Chapter 21: The Force Will Be With You.
Dorsca Cherrz was resting comfortable in the medical area of the living transport that had been assigned amongst the fleet to stop the attack on Bellalt. His wounds had been bound, and he had suffered through a Bacta treatment, but they still gave him trouble. Bacta wasn't nearly as effective on the Yuuzhan Vong as it was on the natives of this galaxy and it was slow healing. Still Cherrz was thankful that he was no longer on the run and that the information that he had so desperately needed to reveal to anyone who would take action, had been given to the Jedi.
For years the Jedi were supposed to be the enemies of the Yuuzhan Vong and now they may just be their saviors. It was an ironic twist and showed the galaxy had a greater sense of humor then the great Gods that the Devotees worshiped. Cherrz wasn't young by Yuuzhan Vong standards but amongst the humans he was a four years older then the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's son. He had practically grown up in this galaxy and he felt more at home in the rich tapestry of the Republic then in the craft of his own people.
He was slightly taken aback when the entryway to his suite yawned open and the Jedi, Anakin Solo and Ben Skywalker, filed into the room. He had learned the by human standards they were cousins, close kin, in the Yuuzhan Vong family system. Ben Skywalker, he had heard of in passing, as the son of the great Jedi Master, there were few in the galaxy who would not have heard of him, although the meeting in the High Council room had been the first time he had actually seen the boy. The older man, was a legend in a way, especially amongst the natives of the galaxy, and even among the Separatist Yuuzhan Vong. Anakin Solo to his knowledge, however, was supposed to be dead for over fifteen years. There was a story here, that Cherrz couldn't suppress being curious.
The two men bowed together, Solo coming forward first. "My name is Anakin Solo. I don't know if you remember me from the High Council meeting, but I am a Jedi Knight. " Solo gestured to Skywalker. "This is Ben Skywalker, an apprentice in training. Would you mind if we spoke with you for a moment?"
Cherrz shrugged. The Jedi had saved his life, he was hardly going to shun them with such a simple request. He gestured them further into the room. "Of course."
Solo took the only 'seat' in the area and Skywalker stood behind him. Cherrz wondered briefly if they were Master and Apprentice, like the Horn Jedi he had met on Corellia, but Solo hadn't introduced them as such. Solo glanced up at Skywalker as if trying to figure out how best to broach whatever subject they had come to speak to him about.
Folding his hands together, Solo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "How do I put this?" He ran a hand through his short cropped dark hair. "Do you ever know things before they happen? Sense another person's intent?"
"Many warriors have this ability, Jedi Solo" Cherrz said, wondering where this was going.
"Yes, but how many warriors can dodge blaster fire inside their apartment?'' the younger Jedi, Ben, asked.
Cherrz's skin rippled uncomfortably. How could Skywalker know about that? When the speeder had attacked his quarters in the Separatist tower on Bellalt, he had moved with more then his usual strength. It had been question that had plagued him ever since, pressing through the worry of being discovered. He knew that amongst the natives of this galaxy the Jedi often had visions and could feel another persons emotions, but his people were supposed to be void in the Force. Cherrz was beginning to doubt his trust in the Jedi. What if they were involved in the plot the same as Representative Zorel?
''Ben,'' Solo warned.
Skywalker shot his cousin a pleading look. ''He needs to know the truth, Anakin. Face what is in him.''
The blue-green eyes of Skywaker and the ice blue ones of Solo linked and a communication passed between them that was not verbal, but was nonetheless there. Cherrz could tell as much, yet he did not understand how. Finally, Solo nodded and waved towards his cousin, ''Ben understands your people on a different level then I do. To make a long story short Ben and myself are the only Jedi that can register the Yuuzhan Vong in the Force. On top of that, Ben is a seerer and in a vision saw the attack that was pressed on you, quite vividly.''
A smile crept up on Skywalker's boyish features. Cherrz did not understand it. Instead his eyes darted between the two of them. ''And you wish to test your abilities on me?'' he guessed.
''In a way yes,'' Solo answered. ''We would like to see how far our abilities in the Force can be transferred to the Yuuzhan Vong. Master Skywalker would especially like to know if healing can be possible with your people. But there is more then just that.''
''What do you mean, more?'' Cherrz asked, stiffening on the pallet he was lying on.
''The Force is strong in you Dorsca Cherrz,'' Solo finally came to his point. ''If you can be trained as a Jedi then a percentage of your people may as well. If that is possible then it might help to further mend the rift that comes between your galaxy and ours.''
If it were possible, Cherrz's eyes would have widened in their deep set sockets, but instead he leaned forward on his pallet. ''A Jedi,'' he mused aloud. Cherrz's father had been a shamed one, one in fact that had been on Myrkr the same time that Anakin Solo had gone to rescue the Jedi children from the Academy. It had been at that time, when Vua Rapuung had been taken back his honor, with Solo's help that a reverence for the Jedi had been bred in the Shamed Ones. Domain Cherrz had risen in the ranks of the Separatist Yuuzhan Vong because of their ability to see the potential that the beings from both galaxies could exploit with the help from one another.
''We do not force it, of course,'' Skywalker said. ''My father only wishes to extend an invitation, but hopes you will take advantage of it. If there were Yuuzhan Vong Jedi then disasters like Vrona could easily be avoided.''
Cherrz's head jerked up at the tone in Skywalker's voice when he mentioned Vrona. Laced in pain the only emotion he had seen crake from the young Jedi. The more he was around Skywalker and Solo the more he became intrigued by them. Perhaps it was his strength in the Force they assured him he had that was pulled towards them.
''You would accept me as a student?'' he questioned, his mind reeling at the thought of Yuuzhan Vong Jedi.
Solo smiled at his wonder. ''You have the potential and we make it a point not to turn any of those away who hold it.''
''Where do I start,'' Cherrz said with more eagerness then he had intended.
Amusement played on Solo's features as he stood and approached Cherrz' pallet. ''Let's get you healed before you launch into your training.''
''You can do that?'' Cherrz asked. He was babbling he knew but there was just so much to take in all at once.
Skywalker came up behind Solo. ''We hope so. We're going to try doing some minor healing at first. We don't know if it will be painful for you or not. It might not even work, which then we would have to teach you to heal yourself.''
''If you feel any discomfort you must tell us,'' Solo instructed firmly. ''We are here to help you not to make your recovery more trying.''
Cherrz nodded his understanding and looked up at them for further instruction. ''Do I need to do anything?''
Softly, Solo pushed him back on the pallet. ''Just relax and try to open your mind. Ben and I won't be delving into it, so be assured by that, but for certain techniques to work you must be calm.''
Feeling anything but calm, Cherrz did his best to relax on the lamina pallet. The squirmy material beneath his shoulder conformed to his body as he settled deeper. He closed his eyes and took painful steadying breaths. Gentle hands wrapped around his caf where the bone had been shattered in the fall with the speeder. By the size of the hand, he guessed it was Solo, he being the larger of the two, but he admitted that they could be Skywalker's.
''Anakin will try to heal you first,'' Skywalker's voice floated to him. ''Let me know if it starts to pain you. Alright?''
Cherrz nodded his head perceptibly. For a long moment, nothing happened and Cherrz felt himself become impatient. Suddenly a warmth spread in the place where Solo's hands were pressed against his caf, tingling and effusive. It was hotter then any fire Cherrz could imagine and yet it did not burn him or cause him pain, instead it was soothing and burning the pain away. Cherrz gasped at the sensation.
''Are you well?'' Skywalker asked concerned, his young voice slightly cracking.
Cherrz nodded. ''Fine,'' he said, and wondered at the calm that flooded over him.
''Ben, will he see if you can fix the pain in his ribs. It is still bothering him,'' Solo said.
[i]There is so much for me to learn,[/i] Cherrz thought.
Skywalker's slightly smaller hands rested on his side, where the speeder crash had broken several of his ribs. The warmth this time was somehow different from the one Solo produced. It was more tentative, careful, as if afraid to overwhelm him with it, but steadily it grew until it not only matched but surpassed that of Solo's.
The abruptly the intense heat was gone and Cherrz could breath easier and his leg did not throb in time with his blood. ''The Force is strong in you,'' Ben Skywalker murmured.
''I could feel what you were doing. I have never felt such a thing in my life, not even when I was attacked,'' Cherrz breathed. He felt incredibly content.
''There are many levels to the Force, domain Cherrz,'' Solo said. ''You just took your first step into a larger world.''
Skywalker chuckled and gave Cherrz's foot a twitch. ''Don't try anything too quickly. We have mended much but there is still damage unfortunately. The Force is ever expansive but we are not.''
''I understand,'' Cherrz said. His people had always been great admirers of pain and the lessons it brought. The Devotees that held to the old ways still stretched themselves on racks of pain to gain the truth of the Gods, but his time with the Jedi and the healing they had just given him, he saw how wrong they truly were.
"Do you have any question?" Solo asked.
"How did you know I was strong in the Force? We have never met before, not until the High Council meeting," Cherrz said.
''You were on the planet Linnal,'' Solo answered. ''So were we.''
They were the Jedi that had crashed landed on Linnal, who had seen the attack, who could confirm Cherrz's belief that this was all a set up to propagate war between the Yuuzhan Vong and the galaxy they had infiltrated. ''You saw the attack.''
Both Solo and Skywalker nodded. ''That's how we actually got to be on Linnal. They had a dovin basil in the area, Ben thinks to keep others from leaving, but it pulled us out of lightspeed and right in the middle of a space battle,'' Solo said.
''How did you get out?'' Cherrz asked, his features morphing into that of a warrior exchanging old battle stories.
Solo smiled, his eyes reflecting Cherrz's excitement. ''Ben actually came up with the plan. We didn't have any weapons and our shields were failing quickly. We let the ship be taken and escaped through an ejection pod, and floated down to the service like the rest of the garbage.''
Cherrz looked at Skywalker as if he were crazy. ''You brought mechanicals down on a Devotee held planet?''
''I didn't have much of a choice, I'll remind you. Any way it worked didn't it?'' the younger man said slightly defensive.
Solo rested an arm around Skywalker's shoulder. ''It did work Ben, but it doesn't mean I want to try it again.''
''So once you were down on the surface?'' Cherrz asked, encouraging the two Jedi to continue further.
''The living dome was attacked shortly after we crashed landed. Anakin felt the death of the dome, but he couldn't feel any individual Yuuzhan Vong in the area, and in fact we didn't meet up with any until we scouted further in the area looking for a ship to confiscate,'' Skywalker answered.
Cherrz slanted forehead furrowed in confusion. ''You didn't feel it?''
''I at the time could not feel the Yuuzhan Vong. I received a crash course on Linnal,'' Skywalker said. Although he was beginning to loosen up, Cherrz could see that Solo was much more comfortable and laid back then Skywalker was. Cherrz got the feeling that the weight of the galaxy seemed to drag on the boy Skywalker.
An unexpected yawn escaped Cherrz's thin lips and he glanced up at the Jedi in incredible embarrassment. Amongst his people to show such a lack of control would certainly get you shunned, but they just looked at him sympathetically.
''Healing can be tiring, especially on the one who is wounded,'' Skywalker said softly. He glanced at Solo. ''We should let him get some rest.''
Solo nodded. ''That's right.''
Skywalker bowed. ''My father has ordered this ship out of the engagement so you may have time to recuperate. He expects that you use that time. I can sense that you are eager to begin your training, but temper your feelings. There will be time. The Force has brought us together for a purpose, domain Cherrz. Do not run to it but wait for it to be known to you.''
Cherrz blinked at the wisdom that sprouted from the young man. He felt a thrill course through him at the thought that he had been meant to meet the Jedi on Corellia, that Skywalker and Solo had been on Linnal to sense the potential that lay waiting to be cultivated inside of him.
''You'll have to excuse my cousin,'' Solo said. ''He has a flair for the dramatics at times.''
Skywalker scowled at his older cousin. ''I am not dramatic and you shouldn't be turning new students against me, Anakin Solo.''
''We'll be leaving now,'' Solo said, catching another yawn from Cherrz.
Deftly the two Jedi exited the med suite and Cherrz distantly heard them continue to banter back and forth. But the sounds dimmed with the rest of his surroundings as his mind turned inward and sleep took him.
[hr][/hr]
''Analsa? What are you doing here?'' Anakin exclaimed after he and Ben had transferred from Cherrz's ship to his uncle's flag ship.
The dark haired beauty looked up at him with those deep brown eyes. ''Master Sywalker was putting a team together and I asked to be on it.''
Anakin frowned thoughtfully. Why would his uncle allow such a new student to accompany a dangerous defensive? Of course, Analsa's battle skills were impressive, Anakin himself had seen her quick grasp of battle tactics. He had given her some standardized exercises and she had taken to them like a Calamarian to water.
''You should have remained at the Temple,'' Anakin said, with uncustomary force.
''Why? I was going out of my mind just sitting around,'' Analsa argued. ''I want to do something Anakin, especially if what Ben says will happen is right.''
Anakin had a thought that domain Cherrz and Anlsa would probably get along quite well together, they were so read to run before they could walk. Of course, he had been much the same way when he had been younger. [i]What are you thinking, you are still young,[/i] he chided himself. But with his appearance and the way his body responded to his minds commands, he felt like a much older man then the seventeen year old inside him, and yet he no longer felt like that seventeen year old either. He had changed. Whether that made him older or not, he didn't know. Was the gaining of wisdom a mark for age?
He gave her a stern look. ''Why are you so ready to join what could so easily become a battle situation?'' [i]Were you any different before your time in the[/i] Oombassl? Anakin asked himself.
Her dark eyes registered surprise. ''Why are you so against it?''
''You have become a friend to me Analsa and although I am not your Master I have been training you, and I care for your welfare. There will be other times for battles and heroics. Do not rush into it,'' Anakin said, echoing Ben's earlier words to Cherrz.
Now there was confusion in the girl's eyes. ''You care for my welfare?''
Her surprise startled him. Hadn't the girl ever been cared for. Of course, Anakin's feeling towards her was as confused as the girl herself. He kept telling himself that he loved Tahiri, not matter that the person he had loved had changed into someone completely different and that they had not grown together. But here was Analsa, a young woman who readily displayed all his previous shortcomings and in a way he felt closer to her because of that, then he did for the woman he claimed he still loved.
''Why wouldn't I?'' he asked gruffly. ''I care for all living things.''
For some reason her face hardened at this statement. ''I see. Well as you have pointed out, Knight Solo, you are not my Master, and Master Skywalker agreed to my being here. He did however prohibit me from participating overtly.''
And with that the woman spun on her heal and walked down the corridor of the Mon Cal Cruiser that made up Luke Skywalker's flag ship. Frustrated, Anakin ran a hand through his cropped hair. What was it with women? He had a renewed understanding of his father's explosions about how crazy the opposite sex could be.
It bothered him that she had been so confused by his affection. How could you spend so much time training someone and not care what happened to them? He had thought that her feelings had been the same, but perhaps she just saw him as one step closer to the goal of being a Jedi Knight. It was what she wanted the most, her passion was easily sensed in the Force, and by the way she threw herself into every task that he gave her was only more proof to her dedication.
''Why the long face, little brother?'' Jaina asked. She was dressed in her work coveralls, and by the smell of lubricants and oils that wafted off of her, it wasn't hard for Anakin to guess where she had been lately. Once Uncle Luke had received the information from Corran about the attack on Bellalt he had called in his network and they had rendezvoused just outside the perlimian trade route. Jaina's squadron would now act as a defense for the Yuuzhan Vong of Bellalt.
''Trying to unravel the mystery of your people Jai,'' Anakin said with a Machiavellian grin.
Planting hands of her hips she cocked an eyebrow at him. ''My people?'' she asked.
''Yeah, women,'' Anakin said.
''Are you trying your best Han Solo impersonation?'' she question a sly smile touching her full lips.
Anakin switched from his usual straight and tall stance to the more lackadaisical one that his father imbodied, his thumbs resting on his belt, his knee slightly cocked and the leg bet to the side. ''How am I doing?''
Jaina snorted rather unlady-like and Anakin was relieved that this part of his sister had never changed. ''So what mystery about women were you trying to solve?''
''You know that new student I've been training, Analsa Vinn, she just took off in a huff and I can't fathom what I did to make her so angry,'' Anakin explained, throwing up his hands in the air to add emphasis.
Jaina rolled her eyes. ''My brothers!'' she exclaimed as if Anakin and Jacen were the weight of the galaxy. ''What did you say to her?''
''All I said was that I thought she was running to fast into situations that she might not be ready for and that because I cared for her that I wanted her to be cautious,'' Anakin said. Surely there was nothing wrong with that.
His sisters Corellian brandy colored eyes widened in shock. ''You told her you cared for her?''
It was Anakin's turn to roll his eyes. ''She has been my student for the last three weeks, Jai. Of course, I care for her welfare, I care for the welfare of all living beings. Remember the Jedi Code.''
''Oh, Anakin. You are truly clueless aren't you? You can't just say you care for the girl and then compare her to every other living thing in the galaxy,'' Jaina said, rather put out with his ineptitude. ''It's clear the girl has a crush on you.''
''Your a tusken short of a tribe my dear sister,'' Anakin countered. Analsa Vinn actually caring for him in a deeper way then friendship had never crossed his mind. How could Jaina even come to that conclusion?
''Believe me, little brother, I've been there. I know what it's like when the man you have feelings for says all the wrong things.'' There was an ironic twist to Jaina's words and Anakin didn't miss it.
''Are you and Jag having problems?'' he asked softly.
Jaina shrugged. ''A differing of opinion as to where my duty should lead me.''
''Is that why he's not here with your squadron?'' Anakin felt terrible now for putting his pathetic problems on his sister. Jaina and Jag had seemed so happy when he had been staying with them and their children had both adored their parents. What could have disrupted that bliss?
''Don't worry about it, Anakin,'' Jaina consoled him, although it was quite clear to him that it bothered her.
He took each of her shoulder in one of his hands and made sure that their eyes were linked. ''You know I'm not a little boy anymore. I'm not even the boy you remembered. If you need me, to talk or anything, you can come to me. I'm not going to fall apart, Jaina.'' His mother and father had explained to him that after his death Jaina had fallen to the Dark Side of the Force, doing anything to find a way to destroy the Yuuzhan Vong, any Yuuzhan Vong, that had been responsible for his death. ''You no longer need to protect me,'' he continued.
''That's easier said then done, little brother.'' Jaina smiled through the tears that were beginning to build in her eyes. '' I blamed myself for not being able to save you for a long time.''
''Death is not a punishment, Jaina.'' He threw on his father's patented crooked smile. ''In fact it's probably the only rest I'm ever going to get.''
Jaina launched herself into Anakin's arms and squeezed her much taller little brother. ''How much I missed that terrible humor of yours.''
Anakin hugged her back. He always thought that Jaina had been the mediating force between he and Jacen, smoothing over the arguments that they had so frequently gotten into. Of course, now all he and Jacen did was avoid talking to one another. He hadn't even spoken more then two sentences to his older brother since his return.
''Jacen missed you too,'' Jaina whispered as she backed away from the embrace.
Sighing, Anakin ran a hand through his cropped hair. ''Why is it that every one has taken to be the diplomatic emissary to me and my brother?''
''Shouldn't you be asking, why you need a diplomatic emissary,'' Jaina pointed out. ''He loves you.''
''And I love him. For Force sake he's my brother of course I love him, but we just don't get along, Jai. We never have and I'm beginning to wonder if we ever will,'' Anakin said with a hint of the sadness he felt at this discovery.
''You've both changed so much in the years of separation. He's no longer confused about his course. He's found it,'' Jaina explained. ''How long are you going to push him away?''
Indignation rose up in Anakin. ''Do you remember Corellia, the repulsor weapon. He doesn't see me as his ally, Jaina. He doesn't agree with me so automatically I'm his enemy. When he stopped trusting me, he pushed me away.''
That terrible time during the Yuuzhan Vong war when he had brought back the planet repulsors of Corellia as a defensive mechanism and everyone had been pleading with him, each with their own desires for what he should have done with the weapon. Jacen had been right about not using it and he had relinquished the right, but their father's cousin, Thrackin Sal-Solo had taken it in his hands. The deaths of all those people still haunted Anakin to this day. He couldn't have fired on the Vong but by his inaction there had been more deaths. Jacen had not trusted him to make the right decision.
''It wasn't that he stopped trusting you, Anakin. He stopped trusting himself,'' Jaina whispered, trying to convince him.
''Is there a difference?'' Anakin asked.
''There is to me, and to you,'' Jaina said. ''Or at least there should be.''
''He has to initiate it Jai. He has to show me that he wants me by his side and no longer thinks of me as the sibling he can't trust,'' Anakin said.
Jaina didn't make any further argument to which he was forever grateful, but he was suspicious that there was a lingering one waiting for another opportunity to bring the Solo brothers to peace and harmony.
''Any way, I need to help you learn to deal with women,'' Jaina said, slipping a hand around his waist.
[i]Now that is something I need advice on,[/i] Anakin thought and at Jaina's smile, he knew she had picked up on it. Perhaps he and Jacen would never be the kind of sibling that he and Jaina were, but for right now he was thankful for his sister's presence.
[hr][/hr]
''What is it my Apprentice?'' Lord Nefarion asked as he settled into his conforming chair on his flag ship [i]Eternal Pall[/i].
The physically changed Lady Sarlana bowed her head at the sight of her Master. ''I have successfully infiltrated the Jedi my Master. We are now in route to the planet Bellalt, where they believe an insurrection is about to begin.''
Nefarion stiffened in his seat. He had not been able to relay the new destination for attack to his apprentice and now the Jedi were on their way to Bellalt. He did not let Sarlana see his trepidation though, instead he stilled his features in the ice waves of the Dark Side of the Force.
''They are correct, my apprentice. We too are approaching the planet Bellalt,'' he informed her in a tone that implied he had expected this all along.
Sarlana swallowed. ''I am amongst them m'lord. I have been training under the revived Anakin Solo and have become acquainted with Ben Skywalker and his family.''
Pleasure coursed through Nefarion. His apprentice had done well, but still he felt a whirl of unsettlement amongst the waves of the Force. Something that might disturb his plans against the Jedi. ''What are your feelings towards Solo, my apprentice?''
''He is a Jedi, m'lord, naturally, I hate him,'' Sarlana answered without a flicker or pause. Her anger was evident and that assuaged Nefarion's worry.
''Do not forget that the Jedi are our enemy. We wish to control them, remember that,'' Nefarion instructed. ''You are to continue with the plan the way it was designed. Your part is the most crucial Sarlana and I will not accept failure.''
The dark haired beauty bowed her head again. ''Yes, my Master.''
''We will be able to use this to our advantage, my apprentice,'' Nefarion said, remembering Sidious' rule of engagement. 'If it is illegal, make it legal. If it is against the plan, mold it to the plan. And if any get in your way, wipe them out, all of them."
Sarlana leaned forward as Nefarion issued the new extension to the Bellalt attack.
Dorsca Cherrz was resting comfortable in the medical area of the living transport that had been assigned amongst the fleet to stop the attack on Bellalt. His wounds had been bound, and he had suffered through a Bacta treatment, but they still gave him trouble. Bacta wasn't nearly as effective on the Yuuzhan Vong as it was on the natives of this galaxy and it was slow healing. Still Cherrz was thankful that he was no longer on the run and that the information that he had so desperately needed to reveal to anyone who would take action, had been given to the Jedi.
For years the Jedi were supposed to be the enemies of the Yuuzhan Vong and now they may just be their saviors. It was an ironic twist and showed the galaxy had a greater sense of humor then the great Gods that the Devotees worshiped. Cherrz wasn't young by Yuuzhan Vong standards but amongst the humans he was a four years older then the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's son. He had practically grown up in this galaxy and he felt more at home in the rich tapestry of the Republic then in the craft of his own people.
He was slightly taken aback when the entryway to his suite yawned open and the Jedi, Anakin Solo and Ben Skywalker, filed into the room. He had learned the by human standards they were cousins, close kin, in the Yuuzhan Vong family system. Ben Skywalker, he had heard of in passing, as the son of the great Jedi Master, there were few in the galaxy who would not have heard of him, although the meeting in the High Council room had been the first time he had actually seen the boy. The older man, was a legend in a way, especially amongst the natives of the galaxy, and even among the Separatist Yuuzhan Vong. Anakin Solo to his knowledge, however, was supposed to be dead for over fifteen years. There was a story here, that Cherrz couldn't suppress being curious.
The two men bowed together, Solo coming forward first. "My name is Anakin Solo. I don't know if you remember me from the High Council meeting, but I am a Jedi Knight. " Solo gestured to Skywalker. "This is Ben Skywalker, an apprentice in training. Would you mind if we spoke with you for a moment?"
Cherrz shrugged. The Jedi had saved his life, he was hardly going to shun them with such a simple request. He gestured them further into the room. "Of course."
Solo took the only 'seat' in the area and Skywalker stood behind him. Cherrz wondered briefly if they were Master and Apprentice, like the Horn Jedi he had met on Corellia, but Solo hadn't introduced them as such. Solo glanced up at Skywalker as if trying to figure out how best to broach whatever subject they had come to speak to him about.
Folding his hands together, Solo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "How do I put this?" He ran a hand through his short cropped dark hair. "Do you ever know things before they happen? Sense another person's intent?"
"Many warriors have this ability, Jedi Solo" Cherrz said, wondering where this was going.
"Yes, but how many warriors can dodge blaster fire inside their apartment?'' the younger Jedi, Ben, asked.
Cherrz's skin rippled uncomfortably. How could Skywalker know about that? When the speeder had attacked his quarters in the Separatist tower on Bellalt, he had moved with more then his usual strength. It had been question that had plagued him ever since, pressing through the worry of being discovered. He knew that amongst the natives of this galaxy the Jedi often had visions and could feel another persons emotions, but his people were supposed to be void in the Force. Cherrz was beginning to doubt his trust in the Jedi. What if they were involved in the plot the same as Representative Zorel?
''Ben,'' Solo warned.
Skywalker shot his cousin a pleading look. ''He needs to know the truth, Anakin. Face what is in him.''
The blue-green eyes of Skywaker and the ice blue ones of Solo linked and a communication passed between them that was not verbal, but was nonetheless there. Cherrz could tell as much, yet he did not understand how. Finally, Solo nodded and waved towards his cousin, ''Ben understands your people on a different level then I do. To make a long story short Ben and myself are the only Jedi that can register the Yuuzhan Vong in the Force. On top of that, Ben is a seerer and in a vision saw the attack that was pressed on you, quite vividly.''
A smile crept up on Skywalker's boyish features. Cherrz did not understand it. Instead his eyes darted between the two of them. ''And you wish to test your abilities on me?'' he guessed.
''In a way yes,'' Solo answered. ''We would like to see how far our abilities in the Force can be transferred to the Yuuzhan Vong. Master Skywalker would especially like to know if healing can be possible with your people. But there is more then just that.''
''What do you mean, more?'' Cherrz asked, stiffening on the pallet he was lying on.
''The Force is strong in you Dorsca Cherrz,'' Solo finally came to his point. ''If you can be trained as a Jedi then a percentage of your people may as well. If that is possible then it might help to further mend the rift that comes between your galaxy and ours.''
If it were possible, Cherrz's eyes would have widened in their deep set sockets, but instead he leaned forward on his pallet. ''A Jedi,'' he mused aloud. Cherrz's father had been a shamed one, one in fact that had been on Myrkr the same time that Anakin Solo had gone to rescue the Jedi children from the Academy. It had been at that time, when Vua Rapuung had been taken back his honor, with Solo's help that a reverence for the Jedi had been bred in the Shamed Ones. Domain Cherrz had risen in the ranks of the Separatist Yuuzhan Vong because of their ability to see the potential that the beings from both galaxies could exploit with the help from one another.
''We do not force it, of course,'' Skywalker said. ''My father only wishes to extend an invitation, but hopes you will take advantage of it. If there were Yuuzhan Vong Jedi then disasters like Vrona could easily be avoided.''
Cherrz's head jerked up at the tone in Skywalker's voice when he mentioned Vrona. Laced in pain the only emotion he had seen crake from the young Jedi. The more he was around Skywalker and Solo the more he became intrigued by them. Perhaps it was his strength in the Force they assured him he had that was pulled towards them.
''You would accept me as a student?'' he questioned, his mind reeling at the thought of Yuuzhan Vong Jedi.
Solo smiled at his wonder. ''You have the potential and we make it a point not to turn any of those away who hold it.''
''Where do I start,'' Cherrz said with more eagerness then he had intended.
Amusement played on Solo's features as he stood and approached Cherrz' pallet. ''Let's get you healed before you launch into your training.''
''You can do that?'' Cherrz asked. He was babbling he knew but there was just so much to take in all at once.
Skywalker came up behind Solo. ''We hope so. We're going to try doing some minor healing at first. We don't know if it will be painful for you or not. It might not even work, which then we would have to teach you to heal yourself.''
''If you feel any discomfort you must tell us,'' Solo instructed firmly. ''We are here to help you not to make your recovery more trying.''
Cherrz nodded his understanding and looked up at them for further instruction. ''Do I need to do anything?''
Softly, Solo pushed him back on the pallet. ''Just relax and try to open your mind. Ben and I won't be delving into it, so be assured by that, but for certain techniques to work you must be calm.''
Feeling anything but calm, Cherrz did his best to relax on the lamina pallet. The squirmy material beneath his shoulder conformed to his body as he settled deeper. He closed his eyes and took painful steadying breaths. Gentle hands wrapped around his caf where the bone had been shattered in the fall with the speeder. By the size of the hand, he guessed it was Solo, he being the larger of the two, but he admitted that they could be Skywalker's.
''Anakin will try to heal you first,'' Skywalker's voice floated to him. ''Let me know if it starts to pain you. Alright?''
Cherrz nodded his head perceptibly. For a long moment, nothing happened and Cherrz felt himself become impatient. Suddenly a warmth spread in the place where Solo's hands were pressed against his caf, tingling and effusive. It was hotter then any fire Cherrz could imagine and yet it did not burn him or cause him pain, instead it was soothing and burning the pain away. Cherrz gasped at the sensation.
''Are you well?'' Skywalker asked concerned, his young voice slightly cracking.
Cherrz nodded. ''Fine,'' he said, and wondered at the calm that flooded over him.
''Ben, will he see if you can fix the pain in his ribs. It is still bothering him,'' Solo said.
[i]There is so much for me to learn,[/i] Cherrz thought.
Skywalker's slightly smaller hands rested on his side, where the speeder crash had broken several of his ribs. The warmth this time was somehow different from the one Solo produced. It was more tentative, careful, as if afraid to overwhelm him with it, but steadily it grew until it not only matched but surpassed that of Solo's.
The abruptly the intense heat was gone and Cherrz could breath easier and his leg did not throb in time with his blood. ''The Force is strong in you,'' Ben Skywalker murmured.
''I could feel what you were doing. I have never felt such a thing in my life, not even when I was attacked,'' Cherrz breathed. He felt incredibly content.
''There are many levels to the Force, domain Cherrz,'' Solo said. ''You just took your first step into a larger world.''
Skywalker chuckled and gave Cherrz's foot a twitch. ''Don't try anything too quickly. We have mended much but there is still damage unfortunately. The Force is ever expansive but we are not.''
''I understand,'' Cherrz said. His people had always been great admirers of pain and the lessons it brought. The Devotees that held to the old ways still stretched themselves on racks of pain to gain the truth of the Gods, but his time with the Jedi and the healing they had just given him, he saw how wrong they truly were.
"Do you have any question?" Solo asked.
"How did you know I was strong in the Force? We have never met before, not until the High Council meeting," Cherrz said.
''You were on the planet Linnal,'' Solo answered. ''So were we.''
They were the Jedi that had crashed landed on Linnal, who had seen the attack, who could confirm Cherrz's belief that this was all a set up to propagate war between the Yuuzhan Vong and the galaxy they had infiltrated. ''You saw the attack.''
Both Solo and Skywalker nodded. ''That's how we actually got to be on Linnal. They had a dovin basil in the area, Ben thinks to keep others from leaving, but it pulled us out of lightspeed and right in the middle of a space battle,'' Solo said.
''How did you get out?'' Cherrz asked, his features morphing into that of a warrior exchanging old battle stories.
Solo smiled, his eyes reflecting Cherrz's excitement. ''Ben actually came up with the plan. We didn't have any weapons and our shields were failing quickly. We let the ship be taken and escaped through an ejection pod, and floated down to the service like the rest of the garbage.''
Cherrz looked at Skywalker as if he were crazy. ''You brought mechanicals down on a Devotee held planet?''
''I didn't have much of a choice, I'll remind you. Any way it worked didn't it?'' the younger man said slightly defensive.
Solo rested an arm around Skywalker's shoulder. ''It did work Ben, but it doesn't mean I want to try it again.''
''So once you were down on the surface?'' Cherrz asked, encouraging the two Jedi to continue further.
''The living dome was attacked shortly after we crashed landed. Anakin felt the death of the dome, but he couldn't feel any individual Yuuzhan Vong in the area, and in fact we didn't meet up with any until we scouted further in the area looking for a ship to confiscate,'' Skywalker answered.
Cherrz slanted forehead furrowed in confusion. ''You didn't feel it?''
''I at the time could not feel the Yuuzhan Vong. I received a crash course on Linnal,'' Skywalker said. Although he was beginning to loosen up, Cherrz could see that Solo was much more comfortable and laid back then Skywalker was. Cherrz got the feeling that the weight of the galaxy seemed to drag on the boy Skywalker.
An unexpected yawn escaped Cherrz's thin lips and he glanced up at the Jedi in incredible embarrassment. Amongst his people to show such a lack of control would certainly get you shunned, but they just looked at him sympathetically.
''Healing can be tiring, especially on the one who is wounded,'' Skywalker said softly. He glanced at Solo. ''We should let him get some rest.''
Solo nodded. ''That's right.''
Skywalker bowed. ''My father has ordered this ship out of the engagement so you may have time to recuperate. He expects that you use that time. I can sense that you are eager to begin your training, but temper your feelings. There will be time. The Force has brought us together for a purpose, domain Cherrz. Do not run to it but wait for it to be known to you.''
Cherrz blinked at the wisdom that sprouted from the young man. He felt a thrill course through him at the thought that he had been meant to meet the Jedi on Corellia, that Skywalker and Solo had been on Linnal to sense the potential that lay waiting to be cultivated inside of him.
''You'll have to excuse my cousin,'' Solo said. ''He has a flair for the dramatics at times.''
Skywalker scowled at his older cousin. ''I am not dramatic and you shouldn't be turning new students against me, Anakin Solo.''
''We'll be leaving now,'' Solo said, catching another yawn from Cherrz.
Deftly the two Jedi exited the med suite and Cherrz distantly heard them continue to banter back and forth. But the sounds dimmed with the rest of his surroundings as his mind turned inward and sleep took him.
[hr][/hr]
''Analsa? What are you doing here?'' Anakin exclaimed after he and Ben had transferred from Cherrz's ship to his uncle's flag ship.
The dark haired beauty looked up at him with those deep brown eyes. ''Master Sywalker was putting a team together and I asked to be on it.''
Anakin frowned thoughtfully. Why would his uncle allow such a new student to accompany a dangerous defensive? Of course, Analsa's battle skills were impressive, Anakin himself had seen her quick grasp of battle tactics. He had given her some standardized exercises and she had taken to them like a Calamarian to water.
''You should have remained at the Temple,'' Anakin said, with uncustomary force.
''Why? I was going out of my mind just sitting around,'' Analsa argued. ''I want to do something Anakin, especially if what Ben says will happen is right.''
Anakin had a thought that domain Cherrz and Anlsa would probably get along quite well together, they were so read to run before they could walk. Of course, he had been much the same way when he had been younger. [i]What are you thinking, you are still young,[/i] he chided himself. But with his appearance and the way his body responded to his minds commands, he felt like a much older man then the seventeen year old inside him, and yet he no longer felt like that seventeen year old either. He had changed. Whether that made him older or not, he didn't know. Was the gaining of wisdom a mark for age?
He gave her a stern look. ''Why are you so ready to join what could so easily become a battle situation?'' [i]Were you any different before your time in the[/i] Oombassl? Anakin asked himself.
Her dark eyes registered surprise. ''Why are you so against it?''
''You have become a friend to me Analsa and although I am not your Master I have been training you, and I care for your welfare. There will be other times for battles and heroics. Do not rush into it,'' Anakin said, echoing Ben's earlier words to Cherrz.
Now there was confusion in the girl's eyes. ''You care for my welfare?''
Her surprise startled him. Hadn't the girl ever been cared for. Of course, Anakin's feeling towards her was as confused as the girl herself. He kept telling himself that he loved Tahiri, not matter that the person he had loved had changed into someone completely different and that they had not grown together. But here was Analsa, a young woman who readily displayed all his previous shortcomings and in a way he felt closer to her because of that, then he did for the woman he claimed he still loved.
''Why wouldn't I?'' he asked gruffly. ''I care for all living things.''
For some reason her face hardened at this statement. ''I see. Well as you have pointed out, Knight Solo, you are not my Master, and Master Skywalker agreed to my being here. He did however prohibit me from participating overtly.''
And with that the woman spun on her heal and walked down the corridor of the Mon Cal Cruiser that made up Luke Skywalker's flag ship. Frustrated, Anakin ran a hand through his cropped hair. What was it with women? He had a renewed understanding of his father's explosions about how crazy the opposite sex could be.
It bothered him that she had been so confused by his affection. How could you spend so much time training someone and not care what happened to them? He had thought that her feelings had been the same, but perhaps she just saw him as one step closer to the goal of being a Jedi Knight. It was what she wanted the most, her passion was easily sensed in the Force, and by the way she threw herself into every task that he gave her was only more proof to her dedication.
''Why the long face, little brother?'' Jaina asked. She was dressed in her work coveralls, and by the smell of lubricants and oils that wafted off of her, it wasn't hard for Anakin to guess where she had been lately. Once Uncle Luke had received the information from Corran about the attack on Bellalt he had called in his network and they had rendezvoused just outside the perlimian trade route. Jaina's squadron would now act as a defense for the Yuuzhan Vong of Bellalt.
''Trying to unravel the mystery of your people Jai,'' Anakin said with a Machiavellian grin.
Planting hands of her hips she cocked an eyebrow at him. ''My people?'' she asked.
''Yeah, women,'' Anakin said.
''Are you trying your best Han Solo impersonation?'' she question a sly smile touching her full lips.
Anakin switched from his usual straight and tall stance to the more lackadaisical one that his father imbodied, his thumbs resting on his belt, his knee slightly cocked and the leg bet to the side. ''How am I doing?''
Jaina snorted rather unlady-like and Anakin was relieved that this part of his sister had never changed. ''So what mystery about women were you trying to solve?''
''You know that new student I've been training, Analsa Vinn, she just took off in a huff and I can't fathom what I did to make her so angry,'' Anakin explained, throwing up his hands in the air to add emphasis.
Jaina rolled her eyes. ''My brothers!'' she exclaimed as if Anakin and Jacen were the weight of the galaxy. ''What did you say to her?''
''All I said was that I thought she was running to fast into situations that she might not be ready for and that because I cared for her that I wanted her to be cautious,'' Anakin said. Surely there was nothing wrong with that.
His sisters Corellian brandy colored eyes widened in shock. ''You told her you cared for her?''
It was Anakin's turn to roll his eyes. ''She has been my student for the last three weeks, Jai. Of course, I care for her welfare, I care for the welfare of all living beings. Remember the Jedi Code.''
''Oh, Anakin. You are truly clueless aren't you? You can't just say you care for the girl and then compare her to every other living thing in the galaxy,'' Jaina said, rather put out with his ineptitude. ''It's clear the girl has a crush on you.''
''Your a tusken short of a tribe my dear sister,'' Anakin countered. Analsa Vinn actually caring for him in a deeper way then friendship had never crossed his mind. How could Jaina even come to that conclusion?
''Believe me, little brother, I've been there. I know what it's like when the man you have feelings for says all the wrong things.'' There was an ironic twist to Jaina's words and Anakin didn't miss it.
''Are you and Jag having problems?'' he asked softly.
Jaina shrugged. ''A differing of opinion as to where my duty should lead me.''
''Is that why he's not here with your squadron?'' Anakin felt terrible now for putting his pathetic problems on his sister. Jaina and Jag had seemed so happy when he had been staying with them and their children had both adored their parents. What could have disrupted that bliss?
''Don't worry about it, Anakin,'' Jaina consoled him, although it was quite clear to him that it bothered her.
He took each of her shoulder in one of his hands and made sure that their eyes were linked. ''You know I'm not a little boy anymore. I'm not even the boy you remembered. If you need me, to talk or anything, you can come to me. I'm not going to fall apart, Jaina.'' His mother and father had explained to him that after his death Jaina had fallen to the Dark Side of the Force, doing anything to find a way to destroy the Yuuzhan Vong, any Yuuzhan Vong, that had been responsible for his death. ''You no longer need to protect me,'' he continued.
''That's easier said then done, little brother.'' Jaina smiled through the tears that were beginning to build in her eyes. '' I blamed myself for not being able to save you for a long time.''
''Death is not a punishment, Jaina.'' He threw on his father's patented crooked smile. ''In fact it's probably the only rest I'm ever going to get.''
Jaina launched herself into Anakin's arms and squeezed her much taller little brother. ''How much I missed that terrible humor of yours.''
Anakin hugged her back. He always thought that Jaina had been the mediating force between he and Jacen, smoothing over the arguments that they had so frequently gotten into. Of course, now all he and Jacen did was avoid talking to one another. He hadn't even spoken more then two sentences to his older brother since his return.
''Jacen missed you too,'' Jaina whispered as she backed away from the embrace.
Sighing, Anakin ran a hand through his cropped hair. ''Why is it that every one has taken to be the diplomatic emissary to me and my brother?''
''Shouldn't you be asking, why you need a diplomatic emissary,'' Jaina pointed out. ''He loves you.''
''And I love him. For Force sake he's my brother of course I love him, but we just don't get along, Jai. We never have and I'm beginning to wonder if we ever will,'' Anakin said with a hint of the sadness he felt at this discovery.
''You've both changed so much in the years of separation. He's no longer confused about his course. He's found it,'' Jaina explained. ''How long are you going to push him away?''
Indignation rose up in Anakin. ''Do you remember Corellia, the repulsor weapon. He doesn't see me as his ally, Jaina. He doesn't agree with me so automatically I'm his enemy. When he stopped trusting me, he pushed me away.''
That terrible time during the Yuuzhan Vong war when he had brought back the planet repulsors of Corellia as a defensive mechanism and everyone had been pleading with him, each with their own desires for what he should have done with the weapon. Jacen had been right about not using it and he had relinquished the right, but their father's cousin, Thrackin Sal-Solo had taken it in his hands. The deaths of all those people still haunted Anakin to this day. He couldn't have fired on the Vong but by his inaction there had been more deaths. Jacen had not trusted him to make the right decision.
''It wasn't that he stopped trusting you, Anakin. He stopped trusting himself,'' Jaina whispered, trying to convince him.
''Is there a difference?'' Anakin asked.
''There is to me, and to you,'' Jaina said. ''Or at least there should be.''
''He has to initiate it Jai. He has to show me that he wants me by his side and no longer thinks of me as the sibling he can't trust,'' Anakin said.
Jaina didn't make any further argument to which he was forever grateful, but he was suspicious that there was a lingering one waiting for another opportunity to bring the Solo brothers to peace and harmony.
''Any way, I need to help you learn to deal with women,'' Jaina said, slipping a hand around his waist.
[i]Now that is something I need advice on,[/i] Anakin thought and at Jaina's smile, he knew she had picked up on it. Perhaps he and Jacen would never be the kind of sibling that he and Jaina were, but for right now he was thankful for his sister's presence.
[hr][/hr]
''What is it my Apprentice?'' Lord Nefarion asked as he settled into his conforming chair on his flag ship [i]Eternal Pall[/i].
The physically changed Lady Sarlana bowed her head at the sight of her Master. ''I have successfully infiltrated the Jedi my Master. We are now in route to the planet Bellalt, where they believe an insurrection is about to begin.''
Nefarion stiffened in his seat. He had not been able to relay the new destination for attack to his apprentice and now the Jedi were on their way to Bellalt. He did not let Sarlana see his trepidation though, instead he stilled his features in the ice waves of the Dark Side of the Force.
''They are correct, my apprentice. We too are approaching the planet Bellalt,'' he informed her in a tone that implied he had expected this all along.
Sarlana swallowed. ''I am amongst them m'lord. I have been training under the revived Anakin Solo and have become acquainted with Ben Skywalker and his family.''
Pleasure coursed through Nefarion. His apprentice had done well, but still he felt a whirl of unsettlement amongst the waves of the Force. Something that might disturb his plans against the Jedi. ''What are your feelings towards Solo, my apprentice?''
''He is a Jedi, m'lord, naturally, I hate him,'' Sarlana answered without a flicker or pause. Her anger was evident and that assuaged Nefarion's worry.
''Do not forget that the Jedi are our enemy. We wish to control them, remember that,'' Nefarion instructed. ''You are to continue with the plan the way it was designed. Your part is the most crucial Sarlana and I will not accept failure.''
The dark haired beauty bowed her head again. ''Yes, my Master.''
''We will be able to use this to our advantage, my apprentice,'' Nefarion said, remembering Sidious' rule of engagement. 'If it is illegal, make it legal. If it is against the plan, mold it to the plan. And if any get in your way, wipe them out, all of them."
Sarlana leaned forward as Nefarion issued the new extension to the Bellalt attack.