Star Wars: Secret of The Force

Chapter 13

The journey to coruscant had been long, and so had the conversation with Kara about bringing Lena along. I had told her about my plan to test Lena, something she at the very least agreed was going to have to be done. Normally, prospective padawans were tested by the Jedi who had been sent to retrieve them. I knew that wasn't an option as soon as I had begun to have my suspicions. Not all jedi, let alone padawans, could simply tell when someone was strong in the force, I couldn't, but I had managed to put the pieces together logically. Seeing if she could open a holocron was my best option. If she could, then I'd know she was force sensitive, and that if she ever learned who I was she'd ask me to train her. I wasn't sure if I would agree to or not, my own training had been cut too short. I had never chosen a specialty to follow. I could have been a regular guardian, Shadow, seeker, there were so many options. I put the thoughts aside. I probably would be able to train Lena to more than anything she had taught herself, I even felt tempted to use her holocrons to try and train myself some more. I decided against it. I was doing this one mission, then hiding, presuming I didn't die protecting everyone. Even as a smuggler and traveller I hadn't been able to resist helping people. Raxxaann was just the latest in a long line of situations where I ended up saving someone's life. Kara had always asked me why we never stayed anywhere for more than a few months. Until recently, I had said I was too used to travelling around the galaxy during the war, and I always ended up helping someone who asked too many questions. After Order 66, Kara had allowed me to stay on her ship as a crewmate, and eventually we became people who travelled around, minding our own business. I had fought so hard to protect Orion, and Strife had fought to protect me, and I wish that I had fought harder to protect them both. Orion's last words came back to me. "Run Czar... Run!" he had said. Kind as he was, Orion was strict, and I found myself looking back on the first memory of me being taken as his padawan. I had been sitting in a meditation position. "You're scared?" he asked me. I nodded, being before a Jedi Master could be quite daunting. "A Jedi is not to be scared or frightened... but children can be. I am not someone you should fear Czar, but you must listen to me whenever I give you an instruction; it might be for your own protection" he said. The Temple was making me see Ghosts, and I forced them out of my head, same as the memories. There would be time to confront them later. We crawled the pipes of the temple, being careful to avoid security. I held up my hand for Lena to wait. "What is it?" she asked. I noticed her long black hair wasn't as messy from the sneaking into the temple as I had thought. The secret passages in and out of the temple had never been well maintained, but under the Empire and the raid on the temple, they had become almost life threatening to travel through. I held up my light, and checked. "I'm just making sure we don't get crushed. The tunnels aren't as stable as they once were" I replied as I kept checking. Lena fidgeted and spoke. "Have you ever done this before?" she asked. I nodded. "Once or twice" I answered simply. With the brief interaction over, we kept moving. After another few minutes, we finally made it to the library. I motioned for my companion to wait as I peered up into the room. "huh... empty" I mused quietly. Lena shrugged. "Maybe there's some good luck going around?" it was my turn to shrug, and I couldn't afford to reach out with the force to see if I could sense anything. "Come on, we don't have long, if we're too slow, Imperials will find us" I said. "Grab whatever books you feel can help you, I need to get something from the Holocron Vault." Lena studied me. "How are you going to get in?" she asked. I shrugged. "I'll pick the locks, now go find what you need, we don't have much time!" I said, and waited for her to be distracted. When she finally started to move through the shelves, I discreetly unlocked the door. "You're through already?" she called. "The first door is the easy one" I said simply, and entered the next layer of security. I bent down and started to break through the lock. As I worked, I heard Lena searching through the bookshelves. After an amount of time that would help my excuse, I used the force once again discreetly to unlock the vault. I entered, and searched for the holocron. Lena came in shortly after, and looked around at the Holocrons lining the shelves. "Can we take any?" she asked. I shook my head. "Too many go missing and the Empire will notice, you really think they don't come in and check?" I asked. Lena shrugged. "So we take the ones from the back?" she asked. I debated the possibility. "How do you know so much about the Jedi?" she asked. I thought over my answer. "I do my research, why?" I asked. She shrugged. "No reason, just trying to make conversation" she replied. I started to search for the one Holocron I was here for. As I did, I noticed Lena staring at a holocron she'd picked up. I could open it if I truly wanted to, but didn't. I couldn't tell her how if she was to pass my test. "Alright, fine, take a few, no more than five" I instructed. As she decided which to pick out, I found what I had came for. I studied it, and decided unlocking it would have to wait. I studied the Holocron, before putting it into the backpack I had brought with me. I looked at Lena, and saw that she had finished gathering her five. After she put them in her backpack, I signalled that it was time to go. After we both exited the Vault, I took my time lock everything back up by hand. I knew it wouldn't keep the Inquisitors out forever, but I did take the time to boost the security on both doors as best as I could with the limited time I had. After locking both doors, I moved towards the vents. "We can use the vents to get out" I said. "Just might be a little bit of a climb!" I said. Lena thought this over. "We may as well get started" she said. I nodded and we both made our way to the vents. As we moved in and out of them, I knew that Lena had enough books and holocrons to help her, maybe even teach herself. That was if she happened to be what I thought. I still had no guarantee, but right now I didn't need it, I just needed to get us out of here safely. As we had started to climb, Lena spoke. "Do you think there are any Jedi left in the Galaxy?" she asked. I thought over my answer. "Possibly, the Jedi are all but extinct" I replied as I climbed. Lena sighed, and then asked another question. "How do you know so much about them?" I had to think over my answer a lot more. "I never knew them per say, I just know about their teachings, and even then, I never understood a lot of it." I made the statement as we reached a nearby platform. I seemed to have her attention. "Can you tell me about them?" she asked. I took a look at the panel, and figured it would take a while. I also knew she'd never know how the holocrons worked. "Well, this is going to take a while for me to break through, so if you want answers, try opening one of those things" I said. Lena considered this. "Any advice?" she asked. I shrugged. "The Jedi were all about meditation, maybe try that if you have a basic understanding" I replied, and got to work on the panel. "ok... I hope you're right" she said. I shrugged. "Sorry kid, but I'm no Jedi, I'm just telling you what little I know" I answered. As she meditated, I worked on unlocking the shield, glancing back at rare times to see how she was doing. I wasn't expecting a miracle, but the dark vent was soon lit by a beautiful light blue glow. I heard the voice of a Jedi instructor, but kept working. "Welcome Jedi, for any Padawans who are listening to this, then you have progressed far enough in your training that you have been instructed to study knowledge inside Jedi Holocrons. for. In this Holocron's recording, you will be learning about the advanced history of the Jedi Order..." it trailed off as Lena broke her meditation, and the holocron closed, not in the neat cube it normally would. I debated setting it right, but it wasn't the right time. "So, you're Force Sensitive..." I said, my theory now confirmed. Lena realised what she had done. "You going to turn me in?" she asked. I shook my head. "No, but it does explain why you really want to find that Jedi" I answered and managed to break through the panel. Lena sighed, and nodded. "I need someone to teach me, to help me learn how to use it! I want to become a Jedi!" she explained. I thought this over. I could teach her to control her gifts, maybe point her along the right path, but I didn't complete my training. Visibly, I shrugged. "Hate to tell you this Kid, but I doubt any Jedi are going to be willing to teach you, means they'd have to reveal themselves" I said. I waited for a response as I finished breaking us both through the shield. "Then they need to reveal themselves? What other option do I have? I don't want to die!" she said. I sighed. "Kid, tell no one about your gift, you'll be fine! Its as simple as that" I answered. She looked at me questioningly. "I don't understand..." she said. I was about to answer when I heard a voice I did not want to hear. "I'm afraid child, its not that complicated... it would be simpler if you hadn't opened the holocron!" said a voice. I turned, and saw The Eighth Brother standing close by. "Kark it..." I muttered.I stood still, trying to consider my options. "You've taken some belongs that my masters want back!" snarled the inquisitor. I shrugged. "Sad to say we don't know anything about that, we're just the vent technicians..." I said simply. The Eighth Brother seemed unamused. "Give me the Holocrons, and I promise you will die quickly!" he said. I heard a figure drop behind me. I didn't need to look to know that it was The Eleventh Sister. I quickly considered my two options. I had two Lightsabers, and we could go down through another nearby vent. Things weren't in my favour though, Lena may know how to use a Blaster, but unlikely she knew how to swordfight in any capacity. "You do know I'm quite difficult to kill don't you...?" I asked, stalling for time. I knew that the beskar would protect me from the Lightsabers. The Eleventh Sister spoke next. "You might be, but the girl isn't, surely you don't think you can get both of you out of this alive?" she asked. I shrugged again, hands by my blasters, Lena's hand by her own as well. "I'm so glad you asked because I really did want to take this time to explain in detail how we'd escape..." I said and pulled out my Blasters, shooting at the two Inquisitors; I also made sure to set off a smoke grenade I had discreetly let drop. I heard the two killers deflect the Blaster bolts, but that wasn't my concern. I used the force discreetly breaking the grate close by while cutting a cable from my wrist. I pushed Lena through "Go! Run!" I yelled and fired several more shots before quickly going through myself. It didn't take long for me to notice The Eighth Brother was following. When I finally reached the end of the downhill vent shaft, I saw Lena hanging on for dear life. I had no choice. "Let go!" I shouted as I was quickly approaching her. "Let go! You're crazy!" she yelled back. I shook my head, and she did so without further protest. I could only hope that I had timed this correctly. I heard her scream but knew I still had time. I grabbed hold and The Eighth Brother got sent out and landed on a nearby platform, likely with the aid of the force. I quickly grabbed Lena with the force, holding her in place as I hung on for dear life. I saw her eyes fill with the realisation of what was happening. She then looked up to me, her face full of realisation at what I had done. I looked around and saw my place to put her. I let her down on a much thinner and narrower platform, but one that could hold her. I was glad that I had, because within the ten seconds it had all happened The Eighth Brother had pulled me to him with the force. I took my Lightsaber and activated it just in time to block his strike. If I hadn't, it would have killed me. I force pushed the inquisitor, long enough for me to gain my feet. "Clever Jedi, hiding your face under a Mandalorian helmet, perhaps you're more skilled than myself or my sister gave you credit for!" he said. "You'll find I'm full of surprises!" I said, and blocked his attacks, trying to think of a way out. I let myself become one with the force, and finally went on the offensive. I lunged and slashed at the Inquisitor, trying to make him retreat. I couldn't stay in this state for long, but I did notice a fan that led to the outside. I quickly made a plan: force the Inquisitor off of the platform, pull Lena to me with the force, get out by leaping with the force and get off the planet. We both still had our backpacks. I kept fighting against The Eighth Brother, and when I saw my opening, I took it, forcing him from the platform. I heard him scream in rage as he fell and tried to slash at Lena, but an extra shove left him out of range. I pulled her to me as quickly as I could, and leaped. I knew that the Inquisitor was a jengo jumper, and that combined with the force wouldn't give me long. I reached out and grabbed the fan with the force, breaking it. With that I jumped and we were on the balcony by the window. "Something you want to tell me!?" Lena demanded. I shook my head as blaster bolts were fired up at us. Imperial Shock troopers and the same group as the ones on Raxxaann. Lena swore. "Oh great... Purge Troopers!" she said with venom. I heard the Inquisitor land on the platform. Just before he could strike at me I force pushed him back. "Run, signal Kara, I'm right behind you!" I instructed. This time, she didn't protest, and I reignited my Lightsaber. The Eighth Brother leaped towards me, I moved out the way as he knew I would. Our sabers quickly entered a Saber lock. "Give me the Holocron!" he demanded. I shoved him off. "Take it off my corpse traitor!" I yelled over the Blaster fire below. The Eighth Brother charged at me and I quickly blocked, parried and countered. I kept getting pushed back further and further as I blocked his strikes. I sensed Lena as she ran, being shot at, and shooting back, at the Purge troopers below. I went on the offensive enough times to push him back and buy Lena as much time as possible. I slashed, jabbed and did as much as possible to keep the Inquisitor from advancing. I blocked and countered every move he made, and I ended up in another Saber lock. I quickly broke free, and shoved him back. I kept going, but I knew I was outmatched, but I wasn't fighting to win. The duel continued as I tried to retreat. I reached a place that I could use as a landing zone. Lena was already signalling me and I pushed the inquisitor back with an aggressive parry. Before he had the chance to strike again, I jumped, landing. "Kara!?" I asked. Lena shrugged. "She's coming, can you keep two busy?" she asked. I looked up, and saw The Eleventh Sister had joined her superior Inquisitor. "This might be a problem..." I said. Lena gave me an irritated look. "Might be?" she asked. I shrugged, and then asked my next question. "Do you know how to swordfight for more than a few seconds without getting killed?" I asked. Lena shrugged. "I could maybe last twenty seconds, thirty at most" she said. I sighed. "I really hope that Kara hurries up and arrives soon..." I said. Lena didn't get a chance to answer as the two Inquisitors landed in front of us and stalked closer. "Nowhere left to run padawan!" snarled The Eighth Brother. "I'm not giving you the Holocron!" I shouted back. The Eighth Brother shrugged. "You mean you won't give it to us willingly! Taking it from your corpse suits us fine!" he said. Far away as he was, I could hear him perfectly. I held up my Lightsaber. "Think you can hold one of them for about five minutes?" I asked, getting desperate. Lena shook her head. "You're too optimistic in my abilities..." she said. I sighed. "This is why Obi Wan Kenobi was so cynical..." I muttered. Lena shrugged. "Best I can do is shoot them in the back..." she offered. I sho9ok my head, knowing that option wouldn't work. "This is going to end either really well, or really horribly" I said. I wasn't going to admit defeat yet. I needed a way out of this, and quickly! I took Orion's old Lightsaber, and activated it, allowing the blue blade to hum. I held my Sabers up higher as they came closer, and waited for the Inquisitors to come closer. Much as I was unwilling to admit it, it did feel like death was closing in around me. I just hoped that I made it memorable...