Beyond - Legends Star Wars: Balance of Power (AU, Action, Drama, Romance, OC's and CC's)--9/27/12

Title: Balance of Power: The Sithious trilogy (Book 1)
Author: mrjop2
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance (Everything you get with the six movies)
Characters: See Personnel List below
Timeframe: Nearly a generation after Return of the Jedi. Completly AU, though I do bring in characters that I did like from the novels,
Summary: A new threat jeapordized the galaxy, and threatens to re-ignite the galaxy into war.
Disclaimer:This is your typical disclaimer, I don't own Star Wars, and the story is not meant to infringe on copyright laws. This is just for our entertainment.

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Jade_eyes
Hazel


CHARACTERS LIST

HEROS
Jada: Human Female, Jedi Knight
Luke Skywalker:Human Male, Jedi Grand Master
Jacen Solo:: Human Male, Jedi Master
Anakin Solo: Human Male, Jedi Knight
Jaina Solo: Human Female, Republic Senator of Coruscant
Baron Barkley: Human Male, Admiral in the Galacitc Freedom Alliance military (Formerly known as the Galactic Empire)
Titinya Barkley: Human Female, Niece to Admiral Baron Barkley
Wedge Antilles: Human Male, Republic Senator of Corellia
Gideon Mars: Human Male, Smuggler/Con artist
Lo Monar: Aquala Male, Republic senator of Ando.
Kyp Durron: Human Male, Jedi Master
Fal'lya: Bothan female, current Minister of state, daughter of former Chief of State Fel'lya
Kronos Valnor: Human male, current Chief of State of the New Republic
Ba Balrosa: Gran Male, Republic Senator of Kinyan.
Vess Kauff: Chiss Female, a Senator of the GFA senate.
Dru Levion: Human, male, leader of Ravage Squadron of the Corellian Defense Force
Wes Korla: human, male, leader of Core Squadron of the Corellian Defense Force


VILLIANS
Kartel: Humane, Male
Sithious: Human, Male Sith Master
Darth Bison: Anzati, Male Sith Apprentice
Dark Krull: Gen'Dai Male, Sith Apprentice
Tojar: Mandalorian, Male. Jedi Hunter
Darth Kahn:Dathomirian Zabrak Male, Sith Apprentice
Zsar Tjek: Dathomirian Female, Queen of the Nightsisters.
Rotta: Hutt Hermaphrodite, Son of Jabba the Hutt, new crimelord of the criminal syndicate on Tatooine


STAR WARS
BALANCE OF POWER

The galaxy had been enjoying a time of peace of prosperity, despite a growing distrust of the Galactic Freedom Alliance, built out of the remains of the once menacing Galactic Empire. The treaty between these two governments has been uneasy, at best, and has been threatened by the assassination of former Chief of State: Leia Organa Solo, and her husband: Ambassador Han Solo.

Five years have passed, but rumors continue to run amuck, that the GFA was responsible for the assassination, and the number of Senators joining the cause for war is growing rapidly. The Jedi?s investigation has led them to track down a bounty hunter about to do business with a smuggler on the hot and dusty planet of Tatooine.


Chapter 1

The desert sands of Tatooine were scorching hot by mid-day; the two suns were unrelentingly beating down on the sandy surface. Only those who were native to Tatooine had the resistance to endure the extreme heat. Those who had not grown up here, especially humans, had to keep covered from head to toe.

Walking through the village of Mos Eisley were your average scum and villains. The rotten smell of exhaust from speeders and the different animals was the common aroma here. Hundreds of giant beasts could be found roaming through the dusty streets at all times of the day.

A hooded figure drifted between the crowds as swiftly as the wind. As he passed a doorway leading to docking bay 12, a slug-like alien stepped out from the shadow. His wobbling yellow eyes focused on the other figure and with its slimy right tentacle-like hand, brought his communicator up to the tiny slit below its two nostril holes. He radioed his status in his native tongue and f

 

I like everything about this LOL first the title, then the fact it's the first part of a trilogy and the action packed start

I would like PMs when you update, please.

 

An intriguing start! Add me to your PM list?

Bel

 

Thank you! You both are on the PM list!

 

Chapter 2

Without her robe, Jada had a much more difficult time blending in. Mos Eisley was not a place for modest women, and very few women tended to take up smuggling or get involved in the crime syndicate. Hiding without a cloak was near impossible. She took a few seconds to use the Jedi mind trick to swindle a cloak from another humanoid that was close to her size. It was a black robe, and very similar to a Jedi robe, in design. Black was not her favorite color in the least, but under these circumstances, she could not afford to be picky.

Under normal circumstances, it would take her no time at all to get to docking bay thirty-four, but the movement of the Freedom Alliance forces was keeping her from taking the direct route there. She was using the Force to zig-zag through the streets of Mos Eisley to avoid any uneeded confrontations. She had to assume that all the docking bays were guarded, so she knew that she would have to fight to get to her ship. Until then, she wanted to avoid running into them.

She walked cautiously through the crowded street. It was littered with people of all different species. She looked over to a small shop which was being run by a Toydarian. Three Freedom Alliance soldiers were asking questions to the shop owner, no doubt asking if he had seen her. She focused as hard as she could on not getting noticed by the soldiers that she nearly tripped over a Dug.

The alien quickly riled himself up, cursing at her in his native Dug language. ?(Stupid imbecile! I?m gonna?)?

She flashed her lightsaber behind her robe, hoping it will quiet him down before they attracted the attention of the soldiers. The moment the Dug saw the weapon, he retreated. ?Jedi Poodoo!?

Jada pressed on towards docking bay thirty-four. After taking the long way there, she reached the entrance without any further incidents. Standing guard were two Freedom Alliance soldiers with their blaster rifles prepped for assault. Remaining calm, she approached the door when one of the soldiers raised the palm of his right hand. ?Halt! No one may leave this planet until we have apprehended a dangerous fugitive on the loose in this city.?

Keeping her face hidden by the hood of her cloak, she slowly waved her right hand in front of the soldier. ?You?re not the one we?re looking for; you may pass.?

The soldier showed no signs of being influenced by her mind trick. ?Wait, you?re the Jedi!?

With no time to ponder on why her mind trick failed on both soldiers, she reached out in the Force, hoisted them off their feet, and slammed them into the wall. The two soldiers fell to the ground, freeing her to enter the docking bay unhindered.

Knowing that the Freedom Alliance was, by now, making their way there, she hastily ran down the two flights of steps. At the bottom of the steps, she came to an extended doorway. The Docking bay was one big circle, with two sections. The outer section contained durasteel storage containers full of tools and supplies for any traveler that docked at the city?s space port. The inner section was where her ship was parked: dead center of the circle. There was no rooftop or anything to keep her from taking off and leaving Tatooine.

The docking bay was clear of any further soldiers at this moment, which was a relief; she had feared that they might have known what kind of ship she was traveling in. If they had, there would be many more soldiers there to stop her from getting onboard. She was glad that decided to come in this apprehended smuggling shuttle instead of a Coruscant shuttle.

Wasting no time, she pranced towards her shuttle. At the last second, she felt the Force warn her to stop. Having learned from past mistakes, she listed to the warning in her head and stopped. She stopped so abruptly, that she nearly fell flat on her face. She corrected herself just as her shuttle exploded into a ball of flames.

So much for the Freedom Alliance not knowing which ship was hers; this could only mean that they knew she was going to be here. This was supposed to be her trap for the bounty hunter Ty-Kra?, bu

 

Chapter 3

As the ?soldiers? started to fall, by Jada?s reflecting the shots back at the shooters, piles of robotic limbs started to pile up. She was not fighting against humans, but a clan of androids. This did make her feel better about killing them, but at the same time, this development only added to her confusion. Either the Freedom Alliance was secretly creating a new generation of droids to launch an attack on the New Republic, or there was a third party trying to get something started.

The ?soldiers? were starting to grow too big, and she was starting to grow weary. She had to find a way to escape. She waited for the right moment, and when the opportunity came, she reached out with the Force and threw a large chunk of the burning wreckage, which used to be her ship, at the droids. Robotic limbs shattered in all directions as the debris mowed them down.

She turned to run for the back exit out of the docking bay. Right before reaching the door, however, it slid open and the smuggler who was doing business with the bounty hunter was standing there with a blaster in each hand. ?Care to move??

She did as he suggested, allowing him to fire his two blasters at the new set of droids entering the docking bay. His shots never missed their targets, and with two blasters, he was able to drop them like flies. Jada had no idea why he was interjecting himself into this fight, but she could assume that it was more for his well being than hers. She had a bad feeling that she now had another person that she was going to have to keep safe.

?So what made you decide to risk your life when you didn?t have to?? Jada asked while deflecting another shot. He knew exactly who he was and what his reputation was like. He never helped anyone unless it was beneficial for himself.

?Call it a momentary lapse of judgment, honey!? Gideon replied. ?This exit is no good. We?re about to have company.?

Jada nearly hissed at being called ?honey?, but now was not the time to correct him. The more immediate need was to find a way out of this docking bay. ?There?s no other way out of here.?

?Spoken like a true naïve tourist,? Gideon replied. ?Every docking bay has a hidden exit used by smugglers to disappear when they?re being tracked. You forget, this ain?t the republic out here, babe.?

?Shut up, and find it already,? Jada snapped.

She followed him down the outer corridor of the docking bay. The wall brought them some relief from the enemy fire, but there were large gaps that they had to worry about. Not only that, they were heading in the direction of the droids; it would not take much time at all for them to file into the outer corridor. Luckily, there were a series of cargo crates stacked three high which shielded them from view and, at the same time, narrowed the corridor in half.

Gideon stopped at one of the groups of crates, as Jada could already hear the footsteps of the droids entering the corridor. At the other end of the corridor, she had a clear view of the back door, which was supposedly going to have more droids entering the docking bay at any moment. As Gideon warned, the door did slide open, but there were no droids on the other side of the door, just Ty-Kra? and his two pals.

Reaching out in the Force, she caused the sliding door to shut before they had the chance to enter the outer corridor. As much as she would have liked to go after Ty-Kra?, and finish her mission, that was impossible under the current circumstances. Yet, getting through the three Trandoshans would not have been as big as a problem as Gideon made it out to be.

Gideon found a hidden switch, and a door formed on the stack of crates. Those three crates were made to look like real crates to hide this secret smuggler?s tunnel. Inside the doorway was a ladder that led below the docking bay. ?Down you go.?

Jada frowned, and instead of using the ladder, she merely leaped down and softened her landing at the bottom with the Force. Surrounded by pitch black, she reignited her blade and used its radiance to light the way. She was now waiting f

 

Okay, I'm hooked!

Who's this guy Gideon, Why is he channeling Han and What is he doing with the Falcon?

I must know more.

 

Hey, thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

I will try my best to have a chapter up within every seven days, so stop by occasionally, or the story does have a PM list.

 

I think I would like PMs. Thanks!

 

Chapter 4

Hawk, that was what the smuggler called his ship, blazed through the sky as it raced into the upper atmosphere; that. Jada sat in the passenger seat behind Gideon Mars, wishing she could sit up-front. She needed to be sure that he was not going to pull a fast one and take them somewhere other than Coruscant.

She caught herself staring at the droid that used to be Threepio. She never imagined she would miss the droid?s quirkiness. The droid had a tendency to get on the nerves of anyone he was around; it took someone born with extreme patience and kindness to handle his neurotic innocence. With any other personality around him, his gentleness had a tendency to turn into agitation. Despite his annoying habits, nearly everyone saw him more than just a droid; he was a one-of-a-kind friend.

The ship shook as it raced out into the planet?s upper atmosphere. Jada used the back of the co-pilot?s seat to steady herself. As she did, she saw a metal box slide, similar to the one that carried the Coraxian cables that he tried to sell the bounty hunter. Curiosity got the better of her; she reached down, grabbed a hold of it, and placed it onto her lap. Much to her surprise, the case was not locked. Gideon had not expected another life form to be hitching a ride with him, but still... a good smuggler would not take such a reckless risk.

She opened the durasteel case to find it full of the same blue-white crystals. "So this is what you were trying to sell?? She asked.

Gideon shot her a glance back, before returning his focus onto pilot the ship. He knew what was coming, and there was no point in trying to deceive a Jedi. ?Okay, let?s hear it,?

?You were trying to swindle Ty-Kra? with these? I?ve never seen such a poor replicas in my life; These aren?t even the right color."

?And your point being??

?The point being is that you?re not a smuggler... you?re a con-artist... a swindler,? Jada replied coldly as she closed the case and placed it back under her seat.

?Hey!? He held up a finger at her. ?I only swindle bounty hunters, thugs... you know, your typical low-life dirt bags that make a living hurting others. I never?NEVER?cheat an honest client. That?s just bad business.?

Jada grinned. ?Does telling yourself that comfort you from the guilt you feel??

Gideon muttered underneath his breath. ?I knew this was gonna be a mistake.?

?If you two are ?click-click? done, we?ve got a problem! There are ?click-click? three war cruisers coming to intercept us!?

?Hawk, tell me what we?re up against?? He asked. They had not reached the blackness of space yet, and he was not one for surprises. If he could find out whom he was up against before getting into space that would give him an advantage.

?I ?click-click? am unable to identify. They are ?click-click? not of any known class. They do ?click-click? have the appearances of...?

The blue sky faded into the emptiness of space, painted with the stars of a million suns. Unfortunately, space was not as empty as it should have been, as three very familiar shaped war ships were there to greet them. ?Imperial-class Star Destroyers??

This was a puzzling development to say the least. The Imperial-class Star Destroyers were all retired when the Imperial remnant became the Freedom Alliance. Starting a new government, the alliance wanted a brand new class of cruisers and defenders to help erase the memories of the evil Empire. It has been a decade since the last Star Destroyer was seen in this galaxy.

?Not ?click-click? exactly,? The ship?s artificial intelligence reported. ?These ships ?click-click? appear to be modified from the ?click-click? original designs. These ships have been ?click-click? upgraded.?

?Imperial III-class Star Destroyers??

* * * *

The bounty hunter had failed, and now they had to clean up his mess. Despite the downward spiral that the plan had taken, his master, Lord Sithious, remained calm and collected. Yet again, Kartel failed to understand his lack of reaction. The whole purpose of this set up, as far as he understood it, was to al

 

There certainly a whole lot of Darths hanging around! Not good for the good guys.

 

Yep! This story will deal with there not being more than 2 sith at a time, rule, and why Sithious seems to be able to bend that rule.

 

Chapter 5

Kartel cut the transmission. Now, more confused than ever, he approached his master, whose chair was facing the window. Sensing his approach, Sithious pressed a button on his armrest, which caused the chair to spin around. ?Report.?

Kartel knelt down on one knee , looking downward, not daring to look his master in the eyes. ?The three Trandoshan bounty hunters are dead, as you have commanded.?

A crooked smiled appeared on his young face. ?Good. There is no stopping the war now. Everything is happening as I have foreseen it.?

?Yes, my master,? Kartel replied solemnly. His mind was so busy trying to understand this plan, that he failed to excuse himself.

His failure did not escape the dark lord?s notice. ?You have trouble grasping my plan with your feeble mind.?

Kartel lost his composure and looked up at him. He had not meant to attract his master to his thoughts of confusion. Sithious had a very short tempter, and Kartel knew that he had already used up a lot of his master?s good grace. If he continued to hound him for explanations, his patience would come to an end. ?Yes, my master.?

?I will give you a little... taste of what I have done. See if you can figure it out despite your incompetence; if you can?t, then you you?ll just have to go on living in your own ignorance.?

?Yes, my master,? Kartel replied, surprised to be even given this much information. As long as he knew the dark lord, he preferred everyone to live in ignorance of his plan. The man was arrogant in every manner of the word.

?I was the one who hired the Trandoshans to assassinate Chief of State Solo and her husband. Their deaths would plant the seed for the next galactic war. I am also the one who made sure that the smuggler, Gideon Mars, was there to witness their fiery end. Everything he thinks he knows points to the Freedom Alliance having attempted the assassination. It is I who also allowed the Jedi to suspect the Trandoshan?s involvement and arranged for the opportunity to capture him on Tatooine. Can you tell me, why I allowed this??

Kartel processed the information presented to him. He carefully processed his thoughts, afraid to come to the wrong conclusion, and deepening the dark lord?s disgust of him. ?You hope to start a war between the two governments in power. The only way to do that is to make the Republic believe that the Freedom Alliance is planning to overthrow them.?

Sithious showed no emotional responses on his face; he only stared down at him with his yellow eyes. ?You are correct, but that?s just stating the obvious. Tell me... the unobvious.?

Kartel was growing more nervous. It almost felt like his life was on the line if he made a single mistake. For all he knew, it could very well be. ?You leak the information to the Jedi order of Trandoshans, even though their capture would ruin any chance of a war between the two governments. Based on your recent orders, I can only guess that you actually wanted them to find Gideon Mars, not the bounty hunter.?

The dark lord nodded. ?Correct. This step of the mission was nothing but a success. We offer the New Republic the smuggler in exchange for the bounty hunters. With their attentions now on him, we?ve killed the only hope they had in discovering the truth.?

Feeling like he passed a major hurdle, he felt bold enough to ask about one problem that he saw. ?If I may ask, my master, how is handing Gideon Mars to the Jedi going to work? The evidence they extract from him will not fool the Jedi for very long.?

Sithious cracked a rare smile on his face. ?This whole plan is not to convince the Jedi, but the senate. It is the senate that has the power to go war. The Jedi are calm, collected, and slow to act; but politicians will mindlessly jump at anything that benefits their desires, whether that is money, political power, war, or even something as noble as peace. Politicians thinks only for the hear and now; they can?t think ten steps ahead. They will pass any bill that may benefit them and their beneficiaries immediately, despite the long term consequences

 

Oooh, schemes under and beneath and behind schemes but that's what Sith are expert at

And, at least now, and probably for quite some time, it appears to be working flawlessly

I do love how Gideon sounds like Han LOL (that's a compliment BTW)

 

Very Sith-like schemes you've got goings there.

I'm dying to know more labour Gideon and the Hawk.

 

Yeah, there's a reason Gideon is sounding like Han Solo, not only to mention that he is from the same planet.

This Sith plot was something I worked really hard on. It had to be complicated trying to get it from the assassination leading all the way to igniting a new war.

 

Chapter 6

A holographic map of the galaxy took up most of the room. Kartel stood beside?s his master?s chair watching a red blip among all the white spots which represented stars and planets. The tracking beacon in the droid?s head was working perfectly, allowing them to see where the smuggler and the Jedi were going. ?It?s puzzling that they?ve veered off like they did. You would think they would be heading towards Coruscant.?

Sithious focus solely on the map. ?That?s because the smuggler and the Jedi are at odds. The Jedi may want to bring him to Corus****, but for reasons, that even I don?t know, he refuses to step foot there. ?

The red dot on the map continued down its course, and the two of them waited until the droid completed his job. Finally the dot disappeared and a red square appeared, marking where the signal was lost. ?Does this mean that they?re dead??

Sithious remained silent for a moment as he took a deep breath and meditated in the Force. ?No, they?re alive.? Tapping on the buttons on his armrest, the holographic map was magnified to focus on the part of the map the red square was. There were two planets in range from the ships last known location. Sithious gave both planets a good look before pointing to the one on the left. ?They?ve crashed landed there.?

?On Ando??

?That is where we will find them,? Sithious assured him.

?Should I send Darth Bison or Darth Krull to deal with them??

Sithous gazed at him as if he could not believe he had asked such a stupid question. ?The Smuggler and the Jedi have served their purpose. Send my apprentice: Darth Kahn, and his pets. He will not fail me.?

Of all the apprentices, Darth Kahn was Kartel?s least favorite. He was a Dathomirian Zabrak with an attitude. The species were long thought to be extinct with the demise of the Nightsisters on Dathomir. They used to be very dangerous, especially when they become dark lords of the Sith, but they were usually quiet individuals. Kahn was the exception. He was loud, aggressive, and extremely deadly. He was in no short supply of confidence in his abilities. The only thing louder than his confidence was his arrogance. Kartel would not be upset in the least to hear that the Jedi kill him on Ando. ?I will inform him, immediately.?

* * * *

Jada opened her eyes as she slowly returned to the waking world. She became aware of a sharp pain coursing through her body as her senses began their self evaluation. The first problem she became aware of was her throbbing head. The pain made it difficult for her to focus her vision. She had to assume that she had hit her head; it was more than likely that she had a concussion. The next thing she noticed was a searing pain in her right arm. She looked over at her upper arm to see it neatly bandaged up in some cloth.

"Well, I was beginning to fear you weren?t going to wake up before nightfall.? Gideon said. He, too, was bandaged up pretty well. ?Sorry if the bandages are not up to your high standards, I?m not all that medically inclined.?

Jada found herself leaning up against the tree. She was looking at the burning remains of the Phantom Hawk, and everything that had transpired came rushing back to her. They had crashed landed on this planet, after luckily managing to steer the ship to one of the few land masses on this mostly aquatic planet.

?It looks like we?re?ungh?stuck here for awhile.? Her body was sore and stiff, but it wouldn?t take much for her to stretch those out of her muscles.

Gideon stared at the wreckage of his ship. ?Sure, it looks pretty grim, but I know someone who can fix ?er up good as new. As for getting off this planet, I think we?ve been strangely fortunate. Not only is Ando a member of the New Republic, but I just happen to have an Aqualish friend who lives here. You can catch a ride back to Coruscant, and I can go my own way; everybody wins!?

Jada fought against the pain to pull herself up onto her feet. ?Our present situation doesn?t change the fact that you?re under my custody. Like it or not, you WILL address the Jedi Council to answer ques

 

Interesting further glimpses into Sithious and his minions

Enjoyed Jada and Gideon - looks like they'll need to confront this deadly situation before settling with the Council

 

Uh-ho! Jada and Gideon are being hunted.

 

Just wait to you see comes out of that ship.

 

Chapter 7

They had been walking eastward through the forest for the past hour. There was about another hour of daylight remaining; there were times Jedi wondered if Gideon knew where he was going, but her Jedi senses were not alerting her of a trap or deceit on his part. If they were going in the wrong direction, then it was not intentional.

She tried to avoid talking to the swindler as much as possible. He was unrelenting in his catch phrases and in his attempts to flirt with her. Did he not get it? She was not interested in the likes of him. Even if she was, there was no way that they could form a relationship. The Jedi code forestalled marriage between someone from the Jedi Order to a non-Force user. It was only recently when the council voted to allow only Jedi Knights, who have successfully trained an apprentice, to marry a fellow Jedi Knight. After the Jedi purge, some of the old codes were rectified to assure the survival of the Jedi. With the some of the code relaxed, however, some new preventive measures had to be put in place to continue to assure that the temptation of the dark side did not increase.

She had been limping through the entire hike; and the pain, in her leg, was getting worse. The farther she walked, the harder it was to hide the pain. She stayed focused with the Force, trying to dissolve some of the pain, but even that was losing its potency.

Gideon noticed her obtrusive limp steadily getting worse. He had, up to this point, remained silent about it, but he could no longer ignore the slowing pace they?ve drifted into. "Maybe taking a breather wouldn?t be such a bad idea."

"No, let?s keep moving!" she answered sharply.

"You really dislike me that much? You hate me enough to put yourself through this agony and misery? I know your leg is killing you; you don?t need to put on this brave charade on my account.?

Jada turned to face him; a cold, unemotional look was sketched on her face. "As a Jedi, I don?t hold grudges or ill-feelings towards anyone."

He could read between the lines; she wanted this conversation ended, immediately, but he always enjoyed flirting with danger, and seeing how much farther he could push the limit of her tolerance. "Are Jedi allowed to lie, ?cause that was a whole bunch of Bantha fodder right there? I?m a swindler; I know a lie when I hear one."

Before she could answer, Gideon?s wrist-communicator beeped. "What is it?"

"Be on ?click-click? your guard. If my scanners ?click-click? are correct, you?re being surrounded.?

Jada already had her lightsaber in hand, having already sensed the same danger. With a flick of her thumb, her violet blade stood at attention. ?We ?re being hunted.?

Gideon snorted as he ripped out both of his blasters from his holsters. "Bring them on! I can use the target practice.?

Her senses flashed a violent warning in the back of her mind as a single ankle-sized, two-legged reptile dashed towards her chest. She stepped aside to avoid the attack; she wanted know what they were up against before she started using her weapon on them. It was a creature she had never seen before. It was a decidedly grotesque little thing with rounded snouts, sharp fangs, and a tongue like a snake. When another tiny creature leaped at her, she thwarted the attack and sliced it in half.

Another one popped out and attacked Gideon. He was quick to shoot it out of the air. "They ain?t too bad. They?re kinda cute?aside from their unquenchable desire to have us as their next meal.?

?Individually, they?re no real threat; but if we?re talking about a large pack, then...? She didn?t have to finish that comment; the look she gave him told him everything he needed to know. ?They?re just checking us out for weaknesses.?

Hundreds of the tiny carnivores began filing out of their hiding places. There seemed no end to them as they came out of everywhere. Their collaborative movement showed solidarity and intelligence; a combination exceptionally rare among reptilian species in this part of the galaxy. Most of them had their eyes set on Jada. ?It appears they?ve figur

 

Cute little creatures and great action.

 

Oooh, LOL Gideon knows how to push her buttons and read her correctly Super action and cliffie at the end.

 

Ther's always a bigger fish.

 

Chapter 8

Gideon wanted to rush to Jada?s side to see if she was still alive, but there was a hover cruiser that had been hidden behind the battle tanks, and the people onboard were already making their way to her. He prepared his wrist translator in case none of the Aqualish were able to speak basic. He had held hope that these Aqualish represented someone that owed him a favor, so he could get her to safety and get out of dodge. That hope, however, quickly vanished when he noticed a human walking among them.

Dressed in a grey, formal robe, there was no mistaking that he was a member of the New Republic senate. He was an older male, with wavy-short white hair. Why a senator would be out here in the middle of nowhere, he could not guess. The way the senator approached Jada, instantly told him that he knew this particular Jedi. ?Get a medical capsule, immediately!?

One of the Aqualish, a particularly grotesque Quara, grunted an affirmative and took two of his comrades with him to carry the request out. The human then turned his attention towards Gideon, who was not sure whether he should have his blaster out or not. Seeing how they came to their rescue, he figured they?ve earned enough respect to not have a blaster pointed back at them.

?You two are very fortunate that we saw your ship crash onto this island. I am Wedge Antilles, Corellian senator of the New Republic.?

Gideon tried to play smooth, not wanting to reveal too much about himself to the senator. ?Thank goodness you showed up when you did. May I ask why a senator of the New Republic is all the way out here on a remote planet like Ando??

?Nothing too critical or important. We?re just here to hammer out a simple commerce trade agreement. We?re looking to trade some new technology for a large shipment of salt. We were in the middle of negotiations when one of Lo Monar?s aides saw a fiery streak across the sky. Come now, let?s get you back to civilization. I?m afraid Jada?s injuries are serious, and we may have her to take her to Corellia for proper treatment.?

?Anything to get out of this mud hole, no offense,? He quickly said to the Quara?s who donned a not-so-happy look on their faces at his comment. Obviously, he was not going to need his wrist translator today.

* * * *

He was almost ready to explode with rage. His cherished pets were somehow slain. Darth Kahn could not believe that mere mortals were able to kill them. A few more minutes, and the Jedi and the smuggler would have been destroyed, and his mission would have been a success. This injustice cannot be allowed to stand.

He could leave his hiding place, right now, and take care of every one of them without any problems; with the Jedi out of commission, it would be incredibly easy. However, it would also be very cowardly to kill a Jedi when they were helpless. No, he wanted a duel, and he was willing to wait as long as it took to get it. He was ready to follow them to any planet and wait until the Jedi was ready, and when she was, he would attack and slay her and the smuggler.

* * * *

They were taken to a much larger island on Ando. This island had a large primitive city, with walls covered in swamp vines. It was probably the capital city of Ando, but their version of an upper class city could be compared to a poverty stricken city anywhere else. The Aqualash may not live luxurious lives in comparison to other species, but they do alright for themselves. Of course, their aggressive natures made them more likely to become smugglers, pirates, and other types of scum. That was how many Aqulash made their money, but those who have taken that rout, seldom live on their home world. That was why this city appeared to be on the losing end of the war against the jungles of Ando.

They arrived on the landing pad, where the senator?s Corellian yacht was already being prepped for take-off. As the hover craft parked onto the landing pad, the Quara carefully lowered the medical capsule off the transport. Senator Antilles did not leave the side of the medical capsule, which Gideon foun