Chapter Twenty-Two
Bao had waited too long to talk to his apprentice. It was clear now that his anger was getting the better of him.
Whatever doubt Bao held about his own teachings, he knew he couldn't let Riko fall.
"Riko," Bao said as he moved out of his chair, "I need to talk to you. In the cargo hold. Alone."
Bao was frightened by the expression he saw on Riko's face. Rage in its purest form. Anger that should never be seen on the face of a boy.
"All right," Riko obeyed, walking towards the cargo bay. Bao followed him.
Neither of them spoke during the way over. Bao preferred it that way. He wanted to give Riko a moment to calm himself.
It didn't seem to work.
Bao entered the cargo hold after Riko did so. Bao proceeded to close the hatch.
"All right, Riko," Bao said calmly, taking a deep breath, "I have a plan on how to find Jade. I need your help…"
"My help?" Riko interrupted, "You haven't asked for my help on anything important! Scrap it, you haven't taught me anything! And you're supposed to be my master!"
Bao didn't make an attempt to calm Riko down. He could tell that it was a lost cause for the moment. Riko would have to wear himself out and face his anger, instead of running from it.
"You never taught me anything! Not one lesson on the Force, not one sequence on how to wield a lightsaber, nothing! You're an embarrassment to the Order's masters, Bao! You're just a knight who was promoted too quickly!" Riko collapsed, sobbing. Riko, who had made a point to bury his emotions deep down.
Bao was deeply hurt by his words. Though Jedi were trained to avoid anger, they weren't prevented from ever being affected by the words people say.
The reason Bao was impacted by those words was because Riko was almost right. Bao had neglected Riko's training. Perhaps he had taken on too much responsibility.
Bao sat down next to Riko, "You're right, Riko," he admitted, "I was promoted too quickly, thrust into a role I wasn't completely ready for. Maybe I wasn't ready at all. Maybe I'm still not ready."
Bao placed a manus on Riko's shoulder, noticing that the boy shuddered slightly, "But, it is a slight exaggeration to say I didn't play any role in your training. Perhaps I did, if not directly."
Riko raised his head, "Not directly?"
"Yes," Bao confirmed, "Not directly. Remember when I told you that people learn through experience, not in classes? Think back. I placed you in situations where you did learn things."
"The battle above Corsin," Riko recalled, "I guess I started learning not to act without thinking."
"Started?" Bao asked, confused.
"I still challenged Tau without thinking. I just wanted to save Jade," Riko admitted.
"I understand," Bao assured him, "You wanted to save a friend. That's not a bad thing, though it would be good to think before acting."
"I guess I should have learned that," Riko showed a faint hint of a smile, "I guess I still can, I'm hoping this isn't an excuse for you to be a lazy teacher."
Bao sissed weakly.
"So you were teaching me indirectly," Riko reasoned, "I never thought of it."
"I wasn't teaching you," Bao decided, "Life was. I just have a hand in it."
Riko gave no response. Bao was silent for a moment. When he spoke, he admitted, "For most of my life, I never intended to take an apprentice. But you opened my mind."
"How come?"
"I saw your determination, your difficulties, your pain, and I realized something. Like you said, I do feel unready to be a master sometimes. To be a protector, to be the guard that protects the nest from the darkness, that's my comfort zone, it's what I know. I chose you because I saw how similar and different you are."
"Jade always told me that we impose our own limits, even as we find our strengths."
"Tau taught me the same principle. We all have our strengths, sometimes we may find them where we never expected."
"Okay," Riko's tone grew serious, "So how are we going to find Jade?"
Bao was silent for the moment, considering how to explain what he was about to say, then spoke, "One reason I chose both you and Jade was because of the unique bond between you both. This connection you've developed. I didn't want to break you two apart."
Riko determined his plan, "You want me to try to find Jade using this ability. I don't know if that's possible over a distance of light years. Jade's probably halfway across the galaxy by now."
Bao knew what to say next, "Sometimes Force-users have unique abilities, things that others struggle with but they do without thinking. Now, Jade's a very powerful Force-user, despite her age. And one of the abilities she has is her connection with others. If you could somehow get a signal to her, she might be able to give you a general sense of where she is."
"I don't know if Luke Skywalker could do that, Bao," Riko shook his head, "But if it's our only shot, I'll try it."
Bao considered his words, searching his memories of his Jedi training for an alternate solution. He then recalled a lesson his master had given him on meditation.
And the answer came to him.
"Remember the day I first introduced myself to you?" Bao asked.
"Yes," Riko responded.
"I mentioned you might have precognitive abilities. All Jedi have them to a limited degree, with enhanced reflexes and the like."
"Jade told me a story of how Luke, during his training, experienced a vision of his friends in danger," Riko responded, "You want me to try meditating to see if I can find Jade. So I'll see the future?" He sounded excited, if daunted.
"The future is always in motion," Bao quoted, "Whatever you will see will just be a possible future."
Riko's voice sounded nervous. The prospect of precognition had excited Bao too, he remembered, the first time he had learned of it, "So we will try to either prevent or cause whatever I see."
"Of course," Bao said, "We'll prepare for the worst, but hope for the best."
"Very well," Riko's voice was nervous. Bao could tell that it was at the prospect of such a daunting task. He didn't doubt that Riko could do it. Changing the topic, Riko asked, "Is there any hope of arresting Tau?"
"We still have the datatapes. I doubt we can wait to rescue Jade, though. We'll have to prepare," Bao eyed the stacks of boxes that, even days later, were still scattered out around the room, "I think it's time I took a leaf out of your book, Riko. I'll need a new saber."
"Wait," Riko walked up to the cargo bay's primary shelf and grabbed something atop it. He presented a lightsaber, forged in the uniform design of the Imperial Knights, to Bao.
"This was Kara's," Riko presented as Bao stood up, "Thalia left it here, I'm guessing she was planning on placing it in a memorial or something. I don't think she'd mind, considering our situation." He handed the weapon to Bao. Bao took it, getting a feel of the weapon in his hands. It felt a little awkward; it was small, he could barely hold it in both hands, and it didn't quite fit into his palm the way his old one had. He supposed that he would learn to adjust his style.
"Thank you, Riko," Bao said with genuine gratitude. Although he would have preferred to assemble his own weapon, it would take time; time they might not possess.
"I'll go meditate," Riko said, "We'll know where to go soon!" His outward optimism concealed his nervousness.
Riko began to walk out.
"Riko," Bao said before Riko left, "There's always a solution to every problem, sometimes it's just harder to find. Sometimes it's easier to take the easy path, the one that steers away from the real challenge."
Bao stood up and moved towards Riko, "Don't take the easy path. Accepting the real challenge is inherent to our nature."
As Riko turned and left, Bao remembered how similar to Riko he had felt at the beginning of his training. The hatchling from Eqalz II, in the wake of the death of his parents, newly a student at the temple on Atarashi'ie, had faced a daunting beginning in his days as a Jedi.
Bao had wondered, several times, if this was why he never became a master of the Force, instead becoming a master of the lightsaber, whether he had taken the easy path.
As Bao had told Riko, Tau had once said, in the earliest days of Bao's apprenticeship, "A Jedi's training never truly ends. We're always learning new skills with the lightsaber, expanding our experience with the Force, determining our sense of morality and how it overlaps with the Jedi Code. Never assume your skills are complete. The only limits are those you place upon yourself."
However misguided Tau had become, Bao now knew those words to be true. In contrast to that creed, he had directed his talents in one direction, taken the easy path. Now, they would have to take on new directions, in light of his failure to defeat the man who did not limit himself. Bao was now firmly committed to the Force, and it would be his domain. It would be the frontier he would push for as long as he lived.
Bao activated his new lightsaber, a white glow encompassing the bay, beginning to practice his sequences. The Force might be his new frontier, but every explorer had a home to return to.
When he finished, he walked to the cockpit.
"Val," he announced, "The datatape. We need to review it again."
"Got it," Val grabbed it from his belt and inserted it into the ship's computer. Bao moved to the adjacent seat and attempted to access the records.
A red Access Denied flashed across the screen.
"I...I don't get it," Bao said after a few minutes of trying to hack in, "Why isn't it granting me access?"
"Apparently the files have a built-in firewall for unwanted guests," Val guessed, "That doesn't make sense."
"Exactly, Val, your portable holoprojector was able to access the data…"
"That's it!" Val said epiphanically, "Remember the Hallion raid?" "Yes." Bao responded, remembering Val's botched attempt to capture the director of the Guli Syndicate. He already pieced together what Val was about to say when he responded with, "That holoprojector belonged to the director. It must have override codes programmed into its software. That's how I accessed the info."
"What are we waiting for? Let's access that drive."
"Yeah, about that," Val added. Bao almost groaned as Val said, "I left it on Taris."
"Val...!" Bao yelled, flashing his teeth in frustration.
"Hey! We had to get the fierfek out of there! We were lucky I was able to save the datatape! I didn't realize the holoprojector was so special! Calm down, ner vod!"
Bao took several deep breaths, attempting to contain his anger. Val was right.
"It's been a long day, Val," Bao finally said, "If we can't access the datatape here, we need to find a place with officials with the codes to access the information."
Crew Quarters
After retrieving and eating a breadroot patty spiced with small alkazbira leaves from the ship's stores, Riko retired to the crew quarters, which was comprised of a row of three three-by-four meter rooms, each with two bunks arranged vertically. Moving into the room he and Jade had shared, he recalled how Thalia had avoided sleep, instead drawing on the Force while meditating for a few hours at a time so she could fly the ship's night shift.
Riko sat down in the middle of the floor, closing his eyes, pushing the memories away. He had barely known Thalia, though she was a kind, caring woman, and he still felt sadness at her passing. He couldn't imagine the pain that Jade must be going through.
Thinking about these events made him briefly recall Kali'sto. Though he had learned to set aside his grief at his adoptive father's absence from his everyday life, every now and then, it crept up on him.
Normally, he would want Niner or Jade to talk to when he thought about that day two years ago, but right now he would have to focus. Jade's escape depended on it.
Riko calmed himself by mentally reciting the Jedi code, emphasizing the first phrase; There is no Emotion, there is Peace.
He couldn't do it, he couldn't calm his mind, simply setting aside his emotions and distractions never worked.
There's a solution to every problem.
Riko decided to open up a bit, instead of closing out, focusing on his concern for Jade. If he couldn't focus, if he couldn't find her, he'd lose her. The spikes of fear manifested in his gut, Riko shuddered. Instead of closing it out, he tried to pry open his mental guard.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion. The opening line of the Sith mantra echoed in his head. For a moment, Riko reconsidered doing this, he wondered whether he was taking the easy path.
Then he remembered he'd lose his best friend if he didn't do this, and let the fear flow through him, sharpening his determination and focusing his mind on his friend.
This approach worked, he felt...invigorated, ready to do this, pushing aside his fear in favor of a stronger emotion; desire.
A number of images began to race through Riko's mind; he tried to focus with anticipation.
He saw Asharr's mask, the flash of lightsabers, utilitarian corridors, a stormy night.
Focus on Jade, Riko thought to himself. The images slowed and became clear; he saw a guide made of metal and electricity guiding him to a massive platform in a structure extending to the stars, chained to a dark planet located in a system with five planets, ancient, full of dark secrets, a nexus of the Dark Side…
Riko's heart beat with elation. He had found the location! There was little doubt in his mind that he would find Jade there. He was just about to end the experience, pull himself away from the visions to identify the system, when a horrifying image assaulted his consciousness. He saw himself dueling Jade. Both wielded their blades viciously.
Riko ushered a mental scream, attempting to pull himself out even as he saw, to his shock, his own lightsaber impaling Jade's torso.
No, no…..No!
Riko opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor, his forehead drenched in sweat.
Riko moved over, and saw Niner's green eyes staring at him. The patchwork droid asked, "Is you alright, Riko?"
Riko grabbed Niner's hand and the droid helped pull him up, even though the droid was at least a foot shorter than his creator.
"What happened?" Riko turned and saw Bao in the room, Kara's lightsaber clutched in his right manus.
"It's nothing," Riko lied, "I just saw something terrifying while I was searching for Jade."
"What was it?" Val asked as he entered the cargo hold.
"I saw visions of a skyhook on a dark planet in a Sith system…the Dromund System. Maybe it was strong in the Dark Side, and that frightened me."
"Dromund Kaass," Bao clarified. If he could tell that Riko was holding something back, he gave no sign of it.
And was Riko lying anyway? For all he knew, the Dark Side had an effect on visions, causing people to see the worst possible scenarios. For all he knew, the future he had seen war near-impossible.
Yes, that made sense. Riko was only seeing the worst-possible scenario.
"Who was there?" Bao asked, "What was the background, were there people who looked like government officials?"
"I...I don't know," Riko responded. The vision was already retreating into his subconscious, many precise details eluding him. "I think that Tau was there, or something relating to him. Why?"
"I'll explain later," Bao responded, "Get some rest, we'll need you at full strength."
As Riko moved onto one of the racks, he could hear Bao saying "Val, this could be it…" He ignored them. He was tired. On top of that, he would need time alone.
"Niner, can I have my reading padd?"
"Here," Niner removed the reading padd from his torso.
But even after Bao and Val left, with Niner moving to recharge in the cargo bay, Riko felt unsettled.
Reading the latest chapter of Tionne Solusar's Ballad of Juhani didn't quiet his mind or even distract him.
And when he closed his eyes, all he could see was the murderous look on Jade's face.