Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I just created my own little AU corner to play in.
AN: Here's chapter 2! Thanks for all the great reviews and amazing response to this new story. I'm glad everyone seems to be as excited about it as I am. Enjoy this new installment and let me know what you think!
Force Jumper
Chapter 2: The Xal'Kaar
He heard voices, as he slowly came around. Two male voices from what he could tell and that's when the fear gripped him. The two men that had murdered his mother planned to chip him again and sell him. Something had happened, but he couldn't remember much. He had blacked out and they had probably chipped already. Slowly and fearfully, he opened his eyes. His head was swimming with dizziness and the two men stopped talking to look at him. He quickly got to his knees, too quickly and he tried to steady himself.
"Easy kid," the man with shoulder length brown hair told him gently.
Were these his new masters? He wondered this, as he looked at his surroundings. It didn't look like the filthy type of establishment he was sure he would have been taken to. In fact, this place was definitely not the horrible place that the man known as Zar owned at all. It was a fairly large dwelling of some sort, modestly furnished and from the looks of it, he was laying on a sofa in a common area of sorts. But Anakin was still leery, as he looked at the other man. He didn't look the type to own slaves, neither of them did, but he wasn't going to get his hopes up.
"Am I chipped again?" Anakin asked bluntly. The younger man looked confused by his question.
"Chipped?" he asked.
"He means a slave transmitter," the older man told him.
"What? No, nothing like that. You haven't been chipped. What do you remember?" he asked. It all came rushing back to Anakin at that moment. Tears welled in the young boy's eyes, as he remembered his mother's lifeless body.
"My mother was murdered," Anakin cried, as tears slid down his cheeks.
"All because of that stupid race! If Sebulba wanted to win that bad, I would have let him! He didn't have to hire those men to kill her!" Anakin cried. Quinlan knelt down and put his hands on the boy's shoulders.
"Were you running from those men?" Quinlan asked. Anakin nodded.
"They were waiting for me. They were going to sell me to one of the brothels," Anakin replied, as he looked down in shame. Quinlan felt taken aback by the boy's fresh, raw pain. He was just a kid and the Jedi had dared to send him back to that Sith hell of a planet, not so much as caring that he could have become a slave again.
"Do you remember how you got away?" Quinlan asked. Anakin looked up at him curiously.
"I…I don't know. Something strange happened," Anakin replied. Quinlan stood up and Anakin's eyes widened in disbelief, as the man disappeared and then reappeared on the other side of the room.
"How…how did you do that?" he stammered. Quinlan disappeared again and reappeared in front of him.
"The same way you did when those men were after you," Quinlan replied.
"I thought that was just a dream. I didn't think it actually happened," Anakin said.
"Oh it happened. I found you passed out on Naboo, in the Gungan marshes to be exact," Quinlan replied.
"But…I was on Tatooine," Anakin said in confusion. Quinlan looked at the older man, as their suspicions were confirmed.
"Who are you?" he asked, looking at them both.
"I'm Quinlan Vos, rogue Jedi and this is Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas," Quinlan said.
"You're Jedi?" he asked, with a small amount of disdain. Quinlan smirked.
"We're not your typical Jedi. Technically, if the Council had their way and Master Dyas wasn't such a legend, he would not be considered part of the Order and me, well, if Mace Windu had his way, I'd be dead," Quinlan said. Anakin looked at him confusion.
"I'm not sure I understand. And how did I end up on Naboo?" Anakin asked.
"That part is probably the most simple answer. You jumped," Quinlan stated.
"Jumped?" he asked.
"You teleported, but more commonly, people like us are called Force Jumpers," Quinlan clarified.
"You did it too, but it was easier for you," Anakin said. Quinlan smirked.
"Well, I've had a lot of practice. But there's a big difference between us," Quinlan replied.
"What's that?" the boy asked.
"I can't jump from one planet to another. In fact, there hasn't been a Jumper that could do that for…over a millennia," Quinlan stated. Anakin's eyes widened.
"Is that why I passed out?" Anakin asked. Quinlan chuckled.
"You're lucky that passing out and puking your guts out is all that happened on your first jump, especially jumping from one planet to another. Luckily, I sensed your jump signature and got to you, before any Xal'Kaar's could find you," Quinlan said. Anakin's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Xal'Kaar's?" Anakin asked.
"Force Jumper hunters. They're mostly from the planet Haruun Kal and in the Koruunai language, Xal'Kaar literally refers to one that eradicates impurities from the Force. And Force Jumpers are considered their number one impurity," Quinlan explained. Anakin's eyebrows were in his hair.
"There's people that hunt people like us?" Anakin asked in disbelief. Quinlan nodded.
"Oh yeah and they've been doing so for centuries. It all goes back as far as the Great Sith Wars," Quinlan replied.
"Why do the Jedi or anyone for that matter let them hunt…people?" Anakin asked, trying to understand. Sure, he was no stranger to the sale and owning of flesh beings, but hunting them because of an ability they had? It was mind boggling. Quinlan snorted in disgust.
"Well, the main reason is because the war between Force Jumpers and the Xal'Kaar is secret. No one but those involved know about it or about us and the Jedi wouldn't stop it, because they're so blind that they can't even see that one of their own is the current leader of the Xal'Kaar," Quinlan ranted.
"I'm still really confused," Anakin said. Sifo-Dyas smiled at him.
"Perhaps I will take over the story now. Quin gets quite worked up about this, but no one can blame him. He's been in one too many close scrapes with several Xal'Kaar," Sifo-Dyas said.
"Are you a Force Jumper too, Master Sifo-Dyas?" Anakin asked innocently. Sifo-Dyas smiled. He was a Jedi that was gifted or perhaps cursed at times with very clear Force premonitions and the potential in this boy that he was foreseeing was incredible. But the boy's innocence and ability to love and trust, even after the life he had led so far, was remarkable. And it made him wonder what kind of disaster it could have been had the Jedi allowed the inexperienced Obi-Wan Kenobi to train him or worse that the Sith had gotten a hold of him after he was rejected by them. This kind of power in this boy had to be handled correctly and now he would see to it.
"No, I'm not a Force Jumper, young one. But I do what I can to help those that are, especially ones that are Force sensitive like you and Quinlan," Sifo-Dyas replied.
"How come you don't live in the Temple with the rest of the Jedi?" Anakin asked. Sifo-Dyas chuckled again. He had missed being around younglings and their inquisitive innocence.
"It's a bit of a long story, but I don't see eye to eye with the Council on a great many things. They respect me, most of them anyway, so they allow me operate as a Jedi outside their reach. Though if Mace Windu had his way, that wouldn't be the case," Sifo-Dyas replied.
"Mace Windu didn't like me. The other Council members were either afraid of me or pitied me. But Mace Windu's feelings were different than that. It was all so confusing. Why would they be afraid of me? I'm just a kid and they're powerful Jedi," Anakin rambled.
"Mace Windu sensed the strong potential in you, but he may have also sensed a power greater than his own. Knowing Windu, he felt threatened by you for reasons he didn't understand at the time. But since Mace Windu is the current leader of the Xal'Kaar, those reasons would make sense to him now. I will help you understand all the things you are feeling during your training though, so you need not be confused any longer," Sifo-Dyas said. Anakin gasped.
"You're going to train me?" he asked, hope in his voice.
"Well, I will train you in the ways of the Force. But I'll have to leave your Force Jumping training to Quinlan," Sifo-Dyas said.
"But Master, if you and Quinlan know that Mace Windu kills Force Jumpers, why don't you tell Master Yoda and the other Jedi?" Anakin asked.
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There are two possibilities that could happen if we out Mace to the Council and neither are favorable to us. The first is that he would deny everything and knowing those fools on the Council, they would take his word over ours. The Xal'Kaar hail from the planet of Haruun Kal. Nearly everyone on Haruun Kal is Force sensitive and they believe it is their calling in life and duty to eliminate all Force Jumpers. They believe we're all evil, no matter what. They have infinite resources, because they poor all resources into this war with us and they have very wealthy donors to their cause. We'd never make a case and we'd never make it off Coruscant alive. The second possibility is probably worse though. Mace would own up to his position and expose us to the galaxy along with his people. And they would paint us in a very bad light, because unfortunately, there are many Force Jumpers out there that aren't good people and that do abuse their ability by doing bad things. Our enemies would grow and our kind would hardly be able to go near a civilized system. You see, not only can a Xal'Kaar sense our Jump signatures in the Force and when one of us is nearby, but they have sophisticated equipment that can track us. Mace and some of his more well trained dogs can even go through our jump scars. With Mace Windu at the helm, the Xal'Kaar have never been more powerful and will only grow more so, unless we train ourselves to take them out before they take us out," Quinlan explained. Anakin nodded and Sifo-Dyas sensed the boy's fear.
"Don't worry young one, they can't find us here. This is a safe place. Not only is this residence an ancient Force shielded Temple, but this planet, Yavin IV, also is very deeply rooted in the Force. So it is very easy to hide, even when one is using the Force. The same thing that helps them track a Force Jumper out there shields one here," Sifo-Dyas explained.
"It's a lot of information to process in just a day, but you'll understand more as we train you," Quinlan added. Anakin tried not to yawn, but was failing miserably.
"You've had quite a day, young one. We had one of the droid's prepare one of the spare rooms for you. It's yours now and Quinlan will take you upstairs," Sifo-Dyas said. Anakin nodded, as he stood up and looked at them both.
"Thanks for saving me, Master Quin and letting me stay here, Master Dyas. I'll be a good student, I promise, and I won't let you down," Anakin said. Quinlan and Sifo shared a smile.
"We know you won't, young one. Now off to bed. Your training will be very taxing and you will require a good night's sleep each night," Sifo instructed. Anakin nodded and he followed Quinlan upstairs, as a protocol droid came out of his new bedroom.
"Hey, you look like my droid that I built! Poor Threepio got left behind on Tatooine," Anakin said.
"You built a protocol droid?" Quinlan asked. Anakin nodded.
"And a pod racer, and then a better pod racer, and lots of things. I like fixing things too and everyone says I'm really good at it," Anakin said, as he looked around the simple bedroom with curiosity and noticing the pajamas that had been laid out on his bed for him.
"Well, then if we ever need something fixed, then we'll know where to come. Sleep well Anakin," Quinlan said, as he quietly left. Anakin undressed and put the pajamas on before climbing into bed. He knew he had gotten very lucky that Quinlan had been the one to find him and that he would be okay here. But not having his mother to tuck him in left him with an empty feeling. He knew she wouldn't want him to be sad, but it was difficult and her death was still very fresh.
"I love you Mom and I really miss you, but I'm going to make you proud, I promise," he whispered. He was exhausted still from the traumatic events of the day and quickly fell asleep.
Mace Windu stormed into the secret base of operations that the Xal'Kaar had on Coruscant, located on one of Corscuant's artificially created islands in the Western sea. The islands in the Western sea were perfect for them, because mostly tourists frequented the island, so rarely the same people ever saw the Jedi Master arrive there more than once. They also operated from an abandoned warehouse in the old, rarely used industrial section of downtown in the tourist city that operated on the planet. Mace made the trip to his home planet and to their main base of operations when he could, but too many frequent trips there would rouse too much suspicion, so a secondary base to keep tabs on their targets was perfect.
"Do we have any leads yet on that influx of energy we felt last night?" Mace demanded. One of his top operatives, Vel Bosk nodded.
"We pinpointed the origin as Tatooine, but the same signature was also felt seconds later on Naboo," Vel informed. Mace's permanent frown deepened, if that was possible.
"How is that possible?" he asked in a measured tone. One of his other top operatives, Tahja Mallin, didn't have any answers either.
"We're not sure Master. That's what we've been trying to figure out," she replied.
"Are you positive it is the same signature and not two separate incidents?" Depa Billaba asked, as she entered behind her Master. She was still a padawan in her last years of training, but had long ago been inducted into this society. She had been very uncertain about this secret war when she had found out about what her Master did unbeknown to the Council. But when she had seen the evils of these Force Jumpers, how they thieved and did whatever they wanted with no consequences, she had come to realize that what they were doing was absolutely vital to the safety and security of the galaxy. Most Xal'Kaar were native of Haruun Kal, but some non Korun people had joined as well, including several other Jedi as well, in secret, of course. And there were many organizations out there that were more than willing to fund their cause, for their experiences with Force Jumpers wasn't favorable. Mace knew there were ones out there that didn't do bad things, but in his experience, it was only a matter of time before they were using their abilities like most he had encountered and killed. Most started out simply stealing what they wanted or needed to get by, but eventually, they were hurting and killing people to keep from being caught. That's why it was their duty in life to eliminate such evil and eradicate such a perverse use of the Force from existence.
"It is the same signature. We're not sure what to make of it," Vel responded, as Mace examined the reports. A very eerie feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. It couldn't be…because if it was, then it would be the first one to do so in a millennia. And Tatooine as being one of the origins of the signature made him more nervous than he was willing to admit.
"I want a team searching both planets, particularly Tatooine. I want to know about anything strange that anyone has seen and I want results immediately," Mace ordered. His people began to mobilize immediately, as he continued to remain deep in thought.
"Master, do you know the source of this unusual occurrence?" Depa asked.
"No Depa, I just have a feeling," Mace replied, as he remembered the young slave boy that had been brought before them a year ago. His midichlorian count was remarkable, the highest of any Jedi ever, but he was dangerous. Mace had sensed such, more so than the other members of the Council. At the time, he thought having the boy return to his dismal home world would ensure he was isolated from the rest of the galaxy and anyone that could teach him to use his abilities. But now he wondered if he should have allowed him to go at all. At the time, he had considered seeing to it that he was secretly sent somewhere he could be closely monitored, like his home world of Haruun Kal. The Jedi would say it was wrong to imprison someone, especially a child, for not doing anything wrong. And Mace believed this too, until it came to Force Jumpers. The potential of a person with a midichlorian count of twenty-seven thousand, five hundred was limitless. For the time being, he would conduct the investigation here from Coruscant as he could not leave his duties at the Temple at this time. He just hoped that this had nothing to do with that boy and that he did not come to regret letting him get away.
"We must return to the Temple now," he told his padawan, as she obediently followed.
Anakin tossed and turned in his bed that night, as the memories assaulted him. And with the memories of terrible things came nightmares about terrible things that hadn't happened, as his mind ran wild with horrible things.
He was three-years-old again and trembling against his mother, as Gardulla the Hutt was enraged that she had lost ownership of them, particularly him it seemed.
"It will be all right, Ani," Shmi consoled him. Somehow, by the pure grace of the Force, they had been sold to a junk shop owner. They were still slaves, but she knew Gardulla had wanted to sell her little boy to a brothel owner, and she knew she would die before she let that happen.
The dream changed to him finding his mother dead on the dirty ground of Watto's shop.
"No mom…NOOOO!" he screamed, as he cried as hard as he had ever cried. What would he do without her? He was only ten and he was alone. What would he do? And who had done this? Unfortunately, he was about to find out exactly who had taken his mother from him.
"Well, it's about time you got here, boy. We've been waiting for you," a gruff male voice spat. Anakin's head shot up, as two big, burly men loomed above him. He scarcely had time to cry out, as one grabbed him by the hair and yanked him into the air.
"NO!" Anakin screamed, as he kicked and punched, as hard as he could. But this only earned him a knee to his gut, which knocked the air out of him. The man dropped his sobbing form to the ground, as he held his stomach in pain.
"Sebulba seems to have it in for you pretty bad," he heard one say. Anakin clenched his teeth in anger. Sebulba had done this. He had hired these men to take his mother away.
"Here's the stun cuffs. I told Zar we would be there in an hour. He wants to meet his new…slave…" the other hissed. White hot fear filled him. Not again…he would not be sold back into slavery.
"Yeah, you're gonna like you're new master and he's gonna love you, cause he's going to make a fortune off you," one said, as they both chuckled evilly. But in this nightmare, he didn't jump and escape. And his new fate was bleak, as he was brought to Zar. He could smell the smoke of death sticks, the evil laughter of the degenerates that frequented there, his new Master and the crack of his electro whip.
"NOOO!" Anakin screamed, as his new Master grabbed him and yanked him into the back room. Anakin was shoved to the ground and looked up in time to see the whip coming down on him.
"NOOO! No please! Ahhhhhhh!" Anakin screamed, as he flailed violently in his bed.
"Wake up Anakin…wake up young one," Sifo-Dyas pleaded, as he finally held the boy's arms down long enough to place a hand to his forehead and sever the dream's hold on his subconscious. Anakin snapped awake and jolted upright in bed, heaving air into his starved lungs.
"Shhh…everything is all right young one," Sifo-Dyas soothed, as Anakin started to cry. In the Temple, under the tutelage of a typical Jedi, he would have been told coldly that Jedi didn't dream and that he simply must release his fear into the Force. But Sifo-Dyas was not the typical Jedi and Anakin was not the typical student. So he did what the boy needed most and took him in his arms, holding him in a hug as his mother would have…as a father would have. Anakin sniffed and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry Master," Anakin cried.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, young one. After what you've been through, it isn't any wonder that you had a nightmare. Fortunately, you are safe and as your training progresses, it will help you deal with these feelings. We will help you get control of your fear and your anger, so it can be channeled positively. The nightmares will fade over time and even when they don't, you can come to me to discuss them in order to better understand the things you see in your dreams," Sifo-Dyas explained. Anakin nodded.
"Now, back to bed. You have a very busy day ahead tomorrow," he added, as he tucked the boy back in and quietly left. Surprisingly, Anakin felt himself drifting back to sleep quite easily, and dreamlessly this time.