Star Wars - My Last Dream

Star Wars - My Last Dream

STAR WARS -- My Last Dream

By: Sean Smith


Laree Captison lay silently in her bed. Her thoughts rolled peacefully
through her mind as she slept.
Quietly at first, the alarm buzzed, beckoning her from her sleep. She
moaned softly, splaying out her arm and swatting at the alarm. As she feared,
she had waited too long. The lights all shot on, throwing out their blinding
light.
"NO!" she whispered. "Lights off!" They all shut down. She'd forgotten
the back up, of course, for days like this. The window switched to transparent
mode, letting in a stream of bright sunlight. She sat up irritably and glanced
at the doorway.
Her mother Kistra stood there with her arms crossed. She wore her
usual purple and green jumpsuit with a yellow collar. "Now, young lady. It's
time for you to get up," she said.
Laree sighed. "Yes, mother." She swung her legs over the edge of the
bed and waited for her mother to leave and the door to shut. Once they had,
she got up and changed into a green dress. She stood before the mirror, tying
her long brown hair back. She hated wearing her hair that way, but that's how
mother wanted it. Didn't leave her much choice.

After a bite to eat, Laree was finally set free. She hurried down the
large Kabalian roadside toward her best friend Brici's house. Se lived in a
much larger house, a much more common size than Laree's, since her mother
believed in an old religion which wouldn't allow her much more. She always
said she already pushed it, but thought it evened out in the Balance since she
had a daughter.
Laree walked up to the huge brown house. Two wings came out from the
main body with a fantastic effect. She walked up to the door. It shot open, as
she was expected. She stepped inside.
Inside was a strange quiet. "Brici?" Laree called out. "Brici?"
Suddenly the walls on both sides seemed to explode in at her. Smoke
rose all around as Laree screamed and ducked her head. Out of the smoke,
flames, and debri rose a man. "Laree," he said in a low but quiet voice. She
scuttled away from him.
He raised a hand, and suddenly Laree couldn't move. He gestured
coldly, and Laree found herself turning around. His hand drew nearer him,
hauling Laree along as if by rope. She found herself unable to turn away,
could not even think straight. She just looked up at him in fear.
When she was close enough, he laid his hand on her head. He stroked
her hair gently, pulling her hair loose. He lay his palm on her forehead, and
lights went out for Laree.

She awoke sometime later. She moaned as her stiff joints struggled to
move again. Her eyes opened last, after she'd felt her way around realizing
she was on a tough, temporary bed, most likely aboard a ship.
As she began to look up, the strange man looked down at her coldly a
moment, then suddenly began looking gentle again and smiled. He reached out
and brushed her hair out of her eyes, and began stroking the beautiful hair as
if she were some sort of cat. "Ah, yes, you certainly are a strong one. Not
many can wake from my sleep trance. No one your age, at least. You have a
fantastic future before you," he said.
"What?" she asked quietly, fearfully. "Who are you?"
He looked at the girl with deep, sad eyes. "I am your father," he
said.
"My...father? But he...you..." she started. She could not complete the
statement. She was confused and unable to concentrate on where she was.
Besides that she'd never known her father. She'd been told he'd gone away when
she was very young for some reason or another.
So for all she knew this man could be her father. She looked at him
closely a moment. She didn't see any kind of resemblance. "Are you really...?"
she asked quietly.
He nodded slowly. "But you must call me Lord Hethrir where we are
going. No, don't ask any questions. I am taking you to a place where you can
learn to use your special talent with other children your age," he said.
"Like school?"
Hethrir laughed and ran his hand through her hair. "Yes, just a bit.
Do you like school?" he asked.
Laree shrugged. "It's ok."
He smiled. "Good, good. Now get back to sleep, my child, we still have
some ways to go.
She sighed. "Ok," she said and lay back down on the hard bed. Hethrir
just stroked her hair gently and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. He
could indeed sense something great in the girl's future.

When she woke again, Laree was in a dark room. She felt sore, just
like before, having been out for a number of days more. Over her stood a
figure in strange robes, unlike anything she'd ever seen on Kabal. She cowered
back in fear at the strange looking thing.
"Get up," the figure ordered. "Now." Laree jumped to her feet. "With
all the others!" She looked up at him, confused. He sighed angrily, pointing
violently through a door.
"Where's...my father?" Laree asked hesitantly.
The boy looked puzzled a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Oh, he'll be
around soon enough."
She thought the reply strange, but decided to get out of the strange
boy's company. She hurried through the indicated doorway.
On the other side was a long line of other young beings of all sorts
of species. She found another human girl around her age. "What's going on?"
she whispered.
The girl turned around, green hair turning with her. "I don't know
exactly," she said in heavy-accented basic. "But it's scary, I hear."
=NARRATIVE=
And that it was. That day they were given their quarters, in a deep
level of wherever they were. The quarters was hardly that, just dark rooms
behind dark doors to dark halls.
Living there was hell. The children were given little food, forced to
study up on propaganda. They all became part of the "Empire Reborn". The more
she was put through, the more Laree was convinced Hethrir was lying. She knew
for sure he could not be her father after some of the stories she'd heard from
other kids.
Besides all this, Laree excelled in her studies. In merely a year
she'd passed to the level of helper. The next level was a huge jump, but she
earned it four years later. At that time she had to take the final test.
=END NARRATIVE=
She'd heard stories about the Proctorial Ceremony. When she was
younger, the other kids had told terrible stories they'd heard from their
friends. They said the Proctor-to-be was eaten by a huge gold monster. The
Proctor's who had passed the test, along with the helper's who wished to
obtain it, glorified it as the final test between childhood and manhood--they
all remarked on the fact no female had ever passed it.
Laree didn't look forward to the day. She was brought aboard Hethrir's
ship and they set out for the place only known as "The Asylum" to those in the
Empire Reborn.
The gold-plated ship landed on the station. A quartet of Proctor's
went down the ramp first, followed by Hethrir and Laree by his side. They
marched down a prearranged path toward the creature known as Waru's shrine.
As they neared it, many civilians joined in the march, as it was a
ritual that happened often. It was supposed to be an amazing ceremony to those
who watched.
They entered the long hall into the main room. Soon, they came up to
Waru himself. "Hethrir, my friend," the golden creature called. "You have
brought me another subject?"
Hethrir moved forward, towing Laree with him and leaving the Proctors
behind. "Yes, Waru. This girl here," he said. "She has reached the time of her
Initiation."
"Girl? Heh," the creature snorted. "No matter. Bring her forward."
Hethrir did so.
Laree quaked in fear as she was left alone on the altar. A number of
spectators watched. Waru began to spread, his golden body coming nearer to
her. In moments the liquidy gold was over her, flowing over her body. She
attempted to get away, but was stuck like glue. Strange sensations began
running through her mind as she felt the alien use it's powers on her. Not
quite like the Force she was learning about, but something like it.
As the strange fluid cleansed her, she also felt strengthened.
Seemingly moments after it had begun, she was thrown out of the golden light.
She looked up blinkingly, up into the face of Hethrir. "It was successful," he
said emotionlessly.
"I am glad I was able to strengthen this young girl. One day, perhaps,
our deal shall be completed," Waru spoke loudly.
"And let us hope it is soon," Hethrir said, retrieving Laree and the
rest of his party.
"Of course, Friend Hethrir. Let it be soon."

Upon returning, Laree found her new quarters. It was a much lighter
room, and much higher up in the world-craft. She went quickly to the midday
meal, which had just been called. It was a Proctor and helper only event, the
children ate only twice a day.
The crowd of Proctors and helpers was incredibly loud. Laree pulled up
a seat and sat down at the proctor's table, between two boys a few years older
than herself. As she sat down, conversations at the table stopped. Every face
turned toward her. Did I do something wrong? she wondered.
The boy on her left glanced at her a moment, then turned back to the
rest of the silent group. He slammed his fist into the table, drawing
attention. "C'mon, guys, just be easy on the new kid," he said. The others
looked at him doubtfully, but began chuckling. Conversations started up again,
and the food was devoured.
Laree turned to the boy next to her. "Thank you," she whispered.
He smiled. "No problem. My name is Krejt, and..." he stopped, about to
introduce his friend on her other side. Instead he gazed closer. "You have
amazing eyes."
Laree blushed. "Thank you," she said even quieter this time. She ate
and talked quietly with Krejt.
Suddenly Mikla, the Head Proctor, a male of merely sixteen, stood from
the head of the table. "It is time to return to our studies, my friends," he
said in a deep menacing voice.
"C'mon, we'd better go," Krejt said to Laree.
"Can we talk somewhere?" Laree asked, not wanting to leave her new
friend.
"Sure," he said as they stood. They left the room together and moved
down the hall. "So, how old are you?" he asked.
"I'm about a week short of twelve. You?" she asked.
"I'm fifteen. I could've sworn you were at least fourteen. You've
grown up fast. You're a beautiful young woman," Krejt said. Laree blushed
again, and Krejt smiled. "But," he said seriously, wiping the smile from his
face. "You shouldn't feel invincible. You've been here a long time, I'm sure,
but most of the Proctors have been here all their lives, or pretty close. No
girl's ever become a Proctor before. Now, I don't know if you can tell what
I'm getting at..."
Laree looked at him a moment. "I think I do...but so far, five years
of hell seem to have just, well, reversed. Being a Proctor has been great so
far," she said.
"Maybe, Laree, but you can't possibly understand what some of these
people have gone through. Don't say I didn't warn you," he said, and walked
off.
Laree returned to her room, unable to get the conversation out of her
mind. Restlessly, she slept.

A week later, Laree went through her usual routine. That day she was
twelve, but she didn't think anyone knew it. But someone did. Unbeknownst to
her, someone watched her the whole day, quietly calculating every move to
perfectly fit in with her normal routine so she would not notice.
Laree tiredly stepped into her room. She glanced up, and shocked, fell
back a step. On her bed, waiting, sat Mikla, the Head Proctor. "What are you
doing here?" Laree asked.
"I had heard of your birth day, I merely wanted to congratulate you,"
he said. "Congratulations."
"Good, now get out," Laree said. "You know you're not supposed to be
out of your room this late."
Mikla stood and walked toward her. "I do not fear Lord Hethrir. He
would not dare do anything to me. He's trained me too well." He sat back down
on the bed and patted it next to him. "Come here, Laree."
She slowly moved forward and sat beside him, afraid to do anything
else.
"You don't know what it's like here yet, Laree," Mikla said. "This
place may seem bad at first, but it gets lonely later on. Me, I've been here
since I was three. Hethrir kidnapped me then." He gently stroked her hair. He
took a long breath and turned to look at her, and suddenly struck forward and
kissed her.
Her eyes opened wide. She reached up and threw him off of her. "What
are you--" she started, but suddenly he was back on her. She held him off with
one hand and slapped him hard with the other. "Stop it!" she shouted.
Mikla held his stinging cheek and glared angrily at the young girl who
had struck him. He balled up his fist and hit her hard across the face. She
fell back, crying, as he came back over her, but she still tried to fight him
off. With the same hand he backhanded her. Her deep green eyes kept open,
barely conscious, as Mikla turned out the light.

Krejt sat with the other Proctors at the breakfast table. His eyes
kept drifting to the empty seat beside him, where Laree should have been
sitting. But she was missing. She had no reason to skip, and Lord Hethrir
never allowed such a thing anyway. He waited and waited for the time he could
leave and go look for her.
Finally, Krejt was allowed to leave. He hurried down the long hallways
toward Laree's room. He knocked on the door. "Laree? Are you in there?" he
called. He put his ear to the door, but heard nothing. Hesitantly, he pushed
the door open. He looked into the dark room a moment, then flipped on the
light.
His jaw fell open at the sight. On the bed, Laree lay on her back,
completely naked and unconscious. Her face was bruised and tears still rolled
silently down her cheek. On the floor by the bed her tattered clothes lay.
"Laree," his lips formed her name, but his voice would not work.
Krejt ran up to his friends side. He grabbed her by the shoulders and
tried to shake her awake. "Laree? Are you ok? Laree?" he said frantically. He
could feel she was alive, but her face was in terrible shape, and of course
there was the matter of her clothes.
Laree moaned as she began to squirm. "Krejt?" she whispered.
"Yes, I'm here," he said. He helped her into a sitting position and
sat beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," she said. She lay her hand on his, but as she did so her
arm touched her chest. "My clothes..." she said, not remembering for a moment.
But it all came back then. Her hand dropped back to her side. "You were right.
I should have listened to you."
"I wish I hadn't been right, Laree. Do you have any other clothes?" he
asked, knowing that most did not.
"No," Laree said, beginning to cry again as everything came back to
her.
"Shh, Laree. You're ok now." He put his hand on her hair and calm
her--
Laree jerked back in a crying frenzy. She threw her back against the
wall and she pushed Krejt off the bed with her legs. "Don't--just don't--" she
said.
Krejt stood up and looked at Laree sorrowfully. "I didn't know--" he
started.
"I'm sorry..." she said, searching for something to say. "I'm sorry.
Please, just hold me. You're the only one I trust anymore."
He nodded. "But I think you should get dressed fist. I think Mikla can
find--"
Laree's eyes opened wide a moment, then she just turned over and began
crying in her pillow, sobbing loudly. Muffled, she said, "No..."
"Mikla?!" Krejt said angrily. "I'll kill that..." he trailed off as he
looked down at the poor girl, "later." He moved back to her side and turned
her over, getting her back up, sitting against the wall still sobbing. He sat
next to her and hugged her. "Things will get better. I won't let anything else
happen to you." She glanced at him, smiled and put her arms around him.

"Lord Hethrir," Mikla bowed before his master.
Hethrir just looked coldly at him a moment. "Mikla, you cannot hide
anything from me," he said.
"What do you mean, m'Lord?" Mikla asked.
"Your sense. It seems so...bright, today. Why is that?"
Mikla panicked. "I don't understand."
"Don't worry, boy. There is no time for you to be punished for what
you did to that girl. But do not _EVER_ try to hide something from me. I have
kept an eye on her, and I think she will make it. And that boy, Krejt, I want
him out," Hethrir said, "eliminated. Do whatever, I want him out of the
picture. He has too much compassion to be one of us."
Mikla smiled evilly. "Yes, m'Lord."

Krejt stepped forward, lunging with his lightsaber. Mikla parried and
thrust with a motion that would have sliced half Krejt's head off. He stopped
a moment early, calling an end to the practice battle. "You need work, Krejt,"
Mikla said coldly.
"I will try harder, Mikla," he said, with a veiled threat he hoped
would not be noticed.
"When everyone leaves, stay behind. Lord Hethrir would like a word
with you."
After another half hour of practice, the other Proctors began to clear
out from the above ground training grounds. Laree lingered a moment, looking
back at Mikla and Krejt, who were not moving to leave. At a slight nod of
Krejt, she moved on and went back underground.
Once everyone was gone, Krejt turned to Mikla. "So, where's Lord
Hethrir?" he asked.
"He'll be here shortly," Mikla said. "So, how's your little friend?"
"You stay away from her," Krejt said angrily.
"But why? We're such good friends now. She must have told you about
us."
"Oh, yeah, she sure did. And if you go anywhere near her again,
I'll--" suddenly he gasped for air as his throat contracted.
"You'll what? Cough all over me?" Mikla said with a laugh. He looked
to the figure who stood behind Krejt. "Excellent timing, Lord Hethrir. As
always."
Hethrir gestured, and Krejt fell to the ground, unconscious. "We will
not kill him," he said. "I have a much better plan. He can still be very
useful to us."
"If you think so, Lord Hethrir," Mikla said in disappointment.
"Come now, we must begin preparations."

Laree checked her assignment for the day. It was one of her favorites,
helping new students settle in and such. She enjoyed the opportunities to talk
with the children.
As she walked down a cross-corridor, someone hit her in the side,
knocking her over. Tigris stood over her. "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed,
helping her up. "Are you all right, Ms. Captison?"
"Yes, quite all right, Tigris," she said with a smile. Perhaps it was
a bit cruel since she knew he liked her. "Why were you in such a hurry,
anyway?"
"Hmm?" he asked, confused. "Oh...them," he said, pointing to two
children who were watching and giggling at Tigris. "Stop that!" He moved to
chase them some more.
Laree held him back. She laughed as she looked at the young kids.
"Giving you trouble, are they? Come here, children," she called sweetly.
The kids looked at eachother, exchanged a few silent words, shrugged
and came forward toward Laree. She knelt by them. "Hello. What are your
names?" she asked.
The boy spoke first. "I'm Jacen."
"I'm Jaina," his sister said. "Who are you?"
"My name is Laree." She glanced back at Tigris, who was gazing at her
in awe. "Where are you taking them?"
"Hethrir told me to bring them to Mikla to begin wi--"
Suddenly Laree dropped flat to the ground and began crying. Jacen and
Jaina backed away. Tigris gathered his courage and knelt next to Laree. "What
did I say? Are you ok?" he asked.
Laree sat up against the wall, sniffling and gathering her wits. "It
was nothing you said," she lied. "It was just...nothing. I'll be fine. Get on
your way now, Tigris. Goodbye, Jacen and Jaina." Tigris walked off with the
pair.
Laree stood up, unable to remember where she was going before. She
just started back, toward Krejt's room. She'd checked and found he was
supposed to be meditating inside. He wouldn't mind if she interrupted.
When she came up to his door, his friend Tjern, who was from the same
planet, already stood with his back against it, looking depressed. He looked
up and gazed at her sadly. "I thought you'd come here as soon as you heard,"
he said quietly.
"As soon as I heard what?" she asked.
"You mean you didn't hear?" he asked, surprised.
"Hear what?" Laree asked again.
"Krejt...he's disappeared. No one's seen him since practice ended."
"Not Krejt...This place just can't get any worse," Laree said, trying
hard not to cry again.
"If you were here as long as I've been, you wouldn't believe that,"
Tjern said.
"If you'd been through what I have, you'd see a reason to keep hope,"
Laree said, staring at the ground. "But I felt something before. Something has
changed here, and I think we might get out soon."
"I certainly hope so, Laree. It's getting late, we'd better be going."
"Goodbye, Tjern. I hope Krejt shows up," she said, walking away, back
toward her room. She opened the door and walked in, tiredly throwing herself
on the bed.
She shut her eyes, too tired to change her clothes. Suddenly there was
a knock at the door. "Uch," she muttered. "Come in."
Mikla stepped in. "Why thank you, Laree. You're so hospitable this
eve," he said, laughing. He walked toward her.
Laree's eyes opened wide. "No...stay away from me! Lord Hethrir
will--"
"Lord Hethrir knows exactly what I've done," Mikla gloated. "All he
made me do was get rid of our good old friend, Krejt."
Laree began crying quietly. "You killed Krejt."
"Yes, I did," he said with a smile as he sat on the bed beside her.
"Stay _away_ from me! I'm warning you!" Laree said threateningly,
though the effect was lost in her tears.
"What will you do..." he stealthily thrust his hand to her throat,
"scream?"
With a rush of adrenaline, Laree rolled out of his grip and off her
bed. She landed in a crouch, quickly standing up. Her lightsaber jumped to her
hand and ignited. Mikla moved to stand, but Laree instinctively struck him
down. He screamed in pain as he crumpled over on top of the bed.
She looked down with wide, tearful eyes at the body that lay upon her
bed. What have I done? she wondered.
Suddenly another voice wondered the same thing. "What have you done?"
Hethrir demanded from the doorway.
Laree looked at him nervously. "I didn't mean to...he--he forced me to
do it," she said truthfully.
"You killed the Head Proctor," he said, ignoring her excuses. He
gestured, and her lightsaber died. "You have any idea what the punishment is?"
"Well...no, Lord Hethrir."
"Silly girl. I would ordinarily kill the person myself, but I have
something a little better in store for you."
=NARRATIVE=
She had been brought to the lowest levels there were. Far below the
surface, even deeper than the children's quarters. She was kept there in
solitary, never allowed to leave, and fed badly.
Despite this, she survived alone with her thoughts of Krejt, her
mother, and a dream of one day being allowed to leave.
=END NARRATIVE=
The ship exited hyperspace. They piloted directly for the world craft,
now pulling into orbit around the planet. "So, all the children are still on
there?" Luke asked Leia.
"Yes, possibly an entire next generation of Jedi. Plus all the
Proctors and helpers, of course," she said.
"Of course," Luke smiled as the ship neared the ground. They landed,
Luke, Leia, and Rillao getting off. The children wanted to stay aboard.
Rillao went down into the base, looking for some sort of records or
something to aid them. Leia and Luke walked until they found the group of
children left there earlier. "Hello again, children," Leia said. They didn't
speak.
"Shy, aren't they?" Luke said. He looked around at the desolate
desert-like surroundings, and could sense their fear. They had much reason to
be shy. He asked Leia, "Have you found the Head Proctor?"
"No, I don't think so. He's probably hidden somewhere," she said.
One of the Proctor prisoners decided to speak up. "Mikla was murdered
awhile ago. Hethrir never replaced him," he said.
"Well, that's one down," Luke said. "Now, we'll be returning all of
you home, once we find out where that is. You Proctors, of course, once you
speak with your family are welcome to my academy."
Most of the children nodded, but all was silent for a few minutes.
Suddenly, Rillao returned. "I found some records, though they're very
sketchy," she said. "Mostly just first names of everyone he's brought here."
She handed Luke a hand-written list.
They took a few minutes and went down the list, marking ones that were
present. "That's it. Everyone's marked off, except three here which all seem
to have been marked off previously." He looked at it closely, reading beneath
the scratches. "Mikla, who we know is dead, someone named Krejt and a Laree."
He looked up at the Proctors. "Anyone know anything about them?"
The same Proctor spoke up again. He seemed to be the only one with the
courage to speak. "All three of them were killed."
"How unfortunate. Well, we'd better get all of you out of here. Might
as well get started now."

After clearing the children from the world craft, Luke glanced back at
it through the cockpit window onboard the Falcon. "I don't know, Han. I think
we missed something. I've got to go back down there," he said.
"Kid, is this some weird feeling or one of those Jedi things?" Han
asked.
"They're both the same thing. You've got to bring us back down."
"Ok, sure," Han muttered, swinging the ship around. An angry roar came
from the intercom. "No, nothing's wrong. Luke wants to go back down. Check the
hyperdrive again during the delay--might as well be safe." Chewie growled an
acknowledgment as Han brought the ship down to the world craft.
Luke stepped down the ramp onto the sand once again. He walked away,
down into the barracks area. He reached out with his senses, looking for
anyone, or anything, that may have been left behind. It was dark, so he mostly
relied on the Force as he moved far down into the ground.
It had been hours of searching, and he'd nearly given up. He passed by
the children's barracks again, unable to find any other place he could look.
With no where to go, he looked completely through his mind. He knew there had
to be some secret passage or such, but did not bother to uncover it.
As his mind swept deep through the place, he felt something. The
stirring of another mind, very confused and sad, but one with barely uncovered
power. He moved toward it, hitting a door release with his mind. The wall
opened up.
From that room, he felt the person's attention move to him. "You're
free now," he spoke. "If you wish to leave." He could just barely make out the
figure's nod. The figure stood, and Luke lead their way back to the surface.
As they stepped out into the light, Luke got his first good look at
his new student. The beautiful young girl stood before him, her pale face
shifting into a smile for probably the first time in a long time. Her eyes
were shut as she seemed to study the feelings of the sun on her skin,
something she had obviously not experienced in a long time. He just watched
her for a minute, until she spoke.
"You've set the others free?" she asked in a strained voice.
"Everyone, except Mikla, Krejt, and Laree. I suppose you're Laree
though," Luke said.
"Yes," she said, a tear coming to her eye.
"Do you know where the other two are?"
Laree lowered her head. She couldn't say why, but she felt like she
could tell this man, and she felt like she had to tell someone. She divulged
the whole story of what had happened. He stood there thoughtfully and
listened. He didn't bother to try to comfort her. He did better. He got her
onboard the Falcon, and they lifted off, never to return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sith Returneth

"Dad! Why do I have to go to this place?" Chris asked his father in
disgust.
His father leaned over the hyperspace levers. "They're your own kind,
son. They'll be able to help you with your...problem." He brought the ship
from hyperspace. The small cylindrical ship had a small crescent around it,
the tips lasercannons. It slowed down as it entered the planet's atmosphere.

Luke Skywalker, head of the Jedi Order, moved to greet the strange
looking spacecraft that had just landed. He reached out to it through the
Force. What he touched amazed him, he felt one human presence and a strange
empty spot nearby. He drew nearer.
The ship's hatch opened awkwardly and from it dropped two humans. One
was in his mid forties, Luke guessed, medium height, strong build, with brown
hair and eyes. The other looked much the same but seemed to be only in his
teens. Luke approached them, mystified.
"Uh, hello," Luke blurted out, still only able to sense the older
man's presence. "May I help you?"
"I am Ulic Qel-droma, a descendant of Ulic and Cay Qel-droma. This is
my son, Chris," he said, tilting his head to the young boy.
"I am Luke Skywalker, head of our academy here. What do you wish of
me?"
"This boy is dangerous," Ulic said. "To the entire galaxy."
Luke smiled. "Dangerous? Him?"
"He is trained as a Jedi...self trained, I suppose. I don't quite
understand it myself." He turned to Chris. "Show him, my son." Chris pulled
back the sleeve of his shirt to reveal his hellish red veins. He sensed Luke
wasn't exactly convinced, so he shifted his hand toward the ground a meter
away. A large red flame consumed his hand, exploded out into the ground
destroying it in a shower of sparks and flames. "I need you to take care of
him."
Luke turned to the boy, his eyes wide. "How did you learn to do this?"
"My masters taught me everything," Chris said, replacing his tunic's
sleeve. "But I can control it," he said viciously, glaring at his father.
"Your masters? I thought you were self trained?" Luke asked, digging
for information.
"No one believes me when I speak of my masters. But I have four of
them, and meet with them to train every night."
"Who are they?"
"Why the four greatest Force-users of all time, of course: Freedon
Nadd, Exar Kun, Naga Sadow, and Emperor Palpatine. They have taught me since I
was very young."
"But they are all dead," Luke said, repulsed by what the boy said.
"Why do you think I meet them in the Force itself?"
"That is enough!" Ulic shouted. "No more lies. They will not get you
out of this place. Until you are better, you stay." Ulic jumped in the hatch
and the ship immediately flew off.
"Tell me, Chris," Luke said, walking toward the great temple with him,
"is what you say true?"
"How could I lie? They've been teaching me since I was five. Exar Kun
taught me the lightsaber--"
"You have a lightsaber?" Luke asked.
"Sure. Freedon Nadd shows me all his Dark Side tricks, Naga Sadow
teaches me about alchemy--"
"You know the ancient art of alchemy, transforming things into
monsters, too?" Luke said, becoming more than a little afraid.
"Yes. Then Palpy, as I like to call him, teaches me his Dark junk.
Mostly lightning and other intimidating tricks, but some of it's very useful.
He also showed me how to combine will and anger into--"
"Into a huge Force storm that rends the fabric of space itself," Luke
said, interrupting again. "I've seen that one."
"Yes, they tell me all sorts of stories. Every night they have another
tale." His eyes blanked out a moment, then came back. "I can also shift my own
mass through space, giving me the power of teleportation. It's quite fun."
Chris spoke with a young, toothy smile then teleported himself a few feet
ahead. "See?
"But there is a down side. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith. And I can't
stop it."
"Why not?" Luke asked.
"I am like this because when I was very young, I was injected with
`Sith Poison'. The first time I felt a shred of anger, I became emotionally
unstable. And then my masters appeared."
Luke thought about that a moment. "This `Sith Poison', is there some
antidote? Something that will help you?"
"No," Chris said, running a hand through his short brown hair. "It's
permenant. But I came here to see if you could do anything for me. I've
regained my stability, and I can control my powers, but I have no wish to be
the Dark Lord. Or to use the Dark Side at all."
Nearing the temple, Luke once again reached for the boy's presence.
Once again, he felt nothing. "Why can I not sense you?"
"I always wear my `Sith cloak', as a proper Dark Lord should."
"You're not going to try to recruit my Jedi as Sith. I don't want to
destroy you. And your masters had better not. We only destroyed Exar Kun seven
years ago."
"You have nothing to fear of me." He was momentarily distracted by a
young woman, a Jedi trainee, walking past them. His head turned as she went
by. "Nothing to fear..." he continued, blinking his eyes.
"C'mon kid," Luke said, grinning that he had someone to call `kid',
"I'll show you where you can rest a bit."
Chris turned back to him. "I'd rather look around awhile, if that's
ok."
"Sure. Since you'll be joining us, you have free run of the temple.
But don't leave." Luke strode off.
Chris looked down the empty halls. He closed his eyes a moment, and
when he opened them again he was outside the temple. He ran swiftly through
the jungle, toward the temple with the statue of Exar Kun in front. He stopped
a moment, gazing at it. Chris knelt before it, muttering in an ancient, long
since dead language.
Chris felt a gust of air behind him. He turned, standing. "Hello, my
Master."
Exar Kun approached him, his ghostly figure darkening. "Your presence
here has helped me to return. But I may only speak to you. You must destroy
Skywalker."
"I cannot destroy him, he's too strong."
"You know as well as I do that you would have no problem to destroy
him. He is an enemy of the Sith. His students are a perfect place to continue
our line, as I noted years ago."
"Yes, m'lord. I must be returning." Chris knelt once again, then
disappeared. He was once again in the temple, now in the great hall. He looked
around at the dozen or so apprentices, listening to Master Skywalker speak.
"And here he is," Skywalker said, gesturing back to Chris. "Chris
Qel-droma, Dark Lord of the Sith."
Chris felt their surprise as they looked at him. He knew what they
were thinking. He was so young, and they no doubt greatly underestimated his
power. He reappeared beside Skywalker. "Master," he nodded. Skywalker nodded
back.
"He looks like I did seven years ago...and he's even using the Sith
cloak," Kyp Durron said from the audience.
"But you couldn't teleport, Kyp. My master regards to you as `weak'.
Exar Kun had such high hopes for you," Chris said cooly, looking down at Kyp.
"Did he?" Kyp asked. "And how would you know?"
"He told me, of course. He told me about most of you."
"That is enough for now, Chris. Perhaps another time--" Luke said.
"Sure," Chris muttered, fading out into the hallway. He walked for a
long time, lonely. He could sense everyone still in the great hall, but
suddenly another presence snagged his attention. He walked toward it, guided
by instinct. He came to a locked door to a private quarters. Hesitantly, Chris
rang the bell.
A moment later the door shot open. Inside was a small, undecorated
room. Near the back, a young woman sat, facing the doorway. She was in a
meditative stance, her long brown hair over her hood. Chris stared at her a
moment, finding her deep green eyes strangely hypnotic. "Uh, hello," Chris
whispered, unable to manage much more.
"Hello...who are you?" she asked, standing up.
Chris looked her up and down a moment. She was slightly taller than
him, and incredibly beautiful, by anyone's standards. "Chris Qel-droma, D--"
he halted. "Chris. May I come in?" he attempted, prepared to be turned down.
She swung her hair to the side. "Alright." Chris stepped in, closing
the door. "I'm Laree. You new here?" Her eyes glistened in the light.
"Yeah, I...just got in," he said, still mesmerized by her eyes. "Why
aren't you in the great hall with all of Master Skywalker's other students?"
"I just got here myself. I'm trying to get accustomed to the place."
"I know. I sense your untrained power."
Laree smiled. "I wish I could say the same about you..." she looked a
bit troubled. "I guess I'm out of practice. I can't sense you at all."
"Oh, no," Chris chuckled softly. Mentally, he removed his Sith cloak.
"That better?" he smiled broadly at her.
"You feel...dark." She took a cautious step back.
Chris put the cloak around him again. "I'm trying to get over
it...really," he said, silently cursing himself for getting into this. "But
it's part of my blood. And my masters would never let me loose. They're very
strict." He looked up at her, putting her image forever in his memory. "See
you around," he said, hoping it were true. He disappeared.
He reappeared once again by Skywalker. They walked down the hall. "So,
Luke, tell me about Laree..." he said, matching Skywalker's pace.
"Ok," Luke said, smiling. "We found her mixed in with some of
Hethrir's forces. I believe she's 16. You meet her, kid?"
"Don't call me kid. And yes." Chris disappeared again, ending up in
his room. He felt tired from his long journey, and had a lot to think about.
He lay down on his bed, falling asleep quickly.
He found himself in a vast pool of black, four glowing spirits
standing before him. "My Masters," he knelt. "What do you wish?"
Exar Kun moved forward. "Do as Skywalker says, at first. You must
build his trust to the point where turning on him will seem his own fault. And
the girl. She would be perfect for the matter we discussed some time ago. You
know how to proceed. On your way, Our student."
Chris bowed his head. He woke up a moment later. He sat up a moment,
thinking. He didn't really want to do as his Masters ordered, but he had no
real choice. It was a part of him, and in the time since he'd first met them,
he'd learned to revere them.
Though, looking back he realized something else. With the reverence
he had for them, he'd grown to fear them. But now he'd grown beyond that, he
knew. He acted solely out of respect for what they had done in times long
before his own. His fear of them had died.
Chris looked out the small window, more of a missing block in the
wall. It was still dark outside, he hadn't slept long. Suddenly another,
somewhat familiar presence touched him, making him tingle. Chris? it called
to him.
Laree? he called back to the other mind.
Come to my room, I need to speak with you. Chris's head shot up, and
he was completely awake. He teleported to her room.
"What is it, Laree?"
"I had this dream... it scares me." She sat on the bed, shivering.
Chris sat next to her and put his arm around her. "It's ok. Tell me
about it, what happened?" he asked, concerned for his new friend.
"It was like I was in space, without stars. And there were these four
ghosts who started to talk to me. They talked about you, and us, and
everything seemed so real." She lay her head on his shoulder.
"You mean they came to you?" Chris asked, enraged. "Damn them. Dead
bastards. I must speak to them." His eyes closed.
It was as dark as ever. Silently, Chris confronted his Masters. In the
distance he could just make out Laree's shouts at his now limp body. "This is
my ordeal, Masters. You are to stay out of it."
"You are wrong, as always. As a Dark Lord, it is understandable that
you want to dominate," Exar Kun said. "But you must restart the Sith path. As
the future bearer of your children, she had to be prepared."
"All you did was scare the daylights out of her. Let Skywalker and I
train her. You are to leave her alone!" Chris stepped forward, his eyes and
mind flaring.
Freedon Nadd stepped up. "Good, Chris. Good. We will leave her alone.
You are to continue her training, not Skywalker. We will only help if you wish
us to. You are a fine Dark Lord, you have mastered all the areas well."
"But," Palpatine put in, "you must kill Skywalker. Soon. As a sort of
revenge for your masters."

"I shall obey, my masters. But keep your promises."
Chris awoke. Blinking his eyes, he saw Master Skywalker and Laree
hovering above him. "Are you ok?" Laree asked, laying her hand on his
forehead.
"Yeah," Chris said, "I was just...sleeping."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Do you always talk in your sleep? Who were
you talking to?"
"I had to speak to my masters." He sat up slowly. "They were... not
obeying my orders," he said, looking up at Laree.
"You order them around?" Skywalker asked.
"If they want me to do as they wish, they must listen to me. Such are
the ways of training in the Dark Side. And I couldn't let them bother Laree
anymore."
Laree looked puzzled. "You mean those were your masters?"
Chris nodded sadly.
"What are you two talking about?" Skywalker asked. He turned to Chris.
"Your masters visited her? Why? You said they wouldn't go after any of my
students."
"Don't worry, Master. I've got it under control. But--" Chris stopped.
Suddenly he was pulled into another stasis.
"Chris!" Laree shouted.

It was different. Everything looked the same, the completely black
background, but there was only one spirit. He was small, and hunched over
himself. A strange sense of peace reigned over the usual agression he felt in
this place. "You are... Yoda," he said, reaching out to the spirit through the
Force.
"That is right," the apparition said in a creaky voice. "And you are
free."
"Free? Master Yoda, what do you mean?"
"Your Masters will no longer be bothering you. Or teaching. I have
stopped them, so you may continue on your own path. But I am still unable to
do anything for your Sith blood. You will be the Dark Lord for the rest of
your life. Sorry I am. You will have various troubles through your life, but I
believe you can find a way to use your Dark powers for good." He began fading.
"Goodbye, my student."
Chris awoke again. "Yoda!" he shouted. Now he saw a number of people
looking down at him.
Skywalker broke through the crowd. "What, did you see Yoda?"
"Yes. He destroyed my masters, or stopped them from seeing me anymore.
They can no longer affect me."
A shadow rippled through the room. "Wrong!" shouted a voice, a strong
one, the voice of Exar Kun. "We were all returned to our original systems, to
once again haunt them." Everyone was able to see and hear Exar Kun.
"Master Yoda is my Master now. And he told me I'd have to do this!"
Chris raised both his hands. "Everyone out!" The Jedi all scuried out, except
Master Skywalker and Laree, who stood behind Chris. He held his hands before
him. A huge, bright red flame of pure Dark Side energy flowed from them to
Exar Kun's spirit.
"No!" screamed Exar Kun. "We didn't teach you to do this!" Both the
flame and the spirit exploded in a red flash of light. Chris stood sweating
and panting for breath.
"You...destroyed him." Skywalker said. "It took all twelve of my
students to do that the first time."
"Master Yoda told me I'd find a good way to use my powers. But,"
Chris added regretfully, "he also said there's no way to heal me."
With a sad look, Laree came forward and hugged him. "Hey, it's ok.
That was amazing!"
"I think I know what Master Yoda wanted you to do. All these times,
people thought they'd destroyed these ancient spirits. They'd actually just
misplaced them. But they didn't have the power, as you do. You can finally rid
the galaxy of these monstrositys in the Force." Luke's sense became anxious.
Holding Laree, Chris's sense became more anxious. "Maybe," he
muttered. He teleported himself and Laree to her room. "Force sure is useful,
eh?" he grinned.
"I guess," Laree said, smiling and sitting on the bed. The drab room
was slightly small, but a respectable space, and lit badly. "Why'd you bring
me here?"
"Well, I'm going away for awhile, and I don't know when or if I'll be
back," he sat next to her. "And, well, I--wanted to say goodbye."
"Are you coming on to me?"
Chris sighed. Well, it had been worth a shot. Of course, being the
nice guy he was, he began to apologize. "I'm sorry. I--"
Laree looked up into his eyes. "Shh... It's ok. I feel the same way."
She kissed him long and hard.
Chris shifted closer to her, putting his arms around her, and slowly
lowering her back. He kissed her neck -- when something snagged his attention.
He shut and locked the door with the Force.

Chris woke up by Laree's side in the morning. He moaned softly, not
feeling very rested. He groggily stood up and got dressed, then put his Jedi
robe on over that. He pecked Laree on the cheek, thinking how much he'd miss
her. He unlocked the door and went out into the hallway, shutting it again.
Chris hurried down the halls looking for Skywalker. "I thought you
were leaving for Onderon last night?" Luke asked, coming up behind
Chris and matching his pace.
Chris jumped at his voice. "Don't do that!" he said, catching his
breath. He remembered what Skywalker had asked. "Well I can travel
instantaneously, and I, er, fell asleep early last night." He hoped his Sith
cloak could hide his feelings.
"I won't ask any questions," Luke said, eyeing him strangely.
Chris's sense was definately different, and his Sith cloak was weak. All
in all, not Chris-like. "When will you be leaving?"
"How about right now?" Chris shut his eyes, using the Force to shift
his mass into a place in his mind's eye. He found himself right in the massive
tomb formed by the Jedi as the resting place of the Iziz royal family and
Freedon Nadd. He took a moment to look around at the sarcophagi then shouted
"Nadd, show yourself!"
There was no response. "As your student," Chris continued, "I am here
to demand my right. A student must be able to destroy their own masters. You
know this. I know this. Come face your destiny!"
Nadd finally appeared, his spirit now larger and with a fiery light.
"Yes, my student. You are right. But I must also warn you: your other masters
will not give in. They will do everything within their power to destroy you."
"Yet I will still deal with them." Chris dispensed with the spirit.
"Seeya."
Chris closed his eyes, focusing on a picture of the stories and
discriptions he had recieved from Naga Sadow. When his teleport ended, Chris
found himself back in the temple on Yavin 4. He saw Master Skywalker glance at
him strangely. "Blast! I forgot, Naga Sadow is from this world too!"
"Can you find him?" Skywalker asked.
"Sure I can." Chris quickly teleported again. He was now far below the
surface of Yavin 4. He took a step back in fear.
A huge red monster stood before him. It's large claws glistened in the
light, his scales standing out. It roared loudly. "Don't try this with me!"
Chris shouted. "You taught me everything!"
Chris raised his hand toward the monster. Using the Dark Side, he used
his alchemy knowledge to turn the monster into a small harmless rodent.
Chris stood on the ledge, above a huge chasm. At the bottom was an
ancient ship and a number of the monsters, preparing it. Reaching out, Chris
started an avalanche from above. The ceiling collapsed on the chasm. Once the
smoke was gone, Chris saw Naga's spirit coming forward. Without exchanging
words, he destroyed Sadow.
Chris teleported back to Master Skywalker. "Master, three down. Only
Palpatine's left."
"Maybe I should come with you. He's bound to be ready for you."
"No, I can take care of myself. To the east of here, you'll find a
huge hole in the ground. There's wreckage of a ship and hundreds of dead
aliens."
"Your doing?" Luke asked.
"Well they weren't there before." Chris once again disappeared.

It was a horrific sight. When Chris appeared, the Imperials were
ready. There was a squad of troopers in flanking position, and a pair of the
Emperor's sentinels moved to grab him. He ducked and rolled to the side, his
lightsaber jumping into his hand and igniting. He swung it over his head,
catching the sentinels.
He held his saber to the side in his left side, pointing to the
troopers with his right. They began to open fire with stun shots. Using
ancient Sith magic, Chris made their weapons begin to burn through their
gloves. The guns began to melt. Several screams rose into the air.
Chris's saber leaped from his hand, cutting down a sentinel he hadn't
even seen. He felt a dark presence, enter from the turbolift. "Hello, Siell
Vias. Prepare to die."
"You speak tough, kid, but can you follow through?" Siell ignited his
lightsaber.
Chris gestured wearily, and Siell's lightsaber sputtered to a stop.
"I'd say I'm full of surprises." He reached out with the Force and yanked at
Siell's very presence. His body exploded with Dark side energy.
"Very good, my student. I sense you have destroyed your other three
instructors." Chris turned to see a very young Palpatine, once again 18.
"As I will you, Palpy." He disignited his saber, waving the handle in
the air. "Right now a Force storm--which you taught me to create--is
destroying the orbiting fleet."
"I admit, you are powerful. But I am the master." Palpatine raised his
hand, throwing blue lightning out at his former apprentice.
With weary concentration, Chris Force-repelled the sizzling energy.
"Palpatine, your reign in this galaxy is over." Chris raised his own hand,
hitting Palpatine with a hard Force smack. Palpatine flew back into the wall.
"Is that all you can do, boy? I think I'll take you with a
lightsaber." Palpatine picked himself off the ground. He pulled out and
ignited a red lightsaber.
"Palpy, you know I could easily destroy that saber, then rip your
heart out while it was still beating. Yet I restrain from even laughing."
"Don't call me Palpy!" Palpatine ran forward toward Chris, swinging
his lightsaber in rage. Half a meter away he took a long swing at Chris.
Chris simply blocked the lightsaber with his forearm. He grabbed
Palpatine by the throat, lifting him a foot off the ground.
Palpatine called upon his own Force storm. He'd always thought it was
ok to die, if you can take your opponent with you. He had more clones anyway.
He brought his storm down on the building, tearing it to shreds. It neared
Chris and himself.
Chris dropped his grip, turning toward the storm. He turned back to
Palpatine, throwing Dark energies at him, tearing his spirits precarious grip
to the body.
The Force storm caught up with them. Palpatine's body flew around,
dead, with his spirit trying to remain still. Chris steadied his mind,
teleporting himself away to another part of the city. Chris reached deep down
in his power, and took control of Palpatine's Force storm. With Palp's body
and spirit within it, he sent it back to space and set it into hyperspace,
never to return.
Chris, sensing his original Force storm had completely dispensed with
the orbital fleet, called it down to wreak havoc on the throne-world of Byss.
Half an hour later he teleported out, back to Yavin 4.
"Mission accomplished," Chris smiled to Skywalker. "Well, mostly
anyway. Palpatine's been trapped in hyperspace."
"Not bad, Chris. Can he get out?" Luke asked, awed by the boy's power.
"Not unless someone calls upon that specific Force storm. And I'm the
only person left in the entire galaxy with the knowledge to. And I'm not
planning on doing that any time soon." Laree entered the hall, brushed her
hair from her face. "Hey, Laree."
"You're back. Did you...kill them?"
"Thanks to Yoda. They'll never bother anyone again. Not even me.
They're probably sorry they ever did." He smiled and hugged her. Holding her
with one arm, Chris turned back to Skywalker. "Master, could we take a little
vacation perhaps?"
Skywalker thought a moment. "I'm sorry, Chris, Laree needs to begin
her training here. You of course, are welcome to come and go. Your training is
beyond complete."
"Then let me train her, Master. You have much to do here. And, if you
let me train her, you will have Yoda train her. She's seen my masters before,
and Yoda is my new Master. And besides, you know you can't stop me."
"Yeah, right. Well let's ask her, ok?" He looked to Laree.
Laree took a step away from Chris. "I'm sorry, but I came to train
under Master Skywalker."
Chris looked at the ground. "I understand." He looked up to Skywalker.
"You'll of course contact Coruscant of my arrival."
"Coruscant? Wait!" Skywalker said, but too late. Chris disappeared.
"Yeah, I'd better warn Coruscant. A few thousand extra troops, remove the
orbital fleet, for starters."
"He won't cause any destruction," Laree said. "He just wants to meet
with some of the people he's heard so much about." She saw Luke's eyes on her.
"That's what he just told me."

Chris found himself on the landing pad on the Imperial palace roof.
There was a good deal of air traffic and a number of landing shuttles and
freighters and other craft. He put his hood on and walked to the doorway into
the palace.
Inside the palace, he walked toward the main hall. Someone tapped his
shoulder, making him whirl around automatically. "Excuse me, but do you have
some identification?" the palace security guard asked.
"Uh, no." Chris resisted his natural urge to use the Force on the
guard.
"Well minors aren't allowed free run here. We'll have to question
you." The guard grabbed Chris's arm.
"Do you mean interrogate? If there's any pain involved, you could be
making a mistake..."
"We are not the Empire. We do not torture our...guests."
In a few minutes they had reached the questioning center. The guard
sat Chris down in a large black chair, in a room of pure white. It hurt his
eyes.
An old woman with black-grey hair entered the room and dismissed the
guard. She sat in a smaller chair across from Chris. "Hello," she said,
sounding very friendly. "What's your name, son?"
"I am Chris Qel-droma, of Ossus."
"I thought no one lived on Ossus?" she asked wonderingly.
"Well I was born there. I've always kept it as part of my title."
"Where do you live now?" she leaned forward.
"All over."
"Not specific enough. Where do you live?"
"Cinthral. A world on the edge of this galaxy. Undiscovered by the
Republic, as of yet."
"How did you get here? You were not observed coming off any ship."
"I... was a stowaway. I jumped on a shipment of spice from the
Smugglers Alliance."
"You're here illegaly?"
"They found me. They said they would clear me. I can prove it, if
you'd just let me see the Head of State for two minutes."
"She is extremely busy. You could be an assassin. But I do think
you've been lieing. Tell me the truth."
Chris sighed. "Ok. I'm a Dark Lord of the Sith, sent here by Master
Skywalker of Yavin 4. I am Chris Qel-droma of Ossus. I now live on Yavin 4 in
the academy. Master Skywalker should have contacted Leia by now, telling her
of my arrival. Do you need my spouses name?" The woman's eyes were wide with
the sudden burst of information. "I don't have one anyway."
"Yes, well... I'll have to check that with someone a little higher up.
Just a moment." She stepped out of the room. A pair of binders jumped around
Chris's wrists. He melted them away.
A few minutes later, the woman returned. With her came a tall
Calamarian. "This is Admiral Ackbar, palace security," the woman said. She
looked at Chris, sitting with his chin on his palm. "Your binders--"
"I found them uncomfortable. Admiral," Chris nodded.
"Qel-droma. Why are you here on Coruscant?"
"I already told her. Master Skywalker said I could come. It's a sort
of reward."
"Reward for what?"
"I destroyed my masters and have learned to use my Sith magic for
good."
Ackbar thought a moment. "We've called Organa Solo. She says her
brother has not contacted her. And all you have proved is that you possess the
power to kill." He was thinking about those binders. "She tells me you lied
once already. What is the truth?"
"You have the truth, Admiral. I would never harm the Republic. I just
finished destroying the Empire."
"Are you saying you're the reason for these crazy reports from our
sentry's on Byss?"
"You mean the destruction of the entire fleet and most of the planet
itself? That would be me."
"What's to stop you from doing the same here?"
"Nothing. The Emperor was there to stop me on Byss. He failed. But I
just want to take a vacation here."
"We will have to keep you here until Organa Solo can get here. We will
have guards at the doors." He began to leave--
"That's not going to work," Chris said.
Ackbar turned back to him. "What do you mean?"
"I teleported to this planet. I can teleport out of this room. But
only if I'm angered."
"Then you will not be angered. Qel-droma." He left with the woman.
Chris meditated in the bright room. It was a few hours before the door
opened again. In stepped Leia Organa Solo, flanked by Han Solo and Chewbacca.
"Oh, heroes of the Rebellion, right at my door. Organa Solo." Chris got up
from his seat and knelt before Leia. "The Sith have a high regard for ones in
power," he explained.
"You may rise," Leia said. Chris stood. "My brother has not contacted
me about you. I don't think I can let you out."
"Do you wish me to bring him here?" Chris asked softly.
She looked at Han. His blaster hand was itching. "What do you mean?"
"I'll be right back." Chris knelt and disappeared.

On Yavin 4, Chris spoke to Master Skywalker. "Come on, Master. You
have to come. I told them I would bring you back."
"I can't."
"You'll be right back. Just tell them to let me go."
"You must convince them yourself. This whole vacation is a test. I've
talked with Laree, if you get through this she'll go to Coruscant. Now go."
"Yes, Master," Chris said resignedly, and disappeared.

A few minutes after he'd disappeared, Chris once again was in the
room. "He would not come."
"I'm sorry, Chris," Leia said. "It's too potentially dangerous to let
you out. And I can't tell if your telling the truth... or if you're really
even here."
"Huh? Oh, that. My Sith cloak. It comes with the Sith blood. I can
only remove it for a few moments." He shut his eyes. "There. Master Skywalker
sent me."
"Right. Why?" Leia asked, now able to sense the truth.
"As a vacation. I recently destroyed my four Sith masters, with the
help of Yoda. I need some time off."
"Ok, you got it." She turned around. "Commander, this boy is to be
allowed anywhere he wishes to go. And find him a guest suite."
"Better make it two," Chris added, smiling. He saw Han staring, his
eyes slits. Chris shrugged. "My girlfriend," he explained.
Everyone left the room, leaving Chris alone. He disappeared,
reappearing at the main entrance of the palace, with Laree by his side. "Isn't
it magnificient?" Chris asked.
There was nothing quite like the Imperial palace. Laree was overawed
by the sight. There were probably more beautiful places in the galaxy, but
nothing quite on the scale of either size of structure or in number of
visitors and workers. Together, they rambled around the palace, making off the
wall comments for a pair of teens from backwater know-nothing planets.
After a bit of exploring, Chris and Laree came to their adjoining
rooms, in part of the old section of the palace, bearing hinged doors. He
swung open the door and stepped into the room. It was nicely furnished with
some odd paintings, a couch, a few chairs, and two adjoining room. One to his
bedroom, no doubt, and one to her separate room. The lights brightened as they
entered.
The comm pinged. Chris plopped down by the couch unit, flicking the
switch lightly. "Qel-droma."
"Hello Chris, this is Leia Organa Solo. I'd like to request your and
Laree's presence here, for an early dinner, if that's all right," her voice
came through the comm.
"We'd be honored, Your Highness. When shall it be?" Chris jumped into
formal mode.
"Right now. I'm sorry I called so late, but--"
"No reason to apologize, Your Highness. It was my own fault," Chris
said, but not from the comm. Leia spun around on one foot, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, I guess it wasn't exactly proper protocol to jump in here like
that."
Chris and Laree came up to the table where Han, Chewbacca, Jacen,
Jaina, and Anakin already sat. Leia introduced them and they sat down.
Dinner was rather good, Chris thought. Though he didn't have much to
compare to. There were long conversations about Chris, but Laree seemed rather
out of it. She stared silently at the children, a bewildered look on her face
as she ate slowly. Every time someone purposely dragged her into the
conversation, she casually backed out. Something was certainly wrong, but this
wasn't the place.
After dinner, the children all slipped away to their room. "May I
speak to the children a moment?" Chris asked.
"All right," Leia said, more trusting than Chris would have thought.
As Chris went in with the children, Leia pulled Laree into another
room. "What's wrong, Laree?"
"Nothing, Your Highness," Laree said nervously.
"Laree, something is wrong. It's ok. I just want to help you."
"It's...your children. They bring back memories...of Hethrir's
prison."
Shocked for a moment, Leia's mind raced. Chris, going with the
children... but no, it seemed obvious he didn't know what was wrong either.
"What happened there? I thought the Proctors were treated fairly well."
"I wasn't. I was different."
Leia immediately understood. Laree was female, and quite beautiful.
"That must have been terrible," she breathed quietly.
"You have no idea. I finally killed one of them in defense, Hethrir
threw me into the underground dungeons with the little children, and I saw
yours," Laree began sobbing quietly. "I never said anything to Chris."
"Probably a good idea, at the time. But you have to say something."
"I can't. And you mustn't. He's liable to...get angry."
"You got a point there. I'm sorry I can't help you."

Chris walked into the children's room. As expected, they were far from
asleep. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," the three of them said, jumping in front of something to
block it.
"Oh, come on. You don't have to hide your little non-working droid
from me. It's not like I'm one of them."
"Them?" Jacen asked carefully, indignant.
"You know, the adults. I only put that show on for them. You know, I'm
only five years older than you. In fact," Chris added, "I'll prove my
goodwill." Reaching out with the Force, he pulled the droid up and over to
himself, put it on the ground. "Fooling with these old ones again? Well, ok."
For a few seconds, a red halo surrounded the droid and Chris.
The droid sputtered to a start. It turned to the children. "Mistress,
masters, what do you wish?"
"And you'll find he won't die out. No offense, Anakin. I know that was
a bad part."

Who was this man--boy? Jaina wondered. He seemed to know everything
they'd gotten in trouble about, at least since that droid. She had to admit he
was faster than Anakin, but she didn't like what she felt when that red light
had appeared. And he was huge--how could he only be five years older? Oddly
enough, Jaina found she could not tell if he was lieing. You too? her brother
spoke into her mind.
Yes. I don't like this.
"Don't like what, Jaina? Ooh, sorry," Chris said.
"You're like Hethrir," Jaina glared. "You stay away from us." She
pulled Anakin back.
"I'm not like Hethrir. I'm one of you. I just wasn't so privelaged
when I was younger." He stepped forward. "Take my hand Jaina." He smiled.
Jaina's arms quivered around her brother.
"Oh, come on, Jaina. I promise, you'll like it. Remember when your
Uncle tossed you in the air when you were small? How would you like an
advanced variation of that?"
That got Jaina's attention. Putting fear aside, she reached out and
took Chris's hand. Suddenly she was standing on her bed. "Huh?" She looked
around disbelieving.
"Interesting, eh? Call it teleporting, discovered it myself. Jacen?"
Now that he'd gotten the hang of it, Chris was able to 'port them without
needing their hands. The children all giggled in delight as Chris threw them
around the room.

Han Solo heard his children laughing with Chris, up in their room.
Chewie bellowed. "I know, I don't like it either. Seems to me he's settin' us
up for a fall. With his power, he could be the universe's youngest Emperor."
Just then, Leia and Laree entered again, Laree blinking tears from her eyes.
Things sure weren't going right.

Later that night, Chris and Laree sat in silence in their room. The
air between them was still, both wishing they knew what exactly to say. They
sat oppisite eachother, fidgiting in the awkward moment. Laree took a deep,
preparing breath, and broke the silence. "Chris...I've got to tell you
something," she said quietly.
Chris looked up, glad he hadn't had to ask. "Yes, Laree?" he asked.
She tried to choose her words carefully. "Chris..." She couldn't keep
still, so she stood up and paced. "You have no idea how hard this is for me to
tell you..."
"Then just tell me," Chris said.
"Ok," she whispered and turned back toward him. She managed to hold
back the tears this time. "You see, when we...well, it wasn't my first time."
"You're kidding," Chris said disbelievingly.
"No, I'm not," she said.
Understanding crossed Chris's face. He hopped up to his feet and stood
in front of Laree, glaring at her angrily. "So what you're telling me is that
you had another boyfriend before me."
"No, that's not what I--"
"Don't lie to _me_, Laree," he said.
"But that's _not_ what I mean. I'm telling you that--" she started.
"Don't you tell me what you're telling me. You think I don't
understand?" he asked, cutting her off again.
"Well apparently not."
"Oh, you bet I understand--"
This time she cut him off. "Chris, I was raped," she said insistently.
Chris seemed to shrink. At least his anger did. "What?" he asked,
shocked by the revelation.
Laree hung her head shamefully and stared at the ground. "I'm sorry I
never told you...but..." she trailed off.
"I...understand, I guess, why you wouldn't," he said quietly. He
put his arms around her, resting her head on his shoulder. His face suddenly
became very stern. "Who was it, Laree? Do you know?" he whispered into her
ear.
"Well...not exactly. I mean, I was concious and all, but I didn't know
many people in Hethrir's prison," she said.
Chris pulled back from her a moment, unable to calm his mind. His
mouth hung open as he searched for words. He glanced at her a moment, but
couldn't. He hung his head and stared at the ground. He thought a moment,
wondering what he was doing. She was the one in pain, not him. He glanced up
again, holding there this time, stood slowly and hugged her warmly. "I'm
sorry," he whispered.

Quite sometime later, Laree and Chris returned to Yavin 4. After Laree
had told Chris about Hethrir's prison, the vacation had vastly improved.
They'd done all sorts of things they enjoyed, and had a great time besides
everything disclosed. Skywalker greeted them. "Welcome back, my students."
"Master," they both said.
"How was your trip?"
"Han Solo was very distrustful," Chris said. "Your niece and nephews
were fun though," he smiled.
"What's wrong?" Luke asked, looking to Laree for an answer. He got it.
"She told you."
Chris looked angrily at Laree. "You mean even he knew?"
She looked right back. "What do you expect? He found me."
Chris shut his eyes a moment, visibly calming himself. He took a deep
breath before opening his eyes and continuing. "Anywhoo. Master, while we were
away I got to thinking. From personal experience, I recognize how a number of
students learning their lessons in one place is simpler. But I also think that
being alone with four masters helped me speed along. I know you can't exactly
do that, but why don't you choose your best two of three students, to train
personally? You know you're not really needed here, and since you resigned
your position with the New Republic, I'd think it would be the perfect time."
"Some proposal. You've nearly convinced me, though the idea has
crossed my mind. Do you have a good idea where to set it up?" Luke asked.
"No, but I have a strange feeling you do. Maybe a nice, peaceful world
you've visited. Choose the same way you did this place."
"Leia chose it."
"So be it."
"Ok, maybe I do have an idea. But I don't think it's a good one. I'll
talk to you about it later."
"Ok, sure." All three of them went their separate ways. Ten minutes
later, Chris met with Luke in his quarters. "Now tell me about your idea,"
Chris said.
"Well there's this girl..." Luke began.
"It always starts that way," Chris chuckled.
"Shut up," Luke blushed. "Anyway, I met her 15 years ago. She isn't
beautiful exactly, but striking. Pale brown hair, one green eye, and one gray.
If we hadn't met in a planetary Imperial senate room, and she hadn't hated
Jedi, I would of had a chance. But the Falcon, that still gives me hope."
"How could that huge hunk of junk give anyone hope?" Chris joked.
"She kissed me onboard the Falcon."
"Oh boy, one kiss? Geeze, act as if it was your only time..."
"Well I don't like including all the times I kissed my sister, ok?"
Luke said, not really sarcastic. "But it was different with Gaeriel. Gaeriel
Captison. I felt this strange pulsing Force around her, her very presence
taking on a seductive flavor. But she said she would never leave Bakura."
"So this is your chance to go to her. Not a bad plan, if you think
she'd go for it. You mentioned she hated Jedi. Would she appreciate a Jedi
master teaching his Jedi apprentices?" Chris asked.
"We'll see," Luke said, raising an eyebrow.
"I have to know where it is first, or what it looks like. Or at least
a name."
"Bakura. A nice, peaceful world not so far from Tatooine."
"I can take you as far as Mos Eisley, you can get yourself a ship from
there," Chris said.
"If I meet another Han Solo, I'll get you back. But it's a deal."

A moment later they were on Tatooine, in Mos Eisley. Chris disappeared
again. Alone, Luke walked into the cantina. He was greeted by the old familiar
smells, and a room filled with various species from all over the galaxy. It
looked somehow different, without stormtroopers. He walked up to the bar and
ordered a drink.
He turned his back to the counter and looked around the bar. He hated
to mis-use the Force like this, but he had no choice. He waved his hand, and a
few thousand credits appeared in it. He stuffed it in his pocket, after waving
it around fairly. It was moments until a rugged looking humanoid walked up to
him. "You'd be needing passage off-world. How much ya got?" he asked.
Luke looked up at the unusually tall, nondescript man. "Is it a fast
ship?"
"Depends on where you're going."
"I need to go to a planet called Bakura. Is it fast?" Luke asked.
"Bakura, heh? Just so happens I have a shipment to pick up there
somewhere on my list. I could push up the date, if you've got the cash."
"How much, and is it fast?"
"Four thousand. And no."
"Three thousand." Good thing it's slow, Luke thought, I need to think
about this.
"Thirty five hundred."
"Done. Where shall I meet you?"
"Docking bay 94. Be there as soon as you can, I wanna pull out
tonight." The man walked off.
"94?" Luke mumbled. This was getting too eerie.
An hour later, Luke met the man on an average looking bulk freighter,
remodeled for more cargo space and weaponry. The Weppler's Jern lifted off and
flew through hyperspace, for Bakura.
Nearly a day later, Luke was thrown off the ship onto the Bakuran
spaceport soil. They'd found out his little money trick when he found he was a
little short. He got to his feet, dusted himself off and threw his hood back
over his head. He rented a repulsor vehicle, and set off for the old portion
of the city, hoping they hadn't moved.
What about Eppie? He'd have to check on her later, of course. He'd
never properly talked to her after she'd healed herself. Shedding speed, Luke
neared the Captison mansion.
The mansion looked every bit as enchanting as it ever had. It's smooth
white front gleamed in his eyes. He stopped right in front and stepped off his
craft. Everything was so dream-like. Timidly, he stepped up to the door and
prepared himself. He hoped he wasn't barging in.
Luke tapped the annunciator.
As his finger touched the cold metal button, a thousand memories of
the day he'd first come to the Captison mansion flew through his mind. He
remembered her Aunt Tiree and Uncle Yeorg, the Prime Minister. He remembered
how nervous Leia had felt as Tiree wore the black cape draped around her
shoulders.
But most of all, he remembered _her_. How he'd stepped inside, and
suddenly his senses were overtaken by her presence. How she'd treated him that
night with venemous hatred for him, as he was a Jedi. But nothing could turn
him away. And now, fifteen years later, he returned. He hoped she at least
would not turn him away right off.
As his thoughts drifted back, the door opened. As Luke had
expected, from times past, it was not a servant answering, but Gaeriel
herself. His senses stopped registering anything else. Her presence seemed to
reach out to him, more seductive in flavor than ever before. For a moment he
was at a loss of where he was and fell back a step.
Her unmatched eyes looked at him strangely. "Yes? Who are you?"
Only now did Luke really use his eyes to look at her. Her pale brown
hair was down, perfectly still in the calm air of the planet. She looked just
the way she had--perhaps even better. Time had been good. Then something
struck him. Who am I? Could she have forgotten? No dummy, the hood. Sure
enough, it blocked all light from his face. He removed it.
"L-Luke!" she said in a shocked whisper. She came out and hugged him
warmly. "Come in! Where have you been for the past fifteen years?"
"It's a long, long story," Luke said, smiling as he entered. The
inside of the mansion was nearly exactly the same. But Gaeriel's presence
pulsed at him so brightly, he found it hard to concentrate on the details.
"Sit down," Gaeri said, motioning to a repulsor chair. Luke sat,
Gaeriel across from him in another chair. "So, where have you been?"
"All over."
"Never here. I've always wondered... why did you never come back?
Before now?"
This was a hard one. "At first...well, you sent me away. There was a
job to be done and I had to attend to it."
"I didn't send you away... not exactly. And you mean you've defeated
the Empire?" He nodded. "Wait a minute. Weren't you the Minister of State
quite recently?"
"I was. But Mon Mothma was right, all us war heroes need action. Peace
is by far the worst time to be in government. Too many internal problems. For
a time, I was tempted to proclaim my self Emperor just to stir up some
excitement," he smiled. "Woulda done it, too, if my sister hadn't stopped me."
Gaeri looked a little shocked. "Your sister?"
"Oh, you didn't know? I thought that was public knowledge by now. You
know Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State, part of the original Alliance
delegation to this world."
"That was your sister?"
"Yes," he said. "How's Eppie?" he asked, changing the subject before
he felt obligated to tell about his father.
"She's fine. I'm sure she'd love to see you again. What have you been
doing, before politics?" Gaeriel asked.
"I've... formed a Jedi academy. My students have been learning well, I
don't even need to be there anymore."
"You're... training more Jedi," she reached for her pendant, but her
hand stopped and fell back to her lap. "Good. I realize Eppie was right when
she told me about you. About Jedi."
Just then, Prime Minister Captison entered. "Gaeri, who are you
talking to--" he saw Luke. "Minister Skywalker?"
Luke stood up and shook the prime ministers hand. "Minister Captison.
I am no longer Prime Minister of the Republic. I resigned a week ago," Luke
said, as nicely as he could.
Captison smiled. "I know. But what shall I call you?"
"Luke. I have no formal name, except to my students. But `Master
Skywalker' doesn't sound right in public."
"All right, Luke. I won't bother you two any further. Good day," he
said as he left.
Luke sat back down. "Now about why I was here. One of my students-- my
greatest one, mind you--told me that i should set up a little Jedi spot on
some world, my choice. You know, to train my best students intensely. I saw it
as...my chance."
"Who was this student?" Gaeri asked, a bit suspicious.
"A young boy that recently came to my moon. He's... special. A Dark
Lord of the Sith," it was time. "Like my father. Darth Vader."
"Darth Vader. Your...father? That-that thing... that killed the
Emperor?" Gaeri asked.
"I prefer to call him Anakin. And I'd prefer you did too," Luke said,
showing his first shade of anger toward Gaeri.
"I'm sorry, but... it's a shock. Now, you said this boy was a Dark
Lord? How old is he?"
"He's fifteen. But you'd be surprised. He's more powerful than I am.
He really amazes me. One week, and he's fallen in love with one of my
students. He's really taught me a lot. Two weeks ago, I was a zombie," Luke
said truthfully.
"In one week? Isn't that kinda fast?"
Afraid at what she was hinting at, Luke decided to take it literally.
"Not really, both he and Laree were new to my school. They were destined to
hit it off." Gaeri had a strange look in her eye. "What is it?"
"I... knew a Laree. But she ran away nearly ten years ago."
A thought struck Luke. "Where'd you meet her, on Bakura?"
"No, not here. Somewhere else."
"Then I bet she didn't run away. No, she definately didn't. How could
she run away, at only six?" Luke asked.
"How'd you know she was six?" Gaeri asked, near tears.
"She didn't run away. That must be her. She was kidnapped by a Dark
Jedi, and put in prisonment for a time. Hethrir trained her to be strong in
the Force. She quickly rose to Proctor. I'd imagine her family had thought
she'd run away. But we saved all of those, once Hethrir kidnapped my neice and
nephews, and we traced them. Do you know where we could find her family?"
"Well... my sister lives on Ketrann now."
"Your...sister?" Luke's mind clicked. Make Gaeri's gray eye green...
"Blazes! She looks just like you! She's your neice and..." Luke's face turned
less enthusiastic. "If Chris marries her, and I married you, that would make
him my--gulp--nephew!" Gaeri's laughs carried through the night.

"You're from Ketrann?" Chris asked Laree.
"I think so. I can't really remember. Hethrir worked quite hard to
make us forget our past lives, our family. I think my mother died. At least
that's what he told me. And with me missing she may have moved back in with
the rest of her family."
"Where is that?"
"I can't remember exactly," Laree said. "But my aunt and grand aunt
and uncle live there."
"Do you have a name, on any of them? Your own last name?" Chris asked,
eager to help.
"I'm... Captison. At least that's my mother's last name. I don't
remember my father."
"Captison...? That sounds so familiar..." Chris knew he'd heard it. He
closed his eyes, his mind rerunning at full speed everything he'd heard in the
past few weeks. "But it was different with Gaeriel. Gaeriel Captison."
"Huh?"
"That's what Master Skywalker said to me. Just before he went off to
meet her. Don't you get it Laree? Master Skywalker's in love with your aunt!"
A terrible realization hit him. "If I married you, and he married her, that
would make him my--gulp--uncle!" Laree's laughs carried through the night.

In the morning Chris began his galactic sweeps for Master Skywalker.
He swept over the galaxy with his mind, searching out the singular mind, to
pinpoint it's location.
An hour later, he had it. "Laree," he called. "I found him." He
teleported them there. "Master?"
Luke lay unconscious on the repulsorbed. "Don't you call me uncle!"
"But I didn't--"
Luke awoke. He sighed. "It was just a dream." He saw Chris. "What
the--?"
"No wonder I couldn't find you. You're still barely conscious. Master,
we came just as we figured out that--"
"Gaeriel's her aunt? Yes, I found that too. Go talk to her, Laree. She
thinks she knows where your mother is. I don't know about your mother, but you
sure do look like Gaeri. Go, I would like to talk to Chris." She left to find
Gaeriel. "Look Chris, I know neither of us wants us to be related. But it
looks like it's unavoidable. The Captisons are a wonderful family, from those
I've met. Gaeri's parents are dead, but her aunt and uncle are nice enough.
"But I have to warn you. Even though you have all the good intentions
in the galaxy, Laree's mother will hate you. And her, probably."
"That religious thing you mentioned earlier. She follows it?"
"Much more than Gaeri ever did. She probably blames me for Laree's
disappearance. But she should still love to see her. Just be ready, ok?"
"I'll try."

"Gaeri?" Laree called out into the dark room.
"Lights," Gaeri whispered, and they came on. "Laree. Luke was right!"
"Yes, he was. And so was Chris." She hurried forward and hugged her
aunt. "I missed you so much. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." They sat down on the bed. "What happened?"
"Hethrir. He staged my runaway and the note. He made me one of his
students. I was easily able to complete his little tasks, like igniting the
lightsaber through the Force. I became a Helper, and was later advanced to
Proctor, the heads of the organization.
"That's when the trouble started. By then I was fourteen. No other
girls ever made it up to Proctor. I was alone. I was defenseless. They sensed
that. I'd grown into quite a woman, Hethrir once said. He warned me what that
may mean. But it was soon after that it began." Her face was haunted.
"It's ok to cry," Gaeri whispered. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's
not your fault."
"Oh, I know that. I knew that. But I couldn't take it. Once, I just
drew my lightsaber and slashed the guy in half. And I can't cry. I had enough
when I cried on the Chief of State a week ago."
"But you're strong. You trust Chris. That's a pretty powerful start.
And beside all that happened to you, you had the mind to realize you were made
for eachother. I never realized that with Luke."
"How could you? You don't understand the Force, the Force that binds
love together. But he'll show you, Luke will, if you want him to. He could
train us both."
"I don't have any Force potential."
"Sure you do," Laree said. "I can sense it. Hasn't Master Skywalker
tried to get you to accept his training?"
"No."
"Well he must have noticed. I'll ask him about it."
"Of course, of course. Let's go see Uncle Yeorg and Aunt Tiree." Gaeri
took Laree's hand, taking her from the room.

Luke jumped on the speeder, and accelerated toward the Bakur complex.
He'd already checked that Eppie still lived there. Minutes later, he was at
her door. He pushed the annunciator.
A moment later, the door opened. Eppie stepped back from the open
door, looking at Luke. "Master Skywalker, what are you doing here?" she asked,
surprised.
"Oh, nothing much. But I couldn't visit with out checking in on you."
He walked in at her gesture. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Thanks to you, of course."
"I did nothing. You did it yourself. Believe me, I had no idea you
could heal yourself that well. It took me nearly another year to recover from
my lesser injury."
"You weren't a master then."
"You weren't even a knight."
"I was an old woman, wise in my own way. Not to mention inactive, as
I'm sure you were not. Now, why are you back on Bakura?" Eppie asked.
"Reuniting family, perhaps adding some new additions."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"I've found Gaeriel's neice. Of course I didn't know and brought her
to my academy, to train. One of my students fell in love with her. And--"
"You and Gaeriel finally, eh? Not bad, three Captisons in one day. And
more soon, heh? Yes, yes. All in good time."
Luke blushed, suddenly embarrassed. And, he asked himself, why is she
starting to sound like Yoda. This was far too strange. "Um, I have to go now.
Don't wanna be late, you know. Goodbye, Eppie."
"Goodbye," she hardly got out before he fled out the door. "What's
with him?"

What do they expect me to do? Chris asked himself. Luke is out
somewhere, Laree is with Gaeri somewhere, where does that leave me? He plopped
back down on the repulsor-chair. For the second time, his hand flared angrily.
He gave in to a long standing habit. He teleported to Coruscant.
The New Republic had never found the Emperor's throne room in the very
upper level of the palace. He sat in the Emperor's throne, his hand's
throbbing quieting. He hit the switch on the arm panel, turning the chair
around to face the large circular window.
The throne room was built high enough to always be in the clouds. The
Emperor had long ago manipulated them so that his dark presence would brew up
a lightning storm. His visitors always found it intimidating. The clouds did
their work for Chris too, but in stronger force. The crackles of lightning
illuminated his face, and his spirit.
He laughed out loud, a deep, throaty, evil laugh. The sound continued
to echo, just as the Emperor designed.
Someone entered. "What in blazes was that?" He saw Chris in the
Emperor's throne. "Who are you? What are you doing in here? Where is this?"
"That's a lot of questions." He reached out for the man's mind.
"Approach, my servant, and you will know the answers."
"Yes, my master," he said as he approached.
"I will be visiting here occasionally. You are to report to me then."
"How will I know when, master, and on what?"
"You will know when. You are to keep an eye on the Chief of State. You
as a person are sacrifice, but you must get your information back to me. Do
not take unnecessary risks," Chris said. "Now go."
"Yes, master," the man said, turning away and exiting. The hidden door
closed and locked.
Chris teleported back to the Captison mansion. "Hello, Chris. Where
have you been?" Luke asked.
"Nowhere, Master. Just...around."
"Ok, kid. Just stay around here from now on, ok?"
"Don't call me kid!" Chris said.

Luke walked up to Gaeriel. "Why are you mad at me?" he asked. "What
did I do?"
She whirled toward him. "I'm not angry. It's just... why didn't you
ever tell me I could become a Jedi?" she asked. "I'd think that you would love
the idea."
"Wait a minute. What do you mean?"
"I was talking to Laree before. Well, she told me everything. But she
also suggested I be trained, by you. I acted just like you did, but she
insisted that she could sense my strength. Why do you not want me to be a
Jedi?"
"It's not that I don't want you to be a Jedi. I just didn't know you
could be one."
"You didn't know? Laree said she could plainly sense it. And she's
untrained. You're supposed to be a master," she said, anger creeping into her
voice.
Luke sighed. "I'll level with you. I admit, I can't sense your
strength. Anyone else, it's easy. You, impossible."
"And why is that?"
"Because your very presence makes my Force sense tingle. If I sweep
you with the Force I feel this energizing effect, something I've never felt
from anyone before. Back fifteen years ago, I felt it. That's why I didn't
give up until the end. Now, let me try something." He laid his hand on her
head, reaching out with the Force. He reached into her deepest section of the
brain, and, not completely unexpectedly, was thrust to the ground. He smiled
up at her.
"Is that a good thing?" Gaeriel asked.
"It means the power's there," he said, reaching out a hand. Gaeriel
helped him up. "I'd love to train you. If you don't think your sister will
mind hating the entire family for turning against her."
"The galaxy needs the Jedi. Eventually she'll even realize it."
All this talk of Gaeriel and Jedi, brought back old memories of his
first, and fallen, apprentice, Dev Sibwarra. A boy he hadn't thought about in
fifteen years. He would have been thirty now, had I saved him. His last
memories of Gaeriel came with it. He shook himself out of it. He could still
do right there, at least. And Chris, he's just like Dev. Everything was
perfect.
Gaeriel obviously sensed this too. She shook her head. "No, Luke. Not
yet."
Luke nodded absently. "I have to go." He walked off.
"Luke? Go where?"
"I have to talk to Chris."

"Chris," Luke said. Chris was sitting next to Laree on the bed, again.
"Master?"
"I need to go to Coruscant. I have to talk to Leia." Chris didn't
move. "Well come on!"
He sighed and shook his head. "I can't do this for you forever,
master. It may only take a minute of my time, but don't bother me if I'm busy,
ok?"
"Sure, kid. C'mon, send me." Next thing he saw was the vast corridor
overflowed with beings, human and not. The council had just broken up. He ran
to catch up with Leia.
"Luke, when'd you get in?" she asked with a smile.
"About fifteen seconds ago."
"Oh, Chris, right. Why'd you want to speak with me?" she asked as they
walked down the corridor.
"I needed to tell you about--wait a second. We're being watched." He
searched through the crowd with the Force. "Security guard. About ten meters
back. Taking notes on everything you do."
"What should we do?" Past knowledge automatically threw out the
possibility of stopping.
"Just keep walking. I'll take him out," Luke said. He reached out with
the Force and tricked the man's mind into seeing what he wanted him to see.
Luke stopped, but the man didn't notice him and walked right into him. Luke's
hand shot to the man's throat and picked him up an inch. "Who are you?"
"I will not tell you."
"Who sent you?"
"My master," the man said.
"Who is this master?" Luke asked, Leia coming up behind him.
"I do not know his name."
"He's telling you what to say right now, isn't he? Any one would
resist at death, yet you do not. Yes, he has you under hypnosis." Luke put him
back on the ground. He tried to free the man's mind with the Force, but found
himself repulsed by the controlling party. "This is Chris's work. That's where
he was before. He came here, where the Emperor's presence is still very
powerful. In a way you cannot destroy."
"Are you sure, Luke?" Leia asked.
"Yes. He'll never be fully true to the Light, I recognize that now.
But I can't believe he was planning your assassination. That's going too far.
I have to stop him from coming back here."
"Maybe he'd listen to Laree."
"Speaking of Laree, can we talk in your suite? I don't feel
comfortable out here." They hurried upstairs to the higher levels of the
palace and went into Leia's room.
"So, what do you think that was all about?" Leia asked.
"I think Chris is getting scared, or nervous. Needed to take it out on
someone. He probably had no intention to hurt you. He wouldn't have sent me if
he did."
"Chris, scared, or nervous? Why would he be scared?"
"Well," Luke sighed. "This isn't exactly the way I wanted to tell you,
but both I and Chris are getting married, soon."
Leia's eyes opened wide. "Married?"
"Yes, we both had the good fortune to venture into a Captison's life."
"Captison? You... you're back with Gaeriel! But Luke, what other
Captison is there? And what about Laree?" Leia asked.
"Have you ever taken the time to ponder over what Laree's last name
is? Of course, I hadn't found out until quite recently myself..."
"She's a Captison?"
"Well her mother was. Her father is still unknown. But she's Gaeriel's
neice. They'd thought she ran away ten years ago."
"But she was taken by Hethrir and-- well, now she has family at
least."
"Right. As long as Chris doesn't go about killing any of us."
"You're going to be--" she chuckled "--Chris's uncle!"
Luke groaned. "It's true then. I was hoping the law didn't carry that
far. I mean, the in-law of an in-law? Why can't we bend the rules?"
"Is it really that bad? He could teach you a few moves. I watched him
with that lightsaber. Whatever art that is he acquired on his homeworld, it
looks real impressive done with a lightsaber. And he probably knows more
thhings you could use."
"I guess so. He is the best lightsaber-handler in the known galaxy,
probably in all history. And he already taught me this." Luke raised his hand
outstretched, his fist partially opened. In the blink of an eye, his
lightsaber grip appeared within it, igniting and he pulled it back in a
defensive position. He then disignited it and made it disappear the same way.
"Where does it go?" Leia asked.
Luke showed her that it went back to his belt, where it came from.
"Doesn't really serve a purpose," he said, "But it is quite impressive. Now
back to business. I'm setting up a little training facility on Bakura. So far
I'm just training Gaeri and Laree, but if any other powerful students come in
that either deserve my direct instruction, or can't learn any other way, they
will be admitted."
"In other words anyone you want or any trouble makers."
"Exactly," Luke said.
"Then you'll train my children there, eventually?"
"Actually, I was thinking about bringing Jacen and Jaina back with me.
They should begin their training," Luke said.
"They're only ten," Leia insisted. "You didn't begin until you were
eighteen."
"Chris was a Master when he was eight."
"That's different."
"Is it?"
"Yes. He had no choice."
"True, but it has worked for the better. I think the twins are ready
to bgin their training, and I don't think you'll stand in their way," Luke
said.
Leia sighed. "All right. But I'll have to find time to visit. I don't
think Anakin will be happy any other way. Neither would I."
"Of course you can visit. You'll have to come to the wedding anyway.
That'll work as the first visit."
She glanced at her chrono. "The children should be back with Han any
minute." The door opened behind her, and she turned to meet them. Han entered,
followed by the children and Chewie. Chewie bellowed to Luke.
"Hey, Chewie. Hey, Han." Luke looked to Leia.
"Han, Luke wants to bring the twins back with him to begin their
training. On Bakura."
"Bakura? What's on Bakura?" Han asked.
"My new private training center. Only the strongest train there, now.
It's time for your children to be among them. There's no time to elaborate,
Chris is bringing us back now. Leia will speak for me. Goodbye." Luke, Jacen,
and Jaina disappeared.
"What about Anakin?" Han asked. "And what's this deal with Bakura?"
"He'll take Anakin in time," Leia said. "And he's getting married on
Bakura, soon."
"The kid's getting married? To that senator?" Han asked, unbelieving
yet happy for his friend/brother-in-law.
"Right. And I think it's about time."
"When will they be back?" Anakin asked.
"Not for awhile, Anakin. But you'll go with them soon."

"Wow. Where are we?" Jacen asked. He looked over at the wall, it's
strange glassy surface filled with strange looking trees that waved in an
unseen wind.
"This is the Captison mansion on Bakura. Your home, for awhile. I'm
sorry you can't be with your parents, but they could interfere with your
training," Luke said, guiding them ustairs.
"It's ok, Uncle Luke. Can we still call you Uncle Luke?" Jaina asked.
Luke smiled back at her. "Of course you can. You two may be my
students, but family first."
"Really? Will that go for me too, `Master'?" Gaeriel stood at the top
of the steps in a bright green jumpsuit looking down at the children.

"Yeah, and what about us?" Chris and Laree came from behind,
down the stairs.
"Great, I think I just committed myself." He knelt by the
twins. "Look, you two are the only ones already in my family, would
you mind calling me `master'?"
"I guess not, Unc--Master," Jaina said. "Master," Jacen said.
You only have to keep it up around them, children, he said
into their minds.
"Skywalker--" Chris began. He'd heard what Luke'd thought to
the twins.
Be quiet, Chris. You already know you don't call me master,
Luke said to Chris.
"Ok, Skywalker. For now." Chris teleported away.
"Where's he going?" Laree asked. "What'd you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything. He's going to Coruscant. I don't know
what set him off. Too bad I threw his agent in the brig. Of course he
gets high on lightning."
"Excuse me?" Laree said. "What are you talking about?"
"I caught his agent watching me and Leia. And he has an
addiction to cause lightning storms at the palace, from the Emperor's
chambers. Palpatine's presence is still very powerful there. But he'll
be back."
"Can't you make him stop?" Gaeri asked.
"I can't make him do anything. But he's back already. Now come
on, children. Upstairs." He took them the rest of the way to their
room. In it were two twin beds, side by side, and not much else.
"Uncle Luke?" Jaina asked.
"Yes, Jaina?"
"What's wrong with Chris?" she asked, looking up at her uncle.
"Nothing's wrong with him. Not exactly. I'm doing all I can to
save him from the Dark Side. I want you two to stay away from him, if
you can. I think I know what I have to do."
Luke left the twins, the door shutting automatically behind
him. He walked down stairs to Laree. "Where's Chris?"
"He went to bed."
"Good," Luke said. "I need you to do me a favor."
"What, Master?" she asked.
"Tomorrow we'll be beginning everyone's training. You can
already use a lightsaber, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Good. I'll
show you a few things, then I want you to challenge me to a
duel. Don't go easy. Fight fierce. It's the only way to save Chris."
"If you think it will work. How is that supposed to work?" she
asked.
"You'll see. It won't work if you know. But I think I can
convince him that I am his master now. And Yoda."
"Yes, Master. I will do my best. Until morning," she bowed her
head.
"Until morning," Luke nodded. Laree went upstairs quietly.
"Do you really think you can convince him you're stronger?"
Gaeriel asked from behind him.
Luke turned to face her. As if I hadn't known she was standing
there. "Not necessarily stronger. Just an equal, demanding
respect. That should be enough to bring him back for good. But he'll
still be endowed with the Dark Side, that can not be helped, I'm
afraid."
"That's too bad," she said truthfully. "His skills in
teleportation are amazing, but they shouldn't cost him his soul."
"His soul was claimed the day he was born, the day the Emperor
died."
"That must hurt. C'mon, Luke, let's go to bed. It's getting
late."
"Oh, right," he said, glancing at his chrono. "I'm on
Coruscant time."
"I'll show you where you may sleep." Gaeriel showed him
upstairs, through a number of halls, finally coming to a stop before a
door, which opened at her touch. "I hope it isn't too small."
Luke looked into the room, noted it's large bed and wide
spread walls. "Too small won't be a problem, Gaeri," he said,
surprised. How could she think it was too small for him, he thought as
he stepped into the room.
"Oh, good." Gaeri stepped into the room also, the door
shutting behind her. She saw Luke's look of surprise. "There aren't
many guest rooms, Luke. If you mind, I can--"
"No, no. It's fine, if you don't mind," Luke said, wondering
if he was doing the right thing. Maybe he should leave. It was her
house.
They both felt awkward. "I... I think I'll just sleep like
this tonight," Gaeriel said.
"Right," Luke said, slipping his robe off over his head, his
black pants and tunic were revealed underneath. They both timidly got
into the bed, turning away from eachother.
Luke could plainly sense her nervousness, a nervousness that
was not unknown in his own mind. Feeling childish as if back on
Tatooine all those years ago, Luke tried to gain his courage and he
turned over toward Gaeriel. She already faced him.
They looked deep into eachothers' eyes, and both
understood. They didn't need to do anything to prove their love for
one another, the love was there, between them. In the Force. But they
still kissed. They got comfortable, exchanged goodnights, and Gaeri
shut the lights off.

Night was hell. Chris's mind kept wandering in these
impossible dreams and nightmares. Nothing could help. His masters were
gone, Master Skywalker was no Master. And Yoda mysteriously left him
alone.
There were lightsaber duels, fighting all over the planet,
everyone trying to get the upper hand and rule the galaxy. The fight
went on forever, contestant after contestant dieing. But more kept
coming. The whole scene was in havoc, until sometime later one person
arose to power: Chris himself. He hadn't even been battling.
He awoke in a heavy cake of sweat. Chris didn't exactly hate
the dream, rising to power was pretty good. It's what the dream meant
that scared him. And he had a pretty good idea what it meant.
In his mind, it meant that he could change the feelings of
people around him, perhaps alter them to his advantage. He believed
he'd turned all those people in the dream against eachother, so they'd
deal with eachother and think they were going to win, when they just
helped him do the dirty work. And he had a strange feeling he was
right.
This brought him a new aspect of the Force, a new sensing
ability. He felt strengthened with the knowledge of powers beyond his
masters. He searched now, with his new ability, searched around the
planet, sorting through presences, sensing much more clearly.
His mind stopped. In this very house, he could distinctly
sense the presence of another--one with the same ability. He was too
tired, and their were too many Force-sensitives in the building, to
figure out who it was. He drifted back to sleep, forgetting that
presence.

Luckily, Gaeriel woke first. She found herself nuzzled by
Luke's side, her arm draped over him. She carefully got up without
bothering him, straightened her clothes, and went out into the
hallway. She walked quietly down the stairs.
Gaeriel went to the kitchen and grabbed a bite to eat. Eating
it hungrily, Gaeri walked out into the dining room. "Aunt Tiree, what
are you doing up?"
Aunt Tiree sat hunched over a datapad, looked up at
Gaeriel. "I've just been looking over some records. What are you doing
up? It's quite early for a weekend, for you. I'm sorry if you didn't
like your acomidations, but we just didn't have the space."
"No, it was...ok, Aunt Tiree. I just happened to wake up, for
the better, I suppose," Gaeriel said and walked out of the dining
room. She went into the study to think for awhile.

Laree woke up groaning. She felt sickly. What had she dreamt?
She couldn't remember, but that didn't make her like it any more. She
sat up for a moment, looking around the room. There were various
ornaments, posters, pictures, and the like. As she'd found out
earlier, this was Gaeriel's room.
Also as she'd found out, the room was equipped with a wall to
wall stereo system. She turned some soft music on as she dressed. Her
own clothes were dirty, so she borrowed some from her aunt. She looked
at herself in the mirror. The green Bakuran jumpsuit matched her eyes
perfectly. She pulled her long brown hair around, over her chest.
She turned the music off and left the room, the door shutting
behind her.

Luke woke up slowly, and in stages. It had been far too long
since he'd actually slept, instead of the Jedi trance. He stood up,
slid into his Jedi robe, and unhooked his saber. He threw it on the
bed. He wouldn't be using it today.
Luke walked out of the room. He calmly walked downstairs. He
glanced at the dining room where Gaeri, Tiree, and Laree were
talking. But Chris was nowhere around.
Luke reached out with the Force to find Chris. He quickly
walked toward Chris's room, and opened it. Inside, Chris lay on the
ground sweating, unconcious. "Chris!" Luke shouted. He knelt by the
boys head, reaching his hand out on his forehead. A little Force
energizing made Chris shoot up into a sitting position.
"What the!?" Chris shouted, breathing hard.
"You ok, kid?" Luke asked.
"Not if you keep calling me `kid'. But yeah, I'm ok. Just had
some dreams... weird dreams." Chris climbed to his feet. He walked
into a separate bathroom and washed the sweat off his face.
"You'll be ok. C'mon, we have to start training." kid he added
silently. Chris glared as they left the room and went to the dining
room. "Excuse us, Mrs. Captison, but we have to begin today's
training, so..."
Tiree looked up at him. "Understood, Master Skywalker. Go
right ahead." Luke, Chris, Gaeriel, and Laree left the mansion. The
sky was clear, a very light blue. They walked out to a clearing a few
dozen meters from the house.
"Now," Luke said, "I'll work with Laree for now. Chris, you
work with Gaeriel. Show 'er the basics." Luke and Laree walked a few
meters beyond Chris and Gaeri.
"Ok," Chris said as Luke began showing Laree some lightsaber
techniques. "Now, the only way to using and trusting the Force, is to
trust yourself. Do you trust yourself?"
"Uh...I guess so," Gaeri said.
With a bit of viciousness, Chris said, "You must know. Do you
trust yourself?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now the main way of controlling the Force is--"
Luke cut in, "You don't control the Force. The Force helps
you. Remember that Chris."
"Right, Master." He turned to Gaeri. "What he said."
"Good, Laree," Luke said as she thrusted her saber in the air,
pulled back and bocked, and continued in intervening arcs and angles.
Laree stopped. "Master, how 'bout a test duel?"
"I don't know. Think you're up to it?" Luke asked.
"Sure do." Laree stood in the classic offensive position.
"Fine by me." Luke reached out his hand, and a long staff
appeared within it. He swung it around in his hand, then held it firm
with both hands.
"Uh...Master, where's your lightsaber?" Laree asked.
"What, you afraid of a staff and a little bit of Force?"
"No, I'm not afraid," Laree said, lunging.
Blocking, Luke said, "You will be," and smiled. He swung
forward with the other end of the staff, which Laree ducked and swung
upward. Luke caught the blade on the staff between his hands. He swung
sideways, catching her on the leg and knocking Laree down on her back.
"Sorry, Laree," Luke said, helping her back to her feet.
"Nice move, Master, but can you do it with an experienced
swordsmen?" Chris asked, drawing and igniting his lightsaber. He spun
it between his fingers in a very impressive circle. No one else could
ever handle a saber like that. He readied for battle with his saber in
a deathgrip. He held it across his face, his eyes glaring right over
it.
Luke made the first move, thrusting one side of his staff
forward, which Chris easily blocked, throwing all his weight into it,
and nearly knocking Luke off his point of balance. Recovered, Luke did
a triple backflip out of the danger zone and threw his robe to the
ground. He leaped forward again at Chris, swinging his staff.
Chris dodged to the right, Luke flying past him and landing in
a roll and jumped to his feet. Chris lunged forward, but Luke parried
again. They held position a few seconds, then Chris flipped over Luke,
turned quickly, and took a shot that should have split Luke's head in
half, right down the middle. But Luke brought the staff over his
head, blocking just in time, and twisted his body around under it to
face Chris.
Holding Chris's saber up with one end of the staff, Luke hit
him in his side with the other. As Chris reacted, Luke hit him with a
knee shot, and caught him in the stomach as he went down. "Don't get
cocky, Chris."
Chris lay on the ground, his face covered with surprise. He
didn't think he could lose. Not to Master Skywalker. A month ago, this
may have made him incredibly angry. But now, it only gave him a new
respect for his Master. The fight may have been pure luck, but Luke
had pulled it off. He deserved something for that. Chris just lay
there, still as if stunned. And he was.
Luke smiled thinly down at him. "You've gotta watch for those
low blows."
Chris leaped to his feet, disignited his saber and hooked it
to his belt. Luke's staff dematerialized. "If I was a few inches
taller, I would have been able to get out of that."
"Well you're not, and you weren't. I win," Luke said.
Chris sighed. "Yeah, you do. This time."
Luke stood silent a few moments. "Well that's enough
lightsaber training for now."
"Uh, Luke--Master. What about me?" Gaeriel asked.
"You'll get a lightsaber in time. Now, I'd like to do some
endurance training. But I don't know if there's a suitable place on
the planet for that. Gaeri?"
"What kind of area?"
"A good place to run, with obstacles, preferrably natural
ones," Luke said.
"No, there's no good place for that anywhere on the planet."
"Hmm. Chris, where'd you train physically?" Luke asked.
"I never did," Chris answered.
"We could go to some other planet," Laree suggested. "How
about wherever you trained, Master?"
"I was thinking about that, but it's not really the place
for... some people to train," Luke said.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Well to be perfectly honest, the whole planet's a mud ball."
"Oh, well then--" Laree started.
"That's fine," Gaeriel cut her off. "We can do anything you
did when you were in training. That is unless you can't do it...?"
"Without Yoda standing on my shoulders? I think I'll be able
to," Luke said, nodding for emphasis.
"Fine. Then let's go," Gaeriel said.
"Fine. Chris?"
Dagobah. It's grim, misty light shining over them, the Jedi
looked around at their surroundings. "This way. We'll start at Yoda's
home." It was the best marker, though far deteriorated, and still a
distance from the Dark Side cave. He guided them through the dense
ground foliage under their feet as they ducked branches.
Soon, they came to Yoda's home. It was little different from
the rest of the area now, but it still felt like Yoda was there, at
least partially. "So this was Yoda's home," Chris whispered.
"It used to be a lot bigger, fifteen years ago. Although I
could hardly fit in then."
"So, what are we gonna do now, L--Master?" Gaeriel asked,
throwing a small branch out of her hair.
"Like I said, endurance. Run a few hours, stand one one hand
while lifting rocks, that sort of thing. Which would you prefer
first?" Luke asked.
"The rock thing," Gaeriel said.
"Run," Laree said.
"I'll go with you," Chris said. The two sprinted off.
"Ok, what do I do?" Gaeri asked.
Luke rolled his shoulders a moment. "Try this." He lay his
hands on the ground, and thrust his legs up, staying upright.
"Then..." Luke raised his left arm from the ground. "And then..." A
large stone rose fluidly into the air, Luke controlling it's glide. He
put it down and got back to his feet. "You think you can do that?"
"I'll try..." Gaeri said, preparing herself.
"There is no try. You will do it, or you won't, there is no in
between."
"Ok, geeze, Luke, really." She shook her head. She got her
hands on the mucky ground, concentrating hard, and thrust her legs up.
"Good," Luke said. He held her hair up from the mud with the
Force. "Keep both hands for now. Try the rock."
Gaeri shut her eyes tight, and the rock began to wobble in
place.
"Gaeri, it doesn't matter how hard you shut your eyes. Use
your mind, let youself relax. Relax into the Force." Gaeri took a slow
breath and noticably relaxed. The rock lifted, still a bit wobbly. She
attempted to lift one hand off the ground, but lost her balance and
tumbled to the ground.
"I was close," she shrugged.
"Yes, you were. That's enough for now. We'd better go `interrupt'
Chris and Laree."
"What do you mean?" Gaeriel asked.
"You know what I mean."

They sat down on the log, and Chris kissed Laree again. They
put their arms around eachother--something nagged at Chris's mind. He
released Laree and pulled away. "They're coming. We'd better get
moving. I don't think we can let them catch us."
"But they already know--"
"No they don't. They don't know everything. And I'd like to
keep it that way for awhile." Chris jumped up and began running,
motioning for Laree to follow, though she already was. "C'mon, Laree!"
he shouted. He leaped for a vine over a small pond, and swung across.
Laree stopped at the edge. "Um, Chris? Where's that vine?"
Laree asked.
"Huh?" Chris asked, a bit nervous. But he felt it on his
leg. "Shit!" He slapped the snake-like creature off. It slithered
back toward him, it's jaws opening wide with it's bare teeth growling
and hissing. He attempted to destroy it with his Dark power, but it
somehow repelled his power. It ran away into a dark cave.
He stared at the cave. At it's head was an old, twisted
tree. He walked slowly toward it, almost against his will. Everything
but the cave faded from his vision. He could vaguely hear Laree's
questions, and Luke joining in, warning him away. But he could not
listen. He entered the cave.
He was hit hard with strange smells of strange foliage. He
walked through the mysterious cave, parting the plants with the
Force. He had to see what there was inside.

"Where's he going?" Laree asked Luke.
"Perhaps to his death," Luke said. "Or perhaps his
destiny. Maybe both."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gaeriel asked.
"That cave... is powerful in the Dark Side. Yoda killed a Dark
Jedi from Bpfashh there. I've experienced two very disturbing visions
in there."
"What kind of visions?" Laree asked.
"Well, the first time, I faced Darth Vader in a lightsaber
battle. I sliced his head off, but it opened to show my own face. I
still don't really know if that was supposed to mean I would
eventually face myself in battle, must defeat my Dark Side, or that
Darth Vader was my father. The second time I saw Mara Jade killing me
at Jabba's."
"And since he already has Dark power... it could be
terrible. We have to help him!" Laree said.
"No, that's the exact reason he must deal with it himself."

As his friends spoke outside, Chris confronted the exact thing
they had feared. An image of a beautiful woman stared at him
coldly. Just seeing her told him how dangerous she was. Her long
brownish-grey hair rippled lightly in a wind that was not there.
He felt a strange surge of energy and felt his lightsaber,
which he'd unknowingly raised, fizzle and die. He prepared to lash out
at the image, when it disappeared. In mourning and enraged, Chris held
his destroyed lightsaber as he left the cave.
As he came out, Luke, Laree, and Gaeriel rushed toward
him. "What happened to your saber?" Luke asked. Laree hugged Chris,
though he was careful not to drop his lightsaber.
"She destroyed it."
"Who's `she'?" Gaeriel asked.
"I don't know. I saw her. But I didn't just see her. She saw
me, too. It was real. She may be millions of light-years away, but
she was here, or I was there. I'm confused."
"I'd imagine," Luke said. "Are you sure you don't know who it
is?"
"I don't have any idea what her name is. But she could be
dangerous. If I could have only seen the background behind her--"
"There was a background? Couldn't you teleport there, then?"
Luke asked.
"I hardly caught a glimpse of it, Master."
"That's enough. You know how to look back at it."
Chris shook his head. "I can't. My eyes didn't see her. I've
looked back, I see nothing. But I think she'll be looking for you and
your Jedi. This could be a fine time to go back to Yavin for awhile."
"I think you're right." He turned around toward Laree and
Gaeri. "I'm sorry your training here has been cut off early. Perhaps
we'll return sometime. Now let's just go back to Yoda's before we get
out of here." They all went back to Yoda's old house. Luke picked up a
tree branch that lay on the ground, made it dematerialize like his own
staff. "Ok, let's go."

Rishiaa paced the length of the bridge of her Star Destroyer,
the Parallel, for up to this time it had never been touched in
battle. "Set your course for Yavin, Commander."
"But M'Lord, you just said he was on Dagobah--"
"He's on Yavin now."
The Commander straightened, bearing all his military
experience. "A trip from Dagobah to Yavin is estimated at at least six
days."
"Do not question my orders. Or would you like to join our good
friend Commander Kilms?"
"Um, no my Lord." He nodded at the navigator and went back to
his post.
Rishiaa whirled around in her dark black cape and left the
bridge. Everything was going right into place, just as she had
planned. Now she could easily take out the Jedi Master, his students,
and abduct the Dark Lord of the Sith at the same time.
The Dark Lord. The only person that could possibly stand in
her way to achieve her greatest goals. First, to become Dark Lord
herself. Second, to destroy the New Republic and establish a new Sith
Empire. His appearence amazed her. She'd expected an aging man with a
fearsome look in his eye. Not some runt teenager. However he'd beaten
her to learning the Sith, she had no idea.

"I have an idea," Chris said. Luke waited for him to continue.
"What is it, Chris?" Luke asked.
"We wait. She's coming now. It's not like we can evacuate,
anyway. There are too many students, and far too few ships. And
despite everything, you should know I'm not all-powerful. Not quite
yet."
"This is no time to joke, Chris. Everything we've built up
here is in danger."
"Actually, I don't think I am. I'm pretty sure she'll invade,
kill all of you, and kidnap me. She probably wants me to train her."
"Thanks for your concern. You know she'll kill you anyway,"
Luke said.
"She can't kill me. Nor can she kill you. For we are the
Masters, and for all her power, she is but a learner. She needs at
least one of us alive. Of course, which one depends on her plans."