Shattered Stars (TCW)

Bonus Chapter 1 -- The Beginning

The night was filled with the sound of chattering insects and the soft gurgling of water. Not even the very young Taska was too young to appreciate it as it lulled her into sleep. Her parents let her think they were sleeping in the room just next to her, instead taking to the isolated kitchen to discuss their plans. In a few days, they would leave. They were getting too close. As much as it would hurt both of them, they knew they couldn’t let anything happen to their toddling daughter. It was time to say goodbye to Alderaan.

A thud, almost too quiet to be heard, sounded from the front door. It’s nothing, Jesh tried to tell himself. An animal, that’s all. But he caught himself tensing beside his wife.

“It’s too late,” she murmured. “I’m grabbing a blaster. Go get Taska.”

“Ayasse—”

“Go!”

He obeyed, hearing the door splinter open as he dashed down the hallway.

“Papa?” Taska whimpered, startled awake by the loud noises. “What’s going on?”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Jesh promised falsely. “It’ll all be alright.” He tried to ignore the sounds of the fight not fifty feet away.

“Ev, please,” Ayasse grunted, and he could imagine her landing a blow on her brother.

The minutes passed too quickly as the father began frantically packing away a few essentials into a sack. He couldn’t let his daughter go without. He shook his head, wishing that he was from a place more like his wife’s home; maybe then he could help more.

He flinched as he heard a blaster being fired, and a piece of the ceiling crumbled to the floor soon after. “I will never stop!” Eviot cried. “Not after what you did!”

Another blaster shot rang out.

The night was silent now.

Jesh closed his eyes in pain before picking up his pace. “We have to leave,” he explained to the three year old quickly. “It’s not safe here anymore.” He scooped Taska into his arms, aiming to climb out the window to safety.

Heavy bootsteps, not bothering to be disguised any longer, thundered down the hall. Eviot, no.

In the second he took to turn toward the sound, the window behind them splintered open, small pieces of transparisteel raining from the impact.

Jesh didn’t dare scream as a second pair of boots touched the ground silently beside him.

“It’s alright,” a voice said, and he cracked his eyes open to catch a glimpse of Jedi robes. “You’ll be safe, but only if you do as I say.”

He nodded, hoping he could trust him.

“Get behind me.”

The man’s purple saber whirred violently as he faced off against the offending Mandalorian, clashing against the Beskar of his armor.

The father and his child retreated to the corner of the small room, hoping that the Jedi, whoever he was, would win.

He did.

“You’re a Jedi,” he stated, stupidly, he knew. They had come to speak to him and Ayasse—rest her—almost as soon as Taska was born. He could hardly speak, hardly breathe—the love of his life was dead, dead, killed by her own family.

“I am.”

“Is it really time, already?” He asked nervously. He didn’t want to be alone.

“It would have been anyway, but given what has just transpired, I’d give a very strong yes,” the man’s dark features shone sinisterly in the moonlight.

“You can’t take her from me,” he argued. “Not yet. Not now.”

“Listen,” the Jedi reasoned. “I can’t guarantee your safety. I won’t even inquire what you have done, but there is no stopping determined Mandalorian warriors, especially when they come to avenge one of their own.

“But at the Temple? I can guarantee Taska’s safety. No harm will come to her under our care. With you, she’s bound to die.”

Bound to die. Bound to die. The words swam in his head, feeding off each other, growing and threatening to overwhelm him.

“You can promise that? That she’ll be safe?”

“As far as it is in our control.”

His mysterious words were far from comforting—he was a man that refrained from making promises he couldn’t keep.

“I’ll give her to you,” he finally consented. “But I must know your name first, please.” Somehow, it was a small measure of comfort. It made him feel that maybe, maybe he could find Taska again if he needed to.

“My name is Mace Windu,” he said. “And my order will train your daughter to be a good Jedi knight.”