A sharp pain suddenly slashed across the back of Tol NeemVaan. It took most all of Tol’s concentration just to stay up and keep moving and not to fall down into the damp and tall vegetation of this particular planet.

It had been months now, if he did his math correctly, since that fateful day above Verotia onboard the battle cruiser DarkAngel. To think he had trusted Erie Fith enough to allow him to get the drop on Tol like he had. If Erie wasn’t dead now, Tol would defiantly give him a reason to want to be.

“Come on Jedi,” came a voice behind him. “I know you don’t have the Force, but you have more strength than this.”

Tol didn’t need to turn around to see who the speaker was, for over the past few months he had learned the names of all the people Erie had been involved with. Been forced to be involved with was more the case.

“You know Nikko, if you would untie me I might be more inclined to keep up with you,” Tol shot back to the GFFA Intelligence Agent behind him. Nikko Rex was just one of the many members that Tol had met since he’d been here. Nikko was by far the cruelest of his captors though, always carrying his force whip in one hand ready to strike at Tol if he should get any funny ideas. Nikko himself was a huge and bulky human, his mere legs larger than some being were all the way around, his arms pulsed with strength.
“Yeah sure Jedi,” came his retort. “How many times you gonna ask that same question?”
“Until you decide to make it come true,” Tol said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, which earned him yet another whip across the back.
“We are almost there don’t worry Jedi.”
With no more words said, Tol and Nikko trudged through the dense jungle until they reached the rest of their team that had been several hours in front of them. They waited for them in a clearing of the jungle where what had to be an old temple or structure once stood. However, now all that was left was fallen ruins of what grandness it once might have been.

“Well?” came the voice of the man Tol had learned the best; the voice of Cas Fith the younger brother of Erie Fith. “Does this resemble the jungle temple you told us about you saw in your Jedi vision?”

“What do you think Cas?” Tol replied hopelessly, this wasn’t the first time they had gone through this. “I have told you time and time again that the temple I saw was standing and made of black polished stone, not crumbled to the ground.”
A visible scour came across the face of Cas Fith as he turned his back to Tol and studied the fallen temple one last time.

“There are millions of jungle worlds across the universe Tol NeemVaan. Surely there is some bit of information you have either forgotten or have somehow kept from us that could narrow it down.” Tol let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
With a snort, Cas Fith walked back the way they had come; eventually disappearing in the dense jungle they had just trekked through.

*****

It had been weeks since they had departed from Denon and just days since that day when both of their lives had changed forever. Jedi Master Stahine sighed as she looked out the view port of the modified YT-1300. “It’s the will of the force,” she said to herself as she began reflecting on the events of the past several weeks and months. Up until several months ago, she had been serving aboard a medical frigate that was helping the survivors of a plague on Nimala, a planet on the edge of the unknown regions of space.

She had just finished her assignment when she was granted a short leave after that assignment and it was during that time that she had come across the group of Jedi that she had come to consider family. And now that family was being ripped apart at the seams. Caleb and Kyn had been reassigned and now were completing their destinies elsewhere. Zekk was dead and the love of his life, Kessie, has yet to surface after being devastated by the news of his passing. It brought a smile to the Jedi Master’s face when she thought of Kessie. From their initial meeting where Stahine had to show her that a Jedi healer was still a Jedi right down until their parting. Kessie had grown on Stahine and the Jedi Master had hoped to one day instruct the young woman in the ways of the force since she did show some potential. And that left the two men who Stahine had grown closest to: Tol and Danner.

Tol had become like a brother to her and now he was gone. Labeled deceased by the Jedi Council, Tol had been abducted from the Dark Angel by GFFA agent Eerie Fith. Now GFFA intelligence claims there has never been an agent by that name and insist that Tol was killed when the Dark Angel exploded. Danner, however, saw the escape pod that Eerie had boarded with Tol be rescued by a corvette. “Ah, Danner,” Stahine thought to herself. The Chiss Jedi Master was indeed an enigma that was not easily solved. She had felt him withdraw more and more over the course of their trip. Their lack of progress on their mission to save their friend was taking its toll on the man and Stahine knew that. He has been spending much of his time either meditating or in the simulation room fighting multiple combat droids at the same time. It was quite apparent that Danner Truskx was trying to hone his skills in preparation for what he felt was going to be the fight of his life. That thought made Stahine shudder. They had already been through so much and Danner thought this was going to be even tougher. That certainly did not bode well for this mission. At least in their previous skirmishes, they had back up from their companions but this time it was just the two of them.

“And where do I stand with him?” Stahine asked herself. It was but two days ago when their emotions had gotten the better of them. Although Jedi are supposed to be calm in all situations, the emotions surrounding recent events combined with the feelings toward each other that had never been explored resulted in an emotional outburst—one that will change their relationship forever.
 

*****

A few hours later Tol was back aboard the familiar Corellian Corvette. The ship left the nameless system and entered the vastness of hyperspace.

Tol sat alone in his locked quarters deep in thought as he always did. While he was a prisoner to the rogue band, Cas insisted that he stay in the nicest room aboard the Corvette. Tol thought about the events of the past couple months and what all he had been through. He thought of Danner, Kyn, and Stahine…hoping all of his fellow Jedi were safe and far away from his own prison.

What made his the saddest was that he didn’t even know if they had survived the last mission they had been on. While he reasonably figure that Kyn, Stahine, and Caleb were safe, for they had been left on Verotia’s surface, he couldn’t say the same for Danner and Zekk. They had been aboard the DarkAngel when Erie captured him.

‘Erie.’

The name bounced around like a ball inside Tol’s head. He had trusted Erie for that entire mission, even trusted him during their time on DarkAngel after he had left all the other Jedi behind save Tol. Erie was everything Tol had reason to blame and hate.
But yet, Tol couldn’t bring himself to hate the man. He had been loyal to his cause to the very end, sacrificing his own life so that his team could go on, much like any Jedi would do.

Yes, there was no point in hating the dead or hate period. Hate was of the dark side, and even though Tol didn’t have the Force right now he wouldn’t allow his thoughts to drift in that dangerous territory.

Though he knew it didn’t matter; he had given up on rescue weeks ago. The universe was too vast for any one person to find him, especially since his connection to the Force had been cut off with the GFFA Agent’s use of ysalamiri. The universe, Jedi Council, and his friends had probably added him to the KIA list long ago.

Another sigh escaped Tol’s mouth. Though he didn’t like to admit it to himself, all his hope and faith in the universe had been beaten down into nothingness. Tol NeemVaan was forever alone.
 

*****

Stahine brought The Lone Journey out of hyperspace and took the vessel into orbit around the third moon of the planet Tendrosa. Although neither she nor Danner had ever heard of this place, let alone visited it, it was recommended to them on the last planet they went to in their search for Tol. In total, this will be the ninth planet they’ve visited in their quest to find their missing friend. Most of their expeditions were failures and lead to false leads. They were told that on this moon, there is a large Cantina that is the hub for The Calantas, the largest organized crime syndicate in the unknown regions. According to their latest informant, the Calantas have a vast network of spies and bounty hunters who frequent all sections of the unknown regions. Their contact felt that if anyone would have seen something unusual, their organization would know about it.

“Great,” Stahine said to herself. “We have to deal a crime lord to get information. I hope Danner has a plan because we don’t have much to barter with.” Stahine then stood up and made her way from the cockpit and made her way down the corridor where she stopped outside of the door to Danner’s quarters. She closed her eyes and sighed softly. They had not spoken much since that time and she was still wondering if their relationship would ever be the same. She was about to knock when in the back of her mind she heard, “Please come in.” It was Danner’s voice she had heard. It was quite evident that the Chiss Jedi was honing his force abilities. Of what she observed, Stahine was quite sure that Danner now had even more tricks up his sleeve.

As she entered his quarters she saw him with a lightsaber in each hand attacking two drones he had built in his space station—each of which had four lightsabers. In addition to fighting these drones he had managed to maintain enough concentration to levitate almost ever loose object that was in the room. What was even more impressive to Stahine was that he never took his concentration off the four droids while doing this and apparently sensing her presence and sending her a force message.

Stahine just watched as he battled the drones. He met each of their lightsaber parries with grace and ease. One would have not known that Danner was battling eight lightsabers with his two by the sheer elegance of his maneuvers. Without stopping to even take a breath, suddenly a large piece of durasteel that was lining the walls of the quarters peeled off and struck the first droid, knocking it to the ground. As he did this, Danner spun around and gently extended his right hand from which streams of green force lightning emerged and surrounded the drone, which immediately fell to ground. Again, with ease, Danner turned his attentions to the drone that was knocked down by the piece of durasteel. This droid, while injured, was not incapacitated and was beginning to stir. In reaction, Danner deactivated his lightsabers and clipped them to his belt. He then held his arms out with the palms facing one another. As he slowly brought his hands together, the head of the droid shattered and exploded.

Upon finishing his training exercises, Danner closed his eyes and lowered his bowed his head. As he did so, all of the objects that were levitating began to slowly return to their appropriate places. He then looked up at Stahine, “So we have arrived at the Tendrosan system.” The Corellian Jedi just nodded. “Then shall we be off?” the Chiss said as he walked from the room and nodded for Stahine to follow him to the shuttle bay.
 

*****

‘Three months…no…four months. No wait…five,’ Tol’s mind was a groggy mess and jumble of thoughts. He had lost count of the days he had spent in the capture of the Rogue Agents, and did nothing but slump through the days.

At the moment, him and Nikko was onboard a small shuttle waiting for their scout to return with the news from Cas. It was yet another scouting mission on some nameless jungle planet.

When the young Bothan scout ran up the ramp, he was panting and nearly collapsed on the shuttle floor. “What’s the matter,” came the strong voice of Nikko. “Why were you running so fast and what’s the news?”

Though short on breathe, the Bothan found the wind to reply. “On my way back I ran into some animal. This thing was huge. It chased me halfway here when I think I finally lost it.” With that said, the Bothan took the time to glance at Tol and give a slight nod. “And Cas wants him. We found something.”

Nikko nodded. His face seemed to be made of dura-steel, it showed no fear of the dangers the Bothan had just told, but just sheer determination. “Lets load up then,” he said as he slipped his ysalamiri-loaded backpack over his shoulders. “You know the routine Jedi, you’re out first.”

Tol led the way down the shuttle ramp, followed by the Bothan with Nikko bringing up the rear guard, his force whip in one hand and a blaster rifle in the other.
Their scenario was the usual scene. They traveled through dense jungle, and though the trees always looked a bit different, it looked identical to all the other jungles he has since trekked through.

As they made their way deeper into the jungle and the Bothan told Tol where to go, the group’s steps became ever so slower. The Bothan would move up beside Tol only for a few moments to show him which way to go before dropping back behind Tol again.
When the Bothan said it was on the other side of a small hill, the group stopped as they heard the unmistakable sound of blaster fire followed by a faint roar. The sound of the roar froze the Bothan in his tracks.

“One of those things found them, lets go!” came a shout from Nikko who literally picked Tol up and threw him over his left shoulder.
 

*****

The two entered the shuttle which Danner piloted to the surface of the moon. The entire way down, neither had spoken a word to the other. As they were about to unbuckle themselves from their harnesses, Stahine began to say something but was abruptly cut off by the Chiss. “No Stahine, it is not what you are thinking. My recent emotional status has nothing to do with the night we spent together. I do not regret that it happened. The only thing I regret is the timing of it. That I must be going through what I am immediately following what we shared when in fact my mood is due to the cumulative effects of several issues in my life. I am sorry that you perceive it in that way, but please try not to for Tol’s sake. He is depending on us.” With that he unstrapped himself without letting Stahine get a word in edge wise and proceeded to the hatch of the shuttle.

The Jedi walked side by side in silence the rest of the way until they reached the entrance to the cantina. Their silence was broken by Stahine who added, “I hope you know what you are doing, because I have no idea what our plan is.” Danner just looked at her and said, “Don’t worry, I will handle everything.” The Corellian just shook her head in frustration as her companion lead the way into the Cantina. He walked up to the bar and said, “It has been a lousy vacation thus far. Know anything sites we could see to make things more interesting?” to the bartender. The bartender just nodded and said, “I’ll see what I can do” and walked off. Stahine then walked up beside Danner and said, “What did you say to him?” with a puzzled look on her face. “I just said what the major from the last planet told me to say. I honestly don’t know what it means, but the bartender seemed to understand.” he answered with a shrug.

Moments later the bartender reappeared, “That lousy vacation can end in the back room” and he pointed to a door adjacent to the bar. Danner, with Stahine in tow, walked in the direction where the bartender approached. As the entered they were met with two large males wearing armor and bearing large rifles that were now pointed directly at the two Jedi. With the same style grace as he had shown in his quarters, Danner gently waved his right hand and both guns flew from the hands of the guards who were now sharing startled glances with one another. Before they could react, however, Danner said “You both look like you could use some sleep” and waved his left hand. In less than a second both men were lying on the floor fast asleep. Before Stahine could react to the turn of events a voice from inside the room said, “Impressive. My sources told me that you were powerful, but this level of defense is just plain awesome.” Danner looked up at the female who was now talking to them. She was slender and taller than most humanoid females. She was humanoid with light green skin, long black hair that was straight and touched her waist. Her eyes were a bright pink and were outlined with small tattoos in the shape of hearts that encircled her eyes. After looking at her momentarily he said, “You seem to know something about us. Now me we know who you are?” With that she let out a slight laugh and said, “Where are my manners, please have a seat” and pointed to a couch which was adjacent to a soft chair that she had taken a seat on. “I’m fine” Danner said in a stern voice. “Oh come now, I don’t know a lot about you, I don’t even know your name,” the woman added. “Well how about you start with the introductions” the Chiss said with a stone cold expression on his face.
 

*****

As Nikko, Tol, and a reluctant Bothan came atop the hill, they saw not one but three of the beasts attacking the rest of their group. Nikko dropped Tol to the group and brandished both weapons in his hands and took off down the hill at full speed.

Now on the ground, Tol got his first good look at the creatures. They reminded him somewhat of wampas, though their fur was brown instead of white. They walked on two legs while the drug around two long arms with large paws and claws at the ends.

Tol looked down on the chaos and saw two humanoid bodies lying on the ground unmoving already, while the other members of the group were stationed behind a ruin of an old stonewall. The three beasts however weren’t really attacking though, they just seem to be sizing up their situation the best their limited intelligence could. Then Tol saw Nikko enter the battle with a raised force whip.

He slashed it across the chest of the closest beast and let out and shot from his rifle at the same time. The shot hit the creature square in the neck and it fell over with a loud thump. The surviving two though were now aware of Nikko’s presence.
 

*****

“It’s a good thing I am used to your species or else I may have taken offense to that” the woman added with a snorting like chuckle and then proceeded. “I am Lady Valanta, mistress of the Calantas. You see I just switched the first letter of my name when I created this organization two hundred years ago.” Danner looked at her, “I didn’t realize this was your organization and please don’t make any correlations to my behaviors with the Chiss. I did not spend much time among their culture.”

Lady Valanta stood up and said, “And who told you that you are Chiss? You, my friend, are not Chiss. But fortunately for you, I know someone who can tell you what you really are, but first you must tell me your name and that of your friend.” Despite all the weeks of concentration building exercises, he was stunned. He did not expect this but he quickly regrouped and said, “My name is Danner Truskx and this is Stahine.”

Lady Valanta looked at him and said, “Truskx, that name is quite familiar to me. I know who you need to see and who can help you with your quest.” With that she pressed a button on the arm of her chair and said, “Send Leelia in.” Within a few moments a figure that was about Stahine’s size appeared at the door. The person seemed to be humanoid in nature, but it was hard to tell because whoever it was wore armor that was maroon and black in color with a maroon cape and a matching helmet. No aspect of their skin was visible. “Leelia, please come in and make yourself comfortable. This gentleman goes by the name Truskx. Isn’t that name familiar?” Lady Valanta said. The voice behind the mask was muffled and distorted but it said, “Yes, that was the name of my ship that was attacked by pirates all those years ago.” With that the woman removed her helmet revealing blue skin, red eyes, and black hair. “It was on that mission that I lost my newborn son.”
 

*****

In the dark jungle of an unnamed world, a lone figure’s ears perked up at the roar of culpas nearby. Culpas were native to this unknown world, notorious for they aggressive behavior and blood lust. They were a dangerous animal to be reckoned with.

The lone figure stood up from the sound of the culpas and strained its ears to their maximum capability. Along with the blood cries of the culpas could be heard another sound, a sound, though alien to the jungle, was not that alien to the listeners ears.

Picking up the crude self-made wooden club that leaned against the wall of the figure’s cave home, they exited the cave and made their way towards the sound of what could only be off-worlders battling a pack of culpas.

Tol watched from within the jungle foliage as Nikko squared off against two of the large shaggy brown beasts. The Bothan that was with them stood to Tol’s side, his eyes not being able to tear away from the scene. Suddenly, one of the creatures jumped at Nikko, arms and claws out wide in what would be a for sure death strike.

Nikko was ahead of the animal though, sidestepping quickly the rush and dodging the claws by mere centimeters. But before he could return the attack, the second of the animals rushed in at him forcing him to go on the defensive yet again. He dropped to his stomach on the ground and made a quick roll to his left. When the roll was done he had his blaster aimed right at the back now of the second animal. Popping off two quick shots into its back, Nikko jumped back to his feet in time to watch the one he shot turn towards him with pure murder in its eyes.

This time Nikko brought out his force whip and sent a crack in the animal’s direction; however he forgot about the other first one, which had now returned. As his arm extended with the whip, the first creature rushed up with a large open mouth and sank its jaws into the forearm of Nikko.

Wincing at the pain but not panicking, Nikko in a lightening fast reflex brought the hand with the blaster to the first creature and popped one shot off. The single shot hit the animal square in the head and it fell backwards dead.

Then Nikko heard a scream, and it sounded like his name was included in that scream though he couldn’t tell for sure.
 

*****

Knowing the story of his past and the ramifications that this new information may mean, Stahine stood closer to Danner and place her right hand on his arm to show her support. All of the concentration that Danner had learned over the past several weeks was now gone. He blurted out, “What did you say?” Lady Valanta walked over to the Jedi and took the arm that Stahine was touching into her own hand. She placed her nose on his forearm and took a long sniff. “Yes, it is indeed true. I can tell by your scent. You are Leelia’s long lost son. It seems fate has brought you two together again and you will have the opportunity to get to know each other. For your mother not only has the key to your past, but also knows something about the skeleton like creature you are looking for.”

This was too much for Danner to handle and he couldn’t say anything at the moment so Stahine stepped up and said, “May I have a few minutes with my counterpart.” Valanta began to nod but Danner waved, “Its ok, I’ll be fine.” Lady Valanta spoke up, “Might I suggest you take your mother back to your ship so the two of you can get reacquainted?” The blue-skinned male who had always believed he was Chiss looked up and said, “That would be fine.” Stahine, however, objected and pulled Danner aside. “Do you think this is a good idea?” she asked. “She’s my mother, of course it is” the male Jedi added. “How do you know that? This could all be a trick” the female Jedi objected. “A trick? She knew that I was named after the ship I was found on. Only Nurider and my closest friends know that! She is my mother and I’m taking her back to the ship” Danner added as he led Leelia out of the room with Stahine in tow. “I have a bad feeling about this” Stahine said as she caught up with the two.

*****

Cas Fith was bunkered down in behind a partially collapsed stonewall, too scared of the wild beasts on the other side of the wall to even peak his head over the top. Then he heard the sound of new blaster fire.

Cas glanced around at the rest of his men that managed to make their way behind the wall as well. Only four of them remained from the six that had started out. The beasts had attacked suddenly and without warning, taking two of his men out within seconds. The rest of them had taken refuge behind this wall and hadn’t moved since.

The sound of the creatures roaring brought Cas out of his thoughts and into the present. Summoning up enough courage, Cas got in a low crouch and peaked the top of his head over the top of the wall. He saw Nikko, ever faithful and ready for battle engaged with two of the large brown creatures. He held his own for a moment before one of the creatures sank their fangs into one of his forearms; though an instant later Nikko had his blaster aimed and firing point blank into the creatures head.

Cas almost stood up and cheered for Nikko until he saw movement coming from the jungle foliage; Cas’s mouth fell open and his knees then began to shake. Out of the jungle Cas saw four more of them appear and converge on Nikko. Cas yelled to his voices limit.

“Nikko!”

*****

On the ride back to the ship, no one spoke a word. Danner was just in awe over the news he had just been delivered. To say he was awestruck would be an understatement. Once they reached the ship Leelia asked, “Interesting ship. Did you make this one too?” to which Stahine turned around and said, “How do you know he makes his own ships?” Danner shot the Corellian a glance as Leelia responded, “Easily my dear, our species is quite adept at crafting our own vessels. It would be very likely that my son would do the same.” Leelia paused, “Don’t worry honey, I’m his mother. I’m not out to steal your man so you can relax.” Still awestruck Danner said, “Mother, that’s a word I thought I’d never say again. I have so many questions to ask you. Like where are we from, who is my father, how old am I really?”

“We will get to that soon, but we have more pressing issues at hand like your skeleton like friend. I think I may know where he is.” Leelia added. “You do! Where is he?” Stahine asked with excitement in her voice. “Yes, darling but in good time. What kind of hosts are you two. I need to freshen up. Show me to my quarters” were the words of the blue skinned woman. “Oh, I’m sorry . . . mom. Let me show you the way” Danner responded and showed her to the guest quarters. He then walked to the cockpit where he found Stahine who was running some diagnostics. “Danner, I know you don’t want to hear this” she began to say, but was interrupted. “Are you going to try and tell me she’s not my mother again, Stahine. Cause if you are, I don’t need to hear that. This is a day I’ve only dreamed about and now its coming true.”

“But Danner what has she told you? Wouldn’t you think your mother would be over excited to see you and want to reconnect rather than wanting to go and freshen up? And then there’s her presence in the force. Its not right” Stahine said but was met with hostility by her fellow Jedi. “Listen Stahine, you are not going to ruin this for me. I don’t sense anything strange about her. Just let me finally have my day. I need it after all I’ve been through” Danner said as he stormed away from the cockpit and went to his quarters.
 

*****

From deep within the jungle they came, drawn to the battle by the battle roars of their packs’ kin. Four more culpas emerged from the jungle and came down upon the battle in front of them.

They saw two of their own lying dead on the ground, which only enraged them more. Two of the news ones rushed forward at full speed towards Nikko and the sole remaining culpa he was holding off. Nikko raised his force whip in a futile attempt to fend off the onslaught, but even he knew it was worthless. In a matter of moments the three culpas ripped the body of Nikko Rex apart.

The remaining two new culpas though didn’t rush into the battle with their kin; instead their heads turned directly towards a startled Bothan and a still bound Tol. In the blink of an eye they were rushing towards the pair with claws extended and mouths dripping with saliva.

Tol suddenly found himself one of the prime targets of two of the beasts. They were coming at him full steam and he was still bound and Forceless due to the backpack that Nikko had given the Bothan that included the ysalamiri.

Tol’s remaining Bothan guard pulled two pistols he had holstered on each hip and began firing non-stop. His shots were indeed hitting their targets but the creatures had such thick hides that shots to the torso weren’t affecting them at all.

“Please let me loose!” cried Tol to the Bothan. “I can fight if you unbind me!”
The Bothan turned for a brief second but then turned his head back still firing at the incoming creatures. It was obvious to Tol that he wasn’t being untied anytime soon.

A few moments before the creatures were on him, the Bothan broke at a dead run towards the other three that were still clawing over the remains of Nikko’s body. The Bothan ran past them and in one leap cleared the stonewall that Cas and his remaining men were hiding behind. However the creatures didn’t seem interested in the Bothan anymore, both their eyes were staring hard at Tol.
 

*****

After sitting in the pilots seat for a few minutes, Stahine said to herself, “A Jedi does not know anger” and began going through Jedi calming techniques. “He may not like this but we need answers and we need them now.” She then proceeded to leave the cockpit and make her way to the guest quarters. Her knock on the door was unanswered so, being bold, Stahine walked in without an invitation. What she saw next made her scream. Leelia’s face was gone! Well more like it was in her hands. The features that she and Danner had seen were merely a face plate that covered a hideously deformed putrid orange looking skin that lacked lips, a nose, and eye lids. “What are you doing in here?” came the voice of the creature in front of her as it reached into its holster and drew a pistol. Immediately Stahine reached for her lightsaber and ignited the white blade.

Hearing the scream, Danner walked into the guest quarters to see the back of Leelia and Stahine looking at her with lightsaber in hand. “What is going on in here?” he shouted. Quickly, and since her back was to the Jedi, Leelia returned the face plate to her face and disguised her voice, once again, to the one she had used with them earlier. “My son, she was going to kill me. This friend of yours is deranged, she think I’m going to take you from her. Please help me.”
 

*****

“Oh Sithspit,” Tol said in a low voice as he turned to run, but it was too late.
As he turned his back to the creatures, a large and heavy force slammed into his back and forced him to the ground. Tol prepared himself for the creature’s deathblow that was sure to come. But it never did.

Suddenly the weight that was on his back was lifted and he was able to turn over to his back. What he saw shocked him. A woman, not a member of the rogue GFFA force, but a primitive looking woman with only a single wooden clue stood with her back to him. To Tol’s right he saw the prone and still body of the creature that had no doubt tackled him a moment earlier. He then turned his attention back to the woman.
She was obviously human, or some sub-human species. She was clad in only dark gray hide coverings, which were only covering her human essential parts anyways. She had long blonde hair which curled uncontrollably down her back…the woman was beautiful by most any species standards.

She faced off with the remaining creature with a raised club. When the creature reared back and swept in for an attack, her movement were fluid and as nimble as could be as she dodged it and brought her club down onto the creature’s forearm.

Yelping, the creature backed off and let out a low roar. The woman stared down the creature and raised her club once again; the creature backed down. Instead of attacking, it let out a low humming noise that drew the attention of the other three near Cas’s group. Those three then made the same humming noise as they left the shredded body of Nikko and came beside their kin. The four remaining creature joined and with a low growl they made their way into the deep jungle.

“Excuse me miss,” Tol said quietly. “But could you help me attempt to get these binders off. I could be of more use if they were.”

The woman turned at the sound of his voice and Tol saw her face for the first time. Her eyes were green and seem to sparkle when the sunlight hit them while her face was smooth and with soft edges. Her cheeks were slightly sunken in though still rosy in color. Then Tol noticed her ears. Instead of normal human looking ears, these were longer in length and came to a point at their apex, though she constantly brushed her hair over them.

Without warning she bent down and picked Tol from the ground. She grabbed him by the arm and motioned towards Cas and his group who were just now emerging from behind their stonewall.

“No no,” Tol said as he jerked away. “Not my friends. They are keeping me hostage. You have to help me get out of here now before they get here.”

The woman’s head tilted at his words though her confusion was evident on her face. She didn’t understand him at all. From near the stonewall Tol then heard the sound of Cas’s voice calling for him, it was now time to go.
 

*****

“What are you doing Stahine! Stop it!” was all Danner could say as Stahine brought her lightsaber down on Leelia’s right arm severing it at the shoulder joint. Danner ran over to stop by Stahine but was too late. He ignited his own lightsaber and began to advance toward the Corellian Jedi. “Look at her skin” Stahine pointed out. Danner turned and saw what his friend was referring to. Seeing that Danner was not going to attack her, Stahine walked over to Leelia and removed the face plate from the woman who was now on the floor writhing in pain. “See, this is not your mother. It was an elaborate hoax.” Danner was stunned, “But why? How did you know about the Truskx?”

Leelia just grinned. “Very good! You figured me out. I am not his mother, but not all I said was a lie. I did know about the Truskx, but too bad you’ll never hear about it from me” Leelia said as she brought the blaster to her temple and squeezed the trigger.

Danner dropped to his knees. Stahine knelt next to him, “I’m sorry Danner. I really am, but you didn’t deserve to be deceived.” He looked up at her with sadness in his eyes, “I should be the one who’s sorry. You were right and I wouldn’t listen to you.” The white-haired woman smiled, “I don’t blame you, but look to the bright side there is information about you and I think this Lady Valanta holds the key to unlocking your past. If she’s been running that organization for two hundred years and this organization knows all about the unknown regions, I think its safe to say she might know what happened on the day you were found.”
 

*****

Leaving the woman where she stood, Tol took off in a dead run away from Cas. The run was difficult with his hands still behind his back, and he lost his balance more than a couple of times. As he broke past a large tree, a sudden shock stopped Tol in his tracks.
It was as if the universe’s light had been flipped from “off” to “on” for him. Suddenly everything around him was more alive and more brilliant than ever. It was like Tol had been blind for several months and had regained his vision. For a brief moment Tol finally realized that he was reconnected with the Force and outside the ysalamiri’s bubble. He had exactly time for one thought and message to send out before his powers were stripped from him once again. One thought that he pushed out into the universe with such power that he sent himself flying backwards to the ground. His one thought that he hoped would be heard by the same someone.
‘DANNER!’

*****

Stahine looked at Danner’s face which now had a far away look to it. “Danner, are you alright?” He blinked and looked up at her, “Lady Valanta will have to wait. Its Tol, he just called to me!”