The Jedi Everyone Wants Me to Be
Chapter 1
Flow-walking.
Flow-walking was Ben's greatest weakness since he learned the skill from Tadar'Ro. The Aing-Tii instructor counselled Ben against dwelling on the past, on attempting to change the flow of the Force. Ben continued despite the warnings, delving further and further into the past of his family, skirting the danger of being lost in the flow like it was a simple walk in the market.
Ben was a blur to anyone with an eye on the shadows as he watched his Mother at foot of an Emperor, poisoned as a child and moulded into the perfect Hand. As his Father swung wildly at his Grandfather on the second Death Star and saved the galaxy from tyranny when not much older than his own eighteen years. As his cousin Anakin died; the boy who would have led the Jedi Order with lightsaber in hand and hypermatter in his heart extinguished in a blazing fire of Force-energy.
And finally Ben watched on as Jacen Solo, his Master, turned to the dark-side and became a Sith Lord.
Ben studied as Jacen was destroyed at the feet of the treacherous Vergere; he was helpless as Jacen was broken and rent beyond recognition. That trauma left a wound which never healed during the Yuuzhan Vong War. After the War and his unique experience with the Force, Jacen left the Order and his friends to study the other Force-users of the galaxy, to find some measure of peace and where his future lay in an unforgiving galaxy.
It was a path Ben couldn't judge his cousin for. The Jade Shadow went with him as he followed in the footsteps of his former Master, trying to understand where his cousin lost his way and to find his own destiny apart from the Jedi and his family. Ben wanted to know when Caedus took over, when the Sith obliterated whatever parts of Jacen still existed in the shell which emerged from Yuuzhan'tar. Ben couldn't help but wonder if he was the cause, the straw which broke the Bantha's back. That when Jacen Flow-walked, he saw some vision of the future and decided the Galaxy could only be saved by his direction and started down the dark path to change the flow.
A gentle chime took him from his thoughts and a message splayed across the Holocom display at the back of the Shadow's bridge. The aurebesh characters were urgent red as Ben spun in the pilot's chair; it was a reminder to check his messages which wasn't possible in the depths of the Kathol Rift. Ben swiped his hand and the display disappeared. It was set before he entered the Rift, when he wasn't checking his messages much and his Father threatened to send out a search party unless his correspondence time improved.
After a light and lonely breakfast Ben exited the Shadow, making for the former dwelling of Jorg Car'das, a smuggler who lived with the Aing-Tii for a time. He passed by the house and continued to the rocks of teaching where he would meet Tadar'Ro. His time with the Aing-Tii was one of the more enjoyable experiences of his time away, far better than his time on Dorin with the less than excitable Baran-Do Sages. Tadar'Ro described the Force in such a strange and wonderful way through the translation device, a way Ben couldn't help but relate to.
His Father was right, a Jedi had to walk the path of the Light or risk falling to darkness but so many of his own actions couldn't be classified as Light or Dark.
Ziost was Ben's darkest hour, he knew that. Almost giving into the Sith Meditation Sphere Ship and allowing the insidious dark-side entity to almost tempt him into killing a little girl to survive was wrong. It was beyond wrong to even consider but Ben also knew some of the orders Jacen gave him lay in a grey area. The raids on the Corellian Quarter of Coruscant weren't right but they weren't wrong either, not during a Galactic Civil War. Those actions lay somewhere between the Light and Dark sides.
Tadar'Ro was in the same spot as always and would have blended into his surroundings completely if not for the tattoo-like markings on the plates of natural armour which covered his body. His green tongues flickered over the wand-like translation device. "Are you ready Ben Skywalker?"
Ben sat across from his friend. "Are you sure you want me to do this? I could message my Dad, he's better at this type of thing than me."
His face shook side to side, a human gesture which looked alien on Tadar'Ro. "It will be Ben Skywalker; Ben Skywalker has passed the Trials of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil. The Aing-Tii hopes of healing the divide lie in the Embrace and with Ben Skywalker."
The Embrace, Tadar'Ro had explained, was a vault of sorts filled with relics. Pieces of technology, crystals, rare gemstones, statues, artefacts…all which the Aing-Tii were forbidden to touch. Tadar'Ro explained the divide in his people was caused by the death of their greatest Prophet, two factions arose with opposite ideologies and their argument grew with time. Ben's arrival calmed the animosity of the two factions and he was selected to enter the Embrace after various Trials to collect even more relics. He was to use the Force and divine some form of instruction or wisdom from them.
Ben wasn't so convinced. Most of the artefacts he recovered for the Aing-Tii were useless junk, but they all held some trace of Force energy and therefore some value. "How can be so sure?"
"It is the will of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil; I have faith in Ben Skywalker. Revelation will come for the Aing-Tii in the Embrace; events have flowed to this moment. It is Ben Skywalker that will direct the flow of the Aing-Tii."
A heavy sigh left Ben. "Give me an hour to prepare and you can take me to the Embrace."
The lights of the wand-like translation device whirled and glowed. "We must approach the Embrace on foot Ben Skywalker, it will take several days, bring food and clothing…"
"And my lightsaber?" Tadar'Ro explained that despite the calm, a small group of Aing-Tii were rather hostile to his arrival and Ben didn't want to be caught with no-way to defend himself; even if he had learned some interesting techniques to defend himself.
Tadar'Ro nodded again.
"I'll be back soon."
The journey to the Embrace was heavy and hard across rocky terrain and it was forbidden for any vehicle to approach the Embrace. Tadar'Ro took to silence on their approach and Ben respected the traditions of his people. By the time they reached the impassable mountain range which held the Embrace Ben was sunburned and sweaty, longing for the Shadow and a sanisteam.
Ben regarded the non-descript aperture on the rocky cliff-face, it showcased all he knew the Aing-Tii valued. They believed in allowing the Force to flow, and the Force was nature. He wouldn't be surprised if the entire Embrace was a natural cavern, as their cities where carved from rock and blended into the landscape as seamlessly as possible.
"Ben Skywalker will find the relics the Aing-Tii have gathered. Find the answers the Aing-Tii seek Ben Skywalker; find the answers Ben Skywalker seeks." Tadar'Ro said finally, in the mechanical voice Ben had grown so fond of.
Ben tipped his head forward and Tadar'Ro spoke in his own language as his six green tongues slithered over and around Ben's face. It was an odd sensation but wasn't what Ben would consider unpleasant. He could feel the apprehension in Tadar'Ro through the Force and wanted nothing more than to help heal the rift which divided the Aing-Tii. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
The passageway was tighter than Ben expected, considering the bulk of a typical Aing-Tii. It was dark but the path easy to follow so Ben didn't bother with a glowrod or igniting his lightsaber. Eventually the darkness lifted until Ben pressed into the warmth of the Embrace. Soothing energy washed over his skin, emanating from luminous rocks in the walls and ceiling; rocks which shone in the hues the rainbow and Force-energy. It soothed the burning of his face and hands, it was beautiful and natural.
It was all Ben expected from the Embrace, the epitome of the Aing-Tii and their unique way of viewing the Force. The full spectrum of the Force could be felt in the Embrace; the seductive tones of dark-energy as much the warm tranquillity of the light he knew so well. It was the rainbow of energy he saw in himself during meditation with Tadar'Ro. He dumped his bag on the ground and moved through the antechamber into a larger cavern; it too was beautifully lit by Force imbued stones.
Unfortunately for Ben, the relics and artefacts were not beautifully stacked and sorted. They lay together haphazardly, in stacks and piles, as if the Aing-Tii who handled them dropped them as soon as they possibly could. Considering the Aing-Tii where forbidden to touch the relics and they were mostly wrapped in cloth or covering, Ben assumed that was exactly what happened, so he set about correcting the disorganization.
It was a penchant. For some reason, Ben found his mind to be much more organized than those of regular beings. The uncanny ability to remember anything he observed was not common to humans without extensive genetic augmentation. Having an Eidetic memory was as much a curse as it was an advantage, beings with a normal memory could forget things, could forget the image and memories. Every painful memory was burned into Ben's brain until the day he died.
Besides, he figured it would take a while to handle every relic in the Embrace and wait until the Force handed down revelation. There was no harm in doing something to occupy his under-taxed mind while waiting. The Force did tend to be patient with him after all; Ben assumed it was punishment for shutting it out so long as a child.
Two days and thousands of relics later had Ben wishing he sent for his Father regardless of Tadar'Ro. All that resulted from his days of handling the Force imbued objects was a feeling of tedium and rote. That and the Embrace looking marginally more organized but so far he'd received nothing noteworthy from his experience excepting a sore back from sleeping on the hard ground.
Many of the relics were Jedi and Sith in origin. Old holocrons, lightsaber crystals, datapads and even an entire lightsaber hilt that Ben didn't feel like handling, it looked ancient. A wealth of history was contained in the Embrace and forever would it be locked in a vault, forgotten by the Galaxy. It was tragic but the Aing-Tii would never allow any of the items to be removed and their Sanhedrim ships would stop anyone who tried.
Ben was ready to call it a day after ten hours of sorting and handling more relics. Nothing screamed at him in the Force, nothing regaled a thought spinning speech which would dramatically change the Aing-Tii culture or mend the chasm between the factions.
Straightening, Ben stretched and yawned as he turned to go back to the antechamber but his eyes fell on a shiny spot in a far corner. It caught the light and seemed to draw in the energy of the relics and luminous stones around it. It was a small pyramid of metal and where the other relics around it showed their age, it looked freshly forged. Ben was drawn to it and moved quickly, almost stumbling over a rock. He could feel the Force-energy emanating from it; it was powerful but neither in Dark nor Lightside of the Force.
To one who couldn't feel the Force it would have looked like nothing more than a bland metallic ornament. To someone like Ben, it was beautiful, the Force seemed to swirl and sing around it and when his fingers closed around the smooth surface Ben gasped.
His grip tightened and he fell until he was floating, he couldn't explain it; he wasn't in his own body any longer. When he touched the…the Codex as he now knew it to be, his considerable affinity for the Force grew. His powers grew on the exponential level and he surpassed his Father, the most powerful Force-user the Galaxy had known for almost forty standard years.
And then he passed the combined might of his entire family and suddenly Ben was connected to them all. Their warmth was reassuring and curious at the sudden intrusion in their minds; even his Force-numb Uncle Han would feel it. His vision came back and Ben was seeing through another's eyes. The saline-like liquid blurred his vision but he could see an outline of reddish skin through the cloudy, fluid-filled tank. He looked down at his hands and saw the wires piercing the body…an almost black hair flowed into view.
Now Ben knew. He knew, just like he knew the name of the Codex. Ben could see the past and the future which could come to pass should he let it. He would not. Ben refused.
Anakin Solo.
They were trying to revive him and the body was complete, cloned and matured. He could feel the darkness around the body he inhabited, as they pulled and tugged at the Force. As they slowly dislodged his cousin's powerful essence from the Force, from the Lake of Apparitions Beyond Shadows, the ghost-like world he visited during his time with the wasting Mind-Walkers of Sinkhole Station in the Maw.
No. Ben thought, his anger was sudden and sharp and the Sith recoiled from his cousin's clone body.
Ben would not allow it, he would not allow them to revive his cousin and twist him against his family. Not if he could help it, the Sith shrieked with pain, she collapsed to the ground and writhed like a wounded animal as electrical energy wracked her nervous system. Ben watched with detached amusement, he felt malice toward the creature, he felt hate. It deserved the pain and his anger allowed such pain…and as suddenly as he held the power of the Galaxy in his hand, it fell away and Ben was panting heavily.
It was old, very old and very powerful.
It wasn't light or dark, nor was he while holding it. The lines had blurred so much that Ben couldn't tell the difference. With the Codex in hand Ben could wipe injustice from the Galaxy with a thought. He could be Celestial, like those who forced the Killiks to build Centerpoint and Sinkhole Station, but that power came with a cost. The cost was to lose himself in the Force and Ben had so much more do before he could even contemplate such an action.
Korriban, in the Horuset System, home to the Valley of Dark Lords and the One Sith led by Darth Krayt, formerly Jedi Knight A'Sharad Hett of the Old Republic.
Ben didn't know how or why but he knew. He knew exactly where Anakin was and how close the One Sith where to their goal. He couldn't let them; his family lost Anakin once, they would not lose him again. His Aunt Leia and Uncle Han deserved to see their son whole again. Allana deserved to meet her Uncle. Jaina deserved some relief from her duty as Sword of the Jedi. Tahiri deserved more than the life of a low-rent bounty hunter who happened to carry a lightsaber and the curse of being a failed Sith Apprentice. His Father, Luke Skywalker especially deserved to have something back, something for all he sacrificed for the Galaxy and if that couldn't be his Mother, Ben would give him his last Apprentice back.
His bag was snatched from the ground with hunger and lethargy forgotten, Ben ran up the passageway.
Stealth would be key; hiding himself in the Force would be essential. Thankfully it was a skill he specialized in, Jacen; well Darth Caedus was a very good teacher. But if it came to combat Ben was confident, the entire first year and a half of his journey was spent in the company of a Jensaari Defender, a near-human by the name of Vistis Beviin. He was Mandalorian by adoption but his family was hunted and killed by Imperial Inquisitors for his Force sensitivity. He was on the run until taken in by the Saarai-kar and flourished under the protection of her Order. The Jensaari were a better fit for Vistis given his Mandalorian heritage.
Vistis taught Ben lightsaber combat, until he learned and mastered at least the base level of all six of forms once taught by the old Jedi Order. He even toyed with Vistis' preference Jar'Kai, a splinter of the Niman form in which the user wielded two blades but Ben hadn't time to master it highly. He practiced but even with his memory; not having a teacher was an impediment. One day he would go back and learn it properly and maybe teach a few Jensaari the techniques of the New Jedi Order developed by Masters Solusar and Katarn instead of just being a learner.
Ben thought of messaging his Father or Jaina, of rallying the Jedi but it would take too much time…too much explaining, he could be in and out within a few days. But Ben's plan felt right, the Force was willing him down the path. He had to get to Korriban as soon as possible; Anakin's life depended on it. And this Anakin would survive, unlike the droid imitation fostered by Thrackan Sal-Solo during the Second Galactic Civil War.
This would be Anakin Solo, whole and untainted by the dark-side; Ben would make sure of it.
It was bright, blindingly so when Ben emerged from the Embrace to find Tadar'Ro the exact spot he left him. Tadar'Ro waited for days like a boulder, not moving an inch. Tadar'Ro uncurled himself from the sitting position.
"Ben Skywalker has returned."
"I have Tadar'Ro but I must leave as soon as possible."
Tadar'Ro seemed to shift uncomfortably, the plates of his natural armour grinding together. "Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil have not guided the flow?"
If a mechanized voice could be panicked, Ben knew Tadar'Ro would sound it, he could feel as much in the Force. "I have an answer…but I'm not sure your people will want to hear it."
"We must make haste Ben Skywalker, the others will be urgent to hear the wisdom of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil."
Haste they did make. Only a day and a half of hiking and Ben was within a hundred meters of the Jade Shadow. All around, as far as his eyes could see were Aing-Tii, many uncoiling from their boulder-like sitting positions, some looking perfectly natural and others wildly out of place with luminous markings.
They all looked at Ben expectantly.
Ben coughed and used the Force to magnify his voice. "I came to your Homeworld to study what my cousin Jacen Solo learned so very long ago. I came to find direction and purpose, much like what you asked of me when I entered the Embrace. I learned abilities. I learned to see the Force in a way that was once so alien to me. I held every relic in the Embrace for a time, using the Force to evaluate them." Ben coughed from the dryness in his throat. "One in particular, the Codex showed me power and the responsibility to wield such power. The power Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil gifted the Aing-Tii." Ben felt confusion in the Force but steeled himself against it. "I received no answers, no direction from Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil. The Aing-Tii must direct the flow, without a Prophet or the wisdom of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil. The Aing-Tii have a choice, a choice to do what they wish. I ask you to use that choice wisely. Explore, search for your own path in the galaxy as all other beings do and use the Force to help those who need you."
Anger and grief tore from the crowd of Aing-Tii but it quickly abated and the crowd began to dissipate as they went back to their lives disappointed. Ben turned to Tadar'Ro with his head bowed and the green tongues flickered over his face until the mechanized voice spoke.
"Thank you Ben Skywalker."
Ben looked at the Aing-Tii bemusedly. "I didn't do anything; I didn't see anything or feel anything to help your people."
The lights of the translation device flickered. "Ben Skywalker went into the Embrace, Ben Skywalker healed the Aing-Tii, the divide is no longer hostile. The Aing-Tii will recover; the Aing-Tii and Tadar'Ro thank Ben Skywalker. The Force will flow and the Aing-Tii will direct it as best the Aing-Tii can with action but Ben Skywalker must walk a different path."
Ben bowed his head again. "Thank you Tadar'Ro, the abilities I learned with your people will be invaluable to the Jedi. As will the knowledge I absorbed from the Codex." Ben turned to the Shadow but a rocky claw caught his robe.
Tadar'Ro held the wand-like device tightly as his tongues danced over the tip. "Ben Skywalker must be careful of the Codex and the knowledge it gives. The Aing-Tii are safe from the harm of the Codex, Ben Skywalker is not."
"I have to save my cousin Tadar'Ro, I don't have a choice."
"Ben Skywalker always has a choice, as Tadar'Ro always has a choice but the flow is set. Ben Skywalker cannot change the flow."
Ben nodded quickly. "I know Tadar'Ro but I didn't Flow-walk. I saw then, now and the future. It doesn't make sense but Anakin is alive and I can save him, the Codex helped me see him and realize it."
His head bobbled up and down and Tadar'Ro spoke again. "Jacen Solo handled the Codex."
It was a warning, Ben knew that. The Codex was intricately linked to Jacen's fall and someday Ben would know how. "I saw a boy Tadar'Ro, a boy who was cut down before he had a chance to live. I want to make sure he has a second chance, like I hope someone would do for me."
"Ben Skywalker must do what Ben Skywalker feels is right, be assured, sanctuary will always be with the Aing-Tii for Ben Skywalker."
"May the Force be with Tadar'Ro."
"As it is with us all."
The boulder-like being turned away and Ben made for the Shadow himself. He did a physical check of the engines and outward components before entering the ship. The Kathol Rift did a number on the hull, most of it was blackened from the lightning-like storms of the unsafe regions Ben stumbled into, he barely held her together with the Force until an Aing-Tii Sanhedrim ship saved him and shuttled him to their Homeworld.
Ben passed the hatch and stopped to throw his stuff in his cabin before making way to the bridge. He plopped down in the pilot's pit and started the pre-launch sequence, ticking off a few minor warnings when they appeared and checked the weapon systems. They were fully functional and undamaged but Ben wasn't hopeful of using them to any great effect. The Jade Shadow was originally a civilian SoroSuub Horizon-class Staryacht but was extensively modified by the hand of Luke Skywalker and his friends. The upgrades included military-grade lasers, concussion missile launchers, military-grade shield generators and an upgraded sensor package but the Shadow was ideally manned by a pilot, co-pilot and navigator/gunner.
Luckily his Mother Mara had modified the systems sufficiently to allow piloting by one being with the assistance of an astromech droid but that was all, effective weapons control was an out. Ben considered using his StealthX which was berthed in the aft hold but it did not have the space to accommodate Anakin in an emaciated state, Ben had a feeling he would need even the medical facilities of the Jade Shadow.
The Shadow rose into the atmosphere gracefully until it punched into space and Ben directed the ship out of the gravity well as Rowdy, the R-9 series Astromech for his StealthX and his sometimes co-pilot rolled onto the bridge and beeped and whistled.
Ben took the admonishing without comment, "Rowdy, plug in and make calculations for a jump to the Horuset System, fasted route possible, use the deep-core hyperlanes imbedded in the navicomputer if they make it quicker."
The droid rolled to his access terminal and a message flashed across terminals all around the bridge. THE HORUSET SYSTEM IS LOCKED OUT OF THE NAVAGATIONAL COMPUTER JEDI SKYWALKER. I AM OBLIGED TO REPORT THIS BREACH IN PROTOCOL TO THE JEDI HIGH COUNCIL. THE HORUSET SYSTEM CONTAINS THE HOMEWORLD OF THE SITH. KORRIBAN IS NOT A PLACE FOR A YOUNG JEDI KNIGHT OR HIS R-9 SERIES ASTROMECH DROID
Ben grit his teeth, understanding again why Jaina was more than happy for him to take Rowdy off her hands when he left. The droid's self-preservation streak would make a Hutt proud. "A memory wipe will change your mind I'm sure."
I WILL LOG THIS AS COERSION JEDI SKYWALKER
"Just do it Rowdy…give it a few days and you'll be the Artoo-Detoo of the R9 production line."
WONDERFUL
"Watch it Rowdy, you might have me thinking you want to be a hero." Ben said with a slight smile as he finalised a series of hyperspace-jumps which would take them from the Kathol-Rift without incurring the wrath of the storms again.
THAT WAS SARCASM JEDI SKYWALKER
Ben laughed and pulled the hyperdrive lever, once they were out the Rift and on the way to Korriban he would have that long awaited sanisteam.
