Chapter 13: One for All
Asera Tessu
Asera Tessu was born on the planet Shili in the Ehosiq system of the Expansion region in the year 9ABY. While it was considered a time of peace for most of the galaxy Asera grew up knowing that it wasn't.
Asera was born into the Rebellion. Both of her parents were in the resistance and she was born on the home planet of Ahsoka Tano, a great Jedi warrior and hero to the people of Shili. While her parents would go on missions for the Resistance the villagers who took care of her would often regale the young girl with tales of Ahsoka and her master Anakin Skywalker, father of Luke Skywalker.
Then when Asera was six years old her mother and father went out on a mission for the Resistance and never returned. What was supposed to be a simple recon mission where they would gather information on a hidden supply base. Before they could complete their mission, they were captured by a faction of the dying empire now calling itself the First Order. And then they were executed for the whole galaxy to see.
Asera and her entire village were devastated at the news. Many thought she would be angry and blame the Resistance for sending her parents on the mission that ultimately led to her parents' demise. Asera did the exact opposite; she vowed to dedicate her life to making the First Order pay for taking her parents away from her, whether as a part of the Resistance or as something else.
After her parents' deaths, Asera decided to take on a more active role in her community even though she was only a little girl. She helped out in any way she could from volunteering to go on Akul hunts with the adults to helping watch over the younger kids of the village. She wanted to make sure that the village didn't miss her parents as much as she did by trying to fill all of the roles that they had left vacant.
Over the next six years Asera would begin honing the skills she would need to survive her mission to take out the First Order. She worked to become skilled in combat, tracking and using her ultrasonic abilities by going on every Akul hunt the elders would allow her to go on and even fighting head to head with the males in her village. In her free time Asera would meditate to find peace while also strengthening her connection to her home planet.
Everything changed for Asera on her thirteenth birthday. It started off ordinarily enough with Asera waking up all alone in her home before joining the village elders and other younglings for breakfast. Her few friends gave her small gifts, mostly things that they had made or found. She tried to be happy but her birthdays always reminded her that her parents were gone and never coming back.
"Happy Birthday, little one," a male by the name of Odabra Zemu said as the group got ready to head out for the day's hunt.
"Thank you, Oda," she said in a quiet voice.
"You're coming with us to catch those monsters that destroyed the village not too far from here, right," Heta Bin, one of the female hunters asked.
Asera was surprised, she was only supposed to go on a couple hunts a week and she had gone on the last three already. She looked to elder Arahsaah Zyks, who had been her grandmother's best friend. Arahsaah nodded her consent and Asera happily bounded off to put on her hunting gear.
Once she was dressed she went to meet up with the hunting party that consisted of 5 adult Togrutas and young Asera. There were 3 males and 3 females. Oda and Heta were the only two that didn't mind hunting with the young girl and when they learned that they were tracking two Akul the three of them decided to hunt together.
"Are you nervous," Heta asked.
"About what," Asera asked carefully scanning their surrounds as Oda made sure they were following the right path.
"Zera Myrlem said these are some of the biggest Akul she's ever seen," Oda answered.
Asera thought about it for a moment and decided that she wasn't nervous. She was excited. Now that she was out on the hunt and could forget about what wasn't waiting for her back at home and had a sense that something exciting was going to happen. Well something more than taking on the biggest Akul Zera, one of the oldest hunters, had ever seen.
"Nope. If we can take one down I'll be the youngest person ever to take down a giant Akul," Asera said with a bright smile.
All she wanted to do was leave her mark so that people remembered her generations after she was gone the way that they remembered Ahsoka and her parents.
"I like your attitude little one," Oda said with a smile.
The three of them moved forward silently once they reached the grasslands and began seeing more signs of the Akul they were tracking. It wasn't long before Heta spotted the orange furred beast. The group communicated using hand signals.
Heta and Asera were going to move in from the left and right while Oda came at it from behind.
Asera moved so that she was down wind and the Akul wouldn't catch her scent. She spent more time watching the ground for anything she could step on that would make noise and alert the ferocious beast to her presence than watching the beast. She and Heta were almost in position when the wind shifted.
Then several things happened at once and almost too fast to do anything about.
First, the wind shifted so that Oda was now upwind from the larger than normal Akul. The great beast turned toward where Oda was still crouched in the tall grass. It was only luck that kept the beast from seeing Asera when it turned her way.
Second, a second smaller Akul appeared from the grass near Heta. The thing charged straight for the older woman. But Heta had been a hunter for a long time and was able to move out of the way at the last second. Now Heta's focus was split between helping her husband and saving her own skin.
Third, as the larger Akul went to charge at Oda he tried to jump out of the way only to catch his foot on a tree root causing him to twist his leg badly. Oda fell to the ground with a loud cry. Heta saw this from where she'd perched in a tree to avoid the smaller Akul.
"Odabra," she called.
The smaller Akul grew bored with Heta up in the tree and went over to where Oda was laying on the ground. The larger Akul had stopped its charge and was now charging back to Oda, even more pissed off because it had missed the first time. Oda began to panic, not that the two women could blame him.
Asera watched in horror as the two beasts charged toward Oda. All the pain she'd felt when she'd learned of her parents' deaths came flooding back as the possibility of losing someone who was like an uncle to her became more and more real. She knew she couldn't just sit idly by and let the beasts kill him.
She sprung up from her hiding place among the grass and began running toward where Oda was.
"Asera, no! Stay back," Oda called as the beasts began to circle him.
"I won't let you die," Asera called back.
She was about a hundred yards away from Oda and the two Akul, when the larger one noticed her. Asera held her spear more securely in her hand as she prepared herself to launch it. Heta dropped down from the tree she was hiding in and using hand signals indicated that she was going to go for Oda when the opportunity presented itself.
Asera was glad that Heta was going to help her instead of telling her to run off to get help. She took a deep breath and launched the spear at the Akul. It skimmed the beast's fur and stuck in the ground. The thing raised its head and bared its teeth at Asera before charging at her.
Asera saw her short life flash before her eyes as the monster came charging at her. From the corner of her eye she could see that Heta had been able to subdue the smaller Akul and was now headed for Oda.
Asera sighed in relief.
Even if she died this day, she had at least helped save someone who had been nothing but kind to her since her parents had died. As the Akul got closer, Asera threw her arms up to protect herself and something strange happened. The beast was suddenly flung backwards until it crashed into some nearby trees and didn't get back up.
It took Asera a few moments to realize that she was being eaten alive. She lowered her arms to see Oda and Heta staring at her in amazement. The giant Akul was laid out in a heap near the trees that had splintered when the Akul hit them.
"Wha…what happened," Asera asked in a shaky voice.
Oda and Heta looked at each other for a brief second.
Then Oda said, "You threw the Akul into the trees."
"No I didn't," Asera did.
"But you did, Sera. We saw you put your arms up and then the Akul went flying," Heta explained helping Oda to his feet.
"That can't be. The only people who could do something like that are the Jedi and I am not a Jedi," Asera said adamantly.
"You might not be a Jedi but that doesn't mean that you aren't a Force user. Jedi is a religion, a faction. It's something you learn after you realize that you are Force sensitive. Only someone with the ability to manipulate the Force could have done what you just did," Oda said.
"Oda, we are going to have to tell the elders about this," Heta said reluctantly.
"Yes, I know," Oda said.
"What? Why? Why can't we just pretend like none of this ever happened," Asera asked even as she went over to Oda's other side to help him walk back to the village.
"Because you are the first Force sensitive from this planet since Ahsoka Tano. This is a miracle," Heta said.
"Well you two certainly don't seem happy about it," Asera said shortly.
She could tell that there was something they weren't telling her. The closer they got back to the village the more apprehensive Asera began feeling. She just had a bad feeling that something was going to change as soon as the village elders found out about what happened.
Asera and Heta took Odabra to the healer's house and left him there before heading to the elders' tent. Asera's nerves got worse the closer they got until she was visibly shaking. Every second she had to remind herself that she had nowhere to go if she left her village so that she didn't run away.
They walked inside and the 4 elders looked up at the same time.
"What gives you the right to enter our sacred place without invitation," Roshti Vyky, the meanest, oldest and wisest of the elders demanded as soon as Asera and Heta walked inside.
"What is it, Heta Bin," Arahsaah Zyks asked, ignoring Roshti.
"Elder Vyky, I apologize for coming here unannounced but this is of the utmost importance," Heta said answering Roshti so that he didn't punish her. Heta hesitated for only a second as she looked at Asera's frightened face before she said, "Our little Asera can use the Force."
Everyone in the room gasped. Asera's eyes dropped to the floor. Arahsaah got up from her perch and hobbled over to Asera. She looked Asera over for a moment and then turned back to the others and nodded.
"It is true. The Force is strong in this one," Arahsaah said.
The three other elders all began talking at once. They all seemed to be in full on panic mode which did nothing to ease Asera's anxiety. Arahsaah came over to place a hand on Asera's shoulder.
"Don't look so glum, dear. The Force is an amazing gift," the old woman said.
"If that were true they wouldn't be freaking out the way they are," Asera said in a small voice.
"I will explain in a second," Ara said and turned back to the group. "Ozaka Saal, it's time to go and get the holocrons," she said.
The other woman got up and quickly headed toward the back of the tent. When she came back she was holding 2 cubes that seemed to glow a bright blue. Ozaka held the cubes out to Asera who looked at them like they were going to attack her.
"Take them child," Ara said and kind of shoved Asera forward.
She held her hands out and Ozaka placed the cubes in her hands. Heta and the elders all looked to Asera expectantly. Asera stared at the cubes and then up at the elders.
"What am I supposed to do with them," she asked.
"A force user would be able to open them," Zuree Baas said.
Asera looked at him with a confused expression on her face. How was she supposed to open some tiny little cube when she didn't even know how she had sent the Akul flying earlier? If she couldn't open the holocrons then what? Would they send her away for being a failure?
"The girl won't be able to open them until she gains some control over her abilities," Roshti said. "Ahsoka couldn't open a holocron until she had been with Master Anakin for a while. She's going to need to train," Roshti said.
Asera, Heta and Arahsaah all looked shocked that Roshti would defend her. Roshti hated the Resistance and the Jedi almost as much as he hated the First Order. The fact that he did defend her made Asera and Ara highly suspicious.
"And who do you suppose would be able to train her," Ara asked.
"Luke Skywalker of course. She needs to go to the Resistance anyway. There is no way we could keep her safe when that monster comes for her. Our planet might just be blown up," Roshti said and Asera flinched.
"What is he talking about, Ara," Asera asked in a shaky voice.
"The leader of the First Order is hunting down and killing anyone who is Force Sensitive that opposes the First Order. They are taking out whole planets for just one or two people," Ara explained.
She was never one to sugar coat things.
"So if I am a Force user I am endangering everyone by being here," Asera asked.
"Yes," Roshti and Zuree said at the same time as Ara and Ozaka said, "No."
"Well it can't be both. Which is it? Because the last thing I want is to bring danger here," Asera said.
"Well I am glad that is the case. We have a ship that Neda Ne will teach you to pilot and then you can seek out the resistance," Zuree said.
It seemed to Asera that they had been planning this. Like they'd known she was Force sensitive before she did.
"I want to make it clear that you don't have to leave if you don't want to," Ara said.
"You would rather risk everything than to send this girl where she can be useful," Zuree argued.
They four elders argued for a while. Asera and Heta exchanged a look and Heta knew that Asera would rather leave her home than to endanger everyone she cared about. In the end she decided that seeking out the resistance was the best way to help her people as well as honor her parents' legacy.
"All for one and one for all," Asera said as her ship left Shili's atmosphere for probably the last time ever.
She was grateful for the life she'd been allowed to live for the last six years but now it was time for her real journey to begin.