Hi again! Before the inevitable disclaimer, a huge THANK YOU to those of you who left me such supportive reviews! A big smile was mine while I read them! I hope I continue to impress & entertain all of you with the continuing story! Now, George Lucas owns everything Star Wars. He even owns a better part of my monthly salary because so much cool stuff gets produced from licenses companies have to produce Star Wars merchandise. However the character of Iirth Fann is original. And now: on with the story!
He raised his arms jubilantly, hearing the crowd cheer his name while the bright suns beat down. He saw Qui-Gon & Jar-Jar run towards him, joy filling them. He saw Padme, the angel from out past the moons of Iago, filled with a sense of relief. His friend Kitster embraced him.
"That was so wizard, Ani," the darker-skinned boy exclaimed to him over the crowd's cheers. "I knew you could do it!"
Anakin felt Qui-Gon lift him up to his shoulders so the Boonta Eve spectators could greet their champion. Anakin added his voice to the din. He then realized something, as he sat perched on the Jedi's shoulders. One voice was absent. One face was missing.
A hush fell over the audience gathered. Even the white with blue trim astro-droid, which had come along with the Jedi, the handmaiden, and the Gungan, was unusually quiet. The boy could feel the slight arid breeze blow throughout the speedway. Anakin slipped down from his place of honor, & looked around at the crowd that was now staring right back at him. As he slowly turned around to look at Qui-Gon, and saw the bearded-man's face regarding him in turn, he realized that he was now in the garage where the pod racers did last minute tuning to their vehicles. He felt a pair of hands turn him around by his shoulders, & Padme hugged him.
"Thank you, Anakin, we owe everything to you!" she stated with such gratitude in her voice. She let go of him & he felt another, more familiar, pair of hands turn him around. He closed his eyes, ready to accept the embrace from his mother.
"It's so wonderful, Anakin!" she exclaimed softly. "You've brought hope to those that had none!" As she came away from him, he opened his eyes to a horror. Normally weather worn, but gentle, Shmi Skywalker's face was a myriad of bruises, lesions, & sores. Her hair: matted & unkempt. The clothes on her small frame were dirty & tattered. Anakin's eyes widened, not out of fear, but out of a heart-felt empathy. He knew he should love this woman, should cherish her for birthing him, but all he felt was her suffering. His heart went out to her. He reached out to her, to embrace her as she had him, but he passed through her as though she were a hologram. He stumbled, nearly falling on his face, when the garage evaporated into a bright room.
"Anakin? Anakin!" cried the voice that belonged to the person shaking him. "Wake up!"
He blinked a few times, shaking the hazy feeling from his head. He regarded the one sitting next to him. Iirth Fann, also a Padawan learner, looked on at him with concern. Anakin's interim roommate, stood up, giving the half-awake human room to coalesce.
"You were having a nightmare, my friend," Iirth explained. "It sounded like you were in a great deal of distress."
Anakin shook his head again as he sat up in his bed. He'd been back in the Jedi Temple for less than seventy-two hours. The Council had so far not uttered a word to either him or his master about what they wanted from the pair, but Anakin was glad that he prepared himself by not expecting his Trials: they were most certainly not the reason for this visit.
However, he & his master had gleaned some information from the shuttle pilot that had picked them up from Aldera. There was a movement in the Republic now: planets desiring secession from the main ruling body. Independence was being demanded. The Trade Federation, the Banking Clans, even the Technocratic Union were a large part of this revolution. Most startling was the leader of this movement: Qui-Gon's own former master Dooku, now having taken back up the hereditary title of Count that had been cast aside during his years as a widely respected & highly regarded member of the Jedi Order, was acting as a firebrand to those ideals being sought.
There had been talks initiated in the Senate pertaining to the passing of a Military Creation Act. Hot debate had sprung up throughout the governing body over this issue: should the Separatists, as those bodies wanting secession had been dubbed, secede then should they be forced back into the status quo that the Republic had held for so many millennia? A recall was issued forth for all senators to return to Coruscant to vote on this important issue.
Anakin was clearly starting to see why Qui-Gon was so adamant about staying clear of Coruscant: the political morass that made up the Senate was evident even here in the temple, for even the few other Padawans that he had spoken with had had little to speak of other than this development. The other main talk was a similar recall of nearly every Jedi from the Core to the Mid Rim. Iirth, as well as his master, were beckoned just as Qui-Gon & Anakin had been. The Council, according to some, was holding its breath to see which direction the Military Creation Act vote went.
"Are you going to be all right, Anakin?" asked the Iridonian Zabrak breaking the other out of his reverie. "Do you need a glass of water or something?"
Touched by the other's compassion, Anakin merely shook his head while adding, "No. Thank you Iirth. It was just a bad dream. I apologize for waking you."
Iirth, leaning against a bulkhead as his human counterpart swung his legs out of bed & started dressing himself merely stated, "It's of no concern. My species is one that does not require as much sleep as yours. I was up reading anyway."
Anakin looked at the chronometer next to his bed. It told him it was three-and-three-quarter standard hours after the new day had begun. He sighed softly. He decided, without reserve, that he preferred his bedroll to a durafoam mattress. He also decided he definitely preferred sleeping out under the open stars as opposed to a room indoors. Anakin looked as Iirth made his way back to his desk, & started up his novel again.
"What are you reading anyway?"
Iirth turned toward as the human slipped his boots on, & showed the title to him. Anakin read it once, & then again to be certain he read it right the first time. He suppressed a grin.
"It Came from Ord Mantell?" he asked.
The Zabrak shrugged & grinned. "It may not be an award winner, but it helps to un-boggle the mind after a long day of intense Jedi philosophy, and lightsaber training."
Anakin laughed because he could relate to what the other had said. Jedi philosophy could most certainly make one's head spin, and Master Windu's lightsaber training, from what he'd heard, was most certainly a practice in extreme physical endurance.
He made to leave their small apartment.
"Going out?"
Anakin nodded at question. "I just need some fresh air."
Iirth smiled at him as he left, & went back to his novel after the portal closed. He'd known him less than three full days & Iirth liked Anakin Skywalker already. Although Iirth could feel something underneath his roommate's calm surface, what exactly he was not certain, but something never the less. He had felt that Skywalker would make a great Jedi Knight someday, and admired the discipline that the young man's aura exuded. He was also relatively certain that the young human was supposed to be known to him, but why he did not know. He decided to ask his master about it when breakfast came around. Breakfast: now there was a pleasant thought.
Y0Y
Qui-Gon Jinn moved with the grace belying one of his experiences. With arms crossing his chest, he came to a balcony overlooking Coruscant's lit skyline. A breathtaking sight was this immediate part of the city-planet, especially at night. Simultaneously a sparkling jewel & a cesspool of corruption, Qui-Gon could feel eddies & flows of the Force in this place. He also felt the reason he approached the overlook: a silhouette of a humanoid figure taking in the scene. As the humanoid stood, leaning on the balcony's railing, Qui-Gon could sense the tumult within the other.
"What's on your mind, Anakin?" the Jedi Master asked the hunched figure.
Anakin, without stirring from his perch, responded with a small sigh. "I had another dream, Master."
"Your mother?" the elder asked as he, too, leaned on the rail within a meter to his apprentice's left.
Anakin, still looking out over the night skyline, nodded a confirmation. Qui-Gon could see eyes looking for something as their owner studied the city.
"What happened?"
"Pain, Master. I felt severe, unyielding pain. Suffering," Anakin responded. "I saw her as clearly as I see you now & I felt her suffering." He brought his sea blue eyes up to Qui-Gon's cerulean.
Qui-Gon studied his charge, reaching out with his senses. "You are experiencing exceptionally turbulent emotions over this."
Anakin looked back out over the city. "Truthfully Master, it's all I can think about. I know I'm supposed to have my emotions in check: it's not adhering to the Code to do otherwise, but I can't get her screams out of my mind. They pierce me to the core, and it's overwhelming. It's like I'm caught up in a tempest & the only way to ride it out is to travel to the eye of the storm or get swallowed up if I stay outside it." He then turned again to look into his master's eyes.
Qui-Gon considered what Anakin was saying as he delved into the young man's inner depths. "You mean to go to her then."
"I want to Master, about that I will not lie, but I will remain here. I will not abandon my responsibilities to you or the Jedi Order," came the adamant answer.
Now Qui-Gon cast his view away from the other to look out at the brightly lit duracrete & plasteel ocean. He sighed softly. "You know, I can remember talking to another Padawan of mine here on this very balcony about ten years ago."
Confused about the abrupt re-direction of the conversation, Anakin asked, "You mean Obi-Wan?"
"Yes. He & I were discussing his own swiftly approaching Knighthood, as well as, of all things, you."
Intrigued by this, the younger man queried, "Me?"
Nodding, "Yes, you. He was unsure of what to make of you at the time, & expressed his concerns to me: concerns that were similar to the Council's. However, since then, he has become one of your greatest advocates. Every time we speak he asks me how you are coming along. He believes, as I do, about the prophecy concerning your destiny & is glad to know you. In fact he counts you among one of his closest friends. He feels that you, should you continue down the path you are currently traveling, will come to be the very model for generations of Jedi following to emulate."
Anakin's eyes widened at such unabashed praise. He actually considered Obi-Wan a friend as well, but considering the difference of age & experience, the act of friendship was never truly explored. And to hear that Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan had actually had a conversation of such depth regarding him was something that Anakin never thought of. As honored as he felt to receive such accolades, he still felt the urgency to return to Tatooine. Even now, though awake, he could feel the echoes of the transpired events while asleep.
"I'm sorry Master, but I miss the point of the comparison of then & now."
"Point? No, there was no point to it: I was just musing." Qui-Gon explained. He sighed softly again, before turning to "I don't suppose this dream will go away. I do know that there have been cases in the past where Jedi could experience glimpses of future events. Considering your uncanny strength in the Force, I would be remiss in thinking that these are just mere dreams."
"What are you saying Master?"
"Saying he is that to you the Force speaks," interrupted a voice from behind the two on the rail.
Qui-Gon & Anakin faced the source, bowing after they turned. "Master Yoda," they said simultaneously.
The diminutive Jedi master hovered a meter-and-a-half off the floor in an anti-grav chair. "A disturbance in the Force felt I this early morning. Interrupted my sleep it did," the green Jedi Master grumbled with a slight chuckle. "Now, two Jedi before me I see, discussing troubling events they are. Imagine why one only could."
As he brought his transport in from the archway to also look over the skyline, Qui-Gon stated, "We're discussing young Skywalker's mother. He's been experiencing troubling dreams of her lately. I believe it is possible that the Living Force is talking to him, guiding him."
"Aware of your opinion I am, Master Qui-Gon. Still clouded this young man's future is. Wary we must be of every decision regarding his path."
"With all due respect, Master Yoda," Anakin said, eyes focused on the Council head, "I do not feel that my path is as clouded as might be believed."
"No? No, I suppose not you do," came the reply as the Yoda turned to regard the two humans. "Still, clouded never-the-less. Forbidden contact with family members is. Know you this, Anakin. Only confusion and turmoil it causes."
"He is right about that Anakin. Remember what I told you about Xanatos, & the result of him returning to his father."
"But Master," Anakin exclaimed, "I am not Xanatos! He made that choice of his own free will, just as I will choose mine, but it will not lead down the path he took."
Yoda & Qui-Gon looked at each other, then back at the strong young man standing silhouetted against Coruscant at night.
"On this," Yoda solemnly intoned, "everything depends."
Qui-Gon nodded slightly. "We will need a ship."
"Too big a ship for two will be. Too noticeable it is. Take you instead the new fighters given by the Kuati. In the upper hanger bay the Delta-7's are. Permission you have to take them. Made a call will be to prepare them for you."
Both humans bowed to the floating master, & turned to leave.
"Anakin, a moment if you will," Yoda called.
Qui-Gon strode through the archway while Anakin turned to face Yoda.
"Yes Master?"
"Take heed you must. A trying time for you I sense is fast approaching. Tempted by the Dark Side you will be. Be mindful of your training: save you it can!"
Anakin, sensing Yoda's sincerity, smiled. "I will Master. Please keep faith in me: I will not fail you."
"Fail me? Oh, no, Anakin, fail me you will not. Fail yourself you will, & doom yourself to a lonely path should the quick & easy road you take. I have faith, however, that failure is not your destiny. May the Force be with you young Skywalker."
Anakin bowed again. "And may the Force be with you, Master Yoda."
When Anakin left, Yoda turned back out to look over the city. "Troubling: this is. Meditate on this more, I must."
Y0Y
Anakin caught up with his master at the entrance to the upper hangar bay. Qui-Gon smiled at his Padawan as he approached, and laid a hand on his shoulder when the young man was near.
"Come, Anakin. Let us go find the source of your dreams."
Anakin managed a brief grin. "I hope to resolve this as quickly as possible. I can sense that we will be needed in the near future by our brethren," he said softly.
Qui-Gon gave Anakin a curious look, but simply nodded before turning back to the task at hand.
They walked through the massive durasteel doors into the hangar bay. Not exactly the hub of activity this time of day, but there were a few droids bustling about, along with a night crew mechanic or two working on a ship that had its innards outside of its hull. One droid made its way over to them. Coppery in color, it introduced itself as VG-9H9.
"You are designation: Jinn, Qui-Gon and designation: Skywalker, Anakin?" it queried.
"That is correct," Qui-Gon answered it. "Master Yoda said that two Delta-7's would be made ready for us."
"Affirmative. This way please," it droned. It led them to another door on the opposite side of the bay, and through that was another hangar filled with red with white trim, wedge-shaped starfighters.
Anakin walked up to one, & could feel a slight giddiness underneath his otherwise calm exterior. Flying was something he'd enjoyed when he was a child. Although whenever a situation involving piloting in any way arose, Qui-Gon deferred to the junior Jedi, Anakin still thrilled at the prospect of being behind a stick. A frown crossed his face as he berated himself for such an indulgence. This was a mission, & he must approach it as such.
As he & Qui-Gon neared the fighters that had been prepared for them, he could start to make out some of the finer details on the fighter: a spare parts compartment in the aft tail, four fire-linked laser cannon emplacements, & a hardwired astromech droid on the port wing just forward of the cockpit. He had to admit he was impressed.
9H9's vocabulator went into action again, "Both of your Delta-7 Aethersprite-class starfighters are not hyperspace-capable, however programmed into the R4 droids are the coordinates for a TransGalMeg Industries hyperdrive booster ring currently outside of Coruscant's orbit. Please allow the R4 droid to dock for you, as it has been programmed to perform this task without error."
Qui-Gon raised a slight eyebrow toward his pupil. Either not seeing it or not acknowledging it, Anakin went to one of the Delta-7's.
"R4," he asked, prompting a binary trill, "will you open the cockpit hatch please?"
The swiveling dome of the droid whirled around from facing him to the hatch, which open swiftly & silently. Anakin boarded, & settled into his seat finding a communicator set to be worn on the right side of the head.
Qui-Gon moved into the other fighter, putting his headset on as well.
As their respective hatches closed, they could make out 9H9 giving the traditional Jedi farewell. "May the Force be with you, designations: Jinn, Qui-Gon and Skywalker, Anakin."
They took off into the great void of space, still feeling the Force all around them. As they flew, Anakin felt the temptation to take off the autopilot, but decided against it, remembering how he'd berated himself earlier for such impetuousness. If there ever was a time for it, now was most certainly not it.
As the ships rounded to where dawn was just breaking over an over-cast part of the planet, Anakin could make out a large, sliver-colored space transport being flanked by two smaller yellow starfighters. He checked his sensors.
"Master," Anakin said into his communicator, "I'm picking up a registered diplomatic transport from Naboo off to zero-five-nine."
Qui-Gon looked onto his sensors, confirming what was said to him. "It would appear that Senator Amidala is returning to cast her vote concerning the Military Creation act as well."
"If we get back before she leaves Coruscant, I would like to say hello to her. We've not seen her ten years Master. I'm sure she'd appreciate the visit."
Not sensing anything other than a friendly interest, Qui-Gon merely said, "If there's time Anakin. Let us keep focused on the here & now."
"Yes Master," came the response. "We're nearly at the coordinates for the boosters."
Looking onto his dash display, Qui-Gon nodded to himself. "That's affirmative."
The Delta-7's moved in tandem as they docked up with two booster rings right next to each other. The Jedi waited as the astrogation coordinates for Tatooine were locked into the nav-computer.
"Master?" Anakin called.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me Anakin. As I have told you several times in the past: the Living Force beckons, & its call will be answered." Qui-Gon smiled at his padawan's earnestness. "But your sincerity is appreciated."
Anakin also smiled. "May the Force be with us, Master."
"Indeed," was the final word Qui-Gon spoke as the stars in realspace stretched out into infinitely long lines, the fighters hurling their passengers into the depths of the future that lay before them.
Eesh! This was even harder, not to mention longer, than its predecessor! Well, suffice to say that once I hit on the vein I was aiming for, I couldn't find a place to stop! Well, hopefully I will be getting out the next chapter sooner than this one! As everyone remembers from AOTC when Anakin went to go find his mother, it didn't turn out so well for the Tusken Raiders. This is gonna be a good one, so please stay tuned! Thank you!