Beyond All In The Family - NJO AU [ L x M, H x L, Solo Kids]

I've begun to rewrite my own fanfic series that will take place of NJO AU. I'm not entirely sure where it will take me but I'm certain that it will be much less depressing (and not as well written) as the NJO Series and the books that have spawned from it. This story will hopefully have everyone's favorite characters so I hope you enjoy! The first chapter is more of a prologue and one-shot of certain characters who will be featured in my first story. Hopefully it will bring everyone up to speed on what's happening. Some aspects of this are clearly AU (IE Ben and Jysella existing right now) Anyway here we go!

Prologue

22 ABY
Yavin IV
Jedi Praxuem

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The constant beating of drums announced the beginning of the ceremony. A single man marched down the narrow walkway of the massive chamber. His stride was arrogant and each step of his steel toed boot seemed to boom with force energy. He was a man who grew stronger in The Force every day and he was proud of it. He was someone who would soon become a force to be reckoned with for the likes of Luke Skywalker. He continued to march down the aisle and as he did dark hooded figures surrounding him ignited their lightsabers as if they were acknowledging his presence. The continuous snap hiss of the blades eerily complimented the steady beating of the drums. The hooded figure soon completed his march across the walkway and then ascended the stairs until he found himself standing opposite two people.

One was a female creature with purple skin covered in blue feathers. Her knees were bent inwards and she was several feet shorter than the man standing next to her. Her appearance seemed far more beastly than human. Yet her eyes betrayed her intelligence and her presence was strong in The Force. She was dressed in neural gray robes. The man that stood next to her was hooded like many of his companions. A yellow tattoo streaked across his nose and his eyes matched the color of the marking on his face. An unkept mass of dreadlocks spilled out of his hood and even with his robes it was easy to tell that he was a muscular and powerful man. Like his Fosh companion he was also strong in The Force yet his aura was far more sinister.

The hooded man smiled coldly as he stepped forward. He took a deep breath and began to speak. “Peace is a lie, there is only passion.” The dark-robed figures standing in the walkway below repeated the sentence. “Through passion, I gain strength.” The chorus repeated. The drums began to beat even harder. “Through strength, I gain power.” The drums began to accelerate in cadence. “Through power, I gain victory.” Faster and louder. “Through victory, my chains are broken.” The drums were now beating so quickly that it would take a humanoid with four arms to maintain such a pace. “The force shall free me!”

The Fosh glided towards the man who had walked down the aisle. The man kneeled. The Fosh would have smiled if she could. “Welcome to our Order, brother.”

----

Luke Skywalker’s eyes flashed open. His sudden alarm was quiet and subtle. Yet in the Force it may as well have been a scream. He closed his eyes yet again and forced his breathing to get under control. He brought his emotions under control. A Jedi should not allow themselves to live in fear. Even from a nightmare. Yet was it really a nightmare? Was it a vision of things to come? A warning of some kind? Was it an event happening now or something that had happened in the past? These questions were not new to Luke Skywalker and at this point he was sick of the doubt plaguing his mind. Right now there was nothing he wanted to do more than stand up and climb into his X-Wing and investigate what he currently perceived as a threat.

Instead the man shook his head and glanced at his sleeping wife. He had slipped out of her grasp when he had awoken but she was still asleep. Luke smiled in relief. Mara’s danger sense was much stronger than his and if she could sleep tonight than he could too. Yoda had always told him that his mind needed to stay in the present. There here and the now was what mattered. His father had come undone from prophetic dreams. Luke would not allow that to happen to him. He would revisit this recurring dream in the morning when he had more clarity. Not when the images were so vivid in his mind that he would allow his anxiety and emotions to alter his judgment.

Luke closed his eyes again and soon his breathing slowed and again sleep claimed him.

---

“No. This one goes there and that gone goes there.” Jaina pointed at the power couplings on the side of the T-47 Air-Speeder. One could say her tone was demanding, even harsh. To the Solo Children it was just routine. Jaina Solo always seemed to casually slip into the leadership position when no one was looking. No one had challenged her. Especially when they were working on her specialty. That being anything with an engine. Jacen meekly obeyed his sister as he switched the canisters to their proper positions. Anakin grinned cheekily. His twins were able to work in tandem without speaking almost always. Yet when it came to ships Jaine had to vocalize her requests. Jacen had many talents but flying wasn’t one of them. In a few years time he’d be a skilled enough pilot but Jaina was a prodigy here.

“Y’know Jaina, as confident as I am in your flying abilities I’d prefer that Lowbacca was here. He’s always had that eye for engineering that you lack.” Jaina was currently sitting in the cockpit of the T-47 refiguring the controls. Once she heard Anakin’s jest she stood up and shot him a playful glare. “Toss me the hydrospanner.” Anakin gestured at the toolbox and then pointed at Jaina. The tool shot from the ground to Jaina’s hand. Jaina gave him a nod of thanks before she disappeared back into the cockpit. Jacen glanced at the toolbox and then at the cockpit and gave a sigh that showed his disapproval. Anakin prepared himself for an argument. Ever since Jacen had become his Uncle’s apprentice he had decided that he’d become a philosopher. Even when they engaged in adventures as mundane as fixing up an Air Speeder Jacen had decided to think about things that Anakin didn’t find even remotely interesting. Still he relished the debates even if Jaina didn’t.

“It saves time.” Anakin said. The best offense was a defense and he was going to try and nip his excuse in the bud before Jacen said anything judgemental.

Instead his brown-haired brother grinned and held his hands up in mild surrender. “I said nothing.”

Jaina popped up from the cockpit again. “You better keep saying nothing. If you two keep on arguing than I’ll split this spanner in two and put in places where you wouldn’t be able to dig it out with all the force potential in the galaxy.”

Jacen winced as if he were imagining such a savage attack and Anakin let out a low whistle. “Geez sis.”

---

The thick vegetation that decorated the forest floor threatened to consume Ben Skywalker as he continued to run through the foliage. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had managed to get into the forest. All he knew was that he had been chasing Jysella Horn across the Praxeum. She had soon vanished into the forest and he had followed. Ben had lost track of times when he had gotten lost. As a child he had often been under the supervision of a nanny droid but those days seemed long gone. Ever since the Skywalkers had erected the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV Ben had found himself with them instead of hidden on a planet that he couldn’t remember the name of.

At the age of 8 Ben was more than a little curious than he needed to be. He knew he wasn’t supposed to eavesdrop on his parents but the last time had gotten lost it had been attributed to “Skywalker blood”. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant but it could only be a good thing. Yet this time he wasn’t going exploring. This time he was trying to track down a dark-haired girl with green eyes who had turned the tables on him. Ben continued to dart through the forest and continued to duck and twist his body to avoid branches. Eventually he slowed down, simply unable to breathe. Ben leaned against a tree trunk and pushed his unruly reddish-blond hair out of his eyes. This search was far from over but his body was telling him to stop.

Instead of continuing to run through the forest until he was really tired he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember everything he could about Jysella. In the past few weeks he had come to realize that the more he thought about something the easier it was to find. It had allowed him to recover toys, holodiscs and all manners of things he tended to lose. The longer Ben thought the more difficulty he had finding Jysella. And then a leaf floated down from the tree above him and touched his neck. Ben thought it was an insect and slapped at it before glancing up at Jysella. The ten year old girl was perched just a few yards above him. “Catch me if you can!” She yelled and then she vanished. Ben frowned deeply as he turned to his right and to his left. His thoughts drifted to the girl again and a small voice in his head whispered right.

Ben turned and suddenly found himself possessing the energy that he needed to again continue his sprint through the forest. He continued to run and soon burst through a massive bush. The branches scratched at his skin but in his eagerness to find Jysella he ignored them. He saw her standing completely still in the distance. “Found you!” He yelled elatedly as he ran towards her. He stopped right behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. “I said I found you!” He frowned. “Whatsamatter?” Then he noticed it. A creature stood before them. It was taller than Ben and Jysella. Its sleek fur covered body rippled with muscles but that wasn’t the most intimidating part of it. The feline creature had fangs nearly as long as his father’s lightsaber. Ben gulped. “Um.”

“Don’t move…he won’t attack if we don’t…move.” They stood there in silence for several seconds and Ben felt an itch at the back of his throat. He had to sneeze. If he were just a couple of years older he might have repressed the urge but Ben couldn’t help it. He inhaled sharply and let out a high-pitched “Atchoo!”

The tiger’s eyes shifted from Jysella to Ben and it crouched. Right before it attacked Ben heard the distinct sound of a lightsaber igniting. He had heard it happen with his father enough to recognize the sound without even seeing it. A bearded man in green robes suddenly appeared out of the brush yet he wasn’t wielding his lightsaber. The look on his face was fairly impassive as he stepped between the tiger and his daughter. The next person to emerge made Ben gulp. Mara Jade-Skywalker emerged from the brush gripping her lightsaber in her hand and her appearance screamed trouble. For some reason Ben was more scared of his mother than the tiger. Still the idea of a lightsaber battle between a dangerous predator intrigued him more than frightened him. Unfortunately Ben was disappointed when Jedi Master Corran Horn merely raised his hand and gestured at the tiger. The creature’s eyes snapped towards Corran before it turned and bounded deep into the forest.

“They’re getting closer to the grounds.” Corran said as he pulled his hood down from his face.

“I’ll talk to Luke about installing a stronger security perimeter. They won’t wander near the temple but they’re definitely leaving the deeper parts of the forest.” Mara turned slowly and redirected her glare to Ben. “Of course we wouldn’t have to do that if you stayed put on the temple grounds.”

Corran sighed heavily as he turned to Jysella. “You take your child and I’ll take mine.”

“Deal.”

As Mara marched Ben back towards the temple and undoubtedly to quiet place near the fountains he idly wondered if he’d be better off being punished by Corran Horn.


OOC: Bit of a short start but that's what I have so far. Hope everyone enjoyed! Feel free to leave reviews/critiques for me.

Welcome and I'm always game for less depressing Great intro and you have the characterizations excellently done. Luke especially. He does want to pay attention to prophetic foregleams but not go overboard at the same time Liked the Ben/Jys scene because one it means Ben is around earlier and also that he grows up with Jysella. Makes a certain pairing more likely Speaking of, will Jag be paired up with Jaina in this?

Awesome job so far!!! I can't wait to see what's coming up next. Keep up the good work!

Very good! We need more AUs of that Era onward.

Please tag me when you continue.

We'll see! This fanfic is so far largely unplanned and I only have a rough sketch of what's going to happen. But I think you can bet on Jag showing up in some capacity.

Sure thing! And Thanks!

I appreciate it.

OOC: Thanks guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter. As a note I’ve based Luke’s mentality about the Jedi Order largely on his mindset during Vector Prime. Hopefully it doesn’t seem like I’m ripping off Salvatore too much. I’m not sure about an update time yet but since it’s the weekend and I have muse I felt like posting up again. Anyway, here we go!

---

Sometimes Kyp Durron honestly preferred the rush of a dogfight and the roar of his X-Wing engine more than wielding his lightsaber. This was one of those times. The tie-fighter currently on its tail was as good as debris now but it didn’t know it. Despite the warnings crackling in his comm about having a fighter on his tail, his missile lock and the fact that they were outnumbered three to one. Naturally these complaints and warnings were coming from the Non-Jedi members of his squadron. Those who were force sensitive were currently linked to Kyp’s mind in a rudimentary battle meld. They all knew what he was thinking. Kyp toggled his joystick to the right in a successful attempt to avoid streaks of green energy from the tie-fighter. He saw the energy beams flash by his cockpit and his astromech squealed in protest.

“I got this. Nothing to fear.” Kyp grinned as he laid his right hand on the throttle. He was going to pull off a trick that the Corellians had invented when the X-Wing had come into fame. It required prodigious skill, timing and reflexes. Luckily Kyp had all of those. He aligned his ship so that it was directly in front of the tie-fighter. He felt a surge of blood lust from his pursuer and his sense of danger was alerted right as the enemy pilot pulled the trigger. <Master Durron! Your right in his line of sight!> Kyp’s recently knighted apprentice Miko Reglia apparently didn’t have as much faith in Durron’s force mastery as he could have hoped. Even as those words left his mouth Kyp’s X-Wing deaccelerated. The Tie-Fighter pilot over shot him along with the torpedo missile. The threats of the missile lock, the pilot and the torpedo itself evaporated. Kyp’s grin deepened. “I have you now.” Orange streaks of laser fire raced through space and bombarded the tie-fighter until it exploded.

Kyp flew straight through the debris cloud and as he did he heard a whoop of glee from Wurth Skidder as he took down his own opponent. Kyp glanced around and extended his force senses to try and find his next opponent. Even though the squadron of mercenaries had once outnumbered them they had managed to even the odds. It looked as if they were now escaping with the frigate they had been escorting through deep space. Kyp’s Dozen had been tracking the mercenaries and their cargo for weeks now. He had taken on the mission when he had learned that a group of slavers (who had once worked for the Empire) had rounded up young Twi’Lek women from Ryloth for sale on Tantooine. Naturally Kyp hadn’t been able to stand for this. They had finally managed to track the frigate and its number of escorts to deep space.

<They’re trying to escape into hyperspace.> Octa Ramis reported from her own X-Wing as the Dozen began to bare down on the frigate and the seven remaining fighters.

<Without their escorts?> A non-Force sensitive Duros questioned.

<You think they give a kriff about their escorts? All they care about are the credits they can get from their cargo!> Wurth snapped back angrily.

Kyp angled his ship so that he could follow the frigate and sighed. <Cool it, Skidder.> The Jedi Knight had a point but his tone was unnecessary. Half of the members of the Dozen were Jedi. The other half were not. Kyp didn’t want to alienate his crew. He had found a perfect balance and he doubted that Master Skywalker would allow him to recruit any other Jedi to his team. He sensed resentment from the Duros pilot but he remained silent. <Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do. Ganner and Wurth, you two scare off the rest of the tie-fighter pilots. Seba take out their engines. Octa jam their transmissions and try to keep them from escaping to hyperspace. Miko, we’re boarding the ship. The rest of you form a protective barrier around the frigate. If it tries anything foolish don’t engage. We have innocents on board,>

Miko had proven himself to be the calmest and most introspective Knight on the team. He trusted that his former apprentice wouldn’t fly into a rage once they boarded and rescued the slaves within. Seba’s blood lust could interfere once they were on board. Ganner and Wurth were too passionate and arrogant to treat this situation delicately. Kyp just didn’t know Octa well enough to determine how she would react to this situation. Either way he knew that Miko could handle this. He opened transmissions with the Frigate. <Slavers, open your hangar bay for boarding. You will do what I say or we’ll blow your ship out of the sky.> That wasn’t true but Kyp endowed his words with enough force energy to convince them otherwise. He directed his anger and frustration he felt towards the slavers for committing such a heinous act. The raw emotions that he felt added the needed intimidation to his words.

In a few minutes Kyp was standing in his orange flight suit alongside his former apprentice glowering at the Bith before him. The man was still somewhat dazzled by Kyp’s mind trick but that didn’t stop him from lying about the slaves. “I won’t ask you again. We did a complete scan of your frigate and have picked up on life forms in the cargo bay. Unless you want to find yourself floating in space you’ll tell me the truth.” Kyp was doing this diplomatically. Calmly. He wasn’t sure if he was succeeding. There was nothing he wanted to do more than ignite his lightsaber and fight his way through the ship but that was impractical for two reasons. First of all the frigate was fairly large and he didn’t know how many enemies were on board. Secondly he was a Jedi Master. Not a Jedi Knight. He had been given the position after successfully training Reglia to Knighthood. He was one of the first of Luke Skywalker’s original students to achieve the rank (and the youngest) and he needed to prove himself. He knew that few thought he deserved it.

The Bith continued to chatter away in an anxious attempt to redirect his questioning. Kyp considered pressing into the alien’s minds for the answer to his questions. That was until Miko gave a warning shout. “Master!” Kyp glanced at the door on the far end of the hall. There stood a grim looking man with some type of blaster launcher on his chest. The man pulled the trigger and Kyp flicked his hand towards the man. The slaver stumbled backwards as the force push redirected the launcher into the air. The missile streaked upwards and struck the roof of the hangar bay. Almost immediately klaxon alarms began to wail throughout the ship as its safety was compromised. Kyp felt a sudden rush of worry from his teammates in their ships but ignored it. The Bith took the opportunity to go for his blaster. Kyp unleashed his lightsaber and slashed off the alien’s hand. “Come on!” He yelled at Miko before he began to sprint out of the hangar bay to the ship itself. He’d just need The Force to guide him through.

----

Luke Skywalker sighed as the hologram image of Borsk Fey’La vanished in front of him. He was growing tired of these meetings. It had gotten to the point where Luke hadn’t even bothered to fly to Coruscant. His focus was needed here at the Academy. This meeting had been the same as always anyway. Complaints about the Jedi Order pushing its jurisdiction too far and taking on responsibilities it didn’t serve. Luke proposing a Jedi Council that could coordinate with the Republic. Then a drawn out and unnecessary rebuttal as to why that would be foolish. He was simply bored with these political games but he knew they were necessary. If Luke simply ignored the Republic than the situation could simply get out of control. “Thank you, Tionne.” Luke stepped out of the communications chamber and nodded at the Jedi Master who had been supervising the call. “I apologize for distracting you from your duties.”

The silver eyed woman stood and smiled warmly at him. “It is not a problem.” Luke began to stride down the hall and Tionne fell in line beside him. The woman was as tall as Luke but that wasn’t really an accomplishment. Aside from Yoda Luke was firmly convinced that he was one of the shortest Jedi to achieve the rank of Grandmaster. Yet his height was the least of his concerns. He had to admit that the thought crossed his mind at least meant that his responsibilities weren’t crushing his ability let his mind wander. “It seems as if very little progress has been made with the Galactic Republic.”

Luke nodded. “I may have to talk to my sister about taking a bigger role in the Jedi Order. Her skills in diplomacy are far greater than mine…”

“Why haven’t you?”
Luke grimaced, feeling foolish for his line of thinking. “She is not a Jedi Knight. She is as powerful in the Force as I am but she’s so busy as an ambassador that she simply hasn’t had the time to complete her training.”

“I still maintain my offer as taking her on as an apprentice. She is a fast learner and if she were to take a break from her duties as an ambassador I am certain she could become an official Knight under the order in little time.”

“I appreciate the offer Tionne. If you can make an argument successful enough to convince her to stay on the planet longer than a few days than you have my blessing.” Luke had tried this multiple times. The only way Leia could stay on Yavin IV for an extended period was to visit her children. Even then the Solo Kids often found themselves wandering the galaxy with their parents rather than their parents staying on Yavin IV. Sometimes Luke felt that his sister’s sense of adventure rivaled that of her husband. “I must be going now. I am holding a meditation session for the younglings by the fountains.” The cluster of fountains built near the center of the Praxeum served as an artificial force nexus. It was a place for reflection and meditation.

“Seeking to spend time with your son?” Tionne probed with a smile on her face.

“Multi-tasking.” Luke said. “I figured I can both meditate and spend time with my son at the same time. It’ll be a wonder if I’m able to convince the children to sit still rather than play in the water.”

“Sometimes you can find the peace and center you seek while playing in water.”

Luke grinned crookedly. “Fair enough. I’ll see you soon Master Tionne.” The woman nodded and they departed.

As Luke walked across the grassy field towards the Foutains he again pondered on the situation at hand. He wasn’t even sure if he could gather an official Jedi Council if he wanted to. The Jedi were scattered across the galaxy and many worked of their own accord. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to use his authority to appoint these adventurers and diplomats actual positions. What if they didn’t want a Council telling them what to do? Luke rarely assigned missions to the Jedi because he felt it was their right to find their own path and ways they could serve the galaxy. That wasn’t how the Old Jedi Order worked but he was starting to think they’d have to emulate them in some way. The Jedi who had been trained to Knighthood had already lived lives as politicians, military men and doctors. The Solo Children and their counterparts would be the first to actually train from birth. Would the current Knights and Masters of the Order actually take orders from a Grandmaster? Was that how he wanted to run things?

“Circles within circles.” Luke murmured under his breath.

---

A steady stream of blaster fire continued to pour down the hallway towards Kyp and Miko. Hundreds of beams of energy were streaking down the narrow hallway so quickly that it looked as if the duo were walking through a red haze. No one should have been able to simply walk through so much explosive energy but the two Jedi were. Two blades. One yellow and one green continued to redirect the energy blasts back at their opponents. Squeals of both pain and fright filled the air. While Kyp was supposed to be devoid of emotion right now he couldn’t help but grin. Not because his enemies were suffering but because they were driving them back and would soon be able to rescue the innocent species on board. As he continued to weave his blade across his body the ship suddenly trembled under his feet. Kyp extended his senses outwards and realized two things. First was that the pilots were attempting to accelerate and escape the rest of the Dozen. Secondly one of his pilots had been forced to take out one of the engines to discourage them. Neither of those were good. “Get to the cockpit of the ship, take down the pilots and assume control! I’ve got it from here.”

While Miko was normally obedient and receptive to his master’s orders he couldn’t help but falter. “Are you sure?”

“I’m a Jedi Master, Miko. You think a little blaster fire is going to scare me?” There were four men crouched down in the hall. Any second now they’d try and duck into the blast shield door behind them and make a break for the escape pods. Kyp had no intention of letting that happen. He felt worry and then acceptance from Miko. The Jedi Knight turned and darted down the hall. Kyp stepped to the center of the hallway and extended the reach of his lightsaber to catch more of the blaster bolts on his blade. If one slipped by it could hurt his former apprentice. Unfortunately this meant that Kyp needed to focus even harder on deflecting the blaster bolts and soon his purple blade was literally a blur. As Kyp continued to walk towards the deflecting the blaster points he knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. Kyp immersed himself in The Force and after batting away one last blaster beam he lowered his sword hand and threw up his left hand and formed it into a fist. Since he was only a few yards away from the beings down the hall he was able to gather up their weapons with his telekinesis and crush them. The weapons dropped to the ground and the slavers stood to their feet in an attempt to escape. “I don’t think so.” Kyp said as he deactivated his lightsaber and hurriedly closed the distance between them. It only took a few punches, kicks and nerve strikes to render the slavers unconscious.

Kyp stepped out of the hallway and found himself staring at a door in front of him. He closed his eyes and extended his senses. The Twi’Lek women were inside. He ignited his lightsaber and stabbed it through the control panel on the side of the door. It wheeled open. “Hello?” Kyp stepped inside the dark room. “My name is Kyp Durron and I’m here to res-” He heard a shriek of warning and then his danger sense flared immediately. A droid six and a half feet tall wielding an electro staff suddenly jabbed at his midsection! Kyp leapt backwards and found himself on the defensive as an IG-88 assassin droid attacked him with sudden speed and fury. Kyp barely had time to think but he did realize that this was a relic from the clone wars. He had read about them in the Jedi Archives. Apparently they had been designed to kill Jedi and once the Jedi had been driven extinct many of them had been put out of commission or just regulated to the Outer Rim for mercenary use. Yet once the Jedi had resurged to the public more and more reports of IG-88s causing trouble had surfaced. This was Kyp’s first time facing one and he could see why.

Its technical form was superb and its strength was unmatched. Instead of employing wild slashes it focused on melee attacks, stabs and the occasional blaster bolt that Kyp had yet to find the source of. Yet there was one thing it didn’t have. Kyp slashed his lightsaber downwards and redirected what could have been a fatal attack to his abdomen. He stepped closer to the droid and attempted to engage it in on a more physical level. The problem with an electrostaff was that it didn’t work in close-close combat. It was a weapon with reach and while that could go a long way it did make it less effective in a toe-to-toe fight. The droid attempted to back pedal backwards and that’s when Kyp used his second advantage. He flicked his finger and the cape the droid was designed to wear tangled itself in its feet. It went down and hard. Yet it still kept trying to fight. It stabbed and slashed at Kyp’s legs but it was a non factor now. The Jedi Master stepped over the droid and with one slash decapitated it. Kyp deactivated his lightsaber and strode back into the containment unit. With one gesture the lights came on and Kyp found a dozen Twi’Lek chained to each other. They were all naked. Some were sick, some were wounded and even one was missing a Lekku. Kyp winced and felt an initial surge of anger. As always he instead redirected that anger into relief and spread a feeling of goodwill to the former slavers crouched before him. “My name is Kyp Durron and I am a Jedi Knight. You’ll all be just fine.”

As Kyp helped them release their bonds he suddenly felt a barrage of messages from his Jedi Companions.

I’m not too sure about that. The hyperdrive is working fine but we’re seriously getting some lag on these sublight engines.

Kyp…I may have screwed up a bit. When I took down the missiles I may have nicked the fuel tank too. You’re losing out pretty badly over here.

Incoming! It looks like these Twi’Lek are far more important than we thought! I’m detecting at least a dozen more bogies coming in. We need to get out of here. Fast

Kyp sighed.

@Lady_Misty

Liked Luke and Tionne but Kyp -- amazing! Great description of action also

I hope Luke realizes at some point that if he allows the older Jedi go off and do their own thing that it will cause trouble for everyone and he could get blamed for not keeping the Jedi in line.

Sooner or later Luke or someone will find a way to convince Leia to finish her Jedi Training. I'd have been tempted to say to her at some points 'well if you finished your training your children wouldn't be kidnapped left and right. You would be able to escape those trying to kidnap you.'

And those screams of pain you're hearing from the Bantam Era books I have nothing to do with it!

Thanks! You'll be seeing more starfighter action in the next chapter. I think that Kyp will be playing a pretty interesting role in this story. He's always fascinated me because he tends to be the maverick.

I totally agree on both points. We'll be seeing more of Leia and The Force soon.

@Lady_Misty

OOC: This might be one of my weaker chapters. I'm going to be giving the story more of a direction and definitive plot in my next chapter so tune in! Hopefully you guys aren't sick of starfighter battles by now.

Chapter 3

The slightly nauseating stench of grease and fuel was a familiar smell to Jaina Solo. She was fairly certain that being around such chemicals for long could affect her mind in ways she would prefer not to. Yet she was addicted and she wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way forever. She wasn’t addicted to the smell of fuel or grease itself. (Though it was a welcome addition). Instead she was addicted to the thrill of flying and the machines that granted her such an ability. Evening was arriving and her brothers had long since abandoned her to their own tasks. Anakin and Tahiri had taken Ben exploring to one of the abandoned temples near the Praxuem. Jacen and Tenel Ka had traveled into the jungles in hopes of finding one of the jungle tigers that had nearly terrorized Ben.

Her two siblings had put in a fair amount of work on their airspeeder and she was grateful. Now it was her turn to work on the ship alone and hopefully she could have it flying by morning. “Need a little help?” Jaina was suddenly started when she heard the voice of her close friend Zekk. (Much closer than her father would have liked). She had thought that her force bond with him would make it difficult for him to sneak up on her. It looked as if she had been so involved in her work that she had lost contact with the outside world. Still she was happy to see Zekk. It might be a welcome distraction from the air speeder. As eager as she was to get it flying she could use a break.

“As if you know anything about air speeders.” She said teasingly as she slid out from underneath the air speeder. She stood to her feet and embraced Zekk. As she did she felt a paper bag gripped in his hands. “What do you have there?”

“Dinner. Anakin mentioned you were hungry while he and Ben were in the cafeteria. I figured I’d bring you something. Maybe we could watch the stars or something over nerf burgers.” His grin told her he was kidding but she had a feeling that deep down Zekk really would want to do something so cheesily romantic as that.

“How sweet.” She cooed in an overly syrupy voice. “Were you on deck duty tonight?” She gestured at the data pad in his other hand.

Zekk nodded as he led his way towards the exit of the hangar bay. “All ships accounted for. “

Zekk grabbed Jaina’s hand. “Come on. I heard there might be a comet or something tonight.”

Jaina could only suppress a laugh. She had figured Zekk would actually want to watch the stars. Growing up he had been someone who had been forced to move from place to place all his life without having a chance to stop and enjoy himself. During his brief fall to the dark side he had again been forced to dwell on nothing but misery and anger without enjoying the small things in life. Ever since he had been training at the Academy he had begun to stop and actually enjoy many of the things Jaina had taken for granted her whole life. That’s why she enjoyed her time with him. He took time to notice the little things.

They had barely settled down onto the pavement outside of the hangary bay when klaxons began to blare inside of it. Zekk frowned and scrambled for his comm. Unit. He picked it up and the voice of Luke Skyawlker came clear through. “Zekk, the Academy is in danger and I’m about to scramble the Twin Suns squadron to intercept a possible attack. I need you to clear the hangar bay and send a message to any lingering students and let them know that we’re on lock down.” Both Zekk and Jaina scrambled to their feet.

“Understood sir.”

Jaina turned towards Zekk. “Scrambling fighters?”

---

“Master Skywalker, we intercepted the slave ship and took it under our control. Next thing we know a kriffing Star Destroyer was attacking us along with a full squadron of tie fighters. We took off into hyper space but they might be following us…right to the temple.” Kyp sat in the pilot seat of the slave ship they had recently commandeered. For now they were safe from attack but for how long? He had already lost a good four pilots from the sudden attack from the Star Destroyer. His Jedi had survived but that left little room to rejoice. He still didn’t like the idea of losing people. Even if they weren’t Jedi. Kyp turned his attention back to the small holoprojector in front of him. The Jedi Grandmaster stood there calmly with his hands behind his back.
“What class is the Star Destroyer?” Luke questioned urgently. The blond master then turned to his side and gestured at someone out of Kyp’s view.

“I’m not sure…it’s one of the smaller models” He snorted. Small for a Star Destroyer. “…It’s pretty old but it’s in good shape and has some heavy fire power. Almost as if someone retrofitted weapons onto them. I didn’t get a good look.”

Luke turned to the side again and then back to Kyp. “Alright, here’s what you do. The moment you come out of hyperspace break hard for the moon side of Yavin IV. The remaining fighters that you have can assemble with my squadron. We’ll distract the Destroyer while the Jade Shadow takes out its weapon systems with a few well placed concussion missiles. If everything goes well it should be able to bypass the ship’s shields.”

Kyp nodded. “I’ll rely the message to my people. We’re about an hour out.”

“Very well.” Luke’s calm exterior dropped for a moment and he sighed. Kyp felt a sudden surge of frustration and exhaustion from the man. “May the force be with you.”

“May the force be with you.” For a moment Kyp considered apologizing or at least making an explanation for himself. In the end he chose not. Apologies were practically an admission of guilt and Kyp refused to feel guilt for rescuing people from a life of misery and torture.

---

“Uncle Luke, since Aunt Mara is taking the Jade Shadow whose going to be your wingman?” The moment Jaina had heard about the situation she had dressed herself in the vac suit her father had given her for her birthday the past year. She hadn’t been able to use it yet but maybe this time she’d have her chance.
Luke strode down the hangar bay, his own helmet tucked underneath his arm. “Master Horn.”

“If Master Horn is flying than who will be Master Solusar’s wingman?”

“Jaina. I can’t allow you to do that. You’re a talented pilot but this is a dangerous situation. One that can easily end with someone getting hurt or killed.”

“I don’t fear death. I’m a Jedi Knight and I need to use my skills where they are needed.” Jaina was telling her Uncle what he wanted to hear. While she did believe that statement they both knew she just wanted to prove her worth in an actual X-Wing for the first time.

Luke smiled. “You have yet to become a knight, Jaina. Not yet. I can’t let you go out there out of respect for your parents. I’m sure you’d do excellently but it’s not my place to put you in direct danger. Not when you don’t need to be.”

Jaina sighed. “Uncle Luke, you were my age when you blew up the Death Star.”

Luke approached his X-Wing and turned towards Jaina. Still wearing that infuriating smile. “No, Jaina. I was three years older than you. I also didn’t have any parental figures to tell me that I was about to do something that could get me killed. I also was flying because I had to. Not because I felt the need to prove my worth or go thrill seeking.” He paused. “I know you feel. I really do. Kyp Durron felt the same way you do now and that’s why we’re in this situation. You need to take a deep breath and think about where you’re really needed.”

Jaina bit her lip. “Yes, Master.”

Luke placed his hand on Jaina’s shoulder. “Thanks for understanding.” He then turned and with graceful ease leapt into his cockpit without the aide of a ladder. R2 whislted cheerily and Jaina waved at the astromech. She then turned and scanned the hangar bay. Jedi were rushing to their fighters. It wouldn’t be long before trouble arrived. Jaina could feel the nerf burger she had started to eat earlier practically trembling in her stomach. She had adrenaline and energy. It could only be used in the cockpit. Not staying on the temple anxiously waiting for the fight to end. She scanned the hangar bay and finally noticed Zekk scanning something on his datapad. Jaina sprinted towards him. “Zekk! Whose partnered with Master Solusar?”

Zekk frowned. “I’m not sure if I should tell y-“ He stopped at Jaina’s glare and turned towards the datapad. “Jaden Korr.”

Jaina nodded kissed him on the cheek and then sprinted towards the Jedi Knight, already concocting a wild story as to why she’d be flying for him.

---

From: jedimasterwest@hotmail.com
To: masonwestthe4th@hotmail.com
Subject: ch all in the family
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:07:19 -0500
The slightly nauseating stench of grease and fuel was a familiar smell to Jaina Solo. She was fairly certain that being around such chemicals for long could affect her mind in ways she would prefer not to. Yet she was addicted and she wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way forever. She wasn’t addicted to the smell of fuel or grease itself. (Though it was a welcome addition). Instead she was addicted to the thrill of flying and the machines that granted her such an ability. Evening was arriving and her brothers had long since abandoned her to their own tasks. Anakin and Tahiri had taken Ben exploring to one of the abandoned temples near the Praxuem. Jacen and Tenel Ka had traveled into the jungles in hopes of finding one of the jungle tigers that had nearly terrorized Ben.

Her two siblings had put in a fair amount of work on their airspeeder and she was grateful. Now it was her turn to work on the ship alone and hopefully she could have it flying by morning. “Need a little help?” Jaina was suddenly started when she heard the voice of her close friend Zekk. (Much closer than her father would have liked). She had thought that her force bond with him would make it difficult for him to sneak up on her. Though it looked as if she had been so involved in her work that she had lost contact with the outside world. Still she was happy to see Zekk. It might be a welcome distraction from the air speeder. As eager as she was to get it flying she could use a break.

“As if you know anything about air speeders.” She said teasingly as she slid out from underneath the air speeder. She stood to her feet and embraced Zekk. As she did she felt a paper bag gripped in his hands. “What do you have there?”

“Dinner. Anakin mentioned you were hungry while he and Ben were in the cafeteria. I figured I’d bring you something. Maybe we could watch the stars or something over nerf burgers.” His grin told her he was kidding but she had a feeling that deep down Zekk really would want to do something so cheesily romantic as that.

“How sweet.” She cooed in an overly syrupy voice. “Were you on deck duty tonight?” She gestured at the data pad in his other hand.

Zekk nodded as he led his way towards the exit of the hangar bay. “All ships accounted for. “

Zekk grabbed Jaina’s hand. “Come on. I heard there might be a comet or something tonight.”

Jaina could only suppress a laugh. She had figured Zekk would actually want to watch the stars. Growing up he had been someone who had been forced to move from place to place all his life without having a chance to stop and enjoy himself. During his brief fall to the dark side he had again been forced to dwell on nothing but misery and anger without enjoying the small things in life. Ever since he had been training at the Academy he had begun to stop and actually enjoy many of the things Jaina had taken for granted her whole life. That’s why she enjoyed her time with him. He took time to notice the little things.

They had barely settled down onto the pavement outside of the hangary bay when klaxons began to blare inside of it. Zekk frowned and scrambled for his comm. Unit. He picked it up and the voice of Luke Skyawlker came clear through. “Zekk, the Academy is in danger and I’m about to scramble the Twin Suns squadron to intercept a possible attack. I need you to clear the hangar bay and send a message to any lingering students and let them know that we’re on lock down.” Both Zekk and Jaina scrambled to their feet.

“Understood sir.”

Jaina turned towards Zekk. “Scrambling fighters?”

---

“Master Skywalker, we intercepted the slave ship and took it under our control. Next thing we know a kriffing Star Destroyer was attacking us along with a full squadron of tie fighters. We took off into hyper space but they might be following us…right to the temple.” Kyp sat in the pilot seat of the slave ship they had recently commandeered. For now they were safe from attack but for how long? He had already lost a good four pilots from the sudden attack from the Star Destroyer. His Jedi had survived but that left little room to rejoice. He still didn’t like the idea of losing people. Even if they weren’t Jedi. Kyp turned his attention back to the small holoprojector in front of him. The Jedi Grandmaster stood there calmly with his hands behind his back.
“What class is the Star Destroyer?” Luke questioned urgently. The blond master then turned to his side and gestured at someone off the screen.

“I’m not sure…it’s one of the smaller models” He snorted. Small for a Star Destroyer. “…It’s pretty old but it’s in good shape and has some heavy fire power. Almost as if someone retrofitted weapons onto them. I didn’t get a good look.”

Luke turned to the side again and then back to Kyp. “Alright, here’s what you do. The moment you come out of hyperspace break hard for the moon side of Yavin IV. The remaining fighters that you have can assemble with my squadron. We’ll distract the Destroyer while the Jade Shadow takes out its weapon systems with a few well placed concussion missiles. If everything goes well it should be able to bypass the ship’s shields.”

Kyp nodded. “I’ll rely the message to my people. We’re ten minutes away from Yavin IV.”

“Very well.” Luke’s calm exterior dropped for a moment and he sighed. Kyp felt a sudden surge of frustration and exhaustion from the man. “May the force be with you.”

“May the force be with you…and Master Skywalker?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

---

“Uncle Luke, since Aunt Mara is taking the Jade Shadow whose going to be your wingman?” The moment Jaina had heard about the situation she had dressed herself in the vac suit her father had given her for her birthday the past year. She hadn’t been able to use it yet but maybe this time she’d have her chance.
Luke strode down the hangar bay, his own helmet tucked underneath his arm. “Master Horn.”

“If Master Horn is flying than who will be Master Solusar’s wingman?”

Luke turned and acknowledged Jaina fully for the first time. “Jaina, I can’t allow you to do that. You’re not a full Jedi Knight and as talented a pilot as you are I can’t afford to risk losing you over a skirmish as petty as this.”

“I don’t fear death. I’m a Jedi Knight and I need to use my skills where they are needed.” Jaina was telling her Uncle what he wanted to hear. While she did believe that statement they both knew she just wanted to prove her worth in an actual X-Wing for the first time.

Luke smiled. “You have yet to become a knight, Jaina. Not yet. I can’t let you go out there out of respect for your parents. I’m sure you’d do excellently but it’s not my place to put you in direct danger. Not when you don’t need to be.”

Jaina sighed. “Uncle Luke, you were my age when you blew up the Death Star.”

Luke approached his X-Wing and turned towards Jaina. Still wearing that infuriating smile. “No, Jaina. I was three years older than you. I also did not have any parental figures to tell me that I was about to do something that could get me killed. I also was flying because I had to. Not because I felt the need to prove my worth or go thrill seeking.” He paused. “I know you feel. I really do. Kyp Durron felt the same way you do now and we’re in this situation. You need to take a deep breath and think about where you’re really needed.”

Jaina bit her lip. “Yes, Master.”

Luke placed his hand on Jaina’s shoulder. “Thanks for understanding.” He then turned and with graceful ease leapt into his cockpit without the aide of a ladder. R2 whislted cheerily and Jaina waved at the astromech. She then turned and scanned the hangar bay. Jedi were rushing to their fighters. It wouldn’t be long before trouble arrived. Jaina could feel the nerf burger she had started to eat earlier practically trembling in her stomach. She had adrenaline and energy. It could only be used in the cockpit. Not staying on the temple anxiously waiting for the fight to end. She scanned the hangar bay and finally noticed Zekk scanning something on his datapad. Jaina sprinted towards him. “Zekk! Whose partnered with Master Solusar?”

Zekk frowned. “I’m not sure if I should tell y-“ He stopped at Jaina’s glare and turned towards the datapad. “Jaden Korr.”

Jaina nodded kissed him on the cheek and then sprinted towards the Jedi Knight, already concocting a wild story as to why she’d be flying for him.

---

“Lock S-Foils in attack position!” Luke announced over his comm unit. “Remember, just keep the Destroyer’s attention. Dance within its blaster range but don’t get to close. We’re just a distraction. Not the solution.”

Jaina Solo gripped the controls to her X-Wing as she maneuvered her snub-nosed fighter closer to the Star Destroyer. It was much smaller than she had thought it had been. What it lacked in size it more than made up for in armaments. Green and red energy constantly lanced from the destroyer and threatened to destroy anyone who got close. Yet the combination of Luke’s fighters and the remainder of Kyp’s Dozen were holding their own. They danced around the Destroyer in a deadly game of cat and mouse as they sought to distract the Star Destroyer from the true threat. All of the snub-fighters had been designed for speed and this was showing rather well. It wasn’t long before every Jedi blended into a force meld that allowed them to act in tandem and soon the idea of a “wingmate” was nothing but a former tactic that wasn’t necessary.

When the Jedi joined each other in a force meld they worked together seamlessly as if they were a hive mind. There were currently so many Jedi Aces in the sky that such a force meld could end in confusion and destruction. Yet with Luke Skywalker at the helm that was near impossible. The man’s focus and charisma left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who was in charge and what needed to be done. As Jaina’s ship soared straight over the Star Destroyer she suddenly felt a resounding sense of danger in the force that coincided with the alarms blaring on her console. She turned the fighter to the right just as three concussion missiles came streaking from one of the cannons on the ship and began to follow her. Jaina let out a curse and fed more speed to her fighter. As she did she rocketed along the side of the Star Destoyer and soon found herself passing the bridge. As she did she saw two symbols. One was painted a dark blue with six interposing circles with squiggly lines connecting it. Jaina recognized that as the symbol of the Chiss. The second was a dark red pyramid with a lidded eye in the center. Lines were drawn out of from the pyramid as if they were mimicking rays of light. The second symbol looked as if it had been drawn over the first. For a second Jaina was intensely curious and then she remembered the missiles. “Right.”

She pulled her X-Wing to the right and executed a snap roll right over the bridge. The missiles attempted to follow her but two of them crashed into each other and exploded. Jaina then executed a dive right behind the bridge. As she continued to fly the missile steadily followed her. Jaina gritted her teeth and tentatively reached out with The Force. Instead of calling for help she instead did her best to focus on the missile. It was following one path and that was straight to her ship. It wasn’t terribly difficult to get a lock on the missile and when she did she gave it a simple nudge. The missile followed her command and overshot her. The missile spiraled off into the vastness of space and Jaina twisted her fighter around and turned right back to the fight. As she returned to her other fighters she suddenly found herself exposed to the feelings of those within the Force Meld. First concern and then amusement. She soon realized that her Uncle was intentionally allowing her to feel his own presence.

She didn’t allow her apology to show. Instead a flare of determination and a slight hint of arrogance. She could handle herself. Even as these thoughts crossed her mind she continued to fly across the front of the Destroyer, plastering it with blaster fire. As she did so a silver ship seemingly materialized in front of her. The Jade Saber was traveling full speed to the bridge and as it did it released a dozen concussion missiles at once. It then vanished again and pulled away. As it did Jaina felt a single command over The Force. <RETREAT> Jaina did as she was told as she felt a sudden shockwave of energy from the concussions missiles impacting the shield generators and the weapon system of the ship. Without its weapon systems or shields the Star Destroyer had no choice but to turn and flee into hyper space.
As she broke the atmosphere of Yavin IV another X-Wing was flying next to her. Jaina turned and saw Luke grinning at her. He had taken his helmet off and his ever present boyish grin was on his face. Jaina frowned as she opened transmission with him. <You knew I’d find a way to come, didn’t you?>

<No one’s ever told Han or Leia what to do before. I figured you’d be the same way. I just had to do my duty as an elder and try to keep you from rising your neck before you had to.>
<And how’d I do?>

<A Jedi doesn’t need to ask these questions. A question like that is either a request for me to feed your ego or a need for me to tell you that you’ve proven yourself. You know how well you did.>

Jaina sighed. <What’s going to happen to me now?>

<Well you technically disobeyed orders so I think you can take over deck duties for the next few years or so. You can start with making sure all fighters are logged and accounted for. After that you’ll report to the auditorium. We have a debrief and I’ve been thinking….we managed to force that Destroyer off with a few well placed shots but its surprise arrival to Yavin IV means that we’re in more danger than I thought.>

Jaina frowned. <More danger? I mean they did wander pretty close into Republic territory but I think it was more out of stupidity than daring.>

<That’s something you can think about while scrubbing grime and blaster marks off of fighter wings.>

Jaina groaned.

Ah, so so far it's a J/Z pairing LOL I like your way of describing starfighter battles - just enough details, but not so many that the reader is going: Enough already! Ooh, looking forward to the debriefing and about this looming menace.

Space battles don't bother me. It was nice to read how you did them.

I guess cleaning the ships is as close to tongue lashing Jaina is going to get from Luke.

Don't call it too soon. Jaina just might find herself working with Kyp Durron on a dangerous mission into Chiss Ascendancy. So you never know what's going to happen.

Yes, Luke is going to be so passive aggressive that Kyp Durron will wind up punching him in the nose.

over Kyp LOL and he's the best guy to knock sense into Luke and I love J/J together but if J/K are written well, I can squee over that too.

I like it

OOC: Thanks for all the lovely reviews, guys! Here's the next chapter and hopefully you'll enjoy the small tidbit of action you get between Corran Horn and a mysterious dark woman.

Chapter Four

Luke sat at his desk staring at the two young Twi'Lek sisters sitting across from him. He rarely found himself in his office. He normally spent his time walking around the Academy interacting with students, watching/running classes and ocassionally meeting with his fellow Jedi Knights in the briefing room. He only used his dek when official dignataries came to meet with him. Since he rarely used his office it was free of clutter. It was a pleasant room that relied on sunlight from a window to provide light. The chairs were comfortable and the room had a circular shape to improve the general mood of the run. It was slightly smaller than what you would expect for the office of a Grandmaster. Smaller rooms meant that you'd have a more intimate conversation.

Luke rarely used it since he disliked the idea of working as a politician. But it did the trick when politicians came by. His office was the direct opposite of most of the offices on Coruscant and helped point out the differences between the Jedi and those who spent far too much time sitting and planning instead of being active. This time Luke was using his office to meet with two force-sensitive sisters. The room was isolated from the majority of the Academy. Luke didn't think anyone would eavesdrop on him but he could practically taste the panic and paranoia of the Rutian sisters across from. He figured it wouldn't hurt to assuade them of their fears. "I'm very sorry about what happened to you two. Slavery is one of the greatest crimes in the galaxy and the Jedi have worked tirelessly to put an end to it."

Luke had Kyp Durron to thank for this. The man was arrogant and far too agressive but he had his heart in the right place. After the debriefing he could sense the regret Durron had for putting the Academy in danger. Yet he hadn't voiced such regret. Oddly Luke respected him for this. Kyp Durron always stood by his values and the fact that he didn't break down in Luke Skywalker's presence was admirable. Luke didn't consider himself intimidating in the slightest but he knew that the Skywalker name and title of Grandmaster carried far. "My father was a slave as a child. This tortured him throughout his life and when he took on the title of Darth Vader he again found himself enslaved physically and mentally. I've seen the results of slavery and it's nearly torn apart my family."

Alema stirred in her seat and regarded the Jedi Master with her green eyes. Clearly she hadn't been expecting him to be so forthcoming about his past. Luke wasn't trying to hide anything from the duo. He needed to be completely honest. Unlike their sisters in captivity he'd be doing his best to influence them to stay on the Academy. They didn't need to be Jedi but they needed to gain an understanding of The Force. He could already sense a darkness in Alema that she'd need to learn how to control. He didn't dare allow her to attempt to live a normal life without at least understanding her abilities and knowing how to control them. Her twin sister Numa didn't have that inherent darkness but he doubted that they'd want to be separated.

"We've spent all our life in captivity. We struggled for credits and were forced to use your bodies in ways that...." Alema's voice trailed off and Numa placed her hand on her sister's arm. Alema returned her firm gaze to Luke. "What will happen of the others?"

"My sister Leia will be responsible for finding new homes for them. Even now she's returning from Coruscant on information on their future. She too hates slavery and has spent much of her life fighting for the freedom of all species." Luke paused. "I am sure that Kyp told you about your connection to The Force?"

Numa spoke. "Yes....but we always knew there was something different about us. The men and women we were forced to serve often found us more enticing. We soon realized that we could affect how people think in ways other Twi'Lek cannot. We soon used this ability to push potential people away from us but it didn't always work."

Luke nodded gravely. "The both of you are extraordinarly strong in The Force. I would like to extend an invitation to the Academy. You both can stay here for as long as you like and train to control your abilities and use them for the greater good."

Alema shifted and Luke hastily finished his sentence. "-You do not have to be Jedi. It's just that The Force can be used to hurt and even harm others. Before you leave I want to make sure that the both of you know how to use your connection for the greater good and not to take advantage of others."

"We would never." Alema said firmly. "After being enslaved our whole lives we would never use our powers to enslave others."

Luke nodded. "And I'm sorry for implying that but you must know what you're capable of. I doubt you'd take advantage of people but I'd be doing a disservice if I didn't tell you that you about the negative aspect of your gifts."

Numa again touched Alema's arm as her temper flared. "We'd be honored to stay at the Praxuem Master Skywalker. I for one would love nothing more than learning the arts of the Jedi."

Numa's touch seemed to quell Alema's temper and she sighed. "When I was younger I always heard tales of the Rebellion and how they were going to destroy the Empire and give people like us our freedom. I always kept up this hope even if I didn't always believe it." She lifted her chin and said in a stronger voice. "I'd be honored to stay here and learn the ways of the Jedi. I at least owe you that much."

Luke nodded. "Tomorrow morning one of the Academy's chief teachers will speak to you. Her name is Tionne. I will also arrange for one of our Jedi Masters Daeshara'cor to meet with you as well. She too was a slave as a child and I think she can empathize with you far better than I can."

Luke stood signifying the end of his meeting. As he did so he felt a subtle touch in The Force and a broad smile crossed his face. "My sister is here. If you like we can go into the hangar bay and meet her." As he said this the door to his office opened and Anakin poked his head in.

"Mom and dad are here!"

"I think...I could use some refreshment and maybe some sleep. It's been a long day." Alema had a sheepish grin on her face as if she was embarassed that she was choosing her own needs instead of meeting a famous politician.

Luke nodded. "Fair enough." He gestured at Anakin. "Can you show Alema and Numa the caf before you meet your parents?"

Anakin shrugged. "No problem." Alema and Numa rose as Anakin stepped to the side. "After you ladies." He said with a rougish grin as he followed them into the hallway. Luke idly wondered if Anakin thought he was trying to do him a favor. That next thought made him realize that he'd need to keep the hormonal male Jedi Apprentices and Knights busy with various duties to keep their minds off the sudden increase in alluring and attractive women on Yavin IV.

---

"This area is classified." Corran Horn said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Jacen exchanged glances with his companion Tenel Ka. "Really Master Horn? It's just a slaver ship. We wanted to look inside."

Corran shrugged. "Don't try that with me, boy. You two think you're going to look inside but what you're probably going to do is go inside, accidentally turn on the ship, take off and try to track down whoever is responsible in this mess for the first place. Little Ben has already started dragging my daughter around on his crusades and he's eight. I can only imagine what you two are planning." Jacen was picking up an odd mixture of amusement and frustration at the plight the Skywalker-Solo family constantly put himself and his family through.

Jacen grinned. "Come now, I'm not my sister. I admit, that's a trick she'd pull but I can barely tell one switch from the other."

Corran hesitated. "Well...trying to stamp out Skywalker curiosity is pointless and trying to stop the daughter of a Dathomir Witch Queen is suicide."

Tenel nodded solemnly. "That is fact."

They passed Corran who grumbled something about "kriffing kids" and walked through the clearing that had been used for the Corellian frigate. As far as he knew there was no name for the ship. They all just called it "Slave Ship". It was roughly the size of the Millenium Falcon and looked twice as old. "Speaking of complicated schemes...where is your sister?" Jacen smirked.

"She's scrubbing asteroid dust off of starfighters. I can practically feel her frustration from here."

Tenel Ka didn't smile but as he looked at her he noticed her dark green eyes seemingly glitter in amusement. "Be careful that you do not allow her to detect your amusement. Jaina is not someone to be trifled with when she is angry."

Jacen winced. "I know." When he had allowed their twin bond to be fully extended Jaina had detected his amusement. For the next fifteen minutes he had found himself suffering an excruciating headache. It would seem as if Jaina had allowed her annoyance and frustration bubble over to the point where it affected his connection with her. He had no doubt that it was on purpose. Since then he had diminshed their connection and occupied himself with other things so she could not detect his emotions. "Wow...this thing smells like bantha shvait." He wrinkled his nose as he stepped onto the ramp. He felt a sudden prod in the force and glanced to his right, noticing Corran a ways off. The Jedi Master was warning him not to try anything foolish.

"He need not worry. With your lack of piloting and my one arm I doubt we'd get very far." She strode up the ramp and inside. Jacen winced. He hated it when she made jokes like that. He found it ironic that the only sense of humor she had developed was self-depracating. He knew that she told this jokes to diminsh Jacen's guilt in slicing through her arm but that didn't help. He kept his feelings to himself and followed her. The moment they stepped inside Jacen suddenly felt a strong presence of dark force energy. He paused, feeling nothing but fear and doubt. He glanced at Tenel Ka and noticed that she was standing perfectly still; her hands hovering above her lightsaber. "I sense it too." She whispered.

The interior of the ship was absolutely freezing but Jacen still found himself sweating. Than the ramp of the ship slid shut. Almost immediately two green lightsabers ignited in the darkness. Jacen exhaled and watched the vapor from his breath extend outwards. He closed his eyes and attempted to use The Force to extend beyond the ship. Yet he failed. He could barely extend a mental probe beyond the walls surrounding him. "Tenel Ka..." He said quietly. He turned around. "Tenel Ka?" He suddenly felt a sudden surge of fear and spun on his feet. He noticed the red-head staring at a hooded figure. The woman held a lightsaber hilt in his hand. "Wha-"

She threw up a hand and sent out a wave of dark force energy. Jacen was unprepared and was sent flying down the narrow corridor. He crashed into the wall. Tenel Ka simply spun out of the way and as she did the dark woman attacked. It became painstakingly clear to the both of them that they weren't prepared. The woman raised her hand and a whip of pure energy lashed out at Tenel Ka. The young woman raised her lightsaber and blocked the attack. As she did the tendrils of the whip wrapped around the green blade. The woman gave one impressive tug and the lightsaber was jerked from Tenel Ka's hand. Yet that did little to discourage the warrior. She spun on her feet and fired off a roundhouse kick that slammed into the woman's jaw. A loud "pop" sound seemed to vibrate through the room and the woman stumbled backwards. Jacen reignited his blade and launched into the fray.

For the next few tenses moments he found himself dodging a ray of light that whipped and cracked through the air. For every slash and stab he hit nothing but air. As he continued to fight he saw strange things. Ghouls, demons, an image of a burning Jedi Temple. He extended his feelings towards Tenel Ka and felt the same fear and anxiety. The only blow that struck the dark spectre had been that surprise kick to her jaw and even that had done little. Jacen was starting to feel as if they'd lose this fight when he distantly heard another lightsaber enter the fray. "Get back, boy!" He felt someone jerk his collar back and he struck the ground. Tenel Ka stepped away gracefully. Then Jacen saw Corran Horn advance. The man's lightsaber was pure silver and was twice its normal length. The dark lady stepped back for a moment before bringing her whip up and cracking it down at Corran. Yet the Jedi Master wasn't perturbed. He simply swung his lightsaber upwards and blocked the attack. The whip crackled around his blade but the Corellian simply pivoted on his feet, and rapidly closed the gap between his foe. He then raised his lightsaber and took the woman's sword hand before he slashed at her neck. For a moment it looked as if he would decapitate her but then the force phantom exploded.

Corran held up his hands as if warding off the sudden release of the dark gas. He lowered his lightsaber and glanced at the fallen duo. "Kriffing kids." He shook his head.

---

"And this is what you found?" Luke questioned as he stared at the odd clump of leather on his desk. Again he found himself meeting in a room he did his best to avoid. Except this time it was a little more cramped. Han Solo, Leia and Corran were all cramped in his office and he could sense different emotions in all three of them. He had barely had time to embrace his sister and brother-in-law before he had felt a sudden danger in The Force. He hadn't even had time to explain before he had comandeered the nearest speeder and made his way towards the yard where the slave ship had been crash landed. There he had found Corran, Jacen and Tenel Ka leaving the frigate. All of them looked shaken. After Han and Leia had arrived to take them back to the temple Corran had revealed what he had found.

"It's some type of tassle...I can't read it but I do know that it's a nexus of dark force energy. When Jacen and Tenel Ka went on the ship it projected some type of force phantom that attacked them. I defeated it and tracked the source of energy to the tassle."

"Did you touch it?" Luke questioned urgently.

"Give me a little credit here." Corran responded with a hint of defensiveness in his tone.

"Did Jacen or Tenel Ka touch it?"

"I swiped it when they weren't looking. They were too distracted to notice it. So far we're the only people that are aware of it."

"But for how long?" Han crossed the room and peered down at the crisscrossing lines of leather and bead. "I'm no expert here but even I'm a little spooked from that thing. How long before my son realizes he missed something and goes sneaking around?"

"You're assuming that we're going to keep this a secret." Luke said calmly. He reached into his desk and pulled out a cloth. He slowly picked up the tassle and wrapped it in the cloth before tying a strip of cord around it. "I don't know what that is but I am picking up some strange messages from it. I think it'd be best to have someone like Katarn look it over. He has the most experience out of dark side cultists in the Order."

Luke slipped the tassle inside his robes and with that ended the conversation. He'd adress it's existence during the mission briefing later today. He turned towards Leia. "I'm assuming its bad news?" He said with a small smile as he glanced up at Leia.

The woman sighed. "I couldn't get through any private channels so I had to go straight to Borsk. They aren't sending an aid ship for another month. He claims its because they need to find proper homes for them but he's just doing it to spite the Jedi."

"That could be a good thing." Corran interjected. He paused. "Or...did you need me to take my leave?"

Luke shook his head. He greatly valued Corran's opinion. "No, explain."

"I've spent some time as a CorSec officer." Corran said.

Han chuckled. "If I had a credit for every time you said that."

Corran scowled before he began speaking again. "During my time as a CorSed officer we dealt with hostages all the time. People displaced from their homes. Prostitution rings. Things like that. Anyway, Yavin VI might be a good place for these women. They can explore the jungles, they can eat real food and meet with people who care about them. Sure my son Valin might find his eyes staring at the wrong spot every now and then but he's a good kid who cares."

Leia nodded. "I like where you're going with this. Over the month I can start researching on legitimate places where they can find homes and places to work. In the meanwhile they can have a look at what its' like to live inside the temple. Maybe see training sessions and interact with students or Jedi their age. At the end of the month they'll only have good things to say about the Academy. They'll have an honest first hand look at what it's like to live here."

"Assuming that Luke's as good a teacher he claims." Han smirked. "If you want Leia and I can stick around a bit longer. Keep an eye on things and help them adapt. You probably have your hands full as it is."

Luke nodded. "Where's Chewie?"

"Visting his family on Kashyyyk. I basically had to force him too. Old guy needs a break." Han looked a bit sheepish. Luke knew how Han felt about Chewbacca and realized how difficult it must have been to give him a break. "Besides, it gives Leia a chance to brush up on her skills in the co-pilot seat." And just like that sympathy vanished. Luke grinned, Leia scowled and Corran laughed out loud. "Alright...I'm calling a meeting tomorrow at 0900. Corran go ahead and inform the Jedi I've mentioned to you early about this meeting. Tell Kyle what happened on that friggate. Han, do you think you could help destroy that frigate? With the Millenium Falcon, thermal charges or whatever. I don't mind as long as nobody gets hurt. Leia, I need to talk to you about the missions I have in mind for your children. I need your approval."

---

There were no nightmares tonight. The tassle, the visions and the arrival of the Sith had all but plagued Luke's mind while he laid in bed. Eventually he had called upon The Force to banish the thoughts from his mind. They'd return in the morning but he'd need a good night's rest to consider these problems without bias. However, it wasn't Luke's own dreams and nightmares that woke him up this time. Instead it was sudden a spike of alarm from Mara. Luke sat up instantly and gestured at the wall on the other side of their bedroom. As his lightsaber began to rise on the wall Mara placed a hand on his wrist and softly pushed it down. "Everything's alright."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Luke questioned.

"I have dreams, farmboy. Not visions." Mara Jade snorted and Luke felt her annoyance in The Force.

"Mara...I'm not asking you about a vision because I want to know about the future. I'm asking you about a dream out of concern for you. I trust that if you actually sensed danger you'd tell me."

Mara's features softened somewhat. "I'm sorry. Somtimes you get caught up in so many premonitions that you interpret every little dream as some spectre of the past or vision of the future."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"I was in a forest...playing with my father." The sense of alarm she had felt was obvious now. Mara didn't know her father or her mother. There was no reason for her to have a dream like that unless it was a memory. Even if it wasn't her past had been a painful one and couldn't have been comfortable to relive. Even if they were positive memories.

Luke realized she was talking about something delicate but couldn't help but smile. "That does sound like something in your past, Mara."

"You don't understand...all I've ever known in my life was Palpatine. Before I met you...before I joined with Kaarde. All I remember was working with that vile man. He took away my memories of my child hood. I don't remember playing with my father. It shouldn't be in a dream." Mara stated this factually and didn't seem disturbed by it. Simply frustrated that she was being tormented with something she had never had. A real family.

Luke frowned. "Well...maybe he locked away those memories. Maybe those dreams are a subconscious way for you to remember a happy and innocent time in your life."

"Maybe." She didn't sound entirely convinced.

Luke was struck with an idea. "Mara...do you trust me?"

"You think I'd sleep in the same bed as a man for over ten years if I didn't trust him?"

"Fair enough." Luke said. "But...I'm proposing something strange. A little invasive."

Mara nodded. "Go on."

"What if I could unlock those memories? Maybe you could remember something in your life beyond Palpatine."

"That's a closed part of my life, Luke. Now I have you and Ben and this Academy. I don't need anything else. I'm content with my life as it is."

"I respect that Mara but...I feel like you'll always be limited because you only remember the man who murdered your family. Maybe if you can remember your childhood you'll get a sense of closure. An understanding of your life and your family. Who knows what that might give you?"

"Keep going." Mara said.

"I know your happy with your life now. I thought I had closure after I came to terms with Vader being my father. But when I realized that Anakin Skywalker not Vader was the man who was responsible for my birth I felt infinitely better. Maybe if you learn who your true parents are you'll have full closure as well."

Mara smiled. "You've convinced me farmboy."

"That was the goal."

"What do I need to do now?"

"Just sit here and relax. I'm going to probe your mind. Just realize that you can't hide anything from me. I need total acess and I know that's not what you want to hear but-"

"-but it's the only choice. I understand."

Luke nodded as Mara sat up. She pulled her legs up from other the blanket and sat in a meditation position. Luke sat across from her and slowly extended his arms. He his hands on each side of her head. He projected himself into her mind as soothingly as he could. Slowly he found himself worming back through the years. Epic lightsaber battles and blaster fights that had filled the majority of their memories passed him by. The deeper he went the more violent her memories became. Yet Luke didn't stop to judge or even observe them. Those had been different times for Mara Jade. Traveling through her mind was like swimming upstream in a river and soon it became as difficult as trudging through the icy terrain of Hoth. It wasn't long before he found himself standing in front of a massive iron door with no key. OPEN. No response. OPEN. It soon became clear what Luke would have to do and he slowly began to withdraw from her mind. He didn't want to.

Yet before he could fully remove himself from her consciousness Mara grabbed him by the hand. "Don't stop."

Luke sighed and stepped in front of the iron door again. He raised his hand and summoned a powerful blast of energy. The Force seemed to gather in his palm. He inhaled sharply and pushed. Mara winced but didn't end their meld. He stepped through the door and soon found himself standing in the clearing of a jungle. A young dark haired boy was running through the clearing, his father chasing. The father sported massive dreadlocks that tumbled from his shoulders. He was tall, broad shouldered and wore simple brown robes. Luke glanced towards the hut in the clearing and noticed a woman with vibrant pink hair holding a child. Luke stepped forwad and watched as the man reached down and plucked the child from the ground before tossing him in the air. As he did his robe shifted and exposed a single-hilt lightsaber. Then Luke heard the roar of a Wookiee and the environment changed. The same man was charging towards a hunchbacked figure wearing black robes. His lightsaber was raised but it was all for naught. The man was blasted away and the smell of cooked flesh filled the air. Palpatine

The only remaining figure was the small child, squealing as the hooded man bent over and picked her up. The man turned towards Luke and smiled sinisterly before raising his hand and firing a blast of lightning at Luke. It struck him full in the chest and the next thing he knew he was soaring through the air and crashing against the floor of his bedroom. Luke sat up and raised his left hand to his nose. He lifted it away and saw blood. Mara jumped up from the bed and approached him. Her eyes were widened and her hair was frazzled. It looked as if the memories that had been locked away were slowly coming back to her. But all she was concerned about for now was her husband. "Farmboy!" Mara snapped her fingers in front of her husband's eyes. "Get back to reality. Are you alright?"

Luke ignored her question as he slowly stared at Mara. Not with fear but with a greater understanding of her origin which only fed his curiosity. "Mara...are you entirely certain that you're fully human?"

Scary stuff with the tassel.

Lumiya?

Luke has a good reason to ask that last question.

Great update!

Lumiya? Who said it was Lumiya? >_> <_< As you may have been able to tell this story is going to be influenced by LoTF. Not too much but that's where I got the idea of the tassel and dark woman/dark man.

As far as the last question that's just me throwing in a random headcanon I've harbored for years. I guess we'll see where that goes.

this pretty good. but what year does this take place in?

I read through this in between spots of working on Nano but didn't have a chance to respond. I like this AU and am excited to read more. Mara not being entirely human is very interesting. If you're tagging, I'd like one, please!

25 ABY. Jacen/Jaina/Anakin are 15/16, Luke/Mara/Leia are around 43 and Han is presumably in his late forties or early fifties.

I'm glad you do! I'll be tagging you in my next post which should be by the end of the week.

@ginchy @Lady_Misty


OOC: Here's my next chapter! Since you've all been really awesome about reviews I thought I'd let you in on a snippet of a few characters that I'm inserting into the story as we go. A Jedi Prince named Ken, Danni Quee and someone who was named in the likeness of Qui-Gon Jinn! There might be a few typos in this chapter since I had to write this in Word Pad. Anyway: On with the story!

Chapter 5

Anakin did his best not to focus on the crowd.


He wasn't entirely sure why his Uncle had decided to allow the Twi’Lek to watch Jedi training sessions. From a purely political point of view it made sense. As a matter of fact it made sense from virtually any point you looked at it. The fact of the matter was that Anakin had trouble focusing because four attractive pretty women were watching him fight. He knew that these women needed a distraction and some form of entertainment. He also knew that a Jedi needed to learn how to stay disciplined and focused. Yet the fact that Jedi Battlemaster Kyle Katarn had allowed them to come into the dueling center and watch was pure torture. He had a feeling that Master Katarn was using this as a test. Hormones and emotions were not needed during a duel. Pride and sensuality were two key aspects of this lesson and Anakin felt like he was sorely losing in both departments.




“Ready to get your butt kicked?” One of Anakin’s best friends Valin Horn grinned cheekily as he unclipped his training lightsaber from his belt. At the age of fifteen both Anakin and Valin hadn’t quite earned the rite of passage to build and wield their own lightsabers. From what Anakin knew of Jacen and Jaina’s training he was less than six months away from that goal. For now they’d be using training lightsabers. Luckily the two of them had advanced as Jedi Apprentices well enough to freely wear their training lightsabers wherever they went. Yet Anakin couldn't wait for the day when he could settle down and create his own weapon. Jaina was the most talented pilot and strategist amongst their siblings, Jacen was arguably the most intelligent and versatile. Anakin’s skill lied in leadership and engineering. He was certain that he’d be able to handily create and wield his own lightsaber...once he earned it.




“You presume too much Knight Horn.”




“Both of you presume too much.” Kyle’s voice boomed across the dueling center as he leaned against a nearby wall next to the giggling Twi’Leks. “Jedi don’t spend all their time gloating and measuring their opponent. Admittedly there’s a time for that but that time isn't now.”




“Yes, Master.” The pair said at the same time.




Anakin ignited his lightsaber and a blue blade extended from the hilt. Valin did the same and ignited his own blue blade. Anakin watched Valin as his friend assumed a defensive guard. He wasn’t entirely sure what lightsaber style Valin was going for. From what he had seen of Master Horn the man’s lightsaber style was highly unorthodox and seemed to mix many of the styles he had studied in the past. Valin definitely took after his father in many aspects. Which meant that he lacked significant skill in telekinesis. Anakin knew that Valin more than made up for it in other skills but it was still a weakness. Yet he wasn’t going to exploit it now. They stood there for a full minute. Soon it became clear that Valin wasn’t going to attack first. Anakin sighed and quickly made his move.




He stepped towards the brown-haired teenager and slashed at his shoulder. Valin didn’t even bother to block and instead danced away from the blade. Anakin realized what type of game they would be playing. It looked as if Valin wouldn't be directly engaging Anakin unless he had to. Which told him that either Valin felt he was the weaker duelist or that Valin was actually trying his hand at a defensive strategy. Either choice seemed likely. Anakin decided to go ahead and be the offensive attacker and stepped forward. He moved on Valin so fast that the Corellian couldn’t move away. He swung his blade at Valin’s midsection and reversed it quickly and again slashed at his right knee. Valin moved his leg just in time and took advantage of Anakin’s gap in defense by swing at his neck. Anakin stepped backwards so quickly he nearly lost his balance.






“Very good.” Anakin was surprised to hear the compliment. “Lightsaber battles don’t always include clashing your blades together for years on end like a bunch of Hapan royal guardsman.”




Valin quickly nodded at Kyle before he advanced at Anakin. Anakin sensed a sudden jab of pain in his kidney and swiftly swung his blade down to block a jab at his midsection. Valin took that in stride and altered the trajectory of his blade, now aiming at his chest. Anakin brought his blade up but not fast enough. The weapon grazed his chest and he winced. He stumbled backwards and felt a surge of amusement from Alema. She was the only Force-Sensitive Twi’Lek in the bunch. Anakin had met her earlier. Often times she said things that just made him uncomfortable and despite that he did like hanging out with her. His distraction earned another slash at his shoulder that he barely blocked.




“Focus!”



Anakin felt a sudden rush of frustration. He was fifteen. He wasn’t entirely sure how Kyle wanted him to focus while his hormones were pounding away at his judgment and reason. He glanced at Valin and wondered exactly how his friend was dealing with this. Yet as Anakin continued to fight on the defensive he realized that he was focusing on these women far more than he usually would. He had been around his fair share of pretty females and had somehow managed to maintain his focus on his studies and work. Anakin looked into Valin’s green eyes and saw a smirk. Anakin grit his teeth in both annoyance and amazement. Valin was toying with him. He was using his mental abilities to amplify Anakin’s focus on the girls! That was the only explanation he could think of. If Valin wanted to do that than Anakin had no problem with telekinesis.



Valin stabbed at Anakin’s gut and Anakin swiftly deflected the blow and bounced away. When he was a good yard from Valin he closed his eyes and strived to focus on the pinpoint of his lust. There he found the seed that Valin had implanted in his mind. Anakin focused on the images rushing through his head and as he opened his eyes he sent a powerful mental blast that reciprocated what he was feeling towards Valin. Valin blinked as he too found himself distracted by the teenage Twi’Lek in the room. Anakin grinned. The Corellian was dealing with twice-fold the distraction that Anakin had. Once he had realized what was going on it hadn’t been hard to hit him back. Valin’s head shifted towards the girls in the corner and Anakin used that time to bound forward. Valin shifted towards Anakin just in time to block a slash to his head but he was unable to deflect the blast of TK that sent him tumbling to his feet. Valin tried to stand but found a humming bar of blue energy under his neck. “Yield.”



Valin nodded as the room erupted into cheers. Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and helped Valin to his feet. “How did you know?” He muttered under his breath in Anakin’s ear.



“Cuz I don’t care about blue boobs nearly as much as you do.” Anakin cracked. Valin blushed and punched him on the shoulder but said nothing. As they congratulated each other Kyle Katarn strode forward.



“You both did a good job. I can see that Anakin was quite fooled for the majority of the duel but he ultimately bested you Valin. If you seek to fight your opponent on both physical and mental grounds be prepared to defend yourself on both ends. Other than that both of you had sloppy footwork and your moves were so predictable that I found myself nodding off. Work on your form and you’ll be able to handle any Sith on your worst day.”



The two Jedi Adepts nodded humbly and as they did the comm units on their belts buzzed. Kyle’s did as well and he glanced at his belt before he turned to his trainees. “It looks like Grandmaster Skywalker is calling a meeting for the Jedi. We’ll meet in the auditorium. I’d suggest you wash up and hurry there. You know how much hygiene counts on this blasted moon.”

---

The Med Bay of the Jedi Academy was nearly filled to the brim. It was nothing too serious. A few engine burns from a malfunctioning air speeder, a couple of Jedi Apprentices with broken appendages and a mild rash of jungle fever. As Luke Skywalker entered the med bay yet again with two glasses of water he sent out a soothing presence to those who were trapped to their beds. He wouldn't have brought Mara here for a blood test if Cighal was too busy with her other patients but normally she wasn’t. As he crossed the med bay he nearly bumped into her apprentice Tekli. The Chadra-Fan nearly bumped into him and Luke quickly used the Force to stop himself from spilling water on her. “Sorry, master!” She squeaked as she came to a halt and bowed hastily.



“It’s alright, Tekli.” Luke said with a warm smile. “Are Master Cighal and my wife in her office?”



“Yes, master.”



Luke nodded. “Thanks. Good job with your patients, by the way. There presences are calm in The Force.”



The young woman beamed and nodded before the two of them split ways.

Luke continued towards Cighal's office and soon found Mara sitting across from the Calamarian. Cighal held a datapad in her hands and when Luke entered she inclined her head at him. "Master Skywalker, please sit." Luke nodded and lowered himself into a chair. He folded his hands into his robe as he turned his attention to Cighal. "Could you explain to me why you first suspected that Mara's origin is not wholly human?"

The impatient side of Luke yearned to know the results but he washed it away. "When I looked into Mara's mind it was all very familiar but it was... foreign to me. I try not to use the Force to invade people's privacy but I've been forced to in the past. While she is very human like I found myself finding parts of her mind that simply were different and alien...yet familiar enough for me to read. It's hard to explain." Luke frowned as he tried to find the right words. "It's like flying a starfighter. I'm used to an X-Wing but all of a sudden I'm in a Z-95..." Mara scowled and punched Luke in the shoulder.

"Watch it farmboy."

Luke grinned before he shrugged. "Same concept. I can still fly it. It's just a little different."

Mara apparently didn't like the idea of her brain being compared to a Z-95 Headhunter but Luke hadn't been able to resist. Cighal's left eye shifted towards Mara and for a moment the two of them enjoyed the small joke before Cighal returned her attention to the datapad in her hand. "It makes sense...I don't need to scan Mara's mind-"

"And I wouldn't let you." Mara interjected firmly.

"But she did allow me to take her blood work and I do I have one more question. Why is that you didn't learn of this during your time as the Emperor's hand?"

Mara paused and pressed her lips together before answering. "Palpatine hated non-humans. He also valued control over those who he coerced into working for him. I think that he just wanted to ignore my blood work and probably had them fabricated for the most part. I've never considered myself anything other than human so it didn't matter to me...until recently."

Cighal nodded yet again. "And it shouldn't matter to you now but if you're biological upbringing is important to know of your origins than I understand. That being said I ran a scan and you are 57% human."

"And the other 43?" Luke questioned as he anxiously leaned forward in his seat. He felt Mara's hand on his forearm almost as if she was trying to calm his excitement.

"Kiffar." Cighal said. "Close enough to humans that it's recognizable but easy to find the traces if you know where to look." She turned to Mara. "Have you ever found yourself with an ability known as psychometry? Being able to-"

"Tell the history of people or things by touching it?" Mara finished the question. She paused in thought. "I swore off many of the skills I used as an assassin when I became a Jedi. Not because I'm afraid of them or think they lead to the dark side. Just because I think that the Light-Side of the Force always has an alternative. I'd occasionally utilize psychometry for interrogations in the past but I always assumed it was the Dark Side...not something biological."

"You swore off your methods as a spy?" Luke suddenly interjected. There was a very slight sense of jealousy in his tone. "I recall you using a certain skill on Ithor..." His tone was carefully neutral but it would seem as if you couldn't erase all the traits of a husband whether you were a Jedi or not.

"I didn't say I swore off all of them." Mara said with a wicked grin. "Hey, us Z-95's aren't afraid to use our joysticks when we need to...then again they are more versatile."

Luke scowled and then his comm unit beeped. He reached into his belt and pulled it out. "Well it appears as if I'm late to my own meeting." He stood to his feet and nodded at Master Cighal. "I may as well tell you now. Before we came here Mara and I realized that the source of her dreams are on the jungle planet of Kashyyyk. We are traveling there in hopes of finding out more about her origins. During that time Master Corran Horn will be the interim Jedi Grandmaster. I am appointing you as his second. I don't think anything too bad will be happening but nevertheless I've talked to General Darklighter and Antilles. They'll be establishing a routine patrol of the system and Yavin IV in case the slavers or anyone else try anything foolish. On top of that I'd ask that you coordinate with the government relief group once they come to pick up the liberated Twi'Lek."

Cighal stood as well and bowed from her waist. "I will do what I must. Corran is a worthy replacement as interim Grandmaster and I will be honored to serve him. I wish you good will on your journey, Master Skywalker. And Mara, I hope that you find what you are looking for."

Mara smiled. "I do too."

As the two of them walked out the room Mara looked down at her own datapad. Cighal had beamed over the information she had found. As they walked out of the medbay Luke was seized with one question. "Mara, what would have to happen for you to use your skills as an assassin to their full capacity again?"

Mara stopped as they entered the hallway and slipped her databad into her belt. "Ben dying." She said simply as she stared right at him. Luke nodded and realized that he could never let that happen. The Jedi weren't supposed to have attachments but he knew that Mara was fiercely attached to her child. He greatly feared what would happened to the killer and Mara herself if her son were to die.

"I'll never let that happen." He vowed solemnly.

Mara smiled. "I know you won't...you care about him as much as I do." She suddenly frowned. "Speaking of which Han said Ben and Jys could stay in the Falcoln with C-3PO during the meeting. I should probably let Corran known it's about to start. His comm isn't working."

Luke grinned. "For someone who cares about her son so much you're definitely willing to let him hang with c-3PO."

"Can it, farmboy."

---

"Just stay here." Corran said firmly. "There are a stack of holovids over there, a dejarik table over here and C-3PO will be waiting on you hand and foot to get you anything you need." He stared down at Ben and Jysella and he couldn't help but feel a little worried. Even when the Millenium Falcon was powered down and on the ground it could be dangerous. If it were up to him Jysella wouldn't be here. But Han had assured him that C-3PO was a perfect babysitter. On top of that Mara Jade was one of his closest friends and was just as concerned about her son as he was his daughter. If she was fine with this than he could be too.

"I wish these kids were spoiled." He muttered to his red-headed friend. "That way I know they'd never leave the room."

Mara snickered. "Same here. Having adventuresome, selfless kids is such a drag at this age. Let's hope we don't get kidnapped while they're still in their formative years."

Ben glanced up from the toy he had been playing with. "I don't want to watch a holovid! I want to explore the temples again with Anakin!"

Mara turned towards Ben and smiled patiently though her Force Aura pointed to the exact opposite emotion. "Except you can't because we have to go to a meeting right now. But we are going to a surprise planet soon and if you behave than you can explore with Anakin then."

Ben beamed.

"Can I come to, daddy?!" Jysella hopped to her feet. "I can share a bed with Ben and we won't make any noi-"

"No!" Corran felt his heart leap into his chest and the sudden pulse of fear caused Jysella to blink with surprise. "I mean er...no." He calmed himself. + Mara turned her head and covered her mouth as she began to laugh. "Sorry....you can go exploring with Ben when they get back. This is a family trip."

"Besides, I don't want to share beds with a girl." Ben snorted as he snatched up his toy.

"And let's hope you never will." Corran muttered. He turned to C-3PO. "You got this buddy?" He said the last sentence in a hurry as he slapped the droid on the back. They were already late. "You two be good. We'll be back in about an hour." He heard murmured agreements from Ben and Jysella though he knew it didn't count for much.

As they descended the ramp Mara was wiping tears from her face. "You need to cool it with that. Every time I see you with Ben and your daughter you have that look in your eyes like you want to neuter him."

"He's a good kid, Mara. It just really sucks when you see yourself in your offspring. All that sense of adventure and what not. I know I should be proud but there's a part of me that wants them to be some pudgy kid from Coruscant who does nothing but eat and lay around with a protocol droid at his beck and call."

"Careful what you wish for. When you find yourself kidnapped and stuck in some prison in Kessel you might be wanting an adventuresome kid with blinding loyalty. You'd be surprised at what they'd do to make sure your safe."

"Hey, I've still got enough muscle to make sure I don't get whisked away from my kids. Thanks for getting me, by the way. My comm unit has been on the fritz. I can't imagine why Luke needs me to come though. I hear he's basically sending a bunch of Jedi on outbound missions and I requested to stay planet-side until Mirax can finally move all her things to Yavin IV so she can help watch the kids." Mara just shrugged. "Anyway...Tekli mentioned that you two were at the medbay, everything all right?"

Mara waved her hand in the air as they moved down the hallway towards the auditorium. "Nothing big. Blood tests and all." He knew that she was being honest but he also knew that she wasn't telling him everything. He shrugged it off. Mara rarely told the whole truth and he couldn't blame her. He just hoped she was alright. Not that he was going to pry into her business. If there was anything too bad going on than he was sure she'd tell him. "Oh...can I ask you something?" Mara suddenly grasped Corran's elbow as they stepped in front of the doors to the auditorium.

Corran shrugged. "Shoot."

"When...you learned your grandfather was a Jedi. Did you find yourself under any pressure when you trained to become a Jedi? Did you feel like you had some type of legacy to uphold?"

Corran grinned. "That's something you should ask Luke."

Mara's eyes narrowed as she let go of Corran's arm. "It's something I'm asking you."

Corran nodded and frowned in thought. "You know, believe it or not I actually have a kriffing journal about me training as a Jedi. I rambled quite abit about my grandfather in it and I doubt anyone would want to read it." He scratched his beard. "Honestly? Yeah, there was some pressure. I got over it though. You have to. If you allow yourself to be defined by your parents our your destiny than you don't allow yourself room to grow. Besides, my family has always defined itself as Corellian more than anything else. My grandfather didn't let the Jedi Code keep him from having children or living the life he wanted to live. I won't let it either."

Mara's facial features relaxed somewhat. "That's exactly what I needed to here. Now let's get in there. I'm sure we've missed my husband's passive-aggressive lecture about Kyp and his dozen by now."

Corran grinned playfully as he opened the door. "That's my favorite part."

---

"Looks like you won't be joining the Dozen anytime soon, Jaina."

"I doubt she'd do that good of a job. She'd be too busy being seduced by Kyp's voice over the comm."

Jaina scowled and shunted her elbows out either way at her two brothers sitting around her. They both grunted in pain as she struck them on their respective arms.

"You know...responding with violence only confirms what I just said."

"So very un-Jedi like of you Jaina."

"Agreed."

Jaina shook her head as a loose strand of brown hair managed to slip out of her ponytail. "You two finally agreeing on philosophy? I never thought I'd see the day. Maybe I need to start hitting you more. Will that stop the arguing?" Anakin winced as he sat up, rubbing his right shoulder.

"Probably." Anakin admitted.

She snorted.

Luke who had just finished speaking about the duty of the Jedi as defenders instead of aggressors was now letting their mother speak about the Twi'Lek's presence on the auditorium. Jaina had a feeling that it was only common Jedi restraint that kept the males from hooting and making cat calls about the news. What these very Jedi failed to explain was that their true feelings were boiling through The Force much louder than a cat call could. Jacen was barely managing to restrain his excitement. Anakin seemed to be thinking about one Twi'Lek in particular. Jaina couldn't help but be amused. Anakin would always be close to Tahiri but lately Alema had been flirting with him in mature ways that Tahiri hadn't exactly masted yet. To Jaina it was amusing but she had a feeling she'd have to step in before Anakin wound up hurting Tahiri's feelings over doing something foolish or hormonal.

"So please...restrain yourselves. They need to be treated with respect and privacy. They've been through a rough ordeal." Leia stepped away from the podium and Luke stood up yet again.

"Thanks sis." He shot a grin at Jaina's mother before he turned back to the podium. "Now...for everyone's favorite part of these meetings. As you all know we had to launch a starfighter squadron in an effort to protect Yavin IV from a Star Destroyer following Durron and the slave ship. We were able to drive them off. Yet the fact that they were brazen enough to approach this star system knowing that it's teemed with Jedi concerns me. As a result I've called in a favor. General Wedge Antilles and General Darklighter have agreed to send the Rogue Squadron here to patrol and possibly protect Yavin IV from any danger. I ask that you give them the courtesy and respect that they may desire if they come planet side. Do keep in mind that they're pilots and as a result may be a bit...rougher around the edges than one might think."

Many of the Jedi were former military who had fought against the Empire. As a result Luke wasn't too concerned about their being any problems. He just figured it wouldn't hurt reminding these people that they'd be dealing with pilots who hadn't sworn off pride or arrogance. While he did trust Gavin and Wedge he had a feeling that Borsk might have a few loyalists flying with the Rogues. He was hoping the Jedi wouldn't give these pilots any reason to report back to Borsk with complaints. Luke had just gotten the word "think" out of his mouth when Wurth Skidder raised his hand. Luke barely managed to repress a sigh. "Wurth?" The blond Jedi stood to his feet.

"I'm certain that we can protect ourselves just fine." He said as he stuck his thumbs into his belt. "Not sure if I trust anyone else in our star system anyway. The government isn't too happy with how we run things...or were you just saying that to make a point about Kyp?"

Luke was about to respond when Kyp Durron himself stood to his feet. "I'm sorry Master Skywalker...what my ah, pilot meant was that we are capable of defending ourselves."

Luke smiled."And I understand but you cannot let your arrogance in your own abilities blind you from the fact that Jedi need help too. I trust the Rogues with my life. I actually formed the original squadron. They'll be fine here. Besides, I need the Dozen for a mission on my own." A murmur of surprsie sweapt through the crowd and Jaina sat up. Was this her chance?

"My niece Jaina noticed Chiss Ascendancy marks on the side of the Star Destroyer. There was another marking that she took a photo of as well. After some investigation I've come to believe that the Star Destroyer was stolen from the Chiss by the slavers. I want the Dozen to travel into Chiss Space and meet with Baron Soontir Fel and try to figure out what organization stole the Star Destroyer and why. Once you do report to me for orders and we'll turn this information over to the New Republic and hopefully they'll handle it as they see fit."

"I know we know why, Master Skywalker." Kyp said. "They used it kidnap innocent people and sell them to the Hutts! Besides, I don't see why we skip the fact-finding mission and stop the problem at the source. I have a man who-"

"That is not how we operate." Luke said firmly. "Besides, I feel that there was more to that attack than slavers. Something tells me they were also looking for something more sinister. Master Durron, if you didn't always narrow your focus on aggression than you could see beyond that. If you truly opened your mind to all aspects of that attack than you'd see that there was something more sinister at work. That is why you are going on that mission. If you feel that you're not worthy than you can perhaps swap with Rogue Squadron..."

Kyp frowned and bowed his head. "That will be fine, Master. I'm honored that you think my diplomatic skills are in tune enough to deal with an organization as elusive as the Chiss."

"Don't give yourself too much credit, Kyp. We've given them ample warning that a gun-crazy Jedi Master is swinging by." Mara quipped with a grin.

Laughter moved through the crowd and Luke held up his hand to calm them. "I am assinging Jaden Korr and Jaina Solo to your squadron as well. Jaden has great experience with investigation and Jaina has proven herself to be a skilled pilot. I have also arranged for Jedi Master Keyan Farlander to work as our official diplomat to Soontir Fel. I will ask that you work under his command once you rendezvous with him." Jaina sat up in her seat and her suprise shone through the room as if it was bright beacon. Luke smiled. "You will be leaving in three standard days. I'm sure you will be able to get to the root of the problem. Just remember to think of yourself as those who are defending the peace. Not out looking for trouble." These words seemed to be targeted at Jaina in particular rather than the rest of the Dozen. "Jaden is handling a dispute on Klatooine but he'll be ready to meet you there."

Luke didn't sense any hostile emotions from the members of the Dozen. Doubt, anticipation but nothing hostile. He'd debrief them on more details tomorrow. He had faith in them. He was just hoping that Kyp Durron could actually handle leading a mission that didn't involve blasting things away just because they were there. "In the meanwhile I'll be traveling to Kashyyyk with my wife on a more personal fact-finding mission. We feel that there might have been an old Jedi Conclave and think there might be more information about the Old Jedi Order there. I was hoping that Lowbacca, Anakin, Valin and Tahiri would come with me. I understand that Lowbacca wishes to visit his family. The latter have proven themselves to be ready for their next step in training and Kashyyyk is where that place will be."




"Now for the last mission." Luke moved on smoothly. "I would request that Kyle Katarn and Jacen Solo go on a fact finding mission for something we found on the slave ship. It's of utmost importance and for now will demand secrecy. It's alright for the people in this room to know but for the sake of secrecy I cannot tell you all what is being investigated. Just that it's the reason why the Dozen are heading into Chiss Space in the first place. For now Jacen, Kyle will be taking over your training since we don't know how long this fact-finding mission will last." He had a feeling that Kyp was going to protest about his ignorance over this mission but Luke decided that it was time for this meeting to end. "All questions can be addressed during the debriefing tomorrow for the Dozen. During my time away from Yavin IV Corran Horn will be serving as Interim Grandmaster while I'm gone. He will coordinate with the Rogues and be responsible for handling missions and the government." He grinned as he glanced at Corran. "If you accept, that is."


"You take out the "dealing with the government part" and we have a deal."


"I'm afraid we can't do that."


Corran Horn sighed noisily and slumped in his seat. "Fine."


Luke grinned. "For now everyone is dismissed."

Loved the teasing and more on Mara. That psychometry skill sounds handy Looking forward to the various missions. What I really love is that it isn't just the "youngsters" who get to have all the adventures.

I realized I forgot to post the "Dozens and Two" roster so I figured I'd go ahead and do that now!

Dozens and Two Avengers Roster

Kyp Durron - Leader
Jaden Korr - Soon to be Appointed XO
Wurth Skidder - Dozen Three
Miko Reglia - Dozen Four
Saba Sebtyne - Dozen Five
Octa Ramis - Dozen Six
Ganner Rhysode - Dozen 7
Jaina Solo - Dozen 8
Raynar Thul - Dozen 9
Sanola Ti - Dozen 10
Dyon Stadd - Dozen 11
Thann Mithric - Dozen 12

I basically had to look up a bunch of Jedi and as a result continuity has been shifted around. Raynar and Sanola were a couple of years older than Jaina and on their way to be knighted. Dyon was invited by Kyp Durron to join the Dozen and Two after he left the Order. I will hopefully be able to explain all this IC. Sorry, it is a bit tough to juggle so many characters in this story but I'll try harder!