MISSION TO DISASTER and returning from the farthest edges of the galaxy but it was also home to the research lab of Professor Kip a wellknown wellknown scientist Yes today Professor Kip said a smile splitting the silver lined green of her face You can prepare your samples samples and we'll get to it after the midday meal Yes Thank you Professor Kip I'm going to go get everything ready now and I'll see you after lunch Avon hustled down the hallway toward the lab After months spent memorizing the basic structure of kyber crystal molecules analyzing the atoms and testing energy refraction and the like Avon was finally about to do the one thing she had wanted to do from the first moment she had stolen Padawan Imri Cantaros's broken lightsaber make a reproduction of a kyber crystal The construction of the lightsaber seemed relatively straightforward and Avon couldn't help wondering if it was possible that maybe the kyber crystals could be used for different applications After all she had no use for a laser sword she was a scientist not a Jedi but it would be nice if perhaps there was some way to use a kyber's focusing abilities to harness the ambient energy of space 2
CHAPTER ONE With so much random radiation and the like just floating around could they somehow duplicate the kyber's structure structure to direct that energy to power entire planets Avon thought so even if no one else did It had taken months to convince her mentor that a project such as a simulated kyber crystal could be useful and worthwhile and although Professor Kip had tried over and over again to get Avon to turn her attention to the natural sciences such as the crop yield project she was currently pursuing Avon didn't really care about making plants grow faster or making herds produce more offspring She wanted to understand power and how things like tibanna could be stretched further and more efficiently or even replaced altogether After all the galaxy was expanding expanding and fuel would be necessary to keep supplies running to the frontier Avon knew that because it was something her mother talked about regularly on their weekly calls So after months of diagramming the crystal's structure structure making copious notes and gathering all the relevant research available on kyber most of it requested from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with the help of Professor Kip Avon was finally ready to test out her theory 3
MISSION TO DISASTER Professor Kip would not return for another hour or so but once Avon got to the lab she very quickly prepared it for her experiment The kyber was nestled in its holder and the Lonnigan duplicating apparatus was all set up The only thing missing was Professor Kip So Avon began skipping skipping circles in the lab waiting for her mentor to return Skipping was not bouncing but it was very close Avon checked the time once more Her stomach grumbled grumbled at her and she was half considering going to grab some lunch from the noodle cart That was when the explosions started Avon ran to the door of the lab and opened it peeking out into the rest of the Port Haileap complex The Jedi and every Republic official lived in the compound and there were a few rooms for transient guests as well But there was no good reason for any of the noise that Avon heard The sounds of blaster fire and far off explosions were growing louder with shouting and screaming providing a background to the echoes of battle A young Togruta ran toward Avon the other girl's striped head tails swinging as she moved 4
CHAPTER ONE Talia What's going on Avon yelled Talia was another student of Professor Kip's though her interests tended more toward the plants and natural sciences that Professor Kip preferred It's the Nihil They're attacking Port Haileap Are you sure Avon asked dread tightening her belly The Nihil were supposed to be defeated The Jedi and the Republic had rousted the space pirates from every single hidey hole in the galaxy But that seemed to be false since someone was definitely attacking Haileap I saw the Strike ships fly in Talia said They looked like Nihil Avon waved Talia into the lab Come on we can hide in here she said In here Talia asked sliding to a stop in front of the door to the lab They'll find us Nonsense We can hide in one of the supply cupboards The girls entered the lab locking the door behind them Along the back wall was a line of cupboards used to store the numerous items needed in a working lab and Avon pointed to the closet on the far left of the line of 5
