Star Wars: Heir to the Sith (Part 3)

Chapter 42: "The Empire have been hunting him for years."

Ella's right hand shook. The motionless form of Mahon at her feet held her attention.

She had really taken a life now, directly by her own hand! She couldn't stop from staring at the corpse before her.

Her sister took a breath and reached up to her helm, opening it with effort.

"You need to get used to this," she said hoarsely. "You are in a war, sister. If you do not take a life, then yours will be taken."

"I never wanted to be in any war . . ." she muttered.

"The war would have come to Farsalt one day. Admiral Karion was sent there for a reason. I suspect he was instructed to level some of the camps and to make sure that Captain Pina's hands were bloodied in the action. For far too long your government has been a tick in the hide of the Empire. You need to be tough. You need to learn how to kill. Or more of your friends will die."

"Lance!" Ella glanced toward the entrance to the power plant in fear. She took a hasty step and then stared down at Neerada.

"And what about us?" Ella said.

"Go," Neerada replied. "I'll live."

"And after that? In a month, or a year? Why did you come to Farsalt in the first place? Did you find what you wanted?"

"Not the knowledge I wanted. But I did find you. That is the first step in finding out who we are. Together, and only together, can we defy the other Assayers and be truly free. That is what I wanted to find: someone I can trust."

Neerada nodded to the doorway.

"Now go back to the alliance, or to Farsalt. Ask them all about the Force and see what you can learn from them. And I will do the same, using the Empire's resources. Only by working together can we learn what we need to make ourselves strong, and safe."

"I will not spy for you."

"This is not about sides, sister. It is about survival. It is about blood. By sharing what we know, we can both become great. And free." Neerada wheezed and tapped her comm. "I will contact you when I have more definite plans. Now go, before more imperial troops arrive."

Ella nodded down at her sister and without another word ran.

She found Lance propped up against the wall, with Salpantor standing over him. Cor stood unsteadily a few yards away, her left wing limp, her breathing rattling through her nose above her beak. Chip stood guard, with a blaster held in a tight grip.

"How did you get up here?" Ella said, skidding to a halt.

"You try stopping a wookie when his best friend calls me to tell me he's been shot," the cyborg explained. "That broken maintenance droid is even more broken now."

"Ella . . ." Lance murmured. "I'm so glad to see you. What happened?"

"I killed Mahon, Lance," she said. "I didn't want to do it but I don't think I had a choice."

Salpantor hefted Lance up onto his back and looped a twisted sheet about him, tying it tightly across his front. It gave the injured man support on the wookie's broad shoulders.

"So you bested him?" Lance said. "You defeated a trained Assayer?" There was a look of astonishment on his face that made her uncomfortable.

"Only with Neerada's help. She saved me at great cost to herself."

Sal stood and started making his way back to the hatchway, whilst Ella came behind, with Cor leaning on her arm for support.

"Mahon said I was a Savant, Lance. Have you ever heard of that?"

He nodded in answer, and his eyes seemed to darken.

Before Ella could ask any more, they reached the ladder and Sal swung himself onto the rungs without hesitation. Chip followed, and then Ella, with Cor coming last.

They descended in near silence, save a roar from Sal after Chip stepped onto one of the wookie's hands as he paused to tend to Lance.

"I'm not translating that, Sal," he muttered in a moment that broke the seriousness of their situation.

It was only when they were aboard the Nova, with Lance being secured on a bunk, that Ella followed up on her questions.

"Mahon said that savants of the Force would go mad," she said quietly. "I need to know. I need to know how to control all this."

Lance Dare stared at her for several seconds. Finally, he removed his necklace. The pendant was a beautifully crafted wooden tree with a yellow glass crystal at its centre.

"I've seen this before," Ella murmured. "In a dream, I think."

She remembered the vision she had had on the mono tram when her sister had touched her. The experience of the unknown man carrying a baby and talking to a child who walked at his side, telling her not to fall.

That was me, Ella recollected with certainty. And Neerada too.

Lance placed it in her hand. Sal, nearby, gave him an inquisitive growl.

"She needs it more than me, Sal," Lance said horsely. "It will allow you to find the help you need."

Sal growled angrily, but Lance just shook his head.

"No, Sal. I'm done with the war now." He nodded to Ella. "The ways of the Force aren't mine to perceive, but I believe we met for a purpose. I believe that purpose was for me to pass this on to you. When we're all safe, I'll heat up the glass in the centre of the necklace. Then I will take a drop of my blood and yours, and the creature inside the glass will recognise its new owner."

"It's alive?"

"Hold up the pendant to the light. In the glass at the centre. What can you see?"

Ella did so and squinted. As her eyes adjusted she saw what she thought was mould.

"Is it mould? Or fungi?"

"It's fungi," Lance confirmed. "If I heat it up enough so it's hot to the touch, the fungi become receptive. I add my blood to activate them, and then a drop of yours. After that, only you will be able to turn the pendant on. It will be locked to your touch. These pendants have been passed amongst those who worship the Force for thousands of years. They have helped to keep our knowledge safe."

Sal growled again and looked anxiously toward the cockpit.

"You're right my friend," Lance said. "We should get out of here. You will need to help him pilot princess. Go to the Jyn Erso and dock with them. I'm sure Lady Valois will want to speak to you."

He sat back in the bunk and sighed.

Ella turned to follow the wookie before looking back over her shoulder.

"Who will it lead me to?" she asked in a whisper.

"Just a man," Lance answered. "A man who can help you. An explorer who has studied the Force and the Jedi ways all his life - although he is not Force sensitive himself. But he's not easy to find. The Empire have been hunting him for years."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Lor San Tekka. He is the best and noblest man I have ever known. Now let's get out of here."

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