(Two Weeks Later)
The lower levels of Coruscant were nothing like the surface. There was no sun, only the dull glow of neon signs, flickering lights that barely cut through the permanent haze of smoke and filth that filled the air. The streets were narrow and packed with broken speeders, trash, and bodies—some breathing, some not. The deeper you went, the worse it got. There were no laws down here, no security droids to keep the peace, no senators arguing over meaningless policies. There were only people fighting to survive, and most of them lost.
Zule had been here a week, and she had seen more suffering than she thought possible. On her first night, she had stopped two children—barely older than younglings—fighting over a crust of bread, their faces gaunt, their eyes hollow. One had a jagged piece of durasteel in his hand, ready to drive it into the other's throat. She had broken them apart, but what had it changed? They were still starving. She gave them what little she had, but in the end she knew it wasn't enough.
Every day since had been worse. Gang wars erupted in the streets without warning, blaster bolts cutting people down where they stood. Entire families huddled in the ruins of abandoned factories, their skin stretched tight over their bones, their breaths weak, their eyes pleading for something she couldn't give them. The smell of rot and sewage filled the air, making it impossible to breathe without tasting it. Disease spread through the streets like wildfire, and no one came to stop it. No medics, no relief efforts. The Republic didn't care. The Jedi didn't care. The temple stood above this place, untouched, unbothered, while people died in the shadows beneath its feet.
She had tried to help. She had tried to fight back, to do what she could, but it wasn't enough. There were too many, and she had nothing to give them. No credits, no resources, no anything. She had always thought she understood suffering, that war had hardened her, that Jabiim had shown her the worst the galaxy had to offer. But this wasn't war. It wasn't a battlefield where people fought for a cause, for their home, for something that mattered. This was slow, meaningless death, and no one was coming to stop it.
She had found places to sleep, old apartment buildings that had been abandoned for decades, factories with broken machinery and shattered windows. She had to fight off creatures the size of children, their fur matted, their teeth sharp. She had killed them. They were fast, vicious, desperate, just like everything else down here.
Now she sat in the corner of one of those buildings, her cloak wrapped around her, her back pressed against the cold metal wall. She hadn't eaten in two days. But that wasn't anything unusual, she'd gone for much longer on Jabiim and could survive a while on just the force alone. She could survive this.
Though in the meantime she didn't know what to do. She didn't belong up there, but she didn't belong down here either. The people here had stopped looking at her with suspicion. Now they just ignored her, another lost soul wandering through the ruins of a forgotten world. She had thought she could make a difference, but she was starting to see the truth. She was just another fool. The sound of a blaster rang out in the distance, followed by screams. Another fight, another death. No one would care. No one would stop it. Zule closed her eyes and tried to push it away, but the noise didn't stop.
Zule sat curled against the cold wall of the abandoned building, her cloak wrapped tight around her. The air was thick with dampness, the distant hum of repulsorlifts echoing from above, mixing with the faint screams and shouts of the lower levels. She closed her eyes, exhaustion weighing on her, but sleep refused to come.
Then the flashes started.
A deafening explosion, the world shattering. The city of Choal disappearing under fire, the ground beneath them splitting apart as the bombers tore through it. The roar of crumbling duracrete, the weight of stone and steel collapsing over them, burying them alive. The air was thick with smoke and dust, blaster cannons slamming into the ground incinerating the lucky ones. The sound of everyone screaming, trapped beneath the rubble, voices fading as the air ran out. The overwhelming heat, the pressure of the world pressing down, and the sheer, suffocating darkness.
Her body jerked as she sucked in a sharp breath, her heart hammering. Her fingers dug into the fabric of her cloak, her nails pressing into her palms. She breathed out, slow, steady, forcing herself back into the present.
She closed her eyes again.
The hill. The final battle. Running through the mud, their boots slipping, bodies falling all around them. Clones cut down as they climbed, Jabiimi soldiers dropping, their armor shredded. The ridge was so close, the top just in sight, but they were pinned. The enemy's fire rained down, forcing them to take cover behind the corpses of their own. There was no retreat. No way back. They pushed forward because stopping meant death, because they had no choice the planet was at risk. She saw a clone captain fall ahead of her, heard another scream as a grenade took out the group behind. The smell of charred flesh filled the air. She remembered the feeling of pushing through, of reaching the top and finding... something worse.
Zule jolted again, her breath heavy. Her fingers twitched, the echoes of blaster fire still ringing in her ears. She shook her head, trying to drive it away.
She pulled the cloak tighter, buried herself in it. She wouldn't dream. She just needed rest. She needed to—
Kass Tod.
The Sith's saber piercing through her chest, the look on her face as she fell. Kass had been fast, had fought better than any of them, but it hadn't been enough. The Sith had toyed with her, toyed with them both. She had watched as her limbs grew heavy, as the battle wore her down, as her movements slowed. The final strike had been to give Zule a chance, yet in the end it hadn't mattered, she'd squandered it.
Zule gasped, her eyes flying open, her body tense. The walls pressed in around her, the sounds outside mixing into the screams in her head. She couldn't stay here. She pushed herself up, her legs unsteady beneath her. She pulled the cloak around her, stepping over the scattered debris on the floor. The building was too quiet, but the city wasn't. She needed to move, to walk, to find another place. Somewhere without silence. Somewhere she couldn't hear the voices of the dead.
Zule pushed the door open with the Force, the rusted hinges groaning as it scraped against the frame before giving way. She stepped out into the alley, the smell of damp and rot hitting her immediately. The walls on either side were coated in filth, streaked with grime and whatever liquids had seeped down from the streets above. A pile of scrap and refuse was pushed up against the far end, shifting slightly as something living moved beneath it. She ignored it and stepped over a broken crate, her boots splashing into a puddle of something that had no business being liquid.
The alley opened into a main street, the sudden flood of neon lights and flickering holo-signs making her squint. The noise of the lower levels washed over her—shouting, arguing, the hum of speeders moving too fast through streets too narrow. The scent of frying meat mixed with burning circuits, the stale stench of bodies packed too close together filling the gaps between.
Her stomach twisted. She hadn't eaten since—she didn't know when. The Force could sustain her, but not forever. Jaden had told her that once. She needed real food, something solid, something that wouldn't leave her lightheaded in a fight. She had no credits, no way to buy anything. She'd have to steal or scavenge, find something abandoned or a vendor too careless to watch his stock. She pushed the thought aside for now. She could last a little longer.
She walked along the street, keeping her head down but still catching the eyes that turned toward her. Men. Watching her, staring as she passed. Some whispered to each other, some smirked, some let their eyes linger too long. One licked his lips as she moved by.
She clenched her fists and cursed under her breath. Her race's pheromones were strong, strong enough to attract any man nearby unless suppressed. She usually took something to keep them in check, a treatment that lasted months at a time, but she'd forgotten about it when she left. She felt like an idiot. It wasn't bad yet—just looks, just lingering gazes—but it would get worse. Eventually, someone would try to take what they wanted. She'd have to find somewhere safe before then, somewhere to lay low until she could get what she needed.
As she kept walking she rubbed her cybernetic arm absentmindedly, her fingers dragging over the metal plates. It needed maintenance. She hadn't checked it since the Defender, and without proper care, it would lock up, the servos grinding until it was nothing more than dead weight. She'd have to find tools, find a workshop or a place to scavenge parts before it got worse. One more problem to deal with. Luckily Jaden had done a good job with making it and it was pretty durable, but it wouldn't last forever.
She kept moving, pushing past groups of people, sidestepping a Rodian who smelled like old ale and vomit, ducking under a flickering holo-ad that had been damaged and now projected its image at random angles. Then she heard shouting ahead.
"Come on, Raxa, baby, you know I'm good for it."
The voice was familiar.
"Yeah? Then spit up some credits," another voice snapped back.
"Unbelievable... where's the trust? How long have I been a customer here?"
"A day," the second voice shouted.
She turned the corner just as someone was thrown out of a building, hitting the ground hard. The entrance was lined with holo-signs displaying dancing figures, the bass from inside rattling the duracrete. The club's bouncer, a massive Weequay, stood in the doorway, arms crossed, shaking his head. The person on the ground groaned, rolling onto his back.
Zule was ready to ignore it, ready to move past without giving it a second thought. Then he sat up, and her eyes widened.
"Jaden," Zule said hesitantly, stepping toward him, pulling her hood down. She could scarcely believe that he was here, of all the places he could've been. She had been terrified when he disappeared during the temple attack. She tried to act like it didn't affect her, tried to push it down, tell herself he was too strong, too stubborn to die like that. But doubt ate away at her. He had barely survived Jabiim. What if this time he didn't? What if all that strength, all that resilience, wasn't enough? She had spent days telling herself he would show up, that he would come back, but he never did. Every hour that passed chipped away at her certainty until all that was left was fear.
Jaden looked up, raised his eyebrows, then grinned. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and pulled her forward.
"Hey, Raxa, this is my buddy Zule. She's got tons of credits. Just look at her arm," Jaden said, lifting it.
Zule stared at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all this time, after everything, he was—what? Trying to smooth-talk his way back into a club using her as bait?
Raxa looked at her, his gaze dropping to her cybernetic arm. His eyes glazed over slightly, his tongue running over his lips. She could tell her pheromones were affecting him more than Jadens bullshit was.
"Fine," Raxa said, stepping aside. "But this is your last warning, Jaden. One more, and I'll be feeding you to the mole rats."
Jaden laughed, tugged Zule's hand, and pulled her inside.
She opened her mouth, tried to get a word in, but the moment they stepped past the threshold, sound swallowed everything. Music blasted from the walls, deep, pulsing beats shaking the floor, rattling her ribs. People shouted, laughed, cursed, but the words blended together into a wall of noise. Jaden pushed forward, weaving through bodies, dragging her along. Smoke curled around the ceiling, thick and acrid, spilling from the mouths of pipes clutched between trembling fingers. Twi'lek dancers spun around poles, credits shoved into the bands around their thighs. Bounty hunters, thugs, and mercs leaned against the bar, drinks sloshing as they gestured wildly, arguing over jobs, debts, kills.
Zule yanked her arm, trying to slow him down, trying to get him to turn around, to face her, to explain what the hell was going on. He ignored her, pulled her deeper in, past gamblers hunched over sabacc tables, past a Rodian counting bloodied credits, past a Nikto slumped against the bar with a vibroblade still sticking out of his leg.
Zule clenched her teeth, forced herself forward, shoving past the bodies pressing in around her. Jaden moved through the crowd toward the bar, Zule on his heels. He lifted two fingers, signaling for drinks. The bartender slinked over, another Zeltron with sharp eyes and a smirk. She leaned forward on the counter, cleavage pressed together beneath a thin strip of fabric.
"Back again, handsome?" she asked, red skin glistening under the flickering lights.
Jaden grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Couldn't stay away."
"Make sure to pay your tab this time or Raxa really won't be happy," she purred, letting her breasts almost pop out of her top.
Jaden winked "Wouldn't want that would we."
Zule stepped closer, hand tugging at his sleeve. He didn't react, eyes scanning the club. His gaze flicked to a shadowed booth, lingered a second too long, then moved on. His fingers drifted, brushing against the belt of the Trandoshan beside him, snatching a few credit chips. The Trandoshan didn't notice, too busy gnawing on something still bleeding.
The bartender set two drinks down. Jaden slid the stolen credits onto the bar like they'd been there all along, took his drink, handed the other to Zule. She placed it down without touching it.
"Jaden—"
He raised his glass and took a slow sip. His eyes never stopped moving.
Zule grabbed his arm. "Where have you been?"
Jaden exhaled, tapped his glass on the counter. "You ever wonder how many people walk past you every day and don't see you?"
Zule frowned. "What—"
"Like right now." He gestured at the crowd. "So many faces, all moving. But some stand still." His voice stayed casual. "Some don't belong."
Zule's grip tightened. "Jaden, stop."
He ignored her, eyes flicking to the entrance, the second-floor balcony, the back exit. "Ever notice how some people look too long?" He took another sip. "Or look away too quick?"
Her jaw clenched. "What are you—"
"That guy over there," Jaden nodded toward a Twi'lek near the entrance. "Think he's lost?"
"I don't care!" she snapped.
She grabbed his shoulder, ready to yell, but Jaden pulled her in and kissed her.
Her mind went blank.
His lips crushed against hers, firm, warm, pushing everything else away. Her thoughts shattered. She didn't fight it. She leaned in, breath caught, pulse hammering. When he pulled back, she almost followed, her body still reaching before her brain caught up.
His hand stayed on her neck.
Tap. Pause. Tap-tap.
Zule's breath hitched. Blink code.
Not safe to talk. Act casual.
She nodded.
She had no idea how to act casual.
Zule took the drink, tipping it back and swallowing hard. The burn hit her throat, and she forced herself to stay still, but her body remained stiff. Jaden grinned, signaling the bartender for two more. He downed his next one fast, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
He leaned in, voice smooth. "So, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"
She glanced at him, eyes narrowing. "Had to leave. Couldn't stay up top anymore. Not with them. Not after everything." She kept it vague.
Jaden nodded, knocking back another drink. "Figured."
Zule hesitated, fingers tapping the rim of her glass. "And you?" The words came out too stiff, too forced. "After, uh... you know. That thing."
Jaden laughed, loud and real. "You're kriffing terrible at this."
She frowned, but before she could say anything, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "Relax. You need to loosen up. Enjoy the night."
She barely had a second to process before he dragged her away from the bar.
They wove through the club, the air thick with sweat and spice. Jaden pulled her toward the gambling pit first. A makeshift sabacc table set up near the back, a Dug dealing. Jaden slid into a seat, flashing a grin. He tossed stolen credits onto the table, barely paying attention as he played. Zule watched as he won, lost, won again, laughing the whole time, never serious about any of it. He tugged her to the dance floor next. The bass pounded, bodies moving against each other. Jaden grabbed her hand, spun her into the crowd. Zule wasn't much for dancing, but he didn't care. He laughed, swaying to the rhythm, drink in one hand, other pulling her close. She kept up as best she could but she wasn't good at this. Then, a fight. Some Weequay had said the wrong thing to the wrong Trandoshan, and Jaden was suddenly in the middle of it. A bottle smashed over someone's head. A punch thrown. Jaden ducked, laughed, threw one back. Zule sighed, stepping in when it got too rough, kicking someone's knee in before Jaden pulled her back, still grinning.
Drink after drink, fight after fight, game after game. Jaden thrived in the chaos, dragging Zule along, never letting her stop.
Then he leaned in, voice half-slurred. "Need to take a piss. Don't get too lonely."
He disappeared into the crowd before she could reply.
She stood there for a moment, exhaling slow. The club still pulsed around her, but her mind drifted. Jaden wasn't acting like himself. He wasn't the same person she had known on Jabiim. The force user she had fought beside, survived with, the one who carried a weight in his chest heavier than anyone could bear. That man wasn't here.
This Jaden was something else entirely.
But there had to be a reason. She'd ask when it was safe.
A commotion snapped her out of her thoughts.
Blaster fire. Shouting. A crash from above.
She turned just in time to see Jaden drop from the second-floor balcony. He twisted midair, blaster bolts searing past him. He landed on a table, rolling off before it collapsed under his weight. He straightened, eyes wild, grin sharp.
"Time to get outta here," he chuckled, grabbing her wrist.
More blaster fire. Shouts. Bodies moving toward them. Zule's hand went to her belt. She was about to ignite her lightsaber when Jaden yanked her arm.
"No."
She hesitated. He pulled harder.
They ran.
Shoving past bodies, slipping through gaps, ducking under tables. A shot hit a bottle behind them, glass shattering across the floor. Jaden pushed through the side exit, dragging her into the alley.
Footsteps pounded behind them. They bolted down the narrow path, twisting through the maze of backstreets. Neon glowed from above, the club fading behind them, replaced by deeper, darker corridors. Voices followed, shouts of "Find them!" and "They went this way!"
Jaden took a sharp left, yanked Zule into a gap between buildings. He pressed her against the cold metal wall, hand over her mouth. She didn't fight him.
Boots stomped past. Shouts. The sound of weapons being checked. The pursuers moved further away, their voices echoing through the tunnels.
Jaden exhaled, finally pulling back. He looked at her, still grinning.
"Hell of a night, huh?"
Jaden pushed off the wall, rolling his shoulders as he moved. He shrugged off his outerwear and tossed it into a pile of trash without breaking stride. Zule followed, her voice sharp as she caught up to him.
"What the hell was that?"
Jaden chuckled, hands in his pockets as he walked. "What, you didn't have a good time?"
Zule growled and grabbed his arm, yanking him to a stop.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair before looking at her. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. The way I was acting—had to keep up appearances. The club had too many spies. Couldn't let them know who I was."
Zule frowned. "Jaden, everyone already knows who you are. The entire galaxy's heard of you by now."
Jaden nodded and started walking again, ducking under a rusted pipe jutting from the wall. Zule followed, still waiting for an explanation. They moved through the narrow alleys, slipping through tight gaps between buildings and hopping over broken droids left to rot in the gutters. Jaden vaulted over a low wall, landing light before turning to help Zule up.
"That's true," he said. "But I discovered a nifty little Force trick that's helped me stay on the down low."
Zule frowned as she climbed down beside him. "A mind trick?"
"I guess you could call it that," Jaden said, squeezing through another tight space between two buildings. "But it's a little different. Instead of outright controlling thoughts, it suppresses recognition. Even if someone's looking right at me, sees my face, knows my name, their mind just... refuses to connect the dots. They assume it's a coincidence. Some guy who looks like me, shares my name, but obviously can't be me."
Zule was silent as they moved, absorbing what he said. That was... beyond anything she had ever heard of. Jedi mind tricks could cloud judgment, push a weak mind into obedience, but this? This was on another level. A subtle, constant manipulation of perception.
She hesitated, thinking over his explanation. There was one glaring issue. "What about the people you don't notice are looking at you?"
Jaden sighed, stepping over a pile of broken durasteel plating. "That's the problem. I've been trying to train my Force presence to act subconsciously, to extend the trick even when I'm not focusing on it. But it's difficult. For now, I just spread my awareness across the entire area and make sure everyone close by gets affected."
Zule raised an eyebrow. Spreading awareness over an entire area was something she'd trained for years to do, and even she struggled to maintain it beyond a dozen meters for long stretches. They had been in that club for hours.
She exhaled, processing all of it before asking, "Then why did I see you?"
Jaden stopped walking and turned to face her. He smiled, tilting his head. "Because to you, there could never be another Jaden to mistake me for."
Zule didn't know what to say to that. The sincerity in his voice caught her off guard.
Then he stepped forward and hugged her.
She stiffened for a moment, caught between instinct and hesitation, but after a second, she let herself relax. Her arms wrapped around him, her head resting against his shoulder. It had been so long since she felt something like this—something real.
They stood there, silent in the dark alley, just existing in the moment.
After a while, Jaden pulled away. "You probably have a lot of questions."
Zule nodded, opening her mouth to ask the first one.
"But save them for later," Jaden interrupted, glancing past her. His entire demeanor shifted.
Zule blinked at the sudden change. "What?"
Jaden's eyes didn't leave the spot behind her. "We gotta move."
Something in his voice made her tense. She turned, her instincts screaming.
At the entrance of the alley, a figure stood cloaked in black, motionless. The air felt colder, heavier. Zule's fingers twitched toward her saber.
"Who's that?" she asked, stepping back.
Jaden's answer was quiet. "Trouble."
Two red lightsabers ignited, bathing the alley in a crimson glow.
Zule's heart pounded. The figure stepped forward, moving slow at first but then starting to run, both sabers humming as they sliced through the air.
Jaden exhaled, cracking his neck. "Great," he muttered. "Guess we're doing this."
The figure lunged.
Jaden pushed Zule to the side as the red sabers cut through the space where they had just been standing. The metal wall behind them sizzled, glowing with fresh burn marks. Jaden twisted, rolling to his feet just in time to sidestep another strike. Zule drew her lightsaber, igniting the blue blade, but before she could attack, Jaden's voice cut through the fight.
"No sabers!"
Zule faltered. "What?"
Jaden ducked another swing, grabbing a loose pipe from the ground and slamming it into the attacker's arm, forcing them to recoil. He spun away, kicking over a stack of crates to put space between them. He then pulled his arms back before unleashing a powerful force push that sent the boxes and the Sith back, though the Sith resisted it much more than he'd have liked.
"Trust me," he called, breath quick. "Just don't use it!"
Zule hesitated, but then the Sith was on her. She dodged back, narrowly avoiding a downward slash, feeling the heat of the blade cut through the air. Her mind raced. She couldn't use her saber? What the hell was Jaden thinking? She fired a blaster bolt from her arm but it was easily dodged and Zule was forced to block it with her hand. She realised she didn't have time to argue. She dropped low, kicking out at the Sith's legs. The figure jumped back, twisting midair before landing with unnatural grace.
Jaden ripped a loose panel from the alley wall with the Force and hurled it at the Sith. They slashed through it easily, but the distraction was enough for Jaden to grab Zule's wrist.
"Run."
He pulled her into the next alley, the sounds of pursuit close behind. They sprinted through the maze of darkened corridors, jumping over fallen beams, weaving through abandoned speeder husks. Zule could hear the Sith keeping pace, hear the hum of their sabers, the rapid thud of their boots on duracrete.
A turn. A dead end.
Jaden cursed under his breath, eyes darting. He grabbed a loose grate and wrenched it open, shoving Zule inside. "Go!"
She scrambled through, feeling the heat of a saber swipe just behind her as she crawled into the next passage. Jaden kicked her back and lifted his hand up tearing up the metal path they'd just been on, but the Sith jumped up and flipped backwards. Jaden followed Zule into the tunnel, slamming the grate shut behind them. He stretched his hand out, the Force pressing against the metal, warping it inward.
A second later, a saber stabbed through, missing his face by inches. He jumped back collapsing the passage with a powerful shockwave. Though as he did that he noticed he'd caused a chain reaction and the tunnel was starting to collapse. "Shit," he muttered, "Keep moving!" They ran again, moving through the tunnels, the sounds of pursuit fading.
They finally reached a weakened section in the wall and Jaden burst it open and they both jumped inside before the tunnel collapsed behind them. Jaden chuckled as he lay on the ground next to Zule. "That was too close," he muttered. "Damn bitch nearly got me that time."
Zule swallowed, hands shaking. She turned to him, her voice tight. "Jaden... Start talking!"
(AN: So this chapter was just getting our boy together with Zule and revealing that he's being hunted which is obvious. Anyway more explanation for that next chapter, soon we will get getting to quite an important chapter in the story and no it's not the trial. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter)
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