Chapter 13. Qui-Gon
He was very tall, towering over us. At six feet four inches, he was the tallest man I had ever seen in person. He had kind blue eyes and long brown hair. His hair and beard were streaked with gray. He exuded peace and serenity, even as he looked about him in confusion. And now, forty-eight-year-old Qui-Gon Jinn had risen before our very eyes, looking almost exactly as he had appeared in The Phantom Menace.
"I did not intend to materialize now. How did I get here? Who has summoned me?"
He had really returned. This was the real Qui-Gon Jinn, not a clone.
"You're no Force ghost," I informed him. "You're alive." At his startled yet overjoyed look, I quickly explained. As succinctly as possible, I told Qui-Gon how I brought him back with the secret cloning machine, and how long it had been since he died. I told him what year it was based on the Galactic Standard Calendar. It would have been 19 BBY … before everything changed. I was fairly certain there would no longer be a Battle of Yavin.
"You're on Ruusan," I said. "We're here with Masters Obi-Wan and Windu. I am Emma," I continued carefully, not daring to tell him my last name … not yet. "Master Kenobi's Padawan."
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said in a fond voice. "I would like to see him."
"They're searching the Valley of the Jedi for this machine," Palpatine piped up. Both he and Ben were looking at Qui-Gon, awestruck. I felt the same way myself.
It was clear from Qui-Gon's baffled expression that he did not know about the Valley of the Jedi. I decided to let Obi-Wan explain it to him later on.
"This is all so strange," Qui-Gon reflected. "As I lay dying on Naboo, I thought that perhaps it was the will of the Force for Obi-Wan to train Anakin, not myself."
I recalled that their duel with Darth Maul was known as the Duel of the Fates. I felt that twinge of uneasiness again. But hadn't it been fate that led me to find the secret cloning machine? I truly believed now that Qui-Gon was meant to come back, and that I had made the right choice.
"I felt it was the will of the Force for me to bring you back," I told him.
"Perhaps it is, Padawan Emma," Qui-Gon said, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps I still have some important role to play in the Jedi Order in helping the galaxy."
"How did you learn to become a Force ghost?" Palpatine asked him.
"I became one with the Force," Qui-Gon said. "I studied the secret to immortality and visited Master Yoda. He only heard my voice. My training from the Force Priestesses was incomplete, and I could not appear with my body. Well, except for that time on Mortis, somehow. I only recently learned how to manifest as a Force ghost."
"Could I learn this too, I wonder?" Palpatine asked him.
"Perhaps, when you're older and you become a Jedi Knight," Qui-Gon answered him. "It is through the Living Force that a Jedi might learn to appear as a Force ghost."
"In the future." Palpatine nodded, his excitement palpable. "I wonder what will happen in the future …"
"You must focus on the present moment," Qui-Gon said quietly, sounding like the wise Master that he was. "Always remember that your destiny is not set in stone. It is your choices that will ultimately determine your fate."
Palpatine nodded his head obediently.
Obi-Wan had told me that he had a very close relationship with Qui-Gon and viewed him like a father. He said Qui-Gon was the most compassionate and sensitive Jedi he had ever known. He greatly respected and admired him, even if he didn't always agree with him.
"Master Obi-Wan told me that you didn't always follow the Jedi Code and it used to frustrate him," I commented.
"That's true," Qui-Gon agreed, smiling at his private memories. "As you no doubt know, your Master is quite a stickler for the Jedi Code." There was a note of humor in Qui-Gon's voice.
"Yes, he is," I agreed, wondering how Qui-Gon would react when I told him that Obi-Wan had broken the all-important no attachment rule.
"I, on the other hand … I tended to bend the rules from time to time, and sometimes outright break them, if I felt it was warranted. For example, I took Obi-Wan with me to investigate an incident at the Jedi Temple, when the Council ordered the opposite. I also pursued my old Padawan, Xanatos, who had turned to the dark side, without the approval of the Council."
Hmm … a boy Qui-Gon mentored and trained turned to the dark side? This sounded familiar. But, in all fairness, Obi-Wan had trained Anakin, not Qui-Gon.
And you broke the rules when you defied the Council and insisted on training Anakin, I thought, not voicing this aloud.
"Obi-Wan and I often differed in our views regarding the Jedi Code and our outlook on the Force. However, I have warm memories of him, and always had complete trust and confidence in him," Qui-Gon said.
"You're very wise," Palpatine complimented Qui-Gon. "Say, I heard there's one empty seat on the Jedi Council. Maybe they'll ask you to join!"
Qui-Gon laughed softly. "I doubt it."
"Why not?" Palpatine questioned. "You're a great Jedi Master."
"Well, they asked me once and I turned them down," Qui-Gon told him with a grin. "I doubt they'll want me to turn them down a second time." He turned to me. "Your Master was quite irritated with me when this happened. He couldn't understand how anyone could refuse an opportunity to become a member of the Council. He held them in the highest regard."
"He still does," I told him. "And now he's a member of the Council himself."
"That doesn't surprise me." Qui-Gon sounded proud. "That was a goal he hoped to achieve once he became a master. I'm sure it was a great honor for him. I always knew he would be an important part of the Jedi Order."
"Why wouldn't you want to join the Council?" Palpatine wondered. "You would be able to do a lot of good."
"The Council and I used to butt heads quite a bit," Qui-Gon commented matter-of-factly, not sounding at all perturbed by this. "I disliked their blind service to the Senate, which had become full of corruption. I maintained our allegiance was to the Republic, not to dishonorable politicians who only cared about their own interests. I felt that the Force was leading me down a different path. I believe I was too independent for their taste."
"I felt that the Council was wrong about a number of issues, particularly their disregard of slavery in other parts of the galaxy. I spoke out very strongly against slavery. It is an issue that must be addressed, and not just in the Republic."
"That's an issue Chancellor Organa deeply believes in," Ben spoke. "He, the Senate, and the Jedi Council are currently working on it."
"I'm very glad to hear it." Qui-Gon frowned briefly. "Slavery is a moral evil, and the entire galaxy must be rid of it."
"I came in second in the youngling group in this year's Apprentice Tournament," Palpatine suddenly announced to Qui-Gon. Apparently, he wanted to impress Master Jinn. He seemed to have developed an almost instantaneous camaraderie with Qui-Gon, asking him lots of questions and listening closely to his every word.
"Truly, that is quite remarkable, young one," Qui-Gon said. He had a fatherly look about him. Palpatine looked pleased.
"I remember when I fought in the Apprentice Tournament," Qui-Gon mused. "I was ten years old. I won the tournament. My skills impressed Master Dooku, and I became his Padawan."
"Speaking of your former master," I began. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Count Dooku turned to the dark side. He's dead. Master Skywalker killed him." I didn't want to tell Qui-Gon that his death was the final straw that compelled Dooku to leave the Jedi Order, and eventually turn. I couldn't exactly tell him how I knew all of this. I wasn't sure if Qui-Gon had ever realized that Dooku slowly became disillusioned with what he viewed as the complete ineffectiveness and corruption of both the Jedi and the Republic. Qui-Gon may have had some similar feelings himself, at least about the Senate.
Qui-Gon looked dismayed. "It is quite disturbing to hear this. How disappointing." He sighed. "We had a good relationship. I thought I knew him." He was silent for a moment, then added, "Perhaps he had an ulterior motive for doing what he did. Perhaps his intentions were good in the beginning, but he became tainted by the dark side, without even realizing it."
"It's possible," I said. Maybe this was what Qui-Gon's instincts were telling him. Of all the Jedi, he had known Dooku the best.
Qui-Gon sighed again and looked at me. "I would like to hear more about Obi-Wan. How long has he been training you?"
"Not that long." I decided the time was right. "Not only is Master Kenobi my Master, but he is also my father."
"Indeed," Qui-Gon said calmly. If he was stunned, he didn't show it.
"I have a daughter as well," Qui-Gon announced, shocking all three of us.
Qui-Gon had a daughter? I hadn't known that. I wondered where she was. There was going to be a third person who would be thrilled with his return.
"You have a daughter?" I asked, greatly surprised. Apparently, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren't the only ones who broke the no attachment rule.
"Yes," Qui-Gon answered, smiling. "Her name is Kara. She will be twenty-four years old. She must be a Knight by now." He sounded proud.
I couldn't recall anyone with that name. I wondered if she had been sent on a mission, and maybe that was why I hadn't met her yet. Then again, she could be living at the Temple; I hadn't met every Jedi who lived there. There were thousands of Jedi who lived at the Temple.
"Is her mother a Jedi?" Palpatine asked curiously. I gave Palpatine an incredulous look. It really wasn't any of our business.
But Qui-Gon wasn't the least bit angry with Palpatine's prying. "Her name was Tahl. She was a Jedi Master. She was a Lore Keeper and worked in the Archives, but she also went on missions. She was one of the strongest practitioners of Ataru that I have ever seen. We were good friends as children, and that friendship continued when we became adults."
And then the two of you fell in love, I thought, sensing what he didn't say out loud.
"I brought Kara to the Jedi Temple to be trained when she was a baby. Tahl died when Kara was two."
"Did she know you were her father?" I asked him, fascinated with his story.
"Yes," Qui-Gon answered tenderly. "I cautioned her never to tell anyone else, for her own protection. No one else knew."
"So, Obi-Wan has a daughter," Qui-Gon said, studying me with interest. "I've definitely missed a lot."
"I was born in a different galaxy," I told him. "My father brought me and my mother to Coruscant eight months ago."
"Another galaxy," Qui-Gon said. "How extraordinary. I certainly have a lot to discuss with him. I assume the Council does not know he is your father?"
"They know," I told him.
"Hmm." Qui-Gon stroked his beard and looked thoughtful. "I am surprised he told them. The Council was lenient with him, then? Or did they expel him?"
"Not exactly."
"No one knows Kara is really my daughter," Qui-Gon told me. He sounded wistful.
"You don't have to hide your relationship anymore," I told him. "Now that there is no longer an attachment rule."
"What's this?" Qui-Gon asked, looking and sounding deeply shocked.
"Well, things have changed," I told him. I was resolved to let Obi-Wan explain all the details to him.
"This is an unexpected, happy surprise. That was another way I differed from the majority of Jedi. I believed that attachments were crucial in a living being's life, as experiencing genuine, unconditional love could only heighten our compassion to others. As long as one is able to differentiate between love and possession, and ultimately be able to let go, when necessary, I feel that attachments can serve a positive role in a Jedi's life."
That made a lot of sense to me. I wished the Council had always held that view.
He straightened. "We should find the others."
"Please give me your comlink," Qui-Gon instructed Palpatine. Palpatine gave it to him.
"You three stay here," Qui-Gon told us. "I'll go find Obi-Wan and Master Windu."
"Shouldn't we all stay together?" Ben asked nervously.
"Don't worry," Qui-Gon said. "I'm sure you'll be safe here. Who else could possibly be here? This place is deserted."
"Well …" He was gone before I could tell him about the rest of Yoda's vision. Ben did not look reassured.
Ten minutes later, we heard blaster shots. The three of us stared at each other uncertainly.
Suddenly, I felt cold. A shadow filled the cave. There was someone in here with us!
I stared at the red and black figure in front of us. It was Darth Maul.
The odds were stacked against us, but I was determined to distract Darth Maul as long as possible. Hopefully our Masters would return soon and deal with him. I didn't think even Darth Maul could defeat three Jedi Masters at one time.
I would be brave and have faith in the will of the Force, just as Obi-Wan had taught me. I squeezed the hands of my two friends, hoping they would be courageous as well.
Darth Maul looked even more terrifying in person than when I had first seen him in The Phantom Menace. With his Sith tattoos, horns, and yellow eyes, he looked like the Devil himself. His eyes glittered with anger and hate. He was in a permanent, tormented state of rage and grief, driven by his need for revenge.
"What have we here?" Darth Maul stepped closer to us. "Three apprentices, all alone. Have you lost your Masters?" He smirked maliciously.
"Our Masters will be here soon and then you'll be in big trouble," I warned him.
He laughed darkly. "Nonsense, my dear girl. They are rather occupied at the moment. I brought fifty of my best warriors with me. And I have hundreds more stationed nearby, waiting for my signal. They will keep them busy for a while. So, you see, it is just the four of us."
Ben, Palpatine, and I looked at each other and backed away from Darth Maul.
"Who is he?" Ben whispered to me.
"I am Darth Maul," he announced proudly, grinning malevolently.
"Darth Maul? Didn't Master Kenobi kill him?" Palpatine whispered furiously to me.
"Kenobi!" Darth Maul spat angrily. "Do not mention that name to me!"
We backed further away from his fury.
"Didn't you change your name to just Maul?" I asked him boldly.
He stared at me for a moment, then answered, "Now that my Master is dead, I am the new Sith Master."
Had he been in the cave all this time and seen us find the secret cloning machine? Had he seen me use it to bring back Qui-Gon? Had he overheard us talking with Qui-Gon? There was no telling how much he knew and what he had up his sleeve.
"What are you doing here? I asked him brazenly. "This planet has great significance for the Jedi. You have no business here." Maybe I could keep him talking long enough to thwart whatever wicked plan he had concocted.
"Ah, but I do. Haven't you learned that this place contains great importance for the Sith as well as the Jedi?"
"No, they don't teach Sith history at the Jedi Temple," I answered him smartly. Of course, I knew all about why Ruusan was special for the Sith. The only Sith to survive the Seventh Battle of Ruusan was Darth Bane. It had all been a clever, secret plan of his to arrange things so that the Brotherhood of Darkness would fall, and he could establish his new Order of the Sith Lords, founded on the Rule of Two. He created it so the Sith could work in secret and become strong enough to exact their revenge on the Jedi. I remembered Yoda explaining this to Mace Windu in The Phantom Menace: "Always two there are … no more … no less. A master and an apprentice."
It sounded eerily similar to the plan Darth Sidious formulated a thousand years later. The plan that would have destroyed the Republic and the Jedi Order. The tyranny of Sith rule would have emerged again. Was this what Darth Maul was plotting anew now?
So now Darth Maul was the master. Who was his apprentice?
"How fortuitous that I should decide to come to this planet. I discovered it quite by chance, you know. I was attempting to outmaneuver Lady Tano's ship, and we happened upon this planet. It's isolated and appears to be relatively uninhabited. Plus, no one else seems to even know its location … except for you, of course. I decided it would be the new location for my headquarters, an ideal place to expand my organization. I never dreamed that I would discover such power here."
Oh no. Was he talking about the machine or the Valley of the Jedi?
"So this is Ruusan. It is only fitting that my new Sith dynasty should begin again, here."
Ruusan probably did hold significance for Maul. But did he know about the Valley of the Jedi? Was that why he was here, to claim the Valley's power for himself? We had to stop him.
But how could we possibly do that without our Masters? I hoped they hurried …
Darth Maul seemed to enjoy telling us his story. "While I was on my ship, I had a vision that I would find my new apprentice here."
My heart lifted slightly. At least it sounded like he didn't know anything about the Valley of the Jedi. I was sure he would have bragged about it if he had found it. At any rate, we didn't have to worry about Darth Maul becoming even more powerful than he already was. But had he found his new apprentice? Was there another Sith out there somewhere?
"Plus, I figured this was one of the last places Lady Tano would look for me," he added. "She and that pesky clone trooper have been chasing me across the galaxy for months."
So, Master Yoda's vision had been incomplete. Darth Maul had not intentionally come to Ruusan looking for the secret cloning machine. He had not known of its existence until …
Until he had seen me use it?
What exactly had he seen? How much had he heard? How long had he been creeping in the shadows of the cave, listening and spying on us?
"I happened to be in this cave when I heard your young voices and saw you find something quite valuable. Unfortunately, you brought that infernal Jedi back to life. He should have remained dead. Alas, I shall have to kill him again."
Uh-oh. My heart sank. Had he heard our entire conversation? Did he know I was Obi-Wan's daughter? I didn't want to think about what he would do if he knew.
Before I could react, Darth Maul used a ferocious Force pull, and the machine flew out of my hands. He raced out the cave door with it.
"After him!" Palpatine cried, brandishing his lightsaber and recklessly racing after Darth Maul. "We can't let him use the weapon!"
"Wait!" Ben cried. "We need a plan!" He turned to me, his eyes wide with alarm. "He's probably walking right into a trap! What is he doing? He can't take on Darth Maul by himself!"
"The three of us can't take on Darth Maul," I told him, trying not to feel hopeless.
Then I squared my shoulders. We could do this. It was up to the three of us to stop Darth Maul, until the Jedi Masters returned and could deal with him.
My instincts told me that Maul would not harm Palpatine. At least not right away … If he captured him, Maul would need him alive to tell him how to use the secret cloning machine. I hoped the Jedi taught younglings how to resist torture. I shivered at the thought. We had to find him, and fast.
I reached out in the Force to locate Palpatine. I followed Palpatine's presence in the Force. Maul had taken him out of the cave and into a nearby building. It looked very old and abandoned. We crept inside and walked slowly up the stairs to the very top.
Slowly, I pulled the door open a crack, just enough so we could poke our heads inside. Sure enough, Maul had captured Palpatine. He sat in a chair, his hands and feet tied with rope. He glared insolently at Darth Maul.
"You will tell me how this machine works," Maul was saying to Palpatine.
"No way," Palpatine replied through gritted teeth.
"He's using a mind probe on Palpatine," I whispered to Ben, horrified and afraid for him.
Obi-Wan had taught me basic telepathy early on in my training. I used it now, reaching out to him, telling him I was in trouble and needed his help. I warned him that Maul was close, revealing our location and what he was doing to Palpatine. It was just like Luke had communicated with Leia in The Empire Strikes Back.
"I don't know anything." Palpatine looked pale but determined.
"Really." Darth Maul moved closer to Palpatine and ignited his lightsaber. "Perhaps the loss of your arm will loosen your tongue."
"You distract him, and I'll get Palpatine and the machine," I whispered to Ben. I turned to look at him, but he wasn't there! Where was he?
I looked around frantically. Had he even heard what I said?
Then I sensed something and looked up at the ceiling.
There was a ledge on the top of the ceiling, right above the spot where Maul held Palpatine prisoner. And there was Ben Snoke, hanging above them, moving quietly as a mouse. He jumped down, right on top of Darth Maul. Ben struck him across the shoulder before he landed on the ground and rolled to the side, narrowly missing Darth Maul's lightsaber.
Darth Maul roared with rage and swung at Ben again, but Ben was already moving, dashing after us. His distraction had worked. I had removed Palpatine's binds and grabbed the machine from the floor where Maul had dropped it. We sprinted toward the door.
Suddenly, I felt myself flying through the air. Right before we reached the door, it banged shut with a loud clatter. Maul had pushed all three of us into the closed door, blocking our escape and leaving us momentarily dazed.
Ben leapt to his feet, drawing his lightsaber. "Run!"
"Don't be fools," Darth Maul said pleasantly. "Give me that machine, and I will let you leave here in one piece."
Palpatine opened the door and tugged at my arm. I shook my head mutely and reached for my own lightsaber, even though we were no match for Darth Maul with our lightsabers.
"Come on," Palpatine whispered urgently. "Ben will be right behind us."
We raced down the stairs and out the door. We were back outside, on the open plain.
"This way!" I shouted. "Let's get back to the ship!"
Ben was at my side. His Force speed was quite impressive. He had escaped unscathed.
Then we all jumped back, startled as a swift figure flew over our heads.
"Not so fast," a soft voice drawled.
Darth Maul was standing right in front of us. He had caught up with us.
Defiantly, I stood firm against Darth Maul. He would have to kill me to take the secret cloning machine away from me again.
"I will take this weapon," Darth Maul declared, "and bring back my brother Savage Oppress. I shall bring back my mother and all the Nightsisters. Then we will rule the galaxy!"
"I don't think so," said a calm, familiar voice behind him.
