Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Betsy/Star Wars) Fanged Butterfly 2: Knightcross 15/? (PG-15) From: Phil Hartman Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:34:48 +0000 will1@earthling.net Fanged Butterfly Vol. 2: Knightcross Chapter 15 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Marvel's are Marvel's. LFL's are LFL's. Any original characters are mine. The rest belong to their owners/creators. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: A little dark again ... -------------------------------------------- 40 ABY: Galactic Alliance Guard HQ, Coruscant: -------------------------------------------- Lon Shevu paced, waiting for the shuttle from Esseles to complete its deorbit procedure. He was young to be a captain in the Galactic Alliance military - the promotion had been more lateral, a rough equivalent to his rapid promotion to captain of his sector's Coruscant Security Force station house after the last captain had been caught with a Hutt. WHAT the last captain had been doing with a Hutt was between Internal Affairs and the last captain. Shevu usually did his job and kept his head down. Usually. Then the bombings and water-tamperings had started on Coruscant, and Cha Niathal had called on civilian-sector investigation specialists to enlist in the Galactic Alliance Guard. Shevu, only 29, had decided to take a chance. Busting skels in Galactic City was glamorous, but it was one planet; THE planet, for the GA, sure, but still only one planet. Galactic security, on the other hand ... That had been six weeks and thousands of interned Corellians ago. Shevu shook his head at his previous naivete; he'd known how bad things had gotten under the Empire, from the history books and by talking with pre-Liberation cops who'd had to walk a fine line between toeing the New Order and following their consciences. Law and justice weren't always the same thing. Oh, the raids HAD done some good, and Shevu slept a little better knowing he'd taken down some real threats. But the CSF hadn't killed suspects in custody, or made young boys listen to said killings. Jacen Solo ... Shevu shook his head, carefully - that thug Girdun was in the Colonel's back pocket. It helped that Shevu also had Solo's ear, but the former CSF man had been assigned to more raid leadership and administration. Girdun really ran the roost when the colonel was out playing with his toys. Jedi had Shevu's respect, to a point. The "New Jedi Order," though, seemed ... mired in inaction. He'd heard something once, that there'd been a subset of Jedi thousands of years ago who'd been willing to watch over the streets, to be the cops they REALLY needed to be, instead of all mysterious and meditating. Shevu wished he'd known some of them. He almost thought he did, in the only Jedi he really openly trusted. Too bad said Jedi was only 13. Solo would've been bearable, IF he'd made up his mind - GAG or GA Navy? Raid leader or political dandy? Vader ripoff or Jedi determined to do the messy work? And then, he'd shown up one day with a gangly heap of curious, respectful kid, and Shevu's world had completely turned upside down. Shevu had seen kids like Ben, albeit far worse off, looking desperately for some place to belong. The new GAG captain had tried to help the boy fit in, and Ben had done wonderfully - TOO wonderfully. Ben had taken to the calisthenics, the uniform, even the standard issue buzzcut - with that goofy braid - like a Mon Cal to water. He'd become not only a valuable asset, but like a kid brother, to the rest of the Guard, and he'd saved lives. Ben LIKED being part of the team, and they liked his spirit. That kind of innocence didn't last long in their line of work. The Ailyn Vel fiasco had been a bodyblow to Ben's heart, and it had hurt Shevu to see the boy when he'd realized that Solo had been the one to brutalize her. And then, two nights ago, Ben had killed two suspects to protect Shevu. The look on the boy's face had been even worse than when he'd seen Vel. Solo - Solo DRAGGED Ben back into that dive, forced the kid to LOOK at those slashed-up corpses, KNOWING Ben was already traumatized. Classic desensitization technique. The monster was trying to turn Ben into ... something like Solo. Anyone else, Shevu would've stunned them for child abuse and tongue-lashed Ben's parents for trusting Solo, then taken the time to get Ben professional help. Instead, Shevu had ... had words, with his CO. Solo's noncommital response to Shevu's ... outrage had been just confirmation of the profile the captain had quietly built of his CO. Jacen Solo was a manipulative sociopath. Shevu had actually cried with relief when Ben hadn't turned up for duty later that night. He'd launched a quiet investigation, learned some Jedi Master named Braddock had gotten the kid offworld. Evidently not far enough. The entire Dathomir business had buoyed most of the rest of the Guard, but Shevu had feared for Ben the instant the Ganner Rhysode left orbit. Lekauf and Tebut had offered to keep Shevu in the loop. Patra had made Shevu's acquaintance at a mixer for officers early in the Guard's enlistment, so he knew she was a decent sort, and Lekauf wasn't SO blinded by the Vader-descendant mystique that he worshipped Solo. What they'd sent back during the few stops the Ganner had made had been ... GHASTLY. The holofile of Mara Jade-Skywalker fighting Solo had finally convinced Shevu enough was enough. But then the medical report on Ben had come back ... and it was even worse than the boy's mother getting carbon-frozen. Shevu tried not to clench his blaster's stock as he recalled the pile of shavit in the report. "An Umbaran dark-sider ambushed Colonel Solo, dueled and carbon-froze Master Jade-Skywalker and released a terantatek to attack the Masters Skywalker. The Umbaran also tortured Lieutenant Skywalker," the official conclusion read. However that Umbaran had gotten aboard the Ganner - and Shevu admitted it WAS possible the security staff had been mindkriffed - the alien hadn't been the one to torture Ben and duel the boy's mother. Shevu was sure of it. For whatever reason, Solo had let Ben and Lekauf leave the Ganner at Esseles. Shevu was determined to do ... something to help Ben. He was just kriffing unsure what. Obviously, the Skywalkers weren't as terrible a set of parents as Shevu had thought - not if they'd stormed the Ganner and tried to rescue Ben. But the captain didn't trust the Jedi, either. Everybody knew what had happened to Raynar Thul after the Dark Nest crisis. Thul had disappeared into the Jedi Temple's basement, and that had been the last the GA government had inquired. Solo had kriffed up THAT crisis, too, and the Jedi in their wisdom had given him effective custody of his young cousin. It'd been five years. Shevu was determined not to let another five go by before the Jedi were made to face their mistakes - The expected black GAG shuttle finally appeared in the early-morning sky, sweeping its wings up and coming to rest on the pad. Shevu swallowed in anticipation as the hatch lowered - he had to handle this carefully. And there they were - Lieutenant Skywalker and Corporal Lekauf. Ben looked taller; still had the red buzzcut and that goofy braid. But he also looked haunted in a way no kid should - until he saw Shevu, and smiled quickly before saluting and coming to attention. "Lieutenant. Welcome back to HQ - Corporal. May we talk in my office?" Shevu said, keeping it professional - no matter what bonds he had with the men under his command, he played it by the book. Usually. "Yessir," Ben and Lekauf said, almost at the same time - and the look of relief in Ben's eyes made Shevu curse Solo again. They made it as far as the elevator until Ben's telltale lip-twitch made Shevu put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ben ... I read the reports from the Ganner. If you need anything -" the captain began. "Cap - you're right, Jacen's karked in the head!" Ben blurted, both blushing at the language and fighting back tears. As horrified as Shevu was for the boy, he also felt a rush of relief ... and a little unfair satisfaction. Lekauf met Shevu's gaze and mouthed the words, "The colonel's lying, Cap." #Tell me something I DON'T know,# Shevu thought, putting an arm around Ben's shoulders and walking him to Shevu's office. To Lekauf, Shevu said, "Stand watch. If that womp rat Girdun pokes his head this way, I want to know. NO word of this goes back up the command chain, are we clear?" "Dead clear, sir," Lekauf said, and Shevu knew he could rely on the corporal. He slid his door closed, then let Ben sit in the most comfortable chair and poured two cups of caf, sweetening the second one. "Ben - as far as this conversation, two things. First, it never happened. Second, you have my word - we protect our own," Shevu said, giving Ben the sweetened caf and sitting at his desk. "Thanks, Cap," Ben said, relief and anguish rolling off of him as he started to talk. And Lon Shevu started to get a new appreciation for just how SICK Jacen Solo had become. ----------------------------------------------- The flight back from Esseles had cleared Ben's mind ... and convinced him Jacen might be manipulating people even without mindrubs. He'd thought, cried, slept, cried some more, and finally admitted: The story about the Umbaran was a bunch of shavit. And no terantatek could've gotten aboard the Ganner without someone knowing. Jori stopped making excuses for Jacen, too. That, as much as anything else, had conviced Ben to talk to someone besides his buddy. But there was only one person besides his parents he was totally sure he could trust AND who might be able to help Ben in time before Jacen did something ... even worse. Lon Shevu had taught Ben to think with more than Jedi compassion, to care AND be suspicious, that the two weren't always opposing forces. The captain was rock-solid. So Ben started to talk. "A-after the raid ... I'm sorry I ran, I just - seeing those bodies was awful, but -" Ben started. Shevu got angry, but not at Ben, and said, "You have nothing to apologize for. You saved my life back there - you shouldn't have been dragged back to look at those bodies." "Thanks," Ben said, sharing a weak smile with Shevu. The words, and the sincerity the boy sensed behind them, gave him the courage to continue. "Aunt Betsy - Master Braddock - got me offplanet, and we started going to that asteroid near Bimmiel, where Jacen started to ... change. But we were shot down by Tarfang and ditched to Dathomir, and then Jacen came, and the Corellians attacked - Jacen seemed like he cared," Ben continued, almost hopeful. He couldn't lie to himself anymore, though. And he WASN'T going to lie to Shevu. "Then, Jacen and I talked - he said he was sorry about Ailyn Vel - but then, he fought my mom, and he CARBON-FROZE her - I'm sure it was him, I just can't prove it!" Ben blurted, angry now. He tried not to be - he knew the warnings - but Shevu's kind look helped Ben avoid the darkness the boy felt rising in him. "The Umbaran story is a pile of shavit. I believe you. Maybe there WAS an Umbaran aboard, maybe he even attacked you. But the biometrics don't lie, even if the Umbaran mindkriffed everyone," Shevu said, and Ben's heart sank. "That freak who attacked your mom was Jacen Solo - Tebut sent me back thorough recordings, until after she, Wirut and Lekauf confronted him with you and that R-2 unit. What happened next?" Ben was too dazed to be able to answer - it was like someone else spoke from his lips - "Jacen - Darth Caedus - dragged me back to his cabin, and I SAW Mom hanging there, frozen. And he tried to fry my brain, but I fought, and he ... he pulled out the Embrace of Pain from his closet. "Then he started stripping me, and I tried to thaw Mom - he kept talking about how I had to be a Sith like him, and he hit me when I Force-pushed back ... "And then Mom thawed, and she rescued me, and Artoo shut down the hyperdrive and Dad boarded the Ganner ... we almost got away, but Jori got hurt and then the terantatek hurt Dad ... and I fought the Umbaran - and I woke up in the medical bay ... and ..." He hung his head and mumbled, "Jasa tried to tell me it wasn't him. He beat the Umbaran like he beat Ailyn Vel, though - he did it AGAIN, after he PROMISED he wouldn't do it again ... he killed someone else and LIED -" Ben set his caf on the floor and cried; he couldn't help it - until Shevu's shock and growing - RAGE - made the boy look up - The captain was pale with ... well, Ben knew it wasn't aimed at him. "That - Ben, you've described ... forget the kriffing Force, this is ... borderline ... that ... FREAK," Shevu finally spat out, disgust and protectiveness filling his aura. "I need to see the Jedi Council, sir, please. The Guard can't stop - Caedus - he's too powerful in the Force - if he can't get me, he might hurt his -" Ben almost let Allana slip, but he wasn't sure that was his secret to reveal. Shevu's eyes narrowed, and Ben admitted, "He has a daughter - a secret one." "Oh, Byss ... Ben ... did Caedus, Solo - whatever he calls himself - ever ... touch you?" Shevu asked, and Ben suddenly knew just why the captain was so enraged ... what Shevu was suggesting. "No. That, I'm sure of - he's never been like that. But he does lie, and he hurts people. He needs help," Ben pleaded. "'Help.' You're still a good kid ... I'm glad you're able to hold onto compassion. I'd blow the piece of gundark dropping's brains out," Shevu spat. He relaxed, his mind obviously running fast, and said, "I've got a bolthole for you - someplace comfortable. I don't want you within a light-year of that freak until we get an army on his karkhole." "But - you'll need Jedi! My mom and dad could -" Ben began, until Shevu held up a hand and shook his head. "Until your folks or another family member you really trust get here, I'm not going to put you at risk. Ben, I know you've been through a hell of a lot of lies and shavit, but I'm not going to betray you," Shevu said. Ben almost cried in relief. "Thanks, Cap -" he began, but Shevu's brief smile cut him off. "Lon. Brothers in arms and all that. Right now, get down to the lockers, shampoo this in your hair, and get a spare set of clothes - everything, down to your shorts - from Locker 7-G. And cut off the braid," Shevu said, tossing Ben a small bottle. "Hair dye - but where -" Ben asked, as Shevu whispered something into his comlink and Lekauf and one of the other raid regulars, Duvil, came in. "Tell you when we get there. Lekauf, Berk, get Ben to my flitter once he's finished his makeover. And make sure his braid disappears once he's cut it. I mean NO traces," Shevu ordered. Ben obeyed, accepting Lekauf's vibroblade to sever the braid. #It's gonna be so weird without it,# Ben thought, cutting the short length of hair and giving it to Jori. Without the braid, though, Ben was just another Coruscanti human boy with buzzed red hair. Soon to be ordinary buzzed brown hair. Ben headed for the lockers, pulling his Force-presence in as tight as he could, and wished he could be normal again. At least he wasn't alone, and he hoped everyone else was OK. Even ... Caedus. #Jasa, why can't you come BACK ...?# ----------------------------------------------- Outer Rim Territories: Approaching Agamar: ----------------------------------------------- Betsy awoke from her meditation with a brief note of panic - Ben had ... dimmed, in the Force. #Bloody hell - no, he's not dead. I'd know. He's hiding ...# she realized, still worried. She left her private cabin and checked on K'urod. The Zabrak Jedi stubbornly refused to sleep on the acceleration couch, instead tipping one of the spare navigator's chairs back. He'd always been like that, Betsy recalled ... ********************************** 29 ABY: Ossus Council Meeting Chamber: ------------------------------------------------ Betsy kept pushing thoughts of a red and black-tattooed freak out of her mind as she walked into the chamber with her ... Padawan. The very idea that she was already a Jedi Knight was overwhelming - but the Council had confirmed Betsy, after her efforts to rescue Anakin's strike team at Myrkr, and then to kill Shimmrra during the Liberation of Coruscant. And she HAD volunteered to take one of the myriad Jedi orphans off of Tionne's hands, to repay her teacher for all the rapid training Tionne had given. #But why in the Force did my first student have to be a Zabrak?# Betsy fretted, hating herself for the ... xenophobia. K'urod Var-Tasik was stoic to the point of aggravation, far more patient than Betsy had been as a student, and seemed to ignore his teacher's irrational paranoia over his species. In other words, he was about as un-teenaged as Betsy had ever found a boy to be. Part of it WAS that K'urod was a Zabrak, genetically conditioned to endure extremes of climate which most sentients would wilt under. But K'urod was also ... well, more meditative. He would've been a far better consular than a guardian, had those classes still officially existed in the Order's ranks. Luke's Jedi were expected to multi-task, and while K'urod had decent physical skills, he didn't take to lightsaber dueling. He wasn't an action junkie, Betsy thought - he was a killjoy, honestly. AND he reminded her of Maul - it was unfair, not K'urod's fault, but there it was. But maybe, her concience nagged, he was JUST A BETTER JEDI ...? "Knight Braddock, Padawan Var-Tasik. Welcome to your first assignment together," Kam Solusar, the leading Master at the praxeum, or Jedi Academy, said with a warm smile as Betsy and K'urod bowed to him, Tionne and the visiting Masters who could be spared from reconstruction assignments. "I am honored, Master Solusar. I look forward to however I may serve the Order," K'urod said, his voice an eerie, even tenor. "And I look forward to teaching Padawan Var-Tasik how to do so, Masters," Betsy said, managing a smile to her student - which he briefly returned. The ... not chill, but wariness in the Force between them could've given a wampa frostbite, Betsy lamented. "Very good. Such cooperation will be needed on your first assignment. We have sensed a disturbance in the Force on Rhen Var, in the Outer Rim - we believe that it may be the missing holocron of Nomi Sunrider," Tionne said, activating a holoprojector to show a frigid sphere of a world. Betsy's eyes widened - a holocron of the best-known Jedi to use the powerful and drastic sever Force ability couldn't be allowed to fall into dark-side hands. K'urod also emanated anticipation, and wariness, but remained even-tempered. "Masters, forgive me, but would such a holocron not have been recovered by now? Or would it be in the tomb of Vima Sunrider, Nomi's daughter?" the boy asked. He had an excellent point, Betsy admitted - one a Knight should've thought of ... #And why ELSE would you be stuck with a bookish, insightful Padawan but to make YOU think? You told Luke you were an action junkie; you charged into Myrkr regardless of the danger, and flew off with Ganner into the maw of Yuuzhan'tar to rescue Jacen,# Betsy realized. The innocent smile Tionne was giving Betsy could be a warning of a very subtle revenge ... ************************************ Betsy snapped back to the here and now; the Rhen Var trip had turned out unexpectedly positive. K'urod had grown into a capable Knight, both with and without her teachings, and had learned how to wield a lightsaber quite competently. #And he taught me to do my homework. I'd gotten so caught up in the war effort that I neglected the Jedi Code - `There is no ignorance, there is knowledge,'# she thought, smiling - That was when the hyperdrive whined dangerously, N4-EL shrieked a warning from his input station, and the Angel's Wing shuddered back to realspace. K'urod snapped awake - still fully dressed, no less - as Betsy wrapped her robe tighter around herself and checked the damage indicators. "Bloody - we're in an interdiction field!" she snapped, taking the controls. "Hyperdrive is off-line - the reversion damaged the motivator. And we have incoming," K'urod said, taking the co-pilot/weapon officer's seat. The shields were still working, at least - the interdiction field's gravity-amplifying mass-shadow generator hadn't damaged anything but the ship's ability for translight speed. But there were several "Uglies" - patchwork snubfighters, part X-Wing/TIE, Y-Wing/A-Wing, so on and so on - incoming, with some kind of carrier just out of weapons range. "Sensors detect ion cannons charging," K'urod warned, and Betsy nodded grimly, checking their options. "Neal, time to repair the hyperdrive?" Betsy asked the astromech. His mournful toodle translated into a very inconvenient length of time ... "A WEEK? Bloody hell, we could have Lumiya dancing on Omas' grave and the galaxy tearing itself apart by then! Fine - Agamar it is," Betsy growled - she could still outfly their pursuers. Before she found out who had shattered her ship's heart. Then she was going to do some very unJedi-like shattering of her own. ------------------------------------------------- Jabiim, Outer Rim: ------------------------------------------------- Mara had ... NOT approved of the diversion this far out. Luke didn't like it either, not when Ben had all but faded from Force detection. Their son was alive, but scared, hurt ... and hiding. And the Jedi Grand Master was laying prone aboard his home away from home, unable to move for fear of reopening the hastily-healed stab wound to his left kidney. The organ had been salvaged by the healing trance that had also blunted the terantatek poison. But the Skywalkers were so FAR from home, and Luke needed more time to heal. And Ben was alone. Luke knew that, and was heartsick over it. The Jade Shadow had made the distant, constantly-raining ex-mining world in good time.It was almost as far from Coruscant as one could get. At the time, Luke had thought Jabiim would be a good place to hide with Ben until they could figure out what to do about Jacen. If nothing else, Anakin Skywalker's terrible reputation on Jabiim, aggravated by Luke's presence during the Rebellion when the Empire had enslaved most of the remaining Jabiimi settlers, had seemed to make the ruined world an unlikely hideaway for Skywalkers. "Hey. Trance," Mara ordered, but Luke was unable to focus, even with the rain on the Shadow. "I just wish ... when did I get so blind, Mara? Why didn't I sense that terantatek? Why didn't I sense Jacen was ... broken, when we let him start training Ben?" Luke sighed. She kissed his cheek and said, "You CAN be too light-side, Farmboy. That's why I'm not so worried as you are about our Skycrawler. He has much of his mother in him, too. And he knows you love him." "And he loves us ... me - even after I mistrusted him," Luke grieved - Mara forced Luke to look at her and insisted, "STOP that. Angst is of the dark side." "So every teenaged Padawan is a Dark Jedi?" Luke tried to joke. "Haha. You two are so stanging alike, beating yourselves up. Ben killed two men in self-defense and it almost broke him, but he's learned the hard way that sometimes you have to get gritty to live. And he STILL has a big heart. That's the part he gets from his father," Mara said, winking. Luke managed to find peace in that; he had a good kid. And a good woman, better than he deserved. Mara gave her husband a dangerous expression and said, "'Woman'?" "I'm going to bleed, aren't I?" Luke whimpered. Mara's wicked laugh touched off very ... un-Grand-Master feelings in the Grand Master. #Yeah, the light side's not always perfect ...# Luke realized, managing a smile as he went back into a trance. He was going to heal, then he would save his son. And this time, Luke Skywalker the protective father was going to be in charge - Luke Skywalker, the Death Star Killer, not Luke Skywalker the Grand Master. ------------------------------------------------- Ossus: ------------------------------------------------- Tahiri Veila was ... reluctantly patient, as an adult. She'd had to be, to survive on the desert world of Tatooine, as a child, then the trials at the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. And then, the horrors of a Yuuzhan Vong shaper's lab ... Tahiri had emerged as Riina Kwaad, believing herself a child of the Yuuzhan Vong. It had taken her true love, Anakin Solo, to help snap the blonde Jedi back to her true self. Except that Riina wasn't going anywhere. In time, with Anakin's help, and a quest on Dagobah after helping find the Vong-linked world Zonama Sekot, Tahiri came to terms with her other personality. Patience was a trait admired by both the Jedi and many Vong. So, sitting in a darkened jungle hiding from Jacen Solo's thugs while her boyfriend was half a galaxy away wasn't exactly an inconvenience for Tahiri. She would still rather storm the GAG barracks and use some Vong techniques to convince the troopers to stop menacing the innocent Jedi students in the praxeum, though. #But Jaina and Jag warned you that you had to be the trump card in the sabaac deck,# Tahiri reminded herself. The yanskac in the feeding basin, or so the Vong would say. Jaina was ... intense, in the Force. Something was troubling her - worse, making her doubt her feelings for Jag. Jag ... well, he was Jag. Quietly seething, but stoically so. #They're distracted. Whatever that freak of a major's doing is NOT helping,# Tahiri worried - She centered herself, feeling the life in the forest to help her refresh her calm and her Force reserves. And there was that kriffing blindspot again. It was a Force-user, a powerful one, shielding. Not so much dark as ... shadowed. And FAMILIAR, which troubled Tahiri ... she knew Kam and Tionne like they were her own parents, and none of the other Masters or Myrkr survivors were here. Unless - Then there was another, a light she hadn't seen since ... "NO ..." Tahiri whispered, tearing up - he'd given his life to help evacuate the Yavin 4 praxeum. But there he was. Outlined in blue, yes, but ... "Ikrit ..." Tahiri breathed, kneeling before the Kushiban Jedi. The quadruped, furry, long-eared Master's spirit radiated kindness, and he sent, [Hello, Tahiri. I wish I had come sooner ... you've grown well. And dear Anakin, also ... your strength is needed here, though.] "Whatever - you know I'll listen," Tahiri said. Ikrit gave her a look that would've been sarcasm from any other sentient, and Tahiri smiled wryly. "OK, I'll listen NOW. I didn't always, did I?" she admitted. [Spirit in an apprentice is never a vice. If anything, it makes Masters listen. Which Luke is finally realizing. You need to warn Anakin, to seek out his cousin before the Dark Lady reaches Coruscant,] Ikrit insisted. "Ben? How'd he get to Coruscant - Ikrit!?" Tahiri pleaded - the Master was fading - [Ben is stronger than he knows. He must NOT fall, Tahiri - the boy is key to blunting this latest thrust of the Sith,] Ikrit said, fading ... He was gone. Tahiri focused; she could do this. It was risky, but the GAG had only two Force-sensitives, and neither was here. #One, really,# Tahiri thought - Ben hadn't cried his guts out on Dathomir, hadn't faced Fett, out of a dark impulse. And she liked the kid, even if he could be annoying. She reached for Anakin in the Force, and called. ----------------------------------------------- Coruscant: Jedi Temple Landing Pad: ----------------------------------------------- [Ani. Find Ben.] The simple, empathic - yet utterly certain - message stirred Anakin from his trance; Tahiri had called. He had to heed it. #But even before I talk to the Council?# Anakin thought, disembarking and letting the ground crew handle his X-Wing - He concentrated, finding Ben a tight knot in the Force in a distant part of Coruscant, surprised but grateful for the contact, and radiated a promise of help back to his younger cousin. #First, though ...# Anakin realized, sniffing his flight suit - stang, the dark side wasn't always subtle - Anakin executed a quick bow to Kyp Durron as the black-grey-haired Jedi Master ran to his side. "We've been feeling disturbances in the Force for days now! Mara's faded in and out, then Luke - Master Skywalker - almost vanished, and there's word from Ossus that GAG forces are settled there!" Kyp said. "It's worse than you know - OSSUS? KRIFF, Jacen's snapped even more than we thought!" Anakin cursed - his brother really had fallen. To Kyp, Anakin sighed, "Jacen's killed Fett's daughter while she was in custody, and he chased Ben to Dathomir. `Hiri just told me to find Ben here on Coruscant - can you tell the Council to be on their guard?" Kyp only looked horrified for a very short time. "On their guard, not a problem. Keeping Kyle from going after the Ganner himself ... THAT'LL be the problem," he said, walking with Anakin. "Tell Master Katarn there's a Daala sighting in the Undercity. Then we'd better prepare to lock down the Temple and keep evac ships close," Anakin said, wishing anything else was needed. "Once I get Ben back, we need to prepare for ... whatever Jacen throws at us ... " ---------------------------------------------- tbc ...