The Way

Durron turns to sit down, nearly falling over as he makes his way to the bunk. "How could it have been that long?" Sitting down, he gazes at the dormant hologram. "Why did you wait this long to wake me? Why wait this long to call him?"

Tentatively, Ethan steps forward. "Master?" Durron looks up, a faint smile on the young man's face. "I though that would work. Anyway, I don't understand. Are you telling me you arrived here in the year 26?"

The disheveled Jedi nods.

"And you've been to Athens."

He nods again. "Rome too. And Jerusalem, Antioch, Tarsus, Alexandria, Caesarea, Ephesus, and Smyrna. Just to name a few."

Ethan sits next to him. "When were you in Jerusalem?"

"We were there with everyone else for Pesach, though Kalie was fifty days later."

"What happened fifty days later?"

"The spirit came."

"Spirit?"

The older man smiles. "His spirit."

"Stop holding out on me." Ethan leans forward, looking Durron in the eyes. "I think I have an idea of what you're saying, but I need you to say it. Whose spirit?"

"The Creator's."

Ethan's mind practically split open with wonder. Before me is a Jedi Knight who was alive when the Son of David walked the earth. He may have even gotten to meet him. Owen is going to flip if he ever hears of this.

"You really think he will?" Durron smiles a little. "Or do you think your brother will just be amazed that I'm a Jedi?"

"You were reading my mind?" The Jedi shakes his head.

"No. You just think really loud, and it has been a while since I have been in contact with another Force-sensitive being."

Ethan laughs a little, imagining his brother pelting the Jedi with questions. "What I think will get him really excited is the knowledge that you were here when the Church began."

"Not just began, Ethan. Before. I got to hear the Teacher on Mount Eremos. I got to see Him enter the city. And I saw the crowds fifty days later. I saw thousands dedicate their lives to Him that day." A smile forms on the man's face. "It was incredible. The most amazing thing I had ever seen. All those people blindly dedicating their lives. It was at that point that we all converted."

The admission floored the young Marine. He thought he knew everything humanly possible about Star Wars, both cannon and non-cannon. He was intimately familiar with the Jedi order and it's philosophy. Never would he have imagined this.

"Why?"

A distant look fills Durron's eyes; as if he is looking back in time. "My life has been dedicated to serving others. I was given a gift: the Force. It was my job to use that gift. There were times when I misused it, such as Carida. Then there were time when I did what I was meant to: this mission especially. After arriving here, we were all drawn to this man we thought was also a Force-sensitive. After spending some time listening to Him, we came to realize that He wasn't a Force user. He was the Force."

The old master stands up, new power in his limbs, a new fire in his eyes. "We came here thinking we would help lead those living here. I thought that I had learned all I needed to be a master. Instead, Kalie and a few others became almost infatuated with Him. At first, Davin was concerned, until he started to really hear what was being said. In no time, all of us were sitting at His feet, soaking in the wisdom. I have to admit that I had the hardest time."

"Why is that?"

"I had spent so much of my time only knowing the surface of the truth. He opened my eyes to the depth of it. I realized that the Force, the ability to touch it, is a gift. I wasn't to be using it to better myself, but to know Him better. That was what I was missing. That is what I found.

"It made the decision to go into stasis that much harder."

The weight of the words hits Ethan harder than he could have expected. "Why?"

A silent sigh ripples through the Jedi's emotions. "Skywalker and Fel sent me to make sure that you would be trained and able to return. After we found out about the true Force, Davin and Kalie thought that we should not teach you in the 'traditional' views of the Force. I fell to the Dark Side, as had Davin's uncle, great uncle and grandfather. Knowing the potential for power that you would have, considering you lineage, the three of us were worried about setting you on a destructive path."

"If you are worried about me turning evil, then the solution is simple: forget you ever found me."

Durron stares into Ethan's green eyes, finding a resolve there that no one could stop.

"Are you sure?"

L.S. Before anyone sends a review regarding the mixing of the Force and any other religion, bear with me. I am a theology major, I know a number of religions. I know the ones that inspired the Jedi, and the ones that are most opposite them. Christianity, especially if you look at the early Church, circa AD 40, you'll see similarities with the Potentium. My intention with this story started out just to bridge a couple gaps, such as the Earth-Galaxy Far Far Away gap. I will be using this view of the Force, of Good and Evil, as the story unfolds. It will help, I hope, to explain why my characters do what they do. If you wish to comment, please do. If you wish to start a theological debate, please don't. This is my view on how the Force should be seen. Wait till the obligatory redemption scene; I have something in store that even Master Yoda could not do. Enjoy! More to come soon.

-Soter