The Force is right
The sun was just beginning to shine on the little hilltop deep inside the forest where Tensly sat in the only clearing in sight, meditating as he'd done every morning since he arrived here ten years ago. He let the Force take his thoughts out beyond the the ring of mountains that surrounded him, beyond the ocean to the west and the thick forest to the east. Stretching out with his feelings beyond the atmosphere of Chitau, now his home planet, and beyond the two moons that circled it. There in the flow and tide of the Force, Tensly could sense the waves and ripples of all that surrounds and binds us. He paid careful attention not to make any waves but to listen and feel for a particular kind of disturbance. Those of the dark side. Since his self imposed exile just after the Jedi purge ten years ago he made this a ritual every day in hopes of never being found by the Sith that now ruled the galaxy. Sometimes his meditation would intune him so deeply in the Force that he swore he could hear master Qui gon's voice as if it were speaking to his learner, master Kenobi. These were the times he longed to be able to counsel with his master along with master Yoda as they had so many times in the past. Assuming they were all one with the Force now he also held a slim hope that he could somehow sense them during his deep meditations. Reaching further, trying to feel any familiar force signature, he could almost feel a presence but it was so mingled with the dark side that he never pushed any further.
The morning sun warming his face, Tensley resolved from his trance. His thoughts still dwelled on the former things, old masters, the Jedi, the war, the Sith. He wondered every day if there were any other survivors. Any others out there like him. The few times he'd allowed himself to leave the planet he would scour the holonet and tabloids from various worlds for news. Discerning that most of the "news" was controlled by the empire he took much of the info with a grain of salt. He did buy into the stories of an evil Sith lord by the name of Darth Vader hunting down Jedi that survived the purge and that's why he was cautious here now. Now his thoughts turned to the here and now. To Jabe and Gatee, his two sons. Born eight years ago by his lovely wife Chalina, a native of this world whom he allowed himself the luxury of falling in love with just a few years before the end of the Clone wars. That memory made him smile. ……
His former Master, Coleman Kcaj had entrusted him with a secret mission to the far outer rim world of Akiva but enroute during one of his hyperspace jumps his ship encountered a malfunction that dropped him into the unknown region of the galaxy and crashed him onto a heavily forested planet he later learned was called Chitau. Thinking this world to be uninhabited by sentient beings he resolved to live out the remainder of his days alone as there was no way he or his ship could leave the planet. One day, about two months into his stay he found a cave system that changed his life forever. Not only were these caves rich with kyber crystals but there was also a hidden city deep underground. While meditating in a small cavern filled with kybers, he began to feel the Force in a way he'd never felt before. The crystals began to sing a melodic humming and glow in an array of colors and Tensly began to sense an abundance if sentient life abound all around him. Suddenly he saw images as if he were a computer downloading a large file of information, too fast for his brain to comprehend but the Force was interpreting for him. He saw the living force, he saw the light, the dark and the balance of all living things within. In one fraction of a second he saw the past the present and the future. He saw the future had motion and played out in differing ways. One of those futures snapped him out of his trance. The face of Anakin Skywalker burning and contorting into a fearsome dark mask. He opened his eyes as he screamed and found himself face to face with the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Instantly forgetting the nightmarish image he'd just seen in his vision. He jumped up his feet as she stood, wondering if this was still a force vision. She touched his hand, "my name is Chalina" she said.
Tensly awoke to find himself in a bed with white silk drapes all around. A sweet smell filled the room as he noticed flowers and fauna he'd never seen before. Bright crystals lit the room as he moved to sit up. His clothing and robes were clean and neatly folded on a shelf beside the bed. After donning his clothes he moved to the window and what he saw actually took his breath away. He was high up and looking down into a fairly large city that was settled into a very large cavern, completely underground.
The door opened to reveal the beautiful woman he saw in the cave along with three other people. They wore robes much like his own but were made from the same silky material the drapes were. He was fixed on Chalina's smile when the tall male next to her spoke, "Greetings Tensly Shaw Jedi knight, my name is Lorman Ti, guardian, this is my son Spiriam and daughter Chalina. Welcome to our home." Bowing slightly Tensly said, "thank you. May I ask where we are?". "You are in the city of light, the largest and uppermost city here on Chitau. We call it simply Jadar. " "Who are you? And why couldn't I sense you before?" asked Tensly. "All your questions will be answered in due time, " said Lorman Ti, " come and dine with us and let's begin to know one another. " They turned to leave Chalina catching Tensly's eye with a smile as he followed her out of the room . They were in a great palace he'd learn later. They entered the grand dining hall which was filled with many quests, some relatives and friends of the host and workers serving a variety of dishes. The walls were adorned with lighted crystals and plants that seemed to radiate with a glow and seemed to sway and flow as if under water. Tensly was seated at Lorman Ti's table along with Chalina and Spiriam and a woman that sat next to Lorman that seemed so plainly beautiful and radiant that he thought her to be an angel. And something so familiar about her, the Force! He could feel her thru the Force as a force user. "This is my wife, Chandrlia, I think you'll find you have some things in common. " Lorman said.
As the meal was served the four of them talked. The host family answering many questions but only asking a few in return. Tensly learned that his hosts, known only as the guardians were the decendants of a race of force users placed here thousands of years earlier to defend and protect the crystals in and on this world. Their task was left unknown to any others in the galaxy thus never recorded into the annuls or history of the Jedi . It all had to do with a war between the Sith and Jedi thousands of years ago. The Sith sought out kybers to use as weapons of mass destruction. The ancient writings of the original force users told how they ascertained the locations of the major kyber deposits throughout the galaxy and even beyond. The guardians were selected by the Force for various locations to guard the largest deposits of the living crystals. The guardians on each world not knowing the location of the others were enchanted with abilities to keep the crystals hidden from evil. Tensly explained that much of the same is taught today to the Jedi, to keep secret the locations of kyber crystals and to only use them for good, to help keep peace in the galaxy.
Throughout the next several days Tensly learned much about the city Jadar and about Chandrilia and her force abilities. In fact she wasn't the only force user here, everyone had some type of force calling and remarkably enough everyone lived in unity and harmony. It was strange to see. They seemed so much like the Jedi but without the restrictions such as attachment and marriage and romantic love. A race of force users cut off from the galaxy at large and living in harmony for thousands of years, not Jedi , not Sith. In fact there was no trace of the dark side here. Only peace and harmony. With attachment being centerpiece in their relationships. What would master Yoda think? Chandrilia meditated with Tensly in order to better understand the teachings of the Jedi. During these times she could read his thoughts like a book. She smiled as his thoughts led to Chalina . One day as Tensly readied himself for their daily meditation Chandrilia said, "why don't you and Chalina meditate today. She's been learning the technique and I think you can help her achive her other abilities." Thus began the path for love. For Tensly saw love as a gift of the living force. The small amounts of time he'd spent around master Qui gon and studying his writings on the living force the more he desired to learn this ancient path. The mainstream teachings of the Jedi were more dogmatic, stoic, framed and catalogued . The living force made much more sense to him. Even a young padawan he knew there was something missing from his teachings. Here he could learn a deeper way of the Force , the living force.
Months went by and Tensly and Chalina grew in the ways of the Force and grew more fond of each other. They spent their days exploring the surface of the planet as the thick forest held intrigue and mystery for both of them. It was full of small life forms from insects to mammals that helped Chalina learn more about the Force as she could feel them all around her. Tensly loved the forest because he'd felt a connection to it like no other place. It was a far cry different from Coruscant's bustling artificial mechanized world.
They had built a shelter under a cliff overhang on the side of a mountain near one of the tunnel entrances they had used to explore the latest valley they'd come to on this mountain range. The sun was setting and they were enjoying the fire and watching the stars appear in the sky. He was showing her some of the constellations he could recognize from their point in the galaxy when they both noticed two objects streaking across the sky getting closer. One of the objects seemed to veer and landed with a crash thru the trees at the foot of the mountain a few hundred meters below them while the other seemed to crash at the north end of the mountain range. Resisting the urge to run toward the object nearest them Tensly stamped out the fire and pulled out his binocs to to see if he could tell what it was that crashed. "Can you tell what it is?" Chalina asked. "No but I've got a bad feeling about this, " said Tensley, " let's pack our things and head to the tunnel entrance for the night. It would be better to wait until morning to investigate in the daylight. " "I agree, and if it's dangerous, which I'm sensing it may be, we can close the entrance and head back to Jadar to counsel with my father. " So they packed up their camp and headed for the tunnel. At first light Ten was up looking thru the binocs. Unable to see any movement he and Chali (they'd given each other nick names by now) decided to go down to investigate. They reached the foot of the mountain to find the path of broken trees that led to the downed craft. Drat! Ten recognized it. A reconnaissance vessel. How could the seperatists be here? This far away from the war?! They inched closer and saw movement. Battle droids. Ten reached out thru the Force for any signs of life aside from the droids but couldn't find any. Two neimoidians lay dead outside the wreckage and there were six walking battle droids and one droideka. Chali whispered to Ten that they must go back to tell her father. "We don't have time. I must render these droids inoperative before they can get a signal out and more droids show up." And calling upon the Force he sprinted toward the ship and ignited his blade. Although they were not sentient beings Chali still felt a cold chill as Ten ran into the crowd of surprised droids and slashed thru everyone of them and then summersaulted over and onto the rolling one with the bubble shield and drove his blue blade down into what may have been it's head and rendered it useless. That quick, just a matter of seconds and there were smoking piles of metal everywhere. A quick perimeter search showed no other signs of droids and he was motioning for Chali to come over. They rummaged thru the downed craft, an H-2 executive shuttle, which remained intact and still had power. Questions ran thru Ten's mind, how did they get this far out here? What caused them to crash? He sat in meditation and reached out with the Force. He searched the area for the other craft but all he could sense was wreckage. He hoped if anyone survived he'd be able to find them. He opened his eyes and checked the comm. There were no nearby distress calls. He adjusted the gain and heard a simple beacon outside the planets surface. "Chali, will you meditate with me? Help me look at this star system for more separatists. There could be others in orbit." Tensly and Chalina sat facing each other and holding hands. As they began to immerse themselves in the Force and stretch out into the space around this world they could feel the life of the planet, the forest, the trees, the rock and crystal, the cities below the surface, then reaching out they felt the moons. There, on the largest moon, scattered remains of a separatist ship, dreadnought, providence class. There were no life signs that could be detected from this far. They broke their mediation as they both sensed the guardians approaching and left the shuttle to go out and meet Lorman Ti , Spiriam and a handful of others that came after sensing the danger Chali felt. Months ago Ten had learned the importance of keeping this place a secret now he felt that the war he'd been a part of had found them. He felt responsible for making sure that didn't happen. "I have to leave here, " said Ten. Chali gave a look of concern and debated his reason. Lorman just listened but in the end agreed that Ten needed to be sure no one would find this place. "Ten, I'd like to go with you, "said Chali while walking back to the tunnel. "I can help you get the ship running and fly with you to the Republic. I want to meet the other Jedi and help you explain our existence here to the council. " "Chali, the galaxy is a dangerous place and this causes me great anxiety. I'm, I'm suddenly afraid I may lose you if I take you with me. There is a war going on and we'd be right in the middle of it. This is the dangers of attachment, and precisely why the Jedi teach against it. Attachment leads to jealousy, jealousy leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." "But only if you allow those things to rule you. Ten, since the first time I saw you, meditating deep in the Force in that small cave, I felt my heart flutter ,a ripple in the Force, a destiny with you. I believe the living force brought us together. I believe there is a purpose for our connection, not just our force connection but our hearts and minds. I am going with you Tensly Shaw, to grow our bond and to learn of many things. And also because I too am afraid to lose you. " Chali looked up at him smiling. "Well only if you allow that to rule you. " Ten said with a chuckle. " Ok but I'm not sure your father will be so easily convinced. " He leaned over and pulled her to him and kissed her for the first time. He let go his anxiety and let the Force flow thru him. She reciprocated his kiss and they both felt a new feeling of freedom they'd never experienced before. A new level of awareness in each other and the Force. Whatever it was he knew it was right. Yes the Force is right and all is good with the galaxy.