Prologue

She was the only command officer left.

Every soldier standing alongside of her knew that this was a suicide mission. The dome that kept the sea from rushing into the Central Pavilion, the capital city of the oceanic planet Jofa, was cracked. The uprising was expected following the Emperor's decree that all Jofans had to submit themselves to servitude under the newly form Empire but no one expected the scale. The water breathing Jofans could mine ore at depths that were beyond the reach of machinery and humans. They were peace loving and extremely devoted to remaining on their home world with no wish to travel to other planets. Palpatine gave them little choice when he started conscripting them; the more accurate term was forcibly abducting them before indenturing them as little more than slaves. Jofa was no longer a free planet, Palpatine had made it a protectorate of the Empire and today was the inauguration ceremony that would put the chains of slavery on every Jofan.  

An extremist group had decided the only way to drive the Empire away was to destroy the undersea city occupied by off worlders who visited Jofa. An explosive device was planted on the thick dome hide that protected the city from the crushing ocean depths and following the detonation caught everyone by surprise. The damage was soon discovered to be beyond the abilities of the terrified engineers to repair and at the rate it was taking for the air breathing population to reach the surface, they would be lucky if the majority managed to escape the city before it was entirely submerged.  

Mary Travis, then Lieutenant Commander Travis and the handful of Imperial officers remaining, were well aware of how vulnerable they were in this undersea terrain. Even though their aqua-suits would protect them from oceanic pressures and icy cold temperatures, the suits were cumbersome and ill suited for underwater mobility. Mary was not even sure that it was possible to surface wearing them owing to submitting to decompression. The suits were good for no more than a day's worth of air although Mary did not believe that anyone of them would live long enough to be troubled by that concern. 

"Listen up." She called their attention to her.

Although she had never found herself in this situation before, she had to offer some words of advice. She was here because her ship had brought dignitaries to the inaugural ceremonies, celebrating Imperial dominance over the Jofans, she was a bridge officer and accustomed to leading troops into combat like this. However, some of the soldiers before her were raw recruits who never faced odds like this and they needed reassurance. As their leader, she had to instill some measure of confidence in them that she knew what she was doing when in truth, she herself was as uncertain as they were.

"Try not to stay in the open when we become completely submerged." Mary spoke. She could only see them by their helmets bobbing in and out of the water. Submergence would come in a matter of minutes and if the Jofan Swimmers were smart, that was when they would attack. Mary was not underestimating her enemy.  

"I know that's not much but it may be the difference between life and death. The Swimmers know that to incapacitate us they have to engage us in hand to hand combat. Stay in corners and make sure your back is to a wall at all points. They can move this environment like they can fly so we've got to limit the directions they can come at us. Try to get as wide a field of vision as possible. We need to see from where they are coming. Do not, under any circumstances, allow them to get close unless you can be absolutely certain of a kill. I don't doubt they'll be using blasters but if they get close they will attempt to compromise our suits or they'll go for our breathing apparatus."  

The faces quickly disappearing under the water looked grim. Mary knew they had every reason to be. They were soldiers and they had to protect the civilians trying to reach the surface. It was never easy entering a battle that was already lost but Mary did not think their dying would necessarily mean they would lose. She didn't like to lose.

"Take your positions." She ordered.

"Mary," Alex spoke up, taking this final opportunity. There had been little time to say much to each other in the pandemonium that followed the shattering of the dome but Alex knew as well Mary that time was short and they had to take this chance to have their say because it may not come again later. "Good luck." 

Mary took a deep breath, feeling glad and regretful that Alex was here all at the same time. "To you as well Lex. Stay alive, I don't want to give your brother any bad news."

"Likewise." Alex said shortly and that was all the airtime that either of them would expend on their personal issues. There was a battle to fight.

The group scattered and Mary found herself in a tight corner at one of the entrances leading to the tube port. If the raiders were coming then this would be the primary target. There were probably still stragglers in the city and Mary hoped for the sake of those caught in this rising tide that their deaths had been quick. Inside the Aqua-suit she could not feel the cold but when the water had first penetrated the city, the icy temperatures had been the cause of many a death..

The ocean engulfed them as the dome was finally submerged and when Mary looked above her, she could not longer see it. All she saw in its place was a murky blue canopy swirling above her head. The Pavilion's power generator had died long ago. Fortunately the evacuation tubes that took passengers to the surface were being powered from a solar dish from above. She could see the other soldiers scattered around although they were now reduced to little more than obscure shapes in the distance. She could tell them by their lumbering movements in the brine.

Swimmers would be fast.

Suddenly, she saw a flurry of movement in the distance. In the water, the Swimmers gave off a natural luminescence common to creatures who evolving in the depths where there was little light. They moved across the air like mythical sprites, glowing as they approached. As Mary saw them approach, the combined glow of their bodies was like a beacon. She could not even count how many there were but there were enough of them to illuminate the immediate area.

"How many are there?" Someone demanded throughout the com units.

"Doesn't matter." Mary ordered. "Take short controlled bursts." She said in growing urgency as the enemy approached. "Aim for the glow!"

The eruption of blaster fire under water was like a row, seismic rumble. She saw streaks of energy moving through the dark water. Some hit their targets. Others did not. The Swimmers scattered in all directions and returned to the water to its almost pitch black darkness.

"Where are they?" Another voice cried out.

 The darkness was adding to their fear and Mary had to admit that she was frightened too. In an instant, she saw her proverbial life flashing past her eyes. She saw everything that she had worked for all her life dying in this watery grave. It made her angry. A Swimmer appeared out of nowhere and Mary fired without a second thought. The blast struck the Jofan in the chest and he spun backwards in like a Catherine wheel trailing dark blood as he disappeared.

She saw at least a dozen Swimmers converging on a soldier in the distance.

"There are too many of them! Help me!" His frantic cry came over her head set. Mary began firing at them straying from her position of safety. She watched as he tried futilely to fire at all of them before they overwhelmed him like parasites on a dead carcass. He managed to kill some of them but Mary soon heard him scream when she saw one of the Swimmer's flaying arms connecting to his body. Human blood was more viscous than Jofan and Mary saw of it streaming from his faceplate in thick, oozing globules. The serrated coral knife that killed him was protruding from his faceplate.

Mary swore under her breath and heard similar shrieks of fear and death cries emanating from her com unit. She saw another group of Swimmers conducting the same pattern of attack on another soldier in the far corner of the port. She realised at that moment, she was standing out in the open and fear gripped her then. Moving back frantically, she reached her corner in safety and knew with utter certainty that she was going to die.

"Lex, are you still with me?" Mary asked breathing hard hoping her oldest friend had not become a casualty like so many others around her

 "Yeah," came Alex's response after a brief pause. Her voice was ragged and she was panting. "Barely." 

Mary let out a sigh of relief. "Hang on please." She pleaded. 

"Hey," Mary could not see Alex's wan smile but knew it was there nonetheless. "I've got to be alive if I'm going to be your first officer right?"

It was a running joke since they were at the Academy together. Alex was always content to let Mary play the master of their imaginary vessel because as Alex often said, Mary was better at it. Mary prayed silently that they both lived through this to make that girlish dream a reality.

Mary chuckled. "Yes. You and me on warship, making the space lanes safe for the glory of the Empire." 

The glory of the Empire seemed a lot less important when the carnage continued for the next four hours. 

Occasionally, they would hear reports from above that the evacuation was almost complete. Officers who tell them they would just have to hold on for a little longer before help could come. Mary listened to these reports with little notice. Like everyone else under water with her, she had other things to concern her. The convergence tactic being employed by the Swimmers was cutting through them with devastating accuracy. It occurred to Mary that the Swimmers did not mind the risk of losing a few of their own just to kill one Imperial uniform.  

They hated the Empire that much.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, a captain informed Mary and the remaining security officers that the entire population was evacuated and that they should leave the area immediately.

"All right," she spoke into her com unit. "Everybody to the tubes!"

"I told you we'd make it!" Alex said gleefully.

"You were always too optimistic." Mary grinned. "Get to the tubes, I'll see you topside."

 She saw the few Aqua-suits left, stir from their hiding places. Their number was sickening small but she was glad Alex was among them. She counted no more than a dozen Imperial security soldiers, if that. When this had begun, there had been more than a hundred of them. Mary forced herself not to think of that. They had managed to save the people in the city and the dead would see that their sacrifice had not been in vain.

Alex ushered a few younger officers into the tubes as per Mary's orders and though she had complained, Alex begrudgingly acquiesced to Mary's order that she go up with that initial batch. Mary knew her reasons were entirely personal but she did not care. Steven was not going to lose her and his sister in the same battle. When the second group proceeded towards the tubes to evacuate, Mary saw the familiar glare of luminescent bodies moving towards them at rapid speed.

"Take cover!" She shouted but knew that was not going to be enough.

The Swimmers had given them a short respite in order to call reinforcements and as they closed in on the remaining Imperial soldiers, they intended to overwhelm their prey by sheer numbers. Mary started firing blindly into the glowing school of Swimmers coming at them with blasters and knives. She barely missed being hit by a bolt of stray enemy fire, but fortunately the blasts moved slower through water. The others were screaming and crying out as they went down and Mary kept her finger trained on the trigger, firing at anything that came at her.

Mary did not know if she was the last one standing aware that some officers had made it to the tubes before the final attack but in the end, when their voices became silent, she knew she was alone.

Not without a fight! She thought to herself, gritting her teeth and flexing her fingers around her gun. "Do you hear me! I am not going to go quietly!" She shouted into her com unit even though no one could hear her.

Neither Imperial or Swimmer.

When they came, they came in large number and they swarmed around her. Mary was no longer aiming, she was firing blindly. Her gun was starting to feel warm and with a sinking feeling she knew she would have to stop shooting like this or the weapon would go into overload. There was a moment of clarity, when she saw a white shape swim right up to her. She swung her blaster rifle at him but it was too late. The flash of blade came down just as she pulled the trigger.  

The blast sent him spiralling backwards but not before the blade tore into the material of the Aqua-suit and connected with flesh. She felt white hot pain slash through her body. The agony was exquisite and she was conscious of her gun floating from her fingers and a rising cloud of red before her face that was her own blood. Icy water swirled into the suit immediately through the opening. She felt icicles of cold tearing at her flesh as she staggered away, unable to control the pain or stop from crying out.  

Mary staggered away in a cloud of blood. She could not see through the murky redness that was her lifeblood. After a second, she dropped to her knees and tried unsuccessfully to seal her breached suit but that too was impossible. Her body was staring to feel numb and the water had forced all the oxygen from her helmet. She closed her eyes as the water entered her mouth and her nose. Her body had enough strength left for her to react to the taste of salt on her tongue. She panicked as it entered her lungs not realising that her life was over already. Her body was simply unaware of it.  

Not like this! She thought as the black started to overwhelm her conscious mind.  

I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!

**************

 Out of the one hundred and nine security officers that remained to protect the evacuation of Central Pavilion, Mary and Alex became two out of fifteen officers to survive was soon known as the Jofan Uprising. She might have been counted as one of the dead too if it were not for Alex who dragged her to the surface when she discovered Mary did not follow her up the tubes. Alex had returned to find only bodies including Mary's own which had been exuding blood clearly enough for Alex to spot her. Fortunately the cold had allowed Mary's life to be saved even though no of the others retrieved could be similarly revived.

For Mary's part in the valiant defense of civilians during uprising, she was promoted to Commander and given a medal. The Imperials, rarely having a bona fide hero in their ranks were quick to seize the good public relations opportunity.

They started calling her the Hero of Jofa.

It always surprised Mary when she remembered how just how young JD Dunne actually was.

It was easy to forget the young man's age when one considered all the things he did for the Alliance ever since he stumbled inadvertently into its membership. These days, the fresh faced youth who was barely past his teenage years was co-pilot to Buck Wilmington's Rogue and spent most of his time learning how to fly under the expert tutelage of the best star pilot in the fleet. Since taking on that role, the young man had seen more action in the past month than most veterans did in a year. Although it was hard to imagine him as a farm boy who fancied himself a champion pod racer from the planet Odete, at moments like this when the atmosphere was calmer without the charge of some encroaching danger, it was possible to see just how green he was.

Mary saw him fidgeting in his seat and suppressed the urge to smile. He was wearing the mustard colors of the Alliance uniform and though it suited him well, JD did seem entirely comfortable with it. The young man kept pulling at his collar intermittently and Mary had the impression that part of his anxiety had to do with the fact that he was in private audience with her. She knew that like Chris, she had engendered some measure of hero worship from the boy and like Chris, Mary felt just as uncomfortable about it. However, JD was young and such infatuations would pass in due time.

In truth, Mary had asked JD here for a very specific reason. She had seen his prowess in a ship and though he lacked experience, he was a good pilot. Better than good actually, in a few years he would more than be capable of giving Buck a run for his money if not surpass his teacher entirely. However, he had to start gaining experience from somewhere and while Buck continued his teachings with JD being his co-pilot, Mary wanted to supplement that training with something more direct.

"Relax JD." Mary said easing back into her chair. "You're not in trouble."

"I'm not?" He stammered. Some of the nervousness in his eyes faded away.

"No," she shook her head. "Actually, I have something of a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" He sat up in the plasteel chair and tried to appear deliberate as opposed to just jittery.

"Yes," she stood up for her chair and started pacing the space between it and the window. "JD, since you've been here, you've been an invaluable help to us."

"Thank you Sir." He answered, truly shocked by the compliment. "It's an honor..."

"You've been a friend and a loyal member of the Alliance and I know it can't have been easy for you because you were sort of thrown in at the deep end of all this."

JD could not deny that at all. When he had left Odete, he was pursuing a career as a pod racer and supposed a tiny part of him would always wonder what he might have accomplished had he continued on that path. However, he had no regrets to the course he had chosen for himself. He was a member of the Rebel Alliance and co-pilot to one of the greatest star pilots in the galaxy, not to mention he had friends whom would have little hesitation dying for him if necessary. It was a good trade for his boyish dreams and one he could live with quite easily.

"It has been a little hard," JD admitted honestly. It would be foolish to lie when it was the truth. "But I don't have any regrets."

"Good," Mary turned to him and smiled, her hands placed behind her back and appeared very much like Commander Travis now. "I want you to head up a crack fighter squadron that I will be initiating. I've already spoken to Buck and he thinks you'll be ready in a few months to take it on. I'm just letting you know ahead of time, when I give you the commission."

"Me?" JD's expression was worth framing for its utter astonishment. "You want me to head up a squadron?"

"Yes," Mary nodded. "You're the best new pilot I've seen in a long time, JD. Buck knows it and I know it. I've seen what you can do in a gunnery turret and I don't think there's anyone in this base that can match you for sheer speed in that department. You're green, I know that and that's why we're having this discussion but I would like you to head up the Outrider squadron."

"Outrider squadron?" JD stammered although he liked the name a lot.

"It was Buck's suggestion," Mary informed promptly. "The nature of what that squadron will be required to do will be very much out of the norm. More and more, the Empire is solidifying its position on the non-human worlds. We cannot right all the wrongs it carries out but we may be able to help on a smaller scale. Outrider squadron will be required to do that. Small, surgical aerial attacks and reconnaissance. You will be the leader of Outrider squadron to carry out such missions. Do you accept?"

JD was still too flabbergasted by the news but he managed a mute nod. "Yes Sir."

"Excellent," Mary accepted his answer and turned away towards the window, continuing to speak. "The position will come with a promotion of course. You'll be elevated from Lieutenant Second class to full lieutenant, with all the entitlements that come with that rank."

Mary looked over her shoulder and was certain that her words had become lost in the stars presently twinkling inside his eyes. She did not mind. There were not many days she liked her job or her command but today was an exception.

***********

Vin took a deep breath and tried again.

The collection of metal parts in front of him were nothing out of the ordinary considering what their end result would look like once he was done putting them together. He was used to making repairs on his ship when the Tracker required it but this scattered collection of nodes, crystals, steel casings and power cells made him question his ability to do fine work. Of course, there was no question of not doing it either, this was a test. He was now an apprentice.

Vin paused at the thought. Apprentice, at his age. If anyone asked him what he did and he answered apprentice only to have them point out he was a mite too old for that, he would shoot them with no difficulty whatsoever. There was a part of Vin Tanner that still could not understand how he had come to be in the position he now found himself. A month or more ago, he was a bounty hunter and a rather good one at that. Now weeks down the track and he was calling himself a Jedi Apprentice.

Sometimes, he wished his life were simple again.

Simple but lonely, an inner voice reminded and Vin had to begrudgingly admit that though he missed the sanity, he did not miss the loneliness. He had friends and to his greatest surprise, he had discovered that he was an idealist at heart even though the years a bounty hunter had eroded much away. He believed in the Alliance and what it was doing to fight the Empire. He had discovered he was a part of an ancient and noble tradition and from his humble beginnings, Vin could not deny that it was a nice feeling to be apart of something greater than himself. He had undergone the rigorous training under Master Yoda's tutelage and Chris had taken him on as a padwan learner or in short, apprentice. However, to really begin his life as a Jedi apprentice he would have to accomplish one more test.

The construction of his own light saber.

Thus Vin found himself in the middle of the a work bench in the hangar bay where Alliance technicians often used the space to build things, repair parts and other varied personal projects. At this time of the day, it was rather quiet and the more complex tools required to build the device were available for use. He remembered the construction as implanted in his head by Yoda and retained there by disciplines older than time before preparing to pick up the first instrument to begin. Taking a deep breath, Vin told himself to do, not to try, Yoda's words echoing in his mind even while he repeated the thought. Breathing out, he remembered the exercises that Yoda had drilled into his head. He felt calm seep into his body and was prepared to begin, extending his hand towards the tool waiting for him.

"Aw hell, is it your turn now?" Buck Wilmington's voice boomed in his ear and shattered the calm with the same effect of a rock being flung in the center of a serene pool.

Vin groaned inwardly and looked up that the pilot whose expression and manner indicated he was not happy when he sat down at the bench and slammed a huge chunk of finished metal on the surface. Vin recognized the part as one fitting the ignitions systems for a Corsair model freighter and ascertained quickly that the Rogue might need some maintenance. Still Buck's manner indicated that it was not just his ship that was responsible for his foul mood.

"My turn to what?" Vin asked with a drawl, certain he was going to get nothing done with Buck in this condition and in such close proximity.

"To build one of those things." Buck muttered as he produced his toolbox and started taking apart the damaged component. "I remember when Chris had to do it. I don't think I ever heard a man cuss and swear that badly. The Jedi he was learning from at the time, Jan Pallas almost took to him with his own light saber."

"You're kidding me." Vin chuckled, unable to imagine Chris as an impatient youth.

"Thanks a lot Buck." Chris Larabee declared as he joined them. "Remind me to tell JD embarrassing incidents from your past." The Jedi gave him friend a look.

"So your master didn't want to kick your butt?" Vin asked Chris with a little smile.

"No," Chris shrugged and knew Vin could tell that he was lying, especially when a little smirk crossed his face, indicating otherwise. "Maybe just a little." He laughed before regarding Buck's whose emotions were intense enough for Chris to read very clearly. "You trying to fix that?" Chris glanced at the part in his hands the pilot was busily trying to take apart.

"Yeah," Buck grumbled. "I'm trying to fix it."

"It might be easier to just go get a replacement." Vin pointed out.

"Well maybe I just don't want to throw it out." Buck snapped. "Sure its old and its not what it used to be but is that any reason to just throw it out and start again? I mean what is it with people today that they're just so used to discarding things instead of trying to make it work again."

Vin and Chris exchanged brief glances.

"Hey take it easy," Vin retorted. "It's just a power converter."

"It's not just a damn power converter!" Buck roared. "It starts with a power converter, next thing you know, you're moving onto the whole ship, then people. Friends, husbands and then ex-husbands, and then you end up with some new guy who is nothing like what you ought to be having in the first place."

"We still talking about a power converter?" Vin looked at him quizzically.

"You two aren't married any more Buck." Chris said with a sigh, knowing perfectly well what was eating at Buck Wilmington so. In his entire life, there were only things that could get to Buck with such intensity. One was any harm coming to his friends. The pilot would react like a rancor protecting her cubs when it came to the safely of those he considered his friends. The other reason and the one most pertaining to Buck's present mood, was Inez Recillos.

"Ah," Vin nodded suddenly understanding and muttered under his breath at Chris. "Sorry, I missed that one."

"Who's talking about Inez?" Buck barked back but his response was defensive and therefore very telling. "I wasn't talking about Inez! I mean so what if she wants to shack up with an Imperial officer? I mean Ezra is all right of course, if you like that smooth as silk, all gentlemen and charming kind of guy. I mean if that's what she wants, I couldn't care less."

"Obviously," Chris drawled skeptically.

"Come on Buck, you haven't been married to her for a long time and she's a beautiful woman. How could you think that she wouldn't have callers? And she could do worse." Vin pointed out. "Ezra's an Imperial officer. She's in danger enough as it is with what she does with the Alliance, he could really take the heat off her."

"It's his putting it on her I'm afraid of." Buck growled.

"Buck," Chris stared at his friend critically mostly because the Jedi cared about Inez too and what he sensed in Ezra Standish for the woman was not some sordid tryst. The Imperial officer genuinely cared for Inez. "You have no right to feel this way. You certainly have not been celibate while you've been a single man again, you cannot expect Inez to do the same and Vin's right, she could do worse than Ezra."

Buck said nothing for a few seconds but Chris could tell that his words had sunk in even thought it was not voluntarily. In truth, he suspected that a part of Buck would always remain a little in love with Inez. While they had been married, their relationship burned hot like twin suns. Theirs was always an intense relationship, Chris recalled, hot torrid and definitely the kind that kept a man on his toes. Before Sarah, even Chris had found himself envying his old friend a little and could well understand how it had been so easy for Buck to remain faithful to Inez even though he was a consummate ladies man for as long as Chris had known him. It was easy when Inez took Buck's breath away literally. For a man who was accustomed to being swept off his feet, it was Inez who had done most of the sweeping when they first met and Chris had been amazed to see his friend fall completely and utterly in love with the woman, like she was his first love.

In some ways, Chris believed she was his only love.

"I know you're right." Buck responded softly. "It just feels strange to see them together." What he did not say was that it hurt to see Inez looking the same way at Ezra that she once used to look at him.

There was a gentle pause when suddenly another voice entered the mix, full of exuberance and that the unfailing quality to pick up any grim mood he might have had.

"Buck!" JD Dunne hurried towards the men at the table wearing a wide grin on his face.

Buck did not have to guess but assumed that the boy had come from his meeting with Mary. Despite his ill feelings about Ezra and Inez, the smile of happiness on JD's face was enough to lift his mood considerably. "Hey there kid."

"You dog!" JD punched him in the shoulder playfully. "You knew! You knew all this time and you didn't tell me!"

"Hey I'm only a apprentice Jedi, I don't know, tell me." Vin spoke up.

"You aren't an apprentice until you build your light saber." Chris turned to Vin and remarked playfully. "Best get to it."

"Real funny," Vin gave Chris a defiant smirk before returning to JD who was bursting to tell everyone his news. "What's up JD?"

"Mary offered me a commission." JD exclaimed as if that ought to explain everything and then realised that only Buck knew about the yet to be formed Outrider squadron.

"We knew that." Vin remarked. "2^nd Lieutenant right?"

"No," JD answered eagerly. "First Lieutenant and my own squadron!"

"Your own squadron!" The former bounty hunter exclaimed. "Aren't you a little young?"

"For now yeah," Buck responded before JD could, ruffling the boy's hair like a proud father. "But its going to take some time to build these ships for the squadron and by then I think we can keep counted on to see to it that JD here gets a fine education."

"Just don't ask Vin to teach you how to build light sabers." Chris deadpanned.

"I'm going to build this thing to kick your ass with it." Vin retorted before both men chuckled.

"I can't believe it." JD sighed with pleasure even though his ears were still ringing from the news. "I'm going to be a squadron leader."

"Sure beats pod racing huh?" Buck grinned. "You deserve JD. Congratulations."

"Yeah," Vin responded. "You're gonna give those Imperials a run for their money."

"You'll do good JD," Chris added and JD smiled bashfully, unaccustomed to the outpouring of compliments from such accomplished men. He never believed his life could change so drastically the minute he decided to leave Odete. It was more than a dream come true.

"Ship's coming." Buck remarked as a small Y wing flew into the hangar bay, cruising leisurely into the landing pad, the roar of its engines having lowered to a slight hum whilst inside the confined space. With the termination of its engines, the ship was seized by power internal tractor beams and brought to rest on the floor of the hanger.

"That's the new Y-Wings?" Vin asked no one in particular. "Nice little fighter. Look at the armaments on the front of that thing. It's been modified beyond specs."

"Engines has been tampered with too. Look at the extra booster. That baby is fast." Buck said with more than a hint of admiration.

"I didn't know anyone important was coming in." JD muttered.

The canopy of the small craft slide backwards and a little figure clothed entirely in black leather emerged from the cockpit. The figure hugging body suit left no question as to the gender of the occupant and when she pulled off the white helmet covered with the rebel insignia, jet colored hair spilled over her shoulders. The woman was beautiful with exotically bronzed skin. She dropped down the ladder onto the floor like shyla cat landing on the soft pads of its feet. She stood up straight and shook her hair back; lustrous waves of it cascaded around her slender neck.

"Wow." JD responded.

"Oh please say she's joining up here." Buck remarked already forgetting all about his earlier discussion regarding Inez.

The woman's gaze swept around the room searching and came to rest in their direction. Her soft brown eyes came into contact with JD Dunne's. Upon catching sight of him, she strode towards them, allowing them to admire the fluid motion of her perfectly form body coming towards them. Vin Tanner found himself swallowing thickly while JD was gawking. Buck was already preparing to go into charm mode while Chris was able to admire her without looking like a complete idiot.

"Well hi there darling." Buck greeted smoothly. "What brings you here?"

She noted him with an amused expression before turning to JD. "Lieutenant?"

"Yes ma'am?" JD reacted instinctively, stunned that she had chosen him to speak to instead of the others around him but more then that, recognizing the air of authority in her voice.

"I am Commander Alexandra Styles, I want to see Commander Travis immediately. You will take me there." It was not a request.

"I can take you." Buck spoke up, not about to let a tasty morsel slip past him.

She let her gaze run over the pilot and then took a briefer study of Vin before responding to Buck's invitation. "I seriously doubt it, Captain."

"Well you never know until you try." Buck returned, always liking a challenge.

"I'll just live with the mystery." She said aloofly and then looked at Vin once more, again with the briefest hint of contact. "Lieutenant." She raised her voice again. "I am waiting."

"Yes Sir." JD swallowed and gave his three friends a look to pray that he returned safely. "Right away."

As she strode away, Chris Larabee could only stare after her, sensing dark emotions and even darker thoughts regarding Mary Travis and though he refused to pry any more than that, he sensed that they were standing on the periphery of disaster.

And Mary had already gone over the edge.

Ezra Standish was surprise to find that for the first time in his life, he was content.

True, he was almost a spy for the Rebel Alliance and should his complicity in their affairs ever be uncovered, a court martial would be the least of his worries. However, on the other hand, he was stationed at a place where he was absolute master. He had his own beverage mark and in and out tray on his very own desk where every morning his trust adjutant Claire would bring his cup full and hand him reports to peruse. His evening were spent in Cordoba either teaching the locals that the commanding officer of the Cordoba outpost also was quite capable of playing a savage game of sabaac when he got his mind into it. Lately, he had acquired the company of a most sultry and amazing woman and as far as Ezra could compare it with the rest of his life until now, this was about as good as it was got.

His relationship with Inez was still rather casual. Though their affection and attraction for each other was intense, neither were strangers to the matters of the heart and were sensible enough to proceed with caution. They took dinner together whenever she was available to leave the Four Corners Tavern and enjoyed in each other's company as they partook in the scant nightlife afforded by Cordoba City. Ezra did not mind, he enjoyed being with her and he liked to think she felt the same way about him. Oh it was not true love, both of them were too jaded for that but their relationship was warm and passionate and their intimacies were becoming more heated with each meeting. He was also glad that his station as Commander of the outpost ensured that the local Imperial authorities gave her a wide berth, though it was never required for me to make that statement verbally.

His relationship with Inez also had the added advantage of offering a suitable explanation for all his visits to Four Corners, which was the center of rebel activity on Cordoba. Fortunately, this was a fact known only to him at this point for Inez had been smart enough to keep her involvement low key and those who used her bar for their rebel activities were also similarly mindful of drawing suspicion to their oases in enemy territory. It was at Four Corners that Ezra was able to catch up regularly with Nathan Jackson, his oldest friend in the world and the rest of the men who had become just as close in the short time he had come to know them. Ezra knew that one day he would be cornered into making a choice between his loyalties and the career he had always looked to as a refuge from the unsavory life he had been borne of.

For the time being that day was still some distance away and Ezra picked up his cup of warm cider and took a deep sip before he turned towards the daily reports from all department heads under his command. He had no more than gotten through the report informing what ships were cleared to arrive at the Cordoba space port when the doors to his office slid open and the young woman named Claire hurried through the doors looking quite anxious indeed. Although Claire was unaware of his involvement in the Rebel Alliance, she herself had some affiliations with the group. Her husband was First Officer to the Purgatory, the bane of Imperial ships in local space whenever it was under the direct command of Mary Travis. While she did nothing to undermine the Empire presence or use her position to aid the rebellion, Ezra knew that she would die protecting her husband if it ever came down to it. He hoped if the situation arose, she would do the same for him.

"My dear, you look positively perturbed." Ezra remarked casually, setting down his cup on the desk. "Whatever is the matter?"

"You'll look just as perturbed when you read this." She retorted handing him a data pad.

"What is it?" Ezra sat up in his chair as he took the pad from her hand and studied it.

It took only a brief glimpse for him to memorize most of the text, a talent acquired from his sabaac playing skills. However, fast or not, the content clearly indicated that Claire had reason to be so concerned and judging what was coming at him, so did he.

"She gets here tomorrow." Ezra eased back into his chair.

"What do we do Sir?" Claire looked at him in question, hoping he would have an answer.

"What can we do Lieutenant?" Ezra returned her gaze. "She has been appointed by Coruscant. There is no higher court I can appeal to."

What Ezra did not mention that it was most likely that his new First Officer Lieutenant Julia Pemberton was most likely appointed to her position by Darth Vader himself. Even though Ezra had saved the dark Jedi's life, he had not been realistic in thinking that Vader would show any gratitude. Vader had stated most emphatically that he believed Ezra to be guilty of concealment. He supposed this was how the Sith Lord sought to find out. Although this was somewhat of an annoyance, Ezra knew he could get around any agent send to spy on him. Mostly because he knew how to be far more devious than any Jedi could possibly imagine, having learned from the expert tutelage of his mother, Maude.

"So we're just going to accept this?" Claire looked at him sharply.

"Unless you have some brilliant plan that will change Lord Vader's mind for that is the one who has appointed her to this position, I am going to do exactly that."

"Vader?" She gasped with dismay. He was right, there was no way to avoid this.

"Vader." Ezra nodded in affirmation. "I guessed he was not entirely convinced that I had the Empire’s interest at heart."

"He thinks you’re a rebel?" She asked with a hushed voice. Just the suspicion of that could ensure that Ezra be erased from existence.

"He does not know what I am which is part of the reason for his consternation I believe," Ezra responded. "It was probably why he dispatched the coming Lieutenant Pemberton."

"So what are we going to do?" She looked at him, waiting for him to find some way out of their predicament. In truth, he did not have one and he had no wish to be here to greet one of Vader’s spies when they arrived. He considered his options and decided that perhaps it was time he made himself scarce for a time. He had more than enough furlough accumulated to take some time away. In the meantime, he could let the spy cool her heels and fidget awaiting for his arrival of if he threw enough breadcrumbs in her way, it might send her on a wild goose chase for a few weeks and keep her out of his hair.

"I think that I need to go see Inez." Ezra stood up abruptly from behind his desk.

"Now?" Claire exclaimed in disbelief. "Sir we have a crisis coming to us in a less than 21 hours, we need to formulate some kind of battle plan."

"It's only a spy Lieutenant," Ezra gave her a look. "Not an invasion. There is nothing here that would incriminate either of us, lest there is something you need to tell me about?" He cocked his brow at her.

"Of course not!" Claire sputtered almost mortified by the notion. "But we need to think this out!"

"No we do not," He said breezily as he sat his cap on his hat and adjusted into position. "I need to think this out. You need to go off and prepare the so far unused first officer’s quarters as well as an office for the new lieutenant. I will be back later."

"Captain!" Claire tried once more to talk some sense into her commanding officer.

"Lieutenant," Ezra paused at the door long enough to add. "Trust me. I shall handle this."

With that he left the room and his anxious adjutant to panic without him. In truth, he had no real plan other than to disappear for a week or two for he was in simply too good a mood to put up with Lieutenant Julia Pemberton. Ezra thought he would never hear himself say this but at the moment, he needed to go visit with his mother.

*************

Josiah Sanchez strode into the hangar bay shortly after the new visitor to the rebel had made her departure with JD Dunne to find Mary Travis, leaving Chris with a deep sense of foreboding that something was looming on the horizon. That feeling was further reinforced with the trouble expression on Josiah's face not to mention the dark stormy emotions that were emanating from the former Republic Senator. As a rule, Chris did not pry into the thoughts of his friend although he sensed strong emotions clearly, whether or not he wished to do so. It was a part of Jedi sensory perception that he could not deny for to close one aspect of it would be to dull one sense and that would inevitably lead to errors in judgement.

"Is she here already?" Josiah asked as he reached the table where Vin Tanner had more or less given up the notion of building his light sabre, at least for the moment.

"You mean tall, dark, wears leather like it was painted on?" Buck Wilmington asked.

Josiah rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, Commander Styles. Is she here?"

"She’s gone to see Mary." Chris quickly informed, sensing the urgency in the matter even if the others did not.

"Damn." Josiah hissed. "I was hoping to reach her before she got to Mary."

"What’s going on?" Chris asked, rising from his seat. "Who is this Commander Styles."

Josiah took a deep breath as he collected his thoughts. There was no point keeping anything secret from a Jedi because if Chris wanted to, he could learn the truth with far more speed than Josiah was capable of hiding. Besides, Chris was the only person in this base who could match Mary Travis for will, if worse came to worse, he might be able to help avoid a situation from getting too much out of hand.

"She’s a deep cover operative. Has been out in the field for the last year or so." Josiah explained. "Extremely high clearance. She also happens to be Mary’s sister in law."

"Sister in law?" Vin Tanner remarked with more interest than normal. "She’s Stephen’s sister?"

"Half sister." Josiah responded quickly and moved on. "That’s not the problem. Two days ago, she sent a report to Alliance high command of some information she’s uncovered. Now she transmitted her message on scrambler frequency and headed straight for here to see Mary."

"What’s the message?" Buck asked, guessing accurately that it had to be something big for Josiah to be so worried and to have an intelligence operative coming out from assignment to deliver it to Mary personally.

"Stephen Travis is alive."

Chris Larabee took the new surprisingly well considering that a thousand hopes unspoken by himself, hidden so deep away inside him that he dared not even admit its existence, suddenly shattered like a plate glass windows into a thousand fragments. He hid his disappointment well and told himself he was being foolish, all in the space of seconds that it took for Josiah’s word to reach him. Mary and he had a relationship that was little more than friendship, he had no right to feel the pangs of jealously assaulting him upon realising that Stephen, Mary’s husband was very much alive.

"Woah," Buck whistled softly. "That’s big Josiah."

Buck did not trust himself to say anything to Chris, knowing the Jedi would not take the well- intentioned platitude well. Chris remained stone faced, revealing nothing which only proved to Buck just how much pain he was feeling at this sudden news. It was no secret that there was something developing between the Jedi and the Rebel leader. However, it was only in its beginnings and if Mary’s husband were alive then it would die this minute. Chris did not fall for women frequently. The only woman he had ever remembered the Jedi caring about this much was Sarah and now Mary. Buck knew that though Chris did not say it and Mary was a non-issue, he had nonetheless fallen hard for the lovely woman they all admired.

"How?" Vin probed further, knowing Chris would not ask even though he wanted to. Vin was just aware as Buck about how Chris felt about Mary, if not better because they were both Force adept. As always, the former bounty hunter was tuned into the Jedi’s mental state and suspected that Chris had a great deal of personal feelings in this matter because when Josiah had revealed his news, Vin found his senses slamming straight into a wall barring Chris’ emotional state from him.

"We always believed that Stephen was killed as a warning to Mary when her loyalties started to become suspect," Josiah explained. "Billy was with him when it happened. Stephen had the housekeeper take the boy out of the house while he stalled the assassins. I think the plan was to kill Stephen and take Billy as hostage as a reminder of what she still had to lose."

"Real charitable," Buck said with open disgust. "I’m guessing that didn’t happen."

"No," Josiah shook his head sadly. "The housekeeper got Billy away safely but by the time we got back to the house, there was nothing left. It was completely destroyed.. If there was a body, it was just a vaporised."

"Good way to hide it if they didn’t kill him." Vin remarked.

"Exactly," Josiah agreed because that was precisely what had happened. "Apparently Styles stumbled onto the information that the attackers were not Imperials. It was the Empire that commissioned the killing with the belief that Billy would be brought to them but the actual assailant was a bounty hunter, named Glorith Daal."

"I know her." Vin declared automatically. "She’s not a contract bounty hunter." He stated. The Bounty Hunters Guild was a small select group and unless you had the sanctioning of the Guild, you could not operate. Doing so without permission was a quick way to get a vibro-blade between the ribs. The advantage of being in such an organisation was the fact that each member was known to one another. "She works for Black Sun."

"Well apparently Glorith doublecrossed the Empire because she didn’t hand Stephen over to them, she handed them to Black Sun." Josiah concluded.

"Ah hell." Vin swore under his breath and it was with enough fear to make the other stare at him. Vin was the one with the connections to the seamier side of galactic underworld. As a former bounty hunter, he had the chance to work for some of the most dangerous gangsters in the business, like the Hutts for instance. However even Vin knew well enough to stay away from the likes of the Black Sun and its leader, Laurel Chase. "Chase has got him?"

"You know Laurel Chase?" Josiah asked with surprise. The information the Alliance had on the woman was sketchy at best but one thing was clear; she was very dangerous and agents in the field were instructed to approach her with extreme caution if at all.

"I know her by reputation. She’s not the like the Hutts at all. Likes having talent that’s female. There are no men in Black Sun all and she is very selective about what she dabbles in. Mostly runs addictive substances to the core worlds. Spice, Crystals and a little pick me up which is apparently all the thing on the fight circuits, Venom. Makes anyone who takes it real strong and aggressive. I had to bring in a bounty hooked on the stuff once and it took just about everything I had to bag him. Her power base is mostly in the Corporate Sector. That’s the only reason why Nal Hutta hasn’t made a run for her yet, she’s too far from the Hutt sphere of influence."

"Why would she want Stephen?" Buck muttered, asking no one in particular because it did not make sense that a gangster would have any interest in the husband of a rebel leader.

"Well think about it," Chris spoke for the first time. "He was supposed to be taken with Billy. The bounty hunter did not finish the job she was contracted to do and the Empire doesn’t forgive mistakes."

"That’s true." Vin agreed. "They were more than ready to put a price on my head just because I refused to bring in Chris. For something like that Glorith would have barely got out with her skin. So instead she brings Travis to Chase."

"She brings him to Chase who keeps him for a year." Buck was still puzzled.

"Well now she’s asking the Empire ten million credits for him." Josiah continued.

"Why now?" Vin mused. "Why after a year?"

"That’s easy," Chris answered, his insides hollowing at the top. "Mary was not a rebel then, just suspected of it. She’s proven herself to be able commander against any fleet commander in the entire Star Fleet. She destroyed an Imperial base at Doldur 3 and took out an Imperial Star Destroyer. She’s sitting on top of the Imperial wanted list, almost as highly placed at Mon Mothma or Bel Iblis. We all know what they’d do get their hands on her."

"So Chase was hanging on to him," Vin nodded in understanding.

"Yeah," Chris said grimly. "She was waiting to drive the price up."

************

When Mary Travis instructed whoever it was at her door to come into her office, she certainly did not expect to see a face from the past, nor one she held with such affection. She had expected it was a junior officer who needed yet another report signed, another requisition order filled, instructions from high command giving them more grim statistic regarding Imperial cruelty, everything except the face that appeared before her. It was a face that reminded her of simpler times when dreams were not something that left the taste of ash in her mouth and youth was something not to be looked back upon with regret and yearning.

"Alex!" Mary fairly squealed in delight upon seeing the face of her oldest and dearest friend, emerging from her desk with such un-commander like behavior that JD Dunne who had escorted Commander Styles to her office was still rather stunned. He did not normally think of Mary as a woman even though the young man would have to be just about blind not to notice. Mary was a very beautiful woman but she was also the leader of local rebel base, the infallible commander who could take on Star Destroyers and win. It was not often that he saw the person underneath all that.

"Hey!" Alex stepped away from JD and crossed the floor in seconds to meet Mary in the middle of her office in a warm hug. Both women laughed happily at seeing each other again, their mutual joy evident on their faces and left JD wondering what the connection between the two were.

"JD," Mary turned to their unwitting observer when she finally slipped out of the embrace. "This is my sister-in-law, Alexandra Styles."

"That's Alex to you kid." She smiled, realizing that the young man was one of Mary's friends and thus was deserving of her own consideration.

"Hi Alex." JD greeted her, somewhat uneasy about calling her by such an informal name when it was only a moment ago that she had ordered him to take her to Mary's office with all the rank and protocol deserving of one in her position.

"I think I scared him a little," Alex threw him a wink filled with playful mischief and suddenly the image of the stern commanding woman began to fade for something more palatable. It was obvious that she was just as delighted at seeing Mary again.

"Alex is a good friend JD," Mary explained barely able to contain her lovely smile. "We were at the Academy together."

"Oh," he nodded mutely and felt more certain than ever that he ought to leave in order to leave these two friends to get reacquainted. He felt a little pleased though because Alex's arrival certainly lifted the Commander's spirit and like every other soldier in the rebel base, they knew that moments when their commanding officer had time to herself were far and between. "Well I gotta be going." He said excusing himself and was hardly surprised that they noticed him leaving. Still, when he walked away from the closing door of her office, he hoped that Mary and her friend had a good time visiting. They probably had lots to talk about and catch up on.

*********

When they were alone, Mary returned to her desk while Alex nestled herself in the chair in front of it. Mary fished out a bottle she seldom showed anyone she had hidden in the bottom drawer of her desk but was absolutely essential to her well being unless she wanted to steal Chris' light saber and hack everyone to death when she was in a bad mood.

"Oh refreshments." Alex grinned as Mary started pouring the contents of the expensive Alderaanian liquor bottle into two small glasses. She noted the label on the bottle and added. "You still love that expensive stuff don't you?"

"And you've been working on the fringes too long, you've gotten used to rot gut." Mary retorted as she sat the bottle down after filling both drinking receptacles.

"What's with the Jedi and the bounty hunter?" Alex found herself asking, aware that she was delaying the inevitable but Mary's spirits were so lifted at seeing her that she had no wish to bring on the grim news she had come here to impart in the first place, any sooner than necessary. Even the Hero of Jofa needed news like this broken to her gently.

"You saw Chris and Vin?" Mary stared at her with a raised brow as she slid one of the glasses in Alex's direction.

"They were with the kid," Alex said brushing a strand of hair from her face as she raised the glass to her lips take a sip. "I saw the light saber on the table."

"Oh the one Vin's been trying to build for the last week." Mary nodded in acknowledgement. "Not having too much luck with it. Poor thing seems to keep getting interrupted a lot."

"Are you saying Vin Tanner is the one who owns the light saber?" Alex exclaimed with surprise. She was certain it was the handsome blond god with the dark expression who was the Jedi. Alex was aware that this particular cell of the rebel alliance had among its personnel a Jedi Knight who kept company with the former bounty hunter known as Vin Tanner. Of course, Alex had never met Tanner herself until know.

"Do you know Vin?" Mary stared at her.

"Only by reputation." Alex declared. "He's meant to be the best damn bounty hunter in the galaxy. What's he doing here?"

"Believe it or not, trying to become a Jedi apprentice," Mary drawled as she savored the liquid in her mouth and let it warm her from inside out. "That is if he ever gets to build that light saber."

"You probably got a good story of how he came to be here." Alex commented not needing to hear if Tanner could be trusted. Mary was no fool and Alex had utmost confidence in the legitimacy of Tanner being here because of her faith in Mary. They had been at Jofa together and if there was one thing Alex trusted above all else, it was Mary's instincts. More than once, it had saved both their lives. "He looks nothing like I heard."

Mary knew the look of interest that Alex was trying not to show because she had been Alex's friend from the time she had her first crush, her first date and then her first love. She knew her friend as thoroughly as Alex probably knew her. "Are you telling me you still have a thing for the ones with the bad reputation and cute baby blues eyes?"

"I barely know the man!" Alex scoffed in amusement, which soon disintegrated when she remembered why she was here and that this conversation was not helping. Mary had to be told, no matter how much Alex did not want to do it. Before Mary was her brother's wife, she was Alex's best friend first and there was too much between them for Alex to keep this from her. Mary would want to be told. Immediately.

"I'm sure," Mary said dubiously and noted the expression in Alex's eyes, despite the bittersweet smile on her face. She had guessed Alex's visit here was not a social call and decided that she had better help Alex along with the reason for her arrival. "Now, you don't come out of the cold, to fly all the way here just to see how I'm doing, not that I am not terribly grateful if you did. What's up Alex? What is you can't tell me?"

Alex's face drained of all humor and her brow knitted to take on a very different persona, one that made Mary's blood run cold just seeing it. Suddenly, Mary felt her pulse racing even though she did not know why. Alex could not meet her gaze and continued to stare at the glass which immediately heightened Mary's anxiety at the scale of the news she was about to hear.

"Its Stephen." Alex spoke, finally realizing that there was no easy way to say it but to simply speak it in honesty and hope that the truth was enough comfort in itself. "He's alive."

For a second, it did not register. She stared at Alex, her fingers tightening around the glass, pressing up against the smooth surface until her blood rushed away from outer layer of skin and the overwhelming pressure by withdrawing into the rest of her hand. Her heart had gone from racing to stopping entirely in her chest and for a moment, she thought she heard it explode.

"Mary!" Alex exclaimed as the glass shattered in her hand.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN STEPHEN IS ALIVE!" Mary roared, ignoring the shards of glass in her hands or the blood dripping onto the desk from the cuts.

"Your hand....." Alex started to say.

"TO HELL WITH MY HAND!" Mary thundered again. "How is it possible that Stephen is alive?"

"All I know is that instead of sending out agents to kill him, the Empire sent a bounty hunter. When they didn't get Billy, they took Stephen alive instead of killing him like they were supposed to but the bounty hunter was afraid, you know how the Empire is these days with a botched job. The bounty hunter played it smart, instead of handing Stephen over to them, she turned him over to the Black Sun and now that you're one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy, Black Sun is asking the Empire for 10 million credits."

"My husband is being ransomed by gangsters?" Mary gasped. The very thought of it was obscene.

"Mary, I've informed the Alliance." Alex explained. "I wanted to come here and do this face to face before you heard it over some transmission. I'm sure the Alliance will match that sum."

"My husband is not a thing to be bargained with." Mary stood up right, wiping her soaking hand on her shirt and leaving a bloody print mark on the material. "We're going to get him back right now." She said with steel in her voice.

"Get him back?" Even Alex was taken back by that response. Mary was not one who thought rashly. She had expected her friend to be angered by the news, perhaps enough to make voice of a rescue plan. Mary had always been the thinker of them both, the one who always weighed in decisions carefully before attacking. She was the best military commander in the rebel fleet, even Bel Iblis had conceded that fact. Iblis own prowess was as an intelligence gatherer, Mary was military, right down to the bone. She knew warfare and strategy better than any commander the rebels had and though her rage showed not often, Alex knew that Black Sun, presently residing in the Corporate Sector had every reason to fear.

"Yes," Mary rounded her desk and striding forcefully to the door. Her eyes fairly radiated crimson heat as she turned to Alex and stated. "I have a warship at my disposal and before I allow my husband, the father my child to be traded to the Empire like a sacrificial lamb, I will annihilate every last one of them"

 CHAPTER THREE

When Josiah was notified by Chano that Mary had just sent him orders to prepare the Purgatory for immediate departure from its orbit around Siraj 2, his worse fears were confirmed. In truth, Mary was the absolute commander of the rebel cell in the Territory but Josiah took his orders directly from the Alliance council and while he adhered to Mary's command in all other matters, this was one situation where he had to countermand her wishes. He had guessed that this was coming which was why he wanted to be present when Mary was told about Stephen, wishing to offer her a calm voice in the face of such shattering news. Unfortunately, he had been too late and now she knew. She knew that her husband was held prisoner for an entire year. A whole year where she had never even suspected that he could be alive and allowed him to suffer his captivity without hope because he must have known that everyone who loved him believed that he was dead.

Josiah could not even begin to imagine how Mary felt.

However, he knew what she would do. As surely as he had seen the future, he could just imagine her reaction. He had watched her grow from a child to a woman. Her father had been one of his best friends and no matter how much presence she commanded at times, there was a part of Josiah who would always remember her as that golden haired child so adored by her father, the Admiral. He had suspected her actions and given Chano instructions to contact him the minute she confirmed his worse fears. Mary's first officer on the Purgatory had not liked being forced into such a position but when Josiah explained why, Chano's arguments evaporated. Instead of going to seek her out, Josiah had chosen to stay at the hangar, knowing eventually Mary would arrive here if she intended to journey to the warship.

Everyone was anxious because they knew there was a confrontation coming. Nathan had ordered all personnel out of the hangar for there was no reason for the rank and file to see their commander in such a position. Chris, Vin, Buck and JD remained because they were her friends and because she might need their support to see her way to making the right decision. Chris could sense her coming even before she arrived at the hangar entrance. He sensed her in the way one sensed a storm coming and even he felt somewhat taken back by the fury he sensed from her and knew before Josiah could even say a word that this had gone beyond discussion.

The Force help him, Chris did not think Mary could be reasoned with.

Mary strode into the hangar and immediately paused when she saw how quiet it was. Her fists were still clenched and her jaw set as her eyes swept over the area that was devoid of pilots, technicians, maintenance crews moving about the wide floor, going about their day to day activities. Even the droids were still. Alex beside her noticed the same silence.

"What's going on?" Alex asked puzzled by the radical change in atmosphere. Less than an hour ago, this place had been almost as busy as a spaceport in Coruscant and now it felt quiet like a tomb. It was almost eerie.

Josiah, Chris and the others stepped forward from behind the corner beyond Mary and Alex's peripheral view to make their presence known.

"Mary," Josiah spoke first, hoping baser instincts were still in place so he could reach her. "What are you doing?"

"I am going to the Purgatory," Mary answered coldly. "I'm taking her to the Corporate Sector. I'm going to find Stephen." Her eyes shifted to Chris and narrowed slightly as a hint of accusation seeped from them at him and the fact that the narrow gap of space between them was suddenly the drawn line of a battlefield.

"Mary I can't let you do that." Josiah said evenly, watching her reaction. Beside her, Alex's face was one of concern but not enough to make her stop Mary from her present course. Josiah did not expect any help because Stephen was Alex's brother and he knew perfectly well that Alex would die for Mary if it were asked of her. Their friendship was beyond loyalty and common sense. "I know about Stephen so does the Alliance council. They want you to stand down. We will make an offer for Stephen ourselves and if that does not work then we will think about a rescue plan."

"I see." Mary considered his words for a moment before raising her gaze to meet his. "No," she shook her head. "That is not acceptable. I am taking the Purgatory now. I'm going to take my ship to the Corporate Sector and start shooting at things until I see Stephen."

"Mary," Chris spoke up. "Please."

She barely looked at him. "Chris, this is none of your affair. I am commander of this base and I say we go."

The coldness in her voice shocked him and he tried to hide his hurt on his face but somehow it slipped past even the Jedi ability to mask his emotions.

"Mary, come on." Nathan tried this time. "Think about this....."

"No you think about this." Mary turned on them. "Do you I am completely stupid?" She asked, her voice harsh with accusation. "If Black Sun has already made their offer to the Empire, do you honestly think they are stupid enough to renege handing Stephen over to them? Especially in preference to us? Black Sun may be above the law but we both know that Palpatine will destroy them if they chose sides. We can offer them twenty million, even a billion and Black Sun will still turn us down because they want to survive Nathan. Now get out of my way." She ordered.

"No." Josiah said firmly. "You're not taking the Purgatory and if you try, I'll have you relieved of your command."

"Really?" Mary retorted, unprepared to believe it and confident that his threat was meaningless. "Try it. That's not a soldier in this place who would take that order."

She was right. Mary's status among the rank and file, not to mention the officers was near legendary. If Josiah were forced to relieve her of command, the blow to morale would be considerable. Not to mention, he was not entirely certain that the rest of the rebels would obey the order. "Mary, don't do this. You're endangering yourself and the cause." He tried once more, hoping that reason would prevail.

"Hey you're her friend," Vin regarded Alex. "Can't you see how dangerous this is? I know Black Sun and I know Chase, she'll kill him first before she gives him up to you. Warship or not."

Alex flinched because the bounty hunter was right. She knew Laurel Chase' organization very well and Chase' reputation had her placed as not only crafty but vindictive. This was a woman who was once credited to having sent Jabba's envoy to her sent back minus his head. "Mary, I want Stephen back too but they may be right."

"And so am I." Mary turned to her sharply. "They'll never give us Stephen and if we wait, the Empire will move into take possession. You know as well as I do, once they suspect we know, they'll have the Black Sun staked out with so many agents that no rescue attempt will be possible. We have do this and right now."

Alex was split on her feelings to help Mary but there was never any question that she would not. "I'm sorry," she turned to the others. "He's my brother and she is right. If we don't move now, we'll never reach him."

"No I'm sorry," Josiah whispered under his breath. "Commander Travis, I am temporarily relieving you of duty. Nathan, escort the commander back to her quarters."

Without even batting an eye, Mary drew her sidearm and aimed it at the group barring her way. "I'm going. Don't even try to stop me."

"Mary." Chris stepped forward. "You're frightened for Stephen and you're not thinking straight. We'll find a way to get him back, just put the gun down." He implored, knowing that he had the power to disarm this situation but could not bring himself to make such a decisive move yet.

"Chris," Mary softened briefly. "He is my husband. If it were Sarah, I wouldn't be able to stop you either. Don't expect me too. Stand aside. I don't want hurt you but I will get through you."

From the corner of her eye, Alex saw Vin starting to inch forward and she went for her gun, aiming the weapon straight at his head. "Move one more inch bounty hunter and you'll regret it."

Vin froze in his step and swore, certain that no one had seen him move. Damn she was good. When it came to the stealthy approach, he had no peer except maybe Chris but she had spotted him easily. "I reckon I will." He muttered unhappily and took a step back with the others while the play shifted back to Mary and Chris once more.

"Mary, put the gun down." Chris asked again, finding himself inching towards the place he had no wish to be.

"I will when you step out of the way." She said coldly, seeing right through him. "Don't make me shoot you Chris. It would hurt me but I will do it."

"I know you would," he nodded sadly and realised that he had no choice. He had to act.

The gun was snatched out of her grip into his own with less than an exertion of the Force on his part. He caught Alex's blaster with his other hand and stepped back from both women. Mary's face displayed a moment of dismay and surprise as her only bargaining tool was taken from her. Her emotions showed on her lovely face for a second before the tough mask fell again. Chris found himself facing a black wall of rage that had contracted around her heart as she glared back him. Alex, he sensed was a little relieved that the confrontation had been diffused before they were forced to hurt anyone.

"Mary," Nathan came forward, trying to speak through the stare between Chris and Mary. "You're upset and you have every right to be. Why don't you go back to your quarters for a bit and get some rest. When you've calmed down, you'll think of a better way out of this situation. I understand what you're going through. So does Chris. We both lost someone and we can't say that in your situation we wouldn't act exactly the same way but there is more than to this then rushing in blindly. If you gave yourself a moment to think, you'll see that."

Mary did not even acknowledge his empathic plea. Her eyes were too fixed on Chris. He could probably sense what she was feeling and that made his actions even more unacceptable. She could see nothing but betrayal and she knew that at this moment, she loathed him more than all the others because Chris of all people should understand and knowing how he would react in the same circumstances made him a hypocrite.

It was Chris who attempted to speak but Mary never let him get the chance. Her hand lashed out, striking him across the face and cutting short any word that might have left his lips. The slap seemed to fill the entire hangar and everyone stopped breathing, even Alex next to her, before she finally responded to Chris.

"If Stephen dies, I will never forgive you."

With that, she turned on her heels and stormed the way she came, with Alex following close behind.

Chris watched her go with what was left of his heart after that devastating rebuke lying in scattered fragments around his feet. He knew exactly why she felt betrayed and had to admit that she was right. In her position, heaven and earth would not have been able to stop him from going to find Sarah. His part in stopping her here was even more of an injury than hearing Josiah attempt to relieve her of command. She understood their motivations but his? His was just pure betrayal.

"Chris...." Buck's voice broke through his thoughts, trying to make some conciliatory statement.

"DON'T." Chris retorted sharply, without even looking at the pilot. "Just don't."

************

"I'm sorry Mary," Alex fell into stride with the commander of the rebel base after the ugly confrontation in the hangar.

"I should have expected it." She said icily. "If we do this, we'll have to do it alone."

Somehow it did not surprise Alex that Mary was already hurtling down that path and though the whole idea of retrieving Stephen Travis was always going to be dangerous, a plan that did not involve a warship gave her some comfort. Besides, she felt just as strongly for liberating her brother from Laurel Chase's clutches as Mary but she had not been comfortable shooting their own people, "Alright," Alex stated firmly. "I'm with you on anything you want to do, you know that."

Mary paused and glanced in her direction with a slight nod. "I do and thank you for backing me up in there."

"For all the good it did." Alex drawled. "You realise that if you want to leave this place you're going to have to get past him."

"I know." She said shortly and hoped that her tone was enough for Alex to realise that she did not want to discuss or even mention him by name at this point. "But we will get past him. In one hour I'm going to ask him to my quarters. You have to figure out a way to disable him there."

Alex stared at Mary. "You want me to take out a Jedi?"

"Can you do it?" Mary turned a questioning eye at her. "I would do it myself but he'll know an attack is coming from me. It has to take him completely by surprise and you can't be anywhere nearby when you do it either. He'll sense you as easily as he senses me."

"That's a tall order." The raven-haired beauty mused as she considered how she could attach the problem. As a deep cover operative, she was not above assassination when it was necessary. Although her main function was intelligence gathering, Alex was a highly trained combat expert and killing was just the nature of the job. However, she had never gone up against a Jedi and naturally, some trepidation ran through her at Mary's suggestion but she also knew that any attempt of rescuing Stephen would never get past the Jedi if he felt inclined to stop them. Still, it was not entirely impossible. She could not be near him which was just as well because Mary was right, he would be able to sense an attack coming which limited her options considerably.

"I've got it." Alex declared.

"Don't tell me." Mary said quickly. "If I know so will he. I'm going to my office. Whatever you have to do, do it before I get to my quarters in one hour."

"I got you." She nodded. "We'll have also have to deal with the bounty hunter. I'll take care of that too. At the moment, they're mostly worried about you."

Mary stiffened, refusing to think about that or Chris. "Are you sure you can handle Vin?"

"There is no one else to deal with him is there?" She retorted. "It's me or you and they'll be expecting it from you. I'm too new for anyone to get a bead on and next to you, I'm presently the highest ranking officer on this base. I can move around and get us what we need to leave."

As much as Mary hated to admit this, she would have to rely on Alex for their preparations to leave. "I'm going to give you a requisition order when I get to my office. Potter is in charge of requisition, speak to no one else but him. Tell him you're on special orders from the Commander. Confirmation of orders directly from me, no other channels."

*************

Unaware of the catastrophe presently being engaged by his friends at the rebel base, Ezra Standish entered the Four Corners tavern a short time after he had been given the news that he would soon be having a new second in command. Entering the establishment that was barely filled, as one would expect it to be at this time of the morning, his gaze searched for Inez. There were one or two regulars who were always present, an Ithorian who spent every day as far as Ezra was concerned, hiding in his favorite booth downing Singularities by the mug and a Twileki that had a penchant for Inez's delightful lunches. Inez was wiping down her counter when she saw him enter and immediately stopped what she was doing to flash him that incredibly sultry smile as she strolled towards him.

"Commander Standish." She smiled alluringly as she leant over the bar and joined his mouth in a lingering kiss.

Ezra savored the taste of her silky lips on his and returned the kiss with just enough passion to know that he would look forward to making love to this woman when she was ready to take that step in their relationship. "Miss Recillos." He offered her a little smile.

"What can I get you." She asked as she parted from him.

"I think what I just received is ample." He remarked and garnered another one of those incredible smiles.

"Not that I'm disappointed that you are here," Inez remarked watching him pull up a stool against the counter. "But isn't this early for you?"

"Yes it is," he had to confess. "I am afraid I may in something of a situation."

Inez immediately tensed, completely aware that he was extremely vulnerable despite his position as commander of the Cordoba base. Ezra's secret loyalties with the rebel alliance could have him executed for high treason if anyone were to discover his secret and since she had become personally involved with him, Inez could not deny that she worried a great deal about him. She also knew that he was a master of understatement and rarely liked to speak of his troubles. He was a deeply private man and Inez found herself caring for him more than she would like, even though their relationship existed on precarious footing.

"What sort of situation?" She asked, hoping it was nothing too serious.

"It appears I am acquiring a new second in command." Ezra explained with a little sigh. "The lady arrives tomorrow and I am almost certain that she is a gift from Lord Vader."

Inez shuddered, remembering what he had told her about his encounter with Darth Vader and was glad that he had made it through that incident in one piece. "But you saved his life." She pointed out.

"A fact I'm sure he hates himself for more than I do." Ezra sighed as she poured him his usual drink of Alderanian cognac. "Therefore I have decided I am going to take a little vacation."

"A vacation?" She stared at him.

"Yes, I thought I might visit my friends at the rebel base. It is the one place I am certain the Empire won't find me." He said in a low voice.

"That's for sure." Inez agreed. "But won't the Empire get a little suspicious if you just suddenly disappear?"

"That is why I am here," Ezra replied, getting down to the heart of the matter. "I believe you have a scrambler that allows you to transmit without your signals being detected?" Even though there was barely anyone in the place, Ezra kept his voice down. "I need to send a message to my mother in the Corporate Sector."

"Your mother lives in the Corporate Sector?" Inez looked at him with surprise. The Corporate Sector was on the other side of the galaxy and usually populated by those who did not want to be noticed by the Empire. It was the preferred address for gangsters and criminals although from what little Inez knew about Maude Standish, that description might not be completely inaccurate.

"Yes, she owns a casino out that way." Ezra remarked offhandedly, not wishing to discuss Maude in detail. "I need to send her a message for her to invent some family crisis that requires my presence with her immediately."

Inez nodded in understanding. "I see and when she does, her darling boy will naturally need to leave his post immediately to take care of things, thus giving you a convenient excuse not to be there when your new first officer arrives."

"Exactly." He winked in affirmation.

"She's going to be plenty mad you know." Inez pointed out.

"Let her." Ezra responded. "Spy or not, there is one thing she must adhere to while under cover at my station"

"And that is?" Inez asked.

"I am her commanding officer and she has to follow my orders." Ezra retorted. "If she does not, I have every right to transfer her off my station and unless Vader wants it known that he had a spy planted in my midst, there will not be a thing he can do about it."

Ezra had thought hard on his choices upon learning that he was going to have Lieutenant Julia Pemberton foisted on him. The captain had decided that if Vader wanted to play games, Ezra would take up the challenge and with all due respect to the Sith Lord, Ezra was better at it.

************

Although Vin found Chris meditating in his quarters, he knew for a fact that the Jedi was far from at peace. He could sense the anguish inside his friend and wished that there was some way to soothe his hurt but there was not. From the moment, they had seen each other; Chris Larabee and Mary Travis had recognized something in one another that was comforting in their darkest hours. Vin, who had more insight into Chris' psyche knew it was more than just comfort but the pains of his past loss had yet to bring that realization to fruit. Chris and Mary were so alike and yet unlike at the same time that it was inevitable that someday, theirs would be souls melded into one but that was before today.

Before they knew that Stephen Travis was alive.

He felt pity for his friend and knew he had to cast the thought from his mind because Chris would sense it and he did not think Chris could stomach pity from anyone right now. Vin had felt the sorrow in his heart when Mary had struck him and ached for his friend in empathy. If he had someone whom he cared about that much say such harsh words to him, Vin was not entirely certain he would have held up as well as Chris had in the same circumstances.

"Chris?" Vin called out as he entered the room and saw Chris seated on his bed, cross-legged and attempting to calm his trouble spirit.

Chris opened his eyes. "What do you want?" He demanded, clearly indicating he wanted to be left alone.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay." Vin answered tentatively. There was no point lying. Chris would know.

"I'm fine." Chris retorted not kindly. "Leave me alone and I'll be better."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it pard." Vin found himself saying, unable to leave it at just that. "She was hurting and you were trying to....."

"I know what I was trying to do." The Jedi barked. "I should have let her go. If it were Sarah, nothing would have stopped me. I had no right to stand in her way. I just...." he could not say it. The words had almost slipped past him into the open but Chris could not complete the sentence.

"It's not your fault Chris," Vin found himself saying. "You can't help how you feel."

"I don't have a right to feel this way about her." Chris shot back. "She doesn't belong to me. She never did. I have no right to expect anything."

"Chris," Vin took a deep breath. "Take it from someone who once felt something for someone who belonged to another man. Knowing its wrong doesn't make it hurt any less. You still want and you still yearn, even if everything inside you knows it's impossible."

Chris did not respond but everything inside of him refused to accept that even though he knew it was the truth.

 CHAPTER Four

Mary Travis looked at herself in her bedroom mirror and asked herself once again if she knew what she was doing because truthfully, she was so far away from herself, she could no longer tell. Events were transpiring at such a pace that she no longer felt in control of her faculties. All she could do was sit by and watch this other person take charge of her body and do the things she did not have strength to. She tried hard not to think about the situation that would put her back in control because that other personality was handling things fine without her. She knew if she started to pause or think, or do any of the things normally associated with the responsible leader of the Territory’s rebel enclave, she would lose her nerve and Stephen all over again.

Her thoughts drifted in limbo as she lingered like someone awaiting execution, in expectation of events to slip into place for that final reckoning. Mary entered her quarters at the appointed time and slipped into her travelling clothes. She packed a bag and ensured the items taken were nondescript and not at all personal. There could be nothing in its contents that could allow someone who discovered it to ascertain her identity. She had no idea what lay ahead but if she was going to embark on this personal crusade, she was not going endanger the cause to which she devoted her life at the expense of almost everything else. Mary knew the time was approaching but she had one more task to do. Rising to her feet from the corner of her bed, she went to the com screen on the nearby wall and activated it.

"Commander Travis here," she spoke to whoever was presently manning the communications center. "Is my call ready?"

"Yes Sir." The young man respond. "Patching through Bakura through scrambled frequency."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Mary said graciously and waited with a held breath.

The image of the young man disappeared abruptly to be replaced by a burst of static before a new face appeared that was welcomed and familiar. The man, who would have been terribly handsome in his day, immediately smiled upon seeing Mary's features mirroring his own, on a screen in the far distant world of Bakura. Although it was technically considered Imperial space, Bakura was still far from the nearest Imperial presence and was still under the influence of its own local government. In better times, the man before her had been a diplomat of note and the Bakurans held him in enough regard to protect him from those who would harm him and his young grandson.

"Orin." Mary greeted with a smile, feeling a soul quenching warmth filling into her at the sight of him.

"Mary, what a surprise." Orin declared with just as much pleasure before turning briefly away from the screen. "Billy!" He called out. "Come quickly, it's your mother!"

"How are you Orin?" Mary asked her spirits lifting for the moment. It had been almost a year since Mary had been on Bakura. She had helped Orin get settled on the world after she had entrusted her son to his care.

"Oh we're doing just fine." Orin replied and he did look happy. She could see the tinge of brown on his face, which indicated he had been working hard on his garden. Strange how she never saw Orin as a farmer but then she supposed so many things were different these days and so many roles were changing. "I've got my first crop of legumes which I took to the local market. I traded it for a dozen nerfs."

"Really?" Mary laughed, trying not to let the emotion overwhelm her. "I never pictured you as a nerf herder Orin."

"Well," the older man sighed. "Much too old to be saving the galaxy these days, that's your job. How are you doing?" He asked and Mary knew he could see the inherent sadness in her eyes.

"I'm fine." She said as neutrally as possible. She did not want to tell Orin that there was the possibility that Stephen was alive. Orin had already suffered enough agony in his life, having buried two wives and a son. Until Mary was certain that she could bring Stephen home, she was not going to raise his hopes just to dash them against the rocks if she failed.

"Here he is." Orin announced just as Mary saw a small, bounding shape running through the front door of the small cottage that he and his grandfather had been occupying since they had arrived on Bakura. "Billy, its your mother."

"Mommy!" Billy cried out as he jumped onto Orin's knee so that he could see his mother on the screen. Mary almost burst into tears as she saw her son because it was Stephen's face all over the screen and felt her heart melt at the smile that greeted her with his small voice. He had grown so much!

"Hello Billy." Mary tried to stay cheerfully but she never imagined it could be so hard. At that moment, she could have died from how much she missed her precious boy. She still saw him as that tiny pink creature that relied upon her so desperately when she had first brought him into the world.

"Mommy are you coming to visit soon?" He opened their conversation with the same question as always.

"Soon baby," Mary replied not sure if that was a lie or not. "I'll be coming to visit. Have you been a good boy for your grandfather?"

"Yes," he nodded wiping blood hair out of his face the color of flax. "Grandpa taught me how to fish and I can count all the way to 20." He said proudly.

"Twenty!" Mary exclaimed with pride. "You're ready for the Academy." She glanced at the chronometer and knew that they would have to terminate their conversation soon. Even through scrambled frequencies, Mary could not afford having someone detect the signal she was sending to Bakura.

"Baby I gotta go." Mary addressed her son once more and saw the downcast expression on his face at that news. By the Force, she missed him so much. "I love you. You take care okay?"

"I love you too mommy." He smiled at her and Mary decided if she were to die in what she was attempting to do, at least she would do so knowing that she had that image of her son to take with her.

"Orin, take care of my son." She asked Stephen's father who was now starting to suspect that there might be an ulterior motive regarding this sudden communication between them. "He's all I have."

"Mary, is something wrong?" Orin inquired with a look of concern on his face.

"No of course not," she lied. "I'm just feeling a little sentimental today. I have to go now. I love you both. I'll try and come see you soon. Goodbye Orin, goodbye Billy."

"Bye mommy." Billy placed his small hand on the screen and Mary found herself doing the same as if it meant that they were actually touching through the distance of space.

"Goodbye baby," she whispered, keeping her hand on the screen even after it had gone blank again and there were tears running down her cheeks.

***********

When Chris was told Mary wanted to see him in her quarters, Chris hoped that perhaps she might have calmed down enough to see what he had done earlier was for her best interests. He knew he could have found out for himself exactly what she was feeling if he were to stretch his mind through the Force and link with hers. However, he had done enough to Mary today without invading her privacy as well. Chris made his way to her quarters, telling himself that if she were still angry he would have to accept it. After all, she was right. If it were Sarah who was alive, nothing she could have said or done would have kept him from going. He was being a hypocrite and worst of all he was being a hypocrite for completely selfish reasons.

He was a Jedi! He could not afford to be selfish! To want and desire something that was unattainable was to court the temptations of the dark side. The dark side provided easy answers to satisfy the desires that were normally out of reach. A little compromise here, a sacrifice there and the next thing you knew, you were so deep into the mire of black that there was no emerging from it. Whatever had been the reason for the descent would be just as destroyed as the one who followed the path to acquire it. If it had been anyone else, he would have balked at the idea but this was not anyone else, this was Mary. From the moment he saw her, he had known. He felt her touch his soul the way nothing had. In the deep recesses of him, which he dare not admit to anyone, even himself, Chris knew not even Sarah had made that connection. It was rare that two beings could know with such complete confidence that they were meant for each other.

And Chris decided then and there as he stood in front of her door, even if it meant losing her forever, he would help Mary find Stephen Travis.

He activated the door panel and a soft chime let her know that he was there waiting.

"Come in." He heard her say and entered the room, prepared for anything.

The first thing that Chris realised when he stepped into the room was that she was blocking him. He felt her mind close off and although she was standing in front of him, words needed not be spoken because he could feel her conscious effort to keep him from reading her mind. She filled her mind with all sorts of random thoughts. In seconds he caught flashes of her as a child, of the places she loved to play, a favourite toy. There so many images and Chris marveled at the single-minded will that was creating this kaleidoscope of disarray in front of him.

"Mary..." Chris opened his mouth to speak. She was hiding something! He could pierce through the barriers before him. In fact he could do it with relative ease but it would hurt her, especially when she was trying so hard to confuse him. "What are you doing?"

She stood there, her eyes clamped shut. Her mind was focussed and Chris saw images that were real, some there were imaginary. In a second, he saw her thinking of him in her arms and was immediately drawn to that picture, especially when there was so much emotion behind it. For a moment, he could almost smell her hair, the touch of her skin as he became lost in the smooth feel of alabaster skin. She was calling out his name, dragging him sensuously into a fantasy of erotic desire. Had he been a novice, he might have been completely caught into her thrall but as strong as her will might be, she simply did not have the training of to keep him bound by the imagery. Chris started to break free, realizing that this display had purpose.

"What are you hiding?" He asked as he snapped his mind free of her.

She let out a gasp as a small rivulet of blood ran down her nose at the effort exerted. She wiped it away quickly and while she no longer filled her mind with random images to confuse him, she was still blocking him. However, that had been superseded by something else entirely. He could feel the Force screaming out danger and knew immediately that whatever form it took, it would come from her. He stared at her hard, trying to ascertain how and decided reluctantly he would have to make that invasion after all.

"I'm sorry Chris." Her gaze shifted behind him.

Chris swung around just in time to see the remote practice unit he often used to hone his lightsabre skills hovering before him. As fast as he was, he was not fast enough to keep it from discharging. A bolt of energy struck him square in the chest and the last thing Chris thought before the world went black around him was that once again, he had failed Mary.

Mary saw Chris tumble to the floor and let out a deep breath. She had not realised what Alex's plan had been until she saw the device appear from behind a chair and glide gently towards Chris. Ezra had told her how he had managed to block Vader when the dark lord had come to Cordoba. Mary knew that Chris was not as strong as Vader and assumed that she would have some measure of success against him. She looked at the smear of blood on her hand and was glad she had not had to do it any longer than that for it had really been starting to affect her. Normally the charge from the practice remote would not be enough to render anyone unconscious, just a sting to incite better performance from its user. Obviously, Alex had doctored the device to deliver a substantial charge.

Mary knelt over Chris' unconscious form and checked his pulse. He was alive but would not be waking up any time soon. Still, she was taking no chances. The Jedi's ability to heal was notorious for being extremely rapid and if a normal man would be unconscious for some hours, Mary estimated she would be lucky if she could get out of the base before he woke up.

"I have to do this Chris," she whispered softly to him even though he was beyond hearing him, her hand gently caressing his cheek. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean it but I have to go now." She sighed. "I have to try just like you would if it were Sarah."

With that, she stood up and stepped over him, pausing long enough to retrieve the packed bag waiting for her, before disappearing out of the room.

************

Vin Tanner sat down in the privacy of his quarters and turned his attention once again to the parts that were scattered on a small drop sheet on the table before him. After all the excitement earlier and Chris’ present difficulties with Mary, Vin had decided that the best place for him to be at the moment was out of their hair so they could work things out among themselves. Secretly, he hoped that there was a way to resolve the situation but as always in the case of there being one spouse too many, Vin knew from experience that it was inevitable that someone would be hurt. Unfortunately, it appeared that in this instance it was most likely to be Chris Larabee.

Empty your mind of all distractions, he told himself, echoing Master Yoda’s words in his head as he regarded the task before him, particularly of dark hair women in skin tight, leather-hugging clothes. Vin shook the image out of his mind even though he knew that his preoccupation had as much to do with Mary’s extraordinarily beautiful friend as well as Chris’ pain at the sudden re-emergence of Stephen Travis. He let out a small sigh just picturing her in his head. Vin had little to do with women he had not paid for. Other than that one instance where he had almost got himself killed, his encounters with the fairer sex was limited. There were very few women who wanted permanent relationships with bounty hunters and even less that were worth cultivating something deeper than a night’s diversion.

Enough, Vin said firmly to himself. He had a task to complete and this time, there were no more distractions to use an excuse for not getting it done. Vin steeled himself inwardly to begin and reached over for the first tool he would need to construct his own lightsaber. He was just about to make contact with its smooth surface when suddenly his door chimed.

"HELL!" He swore. "What do you have to do get some privacy in this place?" Another chime from the door punctuated that statement and swearing under his breath, Vin rose to his feet and went to answer it, thinking to himself that whomever it was better have a damn good reason for interrupting him. At the rate he was going, he was going to be an old man before he even finished building his lightsaber, let alone becoming a Jedi.

To his surprise, when the doors slid open, he found himself standing before a most unexpected visitor. Vin found himself gulping visibly at the sight of his raven haired temptress before him. Once again, he was overcome with feelings he had not experienced since he was a teenager and stopped himself from gawking at her like one.

"Do something for you?" He asked, trying to inject as much cool nonchalance into his voice as he could muster.

"Can I come in?" She looked over his shoulder into his quarters to see if he was alone.

"Depends." Vin responded fighting baser instincts. The tempo of his heart was increasing just looking her before him and Vin told himself inwardly to get a hold of himself. Still, there was something in the way she regarded him that told Vin that he was not the only one affected by her presence. Whether it was the Force or something beyond that, Vin knew that he affected her too. However for all the pleasant feelings she stirred up in him, Vin also acknowledged that there was danger. He was not as adept as Chris at picking up thoughts but most of the time he sensed emotions and then there was that sixth sense that warned him of troubled which until recently, he had thought to be insight until Chris informed him it was the Force.

She was dangerous.

"On what?" She asked coyly.

"On what you want." He returned coolly. They were both playing roles here. He was trying to show that she did not affect him on a personal level but she was exuding so much raw appeal that he could barely think straight. Only later, would he realise how dangerous that could be.

"I wanted to talk to you about Mary and your friend." Alex responded as she waited to be invited in. By their few seconds of conversation, Alex had discerned much about the apprentice. Mary had filled in some of the gaps but until now, most of what Alex knew was conjecture. Obviously, he could not read her thoughts like a full Jedi or else he would have known what she was planning by now. Perhaps he did know but could not define it, whatever the case, she had to act quickly. He may have been an apprentice but before he had gone the way of the Jedi, Vin Tanner was the best bounty hunter in the business and not someone she wanted to take on in an extended confrontation.

"Not much to talk about." Vin retorted.

"Not judging by the way he looks at her." Alex returned.

"What would you know about that?" He accused.

"Enough to know that he might have personal reasons for not letting Mary go after Stephen." She stared at him hard and knew immediately that he had suspected the same of his friend. She felt sorry for him because she could genuinely see he cared for both Mary and the Jedi. Once again, Alex was surprised by how unlike his reputation he actually was. She forced such thoughts out of her head because empathising with him would only make it harder for her to do what was needed. Mary was counting on her to be there and Alex would not fail her best friend at this most crucial time.

"Alright," Vin conceded and stepped aside to let her into his private sanctum. This was not a conversation that Vin wanted to discuss with her in the middle of a corridor. In truth, he would be telling her nothing because Chris’ feelings for Mary was his own business, Vin had no intention of giving anyone else his opinion on the subject, because he was equally fierce about keeping his own counsel to himself.

Not that he had to worry. The minute he had his back turned on her as he tried to close the door, Alex moved into attack. His senses told him there was danger even as she prepared to strike. He spun around and caught the fist that would have impacted on the back of his head in his own. Alex stared at him in surprise for less than a split second before she swung again. Vin blocked her with just as much ease before she kicked out her leg and connected with his chest, causing him to stagger backward from the force of the well placed blow. He crashed into his desk and swore loudly when his lights sabre assembly scattered all around his desk.

"What the hell are you doing?" Vin demanded.

"Sorry Tanner," she responded, throwing another kick at him as he attempted to regain his footing. "Can’t explain but you need to be out of the picture."

Vin caught the leg and pulled back hard. Alex dropped to the floor but she was by no means done. Upon Vin nearing her, she shot out her foot and slammed into his ankle, driving him to the floor as she flipped up right in one easy movement. Vin recovered just as easily and was there to meet her face to face. They faced each other, trading blow for blow almost evenly matched. Vin was amazed at how fast she was and knew that she was hard to beat but not impossible. As much as he loathed to do it, he had to stop pulling his punches. Grabbing her by the waist, he downed her in a full body tackle and knew he had hurt her when she let out a little cry upon whacking her head against the floor.

"Stop it!" He shouted. "I don’t want to hurt you!"

"Hurt me?" She cried indignantly even though he was on top of her. "Like hell you will."

She locked her legs around his neck in a scissor movement and flipped him off her, changing positions so that she was now on top of him. Vin’s fist lashed out and caught her on the jaw, throwing her off him easily. She felt flat on her back again and Vin knew that he could not afford to let her recover. However before he could reach her, she had flipped upright again although this time, she was not as steady as before. Vin knew it would take a bit more to make her give up and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Let me go!" She shouted, preparing to break free when Vin suddenly found himself thinking on impulse with a part of his body that was not his brain. Before he could even question the sanity of it, he pressed his mouth against hers in a hot, passionate kiss. There was naturally resistance and she pulled away from him in outrage. "How dare you!" She hissed.

Vin had no idea himself but that stolen kiss had made him light headed. He looked into her eyes and saw her anger melt and suddenly, it was she pulling him closer. Her hands wrapped around his neck and Vin found his arms sliding around her waist, driving her into a nearby wall as they engaged in a bout of passionate kissing. It was hard pressed to say whose lips were more demanding for they were equally matched in that too and countless seconds passed as Vin felt himself being lost more and more to the heat of her body. Her lips tasted like honey and send shivers of anticipation through him with every pleasured sigh that escaped her. He could not ever remember being aroused to such an extent and wondered if his world could be any more absurd. After a second, he decided he cared less whether anything made sense or not, just as lon