Star Wars: A New Order: Dawn of Balance (Book 9)

Prologue

          It was one year after Shain re-entered the Jedi order. Shain was now nineteen, and the Jedi welcomed himself, and Sam into the order. Trinity, and Saar, were offered a place in the order. Trinity and Saar chose to decline and remained on Kashyyyk. Sam chose to come to the Jedi temple with her brother. Her friend Rhys was offered a job in the Jedi Temple as a maintenance man in the hangar bay. When Shain and Sam returned, the Jedi Council permitted the group of friends to begin working together, though it had been a mystery as to what happened to Nathan Ingram upon leaving the Jedi Order. The group spent almost two months searching the galaxy for him, but they never found him, not even on their home world. The group as a whole would continue to keep a watchful eye out for their missing friend. Though they could not continue their search any longer, they kept looking whenever they left the Jedi Temple. Even after a year there was still no sign of him. The group as a whole grew strong with the aid of Shain's ability to connect, and strengthen people's Force and fighting abilities. Sam grew just as fast as the rest of them, even during her time spent with him on Kashyyyk she had grown strong with the Force and in saber combat.

Thee eldest of the group, Aria, Sarah, Josh Sietsma, Andrew, Katy, and Nathan Hall, had passed their Jedi Trials and were granted the rank of Jedi Knight. Sarah and Andrew were the first among them to achieve the rank directly after Shain's return while the rest followed later on. Now, Michael, Elena, Paul, Eve, Shain, and Sam would be facing the Jedi Trials within the next year or two, and all were eager to be officially welcomed into the order as Jedi Knights.

Samantha and her Master, Mara Jade, were roaming the streets of Coruscant picking up supplies they needed for a mission to New Alderaan. Their mission was to investigate the kidnapping of the Prime Minister's daughter and track down the kidnappers. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Jedi Consular, Aria Rymeris, would take on her second mission as a Jedi Knight. Her job was to start an investigation on New Alderaan and relay any new information to Mara and Samantha.

As Sam was looking at what she considered a rather shady "lightsaber parts," on the busy streets of Coruscant, she felt someone call upon the Force. As she turned toward her master, she saw something flying towards her face. Before she can react, it struck her knocking her to the ground with such force that most humans would have been knocked out. Her thoughts raced as she thought of her master, her only saving grace was just a block away. Sam fought to stay conscious as she tried to get up and get a look at her attacker. She shouted her master's name as she found she was being lifted from behind. She stood, and then was suddenly pulled backwards. She realized she was being dragged into some sort of hovercar. She quickly looked up to see if she could find her attacker. She saw what appeared to be a black-robed Sith, wearing an archaic, black, Sith mask. She attempted to pull herself free and saw Mara Jade running after her. Suddenly, they were moving, and someone grabbed her face, covering it with a cloth. Before she knew it, the darkness overcame her, and she fell unconscious. Within a brief moment, Mara quickly sprung into a Veltiss-2 airspeeder that was parked just off the street. Her hands sweaped across the controls and she chased after the cab. Her emerald-green eyes were locked on the cab, as she attempted to get a fix on Sam and whoever else was in the airspeeder. She could only sense a void.

Could it be droids? She wondered. There is no reason for her to have a bounty on her head. Perhaps someone is trying to get to me instead. Her thoughts continued on as she weaved in out of traffic. She paid close attention to the markings on the ship as she closed in on it, searching for any details that stood out. One thing was for sure, the cab was modified. The cab's windows were darkened, and the engines were definitely modified so that it could reach higher speeds. Mara brought the ship up beside the cab, looping hard over the top of the cab. In mid-roll, she jumped out of the ship. As she fell, she guided herself with the Force, down onto the roof of the cab. Using her purple blade, she stabbed her saber blade down into the front of the cab, just about where the driver would have sat. The ship lurched up into the oncoming traffic, and Mara's legs slid out from underneath of her. She braced herself with legs, spreading her feet between the two back engines. She shut off her blade and attached it to her belt. She reached for her blaster and shot out the right window. The glass was shattered by the blast, and Mara quickly flipped her blaster around in her hand and used it to smash in the rest of the hanging glass. The speeder came to an alarming stop, causing Mara slid off the front end of the cab. She reached out, trying to grasp any part of the ship she could as she fell to the street below. Mara rolled to a stop, watching helplessly as the damaged cab flew off with her apprentice, still inside. Her eyes darted around for another speeder, but nothing was available.

She looked back towards the vehicle and swore. "Damn!" Mara exclaimed, short on breath. "Don't worry, I'll find you, Sam, I swear it!"