FicWad

The Sergeant and I walked for what must have been a long time, but it felt like it went very fast. The thought had crossed my mind to kill the Sergeant and run off to find the data base but he would be found quickly, too many people walking by us too often. I wouldn't be able to fight the Jedi master without Laatste Lied, but the padawan... maybe.

"...and this is where your stop is".

'Crap what was he talking about'!

"Th-thanks Ross"

"No problem miss, If you need me, my holocom is always on". From the shy look on his face, I could tell two things. First that the sergeant liked me and that his com wouldn't be turning off again.

I gave an affectionate smile and hugged him just as the door opened with a very startled, angry and half dressed Togruta flew out wielding a lamp.

The Sergeant didn't even flinch, other than to avert his eyes. The jedi padawan glared around, as if to search for an enemy. Finding just the two of us, she tossed the lamp back in her room "Hi sergeant... and um..." She fixed her eyes on me, the tiny barefoot girl. She leaned over, placing her hands on her knees and looked me right in the eyes.

"Well hi there, whats your name"?

She sounded like she thought I was a child.

'Annoying, but it helps'. "M-my name is A-ashil".

She stood up straight offered me her hand, "Well Ashil, my names Seako, it's a pleasure to meet you. So, what are you doing around here"?

"Well general, that's why we came down here, Master Ukiora said that she would be staying with you, and that he wants you to keep her company".

She whispered quietly "Great... baby sitting duty". She looked back at me, her face shifting to a resolutely half cheery smile.

"Well Ashil, lets get you settled in. Thank's Ross, I've got her from here.

The room was simple, two beds, two boxes and... a data terminal.

'I could use that if I could get alone'.

She swept some stuff off of the second bed into a box and dumped it into the box at the foot of what must have been her bed.

"This'll be your bed, and you can put all of your stuff in here", dropping the now empty box at the foot of my bed.

"Speaking of which, do you want to head to the hanger to pick that stuff up"?

I nodded quickly, 'Maybe I can sneak my blaster past her'.

"Ok, I'm gonna get dressed then we can get going, I know a short cut". The grin on her face told me this was going to be a long shortcut.

Oddly enough, I was wrong. She pulled a grate off of a vent and told me to slide in. The vent took me all the way down to the hanger where I crashed against the grate, making a huge bang that echoed loudly. She followed after a moment, slowing down as to not squish me, then kicked our way out.

Once we were on the hanger floor, I ran ahead of her to grab... and hide, my blaster.

"Hey! wait up" Seako, jogged after me.

The blaster was still on the floor, which I stowed in a large pocket in Petra's flight pants. I was able to pull a few other things together that I wanted, some tools, a few computer spikes and a droid's head that had been sitting in a cabinet. Just some clutter to fiddle with.

"So, you like droids then"? I looked up to see Seako panting in the door way, looking at me.

"And how the heck can you run so fast on those short little legs"?

I stared at her blankly till it hit me, I didn't hold back enough.

'crap, she wasn't jogging, she just doesn't know how to use the force to run'

"W-what do you mean run fast"?

"You took off like a blaster shot, blurred legs and everything".

'Can't play dumb...'

I laughed shyly, "My pa use to say I c-could run faster than a wookie from p-pants, never thought a Jedi would think so".

Seako laughed a bit at that and seemed placated for now.

"Do you have your stuff together"?

"Just a few more things", I started picking through the content of a bin and pulled out a pair of sandals.

"G-got everything"! I waddled over to Seako with my arms loaded with my plundered goods.

"Ok let me get some of that for you".

"Th-thanks"

Master Ukiora was waiting outside the room, tranquil as forest.

Seako bowed before addressing him, "Hello master".

"Seako, no need to be so formal, its just us and our interesting guest".

"Alright old man, so what's the deal with Ashil"? The affection in her voice was obvious. She loved her master like a favorite grandfather and he obviously felt the same.

Ukiora was sat on one bed and Seako and I were on the other.

"Seako, I've always told you that there are many kinds of force users other than those that are in the Jedi order. Some choose to walk a grey path, between the dark and the light. They don't truely keep peace, but rather keep balance..."

Seako interrupted "So are they against the Jedi like the Sith"?

"No, no they aren't against us, or the Sith. They are more of a mid ground, against who ever gains too much power and for whoever is in threat of vanishing, though they have never truly sided with the sith, they have worked for and against the Jedi because of the sith. Which brings us to that lovely bunch..."

"So is Ashil a grey force user? I can't sense any sensitivity in her, but she can run faster that a blaster bolt".

"I'll tell you if you quit interrupting the lesson I'll tell you"!

"Sorry go ahead".

"you done"?

"Yep".

"Ok, so as I was saying the sith are at the opposite end from us, typically they are cold blooded killers and berserkers at their base levels with sadistic masterminds sitting at the top of their ranks".

'Thats... very true'.

"I'm telling you this so that you can fully appreciate our situation. You see, Thalia is a sith that..."

Seako jumped up and drew a green lightsaber and swung for my head.

Within that tenth of a second, a few things happened I stopped her blade in my force shielded hand and drew my Arkanian custom blaster, still keeping my finger off the trigger.

'I don't want to shoot if I don't have too, but I need it out'

Lastly a bright blue saber blocked hers. Ukiora's cane had split in two, one part small, emitting a blazing cross guard and blade and the other with a locking device to click back into the saber hilt.

"SEAKO! stop and calm yourself! We will not harm our guest".

She immediately put away her lightsaber and he did likewise.

"I was going to say we have a unique opportunity to talk with a sith that doesn't intend to kill you but that's in question now. Ashil, if that's your name, could you give me the blaster"?

His voice was so calming and compelling, I... I couldn't say now to him.

I slowly handed over the blaster, my only weapon to defend myself from they other than sear force power. But he was so nice, I couldn't even think of harming him...

'Come on Thalia, hes using to force to take you off of your guard', 'No, no I don't think so, I'm going to trust him'.

A pair of fingers snapped in front of me, bringing me back to focus.

"Ashil, hello there, welcome back to the conversation, you spaced out there for a minute".

"Sorry jedi master, I-I don't really know what happened".

"Ok, now that we've all calmed down, lets talk. Seako, I'm sure you have some questions about the dark side that I can't answer and Ashil, If that is still what you want us to call you, maybe you have some questions about the jedi way"?

A moment of silence passed and then Seako spoke up, "So... what is it like being a cray psychopathic killer"?

"Seako"!

"N-no, no its fine, B-being a sith, or becoming a sith, I'm n-not technically th-there yet, its hard, its horrible, i-its... its terrifying. I trained on... no. N-no I can't tell you that".

Ukiora placed his hand on my knee, "come now Ashil, we're all friends here, you can tell me". His voice was heavy and each word made me feel tired, like I hadn't slept in days.

'Thalia, stay awake'! he'll tear your mind apart if you let him'!

"N-no, no please I can't say it don't ask".

He leaned forward and lifted his hand to my head. The cold serious look in his eyes began to frighten me, and seako looked just as worried.

"You will tell me where you trained".

A wave of power, like I've never felt before, not from Rantic, not from her master, not even from the sith council member that had visited the academe during her time there. This old man's strength gripped my mind like a vise. I knew that if he pushed farther, or for much longer it would leave me like a shell.

I couldn't keep it in, I sobbed like a child in front of two of my enemies. I cried because my mind hurt, because this old man was going to break me, because I would never be able to call Dasi'l but mostly because he, this old man, could put me to the shame of tears at will, that he was that powerful.

Through the gasping sobs I managed to cry out a few words

"P-please s-stop, I can't... I can't handle it, I can't stand this pain".

"WHERE DID YOU TRAIN"!

My vision blurred and everything was quiet and numb. Then a whisper broke through,

"This will all be over soon, just tell me Ashil. All you have to do to stop hurting is to tell me where the sith train their acolytes. You know where, and they can't get to you. Just tell me, it's that easy".

The violent sobs had slowed to a soft weeping,

"please, I can't tell you that... Please stop asking, your k-killing me".

Seako sniffed loudly next to me, apparently I wasn't the only one crying. Her eyes were swollen and a deep shade of red.

"Ukiora, she's had enough, look at her"!

I couldn't see what I looked like but I could feel that my eyes were burning, and everything has shaking with fear and pain. Tears were still flowing down my cheeks and I couldn't stop them.

"Fine, we'll start on something else. Ashil, what is your name"? His voice was soft again, calming even.

"Master, she's had..."

"My n-name is Th-thalia Dale".

He looked over to Seako knowingly, then focused back on me.

"Thalia, that's a nice name, who gave it to you"?

"My... my master gave it to me, s-she gave me my name when she learned that I could use the force".

"That was nice of her, who is she"?

"I can't t-tell you, she would be angry..."

"Who is your master Thalia"? Again his voice became stronger pressing me down in my own mind. But this time I couldn't hold him off. I fell off the bed and curled up covering my ears and tried to scream but nothing came out. Soft arms wrapped around me, not pulling me up, but letting me stay as I was.

"Leave her alone"!

"Your right, I will stop for now".

I looked up at this old man tears of pain, shame and fear streaming from my face. "E-even the worst of the Sith Overseers in the academe n-never tortured anyone like that, n-not even the animals. They use t-to say Jedi were weak idealistic monks, but th-they were wrong. I was wrong. Sith are the safer side of the f-force, the light isn't warm. It b-burns".

Seako's eyes where distant, distant in thought.

"Seako, think on the lesson you learned today, but know why I pushed her like I did. If we could find where they train, we could stop them from making more sith, weakening the empire".

Seako nodded, still distant.

"I'll give you some time. I'll see you at the end of the sleep cycle".

The minute he walked out the door, I lost control. Seako stayed by me the whole time. Not asking questions, not interrogating me but just sitting by me and being a friend.

The next day, Master Ukiora came back. I was sitting on my bed fiddling with the droid head, trying to attach a power cable. Seako was meditating on the floor. I looked up at him and he looked back at me. A moment passed like this. Till I realized what was going to happen.

I force pushed him out of the door and bolted down the hall eyes streaming, screaming bloody murder.

'Not again, I can't do that again'.

I looked over my shoulder as I ran, I couldn't see them chasing me. When I looked back in front, Ross was in front of me, looking confused and worried. I couldn't stop fast enough, so I ran right into him. He caught me easily and carefully eased me down.

"Ashil, what's going on"?

"The Jedi... Master Ukiora... I wish I had died in that Escape Pod".

Ross looked down at me with that same confused worried look.

"What the hell did they do to you"?

"Sergeant Ross, I'm glad that you caught her, I'll take her back to her room".

The Sergeant stood up and aimed his rifle at the jedi, "General, I don't know what's going on, but I'll tell you what I see, I see a scared little girl that was under your care that wishes she had died out in the black. I didn't sign up with the republic to do things like that and I won't let that happen if I can help it".

"Sergeant, Let me explain...". I could feel the force power creep into his voice.

"No, I've heard about how you can warp peoples minds. You stay out of mine, The laws of the republic say it's illegal to use that on soldiers unless the situation is dire".

"Sergeant, your holding a sith. Her name is Thalia Dale, while we haven't found anything in the data base, we know that she did study in a Sith academe".

Ross looked down at me, and I nodded. "I-its true, my name, being a sith and the academe".

He shook his head slowly,"This still doesn't seem right to me, I've raided sith compounds before seen comrades that had been tortured for weeks, but they never looked this bad, you did this in a day and she's a trained sith. HOW did you do this".

"Sergeant, this discussion is over. Lower your weapon, and walk away. Now".

"Sir..."

Ukiora pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it, the blue cross buzzing to life. "I'm not asking Ross. Please, lower your weapon, walk away and forget this ever happened".

"Sir, I can't. I won't".

"Ross, I'm sorry that you were put in this position. You where a good man".

The old jedi deflected each blaster bolt fired by Ross and walked forward slowly. Ross hit the com on his wrist

"All troops to corridor five! Master Ukiora is a code red cloud. I repeat RED CLOUD"!

Ukiora thrust the point of his blade into Ross' chest plate and Ross shot him in the side of his head, leaving a long blast line along the top right side of the jedi's head. A second later, Republic soldiers surrounded Ukiora and Seako ran down the hall. Medics pulled of Ross' armor and began dressing the wound.

"Ash...er Thalia! what happened to Ukiora"?

I looked from Ross to her and all I could say was sorry.