Jedi Dawn – Chapter 5
By Sienn (2001)
Rating (for chapter): PG-13
Protagonists: Luke/Mara
Category: Drama/Action/Angst
Time Frame: 26 A.Y.
Spoilers:
See Chapter 1
Disclaimer:
See Chapter 1
NR Ship Ralroost, Above The Planet Ithor, 10 days After The Battle Of Ithor
Forty-seven lightsabers lay on a table in one of Tafanda Bay's hangars. They were polished adequately and the light from thousands of stars and the system's sun let them shine like long diamonds. The row was too long and although it was a beautiful sight, none of the forty beings standing around the table in a half-circle relished it or smiled at it.
The group of Jedi Knights turned silently when the door opposite to the hangar exit into open space slid aside and their Master stepped out.
Clad in a simple shirt and trousers of pure white material and a long robe of the same colour, he strode forward to the table, halted and looked down at the row of sabres.
For a long moment, his gaze lost itself into eternity and some of the younger Jedi averted their tear-filled eyes when he softly caressed some of the handles. Finally, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker turned to face the assembled beings and slowly let his eyes wander, resting on every face, trying to give hope, reassurance and trust. Only the ones closest to the Master, Corran Horn and Kam Solusar, saw the almost hidden twitch in Luke's cheek and the change in his eyes when his gaze reached the figure at the back of the crowd. Kyp Durron didn't dare to look up and meet the stare of his Jedi Master. Instead, he stepped farther away, into the shadows that dominated the back of the hangar, almost hidden by his thick, black robe. For a moment, Luke seemed to want to say something to him, but then he focused again on the group and quietly began to speak.
"With all the things going on around here, the rescue and rebuilding actions on Ithor and the dozens of other planets where we are eager to help and the problems in the fleet after the horrible losses in the battle, we have not as much time to mourn the ones we lost as we would love to have. We can't even hold our ceremony on Yavin IV, in our academy, where most of the victims have been trained and which they called their home for almost more than a decade." Luke inhaled deeply and his big, blue eyes seemed to break with grief, but nonetheless, he continued with a firm voice.
"Every one of us has lost friends, family or loved ones in this war and our order has suffered a terrible setback. Where there were a hundred trained Jedi before the Yuuzhan Vong appeared, only forty of us have survived." Shortly, his voice trembled, but he controlled it soon.
"Nonetheless, we mustn't surrender and we mustn't be paralysed by their death. If we return to our academy to isolate ourselves in grief, we will not honour what they have died for. To some of you it may seem cruel if I will soon send you on new missions, if I will rearrange teams. But it is simply a necessity. I would love to mourn myself, but we can't afford it. We can't stop here. We have taken a victory over the enemy, but he will return and we have to be prepared. In the meantime, there are thousands of beings in need of our help and I don't intend to let them be disappointed in the Jedi." Luke paused once again and the silence in the hangar became total and scary.From now on, the ceremony would go on in this silence. Reacting to a simple hand gesture from Luke, the Jedi Knights formed a row. The ones who had lost their Masters or a dear friend stepped in front of the table and softly laid their hands onto the proper lightsaber. The other Knights stood back, hands folded before them, eyes closed. Then Luke reached out for every Knight, holding a mental hand out to them and every of his former pupils, now being Jedi, reached back with his or her mind. In this total silence, thoughts, feelings and emotions were exchanged, soothing was given and after an onslaught of grief, hurt and the short, but intense lust for revenge, Luke directed them to what he had intended to reach with this ceremony. Between these dark and desperate feelings appeared a new one. Hope and optimism. They had driven back the Yuuzhan Vong once. If they stood together and believed in the Force and in themselves, they could drive them back again and again. They would fight and try to protect and perhaps they would die, but that would not be the end.
The mind link ended as suddenly as it had begun. Luke again looked at every Knight, satisfied to see new determination burning in their eyes. Each Jedi standing before the table took the sabre of his dead friend, love or master and clipped them to their belt. They would carry on their fight and they would never forget their fellow Jedi who had died bravely.
"By tomorrow evening, I will have talked with Admiral Kre'fey, the Ithorians and my sister, Ambassador Organa-Solo. Then I will give you details on the future teams and their missions. Until then, return to your quarters or separate tasks and meditate about this ceremony. I want no one to go on his or her mission with hate or revenge in mind. No one. You are dismissed."
Each one bowed before Luke and they silently walked back the way they had come earlier. But there was a difference to them. While they had come in with eyes fixed on the floor, with faces contorted in grief and fear, they now walked straight, with heads high and a new air of confidence around them.
Only one figure stayed where it had been all the time. When Luke came to a halt before him, Kyp Durron lifted his head and sought the face of his master uncertainly. Luke was thinner than the last time Kyp had seen him and his skin was pale, but he hadn't lost his charismatic aura and power spoke out of every movement. His presence bristled and shone in the Force, as it had always done. And as ever, Kyp felt slightly in awe and insecure encountering Luke Skywalker. In the years before, he had overplayed this uncertainty with dashing audacity and revolutionary talks - dumb talks, as he had recognised now. Once again, the Dark Side had come dangerously close to his soul and he hadn't noticed it. He just hadn't noticed it. It had dawned on him when he had lost Miko Reglia, but he had refused to accept it at the time. But now he had lost all of his followers. And they had died because they had believed in HIS ways. In ways that were the opposite of Master Skywalker's. In ways that had led them to death and close to the Dark Side.
"Kyp, I get the feeling my speech hasn't had quite the effect on you that it had on the others." The well-known voice sounded as calm and gentle as ever and Kyp's eyes widened in surprise. His throat was dry. He just wasn't able to answer."I also didn't feel you in our mind link," Luke stated, gesturing towards Miko Reglia's lightsaber that Jacen had brought with him from Helska 4. It was the only lightsaber that had remained on the table. Many Jedi had taken one or three lightsabers, wanting to preserve and protect them in remembrance of their lost ones. Kyp had refused to take the one of his former apprentice.
"Master, I… I'm so sorry. I was wrong all the time and I didn't recognise it. I didn't want to listen to your advice. And because of that, all these people have died."
"You didn't force them to follow you, Kyp. You can't make yourself responsible for their mistakes," Luke replied softly.
Kyp swallowed: "Surely you have lost the trust in me. I understand if you give me no new mission, Master."
Luke lifted an eyebrow. "Wanting to escape your responsibility again, Kyp? Didn't we go through this years ago?" he questioned.
Kyp pressed his lips together: "Master, this time…"
"This time," Luke interrupted, "you made a mistake out of fear and the lust for revenge because you lost Miko Reglia, your apprentice. Last time, you made a mistake out of lust for revenge because you'd lost your family. I see no difference between those two occasions, Jedi Durron, and I demand that you face your latest error with the same will and determination with which you faced the last one."
"But, Master, I was dangerously close to the Dark Side, I can't…"
"Kyp, you should know by now that you can always return from the Dark Side. You did it and you saw me do it. It's not a question of being able to. You have to want it."
Kyp was silent, his whole frame shivering.
Luke lowered his voice again to the gentle, soothing tone he was known for: "I can't help you find out whether you want it, Kyp. I just can promise you that you will have a place in the Order for as long as I have anything to say about it. Whether you are strong enough to begin anew, that only you can know." He laid a hand on Kyp's shoulder and patted him reassuringly.
"If you have made your decision, let me know."Kyp nodded, overwhelmed by the moment, and fled.
And Luke was left alone with the now empty table, standing in front of the breathtaking panorama of open space.*~~
Leia and Han had silently waited at the hangar entrance while Kyp and Luke had had a quiet exchange. They had been there during the whole ceremony, and although Han hadn't had the insight his wife had of what was going on, he pretty much knew that Luke had given his followers something important.
But Han himself hadn't really paid close attention to what Luke had said and to what had happened after this. He had focused his gaze on his friend all the time, searching for the smallest sign of exhaustion or a breakdown.
Now, he and his wife hurried to go to Luke, who stared motionlessly out into the black. In the past days, Luke's condition had bettered a little bit. He had left the cabin, had buried himself in work, travelling between their new quarters on Tafanda Bay and the control headquarter for the rebuilding process on the planet Ithor itself. As far as Han knew, Luke hadn't eaten very much and slept even less. Although the Jedi assured his friend that a trance was as effective as normal sleep, Han thoroughly doubted that whenever he saw Luke coming out of his chambers in the morning.
He moved slowly and without power and he still didn't talk much. Han, Leia, Wedge, Lando and Corran were the only ones who knew that Luke was only acting. His health condition had worsened after the last days of hard work and his mental condition had never been good since his breakdown.
"Luke?" Leia asked softly, taking his hand. Her brother turned his head, stared tiredly at her and murmured: "Take me home, please." Leia nodded and sent a gentle caress to his soul.
"Luke, I received a call from Coruscant. Mon Mothma wants me to return immediately." The wave of sudden fear didn't surprise her much. Even Han could catch it, for Luke retreated physically, his eyes widening in shock.
"I will stay with you," the Corellian assured quietly, laying an arm around Luke's tensed shoulders.
"And I'll come back soon, Luke. I don't intend to stay very long on Coruscant. There's still much work to do here." Leia was eager to focus her brother's eyes on her, to assure him that she wasn't leaving him, too.
Luke nodded hesitantly, then leaned into Han's embrace, staring down at the floor. "I'm tired," he whispered.
"I know. Don't worry, you will have the whole evening and night to rest. I'll take care of that, promise." Han smiled lopsidedly and was relieved when Luke smiled back.
Dathomir, Singing Mountain Clan, 10 Days After The Battle Of Ithor
They were definitely challenging her patience now. Mara had understood that they wanted to confirm she was who she claimed to be. She could also understand that they wanted to search her ship. But she couldn't understand why they needed two days to do so.
Impatiently, she paced her small room, feeling the strong urge to beat something or someone. Preferably the leader of the clan, Augwynne. The only fact that prevented Mara from doing just this when Augwynne entered the next time was that the woman was old. Just plain old. And Mara didn't beat old people, children and idiots.
Well, she did occasionally beat idiots if they were named Lando Calrissian, Han Solo or C-3PO. Or if they were imperial or Yuuzhan Vong. But not old people.
"Master Jade-Skywalker?"
Mara spun around, her hand falling to clutch the handle of her sabre, ready to slash at anything daring to intrude into her privacy. But it was, ironically, only Augwynne, addressing her for the first time with her full title.
"What? Don't tell me you need another day to confirm that the clothes in my cabin are really mine and that it is me who uses the toothbrush in the fresher," she spat out.
The old woman smirked amused. "Well, I actually wanted to inform you that we have verified your identity and that we are ready to give in to your request. But if you insist, we could of course…"
"Spare me," Mara mumbled, cursing her own nervousness. If this went wrong or left her only with facts she already knew, she would have a real problem. And she had had, the Force knew, more than enough problems in the past.
"Well, of course. If you would follow me, please." Augwynne mock-smiled and gestured Mara to walk before her.
"The amount of trust you put in me is really touching," Mara growled
"Your lightsaber, please." The old clan-leader held her hand out.
Mara snorted, but handed it over without protest.
Then she followed the older woman through the fortress and up uncountable stairs. Slowly, Mara was getting not only annoyed but also tired. As much as she tried to ignore her illness, in moments like this one, it was hard to forget it. When they arrived at a wooden door with wonderful, artistic carvings, she panted and felt slightly dizzy.
Augwynne seemed not to notice it, or at least she pretended to, when she opened the door and pushed Mara into the semi-lit room behind.
An old woman sat on a bed of the same wood as the door, protected by animal skins and fur rugs. Her white hair was incredibly thin and almost non-existent and her wrinkled skin was covered with dark age specks. Nonetheless, when Mara approached the bed, the old one stared straight at her and a smile spread over her face. "Mara Jade! How nice from you to visit old Rell!" Her voice was high-pitched and raspy and her following laugh sounded slightly asthmatic.
"You are Mother Rell?" Mara asked dumbfounded.
"That's me, my dear. What can I do for you? How's your dear husband? He's such a nice, young man." Rell slowly crawled to the edge of the bed where Mara had sunk onto the mattress.
Luke had told her that Rell was old, but somehow he had forgotten to mention that she was a living mummy.
The old woman giggled again. "Oh well, I'm not that old, you know. Yoda is much, much older and he's still healthy as ever." She continued to chuckle.
And slightly crazy, Mara added in her thoughts.
"Everyone is slightly crazy, my dear. So, how is young Luke Skywalker? I don't know, I don't think he was here lately." These old eyes went unfocused and a trembling hand padded Mara's forearm.
"He is... he is well." Mara stammered, still slightly shocked. She hadn't quite expected this. She had wanted to talk to a wise, old woman, similar to Yoda, with the connection to a people living in tune with nature. The very opposite of what the doctors on Coruscant embodied. But all she had found now was an irritated, old woman.
"Oh, that's good, very good. I thought he was pretty ill, you know. I felt it. The poor boy. But if you say he is well..." The voice died away and again Mara's forearm was patted. But she didn't really pay attention to this.
Luke had told her that this woman could see into the future or the past - that she was very strong in the Force, so strong, in fact, that the Force itself didn't want her to die. Could it be that what Rell felt was true? That Luke was ill? No. No, Luke was strong. He would be ok. He would be fine.
"So, Mara, I think you have come here to ask me for something." Rell cooed, still smiling knowingly.
Mara stared at her, surprised again. "Well, actually, I want your help. I'm..."
"You're ill. I felt it the moment you came here." Rell mumbled.
A slight twinge of hope built up in Mara's heart.
"Yes... yes, I'm ill. And the doctors..."
"Can't tell what you have. But of course they can't. How could they?" Rell continued in a low voice.
"What? What do you mean??" Mara's voice now trembled, as well as her hands. This woman knew something. She knew something.
"Because what you have is no virus and no bacteria - it's a plant, it's something coming out of nature." Rell's hand wandered over Mara's body, her wrinkled face even more lined in intense concentration.
Mara held her breath - that was more than anyone on Coruscant had been able to tell her.
"Then... then you know a cure?" she asked, croaked actually.
Rell smiled sadly: "No, my dear. The only one who knows a cure is you." She patted Mara once again, then turned and looked out the window.
After some minutes, Mara recognised that Rell had again vanished into her state of oblivion. A huge lump in her throat, she rose and went to the door, the strong sense of defeat and disappointment resting in her gut.
"Greetings to young Luke. He is a nice boy," Rell whispered before Mara went out.
In the corridor, Augwynne was waiting for her. With surprising gentleness, the older woman lay an arm around Mara's waist and guided her into the direction of the fortress's great chamber.
"Did it not go well?" she asked quietly.
"I... I don't know. She told me it… my illness was something natural but that only I knew a cure for it"
Augwynne gently pushed her onto a seat and gestured to one of the male slaves to bring something to eat and to drink.
"Mother Rell often speaks in riddles, Mara Jade-Skywalker. But it seems to me that if your illness is natural, the cure for it will also be natural."
Mara smiled sardonically. "But that doesn't tell me what the cure actually is."
"It gives us, however, a hint where to seek for it." The clan leader smiled and pressed a hot cup into Mara's hands.
The Jedi woman stared at her in utter surprise: "You... you want to help me?"
"Of course. Luke Skywalker and his friends saved our planet a long time ago. And now we will be glad to repay this debt by saving what's dearest to him."
Mara couldn't restrain her tears anymore. She leaned willingly into Augwynne's embrace and sobbed, filled half with dread, half with new hope.
Coruscant, Senate Chambers, 11 Days After The Battle Of Ithor
"And there's certainly no alternative?" Leia whispered uncomfortably in Mon Mothma's direction. They stood just outside the micro range of the speaker's podium in the Senate.
Leia had put on an exact copy of her old senator's dress, knowing that this would awake dear and fond memories of old times in many of the senators old enough to have lived through the civil war and the downfall of the Old Republic.
"Actually, the Senate has one alternative available," Mon Mothma muttered, pushing a strand of brown hair out of Leia's face.
The still very young-looking Alderaanian princess smiled relieved, but her expression froze when Mon Mothma told her what alternative this was.
"Luke?? That's impossible!" Leia exclaimed almost too loudly.
Mon Mothma raised an eyebrow, clearly startled: "Now, now, Leia, you know perfectly well that it would be possible. He has talents in this direction, only he did never want to exercise them."
"Yes, but Fey'lya has sent me a message stating that he was glad that Luke hadn't been proposed."
"I lied to him," Mon Mothma admitted. "I didn't want to discuss this topic with him and he would have begun a discussion, you know that as well as I do."
Leia nodded.
"So, should I ask the Senate to sent a message to Luke? You could talk about it, you two, privately."
"No... no, Luke mustn't get word about this. He is... he couldn't become President anyway," Leia muttered, still obviously shocked.
"By the Force, Leia, why? You didn't even ask him!"
"Mon Mothma, Luke is... he is... he had a nervous breakdown," Leia muttered, looking around to make sure that no one could eavesdrop on them.
The former president blanched. "What? Why?"
"I can't explain now. Later perhaps, but not now. Now I have to accept the election."
Mon Mothma just nodded.
Coruscant, The President's Chambers, One And A Half Hour Later
"I don't quite know whether I want to hear what they have to say," Mon Mothma murmured, staring at the strange, small creature a Senate servant had brought in.
They had been half way through Leia's speech when, surprisingly, a droid had presented this creature and told them that it had been given to a patrol at the outer fringes of the system.
"We have no other choice. Fortunately, the both of us will be the only ones to hear this for now."
Mon Mothma nodded and Leia hesitantly stroked the animal. Luke had told her that it reacted to such gentle caresses. If it were a little more beautiful, Leia would have taken it for a little pet.
Soon, the face of a heavily distorted Yuuzhan Vong formed itself and began to speak.
"I greet the leader of the New Republic. I am Tsavong Lah, Warmaster of the Yuuzhan Vong and speak to you in response to the battle above the planet your people call Ithor. While most of you don't seem to have any honour, we Yuuzhan Vong hold honour as a treasure and aren't afraid to admit when we are subdued. Both our people have two possibilities. To fight until one of us is extinguished - and believe me, we would do this, too -- or to find an agreement which both of us can accept. Thus, I'm offering you peace talks. If you accept, tap this villip twice. We will then meet in two weeks according to your time units. The Yuuzhan Vong will arrive at the outer fringes of the system you call Coruscant in one single vessel. This vessel will be armed, but we will not attack as long as we aren't attacked. We will accept a delegation of your people to come aboard - seven beings, to speak exactly. In addiition to you, we only have a request for one further member. The man who destroyed our fleet at Ithor. We want to meet him. We won't begin negotiations unless he is part of this delegation. This will be our only offer for peace. If you are wise, you take it."
The face vanished and left only the small animal sitting on Leia's desk. The princess's brown eyes were wide with surprise. One look at Mon Mothma confirmed her own decision.
"We have no other choice," The Chandrilan woman whispered.
"No - and it could be the beginning of respect and knowledge exchange. Their wisdom could be very valuable to us." Leia breathed deeply, extended her hand, hesitated - then patted the villip twice.