This Old Temple: New Jedi Order Reset Chapter 7, a star wars fanfic

THIS OLD TEMPLE: NEW JEDI ORDER RESET

by ardavenport

- - - Part 7

* * * * * * * * * * recording * * * * *

"Recording. Recording.

"C-3PO speaking.

"R2D2 has been quite insufferable. He thinks he knows everything. . . . just because he knows so much.

"He's given Master Luke quite a long and sordid history. Apparently R2 started out as an astromech of the royal house of Naboo in the service of Master Luke's mother. On one of their star ship cruisers. Really, R2 can be quite full of himself. He only left when Master Luke's mother gave him to service in the Jedi Temple to help Master Luke's father

"I suppose that would explain why R2 would have so much information about the Jedi Temple.

"I don't know what to think of what R2 has said about me. R2D2 says that I was put together by Master Luke's father. . . . from spare parts! And that I lived on Master Luke's uncle's farm. Before Master Luke was born! I just find that so outrageous. I know I'd never been to Tatooine before; dreadful planet.

"Though I do like the part about me serving a Senator, Master Luke's mother. Quite a prestigious assignment.

"But I don't remember any of it. And Master Luke seemed terribly disappointed not to find anything. He looked a bit too thoroughly, I think.

= = = Muuuu-eet-eet - zzzakkk - fwoop = = =

"Well, of course he did for you. You actually had all that old data cluttering up your circuits for him to find. Really R2, you memory buffers must be in a frightful state."

= = = Zzzzii-fffffrrrriiii-bbbbzzzzzzzzztttttt-fffffzzzztttttttt = = =

"Really!! R2, you watch your language!"

= = = Mmmeeeewwwwhheeett - ooop-oop-oop - tutu-du-tu-du-ttttt = = =

"I am most assuredly not empty-headed! I am quite valuable to Master Luke's efforts as I am. I don't know how you can manage to power down if even half of what you've said is true. The Clone Wars alone are just too horrible to contemplate."

= = = Rrrrrbbrrrbb - bbbfffff- yoop-ti-ti-ti-ti-yoop - fffmmmwwwaaap = = =

"Well I don't suppose I could know whether or not it was just one battle or not, would I? What did you come over here for anyway?"

= = = eb-etetee-meeeeeep - uuuuup - flu-eep = = =

"Oh! Oh yes that's right. Master Luke is going to meet someone. Apparently, a friend of one of the scholars working with Master Luke on the Jedi Temple, knows another person who has an acquaintance who said he was forced into hiding when the Empire was created. Because he said that he grew up in the Jedi Temple. But he wasn't actually a Jedi. Apparently there was some kind of problem over that.

"Master Luke has promised to record the interview and he's taking R2. He sounded quite hopeful about it."

* * * * * * * * * * end recording * * * * *

* * * * * INSERT * * * * *

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( holo-record ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

"There. R2's recording. We're trying to start some kind of Archive. The Senate wants records.

"So, what can you tell me?"

"What? Aren't you going to preface the holo? If it's going to be an official record?"

"Huh?"

"You start with names, times, dates and purpose. I've done enough research interviews to know how to do these things."

"But R2's doing all that."

"Yeah, in the holo-headers, if you want to go digging around in those every time you want to look something up later. You'll make things a lot easier for yourself if you start it off right."

"Oh, um, okay. I'm Luke Skywalker and you're - - "

"Methian Albenes Bren. I've been going by just Bren while I've been in hiding. Not very original, but it saves a lot of confusion to keep it simple. But before that I was a full professor and statistical historian at the Zeratz University in Subu City on Didmer. Very good position. But had to take an early retirement when the Empire started up."

"Why?"

"Why? The Jedi were declared enemies of the Empire. And any of their sympathizers. Or anybody who had any connections to them. I just wasn't on the first target list. Had time to sell everything and get out. Took a bath on my apartment. Tried to get my sister out but she wouldn't budge. Stubborn nerf-cow. It was almost too late when she got fired from her job.

Lucky a couple of her offspring had some sense to make plans and got themselves and her out."

"Is she here?"

"Calpian? Nooooo, she died a few years ago. Natural causes though. She was a few years older than I am and she ate too much. Told her she should have taken better care of herself."

"And she had a family?"

"Hah! She had nine younglings. Woman didn't know when to stop. She loved 'em all but it must have been the will of the Force that I came back to help her out. Don't know what she would have done if I hadn't.

"But don't get any of your hopes up. There aren't three midichlorians between the lot of them. Or any of their offspring either. I know. But you can have 'em checked if you want. Don't suppose it would hurt, since there's nothing to find."

"Um, we're still working on that. The Empire banned the technology and we're not sure what we've found is working right."

"Oh? Tried it on yourself yet?"

"Uh, no."

"Eh. I suppose it doesn't really matter, seeing that you haven't got much to compare it with anyway."

"So, you were tested then? When you were born?"

"Well, yeah. Everyone in the old Republic was screened at birth or at least in their first year. Nobody paid much attention to it, it was so rare to have Jedi potential. But I did. And my parents gave me to the Jedi to be raised at the Temple. My sister always said she envied me that. She didn't get along with our parents. They weren't bad people, but they sure liked to complain about everything."

"But what happened then?"

"What happened? I didn't get picked. You didn't get chosen by a Knight to be trained by your thirteenth birthday they sent you to the Agri-Corps. Or sometimes the Exploration Corps."

"Why?"

"That was the Jedi Code. That's just how it was. I thought you were trained by Master Yoda."

"He didn't say anything about that. I guess there was kind of a lot that he skipped."

"How long did he train you? I heard you were an adult before you even started."

"Yeah. And I only trained with Yoda for about ninety, a hundred days. Didn't even finish that right."

"Oooooh, you've got to have some real natural talent with the Force to get you good enough to take on a Sith with just that. And come out of it alive. But Yoda always used to say that all we needed to know we learned as younglings, but it would take a Jedi a lifetime to learn it.

"Yeah, he said that to me, too. So, why weren't you in the Argi-Corps? You said you were a statistical historian?"

"You stay in the Agri-Corps only until you kill enough plants. After that they start nudging you toward a different career, but I wasn't going to the Exploration Corps, spend all my time in the back of beyond past the outer rim.

"But I heard you were a farmer?"

"Yeah. I grew up on Tatooine. On my uncle's moisture farm."

"They have to grow moisture on Tatooine?"

"No you had to extract it from the atmosphere, grow lichen and algae with it for crops. And you could sell any of the excess water, if you had any."

"Ugh. Sounds pretty harsh. And now you're a Jedi. Isn't that something. Farmer now a Jedi. Being a farmer used to be the scariest thing you could say to a Jedi Initiate.

"Y'know the Jedi talked proud about how few Jedi were 'Lost' to the Order. You could count the number of Knights who ever left the Order on one hand. . . . . if you were a Pfordian I suppose. But they couldn't keep track of how many left the Agri-Corps, not with a whole galaxy out there. A lot stayed but they didn't keep you if you didn't want to stay. And you got a pretty good education at the Temple no matter how it turned out, good enough to get you into some fine universities if you had a taste for it."

"And you did?"

"Yup. I like analyzing things too much. Figuring how things worked, how things happened. I think that's why I didn't get picked by a Master. To use the Force, you have to take it as it is. Just throw yourself off the ledge and let it take you. It doesn't work if you're always stopping trying to figure out what's going on. I didn't really figure that out until I was over thirty. A bit late really."

"But you know it now?"

"I think so. I did some research about the Jedi and the Force when I got my first professorship. Had to get it out of my system, I guess. Went through a lot of Jedi and Force philosophy and their histories.

"Y'see, there's limits to what any sentient can take in because of their nature. The Force is beyond that. At least for anything in this galaxy. It'll always be a mystery because to really know how it works, we'd have to be some other kind of sentient. Not tied to this time and space anyway. And if we were, we sure wouldn't be here. We'd be somewhere and something else.

"So, you don't worry about how the Force works to use it. You just do. The worrying just gets in the way. That makes sense to me. It just took me a few decades too long to figure it out."

"So, do you think you could still use it?"

"Use what?"

"The Force."

"Well, I mean, I suppose. I can feel it. A bit. I keep up with the meditation exercises. They're good for a lot of other things, especially stress. My early academic years were a little rough. And then when I had to dump everything and hide out from the Empire. . . . hey, why are you asking me that?"

"What?"

"About the Force. Why are you asking me? You took down two Sith Lords. I haven't got anything that touches that. What are you thinking?"

"Well, I thought. . . . if you still wanted to be trained to be a Jedi. . . ."

"What? Me?" You've got to be kidding. I'm almost four times you age!"

"Well, there aren't a lot applicants right now."

"I'd be the galaxy's oldest Padawan. You don't want to be stuck with me. Somebody a lot younger is going to come along."

"Well, when they show up I'll train them."

"You can only have one Padawan. It's in the Code!"

"I didn't get that part of the Code!"

"Well. . . . . . . . oh. Right.

"Guess you got a point there. Way things are, you could write your own Code. . . . . . . .I guess, you're going to have to."

"I guess I could use some help."

"Whoa. That's . . . . pretty big. I was just thinking that I'd be filling you in on a few things. Thought you'd already have everything."

"So, you'll do it?"

"Well, yeah. Of course! But you've got to tell me one thing, first."

"Sure. What is it?"

"How did you do it? Vader, I mean. How did you turn him? Get him to turn on Palpatine. Well, not that. Sith always turn on each other. It's in their genes. But he sacrificed himself for you. That's not the dark side at all. How'd you get Vader to do that??

"It wasn't Vader who did it. It was Anakin Skywalker. My father."

"Wouldn't have been anything left of him. Not after being a Sith. And not after being in that black suit all those years. You know what he did. Being a Sith is as good as being dead. Any Jedi would know that."

"That's what Ben said. And Yoda. They were wrong. My father was still there."

"Well. . . . . Master Yoda wrong. I guess it's a whole new galaxy. . . . . . .Master. Heh heh."

"I'm not a Master."

"You are now, kid! Ha ha! You should have thought of that before you asked me."

"Yeah, well. . . . . . then don't call me 'kid'."

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( end holo-record ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

* * * * * END INSERT * * * * *

- - - End Part 7