The New Jedi Knights: Fate of the Force

Chapter 3: The New Jedi

By MagicMansion

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, or Obi-Wan Kenobi. I do own the rest of the characters in this chapter.

Luke landed his X-Wing on the heavy populated planet. The planet was on the far outer rims, an area that had only recently been discovered. Being a powerful Jedi had allowed Luke to sense the presence of the Force throughout systems, and he had been to nearly every system but this one. The Force, however, was very strong on this planet.

"R2, come on. You can scan the area."

Luke was nervous. Master Yoda had said these new Jedi knew of the Force, but didn't know how to use it. How could they know of the Force, but not know how to use it? He felt their energy in the area, less than a mile away. He wished he had his speeder bike, but the X-Wing's modifications to carry it weren't finished yet.

"R2, stop."

The little droid stopped. They had come upon a house sitting next to the forest. It looked strange: the house itself seemed as though built with wood, and no one anywhere Luke had gone ever built their house out of wood, even his home on Tatooine was built of sturdy clay. The vehicles seemed to have tires, but few vehicles, even those on the ground, had wheels anymore. Luke couldn't believe the amount of trees he saw either, most planets with cities had no plants of any sort in the cities themselves.

"Let's keep going R2. I can feel the Force getting stronger."

Luke and R2 continued in front of the house, then through a field until they came to something hard. It seemed to be like clay, but rougher, and dark. It was a long path, which seemed to go very far, and all of the houses sat next to it. Luke motioned for R2 to continue, and he felt the Force getting stronger as they kept going. R2 beeped, telling Luke that a few life forms were headed for them.

Luke and R2 stopped, and saw across one of the dark paths 5 people, who looked to be in their teens, running on a smaller, lighter path. They crossed the dark path, and saw Luke and R2. They stopped immediately, and one of them said something. Another answered him, but Luke heard nothing.

These were the Jedi he was searching for. The Force was strong around them, but they didn't seem to be carrying anything but practice lightsabers that looked very primitive and seemed to be made of wood. A vehicle on four wheels came up next to them, and stopped. Both of the occupants seemed to be in amazement. They too radiated a strong presence of the Force. They got out joining the rest.

"Uh, excuse me," one of them said as they walked up. "Are… are you Mark Hamill?"

Luke looked around for a minute, but no one else was around.

"Who are you talking too?"

"We're talking to you. Aren't you Mark Hamill?"

"He can't be Mark Hamill. He's too young looking."

"Maybe he got plastic surgery. If I were Mark Hamill, I'd want to so I could look like Luke Skywalker again."

"That's me," Luke said. "How did you know my name?"

They all looked at each other.

"Wow, I think he's gotten too into his role. Maybe he's got mental problems."

"I do not have mental problems," Luke said. "I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. My father was Anakin Skywalker; also a Jedi Knight who turned to the Dark Side after Darth Sidious manipulated his mind. I trained under Master Yoda, and defeated my own father in a lightsaber duel, afterwards he killed Darth Sidious and died shortly afterward."

"Mark, I think you need a break from your acting career," one said.

"Acting? Acting? You cannot act like a Jedi Knight. How dare you insult me."

Luke, relax, Obi-Wan said in his mind. They know of your accomplishments, but not as you have done them I'm afraid. You must prove you are a real Jedi Knight. Use the Force Luke.

"Okay, sorry about that." Luke relaxed. "I'll prove to you I'm a Jedi Knight then."

Everyone smiled as though ready to laugh. Luke concentrated on the Force, and focused on a large metal bin near them. It had to be too heavy to lift under normal power, so that would convince them.

Luke held out his hands, and began to lift the large metal bin. He slowly lifted it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 feet in the air. He opened his eyes, and held it steady.

"Oh my god," the group said. One of them walked over to it, and, using his practice lightsaber, waved around underneath the bin.

"Nothing. There's nothing pushing it up."

Luke lowered the metal bin slowly, and set it down.

"I don't know guys. That seemed real enough to me," another said.

"No way, he had something set up. If you're a real Jedi, do one of those Jedi jumps."

Luke nodded. He looked around for something tall, and found a two story building nearby. He walked over to it, and stood beside it.

"Hold on," one said. He walked over and waved his practice lightsaber all around Luke. "Ok, no strings or anything guys."

Luke concentrated, and leapt into the air, and landed on top of the second story roof. The group looked at him in amazement. He jumped back down, and landed without a single noise on a hard surface.

"And if that doesn't prove to you I'm a Jedi, I have my lightsaber."

He pulled it out, and ignited it. Everyone stared as it hummed. One of them pointed to the dark path they were standing on.

"If that's a real lightsaber, it could melt a hole in the road. If it does, then you're obviously for real."

Luke walked to the dark path, and stabbed his lightsaber into it. The surface began to melt, and a large hole was made in it. Luke pulled out his lightsaber, still clean as always.

"Great," one said. "Another pothole I have to drive over."

"Shut up Shawn," one said. Luke made a mental note of the name and face of Shawn, who seemed to be the only male in the group with glasses.

"This is obviously a real Jedi," another said. "I mean, he lifted that dumpster, he jumped up two stories, and he made a hole in the road with his lightsaber, and it has no melted tar on it."

"So," one said. "You're really Luke Skywalker?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. Why didn't you believe me?"

The group looked at each other. "We'll show you," one said.

All 9 of them headed to a house that belonged to "Josh", where they had apparently been when they heard Luke's X-Wing. Two of them left to go get someone else, and said they would be back in about an hour, which Luke had no clue how long that was. R2 calculated it for him, and he nodded.

They all sat down in a small room, and the one called Josh put a disc into a machine. A large screen showed up, and said Star Wars on it. Josh hit a button on a small device that looked like a comlink. The screen moved through a series of events, and finally came to a showing of what Obi-Wan had already told him about: a story of where he and Luke's father had chased an assassin through old Coruscant.

"Where did you get these archives," Luke asked.

"They aren't archives. It's just a movie," one said. "Or, that's what we though until now."

"Why are you here," Shawn asked. "You couldn't have just been passing through. You're looking for something, aren't you?"

"I am. I'm looking for several Jedi."

"Well, they can't be that hard to find on Earth. They'd have lightsabers."

"No, they do not. They do not know they are Jedi yet. Master Yoda believes they have sufficient lightsaber skills, but have no other Jedi training."

"Well, I'm sure if you look for professional swordfighters, they'd have good skills."

"No," Luke said. "I know where the Jedi are."

"Well, why didn't you go right to them?"

"I already have."

Everyone looked at him in amazement.

"Do you mean…?"

"You are Jedi, yes. And your two friends, I sense the Force in them as well. Fate has apparently brought you together as friends in order for me to find you."

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Well, I am to train you by orders of Master Yoda. I will have to take you to Coruscant though."

"We can't just leave our lives here on Earth. We have families, and friends, and things we need to do."

"Well, I can have a rebel cruiser pick you up from Earth, and your family and friends. I can convince the Republic to get some influence out here, but in the meantime, you must come to start your training."

R2 beeped at Luke. Luke nodded.

A hologram projected from R2 to the middle of the room. A man was standing.

"Luke Skywalker, a fleet of ships has followed you to your current location. They had apparently been waiting for you to leave the Republic. They are on their way to you. Would you like us to send reinforcements?"

"No, send a rebel cruiser. How long until they get here?"

"Approximately a week. We can send the cruiser ahead with some escort, and it can be there within a few days."

"Send it. Make sure it has only the crew aboard. We'll need room."

"Yes Master Skywalker."

"I'm sorry to cut this short everyone," Luke said as three more people entered, one carrying a young child. "Your planet, I'm afraid, is in danger. You cannot stay here."

"What about everyone we know? Our families, friends?"

"They will be able to come with, but I can only limit you each to 200 people."

"Well, that's fine. We don't know that many people together."

"Actually guys, 200 people aren't a lot. I'd hate to say it, but we have to be careful in our choices."

"Spoken like a true Jedi," Luke said. "I will stay here while you contact those who are coming with. I will require somewhere to stay though."

Josh nodded. "You can stay here. Uh, how are we going to stay here all week though? I have to be back in New York for more military training on Monday."

"Oh, R2 will take care of everything."

R2 plugged himself into a computer, and within an hour, none of the people in the room existed.

"R2 will add everything to the archives when we get back to Coruscant. Now, begin contacting those who will be coming with. One at a time, and I will begin training the rest of you."

Luke took everyone but the girl named Abby out. Abby, unfortunately, had given birth to a child, and therefore, couldn't be a Jedi anymore.

"Okay, let me get your names first."

Everyone told Luke their names: Kyle, Jarrod, Josh, Mary, Victor, Shawn, and Beckie. Luke memorized the names to the faces.

"Okay. I trust you all know each other?"

They all nodded.

"Okay. Now, I see you have very primitive practice sabers. Those will have to do at the moment, until I can get to making some upgraded practice sabers. Now, why don't you all pair up and let me see your skills."

Luke paired everyone up, according to what he felt in the Force. He matched Josh and Jarrod, Victor and Kyle, and Mary and Beckie. It seemed they would need extra training. He put Shawn in with Victor and Kyle, since Victor seemed to have skill with a double lightsaber, which was a rare feat in itself. No one since Darth Maul had used a double lightsaber. Luke would watch the one called Victor closely. He walked around, mostly helping the two girls, who were getting better. It seemed Jarrod and Josh, who were related, were extremely skilled at dueling. As for Victor, he managed to hold back both Kyle and Shawn. It seemed that the archives of his father's life had taught them much.

Luke next began to teach them about the Force. After a few hours, they started to lift small objects, and most managed to be able to jump about 5 feet in the air. The girls were extremely good with the Force though; they managed to lift objects such as a small bench and could easily summon their practice sabers, which Luke thought were a little heavy. The boys, he thought, were more skilled with a saber, the girls with the Force. He tested this theory, and found it to be true. Three of the boys together could not lift what one girl could by herself. The boys, however, seemed very skilled with their sabers. He would train all of them as to their abilities. Over the next few days, he trained the 7 of them more, had them contact who they needed to, and had R2 arrange things so everyone would be able to get to the landing site of the cruiser: a park outside the small town. After 6 days of training, everyone had become extremely skilled with their lightsabers, their knowledge of the Force, and their reactions had improved, as well as their ability to see the future. They inevitably found this ability painful.

"Our planet is going to be destroyed, isn't it Luke," Beckie asked while they ate lunch one day.

Luke sighed. He was afraid to train them too much because of the ability to see the future. He himself had cut his own training short when his friends had been in danger.

"I'm afraid so. There isn't much I can do about it, nor can the Republic. Our armies aren't ready for a space battle around an unfamiliar star. Nor are they ready for a ground battle. We've just begun rebuilding the clone armies, but the first 2000 won't be ready for another week. I'm very sorry, but since you know of my adventures, you know you cannot let this affect you."

"Yes Master," they all said sadly.

Luke felt bad for telling them not to be upset, but he knew they were. He knew they felt the same way he had when he and Obi-Wan had left Tatooine. Except he could go back to Tatooine, they wouldn't be able to come back to Earth.

Luke also had a bad feeling, because the cruiser hadn't shown up yet. He had faith though, and foresaw the cruiser full of the relatives and friends of his new Padawans. He finally got R2 to get everyone to their final destination outside the town. He and the Padawans headed to the landing site, and found the crew letting people on. He noticed that people who lived around the area were staring at the large ship. He felt bad, a lot of them might be dead in a few days. The cruiser unloaded a few ships: three X-Wings, two Y-Wings, an A-Wing, and a B-Wing. The Padawans chose their ships: the X-Wings went to Jarrod, Josh, and Kyle; the two Y-Wings were chosen by Mary and Beckie; the A-Wing went to Victor; and the B-Wing to Shawn. Luke had R2 get his own X-Wing, and pilot it to the park. Finally, the ships were filled and ready to go.

"This is Red Leader," Luke said to his Padawans and the pilot of the cruiser. "All pilots ready to go?"

"Yes Master," his Padawans said.

"Ready to go Red Leader," the cruiser pilot said.

"Okay, Red 1, 2 and 3 (X-Wings), take off, fly in front of the cruiser, Yellow 1 and 2 (Y-Wings) at the side, Green 1 and 2 (A-Wing and B-Wing) behind and above the cruiser. I'll take the front with the rest of the Red Squadron."

Luke took off, and the rest of the fighters followed their orders. Luke had a bad feeling though, and found it to be true when they left the atmosphere. Imperial ships were waiting for them, although Luke still had no idea who was commanding them.

Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Please read and review.