Dark Fury 12 - continued

[Darth Turbogeek]

Becuas e the other DF 12 thread is just about impossible to load over a 56k modem, the story of DF 12 will continue on here.

As per last thread, refrain from comment until I have finshed - there is still over 100 pages to post.

As per usual, enjoy!

--

In high orbit, exactly on the other side of the planet to the orbiting NR ISD, a Victory Star Destroyer named Nefarious waited. It’s commander, a bronzed toned man walked down the boardwalk to the communications specialist who had signaled him.

“Sir, I have received a transmission from Lord Lounge Lizard in code Cyan-4 to make sure the rebels didn’t overhear it. It says Lord Lizard’s personal ship is returning now and wishes for us to be ready to leave immediately once he has arrived.”

“Very well. Captain, I want a flight of TIE’s to escort Lord Lizard’s ship once we have it on our scopes. The Captain acknowledged the Commander and went to comply with his order.

Operation Amethyst was underway. The Commander commenced getting the ship ready to proceed to it’s rendezvous point for the “cargo transfer”

--

Lynch continued to look at the ring in his hand, before walking over to where he was seated before, His other hand grasped a small gun, whirling around, he shot Mara in the stomach with the needle that was it’s ammunition before she had a chance to react. He put the weapon down, placing the ring back on his finger, then bent down to gently pick her up and place her on one of the chairs of the ship.

“One day, I hope you forgive me for what I have to do” he said out loud

The Lounge Lizard came back into the cabin, making note of Lady Mara now moved.

“Any problem?” he asked

“No, no problem. We were having a chat before the conversation got boring I subdued her with a dart. Lets get her transferred to the Star Destroyer”. Lounge Lizard nodded, taking a seat as a squadron of TIE’s came into view. He aimed the ship for the Star Destroyer that was now visible and made for the cargo bay, slowing down as it entered the magnetic seal, before landing gracefully. Lynch and Lizard got up, ready to receive the Destroyers Commander and for Lady Mara to be transferred to a holding cell.

“Next destination?” asked the Commander after he had come aboard, just after seeing that Lady Mara was dragged to a holding cell.

“A small dust ball planet, the RSO has a facility there. We will deal with her properly when we transfer her there. Break orbit and get us to the co-ordinates I will give you – and also make ready for a transmission I have to make. Remember, treat Lady Mara Jade well, but do not underestimate her powers. Am I understood?” The Commander bowed in acknowledgement, hurrying off to obey Lounge Lizards orders.

A few minutes later, the ship waited whilst Lynch made final call before the VSD jumped to hyperspace.

A beep signaled a connection and Lynch spoke quickly.

“Lord Venom, we have her”

The Star Destroyer fled into hyperspace

--

Not long later, the Star Destroyer exited hyperspace near a isolated planet. Lady Mara, still unconscious was taken from the holding room and returned back to where Lounge Lizard and Jedah Lynch waited, inside Lizards ships the Oozaru II. With commendable speed, the craft lifted off, leaving the Star Destroyer behind as it descended on the unexplored planet, targeting a small base on a sandy buff that had been placed by General Scorpion just for this purpose. The craft landed, with some troops taking the limp Mara inside the base, a converted prison hulk . She was taken inside, to a room with white tiles on the ceiling, floor and walls. Several shower nozzles protruded through the walls, giving the room a slightly surreal effect. Ordering the troops to leave, he untied Mara, then not gently slapped her until she came awake.

She blinked to try to clear her mind, before turning to see Lounge Lizard.

“I should have known you would be in on this. What do you think you and Lynch are up to?”. He didn’t answer as he walked out of the room. The lights were switched off as Mara gingerly got to her feet. “Lynch? Lizard? You let me… belch!!!” Her words were cut off as the shower nozzles suddenly blasted her with stinging water. He screeched and tried to find a place in the room without water being sprayed… but there was none. Covering her face, is crawled into a corner trying to shield herself as best she could against the unrelenting spray

6 hours later, Lounge Lizard came back to the room that housed the monitoring equipment for the cell Lady Mara was in. “Status?” he asked of a tech

“She’s starting to become exhausted and falling asleep according the monitors”

“Good. Stage two then”

The water stops and intense lights snapped on, startling the sodden Jedi Padawan. A note of music came out of a hidden speaker, a repetitive and gaudy music, upbeat. The track loops and for hours, it plays and plays and plays.

The eyes were red and she was still wet, the sounds of the music continued to drum into her head. She tried once again to block the now agonizing sound, but whatever she did, she could hear the maddening notes.

Nearly 4 hours later, a hatch in the wall opened and a tray came out as the music stopped. She slowly looked up through blurry and reddened eyes as she smelt the food on the tray. A dark green liquid sloshed in a cup. Mara stumbled to her feet, more moved by the smell that made her stomach rumble. She reached out…

BZZT.

A charge of electricity zapped out as her hand reached out and she was knocked her onto her backside. A voice came out of the speakers. “Eat and drink now and this will be the last time you will have the chance for 72 hours!”. She reached out and was zapped again. Thinking for a moment, she tried to reach out with the Force, before realizing she couldn’t feel a thing. With some shock, she realized the Force didn’t seem to exist around the tray… In desperation, she leaped at the tray, but was blown aside by a electrical bolt. Her muscles twitched and she didn’t recover until after the tray was withdrawn, leaving the smells of food wafting in the air. Frustrated, she punched the floor, a second before the water blasted from the nozzles once again. She screamed as she tried to take cover once again.

Entering into the control room, Lynch looked at one of the monitors of the room Mara was in. He stared for a few minutes before glancing over to Lounge Lizard and speaking. “How does it go?”

“We're still within the first 24 hours. It will take some time to notice any change, especially for someone so mentally-conditioned as Miss Jade. Give me 72 hours, and we may have tangible results” replied Lounge Lizard

Lynch’s eyes focused on the screen. “72 hours...you shall be given the time you need. Even the best of minds are not infallible given time, patience and effort. It shall be most interesting to see what is the end result”

She gave up trying to take cover, instead lying on the floor with her face turned away from the spray as her mind drifted, trying to find something that would keep her sane as the music started up as well…

Two years ago…

It was a good day on Coruscant, as she moved through the crowds to the tapcafe that was the point of contact for one of her operatives here. She entered the café, taking her seat. A few clients tried to make a move on her, usually a glimpse other sabre was enough to dissuade anyone. A cloaked figure came in, bearing the marks of her contact was supposed to. She shifted, sipping an ale as she observed the person. Not being able to see it’s face, she did note he gave the right all clear signs. Soon she knew, he would go to the dance floor and ask for a certain slow tune. A that point, she would go over and ask the person to dance – and they would make the datacard switch.

She waited, then the person did exactly as she was expecting, asked for the slow song. The band changed to what was a romantic tune and several couples took to the dance floor, She put her drink down and moved to where the person stood.

She tapped him on the shoulder. “Care to dance?”

The person turned at the sound of her voice and she nearly had a heart attack as she saw his cloaked face. It was a Jedi, but not just any Jedi.

Darth Turbogeek, a Jedi Knight who had recently come to note as one of the best fighters ever seen, a Jedi who had turned the tables on a dominant Sith and had given anyone who faced him a frightening beating. She had faced him not long ago and still had the scar on her arm to show for it as well as a still healing broken bones. She almost stopped breathing… if he decided to act…

He dropped his hood, his harsh face looking over Mara. “Wellll… this is unexpected”

That was an understatement, she thought. How in the Force had the Jedi found out about this drop was beyond her – and if she didn’t think fast she would be dead if the Jedi were serious. An audacious idea came to mind. Taking the Jedi’s hand, she lead him into the center of the dance floor, then taking Turbogeek in her arms. Somewhat startled, the Jedi resisted before relaxing and smiling.

“Nice thinking lady. Ain’t going to do you any good you know however”

She nodded. “Are we going to fight now?” Her heart was beating hard, but as she looked at her feelings, she realized it wasn’t of fear. She almost felt giddy. What was going on?

He smiled sadly. “Why, do you want to?”

“No… not now”. Her senses seemed to be flooded by this dark haired man. “Maybe after this song is over”

The song finished, to be followed by another, and then another, yet still they danced close. Eventually they found themselves sitting in a dark corner, sharing a drink. He hung on to every word she said. He was polite and in his own way charming, despite his abrupt manner and she found herself talking about herself, with him listening.

They eventually left the café, Mara feeling like a teenager again as she walked alongside the Jedi. They stopped at a corner.

“Well, I must be gone Jedi. It certainly been an interesting evening”

His voice took on a shy, halting quantity, as if he didn’t really want to say what he did. “Mara… would you like to keep me company tonight?”

She nearly fainted in surprise. “Well, aren’t you being a bit forward? After all, we are sworn enemies”

“I know… but for one night, we should be something else”

Her jaw dropped and he turned to look into her eyes.

“Oh… Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just meant I would appreciate the company tonight. It’s powerfully lonely for me tonight and I’d rather not be alone, not this night. Would you mind?”

“Well….”

“Please. Tomorrow, we can be enemies again but tonight I need a friend. Would you come with me?” His voice had a tone of total honesty that appealed to her.

They walked for a while, before the Jedi turned down an alley and came to a stop in front of a shabby door. He touched the lock and the door grated open. He went inside, turning the light on. She came in, noting with some surprise the old hallway as he closed the door. He went into a living room, the only furniture some rag tag chairs and a lounge that had seen better days. She kept standing as the Jedi went to an old fridge, taking out a bottle and uncorking it, taking a gulp, before spluttering.

“I’m going to drink myself into a coma tonight” he said

She took a seat. “Why’s that?”

“Tonight is 4 years since my wife died. Usually I can put it behind me, but not on the anniversary. I’m sorry to say that, but normally I spend it alone and it’s painful. I can’t bear the pain tonight”

“So, why am I here?” she asked

“I really don’t know. I just didn’t want to be alone…”

She got up, took the bottle off the Jedi and sat next to him. “Alcohol ain’t going to solve your problems” She put a hand under his chin and suddenly kissed Turbogeek. He resisted, before suddenly taking Mara in his arms and returning the kiss. They separated eventually, the Jedi with a look of total – but delighted – surprised.

“Why Mara, I didn’t know you could care”

“Sometimes Jedi, I care a little but too much”

"But what are we doing?” His voice took on a slightly sarcastic tone “ We are, after all, sworn enemies. It wouldn't make sense to..."

Mara nearly bowls him over as she forcefully locks in a passionate embrace

Mara: "I don't care about that. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Opening her eyes again, she looked around the room slowly. Her stomach ached with hunger as she remembered she had not eaten in some time. She put her head down and began to go it a Jedi meditation.

--

A gloved hand taps impatiently as the shuttle emerges from hyperspace. The wearer is in black, his face invisible in the dim light he preferred to he encased by.

The pilot glanced back nervously at his single passenger, all the more so at the figures obvious impatience, wishing this flight would be over, to be rid of this unnaturally huge human, dressed in armor and face covered by his helmet. The fear of the pilot was lapped up by the Dark Jedi, almost making him laugh out loud. Shouldn’t all things fear me? He thought to himself, Shouldn't all things cringe and die when my evil comes into their shadow?

The pilot looks over his shoulder and announced they had the base on scopes and there is a transmission incoming for the huge human. He nodded and moved into the rear section and engage a privacy field, so that the others cant hear this conversation

The face on the screen was that of Jedah Lynch.

"My Lord, we have a prize for you. Would it please you to come and inspect it for yourself?"

"A prize? This had better be good Lynch. I don’t particularly enjoy coming to this hole for nothing"

"Don’t be concerning yourself on that Lord. This is worth your time"

"Very well. Send the co-ordinates to the pilot and we shall land there immediately"

The image of Lynch dissolved. By the smirk on Lynch’s face, it was obvious that he had been successful. He brooded for a moment, before recommencing his seat.

The shuttle descended to the planet below, landing not long later. The door opened and he choose to leave without a guard as would have been usual, but this place has a feel about it, a feeling that appealed to him and made him feel at home. A feeling of repressed evil. He looked around, surveying the area, before turning his full attention to The Lounge Lizard who was coming out of an old transport he identified as one used in the Jedi purge, nearly 80 years ago. Now this was a nice touch, he thought as he bid Lounge Lizard to rise from his bow of respect.

"Lounge Lizard, why do you ask me to come here? I have much to do if the Jedi are to be beaten". He knew quite well why he was here, he was only impatient to get down to business.

LL smirks "This could bring forward all our plans Lord. We have the person who you wished to speak to"

"Really? And who is that?" He knew quite well, but he allowed Lizard sometime to gloat and boast. He had done well after all.

LL is positively beaming in evil amusement. "Come this way my Lord. I don’t wish to spoil this surprise for you"

His evil glee is somewhat infectious and the other could feel the eagerness build. He followed him inside the old transport, through the corridors and to the cell areas. LL stopped and with him was Jedah Lynch.

"Ahhh good. If this is not worth it, I can kill you both now, save me the trouble later. Now, what is this and no more games"

"My Lord, I present to you.... the Jedi Lady Mara Jade"

Lynch stepped away from the entrance of the cell and he looked in the remote monitor for himself, looking at the now shivering and utterly soaked Jedi for myself.

"Excellent! Tell me, how did you do this? Was she foolish enough to be alone?"

"She was my wife once Lord, remember. We have had a disagreement, let us say and I detained her."

Behind the helmet that hid his face, he gazed at the Jedi lying on the floor. He used the Force to read the Padawan’s feelings - detecting the defiance and resolve in her, but as well, a touch of fear.

He touched the button that unlocked and released the door. He stepped into the room as the sprays switched off and Lady Mara slowly looked up at the new arrival

“Good evening. I trust you find our welcome…. Attention getting. I am…”

“I know who you are. You are the person who claims he is Venom. I know you’re an impostor, the real Venom is a long way from here”

“The real Venom? You jest. I am the only Venom now and well you might remember that.”

“Say what you want, I don’t fear you, nor your puppets, if indeed you are the one controlling them”

Venom paused. "You should fear me, Jedi. I am Death incarnate, I am the Dark Side. In time, you shall call me Master"

"If your so powerful, then you should know Lynch already tried that already and it didn’t work. My answer is and shall always be… NEVER!”

"Ahhhh, you should not be saying that. You never know who your saying that word to"

With that he pulled out a Force Pike and with a mighty blow, smashed Lady Mara across the face with it. A cut on her face began to bleed and she rolled away, trying to get out of range. Venom moved to follow her, rapping her on the head once again.

"You really don’t think you will be part of us Mara? I can convince you to think differently, very easily. You will join us Mara..." His voice became deeper, more powerful. "You will join us..."

"NEVER"!

"Oh but you will Mara”

He placed the Force Pike back in it’s holster, then stood, his massive height nearly making his head touch the ceiling. He waved a hand, turning off the monitors, making sure he would not be seen. The hands reached up to his helmet, unclipping the straps and lifting it clear of his face. Keeping his helmet in the crook of his arm, he stared directly at Mara’s face, reading the amazement written clearly on it.

“Look at me Mara. Realize what fear truly is!”

“But… but…. “ She tired to avert her eyes, but it was all she could to stare, her strength seemingly wiped out in one blow. “No…. it can’t be… please, it can’t be!!!”

“It is. Look at me and see the truth!”

“NNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!”. Her face broke and she began to sob “Nooooo……please tell me this is not true…..”. Venom only smirked, putting on his helmet once again. He paused only to kick Mara in the chest as she sobbed uncontrollably, before turning and exiting the door. He pressed the close button, the door automatically locking after it slammed shut.

Lounge Lizard, hearing the sobbing of pain before the door closed, crossed over to Venom. “My Lord, I respectfully ask that you don’t interfere too much at the moment. Her conditioning is not yet complete, and she may respond adversely to physical torture at the moment. I respectfully request that you allow me another 72 hours”

Venom moved to exit the area. “Don’t be worried Lounge Lizard, I didn't harm her physically while you were not in there. Mentally on the other hand, well that is a different question. Continue on and keep me informed of progress.

He left the old ship, with a small idea beginning to form in his head on how to take advantage of this against the Jedi.

She didn’t know how long it was before she heard Lounge Lizard’s voice through the speaker. Had she slept? Her mind could remember a long period of time passing. He stomach growled and her mouth was dry. Even the spray would be welcome so she could have a drink. Lizard’s voice boomed in the room.

“Are you ready to give up?”

Her face stayed emotionless and she endured

“No? Hmm...Neither can I. It will be a long time before you are out of here, Mara. You are going to have to reconcile yourself with this fact...and quickly”

The hatch opened and she could smell a hot broth. She tried to get up, but her body failed her and she collapsed on the ground. She heard a short laugh from the speaker.

“Hungry, Mara? Yes, I can understand that. How many days has it been? I know I would be quite starved. You know, I'm not a cruel man. I'm a humanitarian, same as the Jedi. I believe in the prosperity of Man. However, prosperity is not free. I need something from you, Mara. You are going to have to make that first step if you want this. You know what I want to hear, and you are going to have to tell me exactly that. If not...well, we will have time. We have all the time in the universe out here...so far from anybody.”

“How… humane…” she spat out. “Why don’t you go kiss a Hutt”

In answer, the sprays started and the meal retracted. Her hand cupped and she drank greedily as the sprays struck her.

I can use their methods against them, she thought. I will endure and defeat them. I will never turn and they wont defeat me!

Jedah Lynch sat back in a chair, watching the latest breaking session on a screen, also tapping the table with the ring he was wearing. Hind ran with possibilities as he also sipped a drink.

I wonder…

Taking another sip from the cup, he takes a drink from it as he looks at another screen with Mara Jades vital stats and brain wave patterns to see how the session is affecting her so far mentally and physically. The Lunge Lizard sauntered into the room, also taking a look at monitors.

“How does it go?” Lynch asked

“Lynch...its the critical time now. She may begin to make small concessions soon. We will exploit these, and eventually, she will fully break. Without the force, and when I administer the drugs...she will not be able to keep her resistance high”

“I wonder about that, her resolve is remarkable. Even though you've put her through various trials to drain her will she’s not one to easily give in. It would take a staggering blow against what she believes in to break her and Venom gave her a significant one, if I understand what he did correctly”

A noise from the microphone in the room drew the attention of both the Sith. Lizard turned the volume up as it was Mara saying something softly.

“What is it you want, Lounge Lizard?”

Lynch glanced at Lizard. “Good question. What exactly are you wanting?”

“I know what Venom wants to gain from the situation and that in itself is audacious. He only sees Mara as a pawn to move in the game he is playing against the Jedi now. From Mara herself? That my friend only you can answer”

Lynch thought about what Lizard said.

“Indeed” he replied.

He spun the small shiny round ring on the desk then grabbed it his palm and spun around in his chair to look at his fellow Sith

”Tell me, does a persons better nature win out of their true nature? Or can a persons nature be changed, altered to fit the reality of someone’s truth?”

Lounge Lizard frowned, thinking over the question before answering. “People are animals, despite any window dressing to state otherwise. Animals adapt to their environment. To answer your question, I believe that the second is true”

“Animals... also known as beast of burden...they live their lives in pain and suffering, always enduring, always fighting, adapting and dying”. He slammed his fist on the desk. “Does a person kill the animal to put it out of it's misery? With one quick reflex end it's breathing, in one split second end it's life?”

Leaning back on his chair, he continued. “That or simply teach it what is the true meaning of things...the truth can set a person free. She simply has forgotten the truth, that of whom she is. Who she always has been. In time my friend she will remember”. He grinned at his comrade. “Oh yes she will....”

A quiet knock sounded and without waiting, the huge Dark Jedi Venom entered. He seemed to make the room shrink with his massive bulk. He looked over at the monitor, watching Mara for a moment before speaking.

“How goes it?”

Jedah Lynch gave a non committal shrug.

“Hmmm. Her resistance is impressive. I have been giving this some thought, how do we use this to our advantage?”

“How do you mean, my Lord?”

“I mean, I know you have a personal stake in this, but I am more inclined to use this against the Jedi. I believe if they knew who held her, they would be quite keen to get her back and they must be concerned, it is now a few days since you grabbed her from Dagobah"

"True.... " said Lynch thoughtfully

“I will go and make a transmission to the Jedi. This could be used to our advantage”

Lynch grinned. “As you will my Lord”

Lounge Lizard leaned over and touched a button as Lynch and Venom were talking. A hissing sound in the room could be heard from the microphone and the lights began to strobe at high speed. Mara was assaulted with a barrage of flashing lights, and as her breathing increases to the harsh display, she takes in small quantities of Tiberen-D, a mild hallucinogenic compound. Her eyes glaze over and she begins looking around frantically. Lizard's voice booms over the loudspeaker, audio systems warping it slightly.

“Tell me what I need to know...Mara...you know what I need...you are going to have to say it...it is the only way for this to end...the Jedi are not here....they are halfway across the galaxy, and will not help you...I am the only one who can help you...don't turn your back on me”

Lynch turned in his chair back to face the screen watching Mara Jade look around as Lounge Lizards voice continues unabated, repeating over and over as the lights continue to flash confounding the prisoner. “I can only guess my lord what you have planned for her if you want to use her against the Jedi and upon that thought I can only feel a great swell of pity for her. Such a fate is not one you would wish upon many enemies. The only question is, will she give in before it is too much?”

Venom shrugged. “I don’t really care. If she co-operates now, then I think she will escape reasonably easily”

“It is too early for her to be in risk of permanent damage,” replied Lounge Lizard, his eyes intent on the screens and watching Mara’s actions closely.

“Early now yes, but things change and the pain could get worse. I'm sure Lord Venom will take care of that detail.... but he knows physical pain, in this I have someone who might be able to do something more...” said Lynch, noting a small alert light had come on. He pressed the comm. button and spoke into the device’

“Are you ready”

“Yes I am” came the reply.

Nodding to LL and Venom he walked out of the room and proceeded to the cell keeping Mara prisoner. Waiting for the lights to stop their flashing and the gas to be ventilated from the room, Lynch opens the door and walked up to his former wife, putting his hand under her chin lifting up her face he whispers in her ear.

"Mara...Mara you have company, someone is here to see you...."

Letting her eyes adjust to the light, she can only see the form of someone in the doorway that entered the room when Lynch beckoned. The light from outside blinded Mara as she squeezed her eyes tight to block the pain caused from them. The sound of the door closing shut with the locks going into place echoed as Mara looked up, seeing someone she once held dear now in the room and standing over her head.

Her Sith apprentice, Ayanami Rai. She slowly walked onto the room, her face solemn as she stopped advancing, just out of reach of her former Master.

She spoke in a cold desolate tone, sending chills through Mara

“Hello my Master. How are you doing?” She took a step closer, leaning closer to Mara. “I see that you are...a bit...preoccupied”

The corner of her mouth rises in an evil grin, her eyes dark and narrow. The tone of her voice lowers slightly as she leans forward almost whispering to Mara. “You betrayed me Master. You ran away from your family. From me. You abandoned us when we needed you the most. You ran away Mara. You ran away. You can't hide from me anymore. I've got you in my grasp”

She raised her hand in front of Mara's face and squeezes her hand closed. “And you're not going to escape me this time. I wont let you run away”

Mara shut her eyes, a tear trickling down her cheek. The Sith almost laughed as they thought they had scored an important breakthrough, but in the inner mind, Mara was thinking of someone else.

Master Turbogeek... I will not betray the Jedi! Her mental strength came back in a rush as she raised her head, staring at the one whom had once called Mara Master. “I’m sorry, but your Master is dead. Get over it”. Opening her eyes again she looks directly at Ayanami, her earlier display of emotion no longer present. She then looks back toward the other side of the room, trying to focus as the room seems to spin around rapidly. “I’ve had quite enough of your help, thank you Lounge Lizard”.

Ayanami took a step back, with an evil grin on her face. “Oh no, my Master isn’t dead – just forgotten her true self”. Ayanami turned, nodding to Lynch as she walked back towards the door. Lynch watched Ayanami walk towards the door, before turning back towards Mara before staring down at her as she looks up at him. Silently he moved his hand over to the tear that is nearing the bottom of her face and moves a finger to intercept it. Picking up the single tear on his finger holding it in front of Mara’s face it falls to the ground. Turning without another word or action, he exited the room, the door closing and locking behind him. A moment later, the flashing lights started up again, the flashing beginning to cause intense pain in Mara’s eyes, before she covered her head and put her face to the floor.

The Lounge Lizard spoke over the speaker again. “Mara...you deny yourself everything, and now you deny your apprentice, the one you swore to teach and protect? How terrible. Your values have been skewed. Do you know what you are doing? How would you feel if something were to happen to her? Would you feel indifference, or even pleasure? That is very un-jedi like of you, my dear”

What would you know of being a Jedi, Lizard? She said to herself. You failed at it twice!

The bench that had appeared twice before with food reappeared, this time Mara made no effort to try and gain the broth in the bowl, knowing it would do her no good. A small pause and to her surprise, the door unlocked and opened, the Lounge Lizard entered again, moving to the bench and putting the broth on the floor next to the Jedi Padawan.

“Congratulations, you have made the first step back. Thank you for telling me what I needed to hear. I needed to hear your true self again.” He said. “As your reward, I’m allowing you to eat. I know you must be hungry as you have not eaten in days”

She had to admit she was. Mara gingerly pushed herself up into a seating position, picking up the spoon in the bowl, she took a sip. The smell curling into her nostrils and suddenly, her hunger roared at her and she began to eat voraciously. The broth was finished and the bench was gone for several minutes but yet the Sith stood over Lady Mara, her stomach content finally. Suddenly, an intense pain seized her and she flailed around, her eyes glazing over, skin sweating heavily, as she breathed in frightened, short breaths, going into the fetal position. Lounge Lizard looked down at her.

“Your broth was laced with LSD, my dear and your now finding it’s taking control of your system. The truth serum it was also laced with will make exploring your mind all the more easier, breaking down what will you may possess”. Lizard signaled for the attendants to join him. They dragged Mara to a chair that appeared from the wall, strapping her onto it. The attendants left the room, allowing Lounge Lizard to attempt to get deeper into Mara’s now unstable mind.

--

[Darth Turbogeek]

Reaperfett came back into the Jedi’s base of operations, mud stained and wet from his patrol in the rainforest. Master Yoghurt looked up to him, but the other slowly shook his head. Yoghurt sighe, shaking his head.

“Bad feeling I have. Lady Mara’s been gone for 4 days now and noe know where she is”

“Have you tried contacting Turbogeek? Maybe she found out where he is and went there instead?” replied Reaperfett.

“Tried yes. Contacted, no. Even sent a pilot there to find him but he was not to be found. Only thing I have not tired is emergency comm. link. If she is there, then that will not be necessary”

“And if she’s not? Yog, contacting DT in any manner would have been the first thing I would have done, no matter how screwed up he is. We really don’t need Mara wandering off without us knowing and I am sure Turbogeek would want to know if she isn’t anywhere”

“Try agan today we will. If find her we have by sunset, then call him I will”

“And if he doesn’t answer?”

“Then go there I will and get an explaination. This is not good Reaperfett”

“So you already said Master Yoghurt. Who will we send in the next search party?” asked Reaperfett

“Leave that up to you I will” Reaperfett nodded and left Master Yoghurt again to mentally review the situation again. They ahd first noticed her gone 4 days ago when Nupraptor had come to summon her to go before the Council. When he couldn’t find her, a search had gone out. Finally, the whole base had been alerted and whole teams were now combing the swamps. The ISD that orbited high abouve had reported no sign of any ships and no trace of her had been found. Had she had an accident? Had she gotten lost? Was she now dead? The vision in the Force Yoghurt had had haunted him every night now, the vision that Mara had no future. He could only hope that it hadn’t happened, but there was a small voice in the back of his mind that said otherwise.

“Master Yoghurt? Master Yoghurt are you in here?” JK Leia Solo called thorugh the door.

“Yes, here I am. Is there word?” he replied

“No, but there is a incoming transmission on diplomatic encryption with no valid source point waiting in the comms area. It marked priority, Council only. Where will I patch it through?”

“Through to the Council Chamber. Call the Council together and we will view at the one time.”

She nodded and ducked out, moving to relay Yoghurt’s order. The small Jedi leaned his head on his walking stick, before also leaving the operations room and hurrying to the Council room himself.

Reaperfett, Rmaio, Figrin D’An, JK Leia Solo and Nupraptor got there before him and Obiwan2 followed not long after. They all took seat as Rmiao touched a button, igniting the holoprojector. The message was relayed, the Jedi Master setting the decrypt code before the vision of the sender came to life.

Not in a hundred years would have Rmiao expected this. Instead of the diplomat or maybe even Turbogeek or Mara (as was Yoghurt’s hope), a huge human, armour clear in the hologram, with a polearm in one hand.

“Oh my…” breathed in JK Leia. “Who is that??!”

“It’s… Venom! What does he want?” exclaimed Rmiao

“Play the message, Master Rmiao” urged Reaperfett. Rmiao paused, also pondering what this evil hulk wanted. He tapped the play message button, the figure becoming animated and the deepquiet and deadly voice sounded from the speakers.

“Greetings, pathetic Jedi. As you may well know, your Lady Mara Jade has gone astray. Well, I hope that you would have noticed, it has been several days since she went missing from you. Don’t worry yourself looking, I know precisely where she is.” His took on a heckling tone. “Oh she is quite safe – for the moment, as long as she co-operates and yourselves as well. Do not try anything stupid, like track this message and try to save her as I have one of the best Sith with a knife to her throat as we speak. I shall contact you in three days and you may grovel for her life then”

The transmission ended and utterly, gastly silence decended on the room. It was almost a minute before Nupraptor spoke.

“Master Yoghurt, you know how Turbogeek told you not to contact him unless out of total emergency”

“Yes….”

“I would say that condition has been met. If you have a better way to contact him that we haven’t used, you had better use it”

“Funny you should say that Nup…” replied Reaperfett, looking at Yoghurt signifigantly.

--

The comm. unit beeped again, still unanswered as the human in th mud hut, the sole occupant groaned. A empty bottle of alcohol clattered away as he hauled himself painfully into a seating position and looked out at the room at what had been a two day drinking session. The comm. unit had beeped in those days, but he had ignored it, but this time, the lights on the console flashed differently. This time, they were the code he had used with Yoghurt to signal an emergency.

“Ohhhhh…. My head.” He moaned. His blearly eyes set themselves on the source of the noise and he crashed out of the lounge, rolling onto the floor as hereached out ahd hit the answer button. From the floor, he answered the dancing hologram that had appeared.

“This better be damn good. I’ve got a foul headache….”

Twenty seconds later, he had forgotten all about his headache and indeed, about anything else other than the message Master Yoghurt gave him.

--

On the third day after the first contact from Venom, the Jedi were gathered in the Council room, waiting. Finally, the comm. unit beeped and the holoprojector was bought to life by a touch of a button by Rmiao. The image of Venom appeared, but this time, it was no message. This time, he was speaking to them in real time.

“Ahhh, that was quick. You must have been waiting for me. How gratifying to know you are taking me seriously”

“Give her back Venom!” yelled out a young Jedi

“Really? And why should I? Do you have permission to speak for your Council?”

“I don’t care! I’ll get her back!” he yelled.

Very, very suddenly, the young Jedi began to choke and quickly he dropped to his knees as if some invisible hand pushed him.

“Enough! Venom! He spoke out of line, release him!” snapped Reaperfett.

“As you wish” The Jedi seemed to be picked up and hurled onto a wall, where he was knocked out. “Now. Where were we? Ahh yes, I was going to see you Jedi grovel for the return of your precious Jedi Padawan. Well, which one of you will be first?”

“Why do you want us to grovel?” asked JK Leia Solo.

“You are going to grovel at my feet and beg for mercy, to release her from her pain! I shall hear your whines and I shall see you begging, begging to the Sith to let her go. I shall see you bow down to the power that I am, the evil I have. You will do so or else the last thing you will hear of her will be her dying screams as I rip her heart out. And you will hear her scream Jedi. It will rend you useless in front of my rage of you, you will be bought low when you see what I do to those I despise. Enough of this chatter. I shall be back and you will see what I mean.”

The pause symbol came up as the Jedi broke into an uproar.

--

After seeing the message that Venom sent to the Jedi, relayed to him by Master Yoghurt the Jedi Master Turbogeek, now clean and shaved, wearing clean clothes for the first time in a week – also having cleaned up the refuse of his drinking splurge – ran the transmission through a special code slicing computer he owned. Not many realised he and Master Yoghurt were also expect slicers in their own right and with just a few key taps he began some illicit slicing, making the holo networks obey his commands. All messages leave traces, some better, some worse. This message was extremely good and ended at a fake transponder point.

Not good and highly impressive at the same time. Some one was taking care to make sure they were not tracked.

He sat back, wondering what his next move could be. Obviously this ‘Venom’ was serious about his threat, but he could not now sit around and allow Venom to have the upper hand, no matter the state of Turbogeek’s mind.

Once, Lounge Lizard was a Jedi and he had been trained by Turbogeek at one time. His Force sense was familiar to the Jedi Master and he knew at close range, he would be able to find Lounge Lizard in the Force easily. At longer distances? It was doable. He began to consider, was it possible to find Mara by searching for Lounge Lizard?

It was worth a try. He concentrated, relaxed into the Force, seeking out Lounge Lizard.

“Lounge Lizard…”

He could feel Lizard in the Force and felt a connection being made. It was night where Lizard was and Mara was still being tortured. A few other presences were near Lizard, one a dark and frightening shadow. Was that Venom?

Before the question could be answered, DT could feel the sense the connection slipping, still with no sense of location. Before it was too late, DT send a message via the Force...

"Release Lady Mara Jade now - I will take her place..."

The surprise was clear, even at this unthinkable distance, clear via the Force.

“Wha…?”

“Didn’t you listen to me Lounge Lizard when I told you everything in the Force is connected?”

The far off being calmed himself and laughed in return. “Why, Jedi Turbogeek, what an unexpected surprise. And might I say, how noble of you. The great Jedi himself willing to sacrifice himself.. for what? A miserable Padawan? What makes a Padawan so valuable and why would you want her back so badly?”

“As I said, I would offer myself in exchange”

The Force sense of Lounge Lizard was clearly taken aback. This quite obviously was not expected. “Give me a while to consider this”

Turbogeek agreed and allowed the Force connection to slip. Even as he did, he had to ask himself, the very same question the Sith had asked him.

What makes a Padawan so valuable that a Master would be sacrificed?

He had no answer, but he knew it was something he had to do.

Without delay, he pressed a few buttons that remotely began his ship’s start-up sequence

--

Lounge Lizard sat back, thinking. He didn’t expect this, not one of the most powerful Jedi willing to sacrifice himself – and for what? A Padawan, no matter how powerful she could turn out to be in the end?

In fact, it was even somewhat frightening.

“Lounge Lizard? Does something concern you?”

He snapped back to reality to see Venom staring at him through the visor of his helmet. “I… umm… I had a bit of a word with someone just then”

“A word? What do you mean?”

“A Jedi used the Force to speak to me”

Venom’s sense got clearly angry. “I thought I told those fools not to try and find her! Who was it and what did they try and what did they say?”

“They offered to exchange themselves for Lady Mara”

A short laugh from Venom and his sense, still with some anger, changed to amused. “Did they now. And who was this heroic Jedi? Doubtless it was a trick”

“No trick Lord, I know this Jedi well. He never bluffs.”

“Oh? Then stop extolling him and tell me who it was”

Lizard licked his lips, which had gone suddenly dry. “It was… Jedi Master Darth Turbogeek”

A pause.

“Turbogeek?!?! Offered to exchange himself for that pathetic lump? You jest”

“No jest Lord. He contacted me through the Force and because of that, I got a clear idea wether this was serious or not. It’s 100% serious and remember, Turbogeek never bluffs”

“The Jedi Council would never approve that. He must be acting on his own volition!”

“Then that makes it doubly serious. What do we do? I see accepting his offer could be advantageous..”

“Or highly dangerous. Let us think carefully what to do next” remarked Venom.

--

The Jedi Council was once again gathered as a notification of a transmission from Venom had been received. The high ranking Jedi all took their places, to view whatever this Dark Jedi had up his sleeve next”

“What do you expect? Another bragging session?” asked Reaperfett to Nupraptor.

“Probably. Maybe even make a few demands… look, he’s making the transmission”

The holo field lit up and the image of the enormous fiend came into view.

“What is it you want this time Venom?” asked Rmiao.

“I would speak with the one you call Turbogeek and I would have you make him speak to me now”

Confused, the Jedi Councillors looked at each other. Venom must have seen the looks as he spoke without waiting for an answer. “Well? What in hell are you waiting for? Get him!”

“That’s the problem, Venom. He’s not here.

“I DON’T CARE! GET HIM OR MARA’S LIFE IS FORFEI….”

“I’m here”

The Jedi turned at the sudden interruption from behind them. A cloaked figure walked into the room without answering any questions or reacting to the surprise of the others gathered. He stood right in front of the holo projector’s pickup and faced the image of the Dark Jedi.

“Well? You obviously got my message, now what’s your answer?”

The other Jedi began to speak quietly, but with some animation. Why was Turbogeek back? And what had he spoken to this Venom about?

“Yes… indeed we have, Jedi and we have come to a decision”

Turbogeek steeled himself “And what was it?”

“Lady Mara will decide for herself”

Nerf Herder! He didn’t think they would do this…

The focus point of the holo shifted, to Lounge Lizard, dragging a bedraggled Lady Mara Jade. She was roughly shoved into frame, where the Jedi could see the weariness and strain. But in looking at her, Turbogeek saw something else. Steely resolve. Whatever they had done to her, her will hadn’t broken.

“So, Mara, what will it be? You get to leave hell and go back to the Jedi or stay here and suffer more?” sneered Lizard.

Turbogeek could read the answer in her face, before the words came out. No Mara… please… no….

Mara raised her face to stare outwards and she flashed a smile at the Jedi Master.

“You truly are the bravest man I have ever met Darth Turbogeek. Your concern is appreciated, but wholly unnecessary. I have endured far worse pain than these Sith can inflict upon me. I will remain as I have always been... strong until the bitter end”

With that she took a deep breath and the look of defiance got clearer. She suddenly turned and punched Lounge Lizard in the groin, there was a scramble by other coming on-screen to contain her and the focus of the cam moved, back to Venom.

The snarl of Venom was clear. “You have your answer”. The transmission cut out abruptly, leaving the Jedi, with Turbogeek standing in the centre, in silence.

“What was all that about?” asked Obiwan2.

“I offered to replace her with myself. I thought they would have gone for that, but obviously not.” He turned to face the gathered Council. “I’m not here for any other reason other than to get Mara back” He stared at each one of the Jedi in turn. “Whatever the cost to me personally, I will pay it, but she will be freed. Now excuse me, I must go again”. He walked out, not answering any questions that suddenly were thrown his way

--

[Darth Turbogeek]

A transmission came in, the face of Rama Sha appearing on the screen.

“Well, I have to hand it to you Lounge Lizard. The TSE were monitoring that call you made to the Jedi as you suggested we should. That took real courage to let Mara choose like that. She maybe important and an asset to the Jedi, but we could have had Turbogeek killed. Still, I bow to your boldness. Has she talked yet?”

“It was a risk that had to be taken...I had to see how far her conditioning had progressed...which suffice to say, is not as far along as I intended” Lounge Lizard replied.

“She must be mentally deranged. No Jedi Padawan would have that much stamina”

Lounge Lizard frowned. “We are finding out she’s a lot more than what meets the eye”

--

She sat in the cell, calmly waiting. Mara was fully expecting something to happen and she wasn’t disappointed – Lounge Lizard came into the cell, followed by some assistants.

“Feeling a bit more comfortable?”

Lounge Lizard ignored her comment, directing the assistants to place a chair in the middle of the room. On it were straps and restraints. Mara eyed the device off warily, uncertain. “Now what?”

“Mara, what you did was noble, brave, and utterly stupid. I thought we were getting somewhere, but you have foolishly dashed every bit of progress we have made”. He suddenly lashed out, smashing Mara in face with a small billy club he had been hiding in his cloak. Her mind reeling, it was therefore an easy task for the assistants to grab her, place her in the chair and lock the restraints in place. She recovered to find herself unable to move and Lounge Lizard already injecting her arm. She tried to struggle, but she was too firmly tied to place. “These next few hours are going to be long for you. You are going to return to us, or you may not return at all from where you are going. These drugs are in the testing phase. They are wildly psychedelic, and can cause brain damage if resisted. Don't resist this time”

He leered as the drugs began to take control, Mara’s mind seeming to backflip out of reality and into a nightmare. Her eyes closed, he could see every muscle begin to tense and her breathing shorten into panting.

“DON'T TEST ME, MARA! YOU AREN'T IN THE POSITION TO DO SO!” He yelled as her mind succumbed to the drug, screaming from the nightmares being unleashed.

Looking on from one of the monitors, Venom shook his head and walked off. Down the halls, he came into the room Jedah Lynch used as a study, finding the winged Sith toying with a small knife

“She is strong, I will grant her that. Strong and stupid. Jedah Lynch, be on your guard. I sense that the Jedi could be up to something. What it is, I have not seen in the Force, but I still feel something is going to go unexpected”

“Does it have something to do with the offer that fool Turbogeek made?”

“Yes… something about that concerns me. From the spy we have at Dagobah, the word is that he wasn’t even supposed to be there. I was intending to set the Jedi some impossible deadline and then when they failed, ransom her life. Now, the path is less clear”

“What could she do locked up? And what can he do? He does not know where she is. Yet...if he is up to something, then shouldn't we investigate into the matter” Lynch replied.

“Yes we will. I will go to the command center and initiate enquiries and then meditate on the Force and see what it tells me”

The Dark Jedi left, allowing Lynch to be alone, brooding on his thoughts and also on events. Eventually, after many hours, he got up, worked the knots out of his limbs and walked out the room, to the area they had set up to remotely monitor his wife – no, his ex-wife. He looked at the screen, seeing she had come out to f the influence of the drugs that he heard Lounge Lizard was going to. She was still strapped to the chair, bathed in sweat, head bowed. Through the speaker, he could hear her quietly sobbing. A look of bewilderment crossed his face. Had she broken, finally…?

She didn’t see the door to her cell open, didn’t see the person step inside. She did hear the footsteps as they echoed on the floor, getting closer. She didn’t bother lifting her head. Quite abruptly, the shackles keeping her in the chair unlocked and with her body weakened, she slumped forward, crashing to the ground. A hand touched her shoulder, gently grasping her clothes, pulling her into a seating position, then keeping her balanced. Another hand touched her face, lifting her chin. Her blurry vision could hardly make out the other person.

Jedah Lynch stared at her face, dark rings around her sunken eyes, skin puffy and blotched. Her hair hung in strips, greasy and unkempt. He allowed her chin to drop, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small cloth wiped the grime and sweat off her face. He placed the cloth aside ad picked her up, placing her back on the chair. He then produced a bottle of water, placing it to her lips, he allowed her to drink as she wanted.

A small amount of strength had come back to her body and her vision had cleared to the point where she could recognize who the person taking a small mercy on her was.

“L.. L… Lynch?”

“Shh. Don’t speak for the moment. You were foolish to join the Jedi but perhaps it's not your fault, the process might have done something to you that you were not in control of. It was not your fault; thence the ones who did the transfer are to blame. But don't worry; eventually you'll remember who you really are. That's what is important, in the end you will be yourself once again. One day.” He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead before squatting back down and staring intently into her eyes.

“I'll make sure of that, even if I have to kill every Jedi to bring out what is in you again.”

He got up, pressing a button on the control he had on his wrist. The restraints whirred and snapped back into position, as Lynch turned on his heel and walked out, closing the door behind him. Only then, did he notice that his apprentice and friend, Darth Havok had been watching all along from the open door.

“Master, the others will not be pleased”

Lynch stared at Havok from under the hood of his cloak. “Maybe, maybe not”

“I should be telling them of this”

“They will know, or they will not know. I don’t really care” replied Lynch

“Master, what type of a Sith shows compassion for his enemies?”

Lynch eyed off Havok, before suddenly lashing out, grabbing Havok by the throat and slamming him against the wall. “The next evolution, that which is beyond fools like Vader and Bane, beyond that old pile of bones they called the Emperor! Don’t you understand that”

Havok could only gasp as he struggled against Lynch’s grip of his throat. Eventually, Lynch released his hand, allowing Havok to drop the ground, gasping.

“Never question the darkness again, it proves fatal, in this game of chess one checkmate and your dead!” With that, Lynch turned on his heel and stormed off down the corridor, leaving Havok to ponder his strange word and wonder what they meant.

Mara sat still, not struggling, hardly even thinking for some time after Lynch had left. He mind was still exhausted after the drug ordeal, but in a small part of the mind, she celebrated. She had come through again, beaten but not bowed! They had thrown their best punches and she was still able to fight! The more they did, the more she was now determined to fight, especially after the offer Turbogeek had made, to let her go free and suffer here in her place. It was the least she could do, to fight on and honor that heroic act.

The door opened and Lounge Lizard came back in again, this time with a person she vaguely thought might have been an Imperial. Guard Piett? maybe? She saw they were coming for her and Guard Piett had a blaster in his hand. Mara clamed her mind, knowing the finality of the situation now, even before Lounge Lizard spoke.

“Mara...I wish that it did not have to be this way. I wish that you would realize the hopelessness of your situation. I wish that you would remember your true self and embrace your past. I wish that you would not fail me. However, it appears that my efforts have been wasted on you. And...I cannot simply give you back to the Jedi, and I think you knew that from the start”

Guard Piett aimed his blaster

“Mara… I am sorry this had to happen”

Mara looked at Lounge Lizard with stoic eyes as the blast hit her in the chest.

The sound of the blaster echoed as Mara’s slumped in the suddenly loosened restraints, hitting the floor with a muted thump. The stun blast made her legs twitch uncontrollably as Venom came in, followed by Lynch. He pointed at Mara “Pick her up”

Lynch looked at the Dark Jedi in some puzzlement. “What now my Lord?”

“Lounge Lizard is taking Lady Mara and is going to do a deal with a Jedi”

--

The message had been blunt as it had been sudden, arriving as the evening was falling on the planet of Dagobah.

Turbogeek and one other Jedi will come to Y’han and barter for Lady Mara Jade’s life

Turbogeek hiself had kept to himself since he had arrived back with the Jedi, hardly being seen by anyone. What he did in the long absences was anyone’s guess, but one thing was for sure – the Jedi hadn’t spoken more than a dozen words to anyone. Hence, as Master Yoghurt waddled out to where Turbogeek was last seen, sitting on a rock near one of the many pools as the rain water washed by his feet. The Jedi was completely covered by a water proof that covered all his features – in fact, if it wasn’t his presence in the Force, people could have mistaken the still Jedi and another large rock or stump. The rain itself was warm and soft, so it didn’t bother Yoghurt, moving towards where the other sat

“Turbogeek”

“Hey Yoghurt, what can I do for you?” The words sounded light and in fact his whole emotional state was somewhat better than Yoghurt had seen it for some time.

“Master Turbogeek, received a message we did. Venom will bargain for Mara release”

“Really? Just like that?”

“Yes. Wants you to go to Y’han with one other person”

“Interesting. Well, I was intending to go and face of Venom anyway; this will be a good time to do it. So, he said one other? I hear Y’an is rather noce thins time of year, like to find out if it’s true or not?”

“Hmmm, yes I shall go find out. When do we go?”

“I haven’t anything else on. I say now.” The Jedi stood up and as he did, the water proof slipped off his form, revealing what he was wearing. Master Yoghurt took a involuntary step back as a old nightmanre was revealed…

“Master Turbogeek… Sith battle armour? Why do you wear that?

“I never had any intention of going to the RSO quietly. I was fully intending to make sure Mara was safe then take that scum on. I probably wouldn’t have survived, but I would have taken some of them with me. Besides, we go to see Venom. What better to wear than the very armour he wore when he was a minion of Callista?”

That bought a smile to Yoghurt’s face

--

Y’han. Most beings would have classed the planet as unremarkable and thato would have been favourable. A deserted planet that had been polluted and mined to extinction, it now sported craggy lands and a few hardy plants that thrives in the conditions. Beings of any type hardly walked the surface anymore and hence it was the prefect place to hold a meeting without being interrupted.

The OozaruII, The Lounge Lizard’s personal ship landed in a puff of sand, next to the remains of a marble building. After scanning the area, he lowered the ramp and walked out, going to the building and entering. There was an old metal table that was still in one piece, along with some chairs.

Perfect.

He took a seat and awaited the Jedi negotiators.

--

The fighter / transport came into the area hot, motors screaming as the pilot did a banking turn, bringing the ship into a hover as the landing gear extended. The craft descended, to land with a muted thump. A sleek ship, it had been fully repaired after the owner had the misfortune of hitting a mass shadow while jumping to hyperspace. The metal gleamed in the light and clearly on the nose, there was a picture of a leaping cat, claws extended. The Razor, personal ship to the Jedi Master Turbogeek had arrived.

He set the engines to standby and shut down most of the systems that would not help in a fast getaway. Master Yoghurt, seated in one of the passenger seats nodded. “Lounge Lizard is here and is impatient. Shall we go?”

Turbogeek gave the scopes one last look. “Yep, all clear. Lets get this done”

--

Lounge Lizard heard the crunch of gravel, announcing the arrival of the Jedi. He stood and waited as the two of them came in – Master Yoghurt and … a Sith?!

No,, he corrected, it was Turbogeek in Sith Battle array. He had to admit, it was rather impressive – and also highlighted how little the Jedi trusted Lizard.

“Why, Jedi Master Turbogeek. Don’t you trust me? I think I am insulted”

“Oh, I know your honourable, but Venom o the other hand… speaking of which, where is he”

“I am alone Turbogeek. Now, as this is a peaceful negotiation, I request you place all arms of war on the table” Lizard replied, taking out his lightsabre and placing it in front of him.

Master Yoghurt glanced at Turbogeek, before likewise placing his sabre on the table. The other Jedi paused, before with a grin, placing his sabre on the table.

And then a blaster.

Followed by a thermal detonator

A boot knife.

A holdout blaster. Lounge Lizard looked in ever growing surprise as Turbogeek placed out what appeared to be an whole armoury on the table.

“What is this?” Lizard asked as the last item, what appeared to be an elongated sabre with a shearing guard halfway down the handle on top of the rather impressive pile. “Came for a war?”

“I didn’t bother getting changed after I made my offer to replace Lady Mara. You really think I would have gone meekly to what would have been my death?”

Lounge Lizard stared at the weapons pile and looked up, with a short laugh. “Well. I should have known” Lizard turned serious. “But what could have happened in the past means nothing.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of paper (Paper? How archaic! Thought Turbogeek, remembering the book he found) and began to read what was written on it.

“Jedi representative Turbogeek, these are the terms of the Rogue Sith Order :

We demand the withdrawal of all New Republic forces and starfleets from the star systems of Kashyyk, Bespin, Kessel, Ithor Prime, and Byss. Furthermore, we demand two Mon Calamari MC-80 Capital Ships, Three Nebulon-B frigates, and 12 Corellian Corvette light capital ships. In addition, we demand no less than 4 seats in the Galactic Senate, and the depositing of no less than 300 million credits into an undisclosed account that will be revealed later. These are our terms.

For the compliance on these terms, I will release to you the Padawan Lady Mara Jade”

Silence.

“I thought I was here to negotiate, not waste my damn time! What type of fool is your leader? You know damn well I can not agree to those demands!” snapped back Turbogeek.

“And then what CAN you accept? I will honour your presence here with some objectivity”

Turbogeek quietly consulted with Yoghurt, before replying. “I certainly can not concede military weapons. Your monetary demands, maybe I can meet those. But… hand over planets we don’t control?”

“I could lose my desire for one of the MC-80’s and four corvettes. I will also strike Kashyyyk from my demands list” replied Lizard.

“Pretty obviously now. Stepped back quickly, knows demands unreasonable, so will step back closer to what they really want” whispered Yoghurt.

“Mmmmm. But why Byss? The others I can understand, but Byss is nothing more than a ball of dirt these days – it was pretty well destroyed 40 odd years ago. Nobody can possibly use it, not without a huge anmount of work and credits no-one has”

“Badge of boasting perhaps? Emperor Reborn was there. Symbol of past? Any chance they might know something we don’t?”

“Yes, of course, but anyone who’s been there says it’s nothing more than a wind blasted hell planet.”

“Ask him then. See what he says” said Yoghurt.

“Sure.” Turbogeek faced Lounge Lizard. “Why Byss?”

”Venom wants to make his home base there”

“That’s a pretty poor reason for wanting a planet of no value to anyone”

Lounge Lizard shrugged. “Don’t question me. I advised him against picking that planet”

“We might have to pull a few strings, but if your esteemed leader wants to waste his time, fine. Byss and 3 million credits”

“So you will take me seriously then? Good. We can cut the senate seats thing in half to two, one Master, one apprentice sort of thing. I will meet you in the middle of the planents and give up claim to Ithor Prime… but I want a shipment of medical supplies in return”

“There is a MC-80 that the New Republic is going to de-commission and sell for scrap” said Yoghurt quietly.

“Are you serious? You give them a warship and they will have it pointed back at us in a flash!”

“We have warships too. Have you one yourself, or forget you that you paid for the ISD?”

“Yeah, but… You want to give up a warship?”

“See you not the craft I have in mind”

Turbogeek stared at Master Yoghurt, before a slow smile crept onto his face and he re-faced the Sith. “One MC-80 Star Cruiser then. Now, I see the biggest problem here is planetary demands. What planets did you lay claim to again?”

“So far we have agreed to the planetary system of Byss, 3 million credits, 1 MC-80 Star Cruiser. I still want the planetary systems of Kessel and Bespin, 12 Corellian Corvettes, 3 Nebulon-B frigates and two senatorial seats. Because you are co-operating, I remove the corvettes form the list of demands”

“Hmmm. Excuse us for a few minutes whie we discuss this?” requested Turbogeek

“Certainly. But don’t take too long, my patience is short”

The Jedi got up and walked outside.

“You know, that’s still a pretty huge request list. Don’t you think we have given them enough?” asked Turbogeek

“Ahhh, but it can be made to be a burden. I do not believe they ask wisely” replied Yoghurt.

“Well, they still want military vessels, they want a gas mine planet and they want a position in the Senate. We cant realistically deliver any of those… have you ever thought what could happen if you put a Sith into a senate seat?”

“Occur to me too that did. Use the Dark Side to manipulate their way to more power…. Hmmmm…..”

“Thinking you are of something I see.”

“Yes…. Yoghurt, so far the only thing of true value we have given up is the credits. I suggest the medical supplies are not a problem either. I think if they want Kessel, we simply allow them to take it. It’s also going to be worth much, much more trouble than it’s worth in Glitterstim”

And Frigates are old. Not much use any more, except for medical purposes”

“Oh I see, they are going to open a Sith hospital on Byss! How nice of them. Seriously, that’s about all they could do, even if they got Kessel profitable. If I remember correctly, a smuggler alliance control that planet.”

“So we make a final offer?”

Turbogeek nodded and walked back into where Lounge Lizard was waiting.

“Well, what is your decision?” the Sith asked

“Kessel is yours to take as the New Republic has no interest there. The medical supplies are agreeable, as are 3 Nebulon-B frigates. I stand firm on the senate seats”

Lounge Lizard pondered the offer. “We are close to agreement, lets not ruin progress. I relinquish claim on Bespin and 2 frigates, but I must insist on one senate seat. Just one.”

“If you want the senate seat, the person who has it must not be sensitive to the Force and that will be final” stated Turbogeek

Ooh, nice move! Thought Yoghurt.

It didn’t take long for Lounge Lizard to consider. “Agreed. 1 MC-80 Cruiser, The star systems of Byss and Kessel, Medical Supplies, Senatorial Seat to be held by a non force user 3 million credits and one Nebulon-B frigate, for the safe return of Lady Mara Jade. Correct?”

Master Yoghurt reahed out in the Force to see if there was any treachery and finding none, also nodded.

“I require the credits before you leave. The rest will be in good faith” said Lounge Lizard. Master Yoghurt was about to object, when Turbogeek waved him quiet. He took out a datapad, tapped a few buttons, waited a moment and then handed the pad over to a suddenly suspicious Lounge Lizard.

“What’s this?” he asked

“Credit chit for 3 million credits, payable to bearer of course” replied Turbogeek. A look if disbelief crossed the Sith’s face and was about to speak but stopped as Turbogeek waved him quiet. “Try it out. I think you will find it works. Plug it into a hypercomm and the program will do the rest. Go on!”

Lizard stepped up, gave the Jedi a look of curiousity and left to go back to his ship. While he was gone, Yoghurt and Turbogeek sat in silence.

Lounge Lizard came back about five minites later. “Impressive. Where did you get that much money lying around?”

“Oh, I stumbled across it about seven years ago. Ever heard of a person named Callista?”

Lounge Lizard broke into a short laugh. “Oh, how poetic. Very well, as I promised here is the location of your precious Jedi” He walked over to Yoghurt, handed the small Jedi a pad and without out further comment, walked out of the room. The Jedi waited until he left, before Yoghurt looked at the pad and Turbogeek began to re-arm himself.

“Hmmm. Star and planetary reference. She is not here then. Can we trust Lounge Lizard that she will be here?”

“If it was Venom, no. If it’s Lounge Lizard, yes” He re-holstered his blaster. “Lets go”

--

How long had she been here, alone?

The water sprays had been going for over 24 hours, but more importantly, not a single person had come into the room. At least they had fed her well for the three days before this latest session had started. Lady Mara laid on the floor, face turned away from the sprays as she patiently waited for this to stop. It would not matter how long, she would persevere, despite her exhaustion and frazzled mental state. She would not allow these Sith to defeat her.

A noise at the door, audible over the noise of the sprays drew her attention. A tap on the door, then a pounding. What?

Suddenly, a red spot appeared, grew larger. The door disappeared in a violent hiss of steam. A crash and more hissing and a voice swearing. She began to prepare her mind – this must be it. They had decided to kill her.

It had been the only door they had found that was locked and quite well at that, despite no sign of anyone in the dungeon ship they had found at the co-ordinates the Lounge Lizard had given them. Turbogeek had lost patience, igniting his sabre and cutting the door to pieces. Water spray hit the white hot pieces, exploding into a could of steam that forced the Jedi to retreat and allow the steam to begin to dissipate. A beep sounded from a speaker.

“2 minutes to self destruct”

“What?” exclaimed Yoghurt

“Trouble. I hope Mara’s in here….. MARA!! It’s DT!”

She heard the yell, struggling to raise her head. She tried to yell, but her chafed lips refused to move.

“MARA!”

She heard the thump of boots and more swearing and a image of someone battling the sprays, face shielded by his arm..

Turbogeek fought through the sprays, struggling to stay upright, and soaked in an instant. He shelted his face as best he could and saw a grey lump with red hair in a corner…

“Mara! Yog, I’ve found her!” He skidded to her side, rolling her so he could see her face. “Mara?” There was no response..expect for a hint of a smile. “Oh, thank the Force your alive”

“One minute 15 to self destruct…”

The Jedi Master cursed again and grabbed the limp form like a sack, throwing her over his sholder. Water pured off them both as Turbogeek aimed for the entrance and stumbled out into the corridor, tripping on a piece of metal, tumbling them both in a sodden heap at Yoghurt’s feet.

“Is she alive?” he said with some concern

“Yes, but if we don’t move, none of us will be!” Turbogeek got back to his feet and grabbed Mara again, unceremoniously throwing her on his shoulder again.

Yoghurt and Turbogeek ran for the exit, leaping out the entranceway with 15 seconds to go…

A glowing power supply went critical

10 seconds…

The Jedi streaked away form the ship, looking for cover…

5..4..3..2..1..

Silence.

The ship seemed to swell, contract and then rip itself into millions of pieces as the explosin ripped it apart. The shock wave caught the Jedi, hurling them to the ground, tumbling as a maelstorm of debris howled past. Loosing his grip on Mara, Turbogeek rolled to a stop, hands over his head as pieces crashed all around him. Slowly the clanging abd crashing lessened, then as only a few pieces continued to float downwards, he lifed his head to look about him.

Oh my…

The destruction was impressive. Must have been quite a bomb. He slowly got to his feet, feeling the bruises, the cuts and stumbling, he put weight on his left arm and fell back to the ground as red hot agony shot up his nerves. Gasping, he rolled over, and got up using his right arm instead.

Broken forearm…at least I’m alive…

“Turbogeek?”

The sound of Master Yoghurt’s voice drew his attention to the Jedi getting up near him. “Yeah. Im sort of in one piece.”

“And Mara?”

A low moan and the Jedi saw Mara lying on the ground, unable to move. Turbogeek gritted his teeth against the pain of his arm, a nd limped over to where she lay. Crounching, he gently turned her over so he could see her face. Bruised, battered, eyes bloodshit, dirty… but alive.

“You look like bantha fodder Lady.”

Her tired eyes looked at his and her mouth curled slowly into a smile.

“Lets get you out of here. We’ll save talk for later” He took his good arm, slid it under her shoulder, his broken arm screamed in pain as he picked up her legs.

“Th…a…n…kk…. Yo…u…” she croaked softly.

“Let’s go home”, he replied

--

[Darth Turbogeek]

“Sir please be seated.”

The medical droid waited while Turbogeek sat down and winced, his arm still in it’s sling after three weeks. Every now and then, especially if he jolted it, the bone would trigger of a burst of pain. Certainly, the bone was mended, with the help of a bacta tank, but there was still some nerve damage the medics wanted to fix. They also wanted to check out if any remnants of old injuries were showing up, especially his back. A probe began to scan his arm and he felt the sensation of a light tickle as the sonic knife got to work.

“How is Lady Mara coming, R4 WD40?”

“She is doing well” replied the medical droid. “She is gaining weight again as well, meaning her progress to recovery is almost complete”

“Good.. ouch!… she is taking visitors today?”

“I believe so Sir, Her mood seems much better today”

He could only snort a laugh at that. Mara apparently was not the most patient of people and also did not like being forced to stay in bed for long, causing a few problems with demands to be released a week ago. He could sympathize with her, he had spent too many days himself in medical rooms, being patched up and repaired from some fight or explosion. It seemed to be an occupational hazard. Speaking of hazard, he was supposed to go instruct Fire Hazzard in sabre fighting in an hour, followed by a lecture to new Padawans after that. The Council was certainly keeping him busy with his return to Dagobah…

The droid finished the treatment on his arm and began a scan of his whole body. The sensors produced localized sensations of heat that felt rather pleasant and even began to lull him into sleep. A small bump on his shoulder and he realized he had fallen asleep and the droid has woken him up again

“Sir, all finished”

“Anything wrong, WD40?”

“No Sir, your in newly built condition.”

“Ahh, excellent!” He got up and stretched. “Which way to Mara’s room?”

“Third on the left”

“Thank you, thank you for everything. I’ll have maintenance give you a well deserved hot oil bath”

He got up and walked outside into the hallway, moving to the door that the medical droid had indicated. Knocking lightly, he waited for the acknowledgement inside before entering.

She looked up and a hug smile came on her face. “DT! For a moment there I thought it would be another one of those medics. Am I glad to see you!”

She was looking so much better than when Yoghurt and Turbogeek had found her. Her flesh was filling out and the dreadful pallor was gone. He hair had been cut to shoulder length, while her green eyes seemed to be filled with mischief. In fact, she seemed to have a disgusting amount of bounce and energy. “Likewise Mara. I won’t ask how you are, as I can see that quite well. WD40 tells me your nearly ready to leave”

“You firstly drop by and next you tell me I’m going to get out of here? That’s great!”

“I’m leaving” he said quietly. Her face fell.

“Leaving…? Why?”

“I’m going back to the planet your Sith Empire used to be on for a while longer. I still have a few things to think through”

“Oh. Are you going alone?”

“Well…. Only if your not coming with me. You are supposed to be my Padawan learner after all”

Her face lit up and one of the most beautiful smiles crossed her face.

--

In the end, a few Jedi left with Mara and Turbogeek. Master Yoghurt, Nupraptor, Fewdman and Fire Hazard were going. Despite being also offered to be taken, Gregori Paladin, who was well into learning about the Force powers he had, had declined to go and the Vog’on, who always watched over the young man likewise refused. Turbogeek had been mildly disturbed when he had found out about Fregge. Oddly, the Vog’on obviously felt uneasy being near Turbogeek and if the Jedi Master was in the room, it was the only time the Vog’on would make an excuse and leave and not keep up it’s constant watch over Paladin

“How do you feel about that beast hovering over you all the time?” Turbogeek had asked Paladin.

“Not too bad actually. It’s surprisingly astute and observant, plus it makes a great conversation starter. Also, I can’t imagine a better body guard”

“Mmm, I would expect so. But why would you need a guard for?”

“With the number of Hutts out to get me, it’s great to have someone – or in this case something – to watch my back”

That made Turbogeek laugh. He had been wanted by the Hutts for years and not one of their schemes to get the Jedi had even gone close to working “You take care of yourself now, you hear? Stay on one piece and learn well”. Gregori nodded and the two shook hands.

To Paladin utter surprise, the Jeid then spoke in the language of the Vog’on, calling Fregge to come into the room, which the beast did, almost like it was dragged.

“Oh, I should have told you. Fregge here is quite well known to me and I speak their language. I was once their ruler”

“WHAT?!?!”

“Long story kid, but suffice to say it’s not something I’m particularly keen to tell anyone” Turbogeek turned to the Vog’on

I surprised your alive

Many times I wish I were. Why did you betray us Q’Dunn? The Omens could be over with – even now could be in our grasp if you would only accept what your suppsed to be!

No… I would have been a puppet of evil and I don’t like the thought of what that entails. The appointed time was not then… it is coming but it is not now. I will do my part when the time comes because it is unavoidable – but until then you are to keep guarding Paladin and call out Yyy’teeth. I want two others protected as well. I will not have Callista get her hands on them.

Yyy-teeth? You would bring disgraced ones to guard?

IF you faced dishonour and be barred from life-end and be forced to wear weapon, wouldn’t you do anything to regain honour?

The Vog’on paused to think. Yesssss…….

Then offer any of the Yyy-teeth honour if they protect the lives of any I ask. Go and come back quickly and continue your real task

I hear and obey

Paladin, who was listening, turned to Turbogeek after the Vog’on left. “It sounds like you still rule them”

“If they had the choice, yes. Farewell Paladin. Clear skies”

“Clear skies to you too DT”

Other goodbyes had been said, but in the main, it had been a low key departure. The trip itself was uneventful and the Jedi arrived.

“I have to warn you, this is a strange place. Weather doesn’t act like it should.”

Indeed, the area around mud hut was raining when the got there.

--

Months past and it was nearly a year since the planet of Byss had been signed over to the Rogue Sith Order and they had taken Kessel, virtually unopposed. The fleets of General Scorpion made a base of Debrilion and the Rogues themselves turned their attention to the world of Byss. At first, the wind blasted and wreckage strewn planet seemed a bad choice… until the Rogues learned what it’s real strength was, something Venom had known and had desired – a planet, completely and utterly taken by the Dark Side. A place for their own powers to increase. A place of anger, hate. A place to breed plans to defeat the Jedi forever…

Jedah Lynch sat at a monitor, not looking at much. He did that occasionally and most knew what he was thinking of. The work of the ants the Sith made work on their base, forming it out of the ruins Did not affect him. He only thought of one thing.

I will get her back.

Darth Havok knocked on the door to the command room Venom had set up, entering without acknowledgement. He was the only one who could do that and lived and Havok did not take that lightly, hence he was not one to abuse the privilege. But at this time, Venom had summoned him…

“My Lord?”

The massive Dark Jedi, dressed in only a fighting suit turned on his chair to look at Havok. The Sith could only wonder at what type of person, with power, money and absolute power would only have a chair and a table with a few terminals to watch over what he controlled. So different to the megomaniacs like Itala Marzullo…. And also, with his face exposed at rpesent, a most frightening one. What fluke of the universe had chosen to give Venom that face…?

“Lord Havok. Summon Jedah Lynch to my shuttle and as well ask that new apprentice… Callica..? to attend there as well. I have reason to believe that the old abandoned Sith Empire base may have relics we need. I will be gone for about 6 days, will you have any problem continuing our plans while I am gone?”

“No my Lord. Everything will be as you wish when you return”

“Excellent. Expect a visitor in three days, make sure they are respected until I return”

“As you wish”, said Havok bowing and leaving Venom, who stood and moved to the closest that held his armour and his weaponry.

--

It had been nine months since they had arrived and for the majority of then, she had trained, firstly with Turbogeek, then with Master Yoghurt as Turbogeek once again withdrew and went into solitude, for reasons she could not find out, nor anyone else. At least he was still about, spending a good deal of time in the cave near the hut. What was in that cave he never shared. Other Jedi came and went as Nupraptor and Fewdman, who however did spend a fair amount of time here. And occasionally, when she slept in her room in the hut, she dreamed…

...It's midnight outside Sith Empire HQ. Mara walks through a forest slowly as the wind flows through her hair. Looking down she realizes that she's wearing nothing but a long white silk nightgown and is barefoot. Stopping for a moment she begins to look around slowly then hears a noise behind a large rock. Moving closer her foot suddenly falls into a small rodent hole and she twists her ankle slightly.

"Ouch!" She falls backward and sits down, picking her foot up and taking a look at it.

"You really ought to be more careful," Mara looks up, startled as the noise behind the rock reveals itself.

"Turbogeek, what are you doing here at Sith HQ? Leave or I will call my Sith out here to execute you." Mara says as she begins to stand up. Clumsily she falls down again. Turbogeek offers his hand to her.

"Actually, Lady Mara it is you who will be executed if you are found here." Mara thinks for a moment then takes DT's hand.

"Yes, of course." Mara shakes her head slightly. DT places his hand on her waist and pulls her onto her feet slowly. Reaching behind him he plucks a flower from a vine and hands it to her. Mara smiles just slightly then takes the flower. The moment she touches it the peddles wilt and the plant dies. Mara looks back toward Turbogeek.

"What does it mean Master?"

DT looks down, then shakes his head slightly. He turns and begins to walk away. Mara tries to speak but as she takes a step forward someone comes up from behind her and covers her mouth with their hand. She is spun around quickly only to look into the face of Venom. Struggling she tries to free herself but cannot. She turns her head and looks frantically toward DT but he continues to walk away without turning back to look...

She woke up, a scream in her throat as she sat up. Her heart beating wildly, she reassured herself that it was only a dream – abeit a rather vivid one – and untangled her feet from the sheets. Her body was soaked with sweat and hse felt in the need of a clothes change. Touching the pad that would ignite the low power glowrod, she changed into a jumsuit, looking herself in the mirror on her table when she had finished. The small scar on her face was the only physical evidence of the time she had spent being tortured by the hands of Lounge Lizard, Lynch and Venom. Breathing irregularly still, she packed a backpack, determined to find where Turbogeek was – he had yet again not slept in his room. She paused at the entrance of that room, looking at the unused bed, wondering what could possibly have made him seek to be alone once again.

Night was on the planet and he was moving about for the first time in a few days, after spending much time in the cave, working. The air was fresh and smelt of blossoms as the single huge tree on the plain shook slightly as the Jedi Master climbed out onto one of the upper branches. This place he had found, so quiet and peaceful, it was somewhere where he could get away from the demons that had chased him for the last years.

Even the one that had reared from a past he rather thought he had left behind, from so long ago

He was not dressed in the usual Jedi robes, but he instead had a simple jumpsuit, versatile and tough, patched from hard use. In his hands he carried a sword - not a lightsabre, but an honest, for real STEEL sword, made by his own hands, beautifully made, but tarnished. Over a metre of cold steel, he believed it was called a 'claymore', an odd name but seemed to suit this weapon. He repositioned himself on the branch and then took out a 'wetting' stone, used apparently to clean and sharpen such weapons. The story Turbogeek had read from the book of knowledge was that swords like this were the first weapons of the Jedi and even some had discovered the power to make them into blades that had all the powers of a lightsabre. How, he couldn’t imagine, but the Jedi had to admit, this weapon looked impressive.

The stone scraped on the blade, and a small shine began to appear. A few more strokes and it became a spot. Some more work and the lustrous shine grew and grew and after an hour of full concentration, the blade was clean. The Jedi lifted it up in front of his face, seeing his dim reflection in the blade by the light of the full moon that came through the tree leaves.

What a weapon he thought. How it must have been to see a Knight of yore, wielding a blade like this, to stand in front of one’s enemies and face them down at it’s tip. He stared at his reflection in the blade's surface again. A harsh man, a mouth thin and taunt, eyes bitter and weighty with all he had seen and all he had done. Not much sympathy in those eyes. None he had ever hardly given either, not for years. Maybe it wasn’t Jedi like but he didn’t care. Long years of fighting had rubbed out the boy he once was, turning him into the warrior he was today, a steel man of inflexible standards, a warlords heart and a passion for the Light Side like few other. He often viewed the relationships he had seen other Jedi – and bizarrely, Sith (What would a Sith know of love? Isn’t that the opposite of hate?) as a weakness, never allowing it to happen to himself.

Well, not now anyway. In the past.... He slammed that thought and wrenched his mind back into the here and now, where it belonged. He was a Jedi and that was all he could give a damn about.

Asleep not long later, with the rain on the leaves dripping onto the cover he had, he dreamed of being on a cliff face, a single red rose in his hands. Looking over the cliff, he sniffed the rose and then with sadness cast it into the sea, cutting off a part of his life he never wished to revisit

Was it the future?

No said his mind, his memories. It was your past.....

Later the Jedi awoke, realising he was dreaming. By the Force what was all that about? He rain still drums on the roof of the hut, the time was just past local midnight.

Oh dear. Anohter rotten night's sleep, disturbed by dreams he didnt want

He settled back, trying to get back to sleep again.

--

Lynch trudges through a jungle region wearing only a pair of dark pants carrying his lightsabre. He stalks his prey even while he is stalked, it's time for him to reclaim the edge. A rustle to his right warns him of his query, the huge Yuuzhan Vong burst out of the bush his arms raised as it prepares to strike down upon the Sith, Lynch leaps back but not before getting his sabre knocked from his hand and a over the hand strike against the face. The Vong creature again leaps towards the Sith who counters by rising his boot hitting it square in the face.

Getting to his feet he looks to the side for his weapon, in the corner of his eye he sees the Vong rise to it's feet and rushes towards the Sith. The Vong is usually faster and more powerful but it is not smarter. Dropping to the ground Lynch strikes out his leg nailing the creature in the knee dropping it to the ground, jumping forward lowering his hands he grabs the side of the Vong’s head and snaps it back. Reaching up snapping down a vine he wraps it around the Vong’s throat and begins to choke it with all his might but it still got plenty of strength and knocks Lynch off. Grabbing the Sith it puts him in a bear hug trying to squeeze the life out of him, Lynch grits his teeth as he pushes out his wings snapping the creatures arms off him.

Grabbing a sharp pointy rock Lynch turns to face the beast as it turns to face him, the faster one to survive. Lynch fakes an attack and ducks underneath the Vong’s counter attack only to rise up jamming the pointy rock deep into it's jaw shoving it deep into the beasts skull into it's brain. The Vong moves in pain trying to scream until it collapses dead. Lynch looks at his opponent and smiles knowing he still is the edge. Taking out a device he scrapes up small sample of the creature and puts it in a side pocket upon his boot.

A few minutes later he foundds his lightsabre and returns to base camp that Venom and himself had set up on the planet they were stopping at, leaning against a tree staring at the fire he looks up into the starry night, thinking of the past as he slowly nods off to sleep. Tomorrow, they were to venture on to the place where the Sith Empire formally had their base.

--

As Mara walked further into the wilderness she began to shiver as a cold breeze swirls around her. Stopping to reseat the backpack on her pack, she heard a noise closeby, statling her, As she looked around, she got the view of a large cat, limpiong and coming to her, meowing in pain.

“Ooh, something wrong? Let me help you…”

Delicatly, she picked up the animal and examined the leg it was favouring. A large thorn, stunck in the pad of the cat’s foot became clear as the cause of the animals distresss. Calming it by speaking soft words, she plucked the thorn, putting the cat back on the ground. The animals meowed once and began to circle around her legs, beginning to purr. She had to laugh a bit ant what was a very friendly little creature. What was it about Jedi and cats? Rmaio had dozens of the creatures and this place seemed to have become infested with them, well at least she could never remember seeing a cat in her time here as the TSE leader. Then again, she usually had other things on her mind.

Picking herself up and straightening, she looked around, wondering where to go next. The Cave, where they had suspected Turbogeek was? Or the treehouse he had created? Well she thought, the cave and the treehouse were close together and also not that far from the former TSE base… she decided to walk to her former home first. Although nothing much was there, she also knew the Jedi had set up a training area and went there regularly. It was worth a try, even if it was a walk of quite a few hours.

As she walked off, she hardly noted that the area around the mud hud had stopped raining and in fact the night was moonlit, as if the place for some reason was making her journey as plesant as possible.

The Jedi Master had moved on to the place what he called the Kitten Playground, where a large brood of cats and kittens lived. Lots of rodents lived on this large island, nearly 50 km’s at it’s narrowest, so food for these playful creatures was not in short supply. Where the Jedi Master was, it was near the abandoned base of the Sith Empire, long ago a place of evil that was surrendered to the Jedi after a battle with the Sith of that Empire. The first thing the Jedi had done was to cast out the evil that had lingered here and then set up the now deserted base as a home away from the Jedi of sorts. Now, it now had become his permanent base.

A curious place this was. Long abandoned by intelligent life, the planet was now basically his. Not knowing what to do with a whole planet, he put into the Galactic records the claim for control he had and then left the place alone - It was mainly water anyway. Only one real land mass existed, along with thousands of islands, one day he might decide to explore them, but for now they could for now keep their secrets. All he could really say that this was a peaceful place; a place a Jedi could actually be what they were called to be, calm, at peace with themselves and all around them.

The claymore was now the weapon he carried, strapped to his back via a sheath he had created, plus a leather strap. The sword rested comfortably on his back, the hilt poking upwards beyond his shoulders. There seemed to be no need for a lightsabre here, so the two he carried, the Athona and the standard blue one now were in a case in a vault of the castle that served as a home of sorts – the former TSE base. A Pod racer and a fighter/transport he called the Razor he had repaired from a crash sat near the tree, ready for use. Somehow he doubted they would be called into play for while he was here, he was discovering the simple joy of walking through a grassy field, allowing nature to go undisturbed by his passage. Also the taste of clear spring water, the thrill of a brilliant sunrise or a spectacular sunset.

This was a place he had always hoped he would find, a place to feel at peace, almost like the feeling he had when he was on the planet of the Garou. What a pity there was not more places like this in the Galaxy.

A small balck kitten turned to regard the Jedi and even trotted over to get a closer look, to appraise the Jedi. He smiled in return… and the Force warnied him someone was close. He stood up slowly as not to frighten the small creature, then looked around in the brilliant moonlight. He viewed the person in the Force and not able to tell who it was, began to move toward the castle. Who else would be here, if not for the handful of Jedi that were about in this place? As far as he was aware, only Master Yoghurt, Lady Mara, and two others were about and they were kilometres away. Intrigued, he decided to find out.

He moved silently back to the castle and made it to a secret entrance Mara had shown him some months previously. Inside, would be his sabres, either one would be enough to defend himself if this person turned out to be hostile… but he suddenly had a better idea. Sabre’s could b noisy and he needed stealth. He grasped the handle of the sword and drew forth the weapon, the steel blade making a ominous hissing sound as it was withdrawn from it’s sheaf. He moved to a vantage point, to observe the figure and in a moment of observation, worked out they were going to the landing field on the other side of the castle. He moved quickly to the hidden entrance and the moved through the corridors to where the landing field was, believing that by the time he had gained a hidden vantage point, the person would be in full view.

He just made it. Looking out from a culvert, he witnessed the figure getting closer, but confusingly, got not real sense through the Force who it was, almost like they were trying to hide themselves. Well… two could play that game.

Using the knowledge of exploration he had done in here, he used a secret passage to get to the hall he thought this person could be going to. A few minutes waiting and he heard cautious footsteps and he sensed a person was indeed getting closer. Using the Force to hide himself from a possible Sith, he waited until the footsteps got closer, his hands gripping the sword as each footfall got closer. He waited until he saw the cloaked figure sneak past and then with all the quietness he could muster, he moved into a position behind the stranger. He reached out with the sword and then got close enough to press the deadly blade against the back of the stranger who gasped in surprise. The Jedi also almost grinned at the comical reaction.

“Turn around” he ordered

The figure did so, the hood the person was wearing making identification impossible. Turbogeek moved forward slightly, pressing the tip of the blade to where he knew the nape of the neck to be.

“State your business and why your trying to hide from me. And make it quick, I didn’t appreciate being disturbed” he snarled, making himself sound as deadly as possible. A neat tactic as scaring someone properly usually meant they would not want to fight.

The figure paused, then reached up slowly and removed her hood. Turbogeek stared and relaxed as it was Lady Mara Jade, He allowed the blade to drop away from her throat.

“Mara, what are you doing here?” he asked with some relief.

“Well, I could ask what your doing sneaking around and then trying to skewer people with that…. Thing your carrying. What is that?”

“This?” He held the blade up in front of him so she could see. “It a sword. I’ve been making it for some time and I finally got it finished.”

“Oh, so that’s why you have been making yourself scarce?”

He sighed before answering. “Not quite, but it’s certainly been taking a fair bit of my time. Like to have a look at it?”. She nodded and he handed the weapon over to her. She looked the weaop over, then with a laugh pointed the sword at Turbogeek’s stomach. “En guard!” she yelled, tounching the point to his chest. He He breathed in and stepped back.

“Hey, look out, the edges are razor sharp. Be careful”

“Hey, I will!”. She laughed again, then handed the weapon back to the Jedi Master. “Be no use against a blaster or a sabre”.

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Still looks impressive”

“Well, whatever. Hey, seems you are here, want to have a look at something?” she asked.

“Sure, why not. I don’t have anything else to do other than to sneak up and scare innocent young women in the moonlight”.

“As long as it’s scaring them and nothing else, you can go right ahead” She got her bearings and then walked over to a wall, with the Jedi Master following, putting the sword back in it’s sheaf that was tied to his back. She punched a series of codes on a datapad embedded into the stone and a hidden door grinded open. A soft light protruded through the doorway and a scent of roses came out from it.

Mara started to walk inside and looked around the area that was once her garden. Vines and weeds had grown up out of what were once beautiful rose bushes and taken over the entire area, however some rose bushes still lived and still bloomed. Mara looked over everything almost sadly as she and Turbogeek walked toward the main entrance. Quite abruptly, hidden weapons appeared, tracking the pair. Turbogeek reached for his sword, but stopped as Mara reached out a hand to stop him.

“Don’t! You destroy one cannon, the rest will fire immediately. They will only fire if we are both identified as intruders. Just be a second…” She moved over to a now revealed console, tapping in a code and allowing her retina to be scanned. The Jedi Master watched with some amusement as the defence system scrolled it’s result

Computer scan complete

Identity : Lady Mara Jade
Rank: Sith Master / Leader
Processing data …

Access granted

Mara stepped from the screen and dragged Turbogeek over to it

Computer data scan…
Computer scan complete

ALERT JEDI INTRUDER!
Identity : Darth Turbogeek
Rank : Jedi Master
Risk assessment : EXTREME
Processing data …

Mara grinned as she tapped in a few more codes

Access to prisoner under escort granted

Slowly ta shielded door on the other side of the room started to open up, as Mara took the Jedi by the hand once more then guided him down the long hall and into the main meeting room.

It was a truly magnificent place.

The pillars that surrounded the room were made of solid marble and stretched up nearly 30 feet only to blend into the dome ceiling. In the very centre of the dome hung a large chandelier made from crystal and decorated with rare stones. Directly below the chandelier was a table. The legs made from iron intertwined together at the centre then spread out once again like branches on a tree to offer support to the glass tabletop, the edges lined with gold plating. On the East and West side walls of the room set five glass windows, each ten feet tall and four feet across in width. Mara walked around the room slowly then took a seat on top of the table and looked back toward Turbogeek, who was taking in the details with awe.

“Wow. I never realied this existed in ths castle. The rest of the room I have been in are so….. dank”

“I didn’t bring you in here to admire the details, Master Jedi. If you wanted to leave, I wanted you to say goodbye and not just leave me again”

Turbogeek looked over the table that used to be the headquarters of the Sith Empire, shaking his hand free from Mara’ grasp, he moved over to one of the seats surrounding the table.

“I’d rather you didn’t do that, and so what if I didn’t say goodbye?”

“Do what?” she asked innocently

He sighed, taking a seat at the head of the table. He placed the sword on the polished wood; somehow that ancient blade seemed to be the right thing to be carrying here, it matched the ancient setting. “Yeah, right as if you don’t know. Now, what are you doing here?”

“I’m your Padawan. Shouldn’t I be here?”

“Mara, I may be a Jedi, but I’m no fool. You didn’t come here because of that; there is plenty of other Jedi more qualified than me to train you. And besides, I went out alone, I’m rash and unpredictable. Don’t you think that being trained by one like me is going to make you a pariah?”

“No, not particularly. You know quite well the Jedi see you as some sort of Lord and would follow you, even now. Do you think being your Padawan would make anyone think any less of me?”

Turbogeek had to admit quietly she had a point there. “Still, I don’t understand why you come here. It’s not like anyone else is here, it’s not like there are others to learn from, it’s not like there is the facilities here. So, why did you come here and no jokes or falsehoods, You know how short my temper can be”

Lady Mara smiled, herself remembering the last time she was on the receiving end of that infamous anger and notoriously short fuse. “Yes…. I remember well. The last time I found out, you threw me through a wall and caused the cleanup crew a week’s worth of work. But I was a Sith then. Surely you would not do that to a Padawan?”

She stared as the Jedi’s only answer was a thin-lipped smile, more of a snarl on those lips. Lady Mara felt a chill go down her back, wondering if this was a wise idea to come here alone. After all, this was a man who was reputed to be solely without remorse, believed to be capable of anything that didn’t cross into the Dark Side. She remembered some discussion that Turbogeek would make a Sith Lord like none other, such was the rumoured cruelty and lack of compassion that really made one wonder if he was a Jedi at all. There was debate if he was a machine rather than a human. But…. But she knew better. She had seen glimpses of something else, something deeper and secret that the Jedi Master did not voluntarily show. No one really knew of his past before he was Jedi, except what he chose to reveal. A man who had wiped the floor of six Sith because it had suited him and nothing more. But, she knew there was more to this man than that.

She took a breath, shaking away the thought, coming back to the present and focusing on Turbogeek, who was looking at her with that expressionless face he usually wore.

“Off in the clouds again, Lady Mara? How do you expect to become a Jedi if your mind does not stay on the here and now? Remember, your focus determines your reality.”

“Yes…. Yes Master”

He leaned back. “Good. Now, are you going to tell me the real reason you came here?”

“No… not yet. I don’t believe the time is right.”

That wasn’t what he was expecting, but looking at the expression on her face, he decided not to push it. The Jedi lapsed into silence, deciding to look at the tapestry on the wall while he waited for Mara to speak next.

She didn’t speak and the silence was beginning to become embarrassing,, thence the Jedi Master stood up instead.

“Let’s go to the training area we set up a few months ago. I wuld like to see how well your skills have progressed”

She sighed before responding. “Yes, Master Jedi”

--

In his camp grounds by his ship Lynch sleeps soundly under the stars, after the kill he made, his mind drifting to a time long ago, a planet under siege, fire ringing from the sky that had turned many shades of red, he remembers the sound of the wounded, the stench of the dead, the crying of the damned, a sound stops him in his tracks and he turns to see a person standing in the darkness...

He snapped awake, his sleep fogged mind clearing quickly as he sat up. It was still dark, but he could quite clearly see Venom was not asleep, in fact sitting on a log on the edge of the camp. TheDark Jedi noted Lynch was awake and motioned for Lynch to join him, which he did.

“Can’t sleep my Lord?”

“I have little need for sleep. Besides, there is much to think of and I find the solitude wheno others are sleeping to be the best time to think of matters that are in need of deliberation and also to consult the Force. What leads you to be awake?”

“A disturbance in the Force I detected whilst dreaming my Lord. A disturbance errily close to the destination we have in mind”

“Hmmm. I have hints what it could be, but even now, the Force is not open on this manner. I feel we are about to enter unexpected and dangerous territory my friend.” He looked signifigantly over to where Callica lay, still sleeping. “ I feel not all of us are going to be going back to Byss”

The two men continued to sit this time in silence. Eventually, Venom stood, his armour he had worn for the entireity of this trip rattling slightly and his visor on his helmet reflecting the star light. “Lets not tarry anymore. I feel wasting time is not going to change anything, so let us go to the base the Sith Empire used to possess. I am not overly keen to find out what lies there now, but neither will I avoid it”. Jedah Lynch nodded, moving to break camp. Venom roused Callica.

Not long after, the ship took off as Jedah Lynch sorted out codes for his former home that would make their stay less dangerous. The flight was uneventful and as the craft decended into the atmosphere of the planet that only a number, not a name, Lynch remotely began a scan of the castle to check for any past security still active. Seeing none, he directed Venom to land the craft in a clearing not too far away from the castle.

“Welcome to the original Sith Empire” muttered Lynch”

“Jedah Lynch, you are requested to examine the castle, I will take the woods and Callica shall flank me. I want to firstly examine the area to make sure we are alone. Understood?” The others nodded and disembarked to follow through with the Dark Jedi’s order.

Moving through the terrain of plants he wondered what had made him wary of this place, long since abandoned by the old guard of Sith. Making his way through the forests, he comes to an edge of a cliff, where stopped and used a set of macrobinoculors to scan the area. The promptings of the Force seems to be leading him in this direction and yet he didn’t understand why. Had someone else found the castle? Had another Sith group set up base and found TSE’s secrets? After they had left, had others been drawn here, only to find the ruins of the past?

Holding out his arms he gently leans forward until he begins to fall, then using his legs he leapt out into the Abyss, falling, falling down, down ever faster and further until he stretched out his wings, the feather blades cupping the air, directing it catching the air currents and sending him back into the sky. If not for the fact his mind was filled with other, not so pleasurable things, he may of found this flight enjoyable. As it was, it was only an end to a purpose, nothing more. .

He located the castle and directed his flight to the edge of a clearing, not far from the base, but far enough to have decent cover in case there was anyone hostile inside. Still, it would be a great thing if there were more Sith inside! He broke into a run as he landed, skidding to a stop beside some trees. He looked over the building and very slowly, realised something was wrong, Something he could not quite put an idea on – he scanned the area in the Force and the reason for his unease became clear. The former Sith Empire base was emanating the Light side of the Force.

How could this be?!

Who would ever come here that was not of the dark side? Such a thing couldn't be right yet in his heart he knew it was - Only question was who was foolhardy enough to come here. They would pay a huge price for coming he!

He run forward, anger in him building as he entered from the landing field, little caring if he was seen or not. He came to the place where he saw the doors to the secret garden were open. Somewhat surprised, he entered the area and as the cannons moved to target him. He crossed to the security scanner and using a small device, held it up as it scanned his eye

Iniating full scan...

....Match found....

Sith: Bromine

Non hostile response program running..


He grinned and continued inside, determined to find out who was here – and then eradicate them

--

Master Yoghurt grunted as the spark hit his hand and he looked at the power converter in disgust. It was still dark, but light was beginning to appear as the dawn approached on the outskirts of the forest near the mud hut,. The Jedi were using this place as a landing palce and a metal shed had been set up to service the area. Tools and fuel rods were stored and occasionally replaced by the regular monthly fly by of a New Republic cruiser and also the odd Jedi who arrived. So far, Master Yoghurt hadn’t left here for 9 months, except on normal Council business, but now he was returnig to Dagobah and Figrin D’An was taking his place to train Mara, while the small green Jedi went back to take his place as the now elected leader in replacement of Rmaio, who had stepped down to continue studies. To the left was Fewdman’s ship, the White Rhino Tea, with the aforementioned and his friend Nupraptor onboard, probably asleep like anyone else should be. Yoghurt hadn’t as he had been disturbed by dreams that pointed to something worng, thence as well as doing some minor mechanical repairs, he was now also pondering the meanings of them.

A muted roar caught hs attention and he looked out in the sky in the direction of the noise. He saw the lights of an approaching ship, it energy emissions making it easy to see as it came to a stop a few kilometres away and landed, out of sight and out of hearing. A bit puzzled, Master Yoghurt pondered who it could be… certainly wasn’t a Jedi or New Republic, they all landed here. Smuggler? Doubtful. Craft in trouble? Too far away from the space lanes to be likely, but possible. A thought came to his mind that the former castle of the Sith Empire was in that direction and his ears twitched as he thought of the logical conclusion.

Trouble I sense!

Fewdman snorted as he turned in his sleep and began to snore loudly again. Nupraptor was also snoring lightly as a sudden loud banging startled them both out of sleep. The loud banging resolved to the Jedi Master Yoghurt, standing at the door of their bedroom. Whacking his came on the doorframe.

“Whatzzzuuuupp?” yawned Fewdman.

“Trying to sleep, having a dream” complained Nupraptor. “Yog, what are you doing? It’s before dawn!”

“Trouble here. Sith have come” said Yoghurt.

Suddenly, Fewdman and Nupraptor had come very awake.

“Where?” asked Fewdman

“Near the castle.”

“Where is Lady Mara and Turbogeek?”

Yoghurt paused. Not a bad question…

“They can look after themselves. Come, we must find out what is going on. Get dressed and meet me outside”

--

[Darth Turbogeek]

It had been a few days since Lady Mara had found Turbogeek near the castle and now it seemed like weeks. She had crawled to bed exhausted, bruised from the latest training session in hand to hand combat. She had thought she had known enough to at least challenge the Master. She had been wrong, as he hadn’t held back. He would smash her to the ground, then with kindness tend to her injuries, then when she had recovered enough, beat her up more. She didn’t quite know what to make of the Jedi Master now, especially as afterwards, he had made her dinner and given her a massage to help the bruises and soreness. She would have expected any other male who did that to be flirting with her… she almost wanted him to make a move on her but he never did and it puzzled her. What in the past was he still hanging on to? She personally thought she knew, but it still didn’t really make any sense to her.

She slept and dreamed…

Mara wakes in the night and begins walking down a long corridor. At the end she sees a dim light...she begins to walk toward it. As she looks down slowly at her bare feet she notices that she is walking in puddles of cold water. Placing her hand on the side of the walk she feels the cold smooth brick on either side as she runs her fingertips across them. At long last she reaches the end of the hallway. Looking down she picks up the light. It is circular shaped and quite warm. As she looks into the center it suddenly becomes unbearably bright, she closes her eyes to avoid hurting them. Slowly, her eyes adjust to the light, she begins to open them.

She is now standing in the middle of a bright white room. The table, curtains, bed and chairs are all the same bright white color. As she begins to walk around the room slowly she notices an open window that leads out onto a balcony. She turns, then walks outside and looks down below her at the ocean. Suddenly, the doors behind her slam shut. Everything begins to shake and the balcony under Mara's feet suddenly gives way and Mara begins falling rapidly toward the rocks below...

She woke violently, with a scream in her throat. Gasping, she swung her feet out and placed them on the cold floor and put her head in her hands as she allowed the lingering effects of the dream to dissipate. She decided to go for a walk in the gardens surrounding the castle to allow her mind to ease and calm down. Dressing simply, in one of the her worm but comfortable jumpsuits – one without blood on it for the training, she observed with a grimace –she put on a set of boots and also a belt, with the lightsabre dangling off it. Not knowing why, it just gave her a feeling of security to be carrying her weapon.

Moving quietly, she eventually reached the door to the gardens, moving outside, she selected a path and began to follow it. She had been down this path before, when she ruled here…

Mara paused to examine a bush, remembering planting it with her hands, when quite abruptly, the cold breeze was also joined by a cold disturbance in the Force. Suddenly on full alert, she turned and as she did, she unclipped her sabre and lit it, as the sinister feeling got stronger and closer. A chill seemed to flow through her bones as she stood there, waiting…

He had been walking, moving with a stealth that belied his bulk, while his armour, black as space, helped conceal him in the undergrowth. Not actually expecting anyone to be here, when he heard a gate open from the castle, he had immediately hidden himself. Now Venom waited for whoever it was to show themselves as they came closer.

Who was this? Hadn’t this place been abandoned? Evidently not. The figure got closer and to his rage, he used the Force to take a reading of the person…it was a Jedi! How had one of those scum discovered this place? He quietly drew out his Force Pike, thumbing the power switch to on and readied himself for an ambush.

As the Jedi gets closer, he stayed silent, until he finally works out how it was… Lady Mara Jade! Of course that made sense – she must have lead the Jedi here. Venom’s rage built as he watched; how could one like this walk free? A defiler of the Dark Side? Maybe once he had used her to gain what he wanted, but now…. Now to see her walk free was an affront to him. Now she would either turn or die.

He crept forward, planning to follow for the moment before revealing his presence. Instead, he trod on an old dry twig that snapped audibly. Venom swore as he saw Mara twirl around, sabre lit and facing the direction of the noise. Again he cursed as this was not what he wanted. Drawing himself up to his full 250cm height, he shook his hands free of his cloak and made sure his Force Pike was ready. Mara stepped forward, forcing the Dark Jedi to take a step backwards.

“What do you want?” she questioned. There was fear in her voice, but there was something else – determination.

“Until I saw you, none of your business. Now – you. You ARE coming back to the Dark Side. It is your destiny”

He waited for her answer, all the while a beginning of a plan was forming in his mind.

--

The Jedi Master Turbogeek looked over the new training droid he had designed and built, one that he believed would help with the physical fighting aspects of his Padawan’s training. He had decided he himself was going to try the droid out and thence he had put on his training armour. He kicked the controller into the air, catching it and then pointing the device at the droid, switching it on. The droid jerked, then powered up, coming into a open defensive stance, electronic senses beginning to probe around, electroic brain beginning to compute an attack.

The Jedi snapped into a back stance, one arm forward, the other in position to strike. He began to move slowly, keeping his weight on his toes for maximum balance and reaction time...

The droid struck, powering a punch at his head. The Jedi bent backwards and then seemingly stumbled away, enticing the droid in a follow-up strike. The Jedi swayed again and a looping crescent kick knocked the droid backwards. The Jedi swayed and stumbled, his movement’s unpredictable but fluid. The droid's processors tried to work out and predicte where the Jedi would be next, but usually it would be wrong and sometimes would get tripped, kicked or punched for it's trouble. It was the art of Drunken Master, the martial arts that honed flexibility, movement and balance all the while the practitioner looked drunk, weaved and walked as if they we not in control of themselves. Quite a difficult art to master, but one he found was worth the effort, even just for the flexibility training.

The bout continued, the droid beginning to learn what was going on and in some ways imitating the Jedi's motion.. It finally was able to predict where the Jedi was going and a metal fist shot out....

... and a metal head went spinning off and hit a wall as the Jedi suddenly snapped upright and executed a huge back kick to the droid's jaw, smashing the head clean off. He stayed in attack position until the droid dropped to the ground and the Jedi breathed out, allowing the tension to be expelled, his whole body relaxing and his focus shifting from his opponent to the whole room and also himself. Sweat bathed his body as he moved over and picked up a drink bottle, consuming the energy fluid. He breathed out, feeling tired muscles begin to come back to life, a few aches and a few bruises on his arms and one on his leg from blocked attacks.

I'll have to repair that droid later he thought.

Changing into the regular Jedi cloak, he clipped his lightsabre - not the Athona, but an ordinary blue one to his belt, he also picked up the Claymore, spinning it in his hands as he looked at the shiny blade. Twisting in the air a few times, the blade whistled through the air, seeming to leap around of it’s own accord. Food, I need some food he thought and then also picking up the archaic lightsabre Athona, he moved out of the training room and switched off the light at the door.

The Athona shone in the darkness that followed.

The Jedi looked in puzzlement, seeing the ancient lightsabre was actually glowing. How...?

~ This is a special blade... it will glow when evil is near...~

Turbogeek quickly began to search the area with the Force, he could see nothing, but yet Athona still glowed. He put the claymore into a sheath that he had made, tied it to his back and called out.

"Mara? Are you about"

Nothing.

The Force was beginning to warn him of danger

"Mara?"

Nothing again. Damn it where the hell was she?

"MARA!!!!"

His danger sense began to flare and the Athona glowed even fiercer. Going into full alert he slowly began to walk down the corridors, the ancient lightsabre giving off enough light to see. He decided to head for the gardens outside.

He made it outside, all the while his danger sense screaming something was wrong. Calming himself, reaching out for the Force, The Jedi Master looked about, heard a sound from above. He saw a winged beast coming in to land and then through a gap in the trees he saw two figures, one female, the other an utterly huge black armoured figure, easily 3 feet taller than the female, he could tell was Lady Mara.

The armoured figure's Force sense was pure evil and somehow.... familiar. Not caring anyway, he began to rush towards Mara’s side, before he got clobbered by a huge wing that stretched out in his path. His backside hit the ground first as he slid to a stop, twisting to see whom his attacker was.

Wings?

Jedah Lynch!

That must mean…

He wasn’t given any more time to think before the winged Sith leaped to attack him.

Stretching forward, Lynch bought his elbow up, striking deep into DT's throat knocking him backwards and back onto the ground choking and.

”It is time Turbogeek, for all good things to finish!”

Flashing a smile he ignited one end of his lightsabre slicing it against Darth Turbogeek’s left shoulder. The Jedi twisted away, but still not fast enough avoid a deep cut. He grabbed at his wound as blood seeps between his fingers, the Sith dropping down to slam an elbow into the Jedi’s chest. The Jedi groaned before pushing the Sith off.

”Your lost a little of your skill old Jedi.”

His wings spreading out Lynch begins to lift off the ground, his powerful wings keeping him airborne slightly.

”The Turbogeek I knew and heard of would never have let himself go as you have. Your edge has become dulled, your skills diluted over time due to conflicts not of the battlefield...now I wonder what would your wife have said to see a Jedi once so powerful lose himself so very much? Lose almost his identity? Your fault or their fault I wonder?”

The Jedi’s mouth almost drops at the mention of his wife. the swipe of Lynch’s arm across his face and the warm blood trickling from his lip and nose bringing him back to reality, only to receive a kick to the stomach as Lynch flies down, knocking the Jedi into a tree. Reaching down and grabbing the Jedi by the hair, Lynch pulled him up then drove his fist into the Jedi’s stomach, tossing him to the ground only for Turbogeek to roll and recover as soon as he hit the dirt. Lynch moved to intercept the Jedi who was now getting up, the surprise having worn off enough the Sith to see the Jedi now meant business. The Jedi had a blue coloured sabre in his hand and activated, the sabres meeting in crackle of energy.

The Jedi touches the Force and thrusts out a hand, using the Force to shove Lynch off his feet and sending him flying through the air. The Sith lands heavily, losing his sabre from his hand as he tumbled to the ground. Gathering himself, he yelled in anger, gathering up his sabre as the Jedi, determined to rush to Lady Mara, concerned for his Padawan, fighting a monster like Venom.

Not this time, I’m not going to lose Mara to a Sith!

Jedah Lynch focused on his rage, focusing in the Dark Side as he raised his hand and struck out with a bolt of Force energy. The Jedi tripped up as the lightning struck his back, falling to his knees as the agonising waves of Dark Force coursed through his skin, searing his flesh, filling his nose with the smell of his own burst skin. Turbogeek tried to stand as he heard a flapping noise and turned to see Lynch flying at him, sabre in hand and fully intent to strike the Jedi Master down once and for all.

“All good things come to an en, sometimes it deserves to end, IT’S TIME!!!” the Sith screamed as he attacked.

The Jedi Master tripped over a branch and feel over, stunned and battered by the sudden attack. The Sith’s swipe missed the falling Jedi’s head by a hair, but still it missed, giving Turbogeek another chance. He had been so focused on Mara’s predicament, he had walked straight into a trap, his mind reeling from the words the Sith had said :-

What would you wife think?

It rattled him, confusing him. How... how? What?

Spitting blood and feeling the burns on him, he stumbled again, trying to reconnect himself to the Force, trying to be calm, but he couldn't. Seeing Mara against Venom, hearing mention of his wife... he just couldn't. Indeed, he had failed as this Sith had said...

All he could do was stare up at the flapping Sith as he rolled around on the ground to face the winged death above him

"How did you know?" The voice came out pleading, a scream from his soul. A raw wound was reopened as the Jedi slumped, unable to continue.

The Sith stared down at the Jedi and with a sneer, lfited a hand and uttered only one word.

“BURN!”

The lightning exploded outwards, encasing the Jedi in a river of energy that made his limbs shake and the pain explode through his brain. Lynch twisted his wrist and threw the Jedi into a tree with enough violence to shake the tree, the sickening smack loud and clear. Turbogeek groaned as he tried to get back to his knees, but was slammed down into the mud as the Sith landed onto his back, feet first, before leaping off. Turning to gloat over the hurt Jedi, Lynch sneered once again.

“How do I know, you want to be told? Isn’t it enough for me to speak of it? No, of course not. You want to know…? I saw her body!”

The Sith reached down, grabbing Turbogeek by the hair, then slamming his head repeatedly into the ground. With a final disdainful smash the Sith let go of the Jedi before to speak again.

“What are you going to do... save Mara? You didn't save your wife...did you? So what can you expect do do here and now with your precious Padawan” he purred. Grinning, he dragged the limp Jedi up and then slammed the Jedi with one of his wing, sending Turbogeek flying into another tree.

“Nice wings, would you not agree? I haven’t used them for a long time, you could say they are quite an engineering feat as is the rest of me. After I almost killed her. You remember that didn’t you? Her lifeless body?” With his lightsabre hilt he begins to beat Turbogeek again and again, not giving him a chance to recover, knowing the torment his mind has been thrust into, a pain that the Sith can only smile at.

--

Master Yoghurt, Nupraptor and Fewdman continued to jog to the castls as the dawn shadows were beginning to shorten as the sun began to burn away the clouds in the sky. A small breeze puffed around their faces and the sound of birds made the place sound serene. However the edge of tension on htefaces of the Jedi as they ran told the true story.

“Master Yoghurt… there’s a disturbance in the Force, I think there’s fighting going on!”

“Quick we must move faster!” implored the Jedi Master.

They began to move faster before a blast from a large cannon shattered the area, sending the three diving for cover.

“What in the Force?!” yelled Fewdman as another handful of blasts cut the ground into furrows. He could see Nupraptor had his sabre lit, with a look of concentration on his face. Master Yoghurt could not be seen anywhere. Fewdman also lit his sabre and stood up to face whatever was attacking them. A female, sense twinged in the Dark Side, seated on a hover with a large cannon, primed and firing. Fewdman grimaced as the blasts came at him, His sabre leaped to send the bolts humming straight back into the mechanical device, hitting it and and sending sparks. A flame came out if and with an explosion, the gun hover detonated, slashed and wounded by it’s own fire. The Sith was hurled from her seat, to land on her feet, snarling in anger. The two Jedi ran at her, sabres humming as they closed in on her. Surprisingly, the Sith didn’t want to make and stand, using the Force to increase her speed as she darted away, the Jedi hard on her heels.

Master Yoghurt, having darted away, almost flying as he ran to where he could now sense was Mara and Turbogeek – and even worse he sensed they were in trouble.

~ Hang on! ~ He cried through the Force.

--

Lady Mara Jade stared at Venom in disbelief.

“Are you delusional? All your best efforts to turn me while I was your captive failed? Ae you a sucker for lost causes?”

Mara's eyes narrowed as she went into a defensive stance, her lightsabre held in front of her as the huge Sith likewise raised his weapon, then charged. He swung the deadly weapon down swiftly ,Mara raises her weapon barely in time to block the shot. The large human begins to bear down nearly causing Mara's arms to collapse, using his large weight and strength advantage. Mara's eyes light up suddenly as she used the force, pushing Venom backward. Catching her breath she looks up at him, Mara realised that she only managed to push him back a few steps. The Dark Jedi lunges toward her once again, this time stepping and swinging his lightsabre with a speed that almost defied belief across the middle of her sabre and cutting it in half. Looking down in alarm Mara tossed the useless weapon aside right before Venom swings his sabre across her head. She dropped to the ground quickly, narrowly escaping the deadly blade. Thinking quickly, she reached down and grabbed hold of two tree roots beneath the soil, diving forward between Venom’s ankles. As she passed underneath him, the Dark Jedi swung his sabre at the ground, but missed her as his reflexes were a split second too slow. Mara leapt to her feet quickly as Venom began to turn around and she jabbed him in the spine twice. As he finally turned to face her, her she punched him several times in the stomach.

Blinking twice she looked up and almost froze in surprise as the Dark Jedi, apparently unaffected by the best punches she could give. Venom simply grinned at her before tossing his weapon aside. He snapped a hand down, grabbing hod of her neck before she had the chance to move, then began to lift her off of the ground. Mara swallowed hard as her vision began to blur from the relentless grip, placed her hands on Venom's fingers, trying to loosen his grip. As he began to squeeze tighter Mara shuts her eyes slowly then swung her ankles up and latched them around Venom's neck. The Dark Jedi loosed his concentration momentarily, allowing Mara to break the killing hold. She fell backwards, landing and propping herself onto her hands, kicked out with all the Force powered strength she could, sending Venom wide and through the branches of the trees.

The huge human picked himself up, loosing his footing on a loose bit of debris, before standing.

“I see I have your answer then. Thence, there shall be no further mercy given to you!”. H e stretched out a hand, calling back to his hand his sabre and then, deliberately slow, shakes clear a pole arm from it’s clips, a Force Pike, 2 metres of lethal metal and electronics, the weapon of the long gone Imperial Royal Guard, a weapon the Dark Jedi had used with lethal proficiency against the Jedi once before. Giving the weapon a swing to loosen his muscles, feeling the weight of the weapon in his gloved hand

Mara, eyeing off the device, decided that her best defence was one of the branches that lay scattered on the floor of the forest. He picked one up, raising it up to a en-guarde position next to her head and readied herself to continue the fight. He stepped forward, swinging the Pike for her throat. She blocked, and then blocked again as the Pike was re-aimed for her head. Venom began to build up a rhythm, beginning to twist and swung the Force Pike, a flow to the attacks. She defended herself, almost laughing at the ease of her defence.

He swung low and seemed to trip. She looped her branch to take advantage, then squawked as Venom for the first time unleashed the full muscle power and weight his overly huge frame could generate. The pommel of the Force Pike was three kilos and on the end of a two metre pole, added to arms that were a goof half metre longer than a normal human, coupled to his enormous power, created an frightening amount of centrifugal force that that hit her branch, exploding through it like a bomb, splinters flying away in a lethal fan. He allowed the weapon to curl around, before aiming a massive two handed chop straight at her head. Even with his speed, she still managed to nearly get out of the way, however still being caught on her shoulder, an ominous crack sounding as her face twisted in pain. Not giving her a chance to even think about recovering, he swung again, this time aiming for her stomach. The blow doubled her up, sending her tripping backwards. He sized her up and then snapped a kick to her face.

Across on the other side of the battlefield, Darth Turbogeek reeled as he was hit yet again, the sabre hilt of Jedah Lynch drawing blood as it was pounded into the top of his head. The Jedi’s vision blurred as the nerves in his brain short-circuited momentarily, his legs struggled to keep him upright, the only thing supporting him being the tree he had been thrown into. Another caught him under the chin, the nerve endings there causing pain to wash through his jaw. He stumbled off the tre in a desperate attempt to get clear, to try and escape this assault all his training, all his power in the Force had proven unable to cope with. He took another step, only to have Lynch smash him in the back of the head, right at the top of the spine. This time his body couldn’t cope and he collapsed to the ground, hard into the dirt and mud that littered the path that he had found himself on. A small stone cut his face, adding to the mat of blood that was already there, dripping onto the ground. He tried to look up, trying to take control of his body, trying to connect himself with the Force that had been his ally for so long, now seeming to have deserted him. For what seemed to be an eternity, he strained to raise his head; to look at what he was sure was the deathblow that would surely be coming next. The Jedi managed to look up at the Sith, Jedah Lynch would even now was lighting his sabre, drawing this out no longer than he needed to finally after all the gloating he had already done, other than to savour the moment when he, Jedah Lynch, would take the life of the most feared and powerful Jedi of the time.

It was almost like all the defeated and destroyed enemies were with Lynch in spirit, urging him on, to exact the final revenge so many others had tried but failed. The fire of hate welled in Lynch, the Jedi could see it in the Sith’s eyes. The Jedi managed to look up and face the Sith in one last show of strength, of bravado. Of course it meant nothing - There was nothing left, his brain refused to enact the orders to move, his limbs felt like lead, his face could only look stupidly on as Lynch lit his sabre and then begin to swing it down, aimed directly for Turbogeek’s head.

I have failed, he thought. I betrayed all I loved and knew with a second’s worth of inattention, of not focusing where I should have, of running too fast and not looking out for danger….

I have failed.

The sabre seemed to slow as it finished the upswing and then almost seem to stop, as time seemed to slow to the point of not moving. Lynch’s face was frozen in a snarl of hared as he began to swing downward. The Jedi, his mind barely able to cope with the oncoming defeat and death seemed to see a vision, a blue glow. In it there seemed to be a woman, one he could recognize, dressed in purple. A simple ribbon in her hair. In this strange still time, where there were no sounds, she took a step forward, her face becoming clear, a face he knew so well. Seeming to smile, she began to turn away, the Jedi, stunned mind struggling to catch up screamed out in the Force to her, pleading for his wife to come back, to be with him. She seemed to stop turning, a small smile on her lips as she shook her head. All the pain he ever experienced, all the tears he had never shed, all the moments of grief he had never allowed his mind to express crashed into existence, further overwhelming the Jedi

It’s not time my love……

She disappeared and in her place was a small green vision, a vision of a Jedi he knew. His presence in the Force was incredibly strong, so strong in the Force. The presence in the Force appeared only a sabre away from Jedah Lynch, who was still swinging down at the Jedi in this slo-time, his face twisted in an insane anger.

The words of the vision echoed through his head, echoing three words.

It’s not time.

It’s not time…..

IT’S NOT TIME!!!!

Time seemed to speed back up and the deadly blade seemed to move in it’s track slightly as Jedah Lynch realised there was something behind him, something strong in the Light Side. Already committed to the blow, the Sith began to turn slightly, to see what had suddenly appeared at his flank. Lynch’s sabre shifted off it’s target, no longer dead centre, but skewed to one side. Turbogeek instinctively tried to move and at last his muscles beginning to obey the command his brain issued, trying a last ditch attempt to save his life. He began to roll away…

An object, flying through the air cut into the beam of Lynch’s weapon, the object immediately glowing red hot but surviving, the sabre blade de-ignigiting just as it’s blade reached it’s mark. The Jedi felt the heat of the blade on his hair, fully expecting to feel nothing else….

He opened his eyes, not realising he had closed them. Looking up, He saw that Lynch was staring at the suddenly turned off blade, perplexed as to why his weapon would have failed so suddenly. Dismissing the change in fate, he screamed in his hatred, the Sith reignited the weapon and with all the strength he could muster he swung again However this time the Jedi had regained enough time and strength to recover from the previous physical assault, from the mental anguish, to be able to roll away, the sabre blade still striking the ground perilously close to his face. Red-hot gravel was spat upwards, catching his hair, his clothes and his face. One bit sizzled on an eyelid, the pain firing a jolt straight into his mind, clear and fiery. It seemed to burn straight through the grogginess, straight through the confusion and directly into his mind, like a shooting star smashing into a planet. The pain burned away any thoughts of defeat and with it he reached out with the Force, finally touching the Light Side, calming his mind.

Rolling clear, he searched out with the Force and grabbed the object that the unexpected arrival of Master Yoghurt had thrown to save his life… the archaic lightsabre Athona. Had he dropped it? However it had come out of it’s belt clips, it had saved his life. He called it back to his hand, the still red-hot blade, the now revealed cortoris shield blazing from the energy of the blade it had shut down. His hand grasped the handle, the Force protecting his hand and he ignited the weapon, the blade coming to life, it’s unique humming blade beginning it’s colour shifting from red to blue, coming to life. Lynch smashed down again as the Jedi came to his knees, Athona’s blade intercepting Lynch’s sabre, the air filled with the screaming of two sabre blades. He looked at the place Yoghurt was now revealed offering a silent salute to him as he powered his way up to his feet, then throwing Lynch away with the Force.

The Jedi took what felt like the first clean breath for hours as he moved into a battle stance. Maybe my wife is dead, he thought, but Lady Mara still is alive. And I’m going to see to it that it stays that way!

He leapt at Lynch, forcing the Sith to back away from the savage attack. The Sith backed off, wondering how in hell the Jedi had recovered and what in the Force was the blazing sabre he carried? How had it managed to survive a sabre strike? The memerisng blade shifted in colour again to green as the Jedi struck out again, Lynch blocking.

Well, this Jedi is certainly full of surprises, he thought, no wonder this Jedi had survived when allies and friends had fallen away to battle or the agents of time. Spinning around, Lynch feinted, but the battle hardened Jedi had seen this move before, giving the Sith a cut to the waist for his trouble.

Snarling in hate, the Sith touched a hand to his side and then leapt at the Jedi again. The sabres clashed again, the glowing blades reflecting back onto the faces of the combatants. Each having a look of determination, the Jedi’s face tranquil and calm despite the battle he had to have in overcoming his personal demons, the Sith’s twisted in rage and hate that screamed for blood, his demons he would unleashed into battle.

Both the warriors of different philosophies began to push each other, putting their momentum into their lightsabres that are still connected, energy crackling in their wake. Both reached out to grab the other seeking to gain an advantage in the Force to defeat each other. Grabbing hold of the Jedi, Lynch suddenly bought his knee into Turbogeek’s stomach, attempting to knock the wind out of him. Leaping over the Jedi, Lynch spun his lightsabre downward grabbing the hilt with both hands seeking to impale the warrior of light through the back, to no avail. The lightsabre missed the Jedi as Turbogeek stepped rapidly away, the sabre biting dirt instead. The Jedi spun around, kicking Lynch in the face with a roundhouse kick over the eye, the sharp edge of Turbogeek’s boot cutting the Sith’s forehead open.

As his wounded eye closed as blood seeped down, the Sith screamed in fury, charging at the Jedi whilst dragging his sabre on the ground, leaving the ground scorched by the heat of the sabre. Lynch swung upwards and the two sabres clashed, driving Turbogeek into a stance to stop himself from falling backwards.

“Everything you know is dying or dead! Your wife! The Jedi! Soon to be you! We will track down and kill everyone of your accursed kind! The galaxy shall be ours and we will burn all those who oppose us. Your defiance is but a fleeting one, there is no escape, only one thing you can do...DIE!!!!” As he screamed out the words as a challenge, the Sith attacked once again. With savage intent, Lynch smashed at Turbogeek and with a wrist flick, sent the archaic weapon flying from the Jedi’s hand. Kicking the Jedi backwards, Lynch moved his sabre back, planning one last strike to cleave the Jedi’s head from his shoulders.

Seeing the blade poised to seek his life again, the Jedi this time reacted as he should have done before. Even while off balance from the kick Lynch had given him, he reached into the Force, more out of instinct than thought. He pushed off with one foot, allowing the Force to power the jump, whilst the moved a back flip, the deadly blade of the Sith passing beneath where he had been only a heartbeat before. Turbogeek landed on his feet, calling his sabre back to himself by the Force, finding the ignition button with his mind so as the blade was alive when it came into his hand.

Not before time. The blade was hardly in place when Lynch attacked again, anger clearly written in every move, hate and rage adding to his power as the Sith tapped deeper and deeper into the Dark Side. The Jedi allowed himself to give way, allowing the fury of the attacks to wash over him as he calmly blocked, continuing to allow his mind to become more calm, more at peace, more at one with The Force.

Danger!

The Jedi reacted immediately to the warning in the Force, ducking as one of Lynch’s wings followed up on a sabre attack that had drawn the Jedi’s sabre low, creating a defensive gap. Turbogeek continued to squat, his sabre held in front of his body to guard himself as the Sith resettled into an attacking stance. The Jedi smiled, knowing the Force was finally on his side…..

Oomph!

Maybe not. The branch came flying through the air, clouting Turbogeek in the side of the head. He spun away as Lynch followed up the branch he had thrown via the Force with a sabre blow, aimed at his chest. Shaking his head to clear the sting, using the Force to deaden the new pain (I’m going to have a headache after this is over he thought) and to keep the calm a true Jedi had.

Turbogeek began to think he slowly backed away, planning his next move. A branch brushed his arm as Jedah Lynch attacked again, coming at the Jedi once again. This time, Turbogeek stood his ground, suddenly going toe to toe with the Sith switching from defence to attack. Lynch replied with equal ferocity, swing at the Jedi in return. The Jedi’s blade was forced to the side, it touched some branches, the blade setting fire to the leaves. The Jedi deliberately allowed his blade to go further, the smoke pouring out of the branches it had cut. He used the Force to fling the burning pieces into the startled Sith’s face, using the distraction to snap kick Lynch into another tree, back first. The Sith hit the wood hard, then getting a blow to the head as Turbogeek double-stepped, executing a roundhouse kick to Lynch’s cheekbone. The Sith barely saw it coming, moving his head enough to stop it from being a knockout kick. He swung his sabre, trying to get the Jedi away before Turbogeek could strike again.

The Jedi somersaulted backwards, landing some feet away. Reaching to his belt, he revealed the second sabre he carried, igniting it. Now with twin sabres he stared at Sith.

“Move aside or else”

The Jedi lowered himself into a defensive stance, both sabres ready, the normal blue and the pulsing Athona, waiting for Lynch to answer. I wonder where Master Yoghurt has gotten to? He pondered, while he waited.

Lynch put a hand to his mouth and wiped away the blood that was dripping from the scalp wound, glaring up at his opponent. He slowly drew himself up to full height, and began to grim at the Jedi. Taking his sabre, he put it to his face in the manner of a salute, before shutting it off and falling to his knees. The Jedi, ready for an assault, is instead perplexed as he saw the Sith drop. Mre than a little bit surprised, the Jedi had to admit he had been caught off guard. Was this Sith surrendering? He advanced, both sabres ready for any treachery when Lynch spoke again.

“Do you know how this will end, Turbogeek?”

The Sith raised his face to look at the approaching Jedi with yet again another smile on his face.

”In FIRE!!!!”

At his command transmitted through a comm. link in his arm guard, Lynch’s ship lifted off the ground, it's three ion cannons and laser cannons began firing towards the former Sith Empire base. The Force warned the combatants to the coming danger as they heard the sky torn apart by weapon fire. Ion blast and lasers tear all around them striking down trees, several blasts tear into the old HQ blowing out huge chunks of it sending debris all around them. All the fighters ducked and moved for cover as chunks of stone and wood began to be hurled past them.

“Are you mad, Sith?” yelled out Turbogeek as another piece of debris went winging above his head.

“You tell me!”

The ship rotated as it’s weapons and flight computers obeyed another command from the wrist comm.. A loud boom echoed out and an ominous hissing noise began to get closer

“Ever seen a diamond boron missile up close? Well, here’s your chance!” screamed Lynch into the sky.

The hissing sound went quiet. An impact sound boomed out, then an much larger explosion that knocked everyone off their feet as the missile detonated into th side of the castle. The place became a storm of masonry and rocks scythed through trees, adding to the deadly hail of debris that forced everyone to ground, except for Lynch, who was now standing and laughing like a maniac as the destruction swept by him.

Noticing Turbogeek getting back to his feet, Lynch charged the Jedi, ramming Turbogeek with his shoulder and igniting his lightsabre while trying to ignore the ringing in his ears. Lynch noted one of the Jedi’s sabres had been turned off and he faced him only with one blade lit The Sith jumped forward, aiming a slash to the Jedi’ side, the impact as Turbogeek parried going through Lynch’s arms, the blades meeting with a crackle of energy. Both disengaged, then attacked in unison again, the blades snapping and crackling with energy as the combatants met, pass on pass.

Lynch did a somersault backwards to land in a crouching position. Smiling at the Jedi, he only now noticed Turbogeek had left his mark – a big cut that oozed blood on his stomach. The Jedi also was wounded in the exchange, his left arm steaming slightly from a sabre cut. Lynch paused to get a breather, the n reached to his belt an flung a fusion grenade at the Jedi. Turbogeek leapt away from the blast, only to be caught by an elbow in the chin by Lynch, who had ancipated the move.

Using the Force to push him backwards, Lynch grabbed hold of the Jedi’s arm, flipping him ontl the ground then slashing at the area the Jedi had been. Turbogeek rolled away, then came back to his feet to fend off anther attack, He threw a handful of dirt into the Sith eyes and attacked, only to get a headbutt for his trouble as Lynch spotted a hole in Turbogeek’s defence and attacked again.

Lady Mara and Venom, having resumed their fight after the blast that destroyed the TSE castle. She had come across a piece of metal and was using it to parry the Pike, the two weapons ringing with every blow.

As the massive Sith swung his leg toward Mara she quickly threw her arms up to defend herself, managing to deflect the blow, if only partially. Venom's foot plows into her and she sailed backwards through the air, to crash into Jedah Lynch as he aimed his blow against Turbogeek. Untangling herself as fast as she could, she used the Force and flung a howling Lynch, slamming him into the huge form of Venom.

“Fancy meeting you here” she gasped, drawing air in.

“And here I was thinking I was having such a nice time. You okay?” relied the Jedi Master

She moved to Turbogeek, wiping a bit of blood of his cheek, as they both turned to view the Dark Siders, now re-finding their feet. Slowly she wipes the blood from his lips then takes his hands in hers for a moment and closed her eyes. Lynch and Venom begin to move closer but were suddenly taken aback as light side energy begins to surround the two Jedi. The Sith begin to back up as it began to expand toward them slowly - suddenly without warning it rushes into them and covers them like a blanket then dissipates.

Both men feel to the ground as energy blazed all around them, Mara wincing in memory as she had experienced the exact same thing once – in fact at the hands of the man standing besides her, now fighting along her side. The light side was an utterly horrible thing to a Sith – they rejected it as weak and an abomination to all that they believed in. So much was a Sith in tune with the dark side that he would reject the Light utterly and not use any of it’s capabilities. Peace, calm - What would not normally be a painful experience to most...would be torturous to a Sith. Mara had remembered these feelings all too well.

Almost predictably, Venom was the first to recover from the assault, on his feet and roaring in rage. He raised a palm and blasted at Mara with Force Lighting, while she too also held up a hand, commanding the bolts to bend and deflect away from her. Venom once again pointed, but this time, the Jedi were lifted off their feet and thrown backwards, Mara landing and tumbling, the Jedi Master somehow keeping his feet under him as he regained his balance and came to a stop and glanced around where Mara had gone.

He got his answer quickly as he saw Venom, advancing onto Mara, thinking he had separated the Jedi and now having the Padawan cut off and cornered against a chasm the Jedi Master only now realised he could see now that the forests had been blown aside by the explosions.

A large boulder sat near the chasm and Mara backed towards it. The Dark Jedi cam at her, now convinced he had her trapped and now fully intending to finish this part of the fight off. She suddenly broke and ran, ducking behind the boulder. Venom followed only to grab at his groin as Turbogeek appeared, finger pointed.

“WEDGY!!”

The Dark Jedi moaned in pain as he came off the ground and with a twist of his finger, Turbogeek used the Force to throw the Venom off the edge and into the chasm. With all her strength, Lady Mara picked up the rock and sent it sailing off the edge as well, to follow the Dark Jedi in case he survived the drop.

She turned to Turbogeek. “What did you do?”

He shrugged. “I wedgyed him using the Force. Now, lets finish off that winged freak”

Mara shook her head as they both turned to find out where Lynch had gone. A Wedgy. She would give her Master one thing, it was different.

Venom hung by his fingertips, curses springing from his lips as he hung from a ledge, a good 50 meters down. His groin still stung from the wedgy and now hos fingers were beginning to tire. He had found himself picked up by his underclothes and flung off the edge, to catch a branch 10 meters down. As he had groaned in discomfort, he had looked up and seen the boulder poised above his head and to his horror, dropped. He had reacted by swinging away from the branch, a spit second before the rock had smote the wood and crashed further into the chasm. Venom himself had grabbed hold of another handhold as the boulder had touched one of his shoulders on it’s way past, only for the rock to crumble and the Dark Jedi to fall further down. He had scabbled as he fell, slowing his decent until he had caught hold of this ledge.

And now he had to admit, he had a bit of a problem.

As his muscles in his arm protested, he used his rage and fury to open up the Dark Side, grabbing it’s power for himself. He latched his other arm onto the ledge and using a foot on the cliff face, gathered himself and impelled himself with force upwards again, landing with a thump on the ground above. He reached to his belt and unclipped his not often used sabre while he looked around, searching out for where the Jedi had gone.

He saw them not far away, walking towards something. He didn’t delay any further, breaking into a sprint and running the two Jedi down. Furious beyond thought, the Dark Jedi attacked, Lady Mara barely sensing the attack a twisting to defend against it. Too late, she tried to bring her sabre to bear, but this time Venom was moving too fast. He slashed, only for a thrown object to intersect with the beam, shutting the sabre down. Startled, the Dark Jedi cannoned into Mara, knocking her off her feet and treading on her as he struggled to stay upright. Heer head crashed against ribs, he trod on her stomach and also tangled his other foot in her legs, tripping up and going face first into the dirt.

Venom rolled clear and picked himself up, realising he was where he had dropped his Force Pike when the missile had exploded. Re-clipping his sabre to his belt, he reached out with the Force and sent the pole arm back into his hand. Re-assesing the situation, he saw Jedah Lynch was now back on his feet and looking full of fight, the Jedi Master was juggling a still smoking sabre and giving the Dark Jedi a signin for up yours (A Corotoris coated sabre? Interesting idea, thought Venom) and Lady Mara was on the ground clearly in a lot of pain, from being stepped on by the 250 kg human. From the way she was trying to crawl clear, it was more than just a bit damaging.

Venom went for Mara again, swinging his Force Pike high and aiming a crippling blow to her back.

The Jedi Master recalled the sabre back to his hand, the now red hot handle swinging through the air as he reached out to catch it. Using the Force to protect his hand, a piece of his cloak touches the smoking handle, charring instantly. Turbogeek gave the Dark Jedi a rude gesture, then his expression become fixed and sick looking as he saw Venom recommence his attack on Mara, using a pole arm the Jedi had only ever seen once before, welded in the hands of an Imperial Royal Guard. Catching Mara defenceless, Venom began to swing downwards, aiming for a crippling blow to her now exposed back. The Jedi got his legs moving and using the Force to accelerate, ran straight at the huge human and shoulder charged the Dark Jedi to the ground.

Or, that would have been the intention if Venom was anything like normal human size. Instead, Venom only needed to take a step in one direction to rebalance, the Jedi bouncing backwards and with his shoulder screaming in pain. Using the Force to deaden the sensation (I’ll pay of that tomorrow, he thought), he got back to his feet. Well, at least his charge had given Mara enough time to roll away, out of immediate striking range. Turbogeek also took a few steps away and for the first time got a look at this human whose name should have been lost in the past.

He almost wished he hadn’t

Fully a metre taller than the already tall Jedi, easily 100 kilos heavier, none of it in fat, the Dark Jedi wore black armour and helmet and the Jedi had to admit, a completely awe-inspiring sight. Venom stepped into a back defensive stance, swinging the Pike into a ready position, while Turbogeek backed away to where Mara was just starting to try to get back to her feet. Abruptly, Jedah Lynch flew in to attack the two Jedi, Turbogeek responding by using the Force to fling the Sith head first into Venom’s chest. It gave him vital seconds to help Mara back to her feet.

“You okay Mara?”

She coughed and spat blood. “Yeah, if it wasn’t for being hit by a low flying speeder. How about you?”

He grinned at her joke, pausing to knock the Sith down with the Force again, adding to it a whirlwind hail of debris that was on the ground, surrounding the Sith in a storm of masonry, steel and rock. He continued to use the Force, allowing the debris to swirl, to twist and then to become a tornado. Almost teasing like, he waited till Jedah was on his feet, then let the two Sith be struck by the full power of the tornado he had created by the Force. A startled roar was drowned out as the Sith were pummelled, then buried as the storm of rocks grew and then subsided, the dust billowing out from where the Sith were caught.

“I didn’t know they had bred building with humans until now” said Turbogeek, allowing his concentration to be relaxed.

She smiled at the joke. “Yeah” She looked at the debris pile. “You think that will stop them?”

“No, so I suggest….”

The words tailed off as another dark presence suddenly made its presence felt. Turbogeek turned to Lady Mara, who looked back in confusion as a small figure, climbing out of a hole in the ground, dripping fluids and trailing pipes still connected to its small body. It finished climbing and stood to its full one metre height. Turbogeek stared in total disbelief as he could clearly recognise the small being.

“Master… YOGURT?”

The being replied only with an evil cackle, as Lady Mara suddenly looked ill.

“Oh no… I had forgotten about that!”

“Forgotten what? Mara, you had better tell me what in the Force is going on. What is Master Yoghurt doing coming out of a hole in the ground and possessed by the Dark Side?!?”

She continued to stare at the now advancing green being. “Bromine had a cloning experiment. We found a Spaarti cylinder and we took some of Master Yoghurt’s skin cells while in a fight, we cloned him. It must have been…. Three years ago we started it under our base here”

“And it’s been under the ground, forgotten since the Sith left here?”

Mara was looking as green as the Yoghurt clone was. “That sums it up”

Turbogeek took another look at the clone, who was still advancing, cackling and by his sense in the Force, was preparing to do something. Dark energy crackled and sparked from the clone’s fingertips as it raised it’s palms slowly, gleefully.

“A human that resembles a mountain I can handle. A winged freak, I can handle. But a clone of one of my friends? I’m out of here!” The Jedi grabbed Mara’s arm and forced her to turn and begin to run with him, just as the clone let out a howl of “DIE!!!” and blasted the place they had been with Force energy, the rocks sparking and shattering from the energy onslaught.

With their attention diverted, neither Mara or Turbogeek saw the rock pile that Jedah Lynch and Venom were buried under quiver, move. Rocks began to fall away as a armoured fist broke through, sending gravel flying. Seconds later, an enraged Venom succeeded in getting himself mainly free, grateful for the armour that he had worn. It had taken just about all the damage, though right now it was looking very second hand. Kicking clear, he turned and helped Lynch clear as well, the Sith groaning. Without the benefit of battle protection, he was cut and bruised – but also looked every bit as furious as Venom felt.

“You okay, my friend?”

“Yeah… yeah. Grrr, I want to kill those two now!”

“That I wish too. I doubt they went far….. what is that?” A crackle sounded not far from them and they both turned to look.

And stared silently as what appeared to be Jedi Master Yoghurt attacked Turbogeek and Lady Mara Jade with Force energy.

Lynch spoke first. “Maybe we wont need to kill them. Maybe someone else will”

“Yes, this is indeed a unique sight. I never thought a Jedi Master would turn like this” replied Venom.

“Indeed, I never thought the little green bugger had it in him. Yet, I feel something is not right?”

“A disturbance surrounds him”

“I’ll ask him later about it. For now….” The Sith and the Dark Jedi turned as one, unleashing their hatred, firing energy at the Jedi as well.

Turbogeek slid to a stop behind a debris pile, a natural ditch also giving him cover from the deadly lances of energy. Lady Mara tumbled to the ground beside him, wincing as a stray bolt hit her boot. Turbogeek took a peek, only to jerk back as stone chips flew into his face. Swearing, he got back into cover, his lightsabre Athona in his hand.

“Okay, NOW we are in deep doodoo. Any ideas?” She shook her head in response. “Right, I guess I have no choice… on the count, run. Just run and get clear. Tell the Jedi what happened here” His sabre came to life, the puling and colour shifting blade lighting his face. Mara felt her heart in her mouth as she realised what exactly the Jedi had just said.

“Turbogeek…. That’s suicide!”

“Maybe. But do we have much choice? I can handle that clone and Lynch, the only problem will be that….. thing. Now, get ready….”

Lady Mara could only feel sick at what was going to be the single most brave – and in the end, stupid – action she had ever witnessed.

“Goodbye… Master”

He grinned at her. “Hey, don’t worry at me. Just run, got it?”

She nodded. The Jedi Master braced a foot.

“Ready?”

She nodded.

“GO!”

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