Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I just created my own little AU corner to play in.
AN: Here's chapter 3! 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 3: First Day of Training
The next morning, Anakin felt someone shake him and he opened his eyes groggily.
"Good morning, young one," Sifo-Dyas said. Anakin rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced at the chrono on the beside table, which read five a.m.
"Master, it's really early," Anakin whined.
"Yes, but this will become your normal routine. We must begin your training each day with meditation and then after breakfast, you'll begin your Force exercises and eventually saber training. Then you'll train with Quinlan in the afternoons. Your days will be very busy," Sifo-Dyas said. Anakin nodded sleepily and yawned.
"Go wash up and then meet me downstairs," he instructed, as Anakin proceeded to the fresher.
Anakin cleaned up quickly and then joined his new Master down in the living area. Sifo-Dyas' dark hair was streaked with gray, evidence that he was the elder of the two Masters that were going to train him. He sat by the fire and quietly Anakin sat down next to him. His eyes were closed, but a smile graced his face, as he felt the presence of his new student.
"One of the most important aspects of a Force adept's life is meditation. It gives us focus and helps us clear our minds. But in your case, it will also help you in your jumping, because you must also be able to focus on your jump points. As Quinlan will soon teach you, jumping blind can be very dangerous, just as using the Force blindly can lead to dire consequences as well," Sifo-Dyas explained.
"I'm not sure if I understand," Anakin replied uncertainly.
"You will," Sifo promised.
"Now close your eyes and feel the Force around you. It binds us all together and while its message can often be misinterpreted or cryptic, one who is able to completely center oneself in the Force is more able to hear the true message," Sifo-Dyas explained.
"The Force feels really different here than other places I've been. Why is that?" Anakin asked.
"It can mean many things. Describe to me what you feel here and how it compares to other places. That will be an excellent first exercise," Sifo replied.
"Well, it feels really strong and clear here. Naboo kind of feels like it does here, but it's even stronger here," Anakin said. Sifo nodded.
"That's because there is much natural life on this planet, as well as Naboo. What about your home planet?" Sifo asked. Anakin's face soured, as he thought of that place he was supposed to consider home. He hated that horrible sand pit.
"It feels darker there, especially in Mos Espa," Anakin replied.
"Yes, when you're in the presence of beings with evil or darkness in their hearts, the Force will warn you…if you are listening," Sifo-Dyas said.
"I'll never forget the feeling…the way it felt when those men killed my mom," Anakin said sadly. Sifo-Dyas squeezed his shoulder gently.
"I am sorry you had to go through something like that, but I want you to remember that feeling. It will serve to guard you against the dark side in the future. There will come a time when the dark side will tempt you and it will be very hard to resist," Sifo-Dyas said. Anakin looked horrified.
"Master, I would never turn to the dark side!" Anakin exclaimed.
"Willingly no, I don't believe that you would. But the dark side of the Force is very manipulative and very deceitful. It will seduce you with empty promises of greater power or revenge on those who have wronged you," Sifo-Dyas said, looking at him.
"You will be tempted to find the men and take revenge on them for your mother's death. But the dark side will threaten to take you over if you seek that revenge," Sifo-Dyas warned. Anakin nodded.
"Master…why does Coruscant feel different than the others? It's not really dark or light, but hard to feel at all, kind of murky," Anakin tried to describe.
"Like trying to see to the bottom of a pond, but not able to, because the water is too cloudy," Sifo-Dyas helped him with his description.
"Yeah," Anakin confirmed.
"Well, part of that reason is because Coruscant is no longer an organic planet. And with so many people, it makes the Force very busy and hard to read. It's one of the many reasons I do not live on Coruscant," Sifo-Dyas explained.
"Now, back to meditation," Sifo-Dyas said, as they both closed their eyes.
"Center yourself in the Force. Feel…don't think," he instructed his new apprentice. Anakin followed his master's instruction, as his first meditation session began.
After meditation, they ate a hearty breakfast that was prepared by the kitchen droids and then ventured into the arena area of the vast Temple that Sifo-Dyas had made into a home of sorts. The arena type base floor made the perfect training location.
"Master, who built this place and those other temples?" Anakin asked.
"I myself don't even know the answer to that, young one. I estimate they have been here for centuries, perhaps even a millennia or two. There was never much information in the Jedi archives about Yavin IV, but I do suspect that whoever did construct all the massive Temples on this planet was very knowledgeable in the Force. It has served us well and it will serve you well also," Sifo-Dyas said, as he produced two light sabers, as Quinlan observed from the sidelines.
"This is the light saber you will use until it's time for you to build your own," Sifo said, as he handed the unlit weapon to him.
"I have both our sabers set to the lowest frequency during our spars, until your training is further along," Sifo-Dyas informed him. Excited and eager to learn how to fight with a light saber, Anakin became Sifo-Dyas' willing, avid student.
Anakin walked outside the Temple with Master Quinlan that afternoon to begin learning how to control his jumping abilities. And he was more than a little uncertain, since he had so far only done it once.
"All right, we'll start simple with jumping point to point and once you've mastered that, we'll begin with try further distances," Quinlan said.
"Master…what if I can't do it again?" Anakin asked uncertainly. Quinlan smirked.
"This isn't something that just happens once, kid. You were born with the ability and it's all a matter of when the ability decides to manifest. You're just lucky that it didn't accidentally happen for the first time while you still have the slave chip in you, because that wouldn't have ended well," Quinlan said, as he stood across from Anakin.
"First, you're going to jump from where you are to the tree behind me. Focus on that point and jump," Quinlan instructed. Anakin looked at the spot and the closed his eyes, seeing it in his mind and to his complete amazement, he felt the tingling on his skin, as he dematerialized and performed a jump. Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes in the new spot, he realized how unfocused he had become during the jump and he hit the tree.
"Ahhh…" Anakin cried, as he collided with it and then fell flat on his back, groaning in pain. He was then annoyed when he heard Quinlan burst out laughing. Anakin rubbed his head and looked at his master with a sour face.
"I'm glad you think it's so funny, master," he griped. Quinlan's laugh reduced to a chuckle.
"Sorry kid, but that brings us to a very important first point. This is why it's so important for you to build your own set of specific jump sites. It is very important that you are aware of everything around you when you make a jump, because just a small miscalculation or loss of focus and you may be jumping into danger. You want to make sure the places you jump are secluded and on solid ground. If you think jumping into a tree was funny, I once wasn't paying much attention when I made a jump on Vanqor and misjudged my jump site. I jumped myself right into a Gundark nest, which almost ended up in me being the Gundark's dinner," Quinlan mused.
"But master, I've only been a few places. How am I going to make jump sites on all these different planets?" Anakin asked. Quinlan smirked and pointed to one of the other Temples that peaked out from the trees on Yavin IV.
"Let's jump to the top of that Temple and I'll show you," Quinlan said.
"That's really far, but it was easier the second time I did it," Anakin replied. Quinlan nodded.
"And it will only get easier, so easy that it will become second nature. That's why jump sites are so important. It will become so easy that you may become overconfident in your abilities and jump yourself into trouble if you're not careful. The Xal'Kaar have factions on most major planets and for everyone they don't, they have the sophisticated equipment that allows them to track us. So far, Yavin IV seems to be the only place that our jump scars fade almost instantly. If you are ever in trouble, jump home, and they won't be able to follow you. This is your home jump site," Quinlan explained. Anakin nodded.
"Are you ready?" Quinlan asked. Anakin looked at the top of the Temple steps in the far distance and focused on the top platform. He nodded.
"All right, as long as you have a clear vision or memory of your jump site, you should be able to jump with little incident. I'm going to jump and then you're going to follow me," Quinlan instructed, as he disappeared and reappeared at the top of the other Temple in the distance. Anakin squinted to see him, but could now clearly see his new master at the top of the other Temple. He concentrated himself and suddenly disappeared. In an instant, he reappeared at Quinlan's side with both feet landing firmly on solid ground. His third jump was even easier than the second. Quinlan smiled.
"Told you it gets easier. Let's go inside and I'll show you what I mean by jump sites," he said. Anakin nodded and followed him inside. Inside one of the rooms that Quinlan led him to were walls covered with holos of different places labeled beneath each holo. Anakin had never seen so many places! He had always wanted to travel the galaxy and those hopes had been swiftly dashed when he learned that he would not become a Jedi. But now it seemed that he would indeed fulfill his desire to see the galaxy.
"You've been to all these places?" Anakin exclaimed, wonder on his young face. Quinlan smiled.
"Yep and you will too, possibly more. I keep holos of my jump sites to keep my memory fresh on ones that I don't visit as often. It makes for a better jump and it took me a long time of traveling the old fashioned way by ship to build this library of sites. Even now, if I wanted to go one of these places, I would have to travel initially by ship before I could actually use any of my jump sites on any one of these. But you don't have that hindrance," Quinlan said.
"But last time I jumped to another planet, I passed out," Anakin replied. Quinlan chuckled.
"That's why you'll be taking me with you for a while until we're sure you're able to handle the jump with ease. You're the first one of us that actually might make a difference in this messed up galaxy," Quinlan said wistfully, as he looked at all his jump sites.
"What do you mean? How can I make a difference? I'm just a kid," Anakin replied.
"You're aren't just an ordinary kid, Anakin, and I think deep down, you know that. You have the abilities that you do, because the living Force knew it would someday need a champion like you. Believe me, I never put much stock in that prophecy stuff, but I believe that your rejection from the Jedi was the best thing that could have ever happened to the galaxy," Quinlan said.
"Why?" Anakin asked.
"Because now you can study all aspects of the Force and learn to use your powers to truly help people. Some jumpers use their powers for selfish reasons, but I don't believe you are someone who desires to only help himself," Quinlan explained.
"But don't the Jedi help people?" Anakin asked. Quinlan nodded.
"They do, when willed by the mandate of the Republic. But there are many causes that go blindly and fortuitously ignored by them," Quinlan replied. Anakin nodded, suddenly understanding.
"Like slaves," Anakin stated. Quinlan nodded.
"Yet a slave boy like you didn't think twice about helping those in need by risking his own life in something as dangerous as a pod race to help people you had only just met," Quinlan said, as he knelt down beside him.
"Well, I liked Master Qui-Gon a lot…but I did it mostly for Padme," Anakin replied. Quinlan chuckled, as he watched the boy's cheeks turn pink.
"And from what I hear, Queen Amidala was very grateful for all you did for Naboo," Quinlan replied.
"She tried to free my mom, but they wouldn't let her. Why don't people care? Padme is the only one I've ever met that ever cared what happened to me besides my mom and now you and master Dyas. And master Quin-Gon. Why don't they care, master?" Anakin asked, anguish in his voice.
"I wish I had the answer to that, young one. Most people are only concerned with themselves and their own agendas. Your friend Padme is one of very few politicians that are not corrupt and concerned only with furthering their own agenda. But you have the chance of a lifetime before you. You can use your abilities to help people that others would rather pretend don't even exist," Quinlan said. Anakin nodded.
"I want to help people and I want to stop the Xal'Kaar from killing people like us, even though there are bad jumpers out there," Anakin replied. Quinlan nodded.
"There are bad jumpers out there, but make no mistake, because the Xal'Kaar go about dealing with our kind all wrong. It is true that normal plasma bars cannot keep us locked up like most people. But they have ways of controlling us, ways of keeping us from jumping. They can capture us and you must be aware of this," Quinlan instructed.
"They can keep us from jumping?" Anakin asked in disbelief.
"It's how they kill us. They have devices and machines that can contain us. Electricity is our worst enemy. They have electrified cables that they can shoot from blaster like weapons that can contain us and machines that keep our jump scars open long enough for them to follow, though I am skeptical they would be able to follow you to another planet through one of your scars without damage to themselves. That remains to be seen. But you must understand that if you choose this path, if you choose to use your abilities to help people, you will run into them. It's not a question of if, but when and that is why the next few years of your training will be so crucial. Not only will we have to perfect your jumping, but you will have to learn the ways of the Force in order to defend yourself against them. Do you understand that this will not be an easy path?" Quinlan asked. Anakin nodded.
"I know it will be dangerous and it will be hard too, but I want to help people, master. I have to. People shouldn't be slaves and people shouldn't be allowed to kill people just because they don't think they should have our abilities," Anakin replied. Quinlan smiled.
"All right then. It's time to make another planet jump. Pick one…anywhere you want to go," Quinlan said. Anakin's eyes locked on the jump sites to Naboo and Padme's beautiful face entered his mind again. Quinlan smirked and shook his head.
"Somewhere you haven't been yet, Ani. You'll see her again someday," Quinlan promised.
"Okay," Anakin relented. He would see her again someday and he would be older then.
"They have pod races on Malastare too, don't they?" Anakin asked.
"They do. Want to go catch one?" he asked. Anakin's eyes lit up.
"Can we?" he asked. Quinlan nodded.
"That's up to you. You'll have to get us there," Quinlan said, as Anakin took his larger hand in his own smaller one. The young boy, with new confidence, studied one of Quinlan's secluded jump sites in the Malastare mountains and the two disappeared.
Depa observed operations from their base on Coruscant as usual. Their search for the massive influx of Force energy that had been detected on Naboo and Tatooine had so far yielded nothing. She had made the decision after speaking with her master to send their top two agents to begin a ground search on the desert planet. Her master said he would contact them personally with specific instructions. He was on the planet, but currently embroiled in another hunt. They had finally cornered a Force Jumper they had been tracking for some time now. He was a bad one, though they considered them all bad. But this one was arrogant and overconfident, two qualities that often led a Force Jumper to their demise. He was a notorious thief too, wanted on several systems, for stealing credits, jewelry, and other pricey items. No one had been able to catch him yet, naturally, since he could jump away at any time. But all that was perhaps changing now. Their pursuits of him before had been unsuccessful, so her master was taking the helm on this one, which meant that this Force Jumper was about to meet his match. Her attention was suddenly captured again, as the scanners began picking up a new anomaly.
"Where is that coming from?" Depa demanded.
"Malastare," the young man at the controls said, as his fingers flew over the controls. But he soon became puzzled.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The energy…it's gone, just as suddenly as it appeared," he replied. She looked at the readings and noticed the similarity and extremely powerful strength of the energy that was nearly identical to the ones detected on Tatooine and Naboo. But this energy had disappeared as quickly as it had reappeared, unlike the sloppy, uncontained nature of the energy influx detected on Tatooine and Naboo just two days ago. And she knew what that meant. This new Force Jumper was learning not only to control his powers, but possibly now had the ability to suppress them as well. That meant he or she had knowledge of the Force that extended beyond jumping. Knowledge and abilities like a Jedi.
"Contact the Malastare faction and have them investigate immediately. I must get in touch with Master Windu," Depa ordered.
In a darkened alleyway, a man cried out in pain, as his legs were trapped by two electrified cables that had wrapped around his ankles. The assailants disconnected the cable's cartridge from the unique blaster type weapon and a claw-like device sprouted from the base of the baton looking cartridge. The male and female slammed the clawed end of the baton into the ground, securing his legs in their trap. Two more cables shot out from two more devices that were controlled by two more men. These cables wrapped around the captive man's wrists and were secured in the same way. A fifth, hooded figure approached calmly between the four assailants and lowered the hood of his cloak, revealing a bald, dark skinned male with hardened dark eyes. The man snarled and struggled to get free, but the electricity coursing through his veins proved this to be an impossible feat. He stared at the man's grim visage, as he reached inside his own breast pocket and extracted a datacard. He examined it and then looked back at him with those dark, unfeeling eyes.
"Carrying your jump sites on your person. You really never thought we would catch you, did you? Your arrogance will be your end," Mace stated.
"Go kriff yourself," he spat in response. Mace simply ignored his crude curse and began unwrapping his ceremonial vibro knife.
"No…you can't do this!" the man spat, as he struggled.
"But we will, because it is our mission and our duty to eliminate your kind," Mace said, as the blade gleamed before his prey.
""No one should have your power. Only Gods and the Force can be anywhere in the blink of an eye. Not you. You're an abomination…an infection in the Force. And we eradicate your kind," Mace recited coldly. These were often the words he spoke to his captures before he spilled their blood in order to expunge the impurity in the Force. It was their code and no Force Jumper was ever spared, whether they were men, women, children, human or alien. All Force Jumpers had to die or their presence would continue to poison the living Force. It is what his people and he himself believed, despite the outcry that would come if people knew what they did. They wouldn't understand, but in Mace's mind, they were protecting the galaxy by doing what they did and they would continue to do so under the noses of society, the Senate, and the Jedi for everyone's own well being. Mace stared at his blade and without another word to the infidel in front of him, he thrust it into the Force Jumper's gut, before making a swift, vicious upward cut into his heart. The scream quickly died on the man's lips, as blood leaked from his lips and he hemorrhaged almost instantly, dying within seconds.
"Cut this trash down and dispose of the body as usual," Mace ordered. Their disposal of the bodies always involved burning in order to erase all evidence. Though it was unlikely they would ever be connected to any body discovered, Mace was always careful and made sure all traces of them were always erased from any place they visited. While his people cleaned up, he would make contact with Vel and Tahja, who would have arrived on Tatooine by now.
Subulba stormed into the Cantina that afternoon and after scanning the place for a moment, he found the two men he was looking for and stalked toward them.
"Do you two want to explain to me why Zar isn't in possession of the new slave I promised him?" Sebulba demanded. The two human males glanced at each other.
"Look, we killed the blue blob and the woman like you asked. Then we had the kid and then he was suddenly just gone," one replied. Sebulba snorted.
"What do you mean just gone?" Sebulba demanded.
"Just what I said. He disappeared, right before our eyes! We both saw it and we don't know where he went," the other said. Sebulba snarled and grabbed one of the men by the shirt.
"You better hope he doesn't show up for the race or they'll be a bounty on the two of you," Sebulba spat, as he stormed out. Little did any of them know, two people, a man and a woman, had been listening to everything they had said.
Anakin and Quinlan appeared on the outskirts of Malastare's capital city of Pixelito. Quinlan watched as Anakin looked around in wonder, as they mingled with other humans and dugs that milled about in the main marketplace. Quinlan purchased their tickets and Anakin tugged him along excitedly, as they entered the stadium to watch the race.
"Report," Mace ordered, as Vel and Tahja contacted him, as he arrived back at their Coruscant base.
"Master, we have discovered a possible lead," Vel reported.
"Did you find the boy I told you about?" Mace asked.
"No Master, but we did discover that his mother and former master were recently murdered," Tahja reported.
"Do you know by whom?" Mace asked.
"Two slavers. It appears that they intended to sell the boy back into slavery…but he disappeared right before them," Vel said. Mace's usual frown deepened.
"They said that word for word?" Mace asked. Vel nodded.
"And there is no trace of the boy?" Mace questioned.
"No one has seen him in almost two days," Tahja answered.
"Return to Coruscant," Mace ordered, as he cut the transmission.
"Master, we've detected the same influx of strong energy on Malastare. I dispatched the Malastare faction, even though the energy disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared," Depa reported.
"It disappeared?" Mace asked in disbelief.
"Or was suppressed. It wasn't sloppy like the first influx, but it was definitely very similar," Depa replied.
"Someone is helping him…and teaching him," Mace said, as his teeth clenched, as his comlink beeped. He sighed.
"Monitor this situation closely, Depa. Unfortunately, I have a Council meeting that I cannot miss," Mace said, slightly irritated that he had to leave with such a significant development.
"Yes Master," Depa responded, as she waited to hear from any word from Malastare.
"That race was wizard!" Anakin exclaimed, as he trotted excitedly beside Quinlan, as they made their way back through the marketplace after the race.
"Yeah, I still can't believe you actually had the guts to compete in a sport like that, kid. You've got to be slightly insane," Quinlan chuckled. Anakin shrugged.
"I started doing it when I was three. Mom hated it though and I don't think Padme liked it much either," Anakin replied. Quinlan's smile, however, slowly faded.
"What is it master?" Anakin asked, as he noticed the man had gone rigid, before looking behind them.
"Xal'Kaar," Quinlan seethed, as they reached the outskirts of the city. Anakin gasped in horror, as an electrical cable shot out at him, but quick as lightning, Quinlan ignited his blade and cut the cable, before grabbing Anakin by the collar of his shirt and jumped them back to the mountainside where they had originally jumped to. Anakin's heart was pounding in his ears and he found it hard to breathe.
"Anakin, calm down. I need you to jump us home," Quinlan instructed. But Anakin's head was clouded with fear and that was only compounded when the two male Xal'Kaar came through Quinlan's jump scar.
"NOW ANAKIN!" Quinlan cried, as one shot at him again. Quinlan was quicker than them and cut through their cables, before slaying the one on his right and Force pushing the other away, before he could fire his weapon. The second man went tumbling down the mountain to his death.
"I'm sorry Master," Anakin cried, as he started to calm down.
"It's all right, Ani. Your training will teach you how to deal with these situations, but you're only in day one. We'll stick to the planets more out in the outer rim for a while. Malastare probably wasn't the best idea for your first jump," Quinlan said compassionately, as he picked the boy up in his arms.
"I think I can jump us home now," Anakin said, as he concentrated on the Temple at his new home and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
Mace Windu was livid and he had to carefully release his rage into the Force.
"How many did you send?" he demanded.
"Two, master," the ashamed subordinate reported.
"Depa told you to send enough to handle a possible Force adept!" Mace roared.
"We thought two would be enough, master, but we were mistaken," the subordinate replied.
"Quite severely. One is dead by light saber strike. Have you recovered the other body?" Mace asked.
"At the bottom of the ravine. He was likely pushed down the mountain,"
"It seems that today's failed operation shows your complete incompetence. Should such failure continue, I will have to appoint a new commander of your faction," Mace threatened.
"We will improve master, I assure you," he pleaded.
"That remains to be seen," Mace spat, as he cut the transmission.
"What do we do now, master?" Depa asked. Mace sighed.
"Unfortunately, we must wait until this one surfaces again. I have a feeling that this pair will be more careful in the future. But we will continue to track and we will find them again. We will take them on personally and they will not escape us so easily," Mace responded, his jaw set sternly in determination.
Anakin breathed a sigh of relief, as they were once again at his new found home in the common area.
"Is everything all right?" Sifo-Dyas asked.
"It is now, fortunately. We ran into two of Mace's loyal lapdogs on Malastare, but they won't be bothering us again," Quinlan replied.
"Master Quin's moves were wizard!" Anakin exclaimed, before remembering how his own fear had nearly doomed them.
"I'm sorry I was so scared, Master Quin," Anakin apologized. Quinlan knelt down.
"You don't have to be sorry, Ani. Everyone gets scared, including me. Neither of us asked for this ability, but it does matter what we choose to do with it. And part of that unfortunately is dealing with the Xal'Kaar and staying alive. You're just beginning your training and it will help you manage your fear and channel is properly," Quinlan assured him.
"Quinlan is right, young one. Now, you've had a long day. Go upstairs for a bath and then I'll be up to see you to bed," Sifo-Dyas said.
"Okay," Anakin replied, as he went upstairs.
"They picked up on his Force energy," Sifo-Dyas concluded knowingly.
"It looks that way, but it's no wonder. The kid is powerful, more than he realizes," Quinlan replied.
"Don't worry, I'll continue working with him and soon, he'll be better able to shield himself from the Xal'Kaar. Someday, they will meet their match in him," Sifo-Dyas said with a certainty.
In the next chapter, three years have passed and Anakin is thirteen. Many things have changed in his life and he has learned many new things. But his experiences and changes in his life are only just beginning.