A New Player in the Force

With a groan, I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness in my new location.

I was inside a small room, with only a single door providing any light via a small match in the middle. There was no other way out of the room, and I was chained to one of the walls via my right wrist. It wasn't enough to stop me from moving around the room, but it looked like it would prevent me from reaching the door.

A quick check of my interface showed that my FP was full, though I was down 27HP. Thankfully, Force Heal was at a high enough level now that I could manage that in a single go, though it did drain most of my FP.

After meditating to restore one hundred per cent of FP, I opened a blinking notice in my interface.

You were stunned!

Sadly, you are not skilled/trained/old enough to resist a stun blast.

…

I grunted at the text. I had already figured out what had happened. Though the hint that if I was strong/skilled enough, I could resist being stunned was intriguing.

I was pissed at going down without a fight, but I figured the two who were behind me in the street had approached while I was distracted with the men in front and stunned me; the small amount of damage I had suffered was probably a side effect of them using a cheap stun prod.

I was also annoyed that Danger Sense hadn't given me any hint until I remembered that it only warned that there was a threat within a certain distance around me and if bloodlust was detected. It had warned me about the four men, as the skill was meant to, but details of any actual attack happening were beyond what the skill could do currently, or it was something that was meant to be covered by Precognition that hadn’t yet been unlocked.

Provided I managed to escape from wherever I was now, I would learn from the mistake and make sure to activate Precognition before any situation that I knowingly walked into or whenever Danger Sense gave me a warning. As it was doing now in listing a dozen or so threats within its current range.

A quick search of my pockets found them empty, and the emergency beacon in my boot was also gone. I opened my Inventory, but before I could reach in for a weapon – be it one of the lightsabers or a kitchen knife I had stashed away for just this occurrence – the sound of an old-fashioned metal lock scrapping open was heard.

The door opened, and the room was bathed in a bright light that had me raising a hand to shield my eyes as into the room stepped a large, green-skinned Duros stepped into the room.

"Ah, welcome young one," the Duros drawled out as he knelt in front of me. "My name is Zir."

"Why am I here?" I demanded, acting out the part of a scared but trying-to-act tough child. I needed to know about my location before I escaped.

Zir chuckled softly. "You are here, little one, as we need to convince your uncle on a certain matter." He stood and moved towards the door. "Sadly, we were forced to have you stay with us as he failed to see reason. Perhaps with your cooperation, he will do so."

"Go fuck a Hutt," I replied, which drew a chuckle from Zir.

"Such colourful vocabulary for one so young. But then again, you are from the Rim; not like the others." He shook his head and tutted a few times. "My other guests have grown predictable and stale."

"What about the Jedi brats?" a voice from outside the room asked. All I could tell was it was a male, speaking Basic without the slight accent of Zir. Any other details were hidden by the fact the door was now partially closed.

"Yes, the Jedi children have made things more interesting," Zir replied to the voice. "I wonder how long the female will take to break. The male broke far too easily for my liking."

The voice laughed as Zir turned back to face me, a smile that held nothing but trouble for me on his face. "Perhaps you will last longer than that one. Though I would prefer to return you to your uncle intact and unharmed, how your stay goes is entirely up to the Senator."

I said nothing, seeing no need for further talking.

"No comeback this time? Hmm. Smart. I think I may need to keep an eye on you." He said, fixing me with a stare before leaving; the door closing and locking not long after.

Once I was sure I was alone, I pulled up a quest notice.

Quest Updated!

Children in Shadow [ƍ]

Rating: B

Objectives:

Hold your cover until the end of the assignment or until you locate the kidnappers. [Yes]

Find a way to escape from the kidnappers or alert the authorities.

Bonus: ?

Bonus: ?

Bonus: ?

Rewards:

1000XP

1500XP

Failure:

-800XP

Possible permanent injury or dismemberment.

…

I examined the quest carefully. This was the first time I had had one of my quests evolve. However, I had been warned about that when the mission had been given to me by the High Council and the interface generated the quest.

The main objective had changed – I had passed the first objective in locating the kidnappers – as had the rating, and now I had to find a way to escape or call in the cavalry, which I had been planning to do before the Duros came into my cell. It had also gained two new bonus objectives, so there were some things I had to do before I escaped or call for help.

Curious about the new bonuses, I cast Detection. While I couldn't be sure where on the planet I was, I now knew there were about four dozen beings within a few hundred metres of me.

Two shone brighter and were blinking; indications of them being strong with the Force and trained. The others were spread out in pairs or trios with the largest gathering being fifteen. Without a map of where I was, I could only guess that this group was either in their barracks, a common area or some combination of both.

Ten of the beings had much weaker dots which meant that they were droids as that was how they appeared when detected.

What had me frowning, however, was the fact that nothing else was being detected, and Detection currently had a range of just over 5 kilometres. That meant that we were either in a deserted part of Coruscant – which seemed unlikely on a planet with a population numbering in the hundreds of billions – or I was no longer on the planet.

I put concerns about where exactly I was out of my head as I examined the readings from Detection.

Nine of the lifeforms were near my cell, with seven of those in two parallel lines; and I was in one of those lines.

The last two were stationary near on end of the lines, suggesting they were guards.

The two Padawans were being held near each other, maybe a hundred metres from my location, and close by were a half dozen sentients and two droids between me. Other droids were seemingly wandering the location, some with a pair of sentients and others by themselves.

My mind began to wonder how the kidnappers had managed to subdue the two Padawans. Even without their lightsabers, they should have been able to escape from any attackers and alert the Temple. Then again, I had been captured and the kidnappers didn't even realise I was a Jedi so perhaps the Padawans had been taken before it was realised that they were Jedi.

I also found myself wondering just when the other Padawans had been taken, as Zir had suggested that they'd had a male for long enough for him to break. Since a few of the rescued children from before I went undercover had been traumatized, I hadn't considered that these people would be willing to torture a child, but it appeared I had been wrong. A growl escaped my throat and I decided that before I tried to escape this place, I was going to free the other Padawans; the other children too if it would help.

That probably met two of the bonus conditions to the updated quest, but that was secondary to my thinking.

Activating Force Sight, I looked around the room carefully. While it wouldn't let me see through walls, with it now in the Adept range, I could track power currents within objects. That, in theory, was a great way to discover hidden cameras or other devices, as I had discovered in my room at Palpatine's.

The room I was in was empty, heck there were no power conduits of any kind within the walls, which meant I was not being monitored.

Their mistake.

A quick use of Phase had me free of the chain, a short, five-minute meditation had my FP fully restored and figuring that I might need the boost, I quickly raised my Strength, Agility and Vitality to 16, which left me with two spare stat points for later use. This boosted my HP, STAM and damage done from unarmed combat.

Activating Detection again, I re-scanned the area near my cell. The guards did not move for a minute, so seeing my chance, I Phased through the door. A quick blast with Force Sight confirmed the area held no cameras or microphones.

Now certain the area wasn't being monitored, I grabbed both guards with TK and pulled them down the corridor, slamming them hard into the wall at the end of the corridor.

They impacted with a loud crash, and the crushing, cracking sound they emitted upon impact told me at least one of them was now dead.

Quickly moving them towards me with more TK, I use the auto-loot function to unarm them, gaining two blasters, a knife, a few hundred credits, a pair of commlinks and critically, a keycard.

While none of the other sentients or the droids reacted to the noise, the children in the other cells staying quiet, I used the keycard to unlock my cell, lifted the two men inside and then locked the door quickly and quietly before pulling the knife and one of the blasters out of my inventory.

I did consider using one of my spare lightsabers, but I realised that doing so would lead to questions from the Jedi as to how I managed to hide such a weapon to prevent the kidnappers from finding it. Still, if things got difficult, it was enough to grab one to use.

A glance at my interface showed I had just over 4300FP. That was a decent amount, but if I was engaged in combat, I might have an issue if it ran out.

After making sure that no guard was coming my way, I slipped back into my cell, ignored the smell from the bodies as one of them had expelled their bowels when they had hit the wall, and meditated for a few minutes to restore my FP.

Once done, I reactivated Detection and stepped back out of the cell.

A few of the sentients and droids had moved, but most were in the same general locations as before.

Moving slowly, I reached the end of the cell corridor and certain that the adjoining corridor was clear, I poked my head out a fraction and used Force Sight to make sure this corridor was free of cameras and listening devices, which it was.

Either the kidnappers did not take the threat of a child escaping seriously, or they were not concerned if one did get free of their cell. That lent credence to the idea I was on a starship, but there was no hum of the engines that I had felt on other ships. Perhaps the ship was stationary, but until I found a viewport or located a computer terminal, I had no way to be sure.

Turning in the direction of the other Jedi, I moved quietly down the corridor until I came to a cross-junction.

The Jedi were to my left, about ten metres away, but appeared to be in separate rooms on opposite sides of the corridor.

The one closest to me was alone but the other had two sentients in with them. Two guards were stationary at what I had to assume was the far end of that corridor while another two were close enough to me that I was surprised that I couldn't hear the muffled sounds of their voices while a pair of droids were patrolling up and down the corridor.

The other side of my corridor led to the common area where more than a dozen living beings were gathered while the corridor heading away from the Jedi corridor led to an area with three sentients and two droids. One of the lone droids was just outside of that area, the other was at the far side of the Jedi corridor near where two sentients were stationary.

I frowned as I realised that those two beings had not moved at all. All the others had shifted around a little, sometimes no more than half a metre, but those two were stationary.

Knowing exactly where everyone was, I could make a rough plan on how to take out my kidnappers, but without a detailed layout of my location, I ran the chance of getting cornered or ambushed.

With the help of the two other Padawans, I stood a better chance. Taking out six guards and a pair of droids without alerting everyone else in the place to what was happening was difficult, but not impossible.

With a small smile, I phased my head through the wall I was against and glanced around the room with Force Sight.

The small cupboard-like room I was now in again had no cameras, but I frowned as I slipped through the wall.

According to Detection, I should be no more than a metre from the unguarded Jedi, yet there was no one in the room with me.

Then it dawned on me and as I moved my minimap to show the vertical, I saw that Detection placed everything detected on my level. Since there was no Jedi in the room with me, this meant that the Force Power did not take relative elevations into account. I hoped that would change in future otherwise the combat usefulness of Detection would be limited.

"I need to find a computer terminal," I muttered as I looked around the small storage room.

While there was no terminal, there were three small boxes. Using Examine, I quickly discovered that they held various things.

One was full of bacta patches, another held precious gems like rubies and emeralds while the last was full of credits.

A broad grin spread across my face as I realised that I had located some of the kidnapper's riches. I was sure that they would have more stored in other places – the ransoms they had earned from the kidnappings before I went undercover totalled over three million credits – but I wasn't going to ignore my good fortune.

I tried to move the three boxes into my Inventory, only to discover that they were all too large. Thankfully, I could just add the credits to my interface account, which I did. My grin grew as I saw I now had over fifty thousand credits.

I emptied one of the bags of food into the now-empty money crate and filled it with gemstones. I couldn't get all of them inside the bag, but I got most of them. I considered doing the same with another bag of food but decided against it for now as I suspected I might need the food for the other children once they were free.

However, I wasn't going to turn down the bacta patches, and as I pulled one from a box, I Examined it.

Bacta Patch (minor)

Heals 25 HP

[Applied at a rate of 5HP/minute]

A bandage soaked with the substance known as bacta.

It is used in the healing of wounds.

…

NOTE

Bacta patches can only be used to heal 50% of your HP, to a maximum of 150HP, for 24 hours.

…

That was useful, and I slipped a pair into my inventory, only to see them be stacked, which made my grin grow. It was another exploit, and one I took immediate advantage of. Twenty-five bacta patches entered the slot before a new pile in a second slot was formed. Given the rules governing them, I could only use four patches a day currently, but I was certain I'd need them before the day was over.

Leaving the rest of the gems and bacta patches, I glanced at my Detection marked minimap, wondering how many levels there were to this place as I considered my next move.

I could keep moving to the two stationary kidnappers and droid, but they might not be on my level. Alternatively, I could stick my head through the floor and see if the Jedi was below me, but there was no way of knowing exactly how far above or below they were.

"Fuck," I mumbled as I noted my FP was again around 4000. I was starting to regret not taking Enhanced Regeneration instead of Eidetic Memory as my last perk, E-R would've increased my base FP, STAM and PP regeneration speeds by five per cent.

I would have to give it real consideration when I next had a Perk Point to spend.

I took a few minutes to regenerate my FP before phasing through the next wall.

This time the room was empty of boxes, but I smiled as I saw a terminal. My smile turned into a giant grin as I discovered the terminal was powered and not password protected. Quickly I pulled up schematics of my location, which were overlaid by the system onto my minimap.

I was on a small freighter which had two levels. Given the layout I was seeing, the two Jedi were being held below in the main cargo hold while I had started in the port crew quarters, though both locations had been converted into cells by the kidnappers.

Knowing that I used the terminal to determine where the ship was. My grin slipped as I discovered we were no longer on, or near Coruscant. Currently, we were in the Duneeden system, a few hundred lightyears from the galactic capital. That complicated matters, as the emergency beacon I had been given, but which I no longer had, only had a range of a few lightyears.

I activated Enhance Skill, applied it to Computing [Slicing] and attempted to access the external communications array. Sadly, I soon found that my current level of slicing, even with the Force boost, was insufficient to gain access to the comm system from this terminal.

Closing the terminal, and deactivating Enhance Skill, I slipped back through the wall to the other room. There was a chance that someone detected my attempted hack, so leaving the room was the safest course of action.

I stayed still, only using Detection to monitor the movements of the kidnappers. But after a few minutes, none were moving from their current locations, so my actions had not raised an alarm.

A quick meditation later, and after re-activating Detection, I began to move again.

I phased out into the corridor that led to my cell, I moved slowly until I was above a small storage space attached to the engine room.

There were three kidnappers and a pair of droids in the engine room, but none in the storage space.

Phasing through the floor to the room below was a new experience, but it was no different from phasing through a wall, save that I landed inside a shelf.

I quickly moved and unphased, using Examine on the boxes in the room. Sadly, they were either empty or contained spare parts for the engine. I had hoped that this room doubled as either the armoury or another safe, but my luck didn't hold.

After once more restoring my FP via meditation – and once again wishing I had taken the Enhanced Regeneration perk – I eased the door of the storage room open and peeked out.

The three kidnappers were huddled off at the far side of the room, while the two droids – one a small, wheeled droid like on the Death Star, another, three-armed droid – were both stationary in alcoves, seemingly recharging.

I watched as the trio sat around a small table or crate, but I was unable to make out what they were saying only for a new Force notice to appear.

Force Power Discovered!

Enhance Senses

By using the Force, you can improve your senses beyond mortal levels.

…

'That… makes perfect sense and is something I should've thought about trying to do before now.' I thought with a mental grunt.

I had spent so much time training the powers I had, I had not spent any time over the last year developing new powers on my own.

Sure, Fay had taught me Empathic Shield, Beast Control and Force Persuasion, but I had made no effort to develop my own, whether from what I remembered from the movies, cartoons, and games, or my imagination.

Adding a mental note to start doing so once I was alone and somewhere quiet, I activated the new power and listened in on what was being said. Or tried to, as it seemed the power was so weak that I couldn't make out what they were discussing.

I pulled the second blaster from my Inventory, set them both to stun, opened the door a little further, and took aim.

The three beings – two Humans, one Sullustan – were a greater threat than the idle droids, so with three rapid shots, all fell from their stools as I turned and aimed at the droids, flicking the blasters to lethal force.

As they began to move, I opened fire, striking both droids cleanly before they could leave their alcoves.

I glanced at the minimap and saw that no-one had reacted to the shots; the noise of the engine having covered my attack.

I stepped out of the storage room, sliding the blasters into my belt before I lifted the three stunned kidnappers and two destroyed droids with the Force and moved them into the room. I could have taken them all out using the Force, but it would probably have been nosier, as I would've needed to slam them into a wall, and the longer that no one knew I was a Jedi, the longer I could keep my powers as a trump card.

Looting the bodies gained me two more blaster pistols, a blaster rifle, another knife and a few hundred credits.

I sat down to meditate once more only to notice that the group in the starboard crew quarters were on the move.

As they reached the central crossing, a pair broke off and moved towards the cockpit and another pair moved to the cells, while the others moved to the stairs leading to the lower level of the ship, including the engine room.

"Shit!" I spat out as I realised, I'd made my escape just before a shift change.

Examining the minimap, I saw that the three coming to the engine room would reach me just after the guards reached my cell block.

Provided they did not check my cell – or that the possibly still-living guard didn't make noise to attract them – I might, might just be able to take out the replacement engineering crew before the alarm was raised.

But it would be tight.

Slipping the pistols back into my Inventory, I pulled out the rifle and aimed for the entry to engineering while applying three bacta patches to myself.

While the pistols would've allowed me a greater rate of fire, I was more comfortable with a rifle, and it had a higher damage potential per shot.

I waited patiently as I watched the minimap.

The replacement guards reached the cells.

They stopped, then moved slowly, seemingly checking each cell.

The door to the engine room hissed open.

One, then two Humans stepped into the room just as their comms crackled to life.

"One of the kids is loose," came a voice from their wrists. "Dakko and Rax are dead."

The trio stopped, now all just into the room.

They glanced around the room, their hands inching to their waists.

"Travi…" the first spoke, only to be knocked off his feet as I struck him centre mass.

The other two lifted their weapons as my rifle shot out again.

The rear man fell, falling backwards into the open doorway.

"Kriff!" the last man shouted out even as he got off a snapshot that flew over my head. "He…"

My rifle spoke again and the last of the trio fell, landing on top of his fellow kidnapper.

A quick mental calculation told me I had just shy of eight minutes before I was out of FP as Precognition and Bullet-Time had auto-engaged and were now running concurrently with Detection.

The beings and droids near the Jedi all started to move in my direction and I watched and waited, rifle aimed at the doorway, as the two droids moved to the front.

I struck the first between its optical sensors, making it fall like a puppet with the strings cut, even as the second droid fired.

I grimaced as the blast caught my shoulder, and while it did affect my aim, I was able to catch it in its chest.

As it stumbled, a second blast took it out.

A glance at my HP told me the hit had done 100HP of damage. If I had been a normal human, that would've meant I couldn't have shot back. But with my unique powers, I was still able to fight properly.

Another exploit, and one I was going to use right now.

I screamed, pretending to be in serious pain and watched as four of the kidnappers approached Engineering. I dropped the rifle, and pulled out two pistols, even as I moved out of the room and over to a console in the corner. From here, I still had a clear line of sight on the doorway – though no longer into the hall just outside.

With the rifle lying in the doorway to the storage room, I hoped the next group would keep their eyes on that room and not on my new location.

"Brat's dropped his gun," one of them said but I stayed hidden as all four moved into the room, slowly moving to encircle the storage room door.

"Come on out runt!" another shouted. "If you don't, we'll start killing the others." He added, clearly hoping to make me surrender.

Popping up, I opened fire and struck two in the face before they could react.

Another fell as I hit him centre mass, but the last one got off a shot that made the console I was hiding behind crackle as it broke.

Thanks to Player's Mind being active, and the use of Detection and Bullet-Time combined with the minimap, the distraction had no effect and I struck the last one twice; one in each shoulder.

He tumbled backwards even as I shot him twice more.

A glance at my details told me I'd taken 10HP damage from the console exploding, but most worryingly, I only had four minutes of FP left. I turned off Precog, as with Detection running and a clear map of the ship, I felt it was superfluous.

The minimap showed that the rest of the crew – sans those piloting the ship – were heading for the stairs, even as the remaining four outside stayed still.

This was not good. If they all rushed me, I was dead.

Good thing I had another way out.

Saying a silent prayer to the Force and TPTB, I activated Teleport and blinked as the engine room disappeared; being replaced by a dull, blue light.

Turning to the light, I saw someone, a girl since I could see her bra, held down over a table. Her clothes had been cut, lying on either side of her upper body and there were red marks over her back; including one that had cut a shoulder strap of her bra.

"Who, who's there?" the girl whispered, as I recognized the voice.

Quickly, I moved around the table until I could her face as I slipped the blasters into my belt.

"Bultar?" I asked as I locked eyes with her.

"Cameron! What? How?" She spluttered out as I used TK to break the bindings holding her down to the table.

As she stood, I spotted a large set of glowing cuffs on her wrists and a small device attached to her temple.

"How did you get here? Did they capture you too?" Bultar asked quickly, a slight tremble in her voice.

"What are they?" I asked, pointing at the cuffs while ignoring her questions.

"Force suppression cuffs. They generate a neural field that makes using the Force very difficult," she replied as I pulled out a knife – reaching around my back to hide using Inventory from her – and moved to break them off. Don't! They'll shock me when they’re tampered with. The Duros, Zir, has the key."

"Crap," I muttered as I placed the knife on the table and turned away to examine the minimap.

Six of the kidnappers were in the engine room now, with the three I had stunned now waking up. The rest of the crew was moving out slowly, searching the ship. Two of them were in the other Jedi's cell and were coming this way.

"Get back down!" I hissed as I moved to the side of the table hidden from the door. "They're coming back."

Bultar slowly lowered herself back onto the table; her face twisting in pain as her exposed stomach touched the metal.

The door opened with a hiss.

"No one here," the voice said, and I noted it was the one who had spoken from outside my cell earlier. "Tell the boss."

"You sure she's secure?" the other man said and Bultar's eyes widened rapidly. "I think I should check on her."

I tightened the grip on the knife, preparing to launch it at the second male even as I palmed a pistol with the other hand.

"Leave her Sev. The boss wants the Senator's kid caught. After that, you can… enjoy yourself." The other one replied with clear distaste as he finished.

"Eh, fine." Sev huffed. "Don't worry girl, I'll be back for you later."

The moment the door hissed closed, Bultar slipped from the table and hugged herself.

"Hey, hey," I said slowly, stepping towards her.

She flinched as I placed my hand on her shoulder, and her muscles tensed only to relax a split second later.

"Bultar, look at me," I said slowly, glad Player's Mind was active, or I knew my face, distorted with rage at the relaxed implications of the man wanting to rape her, would have scared her. "We're going to get out of here. I promise."

"How?" She whispered. "Where are we?"

"On a ship a few jumps from Coruscant," I replied honestly. "I got out as they didn't realise that I was a Jedi. I guess picking a fight at school was a good idea."

She chuckled weakly at the joke before looking me in the eye. "What about Jon? Have you found him?"

"No, but he is across the hall from you. Zir mentioned they had already broken one of the Jedi when we spoke, so I figured the one they were spending time with was a better option to free first."

"They, they… When I woke up here, I heard him screaming. The Duros told me they knew we were both Jedi. They had been watching us in the schools and we stood out too easily. They knew about all the Jedi.

"They… they tortured him to show me what was coming. That man… the one at the door, he would come in and… touch me. Caress my skin, saying he'd never been with a Jedi before."

She sobbed and I pulled her into my arms, holding her there even as my FP ran out.

"He won't hurt you again. I promise." I stated firmly as she sobbed quietly into my arms. "But we need to get out of here. Can you fight?"

She leaned back and raised her cuffed wrists. "While stopping me from using the Force, but I can still fight."

"Good," I stated as I handed her a blaster. "I, I need to meditate. I overexerted myself during my escape and need to restore my reserves. Can you watch the door while I meditate, then I will do the same for you?"

She nodded and we moved to the far side of the table, using it as cover.

I opened my eyes a short while later to find her lying on the table again, though she still held the blaster in her hands.

"I figured it was safer if I still looked like I was restrained," She explained. "I was right as they checked on me again a few minutes ago."

"Ah. Do you need to meditate?"

"No. I, I have prepared myself for what is to come."

I gave her a brief nod as I re-engaged Detection.

Four kidnappers were guarding the corridor outside, a further three – plus a pair of droids – in the engine room and one in a small area that wasn't listed on the ship's plans near the front of the level, almost directly under the cockpit.

The rest of the crew, based on where I detected them and the ship's schematics, were on the upper level. The cockpit crew was still there, though the door was guarded, two were stationary near the cells while the rest were moving around the ship in pairs.

The droids were scattered around the ship, but what type of droid they were was unknown. I hoped that they were all maintenance droids, but knowing my luck, they were all combat models instead.

"Four outside, another four more nearby along with two droids." I relayed to Bultar before reaching out with TK and slamming the four in the hallway together as hard and fast as I could.

The dull sound of their collision came through the door and I stepped forward, only to frown when the door failed to open automatically.

"They locked it from the outside, I think it needs a keycard."

I turned and gave Bultar a small frown. "That would've been nice to know before I took out the guards. Give me a minute." I said with a sigh before phasing through the door.

The four bodies were a very mangled mess of limbs and I cringed at seeing just how deadly telekinesis was if used aggressively.

The lock did need a keycard, and as I turned to the pile of bodies to search for it, I heard a hissing from the far end of the hall and turned to see Zir step out of a small room.

"Whaf…" his words were cut off as I used the Force to choke him – ignoring an alert notice in the interface – and smirked.

"Well, hello there," I said with a small smile at using that line. "How nice to see you again."

He reached for his blaster, but a yank with TK took that and his commlink from him as I stepped closer.

"Hmm, now that room isn't on the schematics," I said as I looked past him into a small, barely-lit storage space. "What could you possibly be hiding in there I wonder?"

His face started to turn grey before he slumped down.

Dropping him to the ground, I stepped past his body and into the alcove. As I examined the crates, a smile spread across my face that threatened to split it in two.

This was the kidnapper's main treasure hold. Or possibly Zir's private stash. Spice, death sticks, gems, weapons and credits. It was all here.

I added the credits to my inventory, trying not to look smug at having over a quarter of a million credits added to my private account, before stepping out of the alcove.

After dragging Zir's body out of the way and watched as the door closed, followed by the wall sliding across to hide the door. Once in place, there was no hint the room was there, which meant I was free to return once the ship was secure.

One auto-loot later, and I had a master keycard – which I placed in my pocket – that overrode all security on the ship and a few hundred more credits. While Zir must have a way to open the hidden cubicle, I wasn't concerned about learning it, as I could simply phase through the wall once the ship was secure and take my time redistributing his assets.

Repeating the process on the jumbled, slightly smelling mass of bodies gained me a handful of credits, though I dropped all the weapons and the keycard on the floor. No need to overfill my Inventory with blasters when I might need the space later.

"What too… Sithspit! What happened?" Bultar asked as she stepped out of the cell and saw the mangled, bloody, stinking pile of bodies.

"I might have been a little too strong with my telekinesis," I replied as I placed the master keycard against her cuffs, hearing them click and then fall to the ground. "I also got the boss," I added, jerking my head towards the unconscious Zir.

"Huh. That was lucky. We should secure him in the cell and then free Jon," Bultar said, taking charge even as she rubbed her wrists. "After that, we need to find a way to get past the rest of his men and contact the Temple."

I managed to avoid rolling my eyes at her stating a version of the plan I had been following since I escaped my confinement, and instead just moved over to the other locked cell.

"By the Force…" Bultar whispered as we stepped inside and our nostrils were assaulted by a litany of smells that should never be smelt around anyone, let alone a child.

Jon cowered in the corner, his clothes even more damaged than Bultar's – who was still just walking around in her underwear – with his arms wrapped tightly around his legs while his head stayed down, keeping his face hidden.

"Please, please, no more," he whimpered and as I touched his shoulder I used Examine.

Jon Savos

Race: Human

Level: 13

Health: 70% [Malnourished/Abused]

Age: 12

Force Potential: High

Threat Potential: Very Low

Emotional State: Terrified

Jon does not like you, as he feels you are being given special treatment by the High Council.

And believes he is better than you.

However, those issues are unimportant now.

He is scared that you are one of the guards coming to have 'fun' with him again.

…

"Jon, Jon, it's Bultar," she said quietly as she moved beside me and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We're here to free you."

I stood and stepped back, processing what had happened to Jon, and what could've happened to Bultar.

I felt my fingernails dig into my palms hard enough that I was sure I would draw blood as my anger began to rise. I could hear/feel a whisper in the back of my mind, telling me to use this anger and let it empower me. I wouldn’t deny that I found the thought appealing for dealing with the others on this ship and was curious about how they’d feel to have the tables turned on them.

"Cameron?" I turned at Bultar's voice and saw she was watching me through narrowed eyes. "Are you well?"

"I… no, I'm not," I replied, deciding to not hide why I was angry. "Those… beings out there, they did to him what that one suggested doing to you." She involuntarily shivered at the reminder, even as I continued. "They abused him, used him, in ways no one, not even your worst enemy, should be. They…" my voice trailed off as I took deep, hopefully calming breaths. The whisper was fading, but I could still hear/feel it. Offering to help me.

But I knew that right now, that help would only make things worse. Giving in to my anger, letting it boil and mix with the Force, was a dangerous road.

Since talking with Revan, and the explanation from TPTB, I had come to view the Force as neither light nor dark, more that it just couldn't understand emotions, and so it reacted to them. While most wouldn't realise this when feeling strong, 'light-side' emotions, it did offer help the same as when someone was feeling 'dark-side' emotions.

"I, I understand," She replied in a voice barely above a whisper, drawing me out of my thoughts on the Force. "I…" She paused and licked her lips. "I thought I could face him, them, but after seeing Jon… I, I'm not…" Her eyes fell to the floor as she failed to finish her sentence.

I moved closer to her and Jon and knelt. "Then stay here. I'll handle them."

"You shouldn't face them alone," she countered, but there was little conviction behind her words.

I lifted her chin so we could see eye to eye and gave her a small smile. "I'd rather face them alone than put someone else in danger." She gave me a smile in return as I stood.

"Besides," I continued, "I've done ok so far."

"Don't be overconfident," she stated. "And if you find him, them…" Her voice trailed off and it was easy to see the uncertainty on her face as to what she wanted me to do about them.

"I will try not to enjoy taking them down," I said as I turned and stepped to the door.

"Wait," Jon called out weakly, making me turn back to him. "Thank you."

I gave him a small nod and then stepped out of the cell.

A quick check confirmed that there were still only three in the engine room on my level and I moved quickly but quietly towards the room. The trio in the room turned as the door hissed, but I gave them no chance to attack as I used TK and slammed them hard into the far wall. The droids followed soon after into the console I had hidden behind earlier.

Stepping over to them, I knelt next to the only one seemingly still conscious – he was groaning quietly – and yanked his collar.

"I want the names of the people who abused the Jedi," I growled. Though it came out as a squeak since I hadn't hit puberty yet.

"Huh, wha?" the kidnapper, a blonde-haired Human mumbled. "Jedi?"

"Yes! The two you captured before me. Who abused them? I want names!"

The man blinked a few times before he focused on me. "You're the missing kid!"

"No, I'm your worst nightmare," I replied as I used TK to lift him off the ground. "Now give me the names!"

"You're a Jedi!" He spat, though given I was rotating him around, his spit ended up missing me. "Go space yourself!"

"Names!" I growled/mewed once more as I slammed him into the deck and stared into his eyes.

"Kriff you!"

My anger began to boil as he continued to deny me the information I wanted before I felt something happen, and I found the names and faces of the crew appear in my head.

I stumbled backwards, trying to process what had happened, and saw two new Force Power notices. That made three since I had freed myself. I needed to know what had happened, so I opened all of them.

The first was for Force Crush, which was the power Vader liked to use to choke his underlings but could supposedly be used to target internal organs if learnt to it to a high enough level. That was scary. The second power, however, was just terrifying.

Force Power Discovered!

Mind Probe

This power allows a Force-sensitive to probe the mind of another, with or without their consent.

Though can be resisted with training and some species are inherently immune to such probes.

…

Warning!

Without telepathic training, if used on a conscious target, it will result in irrevocable brain damage.

…

Warning!

Force Telepathy not learnt!

The chance of permanent damage to the target increased by 250%

...

I glanced at the man and saw he was lying motionless on the floor. His eyes had rolled back into their sockets and drool from his mouth gathered on the deck.

Mind Probe was… scary. With it, I could search the mind of another for information, though it was something the Jedi would class as dark as I could do it without permission.

Another glance at the blonde-haired man showed the effects if used without training or permission, and realising I had turned him into a vegetable, I shot him in the heart, ending his suffering.

The third power I had gained was, ironically enough, Force Telepathy, which allowed me to communicate mentally with others. However, it was locked as Force Empathy was not at Master:1.

I chuckled at the way I learnt a power only because it was suggested for another.

Still, I had the information I needed. Five of the crew had 'enjoyed' themselves with Jon; three of which I had already killed, and another was the main pilot. That just left…

"Argh," another of the kidnappers groaned and as I looked at him, I saw he was the fifth.

Slowly I raised my blaster to shoot him, only to lower it. I wasn't going to kill in cold blood, at least not unless it was to alleviate someone's suffering, but he needed to pay for what he had down.

"What happened?" The man mumbled as I again raised my blaster.

"Retribution," I replied as I pulled the trigger.

His mouth opened in a silent scream and he shivered into a ball from the pain, but before he could do anything else, I hit him with a Stun.

"That is the least you deserve," I commented as I turned, not wanting to look at the man.

I began to move for the stairs when a thought came to me.

I knew where everyone on the ship was. I knew which were kidnappers, which were droids, and which were prisoners. And I was more than capable of using TK on multiple targets and at a distance, especially when Detection told me where they were, and the schematics of the ship told me which direction to move them in.

"Son of a…" I grunted out before facepalming. Hard.

Laughing at my apparent stupidity, I reached out with TK, took hold of every kidnapper still a threat and slammed them upwards into the roof, then down into the floor.

I repeated the process with the droids.

It may have injured or killed more of the kidnappers than ideally wanted, but it was quick, easy, and efficient.

And had no penalties to my XP gain as I levelled up from the XP and gained that I had a point to spend on a new player power.

I had worked out stunning someone netted me about a quarter of their XP compared to killing them, and, given the large amount of XP I had gained, it seemed that I had killed most of the crew with my actions.

When I returned to the temple, I would likely have to explain my actions, but for now, I wasn't sweating it.

With a shake of my head at missing the combat potential of the Force, I headed back to the cells.

I would need Bultar's help to use the communication systems, free the children, and pilot the ship back to Coruscant.

... …

… …