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Jedi Ambassador I - In The Shadows
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Rating (for chapter): PG-13
Protagonists: Luke/Mara
Category: Action
Time: 1 and a half years after "The Birth of Acceptance"
Spoilers:
"Vector Prime", "Dark Tide I: Onslaught", "Dark Tide II: Ruin", "Soul's
Trial" Part I to III
Series:
"Jedi Ambassador" Part I , Sequel To "Soul's Trial" Part I to III
Disclaimer:
I do not own most of these characters. I do not intend to earn money with
this story, nor do I express any rights. "STAR WARS" belongs to George Lucas
alone.
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Prologe
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The galaxy was vast, vaster than any sentient being could imagine. And
beyond it laid more galaxies, ever more, with a similar, if not greater
number of races, cultures, planets and resources to lay your hands upon.
Once, what seemed to have been a long time ago, all of this had been his.
Countless possibilities had lain before him, innumerable opportunities to
expand his wealth and might. All he had had to do was seize them,
incorporate them in his plans and milk them for all they were worth so that
he would come out the winner.
Then, though, everything had changed.
With a sneer on his features, he flicked off the holo of the galaxy and the
room sank into silent darkness. Small flecks of light were dancing on the
exquisite carpet, following the rhythm of the wind as it made the lanterns
out in the garden wobble and tremble.
His wealth was still considerable. Not everything had been taken from him.
But it was nothing compared to what could have been in his possession by
now. Nothing compared to the sweet taste of control and influence that he
had lost.
No one dared say it, but he knew. He was a prisoner more than anything else,
confined to a life that he had not chosen, a life that had been imposed upon
him.
People said that wounds healed with time, that the bite of humiliation and
failure gradually lost its sting. He didn't believe it. If it were true, he
had not been graced with that much luck.
But he didn't allow the negative emotions to eat him. No, he took the
bitterness and the envy and the hatred and twisted it into a weapon. It
spurred on his brain, his thinking.
He had always been clever - that was why he had managed to get away from his
homeplanet in the first place, why he had ascended to a position all of his
competitors had envied him for.
He knew there was no way he could regain what he had lost. How fortunate,
then, that this was not his goal at all.
His influence had dwindled; he didn't command what he once had. But what
little was left would still be enough in the hands of someone like him.
It was an art to follow what was happening in the galaxy and use it for your
own gain. He was the artist who could make it all into a scheme that would
make his foes tremble.
His revenge would be taken. Not directly. Not by his own hands. As much as
he regretted it, it was an impossible task and he had accepted this as a
necessary flaw in the realisation of his dreams.
It would be taken, though, and he would be there to see it happen. He would
be there, lurking, watching.
In the shadows.
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Chapter 1
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The sun had risen from behind the horizon in a blaze of fiery glory, finding
the city planet already busy with its never ceasing hustle and bustle.
A perpetual stream of speeders and spaceships passed the Imperial Palace on
Coruscant day and night. Although a large area around the actual building
was closed to air traffic and heavily guarded, the regular lanes were not
far enough away to become invisible.
Rays of light were reflected from the vessels' canopies, filling the horizon
with miniature lightning that made it possible to track every single vehicle
for a long, long while until it descended into the deeper levels.
Luke Skywalker had spent almost half an hour staring at the far away
goings-on, using the blinding reflections to deepen his meditation. Only now
did he feel calm enough to take his eyes away and turn back into the room.
The wide hall he had chosen for his mid-morning activities had not been used
since the New Republic had taken possession of the Palace and some believed
that even during Emperor Palpatine's reign no one had ever set foot in it.
The Jedi Master thought the reason to be obvious. Dozens of stairways
spiralled through the room, connecting balconies and platforms. The dark
stone was carved into many patterns and figures, telling tales of cultures
Luke was not familiar with.
The highlight of the room - or what had been meant to be a highlight - was a
wickerwork of smooth, blood red marble. It protruded from the ceiling like a
sieve of impossible proportions. An average seized human man could crouch on
any of its solid parts, hidden in its shadows and with an extraordinary
vantage point to oversee the whole chamber.
Many historians and architects had published their theories and guesses as
to the nature and sense of this monstrosity, but they all seemed as
unbelievable and far-fetched as the existence of the artwork itself.
The effect was stunning upon first sight, irritating at a second glance and
horribly disconcerting if you were to stay for longer than that. How anyone
could ever have thought that receptions and celebrations could have taken
place in here was a riddle to everyone who had ever seen the location.
For Luke Skywalker, however, it was the perfect setting.
With its unruly and highly illogical set-up, this room would be an
extraordinarily useful indoor training room for aspiring Jedi Apprentices
and accomplished Masters alike.
Luke had already created several exercises for his students and in only a
few more days, this would become official Jedi property. The New Republic
Administration hadn't hesitated to give it to the Order - it was of no use
to them and only one more room to be cleaned and maintained.
If it went as the Jedi Master had planned, it would be constantly occupied
by Jedi in group or single sessions to hone their fighting skills, improve
their concentration and teach them to use the environment to their advantage
in combat situations.
From that moment on, the room wouldn't hold any challenge to Luke anymore.
He had created the exercises and obstacle courses, knew the tricky movements
and the traps that were awaiting the Adepts.
He was certainly going to participate in the training and use the facility
to keep his own abilities at their peek. But at the same time, he would use
the privacy he still had to find a challenge of his own - a challenge he had
been craving to face for long months.
A soft hoot sounded out of the shadows to his left and Luke smiled.
"No, R2, I haven't changed my mind."
A tirade of bleeps and twitters accompanied him as he crossed the distance
to the little astromech and disposed of his coat. He had not told anyone
what he had come here for and he had had his reasons. The secrecy wasn't
necessary and he would doubtlessly tell Mara, his wife, about it eventually.
His brother-in-law, Han Solo, had it already figured out.
The fact that the Corellian hadn't tried to talk him out of it showed the
former farmboy just how much the older man really understood.
His faithful mechanical friend, though, hadn't found it in him to understand
his master's point of view and he felt it appropriate to heighten his
protests to a concert of trills that shrilled uncomfortably in Luke's ears
as he knelt in front of the astromech.
"We have had this discussion before and if you think you can persuade me not
to do it, go through your memory storage and count how many times exactly
you've managed to keep me from doing something I wanted to do in the past."
The droid gave him the electronic equivalent of a snort, then obliged and
opened a small section on his body to reveal a set of keys.
Luke did some adjustments, then straightened and took a last look around. It
was crucial that the astromech stood at the exact right place. The exercise
to come was unpredictable - Luke knew but the basics of what was coming his
way. It would still only work if R2 were positioned correctly.
Once satisfied, he nodded to his little accompany, "Start the sequence, R2."
While the data was loaded, Luke closed his eyes, let his arms sink to his
sides and tried to find his inner balance. He would go to his physical - and
mental - limits.
Han hadn't said a word when they had met up early in the morning, but the
look in the hazel eyes had echoed Luke's own doubts. Doubts about whether he
was ready to do this. This had been one reason for his long meditation at
the window before.
Now he knew that he was ready. As ready as he could ever be. The trials that
had shown him that fears did not vanish if you ran, that they even lost
their might upon your mind as you went and faced them, had been painful and
brought him closer to doom than anything ever had before. But they lay
behind him.
And to prove this to himself, there was only one way.
At the signal from R2, Luke unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and
dropped into a ready stance, left leg forward and slightly bent. The
humming, green blade pointed toward the floor. His muscles were relaxed as
he gathered his strength.
The awareness of his surroundings was flawless. Although his eyes were
closed, he knew the position of every stairway, of every column and of every
little pebble of sand or dirt on the otherwise spotless, gleaming floor.
There were no sounds to warn him, not even a movement in the air that could
alert him to the danger. All he had was the Force. As far as Luke was
concerned, it was all he needed.
In one fluid motion, he spun around and brought the saber up before his
face, frying two of his holographic adversaries instantly. And with that the
four dozen enemies broke formation, similar to a starfighter flight that was
surprised by a proton torpedo dropped right into its midst.
The air was full of their whirs as the animated thud and razor bugs swirled
around, knocking against walls and pillars and using their momentum to come
right back at him, from every angle possible.
Luke swung back his right leg to garner momentum of his own and jumped into
the air, covering a distance of several meters as he rotated around himself
and brought his blade with him in a deadly, circling pattern.
Simulated bugs whizzed past him, left and right, beneath him and over him as
he navigated through their formation, the Force giving him the edge he
needed to recognise their trajectories and move to avoid them.
He landed lightly on the floor and dropped into a roll over his left
shoulder to dodge a group of six bugs, knocking them out of the air with his
right foot and finishing them with a sweep of his lightsaber as he came
upright again.
His orientation still intact, he took a Force-enhanced leap and landed on
one of the stairways curving up to a series of interconnected balconies that
covered one half of the hall. Luke ran towards the nearest balcony with
fluid grace, defending his back with precise, short moves that knocked bugs
off their course or killed them.
The Jedi Master had been working for months to split his concentration thus
that he could run at full speed and move his lightsaber effectively without
ever glancing back. The holographic thud bugs came close to the originals in
that he could barely feel them in the Force, but he had learned to isolate
the empty spaces within the fabric that dominated all life of this galaxy
and follow them.
It had been slow and barely effective a technique in the beginning, but he
had perfected it after months of training. With another dozen foes
dispatched, he had a few precious seconds to ascertain the situation as the
combat computer within R2 regrouped its players and Luke used them to cross
the balconies with a series of long leaps and position himself with his back
to a solid wall.
There was barely a heartbeat until the astromech started the second
sequence - Luke had killed enough bugs to ensure that he could have dealt
easily with the remaining number, so the program automatically heightened
the level of the task.
The air filled anew with the buzzing of countless holographic wings, but
this time it was the maximum number of thud bugs a Yuuzhan Vong Warrior
could carry. Luke counted seventy and analysed in the fraction of a second
the formation in which they were coming at him and the course he had to plot
to reach the objective of this exercise - the holograph of a Yuuzhan Vong
Warrior shimmering in front of R2, more than a dozen meters away from him
and a good two meters below.
The Jedi Master breathed deeply and quenched the excitement that wanted to
well up within him. The basic tactic of countering a similar attack had so
far been neutralizing all the beetles first and then going for the warrior
that had dispatched them, a tactic that was not only time consuming but left
the Jedi in question very much exposed to other attacks by the same warrior,
be it amphistaff, tsaisi or hand-to-hand.
He had come up with another idea and this was the trial run. If it worked,
he could start refining and perfecting it. The probability that he would
once again face a hostile Yuuzhan Vong that had these weapons at his
disposal was marginal - if not nonexistent - but no matter the technique,
there was never just one way to employ it.
The mass of thud bug simulations swarmed out, formed groups and came at him
from different directions, filling the air around and before him with a
deadly labyrinth of fast moving living bullets that would shred him to
pieces if he were to lose concentration.
While he spun and dodged and his lightsaber sang around him, he diverted
part of his attention to the bugs that stayed on hold between him and the
projected warrior and watched their patterns of movement when they reacted
to his cautious feints in their direction.
Then he moved forward, took three long steps and vaulted down from the
railing of the balcony, green blade flashing to protect his body from the
bugs that had reacted quick enough to veer around and follow him.
He landed on the floor and jumped back up in the air immediately, noticing
at the fringes of his perception the bugs that slammed into the marble where
he had touched it. Luke turned while still in the air and brought his blade
down in a diagonal arc and back up to clear the space around him before he
landed upright two meters away from his target.
Seeing their master in danger, the totality of the thud bugs now
concentrated on him and closed in on him while he started running towards
his foe. Half of them came from the side of the window, almost invisible
because of the blinding sunlight.
They never reached him as he erected a Force wall on that side, but a group
behind him was luckier. He groaned as two slammed into his neck and sent him
face-first to the floor. His lightsaber went sailing and he slithered
uncontrolled towards the Yuuzhan Vong Warrior. The alien brought up his
weapon to greet him with a doubtlessly lethal blow to the head, sure of his
victory.
Luke did nothing to stop his forward movement, instead he summoned all the
control over his muscles that he had and flipped onto his back, catching the
eyes of the Yuuzhan Vong to keep a sense of direction and allowing himself
another smile.
The Jedi sent a flex through his right biceps and with the faintest hiss,
something slithered into his hand. Another pressure, soft enough to go
unnoticed by any enemy, made it stiffen and with silent grace, Luke gave his
body some more of a momentum and took the legs of the Yuuzhan Vong away from
under him.
The alien's eyes were widened in surprise and his mouth had opened to give
air to a curse as Luke swung the amphistaff with both hands and sheared it
through the other's armpit, severing the limb cleanly and letting the
warrior fall over to the side.
Agilely, Luke rolled to a crouching position and buried the head of the
foreign weapon in the back of his adversary's skull. As the hologram
dissolved, he came to his feet, called the lightsaber back to his hands and
launched himself into the mass of remaining thud bugs.
When the last one had been killed, Luke stood in the middle of the hall,
breathing hard and granting himself a moment in which he didn't register
anything but his rapidly beating heart and the blood racing in his ears.
Then, slowly, he allowed his surroundings to float back into his
consciousness and relaxed. The amphistaff, feeling the subtle change in his
muscles, grew limp and slithered around his forearm, rested its head on the
back of his hand and hissed in content.
Luke blinked and waited with baited breath for any sign of the savage lust
and exhilaration that he had feared to feel blossom upon allowing this piece
of the alien culture into his mind. But there was no such emotion within
him. Deep satisfaction filled him instead, satisfaction at the efficiency
and skill with which he had solved the situation and the depth of his
connection to the Force.
Beyond that, his mind was blissfully empty, cleansed the way only this kind
of exercise could. And that was how it was supposed to be.
The Jedi Master sank to his knees with a broad smile on his face and
gestured to R2.
The faithful droid rolled over, opened his hidden compartment and allowed
him to take out the yorik coral box stored therein.
Luke took it out and let the amphistaff slither into its nesting spot. Then
he grasped the small satchel that he had stuffed in behind and emptied its
contents - a motley of meat morsels - into the box. The Yuuzhan Vong animal
was taking its reward with gratitude as he let the yorik coral merge again
and put it back into R2's compartment.
The astromech gave another soft hoot, voicing a hesitant question.
"Yes, " Luke answered, "Now I've done what I needed to do."
"And you always need to make your life more complicate than it is anyway,
don't you?"
The Jedi Master smiled as the deep, rich voice sounded through the hall and
turned slowly. Han Solo was walking toward him in a most casual manner, but
his eyes were taking in every detail on the other's face.
"Liked the show?"
The Corellian answered with a huff as he came to stand next to the younger
man, still studying the other's expression.
Luke perched an eyebrow in impatience. Normally it didn't take Han that long
to share his opinion about any given thing with him and if he was keeping
back now, it meant that he wasn't comfortable about voicing his impressions.
Shifting uneasily, the Jedi Master frowned, "What?"
Han's face cleared, "I saw nothing that reminded me of Liin."
Luke relaxed visibly and went over to pick up his cloak. Slinging it around
his shoulders, he beckoned to R2 to follow him and returned to Han's side,
"Seeing the look on your face, I was getting worried. I didn't feel anything
out of the ordinary, you know. Nothing compared to what I felt when he was
still an issue."
"Me neither. I was just wondering why you were so afraid he would be
troubling you again. I remember what you told me and I thought he was gone
for good. Was I wrong?"
It wasn't easy to keep the worry out of his voice and even more difficult to
keep it out of his face as they made their way towards the doors that led
out of the room. Luke had never been one to be babied. Regardless of the
fact that he needed just that at times, it was also the quickest way to make
him shut down and block you out, no matter what you were trying to worm out
of him or explain to him.
His friend's silence didn't much to soothe him and he was about to push a
bit farther when Luke shook his head and the concentration on his face
dissolved into a broad, genuine smile.
"No, not at all. There was just something that made me wonder whether
something had been left. I mean nothing of his essence. More something of
his skills, his abilities."
Han's eyebrows rose and Luke took a moment to array his thoughts while they
crossed the long corridor to the lifts on this level. Their steps echoed
around them. This part of the Palace was deserted and would only start
teeming with life when the Jedi would take to it. Which would happen quite
soon, as the Corellian knew.
It was amazing how things had changed. One and a half year ago, the Jedi had
had one of the worst stands ever with the government and the peace within
the Order had deteriorated because some of the younger Knights had been of
the firm opinion to know better how to use the Force and to stay away from
the Dark Side than Luke did.
Then things had happened almost too quickly to grasp them and now here they
were, with Leia at the top of the New Republic government and Luke
establishing a Coruscant headquarter for his pupils and fellow Masters. And
with peace once again gracing the galaxy.
"I still understand their language."
His friend's voice pulled Han out of his thoughts and he needed a few
seconds to focus back on the smaller man.
"What do you mean, you still understand their language?"
They stepped into the lift and Luke leaned against the wall opposite the
Corellian as they started to be carried upwards.
"When I was fighting against Liin, when he was trying to conquer my soul, I
could understand the Yuuzhan Vong."
"Not a big surprise, I guess," Han commented.
Luke gave him a smirk, "No, indeed. When I got rid of Liin and after
Mezhan's death, I was automatically assuming that this ability had left me,
because it had been a part of Liin, not of me."
The taller man nodded for him to continue.
"Two days ago, I was reviewing all the old files we have of the Yuuzhan Vong
for Tionne. She wants to archive them properly so that all the Masters and
Adepts will have access to them in the future and can search for key words.
It took me three recordings to realise that I was listening to them and was
understanding every single word."
"Sith spit." Han voiced. His eyes had grown larger and it was not all too
difficult to catch the waves of shock and sudden worry that were emanating
from him.
Luke held up a hand and hoped his smile would quiet his friend.
"For a moment, I panicked and thought that maybe I hadn't managed to purge
everything of Liin from my soul. But I did."
"You sure?"
The Jedi Master nodded, "I did. I have thought a lot about this and I have
come to that conclusion already a couple of days ago. However, I wanted to
have a last confirmation and I knew the only way to get it was to use the
amphistaff that was bred for him and see that I don't respond with any kind
of blood lust or ferocity. I knew, however, that I didn't do a good job
recognising signs of Liin in myself the last time around and you are not
only the one who knows about the amphistaff, you also interacted with Liin
and saw me fight when I was him."
Silence fell once again over him as Han thought about what he had just heard
and allowed his pulse to slow down somewhat. Everything that had happened
because of Liin Kwaad had been horror for all of them, most of all for Luke.
The thought that a piece of the Yuuzhan Vong Warrior could have survived
within the Jedi Master, however small a piece it might actually be, was
enough to worry him. It took him a few moments to allow the relief about
Luke's explanations to consume him. It was over. Luke had known it even
before this morning and it was true.
Of course that brought up a different question.
"Then why can you understand them?"
Luke sighed and scratched his head, his confusion evident. The gesture
reminded Han so much of the eighteen-year-old farmboy he had once known that
he had to laugh.
The Jedi shot him an annoyed glance, then grinned and shrugged, "Well, I
don't really know. I suspect it's the lessons I got when I was Elan's
captive. And maybe my subconscious caught the words when Liin and Mezhan
were communicating. I suppose the possibilities are endless. Truth be told,
I'm not unhappy about it. It'll make dealing with them so much easier if I
understand what they say while they think I have no clue about it."
"True," Han acknowledged, "Does Mara know?"
Luke made a face, "No, she doesn't. Not yet anyway. I kind of… uh… forgot to
tell her."
The Corellian smirked at him, "I see. You will, of course."
The younger man stared at his boots for a while, then nodded, "I guess I
won't get around it. I felt her stretching out for me while we were down
there and she knows I've been doing exercise. She also knows you've been
there."
Now it was Han's turn to grimace, "Great. I'm dead."
"Nah, Leia won't let her kill you."
The Corellian snorted, "No, she'll kill me herself after she learns I've
been keeping that snake-thingy for you all the time."
"Amphistaff."
"Whatever."
Luke grinned and decided it was time to change the topic. "So, what about
this Senate session tomorrow? Has Leia let anything slip?"
Han shook his head, "No. I actually think she doesn't know herself what's
going on. The Senator of some backwater planet has requested you be there
and for some reason he insisted that he couldn't wait until your regular
attendance later this month."
"He could have just asked for a talk outside the Senate session. It's
commonly known I'm on planet at the moment, what with acquiring the new
rooms for the Jedi in the Palace."
The Corellian shrugged, "He's a politician, kid. There is something he wants
and he will think he's got a bigger chance getting it from you if the whole
Senate hears him asking for it."
Luke kept his expression neutral, "He won't be the first to try that."
Ever since he had assumed the position of Jedi Ambassador, people were
approaching him with pleas, both politically and privately motivated, that
he just couldn't fulfil. At the beginning, he had been almost unnerved by
the nature of their demands and the way they asked for them, wondering at
how his new position convinced them that all of a sudden, he was going to
owe them anything.
With time, he had come to accept the attitude of those around him as a
given, a firm constant in his life, and had learnt to deal with it. Leia had
been a big help in that regard, sharing with him all the experience she had
gathered in her decades in political service.
At first Luke had worried that people would start to look at him in a
negative way and that they would expand this opinion to the Jedi Order -
which would have been all but desirable. But they hadn't. Instead the Jedi
Master had the feeling that there was more respect coming his way as the
Senators and lobbyists had understood that although politically a beginner,
he was not a naïve toy waiting to be incorporated into their intrigues and
personal aspirations.
Although it was only about a year that he sat in on Senate sessions at least
once a month, he felt already more at home there than he would have ever
thought. Being a politician would never be his favourite pastime, but he
realised the necessity and the good he could do in his position as Jedi
Ambassador. He sat in on law decisions with a vote and was generally called
upon as the voice of the Jedi.
After the war with the Yuuzhan Vong and the peace treaty that had been put
into place, the reputation of the Jedi had risen to what it had been after
the Emperor's fall and suddenly most politicians and non-governmental bodies
seemed to think it was important to hear their opinions on certain matters
to get 'the galactic picture', as they called it.
This way, the Jedi Order was directly involved in the government without
neither dominating it nor being limited by it. They were an independent body
that was responsible only to the Chief-of-State and that also in very
limited terms.
Which was exactly what Luke had always wanted to achieve for the Jedi and it
filled him with satisfaction that he had succeeded.
It freed the way for the next project he was determined to undertake, which
was the recreation of the Jedi Council. His close friends in the Order had
reacted with hesitation to his idea, which had taken him aback. Even Mara
had said that if everyone wanted him to be the sole leader, he should just
accept their stand.
But fact was that Luke felt it would be wrong to give in. He felt the
confidence and awe in all of the Jedi when they talked to him and their
trust in his judgments and wisdom was thus that they would be perfectly
content without having a say in their missions. That didn't mean it was the
right thing to do, though.
In this aspect, his role in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong and the peace
treaty had changed the climate within the Order in a way that Luke did not
fully welcome. Whereas meetings had been reined by discussions and points of
view had been shared and discussed, now they all looked to him for the
decisions and didn't bring in their own opinions anymore the way they had
before.
Luke didn't think of himself as infallible - the way he saw it, he could not
be satisfied with how things were going right now. The voices of Kam Solusar
and Tionne, Corran Horn, Streen and Kirana Ti couldn't be left the only ones
willing to question his assessments and decisions.
In the end, he would have to come up with a system that would incorporate
both. His position as the leader of the Order - of which he wasn't half as
fond as everyone around him seemed to be - and the possibility for others to
bring in themselves in a constructive way.
"Kid? Hey, kid! Which galaxy have you flown to?"
Luke blinked and stared at Han for a moment, then realised the lift had
stopped and opened out onto the floor of the Solo apartment and the
Corellian was standing outside waiting for him to follow.
"Sorry, Han. I was just thinking."
"Yeah. I thought you were looking too solemn to have a naughty telepathic
chat with your lovely wife."
"Han!"
"Just kidding, Luke. Anything you want to talk about?" Han stabbed his hands
into the bags of his pants and took his time to wander along the corridor,
enjoying the view over the city that was bathed in the light of the spring
sun.
"It's just the Order, you know. Everyone wants me to be the sole leader."
"What's wrong with that? Haven't you been doing that ever since you decided
to start the Academy?"
"Yes.."
"What's changed? Tired of the responsibility?"
Luke's eyes darted to the serious face of his friends and he paused, the
obvious answer suddenly not so obvious anymore. Was he becoming tired
indeed?
Slowly, the Jedi shook his head, "No. No, it's not that. I don't like the
attitude of the others. They look at me as some kind of all-knowing,
invincible and infallible leader and that's just nothing I can be."
Han frowned, "I can see your problem. That's why you want the Council. And
that's why they don't think they need it."
Luke nodded.
The Corellian shrugged, "All you have to do is come up with a council that
you preside."
The former farmboy didn't answer, so Han cocked an eyebrow, "No?"
The younger man massaged his temple, "It seems to be that simple, yes, but I
don't know whether I want to preside it. I don't know whether it's right."
Han's features darkened, "This is because of what Senator Niuv said a couple
of weeks ago, isn't it?
Luke remained silent.
"Kid, you can't really believe that nonsense. No one else did, so you
shouldn't either."
"There are those who believe it. Or who are insecure enough to be troubled
by his words."
"Well, yeah, then they're idiots. And their number is very small. Something
that you know very well."
"Pwoe and Niuv work together and they are the representatives of very
influential worlds out there, Han."
The Corellian snorted, "Sure are. That doesn't mean anyone is listening to
what they say. They chose their allies unwisely in the past and they missed
the right time to step away from them. There aren't more than a handful of
Senators who take them serious at this point. I say don't worry about them."
"That's not easy if they make a point of claiming whatever the Jedi are
doing is just a bid for power in disguise," Luke sighed and for a moment his
face fell as the whole weight of his position and the forces that worked
against him crushed down on his shoulders.
"Yeah," his brother-in-law shook his head, "Who would have thought they'd
cling to the whole anti-Jedi thing even after the peace treaty with the
Vong."
The Jedi Master pressed his lips together, "In the beginning I thought their
motivation was genuine fear of the power the Jedi could get if we were to
take the path they accuse us of envisioning. But meanwhile, all I read in
them is greed and lust for power. It's not just against me they work, they
also complicate matters for Leia whenever they can."
"I know. But their influence on the opinion of the public has dwindled. I
don't think you have to worry about another upsurge of Jedi antipathy
anytime soon. Besides, as soon as Karrde pinpoints their links to the
smugglers in the Outer Rim, Pwoe and Niuv will be done for anyway."
Luke frowned in doubt, "IF there are any links he can pinpoint at all."
"Bah," Han waved a hand in dismissal, "There's ALWAYS a trace to follow,
Luke. Especially if Karrde is looking for it. In the meantime, you'll just
have to keep being the wall those two run into."
The former farmboy smiled, at last, "And you bet I'll be."
The Corellian winked at him. They had meanwhile reached the door of the Solo
apartment and entered. The spacious rooms were filled with childish squeals
and giggles and the sweet laughter of one Alderaanian princess.
Every trace of worry or annoyance left Luke within the fraction of a second
as he discarded his cloak and hastened his steps to reach the living room.
The stunning skyline of Coruscant during an early spring afternoon was a
lovely background to the view that let his heart beat faster in happiness.
Leia Organa Solo was sitting on a nerf wool blanket that she had positioned
in front of the large window. The colours of the rainbow swirled on it in
never ending patterns that had been stitched by hand on her homeplanet a
long time ago. Luke remembered the day on which Han had given this precious
gift to his wife in honour of her birthday. He also remembered the day they
had spent running through seedy shops in the lower levels of the city planet
to locate one of the few that had managed to survive Alderaan's destruction.
In front of the petite woman crawled a toddler, fascinated by the colourful
wonders beneath him and announced his delight in his childish language
whenever Leia laid his tiny hand on one of the colours and told him the
name.
The moment the Jedi Master stepped into the room, though, Ben Skywalker's
attention shifted and large, blue eyes turned to the man that was
approaching the blanket with a huge smile on his face.
Chubby arms lifted and the small child struggled to his feet. With uncertain
steps and a delighted squeal that, to the experienced ear, translated into
"Daddy!" he tried to meet his father halfway only to crow in excitement when
Luke picked him up and nuzzled his cheek in greeting.
The child clung to him and started pointing eagerly towards the blanket,
"Colours. Daddy play."
Luke beamed and settled in on the blanket next to his sister. Leia brushed
her lips over his cheek in greeting and took her nephew from his father's
arms to place him back on the floor.
"I didn't know Ben was here." His words were laced with mild surprise as
Luke allowed his son to take his hand and the boy proceeded to teach his
father the colours just as his aunt had taught them to him all morning.
Leia smiled and caressed through the silky, blond hair of the toddler. Ben
pretty much ignored her, having had his fill of cuddles already. "Mara
brought him over early. She said an unexpected appointment had come up that
she couldn't take him to."
Luke frowned and his sister was quick to add, "She said, too, that you
shouldn't worry. It was just that it wasn't going to take place in her
office and she didn't want to take Ben to the pub she and her client were
meeting at."
The Jedi Master relaxed and shifted slightly to accommodate his son as the
child crawled all over his lap to reach a bright red spot.
"A client, hu? So it's got nothing to do with the rooms the Jedi are going
to acquire in the Palace."
Leia shook her head, "No. She said she'd already taken care of most of that.
You're going to have a whole storey for the Order."
That remark managed to send the small rest of the frown on Luke's face
flying and his happy beam returned, "That's great. That means we can have
temporary quarters for Jedi during missions here or that lead them closer to
Coruscant than to Yavin IV, a library…. I'm glad we'll have enough room."
"If your Academy is anything to go by, you'll not even use all of the room
you've got." Han added, crossed the room and joined his wife and
brother-in-law on the floor. The tall man gently nudged the toddler that was
watching the new arrival with interest, "Hi, short stuff."
As a way of greeting, Ben made his way over to the Corellian and crawled in
his lap, eagerly inspecting the man's belt. When he saw the empty blaster
holster, he looked up in dismay, as if to chide his uncle for not bringing
the toy that, next to his father's lightsaber, seemed to interest him most.
Focusing on his father as if looking for support and finding a stern Jedi
Master shaking his head no, the boy's lower lip started trembling, but Luke
already knew that face and had found a way to counteract what was to come.
He levitated Ben up into the air with the Force, pushed him softly and let
him collide ever so gently with his chest. Feigning a groan, he toppled over
and chuckled as his son recognised their game and started to poke and tickle
him as best he could with his limited physical powers.
Leia and Han both grinned at each other and rose, leaving father and son to
continue their play.
"Are you two staying for dinner? Mara said it could get late." The Princess
asked, straightening her light blue, velvety gown as she started walking
towards the kitchen.
"Sure, why not. Can I use your shower?" Luke didn't even look at them
anymore, completely transfixed by the child in his arms.
"Just go ahead and help yourself." Han gestured in the fresher's direction
and joined his wife in the kitchen. Leia was already consulting with the
food preparation unit about the ingredients they had at home.
"Would you ever have thought?" He smiled and shook his head while pouring
himself a glass of water.
"What?" His wife asked.
"Well, Luke being a father. I still can't believe it at times."
Leia paused and smiled herself as the sounds of the wild play in the living
room filled the apartment.
"Me neither. But it's as if he's never done anything else."
"True. It helps him relax, too."
The Princess frowned, "Trouble?"
Han shrugged, "No, not really. He's just brooding about the whole Jedi
Council thing. Told him to just go ahead as he thinks fit and not bother
about everyone else."
The small woman nodded in appreciation, "That's the best he can do."
"He's also wondering what that Senator could want of him." Luke's voice
intruded as he stepped into the kitchen, Ben safe in his arms and curiosity
evident on his face.
Leia gave him an apologetic shrug, "I have no idea. He said he didn't want
to talk about it outside the Senate. Whatever it is, he's eager to get broad
support. I suppose he'll want the Jedi to help his planet or him in some way
or the other."
"In other words, all I can do is wait." He paused a moment, then smiled,
"Wait and see to it that this little fellow gets something to eat. He's
hungry."
And with that, the Jedi Master turned and headed deeper into the apartment
in search of the bag with his son's things. Whatever was awaiting him the
next day, right now he was looking forward to a comfortable afternoon spent
with his family and a lazy evening with his wife.
---------------------------
To Be Continued
---------------------------