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Disclaimer: This story uses characters and situations created by George Lucas. No copyright
infringement is intended and no money is being made through this story, which was written solely
for the enjoyment of the author and (hopefully) the reader.
Invincible
Jedi Knights always seem powerful and invincible. But underneath, that's not always true. . .
Leia shivered in her thin robe, not because of any cold, but because she was afraid. She couldn't
have said what she was afraid of, but something didn't feel right. Beside her, Han grunted and
rolled over. She reached out with tiny probes of thought, feeling for her children. They were all
right. She wished Luke were here, instead of off at his Academy. As she rested her chin on her
knees thoughtfully, her gaze glanced over the open window. She stopped. A figure was
approaching the balcony doors. How had someone gotten onto the balcony without her knowing
about it? She turned to wake Han, then changed her mind and just watched the figure. It knelt in a
corner and buried its face in its hands, and its shoulders began to shake silently. Leia crept to the
door and opened it, slipping out onto the balcony. The figure looked up, startled. Inadvertently, it
ducked into the light, and Leia recognized Luke's brightest student and Han's friend, Kyp Durron.
"Kyp!" she cried, her voice loud in the silence. "What are you doing here? Why did you sheild
yourself? I couldn't feel your presence at all! What's wrong?" She dropped to her knees beside
him and rested her hand on his shoulder.
"The. . .Academy," Kyp hicupped. "It got attacked by terrorists, but. . .I got away. . .I didn't
know where to go, so I came here, but. . .the guards wouldn't let me in the front door, so I. .
.climbed. . ."
"You could have been hurt! If you'd fallen. . ." she helped Kyp to his feet. "Come inside. It's
freezing out here." They went inside. Han was waking up.
"Leia? What the. . .Kyp!" he exclaimed, and went to welcome his friend with a hug. Kyp clung to
Han, and he glanced down. "What's wrong?"
While Kyp related the story to Han, Leia went to the companel and keyed in the code that
connected her to Luke directly. After a few minutes, the display read:
*code unknown*
She tried the code for the Academy's general computer. Same result. She tried codes for a few
ships that might be on Yavin. No reply.
When Leia got back into the bedroom, Han and Kyp were gone. She found them in the kitchen,
having stim-tea. Kyp was crying again, softly, his head down on the table. Han stood over him, a
look of concern on his face. Leia went to Kyp and touched his arm. He glanced up at her.
"Kyp," she said sofly. "I know you're upset. But I need to know how bad the attack was so we
can try to save the others."
Kyp calmed himself down using a jedi technique. "It was awful," he groaned, drawing a breath.
"Thousands of explosions all at once, and then the terrorists were running around with vibroblades.
The temples are ruined. . ." he shuddered, and Han rubbed his shoulders. "Everything is ruined," he
continued. "I don't know if anyone else is alive. . ."
"Luke is," Leia said. "I'd know if Luke died. I'd know."
"You would," Kyp agreed.
"How'd you get away?" Han asked.
"I almost didn't. When the temple exploded, I was thrown outside. I almost didn't catch myself.
Just by luck, I landed near the Jade' s Fire, so I went for help."
Leia was visibly jolted. "The Jade's Fire! What's Mara Jade doing on Yavin Four?"
Kyp shrugged. "Beats me. Training, most likely."
Leia looked at Han. "We have to go to Yavin."
* * *
They left the Jade's Fire on Coruscant and took the Falcon, because Kyp didn't want to fly alone
and Han didn't want to leave him alone. Leia did most of the piloting while Kyp slept and Han
stayed with him, which gave her time to think. And worry.
She was dozing in the chair when the fireworks in her mind started. They exploded throughout her
brain, and she felt a horrible ripping sensation. She heard someone scream, and was dimly aware
that it was herself. Then she felt Han's arms around her, supporting her. She heard him calling her
name, but she couldn't answer. And then it was over. She went limp in his arms, sobbing, and he
helped her to a seat.
"Leia? What's going on? Are you okay?" he asked, and Leia saw the fear and concern in his eyes.
"It's not me, it's Luke," she whispered. "He's alive, though, I'd know if he died!"
"Yeah," Han said, "only, how do you know? Has he died before or something?"
His feeble joke failed to lighten the mood. "You go make sure Kyp's all right," she said, pushing
him gently towards the back of the ship. "I'm fine"
Kyp wasn't all right. He was awake again, and more upset than before because he'd felt a Force
tremor on entering the Yavin system. "Why are you so upset?" Han asked. "Did something happen
that you aren't telling me about?"
Kyp sighed, and Han took his hand. "The terrorists. . .the terrorists were dark jedi."
"Dark jedi!" Han felt a chill run down his spine. "Where did they come from?"
Kyp started to cry again. "They were trainees," he sobbed. "This is too dangerous, Han, I don't
want to do this anymore. I want to quit."
Han hugged his friend. "Do whatever you want, Kyp. If you don't want to become a jedi anymore,
we can get you a piloting job on Coruscant. You're a great pilot."
Kyp was barely even listening to Han. "They were trainees, like me. And they were tempted, and
corrupted. . ."
"Easy, Kyp. We're landing soon. You can help find the others."
* * *
Leia drew a sharp breath as she stepped off the Falcon.
Kyp hadn't been exaggerating. The Academy was ruined. It was hard to imagine anyone surviving
this, but she felt a few of the trainees still alive. She reached out to touch Luke for reasurance, and
found him inside what was left of the great temple. She felt his fear, so strong it drowned out
everything else. "Han!" she called.
Han and Kyp came down the ramp. "Yeah?" Han replied.
"If you find anyone injured, get them onto the ship. I'll be back." She took off towards the temple
before he had time to object.
"Leia!" he called after her. "Don't go in there!"
She ignored him and dropped to her knees to crawl under the huge stone that had fallen over the
doorway. Small rocks pelted her as she picked her way around the larger ones. "Luke!" she
called, reaching out again. He was much closer now, just around a corner. She pressed on in that
direction, trying to determine what could have caused the disturbance she'd felt on the Falcon. She
reached. . .and then she knew. Luke had been in a fight. She couldn't tell if he was hurt or not.
Ducking under one last stone, she rounded a corner and saw him.
He was huddled in a corner, afraid and alone. He didn't even seem to see her at first. Leia touched
him again and got no response, as though he couldn't even sense her. Something awful must have
happened. She took his hand and he glanced up, shocked. "Leia!" he gasped. He glanced past
her. "Are they gone?"
"Who?" Leia asked, confused.
"The dark ones. They'll find you. Quick, get away from here!"
"They're gone, Luke," she said. "They can't hurt you, or anyone, anymore. Can you stand? Han's
here with the Falcon and we'll take you home."
Luke allowed Leia to help him stand and limp towards the exit. He had a tough time crawling out,
but finally he made it through the door and collapsed on the grass. Leia hurried to his side.
"Are you all right?" she asked, helping him up. "What happened to you, anyway?"
"I'll tell you later," he said.
"Tell me now," she insisted. "Something's not right around here." She made him sit down. He
sighed and began.
"After the explosions, I was running to my X-wing to try and escape when I ran into Mara."
"What's Mara doing here?" Leia asked him.
"I don't know. Anyway, Mara had her lightsaber-my lightsaber-and she started attacking.
Something was helping her, though. I saw it glowing. It was a presence, strong with the dark side.
It was controlling Mara's actions, as though it had taken over her body. It was the same with all
the others."
"Mara attacked you?" Leia gasped. "Are you all right?"
Luke nodded. "Just a little beat up."
"You're scared," Leia observed.
He was shaking. "I don't think this is safe. The dark presence could just as easily take us all over,
and then we might destroy the galaxy!"
Leia held him, rocking him as if he were a child.
* * *
Han figured he'd found all the wounded trainees. They were loaded onto the Falcon, but they
needed immediate medical attention. He sat with Kyp on the ramp, waiting impatiently for Leia and
- hopefully - Luke to return.
Suddenly, Han felt Kyp go stiff next to him. He glanced down and saw his friend staring at
something off in the distance. Silently, almost to himself, he muttered, "They're coming."
"Luke and Leia? They're coming?" Han asked.
"No! No!" Kyp said. "The dark ones."
* * *
Leia and Luke appeared at the same time as a group of ragged looking people led by Mara Jade.
Luke gasped and practically dragged Leia to the Falcon. "Get inside!" he yelled, pushing her
towards the hatch. She ducked in, pulling Han and Kyp with her, but Kyp broke away and ran to
Luke. Together they faced the group. . .the dark jedi. Behind the dark ones, Leia saw a black
shadow hovering about ten feet off the ground. The shadow didn't move, the people did it all. They
shot energy waves, which looked quite a bit like stun blasts, at Kyp and Luke.
Luke ducked, but the energy wave hit him and he gasped, trying not to cry out with pain as it lifted
him and spun him around. As it dropped him, he struggled to land on his feet. Kyp caught him as
he fell and levitated him, lowering him slowly to the ground. When he'd gotten his balance, he
reached for his lightsaber, then remembered. Mara had it! He saw Kyp's hand move to his own
lightsaber, but another of his students- turned-enemies, Xerry Qing, pulled it away, caught it, and
tossed it into the stream.
They were cornered.
As the darkness closed on them. Luke made a few spots of light, trying to put a hole in it. He
knew it wasn't enough, but he was too afraid to make very much.
Kyp reached out his hand to Luke, and Luke reached back. As their hands touched, their fear
evaporated like smoke. As one, they raised their clasped hands up towards the sky, drawing
power from the Force. Luke's tiny lights grew and grew, until they surrounded the two jedi. Luke
felt power, his own as well as Kyp's, flowing through him, and he closed his eyes, trying to reach
farther.
Han watched, stunned. What were they doing?
Something very strange was happening. Luke and Kyp were standing, hands together, glowing
blue, surrounded by light. The "dark ones" laid as if dead on the ground, and the shadow behind
them had vanished. Had the light erased the darkness?
He glanced at Leia. Her eyes were wide. She stared as the "dark ones" got up. Han watched
them, too. They looked confused, as though they'd just been awakened from a long nap.
The light around Luke and Kyp went bright white, then erupted and went dark. The two jedi
crumpled to the ground.
They didn't move.
* * *
Hours later, Luke Skywalker and Kyp Durron reclined against pillows on bunks in the Millenium
Falcon, exhausted but happy, smiling at each other across the space between them. Leia thought
they'd have been asleep. After all, she and Han had had to carry them onto the ship, and the battle
had taken a lot out of each of them. With the ship safely in hyperspace, she and Han had come to
check on them and found them laughing and talking. It was that that let her know they'd be all right.
She sat down on Luke's bunk and hugged him happily. "Are you still scared?" she whispered.
He smiled and nodded. "But it'll be okay. It's worth the risk"
And then Kyp was in their minds, speaking to them through the force. he said.
She smiled at them both. "You're right," she said aloud. "I think everything will be all right now."