Master Apprentice Archive Quick search:

24968.06.01

Benjamin watched with something close to relief when his third and last class of the day filed out of his room. While he had enjoyed his first foray into teaching Jedi children the languages he so loved, he had spent the entire morning with a foreboding itch at the back of his neck that had progressively gotten worse as the day wore on.

After he watched the final child leave the room, he carefully finished grading the scores from their evaluation exam. Once he saved the file and closed down the terminal, he spent the next five minutes pacing around the room, adjusting desks and straightening chairs.

Finally, he leaned against his desk and glared at the doorway to his classroom. Where the hells was Bruck anyway? The knight was only supposed to get the information on where Owen was and bring it back. Why was it taking this long?

At first Ben had worried that his foreboding feeling was an indication that Maxim had decided to follow him to the Temple after all and not just meet up with him at the Senate for lunch. Benjamin had spent a long fifteen minutes convincing his shield brothers that no they were not coming to the Temple because: a. Benjamin didn't trust Maxim not to cause havoc in his classroom, b. this was his first day in classes and he didn't want the kids distracted by more people than strictly necessary, and c. Benjamin didn't trust Maxim not to cause havoc in his classroom.

Finally he had convinced his friends to follow through with their desire to begin their evaluations with the Primary's office. A quick conversation on his part between his current bodyguard on duty and Secondary A'larni had assured Benjamin that his friends would be kept extremely busy until it was time for them to meet over lunch.

When Benjamin confessed his rising worry about Maxim to Bruck, however, a quick scan of the Temple by the knight had indicated that the Callis soldier was nowhere to be found on the premises. Bruck remembered Maxim Ildim - and his purple smoke stack.

Ben's relief was short-lived, however, when he realized that instead of fading away, his apprehension was getting worse. He'd spent a long few minutes considering his worry between his second and third class and finally settled on the fact that he was worried about Owen.

Occasionally during his life, Benjamin had had flashes on insight that had served him very well when he paid attention to them. One such had been to take his first manuscript into a certain publisher's office at a certain time. Another had been to follow his best friend Trisan in signing up with the Callis military program as a soldier.

There had been plenty of other times when his insight had prodded him and Benjamin had never regretted following those insights or impulses. Now that insight was telling him that Owen was in danger and he needed to know what was happening.

In an effort to calm himself, he had asked Bruck if he'd heard from Owen since the older knight had been sent on his latest mission. When the young knight had replied that he had not, but that was not unusual, Benjamin had then explained why he was worried.

Bruck had studied him for a long moment before he sighed. "You may just be picking up on the fact that a Councilor died yesterday afternoon." The white-haired knight glanced away. "The death of someone so powerful in the Force always leaves a lingering sense of sorrow and distress around the Temple for a few days."

Benjamin had looked a little stunned before he leaned back against his desk. He lowered his voice as the students from his last class started filing in.

"I'm sorry, Bruck," he said. "Who was it?"

"Councilor Eeth Koth. He was away on a mission. We don't know what happened as of yet."

The teacher glanced away and worried at his lower lip. "Was he with Owen?" he asked quietly. Bruck looked up at him sharply.

"I don't think so but why would you ask?"

"I...don't know. It's just a feeling." He looked at his liaison hopefully. "Bruck, can you find out if Owen is all right? Surely he must have reported in or something." The knight looked hesitant and Ben rushed on. "Please! I just have a really bad feeling about him."

Bruck pressed his lips together and glared. "All right, I'll go check," he huffed. "There's no need to look at me all big eyed and whimpery."

Benjamin immediately looked highly offended. "I did not get all big eyed and whimpery. I do not whimper."

The Jedi just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

"I never whimper!" Ben insisted.

"Uh huh," the knight nodded agreeably. "I'm going to see what I can find out." Ben heard him grumbling about high-maintenance charges all the way to the door.

Now, though, Benjamin just wished his liaison would come back. Surely the fact that he'd been gone so long was not a good thing.

A few moments later, Bruck walked through the door and Benjamin practically pounced on him. "Well? Did you find out anything?" he demanded.

Bruck actually looked a bit worried. The expression wasn't one that Ben had ever seen on his friend's face before.

"I went to the Assignments Master on duty to find out if Owen had reported in and when he was due back." The knight tapped the lightsaber casing hanging at his side as he considered. "Owen has me down as someone who could inquire as to his status so I should have been able to find out at least when he was supposed to be back."

"And?" Benjamin was really starting to be concerned.

"Master Pansar looked at me oddly and then said that since the beginning of the year any mission Knight Lars was assigned came directly from the Council and I was to speak with them on any subject relating to Owen."

Ben blinked for a moment. "But...isn't that rather unusual?" he finally ventured. "I mean I know Owen is a good knight but he is just a knight and a junior one at that. He's only been knighted for three years."

"I know. I was very surprised as Owen hadn't mentioned this," Bruck replied. "But then I realized that in the past six months, Owen has rarely even been in the Temple; he's been so busy with missions." The knight ran his fingers through his hair. "I hadn't realized it had been so long since I'd seen him here."

"So," the teacher began again. "What happened then? Why'd it take so long for you to come back?"

"I went to the Council, of course," Bruck replied as though Ben should have known. "This was a request made by the Chancellor's Consort, after all, and it had to be tended to, didn't it?"

"Of course."

"So I went and requested an audience," the knight stopped and glared at his companion. "Which was something I never had to do before you came along. Junior knights never have to appear before the Council and here I was seeking them out. I should just put a sign on my head that says 'Please target me for next dangerous outer rim mission'."

"Bruck," Benjamin sighed in a long-suffering tone. "Topic please."

Bruck glared a bit more and then continued. "So I went to the Council chamber and requested an audience. I waited around for a while - the reason it took so long actually - and finally I was called in. They all stared at me until I bowed and told them why I had come. Then Yoda told me there was no news and that I was to remain at your side until Owen returned."

"That's all?" the teacher asked in a tight voice? "Yoda didn't tell you anything else?" Bruck shook his head and Benjamin cursed under his breath. "Every other time, the little menace is constantly underfoot and won't shut up. Now I want him to talk, he clams up."

Bruck couldn't help but agree but seeing as he was a Jedi, he couldn't very well say so. "I'm certain he thinks he's doing what is best for Owen," he attempted weakly but Ben just waved him off. The teacher looked thoughtful as he stared across the room.

"Do you know what mission Owen was assigned?" he asked suddenly, turning back to his liaison.

Bruck glanced away for a moment, considering if he should tell Benjamin what he knew. When he looked back at the teacher, however, he saw nothing but determination in his expression and knew he wasn't going to be able to stay silent.

Carefully, he extended his own shielding to include his companion, knowing that Ben was not going to be happy with his next words and liable to broadcast it to the whole Temple through his bond with the Chancellor. He hadn't had to do this before with Ben but Yoda had just warned him about the possibility. Absently, Bruck thought that Yoda should get on the ball and start teaching the man about shielding instead of relying on Bruck to do it.

"There was a rumor that he and his master were both sent off to Naboo for the negotiations."

"Naboo?" Ben exploded. "You mean that little planet in the mid-rim where there's currently a WAR going on?"

"That would be the place," Bruck answered mildly, carefully tightening his shields a bit more. "But Benjamin, you have to know that Owen has been assigned such missions many times before. He and his master are well-versed in surviving planetary conflict."

Benjamin just stomped over to his desk and started packing up his comp pads and disks. "Yes, I know that, but I've never felt this worry like an itch beneath my skin either," the teacher replied sharply as he snapped his bag shut and tossed it on his shoulder. "Something is wrong. Owen is in danger and I'm going to find out what is happening," he finished as he stalked towards the door.

Bruck hastily stepped in front of him. "Ben, I've already asked everyone who would know anything and no one is talking." Benjamin tried to step around his liaison but the white-haired knight wasn't having it. "Benjamin, I know you're worried. I am too," Bruck stated firmly as he reached up to twine his fingers in a braid that was no longer there. With a grunt of annoyance, he dropped his hand. "I know he's your brother but he's also very important to me as well. Owen is the closest thing I'll ever come to a sibling," Bruck stopped and looked thoughtful, "Except for all the brilliant sex, of course."

Benjamin just stared at his liaison for a long moment before he closed his eyes with an expression close to agony on his face. "Bruck," he groaned. "We've discussed the sibling sex issue before. You know it freaks me out. I don't want to hear it."

Bruck looked a bit sheepish before he nodded. "Oh, right. But that's not the point. I've spoken to everyone in the Temple who might know something. I even dropped by to speak with my master. No one is talking about the Naboo situation and I get the distinct impression that no one wants me to talk about it either."

Benjamin just shifted his shoulderbag. "Well I'm not going to ask anyone else at the Temple, am I?" he noted as he stepped past the knight. Bruck scrambled after him.

"Who are you going to ask?" he wanted to know as Benjamin entered the hallway and his guards snapped to attention.

Ben didn't respond to Bruck as he turned to the senior of his two guards. "I need to go to the Senate, Lt. Jopik."

"Your shuttle will be here in an hour, sir," the man replied.

The teacher just narrowed his eyes. "I would like to go now. Please have the shuttle available as soon as possible."

The lieutenant looked very surprised for just a moment before he nodded. "Very well, sir. I'll comm for a shuttle at once."

"Thank you," Benjamin replied before he glanced back at his liaison. "Coming Bruck?"

The white-haired knight got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he hurriedly followed the Chancellor's Consort-to-be.

"Who are you going to ask, Ben?"

"I was going to ask Qui-Gon to find out what the situation is. He could get the Council to cough up information if anyone could," the teacher replied. "But then I thought about another source I could use." Benjamin turned to Bruck with a thoughtful expression. "It seems to me that the Primary has shown an inordinate interest in Owen over the past few months and Owen has shown a surprising tendency to change the subject whenever Khamier Sarin's name is mentioned. Considering his rather unusual interest in Owen, I bet the Primary will have all the information I need whether he's supposed to have it or not."

Bruck gave his friend a horrified look.

"Benjamin, I can't just go to see Khamier Sarin! He hates Jedi. He'll eat me alive and not in a good way!" he wailed, not noticing the smirks of amusement from the guards who swept along in front of them.

"You can wait outside his office then," Ben stated calmly, not changing his path in the slightest.

"I can't do that," Bruck grated. "Yoda said I was to stay with you until Owen gets back."

"Well you'll just have to hide behind me then," the teacher noted as he glanced over at his friend. Bruck actually looked worried. "Look, if he's as in the know about Owen as I think he is, he'll know that Owen is best friends with you and killing you would piss off my brother. You'll be as safe as if you were in your own quarters in the Temple."

Bruck didn't look convinced. "Oh yes, right. Safe. Uh-huh."

The small group was almost to the docking bays when a young padawan came running up behind them, carrying a small comm crystal. She stopped and stared at the guards that placed themselves between her and Master Lars. Then she blinked and with admirable aplomb, held out the small crystal.

"Sirs, this is for Master Lars. It came over the Senate line fifteen minutes ago."

Lt. Jopik took the comm crystal carefully before he nodded to the padawan.

"Thank you, Padawan Lilya," Bruck said with a small smile at the human girl who blushed and bowed before she scampered off, glancing over her shoulder once before she disappeared around a corner.

Benjamin watched her go before he turned to Bruck with a smirk. "Somebody's got a crush on you," he said in a singsong tone.

The younger man looked up at Ben in surprise before he looked back down the hallway where the padawan had disappeared. Then he shrugged with a grin.

"I'm sure she can't help it. I am the best looking Jedi in my class, after all."

Ben just shook his head and turned to his senior guardsman. "Is the comm crystal all right?" he asked and the blue-robed guard nodded before he handed the small communicator over. "How long before the shuttle arrives?"

"A few minutes only, sir," Lt. Jopik assured him.

The teacher nodded and then walked a few steps away to play the message contained in the crystal. Almost immediately, a small figure appeared and Ben almost dropped the small device. Standing before him was a holo of his father.

"Benjamin, I find myself unexpectedly on Coruscant and would like to speak with you. I have been staying with an acquaintance of mine, a senator who already speaks well of you. He has kindly offered an appointment chamber for us to meet in, chamber 305. Please present yourself at 12:30. We will be having luncheon with the senator as well."

It took every bit of control Benjamin Lars had not to throw the crystal across the hall and shatter it against a wall. The unutterable nerve of the man!

Ben stalked back over to join his companions, an expression of extreme anger on his face. "It's from my father," he snapped out before Bruck could ask. "He wants to meet with me this afternoon at the Senate."

"Your father?" Bruck asked, his tone conveying his surprise. Owen had never spoken much about his father but after the short encounter he'd had with the man on Callis, Bruck could well understand why. There was no love lost from either brother for their arrogant father.

"I just cannot believe he would do this. Just arrive unexpectedly and expect me to drop everything just to meet him!" Ben seethed.

"Why is he on Coruscant?" the knight asked, carefully sending out soothing waves of the Force, hoping to calm his companion.

"I'm sure he is thinking he can amass more political power than he could ever dream of on Callis no doubt," Ben steamed as he glared at the crystal in his hand. "I cannot believe he had the gall...oh wait, yes I can."

Further discussion on the subject of Ben's father was interrupted by the arrival of the shuttle Ben had requested and four additional guardsmen joined them. It was only a matter of minutes before the shuttle was airborne again and headed to the Senate. Bruck watched his charge for a few minutes before he ventured another question.

"Are you going to meet with him?" the Jedi asked almost hesitantly.

Benjamin glanced up at him with a sour expression. "Yes, I think so. If only to let him know exactly where he stands. If he knows that I have no hesitation in publicizing the fact that I think he's lower than a teo-slug, he'll high-tail it right back to Callis. At least there he'll be able to play off our relationship to his heart's content."

The Jedi looked at him thoughtfully. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he finally noted. "You're already worried about your brother, Ben. Add anger and upset at your father and I won't be able to shield your emotions from broadcasting down the bond any longer. Chancellor Jinn will swoop in like an angry draigon and want to know what's going on." Bruck sighed and rubbed his temples. "Then I'll hear about it from every know-it-all master in the Temple," he grumbled under his breath.

Benjamin looked up at him with a rather confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Just that I suggest we should speak to the Chancellor before you meet with your father," the Jedi answered. "Someone must have sponsored your father so he was able to get an appointment chamber and we really should find out who that was before you meet with him."

"No, what did you mean about the bond?" the teacher clarified, his green eyes narrowed slightly. "What bond?"

"The mating bond you have with Chancellor Jinn," Bruck replied, looking closer at his companion. "You don't have another one that I'm not aware of, do you? Knowing Yoda, he probably wouldn't tell me if you did. I had a hard enough time understanding the one you created with Jinn back on Callis."

Benjamin just stared at the Jedi knight sitting beside him for a long, silent minute. "Are you telling me that I have some sort of...mental bond with Qui-Gon?" he finally asked in a low tone.

Bruck just blinked. "Um, yes?"

"And you've known about this since we first met when you arrived on Callis?"

"You didn't know?" the knight asked in a faint voice.

"No, Knight Chun, I didn't know," Ben said flatly as he glared at his companion.

"But...Owen said it had been developing for a month before I even got to Callis."

"Owen knew about it?" Benjamin practically shouted. His guards glanced back from their stations at the front of the shuttle and Ben visibly calmed himself down. "Right. You will tell me everything you know about this bond."

Bruck looked worriedly at his friend as he leaned back and tried to distance himself a bit from the obviously angry young man beside him. The man's emotions were pressing hard against his shields.

"I think that is something you need to discuss with Chancellor Jinn," he finally replied to Benjamin, trying to keep his voice calm even as inside he was screaming that no one ever told him the important things - like no one had told Ben about his bond - and now Qui-Gon Jinn was personally going to strangle him.

"No, Knight Chun," Ben answered in a hard tone. "We have twenty minutes before we arrive at the Senate and you are going to tell me everything you know about this bond. Then we are going to see my father and kick his ass off the planet. Then you and I are going to have a 'chat' with Chancellor Jinn concerning exactly why this information was not shared with me before now."

The One stands strong against the rising Dark. A Blood betrayal will bring him to his knees His cries for mercy unheeded, his rage will rule him. Touch not the Destroyer, lest you be destroyed. Only his Shield can save him. His words will decide.

Padawan Twil'iqua Laru, Orian Temple Year of the Republic, 17863

"Benjamin, I'm sorry," Bruck said in a very worried tone as he walked along the Senate Halls heading for appointment chamber 305. They were flanked by six, blue-robed guardsmen, which made the Jedi even more wary. He didn't like having so much attention drawn to his charge. "I didn't know you weren't aware of the bond."

"I'm not angry with you Bruck," Ben stated, his voice calm but his expression was angry. "But Qui-Gon and I are definitely going to be having a long conversation when I'm done with Aren. I want to know why he didn't tell me about this bond. Not to mention, why Owen didn't tell me."

Bruck didn't say anything further. Benjamin was flaming mad and it was his fault, but really, why the hells would Owen and Jinn not tell Benjamin about this bond? And what other verbal land mines were just waiting for him to step on and explode?

Setting those questions aside, the Jedi glanced back at one of the guardsmen that trailed Ben. "What chamber are we going to?" he asked.

"Appointment Chamber 305, currently assigned to Senator Xerdyses of Telos."

Bruck nodded absently. "I didn't know you were acquainted with Senator Xerdyses," he said to Ben.

The teacher just shrugged, still simmering with his anger. "I'm not."

"How does your father know him? Telos isn't in your sector, is it?"

"No," Ben replied as the group stopped before chamber 305. "But who knows how my father meets anyone?"

Lt. Jopik opened the door and walked in followed by two others as they searched the room for any dangers. Ben smirked as he heard the startled squawk of his father when the guards scanned him thoroughly for weapons. Jopik reappeared at the doorway and bowed slightly.

"The room and occupant are cleared for you, sir," he said as he escorted Ben through the door, followed by Bruck.

The knight glanced around the room quickly, noting the positioning of four guards, two by the front doorway and two by the rear one. The remaining two guards were stationed outside the closed door in the hallway they had just entered from. Benjamin was well protected and Bruck didn't understand why his instincts were screaming to get the Consort out of the room. He knew Ben wouldn't leave, however, so he settled for strengthening the shields around himself and Ben before he took up a post against the wall farthest from Syr Aren Lars.

The man rising from the center couch was vaguely familiar to him from the single glance he'd had of the man on Callis. Aren Lars looked surprisingly confident considering the results of his and Benjamin's last confrontation.

"Benjamin, you're looking well," Aren said with a smile.

"What do you want, Aren?" the teacher asked bluntly and his father just raised his brows slightly.

"That's not a very polite greeting considering I've come all this way to make sure you're settling in well here."

Ben just snorted. "I'm fine. So you can head right back to Callis."

Aren just shook his head. "I don't think so," he said as he lowered himself back onto the couch. "I find I rather like it here." His eyes glanced around the room from guard to guard until his gaze settled on Bruck. "Already keeping extra company, Ben? What does the Chancellor say to that?"

The young man just glared at his father. "Knight Chun is my liaison with the Jedi Temple, nothing more, nothing less."

"Liaison?" Aren's eyes wandered up and then down the knight before he dismissed Bruck all together. "A fancy word for whore, I suppose," he said dryly. "But you and I have other things to discuss, Benjamin. Come and sit down."

Bruck felt a blast of anger on his shields and struggled to send calming waves back at Ben. While he was used to such slights, Benjamin had never really seen a knight out and about on his missions so he didn't realize just how many people echoed his father's opinion.

"We do not have anything to discuss, Aren, other than when you are leaving the planet," Benjamin snapped, not moving an inch from where he stood near the door.

"But I'm not leaving, Benjamin," the man replied again, his tone soothing as though he was talking to a five year old. "There is much for me to do here."

Ben's glare heated up as he curled his hands angrily into fists. "There will be nothing for you to do here once it becomes known that I have absolutely no respect for your opinions and even less interest in anything you have to say," the teacher stated harshly. "I don't know what you promised Senator Xerdyses to set this meeting up but it's not going to get him anything."

Aren just looked curious. "Senator Xerdyses? I haven't even met the man."

Bruck sensed the guards stiffen around the room even as his level of worry shot up. The Force was singing to him now and he stepped towards Benjamin.

"Sir, we should leave now," he said formally and Ben turned to him in surprise.

"But-"

"If Senator Xerdyses isn't Syr Lars' sponsor, we don't know who is," Bruck stated calmly, his eyes catching Lt. Jopik's fingers tapping furiously on his belt comm.

"I can provide my son with that information if you would be so good as to not interrupt me, Jedi," Aren said snidely as he turned back to Ben. "It's Senator Pal...." And his words suddenly cut off as his eyes became panicked, his hands going to his throat.

A second later, his father screamed as a small metal sphere burst from beneath the skin of his neck and flashed towards the nearest wall even as a stunned Ben felt hands on his arms dragging him backwards towards the door. The sphere exploded against the wall and a shimmering curtain of blue light enclosed the room, blocking off the doorways.

"We've got to get out," he heard Bruck say even as he continued to stare at his father who was gasping and trying to hold in the blood pulsing from his neck. That task was made impossible as another small sphere burst from the remainder of the man's throat and Aren fell gasping to the floor even as the second sphere exploded in a flash of silent light.

The last image Ben saw was that of his father dying in a pool of blood on the floor of appointment chamber 305.

Chancellor Qui-Gon Jinn reared back in his chair, his hands going to his eyes even as he let out a scream of pain. His scream had barely trailed off when his guards were immediately surrounding him, blasters pointed at the two stunned Senators with whom he'd been in conference with.

"Benjamin!" he screamed again and surged to his feet, pushing the guardsmen away. "Escort these beings out," he gasped as he leaned over his desk console and stabbed at buttons, trying to bring up his Primary. "Something has happened to my Consort!"

He was saved the trouble of finding the right combination when Acting Primary A'larni strode into the room, stepping aside as the guards escorted the Senators out of the room.

"Sir, we have a red alert from Lt. Jopik. It was coming from an appointment chamber on the lower levels when communication was suddenly cut off."

Qui-Gon didn't wait to hear anything further and A'larni didn't expect him to. He already had arranged an inside transport to be waiting outside the Chancellor's office and within moments, Qui-Gon was moving through the Senate hallways at high speed, listening to his Primary's report.

"We received the alert three minutes ago and I sent all guards within the area to that chamber immediately. Currently, they are unable to get inside the room. I've called for a ram. I've also called for a medical team to be available as well."

"Benjamin shouldn't even be here," Qui-Gon seethed. "Why was he here?"

"I've already sent queries to the Temple, sir," A'larni stated. "I haven't gotten a response back yet."

It was only minutes later that they slowed to a halt before a doorway surrounded by Republic Guardsmen and a portable electronic ram. Even as Qui-Gon stepped from the hovering transport, the ram sank its metal talons into the door and ripped it open. The Chancellor immediately tried to enter but was held back forcibly by the Primary and two other guards.

"We have to verify the safety of the room, sir," he stated, keeping his voice calm even in the face of the rage in his employer's eyes. "It will only take a few moments more."

"Sir!" another guard called and A'larni moved forward, keeping ahead of Qui-Gon as they moved into the room.

The chamber furniture was untouched but the six bodies on the floor were indication enough that something had gone terribly wrong here. Four of the bodies were blue-robed Republic guards.

"Benjamin's guards" Qui-Gon hissed. The fifth body was that of a Jedi knight and Qui-Gon recognized Knight Chun whom he knew was Benjamin's Temple liaison. All five were alive but blood was trickling out of their ears and noses and none would respond to any stimulus. The sixth body was definitely dead, its throat torn out. Again, Qui-Gon recognized the face but had never met him. Aren Lars, Benjamin's father. Then the face was covered as medical personnel swarmed over the injured.

"So where the hell is my consort?" Qui-Gon shouted as he turned to glare at A'larni.

"We're already searching the Senate, Sir. All traffic to and from the building has been stopped. We're checking to see who had this room assigned and where they are at the moment."

The Chancellor glared at the man, his teeth grinding audibly before he turned away. The man was doing everything he could, he reminded himself.

"Sir?" Another guard stepped inside the room and A'larni motioned him forward. "We have a call from some men claiming to be friends of Benjamin who are looking for him. They were supposed to meet for lunch, they said."

Qui-Gon stepped forward and interrupted A'larni's response. "Tell them to report to my office immediately," he stated, trying to keep his tone calm. He turned to his Acting Primary with a burning gaze. "I want you in my office as soon as this area is secured. Keep forwarding any information you uncover to my desk as you find it."

Kiers A'larni saluted and waited until the Chancellor had left the room before he started issuing orders left and right. If the homicidal gleam in Qui-Gon Jinn's eyes was anything to go by, someone was going to pay dearly for this fuckup.

24968.06.02

The hidden Guide leads
The Sibling blood flows
The white Knight frees
The golden Protector claims
His touch will calm the rage or stoke the fire
Only then shall the Choice be made

Padawan Hars-Kal, Delphani Temple year of the Republic 24463

He awoke to the sound of muffled screams.

He didn't realize they were screams at first. He didn't even realize they were sounds. He had been floating in a dark place for what seemed like a long time but there had been no peace there. Only vivid images of terrible things he felt that he should be horrified by but barely noted before they were replaced by other visions of serenity and joy that seemed the very opposite. Chaos, hatred and pain gave way to scenes of serenity, peace and joy only to be swallowed up by the nightmares once again.

One after another, the visions presented themselves to the man floating weightless in the void; overwhelming peace then devastating chaos, complete happiness side by side with utter hatred, the images flickered through his mind, ever changing, showing him what might be, what could be.

But in every vision there was one constant anchoring him, a dark warrior, a lover, a mate, a master; he was always present, holding him in comfort or leashing him with pain.

It seemed forever before the visions faded, the visions of joy and images of hate slowly grew faint and were replaced by the muffled sounds he eventually identified as screams of excruciating pain.

In the moments it took to understand what he was hearing, Owen opened his eyes to find himself suspended within a tank of bacta. For a moment, he wondered at his own lack of surprise at awakening submersed in the healing liquid. Then he realized this was not the first time he had awakened in such a way. It was the first time, however, that he had awakened to a Senator torturing a former Jedi apprentice.

Owen blinked slowly. He recognized Palpatine immediately. What he didn't understand was why Senator Palpatine was carefully slicing up a manacled Calamarian whom Owen recognized as Bant, one of Bruck's closest friends, with an expression of delight, almost rapture, on his face. Bant's green skin was covered with rivulets of blood and gore and there didn't seem to be an untouched spot of her long, lean body that was not thick with scars of blood.

As he surveyed the room, Owen noted several other beings, most watching Palpatine with expressions of fear but there were some who seemed to be getting as much enjoyment out of Bant's extreme pain as Palpatine did.

Owen felt he should be doing something about the torture before him. He also felt he should be horrified by the image of Bant's body being slowly sliced open but all he did was study the scene with a rather clinical detachment. Perhaps somewhere deep inside him, smothered under heavy layers of medication and Force manipulation, he was screaming, probably retching a bit, but for now Owen settled for noting that Bant screamed much louder when Palpatine ran his bare hand over her lacerated skin than when he sliced it open. The knight struggled to see through the thick bacta gel and thought that it was very odd the way purple flickers of light seemed to shimmer over the senator's blood-smeared hand as it passed over an open wound on Bant's chest.

A movement just below him brought Owen's attention to a figure looking up at him. She seemed to be a medic of some kind and she promptly turned away from him and stepped closer to where Palpatine was slicing a long bit of skin off of his victim.

The woman must have said something because Palpatine immediately stilled and looked up to meet Owen's glazed eyes. Even under the heavy medication that was being pumped through his veins, Owen flinched at meeting that icy blue gaze. Images of what the man had done to him during his rotation as a padawan flickered before his mind's eye and fear trickled down his spine.

Palpatine smiled.

Then he set down the blade had been using and gestured for an attendant. The man immediately stepped forward and was handed the heavily blood spattered overrobe Palpatine had been wearing. Another man stepped forward and offered a large cloth, which Palpatine slowly wiped his hands on, all the while holding Owen's gaze with his own.

After a long moment, he handed back the now-bloody cloth and turned away to gesture at the bloodied figure on the table. Two other men stepped forward, uniformed and expressionless, and undid the manacles holding Bant to the table. Then they roughly dragged her body off the table and Owen clearly heard the pained scream that resulted when Bant hit the floor. The knight suspected she must have finally passed out - or had been allowed to pass out - as no further movement or noise came from the form as it was dragged from the room.

A flicker of movement in front of him once again caught Owen's attention. Palpatine now stood before the tank he was suspended in, icy blue eyes roaming over his body in a way that made Owen realize he was completely unclothed save for the breather and goggles he wore. From his fifth year he had been trained to be proud of his body and unembarrassed by nudity. But now, as the senator's leering gaze swept over him, all Owen wanted to do was hide away in the dark. Only one person was supposed to see him this way and Palpatine was not that person.

Eventually, the senator finally glanced away from him and Owen sighed in relief until Palpatine gestured again to someone he couldn't see and suddenly his body was being lifted from the tank. A few moments later, he was lying boneless on the same table where Bant had been tortured.

The fact that he was on the same table that Bant was sliced up on was not a good thing, he thought, and then realized that while his mind seemed to be clearing his body was almost completely unresponsive. Owen felt as though he was covered with a large, heavy blanket and completely unable to move.

He found that he was able to feel, though, as a pair of hands slid through the slimy coating left from the bacta, trailing down from his shoulders onto his arms, slowly caressing his skin. If he'd been able to, the knight would have leaned over the side of the table and retched before he headed for the nearest sanitizer to clean off his skin. As it was, the only thing he did was shudder and that was a completely involuntary response.

Owen's eyes darted up frantically to find Palpatine looming over his head, a wicked smile on his lips as he studied his newest victim. His gaze caught Owen's panicked eyes and he smiled even wider as his hands moved back up his arms and onto his chest.

"With us again, are you, my lovely Destroyer?" the senator crooned softly as his nails slowly dug into the skin over Owen's heart. A sharp, lingering pain shot through Owen's chest as Palpatine carefully pulled his hands upwards, creating ten long, shallow gashes. Then the hands started roaming again - caressing, pinching, occasionally leaving a long, painful welt - as the senator began to walk around the table, studying his prize from every angle.

Owen just closed his eyes and concentrated on not throwing up. In his current state, he'd drown in the vomit but with every touch, Owen considered that perhaps that might be a blessing. This man, this Sith, should not be touching him. He belonged to Khamier. Only Khamier should touch him. His skin was beginning to feel as though it would crawl off his body and the scar on his shoulder where Sarin had bitten him was beginning to hurt all on its own. It flared with a bright, sharp pain as his captor scraped over it with his nails.

"You have many more scars than you had when last I saw you," Palpatine observed, catching Owen's attention again as he ran a fingertip down a particularly long scar on his upper thigh. "I'll have to kill Yinyan for not taking better care of my property." The man chuckled, a nasty sound to Owen's ears. "That is, if she survives her latest injury."

The knight's eyes narrowed and he glared. Palpatine just laughed again as he moved once again to the head of the table. His gently held Owen's face between his hands and leaned over to place a kiss on the knight's forehead.

"I'm going to break you," he whispered into Owen's ear. "Remember our lovely time together four years ago?"

The younger man's only response was a deep shudder as Owen's eyes closed tightly.

Another chuckle breathed against his cheek. "I see that you do. I almost broke you then, you know. I almost tapped into that beautiful rage you hide so deeply."

Owen tried to jerk his head away from Palpatine's gentle fingers and managed to move a little. His captor's response was to tighten his grip painfully.

"I am going to break you, boy, make you mine to command. And then I'll give you Yinyan as a gift. You'll bring me her beating heart, won't you, my lovely Destroyer?"

'NO!' the thought rang through his mind pointed directly towards the man hovering over him. 'Nevernevernevernever!'

Palpatine just smiled before he glanced away. "Take him to my chambers and clean him up," he said. "I want him ready within the half hour. If you touch him in any way not needed to clean him, I will cut your hands off."

A few moments later, Owen found himself gently moved from the cold metal table to a hover-gurney, which immediately floated across the room and out the door, escorted by two large servants. In spite of his efforts to keep himself calm, he felt his panic rise as he fully realized what Palpatine intended.

It had taken months with the soul healers to cleanse himself of what this man had done the last time and even then, he had never found the same joy in sex, in touching another, that he'd had before the incident.

At least he hadn't until he had touched Khamier; until Khamier had touched him.

Owen closed his eyes tightly and thought of his zabrak lover. His master and mate, according to Master Koth. If Owen survived this, would Khamier still want him?

Khamier!

Khamier Sarin jerked and then turned to glare at his co-pilot. "What?"

Agent 017 looked up from the readouts before him. "What?" he asked warily. Sarin had been an absolute rancor since they'd rendezvoused and he was being very careful about what he said to the zabrak.

"You called my name, Chiyari. What do you want?"

Xanatos Chiyari blinked and then leaned back in his chair. "I've said nothing for the past two hours, Primary," he stated calmly.

Khamier studied the calm expression on the man's face before he turned back to his own readings. He knew he had heard his name called, practically screamed out, but Xanatos would have no reason to lie to him. That he knew of."

"Have you tracked the transport?" Khamier finally said in a strained tone.

Xanatos nodded. "I have. It settled for an hour at coordinates in the Rothlin sector on Coruscant and then again very briefly in the Wobanin sector and then left the planet. I believe we should check the Rothlin sector first as they would have needed more time to unload Lars and the Calamarian."

Sarin nodded and then leaned forward to touch the communicator. He typed in a command that was a direct and highly secured line to Qui-Gon's office so he wasn't surprised to find that the Chancellor immediately opened up the line. Khamier was surprised at how haggard Qui-Gon looked on the screen.

"Sarin, where the hell are you?" were the first words growled across the line.

"I'm tracking Knight Lars' kidnappers into the Rothlin sector, sir," he responded. "We should be closing in on them within the next few hours."

"I want you to drop that chase immediately and return to the Senate."

Khamier just blinked at the screen, certain he'd misheard what the Chancellor had said.

"What?"

"I need you to return to the Senate immediately for an assignment," Qui-Gon stated firmly.

"No." The word was flat and unmoving.

"Khamier," Qui-Gon began but Sarin just cut him off.

"I'm not losing Owen just to return for some assignment that can damn well wait or you can give it to A'larni!"

Qui-Gon's dark blue eyes narrowed angrily. "I would not ask this lightly, Khamier. Benjamin was taken yesterday afternoon and I know it was orchestrated by Palpatine." The Chancellor stared at his Primary grimly. "All the sources of the Chancellor's office have met dead ends. If anyone can find him, you can."

Khamier Sarin just looked at Qui-Gon, an almost helpless expression on his face. Xanatos had never, in all the time he'd worked for the Primary, seen such a vulnerable look in the zabrak's golden eyes. Quickly, he opened up his communicator to the same line.

"Chancellor," he said with a respectful nod.

Qui-Gon looked surprise for just a moment. "017?"

"The men who took Knight Lars and Koth's padawan were mercenaries habitually hired by Senator Palpatine when he wants to capture or kill Jedi. There is a very good chance that in tracking Knight Lars, we will be going to the location where your Consort is being held."

Chancellor Jinn looked at Xanatos with an assessing gaze. "How good a chance?"

Xanatos considered the question for a long moment. "Your Consort is Knight Lars' brother, is he not?" He got a sharp nod from the Chancellor. "Palpatine gave those mercenaries an order to capture Lars alive or they would have killed him outright so the senator must want to use him for some purpose. He could be planning on using your Consort against Knight Lars to gain whatever it is he wants."

The agent looked directly into the Chancellor's eyes. "Sir, if Palpatine was the one who took him, your Consort's best chance would be to allow Sarin to continue his pursuit of Lars' attackers. Where we'll find one captive of Palpatine, it's likely we'll find two.

Qui-Gon was silent for a long moment before he nodded. "Very well. But I want you to pick up Knight Bruck Chun from the Jedi Temple."

"We cannot spare the time!" Khamier snarled.

"He says he can trace Benjamin," Qui-Gon snapped back. "You will take him with you!"

"Sarin, the Temple is on our way," Xanatos noted calmly. "It would take no more than a few minutes to pick him up."

Khamier glared at him before he finally agreed. "But he'd better be ready to board when we land."

"I'll send word immediately," Qui-Gon stated. "Keep me informed."

Then the image was gone and Xanatos leaned back, staring at the blank screen. "The theory is sound, Sarin, but what could Knight Lars possibly have that a Senator of the Republic would want?"

"What could a Master Sith want with a Jedi Knight?" Khamier murmured, his gold eyes darkening with a hot anger. Xanatos jerked in his seat and tuned to glare at his pilot.

"What?"

"We think Palpatine is a Master Sith," Khamier growled. "You said that padawan killed her master and then attacked and injured Owen?"

Xanatos nodded. "She would have killed him if those mercenaries hadn't intervened."

"What if she was the Sith's apprentice?" Khamier reasoned. "Why would she want to kill him if Palpatine obviously wanted him alive?"

"He must be a threat to her in some way," Xanatos said slowly. "And if she is a Sith's apprentice, the only threat she'd have to fear is her master-"

"Or her replacement," Khamier hissed. His hands curled into fists on the control panel. "That Sith bastard wants to turn my Owen into his damn apprentice!"

"Hells," Chiyari breathed, his eyes unfocused. "Owen Lars would make one scary Sith." Suddenly, his eyes cleared and he turned to glare at Khamier. "Fly faster, damn it. We've got to get Chun and then get to the Rothlin sector."

Qui-Gon glared at the darkened screen a long time before the beeping of his communicator irritated him enough to answer it.

"Jinn," he snapped, now glaring at the comm unit.

There was a slight hesitation before Thalla's sympathetic voice came over the line. "Sir, Benjamin's shield mates have arrived and are waiting to speak with you."

Qui-Gon grit his teeth as he tried to control the rage that was churning through him. After almost a full minute of silence, he said, "Send them in."

"Very well, sir."

"And Thalla, tell A'larni to finish up whatever he is doing and come to my office as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Qui-Gon stood when the communicator cut off and walked over to the bar. He heard the door to his office slide open even as he reached out to pour himself a potent cup of cav.

"Gentlemen," he said as he turned to them.

"Have you had any word on Ben's location?" Eero asked bluntly as he and his friends crossed the room.

Qui-Gon eyed the approaching soldiers and then set his cup down. "No, nothing new," he said in an expressionless voice. "But my two top agents are now tracking him. They will be taking the Jedi who was last with Ben to track him once they find the general location."

"And what then?" Maxim demanded, his hands curled into fists at his side.

"Once I get the signal from my agents, A'larni will marshal his people and we will go and have a long, painful chat with the ones responsible."

"We're going."

Qui-Gon glanced at the tall, normally quiet soldier who had spoken. There was nothing but determination in his face - in all their faces.

"A'larni and Sarin would probably council against it but I know you will be looking for Benjamin harder than any of my own soldiers," the Chancellor stated firmly. "Keep your communicators on at all times. When the time comes to assemble the Primary's Guard, you will need to respond quickly."

"We'll be ready," Rebierba stated calmly.

Qui-Gon just nodded and picked up his cav. "You can stay in the Guards' quarters until it's time to go. I'll have your belongings brought to you from Elysèun." The Chancellor moved back to his desk and sat down, obviously dismissing the five soldiers. "Thalla will see to it. Just stop and speak with her on your way out."

Benjamin's shield-brothers were still for a moment before they turned, as one, to leave the room. Qui-Gon watched them go and them turned back to his desk. A'larni would be here soon and Qui-Gon needed to alert their people in the Rothlin sector.

When the blood of the Chosen One runs from the blades of a Master of Darkness, when the Shield has made his claim, then will be the time of Decision.

These are the paths of the Chosen One. These are the paths of Choice.

Padawan Karn Orante, Coruscant Temple

When he had been a senior padawan on his first and only rotation to the Senate, Owen had been led, all unknowing, into Palpatine's chamber where he'd been forced to learn things about sex and pain that he had never been meant to know. The single night he had spent bound for Palpatine's sadistic pleasure was one that had haunted his dreams and meditations since.

At least he hadn't known then what was coming. He hadn't known what a sadistic bastard the man was and hadn't expected anything that had happened. He had never been meant for those games, had never even explored the theory because he knew it wasn't a path he wanted to take.

But with his body thoroughly cleaned and shaved, his hands bound to a ceiling chain and his feet manacled to the floor of a luxurious white sitting room, he knew what was coming. When the servant administered an antidote to the drug he'd been given to keep him sedated, the first emotions to rise to the surface were panic and fear and he was unable to push them back down. It had taken him months to recover the last time Palpatine had done this and as he watched the servants lay out their master's sharpened toys, he realized that this time he wouldn't be so lucky.

Owen hung there after the servants had left and turned down the lights for what seemed like hours before Palpatine arrived. He found himself sweating in the cool air of the senator's chamber as he tried to control his breathing, tried to release the fear and panic rolling through him into the Force with little success. The slender collar that had replaced the thick, Force-inhibiting throat collar that he had arrived with not only blocked his access to the Force but it also allowed his captor to send a stinging wave of agony through his brain whenever he tried to sink himself into meditation to escape the pain

He tried not to scream at first. He remembered when he'd been taken as a padawan Palpatine had been wholly delighted with his screams. The various sounds of his pain had increased his creativity and the senator's sexual fervor.

So Owen tried not to scream and Palpatine just smiled and exchanged his blades for sharper ones. The light now was provided by the flickering glow of hundreds of candles placed around the room and the blades almost glittered as he picked one up and proceeded to carve a complex pattern on his captive's chest.

When Palpatine first arrived in his chamber, the candles around the room had lit themselves and the small bit of light offered by the open door the senator came through quickly disappeared. Then there were hands roaming along his back and Owen couldn't help the words that hissed from his lips as he tried to pull away.

"Don't touch me!"

The words had nothing to do with the pain he knew was coming and everything to do with the fact that Owen's body was tuned to allow only one being's intimate touch and that being was not Palpatine.

The man before him just chuckled as he continued to run his hands along the muscular body before him.

"Oh, I'm going to touch you, my destroyer," he said as he circled Owen's helpless form, touching, caressing, tasting. "You belong to me. You're going to come to crave my touch, whatever touch I deign to give you."

"No!" Owen snarled again, twisting his body away from Palpatine's touch. "Don't touch me!"

The man - no the Sith - had just smiled and touched a control that pulled Owen's fastenings tighter, allowing for no movement at all. Then he had picked up a long, shining blade and began to mark his new apprentice.

It wasn't long before Owen came to prefer the bite and sting of the blade slicing through his skin to the repulsive touch of the man before him. '*Don't touch me!*' became his mantra and it wasn't very long before he was screaming it and heard it echo through the chamber.

Palpatine shivered and grew harder with each scream as he laced his fingertips with salt and smeared Owen's blood in patterns along his cuts. He used his favorite dagger for long, careful minutes tracing an intricate lacework of long, shallow cuts across his chosen's abdomen followed by deeper, shorter cuts into the tender, newly shaven skin surrounding Owen's limp shaft and balls. Then he knelt on the floor and spent an eternity licking and sucking the blood trickling from the cuts, satisfying a hunger he'd acquired on a night four years previous.

Looking up Owen's body, past the bloody network of bleeding cuts, he caught the knight's wild and pain-filled gaze. He smiled, licking Owen's sweet blood from his lips, as he reached up to wrap his hand around the younger man's limp shaft and squeezed.

"You don't seem to be enjoying this as much as I am, my beautiful Malevolent," he said as he slowly squeezed the cock he held. "And that is so unlike a whore of a Jedi."

Owen hissed and shuddered, his dark eyes promising a slow death when he got free.

"Don't touch me, you bastard!" he grated, his voice harsh from the last hours of screaming. His body shuddered and strained against his bonds to move away even as Palpatine ran his hand over the cuts adorning Owen's body and smeared the blood along his shaft.

"But I like touching you," Palpatine stated with a dark leer. "And I love tasting you," he finished before he slowly ran his tongue flat along Owen's cock, forcing a strained howl of sheer revulsion from the bound man's lips.

"Force, I hate you!" exploded from Owen and he felt as if the skin covering his body was trying to crawl away. "I hate you! Don't TOUCH me!"

"Ahhhhhh," Palpatine stared up at the bloody man hanging above him, an expression of pure bliss on his faced as he soaked up the hate that burst out in every direction. "Yesss, that's so my good boy," he crooned in a tone of supreme satisfaction. "That certainly requires a reward."

He held out his hand and a long, thick cylinder floated from the table holding his toys. He released Owen's cock for a moment and twisted the metal tube with a quick jerk. Instantly, the top half was coated with a slick gel-like substance.

He glanced up with a wide smirk and caught Owen's frantic gaze as he positioned the tube at the entrance to Owen's body. Then he gripped the man's cock again before he rammed the metal cylinder completely inside Owen's ill-prepared body. The Jedi screamed at the violation of his body but the sound was one more of hatred and anger than pain. Palpatine reveled in the sound and emotions as he steadily pumped the hardening shaft in his hand and completely pulled out the cylinder before thrusting it home again. Owen screamed out denials that were sweet to the older man's ears.

"There is an Abinstin extract in the gel now slathered inside you, my apprentice to be," Palpatine noted as he drove that metal rod deep into Owen's ass again, shivering at the outpouring of hate that was increasing with every thrust. "I still have a long way to go before I bury myself inside you and mark you as mine. I want to make sure your body understands the pleasure of pain no matter whether you do or not."

"I'm not yours!" Owen snarled as he let go of the final restraint on his emotions that he'd been struggling to hold on to. His voice was filled with hate as he roared his defiance. "I'm not yours to touch or taste or fuck! I don't belong to you!"

Palpatine rammed the metal rod deep and then left it there as he gripped the rock hard erection that now stood out from Owen's body. He held out his hand again and a small metal band shot through the air. It was the work of moments to wrap that band tightly around the base of Owen's cock.

Then he slowly ran his hands and his tongue up the Jedi's body as he stood. He stared into his captive's hate-filled gaze for a long moment before he reached forward and gripped Owen's chin tightly, opening the Jedi's mouth and laving the inside with his bloody tongue. Owen shuddered and felt bile rise in his throat as the Sith held his jaw open and spent long minutes licking the inside of his mouth. He tried to pull away only to have Palpatine's other hand wind into his hair and grip tightly, holding him still for the oral exploration while the Sith steadily rubbed his body against Owen's, pressing against the Jedi's painfully erect cock.

Finally, he pulled back and licked a few streaks of blood off Owen's chin before he stepped away.

The bound man was shuddering and gagging, trying to control his breathing and not retch. Sharp slivers of pain were shooting from the top of his body to the tip of his toes with a knot of pain expanding out from Khamier's mark, a mark that Palpatine obviously didn't know the meaning of, otherwise Owen had no doubt the Sith would shave the skin from his shoulder. He pushed his thoughts completely away from the Mark and tried to focus on Palpatine's words.

"You already belong to me, my apprentice," the Sith stated as he trailed a sharp fingernail along a particularly deep cut on Owen's neck. "And believe me when I say you are going to be begging me to fuck you before this night is over."

"Nothing you could do would make me beg for your touch," Owen snarled, his eyes dark and raging. "I will never belong to you!"

Palpatine just smiled and picked up his needles.

The sleek transport Khamier had commandeered when he and Xanatos had arrived back on Coruscant made its pick up from the Jedi temple with little delay. Within minutes, the ship was again shooting through the traffic-laden skies of the city-planet and Knight Bruck Chun had settled into the third of the four seats available in the small craft. Sarin was at the controls as Xanatos co-piloted.

As soon as they were airborne, however, Xanatos looked back at the silent knight with a grimace.

"You look like shit, Chun," he stated bluntly.

Bruck blinked. He was surprised the man in the front seat even knew his name. He knew the dark-haired aristocrat was the brother of some high-ranking senator, but Bruck had had a very hard day and he didn't even try to stop his sarcastic reply.

"And you look like Vonris Du'Telos, the man my padawan rotation voted most likely to have slept with more senators than all of us combined."

Xanatos looked surprised for a moment and then smiled brilliantly. "It's good to know my efforts have resulted in such a vast reputation," he noted smugly.

"Yeah, vast would be the word," the knight noted snidely as he pulled out another pain patch from his utility belt and replaced the one just below his ear. "It would describe both your cock and your ego." He glared at the chuckling man in front of him occupying the co-pilot's seat. "What are you doing on this mission anyway?"

"Du'Telos' presence doesn't need to be explained to you, Jedi," Khamier snapped. "You're here to assist in finding the Chancellor's Consort and that is the extent of your interference."

Strangely enough, Bruck didn't feel his customary terror of the Chancellor's Jedi-eating Primary. That must have had something to do with the pounding ache he had between his ears and the pain-killer patches he was sporting.

"Fine. But I would greatly appreciate it if Lord Du'Telos would stop with the mental probes. It's rude and it hurts like hell." Bruck glared at Xanatos. "If you want to know something, ask."

This time Xanatos blinked. "You shouldn't feel anything at all," he noted calmly as he exchanged a glance with Khamier.

Bruck just rubbed his temples and tried to shore up his weakened shields. "Yeah, well, I was near ground zero of an aural detonator yesterday and it has affected all my Force senses - as in heightened them to a hypersensitive status." He grimaced as Khamier made a steep drop and a turn and covered his eyes with his hand, leaning his head back on the seat. "If this is what the top operatives deal with all the time, I'm very glad I'm just a mid-level sensitive. This sucks like a big black hole."

Xanatos gave the younger knight a slight, understanding smile. "Yeah it can," he said softly.

Khamier, however, understood only one thing. "You're injured? Why were you even sent on this mission?"

Bruck didn't move as he responded sigh. "As always, when the Chancellor says 'jump', the Jedi say 'who?'." After a short, silent moment, the white-haired knight sighed. "That wasn't quite the right answer to that question, was it?"

"Damn it, I don't have time for a half-out-of-it Jedi to be blundering around on this mission," Sarin snarled as he turned and glared at the knight. Bruck looked up and met the man's angry stare.

"I will do what I must, Primary Sarin," he stated calmly. "Pain is only a transitory thing. It will not affect my performance. If you get us in his area, I will find Benjamin, make no mistake."

"You were able to get a tag on him before he was taken?" Xanatos asked, keeping his voice low. When Bruck nodded, he continued. "What exactly happened yesterday?"

"Someone - i.e. Senator Palpatine, the slimy bastard - set up Ben's father, implanting him with a 60 foot jammer and an aural detonator. When Ben went in to have a meeting with him - in a chamber assigned to Senator Xerdyses Du'Telos by the way," Bruck noted in an aside to Xanatos, who scowled, "we were locked in by the jammer and then knocked out by the aural detonator. I'm told Syr Lars died from the backlash but if he hadn't, the Chancellor would have torn him apart anyway." Bruck paused to rub his temples again. "When I came to, I was in the Temple infirmary covered with bacta patches and Yoda was poking me with that blasted gimer stick."

"But you managed to get a tag on the Consort?" Xanatos asked, his tone indicating approval.

"Yes," Bruck replied, leaning back again and closing his eyes. "Syr Lars slipped up and mentioned that his patron was Senator Palpatine and not your brother. That's when Ben's senior guard started sending out emergency signals and I tried to get Ben out of the room. When the jammer popped out of Lars' throat, I concentrated on tagging Ben."

He didn't mention that he thought he had overdone the mental tag and put a little too much power behind it as the detonator went off. They were barely into the Rothlin sector and already Bruck could feel the faint pull of the tag. He hoped he hadn't forged anything permanent between himself and the Chancellor's Consort. The Chancellor would not be pleased.

He barely controlled his flinch as he felt Vonris' mental touch lightly scanning his shields. The touch felt oddly...reassuring. Bruck, however, was in no mood to be reassured by a man who was obviously much more capable and dange rous than the knight had ever considered him to be. Vonris just returned his look calmly before he turned forward again to watch as Khamier sliced a homicidal path through Coruscant's evening traffic.

The knight sighed and glanced out his small window and then abruptly brought his eyes forward as the images flashing by at a high rate of speed made him dizzy. He closed his eyes and reached for his calm center, dropping into a light meditation for a few minutes as he found his focus.

When he opened his eyes again, his found his gaze on the handsome profile of Lord Vonris and wondered again about the man's presence on this mission and his obvious Force abilities.

There was a rumor that circulated among the junior padawans, more of a myth really, about Jedi operatives who were chosen very young and rigidly trained in covert operations and stealth tactics. Then when they were ready, they were buried in an advantageous identity that allowed much-needed knowledge to trickle back to the Temple.

While Bruck had always thought this a logical thing, he wasn't quite certain he believed it. Now, looking at Vonris, he wasn't quite certain that he didn't believe it.

"We're getting close," the object of his thoughts noted in a low tone. "The location where the ship dropped its cargo is only a few miles farther on, down on a lower level." The Telosian lord glanced back at the other passenger. "Do you begin to feel Benjamin Lars?"

Bruck nodded slowly. "In the same direction."

"That's quite a range, Knight Chun," Vonris noted casually.

The white-haired knight sighed. "Yes."

"We'll find the closest landing pad and head downward then," Khamier stated as he veered around a large shuttle directly in his path. "Chun, you stay with us until we're inside. Then we'll verify the direction of the Consort. Once you have his location marked, you will go after him. Du'Telos and I will go after Knight Lars."

Bruck blinked and then leaned forward. "You are searching for Owen?" he asked in a shocked tone. Neither man replied and the white-haired knight sat back, cursing under his breath. "I knew something was wrong. I knew those Councilors were hiding something. Even Yoda looked guilty."

"What is he to you?" Khamier suddenly snarled and he slammed the small transport down hard on the landing bay he'd chosen and then turned to glare at the knight behind him. "You are not to touch him again, do you understand?" the Primary demanded in a hostile tone, his golden eyes hard.

Bruck just looked at him. "Owen Lars is my mentor and the brother of my heart, Primary," he finally stated quietly. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Khamier studied him with a narrow, gold glare before he triggered the doors to open and got out. Vonris rose from the small ship gracefully but Khamier was waiting when Bruck struggled out of low seat.

"Heart-brother you may be, but you are not to touch what is mine again, do you understand, Jedi?" he demanded, getting right in Bruck's face. The knight, however, didn't flinch away. He just returned Khamier's wild look with a serene gaze.

"This brutish and possessive attitude of yours will not endear you to Owen," he noted calmly. "You have probably noticed he is rather independently-minded."

Khamier actually growled before he reached forward and grabbed Bruck's robe. "You will not touch him again. Is. That. Clear?" he hissed.

"Certainly, Primary. You only had to say it once." Bruck blinked innocently. "We should really be going to find Benjamin and Owen now."

Khamier growled a long, low sound before he abruptly let go of Bruck's robe, looked at his agent and then stalked off in the direction Vonris had indicated. Bruck noted his tag on Benjamin had gotten quite strong and quickly moved to follow the Primary, muttering under his breath. "I must be insane. Zabraks and their damn mating frenzies."

"You have no idea," Vonris noted as he dropped into step beside him.

"Ahhhh, my Malevolent," Palpatine sighed as he ran his hands down the bloody slices and welts on his captive's back. He traced each wound carefully, spreading the skin and tasting the blood on his fingers. "You bleed so beautifully and your anger is just as sweet."

"Don't touch me!" came the reply in a ragged hiss. Owen's voice had grown rough and harsh from hours of screaming but he still found the will to pull away from the Sith's touch. It helped that Owen's body shuddered in revulsion and Sarin's Mark continued to pulse painfully whenever Palpatine touched him.

The senator, however, ignored the knight's words as he set down his bloody knife. He admired the red lines and welts, the blood and art he had created on his boy's back and smiled. Carefully, he wiped the blood from his hands before dipping them thoroughly in the bowl of saltwater sitting beside his gory blades.

Then he ran his palms down Owen's back again, reveling in the shudder and flinch of his boy's flesh at just that little bit of pain added on to everything else. The muffled, yet ragged whimpers coming from his apprentice-to-be made Palpatine even harder and he pressed his naked chest against the bloody mess that was Owen's back as he moved his hands around to caress the Jedi's chest with his salt-covered hands. He had discarded his overrobe long before, wanting to feel his skin covered in his captive's blood. His pants had already become extremely uncomfortable but it wasn't yet time to undress completely. He had yet to hear his boy beg.

"My destroyer," the Sith whispered into his captive's ear as one hand came up to hold Owen's head still. "Your blood and your anger please me so much but I still haven't seen your rage." Palpatine nuzzled almost affectionately just below Owen's earlobe. "That beautiful, fierce rage was so much closer to the surface when I had you last. It didn't take me long to find it then, do you remember?"

Owen's mind immediately brought those images forward before he could forcefully push them away. But the rage was there, simmering just beneath his control, at so many things he'd been helpless to prevent or control. But the primary focus of that brilliant rage was on the one being whose respect he'd never been able to earn, whose slights he'd never been able to forgive.

"Your father?" Palpatine noted, absently petting Owen's hair. "He was a pompous ass. He might have been entertaining for quite some time but necessity comes first, so they say. You need not pine after his respect any longer."

"What did you do?" Owen demanded as he tried to turn and glare at the man behind him. Palpatine slid around to stand before his Jedi and Owen was genuinely appalled to see the sheer amount of blood that glistened on the man's bare chest. His blood.

"I used him to catch your brother," Palpatine informed him with a pleased expression as he idly licked his fingertips. "Once I had the boy in my grasp, Lars helped me secure him. He had to die in the process, of course, but he was essentially useless to me and none counted him a loss."

Owen suddenly found himself panting and short of breath, his body shaking with his attempt to restrain the rage that was trying to break through his control.

"You killed my father?" he growled as he found the strength once again to pull against the bindings holding him back from killing the man in front of him.

"Does that bother you, boy?" Palpatine asked with a sneer. "That I had your father's throat blown out, spattering your precious brother with his own parent's gore? It was quite entertaining. I'll probably show you the vid."

Owen stared at the Sith with a hate that was blunted by the sudden weight of grief that flooded him at the thought that his father never would come to respect him and his abilities to serve the Light. Not that there had been a chance in Hell that it would ever happen but while Aren was alive, there was always that small shred of hope.

"I don't know why you're upset, boy," Palpatine's hated voice said as the man walked over to the small communications terminal. He pressed a few buttons before he turned back to study the sliced up, bleeding figure hanging in the center of his sitting chamber. "Aren Lars had nothing but contempt for you. 'Nothing but a whore,' he said, 'spreading his legs for anyone and not even smart enough to get paid for it.'"

"Shut the fuck up!" Owen snarled as he struggled weakly in his bonds. "You don't know anything!"

"Oh, I know. We spoke at length just yesterday morning. Believe me when I say he had nothing but contempt for you. But strangely enough, he nothing but praise for his younger son; the decorated veteran, the award winning teacher, and now a best selling writer and a man about to make a brilliant match. How could you possibly compete in your father's eyes with such a brilliant younger brother?"

"Benjamin hated our father!" Owen replied hotly, his voice cracking. "He never wanted Aren's praise!"

"And yet still, Aren poured it on him," Palpatine sneered. "That must have grated, his contempt and indifference to you, his eldest son, and yet how proud he was of Benjamin."

"Leave him out of this, you bastard! Leave him alone!"

The senator just shook his head and walked over to Owen. With a quick move, he held Owen's chin in a tight, painful grasp.

"One thing you must come to understand is that you will do what I say, my pet. I am your master and you will follow my commands. You will kill when I say kill and bleed when I say bleed. You will do whatever I say or suffer the consequences."

Palpatine squeezed and his sharp fingernails cut into the skin of Owen's face but the knight just glared silently back at him.

"I see that you are going to fight me on this point," the man said almost happily. "You've already shown that you can take quite a bit of my play," Palpatine said, his eyes glancing over Owen's hanging form with a very pleased expression. "Now let us see how you react when I bring in another pawn."

The man gestured and suddenly the doors behind him opened. A trio of men entered, two large mercenaries with a smaller form struggling between them. Without hesitation, the two soldiers stopped a few feet in front of Palpatine and forced their captive to his knees. Then one of them jerked his head sharply back and Owen could clearly see a familiar face in the flickering candlelight.

"Benjamin!" As soon as the name passed Owen's lips, Palpatine turned and observed his newest captive.

The younger man was restrained with his hands behind his back and a slender chain fastening his ankles together with just enough slack to allow him to walk. His eyes were darting around the room before they came to rest on the senator and then on the figure hanging behind him. His green eyes widened in horror.

"Cali's breath!" he cried out and tried to jerk away from the men restraining him. "Owen!"

Even in the flickering candlelight, Owen could see the dark stains on his brother's tunic from their father's blood and the frantic expression on his face.

"Leave him alone!" Owen demanded again, turning away from his brother's horror-stricken gaze and feeling his rage rise much closer to the point of completely losing control. "Don't you touch him!"

The Sith Master turned back to Owen, the expression on his face completely serious as he studied the Jedi. "I believe I've been too easy on you if you think you can speak to me like that, Malevolent," he said in a low, hard tone. "I believe it's time for you to understand just how little power you have now."

Palpatine stepped closer as he eyed the prize he'd waited so long for. He could feel the man's vast, luscious rage lurking just beneath the powerful control the knight had learned at his master's side. But now that control was weakening and soon his new apprentice would find himself lost in his brilliant fury with only Palpatine to control it. And the key to that loss of control was now kneeling at his feet.

"Strip the boy." The Sith Master held Owen's eyes as he spoke. "I'm going to play with him."

"No!" The word exploded from Owen even as he flinched at the pain in his throat. Palpatine merely looked at him and began to turn away. Owen grit his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke again. "Please."

The Sith Master turned back with no expression and the knight continued with his plea, though it tasted like ash on his tongue. "Please. Please don't hurt him."

Palpatine continued to look at him, his pale blue eyes expectant. From behind him came the sounds of Benjamin's denials as the mercenaries quickly stripped him bare.

"Please don't hurt him...." Owen hesitated with his last word as bile rose in his abused throat, burning his voice away until he swallowed several times. "Please don't hurt him, Master."

The Sith stepped closer and ran his fingertips down Owen's cheek as the knight struggled not to flinch away from the abhorrent touch.

"You begin to learn, my apprentice," Palpatine said quietly as he circled his prize. With a quick jerk, he removed the metal tube from Owen's body and caressed the loose opening, reveling in the feelings of rage, shame and revulsion coming from the Jedi. Then he stepped away. "But I need more than that if I'm to forego my entertainment with your brother. All that lovely skin just waiting to feel the touch of my knives."

Owen struggled to breathe as he looked at his brother's horrified expression. He had fought against Palpatine's every touch; had struggled not to retch whenever the Sith's fingertips unknowingly grazed over Khamier's Mark. Owen had struggled terribly not to lose control completely and become lost in the swiftly encroaching Darkness.

But now he knew what he had to do. Benjamin would be the one to suffer for his obstinate refusal to even pretend submission to the monster standing before him. Now he had to bend his will and pray to the Force that he wouldn't break.

"Please," he began as his numb fingers tried to curl into fists and the Mark on his shoulder screamed painfully. "Take me instead."

The senator looked faintly baffled. "I already have you. And I have your brother to play with. What else could I possibly want?"

Owen clenched his teeth against the foul words he wanted to hurl at the man. Instead he just opened his mouth and said what he knew he had to say in order to save Ben.

"Fuck me. Please fuck me," he pleaded. "I know you want to." Owen's eyes lowered to the obvious outline of an erection showing on Palpatine's dark pants. Then he raised his gaze and caught the Sith's blue eyes. "I can pleasure you like you've never been pleasured before."

The Sith's neutral expression faded into a smugly pleased look as he stepped up to his captive Jedi. He ran his fingernails down Owen's chest, through the blood still sluggishly flowing and breaking open scabs that had formed there as he seemed to consider Owen's words.

"Very pretty, my apprentice," he finally said with a faint smile. "Very pretty. Have no doubt, I will fuck you and you will beg me again. But somehow, I don't think you're very sincere in your offer."

Palpatine stepped back and held out his hand. A blade flashed through the air, still crusted with Owen's blood, and landed hilt-first in his palm.

"And I require sincerity when you beg, Malevolent," he continued as he turned away from Owen and walked over to where Ben still struggled against the men holding him. "You might want to remember that."

"No! Please don't touch him! Fuck me instead." Owen's words were frantic now but shaded with a darker voice, one that was building inside him, feeling as if it were about to explode from his very skin. "Please, Master!"

"Better, boy, but still not good enough," was Palpatine's only comment as he gripped Ben's chin. The mercenaries were holding him relatively still, his head pulled back and his chest pushed forward by a knee in his back. "Very pretty. Jinn always had good taste."

Ben's eyes were wide and fearful as his gaze jumped back and forth between Palpatine and Owen. The senator just smiled at him.

"He can't hear us, you know," he said conversationally to the struggling figure behind him as he studied Ben's features. "That aural detonator blew out his ear drums. They were bleeding when he arrived here yesterday evening." Palpatine glanced up with a silent command at the man whose fingers were entwined in Ben's hair. The soldier immediately tightened his grip, getting a cry out of Ben. Then Palpatine slid the edge of his blade along Ben's cheek and a thin red line appeared. "He really does bear quite a resemblance to you. Perhaps it's the fear in his eyes. It's so like what you had when I first took you as a padawan.

"Master, please don't do this!" Owen's voice was rising even as it cracked. "Please fuck me instead. I'll please you, I swear it! Just fuck me instead!"

"Just keep begging, apprentice," Palpatine stated as a long, thin line of red appeared down the middle of Benjamin's chest. "Perhaps I'm even listening."

The knight was silent for a long, heavy moment, listening to his brother's screams of pain. As he watched Palpatine slice up his brother's chest, his eyes darkened and his lips curled up in a snarl of rage.

Owen's control disappeared as if it had never been.

On a heavily guarded transport somewhere in the Rothlin sector, Qui-Gon Jinn froze in surprise and pain as a line of fire sliced down his cheek.

"What the hells?" he snapped and touched his cheek gingerly. It felt as though his cheek had been sliced open but there was no blood. Then another line of fire raced down his chest and the Chancellor hissed.

"Sir?" One of the guards assigned to his security appeared from the cockpit.

"Have you heard from 017?" Qui-Gon snapped out even as another burning sting flared down his chest.

"Yes sir, we have his coordinates," the man quickly replied. "We've already begun moving on his position."

"Well move faster lieutenant!" he growled and leaned back, his hands curling into fists as he tried not to scream. The pain was burning deeper into his skin, the feeling of a blade slicing into his flesh becoming more vivid. "And have Benjamin's shieldmates notified of our arrival status as well," he ground out.

"Yes sir!" the man said as he snapped out a salute. He was about to return to the cockpit when he turned back with a worried expression.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but...do you need a medic?"

Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask?" he asked, his teeth grinding together as he struggled not to scream.

"Forgive me sir, but you're very pale and there's a vivid red line down your cheek. It looks like you've scratched it badly."

The Chancellor closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply to control his voice. "No, I don't need a medic. I need to find my Consort before that bastard of a Sith kills him."

The soldier nodded. "We should be arriving soon, Sir."

Qui-Gon didn't answer as he turned away and rode out yet another slash of pain down his chest. Looking down, he was surprised to see no blood seeping through his tunic.

Just hold on, Benjamin, I'm coming! he mentally shouted, hoping his lover would hear him.

Bruck crept through the halls of this underground complex that he was beginning to think would never end. He had been following Benjamin's tag for the past half hour and finally narrowed down the location to the double doorway just down the hall. With his heightened senses, however, he also noted two other things down the hallway: one was a vast amount of Dark Force usage and two, Bruck felt the faint sense of Owen Lars.

He strengthened his shields as much as possible before he sent a quick burst of information to Du'Telos across their lightly maintained mission bond - something suggested by the mysterious Force user as soon as Khamier decided they needed to split up. Du'Telos had been unable to pinpoint where Owen was because of the amount of Dark Force swirling through the building and Khamier had made the decision that they would cover more ground should they separate.

Now, Bruck just wanted Khamier to know he'd located Owen as well as Benjamin and hoped the pair could get here quickly. Du'Telos sent an intense reply that they would be there shortly.

While he was waiting, Bruck studied the doorway carefully, deciding if it would be safe just to force his way in. He was definitely getting a feeling of urgency from the Force. He needed to get inside that room now.

Somehow Du'Telos divined what the younger knight was considering and sent back a sense of caution and the image of Khamier and himself joining Bruck within a few minutes. Bruck, however, inched closer to the doorway, hoping someone would come along and he wouldn't have to risk opening it himself. Either way, he was going to go inside.

He'd just begun reaching out with the Force when the doors slid apart by themselves and Bruck ducked back behind the corner he'd been watching from. A servant with a tray exited the room and with a quick burst of enhanced speed, Bruck made it inside the door even as it slid shut behind him.

He was fortunate that the flickering of candles set around the center and back of the room provided the only light. He was also very glad he'd elected to wear the darker outfit of a knight on a stealth mission so he blended in perfectly as he stationed himself in a very dark corner. However, that was where his good fortune ended.

Inside the room he found two mercenary soldiers holding Benjamin still as a man who could be none other than Palpatine carved patterns on his chest with one hand and held a glass of wine with his other.

But the worst thing Bruck found was Owen Lars, his best friend and mentor, hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, covered with open wounds and blood from his neck to his feet. Bruck could barely recognize him from the blood slathered all over his face and body. The language that was coming from his mouth also shocked the young knight. It alternated between the worst expletives Bruck had ever heard in a space port and horrifyingly deep pleas for Palpatine to fuck him.

When Owen ended his last plea by calling the senator Master, Bruck practically flinched and couldn't help the intense burst of information that he shoved down his mission bond with a plea to hurry the hell up.

At the mental cry, however, Palpatine looked up from Benjamin, his eye sear ching the room until they came to rest on Bruck's shadowed form.

"Well, we have a visitor," he said and fear slithered down the knight's spine as the Dark Force rolled over him.

He knew he'd only have time for a few offensive moves so he dived forward his hand gesturing for the glass to shatter in Palpatine's hand. It did so with a much greater force than he intended but distracted the man long enough for Bruck to gesture at Owen and release the tight, slender collar around his mentor's throat.

Then he was slammed back against the wall hard enough to smack his head on the wall. The pain already in his body skyrocketed as he blinked rapidly to clear his vision. Palpatine was slowly approaching him with a grim expression on his face.

"Now, where did you come from, little Jedi?" he asked and suddenly Bruck couldn't breathe as his throat constricted painfully. "I don't like to get unwelcome visitors in my home," the senator said calmly as he backhanded the struggling knight. "It's rude."

"I'll tell you what's rude, Senator," a harsh, broken voice said from behind him. "And that would be turning your back on your guests."

Bruck glanced over the man's shoulder with wide eyes to find Owen there, an expression of pure malice on his face. Palpatine, however, was looking decidedly stunned and Bruck felt the man's power suddenly shift, allowing him to breathe again and slide to his knees, gasping. As the senator turned to face Owen, Bruck also saw the rather large knife hilt protruding from his back

"No no, Senator," Owen said gently before he gestured and the man flew across the room, slamming into the wall with an audible crunch. "Must not try to use your power on me again," the knight said as the collar he'd been wearing moments before, wrapped itself tightly around Palpatine's neck.

"Owen?" Bruck called, but his friend paid him no attention as he gestured and the senator's body slammed into the wall again. He seemed to be lost in another world as the Force swirled around him, dark and light, chaos and serenity.

Owen appeared not to be aware of anything as he stopped beside a table that looked like an ancient surgeon's tray and then, only if it was a really, really messy, scary surgeon, Bruck thought hysterically.

Again he sent a plea for speed to Du'Telos but didn't wait to hear the reply. As Owen picked up a few of the blades from the table, Bruck moved over to where Benjamin lay whimpering on the floor. To his surprise, the two mercenaries were dead, their necks broken. Bruck glanced warily at Owen as the knight moved silently across the floor towards the struggling figure pinned to the wall. It occurred to the younger knight that his friend must have used the Force to kill the dead mercenaries and get over to where Palpatine was, in order to stab him so quickly.

Bruck gently caught Ben's attention and made sure the man was aware enough to move if he had to. Then he stood and moved across the room to where Owen was studying the first of the two knives he'd brought with him from the table. Then with a gleeful grin, he jammed one into the senator's back, beside the first one he'd placed there.

The white-haired knight came to an abrupt halt. He'd never in his life seen Owen commit such an act of wanton violence. He visibly flinched as Owen stabbed the second knife in and then stepped back to study the effect of three hilts sticking out of Palpatine's back.

"Let's talk about power, Maaaaster," Owen crooned in a parody of his once clear tenor tones.

"Oh Force," Bruck whispered and then approached his friend from the side; carefully making sure that Owen knew he was there. "Owen?" he called in a shaking tone. "Owen?" he called again as he reached out to touch his mentor's shoulder. He was completely unprepared for his best friend to turn on him, gripping his wrist in a painfully tight grasp.

"Do not touch me," he hissed as he leaned into Bruck's face. His eyes were completely black.

"Owen, please. I didn't mean to hurt you," the younger knight stammered. "I'm just worried about you!"

But Owen just pulled him closer. "No one touches me!" he ground out and then tossed Bruck across the room even as the double doors opened admitting Khamier and Du'Telos. The knight hit the floor hard and this time, he didn't bother to get up. His Force senses, already heightened from the detonator, were completely overwhelmed from the blast of the Dark Force that his friend had used to toss him and it was all he could do not to throw up.

"Force Damn!" Xanatos snapped out as he saw the white-haired knight hit the floor. Then he took in the sight of Knight Owen Lars, naked and bleeding, his eyes dark and his expression twisted. "Oh godlings, Lars has lost it," he stated as his fingers tapped out a warning to the coming Republic guardsmen on his communicator. "We need to take him out quickly."

"You're not touching him!" Khamier snarled, his golden eyes hot as he glared at his agent. "You just tend to Chun and the Consort. I'll deal with Owen."

"He's gone Dark, Sarin. Owen is out of control!"

"Control is just another word for leash, don't you think?" Owen asked whimsically before he gestured idly and Xanatos flew out the doorway, which slammed behind him, leaving Khamier staring across the room at the man he had chosen for his mate.