The tube slurped, signalling that the flower was running dry. Aleena carefully moved around the siphon to collect the last drops of honey. The slurping stopped and now there was only the soft whizzing of air being sucked in by the pump. She hung it up and reached to her harness to turn a switch on the descender. The device crawled down the rope. The young woman followed with her feet on the wall until the ground came within reach.
After unattaching herself she removed the tank strapped to her back and added it to a row of six laying by. Just one more pass and she's done with the wall. Well, one of the two walls. She grabbed an empty tank and walked back to the elevator with a wide detour to get away from the nauseating sweet smell of the honey stalk for a minute at least. She promised herself to have some fresh air in the forest later after having spent a whole day in the saturating odour.
The elevator climbed up the wall leisurely. Aleena turned around to enjoy the view that unfolded above the treeline. For each ascent, the passing day repainted the landscape in new colors, as if trying to keep her entertained. She marveled at the scenery, the deep blue peaks protruding out of the sprawling green of the forests, the orange reflection of the sun in Heart Lake, the fluffy pink clouds spotting the sky, the tiny buildings of Moryag in the distance. There were many beautiful places on Excio, but in her eyes none could compete with the breathtaking wilderness of Yag.
The platfrom arrived at the top. Aleena turned her gaze away from the valley and stepped out onto the grass. She walked over to the rope to move it above the next stalk. Glancing towards the woods on her right, she noticed a broken off branch under a nearby tree. She stopped. For a few moments, her sight bounced back and forth between the rope and the branch, finally settling on the latter. Oh well, there's no rush, the honey's not going anywhere.
She dropped the harvesting gear, extended her arm, exhaled and concentrated. The branch jumped off the ground and landed in her palm. It was straight, about a meter long and fairly light. In other words, perfect. She gripped its end with two hands, as if holding a sword. Assuming combat stance, she lifted the phony lightsaber over her head.
Strike. Block. Thrust. Step forward. The motions of an old excercise from her time at the Temple. The Jedi might have let go of her, but Aleena could never really let go of the Jedi. She stubbornly clung on to her memories, polishing them with ad-hoc practice sessions once or twice a week. She'd go out to a quiet glade in the forest or just retreat into a corner out of sight for a few minutes and spend some time lifting objects with the Force or cutting down imaginary enemies with a wooden stick. She even sat down to meditate every once in a while. It was not as good as learning from a real master, but it helped preserve – and in some areas, even a bit advance – the skills she already had. Block. Block. Strike.
She knew her father did not approve of these activities, although he rarely voiced his concern. They had a good relationship even throughout her most rebellious years, but Aleena's Jedi legacy was an issue they could never figure out how to talk about. Kolhem wished that his daughter would finally move on and see the Order, the Force and everything that comes with it as he did: an interesting but ultimately inconsequential and closed chapter of her life. Her obsession with the past worried him, especially after the Jedi's fall from grace with the rise of the Galactic Empire. But she'd quickly turn irritated if challenged over the topic and every attempt to convince her proved counterproductive. Eventually, they reached a silent agreement: Kolhem would not openly object to her excercises, and she would make sure to conduct them in secret. Block. Strike. Strike.
Crack. Immersed in the training routine she got too close to the tree. A sideway cut crashed into the trunk with full force, breaking the branch in half. She cast a disappointed look on the stump left in her hands then threw it away. Time to get back to work.
She had been helping out more and more around the plantation, especially since Kolhem's health had taken a turn for the worse in the past few years. Most tasks on the wall were now her duty. These were often the toughest, physically most demanding ones but she'd grown into them remarkably quickly and for the most part even enjoyed climbing up and down the scarp. Sometimes without a rope, much to the dismay of her father.
The last stalk took less than an hour. After packing up the equipment she went inside the house. Since her homecoming the building had been extended with an additional bedroom, a gift by Kolhem for her fourteenth birthday, the fourth on Excio. It wasn't very fancy or spacious, but it gave her some privacy and room to store her belongings. She changed out of the tight – and honey-smelling – work overall and put on a more comfortable outfit, then went looking for her father.
He was in the workshop, busy repairing one of their freezers. Stalk honey had to be stored cool and the villainous machine gave up on them in the middle of harvest season. Aleena waited for the noise to die down a bit before talking.
"I'm done with the large wall, I'll start on the small tomorrow."
"Excellent, Aleena, thank you. Hopefully I can get this thing up an running by then, too, the others are almost full already."
"When will they pick up the stuff?"
"First day next week, I think."
Aleena nodded and was about to leave when she noticed an unfamiliar tool on a shelf. It took her a second to remember where did it come from. She picked it up.
"Weren't you supposed to return this to Karf yesterday?"
Kolhem looked up, confused. Aleena lifted the tool for better sight.
"Plasma cutter."
"Oh… right, right. I totally forgot about it" he scratched his head "Well, it'll have to wait until tomorrow, I have to finish this now."
"It's okay, I'm going out to a walk anyway, I might as well go for the town."
"Oh, no, no, you're very kind, but it's not necessary. It's not a big deal if I only take it back tomorrow, Karf will understand. You've worked a lot today, you shouldn't tire yourself because of my stupidity."
"I'm not tiring myself, I said I'm going out to a walk anyway."
"Karf would be probably closed by the time you get there. Just leave it."
It didn't take Jedi mind-reading to see something was fishy. Aleena looked at her father inquisitely.
"Dad?"
Kolhem tried to avoid eye contact for a while, but eventually had to yield to his daughter's steadfast gaze.
"I worry about you going out to Moryag" he said in a voice half complaining, half admonishing "Especially now, it's crawling with Imperials."
Aleena rolled her eyes. Not this again. She puffed to take off some edge that way instead of unwelcome words.
"Dad. We've been over this. The Jedi coup was ten years ago. They did not come after me then, they will not come after me now. I've been to Moryag a thousand times and nothing ever happened. They don't care about me. Nobody cares about me" she grabbed a cloth bag, sunk the plasma cutter into it and headed out. There was no way she wasn't going now "And I'm not a Jedi anyway" she added with barely concealed bitterness "I'll take the lake road, don't wait for me with dinner."
Exiting the workshop, Aleena turned down the road with long strides. There was a section not far always overflown with small stones and pebbles. No vegetation took root uphill of here for some reason, and so ice and rain first did away with the soil and then carved into the very stone of the mountain, springing a slow-flowing river of small rocks that reached all the way to the foot. Aleena grunted and kicked an egg-sized one downhill. Bringing up the Jedi Order always made her agitated. The rock bounced on the road once then stumbled down the hillside, launching a small avalanche in its wake. She continued, not minding the rumble.
"Sorry! Coming through! Sorry!" Aleena shouldered her way through a trio of Imperial soldiers taking up way more space than a considerate person would on a busy evening street.
Moryag was going through the last spike of activity for the day. People were returning to their homes, some from work, some from the market. An unfortunate few scrambled in the opposite direction to get hold of some missing ingredients for the evening meal. The streets were filled with the chatter of hundreds that merged into a single continuous stream of low-pitched buzz. Soldiers watched over the traffic. Kolhem was right, the Imperial presence was prominent, much more so than usual. Stormtroopers on nearly every corner, speeder bikes and even an armored walker on the town square. Aleena was right too: even the ones she pushed barely looked at her.
She made her way down the main street and through the marketplace, then took a left turn into a small and comparatively empty alley. She immediately noticed the unmistakable, plump figure of Karf standing in front of his store. It looked like she arrived just in time: the trader was about to lock up. Soon he noticed her too, and waved at her from a distance with a wide smile.
Rukarf Ploudi, better known as Karf by the locals, ran a small chemicals business in Moryag. Farmers, however, did not come to his shop only for insecticide or fertilizers. He was a respected source on everything related to honey farming, with people seeking his opinion on topics ranging from pruning techniques through watering systems to supplier contracts. A bit odd considering he'd never actually worked on a plantation – there was no rope that could support his weight, he used to joke – let alone own one, but during his decades long dealings with farmers he learned the trade inside out. He was always happy to help anyone out with advice, and his friends – which wasn't a much smaller circle – also with more material things.
"Hey, Aleena!" Karf shouted brightly "Haven't seen you in ages, little lady! Need something from the shop?"
"Hi Karf. No, I don't need anything right now" she replied, presenting her luggage instead "I brought back your plasma cutter."
"Ah, thank you! I was starting to think the good Kolhem forgot about it."
"As a matter of fact, he did."
"I see, I see" Karf laughed "It's good to have a fresh brain in the house to keep the old man on track, huh? What news from the mountains, Miss Sakkar?"
"Nothing special" she shrugged "Last harvest of the season. We'll wrap it up in two days if all goes well. Not a very good yield this year, but it's enough for the two of us."
"Yeah, you're not alone, unfortunately. The drought hit everyone pretty bad."
"Well, at least it should drive up the prices then."
Karf laughed again.
"My, that's a proper farmer talking right there! You've quite grown into the business, haven't you!"
"I guess" Alenna stepped aside to give way to a pair of troopers passing by. Her sight followed them as they walked away, drawn by their unusual, dark outfit. She pointed at them and brought her voice down a notch "Since when do these guys come in black?"
"I don't know, new uniform perhaps. I've seen a couple more like these over the past week or so."
"What are they doing in Moryag anyway?"
"I think they're looking for someone, I see them check people's papers quite a lot. But it's just a guess. You know them, not very talkative fellows."
"Yeah" she turned away from the patrol "Well, I should head back. Thanks again for the cutter, it was a real life-saver for Dad."
"You're most welcome, young Aleena! It was nice seeing you. If you ever need this baby again, or anything else, just let me know."
"Thank you Karf, we will. Bye!"
"Goodbye, Aleena! And good night!"
Soon she was on the main street again. This time she could drift with the flow of the crowd instead of having to swim against it, though she still needed to temper her pace a bit not to step on anyone's heels. Not as if she minded. There was no need to rush. She observed her surroundings, searching for little curiosities in the environment to pass the time. A strange piece of clothing here, an irregularly shaped window over there. In the distance, the sun touched the horizon. Shadows grew longer and longer until abruptly eliminated as street lights came alive.
Then, without a warning, chaos erupted.
It started with the sound of blasterfire, quickly suppressed by an outbreak of panicked screaming. Aleena tried to spin around to see what was going on, but somebody shoved her from behind, knocking her against the wall. The crowd surged violently as people fled the scene. Struggling to keep her balance, she crawled into a gap between two buildings to escape the stampede.
It was one of those uncomfortably narrow spaces useful for neither movement nor storage that are not so much designed to be there but rather just happen to when neighbours don't coordinate their plans. It was bounded by windowless, mouldy walls on both sides, and a stone fence across to prevent entrance. Despite her small stature, Aleena's knees still scraped the opposite wall as she crouched down. She pulled a muscle and bruised her left hand, but was otherwise more startled than hurt.
The frightened crowd flooded by her shelter and their shouts soon became distant. The shooting, however, raged on. Then Aleena realized that there was something else out there besides the rapid barking of blaster rifles. An oddly familiar tone, yet so long unheard and out of place in the small farmer town that she had to listen for a minute to be convinced of its origin. But there could be no mistake: it was the characteristic buzzing of a lightsaber. So that's what they were looking for, Aleena thought. A fugitive Jedi in Moryag.
A stray round clipped the corner she was hiding behind. The firefight was getting closer. Aleena eyed the fence sealing the gap. Less than two meters high, it wouldn't be an obstacle for a passionate rock climber like her. But she didn't move yet. Her curiosity proved stronger than her fear.
Just as abruptly as it started, the confrontation was over. Aleena heard a soft thump followed by a gravelling noise: a metallic object rolling down the cobbles. Her heart missed a beat. The lightsaber, freed of its owner's grasp, settled right in front of her hideout.
She cautiously peeked out. The Imperial unit was some twenty meters up the street. The battle took a heavy toll on them: a dozen stormtroopers were scattered in the vicinity, many wounded by their own deflected shots. They didn't pick the best place for the confrontation; this part of the road was wide and open, with few options for cover. Only three remained on their feet, two busy administering first aid to their less fortunate comrades and an elderly woman caught in the crossfire, the third talking on the radio. They didn't seem to notice her.
Closer to Aleena was the Jedi, a wrinkled old man, motionless on the ground, entangled in a long brown cloak. Burn marks spotted his clothes where the blaster fire hit, some of them still breathing a thin trail of smoke. With his muscles relaxed and eyes closed he looked so peaceful that Aleena wondered if he was really overwhelmed or simply decided to give up. For a fleeting moment she thought to recognize him, but then dismissed the idea. There used to be thousands of Jedi stationed all across the galaxy, many old and wrinkled, and almost all wearing long brown cloaks. Little chance she ever even saw this one before.
Besides, there was something that drew her attention much harder.
She pulled her head back. Her eyes were now glued to the lightsaber. Her own was confiscated after the grim accident with Ahsoka. She could still recall the pain of watching it taken away; it was almost as if she lost a limb. Master Yoda and the others could blather about presence of mind and inner peace all they wanted, for her it was the lightsaber that made a Jedi. The weapon that was little more than a glorified cutting tool for the common folk, but for its master a loyal companion, a conduit of power and the means of awesome destruction that could bring armies to its knees. She often fantasized about building a new one, but the Kyber crystals vital for its construction are hard to come by even on the black markets of Corellia, let alone on a backwater Outer Rim planet such as Excio.
But now, by a strange twist of fate, one was there, almost within arm's reach.
Her heart pounded heavily. It should have been an easy decision. The town is packed with stormtroopers. If she gets caught, a few years of hard labor on some forsaken mining colony is the least she can expect. And if she can't explain herself as a simple thief, if her name is still in some records… there was absolutely no reason to risk that for a trinket she would have no use for anyway. But she no longer had the benefit of a sober mind, neither was it the mere utility of the weapon that she longed for. In her eyes, it was more than a physical object: a symbol of her losses, the failure to achieve the rank of Jedi knight, the shame of being expelled, the disappointment over how her life turned out… and beyond that, she desperately wanted to believe, a flickering hope of redemption for her broken dreams.
She decided to seize the opportunity.
Once her mind was made up, her movement was quick and purposeful. There was not a moment to waste. She crawled closer the street and reached out. Unwilling to leave the protective cover of the wall she called upon the Force to bridge the last centimeters. The lightsaber leaped into the air. A moment later she shivered with excitement as the still-warm hilt touched her fingers. She had it.
"Hey! Who's there?!"
One of the soldiers noticed her. Aleena darted for the fence. Just as she swung over, a plasma bolt blazed past her shoulder. She landed on all fours, panting heavily but unscathed so far. Someone was shouting commands on the other side. Footsteps approached quickly.
Though a fully armored stormtrooper could hardly match her athletic ability, it would have been foolish to assume that the fence would hold them for long. She had to move. She found herself in a small inner court shared by a couple adjacent buildings. A few decorative plants, a large outdoors table with matching chairs, some children's toys lying around, and a pile of boxes by the opposite wall. She raced through the courtyard and jumped on a crate. From there, she could grab the edge of the roof and pull herself atop. The troopers still haven't crossed the fence – perhaps they didn't even try to and instead were working up some other plan to thwart her escape. She couldn't afford to stop to contemplate their intention. With her survival instincts now firmly in control her only concern was to get out of Moryag as fast as possible.
The roof rumbled as she ran across. A narrow, dusty alleyway was revealed below. Another spike of adrenaline rushed through her veins – there was a military speeder parked right across the street.
For a terrible moment Aleena thought she had been surrounded, but the driver was just as surprised as her and quickly turned from a threat to a means of escape. She leaped off the building and crashed into the trooper, knocking him to the ground. She stomped on his head a few times for good measure, then jumped onto the speeder. After fiddling with the controls for a few seconds she managed to power it up and launched down the alley.
People jumped out of her way cursing. She clutched the steering rod nervously. Suddenly she wished she hadn't been so fond of hiking; it might have made her a great trekker, but taking their own speeder to town just a little more often would have prepared her better for taming this screaming metallic monster she had to ride now.
Right turn. Left turn. She involuntarily waved an apology to a stormtrooper she nearly ran over, only to freak out and drive even faster upon noticing the uniform. They were not yet aware of her stunt and that might have been her saving grace; by the time they figured out that some civilian stole one of their vehicles she was too far away for them to do anything about it. She piloted the speeder away from the main street, hoping that the smaller alleys would be less heavily patrolled.
Her sight bounced around, attempting to catch a hint as to where she exactly was. Though a regular visitor to Moryag, she rarely wandered into the side streets and now she found herself at difficulty trying to picture the shortest way out. The fact that she was hurling at twenty meters per second on a military vehicle fleeing from the Imperial Army didn't make things better either. Scanning the rooftops she caught glance of a familiar tower at two or three blocks' distance. Her inner compass promptly spun into direction, and she steered the bike towards the exit with a now confident hand.
She took one last sharp turn, closely avoiding a civilian speeder appearing behind the corner. The driver honked and shouted an inarticulate slur; Aleena didn't care to figure out what. She blazed past a couple more buildings and the meadow outside of Moryag finally came into view. She gritted her teeth. Almost there. Almost.
Out of nowhere, a bulking shadow blocked the path. A steel box hovering five meters above ground, resting on two enormous legs each segmented by a bird-like reversed knee. The walker. But it can't be, Aleena protested. She saw it just a few minutes earlier. It was on the main square. It should be on the main square.
Still, against reason and wish, the nightmarish machine was somehow towering right in front of her, its two viewports looking down like a giant's dead eyes, its cannon aimed and ready to spit death.
Aleena gripped the steering rod stronger and leaned tightly on the speeder. Concentrate, she murmured, concentrate. It's going to fire and you'll have to dodge it. You can do it. It's just like those training remotes back in the Temple, only bigger.
Except, of course, that a hit from the remote would sting a little and maybe cause an inflammation. A hit from the AT-ST will fry her alive.
She licked her drying lips. A flick in the Force; she jerked the vehicle left. The road exploded into dust right next to her. No time to celebrate. She sensed that the walker was about to fire again. She dashed right, closely avoiding the second shot. The gunner must have become annoyed and unleashed a whole volley in response, but it was too late: Aleena already reached the dead zone of the cannon and the salvo flew meters above her head.
She burst through the legs of the walker and out into the field. The roar of the engine that was so far reflected by the walls now dispersed on the soft grass blanket making it suddenly muted. Aleena let out a breath who knows how long she had been holding. It couldn't have been more than five minutes since she picked up the lightsaber, but it felt like multitudes more. She peeked back above her shoulder. The walker was trying to turn around without crashing into its surroundings, but disappeared behind the curvature of the terrain before it could catch her in its sight again. There was no sign of anyone else following. The whole garrison must have been alerted to her escape by now, but they weren't yet in pursuit.
The forest came up fast. Aleena ditched the speeder in the bushes soon after reaching the trees; it was beyond her skill to navigate the vehicle among the trunks and she feared it might have some tracker installed anyway. She continued on foot, deliberately aiming for the thickest of the underbrush. It slowed her down, but would slow down her chasers even more.
The last light of the day dwindled quickly and was soon replaced by the darkness of Excio's moonless night. Aleena struggled on blindly against twigs whipping her face and treacherous roots trying to trip her at every turn. Though she could not hear anything beyond her own increasingly heavy panting, she could not rest: each time she paused, her instincts cried out in panicked uproar demanding her not to stop.
By the time she reached the lake she was exhausted. She dropped at the foot of a large tree not far from the water. For a minute, she sat still, listening nervously into the darkness. Nothing. Her tension eased. It's over. She escaped.
At last she could have another look at her prize. She felt out the ignition switch and turned on the lightsaber. A plasma beam burst out of the hilt. Aleena's heart almost jumped out of her chest. Knowing it in her pocket was already exhilarating, but seeing the saber power up and illuminate the surroundings with eery blue took it to a whole new level. She swung the blade back and forth a few times just to enjoy the distinct buzz of plasma burning through air. How she had missed this. The sound, the gentle vibration of the handle, the confidence the weapon gave her. She aimed for a low branch of the tree. The blade severed it effortlessly. With a quick upward strike, she cut it in half mid-air. An enthusiastic smile spilled over her face. No more pretending, no more practicing with weak substitutes. After fiftteen years of waiting, she had a real lightsaber again.
Kolhem was already asleep when she got home. She slipped through the door into the dark building. The smell of some sweet food tickled her nostrils and suddenly she realized how hungry she was. Not wanting to wake up her father, whose bed was in the large room, she stumbled to the table just following her nose. She found a portion prepared at her usual place. Fruit pie. With lots of honey, of course. She quickly destroyed the pastry, not even bothering to sit down, then went to her chamber. There she could switch on the light.
She threw herself on the bed and took out the lightsaber. It was still hard to believe it was not just a dream. Staring at it moonily she made plans for a practice session next day. Harvest, say, six stalks, that shouldn't take more than five and a half hours. Maybe she will even come up with some excuse and do only four or five. Then she can escape into the woods and have plenty of alone time with her new toy.
But now it's time to rest. She sunk the weapon back into her pocket and switched off the lights.
Despite the excitement, she fell asleep quickly.