As Darwin exits the memory, he cannot help but crack a smile over his first meeting with one of the greatest Jedi in existence who would become his mentor and friend. Jedi training with was intense, but Darwin endured with only scrapes and strained muscles, but it was all worth it in the end. Seeing Master Skywalker beam after every successful boulder levitation or miniature sandstorm could ease the pain from any injury. The extreme physical work was undoubtedly a major departure from sitting in a room all day reading textbooks, but Darwin managed to adapt well. In fact, he found himself having fun for the first time in a while.

Once training was complete, the entire Galactic Civil War came crashing down on him. He participated in countless skirmishes as a Commander which involved striking Imperial garrisons, protecting territories, and rallying people to join the Alliance to Restore the Republic. It was a very stressful time indeed. Fortunately, Darwin handled stressful times before.

Soon came a day where he was assigned to a motley squad of Earth citizens. Together, they fought in battles more efficiently than Darwin ever could with any other group of regulars. There was something in that group that made them more powerful than the rest. With the permission of the Alliance High Command, he founded one of the most infamous and feared squads that would go down in history with its string of successes: The Team. The name was suggested by a yellow, square-shaped soldier named Spongebob whom Darwin always found amusing.

Nostalgia overwhelms Darwin as he reflects on his adventures with the members on The Team. After every struggle, close-call, victory, and even defeat, their morale was high and their bond unbreakable. It seemed like nothing could bring them down. In the end, they were more than just comrades. They were friends.

Darwin's smile fades as he starts to remember that not everyone made it through all the wars. The loss of a Team member always struck a hard blow to morale, but only temporarily. Losing a brother-in-arms was always saddening for Darwin, yet not as saddening as the loss of his…

No. No… Not again… NO! He struggles to fight the memory, but to no avail. It slips through his defenses and enters his mind.

The fight was over in about twelve seconds. They never stood a chance.

The raindrops fell continuously from the dark, gray sky, transforming into hissing steam as they struck Darwin's azure-glowing lightsaber. The downpour was enough to stain Darwin's sand-colored robe with a dark brown hue and adequately water his backyard lawn except in the spots covered by the corpses of five bounty hunters. The rain was cold, but far from sufficient to chill Darwin's burning rage.

Darwin kicked a disembodied head, sending it flying into the gazebo. Images were flashing through his mind now: images of slaughter, malice, and mercilessness. He had witnessed the lifeless bodies of his father, mother, and little sister throughout the house into which the attackers had broken. Each body had a pool of red under it from the blood pouring out of the numerous bullet holes. Why so many bullets? Why waste so much ammunition on such defenseless prey?

Regardless, those fools had sinned. They needed their punishment. The only feeling underneath Darwin's anger was the satisfaction from giving them exactly that. And yet, Darwin and his saber were still thirsty for blood. Why wasn't it enough? Darwin had decapitated all the assailants and slashed their dead bodies numerous times which should have been more than enough for him to vent all his anger, yet the Jedi's fury failed to dissipate following the onslaught. There was nothing more he could do to defile the corpses, for they were almost completely charred and filled with numerous gashes from the lightsaber strikes.

Darwin dropped to his knees onto the green, watery grass before raising his head toward the gloomy sky and letting out an anguish-filled scream for the heavens to hear. It did not make him feel any better. Perhaps it was the images in his mind that continued to fuel his rage. Not just the fact that the murderers needlessly overkilled his family, but the fact that they successfully killed his family. The fault lied not solely with the bounty hunters, but also with Darwin. Yes. It was his fault for not arriving quick enough to prevent it. Years of nurture and love from them and this is how he repaid it? Allowing them to die? Darwin had become a sinner just like those killers and the images etched into his memory were his eternal punishment. There was nothing he could do except be angry with himself. Either that or drive the lightsaber into his own—

You don't have to do that to yourself.

"That voice…"

It wasn't your fault. It was the bounty hunters'.

"But I couldn't save them. I let them die!"

You can't save everyone from death. It's not your responsibility.

"But they were my family! I owed it to them!"

I understand how you feel, but everyone loses family members all the time.

"To natural death, yeah. But this was murder! I could've arrived quicker to stop it!"

How? Your shuttle's engines were malfunctioning. If the crew hadn't stopped to fix it, the shuttle would've been blown to bits with you in it. Then both you and your family would be dead.

"Well, but…"

Look, you've already done a lot from sensing their deaths coming and actually putting in the effort to go stop it. Heck, you've even avenged them! You would have accomplished less if you made that shuttle crew keep going and died in an explosion because of it. Your family wouldn't want you to die, would they?

Darwin hesitated before answering. "No."

Of course not! And right now, I bet they're watching you from the heavens, glad to see that you're safe and sound. You don't want to start acting suicidal and disappointing them, do you?

"No."

Exactly. And it certainly won't do you any good if you just go around being miserable.

"I guess."

And you and I both know what anger leads to; it's something way worse than what you just experienced.

Darwin sighed. "I… I guess you're right."

Good. Now get this mess cleaned up and head back as soon as you can. Everyone's waiting for you in the other galaxy.

"Okay." Darwin waited for more from the mysterious voice, but nothing happened.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled. As his rage began to subside, Darwin collected himself and realized how much cleanup he needed to do. As he rushed into the house to find a phone, he couldn't help but wonder where that voice came from. Was it his conscience or telepathy?

Darwin starts to feel the dampness of his sleeves and realizes that he had been crying. He quickly raises his left hand and faces his palm toward a tissue box. A white Kleenex tissue flies out the top of the box and into his hand. After wiping up the remaining tears and mucus from his face, Darwin is surprised at how wet the tissue had become.

He looks up at the digital clock on the wall to the right of him. It read "7:25 AM". He suddenly remembers that he has a meeting at 8 o'clock sharp in New York. He stands up and dashes to the bathroom to freshen up. After all, he cannot simply go out in the public with an unwashed face, especially one that just had tears running down it.

Grabbing his robe from the hook and heading out the door, he thinks to himself: If I take the train, I'll be there in no time.

Taking the elevator to the ground floor, Darwin heads out through the double glass doors to be welcomed by the fresh air of the city of Trenton. Society has taken great steps toward improving environmental conditions, especially with making urban air cleaner. The Jedi could remember the times he visited the city when he was a little kid. The air would reek of vehicle exhaust and the sky would be painted with smokestack excrement from nearby factories. As his mind jumps back to the task at hand, Darwin concludes that he should be able to get to the station in at least seven minutes walking at a decent pace.

On the way to the station, Darwin spies a newsstand. He stops in front of it, grabs a paper, and hands a dollar to the bored-looking bald man running the stand.

"Thank you, have a nice day," says the vendor in a monotonous voice.

"You too," Darwin replies cheerfully as he starts walking again.

He flips through the headlines searching for interesting news reports, but to no avail. Article titles such as "Retired Cop Murdered", "City Mayor Arrested for Embezzling $500,000", "Mass Shooting at Local Elementary School", and "Military Contractor Executive Mysteriously Disappears" dominated the newsprint pages. Darwin remembered seeing the same types of tragic articles in newspapers before he left Earth.

Some things never change, Darwin thinks with a sigh. He folds the paper back up before tossing it into the nearest recycle bin and continuing on his way.