This story and characters are based on situations and characters created and owned by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd and the "Magnificent Seven" TV, property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

THE WAY OF THE JEDI

CHAPTER ONE

The bounty hunter stepped off the ramp way of his ship and allowed his cobalt colored eyes to scan the horizon at the city that lay before him. As cities went, this one was hardly impressive. Then again, he had not expected it to be anything but such. He stared up at the twin suns and felt its heat burn into his skin but it was not especially uncomfortable. He was accustomed to such temperatures. He had grown up on Tatooine and was used to fighting Tusken Raiders to keep them from destroying the moisture vaporators on the farm he had been indentured. A part of him could not imagine growing up in such a place but he had. He was born a slave. He remembered his mother vaguely and since being human was not exactly a valuable commodity in the eyes of a Hutt, he had been sent to work in one of Jabba's many moisture farms.

 Vin Tanner shook his head of such old memories, neither liking them nor disliking them. He remained oddly detached about his past, relieved only that his tenure as livestock had ended. The best thing about being stuck out on a moisture farm was that Jabba forgot you existed and eventually, he had learnt how to remove the electronic restraints that kept other slaves trapped in servitude. Removing them had allowed him to leave Tatooine forever. Securing the access lock on the main hatch of his ship, the Tracker, he continued his descent from the ramp and stepped onto the baked earth of Cordoba, the parched world where his latest bounty was presently waiting for him to claim. 

In truth, he would have preferred not to take this job but the men who had come to him had given him little choice in the matter, find the target or be satisfied with never being able to come near a civilized star system for the rest of his life. Vin did not have much use for people as such but he did not wished to be a marked man and when Imperial agents made such an offer, one did not refuse without very good reason. What he could not understand was why the Empire was not handling this themselves.  

Did they not have agents who knew how to deal with the Jedi? 

For Vin, he hardly even believed the Jedi existed even though, like everyone else, he had heard the stories. There was said to be a time when the Jedi ruled supreme throughout the galaxy and that they brought peace and justice to many worlds for centuries. A youth growing up in Tatooine as a slave did not have the patience to believe in such tales, for no Jedi ever came to rescue him from his prison and what he achieved, he had done because he had decided he would. The galaxy was a hard place and by the time Vin had escaped the desert world to see for himself, the Jedi War had begun. 

It began with the rise of Senator Palpatine to the position of Chancellor in the Republic Senate. Already starting to collapse under its own weight, with the added strife of corruption and too much bureaucracy, Palpatine had promised to remove the rot from the Senate. His idealism brought any supporters who believed in the dream of the Republic and wished to see it returned to its former glory. However, Palpatine's words and his true plans bore very little resemblance to each other when the final analysis was done. Once firmly entrenched in position, he established himself as Emperor and though the rumors intimidated that he might have been a Sith Lord, those who attempted to substantiate it did not live long enough to find out the complete truth. The galaxy that Vin Tanner knew was one where the Empire ruled with an iron fist and something as mythical as a Jedi Knight was hunted down and killed by the thousands. 

They say a Jedi lived in Cordoba. Not a Jedi Master but Jedi Knight of the First Order. The Imperial agents claimed those who came for the man, usually died in the process but should Vin Tanner make the attempt and live, he would be very well compensated for his efforts. Vin had no fears of dying but he could not deny feeling a little superstition at going after a Jedi. The Empire had come to him because he was the best bounty hunter there was. He had learned to track over desert, he had learnt the craft from the Tusken Raiders, the desert warriors who roamed the plains of Tatooine and had accepted him once they discovered he was almost as hardy as they were. It was easy enough to apply the methodology involved to learn how to track over space and other terrain and from the onset of his career, his ability to bring in a bounty was said to be uncanny. 

Still, hunting Jedi was dirty work and if it were not for the fact that his freedom would be in jeopardy, Vin would have turned the Empire down. However, a part of him was also curious to see a Jedi, which was why he had taken his ship and journeyed to the part of the galaxy known as the Territory. Known as such because much of it was uncharted and even beyond the reach of what was considered Imperial boundaries, it was a dangerous place that was considered to be the galactic wilderness. People who came to Cordoba came to hide and it made sense that if a Jedi wished to lose himself in anonymity when the rest of his kind were being hunted into extinction, this was a good place to do it. 

However, a Jedi could not stay hidden for long and the one he sought, whose wife and child had been murdered because the child of Jedi could not be allowed to live to become a Jedi themselves, was one of the greatest. The Imperial agents who endowed him with this duty claimed that the Jedi was from Alderaan and was a veteran of the Clone Wars, a warrior in every sense of the word. Vin could not imagine a warrior disappearing into the wilderness while the rest of his kind were being murdered, it reeked of cowardice.   

Whatever the reasons, Vin sighed as he left the docking bay and his ship, he supposed he would find out when he finally met Chris Larabee. 

**********

At the same time that Vin Tanner was making his departure from the main space port on Cordoba, former Imperial officer Captain Nathan Jackson was entering the large complex in order to carry out some business of equal importance and no less dire circumstances should he fail. Even though his contacts on Alderaan had informed him countless times during the limbo between being told about the mission and carrying it out, that security had been absolutely fool proof, Nathan could not help being apprehensive. With the ashes of the Republic still relatively new, loyalties were still indistinct. Some were still dubious that the storm predicted not only by the Jedi before they were wiped out but also by the numerous members of the Senate who were now hiding from the Emperor.  

However, the newly formed Rebel Alliance was not content to wait for the darkness to come. They had already been given ringside views on the collapse of the Republic and the establishment of an Emperor, something almost unheard of in almost ten thousand years of galactic unification. The idea of one man having complete autonomy over trillions of life forms did not bode well for the future. Then there were also the rumors about Palpatine himself and claims that he was that most terrifying of creatures, a Sith Lord. A rumor that seemed to be proven by Palpatine's hatred of the Jedi and his systematic annihilation of all members of that august body.

 Nathan remembered seeing the Jedi Council building when he was visiting Coruscant with his father when he was a child. Even though he had sat through the tests and learnt unfortunately that he was not Forced adept enough to be one, he had always admired the movement. Those who became Jedi had powers beyond comprehension and yet they chose to serve those who did not. Though he was disappointed that he was not Jedi, Nathan had learnt other ways to defend the weaker and thus had chosen a career as a soldier, while at the same time possessing a fascination with the healing arts. Even though he would never be content being anything else, he was mildly surprised at his capacity to tend wounds and diagnose illnesses.

But things had changed considerably now.

 Protecting those who were weaker as a soldier was no longer conducive to the current policies of the Empire. While the general population had no idea what was coming at them, the members of the Rebel Alliance through the Rogue senators, had some idea of what Palpatine's long term plans for the galaxy involved. Even as he turned his back on Coruscant and his commission, non-human members of the military were being forced out. The policy of segregation though not set in stone was being adopted already. In governmental positions, anyone who was now human was being ejected quietly out of the bureaucracy and their replacements were entirely of human stock.

 However, the policy of segregation did not simply involve the removal of non-human races from positions of powers but the full implementation was something so horrific that those who heard it could not even begin to imagine it happening. For as long as the Republic had lived, its most basic tenet was the inalienable right of all creatures to exist, that sentient beings no matter what shape or form would be afforded equal freedoms in the eyes of the law. Palpatine's policy of segregation would soon change all that. The Empire intended making slavery legal, in particular to non-human species. Already earmarked for annexation was Kashhyk, the Wookie home world.

 The Wookies, a strong, powerful race were slatted to become a hard labor work force. Unfortunately, with most worlds relying on what was once the Republic Star Fleet to protect their borders, they would be ill equipped to stop the invasion that would come now that the Republic Star Fleet had become the Imperial Fleet. In fact, it would be the Imperial Fleet with its Star Destroyers and legions of Storm Troopers who would most likely take part in the conquest of Kashyyk and there would be nothing to stop them.

 Except maybe the Rebel Alliance.

 Despite its existence, even Nathan had to admit that the new alliance was in no position to halt a military invasion of that size. The movement was new with its chief benefactor being Alderaan. The manpower and resources required to prevent the military annexation of Kashhyk simply did not exist. As difficult as many members of the Alliance found it to tolerate, they could not intervene. However, despite its fledgling state, the Rebel Alliance was not wasting time. At the moment, it was on a program of consolidating all its personnel and forces. The main Rebel Base would be located on Datooine for the moment but Mon Mothma, its leader, had decree that it was best to establish resistance cells across the galaxy, scattering their leaders and their forces so that even if one were to fall, the movement would still live.

 Which was why Nathan was here at the main spaceport at this time, awaiting the arrival of a small freight ship that would be coming from Corellia. He glanced at the chronometer on his wrist and noted that the ship would soon be docking at its appointed berth. Nathan would prefer it be sooner rather than later. As he navigated through the large facility, he felt a twinge of sadness watching the diverse collection of faces moving through the spaceport, on their way from one destination to the others. Humans, Rodians, the spiritual Ithorians, better known as Hammerheads and even a Jawa, although Nathan had to wonder what a Jawa was doing so far from the Dune Sea.  

The spaceport was the nexus for travel and commercial activity for most of Cordoba. Most travelers to the world did not emerge past this point for the climate beyond was so inhospitable that most prefer to conclude their business and hop the first ship heading out of the system. As he walked past the numerous bars and restaurants, he could see them negotiating with one or another, engaging in all sorts of enterprises, establishing trade talks, selling Rancor skin pelts, offering the latest piece of hardware from the core worlds. Despite its out of the way place in the galaxy, Nathan liked Cordoba, he liked its eclectic feel because here most of all was what the Republic had been; infinite diversity in infinite combination.

Arriving at the docking bay where the ship he awaited was about to arrive, Nathan cast a gaze across the length of the wide corridor he was presently standing within. Although he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he could not shake the feeling that perhaps things were not as benign as they seemed. Imperial spies took many shapes and the person he was meeting was simply too important to the cause to lose at this early junction in the Rebel movement. He saw peddlers at selling their wares from blankets on the floor to passing travelers, space port maintenance men going about their business and just the general flux of people that seemed to frequent such places. If there was danger here, he did not see it and allowed himself to rest a little easier.

 Through the Plexiglas screen that separated the corridor from the docking bay he was waiting at, he saw the ship finally making its arrival. It was an Incom Corsair, more accustomed to ferrying passengers than freight but judging by the accessories attached to its hull, Nathan guessed that its pilot had recently spent some credits outfitting it for that purpose. The ship was not exactly new but was no piece of junk either and the custom made turbo engines he spied on it, indicated that the ship would give Imperial TIE's a run for its money should it ever need the speed.

 The ship called the Rogue, in Nathan's opinion, reflected the personality of its pilot to a tee. Nathan had decided it would be prudent safety measure for person he was meeting to arrive on Cordoba in a private freighter. The pilot knew how to get around custom officials and Nathan trusted the man explicitly. They had served together on the Republic Fleet ship the Griffin and the man was still the best star pilot that Nathan had ever seen behind the controls of any ship to date. The Corellian had retired when Palpatine had come to power, having saved enough away to buy his ship and began his reputations as one of the best freighter captains around.

 Nathan watched the Corsair land and looked around once again to see if anything suspicious had appeared sine the last two minutes he had looked. He realised that he was most likely being a little paranoid but with now that he was so close to his objective, he did not want anything to go wrong because of his lack of vigilance. When the ship's engines had powered down and the door to the docking bay allowed him entry after deeming it safe, Nathan immediately stepped inside the space where the ship was housed in time to see the ramp slid open. 

She did not look like he had expected but then Nathan was not certain what he had in mind when he was told that the new leader of the local rebel cell was arriving on Cordoba. Nathan supposed he expected someone older and seasoned, someone who fitted the image of what a commander of an imperial warship ought to look. For a moment, he simply stared at her and wondered if she was the right person he had been sent to escort back to the secret rebel enclave in this vicinity. Whether or not she minded his scrutiny, she did not say but as she walked down the ramp, her eyes studied him just as closely as he was doing to her. 

She was not very old. No much more than thirty he suspected. Nathan recalled hearing that she was one of the youngest commanders in the fleet but until he had seen for himself, he had no idea how young. To say she was beautiful would have been a gross understatement, she was exceptionally beautiful, with long golden hair that was hung down her back in a thick braid and blue grey eyes reminding him of a bird's. The long dark robe she wore covered up the rest of her but her movements were graceful and she seemed to glide off the ramp when she approached him. 

"Commander Travis?" Nathan asked, once he remembered his manners. 

"Yes," she nodded with a smile. "You must Captain Jackson." She extended her hand outwards him in a friendly handshake, which Nathan immediately accepted. 

"How was your trip?" Nathan inquired, even though he suspected with her looks, it would have been anything but uneventful.  

"Without incident." She said pleasantly. "The choice of pilot was.....interesting." A little smile crossed her face as she met his gaze. 

"There is no excuse for him." Nathan retorted automatically. "He is one of the best there is but when it comes to the opposite sex, he has the self control of a five year old." 

"Hey," a decided offended voice exclaimed. "I resent that remark." 

Nathan turned to Buck Wilmington and broke into a grin. "That was a kind description of you."  

"Thanks a lot." The freighter captain retorted as he pulled off his flight gloves while making his way down the ship's ramp towards them. Both men met in a friendly embrace and though it was some time since they had seen each other, fell into old habits as if they had never been apart. "After all the trouble I went through making sure this charming lady had a trouble free trip." As he said that, he took the commander's hand in his and gently kissed her knuckle. 

"Thank you Buck," she smiled. " It was pleasant. I haven't been wined and dined in quite some time." 

"Weren't you suppose to be flying the ship?" Nathan declared, shaking his head. Somehow the idea of Buck trying to romance Commander Travis, who was clearly too good for him, irritated Nathan for some reason. 

"There is such a thing as auto-pilot you know." Buck gave him a look.  

"Perhaps we should go," the commander spoke up before the question of her virtue came into question. 

"Yes, we should." Nathan readily agreed. Although Buck was perfectly aware of Nathan's loyalties these days and was a rebel sympathizer, Nathan had no wish to endanger his life anyway. Buck provided a valuable service to the Rebel Alliance, often at no charge at all and Nathan had no wish to see that resource come to an end, not to mention his concern for Buck's life. "Buck, until next time." 

"You take care." Buck's playful expression became serious and he patted Nathan gently on the shoulder. "Its hard times out there." 

"You too, you ol' star pilot." Nathan replied.  

"Mary," Buck turned his attention to the lovely blond who had been such good company, although not as good as he would have liked, during the voyage from Coruscant. "It has been a pleasure."

 "Likewise Buck," she said with a warm smile and genuinely meaning it. "You're staying on in Cordoba?" 

"For a day or so," Buck answered with a slight nod. "There's an old friend I want to look up." 

Nathan knew exactly whom he was talking about even if he had never met the man himself. "A word of caution Buck, he's not the man you remember."

Buck let out a soft sigh. "I know," he replied sadly. "But he saved my life more than once and I'm not about to give up on him."

 "He must be a good friend." Mary responded, unaware of the specifics of the person Buck was referring to but being able to tell by the look in his eyes, it was someone Buck cared about a great deal.

 With an expression of profound sadness that touched the rebel leader's heart to no end, Buck answered with a little smile. "I hope he still is."

***********

The boy wandered off the large passenger cruiser, completely enthralled

It was the first time he had been anywhere. True, Cordoba could hardly be considered the hub of civilization in the greater galaxy but at this moment, it was the largest and most populous place the young man had ever been in his life. Despite his attempt not to look like an innocent for the taking of any unscrupulous conman, he could not help the awe in which he was staring at everything when he stepped off the liner that had brought him here. Anyone who cast their gaze upon him, knew without doubt that he was fresh off the farm, literally. In his case, they would not be far wrong although he was no farmer, should anyone deign to ask. He had prospects that extended beyond growing cjasij beans.

 He was a pod racer.

 Not just a pod racer but rather the best that there had ever been on the remote world of Odete where he had spent most of his youth with the mother that had raised him. Thinking about his mother made him said but he was not about to let his sorrow overwhelm him. He was someone with dreams and he was going somewhere. A person going places could not afford to be hampered down by memories of the mother who had gone to the next life only weeks ago, leaving a farm that was worth barely nothing, to which he had only been too happy to sell in order to buy passage off world.

He had gotten this far on his dream and the plan. The plan that he had nurtured for as long as he remembered, the one where he would leave the rural world of Odete and make his way to Coruscant, where the real money was to be made in pod racing. He imagined himself being pitted against the very best the galaxy had to offer and he knew that he could be counted as one of their number, all he had to do was get to Coruscant. Of course, while his mother was alive, he would not even entertained the notion and for a long time, felt like he was spinning his wheels on the world of his birth, even though he could never feel resentment towards her. While she was alive, she had been his entire world and when she was gone, the void left behind was more than he could stand, which was why he had so hastily sold the farm and everything that could bring a price before coming here.

He did not have a fortune on him but he did have money and the plan that had brought him this far, required him to find passage to Coruscant where he was certain some pod owner would discover him and set him on the path to glory. After disembarking from the ship that had brought him to Cordoba, the young man wandered through the lengthy corridors of the space port, seeking passage to Coruscant by way of the numerous freighters that used this as their main base of operation. The liner that had taken him this far was only a local carrier and big passenger liners, the ones that serviced the core worlds did not come out this far. If he were going to Coruscant, he would have to hire a ship to take him there. 

Wandering into what he had been told by one of the people at customs to be a local haunt for freighter pilots, the young man no more than eighteen years of age felt a swell of apprehension when he noted the atmosphere in the tavern. There was only one word that best described it although to his knowledge, it was a word he had never had cause to use before. Sleazy. The place was sleazy. Swallowing visibly and trying not to feel any more out of place then he already did, the youth entered the dingy establishment and headed towards the bar. As he approached the counter, he tried no to stare at the different life form scattered around the area.

Drinking utensils equipped for every appendage from hands to tentacles, were filled with colorful concoctions and imbibed freely by the diverse array of creatures. A Jizz band was playing something catching in the distance and the mood in the establishment though 'sleazy' was nonetheless lively He arrived at the bar and was soon tended to by a Whipid bartender who inquired through the static bursts of his translator, what he wanted to drink. Nervously, he ordered a Sava juice and hoped he did not look too much like a dumb kid, which unfortunately he did no matter how hard he wished otherwise.

His eye caught the arrival of a tall human striding through the front door, wearing Corellian colors and the remnants of what used to be an republic uniform. As he entered, a svelte Twi'leki, all blue and enchanting wrapped her arms around the man and for a few seconds, they engaged in flirtatious banter before she moved away from him, a look in her eyes that was clearly invitation. The man with the moustache grinned and though the youth did not know what exactly was said, could guess that he was taking up the offer. 

"Boy." A finger prodded him in the back

He turned around and faced a Rodian. At least he thought it was a Rodian, he had never actually seen one in the flesh before even though he knew the characteristic generic to the species. They often came with spiky green protrusions about the skull that tapered into a snout and large, black glass eyes with no irises. 

"Yes?" He asked wondering what the creature wanted of him. 

"You look to me as if you are new to this place." The Rodian pointed out. 

Not exactly a revelation he had to admit but could not find it in himself to be so rude by saying so, "I am. I just got in today." 

"And what is your business here?" The alien inquired further as the bar tender served his juice. 

"I'm trying to get to Coruscant." He volunteered, uncertain after he had done it whether it was such a wise move or not. 

"Coruscant?" The Rodian exclaimed. "How fortunate, perhaps I can help you." 

"Are you a freighter captain?" He said with more excitement than he should have and immediately felt like a dumb naive kid.

"Yes I am. I can take you to Coruscant." The Rodian replied.

"Really?" His excitement grew and he wondered why he thought chartering a flight was going to be so hard. This had been relatively easy! Of course he knew the Rodian was not going to take him to Coruscant for free. "How much?" 

"Well," the Rodian stroke his snout with his large hand, "we are far from Coruscant. It won't be cheap."  

"I know," he answered automatically, expecting it would not be cheap. 

"Twenty thousand credits." The freighter captain answered. 

"Twenty thousand?" He gushed, unable to even imagine that much money let alone possessing it. His heart sank at that moment, realizing that if this was the standard cost to get to Coruscant, he would not be getting there any time soon. "I don't have that much money." 

"I see." The Rodian responded and seemed to consider the situation thoughtfully. "Perhaps we can work something out."

"Sure," the boy said eagerly, willing to do anything so that the plan did not fall to pieces before his eyes. He did not realize that the human he had seen earlier was now standing next to him at the bar and was being drawn into his conversation to the Rodian with growing interest, even if the man seemed oblivious to the talks.

 "Would you be willing to work it off?" The Rodian suggested after a moment.

 "I don't understand." He stammered. "What do you mean?"

 "He means are you willing to be conned into agreeing to work off your fee which, he has will eventually tell you after you've boarded his ship is charged with substantial interest and by the time you do actually get to Coruscant, you'll be older than I am." The man declared, insinuating himself into the conversation with what could only be interpreted as a furious expression on his face.

 "Stay out of this Weelmington." The Rodian warned as he stood up from his stool. "the matter is between myself and the boy."

"Kid," Buck looked at the youth who was a tragedy waiting to happen because he was just so damn green. Buck wondered if he had ever been that young. "What's your name?"

"JD." The boy answered, completely flustered now. "JD Dunne." 

"Listen to me JD Dunne," Buck said firmly, his hand dropping to the blaster at his hip. "Do you know what slavery is?"

JD's eyes widened as he stared at the Rodian in shock whose expressionless face betrayed nothing, realizing what the stranger was attempting to save him from. "Yes Sir."

"Good," Buck replied. "You were just about to indenture yourself to this Rodian as a slave to get your trip to Coruscant."

 JD did not know what to say but the Rodian had volumes to verbalize on the matter. He went for his weapon but before he could even draw, he was staring down Buck's blaster aimed at his face.

"Do it Nardo." Buck hissed. "I'd be doing the galaxy a favor." 

"This is the last time you've interfere with my affairs Weelmington." The Rodian spat angrily at him, making JD jump slightly. "Next time, I will kill you."

"Or I could kill you." Buck returned and stepped backwards. "Come on kid." He motioned JD to follow him and after what had almost happened to him, the young man was smart enough to know a good thing when he saw one.

 Besides, what other choice did he have?

CHAPTER TWO

The Whipid had been watching the duo of humans from the moment they had emerged from the docking bay. As an informant, he knew the wisdom of keeping an eye on things even if there was no reason to do so. Most of the time, his livelihood relied almost entirely on chance encounters, glimpses of the unusual and subtle shifts in the wind that bespoke more than was intended. The spaceport of Cordoba was one of the best places for such observations, for it was here that all creatures appeared their most vulnerable. If asked to explain why, the Whipid would be unable to do so. He would be able to say in his defense that the spaceport was a place of purpose for those who came here did so for one reason or another and the trick was in finding which reason was most valuable.

The tall, dark human with the lovely blond companion had a reason and it was an important one, if the body language displayed by the male was any indication. Thanks to the idiosyncrasies of human physiology, the species came equipped with numerous facial expressions, which displayed the subtle changes in behavior and emotional states that allowed for easy interpretation by someone who knew what to look for. The Whipid noted the way the male's eyes darted about, searching the faces for that sign that heralded danger. When he noted none, he ushered the lady into the corridor and they made their way through the bodies, cautious and alert of everything before them.

The Whipid shifted from his position against the wall of one of the many busy corridors in the complex, appearing to most as little more than a beggar that did not even rate a second glance by the human as he hurried past with his lady. There was no doubt in the mind of the observer that the duo was engaged in something important, even illegal. Their body language revealed the tension that was running through both of them and warranted the Whipid's continued interest. It was relatively easy for him to maintain his surveillance with the number of people that were moving in and out of the spaceport on their way to their respective destinations.

The observed humans were trying to make their way out of the space station, that much was clear which somewhat surprised the Whipid who thought that they might be attempting to make their way off world, since the male was so apprehensive. His manner indicated he might have been a soldier of some sort, certainly his body language reeked of discipline and control. However, the Whipid suspected that it was more than likely that he was not an Imperial agent. Imperial agents had no reason to feel fear and that set the Whipid's thought processes into motion. A rebel perhaps?

As an informant, it was impossible for the Whipid not to know about the rebel alliance as infant as it might be at present. Certainly, the Empire considered the movement a very real threat that would have significant impact on future galactic politics and stability. Much of the Empire's concern was due to the fact that most of its leaders were former members of the Republic Senate and their voices represented the silent majority that disliked the establishment of an Emperor in place of a Chancellor. Although Palpatine's reign was new, the destruction of the Jedi Order and the extraordinary powers being granted to regional governors were already giving concern to many.

Despite the fact that the rebel alliance was not well equipped, their benefactors were rumored to be powerful governments like Alderaan and Mon Calamari, industrially rich worlds that could soon alter that weakness by providing armaments and military support. Standing orders to all Imperial informants demanded the immediate notification to authorities of any data regarding the rebel alliance and its members. The Whipid was becoming more and more certain that the two humans he was following were apart of that organization. Unfortunately, it was not wise to observe rebels for an extended period of time and as they neared the edge of the spaceport, he saw a group of storm troopers about to switch duty rotations. 

The Whipid waited until the two humans had left the main doors of the spaceport before making his way to the storm troopers. He had no wish to rouse their suspicion should he be seen. Rebels had no hesitation in dying for their cause and taking betrayers with them to the grave. Whatever business the rebels had in Cordoba, they would still have to return to the space to leave it once that business was concluded. Cordoba was not that large a community and it would be relatively easy for the storm troopers to uncover their whereabouts should a sweep of the city be made. Even so, it would be just as easy for them to catch up to the duo once he had passed the information on the information of their existence and his suspicions. However, there was the possibility that he might be wrong, that the two humans could have a perfectly legitimate reason for their manner. If so, it was of no concern to him. His job was the passing of data; it was someone else's responsibility to verify it.

Besides, he was not wrong.

********

Vin Tanner had done his research carefully before arriving on Cordoba in search of his prey. The Imperial agents who had hired him had provided some data about the man's whereabouts but Vin did not trust it to be accurate. He had his own contacts and although he was once Jabba's slave, Vin had resolved his difference with the gangster long ago to have access to the vast resources of the Hutt network. Thus before he had even set foot on Cordoba, the bounty hunter had a good idea regarding the layout of the city. Though he would be hard pressed to explain how he was able to commit so much information to memory, Vin was confident that he would have no difficulty navigating through the city.

He moved through Cordoba as if he was native to the place and every turn of road and path was already familiar to him. It was such skills that had allowed him to be known as one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. In truth, when questioned about his uncanny intuition, Vin often felt uncomfortable. He could not explain why he often simply knew when he was walking into a dangerous situation or how it was possible to be certain that someone was lying to him or not. The abilities had saved his life too many times than he could count but trying to understand what it was, frightened Vin more than any of the dangers he had ever faced in his life.

Returning his thoughts to the Jedi, it was not lost upon Vin how easily his thoughts were prone to distraction during this occasion and he told himself that if he did not stop, he would get himself killed. Taking a deep breath, he focussed himself, forcing his concentration to sharpen on the business at hand. Most of the reports centering on the Jedi were vague and uncertain but Vin had sifted through them to know where he ought to start looking. In truth, he did not expect it to be easy but then what ever was? The tavern where most of the sighting of the Jedi originated was called the Four Corners Inn and the informants believed that he was residing permanently at the establishment. However, for some strange reason, none of the informants were aware that Larabee was a Jedi and were genuinely surprised when told of that fact.

For some reason, that gave Vin pause.

The more he thought about this assignment, the more he disliked it. Everything about going after Jedi felt wrong. If it were not for the fact that his personal liberty was at stake, he would have turned them Empire down. Certainly, if he brought the Jedi in, he would be very well paid. Perhaps enough to buy that quiet little place he always-wanted on Iskalon. Vin had been forced to land the Tracker on the planet once during his trip through the system. Not only was it remote and beyond the reach of the main space lanes but also pristine and untouched. It was the kind of place where someone who did not like people could lose himself forever.

However, there was something else at work inside of him that made him anxious about the whole business of hunting Jedi. He could not explain it but it soured inside his belly and left such a bad taste that it was taking all his effort to ignore it. He knew he was capable of hardening his emotions to such impregnability that nothing could penetrate. One could not do what he did for a living without building such shields over one's emotions. The cardinal rule he had been taught from those who had introduced him to the business was simple; never feel for the mark. The moment that happened, you were as good as dead.

Shaking such negative thoughts out of his mind, he found himself at the tavern in question. As such places went, it was certainly not the most inviting establishment of its type in Cordoba. If anything, it looked dingy and seedy. The building was not far short of dilapidated and the sign that read its name was almost falling off the awning that hung across the door. The size of the building indicated that it probably took in lodgers but would not be the first choice of patrons who could afford better. As he approached it, he could hear the sound of the slight chatter of customers from within the tavern, with music emanating from the open door. Vin checked his blaster once more, even though he had primed it the moment he was within line of sight of the tavern. He had already enough reservations about this entire situation without being badly prepared as well.

The first thing that assaulted him upon entering the dim surroundings of the tavern, it must have been a galactic standard that they all be bathed in darkness, Vin thought as he passed through the doors. The layout of the room placed the tables in individual booths, lit only by a small lamp at the center of the table. It was not very busy and yet there was something about it that immediately forced Vin to drop his hand to his holster. A few patrons sat at the bar; the others hid in their booths, watching him closely as he entered the floor of the establishment. The clientele included both human and non humans. They jabbered at each other in their own language, or through the means of a translator that turned six millions forms of communication into Standard Galactic speak. However, upon his arrival, their voices lowered and thought they tried not to look at him, he was certain that he was the reason. Vin was accustomed to such reaction from the local populace because his reputation as a bounty hunter was not something he could hide but there was something more at work here. However, just what about it felt wrong was something he could not define despite the feeling of unbalanced that prevailed. 

Behind the counter, the bartender gave him reason to stare for she was indeed very beautiful. Flowing dark hair and dusky skin, she offered him a little smile as he approached the stained wooden counter. Unlike her tavern, which reeked of alcohol and nickitaine, he could almost smell her perfume through the odor of intoxicants in the room. Vin did not have much experience with women and if one thing could be considered his weakness, it was his dealings with the opposite sex. There had been no women on the moisture farm where he had grown up and the first time he had actually seen a human female was shortly after he had escaped Tatooine in his late teens. After that, his relations with women had been scarce and he had never slept with one he did not have to pay for.

"What can I get you?" She asked with that devastating smile upon reaching the counter.

"Information." He said in his too soft voice.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "Don't deal in information, just drinks. There are plenty of informants elsewhere in Cordoba but not here. I don't believe in selling out for money." She did not look offended as she made this speech, merely content to simply tell him the facts as they stood.

Vin's brow raised in surprise. He could tell that she meant it too. There were not many people who genuinely surprised him and despite the wisdom of doing so, Vin found that he warmed to the lovely bartender. "I'm sorry." He answered quietly. "I was looking for someone who lodges here."

"That I can help you with." She leaned forward on the counter and rested her chin on her hand as she looked up at him with her dancing eyes. "You have a name for this someone?"

"Larabee." Vin answered, leaning forward in kind. Despite his casual manner, he was watching her expression carefully.

She did not disappoint. Immediately, her eyes darted over his shoulder and Vin did not need to turn around to know that she had glanced at someone who was here at this moment. This troubled the bounty hunter somewhat, even though he showed no indication of it to the woman before him. Vin was further surprised that he had not sensed that. Usually, he could feel it when a bounty was close. He did not know how that could be but his intuition on these matters was almost always right. "Thanks." Vin said simply, not about to compromise her any more than necessary.

"Hey," she called out as he started to turn away. "I wouldn't bother him."

"I'm not going to bother him." Vin remarked.

"That's good," she returned. "Because he knew you were coming."

Vin stopped short and looked sharply at her. "What do you mean?" He asked, his voice now little more than a low hiss.

"I mean he was expecting you. Ten minutes ago, he asked me to bring him two drinks." She explained an expression of concern in her eyes. Vin could not tell whether her worry was for Larabee or him but intuition once again told him that it was a little of both.

"Thanks..." Vin nodded in understanding and looked at her to reveal her name.

"Inez." She volunteered.

"Thanks Inez." He offered her a small smile and turned around to deal with the Jedi who had been expecting him. Had the Imperial agents compromised him? How would the Jedi know that he was here? He supposed someone in Jabba's organization could have talked. Money was capable of loosening many tongues but somehow Vin did not believe so. Jabba's network was normally very reliable because Jabba's treatment of those who betrayed his trust was extreme to say the least.

The figure waiting for him at his booth was wearing a dark cloak with a hood that ensured that he was unrecognizable in the dim light of the tavern. Vin saw no signs of movement but observed that the contents in one of the glasses on the table happened to be the beer of his choice. His hand was now firmly across his gun, poised to draw if the moment arose. As he neared the table, the hood rose and a pair of eyes stared at him.

"Chris Larabee." Vin spoke recognizing the face that gazed up at him indifferently.

"What's left of him." The responding voice was a little more than a low hiss.

Vin paused at the table and studied the man whose eyes saw him and through him at the same time. The Jedi was not what he expected but then Vin had never met a Jedi, so preparation for the meeting was impossible.

"How did you know I was coming?" Vin found himself asking.

"You know the answer to that better than I do." The man answered, his piercing green eyes turning to the glass in his hand. He downed the drink without having any fear at taking his eyes off a potentially dangerous bounty hunter.

"I don't." Vin replied, unaware of why he was so defensive at what were harmless questions, despite their cryptic nature. "I'm here to take you in." He continued speaking, trying to get some kind of reaction from the man, to show him who was in charge here. "You can make this simple. You come with me now and I won't hurt you. Give me any trouble and I don't have any problem bringing in you dead."

Chris Larabee lowered the mug in his hand and stared at the young man whose power emanated strongly even though he knew nothing of it or at least did not wish to admit that it existed. There was a time when Chris would have cared enough to let the man know his potential but that time was long past. It was a pity too that he did not care about this faceless young man who in another time would have realised that he was apart of something greater than himself, that force burned strongly within him and he could someday take his place among others of his kind.

Others of his kind....

The realization that there would be no others for a long time left ash in Chris' mouth. It left ash as bitter tasting as the sorrow that kept his heart an open wound. He closed his eyes and tried not think of Adam, Adam whose light was extinguished even before it began because of Palpatine and Vader. He felt the shudder of the dark side ripple through his consciousness as he thought about the Sith Lords who now sat in places of uncontestable power in the galaxy. He thought of the Republic, crumbling from within and the end of the Jedi. He remembered fleeing from the remnants of the Jedi Council in Coruscant when news of the slaughter reached him. He had tried to get home to Corellia in time to reach his wife and son but it had been too late.

Insight had told him that it was too late for anyone the moment Skywalker had become Jedi.

"So bring me in dead." Chris answered raising his hand towards Inez to bring him another. In truth, he cared not one way or another.

"I don't want to kill you." Vin replied, becoming more unbalanced by the moment. How could he be so damned calm? "But you're coming with me now." He reached for his gun and aimed it the Jedi's face.

"I'll come with you." Chris said calmly, not even looking at him. "Just make sure when I get delivered to Palpatine and Vader, you're far away from them."

Vin blinked with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Its' not insight or intuition." Chris retorted meeting his gaze while easing back into the leather of his booth. "You can tell yourself that it's because you're an exceptional bounty hunter, best in the galaxy, isn't that what Jabba the Hutt says?"

"Shut up." Vin ordered, not liking the fact that Chris was absolutely right in his statement. Jabba the Hutt had called him that on numerous occasions. His reputation for being the best came with that tag. "Stand up."

Chris did not move. Incredibly, Inez stepped up to the table and served his drink, aware of the weapon drawn but barely raising a brow as she saw Vin attempting to exert himself over the Jedi. She served Chris his drink and then retreated, looking in neither man's direction as she departed. Chris reached for his glass and took another deep sip. "That little edge that allows you to see things ahead of time, to know when danger is around the corner. I hate to be the one to tell you this but if you plan on delivering me to the Empire, you better be aware of what could happen to you if the Emperor even gets a whiff of you."

"QUIET!" Vin shouted angrily, not liking what it was this stranger was alluding to because it felt uncomfortably like the truth he had wondered about all his life.

Chris ignored him and continued speaking. "I suppose being born outside Republic territory, it was only natural that we missed you. If you had been a citizen and not a slave, you would have been tested as a boy and then trained. I bet the midiclorion count in your blood is pretty high for it to exert itself without any training."

"What are you talking about?" Vin demanded uncertainly.

"The force is with you Tanner." Chris replied. "And if you go anywhere near Vader or the Emperor when you hand me over to them, you can kiss your life good bye too."

"That's crazy." Vin stuttered. "I don't have the force or whatever you call it."

"You don't have to believe it," the Jedi replied with almost a smile on his face as he spoke. "They'll know just as I knew the minute you stepped off your ship. You see a Jedi can hide among others but not among Jedi. We know each other."

"You're just trying to confuse me." Vin took a step forward, deciding to put an end to this matter once and for all. He was a professional bounty hunter! He did not get side tracked with words, even if they were coming from the lips of a Jedi!

"I don't have to confuse you." Chris answered indifferently. "If you want to take me in, that's up to you. I don't care."

"Too bad I do." A new voice said sharply.

Vin felt the barrel of a gun being pushed into the small of his back. A flash of insight told him that there were two people standing behind him. A man and a boy. His stomach hollowed when he saw the Jedi looking at him, perfectly aware of the ability that had allowed his mind to see it. With a sinking feeling, Vin suddenly realised that the man was right.

"Drop the gun." The new arrival ordered. "JD, pick it up."

The boy rounded the bounty hunter, his eyes trying to hide his fear. Vin sensed that the younger man was unsure of what was happening but was not about to question the order put to him. When Vin released the weapon, it dropped onto the table and the boy named JD immediately retrieved it. Vin watched his gun being handled by the boy who did not even look happy holding such a weapon in his hands and the apprehension in his eyes was clear enough to exploit.

"This isn't your concern." Vin spoke up. "I have an Imperial warrant to bring the Jedi in. You're interfering in their business. Do you know the consequences for that boy?" Vin stared at JD in particular when he asked that question. "Do you know much trouble you're getting yourself into?"

JD seemed uncertain but did not waver as he aimed the gun in Vin's direction, taking his lead from Buck Wilmington who had not only saved him from making an unfortunate mistake earlier with the Rodian but seemed genuinely concerned about him. Even though he had known the man for only a short time, he felt as if he could trust Buck Wilmington. And right now, he had the feeling that he really needed someone to watch out for him because he had stepped into a world he knew nothing about.

JD swallowed the lump of fear in his throat and met the bounty hunter's gaze, trying to inject as much bravery into his voice as he could muster. "No," he shook his head. "But I'm sure I'll find out later."

Behind the bounty hunter, Buck threw the young man a little smile of appreciation before regarding Vin once again. "Now you can walk out of here on your own or we can carry you out when you're dead. The choice is up to you."

"I thought Jedis fought their own battles." Vin looked at Chris with a hint of derision in his voice.

JD's eyes widened and he turned towards Chris. "You're a Jedi Knight!" The boy exclaimed. "For real?" His gaze shifted from Vin for a second which was more than the bounty hunter needed to retrieve his weapon from the inexperienced youth and grab him in an arm lock before Buck could pull the trigger on the weapon.

"Let the kid go!" Buck demanded furious at himself for not firing but he did not take killing a man lightly, despite how he sometimes behaved to the more loathsome varieties that seemed to be emerging everywhere these days.

Vin was not about to give up his advantage just yet and his arm pulled tighter against JD's throat, forcing a dry rasp from the boy's lips. Larabee did not seem to care very much how this went one way or another but his taller companion did and Vin silenced any struggles made by his captive by pressing the barrel of his blaster against JD's ribs. "I'll let the kid go when Larabee stands up."

Chris turned to the bounty hunter as he made that statement and said simply. "You'll let the kid go now." His voice was weary and sounded so very old and sad.

"That's not going to happen." Vin retorted.

"I think it is." Chris answered.

In the shadows of where he had been sitting, Vin saw the Jedi's hand move. At least, he thought he did. His fingers seemed to stretch out for a second in a small, neat arch but Vin's observation was cut short when he felt something tightening around his throat. For an instant, Vin was certain he felt fingers around his neck, pressing into his skin and forcing the air out of his lungs. He released JD involuntarily and as the young man hurried away, Vin dropped his gun and reached for his neck, more interested in removing the invisible talons strangling him.

This time Buck retrieved the weapon and stepped back, watching the bounty hunter struggling to breathe like every other person in the bar, wondering how far the Jedi was going to go with this.

"Chris...." Buck glanced at him anxiously. "Chris, you're not a killer." However, Chris was a changed man and as much as Buck might hate to admit it, Buck was not entirely certain that he would not kill the bounty hunter.

"I'm not a lot of things any more Buck," Chris answered dispassionately, seeming as if he cared little for the plight of the man seconds away from dying. By now the bounty hunter was on his knees, struggling for every breath of air he could take.

"But," Chris sighed, finally coming to a decision. "They'll come after him soon enough. Once the rest of us are gone, they'll find him." With that, he released the hold he had over the bounty hunter that promptly collapsed to the floor

"Get out of here!" Buck shouted at Vin who forced himself to stand. The bounty hunter was still too astonished to do anything but to hurry out of the place, holding his throat and coming to grips with what had almost happened to him.

When the bounty hunter had left, Buck regarded JD. "Are you okay?"

JD nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry I let him get the drop on me Buck."

"That's okay," Buck replied amiably, more pleased that the kid was not hurt than angered by something he was ill equipped to prevent. He was so young and Buck had almost forgotten what it was like to look at the world with such new eyes. Perhaps, recounting his own experiences was one of the reasons why Buck had assumed responsibility for the younger man's well being because once, someone had helped him as JD needed help now. He stepped out to JD and ruffled the young man's hair, just to let him know that everything was genuinely all right.

"You know he'll be back." Buck turned to Chris after seeing to the welfare of his new charge.

"I know." Chris nodded.

"Why didn't you leave it so long to do anything?" Buck stared at Chris in disapproval. "You could have stop this from getting as far as it did."

Chris eased into the booth once more, hiding himself in the shadows before he whispered his answer. "I didn't care when it was just me."

CHAPTER THREE

They were being followed.

Although the storm troopers in the street behind them seemed to be merely conducting their usual patrols, Nathan could not shake the belief that somehow he and Mary were the reason for their sudden appearance at every corner. As the two of them tried to maintain their composure at the possibility of discovery, they debated whether or not to continue towards the rendezvous point to meet the third member of their party. Time was of the essence. The longer they remained on Cordoba, the greater the chance of being discovered as rebels, if they were not already. However, continuing onward and assuming that they were not being pursued was equally dangerous since they would be endangering the person they were going to meet.

Nathan knew that to make a premature attempt at evasion might further inspire the storm troopers' suspicions. Even though Cordoba was a planet located at the edge of galactic space, he did not underestimate the Empire's ability to secure the planet if they for a moment believed that rebels were on it. If they were to make an identification of Mary Travis as his companion, then there would be Star Destroyers bound for the system so quick that their chances of getting out alive would be next to impossible. All members of the Rebel Alliance topped the Empire's most wanted list and Mary had the dubious honor of being held in same demand as the Republic senators who were presently on the run from Imperial agents.

Mary was a member of the Rebellion's inner circle. She knew the locations of a dozen secret bases, the names of supporters in the Imperial Senate who fed them information, not to mention a wealth of data regarding the leaders of the Rebellion that the Empire could easily exploit. Nathan shuddered to think the crippling blow that would be delivered to the Rebel Alliance should they capture her alive. It was very possible that the Alliance might not be able to recover from it. The movement was still too new and fledgling to suffer an injury like that and Nathan did not even want to imagine what they would do to her in order to extract the information.

"Mary," Nathan whispered as they entered the surroundings of what seemed to be a street bazaar. Suddenly there were peddlers all around them, selling wares that ranged from live stock to spare parts for starships, all beneath the protection of brightly colored tents that kept the sun from the merchandise. Droids stood about expectantly as prospective owners examined them with deep scrutiny, taking stock of every bit of tarnished metal and faded plexiglass. There were colorful beads and stones shining on display cases, exotic foods wafting the air with its rich aromas and people pushing through the narrow walks between stores in frenzy for the ultimate bargain.

"I think we've been compromised." He replied as he lowered his lips to her ear.

"I know," she nodded grimly, giving no indication of anything wrong to those who might be watching. "I saw them."

"Josiah's waiting at the rendezvous place." He continued speaking, keeping a cautious eye for any storm troopers. It was difficult when there were so many people crushing them on all sides.

"We can't take the risk." Mary said abruptly. "We can't lead them to him."  

Nathan could understand her apprehension. Prior to his arrival here, the local rebel base had changed venues in order to protect its secrecy should they be captured on route. Only the contact that they were meeting at the rendezvous point knew where it was and neither could continue to that meeting if they knew that they were being followed by Imperial agents. Their lives were an acceptable loss in the protection of their cause.

Nathan thought quickly because he knew Cordoba far better than she did. It took him a few moments to decide what was the best course of action and in honest truth, after further deliberation, Nathan realised that they had no other choice as well. "There's a little tavern not far from here." He glanced over the line of the crowd into a back street in the distance. "Buck usually goes there to meet his friend. If we can make it there, he might be able to smuggle us off planet until we can contact the alliance for new instructions."

"What's it called?" Mary asked.

"The Four Corners Tavern." Nathan answered automatically.

"I see." She considered their options. "I think we should split up here." She suggested.

"Split up?" Nathan did not like the idea of allowing her to venture beyond his protection alone. She was far too important to be captured.

"In this crowd, it will be easy to do." She said hastily, aware that his voice dripped with objection. "They're looking for a man and woman, if we split up it might confuse them long enough for us to get to Buck."

Despite himself, Nathan could not fault that logic and knew that it was the sensible thing to do. He had to remind himself that no matter how young she looked; she was still in charge and was appointed to the lead the rebellion in this sector for that very reason. "Alright," he nodded reluctantly. "We'll do it your way but I'm just telling you now, I won't leave without you."

"Yes you will leave Captain," Mary returned sharply. "You may not know as much as I do about the Alliance but you know enough. You're as much a prize to them as I am. So you will leave if I do not make it to this place."

"But....." Nathan started to protest but Mary silenced him with a look.

"That is an order Captain." She repeated herself forcefully, with no margin for confusion in her voice as her eyes stared at him.

Realizing he had no choice and with more and more Imperial troops flooding into the square occupied by the bazaar, Nathan realised that the question of whether or not they were followed had been answered. The storm troopers no longer held their casual countenance and appeared sifting through the bodies and stores searching for something specific. They had only a few seconds to lose themselves in the crowd before the soldiers noticed their hasty departure.

"Understood," Nathan agreed finally, unable to see any further discussion when she had put it to him as an order. "I'll wait for as long as I can and if you don't meet me there, I'll contact the Alliance." He said looking at her somberly, his dislike plain for all to see.

Whether or not he disliked it was of no concern to Mary. Being a member of the Rebel Alliance met tolerating a great deal which left a sour taste in her mouth. This was no different. They offered each other a parting look before finally turning on their heels and allowing the messy array of buyers and sellers to swallow them whole. 

**********

"Jesus Chris." Buck Wilmington said disapprovingly as he stared across the darkened booth at his friend. "What's that, the second one this month?"

Chris Larabee, formerly Jedi Knight shrugged his shoulders indifferently, not deigning to answer even though he knew it was closer to three. Ever since he had arrived here on Cordoba, Imperial agents, their hired killers and finally the newest classification of would be assassins, bounty hunters, had hounded him incessantly. A smart man would have quit Cordoba by now, disappearing into the wilderness of space beyond the Territory but Chris was in no hurry to leave. His destiny at this time was unclear and he was content to wait for something he knew was coming, even though he was not quite certain of what it was. He knew what he would like it to be and though it was unseemly for a Jedi to possess a death wish, he was aware that he was in ownership of such a desire.

Buck took a sip of his mug of beer and tried not to allow the anger in his voice to show even though he was certain Chris could pick up the strong emotions emanating from him. He and Chris went back a long time, all the way back to Corellia when they had met as teenagers. Chris was a padwan learner then, what the Jedi called an apprentice, while he had been a cadet itching for his first taste of star piloting. They had both been as young as JD here, who was seated quietly in his corner of the booth, trying not to stare in fascination at the Jedi.

"That last one had a look about him." Buck pointed out, remembering the edge he saw in the bounty hunter's eyes as he had made his hasty departure. Buck had the impression that Chris had taken him by surprise and it was not a mistake he was likely to make again. Something about him made Buck nervous and Chris' reaction to the man was equally puzzling. "He'll be back you know."

"I guess so." Chris answered, having made his way through another glass of beer and showed no signs of slowing. Buck had seen the pattern enough times to know that Chris would finally have enough when he was too drunk to stand.

"Damnit Chris," Buck swore with an uncharacteristic burst of anger. "How long is this going to go on?"

Chris raised his eyes and the look in there had a scent of danger that Buck was not about to heed. The warning to let it go was clear but Buck was beyond that now. He knew what it was to anger a Jedi, Chris could break every bone in his body without lifting a finger to do it but Buck did not care. Chris was his friend and he could not simply sit by and let the man disintegrate before his eyes.

"Chris," Buck met his gaze fearlessly. "I loved Sarah and Adam too. Maybe not as much as you did but pretty much I can tell you. I always thought you were so lucky to have her because she was the finest woman I ever met." He paused a moment and saw the hard green eyes speckle with something that could almost been sorrow for a few seconds before he continued speaking once more. "It would just kill her to see what you're doing to yourself because of her death. She would never have wanted you to be like this."

"Stay out of it Buck." Chris warned. This time there was no denying the menace in that voice.

"Mr Larabee," JD suddenly spoke up, interrupting a situation he could see was going from bad to worse. He did not know that even the mythical Jedi Knights could feel so much pain and yet knowing gave JD a great deal of empathy for Chris Larabee. "I know it isn't any of my business to say anything but I came here to Cordoba, running away from everything I knew because I couldn't stand being where I was without my mother."

JD paused for a moment, almost in anticipation of an invisible chokehold around his throat for speaking out of turn but decided to press on ahead since he had come this far when he felt nothing. "I came here looking for a way to Coruscant, chasing my dreams and if it wasn't for Buck I would have been stuck in a really bad situation. I know losing my mother can't compare to losing your son and wife but you've got to accept help sometimes, even when you don't think you need it but simply because its there."

Chris raised his eyes and met the boy's eyes, somewhat surprised at the depth in those youthful words and the courage that had been drawn from inside him to tell the truth. Chris could sense just how much fear had been overcome for JD to say what he just had and could not help feeling untouched even if the words could not remove the sting he felt. "There are some things a Jedi must handle alone." He said softly. "Sometimes, we follow our destiny wherever it takes us."

"Even if it leads you to getting yourself killed?" Buck countered, similarly impressed by JD's word and made a mental note to thank the kid for his efforts later on.

"Even then." Chris answered before he turned to the bar and noted a man walking into the bar. Unlike the previous visitor to the tavern who had entered the place in search of him, Chris could sense no such danger from the new arrival even though the nature of his business was no less urgent. The man consulted Inez at the bar for a few seconds before his eyes swept across the room and rested in the direction she was gesturing, the direction that would bring him straight to their table.

Buck noted Chris' stare and looked over his shoulder and recognised the man as he approached. He appeared to be in his late forties with graying hair and solid frame that still made him formidable should he chose to use it in combat. Worried eyes peered at them through heavy brows and though Buck could not place the name, he certainly knew the face from somewhere.

"I know this guy." Buck whispered.

"You should." Chris remarked. "He's looking for you."

Buck shot Chris a look as he saw the man finally reaching his table. He wore nondescript colors and looked like someone trying very hard to be anonymous even though his stature and his manner would always capture attention.

"Which one of you is the pilot of the Rogue?" The man asked with a deep resonating voice that seemed more appropriate in oration then it did inside such seedy surroundings.

"I am." Buck said uncertainly. "What can I do for you?" Despite his best efforts not to sound it, Buck's voice oozed with suspicion and under the table, his hand was resting on his blaster. He did not know this person but the familiarity gave him reason for caution and until Buck knew why, he was not about to take any chances.

"I understand you arrived this morning in Cordoba this morning." He replied. "Your passenger was a young woman."

"Obviously you don't know Buck very well." Chris drawled, perfectly aware of why the man was making the inquiry. "It's an event if he doesn't have a passenger who was a young lady of some kind."

Buck threw Chris a dark look before regarding the man again. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said smoothly. "I just came to visit an old friend. I had no passenger on my ship."

"Yes you did," the man returned. "A young woman whom you had to pick up at Alderaan with full diplomatic clearance from the highest office in the land. I believe you were provided with all the documentation to leave Alderaan customs without an on board search? She was wearing a portable bio-disrupter to mask the second life sign on your ship when you were being scanned?"

"If it makes you feel any better Buck," Chris spoke up. "This is Josiah Sanchez, formerly an Old Republic Senator representing Sollust."

Finally Buck understood and quickly answered in a low voice. "Sit down."

Josiah bowed his head gently in gratitude to the Jedi and took up a seat the table. "Thank you for your endorsement." He said gratefully towards Chris. "May I ask if we have met?"

"We haven't met really," Chris volunteered. "But I spent a lot of time on Coruscant and I have sat in on a few Council meetings."

"I see," Josiah nodded, wanting to question him some more but letting the desire to know slide because there were more important issues at hand. "I was supposed to be meeting your passenger and her escort some time ago," he turned back to Buck and responded. "They never arrived."

"They never showed?" Buck's eyes widened, realizing what the man was trying to say. Considering the nature of what Nathan was involved in, not to mention Mary as well, if they had not appeared at their scheduled meeting then something had gone terribly wrong.

"I waited at the rendezvous point but neither of them appeared." Josiah answered. "Nathan mentioned that in event of a crisis, this was a safe haven. I came here hoping that if something had gone wrong, they would have come here."

"I haven't seen them." Buck replied automatically. "I handed her over to Nathan as planned and they walked out of the space port without raising any trouble."

"Who Buck?" JD asked.

Buck did not answer but was clearly troubled by the predicament that Nathan and Mary had most likely found themselves. Somehow, somewhere, someone had seen them and had them flagged as members of the Rebel Alliance. It took no feat of genius to deduce what would have transpired if events had followed in that course. Nathan was his friend. They had served together and it worried Buck a great deal because he knew what would happen to Nathan if he was indeed captured by the Empire. At the very least, the former Captain of the Imperial forces would be executed and at worse, he would be interrogated mercilessly for every iota of information he had in his head regarding the Alliance.

Buck did not even want to consider what they would do to Mary.

"If they were captured, we would have heard something by now." Buck mused. "No doubt some Imperial goon bucking for promotion to Coruscant would be screaming it across the system. They could be trying to get here."

"Its possible," Josiah conceded to that point even though he did not sound very hopeful now that he had spoken to Buck. "They could be hiding until the search is over."

Chris did not offer any opinions as Buck and Josiah spoke about the subject of mutual concern to both of them. For Chris, he understood that the Rebel Alliance had a great deal of time before it fulfilled its destiny. Its time was decades away from reaching apogee and Chris knew that there were events transpiring throughout the galaxy at this time that would build the foundation for tomorrow. Sacrifices had been made and the destruction of the Jedi was only the beginning. The Jedi Qui Gonn had believed in the mythical vergence, the prophecy that a chosen one would bring balance to the force. Indeed it was Qui Gonn who had found Anakin Skywalker believing him to the be the chosen not realizing that bringing balance to the force would require the destruction of the Jedi.

Qui Gonn had brought Anakin to Coruscant and made Obi-Wan promise to train him as a Jedi. Chris often wondered if Qui Gonn ever considered the sacrifice that would be required to bring about that balance. Would he have still saved the boy? Chris could never answer that question because Anakin Skywalker had turned and become a Sith Lord and in his defection to the dark side, he not only condemned the Jedi to destruction, he also sealed the fate of Sarah and Adam. Buck was still an idealist, who believed that the good fight could turn the Empire back into the Republic but Buck did not know the secrets left to the remaining Jedi who had managed to leave Coruscant when the hunt for their number began.

Obi-Wan kept it a secret from most but the Jedi found it difficult to hide things from one another. Jedi Masters had the ability to shield their thoughts but not for very long and it took a great deal of control to keep another out. However, the advantage of not having any secrets was having being able to decide who one could trust and Obi-Wan had trusted his most important secret to a select few, hoping those who survived the slaughter would be in the position to help him. Unfortunately, with the exception of Chris, all the others were now gone, preferring to die rather than betray Obi-Wan and thus he stood alone with the knowledge of what awaited Vader some day in the future.

On a small moisture farm in Tatooine.

**********

It took some time to find the Four Corners Tavern and it was hours after she had left Nathan in the bazaar that she finally walked through the dim confines of the establishment. Outside, Imperial troops were out in force and she knew that her continued presence on the streets of Cordoba would not last indefinitely. Although the possibility of capture still loomed heavily in her mind, it did not feel as urgent as the realization of what would happen to her if she should be captured alive. She prayed inwardly that Nathan had reached the tavern and had already left Cordoba. He had assured her that the owner of the Four Corners Tavern was a rebel sympathizer who would offer her sanctuary when she entered its premises.

Slipping through the main entrance, she looked over her shoulder and saw the evidence of Imperial troops in the distance. With her heart pounding in her chest, Mary knew that there were more of them than before. It looked liked the entire garrison was out searching for them. Taking a deep breath, Mary prayed that the captain had made it this far. He was a good man and was genuinely concerned for her life when she had ordered them to split up. At the time it was a good idea, Mary thought defiantly to herself, knowing the danger of questioning one's actions when it was too late to change things. Had they been together, she would not have made it this far. Fortunately, they were looking for a woman and with no idea of what she looked like, that search was long and tedious. Her cloak had kept most of her hidden but Nathan was easily distinguishable in his clothes and Mary feared that he might have been easier to apprehend than she. As she entered the premises, Mary made a beeline for the counter when suddenly she heard a voice call her.

"Mary!"

To her utmost relief, it was one she recognized as belonging to a friend. Spinning around, she saw Josiah rise from the table he was seated at and also saw Buck Wilmington present as Nathan had guessed he might be when he directed her to come here. Forgetting all about the bar, she crossed the floor and was with him in a manner of seconds. The two old friends engaged in a warm embrace and Mary never thought she could be so happy to see anyone. Obviously Josiah had guessed that this would be the safe house Nathan would chose if they should run into any trouble and had left the rendezvous point to intercept them here.

"Thank the Force you're safe." Josiah exclaimed when they had pulled apart.

"Is Nathan here?" She asked, looking past his shoulder at the table he had been gathered around and saw no evidence of the tall black man that had been so determined to save her life. When she pulled back to look at Josiah in anticipation of his answer, she already knew inwardly what it would be.

"No," he shook his head sadly. "There's no sign of him. We've been waiting here for most of the afternoon hoping that either of you would show. We'd had storm troopers through the place already, I don't think they will be back."

"Mary sit down." Buck pulled out a chair for her as she sat heavily in it. Her disappointment at Nathan's absence felt like a lead weight and she swore inwardly at the whole idea of separating in the first place. Perhaps if they had stayed together, he would be here. He had been so determined that she be safe that he never once thought about the consequences to himself. Even though baser instincts told Mary that the safest course of action at the moment was to cut their losses and run, she could not bring herself to abandon the Nathan to the Imperials. That was the way of the Empire, not the Republic.

"Thank you Buck," she said gratefully. "I did not expect to see you again so soon."

"Neither did I." Buck tried to smile but could not quite manage it. "I never question the company of a beautiful woman but I wish it had been under other circumstances."

"We have to do something." Mary replied as she sat down and realised that there were other people at the table, notably a boy and a man in a dark hood. She could not see much of him in the dim illumination of the tavern but she could tell that his eyes were almost definitely on her. Upon realizing that they were not alone, she glanced at Josiah and Buck.

"It's okay," Buck replied. "This is my friend JD and Chris Larabee. They can be trusted."

The boy looked exactly like what he was, a fresh faced kid from the farm who was so green that Mary wondered if he was old enough to be in a place like this. He greeted her in monosyllables and gave her the impression that wherever he was from, there were not many women who look like she did, even though she did not consider herself a startling beauty. Mary nodded in acknowledgement at him and was a little amused by the young man's reaction, trying to remember when it was any man had looked at her that way and realised that it was simply too long. However, she did not remain distracted too long by JD's behavior and turned her attention to the stranger who had yet to say anything even though they had been introduced.

Chris said nothing because he was too busy staring at her. Sarah's death was almost a year behind him now and the pain was still raw and fresh. He closed his eyes and she flooded his mind, whispering her sweet voice in his ear and the Jedi memory allowed him to view it all in perfect detail. Each day since her passing and that of his son's, Chris had felt this gnawing in his heart, this painful sensation of teeth tearing at his flesh. He had become so used to this pain that it was almost a part of him and yet when this young woman had walked into the room and captured his gaze, for a moment, just a single pinprick of time, Chris actually felt it fade away.

She turned her eyes at him and for Chris became lost in the symphony of color that were blue eyes so astonishing that they seemed to sparkle when she raised her brow at his reaction. His throat felt dry at seeing her lovely features, remembering that gentle flutter of excitement in his heart as the same when he had first laid eyes on Sarah. His breath caught when she pulled down her hood, revealing the flaxen hair of white gold that framed her exquisite face. She was beautiful in a very old way, in the manner that inspired poets to compose their most lusty sonnets. He could love her. If he dared to, he could actually give himself to her.

But he could also lose her and if anything pushed all thoughts of her from his mind, it was that realization. A creature as lovely as she could never last. Her star was meant to burn bright but short and Chris was not going to ever be hurt that way again.

"This is your business." Chris rose to his feet abruptly, no longer looking at Mary. "I'll leave you to it."

She looked at him confused, uncertain why she felt unsettled by his observation but assured that she was not in any physical danger because of it. Buck trusted him and that was good enough for her.

"Chris," Buck spoke up. "We could use your help." He looked at Chris dismayed as Chris left the booth and headed towards the bar.

"I'm no good to you." Chris said abruptly and gestured at Inez to have a bottle ready by the time he reached the counter.

"You know better than that." Buck tried again but had a feeling that nothing would convince Chris because nothing could reach him any more. Not even him.

"No," Chris shook his head as he looked over his shoulder at the same time he extracted his bottle. "You should."

CHAPTER FOUR

Nathan Jackson was afraid.

It was an emotion he seldom felt even though as a soldier, he was familiar with it. It was a companion that sat on his shoulder during every battle and gave enough of itself to permit his survival. A little healthy fear gave one the edge they needed to pull through any situation and at this moment, Nathan was feeling more than a healthy dose. He was saturated by it. It was not that he feared dying, on the contrary if he could die now, that would make this whole situation somewhat tolerable. It was the fact that he was still alive that gave him such anxiety.

His captors had not allowed him the chance to take the graceful exit from this world he desired when the net around him had finally dropped. The first thing they had done was to remove the weapon he carried and then proceeded on towards a more humiliating body search to ensure that he had nothing on his person that would allow him to shirk the mortal coil. Once they were assured that he could not harm himself, they had secreted him into a maximum security cell, pleased with their catch as they resumed the search for his companion.

Nathan paced the floor of his cage; unable to believe he had fallen into such misfortune. He was terrified of what they would learn from him and knew that this limbo inside the cell would not last. Eventually, they would come with their drugs and fire knives in order to make him talk. Torture did not frighten Nathan but succumbing to it did. He was a patriot of the Republic and the choices of his life had been made because he would not sit by idly while the New Order destroyed life on a planetary scale. He knew what was asked of him when he became a member of the Rebel Alliance and he would have gladly died than forced to betray them. If there was any consolation to this, it was the fact that he did not know the location to the new rebel base. At least that much of the Alliance's secrets would be safe.

His pondering were interrupted by the sound of footsteps against the plate metal floor of the cell block. The moment he had been captured, Imperial agent had him transported off Cordoba so Nathan had no idea where he had been taken. However, while he did not know the location of his new prison, he did recognise it as a fully equipped and garrisoned Imperial base. As he was being brought to his cell through the hanger, he saw evidence of ships and personnel that indicated that the base was armed well enough to repel any attack from its enemies. Storm troopers patrolled the corridors; Imperial officers strutted about in their black and green uniforms. With a sinking feeling, Nathan realised that even if the Alliance were to attempt a rescue, they would never penetrate such strong defenses.

Nathan's cell was a room with a bunk bed and a utility. It was no more than seven feet across in what was almost a solid block of steel. There were air vents that allowed him to breathe but these were so narrow that there was no escape route there had he been foolish enough to try it. The doors were thick and there was no internal locking mechanism. It could be opened only one way and that was from the outside. The sensors present in the room would closely monitor an interrogator entering the room and the device was embedded into the wall and protected by a small energy field should any enterprising escapee attempt to disrupt its function.

Nathan paused when the doors slid open and two Imperial officers appeared at the entrance. Behind them, were a number of storm troopers and Nathan supposed he ought to feel somewhat flattered by the estimation of his notoriety. However, his attention was soon swept away when he recognized one of the officers about to take part in his interrogation. The Colonel was no one that Nathan was familiar with but judging by the black uniform, he was probably attached to internal security. He stared at Nathan dispassionately, like the predator preparing for a particular feast. Nathan had seen rancors with kinder eyes. His companion was a captain who was trying hard to hide the emotion in his eyes and would have succeeded if Nathan had not known him before and was aware of how to read his moods. The Captain looked at Nathan and then straight past him, his sea colored eyes fighting to hide his abhorrence at being in this position. Nathan decided that there was no reason to burden the man with their association if he did not wish to use it and turned away a second later, breaking the brief seconds of eye contact.

"Captain Jackson." The Colonel finally spoke when the two men had entered the room and the doors had slid close behind them.

Nathan did not answer, choosing to remain unmoved as they began their attempts at interrogation. He knew that this was only the preliminary stages. They would try and reason with him first, hoping that fear might help loosen his tongue. When that did not work, they would withdraw and come back with equipment that would not be as subtle or as comfortable.

"I am Colonel Taris Nabb of Internal Security." He introduced himself. "I assume you know what I do?"

"You're one of Palpatine's watchdogs men aren't you?" Nathan retorted, hardly giving the man a glance.

Nabb's face pulled back into a little smile, showing that he was not offended. "A watchdog is such a vulgar term, I prefer to think I safeguard the interests of the Empire."

"The Empire is Palpatine." Nathan gave him a look of dislike at his inability to admit that much.

"He is our Emperor." Nabb reminded.

"He is your Emperor." Nathan glared at him. "An illegal one at that. He was elected as Chancellor of the Republic Council, not as God Emperor as he would have everyone believe. He destroyed the Republic and created the Empire for his own personal ambitions." Nathan turned to the Captain who had yet to speak and offered a silent question as to how he could still be wearing your uniform.

Nabb noticed the look and turned his gaze back to Nathan second later, after a quick examination of his companion's emotional state. "I wouldn't look to Captain Standish to extricate you from this situation, Captain Jackson. It was he who identified you for us."

A flicker appeared in the Captain's eyes and Nathan knew that it was the truth. His once best friend had betrayed him.

"In fact," Nabb continued. "Captain Standish has been absolutely essential in revealing your importance in the Rebel Alliance's network."

Nathan gave Captain Ezra Standish a look that bordered on anger and pity as he saw the truth of Nabb's words reflected in Ezra's eyes. Both men had come through the Academy together. For most their years in service, they had often served side by side and when they could not, they were never far from each other's thoughts. Their friendship had endured through much but it had never survived Palpatine's declaration making himself Emperor. Ezra was more content to let things happen as they did. Sometimes, you just had to live with what the dice rolls; he often quoted to Nathan. Nathan had never been able to sacrifice principal for career and had been unable to take advice. Although Ezra did not share his beliefs, he did not betray them. Fate had placed them on opposite sides and Nathan had to forget that Ezra had ever been his friend because it looked like Ezra already did.

"He did what he had to." Nathan finally responded and saw Ezra's surprise and deeper sorrow at his understanding. "He's one of you."

"You were one of us." Nabb pointed out. "You could be one again. You are not the first officer to have a crisis of faith but the duty of a soldier is to obey the chain of command. You cannot simply dismiss it at your convenience. Now, if you were to tell us what you know about the Alliance, I'm sure after a period of 'rehabilitation', you can be returned to society, with your rank and commission intact."

"I don't know anything that could help you." Nathan replied automatically, not about to be swayed by bribes.

"You have been a member of the Rebel Alliance almost since its beginnings." Nabb countered not about to believe that story, especially when he knew better. "You know who its leaders are, where its bases may be located. You will give us that information, make no mistake on that. The choice on how you give it to us is entirely up to you. This can be a painless process or an agonizing one."

Staring him directly in the eyes, Nathan repeated himself. "I don't know anything."

"I suspected as much." Nabb sighed not at all surprised by the stubbornness of the man. It would be eroded soon enough and Nabb was confident that Nathan Jackson would be more than willing to tell all in due course. They always started out this way but Nabb knew the application required in order to shatter that stiff will of resistance. "We'll meet again Captain Jackson," Nabb responded as he turned on his heels towards the door. He took a few steps forward when he realised that Captain Standish had not moved.

"Captain...." He called out looking over his shoulder.

"I will be along shortly." Ezra Standish answered, meeting his commanding officer's gaze. "I thought I might have a little more luck convincing my old friend that it is prudent to give us the information then to suffer the consequences."

"Very well." Nabb responded, sounding dubious as to Ezra's ability to accomplish that. However, he saw no reason to keep the captain from trying especially when everything that would be said by the two would be closely monitored anyway.

Ezra returned his attention to Nathan and neither man spoke until the doors were closed behind them and they were offered some measure of privacy, though not much. For a time, neither knew what to say as they found themselves staring at each other from either side of a great chasm, with an abyss of ideology and personal belief trapped in the middle.

"They were aware of us having served together." Ezra stated, aware that everything he was saying was being heard. "They had their suspicions regarding your identity, they merely required me to confirm it."

"And so you did." Nathan answered with a hint of bitterness.

"I did not have a choice in the matter." Ezra replied. "I am still an Imperial officer under orders and you are a member of the Rebel Alliance, how did you think I would behave?"

"Like someone who was my friend." Nathan returned.

"I am still your friend," Ezra whispered softly, unwilling to show that Nathan's words had hurt him. "As your friend, I am telling you to give them what they want. The Emperor's orders on the Rebel Alliance is extremely rigid. He wants the movement destroyed. Nabb is one of the most ruthless interrogators in the Empire; he knows how to extract information. He will get what he wants from you, dead or alive."

"Then it will have to be dead." Nathan declared. "I will not give up anything to anyone."

"Then you are going to die." Ezra retorted. "I have no authority to prevent it. If you tell them what they need to know then you can walk out of this alive."

"Oh come on Ezra!" Nathan burst out in exasperation. "Weren't you the one who told me that you could always spot a con from a mile off? Don't tell me you actually believe that once I tell them what I know, that I'm going to live through this? The Emperor is about to begin the slavery of every non-human species in what was the galactic republic. You've seen what's coming. There is not one non-human officer in the fleet and that's how it's going to be throughout the Empire and you expect me to hand over the only people who can stop this? It's a shell game Ezra; the Emperor is softening us up for more atrocities than you can possibly believe. The segregation policy is only the beginning."

Ezra swallowed because deep inside he knew that Nathan was right. "You do not know that for sure. You have been fed with Rebel propaganda."

"If I did not know for sure Ezra," Nathan said softly. "I wouldn't be willing to die to keep it from happening." Nathan paused a moment and then spoke further. "You were always a cynic Ezra, I knew that. Maybe that's why we were such good friends because you saw the way the galaxy was and I saw what I thought it could be. Now I'm telling you what it's going to be and it's a nightmare Ezra, its going to be a long nightmare for billions of people unless it's stopped now."

"I am sorry Nathan." Ezra responded, clearly shaken inside and not knowing what else to say. He was not blind to what was happening. The segregation Nathan spoke of was no longer mere rumor, it was policy. More and more, he was seeing gifted officers and personnel being discarded because they were not human. If Nathan believed that things were due to get worse, Ezra believed him. However, he was dubious if anything could fight the Imperial war machine and he did not know if he could the idealist that Nathan was to make the effort. " I cannot help you."

Nathan expected as much and nodded. "I didn't expect you to help me Ezra, I just hoped that there was something inside you that sees what I'm saying is the truth."

"Truth is written by those who stay alive," Ezra said sourly, turning away from Nathan because facing him like this was becoming too much for him. He did not want to let Nathan die and yet he did not know of any way to prevent it except taking the ultimate step that could change his life forever. There was still too much doubt inside of him, not to mention hope that Nathan was wrong and that the Empire he served was not as unredeemable as he thought. "I think I would prefer to survive this than attempt to fight it. If you were smart, you would consider doing the same."

"I'm sorry for you," Nathan shook his head in distaste. "When I die, at least I know I did so believing in something. That's the difference between living and existing but you," he declared. "You believe in nothing and I can't call that living."

Ezra did not answer but continued walking. The door slid open for him before he reached it and in seconds, he was leaving Nathan behind in the cell. Ezra continued down the cell block, the storm trooper activating the door controls for him following closely behind.

"You knew him Sir?" The man asked.

"Once." Ezra found himself answering.

"I heard he won a medal in the Clone Wars." The storm trooper remarked.

"He did." Ezra did not deny that and remembered when he and Nathan were young and felt like they could take on anything and did. Trying to chart the progress of how they had come to be in this place at this time, on opposite sides was a journey that soon left a bitter taste in Ezra's mouth.

"Wonder how the rebels got to him?" The trooper asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Oh that was relatively easy," Ezra sighed as images of Ana flashed before him. Ana with her dark hair and her radiant smile. "His wife was the daughter of a Jedi." 

*********

It had started to rain when Vin Tanner returned to the tavern later that night. He did not know why he was going back. There was no way he could sneak up on the Jedi when the man had been able to sense him the minute he had stepped off his ship at the spaceport. However, Vin could not keep from returning because he had to face Chris Larabee again. The encounter with the man had left the normally detached bounty hunter so unsettled that it was unprecedented. Vin did not like feeling this way and yet everything that the Jedi had said to him was true.

He could feel it.

All his life, Vin had relied upon his intuition to get him through the difficulties of his existence. That second sight which he had called his gut instinct had saved his life on more than one occasion and had provided him with an edge that allowed him to detect enemies and give him some kind of sense when he was travelling in places previously unknown to him. He trusted in that ability with more faith than he had trusted any one person in his entire life. However, he always wondered what it was that made him so different from other humans that allowed him to see when others could not. Vin saw the world in shades of emotions; he could feel what another being was about to do, even if he could not read their thoughts as such. When he heard about the Jedi, he thought they were a fairy story told to children, just fiction.

Of course when he left Tatooine and went out into the galaxy, he learned that the Jedi were real even if the Empire was systematically wiping them out. Vin had never given them a second thought beyond that until the Empire contracted him to find Chris Larabee. From the onset of this mission, he knew that something about it drew him to Chris Larabee, something beyond the exorbitant fees the Empire was willing to pay, not to mentioned his continued existence as a fee man. Even though he did not admit it to himself, the research material about the Jedi opened uncomfortable possibilities that Vin did not want to deal with. It frightened him so badly that he had to force it into the back of his mind and not give it any more power over him than it already had.

The rain seeped into his skin, pulled his hair around his neck and dangled in wet droplets around his shoulders. It ran into his eyes and restricted his ability to see as clearly as he ought but Vin sensed no one around him that had such intent and he could not stop walking towards the tavern where he knew Larabee stayed. Even as he approached the building, he could sense the richness of that thought in his mind. He could sense the familiarity of the man emanating from the building. He was certain that the Jedi sensed his approach too and Vin felt no need for the element of surprise because he had not come here to kill Chris Larabee, he had come here because he had to know the truth.

When he walked into the tavern soaking wet, and immediately noticed by Inez who was as usual behind her counter serving drinks to her customers. The patronage had thinned out even more and Vin suspected it was very near closing time for the Four Corners Tavern. Her eyes immediately flooded with concern as she cast her gaze upon him and reached beneath a bar to produce a small towel, which she handed to him when she emerged from behind the bar.

"You should not be out in this weather." She said sternly as the thunder crackled outside in agreement with her statement.

Vin wondered if she had forgotten that only some hours ago, he had pulled a gun on Chris Larabee and threaten an innocent boy with his life in a booth not more than a few feet from where she stood now. He could not understand why she was treating him so well when he was the enemy. "Why?"

"Why?" She looked at him puzzled. "Because the storms on Cordoba is as bad as the heat waves."

"Why are you so good to me?" He asked softly.

Inez smiled and looked at him. "I don't have the Force," she answered. "Not the way Chris does but I can sense things about people and I think you are a little lost and for the first time, you're starting to see the light even if it frightens you a little. I see the pain in your eyes and I see no reason to add to it."

Vin wanted to question her further about what she knew but decided that it would be a waste of time. The answers he needed had to come from Larabee. "I need to see him." He muttered.

Inez nodded and showed him the way. Chris occupied a room above the tavern and as Inez led Vin there, he had the impression that she did not allow for many lodgers for as they stepped into the corridor, he noted that many of the rooms though prepared for patrons were empty. Vin sensed that there was some hidden purpose to this action and wondered whether Inez was more than she appeared to be. Was she simply a bartender or what there more to her? It was a question for another time because at the moment, Vin's primary interest was in seeing Chris Larabee.

"I don't know how coherent he will be." Inez offered as she opened the door to Chris' room.

"Coherent?" Vin asked.

"He's been drinking." She said sadly and stepped away, leaving Vin to deal with the Jedi.

Vin nodded slowly and entered the room, preparing to deal with anything. He had no more closed the door behind him when he heard Chris' voice.

"What do you want?"

Vin saw the Jedi sitting up on his bed, nursing a bottle that was nearly empty. Clad only in his dark pants, the rest of his clothes were an unruly heap on the floor, including more empty bottles of liquor. Vin suddenly realised that if he wanted to take the Jedi to his Imperial masters, now would be the time to do it. Chris was almost certainly drunk and his ability to put up much resistance would be minimal. However, as the thought crossed Vin's mind, the bounty hunter knew that he could not do it. The Jedi had awakened the need for answers and until that desire was satisfied, everything else could wait.

"I don't know." Vin whispered and it was the truth. He wanted answers but he would have been quite content if Chris told him that it was all a trick of deception that the Jedi had been playing with him.

Chris sat up further in the bed and took a final swig of whatever was left in the bottle before tossing it aside. He turned that powerful gaze onto the Tracker and said nothing for a few seconds as he observed him. "You want to know if I was lying."

"I am not Jedi." Vin declared with almost childish defiance.

"Not you're not," Chris did not disagree and thought it was incredibly funny that this bounty hunter would find out the truth about himself when there was no longer any need for his kind. "But you do have the Force." He added, knowing that was the question at the heart of Vin's appearance here.

"I don't believe in the force." Vin retaliated. "It's a fairy tale."

Chris snorted in derision and narrowed his eyes as he stared at Vin hard, appearing as if he were in the grips of mild concentration. "You were born on Tatooine. The only family you ever had was your mother and she died when you were five or six. You have images of her inside your mind but nothing more concrete than that. The clearest memory you do have of her is the fact that before she died, she told you that you were a Tanner and no one could take that away from you."

Vin's jaw dropped open when Chris finished his recital, his mind reeling in shock at the revelation of the memory he had never told anyone. "How did you know?" He stammered.

"You're wide open and easy to read." Chris responded. "You project as much as you sense from other beings."

"I don't want this." Vin managed to say, feeling exposed and unable to hide under the Jedi's stare. For the first time in his life he felt vulnerable and out of control. It was not a feeling he liked. "I don't want the Force."

"It's not a choice." Chris answered without sympathy. After the losses he had incurred in his life, his ability to be touched by another was slight. "We become Jedi because we answer to something higher than ourselves and the belief we can add to the substance of the universe. Not all the Jedi were warriors, some were teachers, healers and explorers. For a thousand years, we ensured the peace and it was a good feeling to know that when we served the Force, others were benefited. It takes a great deal of commitment to be a Jedi even if one is strong in the Force. There are sacrifices to be made by those who take the training. You are strong in the Force and you could have done anything with your life, even if you did not wish to be a Jedi but what are you? You're a human scavenger. You take the Force that you have and all you've done with it is hunt men down like animals. You come here expecting what from me? Understanding?"

"I did what I had to survive." Vin stammered. "I don't make any excuses for it."

"I'm not here for your absolution." Chris retorted. "You want to shoot me and take me in, that's your prerogative. I don't care any more. The Jedi are gone with the exception of a small few that has managed to hide from Vader and his Emperor. I'm here on borrowed time anyway, eventually they'll get me too."

"But you said they would know me." Vin pointed out. "You said that they could sense me."

Chris looked at him and laughed. "You don't have to worry. There's a vast difference between having the Force and being able to use it as Jedi. Vader knows that you're hardly a threat to him. They'll kill if you come into their sights, make no mistake on that but they won't exactly be hunting you down."

Vin did not like the idea of that at all even if Chris' words came with something of a reassurance. "And you're just going to sit here and wait for them?" He looked at the Jedi and wondered why he suddenly cared.

"If that's my destiny." Chris nodded. "Why do you care anyway?"

Vin opened his mouth to speak but stop himself from saying what he wanted to and altering his answer significantly. "I don't care." He retorted as he turned away, deciding that he had enough revelation for today. However as he left Chris Larabee to his drunken state, Vin knew that he was lying because for the first time, he suddenly felt like he was not entirely alone in the galaxy.

For the first time, Vin had met someone who made him feel like he was apart of something even if that something was the Jedi.

CHAPTER FIVE

"We know where he is." Josiah Sanchez informed them after his return to the Rogue where Buck was presently giving Mary and his new young companion, shelter from storm troopers patrols and unscrupulous operators alike. Buck who spent enough time ferrying people as he did cargo, had equipped the ship to be amply comfortable for his passengers and was more than happy to provide a safe haven for the lovely rebel leader. While JD Dunne was in no such danger from the Empire, Buck was certain that the youth was no safer than Mary should he fall prey to the likes of beings like Nardo.

Josiah had withdrawn for the evening once he had been certain that Mary was in safe hands in order to make contact with the rebel underground, in the hopes of garnering some information regarding the whereabouts of Nathan Jackson. Judging by the determination of the Imperial storm troopers who were still scouring the city, they were certain that Nathan had indeed been captured and the Empire was maintaining the search in order to apprehend the person he had been seen with prior to his capture. An Imperial patrol had come on board the Rogue and found nothing out of the ordinary, mostly because Buck had hidden his guests in secret compartments that he had installed in his ship since becoming a rebel collaborator.

For the reasons of security, Mary had chosen not to accompany Josiah when he went into town to contact his operatives. There was no reason to compromise their security by exposing them to her. Josiah’s network of contacts and informants was a valuable resource and not one to squander if she were captured and coerced into talking. She also felt that at this time there was no reason for her to know the location of the rebel base either although she did know the scrambler frequency should any further misfortune occurs. Until the present crisis had passed, Mary intended to limit the level of damage she could do to the rebellion in the event of capture by remaining in the dark about sensitive information.

However, this did not mean that Josiah was not in any kind of danger himself. Although Josiah was a wanted man, having resigned his senatorial position instead of fleeing like some of his comrades had been forced to do, there was no doubt that he was no supporter of Palpatine. Mary did not put it past the Emperor to have his lackeys keeping close surveillance on Josiah. Further more, there was also Nathan to consider. Even though it had been hours since he had been captured, Mary could not be certain that the rebel captain might not have been forced to talk. She was more than aware of the insidious devices the Empire employed to break their prisoners and though she knew Nathan would die before revealing any of their secrets, she understood that he might not have a choice in the matter.

"Where?" Buck Wilmington asked as they converged in what was the main passenger compartment of his ship. The compartment was furnished with comfortable seats that were bolted to the floor surrounding a circular table that acted not only as a dining surface but also as a gaming table for a small selection of holo-vids.

"They're keeping him in the Imperial stronghold on Cordoba." Josiah answered as he removed his cloak and sat down in one of the vacant seats. The group had just sat down to dine when Josiah had arrived and Mary poured him a drink from the bottle of spice wine that Buck had produced from ship's stores among his other rations.

"There's not much of an Imperial presence there." Mary remarked, knowing something of the station on Cordoba. Its purpose on the world was mostly to act as the local constabulary with a handful of ships whose duty was to protect the ships using the main space lanes from the threat of smugglers and pirates. This far from the core worlds, the danger of such renegades were very real but by the same token, the majority of commercial enterprises that took place this far out was not exactly sanctioned by the Empire either. "They are equipped with enough men to police the city and man the ships needed to guard the space lanes. They’re not a facility equipped to deal with a prisoner of Nathan’s importance. Most of the officers and personnel on the Cordoba station do not get posted here voluntarily. Chances are they’re orders would be to hold him until someone with more expertise can interrogate him."

"You're right," Josiah nodded and unbidden in his admiration at her acumen in already realising what he was about to reveal. "The fortune of having Imperial personnel who aren’t exactly Grand Moff material is that they’re easily bought. My contact, one such example, informs me that at the moment they’ve been given strict orders that no one be allowed to speak to him because he is to be moved in five hours. They’re taking him off world on an Imperial shuttle.

"That means they'll have to rendezvous with a warship of some kind," Mary declared after processing that information. "They'll take him to a fully secured Imperial installation where they will begin the interrogation, most likely by an expert in the art. They’ll break him by any means necessary or they’ll kill him in the process." She said grimly because it was made from similar experience. She did not want to add how many friends, loyal followers of the Alliance who had succumbed to torture even though they were the stoutest believers of the movements and its principles.

"If he talks..." Buck shuddered to think of the far reaching implications that could have. Nathan not only knew much about the Rebel Alliance's secrets but he also had a good knowledge of most of its undercover operatives, Buck included. Although he felt ashamed to think it, Buck knew that if Nathan was forced to reveal that information, he would be just as marked. He was mortified by his selfishness even if the fear was perfectly justified.

"Well he hasn't yet," Mary stated firmly, refusing to allow such dark thoughts to creep into their minds when there was still a chance that they might be able to save the man. Such an atmosphere of gloom was more crippling to Nathan’s plight then even the formidable defences awaiting them if they attempted to retrieve him. Easing back into her seat, she nursed the glass in her hand and considered their options, or rather option since there seemed to be only one real solution to the problem.

"Once he gets where he’s going, we'll never reach him. We can be assured of that if nothing else." This was a statement of fact that none of them could refute but Mary’s manner indicated that she was already attempting to circumvent this obstacle as her eyes began sparkled with the glimmer of the plan taking shape in her mind.

"They’ll have to rendezvous with another ship. They can’t intend to take him wherever he has to go on a shuttle. One X-wing is enough to knock that bird out of the sky, I can’t believe they won’t be sending something with a little bit more teeth. I’m guessing it’s a Star Destroyer that will make the rendezvous with them." Buck extrapolated.

"Yes," Mary nodded. "That’s what I thought too. We have the same problem there. If he is taken on board a Star Destroyer, we’ll never get him back. The Emperor has perceived just how much of a threat the Alliance is to him and he’ll stop at nothing to get to us."

"Nice to be wanted." Josiah joked with a smile, even though there was no humour in his expression. In truth, he was trying to be brave, to be the paragon of control and serenity everyone always expected of him. Sometimes, Josiah could be just as unsettled and afraid as the next person. He was just more practised at hiding it because there was still something left of the politician he once was.

"Excuse me Miss Travis," JD spoke up, having listened all this time and finally feeling bold enough to make a suggestion. He felt himself to be in heady company and though he knew that consorting with them was enough to get him thrown into a prison cell forever as a rebel conspirator, JD could not help admire their devotion to their comrade. JD could not believe that people who cared so much about their own could be the disruptive elements the Empire claimed them to be. Besides, Buck had helped him and continued to do so, even though there was no reason for the pilot to do so. "Can we get to him before the shuttle reaches the Destroyer?"

Mary gave the young man a radiant smile and answered. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Really?" JD asked, feeling a little relieved that he had not made a fool of himself and inordinately proud that he had made the same guess as a seasoned military officer.

"Yes," she gave him a little wink and turned back to Buck. "A shuttle can carry a decent regiment of Imperial troops but they’re not much of a threat in close quarters. Certainly they can surround Nathan and make boarding a very complicated process but in actual truth, when it is in space, that will be when the shuttle is at its most vulnerable. " She continued speaking now that JD had given her an opening to lay out her plan. "If we can intercept the ship on route to meet the Destroyer and then detonate a low level dispersion field against the hull, it could create enough electrostatic shock to render everyone board unconscious for a short time."

"Enough for us to get on board and grab Nathan without any fuss." Buck grinned, liking the idea of snatching Nathan from right under the Empire's noses. There seemed something oddly satisfying about it. "He’ll have a little headache but he won’t be any worse for wear."

"Sound like a plan." Josiah nodded his approval. "We don’t have much time though." He reminded, injecting some minor points of reality that they had to remember into the conversation. "We can’t get our people here in time to make the interception." He glanced at Buck hoping the pilot understood what he meant by that. Until this moment, they had been operating on the assumption that it would the rebel cell that would be undertaking the rescue, however the reality of the situation made that impossible. Five hours was not enough to time to throw together an operation with this level of sensitivity.

"I’ll go." Buck replied, letting out a heavy sigh. "My neck is just as much on the block as Nathan’s." The pilot raised his eyes to meet Josiah’s. "If they make him talk, then my involvement is going to come out and I’ll be just as marked. If I’m going to be an outlaw, it might as well be by doing this instead of anything else."

"Thank you Buck," Mary offered him a warm smile. "Well that’s you and me."

"I’ll come with you." JD spoke up.

"Absolutely not." Buck said automatically without even having to think about it. "Don’t even think about it."

"I agree JD," Mary responded. "This is very dangerous. You have no reason to put your whole life in danger. I thank you for the thought but we won’t let you throw your future away."

"Future?" JD looked at her with derision. "What future?" He retorted. "If the Empire is going to do half of what you said it will, I don’t have much of a future. I almost became a slave today because the Empire lets that sort of thing happen right under its noses. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone else and if fighting them is what it takes then I’m all for it. Buck," JD turned to the older man. "I don’t know you that long but I know I trust you and I also know that you wouldn’t be willing to risk your life for something that wasn’t important. I want to come with you because I want to risk my life for something that’s worth fighting for too."

Buck was not easily convinced but JD appeared determined. "Kid, do you know what could happen to you if we’re caught?"

"Yeah," JD nodded. "I do and I also think that I’m old enough to make the choice. You need my help anyway. If you run into any Imperial ships, you can’t fly the Rogue and fight them off at the same time. I’m not a great pilot but I know my way around a gunnery turret. I use to do a lot of target shooting when I was pod racing to clear the obstacles in the circuit. I know I can help you."

"Are you sure son?" Josiah questioned the boy once more, impressed by his words and having the strange feeling that JD was going to surprise them all. "Once you come with us, there’s no turning back."

JD offered the older man a wan smile. "I don’t think there was any turning back the moment I hopped a transport to leave home. Yeah, I’m sure."

Josiah nodded and turned to Buck. "Kid sounds like he knows his mind."

Buck frowned, not at all happy about the decision he was about to make but realising that he had no choice. JD was right, he did need help and it was also his choice to fight the battles he wanted. The fight for a better tomorrow was a good a reason as any to die, Buck supposed, he had no right to stand in JD’s way.

"Alright," Buck retorted finally. "You can come with us but you listen to every thing I tell you, you hear me?"

"I hear you," JD replied grinning, too pleased that he was being allowed to go to argue with any of Buck’s conditions.

"We should get going soon," Mary announced once the issue of JD had been settled.

"Mary," Josiah took a deep breath as he prepared to say what he was about to, fully aware that she would not like what he had to say at all. However, for what they were about to do, he could not remain silent either. "I think you should stay."

Mary blinked and stared at the former senator as if he had gone utterly insane. "Stay? What do you mean stay?"

"I mean that between the two of us, you have had more recent contact with the Alliance headquarters. If this rescue attempt goes wrong, then you will be more danger to the Alliance with what you know than I would be. What I know can only hurt the local cell but what you know can damage the entire organisation."

"I am not going to stay behind and let you do the fighting for me Josiah." Mary said imperiously, her eyes blazing at the mere suggestion. "The three of you can't take on that ship!"

"We’re not taking the ship," Buck added his voice to Josiah’s argument, infuriating the rebel leader even more. "We’re going to board a shuttle full of unconscious people, take the one we want and get the hell out before anyone comes too. In actual truth, it’s really a minimal personnel operation."

"Oh really?" Mary folded her arms and looked at him dubiously. "This would not be some archaic masculine attempt to try and protect me?"

"Would I be so base?" Buck stared at her dubiously, his face full of mock hurt. "I only get archaic when I treat women like sex objects."

Mary rolled her eyes and retorted. "I admire your ability to be so distinct."

"Mary," Josiah spoke once more, his voice taking on a note of seriousness, she knew she could not stand up to because he seldom used it unless he was right. It was the voice that had made him such an able orator in the Senate and why the body was sorely missed without such presence making debates. "You always said that we have to make sacrifices for the cause. You can’t place yourself at risk. We need you too much. The rest of us," he glanced at Buck and JD. "Are expendable but you’re not."

"Thanks." Buck muttered but could not refute Josiah’s words.

Mary felt the sudden rise of bile in her throat and she forced it away to put on a brave face. Inwardly, she knew he was right. She had to stay behind. Risking one of them was acceptable but two was foolhardy. He was also correct in that she knew too much about the Alliance’s hierarchy to risk capture by accompanying them on this mission.

And she had said that sacrifices needed to be made by all of them.

Even if that sacrifice was her pride.

***********

They were playing some kind of game with him.

That was the only thing that Nathan could fathom as he continued this endless waiting game trapped inside his cell. Ever since his meeting with Ezra, Nathan had been waiting for the interrogation to begin, certain that they would make him endure all kinds of torture in order to extract the information he would never give them alive. Nathan had steeled himself for the agony and was resolved to die in the effort to resist. When he had joined the movement, he knew that he could be called upon to make such a sacrifice and he had no fear of dying, though like any rational person he would like to avoid death if he could. However, he had lived by a soldier’s code all his life and did not find dying for what he believed to be a distasteful way to end his life.

However, as the seconds ticked by and the minutes stretched into hours, Nathan could feel a little of that resolve shaking as the waiting game began. With nothing to do but wait in silence for the inevitable, he realised that he was falling prey to the psychological effects of the mind game they were playing with him. He refused to get caught in their cruel attempts to erode his patience and knew that if this was a waiting game then he was only in the initial stages of it. Perhaps they were attempting a different tact beyond torture, aware that Nathan would never give them what they needed, no matter how much pain he was subjected to and the disadvantages of such interrogation would only lose them their victim.

As the time continued to stretch forward in long, tedious blocks, Nathan found himself pacing the floor of his cell, talking to himself and doing everything required to occupy his mind and not allow it to become sluggish and more susceptible to coercion. He wondered if Ezra had any part of this plan and was overcome with that sensation of sadness over the loss of his friendship with the man. Despite his attempts to hide it earlier, the exchange with Ezra had been just as emotionally draining for him as he was sure it would have been to his oldest friend in the world. Nathan knew that it was not Ezra’s fault that they now found themselves on opposite sides. Circumstances had changed the world they knew and had drawn a line of battle straight through their friendship. Inwardly, Nathan had known this day would come. Ever since he had chosen to join the Alliance, he knew that it would be inevitable.

He wondered whether Ezra had known it too.

Ezra had been the first person that Nathan had met when he had joined the Academy. Their friendship had seen them through much including Ezra’s presence at his matrimonial ceremony to Ana. Thinking of Ana made the pain doubly worse and in the confines of his lonely cell, Nathan forced the images of her away from his mind. If she were still alive, they would have been celebrating their eight wedding anniversary. It was Ana’s death that had been the impetus for him to leave the Empire behind even though the current political changes had been gnawing at his conscience prior to that.

It was odd how love could alter the course of a man’s life even when the object of that affection no longer breathed in this world. He had not been there when she died but when the news of the purges reached him, he had raced home praying that the executioners would not have been so ruthless in the undertaking of their orders. Ana had never shown any interest in becoming a Jedi even though her father sat on the Jedi Council and was a Jedi Master. She had been a schoolteacher on Coruscant, a very good one because the Force gave her the ability to empathise with her students on a very personal level.

Although no one dared point a finger at the Empire over the deaths, everyone knew who had been responsible for the slaughter. The Emperor’s dislike of the Jedi was almost a fanatical crusade and to the select few that suspected he was Sith Lord, it made even more sense. However, by then Palpatine was firmly in power and those who would keep him there, were just as secure. Ana’s death went unanswered for and Nathan walked away from the last remnants of his old life, including Ezra. Nathan felt no real animosity towards his old friend for becoming an Imperial officer. Ezra’s background was chequered to say the least and his world had always been one of shadows, where injustices occurred more often than they should. If there had been an idealist inside Ezra Standish once, the years had surely driven him away.

Ezra’s background was far removed from Nathan’s own privileged upbringing. Nathan’s father was an ambassador while Ezra barely even knew his own father and was mostly raised by a mother who kept company with the likes of Jabba the Hutt and Xizor of the Black Sun criminal organisation. The lady mostly resided in Nal Hutta these days, where she was known to be an associate of the Hutt gangsters and often represented them in negotiations.

It was into this world that Ezra had become a man and from this he was desperate to escape. He had gained admission into the Academy but was never truly regarded as anything more than the offspring of an unsavoury parent. The action made him determined to show his peers that he was better than they and Nathan recalled how voraciously Ezra had strove to excel. However, though he succeeded at the Academy, his military career had been lack lustre. Nathan knew that it was not for the lack of ability for he always thought that Ezra had the shrewdest mind but there was something about his old friend that told Nathan that Ezra did not like to try because he was afraid to fail.

It was during all these ruminations that the door to this cell slid open and his friend made his sudden appearance. Ezra entered the room alone this time and Nathan was further confused by what the Imperials were intending for him. Did they think his association with Ezra would make him betray the Rebellion? If so, they were in for a disappointment, Nathan snorted. As much as he valued his friendship with Ezra or what smoky ruins remained of it, he would never betray the Alliance.

"What do you want?" Nathan asked, fired by that thought when he asked his question.

"I came to see how you were faring in this Spartan environment." Ezra remarked, casting his gaze over the cell with obvious dislike.

"I’m doing fine." Nathan replied coolly. "Are you here to soften me up?"

"No," Ezra shook his head. "They are not particularly interested in you Nathan."

"I’m sure they aren’t," he said dubiously, knowing better. He had a great deal of information in his head that he was certain they would love to get their hands on. Ezra may have be here out of some memory to their past friendship but he could not be foolish enough to think that the Empire would not torture him to get what they wanted.

"You do not understand my commanding officer," Ezra sighed giving Nathan a long look. "He does not wish to capture minions that reside at the bottom of the food chain. He is after someone with a little more information. You do have tasty morsels inside your head Nathan, that is without doubt but I believe he may be interested in a feast."

Nathan began to develop a very bad feeling about what Ezra was inferring. It was always so damned hard to read the man, even though they were best friends. Aside from being an Imperial officer, Ezra was also the best damned card player, this side of the galaxy and his ability to wear a poker face like no other was a testament to this fact. However, through the cracks of his indifferent façade, Nathan began to see what Ezra was trying to tell him without actually coming out and saying it.

"They’re not after me are they?" He whispered when the awful truth dawned upon him.

"Nabb was aware that someone of importance was arriving on Cordoba but did not have any of the details. When an informant served you to him and he was unsuccessful in locating your companion, he altered his plan somewhat and decided to exploit your capture." Ezra could not look him in the eyes as he explained everything.

Nathan’s breath caught in his throat as the full implications of what Ezra was trying to tell him seep into his mind. "I’m bait?"

Ezra nodded sombrerly. "I am afraid you are. I do know that once the real target is acquired, they will execute you."

That did not surprise Nathan. He had more or less expected such an outcome but gave it no more thought than that because he was too fearful for the person that they intend to catch because of him. It did not take him long to realise whom it was they really wanted and knowing that filled the captain with no small amount of despair.

"Mary." He raised his eyes and caught Ezra’s. "You’re after Mary."

"She was one of the most brilliant commanders in the fleet, did you think the Empire was simply going to allow all that potential to be used for the service of its enemies?" Ezra asked softly. "They will do anything to retrieve her Nathan and they will use anyone. You are nothing to them, a pawn that had served its purpose briefly. Nabb wanted me to be the one to tell you that you have been scheduled for termination as soon as Commander Travis is in custody."

"She isn't in custody yet," Nathan said defiantly, unable to look at Ezra even though he could tell that it gave his old friend no pleasure to be the one who revealed the truth to him. "She's not stupid enough to take the bait. If she has to sacrifice me for the cause, I'm sure she will."

"Nathan," Ezra shook his head sadly because Nathan did not see. "Why did you think Nabb wanted you captured so badly? If it were anyone else, he would not have bothered but you are too important to the Rebellion to be left to languish in our hands. They used you because they knew you would bring her out."

"You keep saying 'them'," The prisoner glared at him and pointed out. "You're one of them Ezra."

"Maybe so," Ezra returned not about to let that minor detail obscure everything else. "But I am still your friend."

"Then be a friend," the dark man said angrily. "Get out. You've done your bit, you've told me I'm the worm twisting on the hook. I release you from any obligation you think you have towards me because all you've become is that uniform."

"I am not the one who destroyed our friendship!" Ezra shouted angrily, feeling the sting of those words more than he would like. "You did that when you turn your back on your life!"

"My life was over when Ana died!" Nathan barked back.

"No it was not," Ezra hissed as he started towards the door. "But when they capture Mary Travis, it will be."

CHAPTER SIX

JD Dunne watched the tumbling formations of iron and rock floating before the cockpit window and could not deny that for a common astronomical phenomenon, the asteroid field before him had a beauty of its own. His eyes glimmered at the elegance of the soundless dance, watching the large pieces of spacial flotsam, some as small as a rock that would fit into his palm while others the sizes of small moons, swirled around the Rogue as if it were the epicentre of a giant vortex. Despite his desire not to appear like the awe struck farm boy that he was, JD could not hide the effect of seeing the vastness of space in such a breathtaking vista. When he had come to Cordoba on the passenger cruiser, the observation deck had been crowded with travellers and the mystery of what lay beyond was lost in a chatter of commenting voices and snapping holo-vids. To see it like this, to actually be able to appreciate it in all its fullness was something to behold and JD knew that the moment would be with him forever.

It was also when one was out here in all this vastness that he was fully able to comprehend what he had embarked upon and weigh the decision made as more than some obligation he felt he needed to fulfil to Buck Wilmington for saving him from the Rodian. It put things in perspective somewhat, to know that the universe was much large than himself and that it, most of all needed to be protected and though he was small, he was a part of its cycle. And every part no matter, how small had to show its worth for something that was greater than itself. JD had very little contact with the Empire while he had been on Odete but its injustices did not escape even that small backwater. He had always thought it was something for someone else to worry about but when he listened to Mary, he knew that it was not the case.

He had never met anyone like her. When she spoke of freedom, it left her as more than high minded words of grandiose idealism, it was something that could be felt, like a tangible shape or an elixir once taken, could not be done without. When she had been forced to remain behind on Cordoba, he could see the pain in her eyes was real, the sorrow from wounds he could not even begin to imagine and the weight of terrible responsibility that bore down on her slender shoulders. She was not very old and yet her eyes felt ancient and JD wondered what it was that had put her on this course and made her so very sad. For at the heart of knowing her importance in the scheme of things, there was also this acceptance that it had her trapped in amber. JD could not imagine what it was like to have that kind of burden upon oneself.

"How you doing kid?" Buck Wilmington asked as he stepped into the cockpit.

"Pretty good." JD answered, his gaze not moving from the cockpit window.

Buck felt a small smile steal across his lips remembering what it had been like the first time he took a ship into the air on his own. The feeling was indescribable and to a certain extent, had never really left him entirely. There was still a part of him that remained that same wild youth who climbed into the seat of that Corellian T25 and blasted off for a round trip to Selonia. He looked at JD and felt slightly envious of the boy’s youth as well as protective at the same time. It was a strange feeling.

"I’ve been watching the scanner." JD replied, feeling the need to let Buck know that he was doing something other than occupying space. He knew that Buck had deep reservations for his being here and though JD could not blame him for that, he did not want to further prove Buck’s point by seeming inept as well. "I remember what you told me and it doesn’t look like there’s any one else around."

"There won’t be," Buck replied handing JD a cup of hot cider as he sat down in the captain’s chair. "You’ll see the shuttle but not the Destroyer. She’ll come out of hyperspace right on top of the rendezvous coordinates to surprise anyone whose stupid enough to still be around when she gets here."

"Did you ever serve on a Destroyer?" JD inquired, realising that though he liked Buck very much, he really did not know much about him. However, his ability to trust Buck was beyond the purview of mere data, there was something inside of him, an instinct perhaps that knew Buck was someone he could rely on and so far, the man had not failed to disappoint.

"Yeah," Buck nodded. "I actually served on one with Nathan. That’s how we met. He was a bridge officer and I was a fighter pilot. Of course back then, it wasn’t the Empire we were serving, it was the Republic."

"Was it much different?" JD asked. On his home world, governments really did not make much difference to what was mostly a rural population. They had been very insular on his world and JD did not realise how much until he stepped into the space port on Cordoba.

"Oh yeah," the captain of the Rogue smiled warmly. "It was very different." He eased back into his chair and remembered the days of the Republic when wearing the uniform of Republic officer meant something. "What we did meant something back then and there was never any confusion about why we were doing it. It was worth something to believe in what you’re doing, to know that in our your way, you’re helping someone."

"Is that where you met Chris?" The boy had been curious to ask about the Jedi and how Buck had come to know him but was perceptive enough to know that it was a delicate subject. Buck obviously cared very much for the former Jedi but he was also fearful for the man.

"Nah," Buck shook his head. "Chris and I met when we were on Corellia. He was a Jedi apprentice what they call Padwan learners and I was fresh at the Corellian Space Academy. We just seem to run into each other a lot and got to be friends. He wasn’t like he is now, back then he was fun to be around, even for a Jedi. He always seemed to have a handle on things, even when he was still learning how to be one. Drove his Master nuts I can tell you but then the Jedi are a strange bunch."

"The Jedi have been around for thousands of years," Josiah insinuated himself into the conversation with that opening remark after entering the dimly lit confines of the cockpit. "Their traditions are steeped in such age, we have no idea really when the first one emerged although some believe that they have always been. Josiah sat down in one of the passenger seats behind JD's co-pilot chair and continued speaking. "I remember as a boy, my father used to tell me the stories of the Jedi. Always loved the stories, just didn't have the stuff to be one."

"The stuff?" JD looked at them both blankly.

"Well, Josiah sat forward and said in a low voice. "In the blood stream of almost every life form we have encountered in ten thousand years of star charting, no matter how different, it appears that there is only one thing that binds us together. It is a life form in the blood called midiclorions. The Jedi believed they were created when the universe was born which is why the distributions of these things are so wide spread and indiscriminate. Whatever the truth, midiclorions appear to amplify the Force in the host bodies they occupy and the strongest concentrations of midiclorions are almost always found in the bloodstream's of Jedi Knights."

"So why can't you just inject yourself with midiclorions to become a Jedi?" JD asked.

"Doesn't work that way," Buck retorted automatically, remembering discussing the subject with Chris once. "The midiclorions adapt themselves to the host body so transferring them from one to another simply makes them inert."

"I like to think of it as keeping a balance on things. The cosmic way of making sure your destiny is remains as it should be." Josiah grinned.

JD was about to ask another question when suddenly the cockpit filled with sound. The gentle beeping immediately drew Buck's attention to the cockpit controls and the captain's easy expression hardened as he noted the reason for the electronic alert. "The shuttle's coming into range now." He announced.

What they were proposing was indeed risky because they had no idea of the time the shuttle would rendezvous with the Destroyer. It was the reason why they had come here and waited all these hours to ensure that they could act as soon as the vessel arrived. The margin of time could be as lengthy as hours or it could be a matter of minutes, whatever the case, they had to act now. Buck immediately took the ship off autopilot and assumed command of his ship once more.

"Strap yourselves in." He ordered as the decks of the Rogue began rumbling when the main thrusters of the ship ignited.

"Here we go," Josiah muttered as he complied with Buck's order and watched through the cockpit as the ship disengaged itself from the large asteroid it had attached itself and began soaring into open air. As they sped out of the asteroid field that had given them shelter as they waited for their quarry, Josiah had to marvel at the skill with which Buck Wilmington used to fly his ship. He glanced sideways and noted the same awed expression on JD's face as the youth watched the season star pilot at his best.

Buck's hands seemed to fly over the controls and while navigating through an asteroid field ought to give anyone reason to fear there was not the slightest bit of concern on the man's face. The Rogue sailed past the hurtling blocks of rock and iron, often missing them by the narrowest margins. The ship titled and swayed in the effort to evade the large denizens of this area, always skimming the periphery of disaster it seemed but never managing to get caught by it. Buck seemed capable of anticipating all of it. Even though he had an on board computer that gave him a detailed view of the field he was traversing, Josiah noted that he preferred to use his cockpit window. The visual data seen through his eyes worked in tandem with his reflexes and Josiah saw his fingers simply fly over the controls with no need for anticipation or second thought.

"How do you do that?" JD asked.

"What?" Buck responded offhandedly, his attention still focussed on the cockpit window as he navigated through the asteroid field.

"You're not even looking at the controls." The young man pointed out.

Buck chuckled slightly and answered. "I don't have to kid, I just feel them. It's my ship, I know where everything is."

"No kidding," JD responded, unable to hide the admiration in his voice.

Silence felt over the cabin as the Rogue escaped the maelstrom of rock and debris and entered the serenity of open space. The view ahead changed into the immense canopy of stars that seemed to swallow the ship as it entered its expansive maw. A low whine filled the cockpit briefly as Buck flicked another switch on the console. "I'm jamming them." He explained for the benefit of those with him. "Standard procedure would have them send out a scrambled code to the Destroyer who's probably waiting to come out in hyperspace."

"How much time do we have?" Josiah asked.

"Unknown." Buck shook his head after glancing at the readings on the console screen at one corner of the cockpit control panel. "But they started transmitting almost as soon as they could which means the Destroyer is not that far away. I think I manage to jam them before they got a full cycle out but I can't be sure. We're going to have to do this quickly."

"I kind of prefer it that way myself." Josiah remarked while JD's fingers subconsciously sank deeper into the armrests of his seat.

"Alright," Buck spoke up. "We're going in full throttle."

As he made that statement, the Rogue exploded forward and suddenly, the stars rushed past them at frightening speed. The shuttle in the distance, evolved from a tiny speck to something more substantial with shapes and lines as the Rogue closed in on it. During this swift approach, Buck's fingers flew deftly over the controls; with a flurry of movement that made it impossible to tell when he had carried out one operation and ended another.

The shuttle had been holding position and still did not move when it saw the approaching ship. Buck wondered about this momentarily because the Rogue was coming at them on what was definitely an attack vector. Any pilot worth his salt would know that. Ugly thoughts began to surface in his mind as he continued the process of arming the beam of energy he would send at the small ship in order to polarize the hull. As he configured the pattern of energy to be delivered by his forward energy banks, the Rogue continued to narrow the space between ships. The shuttle still did not make any effort to move out of the way.

The disturbance he felt inwardly began to take shape. He had to confirm this. Reaching over to the ship's sensors, Buck made a perfunctory scan of the shuttle. It should have been fully loaded with a complement of storm troopers; a prisoner of Nathan's importance deserved nothing less. However, when the information returned to him after the brief investigation by the ship, Buck's worse fears were realised. There was only two life forms on board the shuttle and Buck had clairvoyance enough in the matter to guess immediately that neither of them was Nathan.

"I'm turning the ship around." Buck stated and hastily disengaged his rear thrusters to make a course change.

"What?" Josiah asked sitting up in his seat. "What's wrong?"

"There's only two people on that ship." He replied as the view in front of the Rogue revealed and abrupt change in the direction the vessel was headed. The shuttle swept out of you and the trail stars left sparkles in their eyes when Buck swung the ship around.

"That's impossible." Josiah exclaimed. "My informants told me that Nathan was being escorted to another ship to be transported to an Imperial installation."

"Well either they changed their minds or their security leaves a lot to be desired. In any case, we're getting out of here." Buck retorted. He did not voice what he actually suspected and knew that it was probably too late but he refused to give up so easily and certainly without a fight. His only regret at this point was the fact that JD was with them and would have his life ended before it even began. That really bothered Buck more than the fact that the Empire would probably execute him and Josiah for treason.

Emergency klaxon sounded suddenly and unlike a proximity alert, the electronic whine that jarred him out of his thoughts was not a gentle reminder but a screaming alert. The space around the ship rumbled slightly and the external lights around the Rogue suddenly dimmed as a great shape appeared directly above it. Buck saw the shadow that had engulfed the ship and knew immediately what it was without having to look at the computer readout or take a better view through the cockpit window.

The Star Destroyer appeared out of hyperspace in less than a split second, no doubt probably waiting for their arrival all along. As Buck forced his ship into evasive maneuvers, he noted the hangar doors of the large destroyer slide open and a dozen TIE fighters made their emergence. He dipped the Rogue into what was almost 180-degree angle and tried to move his ship from under the behemoth as the smaller ships headed directly towards him. Behind the Rogue, the shuttle had come predictably to live and was converging upon them.

"Oh God." JD exclaimed as he saw the ships coming towards them and the large destroyer waiting above them. He had never seen one in his life and considering what it meant to the rest of his life, savagely curtailed by his choices of late, he could not get his eyes of the massive leviathan in space. The Star Destroyers were created not only as the ultimate symbol of Imperial power but as the terrible arm of its war machine. Staring at them now in wide eyed fear, there was good reason for that awesome reputation.

"I'm sorry," Josiah whispered as he realised how cleverly he had been duped. He did not doubt that his contact had believed the information he had been passing and in realistic terms was probably dead now, since the Empire kept close scrutiny on whomever it chose to leak information through. "I got you all into this."

"It's not your fault Josiah," Buck responded automatically. "It was a trap."

"A trap?" JD stammered, becoming afraid of what would happen once they were in Imperial custody. He had no idea how the Empire treated members of the Rebel Alliance and their co-conspirators but he assumed it was with extreme prejudice.

"Yes," Josiah nodded grimly, formulating how this thing had happened to them now that the net had dropped. Strange how things become clear when events no longer had any chance of being altered. It angered him that he was the lure that brought his companions to disaster, that he had been foolish enough to believe that the information coming to him so fortuitously did not stink of a trap. "They leaked the information knowing that we would jump at the jump of rescuing Nathan because he was so important to the Alliance. They fed it to me and I bought it, hook line and sinker."

Buck did not respond. He was too busy trying to escape the Star Destroyer that had predictably fallen into pursuit. The fighters had spread out around the Rogue, ensuring that she did not make an attempt to run for the asteroid field. In retrospect, Buck cursed his own foolishness. Anyone expecting the shuttle to be attacked would have guessed that the asteroid was the only place to launch such an action. He would not be surprised if there was not another ship similarly hidden as they were, watching and waiting their arrival and alerting the Star Destroyer as soon as they made their emergence from their hiding place.

The TIE fighters, at least a dozen of them were already blocking the path to the approaching asteroid field, anticipating that the Rogue would try to hide there. They came at the freighter at full speed, firing all guns as they did so. The blasts impacted against the deflector shield and caused the Rogue to shudder dangerously as it was absorbed by the protective field around the ship. However, its occupants nonetheless felt the brunt of those assaults, as the Rogue heaved in protest against the bombardment. The freighter attempted to veer around to escape the bursts of energy only to be confronted with the Star Destroyer bearing down on them.

Buck refused to give up, thinking fast and furiously, he forced the Rogue through the narrow gap of space between Destroyer and the TIE, his ship skimming along the surface of the larger vessel as it did so. One could not appreciate the vastness of such the ship until one was flying up close to it. The Star Destroyers were almost the size of a small city and as the Rogue flew along the hull, he knew that should he collide with the armored behemoth, his small ship would not survive the impact. The Destroyer would suffer its wounds no doubt but there would be nothing left of the Rogue.

"Hang on!" He shouted as the Rogue glided over the surface of the Destroyer and quickly found itself running out of cover. While he remained close to the vessel, he could be ensured of a slight delay from the TIE's as they decided what to do. They would be reluctant to fire upon their own ship and that brief delay was a few more seconds they were not being captured.

Josiah and JD hung onto the seats, aware that the only reason they were not tumbling around the cockpit was due to the fact that they were strapped into their chairs. Despite Buck's efforts to keep the TIE fighters from firing, they were still being hit and each blast rocked through the ship and made it harder and harder for them to remain calm. An outburst would only distract their pilot and he had enough trouble on their hands.

"I can't shake them!" Buck swore angrily as he found himself in open space again as the Star Destroyer maneuvered away form the Rogue giving its TIE fighters a clear shot at the escaping vessel. The effect of that freedom was pointedly clear as the ship began to shake and shudder dangerously from the unleashed bombardment of energy being hurled at it. Everything that was not bolted down was flying about in all directions. Buck's hands were moving at lighting speed but he could not get away from the barrage and he needed some distance if he was to make the jump to light speed. Unfortunately, the commander of the Star Destroyer was also aware of this and had given orders to his pilot to prevent him from doing just that.

"Can't we jump to hyperspace?" JD asked, his voice full of fear.

"I'm sorry kid," Buck apologized for more than just being unable to make the jump. "They've got us penned in. They're not letting us get enough speed or distance to make the jump."

As he made that statement, two TIE fighters came at the Rogue head on. The forward guns kicked into action, firing a few shots of its own in retaliation but it required someone at the gunnery port and Buck swore once again for not getting himself a co-pilot. The TIE fighter's shrugged off the blasts and then returned fire. The blasts detonated against the forward hull of the Rogue and the ship's internal lights flickered for a second before returning.

"Damn." Buck swore.

"What is it?" JD responded, almost afraid to ask.

Buck did not answer, to busy forcing the Rogue through the two ships and vaporized one as he broke through their line. The sky illuminated briefly as the TIE fighter disintegrated into nothingness. However its destruction only brought more frenzied firing from the others and the Rogue was jolted violently from side to side as the blasts seemed more potent somehow.

"Our deflector shield power is down." Josiah answered as he studied the readings on the console while Buck struggled to keep them alive. "Any more direct hits and they're going to split us apart."

"They're already doing that!" Buck swore angrily, knowing just how much punishment his ship could take and realizing with a sinking feeling that the point was fast approaching when he would have to give serious thought to how far they were going to go with this fight and how his passengers would fare. Thinking deeply, he spoke suddenly. "Alright you two," he looked over his shoulder briefly. "I've got escape pods. I want you two to get in them right now."

"No!" JD exclaimed out. "We're not going to run and leave you!"

"Its pointless any way Buck," Josiah quickly added his support to JD's words. "Even if we do get out on the life pods, we're too far away to make it back to Cordoba or get past that Destroyer."

Buck never had the chance to respond because once again, that shadow fell over his ship and he knew that the Destroyer had caught up to them again. He could see the outline of the vessel moving over the Rogue and see the TIE fighters through every corner of the cockpit. The bombardment suddenly stopped because the Rogue suddenly stopped moving. The ship began to shudder rhythmically and the jolts rattled them inside the cockpit. The engines began to groan and more klaxons began screaming again.

"What's happening?" JD shouted through all this commotion.

Buck and Josiah exchanged heavy glances before the former Senator answered since Buck was too busy dealing with this latest threat. "Tractor beam. They've got us."

JD slumped into his chair and looked at Buck, hoping that the star pilot had something to add that might give them some hope that the situation was not as futile as it appeared. However, in the cockpit window, the evidence of the tractor beam was clear. The Rogue was being slowly pulled forward towards the enormous ship and the TIE's had stopped firing.

"I have to shut the engines down." Buck said softly. "We're not going anywhere and if we keep fighting the beam, the engines are going to superheat and burn out."

"Thank the Force Mary isn't with us." Josiah found himself saying, comforted by that fact only.

"You think this whole thing was to get her?" Buck asked as he began shutting down all systems on his ship. He did not relish what was going to happen to them but he was not going to look death in the face and beg for his life. He knew the risks perfectly well when he agreed to embark upon this mission and if there were any regrets, it was the fact that JD was sharing the dying with him.

"I can't imagine anything else." Josiah replied grimly. "Buck we need to get some kind of story straight. I'd like not to implicate JD if I can. They'll never let you and I go but there is a chance for JD."

"You don't have to do that...." JD spoke up. He was not willing to die but he was not willing to let someone else lie to protect him either.

"JD," Buck spoke up. "We have to do this. You don't know what the Empire is like. You've never seen them at their worst. We have. If we can save you, we will. I'm just asking you to play along with us if we can get you out of this."

JD nodded in compliance but he did not like it. The cockpit felt silent as the trio eased back into their seats and watched the Star Destroyer above swallow them whole.

TO BE CONTINUED...