Chapter 17: Slaves of Time
The Falcon roared through space as it departed the green planet and headed back into the pitch blackness of space. Inside Han and Lando were piloting the beast as Leia, Tosh, and Sim sat in the Lounge Room talking. They had just dropped off the Jedi prisoners here, while Jedi Master Tosh decided on staying with Leia and Sim.
"Well, I see you've done well, Leia," said Tosh as he patted the girl on the back. She reminded him of her father, having a fiery temper and being extremely stubborn.
"Thank you, master," replied Leia as they discussed her training so far. Sim sat silently as the two talked his eyes in the room but his mind somewhere else. Ever since his brief lightsaber duel with Myrenia, he seemed quite distance from the rest, though, Sim would not tell why.
Finally Sim got up as he left the two without saying anything. Leia wanted to follow but Tosh stopped her with a nod of his head. Sim needed alone time, something she thought her master would never need. As she sat back down, she took upon the knowledge of the Jedi Master and asked him questions Sim would never answer,
"Master, I wish to know some things," said Leia as she looked at Tosh.
"Sure thing, what would you like to know?" asked the old Master.
"Well, why is Master Nam so distant these days? He seems like he doesn't even want to talk or do anything," asked Leia as she remembered her master's trance stare. Tosh hesitated to answer before finally sighing. She would learn one or another.
"You see, young Skywalker, Sim and Myrenia were extremely good friends in the times of the Old Republic and the Jedi Order. They served together in the Clone Wars many times and had a relationship beyond what most would consider safe within the order," said Tosh as he told her the story, "but after the rise of the Empire, all of the Jedi had to go into hiding or exile in the Outer Rim to avoid death from the Jedi hunters and the Sith. It was around a couple of years before that Myrenia fell to the dark side," answered Tosh as he paused.
"When she did, she asked Sim to join her. They had been meeting on the planet of Ionisa, where they discussed this. At this time, Sim was tempted to join the dark side and come to the Sith side but in the end he refused," continued Tosh as his eyes went somber, "In retaliation, she turned on him and engaged him in a fierce lightsaber duel along with Darth Vader. Although he was outnumbered, Sim was extremely powerful in the light side, quickly besting in the two in a Force and lightsaber battle but he didn't kill either of them for who knows why."
Leia stared at the ground as she took all this in. She could understand why her master had been so distant these past days. But something plagued her further. When he had mentioned Darth Vader, a question she had wanted answer for a long time came back up to her,
"Master, I wish to know, honestly, why Darth Vader hates Master Nam so much?" asked Leia. She had asked Sim this many times but he always dodged it and finally she had stopped asking, but now it was possible to figure out the riddle.
"It's a long story, my young friend," said Tosh as if reluctant to say anything.
"Please, I must know," repeated Leia once more. Tosh finally caved in.
"To understand this you must realize what the truth is. I don't think you know the entire truth behind all of Sim. You see he was a legendary Jedi Master in the final days of the Jedi Order, even more powerful than the legendary Jedi Master Yoda. It was this status that made Anakin, back then, very jealous and started his path to the dark side along with other details," admitted the master as he gazed away from Leia's face to recall the events.
"Do you know how your father was put in his black suit before his recovery?" asked Tosh as he tried to figure out how much Leia knew.
"Yes, he and Obi-Wan Kenobi engaged in a lightsaber duel where Obi-Wan defeated him and cut off his limbs," replied Leia with a sad tone.
"That answer is partially right and wrong," said Tosh as he shook his head, "you see, Obi-Wan Kenobi didn't engage Anakin in a lightsaber duel, Sim Nam did." These words stung Leia as her eyes widened in surprise. She had never thought her master had fought her father on Mustafar.
"It must be hard to understand but after Order 66 was given out by the Emperor to kill off all Jedi, Sim survived and returned to the Jedi Temple, which had been invaded by Clone troopers. Sim attacked the temple and in a show of real power, he was able to defeat an entire legion of Clone troopers in the temple. After figuring out that Anakin had led the attack, Sim Nam left for Mustafar to confront Anakin. There he had desperately tried to steer Anakin back to the light side but he, as we all did, realized that Anakin had become mad with power and had allowed the dark side to consume him entirely. There the two legendary masters of the Force fought a grueling battle that although seemed a stalemate because of both of their powers were equal now, but in the end it was the dark side that made Anakin far too cocky and ended with him making a foolish mistake of jumping, resulting in Sim cutting off his limbs," ended Tosh. A tear slid down his cheek as he remembered what Sim told him about that day, "That is why Vader made it top priority to track down and kill Sim during the Great Jedi Purge these past twenty year."
For a couple of moments, Leia sat quiet as not a word was muttered. All this information had twisted her world upside down and made her feel sick. She didn't know what was right and wrong anymore. All these years it had seemed that Obi-Wan Kenobi had inflicted the pain on to Vader but now she realized it had been her own mentor. She just did the only thing she could do: leave the room to go to her quarters.
Vader stepped through the rubble as he inspected the prison. All around him, debris covered the ground, especially the Dark Troopers. Someone had infiltrated the prison and lay waste to these with the Force, no doubt. Vader knew who exactly did it,
"Lord Vader, there is no sign of Jedi Master Sim Nam or any of the others," said the storm trooper as he walked up.
"Very well then, report back to the ship," replied Vader with a cold tone. The clones bowed and once more returned to their ships as they got ready to leave.
Vader surveyed the place as he figured out where the lightsaber slashes had hit the ground. His Sith apprentice had failed to defeat Sim Nam, though, that was no doubt. Both of his apprentices had fought the Jedi Master but both failed. He hadn't counted himself in the fight on Mustafar or on the Executor since he considered the later pure luck and the former being because of inexperience with the dark side. He had not punished Myrenia but had sent her on a mission instead of taking a break as punishment.
As the Lord stepped into the former prisoner rooms he checked the doors and realized that this was also the work of Sim. He had eluded the Empire for long enough, it was no time to find the old hermit and end his life. Vader had specifically trained for the moment to duel with the Jedi Master. He could feel his powers grow further and further each day, but unfortunately couldn't judge Sim because of his cloaking abilities. But Vader knew that Sim wouldn't be able to cloak his defeat when the time came to confront the Grand Jedi Master once and for all again.
The Falcon landed on the dry landing quarters as the crew left the ship and departed with into the temple. While Leia and Tosh left to go to the Temple Library, Han, Chewie, and Lando left to go to the Recreation Room to play a game of Sabaac while Sim left to the top of the building.
Sim climbed the long stairs as he made his way to the top floor of the Temple. As he finally reached the top of the endless stairs he sat on one of the spots that he had always loved to meditate on. But today was different. He just stood at the spot with his hood over his head and his robes concealing his body, a person coming from behind him would have only seen a black figure in the vicinity. For the first time in many years, Sim was feeling bored.
Sim had lived through many events including the Battle of Naboo, the Clone Wars, the Great Jedi Purge, Exile, and a duel with dark side adapts. He had always found something to do in these times, even in his self-imposed exile on Lamon for 20 long years, he had always found something to do like meditate, destroy stuff, or talk with the ones that had long departed. But today he felt nothing, nothing at all, except darkness. His heart was still recovering as he remembered Myrenia. He would never heal perfectly, nor did he wish too. It would remind him of the price of the dark side, always.
Gently Sim felt a hand lower on to his shoulder as he sensed Tosh for the first time since their arrival. A slight smile formed on his face as he turned to his old friend. Tosh had once been a young man in his mid 30s during the Clone Wars but now he was almost to his 60s and looked older than someone would have thought he would look like. No doubt it was from imprisonment on Pepious.
"Hello, Sim, I feel something is bothering you. Myrenia, right?" asked Tosh as he pulled his hand from Sim's shoulder and looked into his dark brown eyes that showed concern and hurt for the first time Tosh had seen in many years.
"It's...uh... complicated. I would rather not talk about it, Tosh," answered Sim solemnly. Tosh just nodded in acceptance.
"Sim, do you realize that even if the ones you love are gone, you are never truly alone? I know that every time you go on adventures with Leia, Han, Lando, and the Wookie, you always remember the good old days with Obi-Wan, Anakin, Qui-Gon, Yoda, Mace, and all the other countless Jedi and souls you served with," said the wise Jedi Master, "Remember my boy, they are not gone, they have just become one with the Force."
"I know master, but sometimes remembering those times is hard to not do. When Anakin died, I lost one of the only true friends that I had in my life, and when the Jedi died, I lost my family," said Sim as he continued to look out into the distance, "but I understand that they are not gone. I actually have learned much in my exile including how to communicate with those who are one with the Force."
Tosh seemed to look surprised at Sim as he told him about his power. He had never heard of someone talking to those who have long passed on. He had heard of feeling the ones gone but never actually talking to them. He realized for the first time that Sim had become more powerful than any Jedi or Sith Lord could ever dream to be yet he neither showed nor overused his powers.
With a large smile, Tosh patted Sim's back as they talked about the old days.
Darth Vader meditated in the darkness of the room as the dark side surrounded his being. It was like having water for the first time in ages touch your mouth, so sweet that you want to drink it all at once and never give it up. The dark side was intoxicating like some other rare things in life. A picture of his deceased wife, Padme, came to his mind as he remembered muttering thus e words to Obi-Wan Kenobi, his former master, long ago when he was still a Jedi and was charged with protecting Padme.
He had remembered how Obi-Wan and the Jedi wouldn't let him love and eventually drove him crazy. They always had kept him back because they had feared him and his power he would achieve. But he had put an end to them, except for one of them. Every time he thought about Sim Nam, his anger boiled as he remembered their fight on Mustafar along with what he did to Anakin emotionally that day after his recovery. He would never let that monster live when they fought again, he swore on Padme's grave on that.
As the darkness further empowered him and intoxicated him, suddenly a beam of light cracked into the darkness. The light blinded Vader as he tried to see what was happening and before he could do anything, he was jolted from his meditation to find a spirit in front of him. The spirit was in a blue transparent form that showed through yet the figure's details were perfectly seeable and noticeable. He had no doubt who it was:
It was Obi-Wan Kenobi once more.
"Hello, my former apprentice, I see that you haven't given up the dark side yet, Vader," said Obi-Wan or his spirit or whatever he was to Vader.
"My former master, I see that you did escape death like I thought you did. You always were a coward like all the other Jedi. You are lucky that you are already in the afterlife or you would be dead right now, Kenobi," answered Vader as he chuckled to himself. Obi-Wan was not mussed.
"Vader, give it up. Why do you wish to embrace the dark side? Do you not see the hatred and anger you've brought onto this empire, the loss of life because of you?" said Obi-Wan as he once more tried to reason with his former pupil.
Vader just sighed and rocked his head back and forth in dismay, "Obi-Wan, can't you see how powerful I've become! No Jedi dares even attack me as they know they will die. Even the great Jedi Master Sim Nam doesn't engage me in battle," shouted Vader as his anger once more boiled up to the surface.
"Do you really believe what you say, Vader? I don't. A Jedi only attacks in defense never offense. But then again, what could I expect from a Sith Lord like yourself," mocked Obi-Wan as he agitated the Dark Lord.
"Shut up Obi-Wan!" shouted Vader as he gripped his hand into a fist as if he wanted to punch Obi-Wan and tear him apart, again.
"I warn you Vader, if you do not give up the dark side, you will be defeated. You are already outclassed by Sim, his powers have surpassed your own and soon your daughter's powers will have too," repeated Obi-Wan once more.
"We will see about that, Obi-Wan." answered Vader with a more calm voice as his face once more smoothened out.
"Please, my former apprentice, embrace the light and your questions and problems will be answered and solved," repeated Obi-Wan as he disappeared into nothing, leaving Vader once more in the darkness but different. For the first time in years upon years, he felt something. He had always tried to repress the feeling and until now he had done it successfully. But Obi-Wan had once more instigated it within him.
He felt doubt about himself.