quot;Dropped quaffle! Ireland recovers and is now racing for the rings!"

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Chapter 1

Keeping her eyes firmly fixated on the large asteroid colony before her, Ziri Nox; former Dark Lady of the Sith, former member of the Dark Council, founder of the Guardians and the adoptive mother of Harry Potter, piloted her ship, the Ashara, through the mass of ships entering and leaving the smugglers' port. "Well what do you know, the nav computer was right." Nox's lover and co-pilot Nymphadora Tonks said as she watched the dozens of ships fly by. "There really is a colony out here…how did they build something like this on a rock? How do they breathe?"

The colony, or rather the smugglers' den, was one of the few places that were locked in the ship's nav computer. No doubt the smugglers that she collected the Ashara from had intended to make this place their next stop after they managed to escape Korriban. And while this was not her first choice for a destination, especially with a ship load of primitives as they were, this place would allow them to barter several relics from Earth, all fake of course, with little to no questions asked.

Her second reason for choosing this place, besides the fact that it was close to Wild Space, was the simple fact that it was apparently one of the largest hubs for bounty hunters in this sector of the Outer Rim. And it was probably the last place anyone would think to look for Force sensitives in a galaxy that was currently trying to hunt them down.

"The colony itself is encased in a dome." Nox explained as she guided the ship towards an empty docking harness. "The inside of which has been terraformed just enough so it has a somewhat self-sustaining ecosystem."

The ship rocked back and forth almost violently as it latched onto the harness. Tonks of course immediately latched onto her seat so hard her knuckles turned white. "Whoa…you'd think for how advance everything is out here someone would come up with a better docking system."

"Nothing is ever perfect." Nox shrugged powering down the engines. "Let's see how the kids handled the docking."

In the main galley of the ship the only four that were still on their feet were Harry, Daphne, Aela and Ginny. Remus, Luna, Hermione, Susan had all managed to find a seat before they docked. But the rest; Astoria, Tracey, Hannah and Ron, were all still trying to regain their footing.

"I take it we've arrived mother." Harry stated with a slight smirk on his face as she came into view.

"What was your first clue son?" She teased back, enjoying the slight reddening that came over his face while she did so. "Now listen carefully. All of you. I've been to several smuggler dens like this one in my time. And trust me, even the best among them make Knockturn Alley seem like a walk in the park. So on this first trip out it will just be myself, Tonks and Aela."

Of course that started off a wave of protest, which she promptly silenced with a wandless silencing spell. 'Force…if only I knew how to do that back when I was still on the Dark Council. Would've made those meetings far more productive.'

"This is not up for debate." Nox said harshly, meeting each of her students' eyes. "This place is dangerous. Not to mention everyone with a blaster is now hunting for anyone of age that shows even an inkling of Force aptitude. And while I have no doubt that all of you would be able to handle yourselves for the most part. I really do not feel like fighting off every bounty hunter on this rock in order to escape. Aela, Tonks and I will check out the immediate vicinity and then allow you to leave the ship later under close supervision. If you disobey me, then you will not only be staying on board; your punishment will be most unpleasant. Are we clear?"

"Yes Master." All of her students, including Harry, answered.

"Good," Nox nodded before turning towards Remus and Aela. "Aela go get the smaller crate of jewels and relics out of the cargo hold. We'll put out some feelers today and go after bigger targets tomorrow. And get the blasters too. If we're going to be playing the part of bounty hunters than we at least need to look the part."

Within ten minutes the three of them were dressed as in common street clothes with blasters on each of their hips and with their wand holsters firmly secured on the underside of their forearms and out of sight. Stepping out of the airlock of the docking cradle and into the colony proper, they were greeted immediately by the sight of a busy commerce street. Hundreds of individuals of nearly a dozen different species were darting back and forth through the busy street while vendors lined either side peddling everything from ship parts, to blasters, to torpedoes and even slaves.

The last of which made Nox's hands tighten almost painfully. Her time as a slave had left a deep and permanent scar on her soul. While the trio were still getting their bearings, a male twi'lek walked up to the slave girls and began roughly feeling their assets. Nox actually had to reach out and stop both Aela and Tonks from interfering as the twi'lek turned and started negotiating with the slave dealer.

"No." Nox growled as the new slave owner picked up a chain and attached it to the collar of a human woman. "One day they will all pay. But we have neither the time nor manpower to do anything now. But remember what you see here…and use it in the future."

Unbeknownst to the three of them, but as they stood there they were noticed by a rodian who gave a quick nod to his two human bodyguards before advancing on the trio. "Good day travelers!" The rodian said in Huttese as he approached the trio. "My name is Gian and I welcome you to Nemir's Den. Owned and operated by none other than Nemir the Hutt himself!"

Turning towards the rodian, Nox made a subtle motion with her hand for Tonks and Aela to flank her. "And your point?"

The rodian began scratching under his chin as his two human bodyguards came up on either side of him. "Nemir requires a toll to be paid on all docked ships. One hundred credits a day. And you must register what your cargo is and it's worth."

Nox just barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. "Aela. Tonks. Set our goods down and give this rodian and his guards what they're due."

Smiling, Gian turned towards Aela expecting payment and instead received the werewolf's fist right under his jaw. While the rodian was still in the air, Aela reversed her arm and smashed her elbow into one of the guard's chest before grabbing him by the throat with her left hand and lifting him clear off the ground. The second guard made to intervene, but was stopped dead when the business end of a blaster was pressed against his temple courtesy of Tonks.

Taking a step towards the downed rodian, Nox pressed down on the man's sensitive parts with the ball of her foot while the passerby's in the street watched on without making any move to interfere. "Now that wasn't very smart rodian." She drawled while drawing her own blaster. "I could've believed the whole part about a toll. But wanting to know the purpose of my visit and what I'm carrying? That's something that only the core worlds would require. Not this outpost. Quite simply…you got greedy rodian. And it's going to cost you."

Raising her blaster, she leveled it first at the rodian's head before moving over to each humans. "Eeny. Meeny. Miny. Moe." On the last word she brought the blaster back down and put a hole through the center of the rodian's head. "Now you two. Your payday is dead. So before you act take a moment to ask yourself a single question. Is this really worth it?"

The two humans glanced at one another. The one who only had Tonks' blaster pointed at his head took off immediately. And the other took off after him the moment Aela set him back down on the ground. "Didn't think so." Nox smirked as she holstered her blaster.

The moment she stepped away from the dead rodian the residents were on him. His pockets were turned inside out as they looked for any spare credits. His over coat was roughly stripped from his body, causing a short scuffle to break out between a twi'lek and a human about who grabbed it first. And his boots were taken as well.

"Was that really necessary?" Tonks asked as she watched the residents descend on the corpse like a flock of vultures. "We could've just turned him into the authorities."

"You really haven't been to many places like this have you, little Miss Auror?" Aela chuckled. "For starters, if there were any law enforcement personnel here they would probably have a life expectancy of about ten seconds. Second, I'm sure extortion is the least of that creature's crimes. And thirdly, you don't want to appear weak in a place like this. And as you can see, no one is even the least bit bothered by a sudden death in the middle of a crowded street."

"Alright, you made your point." Tonks grumbled. "Just…if you're going to kill someone at least give me a moment's warning alright Nox?"

"Fine." Nox smirked as she leaned close to Tonks while sending a small jolt straight into her hip. "I'll make it up to you later lover." And then she pulled away leaving Tonks mildly gasping in the middle of the street.

"Damn it Nox." Tonks half groaned and half gasped. "You…you're just evil you know that! You can't just do that and walk away!"

Smiling to herself, Nox set a brisk pace through the crowded streets leaving Aela and Tonks struggling to keep up. As they walked Nox kept a trained eye on the vendors that were peddling their wares. After walking for nearly thirty minutes she came to a stop before a male twi'lek who had a few pieces of jewelry out on his stand. "Ah, I see the lady has a trained eye for quality." The twi'lek said in Huttese as he stepped forward. "How can Rumth be of service?"

Stepping up to the table, Nox smiled as she made a quick pass over the man's mind. He was desperate. Good. That would work. "I'm looking to sell some recently acquired wares." Nox answered as she looked at the pieces on the table. All of which were tarnished in some manner, and in the most cases complete forgeries. "And I believe that you are the man to talk too."

The twi'lek bit his lip as waves of disappointment rolled off of him. But the chance for new wares was just too good for him to pass on. "Perhaps I can be of service."

Stepping forward, Aela opened the small crate she was carrying under her arm and pulled out a thick golden chain that was attached to an emerald half the size of her fist. "I'm sure that we can come to some sort of an agreement," Nox smiled as the twi'lek's eyes grew large with greed.

Peering over the lid of the small crate, the twi'lek nearly drooled at the sight of all the several gold and gem encrusted pieces of jewelry that were inside. Of course all of the pieces within were fakes. Just transfigured stones that would revert back to their original state in a couple of days. But he didn't need to know that. "Yes…quite the collection. Rumth wonders if you could say once more where you acquired such fine pieces."

"I never said where I acquired them in the first place." Nox answered back. "But you don't have to worry about anything. The previous owners won't be coming and looking for them."

Nodding, Rumth continued to make a show at looking over the pieces. "They are fine pieces. But Rumth might have trouble moving them. I'll give you one thousand for all of them."

Nox glared at the twi'lek before turning to Aela. "Put them away Aela. That price is an insult."

"Wait! Rumth can negotiate."

"I don't know what there is to negotiate." Nox replied flatly. "That one piece can be sold for easily seven thousand. And the rest of them could go for a combined ten thousand. So unless you are willing to offer me at least thirteen thousand we have nothing further to discuss."

Rumth stared at the jewelry almost desperately, his thoughts so loud that Nox didn't even need to try in order to read them. He needed this jewelry in order to pay off a debt to Nemir the Hutt. And he needed it by tomorrow otherwise he would end up as the 'evening entertainment'.

Taking the gold and emerald necklace form Aela, Nox began idly playing with the links in the chain. "You see Rumth, my friends and I have a two crates three times the size of this small case full of pieces just like these. For some reason Rumth…I like you. And since I like you so much I'm willing to make a deal with you. You give me five thousand and I let you take the case minus this piece here. You put us in touch with a buyer that would be willing and able to pay full price for all of these pieces and I'll give you this piece to sell at your leisure."

Nox could feel the relief pouring off of the man. Even losing all of his current creds, the amount he could gain back from selling the case plus the amount he would get from the necklace would be more than enough to pay off his debt to Nemir. "Five thousand is all I have…will you take four?"

"Five thousand Rumth." Nox shot back, wrapping the chain around her fist. "Otherwise we walk. You have ten seconds to make up your mind. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Fi-"

"Wait! Rumth knows of a buyer! Rumth accepts your deal."

"Wonderful." Nox smiled, tucking the necklace into the waist band of her belt and out of sight. "We'll be back in one cycle and you can take us to your buyer."

Nodding, the twi'lek ducked back into his shop for a few minutes. When he came back out he was holding small durasteel case roughly the size of a briefcase. "Five thousand credits, as promised." He said reluctantly handing the case over.

Tonks immediately grabbed the case and opened. Inside the top row were indeed Republic, or rather Imperial credit chips. Removing the first layer, Tonks dug down in the case looking for any gaps or forgeries. After a quick count Tonks nodded to Nox. "It's all there."

"Good." Nox then nodded to Aela who pushed the case full of fake jewelry over to the twi'lek. "We'll be back within one cycle and you can take us to your buyer."

Rumth nodded while quickly grabbing hold of the case of jewelry and holding onto it as if it was his only lifeline. Which, from what she managed to pick up from his mind, wasn't too far from the truth. "Wait! What type of payment do you request from Rumth's buyer?"

"Credits. Blasters. Ammo. Missiles. Shield generators or fuel." Nox answered without missing a beat.

The twi'lek bowed low and immediately began closing up his shop, no doubt so he could get to Nemir and barter for his life.

With their business concluded, Nox led her two companions back through the marketplace and back onto their ship. As they walked Nox saw that most of the peddlers were working fast in order to try and close up their shops. 'More than likely the selling time is over this cycle.' The moment the stepped out of the airlock they were immediately set upon by her apprentices. All of whom immediately began talking over one another in their attempts to ask her questions about the colony.

"Do I have to silence you all again?" Nox threatened, which of course immediately silenced any and all questions. "Good. Now the market place is closing down for this cycle. When the next cycle starts I will allow Remus and Aela to take you all out in pairs to explore the general vicinity. Do nothing to draw attention to yourselves while you are out there. No magic. No Force abilities. No lightsabers. Understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good." Nox nodded before turning to Aela. "I want you to give each of them a hundred credits so that they can buy something from one of the peddlers. Some interaction will be good for them. Harry, I have a different task for you."

Taking a step forward, her son stood up slightly straighter. "What is it mother?"

"Tomorrow when you head out I want you to take Ginny and Aela with you. Aela, I want you to take the two of them to that droid vendor that was two shops down from our jewelry peddler. Once you're there I want you to buy an astromech droid."

Harry brow furrowed in confusion before his eyes widened. "You mean one of those droids that work on ships?"

"Among other things." Nox nodded.

Raising her hand, Hermione tentatively asked, "What is an…astromech droid Master Nox?"

"They're exactly that," Nox answered with a shrug. "They're droids that are completely sentient that work on ships. They're also commonly used in conjunction with fighter pilots as they can perform mid-combat repairs to fighters as well as offer tactical data and strategic options to the pilots."

Hermione was nearly drooling after the word 'sentient'. "Yes Hermione you can examine the droid. As long as you don't drool all over it." Harry chuckled, making the others laugh at the witch's awestruck expression.

"Oh, bugger off." Hermione cursed looking completely embarrassed.

Almost immediately five voices all chimed in, "Language Hermione." Which of course only made the witch's face turn even redder.

Even Nox felt some small measure of amusement at watching the back and forth between the children. "Alright, enough of that. If you all keep it up our resident genius might just pass out from heat stroke." Nox wasn't sure if it was her 'genius' comment or her teasing, but Hermione's face only turned redder. "Now all of you get some sleep. We'll be leaving this rock and heading for Odessen before the end of the next cycle and we have a lot of work to do."

Stepping out of the airlock with Aela, Harry and Ginny did their best not to gape at the dozens of different species that were scattered amongst the crowded street before them while Aela gently prodded them from behind. "Don't gawk you two." Aela said lowly. "Act like you belong here. You don't want to stand out. Ron already almost did that earlier when a pair twi'lek and nautolan dancers passed us by. I swear the boy just about blew it right then and there. Hermione was not pleased with him. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was mildly disgusted with his lack of self-control." Aela snickered.

Harry wasn't quite sure what Aela had meant by that, by judging by her tone and by the look on Ron's face when he and Hermione had returned to the ship he had a pretty good idea. Moving slightly closer to Ginny, Harry allowed Aela to guide the two of them through the crowded streets.

"This place puts Diagon Alley to shame." Ginny said lowly as she looked around. "I can't even guess what half of this stuff is supposed to do …Merlin my father would go crazy in this place."

Harry was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes straight ahead as they move further and further into the crowd. Everything was just so interesting! So foreign. And then it happened. And Harry suddenly understood why Ron had had such a difficult time.

"Hello there handsome, perhaps we can treat you right." A sultry voice beckoned to him.

Harry was just barely able to keep his face straight as two green skinned women, one a twi'lek and the other had to be a nautolan, came up on either side of him and took hold of each of his arms. Harry felt his face heat up as he noticed that both women were clothed in skin tight, thin, see-through mesh body suits with only slim thicker pieces of cloth over their more private parts.

"Ahem, no thank you." Harry managed to stutter out while politely but forcefully pulling his arms out of their grips. "I – uh – appreciate the offer but I don't have the – um – time to uh…well I don't have enough time to uh – correctly appreciate two such visions of beauty like yourselves. Maybe another time."

The two women only seemed mildly put out. "Well then sweet thing," the nautolan purred as she leaned close and pressed her lips to his cheeks. "Come back when you do have the time. And we will show you things you've only dreamed off."

Harry just barely managed to keep his jaw from hitting the ground as he watched the two saunter off into the crowd. Turning around he saw that Ginny, while seemingly glaring at the two women, also seemed to be having trouble holding in her laughter. Aela wasn't as subtle. His supposed guard for the day was grinning from ear to ear.

"You brought me by here on purpose, didn't you?" Harry growled as he marched past Aela.

"Of course." Aela smiled patting him on the shoulder. "It's way too much fun, not to mention it's not easy, to fluster boys your age. And two scantily clad beautiful women? Please…it was practically gift wrapped."

Grumbling, Harry continued on down the market. "If you keep that up Ginny we're not going to stop for you to buy something." Harry said over his shoulder as Ginny failed to hold in her amusement any longer.

"Fine." Ginny smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Spoilsport."

They did actually stop at a small vendor that was selling working models of ships and something called hover bikes. Ginny ended up spending most of her allotment of credits but she did purchase a model speeder that was supposedly functional. When Harry voice his doubts Ginny merely shrugged then said in a low voice that if it didn't work she would simply charm it to fly.

Following Aela, she led the two of them up to a stall where a toydarian, if Harry remembered correctly, was lounging against his stall table. As they drew closer Harry realized the creature wasn't just leaning against his table. He was sleeping. "Good thing he doesn't have anything on display." Ginny mumbled quietly.

"We toydarians are light sleepers little human." The toydarian said suddenly wide awake and using his wings so he was hovering at the same height as Harry and Ginny.

Ginny started slightly, but Harry managed to keep his composure. "We're here to buy an astromech droid. Word is that you're one of the best dealer around."

At the word 'buy' the toydarian's eyes almost literally lit up. "Yes, of course! And you heard correctly young human. I am the best around. Come come, see what I have in stock."

Following the floating creature into his shop, Harry saw that there where nearly a dozen different astromech droids as well as a few other types of droids he didn't recognize lining the walls. Harry had spent the few hours he had before leaving with Aela studying astromech droids on the holonet, so he had a fairly good idea about what he was after.

"As you can see," the toydarian said waving his hand around. "I have several of the R series astromech droids. All good quality I assure you of that. And…oh that pathetic girl! Slave! Get in here now!"

From the back of the shop a small blue skinned nautolan poked her head out and hesitantly came forward. Harry's fist clenched tightly as he noticed the large slave collar around her neck. 'For Merlin's sake! She can't be more than seven or eight years old!' And that wasn't all he noticed. As she stepped forward Harry sensed something. 'She's Force sensitive to boot!'

Once she was close enough the toydarian smacked her across the top of her head knocking her to the ground. He then started yelling at her in Huttese, to which she meekly nodded before picking up a rag and cleaning an oil spill on the floor.

Reaching back, Harry just barely managed to catch Ginny's arm before she drew her lightsaber. When the two met each other's eyes Harry sadly shook his head. They couldn't risk exposure.

"Sorry about that little display." The toydarian apologized. "Just bought her last week. Seems to work alright with mechanics but still working on cleaning duties. Now…what type of astromech can I interest you in?"

Trying his best to ignore the slight crying girl on the floor, Harry met the toydarian's eyes and tried to do a quick scan…but came up completely empty. 'Damn it, I can't read him.' "We already have one, but two would be beneficial seeing as how our mother is a bounty hunter."

One thing his mother had taught him about bartering. Never seem to be in need of whatever you were shopping for. The toydarian frowned slightly as he stared at Harry, then Ginny and the Aela. "Well…one can never be too safe. Especially in such a dangerous profession. I take it you two are siblings then. And this one is your mother's hired help yes? Yes of course. Now, what model where you interested in?"

Making a show of looking over each droid, Harry made a full lap around the store with Ginny. All the while keeping an eye on the young girl. "I thought you were the best dealer in the colony?" Harry half questioned as he stood before the toydarian. "I can walk down the street and buy any of these astromechs you have on display. If you want my business, you're going to have to impress me."

The toydarian glared at him for a second before turning and barking something at the young nautolan. The girl quickly nodded and disappeared into the back of the shop and reemerging a few seconds later half dragging, half carrying, a container that was almost half as big as she.

"I just received this one in from…well let's just say an unnamed source." The toydarian grinned while waving off the girl. "This a prototype model, so I can guarantee that you will not find this one anywhere else."

Smacking his fist down on top of the crate, all of the sides and the top fell over revealing a large sphere like droid with another half sphere perched on top for a head. Harry could feel through his bond with Ginny that she was instantly enamored with the thing. Kneeling down he made a show of inspecting the droid. "What is its designation? I don't think I've ever seen anything like this."

"BB-8, I believe is what my supplier named it." The toydarian said, obviously pleased with Harry's reaction. "And I can let it go for…oh say ten thousand credits."

Standing, Harry fixed the toydarian with a glare. Not necessarily a hard feat considering he was still pissed off about the little slave girl now trying to make herself as small as possible in the corner. "I can buy a ship for that price." Harry responded coldly. "I can buy a new R5 unit for less than a thousand credits. One thousand for this one."

Scratching his chin, the toydarian stared back and forth between Harry and the droid. "Well…maybe I overestimated its value. But it is a prototype. Five thousand."

"A prototype that you neither bought at price nor created." Harry countered back. "Two thousand."

Now the toydarian actually seemed to be enjoying their banter. "Three thousand and not a single credit less."

Considering that Harry had four thousand on him, he nodded his consent. "And I'll be taking your slave girl also." Harry announced making four head's shoot up in surprise. "You said that she's skilled mechanic right? Our last one died and she's just the right size to fit into small places on a ship."

The toydarian was no longer amused. "You might have talked me down on the droid human, but that girl cost me quite a sum on the block last week and she hasn't even earned a fraction of that back. You want her and the droid? Eight thousand and not a credit less!"

Staring back at the little girl, Harry bit his lip. Her eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between Harry and the toydarian. She might not be able to understand what they were saying, but she understood that it was about her. And the hopeful looks she was giving Harry…

'Morgana's cold tit…why am I such a pushover? I don't have eight thousand…and I can't just go an ask mother for it either. But I can't just leave her here. Especially as she's Force sensitive. This arse-whip will probably sell her to the Empire the moment she does anything Force related. Think Harry! There has to be something you can do…wait! That's it! The holonet said that all toydarian's have the same weakness!'

"How about a gamble then." Harry said turning back to the toydarian and while ignoring the sudden stiffing of Ginny and Aela behind him. "You name the game. Two rounds. The first round is my four thousand credits versus this BB-8 unit. If I win, then we go onto the second round. Which will be the BB-8 unit and my four thousand credits against her."

The toydarian hummed while rubbing his chin. Harry had just laid down a bet for an extra thousand credits that gave the shop owner two chances to win versus Harry's one loss and done. "Deal!" The toydarian laugh holding out his hand for Harry to shake.

Shaking his hand, Harry took a step back. "What's the game?"

Smiling, the toydarian pulled out three dice from his pocket. "These are chance cubes." He explained holding them up for Harry to see. "I roll both times. If red comes up on at least two of them, then I win. If blue…then you win."

Harry felt himself smile. Of all of the games he could've picked. He was sure that the dice were loaded, but in the end it wouldn't matter. "Deal."

Smiling, the toydarian shook the dice in his hand before rolling them onto the floor. All it took was a subtle wave of his hand and a gentle push with the Force and two of the dice came up blue. The toydarian glared first at the dice and then at Harry. "It appears that luck is with you human." The flying creature said as he went and collected the dice. "The droid is yours. But your luck won't hold this time."

Shaking his hand, the toydarian threw the dice again. With another slight move from Harry all three dice came up blue.

The toydarian stared uncomprehendingly at the dice for a moment. "No!" He shouted rounded on Harry. "That wasn't a fair bet! You cheated somehow!"

"I did no such thing." Harry shrugged. "You rolled the dice after all."

Glaring at him, the toydarian went over to the dice, picked them up and rolled them again. This time they came up with two red. "You can't have her!"

Raising one eyebrow, Harry stepped in front of the young girl. "Shall we take this before Nemir the Hutt?" Harry asked making the toydarian drop to the ground as his wings stopped flapping. "After all. A deal is a deal and a bet is a bet. That is a Hutt saying is it not?"

The toydarian was shaking with rage by the time he finally managed to get back up into the air. "Fine!" He shouted pulling something off of his belt and throwing it at him. "Take your new slave and your droid and don't ever show yourself in my shop again!"

Looking at the device, a controller by the looks of it, Harry motioned for Aela to collect the droid before going over and kneeling before the small girl. "It's alright." Harry said in what he hoped was a soothing tone when she backed away from him slightly. "It's time for you to come to your new home. And I promise you…you will never have to wear that thing around your neck again."

Holding out his hand, Harry held perfectly still as he smiled at the young nautolan. The girl looked back and forth between his outstretched hand, her previous owner and then Ginny and Aela. Deciding to press his luck, Harry reached out with gentle waves of the Force and touched the girl's mind as gently as he could. 'It's okay.' He said in his mind, making the girl's eyes widen in surprise as she heard his voice in her head. 'You can come with us. And once we're back aboard our ship we'll take that thing around your neck off. And I promise you…you'll never have to wear something like that again.'

Finally realizing what was going on, the girl smiled shyly before placing her hand in Harry's.

Holding her hand gently as he could, Harry stood up as Ginny came up and repeated his actions. The girl was far less hesitant this time and took Ginny's hand as well. "You did the right thing Harry." Ginny said as the four of them walked out of the shop with Aela pulling up the rear and carrying the droid still in its case.

"Yeah." Harry said looking down at the smiling girl. "Now I just have to figure out how to tell my mother that instead of coming back with just a droid I came back with the droid, all the credits she gave me and a Force sensitive child."

The interior of Nemir the Hutt's lair, for honestly it could hardly be called anything else, that Rumth had led them to was dark, loud and filled with smoke from at least several different forms of narcotics. And in true Hutt fashion, Nemir himself was lounging on a large dais so he could look down on the three dozen or so occupants while half a dozen barely dressed twi'leks danced around poles lining the outskirts of the room while a twi'lek slave girl sat on the dais with him. But at the moment none of the three dozen occupants or the large Hutt himself were even paying attention to the twi'leks as all of their attention was focused solely on the large metal grate in the center of the room.

Magnetically securing their crates, each of which were just slightly bigger than Harry's school trunk, to the floor Nox and Tonks pushed their way through the crowd so they could stare down through the grate at the spectacle below. Although it was hardly a spectacle. Rather a blood drenched slaughter. Below them a human male and female twi'lek, both of whom were wearing slave collars, were running around the cavern as they desperately tried to avoid the two nexu that were prowling around them. Interestingly enough there was even a fully clothed and armed gamorrean, more than likely a guard that had fallen in the pit, running along with the two unfortunate slaves. But judging by the pools of blood and freshly torn limbs laying around the pit they were not the only ones who'd originally been thrown in.

"Nox." Tonks hissed leaning in close to her. "We can't let this-"

"There's nothing we can do Tonks." Nox hissed back. "Trust me, if I could stop this nonsense I would. But if we try anything we'll expose ourselves and we'll have to fight off every person in this room as well as every hunter within this and every adjoining sector. And besides…it's already too late."

Around them the crowd roared as the human pushed the twi'lek right into the jaws of one of the nexu before running in the opposite direction. The girl managed to get one scream out before the nexu clamped its jaws down and ended her. The gamorrean, temporarily distracted by the cry, let his guard down and the second nexu pounced and tore its throat out. Now the human was left alone against two nexu. He started begging in Huttese for forgiveness, but his cries only made the crowd laugh. Soon enough it ended as one nexu grabbed his leg and the other his chest and working in tandem pulled the man apart.

"That concludes this evening's entertainment!" The Hutt announced from his dais. "Slaves! Start the music up! Dancers get moving lest you become part of tomorrow's entertainment!"

Instantly the crowd dispersed and music started playing once more as a panel slide over the metal grate blocking the view of the nexu enjoying their meal.

"Come." Rumth said urging them forward.

Stepping up with the twi'lek, Nox and Tonks stood side by side before the hulking beast. "Great Nemir." Rumth groveled, bowing low enough so that his forehead was almost touching the floor. "As I promised I have brought to you the ones who brought me the wonderful jewels that you purchased from me jus-"

"I can see them fool." Nemir growled before looking Nox and Tonks up lecherously. "Hmm…they would be fine additions to my collection."

"We are not here to be part of your palace's entertainment regiment Nemir." Nox said sharply. "We are here for trade. Nothing more. Nothing less."

The large Hutt rubbed at his chin before shrugging. "Hmm…very well. Show me what you have and I will decide whether or not we can do business."

Motioning to Tonks, her lover went back and released the magnetic locks on the crates before bringing them forward. Once they were between them and the Hutt Tonks deactivated the hovering mechanisms and opened their lids. The entire hall gasped and Nemir looked mildly taken aback at what was inside. The entirety of the inside of both crates were filled to the brim with gold jewelry all adorned with precious stones.

"Hmm…most interesting. Where did you collect these?"

"You don't honestly expect me to tell you, do you? We don't know each other that well." Nox answered back. "Plus…only a fool reveals the location of their source of such fine antiques."

Nemir growled lowly before nodding towards one of his gamorrean guards. The pig faced creature stepped forward and picked up one piece from each chest at random before running a scanner over them. Once the scan was completed the gamorrean turned back to the Hutt and squealed.

"Hmm…it appears you are as good as your word scavenger." Nemir nodded.

"Bounty hunter actually." Nox corrected making the Hutt's eyes widen.

"Ah, now Nemir understands why you are selling such fine pieces. Bounty hunting has become quite the trade. And to take down the Top-Ten you will need the best weapons and warriors credits can buy."

"Exactly." Nox nodded. "Now where is our payment?"

Nemir just started laughing, along with most of the hall. "Hahaha…you have brought me such fine items…why should I pay you for your gift?"

Narrowing her eyes, Nox pushed the lid down on both chests. "You should pay me because not only can I bring you more of these…but I've loaded both chests with enough explosives to level this palace and the surrounding buildings." Holding up a detonator, Nox activated it. "And I've just activated them with a dead man's switch."

Nearly every person in the room cried out in alarm as many dove for cover while most everyone else in the room drew their weapons and pointed them at Nox and Tonks. Nemir though…he just laughed. "Hahahaha! I like you bounty hunter. I don't know if you have what it takes to hunt Jedi…but I still like you. I will pay you fifty thousand credits. Plus another thirty-five thousand worth of weapons, ammo and fuel. Take it…or join my decorations with a collar around your neck."

Staring at the Hutt, Nox raised her foot and placed it on top of the crate. "I need supplies more than credits. Make it thirty-five thousand credits and fifty thousand credits worth of supplies. All delivered right now. Oh and these crates are seal with a twenty-four-digit access code that I will give you once you've delivered payment."

The Hutt stared at her while rubbing his large gut. "Deal hunter. Guards, retrieve the hunter's payment from my personal stockpile, only the best then return. Slaves! Get dancing and play some music! And the get the hunter's a drink already! Or you'll all be tomorrow night's entertainment!"

Immediately the music started up once more and the dancer's resumed their dances. Taking her foot off of the crate, Nox deactivated the detonator and pulled out the emerald necklace and passed it over to Rumth before motioning for Tonks to follow her. "Let's sit down. This will take a little while."

As soon as they sat down a human slave girl immediately gave each of them a drink that was smoking slightly before quickly moving away. "Is…is the rest of the galaxy like this?" Tonks asked while taking a tentative sniff of her drink. "And what is this?" Tonks looked at the glass curiously.

Shaking her head, Nox picked up her own drink and gave it a sniff as well. "Not all places are like this. The Hutts are crime lords. Always have been since the fall of the Hutt Empire. But despite their dubious nature there are two things that you can count on from a Hutt. And those are that a deal is a deal and a bet is a bet. They might try and swindle you as much as possible, but once the terms are set they will live and die by them. And as for the drinks…well pretend like you're drinking but don't actually drink them. There's a slight sedative and a not so mild pheromone mixed into each. A few sips and you'll more than likely volunteer to be joining those girls up on stage. Not that I would necessarily mind that…but we still have work to do." Nox warned.

Turning her glass idly in her hand, Nox carefully observed the crowded room. Rumth was currently kneeling before Nemir and holding out the emerald necklace. After a brief discussion the twi'lek nearly cried out with relief as he handed the necklace over to the Hutt, who then promptly put it onto the neck of the dancer who was lounging on the dais with him.

While they were sitting waiting for their payment they were accosted by no less than five men of varying species. Not that Nox was interested in any of them of course. Tonks did give a few of them a good second glance, especially when a human man approached wearing little more than a loincloth that did little to hide the fact that he was obviously well-endowed. Of course that same man, obviously noting that Tonks was the more willing of the two of them, pressed his luck a little too much Nox pulled out her blaster and put a bolt in his thigh less than two inches off the mark of permanently rearranging his anatomy. After that little display, which didn't even halt the constant party going on around them, they were mercifully left alone.

After nearly an hour the gamorrean guards that Nemir had sent off returned, dragging in two hoover sleds worth of crates. "Come hunter, inspect your payment." Nemir shouted out over the loud thumping of the music.

Rising, Nox and Tonks made their way over to the sleds and lifted the lid off of one of the crates, which was full of credit chips. Another crate had what appeared to be two military grade shield generators within while the two next to it were filled with fuel cells to take them across the galaxy and back if they wished. Opening another crate, Nox stared found herself staring down at nearly a dozen blaster pistols and rifles as well as enough ammo to arm an entire platoon.

Moving over to the last crate, which nearly as tall as her but barely a few hand widths wide and thick, Nemir finally spoke up. "I give this one to you in good faith hunter. And so that you'll return with more of these treasures in the future."

Opening the case, Nox found herself staring at a sniper rifle that was nearly as tall as she. "It is one of my own personal modifications." Nemir explained with a full belly laugh. "My weapons master modified one of the Clone Troopers powerful DC-15X sniper rifles so that it fires a small slug round instead. A true Jedi killer! Perfect for a bounty hunter like yourself."

Closing the cases back up, Nox went over to the crates of jewelry and deactivated the magnetic seals. "And our deal is completed Nemir and we will be taking our leave." Nox replied back as the gamorrean guards collected the two crates of jewels and took them out of the room.

Nemir waved them off. "Yes yes. Do return hunter. Perhaps next time you will enjoy my hospitality more. That is of course if a Jedi doesn't cut you down first hahahaha!"

Taking control of the two sleds, Nox and Tonks made their way out of the palace and back onto the street. They'd barely managed to get a block away from the palace before Tonks leaned in close to her. "We've got two tailing us."

"I know." Nox replied back keeping her eyes focused on the street ahead of them as the two hovering sleds followed. "First chance we get we'll conceal ourselves and shrink the sleds down so that we can pocket them an-"

Nox nearly missed a step as she felt a disturbance in the Force. Someone nearby was fighting for their life with the Force. And judging by Tonks's wide eyed expression, she'd felt it too.

Ducking into a sparsely populated side street, Nox palmed her wand and cast a quick disillusionment charm on herself, Tonks and the sleds. Then with another quick wave of her wand the sleds shrunk down so that both could be tucked into her pockets. Standing still, Nox waited until she saw their two shadows, a pair of humans, walked past where they were standing. Both looking extremely confused at seemingly losing track of them. "You felt it, didn't you Tonks?" Nox asked quietly.

Tonks nodded. "Yes. Someone close by is using mag – the Force."

Nodding, Nox looked back towards the direction she felt the sensations originating from. Her first instinct was to simply leave the Jedi to their fate. After all…they were dumb enough to get caught in an enclosed area full of bounty hunters. But she knew she couldn't. She made a promise after all. And Ziri Nox never went back on her word. Not as a Sith. And certainly not as the founder of the Guardians. "Transfigure your clothes to look like mine and then change your face and hair to mine."

Tonks looked confused but drew her wand and waved it at herself. Within a few seconds Tonks's pink hair was gone and Nox was left staring at an almost perfect copy of herself. "Now what?"

"Now I want you to head back out into the street and make sure you get the attention of our two shadows. But don't be too obvious about it." Nox said. "Then I want you to lead them away from the ship. And once the opportunity presents itself I want you to deal with them however you deem fit."

Tonks bit her lip, but nodded. "Alright. What are you going to be doing?"

Growling, Nox looked up towards the roof tops. "I'm going to keep the promise I made." She growled out before jumping up onto the roof tops and running as fast as she could towards the Force presence.

Rounding another corner Tonks, still disguised as her lover, pressed her back against the wall and shifted her form so that she now looked like one of the twi'lek girls. With a quick wave of her wand she transfigured her clothes into the outfit that she'd seen most of the women wearing.

'Honestly,' she grumbled as she slid her wand back into its holster. 'These things make even bikinis seem tame by comparison! Although…I wonder what kind of reaction I could get from Ziri if I surprised her with this? Or what if I got her to wear one? Stop! Mind out of the gutter Tonks! Work first. Play later.'

Pressing her back against the alley wall, she watched at the two shadows that'd been tailing them from Nemir's lair showed themselves. She recognized the two men almost immediately. They were two of the many in the crowd that had been laughing and cheering the entire time the people in the pit were being eaten. And they were also the ones that were trading money back and forth between themselves after everyone had died.

Tonks watched the two men looked around confused as they tried and failed to spot her. "Damn it." The man with only one eye cursed. "She couldn't have gotten far."

"Do you really think this is worth it Jayon?" The unscarred man asked while looking around.

"Of course they're worth it Kyl!" The scared one, Jayon hissed back. "The boss sent us after them for good reason. That stuff they sold to Nemir was worth a fortune. They have to know where there's more of it. Not to mention, those two fine women would sell for a small fortune on the slave market."

Nodding, the unscarred one, Kyl, started looking around. "Good points. But I still get to break in the pink haired one. Void…did you see the ass on that girl? Hmm. You can still have the black haired one."

Fighting down the feeling of wanting to throw up at the casual way these two were talking about enslaving and raping her and Nox, Tonks swayed her hips, she stepped out of the shadows waltzed up to the two men and spoke in perfect Huttese. "Looking for something gentlemen? Perhaps I can…help you with whatever problem you have."

The two men turned to her. One of them went mildly bug eyed at her appearance while the other didn't seem to care. "Well…hello beautiful."

"We don't have time Kyl!" Jayon "If we don't find them! We can't go back to the boss and say that we couldn't track her!"

"Oh come on!" Kyl moaned as Tonks raised her arms above her head and did a slow sensual turn. "I haven't had a woman in weeks! And I can't wait for us to catch those two! Just think of this as warm up!"

Jayon looked up and down the alley for a second before sighing. "Alright, she couldn't have gotten far. Be quick and I'll check the main street."

Smiling widely, Kyl stepped up to her and gathered her in his arms as Jayon walked out into the street. "Well babe. Do you have a bed or will right here against the wall work for you?"

"Right here." Tonks answered while drawing her wand and pressing it against his neck.

A silent cutting curse later and the man was grasping at his ruined throat and backing away from her. With a quick banishing charm she sent the man headfirst into the steel wall crushing his skull. She then levitated his corpse and moved him deeper into the alleyway.

Transfiguring her clothes to match the man's, she concentrated on her appearance. A split second later she looked exactly like the newly deceased Kyl. Stepping out of the alley she quickly spotted the other one in the crowd. "Jayon! Over here!"

Jayon stared at her curiously for a second before approaching. "Never knew you to be that fast Kyl."

"Shut up." Tonks hissed pointing back towards where she left the corpse. "I was just about to start when I spotted the black haired one hiding in the alley."

"Why didn't you say so?!" Jayon growled pushing past her and running back into the alley.

As soon as he rounded the corner he stopped dead at the sight of the real Kyl lying dead in the street. Pulling his blaster he turned towards Tonks, but he was far far too late. With a casual flick of her wand she disarmed and silenced the man before cutting off his leg with a cutting curse.

"Just so you know." Tonks growled as she shifted her shape back to her normal shape and pulled out her blaster. "I might be open to sharing Nox…but certainly not with a piece of shit like you." Three shots later and Jayon was dead with two smoking holes in his chest and one in his forehead.

"Damn." Tonks muttered as she holstered her blaster. "That actually felt really, really good."

Following the presence she was feeling, Nox knelt down on top of a roof and watched the alley beneath her. At one end were nearly two dozen bounty hunters that were laying down suppressing fire while slowly trying to advance their position. In the dead end portion of the alley was a lone human female Jedi spinning a blue lightsaber around her person in an effort to block any blaster bolt that came near her. While outside the alleyway, everyone who wasn't a bounty hunter was quickly trying to get as far away as possible leaving the adjoining street, and block for that matter, completely void of people.

As she watched, Nox could tell that the Jedi was injured severely as one of her pant leggings had been darkened considerably by blood that'd been pouring out of a wound on her upper thigh. But despite her injury, the woman kept on fighting and drawing the bounty hunters into the alley. From her position Nox could tell what the woman was hoping to accomplish. She wanted to draw the bounty hunters into an enclosed area before jumping up onto the rooftops so she could have the high ground and a flanking position. Unfortunately for the Jedi…Nox could already tell it wouldn't work.

Eventually the inevitable happened; the woman reached the end of the alley. After blocking away one last bolt the woman made to jump and while she was in midair three blaster bolts came at her. The first two she managed to block, but the third took her right in the shoulder and knocked her back down the ground.

Nox had to hand it to these bounty hunters. They were skilled. Nowhere near the level of the Mandalorians of her time. But still knowledgeable. Before the Jedi managed to recover from her fall the lead bounty hunter, a trandoshan, fired off a stunning round that left the woman a quivering mess but still conscious.

Running towards the downed Jedi, the trandoshan kicked away her lightsaber and leveled his blaster rifle at the woman. "Where are the othersss, Jedi?"

Clutching at her shoulder, the Jedi glared up at the bounty hunter. "You'll never find them Bossk…they're long gone."

The newly named Bossk knelt down next to the woman and crudely pushed the barrel of his blaster rifle into the wound on the woman's leg. "I wonderss if you ssscream loud enough…will theysss come?" Bossk hissed, pressing his rifle further into the wound and making the Jedi grunt and groan in pain. But again, to her credit she didn't scream.

Deciding that she'd seen more than enough, Nox stood up from her crouched position and reached out with the Force. All of the bounty hunters in the alleyway save for the trandoshan all clutched at their throats as Nox raised them all a full meter off the ground. Then with nothing more than a casual twist of her wrist she broke all of their necks before dropping them and stepping off of the rooftop and landing amongst the dead.

Hearing the pain-filled cries of his comrade, Bossk whipped around and took aim at her. The only surprise that he showed at the sudden death of his comrades was the slight widening of his eyes, but he was quick to react and fired three successive shots at Nox.

Just because she was feeling like showing off a bit, Nox moved just enough to dodge the first two blaster bolts before knocking the third away with her bare hand. Both Bossk and the Jedi stared at her with wide eyes for a brief moment before Bossk started to frantically fire at her. All of which she dodged with hardly any effort.

Deciding that she'd had enough, Nox drew her wand and shot a single spell off which hit the trandoshan in the chest and sent him flat against the back wall of the alley. Only he didn't bounce off the wall once he hit it. The spell she hit him with was a particularly 'dark' curse she'd discovered in the Black library. Once the trandoshan hit the wall the steel turned to a version of quicksand that slowly swallowed the trandoshan.

Bossk, realizing the danger he was in, started frantically clawing at the wall trying to escape, but the more he struggled the deeper he sunk in until only his arm was left exposed from the wall. At that point the spell cut off and the wall returned to its normal composition. And the arm that had been left out was sheared off of the rest of the body, leaving a bloody trail down the length of the wall as it fell.

The Jedi began frantically looking back and forth between Nox, the two dozen dead bounty hunters and the wall that'd swallowed the trandoshan. Apparently making up her mind, the Jedi flipped over and reached out desperately for her lightsaber.

"Tsk-tsk Jedi, that isn't very nice." Nox tsk'd while summoning the lightsaber to her outstretched hand. "And after all the trouble I went through to save your life too. Thought you Jedi had better manners than that."

The Jedi started crawling backwards as fast as she could, coming to a stop only when her back hit the wall and giving a small 'eep' as she batted away what remained of the trandoshan. "W-who are you?"

Kneeling down in front of the Jedi, Nox casually used the woman's lightsaber to point at herself. "Now that is a loaded question. Oh for Force sake take it easy Jedi. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead. Now tell me Jedi…have you thought on the words that I spoke to all of you?" The Jedi's eyes widened almost comically as Nox smiled. "I told you all…you've been betrayed by one of your own. I told you all to go into hiding and that one day I would come for you all. And I told you to focus on these words. Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet em-"

"-emotion. Chaos, yet order." The woman finished looking up at her with awe. "It's…is it really you?"

"You were expecting Santa Claus?" Nox asked before scoffing at the woman's confused face. "Sorry, wrong mythology. Now hold still for a moment."

Setting the woman's lightsaber down, Nox reached down to her belt and pulled out a small clear vial with an eyedropper. "What is that?" The Jedi asked, her fear still very prevalent but at least now out of her voice.

"Essence of dittany." Nox answered before once again rolling her eyes at the woman's confused expression. "Think of it like kolto on steroids." Nox offered as explanation.

Removing the dropper, Nox placed two drops of the magical liquid onto the woman's shoulder wound before moving down and placing two drops onto her leg. Replacing the dropper, the Jedi watched with wide eyes as her skin quite literally knitted itself back together before her very eyes. "How?" The Jedi asked poking, slightly wincing as she did so, at the newly formed skin. "I – that puts kolto to shame! And I – I felt the Force in that…what is that?"

"Like I said, Essence of Dittany." Placing the vial back into her belt, Nox picked up the woman's lightsaber and rose to her feet. "And now we come to it Jedi."

"Come to what?" The Jedi asked, her original fear starting to creep back into her voice.

"Come to your choice." Nox answered. "You can either come with me or you can stay here."

The Jedi bit her lip and Nox could feel the woman trying to sense her with the Force. Deciding on the honey approach, Nox let down her barriers just barely enough for the Jedi to sense her. Once she did, the Jedi's eyes widened once more and she pressed herself harder against the wall. "You – you're a Sith! But…but the Dark Side it – it isn't overpowering like it was with Count Dooku."

"I take this Count Dooku is, or was, a Sith Lord then?" Nox asked and waited for the woman to nod before continuing. "Then you would be correct. I used to once be a Sith. Until I had a…change of heart if you will. Now I am both Sith and Jedi, yet neither." Nox smiled wryly at the expected confusion.

Taking a few steps back, Nox tossed the woman her lightsaber. "If you decide to come with me then I will teach you how to use the Light and the Dark side of the Force in conjunction with each other. As it was always meant to be. But in order to do that, you must abandon the Jedi tenants as you know them and relearn everything. Or, you can decide to stay here and run away from bounty hunters for the rest of your life. However long that may be. Like I said, the choice is yours, but you have to make it now."

Grasping her lightsaber, the Jedi slowly stood up while using the wall as a brace. The two stood in silence as they stared at one another. Finally, the Jedi sighed and clipped her lightsaber onto her belt. "Not really much of a choice. And besides…I've already abandoned some od the tenets of the Jedi Order."

"Good." Nox nodded. "Then this transition will be easy for you."

Her decision made, the Jedi looked down at the severed arm and grimaced. "Was that really necessary?"

"Necessary?" Nox asked. "Probably not. But that trandoshan was more than willing to torture you to get what he wanted. And judging by your eyes, you knew him. Or at least his reputation. So can you honestly stand there and tell me that his fate was not well deserved?"

The Jedi appeared to waver for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I know – knew – this bounty hunter. He more than earned his fate."

"Good." Nox clapped before turning on her heel and marching towards the exit of the alley. "Then let's get moving shall we? I'm sure that we've attracted more than our fair share of attention with this little display. And I really don't feel like fighting every bounty hunter on this rock in order to get away."

Nodding back, the woman took a step towards her then stopped. "Oh no." She breathed before looking around rapidly. "We – we have to get to the spaceport now! There…there are two more with me. I can't, I won't, leave without them."

Stopping, Nox turned back towards the Jedi and sighed. "Let me guess, you were all traveling in a group when these bounty hunters caught wind of you. You got injured in the initial skirmish and then in true Jedi fashion told the others to leave you behind while you drew the bounty hunters off? And can I also assume that you don't know which of the four spaceports your friends went too?"

The Jedi's face reddened more than slightly at Nox's implications. "You don't have to make it sound like a bad thing. But you're right. I don't know which spaceport they went too. But I can sense them if we get close enough and they'll be able to sense me. If we hurry, we should be able to at least check one or two them before they leave. And even if they leave, I know where they're going so we can just meet them at their destination."

Growling slightly, Nox stepped up to the former Jedi. "We're on a delicate time table here and I have no desire to play chase with your friend's half way across the galaxy. So," reaching out she placed a hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "Try not to clench too much. Oh, and make sure you face away from me once we're back on solid ground."

The Jedi opened her mouth to say something but before she could Nox turned and apparated the two of them out of the back alley.

The reaction to Harry's arrival back at the ship was, in hindsight, fairly predictable. His friends all greeted him at first as if nothing was wrong, but when they caught sight of the little girl hanging onto his and Ginny's hands all hell broke loose. Harry was pretty sure that the screech that came from Hermione after he'd informed everyone that the little girl used to be a slave had shaken something loose in the ship. It certainly hadn't done any favors to his ears.

Amazingly enough, the one who actually ended the whole argument was Luna. While Harry was defending his decision their resident seer calmly walked up to the girl, knelt before her and started talking in perfectly fluent Huttese. The little girl immediately latched onto Luna and began speaking incredibly fast. How Luna was able to keep up with the girl with only a week's worth of study in the language Harry had no idea. But he guessed that was why she was a Ravenclaw.

After a brief conversation with the little girl, Luna told everyone that her name was Nat and that she was extremely grateful that Harry had taken her away from the 'winged-man'. After everyone had introduced themselves to the young girl, with Luna acting as a translator, Harry drew his wand and pointed it towards Nat. Before she could react Harry cast an alohomora at the locking mechanism on her slave collar. With an audible click the collar popped open and fell to the floor where it was quickly disintegrated as Harry hit it with an incinerating spell.

Once she was free Nat stared up at him in awe, felt her neck, stared down at the charred remains of the collar on the floor and then jumped at Harry with tears in her eyes and attempted to squeeze the life out of him.

It took nearly ten minutes for Harry and the others to calm the little girl down enough that she loosened her hold around his middle. But she still refused to let go of him completely preferring follow him around the ship and hold onto his hand whenever possible.

Things continued to get even more interesting when Harry, with Nat's help and with Luna translating, managed to get the BB-8 unit out of its crate and activated. The girls all thought it was incredibly cute and showered the little spherical droid with attention. Which, if Harry was any judge, the small little droid soaked up like a sponge.

An hour after his arrival back at the ship, Harry was lounging on the couch within the galley with a completely tuckered out Nat was using his leg as a pillow as she slept. Hearing the airlock open, Harry did his best not to disturb Nat as he tried to see if his mother had returned.

"Wotcher Harry," Tonks greeted him as she marched through the galley. "Your mother had something she wanted to take care of and will be back soon an – and bloody hell! Who is that?" Tonks stopped and stared at the sleeping girl.

"Shh," Harry shushed her as Nat groaned and pressed her head harder into his leg. "She's sleeping."

Tonks' eyes darted back and forth between him and Nat. "I can see that." She whispered. "I'm asking who she is. And how the bloody hell did she got on board?"

"She was a slave in that shop you and my mother sent me to." Harry answered back while gently rubbing the girl's head. "The shop owner was abusing her so I…well I swindled her away from him."

Tonks' hair turned from pink, to red, to white. "You stole her?" Tonks looked on incredulously.

"No." Ginny called out as she stepped into galley. "Harry made a bet with the shop owner. And Harry won. And now she's with us."

Tonks bit her lip. "Alright…it's all well and noble Harry. Saving a little girl I mean. But your mother said that we weren't supposed to draw attention to ourselves. At least not yet."

"It was more than just simple charity Tonks." Harry shot back. "Reach out with your senses and feel her."

Tonks stared at him curiously for a second before closing her eyes. "Holy Merlin." Tonks gasped as her eyes shot back open. "She's magical! I mean Force sensitive. You know what I mean."

"That's why I had to bring her with us Tonks." Harry replied as Ginny sat down near Nat's feet. "You've read the holonet. You know what this Empire is doing to Force sensitives. They simply execute or torture them. I wasn't about to leave her to that fate."

Tonks stared down at the sleeping girl and seemed to wilt. "Alright Harry, you got me. And I'm sure your mother will understand too. After all, the whole reason she's not back yet is because she's off trying to save a Jedi."

"Not one, three."

All three of them jumped slightly, which of course woke Nat up, at the sound of his mother's voice coming from just within the airlock. 'Bloody Merlin's balls! I didn't even hear her come in an – and who are they?' Tonks stopped her train of thought at the sight of new passengers.

Standing with his mother were two fairly powerful humans, one man and one woman. Just as Harry was about to ask who they were then, he noticed a small child in the woman's arms.

"Harry, Ginny, Tonks." His mother began before motioning towards the three newcomers. "This is Kento, Mallie and little Galen Marek. They'll be joining us." Taking a step towards them, his mother's eyes fell on little Nat. Who, to her credit, only ducked her head slightly instead of hiding behind Harry. "Good. You found her then." Nox nodded in approval.

"Wait – what?" Harry blinked looking at the newcomers and trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Hold the broomstick." Tonks said, clearly just as confused as Harry. "You knew about this girl?"

"Of course I did," Nox said, walking towards Harry and Nat. "Why do you think I had Aela bring Harry to that particular shop in the first place? I wanted Harry to collect her."

Turning towards the little girl, his mother started speaking in perfect Huttese. After a brief conversation his mother smiled at the young girl, patted her on the shoulder and stood back up.

"She's your responsibility Harry, Ginny." His mother said walking past them. "Harry, show our new guests where they will be staying while onboard. Tonks, with me. We're leaving this rock now."

And without another word his mother swept out of the room leaving Harry, Ginny, Nat and the three new arrivals standing there awkwardly. "Well…um nice to meet you." Harry said taking a step forward and extending his hand. "Um…Kento and Mallie right?"

The man and woman looked down at his outstretched hand and then at each other. "That's right." The woman, Mallie said taking his offered hand. "Harry right? And you're…Ginny? And the little one is Nat."

Kento stepped up next and shook his hand as well. "You're…you're Force sensitive. All three of you." Kento remarked staring at the three of them before looking around the ship. "And there are others on board too. In fact…this whole ship feels like it's surrounded in the Force. Are you all Nox's Padawans?"

"Um, no." Harry answered rubbing the back of his head. "Myself and two others on board are my mother's apprentices. Ginny here is actually my apprentice, but that is a long story. Actually…everything is a long story. But I'm sure that my mother will explain everything to you later."

"Your mother?" Mallie asked as her eyes widened. "You mean…Nox is your mother?"

"Adoptive mother I guess is the right word." Harry said with a frown. "She…she rescued me after my parents were killed by a Dark Lord. She's been raising me and teaching me the ways of the Force ever since. But like I said, that is all a long story that I'm sure you'll be hearing later. Let me show you where you'll be staying."

Turning on his heel, he took Nat's hand in his own again and led the trio plus Ginny towards the cabins on the ship. "How many of you are on this ship?" Kento asked, still looking around the ship. "There are so many of you…and you're all so powerful that I can't quite distinguish between you."

"Well…you've met my mother and Tonks. Then there's me and Ginny here. Oh and little Nat." Harry said putting an arm around Nat. "Then there's Daphne and Susan. They're both my mother's apprentices as well. Hermione, Ron, Hannah, Astoria and Tracey. They're still learners but we're all around the same age, except Astoria she's the youngest. Then there's Aela and Remus as well. They're helping my mother teach us while we're – ah. Here we are."

Coming to a stop, Harry opened the door leading one of the two empty crew quarters. The room inside was completely barren. "Not to sound ungrateful…but is there a bed for at least my wife and son?" Kento asked.

"Oh, don't worry. We still need to set up the room properly." Ginny announced stepping into the room and opening one of the storage units.

Letting go of Nat's hand, Harry helped Ginny as the two of them pulled out a bundle of cloth and unrolled it onto the floor. Once it was laid out, Harry took out his wand and touched it to the top of the tent. A not so quiet gasp came from behind him as the tent, as soon as he removed his wand from it, pitched itself.

"You…you just used the Force to pitch a tent." Mallie said, staring at the tent that was barely half as tall as her. "With a…stick."

"Wand, actually." Harry smiled, quite enjoying the dumbfounded look on the two elder Jedi's faces and the look of awe on Nat's. Grabbing one of the tent flaps, Harry half entered before turning back to the others. "Well, don't you want to see where you'll be staying for a while?"

Stepping fully into the tent with Ginny, the two waited for the Kento, Mallie and Nat to enter as well. Once they did, it was all either could do not to fall over laughing. Both Kento and Mallie were staring around with wide eyes as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing while Mallie clutched Galen slightly tighter. It wasn't their best tent, but this particular tent created a living area similar to a log cabin complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a fully furnished kitchen area and a sitting area with four couches.

Nat however took one look around, then stepped back outside and then ran back inside. Giving out a squeal of delight, Nat then began running around the interior of the tent and started to examine everything she could touch.

"I – I felt the Force shift when we entered." Mallie stated, obviously confused. "This whole area…it's like we're encased in a cocoon made entirely of the Force. But…but how is the inside so much bigger? Is this a Force mind trick? If it is…I can't break through it.""

"This…this is actual spatial compression." Kento breathed. "Using the Force…but…but this is impossible." He looked around in wonder.

"As my mother is so fond of saying, something is only impossible if you believe it to be so." Harry said proudly.

Walking forward slowly, Kento and Mallie began examining the living space inside the tent. Placing his hand against one of the couches Kento pressed down as if to reassure himself that what he was seeing was actually there. "Incredible. How can you do such things with the Force? And how, or better yet why, have you kept this hidden from the Jedi?" Kento was truly trying to comprehend the scale and power after examining the tent.

Sharing an amused glance with Ginny, Harry opened his mouth to answer but then closed it as he felt something swell in his gut. "Wait…something's not –aah!"

The next thing Harry knew he was screaming his head off as he curled up into a ball and fell to the floor. In his mind he was strapped to some sort of hard table that was slowly leaning him forward. Just beneath him was what looked like a large exposed circuit panel with several spike protruding upwards. He could feel himself trying to avoid the spikes as his body was being lowered towards them. But it was strange…almost like he was a passenger watching and experiencing what was happening but unable to do anything about it.

Slowly the spikes turned red and then sparked. Then there was pain. Each time a spark leapt from the spikes they impacted his body. The pain was excruciating. Worse than anything his mother had ever put him through. He tried his best to keep his mouth shut. But as the sparks quickly increased in not only intensity but in frequency he couldn't help himself and he screamed. A high pitched scream that seemed strange to him.

"Harry! Come back!"

His consciousness fled the pain and he found himself back in his own body. His head was being held on either side by his mother's hands while off in the corner Ginny and Nat were holding onto each other and crying with Remus right behind the two. "Wh – what was that?" Harry asked, his voice raspy. "There w – was so much pain."

"A Force vision." Mallie answered kneeling down next to him. "But I've never seen on so…potent before to affect the receiver so."

"No. It wasn't a Force vision. At least not in the way that you understand them." His mother answer, her thumbs making small soothing circles around his temples. "A Force vision as you understand them, is a vision of something that has yet to happen. What Harry just experienced…was something that is happening at this very moment." Nox said with a grim look on her face.

Harry's eyes widened as the full implications of what his mother said sunk in. "W – we have to find her! We can't leave her to her fate! Not like that!"

"Her?" His mother questioned making Harry blink. How did he know that the person was a she?

Clutching his head tighter, his mother looked him straight in the eye. Harry, knowing what she was doing, lowered his mental barriers and let her in without any resistance. "It looks like your Emperor and his Dark Lord are taking a page straight out of the Sith handbook." She said after a moment. "And now the reason for the double bounty on Jedi taken alive becomes clear. They're torturing any Jedi they can get their hands on in the hope that it will draw others out once they sense the distress of their comrade. And once they do…the trap is sprung and they have two Jedi instead of one."

"We can't leave her mother!" Harry shouted. "We have to go after her!"

Nox bit her lip, but before she could answer a voice floated in from the entrance to the tent. "Harry is right." Looking over his shoulder he saw Luna, looking far paler than normal, walk on unsteady feet into the tent. "She is the last, and best, of the wings. Without her we will all fall together and Harry will fail."

"You're sure of this Luna?" His mother asked.

Nodding, Luna knelt down next to Harry. "She is the last face that I could never see before now. Without her Harry will only have five wings and he won't be able to soar like he needs too."

His mother stared at Luna for moment before cursing and turning back to him. "Harry, I need you to do something that is going to be quite unpleasant. Whoever this Jedi is…for some reason you have a connection with her. That is the only reason why you can sense her distress and the rest of us cannot. If we're to find her I need you too-"

"You need me to make the connection between myself and whoever this Jedi is." Harry nodded already accepting his fate. "Let's do it."

"Good." Nox nodded taking hold of either side of his head once more. "Now just make the connection Harry. No more than that."

Closing his eyes, Harry stretch out his feelings as far as he could, trying to find any trace that would lead him back to the strange woman he sensed before. Before he knew it he was back on the board. The sparks beneath him flying faster than he could follow and every nerve in his body feeling like they were on fire. 'Stay strong!' Harry shouted. 'We're coming!'

Suddenly the pain he felt intensified ten-fold as the screaming in the room died down. 'Wh-o…who are y-you?' A shaky voice asked.

Harry could feel his own physical body, his real body, violently shaking as he tried to fight against the pain coursing through him. 'H – Harry. My name is…my name is Harry. An – and just hold on. We – we're coming f – for you.'

'No! You need to get away! It's a trap!'

'We know…b – but we're c – c – coming anyway. Just…just hang on!'

Harry felt himself being pulled back almost violently as the pain left his body in a rush and the screaming within the darkened room returned. Blinking his eyes, he had just enough time to realize that he was back with his mother, before she slapped him hard across the face.

"That was incredibly stupid Harry!" His mother shouted at him. "You could've killed all three of us!"

"I couldn't let it continue!" Harry shouted back making his mother blink in surprise. It was the first time he'd ever truly yelled back at her. "I – I couldn't let it go on. I had to give her some reassurance. I had to give her hope."

Rising to her feet, his mother stared coldly at him for a second before shaking her head. "We're going to have to do something about this self-sacrificing nobility of yours, son. You do no good to anyone dead." Turning around she motioned for the others in the room to come closer. "Kento, Mallie. Which of you two has the greater knowledge of your former Republic's battlecruisers?"

"That'd be me." Kento said taking a step forward. "Why?"

"Because by the looks of it we're about to assault a dreadnought and Force only knows how many other ships with only a frigate." His mother growled. "Remus I want you to power up the disillusionment runes and the shielding runes on board. We're going to need both if we're going to have a hope in the Void of surviving this."

"What about me?" Harry asked rising to his feet. "You're not leaving me behind."

His mother turned back around towards him. "No…you're not. Go and collect Susan and Daphne. Ginny you too." She added nodding towards his apprentice. "Then I want the four of you to go into my tent and open the chest I have in there marked with your names. Put on what you find and come to the bridge. It seems as if the Force has decided to start your trials a bit earlier than I'd thought."

Chapter 2

Stepping into his mother's tent with Daphne, Susan, and Ginny right behind him, Harry made his way into his mother's room and immediately found the four chests laying out in the open; each of which were inscribed with their name on top. "Apparently your mother knew something was going to happen before we did." Susan remarked as she opened her chest. "Holy Merlin's beard."

Opening his own chest Harry stared down at the silver and black painted chest piece, greaves, gauntlets, and cuisse that were laid out within. Underneath the armor was a black robe and what looked like a semi-skintight undershirt and leggings.

"This…this looks like goblin wrought armor." Daphne breathed as she ran a hand along her own armor, which looked like a more feminine version of his own save for the dark green and black coloring. "And this cloak…Morgana…I think this is made from Basilisk skin!" Daphne was feeling the cloak's surface with a wide-eyed look.

"We can admire our armor later." Harry said taking charge of the situation. Not wanting to waste any time, Harry then stripped down to his underclothes and began pulling on the black leggings and undershirt.

"Harry!" Ginny gasped. "We're still in here!"

"You grew up with six brothers Ginny. I'm sure I don't have anything you haven't seen before." Harry commented over his shoulder as he rearranged the somewhat skintight clothing. "Now hurry up and get dressed. If it helps you can either go outside or I can keep my back turned. But hurry up."

Picking up the cuisse, he started clipping it around his thigh as he heard the rustling of clothes behind him. Keeping his back turned on his female friends, Harry slid his greaves and boots into place before picking up the gauntlets. He noticed that both of them had slots on the underside so that they could still wear their holsters as well. Picking up the chest piece he placed it over his chest and was just about to ask for help when the straps seemed to move with a mind of their own and secured the armor in place. 'Well…that's just convenient.' "Just so you all don't freak out the chest piece locks in place on its own." Harry warned the girls.

Picking up the cloak, Harry felt the outside of it briefly. It felt…almost leathery. But it was flimsy like cloth. 'Daphne's right…this is basilisk skin…Merlin. Is that what mother did with the thing after she killed it?' Throwing it over his shoulders, Harry did one last check of himself to make sure everything was in place. "Are you three decent yet?"

Hearing three affirmatives from behind him, Harry turned around and faced his fellow apprentices and his apprentice. Each of them had managed to put on their armor with little to no issue. Walking over to Ginny he helped her secure the gauntlets of her black and dark red armor before turning towards Daphne and Susan. "Let's go."

Walking out of his mother's tent, Harry and the girls were treated to the sight of Aela coming out of the tent that she shared with Remus. The female werewolf was dressed from neck to toe in steely gray camouflage colored armor and she was carrying a blaster rifle that was nearly as long as she was. The only decorative marks on the armor was a single black colored wolf's head adorning her right shoulder pauldron.

"Good to see that the armor fits." Aela commented while slinging the rifle over her shoulder. "Madam Nox commissioned the goblins and the best of the werewolf crafters to design them. Oh, and don't worry about outgrowing them too much. They have automatic adjusting charms layered into them. So none of you should need a new set for a while."

"You mean that this really is goblin made armor?" Ginny asked as she admired the gauntlet on her arm. "I just thought that Daphne was pulling the other one. You could probably buy half of Hogsmeade for the price of this set!"

"Madam Nox insisted on the best for her son, apprentices and her son's apprentice." Aela said, taking a step towards Harry and grabbing his armor to make sure it was securely in place. "Good to see that those little beasts are as good as their word. Now come, Madam Nox has already begun planning our attack." Aela turned around and led the group to the bridge.

Following Aela out of the cabin, the four made their way to the bridge. Once there they saw that everyone save for Remus were staring at the holographic map in the center of the bridge. Hermione was holding onto the baby Galen while Luna was sitting next to Nat. Both Kento and Mallie were standing right next to the holographic display and were pointing at what was being displayed. Instead of showing a map the galaxy like usual, it was showing an image of two large ships and one extremely large ship.

"Bee-Bee-eight was able to enhance our long range scanners enough to pick up this image of the coordinates I was able to extract from Harry. There appear to be two cruiser class ships and one dreadnought class if my memory serves me." Nox explained as she felt the new arrivals enter the bridge.

Turning towards the voice of his mother, Harry nearly missed a step as he saw her. Or rather what she was wearing. He wasn't quite sure how or when, but his mother had changed out of her usual attire. She was now wearing a tight black corset piece of armor that left her shoulders and arms bare save for a pair of long black armored gloves on either arm. Her lower robes were split up the middle of both legs, showing off her armored legs underneath. And on her back she wore a black cloak that nearly touched the floor. All in all…she looked every inch what he thought a Lady of the Sith would look like ever since she told him about them.

"That's right." Kento nodded leaning forward. "I recognize this dreadnought. It's the Dauntless. Served aboard her for a short time just before the Clone Wars broke out. She's heavily fortified and carries at least three full squads of soldiers at all times for defense measures."

"Is there a way inside besides the large hole on the underside of the ship?" Harry asked bringing everyone's attention back around to him and the girls.

"Whoa…bloody hell Harry!" Ron gasped. "You four…whoa. Bloody well wicked! Do we get armor too?"

"Not yet." His mother said flatly. "That is their Guardian armor. You will receive a set once you've proven yourself ready." Nox's tone wasn't cold but it was all business and made Ron quiet down his enthusiasm.

Taking a step towards them, Mallie looked over all of their armor carefully. "It almost looks like the old Jedi Guardians' Force armor that I've seen in the history holo's in the Jedi library. When it existed that is."

"Good. I was working from memory when designing them." Nox nodded before turning back to the holographic display.

"I take it that goes along with this long story you still have to tell us?" Kento asked rhetorically. "Never mind. It can wait. But yes Harry, there is another way in. Thank the Force I actually took time to study the ship when I was onboard all those years ago."

Stepping up to the holographic display's control console, Kento zoomed in on the largest ship and a specific section along its side. "All ships have at least one auxiliary access hatch. If my memory is right…there should be one right about here. And it should put us fairly close to the detention center as well." Kento pointed to the display and tracing his finger to the detention center in question.

"But even if we do dock there it won't matter." Mallie continued. "As soon as we break in they're going to know we're there. And they'll send everything they have to stop us. Then there is also the simple matter that they could simply jump into hyperspace once we're onboard as well." Mallie frowned looking at the display of the Dauntless.

"Then we disable their engines." Nox said. "This ship is equipped with an original idea of mine. I modified a bunker buster to detonate with an ion pulse. A single shot to their engines will disable them and prevent them from running."

Rubbing at his chin, Kento nodded. "In theory that would work. But they would have to have their shields lowered and that would assume that we can even get close enough to even hit the right spot."

"No problem there." Tonks said from her spot in the pilot's seat. "I've activated the stealth system and Remus has those disillusionment runes going. So we can just waltz right on up without them even knowing that we're there."

"I take it this…disillusionment rune thing is some type of new stealth drive? Or is it one of those 'long story' things." Mallie asked with a raised brow.

"Long story." Harry, Ginny, Daphne and Susan all answered as one.

"Right…we'll if nothing else it will be an interesting conversation." Kento shrugged before turning back to the projector. "But there is still the matter of the men inside the ship. Not to mention the reinforcements the other ships will no doubt be sending out against us. They have to know that we'll be heading for detention center...and they'll be waiting for us with everything they've got."

"Then go after multiple targets."

Everyone turned as one towards the one who just spoke up. And to his credit Ron actually managed to hold everyone's gaze for a moment before awkwardly looking away. "I – uh. I mean it makes sense right? In chess everyone knows you're going after the king. So you launch multiple attacks so they don't really know your intentions. Or at least where you're going to be truly attacking from."

Nox was the first one to react. "I knew that there was a genuinely good mind behind that expression." She said making Ron blush for more than one reason. "Ron is right. And I've already tasked Remus with creating our means of escape based on us splitting up. Once we enter the ship Bee-Bee will tap into the nearest terminal. Once in he'll locate the detention center, the communications hub, and the ship's reactor.

"Harry, you will be taking Ginny and Mallie with you to the detention center and rescue our captured Jedi. Kento, you will be taking Daphne and Aela to the communications hub. I want you to destroy and all records of us ever being there. And Susan, you and Bee-Bee will be coming with me to the reactor core. We're going to destroy that ship to prevent them from coming after us."

"It's a sound strategy." Kento nodded. "Unfortunately though, there is one not so tiny flaw. How exactly are we going to get out of there? Both the communications hub and the detention center are dead ends. One way in and one way out. And by the time we got to either the reinforcements from the other ships will have arrived and cut off our retreat."

"That's where these come into play." Remus spoke from behind them.

Turning around, Harry watched as Remus entered the bridge carrying three arm lengths pieces of rope in his hands. "And…what are these? How are pieces of rope supposed to help us escape?" Mallie asked as Remus handed her and Kento one of the lengths of rope.

"I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." Nox responded with no small amount of humor in her voice that made Harry smile. "What's the activation phrase Remus?" she asked as she took took the last piece of rope.

"Ashara hold." Remus answered. "You'll have to coordinate your retreats. Can't have you coming back more than one group at a time. Trust me…the last thing you want is to be landing on top of one another."

"Nox, we're exiting hyperspace now." Tonks called out.

Turning back around at the sound of Tonks' voice, Harry watched as the blue vortex of hyperspace disappeared and they were left staring at three much, much larger ships than their own. "Bloody Morgana's cunt." Tonks swore looking upwards as they passed beneath one of the ship's his mother had dubbed a 'cruiser'. "Those things are a lot bigger than they looked on the display. Well…if nothing else we can confirm that the stealth and disillusionment charms are working. Don't even think those shielding runes would do us much good against the firepower of those things and…alright there's the big one. Kento, where am I going?"

Walking up to behind Tonks' seat, Kento pointed towards the largest ship. "Halfway down the port side of the ship. Two-thirds of the way up. That's where the auxiliary access hatch should be located."

Flying the ship in the direction Kento pointed out, Tonks nodded once she spotted the hatch. "Alright I see it. Bringing the ship back around towards the engines."

Turning the ship around, Tonks flew them back towards the rear of the ship. "Alright…tell me where I'm aiming."

"Just above the thruster to the right of the center engine." Kento said pointing. "Hope this weapon of yours works Nox. If it doesn't…we won't get a second chance at this."

"It will work." Nox responded confidently. "Tonks lock on and fire at will."

Nodding, Tonks reached out and activated the firing control. Standing side by side with his friends, Harry felt a rush of excitement, fear and trepidation surge through him as the reality of what they were about to do started to sink in. "Missile away." Tonks announced as she watched the missile fire.

Watching out the viewport, Harry clenched his fist in an attempt to keep them from shaking as the missile flew towards the ship. "Impact in three…two…one."

The missile impacted the ship just above the thruster that Kento had pointed out. After a second delay a blue shockwave emerged from where the missile had hit and the engines all flickered and died out leaving the ship dead in the water. "Huh…actually kind of amazed that it actually worked." Kento remarked sounding genuinely impressed.

"Try not to sound too amazed Kento." His mother said shaking her head. "Tonks bring us in. Those of you who are staying behind prep the medical bay for a critically injured. Astoria, keep an eye on Nat while we're gone. Kento, Mallie, Harry, Susan, Daphne, Ginny and Bee-Bee with me."

Walking side by side with his mother, Harry followed her towards the airlock in the ship. A moment later he felt the ship shudder as it connected with access hatch. "Kento, Mallie and I will enter first." His mother said, snapping her wrist to the side and drawing her lightsaber. "The rest of you follow once we've cleared the entrance. Understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good." His mother nodded as she started to turn around only to stop. "One last thing. Every person on that ship wants to either kill you or capture you so that you can be tortured. Do not hesitate because they will not. Understand?"

"Yes Master." Harry and the others replied as each of them drew their lightsabers out of their holsters.

Reaching forward, his mother pressed down on the switch to open the door. On the other side was the sealed door that lead into the ship. With a snap hiss Nox's lightsaber ignited. "Red?" Mallie and Kento both asked looking down at her blade.

"Questions later." His mother said drawing her wand in her left hand. "Right now…we have one of your Jedi to save."

With that she pointed her wand towards the door. "Bombarda maxima!"

The next few moments were without a doubt the fastest, and slowest, moments of Harry's life. The moment the door blew inward his mother and the two Jedi were sprinting forward almost faster than he could follow. Red blaster bolts filled the air as the three of them ducked, weave and deflected their way down the hall. Harry was felt awestruck as he watched his mother and the Jedi cut down nearly a dozen men in white armor without hesitation and without mercy.

As he watched the three move down the hall, Harry noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. A lone man in white armor was slowly leaning out from an opening between Harry and his mother while raising his blaster.

Harry didn't even think. Stepping fully into the ship he reached out with the Force and pulled the man in armor towards him while at the same time activating his dark purple lightsaber. The man in white managed to get out a single strangled yell before he was impaled through the chest on his lightsaber.

Pulling his lightsaber out, Harry let the corpse fall to the ground. Turning around he saw that Daphne, Susan and Ginny were all staring at him with wide eyes while Aela was staring at him with respect.

"Well done son." Turning back around Harry saw that his mother and the two Jedi had cleared out the hall. "Bee-Bee, there's a terminal up here. Plug in and find our lost Jedi."

Beeping an affirmative, Bee-bee rolled forward towards the terminal his mother was standing before. Once the droid plugged in Harry and the others stepped into the ship fully. "Seal off the entrance Bee-Bee." Nox ordered, to which BB-8 beeped and a force field appeared over the blown out door. Lifting up her arm, Nox activated her comm. "Tonks, we're in and the door is sealed. Pull back and stay hidden."

"Good timing Nox. Got about a dozen fighters that are flying circles around us right now. Thank Merlin Remus got those runes right. No I am not doubting your skills Remus I just – oh shut up! I'll pay you later and – oh no. This thing is still on isn't it? Well um…good luck everyone. Stay safe."

As his mother let her arm fall down, BB-8 started beeping widely. "What is he saying?" Harry asked looking up at his mother.

"He says that he's located our objectives." His mother stated plainly. "The communications hub is down the corridor to the left and two decks down Daphne, Kento and Aela that one is yours. Susan will follow me. Harry, your objective is to the left and three decks up. Keep communications open and-" BB-8 started fidgeting and beeping and whistling. "Uh. Well it appears that we are not the only intrudes on board. Bee-Bee just finished accessing the ship's logs. Apparently an hour ago they received a call from a bounty hunter saying they had a Jedi for them. Only when they brought the ship aboard it was completely empty." Nox was musing the irony of the situation.

Closing her eyes, Harry could feel as his mother reached out through the Force. After a moment he felt her pull back as a smile slowly appeared on her face. "Hmm…so we meet again."

"Who is it?" Mallie asked looking around for any more opposition.

"Truthfully, I don't know." His mother shrugged. "But if you happen to run across a Rutian twi'lek, let her know that she still owes me for saving her life from her troopers back on that jungle planet. Now move out. It won't be long until reinforcements arrive."

Everyone split up into their predetermined groups and started to move off. "Harry. Wait."

Harry stopped and turned around to face his mother. Stepping up to him, she placed a hand on either of his shoulders. "I can feel your anger over what is happening to this woman son. Use it. But don't let it use you." Nox spoke softly looking into Harry's eyes.

Gripping his lightsaber tightly, Harry nodded. "Yes mother."

Sitting on the command deck, the Second Brother staggered his feet as his ship was rocked violently. "CT-4561. Report."

The clone sitting behind ship's support terminal on the bridge began pulling up multiple screens. "We've been hit by some sort of ion pulse my Lord. Weapon type…unknown. Origin of attack…unknown. Both cruisers are reporting in…neither saw anything nor are any of their scanners picking up any ship. My Lord, it's probable that the attack originated from a stealth ship and they reentered their stealth after they- ah!"

"I did not ask for your thoughts Trooper." Second Brother growled as he used the Force to lift the clone off of his chair by his throat before dropping him back down. "Keep your opinions to yourself and report only what I tell you to."

"Y-yes…my Lord." The clone coughed while rubbing his throat.

"My Lord!" Another trooper shouted from the other side of the command deck. "Report from auxiliary access hatch three. The ship has been breached. Report is that there's one – no. Three Jedi have entered the ship and – sir…we've lost contact with the troopers in that sector."

Leaning back in his seat, Second Brother rubbed at his chin and felt a smile come over his face. He thought that he'd been given a gift from the Force when the Ahsoka Tano had been delivered to him by the bounty hunter. But now…now there were three Jedi on board his ship as well. Lord Vader would be most pleased with him when he arrived. "Are they heading for the detention center?"

"Yes sir. Wait." CT-4561 said, his hands moving frantically over his controls. "They've split up into three groups' sir. And…and there appear to be more than just the original three sir. They're destroying the cameras as they go. But last image sent shows that there at least two Jedi in each group. One older and one younger."

Now the Second Brother really did smile. At least three Masters or Knights and three Padawans. Lord Vader was sure to grant him the position as Grand Inquisitor now. "Where are they heading?"

"Our tactical analysis suggests that they are heading for the communications hub, the reactor core and the detention center my Lord." Another trooper shouted out.

Closing his eyes, Second Brother stretched out his senses as he tried to feel out the opposition. 'Hm, strange. There seems to be some sort of cloak over them blocking them from my view. But…but I can still sense their power. The strongest seems to be heading to the reactor core. But…but there is another. Young. Not fully trained. But incredibly strong. That one will make for an excellent apprentice.'

Standing from his seat, Second Brother straightened his robes. "Reinforce the garrisons within the communications center and the detention center. Kill the elder Jedi should they resist. But I want the young ones captured alive. I will deal with the Jedi heading for the reactor core myself."

Blocking another blaster bolt, Harry used the Force to pull the trooper that fired it out from behind his cover before using his wand to cast a powerful reductor curse right into the man's chest. "That seems to be the last of them." He breathed while lowering his lightsaber but not deactivating it.

"For now." Mallie concurred while stepping past him and checking around the next corner. "But more will be coming soon. We need to hurry."

Harry made to follow, but stopped when he saw Ginny staring at the trooper that she had killed. Stepping up to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ginny?"

"I – I've never killed anyone Harry." Ginny said quietly. "How…how do you do it Harry?"

There wasn't any need for her to clarify her question. "Because he tried to kill me and you, Ginny. I don't enjoy killing. But if it comes down between someone who's trying to hurt myself or those I care about and them. Then I won't hesitate to end them."

Nodding, Ginny sniffed loudly before purposefully turning her back on the body. "Right…let's go."

Running down the corridor the two managed to catch up to Mallie just as she entered another corridor and skidded to a stop. "Troopers!" She cried, her lightsaber moving constantly to deflect the red blaster bolts that were flying towards her.

Harry and Ginny didn't hesitate as they ran past Mallie and straight at the troopers standing at the opposite end of the hall. Drawing his wand, Harry shot a reducto curse at the first line of troopers sending them flying backwards into the second line. By the time they recovered Harry was on them, his lightsaber cutting down two as he spun while his foot came up and struck a third hard enough that Harry heard his neck crack.

Ginny was right behind him. As he finished his spin he felt her small hand on his back as she used him to vault herself over the heads of the troopers. While she was above them she slashed her wand across her body sending out a shockwave that scattered the troopers. Once she landed she pivoted as a trooper tried to lunge for her, only to receive her lightsaber across his back.

With Ginny on one side and Harry on the other, the two had effectively trapped the remaining troopers in a pincer maneuver. Any blaster fire that was sent at either was returned, killing one of the troopers caught in the middle. In a last ditch effort one of the troopers pulled out a grenade and armed it. As he made to throw it towards Ginny, Harry sent a quick cutting curse at the man, severing his arm as the grenade dropped to the ground next to his feet.

"Cover!" Harry screamed as he ducked low and held his wand above his head. "Protego maxima!"

The grenade took out the remaining troopers as a quick burst of fire and shrapnel engulfed Harry's shield. Once the flames died off, Harry dropped his shield and stood up. His eyes instantly searching for Ginny. Much to his relief, he found her standing from a kneeling position. Just like him, she had a perfect circle of damaged flooring beneath her feet. For a few seconds the two did nothing but stare at one another as they surveyed the carnage between the two of them.

"Whoa…sure am glad that we're all on the same side here." Mallie said, breaking the two of them out of their stupor. "According to the map Bee-Bee provided us, the detention center should be just down the next hall. Let's get a move on before more troopers show up."

Casting another look towards Ginny, the two nodded at one another before stepping in line behind Mallie once more. They didn't face any more opposition as they made their way towards the detention center. And once they were just outside their destination they discovered the reason why.

"Reinforced durasteel." Mallie muttered as she ran her hand along the large door that was preventing them from entering the detention center. "Made to withstand just about anything. Even a lightsaber will have a hard time cutting through this."

"So what do we do?" Harry asked desperately. He could feel the Jedi now more ever before. She wasn't being tortured…but she was suffering so much that it made Harry want to be sick. "We have to get to her. Now."

"Patience Harry." Mallie chided him as she opened the small panel on the wall next to the door. "Being hasty often causes more problems than it solves. Now I just need to – ah bantha shit!"

The panel Mallie was working on suddenly burst into a shower of sparks. "What happened?" Ginny asked, keeping her eye trained down the hall for any more enemies.

Waving her hand over the panel in an attempt to clear the smoke, Mallie took one look down and cursed again. "Those fuckers sent a surge through the system while I was working on trying to bypass the panel. This panel is completely useless now."

"So what do we do now?" Harry ask, his grip on his lightsaber tightening.

Stepping away from the panel, Mallie face off with the door. "Now…now we do this the hard way." She said just before she drew her lightsaber and thrusted it into the door.

As Mallie started to slowly move her blade in a large circle, Harry felt the slightest shift in the Force just as something landed softly behind him and Ginny. Pivoting, Harry brought his blade around ready to end whoever had snuck up on him. And was stopped cold as his purple blade was intercepted by a brightly glowing blue blade.

"Peace Padawan. I mean you no harm."

Ginny whirled around at the sound of the voice and Mallie pulled her lightsaber out of the door and turned around as well. "Aayla? Aayla Secura? Is that you?"

The blue skinned twi'lek's eyes shifted off of Harry and onto Mallie. As their eyes met the twi'lek took a step back and deactivated her lightsaber. "By the Force…Mallie! Thank the Force you're alive!"

"Same to you Aayla." Mallie responded while smiling. "But…what are you doing here?"

Aayla stared first at Mallie, then at Harry and then lastly at Ginny. "I assume the same thing that you are. I am here to rescue a friend. But…Mallie. Where did you find these Padawans? I don't recognize them from the temple."

"You're the Jedi that our Master felt earlier!" Ginny shouted suddenly. "Um, sorry about that."

"Your Master?" Aayla intoned. "Who are your Masters Padawans?"

"That's a long story, one best saved for a time when we are not fighting for our lives." Harry said sharply moving towards the door and plunging his lightsaber in so he could continue Mallie's cut. "But if you're really curious…then my mother told me to tell you something. She said to say that you still owe her for saving your life from your own troopers back on that jungle planet."

With his back turned to her, Harry didn't see Aayla's eyes widened nor did he see her nearly drop her lightsaber out of shock. "What? H – how do you…Mallie what is going on?"

"Like the kid said Aayla," Mallie said while plunging her lightsaber back into the door. "It's a long story. One that I haven't even heard yet. For now though…just cover our backs while we get this door open. You too Ginny."

Working in tandem, Harry and Mallie were able to slowly carve out a circle in the thick durasteel door. Once both had reached the other's starting point they pulled their lightsabers out of the door. "Push on three Harry." Mallie commanded, holding her hand out towards the door. "One…two…three!"

The carved out section of door took off like a shot under the combined push from both Harry and Mallie. As soon as the hole was cleared, Harry dove through the new opening, his lightsaber spinning around his body as he sent any shots fired at him back to their senders. Ginny was right behind him. Her green lightsaber a blur as she pounced gracefully across the terminals in the center of the room, and sometimes even across the guards themselves.

By the time Mallie and Aayla came through the opening every guard in the room was dead. And Harry and Ginny were already walking down the line of cells looking for their target.

As Harry neared the end of the row of cells, the steady pulses he'd been sensing in the Force suddenly reached their crescendo before ceasing completely. As he stepped in front of the last cell, which for some reason had its shield deactivated, Harry stopped dead in his tracks.

His sudden stop wasn't because of the fact that the woman he sensed wasn't human. Far from it in fact. Her orange skin with white markings and blue and white striped montrals, which marked her as a togruta if he remembered correctly, struck Harry as incredibly exotic and beautiful. Nor was it the fact that she was bound to a table with several spikes surrounding her body. No, what truly stopped him was the lone guard who was in the cell with her. He wasn't dressed like any of the troopers they'd faced before. Instead of white armor he was wearing a dark grey suit with several red markings on his chest.

"That is as far as you come Jedi." The man shouted as he raised his arm and pressed a button on his wrist band.

The moment he did the togruta started spasming violently as electricity arched between the raised spikes and across her body. Harry nearly dropped to his knees as he felt her pain through the Force. Immediately Ginny, Mallie and Aayla were at his side. The latter of which cried out, "Ahsoka!" Before taking a step forward. To which the guard simply pressed another button on his wrist making the togruta spasm even harder.

"Stay back! All of you!" The guard shouted. "I press this button again and she dies. Painfully. Now step back."

With no clear option left to them, Harry motioned for everyone to take step back. "Good." The guard smiled as he deactivated the torture. "Now drop your lightsabers. Do it now! Or she gets another round."

Gritting his teeth in anger, Harry held his lightsaber hilt out to the side and let it fall from his fingers. Three more hilts joined his on the floor as the other's dropped theirs as well. "Good," the guard smiled, still keeping his finger on the controls attached to his wrist. "Now you boy, kick them over to me."

'For Merlin's sake Harry think!' Harry cursed at himself as he slowly nudged one lightsaber at a time towards the guard with his foot. 'There has to be something you can do!' But every idea that came into his head had to be instantly discarded. If he made any move at all the guard would move his finger down that last crucial inch and the woman, Ahsoka, would be electrocuted. 'But what if he couldn't move?'

That thought sparked an idea. It was reckless…but if he was fast enough then it could work without risking any harm to the woman, Ahsoka. He could feel through the Force that she was already at her limit.

Wiggling his toe under the last lightsaber, Harry flipped it up at the guard's chest. As the guard moved to catch the hilt, Harry snapped his left hand off to the side and he felt his holly and phoenix feather wand drop into his hand. In quick succession Harry fired off a silent full body-bind curse which hit the guard making him freeze in place. He then hit the wall behind the guard with a sticking charm before banishing the guard into the wall leaving him frozen and hanging two feet up the wall.

Holding out his hand, he summoned his lightsaber back to himself. With four quick slashes Harry sliced through the binds that were holding the girl, Ahsoka, in place. She was completely incoherent. She didn't even stir as Harry grabbed hold of her and lowered her to the ground.

Placing his hand on her forehead, Harry reached out with the Force and tried to get a feel for her injuries. What he felt nearly made him lose his stomach. She had only a few external injuries, mostly bruises and a few odd cuts. But internally…she was a complete and utter mess.

"Oh no…" Aayla gasped as she knelt down on the other side of Ahsoka and began feeling her just as Harry had done. "Hang on Ahsoka…we're here to help you. Just hold on."

Flipping his lightsaber over, Harry removed the cover on the small hidden compartment and removed the moleskin pouch that he hadn't used since his first year. "How bad is it Harry?" Ginny asked as she knelt next to him and grabbed hold of Ahsoka's hand.

"It isn't good." Harry responded, his voice heavy with fear as he frantically shoved his hand up to his wrist in the small pouch searching for the small vial he kept within.

"We have to get her to a bacta tank immediately or I fear that we will lose her." Aayla said, her voice thick with emotion as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "I – I can't lose her too. Not after…not after everything that has happened. Please tell me that you have a tank on your ship."

"No we don't." Harry said as he pulled out the small vial and eyedropper filled with phoenix tears. "But I have something far better."

"How in the Force…how did you do this?" Mallie gasped as she poked at that guard that was stuck on the wall. "It's like…it's like he's frozen…how did you do that?"

"Later." Harry said harshly while drawing the dropper out of the small vial. "I need your help Aayla. Open her mouth for me. We need to get a few of these drops directly down her throat."

Aayla stared at him for a moment clearly confused by the request, but her need to help her friend quickly overrode her confusion and she carefully used both hands to pry open Ahsoka's mouth. Hovering the dropper over her lips, Harry squeezed three drops of the clear liquid directly into her throat.

Putting the dropper away, Harry moved quickly to close her mouth before moving his hand down and begun to gently massage her throat in an effort to get her to swallow. As soon as she did the tears took effect. Her skin, which was covered in black marks, quickly returned to a healthy orange coloring. Her breathing evened out and she stopped twitching.

Not quite believing what she was seeing, Aayla hands started checking Ahsoka over while at the same time Harry could feel her using the Force to try and once again diagnose her.

"She's…she's okay." Aayla said slowly, almost as if she didn't quite believe it to be true. "How? What…that should've been impossible."

Putting the stopper away, Harry couldn't help but grin slightly at the twi'lek Jedi. "As my mother is so fond of saying Jedi. Something is only impossible if you believe it to be so." Leaving one arm wrapped around the togruta's neck, Harry activated his comm link.

"I'm here Harry."

"We've found the Jedi mother. She's…she's hurt bad. I've administered treatment and she's stable enough for us to take her back to the ship."

"Good. Return immediately."

"Yes mother." Harry responded before looking up and spotting Aayla. "And…and we also ran across that other Jedi you told us about. She's with us now."

"Good. Take her back as well. Susan and I are just finishing up here. We'll rendezvous back on the ship in ten minutes."

"Acknowledged. Heading back now mother."

Deactivating the comm link, Harry turned towards Mallie. "Time for us to leave. You still have that length of rope right?"

Nodding, Mallie pulled out the meter long length of rope. "Right here…although I still don't get how this is supposed to get us out of here. Wait…is this going to be like that teleportation technique your mother used back on the asteroid colony?"

Taking the rope from a steadily whitening Mallie, Harry carefully tied one end around the unconscious Ahsoka's wrist before handing the other end off to Ginny. "Sort of." Harry confirmed as Ginny pulled the rope taught.

Staring at the rope, Aayla frowned. "Teleportation is impossible."

"Only if you believe it to be so." Harry smirked as he grabbed hold of the rope. "Now grab hold. Unless you want to stay of course."

With a slightly shaking hand, Mallie hesitantly grabbed hold of the rope with Aayla copying her actions a moment later. "Alright…hold on tight. The first trip is never really pleasant. Ashara hold."

Stepping over another corpse in the communications hub, Daphne stared down at the man who'd just a minute prior had been firing his blaster at them while screaming at the top of his lungs for them to die. "Don't let your sorrow over your actions consume you young one."

Glancing up from the corpse, Daphne stared at Kento, who was currently working at a nearby terminal while Aela kept guard from the entryway. "I'm not sorry."

And she wasn't. Having come from a quote-unquote dark family, Daphne had been raised knowing that she would one day more than likely have to take a life. A fact that had been reinforced the moment she agreed to become Master Nox's apprentice. So no, she wasn't sad about the deaths. "This one here," Daphne said, nodding with her head towards the corpse next to her. "He was filled with rage…and glee at the chance to kill us."

Moving across the small room, she prodded at another man in white armor that had taken her lightsaber through his chest. "And this one…he felt neither hatred nor glee. Killing us was simply his duty. That was it. But unlike the other one…he lacked any other emotions than his sense of duty."

"You're empathic?" Kento asked, glancing up from his work.

"Slightly more complicated than that." Daphne responded before moving over to another armored man. "And this one…he felt exactly the same as the other one. A sense of duty. And that was it."

"Not necessarily surprising considering those two are clones." Kento shrugged making Daphne turn back towards him.

"Clones?" Daphne repeated in horror.

Nodding, Kento resumed his work while he talked. "During the war instead of drafting people into the army, the Republic paid to have millions of clone troopers breed to serve as their front-line soldiers. It was actually one of the reasons Mallie and I left the Order and the Republic. The Republic was supposed to stand for freedom, yet they were breeding clones, forcibly aging them and then throwing them out into the frontlines as soon as they were ready."

Tilting her head to the side, Daphne used just a slight touch of her power on the former Jedi. "That wasn't the only reason as to why you left."

Pausing, Kento looked up at her sharply. "Okay…that is one freaky power you have their young one. But yes, that wasn't the only reason we packed up and fled. The other was because we just learned that Mallie was pregnant. And not only would the Jedi Council have come down hard on the two of us…the Jedi were also being carted off by the Republic to act as generals for their new clone army. So…we left. And in hindsight…it was a damn good thing we left too."

"Why?"

Moving over to another terminal, Kento pulled up another screen and began working once more. "No one is exactly sure as to why…but towards the end of the war just as the Republic was on the verge of defeating the Separatists four member of the Jedi Council, including the battlemaster Mace Windu, went before the Supreme Chancellor. The Chancellor claimed that they came to assassinate him so that the Jedi could take over. Bunch of bantha poodu if you ask me.

"The Jedi were all killed by the Emperor's new right hand, Darth Vader. After that…the Supreme Chancellor...well Emperor declared the Republic disbanded and named himself the new Emperor of the galaxy. And his very first act was to order that every single Jedi be killed. And that is exactly what happened. The clones, who'd been serving with the Jedi since the beginning of the war, suddenly turned their blasters on their generals. There was no attempt at taking them into custody or anything. They simply cut down every Jedi they could see. And the Jedi, who'd come to depend on the clones, didn't even realize what was happening until it was far too late."

Sighing Daphne remembered the memory her master shared with them when they left Earth. Kneeling down next to one of the clones, Daphne removed his helmet so she could see his face. "Why would they turn so quickly on those they'd been serving under for years? Even if it was an order from this Supreme Chancellor. Wouldn't they question the order?"

"Well…that's the thing." Kento sighed as he deactivated the terminal. "In order to have the 'perfect soldier', the clones were bred to obey any order without question. But still…I don't know why they would turn on the Jedi so quickly. No one does."

The sound of blaster fire cut off what Daphne had been about to say next. "I hate to interrupt this little history lesson." Aela growled as she leaned out from her cover so she could fire down the hall. "But are you almost done yet? Our friends have regrouped and are heading right towards us."

"I'm finished." Kento replied closing down the last terminal before pull out the length of rope Remus had given them before they boarded. "So now I suppose is a good time to tell me just how this little length of rope is supposed to get us out of here."

"You'll see soon enough." Daphne replied before activating the comm link on her wrist. "Master this is Daphne. Kento, Aela and I have finished wiping the records of our attack here and are ready to extract back to the ship."

"Good. Pull back at once. Susan and I will be right behind you so make sure you clear the landing zone immediately."

"Understood Master. Daphne out." Taking the rope from Kento, she moved around the room so that she was standing next to Aela. "We all need to be holding onto this."

Giving her a curious look, Kento reached out and grabbed hold of one end of the rope. Aela took a moment to pull a grenade from her belt and throw it down the hall before grabbing a hold of the other end. "Let's get out of here. Oh, and Kento. Make sure that you turn your head away from both myself and Daphne. The first trip is usually more than a little rough. Ashara hold."

Kento started to ask a question, but before he could Daphne felt the familiar pull at her navel and then the three of them were gone.

Letting out another wave of Force lightning, Nox twisted her wrist and used the lightning to stop the hearts of the troopers standing guard before the reactor door. Behind her, Susan's lightsaber hummed as she swung it clean through another trooper killing him instantly. Nox was actually quite impressed with her apprentice. Susan had been more than a little hesitant after her first kill, but soon after Susan had found her determination and hadn't hesitated since.

Waving her hand at the door she used the Force to blow the door off of its slider and across the large cavernous reactor room. Stepping out onto bridge like platform, she deflected the two blaster bolts that'd been aimed at her right back at the last two guards that were hiding behind the console in the center of the platform.

"Huh…a large spider web formation platform over the reactor core…you would think that engineers would've become more creative over three and a half millennia." Nox mused as she looked around in the reactor room.

"What was that Master?"

"Nothing Susan." Nox said turning towards her apprentice. "Just amazed at how little has actually changed since my time. Now come. There should be a terminal in the middle of this platform. That is where Bee-Bee will need to attach himself if he's to override the reactor."

Deactivating her lightsaber, Nox led Susan and BB-8 across the bridge like platform towards the large center area. "Here's the main console." Nox started running her hand along its length. "Bee-Bee, plug in. Susan, help him wherever you can."

One of Bee-bee's mechanical arms came out and gave her a salute before rolling up and plugging into the console. Next, Susan stepped up and bit her lip as she stared down at the controls. "Master…I'm not really sure what I'm doing here."

"I know." Nox admitted. "But you've spent more time studying technology than either Harry or Daphne. Learn from Bee-Bee, he'll tell you what to do. In the meantime, I sense that we are about to have a visitor."

Leaving Susan and Bee-bee to their work, Nox slid both her wand and her lightsaber into their holsters before walking a few meters down the catwalk in the opposite direction from which they came. Just as she came to a stop, the door in front of her opened and a human man dressed completely in black walked into the reactor. "Ah, Jedi. Glad to see that Order 66 hasn't dulled your senses in the least. Although…I must admit I don't recognize you. And I'm sure I would remember a Jedi Knight or Master as beautiful as yourself."

"Don't try to flatter me boy." Nox said shaking her head. "You don't have the power, nor the correct parts to interest me in the slightest." Nox sneered.

"Hmm, humor. Amusing. I thought that was all but outlawed within the walls of the Jedi Temple." The man said stepping forward. "You are an interesting one Jedi. You should know…I too was once a member of the Jedi Order. Until I was cast out for slaughtering an entire village of smugglers. And their families. After that, the Emperor found me and showed me the true power of the Force. The power of the dark side. And now, I am the Second Brother of the Inquisitors."

"And I am supposed to be impressed?"' Nox asked as her comm link started beeping. "Hold that thought for a second." Nox dismissed the man as if he was unimportant.

"Take your time." Second Brother shrugged. "I'm in no rush. It's not like you and the others have anywhere to go."

Activating her comm, she raised it up to her lips. "I'm here Harry."

"We've found the Jedi mother. She's…she's hurt bad. I've administered treatment and she's stable enough for us to take her back to the ship."

"Good. Return immediately."

"Yes mother. And…and we also ran across that other Jedi you told us about. She's with us now."

"Good. Take her back as well. Susan and I are just finishing up here. We'll rendezvous back on the ship in ten minutes."

"Acknowledged. Heading back now mother."

"That boy…I take it that he is the other powerful Force presence that I sensed?" Second Brother asked as Nox deactivated her comm. "Interesting. He called you mother."

"Yes he did." Nox nodded. "And I can already tell your train of thought. You want to turn him into your apprentice so you can battle your superiors and take their place. So predictable." Nox rolled her eyes.

"Your son will join me." Second Brother growled, drawing and activating his red lightsaber. "After I kill you, he will realize just how powerful I am. And how powerful I can make him. And he will join me. After all…my reinforcements have already arrived and are converging on both the detention level and the communications hub. There is no escape from this ship. And besides…Darth Vader is on his way. And there is no escaping from him You have no way off this ship. Surrender. And I promise you that your death will be quick. Resist. And you will suffer extraordinarily before you die."

Raising an eyebrow at how cliché he sounded, "Oh Force," Nox sighed rubbing a hand to her forehead. "Is that what I used to sound like? Oh boy…no wonder Ashara often said I needed to get some new lines. Susan. How much longer?"

"Five minutes Master."

"Good." Nox said, rolling her neck. "So I have five minutes to find out just how good you are…Inquisitor."

Second Brother's face twisted in rage as he held his lightsaber perpendicular to his body before activating the other end of his saberstaff before it started whirling around in a circle in his hands. "Your arrogance will be your undoing Jedi!"

Nox didn't even bother to draw her lightsaber as the wannabe Inquisitor charged at her. She simply raised her hand and deflected his strike by condensing the Force around her hand into a small and powerful shield. "You'll have to do better than that, child." Nox smirked as Second Brother stared at her with a twinge of fear.

Crying out, he spun around and launched another attack. Which she once again deflected with her bare hand. "That's…that's impossible!" The Inquisitor shouted as he took a few steps back from her.

Sighing, Nox rubbed at her brow. "As I have often told my students. With the Force, something is only impossible if you believe it to be so. Now come little boy. I wish to gauge your power. I can't do that with you just standing there with your thumb up your ass." Nox mocked him further to rile him up more.

Snarling, the Inquisitor held his lightsaber off to one side and thrusted his hand out towards her. Nox felt the rush of the Force hit her, but she simply countered it by putting one foot back and battering his pathetic Force push aside with one of her own.

"Do you recognize that sensation that you're feeling?" Nox asked as she took a single step towards the Second Brother. "It's fear. You're completely rank with it. It's in your every move. Now…let me offer you a counter offer. Lay down your blade and surrender. And I promise you…I'll make your death quick."

Deactivating his lightsaber, the Inquisitor put the circular blade back onto his back. "I have become more powerful than any Jedi could possibly imagine! Now…die!"

Nox was relatively surprised as the Inquisitor held his hands aloft and managed to create a small bout of Force lightning. But that surprise quickly turned to disappointment as she caught it in the palm of her hand. 'This level of power is pathetic. Hardly even more than an Acolyte's level. Pfh. Harry can create a stronger Force lightning attack and he's a third this one's age. Whoever trained this 'so-called' Inquisitor in the dark side surely did a piss poor job of it.'

Deciding that she'd seen enough, Nox used her free hand to send a Force push at the Inquisitor. As her attack struck the Inquisitor he lost control of his Force lightning and Nox was able to condense the attack into a small sphere of power in the palm of her hand before casually throwing it off to the side where it destroyed one of the reactor turbines.

"Well…you truly have been a disappointment." Nox sighed as she drew her lightsaber but held off on activating it. "I've seen all that I needed to see. Time to die…Inquisitor."

"Don't patronize me Jedi!" Second Brother shouted as he pulled out his lightsaber again. "A Jedi could never hope to understand the amount of power that I've gained! You are nothing compared to me Jed – ah!"

The Inquisitor starred gasping as he stared down uncomprehendingly at the blood red lightsaber that was sticking out from his chest. "Who ever said I was a Jedi?" Nox smirked whispered into the man's ear.

Gasping, the Second Brother looked up at the image of Nox that was standing before him. Slowly the image disintegrated until there was nothing left. "You don't understand, do you?" Nox whispered into his ear as she rotated her lightsaber in his back. "It's okay. It's not your fault. It's your Master's fault for not training you correctly. Farewell Inquisitor."

"Y – you…you're Sith!"

With a quick jerk of her wrist, Nox sliced through the Inquisitor's chest and pushed him off of the ledge and into the spinning turbines below. Sliding her lightsaber back into its holster, Nox made her way back towards Susan. "That was incredible Master!" Susan said completely awe- struck once Nox drew level with her. "How did you do that? He was just staring ahead blankly the entire time!"

Staring down at her apprentice, Nox gave the girl a slight smile. "While he was talking I used legilimency to break through his pitiful mental barriers. Then I cast a powerful confundus charm on him to make him believe I was still in front of him when in reality I had apparated behind him."

Biting her lip, Susan risked a quick glance over the edge of the platform. "But why did you hesitate for so long Master? You always taught us to end a fight quickly and decisively."

"Because I was curious as to just how powerful these so called 'Inquisitors' really are." Nox admitted patting Susan on the shoulder. "Now just because I dragged the fight out doesn't mean you get to dragging yours out as well. Your rule still stands. End a fight quickly and for the love of the Force…never ever monologue. It is far too cliché."

"Yes Master."

Hearing a beeping coming from her comm link, Nox activated the device. "Nox."

"Master this is Daphne. Kento, Aela and I have finished wiping the records of our attack here and are ready to extract back to the ship."

"Good. Pull back at once. Susan and I will be right behind you so make sure you clear the landing zone immediately."

"Understood Master. Daphne out."

Deactivating her commlink, Nox pulled out the meter long length of robe from her belt. "Let's head out Susan. Bee-Bee, make sure you hang on tight little guy. I've actually started to grow quite fond of you and would hate to lose you in the Void."

Giving an affirmative beep one of Bee-bee's robotic hands came out from its body and grabbed hold of one end of the robe. Once Susan hand grabbed hold as well Nox active her comm link again. "Remus are we clear for return?"

"Landing site's clear Nox. Come on home."

"We're on our way. Ashara hold."

Feeling the familiar pull from her navel, the reactor core disappeared in a swirl of colors. At the other end of the rope BB-8 started beeping away frantically as the droid experienced his first, and judging by what he was saying last, trip via portkey. A split second after their trip started it ended with Nox and Susan landing gracefully on their feet and BB-8 landing with a heavy thump.

Inside the cargo hold of the Ashara Nox saw that Daphne and Aela were both standing beside a bent over Kento, who was currently in the process of emptying his stomach.

"You're the last one back Nox." Remus said taking the strip of rope from her. "Harry, Mallie and that blue woman ran out of here as soon as they arrived back. Harry was carrying someone in his arms. She looked pretty bad."

"Harry will take care of her." Nox said back as she moved out of the cargo hold and towards the b. Inside the small room, Ginny was sitting in the co-pilot seat while Tonks was still in the pilot's seat. "Everyone is back aboard Nymph. Get us out of here now."

"Yes ma'am." Tonks nodded as she began plotting a course.

"Master…this radar shows how many ships are around us…what does this one do?" Ginny asked pointing at a side monitor next to her seat.

"It's a smaller long range scanner." Nox answered moving over towards Ginny. "It's mainly used to detect incoming ships just as they are about to pass out of hyperspace. Why?"

Narrowing her eyes at the small screen, Ginny's face slowly started losing its color. "Because according to this Master…five ships are about to drop out of hyperspace directly in front of us."

As soon as she finished speaking, five ships appeared almost directly in front of them. Four of them were roughly the size of the cruisers while the five was undoubtedly another dreadnought.

"Merlin's balls." Tonks gasped looking up as the ships slowly passed overhead. "Okay…I think we can safely say that the disillusionment charms work like a dream. That…and I need a new pair of knickers."

As the largest of the ships passed overhead Nox felt a dark and incredibly powerful, presence pass with it. 'One of the last two Sith Lords. Hmm…interesting. The sheer power of this one…incredible. This Emperor choose his right hand wisely.'

"Nypmhadora…open a channel to that ship."

Whipping around in her seat, Tonks stared at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"I want to leave them a recorded message before we leave." Nox repeated while staring up at the large ship directly overhead. "Audio only."

Sharing a confused look with Ginny, Tonks hesitantly turned back towards her. "Um…can I ask why?"

"Because I want to reiterate my promise." Nox answered simply. "Plus…it would be just rude of us to waltz in and steal one of the Empires prisoners without letting them know who it was that just screwed them over."

Standing on the bridge of the Decimator Darth Vader watched as his ship exited hyperspace. As his ship slowly started turning, Vader felt a feeling surge within him that he had not felt in a long time. Excitement. Ahsoka Tano had been captured and delivered to the Second Brother, who had immediately contacted him. Ahsoka Tano had been an extraordinarily gifted apprentice under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker. Under the tutelage of Darth Vader…she would become a weapon without equal. A weapon that Vader fully intended to use to bring down the Emperor when the time was right.

"Lord Vader. We are receiving a communication from one of the escort cruisers supporting the Dauntless. The ship is under attack by Jedi my Lord."

Turning his head slightly, Vader cast a cold glance at the ensign who'd just spoken before turning back to the viewport just as the Dauntless came into visual range. There was no outward damage visible to the dreadnought. Nor was there any evidence to a battle around the ship. "Hold the fleet at the position and raise the Dauntless. I want to know just who is attacking them."

"Yes Lord Vader." The same ensign bowed before turning back to his terminal.

Staring out at the three ships, Vader extended his senses trying to feel who was trying to steal his future apprentice from him. 'Strange. There is nothing. No…not nothing. There is something out there I sense it. But it is…cloaked in the Force. I've never felt anything like it before.'

"Lord Vader! The Dauntless isn't responding to any of our hails my Lord."

"Lord Vader! We're receiving an encrypted transmission. It's an audio recording my Lord. Point of origin…unknown my Lord."

Keeping his gaze firmly locked on the Dauntless, Vader tried once more the feel for anything through the Force. But once again he came up empty No Inquisitor. No Jedi. No Ahsoka Tano. Nothing save for the strange feeling that he couldn't identify. "Allow the transmission to come through."

"Yes my Lord. Playing the message now."

"Well hello my little Sith Lord. My my…you certainly have moved up in the galaxy. Just a short time ago you were mercilessly murdering children. And now you're a full-fledged Sith Lord. Congratulations. You've officially hit rock bottom. Trust me…I know from experience."

Vader felt his body, the parts that were still organic anyway, stiffen as the voice rolled over him. It was the same voice that had entered his mind after he'd just finished purging the Jedi Temple. It was the same voice that brought him to his knees in agony. And it was the same voice that'd created the grain of doubt that allowed Obi-Wan Kenobi to defeat him.

"Just thought I would leave a friendly little message to let you know that the captured Jedi is now in my care. And I also wanted to take a moment to reiterate my promise to you. Train however you will Sith. Train whomever you will. Form whatever armies you will. Create whatever weapons you will. Even hide if you feel so inclined. In the end…it won't matter. You and your Emperor may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. And before it is, I will take everything from you. And only when you have absolutely nothing left in the galaxy will I allow you to die. As a true Sith always does. Alone. And despised by everyone around them. Farewell Sith."

The moment the message finished Vader felt a jolt in the Force and the strange sensation he was sensing was gone. "Track the message. I want to know-"

A bright flash of light came from the Dauntless as the ship exploded outwards taking out both escort cruisers with it. "Where did the message originate from?" Vader growled as he watched the ships burn.

"I – I don't know Lord Vader." The ensign who'd found the message stuttered as he worked frantically. "They must've been using some sort of cloaking device th – ack!"

Vader didn't even bother to turn around as the ensign suddenly grabbed at his throat as he was lifted a full meter off of his seat. Turning around, Vader marched past the struggling ensign and towards the Commander of the Decimator. "Commander send out your retrieval teams for any survivors of the Dauntless. I want to know what happened on that ship."

"Yes, Lord Vader." The Commander responded nervously as Vader marched past him and the struggling ensign suddenly stopped as his neck broke.

'I must inform my Master. He will want to know of this development.' Vader thought as he marched out of the bridge. 'Worse yet…the Force presence stole my best option for an apprentice. I cannot use one of the Inquisitors. Their loyalty is to themselves and the Emperor only. Who can I use?'

Chapter 3

Ahsoka didn't want to wake up. To wake up meant that she would be subjected to more pain. But as she slowly began waking up she noticed something strange. She wasn't lying on the hard cold bed or on the interrogation board. Instead she was laying on something soft. Something incredibly soft. And she was wrapped in something warm and…soothing. Since when did prisoners get comfortable beds and warm blankets?

Almost against her own will Ahsoka eyes began to flutter open. But instead of seeing the inside of a cell block, she found herself staring up at a canvas overhang. Turning her head to the side, she saw another bed beside her only this one was empty. 'Where am I?' She thought as she slowly looked around. 'This…this looks like a barn…or a shack or a tent of some sort. And…what am I wearing? I've never worn such…loose fitting clothes before.'

"Ahsoka? Are you awake?" a familiar voice called out.

Snapping her head to the side, Ahsoka roughly pushed herself out of the soft bed, tumbling to the floor as she did. "No...," she gasped as she tried pushing herself backwards along the floor despite the screaming protesting coming from everyone one of her extremities. "No…no you can't be real! Master Secura is dead! What trick is this? No…no this can't be real! You can't be real! None of this is real!"

"Ahsoka!" The image pretending to be Master Secura gasped as she tried to take a step towards her. "Please Ahsoka, listen to me. You're alright now. You're saf-"

"You're not real!" Ahsoka shouted again, throwing her arms over her head as she tried to block out this new form of torment. "Go away!"

Various items began floating in the room before hurling themselves at the thing that dared to claim they were Master Secura while Ahsoka screamed at the top of her lungs for them to disappear.

"Hold her still!" Ahsoka vaguely heard a voice yell before she felt a pair of hands grab hold of her.

"No!" Ahsoka flailed, trying to get away from her captors. "Go away! Leave me alone! Just go-"

Her words cut off suddenly as she felt a container of some kind being forced between her lips. She nearly gagged as a viscous liquid trickled out of the container and down her throat, but try as she might, she couldn't get away from the strong gentle hands that were firmly holding her in place.

As the container disappeared from her lips, she felt herself calming down, seemingly without reason. 'What? What's going on? What – what was that?' Feeling calmer but still bewildered and confused.

Still shaking, Ahsoka lowered her hands away from her head. Master Secura was still kneeling next to her. The rutian Jedi holding onto her gently while a woman with pink hair knelt down next to her. "Master Secura?" Ahsoka asked breathlessly, for some reason her head felt much clearer now. "Is…is it really you?"

"Yes Ahsoka," Master Secura smiled, the corners of her eyes moistening as she rubbed Ahsoka's back. "It's really me young one." Although Aayla was subtly sending calming waves through the Force she was herself equally confused how Ahsoka calmed down so quickly.

Ahsoka stared up at the rutian Master for a long moment almost daring the image of the Master to disappear. But when it didn't she felt the dam within her break and she buried her head against the Master Secura's shoulder and she cried. All the pain and anguish that'd been building within her over the past weeks from her decision to leave the Jedi Order, to her capture, to her torture. It all came out at once. Mercifully, Master Secura didn't say a word. She simply held her as Ahsoka let months of pent up anguish out onto her shoulder. She cried and cried until she there were no more tears left within her. But even when she was cried out, she leaned against the Master trying to soak up the comfort that was being offered to her.

Finally managing to muster enough strength to push herself away from Master Secura, she noticed with some relief that the pink haired woman was gone. 'It's bad enough that Master Secura saw me break down like that.' "I'm sorry about that Master Secura." Ahsoka said shakily. "I – I don't know what came over me just now." Ahsoka smiled a bit shyly feeling embarrassed.

"It's alright Ahsoka." Master Secura said moving around so that she was sitting next to Ahsoka while still keeping one around her. "After everything that has happened…it's understandable."

Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and leaned slightly into Master Secura. Biting her lip, Ahsoka finally asked the question that she'd been dreading since she first learned of the attack against the Jedi. "Master…have you…have you heard anything Sky-guy…Anakin…Master Skywalker?"

"No." Master Secura answered. "I don't know who survived the initial purge. And you're the first one that I've been able to locate since it began. Well, the first I found who was alive anyway. But knowing your Master, I'm sure he's fine."

Nodding her head, Ahsoka finally took a minute to get a better look at her surroundings. "Master…what planet are we on? And how did you rescue me?"

Before Master Secura could answer, they both heard the rustling of a tent flap as the woman with pink hair stuck her head back into the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Ahsoka has calmed down." Master Secura nodded, her arm tightening around Ahsoka in a comforting manner. "Whatever you gave her helped immensely. Ahsoka, this is Nymphadora Tonks. She's one of the ones who helped to rescue you. Nympadora, this is Ahsoka Tano. A Padawan of the Jedi Order."

"Former Padawan." Ahsoka corrected quietly making Master Secura frown slightly.

"Wotcher Ahsoka. And just call me Tonks. Everyone does. And for the record, I just flew the ship. It was Harry, Nox and the others who went aboard that ship." Tonks said as she slowly made her way towards the two of them.

Furrowing her brow, Ahsoka vaguely started to remember bits and pieces of what happened. "There…there was a voice in my head. A young man's voice. He said he was coming for me. He took away my pain for a short time. And then…and then I heard his voice again. Only this time…I–I think I was in his arms."

"That would be Harry." Tonks said kneeling down in front of her. "He was most adamant that we rescue you. Well Luna was too. But Harry was the one who looked like he was ready to assault that dreadnought on his own in order to get to you. Now then, I know that this is probably a really stupid question but how are you feeling?"

"I–I don't know." Ahoska answered confusedly. She knew that after everything she'd gone through she should be in a tremendous amount of pain. And she should also be a stuttering wreck just like she was a few moments ago. But she wasn't. "There's…there's no pain. But my hands…and my feet are still twitching. How long was I in a bacta tank for?"

That had to be the only answer. They pulled her out of the dreadnought and immediately dropped her in a bacta tank to recover. "A bacta tank? Oh, yeah those are those healing bath things. Well, we don't have one of those on board unfortunately. As for how long you've been out, well it's been one full day - cycle since we brought you on board. You would've been up on your feet sooner. But the stress of the portkey negated and even backtracked some of the progress that the phoenix tears had made. Now, can you hold up your hands for me?"

Holding up her hands, Ahsoka blinked at the pink haired woman as she tried to wrap her mind around what she'd just been told. She'd only been out for a day? No bacta tank? Phoenix tears? Portkey? She literally had no idea just what this strange woman was talking about. And judging by the look Master Secura was giving the woman, she didn't necessarily fully understand either.

"Yeah, it looks like that portkey stopped the tears before they could heal you fully." Tonks said lightly touching Ahsoka's hands, which were both shaking violently. "Got just the thing for you though." The woman smiled brightly to reassure Ahsoka that she had a handle of the situation.

Standing, Tonks moved to the other side of the room and pulled out a small vial containing some sort of black liquid and a cup of water before coming back over to her. "Now this smells, and tastes, like dragon shite. But it's the best treatment available for victims of the cruciatus curse. And since we're dealing with the same thing here…well bottoms up."

Removing the top from the vial, Tonks brought it close to her lips. When it was still a full hands length away the stench hit her and she involuntarily moved back slightly. "That reeks!"

"I know." Tonks winced. "But this really will help. Just hold your nose and try and take it all in one go. Then we'll wash it down with the water okay?"

Nodding, Ahoska pinched her nose shut with a shaking hand as Tonks brought the vial to her lips once more and upended the entire contents into her mouth. As soon as the liquid hit her tongue it was all she could do not to immediately spit it back out. It was without a doubt the worst tasting concoction she'd ever tasted!

"There you go, here, drink up. This should get at least some of the taste out of your mouth." Tonks handed Ahsoka the cup of water.

More than happy to get the taste out of her mouth, Ahsoka opened her lips once more than drank greedily from the cup of water that Tonks was tilting up. "Easy now." Master Secura said as Ahsoka started for cough from drinking too fast.

Taking the cup away, Tonks set it off to the side before facing her again. "Okay, let's try this again. Hold out your hands for me."

Holding out her hands again, Ahsoka stared down amazed at just how steady they were. 'How? Just a moment ago I was shaking like crazy! Now I'm steady as durasteel. What was in that vial?' Even Master Secura seemed amazed as she reached out and felt Ahsoka's hands.

"Well, that should be the worst of it." Tonks said, rising to her feet. "How would you like to go for a little bit of a walk? And we definably have to get you some food. I don't know how long it's been since you last ate, but I know that that potion does a number on the appetite."

Just as Ahsoka was about to say that she was fine, her stomach betrayed her by rumbling. Loudly. "Haha, guess that answers that question." Tonks laughed as she walked back over to wooden drawer set, even Master Secura cracked a smile at her. "Here are your clothes. We cleaned them while you were asleep. And don't worry. We kicked Harry out well before we changed you into that sleeping shirt. Although I swear that boy has worn a hole in the floor outside your cabin with all the pacing he's been doing. Nox finally had enough and dragged him away, by his ear, about four hours ago." Tonks snickered at the memory of Harry being dragged away like that.

Taking the pile of clothes from Tonks, Ahsoka idly fingered her red bodysuit that she'd worn almost day in and day out for most of the Clone Wars. "We'll be just outside while you change Ahsoka." Master Secura said rising to her feet as Tonks nodded before stepping out of the small room. "Just come out whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Master."

Master Secura stopped half way towards the entryway and turned back to her. "Aayla. Just call me Aayla. You've more than earned that right." Aayla smiled at Ahsoka to reassure of that promise.

Ahsoka felt herself smiling at the rutian Master, who nodded in return before turning around and leaving her alone.

Staring down at the clothes in her hands again, Ahsoka slowly pushed herself up to her feet. She was more than slightly surprised at just how easy it was to stand. She wasn't in any pain and her body was as steady as ever. 'What was in that liquid they gave me?'

Setting her clothes down on her bed, she began unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing and letting it fall to the floor. Just as she reached out for her clothes again she noticed a tall floor length mirror within the room. Casting a quick glance at the entrance to make sure that neither Master Sec–Aayla nor Tonks were coming back in, she stepped over towards the mirror and, after taking a more than slightly shaky breath, stepped in front of it.

She expected to find her body battered and bruised. But instead…she saw nothing. No cuts. No burns. No bruises. Nothing. It was almost as if the past few days had been nothing more than just a bad dream. 'But it wasn't a dream.' She thought, tearing her eyes away from the mirror and making her way back over to her clothes. 'I still remember everything. All the pain and agony and humiliation they forced me to go through.'

After she managed to put the last of her clothes on, she slid her boots over as she sat down on the bed. 'But…just who is this Harry. And Tonks. And I think they mentioned a Nox too. I don't recognize their names from the Temple. But Harry has to be Force sensitive if he was able to reach out to me like that. And Tonks too…I could feel that she was Force sensitive as well. Just…just who are these people?'

Stomping her foot down to settle it into her boot, she stood up and after taking a calming breath stepped out of her room. The adjoining room looked like a sitting room of some sort complete with several comfortable looking couches upon which were both Master S – Aayla and Tonks. As she stepped into the room, both women ceased whatever conversation they were having and turned towards her.

"Looking good." Tonks smiled as she stood up and walked over towards her. "I bet you turn all the boys head's. No wonder Harry was willing to run off and attack a dreadnought on his own."

Ahsoka felt her face heating at the offhand comment. No one had really complemented her like that before. "Um…thanks." Ahsoka smiled shyly.

Grinning, Tonks motioned towards the entrance to the tent. "Come on, everyone else is eating at the moment. So this is a pretty good chance to kill two birds with one stone. You can get something to eat and meet everyone."

Blinking, Ahoska stayed rooted in place. "Others? How many of you are there?"

Pausing, Tonks looked upwards as if in thought as she stared listing off names and counting them off on her fingers. "Um, well let's see here. There's myself and Aayla here. Then there's Nox, Harry, Daphne, Susan, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Hannah, Tracey, Astoria, Remus and Aela. And then our recent additions Nat, Kento, Mallie and little Galen. So…eighteen of us all together. Now come on. Let's go get you something to eat."

Following Tonks and Ma–Aayla, Ahsoka had to stop as she felt a wave of the Force pass over her as she stepped through the tent flap. Blinking rapidly, she saw that they were inside a ship's cabin instead of out in the open. Ahsoka turned to look behind her and blinked again. The tent…it wasn't a large tent like she'd originally thought. The thing looked like it could barely hold two people sleeping side by side with each other! And there was another small tent right next to this one.

Pulling the tent flap back, Ahsoka peered inside. It was the same spacious sitting area she'd just left. Letting the flap fall back down she moved over to the other one and pulled it open. She felt the same wave of the Force pass over her as she stuck her head inside and saw what looked like an apartment room. Complete with a kitchen! "This…this isn't possible." She murmured as she looked back and forth between the interior of the tent and the small cabin they were in. "Is this…some sort of mind trick?"

"Nope." Tonks smiled, accenting the 'p'. "It's real. I believe Kento called it…oh bullocks what did he call it again? Space pressing? No…oh. Spatial compression. Yeah that's it."

"Trust me Ahsoka, its real." Aayla said stepping up beside her. "I don't know how, but somehow they actually managed to use the Force to do something that not even the greatest minds in the galaxy have been able to do."

"If this amazes you…just wait until later." Tonks said with a knowing smile. "Nox said that we're going to be giving you all a demonstration of just what we're capable of. Now come on, everyone can't wait to meet you."

Casting one last look at the tents, Ahsoka followed Tonks and Aayla out of the cabin. As she stepped out of the cabin, she felt another wave of the Force wash over her and then she could hear what sounded like nearly a dozen people talking with one another. "What…what was that?" She asked looking back at the door.

"Silencing ward." Tonks shrugged as she walked towards the voices. "Prevents any noise from entering or leaving a certain area. Pretty much a necessity for such tight quarters."

Following Tonks and Aayla through the ship, the trio quickly came to the galley of the ship. As soon as they walked into the galley of the ship, all of the noise that'd been floating throughout ceased as everyone stopped talking. As for Ahsoka, she was stunned by what she saw. The small galley was pretty much standing room only. And just about everyone in the room were human kids her own age, save for a small nautolan girl and slightly older human woman who was holding onto an infant. But more than that…every single person in the room was Force sensitive to a degree.

"Hey now, no need to make her nervous." Tonks said moving forward and pointing to the people in the room one at a time. "Let me introduce you to everyone. This blond here is Daphne and the little one next to her is her sister Astoria. Here we have Susan and Hannah. Then there's Tracey, Hermione and Ron. The other blond there is Luna and the little one sitting with her is Nat. And this here is Mallie and the little one in her arms is her son Galen. Everyone, this is Ahsoka Tano. Now clear a hole you lot. The poor girl is hungry. And most of you have studies or ship duties to get to if I'm not mistaken. So hop to it."

Ahsoka made to protest, but then her stomach decided to speak for her as the smell of food made her stomach growl far louder than before. Covering her middle, Ahsoka blushed slightly as the kids who'd been around the table quickly picked up their empty trays and made room for her. "Thank you." She said taking a seat next to the blonde haired girl, Daphne if she remembered correctly, while Aayla took a seat on the other side of the table from her.

Tonks immediately moved towards the kitchen area of the galley and began loading up a tray full of food while many of the kids nodded towards her before walking out of the room leaving her with just the two blond girls, Daphne and Luna if she remembered correct, Nat, Aayla, Mallie and her son.

"Daphne, right?" Ahsoka asked the girl sitting next to her who was sipping from a small white cup filled with something that smell delicious.

"Yes," Daphne nodded as she set down her cup. "And you're Ahsoka. I'm glad to see that you're recovering. I think Harry was mad enough to chew through the hull of the ship after he brought you back aboard."

"Speaking of Harry," Tonks said dropping a tray full of food, far more than she'd ever eaten in one sitting before, in front of her. "Where is he?"

"Master Nox was tired of him pacing a hole into the floor." The other blond, Luna, answered. "So she took him, Kento and Ginny to the hold so they could try and keep him occupied."

Ahsoka tried to pay attention to what everyone was saying, she truly did. But the food in front of her smelled so good, even if she couldn't fully identify what it was, her brain completely shut down and refocused solely on the food in front of her. Picking up her utensils, she began shoveling food into her mouth as fast as she could chew and swallow it. Before she even realized it, her tray was completely empty and she was using her utensils to scrap up the last few crumbs of food that were still on it.

Looking up, she saw that Aayla and Mallie were looking at her in mild shock, while the others in the room were watching her in amusement. "Excuse me." She said pushing her tray away. "I guess I didn't realize just how hungry I really was."

"It's fine." Tonks said, waving off her concern. "Would you like another?"

"No I'm fi-" But her stomach once again betrayed her by growling loudly. "Okay…maybe a small second helping." Ahsoka looked down at her stomach with a scowl. 'Traitor'

"Force Ahsoka." Aayla breathed, still lightly picking at her own food. "I didn't realize you had such an appetite."

"I don't." Ahsoka countered back as Tonks set down a second tray, this one almost as full as the first, and she started digging in.

"It's because of the healing potions you've been given." Daphne said, answering her unasked question. "You were given phoenix tears on the dreadnought to deal with the worst of your injuries. Once you were safely onboard you were then given a regiment of Essence of Dittany to heal up any wounds that'd been reopened by your little portkey trip. Then when you woke up Tonks gave you a Calming Draught as well as Neural Knitter to help counter the effects of what you went through over the past few days. All of which, while powerful in their own right, use a fair amount of the patients own stored up energy reserves in order to aid in healing. In other words…we've basically starved your body of just about everything it needs to keep functioning. Hence the abnormally large appetite." Daphne explained.

"Oh," Ahsoka nodded as she scooped another spoon full into her mouth. "I've never heard of those medicines before. Why didn't the Republic use them during the Clone Wars?"

Before Daphne could answer, heavy footfalls echoed through the small room as a large human man walked into the galley. This man Ahsoka actually recognized. He was one of the masters who oversaw a few of her lightsaber classes back when she was still a learner. "Master Marek!"

Staring at her, Master Marek's eyes narrowed before a smile overcame his face. "Little 'Soka. I thought that was you. I'm glad you're making a full recovery." Then much to Ahsoka's shock her former instructor walked over to Mallie and kissed her on the cheek before going over and getting a tray full of food. "By the Force…that kid is good. Gave me a pretty good run for my credits. Last kid I saw his age that was that good was Skywalker."

Hearing mention of her former master was enough to pull Ahsoka up from her meal. 'Someone as skilled as Skyguy? No…I'd have to actually see that to believe it.'

"Told you he was good." Tonks smiled as she started drinking from a small white porcelain cup much like Daphne's. "Nox has been training that kid since he was old enough to walk. And if you'd actually listened to your wife here, he pretty much cut a path through that dreadnought singlehandedly."

Hearing a young man's voice, Ahsoka looked up in the direction that Master Marek had just come from. "-need to keep your footing more Ginny. You're fast but if you get caught up in the air then-"

His words came to an abrupt end as he stepped into the galley and saw her. For her part, Ahsoka was just barely able to keep herself from dropping her utensil. He was fairly good looking she supposed. For a human boy of his age that is. But it was his eyes that held, no, demanded her full attention. His vibrant green eyes that almost seemed to radiate power. She couldn't seem to look away. Not that she wanted…

"Did you run into a wall Harry?" A voice called out from behind Harry breaking both his and her gaze.

'What is wrong with you Ahsoka?' She screamed at herself. 'Focus! You don't swoon over boys! Even if he was partially responsible for saving your life!'

"Sorry Ginny," the aforementioned Harry intoned as he stepped further into the galley allowing a small redheaded human girl to follow in behind him.

Upon seeing her, the redhead girl's eyes widened. "Oh, you're up! Are you feeling any better? You had us all worried. Well…some of us more than others." She finished by nudging the boy, Harry, slightly making him cough uneasily. "Not that we weren't all worried that is."

Going over to the small kitchen area the two, Harry and Ginny, she reminded herself, both picked up a tray of food moved to come and sit down. As they got closer, Ahsoka noticed that both were covered in a thin sheen of sweat and Ginny seemed to be walking with a slight limp. Seeing the two made her fingers itch to hold a lightsaber again so she could practice as well.

"You can have my spot Harry." Daphne said, finishing off the last of her drink and rising to her feet. "I have some studies that I need to finish anyway."

"And you can take my seat Ginny." Tonks said while standing. "I need to go and relieve Aela and Remus so they can get some quote rest unquote. Thank Merlin for silencing charms."

Nodding his thanks, Harry took Daphne's now vacant seat which put him right next to her. For a short time, the two just sat next to one another neither doing more than just pushing their food around their trays. "You're…you're the one I heard in my mind, aren't you?" Ahsoka finally managed to ask.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "I–I felt your pain. I couldn't just leave you like that. I'm just sorry it took us so long to get to you."

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Ahsoka lighting placed her hand on top of his wrist. "Thank you for coming for me…Harry."

Harry turned to face her, Ahsoka felt herself almost hypnotized by his eyes once more. "I wasn't the only one who came after you. Ginny was there with me as was Mallie. Daphne, Aela and Kento also came with us. As did my mother and Susan. And Aayla, sorry, Master Secura was already onboard trying to rescue you as well."

"Harry's just being modest." Ginny said, smiling at the two of them. "We probably could've just pointed him towards the interior of the ship and sat back and watched as he took care of the rest."

"Harry does have a bit of a…knack for saving people and for putting himself in dangerous situations." An unknown voice spoke with an amused tone.

Hearing the new voice, Ahsoka looked around just as a woman walked into the galley. There were very few times when she could actually remember being uneased by someone. She'd fought in the Clone Wars on the frontlines for nearly two years with Master Skywalker. She'd fought against Grievous. She'd even gone toe-to-toe with Ventress for several occasions. She even stood in the presence of Count Dooku. She'd stood strong against the disapproving glares of the Jedi Council. And yet…just being in the presence of the woman who just entered had unnerved her more than ever before.

"Well I for one am glad that he does." Aayla said, giving Ahsoka a moment to gain her bearings. "For Ahsoka's sake, as well as for my own. I don't think I would've been able to get her off of that ship without your timely intervention Nox."

"Perhaps." The woman shrugged before walking across the room and standing before the table. "I'm glad to see that you are up and moving young one."

"Thank you, Master." Ahsoka swallowed. That had to be it. She was some Jedi Master that had been mostly absent during the Clone Wars.

The woman stared at Ahsoka a moment longer before smiling, nothing more than a slight upturning of her lips, at her. "You're welcome young one." She then reached out and grabbed Ahsoka by the chin, not roughly, but enough to make sure that Ahsoka was staring only at her. "You're strong, young one. Don't let what happened to you rule your life. Embrace it and move on."

Licking her lips, Ahsoka could practically feel the power in her words. "Yes Master."

"Well then," Master Nox said suddenly as she backed away from her. "I believe it is time for us to have a conversation that I've been promising to have with Mallie and Kento for some time now. But first things first. Nat, come here a moment." Nox beckoned to the nautolan youngling.

The little nautolan blinked up at Master Nox for a second before hopping down from her seat and walking over to her. Kneeling down, Master Nox snapped her wrist to the side and Ahsoka felt a slight surge of the Force as a thin…stick appeared in her hand. She them touched the stick to Nat's ear canals and throat, which were accented with small bursts from the Force, before standing back up. "Can you understand me Nat?"

"Yes Master Nox." The little girl said in perfect Basic. "How…how can I understand you? You are not speaking Huttese." Nat's eyes widened as she reached up to touch her ear that Master Nox briefly touched.

"It's a translation charm dear." Master Nox said. "You'll still need to learn Basic. But for the time being this will work. Now go sit down with Luna again."

Nodding, the little girl turned back around and crawled back up into the seat next to Luna. As she did, Ahsoka furrowed her brow as she tried, and failed to figure out just what Master Nox had done. One moment the little girl could only understand and speak in Huttese…and the next she was speaking perfect Basic. 'She…used the Force to allow the girl to speak and understand Basic instead of Huttese…how? That's impossible!'

What she did next though completely blew Ahsoka away. Waving her stick behind her, a chair that hadn't been there suddenly appeared. Ahsoka stared dumbly at the chair that wasn't there a second ago. 'A mind trick? No…Master Nox is sitting in it! It's…it's really there.'

"Now then," Master Nox said as she settled herself into the chair that wasn't there a moment before. "Before we go too much farther, allow me to put all of my cards out on the table. I am not a Jedi. Never have been and never will be. Far too limiting for my tastes. No. Until recently I was Darth Nox, a Dark Lady of the Sith. And one of the highest ranking members of the Dark Council."

Ahsoka's hands involuntarily twitched towards her waist where her lightsabers used to be, but before they could move far she felt Harry's hand gently cover one of her own. Not threatening, but as if he was trying to halt her from doing anything. Looking across the table she saw that Aayla had shifted her weight slightly, no doubt in preparation for drawing her own lightsaber. However, neither Master Marek nor Mallie seemed to be too terribly shocked by her revelation for some reason.

"Wait, the Dark Council?" Mallie asked leaning forward, her brow furrowed in thought. "There hasn't been a Dark Council since the time of the…the Sith Empire…oh gods."

"Mallie?" Aayla asked turning slightly towards Mallie, who had gone completely pale.

"There are only a few records that date back to that time." Mallie said licking her lips. "But I remember reading one that talked about the hierarchy of the Sith Empire after the fall of Emperor Vitiate. It was said that the Empire was torn apart by a three-way power struggle between Darth Marr, Darth Arcazin and Darth Nox."

Ahsoka felt her own breath hitch. 'No…that's not possible. It's just a coincidence.'

Nox however just looked amused. "Well…I'm rather impressed that I made it into history records. Even if the records are woefully inaccurate. Of the three of us only Arcazin sought total control. Darth Marr and I actually got along extremely well."

"That was three and a half millennia ago." Aayla countered back. "No species has that long of a life expectancy."

Nodding, Nox leaned back in her chair. "You're right. I should've died a long time ago. But, a mixture of my own mistakes and the will of the Force brought me here to this time. When I woke up roughly fourteen years ago I was met with three Force ghost's from my time who became one with the Force. Grandmaster Satele Shan. Darth Marr. And Revan."

"You knew Darth Revan?" Ahsoka blurted out before she could help herself. Revan had always been a fascinating topic for her. The fallen Jedi who destroyed half the galaxy before being turned back to the light and leading the charge against the Sith Emperor.

"I knew him." Nox nodded. "Fought against him. Got my ass kicked by him. And learned a lot from him. Anyway, after waking those three informed me of the state of the galaxy. My first intention was to go off and find either the Sith or the Jedi. But those three convinced me that both would be a terrible idea. The Sith, because they would try and kill me. And the Jedi because you lot would lock me away in the darkest pit you could find."

"Wait, how long ago did you say that you supposedly woke up?" Aayla asked leaning forwards slightly.

"Almost Fourteen years ago. Give or take a month or two. Why?" Nox turned to Aayla with a raised brow.

"Because that roughly coincides with the Sith revealing themselves to the Jedi during the battle for Naboo." Ahsoka answered. She'd heard the story from her Master nearly a dozen times during their short time together. "Master Kenobi fought and defeated the Sith Lord, Darth Maul during the battle."

"In hindsight…if what you're saying is true it is a good thing you didn't come forward then." Master Marek nodded. "If you had the Jedi would've arrested you under suspicion of you being the Sith Master under the Rule of Two. Quite the coincidence."

"There are no coincidences in the Force." Luna shrugged, making Ahsoka start slightly. She'd completely forgotten that the young girl was still there.

"Luna is right. And that thought warrants more investigation. But as for the 'Rule of Two'…don't even get me started on that rule." Nox growled. "It's part of the reason as to why I'm even here. Now, no more interruptions for the time being. As I was saying, after I was informed of the current state of affairs those three offered me a chance to head to a new world that was incredibly strong in the Force and build a new order of Force users that were neither Jedi nor Sith. But both. A new order that would in the end bring true balance back to the Force. The catch was just where the world was located. Deep in the uncharted sections of the galaxy."

"It took me over a year of constant near death hyperspace jumps, but eventually I found it. A world enveloped in the Force. And on its surface I found a sect of Force users that were using the Force, or magic as they called it, in ways I never even considered possible."

"Magic?" Aayla scoffed. "Magic is just the name given to the Force by those who don't fully understand it." Aayla stopped speaking when she realized what she just said and more importantly just who she'd said it too. Especially considering what she'd just seen the woman do.

"Magic. The Force. It's all the same." Harry answered leaning forward. "It's power. Does it really matter what it's called? It's not always about what it's called but how it's used."

"Harry is right." Nox said before anyone could argue further. "And I admit, I have probably learned just as much if not more about the Force on his world than ever before. But how about a demonstration Harry, seeing as how conjuring a chair out of nothing isn't apparently good enough."

Nodding next to her, Harry stood up and stood next to his mother. Ahsoka felt a similar surge of the Force as he snapped his hand off to the side and another stick appeared in his outstretched hand. Holding it up, Ahoska felt a massive buildup in the Force as he slashed it across his body. "Expecto Patronum."

If Ahsoka hadn't been sitting right next to him, she would've denied that what happened next was even possible. But right before her eyes a four-legged creature made entirely of light with large horns on top of its head emerged from the tip of Harry's stick and started galloping around the small room.

Ahsoka, just like Master's Secura, Marek and Mallie all moved back slightly out of shock. But little Nat screamed with glee as she hoped down from her seat and bravely walked up to the creature. "You can touch it." Harry said with a smile as Nat hesitantly held out her hand. Grinning widely, Nat pressed her hand against the light creature.

Mustering her courage, Ahsoka forced herself up out of her seat and towards the creature. "What is it?" She asked Harry as she watched Nat grin widely with her eyes closed.

"It's a Patronus." Harry answered. "It's used to ward of a certain variety of dark creatures on my planet. Later we learned it can also send messages verbally. But as for its shape, it's a stag. Each animal is different for each person."

Licking her lips, Ahsoka tentatively reached out and laid her hand against the stag. As soon as she did her eyes widened and she gasped. The creature beneath her fingertips was warm…and while not quite solid was definitely there. But the more she pressed her hand against it…the happier she felt. It was as if she could have no bad thoughts or feelings as long as she stayed in contact with the creature of light.

Abruptly the sensations ended as the creature beneath her fingers disappeared. And judging by the pouting look Nat was giving Harry, she was just as disappointed by its disappearance as she was. "How did you do that?" She asked turning towards Harry.

"Magic." Harry grinned as he tucked his wand away up his sleeve.

"The main difference between the Force, as you know it is how it's used. Jedi and Sith are not the exclusive users of the Force as you know." Nox explained. "As you have been tuaght, you allow the Force to flow through you and guide your actions. Or you try and dominate what is flowing through you and control it. The light side and the dark side of the Force. Magic however, uses the Force energy that is already within you. You expel it out of your body usually with the aid of a focus, like our wands, and shape its purpose based on an incantation, wand movement, and most importantly your intent. And in the case of what Harry just did, your emotions. Interesting thing about emotions and intent is that younglings who are magical can have bursts of what we call accidental magic. In simple terms if a child has strong emotions they have a burst of magic."

Nox nodded towards Nat "Say for example Nat was feeling angry or scared or even hungry any one of those could trigger a burst of magic if she wanted food that was out of reach she could summon it down as if she was using the Force subconsciously."

All three Jedi and Ahoska were all staring completely awestruck at where the creature of light had once been. "Can you teach me – us how to do that?" Ahsoka asked turning towards Nox.

"Possibly," Nox shrugged. "But whether or not any of you do actually learn or not will be completely dependent on how willing you are to let go."

"Let go of what?" Kento asked.

"Of everything you think you know." Nox responded before turning towards Ahsoka. "Tell me. You felt that spell Harry just performed. As you understand the dark and light side of the Force, how would you classify that technique? Dark or light?"

"Light." Ahsoka answered back without hesitation.

As soon as she said it, Nox smiled and Ahsoka had the uneasy feeling that she just walked right into a trap. "Would you still say the same if I were to tell you that the key component to that spell is a powerful positive emotion? And I'm talking about something silly like being accepted by a Master or anything like that. I'm talking about a memory or thought that evokes such a powerful feeling within you that it completely fills you with joy."

Reaching into the folds of her robe, Nox pulled out a small stone bowl. Setting it down in the center of the table she then took out her stick touched it to the bowl. As she lifted her stick, wand, the bowl grew in size until it was nearly ten times the size it'd originally been. "Now I don't expect an answer right away and nor do I expect you to believe every word I've just said. That is where this little device comes into play."

"What is it?" Aayla asked as she leaned over so she could examine the intricate carvings around the top and sides of the stone bowl.

"It's called a pensieve." Nox answered, sticking her wand into the bowl and swirling it around. As she did a trail of dark bluish liquid filled the bowl and started glowing. "It's a magical device used for examining memories. You place copies of your memories within and you can then view them from a third person point of view. Right now within this pensieve are several of my own memories as well as several of Harry's. And we're going to view them."

"How?" Ahsoka asked eagerly.

"Simple." Nox smiled putting her wand away. "You simply touch the surface of the liquid. You'll briefly experience the sensation of falling head first, but that will end soon enough and we will all be standing next to one another. From there I will show you my, as well as Harry's, memories of how and why we came to be here."

Ahsoka eyed the swirling liquid nervously. "You'll be fine." Harry said from beside her. "I've done it quite a few times. And if it helps, I'll go first."

Taking a step towards the bowl, Harry held out his hand and dipped a single finger into the liquid. As soon as he did he…disappeared. "Where did he go?" Aayla asked as she narrowed her eyes at the spot Harry had just been, no doubt trying to break through whatever illusion Harry was under.

"He's in here." Nox said tapping the edge of the bowl with her finger. "Waiting for the rest of us. Now, which of you are going to be brave enough to head in first?"

Before any of them could move, Nat stepped forward away from Luna and bravely touched her finger to the surface of the liquid. And just like Harry before her, as soon as she did she disappeared from sight. 'Come on Ahsoka! Are you really willing to be upstaged by a little girl maybe half your age!?'

Taking a deep breath, Ahsoka stepped forward and before she could second guess herself plunged her fingers into the swirling liquid. Instantly she felt like she was falling headfirst down a dark hole. But before she could scream, she felt her body straighten out and her feet touch down onto something hard.

"Okay," she breathed looking around at the swirling mass of black mist that was surrounding her. "This is weird."

"Boo!"

Whipping around, Ahsoka raised her hands poised to attack whoever or whatever was behind her. And found Harry back peddling away from her with a giggling Nat by his side. "Hey! Sorry about that. Didn't mean to startle you."

"Don't do that!" Ahsoka growled as she turned her back on him and Nat who was standing by his side.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Harry laughed.

"No." Ahsoka Tano didn't get scared. Startled maybe. But not scared. Nope. Never. "I don't get scared."

"Sure." Harry chuckled along with Nat.

Despite her mood and despite the fact that she was the butt of the joke, the laughter coming from the two was infectious and Ahsoka felt herself smiling slightly. Soon enough the mist parted as first Kento, then Mallie, then Aayla and lastly Nox gained their footing within the swirling mass of black mist. "Okay," Kento said slowly looking around. "This…this is certainly different. Wait…can this thing copy anyone's memories? I mean…will you be able to watch our entire life stories now that were in here?"

"No." Nox replied shaking her head. "You have to deliberately copy and place your memories within the pensieve from the outside before you can view them."

"Well that's good to know." Kento said rubbing the back of his head. "There are few rather…fun memories that I'd like to stay between myself and Mallie."

"Kento!" Mallie gasped turning slightly red. "Behave! Although that might be too much to ask for…so please just don't embarrass me too much okay? Force…considering our son has your temperament I pity the poor girl that falls for him."

"Ouch!" Kento gasped dramatically grasping his chest. "That hurts Mallie!"

"Oh get over it. You're a big boy. And don't even dare go there Kento." Mallie warned before sighing. "I just hope that Galen doesn't give Luna too much trouble while we're in here. That boy can be a handful sometimes."

"Don't worry, Luna is a lot more capable than most people give her credit for." Harry said reassuringly before turning to Kento. "I have a feeling that you're going to get along with my godfather Kento. He's a child in a grown man's body too."

"Save it for another time boys." Nox said sharply. "We're here for a reason. Now…as for what you're about to see. First I'm going to show you some memories of my time with the old Empire. Then I'm going to show you just how I came to be here in this time and my time with the spirits of Revan, Shan and Marr. Then I'm going to show you a few memories of Earth and magic specifically from both my own and Harry's memories. And then lately…I'm going to show why exactly I have risked exposure by coming back."

With a wave of Nox's hand, the mist around them dissipated revealing a landing platform on a desert planet. Not too far from where she was standing, a group of humans appeared kneeling on the platform. Each of whom had a slave collar around their neck while another human marched back and forth in front of them berating them in the meanest way possible. "Welcome to the Sith Academy on Korriban." Nox said just as Ahsoka noticed a younger version of the powerful Force user kneeling on the platform with a collar around her neck. "And the beginning of my ascension from slave to Dark Lady of the Sith."

Ahsoka watched on in fascination and horror as she watched the younger version of the woman beside her go through the trials of the Sith. As she watched, she couldn't help but be reminded of her own time in the Jedi: Studying with those her age, studying with Masters, learning peacefully. What she was seeing was nothing like that. There was little to no teaching. It was survival of the fittest. Those who fell behind weren't given another chance…they were simply killed. It was…brutal.

As the visions came to Nox being named as an apprentice, the black mist surrounding them condensed once again before reforming into large meeting hall. Again she watched completely awestruck as Nox and her beast companion battled against two incredibly skilled and powerful opponents. Then the vision shifted again and they were standing in what looked like the same room, only it was completely destroyed and covered in a thick layer of dirt.

"Gods…" Kento breathed as they watched the ghosts of Revan, Grandmaster Shan and Darth Marr converse with Nox. "Is there any way you record this outside of this…device? Master Jocasta Nu probably would've broken every tenet of the Jedi Order in order to obtain a record as extensive as this."

"Perhaps we can arrange something in the future." Nox shrugged as they watched her vision-self walk over to one of the crates and kick it open.

"By the Force!" Aayla gasped as she saw the number of holocrons that laid within. Even Ahsoka could hardly believe what she was seeing. If all of the crates in the vision contained the same number of holocrons…then Nox probably had more than the Jedi Temple! "Do you…do you still have all of the holocrons?"

Nodding, Nox waved her hand and the dark mist returned. "Yes I do. They're back on Earth." With another wave of her hand the mist started to shift again. "Now that you've seen what led me to seek out Earth, I'm going to show you combination of mine and Harry's memories regarding just what their magic can do."

As the mist solidified, she saw Nox standing with two men that were instructing her how to use the wooden stick, wand, in her hand. As she watched Nox created several items out of thin air, turned one thing into another and several perform numerous of feats with the Force that less than a day ago Ahsoka would've sworn were impossible.

Then the mist shifted and she saw a younger version of Harry walked with dozens of other children his own age through what looked like a large room within a stone, actual stone not steel, building. As she watched. "This was my first Transfiguration class." Harry narrated. "Despite how strict she is…I swear that Professor McGonagall just likes to show off for the first years."

As she watched all the kids took their seats in a classroom that had a small feline animal perched on the desk at the front of the class. Then without warning the cat pounced off the desk and…and changed shape from a feline to a human woman that reminded her of Master Nu.

"That's impossible." Aayla gasped as, with a wave of his hand, Harry backtracked the memory and replayed it. "She…she was a feline and then…human. Is that some sort of Force illusion?"

"No." Nox said shaking her head. "She really did change her shape to a cat and back again. There is a specific group of magicals known as animagus who can turn into an animal. Harry's godfather can also do the same, into a canine."

As she watched, Ahsoka was struck with a memory from her short time on Mortis. "The Daughter…and the Son. They could both change their shape." She said making all of the Jedi in the room turn towards her. "I remember that. The Daughter would turn into an avian creature and the Son…he would turn into some sort of monster."

"There, not so impossible or unheard of then." Nox smiled before nodding towards Harry who started up the memory again.

With rapt attention, Ahsoka watched as Harry and the others onboard the ship learned uses for the Force that she never even dreamed possible. 'This…this is all so incredible!'

"However…things on Earth are far from idyllic." Nox said as dark mist returned. "There are still so-called 'dark lords and ladies' that spring up every now and then. Thirteen years ago there was such a dark lord and he was responsible for killing Harry's parents before he himself was defeated. The problem is…he didn't stay dead."

With a wave of her hand the memories shift and Ahsoka watched a slightly younger Harry walk into a large pillared room with a mirror at one end that had a human man stand before it. The younger version of Harry talked to the older man for a moment, then the man suddenly seemed unsure as a second voice joined in. Then the man started to remove his turban. As he lowered it Ahsoka, and everyone else save for Harry and Nox, all gasped as they saw a second face on the back of the bald man's head.

The three entered a strange conversation before the face on the back of the head snarled and the man leapt at Harry. With reflexes that would make even Skyguy proud, Harry drew his lightsaber and cut off the man's arm before using his wand to create a stream of fire like a flamethrower. The man stared at his arm in horror, before throwing a plethora of jets of light out of his wand, each of which Harry deflected with his lightsaber.

Just as Harry was staring to gain the upper hand, the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke and moved behind him. But it was all for naught as Harry calmly thrusted his lightsaber into the thick of the mist. As the mist faded they all saw that Harry had stabbed the man through his chest.

In one last act of desperation, the man grabbed Harry by the throat. But then the strangest thing happened. His arm, and soon the rest of his body, slowly turned to ash and disintegrated. Then a shadow with a face rose up from the ashes and slammed into Harry and the world around them went dark.

"Okay…just what in the Force was that?" Kento asked as the world around them returned to its original state it had been in when they first entered.

"That was the dark lord that killed Harry's parents." Nox answered, and Ahsoka felt a slight lurch in her as she saw the crestfallen expression that came over Harry face.

"He's a Force ghost?" Aayla asked.

Nox shook her head. "Not entirely. This Dark Lord used a variation of a Sith immortality ritual. One that fell out of favor almost as soon as it was created. Long story short, the ritual ends with the practitioner shearing off a piece of their soul and storing it in a container outside of their body."

Aayla, Master Marek and Mallie all looked like they were going to be sick. "But…but if one were to do that, then they would never be able to become one with the Force." Aayla nearly shouted.

"Correct." Nox nodded. "Which is one reason why the ritual fell out of favor. The other was because once the individual pieces were destroyed, the practitioner's connection to the Force was cut and therefore they would be weaker."

"So…this Dark Lord did this ritual and placed a piece of his soul in a container and that is why he's still alive?" Mallie half asked half stated.

"Not one, six." Harry answered making the three Jedi, and Ahsoka, turn even paler. "And we've already destroyed four. We know where another one is, unfortunately it's unreachable at the present time. But we have no clue as to where the last one is."

Biting her lip, Ahsoka thought back on what she'd just seen. "What…how did you do that…burning thing at the end Harry?" She asked tentatively. "I've…I've never seen anything like that."

"Harry didn't do that." Nox answered before Harry could. "His mother did actually. Before she died she used, at least I believe this is what she used, a variant of an old Jedi protection ritual. What it does is creates a barrier around the one intend to be protected which makes them untouchable to a certain individual. However there is a price. And in this case, the price is the casters life, taken by the one the protected is supposed to be guarded against. His mother cast the spell over him, then allowed this dark lord to kill her, finalizing the ritual and creating an impenetrable barrier around Harry."

Ahsoka felt a sudden need to try and comfort Harry, but before she could even shift her weight Nat reached up and lightly grabbed hold of his hand. Just as Ahsoka took a step towards Harry she felt herself rushing upwards and then she was back within the galley of the ship with the others standing around the stone bowl.

"And now it is time for you to make your decisions." Nox said as she drew her wand and touched it to the bowl. "You can either come with us or you can stay here. Just know that if you come with us then you will have to set aside most if not all of you Jedi teachings if you're to have any hope of learning even a fraction of what you've just seen."

Ahsoka didn't hesitate. Master Skywalker had always told her to follow her feelings, and her feelings on what to do were clear. Not that she had much to stay for anyway. "I want to learn." She said staring up at Master Nox. "Please teach me…Master."

"I'm with you as well." Aayla said with a conviction that surprised Ahsoka slightly.

Master Marek and Mallie both shared a quick glance with one another. The two had a silent conversation with one another for a moment, which ended when Mallie nodded. "We're in." Master Marek said.

"Splendid." Master Nox clapped. "Unfortunately you won't be able to truly train in this new branch of the Force until we return to Earth."

"Why not Master?" Ahsoka asked before she could help herself. "Sorry."

"Forgiven." Master Nox said before drawing her wand. "Wands are necessary in order to use magic. At least in the beginning. In time you'll be able to cast some of the simpler spells without it. But until you learn how to correctly mold the Force, you need a wand. And we don't have any spares laying around for you to use. Not that they would help anway."

"Why not?" Mallie asked.

"Because the wand chooses who it wants to serve." Harry answered, before quickly adding, "They're not sentient. But…I really don't know how to explain it. Using a wand that hasn't chosen you just feels…wrong. And it's harder to cast a spell with that wand as well. Plus using a wand that has chosen you just feels…right."

"Harry's right." Master Nox nodded. "Once we reach Earth we will get all of you wands. But first…we have a slight detour that we need to take."

"A detour?" Master Marek asked. "Where too?"

Smiling slightly, Master Nox made her way past them. "A world called Odessen. Where my son and my other two apprentices are going to be going through their trials."

"Trials? But they're so young! Why are they going through their trials so young?" Aayla asked in confusion.

Master Nox sighed, "Revan, yes the Revan, paid me a visit recently, shortly after the purge. This trip was directed by Revan, who, as you saw in my memory, is being directed by the Force. You don't say no to things like that out of hand."

Standing on the bridge of the Ashara, Nox watched as Aela skillfully pilot the ship into orbit around the planet of Odessen. "Here we are." Aela said, leaning back from the controls. "Are you sure this is it?"

"I'm sure." Nox replied as she opened herself up to the Force.

The world before them felt so…balanced. A perfect blending of both the light and the dark side of the Force. Almost more so than even Earth. 'It's no wonder the Force has sent us here.'

"Alright then, beginning decent into the atmosphere." Aela nodded as the ship dipped down into the atmosphere. "So where exactly am I heading?"

Sitting down in the copilot's seat, Nox took control of the ship and closed her eyes, allowing the Force to guide her actions. Nearly twenty minutes later, Nox felt a pulse in the Force as she flew them over a large tree filled valley that was perhaps fifty kilometers or more wide and surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges. "Hover us around in a tight circle maybe fifty meters or so off the ground above this valley. After we send the kids off head for that ridge right over there and set up camp until they return."

"Will do." Aela nodded as Nox stood back up and made her way towards the back of the ship.

As Nox made her way through the ship she could hear voice getting steadily louder. Stopping just outside of the cargo hold, Nox peeked inside. Just about everyone save for Aela and herself were in the hold. In the center of which stood Harry, Daphne and Susan. Harry was currently standing with Ginny, Ahsoka, Hermione, Luna and Ron while Kento talked to the lot of them and Nat hung onto Harry's side.

Next to them were Susan, Hannah, Tonks and Mallie who was no doubt trying to give some last minute pointers to Susan. And next to them were Daphne, Tracey, Astoria, Remus and Aayla. Amusingly enough, Astoria had the same type of hold on her sister as Nat did with Harry.

All conversation ceased as Nox stepped into the hold. "We're here." She said looking over her three apprentices.

Per tradition of the Sith, and the Jedi as far as she knew, all three were dressed in a simple tunic and they carried only their wand's and lightsabers. They were not allowed to take any food or water with them. They would have to rely on the Force and their own ingenuity in order to survive.

"We've arrived." Nox said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible. "From here on out you three will be on your own. Stretch out your feelings. Allow the Force to guide you and you will be guided to your trials. Succeed, and return to us as full-fledged Knights of the Guardians."

"Yes Master." Harry, Daphne and Susan said as one.

"Good. Now come, it's time to begin."

Walking past them group, Nox watched as her three apprentices said farewell to their friends and family before turning to follow her. Nox had to hide a slight smile as Ahsoka wished Harry luck, which caused her son's ears to turn slightly red. 'Well…like mother like son I guess.'

Leading her apprentices to the closed boarding ramp, she had the three of them stand near the bottom before stepping back from them. "May the Force be with you." She said before activating the ramp.

All three had just barely enough time to realize that they were not yet on the ground before Nox sent them all out of the ship with a slight Force push.

Tonks walked up behind Nox as the ramp closed. "You threw them out of the ship…while it was still airborne didn't you?"

Nox turned to face Tonks with a wry smile, "Why yes, yes I did, be glad you aren't going to go through the same thing they will be."

Nox returned to the hold to address the remaining members of the ship. "While our three students are enjoying the hospitality of this planet we're parking on a ridge overlooking the valley they were…dropped off at." Nox smirked at the wide eyed reaction to hearing how she deposited her charges. "While it would be nice to stay onboard while during their trials we will be setting up a small camp so we can take advantage of the planet for more practical Force studies. So get those tents ready to be moved."

Kneeling down at the tunnels entrance, Daphne pulled out her wand and conjured a small sphere of light before sending it into the cave. Ever since she left the ship over a week ago now, she'd been following a strange pulse in the Force. A pulse that seemed to emanating from this cave. It'd only been less than two weeks since Master Nox, quite literally, kicked the three of them out of the ship to begin their trials. But those two weeks felt like months. There was little to nothing to eat. Drinkable water, despite this being a world similar to Earth, was actually fairly hard to find. So she'd been forced to rely on the Force to provide her with what she needed. Which was the point she assumed.

As her light disappeared around a bend within the cave, Daphne drew out her saberstaff and held it off to her side before entering after her conjured light. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever as she followed the light deeper and deeper into the ground. After what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel she was following evened out and expanded into a vast cavern littered with gem stones. "Beautiful." She whispered to herself as she guided her light higher into the cavern.

"It is, isn't it?"

Spinning around, Daphne activated one-half of her saber staff, and found nothing behind her. "Hahaha, you didn't actually think it would be that easy did you?"

Turning in a slow circle, Daphne tried to find the source of the voice. But no matter where she looked all she saw was more of the cavern. "Show yourself!"

"I'm right here."

Spinning around, Daphne brought her saberstaff around ready to attack. But completely faltered once she saw who was standing behind her.

"Hahaha, what's wrong Daphne? I think we look good."

Standing behind her was an actual walking, talking, mirror image of herself. Only…not. Her mirror image's skin was paper white, her blond hair was completely disheveled and she had pitch black rings around her eyes. But the most striking difference were their eyes. Her blue eyes were gone and in their place were a set of hauntingly golden eyes. "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" Her copy laughed, a cracking noise that made Daphne wince. "Who am I she asks. Your confusion is so…intoxicating. Hehe. Can't you tell yet you stupid bitch? I'm you! Or rather…the you as you should be. Everything you fear yourself to be. Unrestrained. Free."

"You're nothing more than an abomination." Daphne hissed as she pointed her lightsaber towards the creature.

Quick as a flash, the creature drew a saberstaff that was identical to the one in Daphne's hand. As the two blue blades clashed against one another, the creature smirked. "An abomination? No. You are the abomination! You are the one holding us back! We could be so much more! We could overthrow Nox! We could take whatever we wanted! But no…you have to be the good little apprentice and do whatever that bitch says!"

Jumping up, the creature flipped over Daphne's head while striking down. Daphne managed to roll just in time to feel the heat of the saberstaff pass over her head. Rolling back to her feet she activated the other half of her saberstaff before twirling it over her head and bringing it down hard.

The creature mimicked her by rolling out of the way and fully activating her own saberstaff before locking blades with Daphne. "You're not listening Daphne. I. Am. You. I know all of your moves. You have no chance against me."

Dancing away, Daphne held her staff in a low guard. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" The shade laughed. "I want a lot of things. I want to experience everything! I want to feel everything! I want that bitch that stifled my growth to suffer and die! And I want control of our body!"

Blocking high, Daphne brought the back end of her staff around aiming for the shade's head only to have her strike blocked as well. Backpedaling, Daphne brought her wand forth and shot off a string of hexes and curses at the shade. Each of which were batted aside. And then it was Daphne's turn to go on the defensive as the shade fired off a string of her own hexes and curses.

Deactivating her sabersataff, Daphne jumped up on to a plateau within the cavern before using the Force to hurl nearly a dozen fist sized rocks at the shade. All of which the shade managed to avoid before destroying the small plateau that Daphne was standing on with a powerful blasting curse.

On and on their fight went. Every spell Daphne threw was blocked or batted away. Every move she made was countered perfectly. Every strike with her saberstaff was blocked and countered. No matter what she did the shade managed to match her step for step. And while Daphne was able to return the favor in kind, there was one big difference between the two of them. And that was that Daphne was getting tired. And the shade wasn't.

Receiving a backhand to the side of her head, Daphne went down to the ground hard as she felt blood pool within her mouth. The shade didn't waste a second. Before Daphne could even get up to her hands and knees the shade kicked her in the side before sending her rolled across the cavern with a powerful Force push.

"Pff. Pathetic Daphne. Really, really pathetic." The shade sighed as Daphne struggled to get back up to her feet. "You're fear is giving me more and more power. Why don't we just end this pointless fight and you just stay down like a good little girl and let me take over from here on out."

Something in the shade's words made Daphne pause. 'She keeps saying I'm afraid. And that she's me…could…could it be that simple?'

Rising back up to her feet, Daphne held her saberstaff across her body. "As long as I draw breath shade…I will never let you win."

"Brave sentiment." The shade smirked as she drew back and made to strike. "But in the end…useless. Now die bitch."

Daphne watched as the tip of the shade's saberstaff approached her almost as if in slow motion. But instead of blocking it, Daphne deactivated her own saberstaff and let the lunge pierce her through the chest.

"What?" The shade gasped staring up at her.

It was more than slightly surreal, staring down at a lightsaber piercing through her chest yet feeling no pain. Not even the heat of the blade. Reaching out, Daphne wrapped her hands around the shade's hands. "You said it yourself." Daphne said leaning forward. "You are me. And because of that, as long as I don't fear you…you can't hurt me."

The saberstaff deactivated as Daphne roughly pulled it from the shade's grasp before throwing it off into the darkness. "You're my power." Daphne said as she took a step forward, making the shade take a step back. "I've feared you ever since I first learned of your existence. But fighting you just now made me realize something. That fear was giving you power. Power that you would one day use to take over me. You're a part of me that I must accept."

As the shade's back hit the wall of the cavern, Daphne quickly reached and wrapped her hand around the shade's neck, pinning her to the wall. "I will use you." Daphne continued as she held onto the representation of her power. "I will control you. But above all else…I will not fear you. Now return to where you belong."

The shade stared at her with wide eyes, no doubt trying to find some sort of crack in Daphne. But there was none to be found. Daphne would no longer fear her power. She would embrace it. With a slow smile forming across her face, the shade slowly disappeared until Daphne was left holding nothing but air.

"Well done, Daphne Greengrass."

Turning around, Daphne felt her eyes widen. Behind her stood an elderly looking semi-transparent and lightly glowing woman. "Grandmaster Satele Shan." Daphne bowed her head out of respect.

The ghost of the former Grandmaster of the Jedi Order merely smiled and nodded at her. "You have passed your test Daphne. Tell me though…do you understand the true meaning of this test?"

"I believe so Master." Daphne answered. "I must not fear the power that is within me. Fearing it will only create a rift within me that will eventually end up destroying me."

"Yes." Master Shan nodded. "Master Nox has told you of the other who possessed the same power as you."

"Yes." Daphne nodded. "Her power consumed her."

Nodding, Master Shan motioned for Daphne to walk with her, which she did without hesitation. "Yes. For so long the she was constantly told to be wary of her powers. Slowly that turned into fear. That fear created a rift within her. A rift that Azcarin was able to tear into with hardly any effort which allowed him to corrupt her. But have no fear. For that shall not be your fate. For where she failed, you succeeded."

"Master?"

Stopping, Master Shan turned back to Daphne. "Jeasa was given this same test within the deserts of Tatooine. She failed this test. You succeeded." Waving her hand, a small gem on the rock formation in front of them began to glow brightly. "Take it."

Squinting against the bright light, Daphne reached out towards the glowing gem. The light suddenly died as she felt something small press itself into her palm. Turning her hand over she blinked at what she was holding. "A white kyber crystal?"

"A gift from the Force, Daphne." Master Shan said as she took a step back, her form slowly starting to disappear. "Return now to your Master. Whole. And a Knight of the Guardians."

Running through the deserted halls of her family's ancestral home, Susan had only one thought on her mind. She had to find her aunt before the Death Eaters could. Susan wasn't sure just how they did it…but Voldemort and his lackeys had found a way past the centuries worth of defensive wards that'd kept the Bones family safe for generations. 'Please Auntie…please be alight. I – I can't lose you too!'

Shouldering her way through the door to the dining hall, Susan's feet slid against the finely polished floor as she slid to a stop. There…upside down from the rafters over the table was her Aunt. Her throat cut open raggedly. "No!" Susan cried as she sunk to her knees. "No…not you too Auntie."

Clenching her fists tight, Susan lashed out with the Force destroying whatever she could see as she shouted at the top of her lungs. "When will it be enough!?" She shouted out as the debris from her rampage began circling around her. "My mother…my father! My unborn sibling! My grandparents. Harry. Daphne. When will you stop taking everything I love from me!"

Unbeknownst to Susan, as she raged and raged a single dark figure slowly made its way out of the shadows and through the maelstrom of debris. "Such a waste."

Eyes widening, Susan spun around and activated her lightsaber ready to cut the fiend in half. Only to have her body paralyzed before she could make it all the way around. "Tsk tsk…that wasn't very polite Madam Bones." Lord Voldemort chided as he put his wand away and stepped past her. "Such a waste. Your aunt was a witch of incredible power."

"What do you care?" Susan growled as she fought against the spell that was holding her in place. "You're the one that killed her!"

"Oh, and did you see me did this then?" Voldemort asked her. "No. I did not kill her. Nor did I have any such desires to see her dead."

"You lie!" Susan yelled, renewing her struggles against the invisible bonds holding her. "She stood against you!"

"And that was a sin I was willing to forgive." Voldemort shrugged. "You and your aunt were the last two of the Bones family. One of last Ancient and Noble families in Britain. I would've excused your aunt and you for your transgressions against me once I've finished dealing with the Usurper Nox and the brat Potter."

"I am part of that group as well Voldemort." Susan growled, her anger spiking at the casual way Voldemort was talking to her. "I am a Guardian as well!"

"Yes…I had heard that." Voldemort nodded before turning his back on her dead aunt. With a flick of his wand Susan felt herself floating up into the air and after him as he walked. "But tell me Madam Bones…why do you give your loyalty to them? You're always being pushed to the back…never allowed to stand out as Harry and Daphne take center stage. Nox never acknowledges your power or skills. So tell me…why do you submit yourself to those who do not care nor respect you?"

With each word, Susan felt something inside of her twist. It was true…but…no. Harry and Daphne might leave her behind sometimes…but they always came back for her. Didn't they? And Master Nox she…wait…she couldn't actually remember the last time her Master actually truly acknowledge her power or skill. All of her praise always went to either Harry or Daphne. But hardly ever to her.

"Where are you taking me?" Susan growled as she tried to push his words out of her head.

"Somewhere where your skills will be appreciated." Voldemort answered critically as he led her out into the main foyer. Within there were maybe two dozen figures in black cloaks standing in a circle around three individuals that were bound and kneeling in the middle of the room.

"These three are all that remain of the ones that came and attacked your aunt without my permission." Voldemort said lowering her to the ground.

Seeing them, Susan's hand holding onto her lightsaber twitched. "And?"

"And," Voldemort smile as he wave his wand at her again making the invisible binds around her disappear. "I'm giving them to you to punish. Because unlike Nox. I appreciate your power and skill."

Staring at the three men kneeling on the floor for a moment she cast a weary glance towards Voldemort. "What's the catch?"

"No catch my dear." Voldemort smiled.

Feeling a fire in her gut, Susan marched away from the Dark Lord and up to the first man. The man looked up at her with pleading eyes, which only enraged her further. Screaming at the top of her lungs she brought her lightsaber across her body in a vicious slash and removed the man's head from his body.

"Good." Voldemort cheered as Susan drew several ragged breaths. "But it was…a little quick. Nox must've taught you something on how to inflict pain. Why don't you make these man scream? After all…they raped and murdered your aunt. They deserve this fate."

Voldemort's words fanned the flames within her. He was right. These men tortured…raped…and killed her aunt. They didn't deserve the mercy of a quick death. Putting her lightsaber away, she brought her hands down and summoned a bout of Force lightning.

The man's screams only egged Susan on further. She wanted this man to scream. She wanted him to beg for mercy. She wanted to hear him beg for death. Neither of which she was intending on doing. At least not yet.

"Good, good!" Voldemort laughed as Susan let up on her attacks. She'd been at it for only Merlin knew how long. Both men, while still alive, were little more than twitching burnt piles of flesh. "But…here is a true punishment. Bring them."

Off to one side, several Death Eaters stepped apart from one another. From the gap they created two more Death Eaters came forth, each of them leading a small child. "These children belong to these two fools." Voldemort said nodding to the kids then to the two men withering on the ground.

Staring at the children, Susan still felt her thirst for blood and tears start to falter. "And?"

"And? And what better way to punish a parent than to kill their children in front of them." Voldemort smiled stepping up beside her. "I can feel your anger and hatred Susan. Unleash it upon these two. Make them suffer like you have suffered."

Smiling, Susan activated her lightsaber and brought it up ready to strike down the two kids. Voldemort was right. She was enjoying this. Hearing the screams of the men…their sudden cries for mercy as they saw her intent. It was all…intoxicating! She loved it! She wanted more. But as she brought her lightsaber above her head…her hands started to shake. 'What are you doing Susan? Stop this now! This isn't you! This isn't the woman that your Aunt would want you to be!'

"No!" Susan screamed as she brought her lightsaber around aiming for Voldemort's neck. But the man proved to be far more nimble than she ever expected and daftly dodged her attack.

"Hmm…it seems you truly are a disappointment Madam Bones." Voldemort said evenly. "You are so close to achieving power beyond your wildest dreams. Just like mine."

"No." Susan growled, holding her lightsaber in a high guard. "I am nothing like you! I will never be like you!"

Smiling, Voldemort idly stroked his wand. "Hmm, such fire. Such passion. But little in the way of brains it appears. You still don't fully realize the situation you're in my dear." With a snap of his fingers, every cloaked Death Eater in the room drew their wands and pointed them at her. "Either you kill the brats and their parents, who are responsible for your aunt's death and then bow to me…or you die with them."

Looking over her shoulder, Susan glanced at the kids huddled next to their parents. Closing her eyes, Susan let her lightsaber fall slightly. "I…will never bow to you!"

Throwing her lightsaber, the blade spun through the air killing two Death Eaters before arching back around towards her outstretched hand. Jumping up into the air, she felt the hilt come back into her hand and she screamed as she brought her blade down towards Voldemort…only to be thrown backwards as no less than a dozen sickly green spells struck her and threw her through the air like a rag doll.

And then she was rolling across a rough rock floor in a dimly lit cave. "What?" Susan breathed, looking around and feeling her body for any marks. "How…I don't understand."

"That was your trial Susan Bones."

Susan just barely managed to stifle her gasp as a man wearing red and black spiked armor and standing nearly as tall as Hagrid appeared before her. "Darth Marr." Susan breathed staring up at the man, whose holocron she'd spent weeks upon weeks studying. "You're Darth Marr."

"Yes." The former Dark Lord of the Sith answered.

Smiling at the prospect at meeting the man she'd been learning from for so long, her good mood quickly evaporated as she realized just what he'd just said. "That…that was my trial?" She asked rhetorically while lowering her head. "Then I guess that I failed."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because I fell!" Susan shouted. "I–I tortured those men. And I–I loved it."

"Your test was not to see if you could resist the pull of the dark side young one." Darth Marr said shocking her. "Your test was to see if you were able to pull yourself out of the abyss of the dark side after having fallen into it. And you did. You passed the test set upon you by the Force."

"I–I passed." Susan breathed, still not fully comprehending. Despite what she did…she still passed.

"Yes." Darth Marr nodded before waving his hand off to the side. A small yellow light began glowing on a small rock outcropping next to them. "A gift from the Force. Take it and place it within my lightsaber along with its existing crystal. Make the weapon truly your own."

Stepping forward, Susan reached out and picked up the softly glowing yellow crystal. "Thank you…Master Marr."

Falling to his knees, Harry gasped desperately for breath as he crawled his way through the rubble that was once Hogwarts. The siege of the great castle by Voldemort and his followers had been brutal and precise. The Slytherin students that had supported Voldemort had created a portal of some kind that allowed the Dark Lord to easily bypass the wards that'd stood since the castle's creation.

The students had been caught completely by surprise. The first ones to even realize the Voldemort had breached the castle was a class of first year students that were making their way down into the dungeons for potions. Harry had briefly seen the aftermath of that scuffle. It'd been a slaughter. None of the first years had even managed to get their wands out before they were cut to pieces; literally in some cases.

Hearing laughter and cries of mercy coming a room off to his right, Harry forced himself up off the ground and drew forth his lightsaber and wand before running as fast as he could into the room. The old classroom had been destroyed. A group of five Death Eaters were all standing in a circle around a spasming Ginny who was crying out in agony.

Screaming in fury, Harry threw a powerful cutting curse at the nearest Death Eater and taking his head off. He then threw his lightsaber threw the chest of the second before calling it back with the Force. By the time the remaining Death Eaters even realized he was there, he'd closed the distance between them and cut down one with his lightsaber, removed the head of the second with a cutting curse and banished the third out of the window.

With the immediate threats neutralized, Harry stumbled his way over to Ginny and fell to his knees. "Oh Merlin…Ginny." He reached out for her, but before he could touch her he felt something snap in the Force. His bond with her was gone.

Placing a shaking hand on her forehead, he carefully closed her eyes before grabbing her lightsaber. "Rest in peace…my apprentice."

Pushing himself back to his feet, Harry forced himself to put one foot in front of the other and move out of the classroom and out of the hall. He had no idea how long he walked through the ruins for. But with each step he took he was forced to face another heartbreaking sight. In one room he found Ron and Hermione laying side by side, their eyes staring up blankly at the ceiling. In another he found Susan and Daphne…or at least what was left of them. Remus. Aela. Sirius. Amelia. Aayla. Tonks. Hannah. Tracey. Astoria. Ahsoka. Kento. Mallie. Even little Nat. Everyone who was already at the castle or everyone who answered his mother's call were dead.

Falling down the last few steps of the Grand Staircase, Harry pushed himself up and managed to force his weary legs to take him outside – just in time to watch as his mother was cut down by Voldemort.

"Ah…Harry Potter…the boy who lived." Voldemort smiled as the two dozen Death Eaters surrounding him on either side watched on silently. "The boy who is now alone."

Harry didn't even hear what Voldemort said. His eyes were focused solely on his mother staring blankly up at the sky. 'No…it isn't possible.' He breathed as he suddenly found the strength to spring towards his mother. 'She – she can't be dead!'

Sliding to his knees, Harry gently picked his mother up by her shoulders. "Mother." He cried as tears started to fall freely from his eyes. "Mother…say something. Please…"

But even as he begged, he knew it was useless. She was gone. Her Force presence was gone. Hearing the crunching of gravel, Harry slashed his arm backwards. The Death Eater who'd been approaching him managed to give off a single terrified scream before his head snapped back as his neck broke.

"Haha…so powerful Harry. It is no wonder that you were prophesied to defeat me."

Snarling, Harry let his mother down gently before whipping his wand around ready to end Voldemort. A red spell hit Harry directly in the chest sending him cartwheeling backwards as his wand was roughly pulled form his grip. By the time he managed to right himself, Voldemort was idly inspecting his wand with a disinterested look. "Hmm…so our wands are brothers Harry Potter. How ironic that you and I would share a bond such as this."

Rolling himself over, Harry managed to just barely push himself to his feet. "What of it Voldemort?"

Sighing, Voldemort tucked Harry's wand into the sleeve of his robe. "Ah Harry…still so willing to fight…even when the battle is long over. But there is no need for us to fight Harry. Join me…and we can change the world."

Harry felt like laughing. "Is that the same offer you made my parents? The same off that you made my mother?"

"Yes it is." Voldemort shrugged. "And what of it? I meant it too. Your parents, your mother. They were all powerful and would've had a place of honor amongst my ranks. Don't make the same mistake they did Harry."

"Mistake?" Harry growled, palming both his and Ginny's lightsabers. "They didn't make a mistake. The only mistake would be agreeing to be your slave. You've taken everything from me Voldemort. There is nothing left that you can offer me."

"Oh, don't be so sure of yourself young Harry." Voldemort smiled raising a single finger into the air. "There is still much that I can offer you. Just watch."

Pointing his wand towards the Death Eater that Harry had just killed, Harry felt a wave pulse through the Force as both the wand and the corpse glowed blue. The Death Eater's neck snapped loudly back into place. And as the blue light faded from his body, the Death Eater's eyes opened once again and he rose to his feet.

"Don't you see Harry?" Voldemort asked. "I have conquered death itself. You want your mother back? Done. You want your parents back? Done. You want a harem of witches to serve at your every whim? Done. All you need to do, is bend knee to me and take your place at my side. And together…we will conquer the world!"

Both lightsaber's dropped from his hands. He could have his parents back. He could have his mother back! He could have all of his friends back! Sure he would have to bend knee to Voldemort…but he could always bide his time. Learn what he could from the man and kill him later!

Harry started to kneel, nothing more than a slight shifting of his weight, when a memory struck him. It was of him and his mother as they trained while he was still but a child. "Listen well Harry." His mother had told him. "Death is a frightening prospect. But…you must not let your fear and hatred of death consume you. For there is one ultimate truth to the universe. And that is that nothing last forever. Mourn for those who die. Miss them. But do not let your grief consume you. For those who have died will have joined with the Force. So in the end…there truly is no death. There is only the Force."

With a jolt, Harry froze in place. "You would bring them back…but in what capacity?"

Opening his hands, he summoned both lightsabers back to him and activated them. "My parents fought against you. My mother fought against you. My friends fought against you. I will not tarnish their memory by submitting to you!"

Voldemort snarled at him before turning his back on him. "So be it. Death Eaters. Teach this boy what happens to those who defy me. But do not kill him. After he is properly punished…I shall give him one last chance."

Spinning both blades around, Harry danced to the side as a dark red jet passed him by. Swinging low then high, Harry managed to cut down two Death Eaters before he flipped backwards and used his lightsabers to deflect two yellow jets away from him. Landing on his feet, he instantly rolled to the side before bringing both blades up in an arc cutting a Death Eater in two.

Sliding back, Harry kept his lightsabers in constant motion as he deflected away any spell that came close to him. But soon enough the onslaught became too much from him and a spell got past his guard and struck him in the shoulder. Then another hit him in the back. Then another hit him in the chest. Only this one, unlike the other's which only cause shallow cuts, caused him more pain than he ever thought possible. Once the spell lifted he found himself on his back and unable to move.

Just as he started to lift his left hand, a red streak pierced through his wrist severing his hand from the rest of his body. "Do you understand now Harry?" Voldemort asked as he stood over Harry's twitching body. "You never stood a chance against me. Now take my offer. Join me. And I will end all of this and restore that which you have lost."

Groaning with the effort, Harry somehow managed to rise to his feet. "There is no dark side nor a light side. There is only the Force." Spreading his feet, he activated his lightsaber and held it before his eyes. "I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance. I. Am. A. Guardian!"

Finishing the code, Harry glared at Voldemort. "By this code…I will never let you win!"

Snarling, Voldemort raised his wand. "Very well! Die as a fool! Avada Kedavra!"

Harry caught the green light of the killing curse against his lightsaber. The spell didn't deflect back, but nor did it instantly cut through the lightsaber. Instead the two merely impacted against one another creating a bridge between Harry and Voldemort. Moving one foot forward, Harry began the excruciating march towards the man who'd taken everything from him. With less than ten feet between the two of them he heard the hilt of his lightsaber crack. At five feet the lightsaber shattered into countless pieces. He wasn't quite sure just how he did it, but Harry's anger and desperation gave him enough power in the Force to catch the deadly spell before it could touch his skin.

At less than a foot separating the two, Harry could see the wrinkles on Voldemort's face. And the fear. "This–this is not possible!"

Pushing his hand outwards, Harry brought the spell almost all the way back to the wand it'd been cast from. "With the Force…nothing is impossible." Harry said staring Voldemort right in the eye. "It's time to finish this Voldemort." And with that he pushed the spell the last crucial inch back towards the wand.

The green light of the killing curse detonated, sending a shockwave of killing energy outwards. Harry felt the cursed light wash over him as his body flew backwards – and then it was gone and he hit the ground hard.

Gasping and trying to get the air back into his lungs, Harry quickly rolled over and sprung up to his feet. 'What? What's…where? This cave…'

Then it all started to come back to him. His mother pushing Daphne, Susan and himself out of the Ashara. Meditating alone in the forest, trying to find some glimmer as to where he was supposed to go. Of having to rely on the Force to sustain him as he tried and failed to find anything to eat or drink. Finding the slight pulse in the Force that he ended up following for days before he came across what was obviously a man-made cavern in the side of one of the mountains that surrounded the valley. 'I entered the cave and then…then I was at Hogwarts. None of that was real.'

"No. At least not entirely." A voice spoke behind him.

Snapping his wand into his hand, Harry spun around – and found himself face to face with a ghost. The ghost was wearing black robes and his face was covered with scars. Even though Harry had never even seen this man, he knew who he was without a shadow of a doubt. "Revan." Harry breathed lowering his wand.

"Yes." The ghost of Revan nodded.

Putting his wand away, Harry looked around the cave. "What…what was that? A vision of the future?"

"Possibly." Revan shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?"

"One thing that you will learn in time Harry, is that there is only one thing certain about the future. And that is uncertainty." Revan smiled as he sat down on a nearby rock before motioning for Harry to join him. "In that future you fought and lost against this Dark Lord. In another you won. Yet in another you become the Dark Lord. Or in yet another you became a beacon of light that struck down anything with even the slightest bit of darkness. Or in another you sacrifice your life so that everyone might live. The future has infinite possibilities Harry."

"It felt so real." Harry murmured rubbing his left hand. The same one that he could've sworn had been cut off just moments before. "But why show me that future?"

"Honestly, I don't know. It wasn't my choice. It was the Force itself that was testing you Harry. And while most of it was an illusion, some aspects of it were very real." Revan said pointing off to the side.

Following where he was pointing, Harry's heart dropped to his stomach as he stood up and rushed over to the spot. "Oh no." He whispered as he fell to his knees. His lightsaber was laying on the ground in no less than a dozen pieces. "I failed…"

"No, you didn't fail Harry." Revan said coming up beside him. "You did exactly as the Force willed. I knew the moment that your mother awoke that one day my lightsaber would break. Just as I knew that it would one day be reforged. And like the phoenix of your world, it would rise again stronger than ever before."

Carefully picking up the pieces of his lightsaber, Harry turned towards the ghost. "But…how am I supposed to reforge it?"

"Come." Revan beckoned as he started floating away. "I will show you."

Following Revan through cave, the two walked in silence until they came to an area of the cave that was open to the night sky. Green grass filled the small moon light spot. And in the center of the grass stood a strange stone dais with an altar of some sort sitting on its pinnacle.

"This is a lightsaber forge Harry. One of the few true forges remaining in the galaxy." Revan explained as Harry stepped past him. "Climb its steps and place the pieces of my lightsaber upon the forge. And upon its surface you will find another gift from the Force. There are other pieces there as well from those who have journeyed here yet failed their tests. Once you are ready, mediate deeply on the Force and it will guide your creation of a new lightsaber."

Taking a steadying breath, Harry marched up the dais towards the altar at the top. He looked back only once, and discovered that the ghost of Revan was gone. Once he reached the forge, he stared at the gift the Force had granted him. It was a kyber crystal. A pitch black kyber crystal.

Setting the pieces of his broken lightsaber down on the forge next to the black crystal, Harry sunk to his knees and closed his eyes. 'There is no dark side nor a light side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance.'

Repeating the code of the guardians like a mantra, Harry sunk into a deep state of meditation before the forge. The outside world faded away as he sunk deeper and deeper into his force meditation. Slowly, Harry felt as the broken pieces of his lightsaber, and the pieces belonging to those who'd failed, slowly rose above the surface of the altar. Surrendering himself completely to the will of the Force, Harry felt as his old lightsaber was taken apart and reforged. The old purple kyber crystal was nestled at the top of the hilt along with the black crystal before being incased on all sides by the hilt of his new lightsaber.

Harry wasn't sure just how long he'd been kneeling there before the forge, but when he heard the thud of his new lightsaber hitting the altar and he opened his eyes he saw that instead of being cast in the light of the moon, the forge was surrounded by the soft glow of dying light.

'Well…at least I know at least one day has passed by so far.' Grimacing only slightly as his knees cracked and popped in protest, Harry rose to his feet and inspected the new blade before him. The handle was at least a hand's width longer than before. Decorative markings, much like Daphne's saberstaff, ran along its length as well. Instead of a single blade emitter, his new lightsaber had three. One on top and one more on either side creating a cross guard hilt.

Picking up his lightsaber, Harry ran his fingers all around it looking for any imperfections. Finding none, he held it off to the side and activated it. His once normal purple blade sprung to life, but now it was surrounded by a black coloring that darkened the light of the blade considerably. The two emitters on the sides of the primary emitter came to life as a pair of three or four inch blades emerged from each.

'A cross guard hilt.' Harry breathed as he moved his lightsaber around experimentally. 'This lightsaber…it feels so right. Almost like the first time I held my wand.'

"Because it is the blade that you were always meant to wield Harry Potter."

Deactivating the blade, Harry walked down the dais. "Thank you Revan."

At the bottom of the dais, Revan waved him off. "No need to thank me Harry. You will succeed where I have failed. You will lead a new order of Force sensitive that are both Sith and Jedi. Now come…there is one last trial ahead of you. Or rather…there is someone who wishes to speak with you."

Following after him, Revan led Harry away from the forge and through a maze of tunnels. For nearly an hour the two continued on in silence until Harry felt a cool breeze across his face. "Who is it that wants to speak with me?" Harry asked as the two of them exited the tunnel.

Just beyond the tunnels exit was a large crystal clear lake. Small glowing lights, which belonged to an avian creature native to this planet, danced along the lakes surface. And silhouetted by the moon light was an elderly human looking man standing by the lake side with his back turned to them both.

"He is known simply as Father." Revan said before turning towards him and placing his hand against Harry's chest. "This is where we part ways young Harry. But just know…I will always be here when you have the greatest need for me."

Harry wasn't even able to say goodbye before the ghost of Revan took a step back from him and faded into nothingness. Turning his attention to the figure at the lake, Harry made his way down towards the water. "You have finally arrived Chosen One." The old man said when Harry was still a dozen paces from him.

When he turned around Harry felt himself freeze involuntarily. The man looked older than Dumbledore. But somehow…far more refined and elegant. And his eyes…they were completely pitch black save for his iris's which were a vibrant green. But what truly made Harry stop was the power that was emanating off the old man. Even if everyone on board the Ashara, including his mother and all of the Jedi, combined their power they probably wouldn't even come close to this man's level.

Blinking, Harry could do little more than just stare at the old man. "Who are you?" He finally managed to ask after several long moments of silence. "And why did you call me 'Chosen one'?"

The old man stared at him for a moment long before turning and walking away, forcing Harry to half jog in order to keep up with him. "I am called Father." The old man said as Harry drew level with him. "And I called you the Chosen One because that is who you are. You are the Chosen One. One of two that could bring true balance to the Force."

"And who's the other one?" Harry asked, pushing himself to keep even with Father.

"The other was the One. The One born of power. Born of the Force." Father answered cryptically before stopping and turning so he was once again facing the calm waters. "For so long I awaited the birth of either of you. When I finally sensed the birth of the One, I thought my long struggle of keeping my Daughter and Son in check was finally at an end. But in my haste I made far too many mistakes. And in the end I paid the greatest price a Father could ever pay and had to watch as my Daughter was killed…followed by myself and then my Son."

"Wait…you're dead?" Harry asked, the revelation shocking him. "You don't…you don't look like a Force ghost. Like Revan did. You seem…solid."

"The Force is full of many mysteries young man." Father answered. "Even the wisest among you have barely even managed to scratch the surface of what the Force can truly do. Even I, with my millennia's worth of knowledge, understand only a fraction of that which you call the Force."

Kneeling down at the water's edge, Harry cupped his hands together so he could take a much needed drink from the lake. "So why have you come before me? Not that I'm honored…but I'm sure there are other's you could've gone too."

The old man stayed silent for a moment before holding out his hand. Wisps of smoke rose from the palm of his hand and solidified into an image of a large man covered head to toe in black armor. "The One has fallen. And with his fall the delicate balance of the Force has been destroyed. There is a chance that he could still be redeemed…but as it stands you will have to face him in time. But right now…neither you nor your mother has the raw power needed to stand against him alone."

The smoky image disappeared from the man's palm. "If he stands against us and the balance of the Force then we will defeat him."

"Perhaps," the old man mused while idly stroking his long beard. "But now we come to why I am here."

Rising to his feet, Harry whipped the excess water off of his hands. "And why have you come?"

Taking another step towards the water the old man raised his head skywards and stared at the morning sky. "When the One was with my children and I on Mortis, I removed certain knowledge from his mind before I fell. I thought I was doing the right thing…but now I realize how arrogant I was. I didn't realize that everything that happened was the will of the Force…if he had retained the knowledge of the possible future that was granted to him…perhaps he wouldn't have fallen. I don't know. But I intend to try and correct my mistake now. If you cannot match the One in terms of sheer power…then in order to match him your knowledge of the Force must be far greater than his."

Harry felt his entire body stiffen as the old man raised his hands towards him and he floated up off the ground. "W–What are you-"

"I will not grant you all of my knowledge." The old man said, completely ignoring Harry's struggled cries. "The mortal mind cannot handle all that I know. And what I give you will be released only incriminates over time. But when the time comes…you will be more than a match for the One…and for the one who corrupted him."

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a soundless scream as he felt his mental barriers not being destroyed…but being completely bypassed as if they had a back door in them that only the old man knew about. Then there were flashes in his mind. Thoughts…equations…emotions…spells…things he'd never even considered before flashed through his mind faster than he could process them.

The thoughts just kept pouring in piece by piece. Just as he thought he couldn't take any more and was about to beg for it to stop, the flashes stopped and he felt his body fall limply to the ground. "Use my knowledge well Harry Potter." He heard the old man say even though he couldn't turn his head to see him. "Use it to correct the mistake I have made…and may you truly bring balance to the Force."

Chapter 4:

'There is no Dark Side nor a Light Side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance.'

Slowly coming out of her meditative trance, Aayla Secura opened her eyes and rolled her head around slowly making her neck crack more than a few times. Getting up from her cross-legged position she walked out of the room within the Force tent that she shared with Ahsoka and into the main sitting area of the tent. She wasn't necessarily surprised to find that she was alone within the tent. 'Ahsoka is more than likely with the other younglings learning from Master Kento.'

It'd been ten days since Nox had sent her three students out to their trials. After the three had been sent out they landed upon a large plateau nearly a hundred klicks away from their position. Once they were settled down, Nox had wasted no time in insisting that the remaining younglings resume their Force training, including the young little nautolan who was also being tutored by the young blond girl, Luna, in how to speak basic and the language of Earth. Which was something that all of htem needed to learn seeing as how they would be staying there for the foreseeable future. Luckily the language, English, was remarkable similar to Galactic Basic so they were able to pick it up rather quickly.

Ahsoka had managed to watch the younglings saber training for an hour before she broke down asked Nox if she could participate as well. Nox had agreed and Ahsoka had grabbed a training saber, although where Nox had obtained so many she had no idea, and fell into line with the rest of the younglings.

The next day Kento had gotten involved with the training as well. Before he'd left the Order, he'd been an instructor in saber basics for the younglings within the temple. And after watching the bushy haired girl, Hermione, make the same mistake several times in her form he stepped in, with a slight bow to Nox, and corrected her. After that Nox had stepped back and let Kento take charge of the training. Saying that it was good for the younglings to learn from multiple instructors as they would be able to catch some things that others did not.

Walking out of the tent, she made her way towards the exit ramp of the ship. As she passed through the galley, she idly noted that several of the dishes within the small sink area where washing themselves, drying themselves and then placing themselves onto a large rack without anyone nearby.

Ever since Nox had told them about these strange Force abilities, or magic as she insisted they be called, she'd encouraged her students to use their abilities as often as possible so that Kento, Mallie, Ahsoka and herself could not only get used to seeing the abilities in action but to also pick up on the basics.

Some of the Force abil – magic they performed was simply incredible. Like the bowl-like device that Nox used to share her memories. A journey which Aayla had asked to take twice more. The main reason of which was to watch the vision Nox had had around pertaining to the destruction of the Jedi. As painful as it was to watch…Aayla forced herself to watch it. She wanted to see just who it was that had betrayed them. But strangely enough, when the traitor stepped into the vision they were completely shrouded in darkness. Something that seemed to surprise even Nox.

There were dozens of other For – magical abilities they performed that had peeked Aayla interest as well. Cutting spells that could cut through wood and metal with ease. The ability to change one substance into another, which was a skill they called 'transfiguration' and which apparently had an entire branch of study dedicated to it. The ability to create fire. Shrinking or enlarging items. And according to Remus, who'd been giving Ahsoka, Kento, Mallie and herself a broad overview of magic as well as continuing to teach the younglings, what they'd seen so far barely even scratched the surface of what magic could do.

Unfortunately though, neither herself nor Kento, Mallie, or Ahsoka were able to even practice this new art as they were all without wands. A fact that baffled Aayla more than slightly, but after failing multiple times to cast these spells without a wand, she was forced to concede the point that they needed one. And apparently since it wasn't possible, or apparently wise, to use someone else's wand they had to wait until they reached this Earth to truly practice. But until then Nox had given them text, actually text's written on organic paper, to read and study.

Other abilities however had almost seemed…insulting. Like using the Force to clean food trays and utensils. Or using the Force to mend clothing that'd been torn during training. Using the Force – magic for such menial tasks felt almost…disrespectful to Aayla.

Tearing her eyes away from the self-cleaning dishes, Aayla made her way towards the exit of the ship. Walking down the ramp, she heard the steady beating of training sabers slamming against one another. Just off to the right of the ship in the small clearing that'd been designated as their training spot, Ahoska and the red haired girl, Ginny, were facing off against one another while the other younglings formed a circle around the two while Nox and Kento watched on.

As she approached, Aayla couldn't help but feel impressed with the petite girl. She was incredibly skilled for one so young. Especially with such a complex form like Ataru, Aayla own preferred form along with Shien. And while Ahsoka preferred the same form, she had something that Ginny did not. Almost two years of actual combat experience thanks to the Clone Wars.

Soon enough Ginny over extended one of her upward slashes and Ahsoka immediately took advantage of the opening by sweeping her leg around and tripping Ginny. Before Ginny could even hit the ground, Ahsoka had brought her training saber back around and held it next to the girls neck.

"Well done, both of you." Nox congratulated the two as Ahsoka helped Ginny back up to her feet.

"Thank you Master Nox." Both Ginny and Ahsoka said bowing slightly as Nox approached the two.

"Ahsoka…your skill with a blade is unquestionable." Nox praised Ahsoka, making the togruta smile under the praise. "However you had at least five other chances to end this spar well before you did. And I know you saw those openings as well. Next time you see an opening to end a fight, even if it is only training, take it. You do a disservice to yourself and to your partner by holding back."

"Yes Master Nox." Ahsoka nodded, and Aayla could tell that the younger togruta was truly taking the former Sith's words to heart.

Nodding, Nox turned her attention to Ginny. "And Ginny. Your skills are improving tremendously, but you still take far too much time in transitioning from attack to defense. In a true fight, such hesitations will mean your end. Ahsoka is quite skilled with Ataru. Watch her closely and learn from her."

"Yes Master." Ginny nodded just as Aayla drew even with Kento.

"Kento," Nox called out turning around towards the two of them. "Aayla. Do either of you have anything to add?"

Stepping forward, Kento began going over a few basic observations he'd noticed during the sparing match before expanding on them so that he was lecturing to the group of younglings as a whole before motioning for them to all stand up so they could work on basic stances.

Hearing a loud wining, Aayla turned her head back towards the ship just in time to see BB8 and Tonks running down the boarding ramp and dashing towards them. "Nox!" Tonks shouted breathlessly, bringing an end to Kento's lessons. "We've got a serious problem!"

Moving away from the younglings, Nox stood before the slightly panting woman and the rapidly chirping droid. "What's going on?"

"Bee-bee and I were working on the scanners," Tonks breathed. "And we just got them back up and running and – and there's a ship entering the atmosphere just west of our position."

'That's impossible.' Aayla blinked as she looked up to the sky. 'We're in uncharted space. Who could've followed us out here?'

"Pack up everything." Nox said sharply. "And get back aboard the ship. The disillusionment runes on board will mask the ship but only the ship."

"It's too late." Aayla said, pointing towards a dark dot on the horizon that was steadily getting larger. "They've already found us."

Looking up into the sky, Nox growled and Aayla could've sworn she saw the lining of her iris's turn a slight shade of yellow before immediately reverting back to their normal green color. "Everyone fall back to the ship and take up defensive positions." Nox said, her eyes never leaving the approaching ship. "Aayla and Kento stay with me. The three of us are going to greet these new comers."

Aayla was pleasantly surprised when all of the younglings that came with Nox immediately fell back to the ship along with the woman Tonks and the droid BB8. She wasn't surprised however when Ahsoka firmly stood her ground. "I'm staying. I'll be more use to you here rather than from cover."

Nox spared the girl a single look before refocusing her gaze back on the ship. "I see that you are just as stubborn as my son. Why do I get the feeling that you two are going to be giving me more than a few headaches in the future?" Snapping her hand off to the side, Aayla felt the now familiar pulse of the Force as a lightsaber appeared in her outstretched hand. Flipping the hilt around in her hand, Nox then held the curved end towards Ahsoka. "I'm just as effective without this as I with. But I want that back."

"Yes…Master." Ahsoka nodded as she took the offered lightsaber, clearly surprised at not being rebuked for her being…well herself.

Flipping her own lightsaber into her hand, Aayla stood side by side with Nox, Kento and Ahsoka as the four of them watched the ship getting steadily closer. "Huh…that's way too small to be a Republ – Imperial ship." Kento noted. "Pirates maybe?"

"Possible." Nox commented, her eyes narrowing. "But…I don't think so. I think it's something…or rather someone else entirely."

Before Aayla could ask what Nox meant she felt something in the Force. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Looking up at the ship, her grip on her lightsaber loosened as the ship slowed to the point where it was hovering less than a few dozen meters in front and nearly thirty meters above them. As the boarding ramp to the ship opened as single figure jumped out and flipped head over heels before landing perfectly in front of them.

If she'd had any lingering doubts about what she was feeling, they were thoroughly put to rest at the display. "Master."

Standing up from his crouched position, her former Master Quinlan Vos, cracked his neck a few times before giving Aayla his trade mark half-grin. "Hey kiddo, how's it hanging?"

Aayla didn't even realize she'd been moving until she was colliding with her former Master while wrapping her arms around him. "Master…is it really you?"

"Yeah it's me kiddo." Quinlan answered returning her hug briefly. "Hey…have you gained a few pounds around the middle?"

Pulling back from her former Master, Aayla cocked back her fist and struck him right under the jaw, knocking him to the ground. "Damn kiddo!" Quinlan laughed while rubbing at his jaw. "I see you got a bit stronger. That's a mean hook you're packing there."

"I thought you nearly died!" Aayla screamed. "I – I thought you were dead Master. And now you're alive and – and the first thing you comment on is that you think I've gained weight?!"

"I take it that you know this man Aayla?"

Feeling her face heat up, Aayla awkwardly tried to recover her composure as best she could as Nox and the others stepped forward. "This is my former Master, Quinlan Vos."

What happened next completely threw Aayla for a loop, especially considering that it was her master who did it. Getting up from his feet and brushing himself off, her former Master stepped up in front of Nox and…and kneeled. Her Master…kneeled. He hardly ever bowed to Grand Master Yoda let alone kneeled to him. Yet here he was…kneeling to a woman he never met.

"You're the one." Quinlan said, staring up at Nox. "The one who sent the warning through the Force. I owe you my life. Had your warning come even a few minutes later we would've been caught in an ambush and killed."

Stepping up to her former Master, Nox held out her hand. "Careful what you say Vos. One day I may just take you up on that dept."

Accepting her offered hand, Quinlan rose up to his feet and turned towards Kento. "Kento, my man. How's the misses been treating ya? And where she at?"

Smiling, Kento embraced Quinlan. "Mallie's alright. She's onboard the ship with our son Galen."

Pulling back from the embrace, Quinlan punched Kento lightly on the shoulder. "Your son? Man, you really didn't waste any time did ya? Not that I can blame you with a woman like Mallie." Turning, her former Master stepped up to Ahsoka. "And you can only be Ahsoka Tano. Last time I talked to Kenobi he had only good things to say about you. Can't believe the Jedi High Council had their heads shoved so far up their ass during your trial. I know Kenobi at least deep regretted everything that happened to you."

"Thank you, Master Vos." Ahsoka nodded while looking more than slightly uneased by the reminder of what she'd endured thanks to the Jedi High Council. "When was the last time you spoke with Master Kenobi?"

"Just before all the shit went down." Quinlan sighed. "I've been trying to get a hold of him…but so far no luck."

"You said 'we'." Nox called out bringing an end to their reunion. "And I doubt that you're landing your ship while standing here. So who else did you bring with you?"

As soon as the question left her, Aayla felt a wave of nervousness float off of her former Master. 'Why is he nervous?' She wondered as Quinlan scratched the back of his head. 'He's never nervous about anything! What…what has he gone and done now?'

"Well…about that." Quinlan responded, still rubbing at the back of his head as he turned to watch the ship he'd arrived in smoothly land. "I need all of you to promise not to do anything rash for the next ten minutes or so."

Just as Aayla was about to ask what he meant by that, she felt another presence in the Force. Only this one was much…darker than any Jedi she'd knew of. As a figure appeared on the ramp Aayla felt her eyes widen as she finally recognized the woman. Although it was Ahsoka who named her first. "Ventress!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "You're…I thought I heard that you were dead!"

Stepping fully away from the ship, Asajj Ventress, the famous fallen Sith apprentice of Count Dooku, merely smiled at their shocked expressions while calmly brushing her now nearly chin length hair away from her eyes and behind her ear. "Ahsoka Tano. You of all should know by now that I don't die that easily."

"But – Master. You reported her as dead after the events on – you lied." Aayla said abruptly as she felt a shifting of emotions coming from her former Master. As she managed to pinpoint what exactly it was her former master was feeling, she was left unable to do anything more than gape at him. "You lied…to the Jedi High Council."

"Well…not so much lied as much as skidded around the truth." Quinlan shrugged. "They didn't actually ask if she was dead…they just assumed she was when she didn't come back with me. And I never bothered to correct anyone. Although I'm pretty sure Yoda noticed I was holding something back. But thankfully the old man never questioned me on it further. Not that he necessarily had a chance too that is."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Asajj approached Nox. The two women stared at one another before Asajj, in a move that shock more than a few present, drew her lightsaber and lashed out at Nox. Instead of drawing her own lightsaber though, Nox simply held up her hand and froze Asajj mid strike.

"Asajj!" Quinlan shouted as everyone, including Aayla herself, drew their lightsabers and pointed them towards the ex-assassin. "What are you-"

"She's testing my strength," Nox responded calmly while motioning for everyone to take a step back. "I wouldn't expect you Jedi to necessarily understand."

Then with two quick movements of her hand Nox somehow deactivated Ventress's lightsaber before summoning it away from her. "You're skilled." Nox commented as she stepped towards Ventress while idly tapping the ex-assassins lightsaber against the palm of her hand. "You were well trained…but your training is far from complete. And given that you were trained by a Sith, I understand why." Stopping a few feet from Ventress, Nox tossed the assassin her lightsaber. "If you come with us, I vow to you that not only will I help to complete your training, but I will also teach you aspects of the Force that you never dreamed possible. And unlike your previous Masters…I will never betray you or turn my back on you."

Clipping her lightsaber back onto her belt, Ventress shocked everyone once more as she knelt down in front of Nox. "Teach me…Master."

Holding out her hand, Nox smiled at Ventress. "I'm not one for formalities Ventress. Rise."

Ventress stared down at the offered hand before glancing up at Nox. After a moment hesitation Ventress took the offered hand and stood up. "Well," Kento said, clapping his hands together. "Now that we're all acquainted why don't we-"

Aayla nearly doubled over as the Force slammed into her. The sensation was so intense that it took her nearly a full minute to recognize just what it was she was sensing. But the Force…it seemed almost…pleased. Risking a glance up, she saw that nearly all of the Force users save for Nox were doubled over like herself.

"Wh – what was that?" Ahsoka gasped looking around. "The Force…I've never felt anything like that!"

"My son and my apprentices have passed their Trials." Nox said, as she smiled widely. "And with their passing, a new branch of Force users has officially been created."

Sitting in his office – no – throne within the Senate building on Coruscant, Darth Sidious, and now Emperor of the first Galactic Empire leaned back in his seat as he absorbed the report that he'd just received from his right hand and apprentice Darth Vader. 'It appears this mysterious Force presence didn't wait long before making their – no – her move. Perhaps the only truly useful bit of information that Vader was able to extract from the few who survived the destruction of the Dauntless. Although we still do not have any idea about what she looks like.'

Although it shouldn't be too hard to try and figure out just who she was. Despite the somewhat cryptic message, she did leave some clues as to her identity. The most telling was when she told Vader that she knew first-hand about 'hitting rock bottom'. More than likely this mysterious Force user was once a Sith who'd turned their back on true power. His first thought when he heard that it was a female was Ventress. However, he dismissed that idea almost as soon as it came to him. Firstly, while powerful Ventress was nowhere near the level of the Force presence he'd sensed. Not only that, but she was dead as well. As confirmed by both his former failed apprentice and the Jedi Council themselves.

And while there were other side Lady's since the time of Darth Bane…none of them made sense. Mostly due to the fact that the last Dark Lady had been Darth Gean nearly five hundred years ago. And he doubted that she was responsible. Sidious's own former Master Darth Plagueis often praised the twi'lek Sith Lady for her adherence to the Sith Order when she killed her Master after discovering he was trying to destroy the history of the Sith. So no, it could not be her. So then…who?

The survivors of the Dauntless unfortunately had little more to add to the report. All they knew was that ship had been attacked by an unknown number of Jedi Knights and Padawans who'd been on a mission to rescue their Jedi companion Ahsoka Tano.

Hearing the name of the young torgurta made Sidious want to crack up slightly. He knew exactly why his apprentice had responded personally to her capture. In the few short weeks since he'd implemented his plan to capture more Jedi, at least three reckless Knights and one idiotic Padawan had been captured. All of whom had received the same treatment. But Vader had never responded to any of them.

'Already looking for an apprentice, my apprentice.' Sidious laughed to himself. 'Already plotting my demise. Your journey to the dark side is nearly complete. Soon there will be nothing left of Anakin Skywalker.'

Hearing door alarm ring, Sidious turned towards the door to his private office as Mas Amedda strode into the room. Stopping a respectful distance from his Emperor, the male chagrain bowed lowly. "My Emperor, I have news."

Closing the report from his apprentice, Sidious turned his full attention onto one of the few that new his true motivations ever since his ascension to Supreme Chancellor. "Speak, Grand Vizier."

"At your pleasure, my Emperor." Amedda nodded before standing upright. "Despite our efforts, word of the destruction of the Dauntless has gone public. However, we have been able to downplay the role the Jedi played in its destruction. And no one has been able to figure out that the ship was holding a prisoner Jedi, let alone who it was. Unfortunately my Lord, certain Senators have been asking questions about the incident."

'Senator Organa and Senator Mothma no doubt.' Sidious thought while leaning back in his seat while trying to think. "We will use this to our advantage."

"My Lord?"

Rising from his seat, Sidious turned his back on his advisor and stared out over the spiraling expanse of Coruscant. "We will tell the people the truth. A group of Jedi attacked and destroyed the Dauntless and its escort. We will also be increasing the bounties on the Jedi."

"As you wish, my Lord." Amedda bowed. "But what of Senators Mothma and Organa. It is unlikely that they will believe our official statement regarding the fate of the Dauntless."

"Increase the security detail around both of them while they are here on Coruscant." Sidioud responded without hesitation. "After all, they are highly respected members of the Imperial Senate. Prime targets for any Jedi seeking revenge. And send our best men to Alderaan and Chandrila. Make sure that they're families and friends are kept…safe from harm."

"As you will, my Lord." Amedda smiled while bowing. "Do you require anything else my Lord?"

"No." Sidious responded without looking back. "Now leave me."

"Yes, my Lord."

After hearing the door open and close, Sidious finally turned back around and sat back down in his seat. Despite the situation, Sidious felt something stirring within himself. Excitement. 'A new challenge has already arisen. Hehehe. Let us see what your next move is…mysterious Force user.'

Groaning, Harry forced his eyes to open slightly as he roll over so he could face the dying embers of the fire that was just a short distance in front of him. Rubbing at his eyes, Harry fought a losing battle against the migraine that was pounding in his skull. 'Good Merlin…what did Father do to me? My head is killing me and – wait. I didn't light a fire.'

Immediately sitting upright, and regretting the action immediately as his head pounded, Harry forced his eyes open the rest of the way as he took stock of just where he was. The dying embers of the fire gave him just enough light to see the makings of a small makeshift camp laid out around him. There was another bed roll just on the other side of the fire from him, but it was currently empty.

'Okay…I didn't make this camp myself. And it doesn't look like I'm anywhere near the lake where I talked to father. So there has to be another person here somewhere.'

Closing his eyes, Harry straightened his posture as he searched through the Force for whoever might've have brought him here. "Found me, have you?"

Twisting around, Harry spanned his wand and lightsaber into his outstretched hands and faced off against the voice – only to find a small green creature no taller, but slightly stockier than a house elf sitting on a tree branch behind him. "Who are you?"

The little green creature cocked its head. "Who am I? Who am I he asks. Polite it is, to demand introduction without giving one first hm?"

As he listened to the little creature, something clicked in Harry's mind. 'Could he be…?' Opening himself to the Force, Harry briefly felt for the little beings power before answering. "You're right, I apologize. My name is Harry Potter. I feel that I already know who you are." At the lifting of the little creature's eyebrows Harry pressed on. "You're Yoda. Grand Master of the Jedi Order."

Yoda's eyebrows rose even higher at the mentioning of his name. "Know me, you do?"

"I know of you. I've read about you on the holonet." Harry said, rising to his feet. "Also Kento Marek, Mallie Marek, Aayla Secura and Ahsoka Tano have all spoken about you. During the brief time I spent with them."

Yoda's eyes closed as he hummed. "Hm…so many with you, you have. Good." Opening his eyes the corners of Yoda's mouth turned upwards. "Powerful. Like your mother, you are."

"You know my mother?" Harry asked confusedly.

"Know your mother, I do not." Yoda answered. "Know of your mother, I do. Powerful Sith Lady she was. Frozen within the Force she was. Found balance within the Force, she did. Succeed where I failed…she will."

"You failed?" Harry questioned, stepping forward and kneeling before the ancient Jedi.

"Failed as a Jedi, I have." Yoda responded sadly. "Failed…so many many times."

Sitting down fully, Harry crossed his legs and faced the old Jedi. "The only ones who can truly say that they have failed are the ones who have died, or those who have given up. And you still look very much alive to me Master Yoda." Harry said staring directly into the old Jedi's eyes. "So have you given up on all of those out there that are still depending on you Master Yoda? Because if so…then you're right. You have failed."

Yoda didn't respond to his accusation. Preferring instead to just sit there and stare at Harry. Then he stared to chuckle lightly. "Amazing, the mind of a young one is. Harsh, your words they are. But wisdom they have. Given up, I have not. Continue to fight against the Sith, I do."

"Then you haven't failed yet Master Yoda." Harry answered biting his lip. "I – I can't say that I know exactly what you're going…but I have a good idea as to the pain you feel." At this Yoda's eyebrows rose almost challengingly. "I felt it too Master Yoda. I felt as the Jedi were killed. Not to the same extent that my mother or you did…but I felt their deaths as well."

As Yoda closed his eyes once more, Harry felt brief brushes against his mind with the Force. Deciding to go out on a limb, Harry lowered his defenses just enough to allow Yoda to feel that he was speaking the truth. "Hmm…powerful you are. Even more powerful you will be, in time."

Closing up his defenses, he continued staring at the small Jedi Master. "So what happens now Master Yoda?"

Humming, Yoda opened his eyes. "Guide me to you, the Force has. Travel with you, I shall."

'Well…mother said that one of the reasons we came out here was to find Jedi. She's already welcome Kento, Mallie, Nat, Aayla and Ahsoka. I'm sure she'd have no problems welcoming the Grand Master of the Jedi.'

"And we'll be happy to have you with us, Master Yoda." Harry smiled as he held out his hand.

Yoda stared at his hand for a moment apparently confused. Just as Harry was about to pull his hand back, Yoda's much smaller three fingered hand reached out and slightly gripped his in return. As soon as the two shook hands, Harry felt the Force around then lurch. It was almost as if the Force was…pleased. That's the only way Harry could describe the sensations he was receiving from the Force.

Smiling, Yoda tilted his head back and almost seemed to be basking in the feel coming from the Force. "Feel it, you do?" It wasn't really a question. "Shatterpoint, we have passed. Correctly, we have chosen. Pleased, the Force is."

"I can sense that." Harry remarked. "So…what do we do now? You wouldn't happen to know where my mother landed her ship would you."

"Expect me to know everything do you?" Yoda laughed. "Clear your thoughts young one. Open yourself to the Force. Let it flow through you. Control it, do not. To your mother and friends, guide you it will."

Grumbling slightly at being chastised, Harry closed his eyes and pushed all thoughts from his mind. "Good, good. Clear your mind young one. Open your mind. Guide you, the Force will."

Before, Harry had always had a little bit of trouble falling into the flow of the Force. But now, for some reason, it was almost too easy. Letting the Force guide him, he felt his consciousness flow over the trees and mountains surrounding them. "I found them." Harry breathed, keeping his eyes shut. "They're a day or two southeast of us. And – and I sense that Daphne and Susan are already with them."

"Good good." Yoda hummed as Harry opened his eyes. "Now come, let us go."

Getting up to his feet, Harry watched as Yoda hopped down off of the low hanging branch he'd been standing on, pick up a gnarled walking stick…and then start walking in the opposite direction. "Umm, Master Yoda…they're that way."

"I know." Yoda chuckled. "But have something to show you first, I do. This direction we must go. Reach out to your mother, you will. Follow us, she shall."

Reaching out once again, he found his way back to his mother and his friends. Locating his mother within the group wasn't all that difficult considering she stood out almost like a beacon in the Force compared to the others. Lightly brushing against her mind, he waited until he felt a familiar push back before severing the connection and opening his eyes. "Alright, let's go."

Harry made to take the lead, but immediately fell to his knees as Yoda's twisted walking struck struck him right in the back of the knees. "Hey!" He shouted, looking back at the calm looking Jedi Master. "What in Merlin's name was that for?"

"Longer legs you have." Master Yoda said, pointing at his legs with his walking stick. "Faster you move. Carry me, you will."

Grumbling more than slightly, Harry knelt down far enough so the elder Jedi could climb up onto his back. "You carried me here didn't you?"

"Yes." Yoda said, settling his body against Harry's back as he stood up. "Return the favor now, you will. When nine-hundred year's old you reach, then complain to me you can."

"Fine." Harry mumbled shaking his head. "Now where are we heading again?"

"That way." Yoda said pointing off into the distance.

Rolling his shoulders, Harry started running in the direction Yoda was pointing. "Alright then…just make sure you don't fall off…old man."

Standing on the bridge of the Ashara, Nox watched the landscape of Odessen pass them by as Tonks piloted the ship in the direction Nox had given her. "Are you sure Harry is this way?" Tonks asked.

"Yes." Nox answered, feeling her son's presence in the Force. "He reached out to me and hasn't been trying to hide himself since. Wherever he's going, he wants us to follow him."

"And you're sure that his Trial thing is over right?" Tonks asked.

"Yes." Nox nodded. "You felt the shift in the Force Nymph. Whatever Harry's Trial was, it's now over. And now he's leading us somewhere." Although just who was leading Harry was the true question. She'd briefly felt a second, fairly powerful, presence during the disturbance. But they had hidden themselves again or at least dampened their presence as soon as the disturbance was at an end.

Nodding, Tonks adjusted the ships stabilizers allowing them to gently float down a steep cliff side. "Well he can't be too much further aw…way. Holy Merlin's beard. What is that?"

There was no need to ask just what Nymph was referring too. Less than a few hundred meters in front of them was a small mountain range. And while the mountain range wasn't unexpected, what laid at its base was. There were dozens of large rusted out support trusses and platforms that'd been damaged by time. But the most notable thing was the large flora covered ruined ship that was next to them. "What is this place?" Nymph asked looking around.

"I don't know." Nox answered honestly. Revan had given her next to no information about this world, not that she'd really asked. Spotting a large opening into the mountain side, she pointed it out to Nymph. "Take us down right over there."

Guiding the ship down into the ravine, Tonks gently set the ship down between the mountain side and the ruined ship with enough space left so that the Howling Wind could settled down right next to them. Turning out of the bridge, Nox made her way through the ship and down the still lowering loading ramp.

Walking down the ramp, Nox looked around at the ruins that surrounded them. "What is this place Master?" Hermione asked as she stepped up beside her.

"I don't know." Nox answered as everyone else, save for Daphne and Susan who were still resting in their tents, exited the Ashara and the Howling Wind.

"Too small to be any type of settlement. Probably a military settlement of some kind." Vos observed as he walked up to one fallen structures and placed a hand against it. "Eh, whatever happened here happened a long time ago. I can't sense anything."

Walking towards the cliff side entrance, Nox heard something rumble beneath her foot just as she stepped inside. Looking down, she saw that she was standing on some sort of ornament wall hanging that had no doubt fallen off whenever this place had been abandoned. Crouching down she waved her hand over the piece of metal to clear off the perhaps millennia's worth of dirt dust that'd been covering it. As she cleared away the dirt a symbol slowly became visible. After staring at the symbol for few seconds she finally realized just what it was she was looking at. Half of it was the mark of the Jedi and the other half was the mark of the Sith.

"Mallie." Nox called over her shoulder. "You're a student of history are you not? Do you recognize this mark?"

Moving off to the side so Mallie could get a good look, Nox waited as Mallie slowly ran her hand over the mark. "Oh…Force. This – this is the symbol for the alliance that existed between the Sith and the Jedi that banded together to fight against the Eternal Empire of Zakuul." Mallie breathed as if she couldn't quite believe just what she was looking at. "They're very existence was thought to be a myth! They were founded by the former Jedi-Battlemaster Aedan Tabris! But no record has ever been found confirming that it even existed."

"Well I guess we can confirm that this alliance did exist then."

Everyone save for Nox gave off start of surprise as they all drew their wands or lightsabers and faced off against the voice that was coming from deeper within the ruins. Casting a look down the darkened corridor, Nox let out a tired sigh. "There's a time and a place for pranks Harry." Nox said casually as she motioned for everyone to lower their weapons. "You also need to work on your audience. You're just lucky you didn't get cursed or stabbed."

"Why do you think I spoke up from behind this wall?" Harry asked as a figure slowly started walking out from the darkness. "And besides…I figured that I owed your one considering you pushed three of us out of a moving starship."

"Good Merlin." Remus sighed as he put away his wand. "Your father would've been so proud of you just now Har – what the…Harry what did you do to yourself?"

Emerging fully into the light, everyone who had relaxed their guard were immediately on guard once more. Even Nox was slightly startled by the change she saw. But the one who seemed the most disturbed by far was Ahsoka. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the little togruta completely freeze up and her eyes widen as she took a step back and closer to Aayla.

"What?" Harry asked looking around uneasily at their reaction to him. "Is there something on my face?"

"Speak of your eyes, they do young one."

Again just about everyone jumped, albeit for different reasons, as the steady knocking of a cane announced the arrival of a very small, but incredibly powerful being. One that Nox recognized immediately. And judging by the look of respect he was giving her…he no doubt recognized her through her Force presence as well.

"Master Yoda!" Aayla nearly shouted as she ran forward a few paces before stopping and dropping to a knee before the Grand Master of the Jedi. "It's…it's so good to see you again Master."

"Master Secura." Yoda smiled at the rutian Jedi before turning to the rest of the Jedi in their group. "Master Vos. Master Marek. Knight Liz. Padawan Tano. Assajj Ventress. Warm's my heart to see you all, it does."

"Former Padawan, Master Yoda." Ahsoka said, her voice a mixture of harsh anger and relief.

"And its Marek now Master Yoda," Mallie added. "Not Liz."

"Forgive me." Yoda nodded before hobbling forward towards Ahsoka. "Former Padawan Tano. Wronged your greatly, I have. Hope to one day earn your forgiveness, I do."

Nox could sense all of the conflicting emotions rolling off of the girl in waves. Relief. Resentment. Joy. Anger. Betrayal. Lowering her head, Ahsoka let out a low sight. "We'll see…Master Yoda."

Ventress however was giving the old Jedi Master a curious look. "You don't seem surprised that I'm alive."

"I am not." Yoda answered with a shrug. "Knew Master Vos was lying, I did. Chose not to say anything. Earned a new chance free of past bonds, you have."

"Umm, sorry to break up this little reunion. But could someone please tell me what's wrong with my eyes?"

Pulling out her wand, an action which caused the little green Jedi to shift his posture ever so slightly, Nox waved it in a tight circle, creating a small mirror which she held out for her son. "Take a look for yourself my son."

Taking the mirror, Harry hesitantly looked into its depths. "What the!" He exclaimed as he saw what everyone else had seen. His eyes were now completely black save for his irises which had retained their bright green coloring. "What – what did that old man do to me?"

"Old man?" Nox questioned, her eyes flickering to the small green Jedi.

"A different old man." Harry said licking his lips and handing the mirror back to her. "He had eyes just like mine and…and he felt even stronger than you mother."

Behind them, she heard a gasp. Turning around, she saw that Ahsoka had gone completely pale. "It…it can't be. He's dead."

"He actually said something about that." Harry nodded slowly. "Said something about his Daughter dying and him dying and then his Son or something like that-"

"It was exactly like that." Ahsoka said sadly. "I should know. I was there when it happened. The Father brought my Master, Master Kenobi and myself to his home. He wanted my Master to take over keeping his Son and Daughter in check. But my Master…he refused and…and they all died."

"That's pretty much what the Father said." Harry nodded, before his brow furrowed. "No…that's what happened. Daughter…she died saving another and Son…Father died to stop him." Rubbing at his forehead, Harry took a step back and curled in on himself slightly. "Why – why do I know that?"

Crossing the distance between them, Nox reached up and placed her hands onto either side of her son's head. Harry didn't put any resistance as she easily slipped past his barriers and into his mind. The world around them faded into nothingness as Nox searched her son's mind for any strange. It didn't take her long to find it either. A large chunk of darkened memories within his mind that were not his own and that she was unable to access. As she felt around the blocked memories, she could feel her son's fear mounting with each passing moment.

"It seems this Father person left you a gift." Nox said as the world around them slowly came back into focus. Tilting his head down, she pressed her forehead against his as she felt the fear within him rising. "We'll figure this out together my son…I promise you."

Pulling back from Harry, she noticed that everyone around them had spread out slightly while the two of them were together and were now scouring through the ruins within the immediate vicinity of the entrance. Everyone save for the four Jedi and Ahsoka, who were all gathered around Yoda. "Master Yoda." Ahsoka said hesitantly. "Have…have you seen Master Skywalker? Or maybe Master Kenobi?"

Nox instantly turned her full attention to the Jedi within their group. Or more specifically, the former Grand Master of the Jedi. Ever since they'd collected their Jedi companions, Nox had been pouring over every scrap of information she'd been able to pull from them about what had happened from the battle of Naboo fourteen years ago to the recent Clone Wars and the purge of the Jedi. After looking over everything from a Sith's point of view, she was pretty sure she knew exactly what had happened and how, except for the Clones sudden turning without question. All she needed was verification. Which she hoped to gain from the former Grand Master.

The slight tightening around his eyes and the way he gripped his cane just the slightest bit harder told her all that she needed to know. "Alive, Master Kenobi is. Hidden on Tatooine. Safe from the Empire for now, he is."

Ahsoka smiled slightly at the news. "What about Master Skywalker? Is he with Master Kenobi?"

Instead of answering her question, Yoda looked away from her and off into the distance. "You may as well tell them." Nox said, her voice ringing out loud and clear in the suddenly silent cave. "Or I will."

Yoda fixed her with a questioning gaze. "Know what happened, you do?"

"I had theories." Nox answered sparing a glance towards the increasing impatient looking Ahsoka. "I had these four tell me everything they could about what has happened over the past decade and a half. And then I looked at it from a Sith's point of view. And your hesitation has only confirmed what I thought. So tell them."

Ahsoka, and the rest of the Jedi for that matter, looked about ready to say something. But they all held their tongues as she and Yoda continued to stare one another down. "Only pain, will it cause."

"Better they face it now and give it time to heal, rather than have it surprise them in the future and possibly cost them their lives." Nox growled taking a step towards the little Master. "Tell them. Now."

Yoda stared at her for a minute longer before sighing and reaching into the folds of his robes. Pulling out a small holo-recording disk, he levitated the small device down onto the floor and activated it. As the projection came into focus, Nox found herself staring at an image she'd spent weeks studying. "This…this is the Council Chambers." Aayla noted as she leaned in close to the projection.

The just as she'd seen in her vision, a man entered the projection. But unlike her visions, he was no longer shrouded in shadows. "Skywalker?" Vos blinked as the Jedi, along with Harry and herself, crowed around the projection. "I didn't think he was at the Temple when…oh no."

As she spoke, the man in the projection walked up to the first youngling, drew his lightsaber, and cut the child down. "No!" Ahsoka screamed, falling to her knees as she watched her former Master cut down one child after another. "No…no no no no. No! This isn't Master Skywalker! He would never! This isn't him!"

After the last of the children fell, the recording shifted to show the Jedi Skywalker kneeling before a withered figure. "You have done well my apprentice, Lord Vader. The dark side is swelling within you. Now go and end this war and bring peace to our Empire."

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