Fate of the Force: The Dark Resurgence: Chapter 6.

“Thank you, Master.” The boy bowed politely as he spoke softly. “What else is there to do?”

Severin was thoughtful for a moment; there was much the boy needed to learn in order to keep up with children of his own age, the first steps of lightsaber combat, the basics of the Force, the history of the Jedi and the Galaxy. His connection to the force was strong, but it shined dimly in comparison to the Force power of the young prodigies, Sora Nervai and Malik Nar. Though Severin herself didn’t believe that the age of a Jedi hopeful affected their connection to the Living Force, she did believe that their true potential, would never truly be reached, they would always lack the discipline, control and application that were brought on by years of training under the watchful eyes of the Order.

Severin’s gaze fell on the boy, for the first time in over half a century she felt herself conflicted. The child needed to be trained; he needed to learn to control his powers, it was for his own good. And more importantly, it was for the good of galaxy. But there was no one to teach him, all of the Masters within the Order had already chosen their candidates for Padawanhood or they already had Padawans. Severin couldn’t separate a Padawan from his Master nor could she simply thrust the boy onto a Master who already had his or her eyes on a young initiate. It would be unfair to both parties, she may be the Grandmaster of the Order, but she did not intend on simply imposing her will on her peers. She was no Sith or Empress.

“There are a great many tests that you must go through, young one. Everything will come in its due time.” Severin said serenely.

The boy hung his head, deep in thought. For a moment, Severin had expected the boy to say that he was ready for the next test, like all eager initiates had done in the past, but to her surprise the boy merely lifted his head and said. “I understand, I will be patient.”

Just then, Gar and Sum-Baki entered the room, behind them was the Jedi Healer from before, he held a datapad in his hands. The three Jedi bowed before the Grandmaster and greeted the boy with a silent nod.

“Ah, Ty’rac, Sum-Baki, Gar.” The Grandmaster greeted them with her trademark smile. “You two did not need to leave us alone, you are welcomed to observe, there are no secrets among the Jedi.” Sum-Baki and Gar gave Severin an apologetic look, but Severin just kept smiling at them, even after all these years, the two Jedi Masters still acted as if they were her Padawans, it amused her.

Severin turned her attention to the Jedi Healer and spoke. “Are the results in?” Ty’rac glanced apprehensively at the two Jedi and then glanced at the boy dubiously.

“You should see for yourself, Master, Severin.”  He said nervously.

Severin’s smile disappeared, she did not expect a problem to develop with the Midi-Chlorian test; such a thing was unheard of. Perhaps I have been fooling myself into thinking that the Order is without flaw. Severin pushed away the thought from her mind, she couldn’t allow herself to feel worried.  “Show me.” Ty’rac nodded. Severin turned to the two Masters and motioned for them to follow her.

“What about me, Masters?” The child stared wide eyed at them. Unlike before, he seemed nervous and worried. “What should I do?”

“Stay here and mediate on what you’ve learned.” The boy heard the Grandmaster say and then saw as she turned to face the door, gestured with her hand and watched as the two large doors flung open, Gar, Sum-Baki and the healer followed her closely.

The boy hung his head and murmured. “Yes, master.” He sat on the floor and assumed the same stance that the Grandmaster had shown him. He closed his eyes and focused on the Force, it was difficult to grasp this time, he had to re-double his efforts to feel the same vibrant life around him, but he succeeded in reaching out to the Force, he felt everything so intensely, the birds that chirped all around the temple, the soft steps of a Howler as it stalked its prey and, of course the unbelievable power that emanated from the very walls of the Jedi Temple. The Force was alive.

Suddenly, He felt a strange warmness on top of his head; it was a smooth and gentle sensation, the boy slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring directly at the lower end of a brown tunic, he lifted his gaze, following the figure all way up until he reached its head. Unlike the other young Jedi he’d seen, the Nautolan boy wore no undershirt, leaving his muscular chest exposed; his sleeveless tunic allowed his muscular arms to breath.

It was the Nautolan boy who had led him and Sum-Baki to the Council, Sora. The Nautolan grinned playfully at him as he patted the young boy’s head. “Well hello, what are you doing here?” Sora asked as he took hold of the young boy’s hand and pulled him to his feet.

“I was told by the Master, to wait here and mediate on my lesson.” He replied shyly. “What of you?”

Sora shrugged. “I’ve finished my studies for the day and combat training doesn’t start for another hour, so I figured I’d come here and relax, I didn’t realize you were using it, if you want I’ll g—“

“No!” The boy blurted out. “I was just meditating like the Master ordered me too; you can stay if that is what you want.”

“Master?” Sora raised an eye brow. “You just came out of nowhere and you already have a Master?” Sora settled himself next to the boy and looked at him incredulously. “Who is this Master of yours?”

“Ahis, called her Severin.” The boy said softly.

“Severin?” Sora nearly jumped to his feat as he heard the name, there was no possible way that this new student could have been handpicked by the Grandmaster of the Order, the Grandmaster’s last Padawans were the reclusive, Gar Thorin and the Legendary, Sum-Baki, since then, she had refused to take another Padawan and instead she chosen to focus her efforts on the Galactic Senate and matters of various levels of importance. “You’re talking about a female, humanoid, sandy hair, pale as the moon, that Severin?”

Before the boy could answer, Sora’s com-link beeped, he took a quick glance at it and scurried to his feet. “Sorry, buddy, but looks like class is starting early. So I have to go. Later!” Sora waved at the boy as he ran out of the room.

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Severin, Gar and Sum-Baki followed Ty’rac to the Medical Center, the Jedi healer quickly placed his datapad down on a white table and settled himself in a large chair. Ty'rac ran a search through the database and pulled the boy’s file. He motioned for the Jedi Masters to face a large thirty-two inch holo-monitor.

“We ran several tests on his blood.” He said as the image of the boy’s blood results flashed through the screen, everything seemed in order, his blood was—as expected—considered strange and unnatural, the results didn’t yield anything that was a cause for worry.

“What are we looking for, exactly?” Gar strained his eyes trying to examine the file, yet he did not see anything. The boy’s Midi-Chlorian count was five-thousand-five-hundred and thirty, not exceptional, but not below average which was good. “There is nothing out of the ordinary here, everything seems to be in order.”

“That’s what I thought too, so, on a hunch I decide to take a couple more samples from the child and…” He paused. “Just, see for yourselves.” He pressed a single button and another image appeared, it was nearly the exact same image with the exact same results, with one difference.

“The Midi-Chlorian number has lowered…” Severin gasped.

“The Midi-Chlorian count is inconclusive!?” Sum-Baki exclaimed. She glanced at Gar, though he wore a mask, she could feel him begin to worry as well. “That’s impossible, have you tried to run the tests through again?” Sum-Baki asked, still bewildered by the results.

“Yes! We took several different strains of blood, look!” Ty’rac keyed in a code and another image flashed on the screen, yielding yet another Midi-Chlorian count, this one higher than the last two images combined. “I’ve never seen anything like this; I have heard rumors of changelings being able to do this, but I don’t think there’s ever been a case with a near human, it’s impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible through the power of the Force.” Severin reminded him.

“Yes, of course Master.” He bowed his head apologetically.
“This is insane.” Sum-Baki murmured softly. She couldn’t believe it, she had spent years studying the Force and Midi-Chlorians, yet she had never seen something like this, vague mentions of it, yes, stories about beings that were dead to the Force, yes, but nothing had ever explicitly mentioned the shifting of Midi-Chlorians.  “Something has to be wrong with the machines.”

“Ty’rac, has been with Order for years, from the day I first entered the academy to when I became Grandmaster, he has taken the care of the younglings and performed his duty well, what we are seeing here is accurate.” Severin said composedly.

“This is troubling.” Gar rubbed placed a clawed hand on his chin and rubbed it. “How should we proceed?” He asked Severin. He was, for the first time in his life, unnerved. He had fought and defeated the Legendary Swordsmen Daak, destroyed Anti-Air Cannons with his bare hands and fought against powerful stone guardians who were several meters tall, but that had all seemed so small, compared to the potential danger the boy could unleash on the galaxy. The boy was a variable and Gar did not like working with variables.

“What do you mean ‘how should we proceed’?” Sum-Baki asked hesitantly. “You’re not seriously suggesting that w—“

“I was not suggesting anything, Sum-Baki.” Gar had stopped her before she could finish her sentence, but he didn’t need to hear it, to know what she was about to imply, or perhaps, he did not want to hear it.  He pushed the thought out of his mind and waited for the Grandmaster to voice her opinion.

“Excuse me...” Ty’rac started hesitantly; he fiddled with his fingers nervously as the three Jedi Masters turned to face him. “There is something else that may interest you.”

Ty’rac worked clumsily behind his desk and prompted them to look at the screen once again, an image of the boy, half-naked and from different angles, appeared. “While we examined him for abnormalities, a colleague of mine found something strange…”  Ty’rac zoomed in on the boy’s neck.

Immediately, the Jedi saw it, it was a mark, different from the ones that covered the boy from neck to toe, in same Rakatan language. “My colleague is something of a history enthusiast, especially when it comes to the Rakata. When he saw this, his eyes nearly flew out his head; he said that this mark roughly translates to basic as the word ‘Fate’”

Sum-Baki and Gar exchange a brief look of concern.

“A designation mark, perhaps?” Severin said, her tone betrayed no sign emotion.

“He thinks so. Perhaps we should have the Chief Liberian examine this newly found information?” Ty’rac suggested. “It would do us well to try and understand what these markings mean.”

“Yes, I concur.” Severin diverted her gaze away from the holoscreen and faced the Jedi. “Well done, Ty’rac.” The man bowed appreciatively. “Go and take this to the Chief Liberian, once she is done, tell her to bring the results to my quarters.” The man nodded his head and left hurriedly.

The Jedi remained silent, the pause went on for what seemed like forever, Sum-Baki’s mind raced, what could she say? The boy was an anomaly, yes. But she had entered his mind, felt his pain, his fear, his sadness and his loneliness, the boy was no more a dangerous to the galaxy than a bantha.  Then, the realization hit her like an unforgiving uppercut.

“Did I cause this?” Sum-Baki felt her voice crack as she spoke. Immediately, Gar and Severin turned to her with an incredulous look on their faces.

“Self-blame is not the Jedi way.” Severin said sternly, her brows narrowing as she did so.

“I know, but the boy…” Her voice trailed off. “The boy wasn’t like this before I joined with him!”

“You have no way of knowing that.” Gar said kindly and placed a hand on her shoulder, gripping her tightly in reassurance. “The boy was unstable from even before we met him, the intelligence on the station stated this. You are not to blame Sum-Baki. We are dealing with an issue we have little to no information on, and never before in the history of our order, in the history of Mind meld technique, has the joining of two minds caused such a reaction.”

There was a long moment of silence as Sum-Baki considered Gar’s words, he had made a point, her ability had never affected the Midi-Chlorians of those she chose to meld with, even the pioneer of that ability, Anakin Solo, had never experienced such a thing. Sum-Baki shook her head as if she was trying to shake off the ill feelings this troubling news gave her.

“What will be done with the boy?” The question was asked out of worry for the child; she had bonded with him, felt him and scene his most intimate thoughts, as he had no doubt scene hers. Despite their short time together, she felt the need to protect the child, even against her peers if need be.

“Nothing has changed.” Severin sighed. “He must be trained; it will be difficult for him because of his advanced age.” Severin’s her steel eyed gaze fell on Gar. “Which is why, I wanted to speak with you.”

Gar tensed, his expression hardened behind his mask. He still felt the death of his prodigy, Maia Alya, profoundly; her passing was a scar that had been etched into his mind, his heart, and his very soul. Her memory was one of pure pain and sorrow; he had been spent the last eight years of his life in silent mourning. He had detached himself from the Order and his friends. He knew what Severin, his former Jedi Master, the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, was about to ask. He didn’t want to hear it.

“No.” Gar hadn’t even taken the second step, when he felt his body freeze, his arms and legs refused to answer to him, his body turned itself around to face the source of the inexorable power that held him at bay. Severin stared at him with a completely tranquil expression.

“Gar…” Severin’s hold on him vanished. “I know that you mourn the loss of Padawan Alya, we all still do. Her loss was and still is regretful, but you mustn’t blame yourself.” She said affectionately. “You trained her well, Gar. She was the greatest among the Padawans, talented and resourceful. When she died Gar, she died not as a Padawan, but rather, she died and fought like a true Jedi Knight.” Gar tore his gaze away from the Grandmaster and hung his head as the rush of emotions threatened to surface.  He could not bear to look at the Grandmaster or his greatest friend.

“I too, know of loss my young friend.” A sad smile slowly formed on her lips. “In my youth, I lost a friend dear to me and I mourned him for months on end, but I stopped one day, because I realized that he was not truly gone, no, he gave her energies to the Living Force. He became a part of the Force, a part of me, a part of all of us. That is what your Padawan has become as well, Gar.” The Grandmaster gently took hold of the Kel Dor’s hand and said. “There is no death.”

“There is only the Force.” Gar finished. He let go of his former Master’s hand and thanked her with a silent nod.

“Gar, I want you to see to the boy’s training personally.” Severin hesitated for a brief moment and then continued. “Please. I am not asking you as the Grandmaster; it is not an order from a Master to an Apprentice. It is a request, from a friend to another friend.” She finished with a beautiful smile.

Gar smiled back at his former Master behind his mask and said. “I will train the boy, I promise you.”

“Oh sure, he gets the smile and the praise when he says yes to a Padawan, but when I’m given a seat on the council and a choice between two talented and sweet boys, I get zilch.” Sum-Baki lifted her chin up and scoffed. “What, do I have to jump out of a moving speeder after you with a jet pack to get some praise, Master?” Gar and Severin stared at her, Gar burst out in laughter for the second time since Sum-baki had seen him, while the Grandmaster merely chuckled. Sum-Baki couldn’t help but join in, it was as if they were Padawans once again and though she knew it would not last long, she enjoyed seeing her two closest friends happy.

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Leeyana piloted the Necro across the dangerous and uncontrolled skies of Nar Shaddaa, a moon that orbited the swampy and bloated gas home planet of the treacherous Hutts, Nal Hutta.  She had visited Nar Shaddaa, or the ‘Smuggler’s Moon.’ As it was nicknamed by pirates, smugglers and thieves alike, on various jobs, heists, fishing jobs, bounties and of course recovery jobs that merely asked one thing of a Bounty Hunter. Find something, bring it back by any means necessary and don’t ask questions.

She had, for the most part, stayed away from jobs like that, but because there had been a recent decline in the less chancy heist, fishing and sweeping jobs, Leeyana had chosen to take a risk and accept a mission to retrieve a Data-disk from a Twi’Lek on the planet Onderon. The mission was simple; pose as an interested buyer, acquire the Data-disk by either buying or stealing it and then return the disk to the interested party on Nar Shaddaa. It was an easy, clean job.

It was ‘supposed’ to be an easy job.

laser fire tore her away from her thoughts and exploded around her beloved vehicle, immediately, Leeyana lurched the nose of the Necro upwards and flipped the sleek ship in a semi-circle. Now behind as she lay behind her assailants, she saw quickly caught sight of them. Two ships from a past era flew in perfect synchronization, covering one another’s back and flanks; they were obviously well trained pilots.

“Well.” Leeyana flicked her ion thrusters off and banged the back of her cockpit with her hand. “Double-Youbee get on the short range turret and wait for my mark.” Leeyana shouted to her small astromech companion, who whistled in dismay. “I don’t care about the damage to the ship, just do as I say.” WB-88, as it was called by his master, quickly stopped repairing the damage to the ship and went for the quad laser turret. While not exactly a deadly force to be reckoned with in single combat, the small Astromech had been more than essential to Leeyana when she had been on the run from the law enforcement on many planets, including Onderon.

Leeyana’s hand were a blur of movement as she quickly engaged her thrusters, flicked the targeting systems on and steered the Necro bellow the belly of one the ships. Leeyana let out a high whistle; the two ships were beauties to look at for her. One of them was a polished and highly retrofitted Y-wing fighter from the days of the Rebel Alliance and the other was a newly released Firespray Mark VII, a beautiful ship designed for maneuverability and speed. It was a deadly ship to go up against in a dogfight and utterly useless in a one on one clash. Sucks to be you.

“Double-youbee, hit that bastard’s engines now!” Leeyana roared. The Astromech was quick to comply, with a series of commands; the droid optimized its accuracy ratio and fired a burst of repeating cannon fire that struck the Firespray directly on the engines, the ship’s shielding and armor plating had been too weak, in mere moments, the ship burst into flames and crashed into a nearby transmission tower.

The Y-wing pilot was in a panicked frenzy as it watched its friend crashed into in the tower and exploded in a shower of flame and shrapnel , the pilot of the Y-wing accelerated its speed, desperately trying to get away from the superior targeting skills of WB-88 and the magnificent piloting talent of Leeyana. But her reaction time was simply much faster than the poor pilot, when he attempted to barrel roll away from her and into in coming air traffic, Leeyana simply evaded and dodged the ships around her with complete grace and control, she was simply superior to the pilot.

Leeyana continued her pursuit and steered the ship away from the speeders and transports the sped towards the Necros. Her brows furrowed in concentration, beads of perspiration covered her face as she focused on her prey. A power filled the cockpit of the ship, guiding, empowering and rejuvenating Leeyana, the raw power of the Force. That was her biggest advantage over the pilot.
Drawing on the power of Force, Leeyana felt herself react faster than she had before; moving away from an incoming ship seconds before it had even appeared, her turns and rolls were executed flawlessly. She loved it, the thrill of battle, the adrenaline the flowed through her as chase went on, the idea, that, if she made a single mistake, she would die. Leeyana took pleasure from this; it fueled her drive to win, to exceed. It was what set her apart from all other Jedi initiates and what drew the attention of the Jedi legend, Daak Vas.

Leeyana’s expression hardened as she thought of the person she had hated for eight years. Daak Vas, legendary Jedi Battle-master, Master swordsmen and Jedi traitor. Leeyana’s Jedi Master. Daak Vas had been sent by the Jedi Order to recover a Holocron created by the infamous Dark Acolyte, Sora Bulq. The Holocron was said to have held information on the Vaapad variation of Form VII, a form that was created by him and the legendary Jedi Master, Mace Windu. While the form was known throughout the entire Order, albeit not practiced widely due to the strict restrictions the Council placed on the availability of the Form, the Council still felt that the Holocron should be recovered and stored in the great vault.

The mission should have been easy, but she had failed to predict that her master would betray her by framing his looting of the great vault on her. Leeyana quickly roughly tilted the Necros port-side as the pilot loosed the Y-wing’s repair kit compartment. The Necros nearly struck a building and would have had Leeyana not forced the ship away. Leeyana breathed deeply and exhaled, she did not need distractions. She needed answers.

With renewed focus, Leeyana pushed her ship to its limit; the thrusters roared from behind her as she advanced them to their highest level, at the same time, she shut down the targeting systems and primed the Necros’ laser cannons. It was incredibly risky for a pilot to engage in a aerial combat without the use of their targeting computer or an Astromech droid. Even amongst the greatest Jedi Aces of the Order, such a task was considered to be extremely dangerous, and next to impossible.

But even the greatest pilots of the Order were no match for her.

Leeyana watched the Y-wing pilot sway and roll, clumsily trying to evade the continuous barrage of blue fire that WB-88 supplied. Now drawing on the Force, Leeyana senses stretched and took everything, from her prey to the insignificant speck of dust that stained his starboard engine. Her body, mind and soul became one with the ship; it was an extension of her very being, she felt the sharp turns and sways, the small fragments of metal that scratched the Necros’ surface. She was one with her ship.

Leeyana fired, a barrage of blue flames spouted from the ship in rapid, short and more precise bursts of cannon fire, that, while not overly damaging, were still far more accurate then when one fired in a continuous loop. Leeyana struck Y-wing directly on its engine; the ship lurched hard under Leeyana’s volley, its shields had been compromised from the first volley of fire, the second burst ignited the ship in flames, the ship began to spiral uncontrollably and then exploded in a grand shower of metal and fire.

Leeyana smirked and laid back into her chair with her arms behind her back. WB-88 came whirring from behind the door to the lounge room, exclaiming out in a series of high pitched beeps.

“I think, I think!”  She paused for effect. “We just kicked the bantha dung out two dumb pilots.”

The droid let out a long, annoyed whistle.

“Oh come on!” Leeyana cried out. “You can’t honestly tell me that you weren’t impressed in the slightest!” The droid shook its dome-like head exasperatingly and beeped in response.

“You’re such a stick in the mud, you know that?” She said with a pout. The droid whistled out a short response and left to tend to the minor damages of the ship.

Leeyana smiled and punched in the coordinates to her employer’s location. “You did great too, Double-youbee.” She whispered slowly as she glanced back at her droid companion and caught his blue ‘eye’ Leeyana quickly turned away, careful not to let the droid know that she was watching.

The droid had been her only companion, her only connection to the Order. Her only friend when she was betrayed. Leeyana had come to value the droid as a comrade and confidant. When she was framed, she stealthily made her way to the hangar of the Daak Vas’ ship and was caught by WB-88, the droid who had been assigned to be her co-pilot. Leeyana had thought that the droid would report her, but instead, he hacked the ship’s security system, disabled their turrets and hopped in side of the Necros.

Leeyana smiled as her mind returned to that memory. In a time where chaos had surrounded her, a time where her life and future were taken from her by Daak vas, the droid had been her hero, her only true friend. Her smile widened, for she knew, that the droid valued her just as much as she valued him.

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Zora Buruk took long purposeful strides as she made her way the chambers of Senator, Cesaius Veck, a man who had been selected to represent the people of Telos.  A charming and charismatic man, Cesaius passionately advocated for the removal of the jedi from political matters, citing that, “their continued presence within the Senate is both a danger to the Imperial Republic and unnecessary.”  Many senators disagreed with Cesaius, with the Emperor himself vetoing the call to remove the jedi from Galactic politics. It had been a devastating blow to Cesaius’s career, but still he persisted.

Zora stood behind the door to his chambers now. She pressed a single button on the wall panel and heard Cesaius’ voice hissed from the communicator.  “I told you Jedi, I do not need your Order’s help, if you continue to trouble me I will—“

“It’s me” Zora cut him off.

“Zora?”  Cesaius went silent for a moment and then spoke. “Come in.”

Zora entered the Telosian Senator’s office and examined the room, ornaments made from the most expensive of metals and painting that valued more than a cruiser decorated the walls. The grounds were covered in a white carpet; golden streaks covered the beautiful fabric, woven in stunning patterns. The chairs were a mirror image of the carpet. It was a beautiful sight to see.

In front of her was, Cesaius Veck, standing fully erect with his back turned to her. His eyes watched the beautiful sun of Coruscant set. Zora said nothing, she stood there, waiting.

After a few moments, the Senator sighed and turned to Zora. “Why have you disturbed me?” he asked irritably, his piercing brown eyes suddenly took a dark shade. “With the latest development within the Senate, I must spend all my time on creating a better foundation for my case!” He said through his teeth. “You had better have a good reason for coming to me unannounced!”

“I do.” Zora responded calmly. “It is regarding the data-disk that was stolen from us.”

Cesaius’s expression softened. “It has been recovered?”

Zora nodded stiffly. “No, we were unable to recover it.”  Cesaius slammed his hands on his desk and cursed. “We did, however, discern the location of the thief.”

“That is excellent news.” Cesaius said as he exhaled. “You have my permission to use whatever funds you deem necessary to find and kill this thief. We cannot allow the information on that Data-disk to fall into the hands of our rivals.” Cesaius stood up and stared into Zora’s eyes. “Project Reborn, must not be compromised. Am I clear?”

Zora smiled and said. “Crystal.”  

“Good, I do not need to remind you the price of failure, do I?” Cesaius smiled maliciously at her.

“No, you do not.” She said impassively.

“Good, now unless there is something else, I suggest you leave.” Cesaius turned away from her and studied the skies of Coruscant. He tried to exude an aura of calm and superiority, but deep down, he was nervous, he was scared.

Zora inclined her head courteously and walked towards the doors. She paused at the entrance and spoke. “Be mindful of your next move, Senator. The Jedi are watching you closely.” Zora smiled and walked out of the Cesaius’ office. She and the Senator may have been allies, but she enjoyed seeing him fumble in the dark, however, she knew that Project Reborn was too valuable to let personal feelings and rivalries get in the way. Too much was at stake and she could not let anyone know of her true plans.

Not yet.