The Chosen Few
Prologue pt.1
Two Years ago…Coruscant
The air was brisk, and the sky filled with stars this night. But under these beautiful orbs of light, came the foreboding actions of darkness and pure evil. The very skilled apprentice of Darth Sidious, knowing and relishing only in hate and anger, was carrying out his master's dark task. And he had longed for this day since the war begun three years ago.
The Clone War, orchestrated skillfully by his master, had fulfilled its tasks to perfection of allotting his master the power he needed to control the Republic, and wiping out many of the Jedi. But now came the final blow, as this day would spell the end of the Jedi.
To the apprentice's right walked a cybernetic Jedi killer. And behind them, marched the troops of the renowned 501st legion. Their task was simple, leave not a single living thing left in the Jedi Temple, and set a trap for any that would return.
And as they marched up the final few steps, they grew ever so closer to accomplishing those tasks. This was something they had waited for, something they had prepared for. Especially the apprentice, as he looked upon the massive temple door with his Sithly yellow eyes. This was it, this was what he'd waited for. He nor his accomplice, would show even a sliver of mercy.
And they would revel in the power, and joy it would bring them.
The following morning…
"Move it, move it!" the trooper barked, as the troopers charged at the two Jedi Masters.
But the Jedi were far too skilled for them, as they cut through all the troops with relative ease. One by one the clones fell, until all were dead. The two Jedi extinguished their lightsabers, and entered the temple.
What awaited them was their home in shambles, their fellow Jedi slaughtered. As Obi Wan and Yoda walked through the grand entrance, they could only look in horror and disbelief as it was littered with the bodies of Jedi, and the clones they had so desperately tried to defend against. Finally, they stopped at the body of one Jedi Knight, and around her were the small bodies of younglings that had been cut down with her.
"Not even the younglings survived" Obi Wan said, sadness evident in his voice as he looked at the bodies in disbelief.
"Killed not by clones this padawan, by a lightsaber he was" Yoda said, taking a deep breath, as Obi Wan knelt down.
"Who...who could have done this?" Obi Wan asked, turning to the venerable Jedi Master. For one of the few times in his hundreds of years of being a Jedi Master, Yoda had no answer.
Eventually, they had made their way to the archive room. Their goal was to reset a homing beacon that had been set to tell any surviving Jedi to return to the temple.
As Master Yoda stood in the doorway of the archive room, he watched Obi Wan at the beacon controls.
"I have recalibrated the code, warning all surviving Jedi to stay away" Obi Wan said, turning to the venerable Jedi Master.
"For the clones, to discover the recalibration, a long time it will take" Yoda replied.
Obi Wan nodded and went back to the controls, and then closed them up, as Yoda walked out of the room. A few moments later, Obi Wan joined him.
"Wait Master," he said. "There is something I must know".
As Obi Wan walked over to the nearby security terminal, Yoda felt a sense of foreboding. "If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find" he warned.
"I must know the truth, Master" Obi Wan said, as he began flipping through security recordings.
What he eventually found horrified him, as he stopped on a recording of an all too familiar, black robe clad figure cutting down several Jedi.
"No...it can't be" Obi Wan said in horror, as he switched to the next one. It was even worse.
The recording showed a young, blue Twi'lek padawan who could not have been older than fifteen, desperately trying to fight the mechanical monster before her. And it was easy to see, he was toying with the poor padawan. Until finally, he grabbed her by her wrist that held her lightsaber, and squeezed so hard that it caused her to drop it to the floor. He raised her off her feet to look her in her terror filled eyes, and then skewered her through her chest with his blue bladed lightsaber, laughing maniacally as he did so, and then tossed her lifeless body away.
The security recorder then shifted to the final recording it had, which showed the two evil doers kneeled before their master.
"You both have done well. Arise...General Grievous" Palpatine said, as Grievous stood up.
"You have proven yourself most capable. And that is why I give you the task of traveling to Mustafar, to deal with the Separatist leaders...permanently" Palpatine said.
"It will be my pleasure, my lord" Grievous replied. "They shall stand no chance, and be given no mercy".
"Very good. You will leave at once, and once you've finished that task, you will return here" Palpatine said. Grievous bowed, and then left to complete his new task.
"And as for you, my apprentice" Palpatine said, as he turned to the still kneeling cloaked figure. "Arise...Darth Maul".
"What is thy bidding, my master?" Maul asked, as he stood up.
"You have shown yourself to be quite capable of killing Jedi, my young apprentice. That is why I have a special task for you. Come, we have much to do" Palpatine said, as he and Maul walked away, and the recording ended.
Silence only remained for a few minutes, as neither Jedi knew what to say at first. Finally, Obi Wan spoke.
"Master, what do we do?" he asked. Yoda was silent for a moment, as he contemplated their options.
"Sidious and his accomplices, too powerful for us alone, they are. Find our needed ally, we shall" Yoda said. A look of confusion spread on Obi Wan's face.
"I'm afraid I don't understand master, what ally?" Obi Wan asked.
"Explain more later, I will. Accomplish another task now, we must" Yoda said, as he began to leave the room. "Come along now".
As Obi Wan followed the venerable Jedi Master, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of something that he hadn't even remotely felt since he was a padawan.
Hopelessness.
A few hours later…Senator Bail Organa's personal ship, the Tantive IV.
Ever since they'd boarded the ship not long ago, Yoda had spent his time in solitary meditation in one of the conference rooms on the ship. Until now as Yoda opened his eyes, as Obi Wan entered the room.
"You wished to see me Master" Obi Wan said. Yoda nodded, and motioned for Obi Wan to sit in the chair next to him.
"A very important task, I have for you, Obi Wan" Yoda began, as Obi Wan sat down across from the venerable Jedi Master.
"Casts a large shadow now, the Dark side does. But, a beacon of hope, there yet may be" Yoda continued, as Obi Wan listened to him intently.
"Call you, the Force does, to Tatooine. Find there, the Chosen One, you will" Yoda finished.
"The Chosen One" Obi Wan said pointedly, raising an eyebrow. "I thought that was just a myth". Yoda chuckled lightly.
"Believe like you, many did. Among them, I too once was" Yoda replied. "But lying to me, the Force isn't. True, the prophecy is. Of that, I am now certain".
Obi Wan leaned back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest, as he stroked his trimmed beard thoughtfully. 'Perhaps Qui Gon was right. He always did believe in that prophecy', he thought to himself.
"How will I know when I've found the Chosen One?" Obi Wan asked after a moment.
"Guide you, the Force will. And so will your instincts" Yoda replied.
"And what do I do after I've found him?".
"Train him" Yoda replied, nonchalantly. Obi Wans eyes widened.
"Train him! But Master I've never trained a padawan, nor am I a Master" Obi Wan explained. Yoda chuckled quietly.
"Correct you are, Obi Wan" Yoda replied. Trained a padawan, you have not. But not being a Master, remedy that, we can".
"Master, are you suggesting what I think you are?" Obi Wan asked. Yoda nodded.
"In dark times, we are. Many teachers, gone they are. But, passed on what they've learned to their students, they have. Grant you the rank, of Jedi Master, I do" Yoda said.
Obi Wan took a deep breath, as he realized all the responsibilities he was about to take on. But he had been prepared for it, and he had wanted it to some degree. Now, it was time. The fate of the Jedi, and the galaxy, was resting on him now.
"Very well Master, I will leave for Tatooine immediately" he said. Yoda nodded.
"Very good" Yoda replied, as he took his gimmer stick in hand, and hopped down from the chair and started towards the door. "In your time on Tatooine, training I have for you".
"Training?" Obi Wan asked curiously.
"Yes. From someone who has comeback from the great beyond. Found a way, to become one with the Force, and live on after death, he has" Yoda replied.
"Who?" Obi Wan asked, as Yoda reached the now open door. Yoda turned back to him, and he could see a small smile on the old Masters wrinkly green face.
"Your old Master" Yoda replied. Obi Wans eyes widened.
"Qui Gon!" Obi Wan exclaimed. Yoda nodded, and turned and left the room, leaving Obi Wan with his thoughts.
Tatooine… the next day.
Obi Wan stepped down the Tantive IV's boarding ramp, and he heard the sand crunch softly under his boots, and the warm wind blow little bits of sand through his beard. He ran a hand through his relatively long, short hair as he looked out into the distance, seeing the large settlement about one hundred and fifty or so meters from where they had landed. And just beyond there, he could see the twin binary suns as they were beginning to set, bathing the sky in orange and purple. His attention was shifted, as he heard a small tapping on the ramp behind him. He turned and saw Master Yoda standing on the end of the ramp. Staring out into the distance thoughtfully. Obi Wan followed his gaze.
"What a desolate place this is" Obi Wan noted, as apart from the large settlement, there was no sign of life anywhere else for miles. "I don't see how anyone could live here".
"Precisely why, place the Chosen One here, the Force did" Yoda said, as he rested his hands on his cane. "Hidden and protected, it has been, from the Eyes of evil".
"Well, Bail was gracious enough to get me enough money to live off of for awhile here" Obi Wan said, as he turned back to Master Yoda. The sight that met him nearly broke what little was left of his already tremendously broken heart.
There stood Yoda, his left hand holding tightly to his cane, and in his right, he held a small crystal. It was a crystal given to him by a young padawan, who was probably no older than seven, that Yoda had quite favored in the order. As they had entered the Jedi archives back on Coruscant, they had found her body amongst the many in that room. Though he wasn't sure, Obi Wan would have sworn that he had seen tears from the elderly Jedi Master.
And that had been in the moment when they had found her. Now, after time had set in and he had time to just sit and reflect on it all, it was even worse. Yoda's head hung low, and his ears drooped in sadness.
"Master" Obi Wan said softly. Yoda lifted his head up slightly, his eyes closed.
"Gone, many are. Friends and companions, teachers and students, young and old" Yoda replied, his raspy voice catching in his throat. He opened his eyes, and clenched the crystal in his hand, and then put it into his pocket.
"Let their sacrifice be in vain, we will not" he said, his voice filled with determination now. Obi Wan smiled weakly.
"Yes master" he replied, as they looked back off into the distance.
"What will you do now Master?" Obi Wan asked.
"Until the time comes, remain in exile, I will" Yoda replied, as he slowly began making his way back up the ramp.
"When ready, the Chosen One Is, find me on Dagobah, you will" Yoda said, as he stopped at the top of the boarding ramp, and looked down at Obi Wan.
"How will I know when he's ready?" Obi Wan asked. Yoda smile slightly.
"Trust in the Force, and guide you, it will" Yoda replied. "And know, you will, when the time comes".
"May the Force be with you Master" Obi Wan said, as he bowed to the wise Jedi he had known his whole life.
"And may the Force be with you, always, Master Kenobi" Yoda replied, bowing slightly as well. Obi Wan watched as Yoda turned and entered the ship, the doors sliding shut behind him
Obi Wan adjusted the backpack he had on his shoulder, and pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, and began towards the settlement. He had only been walking for a few minutes when heard a faint, familiar voice speak to him.
You have started on the path of a great journey, my apprentice. And I will be here to help guide you, and teach you much of what I have learned. You have made me proud as a Jedi Knight, but you will become what I always knew you could be as a Master. Trust your feelings, Obi Wan. But above all else, trust in the Force.
Obi Wan would remember his old Masters words, for they would help him on this journey. It would not be easy, at times very trying. But in the end, he would do all he could to triumph.
As he reached the outskirts of the settlement, he saw a sign that read, Mos Espa, and this would be where he started his search. He didn't know how long it would take, or how he would do it, but Obi Wan would continue to search everywhere he could on this planet until he found the Chosen One. But there was one thing he did know.
This...was only the beginning.
