Journey to the Edge of Light

Chapter I

A clear shaft of white sunlight filtered through the stands in the alien agora to light upon a woman strolling down the dusty street. The sun caressed her lithe dancer’s figure sheathed in worn red leather. It glistened in her ice blue hair and sparkled in her emerald eyes. A tooled pelt blue belt hung casually from her hips, a blaster holstered on her left hip, a lightsaber clipped on her right. As she walked through the crowd of busy shoppers, journeymen and salesmen, she managed to both stick out and blend in all at the same time. Her beauty dazzled the eye and stirred the blood of those partial to her species and sex. Although she did not stick out in any definable way, if one chose to observe her for a moment they would see in her walk, her posture and expression that if they messed with her they would be biting off much more than they could chew.

It was a normal day in the colorful bazaar, men hawking their wares, people shopping, people bartering. Up the street from the woman, several children played a game that involved several ornate sticks and a lively rhyme. The woman glanced behind her and smiled in amusement as a tiny Pickwash tried unsuccessfully to calm his giant mount, which looked very much like an obese ronto. The woman’s half smile quickly disappeared when the reason for the ronto’s behavior leapt boldly over its broad back.

“Hi, Mara!” the dragon said as he skidded to a stop beside her. His body was slender and serpentine and the whole thing was incased in sapphire scales of varying size and shades of blue. His wings were folded close to his body so as not to impede with his running. A thick, yet see-through crest was raised from his forehead down to the base of his neck. His wedge shaped head was adorned with ebony horns, slate eyes, and a mischievous smile. Strapped to his back was a worn saddle and seated in that was a man with sandy blond hair and a grin and twinkle in his eye that matched the dragon’s perfectly.

“C’mon, Mara,” he said, his grin refusing to leave his face. “I think it best if we were leaving.”

The woman glared at him in puzzlement for a second. “What in the universe did you do this time—” she was interrupted as several blue skinned men finally won their way past the spooked ronto and opened fire. “Sithspit, Luke, how the hell are they here already?”

“Don’t know . . .” Luke Skywalker said as he helped his wife swing into the saddle behind him.

“ . . . But it is a subject best saved for later,” Cyan finished as they bolted off.

They tore down the street with people and animals screaming and darting out of their way. The Cragon, the blue skinned aliens that chased them, fired without regard for the innocent bystanders all around them. The bolts that hit home bounced harmlessly off Cyan’s hide, but the dragon knew they would not bounce so harmlessly off his passengers.

Ahead of them a cart was just tumbling across the street, filled to the top with lumpy pink fruit webbed with blue veins. The poor squat pack animal pulling the cart had frozen in place upon seeing Cyan galloping towards it. As they approached Mara was once again amazed at just how powerful one felt riding the dragon. Even with the saddle on, she could feel and sense the muscles bunching and then releasing as the dragon leaped easily over the cart.

The pack animal shrieked in terror at this, rearing and swerving to the side so abruptly it tipped the cart, spilling its squishy contents onto the street and towards the approaching squad of Cragon. They slipped and slid as the fruit burst under their feet, causing most of them to go crashing into the upturned cart.

With their pursuers otherwise occupied, Cyan darted down a side passage and then onto another smaller, quieter street before ducking down another ally, backtracking and taking the most convoluting route he could until they reached the shuttle awaiting them.

“Master Skywalker!” Kam Solusar shouted when they got within earshot of the group of Jedi waiting at the bottom of the boarding ramp. “We were worried when we got your message—”

“Is everything packed?” Luke asked as he eyed the Lambda-class shuttle.

Jenab Rohib frowned as Cyan came to a halt beside him and his two passengers hopped nimbly off. “We have all the stuff we’ve bought so far on board, but there’s still a lot of supplies we haven’t gotten yet.”

“Forget it,” Luke said, giving Ejila Starbust a gentle shove up the ramp.

“The Cragon are already here, and they know we are too,” Cyan explained.

Kam blinked, stunned. “How?”

“Apparently people know what lightsabers look like even this far out,” Cyan said with a sheepish grin.

“Oops,” Luke added, walking up the ramp as he pushed Ejila—still too stunned by the speed of the events unfolding to formulate a sentence—in front of him.

“Good job,” Jenab commented, rolling his eyes. “So what do we do now, oh, Master of concealment?”

Mara glared at him. “We leave, oh, Master of the failed sarcastic comment that makes no sense. Now get your butt on that ship. I’ll not be getting captured again because you can’t grasp a simple combat scenario.”

Once they were all piled into the shuttle with Luke at the helm, he blasted into the air with little regard to the carbon scoring he was imbedding into the ferrocrete beneath them. They were in the air for less than the time it took to take three breaths when Cragon fighters rose to meet them. Spinning away from the full squadron of cerulean blue ships, Luke skimmed the squarish clay buildings, occasionally dipping into the streets to throw off their pursuers. Quickly reaching the edge of the small spaceport, they entered into a shallow grassy valley strewn with gray boulders. On the other side of the valley spread a forest of spindly white chocoluk trees, their interconnected branches swaying like delicate lace in the light breeze.

Luke headed right for the forest, the shuttle cutting through the thin branches of the chocoluk trees. Though they left a briefly visible path, the trees possessed an amazing ability to heal themselves. Within minutes, any indication that they had passed was gone. The speed of their passage sent the whole forest swaying violently, whispering their distress at being disturbed.

By the time the Cragon managed to reach the trees, the branches had healed themselves. Spreading out into a crisscrossing search pattern, they blasted into the forest without any regard for any obstacles that might lie within. Luke angled the shuttle forward and to the side, hoping that they could clear the trees while the Cragon were still busy searching inside of them. They swept out of the forest into rolling foothills carpeted in grass. Luke waited until they were almost into the mountains and then dialed their thrust down to zero, using the rudder to pump the nose up 90 degrees while everyone else in the shuttle was recovering from the abrupt stop.

“Brace yourselves,” Luke said. Then, before anyone could possible comply with his order he punched the thrusters up to full escape velocity and blasted into the upper atmosphere. The blue sky was already fading into black before any of the Cragon fighters realized they were escaping.

As soon as they were in open space, Luke set a course for the moon as fast as the shuttle would take them. Even with their head start, the Cragon fighters were caching up. The shuttle made it to the dark side of the moon with the Cragon still in hot pursuit.

Cyan grinned eagerly and commented, “I guess this is where the Cragon get their first introduction to Bairn of Hope.” The flight of Cragon fighters came flying at them with little regard for their speed or direction. There were twelve of them against one shuttle—what could happen? They reached the terminal line of the moon and opened fire—

Within seconds seven of them were floating disabled in space as fire from the Nebula-class cruiser lanced out at them with uncanny precision. The ship’s sides were faceted with Jeklik diamond, laced with Cawlri silver. The bow opened up into five triangular sections that spread like the leaves of a flower, revealing ten turbolaser batteries. The remaining five fighters scattered into evasive maneuvers, scrambling to defend themselves from the even deadlier volley that followed the first. Luke was just steering their ship into the octagonal shuttle bay when two of the Cragon fighters were enveloped in brilliant explosions. Luke frowned darkly at this but then had to concentrate on settling the ship down. Popping the hatch, they all piled out and starting jogging to the bridge.

They got there just in time to watch the second last ship explode. Luke’s eyes went to weapons control and found Kyp Durren there, his expression lost in concentration. Luke strode purposely over and as soon as Kyp had a lock on the last ship, Luke flicked the targeting computer off.

“Master Skywalker! What—”

“What did I say to you before I left,” Luke demanded, flicking his eyes to the view screen as the remaining ship escaped.

Kyp sank a little in his chair when he heard the steel in his Master’s voice. “You said to destroy any ships that might be following you . . .”

“My exact words, not your interpretation, please.”

“I thought . . .” Kyp started and then saw Luke’s eyes harden again. “I don’t remember your exact words . . .”

“I told you to disable any ships that came after us. Disable being the operative word there. And don’t tell me you couldn’t, because you managed to do it to the first seven. I understand getting caught up in the battle but four people just died who didn’t really have to. This battle is going to be costly enough for both sides, let’s not make it any costlier than it has to be,” Luke turned away from Kyp to the Wookie sitting at the helm, watching the lecture in astonishment just like everyone else on the bridge. “Chelsy’a, take us out of here before one of those fighters comes back online and blows our engines.” Chelsy’a barked a brisk affirmative and snapped around to lay in a course that would take them out of the system.

Luke stepped off the raised observation deck and sat in the command chair, scanning the ship’s short-term records to make sure everything was in order before they went into hyperspace. Mara sat in the slightly smaller chair beside him and murmured into his ear, “And so the war starts in blood. I wonder what that says about the way it shall end.”

I n t o t h e L i o n ‘ s D e n

Chapter II

“Master Skywalker, can I speak with you?”

Luke looked up from the spread of data pads containing all their financial resources to regard Miko Regalia. “Of course. Sit down.”

Miko murmured his thanks and then settled into the comfortable chair in front of Luke’s desk. “I was just . . . um, I don’t really have exactly a question. It’s almost a comment, but I guess it’s still a question too.” Miko stopped, suddenly realizing that he wasn’t making much sense.

“Go on,” Luke said, settling back in his seat and keeping his expression open.

“Well, um, hey,” Miko suddenly sat up and looked around the spacious office. “Where’s Cyan?”

Luke smiled in amusement. “He’s in engineering helping Lowie haul around the new hyperdrive coordinator. Now, what’s your almost question, Miko?”

“Oh, uh, I was just wondering, well, you seemed a bit harsh on Kyp, Master. He was doing what he thought right. Sometimes you have to do more than just disable and better them than you,” Miko said finally, looking more than a little on edge.

Luke frowned a little, suspecting this had a lot more to it than his methods of discipline. “I was harsh only because his ‘misinterpretation’ of my orders cost several lives. It’s all right to make mistakes sometimes, but that was a little different than a mistake. I saw where those ships were in relation to us and I am quite acquainted with this ship’s destructive capabilities; the possibility was there to simply disable the last of the fighters yet it wasn’t taken. You see, it’s more Kyp putting his views of the Force into effect without first thinking about the consequences. He’s been doing it a lot lately and I won’t encourage it. I’ve ignored it for far too long to my regret.”

“But he was only protecting you. I mean, we are at war,” Miko said in perplexity.

“That seems to be the common misconception around here,” Luke said dryly. “Really, Miko, what kind of danger where we in when he started blowing ships up? We were in the shuttle bay long before any of those fighters could have gotten close enough to do us any damage, and this ship is quite adequately protected against five snubs.”

“I suppose so,” Miko murmured.

Luke continued, “This isn’t a war yet, Miko. It might become one in the future, but for now, killing people is rather pointless. I don’t want this to turn into a Jedi good, Cragon bad, so Jedi blow Cragon up sort of thing. It results in them dying and us coming precariously close to the Dark Side, maybe even slipping all the way over.”

“Yeah, I guess I can see that,” Miko muttered, still mulling it over to himself.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s got you on edge?” Luke asked.

Miko looked up guiltily. “I just wasn’t really sure if you were still mad at me after what happened when you returned to Yavin IV.”

“Miko, listen to me,” Luke said, sitting forward and meeting his student eye for eye. “I never, ever want unquestioned obedience from you. I want you to do what I say, but think about it too. If you see something wrong with it, come and ask me about it like you just did. And don’t ever think I’d be mad at you for expressing your opinion. If you ever piss me off that much, you’ll know it, trust me. What you did at Yavin was understandable, I was gone for an awfully long time, but there were circumstances around it, which some of you have to learn to listen for first before you make snap judgments. If you’re ever confused about something come and talk to me, or Mara, or Cyan or Kam. I know it sometimes seems easier to talk to Kyp because he’s your friend and he has been training for longer than you have—and sometimes he can help you. But he’s still got a lot to learn about the Force, and a lot of it is important stuff that’s going to hold him back until he sees it. Unfortunately, he’s not willing to let the rest of us help him right now, but I hope you won’t make the same mistakes as he is. The great thing about learning among friends is you can learn from their mistakes and they can learn from yours. And,” Luke added, standing to let Miko know that the talk was almost finished, “you can learn from each others triumphs. Tell Kyp that when he asks you what I said about him.”

Miko smiled ruefully. “I will. Thank you, Master Skywalker.”

“Anytime,” Luke said with an answering smile as Miko exited. Before the door closed, Corran Horn walked slowly in, his hand resting on the back of a small emerald dragon that walked carefully next to him. Olive kept a sharp eye out for anything that might trip up his friend.

“Corran! How are you doing?” Luke asked as the former X-Wing pilot/Jedi felt his way into the chair that Miko had just vacated.

“Same as I always am,” Corran said with forced cheerfulness. “I got board so I decided to stop in for a chat.”

Luke shrugged and grinned. “Sure, I’m just ‘balancing the books’ and I’m happy for any kind of distraction.”

“Hmm, I can imagine. Hey, was that Miko who was just in here?” Corran asked as he finally placed the voice that he heard upon entering.

“Yeah,” Luke confirmed. “Kyp put him up to coming in here and asking why I was so hard on him.”

“Ah, I’m not surprised. So what did you tell him?”

Luke shook his head. “Now, Corran, you know I can’t tell you that.”

“Yeah, yeah, confidentiality and all that jazz. Though I bet I can guess what you told him,” Corran grunted. “I wonder if Kyp will listen this time having it come from a friend?”

“I hope so, he’s been worrying me, but I think I have a way to get to him. You, on the other hand, have been worrying me a lot more than he is,” Luke added seriously.

Corran frowned. “Me? I’m fine, Luke. A little bored, I guess, but I’m all healed up. You shouldn’t be worrying about me. You’ve got bigger stuff to think about.”

“Uh, huh. Sure,” Luke said, not fooled a bit. “Oh, that reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Could you help out with some of the younger students? There’s several that seem to be developing a talent for the alter mind skill, and you’re the most experienced—”

“No, absolutely not,” Corran said firmly, emphatically shaking his head. “I can’t feel the Force at all anymore, Luke. I wouldn’t know how to teach them.”

Luke frowned. “So, what you’re telling me is that you need the Force to be able to understand anything enough to teach it.”

“Well, no, that’s not quite what I meant. I wouldn’t be able to . . . oh, stop it, Luke,” Corran finally added, gritting his teeth. “They’d all fall to the Dark Side or something.”

Luke raised and eyebrow, unmoved. “That’s one of the stupidest things you’ve ever said to me. Not to mention the most incoherent. You know, until I met you I might have thought what you’re trying to say is true. You need the Force to understand the Force. But then you came in, fresh off the Thrawn disaster and your mind more on Mirax than on your training, and yet you managed to grasp some very difficult points before I did. And seeing as you couldn’t even get the whole picture of what the Force was, you don’t really need it to see what it means.”

“But you do need confidence in yourself,” Corran said, a quiver entering unbidden in his voice. “And I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I just don’t have that anymore.”

“And that’s precisely why I want you to do this for me. These kids are at the very beginning of their training. I could probably give Han a data card with what he should be telling them and it would work out ok. But you would bring your life experiences, not only in using this skill, but also in learning to use this skill. I can’t think of anyone better for this. Besides,” Luke added, “the only other person available for this is Drent.”

Corran’s eyes widened reflexively in surprise. “Drent? Isn’t that the guy who almost wet himself during one of your lectures because he was afraid to interrupt you?”

“Um, yeah. Actually, he’s going to be your assistant if you do this,” Luke added.

“You know, you’re not exactly sweetening the deal.”

Luke grinned. “I was just hoping you could beat a spine into him or something seeing as you’ve managed to do such a great job with Olive.”

“Me?” Olive squeaked.

“Uh huh. I mean, you don’t go running screaming every time Cyan enters the room anymore,” Luke said with a cheerful grin.

Olive sat a little taller. “I guess I am a little more confidant these days.”

“Luke,” Corran said, chuckling at the little dragon. “I couldn’t possibly do this . . .”

“Please?”

“No, no way,” Corran said firmly.

“Pretty please?”

“You’re giving me that damn look that Mara hates so much, aren’t you?” Corran demanded.

“Yup. Please?”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Corran conceded, slumping into his chair in defeat.

“Yea,” Luke said, pulling a data card out of a stack on the side of his desk. “Here’s all the information you’ll need to know on the kids. And Corran? Thank you, I know you can do this.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just remember, you get what you ask for,” Corran muttered, taking the data card and exiting.

A moment later Cyan entered, his normally glittering scales smeared with grease and coolant. “So, what do you think?” Luke asked.

“Hopefully, if we can keep him busy enough, he won’t have time to let the depression get the better of him,” Cyan said, plopping wearily onto the floor beside Luke’s desk. “And what better to keep someone busy than five seven-year-olds who can control what you think?”

Luke shrugged. “He lived through his own son’s emergence into the Force. I don’t see why he won’t now.”

“And what if you do need the Force to teach Jedi?”

“I’m just hoping the legend of the training of Vima Sunrider holds true. If Ulic Qel-Droma could train one of the most renown Jedi Masters of old without the Force and just coming back to the Light Side, than I think Corran can teach a bunch of kids the basics.”

“Touché,” Cyan commented. “So how’re you doing with the number crunching?”

Luke snorted. “I think we can buy another nebula-class ship the way these donations keep coming in. Seriously, if everyone who has pledged their support suddenly stopped sending donations, we could still keep going for another two standard years so long as we don’t suffer any serious damage.”

“And if this does erupt into war? Because let’s face it Luke, that’s what’s gonna happen,” Cyan rumbled.

Luke frowned. “Probably cut that in half. Still, they don’t seem likely to stop sending stuff in. Heck, that Cal’dosein Stock Broker said he’d send more if war were to break out.”

Cyan grinned toothily. “Yeah, and he’s probably not the only one.”

“Which begs the question, what do we do with all the extra cash?” Luke asked.

Cyan shrugged. “Why don’t we get everyone together and see what ideas they have.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Luke said, nodding his head as he looked at the final calculations in front of him.

“Of course.”

“One thing you’ll have to do before then, though,” Luke added.

“What?” Cyan asked, suddenly realizing there was something Luke had been hiding from him since he entered the room.

“Take a bath. You stink like old spacer trash.”

“So, what do you guys think we should do?” Luke asked after he was finished explaining their unique financial situation to the group of high-ranking Jedi in the mess hall.

“Why are you asking us?” Wurth Skidder demanded. “We’re Jedi, not accountants.”

Cyan growled disparagingly. “Because this will have as much of an effect on you as everyone else here. We will see what everyone wants and needs and base our decision on that. If we didn’t do this, you’d be complaining that you had no say.”

“Why don’t we use it to buy weapons to fight the Cragon with?” Ganner Rysode suggested.

“Jeez, Ganner,” Corran exclaimed, “could you sound just a little more militaristic? We’re out here to gather information and find one child. I think we have adequate weaponry for that.”

“Corran’s right. We have our lightsabers, this ship, and the Force behind us,” Ejila commented. “That’s more than enough as far as I’m concerned.”

Suddenly Cilghal raised one webbed hand. “Perhaps we should set up a ground base somewhere. A place to send the injured and to keep the kids safe.”

“We cold also store supplies or anything else we can’t keep on Bairn of Hope,” Kam added.

“Yeah, great idea,” Kyp commented sarcastically. “Get all of our most valuable and vulnerable stuff and put it all in one spot. Am I the only one who thinks that just a little unsafe?”

Mara frowned at Kyp, speaking up for the first time in the meeting. “It’s not like we’d announce to the galaxy where it was. Besides, we could station several able bodied Jedi there to protect the place.”

“Well, who would these Jedi be?” Ganner demanded. “No offense, Cilghal, but you’re not exactly a fighting Jedi.”

“If you’re so concerned, then why don’t you do it?” Cilghal demanded, just about fed up with Ganner’s antagonism towards any Jedi who don’t use the Force to fight.

Ganner looked rather stunned at this suggestion. “Me? But I’m needed here—”

“Actually, no, not really,” Luke said with a casual shrug. “We have more than enough fighting Jedi to go around. I think this is an excellent idea. I want Cilghal here; this is where the major injuries are going to happen if there are any to be had. So maybe . . . Kawlri?” Luke suggested, looking at the slender woman from Chandrila questioningly. She thought about it briefly and then nodded determinedly. “Good. You and Ganner work together and see how much something like this would cost, what other kind of personnel you’ll need, and likely locations. Does anyone have any more suggestions? No? Then you’re all dismissed. Feel free to come to me, Cyan, or Mara if you have any other thoughts.”

Luke watched as everyone but Mara and Cyan filed out of the mess hall. He was just gathering his data cards when Mara abruptly slipped into his lap. “Whatcha doin’?” she asked with a playful grin.

“Getting ready for a class,” Luke explained with a chuckle at her antics. “I believe you’re in it, actually.”

“Mmm, that’s right. Care to give me some private tutoring beforehand?” Mara suggested with an innocent expression that didn’t fool her husband one single bit.

Luke just grinned back at her. “You’re so much fun when you’re pregnant.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mara said indifferently, shrugging briefly before she cut off Luke’s reply by covering his mouth with her’s. They were interrupted seconds later by the amused sound of someone clearing their throat. Luke tipped his head to the side to see around Mara. It was Corran and Olive standing near the now closed mess room entryway. Mara glared at him over her shoulder in mock annoyance.

“You’d better have a good reason for interrupting me, Horn,” Mara said, a tremor of amusement finding its way into her irritated tone.

Corran couldn’t help but laugh, though Luke, Mara and Cyan all noticed how quickly the mirth left him. “Actually, I do. I want to be a part of this base we’re planning.”

“You do?” Cyan asked in surprise. “You’re taking initiative for something? This isn’t the depressed Corran who’s company we’ve come to love and cherish.”

“Look, I just don’t think Ganner should be left in charge of something like this,” Corran said, ignoring Cyan.

Luke shrugged. “Kawlri will learn to handle him. She’s quite resourceful.”

“But it will take her a while and who knows what kind of damage Ganner will cause between now and then,” Corran said urgently.

“Explain.”

“Ganner believes that Jedi are always going to know the right choice more often than ‘ordinary’ people and if those people can’t see that, then it becomes our job to make them. You yourself have said this is a dangerous philosophy to have especially when dealing with the Force. I’m just worried about what’s going to happen to all the kids when they’re exposed to that.”

Luke shrugged again. “Well, it’s a good thing you’ll be in charge of training the kids.”

“Huh?”

“What, you think I convinced you to take those kids on and then I’m gonna just let you off without a thought? Come now, Corran. The fact that you’re going is a given. Oh, but you’d better tell Kawlri that. Ganner might have forgotten to account for that fact,” Luke added.

Mara snorted. “Given his reluctance I suspect he’s quite well aware of it.”

“Then I’ll go catch up to them. Maybe I can help plan this too. It’ll…give me something to do with my time,” Corran said with a wan smile before swiftly exiting with Olive in the lead.

Chapter III

“You’re trying to control how you move, Kyp,” Luke said. His most advanced students were arrayed in the training complex located in the geographic middle of the ship. Luke had started the lesson by telling them to find enough room to stand and swing their arms and legs and any other appendage around without injuring someone else. Then he asked them to relax, close their eyes and let their bodies move to the rhythm of the Force. They had reacted in typical fashion.

Kyp immediately started into some flashy turns and twists that almost made him run over Streen. Mara and Kam frowned at him and then started tentatively reaching out to the Force to see what the hell he meant. Cilghal was letting her body sway from side to side and hoped she would fall into the pattern.

“Alright, everyone stop, you haven’t a clue what you’re doing,” Luke said finally when the chaos didn’t dissipate on its own as it usually did. “I’m going to do it, and then I want you to see if you can tell how I’m doing it. The first one who figures it out gets a big gold star.”

There was rippled laughter from everyone except for Kyp who was frowning in annoyance, probably convinced that this had no practical use. Luke pushed his shoulders up, back and down, then shook his body to make sure he wasn’t stiff, then he let himself slump where he stood and reached out to get a feel of the Force. He could sense the smoothness of it, ebbing and flowing towards certain events in the galaxy. A few lives started here, many lost there. He ignored his body and so his body had nothing left to do but follow the mind. He shifted from side to side, the movements gradually becoming larger until he was taking a step or two in various directions. However he never sped up the original pattern he had started. Though it got bigger, it did not change. Soon the change in life he felt in the Force was represented in him stretching out his elbow as far back as he could, then letting his head tip forward with his body slowly leaning into it until his shoulder suddenly, yet gradually, shifted to the side and up. He could feel his students’ concentration as they tried to see what he was doing and then the spark of delight when one of them figured it out.

Luke opened his eyes slowly and smiled. “Streen gets the gold star.” Everyone turned their attention from him to their fellow student who was moving back and forth in exactly the same almost pattern that Luke had been doing. “Why don’t you tell them what you’re doing, Streen.”

“I’m not doing anything, I’m just listening to the Force and letting by body do whatever,” Streen said in wonder.

There were several murmurs, as people finally understood. “Who can tell me why this is a good skill?”

“You got me,” Kyp said, staring at Streen in puzzlement.

Cilghal blinked her bulbous eyes and answered, “You can find out if something big is happening somewhere without expanding a lot of energy to see the future or try and explore things all around you.”

“Exactly. If you all started moving the way Kyp just did, than we all would have been about to explode in a Force Storm or something,” Luke explained. “This is also an advanced Battle Meditation technique. It gets you more in tune with the Force so when you need it to fight with, it will come to you even more quickly. It can be used before you try and look into the future, or before you try to do anything with the Force, really. It’s a way to familiarize yourself with the Force to better understand it.”

“You’d think with how experienced we all are, we wouldn’t need to understand it anymore to use it more effectively,” Kam mused.

Luke snorted. “None of use has the cranial capacity to understand the Force that well.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mara said with a grin.

Luke chucked. “Alright, I’m going to make sure you’ve all got it, and then you’re all going to go back to your quarters and do this for as long as you can. When you come out of it, don’t stop to rest or eat. You won’t need to. You will feel very rested and aware. Go right into a meditation trance for the night and come here first thing tomorrow morning and bring your lightsabers.”

There were many traded glances at his last comment —whatever tricks Luke had for lightsaber combat had long since been imparted to them all—but everyone complied. Streen went to his rooms immediately, with Cilghal next, then Kam, and eventually Kyp. Once everyone else had left, Luke stepped up behind Mara and pressed his body up against the back of hers.

“Luke, why am I still here? And by the way, this isn’t helping me concentrate,” Mara added.

“If you’re concentrating than you’re doing it wrong.”

“You know what I mean, besides you still didn’t answer my first question.”

Luke smiled briefly before answering, “I wanted to try something. I learned this in the Dream on K’ti’ma and it said this could also be used to help connect two Jedi together. I wanted to see what that was like.”

“Oh, really?” Now it was Mara’s turn to smile.

“Uh, huh. I asked Kyp, but he wasn’t interested. So I’ll settled for you,” Luke said matter of faculty. Mara laughed, falling completely out of the movements. Luke slipped his arms around her expanding waist and waited until she stopped. “You in or do you want to do this completely alone?”

“I’m in. It wouldn’t do to ignore what my Master suggests I do,” Mara said with a facetious grin. Once they had stopped laughing they settled into the rhythm again, Mara in front, Luke behind her with his body pressed exactly against hers.

After a while Mara found that she quickly lost all concept of time, yet she was sure they had been doing it for a while. It was like letting yourself float in the ocean with no conception of how long you were there or which direction you would float next. She felt the scream of billions of souls as a star went nova in some unimportant corner of the galaxy. Followed by the screams of a child just entering the universe. She heard the echoes of voices that had spoken where she stood minutes, hours, days, years, eons ago. She heard the whispers of things to come. Then she felt two little minds, floating in the same current as she, suddenly overjoyed that she and Luke had come to join them.

“Luke!” Mara exclaimed softly, her voice shaky in wonder. “Luke, can you—”

“Yes!” Luke said, his voice much like hers in shared wonder.

Mara didn’t know how long they stayed that way, floating in crystal clear fog. Eventually she came out of it, though not all at once. She knew she was going somewhere, but it was hard to tell. Everything was off color, shifting from the everyday to being colored with the Force.

“Mara?” Luke’s voice murmured very close to her ear. “Come up for air a minute, Mara.” Mara blinked, suddenly realizing she was in her room. Luke’s arm was around her waist, practically supporting her. “Love, I want you to keep going with this by yourself. If you don’t think you can, than that’s fine, I’ll take you to bed. But if you feel like doing this some more, I think you should.”

“I want to. Oh, Luke, this is amazing!” Mara whispered. Luke smiled warmly and slowly withdrew his arm, staying near her until he was sure she was swaying in reaction to the Force and not exhaustion.

Mara wasn’t entirely sure at what point she stopped and went into a meditation trance, but she woke up the next morning feeling as though she was seeing everything for the first time. Every edge, every chair, every person, everything stood out in stark detail. She just remembered to grab her lightsaber on her way out. She arrived at the training complex to find Cilghal, Kyp, Kam and Streen just arriving to the same surprise. Luke was sitting calmly a third of the way away from the wall with every other Jedi above the age of ten sitting behind him in neat rows.

Tachi, a young Valoran girl of eleven frowned at the new arrivals. “How come their eyes are all dilated?”

“If you were seeing what they’re seeing right now, you’re eyes would be pretty dilated too,” Cyan told her with a grin.

“You all wonder why I make you do all of those meditation exercises instead of teaching you how to fight with lightsabers. Well, you’ve all watched these people use lightsabers quite competently before. In fact, some of you have watched them so raptly you could probably recognize their fighting style miles away.” Luke paused as some of the kids shoved one another and laughed at their “hobby”. Luke waited until they had quieted down somewhat and then continued. “Yesterday they just learned a new technique to ‘listen’ to the Force. I won’t explain it because most of you won’t get it at all and it could confuse you later on. And the rest of you who do understand might try it and you should be observed by someone who knows what they’re doing when you first start. Now, I want the five of you to set your lightsabers to a low setting, and then let me check them first because let’s face it, you’re not all here right now.” Again, brief laughter. Luke checked their lightsabers and then waited until everything was quiet. “Ok, now spar. Don’t let any emotions get in the way. Don’t concentrate, just try and stay in the same state you’re in now, but try and fight each other to the beast of your abilities at the same time.”

There was a pause as they all absorbed that information, and then all at once they started. Mara couldn’t actually think of it as fighting, it was more of an intricately choreographed dance. They flashed, turned, ducked, jumped. Always connecting but never injuring one another. They would miss by millimetres, yet it would feel like kilometres. Everything was in slow motion, everything was planned, everything was preordained. Mara started to see things; she saw images, people she knew, people she would; her steps faltered. She saw the crucifix with Luke on it; she saw the shattered city with Luke swaying in exhaustion on a hill before it. She faltered and fell, slumping against the wall. The rhythm of the sparring match broke briefly, then continued on into another rhythm that didn’t include her. But Mara could see in the other’s faces and mannerisms that they were beginning to see what she had seen. Streen fell next, then Kam. Cilghal and Kyp fell at the same time. Luke was by Mara, helping her hold a glass of water and tip it to her lips with her trembling hands. Corran was helping Kam, Cyan and Olive helped Streen and Cilghal. Yet they left Kyp sitting in the middle. Mara wondered at that for a moment before she was finally able to look at him.

He was trembling more than anybody else and tears were streaming down his cheeks. He wasn’t looking at anything except a point of the floor and every once and a while a sob would be choked from his throat. He started rocking back and forth, hugging himself. Luke stood and addressed his other students who were watching in unbridled awe.

“If you do not explore the Force as they have, you will never reach this level. When you understand that the Force is a part of every living being, then you will become truly powerful. You can see this now, or you can figure it out how Kyp just did,” Luke watched them all, taking in their reaction. “Go back to your studies and reflect on what you have just seen.”

As everyone filed out of the room, Luke knelt by Kyp who seemed completely unaware of anything else that was happening around him. Luke touched his shoulder and he jumped. “Master! I—I saw the Force as we made it. I saw it everywhere, as if pouring from people. Even non-Jedi. I knew it came from every living thing but I never saw it. They made no less than us, and in some cases, even more. It didn’t matter how much of the Force they could consciously see, but—but—”

“How they used what they had,” Luke filed in when Kyp couldn’t continue. “You’re done for the day. I’m going to take you back to your quarters and you can meditate on what you have seen.”

When Luke returned from dropping Kyp off he found the remaining four Jedi sitting cross-legged on the floor, hungrily eating food Luke had waiting for them. Corran was sitting off to the side talking quietly with Olive while Cyan kept a watchful eye on the students.

“Master Skywalker?” Corran asked softly when Luke settled down beside him.

“It’s me. So what’s your mandatory comment on the situation, Corran?”

“Olive somehow let me look through his eyes and I wish I could have seen it with my own. I can’t begin to describe how incredible that was,” Corran said in wonderment. He paused and then added, “And Kyp . . . Master, he saw it on his own. I didn’t—”

“Give him that much credit?” Luke cut in with a grin. “This exercise lets you become aware of everything around you and inside of you. Kyp just realized that what he thought he saw wasn’t what he was seeing at all. This hasn’t fixed the problem with all the Jedi who were following this philosophy . . .”

“ . . . But we did manage to take away their main figurehead. Perhaps now they will think for themselves,” Cyan finished for him. “C’mon, Luke. They’ve just about finished inhaling their food so let’s start some major reflection.”

—————————————

“Master Skywalker, there’s something big coming in from hyperspace.”

Luke turned to Bgfra who was manning sensors in Streen’s absence. It was later in the day and Streen, Mara, Kam and Cilghal were in their quarters recovering. “On screen.”

The holo display came on just in time for them to watch the triangular shape of a gleaming white Star Destroyer come into realspace. It moved towards them but didn’t raise its shields or power up its weapons. Luke suddenly had the distinct impression that he knew the ship.

“It’s the Chimaera, Master,” Bgfra said in surprise after Luke asked him to identify the ship.

“Their hailing us,” Kawlri said from Communications.

“Open up a channel,” Luke said, swiftly rising and moving into range of the holo projector. “Pellaeon? What the devil are you doing out here?”

“Looking for you, actually. You’re not easy to find,” Gilad Pellaeon, Grand Admiral of the Imperial Remnant commented. He was an aging man well into his sixth decade. Though he still held many of the Imperial beliefs true, he was smart enough to see when they were wrong. Even in all the years they were opponents, Luke held a great deal of respect for Pellaeon, especially when he realized the folly of continuing the war between the Empire and the New Republic and forged an alliance between them.

“That’s generally a good plan when you’re heading into the territory of an entire race that would like nothing more than to annihilate you and your own,” Luke said dryly.

Pellaeon chucked. “True enough. I was wondering if you and I could have a talk. You can fly over here, or I can come over to your new ship, whichever you would prefer.”

“Why don’t you come over to the Bairn of Hope,” Luke suggested. “I can give you the grand tour while we talk.”

Luke was waiting by himself when the Admiral’s shuttle landed in the ship bay. It settled down smoothly and began its shut down process with much hissing and anonymous pops and bangs. The ramp began to lower and Luke waited patiently at the bottom.

“Hello, Skywalker,” Pellaeon greeted him as he walked swiftly down the ramp. He held out his hand and the two men shook firmly. “No entourage? I was expecting your wife to at least show up.”

Luke smiled. “She and most of my advanced students had a very difficult learning experience today. At the moment they’re all traumatized in their rooms. Though Mara will be quite upset she missed you. But . . . I don’t sense any other life in that shuttle. You came here alone?”

“Yes,” Pellaeon shrugged his shoulders without concern. “I didn’t think I would need them on a ship full of Jedi. Why, should I have?”

“No. I’m just a bit impressed that your command staff allowed you to come by yourself,” Luke said as he led the Admiral from the ship bay.

Pellaeon snorted. “There’s a lot of things my command staff thinks I should do. The great thing about being Supreme Commander is I don’t have to listen to any of them if I don’t want to.”

Luke chucked and started off down the passage that would take them to engineering. “So tell me, why are you here? You do realize that we’re not part of the New Republic anymore and unfortunately I cannot spare any of my students at the moment.”

“Yes, I appreciate that. We got a little suspicious when Sienar contacted the government to make sure they wouldn’t be reprimanded for offering you support. It’s currently the best worst kept secret in the Empire,” Pellaeon explained.

“What, our public desertion wasn’t enough to convince people?”

Pellaeon shook his head. “Not much of that made it to the Imperial HoloNet. The Council has had as much of that suppressed from outside knowledge as possible. But after a few query letters to Karrde, we found out what had happened.”

“They’re trying to cover up the fact that we left?” Luke asked in wonder. “Why not just denounce what we’re doing and separate themselves from us as much as possible?”

“They can’t do that. The Jedi are too much a part of the New Republic for them to just outright disown you. Besides, you disowned them; it does look a little bad on the Government when you realize that, except for Leia, of course. She is quite adamant about getting support for your little incursion,” Pellaeon said.

Luke frowned. “Hmmm, and I can guess who her biggest opposition is.”

“Yes, Blacksky is quite the annoyance.”

“She’s more than that,” Luke said, shaking his head. “She’s working for the Cragon, did you know? Yes, we even have cause to believe she has brain tissue implanted in her from one of our Jedi.”

“What?”

“The process has left him blind to the world and blind to the Force. Not to mention dangerously depressed. A simple bioscan would prove us right, but it will never happen,” Luke commented softly.

Pellaeon frowned. “That sounds a little pessimistic, especially for you.”

“It is something I sense will not happen, at least, not the way it should,” Luke said obliquely.

“Do I want to know?” Pellaeon asked.

Luke snorted. “I think it would be much better for you politically if you didn’t.”

“Fair enough,” Pellaeon said as they entered a turbolift. Luke pressed a button that would take them aft. “Perhaps we should get to the full reason I am here.” Luke nodded and settled his back against the wall and gestured for Pellaeon to start. “I want to work with you. Offer you support.”

Luke stared at him blankly for a moment. “This is insane. I mean, I hate to tell you this, but we’re more than self-sufficient—”

“That’s not what I meant,” Pellaeon interrupted. “We gathered that you had enough financial support, but I want to work with you on a more military level. A shared information deal. Our archivists have recently found some information that suggests that Thrawn was going to head our forces towards the Unknown Regions once the war with the New Republic was over. After contacting the few remaining Imperial outposts in this area, we’ve contacted Thrawn’s home world and gotten some information on the Cragon. I’m sure you would like very much to read this information.”

Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Yes, very much. But what would we be doing in return?”

“There are places you can get to that we can’t. You help us get into those places, we help you get into places you can’t, and we both have someone else to fall back on if push comes to shove. Albeit you have much more to gain from this than I do, but I know you will not abuse this deal,” Pellaeon said without a single feeling of doubt.

The turbolift came to a halt and Luke led the way out, suddenly changing direction to his office. “I can assure you that I won’t, but I can also assure you that we are very interested.”

“So, what you’re saying,” Mara said the next morning once she had rested and gotten over some of the events of the previous day, “is we now have reliable intelligence, are financially stable, and even have back up. Luke, if the Force was whispering for you to do this before, it’s shouting at you now.”

They were on the bridge and things had more or less returned to normal besides the fact that occasionally Mara, Kam, Cilghal, Streen and especially Kyp would be caught randomly starring into space. After Luke concluded the deal with Pellaeon, the Bairn of Hope moved on to Jaghal VII to pick up the supplies they hadn’t been able to get on their last stop. The world was a part of the New Republic and very Jedi friendly. Now they were waiting in orbit as an old Corvette, the Jewel of Caltasha, lumbered up from Jaghal VII’s atmosphere. Luke had sent a message to the governor detailing what they were looking for and where they should go for it. Soon afterwards, the Corvette answered with a text message saying they had some excellent Valgo preservatives for sale and it would be easier for them to bring them up in their ship since they were on their way out of system.

“Yes, things are going quite well. Though I have this eerie feeling that this is just the calm before the storm,” Luke mused.

Cyan snorted. “Yeah, there is no way this is going to be as easy as it has been so far. We’re being set up to do some big shit and I have a feeling we’re gonna need all the stuff we’ve got.”

“The Jewel of Caltasha reports there’s docked and waiting to unload, Master” Kawlri said.

“Hmmm, we should probably go to meet them,” Luke commented, standing and holding a hand to Mara which she grabbed to help haul her out of her seat which was becoming more and more difficult as her girth expanded. She still couldn’t figure out how she had managed to take part in the acrobatics of the day before.

“That’s probably a good idea, dear,” Mara said, then added in mock sadness, “though I doubt they’ll be nearly as surprising as Pellaeon.”

Cyan shrugged as they exited the bridge into a turbolift. “Hey, you never know.”

Corran was sitting calmly on a crate in the ship bay, waiting with Valin as the Corvette went through its shut down sequence. Luke had asked if Olive could help with the unloading and since Mirax was going to check the preservatives before Luke bought them, Corran had nothing else to do but chat with his son.

“How come I can’t help, dad?” Valin demanded, miffed that he was ordered to sit to the side while everyone else was waiting impatiently for the ramp to drop.

Corran chuckled. “Because a single Valgo preservative is probably bigger than you are, let alone a whole crate of them. You’d throw your back out and then who would steer me around when Olive isn’t there?”

Corran could almost see Valin pout. “Yeah, that’s a good point. But what about Ollie? He’s not much bigger than I am.”

“Ollie can also pick us both up,” Corran added. “You can’t judge everyone by their size. Remember what Master Skywalker said about Yoda?”

“Of course,” Valin said disdainfully, offended that his father even had to ask. “He’s the only thing that gives short kids like me any hope.”

Corran laughed again but any response he might have made was cut off by Cyan’s booming roar as he, and—Corran assumed—Luke and Mara exited the turbolift into the ship bay.

“It’s time to stalk up on some hearty Valgo preservative goodness!” Cyan bellowed.

His comment was met with many decidedly unenthusiastic groans. Corran could imagine Luke’s helpless shrug as he responded, “Get used to it. Who knows how long it will be in between planets. Fresh food’s probably a thing of the past.”

More groans and Corran heard shuffles and clangs as the Jedi students shifted around the shuttle, waiting to get in. He heard three sets of footfalls, one heavy accompanied by a click, click, click of talons hitting metal and the soft chiming of Cyan’s scales. Luke’s step was fairly average aside from a surprising lightness, and Mara’s footsteps were almost soundless, which always invoked an image of lethal grace in Corran’s mind. Then a click as Luke hit the intercom on the wall.

“Kawlri? Tell whoever’s piloting that thing that they can lower the ramp already,” Luke said.

“I did,” came the slightly distorted response. “They were waiting for you to get there.”

The screech of hydraulics followed by the unmistakable sound of the ramp lowering came seconds later. Corran turned his head to the side as he heard Cyan come over. “How are you doing today, Corran?”

“Oh, good. I can’t help, so I figured I just sit here and pretend I’m being productive,” Corran said cheerfully.

“Sure,” Cyan said dryly. “You know, I’m bet there’s something you can do.”

Corran snorted as the ramp hit the floor with a clunk. “Yeah, people are gonna shout how many Valgo preservatives are in each crate as they stack them and I’m gonna count in my head.” Corran waited a minute for Cyan’s response, realizing that no one else was talking and the only sound in the room was a pair of boots hitting the ramp on their way down. As if the sound was aware it was out of place, it gradually came to a stop. “Cyan? What is it? You haven’t made your witty rejoinder yet.”

“Well, it’s—uh—well—” Cyan stuttered, grasping for words.

“It would make it much simpler for me if you could use a whole sentence. You might not realize it, but it’s hard to pull much from ‘well, it’s—uh—well’.”

“But, you don’t get it!” Cyan said at last and Corran was finally hit with the feeling of extreme shock that was permeating the room so much so that anyone could feel it no matter how dead to the Force they might be. “It’s Callista!”

Chapter IV

“Who hear thinks they can lift this ball?” Quesha asked, holding a small rubber ball in her hand. She surveyed the thirteen short, chubby blue arms that immediately shot up until she came to the one hand that didn’t rise in the back. Quesha pursed her lips. Ketchi Gu had come in with the pale human child yesterday. He told her he had strong potential in the Force, and innately knew how to do many things. He had come with a little girl that seemed to be his best friend, but since she wasn’t being exposed to the steroids, she was taken to the other Day Care. This one was much different than your standard Care center. These children were the future of the Cragon Dynasty. After many disfiguring failures, their scientists finally managed to figure out which DNA code to twig in order to enhance one’s reception of the Force. These children were the first results of that testing. Except for the human boy.

Quesha frowned harder and started walking towards him where he sat, sullenly starring at the floor. “Ben? Why don’t you lift the ball?”

Ben looked up and once again Quesha was assaulted with those startling mismatched eyes. “Don’t need to. Stupid, waste of the Force.”

“What do you mean?” Quesha asked, as she always asked when one of her young students thought they had figured something out. Since she could not touch the Force herself, she had learned to rely on the children’s ability to sense things around them.

“Anyone even little bit good wi’ the Force can lift ball,” Ben said, dismissing her idea with a shrug. “Anyone great wi’ the Force do bigger stuff then that.”

Quesha knitted her brow. This was a very advanced concept for the child to have grasped already. “What do you mean by bigger stuff?”

“Think what is Force. How you use it. They use anger at my da and his friends. They use Dark Side. I use Light Side. Harder, but Light Side makes you grow. Dark Side eats you from deep in you. Then you die,” Ben explained in a matter of fact voice as if she should have known it already.

Quesha knitted her brow even harder. She would have a good long talk with this boy after the class was sent to recess. “Then humor us less knowledgeable about the Force and lift the ball.”

“You teach wrong stuff!” Ben insisted, crossing his arms and settling stubbornly on the floor. “Stupid. Don’t even need Force to lift ball.”

“I no think he can,” Quesha heard one of the children whisper to another.

“Hishi!” Quesha admonished. “What have a told you about making fun of others?”

She was so busy reprimanding Hishi that she just caught the flash in Ben’s eyes. It wasn’t anger, but something more like self-assuredness. “You think that so important? You think that so big? You no know the Force.” Abruptly the ball lifted from Quesha’s hand and twirled around her at a frightening speed. Then it spun around the room, flitted between the children, bouncing off walls, never once breaking anything as so many of the other kids had done. Then without warning it flashed across the room and smashed the window so hard it sent shards spraying into the classroom.

“Ben!” Quesha exclaimed, not sure whether to be angry, or astonished.

“I told you,” Ben said, that same knowledgeable flash in his eyes. “Stupid.”

———————

“Hello, Luke,” Callista said as she continued down the ramp. Her hair had grown to the same length Luke first remembered seeing her with when she was trapped in the computer of the Eye of Palpatine and it curled down over and around her shoulders and bounced in front of her eyes. She was wearing an old spacer suit stained with oil and grime. She was almost down the ramp when Mara took a step closer to Luke and let her arm slip comfortably around his waist.

“Hi, Callista,” Mara responded with a hardness in her voice that instantly made Luke bring his gaze from his past love to his current one. “Long time no see.”

Callista’s step paused for only the barest second, her eyes flickering between the husband and wife. Then, before anyone aside from Mara and Luke noticed, she continued walking down the ramp.

“I’ve been about. I heard a Jedi ship was in need of supplies so I figured I’d better help,” Callista explained, stepping off the ramp and coming to a casual stop a metre in front of Luke.

Luke held her gaze for a long time but when he spoke, it wasn’t to Callista. “Mirax, check the cargo.”

“Sure,” Mirax said, realizing she was missing something all the other students were quite well aware of, especially Mara. She made a mental note to talk to Corran as quickly as possible.

“What are you doing here, Calli?” Luke asked finally.

Callista shrugged. “I told you already. I have some stuff to sell.” Her eyes, seemingly against her will, flickered to Mara and then back to Luke again. He followed her gaze and looked frankly at Mara, silently asking her what she felt. Mara just compressed her lips and tried to keep her face expressionless. Even so Luke saw the displeasure in her eyes as the skin around them hardened.