Rulus Knil-Wean watched as the rebel base drew closer and as the ship flew down through the hangar entrance and I landed the Nightmare in the hangar's floor, Rakine stood up and walked to the stretcher which held Karus' body. Rulus and I got up and I opened the door, walking out and being greeted by Mon Mothma.
"We have returned with a council member of Kommaden. She says she's here to discuss Kommaden's loyalties to the Rebel Alliance." I turned around and Rulus walked out, with a nod. Rakine followed after her while bringing Karus out with him. Mon Mothma frowned when she saw Karus, laying dead on the hovering stretcher.
"We should prepare something for the captain. Bring him to the balcony." Rakine nodded and walked down a hallway with Karus's body. Rulus and Mon glanced at each other, bowed in respect to each other, and walked down the hall to the base's main council chamber. I closed the door to my ship and followed behind Rakine. I caught up to him and stared down at Karus' body.
"What're we going to do with Karus?"
"Prepare a funeral for him. A special way to send him off. We're giving him a Jedi's cremation."
I stopped walking and stared silently at Karus as his body kept being walked away by Rakine.
"A Jedi?" I kept walking behind Rakine.
"Yes. He may not have looked like much now but he was a Jedi when he was young. Karus and I trained together as young Padawans. When I learned the Light Side of the Force. We were younglings when we met. Before the Empire rose to power. It's when we became really close friends."
"He was actually a Jedi?"
"Yes," he nodded. "He wasn't strong with the Force or the best with a lightsaber, but I always looked out for him." Rakine chuckled. "He wasn't the best with handling weapons. He wanted to be a pilot fighter." He looks down at Karus. "We grew up as Jedi Padawans together. We were both about to become Knights when the Empire rose. We both knew if we stayed in the Jedi Temple, we'd die. So we escaped to a ship and flew away. Away from it all. We travelled the galaxy looking for a place to retreat. When we found Yavin, we thought we found a safe place to hide. Turned out a Rebel Alliance was making its base there. They took us in and we joined the Rebel cause. Karus trained to be a better marksman with a gun, and they appreciated his improvement of skill. They thought we were the greatest assets to the Alliance. Karus became a captain, and I continued to learn more ways of the Force. I trained myself afterwards, and I learned how to balance both sides and walked this path, the Gray Path. We still respected each other for our strength that the Rebel Alliance gave us. We went on many missions across the galaxy and-"
I looked at Rakine's face, where the scar from his right eyebrow went down his face and to the collarbone.
"How did you get that scar?" I asked.
"This was from a lightsaber." He rubbed his face. "A fight with an Inquisitor, the same one you fought on Kommaden."
We turned a corner to a large, wide open room, with a skylight that opens to the clear, sunset-colored sky of Yavin 4.
"Sot-Kolok?"
He nodded and stopped the stretcher near the center of the room, next to a large stone bed, covered in wood and ash.
"We first met on Mandalore, and we first fought each other there. He knew I was a rebel. He tried to kill me. I was lucky enough to even escape alive."
"I don't even know how I managed to take him out," I shuddered.
"There's something incredibly unnatural anout you Ven," Rakine nodded.
I sat down on a concrete slab and looked at Karus' body, as Rakine picked up Karus and laid him on the wood and ash.
"You're going to burn his body, aren't you?"
He nodded.
"After dark, the Jedi's body is cremated. It's how we free the spirit and they become one with the Force."
I nodded and looked down at the floor, wrapping my head around everything Rakine has told me. I understood now everything that has happened and how the Rebel Alliance rose. How Rakine and Karus came to the Alliance and grew powerful as best friends. How Karus' lived for the Rebel Alliance. How Sot-Kolok, the notorious Inquisitor has rivaled Rakine and how I avenged Karus' death. I looked up and Mon Mothma, Rulus Knil-Wean, and many members of the Rebel Alliance stepped in and all their eyes focused on the deceased captain on the stone bed, surrounded by wood and ash. Rakine looked up at the sky as the sun set over the horizon. The room darkened and Mon Mothma walked closer to his body.
"Fellow rebels, a tragic day has come to the Alliance. One of our most beloved fighter captains, Karus Gorobon, has fallen on the field of battle on planet Kommaden. But we shall nit be discouraged by his death, but we shall be encouraged by his life. We shall keep our heads up, and respect Karus for all the things he had done in the past, to serve the Rebel Alliance. He was a captain, a friend, a former Jedi. And thus, we will give him a Jedi's farewell."
I stood up and stood between Rakine and Rulus, Rakine to my right and Rulus to my left. Mon Mothma stood on Rulus' left side and another Rebel captain on Rakine's right side.
"And he will finally be one with the Force."
Rakine nodded slowly and lit a match and tossed it into the wood, instantly seizing the top of the stone bed and Karus' body in flames. Everyone in the room lowered their heads respectfully and I lowered mine, I closed my eyes and thought about everything that had happened. I remembered the first time I met Karus, and how the friendship between us began to grow. I felt sadness and sympathy for my fallen friend. I felt the heat from the fire cast upon his body, and through the Force, I felt bits of Force energy grow out of Karus' body. I felt his presence within us, as if he was still alive, standing in the flames and watching all of us. I am sure Rakine could feel it too. I opened one eye and saw Karus indeed standing in the fire, almost like a blue holographic image. A spirit of Karus manifested through the flames and nodded to me, before vanishing into thin air. I closed my eyes and thought silently to myself.
"He's stronger with the Force then he though."
We all stayed still, bowing our heads in respect to Karus, as we felt his presence disappear. The fire continued to roar as his Force energy and the sparks of the flames that covered his body flew up into the night sky through the hole in the balcony's ceiling. His body slowly combusted into the ashes that supported him.
The fire began to die down and Rakine opened his eyes.
"His spirit has been released. Karus has become one with the Force."
I felt it too, as I looked at Karus' remains in the dying flames. Our dear friend, the former Jedi Padawan, the Rebel Alliance's captain, Karus was gone.
I had an awfully uneasy feeling the following night. I had visions in my sleep of Karus and Rakine as young Padawans, training together. Them the Empire came and they retreated to Yavin 4 to join the rebels. I felt a slight tremor in the Force, waking me up. I looked around and as I got up from the bed in my living chamber, I knew what that feeling was. Karus. I walked slowly to the center of the room and an apparition of Karus appeared before me. He stood proud and rubbed his neck, where he was decapitated. But nothing was there. I knelt down to him in respect.
"Karus, we all miss you."
"I know you do, Lord Venison," he chuckled and grinned to me. "The entire Rebel Alliance wishes I weren't dead. Stand up."
I stood up and looked at Karus' spirit as he stood tall.
"How are you here?"
"After my spirit was released from cremation, I have become one with the Force. I have come back now, as a Force ghost. I have news for you. This must be for your ears and your ears only."
I nodded.
"I must tell you that I was a former Jedi, since I can take this form."
I nodded again.
"Rakine told me your story."
"Very good." He chuckled. "i knew I could trust him. But I must tell you quickly about one Jedi trick that I was told about as a youngling. I never learned it successfully. It is considered both combative and defensive trick. It is the same trick that the Inquisitor Sot-Kolok has performed many times in most of his fights with Rakine, in the past. The power to levitate and float in the air."
"Levitation?"
"It is a rarely taught technique. And it is hard to master. But I remember everything my older master taught me."
I stood still in the middle of the room, ready for Karus to instruct me.
"Use the Force to influence your midi-chlorians, you can trick them into thinking you are lightweight. The midi-chlorians are the things that the Force is made up of, and if you can bend them to your will by influencing them, you can pull off nearly any Force trick. But remember, it is a very difficult thing to master. Jedi state in envy at those who have mastered it."
I nodded.
"Tell me, Karus, what can the Rebel Alliance do without you as a Captain?"
He shook his head.
"I have not a clue. But I think someone's going to take my old job and be the new Rebel Captain. Maybe Rakine will get promoted and take my position." He chuckled. "I do wish the Rebel Alliance the best of luck." Karus' Force spirit began to disappear and he looked at me. "Lord Venison-"
"Yes, Karus?"
"May the Force be with you." Karus' spirit began to float in the air and his image had completely faded, his presence in the Force had left as well. I had laid back down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the advice he gave me.
"Influence the midi-chlorians to grant you the power to levitate? I lifted my head to the door and heard voices traveling past the door. Mon Mothma and Rulus Knil-Wean were talking to each other down the hall. I slowly got up and walked to the door, resting the side of my head and my large deer ear against the door.
"What will we do now? Now that Karus is gone?"
"We shall hope that the Rebel Alliance remains strong. I liked Karus. He was a wonderful Captain. But we need to find another to take his place."
"Venison?"
"Venison couldn't take that role. He is a Sith Lord, and the warrior for the Alliance."
"Then his friend?"
"Rakine? I don't know about th-"
They almost turned the corner down the hall.
"Listen to yourself Mon Mothma. You can barely think straight. We need to make a quick decision."
I slowly opened the door and through the Force, I controlled Mothma's mind in a Jedi trick.
"Rakine should be the next Rebel Captain." I whispered. Mon Mothma froze and raised one hand, a finger pointed up.
"Rakine should be the next Rebel Captain."
Rulus nodded.
"I'm glad we have an agreement."
They continued walking down the hall and I closed my door, turning to my bed. I walked over to it and lazily flopped down on the soft comforter. I lay silently, feeling the cool air from the vent above graze against the short fur on my back, only making the metal plate around my abdomen colder. I turned to lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, trying to catch some sleep.