Star Wars Infinities: The Master
Chapter 10
By: Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by LucasFilm Ltd. They are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original story is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.
Kyp Durron meditated on the Force. He felt the Light Side and the Dark Side, both of them trying to win dominance over him, both of them kept at bay. As a Jedi warrior, he was trained to see the benefits of both passive inaction and its aggressive counterpart. He was not a Jedi in the mold of Yoda or Mace Windu, but was instead a product of his environment.
From a young age he had to fight an enemy that worshipped death. His mother, his friends and everything he had known as a child was now gone, destroyed by the Yuzheen Vong. He and his father had returned to the galaxy of the Jedi to seek out allies for the coming fight. There was no doubt that the Vong had sent advance scouts into this universe and Kyp knew that five Jedi knights would not be enough to stop them.
The colony he had been raised in had over fifty Jedi in it and it had been wiped out with ease.
He was about to stretch out with his mind and try to reach the currents of the Force that circled the galaxy when he caught the tail end of a dark thought. He tried in vain to follow it to its source because he knew it was close, but it simply disappeared. It could have been another Force-sensitive being or perhaps just a very angry sentient. Even the most common of species could radiate into the Force during times of extreme emotion.
Kyp's father explained that women radiated when they first found out they were pregnant. It was a physical manifestation of the Force.
When he found out he could not find out where the thought had been going, he decided to try and determine where it had been. With his mind, Kyp traveled through the passageways of Cloud City. He had already tried this every night since they discovered there were Imperials here on Bespin. The problem was that the Force was stirred up with so many beings in so close quarters and discerning one particular set of thought patterns or emotions was difficult even for a Jedi master. Kyp had many years to go before he reached that level of experience.
The dark thought, though, once identified, was relatively easy to backtrack. As it had passed by certain more sensitive beings, their general demeanors had changed, becoming more violent and aggressive. A Rodian playing sabbac suddenly accused the Chandra Fan across the table from him of cheating and a fight had broken out. The two security men assigned to duty in that particular casino were grazed by the same tendril and they stopped the brawl with more force than what was required.
As Kyp continued to sniff out the path, the emotions and thoughts became darker and baser. One man, a rehabilitated criminal was suddenly finding himself preoccupied with thoughts of committing a violent rape of the woman in a stateroom just down the hall from him. Kyp had no choice but to pause and infiltrate the mind of the man and seek out that part of his mind that agreed that such things were wrong.
In times past, such an act would have been taboo for the Jedi, but this was a new era with a new breed of Jedi. It was better, in Kyp's mind, to help a man achieve the goals he wanted to reach, even through mental violation, then to allow him to sink back to what he once was.
It was not a difficult effort; the man truly was repentant for his past crimes but Kyp was troubled by the intensity of the Dark Side energy he was encountering. He had known nothing about the flip side of the Jedi coin; he had always assumed that Jedi were warriors and that anger and hate were simply byproducts of the need to protect. Once he had entered this universe and taken the time to feel it, he started to understand what real hate was.
The Yuzheen Vong had not been detectable in the Force and so he had not been able to sense their true feelings towards humans. In this new universe of empires, confederacies and alliances, he could practically taste the malice in the air. It was so unlike the Jedi community he had been raised in.
He continued his tracing of the thought trail and found that it had gone into the private quarters of Leia and Corran. Though he wanted to pursue the matter more, he resisted the urge. In a most unlike-Jedi manner, Kyp had lied to his padawans when he had told them he had gotten over his feelings for Leia. The truth was he felt as if he were falling more and more in love with her every day that passed. He had to shut himself away when he was around her and he felt the temptation to go further into her room if not to just brush his thoughts against hers. That was foreplay in the Jedi world.
He knew, however, that if he went any further, he would never be sure if he did it to investigate the dark thoughts or to satisfy his own lustful urges. Better to side with caution in this situation he decided and he stretched out his thoughts even farther to see if there were any other clues.
For the next few minutes there was nothing but the general background of baser emotions that seemed to bind the galaxy together and then he detected something odd. It was like tuning a transmission receiver and picking up a faint signal. He tried to concentrate harder on it and sweat formed on his creased brow as he did so.
With his eyes closed, he did not notice that the objects and furniture in his room were beginning to rise into the air and swirl about. They formed a halo of flotsam over his head as he called more of the Force to him. He knew he was on to something, something that just didn't belong even in this galaxy of raw feelings and blind ambition.
His powerful mind bumped into another powerful mind and it raged against the intrusion. For a microsecond, Kyp saw the universe through the eyes of someone filled with hate.
And that person had seen through Kyp's.
Kyp was still dripping wet from the water-based shower he had taken. He had never quite gotten used to sonic refreshers and did not feel clean until he had scrubbed with real hot water. He looked in the mirror at his cut cheek; the result when a glass sculpture, kept over his head by the Force, had suddenly fell on him when the other presence had cut him off.
He held his hand out in front of him and saw that it was still trembling. He swallowed and moved over to the small cupboard that housed his personal belongings from the Millennium Falcon. Unlike the rumors and myths, Jedi were not necessarily creditless, it was just that in the past the Order had provided everything the Jedi needed. Some of the former Council members, such as Ki-Adi Mundi, had actually owned property on his homeworld.
The Yuhzeen Vong destroyed most of the things Kyp had ever owned.
He opened the door and pulled out the villip that he had kept with him for many, many years now. The plants were the communicators of the Yuhzeen Vong and even after all of the time he had possessed his, Kyp was no closer to figuring out how they worked. Villips were paired and the mate to this one was sitting in his father's room at the Jedi Temple on Tatooine.
Kyp uncovered the villip and it seemed to straighten a little. The plant was alive, he knew, and it craved attention. Inwardly, the young Jedi was ashamed he had not taken more time to let the other creature know his appreciation for its services. Villips were the tools of the Vong; they were not the Vong themselves.
He gently rubbed it, allowing it to get his scent or to pick up his particular bioelectric field; he was never sure which it was. The plant then slowly changed its bulbous head so that it took on the appearance of his father. "I somehow sensed you would be contacting me," Ferrin Durron said, a smile on his face.
Kyp bowed before the villip in respect even though the motion would hardly be able to be replicated on the other end. "Master, I have sensed something in the Force and now I feel…fear."
Ferrin scowled. His son had faced a score of Yuhzeen Vong warriors on his own. Fear was not something that Kyp Durron should have felt for any reason. He begged his son to tell him and Kyp began to recall the events of the night. Ferrin listened closely and tried to imagine himself in his son's place.
Memories of the day that young Jedi Padawan Ferrin Durron dared to try and control the mind of Darth Vader. Instinctively, Ferrin rubbed his eye, where a bruise had formed after Vader had used the Dark Side to repel the apprentice's intrusion.
Kyp finally got to the point where he had touched the other mind. "I was in contact only briefly, master, but it was like having a library of data downloaded into my skull at once."
"Tell me what you saw and felt, Kyp," Ferrin ordered.
The Jedi took a deep breath and took his shaking arm in the grip of his other hand. "I felt evil, an old and ancient evil. Not simple malice, not just dark ambition, but a sincere desire to see life eradicated. I felt a hunger for revenge like nothing I have ever felt before. But it was not coming from the mind I touched. That mind was cold as well, but there was a single bright spot."
"What?"
Kyp hesitated for a second. When he spoke it was barely an audible whisper. "My sister, Mara. I believe that I touched the mind of the one Talon Karrde called Malakie. He is a Sith."
The villip prevented Kyp from seeing the dark shadow that fell over Ferrin's eyes. When the purges had started, Jedi Knight Lyndia Jade had given birth to a single daughter named Mara. It was too dangerous to take so young a child out of the galaxy into the Unknown Regions and so she gave her child to Mon Mothma to raise as her own. Later, outside this galaxy, Lyndia and Ferrin were married and they had a child together, Kyp.
Lyndia had often confided to Ferrin that she feared that without proper guidance, Mara would fall into a bad crowd. Lyndia's bloodline was full of what she had called "bad girls". "Then your sister is lost, gone over to the Sith and allied with Lord Ravage."
"No, master," Kyp shot back. "I did not sense, at least I do not believe I sensed, Lord Ravage or Luke Skywalker. I sensed a being of immeasurable power in the Force near Malakie…his master."
"Another Sith?" Ferrin's visage blurred as he suddenly turned away. When it returned to normal, there was a perturbed look on his face. "Master Vos extends his greetings."
Kyp decided not to question and simply accepted the fact that he was now speaking to the whole of the new Jedi Council. "I thought there could only be two Dark Lords at one time. If what I sensed is correct, then there are four, possibly five," Kyp stated, not bothering to mention it was possible that his sister was now one of the enemy.
There was some more blurring and Kyp understood now why the Vong executed anyone who bothered them during villip communications. It was annoying and probably very taxing on the plants. "Master Vos says that it was not always so. There were once many Dark Lords, but it was found that they were draining too much of the Force and so their numbers were reduced." Ferrin did not explain that reduction meant murder in the terms of the Sith.
"There is a school of thought," Ferrin began, "that says that the Force is not infinite. There is only a certain amount of energy, for lack of a better word, to go around to all living creatures and to those who are Force-sensitive. The Jedi use very little of the Force and so they do not place a large burden upon it. It is why we are taught to be passive. The Sith, on the other hand, use the Force aggressively, gobbling up every bit they can at one time."
"But I have sensed no change in the Force," Kyp pointed out.
"Yes, but you are a Jedi. Despite our philosophy as Jedi Warriors, we do not pull upon the Force nearly as much as a Dark Lord would. Plus, there are so few of us…"
Kyp shook his head. "But I changed Tatooine! That should have wounded the Force for decades."
Again the face blurred. "Master Vos," Ferrin said as it returned to normal, "wished me to remind you that when you were one with the Force at that time you stated you felt another presence. That presence, you confided to us, was Anakin Skywalker. It is possible that Anakin was returning his power in the Force to the galaxy through your efforts."
Kyp wasn't sure about that, but he had never really thought about it. He had indeed told both Master Vos and his father about his suspicions, but he had never mentioned it to anyone else. If he had been wrong, he did not want to get Padme's hopes up that her true love was awaiting her on the other side of life.
"Regardless, it is disturbing that we have new enemies, but it may explain some things," Ferrin said, trying to a positive spin on the current situation.
Kyp bowed his head again. "It is not all, master." He looked up and had to grip his arm even tighter as he brought up the mental images he had been given. "I saw an army, a million men strong, all armed with lightsabers, all radiating in the Force. Not strongly, but more than they should have."
There was silence and Kyp continued. "They all had the same face, the face of whom I believe was Darth Maul, except the tattooing seemed to be reversed. I have seen very few pictures of him, but I am sure that it was he who was at the head of this army." He took another breath. "This army is meant for conquest, obviously, but there is more.
"Before the army stood the officers, personally trained to be dark Jedi. Malakie referred to them as the Dark Force. They were, I believe, the Force-sensitive beings that have been disappearing from the galaxy, the ones we have been pursuing."
"By the Force…Darth Maul?" Ferrin whispered, not believing what he was hearing. "Anakin Skywalker killed him on Korriban! Padme has confirmed that for us."
"Can the Sith return from the dead?" Kyp asked. He tried to force his arm to quit shaking, but it would not respond.
The villip went limp and Kyp assumed that it had been taxed to its limits. He would have simply tried using normal communications, but he was sure that someone would listen in. Lando had already expressed his doubts about all of their safety anymore with the arrival of the Imperials and the way security personnel were disappearing. A few moments later, the villip was erect again except this time it was the face of Quinlan Vos. Even through the artificial features he looked weak. "Jedi Durron, you need to investigate this matter immediately. This takes a higher priority than anything else."
"What about the Dark Side tendril I found going towards Leia's room? I think she is the target of someone, possibly this Malakie. I cannot abandon my charges."
Master Vos scowled. "I hear the words but I do not see the face of my old friend Qui-Gon Jinn!" Kyp could not hear the slight chuckle from behind the leader of the Jedi. "You are correct; Leia and Corran," he said, stressing the name of Kyp's former rival for Leia's affections, "are both in danger. The fact that you were able to tap into the thoughts of a Sith demonstrates that there power is growing. You are powerful in the Force, Kyp, much more powerful than I think the Sith realize or else they would guard their thoughts more."
"I do not know where to begin," Kyp said.
"You said that you felt something ancient, something old? Perhaps we are dealing with a resurrected Sith lord of old," Quinlan offered. "That would mean someone like Naga Sadow or Freedon Nadd."
"Or Exar Kunn," Kyp said. Something about the name felt right. "I will send my Padawan's back to you immediately and will begin my investigation."
The villip fell limp again and immediately brightened up as Ferrin returned. "This does not dismiss this feeling you have about the Dark Side being near, my son. Luke Skywalker has placed a substantial bounty upon your heads and many members of the Corporate Sector owe their loyalty to credits. In other words, you may have been sold out."
"But by whom? Lando? Dash?"
Ferrin pursed his lips. "How well do you know these two?"
Kyp straightened and felt the burning ire building up in him. He had come to know both men in the past few weeks and he knew them to be good and decent men, perhaps rough around the edges, but as honorable as any person Kyp had met. "Well enough, master. I would like to ask them to escort them home."
Ferrin nodded. "I trust your judgment in this issue, my son, but you had better get going. There may not be much time…"
"Master, a final question, please," Kyp said, suddenly realizing he was no longer trembling. He was being given the opportunity to pursue his fears and conquer them. "Wouldn't both Lord Ravage and Luke Skywalker sense the growing power of the Dark Side?"
"Both would probably feel weaker as Malakie and his master drew more and more power from the Force. It could make them more desperate to capture the three of you to try and convert you over to their side. Perhaps they sense the coming storm." Ferrin's visage softened. "I wish I could go with you, but events here require my presence."
"The Corellians are clamoring to invade?"
Ferrin smiled. "It's more than that. Nobody knows where the Death Star is. It seems Daala is better suited for employing Tarkin's weapons of terror than Tarkin was. The various factions want to return to their home systems in order to protect their homes. Chief of State Organa is having a hard time keeping it together."
"Then I suppose I should wish you luck, then," Kyp said, returning the smile. They signed off, father and son, master and apprentice, each trusting the other to carry out their responsibilities. Kyp was to find out what threatened his home; Ferrin was to make sure that home was there when Kyp returned. They had been partners for so long that Kyp was slightly apprehensive about going off on his own.
It was the first time he had ever done anything by himself and he wondered if he would even return. Would he die alone?
He shook off the thoughts and quickly put on his robes. He put his lightsaber on the inside of his cloak and then exited the apartment. He would send Ippy to come and get his stuff later. He smiled then, realizing that his foul-mouthed droid would be with him. What better companion for a Jedi Knight was there?
He stepped into the corridor and ran right into another person. From her cry of surprise, he knew it was a female. He looked down to see a woman with short dark hair and the bluest eyes he had ever seen, clad in a tight leather outfit. It was the uniform of the Legions of Lettow, a mercenary company that had been employed by the New Republic on several occasions. The Legions, composed of approximately one thousand professional warriors broken up into ten centuries, had a long history of working with the Republic.
Her patch identified her as being a subcommander with the Fifth Century. As he excused himself and helped her up, he told himself that she seemed pretty young to be an officer with a mercenary company. Then he looked at himself, realizing they were about the same age, and silently admonished himself for having such a tainted view.
She smiled at him and he felt something happen in the pit of his stomach that had nothing to do with the Force. He tried to read her emotions but she kept them closed in. That was not surprising; warriors tended to be that way. "My apologies," he said.
"Never had a monk knock me over before," she said looking him up and down. She laid her hand on her empty holster and bent slightly at the knee. "Not by a cute one either. Too bad…all of that celibacy and stuff…"
Kyp's face must have turned red because she laughed so hard that he was afraid that they would awaken the patrons of the other rooms. Her laugh had a genuine mischievousness to it as well and he found himself smiling dumbly. "Well, if you ever decide to throw those vows away, handsome, I'll show you some better ways to get me on my back." Without another word, she sauntered past him and he watched as her posterior disappeared around the next corner.
Scratching his head, he moved on to go speak with his padawan's.
Fresca took in a deep breath and kept walking. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and the Jedi as she could, just in case he decided to pursue her. She hadn't lied, though, because he had been cute in a boyish sort of way. It was a thought she would have to bury deep lest Luke find it during one of his many mental probes of her.
For Luke, violating a mind brought more pleasure than sex.
She had been trying to plant a listening device on the wall outside Kyp's apartment and had not expected the young Jedi to exit so suddenly. She hadn't been recognized, but that was no surprise. Fresca Isaard was not that well known through the galaxy. Yet.
The uniform helped as well, hugging her curves and throwing people off. Wearing it, people saw only a member of the Legions of Lettow and never paid attention to her face or features. It allowed her to travel without an actual disguise.
Kyp Durron had been in a hurry though and before she had started flirting with him, he had a very serious look on his face. Something was going on and she wondered if Luke's subtle influences on Leia had drawn the Jedi's attention.
The thought of Luke and Kyp, two attractive young men, in a lightsaber battle was very pleasing to her in concept, but she also knew that as an officer in the AFNO, she had a responsibility to protect Luke Skywalker. It would have been nice if he would not make it so difficult.