Topic: Years Long Gone: The Nemesis

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

My name is Karr Amicus Xon. In life I was a jedi, taken from early age for training and ascending in time to a position on the Council as a Master of the Order. The end of my life was no great battle, no fall in glory, but rather the ending of a long life spent in the best way possible; but the end of my life is a story for another time.

If you thought old men had an overabundance of stories, then you'll think someone who's been dead for years won't ever shut up... and you would be correct. Lucky for you, you're reading this record so you don't need me to shut up. *insert ghostly maniacal laughter here*

This is a three-part tale about a paramount part of my life. It takes place when I was a knight of the Order, I had only just taken Ekul as my padawan...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

Chapter I: The Pebble in the Pond

... *beep*... *beep*...

I rubbed my eyes and rolled on my side. The blinds were shut but thin rays were leaking in. The bed was that perfect temperature; not too hot but plenty warm.

"Karr, it's time to get up." an electronic female voice said in a soothing tone.

"Ugh... fine, GR." I replied to GR-58, my personal hover droid I built as a padawan, "What time is it?"

"Six in the morning." she replied with a sort of whistle-laugh.

"...Wait, there's something going on today. What was it again?" I tried to remember, still very groggy, "I wouldn't be up this early unless I told you to wake me..."

"Or if I was playing a joke on you." she replied.

"If you're playing a joke on me then your memory banks must've been wiped because I remember how I reacted last time."

"I remember as well," she replied with a sort of a nervous stutter in her hover pattern, "You have a mission briefing today with Master PannTher."

I sat up and ran my hands through my hair. I went to the washroom in my dormitory unit and washed up, untangled my long hair, and put on my tunic. Ever since I ascertained my knighthood and went through the whole mess with my former master, I had new colors and uniform designed.

I didn't wear my traditional robes and tunic unless I had a ceremony to be at or a diplomatic mission; otherwise I wore a basic cloth-sweater shirt and a military pants with pilot boots. They were fairly common looking and unimpressive, but they were well worn-in, comfortable, practical, and customized with minor alterations.

Once I was dressed I headed out into the halls. At this point in my life I was still stationed in the Coruscant temple, but once I achieved knighthood I was given free-leave to conduct my own studies and expeditions, but the ship I was building was far from being space-worthy, so I still spent most of my time on planet and in the temple. I had begun to get a reputation among the padawans who studied there as being something of an eccentric knight, spending most of my time with my machines or up in a tree in the gardens or spending days on end out and about on Coruscant.

"Hey! Master!" I heard a familiar young yet typically rough zabrak voice yell out from behind me as I approached the lifts to the Council Chambers. I turned to see Ekul running up behind me.

"Do you normally stalk your master?" I laughed; I had only been his master for a couple months at this point but we were hitting it off well and he was a very hard worker.

"Yes, actually." he smiled, "But this morning I was getting an early breakfast, I like the morning. Where are you headed, master?"

"To meet Master PannTher; I've been assigned a mission."

"Oh! Do I get to join you on this one too?" he asked eagerly. He had already been on a couple of diplomatic missions with me, good excuses to travel and teach him about about the galaxy.

"I don't know, honestly," I shrugged, "Depends on the mission. But we'll see. In the mean time, go study your tongues."

He bowed and walked away, I could sense that he wanted to go with me and was too excited to seriously study anything as seemingly mundane as linguistics, but that's how lessons often had to be.

Coruscant was bright and shimmery in the rising sun, white with glimmer. The sky was spotted with clouds but still blue with the light of a fresh sun after a shower the night before. The long, windowed ride on the lift to the Council Chambers in the towers was pleasant and quickly dispelled any sleepiness that still hung heavy on my eyes. It was now about seven thirty in the morning, and GR-58 hovered next to me quietly. The lift finally slowed to a halt and doors whisked open.

"You ready for your briefing?" said Master PannTher as I sat down in the strategic room, "Of course you are." I nodded at GR-58 and she began recording the parameters and details; Master PannTher looked like he didn't like the droid recording but he didn't say anything.

"How do you like Nar Shaddaa?" he asked at last as he plugged a small holodisk into the computer.

"Not exactly my favorite vacation spot, but interesting enough."

"Well that's where you're headed." he said as the holoprojector whirred to life and brought up an image of Nar Shaddaa in the middle of the room next to where Master PannTher stood.

"The Republic has had a couple problems with a gang on Nar Shaddaa. Now I know this seems like a silly thing for the Republic to contact us about. One, Nar Shaddaa isn't officially in Republic jurisdiction because it's under Hutt control. And two, the Republic military should be more than capable of handling a two-bit gang. Frankly, even I find this a peculiar mission, but the parameters don't seem to require the attention of assigning a master to the mission, yet still demanding enough require a jedi.

"Demanding?" I asked, leaning in.

"Yes." he paused uncomfortably, his black ears folding back in a posture of discomfort, "For months the gang didn't do anything to bring this much attention to themselves; smuggling, robbing, hijacking, bad stuff but all stuff that the Republic can handle. Then they started upping their activity; kidnapping and openly targeting law enforcement in multiple systems without any predictable pattern or any demands, and they didn't even loot much. But they got bolder and bolder until they were openly opposing Republic forces in Republic territory. They don't have a fleet or anything, but their ships are clearly illegally modified and they often sabotage Republic missions. It has gotten to the point that the Republic is sick of treating the increasingly-worse symptoms of this problem but can't openly attack the source on Nar Shaddaa without causing a political backlash, especially since their spies have already been as successful as they'll ever be..."

"Spies?"

"Yes, this matter has had a fair bit of the Republic's attention for a long time; it's become rather bitter..." he turned and suddenly looked sad, "The Republic has already lost more than a dozen of their better operatives, let alone the hundreds of men and women who have died or disappeared."

"So what are my objectives?"

"Your first primary objective is to pinpoint the headquarters of the gang. Then you are to signal this location by fixing a positioning beacon. Once the beacon is set up, you'll have direct communication with the elite Republic strike force waiting cloaked in orbit. Then you will gather the identity of their leader or leaders and relay that information to the Republic contact. Secondary objectives include discovering how they've managed to be constantly know the movements and practices of Republic forces and why they have been striking out and pulling so much attention lately."

"Isn't it possible that it's just a new gang leader trying to prove his or her toughness?"

"I think that's what the Republic expects, but the Council suspects there's more going on here." he replied, turning back and facing me, "We don't know what it is we sense, but it's enough to make us get involved and send you. You're contact in the Republic is Second Admiral Slason, he has already sent the case with the transmission beacon and the encryption codes, you'll find it in your room after we're done here. Also in the case are maps and details of the few square miles we suspect the headquarters may be located, you can upload that all to GR-58."

"And Ekul?"

"The Council has decided to leave that decision in your court." he shrugged, "You know his abilities better than anyone else does and you'd know best; but I caution you that this mission is clearly very dangerous and if you bring him along he had better be prepared."

"When do I leave?"

"In twelve hours. You'll be leaving Coruscant via orbital shuttle from the surface to the the Firke Orbital Space-Station, from which you'll book passage on a transport to Nar Shaddaa. Travel light, blend in, you're going incognito."

I stood up and bowed. Master PannTher bowed and then licked his arm; he clearly didn't get all the way through his morning routine.

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[*<JO>*KarrXon]

"Greetings, master!" Ekul said excitedly before I had even stepped all of the way out of the lift, "So where are we off to?"

I paused for a second, thinking...

"I'm going to Nar Shaddaa." I replied seriously. He immediately looked crestfallen.

"So I'm not going on this one?"

"I don't think so. This isn't your normal diplomatic mission, unfortunately. You aren't quite ready yet for this kind of mission."

"Lots of action?"

"Hopefully not but it's a possibility; stealth and discretion are critical to success and you're still getting the basics of combat. Besides, one person can travel with attracting much less attention than two people."

"So looks like I'm working on my lessons in the mean time?" he sighed.

"Well yes," I smiled, "But I also left you a special task; you're technical skills have been really coming along and I think you're ready to help me in building the ship."

He immediately perked up.

"I left you the tools you'll need, a copy of my schematics of the ship, and you're own mechanic kit in your room. I want you to work on the repulsorlifts."

"Repulsorlifts?" he asked, again becoming skeptical, "I'll have that done in under a day..."

"No you won't." I laughed, "I designed these and you'll have to be very careful... it's not exactly the safest model to built but it's damn effective. Don't loose your hair! Be careful..."

"Don't worry! I got it." he smiled, happy to have a challenge. I felt uneasy for a second as I watched him leave, worried he would cause another explosion in the hangar, but he needed something exciting to do.

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The files were uploaded to GR-58 and my personal computer I kept on my belt, all of it very tightly encoded. The beacon was a small medallion-shaped device that would unfold and send the transmission and create the Republic communication up-link upon activation; it clipped nicely on my belt or easily on the side of my boot. A fair-sized electro-knife was sheathed on the side of my boot; its handle screws off to reveal small but effective fusion-cutters. A small scouting blaster holstered to my belt; not often used but better to be prepared.

My lightsaber was clipped to my belt as well. This was my first lightsaber that I had built on my own while under the instruction of my former master, Wooklyn Feets. Its hilt was a simple metal handle with a leather grip, clearly meant to be used with one-handed style but big enough for two hands if needed. The blade was a deep blue.

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

At last my pack was ready to go. Just a small, tight pack with the most basic gear needed. The taxi arrived at the landing platform and I was off. It was dark by now, or at least as dark as Coruscant gets, and the world was sparked with lights and billboards and millions of tiny dots flying every which way in the sky. While I typically wore a very spacer-looking outfit on these sort of missions, I often brought a dark mantle/cape/hood for wrapping up in and protection from the elements... or prying eyes.

The cap pilot was a droid; I laid down in the back and GR rested on my chest, I was glad I didn't make her very big. I couldn't sleep just yet but it was nice to just lay down; I had been packing and meditating all day. I was getting a headache for some reason.

"*ping*... Now arriving at shuttle station."

... After an hour of waiting at the shuttle station my flight was finally ready. Soon I was buckled in a small shuttle with about a dozen other people on their way to the major hyperspace hub in orbit over this sector of Coruscant. It was a cramped and unpleasant in the shuttle, and I was quickly remembering why I didn't care for public transit.

I've always liked space; I think it had something to do with the quiet and with the stars. But this time it seemed a pinch too mundane; the station was bustling with people as always and GR and I fit in just fine, not that there was any threat yet anyways. As I sat at my terminal I watched the transport arrive outside the terminal, a large cruiser. Once it was unloading I saw that it was loaded with people coming to Coruscant, some of them on business but most of them looking like poorer folk planning to stay in Coruscant; probably a nice move from Nar Shaddaa.

Once they began boarding for return to Nar Shaddaa I quickly realized that there weren't very many people at all heading to the Nal Hutta moon. About four dozen max, and most of them gruff or dirty individuals and a couple business chaps.

"Business on the smuggler's moon?" asked a gruff looking twilek sitting across from me. He was dressed in typical spacer gear and had a rather large looking blaster on his belt. I noticed that he was the last person to arrive at the terminal before he chose to sit near me.

"Yup." I replied mundanely, "You?"

"Oh I'm from Nar Shaddaa," he replied, leaning back, "business here in Coruscant."

He was behaving very nonchalantly as if to make simple conversation, but I could feel a different tone from him; he was checking me. His eyes seemed closed, but I could feel his eyes peaking out once in a while when I wasn't looking, and his seemingly harmless questions were aggressive in nature, even if they were said in a friendly way. I quickly tried to break off the conversation by not really giving him much to reply to; there was no way to tell why he was this aggressively friendly, genuine or not, but even if he was just a salesman or something, I could do without.

"... *bong*... Boarding for the 8359 transport to Nar Shaddaa has begun. Please advance to the terminal entrance and have your ticket ready." a voice on the comm system rang out.

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

The transport was so empty of typical passengers that each passenger had their own travel section to themselves. The cruise ship had a centrifugal design with Mon Calamari influence.

The ship was a long cylindrical shape, lined with windows, with four engines in the aft and the bridge on the bow. The back 40% of the ship was sanctioned separate from the rest of ship as the crew's quarters, detainee's cells, engine rooms, power core, hyperspace core, and steerage. The front 30% of the ship was split into upper and bottom levels. The top level was the bridge, navigation, computer systems, and environmental controls (even though the actual environmental cores were in the aft of the ship). The bottom level was an observation deck, recreational center, and mess hall (the ship map listed the mess hall as the "cafe" but something involving the word "mess" seemed more appropriate). The most unique feature in this ship was the "spinal cord", a long reinforced cylindrical shaft that ran the length of the ship from power core towards the aft of the ship to the bow-power distribution room just beneath the Computer Core in the bow of the ship. It was down this very long shaft that massive power relays and data relays and distribution matrices were housed, moving and distributing power, communication, and data from each end of the ship. Centrifugal ship designs had become less and less popular because if the spinal cord was severed or broken in any way, the ship became crippled entirely and the different sections that would seal off in an emergency became treacherous because the emergency power cells had short lives and could not be reassigned.

So safe to say, this ship was fairly old. If there were ever any carpets or curtains in the passenger units, they had been removed because of mildew, and now even the steel grates and plates were rusting in some places. It wasn't too bad, though, the seats and beds were well taken care of, though perhaps a bit worn in and, unlike some older ships that had their maintenance neglected, the ship didn't give you tetanus from just looking at it. Shabby, but space-worthy. The passenger area was separated into units, connected by adjoining hallways. Each unit was big enough for about three dozen people comfortably with seats, benches, beds, and large exterior windows. And I had one all to myself.

It was difficult to get one to myself however because that twi'lek has pretty much followed me on the ship. He saw me enter unit V-452 but he did not follow me in. I didn't know what to think of him yet, he made me uneasy but there wasn't any reason to lose sleep over it.

Soon we were pulling out of the station and the rumble of ship grew loud, my unit was pretty near the aft. From my window I watched the station peel away to reveal the bare stars of space, dotted with millions of moving satellites and ships moving in and out and around of Coruscant. I could barely see the dark orb of nighttime Coruscant behind the ship, gouged with lines and valleys of lights visible from space. At last an automated voice came over the comm system...

"*bong*... Please take your seats and buckle in, prepare for the jump to hyperspace in 60 seconds."

I sat down in the nearest seat but didn't buckle in, I've done enough space travel to not get caught off guard by the jump and fall down.

"...*bong* Thirty seconds........................................All crew and passengers please brace yourselves. Hyperspace jump in 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2..."

At that moment the ship violently jolted and the image outside the window peeled away to thin streaks and we were in hyperspace.

"... *bong* You may now resume movement about the ship freely. We'll be exiting hyperspace in approximately twelve hours. In the mean time, we at Nar Shaddaa Transit would like to invite you to the Cafe and Observation decks and enjoy your flight!"

I sighed, knowing that those services were closed because of the lack of customers. Laying back and gazing out the window on a nearby bed, I slowly slipped asleep...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

I awoke later from a dreamless sleep. The ship was quiet, but I was awoken by the sound of loud voices outside my door...

"-then go tell Kig that the charges are set and ready!" said one familiar voice.

"But the lifts are deactivated!" replied a voice in Huttese.

"Then get some exercise, you lazy maggot!" replied the familiar gruff voice. Then the Huttese-speaking chap took off reluctantly. The door flew open and in strode the twi'lek from earlier, but now sporting a large blaster rifle on his shoulder and accompanied by two large gentlemen, armed just as heavily. They seemed casual despite their aggressive appearance.

"Hey there, friend." he said, smiling at me, "You're getting moved to your new cabin."

"Is there room service?" I replied, smiling.

"I'm afraid not. Don't take it personally, just business and all."

"Business? Odd business you run." I shrugged, getting up.

"I don't run it, and hopefully I never will. But first," he paused, holding out his hand as I approached, "Your weapon..."

I looked back and forth between the thugs and the twi'lek, hesitating. The twi'lek was looking me head on, but the other two gentlemen were staring at my blaster... which was all I needed to know. I removed it from my belt and handed it over.

"Thank you." he said, taking it from me gently,"Now if you'll follow me..."

He then turned and went out into the hallway, the two thugs took me by the arms and led me along with less tenderness than the twi'lek's spoken words.

After following the long hallway to the aft of the ship for a few minutes of brisk walking with a few turns and corners, we at last came to one of the large security airlock doors that marked the end of the passenger area and the start of the aft section; the doors were sealed. The twi'lek removed a comm from his belt.

"This is Gren, open the Z-32 sector security doors." he spoke into it. Almost immediately the door gave a heavy whine and slid open. We came through it and it slammed behind us and I heard the heavy bolts shut. The aft area was less cushy than the passenger area, if you could imagine that. Bare metal everywhere but fairly well lit. We didn't go too far into the aft of the ship before we veered right and into the detention cell sector; there were a couple guards outside and then a single guard to each detention block.

"Welcome to your new room. Not terribly comfy, but there've been much worse situations during these hijackings, believe me. You've been mighty kind by cooperating, I really do appreciate it." he laughed as the bars slammed shut. They didn't ask me to remove anything other than my blaster and I wasn't going to give them any reason to want to.

They left me there; it seemed as though I had gotten an earlier start on the mission than I expected, but I doubted that my cover was blown in any way. I had a situation to figure out...

Save the ship? Actually not all that important, but if I could do it then great. More importantly, this was a chance to discover some details about the organization since I had some of their operatives on board... but then I remembered the few people I saw board with me and I was certain that many of them had nothing to do with this. There's a good chance that some of the crew was in on the hijacking and that the rest of the force was brought on board just before the jump to hyperspace, or was smuggled on board before it even left Nar Shaddaa, waiting until after most of the crew and passengers were off on Coruscant, making the hijacking much easier.

Less important was how they did it than what was I going to do now... I sat down and reached out; I could feel the guard of my detention block sitting at the entrance of the cell block down the hall, either asleep or reading. It was relatively easy to feel through the force in such an empty ship, not very much to get too bright or loud. I could feel that the detention cells certainly had the bulk of the population in this half of the ship, but even so the cells were mostly empty; there was nobody else in my cell block. There wasn't a ton of space in the cells because they were only meant for when a crew member or passenger got too rowdy or turned out to be a wanted criminal and needed to be detained. Apparently I was rowdy... So I laid down for a second and lost myself in thought...

-----------------------------------

I got up and went to the bars.

"Hey! Guard!" I shouted down the cell block hallway. Soon the guard came strolling down lazily; a lazy looking human in basic spacer gear with a blaster rifle. He walked up close to the bars and looked at me as if to ask "Hmm? What?"

"Mind telling me how long til we exit hyperspace near Nar Shaddaa?" I asked him harmlessly.

"Uh, probably about three hours I think." he replied giving me a strange look.

"Ah thanks." I replied with a sigh and leaning against the bars. He turned to leave.

Once he had turned around I grabbed his shirt collar from behind and slammed him into the bars! He slid to the ground unconscious...

I looked out of the bars but I couldn't hear or feel anybody coming and this crude detention block didn't have camera surveillance. I searched his pockets through the bars and found the security keycard; slipped it into the panel next to the bars and the door slid open.

I picked up the restful gentleman and laid him down in the cell. I took his communicator so I could monitor any encoded transmissions over their network; I threw his blaster in the garbage chute. He had nothing else on him but a few credits, which I figured he needed more than I did. I left him a cup of water from the cell block food dispenser and locked him in; he would be out for a long time, I gave him quite a slam.

I was now out of my cell, I had a security keycard, and a commlink that could monitor the hijackers' transmissions; a vast improvement over the previous conditions. True, they had my blaster, but frankly I wouldn't have had much use for it. I always carried a blaster with me when I carried my lightsaber. Many other jedi didn't understand why this was, especially since I had no intention of even using the blaster. But if someone's checking to see if you're armed, they'll look for a blaster. If they see a blaster, it'll hold their attention; they won't really take much notice of the cylinder hanging from the belt, which happens to be a lightsaber. This time, it paid off. Some jedi also don't understand why I would let myself be taken away, but in cooperating I discovered the name of their leader, the name of a lower lieutenant, how long I had been asleep (and consequentially how long I had until arrival at Nar Shaddaa), and they still thought I was in my cell. Quite a bit more advantageous than running around, lightsaber flying, lopping off arms and heads while screaming silly things like "You son of a motherless wampa!!" and "I prefer potato cakes!!"... though indeed that mental picture is quite entertaining...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

I looked about me. I was short on time if I wanted to free the ship and even though I had to work hastily, I had to keep my escape a secret for as long as possible. But for now I needed to get out of the detention area, but first...

I walked calmly down the hallway and past the guard station for the cell block, where my new cell-mate was positioned earlier. Just past the next set of doors and another bent hallway was the detention command center, where there were two guards stationed with the controls and communications for the detention sector. I went through the doors and paused at the last bend in the hallway, peaking out; sure enough, there were two guards in the control booth, which was a small ring of controls on a small riser in the middle of the room. The control station on the riser was a horseshoe shape with the opening with stairs facing towards the door; this meant the guards faced the cell blocks. Undoubtedly, there was an alarm at that control station that I could not afford to have pushed. The guards were clearly relaxed and expecting a smooth ride.

I could see the door behind them, which led to hallway; I sensed nobody in the hallway beyond. I could see the door controls on the wall; with a small motion of my hand and some focus, the open button flashed green and the door slid open loudly in the room of the gentle computer hums and low engine rumble.

"The hell?" said one guard as they both got up and faced the door, but seeing nobody, one of them proceeded into the hallway to see who had opened the door.

At this point I silently and quickly ran from my cover and leaped lightly onto the back of the controls, perching like a bird on the console with a big smile! The guy still in the console area heard me and turned around suddenly, startled by the sound!

"Hi!" I said as I punched him hard, knocking him down cold!

The guy just outside in the hallway ran back in and drew his blaster! I reached out and his blaster flew from his hand and into mine; I grinned.

"Thank you kindly!" I said happily. He turned to run, but I reached out with the force and he tripped on something unseen and was dragged back into the room as the door shut! He was shouting but the door quickly shut in his yelling.

I jumped off the console and strode down to where he was cowering on the floor; he clearly had never seen these kind of magic tricks before. He whimpered as he crawled away from me towards the door again, but I got to him first and grabbed his collar, pulling him to his feet and slamming him against the wall!

"You done whimpering and ready to talk?" I asked him, feigning impatience.

"HELP!! HELP!!!" he yelled in vain again. I rolled my eyes and let him go. He took off running to one of the cell block hallways, and I again grabbed his ankle with the force, making him trip and fall on his face, and then dragged him back to me, picked him up, and back against the wall again...

"Now?" I repeated. He was looking around frantically, like a panicky animal in a cage.

I let him go again and yet again went through the same routine of pulling him back to me; frankly, a pretty easy interrogation seeing as how I didn't even have to move in the room. I slammed him against the wall one more time and gave him an impatient look.

"Are you noticing a pattern? I swear, it's the eeriest thing, just like dejavu!" I said facetiously. He looked at me, finally letting the panic leave him, and caught his breath...

"Wha-what do you want?" he finally asked, voice cracking.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." I smiled, "Any reason you guys want this ship so bad?"

"I don't know!" he replied, still somewhat frantic, "We just get our orders and we take the ship to the drop off location in orbit!" He wasn't telling me the whole truth.

"Oh? That all?" I asked, giving him a look that pierced strait through him.

"Well, that's what we usually do! But th-this time we got different orders..." he replied reluctantly, "We're s-s-supposed to load the blast charges against the engine fuel systems and then ditch the ship into most populated sector of Nar Shaddaa!"

My job just got much much more complicated...

"...W-what are you g-g-going to do with me?" he asked, terrified.

"Hmm? Oh, umm..." I looked around, "Probably just this." And then I slammed him against the wall hard enough to knock him out. I then took the two blasters from each guard, tossed them down the chute, and locked them each in different cells, first removing their keycards.

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

I then promptly incapacitated the individual guards in the three other cell blocks. I found that one of the cell blocks was completely empty, even of any guards. Another one had the passengers who came aboard the ship with one guard to watch over them. The last one had the remaining loyal crew members, about three dozen in number, and one guard. Once the guards were taken care of, I went from cell to cell in the crew cell block.

"Is there a commanding ship officer present?" I asked moving from cell to cell. At last a man, possibly mandelorian in blood, stepped up to the bars.

"Hey! Free-bird! Down here!" he shouted, waving through the bars at the end of the hall.

"Are you an officer?" I asked him as I approached.

"First Mate Jack Gromdlore, I'm the highest commanding officer since the captain was shot during the take-over." he replied confidently, "Get us out of here so we can take this tin bucket back in one piece!"

"I'm letting you out, but how many are their numbers?" I asked, wanting to keep them from raising the alarm by letting them storm through the ship. I opened his cell and he strode forward; he was tall and muscular, but he clearly had a cool head and was not one to get too fired up easily.

"Too many for me and my men, I fear." he replied, glad to be out, "And we're unarmed. They plan to turn this ship into a bomb and wipe out millions of people; I have no idea why the hell these psychotic wookie-kissers would want to do such a thing. Their thugs are simple and not THAT ambitious to be infamous; even their leader on this ship seems uncomfortable with the idea!"

"Then he's probaby not the top leader of the gang." I remarked.

"Well said." he said, nodding, "But uncomfortable or not, they're damned persistent and will not back down, even after the captain and I murdered about two dozen of their men on the bridge. That's when the captain fell." He held his head low; he was clearly a true leader.

"Can you keep your men here organized if I let them out? We need to keep this area secure, to keep the passengers safe and because it's a pretty easily defensible sector with only one major entrance."

"Absolutely!" he replied, seemingly insulted by my question, "We'll scrounge up what weapons we can and hold this location, but why shouldn't we try to retake the ship? Surely there are at least a dozen more passengers who can hold a weapon!"

"No, trust me on this one. You're best bet is to hold this position until I give you direction to do otherwise."

"And who the hell are you, anyways?" he asked, beginning to dislike my authority, "Some kind of Republic operative?"

"You could say that. Any way you put it, the Republic sent me to take care of this gang."

He looked me up and down, but relaxed at last, satisfied.

"Alright, so maybe you've this, but how will we get word from you when you need us?" he resumed.

"Here," I handed him one of the commlinks from the other guards, "I'll contact you this. Be ready for that moment because most of the brutes have these and can hear anything said over it, so don't use it unless you're discovered! Just use it to monitor transmissions, don't speak over it! Here's a keycard, get your men out and free any passengers who can help you out here. The detention sector is already secure, but have your men do a final sweep to be sure and to gather what supplies you desire; all you have to do is hold this spot as quietly as possible while you prepare to march out and take back what is yours!"

He took the items, nodded, and when about giving orders to his men and freeing them. I was glad to see such hearty people still alive and ready to kick back, their rising spirits lifted my own and cleared my mind of doubt.

After waiting for First Mate Gromdlore to get his men organized, I needed more information from him.

"What's the quickest way to the engine fuel tanks?" I asked him once he finally had a break.

"Out from the detention sector, right down the hallway, past landing gear pressure tanks, and then the port tanks will be on your left; the starboard ones are on the opposite side of the ship, exact same location, just mirrored. But be careful, I'll bet that's the most heavily guarded area besides the bridge!"

"What do you know about Gren, the twi'lek?"

"Gren? Pale-skinned fellow for a twi'lek?" he asked, I nodded, "He's the rear commander I think, in charge of the aft of the ship; take care of him and the aft will be easily taken. I don't know the name of the head commander, but he's a tougher sort of fellow, a dark-skinned human with long hair, doesn't smell too nice."

"Alright, thanks!" I turned to leave.

"One more thing!" he called out as I was leaving, "If you can stop back here once you've done your business in the aft, I should have enough men to then secure all of the aft quarters if you've removed Gren. Then I can help you get to the bridge."

I thanked him and then went on my way.

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

The hallways were empty; the hijackers weren't overstaffed, that was for sure. I was able to stealthily move about with relative ease. Soon, the hallway came to a large door, above which the words "Landing Gear 5" were written.

I stood still for a second, ear pressed against the door, but I couldn't hear anything over the low din of the engines, which grew steadily louder as I grew closer. I reached out with my mind, but soon discovered that nobody was on the other side of the heavy airlock door. The keycard opened door and I moved into the large dark chamber beyond.

I was inside the landing gear housing. There a massive tower of machinery to my right which was undoubtedly the landing leg for the port side of the ship near the aft; large machinery, pipes, and wires lay all about the walls and ceiling. There was only a small catwalk from the door on the forward side of the room to the door on the opposite side. There was a single lamp above each door and then small walkway lamps on the catwalk, but otherwise the room was quite dark and very cold; little red and yellow lights would blink on the various machines, but all was dim. Looking down, I could see the huge foot of the landing leg and the massive reinforced doors of the hull beneath it; a weak ray shield near this massive hatch kept the chamber from depressurizing.

I stopped at the opposite door, again trying to sense anybody beyond. The roar of the engines grew quite loud on the other side, but I could indeed feel presence of at least 5 people, all of which felt fairly relaxed; hijackers.

I looked about me and tried to figure out a way to get in and secure the room while reducing the risk of the alarm being sounded...

I leaped up into the machinery overhead and hung upside-down on a sturdy pipe; using the force I hit open on the door controls. The door slid open and I remained hanging like a spider...

"Huh?" I heard a man say and two figures passed beneath me! They peered into the dark around them but seemed puzzled...

I then dropped down on top of them and lit up my saber! The two men dropped their blasters when I landed on them and then lay there coughing; I immediately ran ahead into the room and cut the arm of the nearest guard, already reaching for his blaster! He fell to the ground in pain!

The two other guards successfully drew their weapons and lifted them to fire! I deflected the first couple shots as I bolted strait into the first guard, surprising him with speed and force, knocking him back onto the floor! I then turned to the other deflected his next shot into his shoulder, incapacitating him! I then returned to the guards I landed on, now getting up and readying their weapons; but I was on them too soon and threw them into the depths of landing gear bay! The guard I had knocked over began to get up once the stun of my tackle wore off, but pulled his blaster from him and then immediately shot it back at him, knocking him out! Two guards fallen to their deaths, two guards injured badly to the point losing consciousness, and one last one knocked out from a blow to the head by his own blaster... not bad for the first tough warm-up in a long time! I sheathed my saber...

I now looked around me and realized that I was in a huge, long chamber with massive pressurized tanks on both sides of the room. The room was alive with the rumble of the engines not far off and the sound of pipes pumping tons of fuel; the pumps were indeed very loud and I was certain that my brief little fray went unheard.

Then I saw the charges. There were large, garbage-bin sort of containers near the base of each fuel tank, and each of these had a detonation panel on the front. I inspect the charges more closely to find that they were very basic in design and could be defused by just removing the primers; so I did just that. Soon, the port aft side of the ship was defused, the primers hidden behind some of the large tanks.

It was at this point that I realized that I should have asked Gromdlore how to get to starboard tanks, but at least I knew the right general direction...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

I looked about the room and sure enough there was a small lift entrance in the corner of the room. I hopped in and it took me up to a catwalk that passed over the room and then led beyond in the direction of the starboard side. When I came out of the port fueling room, following the catwalk, I emerged into a large but fairly bare hangar. The walls were lined small escape pods; they were all currently deactivated. The hanger doors were on the floor of the hanger and it was rather small; the hanger was clearly made for the automated escape pods and small shuttle craft only, nothing very big. But on the floor of the hangar was a small unmarked cargo shuttle, most likely used by the gang. There were a few guards below so I moved quickly and quietly across the catwalk, which passed through the hanger high above.

Passing the hanger, I emerged into a room that looked like just a maintenance chamber, tall and dark with many pipes and wires, with small ladders and catwalks all about the room. This place went on for a bit, but I soon emerged in the starboard fueling room, high above on the catwalk and opposite of the small lift that would take me down to the five guards below.

I lurked overhead for a few moments, eying the area below, trying to figure out the best way to take the room; at least this time I could see exactly what I was up against. Four of them were playing cards and one was sleeping.

Suddenly, the blaster of one of the guards playing cards flew out of it's holster and into the head of the guy opposite of him, knocking him out cold! The two other guards saw him fall.

"The hell, Carl?" one of them said, "You feeling alright?"

"I didn't do that!" he replied, "I swear it just flew out of the holst- GAH!"

In mid sentence, the baster of the guard who hadn't spoken yet flew out of it's holster and hit him square in the head!

"Now you, Steve?!"

"I didn't do that!" Steve the guard replied, wondering why his gun had flung itself so violently. Then the gun of the guard who had yet to be named and was still standing flew from his holster and nailed the guard who was asleep in the head!

The two remaining guards looked at each other, confused and starting to unnerve. I chose this moment to take the lift down into the noisy room. The guards noticed me and ran over to detain me, not picking up the blasters but running over with fists drawn and yelling at me!

The first one got to me and I decked him hard across the face and he was out cold! Then I turned to the second one, almost within reach! Suddenly he was lifted from the ground held hovering in the air; I smiled as I kept him there! He was yelling and confused, and then I sent him flying into the wall.

Another 5 guards down. Not shabby.

As I was disarming the charges, I heard the door slide open! I didn't have time to hide so I just stood there, rather nonchalantly. In walked Gren and the two large guards who had accompanied me to my cell. Gren was talking to the two of them, giving orders, when they saw me. They stopped dead in their tracks and just stared at me for a second... I stared back awkwardly. Gren was wearing blast armor, big heavy boots with machinery, two blaster pistols on his belt, and a rifle slung on his back. He was probably not wearing a blast helmet because of his head-tails.

"So um... How's it going?" I asked, trying to break the ice. They looked about the room, seeing the many fallen guards, and then back at me in amazement.

"Well well well," Gren finally spoke up, "So looks like I was right to separate you from the other passengers, I was told to be on the look out for any Republic operatives that would get in the way."

"I um... I didn't do this..." I said, looking around nervously, making them laugh, "It was um... It was... a wampa! Yeah, that's it! It was a wampa... yeah, wampa..."

"The hell is a wampa?" one guard asked, looking confused.

"I don't know but I don't think he's telling the truth." Gren laughed, "But now that I know you're not really that easy to detain, looks like we're going to have to disable you indefinitely."

He then drew blaster rifle and fired a shot! In a flash, I drew my saber, deflected the shot, and pulled the rifle from him! It landed far behind me. I then stood in a challenging pose, saber lit and held in one hand out to the side, looking at them suddenly very serious and threatening. The two guards instantly drew their blaster rifles, but hesitated shooting, looking at me with uncertainty.

"Ah!" Gren exclaimed, "So looks like the Lady was right! We had gotten a good number of Republic operatives recently, but we hadn't gotten any attention from any jedi yet!" The two guards suddenly looked very nervous when they heard the word 'jedi'.

"Attention? No no no, you misunderstand! Just a trip; I like my um... cards and strippers..."

"Mmm hmm... sure." he rolled his eyes, "FIRE!"

Suddenly both guards opened fire! I deflected a couple shots and suddenly burst forward with unexpected speed! I went strait at Gren! But right as I swung at his legs, flames ignited from his boots and he went flying into the air! I didn't miss a beat, though, and immediately severed the arms holding the blaster rifle to my left, and lopped off the head of the guard to my right! Gren apparently saw me kill a guard with a flash and stopped playing, because a hail of blaster fire from his dual pistols came raining down on me!

I deflected what I could, turning to face him, but his blaster fire was thick and a shot grazed my shoulder; thankfully doing little more than causing a painful flesh wound, but still rather annoying. I grew impatient with this fair play and leaped through the air at him! He didn't expect me to fly directly at him while he was in the air! I landed on him and held on as he lost control of the boots! I drew up my saber with one hand and drove it point-first through his chest! His blasters fell to the ground and I leaped off of him and to the ground! He crashed motionless into the floor and the boots shut off...

I shook my head disapprovingly at how badly that escalated. I quickly dressed my wound as best I could without water, wrapping it in some cloth I ripped from the jumpsuit of a guard; the blood had already stained my shirt near the wound, but nothing could be done about that now...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

It was time to double back and return to Gromdlore, now that Gren had been removed and that the charges had been disarmed. Before I headed back, I took the shirt of the largest of the guards in the room and used it as a sack to carry the blasters back with; five heavy blaster pistols, three blaster rifles, and two light blasters. I went back along the same route to the detention sector; I wasn't able to take the blasters from the port side fuel tanks, but I piled them where they could be easily found.

I opened the door to the detention sector, but stood in the doorway without moving so that the crew wouldn't open fire right away, in case they had found blasters. Sure enough, once it had opened, I saw five guards right on the other side; two with blaster rifles already poised for firing and three with poles for swinging. They immediately relaxed when they saw it was me.

"Good see you back!" Gromdlore smiled, stepping forward from behind the guards, a blaster rifle slung over his shoulder.

"Where'd you get the rifles?" I asked, setting down my load of blasters.

"Three individual guards showed up while you were gone, apparently coming to relieve the previous guards of duty; we overtook them and seized them before they even got all the way through the door. They're now resting peacefully in their cells." he grinned, then looking at my gifts, "Thanks for the weapons!"

"There are three more blasters in the port side fuel tank chamber. I disarmed the charges on both sides, but it would be easy to arm them again if someone found them and was so inclined." I explained, "Gren has been taken care of and I need you to secure the fuel tanks, the emergency hanger, and the whole aft if possible. The emergency hanger isn't clear of guards, though, so you'll have to take it by force."

"How many guards?"

"Five or so, and a small shuttle. I recommend hitting it hard and fast; don't give them a chance to think!"

"Now you're talking!" he exclaimed, glad for the chance of taking back his ship. "Prepare to move out, men! Form ranks!"

He really had been preparing, because then his strongest and most capable men suddenly formed ranks into organized patrols, taking what arms they could; the blasters I brought were gone quickly but definitely helped.

"Before you head out, I must go over some plans with you, Acting Captian Gromdlore." I said, grabbing his attention again. He looked back at me and stepped aside with me.

"I have to get to the bridge, but I can't afford to go running down the length of the ship, pulling attention." I said quietly, "But first I need to get to my old cabin near the aft on the port side."

He thought for a second.

"The first part about the bridge is easy enough, though I don't like the idea of you trying to take the bridge by yourself; I want in on that! I have a score to settle with the bastard in charge... And even if you were able to handle the after as well as it seems, there's twice the guard in the bridge, and you've been a life-saver so far, friend, so I don't want you dying like a dog before it's your time." he said quite seriously.

"Same to you." I laughed.

"But getting you to the cabin is a bit more complicated." he continued with a sigh, "You see, there are surveillance cameras that watch over the security doors that separate the bow, aft, and passenger sectors."

"So how is getting to the bow easier than getting to the cabin?"

"Because there's no separation in the spinal cord of the ship." he smiled. I understood his plan now. I could easily move on foot up the spinal cord shaft of the ship all the way to the bridge; this central shaft is likely to be very lightly guarded, if guarded at all, and would allow me to pass through the ship unnoticed.

"There are smaller shafts that connect the central shaft to the rooms, but they're only a couple feet across in diameter; crawling through one would take too much time." he continued.

"That's fine; is there enough space for a small hover droid, less than a foot in diameter?"

"As long as the droid can maneuver effectively through a fairly cramped passage, I should think so." he replied, not understanding this question. I immediately took out my personal comm device; I pressed a button and a red light began to blink, signaling that a transmission was being sent out. After a couple seconds, a familiar voice came over the small comm.

"Active and systems in perfect operation." the electronic female voice said, "GR-58 at your service!"

She had hid beneath a bench in the cabin and deactivated to remain hidden until I gave the encrypted signal, as she was supposed to do when I ever had to go elsewhere without her.

"GR, there should be a electronic panel in the cabin somewhere. I need you to find the major power feed for the room; there should be a shaft leading away from the cabin towards the central shaft of the ship. It should be big enough for you to tightly make your way to the central spine shaft. That's where I'll meet you!" I told her; she beeped in reply and after a couple seconds I heard the whine of her cutting laser.

"Shaft found; beginning maneuver." she said happily.

"Hold on! Tell her to be careful once she nears the major shaft! The power relays are large and frequently discharge; fry you alive, and quite likely your droid too." Gromdlore interjected.

"You hear that, GR?" I checked.

"Roger! I'll be cautious." she replied perkily. The connection then ended.

"So what about that shaft being dangerous?" I asked, turning back to Gromdlore.

"Heh, I was going to tell you before you left." he replied, "The power relays take up most of the space in the shaft, they carry power from the power core to the rest of the ship, so there's a fair bit of power jumping around in there. There's a maintenance catwalk that runs the length of the shaft, hang near the top of the shaft; I'll have a guy take you to the maintenance entrance."

He motioned for one of the unarmed crew members to come guide me to the maintenance entrance, and then took the head of his men and began to prepare to retake the aft.

"Alright men! Thanks to-" he looked over at me.

"Karr Xon." I laughed.

"Alright men! Thanks to Karr, here, we have a chance at getting our rusty mother of a ship back! Don't give them the chance to regroup! They may NOT retreat! They either surrender or they die!" he yelled, his men cheering! Then his men opened the doors and moved out!

Just before Gromdlore left, he turned to me...

"I'm going to trip the alarm myself after we've reinforced the aft for attack. That'll draw a good portion of their forces away from the bridge, help you out. Don't worry about us; we'll bleed bad before we fall, the men are angry." he smiled. I didn't like the idea of the crew drawing so much attention, but he was right, it would greatly help our chances of retaking the ship. Then, Gromdlore was gone and the guide and I were on our way...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

It didn't take long to get to the power core, but we couldn't enter from there because the entire interior was practically an unlivable, radiated, static death-room. But we could view into it from the protective glass, and sure enough there was an opening at the aft and bow ends, each leading to a shaft. We had waited a moment, so that Gromdlore's forces could sweep through the area first, giving us no resistance; I would later find out that the aft was taken without incident and no friendly casualties. They also barricaded every security door that led from the passenger area to the aft.

After following the curving hallway that ran along the circumference of the spherical power core, we soon came to a small maintenance closet that was locked; the guide opened it for me.

"In the room you'll find a hatch on the far side, follow that down a small ladder and you'll soon emerge on the catwalk, but the catwalk won't join up with the spinal shaft for a little while because otherwise you'd be fried by the radiation." he informed me, "But I've got to leave you now, they'll need me elsewhere."

"Go, and fight well." I smiled, "I can take it from here as long as the entrance to the bridge is labeled."

"It isn't because there isn't a direct entrance to the bridge from this shaft, but you'll want to leave the shaft at the computer center exit, which will be labeled. You should easily be able to pull up a map of the ship from a computer terminal there to plot your next move. Best of luck!"

And with that he waved and took off to rejoin Gromdlore's forces. I entered the dark maintenance closet, finding it littered with various spare parts and pieces of machinery, and soon discovered the hatch of which my guide had spoken. It had a lock on it, but my lightsaber proved more than capable at sundering it. Lifting up the hatch I found a dark metal ladder that led down into the guts of the ship.

Down I went, trying to avoid the little discharges of hot steam when I could, and feeling rather cramped in this tight tunnel of wires, pipes, and metal supports. Soon enough, however, I touched the floor.

The walkway at this point was just a metal grate, suspended from above by tension wires, with nothing to hold onto on either side except the still rather strangling pipes and wires and that now ran parallel to the walkway; I could hear the loud hum of energy beneath me and the metal walkway seemed to vibrate a little under my boots. With each step, the tunnel got a little lighter, now with some white light coming in ahead with little flashes of blue; here in the web of wires and pipes, the only light provided was red and yellow, from the emergency lamps that were always on, that washed the walkway in a shadowy orange from underneath. I grew closer and closer to the opening ahead, and I realized that the walkway had been indeed gradually sloping downward and leveled out up ahead.

I emerged into the white light to find that it was actually fairly dim, but still brighter than the cramped tunnel behind me. I was in a large cylindrical chamber, standing on a metal grate that hung from the ceiling about two dozen meters above the bottom of the chamber; there were still no handrails. I looked down and behind me to see a large power focuser that was pumping out arcs of blue electricity to the nearby power relays. I then looked ahead of me and saw an unfathomable depth ahead of me, running onward until fading into shadow; a long cylindrical shaft that ran the whole length of the ship, lined with power relays that would shoot out arcs of power seemingly at random. Thankfully the arcs never seemed to cross the walkway, but they came dangerously close and I could feel the air charged with electricity; no doubt my long hair was a sight to behold at this point.

So I began my long trek down this shaky walkway that hung over a rather unpleasant area of electrified death. After a few minutes I began taking notice of the hatches that were overhead, each labeled with it's own sector; I had only just arrived in the passenger area and was now past the aft security doors.

I saw a small red light blink ahead and GR-58 hovered up to me quickly.

"Karr! It is nice to see you and to see you not crispy!" she said nervously, "I don't like this place; much too much interference and it's too easy to fried!"

"That's ok, GR," I laughed, "Follow this pathway back to the farthest hatch and you'll come out in the aft. Then I want you to find First Mate Gromdlore and stay with him so I can communicate to him via your commlink. Move carefully, the crew is on guard; move slowly and tell them that I sent you."

She beeped in acknowledgment and then took off down the path, trying to move as quickly as possible while still being careful; her repulsorlifts would stutter whenever a larger arc of power would flash out with a CRACK.

I pressed on... the shaft went on for quite some time.
-----------------------------------------------------

After about ten minutes and continuous walking, my commlink buzzed to life.

"Karr? Tha- you?" Gromdlore's voice asked, heavily shrouded in static.

"Yes, I read you, Gromdlore." I replied, hoping he could hear me clearly, "I'm in the spine and moving onward. Do you read me?"

"I read you," he replied, the static still loud but not enough to break the transmission, "Be careful in there."

"I will be. What's that status with the aft?"

"The aft is all but completely secure! Most of my men were able to find arms and we're just now finishing our barricades at the security doors."

"Is the enemy alerted to your presence yet?"

"I don't think so. No alarm has been sounded and we're fairly certain that all aft-stationed enemies have been either captured or killed. It's only a matter of time though; they'll start to wonder why their men haven't checked back in."

"And that'll be fairly soon, First Mate. Just keep up the facade for as long as you can; keep the doors shut so that they can't see your barricade until they are within firing range and without cover, and don't let any escape or things will get tough on you. And careful with my droid!"

"Roger that! Out."

I continued onward. Time passed and it was difficult to tell how long I had been in the shaft; it now stretched endlessly in both directions and based on the hatch labels, I was somewhere in the middle of the passenger area.

My commlink came on again.

"Karr, do you read me?" Gromdlore's voice buzzed.

"I read you, what's the problem?"

"No 'problems' per say... but we've been taking more and more enemies as they come to take shifts. I'm certain they'll be discovering us pretty soon; nothing we can't handle, but I have a bad feeling. How far are you?"

I looked at the hatch nearest me.

"I'm just now passing the hatch to P_G-483... that mean anything to you?"

"Yes, you're about three quarters of the way though the passenger area."

"How long has it been since I last spoke to you?" I asked him, not liking this feeling that time was standing still.

"About fifteen minutes. You're moving at a fine pace, just keep it up."


....onward I went, step by step. Time seemed to stagger and the air was hot with energy; it was most uncomfortable and I felt terribly cut off from the rest of the universe. Suddenly, my commlink buzzed to life.

"Karr! This is Gromdlore! We've been found out! They're assaulting our position heavily; they may have diverted more than just half their forces from the bow." he was yelling and I could hear blaster fire in the background.

"Just hold them! Don't take any unnecessary chances! You only have to hold your position and keep them at bay!" I yelled back. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me!

I turned and saw a hatch opened! A head popped out, hanging upside down, and looked around; I had no place to hide or take cover on this exposed walkway! Soon he spotted me!

"HEY! YOU!" he shouted, crawling down out of the hatch and onto the walkway, but quickly grabbing the hanging supports, clearly uneasy about his new location. "Stop where you are!"

I didn't listen to him! I just pressed forward, now breaking into an uneasy run! He pulled his blaster and a shot flew past me; his aim was terrible in this uncomfortable area! He tried to run after me, but he tripped and fell! He fell hard on the hanging metal grating, making the entire walkway shake violently! I tripped and fell as well, landing hard! The entire walkway shook and I was worried that the supports would snap; they creaked and whined, but thankfully held tight! Another shot rang out and a blaster bolt flew above my head! I glanced back and saw him crawling along to walkway, firing stray shots occasionally! One shot flew wild and hit a power relay, making it arc out violently and spark; I could feel the electricity violently course through the air!

I could risk him killing us both; I turned and held out my hand, and his blaster flew from his hand into mine! I tossed it down into the shaft and it disintegrated almost immediately before it even hit the bottom of the chamber, the power relays shooting out energy the second it was in range! My pursuer was puzzled but still crawled on, trying to catch me, but far less dangerous now, to me and to himself. I tried getting to my feet, but when I did, he would shake the walkway and force me back onto all fours! So onward I crawled, with him not far behind, when my commlink came on.

"Karr. We're taking tough losses. We're holding our position but they are very well armed and taking their toll! Where are you in the shaft?"

I couldn't answer on all fours without stopping, and I couldn't stop...

Suddenly the entire chamber shook violently! Energy violently coursed up and down the shaft, jumping wildly from relay to relay; whatever just shook the entire chamber also heavily taxed the power system!

"Karr! I don't know if you can hear me, but the ship just jumped out of hyperpace!"

I felt relieved...

Then a second and much worse shake rocked the entire shaft and the power relays strained violently, shooting off energy discharges in all directions! I could smell the hair on my arms burning!

Then the supports snapped...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

The catwalk swung to the left! A couple of the tension wires that the walkway hung from had snapped behind me and I was just barely at the break; in front of me the catwalk was swinging but still held aloft, while from my waist down the section of the catwalk behind me swung wildly by just a couple of support wires, breaking away and starting to fall down into the power relays! I turned my head just in time to see the guard who was pursuing me get jarred from the walkway and fall below with a blood-curdling scream as he was vaporized by flashes of electric discharge! I started pulling myself forward to get off of the wild section of catwalk...

I was almost off of it when a lurch in the ship cause the free catwalk, which my legs were still crawling on, to swing broadly, smashing into the power relays on the left! The power relays dented and exploded with violent jolts of electricity, arcing in every direction! Power surged up the metal walkway! I screamed in pain as my legs jolted for a second and then went completely numb! Having lost strength in my legs, I began to slip backwards, pulled by the falling section of catwalk! I felt the adrenaline surge in my veins as I pulled myself onto the stable catwalk with only my arms!

Once I was safely on the next catwalk, I turned onto my back and breathed heavily, unable to move my legs. I watched the broken catwalk finally break free of the last tension wire, which snapped with a loud TWANG and whipped into a power relay causing another explosion of power to surge, and fall down into the open shaft! It twisted and screeched loudly as the heavy magnetic field of the power relays pulled it apart, atom by atom; after a few moments, it was a writhing sliver of metal on the bottom of the shaft, all but completely destroyed.

I lay for a few seconds, trying to get feeling back in my legs, when I realized that my commlink had been talking almost the entire time.

"Karr! Karr!!" Gromdlore's voice yelled over the static, "Do you me?! Are you ok?!"

"I read you *gasp* Gromdlore...*gasp* what was that second jolt?" I asked between breaths, rubbing my legs; on both sides I could start my upper leg again and the rest of my leg began to feel like it was asleep, which was a good sign. The smell of burnt hair still held heavy in the air, it was hard to not to vomit when I could smell the burnt flesh of the guard.

"The ship took some sort of hit when it came out of hyperspace!"

"Was a charge? A counter attack from the men on the bridge?"

"I highly doubt it, unless their suicidal!" he replied, very serious, "Something else is going on outside the ship; with our limited windows here in the aft, we can't get a clear view. But if my guess is right, we've come out of hyperspace a little farther away from Nar Shaddaa, far enough to be out of immediate reach of the Nar Shaddaa authorities."

"So odds are it's not the authorities firing on the ship?"

"I highly doubt it!" he said as a stray blaster shot could be heard over the commlink, "The resistance from the bridge became very disorganized and weak after whatever caused that jolt; whatever's attacking, I don't think the hijackers ordered it. We're going to take advantage of this chaos and start retaking the passenger areas; it'll be slow going and you're likely to get to the bridge before we do."

"Alright, be careful and inform me once you know more of the situation." I replied, closing the connection. I could move my toes again so it was time to press on before another heavy blow to the ship made this shaft my tomb. As I moved on, muffled explosions could barely be heard; something big was going on outside. Once in a while, the ship would lurch or rock in the wake of a muffled explosion, but none of the catwalks gave way. After a long while, the labels on the hatches overhead became less cryptic.

Finally, I found a hatch that read "Computer Core" and unsealed the hatch. It swung down and revealed small ladder that led up another claustrophobic hatch tightly packed with pipes and wires. I was still a little weak from the shock earlier, but more than capable of climbing the ladder, and soon I emerged out of another hatch into a maintenance closet much like the one I first entered here. It was here that I took a moment to collect myself and ready myself for the next difficult objective... finding the leader and collecting what information I could.

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

I sat in the maintenance room for a while. I needed my breath back, I needed my focus back, and I needed to center myself again; it had been some time since I had last seen action before this mission and I had already gotten two minor injuries... not good at all for a jedi knight. Of course I had been practicing, training, and sparring in my spare time at the academy, but simulation can only do so much...

I sat on the floor, breathing slowly and collecting my thoughts. One... two... three... I began to count the muffled explosions outside, focusing my mind on the void of space just outside the ship. With my eyes closed and my mind focused, images began to take form in my head...

A large sluggish ship, barely moving in space... two small gunships encircling it and attacking... the shields of the ship repelling the oncoming attack... This was clearly the battle outside, and from the stress I saw the power relays taking with blow, I knew the shields wouldn't hold too much longer; a bad position for a ship without assistance and without any weapons to fire back with. The two smaller ships had no markings and were certainly not of the Nar Shaddaa authorities...

But then I felt something else... something entirely different... it was very very faint, like only a sparkle in a person's eye... but I felt eyes... I felt someone or something in the force looking at me, intent and deeply focused... And then, just as subtly as they had appeared, they were gone, startled by me looking back at them in the force. Was there another jedi on Nar Shaddaa? If so, it was clear that they could sense me if I reached out with the force, and possibly even when I near...

While I was glad about the possibility of there being unforeseen help on the moon Nar Shaddaa, where I had felt the faint glimmer, I couldn't shake a terrible feeling... my gut turned when I felt those eyes on me, and I felt terribly uneasy.

I calmed myself again, trying to shut out the peeking eyes from my mind, and I turned my focus to the bridge of the ship... No images came to me because the action on the bridge was surrounded by chaos; many minds all doubting and panicking, people undergoing great stress and mental anguish... I was certain that this meant the hijackers were confused and in a state of disorganization with this new development! I could feel a light growing towards the back of the ship; the chaos of panicked men was being sundered apart by a light! I focused and could see that the light was in fact many small lights; the courageous men under the command of Gromdlore, ripping through the terrified enemy like a vibroblade through warm butter, slowly but surely. For a moment I was glad but that joy quickly turned to concern as a strong shudder in the ship reminded me that ship retaken or not, something had to be done about those gunships.

...and then they returned... a shiver ran up my spine as I felt those eyes on me again, far away on the moon... whatever it was, it was watching me, feeling me... and had no feelings of joy for me... I could feel it's malice... and it made me terribly uneasy because the more I used the force, the more a beacon I would be to it's prying gaze... it was now fixed heavily upon me... so I broke the connection. Whatever was watching me, it clearly could see me more easily if I meditated and focused myself in the force. What this meant, I had no idea, but I was uncomfortable and resolved to avoid centering myself in the force as much as possible until I knew what was watching me through the force...

I stood up and shook off any aloof feelings I still had, shaking myself back into the here and now; thankfully, my brief meditation gave me the images I needed in order to assess the situation. Now was the time to move.

I opened the door to the Computer Core and was standing in a large room, brightly lit, lined with computer panels on all sides. In front of me were columns and columns of tall processor towers, beeping and whirring with little lights blinking, stretching all the way to the ceiling about forty meters above me. I searched about this chamber for a terminal, but as I was searching a guard came sprinting into the room! I had no time to hide so I paused for a second.

He barely noticed me, running with a crazy look on his face. I followed him for a second and found him hunched over a computer terminal on the other side of a computer tower, frantically pressing buttons. I strained to see what he was doing without getting too close so as to alert him. As soon as I saw the words "DELETE TRANSMISSIONS" flash red on the screen, I realized that he was deleting valuable information!

I ran up to him from behind and just before he turned to face me, alerted by my heavy boots on the floor, I grabbed his collar and pulled him hard away from the terminal, throwing him through the air and landing him hard on his back! He did not get up...

I turned to face the screen but saw the word "Deleted" in large letters, meaning that whatever information he was deleting was now lost...

I sighed, rather unhappy with how this was turning out. But there was little to be done about it now, I had to move on; I had a ship to save. I approached the terminal and found the mapping buss, where I was able to pull up a map of the ship. Sure enough, it was an easy feat to get to the bridge from my location. I was able to discover upon close inspection that there was a small metal ladder that would take me up out of the Computer Core, strait through Navigation, and then emerge in the Bridge, which rested right above Navigation. This ladder was undoubtedly where my sleeping company had come from.

The ladder was exactly where the layout said it was, and I could see, looking up, that it led into another chamber high above that was well lit, and then another beyond that.

I started to climb up, moving slowly as I approached the opening to the Navigation chamber. I peeked my head out on the other side to discover that this area was a large flat room with many computer stations, each with a large glass holoscreen that had maps and charts displayed in bright blinking colors. There was one man in this room, unarmed and working frantically; he was clearly one of the hijackers from his appearance, but he didn't even notice me as he worked in a panicked state... so I continued up the ladder without a sound.

After a meter of pipes and wires, I found myself peeking out into a shadowy area under a walkway in the bridge, very much out of the way and tucked under the main terminals of the bridge, which I could see above me through the thick floor grates over my head.

I was in the bridge...

[*<JO>*KarrXon]

I stayed in the small ladder-hole for a few moment, trying to understand the room around me. It was large, very large, and cold. It was well lit and eerily quiet in the chaos. Two large heavily armed guards stood at the large heavy doors to the chamber. Through the grating above me, I could see that the forward half of the room was in fact a large dome of shielded glass. The back of the room, where the main entrance was, was flat with a couple computer stations, but near the middle of the room, the walk-able floor narrowed to a single walkway that protruded out into the glass dome and rose up a meter above a mess of pipes and wires; it was this protrusion that I was now hidden under in the emergency ladder hatch. The floor of the room was plate metal pads in the back but turned to supported metal grating on the protrusion, offering me some visibility without being seen...

I could see a man, not far from my hiding place, standing on the captain's observation deck, which I realized was what I was hiding under. He was dark skinned with long black hair that was wound into thick dirty braids; I couldn't see his face as he was turned away from me, leaning on the forward most railing of the observation deck. He was a large man from what I could see, standing alone and peering into space. I looked out the front of the room now and could see Nar Shaddaa and Nal Hutta not too far off but far enough to be out of reach and not getting any closer; they seemed to shine brightly against the dark void of space. I never thought I would've yearned so much to set foot on either...

Then one of the gunships I had foreseen earlier passed into view of the observation deck, making a slow arc around the ship. It was clearly in no rush to down this harmless leviathan, and firing casually and lazily.

I heard the taps of shoes on the observation deck from the back of the room and could see a very nervous man slowly slink up behind the leader.

"Sir," he lightly began, "We um... We haven't received any further transmissions yet."

"Of course you haven't." the large leader grumbled, not turning to the man. He then stomped loudly and suddenly pounded the railing with such force that it actually bent a little!

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!" he yelled with a voice full of rage and hatred! "Filthy betraying B----!!!"

"What further action do you recommend, sir?" the frightened man asked, retreating a step back with the sudden burst of rage from his leader.

"What action? What action?!" he cursed, turning to face the young man, "You want to know what action we should take?! Unless this jedi she wants turns up DEAD and SOON, we will DIE here, boy! We will die here in this god-forsaken floating coffin!" He pounded the railing again.

"But what about the escape vessels in the hangar? And the shuttle?" the young man replied, his face melting with fear.

"We can't get to them because our friends, the jedi and that First Mate, have cut us off from the rest of the ship! Even now, they are slowly ripping apart the security doors to this bow command center!" he turned back to face the view of Nar Shaddaa, "And even if we COULD get to those vessels, the gunships would pick us off like flies..."

The young man's face fell to despair...

"But..." he tried, pulling desperately for some vague hope, "But... there must be... there must be-"

"A way?" the leader grumbled in a deep, hateful voice. "If you must have options, here they are." He turned towards the young man and stepped forward to him, getting very close.

"Option one; You run out there and try and find and kill this jedi yourself and bring me his head. Option two; you wait around for someone else to fail at option one. Option three; you sit here and await your cold, terrible, honor-less, and painful death, buried a twisted metal tomb, cold and lifeless in space..."

"But... I don't want to die like this!" he cried, falling to his knees.

"Then die in whatever way you see fit! Throw yourself to the crew, who will tear you limb from limb! Grab some exposed power cables and fry! Or just shoot yourself and get it over with!"

"I can't die! I can't die! Not here! Not this way!!" the man was repeating, mad with despair and terror, reduced to tears and begging... he could not have been more than 19 years of age.

Then the leader sighed, turning back to the boy, pulling his blaster... and immediately shooting him in the head. The boy fell limp with a thud against the grating, blood trickling down; the leader put his blaster pistol back in it's holster on his hip and returned to staring out of the observation dome.

"Why?... Why like this? Why now?" the leader kept repeating to himself quietly, "Why now? Why are you doing this?! WHY?!" With the last "why" he pounded the railing and ladder I was on shook, rattling and forcing me to put my arm out to brace myself.

He looked down for the first time and saw me there, looking up at him...

"You might as well come up, fool." he sighed, "We're all in this tomb together." He turned back to the view.

I crawled out of the hole and moved around to the back of the observation walkway. The guards at the doors began to move forward, seizing their rifles, but the leader motioned for them to stay themselves. I took my hand off of my lightsaber hilt and continued up the walkway.

"So... You a crew member that slipped past or something?" he said to me as I approached, side stepping the body of the young man, not turning to face me yet, "You may as well speak freely; it's only a matter of time before we're all dead. The shields won't hold out for another three minutes." I could sense that he wasn't lying.

"I am Karr Xon." I replied simply. He paused a long time, just staring out the windows.

"...Have you seen the jedi, by chance?" he said at length, "No, I'm not trying to find out where he is, I would just like to know if he lives up to the reputation."

"Frankly..." I paused, feeling the man's grief, "I wasn't that impressed. Just a man like any other..."

"A shame." he sighed, "I had hoped that all of this trouble had at least been in the glory of being pitted against one of those legendary warriors, the jedi. But no... all in vain. And now we die here, adrift in space, with our haven within view but out of reach." With this last line he clenched his fist at Nar Shaddaa.

I approached the forward railing and stood next to him. He was very tall and muscular, his face was dark and his eyes red around his dark pupils, but he was sharp and keen; yet deep lines in his faced showed his despair.

"I am Commander Bulgren, in service of the Lady of Nar Shaddaa; her beauty surpassed only by this betrayal." he said grimly, "You gave me your name, I owe you at least the same, not that it matters anymore."

"The Lady of Nar Shaddaa?" I asked inquisitively. His face twisted with annoyance at the question.

"It doesn't matter now. When she found out a jedi aboard this ship and that the jedi was no longer in our control, she told us to drop out of hyperspace. Immediately thereafter, her own gunships were waiting to take us out. It doesn't matter now though; I think she just wants the jedi dead." he replied, resolved to not talk about it. He then turned and looked at me face to face for the first time; I could see in his eyes that he suddenly had doubts about me, but he didn't say anything.

"Are you able to hail the gunships outside?" I asked at length; he gave me a long hard look at this sudden question. I needed to know more about why this "Lady" was going to such lengths for mass-murder, but my immediate situation was more pressing.

"I don't know what you could hope to do, but they know we can't fire back at them; I'm certain that I could get a message to them."

"Tell them to bring their ships around front of this observation deck so we can see them face to face. Perhaps in this cowardice betrayal we may at least see the eyes of our executioners."

His face remained solemn, but I could feel a small amount of courage muster at this idea, though perhaps ill-fated courage it was. He turned and motioned for a guard.

"Hail the gunships. Tell them that we have what they want and that we want them to come around the front and see in through the bridge windows themselves." he ordered the guard, and the guard immediately left to one of the men behind a communications terminal. Bulgren returned to staring out of the window.

"They are coming, sir!" the man at the communications console spoke up after a second had passed. Bulgren nodded.

"You see that body behind you?" he suddenly asked me, not moving.

"Yes."

"That is the jedi. Do you understand?" he said grimly. He was bluffing the gunships into coming.

"I do."

"Good. This is going to end horribly, but that's not new news and I'd rather that I see my executioners face to face before I die."

In Bulgren's mind, he and a lone crew member were going to stare into the eyes of their killers before dying in a fire of blaster hail from the ships, which would undoubtedly break the shields and vaporize the room. But Bulgren was in fact bringing about the one chance he had at survival...

I calmed myself, breathing deeply. My mind quickly focused and I could feel the air around me tingle with the force. The force was welling up around me, building me up and preparing me for a show of force... And then I felt the eyes again! They were fixed firmly on me directly ahead, from Nar Shaddaa! They were intense, as the eyes of someone who is leaning in as a magician performs a trick, trying to comprehend what is happening... But I had to ignore those eyes. They could see me, but I had no choice... I let my mind keep focusing, my core centered in the force, and the force welling up around me, charging the air. I sensed that even Bulgren could feel the change in the air, the sudden charge and electric feeling...

And then, each coming into view from opposite sides and at the same time, the gunships arrived. I opened my eyes and could see that they were still keeping some distance; close enough to see into the bridge observation deck but not close enough to see our faces.

"Incoming transmission, sir!" the communications guy shouted to us.

"Patch it into the deck's speakers. We shall all hear them and they shall hear us." Bulgren replied. Immediately, a voice came over the observation deck's intercom.

"Where is the jedi?" a commander on the left gunship demanded.

"He lies here, dead, you cowardly snake." Bulgren replied, spitting with the last word. The ships slowly nudged closer to the dome, coming very close to see more clearly; I remained focused and continued to well up the force around me. The ships at last would come no closer.

"Remove his lightsaber and hold it up for us to see as proof." the commander demanded, unable to tell from just sight whether or not the body on the ground was indeed a jedi.

Bulgren knew that this meant the end of his facade, and he just stood there, not responding or acknowledging the order, but instead staring the gunships down.

He was surprised when I moved. I turned to the body behind us, bent over it, and returned with a metal cylinder that I had merely removed from my belt while I was bent away from view...

"Here it is." I said, holding it out in my upturned palm, presenting the small metal handle, "The jedi's lightsaber." Bulgren immediately broke his stare and looked me up and down out of the corner of his view, clearly confused.

"Light it." the commander demanded, still skeptical.

"You don't believe him?" Bulgren shot.

"No, I don't. I won't believe any upon that ship until the blade glows in front of me, and not in the hand of the jedi." he replied; I enjoyed the irony of this last statement of his. Still focusing, the force ebbed and grew around me.

"Then see it's glow." I said, pressing the ignition button; the blade slid out into the air, humming and shining. I could see the guns on the ships disarm, the red "armed" lights fading off.

"Very good! Prepare to receive us in the hanger." he closed, ending the transmission. I let the blade sink away, turning off. The ships slowly began to turn away; now was the moment...

I reached out a hand, feeling the curve of the gunship on the right, which was only just now turning...

"Where the hell did you get that?!" Bulgren yelled, turning to me; I ignored him.

I then clamped down on the ship with the force, channeling the welled up power! It only jolted slightly, but I could see the engines strain as they tried to move freely again; they would do no such thing.

"Do you hear me?!" Bulgren demanded, getting impatient. "What are you looking at?" He turned to look out the front again and saw the ship being held and became silent, unsure about what he was seeing.

When I held the other ship in place, they sent a transmission to the commander's gunship, most likely declaring some sort of technical failure; I became certain of this when the commanders gunship, the one that had been on the left, turned back around and began to approach the gunship I was holding in place... I slowly began to turn the ship around to face the incoming ship.

"What the hell's going on?" Bulgren cursed just as another transmission came in; he was so confused that he didn't dare touch me while I was in this strange state, but rather he would just stare at me.

"One second, we'll be arriving in the hangar shortly, but give us a second." the commander spoke into the microphone as his ship pulled up next to the one he thought was disabled as it faced him... the engines were still firing strongly, but still they thought there was some sort of failure...

I held the ship there, looking the commander's ship face to face with only a couple meters between them...

"Come on..." I said softly to myself over and over, waiting for just the right second... Bulgren just looked back and forth between me and the ships in confusion, but slowly a new expression crossed his face...

Suddenly the ship I held in place flared it's engines to max thrust, running some sort of test! NOW! I let the ship go! It INSTANTLY took off with a strong lurch and jolt forward, STRAIT into the commander's ship! The two ships collided head on, flashing brightly with an electric light, throwing sparks all over the view with small explosions; bright enough to temporarily blind.

When I could see clearly again, I could see the two ships a drift in space in front of us; the cockpit on the front of each one was completely bashed in and blood clouded the shattered windows of both, either from the initial collision or from the intense decompression that immediately followed. The communications console was still buzzing with activity and over it we could hear the hissing of air escaping the ship rapidly, and the gurgling screams of the foes trapped inside, quickly dying. I held my head low, saddened that it came to such a dishonorable end.

It took much of my strength to hold the ship in place as it tried to jar itself free; I felt suddenly weak and frail. I leaned on the railing, my knees shaking, trying to not let myself fall to the ground. Bulgren turned to me, his face no longer showing confusion but rather certainty...

"So, you are the jedi. You somehow just caused that, didn't you?" he said, so suspicious to the point of being beyond doubt.

"... yes," I replied, falling to one knee and closing my eyes; my strength was fading after such a strain, "I am the jedi, and the ships are no more, the blood on my hands." My lightsaber had fallen to the floor beside me; he bent down and picked it up, eying it curiously and turning it in his hands. I watched him as he picked it up; I realized now that I had made a grim mistake...

Suddenly there were muffled blaster shots not far from the main doors! I heard the doors lock down with heavy bolts and the guards spin around with rifles at the ready!... Bulgren looked up at the doors with sudden urgency, and then turned back to me, now kneeling entirely with head bent down and breathing heavily; he slowly pulled his pistol from it's holster. I was suddenly reminded of the body beside me, shot through the head with the same blaster while he was in position not unlike my own! But despite my imminent execution, I could not lift a finger!

"I'm sorry, friend." Bulgren said, actually sounding fairly genuine, "You saved our lives right now, but I'm afraid it was only temporary; while you live and we're all on this ship together, there will just be more and more ships sent this way, and I promise you the next ones will not wait for proof of your death... they will kill us all with one fell swoop. You've earned my respect, jedi; you are bold and perhaps even a bit reckless, but I can see now that you are weak and if you are to die for our lives it must be done now. I would take you captive, but I can see now that I would have no hope of holding you, and I can't risk a death at either your hands or the Lady's. I'm sorry."

As he spoke, I turned my head as much as I could to see the doors to the bridge; the door controls were flashing red, meaning somebody was trying to hack the other side but it was locked down on this side! I focused what little force I had left at my disposal; it was barely enough!...

I focused and I focused hard... the switch... I had to focus! The blaster's safety clicked at my side...

And then, not a moment too soon, I summoned up just enough force energy and the small lock switch to the bridge doors flipped! It turned green and immediately the doors flew wide open! Blaster fire exploded through the doorway like deadly hail, felling all of the guards before they could even fire back! One shot rang out last and it hit Bulgren in the hand that held the pistol; the pistol fell to the floor next to me as Bulgren screamed in pain and held his mangled hand close to his gut, bent forward in pain!

My vision began to swirl all around me, black spots fading in and out, but as I turned I could see Gromdlore running up to me, still smoking blaster in hand, and shouting orders to his men...

All I could remember after that was the hard feeling of hitting the metal grating when I fell prostrate upon the floor, and all went black...