Episode VIII: The Council's Decision
The four of us walked down the halls of the Jedi Temple, heading past the Youngling classrooms on our way to the Council Chamber lifts. Dawn had left as soon as we entered the Temple, having to give her report to her Master. As we passed a particularly noisy room I paused in my steps and looked at my holowatch.
"Hang up a sec," I said and the Skywalkers turned to look at me. "We've got a few minutes before the deadline. Do you mind if I make a quick stop before we go up?"
"Not at all," Shmi replied.
"Great!" I grinned before I walked over to the room that had a sign saying 2 – B over it. I ducked my head in to see several kids mucking around inside with an old Jedi teacher trying and failing to calm the class down.
"Hey guys!" I called cheerfully. They all looked around with wide eyes and yelled out "UNCLE FOX!" I had one second of freedom before I was dog pilled by them.
"Heey! Jeremy, Kaitlin, Jessica, Hamish, Oliver, Hina, Samantha! How are you guys doing!" I said as I did my best to hug all of them at once.
"We're bored!" Jeremy replied as they all got off me, allowing me to sit up. Jeremy was a kid of 10. He had short dark brown hair and black eyes, and was the eldest in the group.
"We've had old Master Kar'to for history," Hina explained. She had long midnight blue hair and grey eyes.
I heard a soft scoff and I looked over the children's heads to see an old man with heavy wrinkles and several liver spots on his face. "You should really try to liven your classes up, Master Kar'to," I suggested.
"Heh! Being a Jedi isn't about liveliness. Tradition, discipline and focus. I've taught for 59 years—" he began.
"See what we've had to put up with?" Hamish groaned. He was a boy with scruffy brown hair and brown eyes. He was the youngest of 8 years old.
"Yeah. I've slept through a few of his lessons myself," I grinned.
"So what mission were you on this time, Uncle Fox?" Jessica asked. She had long blonde hair in a single plat and hazel eyes.
"This time I went to Naboo, and I saved a Queen from being taken prisoner!" I replied.
"Ooohh!" the girls responded while the boys looked a little bored.
"We managed to escape the planet, but our hyperdrive was damaged in the escape and had to land on a nearby planet to repair; Tatooine. And there was only one way we could get our hyperdrive fixed. And that was to bet on the Podraces!" I continued.
"You mean the Boonta Eve Classic!?" Oliver asked in excitement. He had black hair and blue eyes. He was the electronics expert in the group, and he loved watching Podracing.
"Oli, have you been hacking into PodNET again?" Samantha scolded. She was a bossy redhead with sharp green eyes.
"So what? It was spectacular! It looked like Sebulba was in the lead with his Plug-F Mammoth. But then a human kid named Anakin Skywalker showed him up with his custom made podracer! A human's never won before, other than Uncle Fox here," Oliver chattered quickly and excitedly.
"That reminds me," I said as I turned my head to see Anakin hiding slightly behind his mother shyly. "Hey Kiddo! Come over here and meet the gang!" He hesitated for a moment before he came out and walked over. Oliver squinted at him before his eyes nearly popped out. "Holy Force! It's him! It's the kid who won the Boonta Eve! Anakin Skywalker!"
"Who this kid?" Jeremy asked. "I thought he'd be taller."
"That's definitely him. You were awesome out there! So totally cool!" Oliver continued to shower praise onto him, which made Ani scratch the back of his head in embarrassment at all the attention.
"So guys. Anakin here is with me. We're gonna see if we can get him into the Jedi ranks as an Initiate. And I'm also planning on taking him on as my apprentice. Sorry guys. I know some of you wanted to be my Padawan," I apologised. A few groans and whines of disappointment were sounded. "But I'll still make time to teach you a thing or two, ok?" The whole group cheered at this announcement. I then checked my holowatch. "Oh crap. Gotta go! C'mon Kiddo!" I cursed as I stood up quickly and dashed past Dawn and Shmi for the door. "Sorry guys! Gotta meeting with the old farts upstairs! I'll see you later!" Goodbyes and laughter followed us as we walked quickly to the elevators.
As we exited the lift with the doors to the council chambers in front of us, a pleasant surprise awaited us.
"Jinn! What are you doing here?" I asked as I walked up and clasped my old friend's hand in greeting.
"I wanted to see how Anakin does, that's all," he replied as he shook my hand in return. "And also to prepare the Council for Anakin's test."
I looked over to see the kid looking very nervous. He was still fidgety, but all of the sugar had been worked out of his system, thank goodness. I released Qui-Gon and moved over to the kid.
"Hey Kiddo," I said as I knelt down to his level.
"Hey Josh," he replied, his voice just as nervous as he looked.
"I need to tell you something before you go in there," I said as I directed the two of us onto the balcony where we could see the sunset over the surrounding metropolis.
"Are you afraid of not being accepted?" I asked.
There was a short pause before he nodded silently. "What is that fear centred around? Not being good enough?" Another pause before he shook his head in the negative. I blinked. "Then what?"
There was a longer pause. "If I don't get accepted… what'll happen to me then?" he asked. "Will I have to…" he couldn't bring himself to finish.
"Go back to being a slave?" I asked gently. He turned to me, his eyes full of fear of returning back to that life. Despite missing his friends, he still didn't want to return. Which was natural, of course.
I smiled. "You think that being a Jedi is a must to keeping your freedom? Not the case. Even if you don't get in, you'll still be free. And if you want, you can still stay with me. You won't be a Jedi, but if you still want to travel with me instead of settling down with your mum at my place, then I will get you all the training you need to survive. It won't be lightsaber training or force training. But things like marksmanship with pistols, computer hacking. Mechanics. Being a Jedi is not the 'be all, end all' career path for you. No matter what happens in the next hour, I promise I will stay by your side and will not let you, or your mother, go back to being a slave." My smile grew wider as his eyes lost their fear and hope rose up once again. He wrapped his arms around me and I returned the gesture.
"Thank you!" he whispered.
"Sure thing. Now, come on. We can't keep the old farts waiting. They get grumpy and sulky if that happens," I replied as we released each other and walked back inside. During that moment I felt the bond between us strengthen several times over, to the point where I could feel what he was feeling if the feelings were strong enough. I assumed it went both ways as he looked at me with a curious expression on his face.
"I guess we've formed a strong force bond between us. For the most part it only happens between Master and Apprentice. It's where we can feel what the other is feeling if it's strong enough. A stronger bond allows us to feel these feelings over great distances and even stronger ones can transfer worded thoughts between each other. Usually it takes a year or two to develop the low level bonds. But we've only been together for a standard Galactic week. It shows just how close we are already," I explained.
"Wizard!" he replied with wide eyes.
"And if you ever feel nervous in the actual test, then focus on the happy feelings over the past two days, ok?" He nodded. "Ok now. Seriously, the Council Masters don't like it when people are late," I said. He nodded and walked over to the doors. There was almost no trace of the fear from earlier. Now there was a contented warmth that I felt from him, along with a healthy dose of nervousness. I smiled as the doors opened and he stepped inside.
I then walked over to Qui-Gon, Shmi and Kenobi and the four of us walked back out onto the balcony.
"Did you truly mean what you said to Anakin?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Sure did. If not a Jedi, he'll become the galaxy's best mechanic," I grinned. "And I'll be his manager and I'll be rich!"
"Aren't you already rich with that large estate at Aldera and all the savings you've racked up over the years?" he asked.
"I'll be richer!" I exclaimed heartily. The other two Jedi just smiled at my antics.
"Don't you think he's too old, Master? I truly wonder if the boy can pass the council's test," Obi-Wan asked.
"Yeah, those old fossils are dead set in their ways. And perhaps putting him through the test now when the news of Sith on the horizon isn't the best timing in the galaxy. If they say no now I'll just continue to hound them until they accept, more for shutting me up then out of any interest in Anakin," I grinned.
"You are ruthless, you know that?" Jinn smiled.
"Like you aren't," I countered. Jinn's smile turned sheepish at that. At that moment a small sound alerted me to my wrist holoterminal and I brought up my hand to read the alert I just received.
"Huh," I muttered. "The Queen gave Supreme Chancellor Valorum a vote of no confidence in yesterday's session. And now it seems that Chancellor Palpatine has been nominated to replace him."
"That's a surprising move. But at least it will be easier for the Queen to gain the support she'll need to take back Naboo," Jinn replied.
"Maybe," I replied.
By the time we were allowed back in, it was dark outside. The cityscape was alive with light. It was a truly beautiful sight, but my attention was not on outside.
We stood silently as we waited for the Masters to speak their verdict. It was Mundi who began. "The Force is strong with him," he noted.
"Really? I hadn't guessed but thanks for clearing that up for me Master Obvious," I muttered sarcastically. The masters ignored this quip. "So, have you decided to accept him?"
There was a pause. "Even if we say no, you still intend to take him on?" Windu asked.
"It's my right as a Master. Bet you regret promoting me now, don't you?" I grinned. "I take him as my Padawan Lerner."
The senior council master sighed. "You are correct, it is your right. But in light of recent events, we cannot solely concentrate on this matter. We ask that you wait awhile before taking up the boy as an apprentice. We have bigger issues to worry about," he replied.
I paused before nodding. "You've got a point there. I take it you've heard the news then? About the senate voting on a new supreme chancellor."
"Correct. It seems that Queen Amidala has decided to return home," Mace added.
"Return you say?" I asked, surprised, but soon gave way to rueful understanding. "Well she was quite a steadfast woman. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this."
"This will put pressure on the Federation and could widen the confrontation," Mace finished up.
"And draw out the queen's attacker," Ki-Adi-Mundi added.
"You, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi will go with the queen to Naboo and discover the identity of this dark warrior," Mace said.
"He's a Sith," I sighed, drawing out then name of the dark Force users as if I was trying to explain it to a three year old.
"Nevertheless, we need to know who he's apprenticed to or at the very least, stop him," Windu stressed.
"I doubt he'll go quietly into the night. There's a very high chance I'll have to kill him," I said.
"We realise this," he replied. I then bowed in acknowledgement.
"May the Force be with you," Yoda intoned the only phrase he didn't say backwards. I nodded before we left the room to get the next shuttle to the Naboo dignitary landing pad.
An hour later saw us back at the landing pad. Shmi decided to stay at my Coruscant apartment, saying that she needed to spend some time thinking about her new name and her future. Since I was taking Anakin with me, I assured her that I would keep Anakin safe and she looked to be placated by this.
As we walked out of the ship after getting a few things onto it, we watched the queen's shuttle sidle up to the landing pad.
"Josh, I heard Yoda talking about midi-chlorians. What are they?" Anakin asked.
"Let's see… I guess you could call them intelligent microscopic life forms that live inside every living being. Even yourself," I replied.
"Inside me?" Anakin asked, once again, unable to grasp such a concept.
"Yeah, it's something that'll be pounded into you once your studies at the Temple start up. Wonderful theory work," I replied the last bit sarcastically. Anakin made a face and I chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't like theory work either. I've always been a practical person. Qui-Gon here is smarter than me."
"So what do they do?" he asked.
"They allow us to detect the Force and use it to help us. They're also the reason life exists. Over the years we've developed ways of measuring how much of these little guys we have inside ourselves. The more we have, the easier it becomes to use the Force. Normal people have about 2,500 of the little buggers inside each cell of blood, with a few others having higher amounts. These people are known as Force-sensitives and these people are contracted into becoming Jedi or, in the past, Sith," I explained.
"Master Yoda said I have over 20,000 in my cells. Is that a lot?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's higher than what the little green troll has in his own. I have roughly the same count as you. However," I stressed at the end, gaining Anakin's full attention, "Just because you have just as many midi-chlorians as me, which is higher than any recorded Jedi so far, doesn't mean you're superhuman. Like everyone else you'll need to train to feel them, and by extension, the Force. So no getting a swollen head or getting a superior and arrogant ego, ok? This is one thing I won't tolerate," I looked him dead in the eye to make sure he got the message. He nodded quickly, a little nervous. I then grinned.
"But if you do, at least be prepared to back it up, or otherwise you'll just end up looking like an ass. I speak from personal experience so I know what I'm talking about."
"That's for sure. Once when he was still an Initiate, he was mouthing off to a senior Jedi Knight on how his lightsaber skills were better than his. He challenged the Knight to a practise spar and was soundly beaten," Qui-Gon smiled.
"It was Mace Windu with his 9 foot pole shoved even further up his ass than normal. He was acting so smug. I just wanted to wipe the floor with that arrogant ass. But he's not known as being the best lightsaber duellist of his generation for nothing. He kicked my ass in front of my whole class and a few lower classes as well. Most humiliating experience of my life. But it was that fight that got me noticed by my Master, who, on the next Padawan day, took me on as an Apprentice," I smiled. "Every bad experience has a silver lining. …Well, some of them anyway."
"The midi-chlorians continually speak to us through the Force. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you," Qui-Gon said.
"They'll help you with fighting, occasionally letting you know of any attacks from blind spots. You went through the guessing game in the test, didn't you?" I asked.
"Yeah," Anakin nodded.
"When you guessed what each slide was, did you hear a very faint voice tell you? Or was it more like a feeling?"
"Umm… a feeling, I think," he replied.
"That was the midi-chlorians talking to you; telling you what slide it was," I said.
"Really?" he asked in wide eyed wonder.
"Yep. With time and training, that feeling will strengthen and a very faint voice will be added to it. When you hear the voice, it's one of the signs that you're ready to become a Jedi Knight," I said.
At this point the Queen, her chief of security and her handmaidens walked up to us. "Good evening, your Highness," I bowed chivalrously to her. "We'll be escorting you back to Naboo. It's a pleasure to continue to serve and protect you." I glanced at Padme who was directly behind the queen and winked at her. I was rewarded with a small smile in return.
"We welcome your help," the double replied in her usual flat tone. "Senator Palpatine fears that the Federation mean's to destroy me."
"They'll have to try a lot harder with me around," I grinned. I then sighed as I heard JarJar cry out in joy at the fact that he was going back to Naboo. "Do we really have to bring him along? Can't we just dump him into the Eastern Sea? He'd be happy there. But then again he'd probably be arrested in three seconds flat for scaring the kids holidaying there." This brought a round of slimes from everyone. I myself smiled; glad I still had the gift to brighten this solemn return trip.
