The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Forty-One: Lux's Insight

LUX BONTERI

Lux hissed as the blast of a portable ion cannon landed a few feet to his left, boring a hole in the ground and sending pavement, dirt and cargo boxes flying. "Dammit, Rex!" he yelled over his shoulder. "Can't you work any faster?"

"Working on it, sir!" came the reply. They were holed up in an alleyway with a dead end, and, all the while dealing with a bad shoulder wound, Rex was trying to get his jetpack to work again. And, frankly, it looked like he had no idea how to fix it.

And, with any available reinforcements engaged in other fights all over the city, there was no one who was going to come to their rescue. They were trapped.

The three dozen or so Storm Troopers were pushing forward, despite the crazy shots Lux was firing at them. For every one Trooper he shot down, another three took the downed man's place.

He was all out of grenades, he had lost his vibroblades a few minutes before, and his blaster power cells were on low. Things weren't looking good.

But there was one thing that he still could do. His had brushed over the extra blaster sheath that hid his lightsaber from view. Although he wasn't exceptionally powerful with the Force when he was using the Light Side, when he gave into his Dark Side for a few minutes, he was unbelievable powerful.

It wasn't like this for any other Jedi, as far as he knew, but it was almost like he could control his Light and Dark Sides. There was an on-off switch for the Dark that he could flip at any moment, and still come back to the Light in one piece.

Perhaps that was his talent.

Lux's eyelids fluttered shut, and concentrated on every single thing that he had ever been angry about, on every dark thought and desire. When he opened them again, they felt the same red, pulsating hot that he had always experienced on his few, brief flashes to the Dark Side.

"Cover me," he said to Rex. And, although it came out no louder than a whisper, it echoed throughout the alleyway, vibrating with some dark power.

As he advanced, the blood pumping in his ears and everything else strangely muted, the Troopers turned their fire towards him. He dodged every shot with a smooth and effortless tilt to either his left or right.

When he was close enough, Lux pulled his lightsaber from its hiding spot at his belt and turned it on. He could sense a degree of fear from the enemy soldiers at the sight of such a weapon, and relished in it. Fear made him stronger.

Within the space of five minutes and with a few easy slashes of the lightsaber, the three entire squadrons lay dead. There were no more coming, and it was time to turn back to the Light.

But suddenly he was reliving a memory. One that wasn't his.

He saw two people, one standing in what looked like the servant's exit in his mother's old house on Onderon. That was his mother, her hair longer than he had ever seen her wear it, holding a four-year-old in her arms. He couldn't see the other.

"Enarion, I don't know what I'm going to do!" she said. There were tears in her eyes. "Lux... Lux is Force-sensitive! He could become a Jedi, but - but don't want him to leave me! You taking Janira was for the best, but I can't lose my firstborn! I can't!"

Enarion grabbed her shoulders. "Mina, please, you have to calm down. I know how you can keep him, but you need to be in your right mind."

She nodded, biting her lip.

"All right. Now, this is for the long-term, but it will suppress his Force-sensitivity." He handed her some shiny white pills, which seemed to glow in the dark. Somehow, Lux knew that this was an important moment in his life, even though he couldn't remember it. And now that he knew that Enarion Dume knew, or had known, his mother...

"How did you get these?"

"I have a friend in the Jedi Temple Medical Wing. They give the pills to imbalanced Jedi, who have either gone mad or fallen to the Dark Side. It partially blocks the midichlorians from communicating with the person they inhabit. And, in this situation, it will be less likely that the Jedi will find him."

"Thank you..." She began to walk back inside.

"Mina, wait. I have seen something, something dangerous. I fear the political instability that the Trade Federation has set in motion with their attack on the Naboo a few months ago. It might provoke a war."

"What?" Mina said. "I can't believe that! The Republic has stood for thousands of years! It will hold!"

"Those are the words of a Senator, Mina. But times are changing. So, if a war does break out, I want you to join the side opposing the Republic."

Lux's mother was now too shocked to say anything.

"Please, use your common sense!" Enarion urged. "If a war does break out, then Lux will be safe from the Jedi! He won't be taken away from you if they can't identify him as Force-sensitive before he turns six!"

She sighed. "Fine. If that's the only way to protect my family... Then I'll do it."

Then Enarion did something that shook Lux to the very core. He leaned in and kissed his mother on the lips. And as he pulled away and left, he noticed something else about her: the gentle swell of her belly.

Mina was pregnant again. There was going to be another Bonteri.

*Lux has uncovered more explosive secrets about the Bonteri family. But who is this mysterious third child? A him or a her? Someone Lux knows well, or a complete stranger? And how will the Rebels survive in their current situation, with the odds stacked against them? You'll find out in the next amazing chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Hey guys! I wonder if any of you saw that coming... Or if you'll see what's going to come for the EPIC CONCLUSION to the book which is only a little while away...

*takes on a Yoda-ish air* Near to the end of the tale, we come. Or to the beginning. Alone in knowing, the Force is, yesss.

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Okay that sounded so WISE. Bye.

Determine what will cause your beloved wife's demise and may the Force be with you