Star Wars

Dark Path

Chapter 12

Meeting the Team

Luke lifted his head from his desk and looked up at the door. The soft knock came moments afterward. Despi was at the door, Luke could sense. "Come on in."

Despi entered and looked around the room. Luke's quarters were a little bit of a mess. With Luke working so hard lately, he hadn't had much time to keep clean/ Despi shook his head and turned to Luke. "Master, I just received word from Coruscant that a Medium Rebel Transport is on its way."

"Thank you, Despi. That must be the team I requested. When is it due to arrive?"

"Within the day sir, apparently, it has been in flight for a good while already. Might I ask, Master? Why are they sending you a starship that is so old?"

Luke pondered the thought. The Medium Rebel Transports were at least ten years old in design. He was sure that Leia used it as a way to avoid attention, but one could never be sure. "I would guess for security reasons, but apart from that, I know as much as you do."

Despi nodded. He seemed satisfied with this answer, but he still pondered the old ship. Luke watched the man with intrigue as Despi's facial expression clearly spoke what he was thinking. Luke decided to clear things up. "Leia is sending me a team to help me with my plans to stop this Sith army."

Despi nodded again. "Master, is there anything I can get you? A glass of Java Juice?"

"Oh you know I don't drink that, Despi."

"Yes, I know." He said quietly. Something was on Despi's mind, and he was beating around the bush. It was time to find out what was up.

"What's wrong, Despi?" Luke asked compassionately. Despi had been his friend since Rouge Squadron. He didn't like to see him suffer, and at the moment, something was definitely troubling him.

Despi looked from Luke to the floor, and then back to Luke. "I…I think you are over exerting yourself. I'm worried about you."

Luke chuckled quietly. "I see. You don't have to worry about my, old friend. I'll be fine. In fact, I think I might go take a nap, my bed might be slightly more comfortable than this desk." Luke stood with a smile and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Thanks for you concern, but I'm fine."

Despi nodded. He seemed to be, again, satisfied. "I'll leave you in peace then." The man swiftly turned and exited the room. Luke was glad he could set his friend at ease. But unfortunately, bed was not his destination. Luke sat back down at his desk and began re-reading some of the information he had been reading the night before. Things had to get done. And quickly.

Luke had a plan. He knew that no one else would be happy with it, but with so few options, there wasn't any other way.

Zeph stretched his arms above his head as he sat up. Morning. Not his favorite time of day, but it was good for meditating. The peacefulness of the early morning made everything easier to concentrate on. Zeph felt around with the Force, listening to everything going on in the area. A few students were walking through the halls, presumably to breakfast, or maybe to spar with each other. A fly was buzzing around in the next room over. A student tossed in their bed, not wanting to wake up yet.

It was in times like this that Zeph felt truly connected with the Force. He felt like nothing could surprise him, no one could defeat him, and he could take on the entire galaxy if he had too. But, there was always an end to good things.

Zeph felt footsteps headed in his direction, toward his quarter's door. He reached out, trying to figure out who it was before they arrived. But he was trying to hard. He was letting the Force tell him what he wanted to know. The knock came softly, a light tap that rang three times.

Judging by the lightness of the knocking, it must be Vendalla. Sure she was the most deadly student with a lightsaber that he knew, but she was also very soft natured. Zeph called out for her to enter quietly. As the door slid open, and Vendalla stepped in, she realized that she had interrupted him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Zeph. Should I go?" Her voice was filled with apology.

"Oh, no." Zeph reassured her. "Come in." He stood up and stepped over to his bed. No Jedi should have a disorganized room. Zeph pulled the sheets up to the pillows and tucked them in quickly, smoothing out the wrinkles afterward. He then sat down and gestured to Vendalla to sit as well. She smiled, but shook her head.

"Hey Wotapuk said he was going to apologize to Master Shen for destroying one of the speeders. I was wondering if you wanted to spar or something while he was doing that. Master Shen will probably have Wotapuk put together a new one with scrap parts, and that could take days, or weeks for Wotapuk."

Zeph chuckled at the insult toward his Wookie friend. It was fun giving him a hard time. Zeph nodded. "Alright. Though I doubt I will be much of a mach for you."

Vendalla grinned mischievously. "I'll go easy on you." She said a she turned toward the door. Zeph reached out and his lightsaber jumped into his hand from its spot on the table beside his bed. As the two walked, Zeph noted how many of the students behaved at this hour. It was still very early in the morning. The only students that were up were those who liked the mornings, or were from races that didn't need as much sleep as others. They did different things. Some of them joked around with their friends; others practiced their ability to manipulate items with the Force, making objects fly around them.

The Twi'lek and the human arrived in one of the many training rooms. Zeph went to the keypad on the wall, and locked the doors so that they wouldn't be disturbed. The upper flight of the room, used for watching the training, was still open of course. Zeph turned to Vendalla, and saw that she was stretching, preparing herself physically. She wore a dark gray tunic that resembled the one Master Skywalker usually wore. Hers was lighter, but it was the same style, used by those Jedi who liked to be able to move easily, the more active Jedi. Master Xata also wore the same type, as did Zeph. Master Moltes, whoever, preferred to fight with the force, and didn't depend on his agility as much as Vendalla and those like her. Therefore, he used a longer, more elegant tunic. It showed his power in the force. He hardly ever was seen running around like a fool, except when running after criminals with Zeph.

Vendalla finished stretching her arms and legs, and moved on to her sides and neck. Zeph sat down and put himself in a meditative state, preparing himself in his own way. This was the advantage of sparring, as opposed to real life battles. Here, one had time to prepare, but out in the real world, in a real fight, everything was much faster, and time was often more scarce.

As Zeph focused on the Force, prepared himself for the fight. A normal person would have had to take at least a few days off after the fight he had had with Vendalla yesterday. But a Jedi was much better conditioned, and both Zeph and Vendalla could go another round easily.

After about ten minutes of focusing and stretching, Zeph and Vendalla both nodded to each other. Zeph was the first to start his lightsaber. Vendalla then activated both beams of purple and positioned herself in a ready stance.

Zeph held his saber loosely with both hands. He examined Vendalla's fight stance, assessing her possible weak points and areas he could target first. The dark haired human darted forward, bringing his saber down low, aimed at Vendalla's right foot. Vendalla leapt with ease over him and flipped over in mid-air, aiming down at his back. Zeph knocked the attack away and the Twi'lek landed in front of him. With two quick swipes, Vendalla attacked two distant points on Zeph's body at once. Zeph leaped over then low attack, while parrying the high one. He didn't stop or hesitate and brought his own saber down at an angle toward Vendalla's stomach. She easily deflected it and attacked simultaneously. With an awkward twisting movement, Zeph leaped backward and struck the opposing saber with his own.

Vendalla smiled. "Good one." She commented.

Zeph laughed as he attacked again. The Twi'lek girl deflected his attack, and struck out with a series of swipes and stabs. Zeph did his best to parry them, but he had to dodge a few. Vendalla didn't let up with the attack. She swiped down low with her left saber, and then quickly spun clockwise to slash out with her right. With another clockwise half-turn, she swiped out with a quick shot from the lightsaber in her left hand. Zeph moved his weapon quickly into position and blocked all three attacks. With a burst of energy, he shot forward and slashed Vendalla's left lightsaber away and aimed at her hip. But she was too fast. With a quick turn, she parried his attack easily and smoothly moved into her next attack.

Luke walked briskly but calmly through the halls of the Academy. No one had told him yet, but he could feel that the ship was a few minutes from landing. And he wanted to greet them. As well as give them their assignments. Luke slowed his pace as he began to approach the hangar. Their were a few people in their, a protocol droid, a few pilots lounging around wishing they had something to do, a Jedi who was getting out of a fighter pilot returning from a mission. Luke stopped beside the vast door that she ship would be landing in. If the ship was going to be leaving soon, he would have had them land in the landing area near the front of the Academy, but the ship was staying with the experts, waiting to take them home whenever it was time.

"I see you felt it to."

Luke smiled and turned to Despi. "I did. I'm glad I wasn't the only one."

Despi sighed and smiled. "So how was your nap?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

It was no use trying to lie. Despi knew he hadn't gone to sleep. "It was good, I think I made some progress."

Despi nodded, worry still on his face faintly. Luke was glad his friend was worried about him, but the worry was unnecessary.

Both men looked up as the sound of the ship was heard in the distance. It was approaching at a good speed for a ship of its age. Luke had an idea that it wasn't as old and helpless as it looked. A few moments later, the ship was gliding slowly into its position in the hangar. As it touched down, Luke and Despi approached the opening and stood waiting. The ramp opened and touched the ground with a light tap. A figure was already at the top of the ramp. It moved down slowly, clearly exerting a lot of strength. This person must be elderly. A few others came behind him, younger looking. There was about five of them. Good. This would help him a lot.

The elderly Klatooinian spoke first, with a pronounced effort. "Master Skywalker…I am…Spephlek. We are…here to help…you."

"Thank you, I look forward to seeing what you can do." Luke said. The elderly man turned to a Duros behind him. The Duros nodded and stepped forward. "I am D'nox Ti. I will introduce you to the rest of the team." Luke nodded, and D'nox Ti turned and gestured to the next person in line. This one was a human female.

"This is Taylia Manara. She is one of the smartest humans we've come across who meet the requirements you asked for. She is also the youngest. She is only seventeen. This is Cha'ni." D'nox gestured to a Zabrak female. "She is very good at building, specifically weapons. She has created some of the newer models of Laser Pistol that are in use on Coruscant today."

The Duros man moved to the last man. It was a Rodian. "This is Fra'mel Chiznox. He is one of our brightest trainees out of the Coruscant Academy of Engineering."

The Rodian excitedly exclaimed something in his native language, one that Luke didn't know.

D'nox Ti spoke up. "He says it is an honor to work with you."

"I'm glad you're enthusiastic." Luke nodded with a smile.

D'nox moved up to the elderly leader. "And our leader, and one of the most brilliant minds on Coruscant you have already met."

Luke smiled happily. This was good. "Hello all of you and welcome to the Jedi Academy. I hope your stay is comfortable, we can provide nearly anything you need. But this is also not a leisure trip. Your task is of the utmost importance, and the Safety of the New Republic might rest in our hands. If you'll follow me, I will show you where you will be sleeping, and where the labs are. Then we can go over the tasks your help is needed on.

The group nodded and lined up as they had when they came down the ramp from their ship, Spephlek in the lead. With the elderly man, the group slowed down greatly, but Luke was patient. If Spephlek was as brilliant as the Duros claimed, the slow pace would be worth it.

Hey everyone. I hope you liked the latest chapter. Not a lot of action, but some new faces that I plan to have a good time with. Your support is greatly appreciated, and I hope you continue to read and reply.