Chapter 7
"So where are we headed?" Jo asked. He was laying down on the floor of the shuttle, bored from the somewhat lengthy ride.
"We are headed to... Takodana." The droid pilot responded.
"Never heard of that place." Jo said, lifting his head before getting up. "Can you tell me anything about it?"
"Takodana is one of the few worlds not in possession of the First Order." The droid answered.
"I knew that. Do you know anything else?"
...
"Green... Lots of green."
"Really?"
"The King doesn't leave Bespin very often, so he couldn't program the droids with enough proper knowledge of foreign worlds." One of the Ugnaught guards said. The droid translated.
"Doesn't he have any resources?"
"When people hear 'resource', they usually think they mean 'spy.' So he didn't send anyone out; he didn't want to take a risk of anything getting out of hand due to a miscommunication"
"Are you telling me he's just afraid of doing something that would damage his reputation? He's a king. He should do what he needs to do. Nothing wrong with gaining knowledge of other planets."
"No one's perfect."
"But they can be changed. No matter what the person does, there can always be a turning point."
Jo realized his words.
Kylo aggresively stepped through to the bridge of the lead star destroyer. "Get me a checklist of all charted systems with hyperspace lanes from this direction."
"Yes sir."
"Approaching destination." The droids simultaneously stated. The ship exited hyperspace, and there floated -and they beheld- the beautiful sphere of swirling blue, green, and white.
"Woah! It looks like a storm of grass, water, and clouds." Jo said.
"Planets cannot be storms." A droid corrected.
"Gas giants can be."
"Takodana is not a gas giant."
"I can see that."
"Detecting an error in the engine and thrusters." The other droid proclaimed.
"How?"
"A rupture has occured due to a cannon strike."
"How could this have been damaged and we didn't know?"
"Well-" An Ugnaught guard started, "On our way to pick you up, we may have run into a little trouble."
"And you didn't think to fix it?" Jo asked.
"It wasn't too bad; we thought we could make it out of the battle."
"Well it has worked so far. And if we only figured it out now, then we should be able to land before-"
"Engine overheating." A droid said.
"That's not good."
BOOM
"What are the odds this of all things would happen at this time of all time?"
"Odds of engine failure right after arriving at destinat-"
"Don't tell me!" Jo shouted as they neared the atmosphere and the shuttle started flaming up.
As the ship was in flames, descending down to the planet surface, Jo noticed the heat and energy was getting to the crystal, and it was starting to glow, which meant, "The crystal's gonna blow! Oh hey that rhymes."
"Take the escape pods!" The guard said as everyone ran, steadily, to the escape pods and jumped in.
Jo looked, and saw the crystal getting brighter, then the doors closed, and the pods launched. Jo was jerked around, but he managed to hang on to the seat.
Jo looked out and saw all the pods coming from the ship, and the ship itself was falling apart. Everyone was moving safely away from the ship, but everything was blocked from his view as trees got in the way. He only had a split second to recognize that before he hit the ground hard. Jo's half metal face kept him from obtaining any serious damage.
"Hello! Is anyone there?!" Jo heard from outside.
"In here!" Jo shouted, standing on the back of the chair and banging on the doors. He tried opening them, but they were jammed. He pounded harder, then shouted again, "The doors are jammed!"
"Alright, stand back!"
Jo went down and used the seat as cover. He heard a laser beam activate, looked up and saw a circle was being formed on the doors. He ducked behind the chair again as the circle dropped. And his savior appeared.
"I am Maz Kanata, at your service! Now come, come child." Maz said, extending her hand. Jo took it, and Maz pulled him out.
Maz took a look at the child she rescued, and saw all his metal parts. 'Oh dear!' She exclaimed to herself. "Been through much haven't you?" Maz asked. Jo simply nodded.
"And uh, I'm Jo."
"Pleasure to meet you, Jo. Now, are you going to be using that pod?" Maz asked, gesturing to the escape pod.
"Uh, no." Jo replied.
Maz pulled out a backpack, and pulled out an antigrav grapple magnet. She attached it to the pod and pulled. She strained a little bit, then said, "It's stuck pretty good."
"I'll help." Jo said. He placed his hands under the pod, in the ground. He closed his eyes and used the force to slowly lift it out of the ground. Once it was easing out, Jo let go. Maz started pushing it up a hill. "My castle is not far. Come now."
'You have a castle? Are you royalty?"
"Ha ha! No. Its owners were royalty; the castle is now a cantina." Maz replied as Jo followed. Once up the hill, they faced a wall. "Alright, are you strong?"
"I guess." Jo shrugged.
"I'm going to need you to push me up."
"How'd you get here in the first place without help? Have you been in this area before?" Jo said, getting down on a knee and grabbing his arms.
"I have, but I never went back this way."
"Then why start now?" Jo asked as Maz stepped on his forearm, and he pushed up.
When Maz landed, she replied, "Because now I have help." She said, reaching down. "Now, hand me the antigrav magnet and jump on."
"Are you sure?" Jo asked, pushing the magnet up and jumping on.
"I've lifted heavier." Maz said, pulling it up. Jo jumped down when they reached the top. "My castle is just over there." Maz said, pointing across a pond to a tall, gray building.
"Wow! It looks pretty big."
They arrived at the castle, and Jo looked around. "Does this place have any defense systems?"
"Takodana has been a peaceful station for nearly one thousand years, and we haven't posed any threat to the First Order, so we haven't had a need for any."
"That wouldn't stop them from seizing control."
"Maybe not." Maz said, opening a locked door, and opening it. As they walked in, Jo saw storage units of all kinds, stacked against the walls.
"What are these?" Jo asked.
"My collection."
Jo whistled. Then a thought came to his head. 'You like collecting valuable artifacts?"
"It's a hobby. Why?"
They reached a room where -it seemed to Jo- she repaired broken stuff and tinkered with similar things of the kind.
"Well," Jo reached in his cloak and pulled out the silver cylinder. "You might like this."
Maz gasped. "Skywalker's lightsaber!"
"You knew him?"
"Not really. I only know someone who does." She closely observed the lightsaber. "This lightsaber will make a fine addition to my collection."
Maz set the lightsaber down and asked, "Are you a Jedi?"
"Hardly. I was barely a youngling before an accident occured and I couldn't train anymore."
"Do you have a lightsaber of your own?"
"No, but I have some crystals that might suffice." Jo said, pulling out the box that King Ozz gave him. He opened it, and the two orange crystals shone.
"My my. Orange crystals are rare. Might I ask how you got these?"
"A story too long for me to tell. I have something I need to do, anyway."
"M-m-m. Not in those old things, you don't." Maz said, gesturing to his arms.
"What's wrong with my arms?" Jo asked with slight offence.
"You need an upgrade."
Jo raised his eyebrow in interest.
"Luckily, I was able to forsee my meeting with you, so I was able to make necessary preparations."
'Now that's more than a coinciden-... forsee?'
"Are you a Jedi?"
"Goodness, no. But I'm quite familiar with the force." She replied, pulling up a box from under a table. "Now, these are not hard to put on. They just need to properly be constructed together, and to thoroughly be tested."
"Why do they need to be tested?"
"I made a few modifications."
"Well then, let's get to work."
Kylo was facing space, closing his eyes and searching for any trace of the crystal
"Sir." An officer called. "We've tracked them to Takodana."
'Takodana.'
"Using an unharmful planet as a defense and place to hide. Typical decision for a child, but that makes it easier for us." Kylo said, turning around. "Set a course."
"Right away!" The officer replied.
"General!" A Resistance soldier shouted. He approached Leia with a report. "I have news."
"Did we get it?"
"No ma'am." The soldier paused for a second, then read the report. "Some witnesses of ours say they saw a boy, half metal, with the crystal. They say some of our soldiers of ours tried acquiring it, but the boy resisted. The next thing they knew, he caused the crystal to explode and kill them. A shuttle came and picked him up; we tried pulling it to the ground, but they got away."
"Search all surrounding systems for the crystal. Don't let anyone else get it."
"On it!"
As the resistaance soldier left, he told another soldier, "Put out an arrest warrant for this child; he's dangerous, and with this crystal, he could do much more damage."
Jo observed his new metal arms, and grinned widely. "I can't thank you enough, Maz."
"It was the least I could do. Try opening the compartments on your wrists."
Jo did so, and he saw some strange-looking tech built into his arms. "What are these for?" Maz held up a finger, then reached for Jo's box. Jo then started getting excited; his knees were getting weak, and he was laughing and gasping at the same time. Maz was already holding the crystals, smiling, but waiting for him to calm down.
"In order for this procedure to work, you need to be still. Kyber crystals are very delicate." Maz said, carefully placing the crystals in the slots.
Then they heard the whirring of a shuttle. 'What now?' Jo asked himself.
They looked out a window, and Jo saw -yet again- First Order ships. The ships flew over and 'away from the castle?'
It immediately snapped to Jo. "Oooooooh man, we shpould've got the crystal first."
"They would've been led here."
"Good point, but it's unguarded. I need to protect it." Jo said, running out.
"Wait, Jo!" Jo stopped as Maz grabbed his arm. "Try them out." Maz said, patting the metal arm.
"How?"
"Thrust your arms down."
Jo raised his arms up, then jerked them downward, and two orange lightwhips erupted from his writsts.
"I added some lightsaber-resistant material to your wrists so you won't be able to injure your hands when using them."
"Alright. Thanks." Jo said, running out.
Stormtroopers surrounded the crashed ship, waiting for orders. The procedure to remove the crystal without destruction had to be done with care and ease. Obviously. They were sitting in the center of the wreck; there was a fifty foot radius of ashes from the center all around. 'Something caused the crystal to explode.' was the recurring thought.
Bzhhhhhh-Bzhhhhh
They heard the sound of lightsabers igniting. That's what they thought at least. Jo appeared above them and landed in front of the crystal. The stormtroopers raised their blasters to fire, but a voice called out, "STOP!" The stormtroopers were still at alert.
Kylo Ren exited the shuttle and approached Jo, who raised his wrists and readied himself.
...
...
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm protecting the crystal."
"From?"
"Bad hands."
"Only from a certain point of view."
Jo now looked confused. "What?"
"From the Resistance's point of view, we're evil. From our point of view, the Resistance and the Republic are evil. There are different aspects of each perspective people tend to miss, and their missing causes a great deal of disagreement and strife."
"Your point? What do you say people are missing about the First Order?"
"Our view of peace."
"Peace?" Jo looked shocked.
"Peace doesn't come simply. There needs to be a sense of judgement to ensure the peace we need. The Resistance; the Republic; they're not judgemental enough to secure the galaxy. The First Order will do what the Republic's too afraid to do."
"Like murder children in cold blood?"
Kylo's expression furrowed. "If... they have blood on their hands."
'I didn't have blood on my hands. Then again, I wasn't murdered. It was attempted murder, but still... He doesn't seem to recognize me. Maybe I can build off that.' Jo thought. "And are you calling the Republic evil for not being as strict as the First Order?"
"The Republic is built on ashes. It needs to die."
"So the First Order can expand on the Republic's ashes? Hypocrytical if you ask me."
"We're doing it right."
"It's as you said. From a certain point of view."
A moment of contemplation.
"To me," Jo continued, "It seems that neither side is correct."
"Why are you guarding the crystal?"
"Much has been taken from it; it is very sensitive now. If misproperly treated, it could go off. A force-sensitive needs to take care of it."
"That's what I'm here to do." Kylo said, lifting a rock into the air.
"Preferably a Jedi."
"There are no Jedi."
"I'm looking for Luke Skywalker."
...
"He's gone."
"The Resistance will help me look for him."
"They won't listen to you."
"Why's that?"
Kylo turned his head and gestured for a trooper to come closer. The trooper handed him a datapad and returned to his position. Kylo handed the pad to Jo. It was a 'wanted' poster. "They've put out an arrest warrant for you. For resisting to hand the crystal over to them."
"This is a simple misunderst-"
"This is an example of their weakness. They're so quick to judge, that they judge without thinking. Over time, their idea of 'punishment' wanes to merely discipline."
"What's wrong with that?"
"People turn down discipline and return to their former state of unlawfulness. When the First Order disciplines, when we judge, they don't cross us again. Then we'll have peace; when people don't even think of disobeying."
...
"We do -what people say- the wrong things for the right reason. In the end, when the First Order rules, there will be, order."
...
"I have been assigned to take care of the crystal." Kylo went sround Jo and stopped at the crystal. "Peraps you would like to assist?" Kylo asked as more of a statement.
Jo turned his head. "If I did-"
"Then the Resistance would actually have a reason to hunt you. With two of us, we could properly contain the crystal's power." Kylo turned to him. "Join us, and help us finally establish peace to the galaxy."
Jo looked around. There were plenty of troopers, and one sith. Kinda. Ships overhead, fully loaded. If he resisted them, he wouldn't make it out alive; he had no help this time. He didn't have a choice. He gave in. He retracted his lightwhips and nodded slowly.
"We need to get this crystal out carefully." Kylo said, standing back and stretching his arms to the crystal. Jo did the same.
