The Sith Returneth: Part 2
               by Gary Friedman (garybf@ix.netcom.com)

        Han and Leia looked up at the huge towers of screens in the
Coruscant traffic control tower. "There it is," a controller spoke
up. "Obviously a Star Destroyer, modified transponder signals. Trying
to register as one of our Mon Cal cruisers. They don't exactly fit the
requirements."
        "Only one?" Leia asked, walking over to the controllers
station. There was indeed only one.
        "Maybe a scout?" Han suggested. "See how our defenses are,
then come in with the heavy guns or send reports and fade."
        "We will stop them from doing either," Admiral Ackbar said
from the comm. As soon as Luke had warned them, Ackbar had gone up to
his flagship, the Mon Calamari cruiser Defiance. His ship could now be
seen advancing on the star destroyer, two more Calamari cruisers and
three frigates forming behind it.
        "Clear all traffic from the area," Leia ordered the
controller. She went back down to the main level, hauling Han by his
arm. "We've got to get to the war room."
        The war room was a good bit busy for the minor danger of the
singular star destroyer. Aides ran about, people looking over
scanners, the whole place was in chaos. Leia and Han walked over to
where General Bel Iblis stood. "Have any other destroyers shown up,
General?"
        "No, Your Highness, still only the one. Which doesn't make any
sense, those probes we sent out detected at least thirteen star
destroyers in the new fleet," the General said.
        "Has NRI figured out anything?" Han asked.
        "They sent out a few probes, a couple specialized to determine
hyperspace trails. They believe that the rest of the fleet may have
been somehow diverted. Their life probes also detect near no lifeforms
left on the planet."
        "That's very strange," Leia said. She glanced at the main
display, seeing that the destroyer was rapidly losing it's shields to
the numerous attackers. "Tell the NRI to trace those hyperspace
trails, if they haven't already. We need to know where they went. A
fleet that large must be stopped."
        "Yes your Your Highness, I believe they have already started
after them. They should find the fleet within hours." Back on the main
display, the star destroyer's shields began to fail. Moments later, it
fell prey to an enormous hail of proton torpedoes.

        "ETA five minutes," Commander Winsub reported, now back in the
bridge after finding nothing wrong with the circuits.
        "Good," Chris muttered. It was time. Gritting teeth he drew
his lightsaber and ignited it, cutting down the Commander. He whirled
toward Kyp who had already drawn his own lightsaber. "Kyp, don't do
this. Go back to Master Skywalker. I won't hurt you then."
        "Skywalker is weak, as are you. Kyp, finish him off," Rishiaa
said, taking a step back from them.
        Chris and Kyp's lightsabers clashed biolently, Kyp swung
around to Chris's side, which he parried and slashed up, catching
Kyp's lightsaber.  "Kyp, I won't fight you. You have to return to
Master Skywalker."
        "Kyp, don't listen to him," Rishiaa whispered.
        "I'm not." Kyp lunged forward. Chris sidestepped the blow,
whirling the opposite direction, leaving a burning slash mark on Kyp's
side. Kyp shrieked and fell back a step. They both returned to ready
stances, Kyp with one hand on his wound.
        A moment later, the destroyer exited hyperspace. Chris could
sense the power of this system. He drew upon that power, and
teleported Kyp to Yavin four. He held his lightsaber pointed to the
ground, looking at Rishiaa. "Your reign will end now."
        "Wherever this is you have brought us, it will hardly help
you," Rishiaa said.
        "You have no idea how much it will help me," Chris said, and
disappeared, reappearing on the ground of the planet. "My masters,
forgive me, but I am a Jedi, and a Sith. I cannot do anything about my
actions," he spoke to the ground and air of the planet. The planet
Korriban. Resting place of the Sith.
        "My Masters, my ancestors," Chris began, "as i have said,
forgive me.  But you all know what I do is justified. The Coming of
the Sith has ended. But like the Jedi, they will no doubt rise
again. For this, I ask of you to help me in this task I must
complete," Chris said, now able to make out several points of presence
of numerous ancient Dark Lords. His words had attracted their
attention. "Give me a link to your power, the power of all the Sith."
        Chris stood straight, his eyes closed, holding his hands down
to the ground and concentrating deeply. From the ground, bolts of
energy arose into his hands as he rose them toward the sky. Two
lightning bolts struck from the sky, holding on to his upraised
palms. The sky turned a dark purple around him as he drew upon the
power.
        With the lightning came fire, a huge encompassing flame around
Chris.  He could feel the fire singing him, but felt no pain. He knew
this was his end anyway, his final sacrifice for the good of the
galaxy. He could also feel his ancestors manipulating his own great
power, creating a field of Force energy around the solar system,
denying the star destroyers the right to elude in hyperspace.
        Back in control of his own power, Chris was allowed to destroy
the star himself. Perhaps the Sith would not do it themselves, though
they knew it must be done. He powered the star with Force energy,
making it implode on itself and forcing it to go supernova. With a
blaze of brilliant light the star exploded outward, destroying the
star destroyers.
        Of course the star wouldn't stop there. But time seemed to
slow around Chris. He could see the blazing light through his eyelids,
final thoughts running through his head. Images of everyone he'd met
so recently flashed before him. He smiled at the thought of himself
having a near death experience when he was probably already dead.

        "Help me," Luke said, the strain showing like a wound on his
face. "I can't get him by myself."
        Laree, Gaeriel, and Kam Solusar, who had all been watching and
hoping, began to show the same strain as they opened their minds and
power to Luke.
        "I... think I've got him." Just then, Chris appeared standing
up in front of them. Everyone stared at him as he fell in a clump to
the ground. "I hope we're not too late." He ran his hand over the
boy's head, pulling back.  "He's hot. And his mind is silent."
        Laree ran over, tears falling from her eyes. She lay her hand
on her chest. "So's his heart," she said, sobbing.
        "Don't give up yet, Laree," Luke said, laying a hand on her
shoulder.  "Kam, get Cilgal in here. Maybe she can help."
        Kam left, returning a few moments later with Cilgal. Cilgal
knelt by Chris's seemingly dead body. She lay her hand on his head,
reaching in him with her healing powers in the Force. "I don't know
what I can do, Master.  This one is gone."
        "Damnit, no he's not!" Luke shouted, tears falling. What had
he said just days ago? This boy was just like Dev. Was he going to
allow him to die at the same age, from the same burns?
        Cilgal glanced at Luke, back to Chris's whethered body. She
reached inside him, trying to restart his heart. She pumped his blood
through it for him, thrusted his blood throughout his organs. She kept
it running like that for awhile, trying her hardest to revive the boy.
        Minutes later, she stood up. "I'm sorry, that's all I can do."
Chris still did not move. As Cilgal prepared to leave the room, Luke
saw it. Chris's leg twitched. Luke's face brightened up from the grim
state it had been set in. Chris moaned softly, turning his head to the
side, spitting up blood. He moved his burned arms and legs, struggling
as hard as he could to get up.
        "No, Chris. Don't move," Luke said. "We'll get you to a
medic. Just stay still."

        Days later, Chris lay in a bed on Coruscant, slowly regaining
consciousness. He breathed in the cool, fresh hospital air. Only now
did he really feel anything since the star had exploded. He felt the
air, his own power, pulsing within him anew, a new sense of inner
piece.
        The door opened, Laree, Luke, and Gaeriel entering with
Too-Onebee.  "He has healed well, his body reacted to the bacta
perfectly. He has now regained consciousness."
        They all took spots on the side of Chris's bed, smiling. "See
Chris?"  Luke asked. "I told you I wouldn't let you die."
        "You should have," Chris said quietly, struggling for his
voice.
        "Don't talk like that, Chris. You did a great thing. You
destroyed practically Rishiaa's entire fleet," Laree said.
        "Practically?" Chris asked.
        "Don't worry about that, Chris. Coruscant defenses easily took
them out," Gaeriel said.
        Chris nodded weakly. He turned his head toward Luke. "The Sith
were to all die out. Why did you save me?" Chris asked.
        "We don't let friends die," Luke said smiling.
        "I am not a friend. I am a Sith. I was to die." Chris spoke with
conviction. "I wanted to die."
        "Look Chris, you did what was right. You used your Dark power
to power the Light. It just wasn't your time."
        "That's not true. How can you use Darkness for Light?" Chris
asked.
        "Chris, without Darkness there can be no Light. You have wiped
so much Darkness from this galaxy, how could the Jedi survive without
your own Great Darkness?" Luke said, only partially sarcastic.
        "But... it didn't help things at all. I'm the same as I was."
        Before Luke could reply, the door opened again, Kyp walking
in. He went up to Chris's side, smiling. "Chris, despite everything at
least I had the sense to stay inside the Sun Crusher when I blew up a
star. What were you thinking, standing out in the open?"
        "I... liked the sensations," Chris said, smiling for the first
time.  "What else could I have done, anyway? Besides leave you there
to die, I mean."
        "Well that always was a possibility. But it's too much fun to
yell at you in Sith language."
        "Heh. I bet." Kyp ran a hand through Chris's hair. "Seeya,
Buddy. I've gotta go." Kyp left the room again.
        Too-OneBee came closer to Chris, laying a sensor on the boy's
chest.  "Sir, I believe you need rest."
        "I feel fine, droid," Chris said.
        "You may, sir, but your body needs healing. I've assigned a
watcher-droid to you. Six-bee-nine, please come in," Too-OneBee
said. A small roundish droid flew in, it's underside flat with
repulsor lifts elevating it.  It floated over beside Chris, laying a
sensor on him. "Good. Now if all you humans would please leave, Chris
needs his rest." Too-OneBee led all the others out.
        "Goodday, Master. Your condition has definately improved from
your earlier state," Six-Bee said.
        "Oh no, not another talking droid," Chris moaned.
        "I'm sorry, Master. Do you wish me to stay quiet?" the droid
asked.
        Chris thought a moment. "Do you tell stories?" Chris asked,
wondering if this droid had any magical sleeping powers like Threepio.
        "No, Sir, I'm primarily a medical droid. I tell no stories,
though I could download one from the main computer if you wish."
        "You do that. I feel like a nice story."

     Chris walked down the old pathway leading to the remains of the
ancient tower of Imuntom on the planet Scieth. His newfound friend
followed him, Six-Bee floating along behind him silently. "Six-Bee, you 
picking anything up on your scanners yet?" Chris asked.
     "Master Chris, you know you always sense things before my weak 
sensors can pick them up. I wish you'd stop taunting me like that," the 
small round topped, flat-bottomed droid said.
     Chris turned to him with a smile. "Look Six-Bee, I keep you along 
because you help me relax. You don't want me to turn you to scrap or 
something, do you?" Chris asked. Six-Bee muttered something in cybernetic 
code, thinking Chris wouldn't hear. "I heard that," Chris said.
     "I'm sorry, Master. You reprogrammed me, after all, so it's your own 
fault. I'm supposed to be looking out for your health on Coruscant. I 
should not have helped you escape the planet, or even the medical
facility. And by the way sir, where are we?"
     "Six-Bee, we're on Scieth, remember?" Chris shook his head and turned 
back to the path, heading down it shoving twigs out of his way with the
Force.
     "I'm sorry sir," the droid said, hovering after him. "But you said to 
find out for myself from your ships circuits. That ship you stole is far
from ordinary, I couldn't access it with my medic-oriented connectors."
     "Droid, you keep talking to me like I'm listening," Chris said. He 
could feel the droid's sense change to hurt. Someone had programmed this 
droid well. "I'm just kidding, Six-Bee."
     "Well I'm sorry sir, but I cannot yet detect a human's sense as you 
apparently can mine." Chris shoved a huge leaf-covered branch out of his 
way. A hundred meters beyond, he could see the huge temple he'd been 
looking for. "Is that our destination, Master?"
     "Yes, it, Six-Bee. Run a scan on it for me," Chris said.
     "Sir, you know I cannot--"
     "Run a scan for human presences, Six-Bee. I know you can detect 
life."
     "Oh," the droid said. "Yes, there are human-like presences inside. I 
cannot determine if they are actually human."
     "Good, at least there's someone in there. Any droids or machinery?" 
Chris asked.
     Six-Bee attempted to scan the area for machinery. "I cannot detect 
that from here. It could be the distance, or perhaps the thick slab of
stone walls. You're lucky my life-detectors are strong enough to get 
readings through _that_."
     "Luck has nothing to do with it, droid. You need some upgrading."
Chris walked down the hill toward the temple, his senses sweeping over it
to check the presences himself. He could have done that in the first
place, but he liked the droid to think he had more use than he did.
     Chris and Six-Bee neared the huge gate into the temple. As Chris
stepped in he felt a certain Darkness, not unlike he was used to. Before
he'd walked even a meter, he heard a shriek, turned quickly, his hand 
darting for his lightsaber. He saw a man crumple to the ground, stunned.
Chris turned in amazement to the droid.
     "Those with the knowledge to help save the knowledge to kill,"
Six-Bee said.
     "Thanks. I can't believe I didn't sense that. Keep watch," Chris
said, smiling at the droid.
     "Yes, Master." Chris turned back around, walking slowly down the
halls. He found he really could not sense anything but the opponents
minds, making him all the more thankful for the little droid.
     Meters beyond, Chris finally did feel something. He lunged at his
belt, drawing his lightsaber and igniting it. With the saber in one hand,
he deflected the blaster bolt that shot at the droid, his other hand
splaying forward as the attacker's blaster jumped into it.
     "Master!" the droid shouted. Chris caught himself, just before he
shot the attacker through the head. He set the blaster for stun, then shot
him. He held his saber low, his blaster high, and looked around with a
strange look in his eye.
     "Thank you, Six-Bee." Chris continued on down the mysterious hallway,
keeping an eye in all directions. As he walked, he stepped on a stone that
gave way. "Duck!" he needlessly shouted at the droid as he fell to his
knees. A booby trap set off, firing an arrow right over Chris's head.
Chris stood up again, setting off again for the main hall of the temple.
     "Master, perhaps you should form a plan of attack. You don't know 
what other kinds of defences these primitive beings may have. I may be but
a medical droid, but I have been around. An arrow that fine striking you
where it would have would have dug right into your heart and sliced
through your lung," Six-Bee informed Chris.
     "Oh, thanks, Six. I really wanted to know that." Chris just continued
on, ignoring the droids concerns. "You don't know what we're after here. 
But I do."
     "Then I would like to hear what it is that's so important to you, 
Master Chris," Six-Bee said.
     "It's an object, one of extreme value," Chris said, glancing around a 
corner before turning onto it. "It has to be destroyed. Or Master 
Skywalker may want it."
     "Oh," the droid replied simply. He hadn't expected a very clear 
answer from Chris, as he never got one. He hovered smoothly behind Chris,
keeping in the boy's rhythm of step.
     After a number of other turns, Chris walked up to a wall, inspecting
it. "This is it. I can't find an entrance though..." he brought up his 
saber, and in three quick slashes kicked the slab of stone in. He waved
away the dust that rose from the stone.
     "Master, that dust can damage my circuits. I'll wait out here," 
Six-Bee said, hovering a few feet back.
     "Ok, Six-Bee. I'll be right back." Chris stepped into the dark room, 
but Chris created his own light. He looked around the huge stone room,
finding a large altar in the center. He walked up to it in awe.
     The altar itself seemed to pulse with power, understandably from what
it held. It was tall, with a small hole in the middle, containing what
he was after. It was draped over with a velvet covering. He came up to it,
walking up the lower steps. He reached up into the gap, removing the
covering and taking a cool piece of metal in his hands. He grabbed it,
rolling to the side just in time to avoid the small explosions he'd just 
triggered. The whole altar went up. Chris jumped to his feet, hooking his
lightsaber and blaster to his belt and sprinted out of the hall, back to
his droid. He breathed hard for a moment, but Six-Bee extended some sort
of probe to him, which relaxed him.
     "Did you get whatever it was?" Six-Bee asked.
     "Yes," Chris said, holding up the ancient lightsaber.
     "Does that mean we will be going back to Coruscant? I almost wish we 
didn't have to. They'll deactivate me for sure," Six-Bee said, a tinge of 
sadness in his mechanical voice.
     "Don't worry, Six. I'll defend you. You're a good friend, and a great 
help. Let's go," Chris said, tilting his head back towards the way they'd 
come in.
     "Sir, perhaps it would be easier if you teleported us back to the 
shuttle. My repulsors really do need a brake. They aren't supposed to run 
for multiple hours at a time," Six-Bee said.
     "All right, Six." Chris closed his eyes lightly, reopened them to
find himself in the shuttle.
     "I still don't understand it. My sensors felt and saw nothing," 
Six-Bee said, distressed.
     "You can't pick up on the Force." Chris sat in the pilot's seat. He
brought up the ramp and began the ship's preflight sequence. "And," he 
added, "You're supposed to discourage me from using the Dark Side, and you 
were programmed with a list of what that includes. And it includes
teleporting."
     "I know, Master, but my repulsor-lifts would not have survived the 
trip back, their batteries have nearly died," Six-Bee said, lowering 
himself onto the floor of the shuttle. A little red light lit up on him,
meaning he was recharging.
     "Can you talk while you charge?" Chris asked, not expecting an
answer. He brought the shuttle up off the ground and pulled up at full
speed for space.
     "Yes, I can. But it will slow my recharging. Do you wish me to keep 
my speech mechanism engaged?" the droid asked.
     "No, no. Just wondering," Chris said. At least he knew the droid
would hear him if something went wrong. After getting the coordinates from
the nav computer, Chris pulled back the hyperspace levers.

     "Has Chris been found yet?" Laree asked the medical droid. She paced
around the medical suite where Chris had recently lain.
     "No, Chris has not been found anywhere on the planet. It's been too 
long, he could have easily escaped the planet," the droid's voice came 
back. "He also ran off with Six-Bee."

     The shuttle rocked violently, throwing Six-Bee and Chris to the side,
Six-Bee crashing into the side and Chris on top of him. "Sorry, Six,"
Chris said, getting back in the pilot's seat. "Some sort of 
disturbance..."
     "It is all right, Master. No internal or external damage. Perhaps we 
should just forget this happened, right, Master?" the droid asked, 
sounding hopeful.
     Chris smiled down at the droid. "All right, for now. I want to get 
back to Coruscant. But I've saved those coordinates. We'll be back."
     "I think you really need an astromech droid, not a simple medical 
droid. Your condition is fine, and you have successfully kept from the
Dark Side. You don't need me," Six-Bee said, sometime later.
     "Oh, c'mon Six-Bee. Give yourself some credit. You're a lot more 
valuable than some rusty old R2 unit," Chris said. "And you're a good 
friend."
     "Why thank you, sir. You aren't so bad--for a human." The droid 
floated itself back onto the chair and lowered itself into the cushion. It
reached out with a number of appendages, buckling itself in. "But I 
sometimes doubt my use. You ask me to do things I am not able to do with
my medical equipment."
     "I know, Six-Bee. That's why I want to get back to Coruscant and 
upgrade you, if you don't mind," Chris said.
     "On the contrary, Master, I would like to be able to do what you ask 
of me. And my sensors were apparently damaged just now, my primary check
was not accurate."
     "Ok." Chris checked the time for reentry, guessed about five more
seconds than estimated. He waited the minute, then pulled back on the
hyperspace levers. The whirls of color faded to starlines, then back to
normal stars as they reverted to realspace. Coruscant gleamed shortly
away.
     "This is the shuttle Lindimbia, requesting permission for landing in 
the medical hangar, lower Imperial city," Six-Bee said into the comm, as 
Chris had suggested.
     "Permission denied. Hangar has been closed for inspection. Diversion
to palace roof is possible," the controller said.
     "Damn, they know we stole this ship," Chris whispered.
     "Quiet, Master." Six-Bee let go of the mute button. "That will do 
fine, send final coordinates." The coordinates popped up on their screens, 
and Chris flew, carefully following them.
     When they landed on the landing platform, Chris took a deep breath
and lowered the ramp. Six-Bee detached himself from the copilots seat,
turning on his repulsor-lifts and following Chris down the ramp.
     Chris bowed his head, staring at the ground when he reached the
hangar floor.
     "Did you get it?" Luke asked. He stood a meter away, staring at the
boy and his droid.
     "Yes, I did, Master," Chris said, keeping his head down. Silently he
detached the ancient saber from his belt, held it out to Master Skywalker
in both hands.
     Skywalker took the ancient saber in one hand and ignited it. The
blade quickly snapped into existence, it's dark purple light illuminating 
his face. "This is the Sith object you were after," Luke stated.
     "Yes, it was exactly where they said it would be."
     "You should not have run away from the medical center," Luke said. He
looked at the droid. "And _you_ should not have helped him."
     "I had no choice, sir, he adjusted my program--" the droid started.
     "I want to keep him," Chris said. "He's good to have around. And will 
you destroy the saber, or shall I?"
     "Later," Luke said, disigniting the saber. "For now, you have 
everyone worried half to death. You'd better go explain to them." Luke 
turned back to the droid. "Six-Bee, report to Too-OneBee facility 
four-cee-six-twelve."
     "No," Chris said. "Six-Bee stays with me." Chris waved the droid to
follow as he walked past Skywalker into the palace. He walked downstairs
to the medical wing, where he could feel everyone waiting. Six-Bee hovered
behind him.
     Chris came down the final stairs to the medical room. "I'm back," he 
called down. He came down to see Laree and Gaeriel talking to the
Too-OneBee droid. Laree looked over at him, and walked to him.
     Laree slapped him. "Where the blazes did you go?"
     Chris was furious in surprise, but felt a pain in his leg as he
collapsed. "Oh, thanks, Six-Bee. Maybe I'll turn you in after all."
     "Too-OneBee would disagree, Master. It is my designation to keep you 
from getting angry," Six-Bee said.
     "Pretty soon I'll just get mad at you..." Chris trailed off as he got 
back to his feet.
     "C'mon, Chris, where'd you go?" Laree asked again. "You're just in 
critical condition a week, get better, disappear, what's with that?"
     "I had to do it, Laree. It's my job as the last of the Sith to 
destroy Sith objects. I had to recover this lightsaber that Six-Bee had
mentioned in one of his stories, which turned out to be true," Chris said, 
hoping she'd buy it. It _was_ the truth after all.
     "Well I just hope you had fun," Laree said viciously.
     "Actually, I did. First there was--"
     "Shut up, Chris." Laree pushed past him and went upstairs.
     Chris looked around, confused. "Blazes, you'd think we were married 
or something..."
     "Actually, sir," Six-Bee said coming around to face him, "That would 
be legally impossible. You are both far under-aged."
     "Thanks for the update, Six, but I kind of knew that," Chris said. He
walked over to Gaeriel, tapped her on the shoulder. She turned toward him.
"What are you talking to Too-OneBee about?"
     "How to keep you in the center this time," Gaeriel said.
     "What? But I'm fine!" Chris insisted.
     "Too-OneBee thinks you may have internal injuries that your activity 
just now has brought upon you. He'll have to operate," Gaeriel said. 
"Bye." She walked past him and went up the stairs to the turbolift.
     "Operate? Six, c'mon old friend, you can help me out of this one..." 
Chris said hopefully.
     "I'm afraid not, sir. My premature scans showed no evidence of any 
damage internally, but now I can most assuredly pick up the dangers. As
you humans often call it, you will have to go `under the knife'," the 
droid said.
     "I hate operations!" Chris insisted.

     "Done well, you have," a voice called out to Chris when he was
unconscious. He saw the form near him. "Use your power for good, you have.  
Now what is it you do?" 
     "I don't understand, Master Yoda," Chris spoke to the bluish spirit.
     "Day light is upon you... but soon night must fall."
     That, Chris understood. "But my droid will help me stay away--"
     "Droid? Heh. Worthless they are, at times. More shall you need, if 
you are not to be turned," Yoda said in his usual quizzical way.
     "Of course, Master, but what?" Chris asked.
     "Closest to you are they who may help you." The spirit faded as Chris
regained consciousness.
     "There you are, Sir. Your operation has been completed," Too-OneBee
backed from Chris.
     "Am I allowed to leave yet?" Chris asked, wanting to get as far from
the medical wing as he could.
     "I'm afraid not, sir. You need to stay settled for at least a day, or 
the condition will once again become chronic," Too-OneBee left the room. 
     "Oh, great," Chris said. The door opened again, and Six-Bee hovered
in.
     "Good day again, Master," the droid said cheerfully. "They allowed me 
those upgrades while you were out. My new systems are one hundred percent
functional." The droid came to Chris's side, placing his health-watching 
sensor on the boy.
     "Good, Six. What did they give you?" Chris asked.
     "Metal sensors, and a computer connection accessor. I've also changed 
around my programming, as you have requested. I can hack through most
encryptions."
     "That's very good, Six. You'll be a lot of help, I'm sure. But for 
now, I need some sleep." Chris closed his eyes and shut down his mind. 
     "Of course, Master," the droid said, shutting down all but his
sensory and repulsor systems.

     "He'll be ok," Luke said. "And I'm sure he's sorry, Laree."
     "Yeah, I bet," Laree said, her green eyes still angry.
     Luke shook his head. He looked around at his apartment,
disappointed in how Laree was acting. "Anyway, I think we should get his 
father back here. To show him how he's doing."
     "The kid has a father?" Gaeriel asked. "Acts like an orphan to me."
     "Well his father kind of ditched him on Yavin four. And that's why 
it's important to get him back here," Luke said.
     "What's that going to do?" Laree asked.
     "I don't know. Just seems like the right thing to do," Luke said. 
Laree shook her head and walked off. Luke watched her go sadly.
     "Don't worry, Luke. She'll get over it," Gaeriel said, putting an arm
around him. "Why do you really want his father to come?"
     "It's about time they met their future in-laws," Luke smiled.
     "I thought so," Gaeriel said, returning the smile.

     Later that day, Gaeriel and Luke met up again to talk. Gaeriel walked
up to Luke, shaking her head. "Something's wrong," she said. "Laree isn't 
acting like herself. I was just talking to her... something is very wrong,
Luke."
     "I've noticed too, Gaeriel," Luke said sadly. "I don't understand it 
yet, either. But you're definitely right. I'm worried too." Luke left 
Gaeriel standing there, walking down the hall toward the turbolift-tube.
He rode it down to the medical level, stepping down the final stairs. He
walked into Chris's room, where the boy now lay asleep. 
     "I'm sorry, no visitors--" Too-OneBee started. Luke gestured, 
shutting the droid down. He knew what was wrong. He walked up to Chris.
     "I'm sorry, sir, but Master Chris must rest--" Six-Bee piped up from 
beside Chris.
     "I know what I'm doing, Six-Bee. He will not be harmed." Luke walked 
up to the boy, grabbed him by the collar. Silently he lifted him up,
waking him up.
     Chris's eyes opened, surprised he was no longer laying down on the 
bed. "Hey--Master!" he said, shocked.
     "Chris, you idiot! How could you do this?" Luke asked, his voice
angry.
     Chris shook his head, trying to ward off the bad dream. "What are you 
talking about?" He was far too surprised to match Luke's anger.
     Luke dropped him back to the bed. "You--Laree... How could you?"
     "I still have no idea what you're talking about, Master..."
     "I'll give you one thing, Chris. You did discover a new way to spread 
your `Sith blood'."

     That hit Chris. Him, Laree, that time in the academy before he'd 
gone away, the Sith blood... Uh-oh. "You don't mean that..." Chris said.
     "That's exactly what I mean. When you ran away, she got angry at you, 
understandably. Since then, she's been completely out of control. And you 
know exactly why," Luke said.
     "Master, I didn't know. I'm sorry, but I didn't know this would 
happen!" Chris said desperately.
     Luke cooled down a bit. "I know you didn't, but you still shouldn't 
have done it."
     How could he make Master Skywalker understand? "Can she be helped? 
Maybe it hasn't completely affected her yet," he said.
     "I already thought of that, Chris. But what's the point?" Luke asked 
truthfully.
     Chris had to admit he was right. Sad as it was, it was unavoidable.
"At least she can't be trained to be a Sith. I'll see to that."
     "You don't really know that. You've said yourself the Sith will 
return. How do you know this isn't part of that? You, Laree, your future 
children. One mighty Sith family?" Luke asked.
     "Master, I've changed. If I can control myself, Laree easily can do 
so."
     "How long did it take you to control yourself?"
     "Years," Chris replied sadly. "But that doesn't count, I was caught 
in a family that hated me, an outcast from my own world. Laree is nothing
like that," Chris said.
     "Well I want you to make sure of that. Go away with her for awhile, 
rebuild her confidence and control. Let her trust you, and us," Luke said.
     "I understand, Master. Where would you wish us to go?" Chris asked,
trusting his Master knew what he was talking about. It didn't really sound 
like it would work. It hadn't for him.
     "Well there's a nice place on the edge of the galaxy," Luke said. 
"Named Cinthral."
     Chris shook his head. "No, no. You can't want me to go home. I can't 
go home," Chris laughed, as if it were a joke. Skywalker's idea was worse 
than he thought.
     Luke stared at Chris monotonously for a few moments. "You will go to 
Cinthral, Chris. I don't know why exactly, but it's a good idea. You
should meet with your family again."
     "What about Laree? She'd be bored to blazes! There's nothing there, 
Luke, believe me, I'd lived there long enough," Chris said. "How about 
Ketrann? Laree might like meeting her mother... You know, girls like
that kinda stuff." 
     "Chris, go!" Luke commanded.
     Chris hung his head. "Ok, Master," he muttered, his teeth clenched.
"But I don't like it. C'mon, Six. Let's go." Chris walked toward the 
stairway, Six-Bee following. On the way, Six emitted a strange
electromagnetic pulse into his shut-down comrade, starting the systems of
Too-OneBee. "Hey, Six, where'd you learn to do that?" Chris asked 
enthusiastically, walking backwards to face the droid.
     "Master Chris, all now-a-day droid models have electromagnetic 
pulse sensory emitters for just such an occasion," the droid said 
matter-of-factly.
     Chris raised an eyebrow at the droid. "Right. I'm sorry I asked." 
Chris turned back around, trying to remember what the name of the thing
was.
     "Apology accepted, sir," Six said. Chris turned to the droid again,
shaking his head. But he sensed something -- could Six be sarcastic? Might
have to ask him sometime. He turned back and went up the stairs and inside
the turbolift.

     "Oh Blazes, you want me to meet your family?" Laree asked. They were
in their temporary room near where they'd been on their earlier trip to 
Coruscant.
     "No. Actually, I'd rather not meet my family. Believe me, you can't 
hate this any more than I do," Chris said.
     "Then why go?" Laree asked.
     "That's a good question. But Master Skywalker really wants us to go 
for some reason. It's some crazed obsession to him."
     Laree laughed. "I bet it is. Well, never disappoint the Master, do 
we?" she sighed.
     "Apparently not."

     That night, Laree, Chris, and Six-Bee loaded into a shuttle and took
to space. Luke watched them go. "I don't know why I made them go," he said 
to Gaeriel who stood beside him. "I thought it was the right thing...but 
now I'm not so sure. This could be a mistake."
     "What could happen, Luke? And whatever does, it's not your fault. I'm 
sure they'll make plenty of trouble themselves," Gaeriel smiled, trying to 
comfort him.
     She failed. "I don't know, Gaeri. I've got a bad feeling about this."

     Chris pulled the ship from hyperspace. Out the viewport was a huge
orbiting spacedock. It was obviously ancient, the whole thing had the look
as if it had been put back together a hundred times. Parts of it were
rusted, taken down to the planet to be repaired and rained upon. It was
not very good condition and extremely dangerous for ships to berth upon.
     Two strange spherical ships crossed by awkward crescents flew
speedily toward them. "Chris, watch it!" Laree shouted as the strange
ships opened fire.
     "Shh, Laree." Chris tapped a key, a preprogrammed lasercannon opening
fire back at the attackers. It clipped both the ships' wings, diverting 
their paths into eachothers'.
     "Oh, great work, Chris. I'm sure they'll let us go now," Laree said.
     "Don't worry, Laree. Everything is as planned," Chris said.
     The comm-unit came alive. "Chris, My Son, why do you return?"
     "Master Skywalker thought that I should, Father. If it is of no 
bother," Chris replied into the comm.
     Laree muted the comm a moment. "You really are a suck-up," she
smiled.
     "You live a lot longer," Chris smiled back, removing her hand from
the comm.
     "Of course, My Son, you may return. You are always welcome at home, 
if you are better?" Ulic asked.
     "Well...Yes, I am, Father," Chris said, wanting to at least be able
to land. He pulled the ship beyond the spaceport, down toward the
groundport. He landed the shuttle on the ground, looking around at the
old-style lights all around the 'port.
     "When was the last time they upgraded this place?" Laree asked. The
whole place looked ancient.
     "Remember, this world still isn't part of the Republic. And they 
don't want to be. If it weren't for me, they probably would go on forever
without knowing about eachother." Chris shut down the systems, lowering 
the ramp. They walked down the ramp, Six-Bee floating silently behind
them.
     At the foot of the ramp stood Chris's father, Ulic. He looked just 
like a larger version of Chris, Laree thought. The two stooda meter apart.
"Father," Chris said.
     Ulic looked past Chris, scrutinizing Laree and Six-Bee. "Son. Who are 
your companions?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Laree.
     Chris chuckled at his father. "This is Laree Captison and Six-Bee, 
the latter of medical relations."              
     "Then are you better, or do you need constant attention?" Ulic asked,
looking back at his son.
     "There is no `better' for me, Father. I am what I am. And this is how 
I am," Chris said. "But the droid does help me a lot." Chris knew his 
father's unspoken thought. He just shook his head with a smile.
     Ulic smiled back, came forward and hugged his son. "We'll get you a 
room in a hotel. There's no room left in the house, what with your new 
brother and all."
     "I have a new brother?" Chris asked, releasing his father. Was I away
that long?
     "Yes, you'll get to see him. Come, we must hurry if we're to get 
there before dark," Ulic said.  

     Laree trudged through the moist ground, breathing the surprisingly
thick air. She looked at Chris, who was walking calmly next to his father,
breathing normally. He must have gotten used to this air when he was very
young. She certainly couldn't now. They passed through a large park filled 
with trees and plants of all odd sorts.
     She didn't miss Chris's father's occasional glances back at her. She 
didn't know what to do exactly, but by luck they hit the city far sooner 
than she'd expected.
     As expected though, it looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. It 
wasn't the technologically advanced built up city that most planets had 
serve as a main port or capital. There were tall and short buildings
alike, but they all had a certain primitive air to them, built up of old
metal and such. Ulic guided them through up to a large building made of
stone and metal. He told them it was the hotel he'd mentioned, and then 
took them a few long blocks beyond to a number of medium sized private
homes.
     "Ah, home," Chris whispered as he looked at the old house where he'd 
spent his childhood. Unlike some mushy reunions, hatred filled his heart.
This was home, alright. The place he hated.
     Laree looked at the place carefully. It looked plain, nothing special
at all. Just like the other dozen spread around the area. "come on, inside 
now," Ulic said. He pushed them along inside.
     Inside the door was a long white hall, seemingly completely out of
place. Chris squinted his eyes, muttering, "I hate white." They walked on,
coming to a large living room, just how Chris had remembered it.
     There were a few entertainment holos, unexpected for this world. To
the side sat an older woman on a couch, her gray-brown hair behind her as
she read. She looked up at the newcomers. "Ulic, you're lucky he came 
back."
     "Your mother didn't exactly agree with what I did," Ulic told Chris.
     "I don't mind anymore, mom. I wasn't meant to remain here, it's good 
I got out," Chris spoke to his mother.
     "Is it?" she asked. She switched to her native tongue, which Chris
understood easily. "Who the hell is she?"
     Chris replied in the same language, "She's one of Skywalker's other 
apprentices."
     "She's quite an attractive youth. You'll have to watch your father."
     Chris smiled. "I know. I take it he still hasn't translated this 
language?"                              
     She smiled. "Nope. And he never will."
     They switched to Basic. "Really? That's great, where is he?" Chris 
asked, picking up from a reasonably understandable spot.
     "He's asleep now," she said. "Maybe you would like to get settled in 
the hotel and come back later."
     "Yeah, Chris. That sounds good," Laree said. In other words, `let's 
get out of here.'
     "Yeah, ok." His dad moved to guide them back out -- "No, dad. I know 
the way. You don't have to come."
     "Ok, Chris," Ulic said. Chris and Laree retraced their steps outside
and up to the hotel building. They walked up to the front desk, a curly
haired human standing before it.
     "Good day," the clerk said in purposefully accented basic. "May I 
help you two?"
     "Uh, yes," Chris said, matching his accent mockingly. He chuckled,
using his own voice. "We would like a room."
     "Ah, of course. Name?" the clerk asked.
     "I'm Chris Qel-Droma."
     "Ah, yes. Your father has notified us of your arrival. Your room has 
been prepared, it is --"
     "I know what room," Chris cut him off. "C'mon Laree, and --" he 
looked quickly around for his other companion. "Well, c'mon Laree," he 
said, seizing her hand. He led her up a series of turbolifts, up to the
highest level of the hotel. "This is the private Qel-Droma quarters," he
said, keying the door open with his palm print.
     "Whoa," Laree breathed as she looked into the room. It was much
nicer -- perhaps larger -- than the Qel-Droma house. It was incredibly
fancy, pictures draped around, couches littered around. And at the head a
huge window, with a single ancient black chair before it. They stepped
inside, the door shutting behind them.
     "Perhaps I should have warned you. The Qel-Droma's at one time ruled 
over this planet. This was the throne-room. We dropped out of power long
ago, but we've always kept control of this place," Chris said.
     "It's amazing. Looks kind of like Coruscant up here," Laree said.
     "It should," Chris said. "It was modeled after it. But now, I'd 
better go back down. You get settled up here, I'll get us something to eat 
and I've got to find Six-Bee."
     "Right, I thought we were missing something. Go ahead," Laree said,
moving into the room, walking up to the window. It was a magnificent view.
     "Ok, I'll be right back," Chris said. He went out the door, walking 
back down the turbolifts to the lobby. He went out the exit to the outside
park.
     Now that he was alone, Chris allowed himself to struggle to breath.
He was far from used to the air any more, but he couldn't show it in front 
of anyone that knew him. He fell in step with a number of other humans
walking up the road.
     He'd been walking only about ten minutes, when he felt a sharp pain 
in his back. His back automatically froze, recognizing the sting. "Keep 
moving," a low, muffled voice said from behind him. "And don't turn 
around," the garbled voice added.
     Chris kept walking nervously, afraid to use his powers in public. He
remembered what it had been like when he was younger, living here. He
safely probed the man's mind. He didn't like what he felt. "What do you 
want?" he whispered.
     The man did not reply.
     "C'mon, I'm worthless. Just let me go," Chris said, not pleadingly,
but perhaps the man would fall for his words.
     "You're worth a lot to me," the man replied coldly.
     "Really? How much?" Chris asked, taking it that he was some profiteer
out to catch him.
     "A million credits," the low voice replied.
     "A _million_ credits?" Chris asked, startled. "Blazes I'm valuable."
     "Yeah, kid, and I intend to collect. Not every day I get that much 
for such an easy job. So stay quiet."
     That's it, Chris thought, he called me `kid'. Using his martial arts
skills -- which he'd learned on this planet, thankfully -- he took a quick 
step forward, swinging his body around, his foot up, kicking the blaster
from the man's hand. He caught the gloved hand exactly on target, the 
blaster going flying off to the ground.
     Chris glanced at his armored opponent, noting in a split second his
nearly unarmored legs. He ducked down, swinging his leg around and
knocking the man off his feet. During the distraction, he reached to his
belt and reluctantly drew and ignited his lightsaber.
     The man cursed, laying his left hand on his right wrist. From it,
three projectiles flew at Chris. He caught two of them quickly, but the
third one got through and homed in on his lightsaber. He dropped it, just
as the projectile hit it.
     The man slapped his knee, a larger projectile shooting out from a
hidden launcher below his knee armor. It struck Chris right on, disabling
his movement. He shivered a moment, then crumpled to the floor. Boba-Fett
stood over the boy, lifting him up and hauling him over into an empty
alley nearby.
     He sat down by the unconscious youth, planning what he'd do with the 
cash as he reached into his belt pack and rearmed his wrist and knee
projectiles.

     Hours later, Boba-Fett still sat by the boy in the alleyway. Chris
stirred. "It's about time," Fett muttered.
     Chris moaned quietly, his entire body sore. He used the Force to
awaken himself.
     "Hmm, you're a Jedi, now wake yourself up," Fett said in his muffled 
voice. Chris could now take a moment to study him. He wore a blueish
helmet, the rest of his armor the same. He had what looked like a wookiee
skin as a cloak. The design of the armor seemed vaguely familiar, but he
couldn't place it.
     "Who are you?" Chris asked.
     "I'm Boba-Fett, and you're Chris Qel-Droma, my road to cash. But you 
will also help me. There's another who came with you. Get her here. She's
nearly as valuable as you."
     "And why should I help you?" Chris asked.
     "Because you don't have a choice," Fett said, bringing his blaster to 
bear on Chris's head. "I know where you're staying, precisely where she 
is, everything about you. And, your droid," Fett said, and Chris could 
feel his smile behind his mask.
     "Ok, fine. But I still won't help you," Chris said.
     Boba-Fett took a handful of his shirt, standing up and pulling him
with him. Silently, he tapped a control and they shot into the air as his
rocket pack ignited.
     Chris's eyes opened wide as the ground rolled quickly beneath them, 
Boba-Fett nearing the hotel. He definitely picked up the air of authority
Fett had, he was experienced all right.
     Fett was also one for entrances. He flew right up to the window of
the Qel-Droma suite, hovering before it. He knocked the
supposed-unbreakable glass in with a flurry of arm-missiles. The window
exploded inward. Fett lowered himself and Chris inside the room, shutting
down his jet pack. "Where is she?" Fett growled.
     "I don't know, you're in charge," Chris said.
     Fett heard it: the faint snap-hiss. He whirled at the sound. "Damn, 
another Jedi." Good thing he packed lots of anti-weapon missiles. He 
raised his arm, slapping his wrist with his other hand. Laree blocked the
three missiles, but Fett turned his wrist over, launching his rope, which
spun itself around Laree. Her hands were pinned to her sides, and she
dropped her saber, disigniting itself. She fell to the side, unable to
keep her balance.
     "You are pretty good, Fett. Two Jedi, not a bad catch for a bounty 
hunter," Chris said.
     Fett turned to him. "Shut up. I don't want to have to rope you too." 
He backed from Chris over to Laree, keeping his blaster on target. He
slipped a little slip of metal between Laree and the ropes, an anti-grav
mini device to make her lighter so he could carry them both. He picked up
her lightsaber, fastening it to his belt and picked her up. He walked over
to Chris, grabbing him by the collar again. By the window, he ignited his
jet pack, setting out for the spaceport.

     Soon after, Fett landed again in front of a strange looking space
craft. It looked kind of like a huge animal head, but metal and engines on
the bottom. Fett retracted his grappling from Laree, shoving her and Chris
up the ramp of the strange ship. "Get on board," he said coldly.
     This was it. His last chance to save them, Chris knew. He spun around
in a blur of motion, his foot coming up to catch Fett in the helmet.
Unfotunately, Fett did catch it, throwing him back. Chris had a last
choice. He yanked Fett inside the ship with the Force, throwing Laree out
of it. He found that Fett's missile had harmed his mind more than he'd
thought, he found he could not teleport.
     Chris saw Laree scurry away from the ship, her lightsaber jumping
back into her hand. But Fett was quick, he shut the ramp, trapping his
more valuable prey. He jumped into the cockpit found everything ready as
he had set, and took off before the lovely Jedi tore any holes in his
ship.
     "Strap in," Fett growled. "No wait, I'll help you," Fett turned 
around, his wrist outward. His grappling hook jumped out and around Chris.
     "Uh, thanks," Chris said. Chris tried to get comfortable for his trip
to... "Where are we going?" he asked Fett.
     "You'll see."

     Laree waited desperately for the old holocomm unit to connect to
Coruscant. "Oh, c'mon damnit..." she muttered to herself. She looked 
around the room, Chris's mother and father watching her. Finally there was 
a click and Master Skywalker's face appeared on the screen, albeit blurry.   
     "Laree? What's wrong?" Luke asked.
     "Master Skywalker! Someone kidnapped Chris, I barely got away!" Laree
said hysterically.
     Luke's eyes opened wide. "Who was it? I somehow knew it was a bad 
idea to send you two there... And who could kidnap _Chris_?"
     "I don't know... some man in strange blue armor, a bounty hunter. He 
said we were worth millions to him."
     "That's strange. Do you have any idea where they went?"
     "No, he never said. He didn't speak much while we were flying on his 
jet pack."
     "Jet pack? Blazes, a bounty hunter in blue armor with a jet pack? He 
got you with his grappling hook, Fett did, didn't he?" Luke asked.
     "You mean you know who it was?" Laree asked.
     "Yes, but that hardly helps. Boba-Fett is a murderous bounty hunter, 
one of the best in the business. He'll work for anyone who's got the cash
to pay for his work," Luke said. "But even him defeating Chris is hard to
believe."
     "Well he did it," Laree said. "Some weird rockets he had."
     "Don't have to tell me, Laree. I've dealt with Fett before. He's a 
tough one, but we should be able to track him. I'll be there to pick you 
up soon," Luke said, cutting the transmission.
     Laree looked up at Chris's father. "We'll find Chris," she said.
     "Can't he just teleport back?" Ulic asked. "He always had in the 
past."
     Laree shook her head. "Fett's missiles have some sort of lasting 
affect on him, which won't let him 'port."

     "Fett's back?" Leia asked. "And he's not after me and Han?"
     "That's hard to believe, kid," Han agreed.
     "Well not if you look at how Laree said they were worth _millions_. I 
don't know who would put that much cash up for them, but it is probable 
Fett would jump at that. Even after he found out they were two Jedi," Luke 
said.
     "But how do we find him then?" Leia asked.
     Han had a strange feeling... "You're not thinking..."
     "Well Lando _is_ the obvious choice when asking about bounties.
Something this big must be floating around out there, unless they went
directly to Fett which is doubtful," Luke said.
     "Well ok, I'll ask him then. But I don't like this, kid," Han said.
     "Don't worry, Han. Neither do I."

     The _Slave 1_ dropped out of hyperspace. Fett masterfully brought it
down to the ground, engines only shutting off at the last possible second.
     Fett shut down the cockpit -- ready to jump back in a moment's notice 
-- and went out to the main hold. "Get up," he growled at Chris, holding
his blaster steady once again.
     "You do not have to cover me," Chris said, getting up. "I know what 
planet we're on." Sure enough, Chris felt empty. Completely blind to 
eveerything around him, he drew upon what his eyes saw, which he did not
do very often. "Why do smugglers want _me_?" he asked Fett.
     "Just shut up and come with me," Fett said. He walked in front of
Chris down the ramp, his blaster slung across his chest.
     They walked through the thick forest of Myrkr. Chris spotted a number
of the small brown snake-like creatures that stopped the Force from
existing here. They went on for about ten minutes when Chris felt danger.
He knew it wasn't his Force sense, as he had none, so surely Boba felt it 
too.
     He did. Chris had hardly seen the large animal jump at him, when Boba
used a flame-thrower on it, making it run away in pain and whimpering.
Soon, they came to the edge of a large designation of buildings. Three
guards Chris hadn't seen came into sight, blasters armed. Fett said, "I 
have the boy."
     The guards all recognized Fett. "Good work, Boba-Fett. The Commander 
will see you right away."
     "As you wish," Fett muttered. Fett walked up to the nearest building,
keying the door open and stepping in with Chris behind him. They walked
down the old hallways, loaded with doors leading to other halls and
barracks. Fett came over to a door not unlike the others, opened it and
came in dragging Chris.
     "Ah, Mr. Fett. Good work. I knew I could trust you to keep your end 
of the deal," a deep voiced man said from the center of the room. He sat 
beneath a large tree covered with ysalamiri. "But where is the girl?"
     "She escaped," Fett said simply.
     "No matter, Fett. It is understandable, as I somehow forgot to 
mention they were two Jedi. Capturing this one is supposed to be
impossible, which is why I called upon the best. You can pick up your
other nine hundred thousand credits at your leisure." The man looked at 
Chris a moment, back to Fett. "Leave us."
     "As you wish," Fett nodded his blue-helmeted head and left.
     Chris walked up toward the Commander. "Who are you?" he asked.
     "I am Commander Levem, of this smuggling society. Naturally, you 
wonder what one of you Jedi has to do with my nice little organization,
located on the one world no Jedi willfully lands upon." Levem said, "But I
have a personal fight with you."
     "Really?" Chris asked. "That's interesting. A smuggling lord wanting 
little old me... why?" Chris asked, tunring serious again. This really 
didn't make much sense.
     "You killed Rishiaa."
     "Yes, that I did. So?" Chris asked.
     "So," Levem said, "I lost half my business. And a bit more."
     "You lose your business, so you put a million credit bounty on my 
head? That hardly helps," Chris said.
     "What do you know about revenge? I would think you'd understand that 
subject. Because of you I've lost my steady cash flow, so naturally you 
must be destroyed."
     "And Myrkr is good a place as any, eh?" Chris said. "And you wanted 
Laree too... tell me, how much were you offering Fett for her?"
     "Only a quarter of a million. Of course, if he got you both it would 
have been a million and a half. But I think Fett may still come through
with her," Lavem said.  
     "What?" Chris asked.
     Lavem smiled at him. "Surely you didn't think he'd run off with an 
easy half million yet to be made. He really is the best bounty hunter left
in the galaxy. Since poor IG-88 was destroyed coming after you," he said 
sadly.
     "Hey, I've heard of that hunter. He was a useful tool my parents 
used, since he once came to our world. You mean I destroyed him?" Chris 
asked, getting excited. He may have destroyed the most dangerous bounty
hunter in the galaxy!
     "Well if you don't remember, it doesn't matter."
     "Oh," Chris said disappointed. "Where's my droid? Did Fett bring 
him?"
     "Fett brought no droid. And you have taken too much of my time 
already. Good day, Qel-Droma." Chris started to hate that saying, as the 
stun shot hit him and he blacked out.

     Han, Luke, and Laree sat in the Qel-Droma suite in the hotel. Luke
looked at the broken glass of the window a moment, then reached out with
his mind. "It's no use. I can't find him. Can you sense him, Laree?" Luke
asked.
     "No. He's not conscious, I think. I can't tell," she said.
     Luke turned to Han. "Sorry, Han, but this didn't work. We'll have to 
talk to Lando."
     Han sighed. "Fine, kid. Let's get back to the shuttle."

     Chewie sat hunched over the remains of the droid Six-Bee. He fiddled
with the parts, hooking the ones that fit. He grabbed a tool, welding
pieces together. A little piece zapped his hand and sent him howling.
     "Chewie?" Han called from the ramp of the Falcon.
     Chewie bellowed as he hurried over to the ramp. He roared a question.
     "No, they couldn't find anything. Get the Falcon ready for flight, 
willya Chewie?" Han asked. Chewie roared. "Forget the droid for now, I'll 
get Luke to fix him up." Han came up the ramp, soon followed by Luke and 
Laree. "Luke, you can fix old Six-Bee, right?"
     "Of course, Han. He may know something that can help us," Luke said.
On the table, the pieces of Six-Bee began to float around, hooking
together and welding themselves.
     "Right, kid." Han left for the cockpit to help Chewie.
     Luke sat down by the Falcon's holoboard, Laree sitting across from 
him. They spoke distractedly, both concentrating partially on the droid.
     Minutes later, the droid sputtered back to life. "Master Chris!" it
shouted. "Look out, bounty hunters!" he spoke the last words he'd hoped to 
get in before it was too late. But it was already too late. He spoke again
as his sensor sweep finished. "Master Luke, Mistress Laree. Where's Master 
Chris?"
     Luke stood up and walked over to the droid. "What happened to you, 
Six?" he asked.
     "Well I was following the Master and Mistress when my sensors picked 
up machinery coming toward us. On a world such as Cinthral, I found that
strange. I made visual contact with an old-fashioned assassin droid. I was
able to shut him down with my sensors, and he fell in pile of mud and his
systems all died. Then I was shot from behind by a very low blaster, no
doubt unhearable by a human's ear. I was finished off after everyone had 
gotten far enough away," Six-Bee said.
     "Hmm. Well, that still doesn't help us tell where they came from. 
We'll still have to see Lando," Luke said. He sat back down by the 
holoboard.
     "Ah, yessir. Captain Calrissian of the space-vessel _Lady Luck_." The
droid hovered on it's repulsor-lifts, floating over to the holoboard. Six 
lowered himself down on the bench beside Luke. "Master, would you like to 
play this game against a simple medical droid?"
     Luke smiled. "You're far from simple. You could probably beat me in 
moments."
     "Given the complex design of this game, I project that that would be 
literally impossible. Minutes, perhaps," Six-Bee said.
     Luke buckled in as the Falcon began to lurch. "Ok, Six-Bee," he said,
keying the board on. "Your move."

     Mara Jade walked slowly down the ramp of her ship. She shuddered as
the familiar winds stirred her long reddish hair. This planet had too many
memories of both good and bad times. Here on Myrkr had been the place
where she'd finally felt normal again, working for Karrde. It was also 
where she was called to work by her master when Luke Skywalker ran into
them. She had no wish to return.
     She looked around her ship, spotting the man in charge of unloading
her cargo. She walked up to him. "Hey, where's my money?" she asked. "I 
was promised payment on delivery."
     The man turned toward her glaring green eyes. "I know, Jade, but 
we've run into a couple of economic troubles, you see, and..." 
     "Look. I don't care about your little problems. I made my delivery, 
as promised, and I expect to be paid, as promised. I'm not even getting 
much for this run. How can you have lost so much money you can't pay off 
twenty thousand?" she asked.
     "Well, only the higher-ups really know. But I've heard it's something 
about Jedi."
     "Like Jedi would ever bother your little operation as long as it was 
here. I want to talk to Commander Levem about this," Mara said.
     "You can't talk to the Commander," he said. "You'll get your money as 
soon as we can get it."
     "Then you'll get this epuipment as soon as we get the credits," Mara 
said. She turned to her own workers. "Load the ship back up--"
     "No, no. That's not necessary. We can work this out," he said.
     "Either I get my money, or I talk to Commander Levem about it," Mara
said cooly.
     "I don't know about that. I will see what I can do, though." 

     Mara shoved her "guide" out of her way. She marched on quickly,
toward the main room where Karrde once stayed. She knew this base far
better than anyone else possibly could, including Karrde himself.
     She stormed into the room with the huge tree where Commander Levem
sat.
     "Oh, Mara Jade," Levem said. "An honor to meet you again."
     "Cut the crap, Levem. Why can't you pay off your suppliers?" Mara 
asked.
     "Well the truth is I have lost half my business," Levem said. "And 
offered a large sum for the capture of the person at fault."
     "So that's where the Jedi come in," Mara said. "Which of Skywalker's 
students was at fault?"
     "You know better than to think I'd actually tell you."
     "Yeah, I do. How much did you offer?" she asked.
     "One million credits alone, one and a half with his friend too,"
Levem said.
     "No wonder you have such problems. You should learn a thing or two 
before you offer a bounty hunter that kind of money."
     The comm buzzed. "Sir," a voice blerted out. "Boba-Fett has picked up 
his bounty on Qel-Droma, and--" In anger Lavem jammed his fist down on the 
unit, smoke rising from the damaged circuits.
     "Qel-Droma, eh? You'd better pay up now, Lavem. I wouldn't want to 
have to damage your position in any way," Mara said.
     "Of course, Jade. We'll get you your money. Just stand right there 
and don't move."
     Mara wondered at that. "What?" A guard had come up behind her, now
throwing his arm around her neck, cutting off her breathing. She blacked
out in moments, unconscious.

     She awoke hours later in one of the small windowless rooms Karrde had
sometimes used as extra storage. She leaned against the wall groggily,
reaching down to her ankle. Amateurs, she thought at her captures as she
pulled her mini blaster from it's sheath. 
     Well, now Mara had one choice. She had to get out, and in revenge,
might as well bring the Qel-Droma kid with her. She stood up and walked
over to the door. She set her blaster to it's tightest beam, and shot a 
hole through the door's locking mechanism. She opened the door and stepped 
out into the hallway, hunting for Qel-Droma.

     Chris awoke, sitting up on the bed in his cellroom.  He couldn't 
remember much, until he tried to aid his memory with the Force. Then it
all came flooding back to him. He looked at himself, covered in average
brown, tattered clothes. He stood up and walked around in circles, trying
to get his blood circulating in his numbed legs.
     Minutes later, there was a knock at the door. He walked forward,
curious. "Qel-Droma?" a voice whispered.
     "Yeah?" he shouted back.
     "Shut up. Get back from the door." He backed away, just as a laser
blast shot through the door and right by his hand. The door opened,
revealing a woman he'd never seen before. She stood with a blaster in one 
hand, her spice-brown colored hair flowing down her back. Her green eyes
glared as she stepped in and shut the door. "You want to get out of here?"
     "Huh?" Chris asked, distracted by her green eyes. She reminded him of
Laree.
     "_Do you want to get out_?" Mara asked.
     "Oh, yeah, right. Let's go," Chris said, walking toward the door.
     Mara stopped him. "I'll go first," she said, gripping her blaster. 
Chris shrugged, letting Mara pass. She stepped out into the hall. She
whimpered in surprise as a blaster jumped to her head.
     Chris leaped forward with a jumping front kick, catching the wrist of
the man with the blaster, making it go flying. He moved forward, gripping
the man's arm and turning it backwards, forcing him to the wall. He struck 
the guys spine with his elbow, and he fell to the ground, unable to move.
"You should be more careful," Chris smiled at Mara.
     "Thanks, Chris," she muttered as they continued on.

     "Lando's gotta be crazy to come here," Han said, looking out the 
viewport at the huge asteroids floating around, trying to destroy his
ship. He flew expertly through the Cron Drift, looking for the asteroid
with the hidden old Rebel base.
     "Well he said something about a good game," Luke offered. "It's over 
there," he said, pointing to one of the larger asteroids through the 
viewport.
     "Yeah, I got it kid," Han said. He swung the controls toward the
asteroid, landing in minutes.
     Luke went back to the ramp, stepping down it as it opened. "So, 
whadaya need, Luke?" a voice called from the base of the ramp.
     Lando stood at the foot of the ramp, his beige clothes and cape still
in the reprocessed asteroid air. "Lando, you know anything about a huge 
bounty going out for a `Qel-Droma'?" Luke asked.
     Lando rubbed his stubble of a beard, thinking hard. "How large? I may 
not have caught the name."
     "A million credits."
     Lando's eyes lit for a moment in surprise. "A million? No wonder I 
haven't heard, Luke, that much and every _civilian_ in the galaxy would 
jump at it."
     "I thought so. But there's still a way you can help us. We recovered 
this," Luke said as the remains of a droid floated over to his feet. "None
of us understand it. I thought you may." Luke picked up the head of the 
droid and hurled it at Lando, who caught it.
     Lando inspected the head carefully. "I don't believe it," he 
breathed. He looked up at Luke. "Where'd you get this? This is IG-88!"
     "I thought so," Han said to noone in particular from on board the
Falcon.
     "Lando," Luke said. "Do you think you could access it's memory banks 
or something? We have to know where Boba-Fett took Chris."
     "I can try," Lando said.

     "Blazes, I wish I had my lightsaber," Chris said as he thrust his
knee into another guards groin. He grabbed the man by the head and hit
that with his knee before throwing him back to the ground.
     "You know you wouldn't be any good with it," Mara said as she 
cautiously caught up with Chris, gripping one of the guard's blaster 
rifles.
     "No, I'd hardly be a shade slower than with the Force. I trained with 
normal swords for years before I built my first lightsaber," Chris said. 
"Of course, now I'm up to my third."
     "Yeah, well we don't have time. We have to get out of this place and 
back to my freighter. This way," she tilted her head down a side 
passageway. She walked in front with a sure grip on her blaster, a jaunty
air to her walk. Chris followed closely, his fists balled up and prepared
for a fight.
     Chris couldn't have seen it, and he didn't. He just suddenly felt a
sharp pain in his back, a number of tingling, painful points. He yelled in
pain as he fell forward, his hands thrashing about. The vornskr ripped his
teeth from Chris's back, taking flesh and cloth with them. The vornskr 
slapped it's whiplike tail across the back of his head, and lunged forward 
again, biting deeply into Chris's leg as he howled in pain. Mara whirled 
around, bringing her blaster up and shot the vornskr through the head.
It's mouth slackened on Chris's calf. He threw it from his body and stood
up shivering badly.
     They walked for a few minutes, no longer disturbed. Mara walked up to
a doorway, which she shot open. She stepped through quickly, much more
cautious this time, and Chris followed, still limping badly.
     Chris struggled to walk on through the forest toward Mara's ship. "I 
can't make it like this," he muttered, falling to his knees. 
     "You'll be ok. You've just lost a lot of blood," Mara said. She
helped him up and held him around his back, keeping her sleeve over his
wound to stop the bleeding as she helped him forward.
     Finally they came up to the modified bulk cruiser of Jade's. Mara 
moved forward, still pulling Chris along, toward the downed ramp. She
hauled Chris and herself up the ramp. She spotted her Lieutenant.
"Lieutenant, we have to go immediately. This trip has already gotten bad 
enough," she said.
     "Yes, ma'am," the Lieutenant saluted and hurried off toward the 
bridge.
     "Just a bit further, Chris," Mara said as she closed the ramp and
helped him down the corridor. They soon came to the medical bunks, where
she lay him down on his stomach. She took some disinfectant and rubbed it
into the wound on his back, which made him start howling again. "Don't be 
so childish," she said as she slapped synthflesh on Chris's back. She 
turned him over onto his back, to keep more pressure on it. She
carefully lay his whipped head on the soft pillow. "Rest for awhile," she
said and left the medical room.
     Chris was asleep in seconds.

     Gaeriel sat in on the meeting of the New Republic council. She'd been 
cleared, of course, by Leia Organa Solo. She shifted her long blue
skirt as she watched them debate over a number of issues, watching them
closely in interest.
     Not that it was all that exciting. The council's debate was not 
unlike her own senatorial debates were. Long, hard, and rather unrequired.
Even the Chief of State was distracted, not paying much attention.
     The council broke up, a number of councilors escaping outside. Gaeri
dragged herself to alertness as Leia came toward her. "Your Highness," she
said, getting to her feet.
     Leia shook her head. "You don't have to call me that, Gaeriel," she 
said.
     "All right, Leia," Gaeriel said. "Is there any other part of the 
palace you may show me? It's an amazing place."
     "Um, yeah--" Leia broke off. A strange look came over her face and
she shut her eyes a moment.
     "Leia? Are you ok?" Gaeriel asked.
     "Yeah," Leia breathed quietly as she opened her eyes. "That was Luke. 
They think they've found where Chris was taken to. They're on their way to
Myrkr, now."
     "Myrkr?" Gaeriel asked. "Where's that?"
     "Don't ask. It's a place no Jedi wants to be at, since the Force does
not exist there. They're going to have their hands full," Leia said.  

     "Here we are, kid," Han said from the pilots seat aboard the
Millennium Falcon. "Ready?"
     "Ready," Luke said. Han reached forward, pulling back the hyperdrive
levers. The ship quickly slowed from hyperspace, showing the large looming
turquoise sphere of Myrkr. "Ok, you can land. There's no way to prepare 
for something like this." Luke stood behind Han as he brought the Falcon 
down toward the planet.
     When they came within a kilometer of the surface, Luke was struck
blind. He staggered a moment before regaining his balance. "Whoa, you ok, 
kid?" Han asked.
     Recovering, Luke said, "Yeah, I'm ok," in a weak voice. "I'll check 
on Laree," he said a little stronger. He turned and left the cockpit, 
going into the main hold. He walked up to Laree and Chewie at the
holoboard. "Laree, are you ok?"
     She smiled up at him. "I feel like I'm five again," she said, "And to 
me, that's a very good thing."
     The Sith blood must be dependant upon the Force, Luke thought. Good.
     Han brought the Falcon smoothly to rest nearby the old smuggler base,
where they assumed they'd find Chris. IG-88 hadn't had exact ground
coordinates. As they landed, a bulk freighter on the other side of the
building took off and climbed for space.
     Luke came down the ramp first, followed by Laree and Six-Bee. "Han,"
he called up into the main hold, "I'll call if we need you."
     "Sure, kid. Good luck," Han said.
     Luke sighed. "Since we're _here_ I'll accept that," he muttered.
"C'mon, Laree. Chris has to be in there."
     "I know, Master," she said. The trio walked up toward the main doors
to the base. A couple of guards in civilian clothing stopped them.
     "Hold it right there," one of the guards shouted. "Who are you?" the
guard asked, eyeing the shadowy figures in robes. He couldn't see their 
faces. "Come forward and show yourselves. Hands up!"
     They didn't have much of a choice. Luke and Laree came forward with 
their hands over their heads. "The hoods," the guard said. Luke complied
first, removing his hood, looking calmly at the guard. Laree reluctantly
removed her hood, blinking her deep green eyes at the sudden brightness.
She pulled her long, illustrious brown hair out from under her robe.
     One of the guards openly stared at Laree, but the other one knew Luke
was the one to talk to. "Are you armed?" he asked.
     Quite a trusting guard, Luke thought. "No, we have no weapons," he
said.
     "I trust you," the guard said. "Jedi don't play those sorts of games 
when they know they'd lose. Now, why have you come here at all, Jedi?"
     These robes make it too obvious, Luke thought, next time I'll change. 
"We're looking for a friend. May we speak to whoever's in charge?" Luke
asked.
     "I'll see what I can do. Come over here, nice and slow," he said, 
still a bit precocious. Luke and Laree did. "Just a moment..." the guard
ran a sensor over their bodies. "I suppose you can enter."
     Luke and Laree went past the guards, into the building. The other
guard nodded to Laree as she passed. Once they had passed through, the
guard closed the door, then smacked the other guard upside the head.
"Thanks for your help, Josh."
     Josh held his head. "What?" he asked, confused.
     "Keep your mind on the job, man."
     "Oh, right," Josh said blankly, his mind wandering.

     Luke and Laree wandered around the base, searching out the person in
charge. They were completely lost of course, without the Force and unable
to find anyone. They walked for a long period of time before they came up
on a human carrying a datapad, overlooking a broken unit of some kind.
     Luke approached the human. "Uh, excuse me," he said and the human
looked up. It was not human at all apparently, it had a strange distorted
face even though it looked human from behind. He couldn't tell what gender 
it was. "We're kind of lost. Where's the chief of this outpost?"
     It tilted it's head and spoke in a deep voice, "Down there, guarded 
by a pack of vornskrs. Shouldn't bother you at all," it said, returning to 
it's work.
     "Vornskrs? Uh, thanks," Luke said, walking away and bringing Laree
with him. "Those vornskrs are going to kill us if we try to get past 
them."
     "What _is_ a vornskr?" Laree asked.
     "Predators that hunt their prey with the Force. They love attacking 
Jedi."
     "Then maybe we should just look around and try not to run into any,"
Laree suggested. "Chris is somewhere around here, he's gotta be."
     "Alright, but we'd better not split up. Remember, Fett was after you 
too. I think that they'd have put him somewhere over here..." Luke said, 
bringing Laree down another hall. They entered one of the doors on that
side, into a small room.
     Laree stepped inside stooping to the ground by the bed. She picked
something out from under it. "Here's his clothes," she said quietly, 
coming up, holding the black pants and tunic.
     "So he _was_ here. Now we'll have to get past those vornskrs to --"
     "No need," said a strong voice from behind him.
 	Luke turned slowly around. The man glared down at him. "Are you the 
chief of this organization?" he asked.
        "I am Commander Levem. What do you want here, Jedi?" Levem asked.
        "We want our friend back, who you had Boba-Fett capture. Where
is he?"  Luke asked. He looked at the side a moment, to assure himself
Laree was out of Levem's vision.
	"That's right, Fett did capture him," Levem said, "but he
escaped. I want to find him more than you possibly could, Jedi."
	"What did Chris ever do to you and your organization that you
would put a deathmark on his head?" Luke asked.
	"As I told him, he destroyed my organization nearly
completely. Revenge is sweet among us smugglers," Levem said.
	"Do you know how he escaped?" Luke asked.
	"Might as well tell you. I think it was Mara Jade who helped
him out, she was pretty miffed at me at the time," Levem said
helpfully.
	"Mara Jade? Thank you, Levem. We'll be going now," Luke said.
	"'We'?" Levem asked.
	"Yes, we," Laree said, coming behind Luke as he stepped past
Levem. She looked up at him a moment, then quickly followed Luke out
of the building.
	"Hey!" Levem shouted uselessly after them.
	Laree and Luke hurried to the Falcon, meeting Han at the
ramp. "Han, Chris has already escaped, with Mara Jade. I just hope she
sets him lose," Luke said.
	"Who _is_ Mara Jade?" Laree asked.
	"No one, Laree. Chris will be returned, I know he will. We can
go anytime, Han," Luke said.
	"Sure, kid. Chewie and me have finished the repairs on the
Falcon. We can go anytime."
	They all piled aboard the Falcon, as it clunkily took off and
cleared the forest. It shot for space. About a kilometer off the
ground, Luke sighed a long breath he had held, glad he could finally
use his powers again. He glanced at Laree, seeing how she felt worse
than she had without the Force. He could feel the wave of aggression
overtake her and walk to her side, helping her to the holoboard. "Just
relax," he whispered as he sat her down. He'd told her earlier what he
thought was wrong.
	"I'll try," Laree said, her green eyes showing exactly how she
felt. Luke accepted her answer.

	Chris woke up, still half asleep despite his attempts. His
whole body seemed to howl in pain at him. Those parts of him that
hadn't been severed by the vornskr were sore, and his head ached
badly.
	He sat up slowly, but to his body he might as well have gone
at the speed of light. A thousand new jabs of pain entered his
body. He gritted his teeth against the pain, to no avail. Even his
teeth hurt. How long was I out? he wondered. Groaning, he got to the
edge of the med. bed, lay his feet down painfully. He strained to get
up, making it after a few minutes. He walked forward, still limping
badly on his wounded leg.
	Chris got himself up to the door and pushed the release. He
limped down the long freighter hallway, toward what he knew was the
bridge. As he dragged himself to the hatch, he stumbled and fell
before it, yelling in pain for help.
	The door opened, and Mara stepped through. She knelt by
Chris. "Are you OK? What're you doing? Or trying to do," she said,
helping him up.
	"Thank you...Mara," Chris said quietly.
	"You shouldn't be up yet. But since you are, we're nearly to
Coruscant now. You look terrible. Get back to the med. center." Chris
sighed and began to turn around slowly. "No, wait, I'll help you," she
said resignedly. She came toward Chris and put her arm around him and
helped him back to the med. section. She got him to go to sleep and
returned to the bridge.

	Some time later Chris had finally reawaken. He felt better,
but not by much. He wasn't able to heal himself, his mind was far too
mixed up to concentrate enough. He shivered, thinking of being put
into another bacta tank. He could still smell it on his breath.
	"Hey, you awake?" Mara asked quietly from beside the
bed. Chris looked at her a moment, trying to bring his concentration
back. She now wore a brown shipsuit, her long spice-brown hair flowing
loosely. He looked up at her green eyes, moaning 'Laree...' silently.
	"I just got a funny feeling...Like I'm not gonna see her
again," Chris said quietly.
	"See who?" Mara asked.
	"Huh?" Chris said as if he hadn't known he'd spoken out
loud. "Oh, no one. Nevermind. Just, help me up." She did, and with her
help they made it to the freighter's ramp. It slowly slid down before
them as someone in the bridge triggered it to. They walked down the
ramp.

	Laree looked up hopefully at the freighter. She'd cooled down
when they arrived at Coruscant, only a short time ago. She waited a
moment as the ramp lowered itself to the ground. Down the ramp came
two figures. Chris came down in tattered beige clothes, moving far
smoother than she would have thought after the description of what had
happened. But her eyes widened. By Chris's side was a woman, her hand
draped around his waist as his was her shoulders. She had long brown
hair and her green eyes searched the landscape, coming to a stop at
her own.
	A hurt look came across her face as she thought about Chris
and this woman...Mara, she believed. Her mind through suggestions at
her that not long ago would have seemed silly, but right now was
unavoidable and took control of her mind, her thinking completely
shattered by these thoughts. She tried to awaken herself as she
watched him talk quietly at the bottom of the ramp with Master
Skywalker.
	Jealousy. She knew her mind was overtaken with it, but stood
unable to move because of it. She didn't quite understand why, as it
seemed so silly. Mara had to be at least twice Chris's age. But her
subconscious wouldn't allow her to think any other way. Completely
confused, she turned and left the scene. On her way off, she forgot
her other thoughts and her subconscious's thoughts took over.
	"Thank the Force you're OK, Chris. What happened?" Luke asked.
	"Same old, same old," Chris smiled painfully. He watched Laree
walk off. "Where's she going?" he asked sadly.
	Luke turned his head, seeing Laree enter a turbolift. He
turned back around. "I don't know," he said quietly. He turned to Mara
with a smile. "Thanks again, Mara. You want to kill a guy, then you
keep getting caught coming back."
	"This is the last time, Luke. You don't know how strenuous
this is becoming," she returned the smile. "I only rescued him in
revenge for Levem."
	"I didn't like him much either. You going now?"
	"Yeah, I've got a schedule to keep. I'll probably see you
again sometime, Luke," she started up the ramp.
	"Yeah, probably. Bye, Mara," Luke said as she walked to the
top of the ramp and it began to pull up. Luke turned to Chris. "You
may want to go talk to Laree."
	"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," Chris said. He
lucked up into Luke's eyes. "Master?" Luke nodded his consent, and
Chris teleported away.
	Chris reappeared outside Laree's room. He walked up to the
door. "Hey, um, Laree?"
	He felt a hand on his shoulder as Gaeriel came up behind
him. "I don't know what you did, Chris, but you've really got her
upset now. She's locked herself in there and won't talk. You've really
messed things up. I think she's leaving," she said.
	"What?" Chris asked. "I didn't do anything this time!" He
slammed his fist into the door. "Dammit, Laree, let me in!"
	"I don't think so, Chris," she shouted back at him.
	"I don't want to get in there myself," Chris
threatened. Suddenly he was thrust to the ground and to the side, as
the door opened where he'd just been. Out stepped Laree with a full
suitcase. She walked up to Gaeriel, hauling it along with her.
	"I'm going to mom," Laree said to Gaeriel. Gaeriel simply
nodded and Laree slowly walked down the hall.
	Recovering, Chris said, "You're just going to let her go?"
	"It's her own choice. She's welcome to go back to my sister if
she wants. And personally, I doubt if you didn't do anything to her,"
Gaeriel said.
	"But I didn't!" Chris insisted. "I haven't seen her for
awhile, remember? I haven't had time to do any more stupid things," he
said truthfully.
	"Then you'd better hurry to explain that to her."
	"I'll try," Chris said. He focused his mind on Laree's
presence, and immediately teleported there. They were nearby a landing
pit where a shuttle had just landed and was picking up passengers. He
walked up to Laree and grabbed her by the arm. "Laree, stop. What's
wrong?"
	She turned toward him. "As if you don't know," she said, her
green eyes angry.
	"No, that's right, I don't," he said. "Look, it's not you
talking. I know what you're going through. But it'll pass eventually,
as it did for me. You're completely overacting at nothing at
all. Don't do this, Laree. I love you."
	"You love me? Have you ever told me that before? It's just to
make me stay, isn't it. One of your twisted lines," she said.
	"Hey, I told you once--"
	"It didn't count then."
	"What do you mean it didn't count then?" he asked, tightening
his grip on her arm.
	"Stay away from me!" she shouted, drawing the attention of a
number of stander-bys. She yanked her arm from his hand. She lifted it
up at him, a red flame leaping from it, compacting his chest and
knocking him back a meter and to the ground. Her eyes opened wide as
she realized what she had done, but she just turned and fled up the
ramp of the shuttle to Ketrann.
	"Laree," Chris moaned, edging himself forward on his arms,
unable to stand temporarily. 'Don't do this,' he pleaded with her
silently. He felt her shut him out of her mind. After a few moments he
jumped to his feet angrily, feeling a new strength. "Fine!" he shouted
to her, although she couldn't hear. He was just making a scene. "See
if I care! I don't need you. I'll find someone else--better!" He held
his hands before his face, flaring angrily in a way they hadn't for
some time. He thrust them to his sides quickly and disappeared in a
huge tower of fire.
	A number of scared shouts and yells rose in the air. One man
who'd seen the whole thing commented as he boarded the shuttle--"That
guy has problems."

	Laree felt different suddenly as she sensed Chris disappear in
a fire of rage. She wasn't in control of herself still, but was
overcome with grief and began sobbing quietly. Despite her regrets,
she found herself still strangely unable to get off the shuttle and go
back to him--she could just sit there and mourn her own actions.
	She felt a hand on her head. She glanced up at a man with dark
black hair and green eyes just like hers. He stroked her hair
slightly. Strangely enough, she didn't find herself either angry or
scared. She felt a certain peace from the man and felt somehow close
to him. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked quietly, indicating the seat
next to hers. She shook her head, and he sat down. He pulled his hand
back and clasped them together. "I saw what happened out there," he
said after a long time, when the shuttle began lifting off. "Why was
that kid bothering you?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
	She looked at him, wiping a tear from her face with her
thumb. "He wasn't bothering me," she said, trying to smile
reassuringly. "And he's only a year younger than me, hardly a kid."
	"I know," the man said, looking away. A minute later he
finally looked back. "He didn't--" he searched for words, "--do
anything to you, did he?"
	"Well--not the way you mean," she said quietly.
	The man nodded. He touched her chin, turning her face toward
him. "You really cared for him, Laree, didn't you?" She nodded. "Then
why'd you do it?"
	"I don't know," she said, turning away from him,
embarrassed. She stayed silent for some time, as they made the jump to
hyperspace.

	Chris reappeared in his own room. His tattered clothing had
purposely been destroyed in his teleporting, as he didn't want to
bother taking it off. He ran to his bedroom, pulling out a
suitcase. He opened it, and got out a dark black suit. It was his true
Sith uniform, which his Masters had gotten him.
	Chris hurried into the tight-fitting black suit. It still fit
perfectly. Across his chest spanned a large Sith emblem, it's golden
color drawing upon the Force, acting like a number of other Sith
artifacts. Chris kneeled, the way he'd been shown, and clipped on a
long black cape to the edges of the emblem, acting like a conductive
wire and thrusting Force power --Dark Power-- through him.
	He felt at peace in this clothing, though it strengthened the
Dark Side. His only peace _was_ the Dark Side.
	As a sort of test, he waved his hand and blew the bedroom door
in. He didn't care if Master Skywalker felt it. No one could stand in
his way now. Feeling completely refreshed in his old ways from long
before he'd been dragged to Skywalker's academy, he walked out the
demolished bedroom door and left his room.
	He walked for a very long time around the Imperial Palace. He
decided there was a problem, after a short time. He sensed no
fear. And a Dark Lord required fear. He reached out with his newly
discovered powers, manipulating the emotions of all those near
him. With an evil smile, their fear began running through him. That's
better, he thought.
	After hours of walking, he found himself very bored and
lonely. He walked down into the lower levels of the palace, not quite
down to the slums, but only down to one of the very old museums. He
loomed in the Sith quarter, wondering if any of the few passing people
knew that he was a living example of that part of the museum. He ran
his hands over the cases of Sith artifacts, feeling their weak power
when compared to his own mixed with his Sith emblem.
	He mused to himself. What am I doing? Laree's gone, so? Why
should I do this? I should be here, but I should do something more
like this... He drew upon the Force with his own strength, mixed with
the emblem's strength. From the emblem a steady bolt of energy flew
into the cases of artifacts, and destroyed them in moments. The cases
lay empty.
	He smiled to himself. He didn't like Dark Power exactly, but
he liked using it for good. And for the first time in a number of
hours, he felt good. If only Laree could be there.
	He silently cursed himself as his subconscious threw
depressing memories and feelings at him. The loneliness flooded his
mind. He leaned against the wall, trying to regain his mind from
despair.
	As he stood there breathing carefully, someone entered the
room. He looked up at the newcomer. It was a young girl, fourteen or
so he guessed, but not nearly as hardened as himself or Laree. She had
shoulder length jet black hair and sweet brown eyes. She wore a nice
blue dress. She was pretty, but not Laree.
	He caught himself. What am I doing? He asked himself. She left
me. Her loss, I can't go compare every girl in the galaxy to
her. "Hello...?" he said, reluctant to steal the information from her
mind.
	She smiled at him. "My name is Jenika. How about yours?"
Jenika asked.
	"I am Chris Qel-Droma, Jedi Knight," he said, eagerly showing
off as was his natural nature. That was the one thing he never
bothered to take control of.
	"You're a Jedi? Aren't you a little young?" she asked,
although her sense became intrigued.
	"It's a really, really long story, believe me," he said with a
smile. Should he warn her? He liked this girl, but he decided it could
wait until they were alone. He looked around at the empty room. Well,
not alone, but somewhere else, he thought.
	"I'd like to hear it. Is there somewhere we could go?"
	"I don't know," Chris said. "I'm kind of new to Coruscant." 
	"Too bad. So am I, I'm sort of on a vacation, though it hasn't
been much of one," Jenika said.
	"I understand that," Chris said. "Place gets rather boring. We
could talk at my place, though," he suggested. She shrugged acceptance
and he took her hand and quickly guided her far up the palace, through
a number of turbolifts, up to his apartment. He opened the door to the
large room. It was the same one as he'd shared with Laree their first
visit, he suddenly realized, and that brought back a fresh wave of
memories.
	His face must have shown it. "Something wrong?" Jenika asked,
concerned.
	"Hmm?" Chris asked, coming back to the present. "Oh, no, nothing."
	After walking around the room a moment, Jenika turned back to
Chris. "How'd you get this huge room?"
	"I'm a student of the Chief of State's brother, and I know
her, too," Chris said, thinking back to that night. That was the night
Laree had told him about the abuse she had endured in Hethrir's
prison. "Please, sit down," he said quietly.
	She sat down on the couch, and he sat next to her, facing
her. He liked her, she was very nice, and friendly. She had to know,
whatever the outcome. "Actually, I'm more of a Jedi Master. A Dark
Jedi Master," he said, hoping she knew herself what that meant.
	"C'mon, Chris, you don't have to make things up to impress
me," Jenika said. She hadn't thought Chris was like that.
	Apparently she didn't know. "Jenika," he said, "I wish I
_were_ making this up. But it's been with me a long time, it's in my
blood."
	"You seem preoccupied, even while you're talking about
something like that," she said. "What is it, Chris?"
	He'd hoped he could wait until talking with Master Skywalker
to talk about this. He looked up into her eyes, but then stared at the
floor. He couldn't get himself to look at her as he spoke.
	Chris found himself pouring his heart out. He told Jenika
everything, all about Laree, some of the things that had happened
lately about her, and the final blow she had dealt at him. She sat
still quietly, listening carefully as he spoke.
	"Why did she turn against you that last time, what did you
do?" she asked, eager to help.
	"I don't know, that's the thing I don't understand," he
said. "She just ran off as soon as I and Mara Jade stepped off the
ramp of the freighter."
	"Who's Mara Jade?"
	"Mara's an old smuggler. Well, not old she's gorgeous, actually."
	Jenika held her head in her hand in disgust. "And you said she
was practically carrying you off the ship," she said.
	"Well, yeah," Chris said.
	"Chris, it's pretty obvious then. You said you somehow spread
that...disease to her, right?" He nodded slowly, still not
understanding. "Think about it. She can't control her feelings, and
suddenly back you come after being away for some time with a beautiful
woman clinging to you. You may not see it, but from my point of view,
I understand her actions completely."
	"That's silly, though. Mara Jade's at least twice my age. She
wouldn't..."
	"But she did, Chris," Jenika said. "I know you still love her,
that much is obvious. I suggest you go after her."
	Chris looked up at her, not quite believing what she was
saying. But he also knew Jenika was right. He leaned forward and
hugged her. "Thank you. You've really helped me. You're not exactly
what I expected, but turned out a lot better," he said. He released
her.
	"Hey, any time, Chris. Maybe I'll see you again sometime. I'd
better get going, and so should you," she said standing up. With
another smile, she left the room.
	He lay his hand on the Sith emblem, using its strength to find
Laree. He found her, but she was in hyperspace and currently
unreachable. He waited calmly.

	Laree sat comfortably in her seat onboard the shuttle. She had
her hair over her arm, using it like a pillow as she slept. She felt a
minor probing of her mind and woke up suddenly. "Chris," she growled
angrily.
	The man next to her turned away from his datapad. "Are you
OK?" he asked.
	"Yeah, I'm fine. He just doesn't give up."
	"I understand. We're almost to Ketrann, I think we've nearly
pulled out of hyperspace. I'll be right back," he said, standing up
and walking up to the cockpit, entering it.
	Laree sat clutching her suitcase nervously. She was returning
home. Her mother would be so glad to see her again, wouldn't she?
Master Skywalker had mentioned that her mother may either hate or be
afraid of her, as she was now a Jedi. But she could make her
understand, tell her what she'd gone through and how much she'd
suffered over the years. Or she hoped.
	She sensed the moment the shuttle emerged from hyperspace. A
moment later, she sensed something else as Chris suddenly appeared in
the isle between seats. "What are you doing?" she asked angrily.
	"I'm sorry, Laree, I didn't understand what happened that set
you off. But I do now, and I just wanted to tell you that I hardly
even know Mara, and I _was_ terribly injured," Chris said desperately.
	"OK, let's say I was wrong. How'd you figure out what it was?
If that's it."
	"Well, Jenika told me--"
	Laree's eyes seemed to flare in rage. "Jenika? Who's Jenika?"
she asked.
	He mentally slapped his forehead and cursed. "She's--"
	"Don't try to explain, Chris. Just go home," she said.
	"I am not going to leave here without you, Laree. I can
explain about Jenika, really--" He broke off and fell back a step as
the man who sat next to Laree punched him in the stomach.
	"Just leave her alone," he said angrily.
	Chris's anger rose to an all new high. He drew his fist back,
slamming it in a backfist into the man's jaw, making him fall back to
the ground, bloody. "Fine!" Chris shouted. "Have it your way,
Laree. I've tried to patch things up enough. _BUT I DON'T CARE
ANYMORE_." He disappeared before she had a chance to reply.
	"Good," Laree muttered. She dropped her suitcase and moved to
the man's side, helping him to his seat and dabbing at his wound with
a piece of cloth she'd found in a medpack under the seat. "You didn't
have to do that," she said quietly.
	"Yes I did. I couldn't stand by and watch anymore," the man
said. He placed his hand on hers, drawing it away. "I'm OK."
	"Why do you care about me so much?" Laree asked.
	The man shrugged. "I don't know. But I want to talk to your
mother about what's been going on with that boy."

	In his rage, Chris had teleported blindly. Luckily, he hadn't
teleported into deep space like he thought he would have if he ever
did blindly teleport. He found himself on a strange reddish brown
planet with no apparent life, at least on the surface. But below, he
did indeed feel life presence's. But that didn't make a difference. He
was out of Control.
	He reached out with the Force, grasping at the sun of the cold
planet. He had to do it. He couldn't hold back. The star began to go
nova, and he teleported away.
	He reappeared on a planet unfamiliar to him. He sensed a
presence somewhere around him, the one he was hunting for. He looked
around the huge crowd, the poor looking people completely ignoring
him.
	He had a strange feeling about one of the people he passed. He
whirled around, grabbing the man by the back of his tunic and knocking
him forward. Chris held him down with one knee, laying his hands on
the man's head, and stealing information from it. His saber jumped
from his belt and ignited itself, blocking the blaster shots the man's
body guard began shooting. It struck the guard down, then returned to
its Master's belt.
	Chris dropped the man's head, standing up. "Thanks a bunch,"
he muttered and started walking off.
	Half an hour later, he came up to a locked, tattered old
door. He touched his Sith emblem, and a huge Force blow impacted the
door and knocked it in. Chris stepped inside. "Mr. Fett. We have a
matter to discuss."

	Luke was sitting in his room speaking with Gaeriel when he
felt a scream of a hundred thousand voices and a million other
lifeforms. Breathing hard, he brought his concentration back to
Gaeriel, who he saw felt the same thing. "They've both gone over the
deep end," Luke said. "But I think Chris just dropped further."
	"He really can not handle rejection," Gaeriel said.
	"Him? She had no reason to act the way she did anyway. I know
how she can't control herself anymore, but it didn't seem like
anything happened to set her off," Luke said.
	"She told me. It was Mara," Gaeriel said.
	Luke's face melted with understanding. "Blazes," he
whispered. "If I'd known then--" he stopped himself. "And now they're
both lost to the Dark Side over eachother."
	"It's like I told you fifteen years ago. Except it isn't you
who has turned to the Dark Side and hates those which you love. It
would be easier if it was," Gaeriel said.
	"At the time what you said hurt. Now I think I'm beginning to
see the truth about it."

	"Laree? We've landed," the man said. He stroked her hair
softly as she awoke. They'd been caught in a bit of a problem when the
engine had died and they'd had to dock with a repair station, so Laree
had taken a nap.
	"I'm up," she mumbled. She pushed her bangs from her eyes and
casually removed his hand from her hair. "Please don't stroke my
hair. Don't ever do that," she said quietly, calmly controlled for the
time being.
	"Why not?" he asked. He pulled his hand back and picked up his
baggage.
	"Just--just don't." She picked up her suitcase with one hand,
finding her other hand naturally gripping her lightsaber.
	The man found the reply strange, but accepted it. They both
got up and went down the lowered ramp with a few other passengers.
	Laree went over to the side of the landing area, the man
following her. "Are you really going to talk to my mother?" she
asked. He nodded. "Fine," she said resignedly. "She should be here
soon, I contacted her from the shuttle."
	After a few minutes of waiting, a woman came within view. She
had long brown hair like her own, over an old but intact red
dress. The woman's brown eyes locked on Laree's a moment as she came
forward. Laree dropped her suitcase, leaving it in the care of the man
who was watching them with a smile. Laree met her mother Kistra in a
huge hug between family that hadn't seen eachother for a long
time. "Mom," Laree whispered tearfully.
	Kistra released her, but kept Laree's hand in her own. "Laree,
what happened?" she asked. "And where did you find him?" she shot a
venomous look at the man who stood back a few meters.
	"You mean you know who he is?" Laree asked. "I just met him on
the shuttle."
	"You could say I know who he is," Kistra said, still glaring
back at the man.
	"Now come on, Kistra, this is no way to go about your reunion
with your daughter," he said. "Leave me out of it for now."
	His reaction made it all too obvious. Laree turned to the once
stranger with wide eyes, her mouth partially open. "You're..."
	"Your father, yes," he finished for her.
	"That's why you reacted like that," she breathed. "You had me
scared there. No one strokes my hair."
	"I was wondering about that," he said. "Why is that? I always
did when you were very young."
	"I can't tell you here," she said, turning to her mother. "Can
we go home and talk?"
	"Of course, dear," Kistra said.

	They'd been talking in Kistra's home for a short time. It was
fairly empty as Laree had suspected from what Master Skywalker
said. What there was was very plain. "You always did look more like
your father," Kistra told Laree. "You only got my hair."
	"Mother... I inherited a lot more than your hair," Laree said,
reluctant to specifically say what.
	"And what is that, dear?" she asked.
	Laree drew her lightsaber from her belt, sure her mother would
recognize it. She did. "I inherited your Jedi power."
	Kistra was shocked. "The Jedi are responsible for the downfall
of this galaxy. How could you turn against your mother after you ran
away?"
	"None of what you have just said is true though, Mom," Laree
said quietly. She began to tell them both exactly what had happened
with every detail she could remember. She told about her kidnapping,
her being trained unwillingly, and the abuses. "So you see," she said
as the conclusion to her story, "that's why you can't stroke my
hair. Only one person does anymo--" she stopped herself. That had
almost become part of the story, she knew, but Chris was gone.
	Both of their faces had turned pale white for their
daughter. "I'm so sorry," her father said. "That one was that boy,
though, wasn't it?" She blinked and looked away, ignoring his
question.
	"So it's not your fault you became a Jedi, you were forced
to...among other things?" Kistra asked.
	Despite everything Laree was telling, her mother kept focusing
on the fact she was a Jedi. "No, mother, I want to be a Jedi. And...I
don't have a choice any more," she said.
	"Because you're already trained," Kistra said.
	"No, not that. I'm hardly trained. It's in my blood now... but
in the wrong way."
	"What do you mean by that?"
	"That boy did something, didn't he?" her father asked,
becoming angry again.
	"Well... it was as much my fault as it was his. You see, he
had this poison injected in him a long time ago, which made him act
the way you saw. But when we... well, you know, he unknowingly spread
it to me which made me react to him the way you saw," she spoke
softly. "You really risked your life hitting him, Father. Even without
the Force he could have taken you."
	"Did he rape you like the others?" Kistra asked with more
anger than she'd probably felt in her life.
	"No," her father answered for her. "From what I saw she really
loved him."
	"I did...still do, I guess." She looked at her father. "I
really screwed things up up there, didn't I?" she asked sadly.
	"Yes, you did," he said. "But I think you can fix it. You've
been acting much better now, and he was only angry because you
were. If you could find him, you could probably patch things up."
	"I hope so," she said and hugged her father. Her mother
watched in pain.

	"Fett," Chris said, "It's just so nice to see you again. I
didn't think I'd ever get the pleasure. But the Sith were never ones
to take defeat lightly. And I am a Sith."
	"I wasn't afraid of the Lord Vader either," Fett said coldly.
	"I'm not asking you to fear me," Chris smiled. "I'm going to
show you why you may wish to fear me, and if you do not, cause you
justifiable pain. Much pain," he said.
	"Let's see your worst, kid."
	"You couldn't handle the sight of someone enduring my worst,"
Chris said.
	"You overestimate your own powers. Kid, I've endured things
far beyond anything you could imagine," Fett said.
	"You know nothing of the Sith. We've existed for
millennia. What they knew then, I know now. And with their knowledge,
I bring forth your destruction. You've destroyed my life." No sooner
had they both drawn their weapons, when Chris touched his Sith emblem,
it focusing his power into Fett. With its help he took control of the
weak-minded bounty hunter. He didn't just take control of him like any
other person in the galaxy. Fett's mind ceased and was overrun with
Chris's own, like an extension of him.
	Chris had heard stories of times when people had done this
sort of mind merging before. The other half was supposed to be fun to
keep around, and if you wanted to kill them, you just send them to
Myrkr, where your mind will separate and they die instantly. There was
no turning back.
	The old Sith artifact took care of keeping Fett under
control. Chris had been given the emblem for that purpose--it was the
singly most powerful Sith object ever introduced to the galaxy. He and
Fett teleported to Cinthral.
	They stood in the same alleyway by the same street as where
Chris had been caught. "You remember this place, Fett? No, of course
you don't, I've taken over your mind, sorry. I guess you're already
dead." He sent a thought into the little part of Fett's mind that was
still his own. Fett scurried away. Chris returned to his home.

	"Do you think it will work?" Laree asked her father.
	"Laree, you still love him, and he must still love you. Does
it really matter if it works, as long as you try?" he asked.
	"Well, I guess," she said. "I can easily find him and get to
him, but what do I say? I mean, would _you_ take me back after
everything I've done?"
	"Laree, you defended him saying it was as much your fault as
it was his. That means it is still _his_ fault, partially."
	"That's true. And thank you for leaving mom out of this. You
know how she is," Laree said thankfully. He just nodded and gave her a
look with those green eyes of his--and her own-- meaning it was time
she get going. She hugged him warmly and thanked him for his help. "I
think I can use his own powers to bring me to him. It should work,"
she said, finishing the sentence a bit strained. She shut her eyes,
concentrating deeply. She disappeared a moment later.
	"Good-bye, my daughter," her father whispered after her.

	"Come now, son, what happened that was so terrible?" Ulic asked Chris.
	Chris looked around the living room of his parents' home,
reluctant to answer. "I don't know, nothing really happened. That's
just what made me get so angry, and I still am. She got completely set
off over nothing," Chris said.
	"And what was this nothing?"
	"She just saw Mara Jade helping me walk down a ramp, that's
all. It doesn't make any sense, really, and when I realized what it
was and tried to explain everything we just ended screaming agai--" he
broke off as his concentration was shattered. He fell to his knees,
gripping his temple. He held on to Fett's mind--and his own--by hardly
a thread, but took a few moments to recover. He remembered the emblem
after a moment, and used its power to aid him again.
	"Son, are you all right?" Ulic asked, not all that
concerned. He knew Chris could handle it.
	"Yeah, I'm OK," he said standing up slowly, still holding his
head. "There," he muttered as the feeling faded and he dropped his
hand back to his side. "That was strange."
	"Uh-oh," Ulic muttered as he looked at the doorway.
	Chris turned around on one foot, half expecting--exactly what
he saw. Laree stood there in all her beauty, wearing those same green
Bakuran clothes she'd grown so accustomed to. His anger boiled only a
little. "I thought it was you," he said coldly.
	"Chris," she said, coming forward toward him, "I'm sorry. I
shouldn't have said those things, but you shouldn't of either. I'm
willing to talk now--alone."
	Chris nodded and walked up to her, and together they walked
outside the building and out to the center of the city, where the park
was located. They were quiet for a few minutes, when Chris decided
he'd better start. "So, you came back, did you?"
	"I'm not crawling back to you, if that's what you're
thinking," she said. "I'm just giving you a chance. I shouldn't have
blown up like that. You can start with explaining this 'Jenika'
person."
	"Jenika's this girl I met on Coruscant. When we talked, I just
ended up telling her all about you and everything that's happened
lately. She helped me figure out what had set you off, and what I
should do," he said quietly, "though that didn't help much."
	"Oh, yeah. The shuttle. I apologize for my father," she said.
	"That guy was your father?" he asked, thinking back. "Oh, I
should have known. Look at those eyes," he said, looking up at
Laree's.
	She smiled attractively. "I didn't know either at the time. He
really had me scared when he stroked my hair." Chris nodded his
understanding. "Well, I guess this means we've patched things up?"
	"I guess," he shrugged. "You've really got to learn to
teleport yourself. When you drew on my power, you nearly knocked me
out."
	"Sorry," she said simply. She looked at him closely a moment,
only now noticing what he'd been wearing. "Why are you wearing your
Sith suit?"
	"Do you really have to ask?" he asked with a hint of anger in
his voice. Laree stepped forward and hugged him in apology, and he
hugged back, grateful they were back together.
	But the hug meant a lot more than prove they were
reunited. The Sith emblem on Chris's suit came to life, thrusting Dark
Side energies into the two people it now pressed against. It seemed as
if it had waited centuries to do what it was now doing, and it had.
	Both Chris and Laree caught waves of aggression and anger from
the emblem. Anger which neither of them really felt, it seemed
completely aimless, yet it consumed them. This time, though, it did
not turn them against one another. They released eachother and stood
fast, another figure joining them among the trees. It was a huge
humanoid, it seemed, yet obviously long deceased. It wore a long brown
robe and strange horns it seemed from it's helmet. It gripped a very
strange looking staff.
	"My soul has finally been released from the emblem you wear,"
the figure said. "The two of yours potentially Dark Power has allowed
me to leave and set you both upon your destinies." His face was
shadowed, but they both knew he looked at Chris. "Qel-Droma. I have
watched you since you were born. I instructed your Master's in how to
go about teaching you. I made it possible for you to learn far beyond
them. I also had them give you the emblem you now wear, empowered with
my spirit."
	The figure went on. "I once met with your Great Ancestor, Ulic
Qel-Droma, four thousand years ago. I brought the Sith upon him, but
you are a far greater student. You have been the Dark Lord for seven
years now, and I commend you for a job well carried out. You are
perhaps the greatest Sith ever to dwell among our ranks. And you are
to carry the title of Dark Lord as long as you live."
	Chris found himself bowing his head to the figure. "Thank you,
my Master," he said.
	The figure turned his attention to Laree. "And you, my dear,
you have the Sith within you. You too are to become a great one among
us. And for that reason, I proclaim you the first in a line to be as
great as the Dark Lords--You are the Dark Lady of the Sith," he said.
	Laree bowed to the figure. "It is an honor to be among your
kind," she said.
	The figure dawned his huge hands with long nails before
them. "And you both are to carry out your destinies together, the Dark
Lord and Lady of the Sith." Pure Dark Side energies flew from his
hands, catching on to the emblem Chris wore. It split itself in half
in a sort of slash at an angle across it, half of it remaining on his
uniform and the other attaching itself to Laree's tunic. "I will now
return to the amulets, my students, and will forever be with
you. Together, with yourselves and the amulets as one, you will be
unstoppable," the figure said as he began to fade. His energies flowed
into the amulets.
	"That was strange," Laree said quietly. "Do you feel any
different? I sure do."
	"Well, no, I don't. Laree, like he said I've been the Dark
Lord for seven years. But I never had a Dark Lady before," he smiled.
	"I didn't expect that either. I heard stories from Tionne
about your ancestor, he was only proclaimed Exar Kun's foremost
apprentice. This is more than I could have hoped for," she said in a
slightly not herself type of way.
	After a few moments, Chris said, "If I've studied my lessons
properly, which I have, I think we're married. In the eyes of the Sith
at least."
	"So?" she smiled. "What do we do first?"
	"I've got a strange feeling of revenge coming on. But I want
to teach you to teleport first. When you made me teleport you, I
nearly lost my mind control over Boba-Fett," Chris said, walking with
her back to his house.
	"You have control over Fett? What're you making him do?" she
asked, intrigued.
	"I decided to kill him. He's on his way to Myrkr. And that's
where we should go as soon as possible. We'll 'port to his ship and
thank him for the ride, then kill Levem while we're there," Chris
said. "Everything that's happened is their fault."
	"That's a good plan. I can see why you've been the Dark Lord so long."
	"Now don't get jealous. The Dark Ladies are to eventually
equal the Dark Lords, remember? And I'll help you speed that process
along."

	Gaeriel and Luke lay asleep in their bed on Coruscant. Gaeriel
suddenly awoke with a start, springing up to a sitting position. "No!"
she shouted.
	Luke pulled himself up slowly. "What's wrong, Gaeri?" he asked
tiredly.
	"Didn't you feel that? Something terrible has happened,
Luke. To both of them."
	"I was afraid of this," Luke said. He put his arm around her,
tried to comfort her. "It will be all right, Gaeri. We'll see what we
can do in the morning when we go back to Bakura."
	"I don't know if it can wait. But it's not like we have a
choice, is it?"
	"No," Luke said sadly.

	After a number of hours being taught how to teleport
correctly, Laree thought she was ready. "OK," she said, "I've got it."
She shut her eyes a moment, disappearing in a flash and reappearing
across the room. "In time, I'll be able to keep up with even you."
	"Don't get your hopes up, Laree," he grinned. "You'll never
teleport as well as me, it's inventor."
	"Whatever," Laree said disbelievingly. "We'd better hurry if
we're going to catch up with Fett."
	"Right. I want my third lightsaber back. Though my fourth
works much better," Chris said.
	"What're we waiting for?"
	"Nothing. Let's go." They both centered their concentration on
a spot just outside two kilometers of Myrkr, where a ship had just
left hyperspace. They teleported inside that ship.
	Laree walked over to the cockpit where Boba-Fett sat. "If I
hit him, would you feel it?" Laree asked Chris.
	"Yes, I have complete control over his systems. So don't you
even think about it," Chris said coldly. He knew she would do it, if
she wanted to.
	"You're my husband, Chris, or so we think. It's my right," she
smiled sarcastically.
	"Don't, Laree. We only have minutes until we lose the Force. I
don't want to already be in pain."
	"Chris, why don't we just destroy the entire system?" Laree
asked. "That would be a nice test for us, and we would be rid of this
world without the Force."
	"That's been on my mind, too. But think about it a
moment. Isn't this much more fulfilling, doing it in person?" Chris
asked.
	"Yes, I suppose it is. This Sith stuff is certainly closely
related with revenge, isn't it?" Laree asked.
	"Laree, you are the Dark Lady of the Sith. Don't call it 'Sith
stuff' anymore, OK?"
	"Yeah, I'm the Dark Lady. Which also means I'm an equal to
you, and I'd appreciate being treated as such."
	"When have I treated you any other way?" Chris asked. "Oh,
nevermind. We're in the bubble. We'll be landing in minutes." He felt
the wooziness that came with the loss of the Force, he saw Laree also
unbalanced. He moved to her side and put his arm around her
waist. "Kind of nice without the Force, isn't it?"
	"Actually, yes," Laree said.
	Chris wondered at what to say next. Without the Force, things
that had always seemed impossible to say were now easy, as he was
unaffected by his Sith blood. "Did I ever tell you I loved you?" he
asked quietly as he lay his other hand on her shoulder.
	"I love you, too," she said as she lay her soft cheek on his hand.
	He smiled and lay his head against hers. "Now let's kick some
butt," he said.
	"Right."

	The two young lovers had piloted the ship down to the surface,
discarding Fett's dead body in the cargo hold. They came down the
ramp, holding their ignited lightsabers before them. They went over to
the base, Chris in front, as he could fight with a high degree even
without the Force.
	Two guards stood at the entrance, bringing up their blasters
to track Chris and Laree. "I'll take 'em," Chris whispered. Laree
disignited her saber in response, knowing it was worthless for her to
try to use. Chris sprinted forward toward the guards, leaping into the
air some distance away and doing a flip, landing behind them. He
sluggishly, without the Force, cut one of the guards down, catching
the other one with a kick to the back before he could take Laree
down. He caught the bewildered man with his saber after a moment of
brief hesitation.
	That was it. His answer. He couldn't even resist the Dark Side
without the Force, he was hopelessly lost within it. Laree saw it too,
but knew she could do nothing, as she probably would have done the
same. "Let's go in," he said as she caught up with him. "Ladies
first," he waved her forward as he held the door open.
	She shook her head. "I don't think so. You go first," she
said. He shrugged, letting himself through the doorway, but still
holding it open for her. "Thank you," she muttered.
	They went throughout the base, Chris pretending it was some
rough-'em-up beat-'em-up game. Laree watched Chris with grim
satisfaction. They fought their way toward the room in which Levem
stayed. Chris stumbled upon a trigger for the door, and it shot
open. They stepped in. "Good day, Mr. Levem," Laree said. "Remember
us?"
	Levem sat in his chair beneath the tree of ysalamiri. "Why of
course," he said, gently stroking one of the ysalamir. "Now, what is
it you wish to speak to me about?"
	"We don't want to speak with you," Laree said.  "We want to
kill you," she drew a blaster from behind her back, bringing it to
bear on his head. Suddenly a blaster bolt struck the weapon, knocking
it from her hand in a smoldering pile of scrap.
	"Anti-weapon droids. Not much in the way of hospitality," Levem said.
	"Neither do we, Levem," Chris said coldly. "Laree, let me use
our powers combined."
	"Uh, hello, Chris? Where've you been? We're on Myrkr,
remember?" she asked, thinking Chris had lost it.
	Chris looked into her eyes. "Laree, just trust me. The ancient
said together we would be unstoppable--this is our chance to prove
it." Laree saw that he meant business, offered her hand as a link,
which he took in his own gratefully. He turned back to Levem, who
began to look a bit sick.
	"What, what are you doing?" Levem asked. He was breathing
strangely and had a touch of fear in his eye.
	"I get it," Laree said. Chris looked at her with a smile as
she continued. "The Dark Side is everywhere, Levem," she
said. "Everywhere. In your own heart, it dwells supreme. Whether with
or without the Force itself, we are the Masters of the Dark Side. And
we may manipulate it even when we may not use the Force."
	"Right," Chris said. "The Ancients gave us these amulets as a
focusing of power, Dark Power. Not Force Power. And through the power
of the Dark Side, you now lay upon your grave."

	Luke and Gaeriel had arrived at Bakura earlier in the
day. They'd checked on the twins, making sure that Yeorg and Tiree
Captison had been as capable to take care of them as they hoped, and
luckily they were. They had also apologized for the long delay. They
now attempted to get a good rest before they had to go out again,
after Chris and Laree.
	Luke had a disturbing dream. Not a dream, really, but a
vision. He saw the changes within both Chris and Laree take place, a
huge looming figure strengthening them. Soon after it had begun, it
took an even more disturbing twist.
	Chris stood before him, clad in his Sith suit. He looked at
Luke directly, proving it was far more than what Luke had already
witnessed. His cloak waved behind him realistically. "I know I could
have teleported and told you this in person, but I thought this more
showing of power," Chris said in Luke's dream.
	"You were probably right," Luke said. "Now what is it you want
to tell me?"
	"Let's start pleasently," Chris said. "Laree and I are back together."
	"I already knew that," Luke said.
	"Then do you also know what happened?" Chris asked.
	"No, but Gaeri does. Tell me."
	"We were visited by an ancient Sith. He married us. We are now
the Dark Lord and Lady of the Sith. Since then, we've killed Fett and
Levem, and are preparing a coup d'etat on the Cinthral
government. We'll be in control in no time. And you will not
interfere."
	"You expect me to sit idly by while you do who knows what?"
Luke asked.
	"I didn't say that. I know you would never do that, give me
some credit. I just wanted to tell you it was hopeless," Chris said,
and the dream faded.
	Gaeriel saw Luke was awake too. "We have to do something,
Luke," she said quietly.
	"I know, Gaeri," Luke said. "Well, Chris and Laree are back
together, but at what cost to the galaxy?" he wondered out loud.
	"A great one."