New Power

Ch 6

Kashyyyk loomed into view. Delta Squad had been lucky as Alyssa had been given a squad mission to coincidentally Kashyyyk to retrieve information. She had of course chosen her squad to be her companions for the mission.

"Boss, do you know how to fly a ship?" Alyssa asked.

He hesitated. "Somewhat. Never really had a reason to fly my own."

"I'll stay at the controls then. Guide me to where you last saw Sev."

"I have the coordinates. It took me a while to find them." Boss inputted the coordinates into the navagator and Alyssa sat back and let the ship do its thing.

"I really hope we find a clue. This place could have been cleaned out long ago."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

The coordinates didn't lead too far from where they entered Kashyyyk's atmosphere. Alyssa landed it and opened the door at the back.

The Squad entered the Wookie's buildings in the trees, cautious of any droids they may make themselves present. There was nothing, and the place was as trashed as Delta Squad had left it.

"Something about this place doesn't feel right," Scorch said, his blaster forward ready to fire.

Alyssa tried to sense for potential danger, but couldn't find any. "I agree with you," she said.

~~~~<+>~~~~

They reached the turret that Sev had manned without any occurrences. The turret was blown to bits, it could barely be recognised as what it once was.

Boss poked through the wreckage. "There's nothing but clanker and turret parts here. And the droids aren't smart enough to through their kill off the edge. So he's been taken," Boss concluded. "But where is now the question."

Alyssa fought the urge to use an ability she had discovered she had when she hunted with Cain and Sephinroth. Force-Echoes. She sighed exasperatingly, making Delta Squad look at her.

"I hope Cain doesn't feel this," she grumbled under her breath and crouched where the Force felt the strongest. She reached out and touched the history the piece of droid held. She gasped and fell back, wincing.

"What.. did you just do?" Fixer asked.

"Doesn't matter." Alyssa breathed heavily. "They took.. him to.. to Mustafar."

"Mustafar? Isn't that a planet made of lava?" Scorch pondered.

Alyssa nodded. "We need to move, now. We have what we came for. A clue."

~~~~<+>~~~~

Alyssa had gotten the information she needed to get by using a datarod in a terminal. The Squad was now back on the ship, recieving their next mission from Command.

Alyssa stayed in the cockpit while the others received their mission. She mentally cursed herself for doing that in front of them, as it was already hard for them to trust her as is.

Scorch sat down in the co-pilot's seat and swivelled to face her. "Care to explain what happened back there?"

"I don't need to explain anything. You saw it. You're smart enough, you can infer."

"You're Force-sensitive?"

Alyssa felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach. "Yeah."

Scorch hummed. "Y'know, I'm not mad at you. Just confused."

"About what?"

"Why you didn't tell us you were Force-sensitive."

Alyssa looked at him in disbelief. "You would have wanted me to tell you?"

Scorch smiled. "Yeah. Is that a hard thing to believe?"

"Not particularly, but also yes." Alyssa sighed. "We were always told that we put ourselves before the Force, keeping us safe but cut off from it. It may not look it, but it was painful doing that without using the Force for so long."

"I can imagine it would be. Doing any sort of physical thing without doing it in a long time can really hurt." He patted her shoulder and stood up. "Just keep in mind, if you can't get yourself to tell Boss something, you can tell me. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets."

Alyssa smiled at Scorch. "Thanks."

He gave her one last smile and walked out of the cockpit to join his other team-mates again.

Alyssa sighed and leaned back into her seat. She was about to pick something up with the Force before the rest of her Squad came into the cockpit.

"Why didn't you join us in the briefing?" Boss asked her, sitting down in the co-pilot's seat.

"I'm not joining you on this mission," she replied.

Boss looked surprised. "But you always do, ever since you joined us."

"I will for the next one. I have.. a few things to do."

His surprise turned into disappointment. "Should we drop you at Coruscant?"

"Yeah."

"We are going to Coruscant anyway, yeah? That's where we need to get on the ship anyway," Fixer said.

"We are, yes," Boss said. Alyssa could hear the disappointment in his voice, making her feel very guilty.

~~~~<+>~~~~

Alyssa walked into Sheeley's bar. Celestae immediately noticed her.

"Back here for more information?" She asked.

Alyssa smiled and nodded. Celestae lead her into the back and got Sheeley. Celestae went back out to the bar and left her boss and friend alone at the holoprojector. Sheeley typed in Sephinroth's name and watched as many articles and videos popped up.

Alyssa picked one and they analysed it for information they didn't already know. Alyssa was writing down notes in her datapad and Sheeley was writing in hers.

Soon, they moved onto another article and wrote down information, ranging from little things to whole facts they didn't know.

Hours passed by, Celestae came in and told Sheeley that she had closed the bar and was about to go home. Sheeley nodded and allowed her two employees to go home, keeping Alyssa there for more information hunting.

Alyssa and Sheeley could feel themselves starting to get very weary, nearly falling asleep in their chairs. Alyssa kept on going once Sheeley had fallen asleep, making her long time friend comfortable before continuing.

Alyssa read a fact through a blur of tears:
Last seen: Lahn
Date information was submitted: 2 months ago