Chapter 11.
Mira and Aren readied themselves, not sure what was going to happen next.
Then two read lightsabers ignited. At first Mira thought there would be two Sith adepts to fight. She had fought them before and had won easily, but this time it was different. The feelings she got weren't that of evil or the darkside. Out of the shadows two Jedi knights appeared. They were the first two knights that were lost on the planet. They each had a metal collar around their necks that was glowing. Mira and Aren didn't have to wait long before the Jedi knights engaged. Aren ignited his own lightsaber and the group went to battle. Mira didn't want to hurt her friends and Aren was fighting off the Jedi to stay alive. He two didn't want to hurt his wives friends. Jayce watched and smirked as the Jedi went at it.
While the battle raged B.C. had slipped thru the door in the back. Her head suddenly spun. Looking around in the darkness she spotted the cells and the boxes atop the cells. She switched her site to infrared and could see the figures sitting in the cells. Hunter soon rolled up beside her. She looked at him.
"Destroy the Ysalamiri Hunter." She said quietly. The droid again went into scorpion mode and efficiently began killing off the creatures.
B.C. walked slowly down the aisle until she came to the first cell. She peered inside and saw Merak sitting down. Merak noticed her and stood up.
"Of all the people, I'm sure glad to see you. Get us out of here." He stated rather loudly.
"Shhh. Is anyone else around?" She asked him.
"I haven't seen anyone pass since those two guards came earlier. Is Mira here? Are you going to free us or what?" He asked again.
"Kid your gonna alert someone, keep it down." B.C. stated. But it was too late, she had been found out. And her gut feeling told her by who. She heard a saber ignite behind her and she spun around.
"Well well well, not the usual Jedi fair I assumed would come in for the rescue." The evil female voice said.
B.C. pulled out her saber and ignited the purple blade.
"Well I'm no Jedi, Never have been, and most likely never will." B.C. stated as she peered across the darkness.
"Not a Jedi, Interesting. Then you've come to take my prisoners then, I won't let that happen."
"I have come to free your prisoners and I've come to finish what I should have long ago." B.C. stated calmly and lowered her hood reveling her face. The figure took a step back.
"Is this some kind of sick joke, your supposed to be dead, the bounty holonet, the rumors, the news. They all said you were dead."
"I thought I trained you well enough to listen to your gut and not the news. Nahra." B.C said again, this time readying herself.
"No matter, I'll make sure the news is correct this time, you will be dead. I owe you for leaving me B.C. Giving up on me. Turning your back on me!" Nahra said angrily. She stepped into the dim light. " When you left I had no where to turn, no where to run, that was until the Empire took me in. Now I work for them, I've made a handsome profit off it, and now I will kill you and hand your corpse over to Lord Scopious and savor my sweet victory over you."
"I was a bounty hunter trying to train a Jedi, How the hell was I supposed to know the dark side would take you over that easily. You turned on me Nahra, not the other way around! You changed, you were the one who turned on me!" B.C. spat, her own anger welling up inside.
"You should have known, but no matter. I wasn't going to live in your shadow forever, you should have known that.. In fact when rumor spread that you died, I was finally free. I made a name for myself. " Nahra stated as she circled B.C.
"So where does the use of my name come in!" B.C. growled.
"If you must know, Captain Noire paid me handsomely for setting a trap for your friend Mira. We knew she'd eventually come after her friends, but to make sure of it I used your name in the transmission. We knew Mira couldn't stand a mystery. Your just the icing on the cake, we had no clue you were still alive until now. Once Captain Noi're has Mira in one of his collars, there isn't anything the Jedi can do. Not even Mira can fight the power of the dark side for very long when she's controlled."
"Mira will not fall for that, You made a mistake using my name and bringing up old ghosts. I'll show you the reason you couldn't step out of my shadow" B.C. replied as she advanced.
B.C. and Nahra locked blades, purple against red. Back and forth they went, the sabers lighting up the dark hall of the cell chambers. The Jedi in the cells couldn't help but watch the two bounty hunters go at it.
Mira and Aren were in a battle of their own, utilizing the force to gain the upper hand they continued to clash with their opponents.
"Kill the male, but leave Mira to me!" Jayce spat.
Mira had gotten the upper hand on her assailant and was able to force push him to a wall, with a quick slash of her saber she was able to cut the collar off. The young Jedi fell unconscious to the floor.
"Go for the collar Aren, it will free them. Get it off him but don't kill him!" Mira yelled.
Jayce seeing his creation destroyed so easily growled. He quickly joined the battle activating his own saber and started for Mira. This was no longer a cat and mouse chase, but a true battle of wills. Mira engaged Jayce and the two former friends clashed lightsabers. Their speed was uncanny, it was as if Jayce knew where Mira would strike and vice versa. The two knew each others skills and weaknesses. It was an even battle.
Aren continued to fight his Jedi opponent who was clearly more skilled. He hopped up on some crates to try and gain an uphill advantage, only to find himself hopping over the red lightsaber as it passed underneath him. He flipped onto a higher crate and his assailant used the force the jump up and meet him.
Hunter had finished clearing out the Ysalamiri and turned his attention to the cells. He went to the first one and started to work on the code to open it. It only took a few moments before the droid had the first cell open and the access code for the rest. He quickly went from cell to cell freeing the trapped Jedi. When he finally got to Merak's he opened the cell and hopped down. Merak yelled a word of thanks to the robot before heading out to join the others. As he followed he turned to see B.C. and Nahra going at it full force. He could tell B.C. was tiring.
"The difference between you and I B.C. is that I'm the stronger one. I've grown beyond what you taught me, I've learned more, and have been able to do more then you ever could. Your old and out matched."
"You may be stronger, but your not any smarter." B.C answered, out of breath.
Nahra jumped back and looked at her old friend.
"Let me show you the true power of the dark side B.C. The power you didn't want, the power you could have had but were to scared to obtain!" Nahra shouted. Just then she let out a torrent of force lightening at B.C.
Bolts flew from Nahra's hand and enveloped B.C. The old bounty hunter fell to her knees and then to her side in pain. She writhed in it as Nahra smiled, taking pleasure in B.C.'s pain. This went on for a few minutes. Nahra then let up and backed away from the B.C.
"You see B.C. The dark side and Emperor Scorpious has taught me much more then you ever could."
"T..There's only one thing they didn't teach you." B.C. coughed. Her body felt like it was on fire.
"Oh, and that would be?" Nahra said in a satirical tone.
"Never turn your back on a droid." B.C. coughed out.
"No, though it's a silly thing to tell me now that I will kill you. I really thought you'd put up more of a fight. ." Nahra said again.
"Droids make the best hunters because they don't have emotional ties, They are like dogs, loyal and they follow orders."
"Oh really, and that means what to me." Nahra replied As she raised her saber for the final blow.
Just then a silver spike flew thru the heart of the dark Jedi. It then disappeared and Nahra looked at B.C. in shock before falling to the ground. Behind her was Hunter, his tail formed into a spike and now covered in blood.
" T.. Thanks Hunter." B.C. stated to the droid as she slowly sat up. She looked at her now dead foe " I hope you are one now with the force. May your tortured soul finally rest."
Merak walked over and held out a hand to help B.C. which the old hunter took. Merak helped B.C. to her feet and used his own strength to steady her.
"Time we get you out of here too."
"You can leave me here, go on with your Jedi." B.C. said, clearly tired and being held up more by Merak then her own strength.
"We don't leave our own, besides, Mira would have my hide if I left you. I'll help you out, I may not be a great fighter, but this I can manage."
B.C. gave a weak smile and let the young Knight help her out.
Aren had finally decided to wrap things up with his foe. With a quick move to the right and then to the left he jumped behind the Jedi, blocked his opponents blow and then sliced the collar off. The Jedi collapsed just like the other one.
Mira and Jayce continued to battle around the floor. One moment Mira getting the upper hand, the next Jayce. This went on until Jayce noticed that his forces were severely lacking. Not being one to be outnumbered he cursed. He used his bit of the force as a block, pushed Mira away and using one of the many deceptive tricks up his sleeve unleashed a smoke pack from his sleeve that created a smokescreen. Aren and Mira ran thru the smoke to follow Jayce, but as they exited thru the now open back door they were met with a hail fire of blaster fire. They made it back inside but Jayce was gone, protected by a regiment of troopers. Mira cursed herself for once again not being able to deal the death blow to Jayce. Something told her there was good still inside him, but where anymore she didn't know. She and Aren went back in time to see that the prisoners had been freed and they were helping the first two up.
"Master Conte, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I wanted to stop, but my body wasn't listening." stated the Jedi that was fighting her earlier.
"It's ok my friend, it wasn't your fault. I do know about that machine he has built to control Jedi. We will take these remnants back to the temple and try to figure out a solution to this new threat." Mira replied. " Let's go home."
Just then she noticed B.C. and Merak coming out of the smoke, with Hunter close behind. Aren ran up.
"Need help? " He asked Merak.
"Nope, I can handle this." The young Knight said proudly.
B.C. looked at Mira and Mira looked at B.C. The two friends didn't have to say a word. Mira knew that B.C.'s ghost had been defeated and wasn't going to ask how it happened.
"He got away B.C." Mira said.
"There will be another time Mira." B.C. replied.
Mira shook her head and the group headed out to head back to the ship and fly home.
A few days later the reports had been written and everything was getting back to normal at the temple. B.C. was getting prepared to return to Tattooine. She was walking down one of the halls and heard blaster fire. She slowly made her way into a training room and stood by the door.
Merak was in the middle of the room with a practice droid. He had his saber activated and was trying to deflect the blasts from the droid and failing at it. B.C. heard him curse under his breath and yell at the droid to go for another round. He didn't fair any better, only blocking two of the ten blasts. B.C. smirked and slowly walked up.
"You know your forcing it right?" She asked Merak.
He held up a hand to stop the droid and looked at her.
"What do you mean? Forcing it?" He asked, not sure what she meant.
"First off your forcing the blade, you have to let it flow, it's an extension of your arm. You let the blade go where it wants, you just guide it. That and your stance is wrong, no wonder you tend to fall over your own feet. Who taught you to duel anyways?" B.C. replied and asked.
"No one really, My masters left me, they said I was a lost cause. I don't believe that. We just didn't get along, I have my own ways of doing things. I sort of taught myself."
"I see. Well that's why you get frustrated, your ways don't work to well sometimes. Here let me show you, that is if you don't mind taking advice from someone who isn't a Jedi." She said.
Merak shrugged and figured it couldn't hurt to try.
"Alright, what have I got to loose."
"Ok then, first off your stance is to shallow. Spread your feet a bit and put your weight more toward your back for balance, but when moving keep your weight even. This will allow you to move quickly. As for your grip, your to high up on the hilt. Lower your grip, and don't choke the hilt. The blade has no weight, the weight is in the hilt, so control it and guide it, the blade will follow."
"Like this?" Merak asked as he did as he was told. " It feels a bit off."
"That's because you have been forcing the blade, and from what I saw, your saber skills do need work. Now try that with the droid, and use the force to anticipate when the bolts will come. Relax, don't tense up. "
Merak nodded and did as he was told. He told the droid to go for another round and this time blocked seven of the ten blasts with his saber. It was the best he had done in a long time.
"Thank you." He said to B.C as he got used to holding the blade differently.. "By the way, where did you learn your saber skills? I thought only Jedi could wield a saber, but you said you weren't one."
"Jedi usually are, I'm force adept, have been for a very long time. I trained myself, and being a bounty hunter you learn to survive and do what you can to survive. I've been fighting the dark side for a very long time now, but I'm retired from the bounty business. I'm paying for my sins now on Tattooine with my droids."
"I see, so you'll be returning to Tattooine soon?" Merak asked in a sad tone.
"I hope so." B.C. replied.
Merak suddenly realized something and looked at B.C.
"By the way, you may want to check out the servo motors in your droids left third leg, it's timing is off with the other legs by about a half second. I think he may have gotten damaged in the battle. "
B.C. Quirked and eyebrow "And you figured that out how?"
It wasn't normal for anyone to normally notice a thing like that, especially on a droid.
"Easy, I'm good with Droids, it's a hobby of mine. I help around here fixing up and repairing droids. I tend to stay away from the HCR droids, but the other ones are ok. I prefer the R2 units myself."
B.C. laughed. She then heard a cough from behind her, turning she spotted Mira.
"So you two have made up now I take it?" She asked.
"No hard feelings here. I was just helping Merak with a bit of his saber skills so he won't be such a burden on your next mission with him Mira." B.C. said.
Mira shook her head and smiled. She then looked at Merak and to B.C.
"The council had gathered and they want to speak to you B.C." Mira said
"Lead the way, the sooner I get everything in order here, the sooner I go home."
"Goodbye B.C. Hopefully one day I'll see you on 'Tattooine." Merak said and then continued his training.
B.C. gave a slight smile and walked with Mira down the hall.
"He's a good kid, just needs someone to show him the ropes a bit more."
Mira nodded as she lead B.C. into the council chambers of the new Jedi Temple. The other members had taken their seats and Mira motioned for B.C. to stand in the middle and then went to her own near Luke who sat in his own chair. The council members looked at B.C. and then to each other and then to Luke.
"B.C. Orion, you have been called to this meeting of the council. We have read your reports on the incident, though you did leave out what occurred back in the cells. Some of the rescued Jedi have in their reports that you fought with a dark adept, is this true?" One of the older masters stated
B.C. balled up her fists. She really didn't to say what really happened back there.
"Master Skywalker and members of the Jedi council. I prefer not to answer what occurred in the battle I faced for reasons known only to me. Your young knights have been returned safely, no harm has come to anyone but the Empire. Do forgive me if I ask to leave it at that." She said calmly. She knew some of them most likely could read her thoughts, but she kept her mind off of that fight. The council members erupted in discussions between themselves.
Luke raised a hand and the whispering stopped. He then looked at Mira who nodded. B.C. had got the impression that Mira had told Luke what had happened. He then looked at B.C.
"B.C. Orion, ex-Bounty hunter of Tattooine. We on the council would like to thank you for the effort and help you put in for the rescue of our young friends. Without you many more Jedi would have either been captured or worse yet. With your help our friends returned safely home. Because of this mission and the fact that you proved not only in this mission but also thru the war that you are on the side of the Jedi, the council and I have spoken and come to a decision. Many years ago, by the rules of the old Jedi code you were turned away, punished for wanting to be a Jedi. That led you to the life you led as a bounty hunter. I, as leader of the new order of Jedi wish to rectify this wrong brought upon you so many years ago. You have served your time and served us well as a friend, a confidant and an ally in times of crisis. Because of this We have decided B.C. Orion to grant you the rank of Master Jedi. We know that you wish to return to your solitude on Tattooine, and we respect that. Know from this day forward that you shall be known among our ranks as Master B.C. Orion."
The color slightly drained from B.C's face. This was the last thing she was expecting. She looked at Luke and then to Mira and then around to the other council members and back to Luke before speaking.
"Your serious? This isn't some kind of Jedi mind trick is it?"
"No my friend, it isn't. You have earned your rank much more so then anyone here." Luke said.
The Jedi masters all rose and activated their sabers. Then one by one they lowered them and bowed. This continued until Mira lowered it and bowed. Luke was the only one left with his raised. B.C. bowed and then Luke lowered his saber and bowed. B.C. then looked up and everyone was smiling.
"Now since you are now a master Jedi, we do have one more matter to request." Luke said.
"As long at it's not for me to be one of the council members." B.C. said.
"No, We do have a Jedi knight that is in need of some help. We fear his padawan training was not up to par. He did pass the trials, but barely. We fear the dark side may be an influence on him. We are not asking for you to take him as a padawan, but as a partner. We fell he can learn a lot form you more then he can another knight or master."
"I take it I know who this Knight is." B.C. said.
"I saw you helping him out earlier when I came to get you B.C. we don't wish to impose, but would you mind helping him get to his full potential?" Mira said.
"He and I have a lot in common. I'll take him as a partner. So long as I can train him my way."
Luke smiled, " Since your a master now you are bound by some of our laws, but for you Master Orion we can make and exception."
"Thank you master Skylwalker." B.C. bowed. Mira smiled and then escorted the new Master out of the council chambers.
"So it's official now, how's it feel to be a master Jedi?" Mira asked.
"Same as it did when I wasn't one, though I do feel a lot better, a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Guess that makes us equals now doesn't it."
"Yes I guess you could say that." Mira replied. B.C. lead Mira back to the training room where Merak was still training, It looked like he was trying to put two practice sabers together.
"What are you doing?" Mira asked.
Merak dropped the sabers and looked to her and B.C.
"Um, well, I wanted to see what it was like with a duel blade. If I understood how a duel blade felt, maybe It would help me defend against one should the time come." Merak replied as he stumbled over his words.
B.C. chuckled. "Merak, grab your things. Bring what you want, your coming with me."
Mira rose an eyebrow. Merak looked at them both, curious as to what B.C. meant.
"Why?" he asked.
"Master Skywalker has given me permission to be your partner, and as such I'm going to need to train you up a bit. Your skills are lacking and I just can't have that around my city."
"You mean I'm going to Tattooine?"
"Yep, kid pack light, it's a hot place, and I need someone with your skills to help me with my droids."
"But I'm a Jedi knight, my place is here with the Jedi." Merak stated.
"And as of a few minutes ago I'm a Jedi master, so hall your but up gather your things and meet me at Mira's ship." B.C. said smugly.
Merak gave B.C. a questioning look and then looked to Mira who nodded.
"She's a Master now Merak, so best do as she says."
"You want to learn the technique of a duel blade don't you?"
Merak nodded and rushed past them both to gather his things.
"Are you sure you want to take him to Tattooine, it might be expensive, remember the last time."
"Yeah. " B.C. laughed. "And if he blows off a hand I know where to bring him."
Mira and B.C. had a good laugh before heading off to the Commoner's dream and off to Tattooine.
The end.