Chapter 72
Jedi Knight
For days, Ahsoka had spent her time and energy fixing the Whipclaw. She hadn't really taken the time to pay attention to the swamp around her. As she and Master Yoda walked away from the cave, she notice just how alive the swamp truly was.
It was dank and dark, and smelled like decaying vegetables. But there were constant sounds. The Force permeated the entire planet. Everything here was living, dying, breathing, eating, and growing. And now that she wasn't fighting against a dark Jedi, fixing her ship, or taking her Jedi trial, she could stop and feel it.
"I think I understand why you came here," she said to Yoda. "The living Force is strong here."
"Hmm, noticed, have you?" he replied. "So busy the last few days have been. Perhaps time to meditate you should find."
"You're probably right," she said. "That was the one thing I still did after I left the Jedi, you know. I stopped trying to sense things with the Force. I stopped using telekinesis. You can never really shut off all of your senses once you get used to them. But the one thing I did was my daily meditation."
"Strong and impulsive you always were. Even as a child. Remember, do you, when you refused to let Padawan Kardo beat you at saber sparring?"
"I haven't thought about anyone else from my class in a long time." She took the lightsaber off of her belt and twisted it, separating the two halves. "I still use two blades when I can."
"Learn more from failure than from success, you can. Both you achieved in that fight."
"Believe me," she replied sheepishly, "I remember. It was a good strategy, but I got my blades tangled up together halfway through the fight. I made this one so that when I separate the blades, the one in my left hand shrinks down to shoto length. That was hard to do."
"Mmm, a feat of engineering indeed. And repairing ships you do for a living now. Learned much from your time as Skywalker's apprentice, you did."
"Sometimes it's nice to tinker with something that isn't alive. Something that isn't part of the living Force. It's almost like... meditation, really. I can focus on something that needs to be fixed, without depending on the Force to do it." She reattached the two lightsaber hilts back into a single double ended saber and clipped it to her belt. "I... haven't been able to sense him. Since Order 66. I now Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments, but..."
"Close, the two of you were. A strong bond between Master and Apprentice there will always be." Yoda's brow furrowed. "Afraid, I am, that few of us survived."
"I felt most of them die. First Master Fisto. Then Master Windu. Anakin was there, I could feel him. But then I... well, I kinda fainted." She shrugged. "I guess it was too much to hope for."
They came into the clearing where the Whipclaw was settled. Master It'kla could be seen inside the cockpit. He waved at them as they came within sight, gesturing for them to come aboard.
Ahsoka came up the ramp to find the furry Jedi waiting for her. He said, "Well, I think we're mostly done. The ship is capable of high altitude flight. Once we go over all of the seals, I would say that it's safe for space flight."
"Good news, that is," Yoda replied. "But first, in order congratulations are. Suspected, I did, that former Padawan Tano was truly a Jedi Knight. Proven true, my suspicions were."
"You found a test for her here on Dagobah?" Ylenic asked.
"Powerful in the dark side, the cave where the Windu clone died is. Connected to the living Force it is. Confronted, she was, by temptation and fear. Overcame it, she did."
"There was never any doubt in my mind," Ylenic replied. "It has been my belief that her decision to leave the Order itself was the true test of her character. And she chose wisely. But congratulations nonetheless."
"Insightful you are, as always, Master It'kla." Yoda said, smiling widely. "A selfish desire to see for myself, perhaps this test was."
"Aww, come on, you're going to embarrass me," Ahsoka said. "Anyway, we're going to take the night off from repairs and just relax. It's been a long day."
"Now that is a respite that I would welcome. I would much appreciate not having to smell welded metal for at least a few hours. I do have other good news," Master It'kla said. "The previous owner of this ship had several temporary holonet repeaters built into message capsules. If we can take the ship high enough, we can launch one into orbit. It will allow us to at least contact the Red Drexl and let the others know we're safe."
"That's good. I wouldn't want them to worry." Ahsoka looked around. "Do we want to do that no before we shut down for the night?"
"A good idea, perhaps," Yoda said.
On the bridge of the Drexl, Jyssa dozed off. The ship was traveling through hyperspace. Their delivery was done, and Jyssa had managed to score a delivery of several metric tons of fertilizer to a little backwater planet called Saheelindeel that didn't take her very far out of the way back to their home base in Rudrig.
The violet and blue swirls of hyperspace would have been hypnotic, if Jyssa's eyes weren't already closed.
A steady beeping awoke her from her pleasant nap. It wasn't an alarm, but her hand still instinctively reached out to grab at the cover for the hyperdrive cutoff switch. Even half asleep, her pilot's reflexes were ready for anything.
But, as she swept her sleep-fuzzed eyesight over the console, the only blinking light was on the communications board. She hit the com channel switch, and a small holographic blue bust appeared on her console.
She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and saw the tiny striped montrals on the hologram. "Ahso... I mean, Riella? Is that you?"
"Yep. This is a secure channel, you can use my real name. Are Nat and Mirian there?"
"Yeah, they might be asleep. This is night in shipboard time. Where have you been? We were worried."
The tiny figure gave a grimace. "Yeah, we kind of... crash landed. On a little nowhere swamp planet. But we're okay. It's just taken us this long to get the ship fixed up enough to get into high orbit and send a message."
"Grife, do you need me to come rescue you?"
"I hope not," Ahsoka said. "The planet's name is Dagobah. Should be on the charts, but it's uninhabited. If you don't hear from us in a few days, then come look for us. We should be able to fly out of here soon, though. I don't want you to waste time and fuel when you don't have to. Also... I don't want this planet to be in your flight plans. We ran into an old friend who would rather not be noticed."
"An old... oh. That kind of old friend. Did you want me to get the kids?"
"Yeah, I think they'd like to see him too."
"I'll be right back," Jyssa said. The crew bunks were only a few meters behind the cockpit of the Red Drexl, so instead of using the ship's public address speakers, she stepped out of the cockpit and hit the buzzers on their doors. "Ahsoka's on the com, she wanted to talk to you two."
She ran back to the cockpit, followed closely by a pajama-clad Nat.
"Ahsoka, are you okay?" he asked.
"We're fine, Nat," she said. "Is Mirian there?"
"I'm right here," came a sleepy voice from the doorway.
"Good. I've got someone who'd like to see you." Ahsoka moved out of visual range of the transmitter. A small pointy-eared head came into view from the bottom of the holoprojection.
"On, is this thing?" he asked. "See no one, I do."
The two young Jedi's heads nearly collided as they both dove for the chair closest to the communications board.
"Master Yoda, is that really you?" Nat asked.
"Of course it is," Mirian said. "I'm so glad to see you alive!"
"Glad to see you I am as well," he said. "Strange you look in this hologram."
Jyssa rolled her eyes in the pilot's seat. "Cheap software. The image gets distorted when it tries to focus on two people. I need to buy the upgrade."
"Are you coming back with Ahsoka and Master It'kla?" Mirian asked.
"Afraid, I am, that stay here, I must." Yoda said. "But wish to see you, I did. Warms my heart, it does, to see so many Jedi still alive."
Ahsoka's voice came from outside the holo camera view, "Oops. It looks like we've only got another minute or two. The holonet relay didn't quite make it into orbit, it's heading back down towards the atmosphere."
"Back with you in a few days, Ahsoka and Ylenic will be. Almost done with repairs, they are. With you in heart and mind, I will be, but stay here in body, I must." A small blue hand came into the camera view. "Remember, always, that with you, the Force will be."
The image turned to static. In the skies of Dagobah, the three Jedi could see a small shooting star cut through the clouds as the tiny, and very expensive relay satellite burned up on its way down through the atmosphere.
Author's note: After all the druk they've been through, I figured it was past time for the crews of the Red Drexl and the Whipclaw to find some peace and time to relax. As for me, well, there's no rest for me. I'm trying to catch up and write next months chapters ahead of time, because once November starts, I'll be doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I wrote a little over 70,000 words of my pirate fantasy novel last November, and over the course of the year I finished the last few chapters. It's at about 95,000 words now. This year I'll be writing the sequel. I apologize in advance if I don't get to finish the chapters for next month, but I'll do what I can. :)
And, of course, I have no promises as to how long they'll be able to relax. The Clone Wars may be over, but there's still plenty of turmoil in the galaxy.