A Ripple in the Force

Something I made on The Old Republic site for the game.
So, here's a few things that will be in the Fan-fic:
This blaster:
http://www.swtor.com/media/concepts/blaster
These droids:
http://swtor.com/media/concepts/assassin-droid
And these troopers:
http://swtor.com/media/concepts/republic-special-forces

“You can sense it, can’t you?” The voice was relaxed, deliberate, and cold as ice. It was a sort of hard voice, but not aggressive, nor callous when it didn’t need to be. The voice didn’t boom, because it didn’t need to. It did not simply bounce off of the bulkhead, but rather slid along it and carried itself smoothly across the inner corridors of the ship.

“Yes,” replied Kayle Toldreyn “I sense something on the planet below. Or rather, a lack of something, it’s almost like…I can’t even describe it.”

“A void.” Andrew Goodner said to his Jedi friend. “I think that’s called a void in the force.”

“So when did you become such an expert on the force, eh Andy?” Kayle asked the Republic Lieutenant.

“I’ve been reading up on this stuff for a while now. A void is someone who-or something- that is completely neutral in the force. Usually making it undetectable to Jedi.”
“Yes, exactly right.”

They were hovering above Tattooine in their small, unmarked transport. They had been sent by the Jedi Council to investigate a ripple in the force that had been felt several months ago on Tattooine. Since it did not come from any known force sensitives or ancient ruins, the Council tasked Andrew and Kayle to investigate.

They were preparing to land on the planet, as soon as they could isolate where the ripple had come from.

“I’m not getting anything else from up here. We’re going to have to land and see what we can do from there.”

Kayle brought the transport into the lower atmosphere, careful not to go down too fast or too straight. In about five minutes they were landing in the middle of the Dune Sea.
“Is it close?” asked Andrew as he got up from his seat.

“No, not that I can tell anyway. We’ll have to use the speeders.”

The two opened up the back loading ramp of the small ship, and mounted the two speeder bikes inside. They rode off the ramp, and into the vast Dunes of Tattooine.

Within thirty minutes, they Kayle saw something. “Look over there!” he announced over his com link. “There’s a settlement, probably about three or four clicks away. That seems to be where the signal is coming from.”

“Do you think they see us?” Andrew asked.

“No idea, but stay sharp anyway. We should dismount at about half a click, and then make our way over to some kind of cover.”

“I thought I was the soldier here?”

“You’re not the only one who can read other people’s textbooks,” Kayle laughed.

Soon, the two were half a kilometer from the settlement. By now they could see that it was probably small farm. It was made up of several very small buildings, one of which appeared to be some kind of shed. This was where they moved to be out of site.
They peered around a corner to see the full settlement. Mainly there was one traditional Tattooine style hut in the center, surrounded by several other small buildings, apparently utilities for a self preserving moisture farm.

“What’s that?” Kayle asked as he pointed to a spot past the other side of the settlement. A large cloud was moving towards the farm, apparently from a speeder. It soon stopped just outside the perimeter of an outer building, and five men in robes jumped out.

The men soon fanned out, four of them moving to cover points throughout the small farm, and one of them walking towards the central hut.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Andrew whispered, partially to himself.

The man who walked to the hut knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened. The angle that the soldier and the Jedi could see from gave them a shrouded view of the robed man, but didn’t allow them to see who answered the door. The man quickly pulled a blaster from his robe, but didn’t raise his arm in time. Whoever had answered the door grabbed his wrist, and pulled it directly down, forcing the man to shoot himself in the foot.

He gave no cry of pain, nor showed any sign of pain whatsoever. The owner of the hut pulled a blaster and fired twice into the man’s robe. Sparks flew, and the force that knocked him back also tossed his hood up.

“Assassin droids!” said Kayle as he reached for his light saber. Andrew stopped him.

“Wait, let’s see how this plays out.”

Kayle didn’t have time to object. The other “men” exposed themselves and started firing from their positions. The farm’s owner evaded the blaster bolts and fired at one of the droids, and hit it in the face.

Another droid tried to rush in for the kill. The owner fired, but the shot went low and hit the droid’s legs. When the droid got closer, it attempted to fire on the robed figure point blank, but was quickly met with a yellow bladed light saber.

The two remaining droids jumped from their cover and maneuvered around to try a flank. One was lifted by the force, and thrown sideways into a moisture vaporator. The other was shot once in the leg. It dropped to its knee and kept firing. The next shot hit it in the torso, near the left arm, and it dropped its blaster. Its working arm was cut from the torso.

The droid that had been knocked into the moisture evaporator rose up, and aimed at the owner of the hut. Andrew fired one bolt with his blaster rifle. The droid fell, a single blaster score mark in its center torso.

The owner of the hut turned around to see the two men standing next to the shed.

“Don’t shoot! We mean you no harm!” yelled Kayle.

“Trust me, if I thought you meant me harm,” came a strong, but feminine voice from under the hood. The stranger lifted the hood, to reveal woman with long, red hair. “you’d already be on the ground with them.”

Sola Kando slid the cup of cool water across the table towards her guests.
"So," she began, sitting back a little bit more in her cushioned chair, "What brings you guys to my hole in the sand?"

They were in the small hut that sat in the center of the farm. They currently sat in the small front room of the hut. There was one typical Tattooine style couch, and a few chairs, all placed around a sand-stone circular table. The walls were bare, as was most of the hut, and the closest thing to an amenity there was in the room was the water dispenser that was clearly modified to have better filtration.

Kayle set his cup down from the long drink he had taken. He brought up his brown sleeve to wipe the remaining drops from his lips, and answered: "We've been sent by the Jedi Council to investigate a ripple in the Force. We thought that you might have been an ancient, unmarked Jedi Temple. Clearly, we were a little off on our judgment."

Sola didn't speak for a few seconds. She simply sat back, scanning the faces of the two men on the small, half-circle couch across the small coffee table from her. "I like you." She said after a moment. "You don't dance around things. Straight to the point. But how about you?" She gestured towards Andy, who sat with his arms folded, about two meters away from Kayle. He had yet to take a drink from his cup. "You haven't said a single word since I've seen you."

He remained silent. He only stared at her, hardly moving, an almost cross look on his face. Who is this guy? She thought. "I know you don't trust me. I don't know why exactly, you've been good to hide that much from me so far, but I can tell you don't. I also know you stopped your little friend here from jumping in and getting yourselves killed."

"You knew we were there?" Kayle interrupted, now even more fascinated by the woman.
"Yes, I sensed you coming from a few kilometers away. You had no ill-intentions, but you were confused, that was for sure. You were confused as to how someone could hide themselves from the Force, and still are."

This was true. Kayle was still trying to reach out, but could feel nothing in Sola. No hatred, no fear, no dread, yet still no love, no courage, no hope. There was simply nothing there. A complete lack of any emotion, or intent to act, or...anything. It's like the woman he was staring directly at wasn't even there, didn't exist. A hole in the Force, much less the ripple that the Council had felt.
Who are you? Kayle thought to himself as he took another sip from his cup.

"You didn't feel those droids coming, did you?" Andrew spoke for the first time. "You were clearly surprised by their presence there, and one of them would have blown you away if I hadn't stepped in."

Sola wasn't taken aback by this, as Andrew had expected she would be. She simply replied, "Nobody can sense a droid. Nobody. They are machines, cold, metallic devices that feel no emotion, usually, and the force does not flow through them."

"She's right." Kayle said, looking down. "Nobody can sense a droid. I couldn't either. When I couldn't feel anything coming from them, I suspected something, but with her being the same way," he nodded towards Sola, "I just couldn't be sure."

"What are you then?" asked Andrew, who had never taken his eyes off Sola. "Jedi, Sith, what side are you on?"
"Why pick one?" Sola replied casually. "I think the whole thing is overrated. Jedi, Sith, Republic, Empire, why bother?"
"Why bother?" Kayle sat up, almost yelling, "Why the hell not? The Republic and the Empire are everything! The Jedi and Sith have been fighting for thousands of years! It's all this galaxy knows!"

"And what's different this time from before?" Sola shot back, though never losing her calm demeanor. "As usual, the Sith have launched their EVIL plan that has been in the making for HUNDREDS of years! which of course was only thought half way through, because apparently no one could possibly defy them right? And then there's the Jedi. Don't even get me started on the damn Jedi. We must keep fighting, for light must always shine through the dark. Fight my brethren, the only thing you have to do to fight for us is be Force sensitive, and all you have to do is abandon your family, home, emotion, love and hate, most weapons, sense of humor, and any clothing that isn't a brown hooded robe."

They all sat in silence for a moment. "You've been one before haven't you?" Andrew said after a few moments. "You were a Jedi. What did they do Sola? To make you leave?"
"They didn't have to." She replied, her head down. "They didn't need to do anything. I did that myself. I didn't leave them," She looked up, tears beginning to form on the sides of her eyes.

"They left me."

Sola wiped the tears from her eyes. She had almost lost control of herself for a moment. Kayle and Andrew had watched as the tears streaked down her face, only to see her take a deep breath and quickly regain her composure. Her confident grin returned, and her relaxed but aware demeanor returned to her. Sola was Sola again.

Seeing the confused faces of the two young men, she decided she'd just get it over with, and tell them the truth. "I was an apprentice, living in the temple on Corusant." She began. "My teachers told me often that I was unusually strong with the Force. That my connection to it was astounding for one so young. That I would do great things some day. When I was young, I adored the praises, the stories of what I would probably do, and of course being revered by other apprentices.

"However, as I grew older, I began to hate it. I was largely sheltered by the temple, and was pushed hard by the teachers and trainers. As usual, I excelled at everything, but I hated it. I had no real life. I had never known my family, the Jedi had taken me before I was one year old, and I had no real friends.

"One night, I decided I'd go out and have some fun. I had long since learned that I could hide myself from other Force users. I used this ability to sneak out of the temple, and I 'borrowed' a speeder. I went down to a lower level of Corusant. While there, I learned that somebody had been a close friend of my father's was now a bouncer working at a club owned by a Hutt.

"I went to see him to learn about what happened to my family. I went to see him of course, and when I got there, he told me what happened. Apparently, my father had owed a debt to this Hutt. Since he was impatient with my father's pace, and he had little recognition in the underworld, the Hutt had ordered my family killed.

"I was horrified. My only family had been murdered. The next day, I went to the Jedi Council to appeal for their help. I told them what happened, and I requested that this Hutt be brought to justice. They said revenge was not the way of the Order, and denied my request. I pleaded with many other teachers, trainers, and fellow apprentices, but they all sided with the Council.

"Well, I decided that if they wouldn't bring my family justice, I would have to do it myself. I showed up at the same club a week later, asking for the Hutt. When some other bouncers--my father's friend wasn't in that night--tried to force me out, well I had no choice but to defend myself, did I?

"After wiping out the Hutt's little private army, I showed up in his chambers. He demanded to know who I was, so I stabbed him through the chest with my lightsaber, and said, 'I'm the one that got away'.

"I knew I could never go back to the temple after that, so I took what little possessions I had, and came here. I had to do some odd jobs to get the money, but eventually I bought this blaster and this farm.

"Well, that's all there is to know. I hope you’re satisfied, and if not, well I'm sorry for the disappointment."

Sola had told the whole thing a very nonchalant and bored manner. She had no look of anger on her face, nor any emotion, once again. Kayle and Andrew sat, thinking of what they had heard, going over it in their minds.

"No, it's definitely her."
"You're sure? Sure it isn't just the farm itself?"
"No. I'm absolutely positive that she was the source of the Ripple."

The reception was slightly fuzzy, due to the wind from the incoming sandstorm that would hit in less than an hour. Kayle had just a few minutes before excused himself to the refresher, which Sola had said was on the other side of the property, in a small shack.

Kayle had stayed outside to get less interference. Due to the lack of HoloNet connection in the Outer Rim, his com connected to a subspace transceiver on his ship, which in turn connected to several relays which connected it to the nearest HoloNet transceiver, then connecting him to the Temple.

"Well, what do you suggest we do next?" asked the Jedi in charge of their mission. The Council was not handling this directly at the moment, so they had assigned a contact for Kayle and Andrew. They were to tell him what they knew, and the Jedi would then relay the information to the Council.

"I want you to check any records the temple may have on her."
"Very well, but it won't be easy. We still haven't found all the data that was misplaced when the Temple was destroyed, and some of it may no longer exist. What did you say her name was?"

"I didn't yet. It's Sola Kando, and she was allegedly a very powerful Force Sensitive. She seems very young, probably mid twenties, maybe younger or older depending on how much or how little time she spends on her appearance. She also said she killed a Hutt in revenge, and was never seen again. That brings something else up," Kayle said as he looked over to make sure nobody had left the hut.

"What's that?" asked the Jedi.
"If she's done all of what she said, and is really that powerful, then how come I've never heard of her?"
"I guess I'm gonna find that one out then." the man said before ending the transmission.

Kayle walked back to the hut, making sure to wash his hands and messily wipe them on his sand-dusted robes. He heard the sound of Andrew arguing with Sola before he opened the second door. He smiled. Before leaving, Kayle had made sure to communicate to Andrew that he needed her distracted from sensing his actions.

"Still, that's no reason to just pack up and leave! There was a war going on, and they probably needed you then more than ever!" Andrew raged.

"I told you, they would not have wanted me! I had broken the Jedi Code, the rules of the Order, and probably a few laws in the process! I would have been exiled, like that Jedi 300 years ago!"

Clearly, Andy had gotten the message.

Kayle took his seat on the couch again, and took a sip of his drink. He sloshed the cold water around for a moment to hydrate his dry mouth before swallowing it. Something needed to be done about Sola, that much was clear. She was obviously a very powerful Jedi, and was a Jedi whether she liked it or not.

"Sola," Kayle sliced into their argument like a lightsaber through a piece of fruit. "You need to come back to the Jedi. We need you, and you need us."

"Why the hell should I?" she shot back, still glaring at Andy. "They've caused me nothing but trouble."

"That's not true. They gave you a home, fed and clothed you, as well as likely saving your life. If it weren't for them, you would have likely died with your family. Without their training, you wouldn't have been able to seek revenge on your little Hutt friend, as ironic as that is."

Sola's eyes wandered, and her look softened. She had a look of deep concentration on her face, mixed with some sorrow in her twinkling green eyes... Kayle's eyes widened, and he rapidly jerked his head before she spoke.

"I guess you're right, but what makes you think they'd even take me back? I killed an entire club's worth of people."

"True, but you also eliminated an up-and-coming criminal organization in the process. You'll likely be reprimanded for your actions, but in times like this, I can guarantee that they Order will take you back."

"Fine, I'll go with you, but I don't have a ship."

Andrew spoke up: "How do you think we got here?" his tone still had some hints of crossness, but they had disappeared by his next statement. "Come on, I think we could all stand to go home."

A few minutes later, Kayle and Andy stood outside the small hut. Sola had asked for a few minutes to pack up what she needed, and the two young men had agreed to stay outside, lest she needed to change her clothes.

"What do you think will happen next?" Andrew asked, looking towards the horizon. It was truly beautiful, especially for Tattooine. The twin suns were setting early, due mostly to the fact that there was a massive wall of dust billowing toward the settlement. Fortunately, it was in the opposite direction of their ship, so they wouldn't have to hunker down for a few days.

"Who knows? Most likely she'll be taken back into the Order, maybe get a stern talking to, then get back onto her training--albeit, at an accelerated pace--so she can get ready to fight in an unavoidable and unimaginably destructive war."

Andy let out a suppressed, sarcastic chuckle before spitting in the sand. "I can't believe we're going right back into it." That wasn't the official word of course, but neither of the two men were stupid. The Galactic Stage was set for a conflict more disastrous than any it had seen in a long time. This peace was only the eye of the storm, and all parties involved knew it. It was only a matter of time before-

It was then that Andrew noticed another dust cloud. This one was approaching from the South; while the sandstorm was approaching form the West. It was much smaller, and appeared to be moving much faster. There was one other significant detail: This one was being caused by something visible from the farm.

"Uh oh..."

"I was about to say the same thing." Kayle already had his lightsaber in hand. He hadn't seen the speeders first, but he'd felt Andrew's reaction.

Andy already had his blaster in hand. "Do you think Sola knows?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"Right." Andrew took aim, although he knew they were far out of range. He wanted to see if he could get a better look at his targets through a gun sight.

Kayle then felt a buzz in his pocket. He pulled out the com and switched it on. "Hey, I think I found something you guys should know..."

"Now's not a good time." Kayle said, still looking at the small cloud.

"No, I think you should hear this."

"Make it quick."

"Well, I looked up the record on Sola Kando, and I found a few things that-"

"Make it quicker!"

"Okay, okay. It turns out, the only force sensitive they know of named 'Sola Kando' was very powerful, had wiped out a gang as well, but with one other-"

"I really don't have time for this!"

"Is this her?" the man asked as a small holographic image of Sola showed up on Kayle's com's image transceiver.

"Yes, why is that important?"

"Because Sola Kando died fifteen years ago."

Sola's head snapped up, her eyes wide. She had sensed Kayle and Andrew's emotions from the inside of her hut. She sensed slight boredom, then timidness, likely a conversation, then intrigue, then a spike of fear, and even the residual emotions Kayle, detecting the emotions of Andrew. Thinking about that would have given Sola a headache, had she enough time to do so. There were waves of determination emanating from them now, which, combined with all the others, could only mean one thing: more assassins.

Sola sensed nothing else as she quickly grabbed what little else she needed, and ran to the back door of her hut. The two men hadn't seen it while they were inside because it was behind a small bookcase. Sola pushed it to the side, an easy task due to it's lack of support and the rail underneath the bookcase, and walked through the door, making sure to close it after she did so.

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"What do we do now?" Kayle asked the sky. Andrew was still aiming at the enemy, trying to get a fix on how far away they were, and how much longer the trio--currently a duo--had to live. "The only thing we can do. One of us is going to have to take a speeder bike with Sola, and the other will have to stay behind."

Kayle couldn't see his frien's face, but he knew the look was adamant. "I'll do it." Kayle volunteered. "You know that's not what I had in mind." Andrew said as he turned to face him. "I'm going to stay." he said. "And it's going to take more than that lightsaber to stop me. Besides, you won't have time to 'convince' me anyway. They won't take long to get here."

The Jedi stared the soldier down. He wasn't going to back down, but neither was Kayle. He surprised even himself when his saber ignited. "You're going Andrew, even if you have to be towed behind Sola to do it." he warned as he assumed his fighting stance.
"Fine, if you want to play it that way," replied his friend as he unsheathed his vibrosword. Andrew assumed his own stance, a more aggressive one taught by the Republic Special Forces.

"Hey! Loverboys!" came a familiar voice from Andrew's left, Kayle's right. On the North side of the farm, there sat a five-seated, black landspeeder. "If you two wanna live to see your honeymoon, you'd better dive the hell into the backseat! NOW!" shouted Sola from the driver's seat.

Both men were embarrassed. They had forgotten that there was a perfectly good mode of transportation lying around. One that had recently witnessed the quick deactivations of all five of its former occupants. As they two walked towards the landspeeder, Andrew asked, "Shouldn't I drive? I mean, I think I have more experience dri-"
As he spoke, the speeder jerked forward by a few meters. "Okay, okay, you can drive." he said as the two got in the backseat.

They sped away from the farm, none of them looking back to it. Kayle, however, did notice that upon their exit of it, two of the apparently four speeders had continued on course, but the other two were now changing course to pursue the group. "Guys, you might want to see this." he said, almost sheepishly.

Looked back to see the two landspeeders change course, and also noticed the fact that they were apparently moving faster than she was. "Damn. They must have those new ones with three turbines. I don't know why the hell they'd send the slower one first though, unless they had planned for something like this." The other two speeders were rocketing towards the group. If they weren't going full speed before, they definitely were now. Kayle knew that within minutes they would catch up, leaving them only one option...

"How are we going to fight?" Andrew was the first to vocalize his thoughts. "They clearly have the speed advantage, along with probably having more guns. Any idea who they might be anyway, Sola?"
"Not a clue. They were unmarked as far as I could tell, but since when did people put insignias on their murderbots anyway?"

As they spoke, they didn't notice the speeders gain about fifty more meters on them, nor did they notice the red flash coming from one of the figures. They did, however, notice the various red flashes appearing around their speeder, hitting the sand, causing spurts of it to fly up in the air.

"Damn it, they're in range." announced Andrew as he took aim. He fired twice, hitting one target. That was apparently enough though, as they witnessed the landspeeder lose control, and suddenly begin spinning sideways, its inhabitants flung about like rag dolls. Andrew lined up another shot, but was surprised to see it deflect back towards him, hitting the back of the speeder.

Another figure was apparent now, one that wore long black robes, and held a red lightsaber. The two landspeeders were ten meters apart, and closing fast. Andrew fired several more shots, only to have them all deflected. "Sola, I think you and Kayle will be a little more useful here." said Andrew.
"I figured that much." said Sola as she turned on the speeder's autopilot. She did a backflip, a graceful and balanced one, both men noticed, and landed on the end of the speeder, facing Andrew.

"I thought you wanted to drive?"
"I'd love to." Andrew replied as he jumped into the driver's seat from the back of the speeder. He switched off the autopilot. The soldier had rarely trusted computers.

The landspeeder Kayle, Andrew, and Sola were riding in had five seats, and two turbines on either side of the aft section. There were two seats, driver and passenger, in the immediate front, and three more in the back, forming two rows. There was also one more section, this one was simply a two meter long flat space which had the turbines on either side of it. This section was what the Sith--all three would agree that it was safe to assume he was a Sith--used as a landing when he jumped from his speeder (now a bare two meters behind and to the left of their speeder) onto the borrowed one.

"Surrender the girl, and maybe your deaths will be quick!" he shouted over the wind. Sola countered his sudden and aggressive attacks with a few defensive ones, as well as saying, "Gah! Don't you Sith ever just shut UP!"

Kayle swung at the Sith from his left, only to have it dodged. The Sith began a counter, but was interrupted by Sola slashing at his midsection. With a quick wrist move, he swung his saber into hers to block the attack. Sola used this opportunity to tip his foot with the Force, causing him to fall onto the ground and slide to the end of the speeder.

He lost his saber, and grabbed onto the tow hook, holding on for dear life. Sola pulled out her blaster and aimed for his arm. "No!" Kayle shouted. "The Jedi don't kill prisoners! Ever!"
"Well then," Sola said coldly. "I guess I'm not a Jedi."

She struggled away from Kayle and fired one shot into the man's arm. The Sith let go, screaming for a moment before hitting the ground and rolling. The body came to a stop, and the other landspeeder turned back for their apparent leader.

"Well, I guess that makes them droids then. No Sith would ever turn back for one of their own." she turned to see a disapproving look on Kayle's face.

In all the commotion, the Jedi had nearly forgotten what he had heard from his contact back on the farm. "Sola," he said as he put away his saber. "We need to talk."

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The woman had cold, black eyes, and they surveyed the small farm. There were four broken and destroyed droids lying about the courtyard. The Sith approached a fifth droid, one that was missing one arm, and had carbon scoring on the other. The woman flipped the droid over to see that the image receptors were still functioning, as was the rest of the droid--minus its arms and leg, of course.

"You two." she ordered two other assassin droids who were investigating their fallen brethren. "This one still works. Take it back to my speeder." The woman spoke with authority, and stood with dignity. She wore black robes, but not the overly formal and overtly Sith ones worn by most of her colleagues. They appeared to be closer to a trench coat than anything else. She also wore stylish glareshades, but not simply to protect her eyes from the harsh Tattoine suns.

They still had two hours until the sandstorm hit. Plenty of time. Every square centimeter of the outside of this farm would be searched until that time, and after that, the entire interior. No stone would be left unturned, nor any grain of sand.

When Sarna Corcer began a mission, opened a case, or began a hunt, she saw it through to the end.

ACT II,

Scene I

The large mechanical door opened to reveal a brown robed, shadowy figure. The figure walked in slowly and deliberately, the face concealed by the lip of the hood. The two men on duty--one, a large Twi'lek, the other, a Dashade--quickly covered the figure. The Twi'lek approached from the front, the Dashade moved behind, as standard protocol dictated.

What makes a Jedi?

"Who are you?" The Twi'lek asked aggressively, crossing his arms to look more intimidating. The Dashade simply breathed down the figure's neck.
"Well?" The Twi'lek asked again, clearly losing his patience. The figure remained silent, and continued to look down just slightly enough so that the hood replaced the face completely. "Answer me!" The Twi'lek shouted. He raised his arm to strike the figure.

Is it command of the Force?

The arm was stopped in midair. The Twi'lek looked to his arm, then to the figure, then back to his arm. A look of horror replaced the anger on his face. He struggled to move his arm, but it was no use. It was as if an invisible rope had gripped the Twi'lek's wrist, and wouldn't allow it to move.
Next, the figure's slender had came up barely to waist level. The hand faced the ceiling, and all the fingers pointed up, seperate from each other. As this happened, the Twi'lek moved his face, and tried to move his head as well, but to no avail. The figure's wrist flicked in a circular motion, and with it, the Twi'lek's head turned 140 degrees, snapping his neck.

Is it skill with a lightsaber?

The Dashade watched in horror as his partner was paralyzed, and then killed, but was not quick enough to react. He began to reach for his stun baton, but was again too slow. The figure had pulled a metallic cylinder from the robe pocket. The Dashade stopped as it was struck through the heart by a yellow beam of energy.

What about a Jedi's unique approach to peace?

The metallic door began to creak, and moan, as if under pressure. The three men stationed in the room--one Twi'lek, two Rodians--looked confused at first, but soon readied their weapons. It creaked again, louder this time. The men steadied their aim. The door then made a popping sound, and began to bugle at the edges. The men's fingers tensed on their respective triggers.

Finally, when the door seemed as if it would rip from its anchors, the space on the wall to the right of it exploded, sending concrete and fire into the main section of the club. The three men fired on the newly made doorway, making it impossible for anything to get through it alive. Unsatisfied without a target, they continued to fire, oblivious to anything else in the room.

To use "Lightsaber Diplomacy" in advancement of a goal.

The door itself then burst off the frame and embedded itself into the bar directly across from it. The men had little time to react before a robed figure darted in from the new doorway. The men fired on the figure, pulling the triggers as quickly as they could on their semi-automatic blasters.

In the few seconds the target presented itself, five shots were fired, but four were deflected. One of those deflected struck a Rodian in the chest. With a wave of a hand, six tables were flung on their sides before the Figure, presenting the perfect cover.

To use the Force as a weapon rather than a tool.

The men continued to fire at the tables, completely oblivious to the fact that their cheap blasters did little more than mar the durasteel tabletops, whose surfaces all had glowing orange dots flaring up with each impact and then slowly cooling. Without warning, one of the tables shot forward, crashing into the bar, and crushing another Rodian.

The Twi'lek was afraid now. He continued to pour shot after shot from his weapon into the area the figure was in. The blaster's trigger was pulled over and over again, launching bolt after bolt of searing energy into the air. Finally, after about a minute, the Twi'lek pulled the weapon ceased firing.

What of the Jedi's responsibility to show mercy?

He kept pulling the trigger, but the weapon was completely out of ammunition. The Twi'lek's was terrified. He had no gas canisters. He peered over towards the location of one of his fallen comrades. One Rodian was completely embedded into the wall by the table. The other body was on the opposite end of the section of the bar destroyed by said table, a table who's thin base was obstructing the Twi'lek's path.

He looked over to the right side of the bar to see that the door was also blocking his escape. The only way out was over the bar, and past the cover that the figure had set up. The Twi'lek knew he had little time to act, so he quickly darted towards the Rodian's corpse. He didn't notice the cover moving as he struggled over the flipped, broken table.

And finally, what of a Jedi's capacity to kill?

Zorrda the Hutt sat sleeping in his throne. His two human guards--heavily armored, and armed with double vibroblades--stood on either side of him, only half awake. A translator droid stood to his right, making no sound as it ever patiently awaited orders. Zorrda's recently refurbished meeting room was completely soundproofed both from the inside, and out.

The red light on the heavy durasteel door across from him suddenly blinked green, causing the pair of guards to perk up, and suddenly pay rapt attention. The circular lock turned 180 degrees, and opened to reveal the robed figure. Zorrda was awakened by the sudden noise.

Is it right for a Jedi to train and prepare to take a life?

The Hutt looked down on the figure. "Haku sa this?" Zorrda said in broken Huttese. His translation droid interperated: "The Great Zorrda would like to know what this is?" It was said in the mechanical, monotonous voice that droids were known for. The figure simply stood there, silent.

"Coo sa chuba?!" Zorrda yelled this time, anger clearly filling his voice. Again, his droid stepped in to translate. "His Illustriousness demands to know who you are." Again, the figure remained silent. By now the two guards had tight grips on their weapons. They exchanged a look, both showing slight fear, but mostly excitement. It wasn't often that they got to do much more than stand around looking dangerous.

Zorrda was outraged. The large Hutt slammed a flabby fist down on one of his throne's armrests. "Crispo cheekto!" He screamed.
"Kill him." The droid translated blankly, and unnecessarily, as the guards spoke Huttese. The two men began to advance on the Figure, baring their weapons, ready to strike. Before they got to within a meter, however, the robed Figure raised a hand, and clenched the fist.

The men dropped their weapons. They both grabbed their throats, almost simultaneously, and staggered backwards. The Figure lowered the arm, and walked forward.

Is it truly justified?

The Hutt's eyes widened. A look of horror overtook his face, as his composure slackened. "Haku sa chuba?" Zorrda muttered to no one in particular.The Figure extracted the lightsaber from the robe pocket once more. The droid, being a cheaper model, picked up on the Hutt's words, and translated: "What are you?"

"Sola?"

The woman's eyes opened abruptly. The room was pitch dark, the only light coming from the open doorway, where Kayle stood. A long shadow was cast across the floor. It stretched from directly in front of Kayle, to Sola's back.

"What do you want?" Sola asked, not turning to face him. Normally, the young woman wouldn't even have to ask. She was still trying to get an exact read on his emotions. Since she couldn't do it quickly, or really at all, there was only one explanation for her: Kayle didn't even know what he was feeling at the moment.

"Remember when I said we needed to talk?" Kayle was trying to ignore the fact that she was levitating a full meter off the ground. He still couldn't get over Sola's power with the Force, and she clearly wasn't above showing off.

"I remember." She replied. Sola placed both her feet on the ground, not moving her upper body to do so. She was barefoot now, but still wearing her same clothes from earlier, minus the robe that she had worn over her sand colored long sleeve shirt. Her pants were a similar color, and were held in place by a cheap Bantha leather belt.

"I also remember nobody speaking until we reached the ship, where you began to talk, but you were cut off by the turbulence we hit while flyboy over there tried to go headfirst through the top of a sandstorm."

A slightly angry "Hey!" was heard coming from the cockpit, where Andrew was still piloting. It was in sight from the short hallway, and the door leading into it did not close. "We got through it didn't we? Besides, I'm a professional soldier. I'm only a pilot on weekends, when I'm on leave. So you can forgive me for being a little rusty."

Sola rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what did you need to talk about?" She now had her arms crossed. Kayle pressed a button near the door, turning on the lights. He then pressed another button, closing the door behind him. The Jedi took a deep breath and asked: "Who are you?"

"What?" Sola was genuinely confused.
"You know what I'm talking about. Who are you? I mean, who are you really?"
The confusion never left her eyes. "I don't know what you mean. I already told you, I'm Sola Kando. Former Jedi, now former hermit too. Why do you ask?"

Kayle was growing frustrated now. "I got a message from the Council when I asked for a record on you. They said that the real Sola Kando died fifteen years ago. So who are you?"

Sola's eyes widened. There was real shock, Kayle could see. "What?" She spat, showing a very rare horrified demeanor. "That's impossible. That's not true, it can't be. I only lived on that farm for two years. I left the Temple one year before that! You're wrong, you have to be!" She was breathing heavily, an looking around the room.

As usual, Kayle could sense nothing from her. He didn't know if this was evidence in favor of her being the real Sola, or evidence against it. "Here," he said as he pulled an object from his pocket. "This HoloDisc holds all the data that the Archives have on Sola Kando." Kayle pressed a button, and a plethora of information became visible in the air.

He "grabbed" some symbols from the air, and pulled them down near his face. "This is a date of birth, and date of death." The death date was fifteen years and four months prior to the date. "But now that I think about it, there may be a way to confirm this one way or the other."

Kayle pulled some more symbols and numbers down from the air. "It shows a midichlorian count for Sola Kando. This count was consistent throughout her routine medical checkups. All we need to do, is take a blood test. If your count matches the one here, then that'll make things a whole hell of a lot more confusing. If not, then I don't know what to do with you." His face bore no emotion, but Sola sensed disappointment.

"I'll do it." She replied, determination now in her voice. If she's still lying, Kayle thought as he nodded his head. Then she's just too damn good at it.

The two walked out of the room, and into another one nearby. Inside, there was a desk full of various types of scanning and other medical instruments. One of which was a relatively large box, about the size of a small safe, that had two input devices on the front. The information would be displayed holographicaly, out of the top.

"This," Kayle announced as he touched the device. "Is a midichlorian reader. It's a particularly large one, and for good reason: it takes two counts simultaneously for a more accurate measurement. It'll tell us if you're telling the truth." He picked up a small device with a needle attached. "I just need two blood samples." Kayle said as he turned to Sola.

"Fine." She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a well toned arm. Kayle found a vein, and took two samples, each with one of the devices. He pressed a button the midichlorian reader, which ejected two seperate trays. He placed each of them in respective trays, and closed them both. He then pressed another button above both trays.

"There. This may take a while, since it's meant to be very thorough. We'll have to sit tight for about ten or twenty minu-" He was interrupted by a loud beeping noise. Kayle turned to see the device giving off a red light, normally meaning it was done testing. "What? That doesn't make any sense." He pressed one button on top of the device, and the readings from both tests was displayed.

"No. That's not possible." He muttered as he upon the readings. Kayle had both his hands on the counter before him, and was completely obstructing Sola's view. "What is it?" She asked as she tried to see around him. "What does it say?" Kayle stepped to the side, allowing Sola to see the holograms. As predicted, both gave the same reading, side by side.

Zero.

The room had been picked apart and examined thoroughly by the time Sarna Corcer walked in. She took off her glare shades and put them in her coat pocket before smoothly placing her hands behind her back. She began to walk around the room, searching for more personal details that a droid would not recognize.

A sandstorm was beginning to rage outside. The droids had gone through the rest of the small moisture farm, as instructed, but had found nothing of interest outside, other than the deactivated droids.

The woman stopped in her tracks directly in front of a sandstone table. It had seating set up around it, and appeared to be some sort of a lounge for guests. There were three glasses at the table. One was empty, but the other two were half full.

Three people... Sarna thought as she circled the sitting area. Her reports hadn't shown much information on this place, or even much of the reason for why she was dispatched there. But, from what little they did know, there should've only been one person living in this hut.
____________________________________________________

The soldier stared blankly at the shimmering blue and white tunnel before him. Piloting through Hyperspace was always boring. It was hardly more than doing occasional checks of the various graphs and displays before him, while tackling the much more difficult task of staying awake.

He saw Kayle and Sola out of the corner of his eye. They were walking into the room across from the one they'd given Sola. I miss having a room... He thought, remembering him and Kayle changing shifts on the way to Tattooine. Though, now that he'd "volunteered" to give his room up, he had to sleep in the bridge.

Bridge... He mentally scoffed. More like a cockpit. Well, at least the seat is fully reclining.

He continued staring into the space ahead, trying to distinguish shapes, or objects from the jagged circles of blue and white. I miss the old days. He began a thought. No gray Jedi, no assassin droids, none of that damn sneaking around the Outer Rim in a ship that looks like it came out the back end of a Bantha. He grinned at his own joke. None of that. Just me, my blaster in my hands, and a Sith in my way.

Then, along came Kayle.

The grin disappeared. Not out of anger, but out of the memory of when he first saw him.

Just some young Jedi kid that got his braid cut off only a few weeks before. Bruises and blood on his face, fear in his eyes.

He mused at his self narration for a moment, before drifting back off into it, no longer caring how corny he sounded.

Kayle. The Jedi who'd accompanied him, his former master, had just recently been killed right in front of him. I'd just gotten separated from my own squad in the confusion of battle.

Andrew closed his eyes, remembering the day in detail...
____________________________________________________

Yes, I remember it now.

The lone Republic soldier sprinted down the solemn, empty halls. He stopped at every corner, peeking around the edges with his rifle, and then quickly moved on. The halls were abandoned, which was nothing less than unsettling.

My squad was tasked with assisting an attack on a Sith capital ship while a commando team hit the engines. I was still just a Private.

He stuck his rifle around a corner, and then, when nothing fired at him, he rounded it himself. The man looked over to see only a large door with some writing over it. He had arrived at the unguarded bridge of the ship.

I had been separated. I was wandering around the ship, without a map, or any other navigation. All of the Sith troopers and droids that would have been in my way had left to support other areas of the ship, some of which may have been under attack, most of which were not.

Cautiously, he approached the door. The light in the center was green, and he pressed the small interactive hologram to open it. It shuddered, and in a moment the internal mechanical locks clicked, and the bridge was revealed.

That was when I first saw Kayle.

There was a young human Jedi fighting a large Devaronian. The Devaronian had a double bladed red lightsaber, and the human's was blue. The boy ducked beneath one of his opponent's attacks, and tried to return with a counter strike, but was cut off by the second blade.

The Sith was just toying with him. The sick bastard was going to kill him, but not before he had his fun.

He didn't think he'd been noticed yet. The young trooper slowly moved to a cover point behind a control panel. He peaked above it. Even if they caught sight of him, neither of the combatants seemed to be too interested in anything other than their own battle. They were both at the highest point of the bridge: the central "island" of control stations.

It was like a play, for a silent, and invisible audience.

The Sith had his back to the young trooper. He was elegantly defending against the Jedi, blocking every blow with little effort. The trooper looked over the rest of the way for a better look, bringing his weapon up with him. That was when he'd noticed the heap of brown robes sitting at the end of the island.

Kayle's former master was lying dead in the same space he was fighting in. I can't even imagine what that was like for him.

Finally, as if bored with the fight, the Sith kicked the young Jedi, sending the boy to his back. Enraged, the trooper aimed his rifle towards the Sith's back. He pulled the trigger, and, seeming to sense his anger, the Sith turned and deflected the shot. He faced the trooper now, and he was smiling.

The bastard was smiling. I had never been so afraid in my life, and he was just smiling!

The trooper fired several more shots, but those were also deflected. The Devaronian raised his free hand, and tossed the trooper to the ground with the Force. The trooper was pinned to the ground, and felt his throat constrict tightly as the Sith closed his grip, and brought his hand up, bringing the trooper with it.

I was going to die. Right then and there. The oxygen was depleted in my lungs, and nothing new was coming in. I knew I was about to die.

The Sith seemed to take pleasure in his fear. He laughed a broken, and cruel laugh. He was entirely focused on the trooper's anguish and suffering. The blue bolt of energy that lanced through his chest caused the smile to disappear. His grip loosened, and his arm dropped. The trooper fell to the ground and gasped for air. He looked up.

The Sith had underestimated Kayle, or maybe just forgot about him. Either way, it was a mistake that cost him his life.

The Jedi stood behind the Sith, holding his lightsaber through the Devaronian's chest. The trooper had been just the distraction the Jedi had needed to push the fight in his favor. Though, he probably hadn't expected it to go quite this well for him. The trooper stared at the face of the Sith. There was only shock, and life draining from his eyes. The blade had gone straight through the Devaronian's heart.

Kayle had won this battle. But had lost two things:

The young Jedi deactivated his lightsaber, and the Sith dropped to his knees. He fell off to the side of the island, and landed in an awkward position on the ground. He was beyond saving, even if he had been worth it. The young Jedi looked at the body, and the trooper saw no remorse in his eyes. There was no pride either, nor was there passion. There was only diminishing anger.

His innocence.

He walked to the end of the island, putting his lightsaber back onto his belt as he did so. He seemed oblivious to the trooper in the room. When he reached the end, he looked down at the rags below. Now, there was only sadness in his eyes. The trooper didn't need to be Force Sensitive to see the overwhelming sense of loss in the boy. It was painted all over his face.

And his former master, mentor, and friend.

The trooper walked over, and watched as the Jedi leaned down and took hood down from the head. The face was clear now. It was that of a middle aged human woman with brown hair, and closed eyes. A well crafted lightsaber, sleek and elegant in its design, was lying on the ground a few meters away. The trooper walked over, and picked it up. "Hey," he announced. The sudden voice seemed to finally capture the Jedi's attention. He turned to see the trooper.

He was just a kid. But then again, he could say the same about me. I'm only older by two years, after all.

"I think this was...I think it's her's." The trooper gestured the hand with the lightsaber towards the woman's body. The young Jedi stared at it for a moment, then back to the woman. He walked over to the trooper. He took it from his hand.

"Thank you." He said.

His voice was weak.

There was silence for a few moments before the trooper spoke up. "My name's Andrew. Private Andrew Goodner, 51st Battalion, 3rd Squad." It felt odd saying his rank for some reason, and even odder as he saluted a man younger than he. The Jedi technically automatically outranked him, but it was still odd.

Kayle's mood seemed to shift back into some kind of mission orientation after hearing this.

"I'm Kayle," he extended his hand, and shooting a glance toward the body one last time, "Kayle Toldreyn. Jedi Knight." He delivered the second line with both sorrow, and grim confidence.

From there, we worked a way out of the ship. I couldn't find my squad, but we'd managed to fight our way to the hangar bay and find a shuttle to escape the ship. We'd both watched as a plume of fire erupted from the engine core. On that day, a friendship was forged, as well as a team.

The Jedi Council and Republic High Command had both heard of our exploits. At first, they wanted me court-martialed, and Kayle was going to be given some kind of downgrade in rank, all for abandoning the mission. As it turned out, the Sith that Kayle had killed was a ruthless and infamous Sith Warrior known for killing and torturing dozens of Jedi and Republic Officers alike.

They begrudgingly decided to keep the two of us together as a sort of duo. Neither particularly loved or hated by the powers that be, we were sent on small odd jobs across Republic space that were both too small for them to need a squad of troopers, and not important enough to spare a Jedi investigation.

Now, they were running halfway across the galaxy to find only more trouble. Some hermit in a hut on Tattooine, who just happens to be a long lost Jedi prodigy. Allegedly. It seemed like the longer Andrew worked with Kayle, the more complicated, confusing, and frustrated things became.

Andrew came back to the reality as the door opened in the corridor behind him. He turned his chair to see Kayle and Sola walking out. He knew that one look would tell him whether or not Sola was what she said she was, and if they were going to discuss what to do with her.

Kayle looked toward his friend, and, as predicted, his eyes said it all:

How did I know this would only get more complicated?
____________________________________________________

"Miss Corcer."

The metallic voice of a droid took Sarna's attention. She had found nothing significant in her investigation of the hut. She was getting bored, and needed some good news.

"What is it?" She turned to the droid.

"The footage from the recovered assassin droid's visual receptors has been recovered, as you ordered madam." The extra courtesy package that the Sith insisted on installing into their droids to fuel their egos always made Sarna roll her eyes. She'd never felt the need to hear her rank and status made clear to her. Such was life when living in an Empire ran by men, she supposed. "Would you like to see it now?"

She nodded. "Yes, show it to me." She was ready for something new for a change.

The first droid said something into a com, and two more brought the broken assassin droid down the steps. They propped it up in front of the largest empty space in the hut. After doing some button pushing on the back of the broken droid's head, a holographic projection was displayed.

Sarna watched as the droids pulled up in their landspeeder. Hmm. She thought. Not the most stealthy approach, but there isn't much choice out here in the Dune Sea now, is there? Besides, how were we to know that there was anyone here worth hiding from? The droids in the projection dismounted form the speeder, and four of them took cover, while one approached the hut.

It knocked on the door. Sarna was still slightly bored up until this point. That all changed when the robed figure walked out of the hut. Her expression changed to shock as the figure revealed a blaster and a lightsaber, before proceeding to shoot and slice through four of the droids, as well as propelling one into a moisture vaporator with the Force. It seemed as though that particular attack wasn't enough however, when the droid who had been thrown stood up to fire on it.

The droid was taken down, by an unseen assailant. "Wait," She told the droid. "Rewind the playback fifteen seconds." The droid did as ordered, and she watched closely to see where the other shot came from.

A Republic trooper who had been hiding from view was sitting off to the edge of the farm. As he stood, a man wearing the robes of a Jedi came from the same general area, making non threatening gestures. So, Sarna thought, touching her hand to her chin. The Republic got here first.

A smile crawled across her face. Well, this prove to be interesting after all.

"Zero?"

Andrew's quizzical expression mirrored his body language. The typical crossed arms, weight resting more on the back foot, and head slightly cocked back completed the picture. Then there were his baggy, bloodshot eyes. Hyperspace duty was never fun, and he was clearly not going to agree to go back on after this.

"That's what the scanner said." Kayle replied, nodding his head. "I ran the test four more times with four new blood samples, and got the same reading."

They were in the bridge of the ship. Sola had gone back to her room for a few hours of rest. Since there was no such thing as a nighttime onboard a starship, Kayle and Andrew had been taking shifts on the initial trip to Tatooine.

"What do you think it means?"

"Exactly what you do." Kayle's reply was deadpan. "That it's broken, and we can test her again on Tython."

"Agreed. Still, this whole thing still doesn't seem right. You can't sense her, the machine can't find any mini-chlorines-"

"Midichlorians."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "The point is, something's definitely off here. I don't like this, and I wouldn't believe a word she says."

"I haven't." Kayle's face was defiant.

"I don't have to be a saber jockey to know that that's a half-truth." His mouth formed into an acidic grin. "You like her a little, don't you?"

"What are you? Twelve?" Kayle shot back. There was a passive anger to his voice.

Andrew chuckled breifly, before announcing, "I'm going to bed for a bit. It's your turn on hyperspace duty anyway."

He walked off, and Kayle looked to the view port before him. The Hyperspace tunnel was bright, especially in comparison to the dim lighting in the rest of the ship. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he stared at it.

What is she? That question had stuck out in his mind since the blood test. It was obviously just a malfunctioning unit, but it still bothered him. They'd redone it several times, and it always came up as "0". Not "-1.1", or ".01", or even "4.46", the highest possible number in the margin for error.

Just zero. Every time.

The device should have detected something, anything at all, but it didn't. Kayle couldn't couldn't stop thinking about it. He made a mental note to have the device dismantled and throughly picked through for whatever caused the error. He didn't have that kind of electronics expertise, and neither did Andrew.

His eyes grew heavy. He blinked to keep them open. Kayle couldn't fall asleep. Not that there was much actual danger in it, as any alarm would awaken him, but Andrew hadn't slept, and he couldn't let him...win.

It was foolish, childish competition, against his Jedi teachings, but dammit he couldn't let the smug bastard win this one! Kayle was suddenly shocked by his own vulgarity in thinking about his friend. He shook his head. Hopefully Sola hadn't felt that. If there truly was some malicious intent in her, she might use it to her advantage.

Sola. There was something...off, about her. Kayle was denying it, but Andrew wasn't all wrong about what he'd said. She had a certain quality to her, an air about her that Kayle couldn't quite describe. When he'd looked at her, before he found out she may not be what she claims to be, he felt something. Something he'd never experienced before.

He hadn't even noticed his eyes closing. Kayle couldn't fight the sleep overtaking him, even if he wanted to. He was too deep in. His hands went limp, and rested lazily on the sides of the pilot's seat.

A few minutes passed. The engine hummed unevenly in the back of the craft, but otherwise there was complete silence. A sense of serenity befell the vessel.

Behind the bridge, a door slowly slid open. Sola's head peaked out, looked to the left, then right, and proceeded to tip-toe across the corridor. The whole time, she watched Kayle, asleep in his chair, and winced at every metallic creak. She reached the door she was looking for, when she heard the sudden hiss of a door opening.

"You don't seem very tired." His displeasure for her was branded all over his face. The soldier leaned lazily against the doorframe. He was tired, but not too tired. "What were you going to do?" He tilted his head slightly as he asked, as if to exhibit some actual curiosity.

"I was just going to...nothing. Just, nothing." Usually brimming with confidence and wit, Sola had to back down. The emotional trials so far were beginning to wear on her, and the lack of sleep didn't help that. "Why are you up?"

"Because I don't trust you." Andrew replied bluntly. "But I'm sure you could already sense that. You probably know what I'm going to say before I say it, maybe even already saw this whole conversation play out in your head and memorized every word. Hell, you could probably just reach into my mind right now, pull out all the darkest memories, the most traumatic moments, have them flood all across my frontal lobe, and giggle to yourself while I sit here crying into the durasteel floor." He stood up straight, and walked slightly closer to Sola.

"Then again, I could still be wrong. You were surprised when I walked out of that door. You didn't seem to be expecting that second wave of assassination droids back at the farm. You still haven't killed me and my Jedi friend over there," He gestured towards the sleeping Kayle, who was now casually drooling on the chair in the bridge, "And, for whatever reason, you're not exploiting the feelings he has for you."

Sola blinked. "What are you talking about?" She asked, showing her confusion.

Andrew grinned. "Damn, your good at that aren't you? Really playing up the mask, taking full advantage of the fact that Kayle can't sense what's actually there." He moved even closer, now maybe a meter away. "I don't know what's up with you, but I'm going to find out before this is over. You can disembowel me with your mind for all I care, but if you hurt my friend..." Andrew kept looking at her for a few seconds after his voice trailed off.

He turned and walked back off to his room. Sola kept looking at the door after he closed it. She turned and opened the door that she had originally intended on opening. Inside was the same room with the midichlorian tester. She walked over to it, and took two small red sample strips from her robe.

Sola placed both into the slots, just as Kayle had done. After a few minutes, a reading came up. 3,468-3,991. Her eyes widened, she stepped back, and began breathing heavily. Her lip trembled, and her heart skipped a beat. The samples she had placed inside were not her own. She had gotten them off Kayle before she'd gone back to her room.

She looked at the small metal box full of fresh empty sample strips. Sola took some out out, used two on her arm, and placed them into the machine. It simply came up with 0 again. She repeated the process several times, but only came to the same result.

Remove strip,

Prick arm,

0.

Remove strip,

Prick arm,

0.

Remove strip,

Prick arm,

0.

Her arm trembled as she took another two strips from the box. Tears began to swell from her eyes, and she dropped them, and fell to her knees. Her face rested on the desk. The sound of her sobbing was confined to the room. It suddenly seemed cold. Everything seemed to be happening too fast now, yet still too slow, and none of it made any sense to her.

The Hutt's voice echoed in her head:

Who are you?

What are you?