372nd Street Diner

[Chio’ Amanté]

A handful of kilometers away from the Jedi temple in amidst alley ways was an old hole in the wall diner that had been in the same spot for decades. It was not uncommon for people of all walks to stop by the diner for their famous cuisine and unusually potent Jaway Juice.

[Chio’ Amanté]

It was getting late and maybe it was time to start thinking about food, even Jedi had to eat and this expedition into the city had been a bit of a dead end. Dressed in street clothes the Jedi Padawan wore a brown leather duster that concealed his lightsaber perfectly from view. Anyone who knew what a Jedi was would know him as such, but those who were unfamiliar with the order whose numbers had dwindled in recent decades would just mistake the dark haired youth for another punk kid.

Chio' found himself by happenstance near his favorite place to grab a bite to eat when he was out and about on the city planet. The Jedi looked down at his commlink on his wrist. He had received no messages in hours, they could afford to be without him a bit longer. He turned the corner and entered the diner. Immediately as he entered the door he was greeted by a large man behind the counter.

"Chio'! How's my favorite Jedi this evening? In street clothes too, you on some secret mission or somethin?

Chio' rolled his eyes but gave the man a toothy grin.

"Hiya Sam, your subtly is always appreciated my friend."

The Padawan moved towards the counter and sat down across from his friend.

"The usual tonight?"

"You got, but skip on water, I'll take a Jawa juice."

Let out a deep laugh from the pit of his belly and pinched Chio's cheek.

"Look at you now, all grown up. I remember when you were this tall the first time your teacher brought you in."

He poured the drink and set it down in front of the young man.

"Saaay. Come to think about it, some fellas was in here asking about you earlier?"

Chio' took the drink and took a small sip, the beverage burned as it hit is tongue and slid down his throat.

"Smooth drink there Sam....really? What kind of fellas?"

Sam leaned over the counter and whispered to his young friend.

"The rough lookin kind. Told em you haven't been here for weeks."

He took another sip of his drink and nodded to Sam.

"Thank for that Sam, if they come back be sure to let me know."

Sam clapped his young friend on the shoulder and retreated to make the Jedi's favorite junk food, a medium rare bantha burger smothered in two slices of melted Republic Cheese and a side of thick cut fries.

Chio' nodded and scratched his upper lip in thought. He took an extremely small sip of his drink and set it to the side. He scanned the diner and noticed only a few other customers, he nodded to himself quietly. He heard the burger sizzle on the grill, the scent filling his nostrils and tantalizing his stomach. After what seemed like forever Sam emerged from the kitchen with the gourmet junk food plated up and ready to go.

"Bone Apetit Chio'"

"Thanks Sam, you don't know how hungry I am."

Chio' took the gargantuan burger in both hands, grease dripped from it and landed on the plate in front of him, just as he was about to take a bite, the doors slid open and he could feel dark holes in the room form.

"For fuck's sake..."

He let out the inaudible swear and set his burger down on the plate. This delicacy might have to be enjoyed a bit later, this did not stop him from popping a crisp, piping hot gold fry in his mouth. Delicious.

"Hey kid...we need you to come with us, real quiet like."

[Chio’ Amanté]

Nothing about this felt right, at least not in the sense that it was right to begin with, but the dark holes he felt in the room did not align with the men standing there beckoning him to come with them quietly. The young Jedi arched an eyebrow, he would be doing no such thing, but he also would not be trashing Sam's diner in the process either, nor would he put Sam in any mortal danger. These men were human, he eyed them from head to toe. Chio' tilted his head to the side slightly as he took in their appearance.

He waved his hand.

"I'm not the one you're looking for, move along."

"No Jedi tricks kid, they aren't going to work on us. Let's go."

Fascinating. At first glance and judging by the original speech pattern, these men were not intelligent or what one would even dare call strong minded, yet they evaded a Jedi Mind Trick and moreover they knew what it was, this coupled with the dark holes he felt in the force....this was NOT RIGHT AT ALL. With a flick of his wrist imperceptible to everyone in the room as it appeared he just moved his arm in the process of standing up, the young man activated the emergency signal on his wrist commlink which was covered by his sleeve. Were they Sith? Surely not, but at the same time he could not risk it as they were clearly force sensitive.

"Alright, but it is you both that are leading the way. We all know that's the way it has to be..."


One of the men protested, but the other raised his hand knowing that the Jedi would not betray their momentary trust.

"Fine."

The men motioned for Chio's and moved slowly towards, the door, the elder Jedi Padawan followed behind them slowing rubbing the pad of his righ thumb on his index finger ready to draw his weapon in an instant.

"Nice night for a walk wouldn't you say?"

Said Chio' as he exited the diner still trying to size these men up.

"If you say so, we're going to that abandoned warehouse about a kilometer up the road and we're going to have a conversation. No funny business involved and then we part ways."

He nodded quietly at the man who was clearly in charge as his commlink vibrated three short bursts. Three minutes....

"That sounds agreeable, but I'm not sure why we can't have the conversation here if we are to truly part ways. I just ordered dinner and Sam went to all the trouble of making it, I'd like to enjoy it while it's hot."

"Because we said so, now if you want to enjoy any meal at all you'll come with us to the warehouse, we'll talk with someone and then we'll leave."

Chio' cocked his head to the side once more.

"I thought it was just us having the conversation, that makes a bit more sense then. Still not sure why they could not have come with you, but I guess that is just something I will have to ask them once we get there. Lead the way."

Two vibrations...two minutes. The men began to walk at a brisk pace, his backup would be here before they made it to the warehouse, so much quicker that he thought briefly about calling them off, but that was not the brightest idea that had ever entered the young man's mind. No, this situation was too odd to go at it alone, in fact he was not sure he'd ever expected to encounter a situation quite so odd as this so close to the temple.

"I wonder if you might..."

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MASTER JEDI!!!!!!!!

Chio' swung his head to see a young boy standing a hundred feet or so in front of them at about the 11'oclock position. The youth took off in a dead run, followed briskly by the two men who swore audibly. In a fraction of a fraction of a second, Chio's lightsaber was in his hand and the blue blade sprang to life. He took off running after them, no time to think, no time to second guess this decision. A vibration...one minute.

The youth ran down a dark alley disappearing into the night, the two men who were far enough in front of Chio' disappeared down the alley as well. Twenty seconds....Chio' ran down the alley as well, knowing his backup was close enough that he would not be alone for long, but he stopped dead in his tracks as there was no one before him and the alley dead ended into a wall.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Chio' quickly readied his saber, but it was too late a dart flew out from the shadows to his side and struck him in the neck. He grasped at the dart and ripped it out....things were going blurry fast, rings formed around his vision and he dropped to his knees, to see a dark ten feet in front of him. He dropped his lightsaber and the blade fell silent, there were several footsteps approaching him but then...the sound of multiple lightsabers behind him. Three Jedi knights, two guardians and a sentinel were on him....as he fell face first into the ground. He could hear plenty of commotion shortly before he lost consciousness entirely, his mind unable to process anything, he drifted into total blackness...

[Chio’ Amanté]

It was all a blur, his eyes opened clouds surrounding his vision, he felt the bright light of the room pierce his eyes as his pupils struggled to shrink. He tried to sit up but a belt secured him tightly to the table, he raised his head and looked down through squinted eyes, his clothes and weapons were all gone, he looked to his left wrist, his commlink also gone. Clouds still surrounded his vision as he tried to look around the room, there were machines and various medical devices. He noticed after a moment an IV in each arm. His breath rate increased, but the clouds surrounding his vision did not fade, this all felt rather surreal.

Fuck.

How could this be? He had heard his reinforcements arrive, there was absolutely no way they were outmatched. That distress call only went to the most capable Jedi available and considering they were walking distance from the temple and he knew quite well who was on world and who was not, there was absolutely zero chance in his mind that they were defeated so quickly and easily. He drew in a deep breath, as air filled his lungs his vision seemed to blur more and more, this also did not make a lot of sense. Either way here he was and it was obviously not a situation he had planned on being in when he went out for some junk food.

He stretched his mind out in the room sensing for another presence, a lifeform of any kind whether it be friend or fo...................

In an instant waves of electricity shot through his body! All he could feel was the terrible pain as the current seemed to only increase, he could smell flesh burning, time seemed to stand still as he saw beams of lightning dance in front of his eyes in a terrifying pattern, there was a beeping noise as hit heart rate monitor jumped off the scale in the background and then just as quickly as it started it had stopped. His body convolused, sweat spilling out of every pour in his body and he could not be sure but he felt that he may have very well urinated on himself. He tried to catch his breath and just when he calmed down a sharp pointed bolt of electricity shot through him all at once. His body strained against the restraints as his head fell back and he gasped for air as it was over.

"AHHHHHH!"

He let out a pained but weak scream once air could fill his lungs. He tasted blood in his mouth, he must have bit his tongue but all he could focus on was what had just happened and the pain....the pain was extreme....he knew what a ten felt like and that was definitely a ten. Chio' had scored the highest marks in his torture training as a Padawan, his experimentation with the Myaubi thorns with Jaxon and Dia several years back had prepped him for those tests well. That being said, this felt worse. There was something about it that was different, his brain...his brain felt like it was on fire, like a darkness had penetrated his skull and was trying burn his mind alive.

"Chio' Amante, Jedi Padawan...nearly a Knight so your file says...in fact, you were due to be Knighted next week. I wonder did you know that?"

The young man's eyes darted around the room, his hair soaked in sweat. Where was the voice coming from? It surely wasn't one he had heard before and even if it was, it was so distorted that he'd never be able to recognize it.

"You...you seem to know me...but I hav...."

He groaned.

"I have not had the pleasure of meeting you."

A doctor walked over from the corner of the room and approached the table that the young Jedi was strapped to. He was wearing a mask and nothing about his features were visible. He checked Chio' over and adjusted the drip rate on one of his IV's and then walked away.

"In time my young friend, for now you know all you need to know."

Chio' raised an eyebrow

"And what might that be?"

"Pain."

Another wave of electricity shot through his body, he grit his teeth hard and he felt one of them crack as energy poured through them, he could taste ozone in his mouth as his saliva evaporated and lightning did it's terrifying dance in front of his eyes and then he heard a loud continuous beep as his heart rate monitor flatlined and his pain went beyond eleven. The electricity stopped and his vision went black and he felt a sudden jolt...then another and another....and then....finally.....

HIS EYES SHOT OPEN! There was no cloudiness in his vision, he felt no restraints and he immediately reached out for his lightsaber which flew into his hand. Then he felt an arm pinning his hand to the bed beneath him.

"CHIO'!!!!"

That was a voice he had heard before it was a friendly voice. His body went limp as his eyes darted around the room, he noticed he was still wearing his street clothes that he had worn out that night. He took multiple breaths in, his heart racing.

"Where the fuck am I?!"

He felt a healer's gentle hand press against his forehead and a wave of peace wash over him.

"You're in the infirmary Chio' you were hit with a nasty dart in an apparent ambush in an alley not far from your friend's diner. You had sent out a distress and the response team got there seconds after you were hit, they found no one and got you back here just in time. You were gone for a moment, but we got you back."

Chio' swallowed hard.

"No, I mean...I believe you, I remember going down, but then I was elsewhere. It felt so real, it had to be real. I was in a room, naked hooked up to IV's and being tortured with extremely dark energy. It was the worst thing you could possibly imagine master, i remember...this voice, he knew about me. He knew stuff I didn't know, he told me I was to be knighted next week. I wouldn't know him if I saw him. There was a doctor too, it felt like it was his job to keep me alive as I was being tortured. This absolutely happened Master..."

The healer crossed his arms, nothing made sense, he had been with Chio' since they had a brought him here and they had brought him here moments after they had arrived on scene. What Chio' was describing would have taken hours. Yet there was one detail that the healer did in fact know, Chio' was going to be Knighted within a week's time.

"You were physically here Chio', but you know something now that you weren't supposed to know and I do not see how that is possible unless what you're saying is true. Someone must have somehow entered your mind....someone powerful. We'll need to investigate this, your master is on the way anyway, I think it best that you convey this story to him in great detail Chio'. Something is clearly not right and you're not one for hysterics...I know, I've healed you enough."

Chio' nodded and he felt a minor pain in his tongue, he could taste blood.

"Master, I bit my tongue while I was being tortured."

The Padawan stuck out his tongue to show the wound, the healer nodded and his eyes narrowed. Something was very wrong.

"It was past eleven...."