The Jedi Adventure
--sparkvallen
Of course, I only own Spark and everyone else is borrowed either from Lucasfilm or in likeness of my friends!
Chapter Nine
As two shuttles of Jedi raced through hyperspace back to the homeworld of most of the occupants, their world itself was in a desperate state. The blockade that Skywalker had noted so many weeks before hadn't been traders from elsewhere in the Unknown Regions as the Jedi Council had thought. The Jedi weren't the only ones to discover the world that was so blue and white from space; those who called themselves the Sith Order had arrived only days after the Jedi had departed for Yavin IV, finding for themselves a veritable treasure-trove of other Force sensitive humans. Unbeknownst to the Jedi, the Sith had taken occupation of the far-off world, claiming it as their own to dominate and to manipulate with so many fresh, pliant minds that would take to their style of teachings.
It had taken days to travel from their homeworld to Yavin IV initially and that did not change on the return trip. The team from Coruscant was hours behind the team from Tatooine and both were forced to be cooped up aboard the ship, cut off from new communication, antsy and worried about what they would find. They did their best to meditate, to continue to train… and more than anything to hold true to the path they had embarked upon despite their feelings.
As the two shuttles came out of hyperspace at the edge of their home-system, they saw for themselves the Sith blockade. A mass of Star Destroyers and starfighters encircled the planet.
"This isn't going to be easy," Talon remarked as he stared out the viewport. "We've got to be just on the outside of their sensors now… any closer and they'll know we're here."
"Like… are we enough of a force to take down the Sith? Just us?" Falco asked over the ship-to-ship communicator.
Spark nudged Ebony and said, "I think she could take down the whole armada herself." The scowl she received for the comment silenced Spark for the moment.
Sapharin glanced at Talon's master – Kyp – who's gaze remained fixed on the view they had. She frowned, wrinkling her brow. "Is this a case where we split up again? Would that help?"
Z'Trooper said, "That's what I was thinking too, but I'm not sure how we can expect to take down the fleet even if we did split up."
"These aren't fighters anyway," Kyp interjected.
"Not that any of us are pilots either," Falco reminded.
"Joni?" Ebony asked. "You're being awfully quiet."
"I'm trying to determine where our best area to strike is," he replied after a moment. "Do we go for the flagship of the fleet? Do we head to the surface?"
Ebony's voice was hardened with determination. "I'm going to the surface."
"Our families and friends are down there," Sapharin said in a whisper. "We have to help them."
"Decide how to serve them best, we must," Kyp and Joni said in unison. Everyone stared at them. Joni went on to say, "The leadership might be overseeing things ground-side. I can't imagine what they are doing to our world, but I can't imagine hands-off leadership in this."
"Point," Kyp said. "The Sith are known for their over-bearing style."
"Then we go to the surface… assuming we can get past the blockade," Spark said.
"Oh, we can get past it, believe me," was Kyp's reply. "At least, I can pilot this shuttle well enough. The pilot for your ship should be able to keep up."
"Oh good," Falco said, "glad I don't have to do it. I'd probably get us lost even though the planet is right there in front of us. Or something."
There were a few nervous chuckles as the two pilots coordinated their plan to take them in. Everyone climbed back into their crash-webbing restraints, anticipating a wild ride.
And a wild ride it was. The shuttles were maneuverable enough but not nearly the sort of ship that one would want to use to run a blockade. With Kyp leading their duo, the seasoned X-Wing pilot took the shuttle through loops and hard turns that left Sapharin and Talon looking completely green-faced. Ebony and Spark at least were in their element (more or less) and actually half-smiled through the evasive tricks the Jedi Master employed to get them around the Sith ships. Keeping a close tail, the pilot that had transported Joni, Falco and Z'Trooper across the galaxy barely managed to avoid losing shields several times as both ion and laser blasts came close to striking their ship.
"Coming in hard, hang on!" Kyp warned.
They hit the world's atmosphere harder than the shuttle was really designed for. It's shields crumpled immediately and the friction heat of the re-entry could be felt as the hull became hotter and hotter.
"This is not good," Talon whispered, white-knuckling his armrest.
"Just hang on!"
The landing… if it could be called that… was teeth-rattling and brutal to each Jedi aboard. Kyp brought the shuttle down in one over-heated piece, landing as close to equidistant to the homes of the students he had aboard. Sapharin cried out, thinking she was going to be sick but the moment passed as she realized they were no longer moving.
"Thank the Force," she whispered, meaning every word.
The second shuttle landed close-by with the same sort of jarring impact. Three Jedi and their pilot stumbled out on weak legs and gave pathetic waves to the others as they too deboarded.
"We're definitely here for now," Spark said, looking at the damage down to both shuttles.
"I almost can't believe we're here in one piece!" Saph said, shaking her head in wonder.
Z'Trooper looked at the group expectantly. "Now what?" He stared, perplexed at Talon and Kyp. "And exactly who are you two?"
"Talon Sky at your service," he said, giving a low flourished bow. "And this is my Master, Kyp Durron."
"As for 'now what', I'm getting a car and heading home before I do anything else," Ebony said.
"I think that's a good idea," Spark chimed in. "We're going to be freaked out wondering if our families are okay so knowing will help us focus on what to do after that."
Any other Jedi Master would have refuted the logic, but Kyp was among those who were closest to being rogue Jedi if anything. He simply nodded once, indicating that he was agreeable. "Those who need to go, go. Reassure your families and re-connect. If you don't have to leave, we'll begin learning all we can from here about the Sith's efforts, their purpose and what weakness we can expose."
Spark and Ebony agreed to travel together to return to their homes. Z'Trooper and Sapharin would also journey together due to geographical proximity. Talon shrugged at the idea and Saph said she'd check-in for him, sensing his reluctance. Falco said he would just contact his family through the communication network if he could and Joni was resolute in his Jedi-ness, trusting those he loved to the Force's will.
In the time it took for the two pair of Jedi to return to their families and check-in, Kyp, Talon, Falco and Joni had managed to learn much about the Sith's occupation simply through mindful observation. They had traveled into the closest city and what they couldn't just see for themselves, they heard through the locals…
The Sith had also learned of the high concentration of Force users on-planet, saw the opportunity and seized it. They had begun training their own army of Dark Force users, seducing some easily with dreams of power and magical abilities and coercing others into their ways. Those who were resistant were jailed aboard one of the frigates in orbit until they either cooperated and "saw the truth" or were killed. Unchecked for months, the Sith's plan had been nearly flawless and was near-unstoppable.
Falco and Joni seemed to think that if they could infiltrate the prison frigate, they'd find innumerable allies against the Sith. They knew this meant at least one of them would have to be intentionally handed to the Sith, but it seemed a plan worthy of consideration. If the prisoners had no intention of falling to the Darkside, perhaps they would at least ally with the Jedi if not join them later on. Talon and his Master also considered ground-offenses that would be possible, sabotaging what the Sith had constructed and foiling their plans to corrupt more of the citizens.
When the other four Jedi returned a day later, the plans were solid, pending approval from the rest of the group. There was a calm about Ebony and Sapharin both in knowing that their loved ones were well. With Ebony, it was a state that none of them had seen her in since they'd first left their homeworld – though unspoken, it was clear that she was now the strongest among them, short of the Jedi Master Durron himself. They agreed on the plans with only a little more discussion and began to work out the details of who would actually be captured by the Sith in order to reach the prison ship.
"I'll go."
Heads turned to the dark-haired Sapharin whose expression showed she was perfectly serious.
"But—" Falco started to speak, then stopped, unsure of how to say what he was thinking.
"I'm the perfect choice," she insisted, eyeing Falco. "Think about it. Who is going to suspect someone like me to be a spy? Who's going to expect I'd be a Jedi-in-training—"
"A Jedi Knight," Kyp interrupted quietly.
"What?"
"Who's going to expect you to be a Jedi Knight."
Sapharin stared at him as though he'd abruptly begun dancing the tango. "Excuse me?"
"You go into this as Jedi Knights, all of you. I'm sorry that there isn't a formal ceremony, but if you're interested in that, I'm sure Luke'll handle that when we return to Yavin IV," he said. His eyes twinkled with amusement as his words began to soak into the minds of those around him.
Everyone smiled, not sure what to say about this "promotion."
Wide-eyed, Sapharin still said, "Alright. No one's going to expect me to be a Jedi Knight let alone being daring enough to infiltrate them."
"Fine, but you shouldn't go in alone," Z'Trooper said. "I'll go with you. Anyone on-planet can attest to the fact that I'd be too hard-headed to be a candidate for the Sith!"
Ebony hid her chuckle behind her hand. She winked at her friend knowingly. A thought occurred to her though from what he'd just said. Leaning forward from where she sat, Ebony suggested, "What if a couple of us tried to infiltrate their training camp?"
Everyone fell silent, gaping at Ebony, but silently considering her idea.
"I'm thinking that if we spied, we could gain insight into what they are doing to people here and we might learn of their overall agenda," she added.
"Only thing is that they'd see right through you," Kyp said. "They'd recognize Jedi."
Z'Trooper pointed at Ebony. "Anyone who knows her would know she could play Sith," he teased.
She made a face back at him.
Talon said, "Master Durron's right. Even if you could get through, I don't know that any of us could withstand what the Sith likely do to their trainees and remain sane, much less Jedi. Besides, by the time any spy could reach a point of being trusted with top-secret information, it'd be too late."
Falco had remained fairly quiet, both stunned by their promotion and on account of trying to figure out his place in their plans. When he finally did contribute, he said, "As good as I am with technology, I'm going to be able to help sabotage the Sith's efforts. Even though they can bring their own technology down here, you know they are going to use mostly resources we have on-planet, making their trained Sith use what's familiar here. That gives us the advantage because – duh – we know how to use it too! I can use anyone's help. We can intercept communications, or disrupt their power supplies! The possibilities are endless!"
"Then let's do it."