he just ignored her and pulled the supports holding the stairs Han and Leia were on out from under them. They fell six flights until they found a support strong enough to hold the debris. Somehow they both remained conscious and Han limped to the landing, smiling grimly when the door opened onto the hanger bay. He pulled Leia with him and they ran as best they could for open ground.

“What are you doing?” Leia asked. “There’s nothing to protect us here!”

“There’s nothing to protect us anywhere on Coruscant. At least here he wont kill anyone else,” Han responded. They had almost reached the edge when Han’s leg gave out and they tumbled to the ground. Another explosion brought their attention behind them. Mara was running flat out across the open landing pad as one of the ships docked there ponderously rolled towards her. She made it out of the way just in time, somehow avoiding the shrapnel as one of the fuel tanks breached and caught fire. She reached them and knelt down.

“He won’t listen to me. I’ve summoned the other Jedi but they can’t get here in time,” Mara said breathlessly. She turned her hard jade eyes on Leia and said, “I hope you know you brought this on yourself.”

Leia shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s coming.”

They turned and saw Luke walking through the flames of the explosion, unharmed by their heat. He didn’t run; he didn’t quicken his pace at all. Mara and Leia could feel him drawing on the Force, building it for one final, massive blow. Mara grabbed Leia’s wrist and turned her gaze back on her.

“Help me or we all die,” Mara said. She drew on the Force as Luke was, but she used it to make a protective wall around them. Luke pressed against it, finding the weak spots as quickly as only a Master could, and exploiting them. Leia added her strength to Mara’s, reinforcing the wall. The Force was surging towards them, then twisted into extreme darkness or extreme light. She drew strength from the deepest reservoir of her soul, just as Luke had told her she would need to do one day.

The wall was long since gone, now it was just Light and Dark fighting one another for supremacy. Then Mara felt the other Jedi add their strength to hers. She felt Luke weakening and she pressed on, hoping to subdue him before he burned himself out. She could hear distinct explosions as the shock waves rippled through the Force, throwing the docked ships back against the building and crumbling the ferocrete slabs beneath their feet. Mara could feel herself start to black out and she clung to consciousness desperately, knowing the moment she gave in it would be the end.

Then she felt the first cracks in Luke’s concentration as the insanity that had silently been eating away at him finally took its toll. The ground heaved under them as Luke made one, last desperate attempt to destroy Leia. Then he broke—the very Force he had unleashed ravaging his mind with enough energy to burn flesh inside out. The effects rippled outwards, causing the hangers structural supports to weaken and fail as a tone of rocks crumbled down to bury Luke Skywalker alive.

Mara screamed as she witness what had happened, her body slumping forward as she felt a pain within her such as she had never felt before. She let go of her pull on the Force and the last thing she heard was Leia sobbing before her world turned black.

Chapter XX

“Are you sure there’s no chance he could have lived?” Mara asked weakly.

“I’m sure,” Han told her, rubbing her arm. He had already finished his dunk in the bacta tank by the time Mara had regained consciousness. The doctor had informed her that she had singed a very small part of her brain. It was minor enough that they could fix it, but had it been much worse it would have been irreparable. “He was buried under a ton of rock, maybe more. They scanned for life signs but one of the ships had friitiinpa oar in its hold so they couldn’t get any reliable or exact readings. Kyp and Tenal Ka were there for two days trying to find him. They said either he doesn’t want to be found, or he’s dead. I don’t think there’s any way he could have survived.”

“That’s what they said about Corran,” Mara grumbled.

Han sighed. “Mara, this is a lot different.”

“I know,” Mara said, rubbing her eyes. “I know. I guess . . . I guess I just don’t want to accept it. Not until there isn’t any doubt left and maybe a little while after that.”

“I know, I feel the same way, but I think it’s better that he didn’t survive. Leia said she couldn’t see physical things all that well, and it was probably worse for you. Right around the end Luke started clutching his head. I think he got burned out trying to fight you and Leia and the others. Luke told me about it once, said it was what killed Dorsk 81,” Han told her, thinking back almost ten years.

“I know. I almost got burned out in that fight. If he lived through it, he would feel pain almost constantly,” Mara said with a sigh and lay back in her bed. “Just one more torture for him.”

Han compressed his lips. “I still don’t think Leia could have killed Cyan. I know my wife isn’t a murderer.”

“I don’t think she’s a murderer either, Han,” Mara replied warily. “I don’t think she saw killing Cyan as murder. I think she saw it as self-preservation.”

“What?”

“Well, think about it,” Mara said, rising up on her elbows. “She thought Cyan was plotting to kill Luke eventually and then move on to the rest of us. She just decided she’d get him first.”

Han shook his head. “I still don’t believe it. Still, I don’t think I can make a fair judgment until I can see all the evidence Karrde has.”

“Which you can’t see because it’s all in his personal files which no one has access to but him,” Mara finished for him. She looked over at the bed across from her’s and sighed. Karrde hadn’t regained consciousness at all and the preliminary prognosis wasn’t good. “Have the test results come back yet?”

“Yeah. Definitely a coma. They’ve no way of knowing when he’ll come out of it,” Han said quietly, he too was looking at the ex-smugglers still body. Shada D’ukal sat unmoving at his bedside, guarding his sleep.

Mara pursed her lips. “So Leia gets off the hook, and Karrde and Luke suffer for it,” she said bitterly.

“He’ll come out of it,” Han said confidently. “A coma’s too boring for him to stay in it forever.” Mara laughed softly, then caught her breath when one of the wounds inflected from shards of glass complained about her having fun. “So when’s your next bacta dip?” Han asked.

“In ‘bout twenty minutes. At least I don’t have to sleep in one of these lumpy hospital beds.” Mara said with an irritable wrinkling of her nose. Han grinned lopsidedly and hopped off the mattress.

“I’ll let you get rested up, then. G’night,” Han added as he kissed her on the forehead and went to check up on Leia.

“Good night,” Mara called softly after him. Not yet ready to sleep, she crawled out of bed and walked softly out the room and down the hall to the large window at the end. Her bare feet made a gentle pat pat as she walked. Looking outside at the vast planet city, her eyes were drawn to the east. Not because that was where Coruscant’s single moon was rising, but because somehow she knew that was the direction where Luke’s body lay.

Across the buildings and skywalks, hangers and homes, lay a pile of deep ruble. The repulsor cranes had long since shut down, the workers and volunteers had long since retired to their beds, or nests, or lairs, or whatever their preference was. But all was not still.

One last bolder clattered down the newly made hill, unseen into the depths of the millennia old city foundations. A bloody hand grasped the outer edge of the hole, pulling the rest of the bruised, beaten and broken body along with it. He stumbled across the debris, his anger and hatred the only thing that kept him going. He limped unseen but not unnoticed to the lower levels, the terrible pain in his head burning his heart and soul.

Mara felt a stirring the Force, giving her a small, minute feeling of hope.

“He’s alive.”