Wounded Jedi, Chapter 1

 

Time passes slowly when one is passing through space, as if no matter how fast you go, time is slowing down. Especially when one is in a hurry to get somewhere, and time is of the essence. For a Jedi Knight named Annella Trin, who was as impatient as one could possibly be, and still be a jedi for all intents and purposes, it was all she could do not to go insane. She needed to take her mind off of Malachor V, off of the death of the jedi masters, off of killing Kreia in the heart of the Trayus core. She had spent the past seven days crying, grieving, and mourning. So much had happened, so many lives lost.....

 The jedi were all but extinct, save herself, her students (if you could consider them official members of the order), and Bastila. Atris had been corrupted; and she herself was still considered an exile. The entire known galaxy had been broken asunder, due in no small part to her actions ten years prior. She had a lot to cry about, and the others knew it, too. They saw her expression when she had managed to escape Malachor. The pain in her face said it all. She went right to the dormitory where Kreia used to meditate, and locked the blast doors. Visas wanted to pry it open with the Force, but Mira stopped her. Mira knew all too well that she needed to be alone.

 She needed to heal, to be whole again. Sure, when the mass shadow generator destroyed the planet again, the wound in the Force was healed, its scars mended, its echoes silenced. But when you come to realize that everyone you grew up with, ever loved, ever known since the age of four had been taken from you, it leaves a wound on the soul that can only heal if you cry. And grieve. And mourn. So for seven days, that's what she did. She didn't eat; she didn't sleep more than four hours a day, and only came out of her dormitory to use the refresher.

When she finally ended her seven days of venting, she looked ten pounds thinner, her skin was pale, and she had a fierce, wild expression on her face, as if she were in a half-aware, half-euphoric trance. She stepped into the refresher, and took another shower. This one seemed longer than the others. In actuality, it was shorter. She turned off the refresher, stepped out, and groomed herself as she always had: combing her long dark, ash-blonde hair, brushed her teeth, and got dressed in her white and beige trousers and tunic.

 She opened the door and found Atton a few feet from her, heading towards the garage. He turned as soon as she stepped out of the refreshing compartment.

"Hey, pretty lady! It's good to see you! How're we doing?" he asked with a tone more concerned than he'd ever used with her before.

"Good morning Jaq. I'm a lot better now, thanks." She noticed the change in his voice. "And you?"

"Well, I'm not too bad, thanks." He wasn't taken by surprise that she used his nickname.

"So...... need anything?"

"I'm good for now. What did I miss?"

"Meditation sessions with Visas and Mical, and Admiral Onasi hailed us two days ago. Said he had an open invitation for us back on Telos, if we ever go back there."

She stopped to think on that invitation for a moment, and then Atris came to mind. She thought it best to pass up the offer for now. "For now, we'll keep our distance from Telos. Was there anything else?"

He shook his head. "Nah. We have everything under control for now, and the morning meal will be ready soon. We'll be arriving to our destination within three days."

"Glad to hear it. I'm not hungry yet, so I'm heading to bed. Can you save me a tray?"

"Consider it taken care of. And I'll be sure to let the others know that you're okay."

She opened her eyes wide, as if she was surprised. Then her expression changed back to normal.

"And be sure to tell them that I didn't mean to have them so worried, and I'm sorry for that."

His face broke into a smile, and then he shrugged his shoulders in his usual carefree motion.  

"No need to apologize. You needed some space, it's no big deal."

Now it was her turn to smile, the first he'd seen from her in weeks. She turned and walked away, as his eyes sunk in her curves, gracefully swaying left to right as she left.

"Staring isn't polite, Atton!" she shouted back as she walked off. He should have known she would feel his eyes watching her. She always did.

"I know that. Then again, neither am I!" he said as she kept walking away.

Once she was out of sight, he headed for the garage, his original destination. He had to get back to the others, they were waiting on him for their little pazaak tournament.

She, on the other hand, went straight to her dormitory and undressed, down to her undergarments. She kept her socks on, hating the idea of walking barefoot. She climbed into the bed furthest from the door and went to sleep.

"So is she alright? Tell me she's alright." Mical asked with his naive facial expression, showing no attempt to hide his recent paranoia concerning his teacher, and it had annoyed Mira and Mandalore to no end. Atton had gotten used to it.

"She's just fine, now shut up and quit bugging me! She just needed some space." Atton told him, and started dealing the cards. "Besides, she went back to bed. We'll save her food for her; now let's get on with this game!"

"Very well, then." Finally willing to drop the subject, Mical analyzed his side deck, drew his cards, and then adjusted his hand, ready to play at last. Everyone else did the same, and then the tournament continued.

Visas and T-3 did not play. Instead, she went to the cargo hold of the ship. She wanted to practice her skills with a lightsaber. She had become proficient at Forms I through III, and the exile had taught her Form IV, with some help from the jedi holocrons they recovered from Atris' meditation chamber on Telos, and it wasn't long before she had the basic skills and combinations down.She continued on for what seemed like forever, drowning out the voices of the others as she worked.

T-3 went to the communications room to update the navicomputer with the information he'd received from Bao-Dur's remote. Malachor had been destroyed once again, and the astrogation charts needed to be completed. GO-TO and HK-47 had shut down, being worked on by Bao-Dur.

Back at the Pazaak game, Atton was cleaning up; he'd won seven hands in a row, Mical had won two, and for some reason, Mira and Mandalore (who still refused to take off his helmet by the way) had come up short. She swore that Atton was cheating, and Mical had beginners luck. Mandalore watched as the three argued about it, and wondered why he was even playing this ‘stupid game' in the first place; he never had this problem with Revan or Mission, because apparently he was no fun to play with. You need to lighten up man; you're too tense, Mission once told him.

He turned his attention back to the pazaak game, only to see the other three players staring at him, with a bit of annoyance in their facial expressions. Apparently he'd been sitting there in that armor, drifting in his thoughts long after they were done arguing as to whether or not Atton had a trick side deck, and they were trying to get his attention. It was his turn to deal. He grudgingly snatched the deck from Mira and began the next round.

Meanwhile, Bao-Dur was finishing up his work on GO-TO and HK-47, and brought them online.

He was able to repair more of the damage that HK had taken, and even got his assassination protocols back up and running. GO-TO on the other hand, had little that needed to be repaired, and it turned out that the Iridonian had shut him down just to shut him up! GO-TO was rather arrogant about his ‘superior' design, and constantly came within seconds of being hit with an ion charge by the assassin droid. Even T-3 wanted to have him memory wiped for being a pain in the gear. Bao-Dur's remote wanted to singe him when he got that new cutting laser of his, and was not shy about it. In fact, when the Zabrak learned that GO-TO tried to upstart his remote on Malachor, other three droids bugged him to scrap GO-TO, and dump him out of the waste hatch.

Of course, the Exile frowned on that idea, and said that the accountant droid was needed in one piece. So he was spared; for now. 

Meanwhile, the food synthesizer- that once had been notorious for giving food poisoning and irritable bowel syndrome to various owners and crew members of the Ebon Hawk- had been renovated, redesigned, and rebuilt. Revan saw to that, and Bao-Dur found the blueprints in T-3's memory matrix, where Revan had stored them.

 The Zabrak built the new dispenser within three standard days, and now the starving crewmembers had begun running to the machine instead of away from it. Mira, Mical, and Visas stuffed their faces with weird, savage gurgles and moans, with all sense of jedi discipline and self-control thrown to the winds. Bao-Dur watched the scene and thought of a small herd of rancor beasts' viciously tearing away at a fallen creature that had been hunted down as prey. The whole scene left him laughing until Atton fired a pastry at his head that caught him square in the face.

He retaliated with a banana that Atton dodged easily, only to be hit with a muffin by Visas. The banana caught Mira right in the mouth, and ended up halfway in. She pulled it out and peeled it, then slapped Mical in the face with it. Within minutes, the food fight was totally out of hand and all over the room: Omelets', scrambled eggs, juice, milk, muffins, pastries, and fruit flew through the air. The three students of the exile were using the Force to hurl everything at the Zabrak and Mandalore, and went too far when Atton tried to hurl another pastry at the Iridonian, this time using too much leverage for his own liking, and stepped too far back, onto a banana peel, that tripped him up and had him flying through the air, crashing to the deck, right into Visas. She was laughing (yes, laughing) too hard to care, and then, so was everyone else.

Mandalore insisted on everyone cleaning up the mess before Annella woke up, but it was too late: she was standing in the entryway, in her long shirt, with her hands folded, and an ear to ear grin on her face.

"Having fun, guys? I hope you at least saved me a muffin." She said to them, still smiling, only this time she was holding out her right hand, and a muffin lifted off of the serving tray, into the air, and into her hand. She peeled off the wrapping on the stump and began eating it.

Atton was the first to stop gawking at her, which was a first. He got the crumbs out of his hair and walked toward her, only to be stopped short by Mandalore's hand on his shoulder. He walked up next to Atton and brushed himself off.

"We were going to clean this mess up right before you walked in," he told her. She was still standing there, with eyes wide open, tearing into the muffin, in her thigh-length pajama-shirt.

"We kinda got carried away with things, but we'll have this cleaned up."

"Wait a minute", Atton finally asked after resuming his staring at her in pajamas. "Just how long have you been standing there, watching us?"

She finished the muffin and walked toward him, reaching out to his ear, removing a piece of the banana peel that he slipped on. "Oh, about five of six minutes, or maybe it was ten."

Her gray eyes met his, and it sent chills up and down his spine. She smiled at him, and winked her right eye at everyone else behind him, and it sent chills up and down their spines, too.

"Hold on a sec, if you've been there that long, then why didn't you stop us? Or at least say something? Why'd you let us go on like children?" he said after a minute of silence.

She took a step back from him, and put her hands down to her sides. Then she raised her left arm out and used the Force to grab a banana off of the floor that was still unpeeled, and unblemished. "Because it's been a while since I've seen anything that funny, and after all we've been through, I figured we could use a good laugh," she said as she was peeling the banana, "and besides, I'm not your mother." She shoved it into her mouth, and bit into it. She turned around and began to walk out, then stopped short of the entryway when she turned back around.

"By the way," she began, "how long until we get to Dantooine?"

"In three days," Atton told her, "but how-"

"I have my ways, Jaq. But I don't need to remind you of that."  She turned back around and walked out.

Atton and Mandalore turned to everyone else, and they motioned for the cleanup to commence. Mira and Bao-Dur were staring at Atton and were whispering amongst each other, hoping he wouldn't hear. He did, and stood up straight as an arrow, glaring at the two of them.

"What?!" he shouted at them.

"Jaq is it?" the iridonian chimed in a mocking tone.

"Oh, shut up!" he snapped in response.

"Touchy, are we? That's not the jedi way!" Mira pointed out, attempting to goad him.

"Well, until we become knights, I'm no more of a jedi than you are, so back off!" he snapped at her.

"You know, Mira, goading people isn't the jedi way, either." Mical pointed out. Leave it to him to ruin her fun!

This time both the zabrak and the red-headed mandalorian gave the disciple an earful:

"YOU BE QUIET AND STAY OUT OF THIS!"

"ENOUGH!" Mandalore shouted through his armor. "We're supposed to be cleaning, not arguing like children! Now pull your heads out of your hides' and get back to work!"

The six of them worked in total silence for the next forty-five minutes, and finally finished cleaning up the mess. Meanwhile, the exile was back in the dormitory, ready to jump back into bed. She had barely begun to shut her eyes when it had happened: a dark undercurrent in the Force, that overwhelming sense of horror and dread, and it was coming from far away. It was familiar, yet strangely mysterious. She felt it in tremors that left her cold, like a planet, frozen in ice, dead and barren, just drifting in space. She felt lifeless under the weight of it all, and her heart was beginning to skip beats, but when the beats came, they were heavier that anything she had ever felt. Not even Malachor V felt like this, and then she felt something else: a Force- sensitive creature, strong in the dark side, but it wasn't a creature at all, it was sentient. And it was definitely a sith. She didn't know how, but she just knew.

 She jumped out of her bunk and opened the blast doors, running out to the communications room. She was going to contact the other crew members, but she stopped short of the room, only to find them there already waiting for her. They were looking at her with horrified expressions, especially Visas. The exile stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, reaching out with

the Force to calm her mind. Atton motioned everyone else to head into the communications room, and left the two jedi to themselves.

"I saw it, the creature." That was all Visas could muster up at that point.

"So did I, but you're not looking so good. Are you okay?"

  "I've......... been better, but that's............ an understatement. Especially..... considering what we've been through. Yet, even my old Master was not as......strong as that creature, if it was a creature at all."

It was obvious that she had been in the loop when the exile felt the maelstrom of darkness, yet she was suffering physical pain from it, as if the creature had felt her as well, and used his inconceivable power to punish her for ‘eavesdropping' on his attempt to attack Annella with the dark side. That would make sense, since Atton and the others didn't seem to be affected by it. Their visible anguish must have been for Visas, she figured. Next to the exile, the Miraluka was the most strong in the Force. She would have felt the disturbance by happenstance, and saw that it was meant as an attack on her friend, and intercepted the assault, shielding the exile. This explained why Annella wasn't harmed by the disturbance at all, but still disturbed by it nonetheless. In truth, they should both be dead. But they weren't, and the only question was: why?

"Why did you do that?" She asked her. "Why did you take that for me?"

"You're welcome!" Visas had been working on sarcasm, and it was paying off. Blame Atton for that.

"But you don't get to play martyr again, not while we still have work to do."

"Well, I need you alive and in one piece. You're too important to play hero if it gets you killed. Got it?!"

"NO!" Visas was being as stubborn as always. "I've sworn an oath to protect you, even if it costs me my life. And I will honor that oath, to my grave if necessary." 

"Just because you're here to help doesn't mean you can fight my battles for me. I'm still more than capable of holding my own, you know".

The two just glared at each other for a moment or so, and then began to wonder why they both survived the ordeal when they should have been destroyed. It was obvious that something interfered with their encounter with the dark side. No, not something, but someone. Someone had saved them from certain death, and even now, they could feel his/her presence, protecting them. The person who saved them was definitely still alive, and he/she should have died as well, yet they didn't. But who would be strong enough to stop such a horrific force and still survive? Annella knew that there was only one person left who could be that powerful: Revan.

He was still alive, and he was putting himself in danger to save others. Again!

"So, that was the infamous Revan," Visas blurted out after about 20 minutes of silence. "I see why you followed him to war all those years ago. He is powerful, indeed. But where is he?"

"I know exactly where he is, and whether you know it or not, so do you."

"He's on Zoist, the home of the relocated Sith Empire." She said, nodding in concurrence.

"Yes, and he's in trouble. And what pisses me off is that we can't to anything to help him. Not yet. He is somehow able to find us through the Force. I feel that Kreia was right: he needs help."

"Exile, we need to tell the others. They deserve to know what's going on, especially the T-3 unit. They need to know that their friend is still alive."

"We need to get to Dantooine first, and then come up with a plan. Otherwise, we're just flying blind into a trap. He needs us here more than he needs us there."

Visas was pissed at the remark, and almost mortified. "How can you even say that?"

Annella opened her eyes wide and held her gaze on her friend, then took into consideration that the miraluka had never met Revan, and had no idea as to how he thought. She held back the urge to start another argument; this wasn't the time for that. She was the leader, and needed to set the example, not make an example. So she let eyes go normal again and took a deep breath.

"I apologize, but you have to understand where that came from. I'm not being cold-hearted or uncaring, it's just that I've served with Revan, and I know how he thinks. In fact, I'm one of the few people who do. And unless we knew what he's up against- which we don't -he wouldn't want us blindly throwing our lives away."

Visas just glared at her, which was interesting to see, considering she had no eyes. She then realized that the exile was telling the truth, and then softened her expression. She then turned away from her.

"Very well," she said at last. Then she walked into the communications room and sat down.

The exile walked in to see everyone sitting in a circle; they had been waiting for her, and grew impatient.

"Sorry that took so long, you guys. It seems that I owe you an explanation, and it's about time you got one," she said. "But first I have a question: whose idea was it to go to Dantooine, any way?"

"Mine," the disciple spoke out. "It was my idea. I mean, If we're going to be any kind of match for the sith, or any threat for that matter, we need to get the galaxy back in shape in Revan's absence. And rebuilding the Jedi Order is as good a place as any to get started."

"I see," she spoke under her breath, as if chiding herself for not guessing that on her own.

"So what's the plan when we touchdown?"

"Well," the disciple began as he stood up, looking at everyone else, then back at the exile, "I figured we could finish rebuilding the Jedi Enclave, then get the archives back in order with what we took from Telos, then we could start helping the settlers with rebuilding koonda, and then we'll go from there," he said, and then he took his seat, looking up at the Jedi Knight he'd crushed on since adolescence. Too bad she read his mind and saw the fantasy he had in the back of his mind, smiling at him.

"Okay, then." She answered him. "Let's do it"

That widened his eyes, as well as everyone else's. He figured out that she read his mind, and was teasing him for it, making him blush. She just turned and walked out. As the door hatch closed behind her, she called out "I'm going to meditate for a while. When we get to the Enclave, I'll have some answers for all of you. Until then, make sure you all are well rested and ready to go when we tough down!"

As soon as she was out of sight, Atton stood up, and began to walk towards the hatch. Just as he reached the door, he felt a pair of hands grab him by the arm, causing him to turn around to see who it was. He didn't expect to see such concern in her eyes.

"Mira, what do you want?"  He asked her in annoyance, his anger obvious in his tone.

She didn't answer. Instead, she just let his arm go and took a step back. What happened to him in the last few minutes? And why was he being so edgy? It was unusual, even for him. He turned back to the hatch and walked out, going toward the cockpit.

The others merely looked at each other, and dismissed his actions as ‘being in a bad mood.'

They all agreed that he should just be left alone until they reached Dantooine. Then the remaining crewmembers left the communication room, going their separate ways.

Meanwhile, the exile was meditating in the dormitory, trying to find peace through the Force. And found herself crawling back in bed three hours later, all thoughts of Revan and the Sith long gone as she fell sound asleep.