The Backdrafts (Book 4)

[Akirapryde]

Coming of Enemies
Jedi Prison
Korriban, Galactic Republic

It has been a month after the official end of the Jedi Civil War. Largely in most parts the Temples and allied worlds have honored the peace as they attempted to work together to put this horrific war behind them all. A new Jedi Council has been seated on Coruscant which will lead the entire Order in new directions. Even as the Jedi attempt to restart their Order, rumors of scandals based on a series of news articles that was aired shortly before the Council was confirmed by the Jedi Oversight Committee. Despite harsh words from both the Jedi Council and the Chancellor's office regarding the leak that fueled the articles which smeared the Azgardian Military and namely one Azgardian Officer named, Fiolla Heartman. The Articles were printed based on two separate interviews with the former Jedi hero turned terrorist who now has returned to the Temple, Jedi Master Daz Murl. During a series of public appearances, the Supreme Chancellor Quee made sure to parade Jedi Master Murl around Coruscant even during the same time that Warlord Raynar was assassinated. However like all things on Coruscant, the scandals that erupted from those news articles soon were pushed from the headlines by the birth of an all new terrorist organization, The Flail!

While Azgard were paying respects to their fallen leader, a timely warning from the Jedi Council pushed their military in to action. What could have been a nightmare on Azgard much like the same nightmare the Azgard military unleashed on Neeshana, was thwarted. In a short lived battle near an asteroid field just outside of Azgard space, nearly sixty Azgard warships and over two hundred fighters dealt a soundly defeat to the Flail. The Flail had hoped to reignite the flames of war by attacking Azgard its self. Thanks to a tight partnership between Azgard and the New Jedi Order, which has been the fruits of Warlord Raynar's hard work, the warning allowed the Azgard navy to catch the five Flail warships and a large number of smaller craft completely by surprise. Despite a number of requests from other agencies, Azgard as neither denied nor acknowledged if any prisoners were taken during the short lived battle.

As part of the funeral ceremony for their fallen leader, the religious caste has chosen a number of warriors that they would support to lead Azgard. After a week long event of heated battles before the thousand meter pyre, a leader, that all Warrior Houses would follow, was elected. Warlord Ton Furey had won the right to lead the Azgard people in to the future. Warlord Ton hails from the powerful Warrior House Furey and is a product of Azgard genetic breeding programs. Even before the death of Warlord Raynar, Warlord Ton was one of the most out spoken critics of Chancellor Quee within the Council of Warlords. Not only is he a strong critic of Chancellor Quee, Warlord Ton is the leader of the political movement known as The Crusaders. The Crusaders see the role of Azgard as the only protection from the darkness that the Republic needs. That they should take a more active and predominate role in defending the Republic from ALL threats.

As relations between Azgard and the Republic becoming more and more strained to all new levels, the relations between Azgard and the New Jedi Order has never been stronger. This became evident by a personal invitation for Jedi Master Visst and the rest of the Jedi Council to come to Azgard and pay their respects to Warlord Raynar's funeral pyre. It was Warlord Ton who was the one behind the invitation issued to the Jedi Council. He even took the time to hand write the invitation and had it hand delivered. It didn't go unnoticed that the Azgard Council of Warlords did not include other members of the Jedi Order, the Senate, or the Chancellor's office in the hand written invitation. When questioned, the Azgard Senator replied only with, “This is a extremely intimate event for us. The fact that Warlord Ton, has invited non-Azgardians to view this event and pay their respects is his right as our Warlord. As such, I shall not speak on such a matter.”

As the smoke from Warlord Raynar's pyre was still in the air, back on Coruscant, the Supreme Chancellor made a huge political stumble, that many analysts says might cost him the election next year. Right before the courts were about to enter deliberation over the war crimes trails of Warlord Raynar, the Supreme Chancellor signed an executive order that dismissed the charges without prejudice. This act effectively ended the trails without a clear ruling one way or the other and leaving the memory of Warlord Raynars honor as well of that of Azgard itself in the balance. Azgard issued their public outrage over the Chancellor's actions and called it 'a political interference with the Independent Courts.' History has shown that it is very difficult for a Chancellor to maintain their Office during elections without direct support from Azgard. With the end of the Jedi Civil War in memory and reconstruction underway, a uneasy peace between the CSA and the Hutts, Scandals from what is being called JediGate, rumors of Republic run POW death camps leaking to the media, The birth of the Flail, a reforming New Jedi Order, and a political landscape that looks more like a minefield then a Chancellor friendly Senate, Chancellor Quee can ill afford to make more political enemies. Making political war with Azgard seems more like political suicide for Chancellor Quee. With the elections coming up in nine months, only time will tell if he can remain in office.

It has been over three thousand years since the Jedi and the Republic Tarraformed Korriban in to the lush beautiful world that it is now. Cleansing the world of its dark influences, and the ghosts of dark lords that lurked in the shadows, was one of the most important operations the Jedi has ever taken on. The ruling Council of the time dubbed it their brightest shinning moment in their history. Today, Korriban is a hub of interstellar activity throughout the entire region of space, and home to the Jedi Temple of Infinite Knowledge (The largest Jedi library in history). As well as the famed Korriban Jedi Prison named Borsk Roc'ag Complex (Named after the Jedi Master who designed the massive complex) was built on Korriban. Here some of the most dangerous Force using criminals are held. This massive complex that looks more like a city than a prison is made up of four levels of security blocks which prisoners are held in.

The lowest security level is the Green level, where force users that can be saved from the dark side influences are counseled and allowed to work towards their freedom someday. Next is the Blue level where trained Jedi who have become tainted yet are not completely consumed by the dark side are held. Here these prisoners are dealt with in hopes of turning them from the path of the dark side. It is in Blue block where the most successes of the prison come from. Many young Jedi that slip from the path of light are saved by the hands of hundreds of dedicated Jedi teachers and instructors here. Then there is the infamous Black level, here, such creatures like self proclaimed Sith Lord Rumun DeBrek, who the Jedi have given up all hope on, are secured in carbonate. The section of the prison is so secured that it is left completely devoid of any atmosphere and all its inmates are kept in carbonate till such a time that the Jedi can decide what to do with them. Some of the most advanced battle droids patrol this section of the prison.

Lastly, there is the newest of sections to the prison, the Red level. Even though the Jedi Temple on Korriban didn't choose a side during the Civil War, it was still a Republic World with its duties to the Republic. As such, the prison was a logical location to send many POWs from the Rebel Jedi factions. The Red level was designed to house Jedi POWs who were captured from hundreds of battlefields across the Outer Rim. The creation of Red Level caused a massive debate within the Korriban Council. Some of these POWs had been touched by the dark side however they were not classified as criminals within the traditional definition. Such POWs like the infamous General Darven Graff are held here in a state of judicial limbo. General Graff became infamously known because he overrode the controls a large number of refugee ships and held them between his retreating fleet and the advancing fleet of Azgard warships in the Hogh'ash'til system. The cowardly act outraged the Azgards and allowed General Graff's forces to escape largely intact from the battle. He was captured shortly before the attacks on Neeshana and the cease fire that followed by forces of the Republic Army. During his capture he was noted saying, “Better you blokes than those bloody Azgards!”

Figures like General Graff, who fit the profile, of a person touched by the dark side and who's crimes run much deeper than those committed over Hogh'ash'til, perfectly should be treated as if they are criminals and their trials should proceed without further delay. However it is argued that they are not criminals by civilian court standards, that they are soldiers taken in war and therefore their crimes committed on the battlefield should be handled by military tribunals not held within the civilian courts. As the debate raged within the Korriban Temple, the war continued and the number of POWs held steadily grew larger and larger. The Korriban Temple did everything in their power to ensure that justice was served while at the same time protecting the rights of those common soldiers who only committed dark acts on the battlefield. It was a nasty debate that Korriban Temple was forced to endure while the other Jedi factions became more and more distracted with the Civil War. Now that the war is over, hope has returned to the Korriban Temple as the New Jedi Order has started to reform itself.

One last aspect of Korriban that makes this location note worthy, is the Jedi Database located deep below the prison. Here hundreds of trillions of terabytes of information are regularly uploaded and downloaded throughout the entire Jedi Network. Twenty kilometers below the prison, houses one of the most extensive networks of systems that make up the entire Jedi database. During the war, it was the greatest fear of the Korriban Council that an attack would come on the database itself. It was because of this fear that they allowed the prison to be used to house POWs from the war in exchange for a large fleet being stationed above the world and added troops on the ground. With the threat of the Civil War finally gone, the Korriban Council has sent the troops and their fleets home. Moving through its slightly lit corridors, the only Jedi Scholars, Liberians and other learns of knowledge come down to this complex to seek answers to their questions or just see what more they can learn. Once more, this place has returned to a place of higher learning.

Deep within the secured section of the complex, sitting at one of the few direct wired terminals, a young Jedi works the keyboard steadily. Her brown hair tied in a pony tail behind her head as her deep brown eyes are affixed on the screen before her. There is a brown tattoo under each eye in the shape of downward pointed curved arrows. She smiled as she continued to work, her small frame seemed to mask her skill as two Korriban Rangers lay unconscious and bound along the wall behind the door. She paused working on the computer long enough to pull up her own datapad and plugged it in to the terminal and watched as the upload window popped up. This window told her that the upload had started and how much more time she needed to complete her task.

“How much longer, Sweetie” Biggs asked over the comlink.

“I am uploading the program now. Give me a few more minutes and we will be free once and for all.” Lysire said as she glanced over to the two sleeping guards.

“Are you sure we have to do this” he questioned once more. He hadn't like this idea from the beginning. Sure the benefits greatly outweighed the risks but still breaking in to one of the only prisons specially designed to hold Jedi didn't sit well with him. Not to mention that he put some of these prisoners away.

“Biggs what did I tell you” she snapped, “listen, IF we don't do this, than THEY will never stop coming after us. Daz will never let us live in peace knowing what we know. He has to kill us to silence us. And now his puppet Visst sits on the Council. We can not expect any measure of a fairness from the Jedi anymore. Visst had talked just like Quaad had, when I talked to him. His half hearted words only meant to separate us. Sure, I could have taken his deal and leave you to face Daz alone! I told you this already. We are in this together. Its all the same back at the Temple, just new faces in charge. You were right, we should have run a long time ago. I had faith in the Jedi, Okay I was wrong. I get that, and I learned from my mistake now. If we don't do this right we will be like all the others. A one way ticket to the Ilushan Gardens.” she explained while she continued to type lines of code on the computer.

She could hear Biggs sigh in her ear, “I had really hoped that Visst was different. He just seemed so different. Maybe the war changed him like everyone else.” There was a since of sadness in his voice as he spoke of the war. As if deeds and nightmares wrenched heavily on his soul. “I had hoped that he was different.”

“Well he wasn't” she snapped as she cut him off, “I told you it was a stupid plan and wouldn't work!” she paused a moment to clear her thoughts and calm her heart, “listen I am sorry baby.” she said as she push back from the terminal. Turning away from the terminal she leaned back in the chair, “I really tried to get Visst to work with us. But just like Quaad, he can't be trusted.” she paused and lowered her head in to her waiting hands, “None of them can. We are all alone.” Her voice now filled with sadness, “And now they will hunt us down to make sure we never speak what we saw. Daz will come for us.” There was a since of defeat in her voice, “We can only depend on each other lover. And in a few moments, no one well even think of coming to look for us. We will vanish in to shadows.” she said softly lifting her head from her hands as she leaned all the way back in her chair to look at the concrete ceiling.

Biggs sighed once more, “You know something, you have really grown in to a remarkable woman, Lysire. I love you so much. Lets hurry up and get the hell out of here.” She could tell the passion in his voice once more.

Lysire smiled at his words. As they grew together, she had learned to see through his lies and deceptions as she watched him work first hand. Beyond all the masks he wears, she learned a part of him that no one knew existed. She knew in her heart that he loved her. “Okay lover, just give me a few more minutes and it will all be over.”

“Okay baby, just hurry up. That patrol is starting to make their return trip and will be heading your way soon” Biggs said softly with clear concern in his voice.

She turned back to her terminal and started typing once more. “Okay the program is loaded and uploading the the network now. Twenty minutes and it will be over” she examined her work with a smile. She leaned back in surprise as something caught her eye, “Hey, I found another one of those little shop of horrors of Quaad's.” She paused as if reading, “Did you know that Daz had a sister?”

“I don't care Lysire, get out of there!”

“Hold on, I am checking something. Its on Staoke IV. According to this, she passed through this place a few weeks ago. Well, I guess Daz and Quaad were working together from the beginning. Just like we had feared, right! Hey whats this? Something called Operation Talisman.”

“Lysire! GET OUT OF THERE!”

“Okay okay, I am getting the location of Quaad's new shop.....”

“NO! NOW GIRL! MOVE!”

Lysire hated the idea of leaving behind a huge clue that could topple Daz, the Chancellor and this fake attempt at a 'new order'. But she also knew her baby was watching her back and knew it was time for her to leave. She pickup her things and loaded her backpack calmly. She didn't want to rush out of fear of leaving a clue behind of what she was doing. She cleared the terminal and shut it down. She pulled out small can and placed it on the table. She then walked over to the two sleeping guards and pulled them out of the room one at a time. She then returned to the terminal and set up her program. She set her watch and at the same time, she started her watch and the program at the same time. “I am leaving now” she informed her husband as she activated the can on the table. A thick mist filled the air in moments destroying all traces of her being in the room. Soon their would be no traces that she and Biggs were ever on Korriban.

“Good girl, I am watching that patrol. Be careful baby.”

Lysire nodded as she continued to move down the corridors carefully. She knew better then to attract attention to herself by running. She just walked like she belonged right where she was. On the way in, she actually had to stop and give a group of padawans directions. She had spent so much time in this complex as a youngling she could walks its corridors blindfolded. Had she acted strange then it would have brought attention to her and could have cost her, her plan. She just continued to walk calmly through the high security part of the complex. She smiled as she saw the last set of doors down the hall that would take her back in to the open section of the complex. She paused at a security monitor and looked at it. She was a bit ahead of her own time table. She had to wait for a moment till she saw the light above it flicker. With that flicker, she nodded and knew that she had seconds to move past it before it resumed normal operations.

The security monitors were the hardest part of her plan for her to over come. They were monitored in three different rooms across the complex and checked by a motion alarm. Even if someone was not watching the monitor in that moment and an intruder passed before the monitor, it would sound an alarm each of the viewing rooms. If the alarm is not silenced by the guards, then it will trigger a general alarm and the whole network would shut down and become secured from the inside. She could not turn the monitors off because someone would trigger a general alarm. Her answer was simple. Each room had a limited number of viewers for all the monitors. All she had to do was have the computers which switched between viewers, synchronizer with each other so that each room was watching the same monitor at the same time. Which meant that they were not watching other monitors at the same time. Then pace the time between rotations to match when she walked in front of a monitor. This way she could walk right in front of a monitor while it was not being viewed. The next step was critical, disable the motion alarm, which would place a warning on the viewer while it was being viewed but because the monitor was not being view it would not be seen till it was rotated to the viewer once more. Which by that time the motion alarm would be reactivated, the warning on the screen would be gone and she would be passed the viewing range of the monitor.

She slipped down the hall calmly and checked her watch again. She was still running a bit ahead of her time table. She knew she and to slow down but she had to stay on schedule with the monitors rotation. She slipped in to a blind spot and paused just short of the doors. She watched the seconds click down on her watch.

“Baby that patrol is coming. I will override the door and get you out of there!”

“NO don't!” she said in a panic, “Listen, we can not trip the general alarm. Just relax, I have this covered. Just wait baby. Trust me!”

“This is crazy!” he said sounding defeated, “You and your damn little tricks”

“Its why you love me baby!” she said as she watched her watch. When she saw that the time was right she nodded and calmly walked for the door. She knew the routines of the outer guards and she knew she needed four more minutes for her program to be fully uploaded to the entire network. She watched as the light on the monitor flickered above her head as she walked up to the door and watched as it automatically cycled for her. She didn't have to touch a thing as the door opened and she walked right out of the most tightest secured location in the entire Republic. She smiled as she watched the door behind her close and her program completing its final function. The last parts of her program was erasing any trace that the security had been tampered with. 'Eat your heart out Anastasia!' she thought as she finally beat that aging hacker at her own game. 'Who is the real Stainless Steel Rat now!' she thought laying claim to the coveted title among hackers throughout the Galaxy.

“HEY! Hold it right there!” a guard yelled out as he turned a corner and watched her walking out of the double security doors. The two guards that were with him drew their blasters and spread out as they tried to rush her.

“Damnit!” Biggs said in her ear comlink as Lysire was already reacting to the guards.

'There is only calm, only the still air about me' crossed her mind as she calmed her mind and reacted as she had planned. She crossed her arms reaching in to her red cloak. She flung her hands forward as she throw out missile like weapons towards the guards. She had only a moment to react before one of them alerted one of the control rooms. She had to silence them before they triggered the general alarm. Once the missile like weapons left her hands she bent her knees as she pulled her arms in a bit while letting out a soft breath. She then drew on the force as she pushed her hands outward once more. Using the force she caused the missile like weapons to lung forward at remarkable speeds. Even before the guards were fully aware of what was happening, the eight darts found their marks. The highly harden six inch needles pierced their armor easily. Because she used the force to guide the darts she was able to land two on the smaller of the guards and three each on the two remaining larger guards. The plungers in the darts flung forward on impact sending the powerful sedative in to each target's body. The guards stumbled about and then fell over sleeping.

Lysire smiled as she slowly rose up once more and calmly walked forward towards the guards. Working for nearly two years on one of the Jedi's more elite Black Ops teams, one learns to be prepared for just about anything. She bent down resting her knee on the ground she removed her darts from the sleeping guards. She quickly took a moment to make sure that none would suffer any ill effects from the sedatives. “Lysire, get the hell out of there!” she heard Biggs pleading.

She continued to check the guards, “just making sure that they are going to wake up when the sedatives wears off. They will have a killer headache but it looks like they will be just fine.” she said finishing checking the last guard. She slowly rose up returning her darts to their holders on each side of her body. She turned to leave the area as she checked her watch once more. She smiled, “two minutes and its over. I am on my way up, baby.”

************************************

Warlord Ton stood calmly next to the landing pad as an Azgard shuttle hovered slowly as it circled to land. Warlord Ton was a large man standing over two meters tall. His long bushy red hair hung over his shoulders and halfway down his back. The lower parts of his hair had been loosely breaded so the winds would not cause it to flap about. His long breed dropped below his chin. He stood there leaning on his large double bit battle ax which came nearly up to his shoulders. Over his shoulders hung the purple and red cloak of leader of Azgard. While the rest of his outfit seemed warm enough, it was made up of byproducts of some animal. One might easily confuse Warlord Ton as a member of an undeveloped culture as he stood their waiting for the shuttle. On his belt hung two different lightsabers won in combat.

As the shuttle landed, it was only Visst that departed. The Warlord nodded as he watched Visst walk off the shuttle. He lifted up his battle ax and sung it over his shoulder, and started to walk up to Visst. About half way between the two, Warlord Ton throw his head back with a deep laughter then nearly doubled over. Visst looked confused at the Warlord as the large man laughed nearly uncontrollably. “My Friend, please forgive my laughter.” he said in a deep voice as he tried to regain his composure. “Please forgive this, but you...um..your....well, let me just say it like this. You don't measure up to your reputation.” He said as he finished walking up to Visst. He dropped to a knee to allow Visst a chance to see in to his eyes. Warlord Ton took his mighty battle ax and laid it in the dirt next to Visst. “I am under the impression that gifts of friendship are common among your kind.” he said pulling the two lightsabers from his belt. “These two were taken in two separate battles” he said presenting the first one.

Talking a deep breath, “This one belonged to the Master known as Chom'Rar from the Kellinfur Council. We met on the field of honor during the early morning hours of a winter's day. He must have known that his position was lost and his forces were doomed. Prior to the battle he asked if we would allow noncombatants to leave the field. I agreed and allowed many of his wounded and support personal to flee the battlefield. The battle was grand and well thought out. The Jedi there defended their lines with honor and courage against my best warriors. Even though they were outnumbered by over ten to one, they never turned or fled. Much like Master Chom'Rar, he stood and faced me. We fought hard and he nearly took my own life. However, Thor was with me on that battlefield. Master Chom'Rar fall that morning and we won the day.” He nodded as Visst took the first lightsaber.

Taking again a second breath as he presented the second lightsaber, “This one belonged to a Jedi Master named, Jichiirurra from the Balishtain Council. He was the first Wookiee I had ever seen let alone had the pleasure of crossing blades in combat. His forces fought like rats on a starship. They would ambush us and then vanish in to the mountainous forests. I learned to respect Master Jichiirurra for his, um, I can not say for sure if Master Jichiirurra was a male or female. Nonetheless, I learned respect the tactics that was brought to the field of honor through this Master. It took my legions nearly two months of hunting before we were able to corner the Jedi Master and his army. If the previous months were any measure of the final battle to come, I was truly not disappointed. They held the high ground and were dug in. We had to fight for each and ever step up that mountain. Oh, yet the Gods of War were pleased that week. The Mountain ran red with blood of warriors for weeks to pass after that battle. Our conflict that week rang across the lands like thunder. Taking Master Jichiirurra's life was no simple task. Sadly like all great battles, one side must be defeated. His death brought honor to the battle and his kind.” Warlord Ton lowered his head in reverence of the memories he had just recited.

“I remember that night like it was yesterday. Beaten and defeated, he still held courage and honor in his eyes. He dropped to his knees and lowered his head. One last moment, he looked at me with those eyes. Then he turned away as I made sure that his death was quick and painless. I will never forget the honor he held in those eyes.” Warlord Ton smiled as he handed the second lightsaber over to Visst, “Both these men died with honor and courage. Their memories well live long in my heart as their deeds are sung in the halls of my House. Take these weapons as an offer of friendship and peace among warriors.” He reached over and picked up his battle ax and turned, “Come my friend I have much to show you.”

Warlord Ton lead Visst across the landing pad and through the nearby woods, “I am sorry I had not been able to meet with you sooner, but I have been tied up with affairs of the State. However, I saved this meeting for last so that I might take as much time as it might take.” The Warlord explained as they walked through the woods, “These lands belong to the Warrior House Heartman. I had to seek special permission to even be here let alone bring you here” he smiled and leaned over, “Luckily for you, I am the Warlord of Azgard” he said joking.

As the exited the thick woods, Visst couldn't help but become entranced by the beauty of what he saw. He had walked over a short ridge and now stood over looking a valley lake, “It was Warlord Raynar's favorite place on Azgard. I knew that you two shared a friendship. I knew that you would like to share this place with his memory” Warlord Ton said softly.

Visst couldn't speak, the colors of the trees, the rich waters of the lake, the sky all reached out to him. Visst felt a strong presence of the Force here. He also felt something else here. He turned his head to the northern most part of the lake. There, he could see a think fog that hung low to the water. This fog seemed almost too still as he examined it. He then realized that the fog was artificial and more importantly, he felt the presence of force users on the far banks of the lake over there. There were many force users hidden by the fog as Visst could barely make out simple buildings through the fog. “Sensitives” Visst questioned softly.

Warlord Ton nodded slowly, “They are Beskyttet” Visst understood the Azgard word for protected which only deepened the mystery. Warlord Ton must have known that this only teased his would be friend, “Each Warlord of Azgard serves the people of Azgard. And through this, they are allowed to issue four edicts. These edicts take place after the Warlord has dead and can never be over turned. Never once, has a Warlord ever used all four edicts. Warlord Raynar used only two. His second was for them. Your Civil War left many refugees wondering the space lanes seeking a peaceful place to call home. That group there crossed paths with Raynar. No one knows what made him convinced about it. But he said that these refugees hold the secret for his first edict.”

Warlord Ton looked down, “This was a riddle for the next year and half. His first edict was written by the sages of the religious caste over twenty years ago. Under his orders, they kept it secret till a new Warlord won the privilege to lead our people.” He turned and looked at Visst with a much more serous look on his face and in his eyes. “His first edict was that Azgard build a sound and solid relationship with the Jedi.” he pulled out a scroll from behind his back, “See the seal and the date” pointing to the freshly broken seal and the date on the seal and inside the scroll confirming the date of being written. Over twenty years ago. It read clearly for Visst, 'The Jedi and Azgard must learn to work together to ensure a lasting peaceful future for the Republic. Because of this, I command that the next Azgardian Ruler ensure that relations between Jedi and Azgard remain close. And to put down the thoughts of prejudices.'

Visst finished reading the edict and then looked out over the lake once more to the settlement of refugees. So many simply don't understand Azgardian culture simply because they refuse to see it in all of its colors. He closed his eyes as he took in a deep fresh and clean breath of lake side air. He cleared his mind as he reached out to feel the refugees on the far side of the lake. He could feel multiple races, entire families, one small community banded together. They felt calm, at peace and happy. He heard the sounds of children playing and parents working in his mind. Visst's mind was ripped from the lake side refugee community. He sensed a great disturbance in the force. He could see and hear sounds of horror and cries of help. Blurred images crossed his mind causing him to stumble backwards. Before he realized it, Warlord Ton had caught the little Jedi Master.

Visst looked at Warlord Ton with sadness on his face, “I am sorry Warlord Ton, however I must go. Something horrible is happening on Korriban. I must leave now.” He said confused and unsure of the moment.

Warlord Ton was not sure how to take these changes in his plans. However he knew that the relationship he had to build demanded understanding. He nodded, “If Korriban is where you must go, then I shall ready my warships and we will leave right away.”

Visst righted himself once more as he was to regain his footing, “I thank you, but no. The Unending Light is fast enough to get us there when we need to be there. This is a Jedi matter, I would prefer that we handle this alone. If you and your warriors are needed, I shall seek your help.”

Warlord Ton nodded as he started to lead the way back to the pad, “I understand. I will call for a shuttle to take you right to your ship. Plus notify your people that you are leaving.”

Visst nodded, “Thank you Warlord.” He then pulled out his communicator, “Captain, how long would it take us to reach Korriban?”

The voice of the Captain of the Unending Light replied with, “stand by Master Visst.” within a few minutes while Visst and Warlord Ton continued to rush back to the landing pad, “twelve hours Master Visst.”

“Thank you Captain, please inform everyone that we are leaving at once. I am returning now. Set our course for Korriban” Visst informed calmly.