Standard Disclaimer: George Lucas owns the expansive universe that is Star Wars, I only wish I did. This is a figment of my own creation twisting what already exists.
Awakening from a twenty year long cryofreeze after an adventure involving a previously unknown system filled with Dark Force-Wielders, a broken hyperdrive motivator and a bag of Magic Flower (DON'T ASK!), Imperial Debutante, Archivist for the Rebel Alliance and Jedi hopeful Corporal Dallayna Ellyanon Vokan was overjoyed to discover that the war was over and the Jedi had returned to the galaxy…
A quick visit to her childhood home to pick up a memento of the past however uncovers a twenty-year-old mystery and a plot that threatens to turn her to the Dark Side of the Force forever. And so, not-so-trustworthy lightsaber in hand she begins to unravel the mystery only to have events spin wildly out of control…
Now, she must dodge Imperial Officers, New Republican Security, Bounty Hunters and the very Jedi Master to which she must eventually turn to for aid as well as confront the past in order to save her future…
Of course, explaining about the Star Destroyer was going to be a problem no matter what she did…
Knight'n'DazeBy Scarlet of House Scathach
Prologue
Feeling first… Intense burning cold- never was much good against cold. Then, sounds…. Distant whispers spoken at full volume- Please let it be rebels…
My breath came in hitches, shivering shuddering things filled with fire burning its way into me ever further. Darkness surrounded me and then, several eternities later I realized that my eyes were indeed open already even as a voice, a warm, rich contralto emanating from a soft presence somewhere above me slowly came into focus and comprehension.
"That's right," It told me softly. "It's alright, you're safe in a med-center and you're alive. It's alright. You have hibernation sickness," It continued to explain with a patience to rival a Jedi's. "You're feeling the effects of being frozen right now but it's all only temporary. You've lost your eyesight and you're experiencing some horrific chills but all of it will pass in time."
"Wh-Where-" I heard my normally calm voice croak. "Where am I?"
Soft relief and warm joy answered my question far before her words ever did. Yes, the presence was decidedly female and extremely delicate at that. It Felt like Human but I have been known to be wrong before. In fact, about the only thing other then her gender that I could be certain of was the fact that the voice that was speaking to me currently was obviously not possessing of the hard angles and lines one would normally associate with the Empire.
"You and your crew are currently aboard the New Republican cruiser the NewDawn. We received your distress beacon and tracked you down," She explained.
Well, la-de-da. Aren't we suddenly proud of ourselves?
As quickly as the thought came to my mind unbidden, I naturally quelled it immediately. After all, even though I felt it a little inappropriate for a ragtag group of rebels on the run from the Empire to call themselves a Republic, others might feel differently. And besides, some might even find comfort in the name I continued my reasoning against the Dark Voice that always seemed to follow me. As always, the reasoning worked immediately. The Dark Side may be ever present but it was also always easily dismissed with a mental flick of one's mind.
"H-How long were we out?" I asked finally past chattering teeth.
Harsh resolve pulled about her like a cloak between one heartbeat and the next.
"Well, we- we know that your crew went into cryogenic freeze upon leaving some previously unknown system and that you're last contact was-"
"-Please, stop stalling and just tell me how many years we missed," I stated finally with a firmness that spoke volumes as to how much I thought of dancing around the issue.
"Well, ma'am, the fact of the matter is that we aren't sure," The female voice responded with bluntness. "The records from the war are pretty sketchy and well…. Many of the records were lost from your ship. Although, to the best that we can determine…. 20 years or so."
"20 years?" All semblance of control was lost beneath my amazement and shock.
"Yes ma'am," She told me. "I- I'm afraid that I also have to ask you some basic questions ma'am as part of the records that were lost were the medical files."
Inwardly I sighed.
"Go ahead."
"Name?"
"Corporal Dallayna Ellyanon Vokan, Second-assistant to the Head of Archives Section, Hoth Base," I answered automatically. "Serial number 43-2865-5214-9673."
"Thank you corporal," She told me and I Knew that droids were already busy working away at retrieving my file even before she finished speaking.
Don't ask me how I knew though. I just know things, which I suppose would stand to reason given the circumstances surrounding my life. Of course, I also suppose that it says something about the circumstances surrounding my life that after my initial shock at discovering how long we had been frozen that I took the loss of time in stride.
Hard experience had taught me to accept strange circumstances long before my team and I had encountered our recent adventure concerning a previously unknown system filled with Dark Force-Wielders, a broken hyperdrive motivator and a bag of magic flower (don't ask!). So, it only stood to reason that not even this recent turn of events really fazed me. I had vast experience with stranger things (unfortunately) - myself being one of them. After all, an imperial debutante who can slice becoming an archivist for the Rebel Alliance at the tender age of 17 is an oddity in and of itself without having to throw in the fact that I hoped to one day become a Jedi Knight.
Of course, that one I'm still trying to figure out.
"I'll let you rest now," She told me, and the presence left.
How long I lay in that bed, I honestly have no idea but I do know that I had barely managed to gain some semblance of calm meditation when I felt an all-too familiar tremor in the Force slip into my room. I didn't bother to hide my smile as she came up to my bed.
"Now, how in the galaxy did I know that you'd be up and around long before any of us Jetta?" I asked her chuckling just a little.
"Well, I keep telling you that you need to work on your control, Dale," Her rich voice answered me with just the merest hint of scolding. "Did you think I was just pulling your leg?"
"Oh that's right, go ahead and keep teasing me Jetta Greystar," I replied. "But I do warn you now; if I ever turn to the Dark Side you will be the first on my list."
A laugh answered my old joke and humor wafted on the Force through the room warming me in ways that no medicine could. For once, I was actively grateful for the fact that my eyesight was momentarily gone.
Oh now, I know that I was raised in the best of schools- the Imperial Finishing Academy to be exact. And even though my parents had paid hundreds of thousands of credits to make their darling daughter extremely beautiful, graceful, witty and capable of handling emperors and kings… next to Jetta Greystar, I sometimes felt like a reaver from the farthest reaches of the galaxy particularly when she laughed.
Tall, dark and aristocratic, her features and manner bespoke far more of royal blood then my tiny stature and winsome face ever could. Couple this with the characteristic Jedi calm and even a master would feel intimidated much less a hopeful padawan-learner.
"Do you need some help achieving the meditation?" She asked finally.
"No, no, I was doing just fine until someone decided to interrupt me," I countered.
Again that laugh. Rich, aristocratic, filled with gentle humor.
"Then I was just in time to give you something to ponder while you meditate," She poked lightly back.
"Oh really?" I felt my eyebrows rise of their own accord.
"Well, first off, it seems that the war you and your people referred to- the one against the Empire and the Rebel Alliance is over with. The Rebel Alliance won and are now the New Republic- of course, they're still a bit new but…. The government has been established-"
My breath swelled through my suddenly calm and completely controlled lungs.
"- Wait!" Jetta called out. "There's more Dale," She warned me voice grim despite her building excitement. "There's a Jedi Academy now, called the Praxeum. In fact, they've even had a few graduates. Dale," And now her excitement was completely apparent thrumming through the Force like a barely contained monsoon. "The Jedi have returned."
A little known fact in the galaxy these days is of course, the Jedi Code, which strictly dictates that, and I quote: "There is no emotion. There is only peace."
And naturally of course, for one of the few times in my entire life. Ever since hearing about the Force and the Jedi Code at the tender age of eight, I completely, undeniably and without the least bit of guilt then or now thoroughly ignored that edict of the Code that ruled my life. My hoots, my hollers, my yahoos and yes, even my words must have been heard from core to rim.
"YES! TAKE THAT YOU SONNUVA DILGUL! THEY'RE BACK! HA-HA-HA! WHERE IN THE SITH IS MY T'LACKING GREBLIAN CIDER, SLICK! THEY! ARE! BACK!"
What had been to me 12 years of patient waiting and struggle- a lifetime of hiding and danger filled with furtive searches in the deepest shadows for the merest hint of a small piece of knowledge, the tiniest bit of lore- 12 years… and it was over.
My awaited master was to come now. I knew it…. My salvation was on the horizon at long last and I could see it. At long last the Force was to provide me a master who could finally begin my training. At long last someone could teach me how to control the strange abilities with which I was born.
At long last, the Force who had created me with a blaster in my hand from the moment of my very birth within a galaxy under fire had delivered the one thing I needed to keep from becoming that which I loathed…. At long last.
Jetta of course, only laughed at my antics well used to them by now and waited for me to calm down. With all of the normal patience of a true Jedi she merely let me laugh in relief since she knew my dilema all too well herself, although she was in far less danger then I was.
As it has been a couple of generations since the Jedi have been around, I suppose that it must be explained that the Force is- well, everything.
It surrounds and exists within everything in the universe controlling our actions and obeying our commands all at the same time. What is even little more known of the Force by most of the galaxy however, is that the Force itself is composed of two Sides: one being Light and the other being Dark.
Furthermore, all individuals that are capable of sensing and controlling the Force also find themselves ruled by one of those Sides. Vader of course is the most obvious and well-known example being of the Dark Side.
My problem, or at least, the one that was the cause for my joy upon hearing of the Jedi's return was that I was a rare individual in that I was born aware of and capable of using the Force.
This meant that whether I wanted to or not- sooner or later I was going to fall towards one Side or the other and without proper training as a Jedi Knight, it was going to be the Dark…
With a true Jedi Master once again in the galaxy however, I stood a chance at becoming a Jedi with the Light Side of the Force.
"I take it you're happy," Jetta observed lightly, her tremor filled with amusement.
"Oh gee, am I?" I quipped back still chuckling.
She laughed.
"Well, I can't blame you in the least Dallayna Vokan," She told me. "Maybe now you can get your own lightsaber instead of using my mother's."
"Hey! You were the one that gave me the t'lacking thing," I pointed out.
Humor wafted through the Force and I knew- just knew that I was going to get teased yet again.
"After nearly getting killed over it, I thought it only appropriate," Jetta remarked.
"Grrrrrr," I growled theatrically. "You know I still can't believe you didn't tell me about that."
"You never asked and I didn't know they were so valuable," She protested. "I certainly never really used mine so I saw no use for the things."
One of the most embarrassing things about the entire jaunt that my friends and I had been on in Rekla- an unknown and rather primitive system out on the rim was the topic that I was still grumbling about even a year- well, twenty years, later: my lightsaber.
Jetta's mother had possessed the ill luck to have found herself stranded on Rekla during the dark days of the Purge when all Jedi were being killed.
Unfortunately, Rekla had a great deal of Dark Force-Wielders called Enforcers who had controlled much of Reklan society for thousands of years. So, naturally, her mother did precisely what one would expect her to do: she hid out and created a rebellion, teaching many "Mentals" the ways of the Force under disguise by calling it: The Path. Meanwhile of course, she met, fell in love with and married Jetta Greystar's father.
And so for years, only the trio knew of what was going on in the galaxy at large and the truth about "The Path" as Jetta grew up and was trained by her mother, which was why our encounter had actually happened. It hadn't been coincidental on Jetta's part because she had instantly recognized someone attempting to be a Jedi- and so, someone who could possibly help her free her father's people from the Corporation.
Which leads us of course to the lightsaber, which I found in a back-engineering room in a laboratory during a raid on one of the Corp's facilities one day.
Recognizing it instantly as Jetta's mother's beloved lightsaber lost when she had been captured and killed, I had at great risk to life and limb nearly gotten myself killed trying to retrieve the priceless memento for Jetta. After all, it had been my reasoning at the time that not only would she wish it for its emotional value. But also, as a weapon since it was fairly apparent by that time she didn't have one and knowing how well the little things worked in battle, I had determined the risk worth the superior weapon.
Imagine my joy at picking myself up after the explosions had begun to die down, clothing still smoking and covered in dust, while I stood there bleeding from several partical and blaster wounds my prize held proudly aloft only to see her brow furrow in confusion.
Ah, I already have one of those lightsaber things and that one's well… I loved my mother dearly Dale, but its color is- well, just a little silly.
Six months.
I received six months of torture from my "buddies" over that incident. But I did at least get the lightsaber and Jetta's instruction in its use.
Granted, she was telling the truth about it's color- being a bright neon pink. Which does look a little silly particularly being wielded by me but it works… at least on occasion…
Which was about the only way I managed to get my "friends" off my back about the whole mix-up. After all, it's a little hard to laugh at someone when they're standing in front of you blocking shots and watching your hide.
"At any rate," She continued, changing the subject slightly. "I bet you can't wait to get rid of the pink monster."
My mouth opened to agree but my mind halted my throat. Shaking my head at myself, I chuckled.
"You know, I actually don't think I really want to?" I observed. "I kind've like the pink monster. Oh sure, it's a little quirky-"
"'-A little quirky?'" She exclaimed leaning on my bed. "Dallayna Ellyanon Vokan that thing's got more quirks in its circuitry then a computer virus, it's almost always centimeters from exploding on you- if it even works at all. And you're always having to work on the thing just to keep it from killing you! Why in the name of the Path would you want to keep it?" Jetta demanded disapprovingly.
"Because it's the pink monster?" I proffered weakly completely certain that it wouldn't help even though it was the truth.
"I am never going to understand you Dale," She remarked sighing.
"Well, look at it this way Jetta," I told her. "Neither does anyone else so, at least you're in good company."
A slim hand slapped at my foot under the blanket lightly.
"You know, one of these days Dallayna Vokan, your strange sense of humor is going to get you into trouble," She warned me yet again.
"I know," I sighed. "But I guess we'll just have to live with me."
Jetta laughed and bidding her goodbyes and best wishes slipped out of the room leaving me to my own devices.
I slipped into the meditation and rested for a while secure in the Force and for anyone that doesn't possess the ability to use the Force, for that and that alone I truly feel sorry for them because there really is nothing like it.
Stars whirl through the cosmos and you're a part of it, nebulas dance through the coolness of empty space-, which is anything but empty. Planets orbit suns and black holes consume light spewing forth plasma. It's all inside, outside and all around you as you merely float truly and completely content with, well, everything as the tension and unease of emotions slip away beneath the Force.
Of course, trying to explain this feeling to non-Jedi has always been difficult but the closest I've ever been able to come is, picture yourself living on a frozen world like Hoth all of your life slipping from bonfire to bonfire. You're hot, you're cold, you're hot, you're cold.
Then picture coming across a room that's neither and slipping into a nice warm bath at long last comfortable. Take that feeling and make it infinitely more acute and you'd come close to what it's like.
I suppose that one can see why most Jedi love to spend their days in those meditations now which is precisely what I did, staying in that meditation far longer then I actually needed to. Of course, I was also fully expecting someone to come and rouse me eventually for a debriefing but to my surprise, when I finally decided that I was hungry and thirsty enough to pull myself out of it a couple of days had passed.
And so I awoke to a galaxy twenty years changed while I still remained the same. I discovered that the war was indeed over, and of course, all of my merry little band of Rebels was completely debriefed. Admiral W'stq told us nothing really any more then anyone else did over the weeks so most of the information went one-way: from us to them. Being Rebels however, we were well used to this so, mostly we just rested and recuperated during the weeks of our journey in between our debriefings.
And so, the crew of the Phoenix returned to the arms of the Rebel Alliance after twenty years with a group of over a hundred Reklan refugees.
A/N- This is the first fanfic I have posted on this website. I am very curious for reviews on this matter. This is a story that I actual beta read for a friend and am now posting as she doesn't have regular access to a computer. All in all this has been a lot of fun. Enjoy all.