Chapter 3: A New Path

Date:5143 AD
Location: Olympus, Unknown System

The council chamber was a large circular room with a high podium where thirteen men and women of different species sat. Teras was surprised to see that among the council sat a few species that she could recognize including a male Zabrak, a female Togruta and even a male Zeltron. The rest were mostly human with the exception of a few that were of a species she had never seen before including one that appeared to be half human and half animal. The red haired man in the middle spoke after they had been introduced by Amara, "We were beginning to get worried that something had happened to you." He said towards her companion.

Harry smiled slightly, "I apologize for the delay Mr. President. I ran into some unexpected trouble but luckily for me I received some much needed help."

"Ah yes! You're companion." The President said. He then turned to Teras, "We thank you for your aid but for now, we need to speak with the Commander. Representative Amara will escort you to your quarters."

Teras slightly surprised by the quick dismissal, turned to Harry who handed a small box to the representative's aide and nodded slightly at her before she followed Amara out of the room.

"I'm sorry about that." The blonde woman said as soon as the doors closed behind them. "Things are a little tense right now and the council is under a lot of pressure. But now that Harry has returned things will relax a bit."

They continued on in silence for about fifteen minutes before they reached the guest quarters. Amara dismissed her aide who left with two of the guards while the other two remained on the other side of the door. "Harry told me about magic. Are you also a wizard?"

Amara nodded as they both sat down on the comfortable chairs. "Yes, but as I'm sure you noticed, there are those among us who can also wield the force." Teras nodded and Amara continued. "You are not the first Jedi to find our people. Over the years there have been dozens who by a twist of fate stumbled upon us and while some went their own way, there are those who stayed behind and decided to join us. They helped train the Force-sensitives born on our previous planet passing on their knowledge."

"If other Jedi found your people, then why didn't they tell the Order?" Teras asked.

"They chose to honor our wish to remain hidden." Amara answered. It also didn't hurt that they signed magical contracts that made sure they couldn't tell their secret to anyone. "I'm sure you would do the same should you choose to leave, however know that you will have a place here should you choose it."

The Jedi was slightly taken aback, "you would allow me to stay here?"

"Of course. Like I said, you wouldn't be the first Jedi that joined us. However the decision is yours." Amara stood up and headed for the door. "I'll let you get some rest. Should there be anything that you require, the guards outside will provide it for you." With that, she left leaving Teras with a lot to think about.

Date: 8783 AD
Location: Chamber of Secrets, Earth

When the human had awakened, it had taken a second before he reacted kicking Ahsoka in the chest before he flipped backwards hitting Aayla and Obi-wan while he was in the air before he landed and threw a punch at Anakin. Anakin had reacted in time blocking the punch with both arms however he stumbled back from the sheer force of the blow. He managed to jump back in time before the figure landed where he had been standing seconds before. "Are you alright Ahsoka?" Anakin asked keeping an eye on their opponent while the other watched his padawan get back on her feet massaging her chest.

"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me." Ahsoka wheezed trying to bring her breath under control. The figure looked at them waiting for one of them to make a move, his slightly glowing eyes tracking all of their movements.

"Peace friend," Obi-wan said holding up his hands, "we mean you no harm."

"We only wish to help." Aayla added trying to send out tendrils of calm through the Force. However that seemed to be the wrong thing to do as the figure lunged at her faster than she anticipated and threw a punch that she barely managed to duck under before he kicked her in the side sending her flying towards Anakin. The man continued moving even as Aayla corrected herself and landed on her feet and would have resulted in a solid punch had Anakin not intervened.

Thrusting out his hand, Anakin unleashed a Force push at their opponent causing him to slide back. The man however threw his hands out to his side and with a small surge of energy abruptly stopped before he was moving again towards the Jedi. Anakin ducked underneath the punch aimed at his head and threw his fist towards the man's torso only for it to be blocked and received a knee to his stomach for his trouble. Before he could continue his assault, Obi-wan appeared and wrapped his arms around the figure using the Force to augment his strength. The man however cocked back his head hitting the Jedi in the face before he thrust out his arms breaking free of his captor's hold. He grabbed Obi's hand and twisted it towards his back before landing a kick to the back of his knee. Obi-wan fell to his knee but Ahsoka intervened and landed a kick to the man's chest causing him to let go of Obi-wan's hand as he stumbled back.

Obi-wan got back on his feet and faced the figure as the others joined his side, "he's confused, extremely so. I don't think he even realizes who he's fighting."

"I tried to calm him down using the Force but I think that made it worse." Aayla added.

"It doesn't matter, we have to stop him before he kills us." Anakin said his hand going to his lightsaber. This seemed to aggravate their opponent who burst into movement his fist cocked back. Just before he could land the hit Anakin activated the saber and swung downwards ensuring the figure would lose his limb had he not turned at the last minute. The man landed on his shoulder and performed a roll before coming to rest on his knee. He looked at his wound, a cut from his shoulder to his elbow.

The group of Jedi watched in astonishment as the wound slowly started to close until it was fully healed. The man turned back to face Anakin his eyes locked on the blue lightsaber before they glowed even brighter. "I think you made him mad." Ahsoka said activating her lightsaber along with the others as the figure grunted and stood to his feet. He held his hands at his side his fingers curled into a loose fist. There was a surge in the Force and they watched once again astonished as metallic swords appeared in his hands. The man slid his right foot forward his body turning to the side. He lifted the sword on his right hand to rest on his right shoulder and then brought the sword of the left hand under his right arm.

There was a moment of stillness and then a surge in the Force before the man crouched slightly and faster than he was before rocketed towards Anakin. He brought the sword of his right hand downwards and Anakin intercepted the blade with his saber and was momentarily stunned as his hand was pushed down from the force of the blow. The man however continued moving as he fell to one knee and with his sword still holding Anakin's at bay turned around and swung at Aayla who was at Anakin's left. She brought her saber up to block the blow but before she could retaliate, he swung back and the sword on his left hand blocked a blow from Ahsoka before striking Anakin's while the sword of his right hand moved to block Aayla's saber.

The man pushed back at his opponents sending them staggering back before he jumped up and brought both blades down on Obi-wan who raised his saber and blocked both blades. Before he could be overwhelmed, Anakin jumped back into the fray and the man jumped back and instead lunged at Ahsoka with a wild swing. The padawan brought both her sabers up and she grit her teeth as the sword impacted the sabers. Ahsoka had assumed from his body type that he was built for speed instead of strength and she had been partly right. He was fast, frighteningly so and when he kicked her she had thought that she had felt the full brunt of his strength. She was wrong, that was nothing compared to the strength of the blows of his sword. Lightsabers didn't transfer the full force of a strike like physical weapons could and the blow that had sent her back rattled her bones and shook her teeth in their sockets. She also felt small surges in the Force every time he was about to strike but thought nothing much of it instead concentrating on defending against her opponent.

Whoever this person was, was obviously a well trained and experienced fighter Anakin noted as he traded blows with the man. He had done everything in his power to separate them never taking on more than three opponents at a time. After his assault on Ahsoka he had turned his attention on Aayla using both blades plus his strength and speed to overwhelm the twi'lek who had no other choice but to defend against the powerful attack. As Anakin and Obi-wan jumped in to help Aayla the group was once again surprised as the sword in the man's right hand disappeared and he opened his hand and aimed it at the twi'lek's chest before there was a muted bang and she found herself flying backwards. He then closed his hands into a fist again and the sword reappeared just in time to parry Obi-wan's thrust. He turned to the side Anakin's blade missing him by millimeters before he was kicked in the chest and was sent flying backwards. He got back to his feet in time to watch as the man and Obi-wan danced and weaved around each other before Obi-wan thrust at the man's shoulder. Instead of blocking it however, both swords disappeared and the man used his vambrace covered left forearm to push away the blade before an uppercut caught Obi-wan's chin and threw him into the air before he fell to the ground unconscious. With an angry cry Anakin lunged at his opponent and their deadly dance continued.

Ahsoka meanwhile had approached Aayla's fallen form and tried to raise the twi'lek from unconsciousness. Aayla woke just in time to watch Obi-wan fall to their opponent. She sat up and tried to shake the cobwebs from her head, that Force push felt as if she had been hit by a rampaging rancor. "We should help Anakin." The Jedi said as she tried to get back on her feet.

"Easy Aayla." Ahsoka said placing her hand on the twi'lek's shoulder. "You got hit pretty good and the interference is getting worse." She lifted her saber to show it flickering slightly.

Aayla activated one of her sabers and watched as it also started to flicker. "It seems the effect of the energy in this place is increasing. I fear it will reach a point where they will stop working completely." She rested for a few more seconds before she got back to her feet. When their sabers had stabilized, Ahsoka jumped in to help her master who had summoned Obi-wan's saber and was using both to defend against their opponent. While Aayla who knew that the young padawan would work better with Anakin than she would went to check on Obi-wan.

Anakin breathed a sigh of relief as Ahsoka appeared relieving some of the attention from himself. His arms were aching from the speed he had to move and from the strength needed to keep the blows at bay. He had also received several small cuts as well as well aimed punches and kicks to his biceps and thighs. He had also noticed that the more the fight progressed, the more the lightsabers flickered. However, the man wasn't faring any better, he had managed to land a few cuts but those had healed over. His swords on the other hand had minuscule cracks that grew the more they fought and he had started to rely more on parrying and dodging than striking and blocking.

Anakin and Ahsoka worked well together. Anakin brought both sabers down and the man blocked them with the blade in his left hand and blocked one of Ahsoka's sabers with his right. She saw his arms shaking from the strain and thought things were going according to plan and they would finally succeed when she brought the other saber held in a reverse grip in an upward strike intended to lop off one of his arms. The man instead did something neither of them expected, he let go of the sword holding Anakin's sabers at bay. The sword remained floating in the air as he brought his left hand down blocking the sabre with his vambrace then he swung back hitting Anakin in the chest sending the Jedi flying back he quickly grabbed the still floating blade and brought it down slicing through the handle of Ahsoka's lightsaber. The blade then disappeared as he turned into Ahsoka his back to her front, grabbed her bicep while the blade on the other hand disappeared as well and he grabbed her hand twisting the blade away before he pulled downwards and turned his body at the same time throwing the padawan over his shoulder and towards her master.

It had happened so fast that Ahsoka had barely registered what had happened before she was flying through air. In seconds, their assured victory had turned into defeat. She managed to land on her feet and turned to face her enemy but she was already too slow. She had barely raised her remaining lightsaber knowing it would offer minimal protection when the blade flickered and died. This was it, she was going to die.

Teras was deep in thought when there was a chime from the door. She got up and touched the console which caused the door to slide open. "May I come in?" Harry asked. Teras nodded and moved back to her seat. The dark haired man followed and sat on the opposite seat. "The council has agreed to let you leave. However, they have also agreed to let you stay if you choose to."

Teras remained quiet for a few moments before she spoke, "a few weeks ago, my padawan was killed. Ever since then I've been struggling with thoughts that no Jedi should have." She took a deep breath leaning back on the chair. "I was so angry when it happened. The Jedi council decided to pull me from the war until I could come to terms with what happened but I realised that I had changed. I was just so tired and angry, of all of it, all the fighting and death. I meditated during that time and I realised that I couldn't do it anymore. I had given thirty years of my life to the Order, twenty of them spent fighting and I just wanted to be done with it." She looked at Harry who remained silent. "When you met me on Nar Shadaa, I had left the Order. Maybe meeting you was more than chance."

Harry leaned forward and looked her directly in the eyes. "You must understand, if you do this your stay here will be for life. The council has decided that for the time being we shall remain in isolation until we have built up our numbers. Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?" Teras nodded without hesitation. She had been thinking about this ever since Amara had left and felt that this is where she was meant to be. "Ok then, we'll inform the council of your decision tomorrow. In the meantime, I think it's time I gave you a real tour of the place." Standing up, he held out her lightsaber. "If you're going to be one of us then we there's no need to keep you prisoner anymore."

"Ah! So you admit that I was a prisoner." She said with a teasing smile. He removed the bracelets from her hands which disappeared into thin air.

Harry laughed, "yes and I'm sorry about that."

"Apology accepted." She replied placing the lightsaber on its proper place at her waist.

"I noticed that your lightsaber is slightly different from most I've seen." He said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I based its design on an ancient lightsaber held at the Jedi Temp-" that was as far as she got because the next moment she felt a twisting sensation and her vision dissolved into a swirl of color.

A/N

So sorry for the delay, I've been having some issues with my electrical main which meant I had to spend a few days without electricity. I know this chapter is a bit short but hopefully you will enjoy the fight scene, leave me you thoughts on what I did right or wrong so I can improve in the future.

Also to all those who have reviewed, followed or favourited (is that how you write that?) the story thank you so much.