Chapter 3

Echoes

Arc found himself, once again, in the awkward position of trying to comfort Ahsoka with his one good arm. "This had better not become a habit, kid. I've only got a couple of shirts that fit over my bandages."

"Sorry, Arc." Ahsoka said, with her face still halfway buried in his somewhat damp shirt. "It just seems like I've been traveling so long and so far. And now everything I had hoped to find just got yanked out from under me. Everyone I know except for you two just... either died or disappeared."

"I know it's hard to hear it, but maybe it's time to move on. Find a new locale. This dig should only last another week. After they're done and we drop them back off at Rudrig, let's go somewhere completely different. You're not going to forget your troubles so quickly, but we can at least distract you until you get some mental distance from everything."

"Yeah, I'd be okay with that. But for now we're stuck here. With nothing to do but meditate."

"There's got to be something else to do around here."

Ahsoka tilted her head and looked back the direction that Arc had come from. "Actually, I think we may have found something."

"What is it?"

"I don't know," she said as she started walking that way, "But I think they found something and I think... I don't know how to explain it."

Arc followed her. "Explain what?"

"It feels like it's... for me."

Sure enough the Bith and an Alderaanian were carefully excavating a small, solid object out of the ground. As they brushed the dirt off of the small square shape, light glinted off of the exposed surfaces.

Ahsoka walked up to the two and squatted down next to their trench to be at eye level with them. "Do you mind if I help?"

"Be careful!" the Human said, "I don't know how delicate it is."

"If it's what I think it is... it's pretty sturdy. Still..." she held out her hand and closed her eyes, and it floated up out of the man's hand. The dust and dirt slowly sloughed off of it, falling back into the trench. The small cube glittered in the sunlight, and veins of a gold and silver ore streaked through it. "This is one of the oldest ones I've ever seen..."

The Bith blurbed a question, and the Alderaanian echoed him, "What is it?"

"It's a Jedi holocron. And I don't think it will be safe in your university. Not if the Chancellor is hunting down Jedi."

"Why would a piece of crystal be important to people hunting Jedi?"

Ahsoka smiled, "Jedi history isn't your forte, is it."

The man shook his head, "Sorry, this is just extra credit for me. I'm actually a Geology student."

She sat down next to the trench cross-legged, her back straight in the meditation pose that Arc recognized so well. The holocron floated over her lap, and she held it steady in the Force between her hands.

Light flickered inside the cube, and the figure of a Twi'lek came into existance, hovering in front of Ahsoka.

"Greetings, Apprentice. I am the Gatekeeper to this holocron. I am Jedi Master Zhar Lestin, and it seems that this repository of knowledge has been unused for a very long time."

"Master Lestin, it has been a long time. This Jedi Enclave has been abandoned for four thousand years. I am here with an archeology team who are looking for information about the Jedi order in your day."

Lestin crossed his ghostly arms. "But that is not what you seek, child."

"No, Master. I'm afraid the Jedi Order may have been destroyed."

"Yet here you sit, conversing with me."

"I'm just a Padawan. And I was expelled from the Order a year ago, for a crime I didn't commit."

"This holocron gives me a certain level of consciousness, and the ability to feel and judge the people who activate it. You may not be a Jedi Knight yet, but you are a Jedi." He smiled, his pointy teeth visible, albeit translucent. "You are young, impulsive, but strong in mind, morality, and the Force. The purpose of a Jedi holocron is to preserve knowledge and understanding of the Force. You say that the Jedi Order may have been destroyed?"

Ahsoka nodded, "Yes, Master. A civil war broke out, and the Republic split in two. The Jedi were tasked with protecting the Republic, and many of them became Generals in the war. Two days ago, the Chancellor claimed that he was attacked by the Jedi, and that they were trying to depose him by force. He has declared that all Jedi are enemies of the Republic, and he turned the entire Army of the Republic against them. Immediately afterwards, he declared himself the Emperor, and dissolved the Republic. I've been trying to meditate and reach out, to find other Jedi who may have survived. But I can't."

The glowing figure of Master Zhar Lestin nodded, "Of this, I am not surprised. We are still on Dantooine, are we not?"

A lump in Ahsoka's throat kept her from answering. Just saying it out loud hurt. She nodded in response.

"Dantooine was chosen as the site for a Jedi Enclave during a time of strife and war. First, the Mandalorians threatened the Republic. Then the Sith Empire rose up under my own pupil, Darth Revan. Dantooine was chosen not just because it was a peaceful place for meditation, but also because there is a lingering presence of the dark side of the Force nearby. Master Vandar discovered that the presence of a dark side wellspring helped mask those who practiced the light. However, it can make it difficult to get a sense of the rest of the galaxy."

"So you're saying that I'll need to leave Dantooine to find other Jedi."

"I suspect that is so. However, before you can find others like you, you must rediscover yourself."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, "I haven't changed since I was a Padawan. I know who I am."

Lestin showed his teeth again. "Then this should be a mere formality. But, in order to survive with an Emperor and an army against you, you will need a lightsaber."