Star Wars: The Jedi Chronicles:Enter The Shadows (Books 1-4)

Chapter Two: Phase One

Chapter Two

Phase One

Aria: So, I have all the ship to myself, huh? Talk about inviting danger... (she thinks for a moment) That’s it!

She walks down to the security room and has the guards take a break. She puts the cameras on a feedback loop for twenty minutes, then heads down to Shain’s room.

Aria: (searching through his collection of crystals) Let’s see. If I use mind trick, then they’ll only be tortured mentally. But if I use the Force, it could be physical or mental torture - or both! But mind trick’s better in the long run; they’re tortured longer.

She grabs the twins’ mind trick crystal off the wall and takes it down to sick bay. She opens up the power supply panel to the bacta tank and starts to put the crystal inside, when two clone troopers walk into the room.

Sketch: Hey! What are you doing in there?!

Aria grabs the mind trick crystal and waves her hand.

Aria: (slowly) You never saw me here.

Crater: Room’s all clear. Let’s move on.

She uses a mini-lightsaber to cut a hole in the power supply of the bacta tank before jamming the crystal in the slot, and putting the panel back where it belongs.

Aria: That should do it. (chuckles) Sorry, whoever gets put in here next... Ok, maybe not so sorry.

She smiles and leaves.

Scene: Andrew has reached the planet Andowyne in the Outer Rim territories. The planet is mostly forest. The trees are tall with no lower branches. He wanders around for a few hours, until he finds an open field. There sits Elena’s ship.

Andrew: Well, she’s close.

No sooner do the words leave his mouth than out of the trees comes Elena Forish. She lands on his shoulders. Andrew sags a bit, but stays on his feet. She slaps his ears, giving him a massive head- and earache. He hollers in pain.

She twists her body, hoping to break his neck. He twists with her and she jerks backwards, pulling Andrew over and laying him flat on his stomach. She rolls forward and opens her red lightsaber with a back-hand grip. Andrew picks himself up off the ground.

Andrew: You should’ve taken me when you had the chance.

He turns on his purple lightsaber. He walks toward Elena and swings from his left. She leans backwards, making him miss. He switches to his left hand, then spins the saber around his back, switching back to the right hand, and strikes toward her midsection... looking her in the eye the whole time. She leans forward as his lightsaber hums by.

She throws a slash at his right arm and he pulls his hilt up so it’s pointing down to his right side, grabbing his hilt with his left hand for support. She grins, knowing she can disarm him. She grabs her saber with her left hand and jerks to her right.

Andrew spins around with the saber. As he is coming around, he cuts her in half from the waist up. Before she even starts to fall she is healed. He continues spinning but drops to his knees in mid-spin, taking out her legs.

The same thing happens: she is healed faster than his eyes can follow. She strikes down at his head, annoyed that he has gotten two blows in a row. Andrew holds the saber hilt to the right over his head, blocking. He uses the Force to push her over.

They stand up and step in, striking at each other and blocking at the same time. Elena’s blows are reverse figure-eight strikes. Andrew has both hands on his lightsaber, defending. After a few rounds of parrying, he thrusts forward, stabbing her in the heart.

Her eyes widen as she screams in pain, his lightsaber still sticking in her. She Force-pushes him backwards. He slides back a few feet. The wound takes a while to heal as she is holding her chest.

Andrew: (muttering) Of course! She’s immortal! Her heart is her weak spot!

Elena: You won’t do that again!

She dashes forward, then does a aerial flip, spinning her lightsaber under her, burning Andrew’s pants. She kicks him in the face on the landing. He stumbles backwards and blocks a blow coming over her head down at him.

As soon as the sabers make contact, Andrew elbows her in the eye, then stabs her heart again. She screams and this time it seems to heal slower. Andrew thinks to himself that if she is immortal, she should have died at the first blow but remembers that the crystals make them invincible.

He looks at her neck where the crystal should be dangling, but it isn't there. Next thing he knows, she is up in the air, kicking him in the jaw. She hits his lightsaber and it flies out of his hand. His eyes grow to be the size of golf balls.

He turns around and runs for the tree line. He heads straight for a big round tree and starts to run up it. Being the big guy that he is, instead of flipping over her, he kicks off the tree and back-hands her in the face with a closed fist.

She spins around twice before hitting the ground, knocking her out cold. He quickly runs over to her and searches her for the crystal. He finds it tied to her right wrist. He rips it off and sticks it in his pocket. He grabs the remote control for her ship and sets the auto pilot.

Andrew: I’m really sorry about that... I hope you’ll forgive me, when you come to.

He picks her up with the Force and sets her in her ship and programs his ship to come to where he is. He takes off and Elena follows, lying unconscious in her cockpit. Once they are back on the Rebellion, Andrew contacts Aria and tells her to meet him in sick bay.

He gets there first. He sets up the tank and uses the Force to put her in. Aria walks in as he puts her in. She smiles and walks over to the computer and starts up the bacta tank. Elena seems fine at first, then she starts thrashing around. Aria has a shocked look on her face and pretends she doesn't know what to do.

Aria: Something’s wrong! What do I do?

Andrew rushes to the controls and presses a few buttons. Nothing happens. He tries to shut down the tank but there is no response. He picks up Elena’s lightsaber off the table, turns his and hers on and throws the lightsabers at the top and bottom of the tank.

Water leaks every where and he pulls her out of the glass before it smashes all over the floor. Elena wakes up, shaking uncontrollably. Aria rushes to her.

Aria: (acting worried) Elena, are you ok? Say something!

She continues shaking, and says nothing.

Aria: Andrew, what happened to her?

Andrew: I don’t know! The computer doesn't know what know what it’s saying.

He hurries around the computer and puts his hand over her head, attempting to read what is happening. Fear washes over him as soon as he tries. He falls over backwards, shaking in fear of the images going though his head.

Aria stands up and grabs two needles filled with a sedative to knock them out.

Aria: I’m going to put you both in quarantine, so what ever this is doesn’t spread further. Ok? Andrew?

She sticks them both with the needles, leaving them with nightmares. She picks them up with the Force and lays them on the medical beds. She heads toward the door, smugly proud of herself.

Aria: Sweet dreams, you two.

She laughs as she heads down the hall way.