Reborn: Revelation of the Force
Gandalf did not know where he was. He did not know what he had to do, and he did not know who the old man was.
"The Force..."
That term repeated in Gandalf's mind. After sporadically waking up and falling back to sleep over the course of a short period, Gandalf felt fully well, and he sat up from his laying position.
"The Force," Gandalf muttered to himself. "I'll have to learn of what that presence is."
As Gandalf sat up, Old Ben sighed a breath of relief as he came through his front door, followed by a young man and two strange figures, one gold and one with blue and white patterns. To Gandalf, they seemed metallic. "Ah… you're well, friend. Please, make yourself at home."
"Who's this?" the young man asked as he sat next to Old Ben. Gandalf stood up awkwardly, but then attained good posture.
"Gandalf," said the wizard. The young, blonde man looked up at the tall man with a naïve expression. "What of you?"
"My name's Luke Skywalker," the young man claimed. As he did this, the golden man came up to Gandalf, who was quite stunned by the figure. His mouth didn't move, and he seemed to walk in a very odd manner.
"Hello, sir!" exclaimed the figure. "I am See Threepio, human-cyborg relations!"
The other figure in blue and white whistled over to him, in what seemed like anger.
"I was just about to introduce you, you bumbling idiot!" shouted Threepio as he looked over to the other figure. "That droid over there is Artoo Deetoo. If he comes off as rude, just pay him no mind."
At this point, Gandalf was shocked stiff. Before this moment occurred, Gandalf had thought he was just in some strange area east of Rhûn, but he was sorely mistaken. He knew now that he was not in the world he once knew, but he did not know the standards that this world lived by. He looked the group with a stunned expression as he sat back down for a moment. Threepio went over to the corner to Luke's left and sat, complaining about his malfunctioning arm.
"I… do not know where I am, and I need to know," Gandalf stated. "I feel lost... and yet, I feel new."
"Gandalf, I told you earlier, you're in my home. Rest easy, friend," replied Old Ben.
"Do you remember what planet you came here, from?" asked Luke, sitting in a chair to the left of Obi-Wan. Gandalf looked at him in confusion.
"Planet? What do you mean?" Gandalf asked in reply. At this, Old Ban sat back and stroked his bushy beard.
"Hmm… you must've hit your head harder than I thought," the old man said, in speculation.
"In what way? I don't ever remember such a thing," answered Gandalf. He then stood up and walked over to Old Ben, sitting to his right. "I do not wish to tell you everything… but, you might be in use of some information… my name is Gandalf, as I've told you. I come from a land that is far different from this one."
When Gandalf said this, Luke's eyes were filled with excitement. He had stayed in the same place for his entire life, and he was consistently refused any opportunities to leave. One could imagine what he thought of this instance.
"I am from a land called Middle-Earth, and there, I am referred to as a wizard, a wise man, and a wanderer. I cannot say more. Things may be revealed to you in time, but I wish to make acquaintance with this world and its inhabitants."
Old Ben looked at Gandalf, with a sort of all-seeing look, but still with a hand on his beard, stroking it in complete concentration. "Ah… I see, a man of mystery. I can sympathize, my friend."
Luke, scooting himself over to Threepio when looking at the droid's broken arm, began to repair it. "Well, of all the planets in the galaxy, you came to the worst one. Gangsters, smugglers, bounty hunters… this is their sweet spot, alright."
"So there are other worlds? Worlds that can be reached?" Gandalf asked in response to Luke.
"Yessir," the boy responded, cleaning off the droid. "How isolated was your world, anyways? You didn't even know how to fly?"
Gandalf remembered back to the days in his previous life. He remembered how the Eagles of Manwë rescued him from danger countless times. "Oh, we could fly alright. There were Eagles who rescued me from harm many, many times."
"Well, here we fly in ships from world to world, but it's dangerous, now. It's been dangerous ever since the Clone Wars," Luke mentioned to Gandalf, still repairing the droid's arm. Old Ben looked to him in reminiscence.
"Ah, yes," Ben said as he sat thinking. "Your father would've hated what's going on, nowadays. That conflict gave him the opportunity he needed to be a great pilot."
"No," corrected Luke as he kept to his task. "My father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter."
Gandalf was just becoming more and more accustomed to these terms, but tried to pay them no mind. Old Ben looked at Luke in a corrective manner.
"That's what your uncle told you," he said, as Gandalf looked to him. "He didn't hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should've stayed here and not gotten involved."
"And what's the matter with that?" the wizard asked. "I've advised many people to do just that."
"And I have as well," Ben agreed, as Luke looked back in acknowledgement. "But in this situation, his participation was necessary, for both myself and the Republic. It wouldn't be the same fighting without him."
"You fought in the Clone Wars?" asked the young man in excitement. Obi-Wan answered patiently, but with regard to Luke's excitement.
"Yes," he said, with a knowing face. "I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father."
At this, Gandalf was intrigued. He wished to know what a 'Jedi Knight' was, but he did not wish to interrupt. Things would be revealed to him in due time.
"I wish I'd known him," said Luke, a tad disappointed. Old Ben then gave him a knowing face and began to explain more.
"He was the best star pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior," he said as he looked at Luke in praise. "I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself."
Luke nodded to Ben, as the old man looked slightly up, remembering Luke's father.
"And, he was a good friend, which reminds me... I have something here for you."
Gandalf was heartened by this. He had many friends over the course of time, both lost and still remaining, and he longed for their safety. Ben realized he had forgotten something, and got up to search through his old wooden chest. While he was doing this, Luke began to put the restraining bolt back on the golden droid, though he suddenly thought against it, to Threepio's reluctance. He continued to complete his task, working on and off.
"What are you doing, lad?" asked Gandalf.
"Oh, just fixing up his arm. We were in a tough situation earlier today, and Ben over there helped us out," Luke explained. "He scared off all the sand people."
"Sand people?" Gandalf asked.
"Yeah," responded Luke. "The Tusken Raiders. They're savages that dominate the Dune Sea. I was lucky to make it out alive. Hey, Ben, what're you looking for over there?"
Old Ben, finally finding what he was looking for, pulled out a small handle with a few electronic attachments.
"Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough," he said, cleaning the tool. "But your uncle wouldn't allow it. He figured you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned fool-idealistic crusade like your father did."
At this, Gandalf turned and questioned the old man. "Who might that be?"
"Who, Obi-Wan?" Ben asked back. "That's me. I was once known as Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, of the Jedi Order. Didn't you say you once had a different name, Gandalf?"
"I have been called many a name in my time, and Gandalf is one of them," claimed the wizard. "So yes, I see your point."
"Sir," said Threepio to Luke. "If you won't be needing me, I'll close down for a while."
"Sure go ahead," Luke responded, immediately. He then stood up as Obi-Wan handed him the handle. Luke looked at it in awe, and Gandalf, too, felt a great amount of intrigue in the object, and examined it with his eyes. "What is it?"
"Your father's lightsaber," answered Kenobi to the young man. "This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy and as random as a blaster."
As the old man said this, Luke pressed a button on the side of the weapon, sending a glowing, blue light out of the hilt, which made the weapon resemble a sword. This, more than anything he had seen previously, stunned Gandalf, and not because the weapon was unknown to him, but because it reminded him of something else.
"A sword that glows blue," the wizard thought. "Now where have I seen that before?"
Gandalf was reminded of the two brave hobbits, the Baggins, that aided him on his journeys, in a time that felt like it was ages ago. He wanted to go back and help save the people he knew and loved, but he remembered his test, which seemed all but unknown to him as of yet. While Gandalf sat, deep in thought, Luke Skywalker wove the blade 'round and 'round, appearing to be filled with wonder at the mere sight of it.
"Very interesting," added Gandalf. "I've never seen anything quite like it."
"No-one seems to, anymore," acknowledged Obi-Wan. "This is an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."
Obi-Wan sat next to Gandalf as Luke continued to wave the sword around. He knew the time had come for both Gandalf and young Luke to know fully about the Jedi, and he began to inform them. "For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times… before the Empire."
"The Empire, you say?" Gandalf asked.
"They're the regime that terrorizes the galaxy. Only lately have uprisings began. I can tell when I go into towns now and again," explained the Jedi, as Luke shut off his weapon and took a seat next to Obi-Wan. "And they're growing in number."
"Those Imperials," Luke said, addressing his statement towards Gandalf. "They're monsters. They only like to punish and terrorize everyone with authority."
"I can understand. They must be quite ruthless," the wizard said, in agreement. After a short moment of silence, Luke decided to change the subject.
"How did my father die?" Luke asked. Obi-Wan, with great reluctance, decided to tell him the story.
"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and murder the Jedi Knights," explained Obi-Wan, while Gandalf and Luke listened, sadly. "He betrayed and murdered you father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force."
Gandalf's eyes widened, and images began to spur around in his mind. All else he heard from the others sounded only of echoes, and they played into the images in his mind. Luke's voice provided an image of a candle, not yet lit.
"The Force?" called out Luke's voice. Every time the wizard heard the voice of Obi-Wan, it felt as if the images in his head grew even more vivid.
"Well the Force is what gives a Jedi his power," proclaimed the voice of Obi-Wan. The last word stuck out to Gandalf the most. It repeated once. "It's an energy field, created by all living things."
Gandalf saw a group of multiple different beings, sitting calmly and patiently in a circle, in what appeared to be an old chamber. He then heard another voice, one much more raspy and older than Obi-Wan's. "It's energy..."
He then heard Obi-Wan's voice again, accompanied by another image. "It surrounds us."
This image was of a little green man. His pointy ears and short stature stuck out to Gandalf. The other voice repeated what Obi-Wan had said. "Surrounds us."
"And penetrates us," continued Obi-Wan's voice. Another image appeared quickly to Gandalf, but only for a short moment. It was a young man, with long, brown hair. He was very tall, and had a scar across his left eye. He bore an angry sort of look, as he was surrounded by fire and lava. "It binds the galaxy together."
The other voice called out once more, followed by complete darkness.
"And binds us," said the voice. Then came silence. After a few moments, the voice of Ilúvatar called out to Gandalf.
"The circle is broken. You must help repair it. That is your task," claimed Eru. "May the Force be with you, Olórin."