Chapter One - Shadows of Things to Come
The robed man watched silently from the edge of the field as the ragged little girl, no more than five years old, crouched in the crop of grassy vegetation, gently tending the earth with a small spade and an ancient alkalinity kit. Humph...lucky to even grow stock feed in this Force depleted soil... He almost turned and walked away, but something was niggling at him. He knew what it was – it was the Force calling to him to be patient and to watch. But watch for what? Moreover, why here on Jovan this insignificant and far-flung speck parsecs from the last outpost of the Republic's outer rim?
"If yer thinking o' goin' over to talk to thet little'un, Master – I'd be keerful n'I wuz you. Thet's a mine field sorr." Sliding his hood back the Jedi turned toward the man who had stepped away from the busy procession of workers trudging the path behind him. He said nothing but looked back to the girl. "She be a mad un thet kid. Lucky but total kraal spawned mad. Be havin' a guid day therr now M'Lord sorr."
Cropping in a minefield? The Jedi concentrated and felt the Force swirl around him for a moment then his senses opened and the vegetation told him of the metal planted amongst their roots in the field a little under the surface. Interesting. He looked further afield and took note of the few blast craters that looked to have been from average plasma mines. To the amazement of those watching he crouched and was suddenly soaring through the air coming to earth again a few feet away from where the girl was turning soil. He crossed his arms and recommenced his observation from this much closer perspective.
"You're not Sith." The girl spoke quietly and turned as she rubbed her hands down the thighs of her ragged trousers toward the handles of two curiously short vibroblades. "And these are cortosis weave vibro-daggers, just so you know." Her pointed glance at the twin light sabers hanging from his belt made the Jedi smile warmly as he spoke.
"Point taken my young friend. And I am not a Sith as you have so easily pointed out. My disguise has failed, it would seem; do you plan to turn me over to the authorities?" Reaching across the intervening space the girl plucked at the fabric of the black robe and clucked her tongue softly at the quality of the material.
"No. No I don't. How did you jump that far? I know you didn't walk 'cos I... felt... you move real fast. Anyways...that stretch is real bad for the mines..." she cut herself short suddenly and looked frightened, nervously clutching the hilts of her daggers.
"I know they are there, child. Do not be frightened and do not move. If you understand me, blink slowly...Good. Do not say anything; but watch everything. And listen well, with the Force as well as with your ears."
"You there...What are you doing in that field? We mined it half a standard year ago...How in blazes did you get all the way over there without being blown to pieces? Perhaps someone has been retrieving my mines, if so they will be dead. I will see to it personally. I..." The Sith soldier's voice dropped off suddenly as the robed man who had been in the middle of the field was suddenly surging through the air in a high arc and he felt as though his feet were standing in the landing place. Stumbling backwards, the officer looked back at the reflective surfaces of his troops' armored faces and bolstered himself.
"That is how I got over there...Captain...And as to what I was doing... You did demand to know what I was doing, I do believe?" as he spoke, the Jedi had raised his hood to obscure his features again and his robe rippled around him as if in a fierce storm. As his robe flapped about, his two light sabers flashed in and out of view.
"I...uh...of course not my Lord...I mean...that is..." his voice failed him again and he swallowed hard; or at least tried to for, as he was stammering a response, the black robed master had reached out a hand casually and drawn his attention to shifting soil a few yards away.
"You seem rather attached to your mines, Captain. Would you care for a closer look at one to make sure no-one has been tampering with them?" The mine in question rose from the earth dripping sods of dirt as it hovered through the air toward the officer. The foot soldiers abruptly took two steps back, two very big steps. They wanted it to be patently clear to the master that they were not challenging him in any way nor were they to be associated with their officer's...obviously... insubordinate and irredeemable behaviour. With the briefest flicker of a glance, they were dismissed and formed rank recommencing their patrol of the decidedly empty pathway.
"Your men seem to have given you a vote of no confidence, Captain. I don't believe they hold hope for your... continued leadership." The rippling of his robes stopped as suddenly as it had started and the mine floated to land on the outstretched hand. Experienced fingers tinkered for a moment and then the mine was casually tossed at the Captain who caught it instinctively then suddenly looked as though he wished that he hadn't.
"My Lord... Yes my Lord. I... ahem... I uh" mercifully his stammering was interrupted by an upheld gloved hand.
"You may leave. Now – unless you would like me to re-arm that mine? No...I thought not..." And now, Softly... A slight wave of the same hand. "You will keep that mine as a memento of this occasion. You will report to no one. Your men will believe what you tell them. You can move along."
"My Lord, I will keep this as a reminder of your lesson. I will speak of it to no one and my squad will believe what I tell them on my return. I will be going now, my Lord, as you have no further need of me.' The Captain saluted smartly and turned so sharply that his heel dug a small crater in the surface of the road. Once his double-stepping figure was soon a vague shape in the hazy air the black robed Jedi turned to regard the girl as she stood in the midst of the mined field.
"Unless you have any pressing matters, my young friend, I think that this would be an opportune time for us both to get offworld. What do you say? Would you like to accompany a worldless vagabond and have a long chat about why you know where the mines are and can grow crops where others cannot? Perhaps you would like to know why those Sith troopers could see me but not you, and maybe we could also discuss how you knew what components you needed to construct your vibroblades and knew just how to put them together. However, time is short so you need to decide quickly and we can gather any possessions that you may have, so long as they are nearby. Search your feelings."
The girl thought seriously for a moment, looking at her hard won crop of stock feed. She grimaced and flicked a strand of hair away from her eyes. "Master Jedi, I'm Abira Jin and I have all that I need." Abira shrugged and grimaced again "No-one'll miss me. My family is all gone and I never had much anyways. Unless you're gonna fly me, I'll come this way..." She started confidently stepping, hopping and leaping in a practiced pattern through the field all the way to the road. The black robed Jedi followed her circuitous route probing all the while with the Force. Fascinating indeed. Such wild talent springing up on this poodoo of a planet. An inch or two here or there and the mines would go off...but not a single miss-step. And it is as natural to her as breathing; she does not even know to be afraid. No wonder the Force led me here. Once she reached the road he took the lead and started walking in the opposite direction to that taken by the Sith patrol.
"Abira Jin, I am Yair Wemilo. A Knight of the Jedi Order; as you have already sensed I am no Sith or Dark Jedi, regardless of the robes that I wear, and it disturbs me greatly to find your world is being run under Sith occupation. The Council must be informed but it will have to wait until we are offworld and out of interception range. My ship is not far." Within five minutes they had left the path and passed through the dense grass at the boundary of a cultivated field. The Jedi stopped walking and grinned at his young companion.
"You call that a ship! I've seen bigger land speeders!" Abira muttered under her breath when Yair activated the uncloaking device on his gloved hand. The ship in question was a Jedi stealth craft with hyper drive, heavy shielding, proton cannon and military lasers, as she was soon to find out. She wasn't named 'Yair's Pride' for naught.
"It may not have reciprocating quad laser cannons, my young friend, but she does all right. She is actually very large for a Jedi ship because I wanted on board hyperdrive and a berth for sleeping and with a little carrying room to spare. That is where you fit in – and do not worry, you will have a window seat." Yair grinned as he stepped up to the vessel and grunted at the whirrs and clicks issued by the R2 unit. "Up you get. That is your seat behind mine. Back to back, the same way we Knights fight against large numbers of attackers. There. That was not so difficult, was it?" He glanced at the instruments as the astromech prepped the ship for quick take off.
"Huh?"
"Your first lesson, Abira, your first lesson. Now put on your communications helmet, it is at your feet, and strap yourself in. We need to leave right now." Just as he finished his last word and the canopy slid into place with a hiss of servomotors a small yet insistent alarm began sounding. "We may have a little company on the way out." With a roar, the attitudinal adjusters fired and the craft rose sharply into the air, immediately followed by the momentary crushing effect of rapid acceleration before the inertia dampeners adjusted to the phenomenal speed granted by surprisingly powerful boosters.
"and then again, sir...we might not." Abira mouthed silently. This is definitely better than a land speeder. She looked at the instrumentation around her and noticed the lack of any switches or controls. I guess this really is meant to be a one person cockpit...I couldn't figure out how to fly it without being able to see it being piloted. There goes my dream of learning to fly a real star ship.Oh... a small view screen flickered to life in front of her. On it she could watch as Yair handled the controls and she watched with interest until her lids closed and she rushed into sleep.
The noise and turbulence of atmospheric entry awoke Abira and she rubbed her face as she yawned. All trace of tiredness soon vanished in the orange- red glow of the cockpit. A new planet. I am on a new planet. Will be on a new planet.
"Master Wemilo, Is this Coruscant?" Again she heard the smile in his voice as he spoke:
"No, this is Ord Mantell, a planet in the Mid Rim. Coruscant is yet ahead of us. Here we will resupply the ship and see if we cannot find some decent lodgings and a meal before we make the last run of the journey."
Abira stood close to the Jedi as he paid the docking fee and exchanged pleasantries with the port officials. She felt rather insignificant and ignorant as they spoke of recent news in the Republic of Mandalorean raiders preying on non-member worlds close to the outer rim beyond somewhere called Kessel. Credits finally having changed hands, they set off at a brisk pace through the spaceport and into the marketplace. Although strange aliens bought and sold things, humans seemed to be much more numerous and droids bustled and wheeled about doing whatever they had been programmed or told to do. Yair paused and then stopped at a stall and put a hand on her shoulder briefly. He looked serious.
"I will take two of these fruits, friend. Can you tell me where I can find a clothier in the market or the city proper? I need to buy some suitable attire for my companion." The green alien looked appraisingly at the Jedi, then at the girl beside him and then over their shoulders and back at them again. His head tentacles gave a little twitch as he spoke in Galactic Basic.
[In the market there is no one that I would recommend. But if you go to the east square of the city you will find many covering vendors. You may find what you seek there. They are expensive, however, so I do hope that you have plenty more credits.] Again he looked past them for a moment as he handed over the fruit and took the credits that Yair handed him. Something about him made Abira slowly close her hands around the hilts of her vibro- daggers and she...felt...the Jedi also preparing himself, but did not see him move.
"Brakt ni houmaishe gen soon a kasee!" The alien words slid abruptly from Yair's lips as he tossed back his hood with a sharp flick of his head and drew his robe back over his shoulders like a cape to expose his light sabers. Whether it was what he said, the light sabers or the scarring on his face, the shop keeper swiftly turned a mottled colour and held its empty hands chest height as it took one step back, appendages twitching.
"Kasi na boone crath. Nayesh hamaya sen di Sith." It said pleadingly and flashed yet another glance behind them and then spoke in Basic once again. [I meant nothing to offend you. Merely I was telling you that it will be expensive. I desire no trouble. Please, please accept my sorrow at offending the great master.] Yair grunted in response and a sudden wave of...something... flowed out from him and behind them.
"Let's go. There is nothing more to be done here. It was a...misunderstanding...that will never happen again." He turned and started to walk toward the east gate without a backward glance and Abira followed at a trot. She looked up at him in wonder for she had turned to see what the alien had been looking at behind them and saw four more of its species lying in crumpled heaps groaning and shaking their heads as if in agonizing pain.
"Master Wemilo, they were bad aliens weren't they?" she asked as she trotted alongside him. Will I learn to do what it was that he did?
"No better or worse than many, my young friend. They were just fortunate that I stopped there so that it would be us that they chose to waylay. The penalties for breaking the law are heavy on most planets. Look at it this way; it will be a long time before they decide to think again about expanding their business repertoire." he chuckled and fell silent for some time.
"Those Rylothians will have terrible trouble concentrating on anything at all for the next few days, I am afraid, and their lekku – those tentacles – will be limp for a tenday. Most Twi'Leks you will see are either slaves or scum. I said most; note that I did not say all. There have been a few Twi'Lek Jedi and they can make exceptional scouts At least we did get good directions, for here we are. This place belongs to the family of a Jedi I trained with in my youth. Come inside, child; the vibro-daggers you can keep but I think it important for you to have new clothes more befitting your new station in life. And a haircut. And a bath. In the reverse order, I think..." he tousled her hair and smiled broadly at the Corellian woman who stared at him open-mouthed for a moment before rushing forward to take his hand, tears in her eyes. Has it really been so long?
I must have been seen on Ord Mantell. Yair looked thoughtful as the communicator fell silent. They buckled their harnessing while the ship was prepped for takeoff. The astromech whirred and beeped as it ran last minute diagnostics and re-routed a faulty circuit from it's orifice behind the cockpit. Yair remained silent as the adjustors fired and the whine of the engine boosters rose to a crescendo. When they broke through into the stratosphere he still had not spoken and seemed more than happy to maintain his silence. I wonder if these Jed are all so quiet. I am just going to have to ask him, then. Hmph.
"What is Dantooine? Why was he going to tell you to leave me there – I thought I would be with you now? Who sent that message – I've heard of Coruscant – was he a member of the Jedi Council? Your teacher...yes...He was your teacher when you were a padawan. What is a padawan anyway why don't you just say student?" Abira asked questions as if she were a repeating blaster in human guise and allowed no time for response from the Jedi pilot. She craned her neck to try to get a glimpse of him as he adjusted their destination coordinates. "Well?"
"That was Master Manco Manipi, of the Jedi Council on Coruscant. I would be surprised if you had not heard of Coruscant even out there beyond the edge of the Outer Rim...it is the seat of the Republic; where the Galactic Republic government operates from and the ambassadors are stationed from all the member worlds that have representation. The whole planet is one great city; the only other that I have been to that is like it in that respect - within the Republic - is a smaller world called Taris. I have my own thoughts as to why Master Manco may have wished for you to remain on Dantooine... few know of the existence of a small Jedi enclave there. It is a pleasant enough world...grassy with a mild climate similar to Jovan," Yair smiled and she could hear it in his voice as he spoke, "but without minefields or Sith troopers. There are Kath hounds, however, powerful quadrupeds that have been known to attack settlers from time to time. Now it is time to go to sleep. There is a thermo blanket in the compartment that your helmet was resting on. Keep your flight harness buckled once you have it." The Jedi lapsed into silence and Abira slowly drifted into the darkness of sleep. You never did tell me why it's padawan...my master.
Coruscant, a gleaming orb in the mantle of the galactic core and the principal diadem in the stellar crown of the Republic loomed into magnificence on the screen in front of Abira. Yair beheld the commanding view from the fighter's pilot seat. He transmitted the approach codes and coordinates of his destination and flight path routes were quickly supplied to his guidance system from planetary control. The gleaming city teemed with craft darting like schools of flying aquatics. I don't like this place. Yair shook his head ruefully. I never have and I do not think I ever will. He sighed and removed his hands from the controls as the tractor beam took hold of the ship and pulled them in to land on one of the floating docking ports.
Abira was almost bouncing up and down on her seat with excitement. The ship had only been landed a few seconds and already her harness was off and she was standing and twisting her head about, staring, and oohing and aahing. Yair nodded his head, remembering how it was to be young and to arrive at a new planet as impressive as Coruscant seemed. I am setting you on a path that you may not enjoy, my padawan, but you will embrace it and you will love it. I can feel the Force bursting forth all the more within you the longer we are together. Unconsciously, his gloved hand brushed his facial scars as he released the cockpit canopy and breathed in the fresh air. That, at least, felt good. Any breathable planetary atmosphere was a relief after so long a time breathing the processed air of a spacecraft.
"Come, Padawan, you can see everything much better if you actually get out of the ship." He called from the port cargo hatch. "We have many skyways to walk the way that I am taking us. Mostly exterior ones so you will have grand views, I should think. Come along." Port staff continued to unload containers from the cargo hold and removed the astromech from his place behind the stealth crafts' cockpit. Abira leapt from the third step down and relished the feel of her new robes as they fluttered in the breeze. This feels so strange. She toyed with the lone, long braid that trailed down one side of her neck. But it all seemed to make that lady so happy on...Ord Mantell. This is my second planet! Ort the third? I don't care! Coruscant – I'm here!
Laughing aloud she raced after Yair. People smiled and nodded as they moved aside for the Jedi Knight and his padawan learner. She could not keep her eyes on any one object for more than a few moments, but continually looked everywhere as if she were trying to take in every single thing. The droid followed closely behind her as Yair had instructed it to do, if it lost her it knew to activate its tracking system which was calibrated to locate the device planted in one of the girls' vibro-daggers. Pod after speeder after pod wended their way between the towering buildings, occasionally speeding over the skyways that they were walking on, much to Abira's delight.
The number of brown robes amongst those around them gave an indication that they were nearing their goal. The Jedi Temple. A number of padawan children smiled and a few waved. Abira smiled shyly and scurried after her master. All these younger ones have hair like mine. I look like I belong. She felt her eyes fill with hot tears and quickly dashed them away with the backs of her hands. In the Jedi Order she had found a family. Already she had been given food, shelter, clothing and the thrill of interstellar travel. And she had given nothing, done nothing. I'm gonna to be the best Jedi ever come from the Wilds. Master Wemilo is gonna be proud of me.
What was that? A single figure sat up and looked about the dormitory, hands on the hilts of the vibro-daggers harnessed to her torso. A short distance away blaster fire erupted in the night. Not too far away she could sense people dying violently and this could mean only one thing: We've been found. Before this thought had even finished, Abira was on her feet strapping on the rest of her weaponry before most of the other students had done so much as sit up in their beds and rub their eyes. Orvin gave her one of his usual enigmatic winks and slipped naked from his bed, light saber in hand. He shrugged and pulled a dark brown robe over himself as his utility belt floated to him from the row of lockers. When Squad leader Dodonna burst through the door he found her pulling on her robe with one hand as she opened the weapons locker with the other and Orvin tugging up his trousers as he was breaking out the emergency packs and med-kits. He flashed a grim smile and nodded to the pair, unsurprised. They are warriors, these two. Never off guard.
"Good to see you two are ready. Everyone to the hangar now, you know the drill. I mean NOW people! We've been compromised." He indicated to the pair at the lockers. "You two take the point, I will be with the others. If I am separated from the group, you are in charge. Chandi – you pilot the second transport. PD01 has them prepped and will fly too. When we get there, you two take a stealth fighter each and escort the transports. It's the Mandaloreans. There was a Sith Infiltrator with them but no Basilisks. The Guard and the Knights have moved out already to engage them and to...cover our withdrawal." The last of his words were spoken with a sense of finality not lost on the group. Silently, they moved out. Everyone knew it would be a very tense journey to the hangar.
In the darkness they could see the blaster flashes moving toward the enclave and every so often could make out light sabers slashing in the darkness as the Jedi fought valiantly against their attackers. When they heard the hiss of one igniting off to the left a few of the younger students gasped and most eyes widened with horror and surprise when they beheld the lone figure looming out of the darkness.
"Go on ahead Squad Leader, you and Chandi can pilot if we are late." Orvin jerked his head to Abira and his saber rose with an angry hiss to meet that of the Sith as they engaged. They had trained long hours together and their fierce attack caught the dark knight off guard. He laughed harshly as a chunk of his body armor flew into the darkness.
"Still not trusted with a real weapon, child?" Lightning crackled forth from his empty hand and scattered diffusely from near the tip of Abira's vibroswords. The dark knight's eyes narrowed and with an angry growl the Sith attacked ferociously, slashing at both of the students alternately while blasting them with savage jolts of force lightning. Orvin faltered for a moment and put one hand to his head and then fell as a sudden blow to his side registered in his brain. And then he knew darkness.
"You cannot hope to win alone, child.' the fallen knight hissed as his light saber sparked along the length of first one blade and then the other. "Why prolong the inevitable? ... Put your weapons aside and I will strike you down cleanly...Oh, what's this? I can feel your anger toward me. Give in to it ... embrace it and it will make you more challenging." His words flowed on, punctuating his fierce attack. "I cannot see...why my master...sent me here against...children. HA! Good; you are capable. But I will enjoy...killing yo...urgh" his gloating voice halted mid-sentence and he clawed at his throat in horrified amazement as his saber flickered and died on the ground beside him. His feet dangled a few centimeters off the ground and his eyes widened as his own light saber flew into the now empty right hand of his opponent.
"I am not a child." Abira said calmly as she slashed at his gripping hands. Head and fingers fell separately as the body crashed to the ground. "Master calls me his Padawan". Hooking the captured weapon to her belt, she ran back to where Orvin was gingerly rising from the ground.
"Girl, you have a kick like an enraged Bantha...I think you broke some ribs..." he rubbed the side of his head where half of his cropped hair was totally gone and his scalp was singed and blistered. "Not that I am complaining! That was far too close."
"Slap a few med packs into you on your way to the hangar, Orvin. You have to run – they are under attack. I have another one of my ideas...I know...I know don't say it. Go, they need you." She surprised them both by giving him a brief kiss on the cheek before her voice faded into the dark behind her. "Don't wait for me and take both the fighters." He stood for a moment, torn between wanting to go with her and following her urgent command that he help the others. Then he too was running through the gloom, light saber hilt dark in one hand and her discarded vibrosword in the other.
"What in the name of Mandalore was that? It looked like a girl." one trooper exclaimed with a curse. His Captain looked at the four fallen men and shook his head.
"She was Jedi, soldier. I have killed a few of them before this night and may kill more after it. Plant explosives on the dead and move out." The heavy troopers continued their sweep through the darkness and every so often their night vision goggles gleamed as they glanced upwards. The same trick would not work twice.
Hmmm. This Infiltrator is not all that different to the Jedi stealth fighters Abira focused as she slipped out of the craft and haphazardly splashed the emblem of the Jedi order on both sides as its engines whined in preparation for take off. She looked at her impromptu artwork for a second. I really hope this works 'cos if it doesn't I'm dead. As the canopy closed over her helmeted head and she raised the craft's shields the Mandalorean party broke from the trees firing their heavy blaster rifles and deploying plasma grenades until she saw their commander ordering them to stop. He raised one fist in a salute to the young Jedi as she took off in her captured Sith Infiltrator and headed off into the atmosphere at an angle sharp enough for him to know she was heading for space.
"I see you managed just fine without me. Care to let everyone know about my new ship before I join the party...I'd hate to get it all banged up by my friends." Orvin and Chandi laughed in relief and amazement as the Infiltrator flew out of the vapour of the Mandalorean fighters and Abira's voice hailed them over the Jedi frequency.
"Not a problem. Guess we'll have to call you 'Rogue One' now. You can tell me all about it later. I guess I wasn't the only one caught with his pants down tonight..." Orvin was grinning as he sent a coded transmission to the enclave refugee ships about their new escort ship and then he hailed her. "Rogue One, this is Escort One, you're welcome to join us."
"Ok Jin..." Squad Leader Dodonna's voice cut in; "Good thinking there Padawan – but what is that muck you used to put the emblems on that ship? It looks messy as hell, but it was certainly effective enough. It confused those Mandalorean pilots sufficiently to make them hold their fire a little too long. That is a damned feat all on its own, Rogue One." His voice conveyed a ...sense...of pride that warmed her.
"Well, you know those glitter bugs? Their eggs glow; so when I was up in the trees I grabbed a bunch of them and squeezed them into a paste. Blasted things stink like rancor breath!" Laughter came over the com channel and over it she heard PD01's clipped metallic voice.
"That was clever, for a young human, Padawan. I do believe we can learn what you were doing up in trees later. If your ship is capable, are you ready to make the hyperspace jumps? Wonderful! I'm sending the coordinates now." The refugee ships gave that little twist ships do when they make the jump; and disappeared. A lump rose in Abira's throat as they vanished and she was alone in the expanse of space. Alone only if she excluded the raiders' cruisers five hundred kilometers to port. If I can see them, they can see me... I've never done this before but I'd better do it fast. With a steadiness that denied her feelings, the young pilot double checked the instruments and controls and activated the hyperdrive.