Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN et al. own Buffy. George Lucas, Lucasfilm, LucasArts and others own Star Wars. Michael A Stackpole owns the X-Wing and I, Jedi novels. I do not.
Title: Xander the Jedi: Chapter 6
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Rating: Same as before.
Pairing: Err… Xander/Other characters (mine)
Feedback: Please, I beg.
Thanks: All my reviewers. You know who you are. Thank you. You make writing worth it, if I am a bit slow.
Continuity: General season 5 (Dawn)
Crossover: Buffy/ Star Wars. Old Republic.
*
"Anakin!"
Anakin turned at the call, and saw his Master running at full tilt toward him.
"Master Kenobi!" Padme called, overjoyed to see the Jedi Knight again after so many months.
Obi-Wan halted in front of Anakin. He bowed to Padme, and smiled at her; happy to see her so contented with Anakin, despite the Jedi orders misgivings. Padme held out her hand, indicating that he should join them, and the three continued on the path.
"Why have you come, Master?" asked Anakin, a hint of… Obi-Wan couldn't quite decide what was hidden in his voice.
"The council sent me to continue your lessons, Padawan. Also, they had an alternate motive of removing me from any crossfire that may develop from the latest division in the council. Yoda has followed Qui-Gon's example and is training someone whom the council would rather was destroyed."
Anakin's face darkened. "The council wanted to destroy me?"
Obi-Wan quickly moved to allay that fear. "No. Not you, anyway. Xander, however…" he faded off.
"Xander? That's an odd name. Is he human, or alien?"
"Human. At least, he looks it, and has human thought patterns."
"Will we meet him?" asked Padme.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "It's unlikely, your grace, as Yoda has taken him to train privately, away from the council, and has not told anyone where he is. Unless Xander finishes his training in record time, it is unlikely that we will even hear from either of them for several more years."
Padme looked despondent for a second at the prospect of not meeting the cause of a Jedi council division, it would be interesting, after all, while Anakin caught the look and his attitude toward Xander became hostile even though he had not met him. Diverting the conversation away from Xander, Anakin asked, "How long will you be here Master?"
Obi-Wan looked amused at the obvious change of topic, but answered nevertheless. "I am here, now, to complete your training, unless I get called away again by the council for more 'business' with the cloners'. I am the person they know, other than Master Yoda and it would probably be best if we do not give them any more than the bare minimum of people to become acquainted with."
Padme looked sour at all the talk of Jedi business. Turning to Anakin and Obi-Wan, both of which had fallen behind slightly as they talked, she made it obvious that the rest of the walk was not going to be disturbed. The two young lovers, and the Jedi Knight walked down the pathway, at peace with the galaxy.
Enjoyment was a priority, as this was one of the last peaceful times that any of them would experience.
*
Mace Windu stood on Coruscant landing pad 17742, one of the hundred or so assigned to the Jedi Temple by Chancellor Palpatine. His cloak whipped backwards, caused by the engine wash of the transport that was landing, exposing his bald head as the hood was blown off by a particularly strong blast. Squinting at the landing ramp as it lowered, and the last of the engine wash died, he took a step back in shock as Xander descended, a cocky smile on his face, and a peaceful, relaxed Yoda sitting on his shoulder.
The buildings around the pad funnelled the Coruscant wind, whipping the two new arrivals cloaks at the engine wash had Windu's. It took all of Mace Windu's not inconsiderable willpower to not have his mouth fall open at the two silver rods hanging from the belt over each of Xander's hips.
Light-sabers. Two light-sabers.
Xander smirked at the look on the Jedi Masters face, and bowed, the sign of respect to a superior Jedi. Yoda smiled slightly at Mace's almost awestruck face. The chuckle he allowed himself snapped his friend out of the trance he had been in.
"Welcome back, Master." Mace bowed to Yoda, and obliquely, to Xander, as Yoda was still seated on Xander's shoulder.
"Good to be back, it is, my friend. How is the council?"
"Divided." Stated Mace Windu. "And all because of Xander."
Xander looked semi-guilty, but Yoda caught the attitude shift and rapped him on the head with his stick. "Blame yourself, do not, Xander. Merely using you as an excuse, the council are."
"That is true." Said Windu. "I see now that you were correct to train Xander, Master. If he has completed his training so quickly, he must be truly powerful."
Xander beamed.
Mace continued with a query. "But is it advisable to advertise just how powerful he is to all Jedi? It will make him a lot of enemies."
Yoda nodded. "True, that is. However, if Xander advertises how powerful he is, lessen the number of enemies in the long run, it will. People will be less inclined to challenge him if he seems too powerful for them."
Mace nodded his agreement to this logic. Yoda jumped nimbly down from Xander's shoulder and them turned toward him, leaning on his gimmer stick. "Go with Master Windu, would you, Xander? I must take care of some things…"
Xander nodded and bowed to the small Jedi.
Mace stepped next to Xander. "It seems you are in my tender mercies for a short time, Xander. I think it best if we avoid other Jedi for the time being. Follow me to my quarters. I have a few questions for you. Master Gallia may also be interested, after all she is your only other support in the council." Mace turned to his Comm-link. "Master Gallia, would you be so good as to join me in my quarters? I have someone you may like to meet now he is back…"
Mace finished his comm.-transmission, and patted him roughly on the back and slung an arm over his shoulder. "First of all, tell me where you went to train…"
As the two walked down the corridor, the voices faded, and then were abruptly cut off as the door to Windu's room slid shut.
*
Xander was naturally uncomfortable and a little wary at the invitation at the beginning. After all, it would be the first time that he had been away from Yoda since he arrived. Mace Windu sat Xander down on one of his chairs and walked to the small kitchen area.
"Caf or Tea?" he asked. "Or water, of course. Sorry about the small selection, but I don't drink alcohol, so most beverages are a no go area."
"Caf will be fine, thank you." said Xander, quickly running through the memories Yoda had given him, to discover that Caf was the Republics name for coffee. A chime at the door jerked his head up.
"Come in, Adi!" shouted Mace from the kitchen. The door opened to reveal the willowy lady that Xander had met only once, when he initially came through the portal. She, like Mace stared at the twin light-sabers hanging from his belt. Recovering just in time to see the smirk from Xander, she nodded to him and spoke.
"It is good to see you, Jedi…" this was added because of the twin blades "Xander, at least under less harrowing conditions." She sat in one of the other chairs arranged in a circle round a table.
At that second, Mace walked out of the kitchen again, with three cups of Caf floating in front of him. As one cup settled in his hand, Xander smiled and nodded his thanks. Talk inevitably started on the meaningless topics, and worked toward the more vital ones.
"How are you, Xander? Getting adjusted?" asked Adi Gallia.
"Not too bad, thank you, Master. It's just a bit of a shock, that's all." Xander himself remained formal.
Mace headed toward the important topics. "Now you are back, you can tell us where Yoda took you. He would not have brought you back of you were not ready." He smiled slightly. "You obviously are, however. Your light-sabers proclaim that."
Xander considered his response. "We were at Dagoba, Master. Once we arrived, we did not leave, except to return here. Yoda told me I was a Jedi Knight."
"He would be correct, if he has completed your training. And he has." Both Jedi Masters seemed to be stuck on the fact that Xander had become a Jedi in just a few months, for most, even the most powerful it normally meant years, if not decades of training.
Adi Gallia mused to herself. "However, it seems foolish to advertise the fact that you are a Jedi. It will make you a target for those who resent you, and allow them to turn others against you as well."
Mace chipped in. "I asked Master Yoda about that. But I trust his judgement."
Adi Gallia seemed to be working up the courage to ask a question. "May I examine your light-sabers, please?"
"Certainly." Xander did not realise that this was a breach of etiquette, even if it was a small one. He unclipped the blades, and handed them to her. Adi herself marvelled at the light-sabers, and their near-perfect construction.
Mace took the opportunity to look as well. "How did you get the grips so perfect, and textured right into the metal?" He was amazed at the workmanship of them.
"I got Master Yoda to form a zero-gravity pocket, and melted some thoroughly stripped blasters to mould the handles and case myself. Master Yoda said it was the most original method he had seen in a long time." His voice carried a hint of pride in the compliment.
"These are excellent, Xander. May I activate one?" Adi Gallia pushed the boundaries of politeness with the question.
Xander inclined his head and seemed to think for a minute, then nodded. "Yes, of course, Master."
Adi Gallia thumbed on the first blade. The golden lights from the activated blade made the shadows in the chamber disappear, fleeing from the intensity of the blade. Xander still sat as quietly unmoving as before, until Adi twisted the switch to bring the third gem in line and activate the second phase. As the blade extended, Xander's eyes widened and he flicked off the saber using telekinesis as it neared the ceiling, not yet even half extended.
"What did you do?" asked Mace as a visibly shaken Gallia sat again, handing the light-sabers back to Xander.
Adi shook her head. "I do not know…"
Xander stepped in. "You activated the second phase. Both of my light-sabers are dual phase. Either one metre, or three metres long. I also turned it off, if I had not, you would have speared someone upstairs." Mace sat back in his chair, contemplating. Adi Gallia looked at Xander with a new measure of respect.
"Dual phase…" The words slipped out of her mouth even though she didn't mean them to.
"Yes." Xander mistook her appreciation for misunderstanding and reaffirmed the statement. "Dual phase blades. Both of them."
"Did Yoda teach you to spar?" asked Windu.
"No, as he was the only possible opponent, and he was about a third of my height, he didn't think it was a very good idea."
"We can change that. Adi, how do you feel about some sparring practice?" Mace shot her a mischievous look.
"Sounds fun…" she replied. The three stared at one another.
Silence reigned in the room as Mace Windu and Adi Gallia, Jedi Masters both, looked at the Force prodigy that Yoda had trained.
*
Yoda shuffled down the corridor to the Jedi archives. Reaching the archaic doors of the archive, Yoda opened them with a gentle Force Push. As he entered the huge halls, the Chief Archivist, a small skeletal nearly arachnid Jedi hurried over to see what the Chief of Council wanted.
"What can the archives aid you in, Master?" Jedi Ood Bnar asked.
"Wish access to the Holocrons, I do. The room, seal off, would you, Jedi Bnar?" replied Yoda.
"Certainly, Master." Ood Bnar ran over to the main desk, and pressed a button. A dull chime sounded, followed by a brighter series of sounds that signified that all present had to vacate the archives. In the next few minutes, all people in the archives were leaving through the door. Jedi Bnar neared Yoda again.
"How long do you wish, Master?"
"An hour would suffice, I think, Jedi Bnar. Thank you." Yoda turned and headed toward the room where Holocrons were stored. In the millennia that the Jedi order had existed, they had only five, and two were Sith artefacts.
Jedi Ood Bnar left by the grand doors, and closed them behind him. Yoda was all alone in the archives.
The Holocrons were amazing artefacts. While all the holocrons held by the Jedi were cubes, they could be almost any shape the creator wished, within reason. Small objects, little bigger than a clenched fist, and made from unknown materials, they contained the spirit of a dead Jedi master, and all the knowledge he gained throughout his life, distributed in a manner similar to the Jedi neural pathways. They had a gatekeeper system, which examined the user and restricted any information that he was not ready for. This allowed Padawan apprentices to use the Holocrons as safely as the greatest Jedi Masters. The only setback to the gate keeping system was that is was so perfect that Yoda did not know if there was any knowledge the Holocrons held back from him! Direct questioning of the search system, the Jedi enmeshed in the Holocron, yielded only a denial of information release outside of the users capabilities.
Picking up one of the Holocrons, one seemingly made out of deep green Jade, Yoda shuffled backwards as it activated and the gatekeeper was released.
Vodo-Siosk Baas looked down on the only seeker-of-knowledge he had received for the past 300 years. His voice boomed in the high ceiling of the room.
"Seeker, what do you require?"
Yoda looked at the hologram of the greatest, and worst of the old Jedi. "Require, do I, knowledge of Earth."
"Earth… Earth…"
Yoda nodded.
"One of the old 'elements'. Believed to be one of the constituents of all matter by several religions, on several thousand planets until they became 'space capable'."
"No. It is a planet itself."
"No further information is forthcoming."
Yoda thought about this. It meant Xander did not come from their galaxy, possibly not even their reality. Dredging through the memories he examined from Xander, he found a possible question. "What is the Key?"
"Key… Key…" Vodo-Siosk Baas eyes flickered as her examined the knowledge catalogued in the Holocron. "A source of energy which legendarily gave access to the Gods. It was thought lost aeons ago when the Sith destroyed its sanctuary on Yavin III, a semi inhabitable planet on the edges of known space.
Yoda's eyes narrowed and his breath hissed in the chamber. "Tell me, Holocron. Do alternate realities exist? Parallel dimensions?"
Vodo-Siosk Baas eyes became slits. "You are not prepared for that knowledge." Yoda's eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time a Holocron had given him an outright and emphatic 'no' to the release of knowledge and assured that there was knowledge that even Yoda himself was not yet ready for.
"Thank you, Master Baas." Yoda bowed slightly and walked out of the archives.
*
"Anything goes!"
That was the call of Adi Gallia after nearly an hour of sparring with Xander. He was perfectly in control with the two blades, wielding them in time and with precision, the blades working together instead of against each other. Xander was fully in the Force, prepared for anything. He proved this by reacting to one attack that left Adi lethally open, and he spun round to give her a reminder in the form of a new hairstyle. Xander had taken off her hair at the leather thong she used to hold it back in a ponytail as she fought. Some of the most sneaky and underhanded tactics Adi had ever used only succeeded in ending up with her landing unceremoniously on the floor, hard.
Mace laughed at her discomfort by quickly quieted as she shot him a look.
Xander looked at him, while holding Adi off with one blade at its greatest length. Three metres from Xander, Adi could do nothing but defend herself and try to find an opening. Suddenly she stopped, turned and smiled evilly at the laughing Mace Windu.
"Since you find it so funny, why don't you help me?" The look she gave Windu was part amusement and part anger. "A Jedi Master for four years, a council member for one, and I can't beat him! Come one, Master Windu, show us what you can do."
"That OK, Xander?" asked Mace.
"Fine."
"Here I come…" Mace launched himself off the platform he had been sitting on, igniting his light-saber as he did, its amethyst blade giving a further colour to the gold/green from Xander and yellow from Adi playing round the sparring hall.
Xander, realising that against two Jedi Masters he could no longer think of this as a game, shortened his first light-saber back down to a metre, to make the blades the same length again, and spun away from the approaching Windu, light-saber blades putting golden rings around him.
Ceasing his spin, he saw Mace had neared Adi and both were approaching him from the same direction. Adi lunged forward, pulling back unexpectedly, staying low, to allow Mace in with a vicious slash that Xander blocked and countered, forcing Mace to retreat, but still making Xander back up.
Xander suddenly realised something. Their trying to back me into a wall, where my blades will just get in the way of each other. I don't think so! Thumbing off the blade in his left hand, Xander took two steps and launched himself, aided by the Force, to the middle of the room. Once he landed, he quickly thumbed the second blade back on again.
The surprised and slightly shocked faces of Gallia and Windu told him all he needed to know. The two Masters split up, and by having Xander divide his concentration, started to wear him down.
*
"Your command, my Master?" Dooku kneeled at the base of Sidious' throne.
"I have found the presence in the Force, my apprentice. He is at the Jedi Temple."
"What do you propose we do about him, then, my Master?" As Sidious had not told him to rise, he stayed on one knee.
"I have seen many futures, my friend. In one, he kills you. In another, we turn him, and he is the beginning of the end for the Jedi order, and the galaxy itself. In a further one, he returns to where he came from, only after aiding us in our original quest."
Dooku sighed, but gently enough not to alert his Master. Sidious made his grandest schemes whenever he never outright answered a question. "Yet, my Master, what are we to do?"
"You have spies in the Temple do you not?" Snapped Sidious.
"I do, my Master…" replied Dooku.
"Then make the Jedi wary of him, eliminate his friends and aid his enemies by framing him. And if that does not work, I am sure we can arrange a meeting…" Sidious tailed off.
Dooku nodded, but remained kneeling.
"Go, now!" Sidious sounded angry, but it was his way of telling his apprentices the importance of a mission.
*
Xander remained in the middle of the room, with Adi Gallia on one side, and Mace Windu on the other. Neither Master was letting up, both causing to split his attention evenly, never allowing him to attack, only defend.
Deciding a distraction was needed, Xander's eyes fixed on the edge of Adi Gallia's Jedi robe. Pulling sharply with the Force, he spun her around unexpectedly, and then gave her a shove with a Force Push. Her face as she was spun round and thrown unceremoniously into the wall was priceless. Her light-saber automatically cut out from the dead-man switch as she dropped it, and cradled her head, which had impacted sharply with the wall.
Mace's eyes widened at the move, which, while leaving Xander open to him for a short time, was so unexpected that it did not really give him a chance to use that opening. Adi staggered to her feet and, retrieving her light-saber, thumbed it on and attacked Xander again. The door to the training room hissed open and Yoda entered. The three combatants were too engrossed in the sparring match to spare any though to the new arrival.
Xander parried an attack from Mace, only to have to spin away from a lunge from Adi Gallia. A probing swipe and half-hearted thrust from Mace Windu was blocked and countered, causing Mace to somersault away from the attack.
Yoda continued to watch, but decided that Xander needed something to trip him up. He was far too cocky and assured for someone fighting two Jedi Masters. And unbelievably so for someone who had only ever fought remotes and practice droids before this day. Yoda focussed on the mat Xander was standing on, and gave it a solid tug out from under him…
As soon as Xander felt the slightest movement of the mat that he knew was not caused by him, he prepared himself for a roll. As the padded mat slipped out from underneath him, surprising Mace Windu and Adi Gallia more than him, Xander thumbed off the second blade, leaned and stepped forward and spun into a graceful roll. Instead of killing his momentum like after a normal roll, Xander continued it, not fighting the movement, allowing it to take him further away from the two Jedi Masters. Touching the Force to help him get to his feet without stopping, Xander ended his spin with his feet in an easy stance, shoulder width apart. His eyes scanned for the possible cause of the moving mat, and settled on Master Yoda, small smile on his green features and ears perked up. Yoda spoke.
"Training enough for one day, do you not think, eh, Mace, Adi? Tired, Xander must be now."
Xander wasn't really, but welcomed the excuse to end the sparring match before it got dangerous. While he was sure that the Jedi Master could stop perfectly and keep him safe, he was unsure that he could, despite his earlier successes. Bowing to the three Masters, he retired to the room Mace had assigned to him, and shown him on the way to his quarters.
*
Chapter 6 will finish there. Chapter 7 includes Yoda's findings, an assassination attempt, and (possibly) Xander's first time away from Yoda or another great Master.