Part 3

The small ship made its way down through the atmosphere and towards a small landing area that was rarely used. Today the landing area had several speeders parked next to it and several people stood on the platform waiting for the ship to touchdown.

The small ship made a perfect touchdown on the platform. Two figures went to help lock down the ship while a tall man with brown hair, a white shirt and blue pants waiting for the passengers to disembark the ship.

"Hey Luke," the man said greeting the Jedi Master with a welcoming smile.

"Hey Han," Luke said with an answering smile on his face for an old buddy and brother-in-law.

Gaia climbed out of the ship and watched as Master Skywalker greeted the other man who he called Han warmly. Gaia could only figure out that the man in front of her was none other then the legendary General Han Solo from the war against the Empire.

"Who do you have here," Han said with his customary rakish grin.

"One of my students from the academy," Luke replied to Han. "Gaia, this is my brother-in-law Han Solo, Han this is Gaia."

"The pleasure is all mine," Han said as he greeted the small woman.

"Careful Han, if Leia sees this," Luke said getting Han's attention who turned his attention back to Luke.

"She'd whack me over the head with her lightsaber," Han said with a laugh as he completed Luke's thought. "She says that she's sorry about not being able to meet you here, but she's in a meeting with the council this morning."

"That's all right. It will allow me to get Gaia settled and show her the New Republic Library," Luke said as they gathered their packs and made their way towards the waiting speeder.

Really, what are you researching," Han asked as the group got into the speeder.

"I'm not really sure at the moment," Gaia said honestly. "I'm sure the Force will help out."

"Well then, good luck in finding it," Han told her. He knew that his wife was much more knowledgeable in the Force then he was and he also had three children who also had abilities in the Force. Sometimes he felt left out in his own family. "So Luke what's so important that you've come to Coruscant? I heard that you just recently defeated a rogue Jedi Descann and Admiral Feyrer."

"It's a feeling that I have, but whatever Desann was doing woke something up," Luke replied. "I'm not sure as to what it is, but I've felt a disturbance in the Force. Whatever is going to happen we need to be on our guard."

"Sounds like the Empire is involved in this," Han stated.

"I thought so at first as well, but the more I thought about it the more this feels like an ancient use in the Force," Luke said as they finally got settled into the speeder.

"How ancient are we talking about here Luke," Han asked starting to get worried about what Luke had said. They had already dealt with a resurrected Emperor and now Luke was talking about ancient beings.

"I'm not sure how old, but ones that are strong enough to warrant a visit from Master Yoda," Luke said to him.

"Oh boy, did he give you any clues," Han asked not liking this conversation anymore. It seemed like the more he knew the less he liked what was going on.

"Not much. Only that a new Sith Lord was rising up," Luke replied to Han as the speeder made its way to the Solo residence.

"No names or identities that we could use to help us," Han probed and watched as Luke shook his head no.

"He only said that in order to defeat him we would need more than the Force this time. It's the more part that worries me about this situation," Luke told Han truthfully.

Gaia glanced back and forth between the two men as she tried to listen to the ongoing conversation. She had heard the genuine concern in Master Skywalker's voice as he was talking. Part of her felt that she was on a collision course and the key was her mysterious dreams she had been having lately. That was the real reason she had come to Coruscant. She had to know more about those two Jedi that she was seeing. Perhaps they had fought the Sith Lord that was the disturbance in the Force they had been feeling.

Gaia was pulled from her thinking by a questioning voice as she realized that Han was addressing her.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking," Gaia said apologetically.

"That's all right. I was just wondering if you had a direction of your research beside the Force will guide you," Han asked her.

"A couple of Jedi Knights and I'm not even really sure if I'm on the right direction or not," Gaia said truthfully.

"I guess it has nothing to do with this new threat," Han said.

Luke opened his mouth to say something but then changed his mind. "I don't think so, but one can never be too sure about the Force," he finally said.

Han acknowledged what Luke was saying without words. Something was going on with Luke's student that they were not saying. He would have to wait until Leia talked with Luke until he found out any more.

"Ah, here we are," Han said as they pulled up to the Solo residence. Gaia glanced around and could not help but be impressed with the size of the house. She guessed that it was good to be in the government.



Gaia walked out of her room the next morning. She had found the Solo residence to be quite friendly to others. She still had yet to see the legendary Princess Leia, but she had caught glimpses of the children.

The twins already had an affinity for the Force, especially the youngest at such a young age. Gaia had a feeling that they all would be strong Jedi for the next generation of Jedi. She wondered when they would be heading to the Jedi Academy.

Walking down the hallway she thought she heard voices coming from the room just in front of her. She walked into the room and saw Master Skywalker along with two other people. One she recognized was Han Solo who was sitting listening to the other two people.

"So you really have nothing to on except for a feeling in the Force," the woman was saying to Luke who was leaning against the counter top with his arms crossed.

"That's right Leia," Luke replied and was about to say more when he noticed Gaia walked into the room. "Hello Gaia."

"Sorry, I'm not interrupting anything am I," Gaia asked feeling a bit uncomfortable with the situation.

"No, not at all," the woman who was sitting at the table said as she turned around to look at Gaia.

"Have you figured out where you need to go," Luke asked Gaia. He secretly hoped that she would find something that would help his cause with Leia. So far his sister had refused to go to the council about his concerns.

"Yes I think so," Gaia said. "I think that I should start with the Republic Library and then see what comes up from there."

"I was headed back over to the Council building. You're welcome to come along if you want," Leia said to Gaia.

Gaia accepted the offer and the two of them walked out of the room with Leia telling Gaia where there was a good place to pick up breakfast. Han and Leia watched as the two woman walked out of the room. Han waited a few minutes before saying anything.

"What's the story with the kid," Han said with a knowing gaze at Luke.

Luke sighed as he heard the tone in Han's voice. He hoped that Gaia would find something that he would be able to bring up with the council that could convince everyone that there was a threat. He could understand his sister's reluctance to appear before the council without proof.

"I guess that I'm really hoping that she does find something out about this threat. I have a real bad feeling about this," Luke finally said.

"This is really serious," Han replied as he thought that he finally understood what Luke was thinking. "I'll try and talk with Leia some more. I'm not sure if it will do any good. You know how she gets when her mind is made up kid."

"I know Han," Luke said with a knowing grin that he and Han shared.



Gaia knew that Leia was right when she took her first bite of breakfast that they had gotten. The pastry was just right and Gaia could not help but be impressed. She was surprised that there was not a larger line up at the small cafeteria.

Now as the two of them continued to head to the capital that she could make out the building. This was something that she figured she would never see when she was younger. When she had left her family to head to the Jedi Academy she thought that she might someday see the famous building. Today, however, she was headed into it.

"Don't let the size of it overwhelm you. If you do you might never get over it," Leia said from where she was sitting finishing up her meal.

Gaia nodded her head wondering if she would get over the size of the building. The entire Galactic Senate was housed in it. It was amazing that so many different species were in one place that she was amazed there were not more fights among the different groups.

The speeder pulled up in the special slot for the president of the senate to allow the two passengers off. Leia glanced over to see how Gaia was handling it and noticed that the small Jedi was still looking overwhelmed.

"Follow me and I'll show you where the library is," Leis said calmly. "If you want a tour I can arrange one for you."

"Oh, no thanks," Gaia replied as she glanced around the area that they had been let off in. She followed Leia as they made their way to the library and walked inside.

"Hello madam President," a voice said as they entered the library. Gaia turned around and saw a tall skinny figure make its way towards them.

"Hello Ysonne," Leia replied as she greeted the head librarian. "Ysonne, this is Gaia. She's from the Jedi Academy."

"A Jedi, I'm honored to be in your presence," Ysonne said as she turned to talk to Gaia.

"Oh, I'm not a full Jedi yet," Gaia said quickly clarifying her position within the Jedi Order.

"Nevertheless, you are in training to be a Jedi yes," Ysonne said watching as Gaia nodded her head yes. "I don't get many from the Jedi Order who come in here. Now tell me how I can help you?"

"Ysonne know the library inside and out Gaia. I will leave you in her capable hands. If you get tired and want to head back to the house just go back to where we were dropped off and they'll take you back. If they give you any trouble just give them this," Leia said handing Gaia a small card that identified her as Leia's guest.

"I will," Gaia replied to Leia who with a quick good-bye hurried off to a council meeting.

"Poor girl, she always heading off to a meeting for this or that," Ysonne said as she watched Leia walk out of the library. "Now what can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm looking for information about some Jedi, before the purge," Gaia said hoping that she was on the right track.

"Hmm, that might be difficult. The Emperor destroyed most of the archives, but I know that some pieces of information survived. Perhaps what you seek might still be in there," Ysonne said leading Gaia to a small area of the library that had been dedicated to the ancient Jedi. "Do you know what time period of name of the Jedi that you are looking for?"

"I'm afraid not, only that they were two women and I think that they were Jedi within the last millennia," Gaia replied.

"That covers a lot of time, but most of that is when Yoda was alive," Ysonne said as she thought about it. "You might be fortunate in that the Chu'unthor has been recovered and had many files. But if what you're looking for is more recent then you might not find it."

"I understand," Gaia said as they approached the area where the files were located. Gaia looked around that thought that the librarian said there were not many files on the Jedi.

"There is so much missing. The old Jedi Library took up an entire building to hold it all," Ysonne explained.

"I can only hope that what I need is here," Gaia said.

"I hope so to. I must go but if you need any assistance don't hesitate to call on one of us. The library is open all day," Ysonne said then left the room.

Gaia sat down at one of the computers and began to search for what she hoped she was looking for. With a sigh she realized that looking for two Jedi woman might take a while, she could only hope that they were somewhere in the files.



The wind whistled around the empty desert terrain blowing the tiny sand particles into the small group that was slowly trudging towards a destination that only one person knew. There were only three people in the group all were dressed in black. The lead figure also wore a black cape that fluttered in wind. Her black hair whipped around her head not fazing her at all.

The other two men would occasionally glance at each other then the woman and shook their heads in wonder. This woman could not be human. The two men both knew that they were miserable but they were not able to judge the woman in front of them. In fact she seemed to take pleasure in it.

The two guards also wished that they knew where they were going. They had been walking for a couple of hours now. The one thing that they were grateful was the temperature. It was comfortable and not hot like on other planets that were deserts.

The woman suddenly stopped in front of them. The two men suddenly were not sure about everything as they glanced back and forth between each other and the woman.

"We're here," she said to them not bothering to look around. The men looked around and did not see anything around that would indicate a building or anything else.

The woman then closed her eyes and concentrated on the Force. The wind picked up and the two men had to shut their eyes and tried to shield their faces with their arms and clothing. They thought that they might be picked up and blown away with the force of the wind. It finally died down enough where they could see an entrance had been revealed in the sand.

"Stay here," she said to the men as she descended into the entrance. Neither man argued with her on this. They both knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

"What do you think she's after down there," one man said to the other.

"I don't know. I just wonder how long it will take for her to get back," the other one said.

"Probably another Sith artifact," the first man said.

"And we'll probably have to carry it back," the second one said.

"I'll take it. It means prestige man," the first on said and the other man nodded his agreement with the statement. The entire group had been working to impress the woman who they called Darth Rizon. They could all feel the power she commanded and was not like their last leader, Blondie. Each man had the feeling that they would be part of something big.

They heard a noise and watched as Rizon walked out of the cave with something in her hands. It was a black metal looking device that she handed to one of the men then turned and walked back into the entrance.

"Are you all right," the one man asked to the other one who was holding the strange object.

"It's strange, I can feel its pulsing power coursing through it and into me," he answered a bit strangely.

The other man swallowed at the description of the object. These objects were definitely Sith in origin. He wondered what they would be used for once Rizon had finished collecting all of them.

Again the woman walked up with another object and handed it to the other man. She then disappeared one more time without saying a word. The two men stood there looking at each other wondering what was going on.

A few minutes later she returned. "We're done here," she simply said to them. She closed her eyes and with the power of the Force covered the entrance once more. They began their trek back to the ship they had used to get there.



Luke was sitting down meditating on the Force trying to figure out what was going to happen. He could feel something else beginning to stir in the Force. He and Gaia had been on Coruscant now for a week and a half and she was nowhere closer to solving her puzzle. He wondered if this new event was connected with what he had been feeling and warned about from Yoda. As he wondered about it his comm link buzzed.

"Luke here," he answered watching as the head of the academy came up.

"Sorry to bother you Master Skywalker, but you wanted to know when the next batch of students were going to arrive," the man said.

"Yes I did," Luke replied.

"They are scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning," the man told him.

"I'll be leaving now then," Luke replied.

"Kyle Katarn has also just arrived back here as well," the man said.

"Hmm, his vacation did not last very long, hopefully nothing happened between him and Jan Ors," Luke said knowing that Kyle was a talented Jedi and hoped that the man would eventually come to the academy full time.

"She was with him when they landed. They appeared to be happy," the man replied making Luke feel a bit better.

"I'll talk to you when I return," Luke said signing off.

Luke got up and grabbed his bag and went in search of Han. He found him out by the pool along with his children.

"Hey Uncle Luke," three voices rang out as the children spotted him making Luke smile.

"What's up Luke," Han asked seeing Luke's face.

"I'm headed back to the academy. We have some new recruits that are about to arrive and I want to be there," Luke told him.

"What about Gaia," Han asked wondering about the blonde haired Jedi who he had barely seen since the two of them had arrived.

"Do you think you could bring her back," Luke asked hoping that he was not putting any pressure on Han.

"Well, the Falcon is almost done with her overhaul and I have been meaning to take the kids out to see you, so yeah," Han said with a grin on his face. His comment was met with sounds of joy from the three kids.

"I'm going to leave Gaia a message and if you can tell Leia where I'm going," Luke asked him.

"No problem kid," Han said as he got out of the pool to get dressed to take Luke to his ship.

A couple of minutes later they got into the speeder and made their way to the landing pad where Luke's ship was docked. Han was glad that it was just the two of them so he could ask Luke about the current situation.

"Tell me kid, is there ever a time when there is nothing going on around here," Han asked.

"Yeah, but that's when I begin to worry," Luke replied. "It usually means that something is being planned."

"I see, the calm before the storm type thing," Han said with understanding. Leia had said the same thing several times and he could understand. He would rather know what was coming than have the unknown.

They arrived quickly at the landing pad and Luke packed up his stuff. With a quick good-bye Luke blasted off heading towards the academy.



Leia arrived back home to see her husband waiting up for her. She had heard from some others that her brother had left but she had seen Gaia in the cafeteria after she heard the news. She was not sure what was going on and had decided to wait until she got home and could talk with Han.

"Are the kids in bed already," she asked him as she walked into the room.

"Yeap, and hopefully asleep as well," Han replied not surprised when he did not see Gaia with her. They had finally given the young woman they keys to one of her speeders so she could come and go as she pleased.

"So I heard that Luke has already gone back to the academy," Leia said confirming what she had heard from her friends.

"He said that he had some new trainees coming into the academy and that he felt he should be there when they arrived," Han replied.

"That makes sense, but what about Gaia," Leia asked as she sat down next to her husband.

"Well, Luke asked if I could bring her back with me," Han said hoping that she would not get upset about a trip. "The falcon is almost ready and the kids have wanted to see the academy," he told her hoping to make a convincing argument

"Well then, I guess I can allow that as long as it does not interfere with the twin's studies," Leia replied after a few seconds of thinking about it.

"Chewie is going to be arriving tomorrow," Han told her. "He had a good visit with his family and ready to see his other family as well."

"And he'll probably want to go with you," Leia said knowing that Chewbacca would go with Han unless her husband said otherwise.

"I don't see why not, I just wish you would go with us as well," Han said.

"Hmm, perhaps I could. I've been meaning to pay a visit to the Jedi Academy for the senate and this could be a good time," Leia said thinking about the situation. The senate was still suspicious of the new Jedi Academy and what it was doing. This would provide a good opportunity to calm some senators' fears.

"You know that some of the senators will want to come with you," Han told her.

"I know, how many could the Falcon hold reasonably," Leia asked.

"Let's see," Han said as he calculated the distance in his head and the time it would take to get there in a conventional hyperdrive ship compared to the Falcon. He already had Chewbacca, his kids, Leia and Gaia that were going along. "Probably another two, but no more."

"I'll let the senate know that two other senators can come with me to the Academy. I'll let them decide who will go," Leia said knowing that the flight there with two senators would be a bit more uncomfortable.

Leia woke up the next morning early knowing that she had some things to do. Han was still half asleep when she got up but still managed a good morning kiss. She quickly dressed and made her way to the speeder that was waiting for her. Walking by she noticed that the room Gaia was using was open. She peaked inside and was not surprised when she did not see the young Jedi.

Leia wondered if Gaia had heard the recent news as she continued on her way to the speeder. She allowed the driver to head to the cafeteria that she enjoyed in the morning as she went over everything she had to do.

Leia walked down the corridor that even in the early morning was full of activity. She briefly wondered if any of them ever went to sleep. She knew that some races could go long amounts of time without rest but she did not know of a single race that did not require some sort of rest. Turning into the library she sought out Ysonne.

"Hello Leia," Ysonne said as she came walking up to Leia.

"Just the person I was looking for," Leia said. "I'm looking for the young Jedi, Gaia."

"Ah yes, she's in the Jedi records, follow me," Ysonne said as she led Leia to the place where Gaia had been spending a lot of time.

Leia was a bit surprised at the sight of the room. There were books all over the place and Gaia was flipping though one of the larger books completely oblivious to their entrance into the room. Ysonne bowed to Leia and left the room quietly to continue her duties.

Leia gently cleared her throat to gain Gaia's attention and not startle the young woman. Gaia looked up at the noise and was a bit surprised to see Leia standing there.

"Oh, hello Leia," Gaia replied giving her eyes a gentle rub to relieve the strain of reading so much. "What time is it?"

"About six," Leia said watching as Gaia frowned for a second.

"Well then I guess I should get some supper then," Gaia said as she got up from where she had been sitting.

"It's actually six in the morning Gaia," Leia said watching as the younger woman stared at her in disbelief then shook her head at what she had heard. "Have you found anything that you can use," she asked wondering how long the woman had been in the library this time.

"No," Gaia said sighing in frustration at the lack of research she had been able to find. "It seems like everything has been a dead end," she clarified wondering about some sort of missing link that she was missing.

"How about getting something to eat, sometimes things look better when you're not hungry," Leia said.

Gaia figured that Leia's suggestion was a good one as her stomach choose that moment to growl its displeasure at being ignored. Getting up she stretched out her leg and back muscles which had been in the same position for too long. She left the books where they were and followed Leia out of the library.

"Are you not afraid that the library staff will put up your work," Leia said as they walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

"No, I talked with Ysonne and she said that I could leave it out until I'm done and the staff would not touch it," Gaia replied.

Leia nodded her head knowing that Ysonne would do such a thing for a friend. "I don't know if you've heard, but Luke has returned to the academy. There were some new recruits coming in today and he wanted to be there when they arrived," Leia told her.

"I guess then I need to figure out a way to get back to the academy soon then," Gaia replied going some of her options that she might have.

"We have that covered. We'll take you back in the Falcon," Leia told her. "That is if you don't mind sharing the ride with a wookie, three kids, my husband, me and two other council members."

"Sounds intimidating," Gaia replied as she thought about it. She had never been that close to so many high powered people in her life. She had come from a poor family and now she was hanging around with heroes of the rebellion and other high powered political figures. A couple of years ago she would have never imagined it.

"Don't let it get to you. We're just people as well," Leia replied. "Given time and your status as a Jedi you'll begin to be looked at the same way when a group of people are around you."

"I guess, but I somehow doubt that," Gaia replied pushing a lock of blonde hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. The two of them reached the cafeteria and parted ways. Gaia wanted to get something to eat and a bit more research before heading back to the Solo residence.



Gaia stared at the books in front of her. It seemed to go one for quite a while. She had read about some great exploits of several Jedi. She could only hope that someday she might be worthy of such tales herself one day. The only problem was she still had not found what she was looking for. She wondered if what she was looking for had been destroyed some time ago.

Gaia sighed at that thought. She had been at this now for over two weeks since Luke had left to head back to the academy. She had heard that the Falcon had made a test run to Tatoonie and that Chewbacca had run into some trouble with some mercenaries.

Gaia had also heard that with the help of Kyle Katarn and someone called Jaden that Chewbacca had made it out unscathed. She had also heard whispers in the hallways of conflicts involving the Jedi and a new dark Jedi. Part of her did not know if this had anything to do with what she was researching or not.

Gaia closed the book in frustration. She had gone through everything that she had thought of without success. She decided that she would call it quits at the moment at head back to the academy so she could talk with Master Skywalker and Fie-Tel. They might be able to think of a different direction to go that she could not think of.

She turned to put the book up even though she knew that he librarians would do it for her. She stacked the books in her arms and went around putting them up. She had to reach up to put one of the book up when the others fell out of her arm. With another sigh she put the book up she had in her hand and bent down to pick up the fallen books.

As Gaia was about to close on e of the books that had opened she noticed something strange she had missed before. Putting everything down she picked up the book and read the entire passage. It was not very long and came from a doctor describing an injury.

The doctor had served aboard the Chu'unther and in a couple of paragraphs told about a Jedi Master who had been injured during an explosion on board the ship. The Jedi had been rendered unconscious and the doctor had thought that her injuries were severe.

What had really caught her eye was how the Jedi had been healed. The doctor described it as a healing sleep but not connected with the Force. Gaia knew that a Jedi could heal themselves and sometimes other if they had trained for it. She had no dealing with a healing sleep like this one and the only thing she could figure out was something else was involved in it.

Gaia skimmed through the article again looking for a name or anything else that she might be able to use. Disappointed that there was no name she felt sure that she was on the right track with this Jedi Master.

She went over to the computer and looked up anything on any explosion that had occurred on the Chu'unthor. The search called up a few related articles with most of them involving some sort of combat. There was one that caught her eye. It involved the sabotage of the ship and resulted in a trial.

Gaia bought up the listing and quickly read through the names of the parties that were involved. There were several Jedi Masters involved including Jedi Master Yoda along with a couple of other called Knit and Lightner. A quick look indicated that Kint was a male but there was nothing much on Jedi Master Lightner except she was a female and her full name was Bri Lightner.

Armed with some new information she went to the main library to do a different search. She asked the computer to search for a Jedi Master Bri Lightner and anything on healing sleep. Gaia thought the search took longer than usual before the results came up with an error and nothing was found.

Frowning she tried again and used a couple of different combinations of her search but each gave her the same result. She would have talk with Master Skywalker and see if he had anywhere else she could look.



A figure hunched over their computer and glanced at the screen. A search had just been made that triggered his defense program. He looked at the words on the screen before telling the computer to reject the search and any others that would involve those combinations of words for today.

Getting up he knew that he had to contact the others to warn them. Someone was trying to find them for some reason and that could not be allowed.

On the screen a small line of words blinked.

Jedi Master Bri Lightner healing sleep

End Part 3


Continued in Part 4