Chapter One

"Mark?! Mark, where are you?!" No! This can't be happening again! Fire... Fire everywhere... I hate it so much... Why can't it just go away?! "Mark!" I keep running... Running... That's all I can do... Dammit, where is he?! Ugh! Too much fire! Too much! Why do I have to relive this all the time?! I shouldn't be afraid... The Jedi teach me not to be afraid, but I can't help it! I'm always afraid of this! I wish I didn't have to relive this all the time!

No! Dammit, now there's fire in front of me! Fire all around me! No! I hate this! I hate this so much! Why can't this just stop?! "Mark, please!" Where is he?! Ugh! Too much... Too much goddamn fire! Why?! I run aimlessly, but then I end up falling... No! Not this again! I just fell in the damn fire! My ear! My leg! The fur is already starting to burn off! Dammit! Ugh! No! I... I can feel the pain now! It hurts... It hurts so much! I close my eyes scream out in pain. This... this is just too much!

"Lex! Lex, wake up! Come on, it's okay!" I open my eyes... and I'm no longer surrounded by fire... Thank god... I... I hate that... So much... I look over, and my best friend and fellow Padawan is standing over me. "Good... You're awake... You were having that dream again, weren't you? You kept screaming my name." The fox sighs. "But at least it's over now."

Oh, god... I'm so glad that's over... That happens all the time... and it scares me so much... "Yeah... At least it's over..." I shouldn't be scared... I shouldn't... but I can't stop myself from being scared about that... My homeworld was torched by the Sith... and that memory haunts me to this day... It doesn't help that I have constant reminders of it, either... I reach my right paw up to my left ear... The real thing is no longer there. It's been replaced by a robotic appendage. Same with my left leg and left paw. The real parts both suffered irreparable damage during that fire. I still have a nasty scar on my left arm, too.

"That nightmare really scares you to death, huh?" I nod shakily, and I'm about to speak before Mark interrupts me. "Hey, I don't think it's wrong to be scared. It's what makes us people. Even though we're Padawans... I'm still not entirely convinced that the Jedi are completely right about everything."

"Mark, how could you say that?" I can't believe he'd even think like that... "The Jedi are the ones who rescued us. Who gave us a home. Who trained us. You... you can't just say that with all that they've done for us. They've gotta be right. I... I shouldn't be scared, and you know this. There is no emotion..."

My friend sighs. "Lexy, can we please not do this right now...?"

I don't understand why he doesn't want to. I harshen my words a little. "There. Is. No. Emotion."

He rolls his red eyes and continues. "There is peace."

"There is no ignorance..."

"There is knowledge."

"There is no passion..."

"There is serenity."

"There is no chaos..."

"There is harmony."

"There is no death..."

"There is the Force."

"You know these words are true. You know they are. And you also know that we can't be afraid. Fear is the enemy. The more afraid we are, the more we're gonna relive that." I know he means well. But he has to realize that the Jedi are right about this. Their code is the only truth we have. It's the only thing we have left after our entire world was torched by the Sith. I put my paws on the fox's shoulders and continue speaking. "We need to be strong. I know I get scared easily by that nightmare, but I'm trying to overcome it. And so should you. Okay?"

He hesitates a moment before replying, "O-okay..." Sometimes, I get kinda worried about him. He hasn't seemed to fully embrace the Jedi's teachings. I wish he wouldn't be so stubborn. It seems, at times, that he's almost reluctant to find peace instead of his emotions. It almost seems like something's stopping him... but I can never figure it out.

"Hey, let's get back to sleep. We've got an important mission with Master Grati tomorrow." I settle back into my blankets before Mark goes back to his bed and does the same.

"Yeah... Good night, Lex..." And before long, I can swear I hear him say, "I love you," very quietly... but it's probably just my robotic ear playing tricks on me... He would never say that... I close my eyes and drift off to sleep...

---

"Master, are you sure we're ready for this? I-I mean, we've only been Padawans for three months." We... we can't possibly do this... This is a Sith Destroyer... There are only three of us... I... There's no way we could possibly raid the ship to get those coordinates...

"Young Lex, you must have more confidence in yourself. Remember, fear is your enemy." My master gives me a reassuring look and smiles softly at me. "You cannot let fear stop you"

I smile back at him, and as I do, Mark draws his lightsaber and flashes a cocky grin at us as he ignites it. "Well, I'm not afraid of this. I can cut down all those Sith grunts that get in my way." He swings his lightsaber a few times, and after he does, Master Grati walks over to him and looks him in the eye.

"It is good to be confident, young one, but overconfidence can turn to pride, which can lead to the dark side. You must be careful." He looks down, looking defeated.

"I'm sorry, Master. I will... make sure to keep it in check." Like I said, the fox seems to have trouble conforming to the teachings of the Jedi.

Master Grati gives him a reassuring look and lifts up the fox's chin as he responds, "I am not angry at you, child. I am just concerned. Trying to protect you from the temptation of the dark side. It is a path that I do not wish to see you walk down, my young apprentice."

"Yes, I understand, my master." As he says that, he looks over at me and smiles. As he does... I find myself looking straight into his red eyes with my green ones... Why am I doing this...? I... guess his eyes are kind of beautiful. Like sparkling rubies. But that's it. It's just because they're pretty. Nothing more... right?

I sigh and shake my head, closing my eyes and trying to refocus myself. I turn to a window and look at my face. My wolf muzzle is a little angled, as it always has been, but since I joined the Jedi Order, I've noticed that it's begun to become a little more angled. I don't know why. It just has.

I sigh and look over to my human master, and as I do, he speaks. "We are drawing near to our destination. Be prepared, young ones, and remember, do not be afraid. The Force is on our side." Soon enough, our small ship drops out of hyperspace, and it flies underneath and docks before the three of us jump up into the ship and land on the metallic floor. "All right. Remember, our target is the coordinates at the bridge. Nothing more. Take as few lives as possible, and if we get separated, do not panic. Head back to the ship if this happens."

"Yes, Master," I reply.

"Understood, Master Grati," replies Mark as he nods.

The three of us begin running toward the bridge, and we are met with little resistance on the way, but nothing that we can't handle... but... I'm starting to sense something... A disturbance in the Force... "Master, I think..." I begin, but before I can finish, my master begins speaking as well.

"Yes, I sense it, too. I sense more than just Sith troopers. I sense the dark side. A powerful presence is on this ship. Be cautious, young ones." I begin to get nervous as we continue on. I look at Mark, and I can see that he's very nervous as well, and he is also scared. "I can sense your fear, Padawan Mark. Remember..."

The two of them say at the same time, "Fear is the enemy."

"Good. Now if the Dark Jedi on this ship proves too strong, I want you two to leave me." Before either Mark or I get a chance to reply, he says, "I don't want you two risking your lives if mine is in danger. Is that understood?"

I reluctantly reply, "Yes, Master..." and Mark merely nods.

Soon, the three of us make it to the bridge, and lo and behold, there's a Dark Jedi waiting for us up there, and he's got two lightsabers to take us on with. "Well, well. A Jedi and two Padawans. Who would have thought that I would be so lucky as to be able to strike down three of you on my first mission?"

All three of us ignite our lightsabers as the Dark Jedi ignites his. "Lex, we'll hold him off!" exclaims Master Grati. "Get those coordinates from the navicomputer!" I watch as he and Mark begin fighting the Dark Jedi, and I stow my lightsaber before running over to the navicomputer and copying the coordinates over to a datapad.

As I do, however, the Sith starts using the Force to throw my master and my fellow Padawan around. I can't just stand by and watch, so I grab the datapad, ignite my lightsaber, and leap into battle, almost landing a blow on the Dark Jedi, but he barely blocks my attack. "Damn..."

"Run, you two!" yells my master. "I can already tell he's too strong!"

No... No, I can't do that... "I can't do that, Master! I will stay and fight!" I start swinging at the Sith again, but he counters by pushing me away before my attack can land. I look over, and Mark and my master are trying to fend him off, but I can see that they are not winning.

Before long, Mark leaps toward me and stows his lightsaber. "Come on, Lex! We have to listen to him!" He helps me up, and as he does, he says, "We can't stay here! You know we'll die if we do, and our master wouldn't want that! Now come on!"

"But--"

He grabs my wrist and forcefully pulls me along. "I said come on! I can't lose you!" We exit the room, and I take one last glance at my master before the door seals shut.

"Master!" I try to wriggle out of my friend's grasp, but he's too strong.

"There's nothing we can do! Not without putting out own lives in danger!" He... he's right... Dammit, why did this have to happen...? I thought this was just going to be a simple mission..._Fear is your enemy._But I'm afraid... I'm so afraid that I'll lose my master... The one who trained us... The one who took care of us when we had nobody else...

No... I should control my fear... Not let it control me. "You're right, Mark. Now let's go!" I begin to run full speed with him, and he lets go of my wrist as I do. Within minutes, we arrive back at the ship, and we both board and get in the pilot and copilot seats. As we get ready to fly, I can sense that Mark is afraid, He's not controlling his fear, but he's not letting it control him... Instead, he's using his fear to his advantage... To motivate himself... I... never thought of it that way... but that's not what the Jedi teach...

"All right, let's ditch this pile of Sith junk!" He's afraid... but he's not letting it cloud his judgement... He's concerned for our master, but he's not letting that concern stop him from doing what needs to be done.

"All right," I respond simply as we fly out from under the ship and start flying away... but as we fly, we start getting bombarded by the blaster cannons on the Sith ship.

"Shit!" Mark tries his best to avoid the blaster bolts, but we end up taking a hit to our right wing. "Dammit! Just need to get far enough to jump to hyperspace!" As soon as we're at a safe distance, we make a jump to hyperspace, but our damaged ship can't handle more than about a minute in it. We soon have to drop out of hyperspace, and when we do, there's a planet right below us.

"Mark, what planet is that? Can we land there?" We can't stay in space much longer. Our ship won't last.

"Uh..." He quickly looks up information on it in the Republic databanks. "Lex... That's Korriban..."

Shit... The Sith planet... Just our luck to end up here... at the birthplace of the order that destroyed our home... but we have no choice. We have to land somewhere. "We gotta land!"

"Are you crazy?! That's a planet full of Sith! Sith, goddammit! Even though we're in an unmarked and unsigned ship, that doesn't mean we're safe! And besides, why would we want to land there when it's full of the people who torched our planet?! Or have you forgotten what Malak did?!"

"Mark, do not let your anger get the better of you. It is clouding your judgement." My friend takes a deep breath. "Of course I remember what Darth Malak did, but we have no better choice right now. Unless you want us to be stranded up here for good, we need to land."

The fox's paws clench into fists for a few moments before he responds, "You're right..." He takes the ship down into the planet's atmosphere, but as we enter... our right wing breaks completely off. "Dammit! Lex, prepare for a rough landing!"

Now I'm really afraid... and I can't stop it from controlling me... I close my eyes as the computers start to beep at us. We're gonna crash... and we might die... I peek a little to see us heading straight for a field, but I quickly close my eyes again. "Lex, we're gonna be okay!" We're getting closer... We're gonna crash! No!