Chapter Eight
The next morning, Yoda four apprentices were up early and three of them doing some meditation exercises. Luke and Biggs were in handstands, as they had been the evening before and Dack was sitting Indian-style not too far away. During all this, Kayla was repairing the lightsaber Yoda had given her. As it had turned out, there was still no focusing gem inside the handle, so it was a total mystery to Kayla on how she'd even managed to ignite it during her confrontation with the phantom Jordan.
"Must've been some sort of vision of the future." Kayla thought, then shuddered. She certainly hoped it would never come true. No matter how many times she had threatened to kill her younger brother when he annoyed the heck out of her, she'd never actually meant it!
"Thinking of the cave again, young Kayla?" Yoda asked, as he approached her.
"Yeah. I hope what I saw doesn't come to pass. I can't kill my own brother." Kayla said, worriedly. She was a little surprised when Yoda placed a comforting hand on her own trembling ones.
"Worrying will get you nowhere. Always in motion, the future is." Yoda said, gently.
"I hope you're right." Kayla murmured, smiling a little when she heard Dack begin to snore, and saw Yoda roll his eyes.
"Young Starkiller has fallen asleep again. Following in the footsteps of his ancestor, he is. A little more closely than he realizes….." Yoda muttered, as he hobbled back over to the three men, and jabbed Dack with his walking stick when he was close enough. Kayla suppressed a giggle when Dack mumbled something about not having meant to fall asleep in class, to which Biggs and Luke merely smirked at, before going back into their meditation.
"Feel the Force flow. Yes. Good. Calm, yes. Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future…..the past. Old friends, long gone." Yoda said, with a hint of sadness in his own voice. Kayla could tell that the latter part of the instruction was from Yoda's own personal experience. During the Jedi purge, he'd lost many good friends. Many of them at the hands of the Emperor himself. Kayla could remember very clearly that, while she had been watching the movie 'Revenge of the Sith' with her brother, that she could almost feel every Jedi's death from where she sat.
"I wonder………….was I Force-sensitive even then?" Kayla mused, jumping somewhat when Luke let out a startled yelp and toppled over, taking Biggs with him.
"LEIA!" Luke cried, as he bolted upright, his blue eyes wild for a few moments, before realizing that he was still on Dagobah, and that his friends were gazing concernedly at him.
"What happened Luke? What did you see?" Dack asked, now fully awake and focusing a mildly worried blue-green gaze onto Luke.
"I saw……….I saw a city in the clouds. They were in pain." Luke murmured, his voice growing softer with each word said.
"It is the future, you see." Yoda stated, matter-of-factly.
"Future?" Biggs asked. Yoda nodded.
"Will Captain Solo and Princess Leia die, Master?" Dack asked, as he, Biggs, and Kayla caught a glimpse of what Luke had seen, and all the color fled from their faces. Yoda lowered his head, concentrated for a few moments, then gave the four a grave look.
"Difficult to see. Always in motion, is the future." Yoda said, softly. He looked up when Luke moved to gather his things.
"I've got to go to them." Luke said, as he rushed around.
"We're goin' with ya, Luke." Biggs declared.
"We're not going to let you go it alone." Dack said, as he rose too quickly, and fell to one knee moments afterwards, wincing in pain.
"Take it easy, Dack!" Kayla said, as she kneeled down to see if he was all right.
"Decide you must, how to serve them best. If you four leave now, help them you could…….But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered." Yoda said, getting all four to stop in their tracks and give him unreadable looks.
Kayla watched as Luke hurried to prepare his X-Wing for take-off. He had made his decision that afternoon to go to where Han and Leia were, and had spent the entire evening packing.
"Luke, I want to go with you to Cloud City. I want to help you." Kayla said, stubbornly. Luke sighed.
"I know you do, Kay. But what about your lightsaber? Is it ready yet?" Luke asked, with more concern for the lone female in their midst than there had ever been before.
"You'd be surprised." Kayla replied, somewhat smugly, as she hit the power button on her saber's hilt, and it flashed to brilliant life. Luke could only stare at the turquoise blade in disbelief before giving her a resigned look.
"Biggs, would you be willing to let her use your X-Wing?" Luke asked, as he looked to the other pilot for an answer.
"Well, where I'm going I won't be needing it. I'm takin' Dack back to HQ (wherever that is now) to see about getting his wounds treated. We'll meet ya back there." Biggs replied, but not before walking over to Kayla and holding her close. A bit surprised by this, Kayla gave the normally roguish pilot a confused look, only to be baffled by the look she saw in his eyes.
"What is it?" Kayla asked, quietly.
"Be careful, Kay. I don't want to lose you. I've got a bad feeling about Cloud City." Biggs said, his usually bright eyes clouded with worry. She smiled, but held him closer to her, regardless.
"Don't worry. I'll be careful. I promise." Kayla whispered.
"You'd better keep your word, or I'll tear the whole universe apart to find you and remind you of your promise. Got me?" Biggs asked, teasingly.
"Got you." Kayla replied, then turned to Luke and asked, "Ready to fly?"
"Yeah." Luke answered. As the sublight engines on the three ships began to warm up, Yoda tried his best to dissuade them from leaving, and as Biggs and Dack disappeared into the shuttle.
"Luke! Biggs! Kayla! Dack! You must complete your training! You must not go!" Yoda said, desperately.
"I can't keep the vision out of my head. Han and Leia will die if we don't go!" Luke said, referring to himself and Kayla when he said that.
"You don't know that. Even Yoda cannot see their fate." Obi-wan's ghostly voice said, as he and Qui-Gon materialized next to Yoda.
"But we can help them! We feel the Force!" Kayla said, enthusiastically, as the shuttle lifted off first.
"But you cannot control it." Qui-Gon murmured, looking very concerned about the pair, as they prepared their ships for departure.
"This is a dangerous time for all four of you, when you will all be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force." Obi-wan stated, patiently.
"Yes, yes. To Obi-wan you listen. The cave. Remember your failures at the cave!" Yoda said, speaking to both of the headstrong students.
"It is the both of you and your abilities the Emperor wants. That is why your friends are made to suffer. Luke……….Kayla……." Obi-wan pleaded.
"That's why we have to go." Luke replied, stubbornly.
"Stopped they must be. On this all depends. Only fully-trained Jedi Knights with the Force as their ally will conquer Vader and his Emperor." Yoda said, calmly.
"And sacrifice Han and Leia?" Kayla asked.
"If you honor what they fight for……..yes!" Yoda replied. This got betrayed looks from both young Jedi; something that unexpectedly caused a pang of guilt to go through the whole of Yoda's being.
"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone." Obi-wan said, grimly.
"Neither of us can interfere." Qui-Gon finished, as the pair of Jedi apprentices gave them sad, yet determined looks.
"I understand." Luke and Kayla said, in unison, as they settled into their cockpits and began the take-off procedures.
"Kayla, Luke, don't give in to hate, that leads to the Dark Side." Qui-Gon said, as he looked directly into the determined young eyes of the pair.
"Strong is Vader. Mind what you have both learned. Save you it can." Yoda reminded.
"We will! And we'll return. I promise!" Luke said, speaking for all of the Jedi apprentices when he said that. As they flew off and into the endless starfield above, the aging Jedi Master and the two Jedi spirits gazed sadly after them.
"Told you both, I did. Reckless are they. Now matters are worse." Yoda murmured.
"Those four were our last hope." Obi-wan stated.
"No, there is one last one we can count on." Yoda whispered, his eyes distant as he said that.
Jordan waited eagerly at Vader's side as they both waited to throw their plan into action. They both knew Luke would come when he sensed that his friends were in danger, but didn't know whether or not Kayla would make an appearance.
"It's not as though we have her loved one trapped here. Oh well. Luke will have to do, I guess." Jordan thought, resignedly. It wasn't until a few hours before that he'd realized a major flaw to his plan in the capture of his sister; he didn't have the bait to lure her there!
"And she won't come for me. So it wouldn't make sense to use myself as bait." Jordan mused, jumping up when the doors opened, and when his master gracefully stood. He smirked when he saw the expressions of horror on the faces of Han, Leia, and Chewbacca, and sneered when Han tried to fire a shot, only to have it batted away by Vader's hand, and to have his blaster taken from him.
"Surprise." Jordan leered, as stormtroopers appeared from both ends of the hallway, and inside of the dining room as well.
"We would be honored if you would join us." Vader said, in menacing politeness, as he motioned to the seats nearest him and Jordan.
"I had no choice. They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry." Lando Calrissian said, gravely, when Han gave him a look that could boil oil.
"Sure you are." Han retorted, before he, Leia, and Chewbacca were ushered into the dining hall and the doors were closed behind them. A few short hours later, Jordan found himself inside of the interrogation chamber, while Han Solo was being 'interrogated'. He cringed involuntarily when the other man's screams reached his ears, and listened when Vader exchanged words with both Boba Fett and Lando.
"I wonder if Kayla really is coming. Would she come for Leia and Han, like I know Luke will? Or have I made an irreversible mistake?" Jordan wondered, then perked up when he sensed something; it was faint, but he could feel his sister's presence!
"She's coming! And Luke is with her! Maybe I wasn't mistaken after all!" Jordan thought, knowing now what was to come, and becoming very impatient for it.
Author's Note!
Yeah, I know this chapter was kinda short, but I want to get to the confrontation between the Jedi and the Sith as soon as possible! Hope this wasn't too bad!