AN- Very little action, this is more of a filler chapter. I need your guy's opinion. The next chapter will have some important things, but it's mostly just like a monologue of learning. Would you rather I write that out and it be fairly boring or that I skip it and say something like "A few weeks/months later" which seems lazy to me. It's up to you guys; tell me what you think please. The sooner I know the sooner I can finish the next chapter.
Chapter 6- The Temple
Galen POV
We entered the Temple and Ahsoka gasped at the sight of it. There were broken pieces of statues strewn about. As well as some bodies left over from the initial attack and some of the subsequent ones. There were rusty colored splatters on the floors, and walls. Some of the bodies belong to Jedi; others to stormtroopers, there were significantly less stormtroopers than there were Jedi.
"This is horrible, when I left some Jedi were dead but not nearly this many." Ahsoka whispered.
Juno and I were silent; Ahsoka needed a moment to take it in. She began walking around looking at some of the bodies. Most likely making sure she didn't know any of them. Each one, she would cover their face. After she finished she walked back over. She wiped her eyes and said "We need to give them a Jedi funeral."
"There are so many, we can't possibly do it for every single one individually." Juno said.
"You're right, but they deserve it. Each one of them was ruthlessly murdered, without even time to prepare for an attack." She said, sadly.
She turned to me and said "Help me move them closer together." She put her hands out and carefully began placing the bodies near each other so that when the time came we could burn them easier and safer.
We moved through the Temple repeating this process. She would look, cover them, we'd move them and continue.
Eventually we got to the padawan quarters. She led us to one of the rooms and punched in the code on the door panel. It slid open and we went inside. The door slid shut behind us and she flipped on the light switch.
There were cobwebs around the room and everything had a layer of dust on it. I noticed on one of the shelves were a few pictures. One had a very young Togruta girl and a Kel-Dor man in it. Another had the same Togruta only she was a bit older, now she had a lightsaber hilt on her waist. The next was the same girl, older once again and a man. He had short brown hair and a scar on his eye. He was wearing armor with the same insignia as Ahsoka's backpack. He had a lightsaber on his hip as well.
"Are these of you?" Juno asked looking at the pictures.
Ahsoka walked over and wiped the dust off of them. She looked at the first two for a moment and smiled.
"Yes they are. This one was taken when I first came to the Temple; this one was when I first became a padawan." She pointed to each in turn.
She looked at the last one and her smile turned to a small frown.
"That is him isn't it?" I asked.
She nodded and said "This is me and my master. A few years before order 66."
"He looks so happy; I can't believe that he became Vader." Juno said.
She set it down and took off the backpack, setting it on the small cot.
She went to a drawer and pulled it open. I walked over and saw it had a few thermal detonators and a couple EMP grenades. She took them out and placed them in the pack.
"I didn't have time to take these originally. But I figure they could be handy eventually." She said.
We left the room and continued through the temple.
Finally we entered into the largest room yet. There were many trees, most dead. As well as large pools of murky water.
Ahsoka gasped and said "This used to be the most beautiful room in the whole temple. It was pretty much everyone's favorite room. I used to come here to meditate all the time."
She sat at the edge of one of the pools and looked into it. A thoughtful expression on her face.
I sat next to her and felt a sudden jump in force power. She felt it too and jumped up. Juno saw and got her blaster in firing position.
"I've felt this presence before. On Felucia, when I saved Senator Organa." I said, searching for the source.
"I feel darkness, whoever this is; they are on the border of the dark side." Ahsoka said her eyes closed in concentration.
I felt it move behind us and I turned. There was a ripple in the water. All of a sudden Ahsoka turned and held her lightsaber up in the air.
There was a crash as the blade of another saber hit hers.
"Show yourself Maris." I said confidently. My master still held her ground against the force cloaked Zabrak.
Maris appeared and glared at me. She rushed and I blocked her attack. Juno leveled her blaster at her.
"No Juno, don't." I yelled at her.
She lowered her gun and I pushed Maris back a little.
"What happened to you Maris? You said you would turn your back on the dark side when I left you alive on Felucia." I accusingly said to her.
"That's just it. You left me there on that corrupted planet. I was forced to steal an imperial shuttle to get off. First my master and then you, you both left me there to try and survive." She growled at me.
"Stand down; I don't want to hurt you. We just want to talk." I said.
"Yeah right, stand down so that you have a chance to kill me? I'm not ignorant." She replied.
"You believe that Shaak Ti betrayed you don't you?" I said calmly.
"She did! She left me to die!" she said full of fury.
"She didn't mean too. I… I killed her." I said quietly.
She hesitated for a moment, but then struck again. "Then even more of a reason to kill you." She hissed.
"Vader beat you too it. He and the emperor already killed me." I said with a smile.
She stepped back and looked at me with an extremely confused face.
Now was my chance, "while I was dead I was able to speak with Master Ti. She told me that she was sorry for leaving you. She never meant for that to happen."
Maris looked astonished. She fell to her knees and started to cry.
"I didn't mean to turn to the dark side. I was just so angry and upset. It just happened." She said to herself more than to us.
"We understand young one. But you must turn away from the dark side if you are ever to be redeemed in your master's eyes." Ahsoka said to her. She went over and helped her stand up.
Maris looked into her eyes and said "Are you my master?"
Ahsoka looked confused. "No I'm sorry Maris. I am not. My name is Ahsoka Tano. I knew Master Ti though, we were friends."
Maris looked ashamed. "Please help me. I want more than anything to go back. My whole life I've been switching from the dark side to the light side. I just want to stay for once." She said softly.
"We will, I promise you that." Ahsoka said.
"Thank you Master Tano." She said.
"If only Master Ti could see you now she'd be proud." Ahsoka said with a smile.
"I am proud of you Maris." A voice I recognized said
"M-Master? Is it you?" Maris stuttered. She looked around for Master Ti.
"Yes my young padawan, I am here." Shaak Ti's ghostly form appeared and she smiled.
Maris and Ahsoka looked amazed. Juno and I were used to this already.
"My Ahsoka look how big you've gotten. I'm glad to see you survived all these years. You've grown into a beautiful Togruta." Master Ti said with the upmost sincerity.
"How are you doing this Master Ti? I thought Galen…?" Ahsoka said.
"Oh he did. But unlike him, death is permanent for everyone else but not communicating isn't. Master Obi-Wan's old master, Qui-Gon Jinn taught me how to communicate through the force. And it's come quite in handy hasn't it Galen?" She replied.
I smiled and said "If it wasn't for Master Ti's help, we never would have found you Master Tano."
Ahsoka smiled and said "Well thank you Master Ti for leading them to me. But what do we do now? I can't train Galen and Maris. It's against the code for a knight to have more than one padawan. I mean I understand desperate times call for desperate measures but still."
"You are correct Ahsoka. I am not asking you to train both. You train Galen. I promise you that soon you will find a master for Maris. Right now focus on your original goal." She said.
"You want us to just leave Maris here?" I asked.
"No, of course not why would I ever ask you to do that Galen? I simply mean that it is not for any of you to teach her. Trust me, someone else will do that." She said.
"But who Master? Who will teach me? There is no one left everyone is gone." Maris said sadly.
"Not everyone Maris. I believe that Galen and Juno may know someone." She said turning to us.
I thought for a moment. What Jedi did I know that could train her? Only one… "Kota, of course." I said.
Master Ti smiled and nodded. "Now that that is settled I suggest you two go to the holocron vault and start training, you will be needed soon."
Ahsoka nodded once and bowed to the late Jedi master.
"Will I see you again master?" Maris asked nervously.
"Only time will tell Maris. The force shall decide that. For now though this is goodbye my padawan." She replied.
Maris wiped a tear and bowed to her master. Master Ti smiled and winked at me. We would see her soon.
Master Ti's ghost faded away and Ahsoka turned to me. "Ready?" She asked.
I nodded and we left, Maris and Juno following behind us. None of us said anything. It was a combination of mourning for the Jedi and nervousness for what to say.
We finally came to a massive set of doors. Ahsoka pushed them open with a bit of trouble. We walked into the archives, the biggest and best library on all of Coruscant. Well at least it used to be. Master Tano gasped and bit her lip to prevent herself from crying. Not only were their more bodies, but also piles of broken holo-books and twisted metal. The raid on the temple hadn't left history intact. They were sure to destroy all traces of Jedi.
Instead of doing what she had been when we came across a room, Ahsoka walked with purpose over to a large desk. It looked as though it had been used by the librarian. She looked over to the other side and sighed in relief. She turned back and we followed her through the ruined archives.
There were no sounds to be heard, not even our footsteps. It was a solemn yet ominous silence, like the calm before the storm. Something was going to happen sooner or later, there was no way the place could be completely empty of stormtroopers. Both Juno and I were on our toes, she was thinking the same thing I was. Ahsoka was not though; her mind was focused on something else.
She put her hand up and stopped us. She closed her eyes and then quickly sprinted off down one of the corridors. Juno and Maris looked at me hoping for an answer, I had none so I ran after my master.
I followed her force signature through the maze of shelves, almost all of which with char marks from blaster fire. I turned a corner and saw her kneeling on the floor next to a body. I slowed and walked over.
Ahsoka was crying over the body of an old woman, her grey hair was in a bun at the back of her head and she wore long yellow robes. There was a circular burn mark through the chest of this women, she had been killed by a lightsaber. I put a comforting hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "You knew her didn't you?" I asked softly.
She nodded slowly. "Madame Jocasta Nu, she was the chief librarian. She often helped me in my studies as a padawan. Everyone liked her; she was kind and caring, but also stern when she needed to be. She would have been the perfect Master. No one really knows how long she was here, other than Master Yoda of course. It was like she was part of the Temple, she watched Master Obi-Wan go through the stages to become a Jedi, as well as Master Skywalker, she was a grandmother to all of us." My master replied quietly, respectfully.
Ahsoka took her cloak off and draped it over Madame Nu, "May the force be with you." I heard her whisper. She stood up just as Juno and Maris came. Juno looked over once at me and then at the body of the former librarian. I closed my eyes and barely shook my head. She understood and we waited for Ahsoka to regain her composure. She did and continued to lead us through the ruined library.
She finally stopped at a small circular door. There was a control panel to the side but it was clearly deactivated. "In here is the holocron vault. I've never been inside, only Jedi masters were allowed." She told us.
"So how do we get in? The access panel is fried." I asked bluntly. "My master told me how, but since it was against the rules I never attempted it. We have to use the force to turn it on and then again to open the door itself." I shrugged and walked over, placing my hand on the panel.
I focused my energy and put it into the system. A few seconds later there was a beeping noise and the panel lit up showing it was active. "Now what?" Juno asked.
"Now open it up." Ahsoka said back. I closed my eyes and imagined myself as part of the wiring in the panel. I let the force lead me to the correct switch to open the door.
There was a hissing noise as the doors slid apart. Oxygen and other gas that had been trapped in there came out in an ominous cloud. There was faint glowing coming from inside the vault. Everyone was tense, but excited. None of us knew what we we're going to find. Well holocrons obviously, but what information would they tell us?
Everyone had something that they always wished to know or understand. Hopefully these Holocrons could tell us the answers we wanted. For me the thing I wanted most was to become a true Jedi, like my parents, like Master Tano, and like my old master before he was Vader. Ahsoka took a deep breath and stepped into the cloud.