The Game Between Worlds

by Isaac A. Drake

He doesn't remember who he was, but these strange masked beings from a strange dark realm are giving him a second chance. Past? Future? All he knows is that with a strange ability to aid him he's supposed to change something living a new life in the body of a Jedi Padawan that died ingloriously in the first battle of the Clone Wars. Not a self-insert or OC! A surprise instead!

Author's Note: I'm just bouncing between projects trying to find one that feels right, sorry y'all. Secret Fire in particular will definitely get at least another 30K words this summer as I'll be in a more conductive creative environment. Also this is NOT a self-insert or an OC. I plan to keep it as Canon sourced as possible while filling in gaps with Legends information that does not directly contradict if possible. This is sort of a proof of concept test chapter, see if I like the feel of it. I'm just playing around for fun to keep my skills in practice and hopefully improving. Plus my wife likes when I read her stories before sleeping. Also using a new word processor and I've been having issues with auto-correct and getting things to stick.

Chapter 1: Between

I felt bits of myself fall away as I floated along the strange pathway in this dark realm I found myself.

It was odd, I suddenly could not remember my parents, but I knew I must have had some.

I felt...an echo of love, but I could not remember who.

I felt a pain of physical loss and scars, but I could not remember where.

I felt an all consuming anger, but I could not remember at what.

I felt an even more powerful guilt and regret, but again I could not remember at what.

As more and more of myself, who I had been as a person, fell away I continued floating along the strange silver lined road of darkness before me.

Eventually, moments or eternities later, I came upon a silver out-lined geometric shape sprouting from the end of the path. A beautiful hexagon with strange runes between the layers, a completely foreign language to me in my life I had had.

Yes, I had had a life, I grasped upon that and held it tight, I was dead but that was okay because I had also lived.

And through the doorway I saw...a room full of fountains. Beautiful fountains, it was quite awe-inspiring. I felt sure I had never seen anything like it in my past life.

"Now what is this?" An echoing voice reverberated through the absolute stillness and silence of the dark realm as if thunder splitting through a night sky. It vibrated through every facet of being I had left.

Slowly, between myself and the door, five odd robed individuals rose, white masks depicting various expressions upon their faces.

"A trespasser, sisters!" A scowling one spit, as it leaned forward to examine what little form I must have had.

"A lost soul you mean," Another stated, voice as sad as the sorrowful expression upon her face.

"But what can we do with that? Send it on? Help it?" Another said, uncertainty written plainly upon its mask.

"Oh, but this is an opportunity!" Another one happily chimed in, "Why we can fix so much with this one! I mean just look at how all of that turned out. Balance? That was a bloodbath!"

"Calm, sisters," The tallest one interjected, "Indeed this could be an opportunity. Here of all places? This of all souls? Let us place it where it can...affect the most change. We can even put it in that final disappointment from our first favored ones."

"Uggh! That was extremely pathetic, we gave it all the tools to succeed and what does it do? It goes and dies on a bug covered desert planet!"

"Calm, sister!" The tall one sternly interrupted the tirade, "But you are correct. Perhaps merging this unfortunate soul in would shake events up to the benefit of the Cosmic Force."

I attempted to respond many times throughout this discussion, but it appeared that was not in the Sabacc cards for me in my current state.

Why in the Force do I remember Sabacc of all things? Yes, I distinctly remember sitting at a table at a young age and learning to play. But...with whom?

"Oh, but should we do anything else to tip the scales? Extra insight or power or some such?"

"Bah! We can't give it foreknowledge if that's what you're asking! Besides, if it can't make do with such a prime starting point it deserves to end up right back here where it started! And we deserve that tumorous taint upon the Cosmic Force for eternity ourselves!"

"Be not so pessimistic, sisters," Once again the tallest one played mediator, "We can perhaps accentuate its ability to look inward with the Force. Yes, allow it to use the Force to quantify its perceptions and abilities."

"Oh, but that sounds like a wonderful game!"

"I hate games! But fine, if it gets us moving forward again."

"Then it is decided!"

I tried to project the thought, "What is decided?" at them but was interrupted by a blinding flash of light with which they disappeared and the image on the doorway shifted and I felt myself being pulled in.

I don't believe even with a fully developed soul that the human brain is capable of creating long term memories for the first few years.

I certainly didn't have any from this new life outside of some hazy impressions until I was about three.

By this point I was already a Youngling in the crèche. Taken away from whatever family I had had a year prior from what my scattered thoughts could gather.

But those years were unimportant except in that I quickly relearned how to read Aurabesh. I may not have had distinct memories of my past life, but the impressions, maturity, and focus to quickly relearn certain skills seemed to remain.

The real surprise however, came when I was halfway through my fourth year, just after being placed in the Wolf Clan when during meditation practice I first touched the Force in this life.

"Congratulations on reaching out to The Force for the first time!" A message in Aurabesh said across my...eyelids? Inside my mind? I could visualize it with my eyes closed was the important part.

"As a benefit of your rebirth you have been given an ability that quantifies and analyzes your skills, abilities, and gives you insight into what you can develop."

"Would you like to see your current statistics? Simply think your answer!"

"Y-yes?" I thought to myself in my meditation.

"Fantastic!"

Name: Oritor Saxon

Race: Human (Mandalorian)

Class: Jedi Youngling (+10% Bonus to Jedi Skill Experience)

Level: 1

HP: 109/109

FP: 108/108

EXP: 0/100

Attributes:

Strength- 10 (+2 Sub-Race Bonus)

Dexterity- 8

Constitution- 9 (+1 Sub-race Bonus)

Intelligence- 8

Wisdom- 8

Charisma- 8

General Skills:

Athletics- 1:0 (Skill Level : Focus Points)

Resilience- 1:0

Coordination- 1:0

Piloting- 0:0

Stealth- 0:0

Astrogation- 0:0

Computers- 1:0

Mechanics- 0:0

Medicine- 0:0

Deception- 1:0

Perception- 1:0

Skulduggery- 0:0

Streetwise- 0:0

Survival- 0:0

Coercion- 0:0

Discipline- 1:0

Vigilance- 0:0

Charm- 1:0

Cool- 1:0

Leadership- 0:0

Negotiation- 1:0

Combat Skills:

Brawl- 0:0

Gunnery- 0:0

Lightsaber- 0:1 (Free Class Focus Point)

Melee- 0:0

Ranged (Light)- 0:0

Ranged (Heavy)- 0:0

Knowledge Skills:

Core Worlds- 1:0

Education- 1:0

Lore- 1:0

Outer Rim- 0:0

Underworld- 0:0

Warfare- 0:0

Xenology- 0:0

Force Power Trees: (Branch further into the trees by practicing the abilities, and learn new trees by instruction or combining aspects of other trees together)

Sense

Move

Feats:

Universal Armor Proficiency (Sub-race ability)- Mandalorians seem to have such a natural affinity for armor of any type that you will swiftly acclimate to movement and usage of any armor you don. Swiftly is however a relative term, the more complex or heavy the armor is the greater the acclimatization time will be regardless.

The Unknowable Game- While your thoughts and emotions can still be sensed by the Force, information about this special ability is clouded.