Chapter 47
Three days later, I was informed that Gai-jin had escaped the day she was to be extradited to stand trial. The guards had all been found bound and gagged but otherwise unharmed. Inwardly I laughed. Gai-jin may or may not ever go into crime again, but she was quite determined to live.
Over the course of the next week, I had momentary flashes of an incredibly powerful Force user coming nearer but all I could get were flashes, nothing concrete to go on. Events began to move then and I had to put this strange Force presence to the back of my mind. One morning, an anonymous message came to me at home. It was comprised of only one word: "Today".
It was all of one minute before I knew what it meant. The death squad would arrive today. I sent a message to my deputies to clear the area surrounding the landing pad of civilian traffic and then to take cover themselves. I didn't want anyone else at risk if I could help it.
The shuttle schedule rarely changed and I figured the squad would show up on the first one in one hour. I meditated for thirty minutes, and then got dressed into my duty black. Gabrielle met me at the door. I knew she would insist on being at my side so I didn't even bother trying to get her to stay behind. I still remembered her promise to me when I came back from my intelligence gathering mission, the one where she reaffirmed our status as a team.
Ryu was staying with my deputies at the constabulary office. There was only one way in or out of there and my deputies were veterans from the war and could protect him if needs be. On a spur of the moment prompt by the Force, I took my Muramasa from its stand and strapped in around my chest to be an easy grab from my back.
Gabrielle and I got to the shuttleport just as it was coming in to land. I could feel the minds of the death squad aboard. Of particular interest was a veritable star of hatred and one strangely empty spot. The street was clear of any bystanders and so my wife and I waited perhaps twelve feet from the door.
Taking my lightsaber from my belt but not activating it I stood there and watched the death squad emerge from the shuttleport door. Two humans, two Weequays and an assassin droid stepped into the light. The sight of the assassin droid explained the empty spot in the Force but there was one last person just inside the door. That was where the hate was flowing from. It came at me so strongly, I could almost see it. This source of hatred then stepped into the light. Brachter had returned.
He had aged some but there was no mistaking his identity. Especially because I could see the top of the scar I had given him in our last encounter over the top of the shirt he was wearing. We faced off. I spoke first. I said: "I know why you are here Brachter. All I have to say is this. Leave. Turn around, get back on the shuttle that brought you and leave."
He smirked then spat on the ground and said: "No deal Jedi. Everyday since our last encounter, I see this scar on my chest and then I see you lying broken at my feet. Today, we settle this! Make it easy on yourself and tell me where your son is so we can kill him too."
"I'm right here," said a voice from behind. Into my peripheral vision stepped my twelve year old son, Ryu. I said: "Ryu, go back to the office. This is not your concern!" My son stood there in a smaller version of the black suit I wore that day and said: "I'm sorry to disobey you dad, but this does concern me. These people want to hurt you and mom and me too. You've helped me to believe in the law and what it stands for, if these people win, the law on New Hope will cease. Besides, the Force said I needed to be here. So I am."
Brachter smirked again and said: "You got guts kid. I gotta say that much." He turned to the assassin droid, a hulking monstrosity just over two meters tall, body plating a bluish tint. It carried a matching set of blasters that were in perfect scale to the user and what looked like an auxiliary weapon pod on the right shoulder. Brachter said: "Droid, the child is yours. Be sure to leave enough of him left so the pictures will positively identify the remains and we can get the other half of our bounty from the Guild."
The droid's voice was coldly electronic, no attempt at personality like Warbler or Jeri's as it said: "Directives acknowledged. Target acquired. Prepare for termination human."
One human and one Weequay each paired up and came for my wife and me. Merging with the Force, I put my saber back on my belt and used my Burst of Speed ability to elbow smash the Weequay in the chest sending it to fly back as I spun on the balls of my feet, putting my palms up and using the Force as a lever, pushed the human in his chest. He flew back and bounced off of the wall to the shuttleport.
By this time the Weequay had gotten back to its feet and warily approached me. Using my speed ability again, I got behind the Weequay and kicked him in the back. Hissing he turned to face me and threw an impressive combination that I was only able to avoid thanks to the Force. As his combination ended I stepped up and focusing the Burst of Speed ability into my hands as I began to walk up and down his torso and face. My last blow landed in the Weequay's gut. Doubling him over, I used a basic uppercut to send my attacker to the ground where he lay still. Sensing imminent danger coming from behind me, I ignited my lightsaber and spun around to bisect the human partner of the assassin I had just laid out. He had tried slicing me to literal pieces with the pair of vibro-swords in his hands.
I looked on to see if my wife needed assistance but she was just finishing off both of her attackers with a type of spin kick I had only seen in video games back from my old life on Earth. She spun so fast that both her attackers were drawn in as if in a vacuum of some kind. I couldn't count the hits but the end result was unquestionable as her two would-be attackers went to the ground and stayed there.
I looked around for both Brachter and the droid. The droid stepped slowly towards my son, metal foot by metal foot. My son looked on and then took on the focus stance I used for my Force version of the hadouken. I saw him close his eyes and begin to rotate his arms in front of him. I felt the Force in him focus first before I saw the small spheres of Force energy appear and start to flow into his arms and body. The focus was similar to mine yet somehow felt different.
The droid continued stepping towards my son as it said: "Logic dictates that I will be the victor in this contest. You are nothing more than a flawed human. I am the superior being for I am machine. Resistance is futile."
It was obvious to me the droid did not see what I could both in the Force and in my son as I thought to myself: "Droid, you're already dead. You just don't know it yet." My son stopped rotating his arms and cupped both hands at his hip as I saw him begin the final focus to his attack. By this time, even the droid's sensors began to register the energy build up as it said: "Observational analysis flawed. No human can create energy such as this."
The droid continued walking towards my son as I heard him say: "Denjin . . ." the energy ball between his palms had expanded to the size of a large melon as his arms began to tremble with the effort to hold it in check and focus it still further. Finally, I felt my son's intentions crystallize as he stepped forward into a zenkutsudachi, arms straight out in front of him, the heels of both palms touching, the fingers of each hand splayed out like claws as he sent the energy forward; "Hadouken!", he cried out.
Ryu's version of the kinitite flew straight and true to connect solidly with the midsection of the droid. At first it appeared that the droid had absorbed the attack but then it stopped and began to tremble. Blue arcs of electricity began to course over the frame. I strange wail came from the vocalizer of the droid as it actually exploded before my eyes.
The flash of light that accompanied the assassin droid's electronic death was brief and bright. When next I looked, the legs were standing with some of the torso still attached. Fragmented components were all over the ground behind the droid in a kind of splatter pattern. What remained of the droid's upper torso and head lie on the ground several feet away twitching in the dirt. Ryu had recovered from his attack and was being seen to by his mother. I could see him sway a little on his feet but unlike my first kinitite experience, he stayed standing.
In the surprisingly small amount of time that this had transpired, Brachter had stayed where he was, shock clearly evident on his features. "So be it," he said. He stepped towards me with some kind of sparkling blue material on his cybernetic arm. He said: "As it should be, you and I will settle this. I will throttle you with my bare hands Jedi!"
He stepped towards me again as I activated my saber and held it in front of me in a neutral guard. I spoke: "Brachter, if you come any closer you won't be able to throttle anything." Unspoken was the probable outcome of his attacking me barehanded against my lightsaber.
With nothing further to say, he stepped forward and tried to literally grab me by the throat with his cybernetic hand. Resigning myself to the next step, I swung up and felt my blade intersect his arm. Suddenly, my blade seemed to sparkle and shatter with no visible damage to his arm!
This truly surprised me but I had no time to ruminate on it as his attempted choke hold changed to a fist and caught me square across the jaw. I felt my head snap to the side opposite his strike as I fell to the ground. I spat blood and a few teeth out as I used the Force to ease the excruciating pain in my jaw.
Brachter laughed out loud at Gabrielle's concerned shout of: "Ronin!", as I rubbed my jaw and split lip and stood back up. Brachter held up his arm and said: "Nice job huh? In my travels I found mention of an ore called cortorsis. About as unremarkable a mineral that exists in the galaxy but it does have the handy ability to cause lightsaber blades to deactivate."
I reignited my lightsaber and was relieved to see, hear and feel its snap hiss. Knowing now that it would be useless to me, I deactivated it and tossed it to my wife who caught it one handed with graceful ease.
Brachter wasted no more words as he ran forward to continue his beating the life out of me. Reaching up over my shoulder I drew my Muramasa from its scabbard on my back and this time when my blade intersected his cybernetic arm, it bit into and through it.
Brachter yelled out in pain and outrage as his stump spat sparks. I think the pain of this new injury drove him over the edge as he spun on his feet and ran at me again full speed yelling at me with an almost animal-like roar. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gabrielle cover Ryu's eyes, and I knew my hand would be forced that day as I sidestepped and decapitated Brachter in one smooth strike. His head fell away as his body still carried forth by inertia ran past me. All I was aware of in that moment was the quiet hiss as the blood from his carotid arteries spewed forth and splattered me across the face as Brachter's headless body fell to the ground, quivered a few moments and was still, a pool of blood spreading out from his neck. Completing the motion, I gave my Muramasa the blood shake and resheathed it.
With the sick-giddy feeling of a man who has lived through hand-to-hand combat, I walked back to my wife and son who had turned away from the body by this time. I tried to speak but the words would not come. Gabrielle looked up to my blood spattered and still bleeding face and hugged me tightly. I was numb, emotionally speaking. Yes I had killed before in self defense but it never got any easier and for that, I was thankful. This time it felt different somehow, maybe because of the bloody outcome. I didn't know then and still don't know now.
Afterwards, Gabrielle and Ryu went with me to medical. The Force, wonderful ally that it is, had started healing the damage but it couldn't grow back my lost teeth. The doctor, who attended me in Medical, took a genetic scan of my remaining teeth and started to clone the replacements. While the Clone Wars may have outlawed cloning on a fully grown sentient basis, cloning of small parts for medicinal purposes was still allowed.
Gabrielle shooed the nurse away and began to clean my wounds herself while Ryu sat on the table across from us and was looked over by a 2-1-B at Gabrielle's insistence. I tried to speak again but Gabrielle put her hand over my mouth and spoke first: "I know Ronin. I know. I can feel your anguish over our bond, but you have to know that Brachter made his choice. I think that he wanted to die rather than live knowing that you had defeated him twice."
She continued speaking and said: "I know that this outcome was the last one you wanted but sometimes, we can only be moved along by events rather than determining our own course in them. I didn't let Ryu see the final blow but I'm certain he already knew what would happen. The Force is strong with him. Of that, we can both be sure."
As she finished speaking the doctor came back in and said: "Constable Jayks, I need to see the extent of the soft tissue damage before I can implant your new teeth. If you'll come with me, this will only take an hour or so." Gabrielle nodded and said: "We'll be here when they get done with you." I smiled though the muscles in my face protested at the movement a little and I followed the doctor into a clean room for examination. An hour later, I had my new teeth and a clean bill of health. Ryu was given one too though he did comment he was incredibly hungry, at which point we set out for home.
Chapter 48
Before we could actually go home though, we needed to stop by the Constabulary office and give our statements. It was clearly self-defense on all counts but I had to follow the laws I helped to enforce or they would be meaningless. My deputies were efficient and professional about the whole affair. The Shuttleport had been cleaned up. The remains had been, in their own words, "bagged and tagged," while the remaining henchmen had been arrested and sent back to Selkar's station on the same shuttle that brought them. The reports were closed out and logged in the main computer and I was told to take three days off to recover and then we were released to finally go home as we had planned.
After getting home and cleaning up, I had one last thing to do. The spirit of my sword had sung to me at the moment of use, and now I had to clean the blade. I was only slightly less comfortable doing this than I had been causing the damage in the first place. When it was done, I put my Muramasa back in its scabbard and back on the stand. The spirit was silent again while at the same time I silently prayed I would never have to use it again.
As I finished this last task, I felt a huge Force signature reveal itself somewhere on the planet but I could only tell it was there, not where. I was tempted to go and search it out but the Force told me in its fashion 'it would come to me when ready'. Trusting the Force in this, my family and I sat down to dinner and after that, my wife and I sat down in the living room and discussed the whole matter with our son in the hopes of giving him a valuable life lesson from all of it.
When Ryu asked about the Force presence he had felt just before dinner, Gabrielle and I could tell him nothing since we ourselves knew no more than he did, that there was a very powerful Force user somewhere on the planet. When prompted about whether we should seek it out or wait for it, I said that we should wait for it. Neither my wife nor my son asked again that night and as it turned out, the wait was not a very long one.
Three days later, on my way to the Constabulary office, the Force presence joined me walking down the street. The person wore a general purpose all weather cloak of the type that is worn almost everywhere else in the galaxy over a pair of plain black pants and tunic similar in style to what I wore on the job. He had sandy brown hair and piercing ice blue eyes in a face that was showing a little wear and tear, more from stress than age I think. His lightsaber was on his hip and little else in the line of accoutrement. We walked on in silence for a time when I finally realized who the only person was, to my knowledge, which could be this powerful in the Force. That and the only pictures I had ever seen were several years out of date. I said: "It is an honor and a pleasure to finally meet you Master Skywalker. How can I assist you?"
Luke Skywalker's voice had a pleasant sound to it that was neither too loud nor too soft. It made me want to listen to anything he might say right from the start. He said: "Actually, I think it is you I should be addressing as Master." If the phrase "out of left sector" has any meaning, it surely did now. I wasn't even thinking in those terms as I stopped in my tracks completely dumbfounded.
Master Skywalker took three steps more and stopped to look at me. His pleasant voice held a note of genuine apology as did his intent in the Force as he said: "Did I say something to offend you Master Jayks? My apologies if I did."
I regained my composure and said: "I'm flattered you think me worthy of the title of Jedi Master, but I've never had any illusions on the subject. I'm just a Knight and I am content with that." Luke's smile was brilliant in its fashion, as if he hadn't much to smile about in recent history. We both were silent until after we had arrived to the Constabulary office. As we stepped in, I exchanged greetings with my deputies, both the off-going night shift and the oncoming dayshift.
After a fairly routine pass-on of information, I went to my office and offered Luke a seat on the small couch. I sat across from him on the other end after a moment. Luke spoke: "What else can you be but a Jedi Master? Am I correct in assuming that you have been working in the Force far longer than me?" I thought a moment and nodded. He continued with: "I've reviewed the depositions you and your family made. Then I went over the holo-recordings from the shuttleport security system. I should also mention, I spoke with our mutual friend Wedge Antilles and I also spoke with those I could find who had worked with you during the Rebellion. All of them helped paint a picture for me of a very humble person who always looked out for the people under his command and those around him in general. This I think is one of the truest marks of a Jedi Master."
I listened and said: "Master Yoda said that I would not have any great impact on events so I never bothered to tell you who I was or where I could be found." Luke was truly surprised at this information when he said: "Master Yoda taught you too?" I said: "Yes he did and my wife as well. Between the two of us, we have in turn been training our son Ryu."
Luke said: "Strange. Before he died, Yoda told me I was the last of the Jedi. Five years later, in a dream, my first teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi, told me that I shouldn't think of myself as the last of the old Jedi, but the first of the new ones." I spoke then and said: "The last time I ever spoke with Yoda, he said that I must not interfere with your path. I didn't know who you were at the time of course. When I heard the name of the new pilot who destroyed the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin without the use of a targeting computer in an X-wing flying at full throttle, I felt a surge in the Force that told me that it had to have been you that Yoda was referring to. Then, after you made your way to Yoda, I felt your true awakening in the Force, possibly because of our mutual teacher. That is why I never told you about myself or my family or that I even existed."
Luke smiled at his memories of Yoda and said: "That actually sounds like something he would have said. Be that as it may, I'm here now and after researching what I could of you and now that I've met you, the Force tells me that it is the right thing to do, Master Jayks." All I could say was: "Obviously, I can't be objective enough to listen to the Force on this matter so if it tells you that I should be a Master, then a Master, I guess I'll be. For now though, let me show you around our little town, Master Skywalker."
I stood up as he did and motioned him through the door first. Before we left my office Luke said: "Call me Luke, Master Jayks." I smiled and said: "In that case, call me Ronin, Master Skywalker. We shook on it and kept our silence for a moment before we both burst out in laughter.