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GOLDIE KNEELED DOWN on the chilly floor. The hilt of her new lightsaber rested heavily in her lap and the fire in the hearth did its best to drive out the cold within the hall.

The Jedi temple was nothing like the one on Coruscant; it wasn't decorated with gold, gems or some other kind of precious ornaments. The walls were blue and white like ice, and the painted frost covered the columns that supported the high ceiling whereas the marble floor sparkled like freshly fallen snow.

Ilum's temple was just as a winter scenery, beautiful and pure in its simplicity and a total different kind of beauty than its majestic sister on Coruscant.

The group of younglings sat closer to the fireplace and Ahsoka -- Skywalker's padawan -- comforted them as Anakin himself paced through the hall. His hand rested on his lightsaber and a grim expression lay upon his face, causing the scar across his eye to appear deeper than usual.

Yesterday around this time, Goldie had completed assembling her new lightsaber and taken it outside for a test ride. She had switched on the saber and besides the compact pink energy reflecting in her eyes, nothing had been out of the ordinary. But then, a shiver had ran down Goldie's spine and slowly, as in a dream that turned into a nightmare, she had looked up to the pale blue sky.

Far in the distance, one by one, the massive ships of the Separatists' fleet had jumped out of hyperspace and started to form a blockade around the planet. Goldie had acted fast, and she hoped her transmission to the Council had came through before the fleet had jammed every signal coming from and to the arctic planet.

'It is going to be alright,' Ahsoka's soothing voice said to the eleven younglings, and snapping Goldie back to the present. 'The Separatists are out there, not here. Just focus on building your first lightsaber, it will be all right.'

Goldie was too restless to stay put any longer and she jumped up from her spot, joining at Anakin's side. The Jedi Knight had stopped pacing and stared at the entrance of temple, his hands folded behind his back and his feet a bit apart. The gears inside his head were obviously spinning as he stared at the glass door, giving them a perfect view on the blockade far away in the clear sky.

'Master,' Ahsoka asked, closing the distance between her and Anakin. 'Don't you think the Republic fleet would have been here by now if they had gotten master Ember's message?'

Anakin glanced at her, his body still unmoving. 'Patience, Ahsoka. Ilum isn't exactly "turn left by the first planet you cross". We're in the Unknown Regions.'

'I wish we could just run this blockade ourselves,' Goldie mumbled. She had never been stuck at this side of a blockade, and she had quickly decided she hated feeling this helpless. They hadn't taken more provisions than four days and even with rationing, they would run out of food soon. Water wouldn't be an issue, but starving to death would be a horrible way to go.

Anakin nodded in agreement; if they could have run this blockade, they would have done it. But they couldn't, their ship wasn't properly equipped for it and they would put the younglings' lives at stake.  An unnecessary risk if the Republic arrived with their ships. The younglings were the heart and the future of the Jedi Order, after all.

'They will soon be here, you'll see,' he said.

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THE STARS AND PLANETS shot past them in streaks of blue and white as the Star Destroyer traveled through hyperspace. They were faster than the speed of light, but it was barely noticeable on the ship itself. Even in this rapidity, the Destroyer was steady and swift, as if they weren't moving at all.

Verena Meadowdancer stood on the bridge behind the seats of the pilots, silently counting down the clicks until they would arrive at the Ilum system. They were almost there, just a few minutes left.

However, just as she thought that, a heavy vibration shook the very core of the ship and the engines whirred in protest until they shut down completely. Everything stopped roughly: the streaks of light were no longer lines but took on their solid shapes of planetary systems in stead.

The clone troopers were thrown out of their seats, and collided harshly with the desks and panels in front of them.

Obi-Wan and Verena managed to stay on their feet by using the Force instinctively, and they quickly grabbed padawan Hux and Wolfin before they were thrown off of their feet and soared through the room like rag dolls.

'Why did we stop?' Obi-Wan asked after making sure Eerie was alright and safely back on her feet.

Verena did not answer but focussed on the view outside the ship. She knew approximately where they were, but the space was too light around them. Something was wrong. It felt in fact as if they were slowly flying backwards.

'We are being pulled in, General,' a clone trooper said, confirming Verena's thoughts.

Jaira recognised the look on her master's face as bad news and she was almost too afraid to ask. 'By what?'

'An imploding star.'

'Well then, trooper,' Obi-Wan started, 'get us back into hyperspace and out of here. We do not want to get sucked into an implosion.'

'I cannot, General Kenobi. The engines are not used to being pulled out of hyperspace this unexpectedly. I cannot start them from here, we need to do it manually.'

Obi-Wan suppressed a sigh while running a hand through his hair. 'Of course we do.'

It was silent as the pilot pressed several buttons on his panel, and the gravity pull of the implosion grew more notable. In the corners of their eyes, the light was blinding, and the ship gradually sped up.

'You. . . have our permission to do so. . ?' Obi-Wan encouraged the pilot with a confused undertone when the trooper stayed silent but his pressing on the buttons became frantic.

'I am trying, General. The engineers down there are not responding. Something must have happened.'

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A/N:

oops, a bit later than previous days. but four updates in four days, how about that? I'm rather proud -- even though the chapters aren't very long. it makes them easier to write, sorry not sorry.

and, I was wondering how many of you have seen Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series? because I'm not sure if I should introduce Ahsoka better?

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no new characters introduced this chapter.

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