The Terran Alliance: The Dark Soldier- Crosspost

Chapter 2- Hiding

Chapter 2- Hiding

(July 28, 1994)

"See that he makes it somewhere safe. The Empire cannot be allowed to find him. You double cross me, or fail to live up to your word, and you will not live to regret it," Philip says.

In front of him, Hondo Ohnaka nods in response. "Don't worry. I'll get the youngling to safety. You paid me well, so I keep my word," he responds.

Philip gives him a glare as he nods to affirm his words. After his departure from Coruscant, Philip had managed to travel to Florrum with the help of the droid in the shuttle. There, in exchange for a hefty payment, Philip had received some pilot training from Hondo and his pirates, as well as a promise from Hondo that he would get Grogu to a place where he could be safe. Despite Philip knowing that Grogu had to be protected, Philip felt that Grogu's place was not with him. Philip knew he couldn't stay in the underground. He had to fight back against the new Empire. But more than that, he had to figure out his power in the Force. He knew that the path he would have to follow would not be safe for Grogu, and that he had to get Grogu somewhere else.

"I may contact you again in the future. Keep your channels open," Philip says firmly.

"If you have money," Hondo responds.

Philip rolls his eyes, but nods. Then, he turns around and heads back to the shuttle. Reaching it, he boards it and settles into the cockpit.

For several long minutes, Philip sits, thinking about his situation and what he can do about it. Finally, he decides that before he does anything else, he needs to find a place to hide. A place where the Empire isn't going to find him easily.

Philip pulls up a map of the galaxy on the shuttle's computer, and begins to look through the Outer Rim for planets where he can hide for the time being. Finally, he finds one that seems like it might do well. Dubrava. A bit of a backwater planet.

Philip slowly starts up the shuttle's engines and orders the droid to start programming the navicomputer. After a few minutes, the shuttle lifts up off the pad and climbs up into the atmosphere, flying out of the atmosphere after a short time.

Once in orbit, Philip verifies that the navicomputer has been programmed with the right coordinates, then pulls the hyperspace throttle, and the shuttle jumps to hyperspace.

(Two days later)

Philip sighs a bit as he throws some sticks on the fire to help keep it going. He then sits down on a stump next to the fire, holding his hands over the flames to warm them.

Philip had arrived on Dubrava the day before, and had found an area of the planet that was virtually uninhabited to set up camp. He had remained there since.

As Philip warms himself from the cool of the night, he thinks back to his escape from the Jedi Temple. But he is not focused on the trauma of the whole thing and the horrific things he saw happening. He is instead thinking about his encounter with the clones outside the hangar, and the unexpected power he used to deal with the clones.

It's clear to Philip that he has some kind of power if the Force. But how could he have lived his life and not known whatsoever that he had such power. Obviously, he didn't even know about the Force until about two years ago. But how did he not know anything throughout his entire life that there was something different about him.

Philip looks at a large stick lying a few feet away. Philip looks at it before he decides he has to try and see if that incident wasn't a fluke, or a Jedi he didn't see helping him. Philip raises his hand, and then starts to reach into himself, trying to find his power. For a number of seconds, he feels nothing. Feeling a bit more frustrated, Philip digs deeper. Then, he feels something. Like a rush of power. Then, to his surprise, the stick begins to lift off the ground.

Philip stares wide eyed at the stick as it rises about two feet in the air before it hangs there, eventually dropping back to the ground. Philip stares at the stick, thinking furiously over this. It's clear at this point that he has power in the Force. But at this point, Philip knows the Jedi are all but gone, and he can't turn to the Jedi for answers or any training in the Force. But...he needs answers.

Philip stares into the fire, pondering his situation. He doesn't know how to get home to Terra, he has pretty much no friends here in the Andromeda Galaxy, and now he knows he is Force sensitive. If the Empire finds he exists, he knows they'll try to bring him in just because he's a British soldier. If they know that he is Force sensitive, that will put him even higher on their most wanted list.

However, Philip knows he can't just sit in hiding until he dies or the Alliance returns. After what he saw in the Jedi Temple, and now knowing a bit about Palpatine declaring himself Emperor, knows he won't be able to forgive himself if he just hides. He has to take fight to the Empire. But now that he knows about his strength in the Force, he knows that changes things.

Eventually, the fire burns down to embers. Philip smothers the final embers to makes sure its completely out, then goes back to shuttle. As he makes a bed for himself and lies down, Philip comes to a conclusion. Before he can do anything against the Empire, he has to learn more about his powers in the Force. He knows a little bit about the history of the Jedi. Starting tomorrow, he's going to start trying to find ancient Jedi sites so that he can start to learn the Force and its secrets.

And once he learns how to use the Force, he's going to use his powers to bring hell down upon the Sith and the Empire.