Jedi Prophecy

[Knife]

I apologise for the delay. Go figure, the plot line is expanding the more I think about it and what was one chapter is becoming two, if not three.

[1123581321]

Two or three chapters? Excellent, the wait is worth it.

[Knife]

Two or three chapters? Excellent, the wait is worth it.

In my outline, I expected the following sequence of events to be a chapter. It's more than that and I'm working the details. I wanted to pump out a chapter a week, if not two, though it's being difficult to put all the info into ~8 pages like I like.

Unfortunately, or otherwise, depneding on how you view it, it's getting bigger than I assumed.

Before Monday.

[Knife]

6



Jezebel Antigone was sitting on the command deck watching the battle she had worked so hard to create unfold. The Corellian fleet drove right into the Kuati armada on her tactical screen and she smiled a triumphant smile.

“Milady, scans show a total commitment of both forces.” Captain Addon reported from his station.

“Good, good.” She said in a soothing voice. The war she had been hired to start was just minutes away and it had been too easy. Her original plans had been modified, with the interruption of the assassination of the Corellian Ambassador, but getting these two fleets to engage had only needed her buying a slightly used Kuati star fighter.

The Corellians had been at the brink of war for years with their neighbors. Small skirmishes had always happened along the Kuat/Corellian boarders but they were always between single ships or a few fighters, never with such a force as these two fleets were. A large battle here would escalate other skirmishes into full fledged war.

Androffa would be the igniter to a war that the power mongers in the Federation could use. She was not privy to all of their plans, but they were not hard to imagine. Jezebel figured the Federation would gain all sorts of prestige in dealing with both the warring nations. Core worlds and Mid Rim worlds would look upon the Federation with new admiration, and would ask them for help mitigating the destruction of the war, giving the Federation more power.

They’d probably supply both sides with equipment, possibly ground combat advice and tactics. Hell, it was even possible that they’d use their Spaarti troopers as ‘peace keepers’ on some worlds caught in the middle. And all the while, they’d watch as their two most powerful rivals slowly sapped each other of their strength. When all was said and done, the Federation might not even have to go to war with the two other nations, their power having grown while the Kuati and Corellians diminished.

Antigone didn’t care; she was already paid for her services. Jezebel was at the top of her game, being in high demand, she always got paid first. The Federation was no different, they gladly paid her price going solely on her reputation and the recommendation of others who have used her services.

An alarm distracted her from her musings and she watched Captain Addon walk over to the tech motioning for him. The report was quick, as the Captain turned to her.

“There are two fighters are inbound, Milady. They don’t conform to any of the ships we’ve seen from either the Kuati or the Corellians.” Captain Addon said from the ComScan station, his Federation accent had a bit of distain in it.

The victorious smile vanished from Jezebel Antigone’s face and was replaced with a sneer, “The Jedi.”

She had been studying up on her ‘adversary’ since Denon. It had taken her a few days to track down enough information to make a comparison to the ancient Jedi. But it all fit once she looked at it objectively. It had been hard though, reading through all the old texts and data from various worlds made it seem like these ‘Jedi’ were super-beings, able to leap dozens of meters, beings who could move things with their minds, who used those remarkable laser swords.

The more she read about them, the more astonishing the idea became. Yet, she had seen that man do a lot of the things she had read about in the ancient texts. How could she not believe at least a little bit of what she was reading? And so, two days ago, she accepted that her little friend was indeed a Jedi of old. Luckily for her, some of the texts held some insight she could use to surprise the do-gooder.

“Very well, Captain.” She pinned the arrogant Captain with an icy stare, “Open fire, then alert your crew and get the Spaarti ready to repel boarders.” She ordered the man, and then turned to one of her men standing ready in the corner.

“Be ready, I assume he’ll be after the jammers. He seems very mission oriented.” She mused and a sparkle came to her eye, “We’ll spring our little surprise there.”

Her underling nodded and rushed out of the bridge to carry out her orders and a small victorious smile returned to Jezebel’s dark framed face. For the first time in years, she was going to take perverse pleasure in an operation. She had never, in her opinion, had a competent opponent to test herself against until this Jedi appeared on Denon. She swept out of the bridge with a grin that would freeze a man's heart and an evil intent in her eye.



Adam made a dismissive gesture with his hand and said, “The intruder is not here, Lieutenant.”

With the golden hued faceplate, Adam could not see the blank expression of the Spartan trooper, but the slack stance the man had as Adam made contact with his mind told him that the old Jedi mind trick was working.

“The intruder is not in this compartment.” The Federation trooper reported back to his men in the corridor, imitating what Adam had just told him.

“You should move on to the next section.” Adam suggested.

The lieutenant was still slack in his stance as he called over his shoulder, “This area is clear, move on to the next section.”

The trooper closed the hatch behind him and left Adam in solitude. Since he left the hangar bay, he’d ran into various crew members of the frigate and Adam had been under the assumption that the ship was a mercenary craft, or perhaps pirates hired to do a job.

But when he came across the first patrol of Spaarti troopers, it left no doubt that this was a Federation ship. The metallic green armor and the strict discipline of the Spaarti were legendary in the Core. But, as Adam discovered, they were not very strong willed. He had stumbled into the first patrol as he came out of a turbolift above the hangar bay and had quickly tried to use the Force to distract them so they would not notice him.

Not only did it work, but it worked exceptionally well. The Spaarti were very malleable and open for suggestion and Adam didn’t know if it was because the Federation wanted them that way so they’d follow orders with out question or if the men who comprised of the elite troopers just didn’t have a lot of innate will power where ever the Federation recruited them from.

Adam had hidden in this room after his second encounter with the Federation troopers and this recent event was his third attempt at diverting the dreaded troopers. The commander of the vessel obviously knew he was on board and was looking for him. Adam didn’t want to hide much longer, after all, sooner or later they might stumble across Derec, wounded as he was, and Adam didn’t want to think about Derec’s chances against the Federation shock troopers.

‘But why in hell’s name would the Federation have troops aboard this ship?’ He thought to himself. In all honestly, it was not hard to figure out. It was just hard to accept. The Federation had always billed itself as a diplomatic entity, a uniter not a divider but it seems that they had other things on their minds. Things like starting a war.

It made a certain amount of sense, really. The Feds had a feared army but not a big navy. Corellia and Kuat both had strong navies but not strong armies. If the Feds picked a fight with either, they’d loose before they’d get to use their armies. So why not bleed out some of the Kuati or Corellian strengths? As horrible as that seemed to Adam, he knew it made a bit of sense strategically.

He closed his eyes and focused himself. First things first, he needed to stop that jamming. Then he could get off this ship and save Derec, last he could communicate with both the Kuati and Corellians and tell them of the Federation plot.

It all started with him leaving this room and wading his way past unknown amounts of heavy infantry to find the communications room. He really didn’t know where it was, but intellectually he figured it would be in the top few decks of the ship with the other command and control sections. He was also letting the Force tug him in the right direction, so he opened the hatch and moved down the corridor to his right, feeling good about his choice to do so.

He had moved down six compartments and made it up one more deck before he ran into the next patrol. Four armored men rounding a corner as Adam was sneaking along. Adam felt their presence a split second before they saw him and he raised his hand to perform his Jedi Mind Trick. Unfortunately for Adam this time, another patrol he never sensed through the Force emerged from a compartment behind him. Adam couldn’t distract all their minds, so instead drew his lightsaber.

There was a loud screech as the blade ignited and he brought it up and over his head in a high guard. Both sets of Spaarti troopers hesitated, suddenly coming across Adam and his unusual weapon. But they were well trained, and all eight weapons came up and aimed in at the lone human standing in the middle of the corridor.

There was a squawk from a communicator as one of the Spartans called in their location and the situation, then the corridor exploded into blaster fire. Adam was a blur in the center, his green blade whiling around him so fast, that it seemed that some type of energy flow was spiraling around him shielding the Jedi and deflecting the in coming fire.

The deflected blasts shot back out into the corridor, exploding on the ceiling, the floor and the walls, sending up huge gouts of sparks and smoke. The return of the their own blaster bolts startled the Spaarti and the four behind Adam dove back into the compartment from which they had come, seeking cover.

The four troopers in front of Adam kept up their assault, two standing in back with the others kneeling. The concentrated blaster fire slacked while the troopers behind him took up covered positions, so Adam slowed down his spinning and maneuvering. Partially obscured in the haze of the corridor, he caught and returned a few more blaster shots waiting patiently for an opening, though it did not take long in coming.

During his training with Master Skywalker at the Valley of the Jedi, his hologram teacher had taught him an old Jedi rule of thumb when in combat; if outnumbered, attack! Adam put that wisdom to use. With Jedi speed he swept down the corridor towards the four Spaarti firing at him. Adam ducked two blasts then spun and caught another shot on his blade, sending it right back at the shooter.

He was only a few meters shy of the Federation troopers now, continuing his spin, he brought his blade around and thrust it behind him as his body slid into the spot where a Spaarti had just inhabited before being killed with his own blaster shot.

The green blade sliced back and into one of the standing infantryman, sheering through the heavy armor and into soft flesh, turning his heart into vapor faster than the man could scream. The other two Spaarti leaped back to gain some room to bring their blaster rifles around and aim in at Adam, but he didn’t give them the chance. He used the momentum of pulling his blade out of the dead Spartan to shoulder block the other standing trooper, bowling him over and then with a quick twist of his wrist, brought his energy blade through the rifle of the last Spartan, cutting it in two.

The Spaarti reached down for his pistol strapped to his waist, and though Adam didn’t want to kill the man, he had little choice. Whipping his blade around, he slashed the defiant trooper and he went down.

The corridor was still obscured with smoke but Adam could feel the other four Spaarti moving slowly through it, so he quickly sprinted down the hall, ever closer to his goal.



“Milady Antigone, Spaarti reports have the intruder on the deck two, close to the barracks, moving in your direction.” Captain Addon’s irritating voice reported out of Jezebel’s comlink.

She gave a questioning look at the four men standing with her in the communications room and when she was satisfied with their responses she clicked the microphone; “Very well Captain. Inform the Spaarti that if they kill him, fine. But if not, herd him here and he will be dealt with.”



The slightest bit of doubt had started to enter Adam’s mind. He had been sure in his duty when he flown through the battle to get here, been sure of himself when he landed here (though worried about Derec) and he knew he was right to attempt to destroy the jamming system of the ship to end the battle when he had started at the landing bay.

But now, six decks, unknown amount of corridors and dozens of armed Spaarti hunting him later, a trickle of doubt wormed its way into his mind. It was stupid for him to think he could take on the entire crew of this starship and just stroll up to the communications compartment and foil the plans of these people. He had gotten Derec hurt and with increasing patrols and encounters with armed Spaarti, he will probably get himself killed.

He felt the presence of another patrol coming down the corridor adjacent to him as he crept along the never ending labyrinth of the starship, so Adam opened the closest hatch and ducked inside to hide. Their searches were getting better and Adam wasn’t stupid. He was being lead, slowly manipulated into going wherever the Spaarti wanted him to, but they were also pushing him in the direction Adam wanted to go, so the Jedi kept moving, kept taking the corridors and hatchways the troopers were trying so desperately to make him take. The Spaarti were closing the noose around Adam and sooner or later he would be surrounded by dozens of the troopers and that was more than he could handle, whether or not if that ambush took place in the comm. room.

He felt the patrol walk right past the compartment Adam was hiding in. The four glowing points of life shining out in the Force. But they did not enter, perhaps they were rushing to some choke point where they were supposed to steer Adam again, or perhaps they were a ruse to keep him in this room. Adam did not know.

He was about to leave the room and continue his agonizing trip to his objective, when a subtle pull in his mind kept him in the compartment. A soft whisper by the Force held him there. Trusting in the Force, he stayed and began to examine the compartment. What he saw when he turned around made the Jedi’s jaw drop.

Row upon row of Spaarti armor was lined up in racks. Beside those racks were some sort of cot or bed, but tilted up at an odd angle. Sleeping, or unconscious Adam didn’t know, were row upon row of Spaarti soldiers.

Or perhaps, more to the point, row upon row of the same Spartan soldier. Each trooper had the exact same features. Hardened body, square jaw and short cut blonde hair, everyone the same.

Clones!

For thousands of years there had been a taboo about clones. Rooted so deep into the culture of thousands of kingdoms, and thousands of species that cloning a sentient being was so morally bankrupt, no sane organization would do it. Some said that the taboo went as far back as the Galactic Civilization, that only they dared to use the monstrosities and it was the clones that brought down that utopia. Adam did not know, his teacher never dealing with that subject, but he did know that there was something just perverse about it. There were no souls here. And while he could plainly see the life force of the clones through the Force, they were lacking somehow, lesser than they should be.

The Federation was making a clone army to invade either the Corellians or the Kuati, perhaps both. A disposable force. Troops without family and loved ones to ask about their whereabouts, people who would want benefits from their loved ones sacrifice. Questions and money. These Spaarti, could be grown, trained and treated in a manner that most normal folk would find horrible and all without needing to pay them or worry about what to do with them if they grow old and want to retire.

Several pieces of the puzzles snapped together in Adams mind. He could envision Federation plans from this epiphany. See tangents and conditions to the plans laid down by some very cleaver people on Denon.

Adam Goodheart continued to glance around the room, looking for some piece of evidence he could take with him and instantly regretting that Derec was wounded down in the landing bay. Derec almost always had his holorecorder on him and Adam had never even owned one.

Nobody would ever believe him if he accused the Federation of having a clone army with out any sort of evidence. Such things were unthinkable. He might as well explain to the Corellian Dictate or the Kuati Merchant Barron that Adam could see the future.

His desperate search for portable proof ended when Adam caught sight of a computer terminal in the corner of the room. If that terminal wasn’t coded, Adam stood a chance of breaking into it and getting a data cube recorded with some of this information on it.

“Idiot.” Adam said quietly, referring to himself.

He didn’t need to record anything here. Adam pulled out his own comlink and pushed the transmit button. “Derec, do you read?”

There was a burst of static and the worn voice of his friend came rolling out of the speaker of the link. “Yeah, I read.” The Corellian mechanic broke out in a series of coughs, “What do you need Adam?”

“I’m about to send you a whole series of data files from a terminal here. Download them into that shuttles computer and will slice them out later. You’ll never believe what I’ve found here.” The Jedi said to his friend.

“Copy, standing by to receive transmission.” Derec called back.

It took Adam only seconds to rig the link and the terminal together and he started down loading all of the diagnostics of the dozens of Spaarti solider in the room. In mere minutes, Adam had his proof and he took his comlink back from the terminal and said, “Good job Derec. I’m almost done here. Better warm that bird up for me.”

Derec gave one of his smart mouth responses and with a smile, Adam put his comlink away and moved out of the barracks, reassured that he was in fact doing what needed to be done and he was indeed where he needed to be.

[Knife]

Hmm, no responses. Must need something more exciting;


7



Adam Goodheart, the first Jedi Knight in over three thousand years stood outside of the Communications Room of the Federation ship Whorlwind trying to see into the future. The corridor outside the compartment was dim and not very well lighted which was curious considering that the communications room was on the same deck as the bridge and various other major ship functions.

Trap! His mind kept screaming at him, it was a trap. But of course it was; he had known almost since he started running through the hallways of the ship that the crew was aware he was there and would be actively hunting him. It had been a game of cat and mouse that they have been playing for the last half hour.

He focused on the room and let himself fall into the warm embrace of the Force. There were four beings in the room, warm and brilliant points of life in the cold metal of the ship. Crewmen of the comm. units?

No, it was a trap. There was strong outpouring of emotion emanating off of the people in there. Anticipation, anger, even a touch of hate. Oddly, Adam sensed a grudging admiration from one of the beings. The woman, obviously he had impressed the mysterious woman by getting this far. That shocked Adam for a moment; he had no need nor want to let this become personal. He felt nothing for this mad woman, other than the need to foil her plan to start a major war.

Or did he? Derec had been teasing him relentlessly for the last week about Adam’s mysterious girlfriend. Had Adam got emotionally involved? If Adam was going to be honest with himself, he would admit that the woman was beautiful in her own way. The stark intelligence that seemed to beam off of her was appealing.

Then again, she was an assassin, a professional mercenary and killer. How could Adam find that attractive? She went against the basic principles of being a Jedi. Hell, even before he was a Jedi in service to the Force, Adam doubted that her profession would have appealed to him.

‘What am I thinking about?’ Adam chastised himself. ‘Why speculate about how I’d feel five years ago about this woman.’

Then it struck him. He was indeed drawn to this mysterious woman and it stirred conflict in his mind. A huge emotional knot that Adam knew was impossible to untangle right now. Whatever his feelings were, people were dying in the battle that was raging outside. People who did not need to die, and his ‘girlfriend’ was the cause.

Pulling his saber from his belt, but keeping it deactivated, Adam punched the door seal and with a hydraulic sound, it opened. Inside it was even darker than in the corridor, the only light coming from various monitors and instrumentation. The drama of it all made Adam smile as he walked to what he judged to be the center of the room.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Jedi.” Jezebel said as she stepped out of the shadow and into some of the sparse light in the room.

It was indeed the mysterious woman from Denon, thought Adam. Though her face was still in shadow, he could barely make out the features; she had the same stance, the same long hair and thin build. And that incredible smooth and powerful voice, complete with the cruel tone she injected into it.

Adam was a bit surprised that she called him a ‘Jedi’ though and that surprise must have registered on his face because his enemy began to elaborate, “Oh yes, I know what you are.”

“It took some doing, and I’ve uncovered a lot of fairy tale like nonsense. But I think I’ve discovered the truth of it.” She said, sounding almost bored but Adam knew it was a facade. Excitement was pouring off of her and Adam could have probably felt it without the use of the Force.

“We do not need to do this.” Adam said calmly. “Any fighting here would be as useless as all that fighting outside. Let me end this.”

She flashed him a wicked smile, “You really are a do-gooder, aren’t you?” She laughed, though there was little emotion in it.

“What would you do Jedi? Arrest me?” She said as she slowly moved around the room to Adam’s left. “I think not. You have no authority. You are not apart of some great Galactic government of old. Who would you turn me over to? I’ve worked for almost a hundred governments; they’ve hired me to do jobs like this all over the galaxy. Turning me over to them will just succeed in me leaving a few minutes later.” She laughed again.

“No, I don’t think that will happen. But do not worry; I have no intentions on fighting you. I think I have a good idea of what you are capable of with your….what is it? Power? Force? The translations were vague.”

Her taunt actually made Adam smile. She was trying to distract him, move his attention away from the other three moving in the shadows. Perhaps it was time to show her a bit of the Force.

“The Force makes a lot of things possible for me. Like knowing about your men moving over there in the shadows.” He pointed towards them, “Lets quit the dramatics, then. If they wish to fight, I can not stop them from doing so but I’ve waded through all of your Spaarti to get here, what makes you think they’ll do any better.”

Her predatory grin was absolutely beaming and she did a little bow, “As you wish, Jedi.”

To his right, the three men stepped into the light as the mysterious woman said, “This is Jek, Raman and Tybil. My best hand to hand combatants. They have worked for me for years and they, if you’ll take my word on it, are the best.”

The three men might as well have been Spaarti; each sported the same grim faced determination and malicious stare as they walked up to Adam. Each was holding a long staff, with some sort of generator on each tip.

Jezebel saw Adam size up the men and the weapons and decided to gloat a bit, “During my study, I came across some interesting things. While most of the histories I’ve read are about the heroic exploits of the Jedi, occasionally they let slip some insight into how people fought and fended off your do-gooder Order.”

She gestured towards the staff weapons, “These are called ‘electostaffs’ wielded by some sort of ‘Magnaguards’ thousands of years ago.” A low pitched buzz filled the room and the three staffs lit up with blue energy swarming around the tips.

“Curiously, they have the ability to block your laser sword.” Jezebel said with her wicked smile and stepped back into the deep shadows of the room away from the four men.

Adam centered himself in a fighter’s stance, and with a snap hiss his emerald green blade extended itself bathing his features in its glow. The three warriors slowly spread out around him and Adam brought his blade up mid way, ready to guard or strike.

The center man, whom the mysterious woman named Tybil, was lazily swinging his staff in circles, then with lightening reflexes attacked bringing the buzzing staff down in a powerful blow. Adam felt the attack coming as soon as the man committed to it in his mind and the Jedi swung his blade to block the weapon.

With a crash, the two weapons met and true to her word, the electrostaff held the lightsaber, the magnetic energy spiraling around it protecting the staff and its user. Their weapons shrieked and spat, throwing sparks off of the energy streams of each and the warrior smiled at Adam, a mean spirited smile.

Adam smiled back and nodded his head slightly, never taking his eyes off of Tybil. With reflexes faster than any human, and propelled by the Force, Adam snap kicked the warrior named Raman who was coming in for his own strike, then spun around freeing his blade from the lock with Tybil and attacked.

From the shadows, Jezebel watched with deep interest. Her three men moving in concert, their well organized attacks each supported by their fellows and playing to their strengths and to the weakness of a lone defender. The electrostaffs working as promised, their buzzing keeping in tempo with the movements and attacks of the three warriors using them. Twirling attacks with the blue streaks of the magnetic fields, the shrieks of the two energy sources fighting each other, the four men were engaged in brilliantly colored dance of death.

But for his part, the Jedi was still calm and collected. Deflecting blows and parrying attacks. He was never still, always moving, drawing the three attackers into where he wanted them. Jezebel knew the Jedi was well trained in melee combat. Though the ancient texts said most of a Jedi’s power came from this ‘Force’, he flowed through the room with moves that almost seemed choreographed as he danced amongst her fighters, betraying the amount of training the man must have.

But studying the fight, Jezebel saw things she couldn’t explain with training. Raman and Jek would attack on two sides and the Jedi would slip between then as Tybil would come around the back. Concentrating on dodging the two would have made seeing Tybil impossible and yet the Jedi acted as if he knew where everything and everyone in the entire room was at every second.

All three of her warriors were in front of the Jedi now, taking random turns at attacks, powerful swings or cleaver lunges. It was irritating that the Jedi just seemed to slip past each strike, or deafly block them with seeming ease.

Then the Jedi made a mistake. From one blocked blow to another, he overreached and Raman lunged in and caught the Jedi in the shoulder with his staff. It was only a glancing blow but Jezebel knew the magnetic field would numb the limb for hours to come.

Sensing his peril, the Jedi jumped unexpectedly, but not straight up. With an aerobatic grace she could scarcely believe, he did a short series of butterfly spins that traversed him across the room. Then with his green laser sword held up in his right hand, the Jedi pointed his left hand down at the floor to where some absent minded mechanic had left a tool box. She did not have time to be confused by this gesture before the Jedi lifted his hand and pointed to Raman.

As if ordered to by the gesturing Jedi, the tool box sprung off of the floor and shot across the room, hitting her warrior in the chest. The man was so surprised at this feat he didn’t even try to block it and when the heavy metal box hit him it made a sickening crack and Raman sank to the floor.



Adam was tired. He had fought and snuck his way past countless Spaarti and crewmen to get to this point only to have these men to go through to get to the jammers and the mysterious woman. His right shoulder was numb and only though the Force could he get it to work properly. Even then, his concentration was waning. With one down, he might do better against the other two; they must be getting fatigued as well. They were professionals, their training superb; Adam only hoped his was better.

Without waiting for them to attack, Adam waded back into them. His lightsaber a flash, his body always in motion. He reached out to the Force and as always the Force answered. Strength, constitution, knowledge. Adam connected to the room and in a certain point of view, he was the room. He was the two men attacking him, the shadowy woman in the back observing him. In his minds eye he could see it all, could tell when Jek was going to lunge or when Tybil was going to feint to the right and attack the left.

The Force controlled his actions, his lightsaber always just a fraction of a second faster than the other two, blocking and whirling. Adam had trained to be able to fight against other lightsabers. His Master knowing that it would probably never happen, but the knowledge of fighting other melee weapons would be valuable insight in his struggles. Adam was grateful for that now.

These weapons may be similar to a lightsaber in that they blocked his blade, but that was only at the tips where those generators were. With this insight, Adam adjusted his tactics. He whipped around Jek, his blade crashing into the magnetic field and shrieking against it. Both men pushing their weapons at the other, then Adam lessened his grip and slid the lightsaber blade down the shaft of the electrostaff until it hit the unshielded handle and cut the weapon in two. The man yelped in alarm and Adam pressed the attack. Spinning to use his own momentum, Adam swung is green blade back around and Jek fell to the floor, his head rolling across the room.

Without waiting for the eminent attack by Tybil, Adam reached deep down into the Force and gathered it to him and stretched his hand out in a pushing motion. A deep hum filled the room, as if a horrible storm was brewing until an audible crack echoed through the compartment. Tybil was flung backwards as if invisible hands grabbed him and threw him with unimaginable strength. He crashed into the wall and fell onto the floor unmoving and unconscious.

“You underestimate my powers.” He said to the shadows where Jezebel was standing.

The slender woman came back into the light, a blaster held loosely in her hand. “You are an interesting man, Jedi. Some day I’ll have to discover who you are.” She was interrupted by her own comlink as it buzzed to life in a burst of static.

“Milady Antigone. Spaarti reports put the intruder in your section. Do you need backup?” Captain Addon droned from the tiny speaker.

Jezebel sneered at the device, “Idiot.” Now the Jedi knew her name, if the pitiful little Federation captain had been in the room she would have shot him for such a moronic mistake.

Adam, from the other side of the room, nodded and said with an obnoxious smile on his face, “My lady, Antigone.”

When she looked back up at the Jedi, hatred filled her eyes. “Jezebel, if you would please. I see no reason to stand on formality.”

She looked down at the blaster pistol and smiled an icy grin, “I don’t suppose this will do me any good, will it?”

Adam raised his blade a fraction, waiting for the evitable to happen. She was tensing, getting ready for something and Adam doubted he could talk her out of it.

“But perhaps this will….” She laughed out loud and tossed something else from behind her back at Adam.

The small spherical device arced toward him and Adam identified it as a grenade. Deflecting it with his lightsaber would detonate the weapon and Adam was forced to jump out of its way. Using the Force to propel him across the room, Adam slid to a halt next to the wall as the grenade went off, filling the room with smoke and haze.

‘A concussion grenade, cleaver girl.’ Adam thought to himself. He glanced around the room but knew before then that she was gone. He rushed back over to the control station where the grenade had exploded. The consoles were blackened and a lot of the equipment was dead.

Frantically, he searched for the jamming controls and was for a brief moment afraid that Jezebel had destroyed them with her grenade. It would have all been for nothing, the battle, the hectic race to get here, Derec injured, if he couldn’t turn the jamming off.

His search led him from the ruined controls to another station and here he breathed a sigh of relief. The ECM station was still operational and Adam shut down all the comm. jamming. To make sure, he picked up one of the Electrostaffs and speared it into the controls once everything was shut down. The magnetic generators fried the circuitry in the controls.

Adam didn’t have time to revel in his victory. Jezebel Antigone must now be getting reinforcements. Who knows how many Spaarti would be filling the space at any moment. Or perhaps she was fleeing and if she escaped, she would only return with some other way to start a war. Adam had to capture her.

He raced out of the room and headed aft to where some turbolifts were. That had to be the best way out of this area. Even if it were not, they were the best way down to the hangar deck. He was coming around the corner now to the lifts when he just saw a flash of dark hair before a lift door closed.

Rushing over to the lift and skidding to a halt in front of it, Adam clipped his lightsaber to his belt and fell quiet for a moment, concentrating. He could sense the Spaarti behind him, moving from the bridge to the communications room. He could feel the soldiers in the next two decks, fanned out at any point that he might take to leave the command deck. And he could feel the presence of Antigone in the descending turbolift. She was leaving, silently berating the turbolift for not going any faster.

Adam opened his eyes and focused on the doors of the turboshaft. Using his hands are a visual cue to what he wanted to do, he reached out through the Force and pried the doors open. The metal doors groaned and the hydraulics hissed but the door was no match for the power of the Force and the two halves separated showing the yawning hole that was the turbolift shaft.

Without hesitation, Adam flung himself down the hole. In freefall, he could see the turbolift descending below him and it took several seconds for him to catch up with it. An instant before he hit the moving car, Adam called out to the Force and the mystical energy field slowed his decent. He landed, softly bending at the knees, and then was jolted as the car came to a sudden stop.

Pulling his saber free, he plunged the blade into the lock of the emergency hatch at one corner of the car. With a snap the metal disappeared in a poof of white smoke and vapor and the door swung open on invisible hinges.

For the second time, Adam saw a black blur as his quarry slipped out of the door and into one of the corridors of the ship. He extinguished his blade and dropped down into the lift to give chase, but as he hit the floor and was starting to run he saw the turbolift doors closed shut. It took him precious seconds to hit the door release before he could give chase.

He almost caught up to the fleeing Antigone at the next bank of turbolifts. He could see her plainly as she ran up to the elevators controls and turned back to watch him as he tore down the corridor. But any thought he had of catching her died when she flashed him that wicked grin of hers and pushed one of the control studs on the panel.

With and echoing boom the blastdoors into the turbolift foyer slammed shut, sealing off the lifts from the other compartments on the deck. Adam reached the blastdoors and slammed his fist into them in frustration. He could burn through them with his saber, but that would take precious time. Too much time and he was always conscious of the presence of Spaarti, coming for him from behind.

He calmed himself and thought. The blastdoors were to thick to cut open in a reasonable amount of time but the decking wasn’t. He lit his weapon again and spun in a small circle on the heels of his feet, dragging his energy blade through the floor as he did so. In seconds the decking dropped out of the manhole sized cut and clattered to the floor underneath the Jedi noisily.

Adam dropped down to the next deck into a similar bank of turbolifts. Moving quickly to the control panel, he found the indicator for the car Jezebel was in. According to it, she was past him and moving down to the landing bays. Adam jumped into one of the empty cars and hit the control stud for the landing bay, hoping he wasn’t to late.

The car sprung into action, dropping down through the decks quickly but to Adam it felt like years. Every possible contingency was going through his mind. Jezebel escaping, coming back with Spaarti clones, stumbling on Derec hidden away in a Federation shuttle.

No. He would not let that happen. After what seemed to Adam as four lifetimes, the doors to the turbolift opened and he could see the entrance to the shuttle bay. The Jedi charged down the hall and into the bay with his lightsaber lit and a determined look on his face. The two guarding Spaarti never saw him coming and Adam cut through them. He could already hear engines from a shuttle powering up.

Running to the center of the bay, Adam watched helplessly as one of the shuttles picked itself off the deck and swung out into space through the magcon seal of the bay. Its engines flared and it accelerated out into space and away from Adam. As it fled, Adam could see that any signs of battle out there were gone. Perhaps he was indeed in time to stop that battle even if he was not in time to capture Antigone.

He looked over to where the shuttle Derec was in and was relieved to still see it sitting there. He could even make out Derec's face looking out through the cockpit. Adam extinguished his blade and ran over to the shuttle. He’d still need to get Derec help for his wounds and the longer he stayed on this frigate; the quicker the Spaarti would catch up with both of them and make that matter moot.

With in moments, Adam and Derec were zooming out of the frigate's bay and out into space with a now dormant Corellian and Kuati fleet. Even from the shuttle's communications array, Adam could hear massive amounts of traffic to both fleets. Adam had won his victory even without capturing Jezebel Antigone.

[CERC]

very nice

[Darth Kalgarath]

Cutting through the floor! An act of brillance so simple it boggles the mind. I've always wondered why people from advanced spacefaring civilizations don't seem to think of their surroundings in 3D. Glad that point was covered so well.

[Arrow]

Excellent. When can we expect the next chapter?

[Knife]

Excellent. When can we expect the next chapter?

Probably a few weeks if not a month. I'm about jedied out for the moment. I'll probably blow the dust off of my Star Trek one, since there is still some interest in that.

[LadyTevar]

Sorry I didn't respond to the earlier one, I only saw it today.

Fantastic job!

Although I do have a problem with cutting through the deckplates. Even in a modern office building, there is often a gap of 2-3 feet between ceiling and floor of the next level, a crawlspace for wiring, piping, and other 'invisible' items that allow heat, air, water, and electricity to be right where they're needed, when needed.

[Knife]

Sorry I didn't respond to the earlier one, I only saw it today.

Fantastic job!

Although I do have a problem with cutting through the deckplates. Even in a modern office building, there is often a gap of 2-3 feet between ceiling and floor of the next level, a crawlspace for wiring, piping, and other 'invisible' items that allow heat, air, water, and electricity to be right where they're needed, when needed.

*shrug* You can look at it like that, though; in naval ships you just have the steel deckplate. Wiring, piping and such may be a celing level, but are usually along the corners.

[Soontir C'boath]

Wow, Knife. That was intense writing you have going here. I don't read as much fanfic as I use to but this definitely will be watched for updates.

[Stuart Mackey]

Very good.
I am surprised that Adam didnt force choke the staff weilding three however {Luke in ROTJ}, or simply remove the weapons from their hands a la Vader in TESB. I know it wouldnt have been nearly as dramatic however

[Knife]

Very good.
I am surprised that Adam didnt force choke the staff weilding three however {Luke in ROTJ}, or simply remove the weapons from their hands a la Vader in TESB. I know it wouldnt have been nearly as dramatic however

I was going for; Adam using lightsaber skills until he was 'wounded' and had to resort to force powers. A demonstration, really, for Jezebel.

[General Brock]

I like very much.

Also like hint that the ST fic will be continued...

[Knife]

I like very much.

Also like hint that the ST fic will be continued...

Meh, having problems with that, I'm working on it though.


Damn Riker.

[Knife]

Ah great, now you've jinksed me. Now I'm having trouble with this one. Damn you.....

[darthdavid]

Awww, I thought you'd updated.

[LadyTevar]

Ah great, now you've jinksed me. Now I'm having trouble with this one. Damn you.....

Relax, hon. It will flow if you just relax and let the characters whisper in your mind

[Perseid]

Ah great, now you've jinksed me. Now I'm having trouble with this one. Damn you.....

Relax, hon. It will flow if you just relax and let the characters whisper in your mind

Translation: Feel, don't think, use your instincts!

Sorry I just couldn't resist

[General Brock]

Guilt... sorry.

Artistic ones are so sensitive. I'll bet that tax-time, more than anything else, is what's trying you right now, though.

[Knife]

8



Derec was in bad shape as the angled, delicately shaped shuttle floated out of the hangar bay and into space. His friend was in shock now, fluttering in and out of consciousness, though Adam had eased the pain through the Force and bandaged him up the best he could using a small medical kit.

The battle was over; orders to cease fire came over the communications net once the jamming had stopped. Broken hulls of gigantic ships and other debris hung like a metallic curtain around the planet of Androffa. Hovering just outside of the debris field, the Corellian and Kuati fleets rested. Both armadas were noticeably smaller than when the melee started, and the ships themselves bore scorches and scars from the combat.

‘But the fighting had stopped.’ Though Adam. Now he turned his full attention to getting help for Derec. His first instincts were to jump the shuttle to the Valley of the Jedi and aide him there. But while he was bandaging Derec, Adam concluded that the wounds were too much for his simple knowledge of healing. Derec needed a hospital.

Androffa was too small to have a good facility. They probably didn’t have any Bacta at all in such a remote trading outpost. Which meant that he’d either have to appeal to one of the two fleets in orbit around Androffa, or run a blockade and go somewhere else, but where?

As he mentally concocted a list of possibilities, a group of Corellian fighters broke from the fleet and rushed towards him. Adam didn’t know if either of the two fleets had put together that it was the Whorlwind that had jammed their respective transmissions during the battle, or if they figured out that the Federation frigate was the cause of all the death here today, but he decided not to take any chances and opened the comm..

“Corellian fighters, this is Adam Goodheart fleeing from the Federation frigate. I have injured aboard, do not shoot. Repeat, do not shoot.” He pleaded into the mic.

Adam watched carefully as the squadron flashed by him and then he glanced down to his instruments to see the tiny blips on the sensors spin around and take up formation around the shuttle.

“Fleeing shuttle, you are ordered to stand to and prepare to be boarded. If you have wounded, a medic will be provided. Do you receive?” Said presumably one of the pilots flying outside the shuttle.

Though there was little emotion in the voice, Adam knew from his own experience that most pilots prided themselves in sounding disinterested even in drastic and deadly situations. He sensed no immediate danger through the Force, so he keyed the mic. again and said, “We comply. I repeat, we comply.”



Twelve hours later, Adam was inspecting the inside of the Corellian Battleship Ever Victorious’ medical center. His attention was primarily on the overly large canister situated in the middle of the room. Floating, unconscious, inside of it was Derec Trainer.

It had taken only moments after Adam had shut down the shuttles engines for a gunship to dock and Corellian troopers to board the stolen shuttle. They had taken Adam into custody and true to their word, a medic had accompanied them and treated Derec. Once back at the mother ship, the troopers had taken Adam to a security lounge and he’d been asked a battery of questions.

Having nothing to lose, Adam told the Corellians just about everything that happened at Androffa. He told them about the Whorlwind, he told them about the attempt to land on her, which had caused Derec's injuries, and he told them about how he turned off the jammers so that the two fleets could communicate with their respective governments.

It had surprised Adam a bit when the interviewer told him he could wait in the med center and be with his friend at the end of the session. He was told he could not go outside of the med center and that the Admiral would meet him there after the interviewer gave his report.

The leniency was odd, but Adam was grateful for it. The med tech told him that Derec would be fine; the Bacta would heal the burns, the tissue damage and broken ribs. They were even circulating a bit through his lungs, taking care of any smoke damage to them. It had felt like the weight of a star cruiser had lifted off of Adam’s chest. Now he was just waiting for the Corellian Admiral to come deliver his fate.

With Derec out of danger, he turned his mind to the situation at hand. He didn’t assume the Corellians would buy his tale, even though it was the truth. Adam had even told the security agent about the Federation clones, had told him about the data packet that he had sent to Derec on the shuttle. The look on the man's face pretty much told Adam that the security man didn’t believe him.

He sensed people approaching the med bay, so he turned to the door and accepted his fate. The doors flashed open and an old, grizzly man walked through them, when he did Adam Goodheart’s jaw about hit the deck.

The man was old, long wispy hair spilled from his head, his face like leather contrasting with his bright blue eye that sparkled with mischief. The other obscured by a patch that appeared to be bolted to the man’s heavy brow. The old man was huge, taller than Adam and perhaps twice his mass.

The Corellians uniform, adorned with buttons, ribbons and the traditional Blood Stripes, only served to enhance the physical prowess of the man. And while Adam was vastly surprised to see the man, glancing again at the uniform and what rank was displayed there, Adam was again astounded.

“Admiral..?” Adam finally managed to mutter.

The Corellian Admiral stared at the Jedi then his aged face exploded into smile lines, and the old man reached out and bear hugged Adam.

“Ah, I didn’t believe it when that fool down at security told me what the names of my new prisoners were.” He said in a deep cantankerous voice, a laugh buried in it.

The Admiral released him and said, “Never thought you’d see your old captain Priam in an Admirals uniform, did you?” He guffed.

The mischief left his one good eye as he motioned over to Derec in the tank, “How is Trainer? My people say he was banged up pretty bad.”

Adam was just finishing composing himself as his old pirate captain asked about Derec, “They say he will be fine. Without the bacta, he would have been in a really bad predicament. Thank you Captain….er, Admiral.”

Priam grunted as he looked Adam over, “You look none the less well, considering that you have supposedly fought your way through a Federation ship to cank some communications jamming. You and Trainer are like long lost sons to me, yet I find the story I’ve been told hard to believe.”

Adam’s intense green stare focused on his former captain and friend, “So you believe it is a Federation ship then?”

The smile came back into Priams face, “Oh yes, we know it’s a Fed ship. Shortly after yours and the previous shuttles escape, the frigate made a run of it. The Kuati’s blasted its engines, and both of us sent in troops. The thing was infested by Spaarti. We and the Kuati’s lost a lot of men taking that ship.”

With the admission of death, Priams face changed its emotion from mischief to rage. Adam was quiet for a second, morning the dead.

Priam was studying him again, “So, the idea of you galloping around that ship and turning off the jammers, strikes me as odd, boy. Hell, just seeing you is odd. Nobody has seen you in the ‘old circles’ for over five years. Most people who cared thought you were dead.”

Adam took a contemplative stance, hands held in front of him, fingers steepled, and said, “The answer to both of your questions, where I’ve been and how I got through the ship and it’s Spaarti, is the same one.”

He took a deep breath, knowing that there was a chance Priam would just not believe him, “Have you ever heard of the Jedi?”

Priams brow seemed to thicken and the decidedly grumpy looking man got even grumpier looking. “Spoon benders!” He nearly grunted in answer.

“I suppose,” Eased Adam, “but it is much more than that. I have spent the last five years training in the arts of the Jedi. We, I…am more like a warrior, a Paladin, if you will.”

Adam saw the thought forming in his old captain’s mind and interrupted him before he could utter it, “Not a mercenary. I don’t fight for money; rather I serve for an ideal. Look, it’s a long story, but the quick version is I’m here because Derec and I stumbled across an attempt to get both the Kuati’s and the Corellians into a war.”

“So my Intel folks say.” Priam glanced away from Adam for a minute, clearly thinking, and then said, “Come. You’re obviously tired. We’ll get you some food, you and I will talk in my cabin, you’ll get some sleep.” He wrapped his huge arms around Adam and steered him out of the room.

“Derec won’t get out of the tank till tomorrow. I’ve got some of those damn Kuati coming tomorrow as well; the both of you can sit with me and keep me from being bored with them. I think they’ve come to the same conclusion as you have about the Federation, so the next question will be ‘what to do?’ And I want you there to help with that.” He continued as they approached the door.

As the door hissed open he paused and looked at Adam, mischief pouring out of his eye, “And if all else fails, you can entertain us by bending spoons.” He said, barely containing a baritone laugh.



Admiral Priam sat at the long conference table with his staff, the Corellian Admirals uniform looking slightly messy and ragged. In contrast, the six Kuati officers sat ramrod straight, their uniforms elegant, if a bit over the top, and crisp. The two groups on opposite sides of the table were trying to be civil, yet years of thinking the other a competitor at best, enemy at worse, was clearly making headway hard.

“Yes, yes. We know all about the Federation ship, Admiral Priam. Our troops died over there securing it as well. Coincidently; we know that you removed two fighters from the frigate and they are even now aboard this ship.” The leading Kuati said with an accusing gesture towards the Corellian side of the table.

“Those ships, one of which was wreckage, belong to Goodheart and Trainer here. We merely returned their property.” Priam sighed, “The least we could do since they exposed this whole damn charade.”

“Ah yes, the Jendo.” The Kuati’s sharp features bore in on Adam but the Jedi could sense the words were nothing more than bluster from the man. He was arrogant and had too much of a sense of worth for Adams tastes, but he was honest and did care what turn of events would happen here today. Adam could even feel the pain of loss and anger of betrayal in the Kuati Admiral, and having first hand seen the ravages of the battle yesterday, Adam could not fault him.

“Jedi, I believe is how it is pronounced.” Priam grumbled back, then shot Adam a smile.

“Very well,” Admitted the Kuati, “We’ve also been able to identify your ‘Jedi’ is it? – Your Jedi as the same man at Denon a few weeks back when the Corellians accused the Kuati nobility of trying to assassinate your trade representative.”

Priam sat up straight and put a blank look on his face, Adam had seen it before when Priam was gambling. “Admiral, I’ve sent that report back to my government yesterday. This morning, my government sent a reply. I hereby apologize for that entire incident. You have both my and the Dictates personal apology for any implied or direct assault on the Kuati honor.”

The mischief came back into his eye, “We were wrong, but it seems that we were tricked, just like you were yesterday. The Federation owes us both a debt of blood and I say we make the first collection.”

The proposition seemed to stun the Kuati Admiral for a second. “You, of course mean now?”

Anger replaced the mischief in Priams expression. “Yes. Why wait.”

He gestured over to Adam again, “Between your ships destruction of the Federation Frigates’ engines, both our troops’ capture of the ship, and the help of the Jedi here, we’ve been able to put together a lot of intelligence we have obviously been missing.”

“I didn’t believe it at first, and I’m sure you’re in the same boat as I am, but the damned Federation is using Clones. The Spaarti, their super army, are clones. I know for a fact that you’ve personally been to their barracks or storage bin or what ever you want to call it, on the frigate.”

The sharp chin of the Kuati Admiral nodded, “Disgusting development. My personal tastes can’t decide which is worse, the Federation manipulating us, or the abomination that is their army.”

“Jedi Goodheart here, while aboard their ship and before they started to wipe their computer cores, downloaded quite a bit of data from the clone storage. That information coupled with the information of the flight plan of the ship itself has revealed where they picked up the clones. And due to that, plus the lack of population there, we may have found one of the factories where the Federation may make their abominations.” Priam finished his pitch to the Kuati’s.

The group of Kuati’s exploded into hushed conversation with one another until the Admiral hushed them, then turned back to Priam and said; “A joint operation? I would need to talk to my government to do that, Admiral.”

“But you are interested?” Priam pushed.

The Kuati leaned forward, hands on the table and dark look came over his face, “Kuati’s and Corellians have had their problems, Admiral. But those problems do not nor will they ever be enough to explain away the death and destruction I saw yesterday. How did you put it? The Federation owes us a debt of blood? Indeed, we would be interested in both revenge and justice in this situation. I assume you have a basic plan?”

The Corellian Admiral again gestured to Adam but this time the Jedi stood. “Admirals,” He said in respect to both sides of the table. “Due to where Admiral Priam thinks the Clone Facility is, we suggest that a small recon team comprised of both a Corellian and a Kuati element, land on the planet, recon it and then call in the joint fleet.”

A look of suspicion flashed over the Kuati’s face. “And who would be in command of this ‘recon’? You?”

Adam didn’t even miss a beat, “Both elements would have their own command structure, but yes. Over all command would be mine under the plan. We’ll use the captured Federation shuttle for insertion.”

Priam’s baritone voice came across the room, cutting of any more suspicion, “I will cede command of the joint fleet to you, if it will make you feel better Admiral.”

An evil smile came across the Kuati’s face then; Adam could feel the arguments slide from the man's mind, “Very well then. If my government allows it, I agree with the general plan. But I need to know where we are going to attack. Where is this facility?”

It was Priams turn to lean across the table, hands laid flat on the top, his face displaying a hint of a smile. “Where else would these bastards do it? Coruscant.”

[Lonestar]

He took a deep breath, knowing that there was a chance Priam would just not believe him, “Have you ever heard of the Jedi?”

Priams brow seemed to thicken and the decidedly grumpy looking man got even grumpier looking. “Spoon benders!” He nearly grunted in answer.

No Jedi is a match for James Randi!

[LadyTevar]

Once again, you've written a fantastic story. There were no battles but those of wit, and they were just as engaging as the last chapter. Great job!

[Knife]

'Score!'

I didn't know if it was to late to introduce another character, and not just a background one either. Priam is mentioned briefly earlier, but I wanted him out in front, as it were.