Shadie’s vision was blurred when she opened her eyes, but she quickly became aware of her surroundings.  She was lying on a medical bed at the Jedi Temple.  Master Juun Kloh sat by her side.  Shadie stirred and tried to sit up.
‘It will take time for you to regain your strength, Shadie.  It was touch and go for a while, but you’re alive.’
‘How long have I been out, Master Juun?’ she asked him.
‘Roughly a few weeks,’ he replied.
‘A few weeks!’  She bolted up in her bed and regretted it the moment her muscles began to throb, sore from having not been used for a little too long.  ‘Blast it.  Lahnius.  Kromus.  They’ll have regrouped and…’
‘Patience, Jedi,’ Master Juun soothed in his deep voice.  ‘The battle against Kromus and his Sith is not over.  Do not fear.  While I was in a healing trance with you, I could sense that you’ve grown in the Force.’  His blue lekku twitched.  ‘You absorbed some of Lahnius’s Force ability as well, when he was draining your life.  Whatever happened in that moment, you gained that ability.’
‘How do you know?’
‘When I began the trance with you, you reflexively tried to drain my life.’  He smiled.  ‘You must’ve perceived me as an intruder into your mind until you recognised me.  And I know that when you first arrived at this academy, when you were still a Sith, you did not posses that particular Force ability.’
At that moment, Knarf entered the room, an Ithorian blubbering in grovelling tones in his language followed behind him.
‘I understand it’s pressing, but I have to see my friend.  Your coding will have to wait till later.’
The Ithorian objected in his language, but Knarf was no longer listening to him.  His brown eyes were fixed on Shadie, his smile brightening the room.
‘It’s good to see you awake, Shadie,’ he said.  ‘I’m very relieved.’
‘You’re not the only one,’ said Brenum, as he and Trylia entered the room.  Shadie smiled.
‘She will need to rest,’ said Master Juun Kloh.  ‘I will leave you, Shadie, with your friends for now.  When your muscles find their strength anew, I suggest a walk around the Temple.  Then when you are ready to begin your training, come and find me.’
‘My training?  But I’m already…’
‘Your newly acquired powers,’ replied Master Juun.  ‘A Jedi, you may be, but many of us Masters knew that one day, your Sith training would have its purposes for the light side.  You will be facing a great and powerful foe.  Kromus is a formidable opponent, as much in sabre techniques and forms as in the Force, much more than Lahnius, and you must defeat both.  You might as well be ready to face them and know how to use those dark powers with light side ability.  As one who trained you in the past, I would like to be the one to refine your abilities with you.’
‘Thank you, Master Juun.’
He nodded and left the room.
‘Rumour has it he’s the one who sent word to the Mandalorians,’ said Brenum.
‘Which we assumed,’ said Shadie.
‘Except that he denies having anything to do with it.’  Brenum’s lopsided smile indicated how Master Juun’s wordsmust have indicated that, but his Force energy must have told different.

Continue reading Chapter Six.

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Something scrolled onto the holoscreen and there was the familiar bleep of success.
‘Gotchyah!’
‘What’s that?’
‘I’ve cracked the code.  You now have access to security systems, communications, everything.’
Knarf was rather proud of himself.  It had taken him many more hours than he’d expected, and it had been a rather challenging feat.  Now, however, feeling Shadie’s touch again was beginning to feel like it would arrive sooner than he’d originally feared.  He hoped it would be even sooner than that.  Whatever it was they were living, he and she, he sure was enjoying it, even though it was still early days.
He smiled as he handed Kelbourn the datapad.
‘Now to that droid.  Better you start now; might take you several days.’
Knarf sighed.  What a karking killjoy.  It was Bantha fodder.  The Mandalorians were always so serious.  A Ronto had a better sense of humour.
Another Mandalorian approached, the one with purple and brown beskar’gam.  Talyc, he believed his name was.  He was one whom Knarf found rather friendly, contrary to what he thought of the others.
‘Uh, sorry to disturb, but Knarf, you might want to see this.’
‘See what?’  Knarf somehow felt dread.
‘Holonews.’
The Mandalorian took off his helmet.  His face was not as haggard as some of the other Mandalorians Knarf had met.  His complexion was smooth; he only had one fine scar on his nose.  He placed the helmet on Knarf’s head.
‘Just let the HUD do its thing.  Oh, but don’t blink too much.’
Knarf watched as an image of the Sith meditation sphere hung in the middle of the screen.  It looked to be in orbit above Nar Shaddaa.  His throat felt dry and tight; his heart pounded.  As the holonews reporter spoke, the screen remained on the image of Master Vorum.
‘…The old man was struck with a fatal lightsaber wound to the chest.  The three Jedi were taken by Sith into the sphere, which now remains in orbit above the moon.’
An image from a holocam showed Shadie, Brenum and Trylia being captured, unable to move, Darth Lahnius’s sneer confirming to Knarf he was the one using the Force on them thusly.  Knarf could see Shadie was struggling by the intensity of her expression, yet neither Jedi could move, except for their feet; it looked like they were being floated out of the cantina.
Knarf removed the helmet and handed it back to the Mandalorian.
‘I must go,’ he said, standing even taller.
‘You must program that droid,’ replied Kelbourn, pointing at the T4 unit.
‘I have to go to her!’  Knarf raised his voice.  ‘Shadie needs me!  She’s in trouble!’
‘You going to kill a handful of Sith, are you?’ said Kelbourn.  ‘You barve, you’re going to get yourself killed.’
‘I don’t care, I have to go.’
‘Don’t make me restrain you.  You haven’t finished paying your friend’s dept.’
Knarf fumed at Kelbourn.  ‘Kriffing kark!  She could die!’
‘Hm, perhaps, and then I could keep you as a prisoner for the Mandalore if I so chose.’
Knarf gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw tightly.  He felt like pounding at the Mando dung’s face.  He formed fists with his hands and loosened them again.  Never a good idea to start a fight with a Mandalorian, especially when they’ve got a vibroblade hanging at their side.
‘Programming that droid could take days,’ he said in as steady a voice as he could.
‘Then you better get to it,’ replied Kelbourn.

Continue reading Chapter Five.

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The Mandalorians were all right, apart from their dull sense of humour.  Agent Knarf longed to be in the invigorating presence of Shadie again.
‘Here’s the datapad with the encryptions,’ said Kelbourn.  ‘We’ve had many coders try their hand at it.’
‘How do you know I’ll succeed?’ asked Knarf.
‘If you’re good enough for the Sith to capture you, you’re good enough for a Mando.  You crack these codes, we get access to the spicer’s base on Ylesia.  Then you can work on creating your own codes, and reprogram that droid.’  Kelbourn pointed to an old T4 astromech model.  ‘It’s going to be our new spy.’
‘You’re going after spice?’
‘No, barve, there ain’t no profit for us Mandos in spice.  We’re going after a spicer, a very powerful one.’
‘Contract?’
‘For a slicer, you ask a lot of questions.’  Kelbourn crossed his arms.
‘I just want to know what I’m getting myself into and how big his bounty is.’
‘No, this is no bounty.  It’s payback from the Mandalore himself.’
‘All right.’  Knarf nodded.  ‘How long am I obliged to stay with you and your team on Ylesia?’
‘Depends how long it takes for you to crack that code and program the astromech.’
Knarf sighed.  No matter how little time it took, it would be too long a time away from his Lady.  She truly did bring light into his life, as incredible as it still seemed, and he felt amazing, except for now, looking at the scrapped up T4 unit and the code on the datapad.  He needed to focus if he was going to get any of this done at all.  The sooner he started, the sooner he’d be done.

* * *

‘Aha, Ylesia!’ said Brenum.  ‘We know where to go after we’ve spoken to that exiled Jedi on Nar Shaddaa.’
Shadie looked at the blue glow of hyperspace.
‘Did Knarf know about this?’
‘Not until I told him, but yes, when he left, he knew he’d sliced into the Mandalorians’ communications system for us.  He is a slicer.  He can’t work without knowing what he’s doing.’
Shadie gave Brenum a sardonic look.
‘But did you know there would be a Jedi on Nar Shaddaa?’ asked Trylia.
‘I asked Knarf if he knew of anyone in Hutt Space who might be able to help us be more prepared for our mission.’

Continue reading Chapter Four.

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