Title:  A New Beginning  (2/?)
Author:  Jessica Barber
Author Email:  mara_jade101@hotmail.com
Category:  Series  (New Republic)
Keywords:  None
Rating:  PG-13
Summary:  See prologue
Disclaimer:  See prologue



               Chapter Two

    And on the pedestal these words appear:  "My name is
Ozymandias, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty
and despair!" --Percy Bysshe Shelley --Ozymandias

  Luke walked through the jungles of Yavin Four.  He was
glad to be alone. Now he could finally think clearly.  Starting
the Jedi Academy had been hard enough, and then the
arduous search for the candidates.  But Luke was worried
that he could not teach the students right.  He did not want
another Darth Vader, or Emperor.  Having Kyp fall to the
dark side was bad enough.  At least he had turned back to the
light side.  Now, Luke knew he would be a very powerful
Jedi.
   Nevertheless, he had been told that his students were doing
fine.  At least Leia had told him that the last time they had
talked.  Luke let out a small sigh.  He only had a handful of
students.  He would need a lot more . . . But, he should not
worry about this sort of thing; he should look on the bright
side of everything, now and then.  Like, three of his students
were going to become Jedi Knights soon.  He was very proud
of them, and a little bit proud of himself. Knowing that
teaching these students to become Jedi Knights was bringing
them closer to a united galaxy helped him to sleep peacefully
at night.
  Luke could hear running water in the distance.  He looked
up at the sky of Yavin Four.  Soon the sun would be setting,
and his trainees would be coming back from their
meditations.  Beads of sweat glistened on Luke's forehead,
but he ignored the heat and the humid air.  He brushed back
some vines and came to a wide river.
  Luke sat down by the riverside and stared at the flowing
current of water.  It was never ending; it flowed and flowed.
It might never stop.  He looked around himself.  Thousand
year old trees grew meters and meters up.  Maybe he could
point this out to his students.
  Everything kept going, once the tree died, it continuously
disintegrated, until it stopped, and was part of the soil.  Then
the soil would keep piling, up, and up, never stopping.  The
water would keep going and going.  Even if something
blocked the river, it could find a new route to flow.
Everything kept going and going, but one day, maybe millions
of years from now, everything would stop. _Everything but
the Force._
  Luke closed his eyes and let the last rays of the sun touch
his face.  Then suddenly it was night again on Yavin Four.
The animals were rising from their dens, hungry.  He could
faintly feel the animals' eagerness in finding food.   It was also
growing colder, like all the nights on Yavin.
  Luke stood up, ignoring the shivers from the cold wind that
blew off the river and past him.  The trainees by now were
finishing their meditations and heading towards the Great
Temple.  Luke looked up at the night sky; a ship was coming
in.
  He hurried back to the temple.  The students had
surrounded the small ship.  Luke recognized it immediately.
It was the _Alderaan_, Leia's personal ship.  The ramp
descended, and Leia stepped out.  Luke smiled and happiness
flooded over him like water.   He had wanted to see Leia.  It
had been a long time since he had last seen her, and he had
missed her. Luke walked to her quickly and hugged his sister.
  "Leia!  Its great to see you here.  What brings you here?"
  "Well, I decided that I needed a break.  Ackbar said he
would cover for me, but only for two weeks days," she smiled
weakly.  "But even two weeks is good enough for me."
  Luke and Leia headed into the Great Temple.  "That means
you'll only be able to stay here for three days.  I see.  Well.
Three days is fine.  I'm glad that you at least were able to
come here.  Where's Han?"
  "He went on a break, too.  He left for Tatooine when I left
for here.  I'm expecting to get a message from him soon. I
told him that I would be here, so maybe if he leaves Tatooine,
he can come here, but he would have to leave today." She
sighed.  Too many thoughts and worries were crowded into
her head, and she needed a few days of rest.  This would be
the perfect place as long as nothing dire happened while she
was gone from Coruscant.
  "I have been thinking of coming to Coruscant, but since new
students are coming in tomorrow, I need to stay here."
  Leia and Luke entered into the mess hall of the temple.  He
and Leia sat at a long wooden table.  In front of them were
small bowls of watery stew cooked by a few of the younger
trainees.  Luke saw that all of his students were there except
for Kyp and Dorsk 81.  Right then Tionne passed him.  He
stopped her, and asked her if she knew where Kyp and Dorsk
were.
  "I think they went exploring a little.  They should be here
soon, Master Skywalker." She said as she smiled at him and
Leia.
  She was one of Luke's less powerful students, but she was
as dedicated as any one of the others in learning about the
Force. Sometimes, though, it was hard to talk to her.  Using
the Force, the others could explain things to each other by
feelings, or visions and thoughts.  Tionne was not powerful
enough for this, but she was useful.  In times of need, she
could take control of the Academy if Kyp were not there.
  Whenever Luke would leave for Coruscant, or somewhere
else, he usually put Kyp in charge of the Academy.  If Kyp
were not able, Tionne was capable of easily taking
responsibility.  She was a brilliant person, and she knew
almost everything there was to know about the past of the
Jedi Knights and Old Republic.
  Tionne shook her head to get a strand of silver hair out of
her ivory face.  "They might just be meditating Master
Skywalker."  She blinked her exotic looking, pearly white
eyes.  She smiled at him, and went to sit by Streen, and
Kirana Ti.
  Streen was a hermit whom Luke had found in the deserted
city of Tibannopolis on Bespin.   He was a quiet man, and
mostly stayed away from other people.  Kirana Ti was a
Force-sensitive witch from Dathomir who had helped Luke
salvage a wrecked ship which had held records of Jedi
training used in the olden days.  She had later agreed to join
him at the Academy.
  Luke was at least glad that Kyp was with Dorsk. Dorsk 81
was a humanoid clone from the planet Khomm.  Knowing
that he was different from his society, as soon as he had heard
about Luke's praxeum, Dorsk had left Khomm to train on
Yavin Four.
  Kyp and Dorsk had become very close ever since Kyp had
turned back to the light side.  It was strange because Dorsk
was really the only student here to whom Kyp really gave
attention.  Though sometimes when Mara Jade would visit
the Academy, Kyp would sit near her and talk to her
about various things.  Mara Jade was one of the very first to
forgive Kyp for stealing her ship.  She at least had gotten it
back.  She really did not mind his company, and she came
very close to enjoying her conversations with the younger
man.
  Leia on the other hand had forgiven Kyp but was never
really close to him; she pretty much stayed out of his way.
Wedge and Qwi Xux had also forgiven him.  Qwi had even
said that she was glad that he had erased her memories.
>From what she had heard, she did not want to remember
anything.
  Luke ate some of the soup; it was at least better than what
they had eaten that morning.  The students tried their best to
help out with the Academy, but one thing was clear: they had
no idea how to cook.
   Luke smiled happily.  It was nice enough to have a peaceful
night where he could sit down an eat dinner with his beloved
sister.  There were not many nights where he could sit down
by his sister and eat leisurely and peacefully with his students.
Ever since Admiral Daala's attacks, nothing had really
happened out of the ordinary.  For that Luke was glad, and
he hoped that things had for now calmed down.

              *  *    *

  Kayro Inin strode across his office and turned back again.
What was he supposed to do?  Daala was gone, though he
had known she would not last for long.  That was why the
Emperor had never hired women, Kayro wondered how this
woman had become an Admiral.  The reason she had not
lasted was obvious: if the great Thrawn could not have
beaten the New Republic, how could a woman?
  Grand Admiral Thrawn had been a genius . . . military
genius.  If he had not been in the Outer Rims during the
Rebellion, the New Republic might have never formed
never had the time, they would have been completely wiped
out by Thrawn.  But, the Grand Admiral had not been there,
and the Empire had fallen.
  Kayro strode across his office again and turned around for
the fifty-first time.  As he had been thinking of what to do, he
had also silently been counting how man times he crossed and
re-crossed his large, circular office.
   He needed more forces. All he had were five Imperial Class
Star Destroyers, one of them, the Evening Death, was his
own personal ship.
  Fifty-two times.
  He hadn't started out in the beginning with five Star
Destroyers, of course.  During the past few years he had
fought enough men who thought they were good enough to
be in charge of a Star Destroyer.  Though, as soon as they
were put up against Kayro, they found that they were not.
He was not the kind of man to flaunt what power he had.
  Fifty-three times.
  Two of his Star Destroyers were hidden, the other three
were located around different parts of the galaxy. He needed
more power, but right now, it looked like he would have to
attack the New Republic with what he had.  Of course, what
was hidden would stay hidden.
  Fifty-four times.
  Who knew, one day he might loose all three of the ships he
was using now, he might just need those other Star
Destroyers.  It was better to be safe than without a ship.
  When Kayro turned around again a young man in a
stormtroopers uniform with no helmet stepped in.  Kayro
preferred his stormtroopers not to use their helmets. He
enjoyed looking into their eyes and seeing the fear that
needed to be there: the fear that should fill every
stormtroopers' eye. It was the fear of knowing that he,
Kayro, at any moment could snap his fingers and kill them.
  "Admiral?"  The young man gave him a rigid salute.
  "Yes?"  he asked tiredly.  It had been a long day, full of
nothing but pacing back and forth.  He was ready for some
good or even bad news.
  "Captain Stenner would like to have a word with you."  He
fidgeted nervously; he was uncomfortable with his helmet off.
He looked around in Kayro's bare room, which was dimly lit.
He looked back to face the brown haired, green eyed,
handsome man.
  "Send him in." Kayro waved his hand in the air.
  "Yes sir,"  The stormtrooper saluted and quickly walked
out, lest Kayro's anger   Kayro always had a streak of anger
in him that was as dangerous as fire    get the best of him
and he decided that some unlucky stormtrooper needed
punishment.
  Kayro sat in his chair.  Captain Darien Stenner was very
loyal and smart.  Those were the only things that Kayro found
every man needed.  Ruthlessness and skillfulness were
important, too.  Those attributes were in Stenner; they just
were not as obvious.
  Stenner walked into the room.  He was tall, young, and
handsome.  He had onyx black hair and eyes.  He always
dressed in black.  He dressed plainly except for his black
cape, and effulgent black boots.  He was a cold, uncaring man
letting little emotions show through his facial expressions and
voice.
  "Captain," Kayro acknowledged him.
  "Yes, Admiral.  I have a plan for an attack against the New
Republic."  He strode in confidently.  Kayro liked confident
men.  They were mostly easier to talk to and reason with than
unconfident men.  Yet, if someone like Darien became too
confident, then he could become dangerous.  One day, Kayro
would have to rid himself of Darien, just not now.  He was
too important to him alive.
"I also have a plan," he answered back, annoyed that this boy
would even think of telling him what to do.  His cold green
eyes narrowed into black slits. He stood up, and walked
across the room to stand by Darien.  The man was young,
true, but he was cruel and calculating.  Two more things to
go with his emotionless character.
  "You see Captain, it is very simple . . ."

                          *           *         *

  "For now, Captain we will stop our attacks on Warlord
Yinark, and concentrate fully on my plans.  We will launch in
four days."
  Warlord Yinark was an old man who was tall and thin.
Very bony; very annoying.  Yinark, for the past year, had
been trying with all his might and one Star Destroyer to take
control of Kayro's convoy.  First he had started arguing that
he was of higher status and therefore Kayro should
immediately hand over his men and ships.  Kayro had bluntly
refused, and so as to emphasize his contempt, he had
completely obliterated one of Yinark's Destroyer's, leaving
the old man with one beaten up Destroyer.   Next, Yinark had
begun to attack the _Soul of Fire_, one of Kayro's newly
fought for and won Star Destroyers.  The ship was supposed
to have been hidden, but Lieutenant Hadrine had not done
that well enough, for Yinark had attacked.  Yinark had not
hurt the beautiful ship, no, but he had destroyed its shield
powers, leaving it defenseless and prone to attack and
destruction from New Republic ships.
  Kayro had immediately put Hadrine to death, and had then
used Lieutenant Killeryer to find a new hiding place for the
_Soul of Fire_.  Killeryer had been successful, and the men
aboard the Star Destroyer had been able to repair its shields.
Now it was in perfect condition and in perfect hiding.
  They, for the past month, had been attacking Yinark's
Destroyer on and off.  Now, they would stop.   The old man
was worthless anyway, and his struggle to survive was futile.
  "Perfect sir," he saluted, "I will tell the crew of the _Evening
Death_ to get ready."
  "Yes, and you should be getting ready also.  You are going
to be in charge of the operation, and that means in charge of
the _Evening Death_."
  Darien Stenner apathetically nodded his head.  "Thank you,
sir." The seventeen-year-old replied.
  Darien Stenner may have been young, but he was one of
Kayro's best men.  Soon he would be more than a captain,
but for now that was all he could be.  The young man was
skilled, smart, quick to move to action, and good at lying.  He
was just what Kayro wanted in a man.  He never even
thought of Stenner as being his son.  They had never been
close and it would stay that way.  Their relationship was
completely business.
  Kayro sat back at his desk.  He had to think carefully of the
places to attack.  What would be the best place?  It had to be
a planet that was important to the New Republic, and where a
lot of people lived.  Human or non-human, it did not quite
matter to Kayro.  The first place that came to his mind was
Koretin.  'Koretin,' Kayro thought, 'is the perfect place.  The
Mon Calamarians at the Academy will be so upset.'

                                               *              *              
*
  Serena sat, floating in space, waiting for Han Solo.  'This is
almost unfathomable,' she thought to herself; 'I have a
chance to work for one of the most powerful smugglers in the
galaxy.'
  Serena stood up and walked to the small refresher in the
_Corellian Sunrise_.  She looked at herself in the mirror.
She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair needed
brushing.  Serena ran her hands through her thick hair and it
helped more than she thought it would.  The shorter strands
of hair that surrounded her face fell into her eyes, but as usual
she ignored them. Serena had no bangs, her hair parted in the
center of her head.  The hair that surrounded the sides of her
face were not long, they reached to her mouth and became
longer as they flowed to her back.  The hair over her
shoulders was only a few centimeters from hitting her
shoulders, and the hair in the very back of her head reached a
few inches past her shoulders.  Her hair was hard to braid,
and the shorter strands that surrounded her face always eased
out, softening her appearance.
  Serena bent down and splashed some cold water on her
face.  She rubbed it dry and then looked into the mirror again.
At least her hair looked better.
  Serena walked back to the pilot's seat to look for the
_Millennium Falcon_.  She was getting really bored.  She
had only been waiting for one hour, but floating in space,
alone, was not that fun, even after a few minutes.  She had
been trying her best to keep her mind off of what was taking
Han Solo so long.  If she thought about it too hard, she might
figure out that he was not going to come.
  Serena looked out of the window and stared at the large
brown planet looming ahead of her.  She wondered why Han
Solo had offered her help so quickly.  Did he even feel sorry
for shooting her?  And why would Talon Karrde even think
of looking at her, let alone hiring her?  This _was_
unfathomable.
  Serena saw a ship leave Tatooine's atmosphere, but judging
by the size and shape of the ship she could easily tell that it
was not Solo's.  Serena thought about leaving, but she had no
food, no money, and no one.  This was her only chance, and
she was not going to let it slip through her fingers.  She was
going to take a chance, even if she did not get a job.  Han
Solo could not just leave her, she was only eighteen.
  A yellow light started blinking on, and off, it was her comm
light.  Serena punched the button.  It was Han Solo; he was
on his way off Tatooine.  'Finally, I was beginning to doubt
that he would ever come,' Serena thought as she started up
the engine thrusters.
  Serena started to move her ship forward, and as she did, she
saw the form of the _Millennium Falcon_ drawing ever so
closer. Her comm went off, she clicked it on, and heard Han's
voice on the other end.
  "Miss me?"  he asked her.
  "Tons," There was a pause after Serena's sarcastic remark,
"so you're gonna give me the coordinates or what?"
  "I'm sending them over to you right now."
  "Thanks so very much." Serena said, trying to keep the
sarcasm out of her voice, but as usual it did not work.
   In a few minutes the coordinates to Yavin Four scrolled up
onto her screen. "Got them, Solo. I'm ready and waiting,"
Serena spoke into her comm unit, as she tapped the keys.
  Han's voice came clearly over the comm. "Well then, let's
go."
  Serena turned off her comm and pushed the hyperdrive lever
forward.  She watched as the stars around her blurred into a
tunnel of blue light . . .



  The trainees started to go to bed one by one.  Leia had gone
to bed a while back, and Artoo had shut off to re-power.
Soon, he would be alone.  Soon, everyone would be asleep,
everyone but Kyp, Dorsk, and himself.
  Luke had to wait for Kyp and Dorsk; he needed to talk to
them about the student that each of them would have to
teach.  The new students were coming in tomorrow, and
Luke needed to prepare Kyp and Dorsk.
  Of course, if they needed any help, he would help them, a
little.  He had already explained everything to Cilghal, and she
did not even seemed surprised by it.  He knew though that
tomorrow would be a big step for the three.  Luke believed
that they would be able to handle the responsibilities, they
were old enough and ready for it.
  Suddenly, Luke found himself alone in the main room of the
temple.  The room that he, Han, and Chewbacca had walked
through to receive their medals a few years ago.  The room in
which Luke had finally come to realize that his life would
never be the same.  That had been a long time ago.  Look at
him now, Han was his brother-in-law, Leia was now Chief of
State and he -- he was a Jedi Master.  He was now teaching
young boys and girls how to become great Jedi, Luke
Skywalker: the young farm boy from Tatooine.
  Things had really changed since that day when he had
walked down the hall, excited, young, and inexperienced, the
day that all the Rebels had celebrated their first victory over
the Empire.  And for that one reason Luke was teaching these
trainees, so there would never have to be another rebellion
against the Empire _or_ the New Republic.
  Luke began to wonder where in the stars Kyp and Dorsk
were.  He knew that they were all right, but still he could not
help but worry.  Yet, if they were in trouble, he would feel it,
he knew they were all right; but  was it not his job to worry
about his students?  After all, most of them were not even
adults yet, including Kyp and Dorsk.
  Luke began to feel the presence of Kyp and Dorsk drawing
closer to the temple.  A small amount of relief passed over
him.  Luke stood up. "I hope they like teaching," he
murmured to himself as Kyp and Dorsk entered the room.
  They both looked tired and worn out.  That was good,
maybe they would not be as worried about teaching.  They
might be too tired to care.
  Kyp noticed Luke first.  "We're sorry Master Skywalker for
staying out so late.  We were meditating and lost track of
time," the young, handsome man explained before Luke could
say anything.
  Luke smiled at each of the boys.  "It's all right Kyp."  Luke
patted the eighteen-year-old on the shoulder.
  "Master Skywalker, what are you doing still up?" asked the
green skinned alien on Kyp's right.  He was noticeably taller
than Kyp, even though Kyp was slightly taller than Luke.
  "Well, I needed to tell you each something. The two of you
and Cilghal have one more task to complete before your
training will end, and I will be able to call you true Jedi
Knights."
  Kyp widened his midnight blue colored eyes questionably
and shook his dark brown hair out of his face.  Luke noticed
that his hair was almost a black, 'no time to think about hair
colors, Luke.'  He told himself silently.
  Luke could feel Kyp's excitement, and Dorsk's weariness.
That was what he had expected.  Kyp was always eager to do
anything that would help him become stronger in the Force.
Of course, ever since his encounter with Exar Kun he had
been wary of some of the tasks that Luke had given him.
Dorsk was not as sure as Kyp was about the powers that he
possessed.  But, being with Kyp, his esteem was slowly
rising.
  "This task that you will have to complete will not be simple.
Though I do hope that you will enjoy it.  You are going to,
each by yourself, and with as little help as possible, teach
your on student.  I am hoping that this will help you train in
your patience and your ability to take care of someone, for as
a Jedi Knight you will be not only guardians of freedom and
justice, but guardians of others and their lives.  I want you to
become their friend, not just their teacher.  Become their
mentor, share things with them.  I am going to assign to each
of you a girl.  I think it will be easier for you to deal with a
girl rather than having to feel tested against a boy.  Do you
have any questions?"  Luke looked at Kyp, then at Dorsk.
  "Yeah.  I do."  Kyp said.
  "And that is?"  Luke asked, slightly raising his eyebrows.
  "If I'm not a Jedi Knight yet, how can I possibly teach
someone to become a Jedi Knight?"
  Luke let a smile pass across his lips.  "Simple.  You will
teach the girl as much as you know and then I will finish her
training."
  "Are you sure we can do this?  The risk would be great,"
Dorsk 81 spoke.
  "Not as great as you like to think, Dorsk.  I'm sure you two
and Cilghal have had enough training and encounters with the
dark side to know how to keep your student from falling.  If
you have any worries you can always come to me.  Hopefully
until you have taught them all you know, I will not need to
step in."
  "Doesn't sound hard, I think it will be fun." Kyp offered.
"When do we start?"
  "Tomorrow, as soon as the new students arrive."
  "Tomorrow?"  Asked Dorsk, sounding a little bit fretful.
  Kyp looked at his friend.  "Do not worry Dorsk, it will be
fine, you'll see."
  "I hope so," spoke the tall, smooth skinned alien.
  Luke smiled, "Just remember, I had to teach you all, and I
did fine."
   Kyp nodded his head in understanding.  "I'm sure we will.
I'm looking forward to it, I'm sure the experience will
broaden my abilities."
  "It should."  Luke agreed.  "I know you will both have fun."
  Dorsk only groaned.




                           *          *        *


  Kayro straightened up in his seat when a stormtrooper
strode into his office, unaffected by the loss of his helmet.
'He's probably new.  They're all new, well trained, but young
and not disciplined.'
  "Yes?"  He asked with a little bit of tiredness to his voice.
Most of these men, women even, had been forced out of their
homes and taken to Carida to train.  These stormtroopers
were part of the small number that had either escaped, or not
been on Carida when its sun had exploded.
  The stormtrooper saluted.  "Admiral Inin, Grand Moff
Sinnerly is here; he wants to talk to you, sir."
  "About what? Isn't he supposed to tell me he wants to talk
three days in advance?" Kayro though to himself, 'he's as
much a Grand Moff, as I am Princess Leia.'
  "I'm not sure. Sir.  He knows sir, but he says that it is
urgent, sir."
  "Fine. Send him in."  Kayro said with a hint of anger in his
voice.  "I wish it were urgent," he mumbled to himself, as he
stood up.
  Kayro only had to wait a few minutes until Sinnerly entered
the room, with around two dozen stormtroopers behind him.
Sinnerly was short, but had long arms and wide shoulders
that looked awkward and did not fit with the rest of him.  He
was not fat, but he was large from muscle. While short and
large, he had a face that seemed better suited for someone
thin.  It was narrow, except for the doubled chin.  He had a
hawk nose; his top lip was too thin and his bottom lip too fat,
and his brown eyes were set too far apart.  His brown hair
was nearly gone; he was practically bald, except for a few
wisps of hair every now and then on his head.  The man was
outrageously ugly, but he did not seem to care.
  "Grand Moff Sinnerly, how interesting to see you here."
'Show-off,' Kayro thought angrily to himself as he viewed all
the stormtroopers behind the ugly man.
  "Ah, yes, Admiral Inin.  What I need to tell you will only
take a moment of your time.  I am happy to finally be able to
see the greatly renowned Kayro Inin.  I've heard of you from
so many--"
"Don't even start, I don't want to listen to your useless
flattery." Kayro motioned for Sinnerly to sit down. He
accepted the invitation, and sat down in front of Kayro's
desk.
  "Well, Sinnerly, I was told that your message was
important."  Kayro sat down behind behind his desk.
  "Why, yes it is."  Sinnerly leaned back.   "I have found one
of the Alliance's secret bases.   In fact," he paused a moment for
effect that effected no one but himself, " I know where three
of them are located.  And if you are interested, I could tell
you where they are."
  "What's the price Sinnerly?"  Kayro growled, not wanting to
play the games that Sinnerly enjoyed so much.
  "We put our forces together.  You become my second in
command, and we attack the New Republic."
  "Oh, so you want all my ships, my men, and you want me to
become your second in command?"  Kayro laughed bitterly.
  "Well, if you want to put it that bluntly, yes, that is what I
want.  It's a small price to pay for all the information you will
get; and the revival of the Empire will be just a few victories
ahead."
  Kayro stood up, and walked out from behind his desk and
towards Sinnerly.  He stood in front of him, and looked down
at the man.  He left the title of Grand Moff off, again. "Sinnerly,
I don't believe you know me very well.  I would not become
your second in command, ever, and I would certainly never
let you have my ships and men.  I am more powerful than you
will ever be, and don't even start to think that you are smarter
or more suitable to control my men and ships than I am.  The
Empire is far from being revived.  It might never come back,
you should concentrate on the downfall of the New Republic,
not the resurrection of the Empire."
  Sinnerly stood up, offended.  His face was now a dark red
--that made him look very ugly--and he kept opening and then
clenching his fists together as if he wanted to punch Kayro in
the face.  Too bad he could not reach that far.  "Well, I am
sorry that you are stupid enough not to accept my offer.  You
are too young to be worth anything.  I wish I knew what the
Emperor had seen in you."
  Kayro smiled cruelly, and he laughed again.  "I find that you
are the one who is stupid." Kayro pointed towards the door
in front of him and behind Sinnerly.  "All your stormtroopers
and weapons will not protect you when it is your time."
  "It will never be my 'time'," Sinnerly whispered bitterly.
  "One day I will have a blaster put up to your empty head
and will blow it off your neck.  You are stupid enough to
think that your men will be able to save you.  What powers I
have, you will never have.  What protection I have, you will
never have."
Without answering Sinnerly turned around, and stalked out
of the room, followed quickly by his men.  Kayro smiled
smugly and walked back behind his desk.  He knew that at
any moment, after seeing Sinnerly leaving so soon, Darien
Stenner would be in.  He would be wanting to know how
he could have possibly let all that information slip through
his fingers.  Kayro sat down.
   Moment's later Stenner came into the room.  "Sir, are you
sure that letting all that information go was wise?"  There was
a hint of questioning in his son's voice, which showed he was
slightly worried.
  "Yes Captain.  You see, I already know where those bases
are, I have enough spies in every reach of the galaxy and
enough inside Sinnerly's ships to know where every base is.
Even if I did not, joining forces with someone like Sinnerly
would be the end of the Empire surely."
  "Ahhh, yes I see.  Once again, your cleverness astounds me
sir.  I was coming here, Admiral, to tell you that the _Evening
Death_ is ready; we are about to depart from the fleet.
  "Well Captain, enjoy yourself, but make no mistakes."
Kayro said softly, dangerously.
  "Oh, don't worry sir, I will not make one mistake."
  Kayro leaned back in his chair.  "I hope not, for your sake."
  Darien saluted insouciantly and walked out of the room.
  Kayro smirked.  Him, second in command?  If he wanted his
forces joined with Sinnerly's, Sinnerly would have to be
killed.  The Emperor had made him an Admiral for a good
many reasons, most of which he kept quiet about.  Other
Admirals had said he was of no importance to the Emperor,
because at the time of his change in ranking, he had had been
so young, so 'naive.'
  Since the battle of Endor, Kayro had joined up with one
Moff, and one Admiral, both having mysteriously died after
joining their forces with his.
Now, he was powerful.  He could have taken care of Sinnerly,
but his one Star Destroyer was of no use to Kayro.  After
meeting with Eon, he'd have plenty of ships to finish his plan.
    A stormtrooper strode into his office, his eyes, and hair
were lightly colored, his face showed no other feeling than
fear.  "Admiral." The stormtrooper saluted stiffly.
  "Yes?"  Kayro asked, he was getting annoyed.  He never
seemed to be left alone to have time to think.  He was always
being bothered with some useless information that was of no
importance, he had a feeling, though, that this information
might just be interesting.
  "The report has come in, the mission was unsuccessful.  The
men were not able to kill Han Solo; there was a young girl
with him too sir.  No one recognized her, but she seemed to
have warned Han Solo, so they were not able to get a clear
shot."
  Kayro frowned slightly, then rolled his eyes.  "Did they even
try to capture him?"  He continued dryly, "make sure next
time they try to capture him.  He's worth more to me alive
than dead."
  Han Solo, a brown haired, brown eyed, roguish man.
  He was married to the Chief of State.  You have him, you
have everything.
  He was brother-in-law to a Jedi Master.  You have him, you
know everything about the Jedi.
  He was friends with Talon Karrde.  You have him, you
know everything about Karrde that someone like Han Solo
would know.
  He was a part of the New Republic.  You have him, you
know everything.
  "Well sir, we found out that he is heading to the Jedi
Academy, aren't you sending the _Evening Death_ there? Sir?"
The stormtrooper spoke boldly.
  "Yes, yes I am.  Well then, I can forget getting him alive,
but his dying is no worry on my part."  But, it was.  If Han
Solo died, all that information would be lost, yet so much
would be gained.  How could the Chief of State be called
stable if her husband was killed?  She could not.
  "Yes sir."
   Kayro dismissed the stormtrooper and watched him calmly,
but quickly, walk out of the room.   Kayro thought
apathetically, 'maybe now I will get some peace and quiet. I
need to think of where to move my Star Destroyers.'  Now
that Sinnerly knew where Kayro and his fleet were located,
and which Star Destroyer he was in, the _Vengeance_, it was
too dangerous to wait around.
  Kayro leaned back in his chair as he heard a stormtrooper
enter into his room.  'Forget the peace and quiet,' Kayro
thought with a tinge of anger.
  The stormtrooper came up to his desk, and laid a data pad
on his desk  "Sir, this came in for you, it is a tape of what
happened when your men found Han Solo."
  "Ah, yes."
  "Sir."
  Before the stormtrooper could walk out, Kayro started
talking to him again.  "And get me whoever was in charge of
this operation.  Also, tell Captain Tenerat to contact all other
Star Destroyers, and tell them that we are making a jump to
lightspeed in one hour.  Tell him we are heading to . . . the
Kanat system."
  "Sir."  The stormtrooper saluted, seeming to remember that
he had failed to do so upon entering.  He quickly left Kayro's
office.
  The Kanat system would be a good place to stay for a while.
It was scarcely populated, and what planets did lie in the
system were only used by rejects, prisoners, the sort.
  Kayro reached over, and grabbed the data pad, even though
it was fairly large, it felt light as a small stone.  He leaned
back in his chair, and flicked the screen on.
  He immediately saw Solo, and a young girl, sitting at a
wooden table in the center of a small, dimly lit room.  The girl
looked around slowly, looked at Han Solo, and said
something to him.   Right then the blaster bolts began to
streak through the air.  Solo and the girl turned the table
over, and got behind it.
  The recorder went off.
  Kayro went back to the beginning of the tape and watched it
carefully.  He concentrated on the girl and frowned.  She
looked rather young, probably still a teenager.  She was
rather beautiful.  Her hair was probably a light brown, though
the light made it look gold and silver streaked, she had
interestingly exotic, misty-green eyes.  She looked familiar.
The familiarity quickly flickered out.  Kayro, passing off the
issue at hand, thought that she was probably some girl that
Solo had picked up off the streets.  So much for the
wonderful, faithful husband of the Chief of State.
  Kayro tried to think of where he had seen that face before.
He could not place it, but it did not matter.  The recorder
went off for the second time.  Just then, a tall, well-built man
entered the room.
  "Yes sir?"  Lieutenant Killeryer asked nervously, as he
slowly walked to Kayro's desk.
  "Who is that girl in the tape?"
  Killeryer's posture slackened a little.  "Sir, we don't know
her identity, but we do know that she left on her own ship.
Later on we found out that she had been given the
coordinates to Yavin Four and will be arriving there with
Solo."
  "How did you come up with this information?" Kayro
asked.
  "We had a spy hiding in the docking bay where her ship
was."
  "How did he know that was her ship?"  Kayro shook his
head.  "Go on, Lieutenant, I am very interested in how you
know all this."
  "It's where the girl has kept it all her life, sir."
  "Do you even know her name?"
  "Maldrin.  When one of our spies saw her with Solo, he sent
his partner to the docking bays where she kept her ship.
Then, he overheard Solo saying he'd give her the coordinates
to Yavin Four."
  "So if Han Solo is heading towards Yavin Four, so is the
girl.  Then, they'll both die."




mara_jade101@hotmail.com  how is it???