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(L,F&E 2) And you think YOUR family is strange...


kalenath

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Will sat and looked at the woman who claimed to be his daughter. She was about twenty standard years old. Her hair was the same color as his, black. Her eyes were an intense green. She sat, in one of the stateroom’s chairs, stiffly, as if unsure how to act.

 

Or maybe she’s just scared. She should be.

 

He kept the small blaster, a trophy from a dead Dark Jedi, trained on her midsection. That particular Dark Jedi had been a pain to take out, having been a soldier before becoming a Sith. And she had known her weapons, not that it did her much good in the end. The small blaster he had recovered from her body gave almost as much punch as a Mandalorian heavy blaster pistol in a package half the size. If Nia, if that really was her name, moved at all, he gave himself even odds that he could nail her before she could get far. And she didn’t have a lightsaber. Some Force uses didn’t need lightsabers to deflect blaster fire though, which is why his other hand rested on his wristcom. A quick command and the room would erupt in fire. That was the main reason the commander had put her in her. It was mined, a final failsafe, just in case. He doubted his ability to survive such a blast, but at the moment, he didn’t care. She didn’t move. Her voice was soft.

 

“If you are going to kill me, do it.” She kept her voice calm through a massive effort. She hoped her hands were not trembling enough to make him do whatever he was ready to. She doubted her ability to survive. When he spoke, she couldn’t restrain a shudder. So cold and controlled.

 

“Everyone, including the furball, says I should talk to you. So talk.” She licked her lips. This wasn’t how she had planned to do this. But he was speaking again. “I don’t know you. I don’t trust you. You say you are my daughter. I never had a daughter.” He could have been a statue for all the emotion he was showing.

 

“You never knew. My mother said…you wouldn’t remember. That they took the memory from you.” She flinched as his regard swept up and down her.

 

“Hard to prove.” She nodded, and then froze again. He didn’t move.

 

“Or disprove. I know. I…All I can tell you is what I know.”

 

“So talk.” She sighed, drew on her training and calmed herself.

 

“What do you remember of Kuria?” Now he moved, slightly. His head cocked to one side, but she noticed his hands didn’t move at all.

 

“Kuria? Small planet outer rim, failed colony. No survivors. I crashed there once. As I am sure the furball has told you. One of the few times I have ditched.”

 

“Twice.” Her voice was soft. His eyebrows shot up. Then he laughed coldly. His hands still didn’t move.

 

“So I forgot that I had a daughter, and I forgot that I crashed on a backwater planet with no one else there. I think I would remember THAT at least.”

 

“You didn’t crash, you were shot down, and…” She broke off.

 

“And?” He looked at her and was amazed. She was afraid again, but not of him.

 

“Are we being listened to?” He snorted. Of course she was being monitored. “Can you cut it off? I…I don’t want to betray a confidence.”

 

“Or so you can try and mind control me?” She snarled at him.

 

“I wouldn’t do that.” The expression that crossed his face might have been called a grin. The same way a Rancor’s might.

 

“Push any Force user hard enough and they start slipping. High and mighty ideals or cold and cynical pragmatism, doesn’t matter. Jedi or Sith, same difference.”

 

“How can you say that? The Jedi…”

 

“Did nothing. Watched as my comrades, people I knew and trusted died to protect them. And when the chips fell, they ran away. Yes, the Sith are evil, most of them. But I have seen the high and mighty Jedi ignore a plea for help because it might, might, have compromised their precious ethics. Yeah, ethics.” For a moment, he looked away, and then his eyes focused back on her. “At least the Sith are honest about what they do and want. And, when they value a tool, they protect it. The Jedi? When something breaks, they discard it.” Her eyes widened in horror.

 

“Is that…did they do that to you?” She flinched from his regard.

 

“That is none of your business. Your business at the moment is to tell me why I shouldn’t blow your pretty little head all over the wall of this stateroom.” He meant every word. She swallowed.

 

“I…” She slumped. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m the only one left.”

 

“What, someone get mad at you?” He sat straight as she froze.

 

“You could say that.” Now he sat back as her tone went emotionless.

 

“Talk.” If his voice had anything in it, it was impatience.

 

“You are right. Kuria was a failed colony, just not when you thought.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Bear in mind I didn’t remember any of this until I…well…” She broke off then started again. “It all began for me about two standard years ago…

Edited by kalenath
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<2 standard years previous>

 

“Mother…” Nia exclaimed as her mother set her down on the bed and confiscated the backpack that Nia had filled with food and survival gear. But her mother would not be swayed. The elder Korr matriarch was as tradition bound as any of the colony. That was to say she was about as flexible as a chunk of durasteel. And tradition stated that all children of the colony would face the Trial of Fate on their eighteenth birthday. Which for Nia was tomorrow. Nia had made plans, which her mother had just completely destroyed.

 

“Daughter, you WILL face the trial, you will not dishonor this family. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“But Mother…” Nia broke off as her mother, the only solid and dependable thing in her life, turned without a word and left the room, shutting the hanging curtain that closed the room off from the rest of their small home. Nia sat in shock. Then her mind started to race.

 

I…I will NOT. I know what I want to do and I know how to do it. I…

Her thoughts broke off as the curtain over her window, they didn’t have the spare funds for window panes, gave a twitch. She smiled as a furry hand showed itself.

 

“Come in Weribacca.” She said and was not surprised to see her best friend push aside the curtain. The young Wookiee was almost her only friend. Both being girls and both being young, they had bonded closely. Some things transcended species. The Wookiee though, stayed outside. Nia frowned. Weri could easily jump through the window; she had many times in the past.

 

<I know you my friend.> Nia nodded, they had been friends literally from birth.

 

<Yes you do. Weri, what…?> The Wookiee language was difficult for humans but Nia was nothing if not stubborn.

 

<I came to beg you not to run away. To take part in the Trial.> Nia sat back on her bed, stunned. This was so unlike her friend. Of course, Weri had taken the Trial just the week before.

 

<Weri?> The Wookiee shook her head.

 

<You must. I can say no more. But you MUST>

 

Weri turned and left, leaving Nia stunned and thoughtful. Her friend was scared. Not for her…but…something… She shook her head. Her…Gifts…as the elders called them, were erratic and unreliable at the best of times. Much as she disliked the hidebound rules and strictures placed on the members of the colony, she understood the reasons for them. And, the Trial wouldn’t take more than a standard day; it wouldn’t inconvenience her too badly. And Weri’ fear, yes it had been fear, shook her more than any discipline put on her by the elders ever could. Weri had always been the braver of the two. To see her terrified… She sat on her bed and wondered.

 

<A few minutes later>

 

<I spoke to her, Milady. I believe she will do as I asked.> Weribacca stood before the assembled elders of the village. Jainine Korr sat among her peers and sighed in relief. Her long silver hair jumped. Then she looked about, to all of the others and sighed sadly.

 

“Has it really come to this?” None of them could meet her eyes. “Then we shall send my daughter out on the Trial at first sun’s light.” She sighed again. “And may the Force protect her.” They all nodded.

 

The next morning, Nia stood at the entrance to the Caves of Fate with only slight misgivings. Everything was done exactly as the Book laid out. She had not eaten or drunk anything and she was beginning to feel the twinge in her head that preceded a killer headache. She called on her training to calm her body and it responded as it always did. The food was exactly where it was supposed to be, and she dove into it gladly. The porridge, milk and honey had done wonders to calm her restless stomach. She recognized her mother’s hand in the preparations and smiled a bit. Her mother hadn’t spoken to her, but something had been wrong. She hadn’t done anything, but… Nia’s senses had detected a deep well of sadness inside her mother, and it had been almost more than she could bear. She felt almost glad when Weribacca had arrived to take her to the Trial. Weri had escorted her to the cave, but had not replied to any of Nia’s questions. While it was traditional that the party ascend in silence, it also was customary for previous participants to, er… fudge… the rules a bit. But not this time. Weri had given her friend a strong hug, almost rib cracking, and then had left without a word. Leaving Nia to face her Fate. Nia straightened her shoulders and walked into the cave.

 

For a while she was afraid. It was a cave. Bad things lived in caves. Things that liked to eat people. But as she went further in and nothing jumped out at her, she relaxed a bit. Then she tensed again, something was wrong. She could feel… She froze. A voice spoke.

 

“Have no fear Nia Korr.” The voice was warm and inviting.

 

“Who…Who is there? Show yourself.” She spun around but couldn’t see anywhere where the voice might be coming from. And there were no alcoves or offshoots of the cave. Nowhere for a person to hide.

 

“I am afraid I can’t.” If a disembodied voice could be embarrassed, this one was.

 

“Why not.” She was terrified, ready to bolt, the feelings were worse now.

 

“Come further in and you will understand, child.”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“That is…a difficult question to answer, Nia Korr.” She slowly moved deeper into the cave. Then without warning, she passed through something and was in a corridor. She froze. The walls were grey and silver and looked, old. Very, very old. “Have no fear child, no harm will come to you while you are within these walls. Something happened behind her and she spun in time to see a door, a huge door, slide into place. She ran to it. She looked around frantic, but there were no controls anywhere to be seen. Then something hurt her, as if a piece of her was gone. She reached into herself and screamed.

 

“MOTHER!” Then she knew no more.

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When Nia woke, she was sobbing. The pillow under her head was wet with tears and she was lying on something comfortable. She looked around through bleary eyes. The room was larger than her whole house. It had a bed, a chair, something like what the Book described as a vidscreen, and something else she was sure was a computer. She sat up, then froze as light appeared. It seemed to come from the ceiling, but there were no lamps or anything else, just a section of the grey material that shone light from it. Then she realized something, she wasn’t wearing the robes she had started the trials in. She was wearing a loose fitting shirt and pants of some kind. Both were grey, almost white in color. They were very comfortable, and she couldn’t identify the fabric. Then she remembered. And screamed. Her mother was gone! All of her life she could feel the warm presence of her mother in the Force, not there was nothing except an empty pit. The voice from before spoke again.

 

“Calm yourself Nia Korr.” She focused on the voice, she wasn’t alone. A time later, it could have been moments or days, she slumped and relaxed. She bowed her head and spoke.

 

“My mother is dead.” It wasn’t a question. But the voice answered anyway.

 

“Yes.”

 

“The others?”

 

“I’m sorry, Nia.”

 

“No…” Nia broke down and cried again, but the voice spoke again.

 

“Nia, it is very important that you listen to this.” She hugged herself tightly and didn’t move. Then another voice came. Nia froze, it was her mother!

 

“Nia, honey, if you are hearing this, then our worst fears have come to pass. I wish I could be saying this to you in person, but if you are hearing this then I am probably dead. I make this recording in the hope that you will never hear it. But if you are… I am sorry, Nia, I am so sorry. I wish with all my heart I could have told you before this. Nia, you have to leave Kuria.”

 

Nia shook her head in denial. But her mother’s voice continued.

 

“My daughter, my dear daughter, I would with all my heart not place this burden on you, but you are the last. You must go on, and finish what we started. I don’t know who attacked us, and it really doesn’t matter. You must leave Kuria, you must find your father.” Nia’s head shot up.

 

“That’s impossible, my father is dead.” The voice recording of her mother continued.

 

“He is not dead, but, in accordance with our laws, we removed his memory of the first time he was on Kuria and altered the last.” Nia froze, the only man ever to come to Kuria and then leave had been a soldier, a Republic soldier. She had met him, briefly. He had seemed hard, kind but distant. His Wookiee companion had been a lot nicer. Then they had left, and she had been told they wouldn’t remember her. That had saddened her. That man was…

 

“As you are probably remembering now, your father’s name is Will Kalenath. He fights for the Republic. You must find him and pass on the Book to him. He is the only one we can trust with it.” Nia shook her head in bewilderment. “Fare ye well my daughter, last of the line of Marr.” Her mother’s voice cut off with a click, leaving Nia bereft again. Then she sat up straight again.

 

“Marr, no it can’t be…Visas Mar??? The Sith who became a Jedi? She’s just a tale…isn’t she?” The first voice answered her.

 

“On the contrary, Nia Korr, Visas Marr was a real person three hundred standard years ago. Before she died, she helped found the colony that you were born in. To honor her, a family took her family name to name their firstborn.” Nia shook her head; this was a lot of information.

 

“Who are you?” She looked around but couldn’t see where the voice had been coming from. She jumped as a hologram appeared in front of her. A droid?

 

“Greetings, Nia Korr. I am Advisor, I am programmed to aid you and advise you on the beginning of your quest.” Nia’s eyebrows rose at that.

 

“You are not coming with me?”

 

“I wish I could, child. But my systems are embedded in the surface of Kuria and it would be impossible for you to extricate me.” Nia shook her head again, not understanding. “Come to the computer and I will attempt to explain.” Nai swung her legs off of the bed and walked slowly to the chair. When she sat, it changed somehow, and suddenly it was the most comfortable seat she had ever been in. She swiveled the chair to face the computer and it lit up. Schematics and diagrams appeared on the screen and she jumped; she realized she could read them. She scrutinized them and sighed. Advisor was right; the structure he was in had originally been part of a crashed spacecraft. It had crashed a VERY long time ago and the overlying rock was far too deep to dig out from. One piece of an ancient lava flow had covered over part of the area as well. No way for her to dig him out.

 

“If you are buried in the rock, how will I leave Kuria?”

 

“I cannot take you from Kuria. But this can.” Advisor put an image of a small starship on the screen. “This is a Republic Hok’lan class shuttle. It is small but adequate for a single being. Especially one trained in meditation.” Nia nodded, she had been taught those trance techniques in case of cave in, but they would serve… She froze.

 

“I was taught differently from the others wasn’t I? Why?” Nia could have sworn the machine hesitated.

 

“It was known for many years that the colony would be destroyed. Your mother saw it first in a Force vision.”

 

“If they knew about it, why couldn’t they stop it?” Nia asked, angry now.

 

“They tried. Everything they could. We…They all hoped it would be enough.” Machine couldn’t feel sorrow. Nia knew that, but she could have sworn the machine grieved.

 

“I’m sorry.” Stupid to apologize to a machine, but she felt it was right.

 

“It’s all right Nia. This eventuality was covered as well, but… It doesn’t make it any easier to handle.” This machine was unlike any droid Nia had ever seen or heard of.

 

“I…” She calmed herself. “Okay, I have to leave Kuria, but…Take the Book? It was in the colony…” She broke off as the Book itself slid on a tray out from under the bed. She reached out to touch it, and then froze; it was the greatest icon of her people. She was unworthy.

 

“Nia, you have to leave soon, and you must take the Book with you.” Nia shook her head.

“Nia! Pick up the Book!” The voice took on urgency. She jumped at the change.

 

“What?”

 

“They are coming. I cannot hide you for long. You must leave and you must leave now.”

 

“Who is coming?” The vidscreen changed to a view of the surface. It showed figures in envirosuits moving along the line of… her tracks!

 

“No!” Nia breathed.

 

“We have a little time, but not much. Pick up the Book, they must not get it!” Reluctantly Nia did. It felt, normal. Not like a icon of reverence. “And you will need this.” Another port opened and a small object slid out. It wasn’t until she picked it up that Nia recognized it. She almost dropped it. A LIGHTSABER?!?!

 

“I…I’m not a Jedi…”

 

“No you are not, but…I think it will serve you well.”

 

“Tell me your name.”

 

“Nia, we don’t have time for this.”

 

“Tell me your name. You are not a droid or a computer.”

 

“I…I haven’t used my name in three hundred years. I…”

 

“You were human?”

 

“No, but once…a long time ago...I was alive…”

 

“Tell me your name and I will go, I want to remember you.” The voice sighed.

 

“My name was Mission, Nia. Now, GO!” Nia grabbed a backpack that lay on the floor beside the hatch, shoved the book into it, hooked the lightsaber to her belt and ran.

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Nia ran through the corridors, following a blue ball that bounced from wall to wall. Finally the ball stopped on a section of wall and a hidden door opened. Nia approached it slowly. She saw the small ship nestled inside what looked like a cave. She ran to it and the hatch opened. As she climbed in she saw the door close and she heard explosions in the distance.

 

“Hurry, Nia. The automated systems won’t hold them off for much longer.”

 

“What will you do when I am gone?” The ship started preflight on its own and Nia settled into the sole chair. She put the backpack down and it settled into a cupboard and vanished.

 

“I am going to take as many of them with me as I can.”

 

“NO!”

 

“Nia, I am not alive. I am a copy of a dead person. I… I have lived too long, seen too much, please Nia, just go.”

 

“But…”

 

“Please don’t hate me Nia. I have to do this.” Restraints snapped into place around her body. She felt something touch her neck and she was falling. “I’m sorry. If you ever remember this, I am so sorry, Nia.”

 

<Some time later

 

Nia Korr woke. She was hungry. She took a food pack out of the small refrigerator and ate in silence. She… That was strange. She could remember her name, but not much else. She searched her memories and found them, strange. Many of them seemed to be gone, but she knew enough about where she was and what she was doing to do what had to be done. And she knew she needed a place to hide. The hyperdrive beeped and she felt the transition as the ship eased out of faster than light travel. She looked incurious at the screen and saw the double suns of the Tatooine system spread out before her. She nodded. A good place to hide.

 

<Flash forward 12 months>

 

Nia stood in the evening shade and wondered. It had been a standard year since she had arrived on this hot rock. She knew she had to do something and at the same time she knew she had to stay hidden. It worried her, sometimes, that she knew things that a young human woman had no business knowing. She worked at a clinic. She enjoyed helping people, a lot. She was making a difference. And… Her thoughts broke off as a scream tore through the night air. She froze as she heard swoop engines. Then she heard the scream again and she broke into a run, cursing herself for being an idiot. She charged into the street and saw what she had dreaded. An entire swoop gang had a girl cornered against a building. At least twenty of the scum. It took no imagination to divine their intentions. She ducked back into cover and cursed herself again for leaving her blaster in the office. Then she looked again and smiled grimly. Only one thing might scare swoopers away. She reached into a special pocket and pulled out something she never left home without. Even disguised as an expensive comlink it was easy to tell what the cylinder was. She ignited it and the sound made all of the swoopers look away from their intended fun. She threw it with all of her might. Then she used the Force to guide where it flew.

 

“JEDI!” One of the swoopers yelled as the lightsaber came flying through the air at him and he kicked his swoop into gear. Unfortunately this path took him into one of his fellows. Nia looked out and grinned as the unfortunate swoop gang members piled into one another in their haste to flee. Then she sobered. Using the force, she secreted the lightsaber where she could recover it later and ran to where the girl was lying. A quick examination showed the girl unconscious, with minor cuts and abrasions, but otherwise fine. She treated the girl and, once the girl was conscious, helped her to her feet.

 

“What happened?” The girl asked in a daze.

 

“I don’t know. The swoopers thought they heard a lightsaber. I didn’t see one though.” Which was the absolute literal truth, Nia had been focusing so hard she had closed her eyes.

 

“A Jedi?” The girl asked in an awestruck voice.

 

“I didn’t see anything. Someone may have made…” Nia broke off. Something was very wrong. She looked up just in time to see the concussion grenade that landed at her feet. She moved to shield the girl from it and then she knew no more.

 

When Nia woke, she was dismayed. She was in the Anchorhead jail. She had been called to the jail a few times to patch up prisoners or officers. But something was wrong, she couldn’t sense anything and… her thoughts broke off as an armored figure appeared beyond the force field. The Mandalorian armor she recognized, but the weapons, they said bounty hunter and not a cheap one either.

 

“Nia Korr.” The voice was distorted through the helmet, but she was sure she heard satisfaction.

 

“Do I know you?” She asked sharply.

 

“No.”

 

“What do you want of me?”

 

“Where is the book, Nia Korr?’ She looked at the bounty hunter and shook her head.

 

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

 

“You don’t do you?” and the bounty hunter produced Nia’s lightsaber. Nia tried to call it to her, but something shocked her and she collapsed in a heap. She stared at the cuffs on her ankles and wrists. Mandalorian shock cuffs. Figured.

 

“Now, now, none of that. You are much more valuable to me alive. If you won’t tell me where the book is I am sure you will tell my employer.” He turned and addressed someone outside her field of view. “Prepare her for transport.” Nia snarled at him. “Now don’t get that pretty little head in a tizzy. You won’t feel a thing. You will spend the trip in carbon freeze.”

 

“NO!” She screamed and charged the force field but something hit her before she reached it and she fell into darkness again.

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<The present>

 

“I woke up a prisoner of Darth Harron. As I am here and he is not, I assume that something unpleasant and final happened to him. That is all I know.”

Nia finished talking, she was parched.

 

“Do you mind if I get a drink?” Will looked at her, and then shrugged. She got up, slowly, and carefully poured herself a cup of water. She sat down and drank it slowly. She finished it, put the cup in the refresher to be cleaned and sterilized. Then she sat back down. “Well?”

 

“Where is this book that you were supposed to give to me?”

 

“A safe place.” Was that a smile flitting across his face? No it couldn’t have been…

 

“Well, you have told a fine story. One that would make you some credits in a cantina or two. But I think you have been wasting my time.” He raised the blaster. She froze. She thought fast. What was it, ah…

 

“Wait. I can prove it.” He looked at her a sneer on his face.

 

“Then do it.”

 

“Marr. Omega Seven One Five.” When she finished the code, Will stiffened, and then crumbled to the deck. The door hissed open and the guards were there with blasters drawn. She didn’t move. A loud howl split the air as Olanagychew came running in. Both guards wisely moved aside.

 

<What have you done?” He growled as he approached her, his arms ready to rend and tear. She replied in Shirwook.

 

<I told him the truth. I am sure you heard it. Olanagychew, Marr. Omega Seven One Six.> The Wookiee stiffened and froze in place. The guards looked at each other then aimed at Nia again. A voice came from the shadows.

 

“Stop.” Will stood up straight and wonder of wonders put his blaster away. He looked at her and she started crying. And she couldn’t stop. She crumbled to the deck and he came over to where she was sitting. Olanagychew recovered as well. The guards looked around baffled.

 

“Sir? What just happened?” Will looked at the guard and shook his head.

 

“She broke a memory block using a preset recognition code.” He looked at her. She was still crying. He gathered her up, into his arms and sighed. “I’m sorry, Nia. I…I don’t trust easily. That was the only way you could have convinced me. It’s okay. Don’t blame yourself. I don’t.”

 

<I don’t either.> Olanagychew added from where he stood, close, but not too close. Nia was choked up. Will gave her an awkward hug.

 

“I… They all died… for nothing… I …” She broke off, still sobbing.

 

“Not for nothing. They died to protect you. That counts as a big something in my book.”

 

<Mine too> Olana carefully gave her arm a squeeze. The guards looked at each other and left the stateroom. Then the door hissed open again. All three turned as Stormhawk Boss entered the room. He looked at them and sighed. When he spoke his voice was rueful.

 

“I had only partially believed you Nia. Now I see I was wrong. You are his daughter. No one else could have made such a mess so quickly.”

 

“S…Sir?” She asked, tears still streaming from her eyes.

 

“As of right now, you are a member of the crew of the Stormhawk and anyone who says otherwise can take it up with me.” Nai goggled at him.

 

“I…No…I… I can’t stay here…You…” Boss spoke again, this time in a kindly tone.

 

“Where else would you go?”

 

“To the Jedi, I want to…” She broke off as Will, Olanagychew and Boss all shook their heads. Will sighed and spoke.

 

“You are not a Jedi, Nia. They have no hold over you.” She looked at him and he hugged her again.

 

<You are not a Sith either.> Olanagychew put in. Nia glared at him and he wuffed happily.

 

“I…I don’t know what I am.” Nia was amazed when all three laughed.

 

“Join the club, Nia. Most beings have no idea what they are or what they are meant to do. You just have to see what happens.” Will’s tone was rueful and at the same time jubilant.

 

“I don’t have a choice do I?” She asked; her tone was part angry, part rueful and part sad. Will sobered and spoke again.

 

“There are always choices, there are always alternatives. Not always good ones, but there are ALWAYS choices. Whatever you choose, you have my support.” Now she hugged him tightly. “This is not going to be easy.”

 

“The Book says the best things are never easy. But well worth it.”

 

“What book is this Nia?” Boss asked, and she stiffened. Then she relaxed.

 

“The Book of the Exile.” They looked at her, uncomprehending. “She was a Jedi who fought in the Mandalorian Wars three hundred standard years ago alongside Revan and Malak.” All of their eyes widened. “And was exiled from the Jedi for disobeying the will of the Jedi council.”

 

“Wait a minute. The EXILE had a book?” Boss exclaimed. They all knew something of that time period. It had been a turbulent time, but nothing like what had happened later. But the Exile had figured prominently in the turmoil.

 

“A journal. I think… I think it was to help keep her sane, cut off from everything she had known and trusted. But…”

 

“But what Nia?” Will asked quietly, she could see in his eyes, his thoughts were racing. Her eyes shot open.

 

“The shuttle! I left it on Tatooine. The book was in it.” Boss keyed his comlink.

 

“Bridge set course for Tatooine, full speed. Briefing in one hour.” An acknowledgment came and Nia stared at him.

 

“Wha…?” She managed to get out but broke off as he turned back to her.

 

“Whatever is in that book, the Sith were willing to kill a colony for. I think it’s a good idea that they don’t get it. Don’t you?” Will and Olanagychew both laughed at the look on Nia’s face.

 

“But… I’m a Force user…You…” She broke off again, unable to continue.

 

“You are not a Sith, or a Jedi. Those are the ones we can’t work with. I have worked with grey Force users before. By the way, here. You might need this.” He extended a cylindrical object to her and she froze.

 

“I…No…I…”

 

“This belonged to a friend of mine. Someone who walked your path. Neither light nor dark, but with the essence of both. Grey.” He extended the lightsaber to her and she took it gingerly. She looked at it, and then thumbed the activation button. But instead of blue, green or even a red blade, this blade was different. It was… silver? She stared at it, then deactivated it and hung it on her belt.

 

“Can you fly a starfighter?” Boss' question made Will stiffen. “I’m not going to throw her to the rancors immediately Two.” Will relaxed and ginned, slightly.

 

“Uh, I have no idea…” Nia had never even tried. Will grinned at her.

 

“I bet you can learn, and with the Force…”

 

“I…I don’t want to use the Force, I want to be normal.” All of them laughed again.

 

<And which of us would you consider normal?> Olanagychew asked, still wuffing with laughter. She stared at the Wookiee, at the armored figure, at the black garbed man who was her father and then laughed ruefully. Boss spoke again.

 

“Nia, you are part of this crew, as such, we need another pilot. We have a squadron that is short one. We can see if you have what it takes, knowing Will, if you are anything at all like him, you do. Welcome to the StormHawk Nia.” He extended his hand, she took it and they shook.

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  • 1 month later...

Yep...

 

Or it could have all been a lie.

 

I regret that my posting has been so slow, but school and rewriting a bunch of stuff has left me with little time to post. Hopefully that will change soon.

 

Your critiques are valid. But there is a reason that Will and Nia have the powers they do. That device plays a significant role in the story. And Nia, well... She is not from 'nowhere', I just haven't said where and how she was trained yet. There IS a underlying reason for all this, and I promise it is a valid reason and it does make sense.

 

Well, as much sense as ANY of my stuff ever makes. :p

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