Chapter 18

Jasper wasn't quite sure why he volunteered for this job, he didn't know to much about the war, except he was a pretty good scout ... when he knew what was going on. He was impulsive, and he trusted his intuition�"relied on it. So, he didn't retract his statement, and now they were flying through the sky on their way to the southern front. But since he saw that guy something seemed off. Jasper didn't like it.

He could see that Coal was confused by his earlier statement, but he didn't elaborate. Soon they were landing in a jungly area, with purple leaves and black soil.

"So..." Coal was looking around incredulously, "Where to now?"

"When we hit the tree-line, we should see." Kasparov frowned.

"See what?" Coal complained.

"Do not question, merely follow." Kasparov spared him a condescending look.

Coal glanced at Jasper, who merely shrugged. Kasparov began leading the way, and ... they followed. Jasper at first was trying to keep where they were going straight in his head, but after a while it became too confusing. He thought he had a vague idea of where they left their ships, and was hoping that Coal was having better luck. Soon he began looking around in more earnest.

Even as they walked through the jungle, it began to get thinner and thinner. Then they reached the tree-line, just as Kasparov had said. They could see everything.

Below them a battle was waging, that was for sure. But decoy though it obviously was, it was still a fight. Jasper felt kind of bad for the Jedi's fighting below him, they would not receive any help. The higher-ups had decided to fortify the Northern front, but they wouldn't pull them out, just in case. He sighed and began looking for the Sith's headquarters, where they would be able to determine their plans, if they could actually get in there.

After some observation, Coal pointed to the right, "There's a lot of underground heat over there. I don't think that's natural."

Jasper chuckled, "That might be a good place to start then." He began walking, then thought better of it, "Perhaps you should lead the way."

"Sure, I guess." Coal obviously hated leading, Jasper could see the color change that indicated stress.

"Well, I can't sense heat," Jasper pointed out.

"Have you ever tried?" Coal asked sarcastically, and Jasper watched as he closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "This way." His eyes were now a little bit more on fire, but not in an angry way.

"So, what exactly is the not natural heat like?" Jasper asked while they walked.

"It is natural." Coal laughed, "It's accumulated body heat! What's not natural about it is that it is coming from under the ground."

"Oh... I suppose there are no big houses with basements around here. So, lots of people in a tunnel... A bunch of cowards hiding from the battle, or..."

"Headquarters," Coal agreed.

"Well that's certainly using your head, Sherlock!" Jasper grinned.

"Who?" Coal asked.

"Sherlock Holmes... he's a detective in a book. He's, well, ... really good at deductions, but usually his name is used sarcastically. But I guess you can always take it as a compliment if you want."

"So, ..." Coal turned around, stopping Jasper short, "You just insulted me?"

"No. Um ... Sherlock Holmes can tell where you've been recently just by looking at your boots," Jasper tried to change the subject.

"Whatever." Coal rolled his eyes, "No one can do that." He turned and began walking again.

Jasper shrugged, "Maybe. But maybe not. He would say the same thing about you."

"But you said he was from a book," Coal pointed out.

"Well yeah, but he was based on a real guy," Jasper argued.

"Did the real guy do all of that?" Coal's tone of voice suggested that he was genuinely interested as they began going uphill.

"I don't know," Jasper frowned. "I just know he was based on someone real... When I get home, I'm going to look it up."

"Sounds good." Coal stopped, "We're right above it now, and that means the entrance is nearby. I can't just find it, but I'll know it when I see it.

"Um... Before we go down there, you two may want to fit in," Jasper suggested.

"What?" Coal started, then looked down at himself, cracking a smile, "Oh, yeah." Jasper watched with fascination as Coal conjured up fire all around himself. When it was gone, he was wearing an outfit a lot like Jasper's, and yet there was a red cloak, and his Starfleet uniform could still be partly seen underneath. He then turned to Kasparov, who held up a dark hand,
"I'll stay and wait, someone has to look out."

They nodded, "Now let's find the opening to that tunnel," Coal smiled.

"Should we split?" Jasper inquired.

"We would cover more ground." Coal agreed, starting in the other direction.

Jasper was looking for anything that might serve as an entrance underground. He was hoping to find some obvious trap door, or a shack with a large basement. He knew it was unrealistic but eventually found a small cave-like opening. He shouted for Coal, who confirmed it as the entrance.

"Hopefully there's no security guards who ask for identification to make sure we're old enough to get in," Jasper joked as they stared at the uninviting darkness before them.

"Yeah, I'm sick of security." Coal took it in all seriousness.

"I think that joke was lost on you," Jasper complained. "Anyways, no security would be nice. Let's get on with this."

"Agreed." Coal formed in his hand what for all the world looked like a saber hilt.

Jasper pulled out his saber but hoped that they wouldn't have to use force (so to speak). He was a good fighter, and if Coal was even a fraction as good as Kett, then he was too. But Jasper wasn't arrogant enough to think they could fight their way out of this if things went south. They had to do this right.

"Halt." The word wasn't usually so nerve wracking, but in this case, it made Jasper tense and Coal jump almost involuntarily.

"Why are you so jumpy?" the same voice asked. The source of the voice was wearing dark robes, and had as dark of an aura as Jasper had seen. But he was also alone, and Jasper could sense that he wasn't the most powerful guy out there.

"I'm nervous," Coal admitted.

The man laughed. "Then maybe you should reconsider the mission," he said rudely. "Then again, I hear deserting is worse."

Jasper really hated people who enjoyed other's misery and pain. "I wouldn't ever think of deserting," Coal said coldly.

"Too bad," the man grinned wickedly. Jasper was ready to punch him in the nose. A year ago he probably would have, but he restrained himself.

"That's not what your leaving for?" Jasper asked.

"Of course not."

"Too bad," Jasper repeated. He was feeling slightly dark next to the guy, and it seemed to show. The man glared at them as they continued walking. Friendly army.

"He was..." Coal trailed off.

Jasper nodded, "I think I may be getting sick. Ah, his aura made my skin crawl. I get physically sick being around people like that unless I'm fighting."

Coal frowned, "Then why did you volunteer us for this mission?"

Jasper shrugged, which didn't seem to reassure Coal. "I'm really not sure," he confided.

Coal nodded, "Great... We're coming close to everyone else. I guess we're going to find out what this 'mission' is. Think it has to do with what we came here for?"

"Most definitely. Hopefully we can get back out safely."

Coal nodded, "Here goes nothing."

They entered the underground chamber and were met with the heat and overwhelming senses of a large crowd. Jasper suppressed the urge to hurl, the room seemed so dark. He straightened, and smiled slightly at Coal. The room was oddly quiet, Jasper realized. Something important was going to happen soon. He spotted a woman on a pedestal up front. The leader. Jasper had no idea who she was, he set to memorizing her looks, hoping Pender would know who she is. He also was studying her aura.

When she began to speak her voice was musical and Jasper could see how she became leader. For a moment he forgot to listen to what she was saying and what they were here for.

"What a witch." Apparently Coal had been listening.

Jasper nodded and began to try to listen to her words. She was complimenting the room, how brave they were, and then in the same breath turned to almost innocent insults. Jasper didn't really care about that, but he did perk up when she began outlining the mission.
"A team of... volunteers, will strike the Jedi base while we keep them occupied at their polar front..."

"We're volunteering, am I right?" Coal muttered the question, slightly sardonically.

"Probably." Jasper shrugged slightly, still intent on her terrible lovely words.

"While they are occupying the elite Jedi in the very heart of their base, we will attack with the rest of you on their weak defenses to the north." Her well formed lips twisted into a radically evil expression, "They of course won't be prepared for it. They've fallen easily into our trap, and assume that this front is a decoy, we all know the truth." Now she showed her perfect teeth as she smiled even wider, "The only Jedi who knew about the truth were killed before they could get back with it. Isn't that a pity?"

"I wonder how that happened," Coal said under his breath. Jasper was kind of hoping he would quit talking. And then realized that maybe he needed Coal to keep commenting. It took his mind off of the disgusting auras oozing throughout the room.

"All those who have been chosen, or would like to volunteer, meet me in the council chamber in five minutes," she smiled lovingly. Jasper knew that there would be a lot of men going just because of her.

The crowd began to break up a little. Jasper nudged Coal, to ask him if he thought if they should leave or volunteer when he saw the man.

He was the only other one in the room besides Coal who's aura wasn't completely tainted with the Dark force. Which for some reason wasn't really reassuring. So when Coal turned to him, Jasper merely pointed.

"Is that the same guy we saw earlier?" Coal asked dryly.

Jasper nodded, "I'm really not liking this."

"What are you looking at?!" The man snarked, his dirty blonde brows drawing together angrily.

They both turned around rather than replying. "So, what should we do?" Jasper asked after a moment.

"I don't know, but I feel like roasting him right there." Coal growled.

Jasper chuckled, "I meant about the mission."

"I know." Coal deflated a little, "Let's just volunteer, I'm sure Kasparov will understand when he sees us."

"But he might not know what's going on. We need to warn Pender," Jasper muttered nervously.

"So we have to somehow tell Kasparov." Coal nodded.

Jasper agreed, "Perhaps we should just leave then."

"No," Coal put a hand on Jasper's shoulder, "This place is obviously making you sick." He gave a small smile, "I'll volunteer, and you go warn Kasparov and Pender." He smiled bigger at Jasper's look, "I'll be fine, your job is harder!" He finally broke into a full fledged grin, before turning and disappearing into the crowd of Sith.

Jasper frowned. He knew Coal could handle himself, but he was worried. There were only so many Siths you could toast at once. He hoped Coal was a better liar than he was, Jasper probably wouldn't have been good at for the job anyway, so he began to make his way toward the exit. He was feeling ill and couldn't wait to break free into fresh air.

He got pushed into a bit as he jumbled through the crowd. He had to return a few shoves before he actually got out, but he made it unchallenged.

Kasparov was well hidden, but Jasper saw a slight glow in the trees that gave him away. Jasper cautiously made his way toward him. "Kasparov, we need to warn Pender immediately!" he hissed.

"What happened to Coal?"

"He ... volunteered for the Sith's mission, hopefully he'll be okay. But we need to warn Pender, both fronts are a decoy, they're planning on going straight to the center."

Kasparov nodded, "Follow me."

Moving quickly through the underbrush, neither of them dared to start running until they couldn't hear anything behind them anymore. Then they burst into action, running full speed.
"Hopefully they don't catch wind of us!" Kasparov didn't sound sure, which didn't really reassure Jasper.

"Hopefully," Jasper muttered. He didn't think they would get off too easily, but one can always hope. But as it can sometimes be, their hope was in vain as blasters began sounding behind them. "Ready to talk or fight our way out?" Jasper asked.

Kasporov managed a sidelong glance through his white hair, his eyes stating his disbelief, "I don't think talking would do much good," he started.

"Yeah, I'm a bad liar," Jasper agreed, cutting him off as he pulled out his saber.
Kasparov pulled out his as well, and nodded at Jasper. They turned together to face the oncoming assailers. Wow. That was a lot of Sith. They streamed down the hill in a wave shooting lasers that Jasper dodged and Kasparov deflected.

"On second thought, maybe we should try for just outrunning them!" Jasper exclaimed.

"I saw you and your friend fight Kale, I'm sure we can defeat them!" Kasparov sounded confident.

"Yeah... But these guys have a ton more backup, there's a whole underground cavern full of Siths vs the two of us. Kale was just one guy."

"I see your point." Kasparov nodded, "I will cover for you, get back with the information."
Jasper nodded solemnly, "Try to make it back. I could use your help navigating." Jasper turned, doing his best to remember his way, and trusting his instincts when his memory failed.

He could still hear the battle raging behind him in the distance, and turned to spare a look in that direction, only to see a couple of Sith following him. He turned slightly, running on a slant and zig zagging. They fired, and missed, but Jasper knew better than to trust that the rest would be misses. He dove and rolled into a group of bushes, and began to try to lose them.
After glancing back a couple of times, he decided that that we're tracking him with something, because they were not getting lost!
The ironic thing was that he was the one who was lost, but he kept running anyways. He kept to thick foliage, so even though they were still trailing him, they couldn't fire. Finally he ran into the small clearing with the ship. It was then that he realized that he had no idea how to fly the stupid thing. He jumped in anyways. He always did want to fly a plane, he just hadn't actually planned on piloting anything. He looked the controls all over, and decided to pretend it was a video game, or a car... That flies. He was good at driving... He drove a lot when he and there friends were on the run. They all freaked out a little since he was only fourteen... Hopefully he could manage to circle back and find Kasparov, so he could fly them out. He found the control to turn it on, and found how to lift it in the air. He quickly got a grasp for up, down, left, and right. Well, here went nothing.

Obviously it was something though, because he shot straight up at least 50 feet before he leveled out, and those two were still shooting at him. Great! He pulled swiftly forward, surprised at how sensitive the controls were, he was going fast!


He had failed to find the brakes, but he pulled back, and was able to slow down. Now to just find Kasporov. He spotted a skirmish, away from the main battle. He started to descend, attempting to take out Kasporov's assailers with the ship. He more or less succeeded. He waved to Kasporov, a huge grin breaking over his face. Talk about an adrenaline rush! Kasporov smiled back, ran and got in.

"You took a long time. I believe I fought half the army."

"Yeah, yeah, take the controls."

"I was going to." Kasparov's sour and serious personality seemed to have lessened up considerably since their first meeting. Jasper smiled as he carefully traded Kasporov places. The going was much easier with Kasporov flying. "What happened?" the alien questioned.

"There was a girl who gave a speech, and asked for volunteers for a mission to go straight to the center of the Jedi's base. She spoke like a siren." Jasper described her, Kasporov listened intently, but shook his head after.

"I don't know who she is, but this information is of the utmost importance. Coal volunteered for this mission?"

"Yes, I left so we can warn Pender... and I was feeling sick. I don't think I could have stayed down there another moment."

"You're sick?" Kasparov shifted slightly away from him.

"Not anymore," Jasper chuckled at his reaction.

"That is good." Kasparov relaxed, "And Coal, he was not sick?"
"No..." Jasper frowned. "He's not as... Susceptible to dark energy as I am."

Kasparov nodded, "I see... Yet I heard that you were on the dark side for a while."
"That was a lie," Jasper smiled slightly, "Created to explain our sudden appearance, and my clothing..." he frowned. "Maybe I'll tell you about it on the way."

"I will listen." Came the patient reply. The next part could be complicated, but they were safe. Jasper just hoped that Coal was okay.

Author's Note

aaand here's another one!! :)