Star Wars Legacy of the Grey

Dragons Rising

Prolouge

This was a little idea that popped into my head so I decided to make it real, if you read my other stories do not worry i am working on my main ones.

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There were many who would find the idea of scouring an unknown Galaxy for new sentient life a most stressful yet boring job. Of course those people had not had the fate of the galaxy, the force, and the republic for good measure thrust on their shoulders. Those people had not face done a creature who was as good as the dark side incarnate and beat it in a lightsaber duel, five separate times.

Grand Master Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight was enjoying the closest thing he would ever get to a vacation. Even now he felt a slight sense of guilt, it had been a long year. Coruscant was still rebuilding from the events of Abeloth and the Lost Tribe of the Sith, he and the Jedi Order had spared no effort in assisting the city.

It was because of this he was out here really there were always things that the Grand Master was needed to do and though he threw himself at them with abandon it never seemed to lesson. He could count the number of times his daily meditation had been interrupted, that he had missed meals, or had to attend some political gathering. It had all added up, until he realized that he needed something, anything to take a rest and regather his strength.

So at his son's suggestion, that boy, no that young man was becoming quite clever, he had decided to go recruiting for the order, after all who better to find those with force potential than the strongest jedi alive. He laughed at that thought and shook his head, however upon closer look one might wonder why he was going to unexplored space to do so. The answer of course being that finding sentient life was a rare occurrence and if he spent a few relaxing days just floating around some unexplored space it would do wonders for stress levels.

For a glorious two weeks he had spent hours in meditation, practiced his saber play, and rested, his ship he was currently using as a retrofitted cargo ship, in the smaller variety not unlike the millennium falcon was just the perfect size for his endeavor. But like Mara would say, he paused frowning at that a slight pang of loss touching his mind. Mara his wife, his other half, he shook his head forcing himself out of his revelry, but like Mara would say "All good things must end farm boy, get back to work."

And so he was, after of course he checked out a small anomaly he had picked up on his scanners. Currently he was in hyperspace headed towards an anomaly that had been grating on his senses. Current Star Maps showed where he was headed to be a vast region of empty space, but something felt off about that his maps an instinct, there should have been something there. Scans had showed gravity behaving strangely for mere empty space but if a solar system had been there it would have been normal.

Anyway, it did not matter too much, if he was wrong and there was nothing there then he could simply go on his merry way, if there was something he could update the maps and perhaps find an excuse to extend his sabbatical.

He was sitting in the pilot's chair ready when the ship dropped out of hyperspace, a small smile quirked his lips as planets appeared on his scanners. The former blackness melted away to relive a small solar system by normal standards. It was home to three planets orbiting a young yellow star the furthest one out was larger, too large for normal life. If his scans were correct gravity alone almost forty times that of the galactic average would prohibit anything save for lower forms of bacteria to survive. That and the massive amount of seismic activity, the planet closest to the sun was uninhabitable as well its proximity to the young star rendered its surface blazing on one side and freezing on the other. The one in between them was a different story; for starters that planet was in the sweet spot, the perfect position away from the sun to support tolerable temperatures. Initial scans showed several oceans and indicated several large contents and half a dozen smaller ones.

He punched several commands and his ship moved in closer, he shook his head, no, this place was nothing, it might be in the right spot, it might have water, but there was nothing on it, why would there be? Perhaps he should turn around and forget it. His hand began to move towards the cancel commands, yes forgetting it would be for the best.

The force stopped him, it screamed warring and though he did not understand why he had lived with it for too long not to trust it. He shrouded himself in the living force letting it flow into him, around him, through his body, his mind, everything. And his hands stopped moving, an attack, that had been so subtle, so quiet that he had not even known he was under assault was reviled.

The twisting of minds was a dark art, a skill that many practitioners of the darkside sought to master; thankfully few did but those who could caused immense damage with that skill. But as with all things what the dark twisted the light could heal, the living force struck at the thoughts that were not his own and something recoiled.

Luke reacted the moment the thoughts left fortifying his mind spreading his awareness, if the force had not warned him he would have never noticed what had happened. Now he was wary, he focused on the planet again and felt a small lance of something crash against his mental shields.

The moment it touched him he became abruptly certain of one thing that was not the force, once upon a time such a thing would have shocked him but those times were long past. He was no longer arrogant enough to believe he understood everything, or that the force had to be the source of everything supernatural.

Something was trying to keep him from coming closer, from investigating that world but what, and why?

The thought crossed his mind and he was sure it was his own thought that perhaps if something wanted him gone so bad he should oblige. But like his father before him and his son after curiosity, was as much a part of the Skywalker blood as was their strength in the force. He brought the ship in closer, he was almost close enough to scan for life if he saw or sensed something he did not like well he could always turn around come back later.

With the subtle attack on his mind he had wrongfully suspected that whatever was guarding the planet was perhaps not the strongest thing in the galaxy. He should have known better, known better than the think the force would give a Skywalker something that easy. He was ready for the subtle attack, for the backstab, the surprise attack.

So the tsunami of power that hit his mind was completely unexpected, it hit him like a supernova and against this there was no defense. Or perhaps it was better to say that there was not direct defense, some warning, some instinct had warned him at the last possible moment. Instead of meeting a wall mental fortitude the he allowed his mind to move with the psychic impact. The physical world faded as blackness followed. In that blackness hundreds upon hundreds of lights began to appear. At first they were like distant stars shining a wan light but they steadily grew bigger.

Twice more the physic storm smashed into him, and twice more his mind rolled with blow letting it carry him where it will but never quite breaking his defenses. What one could not block or deflect one must move with.

With each hit the lights became brighter and brighter, a third time it hit him and the lights were hundreds upon hundreds of small suns some larger than others surrounding him. He could feel the power striking him emanate from these things like radiation, each sun burned with fire intense enough to burn lesser minds around it. Had his own thoughts not been protected by the force this things would have burnt his conscious away to nothing.

Out of all the things had had happened in a short period of time what came next surprised him the most, one of them, a light several times larger than the others he could see spoke. Well not really spoke, he was in some sort of mental plane his body and ship had not deviated from their current course. His mind, his soul if you will was here and now what had brought him here was talking to him.

It was a vast ancient voice, something filled with majesty and power Luke had heard in few others, "Child...from…beyond... the...stars" it said slowly as if only dimly remembering how to communicate.

Carefully, on guard against any attack he loosed enough of his mind to answer back "My name is Luke Skywalker"

"Skywalker.." it said "That..is..what..you...are..called."

He felt something stir as if a vast head was shaking "But...that...is...not..your..true...name"

If his body was here his eyes would have furrowed in confusion, "I...have...seen...ages...of...death...child...of..the..stars...I...have…no... wish...for...yours."

It spoke again, in a language that Luke had never heard, it was musical, powerful, and had meaning far beyond the words the being had said before. Though he did not understand it he was abruptly certain that if he did not allow this ancient thing into his head that the lights that were holding still around him would strike until nothing remained. He was also somehow knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this ancient being before him meant him no harm, he would not harm or alter anything in his head.

It almost bothered him that he did not question it, that he was so certain, that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this thing was, in that ancient language. Before he could think of a reason not to he opened himself up and let it in.

It felt like a long time passed, memories, the being searched through his memories patiently and methodically going through every moment it found interest in. In a flash of insight or perhaps it was something he gleaned from the force in this thoughts, it was looking for moments that helped define who and what he was, things that would show what he would become. One, moment he was lost as a child in the desert of tatooine as a child, the next he was meeting Obi Wan for the first time. Then he was fighting his father, he was falling to the darkside under the Emperor Reborn. Next Leia was freeing him, he struck down the Emperor, he rebuilt the Jedi, he married, had a son, trained his and and his sisters children. His wife, his Mara was murdered, his anger had been so great that he had struck down in anger a woman who had not been her killer.

Next he was saving his son from his nephew, he was pulling himself out of the darkness he had slid into after Mara's murder. He was fighting Aboleth, meeting the new dark lord of the sith, saving the his nephew's daughter the one who would become the light of the jedi.

All this and more the being looked at and through, an undetermined amount of time passed before he voice spoke again "Ah...your...name...I…understand"

The being withdrew from his mind "He...will...be...spared"

The presence then spoke to the other lights around him. "...the...mistake...of...the...grey..is...raising...this...one...has...faced...her...like...before."

The lights around him blazed brightly and he thought he could sense, sense perhaps surprise perhaps, or disbelief. The voice spoke again "Make...it...so..",

The blazing light vanished as whatever the being was left the mental plane they were on. "As you say elder" a much clear but no less majestic voice said. The lights all focused on him the intensity of their power burning his mind even though his defense "A dark time is upon us, but you're coming changes it for good or ill we know not."

A different kind of power gathered to the lights, more present, more physical, he felt through the force massive amounts of energy being gathered "This world must be protected; we are its guardians, its protectors. It holds something that must not leave, knowledge that must never be shared beyond the stars. You will be spared, as our elder has decreed but, we cannot allow you to leave." Pain flared through him an agony like every cell in his body was on fire "We do wrong by taking away your freedom, but wrong and necessity are often the same."

He could only listen coherent thought not an option "So in return for taking away your old life, in return for tieing your fate to that of this world we give a gift only given to one other. Escape is pointless, even if it was possible we would prevent it. We must do what its necessary to protect the knowledge that must not spread, to safeguard that legacy of the grey that it may never curse this earth again."

Darkness started to take him "My you come to forgive what we have done to you Luke Skywalker, Child from Beyond the Stars."

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Rain, that was the first sensation he felt, light cold clear rain was touching his face. His eyes stubbornly battled his minds order to open them. When they did that first thing he saw was a grey cloud filled sky, his body hurt all over. Several minutes passed before he felt strong enough to sit up, to feel a cool wind mix itself with the gently falling rain. He sat on a hill overlooking a wide valley, to the east large imposing mountains rose skyward, a river ran through down from them and through the valley below him.

He ran through several calculations in his head, whatever those things were they has somehow transported him over several thousand miles from where his ship hand been. And something told him the ship itself was not more, he brought up his hand to brush the water away from his eyes. And froze at seeing his hand, it was not like he saw something terrible, no it was just something wrong he knew his body. He knew it in and out, he had lived with it for over forty years, his skin was not this smooth, it was not unscarred, it was not hairless.

He then realized a second thing, he held up his other hand, long ago it had been struck from his wrist in a battle with his father. He had gotten a prosthetic and over the years it had become second nature to use it. But that was gone now and in its place was a clean new, working hand. He could only stare at it in shock, looking down he noted that his clothing was the same, but it was smaller than he remembered. He wore the basic jedi robe having forsook his normal masters garb for his...vacation. He felt the comforting brown cloak around his shoulders he both felt and saw the weight of his two lightsabers against his hips.

Gently he felt his face, moving his hand over scarred flesh that was no longer there, through his hair which had been starting to grey and thing but now felt full and natural. He stopped over his ears, pointed, why were they pointed now. With a grunt of effort he pulled himself up and immediately noted a new problem, he had lost about a foot and a half in height. "What in the name of" his voice trailed off it sounded different higher, not that was not the right word, it was his voice but it had been that when he was…..when he was a boy.

Emotions surged through him, anger that was one, astonishment another, lots and lots of confusion. But most all a sadness, he looked up skyward understand somewhat what had happened, this place, this planet had something, something that a force he could not even began to describe seemed wholly devoted to keeping it hidden. And they had stuck him here, his ship was gone, they had mentioned that this place did not have the necessary technology.

"A real raiders den you have fallen into Luke"

He knew that voice, it was one he had never expected to hear again, he did not even bother trying to hide his shock "Ben?"

The image of his first master, his first teacher stood beside him now towering over him due to his sudden height loss. "It is good to see you again Luke"

"You told me the last time we talked that you were never coming back"

The old man laughed "Indeed," the but the merriment faded "I was never to see you again, in your current life anyway, but that is over now."

He took a calming breath "What do you mean"

The shade of Obi Wan Kenobi gestured around him "This place has changed that, the force brought me here perhaps to make sure you understood."

"Understood what?"

"You did more than we ever could have hoped, you rebuilt that order, you safeguarded the republic. More than once you and your family saved the it from destruction, your defeat of Aboleth was a sign of your end."

He pondered that statement and his first teacher let him decipher the meaning "I'm supposed to be here?"

"Indeed, the future while rocky and never certain looks bright for the new Jedi, your work there is finished."

Than why am I alive?"

"Is that not obvious Luke? You are the strongest Jedi ever to walk the stars. The things you have done, the enemies you fought, at any point in our orders history there would be no opponent who could outmatch you and few who would be your equal."

The praise made him nervous and a little uncomfortable he was well aware that few people could match him but he never allowed himself to dwell on it. "I am not allowed to say exactly why your were brought here, nor can I give you much in the way of help or guidance as i would wish. But this I do know, you are needed here, the new order will stand you have trained your family and allies well enough for that." The next words had a heavy weight to them "You are needed here"

He had been through a lifetime of training as a jedi and it served him well, he let the anger at being torn away from everything and everyone he had ever known slip away. He would deal with those emotions later "So the force led me here, but what physically put me here?"

Obi Wan glanced towards the sky, "powerful creatures, ancient things a race that might have been alive as long as this planet." The old ghost gave him a smile, "I have a feeling you will discover soon enough what they are."

"Did they use the force one me?"

"No something different, something unique to this world." His old teacher's ghostly eyes went distant for a moment "It is because you do not have this power you were chosen."

"What?"

Ben touched his shoulders the hand feeling warm and alive despite the fact that it was not physical "I must go Luke" with a last fond smile the old man said " The force will be with you, always." Then a gust of wind picked up and he vanished leaving the now young Luke alone in this bold new world, for what purpose he knew not.

He gave himself a few hours to process what had happened and what had been said, one he was cut off from any help or means of contact with the order, two apparently the force had subtly guided him here to do...something important and three he still had no idea what was going on.

He indulged in a few minutes of pity before deciding that it was unbecoming of a Master, but still his son, he had grown in a such a good man, a strong jedi, a worthy legacy. He would never see his son again of that he was certain. In a shiver went through the force as a new insight struck him he would never leave this place, for better for worse, whether he liked it or not Luke Skywalker Grand Master of the Jedi Order was here to stay.