Star Wars: I, Jedi

by Michael A. Stackpole

  “Right.” Her voice softened. “You can learn a lot from Luke Skywalker. It may be part of being a Jedi, but he seems to work a lot from his heart, following his feelings. You work primarily in your brain. Thinking all the time is definitely you, Corran, and was very useful back in CorSec, but I think you’ll need to open up more with this training.”

  I nodded slowly. “You’re probably right. I guess we’ll see how long it takes for old habits to die.”

  Iella rolled her eyes. “That means you’ll be a Jedi, what, about the time the sun goes nova?”

  “I get your point.”

  “Good.” She gave me a wink. “Want to try some of this mynock?”

  I looked back up and shook my head. “Nope. I laid in my course, now I’ll fly it. This gornt isn’t bad once you get past the tasting, chewing and choking part.”

  “Yeah, tell me that in half an hour.”

  That prospect began to sour my stomach. I sighed. “Look, Iella, I appreciate what you’ve just said, and just knowing you were here and would have helped me out with Mirax’s disappearance, that was enough to help me keep going. I want you to know that.”

  Her brown eyes studied my face for a moment. “I believe you.”

  “And I want you to know I really do value your help. With the dye and with those rumors.” I forced my fork into a smaller piece of gornt. “I have a question that you can probably answer more easily than anyone else.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “I’ve talked to everyone about my decision except for my grandfather. What are the chances, do you think, of my being able to slip onto Corellia, seeing him, and getting back out?”

  She thought for a moment, then set her fork down. “I don’t think anyone in the Diktat’s regime is watching Rostek, so seeing him wouldn’t be a problem. You still do have the murder warrants out for your arrest, however. Kirtan Loor’s legacy could still cause you trouble if you were to be identified and apprehended. As for getting in and out, the current government really isn’t much better than any other Corellian regime at keeping smugglers out. With what you know about the system, you could manage to get in. The real problem is that with the relationship between the Corellian government and the New Republic being something less than a happy one, I wouldn’t want to get caught on Corellia if I were you.”

  “I see. I get the impression that the last hologram I sent my grandfather was chopped to bits before he got it. Even reading between the lines of what little of his return message got back to me, I know he didn’t track a lot of what I said to him.” The new piece of gornt I started working on kind of forestalled further speech, so I just shrugged.

  “If you want, Corran, I’ll see about finding you a secure communications route in to Rostek. Shouldn’t tax our resources that much. That way you won’t make a run and risk getting caught before you have a chance to train.”

  I nodded, then chanced a swallow. “I appreciate it.”

  “I don’t mind keeping you out of trouble. That’s what friends do for friends.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled up at our server as she asked if everything was to our liking. “Oh yes, quite.”

  Both her lekku shuddered. “And you would like a confection to finish the meal?”

  I smiled, then winked at Iella. “We would. And my friend will order for us. That’s what friends do for friends.”

  EIGHT

  With Ooryl in the co-pilot’s seat beside me, I flicked on the Lambda-class shuttle’s descent warning indicators, then angled the ship into the atmosphere of Yavin 4’s jungle moon. We were coming in on the night side of the moon—its rotation had it facing away from the star at the center of the system—but it faced the day side of the gas giant around which it orbited. This meant we had a fair amount of reflected orange light by which to make our approach.

  I looked over at the Gand and smiled. “I appreciate your letting me drive this thing down.”

  Ooryl’s mouth parts opened. “I understand you will not be flying while you are here.”

  “Yeah, Whistler is not happy about being left behind on Coruscant, but Master Skywalker wants to minimize the distractions here. It makes sense, and I’ll be far too busy to be taking flights. And Whistler should have plenty to do reviewing all reports on the Invids and pulling a criminal activities analysis for me.”

  “I will see to it that Whistler is taken care of.”

  “Thanks.” The controls bucked a bit beneath my hands as we hit some turbulence coming down through the atmosphere. The jungle moon had fairly humid air which, if the documents I’d read were accurate, remained fairly stable except in the transition from day to night and vice versa, when cooling and warming took effect. I maintained control as we dropped down through a thin canopy of clouds.

  Luke Skywalker appeared between us and pointed dead ahead. “There it is. Bring us down on this side.”

  “As ordered.” I glanced over at him. “You want to strap in, sir?”

  “As smooth a ride as you’re giving us?” He patted my shoulder. “I will if it will make you feel better.”

  “No reason to have more variables in play than I really need.” I cut the throttle back and began to boost the power on the repulsorlift coils. “Stand by to retract wings on my mark, and lower landing gear.”

  Ooryl leaned forward, his fingers poised to flip the appropriate switches. “As ordered.”

  I watched the altimeter slowly scroll down and pulled the shuttle’s nose up in a slightly better glide path. The jungle’s thick foliage looked like mottled carpeting, with the occasional giant tree spiking upward. Further on the Great Temple, a squared off, pyramidal stone structure, loomed like an alien creature amid the greenery. I’d seen images of that structure for years—first in Imperial newsholos and later in every history of the victorious Rebellion ever made. It had looked impressive in the holograms, but never real and certainly not this majestic.

  “Mark.” As Ooryl snapped the wing switches in the up position, I throttled back to ten percent of power and boosted the engine feed to the repulsorlift coils. The shuttle flew on easily and just missed clipping some trees as we came down in the clearing on the east side of the Temple. There, at the base, I saw a long, low opening of sufficient height that I could have tucked the shuttle on inside, but a landing zone had been laid out well clear of that area.

  And back away from it had gathered the two dozen New Republic engineers that had been present preparing the Great Temple for its new role as the home of the Jedi academy. Ooryl would take them home, leaving Master Skywalker, two other recruits and me behind. Nine more recruits would be following us, making the first class at the academy an even dozen.

  I set the shuttle down without so much as a bump and shot Ooryl a wink. “Haven’t lost my touch, but I’m going to miss flying.”

  “I am Findsman. I will help you find your skill again, Keiran.” Ooryl turned his chair and bowed his head toward Luke. “Provided Master Skywalker would not object to Qrygg’s doing so.”

  The Jedi Master gave Ooryl a broad smile. “You are welcome to hone his old skills as I hone his new ones.”

  “Ooryl is honored.”

  “Good, don’t want to lose my flight certification.” I flipped a switch and lowered the boarding ramp. Warm, moist air immediately jetted up into the shuttle. I hit my restraining strap release and stood. “Thanks, Ooryl. I’ll see you next time you come through.”

  “Ooryl will be proud to have a Jedi Knight as a friend.”

  “And wingman.”

  “And wingman.”

  The Gand settled into the pilot’s seat as I followed Luke back into the passenger compartment. Luke Skywalker was slightly taller than I was, but we had similar builds. The other two passengers towered over each of us. Brakiss stood a good fifteen centimeters taller than me, and Kam Solusar another ten centimeters above that. Brakiss had the slender build and sharp features of an aristocrat. If it weren’t for the haunted look in his blue eyes, and the way they sunk back a bit in hi
s skull, I would have taken him for some planetary noble out for a lark in taking on the training.

  Kam Solusar was really Brakiss’ antithesis, despite sharing his blond coloration. Kam’s hair had been cut short and a bit raggedly. The strong blocky nature of his features was enhanced by the stubble on his cheeks and chin. His powerfully athletic build marked him as the physically strongest of us, and the seams on his face and leathery quality of flesh on his hands clued me in to both his age and the hardships he’d lived through.

  The fact that he already wore a lightsaber also meant there was more to him than was easily apparent. I’d brought my grandfather’s lightsaber with me, but I’d packed it in the small satchel loaded in the cargo bay. I didn’t feel inclined to wear it yet, despite Master Skywalker’s insistence that I had every right to do so. Until I had more training it was little more than a tool and I felt it deserved to be more.

  We grabbed our bags from the pile of supplies the engineers had unloaded, then Luke led us away to the area where the engineers had awaited our arrival. I waved to Ooryl as the boarding ramp retracted and the shuttle took off again. Ooryl piloted the shuttle out in a grand circle around the Great Temple, then shot off around to the moon’s day side, vanishing from sight as if swallowed by the forests.

  Luke let his black cloak slip back from his shoulders as he opened his arms. “Welcome to Yavin 4. This will be your new home. I wanted the three of you to be the first students here because all three of you have a greater understanding of what we will be doing here. Your foundation means you will progress more quickly, therefore I may ask you to perform extra duties, like helping other students.”

  He nodded toward Kam. “Kam’s father, Ranik Solusar, was a great Jedi Master. Kam studied under him, became a Jedi Knight, then was co-opted by the Empire. He became one of the Emperor’s dark-side warriors, but has rejected the dark side.”

  Muscles bunched at the corners of Kam’s jaws. “Master Skywalker was able to touch the foundation my father had laid down in me. I now serve him.”

  Luke pointed a hand toward the other man. “Brakiss here was discovered by the Empire to be Force-sensitive. They trained him to use his abilities, using him largely as a spy. They held the threat of destroying his family over his head to make him comply with their wishes. He is here to learn how to use his abilities for the benefit of other living creatures.”

  Brakiss gave us a weak smile but offered no comment.

  Luke shifted his attention to me. “Keiran Halcyon’s grandfather was a Jedi who died in the Clone Wars. Keiran’s family has a strong Jedi tradition and he is here to reclaim it. As you have seen, he is also a skilled pilot and has had training that I think will be useful as we go along.”

  Kam offered me his hand, so I shook it, and Brakiss and I exchanged nods.

  Master Skywalker started walking toward the Grand Temple. “There are five levels to the structure here—six if you want to count the observation level at the top. The lowest level, the one beneath the ground floor, was something the Rebellion put in for storage and servicing of our fighters. The main floor houses the flight operations area, as well as some living quarters. The two levels above that were used by the Rebellion as the base command center and the combat operations center. These levels are most of what we will use, but they only have some basic computer, training and library facilities. Their value comes to us from student housing and what will serve us for a meal hall. The highest level here is the Grand Chamber, which I had left alone.”

  He smiled carefully. “I thought I would allow you to choose your own quarters and get some rest. We can continue orientation tomorrow.”

  I raised a hand. “I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

  “Certainly.”

  “Are we going to be using Coordinated Galactic Time here or are we going to just work with Yavin’s normal day? The moon’s rotation is slightly faster than that of Coruscant, so keeping on the galactic scale will put us out of sync with the planet.”

  The Jedi Master hesitated for a moment, his blue eyes reflecting the sky’s orange highlights. “With your training, time will very much become subjective. I will teach you Jedi refreshing techniques, so your need for sleep will change. Worrying about time might create pressure on the students. I don’t want that.”

  I frowned. “But if we don’t have a coordinated sense of time here, how will we know when our watches begin or end?”

  Luke regarded me quizzically. “Why would we need to stand watch?”

  I wanted to answer that if someone like Thrawn wanted to show up with an Imperial fleet to raze the planet, warning would be a good thing. Of course, all the warning in the world about a fleet coming to attack would be useless since we didn’t have any ships here to let us evacuate. There was, then, absolutely no practical reason to have folks stand watch, so I fell back on the reasons given for such things at the CorSec Academy.

  “Standing watch provides us with a sense of responsibility and fosters trust between the students, since we are looking out for each other.”

  Luke nodded. “This is good, but here I want you to come to trust the Force. You will find, as your understanding and skill grow, that the Force will provide us all the warning we need if there is a threat. We will know it and have ample time to react to it.”

  Which seems to describe how the Invids avoid all the traps we set for them. A chill breeze seemed to cut at my spine. Is it possible for someone sufficiently versed in the Force to hide his presence from detection?

  “I stand corrected, Master.” I bowed my head toward him. “Then will we just get up at dawn to begin physical training?”

  He opened his hands. “You may do whatever you feel necessary to make yourself feel at ease and receptive to the Force.”

  “So there will be no organized physical training?”

  Kam laughed gruffly. “You sound disappointed, Keiran.”

  “Not really, just confused.”

  Luke smiled. “You will find your training demanding enough, I think, and quite exhausting.”

  I pointed toward Kam’s lightsaber. “We will, at least, have combat training, correct?”

  “Yes, you will be trained in the ways of the lightsaber.”

  “Not the question I asked.”

  Luke’s head came up. “You had better explain, then.”

  I pressed my fingertips together. “The lightsaber, as all of us know, is a very powerful and lethal weapon. My father once said to me that no one ever regretted hitting a target with a stunbolt as opposed to a lethal shot from a blaster. Basic combat training could help us avoid having to use a lightsaber where a less dangerous method might work. Training in that area means we will have more options available to us.”

  The Jedi Master narrowed his eyes. “These would be defensive techniques?”

  “They are combat techniques, which can be employed offensively or defensively, just like a lightsaber.” I shrugged. “It’s just an idea.”

  Kam nodded. “Such training would lay the foundation for any lightsaber training we do later.”

  “Okay, Kam and Keiran, you will come up with a plan for that type of training. We will discuss it further when you have something.” Luke regarded me with the hint of a smile on his lips. “Anything else?”

  “No, Master.”

  “If you think of something, let me know.” He waved us on toward the Temple. “Now find yourselves quarters.”

  The trio of us left him behind and did not speak as we approached the Great Temple. Having lived on Coruscant, I had seen much more massive buildings, but little there had the antiquity and sense of stability that I found in the Temple. It did not strike me as odd that a building which had been old millennia before the Empire came into existence had sheltered a movement that overthrew that Empire. I could easily imagine the dignity of this building being offended by the city world that had been Imperial Center and doing what it could to contribute to the Empire’s destruction.

  Why the Empire
had not flattened the place after the Rebellion abandoned it was a puzzle I figured could never be solved.

  Generators and lights left behind by the engineers brightened the large hangar area. Aside from stockpiled supplies, the room stood empty, but echoes of the urgency the Rebels had felt the day they flew off to destroy the Death Star still reached me. The fear, the panic, and the giddy confidence in their cause still permeated the walls. For the first time in all the time I’d been associated with Rogue Squadron, I could feel what Wedge and Biggs and Luke had felt when they faced the Death Star. Their emotions set off resonances inside me, bringing up memories of the last mission to Blackmoon and the final assault against Isard’s forces at Thyferra.

  For the first time I actually felt the connection the new Rogues had to the heroes who had gone before.

  I’m not certain at which point I veered off from Kam and Brakiss, but it was before they headed to the upper levels. I found myself alone on the ground level and in a small chamber built into the structure of the Temple itself. The engineers had set it up with a pair of cots and some lockers for gear, with blankets and sheets piled at the foot of the bed. I tossed my satchel on the bed and smiled. I couldn’t place why the room felt familiar or right, but it did.

  “I thought I might find you here.”

  I turned and saw Luke standing in the doorway. “Am I not supposed to be here?”

  Luke held his hands up. “This room is perfect for you, believe me. It’s certainly better for you than any of those in the upper levels.” He gestured easily and one of the lockers slid silently fifty centimeters to the left. “Look down there, at the block three up from the floor.

  I walked over and crouched down. Mildew and some lichen had grown over that block, creeping up from the ground, but I easily managed to brush it away. Sunk into the stone were letters and I smiled as I read aloud. “The Empire or Us—there is no compromise. Biggs Darklighter, Wedge Antilles, Jek Porkins.”

  A boyish grin tugged at the corner of Luke’s mouth. “Back then the three of them bunked in here—I came late and had the room up above. We met here and swapped stories before we headed out—we were too excited to sleep. We all thought we would survive, despite the odds. I think their inscription was a hedge against death for them. If they didn’t survive, if the whole Rebellion died, at least there would be a record of their names.”