Disclaimer: I own nothing within this story. If you recognise something it belongs to George Lucas. Or is it Disney now? I forget to be honest. Either way, the important thing is that it's not owned by me.
Note: I am currently incredibly annoyed at my computer as I had finished this chapter about Monday time. Might have been early Tuesday morning. But I had finished it, it was done, everything was spell checked and ready… and now it's all gone. Annoyingly enough for you guys, I have Chapter Four done but due to a failure and lost work… I have to redo this at the last possible moment to meet my deadline. Hope it's alright still though :)
A Destiny Altered – Hidden in the Dark
Galen was beginning to get annoyed with his new Master and was actually contemplating hitting the old man.
Hard.
In the face.
With his lightsaber.
This lack of focus earned him a smack to the back of the head by Kota, who was circling Galen as he attempted to connect to the Force, in a gentle way, faster. Galen had absolutely no difficulty in connecting to the Force but Kota had observed him doing so and almost immediately attacked the younger man with one of the nearby training sticks. Apparently when Galen touched the Force he did so with the grace of Hutt's ballroom dancing technique. Galen had actually been rather impressed at his Master's analogy at the time but after a while he realised just how maddening it was to actually try to control the way he touched the Force.
It had taken him hours of meditation to touch the Force in a gentle enough manner for Kota to be even vaguely satisfied with it. And then the bastard had proceeded to beat him with a wooden stick every time he didn't do so fast enough for Kota's liking. To be fair it was a great way for reaching the Force in a Jedi-like manner while being under stress but you would have thought that it was a teaching method much more in tune with the Dark Side. In reality it actually strengthened the Jedi's connection to the Light.
After all, if you could push your pain away from you into the Force while touching the Force in such a light and gently manner then you would be able to push your anger and pain away easier in battle. This would help him to avoid turning back to the Dark Side and he hoped that he was strong enough to stay away from it. His thoughts had drifted onto this line of thought and Kota recognised this, beaning him on the head with the stick again,
"Damn it boy, focus!" he growled in his usual, gruff and annoyed, manner, "How do you expect to resist the Dark Side when fighting Vader if you can't work on this simple calming exercise?"
Galen couldn't help but shoot back,
"You know I doubt that the Jedi Master back in the days of the Order would hit their students with a stick." He groused, "Maybe that has something to do with it!"
Kota laughed a little bit and bonked him on the head with the stick again. Muttering to himself as Kota continued to chuckle, Galen reached towards the Force as faster as he could while still being gentle. He did this repeatedly for what felt like hours without being hit with the stick. Honestly he was beginning to think Kota had taken the chance to leave the room and scrounge up some more alcohol from somewhere.
Honestly, Galen had no idea where the hell it was all coming from.
It was only after he had connected to the Force at speed, once again, that he decided to check on his Master. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find Kota not only still in the room but still pacing around him. Slowly relaxing out of the lotus position, Galen groaned a little bit as he worked out his muscles. He looked up at Kota just as the old man started to speak,
"It might not have been the way of the Jedi Masters of the Order but it had always been my way to training Jedi." He told Galen in a much softer tone of voice than he normally used, "I had a padawan learner during the war… I taught that boy everything I knew about strategy and fighting war. He soaked it all up like a sponge… like you. But the one thing he could never get right, no matter how hard he tried or how hard he pushed. And that was touching the Force, gently, at speed. Just you were having…"
There was a pregnant, awkward, pause where neither of them moved and neither of them said anything. The only sound was the hum of the engines as they travelled through hyperspace. After a few moments, Kota spoke again,
"But for the past thirty minutes you've connected to the Force gently, and at speed, no less than one hundred times." He mused aloud, surprising Galen who had not been keeping count, "It makes me wonder though. You and he are so alike and I can't help but wonder… is it because I'm pushing you harder? Did I not give enough time to training him like I'm giving you? Was… Was it my fault, in the end?"
Unsure of what to say or do, Galen felt incredibly awkward as Kota turned his sightless gaze to a wall, seemingly staring straight through it. Not liking how his Master's Force signature was now radiating sorrow, Galen walked over to Kota and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. Kota jumped slightly, having been so lost in his thoughts. He turned to Galen and the apprentice smiled faintly,
"Kota I don't know anything about your padawan. I don't know if he enjoyed flying, I don't know if he was a vegetarian and I don't know if he used to pull pranks to try and liven you up." He told his Master, getting a small chuckle from the man. Becoming serious, Galen gave his Master's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "But I do know you. And I know he would have been very happy to have you as his Master and glad of all your training. In the end… it could never be your fault."
There was another one of those pregnant pauses that Galen was beginning to dislike very much. He would hate them but he was trying to be a good Jedi and a good Jedi doesn't hate anything, much less awkward silences. Kota nodded once, a small smile on his weathered old face,
"Thanks boy." He grunted, his usual gruff demeanour back, causing Galen to smirk faintly, "But don't think you're done just yet! Now here comes the good stuff… I'm going to see if you have what it takes to learn Battle Meditation. It's a handy Force power but I warn you… you're not going to like the training!"
Kota was right; Galen did not like the training.
Getting down to the bowels of the Jedi Temple, to its sub-levels, was actually rather easy for Kota and Galen. The average stormtrooper was about as much threat to them as a bantha was to a rancor. When they had cut down the last of the white armoured figures they had descended into the depths of the sub-levels. And almost immediately been assaulted by the very odd sensation of being watched.
Kota had assured Galen that it was probably just some old surveillance cams but Galen was not convinced. It felt more… alive than a surveillance cam, for lack of a better word. Like it was following them rather than watching over the whole area. The area itself was enough to make Galen begin to feel a little confined. It was basically a maze of corridors with small and large rooms behind locked doors.
As they went deeper and deeper down the feeling of being watched began to lessen but not disappear, as if they were instead being watched from a larger distance. After only a few feet it became clear to Galen why anyone following them had stopped. The Dark Side energies swirling around this area of the sub-levels was suffocating. He choked a little bit and he saw that Kota seemed to be gagging on it. To Force sensatives of the Light, Dark Side energies were extremely unpleasant and repulsive.
Turning to the source of the Dark Side energy, which seemed to be one of the little rooms, Galen noticed that the door, unlike most others, was labelled,
"Who in Force's name is Exar Kun?" he muttered, edging away from the doorway, "I thought you said only objects were stored down here? It feels like theirs a Sith Lord in there…"
Kota coughed a little bit and pulled at Galen's robes. Following his Master's command, Galen began to move away from the room. It was only after they had been walking for a good half an hour that the Dark Side energies seemed to dim enough for them to breathe normally again. Groaning a little bit, Galen rested against one side of the corridor and Kota did the same on the other,
"Exar Kun was a Jedi who fell to the Dark Side." He explained with a little groan, "He led an army of Sith and other enemies of the Republic in a war against the Jedi and the Republic. It was called the Great Sith War and it engulfed the entire galaxy… it was even part of the reason for the Mandalorian Wars beginning when they did."
Galen was listening intently to the background of Exar Kun. In comparison, Vader was nothing but an apprentice. And that was just the residue that lingered on the items that the Jedi had dared to take from wherever they had defeated Exar Kun. He paused for a moment and blinked. Mandalorian. That was the area of the sub-level that the Force had told him to visit,
"Mandalorian Wars?" he questioned, getting a tired nod from Kota. The old general was acting his age for the first time since Galen had met him. Shaking his head a little bit, he continued, "The Force directed me to a section that was named Mandalorian. Did the Jedi have anything to do with the Mandalorian Wars?"
Groaning a little bit, Kota rubbed at where his eyes were behind the bandages he wore. He hummed a little bit in thought before nodding,
"Yes… yes there was a split in the Order as to whether or not they should join the war to help defend the Republic." He admitted before his frown deepened, "In fact the rebellious faction was led by a Jedi Knight named Revan… he was a prodigy in all areas of the Force. He wanted the Jedi to join the Republic in the fight but the council of the time refused. Said that the Jedi were peacekeepers first and foremost."
Unable to stop himself, Galen pointed out,
"But the Jedi were Generals in the Clone Wars." He argued, "Did the Order's position change so radically?"
Kota laughed a little bit,
"Boy the Mandalorian Wars happened almost four thousand years ago! Change over that length of time isn't radical at all." He argued with a smirk before it diminished slightly, "Revan went to war anyway, taking a lot of Jedi who thought the same way. Almost single-handedly, Revan led the Republic to victory over a vastly superior force. Then… well then it gets pretty vague. But apparently Revan came back to the Republic as a Sith Lord. Wait, it gets stranger. He was betrayed by his apprentice and the Jedi took him in. Then, for some reason, Revan had a change of heart and joined up with the Jedi again to defeat the Sith Empire that he had unleashed upon the Republic."
There was silence for a long time as Galen processed what he had been told and Kota just rested, apparently not used to story time. Kota signalled for them to get moving and Galen followed a little bit behind his Master. Door after door passed them by as they continued to walk and Galen continued to ponder on what he had learnt.
The Mandalorian Wars had been a time of great upheaval for both the Republic and the Jedi Order. But he was unsure what the Force was trying to suggest he needed there. It had said he would find his second Master in the form of a holocron and hologram droid. But what could he learn from a Mandalorian that he would need to win this rebellion against the Empire? He wasn't going into this war with masses of highly trained soldiers from a warrior society after all. And no Mandalorian would be able to help him with the Force or matters of being a Jedi.
It hit Galen like a ton of bricks and he stopped walking suddenly.
Kota didn't noticed anything wrong with his latest 'padawan' because the Force whispered to him that they had arrived at the right door. And because he was blind he didn't see that Galen was gaping slightly,
"Here we are then boy…" he muttered gruffly, "You said it was a holocron and a droid like the annoying one you own? Hope it's someone good."
Swallowing nervously, Galen opened the door and was instantly aware of the strong Force residue in the room. It saturated the air, making it harder to breathe but much easier to tap into the Force. And the Force was whirling around this room, like it was watching over it. Galen looked dead ahead at the main attraction in the room.
A set of black armoured robes with a black and red mask.
While the Force residue from most of the items in the room was completely neutral, an oddity in itself, the clothes were almost dripping with the Dark Side. It was just as powerful as the Dark Side residue of Exar Kun's room but it was a lot more concentrated, so that only the clothes were affected. Galen was sure that if he attempted to wear the robes he would find it a constant battle not to welcome the Dark Side back into his life.
Tearing his eyes away from the robes even as Kota observed them much more carefully through the Force, Galen noticed a hologram droid almost immediately. Moving over to it, he admitted that it did look remarkably like PROXY. Of course his droid was better equipped but still, it was very impressive technology for being almost four thousand years old. Good condition too. He activated the droid and raised an eyebrow when all that happened was that a small compartment in the chest opened.
Looking around, Galen spotted what appeared to be a glowing white box. He had spent enough time in briefings with his former Master to know what a Jedi holocron looked like. Picking it up carefully, he examined it. Seeing that it was the exact shape and size of the cavity in the droid's chest, Galen carefully guided it into the droid before closing it up and rebooting the droid.
Almost immediately the droid's frame began to shake as it powered up. Not trusting a four thousand year old droid not to explode, Galen took several steps back from it. In the end though the droid didn't explode, instead it flashed brightly with white light before a holographic image of a man became visible.
The man was tall but not overly so, matching Kota was height. His skin was paler than anyone's should have any right to be though and his brown hair was pulled back away from his face, showing he had high cheek bones and a strong jaw. If that were all then the man would have been considered handsome but his face was marred by a series of scars. Mainly there were circular scars that were connected by a single, thin, scar that connected them all.
Glancing to the side slightly, Galen looked at the red and black mask. The mask that oozed anger and hatred but still had more concentrated within it. He turned back to the man, who was currently looking himself over, Galen noticed that the facial scars were the same shape as the mask, as if the mask had been attached so hard to his face that it had left scars. Kota was stood beside Galen now, having noticed that the droid had been activated,
"So who is it boy?" he asked casually enough but Galen could tell he was nervous, "Who's your second Master?"
Galen could have glared at Kota right then because his words had caught the attention of the holographic man, who raised a single eyebrow before moving over to the clothes. As the man looked forlornly at the clothes, Galen glanced at Kota,
"I think…" he paused as the holographic man touched the robes lightly before the jumpsuit he had been wearing was replaced by the black armoured robes. Galen gritted his teeth slightly as the holographic man became infinitely more imposing just by appearing in the robes, "I think the holocron was made to be of Revan."
The holographic man looked up at them as if they had finally said something that he had been waiting for them to say for a while now,
"You think?" he asked, his voice holding a certain steel to it even though he was speaking casually, "I take it that you've come down here and activated the droid – me – without consulting the Masters… oh you boys have more stones than any Knight in my time."
It was odd to see the man who had been a Dark Lord of the Sith almost four thousand years ago walking around and joking with them, Galen decided. Kota raised an eyebrow, an action visible even though he was still wearing his blindfold,
"We would have consulted the Masters… if the Jedi Order had any left." He told the droid, sounding very bitter now, "We were guided here by the Force, that we might find a second Master for the boy."
Revan raised an eyebrow in amusement before turning to look at Galen. Suddenly Galen had the feeling that he was being scrutinised in every possible way. It might have just been a trick of the hologram but Galen could have sworn that Revan was staring a hole straight through him. After an uncomfortable few seconds, Revan's eyebrow lowered and his expression became a little bit more serious,
"I can tell by his posture, and yours, that this is a matter of grave importance to you. First let me ask… what is the date?" He acknowledged, beginning to pace slightly when Galen told him the date. Revan whistled a little bit as he paced, "Almost four thousand years… and you say there are no Masters to seek permission from? Has the Jedi Order been fractured and weakened like it was by my invasion of the Republic?"
Galen thought about the best way to condense recent history for Revan. He wasn't sure if the man would be happy or angry about what had happened to the Jedi Order or to the Republic. In the end he decided to go with honesty,
"There was a war, the Clone Wars, in which the Republic fought against the Separatists, who threatened the Republic with their droids. The Republic got an army of cloned soldiers to combat the droids and the Jedi agreed to lead them into battle." He told Revan, who gave a barely perceived nod for him to continue. Galen sighed, "The Jedi were betrayed. A Sith Lord, Darth Sideous, had infiltrated the senate to become the Supreme Chancellor. And when he had taken a Jedi Knight as his Sith Apprentice he ordered the execution of all the Jedi, using the massive clone armies to defeat the entire Jedi Order at once. And reorganised the Republic as the first Galactic Empire."
Whatever reaction Galen had been expecting it was not what he got from Revan. A picture of calm throughout the tale, the last sentence caused Revan to growl in anger. Revan paced faster, back and forth, before he roared and lashed out, punching a dent into the solid metal wall. Both Kota and Galen jumped away from the holographic man, lightsabers out and ignited. Revan turned back to them and held up his hands,
"Sorry. My emotions got the better of me, I'm fine now." He assured them, only lowering his hands when Galen and Kota extinguished their lightsabers, "But you have to understand… as a young man I went to war to uphold the principles of the Republic, of democracy. I fell to the Dark Side because I was willing to do anything to defend it. Even my return as a Sith Lord… I aimed to defeat the Jedi. So that the Republic would not rely on them! So that the Republic would be strong without the Jedi Order pulling them into another war."
His reasoning for his fall to the Dark Side and his invasion of the Republic made a certain kind of sense to Galen. Galen paused for a moment,
"Revan…" he began, getting the man's attention, "I was the apprentice of one of the two Sith Lords who controls this Empire. But I received a vision from my father and the Force itself gave me the mission to form a rebellion against the Empire. To overthrow it for all the trillions who suffer under its rule. I was directed here… the Force told me that you would be my second Master, that you would help teach me how to become a Jedi worthy and capable of leading a rebellion to restore the Republic."
Revan once again fixed Galen with the stare that made him feel like his was under a microscope. It was maddening that Galen was having to release his fear into the Force just because the man was looking at him like that. He wasn't even a man, he was a hologram layered over a droid frame. But still, the man was intimidating. After a few moments, Revan nodded,
"Alright." He agreed simply, causing Kota to slap his hand to his face and Galen's left eye to twitch slightly. It was a very anti-climactic answer after all. Chuckling a little bit, Revan shrugged, "Hey it's not that hard of a choice for me. I fought for the ideals of the Republic in my life and now, after my death, I will be able to aid it's rebirth."
Kota and Galen both let out a sigh of relief. That meant that their mission for the Force was a success and Galen was one step closer to being a good enough Jedi to lead a rebellion against the Empire. Curious, Galen glanced around the room,
"So what would you be teaching me?" he asked, knowing that he would be unable to teach him about the Force considering he had no connection to it now that he was a droid, "Tactics and things like that?"
Scoffing at the idea that he would be teaching only tactics and 'things', Revan shook his head in dismay,
"And things… these things including swordsmanship, lightsaber forms, better lightsaber construction, unarmed combat, blaster combat, echani fighting styles, political skills, the art of persuasion and public speaking." He rattled off, smirking when Galen looked at his disbelievingly, "Boy I am going to turn you from a Jedi into a leader of men and women. By the time I declare you ready, you will be able to convince a man that killing his son is what he's always wanted to do. You will be able to inspire suicidal bravery with but a flick of your wrist. I will teach you how to use the corrupt system to your advantage. Boy I will teach you how to work yourself into the hearts and minds of those around you, ensuring their unending and undying loyalty to you and only you. And the best part of it all?"
There was a pause where Revan just smirked,
"You will do it all without even needing to use the Force." He told Galen, "You will do it all without compromising your integrity as a Jedi. I will teach you not how to intimidate and scare people into fighting for you… I will teach you how to inspire men, women and even droids to fight, and die, by your side."
And there we go! ^^
Chapter three… written out almost as long as it was originally in…
*checks clock*
Five hours :P
To be honest it only ever needed to be this long in the first place so :P
Anyway, for those of you who wanted more romance, the romance will begin to become clear in the next chapter ^^
If you can't wait, all I'm going to say is that a lot of Galen's allies are going to be women and a handful will be lodging with him, Revan-droid, PROXY and Kota on the Rogue Shadow so you can be sure that there will be tension! ^^
