It wasn't until early the next morning that Maris returned to the small quarters given to him by the Commander. The room was his for the duration of his stay at the Rebel base; which, Maris could tell, the Alliance desperately tried to prolong until word came from Commander Skywalker. Maris hoped it would not be long; yet, with safe and comfortable accommodations he was not complaining. He was finally at ease to sit and wait. There was no more running, or hiding, or fighting for his life. At least, for now, he could rest.
With a contented sigh, Maris stared up at the ceiling as he tried to sleep. Everything was better than it had been in such a long time. However, he couldn't even doze as he struggled with a worrying unease.
Tara.
Kissing the pirate had gone directly against the Jedi code. Jedi didn't form attachments. They did not fall in love. Even worse, staying with her until the early hours of the morning had been…
Giving up on sleep, he sat up and ran a hand through his hair, the scent of her still resting so heavily on his senses. Standing, he crossed the room to gaze out of the window. The first rays of crowning sunlight could be seen over Iziz in the distance. So much rested on Maris's shoulders. He was one of the few remaining Jedi and he had failed the Order by rejecting the very commandments by which they had lived for thousands of years.
"What is troubling you, my boy?" A voice called to him from the past as he slipped into a meditative state.
"Nothing in particular," Maris answered, his voice much younger. "I come here to think."
"So do I," Master Kenobi took the seat beside Maris in the darkened planetarium. "This place reminds me of my old master." Maris caught the older Jedi staring longingly at the statue of Qui-Gon Jinn. "He once told me that there is something to be learned in listening to the dark." Maris wondered exactly how one listened to the dark. "A skill, it appears, you have mastered at quite a young age. I often see you here. How old are you now, Maris?"
"Almost eleven, sir,"
"Ah," chuckled Obi-Wan, "And has a Master taken you on yet?"
"No, but the time will come."
"The time will come."
Neither Jedi spoke, and Maris watched as Mandalore passed over their heads.
"Do you miss your master?"
"Yes, there are always times when I wish he were still alive to give me counsel when I am troubled. You remind me of him."
"I do?"
"Yes. While the other younglings are out at the training grounds fooling with their lightsabers and throwing each other around, you are in here, learning about other worlds." Obi-Wan gestured to passing Dantooine.
"Master Jinn was an amazing swordsman."
"But he was an even better Jedi. You give the Force your attentions, Maris. You don't allow your focus to drift to the power it gives you."
Maris could sense the unrest rolling off the Master. Indeed, he was troubled. It was more than the turbulence of being a general in the war. It was a personal woe. Mairis understood. For years rumors had circulated of Kenobi's padawan, Anakin, the Chosen One.
The room fell into complete pitch as the holo projector timed out. Maris stepped out, leaving Master Obi-Wan with his thoughts.
Shaking his head, Maris turned away from the window. He sat, cross-legged on the bed and settled back into the current of the Force.
"Much too late, it is, for young Jedi to be out of bed. Hmm?" A hoarse, but kind-hearted voice came from Maris's elbow.
"Master Yoda," Maris immediately stood and bowed to the old Jedi. "I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep."
"Mmm, restlessness, it appears, is a trait shared by those of youth and age." The wrinkled Master stared up at him through smiling eyes and laughed wildly, breaking the silence of the large chamber. "What brings you to the Archives?" he asked when the echoes had subsided.
"I came for information on Master Qui-Gon Jinn, sir."
"Qui-Gon?" Yoda's ears perked forward and his eyes widened. Then, his face returned to its stoic resistance. "Walk with me," he grunted slightly and padded off, heavily relying on his cane, "Answer your questions, I will."
Maris followed the Grand Master out into the main hall. No one was around and the hall was shrouded in the soft darkness of a peaceful night. For a few paces, they strode in silence, Yoda's huffs and the wooden clicks of his stick the only sounds in the quiet. Young Maris wondered how a being so physically frail could be one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.
"I spoke with Master Kenobi in the planetarium today." Maris said. "He was worried. He said he often wished he were able to speak with his master again…for guidance. Though he did not say as much, I could sense it was about Master Skywalker and his new padawan. "
"Yes," Yoda sighed, his eyes closed with melancholy. "Laden with a heavy burden, Master Kenobi is." Maris did not respond, watching as Yoda opened his eyes and stared up at him. "But, strongly allied with the Force, is he. He does not mourn his old Master, but relies on the Force and his own wisdom to make his decisions. Trust him, we must."
"He also said I remind him of Master Jinn."
"A true Knight, Qui-Gon was. Forever on his own quest."
"He died when I was very young, but I did know it was he who brought Master Skywalker to the temple. He thought him to be the Chosen One, the one from the prophecy that would bring peace. "
"And in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior and he shall be known as the son of suns." Yoda quoted the prophecy solemnly. Maris knew that relations between Jinn and the High Council had been tense. "Much like Qui-Gon, you are." He grinned up at the boy, stopping in the hall and resting both of his hands on his staff. "One with the Living Force. Follow it, and a great Jedi will you become."
Anakin had not brought peace, Maris thought to himself. Darth Vader now stood, black and menacing, where the Jedi had once held ground. And where were the great masters now?
Rubbing his eyes, Maris tried to find some reason for the Force to send him such visions of the past. Was it to remind him that he had betrayed the Order, that loving Tara was forbidden? He attempted to decipher what exactly Master Yoda had meant. He let his mind wander. Images and senses flooded to him. He saw her stalk down the ramp of the Paratta. He saw her whisper tenderly to the astromech. He saw their kiss. And he saw many more.
Maris entertained the premonitions. There they were at the helm of her ship. She was smiling, he smiled back. He took her into his arms, brushing dark hair out of her lovely face. Then, her grin morphed into an empty expression. Lips slightly parted, face dirty and bruised. He held her limp body and stared into her brown eyes, but she did not see him.
No!
Breathing heavily and feeling clammy, he opened his eyes. No.
You must be wary when the future calls to you, Maris. It was not the voice of Obi-Wan or Yoda, but that of Master Aryys. It will easily lead you astray and into the grasp of fear. Fear is the shadow of the dark side. Nothing is certain. There is only the present. This is the way of the Living Force. Trust in it. Let it guide you.
The Living Force. One night had not doomed the Jedi. Tomorrow would come, but for now, he would sleep.
[][][]
Horrible pounding woke Maris from a deep sleep.
"Ah!" He shot up from the sheets. His neck ached and he struggled to push sleep behind him. He looked around, unsure if the pounding came from somewhere in the room or from within his own head. When his mind had cleared, he realized that the sound actually came from the door.
Rushing over, he thumbed the access pad to reveal a distressed Commander Sol, blaster drawn, shadowed by the tall form of the Corporal.
"Master, Aedann," she breathed heavily, her usually crazed curls were downright ornery, falling out of their tie and cap. "You've been compromised. It's not safe for you here." She stepped through the doorway, crossing the floor to peer out the window at the grounds below. The hall was left in the hands of the Corporal.
"Compromised, Commander?"
"Yes, a small team of Imperial commandos has infiltrated the base." She returned to the center of the dormitory, "Thankfully, there aren't enough to do any real damage, but it is enough,"
"For a search and capture,"
"Or destroy. There's a ship waiting to relocate you. There isn't anywhere for you to go as of yet. You'll jump around hyperspace until we can make contact with Admiral Ackbar and the rest of the fleet."
"They will follow me," Maris told Corinna. A slight pang of guilt slithered through his gut.
"They're chasing us as it is. As long as you're with us, we have a chance," she said, eyes full of hope.
"And the Empire knows it," grinned the Corporal. Maris pushed aside his guilt as he handed him his cloak off of the back of a chair. "Throw on a shirt and grab that lightsaber of yours." They strode back into the hall, Maris soon behind them.
"This way," she called, already jogging down the corridor. Maris drew his lightsaber, igniting the weapon. The blue light emitted from the blade cast an azure glow across his face.
Hustling and feet shuffling, the trio took a hard right. Stormtroopers met them around the corner.
"Not this way!" shouted the Corporal, fiercely sardonic. He fired several shots and the wall of white.
Maris felt the heat as one of the shots from the troopers whizzed past his right shoulder. The next would have reached its target, but with a swipe of the blade, it was sent back into the fray.
"There's another path!" Corinna called out. She had drawn another blaster and was firing with both hands.
Maris spun to the Corporal, "Go, I'll cover you. Shut the blast doors!" Backing slowly, he continued to deflect fire as the Rebels ran back to the main corridor. When he reached them, Corinna was waiting by the door pad to shut the door. After doing so, she fired a shot into the panel.
"Let's go. This way!"
[][][]
Tara had not slept. With a heavy sigh, she stood and paced despondently. She knew it had been several hours since Maris had returned her to her cell, but had no desire for a chrono. At 1800 a transport would dock and, within the subsequent hour, she would be gone, whisked away to face trial in front of Mon Mothma and other Alliance frontrunners.
Had she been in Imperial custody, Tara knew she would not be spared. She could only hope that the Rebels would be more empathetic. But what did freedom matter anymore? Tara pressed her back to the cold wall and slid, collapsed, onto the floor. Even if she was set free by the Alliance, the Empire would find her. There would be bounty hunters and, this time, there would be no fiat.
Another heavy sigh and Tara thought of The Paratta. Her last lifeline to the galaxy was gone. The last time she spoke to Spinner, she had told him she would most likely not be returning. She owed Maris for that one last visit.
Where was the Jedi now? Was he still onworld? She was not ready to say goodbye to him, not yet. After their night together, there was still so much left unsaid between them. She wanted to see him again. Being around him, she could feel alive again. She could taste the freedom that made her want to fight and keep fighting. In a way, Tara needed Maris.
But now she sat on the durasteel floor, staring death in the face. She thought of all the star maps she had put together and how they would rot in her desk. What a shame that she would never get to see more of the galaxy.
[][][]
"It's just ahead!" The Commander sprinted the final meters and quickly keyed in the security code to the hangar. Primed and awaiting its passengers, a small transport vessel sat docked beside The Paratta.
WoooooEEEEEE. A wild screaming droid careened down the ramp of Tara's ship.
"Spinner?" Maris jogged over and knelt beside the astromech.
"Maris, there ISN'T TIME!" Corinna screamed over the sub-light engines from below the transport.
Maris ignored her, "Spinner, what's wrong?"
The droid jabbered back at him, but he could not make sense of it. Spinner spun in urgent circles, but his dome top remained still, watching him. Reaching out with the Force he tried to sense what it was that concerned the droid. In the depths of the Rebel compound, he found it. A great darkness scorched his mind; but, amidst the cloud of the dark side, Maris could feel the light presence of a woman in danger. He recalled the vision from the previous night of lifeless brown eyes.
"Tara!" Spinner beeped in affirmation. He stood. "Don't worry, Spinner." He started back out into the base, sending his voice to her in the force, unsure if she could even sense him. I'm coming Tara. I'm coming. I won't leave you.
"Are you crazy!?" The Corporal lunged after him, grabbing his forearm. "You can't go back there!"
Sol trotted up to them. "This is suicide. Please don't tell me this is one of your Jedi urges."
"Commander," Maris shook off the Corporal's am. "I don't expect you to understand the Jedi way, or the Living Force, but I have to get to her!"
"Her? You mean the Captain?"
"Have you forgotten? She's an Imperial." The Corporal crossed his arms, blonde brows furrowing in frustration. Maris hoped she could not see him, desperately prayed to the Force that she did not know of the night he had spent with the beautiful pirate.
He narrowed his eyes at him. "She's not what you think, not who you think she is. She doesn't deserve this." Maris backed his point with a new sternness in his voice. No one made a move to follow him. "I'm wasting time here. I'm going with," he faced the cross expression of the Corporal, "or without you."
"Fine," Maris heard a loud click to his right. Corinna was snapping new clips into her blasters and loading her holster with two more. She handed a small reel of thermal detonators to the Corporal. "I can see you're determined, Maris; and you're too important to the Rebellion to go alone. You'll be needing back up."
The Corporal said nothing.
"Khev, your support would be appreciated." The tone in her voice did not parallel the cordiality of her words. Still, his reserve melted.
"Fine," he also reloaded his blaster-with much more force than was necessary to insert the magazine. "Might as well take some of them out with us."