Ahsoka looked at the box in the seat next to her. It was all she was able to grab in the chaos at the Jedi Temple. Ahsoka didn't know if it contained what few material possessions she owned or nothing but dust balls. Now wasn't the time to check, however. Ahsoka took the strange box she had been given from her pouch. She was all set to push the black button when a warning klaxon sounded. Two ships dropped out of lightspeed—two clone ships!
They followed me! Ahsoka thought.
Ahsoka felt shock waves as explosions rocked her ship. The clones had opened fire on her. Ahsoka was determined to leave as quickly as she could. She pushed the black button and an ominous glow formed in front of her. Ahsoka accelerated to enter the glowing portal. She also tried to spin away from the next set of shots directed at her ship.
Bad idea, Ahsoka thought as she felt the impact of explosions hit her ship.
Red warnings displayed on the ship's instrumentation. The left wing was damaged by the latest barrage of weapon fire. Now, the ship started to spin uncontrollably towards the portal. Ahsoka accelerated the ship and ignored the warning messages. She was almost there when one more shot hit her ship and set it barrel-rolling into the portal. The jolt of the impact had one more effect: Ahsoka involuntarily pressed the green button before she could enter a final destination.
Great! Now, I don't know where I'll end up, she thought.
Ahsoka noted something unusual. The ship's sensors no longer showed the ships that had been firing on her. She didn't know why they disappeared from her display. She had no time to feel relieved, however. The ship continued to spin out of control. Her instrumentation was solid red. She was convinced every single warning message alternated on the screen now. To make matters worse, her right wing disintegrated. Ahsoka escaped the clone ships, but her victory appeared to be Pyrrhic.
So, this is how it ends. If I die, Skyguy, My Force Ghost will haunt you until you become one with the Force. And even after that! Ahsoka thought as her ship continued its uncontrolled trajectory.
Ahsoka didn't know how long her ship spun uncontrolled. She was unable to check her chronograph, and she figured it wouldn't do much good because she felt as if time had somehow frozen. Some time later, time seemed to speed up again, and she found herself on a collision course with another planet. She found it to look like any other as the ship sped into the atmosphere and hurled itself towards a spread out building. Ahsoka was convinced it would look like a temple if the building had multiple stories to it. She spotted a large open space next to the building. So, she desperately worked her broken controls in a last-ditch effort to avoid hitting the building.
"There is no death, there is the Force," Ahsoka repeated. The ship then hit the ground and Ahsoka saw everything go black.
"Alright, thanks for telling me," the man said as he ended his call.
He planned to spend time with friends, but many of them were on vacation or otherwise unavailable. It looked like he would have the day to himself now.
No matter, I can plan for the upcoming showcase now, he thought.
As the Grand Master for the local Jedi Order, he needed to prepare for the summer showcase. The showcase was an event where newly-graduated initiates would present their skills with the Force and a lightsaber. The idea was to show off their readiness to be selected as padawans. Jedi Knights and Masters often attended the showcase to see who they might consider selecting as their padawans. The Grand Master's thoughts were interrupted again when his commlink rang.
"Master, I'm sorry to interrupt you on a Sunday, but we've received word of a plane crash of some sort. We need you to investigate it. I've transmitted the coordinates to you. Response Team Gamma is already on the scene," Ashley, the Jedi Knight in charge of communications, told her superior.
"Thanks. I'm on my way," he replied. He activated his datapad to review the coordinates. As much as he preferred to be given physical locations or addresses, Jedi Orders were now required to report coordinates in the name of improved accuracy, thanks to recent directive. Upon receiving the coordinates for the crash, his jaw dropped.
"Hey, that's the park we were going to go to today!" he said out loud. He knew that the park was very active during the summer months. It had two soccer fields that various teams used on the weekends. If there were games scheduled today, there would be a lot of people there—people that might be injured or generating a frenzy if there was a plane crash. He immediately left for the park, hoping to find a quicker route than his usual one.
Upon arrival at the park, the Grand Master noticed it was empty. A single, nondescript blue van was the only vehicle parked on the street fronting the park. It appeared the response team had already performed the most important first step. As he left his own vehicle, Commander Adams from the response team greeted him.
"Adams, what's the status?" the Grand Master asked.
"Sir, there was a crash, but it looks more like a space ship than a regular plane. We erected the diffraction field. As far as anyone can tell, nothing has happened," Adams replied.
"Good job."
"The ship inside is smoking, though. We tried to open the hatch. But, it's either locked or jammed. I figured this is your area of expertise."
"I understand," the Grand Master replied. He made a mental note to remember the team's efficiency in his incident report.
Commander Adams gave his superior a device the size of a car alarm fob. The Grand Master pushed a button as he hooked it to his belt. It would allow him to pass through the diffraction shield that kept the public from seeing what was inside. As he entered, he saw smoke coming from the damaged ship. Time was definitely of the essence.
He closed his eyes and put his hands forward. As he felt the door and its internal mechanisms through the Force, he moved his hands to open the jammed door. He then used a Force jump to enter the strange ship. Inside, wires arced and smoked. Sparks dropped from the ceiling and arced from electronic panels. He then sensed a presence in the front of the ship.
He was surprised that the pilot was not a human. However, the pilot had a female appearance. Her skin was orange with what appeared to be white tattoos on her face. Instead of hair or ears, she had three striped tails that hung down from her head and two odd looking horns rising from the top of it.
The Grand Master didn't know how serious her injuries were, so he contacted Knight Ashley again and asked to speak to the medical bay.
"Knight Rachel here," the Jedi Healer said.
"Rachel, I need you to come to the accident site. We have an unconscious survivor. I need to know if it's safe to move her. Please note that she is not human," he told her.
"I'm on my way!" Rachel responded without saying anything about the last part of the Grand Master's prior statement.
A few minutes later, Knight Rachel arrived with an assistant. With the local Order being relatively small, the Jedi usually addressed each other by rank and first name. After Rachel and her assistant both received the requisite devices, they joined the Grand Master inside the crash scene. Knight Rachel left her assistant outside as she entered the ship.
"Oh, she's not human. This complicates matters," Rachel said as she examined her patient.
"How so?" the Grand Master asked curiously.
"We don't know what she may be allergic to, or if she can tolerate our medicines. Until she regains consciousness, I can't give her medications. The last thing she need is a reaction to our medicine."
"I see," he answered.
Knight Rachel took out her medical scanner and assessed the injured female.
"She has some bruised ribs, possibly cracked, and a possible concussion. There's no broken bones. That's good. And no neck or spinal issues. We can safely transport her back to the med bay for treatment," Knight Rachel determined.
She then signaled her assistant to have a stretcher ready. Both she and the Grand Master removed her safety harness and gently laid her on the floor.
"Look, she has lightsabers," he said as he noticed her waist. He removed one of them from her belt, pointed it outside, and ignited it. The weapon produced a green blade. He extinguished it and reattached it to the woman's belt.
"She appears to be a Jedi," he added.
"We must take her in, then. My Hippocratic Oath requires me to treat her. And, our Order's rules require us to welcome a fellow Jedi as our guest," Rachel said calmly.
"Indeed."
The pair used the Force to carefully remove the patient from the ship. The assistant carefully secured her to the stretcher outside. Finally, the Grand Master and his healer jumped out of the ship. On the way out, the Grand Master had some final instructions for the response team.
"The ship is empty now. Once you get the smoke to stop, transport the ship to hangar #4. Hopefully, it can be repaired, even if it's just the exterior," he said.
"Yes, sir. When we're done, nobody will know there was ever a crash here," Commander Adams replied.
Knight Rachel and her assistant returned the injured patient to the medical bay. The healer was still shocked by the woman's odd appearance.
After placing her on an examination bed, the assistant removed her lightsabers and locked them in a secure area along with the box that was found with her. Examining the patient while she still had lightsabers on her person was too dangerous for everyone involved.
As the healer began her assessment, she noted her patient's orange skin and the weird white markings on her face. She wasn't sure if they were tattoos, face paint, or something else. She also thought the striped tails and horns that sprouted out her head added to her strange appearance. Her body temperature was 100.5° F [38.0° C]. Rachel didn't know if it was normal, too high, or too low? Her blood pressure was normal by human standards.
Further examination revealed scratches on the woman's forehead and on one of the horns on top of her head. Rachel figured these would heal rather easily. Although she remained reluctant to give the patient any type of medicine, she asked her assistant to start an IV of normal saline solution to prevent dehydration. Despite the woman's odd outer appearance, her internal physiology seemed human enough for Rachel to start healing the more serious injuries.
After the IV was in place, Rachel gently placed her hands on the woman's injured ribs. Even with Jedi healing, the ribs would probably remain sore for another day or two. However, the healing process would ease some discomfort and hopefully speed up her body's natural healing process. A few minutes later, the woman took a deep breath and started coughing. Her eyes opened rather abruptly and revealed two blue orbs that looked at Rachel and her hands very curiously.
"What... what are you doing to me?!" Ahsoka asked. She had a hint of fear in her voice.
"Relax, I'm treating your injuries," Knight Rachel replied reassuringly.
"Where... where am I?"
"Let me get someone who can better explain that you. For now, lie still so I can treat you."
Knight Rachel then turned to one of her medical assistants.
"Get the Grand Master here ASAP. Tell him our patient is conscious now and asking questions," she told the assistant.
The assistant nodded and left to contact the Grand Master.
