Jedi Academy
The Magnificent
Seven
(My first Jedi Knight story. Just so you know, Star Wars
belongs to George Lucas. Bless his genius mind. So if anything is in
violation of the Star Wars spirit, let HIM speak up. Thanks)
"Hang on to your lunch, kids. We'll be entering the atmosphere on the planet Yavin 4 in 5 minutes. So straighten up your seat, fasten the seatbelts and prepare for some fun trembling. Just for your information, the toilet is in the back if anyone gets spacesick," he said and heard a small session of laughter and some grunting.
The spaceshuttle was on its way to the planet Yavin 4 to drop off a new group of youths to the famous Jedi Academy. The New Republic had increased its search for potential people to join the ranks as Jedi Knights. Millions of Credits had been used to search every planet the New Republic controlled, and finally, their efforts could bear fruits.
Among the passengers were two very good friends. Their friendship stretched several years back. They both had strong connection to the Force and they were brought together on the craft. Soon they would both start what they had always dreamed of doing. Train to become Jedi Knights.
Random was human. Born on Coruscant and raised in a normal environment all his life. Young and passionate, his strength rested on his common sense and wits to solve any trouble he got himself into. A born leader thought he always said he didn't like to have too much responsibility.
Ryu was his most trusted friend and his brother in all but blood. He was a Kel Dor from the planet of Dorin. Unlike Random, he never really knew his parents as they both dies in a crash when he was just a little boy. The accident turned him into a mute, and since he always weared the oxygen mask that all Kel Dor used, his communications were in the form of hand signals and body language.
The shuttle trembled as they entered the atmosphere. Random held a good grip on the armrest of his seat. Hanging on for dear life. Ryu however remained quiet and calm as he always was. With the expressionless mask giving him a special aura of mystic.
The shuttle grew quiet from the constant chattering as the shuttle trembled even more. The boy in front of Random and Ryu received a nice green color in his face just before he got up and burst to the toilet.
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A half hour later, the
shuttle connected with the landingplatform. And the passenger room
turned into chaos as all the teens wanted out as soon as possible.
They had been in that spaceshuttle for nearly 2 days and desperately
needed some fresh air.
Yavin 4. A paradise of a moon. Ancient
jungle that spread out like a emerald green carpet that covered most
of the surface. Originally, this moon had been used as base many
years ago when the empire was still dominating most of the galaxy.
The temple was now used to train Jedi Knights from all over the
galaxy.
The sun was shining brightly on the blue sky and the
birds were singing peacefully when they stepped out of the shuttle.
The fantastic smell of the forest around them reached their noses.
The sweet sent of millions of different flowers growing around the
area killed the smell of the engines of the shuttle.
Ahead of
them was the mighty temple sticking up from the green roof of the
peaceful forest. The ancient walls nearly overgrown by moss and
branches. The students split up and walked towards the temple in
social groups.
"So this is Yavin 4. Looks much better than
the advertisement, don't you think?" Random asked his friend and
took the environment in a better look. This place was simply
beautiful. Peaceful and fertile. The quiet Ryu just nodded in
response. Random had to smile. He could answer even the longest
question with a simple use of 'yes' or 'no'.
Jumping from trunk to trunk and sparred with each other. There was one guy there who seemed to fight alone against 5 others. Both Random and Ryu stopped to watch this amazing combination of balance, speed, technique and a few dirty tricks.
"Wow...that's amazing. That's you and me in a few months, Ryu. I tell you that," Random said and looked over at Ryu. Only to see his friend grab him by the tunic and threw them both to the ground as a Swoop-bike passed just above their heads.
The bike came back for them in a sharp curve and hovered in front of them, giving the driver the good view of them eating dust.
"Hey, man!!!... Watch where you're driving!!" Random growled as he got up and brushed himself. Giving the driver an evil glare. But the driver didn't seem that impressed by his tough attitude and laughed at both him and Ryu.
Removing the helmet, the driver wasn't a man. It was a human girl. Releasing her long brown hair from the grasp of the helmet it was no doubt what she was. Giving the two still a bit of upset boys a playful grin.
"Want to keep your head on your shoulders, you better keep it down when I'm driving around," she said and got off the Swooper.
"You two are new here, right?" she continued and walked over to them. Once on the ground, she didn't look so tough. She looked like she was 19 or something. A girl in her late teen with a tough attitude.
"Yeah, we arrived here a few minutes ago. I'm Random, and this is my friend, Ryu," Random said.
"Random...that's a funny name. I'm Kayley. I arrived here yesterday. Say, can't your friend introduce himself without help?" the girl said and took the quiet form of Ryu a closer look.
"Um... Actually, no he can't. Ryu is a mute."
"A mute?"
"Yeah. You know, unable to speak."
"Oh... that kind of mute."
"But Kayley... do you have any idea when we get to meet the person that's going to be our master?" Random asked and looked back toward the temple.
"Our group hasn't been summoned until now. I think now that both shuttles have returned with students, we're gonna be introduced at the same time. In about an hour if my memory serves me right," she said and turned back towards her Swooper.
"I'll see you two chickens later then," she finished and speeded off on her vehicle. Leaving the two of them behind in the clearing. Ryu turned towards Random and signalized something with his hands.
"Yeah, she's annoying," Random replied and started to walk towards the temple.
'But damn, she was cute,' he thought to himself. If Ryu had heard that, he would certainly smack him.They both reached the temple without running into more trouble or Swoopers. Glancing up at the ancient walls that reached for the skies, they could both feel the strong aura of the force flowing through ever crack in the wall and every mark of time.
This place was indeed magnificent. And it would be their home for the rest of their lives.
At the front door, several people had gathered. Around 50 people of different races stood there and chattered, waiting for the door to open and their future to be revealed. The smell of tense and nervousness hung heavy in the air. Most of the group was still teenagers, inexperienced in combat and the harsh training that awaited them.
The crowd quickly became silent as the doors opened and a golden clad Protocoldroide came walking towards them.
"Greetings, students. I am C-3PO. If you all will follow me, I will take you to see Master Skywalker." As the droid turned around and started to walk into the temple, the whispering in the crowd started to grow again.
Most of them knew who C-3PO was. The loyal droid who became famous throughout the galaxy as Luke Skywalker's friend and the one who made the victory at the battle of Endor 25 years earlier possible.
After a few minutes of walking through the ancient corridors, they all entered a huge hall lit up by the sunlight at the other end. Standing there, proud and strong, stood a group of people side by side at the big window. And in the middle, an elder man dressed in black.
Luke Skywalker was no longer the young and eager Jedi that had defeated his father and turned him back to the good side of the force the last minutes of his long life all those years ago. Not the man who had taken the responsibility of bringing the New Jedi Order into life. He was now an old man with a gray beard completing his weathered face. But he still had the look of the most powerful Jedi Master in the galaxy.
Next to him on his right, stood another old hero. Kyle Katarn, known for his adventures and his efforts in saving the Jedi from Jerec and Desann many years ago. Equal to Luke's age, but still no weakling. His skills with the force and the lightsaber were still unmatched except by Luke himself.
And to Luke's left stood the most famous student ever to be trained in the Jedi Academy. Jaden Korr, the famous Zabrak girl who alone had stood against the mighty Ragnos himself and won, saving hundreds of planets from his era of terror that could have been unleashed. Still a beautiful woman who even the greatest warrior would have to look up to.
The students walked up to the front, quiet and filled with respect for the many Jedi Knights who looked back at them with eyes filled with hope. A hope in their souls that these kids would carry the name Jedi with honor.
Everyone sat down in meditation style and looked back at their future masters and not one of them didn't feel the great tension that was about to burst out of their stomach. When everyone was seated, Master Skywalker stepped forward and looked through all their faces before he began to speak.
"I would like to welcome all of you to you to your new home here at the Jedi Academy. I know that most of you must feel pretty nervous at this point. I can assure you that there is nothing to be worried about for the first few days.
As you probably know, all Jedi have to start their training with constructing their own lightsaber to prove that they are sensitive to the force. After the lightsaber that will serve as your primary weapon is complete, you will begin to train how to use it effective and safely. You will train yourself in the use of the force every day and learn to evolve your own powers. You will all have the chance of learning both sides of The Force. Both light and the dark side. But even though you for instance learn a dark side force, it doesn't mean it's an evil thing. It's how you use them that determine good or evil.
Jedi Knights are requested all over the galaxy to take on all kinds of missions. These missions are considered as natural parts of the training where you can put all you have learned into practical use.
In addition to your combat training with both lightsabers, handguns and others, you all will study diplomacy and history considering most of the planets around the galaxy. You must remember that Jedi Knights are not just warriors, but we are also ambassadors and peacekeepers.
In the old days, it was tradition to assign each student to one master, but even thought this academy have existed for over 10 years, we are still too few masters to pull that off. And since you are so many, I'm going to put you in groups consisting of seven students and one master. This group will travel on a mission together, and when the mission can become too dangerous, the master will follow. This group will also share the same sleeping chamber, so you will get to know each other pretty well." And with those words, the old master walked down to their level and started to split them all into groups.
Random looked around at all the faces. This had to be one of the most exiting days he had ever had. And as Master Skywalker came closer to him and Ryu, the fuzzy feeling in his stomach grew with each second.
"You seven here will be assigned to Master Korr," he said and pointed at Random, Ryu and five others. Following the lead of the other students who were assigned to other masters, they all walked towards the spot where Jaden Korr waited for them.
Random was rather surprised that the girl they had run into earlier was in the same group. Along with two other humans and two Zabraks.
"Okay, kids. I'm sure you are all tired from today's events, so I'm gonna let you have the rest of the day getting to know each other in your sleeping chamber, and we'll start the training tomorrow morning after breakfast," Jaden said and smiled as she heard everyone say the word: "Yes, ma'am". All of them, with the exception of the Kel Dor in the back.
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Safely
in the sleeping chamber, they all flopped down in their beds, happy
that this day was over. The feeling in the stomach had stopped and
now they could just sit back and relax the rest of the
day.
Suddenly, one of the Zabraks sat up in his bed and looked
at everyone.
"Ey, listen up. Since we're gonna be mates
for a while, I'd say we should at least introduce ourselves,
aye?"
They all looked at him, but soon nodded in
agreement.
"Alright. My name is Phoenix. I come from the
planet Corellia with my sister here," Phoenix said and looked over
to the other Zabrak in the bed next to him.
"Um...hi. My
name is Tween," she said shyly.
"My name is Random. I'm
from Coruscant. This is my best friend Ryu. He's from the planet
Dorin like most of the Kel Dor. He can't speak, but it's pretty
easy to understand his handsignals," Random said. Ryu waved his
greetings at the rest of the room.
"My name is Auron," a
dark clad human said and waved his hand. His tough attitude could
make any opponent think twice about messing with him.
"I'm
from Coruscant just like you, Random," he finished and looked over
at Random. Then, a small woman sat up in her bed, looking at the rest
of them.
"Hi everyone... my name is Selene. I'm from the
newly restored Echo Base on Hoth. Been living there my entire life,"
she said and smiled. The experience of seeing something so different
from the ice planet Hoth had been a memory that would never be
forgotten.
And last, the girl with the Swooper spoke up.
"My
name is Kayley from Tattoine." she said and slung her legs over the
edge of the bed.
"Wow, wow, wow, wait a tick........ Kayley?
The Swooper champion Kayley?" Phoenix asked and turned towards
her.
"Yeah that's me," Kayley replied with a proud
smile.
"Hey I've heard of you. You won the Beggar's
Canyon race three years in a row, right?" Random asked.
"Two
years in a row. I came in second the first year."
"Well,
polish me horns, aye. Looks to me that we have at least some of the
same interest," Phoenix said and rubbed the tip of his right spike
sticking out of his head.
"But Selene...I thought Echo Bace
was abandoned years ago," Auron said.
They kept talking to
each other like this for hours. At least they had taken another step
closer to a friendship. And as the sun slowly disappeared behind the
mountains around the temple, the chatting in the sleeping chamber
would last till midnight.
And tomorrow, they would all take
their place in destiny. Take their place in the road to becoming Jedi
Knights.
To those who are fans of Star Wars know what kind of razes that is mentioned. IF not, then go visit the website of Jedi Academy. It's worth a look. And stay tuned for the next chapter.