Chapter IV
The Old Jedi Order

"The Jedi Knights," began Timoth slowly as he sat comfortably before Luke, "for a thousand generations; were the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. Before the dark times; when Darth Vader and his Jedi Hunters hunted down the remnants of the Order,"

Luke looked perplexed, "how could the Jedi have been defeated so easily?"

Timoth himself had asked himself that question for years, what was the reason that the Jedi Knights were destroyed; how could the masters of the Force be so easily fooled and all killed, "they were too trusting," he finally admitted, "they looked at the body and saw that it was good and didn't realize that while the body of the Republic may be in good condition, if its head was rotten it would make no difference, in the end the Jedi Knights scattered across the galaxy so thinly; were easily turned on by their Clone Troopers,"

"But I thought there were thousands of Jedi Knights, how did their numbers dwindle so?" inquired Luke.

"At the beginning of the masterfully orchestrated plan of the Clone Wars the Jedi were indeed in the hundreds, but during the war their numbers were quickly cut short as the Jedi Generals and Commanders were killed, by the closing of the war there were only a dozen or so powerful Jedi Masters, and a few score Jedi Knights that were overwhelmed with the attack of their traitorous Clone Troopers," concluded Obi-Wan.

Luke nodded, "I understand,"

With silent observation Timoth observed the young man, he was strong in the Force, he had sensed from the moment he had entered within a few meters of him. The raw Force energy that he felt echoing from Luke was on par with his although he was a fully trained Jedi Master; in awe he continued to test Luke's mental barriers without being sensed or deflected, he immediately came up against well fortified mental blockades that in his mind were insurmountable.

Luke Skywalker, although untrained in the Force was a very powerful young man indeed. His mind was a Force-Fortress, with powerfully placed mental barriers that had taken Timoth years to construct and many pains to finally master. Luke's power scared him, just as did the power of Anakin Skywalker had scared him.

Obi-Wan snapped his fingers, "I now remembered. There was something that your father wanted you I'll give it to you now," he buried his hand in his robes and pulled out a cylindrical handle, similar to the one that Luke had seen in his dream.

Luke held the item and observed it carefully; it looked relatively new aside from a few nicks and scratches that were across it that revealed its prior use. Its energy output was great he observed from the obvious grade power-cell that was connected meaning that it took a lot of energy to function. The young man finished his observations both Jedi Masters observing his reaction intently, finally abashed he turned to them, "what is it?"

"It was your father's lightsaber, I tried to give it to you earlier but your uncle refused fearing that it would give you ideas that would make you join old Ben in some crazy crusade to save the galaxy," Obi-Wan sighed, "I'm afraid Owen and your father had different principles and views, Owen thought that Anakin shouldn't have gotten involved in the affairs of the galaxy and should have stayed here on Tatooine to be a moisture farmer, but Anakin could not sit by and watch the galaxy in pain, he had to do something,"

Luke depressed the activation plate and with a snap-hiss the lightsaber activated. A shaft of blue energy extended a meter long the young man averaged, the brilliant light did not falter nor shimmer but kept a steady beam-just as the weapons in his dream, he felt no heat from the blade but did not touch it; understanding that it could be fatal to him, "How…how was my father as a person?"

Obi-Wan smiled, "He was a brilliant young man. One of the greatest pilots I ever met, and he was a loyal friend. The Force was strong in Anakin,"

Luke frowned, "this is the fifth or sixth time I've heard you use that word, what's the Force?"

Timoth grinned, "Sometimes Obi-Wan and I forget in whose presence we babble. Let us simply say that it is something that a Jedi must deal with. Although it has never been properly explained, scientists theorize that it is an energy field generated by every living thing; it binds us to the galaxy. Some say that it guides us instead of the other way around, but this is from where a Jedi gains his power,"

Luke nodded, "So, can I use the Force?"

"Your father was very powerful in the Force," stated Obi-Wan, "so it would mean that you would have great Force potential with which you could master, it will take time however for this to take place," he observed Luke's face fall, the Jedi Master smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "not to worry Luke, you will become a Jedi Knight, have patience, in time you will grow with the Force as I hav-,"

C-3PO came into the room, "Why Master Luke, the sensors that you had installed a week ago have alerted us to incoming Imperial Troops, this is highly unusual as this is a Hutt planet and if you wish for me to inform Tatooine Mili-,"

Timoth rose from his seat suddenly, "No, Luke you must pack your things quickly, droid how long until they reach here?"

C-3PO hesitated at the bluntness and rudeness of Timoth's request but still replied, "three standard minutes sir,"

"Luke we have to leave now," said Obi-Wan as well, "the Imperial troops will be coming here to kill us all, we must escape to Anchorhead where Timoth has a ship…" he turned to Timoth, "you do have a ship I presume?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," replied Timoth, "now come Luke, we must leave with haste,"

Luke Skywalker rose from his position slowly, hesitantly on what he had to do. Only an hour ago these people had walked into his life and almost as quickly changed his entire world. And now, he was in trouble with the Imperials, his mind brought up questions of whether he should have accepted Timoth and Obi-Wan's offer, but these thoughts were short lived, he was determined in his position and raced to gather his things.