The Adventures of Rickon and Osha Chapter 6

Outline

In this chapter, three weeks have passed since the events of Chapter 4. Rickon Stark and Osha undergo their Jedi training. Rickon experiences another Force vision while Osha develops feelings for Han Lee. However, the Empire is about to catch up on the Jedi enclave on Westeros. This chapter also introduces a new character: the Clone trooper Able Fett, who is the only good Imperial character in my story. He is disillusioned with the Empire he serves but obeys because that's what he has been trained to do. There are three Point of View characters in this chapter: Rickon, Osha, and Able Fett.

Viewers who have watched Season Four of Game of Thrones or read George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords will recognise a few familiar scenes relating to the Stark characters. This story runs parallel to the events of the end of Seasons 3 and the early part of Season 4. As before, please note than I own none of the characters except for Mara Taral and the Ranat Jedi Master Tamati Kiore. Fans of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe will also recognise the planet Bakura, which first appeared in Kathy Tyer's Bantam era novel The Truce at Bakura, and Passel Argente, the head of the Corporate as always, please leave some feedback but keep it civil and respectful.

Part 1: Rickon's POV

Rickon and Osha had spent the morning levitating rocks with the Force. The Ranat Jedi Master Tamati Kiore was a patient but strict teacher. He demanded discipline and commitment from his students. At Kiore's urging, Rickon had reluctantly agreed to cut his hair. Osha along with the other servants at Winterfell had been urging the young Stark boy to have a haircut for the past few months. But Rickon had refused to do so until the day that his mother and siblings returned to Winterfell. Tamati had explained that long, unkempt hair was a disadvantage when engaging in close quarters combat: one's opponent could grab your hair. Tamati had also convinced Rickon that now was the best time to enter a new chapter in his life. His parents were dead and his siblings were either dead or scattered. Rickon had to learn to live without them if he wanted to be the next-in-line to be the Lord of Winterfell should his brother Bran never return from his quest to find the three-eyed raven in the far North.

It was late afternoon and Rickon was sparring with his lightsaber against a training remote, a floating robotic device used to train young Jedi how to fight. The lightsaber had a blue blade and Rickon learnt that it had belonged to a female Quarren Jedi named Noraina Hamza who had met her end at the hands of Mara Taral. Tamati had recognized a distinct engraving on the lightsaber's hilt: a stanza from a Quarren poem of long ago. The lightsaber's former owner had been an avid poet and one of Tamati's former students. The remote emitted low energy plasma blasts which the trainee was meant to deflect with his lightsaber. Osha and Han Lee had departed into the forest to gather mushrooms for dinner. In the past three weeks since they had entered the Jedi enclave, Osha and Han had grown close. They were always spending time together. Shaggydog was resting under the hut's veranda.

"Good, Rickon. Keep it up, you're getting better each day," said Tamati warmly.

The training remote was firing two red plasma blasts. Rickon was about to deflect with his lightsaber when he was struck by another force vision. Distracted, Rickon was knocked by the force of the plasma blasts to the ground. Everything around him seemed to grow fuzzy and hazy. Tamati's voice echoed in the distant horizon. In that dream, Rickon found himself swept up by a whirlwind. He saw himself staring into a round pond in the middle of a hall of stone. In the pond, Rickon saw his brother Bran and his traveling companions in the middle of a snowy forest. As always, Bran was sitting on the mute stable boy Hodor's back. There was a worried expression on Bran's face. Where was Summer his direwolf? Nearby, a tired and sickly-looking Jojen was leaning on his older sister Meera. Before Rickon could comprehend what was going on, he saw another vision of his sister Sansa and a stranger fleeing into a boat. Sansa was dressed in an elaborate dress while the man was dressed in a jester's suit. Screams rang in the air that the King was dead. This vision was immediately replaced by another of his half-brother Jon Snow. Jon was standing before a solemn tribunal of five fellow brothers of the Night's Watch.

Before Rickon could make out what was going on in the vision, that vision was replaced by another one of his sister Arya. Arya was dressed in boy's clothes and had cut her pretty long hair. She was traveling on a horse, tailing a big armoured knight with a burnt face. Finally, Rickon saw a vision of his mother Catelyn Stark. She was alive but her skin had turned a milky grey and there was a deep gash in her throat. She was surrounded by a company of rough-looking men. A couple of Freys were hanging on a nearby tree. They appeared to be pleading for their lives but Catelyn was unmoved. Without flinching she raised her hand, and the stools below the Frey men were kicked down. They gurgled and choked as their necks snapped. A smile smirked across Catelyn's face. That vision was then replaced by images of a vast snowy landscape and a black sky. Ice Walkers and their undead slaves were chasing villagers. There were screams and shrieks. Rickon then saw a great battle in the ice. Living men were fighting against hordes of undead people. Rickon then caught side of a dark figure in the horizon approaching with a blazing sword of light.

Suddenly, Rickon hear a familiar rasp mechanical breathing. Rickon turned and saw Darth Vader, the same black armored knight he had encountered in his dream weeks earlier. But this time, Darth Vader was not alone. He was accompanied by a hooded figure who wore a black robe. Vader's companion had a scarred and withered face but his eyes glowed with the power of the Dark Side. Rickon quickly recognized the stranger as no other than Emperor Palpatine, Vader's Sith Master and the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Palpatine spoke in a deathly, croaking voice: "Rickon, your family is dead and scattered. Your world is going to die soon. Join us and we will show you a new path to victory. A path beyond Westeros…"

The dream suddenly faded and Rickon found himself staring into the eyes of Master Kiore. The Ranat had resuscitated him.

"Are you all right, Rickon?," asked Tamati Kiore "You fell and…"

"I saw him again. I saw Darth Vader…" blurted Rickon, panicking "But this time he was not alone. I saw his Master Palpatine. I also saw visions of my family."

"Through the Force, one can see many visions," explained Tamati "Things in the past, present, and future. I fear that the Sith are trying to reach out to you through dreams. You must be vigilant and always guard your thoughts against the Dark Side."

"How?," asked Rickon in bemusement

"I will teach you, Rickon," replied Tamati warmly.

Part 2: Osha's POV

Meanwhile, Osha and Han Lee were busy gathering mushrooms. The forest floor and trees were littered with mushrooms of all shapes and colours. As a hunter-gatherer, Osha was able to differentiate between the edible and poisonous mushrooms. This was a skill which had been passed down by her mother. Within half an hour, the couple had gathered a full rucksack of mushrooms.

"The best way to cook them would be to boil them up," explained Osha

"They're quite similar to the mushrooms I encountered growing up on Bakura," replied Han Lee "My parents were both great cooks. That was until the day that the Jedi visited my family."

"You Jedi have this funny vow that you can never marry and bear children," said Osha "Your Order reminds me of the Night's Watch."

"Yeah, the Old Masters used to say that love clouds one's judgement and comes in the way of duty," replied Han Lee "But, I guess these rules don't apply here now that the Jedi Order is extinct."

"I can read your thoughts. You think I'm beautiful," commented Osha, as she placed her arms over his shoulder "Well, you may not be as tall and hunky as Bruni was. But, I like your brown eyes and your jet black pony tail."

Soon, Osha found herself in Han Lee's warm embrace. She was taller than the Jedi so she had to bend her head to kiss his red lips. This was their first kiss. Time seem to fly by as sand flowind down an hour glass. Suddenly, Osha heard a harsh mechanical voice. Letting go of Han, she turned around. The sound was coming from the woods behind and was getting closer. She also heard a hovering sound.

"Oh no, now what?", grumbled Osha

"Shhh, whispered Han "Come, hide with me behind that oak tree on the left."

Hiding the behind the tree, Han and Osha watched and waited. Soon, a dark grey spidery mechanical form emerged from the forest. It did not walk but floated on the forest floor. The machine had a flat dome head with several eyes. The machine had a flat, rounded body and six mechanical legs. It emitted a mechanical voice like a hoarse saw chomping away at a piece of wood.

"What's that?," Osha asked.

Without speaking a word, Han flashed a thought: "That's an Imperial viper probe droid. We have to stop it before they discover our refuge."

Han ignited his green lightsaber, catching the viper probe droid's attention. With lightning speed, the droid rushed at front of him and fired three blaster shots from its defensive turret. However, Han easily deflected them with his lightsaber and threw it back at the viper probe droid, destroying it in a brilliant flash of light. Han dived out of the way to avoid the burning debris.

"What does it mean?," exclaimed a shocked Osha

"It means that we're no longer safe here", replied Han "We'll have to leave."

Part 3: Able Fett's POV

In the cockpit of Mara's Imperial landing craft Sentinel, Captain Able Fett received a transmission from Viper PF-5041 just seconds before the droid exploded. Prior to its demise, the droid managed to send a picture of its attacker: a Jedi Knight wielding a lightsaber. Fett recognized the man as Han Lee, a Jedi Knight whom he had fought alongside during the Outer Rim Sieges. Together, they had taken part in a daring raid on the Corporate Alliance battleship Guardian of the Market in an attempt to capture Passel Argente, the horned Koorivar Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance. Argente had escaped in his escape pod but the Republic had captured a thousand prototype battle droids. Han had saved his life during the battle by shielding him with the Force from a blast during a confrontation in the hangar bay. Fett was always grateful to Han for protecting him. His loyalty and friendship with the Jedi led him to question official reports that the Jedi had attempted to assassinate Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and overthrow the government. Fett had helped Han to escape minutes before a squad of Clone Troopers had burst into his room to Execute Order 66: the order to destroy all Jedi. Han Lee had managed to sneak into the hangar bay of the Venator-class Star Destroyer Indomitable and escape aboard his Delta-7B starfighter. The Indomitable had attempted to give chase but the starfighter had disappeared into hyperspace. Now, Han had resurfaced on the uncharted planet of 4554647. It grieved Fett greatly that he would be forced to kill his est friend again.

At that moment, Mara Taral strode into the cockpit, flanked by her two newly-repaired IG-100 Magna Guards. The Magna Guards were now equipped with force pikes, the standard weapons of the Emperor's elite Royal Guards. They had lost their ill-gotten lightsabers during a skirmish three week ago. They were followed by the Trandoshan Corrsk, his left arm newly regrown. Corrsk was sporting a pair of skinning knives, relishing the opportunity to kill Rickon's direwolf Shaggydog.

"Well, any news?," snapped Mara impatiently. "I've been stuck on this hell hole for three stinking weeks!"

"Relax, mi-lady," reported Fett "One of our probe droids has encountered the Jedi fugitive. I assume Rickon and company would be nearby."

"Excellent," smirked Mara "Gather the men. We will depart east to the droid's last known coordinates in half an hour."