Ranma sighed as the view outside the cockpit blurred into the all too familar sight of hyperspace. Locking the controls into autopilot, she climbed out of the control room (Too big for a cockpit, too small for a bridge) and headed back towards the area she had refitted as the lounge.
She stopped at the door for a moment, looking at the tiny figure of Utena, curled up in one of the seats. Somehow, she had managed to get to sleep while Ranma got off Tanith and into Hyperspace, avoiding the rather pissed off Star Destroyer in the process.
The very presence of one of the newest ships in the Imperial fleet only continued to verify the young girls importance, as though the sheer power radiating from her was not enough. Ranma had very rarely felt anyone with the power and the potential that Utena Tenjou seemed to have, and one of those people was now the greatest enemies of what remained of the Jedi Order.
Ranma knelt down next to the girl, running a hand through her surprisingly pink hair. She sighed at the sight of drying tears on the childs face, realising that she had actually cried herself to sleep. The young Jedi supposed that she couldn't blame her, seeing everything that had happened to her in the past few hours.
Ranma stood up and headed for the fridge to grab a drink. But her mind was still on Utena, and whatever lay ahead for her. She would need someone to train her, someone to raise and protect her from those who would seek to exploit her power. There weren't exactly many Jedi left, and Ranma doubted that she could just dump the girl on them. But did she have it in her to take on a Padawan? Hell, to basicly be this girls mother?
She looked back at Utena, still sleeping peacefully, and realised that she honestly didn't know. But she still had to try.
***
"Sagat is dead," said the figure in the hologram.
"Indeed my lord," replied the figure kneeling in front of it. "It seems that there was a Jedi Knight on the planet, one of not inconsiderable talent, judging from what we learned from eyewitnesses. She killed Sagat and two squads of stormtroopers, then took the child and left. Approximately twenty minutes later, a small freighter fled the planet, escaping the fighter launched to capture it. The girl was on board, I'm sure of it."
"I see. If this Jedi can train the girl, then she may well become a serious threat. I want her dealt with Inquisitor. Capture her and remake her, or destroy her."
The man rose to his feet, emerging from the shadows and revealing a dark-skinned man with long white hair, and eyes like ice. "As you command my Emperor," Inquisitor Akio Ohtori replied smoothly.
"And what about Sagat?" Palpatine asked. "After all, he was oyour student."
"He was nothing more then a tool that believed itself to be something greater," Akio said. "He was always expendible, and can be easily replaced."
"Very well. Deal with this matter as soon as possible." And with that, the hologram faded, leaving Akio standing alone in the room. Well, not quite alone. There was someone else in the room, watching Akio intently.
"Don't worry," Akio said with a smile that failed to reach her eyes. "In time, I can bring the girl around without the need for violence. She will join us of her own free will."
"If you say so," Anthy Himemaya replied.
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(Posted Thu, 13 Mar 2003 07:16)
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