"Well Order 66 was made 17 years ago, and you say you're age is 19, which means you were born before Order 66. Maybe you could try to find out when your grandmother died, but I don't think it was during order 66, but much later."

Flying through hyperspace, the Thranta finally made its approach to the volcanic planet of Mustafar. Kalin shut down the hyperdrive and the planet came in clear view. Artoo entered the cockpit and beeped as if he was afraid of the planet. Maybe it was bad memories, or maybe just the volcanoes on the planet. After entering its atmosphere Kalin used his radar to detect any lifeforms, but he couldn't find any. After an hour of searching they founded an abandoned CIS base and landed on one of its platforms. Kalin lowered the ramp and remembered the image of it. This was exactly where Padmé landed her ship. He recognized that this was exactly the spot where she and Anakin argued.

"Creepy to be here. It almost feels like a ghost planet..." Kalin said. Artoo came down the ramp too and gave a beep of sadness. Probably he was thinking back of what occurred here 17 years ago.

Ayanna stood, looking around. She found this place also eerie, and already wished she'd never suggested this place, "It's horrible here..... I've never seen a planet like this...." She said as she looked out over the oceans of lava. She could feel her skin beginning to hurt as she backed off a little. She was perhaps too sensitive for these conditions, though she didn't want to admit it. She walked back to the ship,

"I'll be right back...." She called before running back up the ramp. She immediately went to take a large glug of water, clearing a full litre with ease. Her skin felt better already. This planet was hellish for any living creature, but for her, it hurt. There was no sun, and the burning heat in the air made her skin feel like it was on fire. She collected more water, placing it into a black cylinder as she then walked back outside with it, hoping Kalin wouldn't ask too much about it. She raised her hood up, to help protect her from this heat a little.

"I don't suppose you want to retire here maybe, cause this is probably the last planet where Vader would come to look for us."

Inside there was nothing to be found. A lot of equipment was damaged and through the corridor they just passed, they could see a lot of burning marks, which were probably made by lightsabers. This is where Kalin presumed Anakin and Obi-Wan had their fatal duel. He touched the walls of it and hoped to see something and he caught a glimpse, but mostly he only saw sparks flying everywhere. Two blue blades that fought fiercely against each other.

"I don't think there's much we can learn here, but there is something else."

Kalin touched the security cameras which were still intact and it played a holovid of what occurred here. It showed Anakin slaughtering the Separatist Leaders.

Ayanna watched, though her vision was slightly blurred, probably the effect of this planet, but it was a little cooler in this building. She held onto Kalin's hand as they watched it, the first time she had ever done such a thing. She found it all so terrifying, perhaps more so because she was unwell and her mind was fuzzy. She could hardly believe this was what Vader had done, and not so long before Padmé arrived, it all seemed to make sense. But, from the footage, it was clear that he cried as he killed them. Occassionally giving out a cry, almost like a groan as he did. He was not enjoying what he did, but still he did it.

"Wait a second, there are some later recordings."

Kalin shows the recording of the two friends fighting in the room. They fight fierce and harder than Kalin ever had seen. Anakin threatens Obi-Wan saying he's no match for the Dark Side. Obi-Wan looks surprised and says he never expected he would hear it from his own friend. Anakin strikes back saying Obi-Wan's moves are flawed because of his compassion. Their words strike harder than their lightsabers do. Later an error in the room takes place as Anakin's lightsaber hits the controls.

"From looking at the fight you would never guess they were actually friends."

Later it shows how the Emperor desperately tries to look for Vader. He sees the bodies but he doesn't see Anakin or Vader for that matter. He keeps searching desperately.

"He's looking for his prize..."

Kalin sighs as the recording ends and sees Ayanna isn't feeling well. He aproaches her: "What's wrong Ayanna? Are you feeling sick? Is it this planet?!"

She nods, not wanting to say too much but just so he'd get the picture it was just the planet that was making her unwell. She found it also to be creepy in such a place as this. She could sense the death in the air, the ones Anakin had killed. It sent chills through her body.

"I.... I can't believe that...... That no one is here.... Anymore..." She said a little out of breath, "I thought this was..... A busy.... Mining facility.... Now it's.... Deserted.... What happened?" She asked.

"Maybe Palpatine or even Vader wanted everybody here exterminated so there were no witnesses at all of what occurred here. That would make sense to me. I mean nobody could know Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. Nobody wanted to know that two Jedi actually fought here to life and death."

Kalin was curious to see the exact location where Vader burned to death, in the hope to see actual visions in his mind of what happened. Maybe he would see more than the droid could. Cause Artoo only managed to sneak by after the duel, but couldn't show more. Kalin was sure more happened between Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Ayanna drank more from the cylinder that she carried, realizing that already it was empty. She did not wish to cause alarm and so merely sat herself at the large table, where the Separatists held their last meeting before Vader killed them all. She felt breathless, these were not conditions that were healthy for her. They were not healthy for human beings either, but they could cope, she was something else entirely. She held her hand to her head slight before speaking,

"Perhaps, you should go on ahead with Artoo..... I'll wait here until my head is clearer..... i'm alright..... Just go...." She said as she didn't want any fuss over this.

Kalin bowed down to Artoo and spoke with the little droid.

"Artoo, can you show me... The last place where you saw your formal master. Where you saw Anakin. I must say he's a bit related to me. You see my name is Kalin Skywalker. Well I never use it. Cause my mother's name was Saiya Skywalker and I never knew my father, if I had one."

The droid beeped and agreed to do what Kalin wanted to see. He brought Kalin to the exact same spot where Anakin burnt. It was boiling hot. Kalin looked at his hand. Then he saw Anakin crawling with his cybernetic hand; the only hand he had left. It was burned and looked black like his, though not shining. Anakin was burnt to the crisp and felt no more hope to survive from this place, until the Emperor arrived and took care of him.

"Terrible, artoo, just terrible... It shouldn't have happened."

Kalin lowered his head in sadness. He felt such a stronger connection now to Anakin and Vader, but he could never reveal to Vader of what he knew about all this.

Ayanna had sat on her own while Kalin and Artoo were gone, she tried to catch her breath. She hated this place, not just because of the heat but because of the terrible memories that still lingered here. As though this site itself were haunted by those events. She had to get back to the ship. Pulling herself up, she couldn't go to find Kalin, she had no idea where they had gone together. So she headed for the Thranta. She pulled herself reaching the outside of the facility and to the landing pad itself. She was mere meters from the ship, when she was finally overcome. She needed water, she needed light, life. This place was only the bringer of death. Just as a fragile flower cannot bloom in fire, neither could she in this place. She fell on the landing pad, with her arm stretched out, barely touching the tip of the ramp of the ship. She felt her head land on the burning pad, though was not able to stop it, then the last thing she was aware of, was watching a large vent of lava explode in the distance.....

Kalin walks defeated from the river bank back to the landing platform. Artoo shares his sorrow by beeping in a sad manner, as if it was only yesterday that all these terrible events occurred. Once again Kalin pats artoo on his dome and the droid follows him. Then he gives a loud beep as he sees Ayanna on the landing platform. It seemed she tried to reach the Thranta, but never made it.

"Ayanna!!!" Kalin shouts in horror.

He quickly runs over to her and picks her up. He carries her inside one of the quarters and checks her status. He feels deeply worried about her condition. Artoo beeps standing next to her her bed.

Ayanna remained asleep for some hours as she lay in the chamber. When she awakened, she had the most unbelievable thirst, that seemed to shiver through her entire body. Her skin felt cracked and dry. She immediately reached for the glass that sat next to her, which gave her the strength to get up, and get into the washing area. She threw herself into the pool of water, as she sunk to the bottom of the tub. She lay there for a few minutes, soaking everything up, replenishing herself, before she gasped as she resurfaced once again. She rubbed to her face, feeling that her skin was smooth and soft again, making her sigh with relief.

Kalin looked relieved at her: "Feeling better?!"
Artoo sounded relieved too by giving some excited beeps. You could always determine if the droid was happy or not. Kalin got really fond of artoo, maybe too fond. He was really going to miss it, once he had to return it to Senator Organa.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened. I mean I just leave you for a few minutes and find you unconscious on the landing platform."

Kalin was thinking back of the spot Artoo showed him, where he saw Anakin burning. It was a terrible sight. He didn't know if he could share his experience with Ayanna who already went through so much it seemed.

She pulled herself from the bath, pulling over the sheet so she could change herself, as her clothes were completely soaked through and through. She had not cared at the time, merely falling into the bath fully clothed, but now she was dripping wet. She emerged wearing a light robe, though her hair still wet,

"Sorry..." She said as though ashamed, walking past Artoo and Kalin, then sitting at the table, as she pulled herself some more water, "It's just my nature... That place was burning, dead, no light..... I took some water but... It ran out fast..... I would've died if you hadn't come when you did..... But now look..." She said as she held out her arm, showing they her skin was no longer dried and cracked looking, "It's now completely gone..... Water is life.... For every being in the universe...... But for me..... The neccesity of it is far more extreme...." She sighed, shaking her head, "I should've stayed on the ship.... Such a fuss for nothing...." She said annoyed at herself.

Kalin sighed. "Well I think I found what I wanted on Mustafar, so if you want we can leave. But again I wouldn't know where to go. Maybe it is time to deliver Artoo back to the Senator. Though it would be a great pity. I know... I know I promised to bring him back. But I've become pretty attached to this little guy." Artoo beeped afterwards. Kalin laughed. "Hehe, and I think the feeling is mutual!"

Ayanna smiled too as she rubbed her hand off the top of Artoo's dome, "Yeah, I'm going to miss you little guy.... Just don't forget about us okay?" She said a little sad, as she thought it was very likely that they would never see the little guy again, "Yeah, I think it's time we took him back to where he belongs..... I felt guilty having him here with us..... But you've been understanding, I have to say that much...." She spoke to the little droid, "Here, I'll give him a clean up before we take him back... He's covered in soot and sulphur...." She said as she led the little droid over to the other end of the room. Sitting herself on the floor in front of him, she began to clean him up using a soft scrubber.

While Ayanna cleaned the droid, Kalin walked back to the cockpit. He looked one last time to the landing platform and tried to think back of the riverbank where Vader burned. It brought him so much closer to his master. He felt so much more sympathy for him now. This man wasn't evil. After all he went through how could you not sympathize with Vader, who was just a victim of circumstances, deceived by lies created by Palpatine. He wished the Jedi had a better understanding about that including Obi-Wan Kenobi. Cause that is something he would ask him the next time he saw Obi-Wan. Why couldn't he show more understanding and compassion towards Anakin on Mustafar. Kalin sat down and left the planet of Mustafar behind. He set the coordinates for Alderaan to bring artoo back. Though it was with great regret he had to do so. He was fond of Artoo. But he was the property of senator Organa. Kalin wasn't a thief so he had to return him. Once in space, he ignited the hyperdrive setting his course back to Alderaan.

The journey to Mustafar was a long one, as it was on the opposite end of the galaxy from Ord Mantell, though none were sad to leave that place behind. Alluria was concerned about what they were going to encounter on the volcanic world, the Empire was the least of their worries, the biggest worry was the elements that were going to be around them. The unpredictability of the planet. Then there were the slaves to consider, and Amelia's discovery, she wondered how she was going to manage with it all, she knew it would be a surprise but she could not predict her reaction.

She was glad that at least Qurhon was aware of the situation, she did not have to carry the burden alone, and he would also be able to help her. This would be Amelia's trial as a Jedi, either she would succeed and become a knight, or fail and have to continue training.

Asané was less than pleased about where they were going, "Oh geez, of all the place. A volcanic world, great. Why can't we go to a..... I don't know.... A Mushroom world! Something non-threatening. I just don't like the idea of being barbecued... Don't get me wrong, all for helping people, just wish they were somewhere more appealing...." She gulped.

As the ship landed one one of the platforms, and Amelia stepped out, she was overwhelmed by the intense heat and atmosphere, and felt very light headed all of a sudden, as what felt like a solid wall of heat smashed into her, quite literally knocking the breath out of her.

Pausing for a moment, gasping and shaking her head to try and rid herself of the nausea caused by the heat of the lava and flaming rocks, she resisted the urge to bolt back into the ship, which was all of a sudden looking very tempting, and forced herself to step out, further onto the platform itself, placing her hands on her hips and looking round almost critically, with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Hmmm, not exactly the most inviting of planets, is it," she commented sarcastically, wiping the beads of sweat off her brow that had already formed in the few short seconds that she'd been exposed to the heat. "Who would ever willingly come to such a place?"

Realising what she'd said, she quickly added "Aside from us, that is. But you know, we've come coz of duty and stuff, so I don't think it really counts."

Placing a hand to her pounding her, she winced a little, then loosened the collar of her shirt and turned to the others.

"So where now?"

"I think we should get our butts to the Separatists base and there we can start planning. I just hope the cooling system is still operational..."

Qurhon led the way towards the Separatist base and looked at. When he touched certain tables, his skills as a kiffar kicked in, seeing a caped young man swinging his lightsaber in all directions to kill the separatists leaders. He could not see the face of this young man, but it wouldn't be impossible to conclude that this young man could be Darth Vader before he went into the suit.

The strange thing was that he was wielding a blue lightsaber. What Sith would be wielding a blue lightsaber, except for Exar Kun maybe, but he was exceptional. But then again so was Darth Vader... If this indeed was Darth Vader before he crawled into the mask.

Alluria touched Qurhon's arm asking him, "Qurhon, what is it?!"

It was like Qurhon came out of a trance, when Alluria touched him. All the images disappeared.

"Um? It's nothing, I was just daydreaming. Let's check the cooling system, okay?"

Qurhon moved to the back of the base, checking if the cooling system still worked. He saw that a lot of fighting happened here. He tried to touch another table, but the only thing that was visible was two blue lightsabers crossing each other. But that was all he could see. He touched another table which seemed to be a Holo-Communication device and he saw the young man, with his hood up, talking to the Emperor. Though he couldn't exactly make out what they were saying. The only words that kicked in were 'Droid units, peace, my lord', so it did indeed seem he was Darth Vader. Only Qurhon had never seen him without the black suit and mask.

He moved on to the cooling system and although he could see the shielding devices were damaged by a lightsaber, the cooling system was luckily unharmed. He activated it which cooled the temperature down. He gave a sigh of relief cause the heating was already taking its toll. Qurhon didn't want to reveal anything yet about what he saw to the others. What would the point be? It only seemed sure that this indeed was Darth Vader, but what he couldn't determine from what he saw what his actual identity was or used to be.

Alluria looked around, this was not where they were meant to be. She walked to one of the terminals, which was flickering on and off. She hit her hand off the side of the screen, making it spark a little more before shutting out.

"Fantastic.... These mines are not exactly easy to spot considering the landscape we have to work with, I was hoping that we would be able to track it from here but everything is so old. The mines are partly on the surface, partly underground, but now as you can see the state this world is in, the mines are highly unstable, but the production of the mineral the Empire seeks is nearly constant, so they don't mind what happens to the mines or the people inside, as long as they get their shipments."

She kicked the terminal, though it made no noise and the screen did not change. Turning to the back of it, she looked to the wires which were exposed, and by the looks of it, they had been for a very long time. She connected them back together properly once again where they had not been before, then hearing it power up.

"Ah finally, give me a few moments...." She looked through the terminal which gave a geographic reading of the planet, "Right, we have to stay away from the north of this facility, seems there is no shield protection there, the whole thing is nearly completely melted off, I'm surprised this place is still standing actually." She tapped her fingers off the screen, trying to get a broader range of the area around them, after a few minutes she pointed, "There, look." She stepped back slightly so everyone could see the image on the screen.

Highlighted with orange and blue lines was the layout of facility that was a way off from where they were, "The orange lines should the structures on the surface of the planet, the blue lines below. So as you can see, the majority of it is underground." She tapped her finger on the facility itself, zooming in further and listing details about it. Sighing, she continued, "You see, look here," She tapped her knuckle off a section of the blueprint, "This area is bare now, but look to last week, there were five long passageways there that are now gone. That means they were destroyed, no doubt by an underground breach from the lava streams." She looked to Qurhon, this could mean the worst in case of Amelia's brother, were they already too late? But she did not refer to it and instead continued, "There is only one passageway that is shielded, and that's the main central one where the minerals are exported from the mines below. But sadly it is the busiest and most guarded. If we're going to use it then there it is unlikely we'll be able to infiltrate quietly. And if the Empire is alerted to our presence they very well could call for the facility ti be abandoned and therefore destroyed, like I said, they have other options if the facility is destroyed, which is not good news for us."

She paused, looked at the three of them, wondering what their opinion on it was. Asané spoke up,

"So basically, we're going into an oven filled with stormtroopers and other guards that could explode at any minute either naturally or Imperially?"

"Pretty much...." Alluria scoffed with a half laugh.

"Excellent(!)"

"We'll need to find another means of getting there. We can't take your ship Amelia, there is only one main landing platform and it is entirely controlled by the Empire and I don't think it would last long is we landed it on any 'stable' surface. We'll need to find something here that can take us, and make sure we can find a way back, not only for ourselves but for the slaves there." She pointed back to the screen, "Here there are listed about oh.... 400 people, give or take...."

"400?! How the hell are we supposed to get 400 people to safety when we're not even sure we will be able to get out of there ourselves!" Asané exclaimed.

"There are ships already there, Imperial vessels, but I'm just not sure if there is enough for everyone. By my estimates there is 1 trooper per worker, and I think we would be very fortunate is there was a ship for each of them. Well, we have to try. We're here now aren't we?" Alluria said with a doubtful expression at what the others would think of all this.

Amelia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why is nothing ever simple these days?" she grumbled, beginning to pace about the room, tracing the scorch marks in the walls and various bits of machinery that had been made from a lightsaber, or something similar. She actually wanted to know what had happened in this room. Was this where Obi-Wan had fought that evil menace known as Darth Vader?

Still, she'd learnt by now that there was a time and a place for such knowledge, and now was neither the time, nor the place.

"So how do the Imperials move about the planet?" she asked thoughtfully, wandering back over. "Because surely they'd need some kind of transport to move between the mines? Like...I dunno...vehicles that can travel over lava or something? Surely they wouldn't use ships to travel such short distances, would they?"

"The Empire has built a rail jet transportation system for fast transport. It's our only chance to get our ways to the mine. If we could sneak our way on one of the hangars then we could get closer without any Imperial trouble. I think I could get my hands on a stormtrooper outfit. Then you two could pretend to be slaves, so I can smuggle us all inside the mines." Qurhon explained what he would try to do.

"But even if I could get hands on a stormtrooper armour it's still going to be tricky to get inside. Remember that the security is very tight and we have to see to it that we can smuggle our weapons inside without the Empire noticing."

"I've looked at the schematics of the mines and the railing transportation. You can see that the tracks go by this lava river, " Qurhon said pointing at a hologram of the river. "If we work our way out with the slaves and take over control of the railing transport, we could trash it, then it could buy us some time to escape."

Alluria sighed, they were going to be extremely fortunate to get out of this situation in one piece, but there was a great purpose in all of this. For the people they had to help and also for Amelia's future, her final trial was already before her, just she was not aware of it yet. Only Alluria and Qurhon knew, and that was the way it had to remain. She only hoped that they were not too late.

"Well, I think we know everything we need to.... This is not going to be a walk in the park, we all have to be on high alert, use every ounce of strength that we have in order to get through this. With the Imperials, the best for the troops will be mind trickery, that should manage, but with more superior officers it will be more difficult. Plan for the worst....." She sighed.

"Ok," Amelia nodded thoughtfully, a slight frown appearing then as she worked everything out in her mind.

"So...say we get our hands on at least one stormtrooper suit, and manage to get inside the mines, and smuggle our weapons in too, and mind trick the troopers, and work out a way past the other officers, and free all the prisoners...then what? How are we supposed to get such a large volume of people out AND trash the railing transport system at the same time, AND get ourselves out, too? I don't wanna sound so negative, but you said to plan for the worst, so I just want to know that we have actually planned for every possible outcome and eventuality."

"Well crashing the rail transport system shouldn't be that difficult. The Empire uses a lot of explosives in the mines. Hence why working in the mines takes so many victims. Not only the the heat of this planet is killing them, but the ways the Empire works here. If we can get our hands on these explosives it should be really easy to let the rails explode so that the transports fly off the tracks."

Qurhon pointed again to the rail transport system. "Here are the Imperial hangars. If we trash the system close enough it will block them from getting closer, so that we can take the prisoners off this planet. We have to take out the security at the hangars, so that the Empire can't call for any back-up."

"But first we should worry about getting inside the hangars. I think we have a good chance if we can get our hands on one of the stormtrooper armours. As I am the only male here, no offence, I think I'll be the only one suitable to wear it. I can't help it that the Empire doesn't recruit females as stormtroopers. Now if you two can pretend to be slaves, it should be really easy to get inside. As Alluria suggested, we can always use mind tricks to smuggle our weapons inside."

"Well, there's no point waiting around any longer. We need to get moving, this planet is unstable as it is, the sooner we go, the sooner we can help people." She quickly took a holo-projector from her pocket and downloaded the schematics of the mine, "This should help us, and it shows the most dangerous areas that are likely to have wall ruptures."

"And if a mine shaft we're in does rupture?" Asané said with a lowered voice, already knowing the response.

"Well, we'll be barbecued...." Alluria smiled sarcastically, though it was a genuine concern, "But we to stay on guard, we have to help everyone we can.... Though it's likely we won't be able to help everyone....."

"Ok," Amelia nodded, though suddenly she felt uncertain. But something was pulling her onwards...as if drawing her into the mine. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was though.

"Can you feel that?" she asked the others, though from the looks on their faces, she could pretty much tell already that they couldn't. For some reason, something was drawing her towards the mines. Casting a sideways glance at Alluria, Amelia wondered if this had anything to do with her, but quickly shrugged it side.

"Alright then...lead the way...ready when you are."

Qurhon and Alluria led the way, followed by Amelia and Asané. The four of them were trying to reach the railing transport system which would lead to the mines themselves. It was a tricky thing to get on that transport, but necessary nonetheless. It was heavily guarded by Stormtroopers with a special armour that protected them against the climate. The alloy of the armour was thicker which offered more protection against volcano eruptions, though it couldn't protect them completely.

Hiding in the shadows behind the rocks, Qurhon waved his hand, which caused some rocks to fall apart. This drew the attention of one Stormtrooper who got suspicious and decided to check out where this sound was coming from. Unfortunately for the bastard he found himself unconscious in a few seconds.
Not a minute after Qurhon found himself in the armour, which was the first part of the plan. Now they just had to find a way to get themselves on the transport.

Qurhon's idea was to get on the transports by disguising the rest of the Jedi team into slaves. As women were suppressed by the Empire, it wouldn't be hard to believe especially for Alluria who came from a planet where women were born to be slaves.

They did not have a moment to lose in infiltrating the mines, disguising themselves as best they could, they reached the interior of the mines itself, passing some of the troopers in their disguises as well as being able to hide their lightsabers from them. That was the easy part, now the most difficult was yet to begin.

Asané gasped, realizing the heat inside the mines, "Oh my flipping god..... You could fry eggs in here..... I'm quite hungry actually...."

"Well it will have to wait...." Alluria said seriously as they stood before four dark tunnels going into the mines, she checked the map in the holo-projector, "The two left are breached, wouldn't advise going down there unless you want to be scarred for life. So it's the two right tunnels...." She focused for a moment, thinking intensely as she looked into the darkness of one of the tunnels, she then looked to Qurhon, "We should go down that one." She said pointing, signifying to him that it was the quickest route to Amelia's brother, and ultimately her test, "Common, let's go, keep your wits about you...."

Amelia was glad she'd chosen a low necked robe....she was already sweating, and a high collar would have made her feel like she was being suffocated.

"I hope you know where you're going," she muttered to Alluria, trying to keep away from the burning hot walls as best as possible. Though she accidentally brushed against the wall once and yelped in pain, sucking her burn finger.

"Jeez! HOT!" She whimpered. "Ok...I just decided I don't like this place."

In some way, Qurhon felt the most comfortable as his stormtrooper outfit could resist this climate, however it did feel a bit clumsy to move in and his eyesight was a bit limited. He kept it on in case they would run into other stormtroopers or even officers, though they barely were seen in the mines as they didn't wear protection.

In the mines they saw another example of how cruel the Empire was. They were treating the slaves like animals and had to survive here with almost no water at all. The supply of water was really small and everyday slaves died because of the harsh climate.

Qurhon asked to Alluria, "Do you know where were suppose to head to?!". Whispering this he got more cautious as he saw more stormtroopers guarding the tunnels. What were they going to do? Slash them down to free those slaves or did Alluria have something else in mind?

Alluria walked closer to Qurhon, whispering to him so that Asané and especially Amelia could not hear her, "We have to head to the northern section of the mine, that's where we need to start, for 'her' sake. It won't be long now, I can sense he is not far off, this will be a great test for her, and we cannot influence her. No matter her choice, we will help the others escape, but if she chooses to only help 'him' then it is her decision.... You lead the way, keep an eye out for us...." She said, knowing it was better for him to go ahead as he was less conspicuous in the stormtrooper armour.

"Are you both all right?" She asked looking back to Asané and Amelia.

Asané had sweat dripping from her forehead, "Oh just peachy..... Dreaming about Hoth....."

"I'd actually prefer to be here than Hoth," Amelia replied, pushing the sweaty strands of hair away from her eyes. Then she thought for a moment, before changing her mind, as the hair stubbornly stuck to her face once more.

"Actually....Hoth sounds pretty good right about now. All that snow, and the cold, and the ice and no fire or lava...just snow and.....cold....and...." her voice trailed off as she ran out of 'cold' words to use, to describe the ice planet.

"And is it just me, or does this place feel familiar? Well...something in this place does....or 'someone' at least. Yet I can't quite place my finger on who or why."

She shrugged, obviously not thinking that much of it, and continued to obediently follow the others towards the northern section, swiping the soaked strands of hair from her eyes every now and then, and wishing she'd actually bothered to tie it back before coming here.

The heat and the sweat was unbearable enough as it was, without sticky, sweaty hair in her face too. She must have looked a right sight. Though not as bad as these poor slaves they kept coming across.

She wondered why they weren't helping these people first...but then she guessed they must be starting at the far end of the mines and working their way back. Well that was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with anyways.

Qurhon did as Alluria instructed and walked to the northern section of the mines. He couldn't use his senses as he had no connection to the person in question, but he knew that Alluria and Amelia would have their senses clear on this guy. He wondered if Amelia could already sense who this was all about, namely her brother. It was hard to tell who it could be. He saw some resemblances in the slaves to Amelia, but there were already a few who did look similar to Amelia, however if they indeed had found him, he was sure Alluria would notify him about that. He saw the differences in sex and race through the slaves, but finding this guy on his own would have been impossible for Qurhon. Luckily they managed to pass through the guarding stormtroopers with ease. Qurhon's voice sounded pretty similar to the stormtroopers who were actually clones. He could imitate the same type of accent the oldest clones had, namely the clones of the infamous bounty hunter, Jango Fett. He never had any contact with the bounty hunter, but he knew the oldest clones were clones of him and that imitating his voice wouldn't be that difficult. Suddenly Alluria notified Qurhon they were really getting close. Qurhon felt a little more tense, though he tried to remain calm. Once they would find him, Amelia's final trial would begin and it would demand a lot out of the Jedi to start this rescue operation.

As they turned one of the corners, they finally encountered a large group of slaves who were using tools, both natural and electronic to mine for the minerals.

Alluria turned to Qurhon, "This is it...." She knew that he understood more what she meant with that statement, "Everyone take it easy, this is where things will start getting dangerous."

Asané glanced over to the men, women and children who were working, their bodies scarred and sweaty, "Geez, I had no idea it would be this bad...."

"Me neither....look at them...poor sods," Amelia muttered in agreement as she looked to each and every slave. Over in the far corner, she saw one man with his back to them, using some sort of machine to drill into the wall. His shirt was ripped and falling apart in places from the harsh conditions, showing off the scars beneath, and as she shifted a little...only ever so slightly, she saw the scar beneath one of the rips on his shoulder glisten.

Doing a double take, she realised that she wasn't seeing flesh beneath the material, like she'd expected, and stepped forwards for a closer look, just as the man turned round.

Amelia blushed when he caught her looking, and was about to apologize when she froze completely. Her heart skipped several beats and she didn't blink for several seconds.

Opposite her, the man seemed to be having a similar reaction. It was like looking at a painting, or a frozen image. Neither moved...not even to breathe.

Slowly, he stood up, a little awkwardly because of the intense stress and strain his body had been put under recently. He'd been seriously overworked...as had all the other slaves here. But Amelia wasn't looking at them. She had eyes for only one man.

His brow was furrowed as he tried to comprehend the situation, giving her a moment to take in his disheveled appearance, and the worn, tired features beneath the wild, unkempt beard. He looked a mess, and he knew it. But right then, he didn't care either.

"Jude?" she hesitantly asked after what felt like a lifetime.

"Mia?" he replied, equally as hesitantly.

Pausing when she nodded, he watched as a slow smile played at the corners of her mouth. He, however, couldn't believe his eyes. He could only stare in stunned disbelief and shock, at his sister....who had grown and changed so much since he'd last seen her. For a start, she was blonde...but that didn't matter. He could worry about details later. What mattered was what the hell she was doing here! She was the last person he'd ever have expected to see, especially down here!

After what felt like an eternity, Amelia made the first move, breaking into a run as she started towards him, at the far end of the walkway they were both standing on. After a second, Jude began to run too. He was weighed down somewhat by his injuries, and the thick restraining cuffs round his wrists that marked him as a slave, but Amelia more than made up for that, sprinting towards him like there was nothing else in the world she wanted more - her expression one of pure exhilaration.

Perhaps it was because they were both so focused on reaching each other that they did not see a stormtrooper move out of the shadows until the last moment. Or perhaps Amelia had simply mistaken him for Qurhon in her haste to reach her brother.

"Halt!" The trooper commanded, raising his rifle and aiming it first at Amelia, then at Jude. Amelia saw him and gasped in horror, reaching hurriedly for her saber, but unable to slow because of her momentum. Jude turned slightly as he ran, but too late. The stormtrooper shot at him and although the blast only skimmed his chest, his weakened state - thanks to the harsh conditions in the mines - caused him to trip and stumble, sending him crashing to the ground.

Amelia acted out of instinct and threw her saber, impaling the stormtrooper through the chest. Then as quickly as she'd thrown it, she was calling it back to her hand again, in case the trooper wasn't alone. But this worry was quickly pushed aside as she reached her brother. Dumping her saber on the floor, and dropping to her knees beside him, she cradled his head in her hands, not caring about anything else but him.

"I've got you. It missed you. Look!" She said, smiling shakily. "It's me, Jude."

Jude was just about conscious - though he managed to smile through his pain, so absolutely content just to be able to see her again.

"Mia..."

"Hi..." she whispered in reply, her voice barely audible, even to her own ears.

"Long time no see..." Jude muttered weakly, as he looked up to her.

"Yeah. Been busy, you know..." Amelia replied a little sarcastically, as though his suggestion had been putting things mildly. But then Jude convulsed in her arms, and she gasped, suddenly frantic. "Don't die," she whimpered. "Oh, my God, don't die! Please don't die. Please...don't leave me now!"

Looking up to her friends, she desperately fought back the tears. "Help him! Please!"

Despite all this, however, she hadn't forgotten about the other slaves, who had all stopped working and were watching the scene silently.

Looking from her wounded brother to the other terrified slaves, Amelia quickly made up her mind.

"Get him back to the ship...I'll free this lot, then join you."

Forcing herself away from her brother, she stood and flicked her saber on, using it to carefully but quickly break open the restraints on each of the slave's wrists.

"Hurry!" she told them. "Follow my friends. They'll lead you to safety....GO!"

"Let's put him in a stormtrooper outfit. He's a guy. It could make his escape easier." Qurhon proposed.

Amelia nodded and they stripped the dead trooper from his armour and helped Jude to wear it, though it was pretty difficult considering his condition.

"Okay, now we'll try to work our way out. Let's just hope we'll get out as fast as we got in this mess."

Qurhon gave a suspicious look to Alluria. It showed that he was concerned and not only about Jude, but Amelia too.

While they walked their way out, they had an unfortunate encounter with another stormtrooper who was patrolling through the mines.

"Halt, where are you going?! Shouldn't one of you guard the northern section?!" He asked.

"I think we have a problem, his armour is malfunctioning. The heat is causing him problems." Qurhon replied referring to Jude who had difficulty walking with the armour. The lie that his armour was "malfunctioning" was the best idea he could think of, the best excuse why he was walking a little awkward.

The stormtrooper nodded, "Okay, well just take him to the medical bay and provide him with another armour and see to it he returns as fast as possible. In the mean time I'll find someone else to guard the northern section. But in the future ask for replacement instead of immediately wandering off!" The stormtrooper said in a dominating voice pretending he was higher in rank.

"Will do, I'll see you later." Qurhon said obedient to flatter the stormtrooper hoping he would allow them to pass now.

The stormtrooper nodded, but he wasn't ready yet with them, "You're a clone aren't you. One of the elder ones who were cloned from that infamous bounty hunter... Never thought they would sent an old clone like you to guard this dump. Isn't it pretty hard for a guy your age, gramps!" He asked in disrepect as he looked down on clones especially the ones from Jango Fett.

"Well I guess they needed more people with.... 'experience' and the older you get the more experience you have so don't underestimate us." Qurhon said in his defence.

The stormtrooper felt offended but he was too proud to reply to what Qurhon just said, "Well off you go, old man!"

Qurhon nodded and felt some small relief he was finally allowed to pass. Though suddenly the stormtrooper stopped them again.

"Wait! Where are you taking these two slaves?!" He asked suspiciously.

"These two slaves are responsible for the malfunctioning of this trooper's armour. I have to punish them! I'm taking them to the detention blocks." Qurhon replied hoping this excuse would work.

"Is your memory fading with age old man?! You know when these lowlifes try to escape or perform any assault of any kind, they should punished on the spot!" The stormtrooper said pointing his blaster to Alluria first. Qurhon grabbed his lightsaber with the Force, first slashing through the stormtrooper's blaster. He probably knew now for sure Qurhon wasn't just some mere trooper who served the Empire.

He gave him a Force Push and he crashed against the rocky walls. Qurhon ran over to him, finding out he was just unconscious. Maybe it would be a wise idea to kill the trooper who just witnessed the attempt to escape these mines, but he just couldn't kill an unarmed man.

"We have to hurry before that trooper gets to conscious! Let's proceed and fast!" Qurhon said in a hurry.

Just at that moment, the ground under their feet began to shake violently with a bubbling roar that was deafening. Alluria stopped for a moment before looking back down the mine tunnel they had come from, to hear terrible cries and screams of agony, both slaves and Imperial workers alike. The darkness of the rock seemed to glow from an unknown light further back in the mines from where they had come from, a light yellow, almost orange glow. That was when it hit her,

"Oh no..... Common, we have to go right now!!! Everyone, common. MOVE RIGHT NOW!!!" She shouted in desperation, not just to those in her party but everyone who could hear her voice, "RUN!!!" She screamed out once again just in time to turn her head back to see a splashing wave of lava spill around the corner of the mine shaft.

Alluria let Qurhon lead the way while she waited for Amelia, Jude and Asané to run past her so she could keep an eye on them specifically. Even though the powerful wave was still a fair distance off, the heat was already scalding on the skin, and it was gaining momentum.

Grabbing to her holo-projector while running for her life, she checked the map to where they were, they had to find a section of the mine that was still shielded, "QURHON!!!! GO LEFT!!! RIGHT HERE!!!!!"

They all darted through the think black metallic door, as Alluria hit the switch for it to close behind them, and not a moment too soon. For the time being they were safe, but their original escape route was lost, and many slaves which they were meant to help had been killed, but still a great number stood with them now, and there were more further in the mines to be rescued.

"Right, we can't go to the southern or eastern wings. If we can find a terminal that would be fantastic cause I have no idea how much damage that breach is going to do. We could be trapped......" She then looked to Jude, though he was in a terrible state, he no doubt knew these mines like the back of his hand. She walked over to him, holding her hand to his forehead as she helped calm him through the Force, "Jude, we need your help. You know the likely path that lava wave took, and you probably know more than any where the best way out is, and where there will be people we can help. Help us help them....." Her voice remained calm and soothing, though in actuality she was very concerned about the situation they had found themselves in.

Jude, who had been leaning heavily upon his sister until that point, forced himself to stand up a little straighter as Alluria addressed him, and pulled off the stormtrooper's helmet.

"Easy," Amelia warned him, shifting a little so that she could support his weight better. Jude winced and nodded, but still did his best to stand straight, aided a little by Alluria's Force calming.

"May I see the map?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Taking the holo-projector from Alluria, he studied it for a moment, then nodded.

"We follow this tunnel to the end, where there's a junction. Left takes you back to the railroad system...right goes further into the mines. Which is the way we might have to go..."

"How come?" Amelia asked, looking to the map for herself. "Can't we just take these people down the left, leave them at the railroad thingy, then go back for the people down the right tunnel?"

"No..." Jude sighed, shaking his head. "That lava will probably...and there's about an 80% chance that it has...but it will probably flow through the service tunnels and cut off the path to the left. The only way to find out is when we get there."

"Ok....well let's just get there first then, yeah?" she smiled, adjusting his arm that was slung across her shoulder. "Blimey! How much do you weigh?!" She knew it was most probably the stormtrooper armour that was weighing him down, but even so...

"So you're a Jedi huh?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Why not?"

"Because it's confusing when you do. And I'm not a Jedi yet...well, not a proper one. Just a learner. A Padawan. Alluria's my Master." This last part was said very proudly, as Amelia nodded to Alluria, with a huge smile, despite the situation.

"Learner...Jedi...same difference. You still got a laser sword."

"Lightsaber."

"Whatever." He turned awkwardly then, towards the other three Jedi. "Jude Fitzwalter...pleased to meet you."

"Come on, you heavy lump, introductions later, when we're not in danger of being lava'd to death. Let's go. Lead the way," Amelia grinned, cutting in before any of the others could reply, and rolling her eyes at her brother.

Over four years of who knew what kind of suffering, weeks of harsh beatings and terrible struggles in these mines and a laser blast to the chest, and he still hadn't changed one bit!

"Lava'd? Did you just make that up?" Jude laughed, then winced as Amelia started to physically drag him along the corridor to get him moving.

"Hey, look, I'm trying to save your life here," she retorted, using the Force to help her shift him, because he really was starting to become a dead weight.

I hope he literally doesn't become a 'dead' weight, she thought worriedly to herself, but she didn't express this opinion aloud, although she was sure the others would probably feel it through the Force anyways. Still...she couldn't help the way she felt...especially not when it concerned her own brother.