The New Jedi
A few years since the start of the Republic-First Order War, things have been dire for the Republic. The Resistance was destroyed, reforming the Rebellion. Many Republic planets have fallen to the hands of the First Order. Led by Kylo Ren and his Knights, countless Republic and Rebellion soldiers have been killed in lost battles. To counter this, the remnants of the Republic has authorized the need to search for force sensitives in the hopes of reforming the Jedi Order. With Rey as acting grandmaster, the search has begun...
At the Outer Rim planet of Casadell...
Two robed figures step out of the transports, heading to the residential area.
"Master, why are we meeting our contact at this junk of a planet?" The padawan asks.
"He's a local here young one." The Master replies.
"But why didn't he tell us the info when he contacted us and insist we come here?"
"He says this info is too important to be intercepted by the First Order and that it's best to meet him personally."
The padawan nods. "I understand master."
They stop in the middle of a 4 story apartment in the middle of the slum district.
"This is the place?" The padawan asks in dismay.
"Yes, this seems to be the right adress."
They head to the room marked "Room No. 353" and knock.
"What do you want?" A voice asks through the door.
"Nest, it's me, Rey." She whispers back.
"I told you not to use that name." The voice replied back before the door opened.
"Quick, quick! Get inside." The man quickly pulls them in and locks the door.
"It's good to see you Rey." Nest states as he shakes Rey's hand.
"Me too Nest, although, you know we wouldn't have come if we didn't think your information is as important as you said."
Nest nods and turns to Rey's companion.
"And who's this young lady?"
"She's Melindra, one of my best padawans."
Melindra only nods at Nest.
"Nice to meet you too kid." Nest replies back.
"Now, to business."
Nest puts out a hologram of a picture of a young boy about Melindra's age.
Rey, looks at the hologram closely and asks, "Who's this Nest?"
"He's Jax, a smuggler working with the Deantro brothers."
"And what's so important about him?" Melindra asks.
"He's a force sensitive."
"Where is he?" Rey quickly asks.
"They are based at the warehouse just on the outskirts of the city. They just returned from a smuggling trip from Tatooine, so I don't think they're leaving anytime soon. Luckily the First Order hasn't found him yet so I contacted you to come here."
"Thank you Nest, we better find him, and fast."
As Rey turns to leave, Nest suddenly stops her.
"You didn't let me finish. One of my scouting droids detected a group of stormtroopers just after you arrived. I think they found out about him as well."
"Any Knights of Ren with them?"
"None of my droids spotted one, but look sharp, the stormtroopers we found had high ranks. There could be a knight in the shadows." Nest warns.
"We will, thanks for the warning." The jedi states as she and her padawan walk out.
As they travel, Rey grows bored and asks her padawan. "How do you feel about your first mission Melindra?"
"I feel fine master, knowing you're here, I believe we can accomplish this mission with little difficulty." Her padawan cooly replies.
"Well... thanks for such an incredible amount of trust in me." Rey states as she laughs nervously.
"Master."
"Yes, what is it Melindra?"
"Why did you pick me out of the other padawans?"
Rey smiles warmly at her and says, "Out of everyone, you seemed the most ready. I can't teach all of you, especially when we're looking for additional padawans."
"You mean this is a test if I'm ready to be a Jedi Knight?" The young padawan asks excitedly.
"No." Rei chuckles, "But this could be a test of your capabilities as a padawan. Remember, you're still too young."
"Oh, I'm sorry for misunderstanding master." Melindra replies solemnly.
Rey pats Melindra's head and says, "Don't worry, it will come. When the time is right."
Melindra smiles at this and says,"You're right, thank you master."
And the two continued towards the Deantro Warehouse.
Meanwhile, in an isolated alley...
"Master, we tracked the ship that we lost on Tatooine to this city." A Knight of Ren reports through his communicator.
"Good job young knight, be sure to convince him to join the First Order. My spies report the Rebellion are trying to reform the Jedi Order. We need to get as many force sensitives as we can. But if he resists, you have authorization to kill him." Kylo Ren responds.
"Yes master, it will be done."
As the knight turns off his communicator, a stormtrooper captain reports.
"Sir, we found out where he's hiding. The probe droids spotted the wanted ship in a warehouse at the outskirts."
"Good, we best make haste, he won't escape us this time."
And just like that, both the Rebellion and the First Order were on a race to the outskirts.
While in the warehouse...
Two smugglers are discussing their new smuggling scheme.
"Like I said Russo, we need to follow up on this request from Naboo." Dylan, the older of the two brothers requests.
"Oh? And then what? We get trapped in the crossfire between the Rebellion and the First Order?" Russo, the younger brother shoots back.
"We won't get in a crossfire as long as we're careful." Dylan quickly answers. "And besides, it was your fancy flying that nearly killed us."
Russo frowns and states, "It's not my fault there was a battle in the area. And besides, I like to think it was my fancy flying that got us out of that mess."
Dylan resists the urge to facepalm."Oh jeez. Alright I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"How about we let the kid decide, I mean if it wasn't for his crazy shooting, we'd be dead already." Dylan suggests.
"Hmmm, well he did shoot down some TIE Fighters during our escape. Alright, he can decide." Russo agrees.
Meanwhile, in the corner a boy is trying to tinker with a holocron.
"Hmm, I wonder what else this thing can do?" He says to himself as he continues tinkering.
"Hey Jax!" Dylan calls.
"Yeah boss?" He responds, while continuing his work on the holocron.
"I wanna ask you if-" Dylan didn't even finish his sentence when he saw what Jax was doing.
"Kid, you gotta stop messing with that thing. Who knows what else you could trigger there." Dylan warns.
"That exactly what I want." Jax responds with a smirk.
"And what if it explodes?" Dylan states maintaining a distance.
"Oh come on. This was made by the Jedi, it can't possibly explode. I think." He gives an innocent smile.
Dylan only sighs, "Well be careful, we only found this warehouse only recently. And I don't want to make a move to another spot right now."
"Got it boss."Jax gives a playful salute and continues with his job.
"Also-"
Dylan didn't get to finish his sentence as a loud crash was heard at the entrance.
Russo jumps from his seat and looks at the direction of the noise abd sees a couple of figures entering. "Uh Dylan, you might want to come out here."
Dylan approaches with an annoyed look. "Who is it? If you want something to be smug-"
The older smuggler turns white with fear as one of the figures approaching is a Knight of Ren.
"W-welcome to an abandoned w-warehouse g-gentlemen." Dylan stammers, obvious fear engulfing him.
As Dylan talks with the knight,Jax walks over to Russo.
"How 'd they find us?" He asks, not looking away from the knight and his troopers.
"I don't know. But seeing as they haven't attacked us yet, there must be something they want." Russo replies, gripping his blaster even tighter.
"Anyways, what brings the First Order here?" Dylan asks watching the knight closely.
"I have come here, for him." the knight begins, pointing his finger at Jax who looks stunned.
Jax walks over to the knight slowly, his knees shaking. They made a narrow escape on Tatooine and only stormtroopers were chasing them. Now that a Knight of Ren is in their presence, he is starting to doubt if they have a chance to escape unscatched.
He takes a deep breath, and starts, "What do you want with me?"
"I know of your abilities." The knight declares. "Your skills when you deflected every shot my troopers fired at you. How you fight with the Force."
"And why would you care about that?" Jax states, moving a hand to his back signalling Dylan on their next action.
"Because, we can teach you more."
"Teach me more?" Jax eyes the knight with curiosity.
"Yes, my master is eager to teach you about the Force and more. He recognizes your skills. Join us to rid the galaxy of the chaos that was brought about by the Republic and the Rebellion."
"Yes, well... we're just humble smugglers and I have no interest in joining either the Rebellion or the First Order." Jax states mustering a great amount of courage.
"No then?" The knight replies.
"No"
And immediately the knight unleashes his lightsaber to strike down Jax. But expecting this, he jumped back to avoid the slash.
"Now!" Dylan suddenly shouts moving to cover along with Russo, and quickly, Jax unveils his lightsaber.
"Kid! We'll handle the stormtroopers, can you handle that knight on your own?" Dylan asks.
"You know I can." Jax replies giving a grin to the smuggler.
"You overestimate your abilities. Best you surrender now and come with us." The knight says, attempting to convince the boy once more.
Jax laughs, noticing all the fear that he felt before just vanish into thin air. "You know, I was really scared of you, but now, I just think it's funny."
The knight growls at this. "Insolent child! Now you'll feel the power of a Knight of Ren."
As the knight charges forward, Jax takes a defensive stance and repels the knight's attack back.
"That stance... you are imitating a Jedi's form!" The knight shouts, rage filling him.
"Yes well... practice makes perfect right?" Jax replies, taunting the knight.
Meanwhile, Dylan and Russo have been going from cover to cover, desperate in repelling the stormtroopers.
"Hey Dylan!" Russo shouts.
"What?"
"The kid's doing alright, but how about us?"
"Come on Russo, think about the trouble we had when we accidentally activated an old droid factory back on Antal V."
"We had the kid help us then Dylan."
"Good point. Then it's a good I bought this." Dylan replies breaking a crate revealing a gattling gun.
Russo's jaw drops in awe and asks, "Where did you buy that?"
"The black market in this city's underground."
"Wait a minute, is that the thing you bought with my half when I was sick and couldn't go at last month's run?" The younger brother questions.
"Pretty much." Dylan gives a nervous laugh to his younger brother who is filled with rage.
Russo runs towards Dylan and asks, "Can I shoot?"
Dylan feels the angry aura around Russo, and knowing that it's a death sentence to refuse, "All yours little bro."
And with that, the stormtroopers quickly go for cover, scared of both the gattling gun, and the person wielding it.
With the chaos everywhere, Jax and knight continue their duel.
With every strike the knight throws, Jax repels.
Soon, the knight growls with frustration. "Enough! You have shown a good amount of skill, but this ends now!"
The suddenly lunges, surprising Jax, but at the last second, Jax avoided a lethal strike, but gets hit on left arm as a result.
"Ack!" He screams in pain, finding himself more vulnerable with his injured arm.
As the two forces continue their battle two figures emerge from the entrance.
"It looks like the First Order beat us here." Rey states.
"Don't worry master, all is not lost, look." Melindra states pointing to both Jax and the knight.
"Yes well... he won't be able to stand his ground much longer, we have to help him."
As Rey, looks at the duel, Melindra sees the two brothers slowly being cornered by the stormtroopers.
"Master, those two smugglers are in trouble."
"Alright, this is the plan, Melindra, help those smugglers. Pick off the stormtroopers one by one. They are too focused on those two so it should be simple, I'll take care of the knight.
Melindra nods in agreement. "Very well master. But you better hurry, he's barely able to deflect the knight's slashes now."
As Melindra proceeds to wipe out the stormtroopers, Rey takes another look at the duel.
"Still... him being able to last this long in a duel against a knight takes skill." She says to herself.
As Jax continues a desperate defense, he is slowly getting cornered.
As he is backed against a wall, the knight starts talking again."You showed great effort, and for that, I will ask you again. Will you join the Knights of Ren?"
Jax only shows a teasing smile and says, "No, I won't."
The knight sighs deeply and, although his face is covered with a mask. Jax feels a frown has formed in his face.
"I do not approve of wasting such potential, but remember that you brought this on yourself."
As the knight raises his light saber, another saber emerged and he spotted it in time to block it.
"What the..." he turns to the assailant and is surprised.
"A Jedi..." He mutters to himself
"That's right Knight of Ren, and I will not allow you to hurt this boy."Rey looks at the knight with determination.
"I am more than capable of handling two weaklings." The knight replies.
"We'll see..." Rey states as they prepare for battle.
As the scene evolves in front of him, Jax just watches wide eyed.
But as soon as they clashed, the knight's communicator rang, and speaking, is a panicking stormtrooper.
"Sir, we have a problem."
"What is it?"
"There's a jedi here, and she's cutting our men down."
"Another one!?" He praxtically shouts at his communicator.
"Yes sir." The trooper replies. "What shall we do?"
Looking at Rey and Jax, and thinking of the other Jedi, he grits his teeth before ordering, "Fall back. We cannot win. One of you blow this place up."
"Yes sir."
Rey stares wide eyed at the knight.
"Are you mad? You'll kill your own men."
The knight scoffs at her words. "The weak will be replaced. And you will die here. That is worth something." The knight states as he throws grenades at Jax and retreats.
Left with no choice, she force pushes Jax away and runs from the explosion.
As Jax opens his eyes, he sees Rey offering to help him up.
"Thanks. But, who are you?" Jax asks with a smile.
"No time, maybe later. But first, we have to get out of here." Rey states as she pulls Jax.
Rey quickly contacts Melindra, hoping the padawan and the other smugglers have escaped.
"Melindra, where are-"
"Master!"
Rey looks to the side and spots Melindra hanging on a ship.
"Hurry master, grab my hand." Melindra shouts, extending her left arm.
Quickly, Rey looks at Jax.
"Listen, you're gonna have to jump up there."
"Are you crazy!? I know I can jump high but I've never jumped that high before."
Rey holds his shoulder. And with an encouraging tone, says, "You can do it. Just feel that you can, and it will happen."
Jax nods and takes a deep breath.
"Okay, here goes nothing."
As he jumps, he closes his eyes and holds out his hands.
And when he opened his eyes, he sees someone holding them.
"Don't worry, I've got you." Melindra shouts as he pulls up Jax.
Now, safe from falling. Jax looks at Rey, who is preparing to jump.
"Master, hurry!" Melindra shouts, when the bomb left by the stormtroopers exploded.
But as soon as she shouts, Rey jumped towards the ship and made a perfect landing.
"Woah..." Jax states, staring at the feat.
"Alright we're all here. Let's go!" Melindra shouts at the brothers.
"Got it" Russo replies giving them a thumbs up.
While the ship is in hyperspace, the five of them discuss their next move.
"So you're from the Rebellion, and you want the kid to join a reforming Jedi Order?" Dylan asks the two jedi in front of him.
"Yes. Only a restored Jedi Order can stop the Knights of Ren andnthe First Order." Rey replies.
Russo looks at the Jedi with doubt.
"Why? Theres already the Rebellion and the scattered forces of the Republic fighting."
"They're not enough." Melindra answers. "Look at what happened to the Republic when it was restored but not the Jedi Order. They were nearly wiped out. And now, it's but a fraction of its former strength and is facing a war. Where's their chance in that?"
The two brothers don't have an answer to that. They both heard the stories of how Jedi can quickly turn the balances of a war. And facing the full might of the First Order are just the remnants of the Republic and the Rebellion. Those odds definitely don't look good without jedi aid.
"Alright, seeing as this is a huge life-changing choice, we'll let the kid decide." Dylan declares.
"What?" Jax states surprised by Dylan's statement. He has only been listening to the talks and not joining. Thiking that this should be something adults deal with.
Dylan looks at him and says, "Look kid, something this big isn't something Russo and I can decide for you. Since you are being asked, it will be your choice, whatever your choice, we will support you ."
Jax nods. Whatever choice he makes, all of them will accept.
He takes a deep breath. "Okay, I've decided I'll join the Jedi Order. Seeing as I'll be hunted by the First Order again, I guess I have no choice."
Rey smiles at his decision. All the while, the two smugglers give a sad smile.
But Jax isn't finished.
"I'll join on one condition."
"What's the condition?" Rey asks with sheer curiosity.
"The Rebellion will give Dylan and Russo here a job among their ranks."
The two brothers stare dumbfounded. Seeing as how they will be hunted by the First Order as well, they had a problem with business. But being offered a job of their choosing among the Rebellion, their income could be secure.
Rey chuckles at the condition. "Very well, I'll tell the High Command that."
Russo quickly hugs Jax so tight he has trouble breathing.
" Thank you so much kid, we really raised you well. Now we won't have to mug other smugglers if we run low on credits."
"Oh shut up you bufoon." Dylan states as he pulls Russo back and faces Jax. And kid, like Russo said, thank you so much."
Jax gives a wide smile and says, "What are families for?"
As everyone talks about the war and the situation of the other planets, Melindra sees Jax going up to a blaster pit and follows him.
"So you'll be joining us huh?" Melindra starts.
"Yeah, I'm a little nervous at the reaction of the other jedi there. I mean, I am a smuggler." Jax states with a hint of worrt
"There's really no need to be nervous. They'll welcome you with open arms."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
Jax relaxes at his seat. "Thanks, I really needed that."
Melindra gives him a warm smile. "No problem. and you better get down there soon, or they'll start looking for you."
"I'll go down later, go on ahead."
"Okay then. See you later, fellow Jedi." Melindra smirks
Jax laughs. All the nervousness he felt earlier are gone now. "Yeah yeah, see you later."
As Melindra leaves, Jax continues staring outside. Thinking, visualizing himself in the future.
As he sees himself as a new member of the New Jedi Order.
