A/N: Hey all. Sorry it's taking me so long to update. School's murder at the moment, so it looks llike it's gonna be rough till the end of May. Please hang in there with me though! I promise, I will keep updating till the story's complete, it just might only be a 'once-a-week' update until I get out.
kenjigirl: Yay! You reviewed again:) Aww...you're making me all happy! Hope you like the update:)
Jedi Keliam Kenobi: Ohhh...okay, thankx for that:) By the way, I meant to tell you before, but I love your penname. Its gotta really cool ring to it:)
okanabe: Aw cool, I'm glad you've thought of stuff like this too. And I'm really glad you like my idea. Oh, and I checked out your story a few days ago and wrote a review for ya...very cool dude:) I also like the way you're against using foul language and stuff. There's too much of profanity (sp?) going around, in my opinion. Hope you drop me a line again sometime:)
rosesniffer2: I hope so too. Thankx so much for yur review and for the little compliment bout my Yoda voice. Very appreciative I am, yes:) Haha...
JEDIKNIGHT32: Thankx as always dude:)
Chapter 2:
Questions and Riddles
"Please, sit. I do not think you will want to trust the strength of your knees." the one named Mace Windu said kindly, motioning to Khyra a chair to sit. "Thank you Master Lano and Padawan Roux. Your presence is no longer required here." Before moving to sit, Khyra watched as the two men she had become somewhat acquainted to bowed respectfully and left the room; closing the large door behind them.
As Khyra hesitantly sat, Yoda began to tell the tale he knew she had to hear. "As hard to take as it may be, born on this planet, Coruscant, your Grandfather was. Lived his life as a strong and brave Jedi, he did." he paused to read the expression on Khyra's young face; allowing a smile to creep over his face to match the one shinning on hers. "Find this amusing, do you?"
"Well, no...It's just that I always thought the old man was an alien…Never thought it could actually be true." the smirk on Khyra's face remained ever present as she spoke.
"Not alien! A person...just like you, he was." Khyra jumped inside slightly at the reprimanding tone of Yoda's voice. "Such a small word, human is. So much better, person suits.
"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to offend. It's just this concept of other worlds and people...it's something quite new to me, if you can imagine. Will you continue?"
Khyra watched as Yoda glanced to Mace, as if to give him a silent decree. "As was mentioned your Grandfather was a very powerful Jedi; a protector of the peace between the known worlds of our galaxy." Mace began to tell the story while Khyra listened intently. "Like any person of his kind, he had his enemies. Did he ever tell you anything about the rest of your family?"
Khyra thought for a moment. "No...not that I can remember. He said he had a brother once, but he died long before I was born."
"Hmmm..." Yoda hummed, rubbing his odd three-fingered hand across his wrinkled chin. "Not dead...lost, was he."
Khyra turned her attention to Yoda with a questioning look. "Lost? What do you mean?"
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Mace sighed at the girl's lack of knowledge of something so important to, not just her, but the entire world around her. "Were you ever taught about the Force?" At seeing her head shake a disappointing 'no', he continued. "The Force is an invisible entity that is created by the life of all things. Most disregard It entirely, but as Jedi, we follow It's counsel and live our lives by Its power."
"Wait..." Khyra interrupted, "How can you live your lives by this 'Force' if..." Mace silenced Khyra's interruption in mid-sentence by effortlessly lifting his hand and focusing on a chair opposite her. She curiously followed Mace's line of sight to the chair only to see it lifted in the air, as if it were being picked up by an invisible man.
"How...?" was all her mind could register as she watched the chair float for a moment and slowly ease back down to its original position on the floor.
"Not all powers in the universe are easily understood, Khyrana." Mace lowered his hand and focused his attention back onto the stun-stricken girl. "As you can see, the Force, regardless of any questions going unanswered, is real. And like anything in our world, there is both good and evil in all."
"What do you mean?" Khyra asked like she was a child learning why the sky is blue—or orange, in this case.
"The Force can be found in both lights. It is pure in the soul of a good-hearted one, but It can also be corrupted by the life of one who is evil. Just like anything else."
"Okay..." Khyra drawled out. "Now what does this have to do with my Granda?"
Mace and Yoda exchanged a brief glance before Yoda took over in speaking. "Also a Jedi, was your Grandfather's brother. Very powerful too, he was. But unlike your Grandfather, bad hearted, was he."
At Yoda's pause, Mace took in a breath and continued. "Because his intentions and heart were corrupt, he moved to the 'Dark Side' of the Force and became part of a group called the Sith."
"And who are they?" Khyra questioned; the look of confusion slowly easing off her face.
"They are the ones devoted to the Dark Side whose soul purpose is to eliminate the Jedi and the Light Side of the Force."
"So, my Granda and his brother became enemies, right?"
"Correct. So much so that his brother, Vahl Sylo, ran him out of the galaxy. Which is how he came to be on Earth." Mace paused to make sure Khyra was following. She was, from what he could tell, but only barely. "Before leaving, your Grandfather built a teleportation device that could transport someone from Earth to Coruscant in a matter of seconds. When he arrived on Earth by ship, he placed the device somewhere he new only his family would know of. From there is history only you now."
'Bugger...my brain hurts.' Khyra thought as she subconsciously placed her head in her hand and rubbed her temples with her middle finger and thumb.
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After lifting her head and resuming her thoughtful stare at Mace, she spoke. "Okay...I think I understand that part, but I still don't get how you could be expecting me or how my arrival could be 'timely'. I mean, how could you know I was coming?"
"A fair question, that is." Yoda spoke firmly. "Within the Force, your answer lies."
"Do you always talk in riddles?" Khyra asked.
"Found in riddles, some of the best answers are, yes..." Yoda paused and sighed a soft breath. "Know you came, we did, through your connection with the Force."
"My connection?"
"Yes...Runs strong in your family, the Force does."
Khyra thought of answering, but her mind suddenly switched to another unanswered question lingering in her mind. "If this Vahl guy ran my Granda outta your galaxy, where is he now? Is he dead?"
"That would bring us to the war we are in the middle of." Mace began. "We thought, for many years, that Sylo was dead. But our theory was proved wrong when he appeared nearly a year ago on a planet called Namacus Prime with an impressive army of mercenaries and the goal to take over our government so he could have rule over the galaxy."
"So?" Khyra started in an almost cocky tone. "You seem like pretty strong bunch, can't you defeat him? Can't your Force beat him or something?"
"Though a strong Order, the Jedi are; yes...defeat Sylo alone, we cannot." Yoda answered with a speck of shame clouding his voice.
"And why's that?"
"Required the blood of Sylo is."
Seeing she was again confused, Mace took over, "All entry ways to Vahl's base on Namacus and even Namacus itself are encoded by a lock only opened by a sample of his DNA. It's basically the 'all-access key' to his world. With it, you can get anywhere…but without it, we can't even get near the planet's atmosphere."
"Ahh...I could see where that would be a disadvantage for you." Khyra said in a soft voice.
"Yes, but not for long. Because Sylo believed he was the last alive of his family, we have strong reason to believe he has the lock on a very low setting."
Khyra raised a brow in curiosity. "Meaning?"
"Meaning that anyone in his family can match the specifications of the locks."
"Oh." Khyra said simply; bowing her head at the expecting glare she was gaining from both Yoda and Mace. "Lemme guess...since I'm in his family, you want me to go and open the locks for you, right?"
"In simple terms, yes."
At seeing Khyra stand from her chair and walk to a window overlooking the Jedi Temple, Yoda thought it wise to give a consoling word. "Force you to do this, we will not, young Sylo. But ask you to help our world, we will."
"And what if I don't? Afterall, to be honest, I'm not really that keen on risking my life for a world I've only just met." Khyra turned from the window and faced the two Jedi just feet in front of her. "What would happen if he won?"
Mace let out a grievous sigh. "Life as we know it would end. The Jedi would be destroyed; billions of innocent people would be killed."
"That serious, huh?" she turned her view back to the city; focusing in on the hundreds of hovercrafts racing through the air. "This really hasn't been my day..." sighing, she turned her view back and walked up to Mace and Yoda. "Alright. What do I do?"
To Be Continued...
A/N2: Okay, now I can finally start getting more into it. I know these last chaps have been extremely fast-moving, but I promise, they'll start slowing down now. And for all you Obi fans out there like me, he's gonna make his big entrance in the next chap:) I hope you've enjoyed. Till next Monday! Later.