Chapter One
A Break in the Monotony
Obi-Wan Kenobi looked around his hut and sighed. As the twin suns of Tatooine set, he realized he was finishing his hundredth day on the desert planet, his hundredth day of exile. Not for the first time he wondered how he came to this point in his life, how everything could go so horribly wrong.
Over the past several weeks, he'd gone through a wide-range of emotions as he reflected on the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Sith and the Galactic Empire. First came the deep sense of failure. Why hadn't he seen it, felt it, that Palpatine was in fact a Sith Lord? He'd worked alongside the man for years, and no one, not even Master Yoda, discovered this. And then there was the matter of Anakin, something Obi-Wan still had trouble negotiating in his mind. Seeing his friend, one he considered a brother, lying utterly broken, screaming at Obi-Wan in such hate. The Jedi still encountered frequent nightmares of that moment on Mustafar.
Then came the far more dangerous emotion of anger. Anger could lead to a bad place for someone as powerful in the Force as Obi-Wan, yet he allowed himself to indulge several times in this feeling. He'd been played for a fool for years, from the time he was Qui-Gon Jinn's apprentice through the Clone Wars. How many battles had he won, successful negotiations enacted, all for the benefit of the Sith? And Qui-Gon, had he died in vain, all to serve Palpatine's purpose? While Yoda trained Obi-Wan to contact Qui-Gon and continue his training before they separated, Obi-Wan still couldn't bring himself to try, afraid of revealing the dark thoughts lurking within him to his former master.
Finally, just two weeks ago, came shock. While sitting in a cantina at one of the nearby spaceports, observing his new neighbors and enjoying a light Corellian ale, the holonews reported some new laws being enacted by the Empire, and a recent military action that squashed some uprising on Bothawui. Obi-Wan took a sip of his ale while watching the news but spit it across the counter when he saw who led the campaign – Darth Vader.
Anakin survived. How in the world?
Obi-Wan stared at the footage on the holoscreen, seeing the black-caped figure who resembled a droid. He looked more like General Grievous than the handsome young man Obi-Wan knew and trained. Deep sadness penetrated the Jedi's heart, and he felt grateful when the patron sitting next to him requested the barkeep switch the station to a podracing event.
For days after, Obi-Wan replayed his final moments with Anakin in his mind. Should he have gone back to make sure Anakin was dead? Could he have killed his friend? One afternoon, Obi-Wan realized he'd been sitting, staring at the same patch of wall in his hermitage, for over four hours straight, unmoving, running through all the what if scenarios.
"This is ludicrous," he vocalized, suddenly filling the stillness of the space, happy for some sound. He couldn't go on like this, thinking about what could have been. He was on Tatooine for the long haul, so he needed to make the best of it. He jumped up and went outside to work on installing a new moisture collection device.
Now, sitting in his hut on the evening of his hundredth day, he thought about what his plans should be for continued training and filling time until…something. Yes, first begin to work on the meditation techniques in order to communicate with Qui-Gon. And maybe catch up on the literature and holodramas he'd missed while fighting the Clone Wars. That would certainly fill the time. He'd head into Mos Eisley, the largest spaceport on this side of Tatooine, to look for an entertainment shop, although he suspected quality literature might be difficult to come by in such a seedy place. Glad to finally have a plan, Obi-Wan lay down to sleep, closing his eyes, hoping he didn't dream of Mustafar.
In the dead of night, a loud, mechanical roar awoke Obi-Wan. Leaping out of his makeshift bed and to his feet, he resisted the urge to reach for his lightsaber, which rested quietly alongside Anakin's in a trunk across the room. While the sound wouldn't have even woken him under normal circumstances, he'd become used to the dead quiet of the desert night.
Opening the door to his hut, he saw a bright light a distance away, along a neighboring hillside, where he knew to be another ramshackle dwelling with a back into a small cave. Abandoned by another hermit long ago, Obi-Wan checked out that location first before deciding on his current home, which seemed to get less direct sunlight.
The light and sound came from a small transport vehicle, not unlike the one he now owned. The loud roar suddenly cut, the light disappearing, the world quiet once again. Stars lit up the sky, but not enough to allow Obi-Wan to see who emerged from the vehicle. Hmmm…would he find a new neighbor in the morning?
Heading back inside, he made sure his door was padlocked against any outside intruders and fell back to sleep, knowing he needed to do the very un-Obi-Wan-like thing and remain uninvolved.
The next morning, as Obi-Wan completed his daily meditation and prepared to head into town, he climbed to the top of his hill for a look at the neighboring hermitage. Bringing a scope, he shuffled along in his brown robes, hoping to blend in, not be spotted, continue to avoid complications as he had for the past hundred days. Still, the monotony of those days made him curious as to who else would seek refuge in this barren wasteland.
Lying on his stomach and peeking over the side of the hill, he saw someone unloading crates into the hut. The small transport didn't seem to carry much, reminding Obi-Wan of his own arrival on Tatooine. Placing the scope to his eyes, he adjusted the focus to get a better look.
The being looked to be a female human, Obi-Wan immediately guessing Corellian from her style of dress and hair. As a Jedi Master trained in negotiation, Obi-Wan found himself well-versed in the different cultures on different planets. She wore baggy pants with many pockets, sturdy, practical boots, and a loose fitting shirt, all sandy brown. Her hair set her apart, shoulder length platinum blonde with streaks of purple, blue, and pink, which he knew to be popular on Corellia over the past few years. She worked quickly, appeared strong, sweating under the growing heat. Obi-Wan continued to watch her, wondering what to do. Should he go introduce himself?
"Hello, I'm Ben, your neighbor and fellow hermit. So, what in the galaxy are you hiding from?" he imagined himself saying to the woman. Then he shook his head. The days of not talking to anyone were getting to him. After living in the Jedi Temple most of his life, surrounded by others, to more recently leading entire armies, Obi-Wan needed to adjust to solitude.
The pebbles slipped underneath him, and he felt his body slide slightly. Still glancing through the scope at the woman, he saw her turn suddenly and look directly at the spot where he lay. He slid out of view slowly, certain she either heard him or noticed the reflection of the glass on his scope. Well, so much for staying inconspicuous.
But nobody came out to the middle of the Tatooine desert to make friends. She most likely came to be alone, like himself. He crept slowly back up to find her working again, loading the last of the crates into the hut and disappearing inside herself. He sighed, then made his way toward his own transport to head into Mos Eisley.
Mayli glared at her new abode in frustration. Hiding out was not her style; she was a strong woman, hardworking, ran her own business, confrontational when needed, firm but kind. To be in this predicament irked her to no end, but she also knew, in the pit of her gut, she'd gotten herself into a very dangerous situation, and laying low for a time, perhaps even a standard year, might be necessary. Shaking her head, she began to unpack the few necessities she'd brought from the boxes she was able to cram onto her transport.
A pilot for hire with a good-sized, well-kept freighter and a reputation for efficiency and professionalism, Mayli spent most of her adult life in the hyperlanes, doing supply runs, transporting passengers, establishing a reputable business for herself. Growing up in a family of pilots and flight engineers, Mayli felt proud to be carrying on the tradition. But now she began to wonder if all that was at an end.
She thought back to when she first encountered a group that simply called themselves The Scholars. She's been recommended to them by another one of her customers, a Kuati restauranteur who hired Mayli three times a year to transport specialized, luxury ingredients for her high-end establishment. She met with the head of The Scholars for lunch at the restaurant, and found herself sitting across from a tall, light blue-skinned, middle-aged Twi'lek woman. The Twi'lek was strikingly beautiful and draped in golden robes, and Mayli, in her flight suit and scoffed boots, felt small. Still, the woman, who called herself Dia, was very kind, and explained she needed a pilot to bring her research team supplies on a regular basis, sometimes transporting the occasional passenger. Their difficulty in finding a regular pilot came from their location, a space station in the Unknown Regions. The group, Dia explained, were scientists doing experiments with gravity. Curious about the Unknown Regions herself, excited to fly to a new location, Mayli quickly took the job, happy to find the pay far exceeded her other work, perhaps allowing her to update her hyperdrive.
For the first few standard months, Mayli delighted in transporting food and other supplies to the elegant and rather large space station rotating around a small star just beyond the edge of the Unknown Regions. The Scholars, a mixed group of sentients, greeted Mayli with smiles. She never stayed long at the station, allowing for time to visit other neighboring systems, see the unspoiled beauty of the galaxy. The work was pleasant, regular, and fed her need to explore.
Everything changed a little over a hundred days ago. Dia contacted her to pick up a visitor and bring her to the space station. Mayli met the little Chadra-Fan after dropping off a shipment of high-end Alderaan wine on Coruscant. Rather than staying in the passenger's quarters, the rodent-like Chadra-Fan named Jabe liked to be in the cockpit, watching Mayli work, asking enthusiastic questions, revealing her excitement at being invited by The Scholars to observe gravity anomalies encountered in the Unknown Regions, as she was an engineer working on new hyperspace technologies. Mayli, who usually kept to herself, delighted in Jabe's company, as she was naturally funny. Over the several day journey, the two became friends.
Landing at the station, Mayli was immediately approached by Dia and some of the other Scholars, who whisked Jabe away. Mayli refueled and began to prepare for the flight back when the news broke over the holonet – all hyperlanes were shut down, the Clone Wars were over, but Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had been attacked by the Jedi, who were being hunted and destroyed across the galaxy. Mayli watched the footage with the space station technicians around a holoscreen in the hanger. The scene seemed unbelievable, the Jedi Temple in flames. Mayli just saw the landmark days before.
Captivated by the holonews, Mayli jumped when she realized Dia stood right behind her.
"You best stay here for a couple of days," the woman said, her voice smooth and steady, captivating. "We'll happily provide comfortable accommodations for you until it's safe to travel again."
The suite Mayli moved in to was the most luxurious place she ever stayed. Sitting area, large bed, huge refresher. For the first two days, she simply caught up on sleep, actually enjoying the sensation of not moving. Three meals were brought to her room everyday by a pleasant serving staff.
But Mayli never stayed in one place for long, and she found herself venturing out into the station. Unfortunately, Jabe was nowhere to be seen, but she did encounter several of The Scholars, their mixed species group, often huddled together speaking a language other than Basic, one Mayli did not recognize. Holoscreens stayed on the news, showing the government transition from the Republic to the Empire, Mayli wondering how this would affect her business, the various licenses she kept current, the protocols she needed to follow. She supposed her next stop would be Coruscant.
One time during her walk around the base, she ventured into large room that looked like a library. Data pads, digital memory devices, and even real paper texts. Nobody seemed to be about, and Mayli walked down the several aisles, admiring the wealth of information her employers had at their fingertips. Toward the back of the library, she came across a display table of red velvet on which rested three intricately carved cubes. Obviously important due to their specialized exhibit, Mayli studied them for a while before moving on.
Finally, after several days, all hyperlanes opened, and the new Galactic Empire allowed for free travel once again, but not before sending out a variety of new protocols for pilots. Yes, she would definitely need return to Coruscant. Packing her belongings, she planned to leave first thing in the morning, hoping she would at least get the chance to say good-bye to Jabe.
The chance would never come. As she walked down the hall to the hanger the next day, a piercing scream rang out and was suddenly cut short. Mayli looked down a corridor where the sound emerged, a door at the end of it, red light coming through the crack in the bottom. Glancing up and down the hall, no one appeared about. Had she been the only one who heard? Was someone in trouble?
Mayli raced down the hall and grabbed the door handle, opening it slightly to peek inside first before bursting in for a rescue. But what she saw made her blood run cold, and she simply froze in place, unable to move. All The Scholars, including Dia, stood in a circle, chanting in an unfamiliar tongue. At the center, hovering in the air above their heads, was Jabe, her body twisted and contorted in an unnatural shape, mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Dancing in mid-air beside her was one of the cubes from the library, the piece glowing.
Force users, she thought. Like the Jedi being hunted, who hurt the Emperor. Were these Jedi as well, hiding out? Nobody would ever know they were here, out in the Unknown Regions. She'd seen holodramas on the Jedi before, their history, great feats. She'd even seen them in person a couple of times at the Galactic Capital. But something was wrong here, something sinister.
Mayli was rocked out of her thoughts when Dia suddenly cried out in what sounded like frustration. The rest of The Scholars stopped talking as well, and Jabe's body fell with a thud to the floor. Mayli let out a gasp at the horrible sound, causing the assembly to turn toward the door. Feeling her knees grow weak, Mayli realized she'd been spotted.
The door flew open as if it had a will of its own, leaving Mayli exposed. She stood in front of The Scholars, all staring at her. Dia emerged from the group, smiling warmly at the pilot.
"Oh, Mayli dear, how unfortunate you had to witness this," she purred. "We may need to dispose…"
"Now wait, Dia," came the voice of a rather tall Devaronian. "She's been a good pilot. We can't keep hiring new ones. Can't we just finagle her memory at bit?"
Dia eyed Mayli carefully for a long time. "Fine," she said and turned away, waving her hand toward the Devaronian, who came up to Mayli quickly, grabbing the top of her head with his large hand, chanting strange words.
The next thing she remembered, she awoke in the bed in her suite, with thoughts that she needed to head out that day, go to the capital to change her licenses. Cheerfully, she gathered her things and headed down the hall. She desperately wanted to say good-bye to Jabe, and while walking by the library, she thought she'd take one last glance in there for her friend. Looking around, she passed by the display holding the cubes and paused. As she regarded the carved art, a flood of events resurfaced in her mind, Jabe hovering before hitting the floor with a sickening sound, The Scholars, the Devaronian approaching her.
Force-users. Evil. She needed to do something. But she needed to get away first, find someone who could help. Obviously, The Scholars were powerful.
And the cubes. They'd been hovering around Jabe's body while they chanted. She remembered from a past holodrama on the Jedi that they had sacred artifacts. Could these be some magical devices, maybe evidence for the authorities?
Without thinking, Mayli grabbed a cube and put it in her satchel. Hurrying to her ship, she took off like normal, only this time her whole body shook.
After coming out of hyperspace into the know galaxy, Mayli saw she had a communication from the base. Holding her breathe, she listened as Dia's silky voice filled the cabin.
"Mayli, my sweet dear, please return to the station with the holocron you've taken," she said.
Holocron?
"I'm sorry the memory wipe did not work, and that we will need to take care…" But the message cut out, probably due to space/time distortions during hyperspace.
Mayli sat, frightened and alone in the cold space, the infinite vacuum. These were powerful people, these Jedi. They would trace her if she tried to turn them in, maybe hurt her family. Or maybe they would do that anyway. Terrifying images swam through her mind as the memory of Jabe's demise came back to her. What could she do? Tears began to roll down her cheeks, but she kept thinking.
Maybe they had placed a homing device on her ship. She quickly did a systems check, brought out a special sensor to check for any surveillance. Nothing. Obviously, they had more faith in their little memory charms than they should.
She hovered in empty space for an hour, considering her next step. She needed to hide, yes, jump around the galaxy then hunker down.
Her one solace came from knowing she had a holocron, which was apparently important to them. She'd already sabotaged whatever dark work they'd planned. Perhaps she should jettison it into the vacuum. But maybe they could find it easier, knowing the ways of the Force. No, she'd find a place to hide it, destroy it even. Jabe deserved some sort of retribution.
Several weeks later, after leaping around the galaxy from one hyperlane to the next, refueling at places she'd never seen, she found herself on Tatooine, a good place to spend some time hiding from the Jedi. And she'd purposefully chosen this location for one specific reason – the sarlacc of the Dune Sea. She saw a holodoc one time on the creature, and she planned to pitch the holocron inside. Glancing at the ground now, she saw her satchel, the mysterious cube inside. She shuddered.
After arriving on Tatooine, she stored her ship in a hanger owned by a Hutt, paying in advance in cash for an entire year, and purchased a transport and a map, seeing there were several places in the desert one could live for a bit, knowing she might even need to ponder physical alteration in order to emerge back into the galaxy once again.
And now here she was, not knowing what to do next, how to fill her time. She felt certain her hyper trail had been covered from her frequent change of course, but she still felt a lurch of terror occasionally overtake her. Shaking her head, she began to unpack, wondering what to do next. She knew her plan wasn't solid, not knowing much about Force-users, but she was happy for the moment to stop moving and rest after a horrifying experience.
Later in the evening, Obi-Wan returned from Mos Eisley, arms laden with a holoplayer and data chips with comedies and dramas recommended by the proprietor of a rather shady entertainment shop. He assured Obi-Wan would enjoy the shows, as they were the most popular for humans in the galaxy over the past ten years. Obi-Wan realized how out of touch he'd been from popular culture. He'd never heard of these titles or any of the performers. Nevertheless, after setting everything up, he actually felt somewhat excited to try something new, grateful to have a bit of spending money supplied by Senator Organa before they parted.
Beginning with a comedy, Obi-Wan found he didn't laugh for the entire show. Wondering if there was something wrong with him, he watched two more episodes before turning it off. He'd typically been a rather jovial person, and the comedy was of the obvious slapstick kind. But he found the characters irritating, childish. Unengaged, he popped in a drama.
Two hours later, he awoke, realizing he'd dozed off during the first episode. Turning off the holoplayer, he decided to give it another go later. Perhaps this wasn't his thing after all, but what else was there to do?
The answer came as he shuffled up the hill the next morning to observe his neighbor. He found her outside her hut, trying to install a moisture collection device. She seemed to have the same trouble he did when he put together his first one when he initially arrived. Obi-Wan had to ask the Lars family what he was doing wrong, slightly embarrassing for a Jedi Master. A simple fix with a turn of a screw but something not immediately obvious.
He watched the woman for some time. Although she looked frustrated, she also appeared patient, an admirable quality. She'd donned loose fitting robes as well, light colored, her head and pale complexion shielded from the sun, a very wise idea in the heat of two stars. He found watching her relaxing, but after a while, when she sat down in the sand, obviously about to give up for the day on the device, he realized he'd been peeping for well over an hour. He shook his head – why did he find watching her more interesting than the holoshows? Creeping down the hill back to his hermitage, he meditated, working on techniques Yoda taught him to touch the Force, feel the flow, hoping he'd be ready to contact Qui-Gon soon, continue his Jedi training so he'd be ready for…something.
The next day, while eating a small breakfast, he heard a transport. Ducking out the door quickly, he saw his neighbor fly away, presumably heading toward the nearest spaceport, probably out to ask for help with the device. He wondered if she saw his hut. Well-hidden, his own transport covered in a cloth resembling the nearby stone, he guessed she hadn't noticed him yet.
A while passed as Obi-Wan went through his routines, but he kept thinking about her moisture device. He knew how to make it work. Maybe he'd just slip over the hill while she was gone and install it properly. Just because he was in exile did not mean he abandoned the basic Jedi rule of helping others. Nodding to himself and smiling, he'd fix it quick and be back in no time.
Sliding down the hill and brushing past the large boulders, he approached her device, working quickly, remembering the process as he now had three near his home. Finalizing his work, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. Turning around, he jumped to his feet quickly. The woman stood directly in front of him, blaster pointed at his chest. How had she appeared without him knowing? He hadn't even heard her transport. How had he, a Jedi Master, been caught off guard?
"Oh…ah…hello," he said, flashing his most charming smile, one that often worked in negotiations.
She did not smile back. "Get your hands off my property," she hissed at him, glaring. The blaster remained locked on him, her finger on the trigger.
Author's Note: Welcome to my new story! I'm excited to explore a Galaxy Far, Far Away, a fandom I've enjoyed dearly all my life. While I'm a big fan of the films, I also adore the Expanded Universe novels, and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and passion for Star Wars with everyone.
I update my stories once a week, and I promise humor, adventure, and steamy romance (hence the M rating).
Follows, favorites, and reviews appreciated. Please let me know what you think; I enjoy interacting with readers on this site.
Next time, Obi-Wan must use his negotiation skills to get out of a dangerous situation, soon discovering there is more to this mysterious stranger than meets the eye or even ripples through the Force.
Thank you for reading! Take care.