Happy July! Hope you all are enjoying your summer! This chapter, well the basic idea of it, is actually the basis of my whole story, including Handmaiden, so I hope you like it. Please review! I love reading feedback.
1 BBY
The Force lifted and placed droid parts together in swirling, quick motions. The young female Jedi sat with her eyes closed and legs crossed as she used the Force to reconstruct a droid out of droid parts she had collected. A Prowler 1000 seeker droid. An NR-1100 slicer droid. An ID10 seeker droid. An R5 astromech droid. The parts she had scavenged were from irreparable droids and she was going to need a completely new droid with specific tools to complete her new mission.
Months had passed with Kaleena sending the rebellion information. She had visited Chopper Base a few times before it was found by the Empire. Now she reported to the main headquarters on Yavin 4. With no new bounties, Kal decided to do the one thing she had wanted to do since she had first visited Coruscant. She was going to break into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
Offhandedly, Boba had mentioned to her one day that a bounty hunter by the name of Cad Bane had successfully managed to avoid the Jedi and security in the Temple and make it all the way to the Holocron Vaults during the Clone Wars. He didn't know why but he knew that the bounty hunter had evaded security by going through the air ducts. Kal just had to figure out how to get in without having to flash her lightsaber. One way to do that was to cut through the exterior wall with a droid.
Kaleena had always wanted her own droid. Her father had told her about an astromech that his padawan had during the Clone Wars that was strangely perceptive and that the two had had a bond. It was like having a pet without the feeding, shedding, and waste.
Her excitement was present in her work, the Force picking up on her impatience. But Kal had enough experience with working with the Force even when her emotions were all over the place.
The finished work was a droid the size of a general seeker droid, with a fusion welder, electro-shock prod, scanner, slicing capabilities, searchlights, and a buzz saw. The mix-match of metal parts made it look like a child's art project, but it was nothing a paint job couldn't fix. As the new droid sprung to life and hovered in the air, Kal smiled and programmed its comm to link with hers.
The mechanisms beneath the glass eye shifted and turned as it focused on the surroundings before turning to Kal. The modified droid beeped and whistled so Kal stared down at her comlink, the translation flashing before her eyes.
"You are onboard the Slave 1. I am Kaleena. I created you," Kaleena said slowly, unsure of how the droid would process anything with such a strange mixture of parts. After another beep and look at the translation, Kal was confident in her creation. Now she needed to test it. Grabbing one of the larger pieces that were unused, she held it up. "Cut through this." The droid immediately used the fusion welder to cut through the metal by super-heating it, as her lightsaber would do but slower and smaller. "Perfect. We have a mission, little buddy."
After strapping on her armor and blasters and sliding her lightsaber underneath her long coat and clipping it on her thigh harness, Kal called for the droid and it landed on her shoulder. The familiar weight of her lightsaber hanging was comforting as she was about to go break into the Holocron Vaults. She had to know what was in there. Her backpack held another bag. She had to grab as many holocrons as she could. If there were any still in there. Who knew what the Emperor had ordered be done to the Jedi artifacts. She had to find out.
Exiting her room, Boba was waiting for her by the loading ramp of his ship. His arms were crossed and his face set in stone. "I can't believe you're doing this." Boba took a deep breath before sighing. "If you need anything, anything, call me. I mean it. Anything."
Kaleena nodded curtly, her own expression forming a look of determination. "I will."
"Good luck."
With Boba's final words still hanging in the air, Kal left the ship. As she stayed in the shadows the whole trip to the Temple, the Coruscant sky grew darker and darker, just like she wanted. It had to be dark when she got there so no one would notice her scaling the side of the Temple.
Kaleena stood at the base of the Temple and reached out with the Force. There were very few life forms inside the Temple, the majority outside patrolling. The other life forms seemed to be unmoving, perhaps guarding things. She took off her backpack and undid the top, letting her new droid out. It hovered next to Kal, awaiting her orders. "Remind me to name you," she muttered mostly to herself. Regardless, the little droid replied with beeps, indicating it understood. "Fly up and find the best spot to cut through to enter the ventilation shafts. Don't be caught."
The droid whistled excitedly and zoomed up the side of the Temple. Kal watched it disappear into the shadows and waited as patiently as she could for the droid's okay through her comlink. After a few minutes, the droid's message beeped through, translated into an all-clear signal.
Kal took a few steps back watching her footing and the Temple outer walls. She drew in a deep breath and used the Force to leap upwards, taking two bounds to scale the Temple to find the location of her droid. It floated quietly outside one of the many forcefields littering the outside of the individual air shafts. Kal made a small sound of surprise at the sight as she thought she was going to have to cut into something. Next to each patch of fields was a control panel that seemed to only allow the Force to unlock it. Kaleena waved her hand, turning the lock to turn off one individual forcefield.
The forcefield flickered off and Kaleena walked through the opening, followed by her droid. After a few moments, the forcefield turned back on, illuminating the dark with its blue like the rest of the segments. As Kal watched the energy field flicker, she briefly wondered if the whole temple security was based around the Force. It would make sense, she supposed. Having every lock and key be only accessible through the Force would allow for a very narrow range of people allowed in. But then the question remains: how did a random bounty hunter during the Clone Wars gain access?
Shaking her head, Kaleena turned to the hatch to the air duct. It was easy to open, especially with the Force. The difficult part was supposed to be the energy field. She climbed into the tunnel, her droid floating in behind her, and she used the Force to close the opening again.
The shaft sloped downwards and led to a drop. Without even looking, Kal knew large industrial fans were situated below. They were as loud as a starship taking off. She glanced downwards, took a deep breath, and jumped. On her way down, she landed and jumped from multiple support surfaces that lined the air duct, finally landing on the last one before the first fan. The droid slowly flew down making Kal wish she could fly. The Force was great and softened every landing, but it would still be cool to actually fly.
Using the Force to manually override the fan, the turbine slowed to a stop, allowing Kaleena and her droid to pass through safely. She subsequently did the same for the second fan, quickly spotting a security measure between the two fans in the way of a motion sensor. Once everything was off and the two were through. Before the third fan were multiple tunnels in which Kal followed the one that the Force was telling her to go through.
Next was a series of tunnels that Kal navigated quickly. She knew she was going the correct way when she came across a hatch that led to a tunnel filled with red lasers. It was almost as if whoever designed the Jedi Temple didn't realize just how easy it would be for someone who was a Force-user. It really said something towards the sheer arrogance of the Jedi Order, thinking they would never be infiltrated by one of their own, a Sith, or a Dark Jedi. The lasers were simply too easy to pass through by turning off their switches with the Force.
Directly outside of the vault was another set of lasers and a control panel that was, yet again, able to be unlocked with the Force. Kal rolled her eyes. "Sorry, buddy, it looks like I didn't really need you after all," the young Jedi told the droid. The droid beeped sadly. Kal didn't need to read the translation to know that the droid thought it failed at its job. "Don't worry, this just wasn't the best first job for you. There will be plenty more, I'm sure."
Kal scoffed to herself as she noticed the presence of scorch marks surrounding the vault door and control panel. While the hardware was fixed, it wasn't fully cleaned. It was almost a testament to the success of the bounty hunter and failure of the Jedi security. Regardless, Kaleena shut down the final laser grid and opened the vault.
The room glowed a bright blue as the holocrons flickered from their untouched spaces. Jedi Holocrons lined the walls of the vault as well as a central pillar. Kal's jaw dropped at the number of holocrons present. She almost couldn't believe it. This was only one vault though. The term was vaults for a reason. There were two circular doors present, undoubtedly leading either out of the vault or to another one.
"Start gathering holocrons." Kal took out her second bag from the first and set both on the floor opened. The droid immediately heeded her command and began zooming around, gathering holocrons from around the vault seemingly at random. Kal didn't need to know how the droid was choosing holocrons, but she did go to one of the doors.
Using the Force to open the door, she walked through the hall and was led to another door. After opening it, more holocrons were seen glowing in the dark room. Kal bit her lip as her eyes began to tear up.
What was she doing? She was stealing from her own people. But were they truly her people? And was she actually stealing from them? Who knew what the Empire would do with the knowledge that these holocrons held if they were able to access them. Their data could be used for evil. If anything, the Jedi Order should be glad she was taking them from the Empire's clutches. But then why was she getting emotional at the sight of them?
Kaleena knew why. It shouldn't be her in the vaults. It should be Kanan. It should be Ezra. It should be Ahsoka. It should be her dad. Not her. She wasn't a Jedi. Not anymore. Not with how her life was going. She captured and killed people for a living. She relished in simple pleasures like alcohol and sex when she wasn't on a job. She was too attached to Boba and Ezra. She actually cared about how she looked. She actually cared about money. She allowed her emotions to get the better of her at times. She wasn't a Jedi, not by a long shot.
She wasn't a Sith either. Nor a Dark Jedi. She didn't focus her energy on the Dark Side of the Force. She didn't hurt innocents. Her lightsaber crystal didn't bleed. She still used the Force for good despite also using it for personal gain. She wasn't corrupted, but she wasn't pure. She wasn't Maul, but she wasn't her dad. So what was she?
"Please help me." Her small voice could've been as loud as cannon fire or as quiet as a feather and it wouldn't have mattered. The vault heard.
The holocrons in the vault seemed to dim as one brightened in the far corner of the room. It whispered to her. It called to her. The Force guided her. Kal's footsteps were light as she moved across the floor, her gaze unwavering from the bright holocron. Her thin fingers reached out and pressed the holocron, causing it to pop out of place. Kal held it in her hand, almost unsure of what to do. This holocron was special for some reason, even if it was only special to her.
The beeping of her new droid snapped her out of her stupor as it whistled and beeped while flying by, still collecting random holocrons and bringing them back to her bags. The other holocrons no longer seemed dim in comparison as she grabbed a few more holocrons and walked back to the initial vault.
Kal placed the strange holocron in a separate pocket than the others to make sure she remembered which one she was drawn to, even though she knew she would be able to pick it out of a thousand identical holocrons. The bags were almost full as the droid filled them to the brim. They were packaged as neatly as possible in order to carry as many as possible, so Kal was grateful for the droid.
"Come on, it's time to leave. You'll have to follow since you won't fit in the bags." The droid didn't seem to care that it would have to fly all the way back to the Slave 1. Kal shouldered both bags, made sure they were fully secure, and left the vault, locking, sealing, and reigniting every security measure on her way back to the outside of the Temple.
Not much time had passed since they had entered the Temple, so the Coruscant sky was still dark. It was a long trek back to the ship as Kal took extra precautions now that she was carrying precious cargo.
Small thuds from her boots were heard as she entered Boba's ship and closed the loading ramp. Kal entered the galley where Boba was eating a late night snack, waiting for her to return before tucking in for the night.
The elder bounty hunter's head popped up as she entered. "How was it?" he asked. The bags landed harshly on the table in front of Boba as Kal set them down. She unlaced the shoulder bag to allow Boba to see the contents. The large number of holocrons surprised Boba, his eyes widening at the sight. He glanced between the two bags and Kal. "You never did tell me why you wanted to raid the Temple."
Kal's shoulders drooped as her chin raised. She trusted him with her life. How could she allow herself to have such a big secret from him? It was one thing to be a spy for the Rebel Alliance. He didn't have any serious ties to either side of the fight, so that didn't truly matter. But the fact that she was Force-user? What if they found themselves in a situation where they were pinned down? A bounty hunter needed to be able to trust the ones closest to them if they so choose. She hadn't given him the option. She needed to.
"There's something I need to show you." Kal plucked one of the holocrons from the open bag and held it in her open hand. She didn't know what was stored on this one, but she was about to find out. With Boba.
The Force flowed through her as she opened the Jedi holocron. The corners turned and pried away from the main part of the cube as it floated a few inches above her outstretched palm.
The hologram flickered to life, revealing a male Mirialan in traditional Jedi robes. "It is clear that certain beings are born with a higher awareness of the Force than others," he explained. "A higher midi-chlorian count in cells indicates a greater chance that the being is Force-sensitive. Studies of their brains during life and after death show that their brains are different than non-Force-sensitive beings. However, the study of midi-chlorians is ongoing as our scientists work to figure out potential causes for certain beings have higher counts than others." The recording stopped as the message came to an end, the holocron returning to its dormant state.
Kaleena chanced a peek at Boba. His expression was difficult to read. As she set the holocron down on the table, she turned her body towards him, trying to read his emotional state. She almost lost her footing as Boba grabbed her main blaster and pointed it at her, but her hand naturally found its way to her lightsaber that was hiding under her coat, igniting it and quickly lowering herself into a defensive position closer to the floor.
"Boba," she said slowly, "lower the blaster."
"You're a Jedi, why should I?" Boba replied. The harshness in his voice more evident than any on his face. He was trying his hardest to stay calm. He didn't want to do this, she could tell. "The Jedi have brought nothing but despair to my family. Why shouldn't I shoot?"
"I'm not a Jedi." Kal knew it in her heart that she wasn't a Jedi. She may be able to use the Force, but she was not a Jedi. She knew that now.
Boba gripped the blaster tighter. "Then what are you?"
"I-I don't know, but I'm definitely not a Jedi. I can use the Force, but that doesn't make someone a Jedi. Boba, I swear to you. I'm still the same Kaleena you found lost on Coruscant." When Boba made no obvious move to lower the blaster, Kal tried again. "Boba, please. Hear me out."
His hand slowly lowered the blaster, pointing it at the floor. Boba was still ready though. "You have five minutes."
Kal sheathed her lightsaber at his words and, as a show of good faith, set it on the table instead of continuing to hold it. "I'm the daughter of a Jedi. He trained me in hiding in the Outer Rim. But I left him. I didn't like the Jedi teachings, and I wanted nothing to do with the Jedi Code. The first chance I got, I hightailed it out of there. I wanted freedom to do what I wanted. When I learned about the vaults though, I had to preserve the memory at least. For my dad." Kal took a moment from her rant to pause, breath, and figure out what she else she wanted to say. "When-when we met, when Fry bargained for his life and called you a Jedi-killer, I wanted to run then, but I didn't. I decided to trust you. Please trust me now."
A sigh escaped Boba's lips as he listened to her words. He knew she was telling the truth. He knew she was being earnest. Boba set the blaster on the table as well. "I'm sorry."
"I know you wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger." Both Kal and Boba held pitiful, sad smiles. "Who was it?"
"What?" Boba asked, not sure what exactly she was asking.
"Who was the Jedi that hurt you?"
Boba's jaw clenched and he sat roughly down in the closest chair. "That's a long story."
Kal sat in the chair across from him. "I've got time."
He shook his head a little, surprised at himself for even considering telling someone other than his main crew about his past. But Kal was now a part of his crew. He couldn't deny that. She trusted him with her secret, the least he could do was trust her with his. "I'm a clone."
Kal's mouth gaped slightly, unsure of what to say. "I don't quite understand what that-"
"No, just listen," he interrupted. Her jaw clamped shut as she looked at Boba expectantly. "I'm a clone of my father, Jango Fett, just like the clone army the Republic used during the Clone War. Except I wasn't given a lot of modifications that they were. I was made specifically to be Jango's son. Then when I was young, right at the start of the war, a Jedi named Mace Windu killed him. I saw it happen. I swore vengeance. I did a lot of things trying to kill Windu and put innocents in harm's way. I regret some things, but I'll never forgive the Jedi responsible. I hope you can understand that."
Kal nodded solemnly. "I do. I hope you can understand that I'm not going to be selling these holocrons."
Boba snorted and nodded. "I do."
She grinned brightly at him, happy that they had worked everything out. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to retire for the night. You can ask me whatever you want tomorrow." Kal stood from the chair and grabbed the two bags and her weapons. She started to leave.
"Get a good nights sleep, Kaleena."
Kal glanced back at her mentor. "You too, Boba." With that, she left the galley and went to her own room. She set the bags of holocrons of the floor, took off her armor, weapons, boots, and overcoat. Then she grabbed the holocron that was stilling coaxing her to open it and sat in the middle of the room.
The holocron bathed the already dark room in an unnatural blue light as she opened it with the Force. Opening her eyes, Kal watched the figure in the holocron. She was an older human female adorned in simple robes. "The so-called Gray Jedi have been with us since the beginning. Although they do not break with the Jedi orthodoxy concerning the dark side, they bristle when asked to take orders from the Council. Gray Jedi make compromises, cut corners, and hide their actions from scrutiny, all under the assumption that their experience makes them authorities on policy. They are mavericks who are difficult to control, but can be valued members of the Order after they have been persuaded to follow the established hierarchy." Her stern gaze then transformed into someone new.
This figure was a member of an alien species that Kal didn't recognize. He had multi-colored skin, no pupils, and strangely elaborate robes with designs that Kal also didn't recognize. "There is no light nor dark. There is no right or wrong. The Mystics visions are absolute. No Voss is above vision. The Mystics are never wrong. The Mystics are not Sith nor Jedi. The Voss are neutral." His words seemed to jump from idea to idea, not making complete sense. Kal wondered if his entire species spoke like him.
A new figure then replaced the strange alien. A young Nautolan male in light-colored robes. "Gray Jedi are those who, though having completed the teachings of the Jedi, operate independently and outside of the Jedi Council. They are typically seen as misguided, though they have not necessarily succumbed to the dark side."
The last figure to speak was a human male with two lightsabers and a few facial scars. There was a wise aura around him, wiser than the others that had spoken. "There is no good without evil, but evil must not flourish. There is passion, yet peace. There is serenity, yet emotion. There is chaos, yet order. There is no dark side, nor light side. There is only the Force."
The recording ended and the holocron closed, landing neatly on the floor in front of Kal. What exactly was the holocron trying to tell her? How was this supposed to help her? All the holocron showed her was alternative views towards using the Force.
She gasped audibly and jumped up, grabbing the holocron as she did. Of course, that's what it was telling her. She had wanted to know what she was. She knew she wasn't a Jedi. She knew she wasn't a Sith. She knew she wasn't a Dark Jedi. The holocron was telling her what she was, something she hadn't even heard of before. She was neutral. She was a Gray Jedi.