Chapter 2
953 ABY
Tlarr, Unknown Regions Sector Besh-15, according to current galactic maps
By the time the sun had risen again, the storm clouds had blown over. For one of the rare times in a given year for the planet, Tlarr's sky was a clear, vibrant purple, dotted only by the occasional white anvil clouds, as the native Tlarran human population called them, and the massive sun in the sky. As Will groaned and opened his eyes, he looked over and nearly fell out of the bed in fright as he saw a girl out cold on the other side of the bed, before his mind caught up to what had happened last night.
"That's right. I helped Ace, Emily, and Ardee Twenty get to shelter here from the storm. And then we found out they had gotten thrown almost a thousand years in to the future thanks to getting sucked into a black hole while they were in hyperspace…" he recalled. After they'd realized what they could only assume to be the most logical explanation for their temporal displacement, and even then, it wasn't very logical, Ace had fallen asleep on the floor, his armor neatly piled next to where he'd used his pack as a headrest, while Emily had simply fallen asleep on the bed next to where Will had been sleeping, too shocked and confused to be able to do anything else. Suddenly, Will began to realize what that meant, or what it could mean if somebody else saw it without any context.
"Well… that's awkward…" he thought to himself. "We were all quite worn out though. Still, probably best that the others in the village don't find out about that… Don't want people getting the wrong idea."
Carefully, as to not wake the sleeping Jedi, who certainly more than anyone else needed the sleep, and definitely more than anything else either, he moved her over to the center of the bed so that it looked like she had been sleeping there the entire night. He then pulled out a small pile of blankets from one of his cabinets and messily laying them on the floor, his camping pillow at one end of it as if he'd laid there all night. It had been so late when they'd all finally passed out, none of them had even stopped to consider how strange it looked for Will to have somebody else in his bed with him.
With his coverup complete, Will walked outside and saw Ace standing at the stone balcony. With the sunlight out, Will could now see that the clone trooper had short, black hair on his head, along with slightly darker skin than his own. "Morning," he said to the trooper as he stood next to him on the balcony. The clone nodded in reply as a handful of children began to run around the city below them. "I sometimes forget just how nice the view from up here is. It's usually raining so much I only ever get to see it a few times a month, if we're that lucky."
Ace nodded. "Just like Kamino. Do you really get storms here that often?" he asked, and Will made an affirmative noise in reply.
"Yeah. And the desert isn't much better. Sure, there's no massive storms, but there's basically no water or food out there. So you get to either wither away and starve to death in the desert, or drown in the rainforests with an added risk of getting struck by lightning. Take your pick," Will muttered. "And of course, the storms make it difficult for ships to come and go. I imagine that we'll have a lot of visitors today with shipments of medicine, food, batteries, and other supplies."
The two of them stood out there for a little while more, until Will looked over at Ace. "Listen, about last night… don't tell anyone that your commander and I ended up sharing a bed by accident. Things like that here don't have much room for a positive light if you're not already married to them, and since we all just met last night, it'd be even worse for me if people found out."
Ace nodded. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed. From what Commander Sanorr has told me, Jedi aren't supposed to form attachments like that with anyone anyway. I've heard that her master was friends with a Jedi master who encouraged such relationships though, but I never asked her if she agreed with it. I guess it'd probably be just as bad for her as it would be for you, even if it was just an accident."
"Thanks. I appreciate it," Will said, before clearing his throat and changing the topic. "So, what are your plans now? If you plan to try and leave, today would be your best bet with the clear weather. There's always a few transports to take people on or off planet when we've got clear weather like this. There've been rumors of Jedi trying to get back together and start up a new Jedi Order recently, but with how close to nobody's seen a real Jedi in centuries… I always assumed they were just smugglers bragging about stuff they've seen. It might be best if Emily doesn't mention her being a Jedi either."
Ace looked over at Will. "Why's that?" he asked.
"The war. People are saying that the Reborn Sith Empire is not only trying to keep it going for as long as possible, but they're also the ones responsible for hunting down Jedi. And nobody has any clue how they do it. All anyone knows is that if word gets out that you're saying you've seen or are a Jedi, you and anyone else involved will disappear in days, without fail," he explained.
Ace nodded. "We'll keep that in mind. But since it's not like we have any idea of where to go, would you mind if we stayed here? This village is quiet. It's a nice change of pace from the war I've spent my entire life preparing to fight in, or fighting in."
Will shook his head. "Not at all. And as long as you both pull weight around here, I can't see anyone else being against it either," he replied. Suddenly, they both heard the hissing of the door behind them opening. "You're awake. Feeling any better?" Will asked as Emily came around the corner.
"I… I think so… I've been awake for a bit already this morning, just meditating and trying to center myself," she said, quietly. "You're right, by the way. We did get sent into the future, or your present time. As I was meditating, I could sense the presence of my master all around me, and since he's not here, that can only mean he's one with the Force. I also couldn't sense many other Jedi, or clones, just an overwhelming aura of death and pain from the Galaxy. I almost couldn't bear it…"
Will nodded. "Well, just take it a step at a time, if that's how this Force business works," he replied, and Emily tilted her head.
"Don't you know how it works?" she asked, surprising Will.
"No… why would I? Jedi haven't been seen in centuries, just like I said last night. Who would there be to tell me how it works?" he replied, and Emily shook her head.
"That's not what I mean," she answered. Ace walked behind them.
"You two can keep talking about the Force and other Jedi stuff if you want, it's above my pay grade and I'm honestly better off with just a blaster and grenades," he said, clearly out of his depth when people started talking about the mystical powers of the Jedi. "I'll go see if I can't get some more information about our situation with Ardee."
Will and Emily both laughed at that, before looking out over the treetops and at the vast desert. "So… what did you mean? Like I said, there aren't many Jedi left, if there are really any at all, and you said that you meant something else. What was it?" Will asked, and Emily looked over at him.
"I thought you knew. The way you walk, your ability to notice things in advance of when others would… your more sensitive to the Force than your peers, just like I was compared to other children my age. It's why the Jedi Order found me as a baby and took me to the temple to train as a Jedi," she explained. When Will still appeared confused, she continued. "Let me put it this way. Have you ever had a really powerful gut feeling that something was about to happen, and then the very thing it felt like your gut was warning you about actually did happen?"
Will nodded. "Yeah. One time I was out in the woods, and I suddenly knew a Vinehound was creeping up behind me without hearing it coming. Because of that, I was able to get away," he replied.
Emily nodded back. "That wasn't your gut. That was the Force, warning you of a danger in advance."
Will's eyes widened slightly. "Wait a minute… you're saying I could become a Jedi? Isn't that something I would've realized by now?" he asked, and Emily shrugged.
"In my time, it would've been likely, if not guaranteed. But you said it yourself, there are barely any Jedi left. And without any Jedi left to teach another generation of students, many who show aptitude with the Force would likely just become exceedingly accurate fortune tellers, or exceptional athletes," she replied. "Without even realizing it, they learn to call on the Force to aid them in their everyday life, while a Jedi would learn more advanced abilities, such as telekinesis, or precognition."
Will looked away from her and back out towards the desert. He took in a deep breath, and then sighed. "Wow… Now I know how you felt last night… this is… well, I'll be honest, it's a shock, but also… not. I don't know how, but I have this feeling that you're right, but that I've known all along," he said after a moment. "Is that also the Force?"
Emily nodded. "That's perfectly understandable, but I can't say for sure. All I can tell you is that it flows within you, and rather strongly for someone without formal Jedi training," she told him, before looking at the sky through the corner of her eye. She nodded, saying "Here's another example. Picture yourself as a pond, with a small waterfall leading to another below it. The Force is like that water, but for most people, it's thick and clotted. Some water gets through to the next pond, but not much. For people like you and me, however, the water is clearer, so it flows from one pond to the next with ease. With time and practice, that water can become even cleaner, so that it flows through you even stronger. Feats that a normal person would consider to be impossible can be performed with the aid of the Force." Emily picked up a small stone with the Force to show her point, and then set it back down. "At least, that's how my master described it to me."
Will nodded, staring out into the pearly white desert. It was as mesmerizing as it was oddly comforting, especially when he didn't have to find it through the dense rain and lightning of one of Tlarr's extremely frequent storms. "The Galaxy sure is a rough place nowadays. Even here, where the war has yet to reach… It's all anyone seems to talk about…" he mused, before turning to Emily. "If, somehow, someone were able to reunite the remaining Jedi… If they were able to train another generation of Jedi Knights… do you think they could bring an end to this war?"
Emily took a moment to ponder the question. "Having not experienced this war firsthand… I can't say for sure. But then, as my master often told me, true guarantees are quite rare in life. If the Jedi of this era are, or have the potential to be anything like those of mine, then I think that is a likely outcome," she replied after a while of thinking.
"Then train me. Teach me to be a Jedi, like your master taught you. My people will be fine without me. I live alone and usually seclude myself from them anyway. I never felt like I fit it with the crowd," he asked, looking Emily in the eyes. "Being as far removed from the wider Galaxy as we are, Tlarr hasn't been touched by the conflict of the war yet. If there is anything I can do to end this war before it gets to my home… I want to do it."
Emily was surprised for a moment, but she quickly nodded with a smile. "Well, I don't know how much I'll really be able to teach you. I was still in training when Ace, Ardee, and I were taken away into your time," she replied. "But I'm sure I can teach you something. In fact, we can get started now if you'd like."
Will nodded. "If that's possible… Yes, I'd like that," he said.
Emily looked around. "Then let's get started. Right here will work fine. Sit down, lean against the wall, however you feel most comfortable," she said, and Will sat down on the ground, his back against the balcony. "Now, close your eyes, and imagine something that calms you down. It can be anything. A still image of the rainforest, a drop of water, anything at all."
Having not tried this before, Will didn't know what to imagine when he closed his eyes. As darkness overcame his vision, he waited for something to appear. His heartbeat slowed and he took in a deep breath, and then exhaled.
Suddenly, he saw something in his mind. There was a drop of water, repeatedly falling from a cliff face to a lake at the bottom, over and over, creating an echoing plink sound when it hit the lake's surface. Something about the simple existence of that droplet as an individual before rejoining the rest of the water soothed him, and although he didn't know what it was, it was enough for him to feel at peace.
"I think I… I feel something…" he said quietly, and Emily nodded, having also sat down across from him to meditate. As they sat there in near silent meditation, they each took a breath in turns, and small, loose items around them began to slowly lift into the air. A stray rock. A datapad. A blaster pistol. They would all rise and fall in tandem with their breathing.
"Good. Don't try to feel around for the Force, as if you're looking for it. Just let it come to you on its own. Let it flow through you like the river. It already does, and you've likely already felt it without realizing it," she replied. As she said that, Will could feel something in the back of his mind stir, like a dream, or a vision. "This isn't something that only Jedi can do. This is merely a simply exercise to allow ourselves to slow down. Being at peace with ourselves is one of the core philosophies of being a Jedi. Only when you are at peace with yourself can you be at peace with the Force."
Will nodded slowly, starting to grasp what she was saying. As he meditated, he began to see something faint in the back of his mind, a vision, almost beckoning to him. It pleaded for him to reach out, like a faint whistling of the birds in the rainforest. Even though Emily had said not to search for the Force, to just let it come to him, he was overwhelmed by curiosity, and he mentally extended an arm towards the light.
As his mental fingers touched the ball of light, red colors overwhelmed his mind with a crimson, malicious hue, and he gasped as dozens of images of destruction and death overwhelmed him. The rocks, which had been floating around him and Emily, fell to the ground as the trance like meditation was broken. Will looked around, panic in his expression, but everything was as it was when he first closed his eyes.
"What's wrong? Did you see something?" Emily asked, worried.
"I- I don't know… I think so, but it was… it was bad…"
Emily frowned. "Can you tell me what it was?"
Will shakily nodded. "I saw-"
Suddenly, he was cut off by a massive explosion. A massive bolt of red light had pierced the engine of a rising transport ship, and it crashed to the ground in a ball of flames. Will and Emily both jumped to their feet as Ace came running out the door with his blaster in one hand, his armor strapped on tight. "What was that?" he asked, and Will stared in horror not at the chaos of the landing pad, but the sky above it where the bolt had come from. That red light, and the warships now following it, they were exactly what he had seen in the vision.
More blasts came crashing down after the first, and then the sun disappeared, blocked out by an uncountable number of ships. The war had finally come to Tlarr.
Will gaped in horror, before shaking his head and running inside his building to grab his electrostaff. "We need to buy the village time to escape. Get the fighting away from the villagers! Come on!" he shouted, vaulting over the balcony and sliding down the cliff to see a large, gun metal gray ship coming in to land above the smoldering ruins of the transport ship. With a shout, Will leapt off the cliff and charged at the ship, diving around a hail of blaster bolts and landing on the transparisteel cockpit of the ship. Underneath the dropship's shielding, he pierced the glass surface with his electrostaff and electrocuted the pilot, causing him to lean heavily to one side. Realizing what could happen, Will kicked in the glass and threw the pilot out of the ship, taking his place at the controls and turning the ship's blaster cannons on the next incoming dropship.
"What's the pilot doing?!" a voice exclaimed over the ship's internal comm system, and Will suddenly had an idea. Pulling up on the controls, he flew the ship high into the air and then did a tight barrel roll. The troopers in the landing bay fell out of the side of the ship, and then Will turned the vessel back around and flew down to the ground.
"Emily! Ace! Get everyone out of here! I'll buy you some time from those drop ships!" he exclaimed into his comlink, blasting another ship out of the sky and using the ship's powerful shields to send it flying off into the desert by ramming it in the middle of its uncontrolled descent.
"Copy that. You ready, commander?" Ace said to Emily, who nodded as she pulled her lightsaber off of her utility belt.
"Was I ever not?" she asked in reply, and Ace laughed, putting on his helmet and attaching the sniper barrel and scope to his interchangeable weapons system blaster, a standard issue weapon for all clone commandos of the Galactic Republic. As Emily leapt off the wall in a similar manner to Will, Ace took aim at a trio of jetpack troopers, firing off a single round followed by two more that knocked all three of them out of the sky.
As Emily's feet hit the ground, she saw a bolt of red plasma take out the corner of a house, and her perception of the world around her slowed down through the Force, showing her a cowering family moments from being crushed by the rubble. Reaching out with her hand, she telekinetically grabbed hold of the rubble as time resumed to move as normal. Looking at the family through the partially destroyed wall, she shouted, "Go! Get out of here!"
With shocked expressions, the tallest of the family, the father by the looks of him, nodded gratefully and herded his family out the door. With the family out of harms way, she released her hold on the house, and as she'd expected, the roof collapsed, bringing the house to the ground in a plume of fire. Suddenly, she sensed through the Force a blaster aimed at her back, and as the white clad trooper pulled the trigger, her teal lightsaber flared to life, and she deflected the blaster fire back at the blaster, destroying it with a small explosion of red light.
She heard the trooper gasp through his helmet, and as he started to bring his arm up to speak into the comlink, she sent him flying with a powerful Force push, knocking him unconscious in the blink of an eye. "Ace! There are families in these houses!" she called out into her comlink. "I'll get them going, but give them cover fire with your rifle while they run to safety!"
"Copy that," Ace replied, firing off six more rounds and sending the same number of jetpack troopers falling to their death. Spinning on the ball of her foot, Emily then called upon the Force again, this time guiding it into her muscles and allowing her to sprint through the streets of the village in seconds. Leaping through the open door of a large house, she saw a pair of stormtroopers pointing their blasters at another family.
"Where is the Jedi!" one wearing an orange and black pauldron demanded, holding his rifle to the head of a small child. Without a moment of hesitation, Emily grabbed him with the Force and pulled him away from the family, spearing him through the back with her lightsaber.
The other trooper gasped in surprise, but unlike with the trooper Emily had fought outside, she wasn't fast enough to stop him from activating his comlink. "All units! The Jedi is a human with brown hair and a blue light-" was all he managed to get out however, as Emily quickly threw her lightsaber, stabbing him through his heart in the same way as the other trooper, cutting him off instantly.
"A Jedi?" the family started murmuring among themselves. "It is a Jedi!"
Emily pulled her lightsaber back to her hand and approached them. "Yes, I am a Jedi, but that's not important right now. You and everyone else need for the outside of the village. Me and my allies will cover you, but you need to go now," she explained, and the family nodded.
"We understand, but my son lives up on the mountain, where the evacuation tunnels are," the father said. "His name is Will, has he already gotten to a safe place?"
Emily's eyes widened, realizing that this was Will's family. "Actually, he's managed to commandeer one of those troopers' dropships and is using that to help fend these guys off," she replied with a slight laugh. To her surprise, Will's father just nodded.
"Somehow, I had a feeling he'd be doing something like that. Thank you for telling me. Don't worry about the other villagers, I'll see them to safety," he replied with a brief roll of his eyes. He turned to face the other members of his family and whispered quickly to them, and then they and Emily rushed out the door.
"Go! I'll draw their fire!" she shouted, leaping towards another jetpack trooper and slicing through his armor with her lightsaber. Pushing off of the dead stormtrooper, Emily jumped from one flying enemy to the next, taking each of them out before they knew what was happening. "Will! You still there?" she said into her comlink as she downed another trooper.
"I see you, want a lift?" he asked, and she nodded.
"I won't say no, that's for sure!" she answered, and as she kicked off of the last trooper in the squadron, she soared through the air and landed in the open bay of Will's stolen dropship. "Take us up, we need to draw their fire!"
"What about the villagers?" Will replied, and she nodded.
"Your father said he's leading them to the tunnels in the mountain, and Ace is providing cover fire!" she told him, pushing another incoming transport away with the Force, and sending it spiraling out of control into the jungle. Orange flames shot up from the trees, and for a moment she was worried the entire jungle would catch fire, until she saw a huge front of almost gun metal gray clouds approaching from over the mountain tops. "Look there! If we stall these guys long enough for that storm to hit, do you think it'll be enough to finish them off?"
Will spun the dropship around for a look, and he quickly nodded. "Oh yeah, that'll certainly do the trick! These suckers have probably been waiting to launch this attack until they had a clear day to land their troops anyway," he replied, but Emily shook her head.
"I wouldn't be so sure, by the sound of things, they're looking for a Jedi here," she said. Will shrugged, flooring the engines and flying in the direction of another trio of dropships.
"Either way, I'm willing to bet they've underestimated just how violent the storms here can get, so it works for us no matter why they came here!" he said, firing a salvo of rockets and ion blasts at the three ships, disabling their shields and thrusters in a flash of bright lights. "Quick! Throw them towards the desert!" he called out, spinning the ship to broadside the plummeting dropships and give Emily a clear view.
Thrusting both her hands out, Emily did just that, sending the three transports careening into the desert. "Isn't there wildlife in that desert?" she asked, but Will shook his head.
"Not that close to the wall. Don't worry, there's a reason a lot of villagers like gathering scrap metal by rappelling down that cliff face you crash landed into last night!" he reassured her, before seeing another group of transports leaving the hanger of a massive cruiser in orbit. "More contacts coming in hot! Brace yourself, I'm gonna go say hi to the pilots!" he warned, flooring the engines again and ramming the lead ship into the next on behind it, before broadsiding the ship once more. "See if you can push them into that third ship, like before!"
Emily nodded, and with a swipe of her arms, the two damaged ships suddenly shot back up into the air and took out the third. "Now what?" she asked. "Our shields probably can't take much more of that!"
Will narrowed his eyes at the console. Emily was right, the dropship's shields were really damaged, and the hull integrity wasn't faring well either. But then, he looked back up at the cruiser as another squadron of dropships came flying towards them, this time escorted by four TIE fighters, unshielded but lightning fast ships designed solely for dogfights in and above orbit. "I know, but we can't let them hit the village!" he said. Suddenly, Ace's voice called out over their comlinks.
"Will! Your father and a big group of other villagers just made it to the tunnels! He said that's everyone, so lets pull back and retreat before they bomb this place to oblivion!" he reported, and Will nodded.
"All right, that storm's close enough anyway. A few more minutes and it'll bring that cruiser down in no time," he replied. "Better hang on, Emily!" he said, spinning the ship around to face the mountain and speeding towards his house. Emily's body lurched as she grabbed onto one of the handles inside the ship with a startled gasp.
Out of nowhere, the ship suddenly shuddered violently, and they heard an explosion come from behind them. "Commander, Will, do you copy?" Ace called out as Will struggled with the controls to keep the ship airborne. "I just saw a red lightning bolt hit you! Looks like it came from that cruiser's hanger!"
Emily gasped. "Red lightning?" she repeated, and Ace made an affirmative sound, firing an ion round followed by an adhesive grenade from his rifle. The blue plasma bolt punched a hole through the shields of a dropship that was hot on their trail, creating an opening brief enough for the sticky grenade to land on the cockpit and blow up the front of the ship, sending it plummeting to the ground. "It can't be…" she replied in a very worried tone.
"Channel cannons aren't new tech, they've been around for a while. What's so special about this one?" Will asked as the smoking and nigh uncontrollable dropship flew towards the mountain with reckless abandon. "Hang on! Ace, get to cover now, we're coming in hot! Emily, get ready to bail out when I say!"
Emily braced herself against the side of the ship, clipping her basket hilted lightsaber to her belt with one hand. As the mountains rapidly approached, she bent her knees and waited for Will's signal.
"Jump!" he said, leaping from the shattered glass of the cockpit as Emily jumped out of the side of the ship. The durasteel transport flew for a few more seconds, before running into one of the tall, spire shaped peaks of the mountain and crashing down behind the hill with an echoing rumble. Rolling on the ground to slow their impact, Will and Emily got to their feet and brandished their weapons as Ace came running out of the tunnel.
"Good to see you both in one piece, but we need to move!" he told them. "Ardee's already going ahead with the villagers, let's get out of here!"
Emily and Will both turned to follow after him, but then they both stopped suddenly as an overwhelming sense of darkness washed over them. Without a word, Emily spun around and pointed her lightsaber out of the mouth of the tunnel. "Show yourselves!" she commanded, and in response, five figures clad in pitch black cloaks materialized from the darkness around them.
Emily flinched slightly, but she regained her composure quickly, holding her lightsaber in a defensive stance. "Will, we need to run, now," she said with a faint tremor in her voice. "Those are Sith… in my time they'd died out long ago, but it seems they've made their return in yours."
Will shook his head. "But if we run, they'll just catch up to the villagers!" he pointed out, stepping up next to her with an ignited electrostaff. "We don't have a choice, we have to hold them here as long as we can!"
With a shout, he charged at the closest Sith, bringing his electrostaff around to hit him in the head, only for it to stop suddenly as the red skinned Force user stopped it simply by narrowing his eyes. Will gasped, and then he was suddenly thrown backward through the air with a telekinetic shove. At the same time, the Sith each ignited a red lightsaber. Holding up their crimson blades in front of them, the red lightsabers illuminated their partially hidden faces. Their skin was a deep red color, and their eyes were entirely black save for almost glowing white pupils.
"Will! Are you all right?" Emily asked, kneeling down beside him as he groaned in pain. The sinister Sith attackers, still holding their lightsabers in front of them, took a step closer to their two opponents, when out of nowhere, a blue bolt of energy came flying from down the tunnel and slammed into the head of the one in the middle, killing him instantly. Ace grinned inside his helmet.
"Surprise," he muttered, taking aim at another one of the Sith only to be struck by a wild surge of flailing Force lightning. Fortunately for the clone, Emily quickly stepped in and blocked the barrage with her lightsaber as Will got to his feet and weaved around her, intercepting a crimson lightsaber with his cortosis weave electrostaff. Smirking at his foe as their weapons locked, Will suddenly shifted his weight and brought the back half of his polearm around to strike the Sith in the back of his head as he fell to the ground.
He didn't have time to celebrate, however. A second Sith had joined in the electric barrage of Force Lightning, and though Ace had killed one and Will had knocked another unconscious, the final Sith moved to stab Will in the back. It was only thanks to an impulsive reaction from Will that he was able to narrowly avoid the strike, and he deflected the attack with the end of his staff. Outside the cavern, the storm Emily had spotted had struck the remains of the village, and was sending down torrential rain and bolts of lightning all over the smoldering ruins, just as the storm the night before had done.
The Tlarran Force sensitive glared at his opponent's almost dead looking eyes, which seemed to be staring in every direction at all times. He mustered the strength to begin pushing the Sith back, when he heard Emily cry out in pain from behind him. The shout caused him to falter briefly, but it was enough that the Sith was able to disarm him of his staff, before holding out a hand towards Will and lifting him by the neck with the Force.
The other two Sith, having seemingly forgotten about Emily, who was lying on the ground with parts of her face badly burned by the sudden surge of Force lightning that had overwhelmed her defenses and blasted her lightsaber aside, turned to Will, who was desperately trying to pry the invisible hands from his throat to no avail. Extending their hands, the two Sith who had defeated Emily blasted Will with simultaneous arcs of crimson Force lightning, causing him to scream in breathless agony.
Emily gasped as she heard Will screaming as his skin was burnt by the sustained arcs of electrical current, and she let out a shout as she charged forward and buried her lightsaber in one of the Sith's chests, only to be blasted back into the tunnel by one of the other Sith. Caught by Ace, who had pushed himself to his feet and was unloading his rifle at the two robed figures only for the laser blasts to be stopped in the middle of the air by the one that was choking Will, Emily watched as Will's struggles became weaker and weaker, her lightsaber still lying next to the third dead attacker.
To their shock, the two remaining Sith then released their grip on the now nearly limp Tlarran and turned around to face Emily and Ace. Before either of them could react, one of the two Sith extended a hand and froze everything inside the cave, from the Jedi Padawan and her clone ally to tiny particles of dust floating in the air. Emily grit her teeth in an attempt to break free from the grip, but it was to no avail. With one foe defeated and the other two helpless, the Sith ignited their lightsabers again, and they slowly walked towards their defenseless captives, ready to dispose of them. Emily mentally shuddered as for the first time, the Sith reached out to her with the Force, and she was struck by not an evil darkness, but an insatiable hunger for the Force. It echoed within her, and she felt as though it was siphoning her connection to the cosmic energy field right out of her body.
Lying on the ground, Will's eyes fell upon Emily's fallen lightsaber, which still laid next to one of their foes. "Telekinesis, huh?" he thought to himself as he saw the two Sith approaching his new friends, remembering what Emily had told him about the Force earlier that day. With what strength he still had, he pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand towards Emily's weapon. Miraculously, the silver hilt responded and leapt to his palm. The grip in his hand reminded him of the ceremonial swords his father had him train with in the recent years, and the muscle memory flooded back to him.
The weapon ignited in his hand, and in the dim light of the cavern's entrance, and the thick, cloudy skies, the blue light cast an eerie glow over his body, and he swung at one of the Sith. The light blue blade clashed with the Sith lightsaber, a bright ball of light flickering where the two weapons met, and he lashed out, sidestepping one of his foes and cutting him in half before being blasted into the wall by the other, who again turned to stare at Emily and Ace.
Summoning the last of his strength, Will weakly pushed himself up once more and looked at the Padawan and her clone escort. "Run! Protect the villagers! I'll find a way to catch up!" he shouted, his voice raspy and pained. When Emily looked as if she was about to continue fighting, Will thrusted out one hand and launched them flying back with the Force as he'd seen her do multiple times that day, collapsing the tunnel and preventing the Sith from following either of them or the rest of the villagers.
With the last of his strength exhausted, Will collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious as another dropship landed outside the cave. As if uncaring of the increasingly deadly storm or her numerous dead apprentices, a woman clad in jet black armor exited the ship and stared at Will's limp form. Pulling his wrist to her hand with the Force, she dragged him inside the ship alongside the other Sith. The transport lifted off the ground and flew back to the cruiser, which was now hastily retreating from the planet's upper atmosphere to avoid the storm that was already causing near irreparable damage to its electrical systems.
A/N: And we're back, first with a funny accident for our heroes, and then some buildup and a big battle! "Le gasp, why did they take Will instead of Emily, and what's going to happen to him? He's not the Jedi the Sith were looking for!"
Well you see, you're right. He's not the Jedi they were looking for. But don't worry, as a certain someone from a certain game from a certain company that doesn't like counting to 3 once said, "I trust that it will all make sense to you in the course of... well, I'm really not at liberty to say. In the meantime, this is where I get off." (Bonus points to whoever gets that reference lol. You are a true gamer.)