He was tied to a chair, his hands clasped behind his back, a gag in his mouth.  He wasn’t alone in the room, as two PLA soldiers stood guard over him.  Besides them, though, the room was bare.  No computers, nothing decorating the walls.  It was a very small room, with cracked concrete walls.  Very cold..   

     The two PLA soldiers stood at the door, facing Renn, guns leveled at his chest.  They didn’t seem to care that his hands were already tied down, and he couldn’t move.  They didn’t seem to want to take any chances with the Jedi.  Even an apprentice. 

     Renn had no idea how long he had been here, nor did he even know why he was here yet.  All he remembered was being hit with the stun bolt, and waking up here.  He had seen nothing but this room, and no one save for the two guards. 

     He couldn’t imagine why he was still alive.  He couldn’t see any need for them to keep him alive.  Especially since they had killed his Master.  Interrogation, possibly?  He didn’t like the thought of that.  But to what end would they interrogate him for?  He didn’t know any Republic secrets.  Information on the Jedi, possibly.  But even then, he wasn’t knowledgeable about high-level secrets. 

     One likely reason was just to send a message to the Republic.  It was possible that the PLA didn’t want peace, and they desired only to continue their conflict with the Royal Family.  Killing the Jedi emissaries sent by the Republic would certainly send that message.  It wasn’t the smartest of plans, though, as so far the Republic had stayed neutral in the conflict.  Assassinating ambassadors would certainly bring in the Republic on the side of the Royal Family.

     Why was he here, then?

     In between concern about his current predicament, he mourned the loss of his Master.  Kren Doneeta had been a great man.  The descendent of Tott Doneeta, an ancient Jedi who fought in the Sith War 4,000 years ago, Kren had every bit as honor as his ancestor.  He was very strong, in mind, body and Force.  He had saved Renn’s life more than once.  He had taken him from obscurity and made him a Jedi.  Renn owed him everything.  He had repaid his Master’s kindness by abandoning him to death.  If the PLA killed him, it would only be what he deserved.

     His thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door.

     Into the room strode a man who oozed authority.  He was tall and well built, his dark hair cut short in typical military fashion.  He wore the uniform of the PLA, though slightly altered.  He wasn’t even a high-ranking General.

     This man was no normal soldier

     This man was in charge.

     This man was the leader.

     This was Elim.

     And judging by the harsh, battle-hardened expression on his face, this was not a man to mess with.  He had a scar running from the top of the left side of his forehead down all the way to his cheek.  His eyes were a fierce shade of blue.  In fact, if you took away the scar, he looked like a cleaned up version of his father, Gresko.  He looked at each of the guards in turn. 

     “Leave us,” he said, his voice deep and stern.  The guards complied immediately and left the room.  He stood in front of Renn and looked up him and down, as if evaluating and examining him.  It was a very weird feeling.  He wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.  Elim looked him in the eye.  “You know who I am?”

     Renn couldn’t talk, but he nodded his head.

     “I’m going to take the gag out.  You will not speak unless spoken to.” 

     Elim didn’t leave any room for argument.  It was a command, not a suggestion.  Renn wasn’t inclined to defy this man.  Elim took the gag off and tossed it to the floor. 

     “How is it you know me?”

     Renn hesitated before answering, but finally said, “I’ve heard your name twice before.”

     “Where?”

     “A year and a half ago, on Coruscant, from a man named Teton.  He tried to kidnap me.”

     “And you killed him?”  Elim’s deep, dangerous voice resonated through the room, and Renn was a bit alarmed.  He didn‘t regret his choice.  He wouldn‘t back down or apologize for it. 

     Renn nodded.  “He left me no choice.”

     “I understand,” Elim said.  “And the other time?”

     “My father mentioned it.  His dying word.”

     “And you killed him, too?”

     “He left me no choice, either.”

     Elim let out a small grin.  “You have much blood on your hands for one so young.”

     Renn had nothing to say to this.  It was true, of course.  He had killed Gresko and Teton himself, in cold blood.  As well, Master Doneeta’s death was on his head as well.  He had the ominous feeling that he would have much more blood on his hands by the time his life was finished.

     “You’re confused, aren’t you?” Elim asked.  “You have no idea why you’re here.  You have no idea why those things happened to you in the past.  I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised, and disappointed.  I’d have thought you, a Jedi, would have figured things out by now.”

     Reno stared blankly at him. 

     Elim didn’t appreciate the look.

     “Jeez, are you helpless or what,” he grumbled under his breath.  He sighed.  “What do you know of the PLA, boy?”

     Normally he wouldn’t comply so readily with someone interrogating (or at least questioning) him, but there was something about Elim that just made him answer.  He wasn’t Force-strong.  Renn could feel that if he was.  And it wasn’t just the dangerous aura he emitted, either.  It wasn’t that.  It was...something else.  

     “You’re a military group that started a war against the Royal Family about twenty years ago.  You attack civilian outposts and spare no one.  You’re terrorists.  And you’re losing your war, too.  Most predictions are that if you don’t sign a treaty, you’ll all be dead by the end of the year.”

     There was a long pause before Elim spoke again.  When he did, his voice was low and menacing.  “So in other words, you know nothing.”

     “I know enough,” Renn grunted back.

     “You know nothing, boy,” Elim shot back quickly, letting a bit of hostility creep into his voice.  He paced back and forth in front of Renn for a few seconds, staring at the ground as he did so.  It looked as if he was collecting his thoughts. 

     “We did not start the war against the Royal Family,” he finally said.  “They did.  You don’t know what it was like back then.  The last Emperor, a man named Siddig, was a good man.  He was a strong ruler, but not overly so.  However...elements inside the government did not care for him too much.  A cabal consisting of his advisors and generals plotted against him and he was assassinated.  He was very fond of playing darts, you see.  The cabal apparently poisoned one of the darts and had it “accidentally” hit him in a game.  Having no successors of his own, the throne went to his nephew, our current “Emperor”, Colm.  He is not as benevolent as his uncle was.  Colm was a part of the coup, and fit well into the cabal’s plans. 

     “Slowly and subtly, the Royal Family begin to control things more and more.  There were more police on the streets, and they were taking far more liberties than they were allowed.  If they broke a law or overstepped their boundaries, then soon the law was changed so they could do it again at will.  Any voices that rang up against the Family were silenced.  The media and papers became nothing more than propaganda wings for the Family.  Thought suppression was more or less in effect.  There was no freedom for anyone.  It was no way to live.

     “My wife and I were fresh out of college at the time.  We had just had our minds opened up to what the real world was like.  We did not like where our leaders were taking our society.  We grouped together with others who thought like we did and spoke out peacefully against Emperor Colm.  They responded to our peaceful protests and speeches with violence.  In the end, they forced us to fight back.  I, along with some former members of the Royal Militia, formed the People’s Liberation Army.  Our goal was to bring freedom back to the people of Velku.    

     “It started with raids on military only targets.  We did not target civilians.  Ever.  Our quarrel was with the government, not its populace.  They were just as oppressed as us, only they were too terrified to do anything about it.  We had hoped that eventually they would side with us.  Our guerrilla strikes were quick and successful.  The Royal Family soon grew to realize that we were a threat to be reckoned with, and to be feared.  They, however, were not looking for a head-on confrontation.  They had engaged us several times head-on, and lost each time.  They weren’t looking for a way to destroy us at the time, only demoralize us.  To that end, they begin the rapid extermination of known PLA member’s families. 

     “I feared for my family’s life.  My wife and baby boy did not live on the bases, but instead in hidden bunkers and shelters.  The Royal Family, though, found most of these shelters.  Entire families were exterminated.  Wives, brothers, sisters...children.  Babies.  It made no difference to them.  They wanted to demoralize us.  They only enraged us.  I wasn’t stupid, though.  My wife and son had been lucky and escaped slaughter.  I wasn’t going to take chances on them being lucky again.

     “I had my family relocate to a world far away from the conflict, where they could never be found.  Just to be sure that they were safe, though, I sent my brother along with them.  He was trained in the Royal Militia, but left after he saw how things were getting.  I knew they would be safe with him, while I fought for their freedom.  I was wrong.

     “My brother was a solder.  He wanted to fight.  He didn’t want to baby sit.  Over the years, he began to grow very resentful, both towards me, and my family.  He blamed them for keeping him away from the battle, and me for sending him there.  One day, two years ago, he decided that he’d had enough.  He contacted the Royal Family and made an arrangement with them.  He would deliver them the wife and son of the leader of the PLA, and in return, he could have amnesty for any crimes committed against them, and a spot back in the Royal Militia.  That, however, was not how it went down.  I think you know what happened next.”

     Elim stopped and looked at Renn for the first time in what seemed like forever.  He saw the comprehension dawning on Renn’s face.  It was all falling into place.  He was suddenly understanding things.  The anger, the hostility, the fights.....it all made sense.

     Elim was right.  He did know.  He knew exactly what had happened.

     “I killed him,” Renn said.  “Your brother.  The man I thought was my father.  He had just killed my mother.  I saw an opening and stabbed him in the back with his own knife.”

     “As you said, he left you no choice,” Elim said.  He didn’t sound angry.  He didn’t even sound upset.  He didn’t sound anything.  “Don’t feel bad.  You did the right thing.  Death is the only punishment for betrayal.  Had you not killed him, I would’ve.  Either way, our family got its vengeance.”

     Our family...

     “I was in a rather bad spot after that.  My wife and brother were dead, and my only son was in the hands of the Jedi.  I didn’t know which one shocked me more...their deaths, his betrayal, or the fact that my son was a Jedi.  With my wife and brother dead, I naturally wanted my son back.  But I knew that the Jedi weren’t going to give him up.  Once they have someone, they don’t let go.”

     “You had Teton come to Coruscant to try and kidnap me.”

     Elim nodded.  “I’m glad to see that things are starting to click for you.  I was afraid for a moment there that you were just horribly obtuse.”  Elim paused.  “For the first time in a while, I was scared.  Although you were pretty safe inside your Jedi Temple, the Royal Family now knew that you were alive, and on Coruscant.  I feared they were going to make some kind of attempt on your life, to send a message to me.  It wasn’t enough for me to just foil some assassination plot either, though, because they could always send more.  I needed to get you back to Velku, which meant that I had to take you away from the Jedi.  In order to keep our involvement in it minimal, Teton was supposed to hire someone else to kidnap you, and that person would deliver you to Teton, and he would take you back to us.  Teton’s choice in a kidnapper, though, left something to be desired.”

     “I took care of him easily.”

     Elim nodded, a bit of pride creeping onto his face.  “Yes, you did.  It made me proud when I heard about it later, though a bit angry, since I didn’t have you.”  His voice changed as he spoke next, this time sounding a bit sad.  “Teton’s death did not make me happy, though.  I was glad to know that you could take care of yourself against dangerous adversaries, but I still didn’t have you.  And Teton was a good friend.  He helped start the PLA.

     “We had to lay low after that.  We feared Teton would be identified by the Jedi and linked to us.  Luckily, he wasn’t.  We planned on eventually creating another plan to acquire you, but—“         

     “The Royal Family beat you to it,” Reno finished.  Elim nodded, saying nothing.  “They were the ones who requested Master Doneeta and I.  They wanted us here—me here—to get to you.  The Royal Family was going to execute me to send a message to you.”

     “Not quite,” Elim said.  “They couldn’t execute a Jedi and get away with it.  They would have heat with the Republic and the Jedi Order.  They couldn’t survive that.  Their main goal was to use your presence at the peace talks to draw me out and capture me.  That‘s why we had to get to you before the talks started.  The Royal Family didn‘t know that we knew you would be there.  They asked secretly for the Jedi to be mediators.  They intended for your presence to come as a shock to me, something that would be important enough to draw me out into the open.  They underestimated our intelligence networks.”

     A thought occurred to him.

     “Did he have to die simply because you wanted me?”

     Elim narrowed his eyes.  He seemed confused.  “Who?”

     “My Master.”

     “Ha!”  The bark of laughter that came form Elim surprised Renn, as it was the first time he had showed any emotion other than angry and more angry.  Even in his laughter, though, he seemed angry.  “Your Master isn’t dead, boy.  He tore through a bunch of my soldiers before the Royal Militia showed up with some reserves.  I lost a lot of men trying to get you out of there today.  It worked out for everyone, though.  Your Master is alive, the Royal Family still have their Jedi on hand for the talks to make them look like they really want peace, and I...I finally have my son back.”  

     Renn was so relieved that it took all of his energy not to show it.  Master Doneeta was still alive.  At least it was one less death on his conscience.  He could sleep a little bit better knowing that.  He was still going to have to face his Master again, though.  He didn’t know what would happen then.  He abandoned his Master to death, and although he survived, that doesn’t take away from what Renn did.  

     Renn looked up at his father and stared into his cold, blue eyes.  All those people had died, just so Elim could see Renn again.  Teton, all the PLA soldiers...all dead, because a father who Renn had never known had wanted to see him again.  “Was I worth all the dead?”

     Elim looked him over.  “That remains to be seen.”

     “What are you talking abo—“

     “I believe you can be a valuable asset to us, Renn.  I really do.”

     “I won’t fight in your war,” Renn stated adamantly.

     “It’s your war, too!” Elim erupted, leaning in so close that their faces were mere inches apart.  “I was fighting this war for you, boy!  For your mother.  So we could live our lives in an oppression-free society, where we could voice our minds and opinions.  This is your war, too.  It has always been your war, and it always will be.”

     Renn shook his head determinedly.  “It means nothing to me.  And neither do you.  You were less of a father to me than your brother was, and he meant nothing to me either.  You might as well either let me go or kill me now, because I won’t fight for you.  No matter what.”

     Elim again looked him up and down, appraising him.  The look on his face was not one of joy.  He didn’t look angry, though, or upset.  He looked like he was getting the kind of reaction he expected to get.  He looked like, despite Renn’s words, he was still in control.  He was still in control, too.  They both knew it.

     “I didn’t expect you to warm up to me, boy.  I didn’t expect you to like me.  I did expect you to understand, though.  To show at least a little bit of appreciation.  Especially since you’re a Jedi, someone who fights for peace and freedom and the future.  I’ve been fighting a war for you for the last decade.  For your peace.  For your freedom.  For your future.  The least you could’ve done is be a little grateful.”

     Renn thought back to the briefing he had gotten on the PLA and some of their missions in the last year.  He tried to remember a specific one.

     “Three months ago,” he started, trying to remember the case profile, “Dhukani Province.  The PLA attacked an outpost.  A civilian outpost.  They didn’t have a single weapon in the entire town.  Everyone was killed.  Men, women, children.  All slaughtered.  By the time you were done, one hundred eighty-four people lay dead.  All of them innocent.”

     “There are no innocents in war,” Elim interrupted.

     “They weren’t a part of your war.”

     “Everyone is a part of this war!”

     “So much for the vaunted ethics of the PLA,” Renn said.  “You’re terrorists, and you’ll never be anything more than that.”

     “We are what the Royal Family made us.  If we’re terrorists today, it’s only because that’s what they forced us to become!  That’s what they turned us into!  That’s what we had to change ourselves into so we could survive!  We wanted peace.  They wanted death.  We gave them what they wanted.  But we weren’t the ones who started killing innocent people!”

     “You’re just the ones who continued doing it?”         

     “Considering the blood on your own hands, boy, I don’t think you’re in any position to judge.  If you had grown up here, with me, do you think you would be any different than us?  Do you think you could grow up in this war and somehow have clean hands?  Everyone’s hands are dirty in war.  Everyone is guilty.  There are no innocents.”

     “I won’t fight for you,” Renn repeated.

     “I don’t need you to fight for me,” Elim said.  “I just need you to kill for me.”

     “I just told you that I wasn’t going to fight for—“

     "And I told you that I have no intentions of sending you into battle.  The peace talks are still scheduled for tomorrow.  Emperor Colm will be in attendance.  I know they have some kind of trap set up for me, but it doesn’t matter.  We’ll have a trap of our own set up."

     Renn didn’t think he really wanted to ask this.  “What trap?”

     Elim grinned slightly.  “You, boy.  You.”

     Renn shook his head.  “I’m not going to kill for you.”

     “I’m afraid you won’t have any choice in the matter.”  Elim knocked twice on the door, and it promptly opened.  In walked two men with several objects in their arms.  One set up a small table in front of Renn; the other put a square, mechanical device on the table.  They both stayed in the room, though they took some steps backwards, so they stood behind Elim.

     “This device,” Elim started, “We picked up from the Royal Family.  They used it on a couple of our soldiers to turn them against us and sell us out.  We haven’t mastered the technology—we can’t make one ourselves—but we do know how to use it.  We don’t think that they created it themselves.  It seems too alien.  Probably bought it off some traders.  It’s basically a short-term mind control device.  The effects don’t last long.  About a day, that’s all.  But it’s more than enough for our needs.”

     Renn was scared.  He was strong in the Force, but he wasn’t sure that he could withstand this mind control device, at least not knowing the machine’s capabilities.  He was afraid that he was going to fall prey to it.  He was afraid he was going to betray his Master.  He was afraid.

     “I won’t betray my Master,” he stated strongly, hoping his conviction would convince them. 

     It didn’t.

     Elim just laughed softly.

     “Oh, I love it when they say that.”  He looked at the two technicians.  “Hook him up.  We have to do this quickly.”

     As the technicians began hooking him up to the mind control machine, Elim turned to leave.  However, when he got to the door, he stopped.  He didn’t look back at Renn as he spoke.

     “By the way...it’s good to have you home, son.”

     “So let me get this straight,” Thunder said, a look of slight confusion on her face.  “Your father and mother started a rebellion against the lawful government of their planet because they didn‘t like the rules.  Then, fearing violent rebuttal, your father sent you and your mother off planet and had his brother pretend to be your father.  But your father...er, uncle...grew tired of babysitting you—and frankly, who wouldn’t—so he tried to kidnap you guys and bring you back to the planet.  But he messed up and then you killed your father-uncle and became a Jedi.  And then your dad sent his lackey to hire a goon to kidnap you, but you killed him, too.  And then the Royal Family, with whom your father started a war against, created a secret plot to get you to the planet to lure your dad out so he could be executed, is that right?”

     Reno thought about it all for a second.  She had spoke so rapidly that, even knowing his history, it was hard to keep track.  Nevertheless, once he caught up to what she said, he nodded.

      “Whew...” she said quietly, catching her breath, “And I thought my family was screwed up.”

     “Quiet, Thunder,” Jace admonished, not bothering to look at her.  He was focused on Reno and only Reno.  “Continue, Reno.”

     “What is there to continue?” he asked, his voice drained of emotion.  “I’ve told you the truth.  I’ve told you everything I know.  There are no secrets left to find.  Nothing left to tell.”

     Jace wouldn’t hear it.

     “That isn’t true, Reno.  We both know that.  Your story doesn’t end with you finding out about your past on Velku.  It starts there.  There is much left to tell.”

     “What if I don’t want to tell?”

     Jace sighed.  “We’re not back here again, are we?”

     “I told you,” Thunder added, from her spot in the corner of the cave.  “Every time he takes a step forward, he takes a giant leap backwards.”

     “Reno,” Jace continued, “Don’t fight us.  Not now.  You’ve come so far.”

     “Have I?”

     “Yes, you have,” he stated.  “And you only need go a little bit further.   You’re almost there, Reno, almost there.”

     He looked up at Jace.  “Almost where?”

     “Where else?” Jace asked.  “To the truth.”

     Reno was confused.  “I told you the truth.”

     “You’ve told me parts of a truth, yes.  But not the truth.  You see...everything we’ve done here, all the truths we’ve been finding out about you, they connect to form one big truth.  Without all the little truths in place, you can’t find out the big truth.  The truth we are looking for is like a puzzle, Reno.  In order to find it, we need to place all the little truths in place.  You have connected some very important pieces here, Reno, but you still don’t have the big picture.”

     “But I assume you do?”

     Jace gave a thin-lipped smile.  “I wouldn’t be much of a guide if I didn’t know what was at the end of the path.”

     “Is that what you are?” Reno asked.  “A guide?”

     “Don’t change the subject Reno,” Jace admonished.  “The question of the day isn’t what I am, but what you are.”

     Reno’s mind quickly flashed back to what seemed like an eternity ago.  He remembered a line that was said...a very similar line.  Zarin had said it during their first session

     “The real question isn’t who you are, the question is what you are.”

     Reno smiled and responded to Jace the same way he had responded to Zarin.  “Then what am I?”

     Jace didn’t hesitate in his answer.  “One step closer to finding the truth than you were when you arrived here, Reno.  You do want to find the truth, don‘t you?”

     Unlike the ghost of his dead apprentice, Reno did hesitate in his answer.  “...Yes,” he finally said.

     “Then let us stop getting off topic here,” Jace admonished, “and get back to the matter at hand.”

     Reno nodded.

     “Return to Velku, Reno.  You had been captured by the PLA and learned that its leader, Elim Hado, was your father.  He planned to use an alien mind control device to reprogram your mind.  To what end?”

     “He wanted to use me against the Royal Family at the peace talks.”

     “How?”

     “They planned a strike on the Palace during the talks.  They had been building it up for months.  My first job was to help sneak the delegation into the palace with their weapons still on them.  I used the Force to persuade the Palace guards to not check for weapons.  Once inside, the delegation was to stall for time while the attack was being set up.  My job from then on out was to keep Master Doneeta off guard.  Elim thought that if Doneeta was busy with me, the attack would go off easier.”

     “Did it?”

     Reno shook his head.  “No.  They underestimated Doneeta.  My presence with the delegation—as a guard, and not a prisoner—surprised him, but he focused on the task at hand.  However, I could feel his thoughts the entire time.  He was enormously grateful that I was well, though I could tell that he never thought I was dead.  He was curious, though.  He wanted to grab me and take me away.  He wanted to get me out of there and find out what had happened.  More than anything, he just wanted me by his side again.  But like a good Jedi, he held his ground and did his job, which is help settle the peace negotiations.”

     “But the peace talks failed,” Jace said. 

     “There never really was any talk of peace, at least not sincerely,” Reno said.  “The Royal Family only used it as a lure to draw Elim out, and the PLA only used it as a reason to get inside the castle.  They were both only waiting for the right time to strike at the other.”

     “Who struck first?”

     Reno was silent. 

     “Who struck first?” Jace repeated.

     He didn’t want to answer.

     “Reno, who struck the first blow?”

     Reno hesitated again.  He didn‘t want to answer.  He didn‘t want to admit it.  Even under mind control, even knowing it wasn‘t his fault, that he wasn‘t in control, he didn‘t want to admit it.  But it was a part of his past.  Like it or not, it was.  It was one of his truth‘s.  And if he were to ever see “the big picture” as Jace said, he would have to face that truth.

     “...I did.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     “This is pointless!” Emperor Colm yelled, slamming his fists on the table.  Colm was a large man, at least in the belly.  His receding hair was short and curly.  He had no facial hair, though with a face as fat as his, it would’ve looked rather silly on him.  He was the exact polar opposite of the man who stood in front of Renn...his father, Elim.  Elim was a military man.  Tall, muscular, short cropped hair...opposite in every way from Colm.  Fitting that the two leaders of the war should physically be so opposite, when the reason for their fighting—their views on politics—were just as opposite,

     “Then I guess we finally agree on something!” Elim shot back.

     They were inside of the Palace, in a chamber that seemed to be designed for meetings and such, though at the moment there was only one table in the room.  Colm sat at one end, Elim the other, with Doneeta in the middle.  Both of them had their entourages with them.  Colm was flanked by two of his Royal Guards, while Elim had Renn and one of his soldiers.  Colm also had some others with him, people who he said were advisors.  They weren’t, though.  It was pretty obvious.  They were soldiers.  That was okay, though, as the people who Elim had brought to the Palace as “advisors” were also soldiers.  Everyone in the room was armed, and well armed, too.  Some peace talks.

     “Gentleman, please,” Kren Doneeta interrupted, “Fighting will get you nowhere.  It hasn’t gotten you anywhere during the entire war, and it won’t get you anything here.  You need to both calm down and speak rationally.”

     “I will listen to rationality,” Colm spat out, “When he learns to speak it.”

     “And I will speak rationally when I have someone with whom to speak rationally to!”

     “You insolent little peasant....”

     “...power hungry tyrant!”

     Renn blacked both of them out.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to hear them argue.  He much wanted to hear his father throw insults at the fat Emperor Colm.  However, he had another conversation to listen to.  They had given him a small one way radio device and planted it inside his ear.  Through the radio, he was kept abroad of the PLA’s advancement on the Palace.  They would be making their first strike soon.  Very soon.

     He was not happy when he thought of his other assignment.  His mere presence was supposed to keep Doneeta off balance, but the Jedi Master seemed as in control as ever.  He didn’t understand why.  He only understood that he was failing in his mission.  He would have to do something about that.

     “I will have no more of this!” Colm suddenly burst out, while standing up and kicking his chair away.  “I will not talk peace with this...this...terrorist!”

     “Oh, cut the crap, Colm,” Elim said calmly.  “You and I both know that you didn’t come here to talk peace.”

     In his ear, Renn heard “Control, this is Alpha Lead, requesting permission to start primary attack run.”

     Colm glared at him.  “What are you talking about?”

     “Alpha Lead, this is Control.  You are a go.  Repeat.  Alpha Lead, this is Control.  You are a go.”

     “It was really quite brilliant, Colm,” Elim said.  “Luring my son here to Velku in order to draw me out in the open.  It was a very good plan, Colm.  Very good.  But not good enough.”

     To Renn‘s surprise, he didn‘t try to deny it.  “It got you here, didn’t it?”

     Suddenly, the door to the room burst open and a squad of Royal soldiers came pouring through, weapon’s already drawn, though they didn’t fire yet.  They took up a position by the door and pointed their guns at Elim’s group.  Likewise, Elim’s group of “advisors” pulled weapons out of their robes and pointed them at Colm’s people.  Some peace talks...

     “Control, this is Alpha Lead, the perimeter is clear, repeat, the perimeter is clear.  Beginning run on Palace turrets.”

     “Yes, it did...it did at that,” he said slowly, looking in turn from the attack squad to the Emperor.  Then the room started to shake slightly.  Not the kind of shaking from a ground quake, though.  This was different.  The kind of shaking made from overhead ships passing by, and explosions.  It became evidently clear to Colm immediately.  “But how do you know this isn’t exactly where I wanted to be all along?”

     Renn sensed it immediately.  His Master had sat there quietly, listening to the other ramble on, but he hadn’t been sitting there idly.  He had been preparing himself.  He was readying himself for the conflict that he felt coming, that he knew couldn’t be avoided.

     Renn also sensed immediately that Master Doneeta was going to protect the Emperor, although he probably knew that both had set this up, and that both parties had fell victim to the other’s trap.  Renn was sure that Doneeta was protecting the Emperor only because he knew that the only way to get his Padawan back was to stop Elim.

     None of the people in Elim’s group could stop Doneeta.  The Jedi Master could single handedly stop this assault before it ever even got started.  But only if he was free to attack them.  Only if he was free to stop them.  Renn was going to have to make sure that he wasn’t free to do that.   

     With a quick motion he reached for the saber at his belt, grabbed the hilt, ignited the brilliant blue blade, and swung it at his Master. 

     He hadn’t expected to kill Doneeta with the swing, as he knew his Master better than that.  The Twi’lek had his green blade up before Renn had even started his swing.  The saber’s clashed and echoed throughout the room.  It was as if the clashing of the saber’s was the ringing of the fight bell, as once that sound was heard, all hell broke loose.

     Elim and his people tipped over the table they had previously used to talk peace, and now used it as a barrier against incoming fire.  Colm, the coward, tried to make a break for the door.  His pudgy little legs didn’t take him far, though, as a blaster bolt from Elim’s blaster caught him in the back of the leg.  Colm fell hard to the ground and rolled into the corner, landing with a thud.  He was immediately surrounded by guards, who were trying their best to drag him over into safety.

     They weren’t Renn’s concern, though.  Only Doneeta was.  He swung mercilessly at his Master, trying to find in opening.  He wasn’t finding anything, though.  His Master was a very skilled duelist.  Renn was only a Padawan who hadn’t even finished his lightsaber training yet.  It was a very obvious mismatch.  He tried his best, though, to find some kind of hole with which to creep through.  He was failing, though.  Doneeta’s defense was too tight.  Even the sudden attack by his former pupil hadn’t phased or surprised him.  Perhaps he hadn’t been surprised?  Perhaps he had been expecting to be attacked and betrayed by Renn.  Perhaps he always knew this day would come.

     Either way, Renn was no match for Doneeta.  The truly sad thing was that Doneeta wasn’t even trying.  Not really, at least.  All he was doing was defending. Reacting to Renn’s acts.  He never attacked, only blocked and parried.  He wasn’t trying to kill Renn, only stop him.  Doneeta knew, as Renn did, that he was no match for the Jedi Master.

     As they continued their duel across the room, Renn spared a glance at the other battle.  The Royal Guards seemed to be losing, as they had the most dead.  Colm was still in the room, though all of the guards who had been trying to drag him away were now dead.  Colm now crawled towards the doorway, making his way there very slowly.  The ground next to him was littered with dead bodies.

     “Renn!”

     He turned back around as Doneeta yelled out his name.  He looked his Master in the eyes, but didn’t respond.

    “Renn, my boy...” he said softly.  They slowly circled each other, lightsabers drawn and at the ready position.  “I don’t know what they’ve done to you.  I don’t know what lies they’ve told you, what they’ve done to corrupt your mind...but you must listen to me.  Stop this.  Stop this now.  You aren’t thinking clearly.  They’ve done something to you...corrupted your thoughts, changed them!  This isn’t you, Renn.  You aren’t a traitor to the Jedi, you aren’t a murderer!”

     Renn disagreed, though.  Not just with the part about the PLA lying to him—of course that was false, as his father would never lie to him—but also about the last part.  Renn was a murderer.  He knew it as well as Doneeta did.  He had two deaths on his head already.  Two men’s blood already stained his hands.

     “Tell that to Gresko, Master,” he finally said.  “And to Teton.  But not to me.”

     He swung again, and Doneeta blocked with ease.

     “They are controlling you, Renn!  You can’t see it, but they are!  The Renn Hado I know would never do this!”

     “Perhaps you never knew the real Renn Hado!”

     He swung low, but Doneeta was way ahead of him and blocked, pushing Renn backwards.

     “No!” Doneeta yelled.  “I don’t believe that, and neither do you!  You are a Jedi, Renn, you are my Padawan!  And more than that...you’re like a son to me.  I know you, Renn, far better than you do.  And this isn’t you.”

     Two thud’s distracted Renn, as two of Elim’s soldier’s were shot down, their bodies colliding with the floor.  Those were the last of Elim’s troops.  Luckily for Elim, however, there was only one remaining Royal Solider...and Colm.  He just needed to keep Doneeta distracted a little bit longer.  Perhaps if he hit Doneeta where it would really hurt...

     “How dare you consider yourself a father to me,” Renn spat out.  “I have a father.  He is a glorious man.  A hero.  You are nothing next to him.”

     Still, Doneeta was not fazed.  Renn was starting to think that nothing could get through his defenses.

     “I know you don’t believe what you say, Renn,” he said.  “Perhaps you don’t even understand it, or can’t control it.  That man may be your father, Renn, but he doesn’t love you like I do.  When he sees you, he sees a weapon.  Something he can use to his advantage.  A tool.  He’s just using your powers.  Using you to distract me.

     “When I see you, though, I see a boy that I’ve spent the last few years with.  I see someone with whom I’ve formed a bond with.  I see someone that I have come to accept as a part of my life, as a part of my family.  Elim Hado might be your father, Renn, but he isn’t your family.  I am.”

     Thud. 

     The last of the Royal Guards went down. 

     There were only four people left alive in the room now.  Elim.  Colm.  Renn.  Doneeta. 

     With Colm still injured and on the ground, all his guards dead, and Doneeta busy with Renn, Elim jumped out from behind the table and quickly ran over to the fallen Emperor, blaster in hand, ready for the kill.  Renn was elated when he saw this, for he realized that he had succeeded.  He had kept Doneeta busy long enough for his father to accomplish their goal.  Emperor Colm was going to die.  This would be a day long remembered on Velku.

     Renn was about to rub it in Doneeta’s face when he was suddenly hit with a tremendous wave of energy.  He was thrown a few feet backwards and hit the stone wall hard, sliding down to the ground.  He instinctively huddled into a fetal position on the ground, his lightsaber deactivating once he let it slip from his grasp.  At first he wasn’t sure what had happened, but as he begin to collect his wits, it had become clear.  Doneeta had hit him with a Force Wave.  He had probably expected the blow against the wall to knock Renn out.  It hadn’t.

     Doneeta now stood on the other side of the room, in between Colm and Elim, with his back towards Renn.  His right hand was pointed at Elim, while his left was pointed at Colm.  His lightsaber was clipped back onto his belt.  His father had his blaster pointed at Colm, but he wasn’t firing.  Likewise, Colm had his blaster pointed at Elim but was not firing.  Doneeta must be using the Force forcing their finger’s still, keeping them from firing on each other.  That was why he had one hand pointed at each.  He wondered how long Doneeta could hold that up.  Not that it mattered, as this was the distraction that he needed.  Renn wasn’t going to be able to beat his Master by playing fair, he knew that now.  Trying to best Doneeta in a lightsaber duel had been pointless, futile and childish. 

     He needed help in this fight. 

     He needed an ally.

     He needed the Dark Side.

     Renn didn’t want to do it.  He really didn’t.  He had tasted the Dark Side before, and liked it.  He remembered how he had been admonished for such likes.  The Order had almost kicked him out before for giving into his anger.  They surely would, this time.  But who cares?  He didn’t need the Order anymore.  He didn’t need Doneeta anymore.  Not as long as he had the PLA. Not as long as he had his Father.

     With those thoughts, he gave into his anger.

     With those thoughts, he gave into his rage.

     With those thoughts, he gave into his hatred.

     With those thoughts, he gave himself over to the Dark Side.

     It felt wonderful, letting his emotions go; letting the shackles of the Light Side go and embracing his passions.  He could feel himself being strengthened by his dark emotions.  This was what he needed.  This was his ally.  Doneeta would die.

     With a renewed sense of power, he jumped off the floor and ran towards his Master.  Renn ignited his saber again, knowing full well that Doneeta would hear it.  He wanted him to know this attack was coming. 

     Doneeta was big on choices.  One of the first things he had ever heard the man say was about one’s choices in life and how important they are.  He had drilled that point into Renn so many times during the years.  And now, after all of that, Doneeta’s life came down to a choice.  There were two paths ahead of him.  He had to choose one, and do it soon.

     He could let go of his Force Grip on the men’s fingers, grab his lightsaber and turn around to kill his former Padawan.  Doing so, however, would end in the death of Renn—whom Doneeta considered a son—as well as the deaths of Elim and Colm, who would shoot each other to death once Doneeta let go.  Doneeta, however, would survive.

     Or he could let his Force Grip on the men’s fingers remain, and stand still as Reno cut him down.  However, once he was dead, his Force Grip would also die, and Colm and Elim would still shoot themselves to death. 

     Both paths led to death.  

     One led to Renn’s death.

     One led to Doneeta’s death.

     Having known his Master for so long, he knew which one he would choose.  He would use his Master’s love for Renn against him.  A cold hearted trick, but it was the only way he could win.  The only way he could defeat Doneeta.  The only way he could kill Doneeta.

     He raised his saber high in the air...

     The only way he could defeat Doneeta....

     He prepared to bring it down on his Master, killing him in one swoop...

     The only way he could kill Doneeta....

     He started to bring his lightsaber down on his Master...

     Suddenly the room started to spin a little and he got dizzy.  His head started to hurt, his mind reeled.  Things suddenly didn’t make any sense.  He didn’t understand why he was attacking, trying to kill him.  What was going on!? 

     Oh no…

     The mind control device.  He remembered it now.  The effects must be wearing off.  Things were starting to come into focus now.  He was starting to understand.  He had to stop! 

     His tried to stop his swing in time, but he couldn’t.  He was already too far into the motion.  He expected his saber to tear through Doneeta...but that didn’t happen either, for he had guessed wrong.

     Renn had expected that Doneeta would choose to be slain by his student, rather than kill his pupil.  Renn had guessed wrong.  Doneeta quickly relinquished his Force Grip, but only on Elim’s blaster.  He also used the Force to nudge the muzzle of Elim’s blaster over a bit.  When the Rebel leader fired, it didn’t hit Colm, but instead hit the fat Emperor’s blaster.  The explosion knocked both Elim and Colm back, and for the moment, they were out of the way.

     While that went on, Doneeta had used his free hand to grab his lightsaber.  He ignited the blade, turned sharply and blocked Renn’s swing.  With one fluid motion, he knocked away Renn’s saber, twirled in a 360-degree motion, and went in for what would undoubtedly be a kill shot, bisecting him.

            Somehow, though, Doneeta sensed something mid-turn.  He must’ve picked up on the change in Renn’s emotions and thoughts.  He knew that mind control effects had worn off.  But just like Renn couldn’t stop his earlier attack on Doneeta, the Twi’lek Jedi Master couldn’t stop his attack on Renn.  He could, though, modify it a bit.  At the last second he changed his angle just a bit...just enough...and instead of bisecting Renn at the waist, it just made a huge gash in his chest.  Renn dropped to the ground and screamed out in pain.  There was no blood, as the heat of the lightsaber had cauterized his wound, but there was pain.  Lots of pain.  And not just his.

     Doneeta was almost in shock.  Although he had saved Renn’s life by altering the angle of his attack, Renn could see that that he still couldn’t believe what he had done.  Doneeta had harmed his Padawan, had cut him badly. 

     “Renn...by the Force...Renn...I’m sorry,” he started to babble, his walls dropping and his emotions getting the better of him.  “I should’ve sense you had returned, Renn...I’m sorry.  I couldn’t afford to make the same mistake with you that I had made with Ferox.  I couldn’t let you live like I let him.  Renn, I’m sorry.  Please forgive me.  I should’ve known.  I should’ve felt it...I’m sorry.”

     Renn only caught little bits of that, though, as the pain was so intense that he couldn’t hear right.  There was a loud ringing in his ears.  He tried to tell his Master that there was no need to apologize.  What had happened was Renn’s fault, not his.  He had even saved Renn’s life by changing his attack at the last second.  There was nothing to apologize for.

     But he couldn’t seem to say anything.  He was in too much pain.  Doneeta stood by Renn’s feet, continuing his apologies.  Renn had to tell him to stop.  He had to get him to listen. He had to—

     Renn heard a sound.  It wasn’t a loud sound, but a familiar one.  The slight loss of hearing had muffled it a bit.  But he still recognized it.  A blaster shot.  Two, actually.  He forgot that Elim and Colm were still in the room.  He wondered, silently, which of the two had shot each other.  Or, since there were two shots, if they had both killed each other.

     Suddenly, Doneeta dropped to his knees.  He lips had stopped moving, stopped uttering their apologies, stopped saying anything.  His eyes were no longer moving, either.  They were wide open, locked on Renn.  Kren Doneeta’s last look at Renn Hado, though, was not one of anger, but of sadness. 

     Of regret. 

     Of compassion.

     Of love.

     And then he fell down, face forward, and died.

     Unlike before, when Renn thought his Master had died in the ambush, this time he felt it.  The wave through the Force his death caused was worse than anything he had felt before.  It was like all of the happiness and joy inside him had just been sucked out, and all that was left was an empty shell of life.  He didn’t know what to think.  He didn’t know what to do. 

     Renn forced himself up and crawled over to his Master’s body.  The pain seared through his body with each inch he crawled.  When he reached his fallen Master, he rolled him over onto his back.  There would be no final words of advice from Kren Doneeta to Renn.  The only last words he would get from his Master, from his Mentor...from the man who he saw as his father...was “I’m sorry”.  But nothing had been Doneeta’s fault.  It was all Renn’s fault.  And he knew that for the rest of his life, he would have to live with that.  He had caused his Master’s death.  There was no avoiding that.

     “Renn, are you okay?”

     The voice startled him and he shot his head up.  He recognized the voice immediately.  It belonged to the only other surviving person in the room.  It belonged to his “father”.  It belonged to Elim.  Renn realized now what he had heard.  Two blaster shots.  The first one to Doneeta, to get him out of the way.  The second to Colm, to finish what he had come here for. 

     “Colm’s dead, boy,” Elim said.  “And we will be too, if we don’t get out of here now.  Reinforcements are probably already on their way here.  I’ve signaled for the shuttle.  They’ll pick us up in a minute.”

     Renn cradled Doneeta’s head in his arms, the limp brain tails dropping to the floor.  His Master...once so full of life.  Now dead.  Empty.  Gone.  Because of Renn.  No, not just because of Renn.  There was one other person who was responsible for Doneeta’s death. 

     Renn slowly turned his head and glared at Elim.  The hate, anger and fury in Renn’s eyes must’ve been evident, because Elim took a couple steps backwards.

     “Look, boy, I had to do it,” he spat out.  “If I didn’t, he would’ve stopped me from killing Colm.  That was our mission, right?  That was our purpose.”

     Renn carefully laid Doneeta’s head on the ground, and slowly stood up.  He glanced at Elim again, and this time Elim understood. 

     “Have it your way then, boy” Elim grunted.  “You can die with your Master!”

     Elim raised his blaster and tried to get off a shot, but he didn’t even come close.  Renn yanked the weapon out of his hand with the Force and threw it all the way across the room.  Elim stumbled backwards, looking for a weapon, but found nothing.  Renn, however, didn’t need a weapon

     He had the Force.

     He had the Dark Side.

     It was all he needed.

     Using his hatred and rage, he reached out and grabbed a hold of Elim by his throat.  His father instantly fell to his knees, desperately clutching his throat, trying to find a way to break the Force Grip.  There was no way to break it, though.  At least for Elim.

     “Please...son…”

     Renn didn’t care, though.  He didn’t care to hear his father’s pleas.  Elim hadn’t given Master Doneeta a chance to live.  Renn certainly wasn’t going to extend his father that courtesy.  He would answer to no request for mercy.  He wouldn’t even listen to them.

     He drowned out his father’s last pleas and focused on the task, slowly crushing Elim’s windpipe.  His father’s face was starting to turn different colors...red, and the purple, and blue.  His eyes were starting to roll back into his head.  He would die any second now. 

     “Renn…please...”

     He didn’t want to hear.  He wanted Elim to shut up.  He wanted him to be quiet.  He wanted him to die.

     “Renn, I…love…”

     Before Elim could even finish that sentence, Renn gave once last push and crushed the man’s throat.  Elim collapsed in a heap, dead before he even hit the floor.  For what seemed like an eternity, Renn just stood there and stared.  For a while at Elim, and then at Doneeta.  On one side of him, his biological father lay dead.  On his other side, the man he recognized as his father was dead.  And both because of him.  Both because of his actions.  Death haunted Renn wherever he went.  He couldn’t escape it. It hung over him like an Angel of Darkness, forever shrouding him in the shadows.  He knew it was true.  He was doomed to spend the rest of his days mourning the deaths of those he had cared for most.  And he was sure it would be his fault every time.  It was his curse.

     He began to feel lightheaded.  It was all just too much.  He had lost everything today.  The Order would not take him back.  He didn’t deserve to be taken back.  For the first time, Renn wished that he was among the dead today.

     And with that, he fainted.

     “It was my fault he died,” Reno said, his voice coarse and gravelly.  “My fault...if I had just...if he had only...”

     Reno didn’t know what else to say.  He couldn’t say anything.  Kren Doneeta had died, and while Reno hadn’t pulled the trigger, he might as well have.  The end result was the same.  Reno was alive and Kren was dead.

     Jace and Thunder were strangely silent.  He didn’t know why.  They exchanged glances every now and then, but they weren‘t saying anything.  At least not to him.  For all he knew, they were talking to each other in a way that he couldn’t hear.  Perhaps ghosts—or illusions or figments of his imagination, whatever they were—could communicate silently.  Anything was possible.

     Reno looked from Jace to Thunder, examining each as they sat in silence.  Not for the first time, he wondered exactly what they were.  It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that they were, in fact, ghosts who had been brought back by the Force.  It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened.  However, just as likely, if not more so, was that Reno was just going insane and seeing things.  He was in horrible condition, physically and mentally.  Him seeing figments of his imagination was just as likely right now as him actually seeing ghosts.

     Just as important as what they were, however, was why they were here.  There was the story that they gave him, of course, but then, could you really trust a ghost or illusion created by your own delusions to tell you the truth?

     Reno wasn’t sure he bought Jace’s story that they were guides who were sent here to help him find the truth about his life.  It sounded far too clichéd, and far too suspicious.  Reno hated clichés.  And he hated things that sounded suspicious.  And, yet, despite his leery feelings toward the two apparitions in front of him, he had poured his heart out to them and told them everything they wanted to know.  He didn’t understand why.

     Reno never acted this way during interrogations.  Sure, he had admitted things to Zarin, but that had a purpose.  He was just buying some time so he could plan an escape, which he did...after a fashion.  But even then, at the end, he had refused to give Zarin anything more.  He didn’t understand why he was being so forthcoming with these two.  Like so much in his life, it didn’t make sense.

     Reno squinted his eyes shut as a searing pain shot through his skull.  He reached his hands up to his temples and suddenly remembered that Zarin’s engramatic interociters were still attached.  One of them must be short-circuiting.  That was what was causing his headache.  It made sense, too.  During his fight with Zarin, when he had called his lightsaber to his hand, it had hit him right in the head.  Or, to be more accurate, it hit him right on the device attached to his head.  The thing was probably broken now.  Good.  He was about to try to rip if off his head once and for all, but the pain started to subside.     

     “Are you okay, Master?” Jace asked. 

     “Oh, just fine,” he muttered, massaging his temples.  “Never felt better.”

     “Would you like to continue?” Jace asked.  “We are nearing the end of our journey.  You have almost reached the end of the path.  You have almost reached the truth.” 

     “And what happens then?” Reno asked.  “What happens to me once I reach the end of the path?”

     “Then you will know,” Jace responded.  “You will understand.”

     “But I will still die here, won’t I?” he asked.  Not surprisingly, he found that didn’t sound too sad as he said that.  It wasn’t even really question, more of a statement of fact.  “Whether I find the truth or not, this place will be my final resting ground.”

     Without saying any words, Jace and Thunder nodded.

     “What about you two?”

     “We will leave,” Jace said, calmly.  “For good, this time.  It will be the last you ever see of us.”

     “What it boils down to, Lead, is this,” Thunder started.  “You are going to die.  There is no avoiding that anymore.  The only question here is if you will die in ignorance, or die with knowledge; if you die knowing who you are, or if you die as a stranger even to yourself.  Those are your two paths, Reno.  Like it or not, that’s it.”

     “Your time is almost up, Master,” Jace put in.  “You’re almost to the end.  Don’t quit now, else all will be for not.  Everything I‘ve done here, everything we‘ve worked on together...if you quit now, Renn, it will all be for nothing.”

     But Reno wasn’t going to quit.  Not now.  For he was starting to understand.  What he was starting to understand wasn’t about his past, though, it was about his present.  “Jace” had slipped.  He had made an error.  A very big error.  Nobody called him Renn anymore.  Nobody, except for one person...

     Reno looked around the cave, though he wasn’t sure what he was looking for.  Whatever it was, though, he didn’t see it.  He tried to call upon the Force to sense anything in the immediate area.  He felt nothing.  Whether it was because nobody was nearby or because he was simply too weak to feel them, he didn’t know.  There was one thing he did know, though, one thing he did understand. 

     He had to get out of this cave, and away from “Jace” and “Thunder”.

     Because of Jace’s slip up, he finally had a pretty good idea what they were, though he was certainly in no position to prove it.  He no longer believed that they were figments of his imagination, but ghosts they were certainly not.  They were real.  Very real. 

     “Jace” and “Thunder” were now watching him, quizzical glances on their faces.  They didn’t understand his sudden reactions to them.  They didn’t know that he knew.  He didn’t know that Reno knew.  Reno would have to use that to his advantage.  This might be his only chance to escape.  Once he knew that Reno was aware of what was happening, he would come in, and it would all be over.

     Without so much as a word, Reno jumped up and made a mad dash for the cave entrance, while “Jace” and “Thunder” yelled for him to come back.  He wasn’t listening to them, though.  His only thought was of escaping this cave before he came. 

     That, however, was not meant to be.

     Just as Reno made it to the mouth of the cave, a tall figure in dark robes stepped into view.  Reno didn’t stop running, though.  Although he was much smaller than Zarin, he felt his momentum would be enough to topple the bigger man and knock him down, at least giving Reno a chance to run for a short while.  At least as well as he could run, with only one good leg.  He still didn’t understand what was wrong with his right leg.

     However, that, too, was not meant to be.

     Reno never even made it to Zarin, as he was hit with an incredibly powerful Force Wave that sent him reeling backwards.  He landed hard in a bank of snow, the pain from the Force Wave washing over his whole body.  For a moment he thought it might’ve paralyzed him...he couldn’t move his arms or legs.  But slowly, after a few long seconds, he could feel his arms and legs again.  Well, his arms and leg.  The feeling in his lower right leg had still not returned. 

     “Renn, Renn.....you surprise me,” Zarin said, strolling into the icy cavern.  “I didn’t think you would figure it out.”

     Zarin stopped in front of Reno, who was still lying in pain on the snowy ground.  Reno noted that Zarin’s right leg was heavily bandaged.  He even had a slight limp.  Good.  Behind Zarin, Jace and Thunder stood.  Their demeanor had changed entirely.  They no longer looked real, or even human.  They stood like lifeless robots, with no souls of their own.

     “What... what...” He couldn’t get the words out of his mouth.  He was in too much pain still.

     “What are they?” Zarin finished for him, casting a glance behind his shoulder to the two soulless creatures tailing him.  “What do you think they are?”

     “I thought...” he struggled to find the strength to speak.  “I thought I was hallucinating, at first.”

     “Which was, of course, my intent.  Go on.”

     “The memory devices…when I didn’t catch the saber, it accidentally hit one.  It short-circuited.  It created these...holograms, or whatever, out of my memory.”

     Zarin smiled.  “Close, dear Renn, but not quite.  They are holograms.  Programs that I designed.  But their appearance was no accident, I can assure you of that.  I wanted them to appear to you.  I wanted you out here...” He motioned to the cave and its surroundings.  “I wanted this all to happen.  Nothing that has transpired here was an accident, old friend.”

     No, no that couldn’t be true.  Reno had escaped from Zarin.  He had outsmarted him and escaped.  The engramatic interociters had been damaged in the battle, it was malfunctioning now, producing images that Reno wanted to see.  Zarin was lying, trying to trick him.  But, then, how did Zarin see Jace and Thunder?  If they were just images in Reno’s mind created by his memories, Zarin couldn’t see them.  But he could.  That meant...

     “But....”

     “Yes, Renn, it’s true,” he assured Reno.  “It was all orchestrated.  Everything.  When you refused to give me any more information following our last session, I was furious.  Not angry enough to give up my plan and kill you, though.  I wasn’t finished.  We weren’t finished.  There was still much that you needed to understand about yourself.  However, you were being as stubborn as ever.  I knew, looking into your eyes, that you weren’t going to tell me anything else.  However, I had resigned myself to that fate a long time ago.  Before we even started here, I figured that moment would come.  I knew eventually you would take a stand against me, and that I would have to institute my back up plan. 

     “I know you had been planning to escape, Renn.  It’s the obligation of any prisoner.  That was why I had mentioned to you that there was a shuttle here.  As long as you clung to your precious hope, you would be more forthcoming.  So, to that end, I was going to allow you to escape.  However, while I wouldn’t be there in person to get the information, Jace and Thunder here would be.”

     “Why those two?” he asked.

     “Who else would you confide in?” Zarin asked back.  “If not to your apprentice and your Second-in-Command?  They were the logical choices.”

     “So does that mean that they’re still alive?  Or did you lie about them being dead, too?”

     “Who can say?” Zarin said with a smirk.  “Truthfully, I do not know.  Since I have been here, I cut off all contact with TOS.  I have left Xanthis to deal with them.  When they are dead, he will return here.  Since he has not come yet, I would assume that they are still alive.  For how long, though...”

     Another thought suddenly came to him.

     “So then…my escape...”

     “Your escape?” Zarin said, while giving a deep laugh.  “Ha!  I almost can’t describe to you the trouble I went through to purposely lose that duel and help you escape. You blew almost every chance I gave you to win.”

     “I thought it was a bit strange that you were going to let me have another chance...”

     “I was just giving you another opportunity to make your escape.  Suffice to say, without my help, you would’ve blown that one, too.”

     Reno looked up at him.  “What do you mean?”   

     “Do you remember trying to call the lightsaber to your hand?  Trying and repeatedly failing?”

     “Yes.”

     “Well, I had to do something.  In order for your escape to look good, I called upon the Force and threw the lightsaber at you.  To make it not look suspicious, I also grabbed your hand and pulled it away.  The lightsaber hit you right on the device, just as I had hoped.  Everything went just as I had planned, more or less.  Except for one thing....”

     Reno looked at Zarin’s leg.  “You didn’t expect me to do that, did you?”

     “No,” Zarin admitted.  “This was not a part of the plan.  That said, it did convince you it was real, and in those regards, it did help the plan.  And, as it happens, I think it will even help you down your path to find the truth.”

     “And how is that?”

     “You still believe what you said in the courtyard, don’t you?  That during our duel ten years ago, you cut off my right leg?”

     “Of course,” Reno stated, “That’s how it happened.”

     “If you had truly cut off my leg ten years ago, Renn, then how do you explain this.”  With that, he ripped the bandages off his leg, revealing his wound to Reno.  It was not pretty, to say the least.  The lightsaber had cauterized if, of course, but that didn’t make it look any better.  Reno could see deep into his leg, even down to the bone.  Despite his inward cries that it must be a trick, Reno couldn’t even convince himself of that.  This was real.  Zarin’s leg was real.  This was no prosthetic. 

     “I…I...can’t,” he stammered. 

     Zarin smiled again, the same smile he always gave Reno when he knew that he had the upper hand.  “....I can.  Would you like to hear my explanation, Renn?  Would you like to learn the truth about that day?  Are you ready for it?”

     Reno didn’t want to hear.  He didn’t want to hear anything.  He just wanted it to all go away.  Zarin, it seemed, picked up on this.

     “No,” he said softly.  “No, I can see it in your eyes.  You aren’t ready yet.  But you almost are.  Let’s continue then, right where we left off.  You had just killed your Master, Renn, something that seems to be a trend for you.  What happened after that?”

      Reno found enough courage to fight this one a little.  “I’m not talking anymore, Zarin.  Not to you, and not to them.”

     “Well...” Zarin said, “I am most disappointed to hear that.  For you see, we decide your future now.  If you are no longer a player in this game, then you need to be eliminated.  We are your judge, Renn, your jury, and your executioner.”

     “He is weak,” Thunder said, her voice back to the deadpan sound it originally had when he heard it.

     “He is weak,” Jace agreed.

     “He is a failure,” Thunder said.

     “He is a failure,” Jace agreed.

     “He deserves death,” Thunder said.

     “He does deserve death,” Jace agreed.

     Reno looked from the holograms over Zarin, who towered over him and wore a smug grin on his face.  “It seems that you have been judged, Renn.  They have decided upon death for you.  I, however, am much more forgiving.  I know how it is to be judged by others.  And, if I remember correctly, you do, too.  Don’t you?  Don‘t be afraid to remember it, Renn.  Just relax and let the memory devices work their magic.  Oh, yes, they‘re still active.  The lightsaber that hit it did no damage.  It was all for show.  Just think of the incident, Renn, and it‘ll come...”

     Reno knew what he was talking about.  It had happened after the incident on Velku, after his Master’s death.  Zarin was certainly right.  He had been judged.  Judged by everyone.  By the other Padawans.  By the Knights.  By the Master’s.  By the Council.  But more than that, one other person made a judgment about him that day...and that judgment would change everything.

     “Remember!” Zarin yelled.

     Once again, Reno was swallowed by the white and engulfed in memories.

* * * * * * * * * * * *   

     Renn Hado sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, his newly constructed lightsaber lying a foot in front of him.  He took a deep breath and cleared his mind, erasing all the questions that tried to force their way in.  Peace.  Calm.  Tranquility.  That was the way of the Jedi.  And he was still a Jedi...wasn’t he?

     The meditation wasn’t working.

     It had been two months since the death of his Master, the great Jedi Kren Doneeta.  Two months since the incident on Velku that resulted in the death of everyone involved, save for him.  Two months since his latest slide down the path of the Dark Side. 

     Renn was nervous.  And he had right to be.  He was getting older now, too old, in fact.  Pretty soon he might be considered too old to have another Master select him.  His days were drawing shorter and shorter.  If he didn’t get a Master soon, then chances were he might never get one.  He didn’t know what the Order would do with him if he wasn’t selected by a Master.

     The Code forbid teaching people after a certain age, and while Renn had already started his training, they might consider him too old to have a new Master.  To be a Jedi one needed to be clear of mind.  There had to be no hate, no anger, no fear, no prejudices.  Such things clouded mind and judgment.  Jedi who started training too old were more susceptible to taking the dark path, it was easier for darkness to taint their soul.

     Renn sighed.

     Masters Yoda and Windu should be along presently.  They had told him that they would meet him here, but they did not mention why.  Only two things it could be, really.  They were either going to tell him that he had been selected by a Jedi Master and could continue being a Padawan, or they were going to tell him he was too old to start again.  Some members of the council had already said he shouldn’t be retrained, while others, mainly Masters Gallia and Koon, said that the boy had been through a very traumatic experience and to give him some time.

     When the door hissed open Renn slowly brought his head up and stared at the newcomers.  Two of them were humans, while the other was an alien, who was little, green, and different.  Yoda and Windu he recognized instantly.  The other was a stranger to him, but Renn easily tagged him as a Jedi Master.  His new Master, maybe?  Renn rose to his feet and bowed to each respectively.

     “Greetings Masters,” he said.

     “And greetings to you, young Renn,” Master Windu said.  He then motioned to the human behind him.  “This is Master Jerken.”

     “Master,” he said, bowing again.

     “Renn, we’ve been reviewing your case over the last hour,” Windu said.  “And although I personally do not like it, the Council has agreed to give you another chance.  They feel that, while the death of Master Doneeta was partly your fault, there were extenuating circumstances.  We’re going to allow a Master to train you...assuming one will choose you.”

     Renn pushed back his fear.  He had to be chosen, at all costs!  This was his last chance!  If he didn’t get chosen...

     “I am ready to train again, Master, of that you can be sure.”

     “Decide that, we will, young Renn,” Yoda put in.  The small green alien looked up at Master Jerken, who was studying Renn intently.  “Decide, have you?”

     Jerken shook his head.  “I sense much anger in him, Master Yoda, anger and hate.  Such emotions are not the basis of a Jedi Knight.”  Jerken locked his gaze on Renn again.  “You seek redemption, which is fine.  But also you lust after glory and respect, which are not traits that a Jedi should posses..  For a Jedi, there should be no emotion. Only peace.  I do not sense any peace within you.  Only conflict.  Your destiny is one that is constantly dancing in shadow.  You switch between Light and Dark on a whim.  I cannot train you, I’m afraid.  To do so would be to tempt fate.  I dare not try.”

     With those words Jerken turned around and walked away.  Renn felt the anger boiling inside of him.  What...did this mean?

     Master Windu shook his head slightly, then turned and followed Master Jerken out of the room, leaving Renn alone with Yoda.  After an awkward moment of silence Renn finally said, “I...failed?”

     “Unfortunately...yes.”

     “Will...will I get another chance?” he asked.

     “Difficult to see.  Perhaps.  Look at this new development, the Council will.  Decide then, we shall.”

     “Then, what do I do now?” he asked.

     “Rest, for now.  Later we will call you.”

     Renn sighed.  “Yes, Master.”

     He bowed again, then watched as Yoda turned away, leaving Renn standing in the room alone.  It took Renn a minute to notice that his hand was shaking almost uncontrollably.  He had failed...again. 
     Renn snatched his lightsaber from the ground and hooked it on his belt.  He needed some fresh air.  On his way out of the Temple he stopped by his room and grabbed his cloak, then he was off.

     When he got outside he felt himself being hoisted upwards and pushed against a wall.

     The cold night air of Coruscant bit at his open skin.  A walk seemed like a good thing at the time, but as he walked by the bar he realized that a drink would be even better.  Technically he was underage, but with his Jedi powers he should be able to persuade the ‘tender to give him something.  Then again, considering the look of the bar, they probably wouldn’t even check his ID.  Not that it wasn’t obvious how young he was.  At a little over ten years of age, he would definitely stick out in the crowd.

     Renn strolled causally into the bar and looked around.  The bar wasn’t particularly active this time of night, but there were enough strange faces to put Renn on guard.  But he had his lightsaber on him, and more importantly, he had the Force with him.  Considering what he did on Velku, what he had faced there, he wasn’t particularly worried about some drunk barflies.

     He took a seat at the bar and motioned for the ‘tender to come over.

     “Aren’t you a little young to be drinkin’, kid?” he asked.

     “No, I...”

     “Ah, I’m just bustin’ your chops, kid.  I don’t give a vrelt’s ass about how old you are.  So what do you want?”

     “Uh, what’s good?”

     The guy smiled.  “Here, try this.  It’s from my homeworld.”

     Renn took the drink and tried it.  It was so strong that he almost choked to death, and ended up spitting it out on the bar.  The bartender let out a hearty laugh.  Despite the fact that he had spit it out, he had enjoyed the taste.  It was good...very good!  “What is this?”

     “Whyren’s Reserve, kid.  Best Corellian whiskey there is!  You enjoy now, and don’t be tellin’ nobody I’m givin’ alcohol to minors.”

     “Deal.”  Then the bartender walked away.

     Renn sipped the drink several more times, and was preparing to order another when he felt his danger sense tingle.  He quickly dropped his hand to his lightsaber, but his motion was interrupted as a pair of hands grabbed his tunic and yanked him backwards.  Renn struggled as he was dragged outside.

     When he got outside he felt himself be hoisted upwards and pushed against a wall.  The man was tall, and wore a dark cloak that covered all of his facial features.  There was another person behind him, a younger boy more around his age.  The younger boy reached out and grabbed Renn’s lightsaber.  He put it under his cloak, leaving Renn defenseless.

     “You are Renn Hado?” the older one asked.

     Renn nodded.

     “Good.”  The dark man dropped Renn to the ground.  “I just came from seeing Masters Windu and Yoda.  I have good news for you.”

     Renn reached out with the Force, but couldn’t get a grip on the man’s thoughts or emotions.  But he was Force strong, they both were.

     “Who are you?”

     “That isn’t important.  Master Windu told me to tell you that a Master has selected you.”

     Renn’s heart jumped.  “Really?  Who?”

     “Me, actually.  The Council said you are to come with me immediately and begin training on my homeworld.”

     “That’s great!  Let me just stop by the temple to pick up my things...”

     “No!” the man interrupted.  “We must leave immediately.  The Council has approved of this, and we must leave before they change their mind.”

     Renn nodded.  “Who is he?”

     The man turned around and stared at the other young boy.  “That is Zarin, an apprentice of mine.”

     “I thought a Master could only have one Padawan?” he asked.

     “I am...a special case.  But come, we must hurry, Renn.  Time is of the essence.”

     “Of course, Master....uh, I did not catch your name, Master.”

     The dark man smiled.  “Not Master, young Renn.  I teach another kind of art than the Jedi Masters you know.  One that will be much more to your liking, I believe.  You may call me Odium.  Darth Odium.  But I‘m afraid you can no longer call yourself Renn.  That is your old name...it is useless now.  As you are about to start a new life, down a new path, you must also have a new name.”

     Renn frowned and stared at the ground.  Why should he have to choose a new name?  None of the other Masters ever did that?  But, Odium had said that he taught a different kind of Jedi art than the others.  Perhaps this was just a part of his new lessons.  So he had to pick a new name.  Only one name really came to mind...

     “...Reno.”

     Odium smiled.  “Come, young Reno.  We have a destiny to fulfill.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     “I remember it well,” Zarin said.  “I remember being furious that Odium thought he needed another apprentice.  I hated you immediately, though admittedly, that hatred did not last.  That was quite a day, though.  Both of our lives changed from then on out.”

     Reno wasn’t really listening to him, though.  He was sick of listening to Zarin ramble and give speeches.  He was sick of hearing his opinions on things.  He was sick of being forced to relive painful memories.  He was sick of it all. 

     And he was going to end it.  Now. 

     Before Zarin could even see what Reno was doing, Reno reached up to his temples, got a good grip on the engramatic interociters, and ripped them off his head.  The pain was intense, and within seconds he was on the ground, curled up in the fetal position, clutching his head.  Suddenly, he thought that it might not have been such a good idea after all...

     He forced his eyes open.  Above him he saw Zarin yelling, no, screaming at him.  What he was saying, Reno had no idea.  He did notice, though, that now that the memory devices were off his head, “Jace” and “Thunder” seem to have vanished.  Good riddance.

     Reno wasn’t sure what to do now.  He wasn’t even sure he could do anything now.  The pain was still coursing through his body, keeping him from even moving.  He remembered Zarin telling him that if the devices weren’t taken off properly they could cause permanent brain damage, perhaps even death.  It seemed that, for once, Zarin was telling the truth.

     But he had to do something.  He had to force the pain away.  He had to fight his way past this.  But then what?  Fight off Zarin and escape again?  To where?  Back to the complex, maybe?  Find that ship Zarin had mentioned before?  It seemed like his only option at this point.  But how was he supposed to get past Zarin?  The last time he only escaped because Zarin wanted him to.  What was he supposed to do this time?  Maybe he could ask Zarin real nice just to let him go...

     Above him, Zarin continued to yell something.  Reno still had no idea what he was yelling about.  He seemed to be a bit off his guard, though, and that could play into Reno’s hands.  He knew that he would only have one chance to take Zarin out of the picture and make another escape.  One chance.  And he couldn’t blow it.  Zarin would show him no mercy this time. 

     Using what little strength he had built up—which wasn’t much, after the pain of the taking off the engramatic interociters—he focused his mind as much as possible and used a trick that both Doneeta and Zarin had used against him.  Using the Force, he hurled a powerful wave of invisible energy at Zarin.  The bigger man, caught completely off guard, was thrown backwards.  He hit the icy wall of the cavern hard and rolled back a ways.

     Not wanting to see how long it would take Zarin to recover, Reno once again forced himself to his feet and started to make his way out of the cave.  It had stopped snowing outside, and for that he was grateful.  At least he could see where he was going this time.  Although his right leg was still dragging, he forced his way down the path and headed back for the complex as quickly as he was able to.