[fic] Renewal

[Kado Sunrider]

Chapter One

 

 

 

The Transitory Mists that enclosed the Hapes Cluster shone suddenly with the brilliantly bright explosion of a nearby starfighter. Everything was falling apart. Jaina Solo had not been heard from since she had boarded the Anakin Solo, and the Jedi battle group was beginning to sustain loses, although there had been no casualties. I flipped my XJ5 on too its backside to avoid a beam of turbolaser fire from the Super Star Destroyer Megador. Suddenly, a blast of intense pain, followed by an incredible sadness permeated the Force coming from the Anakin Solo. Either Jaina is dead, or Caedus has finally been defeated. The thought came through the battle meld that I and my wingmate, Tesar Sabatyne were connected through. My heart goes out to them. They have suffered too much already. I replied to the Barabel, also sharing my empathy for the Solo family. This one does not understand the human grieving process, but I can feel their pain. Its intensity is great. I clicked the comm twice to acknowledge the thought and continued my dodge and weave tactics through the enemy fire.

 

"All wings, we have distressing news."

 

A flurry of comm clicks ensued, meaning that while everyone was listening, they were to busy avoiding fire to actually speak.

 

"A nanovirus has been released upon the Dragon Queen. It is unknown whether or not Queen Mother Tenel Ka and her daughter escaped."

 

A sob came from the comm, whom I identified as Leia Organa Solo.

 

"Those bastards are going to pay if they killed my granddaughter." Han Solo's voice was thick with emotion, and it sounded as though he was speaking through a lump in his throat.

 

Emotions we're running high through our battle meld, and Tesars thoughts came crashing through the battlemeld into my own mind.

 

Calm, Tesar. That way leads to the darkside.

 

They are eggbreakers, unworthy of life. They deserve to be hunted.

 

Tesar, calm yourself.

 

Through the comm, I could hear his shallow breathing as he used a Jedi breathing exercise to calm himself.

 

This one is calm.

 

Good, lets see what our next target is.

 

Suddenly, the turbolasers stopped flashing, and I completed my barrel roll to find a quiet battlefield, devoid of the louds booms and screeching sounds of combat.

 

"Command?" I asked as I used the force to activate the comm.

 

The voice of Master Horn came over the speaker.

 

"The battle is over. Darth Caedus is dead, and the Moffs have been captured. You may return to base for recovery."

 

Letting out a long slow sigh of relief, I spun my ship around and headed for home, Tesar gliding along silently next to me. If I get the chance, I'll help them in any way I can, on my word as a Jedi. We shared a few moments more thought with each other about the battle, and then dropped the meld. This has been a very interesting day...

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

The hangar bay was packed with Jedi of every age unloading and disembarking from the many passenger shuttles that served as a decoy for Darth Caedus to follow. A mechanic who I recognised as a wizened old man named Odrel came rushing up to my fighter with the fuel line. Reaching out with the Force, I popped the hatch and waved to him.

 

"Hello Odrel. Happy to see me back alive?"

 

"Ghel, you rascal. You're too much you know that. Even for a Jedi."

 

I chuckled in reply and slid off the side of the fighter and landed nimbly on my feet.

 

As I walked away, I felt a stur in the Force coming from the other jedi in the hangar. I turned around, and saw the battle-scarred hulk of the Millennium Falcon, escorted by two more XJ5's land in the center of the hangar.

 

Remembering my earlier resolution to help the family in any way possible, I decided to see if there was anything I could do for this Force-forsaken couple climbing down the ramp in front of me.

 

When I tried to approach and offer any assistance, Han Solo flashed me a dangerous look, and I decided that now would be bad time. He had one hand around the waist of his wife and the other hand resting on the handle of his blaster, as if ready to attack the first person who spoke to him. Next came a handsome man pushing the battle-scarred body of Jaina Solo to the bases medical facility for a bacta session, and it looked like she would be needing quite a few of them. Even through the sweat and blood, I could tell that she was an exceptionally beautiful female, and the gentle sobbing noise she was making seemed to make her seem more beautiful than normal in a sad kind of way. Her glassy eyes met my bright blue ones as she was pushed by on the hovergurney and she gave me a sad sort of smile. I returned it, and felt for her with the force, then sent her soothing messages of recovery and happiness. She let out a tired sigh and stopped sobbing, then drifted back into the divine realm of sleep.

 

I turned away, thinking that the parade was over, when a very noticeable ripple permeated the crowd. I turned sharply, and saw the thin figure of Master Skywalker holding the unmoving form of Jacen Solo in his arms. Tears of sadness were running down the older mans face, and following the path of his family into the warren of tunnels.

 

Master Sabatyne and her son approached me from behind, and I turned to greet them.

 

"Master Sabatyne. It was an honor flying with your son today, he is a most able pilot."

 

She sissed out the Barabel form of a laugh.

 

"This one thinks you have a good sense of honor and dignity. You did well in working with my son today. He says you yourself are an excellent pilot."

 

"It is one my favorite hobbies. Most of my free time is spent on a simulator."

 

She nodded and thanked me once more before turning to depart. Suddenly, the weariness the battle had inflicted on me set in, and I decided it was a good time to retire to my quarters, where I could meditate on the days events in peace.

[The_Catto]

Oh noes! Jacen is dead!?

BUGGER!

One of, if not my most, favorite characters!

Haha, ah well ...

 

It's a nice start so far. I like the series' after the movies. NJO is one of my favorite.

Can't wait to read more. There are no mistakes as far as I can see. You seem to be a most able writer.

Excellent!

 

Looking forward to next chapter

[Kado Sunrider]

Thanks BFA!

 

Tell you the truth, I spent a LOT of time analyzing Darth_Yuthura's first-person story about Yuthura Ban for this, as I've never written in first person before. I must say it is rather fun to take the place of one of your characters.

 

Yes, the post RotJ stuff is good. My personal favorite character would have to be Anakin. I wasn't very happy when he got killed by the Yuuhzan Vong.

 

On a happy note, I've written the first five chapters, and all I've got to do is go through and edit before posting!

[Kado Sunrider]

The healing effects of my Jedi meditation trance cleansed my body of all weariness as I sat on the floor of the Shedu Maad Medical facility that was doubling as the Jedi infirmary. Floating in the bacta tank next to me was the sleeping form of Jaina Solo, recent hero of the space battle and the killer of Darth Caedus, her twin brother, Jacen. Even through the meditation trance she was in, I could feel the waves upon waves of endless sorrow coming from her lithe form. The tell-tale swooshing of the infirmary door announced the arrival of Jaina's parents, the legendary Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. I pulled myself out of my trance and cracked open my eyes to see the pair staring at me confusedly.

 

"Master Organa Solo. It is a pleasure to meet you."

 

Leia let out a short sigh and said,

 

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Might I ask who you are?"

 

I silently cursed myself for not starting with the introduction.

 

"I am Ghel Thek. My father was a survivor of Alderaan."

 

A small smile spread across Han's face.

 

"You're Faerd's son? How is the old rascal doing?"

 

I was surprised that my father knew someone as famous as Han Solo, but I guess it shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, they did fight in the Rebellion together after all.

 

"My father was killed several years ago during the Yuuhzan Vong war. He was killed in action during a combat mission on Borleias."

 

The smile faded from the roguish face.

 

"I'm sorry to hear that kid, your father was a good man. We fought together a fair few times during the Rebellion."

 

"Please," I replied, "you have no reason to feel sorrow for my fathers passing, you have enough to deal with as it is."

 

The pained expressions on both of their faces immediately told me that I had said the wrong thing.

 

"I apologize. I said that too brashly."

 

Leia nodded, then walked over to Jaina's bacta tank closely followed by Han. When they stood next to each other facing Jaina and he slipped a hand around her waist, I felt it was time to leave. Walking quietly to the door, I turned around and spoke quietly to the pair.

 

"If you need anything, let me know. I'd be happy to help you in any way I can."

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

Over the next few days, I encountered Han and Leia many times passing through the halls. They greeted me happily, though I could still feel the pain of loss they were masking. Occasionally I would sit and eat with them, trading stories that my father had told me of his time in the rebellion, and the daring victories and near defeats they had suffered during the brutal war.

 

Han was particularly fond of sharing his old smuggling stories, which I found entertaining, even though his wife sat next to him and rolled her eyes whenever he reached a particularly unbelievable part of the story, which ruined the effect slightly. 5 days after Jaina had been put in the tank, I was spending my free time in the simulator room, running pilot simulations with an XJ5 when Han decided to visit me.

 

Through the Force, I felt Han approach me from behind just as I was beginning to start my fourteenth or fifteenth run through the simulation. The computer was pitting me against a dozen coralskippers with a pair of corvette analogs firing plasma cannons at me as well. The attackers almost immediately began to spray fire towards me, and I jinked, dodged, rolled and wove my way through the onslaught. The first coralskipper I encountered was doing its best to jink and weave out of my burst-fire laser blasts, but its shielding anomalies soon caved, and the skip erupted into a flash of atmosphere and chunks of yorik coral. One of his allies had caught on to my tail and was spraying fire past my fighter, only slightly missing the edges of my shields. I swerved right, directly into the path of an oncoming skip, then at the last moment, flipped my fighter upside down and dove. The two skips collided and broke up in another brilliant flash.

 

The remaining skips began to coordinate, and I realized that the sim had added a yammosk to one of the corvette analogs. I deduced which of the corvettes had the yammosk, then headed for the other one. I swooped along the hull of the ship and the skips began to fire at me from above, using the force, I swerved, avoiding the plasma balls. Unfortunately for the corvette, the shielding crews we're not expecting their owns ships to fire on them, and massive hull breaches began to vent atmosphere. When the crews finally realized what was happening, they began to swallow up the shots. Climbing steeply, I spun my fighter in a three hundred and sixty degree loop and loosed a shadow bomb. I propelled the projectile into one of the larger hull breaches. The massive explosion split the ship in two, taking four coralskippers with it, and sending large amounts of space debris careening off my shields. Flipping around towards the other analog, I tried the same tactic, but the shielding crews we're ready.

 

I launched a shadow bomb, opening a hull breach, then corkscrewed around. Most of the skips managed to copy the maneuver before they plunged into the debris cloud and a certain death, but one didn't pull up in time and exploded when it was hit my a massive chunk of yorik coral. With only four coralskippers left, and the yammosk analog leaking atmosphere, I harried the fighters slowly eliminating them one by one until their was only one left. By jinking and diving the last skip had managed to avoid all my attacks so far. I launched a concussion missile, and when it was within meters of where the shielding anomaly would appear, I sent a single shot into the anomaly. The miniature black hole swallowed the shot and closed, and the concussion missile slid right past the skips defenses then exploded, destroying the vessel. I circled back to find the yammosk carrier trying to slink away, but I accelerated to catch the vessel, then fired my last shadow bomb and, like its fellow, burst apart and vented bodies and supplies to the cold vacuum.

 

I sat back and released a breath that I hadn't known I was holding. I turned to look up in the face of the man standing next to me, only to find it blank with shock.

 

"Han?" I asked.

 

He pointed and I turned back towards the screen. My time was just over three minutes. I looked at the name below mine on the register. Luke Skywalker - 3 min. 21 sec. I was shocked beyond belief. Master Skywalker was perhaps the best pilot in the galaxy. He had single-handedly destroyed the most dangerous superweapon ever created with only a single proton torpedo, and I had just bested him.

[CommanderQ]

Excellent, Kado! MOOORE! MOOORE!

[The_Catto]

Haha, nice one!

Perhaps a new Grand Master is in the works?

I await to see what the next chapter will bring!!!

[Kado Sunrider]

((Looks like the wait is over!))

 

 

I stood quietly outside the door to the room that was serving as an impromptu council chamber while the Jedi we're on Shedu Maad. 3 hours ago, I had bested Luke Skywalkers time for the quickest run on the Jedi flight simulator, and Han Solo had gone running to Luke to brag about it. I shook my head slightly and let out a quick chuckle. He certainly has his smuggler moments. A beeping noise signaled that I was allowed to enter, and the door slid open. I walked slowly into the room and stood in the speaking area, surrounded by the council. I glanced around at the faces of the men and women surrounding me. The dark eyes of Kyp Durron stared at me over his steepled fingers, on his left sat Kenth Hamner, the surprisingly level-headed Corellian Master whose tactical skill was unmatched. Sitting on the left side of master Luke Skywalker was my former mentor, Master Corran Horn. Arrayed around the room were Jedi Masters Sabatyne, Cilghal, Kyle Katarn, Octa Ramis, and Kam and Tionne Solusar.

 

"Masters. You wished to see me?"

 

Luke's blank stare diverted from the floor to meet my gaze head-on.

 

"Yes, Ghel. We have an important mission for you to undertake. However much I think the Jedi need time to regroup and refresh, the galaxy at large still needs us. We have heard news that a large group of pirates have raiding trade routes along the mid rim, the Council would like you to investigate these pirates, then if necessary, deal with them."

 

"I understand, Master. Is there anything else I should know?"

 

Luke nodded.

 

"You will not be leaving for a few days more, as Jaina Solo will be accompanying you. She is in a state of turmoil over her brothers death. Part of the reason we chose you is because of your ability to help people see through their pain. We would like you to help her in any way you can."

 

The news made me happy, as I had been looking forward to getting to know Jaina more since our first encounter.

 

"As you wish, Master. I will do my best."

 

Luke nodded, and my old mentor smiled at me, before I turned and departed. His mind brushed against mine, and I felt his pride at my maturity and responsibility. I continued down the hall, feeling more upbeat than I had since the war had started. I wandered the halls of the mining facility, greeting my fellow jedi cordially before continuing my walk. As I approached the mess hall, I saw Han Solo open the door and take a step through.

 

"Han!" I yelled.

 

He poked his face back out of the door way and his famous Solo grin split his face.

 

"Well how ya doing, kid?"

 

I sped up to enter the hall alongside him.

 

"Great. Just great. Jaina and I have been given a mission from the council."

 

Han's face fell.

 

"You we're hoping to spend more time with your daughter before she ran off and almost got herself killed again, weren't you." I said.

 

"yeah. Just promise me one thing, kid."

 

I knew what was coming, and I already had my answer ready.

 

"If it comes down to it, I'll make sure she makes it home, with or without me."

 

He nodded, then we headed over towards the table where Jaina and Leia were sitting.

 

Han sat down across from Leia and I sat across from Jaina.

 

Jaina was staring at her plate, her food untouched, and Leia kept throwing sidelong glances at her daughter as if afriad she might break down at any moment.

 

"Jaina, hunny?" Han said.

 

She looked up into his face, but her eyes looked distant and unfocused.

 

"Hello Dad." she said quietly.

 

"I've brought someone for you too meet."

 

I could feel Hans gaze as Jaina looked into my face.

 

"You're the one from the hangar."

 

I nodded solemnly while her parents looked confused.

 

"The hangar? Jaina, this is Ghel Thek."

 

She reached out with the Force and probed my consciousness, so I opened myself to her pleasant, although saddened, touch. I sent her a few more images of comfort and peace and she sighed in content.

 

"So the Masters have given us a mission."

 

I did not outwardly show my shock, though I wondered why I had not felt her probe that particular thought. It must be her pain masking her presence in some way. I theorized.

 

Leia glanced at Han with a look of pained shock on her face. She looked towards me and opened her mouth to speak, but Han reached across the table and put a hand over her mouth.

 

"I already asked him." he said solemnly.

 

Leia looked at me once more, and this time, I felt and saw her gratitude for my willingness to sacrifice my life for her daughters. I turned back towards Jaina and began to speak.

 

"Yeah. The council wants us to track down some pirates who've been raiding shipping lanes in the Mid Rim."

 

She nodded, then looked back down to her food.

 

"We should head out as soon as possible."

 

I knew this was coming, so I put an easy grin on my face and cocked my head.

 

"You sure about that?" I asked.

 

She looked up at me once again, and her dazzling green eyes met my sparkling blue ones.

 

"Absolutely."

[The_Catto]

I likes.

It's going to be interesting to see how Ghel and Jaina's relationship develops.

I already feel that there is a bond of some sort between them.

A nice chapter, a nice story, a nice read.

[machievelli]

read

[Kado Sunrider]

thanks guys.

 

I've been busy with school lately, and haven't done much writing, but I promise an update to this story before the end of the week!

[Kado Sunrider]

The starting of the loud engine roused me from my clouded thoughts. I looked over to the young woman sitting next to me, taking in the beauty of her almond brown eyes and shiny brown hair. My apprehension at the coming mission was like the noise of a roaring waterfall that I could not block out. Rearranging myself in the co-pilots seat to make myself a little more comfortable, I reached out to the repulsorlift ignition switch and flipped it down. With a soft hum, our repulsorlifts engaged and we lifted slowly into the air. Glancing out the front viewport, I saw Han and Leia, one hand around each others waist, waving up at us as we left. I smiled back at them, and waved as well. I glanced over at Jaina and noticed she wasn't smiling at all. I sent her another message of happiness and peace, and she seemed to relax a little in her seat. She let out a deep sigh.

 

"That's a really nice talent you have there, Ghel."

 

She turned to me and smiled.

 

I shrugged my shoulders, "It comes naturally too me. Master Skywalker believes it is a unique ability, and it is one that not even he can achieve at this time. For some reason, I can access peoples emotions even when they are shut down completely."

 

She giggled softly. "Well, I'm just glad to have you along."

 

I settled back in my seat and relaxed my shoulders. The long flight ahead would allow me to try out the new jedi meditation technique that Master Skywalker had taught me only days before. Standing up, I retreated to the main hold of the ship, and sent Jaina a telepathic message that I would be in a meditation trance for a few hours. I sat down in the center of the hold and crossed my legs. Slowly releasing all tension in my muscles I dropped into a state of hibernation.

 

Using the Force, I augmented my memory and brought memories from my past to the forefront of my councious thought. For nearly three hours, I studied everything that I was and had become, I pointed out flaws in myself that I wished to change, and things that were good in me, that would hopefully stay the same. When I was almost ready to drop the trance and return to the land of the living, a crystal clear image that I had never seen before sprang up behind my closed eyelids.

 

I was in a metal holding cell, of standard imperial design, but old, rusty and delapidated. Suddenly, the door slid open and two armed guards threw a hunched and bloodied body into my cell. I rushed forward and caught the falling body. Without looking, I sensed that I knew this person from somewhere. I turned the body over, and Jaina's bloody and ragged face stared up at me. Her face was bruised and her eyes were half-shut with pain. She was breathing raggedly, almost panting for breath, and I knew something was wrong.

 

"What happened?" I whispered in a pained voice.

 

She shook her head and raised a finger to my mouth.

 

"My time has come. Tell my mother... Tell my mother I love her. Dad too."

 

I shook my head and told her she could not die on me now.

 

"Goodbye, my love."

 

Her head lolled backwards onto my chest and rested there, eyes open, staring endlessly at the ceiling.

 

With a gasp of breath, I opened my eyes and stared around the compartment.

 

Jaina was standing in the doorway to the cockpit, staring at me with a discomforted air. She smiled slightly when she saw I had come back to reality, then walked around behind me and settled down on her hands and knees and started massaging my back.

 

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

 

"I am now." I replied.

 

"You had a vision."

 

It wasn't a question. She knew I had experienced something, and she probably knew it was bad, due to my pained expression and unusual return to normality. I nodded solemnly.

 

"Do you want to talk about it?"

 

She asked me in a tone that said she wanted to know, but didn't want to intrude unless I felt like sharing. I stood up, then pulled her to her feet.

 

"I will tell you. But first, I'd like to take a shower. I'm covered in sweat."

 

I walked past her back to the sleeping quarters, and I could feel her eyes following my muscular form until I disappeared from view. I grabbed a towel from my quarters and proceeded to the refresher. A minute later, I stood in the sonic shower, hands covering my face, reflecting on my vision.

 

I had never experienced a vision before, and the nature of my first led me to never want to have it happen again. Suddenly, I remembered the last thing she had said to me in my vision. My love, she called me. Smiling, I flipped the switch on the sonic shower and gingerly stepped out of the stall. I called the towel to me with the Force and had barely tied it around my waist when Jaina came through the door. She blushed slightly for just a moment, but then recovered her poise and said, "We're coming out of hyperspace into the Teneb System."

 

I nodded, and she left, closing the door behind her so I could change in peace. I quickly put my flight suit back on headed forward to the cockpit. I sat down, and Jaina pulled the lever dropping us back into realspace. We emerged on the edge of what had recently been a massive space battle. The wreckage was spread out as far as the eye could see, and probably farther.

 

I looked over at Jaina in disbelief, a look that was echoed on her face. A battle this big hasn't been fought since Endor. I thought to myself. We carved a swath through the debris, slipping around the shattered hulls of endless Nebulon-B's and Imperial Star Destroyers. Suddenly, out of the gloom, a massive hulk of what looked like Star Destroyer wreckage floated past us. Inscripted in massive letters that were covered in blaster scarring and other damage was the word Extractor, the flagship of Admiral Defth of the Galactic Alliance 6th Fleet. Horror radiated from Jaina through the Force.

 

"No.." she began. "Who has the firepower to wipe out an entire GAG fleet?"

 

I shook my head.

 

"It seems impossible that those pirates could have done so much damage, but this is where we're supposed to start looking for them."

 

She glanced at the scanners, which had begun to beep.

 

"I don't think we're going to need to find them. It looks like they've already found us."

[Tysyacha]

This is absolutely making my mind tingle with the intrigue and developing romance! I can't wait to read more, and other than a few spelling and grammar errors that I nitpickily noticed, all four chapters are definitely worth the read. Keep it up! By the way, are you planning to have Jaina talk about Jacen, or how his actions have made a wreck of almost the entire galaxy?

[Kado Sunrider]

I can't give anything away...

 

(Yes. I will be. xD)

 

I'm writing the new chapter tonight.

[The_Catto]

W0ot! New chap

 

I likes. The devloping relationship between the two, and the easiness of how they are both falling into it is seemlessly done. Very smooth

Can't wait to see if the vision becomes real and what happens in the next chap!

[Kado Sunrider]

I was re-reading it and I thought it was a little fast. Maybe not... She hooked on to Jag Fel pretty fast.

[Kado Sunrider]

I was almost tossed from my seat as Jaina launched us into a complex backwards roll. If the Artificial Gravity had been set any higher, I most likely would have been. I thought to myself. Her consciousness linked with mine as we engaged a Jedi Battle Meld. She told me to head back to man the turrets with her mind and I hopped out of my seat and ran for the turret ladders. I slid down the ladder until the artificial gravity kicked in again and I was suddenly crawling along the floor. I slipped into the gunner seat and powered up the quad-lasers. I sent a message back through the link saying that I was ready. Instead of replying, she flipped the craft end-for-end and headed straight towards the fighters. By that time, my lasers were already going full speed, strafing the shields of the lead fighter. I noticed that these were old model X-wings, like the kind flown by Master Skywalker back in his Rebellion days. I alerted Jaina to this through the meld. Once again, she didn't answer, so I returned to my duties.

 

The fighters, mostly old rebellion era models, continued to stream out from the debris field, chasing the freighter like a swarm of deadly wasps. We had only managed to survive so far because the debris we were dodging was taking all the hits for us. Jaina continued to dodge and weave through the asteroid field while I fired continuously at the oncoming fighters. So far I had managed to take almost a half dozen fighters down, but another dozen seemed to replace each fighter that was vaped. Suddenly, Jaina's voice echoed in my head. We're out of the debris field.

 

Moments later, I was almost thrown from my seat for the second time in less than ten minutes and the entire ship began to rattle and shake. I knew what had happened before I got confirmation, but my worst fears were realized when Jaina contacted me again. Tractor Beam.

 

I slipped out of the turret and jogged quickly back to the cockpit.

 

"What is it?" I asked.

 

She pointed. Floating out in space was the immense remains of a large space station, orbiting the 3rd planet in the system.

 

Darting past us, what remained of our attackers forces slipped into small crevices that could only be landing areas. Our ship was inexorably pulled slowly into one of the larger openings. Our landing struts settled on the dust covered docking bay's lightless interior.

 

"This is where the fun begins." I said with a slight grin.

 

She nodded and we both drew our lightsabers and proceeded out to where the loading ramp led off the ship. She slapped the button to lower the ramp and then activated her purple lightsaber. I took a second to calm myself and let out a sigh, then followed suit with my brilliantly green blade. She ran down the ramp, and immediately the blaster bolts started flying. I ran down to join her, my green blade flashing in all directions to redirect any fire that came my way. After a few more seconds of fighting in which a small group of the pirates were killed, I noticed that too many of their shots were going wide, and that's when I realized we had fallen for a trap. A sharp poke to the back and a massive amount of electricity raced up my spine and into my brain, and everything went black.

 

~ ~ ~

 

The first thing I noticed upon my return to consciousness was the terrible ache in the back of my head. The splitting headache was doing me no good, and I had incredible trouble just opening my eyes. Finally, I managed to crack them open enough for me to see where I was. Fear flooded through me as I realized that this was the cell from my vision. I managed to sit up, and that's when I noticed that Jaina wasn't in my cell with me. I would not have found this uncommon, except that I could smell her sweet scent on the air, and the cell had two cots. Almost as soon as I reached this conclusion, the door opened and a body was tossed inside. I caught the body, knowing it was Jaina, I was afraid to turn her over and see my vision realized, but I forced myself to face the truth. I flipped her over to find her face only a little sweaty, with a tired look on her face. Her eyes were closed, but I could tell by her breathing that she was not unconscious. She opened her eyes slowly.

 

"Its good to see a familiar face." She said with a small smile.

 

As relieved as I was too see her alive, I could not ignore that she had obviously been through some type of torture, though it was not as brutal as the one from my vision.

 

I ripped a small piece of my cloth shirt off and dipped it in the small water bowl that the two of us would be sharing for the rest of our confinement, then I lifted it too her forehead and wiped some of the grime off her face.

 

She sighed and leaned her head back on my knee.

 

"I thought I would never see you again. They said they were going to kill me."

 

She sat up and put her head on my shoulder and began to cry. I used the Force to soothe her and send her messages of comfort and companionship, but I did nothing to stop her sorrow.

 

Sometimes its better to let your emotions out.

 

She stopped crying for a second and looked into my eyes.

 

"Ghel, I have something to tell you.."

 

I stayed silent and waited for her to continue.

 

"Ever since the first time I met you, I've felt a connection."

 

I tried to look away from those brilliant hazel eyes, but couldn't force myself to do it.

 

"I felt it too.."

 

She was getting closer, much closer, until her face was almost touching mine.

 

"I love you." she whispered.

 

And then our lips met. I could not help but kiss her back. It was like blissful oblivion, like nothing I had ever felt before, almost as if the Force had taken on an earthly manifestation in our intertwined bodies.

 

She pulled back for a moment and stared into my eyes again.

 

Amazing...

 

"Ghel, if we die here, I want to die with you, loving you." Her speech was barely audible, and I heard it more through the Force than the material world.

 

"If we die here, it shall be together, as lovers." I said to her, continuing in the small whisper.

 

She leaned forward and gave me one final kiss, a lingering sensation on my lips, ran a hand across my cheek and whispered,

 

"good night, my love."

 

I watched her graceful form cross the small cell and lay down on the cramped cot.

 

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

 

That was... interesting. I thought to myself as I walked the few steps to my own cot and lay down to get some sleep.

 

Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day.

[Tysyacha]

Wow, things are sure happening fast! I can't wait to see what happens next, and I love how you let us in on the emotions of the characters.

[Kado Sunrider]

yeah.

 

Don't worry though. This story isn't over yet. And things are going to get a LITTLE more complicated before you get your happily ever after. (If there is one.)

[The_Catto]

Wow everything is happening fast! I guess though in some cases with affection, you can't control it and it just floods in. Let's just see how it goes from here though, eh?

Nice work Kado.

I am REALLY loving this story. Can NOT wait to read more! (That's the only bad thing about reading on the net. It's not a book so I can't just go to the next chapter! lol)

[Kado Sunrider]

Thanks BFA!

 

Next chapter coming sometime this week. I've been really busy with work/school. D:

[Kado Sunrider]

I awoke to find myself being dragged down a hall towards an unknown destination. I had a massive headache, and didn't open my eyes at once. Instead I turned the force inwards upon myself to try and find the source of the pain. There was only one problem. I couldn't feel the Force. That's when I decided to open my eyes. I instantly regretted my decision and spots of light blurred my vision. After a few seconds, the spots disappeared and I was able to discern my surroundings. Dragging me down the hall were two brawny human males with shaved heads and dark skin. On their backs were small reptiles clinging to organic support devices.

 

Ysalamari.

 

I closed my eyes and slumped my head down to conserve energy. A door opened ahead of us and I was thrown bodily to the floor inside the dark room and the door closed behind me. Pulling myself to my feet, I sat on the floor and rubbed my hands against my eyes to try and cure my headache. I had been sitting there for only a few seconds when I received a sharp blow to the lower back and was tossed across the room. I hit the wall with a loud crunch. Mentally I assessed the damage. One, maybe two ribs, nothing I can't deal with.

 

I rolled to my feet and straightened up. In return I got another sharp kick to the abdomen, doubling me over. An elbow connected with the back of my neck and I collapsed into a convulsing heap. That's when the lightsaber came on. The crimson glow illuminated the entire space. A barking laugh, familiar yet eerie, echoed around the chamber.

 

"You are pathetic. You call yourself a Jedi."

 

I knew the voice, but I couldn't place it. Instead of responding I slowly got to my knees and stared up into my attackers face. Basked in the crimson glow was the face of my father, grinning ferally down at me.

 

"No. It can't be. You died at Borleais."

 

His barking laugh echoed around the chamber once again.

 

"You are ignorant of the many mysteries of the Force my son."

 

"It can't be. You're dead."

 

The toe of his boot connected with my nose, and I felt it shatter. Blood spewed across the floor.

 

I could sense him kneel down next to me, leaning close to my head to whisper in my ear.

 

“Will you join me in the Dark Side or die my son?”

 

“I will never fall prey to the Dark. Whether you truly are my father or not, I will not join you.”

 

He chuckled.

 

“Time to die.”

 

Blue intertwined with red as forks of lightning arced out from his fingers and lanced like sharp knifed into my body. The pain was unbearable, and it continued for almost 30 seconds. When it stopped, he was still laughing.

 

“Your whole life is pathetic. You are the son of a world that no longer exists. You have no one to care for you. Your family is gone, and you have no one left but me.”

 

“You are wrong. I have one person. Jaina still cares for me.”

 

His laughed echoed one last time.

 

“You ignorant fool. She died before you did.”

 

The lightning struck me and I disappeared into oblivion.

 

~ ~ ~

 

I woke with a scream of agony. I sat up abruptly and felt the blood rush from my head. Normally I would have felt dizzy, but my overwhelming anger overpowered all other feelings. That's when I realized the ysalamari had been removed. I laughed. I stood up and full of the darkness that was my hate for my father lifted the guard on the other side of the door off the ground. He collapsed back to the ground with his head facing the complete opposite direction. I lifted the key card from his pocket with the force and slid it into the slot to unlock the cell.

 

I stepped out into the hallway and alarms immediately started blaring. I kept walking. There was only one thing on my mind, anything else was just a distraction and would be destroyed. Four guards came around the corner ahead and all of them had their hearts ripped from their bodies. I continued on, through the increasingly large pool of blood and around the corner. I realized that with each person I killed, I became stronger, more immersed in the Force. At almost every corner I met more guards. All of them died. If they attempted to shoot before they went down, the got the particularly painful treat of having their insides melt under the force of the lightning issuing from my fingertips.

 

I’m coming for you Father. I sent the message ringing through the Force and felt a slight stirring from the center of the station. I turned another corner and headed for my father. Its time to die.

 

I turned one last corner and a group of a dozen guards stood waiting for me. Standing in front of them was a short man dressed entirely in black. He ignited a red lightsaber and pointed it at me. The blinding flashes of blaster shots ricocheted everywhere along the hallway. I stuck a hand out and at once, all of the bolts redirected themselves into my hand. The gathered into a small ball floating about an inch from my hand. I threw the ball with the force. It shot forward like a cannon, completely obliterating the Sith’s head and passing through 2 more soldiers before burning a hole in the door behind them. Bolts kept flying, but I used the Force to deflect them away from me and into the walls on either side of me. When i got within 2 meters of the men I used the Force to slam them all into the walls with back-breaking force and blasted the door open.

 

I strode inside and my father stood in the center of the room, lightsaber already ignited. I stopped. Time to die. We charged towards each other, he with glowing sword in hand and me possessing only the Force. We collided, and I grabbed his arm just before he could deliver a killing blow from the saber. With my other hand I landed several punches in the gut with lightning fast agility. Prancing away, I dodged swipe after swipe of his saber, sometimes jumping over the blade, others bending my body in unnatural poses to avoid the deadly beam.

 

I danced forward well within his first ring of attack and started deflecting his attacks with my limbs, striking his sword arm before he could land a critical strike against me. I shot my hand up into the air and caught his hand. I shot lightning directly into his sword arm and his muscles convulsed. The lightsaber fell limp from his hand and I caught it with my other hand. Swinging the blade in an arc I disemboweled his right arm leaving him shrieking in pain. He collapsed to the floor in a screaming heap rolling around holding the stump of his arm. I lifted him into the air by the neck. I forced myself beneath his mental barriers and spoke directly into his mind.

 

This will not be a quick and easy death. I will make you suffer, and I will enjoy it.

 

Reaching deeper into his head, I brushed aside his mental barriers with ease and grabbed at the most terrible memories I could find and forced him to replay them in his mind. I continued, my hatred at him for killing Jaina driving me onward like a whip from the master. Slowly his eyes blanked and began to glass over. I walked forward and brought him down to eye level and looked directly into his eyes. I put a hand on his forehead and sent one last message.

 

You should not have forced my hand.

 

Lightning arced from my fingertips directly into his skull. In a millisecond, all the hair on his head had burnt off and his brain fried. I let the corpse collapse back to the floor. I looked down at the corpse, noticing it no longer looked like my father, but was instead a middle aged man of a different look entirely.

 

He used a hologram to try to torment me.

 

I called his lightsaber to hand. During his last seconds, I caught glimpses of a rocky planet with no foliage, standing in a circle all around were men and women of different species all holding ignited red lightsabers.

 

They are my goal. I will hunt them all down for killing Jaina. None of them are safe. They will all die.

[Tysyacha]

Where's that smiley where your jaw hits the floor? Dangit, WHERE IS IT???? !#$%%^

 

This was NOT what I was expecting, and makes my "Trizhdiy" look like a kindergarten tale! *applauds loudly* *applauds even more loudly* One question: who is Father?

 

Wonderfully descriptive, wonderfully dark, and wonderfull full of evil Sithiness! 9.5/10

[Kado Sunrider]

Ghel's father.

 

He was killed during the Yuuhzan Vong War during the Battle of Borleias.

 

I commented on "three", BTW, it was VERY good. My personal favorite so far.

 

I'll be writing another chapter tonight.

[The_Catto]

W0ot! The Dark Side has always and will always be, my favoriite side!

AWESOME chapter, Kado! Awesome indeed! With Tysy, 9.5/10!!!!

Well done!

 

PS: I wonder if Jaina really is dead, or that was just a trick to get Ghel to fall.

Hmm...

[Kado Sunrider]

glad you picked up on that!

 

But you'll have to sit it out and wait for that little revelation to happen a little later in the story. No spoilers this time my friends!

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys, without it I doubt I would have gotten this far into the story at all, and everything that will happen later on wouldn't be realized. Its all thanks too you.

 

I'll be back with a chapter sometime in the next few days!