Chapter 25: Welcome to the Jedi Order

Luke looked at the tall man bewildered at what he was seeing. He had somehow found the Rebel fleet and was now calmly introducing himself as if a man armed to the teeth with lightsabers popping up was a normal occurence. "What are you talking about? How did you find us?" Luke pointed to the lightsabers hanging from Cort's belt. A person didn't just stumble upon a collection of Jedi weapons. "Where did you get those?"

Cort held up his hands to stop the line of questioning. He knew that he needed to calm the man in front of him: a simple explanation of his sudden arrival in the middle of what he presumed was the Rebel fleet. Hopefully, this was the man he was looking for or this could be a mistake. He was already facing enough trouble as it was. "Slow down. I'll tell you a little biography and we can go from there. But first, you know my name. It's only fair that I know yours."

Luke raised a wary eyebrow before extending his hand toward the man. There was no harm in being polite. It may even get Luke the information he was looking for. "Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight."

Cort's eyebrow rose as if he found something of interest in Luke's introduction, but he didn't say anything. Instead he shook Luke's hand and said "It's a pleasure to meet you Luke." Cort released Luke's hand and sat down on the ramp of his ship, gesturing for Luke to do the same. Once the Jedi was seated next to him, Cort started to give Luke the answers to his questions…and then some.

"As to why I'm here, I've had a little…Imperial trouble lately, but it really starts around twenty years ago. When the Empire declared the Jedi to be outlaws, my father hid away a number of disks containing information on Jedi training. Five years ago, he passed them onto me while he laid on this deathbed. He told me that during the Clone Wars, I was taken as an infant to be trained as a Jedi. I was returned to him two years later for safekeeping when the purges began. The Jedi who brought me to him said that someday the Jedi would return when 'the Son of the Suns comes to fulfill his destiny' and that I should be ready, whatever that means. Since then, I've spent all the time I could learning what I could from the disks. That's how I learned to build lightsabers." Cort let out a small chuckle as he gestured to the collection of weapons on his belt. "As you can see, I've taken it a little farther than most." Luke gave the man a short laugh of his own before seeing Cort's face turn serious once more.

"Recently, I started having these strange dreams. At first, I saw a woman in a black cloak. I never could see her face, but I knew she was coming for me. Then, I saw a man holding a green lightsaber, standing before a legion of Jedi, leading them into battle." Cort stopped for a moment and looked toward Luke, considering saying more. Luke's eyes reflected how intrigued he was by the man's story, and Cort decided to continue for now and let Luke draw his own conclusions.

"A few days ago, the woman from my vision came to my home with a squad of stormtroopers. She offered me a place with the Emperor, saying it was 'my destiny to serve the dark side.' She got angry when I refused. I managed to duck out the back door when the stormtroopers she ordered in were distracted by their captain hitting his head on the doorframe and made it to my ship relatively unscathed. When I made it out of the atmosphere, I was greeted by a squad of TIE fighters approaching me. I flew as fast as I could out of the gravity well and made a blind jump into hyperspace. When I reverted, I found myself looking straight at your fleet. I was hailed and immediately followed the provided escort into the hangar. There was no reason for me to start trouble. It may have been dumb luck, or the Force, but what do I know? All I can say for sure is that now I'm here face to face with a Jedi Knight…and now comes the part when you tell me I'm crazy."

Luke looked the man in the eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder. It looked like another potential Jedi had come to them without having to so much as search him out. If only rebuilding the order would continue to be this easy. "I believe you. I think the Force was sending you a message in your dreams. Your jump was not quite blind. The Force led you here. If you're willing, I've been looking for candidates to train as Jedi. There are only a few of us now, but that will soon change."

Cort smiled at Luke's offer. He had been trying to teach himself the ways of the Force using the information his father had passed on to him, but it wasn't enough. "I'd like that. First hand experience is a better teacher than those data disks could ever be."

Luke gave Cort an anxious glance at the mention of the Jedi information that had been passed on to Cort. If they could get a hold of that information, it would be a great help in teaching the next generation of Jedi Knights. "Speaking of those disks, is there any chance of getting them back?"

Cort gave Luke a small smile before pointing into his ship. "Actually, I kept a second copy in my ship in the event I ever had to leave quickly. I can make you a copy as well if you'd like."

Luke's eyes were bright at the prospect of regaining a piece of Jedi history he thought was lost. "Thank you. I'd appreciate that." Luke stood up from his seat on the ramp and gestured into the hangar. "Now, if you'd follow me, I'm currently late for a training session with my current students and I'd like to introduce you." Luke turned to see the still wary guards looking at them, blasters still in hand. "It's ok. We can trust him. You can stand down." The members of the security force slowly lowered their weapons and Luke made his way through the dispersing guards with Cort in tow.

Luke looked toward his newest student as they reached the entrance of the training room the Alliance was allowing the Jedi to use aboard the Home One. Cort's story was fantastic, but it also seemed to fit what Yoda had told him in the past. "So you think I'm the man from your dream?"

Cort gave Luke a small smirk. He was sure Luke was the man from his dreams. The eyes had given it away and Luke had continued to confirm Cort's suspicions from there. "Green lightsaber…check. Blue eyes…check. Leading the rebuilding of the Jedi…check. Yeah, I think you fit the part."

Rolling his eyes at Cort's flippant response, Luke palmed the actuator for the door, causing it to rise with a hiss of hydraulics. He stepped inside and motioned for Cort to follow. Luke looked over the room and found Mara and Brea sparring with their lightsabers in the middle of the room while Leia was levitating spare parts with Ben as Han looked on from a seat against the wall. Luke turned to look at Cort to find him staring at the two women in the center of the room who had shut off their weapons, noticing Luke enter the room with an unknown man. Luke turned to his newest student, hoping to give him fair warning on the temperament of women with the last name Jade. "I'd recommend breaking off the stare. They are known to have a bit of a temper." Cort quickly turned away to look at Luke with a shy smile on his face. "And don't get any ideas, the one on the left is taken."

Cort raised an eyebrow and gave a sly smirk. "Oh yeah? By who?"

Luke narrowed his eyes before addressing the man. "Me." His tone lightened when he continued, sensing that Cort was not serious in his previous comment. "Brea is free as far as I know, however."

Cort nodded his head and gave his new teacher a small smile. He preferred the one on the right anyway. "Well, at least one of them is available."

As the two women reached Luke he turned to introduce their newest recruit. "Mara, Brea, this is Cort Abryan, our newest student…Cort, this is Jedi Knight Mara Jade and her sister Brea, a recent recruit as well."

Cort nodded his head toward the two women with a broad smile on his face. "An honor to meet you, ladies."

Mara gave Cort a skeptical glance as the man looked over her sister. Looking to throw Cort off guard, Mara pointed to his weapon belt. "Five lightsabers? Trying to compensate for something perhaps?"

Luke and Brea both tried to stifle a laugh as Cort folded his arms across his chest, annoyed with Mara's jab. "I was taught to always have the right tool for the job." He pulled one of the smaller cylinders from his belt and turned a dial before activating a light blue blade only a millimeter thick. "For example, adjustable width and length lightdagger. This could be used for surgery if necessary. And these are only the blades I carry on me under normal circumstances. I have some more specialized arms back on the ship."

Before Mara could provoke Cort any further, Luke stepped in. He wanted to keep their newest recruit intact for the time being. "So what would be the proper choice for a test of skill against a Jedi Knight?"

Cort smiled at Luke and replaced the lightdagger on his belt and retrieved the saber hanging at his right hip. "Classic one meter lightsaber, of course."

Luke called his own weapon to his hand and thumbed it on. His emerald blade was met with a teal one and Mara and Brea stepped back to enjoy the show. Mara was grudgingly impressed with how well Cort handled a lightsaber considering this was his first test against a live opponent. He would be a fine swordsman someday with the proper training, but Luke could beat him with one arm tied behind his back at his current level. Mara turned to make a comment to Brea, but find her sister looking intently at the tall man. She cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. 'Interesting.'

Luke called off the sparring match and began to test Cort in his other Force skills. The new recruit was adept at levitation and his reflexes were phenomenal, but he had trouble letting go of his senses and trusting the Force for guidance. Also, he was impatient and quickly grew frustrated when things were not going his way. Luke turned to his pupil. "We've done enough for today. There's no doubt that you are strong in the Force, but you're going to have to work on being patient and trusting the Force to guide you." Cort's face grew irritated as he listened to Luke's assessment of him. He hated even the implication he was failing. "Cort, not everything will come to you right away. Sometimes, sacrifice is needed to achieve our goal. Too much power, too soon will only lead to the dark side later." The tall man let out a deep breath and nodded, seeing the wisdom in his teacher's words.

Han turned to face Leia who had completed her exercises for the day and was monitoring Ben as he finished up as well. He could see concern on her face as she watched her brother speaking to his newest pupil. There was something on the princess' mind. "Sweetheart, is something wrong?"

Leia turned to look at Han. He could be more perceptive than she gave him credit for, but Leia wasn't in the mood to give in that easily. "What makes you think that?"

Han slid down the bench to be closer to Leia and took one of her hands in his. He looked at their interlocked fingers for a moment. Han Solo had started to go soft…and he didn't honestly care. "I can see it in your face. You can tell me. What's wrong?"

Leia looked toward the newest Jedi students. They didn't seem like a future Vader, but she doubted that her father seemed that way at first either. "I'm just worried about what we're doing here. I know we have to rebuild the Jedi, but what if we make a mistake? One rogue Jedi and we could have a second Vader on our hands."

Han remained silent for a moment before responding. Leia did have a point, but Han wasn't sure just how valid her concerns were. "Look, I don't know anything about this Force stuff, but…I trust Luke. The Kid will do the right thing." Han looked over at Luke who now appeared to be teasing Mara. He figured it best to change the subject and get Leia's thoughts going in another direction. "So what do you think of Jade and your brother? They seem to be doing quite well considering what they went through while I was…gone."

Trying to block out her months away from Han, Leia looked over at Ben who was sitting on the floor levitating his toy star fighters in a mock dogfight. She had felt especially attached to her nephew since the incident with the Sith on Tatooine. "They're so young still and they already have a child. I worry about Ben sometimes. This is not the best time to be raising a child. And why won't they commit to each other? Luke was talking about marriage before we left Hoth, but it hasn't come up since. Is Jade really that scared to lose her freedom?"

Han was unable to respond before he heard the door open at his side and turned to see Luke storm out. Mara yelled for him to come back and quickly set off to follow him. The rest of the occupants of the room simply stared at the closing door. Even to those who barely knew him, Luke's reaction seemed uncharacteristic. Something more was going on here, but no one knew what. Han turned toward Leia and muttered quietly "I don't think he appreciated your comments."