Chapter 7
"I feel the dark side's power growing." Aang said, meditating in the co-pilot seat. Exar, who was piloting the ship, cautiously looked over.
"Or you're just gassy from those bantha beans you ate." Jo said before a dead silence. Jo could feel the others glaring annoyedly at him. "We all do. Is there something we can do about it?" Jo asked.
"We are, Jo." Exar said.
"Not what I meant. We're flying to the graveyard of all things mechanical, really unprepared. And facing possibly the most powerful being in the galaxy." Jo said.
"Man up, Jo." Exar said looking ahead and grinning, yet still disapproving of facing Erk.
"We are prepared." Aang said.
"Really? Because all we have are lightsabers and limited knowledge of the force. Adding to that, we don't have nearly as much training as he has." Joe said.
"We can beat him." Aang said, swerving in his chair to face him.
"Keep telling yourself that." Exar said.
"Exar, you both trained in the same place at the same times. How is he better than you?" Aang asked.
"He's always devoted to what he does. In training, he pretty much memorized everything. But something was wrong with me, I couldn't really focus as much. Erk has the dark side, we don't."
"So turning to the dark side is the only way to beat him?"
"No."
"No? There are more ways?"
"No. It's much more than converting."
"What?"
Exar closed his eyes for a moment, opened them, then spoke. "The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be unnatural." The way Exar said that put an uncomfortable chill down Aang's spine.
"How do you learn these things?" Aang asked quietlty.
"There's a lot more to me than a 'struggling Jedi'." Exar monotoned.
"What does that mean?" Aang asked, giving off a chuckle after Exar seemingly got off topic.
"I've done more than just train in the dark side. But I had trained in the dark side so much that it has lingered inside me ever since I was introduced to it, as an infant."
"That explains a few things." Jo said. Exar and Aang turned and stared at him. Jo put his hands up
"Okay, okay, cool your jets!" He said.
Aang turned and continued talking to Exar, who faced forward again. "You still haven't answered my question."
"I have." Exar insisted.
"Not specifically enough. What did you do to learn those things?"
Exar didn't respond.
"Exar-"
"I can't tell you."
"You're not the leader anymore, you have to tell me."
"Ok, let me get something straight. I don't have to tell anyone, anything. There are things that I keep personal for all of our sakes."
...
"How much do you keep from us?"
"We all have our share of secrets. I choose to keep mine."
"Your secrets can help us defeat this sith."
"Woah, woah, hold on! You want to use the dark side?"
"No. We can find ways around it."
"That's just the thing, Aang. We can't find ways around the dark side. You can't defeat it. The light and the dark can't exist without each other. The dark side resides in everyone, and as long as anyone's had an encounter with the dark side, they're vulnerable. Being a part of the organization we were in means being pushed far beyond limits, making the dark side a permanent part of us. I'm sorry Aang, but I have to live with this, and so do you." Exar said.
'Little too dramatic for my liking, pal.' Jo thought.
Aang meditated as moment of slight devastation and fear passed. Several thoughts, posotive and negative, crossed his mind. Aang was temporarily lost in confusion.
Things were seeming grim for the Jedi, their trust seeming to get lost slowly. Without trust, they would surely fail. Aang did his best to make those thoughts leave his mind, but they kept returning. Why was this happening? The Jedi divided among themselves. Dark thoughts plaguing their minds, except for Jo's. Then, Aang came to a conclusion, putting together some logic and his thought suddenly became a beacon of hope. Aang arose from his chair and spoke his mind, "It all makes sense. The sith find most of their victories through fear and pain, mainly by dividing their enemies. A team, built on hope and trust, easily divided by the dark side, is not a strong team."
"What's your point?" Jo asked.
"The dark side has weakened us, and they can make us weaker. Exar, you've spent too much time dabbling with the dark side, making the team vulnerable to destruction. I've spent too much time being blinded by pride that I couldn't see the darkness growing in me. If we're going to defeat the sith, we're going to need more trust in each other. We cannot defeat the sith if we continue to embrace their idol." Aang stated.
Exar gave his statements some thought. After doing so, he set the shuttle on auto-pilot and stood. "The dark side has corroded us long enough." He said, turning to his teammates. "Let's make this official." He added, while giving a slight grin.
The team sat in a circle, gripped each other's arms, and started meditating. Exar focused for a moment, and the team reached Erk through the force.
'It's been a long time.' Erk said first.
'Indeed. We're coming for you, so you better be ready.' Exar replied.
'A showdown is it?' Erk said, somewhat interested.
'A rematch.' Aang corrected.
'Ah. Well if you insist, I'l take you up on your offer. Exar, you know where to be.' Erk said. Then the connection broke, and the team rose. And just then, the shuttle exited hyperspace, revealing Tatooine.
"Everyone, we've got a date with destiny." Exar said.
"Cliché, Exar. Too cliché." Jo said.
"Being Jedi, I assume you two know how pleased I am to have you come along?" Lieutenant Governor Calista asked Rye and Erickson.
"It doesn't exactly work that way. Using the force, we can tell that people are pleased or not, but we can't tell how much." Erickson replied.
"Well, I am pleased. Just hope my husband doesn't find out about the, ahem, sith, anytime soon." Calista said.
"Your husband?" Erickson wondered, getting curious.
"He isn't very, well no one really is, fond of sith. He... he was scarred." Calista said. Then, she noticed their curious, yet concerned faces.
"Your honor, we've entered the Kamino system." A pilot called from the cockpit.
"Very good. Let's get this done." Calista exclaimed, getting up and heading to the cockpit. Rye and Erickson gave each other a concerned look before following.
As they gazed at Kamino from the cockpit, Rye and Erickson focused and checked for any dark-side force, but only found a trace.
"There's a small trace. If we can make the investigation quick, we can catch him." Rye said.
"Excellent! Proceed." Calista ordered. The pilots advanced the ship until they got into the rainy atmosphere. They slowed the ship down when their screen got clouded and pelted with rain. Erickson closed his eyes and focused. "There's a landing platform near by. Turn left." He said. The pilot turned to the left slightly. "Shift downward." Erickson then said. As they did, they kept going forward.
Seconds later, they saw the platform, but they were headed straight to the edge. "Brace for impact!" Calista shouted. The pilots immediately shifted upwards. They came up alright, but the rear, on the other hand, bumped hard and caught on the edge of the platform, making the front come down and bash itself on the platform. The people inside were jerked around and fell on the floor. The rear ended up detatching from the edge and the ship slided forward.
A moment later, everyone got up. "We need to invent seatbelts already." Erickson muttered. The pilots looked at Erickson, who looked back at them like he didn't give a darn. "I didn't mean that far down." Erickson said. Then everyone exited the shuttle, covering their heads with their hoods.
"Where are the ships that were coming with us?" Rye asked.
"They're guarding the planet of any danger that tries coming in or out. They'll contact us if something comes." Calista replied as they all entered the compound.
"I feel a disturbance in the force." A hooded figure informed Erk via hologram.
"What is it?" Erk asked.
"Republic forces have arrived at Kamino to investigate our 'activities' " The figure replied.
"What!" Erk exclaimed.
"The master did not forsee this. If the Jedi alter our course, our fate may be changed." The figure said.
"What should I do?" Erk asked calmly.
"You are expected at Tatooine, so go there. In the meantime, notify the army." The figure said.
"Yes, Master." Erk replied.
The Jedi trio's Tantive shuttle landed on the plain, sandy dune sea of Tatooine. With extra supplies they packed for the trip, the trio exited the shuttle.
"How long is the trip?" Jo asked.
"Far. We'll have to go straight on through the dune sea and into the jundland wastes, going straight into the center of the jundland wastes, into the jundland chasm." Exar said.
"And why can't we just fly there?" Jo asked.
"The fuel tank was damaged and we lost fuel quicker than usual." Aang said.
"Why wasn't it repaired?" Jo asked.
"We just noticed it." Exar replied.
"And how are we going to get out of here?" Jo asked again.
"Aang is going to quickly go to town and get some fuel, while we fix the fuel tank." Exar replied.
"A town?" Jo was now really confused. Exar then pointed, behind their shuttle, to a town about thirty yards away. "Oh we're only in the outskirts." Jo added.
"Yes, we'll be beginning our trip shortly." Exar said, walking back into the ship.
"Okay. Well... W-" Jo started, but Exar interrupted, shouting "Let's fix the fuel tank."
"Right." Jo murmured.
Aang strolled through town, looking for a mechanical store that might have some fuel he could buy. Tatooine, Aang thought, was a nice place. Nice, but really hot. There were all kinds of people and droids everywhere. Small huts made up the town blocks of Mos Eisley. The huts' doors all had semi-dome shaped awnings. Suspicious characters glared from the alleys, while the regular locals resided in the streets. After a minute of observing, Aang found a shop.
As Aang entered the shop, a bell-like ringing sound triggered and a pint-sized Lurmen appeared from behind a counter.
"Oy, what is it?" He asked.
"I am looking for fuel for my ship." Aang replied. The Lurmen looked up at Aang and observed him. His eyes narrowed, identifying him carefully. "Jedi by the look o' ya. Well let's get this over with." He said.
Aang was led to the yard, on the other side of the building, where there were a few tanks of fuel. He saw that each tank was equal in size and held an equal amount of fuel. 'Doesn't seem like a scam' He thought, before asking, "How much for a tank?"
"Mmmmmmm, I'll take 100 Republic credits." The Lurmen replied.
"Not too bad." Aang whispered, "I'll take it." He added, handing over a bundle of credits.
"Your service is appreciated." The Lurmen said.
Aang headed back to the shuttle, where Exar and Jo were fixing their fuel tank inside. Aang put two fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle, gaining his teammates' attention. They appeared outside the shuttle, spotting the tank.
"Get the fueling tube. We got fuel." Aang said.
"Oh, I thought it was a giant bottle of caf." Jo said sarcastically.
"Very funny, let's get to work." Exar then said.
Rye, Erickson, and Lieutenant-Governor Calista carefully shadowed the complex, her warriors carefully identifying everything worth identifying.
"Do you two know where to go?" Calista asked Rye and Erickson.
"One of our students, in his spare time, gave me a map including directions to where he and his team went. I know where to go." Erickson stated proudly.
"Well then, let's see it." Calista said, somewhat impressed. Erickson pulled up a small, disc-shaped hologram projector and activated it, showing a map of the nexus, and a yellow line, trailing the path that Exar, Aang and Jo made.
"Well this seems simple." Rye said.
"You should've heard Jo's report. They went across a chamber with a big window from which those stormtroopers, they spoke of, saw through." Erickson said.
"That shouldn't be a problem. Your team took care of them. Correct?" Calista asked.
"Yes, but recently, the sith have gone unnoticed and done things behind our backs. For instance: starting an army." Rye said.
"What's your point?" Calista asked slowly.
"They could have a fresh new faction waiting for us." Rye said.
"In that case, we need to be ready." Calista replied, waving her warriors over. "Guards, at the ready."
The team entered the next room, and there, they didn't expect what they saw.
"I don't understand. If an army was under production, there ought to have been more than about thirty soldiers." Calista said.
"The sith are on the move. They evacuated the area." Rye said. "Let's see if they left anything behind."
They strided to the next room, which appeared to be an empty laboratory.
"Man, they're thorough." Erickson said, looking around the plain white room.
"They are. Next room." Rye said. The group ran to the next room, which was pretty dark. They saw and descended down a stairway which led into the cloning accomidation where they saw the cloning device, in which Aang described to Erickson. Rye and Erickson sensed no dark-force aura in the machine as the team described.
"They're definitely moved out. Which leaves us with nothing to worry about." Erickson said.
Then Calista's comlink beeped. She picked it from her belt and listened.
"Lieuten-skshksh- we're under atta-kshkshkshkshksh- can't see them-kshkshkshkshksh" Then it went completely static from there on.
"Had to say that." Erickson muttered.
"Well there's our proof. Let's move, men." Calista said. And they all marched on to battle their enemy.
"Proof? You mean you didn't believe us earlier?" Rye asked.
"I had some doubt." Calista replied.
Rye sighed, then murmured"Well I can only hope our team is having better luck than we are."
"This refueling is taking longer than I thought. I hope Masters Rye and Erickson are having better luck than we are." Exar said.
"Exar, it's only been about a minute." Aang said.
"Yes, but when there are scene cuts like this, it seems like a time skip. It's just context." Jo said.
...
"Jo," Exar struggled to form words for a moment. "I swear you get weirder every day."
"I know." Jo mumbled, grinning.
Exar sighed, then said, "Jo, we can't have 'weird' getting in the way of our mission, it's distracting. I know it's what you do, but we can't afford to be distracted."
"Since when have you gotten distracted by humor?" Jo asked in amuzement.
...
"N-not on important missions like this one." Exar replied.
"Uh huh." Jo said sarcastically, even more amuzed.
"All done!" Aang exclaimed.
"Good, let's go. And Jo, I really mean what I say. Don't be like that when it's unnecessary." Exar said as they boarded the shuttle.
Rye, Erickson, Calista and her soldiers sped through the hallways, ready for attack. They were still getting over some slight shock at the revelation, and at the thought of a possible, new war. The squad were at the entrance of the buildings, staring at the big transport coming down upon them.
"Gentlemen, prepare for battle." Calista eagerly proclaimed.