Remembrances (Part IV): Shadows of Past and Future
[Edernar Township, Tatooine, Tatoo System, Outer Rim, Present day]
The twin suns burned brightly in the late morning sky. The village of Edermar was a bustle of activity. Pack-ladened bantha, dewbacks and other less recognizable creatures filed through winding streets. The chatter of colourful locals provided a background hum which was interloped with the erratic shouts of street vendors peddling their wares.
Through the bump and bustling crowd walked Vedra and Malakia. Their robes swishing the light billowing dust around them. "Our speeder repair is late and we have lost much time. Our costs will have to be renegotiated", commented the Jedi, "and you have been silent much today Young one. Does your injury pain you.?"
"I am sorry, Master. My mind is filled with thoughts of yesterday and the past beyond" the Twi'lek replied. Malakia nodded as they reached a ramshackle shop, "it is a lot to absorb. Be at peace. You are very strong in the Force. In time all things will reveal themselves."
Pair of Sallustan mechanics were still working on the speeder. One looked at the approaching Jedi. "My apologies sir. This speeder took much work to repair. The damage was almost total. It appears as if it was used as a play toy by rancors."
Vedra grinned and Malakia spoke. "It was a rather unfortunate accident. When will you be finished the repairs?"
"No more than another 15 minutes. I will charge only what you have agreed. The estimate was my error." The Jedi and learner exchanged a surprised glance. Malakia went to make payment arrangements and Vedra watched the remaining mechanic finish his work. As she stood there, an uneasy feeling came over her - like she was being watched. She looked about. A moderate crowd surged everywhere - no hint of a specific threat only a feeling.
When Malakia returned, the Twi'lek explained what she had sensed. Malakia nodded, "This is not a safe place; we should depart."
After a brief inspection of the fixed AB-1 they departed and headed out beyond the town back into the Dune Sea. After a journey of several hours, Malakia stopped the speeder, "This is the great pit of the Carkoon. It is a place marked by the Dark Side. Very Evil: Very dangerous. Home of the Sarlacc."
Vedra shivered, despite the late afternoon suns' powerful heat, "I can feel nothing here. It is cold, almost like an absence in the Force."
"Yes, that is the Dark Side," replied the Jedi. "Go closer. It is a experience you must take alone. I will await here. Do not venture too close. For the Sarlacc spit toxic poison and it can kill quickly. Use the force and it will guide you safely. Your weapons. Leave them you will not need them, "
He sat down to meditate.
Vedra moved forward. She was instinctively uncomfortable, but also driven by a wisp of fascination at what lay beyond. It was an uncomfortable walk over steep sandy dunes. More than once she had almost lost her footing in the unstable sand beneath her feet.
Despite being only several hundred meters from the speeder, which was now out of view - To Vedra it seemed she was truly alone. As she climbed over a particularly large dune she gasped; mentally and figuratively. Both her mind and lungs seemed to taste a powerful toxicity.
Between the dunes below she saw a great pit with greenish mist hanging about it like a sombre veil of death.
There was an awareness here.
As she drew closer her mind began to sense powerful feelings, images and a rapidly escalating sense of fear. Vedra gulped and winced. She stood at the near edge of the precipice; staring at the horror below. A gasp exploded from her lungs and she fell to her knees. Her mind was torrent of emotions, and what could only be described as an urge to move forward; a enticing beacon... a siren like no other.
As Vedra sat half-kneeling and deep in thought, a tentacle slowly crawled upward from the gaping yaw. It inched forward slowly. It paused occasionally with a small twitch of its outer extremity. When it was within two meters of Vedra it arose like towering whip from
the ground and flashed downward. It slashed in the bright sunlight, oozing wetness like a well honed scimitar. It smashed into sand.
Vedra stood up. She was half covered in sand and hyperventilating. She had seen the threat in her mind and despite the seeming paralysis -- she acted. Her mind was still billowing with a tempest; but one which was slowly subduing. Slowly she walked away and as she came back to the top of the crested sand dune again. She turned over her shoulder and uttered one firm word, "No."
She returned to the speeder, where the Jedi still sat in deep meditation."I.. I have felt .. great pain.. suffering .. it was awful. " Vedra exclaimed in a tired voice.
Malakia opened one eye open and closed. "Sit. Let us mediate and calm your feelings; cleanse your mind. You have overcome a great trial.".
They sat under the burning sun, learner and Jedi. The shadows around them moved but they did not.
After many hours the Twi'lek's eyes popped open. "Master I feel something.. awakening within me a glow .. a warmth ..." In reply the Jedi opened his eyes and smiled. "That is the force encompassing your, binding you. You have felt the Dark Side and you have persevered, and emerged stronger. You have emerged into a part of the larger galaxy. The way of the Force."
The Jedi stood and motioned for his pupil to end meditating "Your journey now truly begins. I can see that you understand the need to be committed to good and truth; using the Force for justice, never for selfishness. For if you do not; instead take down the path of the dark side, it will forever hold your destiny -- for the Dark Side is powerful. "
Vedra nodded gravely and after a pause asked, "Why would anyone choose the Dark Side consciously? Is it stronger?"
Malakia brusquely shook his head "No. It is not stronger, but it is a much easier path to using the Force. It has a strong pull, an allure, on those who wish to use it for their personal gain and power. He picked up sand in his hand and let if flow through his fingers; some of it sifting back down to the ground; some becoming a wisp and flowing with the wind. In a quick gesture he closed his hand into a fist, the remaining sand sprayed in all directions.
"It flows from fear, pain, hatred and loss. Those lead to the Dark Side."
The Twi'lek absorbed the Jedi's words and metaphor. "Was it the Dark Side that took Raene ?"
With a propped eyebow, Malakia seemed surprised by the question. He replied, "Yes young one. She was tempted by the easy path to the Force. Yet the Jedi Council felt she could be brought back and with further knowledge and training be brought back into the Light."
He looked at Vedra directly and added with a dire gravitas to his voice, "Jedi never abandon hope or their fellow Jedi to the Dark Side. There is only eternal pain for those who fall. She was able to overcome her fear, anger and hate and she will find peace in the force."
With a deep nod of her head the Twi'lek acknowledged the point, "I shall not fail master. For I have seen it continue ravage her mind, and her soul. Yet does this mean that one who has fallen can be redeemed."
Again the Jedi was surprised by the young one's inquisitiveness and filled his eyes with a glint of something. He thought for a moment and explained, "Yes they can. Raene was not the first, nor the last. Even the most powerful and the most lost can still return, if they find the strength, those such as Revan, Gri-Alat and Dorim among them.
Malakia looked upwards. The suns were on their way to setting. He stood up and walked over to the speeder, wiping the accumulate sand from his clothes and the speeder. He motioned to Vedra that she should drive. "Let us depart. We have one more stop for today."
Vedra arose and dusted herself off hopped in to the speeder, "Where shall we go master?"
"You are strong in the Force. Reach out and let it guide you. It is not far, " he replied.
Vedra paused for a moment and started the speeder. "South" she murmured, "south."
After a short thirty minute flight, Vedra slowed the speeder just short of a set of highlands in the distance, "I feel something unusual it is the Force still, but again it is very different, not like it was at Master Kenobi's home."
"Yes indeed," Malakia nodded, "you feel the Force guiding you to the star of the rebellion against the Empire." He motioned with a wave of his robe "To the left, see that glint of light. That is our spot."
She deftly flew the speeder over a small series of dunes towards a small gistening twinkle in the sand. She shouted in surprise, "An escape pod!" After surveying the wreckage she added, "It feels more like the force has touched this spot then actually being present -- a latency." She knelt over the half buried pod and brushed some of the sand covering it to read some faint markings.
"Yes, an escape pod", Malakai chuckled at her. He added in sombre tones, "It was used by two droids to escape the Empire and bring something to us; they secretly held the plans to the Death Star, which the Emperor was building to overpower the break-away systems. It was used to make a demonstration with Aldera'an. With the droid's information the Death Star was destroyed and the Rebellion gained their first great victory."
Vedra was wide eyed and whirled towards the Jedi in surprise, "It was the Death Star that destroyed Aldera'an?.. Mmmm My parent died there ... at the whim of the Emperor?"
Malakia bowed his head "They found peace in the Force."
Vedra started to sob. Malakia moved closer and comforted her. With her eyes filled with tears she looked first to the Jedi and then onto the pod. The suns were just shy of setting. The sandy
plain was basking in deep crimson hue. She lifted he head in defiance and looked up into the light of the stars beginning to twinkle above. "Yes. I hope.. I believe ... I KNOW they found peace .."
Vedra then knelt at the ground. Her mouth formed words Malakia did not understand and her lekku performed a series of intricate twitches. After a short pause, she stood up again.
She put her hand on the warm metal surface of the pod and spoke, "No sacrifice, no matter how small, or how large, shall be in vain. Something my father once said. It is not the first sacrifice I feel connected to."
Malakia's eye went wide, for the first time in years. All he could do was nod "Yes. yes. I feel it too.. but it cannot be..."
His thoughts were interrupted by harsh reality. "Young one we must go. It is getting dark and the sand people are out. We must go to nearby Anchorhead."
Their arrival in the bustling port city was in silence. The tumult of the bustling town was subdued as many denizens moved indoors, into tavernas, homes and inns. To satiate their hunger the travelers chose a small cantina. During the meal, the conversation was small and light. Both of them seemed to have a lot on their minds.
Halfway though dinner, just as Vedra was about to begin another joke about the quality of the soups, Malakia's com-link beeped. "It is the Council. I will be back shortly."
Malakia returned and stated, "I must immediately go young one. The Council summons me urgently." He placed some coins on the table. "Come let us walk to the docking bay, to the transport ship. It leaves shortly."
As they entered Docking bay P11 the Jedi turned to Vedra, "I shall return. You have learned much. Yet there remains so much to do. Think on what you have seen."
She looked at him in puzzlement. "What shall I do now, master."
A droid beeped from inside the ship signaling an imminent departure. The Jedi ascended the loading ramp and spoke "Meditate daily and let the force guide you. I do not know your destiny, but something in the Force reaches out to you. There was a message received by
the Council. To be given to you, if it was felt you were ready. I feel you are ready."
"..and what is the message master?" Vedra queried.
The droid from within the shuttle let out an angry second beep. Malakia strode up into the shuttle. The ramp began to rise and he turned to face his young learner. As He raised his right hand in farewell he said only one word:
"Felucia."
[End of Part IV]